It is nine o'clock on Monday April 26th we have a quorum so we'll call to order the Public
Utilities Board of the City of Denton meeting to order the first item is public comments
we did receive one public comment via email from Sherry Darby and according to our rules
we don't actually read it but the Secretary will put it into the board minutes do we have
anyone else waiting on the phone to make a comment this is Tyler Smith no you do not
have any other public comments all right thank you and we'll go into the regular meeting
which the first item is consent agenda does anybody wish to pull any items from A through
G yes madam chairman I would like to remove item A from the consent agenda okay any other
B anyone else all right do we have a motion to approve item C through G so moved second
thank you all in favor say aye aye opposed item A so madam chairman members of the board
we have Chris Campbell here from the water department Chris one of our superintendents
he's going to walk through a short presentation and hopefully you know answer any questions
that you have if not he'll give you time for a question answer if that Chris hey good morning
everybody I'm gonna my name is Chris Campbell I'm the superintendent over capital projects
for utilities and just bear with me here I'll share my screen okay I'm gonna walk us through
a brief presentation over the Hickory Creek lift station change order number two request
project overview and scope original scope was to construct a new wastewater lift station
an effort to replace and decommission the existing Hickory Creek lift station we have
had one change order for this project which was a monorail extension extension I'm sorry
allowing more mobility when removing a pump from the lift station change order number
two which is what we're here for today is improve a proposed bypass system by enhancing
redundancy a few manhole upgrades as well as some what well improvements the valve adjustments
schedule so our original schedule for this project was 270 days change order number one
excuse me added 21 days to the contract and change order number two will add 154 days
to the contract the new lift station is set to be online actually operating at the end
of next month which is May here's a kind of a brief overview of our budget for the for
the project original contract value you can see there we added change order number one
and then change order number two is what we are bringing forth today with the project
total is these change orders combined are less than five percent of the original contract
value it's a recommendation consider recommending adoption of ordinance accepting the change
order of construction for the Hickory Creek lift station with Raymar construction in the
amount of 128 thousand 170 dollars and 68 cents and with that I'll open it up to questions
any questions mr. Ryback go ahead yes thank you um I was curious about the scope as I
looked at the exhibit for the information I noticed there were a number of changes valve
reconfiguration manhole cast in place it just occurred to me that it was a little bit odd
there were so many reconfigurations or modifications to the original design so I was wondering
Chris if you could just tell us a little bit about how we got to the place where we are
today where you're asking for the change order I'm not suggesting this is unreasonable I'm
just curious how so many of these adjustments were made and we're just getting the change
order now so if you could address that I'd be very grateful yes sir absolutely yeah and
you're you're 100% correct there are quite a few changes with this change order including
those valve adjustments manhole adjustments throughout conversation with the the wastewater
superintendent the design engineer team on this project it's been brought to our attention
that when this project was designed quite a few years ago we were not thinking holistically
for the for the lift station site all the manholes that are involved actually the the
actual material that we're using for the manholes the you know this one is it is actually a
one-off fiberglass manhole or I'm sorry lift station so yes sir that quite a few things
were put aside to try to save a few dollars that have been brought forth and we feel that
with where we are with this project in the Hickory Creek Basin we feel it'd be imperative
to to push forward and and provide the best product well I understand that I'm just curious
you made the comment you were pushing said you were trying to make some value adjustments
and yet the contract value has gone up so again just curious how we got to this place
I see there's some other questions so I'll let you answer let some other folks get a
word in edgewise thank you thank you okay Billy go ahead thank you madam chair that
being said you have a hundred and twenty eight thousand dollar change order on this portion
but you're adding a hundred and fifty four days that seems a little disproportionate
days versus dollar amount it should I mean for 154 days if you would think you'd be a
half a million dollars into it really easy yes sir I could speak to that briefly and
really I think where we're gonna have add more days is the bypass for this we've we've
asked them because of lessons learned on some other lift station projects to change their
means and methods with the bypass this is one of the largest stations in the wastewater
system and their initial bypass was very similar to another project on Teasley and we felt
that it was important to change their means and methods with the bypass shifting how they're
going to go about performing the bypass adding a few additional taps so that's a big portion
of it along with the manhole changes you know we change one of the manholes for example
we changed to a polymer manhole to better improve corrosion resistance of the manhole
which will improve of course the longevity of the manhole so is this more of a float
in the schedule than it is actual work being performed for the days extended I believe
so like we're waiting on redesign instead of actually out there doing work is that correct
we have added design days in there the design has been completed now and as far as the bypass
is concerned is along with the manholes as well so all the design has been completed
and now now we've just got to perform the actual work pretend did you have a comment
to make or I saw you brought your hand down yeah actually Chris touched on it good morning
this pretendation deputy director water wastewater Chris did touch on the lessons learned I think
one of the critical things that we've learned in the past few months just dealing with some
other bypass issues is that we in moving forward we need to include the by actual bypass in
our design so that we can define when things happen what happens because in the past we've
left the contractor to define it and put it in place and just learning from what we know
with what happened at easily with text on contractor we we had several days and weeks
of our staff trying to figure things out and remedy it at the last minute instead of that
we went back this one we really redesigned it and that's why this additional cost is
to make sure that we have ample amount of redundancy in the system so that the overflows
the fails never happen okay mr. Ryback you have another question yes I was just curious
you have mentioned redesign and the dollar amount you're asking for is for construction
is there also a design amount is there a designer a separate consultant civil engineer involved
so will there be another change order for them as well there is a design consultant
Hayes and Sawyer that's part of this project and we've actually brought their change order
forth pre term actually presented that change order I don't remember the exact date but
we have brought that for to PB and council okay so that's already been approved yes sir
okay very good thank you thank you any other questions do we have a motion to approve item
A so moved thank you in a second oh Barbara's seconding all in favor say aye opposed motion
carries item B Barbara I just have a question I understand that we're we're going to deny
that but tell me what a utility scale what utility scale solar energy is yes ma'am we
have a think Terry Nolte's on on the line he can he can respond to that Terry yes good
morning chairman chair Parker and members the PUB Terry Nolte assistant GM at DME so utility
scale solar it would be anything larger than a megawatt in size and as you're probably
aware we have a number of contracts out there that are in excess of 75 megawatts of solar
capacity this was actually an RFP that we issued in late 2019 with COVID we had a number
of discussions with potential bidders we narrowed it to two bidders and we went back to with
our with our detailed contract the selected bidder delayed the start date for another
year and increased their price and so we are rejecting this RFP or this bid and closing
out this procurement because it's no longer the most cost effective incremental piece
of solar generation for our portfolio we've also miss Russell we've also kind of changed
our strategy a little bit as a result of the winter storm and we're going to be optimizing
several of our renewable energy contracts to try to make them more rateable and dependable
you're on mute Susan and jumper mr. jumper go ahead yeah thank you so to kind of follow
up that Terry's does that mean we're not like looking for other options at this point
where instead what you just said kind of trying to leverage our current contracts yes sir
mr. jumper we will be trying to optimize the existing contracts we will more than likely
later this year issue a new RFP for some form of renewable whether it's coastal wind or
additional solar at this point our portfolio is pretty full up in terms of our ability
to meet our hundred percent renewable objectives with the contracts that we currently have
in place so unless we see a significant uptick in in demand load growth within the system
we should be in pretty good shape for at least another year and a half or two years other
questions do we have a motion to approve mr. Russell proved second Karen to Vinnie all
in favor say aye aye carried next is consider the approval of the April 12 2021 minutes
does anyone have any changes seeing none do we have a motion to approve the minutes mr.
