Are you on your third, fourth, fifth, sixth staking or additional assistance request with MISS DIG? If so, you are not alone. Many of the third party locators that perform work in Michigan have fallen woefully behind. In an effort to rectify the situation, two things are happening. The first is that a couple dozen stakers are coming to Michigan this weekend and will remain here until things get caught up. Second, your association has scheduled a meeting with the Michigan Public Service Commision (MPSC), the entity that has been charged with the enforcement component of the new act. The purpose of the meeting is to simply ask them how they intend to make the facility owners live up to Public Act 174 and to determine what will be in place once these additional stakers leave so we don’t have this problem again.
As many of you know, the facility owners are blaming their third party locators or (as we know them) subcontractors. The fact of the matter is that the facility owner is responsible for staking and if their subcontractor can’t perform, they are still liable. MITA will be asking the MPSC about this. We are not getting initial staking done in a timely manner and, because of this, it would be inherently impossible to determine if the new law is working or not. It is appalling that crews are being sent home due to a lack of staking, considering all the rain.
Comments or concerns regarding this issue may be emailed to Rob Coppersmith using the subject line “Frustrated Beyond Belief” at robcoppersmith@mi-ita.com.
