Hampshire reviews well-pump condition, explores radio-read water meters after resident example

Village officials updated trustees on two water-related items: a well-pump inspection with structural casing problems and an evaluation of radio-read water-meter technology (MXUs) after a resident described a Crystal Lake leak-detection program.

Mister Paulson told the board the pulled well pump is at a laboratory for inspection and that the pump casing pipe appears to be in poor shape; he said he would provide a follow-up email to the board when the lab report is available. “They have it at their lab. They’re looking at it,” Paulson said; he added there is no final pump report yet.

During public comment a resident described how Crystal Lake notifies customers when consumption spikes and offers a free in-home check for leaks. Trustees and staff discussed Hampshire’s current meter-read system and technology options: staff said the village reads most meters every other month but already has some MXU radio-read devices and is investigating antenna and implementation costs necessary to support automatic, frequent reads and alerts as meters are replaced.

Miss Lyons summarized the funding approach for new-development MXUs: the packet lists $10,900 for meters and staff said the village charges $450 on each new-home permit to fund those devices. "That is for new development, and we charge $450 on each new home permit for that purpose," she said.

Staff said adopting radio-read technology would take time and cost analysis but could reduce staff time spent driving neighborhoods to read meters; trustees asked staff to continue exploring costs and implementation timing as part of longer-term utility planning.