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Meeting - September 30, 2005...
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Agenda:
September 30, 2005
Legislative Meeting
Utility Notification Center of Colorado
Best Western Central Denver
200 West 48th Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80216
Main: 303-296-4000
Facilitator: J.D. Maniscalco
Note Taker: Christine Miller
9:00am - 12:00pm
A. Welcome J.D. Maniscalco
B. Introductions J.D. Maniscalco
C. Approval of agenda J.D. Maniscalco
D. Approval of minutes (August) J.D. Maniscalco
E. Presentation Bob Kipp - PowerPoint
Presentation
F. Open Discussion
G. Breakout Sessions
a. Exemptions John "Chip" Taylor - R.J. Hicks
b. Hand Digging & Pre-Marking David Fiore
c. Enforcement Bill Stephens
d. Membership Richard Horstmann - Rex Kohart
Minutes:
CALL TO ORDER:
The legislative meeting hosted by the Utility Notification Center of Colorado was held on the 30th day of September 2005, at the Best Western at 200 West 48th Avenue, Denver, Colorado. J.D. Maniscalco called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m.
J.D. noted that the discussions held will likely mold one call legislation for the future. He introduced Bob Kipp with the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) and Ross Reineke with the Office of Pipeline Safety – Western Region. J.D. had invited Bob Kipp to speak about the CGA and what laws and damage prevention efforts are taking place in other states. J.D. asked those present to introduce themselves and their companies.
MINUTES:
J.D. asked for approval of the minutes of the August 30, 2005 meeting. Chip Taylor with CCI noted that he had provided a copy of modifications for the exemption group minutes. He noted the major modifications were that the current one call system does not work for all entities. The group did not favor bury depth requirements in the law and they would like to see more detailed definitions to the law especially for routine road maintenance. Duane Tinsley with Southgate Water & Sanitation made a motion to approve the minutes with the changes as noted. Chip Taylor seconded the motion and it was approved by a unanimous voice vote
BOB KIPP - CGA:
Bob noted that many important industry improvement efforts have originated in Colorado. He drew attention to a copy of the CGA Best Practices document Version 2.0 that was available on each table. These Best Practices were established by extensive committee work that resulted in unanimous adoption of the wording in the Best Practices document. CGA currently has 1,200 members from all areas of the industry. Bob reviewed the way the CGA is set up as a member based operation that is run by the membership. CGA is funded by sponsorships with specific programs funded by the OPS with matching member time donations. He reviewed recent CGA accomplishments including involvement in the Pipeline Safety Act, 3-Digit Dialing with a review of how this will work, the Damage Information Reporting Tool and the adoption by the NTSB of the Best Practices as a standard. He highlighted the best practices compliance area and reviewed some of the damage statistics from Colorado and the problems that these statistics reveal. He felt many problems resulted from a lack of effective enforcement in the state. He reviewed the enforcement work being done via an Advisory Committee of industry representatives in Virginia. This is a self funding program with fines paying for compliance officers. This program has had a positive impact on the numbers of damages in Virginia. Bob noted that Minnesota has a more conventional program for enforcement of the law relating to gas and electric damages that has also had a positive effect on damages. Statistics gathered show that when enforcement occurs for gas damages this had an effect on industry damages as a whole. He noted that all states with statistics available were reviewed and in general the states with active enforcement laws had lower damages resulting in better safety for the industry. Bob agreed to give J.D. a copy of his presentation so that it can be distributed to those interested.
BREAK OUT SESSIONS:
J.D. noted that the groups meeting would separately discuss membership issues, exemptions to the law and enforcement and penalties. Bob Thoman from 360 Networks/LTS spoke about supporting the one call center financially through support from all areas of the industry and to develop a true one call center with only one call needed prior to excavation. Duane Tinsley asked whether UNCC would be willing to lead a legislative effort. J.D. noted that UNCC represents a large number of members and the Board of Directors does not feel legislative consensus could be reached with all members.
GROUP REPORTS:
Enforcement: David Fiore (Fiore & Sons, Inc.)
This group determined that defining and outlining a system of accountability for all stakeholders was their goal. J.D. agreed to obtain information from Arizona, Virginia and Minnesota regarding their one call legislation and methods of enforcement. This group planned to meet on October 21, 2005 at UNCC to review this information. They will discuss incentives such as education and training that could help improve accountability. They will review current penalties provided for in the law, methods to enforce these penalties and possible changes needed. They asked the membership group to consider recommending that excavators be added to the list of mandatory members. J.D. will obtain information from other one call centers regarding excavator membership. This group plans to utilize the CGA Best Practices as a structure for their discussions.
Membership: Duane Tinsley (Southgate Water & Sanitation)
The group reviewed the CGA Best Practices that recommend a one call center. Consensus in the group was that Colorado is not a true one call state and it may be time to work toward this. Membership and funding for the one call center was further discussed including requiring excavator membership. It was believed that mandated excavator financial participation would be difficult to put into the law. It was noted that the current law places all financial support for the one call center on Tier I members. The Tier II members feel they have more control over their excavator relationships and this issue will have to be addressed. There was some agreement that enforcement issues should be stepped up in the state. Bob Brandstetter noted that all groups appear to support the CGA Best Practices.
Exemptions: John “Chip” Taylor (CCI)
This group had met to work on issues since the August legislative meeting. The result of this meeting was a general agreement that separate pieces of legislation may be required to address the specific issues of the landscaping industry and county road maintenance. While they have common issues surrounding maintenance, they felt that separate legislation would allow exemptions to be more specifically defined, would allow for a tight bill title and might prevent other additions to the legislation. They acknowledged that the excavation depth issue is a concern for everyone who has facilities in the ground. No exemptions for new construction of any kind will be included in their recommendations. Discussion going forward will be held on standardizing placement requirements and possibly developing a buffer zone with depth standards.
CONCLUSION and NEXT MEETING:
J.D. thanked the groups for their good participation. The next legislative meeting will be held on October 28, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. Notice will be sent regarding this meeting and where it will be held.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:42 a.m.
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