City Council Back In Session, Numerous Bills Introduced
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia City Council returned from summer break Thursday and members introduced a number of new bills. Among them, a proposal to lift the cap on damages from water main breaks.
The bill is a response to a June water main break in West Philadelphia.
Millions of gallons of water poured onto the 500 block of N. 52nd St, when a hundred-and-thirty-year-old main broke in mid-June and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell says residents whose homes and cars were damaged had a difficult time getting reimbursed.
"All kinds of myriad of issues we went through for these people." says Blackwell. "It's not fair. You don't treat people like they created this problem."
Blackwell's bill seeks to eliminate a cap on water department liability. It would also require yearly inspections of water mains more than 100 years old and calls for hearings on related issues.
It's time to sit down and talk about what happens when there's a problem in the city and how people should be treated.
The water department had not seen the bill and could not immediately comment.
