The Finance Committee on Tuesday moved to hold a Water Division request for an additional $100,000 in spending authority for a Neptune cold‑water meter contract until staff can provide more precise data.

Jerry Ouellette, chief of water, told the committee the division is replacing more meters than anticipated and asked to increase the contract cap by $100,000 to extend authority through March 26, 2026. Ouellette said the extra authority would come from capital improvements (budget code 84799) and that the vendor warranty on the meters is 20 years.

Council members pushed for specifics before approving the increase. "If you don't know how many meters you need, how do you know how much money to ask for?" said a council member who requested follow‑up data on stock on hand, the number of installations since the original $350,000 award, and the remaining balance in the budget code. The chief repeatedly said he did not have exact inventory or installation numbers at the hearing and relied on recent purchase‑order activity to estimate that a "couple hundred" meters remained in stock.

Chief Staff Bill Vicente told the committee he wished questions had been submitted in advance so staff could have produced the requested figures; the committee asked staff to e‑mail answers in advance of the next meeting. Several members described being "disappointed" with the lack of detail and said they could not vote affirmatively without the information.

A motion to hold the spending‑cap increase until the next committee meeting passed on voice vote. Council members asked for a report on: (1) the exact number of meters installed since the original $350,000 award, (2) the current meter inventory by size and type, and (3) the remaining balance in budget code 84799.

The hold means the water division will not receive the additional spending authority until staff returns with the requested clarifications; committee members and staff agreed to exchange questions by e‑mail to avoid repeating the same briefing at the next meeting.