cheek moved approval mr. Russell seconded all in favor say aye aye opposed okay next
is management reports madam chair and members of the pub so we have a couple items for you
the first item is a contract extension notification this is a change in our lock box with Wells
Fargo I don't know if if Krista or Ryan are on the phone but if anyone has any questions
we'll be happy to answer any questions regarding that item is the board member have a question
all right okay the the next item is just a follow-up memo regarding the minutes I know
we had previously sent a memo to the PB but there were still some additional questions
and just want to see if if I'm if the memo that I sent you made made the item clear for
you I know that recently the council adopted a new boarding commission handbook and that
should have that should have gone to you already and if it hasn't please let me know and I'm
happy to send that to you but I think the bottom line is that the minutes are the official
record of of the city and and they are in in the format that's dictated by the city
secretary's office to the city council and so it's not those minutes are not intended
to be verbatim and so it just gives you kind of a sense of what the agenda item was what
the vote was and then obviously then the video becomes kind of the the detailed record of
what the discussion was but again I hope that was clear for you if not I'll be happy to
answer any questions on that item go ahead um thanks Tony so the the letter that was
in our item details for the agenda item didn't have the attachment which was the memo I wonder
if you could resend that I mean it probably is redundant but I've never I haven't seen
the actual memo yet okay yeah we we can get that back out to you okay yes ma'am thanks
okay um the next item is on um before we move on madam chairman I have a question oh I'm
sorry I didn't see you sorry okay uh Tony I was curious um these recordings are the
actual verbatim um minutes if you will of our meetings how long are those retained um
my understanding is they were they're retained indefinitely okay so there's no like in a
year or two they expire and are deleted correct that's that's again my understanding uh Katherine
I don't know if if you know any different um now if there's a change in the state retention
guidelines and that may have they certainly have an impact on on the retention of those
I'm just curious because video takes a lot of memory and if you're recording all of these
various and sundry uh board meetings in addition to city council and so forth um I don't assume
the IT folks will eventually want to get rid of it so I was just curious if there was a
time frame um yeah no no time frame that I'm aware of okay thank you yes sir all right
I think now we can move on okay so for uh future agenda items um obviously today we'll
we'll be having discussion with you with our finance team on on budget priorities again
that was a um a request that we had gotten in a meeting with the chair and the vice chair
and city management team and so we hope you find that discussion um good for you and and
certainly we're looking forward to to your thoughts on on the budget going forward and
then um after that there'll be a number of discussions that will be coming to you related
to the utility rates and budgets uh in conjunction with the you know 21 22 uh fiscal year um and
just especially for those that are new um that budget is due to the council on july 31st
right and so uh usually right after the first part of the first week in august is when the
the proposed budget is presented to the city council and obviously that'll come with the
recommendations from the pub so that's that's kind of the end the end game for for the pub
as we're trying to get get to that deadline and and uh and certainly we'll be coming to you and
and and seeking your direction on on rates and the proposed budgets uh and capital budgets um uh for
for fiscal year 21 22 so uh with that if there's any any other item that that you want to see on the
on the future agendas or if any questions on these items i'll be happy to answer any questions on that
any questions um madam chairwoman i have a question sorry barbara i was just curious so
this uh budget will we be having some kind of uh work review session to go over the budget in more
detail yes sir um you'll you'll get you'll get um line item budgets you get very detailed um
information on each of the utilities budgets and rates um and they'll be coming to you um here
pretty quick okay so in the next month and a half or two months we'll be seeing those then yes sir
so so don't plan on any vacations um you're ours for the next two months well thanks for the heads
up thank you madam chairman um miss rascal did you have a question yes yes barbara has a question
barbara you like barbara better i do too yes i did um you said something about a handbook or
something we should have gotten or we got how how would that have been received i don't recall
seeing it it should have it should have been an email to you uh barbara um it was the handbook
on for the boards and commissions uh the council did make some updates to that and it should have
been emailed to you uh i think on friday came from rosa rios yes from rosa rio she's the city
secretary correct so if you didn't get that give me a call or send me an email and we'll get that
back out to you okay okay so the the last item is the uh just the new business items um you know
we've obviously worked through uh the listing that we had uh we still have a pending item from solid
waste that'll be coming to you uh here pretty quick um and then um you know the uh there was a
question um this was a question that originally came from from mr soph and uh we think that um as
part of the budget we'll be able to to try to address that question um and then finally you know
the the question on the minutes and that was that was resolved today and karen i'll make sure we'll
get that memo and attachment to you um before the end of the day so if there's any other uh items
that you'd like to add to this list we're happy to um to hear you guys out that's all i have miss
miss parker okay i'd like to uh see what the routine is for replacing water meters and uh are
we mostly now when we replace an electric meter we're going to the smart meters uh just i know
there's a regular time limit that you have for replacing water meters in the city and and and
how far are we along in replacing the electric meters with smart meters if we could know about
that next time yeah that's that's that's a good question um yeah we can certainly uh come back
and and provide you some more context that where we are currently um going through a study on
looking at um automating our water meters and certainly uh their replacement schedule which is
about a 10-year replacement schedule will be part of that analysis uh certainly there'll be a
financial impact but we can certainly get that to you uh that study will also look um at our am
current ami system for for electric um and um i can tell you we currently have about a dozen
non ami meters out there on the electric side um and and those folks are just um you know folks
that still not comfortable with as as those residents um vacate then we did we are planning
us to convert those uh to ami uh but um but that analysis that we're doing on the water side will
also encompass uh the electric side and so once that study um is ready we'll we'll be able to
respond to and provide you the context that you need as barbara if that's okay with you thank you
very much yes ma'am okay then we'll move on to the work session so the first item is to receive
a report hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding solid waste department
services assistance program formerly known as porch collections program
so uh we have um eugene mckinney um he's um he's coming up right now and and get settled in the
staff computer and and get his presentation up so morning everyone hey eugene
mckinney
oh
so
we're almost there just give us one more second eugene likes to make a grand entrance
well you could have always given us the standby due to technical difficulties that would have
