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Town reviews repairs after water main leak and weighs utility meter upgrade
Summary
Brooklyn officials recapped recent water and wastewater repairs — including a hit water main and a repaired wastewater pump — and discussed vendor quotes to replace electric and water meters with telemetry, with estimated vendor costs and an annual hosting fee under review.
Brooklyn town officials reviewed repairs to water and wastewater infrastructure and considered proposals to replace aging utility meters.
Council members reported a contractor-excavation incident that damaged a water main; crews repaired the line the same day and planned follow-up inspections to ensure there are no kinks and that an affected resident’s water pressure is restored. At the wastewater plant, staff said a plugged pipe and an incorrect pump bracket required replacing a pump and back-flushing a main; the pump is now operating and geo bags will be used to remove sludge.
The council also received multiple vendor quotes to replace electric and water meters and add remote telemetry. A quoted price from one supplier for water meters was discussed at roughly $432,200; an alternative bid for combined electric and water meters, software and services was discussed at about $390,698. Staff noted an annual hosting fee for meter software of $8,513 and said installation labor and monthly hosting charges remain to be clarified. Council members discussed piloting meters with a small set of installations before committing to townwide deployment to assess performance and operations.
Staff cautioned that some equipment and specialty tools are in short supply: hydrant and stem-change tools have become more expensive and are not always on hand, and parts lead times have increased. Council members said a phased program for hydrant flushing and replacement is more realistic than attempting all work in a single year given current staffing and parts availability.
A resident asked whether new meters would result in direct charges to customers. Council and staff said pricing is still being finalized and that the hope is there will be no direct up-front cost to users; they also said more accurate meters could reduce billing errors and enable leak notifications that would help customers detect large, unexpected water use.
The council approved routine actions on the agenda and asked staff to continue gathering installation estimates and vendor details before returning a formal purchase or financing recommendation at a future meeting.
