The contract for AMI provided for a “pilot program”, during which the smart meters were installed in the homes and businesses of a controlled number of the city’s 35,000 utilities customers. The city, under that contract, had the option of withdrawing from further implementation if the city determined the technology did not meet its requirements. 91 3,800 smart meters were installed in the “pilot program”, which commenced in March 2021 and was completed two years later. Albany Utilities encountered delays, as there were there were issues with integrating the technology into the department’s billing system. 92

The commission adopted the Utility Board’s recommendation to proceed with implementation of smart meters for all accounts in April 2023. Approximately 90,000 electric, gas and water meters are slated to be installed in the “Full Deployment Phase”. Bermex, a contractor, has been retained to install the smart meters. The estimated completion date is December 2024, though this assumes there will be no further issues in obtaining smart meters.

Fleet Management

The city owns approximately 700 rolling stock assets, which include vehicles and equipment. 93 The city historically purchased vehicles and equipment when funding became available, and much of the city’s rolling stock was maintained well after the expiration of its useful life. This resulted in vehicles and equipment frequently being removed from service and exorbitant repair costs. One challenge with the city’s traditional approach to purchasing rolling stock was explained when the former city manager discussed the acquisition of three fire trucks. The city purchased six badly needed fire trucks in 2004, using SPLOST funds. “Having purchased that many at one time means that they will all reach retirement age at the same time”, she said. The article explained that the director of Fleet Management “has provided a comprehensive plan on a schedule of replacing trucks that will bring that department’s fleet up to date”. 94

The former city manager discussed repair costs in a previous interview, saying, “$1 million has been spent by the city over the last two years on vehicle maintenance, largely due to 50 percent of the city’s vehicles being at or above their ideal lifespan”. 95 Fleet Management, which is “responsible for ordering, maintaining and recommending replacement for all rolling stock and other heavy equipment in the city and county”, was previously a division of Central Services. 96

The Fleet Management Department was established in 2017. The department consists of a Light Duty Shop, responsible for maintenance and repair of vehicles weighing 10,000 lbs. or less, a Heavy-Duty Shop, responsible for maintenance and repair of vehicles and equipment weighing more than 10,000 lbs., and the warehouse, where parts are inventoried and stored. Fleet Management is also responsible for maintaining the city’s three fuel sites.

The city commenced the transition to more energy efficient vehicles in 2020, with the purchase of Ford Explorer Hybrids for the Albany Police Department. The department currently has 35 hybrid Explorers, with 16 more currently being equipped with lights, cages and other police gear. The city has four Ford Escape Hybrids in its fleet and recently purchased two fully electric vans for Paratransit. The city has realized considerable savings with the hybrids, as little or no fuel is consumed when those vehicles are idled.

The city is also exploring the possibility of accessing funding which is currently available for purchasing electric buses for the Transit System.

The commission approved the purchase of four more pumper trucks for the Albany Fire Department in April 2023, at a cost of $4,035,902. These trucks will be replacing three 19-year-old units and one 16-year-old unit. Once this purchase is completed, the city will have standardized all of the fire trucks in its seven stations. The city has committed to standardization of its vehicles and equipment. Standardization is a cost-savings measure, as technician training can be streamlined and parts inventory can be significantly reduced when all vehicles and equipment in a certain class are the same make and model. The city now has GPS tracking units, which permit Fleet Management to identify the location of over 350 vehicles and almost 200 pieces of equipment. 97

The greatest challenge Fleet Management has encountered in recent years has been hiring and retaining qualified mechanics.

LED Streetlights

A former assistant city manager, speaking to a group of citizens and business owners on August 4, 2018, confirmed the city was in negotiations to replace all of its 12,500 streetlights “with new, more efficient, camera-ready LED smart streetlights”. LED (light emitting diode) lights “shine bright white, in contrast to the traditional soft orange hue of streetlights”, and are much brighter. 98

The commission approved the expenditure of $6.5 million some two months later. There was no debt service associated with the purchase and installation of the LED streetlights, as the city utilized FEMA recovery reimbursements to finance the project. 99 Installation of the streetlights began in January 2019, 100 and was completed in December of that year. The LED streetlights will be monitored for outages by the city’s advanced metering system. MetroPower, which installed the streetlights, provided the city with a 10-year warranty. 101

Manufactured Gas Plant

The city owned and operated a manufactured gas plant on a four-acre site at 900 Front Street, near the west bank of the Flint River, from 1912 until the plant was decommissioned in 1948. Most of the buildings had been demolished and the property was abandoned when the EPD instructed the city to begin exploratory digging to determine whether there was coal tar or other contaminants in the soil. The commission learned of this only when the former Albany Water, Gas & Light Commission requested $750,000 to initiate excavations. 102 The preliminary results indicated “the contamination [was] not nearly as bad as it could have been”. WG&L’s assistant general manager speculated “we may get this done at a cost of around $4 million, or even less if things go extremely well”. 103

Thousands of tons of soil were removed and disposed of at the landfill in Phase 2 Remediation, which was completed in 2022. The city’s environmental consultant submitted the Phase 2 Remediation Report to the EPD in March 2023. Costs to date are approximately $3.5 million. The city will be required to install wells to monitor groundwater on the site for another 3-5 years, at an estimated cost of $600,000-$750,000.

