PB street department recognized for safety record

A lot of times, good works go unrecognized, but Spire Gas didn’t want that to happen to its partners who keep their lines flowing.

The company recently recognized Poplar Bluff’s Street Department, honoring it with its inaugural Silver Shovel Award for safety in 2019.

“We have a damage prevention department, and we wanted to recognize the municipalities that were working around our gas lines in a safe, professional manner,” said Tod Fagan, Spire Gas Right of Ways Department manager. “Damage prevention is really what it’s all about.”

The company, Fagan noted, many times has to educate utilities across its service area on safety measures, but decided to create an award for those “who are doing it right.”

The Silver Shovel Award, Fagan said, was the idea of his department and Alan Meyer, manager of Spire’s Damage Prevention Department.

“He’s a huge part of this,” Fagan said.

The criteria for the Silver Shovel Award, Fagan said, includes being a utility in Spire’s service territory, being a member of Missouri One Call in good standing, and “you have to have no at-fault damages to our facilities in 2019.”

Spire serves about 150 cities in eastern Missouri, Fagan said, and when officials ran the numbers from 2019, Poplar Bluff came out on top. The city’s street department was one of only five to receive the award.

“Poplar Bluff went the entire year without ever hitting our gas lines, so we wanted to recognize them,” Fagan emphasized.

In contrast, he said, in Missouri last year, Spire lines were damaged 1,780 times.

“I’ve got a group of great guys. The ones I have do a great job, and it’s nice to be recognized for doing a safe job,” said Street Department Superintendent Jerry Lawson, who also noted he was “kind of surprised about the award.”

Lawson said his crews pay close attention to what they are doing because nearly every project “has a danger side and a financial side. We avoid cutting everything.”

Lawson said the city and Spire share a “really good relationship.

“If they have a question, they call us, and likewise, we call them if we need them. They usually get to us quickly. It’s nice to have that kind of relationship with utilities here in town.”

Spire Gas, Fagan said, plans to continue the Silver Shovel Award going forward to “recognize great things going on in our communities.”