Another $25k of my own money to fix city-certified mistakes: Piping (Orangeburg bitiubituminous fiber pipe) from the 1950s-1970s.
It is basically tar soaked cardboard.
There was a nice mature tree growing directly right on top of my city lines and sewer connection. Someone once thought that was a good idea.
City property. City tree. I couldn't touch it by law.
Work underway. The city demanded a $4800 "canopy loss fee" to remove it. I told them to hide that idea away from sunshine. That is putting it nicely. I went up that ladder quick. They supposedly want my neighbor across the way to pay $10k to be able to expand his driveway cut to normal and usable. In this last decade alone I've paid more in city taxes than I did for this house.
The city forestry workers were exceptional. On time and did a good job. Hard work in hot weather despite having to rent equipment. They swore on the Bandit chipper brand and must have put two foot logs through that thing like nothing. It was all gone in half a day.
I will replace that tree with probably a few more..during planting season..and at my own cost.