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Go ahead and call the February 12th 2018 Public Utilities

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Board meeting to order.

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First on the agenda we have a work session and the first

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item in that work session is

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to receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff

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direction regarding the solid waste

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departments landfill vegetative buffer and maximum landfill

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heights proposed in the permit

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amendment.

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Good morning.

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My name is Ethan Cox, I'm the director of solid waste for

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the city of Denton.

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So this morning's presentation as posted is about the

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proposed landfill height and a permit

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that we're currently pursuing with the TCEQ as well as some

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of the landscaping and vegetative

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buffer in the area surrounding the landfill.

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These are being brought to the forefront because of various

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citizen concerns have been brought

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up with the council over the last six to eight months.

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We really want to use this as just an opportunity to

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educate the board and we'll be educating

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the council next week as well.

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Not any action required at this stage, we just want to give

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you an update on where we

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are with both of these items.

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In regards to landfill height, that's really a product of

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direction that the department

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received from the city council in the 2006-2007 timeframe

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which was to pursue landfill expansion

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with the hopes of procuring or securing enough capacity to

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allow waste disposal for an extra

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50 years.

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And the way you achieve that expansion or that capacity in

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solid waste is through new

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land development but also airspace which is vertical

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construction for waste disposal.

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Planning began in earnest on this expansion project in 2008

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.

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There were a series of land acquisitions and the permit

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process has run for the last few

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years.

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We are very close to the finish line with the TCEQ on this.

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I'll give you an update on the timeline in just a few

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slides.

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In terms of the buffer zone, just briefly, this is

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something that came up fairly recently,

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last six to eight months.

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We did provide a staff report to council in the September

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2017 timeframe and I'll just

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kind of hit the highlights of that with you as we go

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through today's presentation.

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So I'm going to take these things in order first beginning

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with the landfill height.

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There's a few things here that I want to try to kind of

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separate for you.

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There's our existing height, there are some restrictions

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that we have currently and then

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there's what's going to be proposed in our pending permit.

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So right now the tallest point, the tallest cell that we

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have on the landfill currently

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is 53 feet above ground level.

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In terms of our current permit, which is titled 1590A,

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again that's issued by the Texas Commission

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on Environmental Quality, they limit our height to 80 feet

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above ground level.

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And so we are still currently underneath that restriction.

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In addition, there's also a specific use permit that was

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approved by the city a few years

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ago that also has that same restriction.

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Even if we were to alter that specific use permit and get a

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height adjustment by the

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TCEQ, there's also a settlement agreement with some of the

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surrounding landowners that

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limit our height to no greater than 95 feet until at least

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2028.

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At that time that settlement agreement expires and we can

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exceed that height if we choose

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to do so.

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You would just need a new permit and a new specific use

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permit to do so.

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So currently the permit that we have queued up with TCEQ is

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titled 1590B and the height

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that's proposed in that that's been brought to the

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forefront for council by some citizens

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is that it's proposed at 213 and a half feet above ground

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level, which is a significant

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increase over what we have right now.

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And so what I want to kind of walk you through over the

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next few slides is kind of what that

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looks like and understanding that there's no impetus for us

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to get up to that height.

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That's really a decision for the community and the council

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and the board as we move forward

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in these out years.

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So what would that look like if we did achieve that max

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height immediately?

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This is kind of a visual representation of what that would

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look like.

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Thank you to our engineering firm PSC.

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Frank Pugsley is here today if you want to question him on

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his artistic renderings here.

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So this is a picture of Mayhill over here on the right.

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This is heading from the north side down to the south side.

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Over here on the left is our landfill operation, a few of

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the buildings there.

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This bright green representation right here is actually our

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current landfill height.

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And so if you're driving along Mayhill, that's about how

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high we would be.

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And this dark green area right here is what would be the

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final cover would look like if

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we went up to that 213.5 feet.

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A couple of things that I would want to put out there for

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everyone to kind of consider

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is in terms of height and expansion, like I mentioned

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earlier, in terms of landfill expansion,

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it's really a matter of new cell development but also

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vertical expansion as well.

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Operationally, we could delay increasing our height from

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that 80 feet for another 20, 30

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years if we chose to do so.

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We have about 11 new cells that are proposed in permit 1590

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B.

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And so technically, depending on how we phase that up, we

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may not need to make a decision

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on any further vertical expansion for another 20, 30 years,

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depending on how we sequence

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that.

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Does that make sense?

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So another visual just to kind of give you a comparison of

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what our height looks like

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for other landmarks and other landfills in the area.

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So right here on the right-hand side is our current height,

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our current restriction at

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95 feet.

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The city of Irving landfill as well as the city of Dallas

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landfill are already above that

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at 129 and 139 feet respectively.

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We have a couple of landmarks that we plugged into this as

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well.

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I think all of these are TWA buildings as a matter of fact.

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And so you can see those two landfills are already pretty

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much on par with those buildings

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right there.

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The max proposed height would obviously be a substantial

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increase over what we have now

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and would be pretty noticeable in terms of the landscape as

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well.

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Anytime we look at the height of a landfill cell, it really

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comes with a trade-off is

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what is the impact to the surrounding area, to the

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community in terms of visual aesthetics?

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But it's also a matter of how much capacity would we be

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losing if we chose to reduce that?

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And again, we're not asking for the board or the council to

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take any action on this

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now.

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It's just something I want to plant the seed for you to

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consider as maybe a decision

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does need to be made in the future months and years ahead.

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So right now, again, we're at about 80 feet in terms of

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maximum height.

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The estimated landfill life for that is 2048.

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And so about 30 more years in essence.

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And again, that's about the time that you'd really be

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pressed to make a decision on increasing

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height.

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The maximum height that we are proposing is 213.

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So we kind of rounded that off to 200.

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You see that the estimated landfill life achieves that 50

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plus years that was set out by council.

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That would be closure of the full site at 2087.

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You drop 40 feet off of that, you lose about 10% of your

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capacity, and you lose about seven

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years of landfill life.

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Another 40 feet because these are slopes, so the further

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you cut, the deeper the loss

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in terms of capacity, you'd lose about 26.2% and you'd be

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closing 2068.

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And then again, this is our current high right here.

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And so again, no action today.

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Just wanted to kind of plant the seed is these are the

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trade offs that you'd really be looking

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at in terms of what does the community need in terms of

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waste capacity?

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And what do we need in terms of visual aesthetics for the

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height?

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Any questions on landfill?

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Question on that.

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So these are these with all 11 the 11 cells developed?

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They are and there's also the height addition on our

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current operation as well.

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Okay.

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So that's not just the sales we have now.

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Exactly.

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That's gonna be in addition to the 11 other cells to

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develop.

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Mr. Robinson, a good way to look at that is if we did not

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increase our height on any of

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the side, then these 11 cells are going to buy us about

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another 16 years right now.

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Our closure date for our existing operation is about 2032.

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So those 11 cells without any height additions would give

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us 16 years of additional capacity.

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Question so can these the do these two issues the issue of

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citizens concerns about the buffer

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and making the buffer greener putting more trees in there

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and the issue of maximizing

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the height capacity?

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Could these two theoretically be uncoupled?

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In other words, I understand you're presenting them

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together, but because the one seems to

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me to be a present concern about the way things are present

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and the other one about height

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is is is future oriented.

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You certainly can.

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The reason why we're presenting these together is they've

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been brought up together by citizen

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concerns.

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The other thing that I would say is typically landfill

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height, the buffer zone.

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These are issues that are discussed during the TCEQ perm

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itting process.

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I'll get into that on the next slide.

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It's also something that both of these affect the visual

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aesthetics of the surrounding area.

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There's a lot of activity going on out there.

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And so the vegetative buffer serves to kind of shield our

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operation from public view.

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And obviously, landfill height has a hand in that as well.

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So just to clarify, so I understand we're not taking action

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today, but when it comes

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to taking action at some point in the future, could it be

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decided to currently increase

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the trees and make the buffer larger and greener and to

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postpone applying for the new permit

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to some future point?

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If I might, I can answer that with my next slide.

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Any other questions on this?

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All right.

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So to that point, we do have a few remaining steps with our

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permit with the agency.

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We estimate that the process will be complete in about four

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to five months.

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First up, the first step that needs to take place is the

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agency needs to declare the permit

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technically complete, which basically means that they don't

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have any issues that we need

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to go back and address.

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There's kind of a back and forth nature of this is we found

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an issue on this page.

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Can you go back and cure that?

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And we're working through that right now.

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The next step up is public comment period.

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There will be a mailing out to a variety of citizens that

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they can speak directly to the

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agency and provide their concerns.

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It's not unusual as you go through this process for some of

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the things that we've submitted

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or proposed to actually change.

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As a matter of fact, when our original permit was approved,

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that actually took place.

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We reduced the height.

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There were a number of changes to the buffer, things like

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that took place.

267
00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:54,559
Once we work through that, then the TCEQ issues the permit.

268
00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,340
And our recommendation would be to your point, Ms. Arment

269
00:10:57,340 --> 00:10:58,860
ier, would be we would come back

270
00:10:58,860 --> 00:11:01,090
to both the PUB as well as the city council at the

271
00:11:01,090 --> 00:11:02,320
conclusion of that.

272
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,029
So here's kind of here we here's how we ended up with the

273
00:11:06,029 --> 00:11:06,759
permit.

274
00:11:06,759 --> 00:11:09,730
And if we want to, we can do another specific use permit

275
00:11:09,730 --> 00:11:11,559
that tweaks that a little bit.

276
00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,490
In other words, if let's say, for instance, the agency says

277
00:11:14,490 --> 00:11:16,240
, yes, 213 feet is fine for

278
00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,809
height, but the board and the council says we want to limit

279
00:11:19,809 --> 00:11:20,399
that.

280
00:11:20,399 --> 00:11:23,120
We don't want to go up to that for a number of years.

281
00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,840
Then you can issue a specific use permit that limits us

282
00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:27,240
locally as an operation.

283
00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,320
And you can do the same thing with the buffer.

284
00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,350
You can have more prescriptive elements for the buffer in

285
00:11:32,350 --> 00:11:34,039
an SUP than the agency will.

286
00:11:34,039 --> 00:11:35,720
And on my next slide, I'll point that out.

287
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,120
The agency typically does not prescribe trees or landsca

288
00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,399
ping, things like that, in a buffer

289
00:11:41,399 --> 00:11:42,399
zone.

290
00:11:42,399 --> 00:11:44,269
They're more concerned about just making sure there's space

291
00:11:44,269 --> 00:11:45,840
between public use and the private

292
00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:46,840
property.

293
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:47,840
I'm sorry.

294
00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:48,840
Go ahead, Charlie.

295
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,820
Do you have any idea in the timing of these things,

296
00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:56,440
particularly the public comment period?

297
00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,149
I'm hoping that we get the technically complete designation

298
00:11:59,149 --> 00:12:00,360
within the next two months.

299
00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,120
I mean, maybe sooner than that, quite frankly.

300
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,830
And so once that happens, when we enter the public comment

301
00:12:05,830 --> 00:12:07,120
period, it should go pretty

302
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:08,120
quickly.

303
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,879
And if we have a contested case, which I believe is what

304
00:12:10,879 --> 00:12:12,559
happened with the last permit, that

305
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:14,360
could drag on a little bit.

306
00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,899
But really, what we're hoping is that we're through with

307
00:12:16,899 --> 00:12:18,440
all of this by the end of spring,

308
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,940
and then we're looking to get our permit within the summer

309
00:12:20,940 --> 00:12:21,639
time frame.

310
00:12:21,639 --> 00:12:24,159
Does that help?

311
00:12:24,159 --> 00:12:26,159
Yes, sir.

312
00:12:26,159 --> 00:12:27,159
Question.

313
00:12:27,159 --> 00:12:28,159
Brendan?

314
00:12:28,159 --> 00:12:31,500
When we talk about the buffer, is this buffer just along

315
00:12:31,500 --> 00:12:32,519
May Hill there?

316
00:12:32,519 --> 00:12:39,019
Or is there a buffer prescribed around the entire perimeter

317
00:12:39,019 --> 00:12:40,600
of the land?

318
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,659
I'll actually hit that in the next couple of slides, if

319
00:12:43,659 --> 00:12:44,600
that's okay.

320
00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:45,600
Great.

321
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:46,600
Thank you.

322
00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:47,600
I had a question.

323
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,419
The TCEQ permit process, when did we start that, and how

324
00:12:52,419 --> 00:12:54,840
long does it typically take

325
00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,720
to go through that entire process?

