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<br />constant slow leak like a dripping faucet or toilet. It also is inexpensive to get meter <br />reading from a radio because the reader can get the reads just by driving down the street, <br />thus eliminating the liability of a meter reader entering the backyards of thousands of <br />homes. <br /> <br />Fixed Network <br />The fixed network radio system is also a radio system it utilizes a data collector unit <br />placed every square mile throughout the city. The meters than send a reading twice a day <br />to the data collector which relays the readings to a specified location. This system has all <br />the advantages the radio system has but eliminates the drive by function and the oldest <br />reading would be 12 hours old. <br /> <br />Sample list of cities that have converted to a radio read system <br />Coon Rapids Cannon Falls Edina <br />Richfield Northfield Golden Valley <br />Excelsior Maple grove Minnetonka <br />Shorewood Brooklyn Park New Hope.. <br />Sauk Rapids Robbinsdale White Bear Lake <br />Sartell Eden Prairie Anoka <br /> <br />One example of a successful radio read system is the City of Brooklyn Park. They have <br />21,000+ radio read water accounts. The Finance Director Cory Kemp reported that city <br />staff can read 8-9,000 accounts per day. He was also the Finance Director for <br />Robbinsdale and reported that city staff could read all 5,000 accounts in that City in four <br />hours. <br /> <br />I also. contacted Mark Beer the Finance Director at the City of Moundsview. Mark <br />reported that the City has 3,250 water accounts of which 1,200 are radio reads. The City <br />is converting another 1,000 this season. He reported that City staff can read the 1,200 <br />radio read meter in about 45 minutes. <br /> <br />Our current contract meter readers can read about 420-480 meters per day, and charge <br />$.45 per read or about $6663.60 a year to 'read our meters. This contracted expense could <br />be eliminated if we utilized a radio read system. <br /> <br />Options: <br /> <br />Option A <br /> <br />Do nothing and continue to install ProRead meters. <br /> <br />Option B <br /> <br />Meter replacement program in house <br />Replace 250 meters a year to existing ProRead meters. Cost $29,000 <br /> <br />Option C <br /> <br />Meter replacement program in house <br />Replace 250 meters a year to E-coder radio read meters. Cost $68,000 <br />Plus one time cost for software, handheld reader and training. $10,850.00 <br /> <br />8 <br />