Eight days after the city of Lawrence issued a cease and desist order for AT&T to stop all ongoing utility work due to “numerous” safety complaints from citizens and other utility providers, the parties announced Friday the order had been lifted.
City officials met with AT&T representatives and other local utility providers on Monday to discuss the concerns laid out in the July 15 order, which included hitting other public utility and competitor’s facilities without utility locates being performed in advance — which is illegal in Kansas.
AT&T, the city said in a statement Friday, committed to the following measures to move forward with its projects in Lawrence:
- Participating in regularly scheduled utilities meetings on its fiber overbuild project.
- Meeting with contractors to re-emphasize the importance of 811 locate procedures and City excavation requirements
- Continuing to comply with all federal, state and local laws, and continuing to require the same from their contracts
- Promptly addressing concerns brought to AT&T regarding contractor work on the project
- Working closely with other utilities to improve communication channels and address issues quickly
- Performing a field inspection of the existing fiber projects and correcting any outstanding safety concerns/property owner issues
“The City thanks AT&T for its responsiveness to the concerns of Lawrence residents and other utility services, and for working quickly with the City to resolve the issues,” the statement said. “Telecommunications services are important to the Lawrence community, and the City looks forward to continuing work with AT&T on the fiber build project.”
If residents have questions about AT&T construction, they can call the company’s hotline at 785-354-9522.
Conner Mitchell (he/him), reporter, can be reached at cmitchell (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com or 785-435-9264. If you have sensitive information to send Conner, please email connermitchell (at) protonmail (dot) com. Read more of his work for the Times here.
