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WARREN -- Finding ways to reduce the dangers of placing a new generation of fiber optic cabling throughout the county in ways that will not endanger residents and require greater responsibility from installers was the topic of a more than two-hour meeting Tuesday at the Trumbull County Commissioners hearing room.
Last week, the commissioners met in an emergency meeting to discuss a series of accidents that have occurred in recent months during the installation of underground fiber optics cables.
The discussions came to a head recently after Lumos Networks noted workers hit a gas line while laying fiber optics underground along State Route 46, causing it to spew gas. During the meeting, the company voluntarily agreed to halt the installation of cabling for a two-week period.
At the request of state Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, and U.S. Rep. David Joyce, R-Bainbridge, commissioners on Tuesday discussed concerns being expressed by county residents about safety, the speed at which companies are working and the fact that some companies have not been restoring property landscaping to the conditions in which they were found before the cabling was installed.
Roger L. Lipscomb, executive director of Ohio811.org, sought to address some of the questions that are being expressed by state representatives, township officials and commissioners.
Howland Administrator James Pantalone emphasized that many of the problems being faced in Trumbull County are likely the same being seen throughout the state and across the nation.
He noted that in the last several years, there have been multiple gas and waterline strikes.
"Things that were allegedly marked," he said. "The blame game has become who marked it."
He noted the excavation permits as stated in the Ohio Revised Code were designed for digging at a specific spot.
"They were not meant for the digging of thousands of feet of excavation," Pantalone said. "These are concerns that will be echoed by everyone."
Lipscomb noted that much of the infrastructure that is underground is aging and the mapping of its locations and depths are, at best, suspect.
"Sometimes the records are very accurate and sometimes they are suspect," Lipscomb said.
He noted the companies placing the lines are ultimately responsible for obtaining the proper permits and identifying where other utility lines in the pathway of the new lines are located.
Lipscomb said the effort to expand broadband is in some cases investment driven.
"There is a lot of private equity driving this," he said.
"It is more important than ever that the excavator companies follow those safety driven practices," he said.
The companies also are responsible for marking where the lines will be located by using painted markings on lawns or along hardened surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt.
"A lot of these contractors are being paid by the footage," Lipscomb said. "So the more footage you can put in, the more you can make.
"The downside of that is safety sometimes, through shortcuts, is set aside," he said. "There are a number of factors that led to some issues."
Ohio811.org has created a document that tells residents and others what to do when they have a problem. It can be obtained through its website.
"We want to make sure you have the right information," Lipscomb said.
There are a lot of excavating activities happening in Ohio and the majority have been safe, he said. He noted that some laws already exist that have made excavating safer.
For each excavation, Lipscomb said office members send out information to multiple agencies.
Ohio811 informs various stakeholders about situations that are happening. However, it does not have the power to enforce different systems and the state law.
Lipscomb said there are efforts being made to address concerns about digging new lines.
Commissioner Denny Malloy questioned if legislation can be written in which the underground conduits in which the fiber lines are placed can hold multiple company lines, so they don't have to dig into a person's property multiple times to appease multiple company needs.
Lipscomb said it is possible, but because different companies are competitive, they may not like that idea.
"We want to have utility coordination," he said.
Some residents have complained that in some instances, the markings and flags placed on their properties have remained in place for months without any work being done.
There is an effort to ensure there is automatic damage reporting.
Lipscomb noted he would like county commissioners across the state to be involved in keeping residents' homes safe.
"I am hoping that we can convince BroadbandOhio and others to put controls, safety measures in place for the use of the ARP funds," he said.