CTC Asking Residents To Call 811 Before Digging

The Consolidated Telephone Company is reminding residents to call 811 before digging in yards, ditches, near lakes, or anywhere in the ground to prevent interrupting service.

As residents begin to enjoy outdoor activities, the CTC is asking homeowners, lake property managers, and contractors to call 811 at least two business days before doing any sort of digging, including gardening or landscaping projects.

“It’s especially important because of the current COVID-19 pandemic,” said CEO and General Manager at CTC Kristi Westbrock. “If a fiber line gets cut or damaged it could interrupt service immediately, resulting in an entire community potentially being disconnected from work, school, or emergency services, said Westbrock.”

It’s a free service in which all underground lines including electric, gas, fiber optic, and water lines are marked. By calling 811 it will helps to keep everyone safe, services running, and utilities working. The CTC is asking anyone who is planning a weekend project to call on Wednesday by 5pm. Local requests can be submitted by calling Gopher State One Call at 811 or through their website at gopherstateonecall.org.

“As we gear up for spring construction season, we like to remind everyone to locate cables,” said Engineering and Safety Manager at CTC Steve Gilbert. “With people desperately needing service these days we’d like to focus on new cable installations and not on repairing cable we already have in the ground,” said Gilbert.