Water meter petition gets little city council reaction

A petition requesting Fairfield prohibit the use of radio frequency water meters and charge no billing costs for residents who have radio-read meters removed was met with little reaction by the Fairfield City Council Monday night.

The petition from the Fairfield Coalition for Safe Utility Meters was signed by 1,051 residents and presented to the city council by Simon Davis.

Davis said the petition represents almost 14 percent of Fairfield?s adult population and was gathered with the intent of representing ?a broad spectrum of the community.? He said signatures were solicited at Walmart, Hy-Vee and during the Italian Fest last month.

In late June the city approved an ?opt-out amendment? for the ordinance regulating water rates and meters. The amendment installed additional billing costs for residents choosing to remove Neptune radio-read water meters from homes. A large number of residents attended public hearings and voiced health concerns and safety issues about the meters.

?We appreciate the work that was put into the petition,? said Mayor Ed Malloy, ?but it may not have the same weight it might have had a few weeks ago. It?s not likely we?re going to revisit that issue very soon.?

In June, Malloy said in the future the city would ?enter into a phase of due diligence? regarding meter technology for the long term.

City councilman Daryn Hamilton responded to the petition by citing the low number of residents who have signed up for the opt-out program.

?My only response is to say that to date only 28 people have applied for the opt-out program,? said Hamilton.