R2002-168A AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT

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. expect to receive has increased to over 5,000 in 2001. This service is a 24-hour a day, 7 days ' a week, 365 days a year commitment. The Departments of Water Management and Engineering & Infrastructure currently provide locate services independent of JULIE to protect various City owned underground utilities. Utilities that must be located include water, sewer, drainage structures, traffic signals and City maintained street lights. Presently anyone planning to dig in the City will typically contact the Engineering Division and Water Services Division to obtain City owned utility information. Historically this "informal" process has worked relatively well and no major problems have occurred primarily because local contractors and public utility companies are aware of the City's "locate system". This has served as the basic reason not to join JULIE, because the thought has been not to disturb something that is working and increase the cost to the City. The 2002 amendment to the Act has given reason to reconsider becoming a member of JULIE. Public utility companies continue to out source more work, have turnovers in staff and new utility companies and contractors are working in the City, which increases the potential for problems to occur. Contractors and private citizens throughout the State are regularly informed to contact JUL�E as a one-call locate service before digging. It is reasonable to expect that a contractor or citizen may not know that the City is not a member of JULIE. This increases the possibility of damage to the City's underground facilities. This is partially controlled through the requirements for individuals working in the City's rights-of-way to obtain permits, but this is not a guarantee. City staff has considered the options relating to the City having to join JULIE. It has been noted that there may be benefits to becoming a member. The City's membership in JULIE should provide an improved level of service to local contractors and property owners, as they will not have to make several calls to request needed information for underground utility locate information. This may be found to be less disruptive to City operations as the process will be organized and managed. It is anticipated that requests would be received at one central location, processed and routed to the responsible City staff for follow-up action. This differs from what is currently taking place where requests may be received at one or more locations and through employees exchanging information before the response is made to a request. The current process is informal and is subject to miscommunication and delays. Another benefit is that the City will receive all JULIE locate notifications taking place in the City. This will inform City staff of work that is being done in the City and ensure the opportunity to better monitor damage to City streets, boulevards and sidewalks. In addition, this aids in public safety related matters and the coordination of lane closures. There are two basic options for the City to pursue membership in JULIE. The first is to join and take on all the responsibilities for receiving, processing, performing the field locates and documentation. The second is to contract the service to a private company that will take on the responsibilities and provide periodic reporting of its activities to the City. The option of the City taking on the work itself was evaluated by staff. It is difficult to accurately estimate the costs to the City as there are a number of variables. A major variable is the number of locate requests received which are currently estimated to be about 5,300 per year. The City would have to process each call, but may not have to make a field locate for every call. If there are no underground facilities, a field locate is not necessary. The percentage of calls that will not require a field locate is not known, but in budget estimates it has been estimated at 20 percent. A significant issue is where the requests in the form of faxes should be received. Page 2