SS9901-CS040713 (2)COPPELL INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
200 S. DENTON TAP ROAD
July 13, 2004
· COPPELL, TEXAS 75019
· 214-496-6000
Clay Phillips
City of Coppell
255 Parkway Boulevard
Coppell, TX 75019-9478
Dear Mr. Phillips:
I wanted to make you aware of an issue regarding one of our elementary schools. One of the
city contractors (MasTec) was in the middle of doing construction work over by Lakeside
Elementary and accidentally cut our fiber that feeds into this particular campus. All data and
voice services have been down for several days and it is imperative that we get this building
back up and functional prior to the start of the upcoming school year. Below is the physical
address of the campus location:
Lakeside Elementary
1100 Village Parkway
Coppell, TX 75019
I was made aware of the damage to our fiber last week by one of my Network Engineers and
immediately contacted Robbie Dupree, Operations Manager with MasTec, to review the
situation. At~er discussing the cut line with him, we both agreed that MasTec was fully
responsible for the cut fiber. Once this was established, I asked for and received a certificate of
insurance fi.om MasTec to cover the repair costs involved. Additionally, I contacted Capco
Communications, who we have our maintenance and insurance coverage through, and asked
them to provide me with an estimate for the repair costs. Once I received this estimate, I
passed that along to MasTec to make them aware of the total charges. After receiving the
estimate, Robbie Dupree refused to pay the total mount due to believing that Capco was
overcharging for the repairs. Since his refusal to pay the necessary amount, we have attempted
several times to discuss the cost of the repairs with MasTec and have even meet with MasTec
in person to try and work out an agreement that both Capco and MasTec can agree with.
Unfortunately, MasTec is unwilling to cooperate and is continuing to refuse to pay the total
amount that is needed to repair the site back to the original condition.
Due to MasTec refusing to pay the total amount needed for repairs, I asked Capco
Communications to contact Fulcrum Services that did the locate for this job to ensure that the
proper procedures were followed. We have been told that Fulcrum Services did utilize the
proper as-built documentation and marked the ground properly defining all utilities and any
fiber that was located underground. In several conversations with MasTec about the locate
service, it has been confirmed several times by Robbie Dupree that the location of utilities and
fiber was accurate. Additionally, MasTec has stated that they pot-holed down about 10 feet
where the location was defined and found two cables that they were unsure what they were for
and assumed that was our fiber. Unfortunately, this was something else and our fiber was
another 5 feet below that. Instead of waiting to verify that everything was accounted for,
MasTec decided to continue on and ended up damaging our fiber.
Coppell Independent School District is requesting authorization from the City of Coppell to
move forward on any and all repairs associated with the fiber that terminates at Lakeside
Elementary. Additionally, we are requesting that MasTec be held fully responsible for the
damage and that Capco Communications is allowed to do the repair work on the district's
behalf. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Chad Branum
Director of Technology