The Town of Culver is prepared to move forward with some technical assistance for its water and wastewater utilities.
The community was approached by the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water out of Franklin, Indiana at their Tuesday meeting to discuss data point monitoring. Culver recently upgraded its facilities and implemented a utility rate increase to help pay for the upgrades.
Adam Watts says they want to help the community take full advantage of its operating system “ArcView.”
“That package is the Cadillac of packages,” says Watts. “Right now you have a Ferrari and you’re not driving it. I’m not a salesman, but I would be blown away if you guys didn’t approve this. It would make zero sense I promise you.”
The Alliance, as it’s called, is a non-profit that helps communities around Indiana with its utility technical assistance.
By developing a list of data points such as valves, hydrants, and manholes for monitoring, the Alliance is able to help the town identify problems, potentially saving headaches and money in the future.
Specifically, the organization will also help the community brings its water and wastewater utilities into compliance with EPA and IDEM regulations. The Alliance charges about $14 per data point for monitoring.
Watts says there are several good reasons to take advantage of the service.
“The main issues for GIS is when that person leaves, you don’t have to call him at 3:00 in the morning to find out where valve number five is at because that’s not his job, but unfortunately a lot of communities are doing that,” says Watts.
Because Culver has an updated system, they’re on par with the City of Indianapolis with its utility software monitoring.
The Culver Town Council approved allocating $14-thousand for the monitoring pending contract approval by the Town attorney.
