Be Safe! Call before you dig anywhere.

Do you have an outdoor project planned? All projects that involve digging or excavating must start with a call to Diggers Hotline at 811 or 800-242-8511. So if you’re installing a new deck, planting a tree, landscaping, building a shed, adding a retaining wall or making anything that involves using a shovel, make safety your first concern and have underground lines properly marked.

Cooperative owned and maintained underground lines up to the meter socket will be located at no charge to the customer when making the request through Diggers Hotline. Follow these easy steps to have the locations of underground lines identified:

1. At least three days prior to beginning your project, contact Diggers Hotline at 811 or 800-242-8511 to file a request. Diggers Hotline also offers an electronic version on their website at www.diggershotline.com. First read through the info for homeowners section then go to the email-a-locate section to file a request to have lines identified.

2. Diggers Hotline notifies the cooperative’s contractor of your request. Diggers Hotline is only a notification system. The company that goes to your location to mark the lines is hired by the cooperative and other local utilities to do the marking.

3. The cooperative’s contractor goes to your site to identify and mark the underground lines. Different utilities may arrive at your job site at different times to do the marking, so do not start digging until Diggers Hotline notifies you that your request has been completed.

Privately owned and maintained underground lines, such as those running below ground from the house to a detached garage or propane lines, must be marked by a locating company hired by you. Several local companies will mark privately owned lines. They are:

Helgeson Electric, Baldwin, 684-2402

Mitchell-Hanson Electric, Hudson, 386-5483

Monicken Electric, Baldwin, 684-2609

Simon Electric, New Richmond, 246-3873

Steiner Plumbing and Electric, River Falls, 425-5544

Willow River Electric, New Richmond, 246-7299

Consolidated Utility Services, Inc., regional, 763-572-0113