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Kirksville moves to replace old water meters

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Jenn Durfey
/
flickr

The City of Kirksville will pay a Columbia company $4.7 million to replace old water meters in Kirksville. The high cost is expected to save money in the long run.

City Manager Richard Detweiler said the city is losing $250,000 a year due to old water meters that don’t read correctly. City workers replaced some meters last year, but city leaders say that the process takes too much time, as the city loses money each year. The $4.7 million will go towards about 7,000 new meters. Maintenance workers will be able to scan the new meters from the street and will not have to go inside homes. Detweiler said the goal is to save money for the people of Kirksville.

“When you don’t bill accurately, the system loses the money, that means the customers system wide and the taxpayers of Kirksville lose the money, so we have to become as efficient as we possibly can.”

Codes and Planning Director Brad Selby says the $4.7 million will also include an upgrade to energy safe lighting in all public buildings, a new HVAC system and catwalks to access control units in Kirksville's City Hall. The projects will start in about 60 days and end in about six months. The project was originally expected to cost about $3.8 million dollars.

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