ORTONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
AUTOMATED METER
READING SYSTEM UPDATE
WORKSHOP MEETING
CITY OFFICE MEETING ROOM
315 Madison Avenue, Ortonville, MN
Monday, October 20, 2008
7:00 P.M.
CALL TO
ORDER AND ROLL CALL:
Mayor Blair
Johnson called the Public Hearing of the Ortonville City Council to order
at 6:05 P.M. Roll Call was taken with the following Present: Mayor Blair
Johnson, Craig Randleman, Steve Berkner, Bob Meyer, John Cunningham, Nick
Anderson, Mike Dorry. Staff Present: City Administrator David Lang, Deputy
City Clerk Susan Lundell, City Attorney Craig Ash. Others Present: Jim
Enga, of Omni-Pro Software, MRES Electrical Distribution Staff Tom
Dew.
AUTOMATED METER READING
SYSTEM UPDATE
Jim Enga of Omni-Pro Software reported on the new water and
electric meter technology that has emerged in the past six months. The new
gateway technology reads data in a digital format rather than the older
pulse read that the City is currently equipped with. The pulse read meters
need to be calibrated on an annual basis to avoid meter errors and thus
are more labor intensive.
Jim Enga passed around examples of the updated meters and
gateway boards. He explained calibration is done through a hand-held PDA
and utility shut offs can be done with the click of a computer mouse. Jim
reported the utility industry has only recently gone to a true digital
technology. He explained the reliability and advantages of the newer
technology. The older technology requires parameters be put into the
billing system. The new electronic meters have additional tamper proof
features and other information is also reported back from the system. Enga
stated the digital format is much more accurate than the pulse system. The
total hardware cost for an upgrade of the entire system would be
approximately $157,300 not including installation costs.
Council Member Dorry stated the City’s current pulse read
system was expensive and has not been completely installed yet. He asked
that the installation of the current pulse read meters be completed and
used for a year. Dorry stated after a year of use the Council could
determine whether or not they wanted to spend the money on an upgrade.
Council Member Anderson asked why the City would buy new digital meters
when the pulse meters are not completely installed and the system has not
been fully utilized yet.
City Clerk Administrator David Lang stated there are 100
pulse meters yet to install and asked the council to purchase the digital
modification for those meters so that the City would have at least 100 of
the new meters in operation. He stated that the installation costs would
be the same no matter what type of meter is installed. Mayor Johnson and
Ortonville City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes October
20, 2008 Page 2 of 2
Meter Reading Update (cont.)
Council Member Cunningham agreed. Tom Dew reported there
are 100 3-phase meters that also need to be installed. Enga offered to
provide a few Beta test models for the City to experiment with.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned by
Consensus at 6:56 P. M.
APPROVED:
ATTEST:
__________________
______________________
Blair
Johnson
David A. Lang
Mayor
Clerk-Administrator
