Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Sewer Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances code updates and security procurements as town moves to readiness-to-serve water model
Summary
Staff proposed code changes to enforce meter access ahead of a July 1 readiness-to-serve rate change, reported about 500 unread meters of ~8,000, and recommended cybersecurity and SCADA procurements and repair parts for wastewater systems, including UV system quotes above $100,000.
Town utility staff told the Finance & General Government Committee on April 14 that proposed updates to the town code will be needed to implement a readiness-to-serve water billing model starting July 1 and to address customers who deny access to water meters.
Dan (water/sewer engineering and environmental) said roughly 500 meters are currently unreadable out of about 8,000 and that without code changes the readiness-to-serve structure cannot fairly allocate consumption charges. He described enforcement options used by other municipalities, including escalating penalties (staff cited precedents of fees up to $500 after reasonable outreach), and outlined a cadence of door hangers, mailed letters and follow-up notices to secure appointments. Staff also discussed staffing trade-offs for replacing batteries and meters if access compliance improves.
The committee also reviewed several utility procurements and capital needs. Staff reported an initial quote over $100,000 for UV system repair parts that will need trimming to fit the budget, and flagged long lead times for specialty motors for the belt filter press that should be held in inventory to avoid plant downtime. Dan recommended procuring a SCADA integrator as professional services to secure and integrate the wastewater SCADA system with the water plant for redundancy and cybersecurity. Members noted that the proposed integrator previously worked on the water plant and that the professional services contract is above internal procurement thresholds (above $35,000), prompting discussion of sole-source justification for security continuity and consultation with legal.
The committee agreed to advance public hearing notices for proposed code sections (215-2 and 173-15) related to entry into residences and sewer code updates, to work with legal on procurement language for SCADA security services, and to direct staff to refine quotes for the UV repairs so the purchases fit budget constraints.
