Lincoln Park woman upset DTE meter was placed on her home's sidewalk

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - At first glance, Bonnie Fielhauer's new DTE Smart Meter looks harmless.

"I realize everybody's gas meter has to go on outside and I don't have an issue with that," she said. 

But this Lincoln Park resident is upset with where DTE placed the Smart Meter at her house.

"They came out two weeks ago and put my meter in front of my house and when they did, they decided to put it in my sidewalk." 

That's when this resident took to Facebook to complain 

"Immediately when they were doing that I told them no, not in my sidewalk, someone is going to get hurt," said Fielhauer.

"My mother is blind, she lives with me," Fielhauer said. "I have an autistic grandson."

After complaining to DTE, Bonnie Fielhauer says the company's solution is to come back Saturday and place the meter at the front of her porch.
 
"And run the meter pipe along the width of my porch and connect it," she said.

The city says this option presents an issue because once that gas line is placed in a resident's porch, it then become the resident's property and their responsibility if something goes wrong with the line. 

"Every pipeline that goes from the gas meter outside under the porch becomes the resident's property and not DTE's," said John Meyer, Lincoln Park building inspector.

This resident says she knows her house better than anyone else and she says the meter should be placed in the back of the house.

"I said why aren't you putting It in the back, they said 'Well you'll have to pay for that,' I didn't ask you to move this meter," she said.

Fox 2 reached out to DTE and the company's response was: "The city has been in contact with the customer and is discussing additional options to satisfy the customer's request while also meeting city code and safety requirements.

"We have been in discussions with the city throughout this process but as of now we still have a crew set to relocate the meter on Saturday."

But the city's building inspector says this about moving forward 

"I did meet with some of the DTE people an hour ago and we did move the timeline for replacing it this Saturday," Meyer said. "This will give us a chance to have that meeting to find the best place for her." 

"Hopefully they put it somewhere it won't hurt anybody," Fielhauer said.