Stormy Weather

The wind tore through the cottonwood trees on the other side of our back fence sounding like an airplane flying low over the house or a train passing in the distance. The trees are about twelve feet from the fence near a shallow canal going past our property that is used for runoff water from the larger canal located a few blocks away near some small farms.

We don’t own the tributary canal that carries the runoff from the larger county owned canal, but we do own the land six feet past our back fence. It is an easement controlled by the Tahoe-Reno Land Grab (TRLG) organization, or a similar name. We call it TRLG (which is a fictitious name made up by me) because we see it as a land grab. Nobody knows who the people are that own, control, or work at TRLG.

The small canal behind us has tall trees on either side of a shallow ditch which was dug years ago, way before our neighborhood houses were built. The TRLG claims ownership of the shallow ditch (canal) and three-foot strips of land on either side of it with six-foot easements on both sides beyond that, constituting 18 feet of unusable land between our back fence and the property boundary of the neighbor behind us.

They don’t do anything with it as far as we know. For instance, last year a large limb was ripped off one of the trees behind our fence. It fell and broke part of the fence which surprised us because the fence is made of concrete. We talked with the neighbor behind us who calmly told us to pound sand and call the city. He had lived there a long time and knew for sure he would not be found responsible for the tree branch falling in our yard. We called the city, and they said to call TRLG which we did after a very short but firm conversation with the city employee who obviously was reading from a script.

The city employee who mumbled his name told us our neighbor was not responsible even though the tree branch was ripped off a tree on his side of the canal, and again the TRLG organization wasn’t responsible. We were. If we had any questions, we could call our homeowner’s insurance company, but he was sure they wouldn’t have any answers either.

I happen to belong to a local service club that has two retired county workers as members. They both told me that nobody knew who TRLG members were or where or when they met. There is a website indicating they are somehow connected with county conservation and water works of some sort, but it is vague and has no contacts listed.

I called several city and county offices which led to the same two people who both told me that the tree branch was not their problem. And it probably wouldn’t be covered by homeowner’s insurance either and they both said it was their policy to fine us if we didn’t fix the fence. Conversations were very short and sounded rehearsed, so I assumed that this situation had been discussed several times with other homeowners in the last few years.

I called our homeowner’s insurance company, and they confirmed that they would not cover the cost of removing the tree branch because it flew onto our fence from someone else’s property. For instance, if an entire tree had fallen on our roof from our own backyard, it would have been partially covered but they were very sorry they couldn’t help us. We would have to deal with it ourselves which meant climbing over our six-foot-high backyard fence. We’re in our seventies which I have a sneaking suspicion they knew.

Our back fence is at approximately the midpoint of the distance of the tributary canal so I am guessing that TRLG people, whoever they are, would have to walk or ride a horse or something to inspect our fence and give us a warning (which they said was required) to remove the branch and fix the fence and then fine us when we didn’t comply.

I called a local handyman who advertised that he had expertise in removing tree limbs and dead trees. He came over and told us that the branch was too thick for his saw, and he would have to come back in an hour with a chainsaw.

We were lucky and had a young, hungry relative who was willing to help the handyman remove the branch. He helped us and also fixed the concrete fence for a few hundred dollars. Nobody from TRLG ever called back or came to see if we had fixed anything. So, the large branch was left on the ground on the other side of the fence which is fine with us.

We were okay, but it did make me wonder about the canal. It is shallow and about six feet wide with six feet of land on either side. It has been damp, but not full of water for years so there is a lot of brush in the canal. I wondered about leaving the dry cottonwood branch on the ground near our fence. Is that dangerous? I didn’t want to call the city to ask since they made it clear that the land is not part of the city but is part of TRLG.

So, now when I hear the loud wind rushing through the trees I wonder if they will be falling in anyone’s yard soon. It’s frustrating when nobody takes responsibility, and we can’t cut them down because the land behind our fence is an easement even though technically, according to the city, county, and insurance adjustor, it is ours.

During the latest windstorm I was told we have owls. My husband says there are four of them. He says we also have eagles. When the wind picks up, I hear the owls and low flying airplanes (in my mind) and I lie awake wondering when the weather will calm down and I will feel safe again. Then I picture the canal overflowing and our fence falling into the canal, our dog running away, the wild horses who roam the neighborhood getting spooked, roofs getting smashed, our backyard hot tub being destroyed, the Rottweilers next door getting loose and howling all over the place, and I just want to find one of the TRLG people and drag them over to our property and make them sit there in the cold for at least an hour.

That to me is what I consider to be a perfect storm. Devastation everywhere and nobody to call. My supposition is that the county workers, who are a great bunch of people, would eventually come out to help us in the neighborhood, but I don’t know when or if they would be available, willing, or even able to help.

I know I have a big imagination sometimes, but I really feel strongly about the spookiness of the wind tearing through the trees. Before I knew about the owls, I really thought I was hearing spirits in the backyard talking to me asking who I am. Those poor birds are not happy when the wind blows.

I talked again to the retired county personnel, and they said they don’t know of anyone who has contact with the TRLG and they have no suggestions for us homeowners.

I wasn’t too worried. To me the winds, heavy rain, owls, eagles, Rottweilers, wild horses and the occasional snowfall make for interesting stormy weather. I can’t speak for my neighbors.

