In what can only be described as the stealth delivery of an early turkey, the Cary Town Council gave its final approval for a $17m program to install electronic water meters (AMR) in our homes that are capable of reporting your water usage on an hourly basis. Hello, Big Brother. Despite promises in August by Karen Mills, the project’s manager, to provide the Cary Watchmen with details for review (she didn’t), the Town staff and Council have decided to force this Orwellian system on citizens only days after Councilwoman Julie Robison assured us that AMR was “dead” due to lack of funding. The Cary Watchmen wonder why all the secrecy, and given the dire state of our economy, why now? Might this be related to the Town’s plans for massive increases in property taxes and fees? Read about the recent history of this highly questionable project here.