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In looking back, the meter readings seemed to drop off about a week before Thanksgiving, which <br />is also the same time the State went into lockdown again because of COVID 19. It also appears as <br />if some of the reads came back on line, at least intermittently, in mid January. This would <br />correspond to the time the lockdown started to be lifted. There is a possibility that some of this <br />interference had to do with an increased use of electronic devices and companies working to <br />increase their signal strength for their customers. <br /> <br />Discussion <br />The three solutions presented to the City by Ancom were to (1) replace our antennas; (2) upgrade <br />our antennas; or (3) install a 4th collector in the City. Metering & Technology Solutions is also <br />strongly suggesting that we upgrade our Read Center software as they no longer support the <br />transmitters we currently use. As we need additional transmitters or the old ones start to fail, they <br />will be replaced with ones that use a cellular signal to transmit data and the Read Center software <br />does not work with them. <br /> <br />Staff is currently in talks with Metering & Technology Solutions to determine our next steps. They <br />have one of our old collectors in their warehouse which they are currently working to repair so the <br />City can test out the effectiveness of a potential 4th collector for the City. <br /> <br />Water bill dispute – 3182 Cleveland Ave N <br />A customer presented this item during Public Inquiries at the 04/26/21 meeting with staff presenting <br />a response at the 05/10/21 meeting. Council opted to discuss this during this work session. <br /> <br />The landlord and tenants at 3182 Cleveland Ave N are disputing the water bill from 1st quarter <br />2021. The landlord first contacted the City the week of April 12th after receiving a copy of the 1st <br />quarter bill. The consumption from that quarter was high. The high water usage appears to have <br />started around November 4, 2020, and stopped around January 22, 2021. City Staff does not know <br />what caused the high usage, but these can generally be attributed to things like a running toilet or a <br />faulty water softener. This property is a rental property, we do not know if the tenants made the <br />landlord aware of a water leak or fixed it themselves. <br /> <br />Water leaks are the responsibility of the homeowner as the City still needs to pay for the water that <br />passes through the meter. Leak letters are sent by the City as a courtesy to homeowners. This <br />particular property did not receive a leak letter in December for their usage, but this could have <br />been due to the fact that the leak was intermittent (leak alert was noted for a portion of 5 out of 21 <br />days in November) or that the City was having issues receiving reads in this area of the City. <br />Regardless of if the property received a leak letter or not, as was stated earlier, the homeowner is <br />still responsible for the charges related to water that passes through their meter. <br /> <br />Consumption data for the last year has been analyzed and the average daily usage is 200 gallons. <br />The average daily usage during the leak period was 2900 gallons. <br /> <br />Staff is looking for direction from the Council. <br /> <br />Water bill dispute – 1400 Arden View Drive <br />A customer presented this item during Public Inquiries at the 05/10/21 meeting. <br /> <br />The resident at 1400 Arden View Drive (Amy Sopcinski) is disputing her water bill from 3rd quarter <br />2020. Amy first called the City back in October after receiving her 3rd quarter bill. Her