Plymouth City Engineer, Rick Gaul presented a request from Comcast to work in the city’s right-of-way at 500 West Monroe Street. The plans submitted to the city was for underground work on the west side of the street but when Gaul went on site to review the project he found the east side of the street marked for the project.
While Comcast wanted to place the installation on the east side of the street, the city wanted the project on the west side because of the excessive underground utilities including a sewer line.
Comcast wasn’t receptive to the city requested to do the project on the east side of Monroe Street so a larger financial guarantee was required. The will have to post $7,500 because of the utilities underground.
Gaul said Comcast has not seen the urgency to remove and replace the underground cabling at Super 8. The city has received the financial guarantee for the replacement project and the license agreement. The subcontractor was waiting for city approval to start the project.
The penalty for placing a line under a city street without a permit and not to city standards qualifies for a daily fee of up to $2,500. City attorney Sean Surrisi said by his calculations the penalty is about $85,000 at this point and continues to build until the initial installation is removed. The city has said they will consider negotiating the cost with Comcast.
