It would be an exaggeration to say I'm a pretty 'even keel' guy. ?I have 4 businesses in the middle of nowhere and a lot of high expectations from our clients on day to day basis, and I expect a lot from myself. ?But obviously, I'm able to strike a reasonable balance between kicking ass and keeping the show moving, and the delicate nature of sales, town interactions, community relations and customer service that demands a certain level of savvy and moderation. ?If not, we would be like most other businesses in the Catskills, - residing squarely in the trash heap of 'nice tries'.
So when hurdles come my way I'm pretty prepared to deal with them. ?This morning the 25,000 lb spray foam truck broke down at 7am halfway to the job 1.5 hrs away, and a series of other issues complicate my day and cut to shreds my 'best laid plans'. ?With 4 businesses, 13 employees and 10 house builds underway plus another couple under design, plenty of room for lots of shit to hit the fan on a minute to minute basis.
However, everyone has their breaking point, where just being a human overwhelms all the professional training and experience one has under their belt, and mine came at 7:15am this morning when Brandi Merolla, better known as "Spice" at the local inn, once again got in my face with her complaints, slander, manipulation and outright lies. ?For over a year the neighbor of the Big Barn has been harassing us over non-existent issues or trivialities that even the fussiest neighbor typically overlooks or understands.
So let's take it from the top. ?It was long ago that I stopped thinking keeping our noses clean, doing a good job, creating tons of jobs, investing $500,000 a month into local businesses month after month (and that's just during construction - when we are done, our clients then typically blow a bunch more dough around town while furnishing their homes), measurably increasing Town ?and School real estate taxables which each new home we build, and typically increasing the real estate values of the area around our homes means something. ?It doesn't - at least in Sullivan County.
Weiden Lake Estates is a perfect example. ?A late 90's subdivision, land sales were currently stagnant, maybe a new home was built every few years, could not sell a house or a piece of land to save your dying grandmother. ? And along we come and buy a piece of land and build a house (thanks Matthew - Cottage 36 - , now on the board at Weiden Lake), then another (thank you Joe and Katie), then another (thank you Mimi and Eammon - Farm 11) and then another (thank you Bill and Veronica - Barn VI) then another (thank you Cactus and Jean - Big Barn) then another (thank you Kerry and Jamie - Farm 18) and then another (thank you Joe and Robin- Farm 19). ?So here we took this worthless land on a nice street and made it worth something, introduced new neighbors and families and children and animals and guests, and worked with 3 different building inspectors, and 2 new town boards and dozens of neighbors and no one complains about us at all - not even once- until Brandi Merolla comes into the picture. ?8 homes on Lake Ridge Road and 7 homes on intersecting Weiden Lake Road, -within 2 years - and not a peep of a complaint even though we were working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, with big noisy equipment up and down the street.
Sure, we aren't perfect. ?When you are working with literally dozens of companies, and they all have several if not more employees, people are going to do stupid shit like through speed, throw coffee cups out windows and leave garbage and around what have you - but look around at Barker Road, Tuthill Road, Lake Ridge Road, Weiden Lake Road, and you will find pretty clean roadways and road shoulders - actually, for all the dufuses going in and out of the job site, it's remarkable.
But it's not an accident. ?I send patrols out looking for garbage, I freak out if my job sites are messy, I regularly fire people for upsetting neighbors and town employees. ?I typically break new guys in by seeing how they react to 'road duty'. ?So when Brandi Merolla called the first time with a 'I'm finding garbage bags full of garbage along the roads' I personally, immediately, got in my car, drove 10 miles and checked it out. ?And found nothing other than an odd piece of trash here and there - far below any outlier metric to get me terribly concerned. ?Our guys are good.
So when she calls back the next time a month later loudly complaining about the garbage again, I call my man Brian and tell him to take a few guys and clean up the road and shoulder and he reports back that not much is out there I know he means 'not much is out there'. ?At this point, I know she's 'one of them' - no problem, we deal with it all the time.
But what's weird now, is I find her on my property and in the houses I'm building, all over our properties, her and her weird husband with the bad haircut and band-aide permanently on his neck walking their dogs, letting their dogs shit on our properties, grazing them at will. ? So now I know I have a winner - complaining about us and trespassing without hesitation on our properties. ?In fact, as I drive by at different times of the day, I see them purposely using our lands for their dogs to shit on. ?Real nice, right? ?But do I say anything? ?A resounding 'no'. ?I've been known to buy neighbors' gift certificates at the local restaurant and other nice gestures since I know construction can be disruptive. ?When we did the cottage on yankee lake, on 1/4 of an acre, we had neighbors complaining right and left (rightfully so half the time) and we navigated that just fine. ?Over at York Lake we got in big trouble for working on the weekends but that was smoothed over with a friendly phone call. ?But their complaints were real, and hence a solution was possible.
