Gilcrest WC Project Applic

• Project Type: Ag/Muni Grant
• Contract/PO #: C153
• Applicant: Town of Gilcrest
• Project Name: Water Conservation Project
• Title: Grant Application
• Date: 1/27/1992
• County: Weld
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Application

3

PROJECT 1: RESIDENTIAL WATER METER UPGRADES

BACKGROUND Gilcrest installed residential water meters in 1979 as part of a
Farmer's Home Administration grant pr09ram that upgraded its water distribution
system. Unfortunately, in 1981 after receiving complaints from residents, the
Town Board terminated the metered rate schedule and reinstated the flat rate
for residences, while keeping the metered rate for businesses. As a result, the
Town has not maintained the residential meters since 1981.

In December 1991, the Town began a time-consuming program of inventorying,
testing, and doing maintenance on all residential meters. Because of the lack
of available manpower, this effort is expected to take up to 6 months and will
be costly in terms of materials and labor. The purpose of this effort is to
determine how many meters are inoperable or slow, and the cost of repairs and
replacement.

As part of this process, a sample of 24 meters was removed from allover town
and had them tested by a certified test bench in Loveland. The results were
used to estimate the number of meter repairs/replacements that can be expected,
as shown below. Because the Town employs only 1.4 FTE's in its public works
department which maintains the sewers, streets, water system, parks, and storm
sewers, it will need to hire additional temporary help to install the new
parts. The Town currently has insufficient revenues to purchase replacement
parts and to pay for staff to install them. .

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Gilcrest will hire temporary employees under the
supervision of the Town's Maintenance Foreman to service the residential meters
to bring them up to operational standards. The Town proposes to purchase the
following meter testing and maintenance equipment and supplies to test and
repair/replace substandard meters:

TABLE 1: ESTIMATED METER UPGRADES
(including labor and materials)

% of
Meters

II of
Meters

Unit
Costs

Subtotal

- Meter Testing Gauge
- Meter Re-bui Ids 45%
- Replacement Meters 21%
- Meter Testing Bench
- Meter Maintenance Training

$800 $ 800
144 60 8,640
67 110 7,370
2,500 2,500
1,000 1,000
$ 20,310

TOTAL METER UPGRADE COSTS*

*Preliminary engineering cost.

PARTICIPANTS Water meters in all 340 residential units will be tested,
repaired, and replaced prior to initiation of metered water rates.