By Ron Matten
As many of you have heard, there was a Yonkers City Council public hearing to amend the 2023/2024 Capital Plan by $18 million. The purpose of this increase is to repair or replace our malfunctioning water meters.
The system for reporting and recording water usage in the City of Yonkers has been inadequate for years. Only four employees were responsible for reading over 30,000 water meters within the six Yonkers’ water districts. At best they read 5,000 meters per report cycle. Water usage was billed twice a year and most of us received estimated bills.
In 2013, Mayor Spano announced the city would be automating the process. This was to be a significant improvement. Yonkers entered into an agreement with Muller Water Systems and Keystone Utility Systems. Mueller supplied the units and Keystone installed them. This was a massive project executed by Anthony Landi. Mr. Landi should be applauded for leading the installation effort.
Unfortunately, within five years of installation, some residents started receiving massive, inaccurate water bills. Now, massive, inaccurate water bills are a common occurrence. It is not only costing us an additional $18 million, but also additional resources within the Water Department to solve these regularly occurring billing issues.
When Yonkers Public Schools overbooked state aid and caused a $55 million budget deficit, Mayor Spano correctly requested Inspector General Brendan McGrath to investigate. This $18 million amendment represents a similar failure and burden on the taxpayers. I am urging the City Council to call for an investigation, so we can avoid repeating a failure and hold our vendors accountable, if appropriate. If others would like to join me, I have included the email that I sent to each one of our Yonkers representatives.
Dear Yonkers City Council Member:
In 2013, the City of Yonkers entered into an agreement with Keystone Utility Systems and Mueller Water Products to install the Mi.Net L advanced meter infrastructure system. This was an excellent idea and was applauded. Up to this point most bills in the city were estimated, as 83% of the water meter customers would receive an estimated bill each cycle. With a staff of four, it was impossible to read all the meters and provide accurate bills under the old system.
Within five years of installation, customers started receiving inaccurate automated bills. Apparently, there is some defect in either the meter or reader which causes the meter to read multiple times. Obviously, this is causing some anxiety among our residents, particularly among our senior homeowners. The Water Department has been very understanding and helpful in dealing with these overcharges, but this must be causing the City additional work in rectifying the accounts.
I understand that there is an amendment to the Capital Plan in the amount of $18 million to solve the issue. I applaud that this is being solved, but we should also understand how we got here. Not only to avoid it in the future, but to hold our vendors accountable, if we have an actionable case. Both Keystone Utility Systems and Mueller Water Products are still in business. These meters started failing within five years.
I am urging you to request the Inspector General to commence an investigation into the purchase of the original water meters. Liam McLaughlin’s Office should determine:
- Was the original engineering specification adequate?
- Did the City of Yonkers Project lead follow the proper purchasing procedures?
- Did the product meet its reported claims?
- How could the process have been improved?
The Yonkers taxpayers deserve answers. For $10 million, Yonkers could have hired 10 employees to read water meters for a decade.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ron Matten
Ron Matten was a candidate for Yonkers City Council President in 2021
