SCHTICK00 said:

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I don't understand not starting with the owner/contractor/developer first. It may not be as adversarial as everyone is making it out to be. It's quite obvious the ditch needs to be armored and fence repaired, so be reasonable and give them a chance to be reasonable

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I'm definitely giving him a chance to do the right thing first. I'm not rushing out to file suit tomorrow, but just getting my ducks in a row in the event that he decides to just do a half ass job on this. We did send him polite messages yesterday and I have let it be since then to see what he does and have not been adversarial at all about it.

Of course he told me yesterday that they were getting someone out to work on it, then he's told my neighbor this morning that they were going to have someone out to do a temporary fix and then a crew for a permanent fix. One of the neighbors talked to the property manager weeks ago about the issue and was told they were going to do something. Nothing was ever done.

In the meantime, since the messages to me and my neighbor, absolutely nothing. Nobody has been out to look at it, much less do anything. Granted, I don't think they're going anywhere because they know where they're fed, but I'd prefer not having any of my chickens or ducks meander off to his property to check things out. I have critters in that section of my yard that I'd like to keep there.

It's already looking like he's kicking the can and delaying doing anything so that typically isn't viewed as a good sign from my experiences.

So you stated that the developer built the fence. From the one photo posted with a survey marker, it appears the fence there is entirely on his property. Is it entirely on his property the entire length of the fence?

tamc93 said:

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It sounds like you found the right person.


PE - Professional Engineer - Look up his PE number to see how long he has been registered. Less than 100k and you are dealing with some older.

CFM - Certified Floodplain Manager

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Found him on LinkedIn. He looks fairly young, maybe 40s max. But that doesn't necessarily mean much.

I did request that if possible I would be able to meet with him in person to talk about it.


And what's crazy, is the property manager that I am talking to said they DID have these plans drawn up by an engineer. That's pretty insane.

Every ditch will erode until it has vegetation, that's why txdot pays for silt removal and ditch repair in the process of construction. It's not because the engineer is an idiot or the contractor didn't do their job. Ditches along property lines are pretty common and it takes some time to get vegetation to cover. In your situation, putting down filter fabric and then bullock or 3x5 will armor it and stop the erosion everywhere except the discharge point of the culvert. That's going to take installing a bend or junction box to straighten it out and then concrete riprap with dissipators to slow the water down

tamc93 said:

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Looks like an older guy in his second career, so hopefully more practical and experienced.

Also, them filling in the ditch with rocks is not a long term solution. Knee jerk reaction is the pipe discharge will exceed the ditch capacity (especially if filled) and cause it to run across your property causing more issues.

I highly doubt a competent engineer was used on this project. If you cannot tell, I am getting more and more salty about crappy designs.

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Yeah, I'm just an ag major, but even I would have never looked at this and thought "well, this looks like a great plan". Of course I am the son of a civil engineer..... so maybe I have a little of it in my blood. This also though looks like plain ass common sense that this was stupid to cut right along the property line with that high of a straight vertical drop. When I saw that dozer running right along the property line I knew this crap was going to be a problem. Took awhile, but here we are.

Hopefully this guy from the county has some say in the final design and improvement. And it looks like he graduated from college in 2012...... you're telling me that's old? Get out of here lol.

If he's in his 40s and graduated from TAMU in 2012, ex-military maybe?

Then again, I'm 36 and look like I'm in my 40s.

Looking at his work experience he started working in 1988, so probably closer to my age than not.

tamc93 said:

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Looking at his work experience he started working in 1988, so probably closer to my age than not.

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We may be looking at a different person. This guy graduated from UTA in Civil Engineering in 2012

He already knows that he's in the wrong.
He's anticipating you're going to squeal.
He probably already has a plan in place.
Ultimately it will all be rectified in your favor.
You're old enough to know fretting solves nothing.
Don't fret…
Occam's Razor

nm

Not to derail, but wanted to respond to JP. This particular one was in Bryan, not College Station, if I recall. I know they inspected because they red flagged an install because the gas vent shifted and was 1/8" closer to flammable materials than code allowed. I had to go out and trim that back to be compliant. In this case, this is exactly what code enforcement and permits are designed for and exactly what they should be accomplishing. I am 100% in favor of it when it works like this. In most places, as you have alluded to, it's just a fee for the contractor and a revenue stream for the city. That is OK also, but if that's the case, I don't like to have everything held up by red tape.

Player To Be Named Later said:

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Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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I am guessing this guy is doing all of this freelance? When I put our buildings up, we had to pay a f--- ton of money to an engineer to calculate and shoot elevations, come up with drainage plans, design parking, channel water correctly, etc.

I'm pretty sure that if that were my location, I would have been required to make that 'ditch' concrete with some manner of short retaining wall to keep that from happening.

Did this fella not use one of those pesky engineers?

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Man, it sure doesn't look like he used any kind of engineer does it? I can't imagine any engineer signing off on this half ass "ditch" along a property line.

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even if an engineer signed off on something that was correct, they may have ignored it and put it in how they wanted.

OP, it just occurred to me that this is perfect for your situation and it is close to free. See below and please don't disregard it because it says Lubbock County. This is where their office is located but it applies anywhere.

https://www.lubbockcounty.gov/department/division.php?structureid=111