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 - Okay, it is six o'clock.

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 Let's call the March 25th, 2019

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 Public Utilities Board to order.

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 The first item, and we do have a quorum.

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 Yay. (laughs)

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 The first item is to receive a report

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 and hold a discussion recommending the approval

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 of the Wastewater Service Agreements.

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 - Good afternoon, Board.

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 I am Kenny Banks.

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 I'm the General Manager of Utilities.

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 And I am going to give you a quick presentation

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 on the Robeson Water Reclamation Plant Abandonment Project.

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 We've been working on this project now for a couple of years.

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 It's a very important project for the area.

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 So right now, Robeson Ranch is serviced

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 by its own wastewater treatment plant.

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 And that wastewater treatment plant right now

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 has a treatment capacity of about 375,000 gallons per day.

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 And due to the development of Robeson Ranch,

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 it is reaching capacity.

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 Robeson is roughly about 1/3 built out right now.

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 This plant is getting close to its capacity

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 and getting close to us needing to push

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 into the design phase for a new plant.

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 I don't know if anyone's priced

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 wastewater treatment plants lately,

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 but they're very expensive.

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 And as a result, we are estimating that at full development,

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 the plant would need to be expanded

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 to about a 1.6 million gallon per day plant.

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 And that is estimated to cost somewhere

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 around roughly $16 million, quite a bit of money.

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 And because of this issue, the Robeson folks reached out

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 to the City of Denton for possible other solutions

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 other than just constructing the plant.

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 And it's a vested interest for the City of Denton as well.

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 Even though Robeson owns the plant, we operate it.

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 And we have intentions, according to our design criteria,

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 to place a larger plant in the Hickory Creek Basin

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 at some point in the future.

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 And just from an economies of scale standpoint,

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 it doesn't make a lot of sense to have a smaller plant

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 in the Hickory Creek Basin, a larger plant

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 in the Hickory Creek Basin,

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 and then also the Pecan Creek plant.

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 So we went shopping around for some possible solutions.

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 Like I said, this has been going on several years.

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 The Denton City Manager, Assistant City Manager

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 for Utilities and Wastewater Staff met with Robeson

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 to talk about some possible solutions.

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 We reached an understanding

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 to abandon the Robeson Ranch Water Reclamation Plant

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 and then pump all wastewater flows from Robeson Ranch

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 to Denton's wastewater collection system,

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 ultimately being treated at Pecan Creek.

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 And that project provides benefits

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 for Robeson Ranch and the city.

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 So some quick highlights.

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 We agreed that we would facilitate the acquisition

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 of the off-site easements, complete design,

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 and construct the wastewater diversion facilities

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 necessary for this project to be in place

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 and to decommission the plant.

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 They will pay us $4 million

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 for the wastewater diversion project.

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 Once it's completed and in place,

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 Robeson agreed to pay wastewater fees on new construct,

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 impact fees, I should say, on new construction

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 that occurred in their facility.

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 With that in place, the Robeson development

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 will not need the additional wastewater treatment capacity

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 and that particular facility will be decommissioned

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 and then converted into a pump station

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 to facilitate this type of development.

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 Robeson will receive a credit

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 since they are paying for the actual cost

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 associated with the installation of this facility.

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 $1,000 off of their impact fee,

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 a $1,000 impact fee credit for new homes

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 up to a total of 1,000 homes.

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 So total of a million dollars.

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 So real briefly, this is the Robeson system

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 as it exists today.

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 We've got the Robeson Ranch Southwest Lift Station here

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 that actually conveys wastewater

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 to the Robeson Ranch Water Reclamation Plant.

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 And then over on this side,

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 there's a lot of topography out there.

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 We've got the East Lift Station,

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 which collects from this area

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 and basically through a force main,

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 moves that waste material over

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 to the Robeson Ranch Water Reclamation Plant.

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 What we're proposing to do is actually collect here,

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 lift to this plant, turn this plant into a pump station,

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 run this force main in a direction

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 that is opposite of what it is right now

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 to the Eastern Lift Station.

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 And then I've got a separate graphic over here.

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 Here's the Eastern Lift Station.

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 This is a new line that we will construct,

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 a new force main that will convey the wastewater here,

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 right to the edge of the Hunter Ranch property on this side,

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 down to the Robeson Ranch Road line,

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 that's our Robeson Ranch Road intersection here.

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 And then basically, this is where it turns

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 from a force main to a gravity main

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 to be conveyed over across I-35

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 and hooking into the existing 18-inch gravity sewer system

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 over near Crawford Road.

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 The Hunter Ranch facility is owned by Petrus and Hillwood.

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 We met with them and worked with the Hillwood group

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 to acquire the needed off-site easement

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 that runs through the Hunter Ranch property.

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 It's a little hard to see,

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 but this easement right here is on Robeson's property.

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 It switches over here,

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 and this easement right here is on the Hunter property.

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 So we met with them,

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 put together a development agreement

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 for wastewater services that included the easement documents

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 that would be needed to get this project on the ground.

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 The easements were granted for a nominal $20 fee.

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 We also agreed to provide wastewater capacity

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 in the gravity main that's running through the property

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 for at least 800 single-family equivalents.

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 That would provide some capacity for growth

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 to start in that area.

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 In that area in Hunter Ranch,

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 wastewater impact fees will be required for all connections

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 at whatever the prevailing rate is at the time.

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 And at some point, the Robeson flows

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 are actually going to be diverted

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 through Hunter Ranch and Coal Ranch in the future.

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 We're probably talking a couple of decades

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 somewhere around in that timeframe.

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 After the sewer lines and those developments

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 have been constructed and the waste

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 is actually transferred through that system,

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 which is referred to as the Roart branch,

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 then the existing force main for Robeson will be abandoned,

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 and the only service that will be available

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 will be the gravity line to the south.

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 So in summary, the project cost is $4 million for Robeson.

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 Their benefit is the avoided cost

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 of the additional plant expansions, the permits,

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 and all the complications associated

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 with that plant.

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 They do get an impact fee credit, as we mentioned.

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 Our cost on that is nothing.

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 Basically, this will be enough to cover

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 the cost of the installation, according to our estimates.

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 Petrus-Hillwood, their cost is the dedication of the land.

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 Their benefit is to basically get 800

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 single-family equivalents of wastewater capacity,

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 and then our cost on that's that nominal 20

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 that I mentioned to you earlier.

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 Denton's savings are estimated to be annually

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 when we're comparing a wastewater diversion project

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 like this instead of a 1.6 million gallon

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 per day plant operation.

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 We estimate that our annual O&M cost

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 and on a total 20-year basis will come in somewhere

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 around $16.6 million.

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 So, comparing the plant option annual O&M of 895

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 to our wastewater diversion project,

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 which we estimate will be about $65,000 a year,

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 would save an annual of 830,

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 and basically we're looking at a 20-year lifespan

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 approximately of this asset, so about $16.6 million.

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 So, the summary is basically it provides benefits

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 to everyone, and Denton is being able

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 to avoid the operational cost.

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 Robeson gets the avoidance of the cost of the plant,

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 and then Petrus Hillwood gets the opportunity

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 to have those 800 SFPs.

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 I'd be glad to answer any questions.

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 - Questions?

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 Oh.

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 - What is the whole impact fee credit?

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 - Okay.

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 - What is that all about?

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 Why are you giving them a credit?

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 - The impact fees are designed to pay for the impact

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 on the system, right?

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 So, the impact on this particular system is two-fold.

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 One of those impacts is the cost associated

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 with building this force main system and pump station

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 and all those things internal to Robeson.

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 And the second component of it

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 is the actual treatment capacity

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 that we're going to be using at Pecan Creek.

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 Because we're conveying this all the way over,

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 Pecan Creek will have a higher wastewater flow,

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 and therefore we're entitled to an impact fee

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 to offset the things we're going to have to do

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 to basically deal with that higher flow.

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 So, they are being given a credit

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 because they're actually fronting the cost

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 of the construction that is internal to their facility.

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 And so they are paying us $4 million,

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 which is enough cost to cover all of the construction.

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 So really we're giving them a credit to offset that cost

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 and still recuperate impact fees at a level

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 that's high enough to be able to allow us

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 to do the treatment at the plant.

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 So, the reason is that they're basically paying for a good,

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 they're paying for the entirety of this system

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 at the time that it's installed.

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 - Okay.

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 And so the impact fees, those are going to be credited once?

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 - That's correct.

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 It's for those first 1,000 homes,

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 and as soon as they get through with those first 1,000,

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 the remainder of those homes,

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 I think they're at about 7,200, 7,300

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 is their total build out.

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 They've got about 2,300 now.

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 So, everything past that 1,000 homes that comes in

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 after this facility is built will be charged

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 the full impact fee at whatever

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 the prevailing rate is at the time.

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 So, it's just an attempt to try to acknowledge

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 that they're coming up with all of the upfront cost

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 for the facility on their property

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 and conveyance of the waste to our Crawford branch.

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 - Why did they, and you may not know the answer to this,

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 but I'm just wondering, why did they build this plant?

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 - Could you go closer to your mic so it's not picking it up?

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 - I'm just curious as to why they built this plant

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 in the first place that wasn't going to be able

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 to sustain their growth,

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 and now they're turning to the citizens of Denton

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 to help.

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 - Right, two things I can say about that.

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 One, the cost of the plant,

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 plant costs have gone up dramatically compared

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 to consumer price index.

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 And so, it's a very large cost

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 that they're going to have to incur.

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 And in terms of your statement about the rate payers

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 of Denton, this is a cost neutral situation

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 for the rate payers because they're going to be paying

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 wastewater fees, because they have paid for the construction

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 of the facility itself, and because they're going

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 to be paying at first a discounted impact fee,

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 and then after those first 1,000 homes,

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 the full impact fee, the rate that they're being charged

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 and the impact fee that they're being charged

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 after those 1,000 homes is exactly the same

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 as any other rate payer in the city would be charged.

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 So, it's rate neutral in that cost.

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 The rate payers are not bearing any additional cost.

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 - Okay, that's the one thing that I wanted to make.

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 - That's the one thing residents pay the city of Denton

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 for wastewater.

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 - That's correct.

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 - Okay.

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 - Yeah, they will pay for the wastewater services, correct.

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 - Okay, that's what I wanted you to say.

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 - Okay.

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 - That was a good clarification.

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 - Yes.

265
00:12:48,540 --> 00:12:50,240
 - I just had a quick question.

266
00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,360
 Do we have the capacity for all this stuff?

267
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,280
 Are we going to need to expand our plant?

268
00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,160
 - We do have the capacity to treat it.

269
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,520
 As I said, at some point in the future,

270
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,560
 we will be looking at locating

271
00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:06,640
 a wastewater treatment facility

272
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,680
 within the Hickory Creek area.

273
00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:12,120
 But right now, we have the capacity

274
00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:13,280
 to be able to deal with it.

275
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,680
 And we have another project that we'll be bringing to you

276
00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:20,760
 later tonight to talk about some design work

277
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:22,580
 and some experimental work that has been done

278
00:13:22,580 --> 00:13:24,200
 on the Pecan Creek plant

279
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,920
 that actually appears to be able to allow us

280
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,320
 with the existing footprint of the plant

281
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,160
 to have somewhere between four and five million gallon

282
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,760
 per day of additional capacity.

283
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,080
 So that'll buy us quite a bit of time

284
00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,200
 even with this waste stream in place

285
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:46,240
 and allow us to push off the capital project

286
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,960
 associated with building that larger Hickory Creek plant

287
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:50,720
 as long as we possibly can.

288
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,840
 So the short answer is yes,

289
00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:55,800
 but we're also looking at that.

290
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,080
 - And any new homes being built out there

291
00:13:58,080 --> 00:13:59,240
 will pay the impact fee,

292
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,440
 just like any other development community.

293
00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:02,280
 - That's correct.

294
00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,480
 - All right, and that's the whole purpose.

295
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,000
 - Right.

296
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,160
 - Are there any particular challenges

297
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,400
 to building this type of system?

298
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,400
 Pushing a line that was going one way,

299
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:14,960
 pushing it back the other way.

300
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:15,800
 - No.

301
00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:16,620
 - Business as usual.

302
00:14:16,620 --> 00:14:20,480
 - Yeah, it's a pipe and a force main,

303
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,480
 so it's not a problem going one direction or the other.

304
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,040
 In this particular situation.

305
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:26,920
 - Okay, and they built to a standard

306
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,200
 similar to the way we build and--

307
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,400
 - We're actually going to be constructing it ourselves.

308
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,440
 - Well, what about the existing stuff?

309
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:35,560
 It'll tie in with--

310
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,000
 - Yes, I mean, it was built to the specifications

311
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,640
 that we required, so it's, yeah, it's fine.

312
00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:41,600
 - All right, thanks.

313
00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:42,440
 - Sure.

314
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,720
 - Other questions?

315
00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,200
 - We have a couple of questions, Dr. Banks.

316
00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,600
 What's the current wastewater impact fee?

317
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,320
 It may have been in here, but I didn't catch it.

318
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,560
 - It is, we just got it adopted.

319
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:56,880
 I have it written down in my notebook.

320
00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:57,840
 I should have brought it up here.

321
00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,720
 I think it's $4,712 for wastewater.

322
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:01,560
 - For wastewater.

323
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:02,380
 - That's correct.

324
00:15:02,380 --> 00:15:07,200
 - Okay, so next question.

325
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,760
 It's going across the properties of the coal

326
00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:12,720
 and Hillwood development areas.

327
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:13,560
 - Right.

328
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,440
 - Is this line being upsized in anticipation of that?

329
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,380
 - It is on the gravity portion,

330
00:15:18,380 --> 00:15:20,280
 because that's the part that they're going to be using

331
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,960
 for the 800 SFE's.

332
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,760
 But the intention is once that,

333
00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,460
 once the new line is being put in,

334
00:15:29,460 --> 00:15:32,760
 which will also go through the Hunter and Coal branch areas

335
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,960
 to hook up with the work branch system,

336
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,280
 the intention is for the force main portion of that

337
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:41,560
 to be abandoned.

338
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,900
 And so the answer to your question is part of it is,

339
00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:49,120
 the part that's anticipated to remain is being sized

340
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,120
 to accommodate that additional 800 SFE's.

341
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,040
 But the part that is not needed for that

342
00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,400
 on the force main side is being sized

343
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,300
 to accommodate the full build out of Robeson.

344
00:16:02,300 --> 00:16:03,600
 - Could you move closer to your mic, please?

345
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:04,560
 - Yes, excuse me.

346
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:10,800
 So it sounds like Hillwood and coal and that whole group

347
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,320
 have been cooperative by donating,

348
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,120
 basically donating the property for 20 bucks.

349
00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:16,120
 - Right. - Correct?

350
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:17,240
 - That's correct.

351
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,640
 Are they cooperating with the design of the capacity

352
00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:22,600
 that they may need?

353
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:23,840
 Is that gonna be on that,

354
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,880
 will that work on that side of the property

355
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,760
 or are they gonna have to put more on the other side?

356
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,560
 - Well, the short answer is to fully build out that property.

357
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,260
 They're going to need to have the work branch in place.

358
00:16:35,260 --> 00:16:40,440
 But for that portion of the property

359
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,000
 that's there near Robeson,

360
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,320
 that 800 SFE's will allow them to build a significant amount

361
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,640
 in that property.

362
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,040
 And so it's going to be a little bit of both.

363
00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,040
 There's going to be portions that are going to be going

364
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,560
 to the gravity section that will remain along Robeson Road

365
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,520
 and there'll be portions that will be serviced

366
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,480
 by the work branch at some point in the future.

367
00:16:58,480 --> 00:16:59,600
 - Okay, all right.

368
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:05,200
 So the $4 million, is that a flat fee

369
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,160
 or are they deciding, are we going to even out with them

370
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:10,760
 once the construction is complete?

371
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:15,320
 - It's a flat fee but it's paid in a couple of installments.

372
00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,020
 They're going to pay for the design first

373
00:17:17,020 --> 00:17:19,520
 and then they're going to pay for the actual construction.

374
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,920
 - But you know, construction's not perfect obviously

375
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,360
 and a lot of things aren't planned for

376
00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:28,800
 and they don't usually come under their budget.

377
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,000
 - Right. - Is what I'm getting at.

378
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:35,000
 - Right, I think we've made our best case estimate on this

379
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,440
 but at the same time, you gotta keep in mind

380
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,040
 that we're putting this in place

381
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:41,400
 with city construction crews.

382
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,800
 So we know what the price is because our own folks

383
00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:46,400
 are going to be the ones that are putting it in.

384
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,800
 So materials costs are going to be the only thing

385
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:49,720
 that's gonna be different.

386
00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:51,240
 - Well there is talk around the city

387
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,920
 to cut back on what's performed in house

388
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,720
 and so that's one of the reasons why I'm curious

389
00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:59,360
 about that question. - Right.

390
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,600
 - There's been a lot of talk about--

391
00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:03,760
 - Sure.

392
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,980
 - Downsizing the existing interior construction folks so.

393
00:18:07,980 --> 00:18:13,280
 - Well, we feel very confident that we'll be able

394
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,520
 to get this thing in for the at or below the price

395
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,080
 that we have established.

396
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,160
 - So if it's below, they still pay four million.

397
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,540
 - That's my understanding is that I'll look over at yes.

398
00:18:24,540 --> 00:18:32,720
 If the amount is less than what they have paid for,

399
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,280
 do we reimburse or is it a flat fee?

400
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,320
 - It's a flat fee. - That's what I thought.

401
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,520
 So he's confirmed it's a flat fee.

402
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:40,760
 - It goes over, we eat some.

403
00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:42,560
 If it comes under, we do better.

404
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:43,400
 - Okay.

405
00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:47,020
 Let's go ahead, thank you.

406
00:18:47,020 --> 00:18:50,120
 - I will point out that there are two consent agenda items

407
00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:51,800
 for your consideration.

408
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,160
 One of them for the Robson portion of this agreement

409
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,720
 and one of them for the Hillwood Petrus

410
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,240
 portion of this agreement.

411
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,720
 So those will have to be approved

412
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,320
 and both will have to be approved

413
00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,900
 in order to make this deal work.

414
00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:09,680
 Staff's recommendation is for approval

415
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,160
 on both of those ordinances.

