August 21, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 Waldwick Council introduces water meter opt-out ordinance The Waldwick Council has introduced an ordinance that would allow borough residents to opt out of the installation of radio read water meters – for a fee of $25 per quarter. That fee was included to cover the cost of having some meters manually read. The meter conversion project began in 2006, and has been stepped up this year, with the goal of completing the installations by the end of 2013. The borough required the installation of radio read water meters, since the current equipment is being phased out by the manufacturer. According to the proposed ordinance, installations of the new meters will allow for the complete automation of the meter read- ing process and the generation of invoices. Waldwick officials note that the radio read meters allow the entire borough to be read in half a day by one person, which is expected to produce significant savings. The language of the ordinance states that “there is much sci- entific documentation as to the safety of those meters and that they emit significantly less radio frequency waves than are cur- rently emitted by many commonly used household appliance and their accessories.” The ordinance further states that the mayor and council recognize that “despite such supporting safety documentation some customers may object to the installation of these radio read meters due to perceived health considerations.” The council decided to pursue the opt-out option after two borough residents expressed their concerns about the potential health impact of meters that make use of RF, or radio frequency. The citizens requested an exemption from the installation of the new meters. In order to accommodate residents who do not wish to have the new meters installed, but still permit the borough access for meter readings, the ordinance would allow customers to opt out of the installations as long as the structure has a meter that can be read from the exterior of the building. In addition, customers would have to provide the borough’s water department with a written request that acknowledges that, by opting out, “they accept that they will be charged the prevail- ing opt-out fee as determined by borough ordinance.” That fee has been set at $100 per year. The ordinance states that quarterly charges for water supplied through a metered service line connection would be $29 mini- mum for up to 1,500 gallons of water. A public hearing on the proposed ordinance will be held as part of the Tuesday, Aug. 27 Waldwick Council meeting. The measure, Ordinance 12-13, will be considered for final adoption at that time. Sessions are held at 63 Franklin Turnpike and begin at 7:30 p.m.