New Neighbor Runs Over Welcome Wagon

[Tigermike 3,041]

New Neighbor Runs Over Welcome Wagon

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

A New Jersey man has seriously failed to impress his new neighbors.

Craig Rieck bought a lovely 1929 faux-colonial four-bedroom white brick house in Chatham Township, N.J., for $1.17 million. But he didn't like where it was; he preferred a more secluded spot 500 feet down the road.

So Rieck hired professional house movers to truck the 150-ton, 40-foot high building and got all the necessary permits, reports the Newark Star-Ledger.

The movers came last Monday morning and jacked the house up onto a huge 32-wheeled dolly. Then things started to go wrong.

"The house was too wide. It was too tall. There were too many obstacles. Trees. Power lines," police Lt. George Peterson told the newspaper last Tuesday.

By 4:30 p.m., an hour before the job was meant to have been done, the house had moved just 50 feet. That's when the crew took matters into its own hands.

Neighbors were aghast as poles carrying electricity and telephone service to their homes — and Chatham's town hall — were taken down, ancient trees sitting on their front lawns were felled and giant floodlights lit up the entire road, which had been closed to traffic all day.

"It was a disaster, a nightmare," said neighbor Susan Schneider. "They were taking down, chopping huge old trees ... My street is no longer what it was."

Twelve hours later, the house had almost gotten to where it was supposed to be — and the dolly's axle broke.

Then it rained, leaving the whole mess sitting in a pool of mud in the middle of the road.

By the end of the day Thursday, the axle had been replaced, the street had dried out and three trucks had managed to move the house onto its new lot.

The road was reopened and power and telephone service were restored to 150 people, many of whom immediately called their lawyers.

Rieck, who has already paid $15,000 for police overtime, and had taken out a $2 million insurance policy for the move, may be sued by the town for work lost while the town hall sat dark and empty Tuesday.

He also said he had a permit to take down any tree within 25 feet of the center of the road, but Morris County (search) isn't so sure.

"We did not give them permission to cut those trees," Patric Hyland, director of the county Shade Tree Division. "Our policy is not to take down healthy trees."

Another official is more sympathetic to Rieck, who lives with his family in another town but plans to move into the house once its new foundation has been completed.

"I feel bad for him because everything went wrong," said Steve Beecher, senior Morris County road inspector. "People right now are not too thrilled with him, but people have short memories."

Dale Aungst, owner of the house-moving company, who may be facing some serious liability himself, was more succinct.

"I've been in this business since 1975," said Aungst, "and this job takes the cake."

— Thanks to Out There reader Melissa T.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,124074,00.html

[bammanmr 0]

What an ass!

[SLAG-91 1,483]

What an ass!

I'll second that.

[TrueTiger 0]

Ha.... Was it that bad of lot?