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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 06 12 City Council work session - water and sewer ordinance 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP REPORT MEETING DATE: February 6, 2012 PREPARED BY : Katy Gehler, Public Works and Natural Resources Director Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director PRESENTED BY: Katy Gehler, Public Works and Natural Resources Director Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of the workshop is to present information on the Automatic Meter Reading system and the water and sewer ordinances to obtain council feedback. History The City last upgraded the Automatic M eter R eading (AMR) system in 2002/2003. At that time the Aclara Star system was installed. The system includes 14 Data Collection Units (DCUs) pla ced on towers around the city that receive information from 7,900 Meter Transmission Unit s (MTU s ) mounted near each me tered co n- nection . The DCUs transfer the water usage data from the MTU to the central network controller at City Hall. The MTUs are a permanently enclosed unit with a manufacturer reported battery lifespan of 7 years. Over the last few years we have begun to see battery failures in the system. Options to replace the battery within the unit were explored without success. It is estimated that within 3 - 5 years about 5, 300 MTUs will need to be replaced due to expired battery life. In addition to replacement of the MTUs, Aclara has informed us that the 14 DCUs will need to be replaced before the end of 2013 as they will no longer support his product for technological and financial reasons . Since Aclara is the only company which supports this equipment we will need to take some action with respect to our DCUs and MTUs so their replacements are operational by 12/31/2013. Current Circumstances AMR System Considering the need to replace much of the AMR system, staff has evaluated o p- tions for replacement. What follows is our recommendations: Upgrade of Existing System - Replacement of the syst em with upgraded units from Aclara was considered. The MTUs that were used in the 2002 project are no longer available but have been replaced with a newer unit . The replacement unit continues to have a permanently sealed unit (non - replaceable battery) and we’ve experienced significant quality issues. F ailure of these units has caused us to make multiple entries into homes for replacement. In addition the company no longer is locally represented or distributed which has led to service quality issues including poor response times for system issues and lo nger lead times on equi p- ment orders . For these reasons we should not attempt to upgrade the existing system. Consider New AMR system - There are other companies that offer comparable systems. Since most of the system components will need to be replaced in the next 5 years, these systems should be considered. Many of these systems offer equipment that has a higher serviceability (i.e. re placeable battery) and have a better proven track record for service and dependability. Criteria for the new system will be the following :  Replaceable battery  Compatible with e - coder encoder and Neptune/Schlumberger Meters  Compatible with Utility Billing System Software  Two - way fixed network system  Minimal antenna collection and repeater sites  Minimum of hourly reads  Backflow notification  Tamper notification  High, abnormal, zero and non - read notifications  Annual software upgrades  Timely c ustomer support  MT Us receive signals from existing locations in basements/buildings  One week wait maximum on parts orders (sufficient inventory/availability) Using these criteria we believe that three of four suppliers will be able to respond to our bids. Replacement of Other system components - It is also recommended that add i- tional system components be considered for replacement for certain service co n- nections . Meters generally slow down over time due to aging parts and deposits within the unit leading to inaccurate r eadings. There are curren tly 1,800 meters that are nearing the end of their useable life and are anticipated to be replaced in the next 3 - 5 years. Replacement of these meters along with the ARM project will capture labor efficiencies and reduce disruptio n to the property owner. Since recording usage is our primary objective and because the difference in cost is modest, the Pro - read should be replaced by the E - Coder. A n encoder is a component of the meter that works as the odometer. There are current ly two types of encoders in the system, the odometer style Pro - read and the digital E - coder. The Pro - read is accurate to the nearest 10 gallons and only records the amount of water usage. The E - coder is accurate to the nearest 0.1 gallon s and has the additi onal functionality of leak, reverse flow, and tamper d e- te c tion. These functions are important in management of the system and reducing unpaid water loss . 2 Costs – The estimated cost for the project components are shown in the table b e- low assuming 7,90 0 accounts . AMR System MTUs $ 820,000 DCU s 150,000 Installation 450,000 Meter Replacement 250,000 Upgrade Encoders 330,000 Total $ 2,000,000 Water and Sewer Ordinances Our second topic this evening is proposed revisions to the sewer and water ordi n- ances. The water and sewer ordinances , Sections 704 and 705, were evaluated to ensure that appropriate authorities were in place to accomplish the AMR project. Incremental revisions overtime have made the ordinance lacking continu i- ty and in some cases contradictory between Sections. In addition many sections had become out of date with current practices and procedures. A complete review and revision is underway. The new ordinances will accomplish the following g oals: 1. Combing the sewer and water sections as much of the language was du p- licative. 2. Reorganizing so that like subsections are together. 3. Removing unnecessary detail and specific references to fees or proc e- dures. 4. Removing language that is governed by other federal, state, or county rules. 5. Revising the water restrictions language to be more enforceable for ass o- ciations using zoned irrigation systems. We expect to have the final draft documents done within the next two weeks and submitted to the council by March 5 at the latest. Conclusion Staff is seeking feedback from the council both on the proposed project and on the project timeline so that final bid documents can be prepared and presented to council at an upcoming council meeting. FINANCIAL The project is currently included in the 2012 - 2016 CIP with two thirds of the fun d- IMPACT: ing from the water fund and one third from the sewer fund. The project was orig i- nally planned over a 10 - year time period. However, recent information from the servi ce provider indicates a more accelerated replacement schedule is deemed necessary. On Monday evening staff will be prepared to review a rate analysis with the city council. The rate analys e s that were prepared in conjunction with the CIP reflec t- ed modest ($0.50 or 2%) annual rate increases in both the water and sewer funds. 3 Acceleration of the AMR project would require the use of reserves and/or the i s- suance of debt. If reserv es are used to fund the entire project, rate increases would need to be frontl oaded in 2013 rathe r than ori g in ally planned over 2013 and 2014. 4