Utility Easement Problem Developing

David Agnew

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'Morning all... I've got trouble brewing and I don't have any familiarity with the overall issues...

Yesterday, AT&T knocked on my door and said they needed to replace a box in my backyard and trench a new line a few houses down. The guy said they'd repair all the grass and specifically said they would 'seed and straw it'.

Now, normally this wouldn't be an issue. It's the back corner of my lot and I'm not (normally) a super fanatic about my lawn quality. HOWEVER, it just so happens that I completely re-did that easement area and corner of the lot in the fall. Whole 9 yards: killed it off, tilled it, amended it, peat moss, fertilizer, seed, watered 3 times a day for weeks, 2nd fert and overseeding. Whole 9 yards. Not a whole lot of money involved, but a LOT of time. It came out BEAUTIFULLY. It looks almost like a golf course.

So my problem is this: it's 99% weed free and straw always contains weed seeds. I also don't know what kind of seed they'd use (rye, fescue, bluegrass, etc). I know it's my fault for making my easement look nice, and they have a right to work in the easement, but I still don't want my work destroyed.

Can anyone suggest ways I might be able to work with these guys? Maybe provide them my seed mix and just grin and bear the straw? In an ideal world, I want them to sod it using the same cultivars (the business I bought the seed mix from also sells sod of those mixes). They haven't started work, but looking at their paint markers and string, it's only 300-400sqft of potential damage.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
 
I would start by figuring what it would take to make you happy. For discussion that may be something like installing 350 square feet of premium sod.

I would then call the utility company, get hold of a manager (my line is often, "If I can convince you of xxx, do you have the authority to implement my request?") Calmly explain that you spent hundreds of hours and a small fortune fixing up that corner of your property, and today it is as beautiful as a golf course.. You want to cooperate with their easement in any way you can, but you also want to be sure things get back to normal - not just some cheap grass seed and weed-filled straw. How can he "make you whole."

Make you whole is a key term. If you have an accident in a rusty car, making you whole only requires replacing the fender with one that is no more rusty than the one before. If you have an accident in a brand new car, making you whole requires a new fender perfectly installed. Making you whole is a key legal concept.

Around our neighborhood the utilities match the color and the texture of the sidewalks and driveways they mess up, and redo the grass better than it was before (although we don't have topsoil, so the grass is a trick)
 
I would be likely to request they fill in and smooth the area they disturb, but let you get the sod and fill in the grass. I don't have any idea how much the that much sod costs, but sounds to me it might be worth it to you. I cannot see why they would object to that. I've always been fussy about my lawn, well not maybe to the extent you are, but I've always kept it nice, but then we got a new puppy..... I don't know if I will ever get it repaired. :eek:
 
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How long are they going to have it dug up? Would it be worth renting a sod cutter and moving that grass for a few days until they complete the work and then roll it back out?
 
One improves easements at their own risk. Depending on how you deal with the utility may be the deciding factor. They have every right to use the easement as they see fit and largely have no responsibility to return it to the condition it was in prior to that. Any repairs they do is a bonus. I'd suggest the hat in hand approach and see what sort of compromised you can reach. The point is to politely ask how together you can make it like it was.

Worked for Telco for years. Had one lady who refused access as she had fenced off the yard and easement. Further she had a dog she refused to contain. Neighbor had a phone problem but this lady refused to co-operate. Cops called. Got access. Fixed the neighbor's phone line. Later the NN got legal notice to move the fence and provide unrestricted access to the easement. She failed to comply. Within 2 months, bulldozers arrived and in a matter of hours she had debris stacked on her yard and there was an unrestricted access to the easement. She was bucking the phone company, the electric company and the cable company. She lost. The message from my POV was to co-operate in every fashion as I am sure you will. :)
 
Just to add, my theory is the city gains by being somewhat accommodating. I've see lots of places where the homeowner just lets the easement area go to ruin, and it looks terrible. I think they will surely work with you is you approach it right.
 
I dreaded the phone company trenching in mom and dad's telephone line last year. Had to come all the way down our drive, right turn and follow their drive, through a gateway to their house. Saw them unloading the machine as I left for school, got home and wondered why they didn't do the job. They had, it was that slick and easy. I think you will be surprised. (pleasantly)
 
WOW! Thank you all for the detailed advice and opinions! I do have a phone number of someone who's supposed to be overseeing this, so I'll call him first thing Monday.

