Council approves new meters for more accurate reading

By SUSAN BERG

Managing editor

Marion city employees will no longer be in the business of extending credit for utility customers. The council decided Monday that all hardship cases would have to go before the city council for a decision.

In the past, the city utility clerk determined hardship cases and allowed some customers to pay over time. However, city administrator Doug Kjellin said he had noticed abuse from some customers.

The city has a policy that allows the disconnection of city services for non-payment but the policy hasn’t always been followed.

“The city tries to be accommodating tin special situations but it has caused problems,” Kjellin said. “This will put teeth in our policy.”

Customers will continue to have an appeal process as well as an opportunity to have more time to pay on a bill that is in arrears.

During the public forum portion of the meeting, Eulah Richmond asked the council for such an exception and was granted 10 days to pay the delinquent bill.

New meters, better readings

As electric and water meters age, they do not give as accurate of a usage reading as city officials would like. Kjellin said he had been checking into products and prices to replace the aging equipment. New digital meters and software to read the meters cost $326,836. There is a five-year, lease-purchase financing option that would cost the city about $5,500 per month for five years.

There is also a loan fund program through Kansas Department of Health and Environment for water meters that will provide 40 percent debt forgiveness, saving the city $85,670.

The meters would be maintenance-free for 15 years and could be read by one person during a two-day period once a month instead of a person walking and driving door-to-door for 10 to 12 days to read the meters. Lease payments will be paid by accurate utility metering.

Kjellin said he knows of one instance when the city was losing 43 percent of metered electrical use because a meter was faulty.

Councilman Bill Holdeman asked if the savings from accurate meter readings would be passed to customers. Kjellin said he hoped the savings would prevent the city from having to increase rates in the next couple of years.

“Digital is 100 percent accurate,” Kjellin assured the council.

With that, the council approved resolutions that allowed the purchase of the meters and implementation of the program.