Apr 23, 2018 Public Utilities Board on 2018-04-23 6:00 PM

So six o'clock and we will go ahead and call the April 23rd 2018 public utilities board meeting to order and First on our agenda is a work session Where we will receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the fiscal year 2017 water audit We're ready We're gonna go over today our fiscal year 2017 water audit similar to a budget audit where we scrutinize every dollar and cent that goes into a budget and where it ends up we do the Same thing with our water system will scrutinize every drop of water that we put into our system and where it ended up and So in its most basic form a water audit is where we take all of the water we produce So this is finished water from our plant that gets pumped into our system And then from that total we subtract out how much water we sold that was captured in our billing system And the difference in what we're left over with is referred to as non-revenue water And so there are a lot of different reasons for having non- revenue water, but every utility will have non-revenue water We have operational usage So the flushing of new lines the flushing out of dead-end mains new development every time we put a new development in the ground We do have to flush those mains out to get all the chemicals out of the new pipes and get them ready and healthy For service for our customers. There are errors with our data in our metering system and unfortunately we do have theft There are also system breaks and leaks that cause us to lose water water quality maintenance So hydrants and dead-end mains and then parts of the utility system that are spread out We do have to flush the water because after a while the chemicals bond together differently and it's no longer safe for consumption And then also for firefighting we don't meter our firefight ing usage and training time So what we want to do is now that we know why we have non- revenue water we need to kind of understand what that means So we'll analyze our non-revenue water and it's a really good starting point for figuring out the health of our system It's also good for budgeting because we do have to absorb the cost of non-revenue water In the amount of water that we sell it's good at identifying potential concerns on a broad scale and operational decision-making But what it's not good for and where we want to further analyze is engaging the health of our system because there are different Factors that go into non-revenue water. It doesn't quite let us know how good our actual pipes are It's not the best for identifying specific opportunities for improvement. We have to have a little bit more of a granular analysis And it's not the best for benchmarking either However, because we're all curious. This is how we stack up in terms of benchmarking through throughout the Metroplex and so if you look we are in the median but we are in the higher end and there is a good reason for that Some considerations when it comes to benchmarking with other utilities are the size of the system So as a system grows more we're gonna lose a lot more water from our billing system as we flush out these new lines Also the topology of the system and our water quality So for example if everyone thinks of the north end of town by north loop 288 where we've got that water tower Because the usage isn't as heavy but we still have the infrastructure taking the water out there We do have more instances of needing to flush out that water for to maintain our regulations on water quality age Also the age of our infrastructure the older system is the more prone it is to breaks and leaks And we do have an older infrastructure as compared to some of the other cities in the area Audit validation so that's actually the quality of information that goes into our water audit. So We do vet our data and we have a lot of Check marks and validation processes that we go through to make sure it's accurate Not all other cities are large enough and staffed up enough to be able to do the level of validation we do and then some Cities are going to do more validation such as Dallas And then the differences and unbilled authorized consumption across utilities So I mentioned we don't bill and meter our fire department, but other other municipalities do And so that's why it's no longer an apples to apples comparison when we look at non-revenue water across different utilities There are several types of non-revenue water that are important to understand. We've got unbilled authorized consumption Which is exactly what it sounds like we don't bill it but it's authorized and we're completely fine with that water being used but not billed So we've got our firefighting and our firefighter training time the flushing out of new lines and the operational us ages such as the water quality maintenance Hydrant maintenance flushing new development. We have a parent loss a parent loss is exactly what it sounds like It looks as though we lost it, but we didn't quite a parent loss is water that we didn't capture in our billing system But it did in fact go through the meter or was used by a customer So the instance of theft it's not going to go through a meter, but it was used by a customer Billing system errors also customer service on occasion. We have waived some bills where customers do have a leak on their side and just as a You know as good customer service We will forgive that bill even though it passed through the meter and then there are metering and accuracy is meters slow down as they age And that's just a fact of the water business and then real loss We have main breaks main leaks and then service leaks before the meter and the real loss is water That is really lost from our system that actually leaks and it's a good gauge of the health of our actual pipes and infrastructure So for benchmarking the water development board and the American Water Works Association looks at three different performance indicators Real loss so the amount of loss that's really lost through the system through our leaks and breaks and that's an indicator of our system health Apparent loss which is our paper loss So the