Greene County commissioners direct manager to pursue Mueller AMI replacement offer after debate; motion passes 4-1

Greene County commissioners on an unspecified meeting date voted 4–1 to direct the county manager to present a vendor proposal from Mueller to the company for formal agreement and return with finalized terms for replacing the county's advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) system.

The motion followed a presentation by Rich Moore, who summarized two options from Mueller: a full replacement of the county AMI network using the company's newer technology (upfront material cost described as approximately $546,000) and a second option to retain and continue replacing transmitters on the existing system to try to meet an original 99% read-rate contractual requirement.

Why it matters: the county's billing operations currently require manual reads for roughly 800 meters because the AMI network has not consistently met the read-rate, and vendor support for the original technology will end within about nine years if the county retains the legacy platform.

Moore said Mueller is offering to install the replacement equipment ‘‘basically at their cost’’ and to waive support fees during the transition. He summarized the administration's recommended contingencies: keep $50,000 in retainage currently withheld from the vendor, require Mueller to provide interface work between the new network and the county's billing software, let Mueller install currently failed transmitters at no charge, and provide training for county personnel.

Commission debate focused on vendor performance history and long-term costs. One commissioner said keeping the existing system risks a larger replacement expense in nine years; another criticized continuing to use a vendor whose earlier delivery had not met contract performance. Moore and other staff repeatedly said Mueller had repeatedly attempted to remedy the performance shortfalls and had replaced defective transmitters under warranty in prior years.

Specific contract terms discussed in the meeting included: - $50,000 in retainage the county is holding (referenced as money withheld due to performance shortfalls). - An estimated upfront materials cost for replacement of about $546,000, described by Moore as "at cost." - Current annual operating/support cost described in the discussion as about $36,500; Moore said a new support model would instead charge $4.50 per active meter per year as meters are transitioned.

A commissioner urged staff not to approve any payment until the vendor can demonstrate the required read-rate; Moore said the county would not pay until the 99% transmission success rate is achieved. The commission voted to give the county manager direction to present option 1 to Mueller with the contingencies discussed and to return with finalized agreements; the motion carried 4–1.

The board did not sign a replacement contract at the meeting. Moore told commissioners the next step is to take the vendor's response to the proposed contingencies and return to the board for formal approval.

Ending: The county manager and staff will return with Mueller's written response to the board's requested conditions before any contract with upfront payment is executed.