The City of Thompson has awarded Neptune Technology Group the contract to install water meters during the next four to five months, at cost of $1.81 million plus taxes. Neptune is headquartered Tallassee, Alabama, but also has subsidiaries in Mexico and Canada.
At a special meeting of city council held on May 12, Ed Sharp, senior project manager at CHM2HILL, the company that city council retained to manage the water utility implementation process, gave a presentation to council about how Neptune was selected as the best option to go with.
Sharp says three companies were invited to bid on the contract - Neptune Technology Group, Corix Utilities Inc. and EMCO Flow Meters. The City of Thompson and CHM2HILL came up with nine criteria for the winning company to meet in addition to the price. According to sharp, the most important of the criteria included approach and methodology, public and safety programs and qualifications, including resources and backup.
Sharp says Neptune scored considerably higher than Corix and EMCO and excelled in their approach and methodology, their public program and their qualifications.
City council passed a resolution to approve Neptune as the contractors for the water meter installation, with only Coun. Stella Locker voting against it because she felt there wasn't enough information yet. Now that the contract has been awarded, the city is looking to kick off with public announcements about the installation of water meters and Neptune will work on installing them in the next four to five months. The aim is to have the meters go live and begin charging all residents for water on Jan. 1, although city council first faces an election Oct. 27 where going forward with or killing the water meters is expected to be an issue if the incumbents face an electoral challenge.
According to Neptune Technology Group's website, all mater meters they use either meet or exceed standards set by the American Water Works Association and NSF/ANSI 61 certifications. They are all automatic meter reading capable and made from a no-lead high copper alloy.
