Oldsmobile...extra crispy

Richard · Apr 1, 2002

I as others have some issues with trespassers. We also have issues with morons like this.

Our largest neighbor is our lovable TVA. TVA allows pretty much anything on their land as it seems..with no stipulations.

This dude says he took his car back into the woods..(this is 4x4 territory..though the pics don't show it as well)..left it “unguarded”, went 4 wheeling with his buddy, came back to find car ravaged. Says he then put battery in to start car (??) and car fire started.

I noticed no rear licsnse plate & asked..he said it didn't have one. [hmmm] I'm personally suspect at the story, but TVA police DID have their chat with him, as did the fire department.

Supposedly, he is 'on the hook' to remove the car or suffer the mighty wrath of TVA..so far..4 weeks later. He has left, seemingly abandoned the car and evidently mocked TVA.

We'll see.

I think it takes a particularly dull set of brain cells to take your car where this one was.

Richard · Apr 1, 2002

view looking down hill...the owner is one of the three dudes..the "near" one on left is my neighbor so no need to lampoon him!! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Golfgar4 · Apr 1, 2002

<font color=blue>..left it “unguarded”, went 4 wheeling with his buddy, came back to find car ravaged.</font color=blue>

Man, you guys must have some really mean squirrels down there /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif!!

Richard · Apr 1, 2002

another angle

Richard · Apr 1, 2002

kinda of a side shot with Brutus in background. I held camera as "flat" as I could, so Brutus gives idea of slope.

Carrying out the car will be no issue for Brutus I don't think. Simply lifted the car as easily as one may lift their 2 year old..

Told him I'd take it out of the woods to road for $200. He coughed... I figure, no problme..you can deal with TVA if you like..

Richard · Apr 1, 2002

This area seems to attract some real slime type. Recently found some garbage bags..walked over to look..found them full of SMALLER, wrapped plastic bags..thought I'd found a drug drop!! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Upon taking a stick and poking around some..turns out the larger bags are full of smaller bags which are full of used diapers

eeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwuuuuuu

/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

I've called TVA police and they "supposedly" are going to come out, retrieve them and sift through to see if they can find the accidental piece of junk mail with enlightening address informatin on it..I said GREAT..so far..nothing.

We, the locals, are stuck looking at this dump site every day on "public" land that USED to be FAMILY land prior to TVA obsconding it..but that is another issue../w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

TerryinMD · Apr 1, 2002

There is a certain segment of society who does not give a rats A$$ about who owns what or what they do on someones property - public or private. They are the bottom feeders of life and for some odd reason wish to remain there. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

All that you can really do is shake you head, remind the authorities, and most important, know that you do not live that way.

Terry

Chuck52 · Apr 1, 2002

Richard,

Congratulations to your family for managing to hold on to any of your property along a TVA lake! I'm originally from Loudon. My mother attended school with a lady who told TVA they would have to forcibly remove her from the land her family had owned for generations along the Little Tennessee. Of course they did. I think they took all her land even though only a relatively small part was to actually be covered by the lake, but I could have that wrong.

As I recall, finding abandonded wrecks in the East Tennessee woods was not all that unusual. Finding the guy who abandoned it, now that's unusual. He must represent the lower intelligence range of such folks...and you say he could actually speak?

Chuck

Mark_in_NH · Apr 1, 2002

Richard and or Chuck,
What does TVA stand for ? Who are they ?

