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CITY COUNCIL <br />WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />ITEM NO. 3 <br />STAFF ORIGINATOR: Michael Grochala, Community Development Director <br />WORK SESSION DATE: March 4, 2024 <br />TOPIC: Utility Meter Reading Equipment Hardware and Customer Portal <br />______________________________________________________________________________ <br />BACKGROUND <br />On December 11, 2023 the City Council discussed the purchase of utility meter reading <br />equipment hardware and customer portal and analytics software. Council members expressed <br />concerns regarding how the information could be used for code enforcement. The item was <br />tabled to allow time for development of a policy regarding use of the data to address this <br />concern. <br />The Water Utility currently collects water use data. The new smart hardware and software will <br />allow for it to be collected more frequently with the information more readily available to staff <br />and customers. The City has relatively few regulations regarding water use. Prohibitions are <br />generally restricted to irrigation during certain day time hours (10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and days <br />of the week based on address (odd/even). <br />Neither the data collected nor the software can be used to specifically identify a code violation, <br />such as watering during prohibited times or prohibited days. The software cannot identify how <br />water is being used. It can, however, serve as an indicator of higher than normal water use <br />which is an aid in detecting leaks – one of the benefits of the new system. The system is <br />capable of sending out alerts to users automatically based on information collected but this is <br />not staff driven. <br />To avoid unintentionally inhibiting the use of data for operations and customer engagement <br />and still address council concerns staff is proposing the following policy criteria: <br />1)Data may be used to support inquiries to ensure compliance or initiate additional <br />review. <br />2)No citation may be issued directly from use of data. Any potential code enforcement <br />violations must be independently verified by other means including but not limited to <br />visual identification of offense in the field. <br />10