Charlie - Good advice. I need to decide what I want before I know what to ask for.
Paul - That's not really a preferred option because I'm re-doing my work again. I guess that could be a minimally acceptable option.
Darren - I'm not familiar with sod cutting. They say they'll start Tuesday and be done Wednesday.
Carol - You're right, improve at my own peril. It's just that the timing is frustrating. I'd rather have them do as Paul suggests than have them lay down weedy straw and cheap seed.
Paul again - That was actually my problem. Last fall was my 3rd fall in the house. Previous owner had neglected the easement and my treating it like the rest of my lawn wasn't working. It was probably 40% weeds and had developed some viney weeds I was worried would tunnel the fence. Needed a do-over.
Jonathan - Honestly, it's the machines more than the trenching that worries me. Bobcat, trucks, whatever. The grass is barely 7 months old, the growing season just started here, so I figure the roots are quite shallow. Plus I tilled up everything last fall and recently disturbed land is easier to tear up than compacted old land.
 
WOW! Thank you all for the detailed advice and opinions! I do have a phone number of someone who's supposed to be overseeing this, so I'll call him first thing Monday.

Charlie - Good advice. I need to decide what I want before I know what to ask for.
Paul - That's not really a preferred option because I'm re-doing my work again. I guess that could be a minimally acceptable option.
Darren - I'm not familiar with sod cutting. They say they'll start Tuesday and be done Wednesday.
Carol - You're right, improve at my own peril. It's just that the timing is frustrating. I'd rather have them do as Paul suggests than have them lay down weedy straw and cheap seed.
Paul again - That was actually my problem. Last fall was my 3rd fall in the house. Previous owner had neglected the easement and my treating it like the rest of my lawn wasn't working. It was probably 40% weeds and had developed some viney weeds I was worried would tunnel the fence. Needed a do-over.
Jonathan - Honestly, it's the machines more than the trenching that worries me. Bobcat, trucks, whatever. The grass is barely 7 months old, the growing season just started here, so I figure the roots are quite shallow. Plus I tilled up everything last fall and recently disturbed land is easier to tear up than compacted old land.

Bledsoe and other rentals should have a sod cutter, it's a machine that has a vibrating blade that runs about 2" deep and will make a clean cut of sod with the roots and soil still attached. If they are done that quickly you can just roll up the sod for the area they are working in, set it aside, and put it back down the next day or two. Water daily for two weeks and it should all take root again pretty quickly.

Did they say they would be trenching? Sometimes they just use a machine that splits the ground and stuff the cable in the opening as it moves along. Might look like a mole went through that area for a bit, but no worse than the edges of sod showing.
 
Well, good news but not great news. The guy I originally talked to was either wrong or lazy in his speech. They are BORING the line. So no trenching or slitting, the line work should be basically invisible, according to the man I phoned.

The box replacement work is still going to tear up the corner of the yard a little, but we worked out that they would not do any seeding or strawing would regrade and remove any damage from men/machinery. Ruts, unevenness, etc. They agreed to do this work to my satisfaction. I'm home all day, so I will supervise this part. In my mind, bare ground is better than contaminated ground. I already have seed and fertilizer from the spring seeding I've done this year. Spring is pretty wet, so it should take well without the constant manual watering as needed in Fall. It will be a burden on me, but as Carol pointed out, improve easements at your own peril.

Darren - I looked into a sodcutter and decided the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. We're only talking 300-400 sqft here if they get messy. Hopefully it will be closer to 200. Place down the road from me wanted $150/day, wouldn't rent it for a half day and then I'd have to do the work of the cutting. It was a good idea, though.
Scott - Yeah, that's basically where we ended up.
Dave - Not landlocked, but good question and that will be one of my projects this week. I need to know where my easements are and to whom. The line work is definitely in an easement: outside all fence lines and within 10' of the street. The box work, however, is a good 4' inside my fence line. However, it IS within about 18" of the property line to my neighbor. So I wonder if we also have a utility easement of some width running down the property lines. I also have a large (2.5'x2.5'x18") electrical type box on the other side of my property. That box is actually at the intersection of three plots and also within about 18"-24" of the fence lines.

Thank you all, I think this issue is in bed now. I must say that Charlie's advice was perfect. AT&T was neither difficult nor pleasant to work with but I had suggestions of what I wanted and presented them. I assume that if I had called and simply said "Don't tear up my yard!" the resolution would have been more negative.
 
Seems like things are working out. Good luck :thumb:

When I lived in North Smithfield, Rhode Island back in the 1980's passing papers on my property got pretty confusing for a couple of weeks. Seems that back in the late 1700's several Indians were buried on my property. No one knew exactly where because official documentation was not what is is today :rolleyes: Anyway to make a long story short we had to agree to a right of way to any member of the tribe (can't recall the name right now) that wished to pay their respects to their departed loved ones. We were there for about 10 years and had no visitors. But on the full moon we could hear tom-toms beating from the woods (just kidding about the tom toms):D
 
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