WEBVTT

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 >> Okay, it's 6.03, we had some technical difficulties

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 so we're a little bit behind schedule.

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 We'll call to order the Public Utilities Board Meeting

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 of Monday, August 26th, 2019.

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 Before we hop into work sessions,

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 we have two new board members that we'd like to welcome.

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 Ed, is it Soph?

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 Do I say--

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 >> Soph, yeah.

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 >> Soph and Russ Bafford.

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 So maybe you could tell everybody a little bit

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 about your background.

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 >> Okay, should I use this?

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 Yep.

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 >> I've lived in Denton, about 32 years.

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 And before that, I attended University of North Texas

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 in 1963 to '68, went to New York to seek fame and fortune,

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 stayed up there 20 years, and then came back here in 1987.

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 And as a first-time homeowner, my whole perspective

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 on life changed in regard to city matters and things

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 that affected quality of life.

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 >> Could you check his mic?

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 Is your mic on?

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 >> It was.

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 >> There you go.

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 >> So as I say, when I became a first-time homeowner

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 with a young child and a wife, my whole perspective changed

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 and I actually started becoming involved in city activities

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 and found it to be very rewarding.

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 Made some great friendships and acquaintances

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 and I'm very honored to be able to serve with you on this board.

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 >> Thank you.

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 >> Thank you.

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 >> Glad you could serve.

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 >> Is this on?

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 >> The little light will tell me.

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 >> Is this on?

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 >> This little green light should be on.

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 Okay.

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 >> Now it's on.

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 >> Now it's on, okay.

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 >> Can you hear me now?

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 I'm Russ Bafford.

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 I'm a retired engineer.

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 My week consists of six Saturdays and a Sunday.

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 That's the work schedule I like.

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 I worked for-- have a degree in civil engineering and one

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 in mining engineering.

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 I worked for-- I retired from a 1,100 megawatt coal-fired power

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 plant on the southern tip of Illinois.

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 It's right on the Ohio River in Massac County.

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 We had six units.

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 When it was built in the early '50s,

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 it was the largest steam turbine General Electric made.

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 The first unit came online in 1953

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 and it's still running today believe it or not.

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 I worked there for almost 20 years, retired.

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 And my wife and I moved here most recently from Utah.

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 I did a short stand out there working for a consulting firm.

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 We had some industrial clients out there.

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 So I'm anxious to help out wherever I can.

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 >> All right, thank you.

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 All right, now on to business.

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 First order is receive a report and hold a discussion

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 and give staff direction on the proposed solid waste rates

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 for fiscal year 2019-2020.

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 >> Good afternoon Chair, PB members, Nick Vincent,

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 the city's budget manager.

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 Happy to see the new members on the board tonight.

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 We have a two-part presentation.

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 The first part of the presentation, I'll walk you

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 through the proposed '19-'20 solid waste rates.

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 Second part of the presentation, Brian Burner, the director

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 of solid waste to come up and present information regarding the

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 valet service and also some contracting possibilities.

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 So this slide summarizes the proposed landfill rate changes.

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 We are looking to introduce a non-city resident

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 and business rate this fiscal year.

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 Currently these customers are paying $44 a ton.

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 Moving forward, we are looking forward to these customers paying $46 a ton.

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 I do want to point out this does not impact the city

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 and residents and businesses.

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 Their rate will stay at $44 a ton.

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 Appliances electronic, the drop-off fee, we are looking

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 to reduce both of these rates to $10 per item.

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 You can see that right there.

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 Compacted and uncompacted MSW, we are looking

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 to make rate adjustments based on the cost of service

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 of disposing of MSW which is municipal solid waste.

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 These rates are only applied, are charged to customers

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 in the event of a scale house outage.

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 If there is an outage at the scale house, we do charge these rates.

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 Tires, we are looking to discontinue the acceptance of tires.

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 There are currently various sizes that come into the facility.

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 About 300 per year, we will request customers to take those

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 to other disposal sites, retailers around the community.

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 Crushed concrete, we do currently have a crushed concrete

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 at a rate of $8 a ton, we are looking to do away with this rate

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 of moving forward into the future.

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 >> So just doing away with the product?

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 >> Yeah, we don't have adequate inventory on hand to sell

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 to the public, what we do produce and have on hand,

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 we use on site at the facility.

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 >> Can we ask questions?

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 >> Yes sir, anytime you get a question, please ask.

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 >> What percentage roughly is a non-resident use of our landfill?

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 >> The only $2 difference, cost per ton.

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 What would you guess?

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 >> I actually, let me ask Brian to come up

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 and address the question really quick.

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 >> Yeah, of the cash customers that come across our scales,

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 roughly 1/3 to 1/2, depending on the day of the month,

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 it can be out of non-City of Dent residents.

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 >> Yeah. Yes sir.

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 >> Will people actually be given a list of places

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 where they can take their used tires?

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 >> No, what you will do though is go to any tire retailer

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 and by state law they're required to be able

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 to take those back, you will pay a fee just like you would

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 if at the City of Denton's landfill.

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 But any retail will take those if you're commercial operation,

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 you're required by law to maintain a contract

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 with a tire disposal company.

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 >> Okay, well I hope that this will be publicized

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 because having done some creek cleaning,

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 the tire situation was just terrible.

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 And I think like a lot of things, it's a matter of education.

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 So I hope that in mailers, etc., that you'll let people know

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 that just because the city isn't taking them doesn't mean

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 that they can dump them.

