The water meter radio reads project for the City of Mount Vernon has been sent out for proposals.
The project, which as city administrator Chris Nosbisch aid, has been discussed for more than a year and a half by the City and will be a huge undertaking.
“The budget for this project is slated to be $1 million,” Nosbisch said.
Nosbisch said that how often readings are pulled from homes depends on which of the two options are selected in bidding. AMR would pull whenever a vehicle drives to pick up the readings, while AMI would be positioned atop the water tower and pick up readings whenever the city directs it to scan.
The project will also be looking for bids from certain companies for the project as well.
“This may be a situation where the city doesn’t necessarily take the lowest bid on the project,” Nosbisch said.
If lead based lines or fittings are discovered, it will be brought attention to the homeowner to possibly correct that issue. Nosbisch said he doesn’t expect that to be a common issue in the community, but it could be an issue.
Nosbisch said the replacement of all the meter reads could take roughly nine months to complete and an average of two to three hours at each property to properly connect to the lines. Communicating with homeowners will be the responsibility of the contractor.
Proposals are to be returned on May 2, with the winning bids to be awarded May 6.