RED BANK — The topic of water meters, which made a splash late in the campaign season, came up again at a Nov. 24 Borough Council meeting, where Councilman Michael DuPont suggested replacing the town’s meters.
The meters have not been changed in 25 years, he said.
“We anticipate that if we get new meters, that will increase our revenue by approximately $600,000 annually,” DuPont said. “We’ll also have the ability to have alarms, which will activate and notify the borough — as well as the resident — of leaks.”
In an interview on Dec. 1, Councilman Edward Zipprich listed ways that the new meters would add to cost savings for the borough.
“The new meters are 100 percent accurate,” he said. “What happens with the current meters is that they lose their accuracy over time.”
The new meters would also be wireless, Zipprich said, which would mean a reduction in manpower as the meters could be read remotely.
At the meeting, DuPont said the total investment for the meters would be approximately $2.4 million, and that would only be for the replacement of residential meters — not commercial — at this time.
Water meters were a major discussion point for Republicans in the municipal election, with Councilwoman Cindy Burnham and the newly elected councilwoman Linda Schwabenbauer advocating for cutting costs to residents’ water bills.
Burnham had been critical of a $44 lease fee that residents pay quarterly for the borough-owned water meters and brought it up to DuPont at the Nov. 24 meeting.
“To be honest with you, my goal is to eliminate, or at least reduce, the meter fee that residents pay to lease their meters,” Burnham said. “Because I think that would give the residents some kind of relief, because we do pay more than [other municipalities]. Linda did a study, and I think we pay $400 more a year than Fair Haven, and we pay $200 more a year than Atlantic Highlands.”
DuPont referred to Burnham’s argument as “an argument that appears each year during around election time.”
“I’ve heard that argument, but that argument fails when you look at, historically, the rates that are charged by United Water or American Water or any other local municipality,” DuPont said. “Our rates are competitive. Our water production and management operation is efficient. Can we improve? Sure. One of the ways we can improve is by the meter replacement project.
“Meters — it’s my understanding — change drastically every five years. We haven’t changed our meters in 25 years, and based on the revenue alone in our return on investment, I think this is a wise business, fiscally responsible decision to make.”