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 >> The ability to take them to just any tire retailer will be

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 part of our outreach.

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 >> Great, thank you.

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 >> And the cost, the $8 per cubic yard compared to $14.50

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 per cubic yard for the compacted waste,

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 that's a pretty big difference.

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 I'm trying to understand that.

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 >> So uncompacted would be MSW that comes

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 in in roll-off containers, it's not compacted.

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 Compacted would be a lot of times that you see

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 at the big box retailers.

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 Kroger would be a perfect example.

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 They have a compacted self-contained unit

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 sitting there.

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 Those units actually compact roughly a 3 to 1 ratio

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 so the rate is a little bit more expensive per cubic yard

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 because you have more density, it's denser

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 in the compacted units.

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 >> And we had a recent cost of service study done,

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 that's why the rates are being adjusted.

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 >> That's correct.

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 And these rates are only charged, so if a customer comes

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 in say with a compacted unit or an uncompacted unit,

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 they're billed at $44 a ton if they're sitting

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 in a resident or business.

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 If in the event the electricity was to go out in a scale house

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 or the network's down, we would bill these rates.

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 That's the only time these rates are charged.

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 >> Okay, thank you.

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 >> As a point of reference, I understand last decade,

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 we've never charged this rate

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 because our system's always been up, but state law requires us

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 to have a stopgap to be able to charge and track this waste

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 for reporting purposes.

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 >> All right, any more questions on this slide,

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 we'll be happy to address them.

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 Okay. That concludes landfill rate adjustments.

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 We'll get into residential now.

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 There is two slides on residential rate adjustments.

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 First, we are looking to implement a subscription yard

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 based service for residents this fiscal year.

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 Council did see this last week.

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 And they did approve us to move forward with this,

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 so we do want to walk you through the proposed changes.

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 There are two different types of collection

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 that customers can choose from, one being a craft bag

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 and the other being a cart.

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 If a resident does choose to have their yard waste collected

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 with a cart, there is a one-time cart purchase fee of $20.

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 It is just a one-time fee.

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 The only reoccurring cost would either be the dollar per month

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 or the 50 cents a month based

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 on what type of service you would like.

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 Excess brush and greater than four cubic yards.

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 Currently, four cubic yard of brush is included

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 in your weekly collection service.

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 If you go above that,

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 we've currently been charging per cubic yard.

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 It is difficult to explain

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 to a customer exactly how much a cubic yard is.

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 So moving forward, we're looking to change this

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 to an hourly rate of $75 an hour.

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 We'll be building on quarter hour increments.

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 So if it only takes us 15 minutes to collect it,

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 you'd be building a quarter of $75.

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 >> Can you explain how that craft bag option is going to work?

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 >> Yep.

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 >> Today, you could go to Home Depot, you could go to Lowe's,

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 you could go to almost any hardware store in the city

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 of Denton and buy a craft bag.

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 They usually come basically packaged in five bags per package.

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 You buy one of those and use it just like a plastic bag.

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 You fill up your material, put it on your curb

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 on the collection day for the yard waste,

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 and then it's picked up manually just like it is now.

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 Instead of having to tear open the plastic bags like we do,

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 because again, this yard waste actually go is one

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 of the raw products that we use to manufacture dino dirt.

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 So we have to de-plasticize everything that comes in now.

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 We're seeing a lot of worker injury,

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 repetitive motion injury.

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 By using the craft bags, we just put it in the cart.

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 It gets ground up.

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 It actually becomes part of the dino dirt itself.

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 So again, it's very simple, very low tech,

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 but again, very beneficial to the process and really helps us

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 from a worker injury standpoint.

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 >> That's one craft bag per week?

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 >> No. As many as you want to put out.

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 >> You pay a dollar a month.

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 >> Yeah. A dollar a month basically gets you skin

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 in the game.

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 What we're trying to do is make routes more efficient.

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 Right now we drive by every house every week to see

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 if there's yard waste out.

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 By getting citizens to partner with us in this system,

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 we can create efficient routes.

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 So if we know that we have 200 homes to pick up this week,

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 we go to 200 homes, not 33,000 homes.

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 >> Yeah. Good.

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 >> Okay.

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 >> Is there any more questions

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 on residential services on this slide?

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 >> Yeah. This may be the wrong time to ask it.

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 So if it is, tell me.

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 >> No, go ahead.

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 >> Is there going to be any collection

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 of household chemicals like they used to be?

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 >> There's always been.

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 We have not stopped that process.

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 >> Okay.

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 >> And you call in 8700 and you can schedule a collection

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 or probably more conveniently you can run it

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 out to our facility.

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 We're open 7 to 4 every day, Monday through Friday.

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 We're going to be extending the hours after October 1st

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 and as we extend those hours be somewhere in the neighborhood

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 or 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening and open on Saturday

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 which is when most people are cleaning this material out.

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 So we will publicize that as it comes out.

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 But right now bring it to us or just call 8700

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 and we will schedule a pick up.

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 >> So is it still $10 for a bundled?

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 Is that--

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 >> A bundle of--

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 >> Of chemicals?

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 >> No, it's--

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 >> On the-- I don't know, maybe this is out of date.

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 On the June 11th work session.

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 >> No, we're-- throw that one away.

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 That was a preliminary presentation that we gave

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 to council for some consideration.

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 We've gone back, these are the rates that we're going

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 to be including in the rate study or in the rate ordinance.

