A Kansas City homeowner is disgruntled after coming home to find a large trench dug in his front yard by construction crews laying new fiber.
"To me, it just isn't right,” said Gary Medlock. "We had no notice."
Medlock lives near 41st and Prospect, a street currently getting AT&T’s latest fiber technology. However, laying down the fiber means contractors have to dig holes, sometimes large ones, like the one currently seen in Medlock’s front yard.
"I'm just hoping that once it's done, if there's a problem with this area, or our home due to this digging, that the city sends these folks out here to repair it,” said Medlock.
The hole in Medlock’s yard measures just a little more than fifteen feet from the edge of the curb – a distance the City of Kansas City told 41 Action News is within the legal ‘right of way.’
The City said that that particular parcel of the city has a ‘right of way’ of 17-feet from the curb. They also provided 41 Action News with a copy of the proper permit, confirming that the contractor laying down the fiber is Rock and Dirt Construction.
Although the trench is within legal boundaries, AT&T and contractors met with Medlock Wednesday afternoon and reassured him they will repair his yard as soon as possible.
AT&T sent 41 Action News the following statement:
Our goal is to minimize impact on residents before, during and after construction and to keep them informed through a variety of means throughout the network expansion process. If construction related issues do occur we work quickly to resolve and restore any impacts from our work.
AT&T also said they place signage within subdivisions to notify residents before digs and watch contractors closely in case of poor performance and damages.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