water that was used but wasn't accounted for and that's more of an indicator of our fiscal health and then our infrastructure Leakage index which is a fairly new benchmarking Statistic but it's the theoretical minimum loss a system can have and it's a ratio of that minimum loss Based off some factors unique to our system compared to what we actually lost and so these are the three key things that the that we use for benchmarking and So kind of an easier way to look at and understand the way the audit breaks down is The water produced that we produced for the fiscal year that top area going across is water that's exported So we have some wholesale customers on Krummen Sanger and then the water supplied that's the amount of water that went into our City of Denton billing system that large arrow right there The build authorized consumption is all the water of the water supplied that was building captured in North Star our billing system And then below that we have our non revenue water as a component of non revenue water You'll see the unbilled authorized color coded in blue to indicate that we are okay with that usage And that once again is our operational usage our firefight ing Below that is our apparent loss. So that's gonna that's all the water once again that was used But we didn't capture it in our billing system and that can be farther broken down into metering inaccuracies Unauthorized consumption data errors and it's important for us to break it down further so we know where our opportunities are And then the real losses we've got main breaks and then also water that we suspect Leaked from our system, but it is unaccounted for and so we didn't physically see that break But we know it's somewhere out there either broken or leaking into our system And so real loss is a gauge of our system health That's where our main breaks and leaks will let us know where we really need to target our capital improvement We want to minimize them within economic reasons So we assign a dollar value to how much revenue we've lost because of these breaks And so we are going to try to mitigate those losses up to that point, but we certainly don't want to find ourselves in a situation Where we're spending a dollar to save a dime But the water audit does help estimate the costs and engages our system health for fiscal year 2017 We lost five hundred and thirty one million gallons and while it seems like a large amount that was only eight point five percent of our total produced water for the year Now our apparent loss which is an indicator of our fiscal health That is mostly due to metering and accuracy. So customer meters, they actually decline I know there's sometimes sticker shock in the summer where you get a large Water bill and there is fear of over registering But typically as time goes on the meters will slow down and under register due to calcification and other issues with the meter itself And so the water audit also estimates this apparent loss is much more expensive than real loss Because real loss leaks before it reaches a customer we understand and value that at what it costs us to produce that water Which is about 33 cents per thousand gallons But we can sell that water for four dollars and fifteen cents per thousand gallons And so when that water is used by our customer base, it's quantified at a much more expensive rate that four dollars and fifteen cents So for 2017 we estimate about 197 million gallons of apparent loss Which was three percent three point one percent of the entire amount of water we produced that year and Then the infrastructure leakage index which is that new benchmarking target that we have which is the ratio of the theoretical minimum Based off of the size of our system So we have a little over 600 miles of pipe and then the number of connections that we have in our system It's a standard calculation provided by the water development board Based off of those factors and then it compares that to our actual loss And so we're left with a ratio which is considered the best kind of apples to apples comparison across different utilities for benchmarking For 2017 we had a 2.07 and here's what that means So there are several target ILI ranges Anywhere from a 1 to an 8 is considered acceptable. We shoot for the tightest Range which is a 1 to 3 which is four systems where water is scarce We are a semi-arid region and to where we really don't want to push rate increases Upon our customers But if you look down where it says five to eight that could be a city along the Great Lakes or somewhere where water is plentiful It's cheap to develop new resources and it's not going to push that development out to our ratepayers Anything over the Nates not recommended anything under than one is not considered valid data And So if you look across region C, which is our water planning region, you'll see that we are much lower than if you just looked At non-revenue water alone. So still in the median but on the lower end of that And So just to summarize the reason we audit is it does help us gauge how well we steward our water resources Which is very important and how efficiently we turn those resources into income And so we'll take the results and analyze that and that'll help us decide a leak detection detection program system reinvestment and meter accuracy issues Any questions? Question about the What you were saying before about how meters when they're first installed They tend to overestimate usages am I hearing that right? No, okay They start at about we can't have them estimate it caps at a hundred but it can be as low as I want to say 99.98 percent of under registration And then over time it goes down at about we tend to replace our meters on about a 14 year cycle, but actually the Cost wise if we replace it at 18 years That's kind of the margin of diminishing return where the amount of lost water is kind of equivocal to the cost of replacing the meter We do it a little bit sooner just because we are in a semi- arid region Tolerant to drought not completely drought tolerant and we just want to make sure we are kind of stewarding our resources Okay. Good. Thank you. Thanks. That's