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GATESVILLE – Recent interruptions in public water service in parts of Gates County appears to be an issue of lines being accidently cut by a contractor installing fiber optic Internet.

Gates County Sheriff Ray Campbell said as many as 12 water lines, some being main lines, have been cut in recent weeks.

Those lines are being installed within the right-of-way maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“This has got to stop,” said Campbell at the Feb. 26 meeting of the Gates County Board of Commissioners where he scolded the contractor for not performing their due diligence by failing to locate the county’s water lines prior to digging the trenches needed for the Internet lines.

“I talked to Brad [Arnold, Gates County’s Director of Public Works) and they are repairing these water lines as fast as they can,” Campbell stressed. “When these water lines are cut, we have people out of water for hours. Brad says this has really gotten bad in the last three weeks.

“The inconvenience of our county citizens without water is unacceptable,” Campbell continued. “The hours that our water department has put in fixing the cuts made by the contractor could have been avoided.”

Campbell said those responsible needs to be held accountable.

“They should have to pay for every water line they have cut. I think they should also be fined,” Campbell stated. “If I had my way, the contactor now working here would never lay another foot of [internet] cable in Gates County.”

He added that repairing a cut water line takes hours

“Brad and his department, once notified, have to call in manpower and move equipment to the location,” Campbell said. “That all takes time even before repairs begin. I appreciate what Brad and his staff does, it’s a dirty, wet, and nasty job. It’s hard work.”

Commission Chair Emily Truman said the board is “on the same page” with the Sheriff about this issue.

Commissioner Dave Forsythe said he has been in contact with North Carolina Department of Transportation officials in Elizabeth City and Edenton.

“I spoke extensively [with DOT] on the phone about the information the Sheriff just provided,” Forsythe said. “They insisted there were a couple of different contractors in the county, one for BrightSpeed and one for Spectrum. They are working independently and they said the reports sent in weekly by these contractors to DOT makes no mention of any problems in Gates County during the last several weeks. I gave them a list [of the problems] and asked them to drive to those locations, daily if necessary.”

Forsythe mentioned to NC DOT about the county possibly attempting to recover its costs for repairs made to the water lines. He added that NC DOT promised to provide the contact information for those contractors.

“More importantly, I told them we don’t want this to keep happening,” Forsythe said. “[DOT] need to stop them. I hope DOT can help us reign these guys in.”

Forsythe added that, according to NC DOT, one of the contractors currently working in Gates County had previously been “kicked out” of another county where Internet lines were being installed.

“I asked NC DOT why then would they let that contractor come to our county,” he stated. “They didn’t have an answer for that.”

Truman closed the discussion by saying the county would stay on top of the issue.