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Council asks about meter replacements and auto-read rollout as utilities stabilize
Summary
Staff said electric reliability and undergrounding projects have improved service; the council asked about water/electric meter counts and the phased auto-read rollout that automatically captures about 30–35% of water meters on newer electric-radio networks.
Council members questioned city staff about utility meters and infrastructure as staff described months-long undergrounding projects to boost electric reliability.
"If you go buy Honey Nut Cheerios, it's $6.75 a box," Staff member (Speaker 2) said as an aside while connecting inflation to operating costs, then emphasized capital work: undergrounding near Anderson Road and other reliability projects are expected to finish by summer. He credited the electric crew and named Richard Tucker for improvements and said the work reduces water and power interruptions.
On meters, Council member (Speaker 4) asked how many meters are read and whether backup readers were in place. Staff said there are about "1,100 electric" accounts and described a phased replacement and radio-enabled rollout: newer electric meters can pick up about 30–35% of water meters automatically via the same network, reducing the need for manual reads, though outside-city customers are less covered by the radio network. Staff warned that installing new water meters can raise some customers' bills because older meters tend to under-record usage over time.
Staff offered to return with more detailed meter-read counts and plans for continuing replacements.
