CLEVELAND — The City of Twinsburg will resume right-of-way utility work Wednesday, according to a news release.
The city said it will resume utility and right-of-way construction under strengthened requirements, which are designed to improve safety, oversight and communication.
The city's announcement comes more than two months after utility workers struck a gas line in neighboring Twinsburg Township, which led to an explosion that destroyed three homes and damaged 36 others.
Among several changes, Mayor Sam Scaffide said contractors and subcontractors must now register with the city and provide advance notice before work begins so projects can be "actively managed and monitored" by the city.
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"We looked at our ordinance. We thought we were covered then," he said. "Truthfully, we needed a little bit more bite to it."
The updated rules also require utility companies to drill within 10 days of marking gas or other lines in a residential neighborhood and 14 days in a commercial area.
"You’ve got landscapers going out there on residential properties, you've got homeowners their cutting grass, you've got their kids playing. If they (utility companies) don’t get there in a pretty quick fashion, all the markings could be moved — and that’s when you have these accidents happen," Scaffide said.
Green, Kent, Macedonia, Stow, and Streetsboro are among the neighboring municipalities that put moratoriums on underground utility work after the June 25 explosion on Hiram Lane in The Woodlands subdivision.
No word on when those municipalities will lift their moratoriums.
Scaffide said there have been many calls from contractors to city hall about the work stoppage.
He said the city's new requirements will allow projects to move forward while simultaneously protecting the public from another tragedy.
"We’re putting all the onus on these people [utility companies] to make sure that they come through and do all the correct things to know what’s underground," he said.
