ALPINE — A pilot project testing how well smart water meters would work for the city was put on hold until November after concerns regarding their integration with utility billing software and costs were presented to the Alpine City Council Tuesday night.
Both city administrators and the council are aware of residents’ frustrations with billing issues and want to move forward with the project, but there were some concerns, said Interim City Manager Geo Calderon.
One issue was the city’s new utility billing software scheduled to be installed in October. “We were concerned with conducting a pilot on the old software,” Calderon said. “We thought it would be premature when we’re launching new software. So, we should at least wait until November to kind of give a month after launch.”
The delay will also give city administrators and staff the opportunity to become more familiar with the project since it had been handled by former City Manager Megan Antrim, who recently resigned, Calderon said. They also intend to reach out to other vendors to ensure that the city is getting the most for its money.
The current cost for the pilot project is set at $40,000 with the cost for transitioning the entire city to smart meters set at $1.4 million.
The original pilot project called for a base station to be located at Sul Ross State University Hill and include 45 residential and eight commercial meters. However, 13 of those meters were not within the Sul Ross service area.
The council approved the pilot project in March. At that time, council members heard then City Manager Antrim describe the project as one that would update current meters with equipment that would link to a base station and allow city water users to access an online portal with information regarding their water usage. Antrim also told the council that funding for the project was available.
In other action, the council unanimously passed a resolution naming Geo Calderon as interim city manager, and following an extended executive session, named Mike Macia as utilities director.
While the council appointed Calderon interim city manager on June 10 following Antrim’s resignation, a formal resolution was required for him to have access to bank information.
Macia, who has worked for Alpines utilities, assumed leadership of the department after the departure of the former director and had the recommendation of Calderon.