Title
CONSIDERATION AND AWARDING OF BID NO. 1314-65 FOR THE PURCHASE OF WATER METERS FOR THE LINE MAINTENANCE DIVISION.
Body
BACKGROUND: On June 19, 2014, bids were opened on Bid No. 1314-65 for local register water meters for the Utilities Line Maintenance Division. Funds have been budgeted in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 (FYE 15) budget for these purchases.
In FYE86 a committee comprised of Public Works staff and Line Maintenance Division staff recommended standardizing specifications for turbine, compound and residential cold water meters due to the increasing costs associated with the difficulty of obtaining, inventorying repair parts, and purchasing water meters. The committee recommended acceptance of only Badger, Neptune and Sensus Technologies water meters in the annual cold water meter contract. This option allowed the Division to purchase and implement radio-read meter technology where practical. Local read meters must be physically read by a person. Radio read meters can be read by a receiving computer in a vehicle as it drives by each meter.
Although the radio-read meter technology has proven to be cost-effective for certain installations for the Meter Services section, the costs difference between local read registers and radio-read registers is substantial (approximately $100 per meter). The number of meters purchased and installed over the last several fiscal years is summarized below:
FYE09 - 719 local read water meters ranging in size from 3/4" to 2" and installed 546 radio-read water meters.
FYE10 - 770 local read register water meters and 539 radio-read water meters.
FYE11 - 648 local read register water meters and 400 radio-read water meters.
FYE12 - 248 local read register meters and 416 radio-read water meters.
FYE13 - 869 local read register water meters, and 413 radio-read water meters.
FYE14, - 416 local read register water meters, and 399 radio-read water meters.
DISCUSSION: Bid No. 1314-65 proposals ...
Click here for full text