04-A Locking Water Meters - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

DRAFT the meters will not lock. This means that they do not have an angle stop with loops for attaching a lock or if they have it, it is positioned so that a lock cannot be attached. The angle stops cost $10.53 each and it is estimated to take between one and one and one-half hours to install an angle stop at a cost of $19.50 (1.5 hours X $13.00 per hour, including salary and benefits). This means a cost of up to $30.03 to prepare each of these meters to be locked. To prepare the approximately 9,100 meters that presently cannot be locked for possible locking is estimated to cost $273,273.00. I would recommend a special type of lock which is difficult to cut off and which is unlocked by a special key which is not readily available to the public. These "barrel lock" devices cost $3.50 each. The special keys cost $36.25 each. We would need enough of these "barrel locks" to secure all 3,110 inactive account meters and also have an additional 400 available for cut-off day use. Cut-off day is the day we send water office personnel out to cut off the meters of all customers who have not paid their bill in a timely manner after a cut-off notice has been mailed. We cut off the meter in the morning and then restore service later in the day if the customer comes in and pays. To be consistent in the application of this proposed new policy we would need an additional 400 locks. The total number of"barrel locks" to purchase would be 3500 X $3.50 = $12,250.00. The appropriate number of keys to be purchased for the various personnel would be 15 X $36.25 ~- $544.00. Therefore, a reasonable estimate of the total cost of this project would be $286,067.00 ($108,617.00 for parts and $177,450.00 for labor). An alternate solution to the problem which I could recommend would be to establish a policy of installing locking angle stops in our meter box as and when the current installation is replaced or repaired, such as when a meter is pulled for any reason, thus phasing in this cost over a period of years. We can also elect to start with rental property or with property where we have had a problem with illegal use. The phase-in can be completed as funds are budgeted and rates are set to pay for it. If we choose not to budget funds and raise rates to cover this cost, we could advise water customers that they could install their own separate locking cut-offoutside of our water meter box which should be located, according to our code, adjacent to the water meter box. It would be the landlord's responsibility to lock and unlock this cut-off. The cost of this cut-off, its box, and the lock would be the responsibility of the property owner.