August 27th 2018 public utility board meeting to order. We
actually have a
scheduled a closed meeting in the beginning of this meeting
so at this
time we have two items in closed meeting to discuss. Item A
is deliberations
regarding certain public power utilities competitive
matters under Texas
government code section 551.08. Okay we will come back into
out of closed
session in the regular meeting at 645. Our first item on
the agenda or first
section is our consent agenda. We have let's see one two
three four four items
on the consent agenda. Is there any member of the board who
would like to
have one any of these items pulled for individual
consideration? No? Hearing none.
Is there a motion then for the consent agenda items A B C
and D?
I'll move approval. I'll second. I have a motion to approve
in a second. Any discussion?
Do I need to abstain from B? Yes. Probably what we need to
do. So then we need to pull it. We need to pull item B.
Okay. We have maybe probably just abstain from the vote.
Because there's no discussion on it. You were out while the
discussion was. We already
have a motion second on the floor. Any other discussion?
All in favor say aye.
Any opposed? Any abstentions? Abstain. Thank you. Okay for
items and for individual
consideration item A which is consider approval of the
public utilities board
meeting minutes of August 13th 2018. These have been
distributed and for your
review any changes questions clarifications anyone would
like to see
on those? If not then is there a motion to approve or not
approve I guess?
Recommend approval. I have a motion to recommend approval
and a second. Any
discussion? All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Same sign.
All right. Item B is
to consider recommending an ordinance establishing the
schedule of rates for
solid waste service services providing for repealer
providing for a severability
clause and providing for an effective date. Good afternoon
PUB members. Mr.
Chairman my name is Nick Vincent. I'm the business utility
manager here at the
City of Denton. I'll be presenting to you today the FY 18-
19 solid waste rates.
Feel free to stop me throughout the presentation if you
have any questions. A
little bit of history on July 23rd the PUB did approve the
18-19 operating
budget for the solid waste department and then August 2nd
the City Council also
reviewed it. Council was scheduled to adopt the budget on
September 18th with
the rest of the budgets and rates for the city. Like I said
if you have any
questions feel free to stop me if I can't answer it staff
will come up and
help me answer the question. This is an overview of the
rates I'll be discussing
with you today. Residential rates the City Council and PUB
both did approve a
12% rate decrease for residential customers in March of
2018. I will show
that rate decrease to you here on the next slide.
Commercial rates solid waste
staff and the finance staff is not recommending any rate
adjustments to the
commercial rates currently. We have been working over the
last several months to
increase the transparency of these rates for side load and
front load customers
and I'll show that to you here shortly. Landfill rates also
over the last
several months staff has been working to address the subsid
ization and align
these rates with a market. We are recommending increases to
three disposal
rates for landfill customers and also to remove a few of
the rates from the rate
ordinance. These are the residential rates there are two
size containers that
customers can choose from. First you see here the standard
cart and the large cart.
Both of these rates are for a pair of residential carts so
one refuse and one
recycling. You can see here before the rate decrease the
rate was 27.85 after
the 12% decrease it's 24.51. For the large cart pair it's
33.25 before the
rate decrease after the rate decrease it went to 29.26.
There also is an option
down here if customers want to call in for an additional
large cart they can do
so. The rate was 19.75 and it was decreased to 17.38 after
the rate
decrease. Staff is not recommending additional changes to
residential rates
right now this is previously approved in March of this year
. These are the
commercial refuse and recycling rates as I had stated.
Staff had been working over
the last several months to improve the transparency of
these rates. These matrix
tables were developed that shows the various rates the
various size
containers. I'll be happy to walk you through it here. The
top table that you
see is for the commercial side load rates in the community.
There's currently
two size containers offered a three cubic yard and a four
cubic yard. You can
very plainly see the frequencies of collection per week up
here at the top.
So for instance if you're a side load customer and you have
a three cubic yard
container being collected five times per week your rate
would be 576.90 a month.
Here on the bottom table these are the front load
commercial rates. Same thing
here their container sizes vary from three, a four, a six,
and an eight at a
frequency of one to six times per week. Yes sir. Does that
include a rental fee for the car?
For the bin or whatever? So let me answer your question.
