The city of Hot Springs says AT&T owes it $16,023 for sewer lines AT&T contractors damaged during the installation of fiber optic lines, but the telecommunications giant said the location of the underground utilities was marked inaccurately.
The city said it's yet to receive payment for sewer lines AT&T directional boring contractors damaged on Vineyard, Summer, Third and Main streets in March and Meadowbrook Street last November.
The customer aging report the city provided in response to a records request listed unpaid balances of $8,554 from a Jan. 31 invoice and $7,469 from a June 30 invoice.
A waterline contractors damaged in the North Moore Road area caused a lengthy outage on Thanksgiving. Hot Springs Utilities Director Monty Ledbetter said contractors are supposed to spot dig ahead of the boring machine to verify if water or sewer lines are in the area.
"When they first started they weren't doing that," he said. "There were a couple of crews that were breaking mains right and left and costing us a lot of overtime to fix the leaks. We're running low on materials to fix leaks. Lead times on repair clamps are long. It's been a huge issue."
Ledbetter said contractors aren't supposed to disturb a 3-foot buffer around utility line markings.
"It's not that they hit the line," he said. "They get too close, and the vibrations loosen up the backing and cause ruptures."
AT&T said its contractors request to have all utility lines marked before they start digging, but the city's markings aren't always accurate.
"As we work to launch fiber broadband and improve connectivity in more communities, our goal is to minimize any construction-related impacts," Sarah Rodriguez, lead public relations manager for AT&T, said in a written statement.
"After previously investigating separate cases of sewer and waterline damage, we've determined the damage was the result of inaccurate markings of underground utilities," she wrote.
"We've shared these findings with the city, and we are not aware of any outstanding requests for payment."
The consent agenda the Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted Tuesday included a resolution extending the city's contract with Arkansas Utility Protection Services. ARKUPS has provided utility line locating services for the city since 2011, according to information provided to the board.
The extension can be renewed annually for up to four consecutive years. ARKUPS will charge the city $11.40 per waterline locate and $11.20 per wastewater locate. A 10-cent fuel surcharge will be assessed per locate if the Oil Price Information Service benchmark price exceeds $3.83 a gallon.
The enabling resolution waived competitive bidding, citing the exemption for renewals or extensions of existing contracts. It's one of more than 20 exemptions the Legislature added to the specific purchases and contracts section of the state code.
"They've done a good job and know our system pretty well," Ledbetter told the board. "The majority of the locates we're doing seems to be dealing with AT&T."
Ledbetter said the city verifies the location of water and sewer mains that are 10 inches or more in diameter. He said more than 15,000 utility locates have been done since the start of the year.
A 4-inch sewer line on Meadowbrook Street the city said AT&T contractors tore the top out of last November accounts for most of the $16,023 the city said AT&T owes. A memo Ledbetter sent the city's finance department in January asked it to bill AT&T Risk Management in St. Louis for $8,554 in labor, equipment, material and street cutting costs.
The memo said the line was packed with gravel and boring gel.