Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Locates And Line Strikes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Power board: recent utility hits cost tens of thousands; locator training, documentation under review
Summary
Board members reported multiple recent incidents in which contractors bored into primary lines, estimating roughly $20,000 for individual hits and about $40,000 in the last month; staff said the new locator handles about 100 locates a week and more training, documentation and invoicing of contractors are planned.
The Hurricane Power Board reviewed a string of recent utility line strikes and agreed to step up training and documentation for the city locator after several costly incidents.
A staff member told the board that one strike in the Southern Shores area “has been estimated…to be roughly $20,000 in damages for equipment, materials, time,” and that a second hit nearby was a similar magnitude. “We're probably $40,000 now just in the last, what, 30 days,” another member said, summarizing the financial impact.
Board members traced the incidents to a combination of factors: contractors boring deeper than the recommended communications depth, sand or wind removing surface markings, and an inexperienced locator still completing on-the-job training. A staff member explained the new locator runs about “100 locates a week,” and staff said the locator had only a few days of paired training before working independently.
The board discussed immediate operational fixes that include better photo documentation, use of cloud uploads from locator phones, more frequent flagging in sandy areas and more rigorous follow-up when marks are absent. One staff member said they will invoice the contractor responsible for certain hits and gather evidence for recovery.
Board members also debated whether locates were mis-marked or whether drilling exceeded the safe depth. “They actually dropped down to over 4 feet, which is about 2 feet deeper than they should have been, like, according to our standards,” a staff member said, describing a typical failure mode.
Next steps the board described included a Thursday morning review with the locator to examine misses and hits, possible additional locator training, and exploring technical solutions for automatic photo uploads so evidence is preserved. The board did not adopt new policy at the meeting but directed staff to document incidents for invoicing and to return with options for improved training and field documentation.
Outcome: The board did not take a formal new-policy vote at this meeting but instructed staff to pursue documentation, training and contractor invoicing as next steps.
