Demorest approves $70,500 meter purchase as officials warn prices are rising

Demorest City Council unanimously approved a $70,500 purchase of 300 water meters from Consolidated Pipe, choosing the larger of two options presented for the city’s water system as officials said meter prices were increasing. The motion passed 4-0, according to the council minutes.

The decision concerns equipment that measures customers’ water use and supports billing across a system officials said serves about 7,200 water customers. By authorizing the larger purchase rather than a smaller stock order, the city positioned itself to buy all 300 meters then available before anticipated price increases, committing money from a utility operation residents rely on every day.

Council first considered two Consolidated Pipe options: 150 meters for $35,545 or 300 for $70,500. During that discussion, officials pointed to rising prices, said the meters carried 10-year warranties and noted that the water-sales account held $265,000. That framing led to the subsequent motion for the larger, 300-meter option, which the council approved unanimously.

City officials presented the purchase as a practical inventory decision: acquire the full available stock while prices were climbing and use funds already identified in the water-sales account. The council’s recorded 4-0 vote shows unanimous support among the members voting. The minutes do not include a separately attributed position from Consolidated Pipe, water customers or opponents of the purchase.

The council authorization is complete: members approved the $70,500 purchase of 300 meters. It does not by itself establish that Demorest issued a purchase order, paid the invoice or received the equipment. The provided minutes also do not say when the meeting occurred, so neither the discussion nor the vote can be assigned an exact date from these excerpts.

The next public marker would be a city purchasing, finance or council record tied to the Consolidated Pipe invoice—such as an order, delivery receipt or payment record. Until then, it remains unsettled when the meters will arrive, whether all 300 have been received and whether the city has made final payment.