?One meter for all? should be city?s goal

To the editor:

These remarks are concerning the proposed opt out provision for the New Neptune e-water meter bought by the city council and currently being installed in all the city homes and business.?

The City Council has purchased the Neptune Meters without public input or a public hearing and apparently made the purchasing decision without research into the effects the meter has on the health of individuals in its proximity, to say nothing of the meters frequency of transmission.

City officials have expressed their ignorance about the meters frequency of transmissions and its health effects in city council and committee meetings.

The City has not held any meetings in which to discuss the information they used to guide their decision to purchase these meters, or any relevant research on their effects on public health.

Rather than halt Neptune Meter installations, until the health effects can be clarified and a consensus can be reached about whether or not to continue installation, the city is proposing an opt out measure to appease the public who believe the meter to be a health hazard, adding punitive monthly and installation costs to discourage further protest, in the hopes that this will end these bothersome details and the ?problem? go away.

It is the implied objective of this city council to continue the instillation of the meters in question regardless of public opinion or evidence of harm to the public health.

It is the stated objective of this city council to ask those who object to the installation of these meters to pay for the replacement meter and labor. In addition to the taxes paid, to buy the Neptune meter and its installation, the City is requiring those who opt out to pay for two meters and their installations when only one is necessary.

The Mayor and Council have preferred the opt out program to a re-evaluation of a previous business decision made without proper consideration of public opinion to say nothing of the facts concerning the operation of the Neptune Meter and suspected hazzards.

I ask that the Mayor and council dispense with all opt out provisions and associated costs, halt all installation of Neptune meters, reevaluate the purchase of the Neptune Meter by exploring the health effects, and cost savings for Fairfield.

Regardless of belief, religion or spiritual preferences health trumps all. Without our health we can do nothing.

A Wise philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) said over a century ago: ?There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance ? that principle is contempt prior to investigation.?

I ask this Mayor and council, I beg you, to please set aside petty differences and politics and reevaluate the health considerations surrounding the installation of this meter in any more of our homes.

Let us move forward on this issue of water meters united in our resolve of ONE meter for all.

? Douglas Carpenter, Fairfield