very helpful. Thank you Questions Charlie what what is the method for breaking down the non-revenue water into those three categories? Oh sure To that Was it the unbilled apparent and real-loss categories here? Okay. Yes, so the unbilled authorized We have a bunch of different data sets So even though we don't actually meter the water that the fire department uses they do keep record of their fire events and so we try to kind of get a gauge of the time and There are some formulas that can take the water pressure versus the four inch diameter of the hose pulling from the the fire hydrant and The pressure of our system we can take all those factors together and multiply it across the number of firefighter events and get a rough Estimate on that the same with the firefighting training time. We also We do where it says unbilled we still meter our usage for some of the events such as new line flushing and Some of our operational usages, so we still have a handle on that. It's metered, but we're just not Administratively re billing the water department for the water the water department uses the main breaks That is once again It's kind of a standard formula where we take the the type of failure mode on the pipe the estimated amount of time It's leaking so it's not perfect because we start it when it gets called in And then the meter metering and accuracies We have something called high low reports and that flags when a customer has an anomalous spilling read kind of based off of their particular Baseline and so we can look at the data on that and kind of see if it was an error How much was it? We also have some I think I mentioned earlier we have forgiven some high bills And so we kind of keep that into account on apparent loss as well theft That's a kind of a standard calculation provided by the water development board as is the a component of the systematic data handling error And so these are just kind of standard across the board calculations that they they give to us their pretty boiler plate But that's how we go into there. There's a couple other factors as well. I know with our billing cycles With our water systems we kind of keep into account that the billing cycles will overlap the the calendar dates And so sometimes if there's bills being forgiven in that time, we'll kind of try to quantify them to the correct year and then a couple other Small little pieces of data going to thank you. Oh sure So you mentioned that sometimes you forgive large bills What's the I can imagine what the answer would be but I'm more interested in what the actual answer is You know, what is the the the protocol for that, you know? Is there an actual policy in place on on you know forgiveness policy or? Is if you could just go into a little bit more detail on you know, what kind of Circumstances lead to forgiveness and then what what doesn 't Can you get a little closer to the mic I'm sorry Thank you. It is it's a component of us having outstanding customer service. It is on a case-by-case basis and so while we don't like to Advertise that we do that because anything that any leaks that do happen after the customers meter So from their meter to their house, that's their service line and while they are responsible for that There are just some times where it's just not economically In their well-being to charge the customer that so we don't have any policies in place because we we like to make sure everybody is Responsible for the water they use and their plumbing But it it does happen where just for customer service and kind of goodwill to our citizens. We will forgive it Thanks, and that would be in is that the unbilled metered Okay, okay and just We do this we do not it once a year or is that right? Yes, we do it once a year. However, we actually are in the process right now of moving towards doing a monthly audit There are several reasons behind that but it is just kind of getting a tighter control over When exactly if we have are having issues that they would be occurring the main reasoning behind moving towards that monthly audit To you as we have we have to have our system built out in a manner to handle our big peak flows in the summer But then also still keep it running and pressurized When we slow down in the winter and so it'll kind of give us a better clue as to is it actually our equipment That we're having issues with our data or is it the nature of higher demand? So but right now it is annual. Okay How does this compare to like the last couple of audits we 've had is it up down? So it does fluctuate. So I y'all may have noticed I was talking about this is an update and all the figures in here are our 2017 Figures that were mentioning however on the the bar graphs I showed it was 2016 data because this isn't due until May 1st We had to pull from last year's and so for example on this chart for the non revenue water It was 11 point five seven percent It was up to 13 percent for 2017 But then I just for fun did a mid-year audit recently and we were back down to 12 percent So we will fluctuate as long as we're under 15 percent Non revenue water that's what's expected as per the water development board and the American Water Works Association So those those fluctuations are expected now if we have a big dip say under eight percent all of a sudden We'll actually start to look not so much at our system health But at our data and our data handling because that would be unexpected or if we have a big jump But historically we haven't witnessed any of that. It's been stable within one or two percent points All right, maybe other questions Yes Question about the the water forgiveness. I wonder and you might not be able to answer this now But if there was a kind of a checklist that That would be something, you know on paper on the website that customers could see and again I'm not even sure if this is a good idea, but this is my inclination is to think it is but Whereby You know customers could see that okay if people get forgiven on water It's because they've had say one or more of the following You know and as long as it and of course you want to leave, you know some kind of leeway