Adams County Supervisors clearly were paying attention in their kindergarten classes.

The five members of the board took to heart a vital, but seemingly common sense, lesson — put things back the way you found them.

Sadly, not every adult seems to grasp that simple concept, so supervisors put the matter in writing, making a change to county law last week.

County leaders enacted new rules that dictate that any company — mostly aimed at utility companies — which cuts into a county roadway must adhere to two things.

First, the company must attempt to bore under the roadway to reach pipes or wires before simply tearing up the road surface.

If that’s not possible and the road surface must be cut, the companies must repair the road back to the original standard or face a fine of up to $1,000.

The county estimates its cost for repairing roads damaged by utility companies approaches $10,000 each year.

That’s $10,000 of taxpayer money that is wasted repairing a mess created by someone else.

The new rule is a good one, aimed at forcing what should simply be a good business practice.

We thank the supervisors for standing up to the businesses that have not always practiced a good, common sense approach to their work.