OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Sheridan Town Supervisor John Walker II shared at a recent Sheridan Town Board meeting that the North Chautauqua County Water District is seeking new water meters throughout the district.

SHERIDAN — At a recent Sheridan Town Board meeting, Supervisor John Walker shared with the board and members of the public the desire for new water meters throughout the north county.

The North Chautauqua County Water District, which was formed in February of 2016, includes the Village of Brocton, the Town of Portland, the Town of Pomfret, the Town of Dunkirk, and the Town of Sheridan. The City of Dunkirk acts as the water supplier to the district through Chadwick Bay Intermunicipal Water Works (CBI).

“The Committee of CBI is made up of four supervisors and one mayor from those local communities. Recently, we’ve had some manufacturers of different water meters come in and make presentations. The objective is to get the best radio-read meters we can get and stabilize the meter setup throughout all of north county,” said Walker.

Currently, there are 2-3 different kinds of meters in use throughout the districts, but the goal is to find one meter for the whole district to use.

A grant is being submitted on behalf of the communities in the district for a new system to “modernize” operations, according to Walker.

The hope is with the new meters in place, a reading will be available in less than a full day. The system could be “internet-capable” to where the entire district could be viewed remotely from the CBI office in Sheridan. “That’s not going to happen tomorrow, but that’s the long-term idea. It’s what is being done in a lot of cities now, and we’re trying to do the same thing,” Walker said.