What Underserved Communities Really Need

By Roger Cox

President ACTS Now, Inc.

Printed in Texas811 Magazine 3rd Quarter and posted with author's permission.

I remember seeing a movie years ago of wagons, buckboards and saddle horses lined up anxiously waiting for the pistol to be fired. This was the signal to begin the race to free land in Oklahoma. Estimates of up to 60,000 hopeful settlers were convinced that they would soon be in possession of the 160 acres they were entitled to. However, history records, economic pressures plus poor planning and inadequate enforcement by federal agencies made it even more chaotic than earlier land runs, resulting in massive fraud, widespread suffering, and a number of deaths.

What does that piece of history have to do with anything that is going on today? Good question! Stay with me for just a couple more minutes and let’s see if there is a parallel.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ACT of 2021/2022 promised more than a trillion dollars would be invested in infrastructure across the country. Up to $65 billion was allocated for broadband (fiber projects) internet to help ensure that every American has access to reliable high-speed internet. All those dollars that were set aside to provide reliable high-speed internet, were for installing new infrastructure. Almost 2 years have passed since Americans were told these projects were to be granted and the timeline to invest the money was 5 years.

I’ve taken the time to look at the talking points for the broadband initiative and find myself in agreement with them. One of the points is everyone deserves to be connected to high-speed internet. Another is high-speed internet is what each underserved communities need. No argument here. But don’t forget what every underserved community also needs is the existing underground infrastructure protected while installing the fiber. If you are out of water, you likely won’t be in the mood to watch another rerun of Gunsmoke.

As I talk to stakeholder groups across the country since the passage of the Infrastructure Bill, the topic that comes up consistently is how to manage the workloads due to the unprecedented broadband network expansion projects anticipated to take place simultaneously across all states over the next 3 – 5 years. The frustrations are exacerbated because of the billions of dollars granted to states to place the fiber, none was allocated to protect existing underground facilities. While there is a clear financial impact to all owners/operators, for the smaller utility it is disastrous. Perhaps it’s the fear of the unknown, however, if utility locators struggle to keep up with the workloads of today, bringing in multiple subcontractors to meet unreasonable timelines
will cause damages to trend in the wrong direction. Since many, if not most state Dig Laws can’t provide relief to its members or locators, several municipalities and counties have enacted permitting processes not designed to generate revenue but designed to slow the excavation process down to meet the local utility’s ability to locate their underground facility. Many of these permitting processes are unsustainable with current timelines for spending the grant money. As a result of what is happening at the local level and what could happen at the state level without written rules or regulations, many states are looking to create new ticket types such as a large project ticket or looking for ways to manage workloads by creating additional and enforceable laws designed to encourage excavators from calling in for renewals when work has been completed. Then others are looking to require new contractors to go through state-specific Dig Law training prior to working in their state.

The progress toward public safety and the protection of underground utilities we’re looking for is likely beyond the regulations we’ll enact. But until we embody the principles of mutual trust and respect and then learn to work together as a team, excavator, locator and utility owner/operator alike, we will need the rule of Dig Law to direct our efforts.

If 10 to 15 boring rigs show up in your town and all call in the maximum number of tickets
allowed by your current law and the law states it must be located within 2 or 3 days, is that possible? Well, of course not! So, in that case, who loses? And we all know the answer is everybody. Citizens depending on professionals to avoid disruptions to their water, wastewater, phone, gas or electricity will be impacted. The excavators will be impacted as they’ll dig blind until someone stops the work… and somebody will. The locators will be frustrated because they already know they can’t stay up with the work and the pressure placed on them to do the impossible often leads to locators finding other jobs, creating an even greater dilemma. The utility owner/operators will be dealing with both irate customers and the cost of repairs. Elected officials will feel the heat from all sides.

I don’t know if a single amendment to any Dig Law can solve the issue. And if there is one, it would take as long to get it passed as the broadband project will last.

What if there was a compelling reason for the excavators and locators to work together? What exactly would that look like? Here is just one example taken from the playbook of successful excavators from the past. It has often been called a pre-construction (pre-con) meeting. It begins and ends with two-way communication. It always seemed easier when a meeting was called at a location that would accommodate multiple stakeholders. Typically, all utilities impacted in an area were contacted, 811 (one-call back in the day) to discuss the nuances of state law, and all subcontractors on the project were there. Here are some of the things that were shared. A drawing of the project and the phases that were to start. Expected start and projected end dates were shared. They would share with the stakeholders a list of all contractors/subs that would be working and their contact information. If there is a problem, contact these guys. One of the most important pieces of paper shared was this contact list. Each locator and utility personnel also share their contact information. Everyone in the room knew the best everyone could do, it was going to be a difficult project, but everyone in the room also knew he could count on the other stakeholders to be responsive. The general contractor accepted the role of mediator. If my locators had a problem, I could call him and if he had a problem, I would respond to his call. We were determined to make it work.

Without the threat of enforcement and working outside of the reach of the Dig Law, we were able to turn the impossible into “it can be done.”

Every day, people who say there is no way we’re going to be able to get this broadband project done in such a short time are being passed by people who didn’t know it couldn’t be done. They were willing to sit down at the table to find solutions that had been ignored or overlooked.

Admittedly, I’ve never worked on such a massive project, and I don’t know if getting all the stakeholders to work together is even possible.

I only know it is necessary!