been a good one i wish i could but no it's just eugene
so
we're almost there there he is
so
okay presentation yeah but i think you
not sure okay sure
i think we're ready sorry for the delays
so good morning sorry for the delays
madam chairwoman morning board members and everyone in attendance my name is eugene mckinney i'm the
deputy director with solid waste and recycling department and i'm here this morning to talk about
our porch collection program as well as some improvements where are we are suggesting
so what is our porch collection program it's a program that allows
our customers assistance with getting their carts to the curb on their collection day how does it work
the customer contacts customer service requesting the service customer service
contact solid waste typically a field service supervisor or crew leader goes out to the location
they approve the service they locate the container and they communicate that back to the operator
at that time a yellow lid is placed on the bin on the service day the driver operator identifies
the bin visually at that time once it's identified the cart is serviced manually the driver typically
gets out of the vehicle goes and gets the can brings it back to the truck tips it with an
automated arm and that collection is complete so here's what our drivers see they see when they
pull up they see a container with the yellow lid what we'd like to do and we'd like to rebrand
the program and move away from porch collection to service assistance program this will do a few
things for us it'll increase customer privacy by removing those green lids out of the community
that way everyone will have a standard color lid it strengthens by installing an application process
it increases our application process to ensure eligibility it allows for an auditing of records
that way everything is stored electronically we'll run this program through our Rubicon system
decrease in administrative time the times that we actually touch paperwork you'll see here an
application this application will work through customer service and customer service will work
closely with us as far as the paperwork and notifying so part a of this application is the
customer's information part b is the doctor the physician importantly more importantly part b
where the doctor determines if this eligibility is permanent or temporary part c is more terms and
conditions of the program we put a lot of emphasis on the customer changing locations
because we don't have a process in place now where if they go online and do it electronically
the system may not notify this system may not identify that they're a porch collection
uh customer and they may some service gaps may happen so if when the customer calls and lets
customer service know they're moving they'll let solid waste know immediately and we'll take care
of the change again our recommendations we want to rename the program from solids to solid waste
services citizens program we want to update a application process to require adopters validation
for eligibility currently our departmental leaders crew leader supervisor going out and they're just
determining where the container should sit there's no eligibility to really determine in this process
in the current process all the other layers will be removed so we'll have a uniform color list
throughout the community as well the most important thing will allow our new rubicon smart city
application to alert our operators when they come up on the stop so what you'll see is what the
driver's operators will see on their screen when they approach one of these stops they'll see the
customer's name and address which we have blotted out here as well there'll be an ambient alert
100 to 150 feet away from the house so when they start approaching the house there'll be an alert
that alert is going to stay on until that customer is serviced and is manually turned off
so again no more yellow lives it's an ambient alarm plus the the operator is visually alerted
when we come across one of these stops
questions comments your feedback is welcome
questions yes lee go ahead oh thank you ma'am uh i'm curious um the program previously had
uh no requirement for identification that the person had an issue with getting their
can to the curb did i understand that correctly yes yes sir you are you are correct there was
just a phone call and the representative went out and basically determined where the container
should sit but there was no eligibility who should who should receive and the most important one of
the most important uh facets of this new our recommendation is we want to take that out of
our hands determining eligibility okay well you're still determining eligibility but just based on
some criteria from the third party correct yes it'll be their doctor their physician
determining eligibility based on their medical conditions what if they're just
pretty much elderly you know 90 years old can't get to the curb very easily is is that something
that they can also have this assistance program for on the surface i'll say yes because if there's an
opportunity for tripping fall easily slipping fall and things like that that doctor can make
that assessment as well and there's um there's even on the application whether it's permanent
or it's temporary okay um you know but more importantly those opportunities that create
you know and it's confidential won't be disclosed to solid waste what that is it'll just be the
physician saying yes or no they meet the criteria for the program well and i do like going away from
the uh yellow lid i it can be dangerous to identify that someone and madam chair
madam chair i don't know if if if um bg mentioned it but this did go through the committee on um
disabilities and so so that did go there first so that's coming with their recommendations
yes but anyways i just want to make sure that that was communicated yeah thank you thank you
thank you tony we we did um march the 19th and they they love the fact that there's a formal
application process now so that way it's not just being given to everyone as well as the yellow
lids are being removed from the community to kind of reduce some threats billy go ahead so uh i
appreciate the process change um so what the picture that you saw was just one circumstance i
realized that but it was out in front of their home so you run into a dual or a catch 22 there
because they're supposed to be not visible from the street until beginning in the end of trash day
uh is there some sort of uh waiver or something for people who can't get them back and forth
um so i heard part of it you said the container shouldn't be visible from the street right well i
didn't say that i'm sorry i'm trying to understand what you're saying i said that but what i'm saying
is that's the city's rules right is it except for on the beginning and the end of trash day
they shouldn't be visible from the street right okay i'm sorry so with the new program their
address is locked into the system so even if it's on the side of the house or somewhere else as long
as there we have a party application process they have to allow us permission to enter the property
on that said day so it doesn't have to be visible as long as this we have access to it that system
is still going to alert us that this is a house that requires this this service yeah my concern
would be like trash days tuesday and that trash cans out there on wednesday is that going to create
some sort of code violation no sir so once we service the container if it's in the yard behind
the fence we'll replace it we'll take it right back to where we got it from so those customers
at least through this process you won't have to worry about a container being left out overnight
or visible beyond the service day okay thank you yeah billy i think i think billy the only the only
thing that may be out there and obviously that's not the city's role would be in the hoa so certain
hoa's have certain rules and so those those that are governed separately from from the city so
certainly yeah then go ahead thank you okay i got a couple of things um so it sounds like
