The Winslow City Council included a water meter replacement project in the fiscal year budget and the city is now moving ahead on the endeavor. The new meters will offer more accurate readings, along with the ability to be controlled remotely from the computer system in the city finance department. City officials also say the new meters will save costs related to meter reading and maintenance.
Last week the council awarded a contract of no more than $1,036,497 for installation and supply to Ferguson Supply of Phoenix.
City Manager Steve Pauken said of the funding for the project, “We sold a bond issue this year for $1 million and we had also budgeted $300,000 from the water fund, so we basically have in the budget $1.3 million. Of course, we will spend the bond money first and not the water reserves if we don’t have to.”
The action item also included the approval of payment to Ferguson Supply, and the authorization of the city manager to sign necessary documents.
Mark Krebs of PACE Advanced Water Engineering firm said, “We began working with city staff in early May of this year to create a performance spec. In June we finalized that and in late July we put out a request for proposal. We received 10 responses to that.” Some of those responses included only the equipment needed for the project, while some only provided the installation of the equipment. Ferguson Supply will provide both supply and installation, and had the lowest responsible bid.
Vice Mayor Harold Soehner asked, “What is the timeframe on the rollout and how are we going to notify the public?”
Krebs responded, “Part of the work that Ferguson will do is to lay out a plan and work with the city to get a communication out to people so that they understand. Once they get their complete plan laid out, communication will be established and sent out.”
The project is set to begin as soon as possible, but as Pauken said, “We have roughly about 2,800 meters, and there’s liable to be more than a dozen different ways they’ve been hooked up through the years, so some make take longer to change over than others.”
Councilman Curtis Hardy asked for clarification, “How much time are we looking at per meter?”
Krebs explained that depending on the condition of the old meter, switching to the new system should be quick, approximately 30 minutes to an hour. In total, replacing all 2,800 meters should take only six to seven days.
