Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy

ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — At its meeting Friday, May 3, the Robertsdale City Council set the wheels in motion to expand to an automated meter-reading system for city utilities.

The city council approved an agreement for engineering services with Civil Southeast for application preparation, plan, specification and bid services for project materials and project management and critical phase construction engineering and observation, with a total cost for services of $47,100.

The council also voted to accept a $1.5 million loan from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for the installation of AMI meters for the city’s water system.

The project would include the installation of 3,600 AMI meters for the city’s water system. It will also put the infrastructure in place for the future installation of AMI electrical meters and gas meters, in total about 7,000 meters, said Mayor Charles Murphy.

The city recently received approval of the loan from ADEM and will now have to go through the process of completing the loan application, which should take about a year, Murphy said.

“We’re looking at mid-2020 for the completion of the application process,” Murphy said. “The project will probably not begin until the fourth quarter of 2020, possibly the first quarter of 2021.”

The city will make payments over a 20-year period with a fixed interest rate of 2.2 percent.

With the city looking to add a minimum of 1,000 meters of the next decade, Murphy said, switching to the AMI system will allow the city to keep costs down.

“If we had to pay an additional employee to read meters, it’s going to cost us around $75,000 to $80,000 per year,” Murphy said, “which includes salary, benefits and the purchase of an additional truck. We are essentially taking that cost and putting it toward the debt service to improve the system.”

In other business, the council approved an ordinance to adopt regulations for small cell technology facilities in the city.

Murphy said several companies such as AT&T and Verizon are looking to implement G5 cell phone systems over the coming months, which will require additional antennas and support structures placed along the city’s rights-of-way and on private properties.

“I think this year we’re going to see companies begin to submit applications and this is something we need to get ahead of,” Murphy said. “This agreement is similar to what other municipalities have adopted.”

There are also certain restrictions due to FCC requirements, such as the fact that the city will not be allowed to charge franchise fees as with other technologies, such as satellite systems.

“This is not something that people need to be concerned that they are going to come in and build massive towers,” he said. “These will be small structures that will be no more than five feet above pole level.”

Other action Friday, May 3 included:

•Voted to reappoint Jodee Darby to the Park & Street Tree Committee.

•Appointed city employee Dallas Colby to the city’s Planning Commission.

•Approved the use of the Baldwin County Coliseum on March 28, 2020 by Robertsdale High School for the 2020 Prom.

•Approved the purchase of a vehicle for the Robertsdale Police Department to be used by an SRO officer at a cost of around $31,000.

•Voted to begin the condemnation process for the Langenbach Property on Brewton Street.

•Approved a training allocation for the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $250, which will be added to the $1,000 annual fee the city pays to the Chamber.

•Renewed the city’s property and liability insurance with Blackmon Insurance Agency at a cost of $141,069, up from $133,808 last year. The increase is due to an increase in payroll for water, gas and sewer and an increase in expenditures, including the addition of two police officers, a slight increase in auto expenditures and an automatic 3 percent inflation guard on the property.

•Approved the annual municipal water pollution prevention resolution reviewing the annual report of the city’s sewer system as required by ADEM.

•Amended the city’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance reflecting upgrades to the flood maps made by FEMA.