Sewer installation woes continue

Dear editor:

Let me preface these observations/comments by saying that the work crews on the sewers in King City have done the jobs they were contracted to perform (although at times even they queried the logic) in a business-like manner. They were polite and helpful to the residents with regard to getting us in and out of our driveways, and even on two or three occasions, moved everyone's garbage and blue boxes to the end of the street, where they could be picked up with no problem. Yes, they brought the boxes back at the end of the day.

Our section of Patricia Drive is approximately 1,600 feet from Keele Street and the intersection of Elizabeth Grove. The first machinery arrived April 13 and promptly tore up the asphalt, leaving us with, in effect, a dirt road. The rest of the month, we were used as a supply area for gravel, stone, sand and pipes, while the main sewer line was

installed on Clearview Heights (parallel to and north of us). Actual digging commenced on our street as of May 25. The 12-foot deep trench crossed in front of my property on the 29th. the main pipe was installed and the trench back filled and compacted.

June 6, they returned to my house, dug down 12 feet again at 90 degrees to the main pipe, crossed the ditch and into out lawn, severing in the process our phone and TV cable lines (flags indicating their location being wrongly placed), to install the smaller lateral pipe, which we will eventually connect to. They refilled and compacted the hole.

This process was repeated a couple of days later for installation of the lateral to the house opposite. On this occasion, the natural gas line, running up the other side of the road, was nearly cut. But for the vigilance of the shovel operator. Again the location

flags were wrongly placed. In this case, four feet from where they should have been.

June 13, we arranged for carpet cleaning, and the crew held off replacing our culvert until after the service was complete. The shock came when the culvert was installed approximately one foot deeper and two feet closer to the house, creating an entirely new contour to the ditches, which had served their purpose with no problem for more than 40 years.

Down the street, toward Keele, some of those have almost vertical walls, and there is no way one could cut them safely with a lawn mower.

Most of my neighbours, like myself, are appalled by what we now have to deal with. These "scars of earth" have been subjected to the elements for the past six weeks or so, washing away the ends of our driveways and silting up the culverts themselves.

The landscaping people started to clean up the area Aug. 1 and spread top soil, preparatory to laying sod. That took place at our house Aug. 4, to the annoyance of friends on Kingslynn Drive (four streets north), who have been waiting longer than us.

Our house was nominated in the Communities in Bloom contest in 2004. Obviously it had some curb appeal. Sad to say it will never look that way again.

I wonder how much this may have affected our resale value. Sixteen weeks of dust, dirt, disruption and destruction. And I have to pay for this!

Ray Beale,

King City