326
00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:58,720
Frank Pugley's here.

327
00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,200
I'm going to ask him to answer that.

328
00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,200
I don't have all the history on it.

329
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,080
He's been through all the battles.

330
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:05,080
I don't need an exact number.

331
00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:06,080
I'll just...

332
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:07,080
Come on over here.

333
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,440
Yeah, please.

334
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,019
In general, for a landfill permit amendment like this, it

335
00:13:14,019 --> 00:13:15,679
takes what we budget for is

336
00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,610
about two years from the time we submit to the time it's

337
00:13:18,610 --> 00:13:19,360
approved.

338
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,039
We'd like it to be shorter.

339
00:13:21,039 --> 00:13:24,840
We submitted this permit to the agency in early 2017.

340
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,039
I believe it was January, February of 2017.

341
00:13:28,039 --> 00:13:29,519
So here we are.

342
00:13:29,519 --> 00:13:33,019
One year later, we've gone through already three rounds of

343
00:13:33,019 --> 00:13:34,720
comments with the agency,

344
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:39,159
and we are completing our last and fourth round of comments

345
00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:39,360
.

346
00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,809
Following that, what Ethan said was they'll issue the

347
00:13:41,809 --> 00:13:43,519
public notice that gives the public

348
00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:46,250
28 days to submit written comments and request a public

349
00:13:46,250 --> 00:13:46,840
meeting.

350
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,279
I would imagine we'd probably end up with at least a public

351
00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:51,879
meeting on this permit,

352
00:13:51,879 --> 00:13:54,440
and that usually occurs within another month after that.

353
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,409
So that kind of fits within that four to five months

354
00:13:56,409 --> 00:13:57,600
remaining that we've got.

355
00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,039
So we're looking at a total of maybe 18 to 20 months of

356
00:14:01,039 --> 00:14:03,159
time for this permit amendment.

357
00:14:03,159 --> 00:14:08,159
And that process is...

358
00:14:08,159 --> 00:14:09,159
We hire consultants.

359
00:14:09,159 --> 00:14:10,159
Yes, sir.

360
00:14:10,159 --> 00:14:11,159
That's my job.

361
00:14:11,159 --> 00:14:12,159
Okay.

362
00:14:12,159 --> 00:14:13,159
Non-consultant, sorry.

363
00:14:13,159 --> 00:14:16,860
Well, I'm not going to ask you how much we paid you because

364
00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:18,639
I don't want to embarrass

365
00:14:18,639 --> 00:14:19,639
you.

366
00:14:19,639 --> 00:14:24,149
But the point being the TCEQ permit, time consuming and

367
00:14:24,149 --> 00:14:26,519
expensive, and I don't know

368
00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:28,919
that...

369
00:14:28,919 --> 00:14:32,490
I think the height is going to be hashed out during the

370
00:14:32,490 --> 00:14:35,440
local public comment period and

371
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,360
the SEP, really.

372
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:42,909
And so that's my only comment is we've got to look at what

373
00:14:42,909 --> 00:14:45,659
's going to get us the capacity

374
00:14:45,659 --> 00:14:50,320
to get us down the road as much as we can.

375
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,759
And so we'll leave it up to somebody who probably hadn't

376
00:14:54,759 --> 00:14:57,279
even been born yet to determine how

377
00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:00,480
high it's going to be because certainly I don't know if any

378
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:01,840
of us will be, at least

379
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,879
not on this board, but at that point in time.

380
00:15:04,879 --> 00:15:06,679
But anyway, thank you.

381
00:15:06,679 --> 00:15:07,679
I appreciate it.

382
00:15:07,679 --> 00:15:08,679
Yes, sir.

383
00:15:08,679 --> 00:15:10,679
Just for clarification, we're going to go for the max.

384
00:15:10,679 --> 00:15:13,039
It doesn't mean we're going to go to that height.

385
00:15:13,039 --> 00:15:14,039
Correct.

386
00:15:14,039 --> 00:15:15,039
Correct.

387
00:15:15,039 --> 00:15:17,860
Usually what we'd like to do is ask for as much as we think

388
00:15:17,860 --> 00:15:19,379
we can, knowing that at some

389
00:15:19,379 --> 00:15:24,429
point in time we may have to negotiate that back a little

390
00:15:24,429 --> 00:15:27,080
bit because it's kind of a factor

391
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:28,080
of scale there.

392
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,230
The more you ask for, the more you get per dollar that you

393
00:15:31,230 --> 00:15:32,279
're spending.

394
00:15:32,279 --> 00:15:33,279
Okay.

395
00:15:33,279 --> 00:15:35,279
Any other questions?

396
00:15:35,279 --> 00:15:37,879
Well, thank you.

397
00:15:37,879 --> 00:15:39,279
All right.

398
00:15:39,279 --> 00:15:42,210
So if there's no more questions on landfill height, I am

399
00:15:42,210 --> 00:15:43,759
going to dive a little bit into

400
00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:44,759
the buffer.

401
00:15:44,759 --> 00:15:49,360
Like Ms. Armenter said, this is more of a pressing issue.

402
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,360
Just a few quick clarifications.

403
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,419
I'm not sure if anyone's dealt with the landfill buffer

404
00:15:53,419 --> 00:15:55,519
zone before, but there is actually

405
00:15:55,519 --> 00:15:58,769
a definition in our permit that describes what that buffer

406
00:15:58,769 --> 00:15:59,159
is.

407
00:15:59,159 --> 00:16:01,480
It's basically the distance between our permit boundary,

408
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:02,799
which is where private property

409
00:16:02,799 --> 00:16:05,519
begins and the foot of our waste.

410
00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:08,070
And so the permit, I believe, and I'm just going to look

411
00:16:08,070 --> 00:16:09,519
for a nod of the head, is about

412
00:16:09,519 --> 00:16:13,460
50 feet between the foot of the waste to the permit

413
00:16:13,460 --> 00:16:14,519
boundary.

414
00:16:14,519 --> 00:16:15,519
It's 125.

415
00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:16,519
Oh, 125.

416
00:16:16,519 --> 00:16:17,519
Thank you.

417
00:16:17,519 --> 00:16:18,519
I'm glad you're here.

418
00:16:18,519 --> 00:16:22,519
So that's really about as prescriptive as the permit gets.

419
00:16:22,519 --> 00:16:25,009
Again, there's no landscaping requirements that are called

420
00:16:25,009 --> 00:16:26,120
out in our permit with the

421
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:27,360
agency.

422
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,519
That being said, whenever this permit was initially issued

423
00:16:30,519 --> 00:16:32,399
back in 1995, there was a

424
00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:35,480
specific use permit that coincided with that.

425
00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,440
Here's the ordinance number along with it.

426
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,590
And Wade described our landscaping and basically said it

427
00:16:39,590 --> 00:16:41,000
needs to be sufficient landscaping

428
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,440
and screening to ensure harmony and compatibility with

429
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:44,480
adjacent property.

430
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,639
And that's about as prescriptive as it got.

431
00:16:47,639 --> 00:16:50,980
Now that being said, there were a few other documents that

432
00:16:50,980 --> 00:16:52,679
went around with the Planning

433
00:16:52,679 --> 00:16:55,230
and Zoning Commission and also bundled with that ordinance

434
00:16:55,230 --> 00:16:56,519
that said, here's what we'd

435
00:16:56,519 --> 00:17:00,080
like to achieve or aspire to in terms of our landscaping.

436
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,139
And so this is the visual I think the council's seen a

437
00:17:03,139 --> 00:17:04,359
couple of times.

438
00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,119
What this calls out is typical landscape buffer.

439
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:13,369
This calls for about 20 trees per 100 linear feet, with 30%

440
00:17:13,369 --> 00:17:14,779
being evergreen.

441
00:17:14,779 --> 00:17:17,970
And it also calls for 115 feet wide along Mayhill Road and

442
00:17:17,970 --> 00:17:19,799
100 foot wide along Edwards

443
00:17:19,799 --> 00:17:20,799
Road.

444
00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:25,059
So Mr. Carroll, to answer your question, the buffer is

445
00:17:25,059 --> 00:17:27,960
really around the current operations

446
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:29,519
is when the requirement goes in.

447
00:17:29,519 --> 00:17:31,319
And I'll show you an image in just a moment.

448
00:17:31,319 --> 00:17:34,200
It really runs along that Edwards Road up through Mayhill.

449
00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,680
And you'll see that in the next slide.

450
00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,829
In terms of our history here is my understanding is we did

451
00:17:40,829 --> 00:17:42,960
have a planning that occurs quickly

452
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,140
following the permit approval that did meet that typical

453
00:17:47,140 --> 00:17:49,279
prescribed buffer as you see

454
00:17:49,279 --> 00:17:50,279
here.

455
00:17:50,279 --> 00:17:52,089
Unfortunately, a number of those trees have been lost to

456
00:17:52,089 --> 00:17:53,119
drought and disease over the

457
00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:54,119
years.

458
00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,210
There was also a lot of construction and utility work that

459
00:17:57,210 --> 00:17:58,680
's happened in the area.

460
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,720
And where we stand today is we have about 217 of the 780

461
00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:03,319
recommended trees that we should

462
00:18:03,319 --> 00:18:05,160
have on site.

463
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,440
So some of the comments that have been made to City Council

464
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:08,480
is we need to be planning

465
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:09,480
now.

466
00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,200
And we certainly understand that.

467
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,329
So to that end, we have started taking some steps to get a

468
00:18:14,329 --> 00:18:15,359
design going.

469
00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:17,720
As you see these challenges down here, I'm going to call

470
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,039
these out on these visuals on

471
00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:22,759
the next slide so you can kind of see them for yourself.

472
00:18:22,759 --> 00:18:24,930
So over here on the left-hand side, this is an aerial view

473
00:18:24,930 --> 00:18:25,759
of our landfill.

474
00:18:25,759 --> 00:18:29,170
If you follow my mouse, all of this is our landfill

475
00:18:29,170 --> 00:18:31,000
operation right here.

476
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,940
This road right here, if you can make that out, is Mayhill

477
00:18:33,940 --> 00:18:35,319
running north to south or

478
00:18:35,319 --> 00:18:37,039
south to north, I should say.

479
00:18:37,039 --> 00:18:40,549
And each of these little boxes here represent 100 linear

480
00:18:40,549 --> 00:18:41,880
feet of buffer zone.

481
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,359
And so the buffer zone wraps around Edwards Road, which is

482
00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:46,279
right here.

483
00:18:46,279 --> 00:18:48,640
Trailer Park right here is our neighbor.

484
00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:53,079
And then it runs south to north along Mayhill Road.

485
00:18:53,079 --> 00:18:56,220
So the colors that you have here, these are representations

486
00:18:56,220 --> 00:18:57,839
, our urban foresters as well

487
00:18:57,839 --> 00:19:00,769
as building inspections went out and did a survey of this

488
00:19:00,769 --> 00:19:02,200
just to kind of tell us, are

489
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,259
we close to that typical landscape buffer or are we pretty

490
00:19:06,259 --> 00:19:07,319
far afield?

491
00:19:07,319 --> 00:19:10,880
So the red means that there is really no buffer or very

492
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:12,839
minimal buffer in place.

493
00:19:12,839 --> 00:19:15,599
And so this number two here, if you'll follow me over to

494
00:19:15,599 --> 00:19:17,279
this picture, this is kind of what

495
00:19:17,279 --> 00:19:19,240
that looks like on the ground.

496
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,440
And so we have our buffer wall that was installed a few

497
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:23,319
years ago.

498
00:19:23,319 --> 00:19:25,160
You also have your overhead utility lines.

499
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,980
And I understand that there's also underground utility

500
00:19:27,980 --> 00:19:29,920
lines in some of these areas as well.

501
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,039
It's a very restricted area in terms of planting trees.

502
00:19:33,039 --> 00:19:35,799
Even if we went out there to plant them today, there may

503
00:19:35,799 --> 00:19:37,400
not be much we could do with the

504
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,279
exception of maybe planting behind the wall.

505
00:19:39,279 --> 00:19:42,119
And you see that there are some trees up here.

506
00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,210
That's something that we want to explore with our landscape

507
00:19:44,210 --> 00:19:45,319
architect is when we run into

508
00:19:45,319 --> 00:19:48,309
these types of issues, can we build up the behind the wall

509
00:19:48,309 --> 00:19:50,079
area to provide that vegetative

510
00:19:50,079 --> 00:19:55,680
buffer?

