City examines ways to reduce operating expenses
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An engineering company specializing in cost reduction and increasing revenue told city officials Tuesday it could save the city between $300,000 and about $615,000 a year for the next 10 years if the city chooses to go with one of two plans presented.
Representatives of Johnson Controls, Inc., which has offices in Georgia, have completed a preliminary survey of the city’s various facilities and reviewed city records and recommended measures to reduce utility and operational costs or increase revenues through upgrades in city-owned structures and facilities.
As an example of lost revenues that could be recovered, the city has several old water meters engineers say have lost accuracy over time. Most of those meters are about 20 years old and engineers say they may not be accurately measuring the amount of water people are using.
Meter reading losses were estimated to be 6 percent and water revenues for the past year were about $1.8 million. By upgrading water meters and perhaps using an automated system, the city could recapture lost revenue and possibly reduce operational costs by making the system more automatic, engineers said.
The survey also concluded one of city’s largest overhead costs is electricity consumption, in terms of street lighting, traffic lighting, and lighting at city-owned facilities. Engineers said by changing the types of lights used, or by using different technology, the city could reduce utility costs by 15 to 25 percent.
In conjunction with using different lighting systems, which would also include traffic lighting, Johnson Controls also solicited information about intersections where the most accidents occur in the city. Some wondered if placing cameras at the intersections where accidents occur the most would help reduce accidents, which would decrease the manpower associated with responding to the accidents.
The survey also looked at heating and air conditioning systems, water conservation fixtures and roof repairs utilizing special materials.
Engineers and representatives on Tuesday hoped for a decision allowing them to proceed with more detailed analysis of the city’s infrastructure, but no decision was made.
City Administrator Herb Llewellyn, who was initially approached about the concept in January, noted the idea is on the agenda for discussion next week. Llewellyn, who confers with department leaders and submits budgets to elected officials each year for consideration, said he believes there may be some opportunity to reduce operating costs.
For example, he said upon his arrival at the city a few years ago, he had automatic lighting systems and automated water features installed in some rooms at city hall to reduce waste. Automatic controls could be helpful to reduce cooling costs, too.
“I came to work Monday and it was freezing in my office. That was because Friday, it got a little warm and someone cranked up the A/C and then went home,” Llewellyn said, adding as a citizen, he does not perceive cooling city hall on the weekends a top priority.
The cost of doing business with Johnson Controls so far is free. If city officials proceed with an in-depth analysis but don’t hire the company to implement their ideas, the cost would be about $35,000, Llewellyn said.
If the company were hired to follow through with its recommendations, there would be an added fee, although Llewellyn said the fee would depend upon the recommendations, if any, that are actually implemented.
Addressing the water meters, interior lighting upgrades, traffic lights, water conservation, a new roof at the Civic Center and updating heating and air units was expected to cost the city roughly $2.5 million. However, the savings and revenue generated was estimated at $363,000 a year, or more than $3.6 million, in 10 years, according to the company.
In one other option presented, the above ideas plus adding red light cameras and more heating and air upgrades would cost the city $3.4 million.
The company estimated an annual savings and revenue generated to be $614,000, or more than $6 million in 10 years.
Think of the savings
By making a series of repairs and upgrades, the city would spend roughly $2.5 million. However, the savings and revenue generated was estimated at $363,000 a year, or more than $3.6 million, in 10 years