Minutes of Maryland/DC Damage Prevention Meeting
July 27, 2010
Miss Utility Call Center
Hanover, MD 21076
I. Call To Order and Introduction:
Wayne Gilmer (Utiliquest) called the regular monthly meeting to order at 9:35 am.
Introductions were made.
The minutes of June 22 were approved.
II. Safety Item:
Wayne Gilmer’s monthly safety topic covered the adverse affects of tobacco use.
III. MGH Update:
Chris McMurry (MGH) stated that a large focus in the weeks ahead would be placed on updating the Miss Utility education materials, radio spots and safety video in advance of the Maryland Law going into effect October 1, 2010.
There was a lengthy discussion about the need to form a subcommittee to review the MD/DC Excavator Guide. Wayne Gilmer, Mark Hamrick (Verizon), Greg Johnson (PEPCO), Matt Ruddo (Miss Utility Center), Jack Sullivan (BGE) and Jeff Walters (Utiliquest) volunteered for the subcommittee.
Chris McMurry said CGA will be celebrating 811 on August 11th at the NBC & CBS early morning shows. He said that he and Nick Kelly (MGH) can be contacted if anyone is interested in attending. Tom Baldwin (BGE) said that BGE would be doing some social media outreach to promote 811 as well.
IV. 2010 Trade Show Schedule:
Nick Kelly distributed copies of the volunteer schedule. He said there are a significant amount of spots that need to be filled for the MD Home & Garden Show in Timonium October 15-17, 2010.
Matt Ruddo gave a brief update on the Maryland Municipal League Convention held in Ocean City, MD June 27-29, 2010.
V. 201V. 2010 LAA/Dig Smart Awards:
No report.
VI. Damage Prevention Presentations/Safety Events:
Wayne Gilmer gave a brief update on the following presentations/safety events:
- June 23rd- Commerce Corporation 6th Annual Health & Wellness Fair at the Brandon Woods Business Park
- July 28th - PMA Companies & DC WASA at 301 Bryant Street NW
- TBA- Childs Landscape Contractors in Arnold, MD
- August 10th- ICC Contractors in Derwood, MD
VII. 2010 Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference:
Matt Ruddo gave the following update:
- Conference will be held October 20-22, 2010 at the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel in Ocean City, MD
- October 20th will kick off with a golf outing & welcome reception in exhibit hall
- 140 individuals are registered at this time
- 3 out of the 4 meal sponsorships have been secured:
- Welcome Reception- B. Frank Joy
- Opening Breakfast - SSG, LLC
- Friday Breakfast- Choptank Electric Cooperative
- Postcard mailing courtesy of WSSC will be mailed the second week in July
- Email blast was sent today promoting the early bird discount deadline of July 31, 2010
- 22 exhibit spaces have been reserved at this time
- Planning Committee will meet immediately follow the Damage Prevention meeting
Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are available and can be found at the following links: http://www.missutility.net/gcdptc/sponsors.asp
http://www.missutility.net/gcdptc/exhibitors.asp
VIII. Title XII Steering Committee:
Tom Baldwin stated that the MD/DC Subscribers Committee met on July 16, 2010 at the Miss Utility Call Center to discuss the criteria that would be used for the selection of Maryland members to the Maryland Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Authority.
The following criterion was agreed upon by the Subscribers:
- No crossover opportunity- each Maryland Subscriber can only stay within their stakeholder group. Example: Baltimore County Water & Sewer could not represent the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Subscribers on the Authority.
- One Vote per Subscriber
- Must provide bio and qualifications
- To the extent practicable, members appointed to the Authority shall reasonably reflect the geographic, racial, and gender diversity of the State
Tom Baldwin thanked the Miss Utility Center for mailing a copy the nomination letter, which included the above criteria as well as the Governor’s State of Appointments biographical information form to all the Maryland members of the MD/DC Subscribers Committee. He said all nominations would due by August 13, 2010 and a meeting on August 23, 2010 would be held to select the Maryland Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Authority nominees in which two would be chosen by the Governor.
IX. MD/DC Subscribers Committee Meeting:
Tom Baldwin stated that the next meeting on September 9, 2010 in the Western portion of the state of Maryland needed to be rescheduled due to several conflicts. He said he would be talking to Scott Brown of Washington Gas, the current MD/DC Subscribers Committee Vice Chairman, about an alternative date/time/location.
X. FTTP/FIOS Progress Report:
Mark Hamrick gave the following FTTP trench footage projections:
| |
August |
| Anne Arundel |
0 |
| Baltimore |
27,725 |
| Charles |
0 |
| Howard |
14,548 |
| Harford/td>
| 0 |
| MMontgomery |
36,680 |
| Prince George’s |
83,767 |
| Washington DC/td>
| 0 |
Open Discussion:
John Berrentini (A/I/Data) led a general discussion about sharing mapping data amongst all stakeholders. He said he is available if anyone has an interest in partnering with his company.
Greg Johnson expressed concerns with damages in Montgomery County. Mark Hamrick stated that their contractors are getting a refresher course in safe digging best practices to help minimize the service interruptions to PEPCO facilities.
There was a lengthy discussion about locating concerns and the way some locate companies are statusing their tickets. Dan Wiles (Utiliquest) and Tom Hastings (OCCLS) said they would address anyone’s concerns after the meeting.
Kathy Riley (Absolute Underground) stated that she is having issues getting FIOS cables located on some of their jobs. Mark Hamrick said they are having tracer wire issues with some of the FIOS cables that have been installed and they are doing their best to respond as quickly as possible to help minimize work delays and damages.
