Stevensville staff outline trial for cellular water meters, town to test five before wider rollout

Stevensville staff briefed the Town Council on a proposal to trial cellular water meters that transmit data over commercial cellular networks, a change from the current drive‑by or local radio reads. The town will receive five trial meters at no charge and staff said the cellular service would carry a recurring cost of about $0.91 per meter per month.

A staff presentation described the meters as providing near‑real‑time reads accessible through a web portal or app, enabling customers to see daily and hourly usage and allowing staff to detect leaks and spikes more quickly. A town staff member said the trial meters “will be a good test” and that the vendor will provide pricing packages if the town wishes to replace meters gradually as older units fail.

Council discussion emphasized budgeting constraints. Staff said the new meters are approximately the same hardware cost as the meters just replaced in a recent large meter‑change project and that a full replacement of several hundred meters would be phased in as existing meters fail. The town had replaced nearly 200 meters in the previous 18 months and staff said the new product’s batteries and communications technology will make staged replacement workable.

On operational benefits, staff said the cellular meters would remove the need for a drive‑by reading vehicle and reduce time and gas costs. The meters also offer leak detection, per‑customer consumption graphs, and remote data access. One staff speaker explained when problems have occurred with older meters: “Sometimes we go there and we can’t pull that log off of it…nobody can tell us why it won’t work.” The cellular meters were presented as a way to get more reliable diagnostic data.

The council did not take a formal vote; members agreed to accept the vendor’s offer of five free trial meters and asked staff to report results and pricing options before any large‑scale purchase. Staff said vendors will propose various purchase and subscription packages rather than one large upfront buy.

A staff member summarized service costs: “There is a charge…91¢ per meter a month, and that’s for the cellular data.” The council asked for pricing scenarios and for staff to return with recommendations after the trial.

Next steps: install and monitor the five trial meters, evaluate their reads and reliability, and return to council with recommended procurement options and cost estimates that reflect phased replacement tied to meter failures and available budget.