511
00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:01,269
What the loss of trees to drought and some have to do with

512
00:20:01,269 --> 00:20:03,160
construction.

513
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,869
I'm wondering, you know, looking back, was there any did

514
00:20:06,869 --> 00:20:09,039
anybody discover that, oh, there

515
00:20:09,039 --> 00:20:11,759
were certain kinds of trees that were planted that maybe in

516
00:20:11,759 --> 00:20:13,240
retrospect, there should have

517
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:18,099
been hardier trees, you know, more drought tolerant trees

518
00:20:18,099 --> 00:20:20,519
or was it?

519
00:20:20,519 --> 00:20:24,160
I don't necessarily know the answer to what occurred.

520
00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,160
What I can say is that's going to be a key factor in terms

521
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:28,920
of the recommendations from

522
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,630
freezing Nichols, which is the landscape architect that we

523
00:20:31,630 --> 00:20:32,599
're working with.

524
00:20:32,599 --> 00:20:35,309
We don't want to plant any tree in terms of a mitigation

525
00:20:35,309 --> 00:20:36,599
effort here that doesn't have

526
00:20:36,599 --> 00:20:38,720
a good chance of surviving.

527
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:39,720
That's really our goal.

528
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:40,720
Yeah.

529
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,690
So I take it they would also look at whatever specific tree

530
00:20:44,690 --> 00:20:46,799
diseases were were common to

531
00:20:46,799 --> 00:20:48,400
those trees and.

532
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:49,400
Right.

533
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:50,400
Yeah.

534
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,210
And I do know in terms of drought and stuff, we had a lot

535
00:20:52,210 --> 00:20:53,359
of problems with an irrigation

536
00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:56,069
system that was installed with all of this utility work

537
00:20:56,069 --> 00:20:56,880
that was done.

538
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:58,559
That's been replaced like three times.

539
00:20:58,559 --> 00:21:01,029
And so we certainly don't feel like that's a good use of

540
00:21:01,029 --> 00:21:02,680
dollars to install an irrigation

541
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,839
system only to have it taken out and to redo the work.

542
00:21:05,839 --> 00:21:09,720
So that's something else we want to be mindful of.

543
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,529
So the yellow area here means that we have what we call a

544
00:21:12,529 --> 00:21:13,920
substandard buffer.

545
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:15,200
There's a couple of different areas.

546
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,799
Number one and number four.

547
00:21:16,799 --> 00:21:19,720
So number one runs parallel with Mayhill Road right here.

548
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,039
Again, you can see some overhead utility lines.

549
00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:23,680
You see the buffer wall.

550
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,240
We do have some canopy trees here, however, just not as

551
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,640
dense as prescribed by that typical

552
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:30,640
buffer.

553
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,160
That's the same case down here running along Edwards Road

554
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:34,599
and picture number four, some

555
00:21:34,599 --> 00:21:39,039
trees in place, but not nearly the 20 trees per 100 linear

556
00:21:39,039 --> 00:21:40,400
feet that we need.

557
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,420
And then the green shaded area down here near the corner of

558
00:21:43,420 --> 00:21:45,240
Mayhill and Edwards, we do have

559
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,599
a buffer that's approaching standard.

560
00:21:47,599 --> 00:21:48,880
That's visual number three right here.

561
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,599
We have some new plantings that have occurred.

562
00:21:51,599 --> 00:21:54,200
We have the buffer wall.

563
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,000
So that area is fairly dense.

564
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,759
In addition to our current challenges, one of the things

565
00:22:00,759 --> 00:22:02,299
that we partnered with Freeze

566
00:22:02,299 --> 00:22:05,319
and Nichols on is we wanted them to take into consideration

567
00:22:05,319 --> 00:22:07,200
some upcoming development that's

568
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:08,200
happening.

569
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,650
I'm sure the board is familiar that Mayhill Road is going

570
00:22:10,650 --> 00:22:12,079
to have some work done on it.

571
00:22:12,079 --> 00:22:15,640
There's going to be a realignment and some added lanes.

572
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,569
There's also some transmission work for DME that's going to

573
00:22:18,569 --> 00:22:20,039
be done and some distribution

574
00:22:20,039 --> 00:22:21,039
as well.

575
00:22:21,039 --> 00:22:23,799
So this visual over here is from Freeze and Nichols.

576
00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:25,970
I'm going to zoom into this here in just a minute, but this

577
00:22:25,970 --> 00:22:27,119
is the same orientation that

578
00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:28,519
I showed you just a moment ago.

579
00:22:28,519 --> 00:22:32,960
If you follow my mouse, here's Edwards Road running right

580
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:33,640
here.

581
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,890
The existing Mayhill Road is underneath all of this color

582
00:22:36,890 --> 00:22:38,599
and all of this busyness that's

583
00:22:38,599 --> 00:22:40,480
happening right here.

584
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,410
And the new Mayhill is actually these black lines running

585
00:22:43,410 --> 00:22:44,319
right up here.

586
00:22:44,319 --> 00:22:45,680
Landfill operations are right here.

587
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,359
I'm going to actually exit out of this and kind of give you

588
00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:51,079
a better sense of what that

589
00:22:51,079 --> 00:22:52,079
looks like.

590
00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:55,880
Bear with me for just a moment.

591
00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:02,259
All right, so this is this busy little corner right down

592
00:23:02,259 --> 00:23:03,279
here.

593
00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:07,880
I'll pull that up and zoom into it for you.

594
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,079
Everyone see that?

595
00:23:09,079 --> 00:23:11,519
All right, so a few things that are happening here.

596
00:23:11,519 --> 00:23:13,839
We have some color coding and I'll call these things out.

597
00:23:13,839 --> 00:23:16,400
We have DME transmission line buffer.

598
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,940
There's actually a new substation that's going to be going

599
00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:19,900
in along Mayhill.

600
00:23:19,900 --> 00:23:22,400
These are transmission lines that would feed that.

601
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,039
So as you can see, the easements for those are fairly wide.

602
00:23:26,039 --> 00:23:27,680
This is this color right here.

603
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,609
And you can see if you follow my mouse, there's our buffer

604
00:23:30,609 --> 00:23:31,039
wall.

605
00:23:31,039 --> 00:23:33,680
It zigzags right through there.

606
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,400
And these dark areas right here are actually our trees.

607
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,109
So it's likely that as those transmission lines are

608
00:23:39,109 --> 00:23:40,480
installed, you can kind of see a

609
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,190
pole right there, some of the existing trees are going to

610
00:23:43,190 --> 00:23:44,559
have to be removed as well.

611
00:23:44,559 --> 00:23:47,319
And so it's not just the trees that we've already lost.

612
00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:51,019
We're probably looking at mitigating some additional trees

613
00:23:51,019 --> 00:23:51,680
as well.

614
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,819
In addition, you also have this yellow strip right here.

615
00:23:53,819 --> 00:23:57,000
Those are distribution lines for a DME project.

616
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,740
And then in between there, you actually have about 40 feet

617
00:23:59,740 --> 00:24:01,000
of potential buffer that we

618
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,920
could utilize for tree plantings if we chose to do so.

619
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:06,849
Existing Mayhill roads there, so that may need to be milled

620
00:24:06,849 --> 00:24:09,119
up if we're going to take,

621
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:10,519
if we're going to use that.

622
00:24:10,519 --> 00:24:12,559
But there is potential there.

623
00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:15,109
We also have an existing gas line easement for Atmos right

624
00:24:15,109 --> 00:24:15,519
here.

625
00:24:15,519 --> 00:24:17,799
This is a little blue shaded area.

626
00:24:17,799 --> 00:24:21,119
And so we could plant between there for about 31 feet.

627
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,049
The upside to the Mayhill realignment is we do have a

628
00:24:24,049 --> 00:24:26,400
significant area here of about 115

629
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,569
feet that we could use for new plantings once that

630
00:24:29,569 --> 00:24:31,279
construction is done.

631
00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:34,529
And so really what we're working with Frieze and Nichols on

632
00:24:34,529 --> 00:24:35,980
is let's figure out a plan

633
00:24:35,980 --> 00:24:38,930
or a path forward in terms of how do we want to mitigate

634
00:24:38,930 --> 00:24:40,680
the trees that have been lost

635
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:41,680
already?

636
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:43,230
How do we want to deal with some of the trees that are

637
00:24:43,230 --> 00:24:43,960
going to be lost?

638
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,960
And what's the planning schedule look like?

639
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:52,329
Planings behind the wall could technically occur right now

640
00:24:52,329 --> 00:24:54,319
if we chose to do so.

641
00:24:54,319 --> 00:24:56,660
Planning out here in the middle of all this construction,

642
00:24:56,660 --> 00:24:58,000
we think that it's best to let

643
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,720
that all settle, let the dust settle both literally and

644
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:01,680
figuratively.

645
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,390
And then we'll come in, implement our irrigation system as

646
00:25:05,390 --> 00:25:07,299
well as new tree plantings.

647
00:25:07,299 --> 00:25:09,400
This visual is a little bit further up the road.

648
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,960
Whoops, a little bit too zoomed in.

649
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,319
So it does get a little bit less hectic as you move north.

650
00:25:15,319 --> 00:25:18,019
But again, you have transmission lines running straight

651
00:25:18,019 --> 00:25:19,319
down our existing buffer.

652
00:25:19,319 --> 00:25:22,400
All those trees in there are likely going to need to be

653
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:23,140
removed.

654
00:25:23,140 --> 00:25:26,240
We do have opportunities to plant behind the wall right

655
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,000
here if you follow my mouse.

656
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,160
We also have about 60 feet wide in the buffer zone here in

657
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,799
between the gas easement and

658
00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:35,039
the transmission line easement.

659
00:25:35,039 --> 00:25:37,839
So a few challenges that we're dealing with on this.

660
00:25:37,839 --> 00:25:39,400
It's not an ideal situation.

661
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,269
A typical landscape buffer was meant to be 115 feet wide or

662
00:25:44,269 --> 00:25:46,160
100 feet wide.

663
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,920
We're just not able to achieve that with the conditions

664
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,200
that we have right now.

665
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,960
Not in a continuous manner.

666
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,960
It's really broken up by all these other easements.

667
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,779
So again, what we're planning to do is plant behind the

668
00:25:58,779 --> 00:26:00,119
wall as soon as we can.

669
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,529
We may have to do some earth work to build that up and then

670
00:26:02,529 --> 00:26:04,079
circle back once these projects

671
00:26:04,079 --> 00:26:13,640
are complete and plant in the buffer zone that remains.

672
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:18,640
So here's just a highlight of what we just talked about.

673
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,799
So Freezing Nickels, again, they're the landscape architect

674
00:26:20,799 --> 00:26:21,559
for this project.

675
00:26:21,559 --> 00:26:24,900
I mentioned earlier, survival of the trees is of the utmost

676
00:26:24,900 --> 00:26:25,839
importance.

677
00:26:25,839 --> 00:26:27,440
We know this is not ideal.

678
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,559
We know that the buffer is not where it needs to be right

679
00:26:29,559 --> 00:26:29,960
now.

680
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,279
And really our approach with Freezing Nickels is we need to

681
00:26:32,279 --> 00:26:33,480
do everything we can to make

682
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,839
this right as quickly as possible.

683
00:26:35,839 --> 00:26:38,529
So what we've asked them to do is using the space available

684
00:26:38,529 --> 00:26:39,799
, make the trees as dense as

685
00:26:39,799 --> 00:26:42,299
possible with the right species, the right location, the

686
00:26:42,299 --> 00:26:43,680
right planning schedule to make

687
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:48,119
sure that we're not having to redo this work again in a few

688
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:48,839
years.

689
00:26:48,839 --> 00:26:50,920
We've also asked them to provide a design work for our

690
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,279
irrigation system as well as a

691
00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:53,279
maintenance plan.

692
00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:56,079
So again, survival of the trees is of the utmost importance

693
00:26:56,079 --> 00:26:56,519
to us.

694
00:26:56,519 --> 00:27:00,640
And again, just to reiterate, here's our project timeline.

695
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,569
Behind the wall, we think that we could hit the next

696
00:27:02,569 --> 00:27:04,000
planting season if all goes well.

697
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,160
So that would be fall 2018.

698
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,230
And then the outside of the wall planning is just really

699
00:27:08,230 --> 00:27:09,359
going to be dependent on the

700
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:13,039
construction schedule.

