If a rotten utility pole falls onto a tree in a suburban backyard, who is responsible for picking it up? It appears that homeowners in the Chicago area are having a hard time getting answers to that question.
Vance Cole said his patience was put to the test after a utility pole fell onto a tree in his Park Forest backyard more than a year ago, preventing him from replacing his fence and threatening his and his neighbor’s safety.
"If this pole falls, it's going to knock out everyone in this system all the way down the street here," Cole told NBC 5 Responds.
Cole thought getting it removed would be a snap, but his request to get rid of the rotten pole quickly became very complicated once he started making phone calls to ComEd, AT&T and Comcast.
“Everyone would give me a different story,” Cole said. “No, this guy is in charge, this guy’s in charge, this guy’s in charge.”
One thing that was clear was that before the old pole could be removed, the lines attached to it had to be connected to the new pole. What wasn’t clear was whose job it was do that -- a question Cole said launched more than a year of finger pointing.
First, he called ComEd.
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“They said they can’t until the other utility companies take their line off the rotten pole," Cole said.
Then, Comcast.
"They came out three times asking for a Comcast box,” Cole lamented. “I want the line off the pole."
Then, AT&T, which also had lines there.
"For six to eight months, I’m getting the runaround game,” Cole said. “This has got to stop. Something has to happen.”
Watchdog group Citizen’s Utility Board told NBC 5 Responds complaints like Cole’s are common. CUB sees one or two cases like this every month, and also referees the issue, trying to get whomever owns the pole in question – in this case, Com Ed – to take the lead on getting the wires safely switched.
His patience exhausted, Cole called NBC 5 Responds. That’s when the utilities responded. AT&T moved its wires, Comcast did the same and cut part of the damaged pole, clearing the way for ComEd to remove the rest, and giving Cole the green light to put up his new fence.
"Thanks NBC 5 Responds, I couldn't have done it without you," Cole said.