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 >> So the home collection,

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 chemical collection will be included in this?

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 >> Yes.

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 >> Okay, great.

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 >> It'll stay included.

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 >> Great, thank you.

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 >> Thank you.

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 >> It is included in a residence monthly bill.

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 I'm going to think to answer your question too, so.

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 So this is residential rate changes continued.

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 We are looking to change or do away

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 with our excess refuse reload fee.

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 Currently, if a customer requests

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 to have their cart reloaded with refuse, there's a $7 fee.

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 Moving forward, we're looking to do away with this.

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 We will continue to offer this service if customers call in.

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 We just aren't looking to charge in the future for this.

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 Bulky waste items currently, we charge for anything greater

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 than four items per year.

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 Moving forward, we're looking to charge for greater

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 than two items per collection.

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 Anything greater than two items per collection would be $5.

00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.640
 So we're actually increasing the frequency

00:13:17.640 --> 00:13:20.080
 and decreasing the fee.

00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.280
 Same day cart changeout fee is currently $65.

00:13:23.280 --> 00:13:25.440
 Based on the cost of service model we mentioned earlier,

00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.520
 it is recommended we reduce this fee to $50.

00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:35.160
 Moving forward to the next fiscal year.

00:13:35.160 --> 00:13:37.760
 Commercial rate changes, there is one major change we want

00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:39.000
 to make you aware of.

00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.320
 We are looking to introduce a commercial bulky waste

00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:43.240
 collection this fiscal year.

00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:46.480
 This would include multifamily complexes and apartments.

00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.000
 So if a customer called in to have a mattress collected

00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.920
 or a mattress and a couch, for one item it would be 25.

00:13:52.920 --> 00:13:54.960
 If it was two, it would be 30.

00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.160
 So there's a trip fee of 20 and a per item fee of $5.

00:13:58.160 --> 00:13:59.480
 >> Okay.

00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:05.800
 >> That concludes the right portion of the presentation.

00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:07.720
 If there's no other questions, I'll turn it over to Brian

00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:09.520
 to proceed to the rest of the presentation.

00:14:09.520 --> 00:14:11.160
 >> Thank you.

00:14:11.160 --> 00:14:15.960
 >> Well, good evening.

00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:16.840
 My name is Brian Barnard.

00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:18.760
 I'm Director of Solid Waste for the City of Denton.

00:14:18.760 --> 00:14:20.480
 I do appreciate the opportunity to come and talk a little bit

00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.800
 about our valley service that will be rolling

00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:24.240
 out in the downtown area.

00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.480
 And then I'll be talking a little bit

00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:27.000
 about some contracting opportunities we're going

00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:28.360
 to take advantage of.

00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:31.640
 This presentation was presented to council last week

00:14:31.640 --> 00:14:33.120
 and has been approved to go forward.

00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.760
 So this is informational, but I'd be glad

00:14:34.760 --> 00:14:36.600
 to answer any questions you might have.

00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:39.000
 Hopefully everybody read their Denton Record Chronicle

00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:43.040
 over the weekend and saw on the business pages where we talked

00:14:43.040 --> 00:14:44.600
 about our valley service.

00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:48.840
 Back on June 11th, we proposed a proof of concept back

00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.720
 on Industrial Street, which is, what, roosters and Steve's wine

00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:57.760
 bar and the other, you know, Texas tapas and fuzzies

00:14:57.760 --> 00:15:01.120
 and just that wonderful area, you know, to go in

00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.960
 and actually look at the way that we do garbage there.

00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.000
 Downtown, we have a series of what we call shared dumpsters

00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:10.960
 because it's so tight space we cannot locate a dumpster

00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.640
 for commercial service at every building.

00:15:14.640 --> 00:15:17.480
 So again, what we have is a series

00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:20.400
 of shared service dumpsters throughout the downtown area.

00:15:20.400 --> 00:15:21.760
 They're usually sitting in the right-of-way.

00:15:21.760 --> 00:15:22.960
 They're taking up parking.

00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:23.720
 They smell.

00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:25.000
 They're done sightly.

00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.920
 What we wanted to do is actually roll out this program and a proof

00:15:28.920 --> 00:15:32.920
 of concept which began on June 24th was to last, you know,

00:15:32.920 --> 00:15:35.400
 up to 120 days, but after 45 days it was like,

00:15:35.400 --> 00:15:37.040
 this is so successful.

00:15:37.040 --> 00:15:38.200
 We're not going to wait any longer.

00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:40.640
 We're going to roll it out, make these improvements

00:15:40.640 --> 00:15:42.320
 in the entire downtown area.

00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:44.720
 Basically what it is, it's a back door collection to each

00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.480
 of these shared service opportunities.

00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.480
 We have about 141 businesses and downtown residents

00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.240
 that are currently on the service.

00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.240
 So what we would do is actually incorporate them

00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:57.760
 into a collection depending on your usage size,

00:15:57.760 --> 00:15:59.920
 anywhere from maybe one time, two times a week,

00:15:59.920 --> 00:16:02.760
 up to three or four times a day depending on how much garbage

00:16:02.760 --> 00:16:05.280
 that you're-- and recycling that you generated.

00:16:05.280 --> 00:16:08.520
 Remove the public containers and as we start rolling

00:16:08.520 --> 00:16:10.600
 out and seeing how much free time is available

00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.880
 for our collectors, you know, start doing litter abatement,

00:16:12.880 --> 00:16:16.040
 pressure washing, just general cleanliness downtown.

00:16:16.040 --> 00:16:18.480
 So again, we began with the industrial street and as I said,

00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.960
 it was so popular and successful, we decided to move

00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.640
 to the rest of the downtown area.

00:16:24.640 --> 00:16:26.640
 Some of the benefits we originally identified was

00:16:26.640 --> 00:16:27.920
 improved aesthetics and odors.

00:16:27.920 --> 00:16:28.960
 And I got a couple of slides here

00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.000
 in a moment you're going to see really the benefit of the area.

00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.240
 Adding parking spots.

00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:35.840
 Parking is at a premium downtown.

00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.280
 Just by removing two dumpsters in the Russell Street,

00:16:38.280 --> 00:16:41.320
 behind Industrial Street here, freed up two spots.

00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.960
 By removing all of our shared dumpsters, we anticipate we can

00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:46.800
 get up to 20 additional parking spaces downtown.

00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:49.120
 So again, a lot of that depends on orientation and everything else

00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.720
 but, you know, 20 is a million when you're talking

00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:54.680
 about downtown and the need that goes on there.

00:16:54.680 --> 00:16:57.280
 So again, improved service efficiency just

00:16:57.280 --> 00:17:02.280
 because we're working with our businesses downtown,

00:17:02.280 --> 00:17:03.640
 we have a higher level of service due

00:17:03.640 --> 00:17:04.840
 to the increased frequency.

00:17:04.840 --> 00:17:09.120
 We're reducing our trucks from about 16 a week to two a week.

00:17:09.120 --> 00:17:11.280
 And again, on and on, there's just benefits out there

00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:12.960
 and they continue to grow.

00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.560
 >> Sixteen to two.

00:17:14.560 --> 00:17:15.400
 >> Correct.

00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:16.240
 >> Wow.

00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:17.280
 >> Yeah.

00:17:17.280 --> 00:17:18.480
 >> Think of the emissions that are not--

00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.080
 >> Exactly, you know, the wear and tear of the street.

00:17:20.080 --> 00:17:21.240
 >> And the wear and tear of the street.

00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.520
 >> And, you know, if you're one of those residents that's

00:17:23.520 --> 00:17:25.840
 in an apartment downtown, you know, we start early

00:17:25.840 --> 00:17:27.800
 so that we're not blocked in by parking.

00:17:27.800 --> 00:17:31.120
 So that truck comes rumbling by at what, 5 o'clock in the morning?

00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:34.200
 I don't know about you but I appreciate a little extra sleep

00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:35.440
 in the morning and not be awakened.

00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.400
 So again, you know, just another benefit.

00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.160
 So, okay.

00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:40.600
 So here's some before and after pictures.

00:17:40.600 --> 00:17:41.960
 This is behind Steve's Wine Bar.

00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:44.680
 This is the old garbage container that was there.

00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.320
 And you'll notice in the six weeks that since it's been removed,

00:17:47.320 --> 00:17:48.400
 it's a little bit cleaner

00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.480
 and Steve has actually constructed a patio back there

00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:54.200
 for his patrons to use.

00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:56.320
 So again, it's improving the aesthetics

00:17:56.320 --> 00:17:58.480
 and the business in the area.

00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.600
 Behind roosters and fuzzies, again, you know,

00:18:00.600 --> 00:18:03.040
 we've removed the recycle container and again,

00:18:03.040 --> 00:18:04.440
 it's opened up the street.

00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.480
 You can see how much cleaner it looks back in that area.

00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:12.080
 So again, just some immediate benefits from working in that area.

00:18:12.080 --> 00:18:16.160
 Here's something I want to talk about when we talk about shared service.

00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.600
 Again, you know, basically anybody in the area can throw trash

00:18:20.600 --> 00:18:22.640
 in those shared dumpsters and technically,

00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.160
 you've got an assigned dumpster or set of dumpsters to use

00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.800
 but what we found prior to starting the valet service,

00:18:28.800 --> 00:18:33.000
 we had about 56 cubic yards of service there every week

00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:37.840
 between garbage and recycling which equates to almost 10 tons of material.

00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:41.440
 When we started actually counting and weighing the bags in the valet,

00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.280
 we found that we were only servicing about 3.16

00:18:44.280 --> 00:18:49.080
 which means there's almost 7 tons of illegal dump material

00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:52.480
 in that Russell Street area every week.

00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.240
 And if it's just in Russell Street, what's happened on Hickory and Austin

00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:58.080
 and Cedar and all those others that we have down there.

00:18:58.080 --> 00:19:02.080
 So again, there's a high level of service that was happening.

00:19:02.080 --> 00:19:06.200
 We're still-- you know, our guys are downtown, they're working hard,

00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:10.440
 they're trying to see if this material is going somewhere else but again,

00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:14.000
 you know, it's highlighting a problem that again, the next step is trying to figure

00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.800
 out how we're going to address this material as it continues to identify it

00:19:17.800 --> 00:19:19.840
 and then how we're going to address it.

00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:24.560
 When you look at the tonnage, about 2-- a little more than 2 tons a week was garbage,

00:19:24.560 --> 00:19:28.480
 almost a full ton a week was recycling which is tremendous.

00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.560
 It gets our recycling rate up to about almost 29%.

00:19:32.560 --> 00:19:35.160
 When you look across the commercial sector in the city of Denton,

00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.240
 we're doing good to get 15% every week.

00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:39.800
 And in this area, we've been able to get to 29.

00:19:39.800 --> 00:19:44.080
 And part of that has to go with the fact that we're actually working with the business owners

00:19:44.080 --> 00:19:47.560
 and the people that are doing the work about how to recycle right.

00:19:47.560 --> 00:19:50.440
 What they can recycle, what they can pull out of their trash.

00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:53.440
 What I really want to focus on here is this contamination rate.

00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:55.440
 Again, it's less than 8%.

00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.800
 Right now, across the rest of the business sectors in the city of Denton,

00:19:59.800 --> 00:20:01.840
 we're anywhere from about 40 to 50%.

00:20:01.840 --> 00:20:03.880
 It is just really bad.

00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.120
 Actually, that number should be less than 1%.

00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:13.560
 In one load in one week, we had a person that was refilling the fryer with oil and forgot

00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:15.560
 to put the cap on as tight as they should.

00:20:15.560 --> 00:20:20.000
 And when they went in to compact it, the residual oil actually contaminated.

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.440
 But we actually-- what was it, last week or the week before,

00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:26.120
 we had a load come through with 0% contamination.

00:20:26.120 --> 00:20:30.040
 And by working intensely with these businesses and looking at what's going in there

00:20:30.040 --> 00:20:32.160
 and going back and having those conversations,

00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:35.080
 we can really clean up those recycling loads.

00:20:35.080 --> 00:20:38.680
 So again, and the good part about that is it reduces the amount of waste.

00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:41.520
 It increases the value of the recycling.

00:20:41.520 --> 00:20:45.200
 So it really helps us as we're moving along.

00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:50.640
 As we start looking at the phase in of the valet through the downtown area,

00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.320
 we're going to be looking at it in several phases.

00:20:52.320 --> 00:20:55.680
 Starting today, we began a two-week audit period.

00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.360
 We're going to start with phase one south of downtown.

00:20:58.360 --> 00:21:04.480
 We're still talking about whether we could do phase two north of the courthouse or east

00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.440
 of the courthouse, but we may swap these two.

00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.080
 Go to phase four.

00:21:08.080 --> 00:21:12.400
 Finish up the area around the industrial street going north and south.

00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.760
 And then in phase six in November, come all the way over to Fry Street.

00:21:15.760 --> 00:21:18.960
 We do have some shared dumpsters over there.

00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:24.560
 But again, this whole auditing is actually going in, working with the management of the staff.

00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:27.800
 As they take out a load of garbage, they put it on an old-fashioned tick sheet.

00:21:27.800 --> 00:21:30.200
 You know, this is garbage at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock.

00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.200
 What that does, it helps us build the route,

00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:35.800
 determine how many carts are going to need, what kind of capacity, so on and so forth.

00:21:35.800 --> 00:21:38.040
 So again, we don't want garbage sitting at the back door.

00:21:38.040 --> 00:21:40.080
 We don't want liquids going everywhere.

00:21:40.080 --> 00:21:44.600
 We're going to get it out and get it out of the way, clean up the downtown.

00:21:44.600 --> 00:21:51.400
 And again, we anticipate completion by the end of November through all the phases.

00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:55.400
 Again, there's going to be a new billing paradigm that we'll talk about here in just a minute.

00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:59.320
 It's based on a tier assignment, based on basically what your usage is.

00:21:59.320 --> 00:22:02.440
 We don't think that a single-family resident should be paying the same rate

00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:07.720
 as a very, very heavy industrial, you know, bar, grill type of thing.

00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:09.800
 So again, we've got different tiers set up.

00:22:09.800 --> 00:22:13.080
 We're going to go through this, and as people clean up their waste generation,

00:22:13.080 --> 00:22:16.360
 reduce the amount of waste, we'll do a true-up in 2020, such that you're paying,

00:22:16.360 --> 00:22:19.040
 everybody's paying the appropriate level.

00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:23.640
 It gives you an opportunity to actually lower your waste bill in the process.

00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:29.960
 Currently, it cost us almost $155,000 a year, or we're receiving

00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:32.560
 about $155,000 a year in payment.

00:22:32.560 --> 00:22:37.840
 But based on the illegal dumping and the actual cost that it tossed us to service that area,

00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:41.720
 we're under-collecting about $80,000 a year.

00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:44.040
 This valet service, again, is more expensive.

00:22:44.040 --> 00:22:51.120
 It's about $123,000 more, only because it's so intense on the personnel side.

00:22:51.120 --> 00:22:54.360
 But again, we're collecting litter, we'll be power washing.

00:22:54.360 --> 00:22:56.920
 These guys downtown have become our brand ambassadors.

00:22:56.920 --> 00:23:01.480
 They are going to be what people see as the city of Denton.

00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.440
 They'll be giving directions and doing other things.

00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:09.920
 But again, they're going to be out there intensively working in these areas and see and be seen.

00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.000
 So they'll be making a good impression for us.

00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.200
 When we talk about the different shared service rates, again, tier one is your office

00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:19.400
 and your residential, maybe a bag of garbage every two or three days.

00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:25.960
 Right now, we're seeing people in what we're calling a tier one paying anywhere from $24.72

00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:28.880
 all the way up to almost $200.

00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:34.320
 And that's just because of how wacky the current system is.

00:23:34.320 --> 00:23:39.760
 It's really hard to try to figure out how the rates came up with in the first place.

00:23:39.760 --> 00:23:45.120
 What we propose is anybody in phase one or in tier one would go to $24.70.

00:23:45.120 --> 00:23:48.480
 And on down, you'll see the different descriptions, the number of customers we have.

00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:55.040
 Under this system, like I said, we currently have about 141 businesses and residents on

00:23:55.040 --> 00:23:56.040
 shared service.

00:23:56.040 --> 00:24:02.160
 Right now, almost 100 of these businesses and residents would actually see a rate decrease

00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.360
 as a result of this tiered service.

00:24:04.360 --> 00:24:09.000
 We have probably about a half dozen businesses right now that aren't paying anything.

00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.240
 They never had solid waste services set up.

00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:17.840
 And so we'll be getting them in line and paying their fair share as we go along with this.

00:24:17.840 --> 00:24:23.000
 And as a result, continue working with everybody to get their rate as low as possible but equitable

00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.880
 for what they're going to be producing.

00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:30.720
 So with that, any questions on the valet or the shared service?

00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.200
 I think it sounds great.

00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:39.480
 As long as you can handle the labor costs, are you hiring anybody -- going to need to

00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:43.040
 hire anybody in addition to cover the -- Yes.

00:24:43.040 --> 00:24:48.720
 We actually are hiring a crew of -- a five -- a crew leader and then four field service

00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:52.400
 workers to actually run this program exclusively downtown.

00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:53.400
 They're not on any other truck.

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:54.820
 They don't have other assignments.

00:24:54.820 --> 00:24:55.820
 That will be their job.

00:24:55.820 --> 00:24:56.820
 All right?

00:24:56.820 --> 00:24:57.820
 Yeah.

00:24:57.820 --> 00:24:58.820
 Very good.

00:24:58.820 --> 00:25:07.240
 If not, the last thing we'll talk about is some contracted rates and waste volumes.

00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:12.380
 Currently in the city of Denton, we have four private companies and one municipality bringing

00:25:12.380 --> 00:25:14.840
 waste to the city of Denton's landfill.

00:25:14.840 --> 00:25:21.520
 They are not under contract but they are enjoying a rate of $24.50, much less than the $44.

00:25:21.520 --> 00:25:26.640
 This is an internal rate that we basically charge ourself to process material and dispose

00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.280
 of the waste.

00:25:30.280 --> 00:25:35.440
 Over the years, though, other companies came in and they were allowed to enjoy this rate

00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:37.260
 really with no contract or no direction.

00:25:37.260 --> 00:25:44.060
 So what we're trying to do is a little bit of cleanup and try to memorialize some of

00:25:44.060 --> 00:25:46.040
 this in a contracted situation.

00:25:46.040 --> 00:25:50.480
 Currently we're receiving almost 9,000 tons of waste a month from these companies with

00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:54.040
 close to $2.7 million in annual revenue.

00:25:54.040 --> 00:25:58.040
 This is important because what it does, it allows us to bridge a financial gap that we

00:25:58.040 --> 00:25:59.880
 currently have in the system.

00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:03.840
 We have some long-term debt that if we pulled this, we would actually have to raise rates

00:26:03.840 --> 00:26:06.380
 for both our business and residential customers.

00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:13.080
 So it allows us to keep the rates as low as possible but maintain some financial stability

00:26:13.080 --> 00:26:14.800
 as we're going through here.

00:26:14.800 --> 00:26:18.000
 What we've done is we've met with representatives of each of these entities and asked them to

00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:23.420
 propose a guaranteed tonnage rate and a guaranteed amount of tonnage they would bring in here

00:26:23.420 --> 00:26:24.420
 and a rate.

00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:26.080
 And commonly that's called a put or pay.

00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:30.360
 So basically you say you're going to bring X amount and regardless of how much you bring,

00:26:30.360 --> 00:26:32.960
 you're obligated to pay us for that tonnage.

00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:36.820
 So if you say you're going to bring 200 tons and you only bring 150, you still owe us for

00:26:36.820 --> 00:26:41.640
 that additional 50 and you're going to pay the rate at which you're proposed.

00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:46.520
 This would be under a three-year contract with an annual escalator like the CPI and

00:26:46.520 --> 00:26:51.440
 we do a true-up on tonnage at the end of the year so everybody paid their fair share.

00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.280
 While we were doing these meetings, we actually had an additional government step forward

00:26:54.280 --> 00:26:56.800
 and say we want to bring some waste to you.

00:26:56.800 --> 00:27:02.720
 So again, we throw that out to them and said how much you want to bring and what do you

00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.320
 pay us to take it.

00:27:04.320 --> 00:27:08.880
 So here's really what we've come back with.

00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:14.720
 So the tonnage and the rates, they're sort of all over the board, but what it does, it

00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:19.840
 basically brings us about 3,300 additional tons a month, but with these 33 additional

00:27:19.840 --> 00:27:25.400
 tons we actually gain almost $1.4 million additional revenue annually.

00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:29.800
 It's an estimated loss of about 80 days of airspace over the three-year period, but when

00:27:29.800 --> 00:27:34.280
 you look at, you know, we've got 17 years left in the life of this landfill, you know,

00:27:34.280 --> 00:27:38.040
 three years is within the margin of error, operational error, and when we look at our

00:27:38.040 --> 00:27:42.520
 landfill expansion, we've got anywhere from 30 to 50 years on top of that.

00:27:42.520 --> 00:27:48.800
 So again, it's an opportunity for us to regain some revenue, possibly provide some fundings

00:27:48.800 --> 00:27:52.700
 for some projects that we've got coming up or provide some rate relief.

00:27:52.700 --> 00:27:57.720
 At the end of the day though, what this does, this three-year, it allows us to get out of

00:27:57.720 --> 00:27:59.400
 that debt circle.

00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:04.960
 So in three years if we decide not to renew contracts with any of these companies from

00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:09.560
 a financial standpoint, we won't have to worry about that debt that would have rolled off

00:28:09.560 --> 00:28:15.000
 by that time and we can go back and not renew this, have them pay $46 or whatever the rate

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.000
 gate rate is.

00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.920
 If they want to use this grade, if not, that would be fine, but our rate payers would not

00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:24.080
 be negatively affected by not accepting the waste at this time.

00:28:24.080 --> 00:28:29.280
 Well, you guessed what my question was going to be on airspace, so yeah.

00:28:29.280 --> 00:28:30.280
 So what is the --

00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:31.280
 Oh, I'm sorry.

00:28:31.280 --> 00:28:32.280
 Go ahead, Russ.

00:28:32.280 --> 00:28:34.040
 Can you define for me airspace?

00:28:34.040 --> 00:28:44.200
 Yeah, airspace basically is how we convert volume or how we convert weight to volume.

00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:51.400
 So basically you can fit so much trash in so many cubic yards of space and because the

00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:55.760
 height of the landfill is regular by the permit, it basically defines how much of the permit

00:28:55.760 --> 00:28:57.800
 is eaten up by this activity.

00:28:57.800 --> 00:29:03.480
 So we anticipate we've got about 17, 18 years of life, 80 days of that would be consumed

00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:06.480
 by this activity.

00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:10.040
 I had a two-part question, but that was the answer to the first one.

00:29:10.040 --> 00:29:14.720
 The second one is you've listed your additional revenues that you'll be earning, what's your

00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:15.720
 additional cost?

00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.520
 There is no additional cost.

00:29:17.520 --> 00:29:19.360
 So it's zero for you to take?

00:29:19.360 --> 00:29:26.120
 It cost us zero because again, running a landfill is a fixed-based enterprise.

00:29:26.120 --> 00:29:28.880
 So if you get more waste, do you steal it and cost you more?

00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:29.880
 No.

00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:30.880
 You guys are great.

00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:31.880
 I want to know that formula.

00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:32.880
 You've got to do that.

00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:35.880
 Well, you know, whether you take one ton of waste or whether you take 2,000 tons of waste

00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:36.880
 --

00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:37.880
 Well, if you take 50 people, it takes you more to take 100 people.

00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:38.880
 Yeah.

00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:39.880
 Yeah.

00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:40.880
 Okay.

00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:41.880
 I don't buy it, but okay.

00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:42.880
 It doesn't matter because you've already passed it through council.

00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.420
 I don't know why we're talking about it.

00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:48.040
 So anyway, this was another scenario, but they didn't go that route.

00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:51.280
 So at the end of the day, we do have rating ordinances.

00:29:51.280 --> 00:29:54.480
 We're bringing it back to you today and it will be brought back to the city council,

00:29:54.480 --> 00:30:00.680
 I believe, on the 10th.

00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:02.980
 This is on the individual consideration to be approved today.

00:30:02.980 --> 00:30:05.760
 It will be approved for city council on September 17th.

00:30:05.760 --> 00:30:06.760
 Okay.

00:30:06.760 --> 00:30:07.760
 Excuse me.

00:30:07.760 --> 00:30:14.360
 And as I said, we've begun the initial implementation in phase one in the downtown service area.

00:30:14.360 --> 00:30:19.040
 And again, we're finalizing the contracting on the rates and volumes for the third-party

00:30:19.040 --> 00:30:20.040
 haulers.

00:30:20.040 --> 00:30:23.160
 Those contracts we'll bring back and for consideration.

00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:24.800
 All right.

00:30:24.800 --> 00:30:25.800
 Questions?

00:30:25.800 --> 00:30:26.800
 Any other questions?

00:30:26.800 --> 00:30:27.800
 All right.

00:30:27.800 --> 00:30:28.800
 Thank you.

00:30:28.800 --> 00:30:29.800
 Thank you very much.

00:30:29.800 --> 00:30:30.800
 Thank you, Brian.

00:30:30.800 --> 00:30:31.800
 All right.

00:30:31.800 --> 00:30:36.620
 Next item is receive a report and hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding the Denton

00:30:36.620 --> 00:30:45.600
 Municipal Electric Fiscal Year 2019-2020 schedules of rates for electrical services.

00:30:45.600 --> 00:31:00.560
 Good evening, board members and new board members.

00:31:00.560 --> 00:31:06.360
 Sorry, my presentation is not going to be near as exciting as the landfill presentation.

00:31:06.360 --> 00:31:12.240
 And like Nick has spoken up, we kind of got out of sequence here with some PV meetings.

00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:18.720
 So this item has already been to the city council along with the solid waste rates.

00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:20.240
 They've given us direction.

00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:24.360
 We should note that we were-- if we would have followed the right sequence, we had two

00:31:24.360 --> 00:31:29.640
 options that would be a no rate increase or a tiered rate increase of 3 percent with one

00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:31.000
 and a half being each year.

00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:35.720
 So those options were presented to the council and they gave us guidance to go with the no

00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:37.040
 increase.

00:31:37.040 --> 00:31:42.480
 So along with that, the caveat to that is we let them know that we'll probably be bringing

00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:51.280
 this issue back to them by the end of the year to possibly address raising the ECA rate.

