HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - October 23, 2012 SSLODI CITY COUNCIL
SHIRTSLEEVE SESSION
CARNEGIE FORUM, 305 WEST PINE STREET
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012
A. Roll Call by City Clerk
An Informal Informational Meeting ("Shirtsleeve" Session) of the Lodi City Council was held
Tuesday, October 23, 2012, commencing at 7:05 a.m.
Present: Council Member Hansen, Council Member Johnson, Council Member Katzakian,
Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, and Mayor Mounce
Absent: None
Also Present: Deputy City Manager Ayers, City Attorney Schwabauer, and City Clerk Johl
B. Topic(s)
B-1 Receive Information Regarding the Multi -Family and Non -Residential Water Meter
Program (PW)
Deputy City Manager Jordan Ayers provided a brief introduction to the subject matter of the multi-
family and non-residential water meter program.
Public Works Director Wally Sandelin provided a PowerPoint presentation regarding the multi-
family and non-residential water meter program. Specific topics of discussion included the
relevant State law, an overview of the residential meter program, condominium properties and
survey, apartment properties and survey, mobile home park properties and survey, non-
residential properties, meter charges, and considerations regarding master or individual metering
options.
In response to Mayor Mounce, Mr. Sandelin confirmed State law requires that the City bill based
on volume usage but it does not dictate how or when the billing occurs. Mr. Sandelin stated that
the City Council can direct 70% or 100% billing without a base charge if it prefers.
In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Sandelin and City Attorney Schwabauer stated an
initial split charge is preferred to avoid rate shock for citizens who will then have time to adjust
their usage practices.
In response to Mayor Mounce, Mr. Schwabauer stated that, while the comparative bills should
have put ratepayers on notice already, many do not pay attention until they actually have to pay a
higher amount on their bill.
In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated no matter how the billing occurs it
must be revenue neutral to the City.
In response to Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, Mr. Sandelin stated, as requested, he will provide
comparative data regarding who will be paying more or less percentage wise based on the
comparison billings completed to date.
In response to Mayor Mounce, Mr. Sandelin stated, as requested, he will provide information
regarding the number of apartment complexes, condominium buildings, and mobile home parks
subject to the joint billing options.
In response to Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, Mr. Sandelin stated some duplex buildings in town
Continued October 23, 2012
already have two existing services for two separate meters.
Discussion ensued between Mayor Mounce, Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, Council Member
Hansen, and Mr. Sandelin regarding the cost of residential water meters, options to pay the full
$300 amount at once or via payments over three years, and cities charging for water meters
directly versus through rate increases.
In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated currently landlords pass on the
charge to their tenants in a variety of ways including based on square footage, number of
bedrooms, number of tenants, or other similar dividing mechanisms.
In response to Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, Mr. Schwabauer stated there is a law against
landlords overcharging tenants for electric utility services and he will research whether a similar
law exists for water/wastewater utilities.
In response to Mayor Mounce, Mr. Schwabauer confirmed that a landlord overcharging a tenant
is a private citizen action and the tenant would likely need to provide evidence to show that they
were in fact overcharged.
In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated new apartment buildings are
currently required to put in a master meter, they do have an option to put in additional meters if
they would like, vacant units still need to pay a base charge, and unpaid accounts are turned over
to collections.
The City Council provided general direction for staff to research options associated with a rate
adjustment for vacant properties.
In response to Council Member Katzakian, Mr. Sandelin stated some condominiums are already
set up for separate billing because they are plumbed separately.
In response to Council Member Johnson, Mr. Sandelin stated it is difficult to cluster already
existing separate services together.
In response to Council Member Hansen, Mr. Sandelin and Mr. Schwabauer stated fire hydrant
tracking for residential and apartment building primarily differs because they are cross -plumbed
for water and fire hydrant services.
In response to Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi and Council Member Katzakian, Mr. Sandelin
stated staff will attempt to address any concerns voiced through the public workshop process
including fairness, base charge amounts, and what is needed versus what exists.
Nancy Watts spoke in regard to focusing on water conservation through individual control of
usage and suggested maintaining a flat -rate billing system through the City. In response to
Council Member Hansen, Mr. Ayers confirmed currently the tenant is billed directly based on a
flat -bedroom rate.
