Ink, there is much you don't know about the situation, and I would ask you to refrain from comments about my attitude until you know what I know. These children are being done a disservice by their parents, and my tax dollars are paying the price. Their son needs honest to God parenting, and I think then, he would be far more manageable. His step-dad works most of the day and most evenings, as a pizza dlivery guy. his mother doesn't come out of the house unless it is to smoke. She now has the county providing a 40 hour a week caregiver for this child, because she simply doesn't interact with him. Last week, he was outside in his underwear for nearly 30 minutes, running through the historic park flanking the birthplace of our 18th President; mom and caregiver were inside. When they came to look for him, he ran into the highway. Neither picked up their pace from a leisurely stroll to save him, and he was nearly hit by traffic. This week, he grabbed a knife, attacked his 9 year old sister and is currently in the local Children's hospital for mental health emergency treatment. I'm not disputing the child has issues, and it would probably be safer for them to have a fence for the boy. But I know from my own experience, a high functioning autistic child with a parent who is active and involved and willing to provide structure and discipline copes far better than one who's parents are only out for freebies at the taxpayer's expense. My daughter doesn't need a fence, because I go outside with her, watch her, and interact with her. She is continually reminded of the boundaries and behaviors that are acceptable and she mostly stays within those boundaries. Tomorrow, the neighbors promise the fencing company will be here to start the fence install. Once it is done, we are going to backfill so that the gap between our lawn and the fence is leveled a bit, and then I'm going to be focused on keeping my area nice, and my children close at hand. And hopefully, the fence will be beneficial to this child, because with parents like those, that kid needs all the help he can get. Hopefully, in the future, the parents will learn not everything is handed to them and that sometimes, you have to work to earn the things your family needs. No one is "entitled" except perhaps our military. And if some think that means I have a bad attitude, then so be it.

A WORD, All the above opinions are each valid in their own special way. I like what Lisa wrote,as I was thinking thoughts along those lines myself. The words,'much to do about nothing' come to mind. Yes,they were very impolite to use the photo,and more so now,as they seem to imply its their plant in the latest ad.[perhaps to keep out of trouble with their image hoster ?] But one thing nags me, how could they contact Stephania for permission if they had no e-mail address at the time of their original posting? (he later posted one tho). And to give credit to Stephania some how,would be awkward for them,saying to the public,'thats not our plant but,yours might look like that some day'. But most of all,I feel this puts a lot of undue pressure on Stephania,to 'continue the arguement',when he has already made his own feelings known in his posts dated July 18th and July 20th. If this were happening to me,I'd feel a little uneasy. He has all the well researched information to decide what to do. I suggest we leave it to him now. Stephania,you know your many friends all support you 100% what ever you decide. Bob

Hello, This sounds like a legal question. I am not a lawyer but I know a little about this because I was in a similar situation and I have worked in real estate a long time. I don't think you will be able to recover any damages regarding the damage to your landscape, here's why: 1. You purchased a property in which this problem already existed for 30 years. I am certain the damage did not just suddenly begin in the last 4 years you have lived there. A home inspector should have pointed this problem out to you and you could have considered costs needed to correct the problem which you should have negotiated in your purchase price. 2. I don't know, maybe you have some recourse with your home inspector for these costs if your home and property was inspected and you were not told. Your home inspection should be in writing. That said, it is 4 years later and this should have been addressed with the home inspector the first year you were there. I don't know what the statute of limitations are in your area for this. 3. Consider yourself fortunate that your neighbor corrected the problem on his side, at no expense to you. Where I live (not far from you) you are allowed to drain water right up to the property line. The grade of the neighbor's property is their responsibility, and if it is lower than your property, then that person would want to install a drain, ditch, or something similar to redirect water flow. All water flows from high to low (obviously) and the person with the lowest property, unfortunately, is going to pay for it. In general, that's usually negotiated in the sales price. Most of the time, neighbors are neighborly and correct the problem, like yours did, however they are not legally obligated to do so. It sounds like your neighbor did the right thing. I'm not sure if going to war with your neighbor will help you, especially when I think you stand a very good chance of loosing. If you win or loose, you still need to live next door to this neighbor. There is also the other neighbors to think about, I don't know what their relationships are like or how big your town is. It's just something practical for you to think about. Regarding your building a berm. This would depend on what your goal is and how much you want to spend. You might find it more cost effective to dig a ditch to the street, removing dirt rather than bringing more in to create the berm. That said, you could build a berm but you said you had 12' (12 foot) of water. I'm not sure if that's 12' deep or wide. It would need to be quite a large berm to redirect the water to the street depending on water volume. You should also think about what you would like to plant on the berm and if it could tolerate standing water if there is any. A berm could help provide you with privacy and could help keep out some noises if you have any. If noise is not an issue, you may be able to dig a good sized deep ditch, at a strong pitch, to the drainage ditch at the street. A berm could be pretty but you could also line the ditch with rocks which could be pretty as well. The rocks are a good option if you don't want to mow or weed whack in there. If you're willing to spend a little, you could do a combination of berms and ditches, or even french drains, with piping to the drainage ditch on the street. You have several options. Now, all of this said, you also must find out what your local building inspector says about all this because your code may call for certain setbacks from your neighbor's property for building a berm or the drainage ditch. In my area, we cannot change the original grade of the land in any way without submitting a plan first. You should know this first so as not to incur extra expenses for yourself. Regrading from the house down is a good idea and will improve on the health and longevity of your home. You should speak with your local building inspector about this and any permits you may need so as not to incur fines. Depending on how extensive your project is, the building inspector may want to see a drainage plan. Keep in mind that sometimes an improvement you may make on your property may change or affect the drainage or water flow to your neighbor's property. This can be a good or bad thing. It all depends on your situation. I hope this is helpful and I wish you the best of luck on your pool! G.

Good luck asking her to keep them home...if it works, please come ask my neighbors to keep their dogs home- they poop in the yard, drag stuff out of its place in the barn, bit my dog and myself.... Anyway- there is a product that you put in the soil- I'm sure someone here will know the name- it is supposed to repel dogs and cats also, I think. I'd hate to use mothballs, as they stink to us and I do not know if mothballs really work. Can you temporarily put rocks/shells- something like that so the cat can't dig in the dirt to 'cover-up'? If it can't 'cover', it might not want to use it as a litterbox??? Spray the cat with a waterhose if you are able to...might make it think twice..