Near the conclusion of a recent Herndon Town Council work session as Mayor Carol Bruce asked each councilman in turn if they had any concluding comments, Councilman Dennis Husch caught the room's attention when he said he wanted to talk about the "orange gang markings all over town."
The triangular, circular and diamond-shaped markings as well as the lines, dots, arrows and letters are not the workings of an illegal gang, but the attempts by telecommunications and utility companies to mark where its service lines are housed underground. Marking these sites is supposed to prevent telecommunications and utility companies from hitting each others service lines and thus causing users to lose power or service, said Town of Herndon director of Public Works Albert "Ron" Colan.
"IT'S INCONCEIVABLE that a company can come in and wreak this kind of havoc," said Husch. If three kids with ski masks did this, they'd be sitting at Rock Hill Road [Herndon Police Station] waiting for their parents to pick them up. It will take power washers and sand blasters to clean it off," he said.
The paint used is a Krylon brand that "generally fades away. It can truly be from a day up to a couple of months — weather can be a factor," said Sharon Hodgson, co-owner with her husband David Hodgson of the Marshall, Va. company Double H Locates, a contract locating company.
"The spray painting is required by law," she said. "It lets excavators or other contractors around town know what fiber has been located. Miss Utility requires the markings of utilities. They should be eight to 10 inches in length and one to two inches in width. Miss Utility tickets are valid for 15 days. We generate tickets from Miss Utility and send the locators to the site to locate all utilities regarding a notice of intent to excavate. This keeps utilities from getting hit and having people out of service," said Hodgson.
"We're dictated by the law. Our hands are tied. The markings aren't meant to aesthetically damage the community," she said.
"I've seen them driving down Elden," said Bruce. "I about ran off the road. There's nothing in the regulation that says they have to exercise common sense. Why use paint that will be there six months," she asked rhetorically.
"WHAT'S HAPPENED is egregious, but it's normal business," said Colan. "Miss Utility notifies the marking agent for all the utilities — water, sewer, gas, electric, storm sewer, traffic signals control, telephone, TV, cable and any number of telecommunications companies," he said.
"Telecommunications companies often hire a marking company," such as Double H Locates, "to come in and do the marking for them," said Colan. In the case of the Elden Street markings, "MFN — Multi Fiber Network is the only telecommunications firm on Elden. Cox and Verizon are different types of franchises," he said.
On Sterling Road where there are also markings, there are multiple telecommunications companies and they're not finished marking yet, said Colan. "My opinion, we've got an artist out there — someone who really enjoys his work," he said.
"I'm incensed by this," said Husch. "They don't live here. They don't see it."
"The markings are on Spring Street and Van Buren Street too," said Councilman Harlon Reece.
"Obviously they don't have the same sensitivity as we do," said Colan.
"The issue is how to clean this up. I agree with Dennis. The Town is a victim. I'm not blaming Public Works," said Bruce.
"I'd be willing to come to Herndon and meet with anyone," said David Hodgson. "We will do whatever we can to fix this problem. We're not in business to harm anyone," he said.