Published: December 02, 2008 07:06 pm      

City council clears $422,000 for radio water meters

At the start of the regular November city council meeting, a moment of silence was held in memory of Shirley Duer, late wife of Councilman Carl Duer. Mrs. Duer passed away just days before the regular council meeting day and the meeting was pushed back two days. Mrs. Duer served 16 years in the Tennessee House of Representatives and served as secretary of the 1977 Tennessee Constitutional Convention.

Duer's daughter, Shelly Landau, speaking on behalf of the family, thanked the city police and fire departments for their service as honor guards at her mother's services.

As part of a plan to reduce costs to read water meters, the Crossville City Council approved the purchase of $422,425 of radio read water meters that not only can reduce the cost to the city and improve accuracy of water bills but also makes reading the meters safer for city employees.

The city has been looking at ways to save money and back in 1996 embarked on a plan to install touch read meters that allow the meter to be read by touching it with a wand. The new system takes the program to the next level by allowing the meters to be read by simply driving a truck with a radio receiver down the street.

Jerry Garrison, manager of the Catoosa Utility Department, told the council that his area has the radio read meters and two trucks can read all 4200 of Catoosa's water meters in just a single day. Garrison said safety is improved as the meter readers don't have to stop in the middle of the road and there are no problems with dogs or other wildlife.

The first year of the program the city plans to replace all water meters installed before 1984 and convert the current touch read meters to radio read. The complete program to change all the city's meters will continue for two additional years. The older meters are often not as accurate and those inaccuracies may account for some of the water loss experienced by the water system.

According to a memo by public works director Tim Begley, the program is estimated to save the city one dollar per meter per billing cycle in man-hours and equipment by going to the drive-by system.

City manager Ted Meadows has completed his probationary period and a five percent salary increase was approved by the council increasing his annual pay to $103,854.

"Meadows has done an excellent job during the first six months," said council member Boyd Wyatt, "and the city is moving along as it should."

Mayor J.H. Graham agreed, "The morale of the city and employees is the highest I've seen and we are ready to take on the challenges of the economic conditions facing us."

In addition to the increase in salary, Meadows has been added to the Tennessee consolidated retirement system.

Under the city attorney's report, the council approved a settlement recommended by Ken Chadwell over the condemnation of the Lack property at Cook Road and Genesis Road needed for the road widening and improvements there. The property owner has already received what the city's appraisal said the property was worth but the matter could have gone to a jury trial.

Chadwell advised the council that the jury exposure could be higher then the proposed settlement amount of $140,000 he was recommending. The council approved the settlement.

The council approved changes to the city's health insurance plan with a cost savings to both the city and most employees. By changing the plan to a different network the city saves $10,000 a month total on their costs for health coverage of employees.

Because the new network does not include doctors from Crossville Medical Group, employees have the option of staying with the previous network but if they have family coverage it will cost them more per month. According to the information only 5 percent of the city employees will be affected by the change of network.

The council approved the third and final reading of an ordinance amending the city's code on abandoned or inoperable vehicles over the objections of Crossville attorney Roger York. York spoke against the measure saying that Crossville was still a county town and there were residents who sometimes could not afford to repair their vehicles right away sometimes. York was concerned that if residents could not afford to repair their cars they also could not afford a tow and storage bill if the city removed the vehicles.

Mayor Graham responded to York's comments and said this was not a new ordinance but simply updating the definition to clarify the existing one. He added that he knew the codes enforcement employees would be fair and understanding in the situations that York described.

Councilman Wyatt added that the point of the ordinance was not to make problems for citizens.

The council also approved a project to upgrade the roof system of the city's fire hall number 2 that has been experiencing water leaks from the construction of split face block and flat roof systems. A peaked roof is planned for the fire hall and the garage building next to the fire hall.