So it could be it's holistic, you know, you could say it's holistic something like that but at the very least because I'm thinking from the point of view of a custom, you know say customer who you know, they have a leak in this big bill and then they have to pay and then Just but then they hear a story that somebody else had theirs forgiven, you know So and I have no reason to think that it's not fair but just to be able to show Customers look it's it's on an individual basis and it's we take a holistic approach But it's not arbitrary. You know what I mean instead of just saying oh trust us we go So, you know, so I'd also be interested to know, you know, does the forgiveness tend to happen? More in residential accounts or commercial accounts kind of what's the breakdown how often that's I guess that that is data that I would like to see And and you know and and maybe the answer is well, it's you know for legal reasons It's not a good idea to do that. But still I would like to know To hear your thoughts on that sure colleagues thoughts on that Sure, so I think and then just off of the top of my head today That doesn't mean we might not come to a different conclusion if we explored it more but we probably don't want to advertise on the website or have a checklist that we do this because it really We don't want to do it often It really is like I said us just trying to adhere to our core value of outstanding customer service and if someone really really needs it And that tends to be you know, one of the first thresholds is not advertising it But if they get to a point where they reach out to us then that Without finding that information on there and just you know , hey guys, please work with me. That's so far That's how we have handled it But I'm definitely willing to take a look and kind of analyze that data a little bit closer. Oh sure Yeah, I just be curious to know what you know, what kinds of accounts? It's not an arbitrary decision generally speaking. We do not forgive any kind of water leaks or any kind of issues related to accounts because it is she was mentioning water that we've produced and we paid for and There are other customers are paying for that So let us get you some more statistics and we can come back with a report on Exactly how that's done and the specificity that it's done with but there's not an arbitrary basis and we're not out there deciding that We're going to relieve this forgive this one and not forgive this one and those kinds of things There's very specific reasons are very far and few between that if there is something like that that happens So we'll get your report. So thank you address that Okay, thank you. I have no reason to think is our well, I just want to make sure it's clear We're not we're not forgiving bills if it the water has been used we're gonna charge for that water Oh, yeah, I'm in the num I mean in the numbers and that slide showed that that's very rare But thank you for answering questions about them. Thank you , Brian Any other questions No, thank you Okay Our next next on our agenda is To convene in a closed meeting to consider specific items When those items are listed below under the closed meeting section of this agenda Okay, we'll now reconvene into our regular meeting First item we have is our consent agenda we have items a B C and D on the consent agenda is there any Member who would like to have any of these items pulled for individual consideration see item C Okay Anybody else Okay, then we have a motion then for items a B and D on the consent agenda Recommend approval a second have a motion and a second for approval any discussion on the motion Hearing none all in favor say aye. Aye any opposed same sign Okay motion carries item C Mr. Cox will be right with us. Okay. I'll just read what it says Consider recommending adoption of an ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas the Texas home rule municipal corporation authorizing the city manager to exit a contract for odor neutralizer chemicals with probe America incorporated Providing for the expenditure of funds therefore and providing an effective date In the three-year not to exceed amount of $130,000 No, this is a new thing for me So I just wanted to ask a few questions because I didn't see anything in the in the information that was provided The odor neutralizer chemicals is this the same have we been using this for a number of years? We have there's actually two layers of our odor control system. The first is on our perimeter There's actually a network of tubes that actually spray vapor into the air. So that's kind of the perimeter odor control this is actually for the odor control that we put in our water trucks that's Used directly on the working base to try to neutralize the odors Okay, and then to I was just a little concerned anytime you 're talking about chemicals and sure putting them into the air or into you know water Transfer whatever I didn't see anything with regards to any kinds of Stats on the effect on the environment or to humans or to animals or anything like that So I was just wanting to know if you had any information about that I don't have it with me this evening, but I can certainly get that back to the board in terms of a staff report Okay because that's one of the Concerns I have certainly yeah huge concern. I had I had that concern too. I'm glad you asked that But we have used this company before We've used the chemical. I'm not sure about the company, but we have used these chemicals before we have used these chemicals before Okay, thank you, okay All right any other questions If how As far as you can describe, you know, how bad the smell would be without it, you know, is it more it's more for the Protection of and comfort level of workers people in the area We actually have some regulatory requirements. I can't recite them off the top of my head But there is an odor control requirement in our TCEQ operating permit that requires certain things like this for odor abatement Certain days are more important to use this and others high wind days are particularly challenging for us because The perimeter odor control system