So then a month or so later, after we institute daily road patrols to ensure the garbage is at an absolute minimum (and I would suggest much less than any other regular road), we get another call saying our trucks are running all over her yard and leaving HUGE divots and on and on. ?So I get in my car again, and go check it out. ?And she's right - if you count the road shoulder, within feet of the actual road, - if you count that as your property, then I did see some light marks where maybe on of the hundreds of vehicles might have had to extend their turn around radius. ?So what do I do? ?I go out that night, buy stakes and stake the entire front of her yard (which is not her yard but actually the road and is at least 150' from her house). ?Now bear in mind that the whole year we are working there her dogs are barking and disrupting the neighborhood, trying to break out of the doublewide trailer they live in, the one house design blemish on an otherwise pristine street of nice houses - the type of house we causes me to think twice about before buying the property next door. ? The type of house that homeowner covenants are meant to discourage.
So now we have addressed 4 calls about non-existent garbage, and nearly impossible to avoid use of the road shoulder, and now I start to get feedback from the local building department that this person who is trespassing on our land while routinely complaining about us is now making complaints to the town about the structures, and by default, the 1 percenter who will be living there. ?It's too big, the garage is actually a house, there's a bathroom in the garage - all these neat little accusatory trouble-making details that someone who lives in a trailer would have no idea about and actually wouldn't be able to even know about unless then venture an 1/8 of a mile into my property to snoop and explore.
So the week after I post stakes all across the front of her yard to mitigate minor shoulder issues, the month after I implemented a weekly road cleanup plan, she is calling the building department trying to shut us down and stop the project.
Now, to a builder- and to a homeowner, this is a tactic or action that requires addressing, since that is more or less declaring war, even if you can turn the cheek on the other nuisance actions - these are fighting words since typically hundred of thousands of dollars are on the line as well as the near-term 'want to live in the house' aspirations of the clients - so now she is really pushing a button that necessitates a response. ?And she didn't stop when she was told we were in total compliance (like we always are), she continued to call the next week, and the next - requiring the building inspector to fend off her calls on a weekly basis. ?So, yes, you got it right. ?Her dogs are being walked and allowed to shit on our property at will, she's complaining about non-existent garbage, she's calling the building inspector and that not the end of the story.
Now, of course, time is passing, so I've been dealing with this nonsense for not weeks, but months, even going on a year. ?And then I hear she's going around telling friends of my wife's (sure most of you know she's more or less my ex at this point, but still a big supporter) friends and telling stories about how big of a jerk I am but leaving out like 7/8th of the real story, like her part in it. ?But it's disheartening to find out that Spice is telling Tina and one of our homeowners up the street these crazy out of context stories and the like. ?But, like I said earlier in the post, I knew I had a winner and winners are renowned for being unpredictable, irrational and mean.
So when this morning, I'm driving Lucas back to his Mom's at 7am, stopping by a few houses like we alway do (had to meet Norm at Farm 19 to lay out the septic and clearing), I see Brandi Spice and her husband 25' into our properties, letting their dogs do their thing. ?Having never met her, but thinking I know who it is, I roll down my passenger window and tell them not to be on our property and definitely not to have their dogs on the property, especially since their property is right across the street. ?You would think some sort of embarrassment or contrition would occur to these dimwits but no - Mr Band-aide on his neck rushes over to the car cursing and swearing about this and that like I've been the one harassing them, instead of the reverse. ?Literally using words Lucas never heard before. ?And for a moment I went red with rage - a year of pent up receiving end of doing a good job and being harassed by some white trash trouble-maker cursing in front of Lucas.
And listen to the best part - they are on my property, they are yelling at me, they are frightening Lucas, their dogs are shitty on my property, and they go home and call the cops. ?And just like they did with my wife's friend and my client up the street, they weaved a tale to the state cop that erased any action on their part that might have placed them in the situation they found themselves in. ?According to their story each time, they are victims of a raging, bipolar lunatic - and since I have a business to run, and a reputation to protect, I typically let these things go - but Brandi Spice Merolla, you and your husband have pushed too far, for no reason, to the detriment of the neighborhood, and now this diatribe rant of mine will forever be a part of your internet profile and neighborhood profile. ? And it was well-earned and deserved on your part. ?
As the World Turns at Catskill Farms - where we take the punch for our customers.
Source: http://catskillfarms.blogspot.com/2012/07/being-harassed-by-brandi-merolla-214.html
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