Chuck52 · Apr 1, 2002

The Tennessee Valley Authority. I think it was established as part of Roosevelt's New Deal as a semi-autonomous government agency. It's original reason for being was to provide flood control of the Tennessee river and it's tributaries, and to provide hydroelectric power as a side product. It is/was to the Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama region what the Army Corps of Engineers is/was to the areas it served. Which means it did some good things and some bad things. The Tellico dam was the last major project it undertook (right Richard?). The Tellico dam flooded the lower Little Tennessee valley. While the Little Tennessee river already had dams upstream, TVA said the new dam would provide additional flood control so the people in Chattanooga who built in the flood plain of the Tennessee river wouldn't have to collect on their flood insurance so often. The additional water was also supposed to add electric generating capacity to the Fort Loudon dam. The new lake was going to bring in lots of new industry to an economically disadvantaged area. Local people came down on both sides of the issue. My extended family did have some land which TVA bought for the new lake, but I was not familiar with the land and had no attachment for it. On the other hand, some really beautiful contryside was flooded, and many people lost land they did not want to part with. Some said TVA took much more land than was needed for the lake and then sold it as lakeside lots for a hefty profit. I moved out of Tennessee at about that time and am no expert in the facts. I was familiar with the area before the lake, and though Tellico Lake is beautiful, I feel a sense of loss whenever I go through there....and I see I am rambling on long after answering your question.

Chuck

Richard · Apr 2, 2002

Well Chuck..you seem to have a grasp on the story as I hear it also. I'm a transplant. The family farm as it was, was about 1,200 acres I'm told. Today it's 250. TVA took the rest. Seems they needed all the land up to the let's say 800' elevation mark for flood control. Fine. Well, where we are (we are on Tellico Lake, just up from the dam, immediately across from Tellico Village) so, where we are, the land rises out of the lake, the 800 (or what ever the number is) flood plane is let's say, 10 HIGHER than our dock. Well, some lazy-crat draws lines on a map deciding what land they take, not a survey looking at their flood plans. So, the land across the field from us is NOW, TVA land (hence public land for hunters, campers and the like..but in my view,,,WAY too small parcel to hunt on with anything greater than bow)

None the less, this land might go from the 800' level up to 900' level. In no way does TVA "need" it. They neglect their land, the campers, hunters, hikers abuse it...and we get stuck with all the trash. The primary offenders seem to be hunters followed by campers. Very few hikers, in fact, in 13 years here..I've never seen a single one.

I have heard about the old lady that wanted to stay (die) with her house..and how they literally moved her.

The story of TVA and land (theft) seems to be a very touchy topic. The fact that Tellico Village now exists ($$ to someone) only adds insult to that. In my view, TVA should have been required to offer same land back to origional owners if they desire.

Another scab that doesn't need picked about TVA...the Tellico Village folks,...building their million doller houses...with multi thousand dollar dock houses with boat lifts and all... Well, like I said..we live directly across lake. WE are NOT allowed to do ANYTHING to our existing dock. We can't build onto it, can't "improve" it..the only thing I'm told that we are allowed to do to our dock is "maintain" it while I stand there and look across lake and see DOZENS of new docks springing up everywhere. (something smells here too)

My inner suspicion is that TVA (or someone) want's to keep "our" side of the lake looking as rustic as possible so those at Tellico Village have some form of "exclusivity". Maybe I'm cyinical.. maybe I trust my government /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
Maybe.

billfires · Apr 2, 2002

Golfgar4, it's not the squirrels, it's the mice with matches!!

Bill C

Golfgar4 · Apr 2, 2002

Billfires -

Geesh! If the mice can do that with matches, I hate to think what the squirrels would use and what they could do /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif!

Chuck52 · Apr 2, 2002

Richard,

I never even knew where the land my family owned was located. A great uncle with no children died, leaving his estate to his six siblings or their heirs....I think I got 1/4th of 1/3rd of 1/6th....big bucks obviously. After driving through Tellico Village I decided I didn't want to know if that was where the land was! I was on the lake several years ago and got an early view of that development. Sure would be nice to be able to follow the money trail, wouldn't it? The main thing to me, however, was the loss of so much really pretty land. Of course, when I get back home to see mom, I hate to see any changes. We always make a run up to the Tellico river where we used to spend as much time as possible every summer. Looks like it's headed the way of Pigeon Forge. How can they change these things? Don't they know they should preserve the areas I spent my youth as historically significant sites???!!