416
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,600
 - And thank you for mentioning the consent calendar

417
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,520
 or agenda because we're gonna move the agenda

418
00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,160
 around a little bit after the work session.

419
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,640
 We're gonna go into the consent agenda

420
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,120
 and then we'll go into closed session

421
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:28,280
 just to speed things along a little bit.

422
00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:29,280
 - Thank you.

423
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,720
 - All right, the next item is hold a report

424
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,960
 and a discussion and give staff direction

425
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,460
 regarding the credit and collection policy.

426
00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:42,760
 - Good evening, Tiffany Thompson,

427
00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:43,960
 Director of Customer Service.

428
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:45,400
 I have a couple of guests in the audience

429
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:46,600
 I wanna introduce first.

430
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,000
 We do have a new customer service manager, Krista Foster.

431
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,700
 She joined us just a couple months ago

432
00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:54,440
 so you're gonna be seeing and hearing from her

433
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,720
 in the future and also we have some guests

434
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,420
 from Navigant Consulting.

435
00:19:58,420 --> 00:20:00,200
 Navigant is the consulting firm

436
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,840
 that we secured back in 2008 to look over our operation

437
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:05,160
 and then give us recommendations

438
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,760
 on our credit and collection policy

439
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,340
 that we ultimately ended up adopting in 2010.

440
00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:12,600
 So they're here tonight to go over our progress

441
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,620
 over those years and then also how we measure up

442
00:20:15,620 --> 00:20:19,480
 to private and public utilities currently right now

443
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:20,480
 with our processes.

444
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,840
 So Christine with Navigant is gonna come up again

445
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,340
 for her presentation and then I'll come up afterwards

446
00:20:25,340 --> 00:20:27,000
 and discuss the impact and the changes

447
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,460
 that we made about a year ago.

448
00:20:28,460 --> 00:20:30,160
 Christine, you can go ahead and come up.

449
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:39,960
 - Good evening, I'm happy to be here today

450
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,200
 to share the results of the study we did.

451
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,280
 As Tiffany mentioned, we were here back in 2008.

452
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:52,040
 Did a more, a broader study of customer service in general.

453
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,540
 The study we did this year starting in January

454
00:20:55,540 --> 00:20:58,560
 and completing in March focused on the credit

455
00:20:58,560 --> 00:20:59,700
 and collections group.

456
00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:01,080
 So I'll take you through that.

457
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,400
 It'll take about 20 minutes hopefully

458
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,560
 and then I'll be happy to answer any questions

459
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:06,560
 that you might have.

460
00:21:09,860 --> 00:21:13,000
 Just a little bit of background on the study.

461
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,400
 Again, it was focused just looking at credit

462
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,280
 and collections practices with a goal

463
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,520
 of evaluating the performance and to understand

464
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,840
 if there's any opportunities for improvement.

465
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:31,080
 We made a number of recommendations back in 2008.

466
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,640
 So we wanted to make sure that those recommendations

467
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,520
 had been implemented and really kind of understand

468
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,080
 what the impact had been following that.

469
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,400
 You can see the steps of our study, they're listed here.

470
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,000
 And we will go into more detail about the benchmarking

471
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,140
 that we conducted to compare Denton against industry.

472
00:21:51,140 --> 00:21:57,960
 Before we get into the details, just a little bit

473
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,980
 of reminder about some of the changes that happened

474
00:22:00,980 --> 00:22:03,740
 within the credit and collections organization.

475
00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:07,840
 When we were here back in 2008, again,

476
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,720
 we made a number of recommendations

477
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,760
 which resulted in some policy changes

478
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,720
 and changes to the way that collections

479
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,120
 is conducted in Denton.

480
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:21,240
 And I've listed those here in the upper table

481
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,080
 just to kind of remind everyone

482
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,440
 and put context to the discussion.

483
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,800
 It was a pretty significant change.

484
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,600
 We basically took the organization

485
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,560
 from a one size fits all collection approach

486
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:37,240
 to a more targeted risk-based collection

487
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,160
 which means that we wanted the organization

488
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,280
 to focus on those accounts that needed to be focused on

489
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,840
 based on the financial risk.

490
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,640
 So you can see the examples of some of the practices

491
00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:52,160
 that were put in place.

492
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,760
 Some of it involved changes to the technology.

493
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,680
 Some of it involved securing a service

494
00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,640
 to conduct credit screening of customers

495
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,320
 when they apply for service.

496
00:23:03,340 --> 00:23:07,460
 And then we put in some capability to determine

497
00:23:07,460 --> 00:23:10,180
 if a deposit would be required or not

498
00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:13,420
 and if you have good payment behavior,

499
00:23:13,420 --> 00:23:16,140
 we would waive that deposit for new applicants.

500
00:23:16,140 --> 00:23:19,080
 Some changes were put in place

501
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,400
 in January or February of 2018

502
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,620
 and those are listed in the bottom table.

503
00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:30,480
 Basically, some changes to the deposit requirements

504
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:35,240
 which lessened the amount of deposits

505
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,600
 that were being secured from customers,

506
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:39,280
 especially the customers

507
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,480
 that were a little bit riskier financially.

508
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,120
 And there were also some changes made

509
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,520
 to the internal credit score point system

510
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,920
 which meant that more actions would occur on account

511
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,920
 before they moved into a riskier credit category.

512
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,440
 So just keep those in mind

513
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,560
 kinda as we go through the results.

514
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,400
 First, I'd like to talk about the benchmarks

515
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:05,680
 that we conducted.

516
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,360
 We view benchmarking as an important tool

517
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:12,240
 to really understand performance of an entity

518
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,840
 and to really target and figure out

519
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,080
 what areas can be improved going forward.

520
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,400
 In this case, we had two panels that we assembled

521
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,600
 to compare Denton's performance against.

522
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,240
 The first was a panel of 15 municipal utilities

523
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,880
 and they're listed in the upper table.

524
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,200
 So you can see who is in that panel.

525
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:38,760
 And then we had a separate panel

526
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,460
 of about 59 other US utilities.

527
00:24:42,460 --> 00:24:48,140
 They're composed of cooperatives, investor-owned utilities

528
00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:50,360
 and municipal utilities.

529
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:53,740
 We have a list of those further on in the report.

530
00:24:53,740 --> 00:24:57,200
 But we felt it was important to have two panels,

531
00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:02,200
 collections tends to be a very state-specific activity.

532
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,400
 Lots of regulations, they vary across the nation,

533
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,780
 east to west, north to south.

534
00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:09,780
 So we wanted to look at Texas in general

535
00:25:09,780 --> 00:25:14,240
 to understand how Denton compares to peers, local peers,

536
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,280
 and then also look more broadly across the US

537
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,480
 for opportunities to improve and really understand outcomes

538
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,360
 and how Denton compares.

539
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:29,680
 So this table might be kind of hard to read,

540
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,680
 but it's basically the results of our Texas panel.

541
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:39,040
 And we asked some specific questions of the utilities

542
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:40,720
 to understand, first of all,

543
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,720
 what did they look like, how many customers,

544
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:48,720
 whether or not they have AMI smart meters in place,

545
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:54,280
 if they require a deposit of residential customers,

546
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,840
 and then how did they waive deposits

547
00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:59,760
 if they do waive them or not.

548
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:01,120
 What did we find?

549
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,640
 Well, Denton's pretty comparable.

550
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,280
 And I was surprised at the high level of smart metering

551
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,560
 that's in place with any municipal utilities in Texas.

552
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:16,760
 That's obviously a very key benefit for a lot of things,

553
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,680
 but especially for collections

554
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,640
 in terms of reducing field trips

555
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,440
 and really getting billing data quicker.

556
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:28,120
 We found everyone has a deposit for residential customers.

557
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:32,880
 A large portion of them, most of the cities

558
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,960
 do waive the deposit if you have a letter of credit

559
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,000
 from another utility, as Denton does.

560
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,520
 A smaller portion of those utilities use credit scoring,

561
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,000
 like Denton does, to waive the deposit.

562
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,040
 And even the same size portion

563
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,360
 doesn't waive the deposit at all.

564
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,640
 So I think in general, pretty comparable to this panel.

565
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,640
 We've got some additional comparisons

566
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,480
 for the Texas panel where we looked at the timing

567
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,360
 of the collection cycle,

568
00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,560
 how many days until a certain action occurs,

569
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,800
 and the fees that are put on a customer

570
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,720
 once they reach a specific credit action.

571
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:24,160
 And again, we found that Denton compares very favorably

572
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,440
 to this group, this panel, Texas panel.

573
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:31,240
 The fees are very comparable.

574
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:36,040
 I'll call your attention to the ReConnect fee.

575
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:40,560
 Denton's fee is significantly lower than the panel average.

576
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:42,600
 And just to orient you, Denton is in blue.

577
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,760
 Here's the average of AMI utilities,

578
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,960
 and then everybody else as one group average.

579
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:57,240
 Other things to note here that just about all the utilities

580
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:01,920
 charge a specific fee for same-day service

581
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,160
 or same-day ReConnects, as Denton does.

582
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:09,440
 And the late fee, most of the,

583
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,640
 just about all the utilities in this panel

584
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:16,440
 charge a fixed percentage, either five or 10%,

585
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:21,120
 whereas Denton charges a fixed flat fee of $20.

586
00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:24,400
 Both approaches are common across the industry,

587
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,200
 and both work.

588
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,120
 I mean, the goal of a late fee is to get a timely payment

589
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,120
 from customers, so you want it to be something

590
00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:33,960
 that gets their attention.

591
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,840
 - What are the blanks?

592
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:38,800
 Are they just numbers you couldn't acquire?

593
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,600
 - Couldn't get that data from a couple of them, yeah.

594
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,120
 Not as responsive, unfortunately.

595
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:46,400
 - Garland wasn't responsive?

596
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:47,240
 - No.

597
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,120
 - We also, as I mentioned, conducted some benchmarking

598
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:59,080
 with a bigger group of utilities from across the US,

599
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:00,600
 and this was a little bit different.

600
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,640
 We wanted to focus on outcomes

601
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,640
 and more typical benchmark metrics of performance,

602
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,200
 both effectiveness and efficiency measures.

603
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,600
 So we had to ask for a good bit of data from them,

604
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,240
 which involved getting an idea of the type of activities

605
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,720
 that they conduct during their collections practices,

606
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,520
 as well as the cost associated to conduct those.

607
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,840
 And when we talk about collection actions here,

608
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:33,560
 we're talking about active and inactive accounts,

609
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,920
 and it's basically the inside collections, folks.

610
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,020
 It's not the field.

611
00:29:38,020 --> 00:29:41,320
 And by keeping it pretty specific,

612
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,080
 we're able to gather the right information from everybody

613
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,360
 and compare them as a panel.

614
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:50,680
 So we'll go into some of the metrics here

615
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,120
 and kind of give you an idea of what we looked at.

616
00:29:53,120 --> 00:30:00,520
 For your reference, we've included a table here

617
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,520
 that shows the four primary metrics

618
00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:07,200
 that we're gonna show you charts on in the next four pages.

619
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,760
 And there's a definition included as well

620
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,360
 for later reference.

621
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,680
 But basically, there's two measures

622
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,600
 that look at effectiveness and then two measures

623
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,300
 that look at efficiency, productivity, and unit cost.

624
00:30:20,300 --> 00:30:27,480
 So the first metric, if I had to pick one metric

625
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,800
 for collections, this would be the metric I would look at.

626
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:32,440
 It's an outcome metric.

627
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,840
 It's the percent of net write-offs,

628
00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,440
 which basically tells you how much money

629
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,440
 you could not collect as a percentage of your revenue.

630
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,600
 So again, what we've done here is,

631
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,360
 because we did have the opportunity

632
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,960
 to review performance back in 2008,

633
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,800
 we've included the performance as we saw it in 2008

634
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,760
 against what we found in 2018.

635
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,800
 And as you can see from the chart,

636
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,080
 Denton is in the darker bar there.

637
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,300
 And the performance was almost above

638
00:31:09,300 --> 00:31:13,480
 all the panel segments in 2008.

639
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,840
 But since then, in the 10 years,

640
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,480
 Denton has significantly reduced the percentage of bad debt,

641
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,480
 as you can see in the chart on the right.

642
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:30,780
 The next metric is called end row.

643
00:31:30,780 --> 00:31:33,400
 It's the equivalent number of days

644
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,820
 that revenue is outstanding.

645
00:31:35,820 --> 00:31:38,960
 Basically tells you how quickly you get your money.

646
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,200
 It's a pretty popular metric in all industries.

647
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,080
 The quicker you get it is the goal.

648
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,720
 When we measured this back in 2008,

649
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:50,640
 Denton was on the high side of our panel

650
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,400
 of all the segments we looked at.

651
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,000
 When we look at it again in 2018,

652
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,920
 Denton is leading the pack with a significant improvement,

653
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:03,440
 basically taking about eight days off of that cycle.

654
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,480
 And we feel like that,

655
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,220
 end row has been positively impacted,

656
00:32:10,220 --> 00:32:13,720
 obviously by shortening the collection timeline

657
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:15,560
 and the late fee.

658
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,440
 It does change people's payment behavior

659
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,520
 and you will get your money quicker

660
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,080
 with a significant late fee.

661
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:30,660
 The next two charts look at efficiency.

662
00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:33,360
 The first one is a cost per unit cost,

663
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,420
 cost per collection action.

664
00:32:35,420 --> 00:32:37,880
 So what we did was we collected the cost

665
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:42,000
 of the group that is performing the collection actions.

666
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,200
 And that includes labor cost,

667
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:49,040
 includes overtime, any outside contractors or agencies,

668
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,640
 and then anything else that is non-labor.

669
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,640
 And we asked this of all the utilities.

670
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:59,080
 We also had them tell us how many actions they conducted.

671
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,320
 And this is an annual figure.

672
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:06,060
 So the difference there of cost per action,

673
00:33:06,060 --> 00:33:07,240
 you can see on the charts.

674
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,720
 And when we looked at it in 2008,

675
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,840
 Denton had a pretty good cost per action.

676
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:19,840
 And again, has a pretty good cost per action in 2018,

677
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,360
 which tells me that they're pretty effective

678
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,480
 at conducting these collection actions.

679
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:32,760
 The next is a typical productivity metric,

680
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,120
 which is how many actions per person

681
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,520
 is being completed by the group.

682
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,120
 Again, the productivity was good in 2008,

683
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,000
 much better in 2018.

684
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,800
 And keep in mind that a lot of these actions are automated.

685
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,400
 There are phone calls that are sent from the IVR system,

686
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,160
 and there's letters that are automatically spit out

687
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,240
 of the customer information system.

688
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,160
 But either way, they've been very effective

689
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,620
 and efficient at producing these collection actions.

690
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,680
 Here's the list I referred to earlier.

691
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:11,760
 I guess just in summary,

692
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,560
 the benchmark metrics show good performance improvement

693
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:20,240
 from 2008 to 2018, both from our panel in Texas,

694
00:34:20,240 --> 00:34:23,400
 as well as our utilities nationwide.

695
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:30,120
 Okay, so let's kind of sum up what did we find.

696
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,780
 Obviously, the benchmark metrics show good performance,

697
00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:35,960
 but we did look at other things within the department.

698
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:37,640
 And I'll go through those now.

699
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,480
 Just to kind of show you where they were

700
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,360
 and where they are now, I've prepared this slide,

701
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:49,240
 which shows what we found on the 2008 column.

702
00:34:49,240 --> 00:34:53,280
 Again, sort of a one-size-fits-all.

703
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,840
 They weren't writing off bad debt off the books.

704
00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:01,840
 They weren't very good or consistent at returning deposits.

705
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,900
 And they were sending accounts to collection

706
00:35:06,900 --> 00:35:09,840
 at 120 days or more.

707
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:14,040
 And there was a large bad debt allowance each year,

708
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,040
 getting bigger every year.

709
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,920
 In 2018, now they're routinely writing off bad debt.

710
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,560
 Obviously, the bad debt has come down significantly

711
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,440
 since then, and they've put in place

712
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,120
 this risk-based collection treatment

713
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,080
 to really focus the attention on the accounts

714
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,240
 that need attention.

715
00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:40,960
 These two charts, I think, are quite dramatic

716
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,080
 in terms of what's been accomplished by this group.

717
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:49,840
 The green columns show that the dollars of bad debt

718
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:52,360
 that have been written off in the last five years,

719
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,200
 you can see a significant improvement there,

720
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,360
 a decline in those dollars.

721
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:02,080
 The blue chart is the number of delinquent accounts,

722
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:05,020
 the number of accounts that are being worked.

723
00:36:05,020 --> 00:36:07,960
 And that dropped significantly, I guess,

724
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:12,640
 in the 2010, 2011 timeframe with the late fee,

725
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,060
 the rise in the late fee.

726
00:36:14,060 --> 00:36:22,640
 Otherwise, we think that the group has,

727
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,360
 and the customer service department in general,

728
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,680
 has made good use of the technology that's available.

729
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,920
 The AMI smart meters are key for collections.

730
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:34,640
 You're getting your data sooner.

731
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,080
 You're able to act on it remotely.

732
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,320
 A lot of opportunity and potential there.

733
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,840
 They've also introduced a pay-as-you-go program,

734
00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:47,240
 which uses an app and website to manage that.

735
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:49,880
 We think that's a great addition.

736
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:51,920
 And then, of course, the Engage Denton app,

737
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,720
 which is more broadly available for the city,

738
00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,200
 but does get customers pointed to the right direction

739
00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,160
 if they want to make a payment or look into their account.

740
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:04,600
 We think that the reps are having better conversations

741
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:06,040
 with customers.

742
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,120
 It's now clear what the requirements are.

743
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,480
 They're listed explicitly on the website.

744
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,680
 We think customers understand them,

745
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,600
 and as such, are having better conversations.

746
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,800
 The customer service organization has also done

747
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,840
 a good job at training and making sure that reps

748
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,400
 are prepared to have those conversations.

749
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:28,880
 And, of course, more funding has been made available

750
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,960
 for assistance, which helps customers

751
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:33,240
 who are really struggling.

752
00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,400
 And, of course, as I mentioned earlier,

753
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,680
 we're getting the money eight days quicker,

754
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:42,240
 which makes the finance department happier, I'm sure.

