Planting tulips? Wait! You have to call before you dig!

Tulips like nothing so much as well-rotted cow manure.

And they got a steaming load of the stuff at last night's meeting of Sault Ste. Marie City Council.

Incredulous City councillors were told that local gardeners must now call before they dig, even if they're just planting tulips with a four-inch trowel like that held here by Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers.

Michael Goldberg, Northeastern Ontario regional supervisor for fuels safety with the Ontario Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), made the remarkable assertion that, for the first time since prehistoric gardening began thousands of years ago, the people of our province must now consult with a government-appointed regulator before sticking a garden hand tool into the soil.

Outlaw tulip-planters who don't call before they dig could end up paying fines of more than $50,000 and serving up to three years in prison, councillors learned.

You need to know your City Council was having none of it.

Outspoken Ward 6 Councillor Frank Manzo went so far as to tell Goldberg and his agency to just "get lost."

TSSA is a nonprofit organization authorized by the Ontario government to administer and enforce technical standards in such areas as ski lifts, elevators, amusement rides and fuel safety.

Goldberg was invited to City Council after he recently advised City officials that candidates in the upcoming municipal election must acquire locates for all signs.

"My neighbour brought this to me," said Ward 2 Councillor Susan Myers, holding up the flowered garden trowel.

Myers pointed to lines on the tool marking the depth of the blade, indicating a four-inch mark.

"This is how deep she digs to plant her tulips," Myers said. "Would she need a locate to plant her tulips in her flower bed?" the councillor asked.

Goldberg replied that anyone breaking the ground for any reason has needed to call for a 'locate' before digging since 1998.

"That's the law," Goldberg said. "I was asked and I'm telling you that is the law."

The law covers landscaping, tree planting, signs, sign footings and signpost installations, as well as road maintenance and repair, house renovations and new construction.

Anything that pierces the ground.

Goldberg said that, as recently as this week, people putting up signs in Sault Ste. Marie have damaged Union Gas pipes.

The gas company is required to bury pipes that connect a home to the main on a street between 18 to 24 inches below ground when they install them.

Those pipes are generally between 3/4 to one inch in diameter and made from plastic.

But Goldberg says that such pipes may end up as close as two inches below the surface of the ground over the years.

That, he says, is why people need a utilities locate to find where the pipes are located, even if they are just digging a garden or putting in an election sign.

"If you hit one you might not know it's leaking," said Goldberg. "The gas could back up into the house and there could be an explosion."

It's a health and safety issue, he said.

It's also a liability issue.

People who have to be evacuated from their homes and businesses may hold you liable for that, he said.

“How many people have told you to just get lost?” Ward 6 Councillor Frank Manzo asked Goldberg. “If you hit these lines then you’re just not putting them down deep enough.”

“This is just ridiculous,” Manzo said. “I don’t know where you came from but you should just get lost.”

“Do you realize how much this could end up costing fundraising agencies and everyone?” asked Ward Four Councillor Lou Turco.

“After 36 years of it not being an issue it does seem kind of hard to fathom,” added Ward 5 Councillor Frank Fata. “It just seems kind of surreal.”

So exactly what is a utilities locate?

Typically, anyone wanting to pierce the ground first marks the area where he or she wants to dig with white lines, then calls all the utility companies that may have pipes or lines buried in that area.

The utilities will give an all-clear if they have no pipes, lines or other facilities buried in the area.

If they think there may be something there, they send a representative to mark the location of any pipes and lines that the utility identifies.

Any of those utilities may also put conditions or instructions on their permission to dig near their lines, said Goldberg.

These conditions could include, for example, instructions that excavation cannot occur any closer than two metres from the line or pipe.

The inspector providing the locate will leave a copy of the instructions and a description of the area the locate covers.

If an all-clear is given over the phone, a number is also given and the excavator must have that number in hand when digging.

And locates are only good for 30 days, said Goldberg.

If you're going to keep the tulip garden or election sign in the ground longer than 30 days, you have to call for a relocate and get a new number to keep with you.

Fortunately, there's no charge for either locates or relocates.

Goldberg has a staff of 12 inspection officers for Northeastern Ontario.

They spend their time travelling around investigating cases where lines or pipes have been damaged to see whether charges should be laid.

If Goldberg's office has to get involved, the first thing that usually happens is the excavator is given a compliance order that will initially cost $700.

This means the TSSA charges $700 to begin an investigation into the case, and then bills you for the investigation.

If an excavator feels that either the findings of the investigation or the fees for it are unfair, then either or both of those can be appealed to the TSSA board of directors.

If the excavator feels the board's decision is inappropriate then the next appeal step is to the courts.

If TSSA finds that an excavator is grossly negligent in his or her tulip digging, sign placement, driveway installations, street repairs or other ground-piercing activity, then the excavator may be charged.

The Ontario Court of Justice would hear the case and decide what fine, between $50,000 and $1 million, to levy, and whether jail time of up to three years is warranted.

The reality of the situation is that lines are being cut more frequently in the Northeastern Ontario region, said Goldberg.

That's why he's currently involved in a public education campaign.

People only need remember the chaos that resulted when fibre-optic cables for the 911 system were cut, to understand the need to call before you dig.

Even, Goldberg says, if it's only a tulip bed.

Or sticking an election sign in someone's yard.

City Council decided unanimously not to ban election signs along public thoroughfares because it was felt that some candidates might get an unfair advantage over newcomers.