Nevada City's insurance carrier has paid $40,000 in a settlement with Cooper's bar as compensation for flood damage caused by a backup in the storm drainage system during the winter of 2005, said attorney David Alkire.

Judge Candace Heidelberger supervised the settlement reached earlier this month, said Alkire, attorney for Cooper's owner, R. and J. McKenzie Properties Inc.

The bar suffered over $45,000 in repair and replacement expenses, while the city had claimed that it was not responsible for keeping its storm drain system unclogged, Alkire said.

The city should have hired somebody in the winter of 2005 to clean out a flume that runs under Commercial Street and drains into Deer Creek at the Broad Street overpass, which had been clogged by a large tree stump, he said.

"The basement was filled to the brim with flood water," Alkire said. "They couldn't serve draft beer for months."

Cooper's, located on the 200 block of Commercial Street, was the only business named in the lawsuit. No separate lawsuits were filed.

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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail rmoormeister@theunion.com or call 477-4236.