isn't quite as effective when the winds are above a certain miles per hour And so that's when we do use the water trucks and try to suppress not just the odors But also the dust so we mix these chemicals with the water in the water truck to suppress both at the same time Thank you. Okay, so for clarification that I mean we've used the chemicals before they're approved EPA whatever Public safety they all come with that certification and all that is that correct? I'll need to clarify relative to the question about because I'm not getting a yeah That's one of the things that concerns me is that you know, if it's been approved if it's EPA approved You know, it's you know blessed and whatever that then that would you know Then I could say yes. Well, let's go for it, but I'm not getting that information Is there any reason we couldn't get that research done and bring it back to them? Absolutely. We can certainly pull the atom Why don't we do that? That would be great. I'd be curious to know Are there any? alternatives and Maybe we don't You know, maybe there's no reason for alternatives because maybe this is perfectly safe But you know, it are there more environmentally friendly alternatives and it's so what's the cost is it cost prohib itive? Let me look into this and make sure that we've done our due diligence on that invented that out in terms of the environmental impacts I'll circle back and we'll repost the item for you Okay So item C is pulled replaced on a future agenda Okay All right Items other items for individual consideration. We have the public utility board meeting minutes of April 9th 2018 These are in your packet been distributed in advance Or any questions comments? Corrections Hearing none is there a motion to approve those minutes as submitted so many to prove Most to approve second second and a second discussion All in favor say aye Any opposed? Thank you Item B under items for individual consideration is to consider recommending adoption of an ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas the Texas Home Rural Municipal Corporation Authorizing the city manager to execute a contract for the supply of a mission system reducing agent Ammonia for the Denton Energy Center via Southern ionics incorporated Providing for the expenditure of funds therefore and providing an effective date in this in the three-year not to exceed amount of 1,000,000 287,000 $772.50 George Morrill DME general manager I rise to introduce Chris Lutrick Chris is our project manager for the Denton Energy Center and He handled this procurement. I'm gonna let him take away the presentation. You know, it's his presentations have more pictures Good evening, thank you for your time So give you a little bit more information on the aqua ammonia supply that was detailed in the IFB 6701 As you see we have some updated pictures if you haven't been out to the deck to see what it's looking like these days In this in this quick presentation, we're going to talk about what is ammonia What is the function of aqua ammonia at the Denton Energy Center the important the safety? storage and handling of the aqua ammonia emergency response plan The bid summaries and then any questions you may have some of the information in here is a little bit technical So if I say something that's not quite clear just just stop me I'll be glad to try to clarify it. If not, dr. Banks is here to help with the chemistry So ammonia Chemical compound is NH3 its chemical properties are it's a colorless gas with a characteristic pundits pungent smell It is a naturally occurring compound that is present in nature and it is also in the human body An important fact is readily dissolves in water and there's everybody's probably heard of anhydrous ammonia Anhydrous is Greek for without water. That's ammonia in its pure form. It's a gas Aqua, ammonia is a solution of water and ammonia where the ammonia has been dissolved in the water Aqua ammonia is defined as between 15 and 30 percent And 19 percent is what we'll use at the deck Ammonia is everywhere. It has industrial and household uses and hydros ammonia is used worldwide as an agricultural fertilizer and Being that it's it's to get in its liquids form. It has to be compressed So gases that change state easily from a gas to a liquid have some cooling properties. So therefore Ammonia is very prevalent in industrial refrigeration systems as a refrigerant these days Ammonia solutions five to ten percent probably a lot of people here have that under your sink at home. It's basic Mr. Clean Windex a lot of these products started as ammonia based solutions And ammonia is a it dissolves organic materials to oil grease grime It's good at that. So it's used as a cleaner In our application, there's aqua ammonia at our percentage of 19 percent and urea is another term That's that's commonly used. It's about a 40 percent the city of Denton so urea is primarily used as Reducing agent much like our aqua ammonia at the plant Some quick stops and racetracks the city of Denton has a u rea pump So a modern diesel vehicles rely on a similar system to the deck. They now have urea Tanks on them. So when you fill up your tank with diesel, you have to keep your urea tank full So you ammonia is all around us Aqua, ammonia as I said in urea are widely used in reducing agents in selective catalytic reduction systems or SCRs So in particular for the deck our SCR are basically to give you some background on what the SCR is the SCR system uses a chemical reaction to reduce in part the Nitrogen oxides that are produced by combustion engines in particular the the SCR system at the deck Will remove about 97.5 percent of the NOx from our plants emissions. So they're very effective system So that's why you're seeing them Most commercial or nearly all diesel engines nowadays use the same type of system because it's very it's very effective at reducing the NOx output The three main components of the system are the catalyst the reducing agent in our case. That's the aqua ammonia and heat The AA is introduced into the exhaust stream just outside of the building where it's mixed in a mixing duck And using the the heat