Boone County family says they face thousands of dollars in damage after public sewer backup

BOONE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County family said they received thousands of dollars' worth of damage to their basement after a public sewer from the Boone County Regional Sewer District backed up. 

Howard and Cindy McHenry said that they felt misled after the Boone County Regional Sewer District allegedly told them that it would work with them to help them cover some of the cost of damage. However, after following all the steps that were provided by the sewer district, the Board of Trustees refused to give them any money for the damages. 

Howard McHenry’s basement is something that most Chiefs fans would dream of. After having Chiefs season tickets for more than 20 years, Howard McHenry had amassed an impressive collection that includes autographed pictures, handmade posters and old memorabilia. 

“Go down to the bowling alley to the senior league, I got a lot of friends who want to come over and see what the basement looks like and they are really impressed with the collection,” a smiling Howard said.  

But on April 28, his dream basement quickly turned into a nightmare. 

“Normal night, getting ready to work out like I do late at night when she goes to bed. Then I heard a noise,” Howard McHenry said. "That noise was from his shower and toilet suddenly overflowing with sewage. “Then I started hearing the noise coming out of the utility room everything was like a fountain coming up out of the drain.” 

The McHenrys spent the rest of the night trying to get the sewage out of their basement, all while calling plumbers and water restoration companies to try and get somebody to help. They said they eventually got assistance from Roto-Rooter, who worked until 5 a.m. cleaning and setting up dehumidifiers. 

Members of the Boone County Regional Sewer District arrived later that day to assess the damage. A service call sheet shows the cause was from a public sewer backup. The BCRSD told the McHenry’s to file a claim with Mo Perm, the insurance provider for the sewage district. 

After not hearing anything for several days the McHenrys said they visited the sewer district office and were told that the claim was denied.  They added that the reason they had not heard anything was because someone from BCRSD accidentally gave them the wrong number. 

However, the McHenry’s say someone from BCRSD told them that they had some “additional funds” that they could use to help. 

According to the District’s Sewer Backup Risk Management Policy, a district manager can give up to $6,000 to a homeowner to help mitigate the damage of a backup. Anything more than that they would need to get the Board of Trustee's approval. 

The sewer district asked the McHenrys for an estimate. That estimate turned out to be roughly $40,000 for water mitigation and construction. 

A representative from the sewer district said they would need approval from the Board of Trustees.  As the McHenry’s waited days for a response mold began to set in the walls, which needed to be removed. They reached out to the sewer district once again and told them they needed to move forward. 

“We had made arrangements to cut the walls at 10 o'clock. never heard from them so I called him and he was on the phone but he texted,” Cindy McHenry explained. “I told him [BCRSD representative]  ‘I need to know something’ and he said I should have an answer by noon. I said we’ve got to proceed. We got to move forward. I never heard from him again.” 

On June 6, the couple had a meeting with a representative from the sewer district to ask about the “additional funds.” They brought a 79-page report documenting the damage. but were told it was too late to use the funds. 

“He was like, ‘Well the way I'm reading the policy I may be misinterpreting it but I think it’s too late.’ I said, 'Did you talk to the board members?' He said, 'No, I have to wait for the board meeting. But I really think you should come to the board meeting,’” Cindy McHenry said. 

The couple did show up to the board meeting, but not before filing a sunshine request asking for service records and insurance claim reports. 

The Board of Trustees said it would discuss it in a closed session before making a decision. A week went by and they heard nothing. The couple reached out to see if they could get an update and were told that the request had been denied, but they were apparently not provided a reason why. 

“Had they not looked us in the eye that night and said file a claim, had they not said if it's denied there’s a pot of money we can help you with,” Cindy said. “All along they just said there was a way they were going to help us and just do what we say.  that’s the part that gets stuck in my head. We did everything they said.” 

The couple has lived in their house for eight years and this is the first time they have experienced any issues like this. 

ABC 17 News reached out to the BCRSD for comment on Wednesday and has not heard back.