A brief discussion ensued amongst Mayor Mounce, Mayor Pro Tempore Nakanishi, and
Mr. Schwabauer regarding the literal reading of the statute versus the actual intent of the
lawmakers.
Harlan Watts spoke in support of implementing a rate adjustment for vacant properties.
Jack Sieglock spoke in favor of maintaining a direct -tenant billing through the City based on a flat -
rate system.
N
Continued October 23, 2012
Marilyn Hughes spoke in regard to focusing on the intent of the statute to eliminate free riders by
considering a per person analysis.
Bruce Davis spoke in favor of maintaining a direct -tenant billing through the City.
Scott Robison spoke in favor of maintaining a direct -tenant billing through the City based on a
flat -rate system.
Steve Ineby spoke in favor of maintaining a direct -tenant billing through the City.
C. Comments by Public on Non -Agenda Items
None.
D. Adjournment
No action was taken by the City Council. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 a.m.
ATTEST:
Randi Johl
City Clerk
AGENDA ITEM PJ
,1
CITY OF LODI
%V COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
TM
AGENDA TITLE: Receive Information Regarding the Multi -Family and Non -Residential Water Meter
Program
MEETING DATE: October 23, 2012
PREPARED BY: Public Works Director
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Receive information regarding the multi -family and non-residential
water meter program.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Staff is preparing to conduct a series of public workshops with
owners and tenants of multi -family, mobile home and other non-
residential property owners. The purpose of this Council
Communication is to inform City Council regarding the various issues expected to be discussed at these
meetings. Policy direction will be sought from the City Council following the completion of the public
workshops.
State law requires that new water services be both metered and the customer be charged based on water
usage. State law also requires that urban water suppliers install water meters on all municipal and
industrial service connections on or before January 1, 2025. The applicable Water Code sections are
provided below.
Water Code Section 525 — 527
525. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, every water purveyor who sells, leases, rents,
furnishes, or delivers water service to any person shall require, as a condition of new water service on and
after January 1, 1992, that a suitable water meter to measure the water service shall be installed on the
water service facilities in accordance with this chapter. The cost of installation of the meter shall be paid
by the user of the water, and any water purveyor may impose and collect charges for those costs.
(b) Subdivision (a) applies only to potable water.
527. (a) An urban water supplier that is not subject to Section 526 shall do both the following:
(1) Install water meters on all municipal and industrial service connections located within its
service area on or before January 1, 2025.
(2) (A) Charge each customer that has a service connection for which a water meter has
been installed, based on the actual volume of deliveries, as measured by the water meter, beginning on or
before January 1, 2010.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in order to provide customers with experience
in volume -based water service charges, an urban water supplier that is subject to this subdivision may
delay, for one annual season cycle of water use, the use of meter -based charges for service connections
that are being converted from nonvolume-based billing to volume -based billing.
(b) A water purveyor, including an urban water supplier, may recover the cost of providing services
related to the purchase, installation, and operation of a water meter from rates, fees, or charges.
Bartlam, City Manager
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Page 2
Residential Water Meter Program
The City is undertaking a seven-year program to install water meters on residential services to single
family detached, duplex, triplex and fourplex residential units. The first and second construction phases
are complete. Approximately 6,500 meters have been installed. Approximately 3,000 customers are
receiving usage -based water bills. Another 3,500 customers will begin receiving usage -based water bills
in January 2013. The City Council has adopted the following policies related to the residential water meter
program.
1. One meter per parcel (one meter per owner)
2. Multiple water meters are installed where multiple services exist to a single parcel.
3. Customer charge for 3/ -inch meter is $300.
4. Customer/property owner may opt to install additional meters where a single service exists at the
customer's expense. (Not subject to $300 maximum)
5. Comparative billing information is distributed in the month of October to those customers
scheduled to receive a usage -based water bill the following January.
6. Usage -based wastewater billing begins in the month of July following the January initiation of
usage -based water billing.
