Maryland and DC Damage Prevention Meeting
Kevin Woolbright, Chairman, Mark Hamrick, Vice Chairman & Dora Parks, Secretary
7223 Parkway Drive, Suite 100
Hanover, MD 21076

Minutes of the meeting held on July 22, 2014
Prepared by Dora Parks, Secretary

CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTIONS
Chairman Woolbright called the regular monthly meeting to order at 9:32 am followed by customary introductions.

The minutes of June 24, 2014 were approved as written.

Chairman Woolbright opened the meeting introducing a new agenda format, effective immediately each DPC meeting will start with open discussions regarding all aspects of damage prevention and safety.  This will give attendees the opportunity to voice concerns regarding locate issues, Ticket Check, field matters, ticket processing issues, etc. The DPC will offer suggestions for improvement or provide the appropriate contact to resolve the raised concerns.  The committee attendees approved of this new agenda approach.

OPEN DISCUSSIONS

Will Gooch (Decisive) expressed concerns regarding ticket no response or late response causing planned work to start later than anticipated. He also stated the utility owners are using a Ticket Check, code 5 and no call to Decisive is being made as provided by the code 5 status rule. Update tickets are coded as marked in Ticket Check and the site marks are not completed. Will and Mike Burns (UtiliQuest) will review the ticket numbers in question.

Jack Tippett (DJ’s Underground) voiced concerns regarding gas/electric locators marking the ticket the day before it expires, causing them to process Update Tickets holding up their job excavations.  Additionally, contract locators coded ticket as a bad address and everyone else is finding the work site.  Lisa Hurley (SMECO) offered that ‘bad address’ can mean the ticket’s work site was mapped wrong for utility member notification.

Tim Wiley (Allied Contractors) stated that a water/sewer contract locating company was either late in their locating or provided no locates at all.

Group discussion regarding contractors maintaining locate marks.  Dennis Lescalleet (Pleasants) stated they install grade stakes on marks to maintain during the job excavation.  ‘Whisker Locating Flags’, available through Rhino Marking spring back from mowing or driving over, these APWA flags are driven into the ground using nails and work great to maintain the locate marks.  Some attendees stated they put down their own off set marks based on the painted marks.

Dora Parks (Miss Utility) explained what contractors can do when the Ticket Check codes of marked or clear/no conflict are wrong or when a contractor is not called on code 5 status. 

Using Search & Status from www.missutility.net –enter the ticket number and state; view the ticket and Ticket Check codes provided by the receiving members.  If the contractor has a discrepancy on a cleared or marked code, click on DISCREPANY.  That particular utility member will receive a transmitted copy of the ticket discrepancy notice.  Most utility companies will make a call back to the contractor within a two hour window.  The Dispute for a code 5 follows the exact same procedures.  Dora also offered that contractors can process a re-mark ticket available via ITIC or the call center entering comments explaining the need for the re-mark.

Dennis Lescalleet stated that many field, locating and Ticket Check issues are resolved at the DPC monthly meetings where the contractors and utility owner-members/contractor locators attend.

Scott Brown (WGL) explained a pilot program for Enhanced Ticket Check Response thatwas used for 6 weeks in Montgomery County for WGL, WSSC, Verizon and PEPCO. For these members, during the pilot program, each ticket provided a located manifest and utility records in the Ticket Check System as an attachment. The attendees agreed this would be a benefit to their work site records.

Tim Wiley suggested that contractors be able to provide an installation route as an attachment on the tickets they process; Matt Ruddo (One Call Concepts) stated that this enhancement to ticket processing would be implemented in the future.

Scott Brown offered that locating disputes be resolved at the DPC level. If the issue is not resolved, Maryland disputes can be brought before the Maryland Authority by means of a claim (NPV) explaining the law violation.  If the claim is a violation of Title 12, the Authority can assess fines up to $2,000.00 per violation.

Chairman Woolbright asked that contractors meet with the attending utility companies and/or their contract locators to work through the issues and report back at the next DPC meeting on the resolution.

MD/DC MISS UTILITY SUBSCRIBERS COMMITTEE MEETING
Scott Brown, Chairman (Washington Gas)   Vince Healy, Vice Chairman (Verizon)

Scott stated that the Subscribers Committee represents all utility owner-members in the Miss Utility service territory (Western Shore Maryland and the District). The committee meets quarterly to discuss all aspects and improvement regarding damage prevention, call center technology, ticket processing, mapping procedures, etc.  All subscribers are encouraged to attend and contribute to these informative meetings. 

Next meeting; October 9th at 10:30am in Cumberland, MD

STEERING COMMITTEE TO REWRITE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ONE CALL LAW
Scott Brown, Chairman (Washington Gas)   Meena Gowda, Esq., Vice Chairman (DC Water)

Scott Brown reiterated that the DC Re-write Committee is a sub-group of the Subscribers Committee.  This newly formed committee meets frequently to review, evaluate and suggest improvements to Title 34.  The objective is to create an effective damage prevention program/law as outlined by PHMSA’s PIPES ACT (2006), which includes law enforcement.  The DC Rewrite Committee meetings are open meetings.  The minutes, attendee list and Title 34 rewrite draft are available on the website at; http://www.missutility.net/SteeringCommitteeRewriteDcLaw/index.asp

Next meeting; August 19th at 8:30am at Miss Utility

MARYLAND UNDERGROUND FACILITIES DAMAGE PREVENTION AUTHORITY (MDUFDPA)
Executive Director, Jim Barron   Chairman, Kevin Woolbright

Chairman Woolbright stated (4) Authority seats will become open in the near future;
            1 Subscriber
            1 Contractor
            1 MML representative
            1 call center representative

New members will not be appointed until after the newly elected Governor is sworn in.

