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Portales water department reports staffing openings and moves to expand automatic meter reading
Summary
Water department staff said two vacancies should be filled soon, Emily Morgan was promoted to billing supervisor, the city heard vendor presentations for meter services, and staff reported about 5,600 active meters as it pushes an AMR expansion.
Pat Mitchel, the water department lead, told the advisory group the department currently has several vacancies and expects to fill two positions within a week or two; he said Emily Morgan has been promoted to billing supervisor and the city will interview for a senior clerk.
Mitchel said the department recently heard presentations from two vendors — Core Main and Baker Utility of Albuquerque — as it evaluates options for a larger meter package that would include reading nearly all meters. "We're looking about just under 5,600 residential meters," he said, adding that the city is also discussing bringing well meters into a single procurement package. The presentations will be reviewed with finance and returned to the utility bank for pricing next week.
Council members asked about the current mix of meter types and how gaps in manual reads will be addressed. Mitchel said the city currently has roughly 60% of accounts on AMR (automatic meter reading) and 40% still read manually; he said priority for conversion will be locations with inconsistent manual reads. "If we find any issues, it's manual reads," he said. "Once we start, we start with the ones that are manual because that's where the reads are not clear."
The advisory group did not take a vote on procurement at the meeting. Staff said they will return with more concrete pricing and procurement steps and that grant funding options will be discussed at a future agenda item.
