Cowlitz County approves ARPA-funded replacement of nearly 1,000 water meters, awards bid to Correct Equipment

The Cowlitz County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve a bid award to Correct Equipment for equipment to upgrade the county’s residential water meters, a project county staff said covers roughly 1,000 meters and is funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) eligible dollars.

Savannah Clement, with Cowlitz County Public Services, told the board the county solicited proposals to replace aging meters and selected Correct Equipment as the highest-scoring respondent. "It was the highest scoring company," Clement said, adding the bid line shown to the board for equipment was $425,567 but that number may be reduced because the vendor can adapt some existing meters rather than replace every unit.

Clement said the project will replace “almost all of our meters” for residential customers and add automatic meter-reading (AMR) components. The county expects the AMR readers to reduce reliance on a contracted manual meter-reading service and to provide more frequent reads for faster leak detection. Under the county’s current system, staff said, a leak might not be identified for 30 to 45 days; Clement said the AMR system will allow drive-by reads several times a month and earlier alerts to customers.

Travis (public services staff) described vendor warranty expectations and upgrade strategy, saying the selected meters are designed so that the component most likely to wear can be replaced without replacing the entire mechanical meter. "The life expectancy of a meter will go for a long time. It's the accuracy in which you're reading that consumption," Travis said, and he explained the chosen approach is intended to reduce future mismatches in meter brands and parts.

Commissioners questioned the need for AMR and raised concerns about contractors and meter longevity. Commissioner Dahl noted skepticism about private contractors’ performance and asked whether the AMR system would detect leaks in near real time; Clement answered that readings are collected by drive-by radio frequency and can be downloaded frequently so customers could see consumption “sometimes within days, instead of a month and a half.”

The board approved the motion to award the bid to Correct Equipment. Clement said the final contract price will be reflected when the contract is returned for execution, and staff will follow up with Department of Health guidance on meter replacement timelines as requested by a commissioner.

Votes at a glance: Motion to award bid to Correct Equipment for water meter equipment — outcome: approved (roll-call not recorded on transcript; vocal approvals recorded as "Aye").

Background: Clement said about two-thirds of the county’s current meters are more than 10 years old and that the Department of Health offers replacement guidance; the county intends to retrofit meters that were replaced within the last three to five years by fitting adapters rather than replacing those entire meters. Staff said the switch to AMR is expected to reduce operating costs (staff noted an estimated $18,000 a year the county had been paying for manual reader errors) and to add a customer-facing portal so residents can check consumption more frequently.

Staff next steps: County staff will return with the contract for execution with a more precise purchase price and will provide additional documentation on Department of Health guidance and the vendor warranty terms.