ALTAMONT — The village of Altamont is being sued by a Prospect Terrace couple who allege that a neglected municipal stormwater system sent floodwaters through their house during back-to-back storms last June, gutting a finished basement, flooding an attached garage, and producing mold damage that will cost more than $150,000 to repair. 

The lawsuit, filed April 24 in Albany County Supreme Court by Dustin and Catherine Abbott, accuses the village of negligence in the design, installation, review, and maintenance of its stormwater drainage system.

Altamont Mayor Kerry Dineen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the complaint and the underlying notice of claim filed with the village, stormwater traveled down Prospect Terrace from the village’s drainage system, overwhelmed a stormwater manhole, which led to overflowing onto the Abbotts’ Prospect Terrace property on on June 6 and 7 of last year

Court documents state water ran across the lot, into an attached garage, and from there into the finished basement. A second drainage path fed additional water into the basement, the filing alleges, while more water pooled across an adjacent patio. The flooding led to mold problems throughout the enclosed spaces, requiring professional remediation.

The complaint puts the cost of repairs at more than $150,000.

The Abbotts’ case against the village rests on two related claims: design and maintenance. 

The complaint alleges that the stormwater drainage system serving Prospect Terrace was poorly designed, poorly installed, and inadequately reviewed, which allowed runoff to be sent onto the wrong path during heavy rain, overwhelming the manhole that connected to their lot.

The Abbotts also allege that the village performed work on its storm-sewer line in a careless and negligent manner, resulting in silt and gravel blockages that reduced the capacity of two crossing culverts and ultimately blocked them. With the culverts choked, the complaint alleges, water that should have moved through the system was forced onto the Abbotts’ property instead.

While the structural repair figure is $150,000, the Abbotts’ filings identify three broader categories of harm: damage to the residence at 132 Prospect Terrace; damage to personal property located in and around the home; and loss of income the couple says resulted from the village’s negligence. 

The town assessment roll says the property has a full-market value of $321,333.

The complaint asserts that the plaintiffs “have sustained and will sustain additional substantial monetary damages.” The filings do not put a specific public figure on the personal-property or income-loss claims.