"Arms Race" Forces City To Examine Utility Construction Process

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- An increase in utility construction activity in Sandy Springs has prompted the city to make notable changes to the process, one of which would add communication requirements between the utility companies and the community.

The Sandy Springs City Council received a briefing on the new requirements during its Sept. 6 meeting.

The new policy includes advance outreach to impacted residents, including street signs when work encompasses more than 500 feet of underground work.

Public Works Director Garrin Coleman, describing the new flurry of activity in residential areas as an "arms race," outlined the city's current process, what it has experienced in the past year and the proposed changes city staff would like to implement.

Since the start of 2016, requests for utility permits has increased by more than 200 percent, with 81 percent of permit requests filed by utility companies with the city over the past four months. Along with the increase in work orders has come a rise in calls from the public, in many cases, complaints.

The city’s Public Works Department received 545 calls from January to August this year related to utility work, compared to 564 calls for all of 2015.

Under the new requirements utility companies must provide property owners within the work zone written notice at least 72 hours in advance of work beginning. If a project impacts more than 500 feet of underground work, roadside signage at each end of the work zone must be installed.

To assist in the process, the city created signage templates for the utility companies to use for notification, including inclusion of the utility company’s name and contact information.

“At any given time, we can have ten or more utility companies working within the city, and for property owners, it is not always clear which company is working outside their home," Assistant City Manager Bryant Poole said in a press release. "We hope the added communication will provide home owners with information related to who is doing the work and importantly, who to contact should something go wrong."

In addition to the on-site notification, the city has made available an interactive map from its website which pinpoints where utility companies are working, what type of work is being performed, and details about the permit issued by the city.

The revised policy, which will be implemented over the next 30 days, also mandates that restoration of property following construction be concluded within five to ten business days unless approved by the city.

McDonough added city staff will be "very aggressive" when it comes to enforcing the changes, adding the threat of stop-work orders would be "worse than a penalty” for companies because they would be losing money from the lack of construction.

---

Image via Shutterstock