Idiot Neighbor Cut My Cable

[farquhar]

My neighbor next door decided he wanted to do some landscaping to his property. One of the things he did was extend the walkway from his front door to the street, so that when family parks their cars on the street they don't have to walk over sod.

This necessitated having his contractors dig into the City owned property between the sidewalk and the road, which is illegal. Because that's where all the Utilities are buried. He ended up cutting the Cogeco cable that feeds by house (and probably several other houses, they just don't know it because they are currently Bell customers).

I'm reconnected now - he's lucky I don't report his ass to By-Law. He sure as shit didn't have a permit to do this.

 

[jimidean2011]

My neighbor next door decided he wanted to do some landscaping to his property. One of the things he did was extend the walkway from his front door to the street, so that when family parks their cars on the street they don't have to walk over sod.

This necessitated having his contractors dig into the City owned property between the sidewalk and the road, which is illegal. Because that's where all the Utilities are buried. He ended up cutting the Cogeco cable that feeds by house (and probably several other houses, they just don't know it because they are currently Bell customers).

I'm reconnected now - he's lucky I don't report his ass to By-Law. He sure as shit didn't have a permit to do this.

If the cable was cut how did you re-connect?

 

[farquhar]

If the cable was cut how did you re-connect?

Technician was able to splice the cable back together. Neighbor had his contractor leave a pipe under the walkway he illegally constructed on City property so that the technician could run the splice through and make the connection. However, since he cut the cable to multiple households it took the technician a couple of tries to locate the right connection for my house.

Technician was about to give up and suspend a temporary line above both our properties; and that line would have been left there indefinitely. I was going to tell the technician to go ahead, at which point my neighbor started feverishly digging the earth some more and located the line for my house. Lucky for him.

 

[jimidean2011]

Technician was able to splice the cable back together. Neighbor had his contractor leave a pipe under the walkway he illegally constructed on City property so that the technician could run the splice through and make the connection. However, since he cut the cable to multiple households it took the technician a couple of tries to locate the right connection for my house.

Technician was about to give up and suspend a temporary line above both our properties; and that line would have been left there indefinitely. I was going to tell the technician to go ahead, at which point my neighbor started feverishly digging the earth some more and located the line for my house. Lucky for him.

Nice, sounds like you had a good technician. Glad you got it sorted. It sucks to have no wifi.

 

[Jubee]

Fuck him up and report back.

 

[farquhar]

Fuck him up and report back.

I'm too tired. I'll PM you his address and you go do it.

 

[bazokajoe]

Neighbour must have gotten a nice bill for that.

 

[corrie fan]

Years ago a guy who worked for a cable company told about a snowplow shearing off one of their pedestal boxes level with the ground. He had to chip away at the frozen earth to get down low enough to put connectors on the cables to reconnect everything.

 

[farquhar]

Neighbour must have gotten a nice bill for that.

Cogeco reconnected the cable for free. As for By-Law violation, well, I haven't narced on him...yet.

There is something else. His contractors cut through a bunch of PVC Pipes as well. He thought the pipes were for irrigation. The cut ends of the pipes are sticking out of the ground and are blatantly obvious to anyone passing by. Any idea what those would be for?

 

[bazokajoe]

Cogeco reconnected the cable for free. As for By-Law violation, well, I haven't narced on him...yet.

There is something else. His contractors cut through a bunch of PVC Pipes as well. He thought the pipes were for irrigation. The cut ends of the pipes are sticking out of the ground and are blatantly obvious to anyone passing by. Any idea what those would be for?


View attachment 361618

So, like I said, he extended his front walkway to the street by building on City property. The ends of the cut PVC pipes are sticking out above and below the sidewalk.

Those PVC pipes may be for Bell? Thankfully they weren't gas lines.

 

[hemiman]

That walkway doesn't require a permit, but It did require a call to ontario 1 dig for locates.

 

[farquhar]

That walkway doesn't require a permit, but It did require a call to ontario 1 dig for locates.

I should specify that when I say "City" I'm not referring to Toronto; Toronto may not require a permit, but I think the jurisdiction where I live may.

 

[farquhar]

Those PVC pipes may be for Bell? Thankfully they weren't gas lines.

Thankfully not. That would have been a shitty way to end the weekend.