we're mostly just reorganizing an existing program rebranding maybe automating some things
electrifying uh is that correct yes we like to call it a program enhancement okay uh so is there
any additional costs that come along with that no additional costs okay uh so then uh from an
operational standpoint um the uh was it the rubicon system that alerts the driver is that what you were
saying yes so if if for example two houses next door to each other require this service uh does
this just kind of stack the alerts or how do they manage multiple alerts in the same area if it's
you know 100 150 feet out right we we just had this conversation this morning just fine and
tuning because rubicon is actually is actually improving it's a process improvement every day
for we're finding out new things so the conversation of stacked um customers so it'll stack it'll stack
it in the system so what you'll see is you'll hear that ambient alert and there'll be a green
dot that flashes as well as another address will come up so it's insurability that that customer
will be serviced and the range it typically you know 150 to 200 feet and once you pass the house
we have to manually there's a green dot that stays illuminated and we have manually turn it off once
we pass the house so with the drivers when you know of course they're sneeze out there they know
their routes their managers of the communities they know what they're doing so they are quick
to turn their ambient alarm off or the light off so that doesn't happen so they don't have stack
sort of don't create a confusion so but to answer your question yeah um we'll no customer in this
situation will be left behind you're on mute again well they're washing my windows i'm trying
not to have the noise in the background um and you have what you need from us Eugene yes okay all
right thank you all you know actually i guess i can bring it up under concluding items
it might be nice to see the Rubicon system in a work session because it's fairly new to us
correct yeah it's fairly new and we do start we we plan to start our presentations early June
okay we do so you will see this in its most updated version again it's a process improvement
they are showing us new things every day with the capabilities of the system right now
seeing are wonderful so early June we'll start rolling out our presentation processes through
the different boarding committees so it's coming wonderful yeah so Susan I just just want to make
sure that I didn't hear any opposition so I'm assuming that everybody's good just proceeding
with these changes okay very good thank you thank you thank you all right next item thank you Mr.
McKinney receive a report and hold a discussion and give staff direction on priorities for the
fiscal year 2021 2022 electric water wastewater and solid waste budgets
good morning pb members chair nick vinson assistant director of finance give me a
second i'll pull the presentation out
take my glasses off they're a little fogged up this morning
all right
and so as I said I'm nick vinson assistant director of finance and this is a joint
presentation I'll run through the first six slides and then turn it over to the directors
to cover their priorities with you for this upcoming budget cycle a couple things before
we get started we are encouraging the pb members to ask questions give us feedback regarding the
priorities you want to see included in this 22 budget these are staffs recommendations it doesn't
mean these can't change based on your feedback but we definitely want to have that dialogue with you
and discuss them so the objective of the presentation is really to look at the budget
cycle and the current priorities that are identified by the staff members mostly the
directors from the departments give us any feedback of what you think of those anything
new you'd like to see in the budget we'll be happy to bring that back forward to you during
the budget discussions so each of the utilities will present today electric water wastewater and
solid waste and then we'll talk about those next steps so what we want to do for several of the new
pb members is really just show you what the budget process is made up of and when it starts and when
it goes through and so the city's fiscal year runs from october 1st to september 30th budget
discussions really start in march you can see over here to your left we have that budget kickoff
and then march and may is where we're currently at we're looking at that budget development and
planning and then we get in june and july and talking about the city council budget presentations
august we have that city council budget workshop that tony had mentioned earlier
that's usually the first tuesday of august but then september we have our public hearings for
the tax rate in the budget prior to city council adoption and then towards the end of september the
city council does adopt the budget so several steps and several conversations to come forward
to the pb in the coming months a city council priorities the city council did meet about a month
and a half ago to talk about priorities to be included in the fiscal year 2022 budget and these
are them you can see anything from implementing an economic development strategic plan to renovating
the loop 28 building completing the mobility plan and then funding for city hall west improvements
and then improving that capital improvement project communication around the city
so several priorities that they have established with their 22 budget process
a budget term so we just want to give some basic terms and that you will hear throughout the
budgeting process and you may hear today so prior to today's meeting the finance department has been
working with departments to develop a baseline budget and a baseline budget simply means the
fiscal year 2021 budget roll forward so taking that budget that was adopted by both the pb and
city council and rolling it forward to the next fiscal year in doing that what we do is remove
any one-time expenses associated with supplemental packages from the prior year so those come out of
that baseline budget we do look at lot cost that have been updated so you know transfers to the
general fund technology services of inner fund transfers those are the ones we look at we do lock
those now for departments and baseline adjustments what these are these are increases to the baseline
budget and these could be example is office supplies increasing from 500 to 1500 would be
an example of the baseline adjustment uh covid reinstatements if you do remember during the
presentation we had last week and several department didn't make operational decreases
in response to the covid pandemic so departments do have an opportunity this year to get those
items reinstated and they are being submitted separately for the city management team to look
at as part of the budgeting process um something little request um we usually consider these new
initiatives that could be new personnel for a department it could be a new vehicle for a
department or it could be a new software program as an example as mentioned down there below
so some major data before you move on this is lee i have a just brief question so when you say the
baseline budget is rolled forward so each department does not start a budget from scratch
they take last year's budget it becomes this year's budget and then it's merely reworked
for the current year did i understand that correctly that is correct mr rabak the previous
budget is rolled forward um to the next year that is correct absolutely thank you
um and one other thing about that mr rabak just to point out you know
there's several reasons for that some of them be in detail so each department does a great job
providing detail how that budget was developed as people continue to promote around the city or
move to new positions the next person coming into that role can pick up and where they left off so
and definitely benefit to be had in that but that is the reason for that um so a couple important
dates that are coming up departments do submit the baseline adjustments um in april so we did
