The 2026 Minnesota damage prevention meetings are in full swing! Every year, these free meetings are hosted around the state to provide the excavation community with a place to learn about new updates and best practices, connect with fellow industry members, and ask questions about safe digging. Registration is now open—see the instructions below to on how to sign up.
A Long-Time Attendee’s Perspective
Josh Prokopec, operations manager of gas, water, engineering, and facilities at Owatonna Public Utilities, has been attending the MN damage prevention meetings for over 20 years. Throughout that time, he’s found them to not only to be increasingly helpful, but increasingly popular. “These meetings are essential for helping maintain and improve our damage prevention culture in Minnesota. We want to be proactive rather than reactive, especially with the evolving nature of our industry and the changing technology involved. We don’t want to lose focus on the safety part of it,” he shared.
“The damage prevention meetings cover the importance of the one call process and crucial safety measures—these aren’t just regulatory things, the measures are in place to protect workers, infrastructure, and the public,” Josh explained. This year’s topics include Meet Tickets and Electronic White Lining, both of which have had legislative changes recently. “With the changes over the last few years, it can be tricky trying to stay up to date. The damage prevention meetings help clear things up and explain how these changes streamline the process and reduce potential confusion for all parties involved.”
The end-to-end coverage of these topics is a reason why anyone involved with the excavation industry is invited to attend. In addition to contactors, locators, and facility operators, Josh encourages municipal officials, emergency responders, and project managers to attend to enhance their understanding of the one call process, what damages can look like, and how they can play a role in damage prevention.
The variety of attendees creates an open and welcoming atmosphere, and Josh is impressed by the engagement at the meetings. He emphasized the value in the face-to-face connections made there each year. “As a facility operator, I appreciate getting to have in-depth, meaningful conversations with contractors,” Josh shared, noting the opportunity to talk through questions that might be difficult to discuss over the phone or by email. Attendees have the opportunity to ask questions and hold conversations with all 811 stakeholders, including Gopher State One Call (GSOC) and the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety (811 enforcement in MN).
Both the team at GSOC and Josh hope to see you at a MN damage prevention meeting this year!
Digging Dangers Video
2026 Topics
This year, the highlighted topics will focus on GSOC’s new ticketing features in response to MN State Statute 216D changes, including:
Automated Marking Instructions – Streamline the locate request process while meeting MN’s legal requirements with automated marking instructions
Electronic White Lining – Online ticket submitters now have the option to choose whether they plan to mark precise area of excavation with physical or electronic marks
Ticket Talk – New in 2026, Ticket Talk offers quick, organized, and dependable ticket communication with real-time updates
Meet Tickets – Meet Tickets are required for any excavation project that is one mile or more in length, or the combination of any adjacent geographic sections that add up to one mile or more
Kim Wagner with Northwest Gas emphasizes the importance of these topics. “If an excavator is going to use one of these features, it is very important to attend a meeting and learn how to use them correctly. When not used correctly, it can cause many issues and can delay locate tickets,” she shared, adding that the meetings are an easy place to ask questions about these topics and others, as well as meet facility operators and the people that you will see and communicate with out in the field without there being an emergency or other time constraint.
Watch our video with Minnesota Energy Resources for an introduction to these features:
How to Register
- Visit the MNCGA website events calendar to find a meeting location and date that works for you. Make sure to check February, March, April, and May 2026 for all of the damage prevention meetings.
- Click on the event you’d like to attend. In the event description, you’ll find the time, venue, address, and contact information for the meeting. You’ll also find the Eventbrite link to register.
- Click the Eventbrite link under “Website” to be taken to the Eventbrite page for that meeting. Then, complete your registration via Eventbrite. You will receive email confirmation of your registration.