that's present in the exhaust gases and it enters the catalyst housing and this catalyst housing is where the chemical interaction of the three main components Effectively reduces the NOx down to nitrogen and water The deck SCR system utilizes aqua ammonia as a reducing agent So of the of the other forms of ammonia that I've mentioned that there's an hydrous ammonia and urea Aquas ammonia is by far the safest and most stable Form of nitrogen that's available. So being it's 19% you have to handle about five times the amount of volume But it but it's much safer So the Aquas ammonia will be consumed at a rate of between 18.5 and 14.5 gallons per engine hour The 18.5 is the manufacturers guaranteed consumption rate the 14.5 being their expected consumption rate and The plant has an automated system that will ensure that the aqua ammonia is dosed properly So here we have a picture if you can see my mouse here So here's actually a the ammonia storage tank at the Denton Energy Center as you can see it sets within a concrete containment Dyke Where this truck is parked here, you'll see these grates The tankers will back into this area here. So when that when the plan is finished This will also be concreted. You don't have roll curbs on it so as the tanker backs in even the tanker will be encaps ulated within a containment area and Just for note that this same system is used for the lube oil, which is on the other side So the plants storage capacity is 30,000 gallons and again based on that maximum consumption rate That's 172 plant hours of runtime and a plant hour is all 12 engines running at a 100% load The storage tank that you saw in the previous picture was designed and rated to store ammonia the Ammonia will arrive to the plant via tanker and that frequency depends on plant operation So the tankers carry about 6,500 gallons of ammonia at a time So it takes four to five tankers to completely fill the tank and again and the plant has offloading facilities to properly transfer The ammonia from the tankers to the tank. It's a closed- loop system So any any any vapors any any gas that's in the tank is transferred to the tanker as it fills So it's a closed-loop system Safety is important. So it is it is a chemical The plant has an overall emergency response plan and a section of that plant that plan addresses the aqua ammonia spill prevention and containment countermeasures As I showed you in the picture the storage tank it sits within a concrete dike That has sufficient capacity to contain all of the tank contents So say there was a tank failure the tank ruptured the liquid would be would be contained within the containment dike And as I mentioned again the plan also has a tanker offload ing area to handle any minor spills When you're when that when the products coming in for the transfer Those facilities are in place The emergency response has multiple layers if day-to-day activity the plant The plant staff would be responsible for any minor spills Anything of that sort of nature would be taken care of by the plant following the safety data Sheets provided by the manufacturer and their own safety plan The next level would be provided emergency response to be provided by the den fire department So the the plant manager has has had contact with the den fire department They've already been out there kind of an informal basis and when the plan is when all of the facilities are completely finished The fire department will perform a site site audit. They'll visit the site. They'll get list of everything that's stored on site So that'll be done prior to the plant going Commercial and any and if we were to have a spill that got outside of our containment area The remediation would be handled by an environmental contractor if warranted and finally any Non-contained discharges greater than 25 gallons would be reported to the TCEQ. That's the reportable limit for the aqua ammonia So the summary of bids this is kind of a specialty chemical But we use the process the invitation for bid for a three- year supply of aqua ammonia Two bids were received the low bid was about 65 cents per gallon and the the high bid was about 74 cents per gallon The staff recommends awarding the lowest cost bid so submitted by Southern ionics out of a Pasadena, Texas an amount not to exceed 1,000,000 287 thousand seven hundred seventy two dollars and fifty cents and I should note that that's a budgetary amount So we calculated that based on that guaranteed guaranteed consumption rate by the manufacturer. So we And it's covered in the budget, but we expect that cost to actually come in at about 70% of this of this figure So with that I'll open it up to any questions Okay questions Yeah I think I think you're very thoroughly presentation. I tried to be quick. So Yes recommending approval I have two questions waiting to see One, you know, so this week obviously the the testing on the deck is gonna start in and I saw that Unless that's been changed But I know we're in the testing case now. Yeah, and I noticed that I Read that Whereas the testing for knocks and VOCs in particulate matter is gonna that's gonna be test sent out I guess to a lab somewhere and then the results will come back I'll take a while for those to come back but that for the ammonia testing this the relevance of the ammonia But I saw that that there's an ammonia test That in the results of that are gonna be available on site at the end of each day So I was wondering since you know, there's a presentation about about ammonia and the role of ammonia and the catal ytic conversion if you could say a little something about how the ammonia testing happens and Because that's something that I know less about than about the The particulate matter. Yes, ma'am. So that that is part of our emissions testing So actually you don't send the lab out you bring the lab to the plant. So for our test plan We'll have four four labs. So what their lab is is a it's a trailer They pull behind a truck it has all their sensors and all their equipment inside the truck And then what they do is they have leads that actually run out to the exhaust stacks. They take The old days