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Meeting - May 11, 2006...
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Minutes:
CALL TO ORDER:
The legislative meeting hosted by the Utility Notification Center of Colorado was held on the 11th day of May 2006, at their offices at 16361 Table Mountain Parkway, Golden, Colorado. J.D. Maniscalco called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. and welcomed attendees to the ninth meeting. The findings of the group will be finalized in a separate document from the minutes of the meeting.
VIRGINIA ENFORCEMENT HEARING:
J.D. and David Fiore had attended an enforcement hearing held in Virginia the previous week. David reported that the decisions made focused on what is in the state regulations. The Advisory Council considered 278 cases. Two of these cases were contested, approximately 50 were reviewed more closely by the Council and the remaining cases were finalized based on staff recommendations. He reviewed one of the cases that was contested by an excavator that had been sited for damages. All decisions made by the Council were unanimous. It appeared that the standards were high for all parties involved. The Council utilized various levels of letters (information, warnings, letters of concern, etc.) depending on the severity of the cases and the record of the party being examined. Penalties were calculated based on several factors including gravity, history, performance and education efforts. About ten years ago when the program began, Virginia damages were approximately 5 per 1000 with six investigators. The rate of damages in 2005 was 1.8 per 1000 with two investigators. The remaining four investigators were reassigned to educational efforts. Parties involved seemed to feel that the process has improved the one call system. This is also shown by the decrease in damages. David and J.D. will summarize the findings from their visit, obtain an outline of the program and find out if training programs are provided at a cost, by the next legislative meeting. The findings will be reviewed by the enforcement committee.
ACTION ITEMS:
Jerry Beukelman made a motion to approve the minutes from March 24, 2006 meeting. David Fiore seconded the motion and it was approved by a unanimous voice vote
ACTION ITEMS:
Pre-marking: Sandy Samuelson provided copies of sections of one call law from California and Minnesota that address pre-marking. She stated that fourteen states currently have pre-marking in their one call law. It was agreed that pre-marking consideration would be included in the findings document.
Tier II: The group would like to obtain documentation from Tier II members regarding their objections to the one call process.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT MEETING:
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at UNCC. Enforcement, membership and exemption committee leaders will be asked to present their final findings at this meeting. Votes will be taken at the June meeting on each finding to determine the percentage of agreement that will be reported.
A tentative meeting date of Thursday, July 13, 2006 was set on an as needed basis to discuss any issues not resolved at the June meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
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