Submitted By
John P. Wielebnicki, Director of Public Works
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Approving a Water Meter and Water Meter Parts Purchase Agreement with Ferguson Enterprises Inc., d/b/a Ferguson Waterworks in an Amount not to Exceed $271,500.00 in 2018, Authorizing its Execution and Waiving the Village’s Bid Process
End
Overview
Overview
This item is for the purchase of water meters and water meter parts as part of the Department of Public Works’ continuation of upgrading the water meter system.
Body
Staff Recommendation
Approve the Resolution
Fiscal Impact
The purchase of these materials will be funded from the FY 2018 Water and Sewer Fund Budget, Capital Improvements, account #5040-43750-781-570707 and #5040-43730-777-570707 which provides $300,000.00 for the water meter replacements.
Background
In an effort to replace obsolete water meter reading equipment the Department of Public Works is in the process of upgrading water meters. There are two parts to a water meter. The first is a brass housing that the water flows through. The second part is called a Register Head. The second part is what records the flow of water to determine the volume that has been used by the customer. The Register Head communicates to the Water Meter Reader employee who drives down the street and records the water used by customers. The readings are then provided to the Finance Department who proceeds with the quarterly billing of customers.
In 2001, the Department of Public Works utilized a contractor and began a program of replacing water meters. The metering equipment that was replaced was installed in the 1980’s which had surpassed its useful life. These meters were less accurate and did not capture all of the water flowing through the meter, causing lower revenues and inaccurate accounting for water consumed throughout the Village. The meters were also read by using a touch pad device located on the side of the building which is called a Meter Interface Unit (MIU). This process required the meter reader to physically touch the MIU mounted on the outside of the building resulting in an inefficient meter reading process. The program was suspended in 2003 prior to completing the replacement of all meters.
In 2010, the Water and Sewer Division of Public Works began a continuation of the replacement program using in-house staff. This work continued until 2012 when the last of the 1980 vintage meters were replaced.
New technology became available during this time. The technology utilized in new water meters allows the Village to read the water meters more efficiently, capture more accurate meter readings, increasing revenue and accuracy in water consumption, along with the added benefit of data logging within the water meter to track history of water usage on an individual water meter.
Throughout the replacement program, the Water and Sewer Division also made repairs on water meters and early version MIU’s that had a 5-7 year life span. The MIU’s were removed and new integrated register heads were installed. There are currently approximately 4,000 version 1 MIU’s register heads still in operation (from the initial 2001 phase) in the meter system with an average of 20-30 MIU’s that fail each billing cycle and are replaced with the new MIU’s. When MIU’s fail, an estimated bill is generated until the MIU and register head can be replaced.
The Department will continue to use in-house staff at this time to work towards completion of replacing version 1 MIU’s. It is expected that 1,000 meters and version 1 MIU’s can be replaced in 2018.
Staff recommends waiving the bid process for this purchase because Ferguson Waterworks is the only regional distributor of the Neptune water meter that the Village uses. Neptune is the manufacturer of the meters that were purchased to start the change-out program in 2001 and is the preferred manufacturer of meters to complete the program to maintain continuity with the meters. Neptune has also served the water industry for over 120 years starting in 1892 and is a leader in AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) technology.
This purchase agreement also includes the purchase of water meters for the purpose of new and/or upgraded water services requiring new water meters. These meters are paid for by the customer/resident during the permit process handled by the Development Customer Services Department. The money collected for these meters is deposited into the Water and Sewer Fund Revenue account. The amount of meters purchased through the Development Customer Services Department varies and is budgeted as $25,000.00 in FY2018.
Alternatives
The Board can delay action to gain additional information.
Previous Board Action
The Village Board has approved this supplier for parts purchase in 2017 and previous years.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
N/A.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
As the metering system continues to age, staff will be looking at possible options in 2018 to move towards an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system where all meters and register heads are using current technology. This would also allow residents to know real time usage, be notified of possible leaks and offer the possibility to move to b-monthly or monthly billing.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
There are no opportunities for intergovernmental cooperation for the purchase of these materials at this time.
Performance Management (MAP) Alignment
This work is in alignment with the Governance Priority established for the Department of Public Works for Infrastructure/Capital Programs.