used to get your emissions test They put something on the end of your tailpipe to to measure the gas. That's exactly what this is so there's probe ports that are built into the Yeah, so if you can can you see my mouse there So this is basically the backside of the plant So as we come through here that the silver boxes in the middle or the catalytic converter then after this is just Exhaust up to the stacks. So actually right there is one of them You can see one there one there one there that is where the testing is done So it's come it's after it's gone through the the SCR unit. Those probes will be placed in At 90 degrees at each one of these engine tests So then while the engines running those probes are gathering data So they're gathering data on all of the parameters that we 're testing including ammonia slip So the that's the test that they're that they will be running at that time They will gather that data in real time and then process that and then generate a report In a pretty quick in a pretty quick manner So that that is a report that we will be when it's when it 's when it's finished with that We will be sharing with the P B and the and the City Council So the ammonia Testing the results of that are immediately available But there was something in the it was in a staff report for council about about the testing That said that that the for particulate matter the results Would not I think they analyze their data. I don't exactly they have a turnaround. It's pretty quick I want to say we're getting a draft report within a week. Yeah. Yeah, it was something like seven to eight days Yes, whereas it's a pneumonia will be part of that as well. So that they validate their their calibration All of that so that that ammonia will come with the with all the other Reports we get okay. Yeah, okay. That's interesting. Okay. Thank you And then that sets your so then that sets your your ammonia usage. So the plant Has a way so they're gonna test so every year or every on the testing cycle for the For the energy center all of those tests will be run again. So you'll see that hey our ammonia slip I just happen to have it in front of me. It's three point one seven pounds per hour So you're gonna gonna find a rate so that matches your dos ing rate So that is your the plants indication that that you're maintaining your ammonia slip by knowing what you're putting in is what's coming out Okay, thank you. You're welcome. And then my other question was just about emergency preparedness You know, you'd mentioned that you've worked with a fire department To be prepared for in case there's an emergency and is there been any if there been any discussions kind of between the or among the Deck and fire and the airport since the airport is such an enclosed proximity as to You know if there is an incident what the you know people working at the airport would would do you know, is there some collect? There hasn't so we've had some collaboration with the airport and some other issues the stacks are 125 feet tall as far as particular on the ammonia One of the one of the reasons that aqua ammonia was selected is because it's a liquid so there some of the other there's other Businesses near the airport that have Ammonia gas which is I think what you're referencing is if you did have an issue That ammonia could live again a gas form could leak and drift around and that would affect the airport But ours is in a liquid form. So it's it's it's contained It's it's not going to cause an issue that a refrigeration would leak would have so we haven't had direct Communications on the ammonia. Yeah, I guess yeah. No, that 's that's absolutely true Yeah, I kind of saw where you're going yeah, yeah we have Yeah, we've worked with them that it's been good we actually are sewer line that we brought to you Before Christmas last year actually crosses the airport so we're working with them on a daily basis. So yeah, you're welcome Okay So, but I mean the safety features on the ammonia is self- contained yes in the storage tank and the off off Offload area and all that stuff. So, okay. Yes, sir. Okay any other questions No, we have a motion for this item I move Prove motion for approval and a second further discussion All in favor say aye Any opposed same sign. Thank you motion passes item number C Is to consider recommending approval of an ordinance affir ming the authority of the city manager or his designee To enter into a purchase of natural gas for operation of the Ditten energy center after completion of the projects test phase Good evening, George Morrow general manager of DMA again, so before you to this evening is an ordinance that would affirm the and authorize the city manager to execute a a An agreement for the purchase of natural gas for the commercial operation of the Denton Energy Center may recall you've previously viewed and recommended a Gas agreement for the deck prior to commercial operation and this is the pace that goes Beyond that time so commercial operation is scheduled for about the 1st of June I'm open to any questions or comments Questions So one question that I have is why why is it Incumbent on the city manager to make that agreement instead of having it go before Council We're gonna take it to the City Council also Yeah, so The way these agreements are set up, you know, there could be a number of short-term long-term Transactions under this nays be and I think it's just And there is some authority provided to the city manager under the Risk-management policy. So a short-term transaction wouldn 't need necessarily to go to the City Council I know the city manager thought it was prudent and Go forward on such a large transaction is this So but he may at other times think you know if it's just a day or a week or a month Maybe to just do an arrangement like that. Yeah, so if there was an adjustment So the con the terms of the contract that were that you know council will be discussing in closed session that specific terms If something came up and there was an adjustment and not those terms that would go right to the the city manager, you know would would have authority to Deal with them