Bicknell leans toward $73,000 meter upgrade after vendor demo

Bicknell councilors heard a detailed demonstration on Aug. 27 from Kevin Carter of a metering vendor about options to improve the town's failing meter-reading system. Carter showed how the town's current Badger meters with Itron radios operate on congested public frequencies, and said the vendor's private-frequency radios transmit at higher power: "Our radios are talking at a full 2 watts," he said, "So we're 10 times the volume." The vendor described three approaches: replace only the reading equipment to read existing radios, splice new radios to the Badger meters, or perform a full meter-and-radio swap (the vendor called the latter the "gold standard").

Council members discussed costs, installation time and safety for readers working in deep pits. Chair Noreen said the lower-cost drive-by reader option was the most affordable near-term move: "I think that's just affordable for us, so we wouldn't have to look for money somewhere," she said. Several members said they preferred a larger purchase now — roughly $73,000 plus a case of extra meters — to address persistent reading failures and safety concerns for staff who must access buried pits. Staff will amend the budget and the council expects to vote on the purchase at the next meeting (the chair said the vote can occur next Thursday).