These rates the cost of
service rate would include that as a component. So in this
rate there's
different components built into it. The collection
component, the disposal
component, the container recovery component, and
maintenance component of
the container that would be built in here. The next thing I
was going to cover
with you too is we're not recommending any adjustments at
this time to these
rates. What we are doing is we're continuing to work with N
ugent
Strategies that just completed our rate correction strategy
, or I'm sorry our
cost of service study. So they did identify rates in here
that are
over recovering and under recovering. What we're gonna do
is return to you in
the coming months with a plan to address those rates. So
some of these rates could
possibly come down in the future and some possibly could
recommend increase.
Some of the components that make up this total? That's
correct. Yeah some of the
different container sizes and frequencies. Yep. At the
bottom here the front load
commercial rates as of a stadium three, four, and six, and
eight cubic yard sizes
is what's currently offered. You can see here the frequency
is one time a week to
six time a week. And the same container here in a front
load is a little bit
less. If you had a three cubic yard container going five
times a week it would
be 408.75.
Most of our fleet replacement front load now is that why
that is? Yes sir.
The majority of the routes are front load routes and Ethan
can speak to this
if he wants to or I'll be happy to answer it. There is one
side load route
currently in the city and the rest are front load. But let
me ask Ethan to come
up and confirm that number. I'd need to take a look at the
routes but we do have
a mix of both. In some cases it's just a front load
container is not possible
because of kind of the dimensions and accessibility. And so
we do have some
some automated or some side load commercial containers that
we need to
continue with. Okay. This is just a curiosity. If this is
refuse and
recycling rates so if you have a three cubic yard it's all
garbage and then you
have recycling at a four cubic yard you're paying the same
amount whether
boy that doesn't incentive size recycling. That's correct.
And from a
cost of service standpoint that's one of the corrections
that we need to make is
that is a big component of whatever goes into this cost.
You do have your
overhead you do have your you know container cost your
transportation cost
but disposal needs to be factored in that and there should
be some type of
reduction for recycling. It's a very good observation. That
's what we'll be coming
back to you all with in the coming months. Good. We don't
want that stuff in
the landfill. Is there any more questions on the commercial
front load side load
rates? Okay. We move forward here. As I had stated we are
recommending the three
disposal rates in front of you be increased. These
increases are based on
the recently completed cost of service study. We are
recommending that the
sludge rate increase from $23 a ton that you can see here
to the $46. We are
recommending that the wholesale disposal rate increase from
23 to 2450 and then
clean concrete asphalt brick and dirt coming into the
facility we are
recommending this increase from 10 to 22 dollars a ton.
Staff is proposing to
eliminate the falling rates and the solvage rate ordinance
and these rates
are either not supportive of the recently completed cost of
service study
they lack usage of the rate or they're not justifiable
within the rate
ordinance. Let me walk you through it here. You can see the
rates highlighted in
blue on your screen kind of a light blue color and the
first one is the commercial
disposal rate of 2850 a ton. This is a reduced disposal
rate that has been
given to select companies in the past and there's currently
a few companies on
this rate and this rate is not supported by the cost of
service study so we are
recommending it be removed from the solid waste ordinance.
Moving forward
these customers will be billed at the landfill to get
disposal rate of $44 a
ton. Disposal rate for the gate rate is not proposed to be
increased this year
the 44 is what's currently approved in the rate ordinance.
Clean lumber disposal
rate question yes sir. Is there a certain type of waste
that that was intended for
or is it just volume driven or was it? The commercial
disposal rate Ethan you
want to speak to that let me ask Ethan to come back over
and speak to it. As far
as we can tell and this is gonna be kind of a cop-out
answer we really couldn't
understand the logic behind who received that rate and who
did. There's a very
small number of individual or very small number of
businesses some local some
not local and so we really didn't have anything on the
books in terms of policy
guidance or decision-making criteria that would allow
someone to get that rate.
So will they be notified ahead of time that their rates are
going to go up? We are we are I mean some of the financial
impact is very low both to us and to the potential customer
but we do have an account manager on our staff that once we
get through with this
meeting tomorrow's meeting with council we're gonna be
contacting them and
providing them kind of the information as well as some
options that they might
consider.
All right clean lumber disposal rate this rate has in the
past been charged
occasionally to customers bringing in clean fence panels or
construction debris
if it doesn't have paint or stain on it and it could have
been built at this
reduced rate in the past with a temporary suspension of the
BMR operation this
material is being landfilled so we are recommending
removing this rate from the
ordinance and building it at the gate rate of $44 a ton.
