My property line ran downhill from it.
The approved symbol was not close enough to create ambiguity.
It was uphill.
On HOA land.
I leaned toward the monitor.
“Zoom please.”
Amy enlarged it.
Same result.
“Can I get a certified copy?”
“Yes.”
“Was this station ever relocated through an approved revision?”
She searched.
“There are revisions.”
“Any changing PS-2 to my parcel?”
She checked the plan index.
“Not in the stamped sets I see.”
That was important.
Not proof that no other approval existed.
Proof that none was in the approved civil plan file she had pulled.
I asked for every record containing:
Pump station relocation.
Alternate site.
Field adjustment.
Rock.
Excavation.
Site access.
Property control.
For two hours I worked at a table.
Most material was technical.
Then I found a one-page sketch.
PUMP STATION FIELD ADJUSTMENT.
Original station shown as dashed box.
Second box farther downhill.
Almost exactly where the concrete pad sat.
No county approval stamp.
No formal revision block.
Handwritten note:
SHIFT SOUTH/DOWNHILL FOR EXCAVATION FEASIBILITY. CONFIRM LIMITS IN FIELD.
I copied it.
Then found the reason.
Six weeks before construction, test excavation at the approved HOA site had encountered shallow bedrock.
The contractor submitted pricing.
Rock hammer.
Additional excavation.
Equipment standby.
Disposal.
Extended schedule.
Estimated change:
$82,400.
Suddenly Monica’s urgency had a price.
Next email.
Project engineer:
An alternate lower site may reduce rock excavation subject to hydraulic verification, revised civil documentation, permitting coordination, and confirmation of legal site access/permanent property rights.
I read that twice.
Permanent property rights.
Three days later, contractor follow-up:
Lower site likely avoids majority of rock work and may reduce overall trench effort.
Monica replied nineteen minutes later.
Please advance lower option if engineering has no operational objection. We cannot absorb an $80,000+ rock change and remain within the board-approved project cap.
Another email included the treasurer.
If rock change exceeds contingency, a special assessment may be necessary.
Monica:
I am not taking an avoidable assessment to the membership this quarter. Find a workable location within the approved cap.
The annual homeowners meeting was six weeks away.
Board election same night.
I wrote both dates.
That did not prove she moved the station to protect her election.
Motives are easy to overstate.
It proved cost and assessment timing mattered to her.
That was enough.
Then came the engineer’s response.
Hydraulically, the lower site appeared workable.
But:
Revised civil sheets required.
County acceptance required.
Property rights required.
I searched for all three.
No approved revised sheet.
No county stamp for the lower location.
No easement in the project file.
I went back to Amy.
“Could the property document be somewhere else?”
“Possibly.”
“Land records would be separate.”
“Can you tell me whether this sketch authorizes construction?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I appreciated honest limits.
She continued:
“I can tell you it is correspondence.”
“I can tell you the approved plan in this file shows the uphill location.”
“What those mean legally is not my call.”
Exactly.
I ordered copies.
Original stamped plan.
Field-adjustment sketch.
$82,400 estimate.