Lakeview responds to lawsuit

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Lakeview responds to lawsuit

Headmaster: School not at fault for flooding of neighbor's land

By NIKKI YOUNG

The Times

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20060210/localnews/65514

..shtml

Gainesville,GA

The headmaster of Lakeview Academy responded to a million-dollar

lawsuit by saying the private school was not at fault for the

flooding of a nearby property owner.

Retired Atlanta businessman A. Ebbs Jr. and daughter Jeanne

White, a former teacher at Lakeview, filed suit in Hall County

Superior Court on Monday seeking $1 million in damages from the

school.

The home, owned by Ebbs and lived in by White, was declared

uninhabitable in September after two years of flooding that they say

came from Lakeview's new baseball field.

" Lakeview Academy is in no way at fault, " headmaster Jim Robison

said. " Our defense against this claim is in the hands of our

attorney, who advises us to make no further comment. "

Madeline S. Wirt, a partner at Whelchel & Dunlap LLP, represents

Lakeview. She did not respond to a call seeking comment on Thursday.

Robison was not headmaster when the baseball field was built

beginning in June 2003. He took office in July following the

retirement of Ferrell Singleton, with whom White has said she

discussed the stormwater runoff problem many times.

White's house is located downhill and directly behind the baseball

field. Her yard is covered in sinkholes, downed oak trees and

debris. The crawl space of her home is rotted. Her house's wood

floors are buckled, and doorframes are distorted. The ranch home

reeks of mold and mildew.

It's a similar scene for Romans, a County resident

who sued the County School System, general contractor and

others involved in construction of East Comprehensive High

School. Romans own 15 acres off Waterworks Road, next to the school

system's 100-acre tract.

Like Lakeview, County School System does not claim

responsibility for the flooding. , assistant

superintendent for teaching and learning, said the area received a

lot of rainfall at beginning of the project, but since then work has

rolled along smoothly.

" We are continuing to do everything we can to minimize stormwater

runoff. We're completing all the standard preventative measures, "

said.

Romans said her home, which used to face hardwoods, now faces two

drainage pipes, she said. Her daughter receives frequent injections

to build up her tolerance to mold. Romans also said she and her son

have battled pneumonia.

Her insurance will not pay the $40,000 required to removed mold from

the house's crawl space.

" If left a water hose on, or if a pipe burst, that would be

covered, " Romans said. Only flood insurance, which Romans does not

have, would pay for the damage because the water came from another

person's land in an unnatural way.

Another neighbor, Wayne , who also owns property next to the

school site, has also sued. His two ponds are now filled with silt,

Romans said.

They sought an interlocutory injunction on Dec. 20 to stop

construction. Superior Court Judge Motes has not yet issued a

stop work order.

Contact: nyoung@...; (770) 718-3428

Originally published Friday, February 10, 2006