recently receive those from departments the finance team is currently working with departments to go
through them and clean them up and really get them in a presentable format for the city management
team we start those internal budget review and discussions in may of this year so actually here
in a few days we'll start meeting with the cmo team to talk about those budgets that were submitted
prior to coming to pub and city council and then in june and july those are the presentations to
both the pub and city council and then of course we'll incorporate any feedback you give us today
for those future meetings into this budget and then of course the adoption in september
about the city council pb adoption of the budget usually late august or early september
of a city council usually be in mid to late september stay dick i hate to stop you again
but what's the cmo uh the city management office city management office okay great thank you city
manager and assistant city managers and then what i'll do i believe um tony puente is going to walk
through the dme slide so i'll turn it over to him any questions for me
all right so um just to cover the slide obviously some of these items are items that
should not be new to you obviously um the first couple um you know we did discuss with you um
when we came and talked with you about the impact of of winter storm uri
nick can you go back one slide
all right so uh again you know what weatherization um at at the denner energy center is something
that that we're certainly looking at um actively along with looking at our fuel supply
if you recall we do have currently one gas supplier but we are looking at various options
that that could include some diversification in our fuel supply out there at the dinner center
and then certainly the second item as you know you know there's still ongoing discussions in austin
and we're actively engaged with our local delegation as well as various other parties
at at the capital through our lobbyist focus advocacy and our participation in uh tppa which
is the texas public power association comprised of over 70 municipal owned utilities and so we're
certainly active um and participating in those and and at this point there's really not been a whole
lot of movement uh the time is clicking on the legislature uh but um you know we're certainly
you know keeping in tune with the with the various bills that are out there um the the next item um
you know the then renewable resource plan was adopted a few years ago um it's it's a little
stale it's a little dated uh there there are some you know uh definitional issues within that plan
that we'd like to come back and do some cleanup um for you and then and then have a discussion
discussion with you uh don't anticipate major deviations from from the plan of you know certainly
not the hundred percent renewable goal uh but certainly we'll we'll come back to to the pub
and have that discussion we already talked to you a little bit about you know some restructuring on
some of our renewable uh contracts and how we take those forward so that's really trying to encompass
all of those issues within within this bullet item another major uh project and this is this
is very project specific that we wanted to just bring to you is uh you know we had direction from
the council a few years back to pursue a gas insulated substation uh to replace our current
hickory substation and so that's a pretty important project for us it's about a little bit over 20
million dollar project uh that's already ongoing uh related to that is also uh this transmission
line that basically cuts right through the unt campus and so very important to the university
internally the overall uh community and so we felt that this is a major project that we felt
uh we'd like to recommend as a priority for you uh going forward uh and as you know we've we uh did
abandon the eagle substation project um and so uh so that was a a major change uh that then created
um uh the need for us to do a little bit of redesign on the hickory gis substation to
to serve unt's load from that station rather than what was originally contemplated at the
eagle substation and just just uh for your curiosity the eagle uh substation was also
intended to be a gas insulated substation um and that differentiates from the air insulated gas
stations which is uh um substations which is what we normally see out there with the
you know big walls or big uh chain lead fences um you know these are more um these are housed
inside so these large building structures that that you would see um the next item and and this
item really came from the council's uh priorities and it was really we were asked to do an informal
staff report so we felt that we needed to duplicate that here and that's really just to look at uh
undergrounding um some electric lines across the city and our jerry fildler in our engineering
department is is looking at that he's come up with a pretty good uh you know what i feel pretty good
solid methodology of how how he's narrowed down the various corridors and uh so once we have that
we will our plan is to then send that informal staff report to both the the city council and
also the pub um yes billy um i know we've been looking at that enclosed substation for years
um did we i guess did they finalize the design is it gonna look like the beer barn or
is it gonna look like what the beer barn no no um you know if you recall billy we we worked really
closely with that with with that neighborhood um we went through a variety of different designs
and so it's gonna be uh you know in keeping with the uh with the design with you know with the
design kind of um that that fits that neighborhood uh certainly the wall was a major component and
so we're cognizant of that as well so we've not deviated from that what we have deviated
a little bit is that rather than piecemeal that project like we've done various other projects
we're going to basically do a design build um on that project and so we're we are working through
that now with our procurement and legal department but uh uh again um i i think the neighborhood will
be pleased with with that project okay thank you go ahead Barbara hi tony is this the one on uh
bernard and hickory um no ma'am it's it's actually um between uh hickory and oak and and bonnie bray
um bonnie bray wasn't yeah several years ago we had a a citizens committee meet and they came up
with some suggestions and so now you're saying that that's going to change no no ma'am the the
the design is still unchanged um it's how we how we're going to procure and construct the facility
rather than do separate contracts uh we're going to do a single uh design build contract where you
have a engineering firm that comes in and they handle all you know from nuts to bolts on on that
facility uh we think that there will be some some cost savings uh the one that you're referencing
is actually and i believe is bernard i think it's the corner of eagle and bernard um that that
substation there we did abandon that we that that substation is not going to be needed for probably
another 30 years uh we have uh retained that property and um and ultimately there will be a
substation there but that'll be very much into the future so yeah would it be helpful to bring
the design back through a work session just to whether we've got new board members to begin with
and then to refresh all of our memories yeah yeah well we're happy to do that or we can certainly
do an informal staff report to you with all the details again you know the community you know we
work very closely with the community that some of the council you know that and and so so we've we've
had questions about you're not changing anything no we're not changing anything we're just changing
how we procure and construct the facility go ahead karen uh i was on the citizens design committee
and uh council member paul melcher was also on it he came up with the idea of sort of making it look
like a building you know like like they do in brooklyn you know you could walk by it and not
necessarily think oh goodness this is a transition station so that was the that was the big idea