John Clementson (PSC) suggested everyone review the claim form in preparation of submitting the NPV (Notice of Probable Violation).

Dora Parks provided an update of the MML non-member outreach;
            91 letters dated November 7, 2013 were mailed to non-member municipalities
            18 municipalities are now on line to receive tickets
            9 have provided signed service agreements, working on new member database forms
            30 have stated they do not have underground utilities/facilities

Next meeting; August 6th at 9:00am at Miss Utility

LOCATOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (LAA) AND DIG SMART AWARDS (DSA)
Chairman, Mark Hamrick (Verizon)   Vice Chairman, Dora Parks (Miss Utility)

Dora Parks stated that the 2013-2014 Dig Smart Entry Forms were mailed on July 1st to the top 100 Western Shore Maryland users and the top 50 DC users. The form will also be available on the Miss Utility website for any contractor desiring to provide an entry.  The completed entry forms are due on August 6th. The committee will review the received entries on August 26th to determine one Dig Smart winner in each of the two service areas.   Both winners will be honored at the GCDPTC on Friday, October 31st.

Next meeting; August 26th 2:00pm at Miss Utility

FTTP PROJECTIONS
Vince Healy (Verizon) reviewed the below estimated footage projections;

2013 GREATER CHESAPEAKE DAMAGE PREVENTION TRAINING CONFERENCE (GCDPTC)
Chairman, Matt Ruddo (One Call Concepts)

• The GCDPTC will be held during October 28th – 31st in Ocean City, MD
• GCDPTC is modeled after the CGA annual conference
• Tony Crow will be the keynote speaker relating to a personal safety tragedy
• Great networking and fun opportunities; cornhole, golf and opening conference reception
• (12) breakout sessions, returning favorites and new sessions dealing with damage prevention
• Registration up by 35%
• Full conference information available at; www.missutilityconference.com

Next meeting:  August 26th at 11:00am at Miss Utility

MGH – DAMAGE PREVENTION MARKETING UPDATE
Chris McMurry, cmcmurry@mghus.com

Emily Meier provided the following information;

New Scholarship Program offered in Maryland, DC and Delaware

• Partnership between Miss Utility of Delmarva and Miss Utility
• For, Spring 2015 High School graduating students pursuing a construction/excavation career
• via an accredited school
• $1,000 scholarship offered in (7) WSMD/DC regions and (2) in ESMD/DE regions
• Application period; 8/11/2014 to 1/30/2015

Social Media Outreach Event – 811 BBQ

• Campaign to encourage FB users to ‘like’ the Miss Utility FB page
• If the user liked the FB page, they were offered an entry form for a free $500.00 BBQ and 811 Bike display at their 811 BBQ picnic
• Sweepstakes started on April 7th and ended on June 4th
• 2,359 likes, shared 674 times
• Winner event held on July 12th
• Kevin Woolbright and Dora Parks represented Miss Utility and Jimmy Jennings displayed the 811 Bike

Trade Show Update;

Completed Exhibitor Shows

Tawes 37th Annual Crab and Clam Bake Event, Crisfield, MD July 16, 2014
Team:  Kevin Woolbright and Dora Parks

Future Exhibitor Shows

PHMSA 811 Day Event, Washington, DC August 7th
MACo Conference, Ocean City, MD August 13th – 15th

If you are interested in volunteering for any Trade Shows or would like to receive the updated Trade Show emails, please email Emily Meier at emeir@mghus.com

DAMAGE PREVENTION & SAFETY TRAINING AND PRESENTATIONS

The Damage Prevention Training Committee provided feedback on the below completed trainings.
Completed Training Events

Quarterly Training, Miss Utility Call Center, Hanover, MD June 26th
Washington Gas, Pipetown, Springfield, VA June 27th

Future Training Events

Childs Landscaping, Sandy Point State Park, Annapolis, MD July 25th
Washington Gas, Pipetown, Springfield, VA July 25th
Cherry Hill Construction, Jessup, MD July 29th
Cossentino Construction, Baltimore, MD July 31st
Quarterly DP Training @ Miss Utility, Sept 25th at 7:30am

To schedule a Damage Prevention and Safety Training, please contact Dora Parks, Manager of Client Relations at 410-782-2026 or dora@missutility.net.  Training is free.

There being no further business brought before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 11:04am

Next MD/DC Damage Prevention Committee Meeting;  August 26th at 9:30am

Monthly meeting minutes and the attendee contact list is available at,

http://www.missutility.net/damageprevention/

ITIC PERCENTAGE REPORT

Meeting Attendees: