Chestertown Utilities Manager Bob Sipes told the council Monday that a subcontractor installing fiber-optic lines in Chestertown is now responsible for breaching eight water lines and one sewer line.
The subcontractor, JCC Contracting, has been trenching fiber optic lines for Talkie Communications since last spring.
The most recent breach occurred Dec. 9 at 115 Elm St.
And on Saturday, Dec. 7, JCC broke a water line at Cedar Street and Greenwood Avenue; the repairs cost the town upwards of $28,000.
Sipes said JCC is not supposed to work on weekends because repairs cost more when things break. Sipes brought in a plumber to do some emergency repairs until he could get a full staff in on Sunday, Dec. 8 to complete the work.
Three utility staff worked 12 hours on Saturday, and five staff worked 15 hours on Sunday, Sipes said.
The town is seeking to recoup the costs from JCC.
Ward 3 Councilman Ellsworth Tolliver asked what responsibility Talkie had for the repairs.
“Talkie is responsible for not damaging existing utilities,” Sipes responded. “Every time JCC hits something, they are under contract to Talkie, but it’s the contractor that is responsible for the repairs.” He said Talkie can leverage the relationship with the JCC to make sure the town is compensated.
Talkie CEO Andrew DeMattia told the Spy Tuesday that JCC must reimburse the town for the repairs or risk losing the business relationship.
“Talkie will not use a vendor that does not follow the law, rules and pay for damages they cause,” DeMattia said. “JCC Contractors has agreed to pay for damages for the water break.”
JCC is also responsible to trench the fiber optic lines at a depth of five feet, to make sure the installations are below water and sewer lines, so they don’t interfere with repairs that may arise.
At Foxley Manor, some fiber optic lines have been installed at a depth of three feet, which is a violation of the agreement between Talkie and the town, Sipes said.
Sipes said he shut down JCC until repairs are made and the installations are properly done at Foxley Manor.
“What we are doing now is going back and checking the depths on a lot of the installations they have done,” Sipes said. “Where they come up short, they will have to redo it.”
Update: Sipes said he secured a commitment from JCC on Tuesday to compensate the town for repairs incurred on Dec. 7 and 8 and make the repairs at 115 Elm St. and Foxley Manor.
Ward 2 Councilman Tom Herz asked if the town could require an inspector onsite to protect water and sewer lines in high density areas–and make sure the contractors reach the required depth of five feet.
Sipes said he has already communicated to Talkie and suggested their contractors have an inspector present to make sure the installation follows the current agreement with the town. Talkie responded that they would inspect JCC’s work before payment can be made.
“I’m eager to put an end to the ‘Wild West’ nature of this installation, ” Herz said. “We need it…but we’ve got a situation where these guys are running roughshod over us and we’re not in a position to respond fast enough, and we don’t have penalties enough to drive a conversation that will be meaningful to them.”
Sipes said the current fine structure for contractors is $500 per day.
Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here
R Gill says
Seems to me that if the community is “in need of” Broadband infrastructure then the Town Utilities Manager and the Councilmen should be partnering with the local Business owners and contractors in minimizing disruptions and expense in delivering this vital service to the community. This initiative to deliver broadband service from local entrepreneurs should be applauded and supported not subverted by the very representatives that profess to support broadband access for Chestertown. The residents of Chestertown can be most proud that one of their own saw clear to finally break through the obstacles to provide the community with the much needed access to the 21st Century. Go Talkie!!!
TIFFANEY RAMSEY says
It’s easy to say that the town is wrong in shutting this down when it hasn’t affected you at all. I happen to live right where all of the plumbing and sewer issues caused by Talkie reps is happening. I have brown water coming out of my faucets, and toilets not flushing right. What good is having high speed internet if they are spilling raw sewage into residential neighborhoods and shutting down main water lines? I am all for us moving forward to provide a needed service, HOWEVER, DO IT RIGHT! When we noticed water spewing out of the road on the first break, we asked them what was happening and the workers tried to get us to just shut up about it, they called their boss, they will handle it. Didn’t even bother to call the town office to deal with it. WE REPORTED IT! They wanted to just cover over the mistake. This is not responsible work. Not to mention they were working when they were absolutely NOT supposed to be, after hours in the evening on the weekend. I don’t want shoddy craftsmanship whether it be a local company or otherwise