November 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Ridgewood Troubled areas get priority in water meter conversion Ridgewood Water is aggressively trying to accomplish the system-wide conversion to wireless meter reading and expects to complete the project by late in 2014 or early 2015, according to Dave Scheibner, Ridgewood Water’s business manager. “The utility is prioritizing meter changes at locations where we are not currently get- ting actual meter readings due to technical or administrative issues,” Scheibner said in a recent letter to Midland Park Council- man Nick Papapietro. The councilman had requested an action plan from Ridgewood Water when Scheibner appeared in front of the Midland Park Mayor and Council in September to respond to complaints about estimated billing practices. Scheibner said that the largest share of complaints is coming from homes which were configured for telephone-based automatic reading in the late 1990s and their telephone services have since been updated to incompatible technologies. He explained that as a result of phone com- pany deregulation, people changed to car- riers other than Verizon and didn’t realize that the change affected the reading of their water meter. By the time the utility realizes the change two or three billing quarters later, there is not enough staff to process the actual meter reading and back billing quickly. He said that Ridgewood Water has not had a meter reading staff in place since the late 1990s, when the tele- phone system was implemented. “Ridgewood Water uses every incident of contact with customers as an oppor- tunity to arrange for a meter change,” Scheibner said. One of the most common reasons for customers to contact the util- ity, he said, is to request a final reading for a sale of property. Ridgewood Water can change the meter at the time of final read- ing. There is no charge for the conversion. Scheibner noted that there are many customers who are unaware of the techni- cal meter reading issues who also do not notice that their water bills are estimated. “Our staff has lists of these custom- ers and attempt to gain admittance for a meter change. If they are not successful, they leave a notice requiring the cus- tomer to contact the utility. If there is no response within two weeks, a second attempt is made to gain entrance. If the second attempt is unsuccessful, another notice is left,” Scheibner explained, noting that most customers respond to the first or second notice left at the premises. Scheibner said that about 60 percent of the system’s 20,000 customers have been converted to date, with the staff doing 325 to 400 installations per month. He said that the locations where the tele- phone reading system is still reading water meters successfully will be changed last. He added that the rate at which staff is able to change meters is similar to the pace at which connectivity with the old system is being lost.