Mayor Kevin Kately is planning to organize a demonstration of new water meters that can be read without an employee having to actually get out of the vehicle and look at the meter.
At the Feb. 11 village council meeting, Kately announced his intention to consider technology that can make meter-reading much quicker and easier. Various systems are available, he said, some of which read meters as a vehicle passes by and others that require meter readers stop and push a button to initiate the transmission of water use information.
Kately said representatives from automated system vendors will be asked to present their offerings to council members and water system personnel to weigh options and prices. He will try to arrange the demonstrations during the month of March, if possible.
With the large area served by the Parks water system, such a procedure would likely pay for itself in time. Currently, more than 4,200 meters must be read every month by an employee. Kately commented that it may be advisable to try the system out in a limited area first.
The mayor also touched upon the fact that the current system is increasingly vulnerable to severe weather and other problems. He said it would be wise to begin considering a “Plan B.”
Kately has said that continued growth in the system will soon be impossible. For the system to continue to offer water service to new customers, the addition of a second well and tower on the east side of the Bayou Teche will be required. This addition would be interconnected with the existing one, providing redundancy should either system fail, he said.
In other business, Kately said the village will consider selling sign space on the baseball diamond fencing at the park. The fees will help finance continued improvements to the baseball facilities.
