Property Damage
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Nobody appreciates the sight of our county snowplows barreling down the roads or seeing the bottomless potholes being filled any more than I do. When we're socked in by our wonderful weather, I often have the scanner on, listening to them out there working for us, plowing, clearing fallen trees, etc.
I know some very good folks that work for the Kosciusko County Highway Dept. I'm having a conflict-of-interest now.
Last winter, the plow jumped the curb and plowed up a 40-foot by 2-foot strip of turf and flung it up into our yard. It also snapped off an in-ground sprinkler-head. I called them and they said they would take care of it when the weather breaks. No problem. Since we had some warm/wet days, I replaced all of the turf, before the grass could die, except 1foot on either side of the broken sprinkler-head. I put a labeled stake in the ground to mark it for them.
On 4-28-08, I talked to Chris Battle (road foreman). He seems to be a likable person and was good to talk with. My conflict is with the county policy. He said that they have a right of way 25 feet from the center of the road and are not liable for damages within it, except for putting in some dirt. I measured it out. The sprinkler is 1foot in from the curb and 15 feet from the center of the road. I asked Chris if that means that the plow could go another 10 feet into my yard and they wouldn't be accountable. His answer was more or less a yes. He did suggest some markers along the road in the winter since we're on the outside of a curve. That is good advice and should be good for at least one shot since the snow flies 6 feet into our yard and should take out the reflectors, too. But that's OK because it beats relocating the whole sprinkler system 11 feet into my yard.
Also, last summer, they butchered our Bradford Pear tree instead of notifying me. I try to keep it trimmed back for big trucks and SUVs. Instead of taking off 1 foot, they took an extra 6 feet off to the trunk. Their tree-trimmer must have been a barber for the Army. I feel like some of my tax dollars go into the destruction of my property and I have to pay out of my pocket to get it fixed. Since my tax dollars paid for the damage, shouldn't it pay for the repairs?
It wouldn't surprise me if they had insurance for this kind of thing. The tree I chalked up to a lesson learned that I'll keep an eye on, but the sprinkler damage is really bothering me and the people that I've talked to about it, which is everybody. Thanks for letting me vent.
Jeff Penn
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
Nobody appreciates the sight of our county snowplows barreling down the roads or seeing the bottomless potholes being filled any more than I do. When we're socked in by our wonderful weather, I often have the scanner on, listening to them out there working for us, plowing, clearing fallen trees, etc.
I know some very good folks that work for the Kosciusko County Highway Dept. I'm having a conflict-of-interest now.
Last winter, the plow jumped the curb and plowed up a 40-foot by 2-foot strip of turf and flung it up into our yard. It also snapped off an in-ground sprinkler-head. I called them and they said they would take care of it when the weather breaks. No problem. Since we had some warm/wet days, I replaced all of the turf, before the grass could die, except 1foot on either side of the broken sprinkler-head. I put a labeled stake in the ground to mark it for them.
On 4-28-08, I talked to Chris Battle (road foreman). He seems to be a likable person and was good to talk with. My conflict is with the county policy. He said that they have a right of way 25 feet from the center of the road and are not liable for damages within it, except for putting in some dirt. I measured it out. The sprinkler is 1foot in from the curb and 15 feet from the center of the road. I asked Chris if that means that the plow could go another 10 feet into my yard and they wouldn't be accountable. His answer was more or less a yes. He did suggest some markers along the road in the winter since we're on the outside of a curve. That is good advice and should be good for at least one shot since the snow flies 6 feet into our yard and should take out the reflectors, too. But that's OK because it beats relocating the whole sprinkler system 11 feet into my yard.
Also, last summer, they butchered our Bradford Pear tree instead of notifying me. I try to keep it trimmed back for big trucks and SUVs. Instead of taking off 1 foot, they took an extra 6 feet off to the trunk. Their tree-trimmer must have been a barber for the Army. I feel like some of my tax dollars go into the destruction of my property and I have to pay out of my pocket to get it fixed. Since my tax dollars paid for the damage, shouldn't it pay for the repairs?
It wouldn't surprise me if they had insurance for this kind of thing. The tree I chalked up to a lesson learned that I'll keep an eye on, but the sprinkler damage is really bothering me and the people that I've talked to about it, which is everybody. Thanks for letting me vent.
Jeff Penn
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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