755
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:47,000
 And the performance, again, is very favorable

756
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,680
 when we look at both panels.

757
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:55,920
 I have, however, we are noticing when we take a look

758
00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:01,760
 at bad debt since 2018, we're noticing an increase now.

759
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:06,320
 And this is following the changes that were put in place

760
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:10,120
 in January, February timeframe to really lessen

761
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:11,720
 the deposit requirements.

762
00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:15,600
 We don't have a full year's worth of data yet.

763
00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,280
 We had about six months.

764
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:21,480
 So we projected what we think the full year will look like,

765
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:26,480
 and it's about a 14% increase in bad debt for this period.

766
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:31,720
 We're also seeing, obviously, if you take the number

767
00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,800
 of delinquent accounts and you divide it by bad debt,

768
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:38,800
 we're seeing an increase in the average delinquency amount.

769
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,360
 So we find that concerning.

770
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,720
 We also, more broadly, just looking at the organization,

771
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,040
 think that there's some opportunity to automate

772
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,600
 some of the more manual tasks that are still remaining

773
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:52,640
 in the group.

774
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,720
 So that's sort of a to-do for management going forward.

775
00:38:55,720 --> 00:39:00,200
 And then we also notice that customers do not have

776
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:05,200
 any self-service options to ask for a payment extension

777
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,520
 or a payment plan through the website

778
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:10,600
 or automated phone system.

779
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:14,320
 It's a popular option across the country

780
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:15,360
 with other utilities.

781
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,120
 And when you talk about financial concerns,

782
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:22,800
 a lot of people prefer to do it in a self-service manner.

783
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:30,160
 Okay, just to quickly sum up,

784
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,120
 we do have some recommendations

785
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,060
 after looking at the performance.

786
00:39:34,060 --> 00:39:36,880
 Continue doing what they're doing.

787
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:39,200
 There's a lot of good best practices in place,

788
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:43,160
 and we still feel strongly that they are the right practices.

789
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,160
 We do have some options, opportunities for them

790
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,200
 to grow and improve.

791
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:54,000
 We talked about more self-service and automation.

792
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,720
 We think it's important because of these changes

793
00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:00,920
 to the policy last year and the negative trending

794
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,920
 of bad debt that the department should follow more closely

795
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:10,040
 those accounts and be prepared to act quickly

796
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:11,600
 if they need to.

797
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,760
 And then I think just looking at what's going on

798
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:17,680
 in the industry, there are some options for the city

799
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,680
 and for the department to really focus

800
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,440
 on expanding outreach for customers

801
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,300
 who are having difficulty paying their bills

802
00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:28,760
 and to really work with the reps

803
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,600
 so that they are better able to counsel

804
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:34,600
 and have that difficult discussion

805
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:37,340
 and point customers in the right direction.

806
00:40:37,340 --> 00:40:40,720
 And then maybe the city in the future

807
00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:42,560
 will think about some options,

808
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,760
 perhaps different rates or different discounts

809
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,720
 for customers who are really on the edge

810
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:51,640
 and having a difficult time paying their bill.

811
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:56,180
 Other cities have done this in Texas and elsewhere.

812
00:40:56,180 --> 00:41:04,240
 And just one more time, again, we do find it troubling

813
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,920
 that the bad debt is going up.

814
00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:11,920
 So we suggest that the collections team

815
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,960
 monitor these accounts more closely.

816
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,920
 They work on some segmentation

817
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:20,640
 so that they can better understand what's happening

818
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,640
 and look at the payment behavior of that group.

819
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,600
 And then perhaps use triggers

820
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:31,600
 to consider assessing the deposits based on a change

821
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:35,040
 rather than waiting quarterly to do it.

822
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,520
 And then if customers, for instance,

823
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,520
 leave the auto pay program,

824
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,120
 look at assessing the deposit at that point in time too,

825
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:48,480
 basically acting quicker and just keeping an eye on things.

826
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:53,080
 And at some point, I guess, after a year's worth of data,

827
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,800
 at least it'd be good to circle back

828
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,760
 and really consider are you happy with these changes

829
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,880
 and the direction that you're going or not

830
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,280
 and then consider if any changes to the policy

831
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,160
 would be appropriate.

832
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,360
 I think the Pay As You Go program is a good addition

833
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:11,360
 that will help with those customers

834
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,120
 who are challenged to make a deposit,

835
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,180
 have the money to put down,

836
00:42:16,180 --> 00:42:19,960
 as well as those who have trouble avoiding the late fees.

837
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:21,320
 It makes it simple.

838
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,740
 They pay for what they need when they have it.

839
00:42:24,740 --> 00:42:30,680
 That's all I have prepared.

840
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,320
 I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

841
00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:35,460
 Questions?

842
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:39,280
 - I have a question.

843
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:45,340
 Can one account have multiple collection actions?

844
00:42:45,340 --> 00:42:47,160
 - Yes.

845
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:49,760
 - Okay, so I guess by this definition,

846
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,980
 they could have many even.

847
00:42:51,980 --> 00:42:53,540
 - Yeah, during one month, I mean,

848
00:42:53,540 --> 00:42:56,340
 you could move from having a late fee

849
00:42:56,340 --> 00:42:58,200
 on your added to your account

850
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,400
 because you're late on your payment

851
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:01,980
 and if you still don't make a payment,

852
00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:06,980
 you would get a call to tell you that you missed your payment

853
00:43:06,980 --> 00:43:10,720
 and then you get a call to say you're gonna be disconnected

854
00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:12,840
 and then you might be disconnected,

855
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:15,880
 so that'd be three or four on that one month.

856
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,120
 And then you take it times 12, you know.

857
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:27,000
 - Where are we seeing the increase of 14%?

858
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,600
 Is that primary residential?

859
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:31,640
 - Yeah.

860
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:40,040
 (sighs)

861
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:40,880
 - Questions?

862
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:45,200
 Well, the trend is disappointing.

863
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:46,040
 (laughs)

864
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,200
 - Yeah, thank you very much.

865
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:49,160
 - Thank you.

866
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,660
 - Did we just enable the pay as you go thing?

867
00:43:52,660 --> 00:43:54,080
 Not so long ago?

868
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:55,920
 - Yes, when did we enable pay as you go?

869
00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:57,060
 - It went live February for the public watch.

870
00:43:57,060 --> 00:43:58,200
 - Yeah, so we haven't really got it.

871
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:01,200
 - And I've got some updated numbers to share with you.

872
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:02,600
 I was waiting for that question.

873
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,640
 I know y'all are gonna have more questions than that for me.

874
00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:08,920
 I told Christina, they're gonna give you

875
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:13,040
 all the hard questions and then I won't get any hard questions.

876
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:15,200
 So again, I'm gonna just go over the impacts

877
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:17,840
 of the changes that we made last year.

878
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:19,120
 Just a little bit of background.

879
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,040
 In 2010 is when we updated the ordinance

880
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:24,120
 with those credit and collection policies.

881
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,940
 That was in response to our high amount of bad debt

882
00:44:26,940 --> 00:44:29,400
 and just opportunities to enhance

883
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:31,860
 the credit and collection policies.

884
00:44:31,860 --> 00:44:36,440
 So really in fall of 2017, we started discussions

885
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,040
 with the Public Utilities Board and City Council

886
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,960
 over several months and then in February of 2018,

887
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:43,840
 we implemented some changes.

888
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:45,240
 And the changes that we made

889
00:44:45,240 --> 00:44:47,440
 were in the plus one utility program.

890
00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:50,600
 We increased funding by $25,000.

891
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:54,260
 We allowed customers to get assistance up to three times.

892
00:44:54,260 --> 00:44:56,080
 Previously, they were only able to get assistance

893
00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:57,800
 once in a 12 month period.

894
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,160
 And then also they were able to get assistance

895
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,920
 with their deposits, but that was not an option previously.

896
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:07,240
 And then we added additional deposit waivers for customers

897
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:10,040
 and so they could enroll in automatic payment draft

898
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,360
 and get the deposit waived.

899
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,480
 And then also with our new payment system,

900
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:16,340
 if you signed up for recurring credit or debit card

901
00:45:16,340 --> 00:45:18,160
 or electronic checks or ACH,

902
00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:20,480
 you can get your deposit waived as well.

903
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:23,480
 And then those customers that were experiencing homelessness

904
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:25,960
 or working through a rapid rehousing program

905
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,640
 could get deposit waivers as well

906
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:29,640
 through the homelessness deposit waiver.

907
00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:32,840
 The additional changes that we did

908
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:34,480
 was the overdue interest

909
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:36,640
 was no longer a credit rated event.

910
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:40,120
 So there was no points associated with the overdue interest.

911
00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:43,960
 That impacted about 1500 customers when we made that change.

912
00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:47,420
 So 1500 customers either required less a deposit

913
00:45:47,420 --> 00:45:49,880
 or no deposit with that change.

914
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:53,120
 And then additionally, we changed the customer ranking,

915
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:56,400
 points accrued and deposits assessed for our customers.

916
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:58,960
 So we eliminated that F credit rating

917
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:03,000
 and then moved everyone up and the C through E points expanded.

918
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:05,200
 And so if you were a D,

919
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:07,200
 now you only required a one month deposit

920
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:09,000
 versus previously it was a two month

921
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,560
 and then the E ratings was a two month deposit.

922
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,420
 So this impacts, we had 710 customers

923
00:46:16,420 --> 00:46:18,620
 no longer needed a deposit increase

924
00:46:18,620 --> 00:46:19,960
 once we made this change.

925
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:23,840
 And then 1882 customers moved from a two month

926
00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:25,180
 to a one month deposit.

927
00:46:25,180 --> 00:46:27,840
 So we had a pretty substantial deposit refund

928
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:29,980
 that I'm gonna talk to here pretty soon.

929
00:46:29,980 --> 00:46:32,700
 So previously about 89% of our customer base

930
00:46:32,700 --> 00:46:34,680
 didn't need a deposit.

931
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:37,280
 And currently 93% of our customers base

932
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,560
 doesn't need a deposit with the changes.

933
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:43,220
 So we were able to help eight families

934
00:46:43,220 --> 00:46:45,240
 with the homelessness deposit waiver

935
00:46:45,240 --> 00:46:47,120
 since we've implemented this.

936
00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,280
 And then for our deposit waivers

937
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,120
 for the preauthorized or the reoccurring payment,

938
00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:53,860
 what that did with that payment channel

939
00:46:53,860 --> 00:46:56,180
 is increased adoption by 16%.

940
00:46:56,180 --> 00:46:59,040
 So our customers really did take to that option

941
00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:01,760
 of waiving the deposit, obviously with that.

942
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:04,840
 But what we ultimately found over the last several months

943
00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:07,780
 is that when we were doing those quarterly deposit audits

944
00:47:07,780 --> 00:47:10,400
 and assessments to see what the health is of the account,

945
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:11,760
 what do we need to charge,

946
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,000
 55% of them had not either signed up

947
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,640
 for the reoccurring payment option online

948
00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:19,160
 or did not maintain it.

949
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:21,660
 And one of the challenges why that occurred

950
00:47:21,660 --> 00:47:23,680
 is they do need to do that themselves

951
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:26,440
 because they're putting in their sensitive card information,

952
00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:27,580
 checking account information,

953
00:47:27,580 --> 00:47:29,600
 they're managing it themself online.

954
00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:31,240
 We don't do that for them.

955
00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:34,680
 So they can dynamically change it as needed with that.

956
00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:36,360
 So that's definitely an opportunity

957
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:38,240
 that we're gonna discuss further on.

958
00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:41,080
 - Let me just make sure I understand that.

959
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:43,560
 So they initially signed up,

960
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,640
 they didn't need to have a deposit,

961
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:46,940
 but they didn't renew it.

962
00:47:46,940 --> 00:47:50,700
 So now they probably should have a deposit,

963
00:47:50,700 --> 00:47:51,600
 but they don't.

964
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:52,800
 - Correct. - Okay.

965
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:53,640
 - Correct.

966
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,960
 - It was a circle.

967
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:57,560
 - Sure was. - Yeah.

968
00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:01,120
 - So this is our deposits by class that's on file,

969
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:04,400
 broken out by multifamily, residential and commercial.

970
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,560
 And so you can see that our commercial deposits

971
00:48:06,560 --> 00:48:08,520
 have increased what we have on file

972
00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:12,380
 compared from March of 2018 to January, 2019.

973
00:48:12,380 --> 00:48:16,080
 But overall 33% fewer accounts have deposits now

974
00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:21,080
 and our reduction in our deposit balance has been $822,000.

975
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:23,460
 And so currently 13% of our accounts

976
00:48:23,460 --> 00:48:24,720
 have deposits on them.

977
00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:28,380
 Previously, we had about 20 to 21% of our customer base

978
00:48:28,380 --> 00:48:30,080
 had deposits on there.

979
00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:33,960
 So also our deposit refunds on active accounts

980
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:37,160
 increased by 12% based off of all those changes.

981
00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:39,600
 So that's really what influenced that reduction

982
00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:43,720
 in the deposits while we had so many deposit refunds

983
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:44,700
 with that this year.

984
00:48:44,700 --> 00:48:47,240
 So I think this is an important story to tell

985
00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:48,860
 what we have on file right now.

986
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,600
 So our unrecoverable debt, that is our debt

987
00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:58,000
 that goes 180 days past the final billing date.

988
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:00,480
 That's when we deem it unrecoverable debt.

989
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:02,720
 And so one of the things I wanna point out

990
00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:05,320
 is that we do not, and Christine pointed this out,

991
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:07,200
 we don't have a full year's worth of data

992
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,200
 'cause we have to wait until 180 days

993
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:10,200
 and then we write it off.

994
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:13,360
 So we still need to do September of last year

995
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:14,480
 currently right now.

996
00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:17,320
 So that's a big sticking point with this presentation

997
00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:20,880
 is we don't still have a whole year of impact with this.

998
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,160
 But what we are seeing right now

999
00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:27,640
 is a projection of about $38,000 increase in total debt.

1000
00:49:27,640 --> 00:49:30,560
 So it's going from 381,000 last year

1001
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:35,560
 to approximately 419,000 in our unrecoverable debt

1002
00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:36,680
 at this point.

1003
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,280
 But again, we do not have a full year's worth of data.

1004
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:43,960
 So with the Plus One Assistance Program,

1005
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:46,260
 that is administered through our Interfaith Ministries

1006
00:49:46,260 --> 00:49:47,360
 contact that we have.

1007
00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:49,220
 And because there's a financial tie to this,

1008
00:49:49,220 --> 00:49:51,760
 we wanna make sure that we're getting a good experience

1009
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:53,320
 with our customers with that contract.

1010
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,720
 And we recently did a customer satisfaction,

1011
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:59,080
 a survey component that had,

1012
00:49:59,080 --> 00:50:01,500
 we surveyed customers that got assistance,

1013
00:50:01,500 --> 00:50:03,100
 customers that were denied assistance.

1014
00:50:03,100 --> 00:50:07,680
 And also we did a secret shopper component as well with this.

1015
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:09,760
 And what we found is 90% of the customers

1016
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:12,320
 that sought out Interfaith for assistance

1017
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:13,760
 were pleased and satisfied

1018
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:15,840
 and would recommend to family or friends.

1019
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:17,200
 But there were some opportunities

1020
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:18,580
 that we need to address as well.

1021
00:50:18,580 --> 00:50:20,720
 We did have some customers that were not called back

1022
00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:22,520
 when we reached out to Interfaith.

1023
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,080
 The secret shopper that went in person

1024
00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,840
 was not called back to get assistance.

1025
00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:29,720
 And then we had some conflicting information

1026
00:50:29,720 --> 00:50:31,700
 on the website and on the phone.

1027
00:50:31,700 --> 00:50:34,280
 So we sent a letter letting them know,

1028
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:37,440
 we did this survey and these are our findings

1029
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:38,720
 and we would like an action plan

1030
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:40,180
 on how you plan to address those.

1031
00:50:40,180 --> 00:50:41,680
 And over the last week or so,

1032
00:50:41,680 --> 00:50:43,800
 we've been going back and forth with Interfaith

1033
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:44,940
 on follow-up questions.

1034
00:50:44,940 --> 00:50:47,400
 So we can really get a good service level agreement

1035
00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:48,340
 and how we can make sure

1036
00:50:48,340 --> 00:50:49,880
 that our customers are getting what they need.

1037
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:51,600
 'Cause a lot of times the customers

1038
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,480
 that are seeking assistance need it quickly

1039
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:57,140
 because they could potentially be disconnected

1040
00:50:57,140 --> 00:50:59,480
 for non-payment and are just experiencing something

1041
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:01,280
 that's very challenging.

1042
00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:03,200
 So with that being said,

1043
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:06,560
 81% of the customers that sought out an appointment

1044
00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:08,560
 were granted an appointment with that.

1045
00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:10,000
 And if they did not get an appointment,

1046
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:12,480
 the reasons being is they either canceled the appointment,

1047
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:13,800
 they didn't need it any longer,

1048
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:15,560
 there wasn't a true crisis,

1049
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:17,120
 or they want the account older

1050
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:19,880
 or they weren't on the actual utility bill.

1051
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:22,640
 But for the customers that did get an appointment,

1052
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:25,080
 68% of them did receive assistance.

1053
00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:27,920
 And so the reasons why they get denied the assistance,

1054
00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:31,520
 74% of them didn't show up to the appointment,

1055
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:33,740
 they either canceled the appointments

1056
00:51:33,740 --> 00:51:36,400
 or they didn't fill out the required documentation.

1057
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:39,100
 The biggest change from when we updated the parameters

1058
00:51:39,100 --> 00:51:40,120
 from last year to this year,

1059
00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:42,760
 the number one reason why they were denied an appointment

1060
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,200
 or assistance is 'cause they needed it more than once

1061
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:46,860
 in that 12-month period.

1062
00:51:46,860 --> 00:51:49,720
 So with that change in the program,

1063
00:51:49,720 --> 00:51:51,280
 that's been completely eliminated

1064
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:53,680
 as a reason why customers were being denied.

1065
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:57,660
 So overall, the increased funding

1066
00:51:57,660 --> 00:51:58,960
 has made a positive impact.

1067
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:01,800
 We've been able to assist 71 more customers for them,

1068
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:03,360
 have got deposit assistance,

1069
00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:06,760
 and 35 families have been able to receive multi-month.

1070
00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:09,760
 And so those 35 families wouldn't have qualified previously

1071
00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:11,400
 under the old parameters.

1072
00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,080
 So we're assisting about seven more families a month.

1073
00:52:14,080 --> 00:52:16,160
 And right now, our fund forecast

1074
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:18,960
 for this current fiscal year is we're right on track.

1075
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:20,880
 However, our big months,

1076
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:22,980
 June, July, August are coming up,

1077
00:52:22,980 --> 00:52:25,680
 and sometimes those can be a bit unpredictable,

1078
00:52:25,680 --> 00:52:27,320
 but those are always our highest

1079
00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:29,040
 when the customers have the most need.

1080
00:52:29,040 --> 00:52:31,520
 So if we're right where we need to be,

1081
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:32,820
 we're saying we've got enough.

1082
00:52:32,820 --> 00:52:35,520
 However, if the board and council wanted

1083
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:37,440
 to add additional funds this fiscal year,

1084
00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:38,920
 we do have some savings in our budget

1085
00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:40,340
 to be able to accommodate that.

1086
00:52:40,340 --> 00:52:43,880
 So we could do a five to $10,000 increase

1087
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:47,680
 if that is something that the board has an appetite for.

1088
00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:52,400
 So Pay As You Go is a program

1089
00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:55,720
 that we did our public launch on February 7th.

1090
00:52:55,720 --> 00:52:57,520
 Prior to that, several months before that,

1091
00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:00,600
 we were giving customers the option

1092
00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:02,160
 when we were talking to them over the phone

1093
00:53:02,160 --> 00:53:04,120
 so we could really grow into the program

1094
00:53:04,120 --> 00:53:06,920
 and make sure we were ready to go for the public launch.

1095
00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:10,000
 I have an updated number as of about two hours ago.

1096
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:13,240
 We're up to 104 customers on the prepaid program.

1097
00:53:13,240 --> 00:53:15,120
 So just since March 5th,

1098
00:53:15,120 --> 00:53:17,320
 we've increased it by 20-something customers.

1099
00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:21,160
 So we're able to take the deposits on customers' accounts

1100
00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:24,160
 and make that to payments on the account.

1101
00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:26,440
 We're reducing the debt that they've had

1102
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:28,340
 on the accounts currently.

1103
00:53:28,340 --> 00:53:31,760
 The majority of the customers that are on the Pay As You Go

1104
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,700
 have been customers who have switched from post to pre.

1105
00:53:34,700 --> 00:53:36,280
 So they were postpaid previously.

1106
00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:37,640
 Now they're going to the prepaid.

1107
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:40,320
 So about 64% of the customers that are on it

1108
00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:41,440
 have switched over.

1109
00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:43,840
 And then the rest are 36% are new customers

1110
00:53:43,840 --> 00:53:45,480
 coming into the utility system

1111
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:48,320
 that have opted to go for Pay As You Go with it.

1112
00:53:48,320 --> 00:53:50,600
 So we're pretty excited about that,

1113
00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:53,240
 the Pay As You Go option that eliminates deposits,

1114
00:53:53,240 --> 00:53:55,200
 late fees, bad debt.

1115
00:53:55,200 --> 00:53:57,520
 Just really excited about it.

1116
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,440
 So our continued improvement.

1117
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:02,320
 So through our collaboration with Navigant

1118
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,320
 and our own internal analysis,

1119
00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:06,500
 we have found that we truly need to have

1120
00:54:06,500 --> 00:54:09,200
 further assessments of the impacts over time.

1121
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:11,120
 Right now, again, we don't have that full year.

1122
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:12,760
 And so we're wanting to make sure

1123
00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:13,880
 that we're addressing the things

1124
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:15,760
 that we are seeing now specifically.

1125
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:17,400
 As Christine brought up,

1126
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:18,560
 those customers that have said,

1127
00:54:18,560 --> 00:54:20,120
 "Yes, I want to waive my deposit.

1128
00:54:20,120 --> 00:54:22,440
 "I'm going to sign up for reoccurring."

1129
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:25,000
 We need to make sure, how do we verify that?

1130
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:26,960
 And so the challenge with that

1131
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:29,680
 is we're needing to create some reporting

1132
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:30,840
 with our payment system

1133
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:32,760
 and also our customer information system.

1134
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:34,040
 We've already been working on that

1135
00:54:34,040 --> 00:54:36,160
 for the last several weeks.

1136
00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:37,480
 How we can do that.

1137
00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:39,560
 So we can address that

1138
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:41,260
 when someone is not being compliant

1139
00:54:41,260 --> 00:54:43,080
 to what they said they were going to do.

1140
00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,560
 Not wait till that quarterly deposit assessment

1141
00:54:45,560 --> 00:54:46,920
 and address it immediately

1142
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:49,240
 as soon as they are not showing compliance

1143
00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:52,720
 with why the deposit was waived in the first place.

1144
00:54:52,720 --> 00:54:55,760
 And then continued enhancements for the Plus One program.

1145
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:58,800
 So this year, if additional funding wanted to be given,

1146
00:54:58,800 --> 00:54:59,840
 we could do that.

1147
00:54:59,840 --> 00:55:01,240
 We are going to go ahead

1148
00:55:01,240 --> 00:55:06,080
 and put in an additional $50,000 in our budget for '19-'20.

1149
00:55:06,080 --> 00:55:09,480
 Just in anticipation of just need for our customers

1150
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:13,360
 and just want to be responsive to that.

1151
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,160
 And then educating our customers on the assistant options.

1152
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:17,440
 So Navigant did bring up,

1153
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:19,500
 how can you take those customers

1154
00:55:19,500 --> 00:55:22,860
 that may say trigger things like financial crisis,

1155
00:55:22,860 --> 00:55:27,080
 health issue, how can we address what their need is

1156
00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:28,680
 in a more holistic manner.

1157
00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:30,640
 And so making sure they know all the options

1158
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:31,920
 that are open in the community.

1159
00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:34,720
 So we're having some conversations with the team right now

1160
00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:36,740
 on how we could train certain reps

1161
00:55:36,740 --> 00:55:39,120
 to have a group of people that work through

1162
00:55:39,120 --> 00:55:40,840
 kind of these crisis situations

1163
00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:43,520
 in addition to the interfaith ministry program.

1164
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:46,000
 And then continue to review our current contract

1165
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:49,160
 with the interfaith ministries and our available options

1166
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:51,640
 to make sure that we have that good customer service

1167
00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:53,640
 experience and responsiveness

1168
00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:56,080
 that we desire for our customers.

1169
00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:58,320
 And then lastly, just continue to increase

1170
00:55:58,320 --> 00:55:59,700
 that pay-as-you-go option,

1171
00:55:59,700 --> 00:56:01,640
 make sure we got that public awareness.

1172
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:03,000
 We just went live a month ago,

1173
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:05,600
 so now we're actually crafting some videos

1174
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:08,360
 and additional marketing that we could do

1175
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:11,680
 to make sure the customers know about that option.

1176
00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:15,000
 And then just ongoing staff training regarding that.

1177
00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,160
 So those are the changes I wanted to discuss

1178
00:56:17,160 --> 00:56:19,280
 over the last year, where we're at right now,

1179
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:21,960
 what our plan is to address what we've seen thus far.

1180
00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:24,760
 And I'm happy to answer any questions.

1181
00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:27,520
 - Questions?

1182
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:29,780
 - Can we go back to the,

1183
00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:34,240
 it's the plus one assistance program

1184
00:56:34,240 --> 00:56:36,000
 with the interfaith logo on the top.

1185
00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:37,900
 - This one or the next one?

1186
00:56:37,900 --> 00:56:39,120
 - The next one, I'm sorry.

1187
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:40,680
 Yes.

1188
00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:41,840
 Okay, on the funds forecast.

1189
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:43,600
 - Could you move closer to the mic again?

1190
00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:45,320
 - I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

1191
00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:46,480
 I'll have to lay back.

1192
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:51,280
 Opportunity for additional five to $10,000.

1193
00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:55,680
 I don't recall how that funding works

1194
00:56:55,680 --> 00:56:59,280
 and how those monies become deposited

1195
00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:00,980
 into that account for use.

1196
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:04,680
 - So we give interfaith ministries,

1197
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:05,560
 we write a check for them,

1198
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:07,640
 I believe on it's a quarterly basis right now.

1199
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:10,640
 And that's the pool of money that they have to use.

1200
00:57:10,640 --> 00:57:11,680
 Yes, sir.

1201
00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:12,520
 For the plus one.

1202
00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:15,280
 And so we get a report on a monthly basis

1203
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:17,760
 saying here's all the funds that we've used.

1204
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:21,040
 They do call us daily or send an email to SLS.

1205
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:23,520
 No, I'm gonna help Dr. Banks with this amount of money.

1206
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:26,880
 So we're able to see daily what they're doing for us

1207
00:57:26,880 --> 00:57:29,440
 so we can document that on the customer's account,

1208
00:57:29,440 --> 00:57:31,120
 prevent them from being disconnected

1209
00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:33,180
 while we receive those funds with it.

1210
00:57:33,180 --> 00:57:36,160
 But that's, we distribute the money to them

1211
00:57:36,160 --> 00:57:37,400
 to be able to use.

1212
00:57:37,400 --> 00:57:39,600
 - Yes. - That's how that process works.

1213
00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:44,600
 - So does the total balance of the plus one account

1214
00:57:44,600 --> 00:57:48,560
 go out to interfaith or is it just as they request

1215
00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:49,780
 what they need, that's it?

1216
00:57:49,780 --> 00:57:51,800
 - It's the contract amount per year.

1217
00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:52,960
 So I don't know, correct me,

1218
00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:56,600
 how much do we give them on a quarterly basis?

1219
00:57:56,600 --> 00:57:59,000
 - It's gonna be $25,000.

1220
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:01,320
 - Flat fee? - Flat, I'm sorry.

1221
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,760
 - Okay. - That includes their admin fees

1222
00:58:03,760 --> 00:58:08,600
 and the distributions for the amount to be administered to.

1223
00:58:08,600 --> 00:58:09,800
 - So, yeah, I'm sorry.

1224
00:58:09,800 --> 00:58:11,320
 Their administration fee is a flat fee.

1225
00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:13,720
 It's not based on how much they disperse.

1226
00:58:13,720 --> 00:58:16,280
 - Correct, their administration fee for this year

1227
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:21,280
 when we upped it to $125,000 is $18,966 on an annual basis.

1228
00:58:21,280 --> 00:58:23,760
 - Okay, it's this annual budget of $125,000.

1229
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:24,600
 - Yes.

1230
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:28,520
 But we pay them quarterly. - Correlatively.

1231
00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:30,160
 - Yes. - Okay.

1232
00:58:30,160 --> 00:58:32,520
 - But we're in constant contact with them

1233
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:34,760
 to make sure that they don't run out of funds

1234
00:58:34,760 --> 00:58:37,240
 and that the customers are never given the reason.

1235
00:58:37,240 --> 00:58:40,120
 - What's the balance of that account, our account?

1236
00:58:40,120 --> 00:58:42,400
 - Right now for this fiscal year.

1237
00:58:42,400 --> 00:58:43,800
 - Just total.

1238
00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:45,440
 - Well, it's based off of fiscal year.

1239
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:46,440
 - So you don't keep, I mean,

1240
00:58:46,440 --> 00:58:48,400
 like if you have $25,000 left over,

1241
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:51,040
 you don't keep that in that account?

1242
00:58:51,040 --> 00:58:52,200
 You erase it at the end of the year?

1243
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:54,280
 - No, we pay them out on a quarterly basis.

1244
00:58:54,280 --> 00:58:55,320
 No, we don't.

1245
00:58:55,320 --> 00:58:56,840
 I see what you're saying. - Yes.

1246
00:58:56,840 --> 00:58:57,960
 - We use all the funds.

1247
00:58:57,960 --> 00:59:00,040
 We've used all the funds every single year.

1248
00:59:00,040 --> 00:59:01,280
 - Yeah, I was gonna say.

1249
00:59:01,280 --> 00:59:04,440
 - They could use more than every year.

1250
00:59:04,440 --> 00:59:05,960
 - Yes. - Yeah.

1251
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:08,960
 - So the average amount that a customer gets assisted

1252
00:59:08,960 --> 00:59:13,600
 right now is about $369 and 40% of the customers

1253
00:59:13,600 --> 00:59:16,760
 that get assisted is over $500 when they get assistance.

1254
00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:19,640
 So when they do make assistance for a customer,

1255
00:59:19,640 --> 00:59:22,520
 it's pretty substantial for it.

1256
00:59:22,520 --> 00:59:25,120
 But I can find out exactly how much we have left

1257
00:59:25,120 --> 00:59:26,600
 unless Adam can pull that while we're--

1258
00:59:26,600 --> 00:59:28,200
 - Let me make sure I understand this again.

1259
00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:31,240
 Maybe I didn't understand what you were saying.

1260
00:59:31,240 --> 00:59:32,600
 At the end of the year, if you've got a balance

1261
00:59:32,600 --> 00:59:35,760
 of $25,000 in the plus one account that you haven't used,

1262
00:59:35,760 --> 00:59:37,160
 do you clear the account?

1263
00:59:37,160 --> 00:59:39,600
 - No, we can continue to still use those funds.

1264
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:40,760
 - So that--

1265
00:59:40,760 --> 00:59:44,400
 - It can be rolled over, but we've never had an extra

1266
00:59:44,400 --> 00:59:46,560
 to be able to roll over. - Where does it go?

1267
00:59:46,560 --> 00:59:50,520
 Where does the $25,000 go if it doesn't roll over?

1268
00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:52,360
 - It's always been used. - We've never had it.

1269
00:59:52,360 --> 00:59:53,200
 - It's always used.

1270
00:59:53,200 --> 00:59:54,400
 - It's always been used. - It's always used.

1271
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:57,400
 - So have you taken more out of the city's accounts

1272
00:59:57,400 --> 01:00:01,080
 to if you've under collected for that $125,000?

1273
01:00:01,080 --> 01:00:03,120
 - I'm sorry, I guess I'm not following the question.

1274
01:00:03,120 --> 01:00:06,720
 - Okay, so let's say you didn't collect $125,000

1275
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:07,560
 from plus one.

1276
01:00:07,560 --> 01:00:13,000
 - Well, we allocate, in our budget, customer service budget,

1277
01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:15,400
 we have a line item that's for interfaith ministries,

1278
01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:18,600
 the plus one program for 125,000.

1279
01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:20,440
 So we fund it at the beginning of the year.

1280
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:21,320
 - So if you do collect or you don't collect,

1281
01:00:21,320 --> 01:00:22,920
 you're giving them 125,000.

1282
01:00:22,920 --> 01:00:23,760
 - Yes.

1283
01:00:23,760 --> 01:00:25,840
 - And then the returns may just come out of general revenues,

1284
01:00:25,840 --> 01:00:27,920
 or not general, but utility revenues.

1285
01:00:27,920 --> 01:00:28,760
 - Yes, sir.

1286
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:30,320
 So we fund it October 1st.

1287
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:33,240
 We're funded for 125,000 for that year.

1288
01:00:33,240 --> 01:00:36,840
 And then we give interfaith that payment on a quarterly basis

1289
01:00:36,840 --> 01:00:38,240
 for them to be able to use.

1290
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:41,400
 If they say, hey, we're running short or low,

1291
01:00:41,400 --> 01:00:43,160
 then we can always increase that for them.

1292
01:00:43,160 --> 01:00:45,720
 - But the one slide said that you had an opportunity

1293
01:00:45,720 --> 01:00:48,480
 to put another $5,000 to $10,000 into that.

1294
01:00:48,480 --> 01:00:49,600
 - So we can increase our,

1295
01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:51,680
 but we can do a budget amendment for this year,

1296
01:00:51,680 --> 01:00:54,920
 'cause right now we have appropriation for 125,000.

1297
01:00:54,920 --> 01:00:57,560
 If we say that we wanna have additional funding

1298
01:00:57,560 --> 01:01:00,440
 for these families coming in with the heavy months,

1299
01:01:00,440 --> 01:01:02,240
 then we can increase that by 10,000.

1300
01:01:02,240 --> 01:01:05,320
 So we'll have an additional $10,000 to assist.

1301
01:01:05,320 --> 01:01:06,520
 - I heard that and I read that,

1302
01:01:06,520 --> 01:01:09,200
 but why, where those numbers come from,

1303
01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:11,240
 the number five to $10,000?

1304
01:01:11,240 --> 01:01:12,320
 - That's just a projection

1305
01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:14,880
 based off what we're seeing right now

1306
01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:17,360
 with the heavier amounts coming in

1307
01:01:17,360 --> 01:01:20,080
 and the amount that they're assisting right now

1308
01:01:20,080 --> 01:01:23,440
 with 40% of the customers are getting up to $500

1309
01:01:23,440 --> 01:01:26,040
 when they're coming in, and that's right now.

1310
01:01:26,040 --> 01:01:27,640
 - So you think that number's gonna be higher

1311
01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:28,480
 is why you've thrown out the--

1312
01:01:28,480 --> 01:01:31,000
 - Well, the summer month utility bills are higher,

1313
01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:33,440
 so usually that's what's obviously

1314
01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:35,720
 increasing the fund need for that.

1315
01:01:35,720 --> 01:01:37,160
 - But we had summer months last year.

1316
01:01:37,160 --> 01:01:38,760
 That's what I'm not understanding is what--

1317
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:40,600
 - We have summer months, that's correct,

1318
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:43,120
 but one of the things with the changes in the program,

1319
01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:46,440
 a customer can get assistance up to three times now,

1320
01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:49,720
 and so the same person, repeat customer,

1321
01:01:49,720 --> 01:01:52,240
 can go back and need assistance again.

1322
01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:56,160
 So that's been the change in the additional need.

1323
01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:59,080
 And also deposits are also included

1324
01:01:59,080 --> 01:02:00,320
 where they weren't previously.

1325
01:02:00,320 --> 01:02:01,680
 So a new customer coming in

1326
01:02:01,680 --> 01:02:04,680
 or a customer that gets assessed an additional deposit,

1327
01:02:04,680 --> 01:02:06,920
 they get assessed a $200 deposit,

1328
01:02:06,920 --> 01:02:08,040
 they can go to Interfaith and say,

1329
01:02:08,040 --> 01:02:09,080
 I'm struggling with this,

1330
01:02:09,080 --> 01:02:10,600
 they can get assistance for the deposit.

1331
01:02:10,600 --> 01:02:13,280
 So that's another thing we did not have last year.

1332
01:02:13,280 --> 01:02:16,720
 So again, we're trying to really grow through this

1333
01:02:16,720 --> 01:02:18,520
 to see, okay, this is the needs that we're seeing

1334
01:02:18,520 --> 01:02:19,960
 with the program changes.

1335
01:02:19,960 --> 01:02:23,160
 So we didn't have those changes last summer months.

1336
01:02:23,160 --> 01:02:26,960
 I just wanna make sure that if you had an appetite

1337
01:02:26,960 --> 01:02:27,960
 to increase those funds,

1338
01:02:27,960 --> 01:02:30,680
 that we were able to help those families.

1339
01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:33,440
 - If you foresee it going over our usual budget,

1340
01:02:33,440 --> 01:02:36,160
 that I'm all for increasing that number, so.

1341
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:37,760
 - Thank you for the questions.

1342
01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:40,600
 - Thank you.

1343
01:02:40,600 --> 01:02:44,520
 - I have a question, but I can see you want one.

1344
01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:45,360
 So go ahead, Brent.

1345
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:48,480
 - I have a question, just kind of what you talked about,

1346
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:51,000
 a little bit about the prepay program,

1347
01:02:51,000 --> 01:02:53,880
 not the pay as you go,

1348
01:02:53,880 --> 01:02:57,440
 but the prepay where they get the deposit waiver

1349
01:02:57,440 --> 01:03:00,360
 if they sign up for preauthorized payments.

1350
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:02,520
 Do you give them that deposit waiver

1351
01:03:02,520 --> 01:03:05,080
 before they actually sign up for preauthorized payments?

1352
01:03:05,080 --> 01:03:07,640
 - So that's one of the opportunities

1353
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:11,120
 is that they're coming into the utility system

1354
01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:13,400
 and we usually collect the deposit upfront

1355
01:03:13,400 --> 01:03:15,640
 to establish the account.

1356
01:03:15,640 --> 01:03:17,840
 Their account number isn't established

1357
01:03:17,840 --> 01:03:19,120
 and they need the account number

1358
01:03:19,120 --> 01:03:21,280
 to set up their payment portal

1359
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:23,880
 to be able to sign up for draft.

1360
01:03:23,880 --> 01:03:25,560
 So that's one of the challenges

1361
01:03:25,560 --> 01:03:28,360
 is you don't have the account number set up

1362
01:03:28,360 --> 01:03:30,280
 until we've gotten the first bill

1363
01:03:30,280 --> 01:03:33,040
 and it's established for you to get your account number.

1364
01:03:33,040 --> 01:03:35,680
 So that's one of the challenges that we have found

1365
01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:37,960
 is we're kind of trusting that they're gonna do it

1366
01:03:37,960 --> 01:03:39,320
 and that hasn't worked.

1367
01:03:39,320 --> 01:03:40,680
 So we're gonna have to find different ways.

1368
01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:43,640
 - Do we have an idea of how many of them

1369
01:03:43,640 --> 01:03:45,520
 promise and then don't follow up?

1370
01:03:45,520 --> 01:03:46,840
 - 55%.

1371
01:03:46,840 --> 01:03:50,760
 - Oh, maybe that's not an option.

1372
01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:54,320
 - You said it, I didn't, so.

1373
01:03:54,320 --> 01:03:56,840
 - Well, perhaps that could just be simplified

1374
01:03:56,840 --> 01:03:59,480
 by collecting the deposit and then reimbursing it

1375
01:03:59,480 --> 01:04:00,680
 when they've set it up.

1376
01:04:00,680 --> 01:04:02,960
 I mean.

1377
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:06,400
 - That's a recommendation that we definitely can take

1378
01:04:06,400 --> 01:04:08,680
 'cause what is happening is I know

1379
01:04:08,680 --> 01:04:11,280
 during the deposit assessment, the audit,

1380
01:04:11,280 --> 01:04:13,360
 55% said they're gonna do it.

1381
01:04:13,360 --> 01:04:15,880
 That number is the exact same number of people

1382
01:04:15,880 --> 01:04:19,640
 who took that option and just didn't maintain it

1383
01:04:19,640 --> 01:04:20,480
 or didn't do it.

1384
01:04:20,480 --> 01:04:24,240
 - And they're already high-risk customers anyway, right?

1385
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:26,240
 - Coming into the utility system,

1386
01:04:26,240 --> 01:04:30,080
 we have about 26.8% of our customers coming in

1387
01:04:30,080 --> 01:04:31,960
 would require a one-month deposit

1388
01:04:31,960 --> 01:04:35,800
 and then 34.2% would require the two-month deposit

1389
01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:39,440
 and 45% of those customers coming in that need a deposit

1390
01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:40,960
 say I'll just pay the deposit.

1391
01:04:40,960 --> 01:04:43,800
 The other 55% say no, I'll do the deposit waiver

1392
01:04:43,800 --> 01:04:47,480
 and then we're finding that 55% did not sign up

1393
01:04:47,480 --> 01:04:49,040
 for the waiver nor maintain it.

1394
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:52,080
 So it's very correlated to what's going on.

1395
01:04:52,080 --> 01:04:59,560
 - From where I'm sitting, then we either do like Brendan said,

1396
01:04:59,560 --> 01:05:03,280
 you charge in the deposit and refund it after they sign up

1397
01:05:03,280 --> 01:05:08,520
 or we don't do it anymore because the bad debts are,

1398
01:05:08,520 --> 01:05:13,400
 I'd rather give more money to the plus one program

1399
01:05:13,400 --> 01:05:15,440
 to help those people who really need it

1400
01:05:15,440 --> 01:05:18,640
 than to be doing this.

1401
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,280
 - That's an option we're vetting out right now

1402
01:05:21,280 --> 01:05:23,800
 and we don't need an ordinance change with that.

1403
01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:24,920
 That's an internal thing.

1404
01:05:24,920 --> 01:05:29,660
 So that's definitely a takeaway for us to dive into.

1405
01:05:29,660 --> 01:05:31,880
 - I have one more question.

1406
01:05:31,880 --> 01:05:35,600
 So after 90 days, we send it to a collection agency.

1407
01:05:35,600 --> 01:05:37,920
 Do we bid those services out annually?

1408
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:40,120
 - Yes, it goes to, it's not bid annually.

1409
01:05:40,120 --> 01:05:43,240
 It's a three-year contract, one-year renewals

1410
01:05:43,240 --> 01:05:46,280
 customer, pardon me, credit collections international

1411
01:05:46,280 --> 01:05:48,080
 has that contract right now.

1412
01:05:48,080 --> 01:05:52,240
 They have about a 30% return rate for that overall

1413
01:05:52,240 --> 01:05:54,000
 for what we've placed with them.

1414
01:05:54,000 --> 01:05:55,800
 They've collected 30% for us.

1415
01:05:55,800 --> 01:05:58,960
 - And then after 180 days, we really, really write it off

1416
01:05:58,960 --> 01:06:00,640
 or we sell the debt to somebody?

1417
01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:02,360
 - We do not sell the debt to someone.

1418
01:06:02,360 --> 01:06:04,120
 We just write it off of our books.

1419
01:06:04,120 --> 01:06:07,300
 So we know what our age debt is with it.

1420
01:06:07,300 --> 01:06:10,960
 But CSI, the collection agency continues collection efforts

1421
01:06:10,960 --> 01:06:13,920
 'cause obviously they do not get paid until they collect.

1422
01:06:13,920 --> 01:06:16,480
 And so they continue to scrub accounts

1423
01:06:16,480 --> 01:06:19,000
 and see if someone has popped up in another utility system.

1424
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:20,440
 - That's part of our contract.

1425
01:06:20,440 --> 01:06:23,640
 - Yeah, we don't, that's inactive collection.

1426
01:06:23,640 --> 01:06:25,000
 So we pay them to do it.

1427
01:06:25,000 --> 01:06:25,880
 - Okay, all right.

1428
01:06:25,880 --> 01:06:27,360
 - Could you go back to the slide

1429
01:06:27,360 --> 01:06:32,360
 where you showed our previous, what, our policy, what,

1430
01:06:32,360 --> 01:06:35,380
 oh, you almost go back this way.

1431
01:06:35,380 --> 01:06:38,120
 That one. - This one?

1432
01:06:38,120 --> 01:06:42,000
 - So do you have any data that would say

1433
01:06:42,000 --> 01:06:44,920
 if we kept both of them at two month average,

1434
01:06:44,920 --> 01:06:49,040
 would that have made a difference also?

1435
01:06:49,040 --> 01:06:52,560
 Or the deposit is working, the deposit itself,

1436
01:06:52,560 --> 01:06:55,440
 whether it's one month or two month, works

1437
01:06:55,440 --> 01:07:00,440
 if they actually sign up for the reoccurring?

1438
01:07:00,440 --> 01:07:04,380
 Is that the item, I guess is what I'm trying to ask,

1439
01:07:04,380 --> 01:07:08,240
 that's probably causing the increases,

1440
01:07:08,240 --> 01:07:09,760
 that we're not getting a deposit

1441
01:07:09,760 --> 01:07:11,640
 when somebody should have had one?

1442
01:07:11,640 --> 01:07:14,860
 - Particularly not getting the deposit

1443
01:07:14,860 --> 01:07:18,080
 based off the payment behaviors that are going to come.

1444
01:07:18,080 --> 01:07:20,680
 And then also it's always based off

1445
01:07:20,680 --> 01:07:22,840
 of what ends up happening with that account.

1446
01:07:22,840 --> 01:07:25,360
 And because it's a postpaid environment

1447
01:07:25,360 --> 01:07:28,800
 for most of these accounts, they got that current bill

1448
01:07:28,800 --> 01:07:31,040
 and then what they used, 'cause we're not billing it

1449
01:07:31,040 --> 01:07:33,040
 till 45 days out with it.

1450
01:07:33,040 --> 01:07:36,320
 And so that one month deposit isn't covering

1451
01:07:36,320 --> 01:07:38,160
 that last bill amount.

1452
01:07:38,160 --> 01:07:41,440
 - Which is why most utilities use a two month average.

1453
01:07:41,440 --> 01:07:43,080
 - Yeah. - 'Cause it's too late.

1454
01:07:43,080 --> 01:07:46,400
 - So it's definitely an influencer.

1455
01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:48,300
 - All right, thank you.

1456
01:07:48,300 --> 01:07:51,540
 Other questions?

1457
01:07:51,540 --> 01:07:57,640
 Okay, did you need direction from us?

1458
01:07:57,640 --> 01:08:00,520
 - We go to council tomorrow with the same thing.

1459
01:08:00,520 --> 01:08:03,040
 So definitely if they are supportive

1460
01:08:03,040 --> 01:08:06,360
 of an additional plus one increase for this year,

1461
01:08:06,360 --> 01:08:09,120
 then we'll be coming back with a budget amendment

1462
01:08:09,120 --> 01:08:09,940
 regarding that.

1463
01:08:09,940 --> 01:08:12,800
 So I think that's the item that I'm seeking direction on

1464
01:08:12,800 --> 01:08:13,640
 right now.

1465
01:08:13,640 --> 01:08:17,120
 - Everybody's shaking heads, so.

1466
01:08:17,120 --> 01:08:19,560
 - 'Cause those hot months are gonna be really hard

1467
01:08:19,560 --> 01:08:21,640
 on the elderly and some other--

1468
01:08:21,640 --> 01:08:22,880
 - And with the program changes,

1469
01:08:22,880 --> 01:08:25,800
 we really don't know how it'll be impacted

1470
01:08:25,800 --> 01:08:28,120
 since we changed it significantly

1471
01:08:28,120 --> 01:08:29,600
 by the last three months. - Correct.

1472
01:08:29,600 --> 01:08:31,480
 - We're gonna know come the summer

1473
01:08:31,480 --> 01:08:34,680
 and I'd rather have additional funding.

1474
01:08:34,680 --> 01:08:36,160
 And of course if we don't use that funding,

1475
01:08:36,160 --> 01:08:38,120
 we can roll it over and use it.

1476
01:08:38,120 --> 01:08:39,400
 I think we're gonna use it though.

1477
01:08:39,400 --> 01:08:40,400
 - Yeah.

1478
01:08:40,400 --> 01:08:43,840
 - Keep us, try to find some way to keep us up to date

1479
01:08:43,840 --> 01:08:46,920
 on their responses to their performance improvements

1480
01:08:46,920 --> 01:08:49,320
 on responding to people who get back with them.

1481
01:08:49,320 --> 01:08:52,480
 I'd hate to think that they weren't meeting

1482
01:08:52,480 --> 01:08:54,200
 their contractual responsibility.

1483
01:08:54,200 --> 01:08:57,280
 - We can definitely, what we can do is share the response

1484
01:08:57,280 --> 01:08:59,920
 to the action plan where we asked and then the follow-up

1485
01:08:59,920 --> 01:09:01,480
 questions, we're still working through that,

1486
01:09:01,480 --> 01:09:04,240
 so I didn't have that final document to share with you

1487
01:09:04,240 --> 01:09:06,600
 tonight, but wanted to let you know about the conversation

1488
01:09:06,600 --> 01:09:09,600
 that we're having, but we can bring it with an ACM update,

1489
01:09:09,600 --> 01:09:11,480
 have it as backup material and be happy to answer

1490
01:09:11,480 --> 01:09:13,480
 any questions once we get over that.

1491
01:09:13,480 --> 01:09:15,640
 - Is the mechanism for making sure they actually

1492
01:09:15,640 --> 01:09:19,200
 disperse those funds to people in need part of this review

1493
01:09:19,200 --> 01:09:20,040
 or no, you're confident--

1494
01:09:20,040 --> 01:09:22,200
 - We can definitely see that they're dispersing the funds

1495
01:09:22,200 --> 01:09:24,520
 since we can, they're calling us and emailing us.

1496
01:09:24,520 --> 01:09:27,120
 So we knew they were using the funds appropriately

1497
01:09:27,120 --> 01:09:31,040
 with it, it was just, we were doing our own kind of calling

1498
01:09:31,040 --> 01:09:33,640
 of the system and we're seeing some conflicting

1499
01:09:33,640 --> 01:09:35,600
 information, like, you know, let's just make sure

1500
01:09:35,600 --> 01:09:37,320
 that our customers are getting what they need

1501
01:09:37,320 --> 01:09:40,480
 and some responsiveness and so we're glad that we checked in

1502
01:09:40,480 --> 01:09:42,720
 and kind of trust but verify.

1503
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:43,560
 - Thank you.

1504
01:09:43,560 --> 01:09:46,040
 - Anything else?

1505
01:09:46,040 --> 01:09:47,760
 Thank you for your time tonight.

1506
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:54,120
 - All right, the next item, unless does anybody need a break?

1507
01:09:54,120 --> 01:09:57,640
 No, okay, receive a report and hold discussion

1508
01:09:57,640 --> 01:10:00,480
 to provide direction on the peak concrete

1509
01:10:00,480 --> 01:10:05,480
 water reclamation plant capacity expansion feasibility.

1510
01:10:24,720 --> 01:10:27,160
 Thank you all for coming, appreciate it.

1511
01:10:27,160 --> 01:10:28,000
 - Thank you.

1512
01:10:28,000 --> 01:10:31,880
 - So are you ready to go?

1513
01:10:31,880 --> 01:10:32,720
 - Ready to go.

1514
01:10:32,720 --> 01:10:34,480
 - Okay, good evening.

1515
01:10:34,480 --> 01:10:38,000
 Take a minute here and introduce Brad Miller.

1516
01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:42,000
 He is with our consulting firm of Hayden and Sawyer.

1517
01:10:42,000 --> 01:10:44,920
 He's an associate with them and he's the project manager.

1518
01:10:44,920 --> 01:10:47,920
 So we'll be doing a tag team presentation here on this one.

1519
01:10:54,320 --> 01:10:57,600
 So Ken Banks was talking a little bit earlier

1520
01:10:57,600 --> 01:11:00,600
 about the capacity and also we will discuss

1521
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:02,680
 that a little bit with you.

1522
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:05,000
 There are two plants, the Robeson Ranch plant

1523
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:07,200
 that you heard about is the small plant,

1524
01:11:07,200 --> 01:11:09,840
 captive for Robeson Ranch.

1525
01:11:09,840 --> 01:11:12,600
 The larger plant is the Pecan Creek plant,

1526
01:11:12,600 --> 01:11:14,040
 which is off of Mayhill Road.

1527
01:11:14,040 --> 01:11:18,080
 Spencer Road comes into Mayhill and you just go straight

1528
01:11:18,080 --> 01:11:20,480
 they'll take you to the plant there.

1529
01:11:20,480 --> 01:11:24,400
 So this plant is permitted to treat 21 million gallons

1530
01:11:24,400 --> 01:11:27,240
 per day average flow.

1531
01:11:27,240 --> 01:11:30,280
 And we can treat up to 46 million gallons

1532
01:11:30,280 --> 01:11:32,360
 during peak wet weather conditions.

1533
01:11:32,360 --> 01:11:36,080
 So for up to two hours, we can treat 46 million gallons.

1534
01:11:36,080 --> 01:11:42,160
 So TCEQ has a rule on when plant capacity

1535
01:11:42,160 --> 01:11:43,720
 has to be expanded.

1536
01:11:43,720 --> 01:11:46,160
 This is called the 75 90 rule.

1537
01:11:46,160 --> 01:11:49,240
 So when the plant capacity on an average daily basis

1538
01:11:49,240 --> 01:11:54,240
 365 day running gets to 75% of the permitted capacity,

1539
01:11:54,240 --> 01:11:56,320
 which is 21 million gallons.

1540
01:11:56,320 --> 01:12:01,320
 So 21 times 0.75 gives you point 15.75 MGD.

1541
01:12:01,320 --> 01:12:06,400
 And then that's the time the design has to begin

1542
01:12:06,400 --> 01:12:09,640
 for the plant expansion.

1543
01:12:09,640 --> 01:12:12,360
 And when the capacity gets to 90%,

1544
01:12:12,360 --> 01:12:17,000
 which is 0.9 times 21 gets to 18.9 MGD,

1545
01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:18,320
 then the construction has to begin.

1546
01:12:18,320 --> 01:12:21,520
 So we can keep up with the flows coming to the plant

1547
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:22,920
 and continue to provide the service

1548
01:12:22,920 --> 01:12:24,840
 for expansion in the city.

1549
01:12:24,840 --> 01:12:28,720
 So if you look at the data,

1550
01:12:28,720 --> 01:12:33,000
 here is the actual flows that we have experienced

1551
01:12:33,000 --> 01:12:36,920
 in the last few years from 2014 through 2018.

1552
01:12:36,920 --> 01:12:40,320
 This is the projection going forward, as you can see.

1553
01:12:40,320 --> 01:12:43,840
 So if you go by that 15.75 MGD,

1554
01:12:43,840 --> 01:12:46,760
 sometime between 21, 22,

1555
01:12:46,760 --> 01:12:48,360
 we will probably hit that number.

1556
01:12:48,360 --> 01:12:51,760
 So that's what we are looking at,

1557
01:12:51,760 --> 01:12:55,440
 as to when we will have to do a plant capacity expansion.

1558
01:12:55,440 --> 01:12:58,440
 And this is one way to keep up with that.

1559
01:12:58,440 --> 01:13:05,800
 Plant costs have gone up substantially

1560
01:13:05,800 --> 01:13:07,520
 in the last several years.

1561
01:13:07,520 --> 01:13:11,240
 Just to give you a comparison

1562
01:13:11,240 --> 01:13:16,040
 when we did the plant expansion back in 2002, 2003,

1563
01:13:16,040 --> 01:13:18,360
 we were able to do it about $3 a gallon.

1564
01:13:18,360 --> 01:13:24,320
 And we added about six MGD capacity at that time

1565
01:13:24,320 --> 01:13:27,200
 for roughly less than $18 million at that time,

1566
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:30,920
 17 million, 700,000, and then design costs and all.

1567
01:13:30,920 --> 01:13:33,400
 So it was over 19 million with design costs.

1568
01:13:33,400 --> 01:13:37,600
 But we added a lot of concrete for our beneficial reuse

1569
01:13:37,600 --> 01:13:40,160
 for the compost operation as part of that.

1570
01:13:40,160 --> 01:13:43,040
 Now, we look at the Metroplex,

1571
01:13:43,040 --> 01:13:45,280
 and if you go west, it's even higher.

1572
01:13:46,120 --> 01:13:50,440
 $10 to $20 a gallon of wastewater treated,

1573
01:13:50,440 --> 01:13:51,920
 depends on the size of the plant.

1574
01:13:51,920 --> 01:13:53,880
 Small plants cost more,

1575
01:13:53,880 --> 01:13:56,440
 and larger plants, because of economy of scale,

1576
01:13:56,440 --> 01:13:58,920
 they cost a little bit less money.

1577
01:13:58,920 --> 01:14:01,840
 So if you just use a number of five million gallon

1578
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:05,000
 plant expansion, or to build a new plant,

1579
01:14:05,000 --> 01:14:07,960
 50 to 75 million dollars,

1580
01:14:07,960 --> 01:14:10,040
 based on the level of treatment required.

1581
01:14:10,040 --> 01:14:14,600
 And this is getting more and more stringent

1582
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:16,280
 as you go forward.

1583
01:14:16,280 --> 01:14:19,800
 Trying to get a permit from TCEQ,

1584
01:14:19,800 --> 01:14:22,520
 going to a lake is getting harder and harder.

1585
01:14:22,520 --> 01:14:30,960
 And with that, I'm gonna turn this over to Brandt here

1586
01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:33,560
 for the next few slides, and I'll come back after that.

1587
01:14:33,560 --> 01:14:41,080
 - All right, thank you, PS,

1588
01:14:41,080 --> 01:14:44,200
 and thank you all for the time this evening

1589
01:14:44,200 --> 01:14:46,520
 to share a little bit about this project.

1590
01:14:46,520 --> 01:14:50,800
 As PS mentioned, kind of faced with those costs

1591
01:14:50,800 --> 01:14:52,480
 for expansion of the plant.

1592
01:14:52,480 --> 01:14:57,640
 Pretty high, $10 to $20 per gallon.

1593
01:14:57,640 --> 01:14:59,040
 He wanted to first look at,

1594
01:14:59,040 --> 01:15:01,280
 are there things that we could do

1595
01:15:01,280 --> 01:15:02,800
 with the existing infrastructure

1596
01:15:02,800 --> 01:15:04,520
 to get more capacity of the plant?

1597
01:15:04,520 --> 01:15:06,880
 Are there new technologies out there

1598
01:15:06,880 --> 01:15:09,880
 that would allow them to take advantage

1599
01:15:09,880 --> 01:15:12,520
 of the investment that you've already made

1600
01:15:12,520 --> 01:15:13,880
 in the concrete plant?

1601
01:15:15,000 --> 01:15:19,680
 And really with the goal to increase capacity

1602
01:15:19,680 --> 01:15:22,080
 at a lower overall cost.

1603
01:15:22,080 --> 01:15:25,480
 And the criteria that we were given by PS and his group

1604
01:15:25,480 --> 01:15:29,480
 was that they were trying to get an additional five MGD

1605
01:15:29,480 --> 01:15:32,820
 out of the plant in terms of average daily flow.

1606
01:15:32,820 --> 01:15:35,880
 They did not want to expand the plant

1607
01:15:35,880 --> 01:15:38,560
 in terms of the actual physical footprint.

1608
01:15:38,560 --> 01:15:42,040
 They wanted us to look at enhancement technologies

1609
01:15:42,040 --> 01:15:43,320
 on the market today.

1610
01:15:44,280 --> 01:15:49,280
 And so we several years ago had partnered with PS's group

1611
01:15:49,280 --> 01:15:52,680
 to develop a process model,

1612
01:15:52,680 --> 01:15:56,160
 which basically models the existing facility

1613
01:15:56,160 --> 01:15:58,880
 and the performance of that facility

1614
01:15:58,880 --> 01:16:03,120
 through a computational model, computer-based model.

1615
01:16:03,120 --> 01:16:06,160
 And so we plan to use that same model

1616
01:16:06,160 --> 01:16:07,840
 to evaluate some of these technologies.

1617
01:16:07,840 --> 01:16:12,440
 We're able to do that feasibility or a desktop level analysis

1618
01:16:12,440 --> 01:16:14,840
 before actually putting anything in the ground.

1619
01:16:14,840 --> 01:16:20,400
 So we proceeded to identify several alternatives

1620
01:16:20,400 --> 01:16:22,600
 to look at as part of this project.

1621
01:16:22,600 --> 01:16:25,440
 And they're kind of categorized as one, two, three,

1622
01:16:25,440 --> 01:16:29,040
 but the first one is targeting primary treatment,

1623
01:16:29,040 --> 01:16:33,120
 which is the first major unit process of the plant.

1624
01:16:33,120 --> 01:16:36,680
 Really there to remove most of the solids coming in.

1625
01:16:36,680 --> 01:16:41,220
 And the three kind of sub options to enhance treatment,

1626
01:16:41,220 --> 01:16:43,520
 that unit process treatment was one,

1627
01:16:43,520 --> 01:16:45,800
 to add chemical to the process

1628
01:16:45,800 --> 01:16:47,600
 to be able to get more solids out

1629
01:16:47,600 --> 01:16:51,440
 and increase overall treatment capacity.

1630
01:16:51,440 --> 01:16:53,000
 The second one was to put in

1631
01:16:53,000 --> 01:16:55,140
 some kind of filtration technology,

1632
01:16:55,140 --> 01:16:58,200
 which again, the goal would be to remove more solids

1633
01:16:58,200 --> 01:17:00,840
 upfront of the biological process.

1634
01:17:00,840 --> 01:17:04,600
 And then the third one is called the Captivator system,

1635
01:17:04,600 --> 01:17:07,160
 which is trademarked by Evoqua.

1636
01:17:07,160 --> 01:17:08,840
 They're the only ones that make the system,

1637
01:17:08,840 --> 01:17:12,640
 but it's essentially a technology that enhances

1638
01:17:12,640 --> 01:17:15,420
 the solids removal in that phase of treatment.

1639
01:17:15,420 --> 01:17:18,320
 The second area that we looked at

1640
01:17:18,320 --> 01:17:20,200
 was the secondary process itself,

1641
01:17:20,200 --> 01:17:24,900
 which is the aeration basins, it's the biological process.

1642
01:17:24,900 --> 01:17:27,200
 And several options that we looked at,

1643
01:17:27,200 --> 01:17:31,640
 one again is trademarked by Evoqua is called BioMag,

1644
01:17:31,640 --> 01:17:34,720
 which is basically adding magnetite to the wastewater,

1645
01:17:34,720 --> 01:17:39,180
 it allows you to push more flow through your existing plant.

1646
01:17:39,180 --> 01:17:44,000
 IFAS, which is integrated fixed film activated sludge,

1647
01:17:44,000 --> 01:17:47,360
 which essentially is growing biomass on plastic media

1648
01:17:47,360 --> 01:17:49,240
 that you add to the basins.

1649
01:17:49,240 --> 01:17:50,920
 So you're not expanding concrete,

1650
01:17:50,920 --> 01:17:53,260
 you're trying to get more treatment

1651
01:17:53,260 --> 01:17:55,240
 out of your existing volume.

1652
01:17:55,240 --> 01:18:00,240
 And then the MABR is the membrane aerobic bioreactor,

1653
01:18:01,640 --> 01:18:04,680
 which is essentially IFAS on steroids.

1654
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:08,160
 It's a technology improvement beyond IFAS

1655
01:18:08,160 --> 01:18:10,280
 that uses membranes to infuse air

1656
01:18:10,280 --> 01:18:12,280
 into the treatment process.

1657
01:18:12,280 --> 01:18:14,680
 The last one was really just to look at

1658
01:18:14,680 --> 01:18:16,200
 the site specific conditions.

1659
01:18:16,200 --> 01:18:18,400
 So the clarifiers that you have out there,

1660
01:18:18,400 --> 01:18:20,320
 the settling characteristics of the sludge,

1661
01:18:20,320 --> 01:18:23,480
 sometimes those things are better from one plant to another

1662
01:18:23,480 --> 01:18:26,440
 and we're able to justify additional capacity

1663
01:18:26,440 --> 01:18:30,000
 just based on the characteristics of your sludge.

1664
01:18:30,000 --> 01:18:32,400
 And then the last one is recycled solids.

1665
01:18:32,400 --> 01:18:34,560
 With any wastewater treatment plant,

1666
01:18:34,560 --> 01:18:37,800
 you're also treating solids that are leaving the process

1667
01:18:37,800 --> 01:18:40,120
 and you have some solids that come back to the plant.

1668
01:18:40,120 --> 01:18:43,040
 If we can improve that removal efficiency

1669
01:18:43,040 --> 01:18:44,680
 and get those solids out,

1670
01:18:44,680 --> 01:18:46,640
 then it increases overall capacity.

1671
01:18:46,640 --> 01:18:49,560
 So at the end of the day,

1672
01:18:49,560 --> 01:18:52,720
 what we found was that SEPT,

1673
01:18:52,720 --> 01:18:54,920
 chemically enhanced primary treatment,

1674
01:18:54,920 --> 01:18:58,460
 was the least cost option to get the additional 5-MGD.

1675
01:18:59,440 --> 01:19:02,120
 Our planning level capital costs

1676
01:19:02,120 --> 01:19:05,720
 showed that this was about $2.80 per gallon.

1677
01:19:05,720 --> 01:19:10,720
 So very similar to the 2002 expansion that was done

1678
01:19:10,720 --> 01:19:15,400
 and much lower than the 10 to $20 per gallon.

1679
01:19:15,400 --> 01:19:18,520
 So total cost would be about $14 million

1680
01:19:18,520 --> 01:19:22,120
 and that includes additional solids handling capacity

1681
01:19:22,120 --> 01:19:24,660
 'cause you've now increased the total capacity of the plant.

1682
01:19:24,660 --> 01:19:28,080
 You have to be able to handle those solids as well.

1683
01:19:28,080 --> 01:19:31,320
 And as I mentioned, it did compare favorably

1684
01:19:31,320 --> 01:19:36,040
 to the $50 to $75 million that PS had just mentioned.

1685
01:19:36,040 --> 01:19:37,400
 And one other thing to note,

1686
01:19:37,400 --> 01:19:41,520
 one reason this option was fairly attractive at the plant

1687
01:19:41,520 --> 01:19:44,760
 was because one of the chemicals that is used is iron

1688
01:19:44,760 --> 01:19:46,840
 and you're already using iron at the plant

1689
01:19:46,840 --> 01:19:48,000
 to remove phosphorus.

1690
01:19:48,000 --> 01:19:52,280
 So we're kind of taking, killing two birds with one stone,

1691
01:19:52,280 --> 01:19:54,760
 taking advantage of what you already have to do

1692
01:19:54,760 --> 01:19:56,880
 to also increase capacity at the plant.

1693
01:19:58,080 --> 01:20:00,240
 (mumbles)

1694
01:20:00,240 --> 01:20:06,080
 - Thank you, Brian.

1695
01:20:06,080 --> 01:20:13,760
 So the 5-MGD was my high number.

1696
01:20:13,760 --> 01:20:16,160
 I didn't think that we could get 5-MGD.

1697
01:20:16,160 --> 01:20:17,320
 I always, all these years,

1698
01:20:17,320 --> 01:20:20,000
 I thought I could always get two to 3-MGD.

1699
01:20:20,000 --> 01:20:23,240
 So we actually did some jar testing

1700
01:20:23,240 --> 01:20:24,280
 and with the jar testing,

1701
01:20:24,280 --> 01:20:27,620
 that data was put into the model for the CEP process.

1702
01:20:27,620 --> 01:20:30,000
 So there's a little bit more comfort level

1703
01:20:30,000 --> 01:20:31,360
 that yes, we can get there.

1704
01:20:31,360 --> 01:20:37,160
 If we do this 5-MGD expansion here,

1705
01:20:37,160 --> 01:20:39,280
 then we have a plan to build

1706
01:20:39,280 --> 01:20:41,560
 in Hickory Creek Basin in the future.

1707
01:20:41,560 --> 01:20:43,920
 We can continue to pump flows

1708
01:20:43,920 --> 01:20:46,880
 from the Hickory Creek Basin to this plant.

1709
01:20:46,880 --> 01:20:51,880
 And we, instead of building a plant there in 2027-28 timeframe,

1710
01:20:53,240 --> 01:20:58,240
 we can push it by 12, 13, about 2040 timeframe.

1711
01:20:58,240 --> 01:21:00,160
 So that really makes a big difference

1712
01:21:00,160 --> 01:21:01,760
 in how much money we have to put out.

1713
01:21:01,760 --> 01:21:06,600
 'Cause that plant, we looked at total build out,

1714
01:21:06,600 --> 01:21:10,360
 based on projections, was 24 million gallons per day.

1715
01:21:10,360 --> 01:21:13,800
 So I was looking at first module of 8-MGD

1716
01:21:13,800 --> 01:21:15,680
 and then another rate and another rate after that.

1717
01:21:15,680 --> 01:21:19,060
 So 8-MGD plant, at least $80 million.

1718
01:21:19,060 --> 01:21:22,940
 So we don't have to put out $80 million in 2027.

1719
01:21:22,940 --> 01:21:26,160
 But we can do this about $14 million

1720
01:21:26,160 --> 01:21:29,120
 and push that expense further down the road.

1721
01:21:29,120 --> 01:21:32,160
 On top of that, when we do build that plant

1722
01:21:32,160 --> 01:21:37,000
 in Hickory Creek Basin, we have a permit

1723
01:21:37,000 --> 01:21:38,880
 for a small plant in Clear Creek Basin.

1724
01:21:38,880 --> 01:21:43,880
 0.95 million gallons per day, 950,000 gallons per day.

1725
01:21:43,880 --> 01:21:46,160
 We are going to do away with the plant construction

1726
01:21:46,160 --> 01:21:49,240
 in the Clear Creek Basin and pump all that

1727
01:21:49,240 --> 01:21:51,160
 to the Pecan Creek plant.

1728
01:21:51,160 --> 01:21:53,480
 And down the road, when all the flows

1729
01:21:53,480 --> 01:21:56,040
 from the Hickory Creek Basin are diverted

1730
01:21:56,040 --> 01:21:57,760
 into the Hickory Creek plant,

1731
01:21:57,760 --> 01:21:59,600
 then we have excess capacity left over

1732
01:21:59,600 --> 01:22:01,720
 in the Pecan Creek plant that will serve

1733
01:22:01,720 --> 01:22:03,520
 for the entire Clear Creek Basin.

1734
01:22:03,520 --> 01:22:05,680
 So it's a huge saving.

1735
01:22:05,680 --> 01:22:07,720
 It'll add up to a couple hundred million dollars

1736
01:22:07,720 --> 01:22:09,480
 by the time it's all said and done.

1737
01:22:09,480 --> 01:22:14,980
 So how we get there?

1738
01:22:14,980 --> 01:22:17,800
 Now we know that, yes, it is feasible for us

1739
01:22:17,800 --> 01:22:19,800
 to do this plant.

1740
01:22:19,800 --> 01:22:22,720
 By the way, we actually asked our consultant

1741
01:22:22,720 --> 01:22:25,720
 to also look at the loading

1742
01:22:25,720 --> 01:22:30,840
 from the plant effluent at 25 MGD.

1743
01:22:30,840 --> 01:22:33,880
 And what will be the plant effluent

1744
01:22:33,880 --> 01:22:36,920
 that TCEQ should be giving us?

1745
01:22:36,920 --> 01:22:39,560
 And if we don't load any more pounds

1746
01:22:39,560 --> 01:22:41,960
 of the same pollutants,

1747
01:22:41,960 --> 01:22:44,880
 we can live with the lower discharge limit on us

1748
01:22:44,880 --> 01:22:48,440
 because we treat at a level much lower than right now.

