It is a good bet that few contractors were not impacted by last summer's unprecedented failures in the critical utility locate process. Much of the disarray was brought on by utility owner and locate service provider breakdowns along the string of accountability. The failures quickly snowballed into an industry crisis that severely hurt construction business, caused project delays and unnecessarily put lives at risk. In response, AGC of Minnesota is bringing needed focus and purpose to these concerns. The 2019 experience exposed flaws and weakness in the locate processes and brought heightened awareness of how crucial this aspect of construction is to construction safety and timely project completion.  

The AGC team has been working with our members and various regulatory authorities and this week produced comprehensive legislation that will bring about a more accountable, timely and risk-balanced underground utility locate process. A workshop was held on Feb 18, where the legislation was discussed, and advocacy strategies were shared. AGC of America Utility Infrastructure (UI) Division Director Allen Gray was on hand to share and discuss the many UI resources available to members at the national level. AGC's presence in Washington is vast and members are fortunate to have Allen working on their behalf with members of Congress and federal regulatory authorities. Allen has roots with the Carolinas AGC Chapter, and he shared information about the work accomplished there to revamp state utility locate laws and create a more responsive and risk-balanced process. AGC of Minnesota members are encouraged to interface with Allen's network of contacts and resources by joining his semi-monthly contractor-focused conference calls and related UI resources.  

Allen has written articles on topics such as the responsibilities of utility project owners in the 811 process, and aggressive billing/questionable collection practices.  A webinar on frivolous claims and collections can be viewed here.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reached out to industry associations with concerns about incidents involving commercial motor vehicles on MN Trunk Highway 55 and the area of Doyle Path.  Read this safety alert.

 

For more information, reach out to Ca ptain Jon Olsen, Minnesota State Patrol at jonathan.olsen@state.mn.us or via phone at (651) 350-2012.

If you have a collective bargaining agreement expiring this Spring, be sure to RSVP to Mike whether you are able or not able to attend the negotiations event on March 4th.

Did you complete the survey on negotiation  issues?  If not, please contact Mike.

Termination notices are due to unions with whom you have an expiring collective bargaining agreement.  Form termination notices are available  here (if you are a member and do not have login credentials, Renee would love to get you set up).  If you did not receive an email from Mike about this form and are signed to an expiring CBA, please contact Mike as soon as possible.