[Bruzilla]

There is no joy in Mudville, also known as Orange Park, FL, this year. We were told last year that this past winter, the county was starting a project to replace all the underground utility cabling in our neighborhood. Why? I have no idea as we had been there for four years and never experienced any problems. We were told the effort would be done by August 2015 at the latest. Well, like most government projects, this one started late and is a mess.

For this project, the crews are pretty much digging up the leading 10-12 feet of everyone's front yard. We live on a large corner lot, and we hoped they would tear up the side facing the front of the house, do their thing, restore the yard, and then do the next street and our side yard, but nope... they ripped up the front yard and went right on around the corner, leaving a trail of extremely fine and soft dirt/sand in their path.

I was working on my Roadrunner this weekend, and heard my neighbor scream for help. She had been walking to her car and sunk into the soft dirt almost to her knees. She's in her 70s, and I had to go and literally pull her up and out of the holes, and her shoes were stuck 20" into the ground. Then I sunk in as well on Monday when I tried to cross the supposedly safe path the workers made for us to get to and from the street.

We were hoping they might get done with some part of our yard by Halloween, but they still haven't started restoring yards at the other end of the street yet, and it took three months for them to get the other side of the street done.

 

[offmymeds]

oh geez that sucks!! and you know they don't give a rats a$$ about the mess or the time it takes to finish anything........................

sorry............that was very nice of you to help your neighbor out, thank goodness you could hear her!

 

[doto]

Hopefully, you can find the right person who works for the city that can get you a number of workers to band together to help come up with a temporary solution so you can at least maximize your remaining space safely for Halloween. If you find the right person, and tug at their heart strings you may succeed for the children and families of the neighborhood who have had to endure the lengthy inconvenience already.

 

[kakugori]

Wow! I hope you chewed somebody a new orifice, because that is dangerous.

 

[matrixmom]

How scary. What if they can sink further? I don't know Bruzilla, I would go to someone else party this year. How scary if someone sinks in your yard and gets hurt.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Maybe do a Raiders of the Lost Ark theme or for old school people Activision's Pitfall game where you have to swing across vines to avoid the sand pits. There are a lot of possiblities there Bruzilla to do something a little more interactive.

 

[HalloweenKitten]

Well that stinks and kudos to you for helping an elderly neighbor! If safety is being ignored or the project is not on schedule I would suggest contacting the proper agency that oversees these projects in your home town. If you have issues getting the problems fixed, then the best course is to contact your local paper/newsroom and get a little media attention. That usually pushes projects along when negative press is involved with city constructions.

 

[byondbzr]

Man that's not cool. Hopefully like others have suggested, you can contact someone in the know to come up with a safer set up for you and the whole neighborhood!

 

[Frankie's Girl]

That is terrible!

Start calling them every week to complain and ask them to fix. Call your local news channel too to let them know about the dangerous situation they've created and have left the residents to deal with. And make sure to tell them that your neighborhood is big on TOT, and they'll be leaving themselves liable for some serious pain if this mess is still around for Halloween, and ask them to clean it up well before then.

I had the water company tear up our yard really bad one year. They had to replace a water main that ran under the road one summer, and to do that required them taking out the sidewalk and most of my front yard. They fixed it, then said the dirt needed to settle for "several weeks" before replacing the sidewalk... they left it a horrible mess for TWO MONTHS. When September rolled around and there was still the orange netting and caution tape strung all over my front yard, I started calling them EVERY SINGLE DAY. I told them I do a big Halloween display, and that the kids will think this mess is my display this year and someone is going to end up getting hurt if they did not get out there ASAP and put my yard back together.

IT took them about two weeks to get it done after that.

 

[dbruner]

I work for a municipality and I can tell you that the best way to get something done is to contact an elected official! Do your County Commissioners run by district? If so, start with whoever represents your district and any at large Commissioners. Email is probably best, and copy all of them, and urge your neighbors to do the same.

 

[Nox Eterna]

That is ridiculous, you'd think that they would be concerned about getting hit with a lawsuit if someone were to get injured. On a side note, what year is your Roadrunner? Fellow Mopar owner here