2/19/2025 (Copy)

Location: Bonita Springs Utilities, 11500 Operations Way, Bonita Springs, FL 34135.
Lunch provided by Sunshine 811. Beverages provided by Bonita Springs Utilities.
Start Time: 12:00 PM End Time: 1:18 PM

Attendance: 31 Total Attendees (15 In-Person and 16 online)

LOOKING FOR SPONSORS FOR FUTURE DPC MEETINGS
If you are interested in sponsoring lunch at a future meeting, contact Allen Perry or Brian Dean.

Key Discussion Points

UPDATED ENFROCEMENT TRAINING NOW AVAILABLE
Sunshine 811 has updated their enforcement page to include new online training for enforcement officers. The training includes an online course and a 13-minute video that covers the basics of enforcing Chapter 556, F.S. Access the training by going to Sunshine811.com/Enforcement. A link can be found at the bottom of any page on the Sunshine811.com website.

MANDATORY DAMAGE REPORTING USING DIRT
By law, all member operators (utility facility owners) must report damages annually. The reports are done through the Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT). The reports are due by March 31st for the prior calendar year. For more information, contact a Safety Education Liaison or go to Florida DIRT — Sunshine 811.

APRIL IS SAFE DIGGING MONTH
Every April is Safe Digging Month, recognized nationally to showcase the importance of what we do to dig safely and prevent damage to underground utilities that are our lifelines. Celebrate Safe Digging Month by joining with your peers to take the IDigSafe Pledge. It’s a way to show you are: a leader in the industry (within your company and with those who hire you); that safety is your #1 priority; and that you’re committed to safe digging and damage prevention. https://sunshine811.com/takethepledge

SUNSHINE 811 TICKET STATS

  • 2024 Ticket Volume Down 2.8% over 2023

    • 2,731,924 Tickets Received

    • Notifications Sent 14,158,274 (5.2/Ticket)

    • ~87% ITE

  • 1/6/2025 Record Day 11,218 Tickets

  • January 2025 up 5.4% over January 2024

UPDATED EXACTIX TRAINING
The ticket entry system, Exactix, has been around since January 2020. Many users of the old Irth system were grandfathered into Exactix without additional training. Soon, those “Legacy” users will be required to go through updated training to emphasize providing good locate descriptions and to minimize excessive ticket renewals.

EXACTIX ISSUE WITH ATTACHMENTS ON IPAD RESOLVED
Previous discussion s centered on the inability for Peoples Gas to open attachments within Exactix or Utilitsphere. This issue has been resolved; however, KTM or CAD drawing files cannot be opened.

DEFINITION OF TICKET SCOPES
An attendee asked about the maximum length that a ticket can cover. A single ticket can cover a total linear distance up to one mile along a single street including the ROW and continuguous parallel easement and up to 150 feet in either direction along crossing streets. If an excavator needs the property located or back easements/ROW, they can call in up to 5 individual addresses within one mile.

An issue was brought up where fiber installers are putting in 15 one-mile tickets or putting in 15 different streets in a couple hours of Exactix entry. The member operator must bring in extra locators to cover the extra work and can’t keep up with these fiber projects. What can be done to slow these fiber projects down?

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: The scope, or area allowed for one ticket is set by the Sunshine 811 Board of Directors (BOD). It is not in Chapter 556, F.S. The BOD is looking at the definitions for the areas of one ticket. Looking at the number one ticket entry excavators, the majority are telecommunications and power companies doing fiber installation and putting power line underground. They are at both ends of the process. They are locating existing lines and installing new lines. They want to limit the number of tickets and get tickets located. The companies doing the installation and, more importantly, the owners of the projects must have realistic goals for completing work. The reality is that miles and miles of locates cannot be done in two business days.  Discussion points:

  • Requesting 15 miles and continuously renewing is a violation of s. 556.116. Instead, excavators should get tickets for areas they will be completing within the 30 days from the date the ticket was requested. When you let a Sunshine 811 liaison know this is happening, they can reach out and provide education.

  • The project owners and excavators need to communicate with the member operators (utilities) ahead of time to establish realistic schedules. Having fiber contractors, locators and project owners are encouraged to attend Damage Prevention Council meetings to begin communicating and understanding the other stakeholder’s processes.

  • Finally, it is working with the Sunshine 811 BOD to try to develop solutions that keep crews working without overwhelming the locate staff. The BOD is looking at Large Project Tickets. That would require a change to the law. Let us know your ideas on what that would look like. Several states have large project tickets.

  • Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

EMERGENCY TICKETS

There are some contractors that are calling in emergency tickets that are not emergencies. When a locator receives an emergency, they must stop what they are doing and respond as soon as possible. That can be a significant burden.

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: First, forgetting to call 811 is not an emergency. An emergency condition is defined as: 1) clear and present danger to life or property; 2) material or substance escaping from underground facility; 3) Interruption of vital public service or communication; and 4) Roadway impaired by unforeseen event (not always construction damage). If the issue is persistent, contact your local Sunshine 811 liaison to offer education to the contractor. Sunshine 811 does a check on 100% of emergency tickets and permission is required to do an internet emergency ticket. Requesting false emergency is a citable violation.

TICKET SCOPE AND LARGE TICKETS

There are some projects where 15 miles of tickets are called in for the same project or there is a new road where there is limited access for a large distance. The contractors are not actively working in those areas but say they need to keep tickets open in case they do need to work. Some are FDOT projects where the contractor states the FDOT is making them keep those tickets open.           

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: This type of area could be considered perfect for a large project ticket. The Sunshine 811 BOD has had several discussions on defining project tickets, processes and documentation. They are looking at potential legislation to address this during the 2026 legislative session. This gives the various stakeholder groups time to work together on language that is agreeable to all parties. We can also discuss this during upcoming DPC meetings.

MARKS REMOVED BY AN EXCAVATOR RESULTING IN TICKET RENEWALS

Is there a provision in the law or Sunshine 811 policies that address when a contractor habitually renews tickets because they have destroyed the marks? Can the excavator be required to reinforce or protect the locate marks? This is very frustrating for locators that are constantly relocating areas. For example, a contractor putting in a new road and multiple crews doing different work are destroying marks. The locator may get a field agreement to have the contractor put in stakes or posts for offset marks. That way the locator doesn’t have to go out as often. There is frustration when a locator is putting down flags and paint and then sees a contractor driving over the flags and tearing up marks. 

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: The communications you mentioned are a great start. Meet with the contractor and put in posts with offset marks. We may want to consider a positive response code for offset marks. There is a function coming to exactix that will give subcontractors access to the ticket and positive response that will help the locator to communicate with all crews working the site. Keep communicating.

ENFORCEMENT OF NON-MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY FACILITIES

Agencies like Bonita Springs Utilities do not have an enforcement team within their organization to call on to protect their facilities. Many enforcement groups don’t understand the law or are not willing to enforce against contractors violating the law, putting the BSU facilities at risk. Sunshine 811 has fantastic materials to train enforcement officers. But, there is a hesitation to enforce. Allen Perry reached out to local enforcement officers with little luck.

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: Thank you for the compliments. Sunshine 811 does reach out to several enforcement associations and does presentations at local and state meetings. Agencies include Florida Sheriffs, Police Chiefs, Code Enforcement, and Fire Marshals. We have had some successes with citations being written in 16 counties. In Citrus, the fire department reached out to enforcement after responding to numerous gas line hits. Those success stories give us the contacts to provide new agencies, so they are willing to help others start enforcing. If you have contact details for us to reach out to, let us know.

Regulator Role: Law enforcement officers can now get registered in Exactix so they can look up tickets in the field. One feature that role has is “Tickets Near Me.” That allows an officer to look up all tickets in the area.

DAMAGE UTILITIES REPORTS

Does Sunshine 811 have damage statistics from year to year as well as statistics on successful enforcement?

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: We have both. Utilities are required to report damages to Sunshine 811 and Sunshine 811 is required to report a summary of damages and enforcement to the State Fire Marshal’s office, Governor, and Legislature annually. We also receive a report from the State Clerk of the Court that lists the citations issued under Chapter 556, F.S. We issue our own DIRT report annually. Try to avoid unknowns when submitting DIRT reports when submitting data.

  • To view the Sunshine 811 annual reports, visit sunshine811.com/annual-reports

  • To view enforcement actions by year, visit sunshine811.com/enforcement actions

  • Allen Perry, BSU: He has contacted several law enforcement agencies to get attendance at the DPC with no luck. If anyone has any ideas on how to get attendance by law enforcement, please let him or Brian Dean know.

EXCESSIVE SIGNS ON A SINGLE TICKET

FDOT is calling in excessive signs on a single ticket. They called in 8 separate streets in Longboat Key for 25 sign locations on a single ticket. The locator is out tracking down all these random signs across miles of roadway to mark a 10-foot radius. Has there been a discussion about limiting the number of signs that can be on one ticket? Like the limit on 5 addresses on a one-mile ticket. Another example was where 56 sign locations were called across the entire Fort Myers area on 6 tickets. They provided a map, but the map was so big you couldn’t zoom in enough to clarify the individual locations. There were no white lines, or they were missing. He spoke to the FDOT staff, and they said they must word the tickets a certain way online or they won’t be accepted. They are tricking the system to get the tickets entered.

