Stamford prohibits contractor after multiple water line issues

STAMFORD, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – By official proclamation of the Mayor of Stamford, a contract crew laying fiber-optic lines for an internet service provider is now prohibited from continuing their work in Stamford until the company and city officials agree on an amicable way forward. This comes after multiple water line breaks and two outages, the city says this crew caused through “repeated carelessness”, as stated in Mayor James Decker’s proclamation.

“In my seven years as mayor, this is the first time I’ve ever exercised emergency powers like this, on our own initiative locally,” said Decker.

The crew has been in town for about six months, digging lines and laying fiber-optic cable on behalf of Internet Service Provider (ISP) Syntrio. In that time, Decker said there have been at least four disruption incidents resulting from the crew’s actions. Two of those times, he said, resulted in a townwide water outage. Decker established that the city has tried to work with the fiber-optic crew and understand their situation, but with the interference mounting, he said he could not stand by.

“There’s been a couple of cases where the maps weren’t great, and so we’ve given some grace on that… It culminated yesterday when they called us for a marking. We told them we were fixing a water leak that was in another area of town, just a standard water leak. And we would get there as soon as we could. And then, in the intervening time from our guys leaving the other water leak to go mark it, they had started digging anyway and bore right through our 16-inch water line, which is one of the largest lines in town and services a large portion of the town. And it has no valves, so there’s no way to isolate that service,” Decker said.

Water pressure and service were quickly restored to Stamford residents, and the stop work proclamation was delivered and went into effect on Wednesday morning. Decker said the city has not received any response or contact from Syntrio or the contractor, R&T Industries. KTAB/KRBC reached out to both entities. R&T declined to comment, and Syntrio issued the following statement.

“Before any excavation begins, Syntrio calls in locates in advance according to Texas
state law. This process ensures that utility companies mark the location of their
underground utilities. However, it is important to note that water utilities are not
included under this law.
In such cases, Syntrio works with city officials and local water departments to identify
and mark the locations of municipal water utilities. Our contractors rely on these
markings to guide their work, though the information provided can occasionally be
inaccurate. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to working safely and
efficiently, minimizing disruptions, and avoiding damage to underground utilities.
We appreciate the community’s patience, and we deeply regret any inconvenience.
Since April 2025, Syntrio has worked closely with city officials of Stamford throughout
our fiber internet construction process. We look forward to our continued
collaboration and finding a path forward.” -Syntrio statement, 11/05/2025