AT&T Green Utility Pillar in Yard

jdjohn
jdjohn Posts: 2,987
Like me, I'm sure some of you have these in your yards...especially if you have somewhat older construction. I've been told these are not even active anymore since newer technology underground replaced it long ago, but removing the pillars is too expensive (and not deemed necessary) by AT&T, so here they sit. On mine, the metal cover is long gone, and a black plastic bag has been draped/taped over the pillar, so yeah...a real eyesore.

I'm happy to dig mine up and cut the wires, but wondering if anyone here has done this or has more information to share. Being a phone line, I'm not worried about high voltage.
"This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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Comments

  • maximillian
    maximillian Posts: 2,142
    Are you sure this thing is only for your property? Often it services more than one home. Also, the equipment technically belongs to AT&T and they typically have an easement to put it there. Finally, just calling them can often result in a lot of mis-information. So even if you get a verbal "go ahead", it may come from someone that isn't really authorized to speak about its disposition. If possible, get written permission to remove it.
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    We have a townhome, and the buildings are all clustered together, so if the pillar is dead for me, it's probably dead for everyone. Of course you're right about the easement and it being their equipment. A couple of years ago, the black plastic bag came off, so I called AT&T about a 'repair', hoping they might do something permanent, but no - they just put another bag on it.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    How soon can you get here with your truck?
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,308
    edited May 2020
    I'll warm it up around my own neighborhood.
    Watch for me on the news.
    I disabled signatures.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    msg wrote: »
    I'll warm it up around my own neighborhood.
    Watch for me on the news.

    Post pics! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    msg wrote: »
    Could you arrange for it to be accidentally run over by a truck also accidentally dragging a tow strap prone to accidental snagging?

    sounds like a job for @tonyb.

    Of course, if he took care of it, it might end up looking like this...

    yd77zud54mh2.png


    B)
  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    edited May 2020
    For the record: Don’t touch it!
    AT&T replaced the bag when they did because service passes through that terminal/ped. Regardless of the plant’s* status, you could get into trouble. BTW if any of the plant is “working” and you happen to cut a worker that ringing, you WILL get ZAPPED w/110 volts AC - been there, done that, don’t want the T-shirt!
    *Pairs? Phone company also calls it/them facilities. Only in certain contexts will you hear them call it “wire.”

    Off the record: I’m an AT&T retiree. You’re right, AT&T will NOT spend the $ to yank it no matter how much you complain or how many people do the same. So-o-o IF you’re sure no service passes through it, accidents happen...

    Tony
    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    I'm almost seeing this as divine intervention since it's coming from @gp4jesus PTL!!!

    I'm sure of only a few things, and this is not one. I may have to do more due diligence.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,066
    My mail box and post was knocked down by a driver about 6:00 PM yesterday.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • mrbiron
    mrbiron Posts: 5,711
    msg wrote: »
    I was home all day and can prove it!

    We will need you to take a snapshot of the front bumper on your smart car to confirm.

    Socks in the photo are optional.
    Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!!
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,308
    My mail box and post was knocked down by a driver about 6:00 PM yesterday.
    Btw, how the heck does that happen? Did the driver stop?
    I disabled signatures.
  • polrbehr
    polrbehr Posts: 2,825
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    msg wrote: »
    Could you arrange for it to be accidentally run over by a truck also accidentally dragging a tow strap prone to accidental snagging?

    sounds like a job for @tonyb.

    Of course, if he took care of it, it might end up looking like this...

    yd77zud54mh2.png


    B)

    That picture looks so familiar, but I can't seem to recall .... Who are those guys anyway???
    I really wanna know.
    So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?


    http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/
  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,862
    ^^^
    I think on the top of that there is a deaf dumb and blind kid they are trying to get down.
  • Polkitup2
    Polkitup2 Posts: 1,619
    To go play some pinball...
  • NotaSuv
    NotaSuv Posts: 3,811
    polrbehr wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    msg wrote: »
    Could you arrange for it to be accidentally run over by a truck also accidentally dragging a tow strap prone to accidental snagging?

    sounds like a job for @tonyb.

    Of course, if he took care of it, it might end up looking like this...

    yd77zud54mh2.png

    The cover photo for The Who's “Who's Next” album shows a photograph of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap. The photo was taken at Easington Colliery a former coal mining town in County Durham, England.Dec 3, 2009
    B)

    That picture looks so familiar, but I can't seem to recall .... Who are those guys anyway???
    I really wanna know.

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.

    Or get some landscaping bricks and make a tight circle around it, place another tile ontop and you have a plant stand.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.

    Or get some landscaping bricks and make a tight circle around it, place another tile ontop and you have a plant stand.

    Must be a Martha Stewart or HGTV tip on this, eh?