Residential Oversized Meters
During construction of the Water Meter Program Phase 2 Project, a few parcels have required installation
of meters larger than 3/ -inch. In a few cases, the irrigation demand of the parcel has required a 1 -inch or
11/2 -inch meter be installed to establish a level of service equal to that prior to the meter installation. In a
few other cases, the parcel's water distribution piping caused excessive pressure losses with the 3/ -inch
meter, and a 1 -inch meter has been installed. So far, this experience has been limited to the Phase 2
project area, but we expect some others to come up in later phases. In addition, the new requirement to
install residential fire sprinklers has resulted in 1 -inch meters being installed where a 3/ -inch meter would
be sufficient to serve the property
Currently, the Lodi Municipal Code requires that the customers be charged based upon the size of the
meter. There are two components of the usage -based water bill — the fixed monthly base charge and the
usage charge. A summary of the fixed monthly by meter size is provided in the table below. The tiered
rate structure for the usage charges is the same regardless of meter size.
Table 1 — Residential Meter Program
Meter Size
Monthly Base Charge
Installed Cost
Meter Assembly Cost
3/
$23.20
$771
$300
1
$37.66
$806
$335
11/2
$73.58
$1,757
$636
2
$116.87
$1,884
$763
1 Assumes installation Class C (existing service) and includes meter assembly cost
2 Includes meter, register, ERT and assembly box
In the future, staff will request City Council to approve capping the monthly base charge to that of the 3/ -
inch meter for those cases where the parcel's water distribution piping or the addition of residential fire
sprinklers is the primary driver for installing the larger meter.
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Condominium Properties
There are 53 variously -sized condominium properties located around the City. They vary in size from two
units on a parcel to 153 units on a parcel. Some individual units have already received a meter, others are
ready to receive a meter, and others are not able to receive an individual meter. There are a total of 1,117
residential condominium units within the City. The following presents a summary of the different
conditions for the 53 condominium properties and the 1,117 units.
Typically, a condominium property owner has purchased the air space assigned to his/her living unit. The
structures and grounds are owned and maintained by a homeowners' association. Three of the
condominium properties were converted from apartment/townhome properties.
There are 28 condominium units on Otta Drive and Awani Drive that are receiving meters as part of the
current Water Meter Program Phase 2 Project. These units have not been but will be billed $300 for the
3/ -inch water meter that is being installed. At the time residential meter invoices were sent out,
condominium units were not included in the group. A listing of these properties is provided below.
Table 2 — Phase 2
Property Address
No. of Units
Single Family 102 — 134 Otta Drive
8
Single Family 1001 — 1117 Awani Drive
20
TOTAL UNITS
28
Of the 25 remaining condominium properties, five have existing meters that were previously installed. The
details of these properties are summarized below. The eight meters installed at the Westwood property
were part of the Water Meter Program Phase 1 Project. These units have not been but will be billed $300
for the 3/ -inch meter that was installed. The units in the other four condominium properties had their
meters installed presumably during construction. These meters are not equipped with automated meter
reading devices and will need to be retrofitted. At a future time, it will be necessary to determine what
meter charge, if any, will be assigned to the units in these four properties.
Table 3 — Existing Meters
Property
Address
No. of Units
Meter
Westwood
2424 Cochran Road
8
1
Century 22
301 Century Boulevard
22
M
Century Place
1961 Century Place
34
M
Almondwood Place
1801 Almondwood Circle
26
M
Century Park
2004 Starling Way
15
M
TOTAL UNITS
105
M
'Master Meter (M) Individual (I)
Of the 20 remaining condominium properties, six have been constructed anticipating the installation of a
water meter serving each unit. There are additional water services to the community facilities that will also
have meters installed on them. A summary of these properties is provided below. A diagram of the
existing water services for the Brookside Terrace property is provided in Exhibit A.
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Table 4 — Meter Ready
Property
Address
No. of Units
Parkview Terrace
2393 Central Park Drive
89
Beckman Estates
751 Brandywine Drive
37
Beckman Park Villas
1311 West Centu Boulevard
66
River Oaks
1744 W n Way
28
Brookside Terrace
2250 Scarborough Drive
72
The Brierwood
1901 S. Church Street
16
TOTAL UNITS
308
Of the 14 remaining condominium properties, three were originally constructed as apartment or town
home properties and were subsequently converted to condominium properties. One property,
Meadows Town Homes, sold 10 four -unit properties to individual investors. Each four -unit property is
served by a single water service from a public water main on which a meter could be installed. The other
two condominium properties, Woodlake Place North and Woodlake Place South, consist of multiple -unit
structures but, for the most part, each unit is individually owned. A summary of these properties is
provided below.
