Can ya dig it?

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly have wondered numerous times, why the sidewalks and roads are in such a state of disrepair only a short time after either one have just been newly paved or cemented... Well, you can thank our local utilities for the great job they do when it comes to repairing the cable lines, water mains, gas lines, or whatever else lies beneath the surface of our city.  When it's necessary to dig, there is little regard for the new interlocking brick running down the side of the sidewalk as the crew arrives on site. Forget about the fact that the road they have now rerouted with pylons only last month finally became a smooth level driving surface, and this is why our city roads and sidewalks look like "an unsuccessful Tetris game".
Our infrastructure is crumbling. Some of our water mains are well over 100 years old and with the constant warming and severe cooling that occurs through the winter months.. our streets begin to look like run off from the Don River.
Now, the utilities already pay a fee to the city each time a cut is made into the ground. This fee, in turn, is to help pay for the repairs the city has to make after the holes are made.  Yesterday, Mayor Miller announced that the city wants to charge utilities more when cuts are made.  If approved, will sidewalks be rid of tripping hazards from the patch jobs made, and will the roads no longer look like land mines have been detonated beneath the surface?  I'm going to assume -no.  Repairing the infrastructure to the city is going to be a long, painful process, one that may take decades and a process that the new fee imposed on the utilities making those holes, will pass on to us.. the consumer.   Yaaaay, another fee!  Now this still needs to be approved by city council, but you can almost guarantee that it will be passed, due to the fact that it's not the city imposing a new charge for residents.. its to the local utilities...ahhhh,  (so sneaky those people in city hall).  Maybe the "system activation fee"is really code for "gotta charge someone for diggin' ", because I know I would dispute a "diggin' " fee on my Rogers bill.