Flags Across Ridge

[gemma_rae]

@my-thyme Before we got all of the flags hung, these 2 flags had already been removed. We went to the homeowner to ask what the issue was, stating that we had permission from the utility companies to put the flags on the poles. He stated that he could not be associated with American flags on his property, something to the effect that he had problems with America right now. A couple of times he mentioned gay pride flags but not sure what his point was, unless he was trying to say that we would have a problem with gay pride flags like he has a problem with the American flag. The person with me nor myself never indicated we had any issue with other flags, just that we were trying to make Ridge feel like a small town with patriotism and that we were not making a political statement with these flags, keeping it neutral by only hanging the American flag. The heck of it is his wife came out to speak to us while we were putting up the flags in front of their house and she never indicated her objection to them.

Oh well I guess you can't please everyone, but it is obvious that the only flags missing are the 2 in front of his house. A couple of people sent texts to me Monday evening asking about these 2 poles without flags. We did get our flags back from him and will be placing them elsewhere.

Of course I wasn't there to get a feel for the tone of the conversation, but perhaps the current occupant of the WH has something to do with his mind set. It is kind of hard to separate regard for our Cheater in Chief apart from regard for the current state of our country.

I think I'll just stay laser focused on what exactly memorial day is really about, remembrance of our fallen warriors. They fought for this guys right to NOT have to fly the flag too.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

Looks really nice, TPD. My grandson loves the "Camerican" flags.


View attachment 164335

Gotta hater in Ridge, huh? I see two poles with brackets and no flags.

View attachment 164336

What's up with that?

Looks like a public right-of-way right in front and to the side of that bartards house. 1st Amendment can be exercised here. Get a group of people all carrying the flag and walk back and forth and around the corner. Get a convoy of cars driving in front, turn around the corner then make a U-turn and continue again.

Besides, @TPD has/had permission to hang those flags on SMECO property. That pole sits on a right-of-way granted to SMECO. The owner of that house has no authority to remove anything from SMECO owned property without first obtaining permission. In addition, as close to the road as those poles are, I would also wager that they are within the county's road right-of-way. A double trespass owner no-no.

 

[TPD]

We put the flags back on the poles in Ridge today - just in time for Memorial Day!

 

[Merlin99]

If I may ...


Looks like a public right-of-way right in front and to the side of that bartards house. 1st Amendment can be exercised here. Get a group of people all carrying the flag and walk back and forth and around the corner. Get a convoy of cars driving in front, turn around the corner then make a U-turn and continue again.

Besides, @TPD has/had permission to hang those flags on SMECO property. That pole sits on a right-of-way granted to SMECO. The owner of that house has no authority to remove anything from SMECO owned property without first obtaining permission. In addition, as close to the road as those poles are, I would also wager that they are within the county's road right-of-way. A double trespass owner no-no.

SMECO doesn’t own the property if it’s a right of way, the homeowner still owns it. The only thing that SMECO does own is the pole itself.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

SMECO doesn’t own the property if it’s a right of way, the homeowner still owns it. The only thing that SMECO does own is the pole itself.

That's kinda what I said .....

"The owner of that house has no authority to remove anything from SMECO owned property". The "property" being the pole, not the land it sits on. The pole, (the property, the thing, the item), ownership of which being SMECO's, being placed upon the right-of-way, (the land), use of which is granted to SMECO by the land owner, property that is installed upon the land by SMECO. @TPD obtained permission to place flags on SMECO's poles, ie., SMECO's property.

Here's the language of the granting of a right-of-way to SMECO .....

"That for and in consideration of the sum of $-0-, and for other good and valuable considerations, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the said Grantor does hereby grant and convey unto SMECO, its successors and assigns, a ten foot wide easement or right-of-way to place, construct, operate, repair, maintain, upgrade, relocate, and replace from time to time thereon or thereunder and in, an underground/overhead electric distribution and communication line or system as staked by SMECO's engineer."

 

[musiclady]

OK here's your next project. You can embed a song in the road. The 1 we experienced in New Mexico played America the Beautiful. That would be a great addition to your patriotic road.

This Strip of Route 66 Plays 'America the Beautiful'

As long as drivers are going exactly 45 mph.

www.atlasobscura.com

Looked it up. It doesn't work well anymore. They took down the signs and repaved the road. Bummer, sounded like something I'd add to my trip to experience.

 

[TPD]

And of course my favorite citizen of Ridge took down the 2 flags in front of his house in about 3 hours of us putting them up yesterday. AND he took the brackets off of the poles as well. Last year he left the brackets there.

 

[RoseRed]

And of course my favorite citizen of Ridge took down the 2 flags in front of his house in about 3 hours of us putting them up yesterday. AND he took the brackets off of the poles as well. Last year he left the brackets there.

What a jerk.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

And of course my favorite citizen of Ridge took down the 2 flags in front of his house in about 3 hours of us putting them up yesterday. AND he took the brackets off of the poles as well. Last year he left the brackets there.

Go back and install new brackets with security screws. The type of screws that once screwed in, cannot be loosened or removed. Place new flags. Then, install a camera on a pole not on his property but adjacent to it adjusted to view and record the problem poles. Wait until he takes them again, then post his unpatriotic ass on every social media outlet.

Or, in lieu of a camera, just let us all know when you do install them again, and someone will be parked close by to record the ass-hole. We'll make him infamous.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Oh. And one more possible solution @TPD . . . . .

