MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio. — The Medina County Engineer’s Office plans to put together a set of rules for fiber companies when it comes to installation work.
“It’s just accountability,” said Medina County resident, Jenifer Upton.
In Lodi, Jenifer Upton said she doesn’t have fiber service. Still, she supports the Medina County Engineer’s Office efforts to make things more efficient and safe.
“We have rules for a reason, and if companies aren’t being held accountable, the property owners are the ones that have to pay for the repairs. It should be the companies who make the damages,” said Upton.
On a daily basis, Medina County Engineer, Andy Conrad, said he’s getting complaints from people across the area.
“We get a lot of calls from residents wanting to know who (do) I talk to because there’s just not a lot of notification,” said Conrad.
Even worse, Conrad said people are also calling because of service delays, which in some cases, has caused property damage especially in areas like Medina, Brunswick and Montville Township.
“People’s yards are torn up for it can be several months, and then we also see where they’re hitting utility connections be it their water service connection or their electrical, their invisible dog fence; just all kinds of things,” said Conrad.
As you can imagine, this can be very disruptive, not just for homeowners, but also for the county engineer’s office.
That’s why Conrad said his engineer’s office and the County Engineers Association of Ohio are proposing new rules to help track how and where fiber is being installed in Medina County and across the state.
Those proposed plans would require fiber companies to get a set of approved plans, notify property owners and the county of installation work and give a set of plans to the township especially if they’re working on a township road.
Conrad also wants fiber companies to call local leaders when the work is done, so their office can do inspections and make sure people’s yards are restored.
“Fiber companies are not regulated by Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and they’re a little bit of a nebulous entity that we don’t have all the same abilities to regulate like other utilities,” said Conrad.
But Conrad is hopeful county guidelines will be put in place soon once the county prosecutor reviews the changes.
