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South Blooming Grove officials urge meter replacement before any water-rate hike
Summary
At a July 14 public hearing, village staff and the board outlined that many existing water meters are failing and recommended installing new wireless meters across the village — roughly 400 of about 700–800 addresses initially — before deciding whether to raise water rates. Brian Smith estimated vendor installation could take about six months.
Mayor George Kalaj opened a public hearing July 14 on proposed water and sewer rates, and village staff urged caution before any rate increase. Joel Stern, confidential assistant to the mayor, said a large share of the village's meters are not recording accurately and recommended installing new meters first: "we have over 50% of water meters are defunct, 40-50% are over 60 years some that are not functioning which is one of the primary reasons we are not accurate with the billing and collecting the funds that really need to operate the water system." The board left the hearing open to receive comment before taking further action.
Brian Smith of Fusco Engineering said the village plans an initial installation of about 400 new wireless/digital meters out of roughly 700–800 service addresses and that the vendor installation and commissioning timeline is "about six months" on a conservative estimate. Smith described interim read procedures (handheld radio reads), newer meters' pressure-sensing capability to flag main breaks, and typical warranty terms: "One meter is around $190 plus the reader $250" and municipalities, not homeowners, will own the devices. Stern said staff will proceed with meter procurement and run the budget/rate analysis in parallel before recommending any formal rate change to the board.
