Starkville is applying for a $554,800 capital improvements loan through the Mississippi Development Authority to assist with its transition to automated electric and water meters.
Aldermen approved an application for the Mississippi Capital Improvements Revolving Loan Program (CAP) on Tuesday. If approved, the city will use the funds to help with the procurement and installation of the devices.
The loan is tax exempt since it applies to infrastructure purposes, and its terms are set at a 2 percent interest rate across two years.
Starkville is capped at the loan request amount since it was previously awarded CAP funding for a Banyan Road force main project, Golden Triangle Planning and Development District Project Analyst Phylis Benson said. Cities can receive a maximum of $1 million per year in CAP loans, and the Banyan Road project allocation set the limit at which the city could ask for additional funding for the meter project.
The city should receive a response to its CAP loan application this summer, Benson said.
In 2014, aldermen authorized Starkville Utilities to replace the almost 25,000 electric and water meters with automated, usage-measuring devices.
The new equipment rollout has already replaced about 60 percent of the city’s electric meters and about 20-25 percent of its water meters, Starkville Utilities General Manager Terry Kemp said.
Kemp said he’s hopeful the city will complete the transition by January.
The meters are more efficient than their predecessors, he said, and should provide savings to the department. The transition does not bring with it a rate increase.
The department will phase out its contract for meter-reading services, Kemp said, which should save Starkville about $225,000-$230,000 per year. The few in-house employees that assist with readings will transition to other quality assurance and control tasks, according to Kemp.
“We’re excited to replace the old equipment, because some of those meters have been out there for years,” Kemp said. “This is all about data. The January deadline matches up with our bigger system where we’ll be managing data. Hopefully by then we’ll be ready with new data on our customer portal for our users. The electric changeover has been quicker and easier simply because it’s as simple as pulling an old meter out and because of the turnover of some of our customers. The water meters are a little harder to change out.”
The automated meter project dovetailed into another city-led initiative: public Wi-Fi.
Fiber optic lines were installed throughout the city to receive the data collected by the meters, and a percentage of internet bandwidth was dedicated toward the public project.
Downtown was the first area to receive public Wi-Fi access, and Mayor Parker Wiseman said the city will focus on providing additional access points at its parks and other public spaces.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.