GEORGIA HIGH SPEED INTERNET INIT

GEORGIA HIGH SPEED INTERNET INITIATIVE

I helped install signs most of my life but once I got my drivers license my father began sending me out to install signs myself giving him more time to use his skills to manufacture signs in the shop. When I first began installing signs utilities other than water, natural gas and sewer there was not much underground. Also these services were mostly run in galvanized steel, cast iron or concrete piping so it was obvious if was on a utility long before able to damage it. Soon phone lines, including single copper wire pairs not much bigger in diameter than a few hairs began to feed homes from the poles and plastic pipe of different formulations began to appear for gas, water and sewer. Now you can have two small copper wires feeding phone to an older home or like mine upgrades to a single fiber line so small can't hardly see it even if its exposed. Every year rules get more complex, fines get higher and repair bills from utilities skyrocket as their systems become more complex. The Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative has a goal to provide high speed internet to every business and home in the Sate and with covid they are pushing harder due to kids homeschooling and people working remotely. See supporting documents from Georgia UPC condensed down to covering what fines relate to sign installation.

NEIGHBORNOODS FROM NEW TO OLD ARE ALL GETTING FIBER

Above left a crew is running enough fiber bundles to keep everyone is a high density upper middle class community in high speed internet so the gamers can keep up when playing games that require fast connection speed, others can stream their television over internet and some can actually do their school work or job. Center picture shows the difficulty of retrofitting a more urban area with enough bandwidth for businesses, condos, apartments, doctors and all you find in a busy downtown area. Photo on right shows an older residential community and if look down left side of road all existing underground utilities are marked and across the road an underground boring machine is ready to start upgrading all these homes to high speed fiber.

HARDLY A DAY I DO NOT SEE DIRECTIONAL DRILLING CREWS INSTALLING NEW FIBER BUNDELS AS DRIVE TO MY SITES

EVEN RURAL ARES, ESPECIALLY RURAL ARE SEEING NEW FIBER INSTALLATION

Above left a major fiber bundle is going down a rural road to install enough infrastructure not just for current needs but also future growth as we become more dependent on our high speed devices. Next photo shows a small crew installing a smaller fiber bundle to supply high speed fiber access to just a few older homes in a rural farming area as our legislators have passed laws saying even a single home down a three mile dirt road is just as entitled to high speed data as the Amazon Distribution Center at the Atlanta airport is. If notice this smaller bundle the depth is within the specifications we dig holes to support our signs and located just about at point most of our clients want their signs installed. If we cut this line we get the mandatory $10,000 fine plus cost of repairs and if we take a business off line get to pay their lost revenue. With phone, fiber, power, water, sewer, gas and more now down both sides of every road we cannot afford to risk ourselves or you to litigation if a utility is damaged.

NUMBER OF UTILITIES FLAGGED & PAINTED BELOW SHOULD SUPPORT WHY LOCATE REQUESTS ARE MANDATORY

The above right photo is from a site we worked and soon after leaving the box laying on ground serving the only U-Verse customer in the development connection shorted out. Reason for disruption of service was the wire from this box going to edge of customers yard was rolled across top of ground and never buried. (77 lot subdivision with only three homes built) When we pulled truck off road to work we drove across the non buried wire which U-Verse did not locate because of only one client served and chose to take the risk. We had a UPC locate ticket cleared to dig but Ma Bell tried to blame us for the customers outage and cost of repairs. Our sign was placed over thirty feet from this connection and while we were able to prove our work did not cause the issue it took up over a full days time meeting techs and supervisors on site and multiple emails and phone calls over the course of over a week. This is part of the service we provide when we take on your installation but cannot protect ourselves or your company if did not follow the rules and have the site located.

EVEN MORE LAWS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO CONSIDER

O.C.G.A. § 16-7-58

It shall be unlawful for any person to place posters, signs, or advertisements:

(1) On any public property or building, unless the owner thereof or the occupier as authorized by such owner has given permission to place such posters, signs, or advertisements on such property; provided, however, that signs within the rights of way of public roads shall be governed by Code Section 32-6-51;

(2) On any private property unless the owner thereof or the occupier as authorized by such owner has given permission to place such posters, signs, or advertisements on such property; and, provided, further that no municipal, county, or consolidated government may restrict by regulation or other means the length of time a political campaign sign may be displayed or the number of signs which may be displayed on private property for which permission has been granted; or

(3) On any property zoned for commercial or industrial uses if the placement of such posters, signs, or advertisements conflicts with any zoning laws or ordinances.

A person convicted of placing a poster, sign, or advertisement in a prohibited place in Georgia will be charged with a misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. However, each poster, sign, or advertisement place will constitute a separate offense. Therefore, if the same poster was put up in 5 prohibited spots, then the accused will be charged with 5 counts of violating O.C.G.A. § 16-7-58. I know of many large real estate firms with hundreds of signs in the field at any time. A couple years back when to Hall County applied for a federal grant they issued letters to every real estate company with a sign on the right of way of one particular road after their grant was denied for non compliance of sign codes. One company we service had eleven signs on the right of way all of which I initially refused to install until given a letter saying they knew signs were going on right of way and assumed all responsibility legally and fiscally. The letter could have easily had eleven counts of violating O.C.G.A. 16-7-8 with $11,000 in fines attached.

Every time I travel that section of road (usually twice a week on average) I know it has a 100foot right of way and count the numbers of signs violating the right of way now that the grant has been approved, money spent and work done. I usually get a different count as may miss a sign or new signs go up and old come down but past year its usually between twenty-five and forty signs violating this law. If the county were to have a budget shortcoming or unexpected expense they could easily raise $30,000+/- in a twenty mile section of a single road. If they had a huge shortfall as happened in 2008 through 2011 instead of laying off employees and cancelling planned work my guess is they could have easily raised over a half million dollars if had their inspectors ticket every real estate sign on the right of way.

As a vendor I get requests that if I do not fulfill another vendor will and risk losing the entire account so I have a policy of requesting that we violate the rule knowingly at customers order and they assume all liability both legal and civil for this action. Will I come out completely unscathed if went to court is questionable but I at least showed best faith intent informing client sign could only go on right of way, did not install and returned it to shop and if they wanted it up I needed a written form, signed by management they had been warned and would take responsibility for any repercussions. During an election year leading into the last month of campaigning many metropolitan counties or large cities could easily use this law to raise not just a few but several million dollars at $1,000 per campaign sign on their right of ways. Crowder Signs like most businesses may bend a rule on occasion but do not blatantly break laws just to be able to invoice a job unless our customer goes through a process showing we did not want to and they forced our hand accepting the consequences themselves in writing. Most of our clients do not get locates, violate right of ways without thought and do anything the job order says to invoice the job. We want as good of a reputation with sign regulation enforcement officers and departments as we do with sign clients.

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