701
00:27:13,039 --> 00:27:18,480
Questions on the buffer zone?

702
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,640
So I live in a neighborhood that's heavily treed where

703
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,359
recently there have been a couple

704
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:30,859
issues with squirrels and power lines where there had been

705
00:27:30,859 --> 00:27:32,400
some outages.

706
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:37,150
And I'm just wondering to what extent that'll be taken into

707
00:27:37,150 --> 00:27:39,519
account as the trees grow, what

708
00:27:39,519 --> 00:27:44,609
kinds of issues, what can be done to prevent that from

709
00:27:44,609 --> 00:27:46,480
being a problem.

710
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:52,119
And also kind of hand in hand with that, I would hope that

711
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:54,839
this planning will be done

712
00:27:54,839 --> 00:27:58,420
to some extent in consultation with DME to check on, okay,

713
00:27:58,420 --> 00:28:00,079
what kinds of maintenance

714
00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:04,839
will have to be done on these or might have to be done even

715
00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:07,319
on these power lines so that

716
00:28:07,319 --> 00:28:11,029
to avoid such problems with the irrigation system and et

717
00:28:11,029 --> 00:28:11,680
cetera.

718
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,839
And that's been a key point of our work with Fries and Nich

719
00:28:14,839 --> 00:28:16,480
ols is we have been talking

720
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,079
quite a bit with the engineering department, CIP, DME.

721
00:28:20,079 --> 00:28:22,680
There's a lot going on in that little corridor right there.

722
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,920
And so we want to make sure that all that's taken into

723
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:26,359
consideration that we're doing

724
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:28,759
what's the best plan overall.

725
00:28:28,759 --> 00:28:31,150
And so what our goal is is again to mitigate as many of

726
00:28:31,150 --> 00:28:32,359
those trees as we can.

727
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:36,069
It may not be exactly where it was prescribed back in 1995,

728
00:28:36,069 --> 00:28:37,599
but our goal is to have as many

729
00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:40,309
trees as we can that's still going to work well with the

730
00:28:40,309 --> 00:28:41,960
surrounding area, the surrounding

731
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:48,200
utilities and also maintain the survival of those trees.

732
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,900
And then when a tree does die, we're going to replace it,

733
00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:51,319
correct?

734
00:28:51,319 --> 00:28:52,319
That's correct.

735
00:28:52,319 --> 00:28:54,730
We do have a site operations manager in solid waste now and

736
00:28:54,730 --> 00:28:56,000
that's one of the things that

737
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,079
is going to be top of mind for them is taking inventory of

738
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:00,920
those trees on a regular basis.

739
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,160
If we have one that's dying, let's get it out of the ground

740
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:04,359
, let's get it replaced and

741
00:29:04,359 --> 00:29:07,559
let's do everything we can to stay on top of this.

742
00:29:07,559 --> 00:29:09,769
It's kind of like letting things slide for a number of

743
00:29:09,769 --> 00:29:10,240
years.

744
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,279
This is kind of a painful process that we're going through

745
00:29:12,279 --> 00:29:12,839
right now.

746
00:29:12,839 --> 00:29:15,640
And I know it's been an impact on the neighbor, the

747
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,839
neighbors in the area, but we want to

748
00:29:17,839 --> 00:29:20,839
stay on top of it moving forward once we get this in place.

749
00:29:20,839 --> 00:29:22,240
Thank you.

750
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:28,990
Ethan, one of the areas that were there substandard or

751
00:29:28,990 --> 00:29:35,079
buffer was on the south side, yes, four,

752
00:29:35,079 --> 00:29:37,200
I think it is.

753
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,769
Is there anything because it doesn't look I don't know is

754
00:29:39,769 --> 00:29:40,960
that going to be in the construction

755
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:45,019
path or is there is there anything that could be done there

756
00:29:45,019 --> 00:29:45,599
now?

757
00:29:45,599 --> 00:29:48,529
Is it going to be behind the wall or can it be in front of

758
00:29:48,529 --> 00:29:50,079
the wall to kind of shore that

759
00:29:50,079 --> 00:29:51,079
up?

760
00:29:51,079 --> 00:29:54,329
I think we're likely looking at behind the wall because

761
00:29:54,329 --> 00:29:56,200
again on this right here, that

762
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,910
yellow area on that previous slide is transmission lines

763
00:29:58,910 --> 00:30:00,700
are going to run right up Edwards Road

764
00:30:00,700 --> 00:30:01,700
as well.

765
00:30:01,700 --> 00:30:02,700
Okay.

766
00:30:02,700 --> 00:30:04,690
And so I think it's probably in our best interest to really

767
00:30:04,690 --> 00:30:05,920
just look exclusively behind the

768
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,319
wall in terms of buffer with that the trailer park that's

769
00:30:09,319 --> 00:30:10,559
right next to us.

770
00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:14,759
We do have the wall on our side of Edwards Road.

771
00:30:14,759 --> 00:30:16,799
We recently installed a wall on their side as well.

772
00:30:16,799 --> 00:30:20,559
We had a lot of children running out into the right of way.

773
00:30:20,559 --> 00:30:22,960
And we also wanted to provide some additional screening and

774
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,160
kind of noise reduction.

775
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,859
So they do have a wall on their side, a wall on our side,

776
00:30:26,859 --> 00:30:28,599
and then we can plant trees behind

777
00:30:28,599 --> 00:30:29,599
it.

778
00:30:29,599 --> 00:30:30,599
Okay.

779
00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:35,109
All right, so we're talking about this buffer of what was

780
00:30:35,109 --> 00:30:38,200
it, 125 feet wide or something

781
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,200
like that.

782
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,309
Does that does that buffer width have to change when you

783
00:30:43,309 --> 00:30:46,039
increase the height of the landfill

784
00:30:46,039 --> 00:30:47,039
at all?

785
00:30:47,039 --> 00:30:48,799
I don't believe so in terms of what we propose.

786
00:30:48,799 --> 00:30:57,160
Do you want to come up for a moment, Frank?

787
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,079
And I didn't introduce myself last time.

788
00:30:59,079 --> 00:31:00,680
Frank Pugsley with Park Hill Smith and Cooper.

789
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,400
I'm the consultant for the landfill permit amendment.

790
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,329
But as far as buffer zone goes, when 1590A, the current

791
00:31:06,329 --> 00:31:08,119
landfill was permitted, the buffer

792
00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:10,119
zone requirement was 50 feet.

793
00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:14,119
And since then, the TCEQ has expanded that to 125 feet.

794
00:31:14,119 --> 00:31:16,940
Kind of what Ethan alluded to earlier is that what TCEQ is

795
00:31:16,940 --> 00:31:18,440
most concerned about in that

796
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,539
125 feet is perimeter access for firefighting and

797
00:31:22,539 --> 00:31:26,400
maintenance, groundwater monitoring, landfill

798
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:27,400
gas detection.

799
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,619
So the TCEQ doesn't necessarily influence us one way or the

800
00:31:31,619 --> 00:31:33,400
other what we plant or how

801
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:34,400
much we plant.

802
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,650
So we are also trying to accommodate that vegetative buffer

803
00:31:37,650 --> 00:31:39,119
in that 125 feet.

804
00:31:39,119 --> 00:31:43,519
And additionally, even outside our prescriptive 125 feet.

805
00:31:43,519 --> 00:31:46,279
And you asked earlier if it encircles the entire landfill.

806
00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:49,990
Yes, we do have a 125 foot buffer around the entire waste

807
00:31:49,990 --> 00:31:51,839
footprint that we have to keep

808
00:31:51,839 --> 00:31:56,039
basically clear to some extent for site access and

809
00:31:56,039 --> 00:31:57,359
monitoring.

810
00:31:57,359 --> 00:32:00,150
Something I've noticed, touring the landfill a couple of

811
00:32:00,150 --> 00:32:01,680
times and throwing away waste

812
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,809
is in that southeast corner, I believe, where we share kind

813
00:32:06,809 --> 00:32:09,279
of a property border with the

814
00:32:09,279 --> 00:32:13,569
creek and then I think it's the golf courses right there

815
00:32:13,569 --> 00:32:15,799
are tons of plastic bags.

816
00:32:15,799 --> 00:32:19,049
And I've noticed they build up along the fence there and we

817
00:32:19,049 --> 00:32:20,759
bring in staff to collect them

818
00:32:20,759 --> 00:32:21,960
from the fence.

819
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,299
But inevitably, they make it beyond the fence and into the

820
00:32:25,299 --> 00:32:26,200
trees there.

821
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:30,329
It seems like if you go higher with your landfill mound

822
00:32:30,329 --> 00:32:33,279
that those bags, which seem to be the

823
00:32:33,279 --> 00:32:37,299
most popular thing other than just dirt, those bags are

824
00:32:37,299 --> 00:32:39,839
going to make it over there easier.

825
00:32:39,839 --> 00:32:40,839
Right.

826
00:32:40,839 --> 00:32:41,839
That's a great point.

827
00:32:41,839 --> 00:32:44,029
And one of the things that we're looking at in our current

828
00:32:44,029 --> 00:32:45,200
CIP right now is actually a

829
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:46,200
fence.

830
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,200
It's kind of a wind fence that catches that.

831
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,940
I mean, you really attack that one of two ways is staff and

832
00:32:50,940 --> 00:32:52,640
personnel, you know, climbing

833
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,960
up into trees to retrieve paper bags or plastic bags.

834
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:57,240
That's not the probably the best use.

835
00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,519
And so what we're doing right now is a cost benefit

836
00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:01,240
analysis to see would it make sense

837
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,250
for us to build a windscreen fence that would kind of

838
00:33:04,250 --> 00:33:06,200
border all of our operations.

839
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,000
It's not going to eliminate it.

840
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,920
It's never going to knock it completely down.

841
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,710
But it does prevent us from having the abundance that's out

842
00:33:12,710 --> 00:33:13,680
there right now.

843
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,380
We were turning the other day with some consultants and it

844
00:33:16,380 --> 00:33:17,680
was pretty noticeable.

845
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,200
So we are good neighbors with the golf course.

846
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:21,920
They work with us pretty regularly.

847
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,039
They allow us onto their land to clean it up.

848
00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:26,039
But we do have a number of those trees back there by that

849
00:33:26,039 --> 00:33:27,240
creek that can be problematic

850
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:28,240
for us.

851
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,099
What do you think is is it wind direction that makes it

852
00:33:32,099 --> 00:33:34,400
collect more in that area than

853
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:35,400
out on Mayhill?

854
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,740
I mean, because, you know, Mayhill doesn't isn't littered

855
00:33:38,740 --> 00:33:39,279
with bad.

856
00:33:39,279 --> 00:33:42,380
I think they're the prevailing winds do have an impact.

857
00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:44,509
That being said, it's it's easier for us to collect the

858
00:33:44,509 --> 00:33:45,920
ones blowing the other direction

859
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,279
once they get up into those trees.

860
00:33:47,279 --> 00:33:49,980
It is a little bit more of an adventure trying to retrieve

861
00:33:49,980 --> 00:33:50,359
those.

862
00:33:50,359 --> 00:33:52,799
And so that's what makes it more noticeable.

863
00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:54,519
Thank you.

864
00:33:54,519 --> 00:33:58,400
Any other questions?

865
00:33:58,400 --> 00:33:59,400
No.

866
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,920
Well, that's that's it for the presentation.

867
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,630
Again, we will circle back with you once the permits

868
00:34:04,630 --> 00:34:06,240
completed and take your direction

869
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,960
on whether we want to do a new specific use permit and also

870
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,280
provide both the board and

871
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,440
the council and update as we get into freezing nickels plan

872
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,199
for planning and as those trees

873
00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:16,199
start going into the ground.

874
00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:18,480
Thank you for the time today.

875
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:19,480
Thank you.

876
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:26,789
Okay, next time we have is item B in the work session,

877
00:34:26,789 --> 00:34:31,039
which is to receive a report, hold

878
00:34:31,039 --> 00:34:34,409
a discussion, provide direction concerning a management

879
00:34:34,409 --> 00:34:36,360
study for water, wastewater and

880
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:40,920
municipal electric.

881
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:47,760
Good morning.

882
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:48,760
My name is Kenny Banks.

883
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,000
I'm the general manager of utilities.

884
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,719
I wanted to give a brief presentation.

885
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,059
This is a somewhat infrequent situation that we're

886
00:34:58,059 --> 00:35:00,880
encountered with here because our charter

887
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,809
requires us once every 10 years to actually go through a

888
00:35:03,809 --> 00:35:05,679
management study for the water,

889
00:35:05,679 --> 00:35:09,360
wastewater and municipal electric utilities.