Table 5 Apartments Converted to Condominiums
Property
Address
No. of Units
Woodlake Place South
2400 Eilers Lane
62
Woodlake Place North
2401 Eilers Lane
84
Meadows Town Homes
1901 S. Mills Avenue
40
TOTAL UNITS
186
Photographs of these properties are provided as Exhibits B, C, and D to this Council Communication.
Included in each exhibit are the public and private water mains serving the various building units, which
are comprised of multiple condominium units, and common areas of these properties.
Further discussion of these three properties will demonstrate issues associated with installing water
meters to serve these and other similar properties. The first example, Meadows Town Homes, as
presented in Exhibit D, shows that each building unit is served by a water service from a public water main
in Mills Avenue. This is a likely candidate for installing an individual 3/ or 1 -inch meter, depending upon
the demand, to each building unit. Additional research is needed to determine how the common area
landscaping is served to decide how that water usage will be metered.
The second example is Woodlake Place South and North as presented in Exhibits B and C. In these
cases, a public water main extends onto the property and serves two purposes. One, it feeds the onsite
fire hydrants and second, it supplies water to a system of smaller private mains with services to the
individual buildings. If we place larger master meters (larger because the fire flow needs to be preserved)
on the public mains where they enter the property there will be several master meters required and these
assemblies must include backflow devices. This meter arrangement is expensive - on the order of
$24,000 each. An alternative is to install multiple meters on the smaller private mains but there will likely
be more of them than the larger master meters. Because these properties were constructed as
apartments it is highly unlikely there are individual services to each unit that could receive a water meter.
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The above-described conditions have brought to the forefront several issues that deserve further research
and discussion. These include:
1. If a meter has already been installed at a condominium property that requires an upgrade to
support the City's automated meter reading, is there a charge to the owner of that unit? It could be
a homeowners association or an individual.
2. As meters are installed on services to community structures and facilities, is there a charge to the
homeowners' association?
3. A condominium four -unit structure under single ownership with a water service connected to a
public main could receive a single meter for the four -unit structure. The size of that meter would
probably be 11/2 -inch. What would be the City charge to the property owner for that meter? Would
it be reasonable to charge the same $300 for that meter as charged for the other Water Meter
Program residential meters under the 7 -phase program?
4. As the Water Meter Program begins installing meters larger than 3/ -inch, what payment schedule
is appropriate? Should it resemble the residential meter charge that covers the purchase cost of
the meter assembly and box? Should it be a percentage of the installed cost that mirrors
residential meters (approximately 40 percent)?
5. A condominium multi -unit structure with multiple ownerships and a water service connected to a
private main could receive a single meter for the structure, but who would pay for the meter?
Would it be the homeowners' association? Are the homeowners' association dues structured to
cover this cost? Would it be unreasonably cumbersome for the homeowners' association to
attempt to bill each of the multiple owners their fair share of the water meter cost?
6. For a condominium property with multiple structures, which criteria would be used to decide
whether to install one or more larger meters on services from a public main, or to install individual
meters on the private main to the structure?
7. Meters installed on the services from the public main to a condominium property would be paid for
by the homeowners' association. These types of connections often involve internal fire hydrants,
and the meters can be much larger and more expensive. In any event, the installation of multiple
smaller meters at individual structures, or one or more larger meters at connections to the public
mains, will result in the charge for all water usage going to the homeowners' association.
8. Can the homeowners' association sub -meter the condominium units and expect the City to bill the
individual condominium owners? If so, should the sub -meters be compatible with the City's
automated meter reading system?
9. If the cost to meter a condominium property is lowest by installing a master meter with the water bill
going to the homeowners' association, would the City still consider installing individual meters if
that were possible, thereby billing the condominium owner for the meter and the monthly service?