Contaminated yard
waste this does come in the facility a lot of times it's
mixed with municipal
solid waste trash or construction debris and it's not
eligible to be sent to the
city's composting operation because it would contaminate
their piles and this is
being landfilled there's no rate adjustment here we're just
trying to
clean up the rate ordinance with a language so this would
be built at the
gate disposal rate so we are recommending this be removed
from the ordinance. The
pull-off fee currently and in the past solid waste staff
has helped customers
unload their vehicles and trailers we do feel like this is
liability to the
solid waste department the city as a whole with the
possibility of damaging
their vehicles and trailers so we are recommending this
rate come out of the
ordinance and moving forward we would ask customers to
unload those things
themselves.
Sand select fill and rock sales and these are aggregate
materials around the
landfill site that have been sold to residents or people
visiting the site in
the past. Sales are currently suspended into an adequate
business plan and
inventory management system we've put in place or basically
we can monitor how
much is on site and how much is leaving the site so we can
revisit with PEB in
the future this is something we want to offer but currently
we recommend it come
out the rate ordinance. Material delivery fee of the
aggregate materials above in
the past solid waste staff has occasionally delivered
things to
residents or businesses around the city limits for a
hundred dollar flat fee we
are recommending this be removed from the solid waste rate
ordinance we do not feel
this is an adequate use of personnel's time or equipment
utilization so we are
recommending to come out of the rate ordinance. Citizens
can still purchase or
get this material delivered by businesses around the
community there's
plenty of those companies around. The community garden
plots currently the
solid waste community garden is located just south of 651
the recent approval
the renovations of 651 will utilize this area as an
equipment lay down yard for
materials management so we are recommending this rate come
out of the
rate ordinance moving forward citizens can still utilize
the community garden
at the bowling ring park and bowling ring park is just off
Windsor and South
and North Lakes if you're not familiar with it. These are
the next steps some
staff is seeking a PEB's recommendation for the 18-19 rates
today this will be
presented as Ethan had mentioned to City Council tomorrow
on the 28th the meeting
starts at 12 a formal adoption is scheduled for September
18th staff does
scheduled to come back with a series of discussions to the
PEB and over the
coming months Ethan will be returning with some rate
setting and policy
strategies and seek direction from PB and council of how to
implement those or
how to proceed once we get that direction we will complete
the rate
correction strategy Mr. Carl it'll limit the rate
correction strategy to address
those rates that are over and under recovering so we will
return to you with
that plan once formal direction is received from PB and
council that
concludes the presentation I'll be happy to answer any
questions if you have any
but we are seeking approval today or the race is presented
to you.
Questions comments? Just the loss of that community garden.
Yes ma'am. I think that might be
unpopular. How many people were using it? So today since it
's been constructed the
community gardens been constructed over a little over two
years if I'm not
mistaken and two people have utilized it. So about fifty
dollars roughly in
revenue two people has utilized it. So there's enough room
at Bowling Green Park?
I'm not sure on that I'd have to get an answer Mr. Chairman
on that.
I lived earlier this year and there were some blocks. At
Bowling Green. Yeah because I live over by there and it's
used quite a bit so I'm surprised.
Right. That the other one wasn't used more often. I didn't
know it existed. You didn't know Bowling Green existed? No
I didn't know it existed. I know I didn't either.
And as far as the aggregates go too we should never be in
competition with a
private business. If there's a way for people to get what
they need not through
us we should be encouraging that. We still sell down on
dirt. What's that? We still sell down on dirt.
Which is in competition with local businesses. It's a good
point. Maybe we should be thinking about that.
Any other questions? Questions. All right is there a
recommendation or motion on item B then?
I'll move approval. Motion to approve is there a second?
Second. Second. Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any
opposed? Same sign. Okay motion passes.