    My thought -- how about a nesting Ukrainian doll kinda thing? I think that'd be peachy!

    n8wdrqikw25x.png
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited May 2020
    polrbehr wrote: »
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    msg wrote: »
    Could you arrange for it to be accidentally run over by a truck also accidentally dragging a tow strap prone to accidental snagging?

    sounds like a job for @tonyb.

    Of course, if he took care of it, it might end up looking like this...

    yd77zud54mh2.png


    B)


    That picture looks so familiar, but I can't seem to recall .... Who are those guys anyway???
    I really wanna know.


    I see what you did there...

    c4xx3zln3foe.png
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    Polkitup2 wrote: »
    To go play some pinball...

    Their mama had Squeeze box....
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,477
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.

    Or get some landscaping bricks and make a tight circle around it, place another tile ontop and you have a plant stand.

    Plant Kudzu around it.... You'll never see it again.....
  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    edited May 2020
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.
    Legally it’s in a Right of Way that AT&T* has rights to - don’t ask me to explain. That said if your “landscaping” interfered w/access they* could charge you removal costs and you’d have no recourse. However techs are remarkably resourceful.
    tonyb wrote: »
    Or get some landscaping bricks and make a tight circle around it, place another tile ontop and you have a plant stand.
    not too tight. See above or my previous post.

    Tony

    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    gp4jesus wrote: »
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.
    Legally it’s in a Right of Way that AT&T* has rights to - don’t ask me to explain. That said if your “landscaping” interfered w/access they* could charge you removal costs and you’d have no recourse. However techs are remarkably resourceful.

    ...

    That's what makes it an easement. :)
    They have rights of certain access/use on your property.

    But is this particular monolith pillar thing part of a condo or some sort of townhome complex? If so, isn't the whole issue pretty much in the purview of the owner/manager of the property (or association)?



  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    gp4jesus wrote: »
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.
    Legally it’s in a Right of Way that AT&T* has rights to - don’t ask me to explain. That said if your “landscaping” interfered w/access they* could charge you removal costs and you’d have no recourse. However techs are remarkably resourceful.

    ...

    That's what makes it an easement. :)
    They have rights of certain access/use on your property.

    But is this particular monolith pillar thing part of a condo or some sort of townhome complex? If so, isn't the whole issue pretty much in the purview of the owner/manager of the property (or association)?



    BTW where are you?
    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,556
    AT&T telecom pedestals are still in use.
    Granted, not very used. Maintenance has all but stopped.
    They are pretty much stuck in limbo. Once 5g becomes nationwide,
    I'm pretty sure AT&T will pull the plug on all landline services.
    That includes traditional phone lines and DSL.
    They tried to kill copper services a couple of times, but were blocked by
    state and federal governments. The city here has a ton of POTS lines in
    use for alarms. And we have a ton of issues with them because of
    crushed or open pedestals letting water in. I can't seem to get
    anyone to here to go with cell based alarm reporting.
    They are stuck in the 70's.
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    If it accidentally got pulled up by some mysterious chain connected to a trailer hitch of a truck, they would have to do something other than place a bag over it. If no one shows up within 3 days to repair it? Most likely it isn't active and you could just remove it at that point, add dirt, seed and straw.

    Gotta watch out for those surprise chain attacks.

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    edited May 2020
    gp4jesus wrote: »
    BTW where are you?
    I'm in Nashville, TN.

    Here's the offender:
    80gyl9pzvspx.jpg
    You can see the next one in the background...we have one about every 100ft throughout the neighborhood, but only on one side of the street.
    0rsux2md1aia.jpg
    Post edited by jdjohn on
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • aprazer402
    aprazer402 Posts: 3,087
    edited May 2020
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    gp4jesus wrote: »
    tonyb wrote: »
    Leave it be, you never know whats active in it. If it's an eyesore though, I suggest painting it or making it look like a palm tree. Get some fake flowers or something.
    Legally it’s in a Right of Way that AT&T* has rights to - don’t ask me to explain. That said if your “landscaping” interfered w/access they* could charge you removal costs and you’d have no recourse. However techs are remarkably resourceful.

    ...

    That's what makes it an easement. :)
    They have rights of certain access/use on your property.

    But is this particular monolith pillar thing part of a condo or some sort of townhome complex? If so, isn't the whole issue pretty much in the purview of the owner/manager of the property (or association)?



    Condo projects differ greatly in who owns what. Attached or detached units, site condos, hi-rises, etc. You may or may not own any piece of land. You may own the land directly beneath your unit or your entire lot, or you may not own any. You still may have rights to limited use of the land (assigned, even if not owned) to your unit. You need to read your legal description and deed very closely. Also if your assessor values for taxes "land" as well as "improvements" that's a clue you probably own some land. As others have said, there's probably an easement for the AT&T box/pole, leave it be. "Townhome", "Patio Home", "Villa" are just descriptive names, can be organized as legal condominiums or not. They usually have an HOA as do most condos. Cooperatives are very different from condos.
    Post edited by aprazer402 on