Meter reading top issue in city

The hiring of meter readers in order to catch up with billing at the Holly Springs Utility Department continued into the Dec. 3 meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen.

Some failures of the GE (general electric) AMI, automated meter reading and data collection system continues to alarm the board of aldermen, who want revenues collected in a timely manner. The City depends upon tax equivalency payments from the HSUD to float the city’s budget.

Tax equivalency payments have been a part of the City’s operating budget for many administrations.

Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones asked recently appointed general manager Wayne Jones if he consents to hiring additional meter readers.

Wayne Jones said he was going to recommend hiring two part-time meter readers.

“It will take about three months to train them and to learn the routes without being with them,” he said.

There are three meters – electric, water, and gas – that must be read in the City. Outside the city’s water and gas service boundaries, in Marshall and Benton counties, only electric meters must be read.

“I’m talking about the process,” the alderman said. “I want to make sure you know some meter readers are going to be hired tonight.”

Wayne Jones said he was aware meter readers were going to be hired because he knew they were interviewed.

He said Annie Mason, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Howell had spoken with the people and asked if they had any experience reading meters.

He said unless the HSUD keeps the GE system, there will be no need to hire more. But it the GE system is kept, the HSUD will need full-time meter readers.

“And we are going to need more than one, if we stay with GE,” the general manager said.

Mayor Sharon Gipson said she put meter readers/floaters in the job title so that the hires can also work at other duties, if the need to read meters slows down.

“Hopefully, we will get a new system,” she said. “We’ve got to do something to pull it up.” The mayor met with the Blackmon & Blackmon law firm and most of the complaints HSUD is receiving now are related to the billing, rather than to outages, she said.

“And that billing process is also affecting the revenue and the ability to collect,” Gipson said. “In this moment we are looking at a possible hearing in January (at the Public Service Commission).”

She said it would be good to at least have that issue off the table.

She said the two candidates she recommended are working full time at the county.

Ward 4 alderman Patricia Merriweather said she has listened to Wayne Jones say his priority is to catch up with the billing by December. The board extended the contract with David Jolly Meter Reading to make sure “we’re not going back into the mode... where the general manager is out of the loop,” Merriweather said.

“So, with these young men on the agenda tonight, where do you stand, because we are not going to leave the general manager out of this.

“With the floater, I think that causes some ambiguity in the department (regarding their duties). What is your thinking about that?” asked Ward 1 Bernita Fountain.

Jones said he thinks there is going to be a need for meter readers, and, if they are going to be meter readers, that will be their job all the time. He said if they were no longer needed to read meters then they could be considered for another job.

“Has Jolly meter readers started back reading?” asked vice-mayor Dexter Shipp.

“Yes, they have,” Jones said. Merriweather said she is more interested in a meter reader than a floater. She asked when the part-time readers would work. Jones said they would read 7.5 hours a day on the weekends. Candidates Anthony Jones and Kevontez Isom said they are willing to work on the weekends. Fountain made the motion to hire the two men and her motion passed by unanimous vote of the board. Ward 3 alderman Colter Teel was not present at the meeting.

Nighthawk metering system

The board discussed possible AMI systems with IT director Derrick Jefferson joining Wayne Jones at the bench. Gipson said Jefferson had looked at a system that could be preferred based on the rural nature the HSUD territory. She asked Jones what he thinks about the Nighthawk metering system. Jones said he would exercise extreme caution when making a decision, that New Albany has found issues with installing that system. He recommended Atwell & Gent engineers help with that decision and in bringing a new system online. They have experience with local power companies as far as bringing in new metering systems, he said.

“It is that experience we need,” Jones said.

“I have nothing against Nighthawk, but, whoever we get, there has to be a trial first. There’s going to be a learning curve,” Jones said.

He said there are a lot of ramifications involved in the decision and HSUD does not have a lot of time to do that. GE’s contract is due to expire in 2025.

Gipson asked Jefferson his thoughts on the Nighthawk system.

He said there are several rural internet systems and in certain areas, like Scales Tower Road, there is no internet coverage or cell phone coverage. He said it is important to think about employees who have had to go up on poles to work the GE system.

He said New Albany has problems getting the Nighthawk system installed. A lot of the rural areas will not be able to upload the data, but the new system would cut down significantly on the amount of manual reading. Most of the reading would be cellular.

“If we let Nighthawk do their thing, we won’t have many problems,” Jefferson said. “New Albany installed it themselves and it took them two years and they are not finished. We don’t want to do it ourselves.”

Gipson said there are companies that will come to discuss their systems at the next meeting and that Richard Boga has a report to make on it as well.

Jones said he was asking for Atwell & Gent engineers to help with information and requesting quotes.

“There’s a lot of decisions to be made,” he said.

“We need clarity to make the best decision for the longterm,” Merriweather said.