Contractors working within the city of Indianola who destroy city infrastructure should be held accountable, according to one alderman.
Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder told the board during Monday night’s regular meeting that he would like to see an inventory of the companies who have caused damage to infrastructure and have reimbursed the city after using the city’s own manpower and resources to repair the damage.
“If we have to send our Public Works employees out there to dig and repair, I’d like to know why we are not being reimbursed, and I’d like to get the information on 811 and whose responsibility it is to make sure it was done
correctly,” Elder said.
The number of companies who have actually paid the city back is likely to be small, according to Mayor Steve Rosenthal, who said the city does in theory bill companies for damage and labor if the utilities were marked correctly and were damaged anyway.
The kicker lies in those markings.
Contractors are required to call 811 (Know Before You Dig) and request utilities and the city to mark where underground infrastructure lie, which includes water and sewer.
A contractor damaged a water main while doing work near the Sheriff’s Department back in August, but the company claimed the piping was not marked.
“We couldn’t see any signs of markings,” Rosenthal said. “Of course by the time we got there, everything was underwater… About 250 foot up, there were flags. Where they hit something, there were no flags.”
City Engineer Ron Cassada told the board that if companies hit marked infrastructure, they should be liable, but it gets difficult to claim compensation if there is a dispute over the marking of the utility.
“It gets to be a gray area if they called 811 and the city hasn’t properly located it and they hit it,” Cassada said. “That’s kind of a gray area.”
Another incident took place near McDonald’s back in October, which is still being looked at. That resulted in low water pressure throughout the city for a couple of days, and city crews had to go out and do the repairs.
“If they hit it, we come and fix our own water lines,” Rosenthal said. “If everything was done properly, we do bill them.”
Cassada said that contractors often hit utilities, such as sewer mains, which are more difficult to detect, and it could be months or longer before the city knows it.
Cassada said the city could possibly strengthen its right-of-way agreement that contractors have to sign to include more teeth to help claw back labor costs and resources.
Elder asked that the city look into who is responsible for making sure utilities are marked after an 811 call and to make sure that is being done correctly.
If they are marked, and then damaged, he wants the city to be compensated.
Jyesha Johnson contributed to this article.
