Wamego’s electric rates topped the agenda list at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting. City Manager Merl Page reminded the Commission back when the City renegotiated the contract for wholesale power supply, a decision was made to have regular rate reviews. He said a review has been in the works for the last several months, and the preliminary report found the revenue requirements are 7 to 8 percent greater than current levels. Page noted there has not been a significant rate increase since 1998, and to expect the discussion to come up again.
In other business, Page said the City has been looking at a G-I-S Mapping program for several years. He said the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency recommends mapping the primary utility system infrastructure in the case of a catastrophic event, FEMA requires validation of the damaged locations for maximum reimbursement. At this time, the City uses outside consultants to update their paper maps. Page said a software package could be purchased for in-house updates, but feels City staff would prefer waiting until they are completely comfortable with the workings of the new Automated Meter Reading system recently installed. The item was tabled for further review.
