[Above: CenterPoint Energy personnel assist a work crew that hit a gas line Tuesday, July 1, in the public right-of-way at First Assembly of God Church in White Oak.]
A rash of response calls to fix fiber installers’ issues has bled dry the overtime hours for Public Works in the City of White’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
Community leaders are considering charging for some of the costs created by outside crews not doing their due diligence before digs in the city. Council members are poised for a vote on a related ordinance next week.
Importantly, White Oak City Coordinator Jimmy Purcell says, Sparklight has been the exception.
“Very good to work with. So far they’re the only ones that came to us at the very beginning and gave us everybody’s names and numbers and said, ‘If there’s any problems, we’ll fix it.’ The other companies really don’t do that,” he added. “They’re all trying to come in at basically the same time and put all their infrastructure in on our easements.”
According to White Oak city officials, Public Works crew members along with utility personnel, firefighters and other public employees are responding on a daily basis to water, sewer, gas and fiber breaks caused by out-of-town companies digging in easements without performing due diligence. The incidents have rapidly drained the City of White Oak’s overtime budget for public works and have spurred city council consideration (on July 8) of a new ordinance that will add related regulations for permitting, fees and consequences.
A growing list of contractors and subs are creating headaches for public works. With no hard regulations on the books, installers are skipping necessary and common sense steps to avoid underground obstacles. They end up cracking water, sewer and gas lines (in addition to other fiber equipment) and forcing the city to respond during regular business hours and after.
“Our overtime budget has been shot because of these crews,” Purcell said. “We’re quite a bit over-budget.”
Following the lead of Gladewater and other communities, White Oak’s elected officials will consider a new ordinance July 8 to put in place permits, fees and consequences for work that goes awry on the city’s easements.
Among other requirements, “They’ve got to make sure they’re going out and marking the area before they start work.”
The crews will be held accountable for any problems they create and for costs incurred by the city. In the meantime, Purcell and Public Works Director Tracey Fears are mulling options for recovering the value of the public resources that have already been put to work covering recent mishaps by outside firms.
“He deals with them on a regular basis because of them hitting our water and sewer,” Purcell said. “If they didn’t do what they’re supposed to, Tracey can send them an invoice for anything – our manpower hours, even equipment. He has done that in the past before.”