1749
01:22:48,440 --> 01:22:51,920
 So talking to my plant guys and our plant superintendent,

1750
01:22:51,920 --> 01:22:55,040
 they feel very comfortable that we can take a lower limit

1751
01:22:55,040 --> 01:22:58,040
 on the plant effluent and still provide the treatment

1752
01:22:58,040 --> 01:22:59,680
 and meet the regulatory criteria.

1753
01:22:59,680 --> 01:23:04,520
 The estimated cost for the sub-process upgrade

1754
01:23:04,520 --> 01:23:07,080
 where we are not adding any more capacity right now,

1755
01:23:07,080 --> 01:23:08,760
 'cause we don't have a permit, right?

1756
01:23:08,760 --> 01:23:10,200
 But we can change the process

1757
01:23:10,200 --> 01:23:11,880
 and we work with TCEQ and show them

1758
01:23:11,880 --> 01:23:13,680
 that this is what we're going to do.

1759
01:23:13,680 --> 01:23:17,360
 Majority of the system is already in place

1760
01:23:17,360 --> 01:23:20,080
 as part of the phosphorus removal process,

1761
01:23:20,080 --> 01:23:22,120
 but we have to add polymer.

1762
01:23:22,120 --> 01:23:23,480
 So we have to house that unit.

1763
01:23:23,480 --> 01:23:26,080
 We have to put a pump for it, electrical.

1764
01:23:26,080 --> 01:23:29,360
 There is some additional sampling equipment to buy

1765
01:23:29,360 --> 01:23:31,560
 to get all the data.

1766
01:23:31,560 --> 01:23:34,440
 So we will then, once this is set up,

1767
01:23:34,440 --> 01:23:37,640
 then we will run the plant in this mode for about a year

1768
01:23:37,640 --> 01:23:40,120
 to prove to TCEQ that, look, this works.

1769
01:23:40,120 --> 01:23:43,800
 So we want to come back and do a major amendment

1770
01:23:43,800 --> 01:23:47,920
 to our permit to get the 26 MGD instead of 21 MGD

1771
01:23:47,920 --> 01:23:49,960
 average daily flow capacity.

1772
01:23:49,960 --> 01:23:54,680
 So if the board will give the direction today

1773
01:23:54,680 --> 01:23:57,040
 to move forward with the sub-process,

1774
01:23:57,040 --> 01:23:59,960
 then we will come back at you for the authorization

1775
01:23:59,960 --> 01:24:03,440
 to spend the $100,000 as we collect the data

1776
01:24:03,440 --> 01:24:06,720
 from the vendors and we bid that and we come back at you

1777
01:24:06,720 --> 01:24:09,400
 that this is the expenditure we're going to do.

1778
01:24:09,400 --> 01:24:11,480
 And with that, I stand for any questions.

1779
01:24:13,640 --> 01:24:14,480
 - Nope.

1780
01:24:14,480 --> 01:24:20,880
 So just to clarify, we would switch to the SEPT process

1781
01:24:20,880 --> 01:24:23,440
 but not actually do the treatment.

1782
01:24:23,440 --> 01:24:24,800
 Is that what you're saying?

1783
01:24:24,800 --> 01:24:26,640
 - No, we will do the treatment with that.

1784
01:24:26,640 --> 01:24:30,360
 We are already actually adding ferric chloride downstream.

1785
01:24:30,360 --> 01:24:35,520
 This will allow us to add that ferric chloride

1786
01:24:35,520 --> 01:24:38,200
 upstream process in the primary site.

1787
01:24:38,200 --> 01:24:39,720
 And so-- - I guess I'm confused

1788
01:24:39,720 --> 01:24:44,600
 how we, how does what we want to do differ

1789
01:24:44,600 --> 01:24:47,160
 from what we're going to end up doing?

1790
01:24:47,160 --> 01:24:49,760
 Because it says it's only going to cost $100,000

1791
01:24:49,760 --> 01:24:51,240
 to move to that process. - Oh, the $100,000

1792
01:24:51,240 --> 01:24:54,480
 is to install the initial system to,

1793
01:24:54,480 --> 01:24:57,240
 because in the future then we'll have to add a digester,

1794
01:24:57,240 --> 01:25:00,080
 we have to have more irrigation capacity,

1795
01:25:00,080 --> 01:25:04,840
 we have to have, those are the two big things.

1796
01:25:04,840 --> 01:25:08,480
 So those costs are also added into the $14 million.

1797
01:25:09,880 --> 01:25:12,160
 So those we don't need right now.

1798
01:25:12,160 --> 01:25:14,360
 - So this is more like the pilot program.

1799
01:25:14,360 --> 01:25:15,680
 - Yes. - To prove it.

1800
01:25:15,680 --> 01:25:16,880
 - Very true. - And then, okay.

1801
01:25:16,880 --> 01:25:18,280
 - Got it.

1802
01:25:18,280 --> 01:25:23,280
 - On page three, you show some historical projection data.

1803
01:25:23,280 --> 01:25:30,560
 Did we build a new treatment plan or something in 2017?

1804
01:25:30,560 --> 01:25:32,680
 What-- - No, sir, this is--

1805
01:25:32,680 --> 01:25:34,240
 - How did we get a reduce

1806
01:25:34,240 --> 01:25:37,080
 and that kind of reduction in flows there?

1807
01:25:37,080 --> 01:25:38,600
 - These two years ago, if you remember,

1808
01:25:38,600 --> 01:25:42,760
 we got 57, 60 inches of rainfall.

1809
01:25:42,760 --> 01:25:43,600
 - Oh, yeah.

1810
01:25:43,600 --> 01:25:46,120
 - And during that time, we get infiltration,

1811
01:25:46,120 --> 01:25:48,320
 inflow in the sewer lines.

1812
01:25:48,320 --> 01:25:51,080
 If a manhole, somebody opened a manhole cover

1813
01:25:51,080 --> 01:25:54,040
 in the, where the creek is and the line is there,

1814
01:25:54,040 --> 01:25:55,440
 water gets into it.

1815
01:25:55,440 --> 01:25:58,880
 There are cracks in the lines, groundwater gets high,

1816
01:25:58,880 --> 01:26:00,840
 it goes through the cracks into the sewer line.

1817
01:26:00,840 --> 01:26:02,040
 - Okay. - And it goes

1818
01:26:02,040 --> 01:26:05,360
 through the manholes, which are in the creek area,

1819
01:26:05,360 --> 01:26:08,080
 through the manholes, so they get more flow.

1820
01:26:08,080 --> 01:26:10,320
 TCEQ recognized that, that this happened

1821
01:26:10,320 --> 01:26:12,720
 not only in Dallas area, but around Texas.

1822
01:26:12,720 --> 01:26:14,360
 So they didn't come after anybody

1823
01:26:14,360 --> 01:26:16,920
 to start expanding the plant at that time.

1824
01:26:16,920 --> 01:26:20,600
 And as you can see, we do have a very robust infiltration

1825
01:26:20,600 --> 01:26:23,280
 inflow control program in place,

1826
01:26:23,280 --> 01:26:25,360
 working with our asset management program.

1827
01:26:25,360 --> 01:26:28,320
 So we continue to enhance our system

1828
01:26:28,320 --> 01:26:30,240
 on the collection system side.

1829
01:26:30,240 --> 01:26:33,000
 So the intent is to spend the money there,

1830
01:26:33,000 --> 01:26:34,560
 so we don't have to spend the big bucks

1831
01:26:34,560 --> 01:26:35,960
 to expand the plant.

1832
01:26:35,960 --> 01:26:38,680
 That's what it would, that's what it is doing for us.

1833
01:26:38,680 --> 01:26:40,440
 'Cause the flows are right now,

1834
01:26:40,440 --> 01:26:42,480
 what we had back in 2003.

1835
01:26:42,480 --> 01:26:46,640
 And we probably added about 35, 40,000 people

1836
01:26:46,640 --> 01:26:50,240
 in the city during that window, and lots of businesses.

1837
01:26:50,240 --> 01:26:55,000
 So it's a testament to the money we've been spending

1838
01:26:55,000 --> 01:26:58,280
 on new lines, new interceptor sewers,

1839
01:26:58,280 --> 01:27:01,120
 and all the existing sewer system that we have

1840
01:27:01,120 --> 01:27:06,120
 that we continue to rehab those.

1841
01:27:06,120 --> 01:27:09,560
 Either we do point repairs, or we go in

1842
01:27:09,560 --> 01:27:12,280
 and put a brand new line to replace the existing line,

1843
01:27:12,280 --> 01:27:14,760
 so that it cuts down the infiltration inflow.

1844
01:27:14,760 --> 01:27:15,600
 - Okay. - Okay.

1845
01:27:15,600 --> 01:27:20,120
 - Do we know of anybody else who's done this before?

1846
01:27:20,120 --> 01:27:26,200
 - The CEPT process is not new, so yeah, it's been around.

1847
01:27:26,200 --> 01:27:30,240
 In fact, when we started out the phosphorus project,

1848
01:27:30,240 --> 01:27:32,440
 CEPT was one of the options at that time.

1849
01:27:32,440 --> 01:27:33,800
 It's kind of, we already have this,

1850
01:27:33,800 --> 01:27:36,640
 because we have multiple points of injection

1851
01:27:36,640 --> 01:27:39,360
 of ferric chloride that were built.

1852
01:27:39,360 --> 01:27:41,360
 So the point we will be introducing ferric chloride now

1853
01:27:41,360 --> 01:27:43,120
 is already built into the system.

1854
01:27:43,120 --> 01:27:45,400
 - Okay, all right.

1855
01:27:45,400 --> 01:27:47,160
 - Okay, so it's been done before,

1856
01:27:47,160 --> 01:27:48,720
 but we still have to prove it?

1857
01:27:48,720 --> 01:27:52,720
 - We have to prove it to get the additional capacity.

1858
01:27:52,720 --> 01:27:53,960
 - For the permit? - For 21MVD,

1859
01:27:53,960 --> 01:27:55,080
 we could do it. - Oh.

1860
01:27:55,080 --> 01:27:57,680
 - Yeah, to get the additional 5MVD,

1861
01:27:57,680 --> 01:27:59,000
 yeah, we need to get that.

1862
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:01,320
 - Okay. - Okay, so what does

1863
01:28:01,320 --> 01:28:06,320
 the $13.9 million, what does the 13.9 pay for?

1864
01:28:06,320 --> 01:28:11,200
 - Well, it will pay for the total 5MVD expansion.

1865
01:28:11,200 --> 01:28:13,080
 - What is that?

1866
01:28:13,080 --> 01:28:18,040
 - Well, it will include, the chemical feed is already there,

1867
01:28:18,040 --> 01:28:20,760
 but it has the digester, like I said,

1868
01:28:20,760 --> 01:28:22,440
 it has the aeration equipment,

1869
01:28:22,440 --> 01:28:24,600
 we'll have to add more aeration,

1870
01:28:24,600 --> 01:28:27,720
 so we'll have to buy more compressors

1871
01:28:27,720 --> 01:28:30,760
 to put more air out there, I'm trying to remember.

1872
01:28:30,760 --> 01:28:34,200
 The solids handling in the system,

1873
01:28:34,200 --> 01:28:36,760
 that will be upsized. - The what ones?

1874
01:28:36,760 --> 01:28:38,040
 - Solids handling,

1875
01:28:38,040 --> 01:28:40,920
 because when we precipitate out the solids,

1876
01:28:40,920 --> 01:28:42,920
 we have to treat those, right?

1877
01:28:42,920 --> 01:28:44,560
 - Yes, I hope so. - So that system

1878
01:28:44,560 --> 01:28:47,840
 will be, as part of that expansion,

1879
01:28:47,840 --> 01:28:50,160
 it will be put in place also.

1880
01:28:50,160 --> 01:28:52,320
 - So is there, but there's not a lot more expansion

1881
01:28:52,320 --> 01:28:56,040
 of capacity as far as what you're storing

1882
01:28:56,040 --> 01:28:59,200
 or letting settle, like in the past, is that correct?

1883
01:28:59,200 --> 01:29:00,040
 - Correct. - Okay.

1884
01:29:00,040 --> 01:29:01,920
 - The vast, PS mentioned the vast.

1885
01:29:01,920 --> 01:29:03,440
 - You need to go to the mic.

1886
01:29:03,440 --> 01:29:08,480
 - As PS mentioned,

1887
01:29:08,480 --> 01:29:10,960
 I think the vast majority of the 14 million

1888
01:29:10,960 --> 01:29:13,120
 is in solids handling,

1889
01:29:13,120 --> 01:29:16,280
 so we looked at the capacity of all the existing

1890
01:29:16,280 --> 01:29:19,000
 unit processes to handle the solids,

1891
01:29:19,000 --> 01:29:22,640
 so that's thickening and then digestion, he mentioned,

1892
01:29:22,640 --> 01:29:25,560
 which gets it to that compost product that you all use,

1893
01:29:25,560 --> 01:29:27,200
 you have to do digestion,

1894
01:29:27,200 --> 01:29:29,640
 and then dewatering to remove water

1895
01:29:29,640 --> 01:29:31,800
 before you send it to composting.

1896
01:29:31,800 --> 01:29:36,280
 And all of those areas were designed for 21-MGD,

1897
01:29:36,280 --> 01:29:38,760
 so when you go to 26-MGD,

1898
01:29:38,760 --> 01:29:41,360
 you have to have more volume and more capacity

1899
01:29:41,360 --> 01:29:44,040
 and more mechanical equipment

1900
01:29:44,040 --> 01:29:46,720
 to be able to treat those solids,

1901
01:29:46,720 --> 01:29:50,400
 and there's really no intensification option

1902
01:29:50,400 --> 01:29:52,440
 to get more out of those than you already have.

1903
01:29:52,440 --> 01:29:53,760
 - This is more on the end

1904
01:29:53,760 --> 01:29:55,000
 than the beginning of the treatment?

1905
01:29:55,000 --> 01:29:56,800
 - Yes. - Okay.

1906
01:29:56,800 --> 01:29:59,040
 - So today you're asking for head shakes

1907
01:29:59,040 --> 01:30:02,400
 on $100,000 to prove it.

1908
01:30:02,400 --> 01:30:04,400
 - Yes. - Okay.

1909
01:30:04,400 --> 01:30:06,040
 - And you're really gonna prove it by showing

1910
01:30:06,040 --> 01:30:09,240
 that the affluent is getting properly treated, right?

1911
01:30:09,240 --> 01:30:10,960
 We're not increasing our capacity,

1912
01:30:10,960 --> 01:30:12,880
 we're just changing to this system,

1913
01:30:12,880 --> 01:30:14,280
 dumping this chemical in there,

1914
01:30:14,280 --> 01:30:15,840
 and then gonna demonstrate that yes,

1915
01:30:15,840 --> 01:30:17,880
 this chemical's working with our affluent.

1916
01:30:17,880 --> 01:30:19,200
 - Yes. - Okay, okay.

1917
01:30:19,200 --> 01:30:21,360
 - And you'll bring the item back officially?

1918
01:30:21,360 --> 01:30:24,000
 - Yes, once we get authorization from you,

1919
01:30:24,920 --> 01:30:28,920
 we are going to go ahead and start putting together the bits

1920
01:30:28,920 --> 01:30:33,400
 for buying some of the equipment that we need.

1921
01:30:33,400 --> 01:30:37,600
 That is what the cost is. - Okay.

1922
01:30:37,600 --> 01:30:39,600
 - 'Cause we have to house, we have to build a small building

1923
01:30:39,600 --> 01:30:43,200
 to house the chemical unit there, the pump,

1924
01:30:43,200 --> 01:30:45,680
 the electrical instrumentation, all those things in there.

1925
01:30:45,680 --> 01:30:46,720
 - Okay.

1926
01:30:46,720 --> 01:30:49,320
 - I suspect we're gonna be pulling this chemical back out

1927
01:30:49,320 --> 01:30:51,200
 before we dump it in the water, right?

1928
01:30:51,200 --> 01:30:53,440
 - In the creek? - Yes.

1929
01:30:53,440 --> 01:30:55,560
 - Yeah, it's not going into the creek, because--

1930
01:30:55,560 --> 01:30:56,400
 - It just goes without saying.

1931
01:30:56,400 --> 01:30:58,560
 - Yeah, it goes in-- - We want it back out

1932
01:30:58,560 --> 01:30:59,400
 before we dump it back in the creek.

1933
01:30:59,400 --> 01:31:01,000
 - Just close it downstream from our--

1934
01:31:01,000 --> 01:31:02,600
 (laughing)

1935
01:31:02,600 --> 01:31:06,560
 - It gets precipitated, and then it goes into our digester,

1936
01:31:06,560 --> 01:31:09,360
 and then we press it, then it goes into the compost.

1937
01:31:09,360 --> 01:31:11,560
 - All right, okay, thank you.

1938
01:31:11,560 --> 01:31:12,560
 - So head shakes?

1939
01:31:12,560 --> 01:31:13,400
 Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead. - Oh, yeah,

1940
01:31:13,400 --> 01:31:15,400
 I just had a quick question, could you,

1941
01:31:15,400 --> 01:31:18,600
 what are the chemicals that are going to be added?

1942
01:31:18,600 --> 01:31:22,520
 - Fetichloride and anionic polymer.

1943
01:31:22,520 --> 01:31:24,520
 There's another polymer we'll be adding

1944
01:31:24,520 --> 01:31:26,560
 to enhance the settling.

1945
01:31:26,560 --> 01:31:27,400
 - And that's it?

1946
01:31:27,400 --> 01:31:28,240
 - That's it. - That's it.

1947
01:31:28,240 --> 01:31:29,080
 Okay, thank you.

1948
01:31:29,080 --> 01:31:33,560
 - So, direction, everybody's good?

1949
01:31:33,560 --> 01:31:35,040
 - I'd move forward. - Move forward?

1950
01:31:35,040 --> 01:31:36,320
 - I think. - I think so.

1951
01:31:36,320 --> 01:31:37,920
 - Yeah, that would be a good plan.

