The City of Kamloops is waiting to see what the response is from a telecommunications company it is suing for damage caused when MTS Inc. and its sub company Dixon Networks ruptured a water main last year.

City lawyer Dennis Hori said Friday the typical time line for a response to a civil notice of claim is 14 days, but he is willing to wait longer to hear from representatives for Manitoba Telecom Services.

That response should help define the issues to be dealt with in B.C. Supreme Court, he said.

At issue are the events from last June, when the company was installing fibre-optic cable along Summit Drive near McGill Road, said City subdivision approving officer Rod Martin.

“We issued the road right of way usage permit to allow installation of the cable. They hit a City water main close to the Summit and Hillside Drive intersection,” he said.

“They were doing their drilling operation to install cable under the road and hit the water main.”

The broken water main washed out the ditch. City crews had to go in, fix the break, patch the road and re-contour the ditch. In the particular location where the main was broken, the ditch is paved to help channel surface water.

There are two ways to put fibre-optic cable underground in that area, Martin said. They can cut a ditch or drill. The City had approved the ditch method, but MTS drilled instead, which allowed it to go underneath the road without tearing it up.

But they hit the water main, which cost the City $116,000 to repair.

“They check the City maps, and then they do utility locates when they’re doing the work,” said Martin.

“Our permits showed that it was supposed to be ditching done in that particular area and they drilled.”

Hori said most civil cases end up settled out of court. MTS was already notified about the City wanting to recover the costs around repairing the water main.