Shenandoah Finance Director Lisa Wasner presented an option to council to work on the city's water utility reading system.
"The city currently has an automatic meter reading system; we went back to that system in 2015," Wasner said. "That system has been proven to not do what it needs to do to keep the city and our residents safe from high water usage and such."
The proposed system would be an advanced meter and infrastructure system, which Wasner said would allow residents to see their water usage in real time through an app. It would also update water meters throughout the city, which could help identify possible water loss.
Wasner added there is not a cost estimate for the project, as an audit would need to be performed first.
Council Member Ted Fletcher voiced concerns about the project, saying the current system is only six years old.
"I remember being present at the time," Fletcher said. "This sounds like the same thing we were pitched six years ago. ... It would improve our water reading and leakage; we would have real time data. ... That system was not even completed. How much more money are we going to spend on this?"
Mayor Ritch Wheeler also voiced concerns for the project and asked if there might be other ways to use the funding to better benefit the city or its extraterritorial jurisdictions.
Wasner said there are a lot of grey areas when it comes to how the ARPA funding can be used, but the city's staff will continue bringing options to the council.
No decisions were made on the topic, as the item was listed as discussion only on the City Council's agenda.
