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Show Residents advised of Utility Bill requirements Do you plan on putting up a fence, removing a tree trunk, or doing some excavation? ex-cavation? If so, remember to first contact the public utility companies which serve your area. That will keep you in compliance with House Bill 199, which went into effect in May, and it might help you and your neighbors avoid uncomfortable hours without gas, electricity or , telephone service. I The new Utah law prohibits excavations I without giving 48-hour notice to the public utilties. The utilities then have a day to i either give approval for digging or to mark the i locations of their cables. I Utilities also must tile with each county clerk the name, telephone number and address ad-dress of representatives designated to receive calls concerning excavations. In addition, the Southern Utah directory issued by Mountain Bell has a section on buried cable information near the front of the book. Each year hundreds of underground telephone cables and utility lines are cut, disrupting businesses and inconveniencing residences. Outages at hospitals, police departments depart-ments and fire stations have been especially dangerous. In addition, millions of dollars in damage repair expenses are passed on to consumers because of people being careless with power equipment or because they didn't comply with the law and notify the utilities. Cutting an underground line also can be a big nuisance in delaying construction con-struction projects while the damage is being repaired. Obviously, the potential problems and possibilities of a fine aren't worth the few minutes it takes for a phone call or two. |