Agenda Packets - 1995/09/05 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

UNAPPROVED Mounds View City Council Regular Meeting-August 28, 1995 5 1 residents to change out these meters. This did not seem like a viable solution to the 2 problems. 3 4 The second option would be to install either of the two Options with in-house staff. It is 5 estimated that four or five meters could be changed out per day. Additional staff members 6 and an additional full time installer would have to be employed plus a part time secretary 7 to help handle the scheduling, etc. All of these items are proposed in the RFP to be 8 completed by the contractor. The estimated time frame for in-house staff to complete this 9 would be 3 to 4 years and the cost of this labor is approximately$235,000, versus the 10 $210,350 in the RFP. This would still require cards to be mailed out by staff and a 11 considerable amount of data entry. Additionally, one more vehicle would be necessary for 12 the installer. 13 14 Ms. Hankner stated in the 1980's the City was rebuilding the water meters as they were 15 trying to save money. It came to a point where the city could not keep up with rebuildng 16 the meters so the city hadto start replacing them. Others will be needing to be changed as 17 well and it is her thought that the city should take care of the entire problem and replace 18 the meters now so that the city will have a system that is reliable and one that will last for 19 the next 20 to 30 years. 20 21 Ms. Trude stated she has been talking with some people in other cities about this issue. 22 When she talked with staff from New Brighton, who replaced their system one or two 23 years ago with a touch-read system, they said the revenue does not increase due accuracy 24 of the water meters. The real savings are in the staff time internally. The biggest problem 25 she feels is that the city is tying up a lot of public works staff in trying to work with 26 uncooperative residents or those who are busy. 27 28 Ms. Trude explained that Option#2 is 40%less costly and it can pay for itself without 29 residents having a surcharge added to their quarterly water bill. In her mind, this system is 30 the only one she can justify. 31 32 Mr. Ulrich noted that at the August 21, 1995 Informational Meeting, one of the concerned 33 residents asked if NSP would be interested in reading the city's water meters for a fee. 34 This resident put in a lot of work and talked with several people. This was also done by 35 Mr. Ulrich several months ago, however he was not able to get them to return his calls. 36 Mr. Ulrich stated he talked with Annie Hoffinan who is in charge of the metro meter 37 division of NSP who stated anything is possible in working with NSP. They are currently 38 working on a project with the City of Cottage Grove, and depending upon the type of 39 system they install,NSP may read the meters or have the city read the NSP meters. Mr. 40 Ulrich stated he would like to thank the resident for his work. It is possible that if the 41 phone read system were installed, the city could read NSP's gas and water meters. 42 43 Mayor Linke briefly explained the two Options that were before the City Council for 44 consideration. He noted that Option#1 includes a$3.00/quarter surcharge to residents. 45 Approximately $2.68 of this would go to help pay back the loan and $.32 would go into a