EL DORADO -- The general manager of El Dorado Water Utilities told the city's Water and Sewer Commission on Monday that the company plans to cut down on the manpower it takes to collect payments in one of its billing districts.
Mark Smith said several businesses in District Nine -- the mostly commercial area covering the city's downtown -- routinely pay their water bills late after receiving the regular monthly bill, a pink statement indicating that payment is past due, a telephone call and then a visit from a utility employee reminding them to pay their bill.
He said the commercial customers continue to receive service after their shut-off date has passed.
"It's going to upset some people because they're used to getting a personal visit, but we want to put an end to that. I don't think we should have to devote that much manpower to that," Smith said.
Commissioners agreed to follow the same process as is followed in other districts.
Smith said then that El Dorado Water Utilities will hand-deliver letters to the applicable businesses to notify them of the policy change.
Smith also told commissioners that the water company is working to resolve an issue that has caused a delay in some billing for the month.
Smith and El Dorado Water Utilities customer service manager Becky Taylor said that the utility is trying to get its software and cellular meter-reading systems to correspond with each other.
They said the water utility is the first to merge its Kuzi software system with Badger cellular water meters and analytical data offered by BEACON that would allow the utility to monitor meter information, including usage and possible leaks, in real-time.
"We're the very first utility to have that combination of suppliers. They know it's a problem for us, and they're working hard with us on that," Smith said.
Taylor and Smith said some customers may have more days of service in their bills for the month.
Smith said El Dorado Water Utilities tries to keep the amount under 36 days, and Taylor said some customers may have 32, 33, or 34 days on their bills, adding that resolving the issue may involve some employees working through the weekend.
Smith also provided an update on a project to install new cellular meters to El Dorado Water Utilities customers, telling commissioners that a total of 6,261 of the new meters had been installed by Monday, and the $3.5 million project, which calls for nearly 10,000 new meters, likely will take another two months to complete.
In other business, Treatment Superintendent John Peppers reported that divers recently discovered that a nozzle was clogged in a diffuser in the Ouachita River multiuser wastewater pipeline.
Peppers and El Dorado Water Utilities engineering consultant Lorraine Murtha said recent rains have raised the water levels in the area, making it difficult to address the issue until the water recedes.
State Desk on 11/27/2015