Street Resurfacing

An assessment of the city’s 550 miles of asphalt streets identified more than an a third were in “poor” or “very poor” condition, which equated to 101 miles of streets in the “poor” category and 99 miles in the “very poor”. 104 The commission included $10 million for street resurfacing in SPLOST VII, 105 which was approved in November 2016. 106 The commission, the following year, considered recommendations to adopt a six- year program, which would “allow the city to pursue its goal of having every street resurfaced on a 15- to 20-year rotation”. The former assistant city manager, who was a career employee, informed the commission: “We’ve typically taken a scattershot approach to our resurfacing program, with no real plan in place. If you approve this, we’ll be taking the first step in creating an annual resurfacing program with the goal of resurfacing every street in the city on a rotating basis.” 107

Phase 1, being the expenditure of $4.8 million to resurface 52 streets (26 miles), was approved in February 2018. 108 49 streets (32 miles) were resurfaced in Phase 2 at a cost of $6.4 million. 109 T-SPLOST was approved in March 2019. The special tax was projected to generate $80 million over the course of five years, with the city receiving 66% of those funds. 110 The city earmarked 39% of its projected $53.6 million ($20.9 million) in revenue for road improvements. 111 The former city manager anticipated T-SPLOST would provide the city with an additional $2 million a year for road improvements. 112

Phase 3, approved in April 2020, resurfaced 78 streets (25 miles) at a cost of $6.2 million. 113 69 streets (22 miles) were slated for resurfacing in Phase 4. 114 Street resurfacing was renamed T-SPLOST, followed by the successive letter, after Phase 3, as T-SPLOST has been the primary funding source for these contracts. 36 streets (11 miles) were resurfaced in T-SPLOST A, 115 and 33 streets (11 miles) were resurfaced in T-SPLOST B. 116 50 streets (18.5 miles) will be resurfaced in T-SPLOST C, which is currently out for bid. The commission approved $7.5 million for T-SPLOST C in June 2023. 117 Voters will have an opportunity to extend T-SPLOST on November 7, 2023. 118 If approved, all city streets currently deemed to be in “poor” or “very poor” condition will have been resurfaced within the next five years.

Underground Infrastructure

The city was awarded an $8 million competitive grant by the Economic Development Administration in July 2019, conditioned upon a $2.6 million local match. The former city manager, in a letter to city commissioners, asserted, “Specifically, this project converts existing overhead electric and fiber optic utilities to underground infrastructure that serves facilities and businesses in parts of downtown Albany, Phoebe Putney Hospital, and the supporting medical, residential and business community. Once the project is complete, it will improve the resiliency of the city’s critical infrastructure and mitigate future occurrences of prolonged utility failure in the event of natural disasters.” 119

Infrastructure was buried in the Sandy Bottom circuit, which extends from Roosevelt Avenue on the south to Eighth Avenue to the north, and from Monroe Street on the west to Washington Street to the east. 120 Construction began in February 2022 121 and was completed in July 2023. The Sandy Bottom circuit is currently energized and providing power to customers.

Utilities

The city retained Phoenix Engineering to evaluate its electrical distribution system, identify any deficiencies, and make recommendations to improve safety and efficiency, in 2018. The Utility Board has adopted a Strategic Infrastructure Improvement Plan, whereby the electrical infrastructure will be enhanced to provide a safe, cost-effective, and reliable system for its customers and employees. The five-year plan involves replacing antiquated equipment and assuring that all facilities are compatible with applicable operating standards.

The plan, now in its second year, affords priority to the deficiencies identified by Phoenix Engineering as presenting the greatest operational and safety concerns. The city has upgraded four of its 12 substations with modern equipment that will reduce outage durations and has reconfigured station equipment to meet current industry standards. Three more substations will be upgraded in 2024, and the other five substations are slated for upgrades in 2025 and 2026. Overhead lines are being replaced with more reliable conductors, which will reduce the likelihood of failures. The city now uses equipment which allows employees to monitor, identify and repair potential malfunctions before a power outage occurs.

The city is also in the process of rebuilding each of its 29 wells, which includes replacing motors, pumps, and other equipment. 17 wells have been rehabbed and the city will rehab two additional wells in each of the next four years. The Water Department is currently in the process of inspecting the lines to each of its over 30,000 customers to identify any which do not comply with current lead and copper service line regulations. The city must submit a lead and copper service line inventory, identifying all nonconforming components, by October 2024.