Sandspit water system operator Bob Prudhomme got a bit of a shock recently when he looked into the cost of replacing some of the town’s plastic water meter boxes with more durable concrete boxes. Mr. Prudhomme told the Moresby Island Management Committee Oct. 11 that the plastic boxes, which are supposed to protect the water meters, are vulnerable because some of them were installed in driveways. So far there have been incidents with a fuel truck, a logging truck and a gravel truck driving over the boxes and splitting them. One solution would be to replace the plastic boxes with concrete chambers with cast iron lids. Mr. Prudhomme found a supplier in Langley who sells the combination for $83 each, including HST. Not a bad price, he said, but when he checked into the price of getting them to Sandspit, he got a shock. To transport one box and lid to the islands will cost $167; if he got six shipped up here the cost would go down a bit, to $104 per box and lid. Committee members agreed that the cost of getting the boxes to Sandspit make them unaffordable. Mr. Prudhomme said he will be looking around for less expensive ways to get them here, or for another solution to protect the water meters.
