Utility board approves $47,714 in metering components, directs 30–90 day meter maintenance plan

The City of Riviera Beach Utility Special District on July 14 approved a purchase order not to exceed $47,714.69 to Waterworks Metrology LLC for components tied to the city’s automatic metering infrastructure program and directed staff to deliver a maintenance and facilities plan for residential and commercial water meters in 30–90 days.

Executive Director Joshua Nieman told the board the purchase covers registers, radios, bolts, flange kits and other components “associated with our automatic metering infrastructure program” and is intended to address frequent “0 reads” that customer service is currently troubleshooting. Nieman said the request was driven by dwindling parts inventory at customer service and is meant to address low-hanging preventive repairs before larger meter replacements are considered.

Board member Shirley Lanier pressed staff for a detailed inventory and expressed alarm about the scale of 0 reads and the impact on residents. “0 read means they’re not paying water bills,” Lanier said, arguing that residents may be subsidizing large commercial accounts. Finance Director Randy Sherman disputed that characterization and clarified how the billing process works: “When we have 0 reads, those businesses still get a water bill. If you look at the bottom of the water bill it will say whether it’s an actual or an estimated read,” Sherman said, adding that estimates are based on historical usage and that the utility follows up on every 0 read.

Sherman told the board the utility has about 16,000 meters and receives roughly 2,000 0-read reports in a typical month; many of those stem from communication failures (battery or antenna issues) rather than meters that are physically not measuring flow. He said the city receives replacement meters through the existing contract as a rotating supply and that larger commercial meters require significant cost and lead time to replace.

The board approved the purchase order after discussion; the clerk recorded dissenting votes from Board members Shirley Lanier and Krishnamo Miller Anderson, with the motion carrying on the remainder of the board.

Separately, Board member Lanier introduced a motion that the finance department, working with the utility special district, prepare a maintenance/facilities/equipment plan for commercial and residential meters and return to a city council meeting with a report and an update on 0 reads in 30–90 days. The motion was seconded, discussed to clarify which department would lead (finance was named, in conjunction with the utility), and adopted unanimously.

Next steps: staff committed to include meter counts, meter ages, recent replacement dates, a plan for prioritizing large commercial meters, and cost estimates in the report; the board also asked for an explicit 0-read inventory so members can evaluate the extent of estimated billing and revenue risk.