But even before the incident with the fire which I shall discuss later, I thought maybe I should speak for my neighbors. Maybe we should get together and approach the mayor of our town to find out who is responsible for the easement behind our group of homes. I asked a few neighbors about our easements and was surprised to learn that several of them weren’t aware that about six feet behind their back fence was an easement on their property. In other words, they owned more property than they thought they did. But they couldn’t use it because it belonged to the canal people, who were silent. One construction safety worker for the water district told us he had never met anyone belonging to TRLG and was told to just do his job and not ask any more questions. Being a county safety officer, he naturally was curious and asked who was in charge of the easement area and was sternly put in his place by his superiors. “Joe, if you ask any more questions, we might have to reassign you.”

I thought about his answer and decided that it was unacceptable. The trees behind our fence were twelve feet away but with the wind we have been having that might not mitigate safety problems. We needed answers and, after trying more phone calls, my husband and I determined that the best way to get the attention of the mayor was to show up at a city meeting en masse.

The mayor was not happy. In fact, we were encouraged to leave the meeting until we could behave better. What?

We were strong with our questions but weren’t misbehaving, especially when compared to some of the city and school meetings we have seen on TV and the internet.

So, we decided to talk to our neighbors who agreed to hold a meeting at a local restaurant where three people were appointed to find out as much as they could about the easement situation. One had lived in town for 27.5 years and had a big mouth, so he was chosen right away. The other was a mother of four who had an interest in schools in the area but also didn’t want her children to get hurt or burned while playing in their yard.

The third person, unfortunately, was me. I apologized to my husband, and he said, “Yeah, yeah. I knew you were bored and would cook up something to work on. You’ve been antsy ever since you retired. I don’t care. Go ahead and do it. Arguing with the city and county, and maybe the state, will be fun to watch. Just back off if anyone threatens us. I don’t run very fast anymore.”

He was partially right. We were threatened but we didn’t take it to heart. The person threatening us was 82 years old and walked even slower than we do. He said he knew who to call and would take care of the whole situation himself. The truth was that he doesn’t know anyone here. He is sliding downhill with his memory but apparently was a spitfire at one time in his life and a major pain in the butt to the town he came from. At least that’s what we were told.

We neighbors gathered our forces and went to the next town hall meeting and confronted the mayor. He pretended not to remember us from anywhere. “Say, Mr. Mayor, we know who to call if those trees burn down or the canal overflows. What we want to know is who is responsible for the easement land? We are concerned about who is supposed to maintain it. And who do we call when the creek runs dry, or the cottonwood trees grow too tall?

The six-foot easements are not shown on our property maps. So, are we responsible for cleaning up any of it? Who should we contact about people walking behind our fence, especially if they are smoking and could easily start a brush fire if they throw their cigarette down? We are not only worried about are homes but our children, pets and any people in our back yards.”

The mayor cleared his throat and said, “We’ll get back to you.”

Okay, now I have seen people yelling in meetings before, but this went over the top. We all stood up and shook our fists at him. “No! We need to know. Who do we call in an emergency? Who do we call if we want to clear our own areas? What is our status regarding ownership of the property? Is it ours? Is it theirs? And, most importantly, who are They?”

The mayor looked at other members of the city council who all had blank looks on their faces. Clearly, they knew nothing. We are a small rural town, and I think they should have known something about the TRLG but apparently, they were clueless.

We left the meeting with assurances that the matter would be looked into and someone from the city would get back to us in a week. Yeah, right. None of us believed them but we had accomplished our mission for that night … we were heard.

Now we had to follow through with our own research and many of us decided to hold a meeting in a few days to divide up the research duties.

Unfortunately, before we held a meeting to organize ourselves, some young man who was new to the neighborhood decided to start a small campfire in the vacant lot on the border of our neighborhood. What happened next was that the fire spread, and the fire station was called. There was chaos up and down every street for a few hours before the fire was put out. The fire department and some police went door-to-door to let us know we were all safe, but they had no answers regarding the status of the easement property. Okay, now we were mad and went to City Hall to stage a stand in. We couldn’t sit for a sit in because the City Hall had very few chairs in the entryway, so we stood until police were called to disperse the crowd.

The next day the mayor held an emergency meeting with city council members to discuss the situation and let our neighborhood group know that the organization in question (TRLG) had been appointed over 25 years ago, and they agreed to be reorganized.

Apparently, TRLG had very little paperwork on file and couldn’t answer any questions about our properties. Some of them quit on the spot. Only a few remained to help reorganize themselves, and they also agreed to help the state take over administering their organization. Since we didn’t know what they ever did, we were glad to hear that TRLG would have some oversight from the state.

At least we had some answers. I talked with Lars as we sat outside in the evening drinking coffee and looking at the partially burnt trees behind our neighbor’s house. Our property hadn’t been touched by the fire. We talked about being relieved that the issue had reached the state level. Friends of ours who had been directors and owners of small businesses were appointed to the new state-run organization so we were comfortable that the issue of the easement property would be handled in a sane manner by competent people. We also knew that it would take time, but we agreed that some progress is better than the confusion we used to have.

Suddenly the wind breezed, and I thought I heard two owls addressing us. It sounded like they were whispering, “You’ll be okay. Don’t worry. We’re here.”