Of the remaining 11 condominium properties, six have a single service to the property and the number of
units served is 18 or less. A summary of these properties is provided in the following table. It is likely a
single master meter will be installed to serve these condominium properties because individual services
do not appear to have been provided to each unit and the cost to install the smaller master meter is less
than the cost to install multiple meters.
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Table 6 - Small Condominium Properties
Property
Address
No. of Units
Place
719 N. School Street
6
-Hideaway
Iris Place
1416 Iris Drive
10
Cedarwood
625 N. Church Street
16
Aldon Place
1311 S. Central Avenue
8
Winchester Oaks
2524 Winchester Drive
18
Elm West Condos
2415 W. Elm Street
16
Sacramento
TOTAL UNITS
74
The remaining five condominium properties are listed in the table below. They have some of the largest
unit counts for condominium properties in the City. There are multiple services to each property and most
have segments of public water main within the property from which private water mains serve the various
building units with multiple units in each. Additional record and field research is required to determine the
appropriate metering design.
Table 7 - Large Condominium Properties
Property
Address
No. of Units
Place
445 E. Almond Drive
153
-Cambridge
Stone Tree Condos
1819 S. Cherokee Lane
90
River ate Commons
1142 River ate Drive
22
Winchester Oaks No. 2
770 McCoy Court
74
Town & Country Park
2340 W. Turner Road
77
1
TOTAL UNITS
416
A survey of 11 condominium properties in the region was conducted to assess whether master -metering
or individual metering of condominium properties was most prevalent. The results of the survey are
presented below. Of the 11 properties surveyed, 10 were master -metered and only one had individual
meters to each unit.
Table 8 - Condominium Survey
Properties
Location
Units
Master Meter
Sub -Meter or
Individual Meter
1
Tracy
38
1
0
4
Stockton
507
4
0
1
Vacaville
31
1
0
5
Sacramento
1,212
4
1
TOTALS
10
1
As a matter of reference, we have developed a conceptual level assignment of meter size to the number
of condominium units served by the meter. A number of factors affect the final size including the size of
the condominium units, the area of landscape irrigation, the number of community facilities and the age of
the condominium development. This information is provided in part to aid the City's customers to get an
idea of the appropriate size of meter that would be installed on their properties and the associated
monthly charges.
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Table 9 — Condominium Meter Size (1 bathroom and no landscape water)
Meter Size
No. of Condominium Units
%11
1
1"
2-3
1'/2"
4-20
2"
21-45
3"
46-60
4"
61 -75
6"
76-100
Apartment Properties
There are 238 apartment properties in the City that require water meters with a combined total of
approximately 4,360 apartment units. These units are predominantly one and two bedroom units with a
single bathroom. The number of units on each apartment property varies as indicated in the table below.
Almost 80 percent of the apartment properties have 20 or fewer units. Approximately five percent have
greater than 80 units.
Table 10 — Apartments
Properties
Unit Range
Total Units
154
5-10
1,103
36
11-20
519
22
21-40
581
13
41-80
754
13
81-160
1,401
238
TOTAL
4.358
There are nine apartment properties with existing water meters that are listed in the table below. These
nine properties do not currently receive a usage based water bill and some of the meters are not
compatible with the City's automated meter read system. Only one apartment complex, Lakeshore
Gardens apartments at 1903 Sage Way, has individual meters to each unit that will begin receiving usage
based water bills next year.
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The Sand Creek Apartments previously paid for City crews to install 21 meters (19 2 -inch and two 3 -inch)
meters at the site. The total amount paid to the City for this work was $18,255. If this work had been
performed by the Water Meter Program Phase 2 contractor (Teichert Construction) the total cost of the
installation would have been $39,300. The meters were set on the private services to the individual
buildings with multiple apartment units in each building and on the private services to the common areas
(landscape and community facilities). This brings up additional policy issues for future consideration.
10. For property owners that paid to have City standard meters installed prior to the Water Meter
Program, should there be a rebate consideration if the amount paid exceeds the amount charged
for future apartment meter installations based upon the size of the meter?
11. What charge to apartment owners will be established for the installation of water meters? Will it be
a cost similar in structure to the residential 3/ -inch meter cost? Will it be based upon contractor's
bids for that size meter from Water Meter Program Phases 1 & 2?
