The bill read $1,932,880. That was disappointing for Nancy Flinn of Poplar Street, NW who can show reams of communications with Verizon dating back to the Fall of 2008 in her attempt to get somebody to take responsibility for the Verizon utility pole that is a conduit for cat burglars, a precarious home for telephone and other utility wires and, because it presses against the roof, a real threat to her tiny house. She’s contacted Councilmembers Jack Evans, David Catania, the mayor’s office, lawyers, friends and Verizon and Pepco with little result. Now she has found the responsible party: Nancy Flinn, or so says Verizon. (See Verizon update below.)
Katherine Tallmadge (left) and Nancy Flinn look at the stump of the tree that was adding to the pressure on the pole leaning on and damaging Flinn's house.
Flinn’s pleas were heard by Christine Kidwell, “my hero,” in Mayor Fenty’s office. Kidwell arranged for the Department of Transportation’s Urban Forestry Administration to remove the tree that was adding to the pressure on the pole.
Obviously, Verizon also has answered her plea, but not in the way she wanted. In an April 20th letter, Jose Morales and Kirk Moir offered to bury the lines for close to $2 million as an “Advance Payment amount [and] no further engineering work and no work order will be issued or scheduled until payment is received.”
The greetings on the stump that DDOT cut down.
“I felt really hurt and very disappointed,” said Flinn about the $2 million email. “There’s not a way in the world I can come with this kind of money. I can’t sell my house and I’m in the middle of a health crisis and it’s created a lot of stress. I guess I’m not important in the scheme of things and Verizon is just going to ignore me and hope I’ll go away.”
. . . . . . .
In an email today to the Dish, Sandra Arnette, Verizon spokesperson stressed that the "estimate was not for work involving one resident, but the whole square block that's presently served by that aerial run." The undergrounding would be for service not just for Poplar Street, but also for homes one block south on O Street and one block north on P Street. The estimate was in answer to a request from Flinn for information to help to get stimulus money from DC to underground the wires. The project would include digging up the street, installing a new manhole system and other work.
3 Comments For This Article
If any resident in DC wired something like that they wouldn't get a permit in a million years. Are there no codes or standards for large rich corporations?
What an outrageous response from Verizon!
And where is the city in all this?
No one anywhere else in Washington DC was asked to pay for burying their wires!
As a resident of Poplar Street, now on assignment in Pakistan, I thought I'd let you all know that all wires in Islamabad are underground. This town isn't nearly as dangerous as you might guess, so I've been walking around all the local neighborhoods daily for exercise--and haven't found any overhead wires yet.
And this is supposed to be a Third World country!
Don't you all think Washington DC could keep up with the capital of Pakistan?
Time for action!
Malcolm Odell
2712 Poplar St NW
Washington, DC
(and Islamabad, Pakistan)
Verizon and the City Council have been negligent, and have caused much stress and illness to the residents of Poplar Street. Their reaction is outrageous and it should be apparent to the officials who should order them to fix the situation.