Every citizen and property owner is being exposed to an unlicensed, uninsured contractor digging, trenching, cutting and replacing deteriorating explosive gas pipelines, without any recourse other than civil suit in the event of an accident that results in personal injury or harm to your real estate or personal property.
I know what its like first hand because Eastern Shore Gas came onto my property and cut the anchor roots of a 250 + year old Heritage Sugar Maple tree less than three feet from the 9' diameter trunk. They then ran the plastic line ACROSS the property line from the house next door to save time from doing the job the right way, running the line from the street.
The first storm after they cut the roots of our tree, it blew down causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to my house, garage, driveway, the commercial building next door and of course the loss of the tree. The roots of this tree that was standing when the Declaration of Independence was signed spread out over 150 feet in each direction.
Industry standard for cutting the roots of a tree is they are not to be cut closer than what is called the "drip line" of edge of where water would drip off the leaves, which in this case would be 35' from the trunk not 20 inches.
We had to FOIA the City Government to obtain a copy of the permit so we could obtain the name of the insurance company for file a claim for damages. The City answered that there is no permit, license, bond, insurance of financial surety of any type required from Eastern Shore Gas to replace dangerous explosive gas lines.
What a great job the city government does in protecting the citizens! Maybe Mike McDermott will use this example when he runs for State Delegate as his next political ambition is reported to be.
When I asked the City for help the Mayor told me that I "was being unreasonable in your demands" because I asked the gas company to repair the damages they caused to my property, replace the tree and reimburse us for our expenses. Instead the Mayor told me to get a lawyer and take Eastern Shore Gas to Court, because the city only protects itself not the citizens from contractors doing business within the city limits.
Two years and tens of thousands of dollars later, we are still in court trying to get our property returned to the condition it was in prior to the gas company damaging it.
I have been doing a slow burn for over month after reading the minutes from the September City Council meeting. We used to trust Mike McDermott until he got in bed with City Manager "Boss Hogg" Russ Blake, the unelected dictator of Pocomoke City for 32-years and counting then turned against the people who elected him.
Here is a quote from the minutes of the September 9th City Council Meeting:
Representatives of Eastern Shore Gas Company to discuss plans for upgrading underground gas lines:
Dave Bradford from ESG gave an update on gas lines in town. He stated that ESG has replaced about 4,000 ft of steel gas lines last year with plastic. He proposed to do a little over 5,000ft this year in about seven locations within the City. (Attached are drawings where work will be done). Once all the work is completed ESG will be removing about 30 above ground tanks.
Mayor McDermott asked about disturbing the tree roots on private property.
Mr. Bradford stated that they are more aware of that and we are doing things to avoid that type of situation again by taking a different route for the gas lines. In addition, they have door tags to put on doors so that the neighborhood will be aware that they are working in the area.
Mayor McDermott stated that it would be nice if ESG would notify the City Manager’s office where they would be working.
Mr. Bradford stated that he would make every effort to let citizens know where they are working.
In a non-corrupt community the City Government would require license, bond, insurance and proof of financial responsibility to protect its citizens from contractors replacing explosive lines on private & public property.
In Pocomoke the Mayor politely asks if the unlicensed contractor would call Boss Hogg and let him know when they are going to be working.
Chapter 140 of the Pocomoke City Code: Grading and Sediment Control
Clearly states that a license is required
140-1: A City Grading Permit must be obtained prior to the start of any grading, clearing or filling or other earth change which may:
1) Introduce sediment into any watercourse of the city; or
2) Move more than 300 cubic yards of earth
Hmmmm...
Maybe that is why I had to submit another FOIA request to find out who the Pocomoke City Sediment Control Inspector is and guess what, it's Harvey Davis the city "housing inspector" who is not certified under current Maryland State law to perform a home inspection for a bank loan. Perhaps the city sent him to a half day course on soil erosion and sediment control as a rudimentary qualification but I seriously doubt that.
The Mayor, City Council and Boss Hogg get upset when I refer to them as the "Openly Corrupt Pocomoke City Government" but what should we call it when they refuse to obey their own laws?
There are only two possible reasons for this type of criminally negligent behavior.
1) They are corrupt and being paid off by the utility company. (The famous white envelopes)
If that is the case they all need to be removed from City Hall and replaced by an emergency interim government until legitimate elections can be held.
2) They are dumber than a box of rocks, negligent, incompetent and are a danger to the community.
These actions once again demonstrate the City Manager "Boss Hogg Russ" Blake totally incapable of continuing in the position of City Manager and should be removed immediately for causing imminent danger to the public health and safety of the citizens of Pocomoke City. (at 32-years Boss Hogg is the longest sitting city manager in America today)
My question to the citizens is;
What should the community do to insure that we are not exposed to one more case of gross negligence from an unlicensed contractor piping explosive gas under our property when the city government refuses to obey its own laws and exposes the citizens to danger to person and property without recourse?
8 comments:
you can check with the local soil conservation district or mde, but typically sediment and erosion control, and usually grading, permits are not required when the disturbance is less then 5000sf.
this is what is disturbed at 1 time.
usually installing pipes is done in small sections and thus these items are not required.
but i have known to be wrong on occasion
Be careful,Mayor McD might refer to you as a "sponge".I still cannot get past that-he owes that whole family a public apology for his foot in mouth disease.
Check out the Maryland hvacr codes as well as the plumbing codes and youll see that so many contractual companies are working illegaly its scary. If you complain they do nothing, their a joke.
Just a question, are eastern shore gas employees legal workers?
(Citizens)...
permits are not required when the disturbance is less then 5000sf.this is what is disturbed at 1 time.
You know if this was a "one off" siutation where a line was being replaced from the street to a single house, I would tend to agree.
The plan is a CITY WIDE REPLACEMENT of what the City called "...dangerous underground steel gas lines..."
The gas company notified the city they were replacing the lines, they labeled the lines as "dangerous" and there have been explosions from gas lines that have blown up homes and killed people.
5,000 linear feet of pipeline will disturb the amount of soil to require a permit or plan.
If not under this portion of the law, I am sure there is another portion of the health and safety code that can be applied.
The average citizen / property owner assumes that there are some sort of protections in place, in the rare event of damage to their property.
The Maryland Home Improvement Commission requires the small business owner who repairs my steps, roof or gas lines from the meter to my home to be:
Licensed
Bonded
Insured
To protect consumers / citizens from accidents and negligence.
Heck I grew up in Southern California (as did Mike McDermott) and if this had happened there we would have already been paid millions, or the repairs would have been done right away to avoid a lawsuit.
Boss Hogg and the Pocomoke City Government have torn down many privately owned buildings under the guise of them being "an immenent danger to public health and safety" then they seized the land.
What can a citizen who thinks they are dealing with a legitamite company do to protect themself?
If you don't let them on your property, your family will freeze or not be able to cook.
Why is it so hard to get the local government to protect the citizens?
One of the guys who hand dug the trench up my drive way was less than 5 feet tall and could not speak a word of English. He worked for Construction Unlimited, ESG's subcontractor.
Mike McD is too busy planning his rise to the state legislature to worry about P City.
As if his head isn't big enough already . . .
thanks for the warning i will make sure everyone i know hears about his aspirations to seek a status bump. he even sounds like a career politician, has a snappy typical corporate/government pat answer to everything. we have too many of those as it stands.
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