Jay approves plan for water and gas
The Jay Town Council voted Monday night to approve a new policy that has customers footing the bill for new and upgraded water and gas meter service in Jay.
The policy approved states that current water and gas meters that are connected to vacant lots or closed accounts have not been upgraded to the new GPS water and gas meters. Any new customer that wants to establish water or gas service at those addresses pay the cost ($264 for water and $256 for gas) of the upgraded water or gas meter. The town of Jay will pay for the maintenance cost to install the water or gas meter. Town employee Raymond McDaniel suggested to add to the policy that if a customer causes damage to a meter on their property, they should be responsible for the replacement cost, which council members expressed agreement with.
In a motion made by Councilwoman Jane Hayes and seconded by Councilman Wayne Godwin, the motion carried.
Town employee Eric Seib told the council that the first phase of water meter upgrade is complete, with 45 percent of the latitude and longitude coordinates for the GPS installed.
Seib also said that the town has started the installation of the gas meters.
“Our project for water meter installation is complete, with all 232 meters installed,” said Seib. “We are now at 50 percent, ahead of the software update. Installing the rest of the software will increase our efficiency.”
Seib said that the company that owns the software, Core and Main, will be in Jay on Thursday, Dec. 14, to train employees about using the software and how it works. The town installed all of the water meters first, and is starting on the gas meters now.
“This updated software and new meters will increase the efficiency of the meter reading process, and most importantly, they will save man power and time, saving the town money,” said Seib.
“This is the gas and water project that has been in development for years,” said Councilwoman Jane Hayes. “It will provide efficiency and accuracy in the accounting of our resources, like water and gas usage, and fits in with our vision of continuous improvements in the town of Jay's operation.”
