The board that oversees the Texas 811 “call before you dig” line will meet Oct. 8 to take up new bylaws and new service terms with Texas811, the nonprofit that actually answers the calls.
The One-Call Board of Texas is the public name of a state-chartered nonprofit, the Texas Underground Facility Notification Corporation, which the Legislature created in 1997. Its twelve directors are all appointed by the governor in fixed shares: six public members and one each for the gas, telecommunications, electric, cable television, municipal and excavator interests. It takes no state money, living instead on a $50 yearly fee from every operator of an electric, gas, petroleum, steam or telecommunications line. By the board’s own account, it “has direct authority only over the registered Notification Center, Texas 811.” That makes the terms it sets with Texas811 close to the whole of what it governs — and neither organization posts a contract or a service-level document publicly.
The system itself is plain enough. Anyone planning to dig calls 811 or files online, no sooner than 14 days and no later than two working days before breaking ground; the notification center alerts every registered operator with lines in the area, and those operators mark them at no charge to the digger. Participation is mandatory for electric, gas, pipeline and telecommunications operators and optional for water, sewer and slurry lines — a gap that drew a House subcommittee hearing last October, where the board sent a witness. Damage has fallen a long way: by the Railroad Commission’s count, operators reported 2.58 damages per thousand location requests in 2025, against 6.44 in 2008.
A quarter of the board turns over at this meeting. Three appointees take the oath: John Mason of Dallas, senior legal counsel at AT&T and a former managing attorney at the Public Utility Commission; Michael Holdman of Robinson, a branch manager at ASCO Equipment; and Michael McCloskey of Liberty Hill, who owns an event and television production company. The board will also recognize William “Bill” Geise, a retired Railroad Commission gas services director whose term ran out Aug. 31 and who spoke for the board at that House hearing.
Also up: a treasurer’s report, an update on an audit the notice does not describe, officer appointments and a briefing on legislative interim charges. The Dispatch found no 2026 House interim charge naming the 811 system or underground damage prevention, so what that briefing covers is not clear from the notice.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 1:30 PM, Thursday, October 8, 2026. TRD 2026005820 was filed September 30 at 10:56 a.m.
- Where
- 5600 Seawall Blvd., Galveston. The notice gives no room.
- Governing body & chair
- One-Call Board of Texas, the board of the Texas Underground Facility Notification Corporation — twelve directors appointed by the governor to staggered three-year terms, four expiring each August 31. Service is unpaid. The board’s own page, which is out of date, lists Chairman Robert J. Bridge and Vice Chairman Manish Seth.
- Format
- Regular board meeting: oaths for three new members, reports from the treasurer, executive director, Texas811, legal counsel and a website committee, and a legislative update. No rulemaking is posted; the board writes no administrative rules of its own.
- Live video
- None offered. The notice lists no call-in number or online option, so attending means showing up in Galveston. The board posts no agendas, minutes or financial statements on its site and points the public to the Secretary of State.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · board and organization page
Board members
- John Mason — Dallas; senior legal counsel, AT&T; term to 2029.
- Michael Holdman — Robinson; branch manager, ASCO Equipment; term to 2029.
- Michael McCloskey — Liberty Hill; owns a production company; term to 2027.
- Marcela Navarrete — El Paso; retired El Paso Water executive; term to 2029.
- Keith Wall — Spring; regulatory affairs director, CenterPoint Energy; term to 2029.
- Roberto De Leon — Corpus Christi; distribution operations director, AEP Texas; 2028.
- Joe Canales — Frisco; senior construction director, Spectrum; term to 2028.
- Tina Polin — San Antonio; Oblate School of Theology; term to 2028.
- Derek Delgado — Lubbock; public information officer, Lubbock Fire Rescue; 2028.
- Andrew Keefer — Austin; regulatory affairs, Denton Municipal Electric; term to 2027.
The ten names above are the appointees named in the governor’s releases of February 10, 2026 and September 15, 2026, which are the most recent primary records. This is not a reconciled roster of the full board, and the Dispatch does not present it as one. The board’s own roster page, checked October 2, is out of date — it still shows terms that expired in 2025 and 2026 — and separately lists Robert J. Bridge as chairman, Manish Seth as vice chairman and Robin “Rob” Opdyke as secretary, all with terms to 2027; the Texas Register also records an appointment of Isaac J. Tawil that the board’s page omits. Counted together, the names in current appointment records exceed the twelve seats the statute allows, and the governor’s releases do not say which seat each appointee fills, so no seat assignments are given here. Utilities Code §§251.055–251.058 set the composition, terms and officers.