Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/384751
76 • OCTOBER 2014 • WORLD FENCE NEWS FENCER'S MEMORIAM: IN REMEMBRANCE A Special Memoriam Will Be Presented In The January 2015 Edition Of World Fence News In Honor Of Those Members Of The Fencing Community Who Passed Away During 2014. If You Lost A Member of Your Family Or Business During 2014 Who Was Involved In The Fence Industry, We Invite You To Submit Their Name In Order That They May Be Included In The Special Memoriam. Please Provide Their Name, Company, City And State, Title, And Dates Of Birth and Death. Also Include A Phone Number So That We May Contact You If Necessary. E-mail To World Fence News Managing Editor Rick Henderson At editor@worldfencenews.com. The Special Memoriam Is Presented Each Year, And Is Sponsored By Caring Members Of The Fence Industry Who Wish To Pay Special Tribute To Those Friends And Peers Who Are No Longer With Us. Wild fence, er, goose chase continued from previous page reinstalled one foot inside the proper- ty line. A diagram must be submitted. A surveyor's records resent. Etc., etc. I say fine, I'm agreeable. Send a man out to show me where the city right-of-way is. I'll have it down in half an hour. Of course, I would have to be li- censed in the city to take down the fence. How much would it cost? (I'm covering all the legal bases on this one. I'm actually beginning to enjoy myself, too. The day's shot anyway, so I might as well have some fun.) This one gets me a rung higher on the bureaucratic ladder. They determine that according to the rules, I must be licensed. Howev- er, a license could not be issued un- til the violation was corrected. In the meantime I would be guilty of crim- inal trespass and vandalism if I took the fence down without being licensed and permitted! Catch 22! We take this to a higher power – the city manager. H's a nice guy, col- lege degree in business, etc. I explain the whole mess to him. He says he can't ask for more than me to fix the violation for free. I tell him to send a guy out to mark the right-of-way, and it's done. It ain't the city's job to mark the rights-of-way, he says. He suggests I hire a surveyor, and I point out that it ain't my job to hire surveyors! It's the city's road, not mine! The city doesn't have a surveyor, so I give him the name and number of mine. I tell him he works cheap, and has got a built-in transit in his head – 40 years of experience. Then I throw in the "zinger." How the hell can the city complain about a right-of-way violation when no one knows where the right-of-way is to be- gin with? The code man told me he had no idea where it was. (I heard him on the phone when the question came up.) The city manager admits that I have a good point. Well, there is only one way to resolve this – the 33,000-page Code Book. It is in this book that we dis- cover that the city is in violation of its own code. An 8-foot fence is required around all machinery and storage areas. The city only has a 6-footer around the equipment barn, I notice. Heh-heh-heh! No one would have noticed that fact except for me pointing it out to them. The city manager tells me he can't OK me for a license until I get the vi- olation corrected. He suggests that I "sorta go out there and explain to the people the situation, and get them to pull you a permit to take the fence down." "Can't do it," I say. "Your code don't allow citizens to pull their own permits. I saw it a few pages back in the code book. You wouldn't want me to break the law, would you, sir?" We rule out a court order, it would take too long and be too expensive. I suggest a "one-shot temporary permit" but the city manager says they don't have temporary permits, and if they did, you'd have to have a license to get one! Well, how about a "temporary one-shot license" so they could issue me a "temporary one-shot permit?" I could trade the temporary license up for a real one when the violation was corrected. We both look at the code book and I suggest that the manager just quote a page number and para- graph section, since no one is going to check it anyway. Well, Glory be! The thing goes through. The sky doesn't fall on us, nobody gets hit with a lightning bolt, and the paint continues to peel off the walls. I tell 'em, all, "Now we're all guilty of conspiracy!" They don't think that's very funny. The city manager says, "Will you get the hell out of here! Get that damn fence down, and your license will be here as soon as we get the word that it's down!" We explain the situation to the fence owner, and she says, "Fine, go ahead and pull it down!" I get it done, go back to city hall, announce that it's down, and tell them to send an inspector out to see. "We'll take your word for it," they say. "That'll be $60 for the license." Then they tell me they need a continued on page 78 It ain't the city's job to mark the rights-of-way, he says. He suggests I hire a surveyor, and I point out that it ain't my job to hire surveyors! It's the city's road, not mine!