By LYNDON ZAITZ of the Keizertimes
Ziply Fiber Pacific, the company with a franchise agreement to provide telecommunications services within the city of Keizer, is facing complaints from homeowners over damage to infrastructure, yards and landscapes when installing fiber optic cable.
The agreement allows Ziply and its subcontractors to use public rights-of-way to complete its work.
Two of the eight subcontractors account for most of the complaints, according to Public Works Director Bill Lawyer.
One homeowner wrote, “My apartment driveway was blocked on Lockhaven and when I went out and asked the workers, none would answer as to why they were digging up the road; or, how my Xfinity internet has been non-existent several times in the last month? Or the grinding of cement for hours on end? Or the thumping of machinery for hours? Or maybe the lack of communication to the neighborhood that any of this is happening?”
Another wrote: “I pulled the flags they left in our yard yesterday…spray paint on shrubs. No notice when they were coming.”
A northeast Keizer resident wrote: “I have to say that the cleanliness and due diligence of the contractor is very subpar. They have now had underground Smurf tube sticking out of the ground for over three weeks. No completion and no contractors have been on my street, Mistwood and over two weeks the neighbor had their Comcast cable damaged and now has the cable laying across the sidewalk for temporary repair.”
“The neighbor directly across from me has had their power damaged and part of the city sidewalk has been affected for them,” the resident wrote. “Not to mention rocks and parking strip filled with mud and two core drills in the asphalt have yet to be repaired with no sign of the contractor. We can only hope by the spring things will get resolved.”
“During horizontal drilling, missile blasting, I heard them call it both ways, under my driveway they hit my power line and we found out through PGE at 9 p.m. that they severed the Neutral and L2 at 3 p.m. when they hit it,” wrote a homeowner. “A team came out and tore up my driveway at 11 p.m. and I had power again at 2-3 a.m. I still have burnt up receptacles in my house that I have to replace on my own dime due to the neutral being severed. We are lucky it didn’t cause a fire.”
The issue became public at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Keizer City Council. Council President Shaney Starr asked Public Works Director Lawyer about the comments she had been hearing from residents about the damages caused by Ziply subcontractors.
Lawyer told Starr and the other councilors that the city had no direct control over Ziply or any other utility provider working under a franchise agreement.
In a statement to the Keizertimes, Lawyer wrote utilities are private companies that have a franchise agreement with the city and are allowed to have their facilities in the public right-of–way or in public utility easements.
One recourse is the city could ultimately rescind the franchise agreement, but that would be difficult to do, Lawyer wrote.
Dan Miller, senior vice president for Ziply Fiber Pacific responded to questions from the Keizertimes:
“We’re aware of the challenges in the past few weeks, and we’re committed to making the necessary changes to achieve our standards. To that end, we’ve added more inspectors to the market, we now meet weekly with our partners to review performance and we now meet with city inspectors monthly. City inspectors are also invited to our weekly meetings with our construction partners so we can quickly address any issues as a team to ensure the highest level of work and proper communication with residents.”
Miller added: “Construction can sometimes be messy work. Keizer residents can learn more about the work Ziply Fiber is doing and what to expect during construction at ziplyfiber.com/fiber-construction/construction-process. There’s a video on that page that outlines how we communicate with residents and our process for restoring any damage. Ziply Fiber’s goal is always to leave an area in a condition as good if not better than it was before construction. If residents notice something has been missed, the company wants to know about it and asks that details be shared at ziplyfiber.com/new-fiber-locations/construction-process/construction-feedback. This will help us ensure that issues are known, identified, and addressed in a timely manner.”