CCP 03-17-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- - - two (2) hours. After an analysis, some of these meters could possibly be downsized. Downsizing for example from a four (4) inch meter to a two (2) inch meter would save about -e $2,000, so proper meter sizing is important. ~ Benefits of CII Meter Rt:olacement Meter reading time would be cut in half at the very least. Many commercial meters are located in J locked storerooms where the reader must first track down a key. Some meters are located in pits or other areas which are hard to get at. Another benefit for the City and C/I users could be monthly billing, which would generate monthly income to the City and provide C/I users with a I good indication of consumption; thus, identifying unusual consumption patterns much earlier than with a quarterly billing. Perhaps the biggest benefit to the City would be increased accuracy I with the newer meters. With the C/I meters typically being larger than the residential meters, an out of calibration situation may cost the City much more in unmetered water and related sanitary sewer derived charges than the smaller residential meters. I Costs of CII Meter Re{)lacement If the Public Works staff purchased the materials to upgrade the newer Badger meters to radio I read and replaced the older and non-Badger C/I meters with radio read systems, the cost of the materials is estimated to be $90,000. In addition to the $90,000, approximately $10,000 would need to be invested in a remote hand held reader, and computer software necessary to download I the reading to process the information for billing. The Public Works Superintendent feels that the installation as being relatively simple, and could be performed by the Public Works staff. ~ Although staff does have a full workload, this work could be done over a several month period as time is available. I Recommendation The Public Works Superintendent recommends Council consider approval of the Public Works I Superintendent's C/I meter upgrade plan. Authorizing the Public Works department to seek more refined quote costs for materials from Badger Meter Company, and to check on legal ramifications of this type of purchase where the City is upgrading a brand we currently have, I versus requesting bids where other manufacturers software would not be compatible. The Superintendent also recommends Council consider a two year plan to replace all the I residential meters in the City with radio read meters, starting in the older sections of the City. Here again, many meters could be saved and upgraded to radio read. I Benefits of Residential Meter Replacement Benefits of replacing the older residential meters and retrofitting the newer meters with radio read hardware would also be numerous. Approximately twenty (20) meters are in fenced areas, I with some having locked gates. Most gates are frozen and snow covered in the winter. The maintenance crew even uses binoculars in some cases. Some residents have unleashed dogs. ~ During the last reading one Public Works employee was cornered by two Ramsey County Sheriff Deputies, after spending some time trying to get a chainlink gate opened. He was later bit by a ~ dog (unhurt), and after that fell through a plastic window well cover. With the heavy snow it is 5 - I