The City of Peterson has made at least a partial move towards possibly upgrading electric meters. MiEnergy had previously supplied city staff with an estimate of roughly $28,000 to upgrade all meters to electronic reading capabilities. On several instances the council has previously discussed the issue, but hesitated to make any sort of decision, trying to weigh potential benefit against the cost.
Now, the city has opted to try having a few e-meters hooked up at municipal buildings and a few random residences. The city will likely cover the estimated per house cost of the meter for the sites chosen. This test phase will give the city real data and indicate whether or not the benefit is enough.
“Unless we can show a savings, there’s no way we can spend $28,000 on new meters,” noted Councilor Loren Rue.
The city also recently discussed a possible contract for engineering services after Bolton & Menk engineer Derek Olinger provided the city with a powerpoint presentation of services, costs, and benefits. Following the presentation at last month’s meeting, the firm provided a draft of proposed services to the city, but the city has not acted on actively seeking a contract. Instead, city staff is seeking additional price quotes from other firms in order to better evaluate options. From there, the council can sit down with various companies and review details.
“We can keep moving forward, but get some answers,” said Mayor Tim Hallum.
In other agenda items, the council also opted to approve a liability waiver form, designate Rushford Village Hall as the official polling place for 2019, and has approved a request by Friends of Peterson to use municipal spaces at no charge. No discussion was had on the items.
The meeting went into closed session following all regular agenda items. The purpose was for confidential discussion between the city and legal representation in regards to court proceedings for City of Peterson versus Quarve. No summary of the discussion was immediately provided following the conclusion of the meeting.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is Wednesday, January 9, at 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is encouraged to attend.