Table 11 — Existing Meters
Property
Address
No. of Units
Meter
1 .__._
1300 S. Washington Street
6
M
24
1115 S. Central Avenue
6
M
1509 S. Cherokee Lane
9
M
1438 Voelker Drive
10
M
Avenue West Garden
1301 S. Lodi Avenue
25
M
Golden Oaks Village
1210 W. Century Blvd.
37
M
Lakeshore Gardens
1903 Sage Way
66
1
Lakeview Apartment Homes
1511 S. Mills Avenue
84
M
Sand Creek Apartments
1701 S. Mills Avenue
130
M
TOTAL UNITS
373
M
1 Master meter (M) Individual meters (1)
As presented in the table below, apartment properties with a single water service comprise more than 85
percent of the total. As referred to above, these apartment properties probably have 20 or fewer units
each. As a result, these properties will probably require a single master meter.
As discussed for the condominium properties, properties with multiple services will be candidates for a
master meter on the primary services from the public water main or multiple smaller meters on private
lines internal to the property. Again, consideration will have to be given to the largest properties with
respect to fire flows to internal fire hydrants. Additional record and field research is required to develop
the appropriate meter design for larger apartment properties with multiple services.
Table 12 — Apartments
Properties
Services
1
5
1 .__._
4
6
3
24
2
206
1
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A survey of 25 apartment properties in the region was conducted to assess whether master -metering or
individual metering of apartment properties was most prevalent. The results of the survey are presented
below. Of the 25 properties surveyed sixteen were master -metered and nine had individual meters to
each unit.
Table 13 — Apartment Survey
Properties
Location
Units
Master Meter
Sub -Meter or
Individual Meter
5
Tracy
719
5
2
5
Manteca
655
5
3
2
Ripon
251
0
2
2
Galt
88
2
1 0
5
Stockton
1,012
4
2
TOTALS
16
9
1 Includes either master meter for the entire property or master meter to individual buildings with multiple
apartment units.
2 One apartment property has meters to individual units but the individual unit is not charged for water as it
is paid by the homeowners' association.
As presented in Table 11, the Lakeshore Gardens apartments is the only known apartment property in the
City to have individual meters to each apartment unit. These apartment/townhome units were constructed
after 1992 and paid for meters with their building permits. These meters were installed in 2011 and are
compatible with the City's automated meter reading system. Individual water bills will be sent to the
tenants. Meters (existing or to be installed) on water services to the landscaped areas and common
facilities will be used to charge the property owner for the water used at these locations.
As matter of reference, we have developed a conceptual level assignment of meter size to the number of
apartment units served by the meter. A number of factors affect the final size including the size of the
apartment units, the area of landscape irrigation, the number of community facilities and the age of the
apartment development. This information is provided in part to aid the City's customers to learn the size of
the meter that would be installed on their property and the associated monthly charge.
Approximately 65 percent of apartment properties would require a meter size of 1 -inch. As mentioned
previously for the larger apartment properties, there may be multiple smaller meters or a few larger meters
as determined by the fire flow requirements at the property. The larger meters are more expensive to
purchase and the associated monthly base charge is higher.
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Table 14 — Apartment Meter Size (1 Bathroom)
Meter Size
No. of Units
%11
1 - 5
V
6-10
1'/2
11-30
2"
31 -50
3"
51 -100
4"
101 -150
6"
150-250
Mobile Home Park Properties
There are six mobile home park properties located in the City. They range in size from 35 spaces to 157
spaces as noted in the table below. The characteristics of each park are relatively unique. No mobile
home parks have public water mains within the park.
In the interest of accelerating the installation of water meters to mobile home parks, City crews have
installed meters at each park with the sizing and cost information provided below. There is a cost range
for same size meters due to differing site conditions at the point of installation. The work was completed
this past summer.
Cost of installation and cost of the meter assembly is provided in the table below. This brings up another
policy issue for future consideration.
12. What cost will be established for the installation of water meters to mobile home park properties?
Will it be the actual installation cost? Will it be a cost similar in structure to the residential 3/ -inch
meter cost? Will it be based upon contractor's bids for that size meter from Water Meter Program
Phases 1 & 2?