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: If you think a ticket is improper or outside the accepted ticket sizes, call Member Services (811, Option 3) or 811, and let them look at the ticket. Many times, they may not see anything wrong with the ticket. A locator may think the ticket is not acceptable, but the call center will take a different approach. You can request white lining (premarking) so the areas are easier to find.

  • For the tickets in Long Boat Key, they did not white line. They had 25 signs with six individual side streets for 3,000 feet of roadway. We ask them to white line, but they just tell the locator to mark it even if they must put in marks that aren’t needed.

    • Call 811 and speak to the CSR for tickets like that to see if the ticket is legitimate.

  • Ezmeralda Gomez, Primoris: We have a looker (coordinator) on site who clears the tickets before the work gets scheduled and in in contact with the locators. That helps a lot.

TICKETS FOR MAST ARM PROJECTS

If a contractor is drilling shafts for mast arms, they should be able to call in an intersection ticket and describe the scope as 150 feet in all directions. That should be sufficient for the locators to locate the project since all 4 corners would be included.

Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: If you can white line the approximate location of where the shafts will go or describe the locations of the shafts that would help the locator. If you just say 150 feet in all directions, the locator is now responsible for marking the roadway as well as the corners and that may not be necessary for the drill shafts. Exactix defaults intersection tickets as 150 feet in all direction. But, if you aren’t impacting the roadway, there is no reason for the marks to cross the road. Crossing the roads puts the locators, drivers and pedestrians at risk.

  • The tickets description states to locate all 4 corners of the intersection. How does the contractor know that all 4 corners have been located? Sometimes that get to the site and only the east or west side is marked. Could the locator put in a comment that there were no facilities on the side with no marks? We don’t want to start drilling and find the locator failed to mark that side of the road.

  • Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: The locator could put in a comment like that, but it would be up to the locator. Another helpful tool would be to use an attachment when you enter the ticket that shows the approximate location of the proposed shafts so the locator has a clear image of where the work will take place. You still have to give a good description, but an image is a great help.

  • The contractor will clearly state if only two corners need to be located and will describe those corners, so the locators aren’t wasting their time. It is concerning when they get to the site and there aren’t any marks where they will be working. The crews do hand dig down 4 feet even if there are no marks, but it the utility is deeper and they hit it, that stops the job. If we call the locator to verify the lines, they get told they have to call in a new ticket and that isn’t fair.

  • Dino Farruggio, AT&T: AT&T both digs for new facilities and locates existing facilities. If you call in a ticket for the northwest and southeast corners of an intersection, and you get to the site and there are only marks on the NW corner, the assumption would be that there is nothing on the SE corner to mark. If there are marks and you are digging and can’t find the facility, you can call the locator and ask them to come out to verify. The facility could be very deep. It is very difficult to get an accurate depth for facilities in Florida soil conditions. You shouldn’t need another ticket for the locator to come back and verify.

    • The contractor is taking all the precautions they can to avoid damage and does not want to overload the system with extra locate requests. They have hit utilities where there were no marks despite all their efforts.

    • Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: You are highly encouraged to take pictures and document the conditions before you start work. Make sure the pictures show where you are working and not just a random spot on the ground.

  • Jared Ely, TECO PGS: Another thing to remember is that excavators need to check positive response. If you have questions, call the locator to clarify. At PGS we are willing to check our maps to verify if you have questions.

    • The contractor do hand dig and probe, but the drill shafts go 10 to 15 feet deep.

    • Gas mains have to go deep below intersections along with other utilities.

    • If you are only hand digging down four feet for a mast arm that is going 15 feet deep, you may not be hand digging deep enough to clear facilities. It is difficult to hand dig much deeper than that in busy intersections. But, if there are no marks, the locator is at fault.

    • If the locator is at fault, then the contractor shouldn’t be held responsible. The contractor stated they are still being sent damage claims.

  • Brian Dean, Sunshine 811: One thing that was discussed at a recent meeting I attended with FDOT, FTBA, and several other stakeholders was the possibility of a DEEP DIG ticket with extra criteria for tickets where there will be deep excavation. There was no discussion of what the criteria would be but it is an interesting idea when it isn’t practical to pothole to “identify” facilities.

    • You can do a second request when a facility is found that wasn’t marked.

Meeting adjourned at 1:18 p.m.

W Schaefer