Kevin Woolbright (WSSC) and Greg Johnson asked who they could contact for FIOS/FTTP related concerns in Montgomery County. Mark Hamrick said he would look into it and get back with them. Kevin said he was getting complaints from one of the Montgomery Village HOA’s. Mark said he would take care of getting him a contact person for that area as well.
Kevin Woolbright stated that Pinpoint Underground would be taking over as their locating company on August 1, 2010. Kevin asked everyone to contact Laurence Johnson at 301-672-8520 or lj@pinpointunderground.com for all locating questions or issues.
David Wilkins (WSSC) asked for the contacts at Washington Gas, PEPCO and Verizon in case they have issues getting their tickets located on time.
Matt Ruddo asked everyone to keep in mind that there a dozen or so locating companies working in the MD/DC area and just because one locator marks a site doesn’t mean that everything has been responded to or located. He said it is very important that everyone contact Ticket Check before they dig.
Martin Wetzler (Long Fence) said he is a member of the Washington Metro Area Contractors Safety Association and he would like to have a damage prevention presentation at one of their upcoming meetings. He said they are held the second Wednesday of the month in the College Park, MD area.
There was a lengthy discussion about exemptions from the one call laws. John Clementson (MDPSC) stated that PHSMA is looking at rules for no exemptions when it comes to digging and being an owner-member of a one-call system.
John Clementson (MDPSC) cited an incident in the western portion of the state of Maryland in which a municipality had a gas line bored through their sewer line. He said the gas line was damaged when the municipality was cleaning out what they thought was a blockage.
John Berentini asked if it would be possible to submit a map or GPS coordinates on ITIC. Dora Parks (Miss Utility) stated the Miss Utility Center is beta-testing that enhancement in the Delmarva area right now and it would be discussed in more detail at the Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference.
Mark Hamrick stated that Verizon lines continue to be damaged in Washington DC and the impact on customer service is a very serious concern. He stated that Verizon will continue to encourage the scheduling of damage prevention training through the MD/DC Damage Prevention team. Verizon is also encouraging all excavators they come in contact with to utilize the MD/DC damage prevention resources and he would like to ask the other Subscriber members to do the same.
Upcoming Trade Shows:
The following tradeshows are schedule for 2010:
| Show name: |
|
Maryland Association of Counties |
| Date: |
|
August 18-21, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Ocean City, MD |
| Place: |
|
Roland Powell Convention Center |
| Website: |
|
http://www.mdcounties.org//events/events.cfm |
|
| Show name: |
|
Chesapeake Safety Conference |
| Date: |
|
September 14, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Laurel, MD |
| Place: |
|
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab |
| Website: |
|
http://www.chesapeakeasse.org/meetings.php |
|
Show name: |
|
Suburban Maryland Fall Home Show |
| Date: |
|
September 11-12, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Germantown, MD |
| Place: |
|
Discovery Sports Center at Maryland Soccerplex |
| Website: |
|
http://www.acshomeshow.com/HGExpo/DSF.html |
|
| Show name: |
|
Harford Live! Home & Garden Show |
| Date: |
|
September 25-26, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Aberdeen, MD |
| Place: |
|
Ripken Stadium |
| Website: |
|
http://www.harfordlive.com |
|
| Show name: |
|
Maryland Home and Garden Show |
| Date: |
|
October 15-17, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Timonium, MD |
| Place: |
|
Maryland State Fairgrounds |
| Website: |
|
http://www.mdhomeandgarden.com/0_HG/01_HG_show_info.html |
|
| Show name: |
|
Suburban Maryland Fall Home Show |
| Date: |
|
October 29-31, 2010 |
| City, State: |
|
Upper Marlboro, MD |
| Place: |
|
The Show Place Arena |
| Website: |
|
http://www.acshomeshow.com/HGExpo/SPF.html |
|
Upcoming Meetings:
The next Maryland/DC Damage Prevention meeting is schedu meeting is scheduled for
August 24, 2010 at the Miss Utility Center. Coffee and donuts
will be served at 9:00 am. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am.
The next Subscribers meeting will be hemeeting will be determined at a
later date/time.
There being no further business brought before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 am.
 |
ITIC % Report for Maryland and Washington D.C.
|
| Month |
|
Call Center Tickets |
|
ITIC Tickets |
|
Percentage |
| Jun-09 |
|
63,827 |
|
47,181 |
|
74% |
| Jul-08 |
|
60,956 |
|
45,051 |
|
74% |
| Aug-09 |
|
56,912 |
|
42,621 |
|
75% |
| Sep-09 |
|
59,409 |
|
44,048 |
|
74% |
| Oct-09 |
|
56,231 |
|
41,518 |
|
74% |
| Nov-09 |
|
47,354 |
|
35,332 |
|
75% |
| Dec-09 |
|
46,735 |
|
36,479 |
|
78% |
| Jan-10 |
|
46,647 |
|
36,231 |
|
78% |
| Feb-10 |
|
29,716 |
|
23,540 |
|
79% |
| Mar-10 |
|
63,185 |
|
48,118 |
|
76% |
| Apr-10 |
|
62,125 |
|
45,434 |
|
73% |
| May-10 |
|
58,840 |
|
40,275 |
|
73% |
| Jun-10 |
|
61,175 |
|
45,561 |
|
74% |
|
|
