MeterSYS conducted an operational assessment and feasibility analysis for a water utility with 15,000 customers that experienced a catastrophic failure of AMR installed in 2008.  The City has lost all automated read capabilities and now must manage manual monthly reads and over 1,100 re-reads with each cycle.  Our findings and recommendations, including detailed financial analysis, was presented to City leadership and the City has elected to move forward with an AMI solution and associated process improvement changes.  The willingness to move forward with smart metering solutions after failure of its initial AMR system clearly defines the value of assessment in the project progression process. Analysis through business case development will ensure that all options for municipal operations and service delivery have been fully assessed prior to embarking on projects funded by customers and/or taxpayers. This methodical approach will help maintain public trust in the project and validate that all variables have been identified and quantified against project goals.