At tonight’s Ripon City Council meeting, a public hearing is scheduled to consider water meters for all single-family residences.

As it stands, 2,215 of these 4,322 homes don’t have the link up to these meters, according to the Ripon Water Meter Program.

For the most part, that’s no problem on homes built in 1992, or about the same time state law made it a requirement for all new construction to have metering hookup.

Since 2004, however, State Legislature required all water suppliers to have water meters installed on customer connections by Jan. 1, 2025.

As for the Ripon Water Meter Program, the City has been working plan to do installation for single-family homes currently without water meters.

Since the property owner is responsible, installation cost could be conducted in one lump sum or collected via monthly surcharge as listed on the utility bill over a 10-year period, and without interest. Under the latter, the property owner must make arrangements with the city by Jan. 15 or get charged with the lump sum water meter cost.

According to the City, the meters “are an important water management tool that empowers residents to understand how much water they use as the region is experiencing a multi-year drought.

“The use of water meters encourages people to conserve water while paying only for water they actually use – (meters) are also an important tool in finding water leaks.”

The hearing will take place in the Council Chambers at 259 N. Wilma Ave., for the purpose of hearing or receiving evidence in support of or against the program during the 7 p.m. open session.

For more information, call Ripon City Hall at 209.559.2108 or click on to www.cityofripon.org.