 

[funstick]

In all municipalities in Ontario in almost all situations, a boulevard like the one you have shown is part of the road allowance; so it is public property. Yes the road allowance goes beyond the paved portion. In theory you cannot do anything on someone else's property without their permission. I suppose it is possible that some municipalities may be indifferent but I would expect most to have some sort of permitting system, some of them being more cumbersome and costly than others. Also as mentioned, all digging on a property (whether public or private) requires you to contact Ontario One who will send someone to locate and identify all underground infrastructure....at no charge. Even digging close to a building requires this. It is not just cable and TV wires that may be there. Electric wiring, gas pipes, water lines, sanitary sewage, etc...

 

[xix]

@farquhar is ... Stinknuts your neighbour?


Maybe he moved next door to you.

 

[james t kirk]

My neighbor next door decided he wanted to do some landscaping to his property. One of the things he did was extend the walkway from his front door to the street, so that when family parks their cars on the street they don't have to walk over sod.

This necessitated having his contractors dig into the City owned property between the sidewalk and the road, which is illegal. Because that's where all the Utilities are buried. He ended up cutting the Cogeco cable that feeds by house (and probably several other houses, they just don't know it because they are currently Bell customers).

I'm reconnected now - he's lucky I don't report his ass to By-Law. He sure as shit didn't have a permit to do this.

No offense buddy, but bylaw enforcement isn't going to do shit. And it isn't illegal to dig on the city's side of the property line.

That contractor was required to call Ontario One Call to get locates done before he dug. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't.

Ontario One Call

Ontario One Call acts as a communications link between buried infrastructure owners and individuals who are planning to dig in Ontario. Click before you dig for any size project.

ontarioonecall.ca

And that contractor would have required an excavation permit. If he dug without one, the building department could issue him a stop work order and would fine him when he did get a permit.

Construction Permit

If you are planning to undertake any work within the public right of way (the area beyond your property line), you will require a permit prior to starting work. Permit Application Form Please Note: For all new Construction Permit requests, the applicant is required to review the City website...

www.toronto.ca

By the way, you'd be amazed how shallow gas lines are buried. Especially near the metre.

 

[The Oracle]

No offense buddy, but bylaw enforcement isn't going to do shit. And it isn't illegal to dig on the city's side of the property line.

That contractor was required to call Ontario One Call to get locates done before he dug. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't.

Ontario One Call

Ontario One Call acts as a communications link between buried infrastructure owners and individuals who are planning to dig in Ontario. Click before you dig for any size project.

ontarioonecall.ca

And that contractor would have required an excavation permit. If he dug without one, the building department could issue him a stop work order and would fine him when he did get a permit.

Construction Permit

If you are planning to undertake any work within the public right of way (the area beyond your property line), you will require a permit prior to starting work. Permit Application Form Please Note: For all new Construction Permit requests, the applicant is required to review the City website...

www.toronto.ca

By the way, you'd be amazed how shallow gas lines are buried. Especially near the metre.

During university I had a summer job working for the cable company and cable locates was my responsibility.

Me my Dynatel, spray paint and some stakes...Driving the van around cranking the tunes.

As I recall the hydro was down about 6 feet with sand on top then the cable and bell were about 3 feet on top.

Always call before you dig folks...

 

[farquhar]

No offense buddy, but bylaw enforcement isn't going to do shit. And it isn't illegal to dig on the city's side of the property line.

That contractor was required to call Ontario One Call to get locates done before he dug. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't.

He definitely did not call Ontario One to do locates.

And the crew that my neighbor got to do the job is the same ethnicity that my neighbor is and presumably did the job at low cost; they wore no safety equipment; they worked all weekend to get the job done ASAP; and with the exception of the owner speak no English whatsoever. And tomorrow they are going to my neighbor across the street to replace the interlocking brick on her driveway for $1,200 less than what she was quoted by a couple of other contractors.

My point is the crew worked their asses off, but I get the feeling they don't quite understand or care about nuances such as locates and permits.

 

[hamermill]

Some third party cable or internet company installers are lazy asses, they don’t bury the cable and if they do it is less than 6” from the surface, or just below the sod.

 

[farquhar]

Some third party cable or internet company installers are lazy asses, they don’t bury the cable and if they do it is less than 6” from the surface, or just below the sod.

And that's what happened in this case. The cable is barely 6" from the surface; should be 1 to 2 feet. That still doesn't excuse my neighbor for digging up the City boulevard without calling Ontario One first.