Commission approves SpryPoint utility billing contract to replace legacy system

The Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved a master subscription agreement with SpryPoint Services Inc. on Aug. 19 to replace the city’s legacy utility billing system, a staff presentation said. The motion passed on a roll call vote with all commissioners voting yes. Assistant City Manager Jared Wasinger told the commission the initiative advances the city’s strategic plan goal of modernizing technology and public service delivery. “We settled on, Sprite Point,” Wasinger said, summarizing the vendor selection after a multi‑vendor procurement led with assistance from the Government Finance Officers Association. Staff said the project would be roughly a 12‑month implementation and could be live in the fall timetable the city is planning for a utility‑billing go‑live. Staff described the existing Central Square system as legacy technology with diminishing vendor support and limited customer‑portal functionality. The proposed SpryPoint system includes a customer portal, mobile field work‑order integration, interval‑data integration with Aclara meters, Esri mapping integration for targeted customer notifications, and an administrative dashboard with reporting options. Wasinger said the product demonstrations and a finalist evaluation led staff to conclude SpryPoint offered stronger staff and customer functionality. The contract package presented to the commission listed an implementation not‑to‑exceed amount of about $500,000, an additional not‑to‑exceed $60,000 for on‑site vendor support during implementation, and an estimated annual software fee of about $100,000. Staff said the one‑time costs would be paid from cash and split among three special‑revenue funds that will use the system; the annual fee will be charged to operating budgets. Wasinger said the city plans a phased 12‑month implementation similar to the recent Oracle enterprise resource planning rollout. Commissioners praised the decision to modernize the system and noted additional customer service features such as the ability to send area‑specific boil‑water or outage notices directly to affected customers. The commission approved the master subscription agreement on a unanimous roll call.