890
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:13,340
And so I wanted to kind of give an overview of what that

891
00:35:13,340 --> 00:35:15,880
management study looks like and

892
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,829
answer any questions that you might have and give you a

893
00:35:17,829 --> 00:35:19,320
general timeline of how we're looking

894
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,159
at going through this management study.

895
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,869
So as I said, charter requirement is to have a management

896
00:35:25,869 --> 00:35:27,800
study every 10 years.

897
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,619
Last study was completed in 2008 and 2009.

898
00:35:31,619 --> 00:35:34,710
We have done situations where we have had water and

899
00:35:34,710 --> 00:35:37,239
wastewater combined within municipal

900
00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:38,239
electric.

901
00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,269
We've also had those done separately by individual

902
00:35:41,269 --> 00:35:42,300
consultants.

903
00:35:42,300 --> 00:35:46,889
We did release a request for proposal on January the 29th

904
00:35:46,889 --> 00:35:49,960
and responses are due by March 25th.

905
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,670
And I provided a summary of major elements in your agenda

906
00:35:53,670 --> 00:35:55,079
information sheet.

907
00:35:55,079 --> 00:35:57,800
This is a very comprehensive study.

908
00:35:57,800 --> 00:35:59,760
There's a lot of components to it.

909
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,920
It's kind of divided up into some general areas.

910
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,269
I also provided some additional descriptions in the backup

911
00:36:05,269 --> 00:36:06,800
as exhibit two to give you a

912
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,730
little bit more sense of what those individual topics look

913
00:36:10,730 --> 00:36:11,360
like.

914
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,880
And so what I'd like to do today is just go through the

915
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,280
very high pass the major elements

916
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,960
and then answer any questions you might have.

917
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:23,900
And also if there's any feedback that you'd like to provide

918
00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:25,480
staff, we've given a general

919
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:26,920
outline to the consultants.

920
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,929
But of course as we start working with them, if there are

921
00:36:28,929 --> 00:36:30,280
specific elements that you would

922
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,210
like to see or have us emphasize, we'd like to hear about

923
00:36:33,210 --> 00:36:34,800
those so we can start rolling

924
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:36,159
those in.

925
00:36:36,159 --> 00:36:39,500
So in terms of general management, one of our major

926
00:36:39,500 --> 00:36:41,840
elements, basically this is just

927
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:46,530
a review of how the utility operations are conducted as it

928
00:36:46,530 --> 00:36:49,280
relates to the cost of providing

929
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,159
that service.

930
00:36:51,159 --> 00:36:55,440
And so it looks at every individual aspect of that utility.

931
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,960
And so I've tried to put a list in here and I apologize for

932
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,199
it being a little bit of an

933
00:37:01,199 --> 00:37:04,449
exhaustive, but it includes governance, organizational

934
00:37:04,449 --> 00:37:06,480
structure, financial practices, development

935
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:10,579
policies, all the support services, the franchise and cost

936
00:37:10,579 --> 00:37:12,960
of service transfers, our public

937
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,670
communication, public relations, our planning and budget

938
00:37:16,670 --> 00:37:18,920
process, how we develop our rates,

939
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:21,599
and then the overall administration of the organization.

940
00:37:21,599 --> 00:37:26,800
So a lot of elements there, a lot of things to look at.

941
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,980
Active analysis of significant operational cost is the next

942
00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:31,360
major element that we had

943
00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,360
for the management study.

944
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,070
We are basically examining the cost components of major

945
00:37:38,070 --> 00:37:40,400
utility services and subunits.

946
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,630
So I've tried to divide these out by the individual

947
00:37:42,630 --> 00:37:43,320
utilities.

948
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:47,070
For electric, this is mainly related to transmission and

949
00:37:47,070 --> 00:37:48,880
distribution services.

950
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,929
For water, we will be looking at raw water supply, our

951
00:37:51,929 --> 00:37:55,039
treatment, storage and pumping,

952
00:37:55,039 --> 00:37:59,110
distribution, engineering, metering, and then our wholesale

953
00:37:59,110 --> 00:38:00,119
operations.

954
00:38:00,119 --> 00:38:02,900
On the wastewater side, collection, pumping, treatment,

955
00:38:02,900 --> 00:38:04,559
biosolids management, wholesale

956
00:38:04,559 --> 00:38:08,900
services for wastewater treatment and storm water.

957
00:38:08,900 --> 00:38:13,750
And then support services are the internal services that we

958
00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:16,000
receive as utilities, so

959
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,860
customer service, accounting, purchasing, warehouse, legal

960
00:38:19,860 --> 00:38:21,840
information technology, human

961
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:26,690
resources, finance, engineering, inspections, and then also

962
00:38:26,690 --> 00:38:28,280
fleet operations.

963
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:32,719
In terms of outsourcing, that's an element that we included

964
00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:34,039
in this study.

965
00:38:34,039 --> 00:38:39,440
It was also looked at in the 97-98 study fairly extensively

966
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:39,760
.

967
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,110
Basically if the consultant finds that any function of the

968
00:38:42,110 --> 00:38:43,480
utility or city is now performed

969
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,039
by its own personnel is not comparable or competitive and

970
00:38:47,039 --> 00:38:48,880
couldn't be made comparable

971
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,809
or competitive within a reasonable timeframe through some

972
00:38:51,809 --> 00:38:53,559
adjustments, the consultant will

973
00:38:53,559 --> 00:38:57,420
present that issue involved with those functions as a part

974
00:38:57,420 --> 00:38:59,079
of our interim report.

975
00:38:59,079 --> 00:39:01,789
Generally, the way these go, there are several interim

976
00:39:01,789 --> 00:39:03,079
reports and I'll go into a little

977
00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:06,010
bit more detail about that, but this is definitely

978
00:39:06,010 --> 00:39:08,699
something that we wanted to target as a component

979
00:39:08,699 --> 00:39:11,510
of an interim report so that we could bring that

980
00:39:11,510 --> 00:39:13,960
information if it's discovered back to

981
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:15,719
the board.

982
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,889
If outsourcing is an appropriate recommended action, the

983
00:39:18,889 --> 00:39:20,639
consultant may be requested to

984
00:39:20,639 --> 00:39:24,340
provide a detailed plan for outsourcing implementation and

985
00:39:24,340 --> 00:39:26,940
of course that's going to require approval

986
00:39:26,940 --> 00:39:30,510
by the city and that would result in an amendment to the

987
00:39:30,510 --> 00:39:32,699
consultant's base contract.

988
00:39:32,699 --> 00:39:35,420
So in terms of deliverables, it's anticipated that we're

989
00:39:35,420 --> 00:39:37,159
going to be completing this project

990
00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:38,159
in phases.

991
00:39:38,159 --> 00:39:40,760
It's a big undertaking.

992
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:43,690
We expect to have interim draft reports on key issues with

993
00:39:43,690 --> 00:39:45,159
possible action items during

994
00:39:45,159 --> 00:39:47,639
the course of this study.

995
00:39:47,639 --> 00:39:50,900
Those will be prepared for review by the city.

996
00:39:50,900 --> 00:39:54,030
We will receive a final comprehensive document that

997
00:39:54,030 --> 00:39:56,320
includes all the interim reports and

998
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,239
all the action items.

999
00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:03,139
We'll also have the cost of service and comparative

1000
00:40:03,139 --> 00:40:06,960
relationship which is basically a benchmarking

1001
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:12,400
operation to other utilities of comparable size.

1002
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,780
So in terms of the schedule, basically we are looking to do

1003
00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:17,440
the bulk of this work during

1004
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:18,440
2018.

1005
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,940
We'll be providing you as a board interim presentations

1006
00:40:21,940 --> 00:40:23,880
based on the information that

1007
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:26,809
we get back from the consultant and we hope to have a final

1008
00:40:26,809 --> 00:40:28,239
presentation to the public

1009
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:31,630
utility board for a recommendation and then on to the city

1010
00:40:31,630 --> 00:40:33,559
council sometime in the spring

1011
00:40:33,559 --> 00:40:36,079
of 2019.

1012
00:40:36,079 --> 00:40:38,679
So I know that's a lot of information.

1013
00:40:38,679 --> 00:40:41,849
I hopefully some of the information that was provided as

1014
00:40:41,849 --> 00:40:43,920
backup was useful in kind of seeing

1015
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:45,960
the major elements of these studies.

1016
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:48,070
I'd be glad to answer any questions that you might have or

1017
00:40:48,070 --> 00:40:49,239
if there's any feedback that

1018
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:52,679
you'd like me to take a look at, start incorporating.

1019
00:40:52,679 --> 00:40:56,800
I will say that the way that we've released this proposal

1020
00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:59,119
is basically the respondents

1021
00:40:59,119 --> 00:41:02,900
have the opportunity to either respond in totality, meaning

1022
00:41:02,900 --> 00:41:04,679
that they would do an entire

1023
00:41:04,679 --> 00:41:08,630
study for municipal electric, water and wastewater or they

1024
00:41:08,630 --> 00:41:11,719
have the opportunity to respond individually

1025
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,909
where one respondent could just choose to tackle water and

1026
00:41:14,909 --> 00:41:16,960
wastewater and another respondent

1027
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:18,159
didn't municipal electric.

1028
00:41:18,159 --> 00:41:20,869
We felt that that would give us a little bit more

1029
00:41:20,869 --> 00:41:22,880
flexibility probably depending on the

1030
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:26,239
respondents that we get maybe a better product.

1031
00:41:26,239 --> 00:41:28,079
So I'd be glad to answer any questions.

1032
00:41:28,079 --> 00:41:29,440
I have a question.

1033
00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:31,960
Yes sir.

1034
00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:33,960
So it's done every 10 years.

1035
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:34,960
Correct.

1036
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:39,199
Is the assumption that this is obviously to control costs,

1037
00:41:39,199 --> 00:41:41,639
be efficient, provide services

1038
00:41:41,639 --> 00:41:45,880
based on today's demand and looking ahead in the future?

1039
00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:46,880
Correct.

1040
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,789
Which relates to how is all that going to impact the rates

1041
00:41:50,789 --> 00:41:52,199
to the citizens?

1042
00:41:52,199 --> 00:41:53,199
Sure, yes.

1043
00:41:53,199 --> 00:41:56,909
And so is this a 10 year projection out or does it go

1044
00:41:56,909 --> 00:41:58,360
further than that?

1045
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,699
Well, what it's intended to do is look at the current

1046
00:42:01,699 --> 00:42:03,719
operations and basically how they're

1047
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:07,190
managed and make recommendations where those operations

1048
00:42:07,190 --> 00:42:09,400
could be made more efficient, more

1049
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:11,159
cost effective, et cetera.

1050
00:42:11,159 --> 00:42:13,980
And then those recommendations are to be implemented going

1051
00:42:13,980 --> 00:42:14,599
forward.

1052
00:42:14,599 --> 00:42:17,920
So in a sense it is a forward looking study.

1053
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,960
Keep in mind that we also have cost of service analyses

1054
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,360
that occur at a more frequent basis.

1055
00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:26,519
We're required to do those once every five years.

1056
00:42:26,519 --> 00:42:29,699
So the way this has kind of happened in the past is that

1057
00:42:29,699 --> 00:42:31,760
the management study has a whole

1058
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,619
series of recommendations, we begin implementing those

1059
00:42:35,619 --> 00:42:37,760
during the -- as we go forward.

1060
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:42,849
And then we have a five year cost of service that would be

1061
00:42:42,849 --> 00:42:44,239
in process.

1062
00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:47,690
Actually depending on the timing with this, we'll actually

1063
00:42:47,690 --> 00:42:49,519
have two cost of services before

1064
00:42:49,519 --> 00:42:52,320
this one comes back again.

1065
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:53,320
Questions?

1066
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:54,320
Yes.

1067
00:42:54,320 --> 00:43:00,369
Well, first of all, I'm excited that this is going to

1068
00:43:00,369 --> 00:43:04,079
happen and I really like the idea

1069
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:10,940
about having each utility, you know, worked on separately

1070
00:43:10,940 --> 00:43:14,239
as long as there's some, you

1071
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:19,039
know, coming together at the end.

1072
00:43:19,039 --> 00:43:24,280
A couple interrelated suggestions, recommendations.