All right item C is to consider recommending adoption of an
ordinance
City of Denton Texas authorizing the city manager or his
designee to execute a
decommissioning escrow agreement among and between the
Texas Municipal Power
Agency, the City of Bryan, Texas, the City of Denton, Texas
, the City of Garland,
Texas, and the City of Greenville, Texas regarding the
establishment of escrow
for decommissioning pursuant to the existing joint
operating agreement
between the cities and TMPA and providing an effective date
. Good evening
Mr. Chairman and PUB members. George Morrow, DME general
manager. So before
you today as was indicated we're bringing you the decomm
issioning escrow
agreement for the Texas Municipal Power Agency which
operates and maintains the
Gibbon Creek power plant. A couple years ago the parties
all executed a joint
operating agreement which basically provides for the phase
out of the
project and one of the requirements was to establish a dec
ommissioning escrow
agreement and the agreement provides for a couple of things
as indicated by the
slide selection and duties of a decommissioning escrow
agent, establishment
of an escrow account, and then some procedures for how to
make disbursements
and from the escrow account. So the decommissioning plan we
had a recent
meeting at TMPA. A high-level strategy has been developed
and so there's a
vision of where we're going with the decommissioning when
the when the time
comes. At the moment the project scheduled the run through
September,
most of September if not all of it, and then you know
potentially revisit it
again or or not depending on what happens with other parts
of our
dissolution meant process. So I'm here recommending
adoption of this proposed
ordinance to execute this agreement. Open for questions.
Questions.
This is a requirement of our operating agreement.
Right.
And this is normal and prudent in the when you're decomm
issioning a plant to
develop these escrow agreements and get them set up.
Correct. We're going to be
putting money aside the projects committed that could take
an extended
period to actually you know complete all the decommission
ing activities. So there's
a might be a long process and it's good to have all the
details out there and
appointment of an escrow agent that we're all comfortable
with and and that
set the rules for how they put money in and take money out.
Thank you.
Okay any other questions? Do we have a motion then on item
C? I'll move
approval. Motion to approve or second? I'll second. Okay
thank you. Any discussion?
All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. ACM
update. Thank you George.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, a couple of things to
report. In your
packet there's a city sponsorship request. I believe there
's a couple items
that have been made recently and Tony Puente is here to
provide any details if
you have any questions on on those items. The other items
to bring to your
attention is at the next meeting we'll be welcoming a new
board member Billy
Cheek has been appointed by the council to to serve on the
PUB. The other thing
that we'll be bringing forward will be the selection of the
chair and vice
chair at the next meeting. So if you have any other
questions I'd be happy to
answer those but nothing else to report.
Okay anything to add? New items? Completing items under
section 551.042
of the Texas Open Meetings Act to respond in inquiries from
the Public
Utilities Board or the public with specific factual
information or
recitation of policy or accept a proposal to place a matter
on the agenda
for an upcoming meeting. So if there's an upcoming meeting
agenda item anybody
wants to say? Well I do have something though for you Randy
being your last
meeting. I'm gonna read what the plaque said. This plaque
is awarded to Randy
Robison from recognition appreciation of 12 years of
valuable contributions and
dedication to the City of Denton Public Utilities Board
given this 27th day of
August 2018. And I'd like to say I worked with you I think
for three years now and
it's been a pleasure. You've shown a lot of leadership
during some difficult times for
solid waste, DME and all of those things. Well it's like
the old joke the last 12 years
consisted of the best two years of my life. You will be
missed though. Thank you I
appreciate it. I'm gonna miss this. This has been a great I
mean you do
something for 12 years you you probably need to move along
without a doubt but
it is it's been a great pleasure. We did see you have brown
hair when you started. I
did have brown hair when I started. Probably a little more
of it but anyway
it's it's I can't blame it all on PUB though. Some of it's
genetic.
Thank you. Mr. Chairman you know last time to say that on
behalf of the city staff
I want to congratulate you on your 12 years of service to
the board. During that 12 years
you've been a part of a lot of a lot of decisions not only
with this board but
passports that have certainly impacted the City of Denton
so again
congratulations appreciate you being steady being very
thoughtful in your
comments how you how you facilitated discussions with with
the board and even
tough discussions and appreciate just how you handled
yourself through
leadership that you've emulated to to to throwing staff the
other board and
future board members so again congratulations and on behalf
of the
staff thank you very much for your leadership and looking
forward to seeing
you around I know you serve another capacity so I know we
'll see you soon.
Thank you I appreciate that. This doesn't mean that my
electric bill goes up.
I had noticed it going down in the last 12 years or so.
Somebody's got to pay for the flat.
Is there a motion to adjourn?
I thought you were going to make it.
No I'm not.
Thank you I appreciate it and a second.
All in favor say aye.
Thank you.