City to enforce ‘no call-no digging’
By Suzanne Werre, BHG News Service
Underwood’s city commission made quick work of a short list of items on Monday night’s agenda, noting a few questions that need to be addressed on the new sidewalks on Sayler, Summit and Lincoln streets before giving a thumbs up on how the project went. An area of uneven sections of sidewalk on North Summit was pointed out, and there was a question regarding the construction of an area of curb on Summit, but otherwise commissioners were pleased with what they had seen thus far. They agreed they should all walk the new sidewalks before giving their final approval. In other construction business, commissioners were informed by Otter Tail Power’s Mike Lehmann that some contractors in the area have been digging without first making sure there are no utilities underground in the area they’re going to dig. Lehmann reminded commissioners that contractors should be calling ND1Call (811) before doing any digging, but he has noticed instances where there are no markings or flags indicating utilities, which means the worker doing the digging has no idea if there are already utilities there or not. Commission president Rick Olson also noted that city auditor Diane Schell had also recently informed a contractor who was digging in a new construction area that he needed to call to get the okay from the utilities before digging, but he “ignored her,” said Olson. Something really needs to be done before a backhoe hits a water or power line.