1073
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:27,309
One, and this is regarding the number six which says that

1074
00:43:27,309 --> 00:43:28,880
the support service review

1075
00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:35,599
shall include but may not be limited to utility billing,

1076
00:43:35,599 --> 00:43:39,559
customer service, et cetera.

1077
00:43:39,559 --> 00:43:45,059
One thing that I think would be worth considering is the

1078
00:43:45,059 --> 00:43:48,639
way that customer service has in the

1079
00:43:48,639 --> 00:43:52,099
past been relatively separate kind of the day to day

1080
00:43:52,099 --> 00:43:54,360
operations of customer service

1081
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:59,190
has been separate from the day to day operations of the

1082
00:43:59,190 --> 00:44:02,760
various utilities and the management

1083
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:04,559
of those utilities.

1084
00:44:04,559 --> 00:44:09,570
And I would like to see the consultant consider, you know,

1085
00:44:09,570 --> 00:44:12,159
what might be the pros and cons

1086
00:44:12,159 --> 00:44:19,670
of having a more integrated management approach where, say,

1087
00:44:19,670 --> 00:44:23,559
you know, the head of DME is involved

1088
00:44:23,559 --> 00:44:30,599
in a more regular basis in, you know, decisions being made

1089
00:44:30,599 --> 00:44:33,519
in customer service.

1090
00:44:33,519 --> 00:44:36,860
And the reason why, and maybe it's obvious, but because,

1091
00:44:36,860 --> 00:44:38,639
you know, when so many people

1092
00:44:38,639 --> 00:44:42,719
in the public, they think about, say, you know, DME or any

1093
00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:44,679
one of the utilities, often

1094
00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:48,429
they're thinking about their bill and or, you know, a

1095
00:44:48,429 --> 00:44:50,599
conversation they've had on the

1096
00:44:50,599 --> 00:44:52,039
phone.

1097
00:44:52,039 --> 00:44:54,510
And the things that people tend to take for granted are the

1098
00:44:54,510 --> 00:44:55,800
fact that, you know, when

1099
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:58,880
they have, when there's a power outage, it gets turned

1100
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:00,719
right back on, you know, it comes

1101
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:04,059
back on relatively quickly, you know, and I mean, we know

1102
00:45:04,059 --> 00:45:05,559
that those are, that that's

1103
00:45:05,559 --> 00:45:09,260
what so much of DME is involved in, but for so many people,

1104
00:45:09,260 --> 00:45:10,159
it's a bill.

1105
00:45:10,159 --> 00:45:16,320
And so and then following on that on that same note with

1106
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,800
customer service, I think it

1107
00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:22,989
would be a good thing for, you know, consultants to

1108
00:45:22,989 --> 00:45:26,260
consider what might be, you know, the advantages

1109
00:45:26,260 --> 00:45:28,519
of doing a customer service.

1110
00:45:28,519 --> 00:45:31,650
I'm sorry, doing a customer satisfaction, taking some

1111
00:45:31,650 --> 00:45:33,800
customer satisfaction assessment.

1112
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:35,909
This is something I had mentioned in the past, but not

1113
00:45:35,909 --> 00:45:37,639
knowing that this 10 year assessment

1114
00:45:37,639 --> 00:45:39,239
would come would be coming up.

1115
00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:42,010
So that seems like something that could be really nicely

1116
00:45:42,010 --> 00:45:43,559
integrated into that for each

1117
00:45:43,559 --> 00:45:49,170
utility to see what people think about the the the the

1118
00:45:49,170 --> 00:45:50,519
utility.

1119
00:45:50,519 --> 00:45:57,239
And that, I think, would be really, really helpful.

1120
00:45:57,239 --> 00:46:03,230
And then and then the final thing would be about billing,

1121
00:46:03,230 --> 00:46:06,199
you know, in the past, when,

1122
00:46:06,199 --> 00:46:10,059
you know, discussions of say, DME rates have come up, you

1123
00:46:10,059 --> 00:46:12,400
know, we look at we compare to

1124
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,840
other similar cities.

1125
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:20,340
I would like for, you know, these consultants to at least

1126
00:46:20,340 --> 00:46:23,480
consider the possibility of one

1127
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:29,219
focusing on comparing DME to co-serve, which is just again,

1128
00:46:29,219 --> 00:46:31,840
on the same principle of the

1129
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:33,079
way the public sees it.

1130
00:46:33,079 --> 00:46:36,199
You know, people around here generally, they're comparing

1131
00:46:36,199 --> 00:46:37,880
people who are on, say, DME are

1132
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:42,320
comparing their bill to their sometimes literally their

1133
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:45,639
neighbor, you know, who has co-serve.

1134
00:46:45,639 --> 00:46:48,750
So I see it as that's our main competitor, and that's what

1135
00:46:48,750 --> 00:46:50,360
people are comparing to.

1136
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,800
So I think that would be the most useful comparison.

1137
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:58,239
And then secondly, to look at not just the rates, but the

1138
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:00,800
the cost of service adjustment.

1139
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:02,800
I mean, you know, you mentioned that before.

1140
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:05,900
And of course, that's something that's considered on a

1141
00:47:05,900 --> 00:47:06,960
regular basis.

1142
00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:10,389
But to consider the ways that customer that the that the

1143
00:47:10,389 --> 00:47:12,760
cost of service adjustment combined

1144
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:16,099
with rates affects people's bills, which affects customer

1145
00:47:16,099 --> 00:47:19,039
satisfaction, I'd like to see, you

1146
00:47:19,039 --> 00:47:22,199
know, more integrated approach to that.

1147
00:47:22,199 --> 00:47:23,199
So those are my recommendations.

1148
00:47:23,199 --> 00:47:26,780
But I think it's it's great that that that this is coming

1149
00:47:26,780 --> 00:47:27,280
up.

1150
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,360
It just seems like a really opportune time.

1151
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:30,360
Thanks.

1152
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:31,360
Thanks.

1153
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:32,360
Questions?

1154
00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:33,360
No.

1155
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:34,360
Anything else?

1156
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:39,360
Anybody like to comment on in here?

1157
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:40,360
Okay.

1158
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:41,360
Thank you.

1159
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:53,519
Okay.

1160
00:47:53,519 --> 00:48:00,460
At this time, we have a couple of items to be discussed in

1161
00:48:00,460 --> 00:48:02,719
closed meeting.

1162
00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:05,800
The Public Utilities Board will convene.

1163
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:16,349
Okay, we're back in open session at 1032 a.m. to go through

1164
00:48:16,349 --> 00:48:17,840
the regular meeting portion

1165
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:19,519
of our agenda.

1166
00:48:19,519 --> 00:48:24,610
First, we have the consent agenda, which we have two items

1167
00:48:24,610 --> 00:48:26,519
on consent agenda.

1168
00:48:26,519 --> 00:48:30,750
Is there any member who would like to pull either items A

1169
00:48:30,750 --> 00:48:33,800
or B for individual consideration?

1170
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:39,539
I'd like to pull a A. I'd like to pull B. Okay, there we go

1171
00:48:39,539 --> 00:48:39,960
.

1172
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:41,199
All right.

1173
00:48:41,199 --> 00:48:44,780
So the first we'll move those then for individual

1174
00:48:44,780 --> 00:48:47,159
individual consideration.

1175
00:48:47,159 --> 00:48:51,639
So the first one is item A, which is to consider

1176
00:48:51,639 --> 00:48:55,880
recommending approval for the purchase of

1177
00:48:55,880 --> 00:49:02,679
one model LP873 vacuum excavator for the City of Denton

1178
00:49:02,679 --> 00:49:05,519
drainage department.

1179
00:49:05,519 --> 00:49:07,590
We go through the presentation or you just want to have a

1180
00:49:07,590 --> 00:49:10,400
few questions you want to ask?

1181
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:14,159
I thought I read that we are this is a replacement, but we

1182
00:49:14,159 --> 00:49:15,940
're not going to sell it.

1183
00:49:15,940 --> 00:49:16,940
We're going to keep it.

1184
00:49:16,940 --> 00:49:19,760
So why if it's a replacement, are we going to keep it?

1185
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:26,119
That's the next one question.

1186
00:49:26,119 --> 00:49:29,460
It's actually this game was shared by two different

1187
00:49:29,460 --> 00:49:31,960
departments, the streets department

1188
00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:32,960
and the drainage department.

1189
00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:33,960
And so the machine was purchased by streets.

1190
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:36,670
The original machine was purchased by streets with the

1191
00:49:36,670 --> 00:49:38,159
agreement with drainage that they

1192
00:49:38,159 --> 00:49:40,400
would do the maintenance cost on the machine.

1193
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:43,329
So drainage, I guess, figures they have enough work for

1194
00:49:43,329 --> 00:49:45,239
that particular type of machine now

1195
00:49:45,239 --> 00:49:48,880
that they would like to purchase one for themselves.

1196
00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:50,599
The street department.

1197
00:49:50,599 --> 00:49:54,599
Yeah, there you go.

1198
00:49:54,599 --> 00:49:55,599
Yeah.

1199
00:49:55,599 --> 00:49:57,800
Sorry about that.

1200
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:01,800
So the streets department is going to temporarily retain

1201
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:03,039
that machine.

1202
00:50:03,039 --> 00:50:05,559
Now it still has a little bit of life left in it.

1203
00:50:05,559 --> 00:50:07,239
So we're not going to auction it right at this time.

1204
00:50:07,239 --> 00:50:11,230
But when they get ready to replace it, they may decide they

1205
00:50:11,230 --> 00:50:13,039
don't need it anymore.

1206
00:50:13,039 --> 00:50:15,730
I have a feeling the drainage department used it the most

1207
00:50:15,730 --> 00:50:16,440
of the time.

1208
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:19,500
So that's why they're splitting it and they're going their

1209
00:50:19,500 --> 00:50:20,719
separate ways now.

1210
00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:21,719
Okay.

1211
00:50:21,719 --> 00:50:22,719
Okay.

1212
00:50:22,719 --> 00:50:23,719
Thank you.

1213
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:24,719
I'll move approval.

1214
00:50:24,719 --> 00:50:28,980
Okay, we have a motion for approval of item A, which is is

1215
00:50:28,980 --> 00:50:31,719
there a second?

1216
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:32,719
Second.

1217
00:50:32,719 --> 00:50:37,519
And a second.

1218
00:50:37,519 --> 00:50:38,519
Any discussion?

1219
00:50:38,519 --> 00:50:40,719
All in favor say aye.

1220
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:41,719
Aye.

1221
00:50:41,719 --> 00:50:42,719
Any opposed?

1222
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:43,719
Very good.

1223
00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:45,159
Item A passes.

1224
00:50:45,159 --> 00:50:47,920
Item B. Same thing.

1225
00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:49,519
Charlie, you wanted that one pulled?

1226
00:50:49,519 --> 00:50:51,800
Yes, I just have a question.

1227
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:57,000
And it's concerning the timeline laid out in the AIS.

1228
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:58,000
Yes, sir.

1229
00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:00,000
It's really confusing to me.

1230
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:01,000
Okay.

1231
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:03,079
So these are actually fees that we should be paying from

1232
00:51:03,079 --> 00:51:04,400
the start of the fiscal year.

1233
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,800
They're basically paid to the TCEQ on a per ton basis.

1234
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:09,880
It's 95 cents per ton.

1235
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:11,840
This is actually the first time the solid waste department

1236
00:51:11,840 --> 00:51:12,920
has brought this to the PUB

1237
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:14,719
and the council for approval.

1238
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:17,650
And we ran into this whenever we were issuing a PO and

1239
00:51:17,650 --> 00:51:19,760
found that, wow, we really should

1240
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,079
have been bringing this to the board and the council on a

1241
00:51:22,079 --> 00:51:22,920
regular basis.

1242
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:26,260
And so we are running a little bit on an unusual timeframe

1243
00:51:26,260 --> 00:51:27,000
right now.

1244
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:30,699
We're actually trying to pay our first quarter with the TCE

1245
00:51:30,699 --> 00:51:33,360
Q, which is due March 1st, I believe.

1246
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:36,699
So once we complete this year's cycle of payments, we want

1247
00:51:36,699 --> 00:51:38,920
to tee this up so that you all and

1248
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:41,630
the council are seeing this with the fiscal year

1249
00:51:41,630 --> 00:51:42,239
information.

1250
00:51:42,239 --> 00:51:44,639
So we'd be bringing that back in kind of the September,

1251
00:51:44,639 --> 00:51:46,280
October timeframe and then issuing

1252
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,000
the PO, the purchase order shortly thereafter once you

1253
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:49,840
approve that.

