Verizon fiber

Has anyone heard when the Verizon subcontractors will start tearing up everyone's yard in Broadlands north to install their fiber lines? I was told today they expect to be finished by next Spring but they didn't know when the project was to begin.

 

FWIW .. the HOA has not been notified of anything .. and it would have to be as there are common areas that they will probably be crossing.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

Neilz, don't count on it. Be vigilant. Adelphia came threw years ago and caused over $75,000 of damage to the common area in Ashburn Farm. There was no notification before the work started. There was no requirement for notification, as they have an easement for the use of the common area. Broadlands maybe different.

We sued them over it. Three years later, we received a settlement for $60,000. Felt lucky to get that.

 

There are probably common area utility easments here too, but you would think that there would be some common courtesy extended by Verizon as far as notification that they would be coming in.

FWIW ... I figure that they will be cutting right across my drive and through my flower beds !!



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

it's worth a little damage if they're bringing FTTP to the area.

 

We are just finishing the process down here, with mixed results. They did notify (doorhangers, plus the Miss Utility spraypainters), but the notice was of differing time of advance--some came quite quickly after, while on my block the paint lines were nearly grown out when they came.

The drill that burrows from hole to hole is about five feet long, and can't turn corners (obviously), so each yard has a series of trenches. The problem here was that often they simply used the ditch witch to dig the entire thing without cutting sod first. After a day of chewing and thumping burrowing, a roll off the truck was put down to cover the scar, with widely varying results. In some cases, we look like we've been taken over by the giant mole people from Mars.

It went well on our property--you can still see where they dug, but I was home and asked them to cut the sod by hand (which they kindly did), and it happened to be on a moist gray day, so the grass they pulled up didn't die before they put it back down. We also started to water immediately.

Some horror stories: There was one gas line nicked in a neighborhood, and one house had a small fire when the drill struck the side of the house. A friend had a flooded basement after their digging, and my next-door neighbor had their waterline to the house damaged--but the contractor came within a day of their call and replaced the line. The worst was someone who had a sewer line breached, with an obscenely unpleasant result to their basement.

I too would recommend vigorous proactivity, because it is such a huge undertaking, and $#** DOES happen...it did here! Good luck, all.

Barbara Munsey, from South Riding.