During the company’s servicing, he said there was always a supervisor in the area to make sure everything was done correctly and when there was an issue, it was addressed immediately. There are one-offs where circumstances go outside of that potentially, but that is our effort and we try to strive to do that.”Īlthough he works for the company, Miller said he has dealt with C-Spire on a consumer basis as head of his homeowners association. “Really the intent with our deployment is to be transparent and be communicative with the residents, the city, and state officials. “There are mistakes made and when there are, we typically do everything we can to have already created a protocol to communicate with the residents, community, and the right personnel within the utility or department,” Branch said. This communication helps residents who may not have otherwise understood the construction efforts that sometimes bring eyesores into their neighborhoods. This communication also makes sure C-Spire is on the same page with the local government with protocols and rules each individual city has. This allows for residents to understand what the company is doing, why, and how long it should take.
“We try to educate them and help them understand how to communicate with us through the process so they have complete transparency, which is what we are trying to find there.” “We like to educate the community before we come,” Branch said. They then will apply for the permits, deploy teams, and start building. Once the design is finalized, they work with the communities through emails, texts, letters and meetings to show how the project will be executed. He said when an area is selected for work to be done, he begins to work with local government, utility companies, and residents before any teams are deployed to the area. We are invested very heavily in making sure that Mississippi Call Before You Dig 8-1-1 process works and works well.”Ĭlay Branch, director of network development at C-Spire, is responsible for leading the engineering and deployment services to the area that will be serviced. That is who we are and we’re fellow Mississippians. “The thing that is really important to remember is that we are not walking away from any issue or challenge,” Miller said. In the case an issue does occur, Miller said they address it immediately and work to solve it as quickly as possible. He said it is what their customers expect and what they would expect. Miller said it is really important to the company that they not only comply with the 8-1-1 Call Before You Dig process and other procedures but go above and beyond. “What I can’t tell you is what other providers do. “We take responsibility for projects that we head up and, if we are contracting for boring activity, we take responsibility if there is an issue and for communicating with residents from cradle to grave,” Dave Miller, senior manager of media relations for C-Spire said. Mark Beyea, Chief Engineer at PRVWSD, said that other companies are doing boring work in the area, including Atmos, when asked for the follow up. Regardless, C-Spire representatives said their procedures would not allow for the lack of communication and unfinished work that was seen recently. While C-Spire has done work in PRVWSD’s area this year, they do not currently have projects in residential areas. Several weeks ago, the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRVWSD) issued a string of boil water notices due to the work of boring companies and named C-Spire as the company doing the majority of underground boring work - but C-Spire has a different side of the story.