The area runs along Dixie Highway and moves northwest, including roads like Homeward Way, Seward Road and parts of Union Centre Boulevard. The area mostly comprises commercial and industrial utility customers, said Public Utilities Director Adam Sackenheim.
He said his staff believes that if this “proof of concept project” is successful then the city can scale out the same hardware and technology to itsremaining 14,000 water customers.
“We also have plans long-term to do automated metering throughout the entire city," he said. "So no longer will be going every single month door-to-door touching every single building to get a reading.”
Each month the city’s Public Utilities Department reads about 14,000 water meters and most read via “touch-read” technology, said Sackenheim. That requires a person to physically touch each home or business to collect the usage information.
“Reading meters in this fashion requires a significant amount of labor and resources,” said Sackenheim.
Most of the meters are also approaching the end of their life cycle “and do not provide the level of accuracy of newer technology,” said City Manager Mark Wendling.
If the proof of concept is supported, the city plans to take on upwards of $4 million in debt in 2024 for the citywide automated metering project.
Councilman Bill Woeste asked if the city should move up the timeline to take advantage of the historic low interest rates. Federal Reserve officials said earlier this month they plan to leave interest rates near zero at least through 2023.
Sackenheim said if City Council wants to move up the project if the proof of concept is supported, the 2024 automated metering project could be moved up by two years.
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