BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

The Township Broke My Sidewalk

So, right now, there's a hole in my sidewalk... I plan to call the township tomorrow to discuss the details.

Here's the deal, last week, out of nowhere the township, or more likely a subcontractor, showed up to start work on the street.  They dug up various things and as well dug up part of my lawn and sidewalk.

That in itself isn't really an issue, as long as it's restored back to how it was after they complete the work.

Now, they added some orange cones on Friday that said no parking in the street.

Today when I arrived home at 5pm... There was a hole where the patch job on my sidewalk is.  I went to call the township but they are closed after 5pm.  They open tomorrow at 8:30am.  I'll be calling on the dot.

What I did, in the mean time, is to move the orange cones, two of them, in front of the hole to make sure that no one falls into it.

It appears to me either the temporary looking asphalt collapsed in on its own under it's own weight, or, someone stepped on it.

Should the latter be the case, and it gets back to me... I'll be forced to take legal action in return against the township.

Now, when I call them tomorrow, because tomorrow is Halloween and there will be children walking up and down the street, if they brush off the issue and this goes un patched, I will be documenting tomorrow evening as children walk by the hole in my sidewalk.

To me, this is a serious issue, that the township would endanger children like that.

It's just unacceptable.  If they refuse to address the issue, I'll seek out legal counsel and take it from there.

I feel as though this probably should NOT get that far, because, from the township's point of view, if you let a hole, that YOU caused, go without resolving the issue, I'm not sure any judge is going to side with the township on that.

As always, I feel that legal recourse is a last resort.  So, I'll take all primary steps to resolve the issue.

Obviously if the township refuses to remedy the problem, it will be a matter for the courts to take on.

I'd hate for it to go that route.

My thing is, why would you start a project where you're digging up the sidewalk right before Halloween.  And really, Halloween is the ONLY holiday where children walk up and down the sidewalk, and some of them visibly unable to see very well due to their costume.  Additionally you may have parents pushing strollers... Etc. etc.

It's just a terrible project timeline.  Whoever approved the timeline of the project, unless it was done as an emergency, which I don't think it was because I did not detect any kind of emergency, no flooding water, no smell of gas, no poop water... And really those are the ONLY three reasons to dig up the streets.  Fresh water, sewer water, or gas are the only reasons, and then you either have emergency OR you have planned maintenance.

Now, I get it, maybe the ground did something unexpected.  And as long as they patch it ASAP, I'm sure that's fine.  Additionally, should anyone bring a complaint of some sort against me, I want a guarantee that any and all blame legally will be accepted by the township.

IF anyone has an issue related to stepping on the hole... I need the township to take on that, and legally, it's their obligation, since, as I remember from one of the few law classes I took in college, fault is found by taking away the event that caused it.

SO, if the sidewalk had never have been modified, would the person have had the event still occur under the same circumstance.

NO.

Therefore, the fault is of the entity who caused the modification to the sidewalk.... The township.

I'll call them tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.