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Residents press Cedar Hills council over PI meter accuracy and drought fees
Summary
Residents delivered multiple public comments urging meter audits and greater transparency after new pressurized irrigation (PI) meters and proposed drought surcharges produced unexpected bills. City staff said most meters are functioning and outlined steps for targeted checks and greater public reporting.
Hundreds of residents packed the Cedar Hills Civic Center public comment period to raise concerns about the city’s newly installed pressurized irrigation meters and a proposed increase in tiered drought rates. Speakers said they saw bills spike despite not changing watering habits and asked the council how to challenge or audit meter readings.
"Last year when we started metering and then started getting charged more, my rates went up. I didn't change my watering habits," said Craig Lim, a Cedar Hills resident, describing that his smart controller has been off except to test lines but the app still showed 50–54 gallons per day. Other speakers described back-and-forth month-to-month spikes on neighborhood social media and urged the council to pause any additional rate increases until confidence in the system improves.
City Manager Chandler Goodwin responded during the meeting’s staff reports that the Public Works team will respond to individual meter concerns and that few meters have failed. "We installed 5,000 meters... I asked one of our technicians today... both said about 5 out of 5,000," Goodwin said, adding that staff would swap and zero out reads for meters found to be defective.
Goodwin and public works staff also urged residents to use AquaTrax (the customer app) to monitor usage and to call the city if they see continuous use patterns. He outlined a plan to compile meter work orders and test logs into a transparent report for residents so callers can see how complaints were handled.
Looking ahead, staff recommended focusing on targeted meter checks for reported households rather than an immediate 5,000‑meter audit, while publicly publishing results from inspections and work orders. The council asked staff to return with a practical transparency report and to continue to triage individual meter investigations.
