MUD presses vendor over meter, billing concerns

7:58 p.m. March 10, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

The Metro Utility Department board on Tuesday sharply questioned Andy Bain from Core & Main, saying staff had to correct more than 1,300 meters installed in the wrong locations while customers and officials continue to sort through drive-by reads, zero-usage bills, and other billing irregularities.

The March 10 discussion centered on whether installation mistakes, software problems, or both have kept the system from delivering the accurate, reliable readings Metro expected. Board members said the stakes go beyond inconvenience, touching on customer confidence, water-loss tracking, and whether the department is billing for the full amount of water actually used.

Drive-by Reads, Installation Mistakes

MUD Chairman Barry Posluszny said the utility had expected far fewer meters to require drive-by reads than the number now being handled that way. One official put the total at 743. A representative involved with the system replied that the original propagation study had identified about 750 meters that would likely require drive-by collection due to terrain and coverage limits, though board members said that had not been clearly communicated.

Metro officials said installation mistakes compounded the problem. During the meeting, board members said 1,326 AMI and AMR meters had been installed in the wrong locations and had to be replaced or reprogrammed. They also said another 335 meters required repair or reprogramming, though MUD’s Kevin Holder clarified that most of that figure involved programming work rather than physical damage.

Board members made clear they viewed that level of rework as unacceptable, saying staff should not have had to spend so much time correcting problems that should have been resolved during installation.

Billing Concerns Remain Unresolved

The board also focused on billing concerns. Board member Glen Thomas said utility staff had identified 15 zero readings in the urban service district and pointed to unusual usage swings for at least one large account, arguing that the department cannot afford to miss water and sewer revenue on accounts that clearly used water but were not billed accurately. Officials also said 82 of 316 customers reviewed in one area used less than 1,000 gallons, raising more questions about whether the system is billing consistently.

Kamstrup’s Ethan Stanley defended the meters themselves, saying the equipment is highly unlikely to be misreading water use. He said the more likely problem is a disconnect between the metering system and the billing software – not the meter’s ability to record flow. Stanley said a meter can continue recording usage even if the office receives a zero bill, meaning the breakdown may occur when data is exported and transferred into the billing system.

Staff also acknowledged that some of the trouble came from learning the new system. During the meeting, Holder noted that some readings had been dropped because AMI and AMR meters were read together without following the correct sequence, creating problems that still need to be worked through as the utility works to get the system operating smoothly.

The board pressed for faster answers on whether additional towers, tanks, repeaters, or other sites could improve automatic reads and reduce the number of meters that must be read by drive-by. After members said they had heard a new propagation study could take as long as a year, Bain said the turnaround is more likely to be three to four weeks if Metro provides additional locations for evaluation.

Other News

Board Approves Sale of Old Meters
Beyond the meter discussion, the board approved the sale of about 3,000 old meters, contingent on a signed release covering the lithium batteries and holding MUD harmless. Staff said the buyer offered more than the quoted scrap price and would pick up the meters and their attached components, saving utility workers from having to dismantle and dispose of them.

Airbnb Billing Change Approved
In another vote, the board moved to stop charging commercial water and sewer rates to the three short-term rental properties currently billed at those rates. Thomas said he believes more Airbnb-style rentals are operating in the county and argued it was unfair to charge only the owners who had openly acknowledged the use. Property Assessor Shaun Sherrill said state guidance remains unclear in some cases and noted a Senate bill under consideration could remove such properties from commercial classification.

Old Debt Still Under Review
The board also discussed whether to pay off debt tied to the previous meter system early. Thomas said roughly $413,706 remains due through 2030 and discussed the possibility of saving interest by paying the balance ahead of schedule. No action was taken on Tuesday, but the board asked staff to determine whether the lease can be paid off early and under what terms.

Pennies for Your Account
To address the government’s decision to discontinue minting the penny, MUD office manager Katie Goodwin said the department’s policy is to add the amount to your account if paying with cash. “If you are supposed to get three pennies back, you can have a three-cent credit going toward your next bill,” she said.

• The meeting also included several project updates, including ongoing water-line applications, ARPA-related utility work, a Highway 82 survey, new SCADA equipment for the sewer plant, and the installation of tube settlers at the water plant.

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