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City manager warns of regional fires, outlines near-complete meter change-out and short outage plan
Summary
City Manager Wright told Portland council about multiple nearby wildfires and smoke advisories and said the city is close to finishing a meter box replacement program that will cause brief outages at individual homes.
City Manager Wright told the council on March 4 that multiple wildfires in the region were producing dangerous smoke levels and that the National Weather Service had issued a shelter-in-place advisory for parts of San Patricio County for people with respiratory vulnerabilities. He also updated the council on the city's water meter change-out program, saying the job is nearing completion and that crews are replacing meter boxes in clusters across several neighborhoods.
"We are within about 500 meters of completing the meter change out program," City Manager Wright said, and he said the city's subcontractor, the Tomaca Group, was performing the more extensive meter-box replacements rather than just swapping meters. Wright listed neighborhoods where crews were working — Chilthopin, Fulton, Granby, Markham, Poesta and Trinity — and said the contractor was moving through about five areas in town.
Wright told the council that when crews replace a meter at a house, residents can expect a short service interruption. "You're looking at probably anywhere from 10 minutes to 20 minutes where they have to pull the meter out and replace it," he said. The city will notify residents with door hangers and neighborhood signs; Wright advised residents to verify worker identification and to call the police department or public works if they are suspicious.
Councilman Wilson asked whether the meter box work would cause any expected outages related to how some meters are configured off the main trunk line. Wright reiterated that individual homes could lose service for a short time during a meter swap and that crews would reschedule if the resident requested it.
Separately, Wright reported that the city's fire department had responded to assist near the Sinton area and said fires were also burning in Jim Wells County and in the western Corpus Christi island area. He warned that high winds and dry conditions had created dangerous conditions and urged caution for residents in affected areas.
No formal action was taken on the item; the report was delivered as information to the council.
