The city of Booneville goes high-tech and saves money at the same time.
City officials have voted to begin installation of electronic meters which will mean less time on the road for Booneville Municipal Gas System employees.
Meters can be read by remote.
The installation of automatic meter reading devices can be read by employees without stopping.
The effort begins in select areas in the county where it takes the longest to read meters.
"We feel like that the time will be cut to by about a tenth of what it takes now to read the meters. We'll be able to read them in a lot shorter period of time and a lot more accurately," Booneville City Engineer David Moore said.
What used to take thirty-three days to read will now take four to five days maximum.
Moore says the city will pay for the meters as they go.
No money will be borrowed for what will be a total cost of $300,000.
Residents in the Pratts Community will the first to receive the new gas meters.
Eventually, the plan calls for remote reading of both gas and water in the city of Booneville.
Employees will still have to ride routes in the county.
That effort will be several years down the road.
