To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Mark Marlowe, P.E., Director of Castle Rock Water
Nichol Bussey, Business Solutions Manager
Anne Glassman, AMI Project Manager
Title
Resolution Waiving Formal Written Bidding Requirement on the Basis of Sole Source and Approving an Equipment and Services Acquisition Agreement with Dana Kepner Company, LLC for the Flexnet Infrastructure and Regional Network Interface Software [Entire Castle Rock Water Service Area]
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The purpose of this memorandum is to seek approval from Town Council for a Resolution (see Attachment A) to purchase four Sensus Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) base stations along with the setup, training and annual fees for 5 years of Regional Network Interface (RNI) software for $268,986. AMI will replace the current drive by technology with tower technology which eliminates the need to roll a truck to obtain monthly meter reads. It not only eliminates the need for rolling a truck to get a meter read, it also provides up-to-date water usage with multiple reads daily, encourages water conservation, helps identify leaks, and provides the utility and the customer useful usage alerts in a timely manner, just to name a few.
AMI is a key component of Castle Rock Water’s (CRW’s) Water Efficiency Master Plan and will not only improve service to our customers but also help encourage water efficiency and conservation supporting our long term goal of an 18% reduction in per capita water use over the next 10 to 20 years. A multi-year AMI program was approved by Council as part of the 2022 budget and the five-year financial plan for 2022 to 2026. This is the first step in implementing the multi-year AMI program.
After several site surveys, collaboration with Castle Rock Water’s Operations team, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) team, the Town Division of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), Sensus and others, water storage tanks 11, 15, 16 and 17 have been selected for installation of these base stations, commonly known as towers. Based on the propagation study performed by Sensus, these four locations were showing the best overall meter reading coverage for Castle Rock.
The RNI is the nerve center of the FlexNet communication network used by Sensus. It is made up of hardware, software and database elements, all of which can be customized to fit Castle Rock’s needs. The RNI communicates with the endpoints (known as MXU’s) and provides status updates, gathers and processes network data, stores data, and sends data back to the billing system.
We have selected a local vendor to install and provide the needed electrical work to place the four base stations on top of the water storage tanks. This vendor has installed several pieces of equipment on top of the various CRW storage tanks for SCADA. They are familiar with the Town’s permitting and layout requirements. They will also ensure there is a consistent installation in appearance as it exists amongst the already installed SCADA equipment and the new AMI equipment.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
Customers have been notified about the overall program as well as the base station installation process of the project via email and via bill newsletters in the 3rd quarter of this year. A question in the recent Water Efficiency Master Plan survey also asks customers about water use and if they would support AMI as a conservation measure.
In the 2019 residential Town survey, 68% of the respondents felt that “smart” water metering would be a valuable service. In the more recent 2021 residential Town survey, 71% felt that “smart” water metering would be a valuable service.
AMI was also identified in the 2021 Water Resources Strategic Master Plan (WRSMP) as a key strategy associated with water conservation and meeting our long term goal of reducing per capita water usage by 18% in the next 10 to 20 years. There was an extensive outreach process for the WRSMP which included discussion of AMI. Once the program is online and we can target specific users, we will have a comprehensive outreach plan identifying the benefits of using AMI.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
On September 21, 2021, Council approved the 2022 budget and as part of the budget presentation for CRW AMI was identified to begin in 2022 and be carried forward for the next five years.
On September 28, 2022, staff made a presentation to CRW Commission to purchase the base station equipment and 5 Year RNI software. Commission recommended 7 to 0 that Council approve a Resolution to purchase the base station equipment and RNI for $268,986.31.
Discussion
Earlier this year, staff started working closely with Sensus on the propagation study to determine how many base stations would be required to provide adequate and redundant coverage for the entire Town of Castle Rock, taking into consideration future developments in all directions of Town. It was originally thought that five base stations would be needed, but given the strong coverage results of the study, only four base stations were recommended by Sensus to provide ample coverage, see Attachment B for approximate locations. Staff worked closely with DoIT and SCADA to explore all options and existing facilities around the Town for possible placement of the base stations. In the end the best options and coverage were water storage tanks 11, 15, 16, and 17.
Multiple site visits and surveys were conducted at the four water tank storage facilities to ensure electrical power was or could be made available. The height, appearance, and overall aesthetics of the base station installations were taken into thorough consideration. Upon installation, these base stations will blend in with the other already existing SCADA towers and antennas in height and appearance.
Once the base stations are installed, the RNI will be setup to start receiving data. Current meters and MXU’s already installed in service that are AMI compatible will start to send back meter reads, water usage data, and alerts. Meters and MXU’s that are not AMI compliant, will need to be upgraded. The data is stored for a rolling 60 days in the RNI database. Staff will then be able to decide on the timing of using the RNI data for meter reading versus drive by technology taking into consideration the timing of the new billing system going live in January 2023. At this time a Meter Demand Management database system will need to be evaluated. Sensus is providing their version of a MDM called Sensus Analytics for a 90-day free trial period or longer if needed.
Staff is working on a roll out plan to upgrade the meters and MXU’s that need to be replaced. Some of the MXU and meter replacements have been stalled due to supply chain issues. Staff will also work on a roll out plan as to the order in which routes, areas of Town, size of meters, and types of meters will be replaced as to optimize the best use of the AMI base stations for meter reading.
Budget Impact
There is adequate budget appropriated for this project in 2022. This project cost is split 50% to the Water Fund, 25% to the Water Resources Fund and 25% to the Wastewater Fund:
210-4275-442-77-15 (50%) $134,493.16
211-4375-443-77-15 (25%) $ 67,246.58
213-4575-445-77-15 (25%) $ 67,246.57
Total $268,986.31
Additional costs in 2022 will include the contract to perform electrical work and install the four base stations for $77,168. The long term financial plan for the AMI program is as follows:
|
Enterprise Fund |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Water (50%) |
$1,805,380 |
$1,696,950 |
$1,699,850 |
$101,000 |
|
Water Resources (25%) |
$902,690 |
$848,480 |
$849,930 |
$50,500 |
|
WasteWater (25%) |
$902,690 |
$848,470 |
$849,930 |
$50,500 |
|
Total Budget (100%) |
$3,610,760 |
$3,393,900 |
$3,399,710 |
$202,000 |
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends the purchase of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) base station equipment and Regional Network Interface (RNI) software.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Alternative Motions
“I move to approve the resolution as introduced by title, with the following conditions: (list conditions).
“I move to continue this item to the Town Council meeting on _____ date to allow additional time to (list information needed).”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution or Ordinance
Exhibit 1: Contract/Agreement (Not Attached)
Attachment B: Map showing approximate base station locations
Attachment C: Sole Source