1254
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:50,840
Does that make sense?

1255
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,769
So it'd be approved in advance for the year and you could

1256
00:51:53,769 --> 00:51:55,000
just issue.

1257
00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:56,159
That is absolutely correct.

1258
00:51:56,159 --> 00:51:59,159
That's how we present this moving forward.

1259
00:51:59,159 --> 00:52:00,159
Okay.

1260
00:52:00,159 --> 00:52:02,159
Any other questions?

1261
00:52:02,159 --> 00:52:03,159
No.

1262
00:52:03,159 --> 00:52:05,920
Do we have a motion on item B?

1263
00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:06,920
I recommend approval.

1264
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:08,719
A motion to approve.

1265
00:52:08,719 --> 00:52:11,719
Is there a second?

1266
00:52:11,719 --> 00:52:12,719
Thank you.

1267
00:52:12,719 --> 00:52:13,719
Discussion?

1268
00:52:13,719 --> 00:52:14,719
All in favor say aye.

1269
00:52:14,719 --> 00:52:15,719
Aye.

1270
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:16,719
Any opposed?

1271
00:52:16,719 --> 00:52:17,719
Item B passes.

1272
00:52:17,719 --> 00:52:25,739
Next we have the item A, which is consideration of approval

1273
00:52:25,739 --> 00:52:30,480
, consider approval of the public

1274
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:35,960
utilities board meeting minutes of January 22nd, 2018.

1275
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:44,769
Are there any changes, comments, questions about these as

1276
00:52:44,769 --> 00:52:50,079
they were distributed in advance?

1277
00:52:50,079 --> 00:52:52,079
Okay.

1278
00:52:52,079 --> 00:52:58,960
Hearing none, we can consider those approved by acclamation

1279
00:52:58,960 --> 00:52:59,960
then.

1280
00:52:59,960 --> 00:53:03,710
Item B is to consider recommending adoption of an ordinance

1281
00:53:03,710 --> 00:53:05,559
awarding a contract with Atmos

1282
00:53:05,559 --> 00:53:09,099
pipeline, Texas, a division of Atmos energy, corporations

1283
00:53:09,099 --> 00:53:11,760
to provide alternative fuel transportation

1284
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:17,010
services and to install a metering station for their

1285
00:53:17,010 --> 00:53:20,719
alternative, too many descriptions

1286
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:24,639
here, alternate fuel filling station located at 1251 South

1287
00:53:24,639 --> 00:53:25,639
May Hill Road.

1288
00:53:25,639 --> 00:53:28,159
I have to say it three times fast.

1289
00:53:28,159 --> 00:53:29,159
I know.

1290
00:53:29,159 --> 00:53:30,159
Yeah.

1291
00:53:30,159 --> 00:53:31,159
Thank you.

1292
00:53:31,159 --> 00:53:32,159
All right.

1293
00:53:32,159 --> 00:53:33,710
So members of the board, I do have a brief presentation for

1294
00:53:33,710 --> 00:53:35,159
you and the public this morning.

1295
00:53:35,159 --> 00:53:37,619
Just a little bit of a refresher in terms of where we've

1296
00:53:37,619 --> 00:53:39,119
been with compressed natural

1297
00:53:39,119 --> 00:53:42,239
gas as a fueling platform over the last few years.

1298
00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:45,369
This is a topic that was raised in 2012 and revisited

1299
00:53:45,369 --> 00:53:47,280
throughout those last few years.

1300
00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:51,309
The solid waste department had invested in about 24 CNG-

1301
00:53:51,309 --> 00:53:53,280
based vehicles in the recent

1302
00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:56,239
past and in 2017, this summer, we brought that to your

1303
00:53:56,239 --> 00:53:58,000
attention because we were utilizing

1304
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:01,429
a mobile fueling platform that had some very high cost with

1305
00:54:01,429 --> 00:54:01,960
that.

1306
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:04,920
And as we ran our financial analysis, we found that it wasn

1307
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:06,800
't really going to have the financial

1308
00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:09,500
benefit that we thought it would because of where diesel

1309
00:54:09,500 --> 00:54:10,480
was in the market.

1310
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:13,570
And so we proposed an exit strategy, if you will, to age

1311
00:54:13,570 --> 00:54:15,199
out our fleet and try to exit

1312
00:54:15,199 --> 00:54:18,179
the fueling platform with the least amount of financial

1313
00:54:18,179 --> 00:54:19,400
damage as we could.

1314
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:22,119
And so it was agreed by both the PUB and the council in

1315
00:54:22,119 --> 00:54:24,599
August of 2017 that the best strategy

1316
00:54:24,599 --> 00:54:29,079
was to construct a fueling station at the fuel island out

1317
00:54:29,079 --> 00:54:31,659
at the solid waste landfill.

1318
00:54:31,659 --> 00:54:34,610
There are a few agreements that are going to be involved in

1319
00:54:34,610 --> 00:54:36,440
bringing this station online.

1320
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:38,980
We currently have an agreement with Zide Energy.

1321
00:54:38,980 --> 00:54:41,679
They are there for station construction and maintenance.

1322
00:54:41,679 --> 00:54:43,840
This was approved in 2016.

1323
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:46,630
And we are looking at construction being complete in the

1324
00:54:46,630 --> 00:54:47,920
mid-March timeframe.

1325
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:51,380
The first additional agreement that we need to transact is

1326
00:54:51,380 --> 00:54:52,880
with Atmos pipeline.

1327
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,960
That's for transportation and metering of natural gas.

1328
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:58,440
That's posted for consideration on your agenda today.

1329
00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:01,260
When we do our calculations based on our volumes, we're

1330
00:55:01,260 --> 00:55:03,559
looking at about 16 cents per gallon

1331
00:55:03,559 --> 00:55:04,559
or per DGE.

1332
00:55:04,559 --> 00:55:07,639
That stands for diesel gallon equivalent.

1333
00:55:07,639 --> 00:55:10,650
In addition to that, once this is approved today, assuming

1334
00:55:10,650 --> 00:55:12,119
that takes place, we'll also

1335
00:55:12,119 --> 00:55:15,760
have a natural gas purchase, buying commodity, if you will.

1336
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:17,909
And that contract finalization will be contingent on today

1337
00:55:17,909 --> 00:55:19,119
's vote because we need to have a

1338
00:55:19,119 --> 00:55:22,960
metering station installed before we can purchase gas.

1339
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:25,659
Our projected costs there with what we've seen from the

1340
00:55:25,659 --> 00:55:26,880
submission so far is about 50

1341
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:27,880
cents per gallon.

1342
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:31,590
And so our all-in cost on a per gallon basis is going to be

1343
00:55:31,590 --> 00:55:33,760
right around 66 cents.

1344
00:55:33,760 --> 00:55:36,469
That's a significant savings over what we're paying today,

1345
00:55:36,469 --> 00:55:38,320
which is approximately $3.75

1346
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:39,639
a gallon.

1347
00:55:39,639 --> 00:55:42,349
This is the annual fuel usage for our 24 vehicles in our

1348
00:55:42,349 --> 00:55:42,840
fleet.

1349
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:47,920
And the annual savings come up to about $415,000 each year.

1350
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,630
Now as we mentioned, we are going to be aging out our

1351
00:55:50,630 --> 00:55:52,179
investments in the CNG fleet.

1352
00:55:52,179 --> 00:55:54,719
And so those numbers will come down in the out years.

1353
00:55:54,719 --> 00:55:59,519
We plan to age out that fleet probably by 2023, 2024.

1354
00:55:59,519 --> 00:56:03,230
With that, I will be happy to stand for any questions you

1355
00:56:03,230 --> 00:56:04,159
might have.

1356
00:56:04,159 --> 00:56:05,159
Questions?

1357
00:56:05,159 --> 00:56:12,000
Well, I'll just say that's a lot.

1358
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,750
That's a great cost recovery, especially if you look at

1359
00:56:15,750 --> 00:56:18,199
three to four years on that, you

1360
00:56:18,199 --> 00:56:22,000
know, for what we're paying now.

1361
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:25,929
It's it feels good to have it presented whenever we're

1362
00:56:25,929 --> 00:56:28,199
saving money over what we're doing now.

1363
00:56:28,199 --> 00:56:30,579
It's going to feel real good when the gas turns on at the

1364
00:56:30,579 --> 00:56:31,199
station.

1365
00:56:31,199 --> 00:56:34,320
I would like to say a big thank you to Nick Vinson.

1366
00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:36,480
He's been the project manager on this, done a lot of the

1367
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:37,920
financial work, terrific work

1368
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:38,920
all the way around.

1369
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:39,920
I'm really glad he's here.

1370
00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:42,389
And I know he's going to be very relieved whenever the

1371
00:56:42,389 --> 00:56:43,920
station comes online, too.

1372
00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:44,920
Thanks, Matt.

1373
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:45,920
Very good.

1374
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:46,920
Yeah, I just want to add my voice to that.

1375
00:56:46,920 --> 00:56:50,260
And, you know, thanking staff that worked so hard on this

1376
00:56:50,260 --> 00:56:51,960
to save ratepayers money and

1377
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:54,909
make sure that we making sure that we're not sinking more

1378
00:56:54,909 --> 00:56:56,280
more costs into this.

1379
00:56:56,280 --> 00:57:00,000
This is really just excellent problem solving.

1380
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:02,449
And it's just great to see this going forward that, you

1381
00:57:02,449 --> 00:57:04,159
know, I don't I don't see mistakes

1382
00:57:04,159 --> 00:57:08,480
like this happening again.

1383
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:12,079
So it's great savings for ratepayers.

1384
00:57:12,079 --> 00:57:13,079
So thank you.

1385
00:57:13,079 --> 00:57:14,079
Okay, very good.

1386
00:57:14,079 --> 00:57:21,199
Do we have a motion on item B then?

1387
00:57:21,199 --> 00:57:22,199
Move approval.

1388
00:57:22,199 --> 00:57:23,199
Second.

1389
00:57:23,199 --> 00:57:24,199
Second.

1390
00:57:24,199 --> 00:57:26,159
I have a motion to approve and a second.

1391
00:57:26,159 --> 00:57:27,159
Further discussion.

1392
00:57:27,159 --> 00:57:29,360
All in favor say aye.

1393
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:30,360
Aye.

1394
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:31,360
Any opposed?

1395
00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:32,360
Very good.

1396
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:35,280
Item B passes.

1397
00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:38,199
Item C is ACM update.

1398
00:57:38,199 --> 00:57:41,539
PB members, I wanted to mention a few reports that we've

1399
00:57:41,539 --> 00:57:43,280
included in your backup.

1400
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:46,000
The first is an informal staff report to answer some

1401
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:48,480
questions that we receive on credit collections

1402
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:51,730
and Tiffany Thompson is here from customer service if you

1403
00:57:51,730 --> 00:57:53,480
have any follow up questions

1404
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:54,840
from her on that item.

1405
00:57:54,840 --> 00:57:58,179
And the second item is for some operational and cost

1406
00:57:58,179 --> 00:58:01,119
information related to Lake Ray Roberts.

1407
00:58:01,119 --> 00:58:03,619
We have some folks from water that are here certainly they

1408
00:58:03,619 --> 00:58:04,880
can answer questions if you

1409
00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:08,360
have any detailed questions on them from them.

1410
00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:11,619
And I also wanted to mention to you about the approach we

1411
00:58:11,619 --> 00:58:13,199
're going to be taking for

1412
00:58:13,199 --> 00:58:16,260
any kind of action items related to closed session

1413
00:58:16,260 --> 00:58:17,360
discussions.

1414
00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:20,769
Previously we've been able to have votes take place in

1415
00:58:20,769 --> 00:58:22,920
closed session on time to time when

1416
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:25,159
the occasion required it.

1417
00:58:25,159 --> 00:58:28,119
The direction we've received from council is in the future

1418
00:58:28,119 --> 00:58:29,539
to have redacted copies of

1419
00:58:29,539 --> 00:58:33,639
any kind of agreements or actions that are being taken in

1420
00:58:33,639 --> 00:58:35,199
the open session.

1421
00:58:35,199 --> 00:58:38,010
So we'll be doing that in the future and we've provided a

1422
00:58:38,010 --> 00:58:40,239
short memo just to put that information

1423
00:58:40,239 --> 00:58:43,320
back up for you so you can see that going forward.