1952
01:31:37,920 --> 01:31:40,440
 - That's the only way to spend your money.

1953
01:31:40,440 --> 01:31:41,280
 - Thank you.

1954
01:31:41,280 --> 01:31:47,840
 All right, so we're gonna skip the closed,

1955
01:31:47,840 --> 01:31:49,840
 and we'll go into the consent agenda.

1956
01:31:49,840 --> 01:31:53,440
 Does any board member wish to pull an item

1957
01:31:53,440 --> 01:31:55,080
 from the consent agenda?

1958
01:31:55,080 --> 01:32:00,080
 Items A through, oh, J, long one.

1959
01:32:00,080 --> 01:32:05,120
 - I do, I'd like to, I'm sorry.

1960
01:32:05,120 --> 01:32:05,960
 - That's okay. - I'd like to pull

1961
01:32:05,960 --> 01:32:07,280
 item G.

1962
01:32:07,280 --> 01:32:11,520
 - All right.

1963
01:32:11,520 --> 01:32:15,480
 - And I'd like to pull item D, as in dog.

1964
01:32:15,480 --> 01:32:17,360
 - D as in dog. - Dog.

1965
01:32:19,120 --> 01:32:20,440
 - G as in girl.

1966
01:32:20,440 --> 01:32:23,800
 - And just, what's the relationship between A

1967
01:32:23,800 --> 01:32:26,160
 and the work session item that we heard about?

1968
01:32:26,160 --> 01:32:30,520
 - That would be approving the agreement with--

1969
01:32:30,520 --> 01:32:31,360
 - Taking action.

1970
01:32:31,360 --> 01:32:33,160
 - What he's already presented on.

1971
01:32:33,160 --> 01:32:34,280
 - Correct. - Correct.

1972
01:32:34,280 --> 01:32:41,160
 - All right, so do we have a motion to approve items

1973
01:32:41,160 --> 01:32:46,160
 A through C, B, F, H, I, and J?

1974
01:32:48,560 --> 01:32:51,600
 - I move for approval recommendation.

1975
01:32:51,600 --> 01:32:52,440
 - I second.

1976
01:32:52,440 --> 01:32:54,800
 - All in favor say I.

1977
01:32:54,800 --> 01:32:56,240
 - I. - I.

1978
01:32:56,240 --> 01:32:57,640
 - Opposed?

1979
01:32:57,640 --> 01:33:00,040
 Carries, okay, item D.

1980
01:33:00,040 --> 01:33:07,480
 Anybody here to address item D?

1981
01:33:07,480 --> 01:33:08,920
 Oh.

1982
01:33:08,920 --> 01:33:10,160
 - We don't wanna get out there.

1983
01:33:10,160 --> 01:33:11,600
 (laughing)

1984
01:33:11,600 --> 01:33:14,480
 - It won't be hard at all. - Sorry about that.

1985
01:33:14,480 --> 01:33:16,040
 - That's all right, good evening.

1986
01:33:16,040 --> 01:33:18,280
 I'm Jim Janes, I'm one of the project managers

1987
01:33:18,280 --> 01:33:22,000
 in the engineering capital improvements division.

1988
01:33:22,000 --> 01:33:26,160
 So I can answer particular questions

1989
01:33:26,160 --> 01:33:29,560
 or I can do a brief run through of what the item entails.

1990
01:33:29,560 --> 01:33:30,880
 - Maybe I can get you out of this real quick.

1991
01:33:30,880 --> 01:33:35,520
 My question is, my clarification question would be,

1992
01:33:35,520 --> 01:33:37,320
 the reason the increase in the engineering fee

1993
01:33:37,320 --> 01:33:38,800
 is because there's additional right of way

1994
01:33:38,800 --> 01:33:41,640
 that wasn't planned for originally, is that correct?

1995
01:33:41,640 --> 01:33:42,920
 That needs to be acquired?

1996
01:33:42,920 --> 01:33:47,920
 - Yes, additional easements and right of way parcel.

1997
01:33:48,480 --> 01:33:52,840
 Acquisitions that weren't immediately apparent,

1998
01:33:52,840 --> 01:33:56,400
 but as our consultant got well into the design,

1999
01:33:56,400 --> 01:33:59,000
 they found that they were necessary.

2000
01:33:59,000 --> 01:34:01,600
 - So that could be additional funds necessary

2001
01:34:01,600 --> 01:34:04,680
 to acquire those easements and right of ways?

2002
01:34:04,680 --> 01:34:05,520
 - Yes.

2003
01:34:05,520 --> 01:34:08,120
 - We don't have an estimate for that number yet?

2004
01:34:08,120 --> 01:34:09,040
 - No sir.

2005
01:34:09,040 --> 01:34:10,120
 - Okay.

2006
01:34:10,120 --> 01:34:13,360
 - I don't have that for you tonight, I'm sorry.

2007
01:34:13,360 --> 01:34:15,440
 - Okay, that clarifies, I'm fine.

2008
01:34:15,440 --> 01:34:16,280
 - Okay.

2009
01:34:17,320 --> 01:34:19,640
 - Okay, do we have a motion to approve item D?

2010
01:34:19,640 --> 01:34:20,480
 - Move approval.

2011
01:34:20,480 --> 01:34:22,560
 - Second.

2012
01:34:22,560 --> 01:34:24,440
 - Okay, all in favor say aye.

2013
01:34:24,440 --> 01:34:26,040
 - Aye.

2014
01:34:26,040 --> 01:34:27,000
 - Opposed?

2015
01:34:27,000 --> 01:34:28,040
 Carries.

2016
01:34:28,040 --> 01:34:29,160
 Item G.

2017
01:34:29,160 --> 01:34:35,240
 Do we have, oh, here we go.

2018
01:34:35,240 --> 01:34:40,440
 Of course you're gonna pull a network contract.

2019
01:34:40,440 --> 01:34:43,080
 Do you have a specific question?

2020
01:34:43,080 --> 01:34:45,200
 - Well, my questions are actually kind of have more to do

2021
01:34:45,200 --> 01:34:50,200
 with like how many employees are we providing

2022
01:34:50,200 --> 01:34:52,240
 safety shoes to?

2023
01:34:52,240 --> 01:34:53,480
 - I knew you were gonna ask me that

2024
01:34:53,480 --> 01:34:56,120
 because I do not have the answer specifically.

2025
01:34:56,120 --> 01:35:00,960
 It's for all of our field service crews.

2026
01:35:00,960 --> 01:35:05,320
 So that includes water, wastewater, drainage, solid waste,

2027
01:35:05,320 --> 01:35:08,800
 the warehouse staff, parks, airport,

2028
01:35:08,800 --> 01:35:12,760
 anywhere that they're having out in the field working,

2029
01:35:12,760 --> 01:35:14,760
 they have certain safety requirements.

2030
01:35:14,760 --> 01:35:15,920
 - Does anyone have a guess?

2031
01:35:15,920 --> 01:35:19,200
 200, 500, 300, 150?

2032
01:35:19,200 --> 01:35:22,640
 - That looks like about 600 and some odd pairs a year

2033
01:35:22,640 --> 01:35:24,400
 at $150 a pair of boots.

2034
01:35:24,400 --> 01:35:27,480
 - Yeah, our average is about $150 per boot.

2035
01:35:27,480 --> 01:35:30,000
 - So it's one kind of boot.

2036
01:35:30,000 --> 01:35:32,720
 It's not multiple types of foot gear.

2037
01:35:32,720 --> 01:35:34,880
 It's just one type of boot essentially.

2038
01:35:34,880 --> 01:35:36,320
 - It's a type of boots,

2039
01:35:36,320 --> 01:35:39,880
 but they can choose different styles, right.

2040
01:35:39,880 --> 01:35:42,280
 - Do they have any financial responsibility

2041
01:35:42,280 --> 01:35:46,120
 for acquiring the boot or is it just something we provide?

2042
01:35:46,120 --> 01:35:48,760
 - No, the city provides it as part of their uniform.

2043
01:35:48,760 --> 01:35:50,160
 - And if they work for us for three months,

2044
01:35:50,160 --> 01:35:51,320
 they get the boots?

2045
01:35:51,320 --> 01:35:55,800
 - We do have, each department has their own specific policy

2046
01:35:55,800 --> 01:35:59,880
 for their uniform, but I believe they get one pair a year.

2047
01:35:59,880 --> 01:36:01,320
 - Okay.

2048
01:36:01,320 --> 01:36:02,640
 Okay, all right, thank you.

2049
01:36:02,640 --> 01:36:03,480
 - Okay, that was easy.

2050
01:36:03,480 --> 01:36:05,160
 - That was just a lot of money for boots.

2051
01:36:05,160 --> 01:36:08,000
 I just wanted to know who we were giving boots to.

2052
01:36:11,000 --> 01:36:13,320
 - Move approval. - Okay, second?

2053
01:36:13,320 --> 01:36:14,160
 Is there a second?

2054
01:36:14,160 --> 01:36:15,360
 - Second.

2055
01:36:15,360 --> 01:36:16,560
 - All in favor say aye.

2056
01:36:16,560 --> 01:36:17,400
 - Aye.

2057
01:36:17,400 --> 01:36:19,920
 - Carries.

2058
01:36:19,920 --> 01:36:24,640
 All right, so then now we go into closed.

2059
01:36:24,640 --> 01:36:39,080
 Okay, it's about 822 and we'll reopen the public portion

2060
01:36:39,480 --> 01:36:41,400
 of the board meeting.

2061
01:36:41,400 --> 01:36:43,760
 Next item is consider approval

2062
01:36:43,760 --> 01:36:48,080
 of the public utilities board minutes of February 25th.

2063
01:36:48,080 --> 01:36:50,840
 Are there any changes or corrections?

2064
01:36:50,840 --> 01:36:55,720
 Then they'll stand approved as presented.

2065
01:36:55,720 --> 01:37:00,040
 And our next item is consider the adoption

2066
01:37:00,040 --> 01:37:02,600
 of an ordinance authorizing the city manager

2067
01:37:02,600 --> 01:37:07,240
 for the sale of natural gas with enterprise projects

2068
01:37:07,240 --> 01:37:10,600
 in operating LLC.

2069
01:37:10,600 --> 01:37:11,440
 - Thank you very much.

2070
01:37:11,440 --> 01:37:15,360
 Good evening, George Morrow, general manager of DME.

2071
01:37:15,360 --> 01:37:17,760
 I'm here tonight bringing forward to you

2072
01:37:17,760 --> 01:37:22,480
 for your consideration a proposed natural gas contract

2073
01:37:22,480 --> 01:37:23,600
 for the deck.

2074
01:37:23,600 --> 01:37:26,360
 Our current contract expires at the end of this month,

2075
01:37:26,360 --> 01:37:28,760
 so this would be a replacement arrangement.

2076
01:37:28,760 --> 01:37:33,760
 And it's with a party that we have some experience with

2077
01:37:33,760 --> 01:37:36,560
 called Enterprise Products Operating LLC.

2078
01:37:36,560 --> 01:37:39,120
 And that experience has been extremely positive.

2079
01:37:39,120 --> 01:37:42,960
 So I wish I could say more tonight,

2080
01:37:42,960 --> 01:37:47,280
 but just the nature of the competitive gas market

2081
01:37:47,280 --> 01:37:50,960
 and the terms of our business arrangements to buy gas,

2082
01:37:50,960 --> 01:37:55,720
 I'm really not at a liberty to go further into it.

2083
01:37:55,720 --> 01:37:57,480
 Though I would mention to the public

2084
01:37:57,480 --> 01:38:00,160
 that we did hold a closed session earlier

2085
01:38:00,160 --> 01:38:02,480
 to kind of go through the details of that arrangement.

2086
01:38:02,480 --> 01:38:07,480
 So with that, I'm interested if you're in the recommendation

2087
01:38:07,480 --> 01:38:12,360
 from the PUB to authorize city manager

2088
01:38:12,360 --> 01:38:15,280
 to enter into this agreement with enterprise.

2089
01:38:15,280 --> 01:38:23,720
 - Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to approve consideration B.

2090
01:38:23,720 --> 01:38:27,840
 - Okay, all in favor say aye.

2091
01:38:27,840 --> 01:38:28,680
 - Aye.

2092
01:38:28,680 --> 01:38:29,760
 - Opposed?

2093
01:38:29,760 --> 01:38:31,440
 Motion carries.

2094
01:38:31,440 --> 01:38:32,600
 - Thank you very much.

2095
01:38:32,600 --> 01:38:35,440
 - Take over Kenny.

2096
01:38:35,440 --> 01:38:36,740
 - Okay, I will.

2097
01:38:36,740 --> 01:38:38,680
 Thank you, Madam Chair.

2098
01:38:38,680 --> 01:38:43,680
 We have a few items on the ACM update.

2099
01:38:43,680 --> 01:38:49,320
 The first one is the FY18-19 first quarter financial report.

2100
01:38:49,320 --> 01:38:52,800
 There's a large amount of information available to you.

2101
01:38:52,800 --> 01:38:57,360
 Mr. Tony Puente is here to answer any questions

2102
01:38:57,360 --> 01:38:59,480
 any of you that might have on that.

2103
01:38:59,480 --> 01:39:04,380
 Item two is the wastewater services agreement update.

2104
01:39:04,380 --> 01:39:07,760
 That item went forward as an informal staff report

2105
01:39:07,760 --> 01:39:11,480
 to the city council on the last Friday reading file

2106
01:39:11,480 --> 01:39:13,800
 because we were not able to get scheduled

2107
01:39:13,800 --> 01:39:16,560
 a work session item on that.

2108
01:39:16,560 --> 01:39:19,400
 The work sessions are getting very stacked up.

2109
01:39:19,400 --> 01:39:23,060
 And so we provided it as an ISR

2110
01:39:23,060 --> 01:39:25,560
 and I just simply wanted the board to have the opportunity

2111
01:39:25,560 --> 01:39:28,100
 to see the exact same information

2112
01:39:28,100 --> 01:39:29,900
 that we had provided to the council.

2113
01:39:29,900 --> 01:39:35,120
 DME has provided the Georgetown power supply overview

2114
01:39:35,120 --> 01:39:38,240
 and I'm sure that George would be happy to answer

2115
01:39:38,240 --> 01:39:40,600
 any questions that any of you might have.

2116
01:39:40,600 --> 01:39:43,640
 On our future agenda item list,

2117
01:39:43,640 --> 01:39:47,360
 we have a couple of items that are still pending.

2118
01:39:47,360 --> 01:39:50,480
 The MCI poll attachment agreement we're still working on

2119
01:39:50,480 --> 01:39:52,480
 and so we'll work on getting that rescheduled

2120
01:39:52,480 --> 01:39:55,340
 to a future meeting.

2121
01:39:55,340 --> 01:39:59,400
 The same is true of the EGLE substation item.

2122
01:39:59,400 --> 01:40:02,200
 The Hazen and Sawyer wastewater treatment plan expansion

2123
01:40:02,200 --> 01:40:04,440
 you heard this evening so that one's been completed.

2124
01:40:04,440 --> 01:40:07,320
 And then the pipe bursting agreement.

2125
01:40:07,320 --> 01:40:08,560
 We're still working on that.

2126
01:40:08,560 --> 01:40:11,120
 We're actually progressing with the design phase on it

2127
01:40:11,120 --> 01:40:13,200
 but we've got to finalize the agreement.

2128
01:40:13,200 --> 01:40:14,880
 We're getting close and we hope to bring that back

2129
01:40:14,880 --> 01:40:16,560
 to you shortly.

2130
01:40:16,560 --> 01:40:19,240
 The only other item is the new business matrix

2131
01:40:19,240 --> 01:40:22,000
 and we have two items on that matrix

2132
01:40:22,000 --> 01:40:26,040
 at the current time.

2133
01:40:26,040 --> 01:40:31,080
 One of them was to consider whether or not

2134
01:40:31,080 --> 01:40:32,900
 to move the public utility board meetings

2135
01:40:32,900 --> 01:40:35,840
 to morning time only and we'll schedule that

2136
01:40:35,840 --> 01:40:38,940
 to come forward at some time in the near future.

2137
01:40:38,940 --> 01:40:42,120
 And then we have another pending item from Mr. Cheek

2138
01:40:42,120 --> 01:40:43,820
 regarding what we're paying for the energy

2139
01:40:43,820 --> 01:40:46,600
 and how long the contracts are, the options.

2140
01:40:46,600 --> 01:40:50,400
 So we'll be able to bring that back

2141
01:40:50,400 --> 01:40:52,160
 at some point in the future.

2142
01:40:52,160 --> 01:40:53,520
 - Did we just do that?

2143
01:40:53,520 --> 01:40:55,900
 - Well, essentially, yes.

2144
01:40:55,900 --> 01:40:59,320
 - Plans, we have our weather plans

2145
01:40:59,320 --> 01:41:00,620
 and our existing up there.

2146
01:41:00,620 --> 01:41:04,680
 - Yes, Dr. Banks, so in the closed session we just had,

2147
01:41:04,680 --> 01:41:08,360
 we touched on that subject as part of our review

2148
01:41:08,360 --> 01:41:10,220
 of renewable rate agreements.

2149
01:41:10,220 --> 01:41:13,520
 So I think unless there's further questions

2150
01:41:13,520 --> 01:41:17,320
 then I think we've, I'd offer that we've done that.

2151
01:41:17,320 --> 01:41:18,640
 - That's a pretty good presentation, thank you, George.

2152
01:41:18,640 --> 01:41:19,480
 - Thank you.

2153
01:41:20,600 --> 01:41:21,420
 - And that's all I have.

2154
01:41:21,420 --> 01:41:24,600
 - All right, and we're on to concluding items.

2155
01:41:24,600 --> 01:41:27,920
 Are there any items that a board member

2156
01:41:27,920 --> 01:41:29,920
 would like to be brought back

2157
01:41:29,920 --> 01:41:34,820
 in the next board meeting, our future board meeting?

2158
01:41:34,820 --> 01:41:38,740
 Okay, hearing none, do we have a motion to adjourn?

2159
01:41:38,740 --> 01:41:40,440
 - I move we adjourn.

2160
01:41:40,440 --> 01:41:41,840
 - Second. - Second.

2161
01:41:41,840 --> 01:41:43,200
 - Okay, we're adjourned.