When installing the new flags, drill a hole through the bracket at such an angel as to drill though the flag pole itself at such a diameter as to install a lock through the hole. Then lock those flags in place. Then, the only way for him to remove them is to break them off, if he so dared. In addition, print up a little note, about an index card size, laminated or placed inside a small Ziploc bag, right under the bracket, saying, "This flag is under video surveillance. Removal without authorization constitutes a crime."

Thinking this would really work and scare him into submission. Give it a go.

 

[Merlin99]

For your consideration ...



That's kinda what I said .....

"The owner of that house has no authority to remove anything from SMECO owned property". The "property" being the pole, not the land it sits on. The pole, (the property, the thing, the item), ownership of which being SMECO's, being placed upon the right-of-way, (the land), use of which is granted to SMECO by the land owner, property that is installed upon the land by SMECO. @TPD obtained permission to place flags on SMECO's poles, ie., SMECO's property.

Here's the language of the granting of a right-of-way to SMECO .....

"That for and in consideration of the sum of $-0-, and for other good and valuable considerations, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the said Grantor does hereby grant and convey unto SMECO, its successors and assigns, a ten foot wide easement or right-of-way to place, construct, operate, repair, maintain, upgrade, relocate, and replace from time to time thereon or thereunder and in, an underground/overhead electric distribution and communication line or system as staked by SMECO's engineer."

No place in the there does it allow SMECO do more than to place infrastructure on that easement. I’m all for allowing this, but the homeowner really does have a say in this. What if the flags were rainbow, would you still try to force the homeowner to keep them up?

 

[stgislander]

No place in the there does it allow SMECO do more than to place infrastructure on that easement. I’m all for allowing this, but the homeowner really does have a say in this. What if the flags were rainbow, would you still try to force the homeowner to keep them up?

Interesting. Put up rainbow flags in front of the homeowner's house and see if they leave them up.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

No place in the there does it allow SMECO do more than to place infrastructure on that easement. I’m all for allowing this, but the homeowner really does have a say in this. What if the flags were rainbow, would you still try to force the homeowner to keep them up?

Well .... after looking at the photo from last year, this house in question is on Point Lookout Rd and those poles are on the State public right-of-way. The public right-of-way on public roads, county roads, State roads, extends well past the shoulders of the road, typically 10 to 15 feet beyond the road shoulders. This means that the home owner does not even own the land on that public right-of-way land.

Proof he doesn't own the land those poles are on ...

 

[Merlin99]

If that’s true then the whole point is moot. The discussion is then with the state who may be harder to deal with.

 

[3CATSAILOR]

A couple weeks ago I came up with another one of my crazy ideas - I wanted to put an American flag on every utility pole from the intersection in Ridge down to the hardware store - 40 flags total. I wanted them to hang from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. I went to the American Legion to see if they would help in this endeavor. I said I would put up $500. They agreed to match. A forum member here threw in $100 towards the cause. The Legion Ladies Auxiliary said they would make up the difference. One of the guys at the bar said he had a bucket truck that he would provide to hang the flags. Others at the bar thought it was a great idea and immediately started getting on the phone to make calls to SMECO and Verizon to get permission to put flags on their poles. Within a week we had all the permissions and the monies we needed. My daughter ordered the flags and and the solar lights to go on top of the flag poles. My employees at the store assembled all of the flags and lights. Today it all came together and we got the flags hung! My thanks to Bay Forrest Tree Service for his use of the bucket truck, to the Legion, Auxiliary, and forum member for donation of cash to help with costs, to my employees who prepared all of the flags, and to a local community member who helped me put the flags up today. I think Ridge looks like a nice small town you would be proud to live in or do business in!

I will have a full video on my Youtube channel in the next week or so. In the mean time here is a short clip.



View attachment 164303
View attachment 164304

Very cool!!!

 

[Tech]

From looking at Google Maps, it's too close to call without a survey, To me they may be on his property by a foot or two.

 

[awpitt]

For your consideration ...



Well .... after looking at the photo from last year, this house in question is on Point Lookout Rd and those poles are on the State public right-of-way. The public right-of-way on public roads, county roads, State roads, extends well past the shoulders of the road, typically 10 to 15 feet beyond the road shoulders. This means that the home owner does not even own the land on that public right-of-way land.

Proof he doesn't own the land those poles are on ...

View attachment 170795

Actually, the homeowner does own the land. Hence the need for a right-of-way to allow placement of the utility poles on the homeower's property.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Actually, the homeowner does own the land. Hence the need for a right-of-way to allow placement of the utility poles on the homeower's property.

It would be more of an easement rather than a right-of-way, if it were so. I could not find, doing a title records search, any record of a SMECO easement for this property, which tells me the poles are placed within the public right of way, which is not unheard of.

Regardless, I doubt the poles are on his land. Either way, someone should call the Sheriff's Office to report those flags and brackets as stolen and point the finger to the unpatriotic ass that took them.

 

[TPD]

For your consideration ...



It would be more of an easement rather than a right-of-way, if it were so. I could not find, doing a title records search, any record of a SMECO easement for this property, which tells me the poles are placed within the public right of way, which is not unheard of.

Regardless, I doubt the poles are on his land. Either way, someone should call the Sheriff's Office to report those flags and brackets as stolen and point the finger to the unpatriotic ass that took them.

the flags have been returned to me.

 

[Sneakers]

the flags have been returned to me.

Well, at least they weren't lost or destroyed.