Highfill eyes new water meters, road repairs

HIGHFILL — New water meters will be considered by the Highfill Council at its upcoming meeting, according to information reported to the council at its Feb. 14 meeting in Highfill.

James “Butch” Wiand, the city’s water and sewer supervisor, told the council he needed to begin purchasing new water meters for new water customers and to replace older meters which are no longer transmitting readings and thought it would be best to begin an upgrade to a newer meter which could be read without needing to go to each meter location. Wiand said he was looking at and comparing meters from Master Meter and from Neptune, companies widely used by other cities in the region.

Wiand said the meters from Master Meter run $193 each, and those from Neptune are $183 each. He said he would like to gather more data on how the meters work in the field before recommending one over the other for purchase by the city. He was hoping that the new meters would make it possible to obtain meter readings for entire subdivisions and groups of homes from a single location nearby rather than needing to drive or walk by each meter.

Compatibility with the city’s current meters and system was also a factor Wiand was reviewing.

Wiand said that, once a decision is made, he would begin using the new meters for new water connections and to replace meters which had quit working properly and required manual reading each month.

He said the meters from both companies have a 10-year full warranty with a prorated warranty in subsequent years.

Wiand says the city’s current supplier handles the Neptune meters. He also said Gentry uses the Neptune readers and meter readings can be obtained from the center of town.

“I just want to be sure we make the right decision between the two (meters),” Wiand said, adding that he would bring his findings back to the March 14 meeting for council consideration.

Vernon Reams, the city’s street and road supervisor, reported to the council on several road repairs which are needed and shared his plans on how to make some of the repairs even though he has little or no money in his budget to do the work. Among the projects mentioned were repairs to Walker and Smith Streets, working in conjunction with the state to replace and cover with concrete some culverts on Aubrey Long Road, a shared project with the county to replace culverts on Rocky Comfort Road, and repair costs to fix Linwood Street without any state assistance since it is a dead-end street. He said grading was needed on Malone Road going up the hill. He also said some of the projects would be less expensive to do now than to wait until the road base is eroded.

Stacy Digby, Highfill’s mayor, asked Reams to get an estimate for work on Malone Road. Council woman Michelle Rieff asked Reams to prioritize the projects according to greatest need and bring them back to the council. Rieff also suggested that some reflectors were needed at a location on Mason Valley Road.