Beverly council authorizes $7.5 million borrowing to replace 12,600 water and sewer meters

The Beverly City Council on March 31 authorized up to $7,500,000 in borrowing to purchase and replace the city’s water and sewer meters and to fund related costs, voting 8-0 to approve Order 105.

City officials told the council the city must replace roughly 12,600 meters whose batteries and communications hardware are reaching end of life, and that modern meters will support remote reads, leak detection alerts and customer portals.

Eric Barber, assistant commissioner of public services, said the municipality currently relies on decades-old hardware. “There’s a battery in this device,” Barber said of the existing meters. “It communicates with a van. Keep in mind the fact that it’s a year 2,000 Astro van… the ability for this meter to communicate is slowly but surely going away.” Barber also demonstrated an older meter and a replacement model and said the newer devices are easier to install and include customer alert functions that can notify homeowners of continuous use or leaks.

Mr. Ailes, the city treasurer, told the council the order authorizes the treasurer, with mayoral approval, to issue bonds or notes under the cited enabling authority to fund the project and to accept grants that would reduce the borrowing amount. He said the project is included in the capital improvement plan and recommended a 15-year financing term given an expected meter useful life of about 20 years.

Budget analyst Jerry Perry presented estimated fiscal impacts and said the administration is contemplating a 3.37% combined water-and-sewer rate increase in FY26 (about $0.35 per 100 cubic feet) and a further 2.87% increase in FY27 (about $0.31 per 100 cubic feet) tied to this project. Perry and other staff cautioned that when combined with other system projects the council should plan for roughly a 10% increase in rates in the coming year.

Officials said procurement is complete for the meter hardware and that a low bidder has been identified for installation. Barber and Commissioner Mike Collins told the council the work will be phased and could take 18–24 months for the bulk of installations. The administration said it intends to phase borrowings to match project cash flow rather than take the full amount immediately.

Council members asked about customer impacts and protections. Barber said most customers will continue to receive paper quarterly bills and that the portal and alerts are optional. He said the portal is customer-managed and “you have the ability to establish who that flag goes to.” On large true-ups when meters are replaced, Barber said the city will seek to work with customers on payment plans: “we can work with the ratepayer to make it more manageable for their financial situation.” Perry reiterated staff would try to soften impacts where possible.

Councilors and staff raised timing concerns tied to possible federal tariffs on components. Barber said the city’s exposure if it delays procurement could be roughly $300,000–$350,000 because current stock of meters uses components not yet affected by tariffs and newly manufactured units may carry higher costs.

During public comment, Lorinda Visnick, Ward 6 School Committee member, urged the council to consider installing second meters for outdoor irrigation and other nonsewer water uses so homeowners would not be charged sewer fees on water that does not enter the sewer system. Visnick said separate meters could aid conservation and fairness, and noted an existing process for customers to request a sewer adjustment for filling a pool.

The council then voted on Order 105. A subsequent motion to reconsider the vote failed (0 in favor, 8 opposed), preserving the council’s approval.

The order authorizes the treasurer, with mayoral approval, to borrow and issue bonds or notes and to take “any other action necessary to carry out this project, including, but not limited to, applying for, accepting, and expending any and all grants that may be available to [the] city to defray cost of this project.” The order, as read into the record, notes the legal notice ran in the newspaper March 21.

The council closed the special hearing after the votes and adjourned. The administration said it will return with implementation details, a contractor kickoff schedule and follow-up communications to affected customers.