KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gary Reiss is happy to show you exactly low the power lines are hanging outside his Kansas City home.
All it takes is a tape measure. The lowest line is just about 7.5 feet above the ground. And that’s a problem if you want to pull into Reiss’ driveway in a big truck.
“I can’t get a vehicle in here,” Reiss said. “You can’t get a fire truck. You can’t get nothing in here.”
Reiss said the lines have been hanging since low since late February when a speeding car failed to make the curve on Grandview Road.
“And it took out three guide wires on the pole,” Mr. Reiss said. “The pole now leans to the west and a little to the north. Meanwhile these lines keep getting lower and lower.”
The day after the accident, Reiss calld KCP&L, who immediately sent someone over to inspect. That was Reiss’ first disappointment.
“Took a look at it and said that’s Time Warner’s, AT&T and Google’s problem. Not ours,” Reiss recalled the KCP&L employee saying. “Jumped in his truck and took off.”
Reiss even tried to contact those other utilities for help, but also hasn’t had any luck. What frustrates him the most is that he knows KCP&L is ultimately responsible because it’s their pole.
“What does it take for anybody in this town to do their job?” Reiss pleaded. “That’s what I would like to know.”
FOX 4 Problem Solvers has been confronted with this problem before regarding leaning power poles that have the lines of multiple companies attached to them. Reiss is right. KCP&L is ultimately responsible for the pole.
FOX 4 Problem Solvers called KCP&L, where a spokesperson wasted no time telling us KCP&L would take care of the problem. However, he couldn’t explain why Reiss had been unable to get help from KCP&L on his own.
The next day, Problem Solvers got a call back from a very happy Gary Reiss who told us KCP&L had fixed the pole and the power lines are finally back up where they belong.
FOX 4 Problem Solvers remains hopeful that the next time a KCP&L customer complains about low-hanging lines, KCP&L will respond just as quickly.
