As the ground thaws and people plan outdoor projects, CTC reminds everyone to dial 811 before digging in yards, ditches, by the lake or anywhere in the ground.
“It’s especially important because of the current COVID-19 pandemic,” Kristi Westbrock, CEO and general manager at CTC, said in a news release. “If a fiber line gets cut or damaged it could interrupt service immediately, resulting in an entire community potentially being disconnected from work, school or emergency services.”
Homeowners, lake property managers and contractors should call 811 at least two business days before doing any kind of digging, even for simple gardening or landscaping projects. It’s a free service in which all underground lines - including electric, gas, fiber optic and water lines - are marked. Doing so helps to keep everyone safe, services running and utilities working.
Call by 5 p.m. Wednesdays for weekend projects. Locate requests can be submitted by calling Gopher State One Call at 811 or through its website at gopherstateonecall.org.
“As we gear up for spring construction season, we like to remind everyone to locate cables,” Steve Gilbert, engineering and safety manager at CTC, said in the news release. "With people desperately needing service these days we’d like to focus on new cable installations and not on repairing cable we already have in the ground.”
