Susan Friedrich, a Westville resident, told the Westville Town Council she is concerned that multiple cable and fiber companies are repeatedly trenching and placing equipment in private yards within the town’s public right-of-way.

Friedrich said crews have put boxes and buried lines close to landscaping at her home, that some boxes have sunk, and that overlapping installations are creating drainage and maintenance problems. “We already have two of these cables being buried in our ground, and now we got a third company wants to roll through and do another, tear up our ground again,” Friedrich said. She asked why the town cannot stop additional companies from installing buried lines in yards.

Town Attorney Doug (last name not provided) told Friedrich the subdivision plat creates a public easement that extends 35 feet from the centerline of the road on each side, and that utilities placed within that easement may lawfully occupy the ground. He said the town can provide a copy of the plat to residents and that Westville issues and enforces permits for contractors. “If the contractors are doing things that are not beneficial for the town, they can pull the permit, and they can basically stop work,” a town representative said during the meeting.

Friedrich and other speakers raised additional concerns including claims that crews have struck buried utilities. A staff member identified two water services that were damaged: one on Valparaiso Street and another near the roundabout; officials said they would inspect those locations. Friedrich also described boxes placed “way up in the yards” beyond sidewalks and asked whether there is a mechanism to limit how many competing providers may place buried infrastructure in a single subdivision.

Council members and staff described limits to local authority over which companies may operate. One council participant summarized that competition and deregulation mean multiple providers can enter a market once a carrier runs infrastructure. Town staff offered to follow up with Friedrich, bring a copy of the plat to her property, and inspect the reported installations. No ordinance or formal restriction was proposed or adopted at the meeting.

The council did not take formal action on new rules for buried cable lines during the meeting; staff said they would follow up with the resident and review permitting records and the locations Friedrich identified. Friedrich said she plans to pursue the issue further with state legislators if necessary.