Lucas Council directs staff to seek budget amendment for $695,193 AMI water‑meter upgrade

The Lucas City Council on Sept. 5 directed staff to prepare a fiscal‑year 2024–25 budget amendment to fund advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for the city water utility.

The motion to direct staff was made by the presiding official and seconded by a council member; council voiced assent and the motion carried. City staff and vendor representatives told the council the one‑time cost for the system is $695,193.93 and that ongoing annual subscription costs run about $9,880.11 (a per‑meter charge that will rise with new connections). A staff presenter said, "It's $695,193.93 for the system." (presenter, city staff).

Core & Main representatives demonstrated how AMI differs from the city’s current drive‑by automated meter reading (AMR) system, describing a mix of fixed gateways and cellular endpoints to reach meters in low‑lying or obstructed locations. Jack Constant, a Core & Main meter specialist, described the customer‑facing features and the leak‑alert function built into the software. A vendor presenter explained that meters store approximately 96 days of interval data so missed transmissions can be backfilled and that the system can notify a homeowner when continuous consumption suggests a leak.

Council members asked about gateway placement, coverage (the vendor's propagation study estimated needing multiple gateways), warranty and the contingency if cellular endpoints are required for hard‑to‑reach meters. Staff said use of a FirstNet cellular path (an extended‑use network) would provide improved resiliency where commercial cell service is weak and that unread‑meter reports would allow staff to manually check a small number of meters when the system does not capture a particular read.

The council’s direction asks staff to return with a formal budget amendment on the Oct. 17, 2024 meeting agenda for council consideration and potential appropriation.