PONCHATOULA - A retired teacher in Tangipahoa Parish was gifted a house, saving it from demolition. The only condition is that she has to move it elsewhere, and that's when the problems started. 

Chris Eisenbrey expected to pay movers to lift the house and move it to her new lot, about 450 feet away. What she didn't expect was a nearly $8,500 work order from a utility company and frustration over endless phone calls trying to get multiple companies on board for the move. 

Last summer, the First Baptist Church of Ponchatoula generously donated a small yellow house to Eisenbrey. She had already purchased an empty lot around the corner and planned to build a one-story home there. When the yellow house became available, she was excited to renovate it and make it hers.

"Yeah, I'm determined," she said.

The empty lot has already been prepped for delivery. 

"I started running into problems three or four months ago when I had to get the house under the wires, and that's, I don't know what to say other than a nightmare," she said.

To move the house, she needs 20'6" of clearance. That means several utility wires will have to be raised or lowered at an intersection for the oversized load to travel through. 

The poles are owned by Entergy, which holds the lines for Uniti, Spectrum, and AT&T. Uniti has agreed to be there on the day of the move to accommodate the oversized load. AT&T send Eisenbrey a work order for the possible work for $8,470, including $6,227.17 for construction labor costs.

An AT&T spokesperson says, "Requests to locate AT&T facilities are reviewed through an established process to help work is completed safely and appropriately while prioritizing the safety of our employees and the community."

That AT&T spokesperson says that the quote reflects the scope of work required and remains available to support the next steps as needed.

Spectrum says it is working to connect Eisenbrey to the right people. Entergy says it couldn't divulge individual customer information; however, it's continuing to work with the customer and partner utilities on a solution. 

The work order cost from AT&T is a shock to Eisenbrey. If the cost to move the wires remains high, she is considering removing the roof, a cheaper option.

"Which is sad; I shouldn't have to do that," she said.

It's all to save a little yellow house she hopes to someday call home.