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City receives $8.5 million FEMA grant to underground utilities

This was originally sent out as our October 2019 Telecommunications Industry Newsletter

I. City receives $8.5 million FEMA grant to underground utilities

The city of Palm Beach, Florida has been awarded $8.5 million to remove utility polls and bury overhead power lines.

The grant was part of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs fund, that became available after the president’s declaration of a major disaster in the wake of the disastrous Hurricane Irma that swept through in 2017.

The money is intended to “strengthen communities by improving building and infrastructure that people use everyday.”

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20191003/palm-beach-gets-85m-fema-grant-for-utility-undergrounding

construction digging
Telco TriView Ditch

II. Creating awareness

With more and more utilities being moved off of poles underground, it is vitally important that both facility owners and excavators are made aware of the presence of your buried fiber optic cables.  Changes in the utility landscape create risk for all buried facility owners.

An effective permanent marking system will warn potential excavators as well as the other facility owners sharing the public ROW.  Upright marking posts strategically placed in sub-divisions can warn homeowners without creating problems.

Employing surface markers in areas that upright posts and signs can’t work is a great way to create awareness of the presence of buried cables. A comprehensive permanent marking system is an effective and efficient way to reduce damages and increase awareness.

III. Hall of Shame: Marking Failures from Around the World

“Have you ever seen people so ugly that you have to get someone else to verify it?” 

– Jeff Foxworthy

Here we have another clear case of full-blown CLS (crappy looking signage).  This sign is so ugly that one of our Damage Prevention Consultants had to take a picture of it to show the rest of the office!

To cure CLS, we would prescribe a dose of Rhino UV Armor Signs once every ten years.

Side effects may include: increased visibility, enhanced durability , cost savings, and improved brand awareness.

Learn more by watching the video below, and look for our PSA about CLS in next month’s newsletter.

Hall of Shame

IV. Must Watch

We have new sign making technology, and we’re pretty excited about it. After watching this video, we think you will be too.

The Inside Scoop: News from the Rhino Office

Overheard: “I want to remove all the joy out of eating … that’s the goal.”  – Chris Thome, on his aggressive plan to trim down before winter after a very indulgent fall.

On the Road:  They say a key to happiness is having things to look forward to … and we’re pumped to be heading to Palm Spring, CA  March 24-26, 2020 for the CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference & Expo! Learn more or register here.

You Can’t Make This Up: Damage Prevention Consultant Nick Temple consumed so much green chili while down at the New Mexico Damage Prevention Summit that he had to use a few hours of PTO to recover upon his return to Minnesota.

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