In Michigan Call: 811, Everywhere Else Call: 800-482-7171

Community Outreach

MISS DIG 811’s Community Outreach team travels the state of Michigan, providing municipalities, excavators, & utilities informational tools to share with their citizens & customers. In 2019 & the beginning of 2020, Colleen Goddard & Paul Harding visited approximately 1200 different city, village or township halls or offices as part of a project to blanket the state of Michigan with MISS DIG 811 brochures, posters, bobbleheads & more! At the same time, we provided MISS DIG 811 information to communities to post on their municipal websites regarding Public Act 174, so industry and the general public will know the rules when it comes to safely working around underground facilities.

That was brought to an abrupt halt due to COVID-19. At this time, we are starting to visit municipalities that had not been visited prior to COVID-19. Along with that, we are visiting / reaching out to municipalities that are not members but should be per PA 174. If you have not been contacted or visited, please set up an appointment using the information in the You Are Invited! Tab. We would like to ask how our organization can best serve you. Over the years we have found that some of our best ideas come from our members and our customers!

We have also partnered with Paradigm and attended every virtual Paradigm meeting in Michigan this year. Paradigm is sponsored by the pipeline companies and focuses on first responders, pipeline operators and excavators.

Meet the members of MISS DIG 811’s Community Outreach team:

Northern Lower Michigan, & U.P.

Colleen Goddard
cgoddard@missdig811.org
906-789-3083

Colleen Goddard began working for MISS DIG 811 in 1998 as a Customer Service Representative. She worked the off hours shifts and responded to all emergencies that were called in state-wide, calling each effected member to inform them of the emergency. She received a promotion in 2003 to be the Supervisor of the Gladstone and Auburn Hills offices. She assisted in supervising up to 40 Customer Service Representatives at a time, including scheduling, hiring, and taking care of the grounds in Gladstone. In 2016 she took a position in the Education department as an Education Specialist. She was one of the three specialists who trained hundreds of excavators, municipal workers and contractors in Safe Excavation Practices. In 2019 she moved up to the Community Outreach Specialist position where she and Paul Harding visited over 1200 municipalities in a year and a half.

Lower Michigan

Paul Harding
pharding@missdig811.org
248-370-6426

Paul Harding started working for MISS DIG 811 in late 2009, as a Customer Service Representative. He worked the 2nd shift at MISS DIG 811 from 2010 to early 2013, when he became one of the 1st of two Web Ticket Verifiers. In late 2013, Paul started training excavators how to place their dig notices online with Remote Ticket Entry. When the department started, approximately 40% of all MISS DIG 811 tickets were created online. Currently, that number has grown to almost 70% of all tickets being placed online! In 2016, Paul became a part of MISS DIG 811’s Education Department and helped create MISS DIG 811’s Live Certification format. Since the start of that program, over 5000 people have taken our live certification course! He also created MISS DIG 811’s Field Basics course, which was designed for the people that are out there in the field doing the work! Field Basics can also be used by companies for onboarding new employees and meets the qualifications for The Gold Shovel Standard Field Basics!

Are you having problems with a facility not responding in positive response?

The Community Outreach Team is taking the lead on trying to minimize the 999 – HAS NOT RESPONDED line item that you sometimes see when checking Positive Response. As always, attempt to mitigate the situation by retransmitting your ticket as often as needed to ensure proper documentation is kept. If you are having problems with the same facility not responding on repeated tickets after several attempts were made by retransmitting and reaching out to the facility owner yourself, inform us by using the 999-Community Outreach Section below.

We also offer a great resource called the Status Update Meeting every Monday at 10 AM We discuss system issues, the major players are usually available to answer questions, and there is a round table at the end where you can bring up current problems you are experiencing. The meetings are usually 5-15 minutes in duration.

To be added to the meeting list, send a message to MISS DIG 811 CEO Bruce Campbell, bcampbell@missdig811.org. Our goal is to help dramatically reduce the number of damages to underground facilities to keep our citizens & infrastructure safe!

999 - Community Outreach

https://forms.monday.com/forms/a6208b39bc7ed5718cbdb2f2f31c956b?r=use1

Excavators:

Please click on the Community Outreach Tab to inform us about a non-responsive facility owner.

Facility Owners:

Are you aware that a Positive Response post is needed for EVERY facility on a ticket before an excavator can legally start digging? If you are sent a ticket, you are required to respond to it even if the digging is actually taking place in a bordering municipality. In this case you can use the 001 – NO CONFLICT response.

Posting to Positive Response is not only required by law per Public Act 174, it’s also a MONEY SAVER!! With the billing that started in 2020, the membership fee is calculated based on the number of transmissions. So, if an excavator must send out multiple re-transmits requesting a response from your facility you, and every other facility owner on that ticket, is charged for each transmission. So, responding to each ticket before the Response Due Date, is a money saver for your facility and every other MISS DIG 811 member near you!!!!

Community Outreach Meeting - You are Invited!

We are inviting you and any employees you think would benefit to join us for a virtual meeting/conversation that will be personalized to your organization. Any MISS DIG 811 related subjects/questions that you need more information about could be discussed!

We want to find out what is & what is not working for you when it comes to the entire MISS DIG 811 process. We would like to hear your ideas about how we could make MISSDIG 811 more effective & user-friendly. As always, our goal is to help dramatically reduce the number of damages to underground facilities to keep our citizens & infrastructure safe!

You choose the date & time!

https://forms.monday.com/forms/b1a7bd2714d453434dc0ec0254fae195?r=use1

Would you like some MISS DIG 811 pamphlets and posters?

Do you need some MISS DIG 811 pamphlets to refill the supply you were already given? Or if you have not received any, would you like some to use to make available or hand out to:

  • Homeowners visiting your municipality.
  • Homeowners working outside their homes without contacting MISS DIG 811.
  • Companies working on a job site who have not followed the MISS DIG 811 rules.

Click on the MISS DIG 811 pamphlet/poster link below to order some:

https://forms.monday.com/forms/c8ec7d682c1ae15e48e12c7cdfd3442b?r=use1