Minutes of Maryland/DC Damage Prevention
Meeting
May 23, 2006
Miss Utility Call Center
Hanover, MD 21076
I. Call To Order and Introduction:
Wayne Gilmer (Utiliquest) called the regular monthly meeting to order at 9:40 am.
Introductions were made.
The minutes of April 25, 2006 were approved.
II. New Business:
Wayne Gilmer gave a brief update on the safety presentations for Locus Lane Farms,
Frederick Fence and City of Frederick. He said that there were a lot of good
questions and about 20 people were in attendance at each of them.
Matt Ruddo said that at least 120 people will be in attendance at the safety
presentation for Corman Construction and that he planned on bringing the trade
show booth.
Jack Sullivan (BGE) stated that he set up 3 Miss Utility training classes for the City of Baltimore.
Wayne Gilmer asked Matt Ruddo to add the October 20th-22nd Fall Maryland Home &
Garden to the trade show list so that volunteers could be lined up in advance of
the show.
Matt Ruddo gave a brief update on the Locator Achievement & Dig Smart Awards. He
said that Dora Parks (Miss Utility) received the photos from Lisa Howard from the
Awards night and hoped that they would be posted to the Miss Utility website within
the next week or two. He also stated that the winners were publicized in various
newspapers across the state of Maryland.
Wayne Gilmer gave an update on the Common Marking Standards working group meeting.
He said the first meeting was held in the Miss Utility conference on May 3rd and
that the group of 25 consisted of contractors, locators and utility owners. He said
in the first meeting they were able to develop a consensus on how the group would
operate. He said that the second meeting was scheduled immediately following the
Damage Prevention meeting and that anyone was welcomed to attend.
There were several lengthy discussions throughout the meeting about potential Miss
Utility Law changes. Zenon Sushko distributed copies of the existing Law with the
proposed MDPSC changes (please see document below).
He stated that the Miss Utility Law was created many years ago and that proposed
Law changes have been discussed since the early 1990’s. He indicated that he and
Dick Schafer would look to establish a working group meeting towards the end of
the summer. He stated that he or Matt Ruddo could be contacted if anyone would be
interested in attending. There were a few that felt the Law needed to address
accountability for all stakeholder groups and that consensus would be needed to
make any Law changes.
Wayne Gilmer gave an update on some of the topics that were discussed at the MD/DC
Subscribers on May 17th. He stated that the meetings are only for Subscribers, but if
anyone is interested in attending they should contact Pete Parr who is the current MD/DC
Subscribers Chairman. He said the next MD/DC Subscribers meeting would be held September
6th in the Miss Utility conference room.
Wayne Gilmer stated that Roger Campbell of MOSH was a guest at the May 17th MD/DC
Subscribers meeting. Wayne indicated that they are MOSH inspectors out on jobs
sites and they are looking to hire more. Jack Sullivan reiterated that MOSH is
getting more involved in making sure contractors are following the dig safely best
practices. Matt Ruddo stated that Roger invited him to give a Miss Utility safety
presentation at SHA’s offices in Hanover, MD. Wayne and Jack asked Matt to email
them the date and time of the MOSH presentation.
There was a lengthy discussion about the MD/DC Subscribers approval of ordering a
second trade show booth displayed. Jack Sullivan stated that it should be geared to
homeowners by displaying a graphic of someone planting flowers as well as having a
graphic that says Miss Utility is a free service. Tim Vancleve (Verizon) stated
that 80% of the homeowners he talks to at the home and garden shows think that Miss
Utility is only for contractors. A few stated that there should be a spot for 811
and also getting the message to the homeowner that it is the Law that they call
before they dig. Zenon Sushko indicated that the Miss Utility exempts homeowners
from calling as long as they are digging on their property.
Matt Ruddo gave brief updates on the ITIC usage, Excavator Safety nights, the PRISM
mapping function and the solicitation of utility owners that aren’t members of Miss
Utility. He distributed copies of contractors that aren’t using ITIC at the
Subscribers meeting. He said the 2006 MDPSC grant money would be utilized to host
two excavator nights in the Hughesville and Laurel areas. He indicated that there
were some minor issues with the ADC grid overlay data that may have effect the
December 2006 PRISM mapping conversion. He said that fifteen Miss Utility membership
packets were mailed from the MDPSC letter that went to the utility owners that are
members of Miss Utility.
