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Embattled St. Charles homeowner still seeks damages from roofer

An embattled St. Charles homeowner who was sued by the city to finish a long-standing addition has lost part of his bid to recover damages from a new roof ordered for his home.

Kane County Judge David Akemann dismissed Cliff McIlvaine's countersuit against the city, but the claim against the roofing company remains.

In summer 2013, Akemann ordered the city to take over McIlvaine's languishing construction project — for which a permit was first issued in 1975 — and have a conventional asphalt shingle roof installed at his home on the 600 block of Prairie Street.

McIlvaine sued the city and Absolute Construction and Roofing Co., arguing they were negligent and responsible for a leak during a storm that caused more than $60,000 damage.

Akemann ruled Wednesday that McIlvaine's claims that the legal doctrine of Implied Warranty of Habitability applied to new construction and not McIlvaine's case.

“All the counterclaims against the city have been dismissed,” said Phil Luetkehans, attorney for the city. “(Akemann) was not going to extend that theory of liability to a repair of that type.”

McIlvaine finished the remainder of the project in 2015 and is fighting a move by the city to collect some $215,000 in fines and attorney fees.

About $64,200 comes from fines and $31,322 was for the new roof, according to court records.

The remainder, nearly $120,000, is for fees paid to attorneys to represent the city of St. Charles on the matter — an amount that McIlvaine wants reduced or thrown out.

McIlvaine's defense attorney, Philip Piscopo, has argued in court filings that the $100-a-day fines were “unreasonable.”

A message left for Piscopo was not immediately returned.

The case is next due in court Jan. 23.

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Project complete, but St. Charles homeowner McIlvaine still fighting city

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