Right of way, easement

[Kingcreek]

My past experience with utility companies and easement and right of way pretty much proves they can do whatever they want and leave you any way they want.
I had the power company request my permission to remove an old hedge row about 1/2 mile along the road. It borders some CRP ground and makes good wildlife habitat and a natural fence to discourage the road hunters that like to trespass and shoot my pheasants. I refused so they said they would cut it to 4' high and leave the brush on my side. Not only did they do that but they drove an excavator through it in 6-8 places and dug out big sections of the hedge row. Left stumps and brush and piles of dirt scattered all over the place. I called them and they said it was up to the subcontractor, not their problem and basically tough shyt. Good luck.

 

[olthumpa]

. . . . I called them and they said it was up to the subcontractor, not their problem and basically tough shyt. Good luck.

I know laws very from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In Maine the primary entity is responsible for the quality of the work to be done by them self or any subcontractors that they hire. If a sub screwed things up the GC is responsible. I used to carry a $15,000,000 liability policy for this reason amongst others.

I would check to see what your local laws require.

 

[mcfarmall]

Most likely they will be back within a week or so to clean it up. Around here one of the line clearance contractors sent out a slash crew who did just that. I couldn't believe they did what they did and then a few days later the chipper crew came through and cut the logs into pieces that are too long for a stove but too short to cut in half and grind up all the brush.

The line clearance guys check their common sense at the door. There is a 24" dead sassafras right next to a guy wire on my moms property that they "overlooked" but were happy to cut many many live healthy trees that were a lot farther away from the power lines.

This fall after the beans are cut, I'm going to drop the tree and part of me hopes it gets tangled

 

[Eric McCarthy]

By law nothing and I mean nothing is supposed to be within 10 of power lines. Including buildings, trees and equipment. They are only worried about tree limbs that are on the lines and pose any sort of threat, living or dying the power company will only remove the limbs. Seldom do they every drop and entire tree.

 

[Benhameen]

So they butcher a 40 ' oak to the point that it will die and potentially fall into the line?

Looks like amateur work to me.

 

[Kingcreek]

Around here that works goes to the lowest bidder. The last crew I talked to had 5 guys and only the foreman spoke English and his tattoos had a definite prison look to them. I suppose these things vary a lot from one company to another and regionally.

 

[Benhameen]

Called my uncle this morning to see what his thoughts were, he was going to give them a week before he complained.

He just called me back to let me know the crew showed back up with a large chipper machine to finish the clean up.

Alls well that ends well...

I'll post pics of the end result when I get home.

 

[Benhameen]

I can deal with this...

I assume they will finish my uncles side tomorrow.

 

[olthumpa]

OK, I give up! Which one is your uncle? And don't say Bob.

 

[Benhameen]

That's funny, as I do have an uncle bob, just not the one that lives near me.

So yeah, bobs my uncle.....

 

[Stubbyie]

Rights of way and easements vary slightly across the country but generally the grant of such to any entity---especially utilities---gives them the right to do just about anything they want with no notice to the 'landowner' required.

Another poster here mentions eminent domain issues with a tree removal. Says he was never contacted by court. My bet is there was no court involved and the utility simply decided to exercise their right under the existing easement. If the easement is in fact valid--a lot aren't; check your abstract--there is little recourse by the landowner no matter what transpires.

 

[Benhameen]

Thanks for the reply, where would I find the abstract? Does the power company have to supply me with this?

This property has been in our family since the 50's and I'm sure that my Grandfather allowed the right of way to get power to his home, which is where my uncle lives now.

Is there a standard amount of time these easements are set up for? If I had the option, I would have them remove the poles. There is actually a newer path with other utilities very close to this one, that is off my property and on city property that run parallel with these and would make more sense.

 

[BAP]

Usually, true "Right of Ways" are recorded as Deed changes with the Registry of Deeds that covers your location. They generally will specify the land covered by the right of way and what can be done. However, older deeds and right of ways were not always as specific as they are now a days.

 

[Stubbyie]

Question about where to find abstract...

Bluntly, the utility has all the control in this type situation, almost certainly traceable back to state law. If the utility in question is state-regulated you might contact the state utility control board or public utility council or whatever it's called. In my state, rural co-ops aren't regulated by anybody but God and / or Beelzebub. Makes life interesting when citizens have absolutely no recourse about anything pertaining to the utility.

In my part of the world commercial abstracters compile deed records from the courthouse where all such are filed and then sell the resulting book of paper copies to owners and mortgage companies.

If the abstract has been allowed to lie dormant for years it can become expensive to get it brought up to date.

Most deed recording systems are not user-friendly and to the layman a lot of it can be incomprehensible---learnable, just a steep curve to get to where you know what you're reading. I'm lucky as my spouse is highly experienced in 'running land records'. By the way, a run-of-the-mill realtor is useless in this type endeavor--they'll just hire it down (aka abstracting) and charge you additional.

Somewhere in your county or state is a place where all deeds are recorded. Start there and ask for help and start looking for "utility"-type easements. Somewhere there should be a record granted by one of your kin. Be aware that even into the late 1960's a lot of rural utility easements--in my area-- covered miles and miles of line in one recordable document pertaining to dozens or hundreds of landowners. This can make your search very interesting.

Another poster pointed out old easements can be a bit loose in their description(s). No kidding. Nowadays, always demand a formal survey with EXACT legal description, even if you wind up paying the surveyor. Utilities hate this because it limits what they can do.

You can try contacting the utility and asking for a copy of the easement documentation. My bet is they'll stall and be nonresponsive but it's worth a shot. This might involve you getting a lawyer to write a letter demanding they produce said document or suffer loss of easement. And you might find your power unhooked until you settle on their terms. See above how they have all the power, both kinds.

As for moving the poles, won't happen. If by some odd chance they agreed, they'd bill you and the cost would be so high you'd have to sell everything and hock the kids to pay. The utilities call this 'disincentivizing'. And if you tried using a private contractor, you'd find the contractor wouldn't touch their line and are in fact in cahoots with the utility.

You might infer I don't like the manner in which utilities as a whole treat their customers nor how states allow such to continue. You'd be correct.

Please post back with your continuing experiences so we may all learn.

 

[helomech]

My power company works with me great. Of course I help them out when the power goes out. If I don't help them out, they have to walk the power line, and it is about 8 miles long with lots of hills and creeks. I take them on my side by side atv doesn't take long that way. They now come straight to my house when the power is out looking to see if I am home to take them ride. Since I do that, they are really great with me. We are also on a co-op so the answer to us in most situations. Unlike some other areas I can also switch power companies.

 

[Ironhorse]

I just went through all that and the guys were great. First someone left a note and I called him. He wanted to remove all the trees under the line. I said how about we trim them for now and see how they look. He said fine. And he said they'd wait until the ground was dry.

When the guys showed I did ask them to remove one tree (all are large maples) but the next tree down the line we left in. Next time it goes too since there isn't much left. I can't blame them since the wires go right through the crown. They even offered to trim up some branches that weren't near the wires. In the end they left the trunks for me in case I want to get them milled and then cut and stacked the rest as firewood. They chipped up all the branches (with green leaves) and noticing my extensive compost piles asked if I wanted the chips. I said yes and they dumped the pile in one neat mound next to my compost mountain.

Great guys, great work. Its just too bad that the lines and trees were in each other's way. I'd already had 5 maples removed (every other one) and some day will have to take them all out. I won't really miss them because we'll have a chance to landscape and grow things that were too shaded by the maples.

Too bad your guys did poor work and left a mess. It doesn't have to be that way.