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. . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - APRIL 26,1999 15 Director's recommendation to proceed with the replacement of the City's residential water meters at a total cost of approximately $500,000, spread over a two year period, There are three types of reading devices that attach to meters, Remote Readers; Radio Readers; and Phone Readers. The City currently has approximately 2,350 residential meters and replacement costs are estimated at $250 per installed meter, using radio read meters. Staff would not recommend the use of touch readers, as these would still require the physical reading of the meters. If Badger Meter provides the best proposal for the meter replacement, the City could realize savings, as approximately ten percent of the City meters are new enough that only a radio read upgrade would be needed. In this scenario, a conservative estimate for the replacement/upgrade would be $570,000. Staff had included in the budget $250,000 for 1999 and $250,000 for the year 2000 for the replacement/upgrade. Any new construction installations would be funded by the meter permit fee, which is based on 120% of the City's actual costs as per code. The installed cost to the City for radio read meters versus the remote read meters currently used by the City, would be approximately $100 more per meter, or $235,000, Staff would point out some of the anticipated benefits ofthe radio reading technology: I. Currently, it costs the City an average of240 man hours at $25.82 per hour, or $6,200 per quarter to read the residential water meters. Staff estimates this time would be reduced to 16 man hours at $25.82 per hour, or $415 per quarter in savings of $5,800 per quarter. This would also provide an estimated 224 man hours per quarter for Public Works employees to perform higher skilled jobs that the City needs to accomplish, and is not currently able to perform due to time and man power constraints. 2. Currently, during each quarterly reading process, approximately 40 meters are identified for accuracy problems. These could consist of misreads; no readings or meters stopped; damage to remote reader, etc. In each case, a return visit is required and, in many cases, appointments need to be made to access the actual meter and verify the accuracy of the remote reader. This often results in another 40 man hours per quarter for this effort. 3. The radio read system interrogates the meter directly, and does not go through a remote mounted system. Thus, ifthe meter is operating, accuracy is not an issue, 4, The City performs an average of 12 final reads per month. Finals are required when property ownership is transferred, on or close to the closing date. At the time of a final read, an appointment is also needed to enter the residence and read the actual meter, as often the meter and the remote reader are not in sync. If this is the case, the meter itself, the remote reader, or both may need replacement. With the older meters typically on the south end of town, the City would replace those meters first. With approximately 50 percent ofthe City residences on each side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Sault Saint Marie Railroad, this would be the natural dividing line,