Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Permits And Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DeKalb County tightens highway and utility permits, orders stop work for SurfNet until corrections are made
Summary
Highway staff updated right-of-way, utility and overweight permit fees and penalties, added daylight-hour limits and bond requirements, and the commissioners approved a stop-work order and a temporary $10,000 bond requirement for SurfNet amid repeated work-plan violations.
Highway Department staff presented a package of permit changes that commissioners approved to give the county more enforcement tools and fees to help maintain roads and right-of-way safety.
The board adopted a $50 fee for private right-of-way cut permits (with penalties for unpermitted work), new categories for water/gas/sewer work, and added a $100-per-move fee and a $500 annual enforcement penalty for specified overweight moves. For County Road 61 — a corridor with particularly heavy overweight traffic — commissioners set an annual permit at $1,000 and a single-move permit at $100, citing high use and expected maintenance costs.
Highway staff also revised the utility-permit schedule to require maintenance bonds (e.g., $5,000 per application) and added a provision that new overhead poles must be staked so field inspections can verify proper placement. "We don't even charge for a permit" in several circumstances now, a highway official said; the new fees are intended to provide 'teeth' and recoup inspection costs.
The discussion escalated over repeated failures by a broadband contractor identified in the transcript as SurfNet, which highway staff said had installed cable in the wrong locations and not followed submitted plans. Highway staff presented photos and said SurfNet had previously been warned to correct installations. Commissioners voted to issue a stop-work order on SurfNet projects in the county, with a requirement that future permits carry a $10,000 bond for the next 12 months and that outstanding issues on the current project be corrected before new work is approved.
Commissioners also approved a $25 per 500-foot fee for overhead wires and clarified emergency exceptions (replacing a pole in the same location without permitting). Staff said they may withhold new SurfNet permits until plans are revised and current problems are remedied. The board instructed staff to update ordinance language and produce the permit forms and fee schedules for formal adoption.
