Meter reading prompts plan to do more

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

The meters had not been read in five years.

GIRARD — Water meter readers here did not exactly visit every meter in every home in the city as they set out to do, but officials say the effort may be worthy of repeating in the future.

The city, earlier this summer, started a meter-reading campaign with the goal to read as many meters in the city as possible — every meter if possible. Water meters had not been read in five years.

City officials have said official readings of the meters, instead of estimates and resident readings, would give a much more accurate picture of how much water is being used.

Jerry Lambert, safety-services director, said city officials understood from the beginning of the process that reading every meter was somewhat of a lofty goal. He said officials figured reading 25 percent of the actual meters in the city would be more realistic, and that is pretty close to what was done.

Meter readers read about 24 percent of the meters in the city. Lambert said they will be making a second effort at various locations to see if more can be read this summer.

“They are going back to some of the ones they missed and trying to get some of those readings, and re-reading some of the ones we think might be in error to make sure we have the right readings,” Lambert said.

Eight part-time, temporary employees in early June were armed with identification badges and green shirts identifying them as city meter readers. Those workers then began going from door to door Monday asking residents to allow them to read the gauge that shows the level of water flowing into the home.

The employees read meters from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Lambert said the hours of meter reading may have been a key factor in why more meters were not read. He said many families in the city consist of two working adults, thus leaving no one home when meter readers came knocking on the door.

“With both members of families working during the day, we figured to get about 25 percent. I think this is one of those things that will prompt us to very seriously think about remote readers,” he said.

A remote reading system would give the city more consistency and accuracy in reading the meters, but paying for the system is a big consideration.

The idea of a remote-reading system recently was discussed at a Fiscal Oversight Commission meeting. The commission is the body that oversees city spending. Most commission members expressed a desire to see the system put in place, but want more information on the cost.

Lambert said another issue with the door-to-door meter reading has been fear. He said some people have been skeptical of letting the readers in, even with the green garb identifying them as city employees.

Police reports show that one man pulled a handgun on meter readers who came to his door. No one was injured.

One meter reader was bitten by a dog at a home he visited the first day readings took place.

Lambert said city officials will look at the effort to read meters later this summer and determine how to go forward in the future.

“It’s not a success or failure here. It was an attempt at doing something that everyone wants,” he said.

jgoodwin@vindy.com