The City of Smithville will soon install automated water meters thanks to a USDA Rural Development Grant/Loan.
A total of $410,000 in funding has been approved, including a $95,000 grant and a $315,000 loan to help complete the project.
To repay the loan, the Smithville Board of Aldermen adopted a bond resolution last week authorizing the issue and sale of bonds up to $315,000 at an interest rate not to exceed 2.75 percent per annum.
The bonds will be payable over a term not to exceed 20 years, and will be revenue-and tax-deficiency general obligation bonds of the city, payable from revenues from the water and sewer system.
The automated meters will replace the existing manually read meters, and will feature leak-detecting encoding and a radio frequency transmitter.
The new meters will transmit information that can be read remotely.
City officials said the project will make meter reading more efficient and billing more accurate.
“The grant/loan will free up our two meter readers, who currently spend six to seven days reading meters, and allow them to spend more time helping with other public works needs,” Smithville Secretary-Treasurer Hunter Hendrixson said at the meeting last week.
“With the new automated system our entire water meter system can be read within one day’s time and without getting out of the vehicle, which increases safety as well.”
Hendrixson said the loan should be paid off well before the maturity date.
“Although it's a 20-year loan, I believe the city should be able to repay the entire sum within three-five years, plus the city will receive $95,000 towards this project as a grant that does not have to be repaid,” he said.
By using the automated system, the city hopes to improve customer service while reducing the cost of reading meters, as the automated meters will allow readers to gather more information more quickly and accurately.