The Charleston City Council tabled Tuesday to file a resolution for public inspection that would replace the city’s outdated meters and meter reading systems with newer, wireless models.

Mayor John Inyart said the new system will eliminate the meter reading part of the process since the new, wireless meters can communicate with towers, and in turn, with City Hall.

Inyart said many Charleston residents will see their water bill becoming more accurate as the use of estimations will not be necessary. 

City Manager Scott Smith said the new program may take three to four years to implement throughout the city.

“We won’t know until we get on the field and really start tackling it,” Smith said.

Smith said with the new meter reading system, staff will be able to monitor the water use and will know when a leak occurs.

Smith said if a resident leaves the city to go to Florida for the winter, the resident may not know about a leak until they arrive home and tens of thousands of dollars of damage has been done. 

However, with the new system, the staff can alert residents to possible leaks, by monitoring the water flow from computers.

Council member Larry Rennels said it might be harder to read meters during harsh weather conditions, leading to inaccurate bills.

Inyart said the employment of meter readers will no longer be a necessity with the new system.

“Down the road, the meter reading operation itself will be very limited,” Inyart said.

In order to pay for the new system from Midwest Meters, Inc., a resolution was presented that would authorize the city to take out a $1.6 million loan from First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust. 

Smith said the loan is structured similarly to a construction loan and will take approximately nine years for the city to pay off.

The city council voted to place the resolution authorizing the loan on file for public inspection and plans on voting on it next week.

The council also voted to approve the last installment of full four-year scholarship to Eastern students.

Inyart said the City Roads Scholarship has put a total of 65 students through college.

“This was funding provided from Eastern when the city sold Seventh Street,” Inyart said. 

Inyart said rather than changing funds, a scholarship system was set up. This is the last year for the program since the scholarship fund has run out.

 Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or kjrichter@eiu.edu.