Chuck

Richard · Apr 2, 2002

Chuck. if you mentally place yourself at Tellico Village marina, drive out on the lake, turn left..go small ways..there are some power lines over head that go into a cove on the right. They call this "power line cove" as I understand it. As you are going down this cove, the "farm" is the entire right side of the cove (TVA land notwithstanding).

So, as you come OUT of the cove, head back to towards the village there is another large cove on left. Houseboats sometimes moor here. Just before this big cove, is our little cove with our dock.

At this point on the water, used to be "Coytee Springs" as I'm told, with some kind of water wheel. I'm told by wife and all that this was one of the most beautiful places she's seen. Very picturesque (sp?)

As it is..what is there today is all I have known. Can't say I'm complaining. Don't like all the issues..but figure got to take some of the good with some of the bad. Would be much nicer if "outsiders" at least tried to leave things the way they found it.

Richard

Bayrat · Apr 9, 2002

Sounds like what usually happens when the government puts on a land grab. I owned some property along a creek in NY. It was mostly ferns, weeds, briars and mud, but it was my back yard. I was going to buy the land on the other side of the creek that consisted of 15 acres, some high ground and a beautiful stand of woods. The NYS /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif DEC came through and classified all the waterways in the state about that time (mid-seventies). My yard and the adjacent property was listed in the most protected category section of the new law. It rendered my back yard and the 15 acres useless. I sent for information from the DEC to describe what had to be done to use this land. The package was two inches thick, I walked to the landowner next door and told them I was no longer interested due to this inept classification made by our public servants and showed them why. The land is still for sale over twenty years later. I sold my house and moved further into the country. Hey, this is what we pay taxes for /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif!

patrickg · Apr 9, 2002

It is scum like that who give botom feeders a bad name.

If it were around here I can assure you that folks would do some siftin' on their own looking for the address info. The culprit(s) would be real lucky if some folks just banded together to witness the address-finding and take it to the authorities for action. Direct action is not rare in these parts. Folks should be inclined to encourage the OFFICIALS to do their job. Personally laying the addressed mail on the top cops desk with your own witnesses to the find and the desk-laying will probably spur Barny Phife just a tad. Especially effective if at least one of the witnesses is a reporter on a local news paper or TV news program. Don't put up with that crap (OK I was thinking about the diapers) but really don't allow this to get old and be forgotten due to sloth on the part of authorities. ^They have to answer to the people and will be motivated if you shine a light on them. Especially if that light is mounted on the side of a TV camera.

Patrick

JoeR · Apr 9, 2002

I had a similar problem with my County DEP. I have a small wetland area that divides my property. I wanted to build on the back part which required me to cross the wetland area. The County didn't want me to cross it, and FL DEP couldn't make a decision. I called my state representative and stated that if I could not access the back 5 acres, then I would consider it condeming the property and I wanted compensation along with all the taxes I paid over the previous years. A week later, I was given approval to build a road. It's all about the MONEY.

Joe R.

Anonymous Poster · Apr 10, 2002

NY DEC is the dumbest bunch of busturds alive.
Gas station 1/2 mile upstream from my property has leaked since hell lit off, and was only discovered to be a mini Love Canal in March 99.
DEC ordered the station owner to drill and define the spill. Owner drilled on 2 sides to his property line and quit.
Instead of digging the contaminated dirt out, DEC allowed bioremediation, whiich hasn't worked.
DEC declared the spill isn't a problem because nobody in the area is well dependant, now I gotta change my name to Nobody.
DEC spill expert just informed the town building a new gas station on the property won't be a problem, exactly opposite to what he told me when I asked how the spill would be cleaned up with a new building on top of it. Gee, I forgot to tell mr DEC I was tapeing the conversation.
DEC has also authorized the new station to dump ground water into the creek. I'm so glad DEC is protecting the environment.