Girard meter issue dead — for now

By John w. Goodwin jr.

Council wants more insight into water department funds.

GIRARD — City officials have decided that now is not the time to spend $1.9 million on remote access water meters for customers receiving city water.

Council members in July passed legislation giving Jerry Lambert, safety- service director, permission to seek bids for remote-access water meter readers. The city later considered purchasing the meters at a cost of little more than $1.9 million, but the plan met opposition from a group of concerned citizens.

The citizens opposed to the purchase took up petitions in an effort to put the matter before voters, but a legal opinion from the city auditor said the petition method was not legal.

A unanimous decision by council earlier this week has put an end to the controversy — and the purchase of the meters — for now.

Council rescinded the legislation giving the city administration permission to make the purchase. Council also has agreed to send a letter to the state fiscal commission overseeing city spending asking for an investigation into how money in the water department is being handled.

“We used the word investigation, but its simply a full accounting of the department,” said Councilman Mike Costarella. “We want to know things like how much water we buy, how much it costs, how much we are selling and the cost of infrastructure so we know where the problem is.”

Costarella said one major problem in the department is delinquencies in customer accounts.

The overall deficit in the department, Costarella said, is another concern. He said there is a deficit of more than $500,000, and council is looking to find out exactly why before any money is spent on new water meters.

Mayor James Melfi, a strong proponent of the meter purchase, said he respects the decision made by council not to make the purchase at this time. The city, he said, will continue to operate with customer-read meters and occasional actual readings.

The mayor also said he welcomes input from the fiscal commission in regard to the water department’s deficit. He said the city has worked well with the commission to eliminate the $2.5 million deficit once seen in the general fund. He does not believe solving deficit issues in the water department will be as challenging.

Melfi said there are several reasons the water fund has a deficit, including annual payments of $238,000 on the Girard Lakes, the closing of Indalex and loss of water and sewer use there, increases in water costs, upgrades to infrastructure and delinquencies in customer water bills.

Melfi, however, sees brighter days ahead for the water department.

“I project that the account will get better each month. We spent about $40,000 adding and replacing pressure reducing valves that should reduce the number of water breaks the city experiences,” he said. Costarella said he does not feel there will be increased costs in purchasing the meters once the financial issues in the water department are resolved and the remote-meter issue comes to city officials again. He said the technology is likely to become less expensive as it is more frequently used.

jgoodwin@vindy.com