without having to go back to To council. I don't see I don't see any adjustment to the terms of the agreement Basically, we're asking for it's the it's a time period and we're trying and we try to provide you some Ideas to the amount to be spent but the terms will be set once the agreements pass. So it's really no negotiating There's just simply authorizing the agreement after the council approves it Okay, and then the other reason I thought this was so important to bring back to you is about You know, it's just the fact that it's a negotiated deal. It's something that we don't do often don't It's not our preference. However, in this particular case given the ball top volatility of the gas market and This follows important to educate the PUB council public as to as far as why this approach is necessary Okay. Okay. Got it. Yeah, so you know, so there are no changes Anticipated yes, so it's basically giving city manager Authority to exactly yep to sign on what council and PB had agreed. Okay. Yeah, that was my one Good clarification question Okay, other questions comments Their motion I have it I have a comment if nobody has comments or questions Okay You'll do it now or after we get the mode. It doesn't matter. Yeah, I would like to do it I would like to do it now. Okay, just to you. Can you put I just like can you can you put on the board the redact on the appear on the screen the redacted contract That's a see what I can do public That's right in the backup Confirmation agreement. Yes. Sorry. Yeah natural gas kind of confirmation agreement Just a second here You Sorry, but I don't I don't have that You want to do it on the website that somebody has a guys have probably been through this before Go ahead and Let's see do we need to sign into our camp All right Thank you so much. I would just I just like for the public to To see because people don't always go and look at the back Not just people who are here but people watching at home You Talk about the confirmation. Yeah that one that one if you could click on that Great yeah Yeah, that's the one. Yeah, and if you could scroll just to the very bottom of that Yeah, and Yeah, so I just wanted to say thank you so much for yeah, that's perfect I just want to say just for people who are watching here now people who are You know what people who might be watching at home? That I myself plan to vote No on this because of how much has been redacted from the contract, but I also want people to know Here and at home that and this was something that we discussed in the closed session that This is redacted because the The company that we're doing business with had requested this but but efforts were made on behalf of the art management to try to Make this information public so that this is being this information is being withheld by request of the Corporation not by request of the city so the city really did You know do their job in really trying to to get this information made public and it's just it's an unfortunate situation that they this company said no and there they had the leverage because For a number of reasons they're the only one that that we could do this deal with So anyway, I just wanted to make that clear that this is That That the city did what they could to try to get make this information available to the public but And I don't expect anybody to just trust me But I do have to say like this information that it's missing that the special provisions is a secret stuff It's the most banal ordinary It is you know, it's just pretty banal ordinary standard stuff and I just I think it's unfortunate because You know nothing we can do about it. But when people see this they're gonna think what is the secret, you know? Being withheld. So anyway, so sorry to go on about that, but this is really for the public To let them know why I'm voting no You know and I see at the bottom of this it's got our on the letterhead our core values integrity, you know transparency Obviously this doesn't show transparency But that's not because our you know management didn't try for the utmost transparency. So I just wanted people to know that so thank you Thanks a lot See anybody else have a statement Is there a motion on this item? I move to approve second motion and a second discussion All in favor say aye. Aye any opposed? me Okay motion carries Thank you George, thank you very much Next item we have is the ACM update Mr. Chairman members of the board. I'll be short There are a couple of things listed on your future agendas item for the next couple of meetings as we roll into Later part of the spring into the to the budget cycle of the PUB And then as far as your the business matrix goes There are still a few items outstanding that will be covered through the bit through the budget process The PUB as I mentioned here shortly shortly ago. Those are the reconnect fees for the meters now that there were implementing the smart meters The impact on revenues along with some information regarding to capital projects in DME and solid waste, okay And looks like We're projecting budget discussions Second meeting in May, is that correct? That's correct. Okay Any comments on the ACM report questions I was just a question. Is this where we would put that report on the odor neutralizer Typically yes, but we'll have that ready for you on May 7th the agenda I think that she had to we That agenda item is going to be voted on or looked at Okay Concluding items Under section 551 point 042 the Texas Open Meetings Act respond to inquiries from public utilities board or the public with specific factual information or recitation of policy Or accept the proposal to place the matter on the agenda for an upcoming meeting We have any requests for agenda items for future meetings There's going to be after the testing is done that'll come back Okay, very good I Want to thank the people in the audience who so graciously excuse themselves a little for just a little while and Sticking around hopefully you learn a little bit about How these things operate? Thank you for coming Is there a motion to adjourn Move in seconds all in favor say aye any opposed very good. Thank you