we didn't arrive at a definite design in that committee so i'm sure things have moved forward
in the last four or five years whenever that was um so i'd be really i'm really curious about what
has been uh you know developed since then i know that there were going to be some panels with some
public art and um there was also going to be a little facade element from uh what is now the
monroe pierson building which was the warehouse of the guy who built my house on oak street
so it'd be really nice tie-in you know for the history of the neighborhood and i know that those
ideas haven't been dropped so i'll be very curious to see how they've been developed in more detail
well we can certainly um like i said i we can get you an informal staff report i think we already
did one for the council we'll just brush that up say it to you and if and if there's still questions
after that we can come back and do a work session on that we'll be happy to do that i think it'll
be great and it'll also be serve as a nice model for other substations um you know in the city if
it works out if the design works out and fits in with the neighborhood thanks i remember the major
concern about that was it was one of the gateways in the denton and so they weren't uh you know that
karen and i both served on that and they wanted it to not just look like an electrical substation
be driving in the city from that one yeah yeah i think it's important for the pb to understand
too that while while gis substation does take considerably less less property um than a regular
air insulated uh substation um the cost is is considerably more uh for that type of substation
and not only that but uh also understand that our that our folks certainly those in our substation
um the division um don't have a lot of experience dealing with these sorts of uh substations and so
likely what we'll be doing is is probably looking to some outsource help and obviously that that
tends to sometimes cost you a little bit more and not only that but it did it could impact
reliability um if those contractors have to come in from out of town to work on an issue with the
substation that may that may that may have an impact on our reliability and so those are
things that we're going to be looking at and and certainly talking with you certainly as we come
back with you on on the budget and and start really looking at at operating that facility
once it's on the ground so nick i think i had one more item um
and so so in the last item um some of you might be aware of it but we did get called in um from
the public utility commission to do a full rate case on our transmission cost of service um and
so so we felt that that because of the potential financial impact um on our on our fund um we felt
that that was important for us to have us here as a priority uh the pub and the council has already
approved a contract with a company called new gen strategies and we're already actively working
with them uh to get that prepared that is due back to the commission um before november um we're
we're hopeful uh that of a good outcome but uh but again um any decrease in our rate of return
will have a an economic impact on our on our fund and it's something that that we're cognizant of
and we're working through that and made preparations for that already through our our multi-year
forecasting for for this particular fund um but it's also important to know that uh we do uh want
to uh twice a year do interim rate case filings with the commission uh but it's been about 15
years since we last went for a full rate case and so it seemed pretty logical um for us to be called
in for that and so um so we'll again we'll be working through that uh i are already working
through that now um and working closely with our finance uh department and also bill shepherd in
our um energy services area are working through that so with that i'll be happy to answer any
questions or if there's any other items that you'd like to see on here certainly i'm happy
to discuss that with you any questions no just comment tony i know this is a big deal and i hope
everybody sees that the t-cost is a huge deal for the city of bitten and how we get our return
on our investments and it can go south or it can go really really well or go south yeah the the
other the other time that i'll mention to you it'll it'll um actually you you approved it today was a
a contract with nugent strategies as well to do a cost of service study and so that's going to be
part of of that discussion and consideration going forward is you know what potential rate impact
does they have um if if our rate of return on the transmission cost of services cut in half or
or worse you know so what is the overall impact uh because uh because that the amount of revenue
that we've been getting has certainly been a good source of revenue that's that's been helpful
uh to to sustain our base rates um you know in the last few years so but thanks all right thank you
get started i'll wait until nick pulls it up good morning uh madam chair members of the pub i believe
the next one is water and followed by wastewater i'm pretend a smoke deputy director for water and
wastewater and i'm going to go through the next two slides uh starting with water um if you look at
the first half or the first three bullet points there are some uh large capital projects that are
really important and our our focus areas for the water side of things and then the remaining three
are studies or plans that we definitely want to uh enhance or update and um get everything um you
know wrapped up within those studies so starting with the first one great roberts water treatment
band it is an upgrade um sometimes it's called upgrade but upgrade project where we will be
adding adding approximately five million gallons uh capacity to the ray robert's water treatment
plants um i think recently in the last couple months we've gotten the design contract to be in
council uh the design is going to go up until the end of the year and uh the construction will follow
in 2022 all year until the end of 2022 uh as part of this project as well what we've done
um given our snow good conditions there were uh considerable impacts to this particular plant ray
robert's equipment facility and we are planning on adding some of the weatherization elements to it
and in the near future we will may have to add those to the design contract as well as include
include that in the construction piece so that that is being worked it's nice it's good to have
a design project at the treatment facility and just add on to that that would give us
make sure that we are ready for the next weather event
the second one is northwood booster pump station it's another larger project it's close to total
cost is close to 20 million dollars it's adding a booster pump station on the north side of the city
and then laying a transmission main between two of our elevated structures on the north side
between the between elm and loop 288 and 35 so that's the general area the third project
is a transmission main it's north side water this is the continuation of the one that we
recently mapped up there was a north side water main that was laid on bonnie bray south of 35e
this is the piece that is north of 35e and then it ultimately goes and connects to the mckinna
water tower at scripter and bonnie bray that project is currently facing some challenges
we are working with the bond company to make sure that we get a good contractor the original
contractor at this point as i understand it has gone bankrupt he's wrapped up his business
and we're looking to move this project forward current timeline i think we're planning on
wrapping this up by end of next year just given the issues that we're facing with the
surety and and the getting the new contractor on board cost of service i think nick can add to
more to that a little bit give you a timeline and we're with it and what are the next steps nick
yeah sure thank you pripam so the water cost of service study was recently completed we did
actually present the results to you last week in that presentation for both water and wastewater
