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to customers, especially when home health care is involved. Potable water contains state-regulated Chlorine levels. Although not harmful to humans Chlorine kills bacteria and algae. When Chlorinated water flows into rivers, or lakes
the chlorine kills algae changing the oxygen levels or there
is a rapid water temperature change resulting in a fish kill. Any time wildlife is harmed Texas Wildlife will conduct an investigation often resulting in state fines to the municipality as well as any TCEQ fines. Wastewater line damages consist of TCEQ fine, expensive cleanup and mitigation of the area. Cities and Municipalities have additional exposures other than utility damages. The poor substandard repair of the Right- of-ways, improper compaction under roadways, damage to private and public property, and use of substandard material to restore roadways.
Not only is damage prevention a public safety matter it is also a public financial matter and that is why cities and municipalities should take a leading role in damage prevention.
Not only is damage prevention a public safety matter it
is also a public financial matter and that is why cities
and municipalities should take a leading role in damage prevention. Too often cities and municipalities wait for the state to take the lead in a particular problem. Perhaps damage prevention should start at the city and municipality leaving its own taxpayers and citizens that bear the cost of damages to infrastructure and utilities. Perhaps the base course of
the damages can be better identified and handled at the
city and municipality level. Looking at the parties involved with infrastructure construction as an industry, there is the franchise owner, franchise contractor, franchise locators, and the city or municipality’s Right-of-Way. Out of the individuals involved the city or municipality is the only party with regulatory authority and entrusted by the citizens with tax dollars. The State of Texas has given cities and municipalities a lot of authority to manage their Right-of-ways. This authority should be utilized to reduce damages of all types within their jurisdiction.
In March of 2022, the City of Lubbock passed an Infrastructure Ordinance with a large focus on reducing damages of all types. Industry Best Practices Standards and results of individual investigations of each line strike were used when writing this ordinance. The ordinance was written on the punishment for failure to adhere to best practices not regulating means and methods. To help reduce utility damages practices like white lining the excavation area, potholing through hydro excavation, located tickets attached to permits, and enforcement of the
“safe zone” were incorporated into the ordinance. Right- of-ways, roadway restoration, materials, and testing are
all incorporated within the City of Lubbock Engineering Minimum Design Standards and Specification and codified
by ordinance. All the ordinances and technology cannot replace manpower in the field, we all are dealing with staffing problems.
When the concept of the City of Lubbock taking an active role in Right-of-Way construction management and damage prevention the biggest obstacle was manpower to inspect
the work and enforce the ordinance. Creating and staffing
a new Right-of-Way inspection team without the ability to
add additional staff was the first we took. A few years prior the City of Lubbock Utility locators had been transferred
to the Engineering Inspection Services Department. At that time we started standardizing all locate procedures, updating equipment, and training. We had reduced our at-fault line strikes tremendously but I was still having trouble retaining staff due to the pay. We took the 3 locators and 1 junior inspector reclassified into the Right-of-Way Inspector/Locator team. This combination has proven very successful once locates are made the same individual stays with the contractor and conducts inspections and ordinance enforcement. Once the team was created, we needed a supervisor for them and for that, we looked at the Right-of-Way Construction Coordinator. This position already handled permits for construction within the Right-of-Way, it only made since they would supervise the inspection team.
Finishing the Right-of-Way Ordinance was the last piece to put in place.
2024, Issue 2
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