Highlights: May 14, 2020
- Chair’s Report: Dave Hunstad welcomed new Board members Mark Sellin of Sellin Brothers Excavating, Jason Ponciano of Vanguard Partners and Ben Wallace of USIC.
- Reports from the Field: Keith Novy noted the substantial increases in locate ticket requests that CenterPoint Energy was experiencing. He and others noted that constraints of the pandemic are making it tough to manage and staff personnel particularly because training has been adversely affected.
- Chief Operations Officer Report: Barb Cederberg noted Homeowner tickets have increased up to 16% of the total ticket volume, probably due to more do it yourself projects being done as a result of the pandemic. Online ticket submission by homeowners has dramatically increased to approximately 70% of the homeowner volume.
- PR Awareness and Outreach Report: Olivia Jensen addressed the Board regarding GSOC’s marketing and outreach activities. GSOC had an expanded presence at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show this year.
- OCC Report: Kimberly Boyd, general manager of the notification center, advised that the “work from home” model was fully adopted by the notification center early in the pandemic.
- MnOPS Update: Jon Wolfgram furnished an update from the Office of Pipeline Safety. Most staff is working remotely now, some inspections are occurring remotely, social distancing and masks for inspections and investigators in the field as everyone adapts to new conditions required by the pandemic.