definitely answer any questions if you have any after seeing that presentation
otherwise we will use that study to walk you through the 2022 budget process for the rates
in the budget so that will be incorporated into this upcoming budget cycle
moving right along we are planning on updating our impact fee study
the original study was completed back in 2018 typically we have a five-year cycle that we use
to continuously update and upkeep our list of projects and the impact fees that we're
collecting to implement those projects in this particular case we did have one large
development which is the coal hunter come in we did have we did look at some of the improvements
that are needed as part of that their development but that's not yet folded into the impact fee
study and since it's been close to three or four years we think it's a good time to
update the study and include the coal hunter development within that that's a next
focus area for us to get that thing going and wrap it up and then last but not least just given
the freezing conditions in February we are going back to looking at our emergency response plan
and implement some of the lessons learned from the inclement weather events that happen we're
definitely going to add some of the responses how do we respond to certain elements and how do we
be prepared next time something like this happens so we're going to update that any questions on the
water focus areas karen go ahead hi so sorry i had to had to get all my screens figured out
um so pre-time can you confirm what i thought i heard which is that the contractor on bonnie bray
has gone bankrupt correct so the original contractor s and j um stopped work stopped responding we had
several meetings since october and what we hear is the bonding company has now jumped in and they're
running it and as far as i know that that company is is wrapping up it's so those pipes are going to
be sitting along there like indefinitely uh actually uh we're really uh pushing hard for the
bonding company uh we're close to selecting the new contractor i think that really turned around in
last couple months uh and then um we can bring back a an update if you may on that particular
project because everyone's so interested and it's front and center you can see those five sitting
there yeah we were wondering if they were going to become part of the new playground at mckenna
yeah no that's that's not going to happen we we have it we'll have the contractor we're um we're
hoping we can get the contractor on board uh this summer and then get that project going in the fall
right thank you i will spread the word at my neighborhood groups because they're wondering
i got a situation madam chair i gotta go oh okay all right thank you billy
i have a quick question um there was a discussion of a presentation of a water cost study
did we have that and am i not remembering it
mr ryback that's correct it's part of that presentation last week we did provide you a
high level summary of the cost of service study for both water and wastewater our full intent is
um as the consultant publishes the final report is for us to submit that to you as an informal
staff report so yes the presentation you can afford at a high level we do plan to submit the
complete report to you okay i will look forward to that thank you
all right moving along let's talk about the wastewater operational focus areas um this we
it's one master plan i think we we're we're really looking at um creating a wastewater master plan
currently what we have is um several areas of the city are being modeled and and we're tracking that
but they're separate it's not a cohesive plan it's not something that we can um move forward
and create a capital capital project list so that is our really big focus area we're pushing that
forward you can see a contract fairly soon in the next uh four to six weeks come to puv and council
for getting a consultant on board and getting the master plan started typically it's anywhere
between 12 to 18 months for the entire plan to complete but we're we're looking at our
consultant see if we can expedite some of that and given our current challenges um solid handling
okay uh solids handling project is at our reclamation plant on concrete um it has been
a project for a while and we recently last couple months we had a contract for a consultant to go
through puv and council it's for the design phase for this particular project the design will be
completed by uh end of the year and then similar to the ray robert upgrade project this project
will be wrapped up by end of next year as far as construction so uh for this also similar to what
we did with ray robert's we're going to include uh weatherization elements at the wastewater
reclamation plant we're going to add to the scope we're currently discussing with the consultant
what are additional things that we could add and get more bang for the buck if you may with that
particular project robson ranch water reclamation plant we currently have a really small reclamation
plant uh in an ocean ranch that we want to decommission and uh get remove it um and then
kind of divert all the flows to back to our concrete water reclamation plant so that is a
project that's currently under design we have a consultant that's working on designing um this
particular project there are a couple steps here also we have to go through the um the state and
pcq to get permission and go through the steps for decommissioning this particular plant so uh
this project we're planning on um completing the design by late summer early fall and then
getting it constructed by next um may i think the may 2022 is our timeline currently for
decommissioning this um treatment facility and then the last is just the hickory creek basin
we have several capacity improvements in that as as you may know this is a really uh fast paced
growth area where a lot of development and a lot of um interest um you can see when when you look
at the hickory creek basin we also include the industrial area next to the airport so you can see
that that area is also getting a lot of attention from developers we based on all of these growth we
do have a couple of large interceptor upgrade projects along the hickory creek interceptor
itself phase one and two we went out to bid we have a contractor on board and we will be starting
construction this summer on that particular project but right after that it will be followed
by phase three which is currently under design we're 90 percent design and we're going to move
forward to go out to bid immediately after uh we wrap up the um this design phase and then last
but not least is the drive forward interceptor it's a smaller piece of connection um and this
uh particular one we will be starting design fairly shortly and then uh that will follow the
two hickory creek interceptor project as far as construction timeline all these projects are
scheduled to wrap up uh end of next year 2022 um that's the current timeline that we're anticipating
but we're moving forward as fast as we can madam chair before before we move on i do want to just
quickly introduce uh stephen gay he's our new uh director of water wastewater he's the guy in the
white shirt um is stephen came to us by way of colorado uh we really like him so please do not
scare him away um he's so uh so again you know stephen stephen worked closely with pre-tem on
on these uh list of items and um and you know and he and i have had some good conversations he's
been here i think a whole month now uh but certainly want to welcome him and i want to
introduce him to you guys so welcome aboard
pre-tem if that finishes your slide i don't have questions for wastewater otherwise
the next slide is solid waste
looks like you're good thank you thank you all right well uh good morning madam chair uh members
of the board my name is brian burner i am the director of solid waste for the city of denton i
do appreciate the opportunity to uh present to you our operational focus areas that we have planned
for uh fy 2122 as with all good departments in the city continuous improvement is the mantra that we