There was a general discussion about why the MDSHA hasn’t become a member of Miss
Utility. Zenon Sushko stated that they are probably reluctant because of budgetary
issues. He indicated that the PRISM mapping system may help them rethink there
interest in becoming a member of Miss Utility. Jack Sullivan asked if anyone
followed up with Earl Lewis of MDOT from the Dig Smart/Locator Achievement Awards
night. Matt Ruddo stated that he would contact Earl to see if he could provide any
assistance.
There was a general discussion about contractors providing GPS coordinates to one
call centers. Dennis Lescalleet (Pleasants Construction) stated that Virginia was
working on a process to allow contractors to provide GPS coordinates. Matt Ruddo
stated that One Call Concepts, Inc has been utilizing that technology since the
early 1990’s in other stated and that it will be available once the PRISM mapping
function is installed in Western Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Christy Stinebaugh (Verizon) stated that Verizon is having issues getting locate
marks in certain counties in the state of Maryland and wanted to know if a utility
owner could be fined for not locating their lines. Zenon Sushko said that the new
MDPSC proposed Law changes would cover that issue.
Christy Stinebaugh said that she needed to update the FTTP footage projections for
May and provided everyone the projections for June and July. She also reiterated
that they are only projections.
May:
Montgomery County - 20,000
Prince George’s County - 325,000
Anne Arundel County - 275,000
Howard County - 280,000
June:
Montgomery County - 20,000
Prince George’s County - 325,000
Anne Arundel County - 275,000
Howard County - 280,000
July:
Montgomery County - 50,000
Prince George’s County - 325,000
Anne Arundel County - 250,000
Howard County - 275,000
Wayne Gilmer asked the Verizon representatives if all new FIOS service drops were
locatable. A few indicated that are locatable and that there were some issues with
the FIOS drops that were placed in the early stages of the project. Wayne asked if
they planned to go back to the untraceable ones and a few from Verizon stated that
there isn’t a plan to do it.
Bob Bold (Verizon) stated that they hope to get the TV franchise for Anne Arundel
County in mid June which would increase the ticket load by August. He said that
Verizon has seen a significant increase in the requests for FIOS in Howard County.
He said they are hoping to get information from their marketing department to
provide the locators with the ticket volume projections for FIOS. Bob also stated
that he was moving on and that Pat Knickman (Verizon) would be taking his place as
the FIOS representative.
John Payne (Southern MD Cable) stated they are having issues with statuses not
appearing on the website in a timely fashion. Matt Ruddo stated that it has been
an ongoing issue with statuses appearing a couple hours after they have been
statused, but that a more real-time solution is in the works. He said he hoped
to have an update by the next meeting. He asked everyone to use the toll-free
number in the meantime because it is the best option to receive the most update
to date statuses for their tickets.
Alex Dankanich (DOT/Pipeline Safety) said that CGA has created a free guide book
that is available at www.commongroundalliance.com. He said the next CGA Excavation
Safety Conference & Expo will be held in Orlando, FL in March 2007. He indicated
that there will be a lot of informative seminars at the Conference & Expo and he
encouraged everyone attend.
There was a general discussion from concerns Dennis Lescalleet raised about how he
could get his employees certificates to operate backhoes, skid steers, etc. He said
he didn’t realize that his employees needed to go through training and asked if
anyone could point him in the right direction. Christy Stinebaugh gave him a
website and a toll-free number and Jack Sullivan gave him Keith Owens telephone
number at MOSH. Wayne Gilmer suggested that Dennis contact the Safety Council of
Maryland.
Upcoming Damage Prevention Presentations:
- June 14th MOSH at the MDSHA complex at 7491 Connelly Drive Hanover, MD. Approximately
50 people will be in attendance
- June 20th Corman Construction at the Holiday Inn - 15101 Sweitzer Lane Laurel, MD
20707 at 3:30PM. Approximately 120 people will be in attendance.
Upcoming Trade shows:
June
- 25th-28th Maryland Municipal League Convention at the Roland Powell Convention
Center in Ocean City, MD
August
- 16th-19th Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference at the Roland Powell
Convention Center in Ocean City, MD
October
- 20th-22nd Fall Maryland Home and Garden Show at the Timonium Fairgrounds in
Timonium, MD
Upcoming Meetings:
The next Maryland/DC Damage Prevention meeting is scheduled for June 27, 2006 at
the Miss Utility Center. Coffee and donuts will be served at 9:00 am. The meeting
will begin at 9:30 am.
The Maryland/DC Subscribers meeting will be held September 6, 2006 at the Miss
Utility Center. Coffee and donuts will be served at 8:30 am, and the meeting will
begin at 9:00 am.
There being no further business to be brought before the committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 11:40 am.
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