NYSEG to residents: move your sheds - or else

DEPEW, N.Y. (WIVB) - Some homeowners in Depew are learning the hard way that not all of their property is really theirs. Now they might have to tear down fences and sheds because of an issue with a utility company.

George Zelechowski is concerned about his parents. The senior citizens, both of whom have Alzheimer's, are being told to move their shed because it's encroaching on property owned by NYSEG.

"You have three weeks or we're going to demolish everything. So they really didn't give us any option there," Zelechowski said.

Dave Gorski is faced with the same dilemma. For years, there has never a problem, he says. But now he'll likely have to move his shed.

"Hopefully nothing happens. To move that would probably be cost prohibitive to try and move it out of there," Gorski noted.

NYSEG sent letters to property owners informing them to immediately remove anything on the company's property. The strip of land that runs behind houses along Mary Lou Lane and Barnabas Drive.

Village of Depew Mayor Steve Hoffman says NYSEG representatives have told him that they need to fix a pole.

"There's no easement on it. So it's their property. NYSEG is reclaiming their property. They want their property cleared. It's theirs. They pay taxes on it. And our hands are tied on it. We can't force NYSEG to do anything. It's their property."

In a statement, a NYSEG spokesman said:

"Although the problem of fences and sheds being built on NYSEG-owned property beneath and adjacent to this transmission line is a long-standing one, it is important that the problem be corrected now so we can access the line for maintenance and repairs as necessary. For example, we recently identified a pole that needs to be replaced – a serious safety issue – and we could not access the site with our equipment because of obstacles."

But folks like Zelechowski say three weeks notice just isn't enough time.

"It just seems like they're not very neighborly. They've been great all these years. Forty years, no problems at all. These sheds have been sitting here," he said." Just now it seems like they're trying to intimidate these senior citizens because it's mostly senior citizens that are living on this street now."