continue to try to abide by uh we're going to be focusing on service delivery cost reduction and
most importantly safety as i've reported after our uh winter weather uh update a lot of our
decisions were made on and and a result of safety keeping our residents safe keeping our operators
safe trying to reduce the risk management costs aligned there and so a lot of things that we'll
be focusing on uh is uh goes around uh safety and the delivery of such uh we'll be looking at our
yard waste brush and bulk collection programs in see how we can make them more efficient
make the the process with the uh citizens uh more uh inclusive uh we'll be uh you remember
may remember at your last meeting we approved a new scale house software system so we'll be
focusing on implementing that and as we talked a little bit earlier now that we have the rubicon
smart system implemented we'll be looking at optimizing it within our routes within our
operations to ensure that we have a a high service level delivery within solid waste one of the big
key items we'll be looking at is the implementation of our comprehensive solid waste management
strategy we look for final delivery at the end of this fiscal year within the next couple of months
you'll be seeing some information flowing from a draft copy to provide feedback and comment on so
please uh wait with bated breath on that uh report we have a recycling contamination issue
within the city of denton while the material that we've been collecting over the past several years
remains uh consistent because of global forces requiring higher qualities of materials hitting
that the the uh uh the the third party market a lot of the material which may have been accepted
gladly in you know as most recently as 18 months ago is now being considered contamination so we'll
be again trying to continue our outreach with empty clean dry and loose material as well as better
focused on on the material that's in the in the cart themselves uh solid waste is a very mechanical
dependent operation when we run into our backup pieces of equipment and sometimes short on
equipment it significantly impacts the amount of of the way that we service our our customers
in the city of denton so we'll be working closely with fleet to ensure that the performance and our
uptime and availability are optimized within the fleet and then finally disposal capacity management
to ensuring that we get the most weight uh waste in the least amount of space uh increasing
diversion uh decreasing the amount of actual landfill material that's that's going into our
our fill cells so uh it's a it's a it's a fairly uh uh full bucket that we we've identified here
for fy 2122 uh but would appreciate any questions or comments you might have with regard to the focus
areas lee go ahead i see your hands up yes thank you um i'm wondering what uh diversion uh tactics
or plans you have to uh manage the capacity could you give us a little bit more detail on that
well currently we're diverting almost 30 percent of all the material that's collected within the
city of denton a lot of that's due to yard waste what we're doing at the curb but based on the
feedback that we're getting from solid waste our solid waste management strategy uh looking at
increased organics diversion looking at potential metals uh probably possibly partnering with third
party reuse programs so that materials that may have some beneficial reuse uh uh that just you
know it's not worn out but you just don't want it or need it anymore a lot of times it ends up in
you know as bulk waste or in the cart if we can find a third party opportunity where it can actually
be reused and put to some good use and benefit uh that that's the kind of material we're looking at
so again uh capturing that type of waste and then moving uh to the next step forward thank you go
ahead welcome you're on mute barbara you're on mute brian don't you have a program like that now
we do but again uh we want to take this next step uh you know we've you know we're currently uh we do
provide the feedstock for our beneficial reuse program but uh the amount of organics that we're
accepting uh as far as food waste from residents and commercial is very very low is there an
opportunity for us to increase so that's some of the some of the opportunity that we'll be looking
for uh from an organic standpoint uh and while you know from a a a beneficial reuse or beneficial
reuse but from a third party uh you know uh like like a goodwill or a salvation army or something
like that while we continue to promote that a lot of the material that we are seeing at the curb and
in the cart uh has life but again you know once it gets into the cart of the curb uh we have to pick
it up and dispose of it in the landfill so we want to try to create opportunities to stop that
before it gets to that point oh go ahead karen uh so brian this is the this is the same this
comprehensive plan is the same as the task force that we've that's been meeting via zoom
yeah that well what what the the the strategy the the task force is that is that is part of that
development so really it's the third third step in the strategy development and again we've we've
done a a city-wide waste characterization so we know what's in our waste now uh we've completed
the survey to from a big macro and what's important to the community and now through our think tank and
focus groups we're trying to dial in in a micro standpoint to figure out you know exactly uh uh
how might some programs look what's important how much additional might be might we be willing to pay
are we doing something now that we shouldn't be doing and then once we get all that together
looking at at state federal local laws that may either help support us or hinder us looking at that
at bigger global markets uh shares economic development issues the comp plan that we're
currently being updated trying to throw all that in together to really identify the tools uh that
we have and will need to move our solid waste uh uh program forward yeah i participated in
one a few weeks ago i had to miss the last one but i was sort of impressed but also curious at the
macro level discussion i mean it was almost i think there were actually some powerpoint slides
from the moon yeah looking at the earth so i'm hoping that the and i'm sure this is going to
happen but just since the purpose of this part of the agenda is to give you advice i'm hoping
that that becomes more narrow and that we can look at it that the final recommendations are specific
to dentin because the dentin is fairly unique um i think there's a lot of willingness for more
recycling and more composting just tap into the education aspects of it but i'm sure that's all
already um you know already in the in the works but just make sure that it's the recommendations
are specific they will be yeah thanks thank you all right any other questions
susan i think there's just one more slide just to summarize the presentation then
we can take any additional feedback that you have for us so we work to develop the budget
for each of these utilities so really just next steps you know here today to solicit input from
the pv regarding additional budget priorities if you have any please let us know now is definitely
the time as we work to develop the fiscal year 2022 budget we are currently working to conduct
internal reviews of the submitted budgets with directors so conversations with the city management
team will be happening in the next few weeks within the next month or so we'll be circling
back to puv with further conversations and then we'll work to develop those presentations to
bring forward to you so definitely plenty of time for input as we proceed through the fiscal year
2022 budget this is really just a kick-starting presentation you're really getting feedback that
you have for us today thank you uh any other feedback from any board members
looks like you're good to go thank you thank you okay that leads us to concluding items does any
board member wish to make any comments or add anything to a future agenda item
doesn't look like it all right do we have a motion to adjourn it is 1026 so moved all right we are
adjourned. Thank you.