Residents press fiber-build contractor on shallow ducts and lawn restoration as company says mainline nearly finished

At the April 21 Farmington City Council meeting, residents pressed Sci Fi Networks and contractor Always Underground (AUI) about damaged lawns, shallow conduit placement and the appearance of gray utility pedestals as the citywide fiber build nears completion.

"We have about 20% left of the city that we have to directional bore," AUI managing partner Bill Fenton told the council, saying the project has completed roughly 80% of directional boring and about 75% of microduct placement for the backbone. He added that the crews would move into restoration work and service activation after the mainline work is finished.

The discussion followed several public comments from residents who described yard disruption and asked who would repair settled soil or damaged lawns. Greg Collins said the fiber placement reduced the space available for future sewer repairs and warned of future utility strikes: "Now I feel there's gonna be a lot of calls into the city from these sewer companies that are replacing people's lines, and they're gonna hit that either the fiber cable or they're gonna hit the gas line." George Wright asked whether contractors or the city would follow up on landscape issues after soil settles.

Fenton told the council that pipeline and locate rules govern liability. "If you put a shovel in the ground, you need to call in locates," he said, describing the 811/locate process and saying that if a line was marked and a contractor cuts it, the digger can be liable; if a line was not marked or incorrectly marked, the locating company (AUI) would fix it. He said the project has recorded 26 gas hits between Farmington and Farmington Hills on roughly 1,500,000 feet of build, a rate he said exceeds the industry average of 0.5 hits per mile but noted not all hits are contractor faults.

On restoration timing, Fenton said winter conditions delayed seeding and that crews only recently secured topsoil. "We couldn't restore your lawn the way that we would like to or we do in the summertime... We just got two semi loads of it, and we're gonna start laying this stuff down," he said, estimating restoration crews were about 25–30% complete and that full restoration should take about six weeks to catch up.

Council members sought clarifications on oversight and public information. Council member Schneeman pressed whether homeowners would be billed if a marked line was cut; Fenton answered that a homeowner who dug without calling 811 could be held responsible, while contractors who follow locate procedures typically absorb repair costs only when at fault. Fenton also described the project's QA processes: daily field photos, third-party inspection and a UK-based review team that requires correction and re-upload of nonconforming work.

Mayor LaRussa and others urged the company to continue public updates. The presenter said AUI produces street sheets and a rolling three-week forecast and agreed to add city staff to distribution lists. The council also asked Sci Fi to name a local project manager or deputy who could be a single escalation contact; council members said they expected improved responsiveness following recent turnover on the contractor management team.

What happens next: Fenton said the mainline will be finished and the teams will focus on punch-list restoration and then begin "blowing in" fiber and turning up cabinets; individual service drops will be installed as customers sign up. Council members encouraged the companies to return for future updates and to provide clearer public timelines and contacts for residents with outstanding restoration concerns.

Sources: remarks and Q&A with Bill Fenton and AUI staff, multiple resident public comments and city council exchanges at the April 21 Farmington City Council meeting.