1424
00:58:43,320 --> 00:58:46,090
We also have the future item list and the new business

1425
00:58:46,090 --> 00:58:47,679
matrix and be happy to answer

1426
00:58:47,679 --> 00:58:52,380
any questions that you have on any of those items that are

1427
00:58:52,380 --> 00:58:53,239
there.

1428
00:58:53,239 --> 00:58:55,960
Any comments about any of the -- yes.

1429
00:58:55,960 --> 00:59:01,510
I just want to thank Tiffany for putting together all that

1430
00:59:01,510 --> 00:59:03,159
information.

1431
00:59:03,159 --> 00:59:06,909
I really appreciated it and it's really good to see as far

1432
00:59:06,909 --> 00:59:08,679
as the uncollectible debt by

1433
00:59:08,679 --> 00:59:10,280
category goes.

1434
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:14,949
I hope that as we move into the future that this

1435
00:59:14,949 --> 00:59:19,019
information is collected category by

1436
00:59:19,019 --> 00:59:23,079
category so that all this work doesn't have to be done

1437
00:59:23,079 --> 00:59:25,800
looking backwards and sorting that

1438
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:28,619
out so it's just kind of divided into those categories as

1439
00:59:28,619 --> 00:59:29,079
we go.

1440
00:59:29,079 --> 00:59:30,840
But this is extremely helpful.

1441
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:35,550
I just wanted you to know that this was read with -- that I

1442
00:59:35,550 --> 00:59:38,239
read this carefully and, you

1443
00:59:38,239 --> 00:59:41,380
know, be sharing what I learned from that and that I hope

1444
00:59:41,380 --> 00:59:43,239
that I know that council decided

1445
00:59:43,239 --> 00:59:45,559
to take a more incremental approach.

1446
00:59:45,559 --> 00:59:53,150
I think that was the word that the mayor used in reforming

1447
00:59:53,150 --> 00:59:57,760
the deposits policy because that

1448
00:59:57,760 --> 01:00:00,690
was the context anyway in which this uncollectible debt was

1449
01:00:00,690 --> 01:00:02,239
first presented to us as kind of

1450
01:00:02,239 --> 01:00:04,980
-- this is how you can see, you know, how and to what

1451
01:00:04,980 --> 01:00:06,880
extent the deposits are working.

1452
01:00:06,880 --> 01:00:09,349
You know, it was interesting -- I'll just note for now that

1453
01:00:09,349 --> 01:00:10,800
one thing that was interesting

1454
01:00:10,800 --> 01:00:17,650
for me to see in these new figures, the breakdown year by

1455
01:00:17,650 --> 01:00:23,400
year, was how the multifamily uncollectible

1456
01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:30,670
debt decreases, you know, eventually decreases but then

1457
01:00:30,670 --> 01:00:34,480
remained relatively constant and

1458
01:00:34,480 --> 01:00:37,610
so, you know, without going into the weeds in that, that's

1459
01:00:37,610 --> 01:00:39,119
something that I hope, you

1460
01:00:39,119 --> 01:00:42,309
know, when we come to this next as PUB and council really

1461
01:00:42,309 --> 01:00:44,079
gets considered but I really

1462
01:00:44,079 --> 01:00:45,880
like the breakdown by category.

1463
01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:48,989
And I wanted to say, you know, as far as the payment

1464
01:00:48,989 --> 01:00:51,880
options, just for, you know, any public,

1465
01:00:51,880 --> 01:00:55,590
you know, watching this, you know, I had raised concerns

1466
01:00:55,590 --> 01:00:57,960
before because I had heard some people

1467
01:00:57,960 --> 01:01:01,480
in the community mention that, you know, they had been

1468
01:01:01,480 --> 01:01:03,719
charged additional fee for paying

1469
01:01:03,719 --> 01:01:08,280
by phone and an additional fee for changing their credit

1470
01:01:08,280 --> 01:01:10,880
card and, you know, what this

1471
01:01:10,880 --> 01:01:16,440
tells -- this report prepared by staff just points out that

1472
01:01:16,440 --> 01:01:19,199
those extra charges are only

1473
01:01:19,199 --> 01:01:22,639
for commercial accounts and not for residential accounts.

1474
01:01:22,639 --> 01:01:26,780
I just wanted to qualify that for the public that, you know

1475
01:01:26,780 --> 01:01:28,760
, that if you did get those

1476
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:32,989
charges that that is policy, you know, across the board for

1477
01:01:32,989 --> 01:01:35,199
commercial accounts and, of

1478
01:01:35,199 --> 01:01:37,900
course, if anyone who has just a residential account finds

1479
01:01:37,900 --> 01:01:39,039
themselves being charged those

1480
01:01:39,039 --> 01:01:42,599
additional charges, then that means that that policy was

1481
01:01:42,599 --> 01:01:44,719
wrongly applied and then you have

1482
01:01:44,719 --> 01:01:48,869
something that you can point to to show that it was wrongly

1483
01:01:48,869 --> 01:01:49,800
applied.

1484
01:01:49,800 --> 01:01:52,239
But it's good for people to know that it's not just -- it's

1485
01:01:52,239 --> 01:01:53,719
not arbitrary and it's definitely

1486
01:01:53,719 --> 01:01:58,800
not universal.

1487
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:04,789
And I wanted to add about the closed meeting, the note here

1488
01:02:04,789 --> 01:02:07,480
in the ACM update on closed

1489
01:02:07,480 --> 01:02:08,480
sessions.

1490
01:02:08,480 --> 01:02:14,469
I'm so happy with the new closed session policy that we're

1491
01:02:14,469 --> 01:02:17,559
not going to be taking votes in

1492
01:02:17,559 --> 01:02:21,630
closed session and I know that had been done in the past

1493
01:02:21,630 --> 01:02:24,300
and, you know, justified under

1494
01:02:24,300 --> 01:02:27,280
previous administration, but I really like the new

1495
01:02:27,280 --> 01:02:29,639
direction of transparency in the new,

1496
01:02:29,639 --> 01:02:30,960
you know, management and counsel.

1497
01:02:30,960 --> 01:02:34,539
So just thank you to, you know, management and, you know,

1498
01:02:34,539 --> 01:02:36,719
especially to counsel for deciding

1499
01:02:36,719 --> 01:02:38,360
on that.

1500
01:02:38,360 --> 01:02:41,940
And then final -- oh, no, yeah, so that's all about that

1501
01:02:41,940 --> 01:02:43,559
and then I have a question

1502
01:02:43,559 --> 01:02:48,039
that would -- sorry, that would go under concluding items.

1503
01:02:48,039 --> 01:02:50,090
So that was all, but anyway, sorry, I realize that was a

1504
01:02:50,090 --> 01:02:51,400
lot, but there were some really

1505
01:02:51,400 --> 01:02:54,360
good updates there in that ACM update.

1506
01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:56,429
I wanted to be sure to get that in that the public knows

1507
01:02:56,429 --> 01:02:57,880
and that, you know, staff knows

1508
01:02:57,880 --> 01:02:59,880
how much their work is appreciated.

1509
01:02:59,880 --> 01:03:00,880
Okay.

1510
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:04,880
Go ahead, Susan.

1511
01:03:04,880 --> 01:03:09,000
I have a comment on the collections too and I'm assuming

1512
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,400
that when we put in the new meters

1513
01:03:11,400 --> 01:03:14,550
that maybe we'll see a trend a little bit on that multif

1514
01:03:14,550 --> 01:03:15,159
amily.

1515
01:03:15,159 --> 01:03:18,360
That's always a difficult area because of the transient

1516
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:20,039
nature of people moving out

1517
01:03:20,039 --> 01:03:21,039
of apartments.

1518
01:03:21,039 --> 01:03:23,920
So is that a goal of the new metering?

1519
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:25,559
That is a goal and thank you.

1520
01:03:25,559 --> 01:03:27,469
I want to say that I just got through having a root canal

1521
01:03:27,469 --> 01:03:28,559
so I'm not having a stroke.

1522
01:03:28,559 --> 01:03:35,079
So if I start drilling, just go with it.

1523
01:03:35,079 --> 01:03:38,050
With that, so yes, that's definitely the intention to be

1524
01:03:38,050 --> 01:03:39,840
able to offer more services for our

1525
01:03:39,840 --> 01:03:42,809
customers and hoping that with the debt it can go down

1526
01:03:42,809 --> 01:03:44,639
because they'll be able to pay

1527
01:03:44,639 --> 01:03:48,349
as they go and they'll never get into that bad debt option

1528
01:03:48,349 --> 01:03:49,159
for them.

1529
01:03:49,159 --> 01:03:51,409
That won't be an option for them because they'll pay as

1530
01:03:51,409 --> 01:03:52,800
they go and we're hoping that's going

1531
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:57,250
to be again brought forth in May for the prepaid metering

1532
01:03:57,250 --> 01:03:58,280
program.

1533
01:03:58,280 --> 01:04:01,079
All right, thank you.

1534
01:04:01,079 --> 01:04:04,420
And I also want to say that I like the new change on the

1535
01:04:04,420 --> 01:04:06,480
voting on the closed sessions

1536
01:04:06,480 --> 01:04:07,639
out in the open.

1537
01:04:07,639 --> 01:04:12,170
I think Brenda and I both kind of went sometimes before but

1538
01:04:12,170 --> 01:04:14,519
that's just the way it was.

1539
01:04:14,519 --> 01:04:16,239
All right, very good.

1540
01:04:16,239 --> 01:04:22,559
Any other comments about the ACM report?

1541
01:04:22,559 --> 01:04:34,349
Okay so as a closing item, any board member who would like

1542
01:04:34,349 --> 01:04:36,559
to look see future agenda items

1543
01:04:36,559 --> 01:04:40,050
that we can place or anything to add to the matrix that we

1544
01:04:40,050 --> 01:04:41,360
have published?

1545
01:04:41,360 --> 01:04:42,360
Yes.

1546
01:04:42,360 --> 01:04:48,010
Yeah, I would like staff to look into the possibility of

1547
01:04:48,010 --> 01:04:51,000
lowering our reconnect fees

1548
01:04:51,000 --> 01:04:55,659
now that all meters are going to be remote.

1549
01:04:55,659 --> 01:05:00,909
Maybe that's not feasible for some reason that I don't

1550
01:05:00,909 --> 01:05:04,119
understand but since presumably

1551
01:05:04,119 --> 01:05:09,789
the fee was decided because there was manual labor involved

1552
01:05:09,789 --> 01:05:12,559
in shutting off the power now

1553
01:05:12,559 --> 01:05:19,139
that remote metering is going to be ubiquitous across the

1554
01:05:19,139 --> 01:05:22,960
board, I myself don't see why the

1555
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,789
reconnect fee needs to remain constant, why there shouldn't

1556
01:05:25,789 --> 01:05:27,559
be a drop in that as well.

1557
01:05:27,559 --> 01:05:30,900
Again maybe there's some good answer but it seems to me

1558
01:05:30,900 --> 01:05:32,320
worth discussing.

1559
01:05:32,320 --> 01:05:33,320
Thank you.

1560
01:05:33,320 --> 01:05:36,400
Yeah, I think I'd like to see the impact on the revenue

1561
01:05:36,400 --> 01:05:38,519
side, what that would be as well

1562
01:05:38,519 --> 01:05:41,949
because I don't know if that's a big number but obviously

1563
01:05:41,949 --> 01:05:47,239
that's a cost of service issue.

1564
01:05:47,239 --> 01:05:52,170
Maybe even be in our 10-year review part when they do that,

1565
01:05:52,170 --> 01:05:54,159
I don't know if they're going

1566
01:05:54,159 --> 01:05:58,159
to get that far down in the detail.

1567
01:05:58,159 --> 01:06:01,159
Probably not.

1568
01:06:01,159 --> 01:06:04,960
Yeah, I understand.

1569
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:09,320
Okay, any other comments, questions?

1570
01:06:09,320 --> 01:06:16,639
Seeing none, is there a motion to adjourn?

1571
01:06:16,639 --> 01:06:18,480
Thank you Brendan for that motion.

1572
01:06:18,480 --> 01:06:19,480
Is there a second?

1573
01:06:19,480 --> 01:06:20,480
Second.

1574
01:06:20,480 --> 01:06:21,480
Charlie second.

1575
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:22,480
All in favor say aye.

1576
01:06:22,480 --> 01:06:23,480
Aye.

1577
01:06:23,480 --> 01:06:24,480
Any opposed?

1578
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:24,480
Okay.