| Legislative
Meeting - February 10, 2006...
|
Minutes:
CALL TO ORDER:
The legislative meeting hosted by the Utility Notification Center of Colorado was held on the 10th day of February 2006 at 16361 Table Mountain Parkway, Golden, Colorado. J.D. Maniscalco called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m. and welcomed attendees to the sixth meeting. It was noted that in the event of inclement weather, notice of meeting cancellation can be obtained from the UNCC reception desk at 303-232-1991 after 7:00 a.m.
EXEMPTIONS:
The exemptions committee had sent out a survey to contacts in the legislative group and UNCC's members. In addition, the CCA sent the survey out to their members. To date, 148 survey responses had been received. J.D. reviewed the response summaries and encouraged anyone not already represented to take the survey. Survey responses will continue to be captured until the next meeting and the data will be further examined at that time. The exemption committee plans to use the responses to help prepare another survey that is more specific. The survey results can be reviewed with a password that was provided by email. Discussion was held regarding the risk involved in the exemptions from a safety standpoint.
MEMBERSHIP:
At the request of the membership committee, UNCC had compiled a Tier II analysis on the levels established at the previous meeting. The Tier II members were divided into these levels based on the number of Tier II referrals given to excavators. This information will also be sent out to the membership committee via email. J.D. noted that establishing guidelines to prohibit Tier I members from switching to Tier II under this system would be of concern. Excavators represented noted that their concern was not the level of membership but how many calls they have to make. Additional calls to Tier II members create additional expense for the excavator. J.D. noted that the membership issue is an industry concern more than a financial concern for UNCC. Discussion was held about information that could be captured on the ticket, i.e. the depth of excavation, which would address the concerns of the Tier II members. The group also discussed that pre-marking or required meets could eliminate some of the concerns of the Tier II members. It was agreed by the group that pre-marking should be set up as an action item to be discussed prior to recommended legislation. A suggestion was made that two types of tickets could exist; a different ticket type could be established for sanitation or deep excavation that would require a meet. J.D. noted that this would require more modification to the ticket taking system than any other ideas proposed so far but that it would not be an impossible solution and should be considered. J.D. asked that Tier II representatives document what the objections are to the current one call system outside of cost and that excavator representatives document their concerns regarding the existing system. This would allow the group to begin to address these concerns and possible solutions that can be reached.
ENFORCEMENT:
David Fiore passed out a copy of Virginia’s damage prevention act. Part of this law includes exemptions that should be considered by the Colorado exemptions group. He reviewed the enforcement section that began in section 56-265.30 in some detail. He did not propose recommending this entire act as a change to Colorado’s law. David suggested that the enforcement committee compare the Virginia law to the current Colorado law. Items discussed by the group were how to provide an incentive for using the ADR process and providing education for those that damage. One of the primary purposes of enforcement would be to use it as a tool to reach the excavators or utility owners who do not respect the system. The enforcement group may attend a Virginia advisory committee meeting in the future.
CONCLUSION and NEXT MEETING:
The next legislative meeting will be held on Friday, March 24, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. at Utility Notification Center of Colorado at 16361 Table Mountain Parkway, Golden, Colorado.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:18 a.m.
ACTION ITEMS:
Pre-marking.
|
