PLEASANT GROVE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A rather unusual blockade has gone up on a Pleasant Grove street and some neighbors are angry about it. Instead of your typical concrete barriers or flashing road signs, this barrier was cut down and dragged there. It all stems from the age-old excuse: the check is in the mail.
Two huge piles of trees were cut down and pulled out by a property owner. His brother, Don Newman, says, “You can see there’s a lot of trees on the property so its not a lot of work.”
The little stretch of newly paved street Is actually private property. Fred Newman and his sister own the section of street and the lots on either side of it. They spent about fifty thousand dollars to finish this road. And they want to deed it over to the city.
But the city won't take it because there's a lien on the property.
When the Newmans paid tens of thousands of dollars in cashier's checks to the contractor, that contractor didn't pay his sub-contractors.
Heath Johnston of Desert Peaks Construction says he was told the cashier’s checks paying for the work were lost in the mail. And until the city takes over ownership, the Newmans say the road is a liability.
Don says, “We closed the road the road with the barricades. As soon as we close the road with the barricades somebody will run them down. You'll find them a couple of blocks down the road."
Kids want to ride bikes or skateboard here. But if someone were to slip and fall, the family could be sued.
So they closed it... The most effective way they could.
Don says, “We would prefer not to do that. We'd prefer to have the road open. But with the liability on the road, that's why the road is closed."
ABC 4 spoke with the contractor Wednesday night, who said the bank has resolved the missing cashier's check issue... so workers could be paid.
He expects the lien to be lifted as early as Thursday.
