By Barbara Brown

When the city hired RMR Systems a couple months ago to change out the old water meters in the city, the council believed it would be a relatively simple procedure. At the Aug. 8 Stacy city council meeting, the council learned that all was not progressing as well as had been expected.

One resident showed up asking for relief from the plumbing bill she had to pay due to poor communication between RMRís technician, managers and the city maintenance department.

A technician had gone to the womanís house to change her meter, but found that he could not shut off the water.

He left the property after telling the woman she needed to hire a plumber to replace a valve before he could change the meter.
After the woman paid a plumber $170, she discovered that the city could have shut off water service to her home upon request by RMR. She said she also found out that what had been implied in a letter from RMR as an urgent matter ñ changing the meter ñ could have been scheduled for a more convenient time.

During the discussion, Todd Edinger of RMR said he agreed to pay the plumberís bill for the woman and apologized for the miscommunication.

He said, however, that it was the cityís fault that the miscommunication occurred, because maintenance manager Tom Archibald was on vacation, RMR had no choice but to recommend a plumber.

City council member Barb Otterson said RMR is supposed to be a professional group and that the company was hired because it had experience in other cities with meter replacements.

She told Edinger his technician should have known to tell the resident that she could wait a couple days and that the meter change was not urgent.

Also, Otterson told Edinger she was disappointed to see that RMR had sent a letter to residents telling them about the meter change program which included no dates, no telephone number to contact RMR or the city and purporting it to have come from the city, writing ìCity of Stacyî at the top of the letter.

ìNothing should go out of any other group or company ever with the name ëCity of Stacyí on it unless it is approved by the council,î Otterson said.

Later in the meeting, RMRís Brent Anderson came to the council with a change request, saying that technicians had found different sized piping throughout the city and that there would be an additional price for replacement on anything larger or smaller than the contracted 5/8ths-inch pipe.

The city had originally contracted to replace all the cityís meters for a set amount and RMR was asking for about $7,000 more.
Council member John Walz asked Anderson why RMR had not known there would be different sized pipes within the city. He asked if other cities in which RMR had worked had the same issues.

Anderson responded that yes, other cities had different sized pipes.

Walz told him, and the rest of the council agreed, that the city would not pay the difference because he said RMR had not held up its end of the contract and been thorough and truthful upfront.

ìThis is how things were done in the city of old,î said Mayor Michael Carlson. ìThere are companies out there that believe they can take advantage of the city of Stacy and they canít. Not anymore.î

RMR was hired to replace 226 meters within the city. About 115 meters have been replaced. RMR will serve out its contract with the city to replace the remaining meters. ìWe will not recommend RMR to anyone,î said council member Katie Davidson.

Several development issues were put aside at the Aug. 8 meeting. The development agreements for Foxtail Woods, Forest Boulevard Utilities, Sunrise Prairie Townhomes and Kings Court were postponed for further discussion and probably approval at a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 17.

The agreements were put off because the attorney, Pete Grundhoefer, and engineer, Chuck Schwartz, had a few minor adjustments they wanted done in each agreement before approval.

The council approved raising the rent on the cityís water tower for any wireless company who wants to use the tower as a station. Currently Western Wireless is the only company on the tower. The new rate is $750 per month. Previously, the city was charging $320 per month.

Also at the meeting, the council voted 2-1 to reduce an assessment on Michael Morehouseís property by 35 percent. Morehouse had been assessed $9,727.05 for repairs that were done in 2002 for problems with his sewer connection on Foley Ave. The city investigated the request before the meeting and found that when the pipe was originally installed it may not have been sealed properly.

Morehouse suggested the assessment split with the city and after consideration and agreeing that the pipe was not installed properly, the council approved the request.

Davidson opposed the motion saying it would set a dangerous precedent for the city.

The city council approved a request by the city engineer to develop plans and specifications for the new Stacy Ponds Business Park. and appointed election judges for the primary and November elections: Barbara Cummings, Helen Dahl, Linda Miller, Diane Ness, Wayne Erickson, Lynda Schmidt and Sharon Payne.

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