City reaches $7,500 settlement with woman hurt while tubing at Cone Park

By Nick Hytrek – Sioux City Journal, Iowa (TNS)

SIOUX CITY — The City of Sioux City has reached a $7,500 settlement with a Nebraska woman whose nose was broken while tubing at Cone Park.

Jennifer Peterson, of Elkhorn, Nebraska, had sued the city and Sioux City Parks & Recreation Foundation in August for negligence at the city’s snow tubing hill inside the park at 3800 Line Drive.

According to the lawsuit, Peterson was tubing with her three daughters on Feb. 11, 2023. During her first run down the hill at approximately 6 p.m., Peterson said, her tube flew over a sheet of ice and she slammed into the wall at the end of the run-out area, breaking her nose and suffering other facial injuries after her knees were rammed into her face.

Peterson said in the lawsuit a temperature variance from daytime to nighttime caused dangerous ice to form at the bottom of the sledding run, a condition not readily apparent to visitors. The city and parks and recreation staff should have been aware of the condition but failed to detect it or warn visitors about it, she said.

As a result, Peterson had reconstructive surgery to repair a fractured left nasal bone.

Peterson was seeking reimbursement of $6,663 for medical expenses and two weeks of lost wages, plus other general damages. The two sides reached a settlement agreement in November in which the city and Parks and Recreation Foundation agreed to the financial settlement in exchange for Peterson releasing them from all liability.

The payment is not an admission of liability, according to the agreement. Peterson’s attorney filed a dismissal of the lawsuit on Dec. 10.

The city’s legal department said the settlement was covered by the city’s insurance carrier, and payment of the settlement did not include city funds.

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