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B. Idle Services and Line Retirement

1. An idle electrical service is a service that is not making any payment to the Cooperative, but continues to receive regular maintenance.  
2. Idle lines and services may be removed at the discretion of the Cooperative; however, landowners and all adjacent landowners will be notified if possible.  Mor-Gran-Sou will send the current landowner a notification of possible retirement for the line/service. The written notice will be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail, addressed to the member at his address as it appears on the records of the Cooperative, with postage thereupon prepaid.  If the line/service is within a reasonable distance (approximately one-fourth (¼ ) mile) of an adjacent landowner, the adjacent landowner will also be notified of possible retirement in writing through the same method.
   1. The notification of possible retirement will provide the landowner a thirty (30) day period from the date of the letter to respond.
   2. If the landowner does not respond within the thirty (30) day period the Cooperative will publish a notice of pending retirement.  The notice will be published not less than two (2) consecutive months in the Cooperative’s newsletter and in the Cooperative center pages of the North Dakota Living magazine.
3. If the landowner is the only one affected by the service, and deems the line important and makes the necessary line retention payment, the Cooperative will maintain the line/service.  This charge is the annual seasonal charge and payable one-year in advance. 
4. Should the landowner wish to have a line/service retired and their adjacent neighbor wishes to retain the line, the adjacent neighbor must proceed as follows:
   1. Make arrangements with their neighbor to keep the line in place, or
   2. Request a new service extended to their property from the existing line and pay any necessary fees.
   3. If the adjacent landowner cannot accomplish either of these items, the Cooperative will abide by the wishes of the landowner whose property the current line/service resides upon.
5. Should no one be willing to pay the line retention fee after the notification process has been completed, the Cooperative will retire the line/service at its earliest convenience.
   1. If the line/service is retired within twelve (12) months after final notice of pending retirement, no additional notification is necessary.
   2. If the retirement occurs after the twelve (12) month period, the Cooperative will research the landownership records to determine any changes.  If no changes have occurred, the line can be retired without additional notification.  If ownership has changed during this period, the notification process will be repeated.
6. When the line is removed and a previous owner or immediate family member wants the service rebuilt, they will have to pay the retirement cost and aid to construction cost to rebuild.
7. Should the Cooperative deem the line/service a hazard to the public, the above notification process may not be followed.

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