Ridgewood Water's $4.2M Capital Bonding Request Killed by Council

The village council said a to upgrade water meters was too bitter a pill to swallow for ratepayers, and they've instructed Ridgewood Water to go back to the drawing board if it continues to request a new meter-reading system.

Representatives for the public utility, which also serves Midland Park, Glen Rock and Wyckoff, said roughly 42 percent of its 60,000 customers are not receiving accurate bills because of changes to the phone industry, and a complete switch to radio meters would rectify problems.

The capital request–which would have notched an annual $500,000 payment for the next decade, raising rate charges another 4 percent–was "a fair solution" to a problem it's slowly been trying to eliminate for the better part of a decade, water officials said.

Returning the utility to a proper level of accuracy and billing will reduce administrative and customer costs as well as the delay in deferred revenue, Ridgewood Water Business Director David Scheibner said in response to a question from residents curious about the proposed project.

"The meter replacement program being proposed is required for the proper operation. Our customers want and deserve accurate bills every quarter and there will be significant time savings from improvements in administrative efficiencies. That administrative time will be spent on other tasks," he told the council.

"Reducing cost and boosting revenues are not the primary purposes of this project," he said.

The council, however, said another large rate hike due to capital bonding was anything but fair and like the municipalities, the utility too would have to buckle down and make due.

Mayor Keith Killion, referring to an analogy made by Ridgewood Water Superintendent of Distribution Eric Fooder, said if you can't afford a car, you don't buy it. Instead, Killion said, you make small repairs where you can.

Fooder retorted, furthering his analogy that the cost of major replacements could soon be more expensive than the value of the car, to which Killion shot back, "Then I'd take mass transit."

Councilman Tom Riche panned what he called a "lack of long-range planning" on the part of the utility and suggested they consider other revenue streams to make an upgrade, as opposed to capital bonding. "Perhaps you could sell off real estate," Riche said.

Moritz said the utility would look into the possibility of selling real estate, but also added that the utility since 2005 has been switching over from the telephone-based meter system to the radio system, but it ran out of money in 2010, hence the request.

Radio-based systems now comprise of over 27 percent of the 20,000 meters but of the remaining 14,000 telephone-tethered meters, only half can be read. Estimates are issued to ratepayers, which is based on previous usage statistics for that household.

If no previous usage statistics are available, the utility sends an average use bill (based on a family of three each using 80-100 gallons a day). Estimates can run wildly over actual use but can also be under that of consumption. Ridgewood Water representatives, along with Village Manager Ken Gabbert, have maintained that the bills likely "even out," so the utility isn't losing much money on the estimates.

"If this is not about reducing costs and boosting revenues is not the primary purpose of this project, what is?" a "confused" Councilman Paul Aronsohn asked.

Scheibner said customer "confidence in the system" is the foundation of the utility–customers served by Ridgewood Water cannot use another utility; they can only use well water if they have a working well.

"It's not a health issue, it's not a savings and cost issue, it's a convenience issue," Aronsohn said, adding that utility reps can reconcile faulty bills. Ridgewood Water representatives spoke of the difficulties in dealing with irate customers, noting how much more "pleasant" it would be to go to the office without bombarded with such complaints.

But those pleas ultimately were not enough to sway the council–not under the current plan, anyway.

"It's just...$4 million in one shot troubles me," the mayor said. "And the increase this would cost the taxpayers...$4.2 million is just a killer."

"We're asking you to try to listen to the council and find an alternate plan," Killion concluded.

Wyckoff Township Commiteeman Brian Scanlan thanked the council–which acts as a board of directors to Ridgewood Water–for its decision and added that if Ridgewood Water is mandated to spend money on infrastructure per the Board of Public Utilities, he'd rather see the utility repair pipes that can contain leaks.

The Township of Wyckoff, along with Glen Rock and Midland Park, over the rate previous rate hikes Ridgewood Water imposed on customers in December of 2009 and again in 2010. Water bills since December of 2009.

Still, challenges remain as to how Ridgewood Water will upgrade a system it says is dangerously unreliable. The computer system crashed in 2007, which rendered it unable to read meters for six weeks. "It could continue working for years, it could stop working tomorrow," Scheibner said. "The telephone system is a relic, we've been very fortunate it hasn't failed again."

Ridgewood Water Director Frank Moritz said most of the 14,000 meters will need to be replaced, likely in about five years, meaning one way or another, this conversation will continue for years to come.

The council may continue public hearing at its March 9 public meeting or it could vote down the request entirely, public officials said.