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Cedar City council debates buying meters now, bonding for chlorination and pipeline projects
Summary
Council members and staff debated whether to reallocate capital to buy automated meters and boosters to get 99% read coverage, or to hold funds for large bonds to pay for chlorination, pump stations and pipeline projects such as Martin's Flat and Conservancy District tie-ins.
Water staff told the council the city is pursuing both short- and long-term fixes to ensure system reliability and conservation. The presentation described a two-track approach: (1) immediate meter modernization and radio-read antenna boosters to provide near real-time reads and (2) larger canyon projects including chlorination and new pump/tank work that would likely require bonding.
Staff reported a vendor discount of about $150 per meter if the city purchases meters in bulk and said a $600,000 line item would buy roughly 1,000 residential meters; they also said about 2,900 meters still require replacement. "We've got a proposal of $100,000 increase in that" line item to start replacements, staff said, and noted a full replacement would take multiple budget cycles.
Council members repeatedly raised the trade-offs between fronting capital to buy meters (and gaining labor and leakage efficiencies) versus preserving reserves or increasing bonded debt for larger projects. Finance staff said public-finance advisors are evaluating whether the water fund can borrow without a base-rate increase; multiple council members said they were wary of adding more general obligation or utility debt without clearer debt-service plans.
On supply-side projects, staff said recent test wells at Martin's Flat and BLM sites are producing and may reduce immediate storage constraints if they can be developed and piped into the system. The mayor and engineers said Martin's Flat "is producing spec water at volume" and could deliver high flows to the system, but council members asked for more drilling, casing and completion cost estimates before committing additional funds.
Council direction: staff will bring more detailed cost comparisons (bulk meter purchase now vs. phased replacement with bonding), updated well test results and a recommendation on whether to reallocate carryover funds for meter buys or pipeline capital.
