Title
Agenda Item:
Approval of Contract for Automated Water Meters
Body
Issue:
Whether to award a contract for automated water meters to Itron in the amount of $4,445,311.50.
Committee Recommendation:
Utility Advisory Committee review and recommendation of support occurred at the time the project was added to the CPF in 2009.
City Manager's Recommendation:
Move to award and authorize the City Manager to sign the contract with Itron in the amount of $4,445,311.50.
Staff Contact:
Meliss Maxfield, Drinking Water Quality Program and Planning Supervisor, Public Works Water Resources, 360.753.8202.
Presenter(s):
Meliss Maxfield, Drinking Water Quality Program and Planning Supervisor, Public Works Water Resources
Background and Analysis:
The City has approximately 20,000 water meters, with over 70 percent of these being 10 years and older. The typical life cycle for a meter is 10 years or 1 million gallons. Aging meters require a higher level of maintenance, generally under-count usage and continue to worsen as they age, affecting revenue recovery and customer equity. The Drinking Water Utility's need to replace a majority of old meters creates a significant opportunity to also transition to automated water meter reading (AMR) technology. Many utilities, including Lacey and Tumwater, have transitioned to AMR technology as a more efficient business operation.
The City began its evaluation and development of a Water Service Meter Strategic Plan in 2006. Recognizing the need for replacing aging meters, staff assessed which meter reading technology to pursue, explored different billing frequencies, and identified potential staffing impacts. After extensive analysis, a recommended water meter replacement and automated meter reading project was included in the Council-approved 2009 - 2014 Water System Plan and the Capital Facilities Plan. At that time, both the Utility Advisory Commitee and Olympia Planning Commission endorsed the meter replacement st...
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