Page 22 - Mississippi

Iremember seeing a movie years
ago of wagons, buckboards and saddle horses lined up anxiously waiting for the pistol to be fired. This was the signal to begin the race
to free land in Oklahoma. Estimates
of up to 60,000 hopeful settlers were convinced that they would soon be in possession of the 160 acres they were entitled to. However, history records, economic pressures plus poor planning and inadequate enforcement by federal agencies made it even more chaotic than earlier land runs, resulting in massive fraud, widespread suffering, and a number of deaths.
What does that piece of history have to do with anything that is going on today? Good question! Stay with me for just
a couple more minutes and let’s see if there is a parallel.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ACT of 2021/2022 promised more than
a trillion dollars would be invested in infrastructure across the country. Up to $65 billion was allocated for broadband (fiber projects) internet to help ensure that every American has access to reliable high-speed internet. All those dollars that were set aside to provide reliable high-speed internet, were for installing new infrastructure. Almost 2
years have passed since Americans were told these projects were to be granted and the timeline to invest the money was 5 years.
I’ve taken the time to look at the talking points for the broadband initiative and find myself in agreement with them. One of the points is everyone deserves to be connected to high-speed internet. Another is high-speed internet is what each underserved communities need. No argument here. But don’t forget what every underserved community also needs is the existing underground infrastructure protected while installing the fiber. If you are out of water, you likely won’t be in the mood to watch another rerun of Gunsmoke.
As I talk to stakeholder groups across the country since the passage of the Infrastructure Bill, the topic that comes up consistently is how to manage the workloads due to the unprecedented broadband network expansion projects anticipated to take place simultaneously across all states over the next 3 – 5 years. The frustrations are exacerbated because of the billions of dollars granted to states to place the fiber, none was allocated to protect existing underground facilities. While there is
a clear financial impact to all owners/
operators, for the smaller utility it
is disastrous. Perhaps it’s the fear
of the unknown, however, if utility locators struggle to keep up with the workloads of today, bringing in multiple subcontractors to meet unreasonable timelines will cause damages to trend
in the wrong direction. Since many, if not most state Dig Laws can’t provide relief to its members or locators,
several municipalities and counties
have enacted permitting processes
not designed to generate revenue but designed to slow the excavation process down to meet the local utility’s ability
to locate their underground facility. Many of these permitting processes are unsustainable with current timelines for spending the grant money. As a result of what is happening at the local level and what could happen at the state level without written rules or regulations, many states are looking to create new ticket types such as a large project
ticket or looking for ways to manage workloads by creating additional and enforceable laws designed to discourage excavators from calling in for renewals when work has been completed. Then others are looking to require new contractors to go through state-specific Dig Law training prior to working in their state.
20 • Mississippi 811 2024, Issue 3
What Underserved Co
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