My Rant, Need Advice, City Trespassed and Damaged my Property.

[Richard]

Glad to hear it's moving along.

Not a parallel situation but a while back we had power go out at about 2:00 AM.

Long story short, the power company's truck drove down the power lines to make sure none were fallen.

At the border of the 250 acre farm, the lines go underground and then to each of 3 houses.

I guess the truck driver didn't know that. At 3:30 AM, my dogs went ballistic with their barking and I heard a rash of noise outside.

The big line truck (I think that's what it's called?) was turning around in MY driveway. The fact he was on the farm, WELL past the wires in the air means he was trespassing, though with "good intent" (ya)

He turned his truck around and rolled his heavy front wheels about 7' into my yard cutting nice ruts which really irked me.

Next day I called the company, spoke with whomever they said was in charge. Nice but firmly, I reiterated what happened, he verified it and I calmly said "I'm sure you have a department I should talk to about you guys fixing the ruts you made in my yard??"

Since he had already verified what happened with the driver, he was now in a corner... said he'd send someone out.

By time I got home from work, someone had tamped it "flat" or at least reasonabley so, sewn grass and applied straw to the offended area.

I was glad I was firm yet polite and gave them a chance to make it right.

 

[JJT]

Lots of good advice here.

Personally I'd move on without causing too much of a stink.

The chain cut in the middle sounds like a good spot for a new padlock.

Make sure you add a posted sign with your contact info on it.

 

[dqdave1]

Please remember that the person who you will be talking to is a middleman/lady and will want to be treated respectfully. Be polite and state your case; give them time to investagate your complaint. I am sure it will be resolved. Mistakes do happen. Mistakes can be corrected. Respect goes a long way. Remember how you will act if someone calls and rants at you; you become defensive.

 

[Soundguy]

Hmm.. just one question ( allow me to play 'devils advocate' here for a moment). In your state do you own your electric meter? In florida, the utility co. owns all the 'equipment' up to and including the meter. The outgoing connections fromthe meter are the landowners. Thus.. the power company is suposed to have access to all of their equipment. All of my gates have ( free ) locks on them supplied by the power co. I simply cut my chain in 2 pieces.. and have their lock linking the 2 pieces, and my padlock closing the end. Thus both myself and the power co can open 'A' lock to get up my driveway.

With these messages about the power co 'tresspassing' on people's property.. makes me wonder... What I mean to say.. is.. that if i worked at the power co.. and your power went off.. and you were the kind of person that griped about utility workers 'tresspassing' on your land to check their line equipment... well.. seems like I might not go turn your power on till you called in and gave permission.. see where this is going? There has got to be some common sense reasoning somewhere.

Soundguy

The big line truck (I think that's what it's called?) was turning around in MY driveway. The fact he was on the farm, WELL past the wires in the air means he was trespassing, though with "good intent" (ya)

 

[ultrarunner]

Today's Update...

I stopped by the city Public Works Corporation yard this morning. I was using the Lobby Phone to call the Supervisor to let her know I was in the building. Turns out she went home ill and was gone for the day. Just as I was tuning to leave, a gentleman came out of the secure area and asked who I was here to see. Turns out that he is the Public Works Director for the city. I showed him my letter and pictures and was invited inside. My letter was not threatening and only laid out the facts as I understood them to be.

Seemed like everyone inside had heard about the city truck getting stuck up in the hill and I learned that the truck had been stuck for several days. The tow companies the city contacted said the site was too remote to offer assistance.

After two days, the city decided to use it's own very large F700 boom truck to attempt recovery. The boom truck was too large for the trail, so the city arborist authorized the parks department tree crew to take out as many trees as necessary.

The director said the sewer maintenance truck driver was not familiar with the area and he should not have attempted to take the city truck down the trail. The driver thought he was on city property. The director said he wants to make it right with me, starting by replacing the chain and a letter exonerating me from any liability regarding removed trees.

Turns out that a lot of folks were involved... City Sewer Maintenance, City Arborist, City Park Ranger, Tree Permit Supervisor and Public Works Street and Sidewalk Division to name a few.

Ironically, my Cat D3 was parked about 200 feet from where the city truck was stuck and I could have easily handled the job without cutting down any trees.

So that's it for now... Lots of Good TBN Advice Given and in retrospect, it's probably a good thing I had the weekend to collect my thoughts.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Amazing to me that that many people were involved, and no one considered contacting the property owner.

 

[ultrarunner]

The problem, I think, is that everyone assumes any open land of acreage belongs to the city, park dept or one of the Utility Companies.

With the city population estimated to be approaching 450,000, it is getting to be a real struggle to stay on top of all the new rules and regs that are designed for tract housing and commercial property.

The last "Truck Farm" in the city ceased operation recently because the city did away with agricultural zoning and you can't operate a farm and comply with residential zoning regs and special assessments with farming revenue.

 

[EarPlug]

Just a suggestion but maybe posting a few signs like "Private Property - Call 555-1212 for Access" might help.

Jack

 

[rback33]

Today's Update...


So that's it for now... Lots of Good TBN Advice Given and in retrospect, it's probably a good thing I had the weekend to collect my thoughts.

If there is one thing I have learned in my short time hear on Earth it's to NOT rush into a possibly confrontational situation still mad. It will not work. Having a day or two to calm down and objectively look at things is always the best method.

 

[KubotaSteve]

We just went through a required customer service class at work and the number one thing when confronting someone on a possible mistake was not to make it personal. For example when talking to the director about your issue, you would never want to say "you all tore my land up" but something like "It appears that a sewer dept. truck caused damage to my land". The 2nd thing is that views on situations aren't always the same so it is best to get both sides. It was a pretty good class and gave a lot of small things that make a huge difference when working with people.