Table 15 — Mobile Home Parks
Park
Address
Units
Meter Size
Installed
Cost
Meter Assembly
Cost
845 S. Cherokee Lane
40
2"
$1,433
$773
Shady Acres
621 E. Lockeford Street
43
2"
$1,452
$773
Lake Park
1390 W. Lockeford Street
35
2"
$5,713
$773
Casa de Lodi North
817 E. Turner Road
48
8"
$30,627
$13,430
Casa de Lodi South
812 E. Turner Road
157
8"
$37,080
$13,430
Almond Drive
471 Almond Street
85
3"
$5,949
$1,653
Cherokee
1651 S. Cherokee Lane
43
2" & 1'/2"
$11,276
$1,359
Based upon very limited data, the following table has been prepared to compare the existing monthly
charge and the usage -based monthly charge for the five mobile home parks we have data for. This is very
preliminary data and, over time, the information will be refined. The data demonstrates that four of the five
parks listed might expect a significant reduction in the monthly charge. The difference will be that the park
owner will pay the water (and wastewater) usage -based bill in the future, whereas, the tenants currently
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pay a fixed rate for both. There would be no rebate due to the change in the rate structure from fixed to
usage -based for mobile home parks.
This brings up another policy issue for future consideration.
13. The Electric Utility currently offers a credit of $11.54 per pad for the park owners owning, operating
and maintaining their electric system similar to a PG&E discount. Will a similar program be
established for the water and wastewater billing?
Table 16 — Comparative Bill Information (August 2012)
Park
Units
Meter Size
Monthly Base
Charge
Monthly
Usa a Char a
Total Monthly
Charge
Current
Monthly Charge
Palms
40
2"
$73.43
$17.46
$90.89
$1,001.60
Shady Acres
43
2"
$73.43
$28.55
$101.98
$1,076.72
Lake Park
35
2"
$73.43
$86.60
$205.10
$876.40
Casa de Lodi North
48
8"
$249.67
$815.40
$1,065.07
$1,201.92
Almond Drive
85
3"
$102.81
$592.65
$695.46
$2,128.40
Cherokee
43
2" & 1'/2"
$132.20
$115.15
$247.35
$1,076.20
A survey of 10 mobile home park properties in the region was conducted to assess whether master -
metering or individual metering of mobile home park properties was most prevalent. The results of the
survey are presented below. Of the 10 properties surveyed, two have onsite water wells and the cost of
operating the private water system is included in the space rental. Of the eight remaining mobile home
park properties, all are master -metered and all pay the water provider for the cost of water service to the
park. In some of the mobile home park properties, sub -meters have been installed at the owners' expense
and are used to divide the water costs amongst the tenants.
Table 17 — Mobile Home Park Survey
Property
Location
Units
Master Meter
Sub -meters
or Individual
Meter
Owner Pays
Water Bill
2
Tracy
312
2
1
2
2
Manteca
335
2
1
2
2
Stockton
456
2
2
2
2 1
Lathrop
242
L 1
1
1
2
Galt
175
1 1
1
1
10
Total
1,520
1 81
6
8
'Two mobile home park properties are served by private water systems.
Non-residential Properties
The non-residential properties group includes commercial, industrial, public and pseudo -public land uses.
The analysis of these properties has included all areas of the City except the downtown area. The
downtown area requires additional field work in order to inventory the existing water meter conditions.
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A total of 391 commercial properties were surveyed and 132 of those properties do not have water meters.
Many of the existing meters are not compatible with the City's automated meter reading system and will
need to be retrofitted.
A total of 187 industrial properties were surveyed and 101 of those properties do not have water meters.
Many of the existing meters are not compatible with the City's automated meter reading system and will
need to be retrofitted.
Public and pseudo -public properties include government properties (City, state, county, landscape areas,
etc), schools, churches and the like. A total of 149 properties were surveyed and 119 of those properties
do not have existing meters. Many of the existing meters are not compatible with the City's automated
meter reading system and will need to be retrofitted.
Most of the issues previously presented apply, in part or in whole, to this group of properties.
FISCAL IMPACT: Not applicable.
FUNDING AVAILABLE: Not applicable.
F. Wally S6ndelin
Public Works Director
FWS/pmf
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