00:31:51.280 --> 00:31:57.960
 So as I stated, there's no rate changes at all to the rate book for the electric rates

00:31:57.960 --> 00:32:01.160
 for the 2019 to 2020 year.

00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:05.760
 There's some minor changes here that are some terminology and some units and we're adding

00:32:05.760 --> 00:32:10.920
 a LED security light rate and I'll cover these as we go.

00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:13.240
 Any questions?

00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:19.880
 No change is good.

00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.320
 So what we have here is we'll start with the residential rates.

00:32:22.320 --> 00:32:26.520
 These rates would be the same and this are going forward as they were last year.

00:32:26.520 --> 00:32:31.360
 The facility charge, the usage charge and the ECA charge are all the same.

00:32:31.360 --> 00:32:33.840
 So we have our three types of residential rates here.

00:32:33.840 --> 00:32:38.120
 We have our standard residential rate, a renewable service.

00:32:38.120 --> 00:32:44.200
 The difference there would be the RCA charge, that $4.80 charge and then our prepaid service

00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.480
 which I believe came online this year.

00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:51.200
 That's a program where citizens can elect to prepay for the electric service.

00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:57.080
 So as you'll note on here, the facility charge is about $7 and some change more than the

00:32:57.080 --> 00:32:58.600
 standard facility charge.

00:32:58.600 --> 00:33:00.560
 That is the cost to administer the program.

00:33:00.560 --> 00:33:07.440
 So this third party vendor actually is administering the program for this prepaid service.

00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:11.440
 And the benefit to that we should say is there's no deposit.

00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:16.720
 So for some accounts that have gotten behind, this is a way for them to get current.

00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:19.560
 So there's no deposit and there's no reconnect fee.

00:33:19.560 --> 00:33:25.120
 So if the citizen is disconnected because their account went to zero, they charge their

00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:32.240
 account, electricity would be turned back on, there'd be no charge to the rate payer.

00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:36.880
 Our commercial rates, general service, they're the same as they were last year, kind of have

00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:39.640
 general service, small, medium and large.

00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:44.880
 We've shown some just typical bills and the proponents of that bill along with just kind

00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:51.160
 of give you some idea of what type of entities are serviced with each rate.

00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:57.920
 LED security lights, so I believe on September 9th there'll be an item coming before you

00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:02.760
 which would be an LED street light program for the city of Denton.

00:34:02.760 --> 00:34:08.200
 So in lieu of that, this is for the security lights which is its own individual rate.

00:34:08.200 --> 00:34:10.340
 So these lights are not metered.

00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:15.120
 So they're just a standard usage based on the manufacturer data.

00:34:15.120 --> 00:34:20.800
 So we noticed that as we move forward with LEDs after the street lights, if it's approved

00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:24.280
 and they're implemented, they will start to change out some of the security lights with

00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:25.280
 the LED lights.

00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:30.760
 So all this does is simply state that it accounts for the efficiency of the LED bulbs.

00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:35.080
 So on the 100 watt, there's an example there on the 100 watt sodium vapor that's replaced

00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:39.360
 with equivalent LED, you can see there's a small change.

00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:45.840
 But over time when all lights get converted, this would be a significant energy savings.

00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:51.520
 And finally, and for transparency sake and in the past, the rate book has always had

00:34:51.520 --> 00:34:56.360
 the ECA and the RCA and has the formula of how you calculate it but it was never stated

00:34:56.360 --> 00:34:57.360
 in the manual.

00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:00.120
 So it was stated in the budget, it was stated on the website.

00:35:00.120 --> 00:35:06.080
 So to be more transparent, we thought we would just post that rate in the rate book and if

00:35:06.080 --> 00:35:09.640
 we do need to come back to you, it'll take an ordinance to change this rate.

00:35:09.640 --> 00:35:15.240
 At that time, we would update the rate book with whatever rate is selected.

00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:16.240
 Like that.

00:35:16.240 --> 00:35:17.240
 Any questions?

00:35:17.240 --> 00:35:18.480
 Pretty dry.

00:35:18.480 --> 00:35:22.720
 Sometimes we're more excited than this.

00:35:22.720 --> 00:35:27.880
 Does the ECA, this is my second stint here, I don't know how you do it now, does the ECA

00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:31.760
 come through the PUB for approval or does it go directly to the council?

00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:33.540
 No sir, it goes through both.

00:35:33.540 --> 00:35:38.240
 But because we didn't have a quorum, they needed to take it forward to council.

00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:46.080
 We tried to stay in the, if we know what the budget cycle is coming up.

00:35:46.080 --> 00:35:47.080
 Yes sir.

00:35:47.080 --> 00:35:48.080
 So there is.

00:35:48.080 --> 00:35:51.120
 So it would have been approved through PUB Monday and then Tuesday council would have

00:35:51.120 --> 00:35:53.800
 seen it, like 24 hour period, correct?

00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:54.800
 Yes sir.

00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:56.880
 That's the way it was scheduled, correct?

00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:57.880
 Correct.

00:35:57.880 --> 00:35:58.880
 Correct.

00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:02.360
 And then it got bumped by, because there wasn't that meeting, so that's how it kind of got

00:36:02.360 --> 00:36:03.360
 out of cycle.

00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.360
 We just went straight to council.

00:36:04.360 --> 00:36:05.360
 Correct.

00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:08.400
 And then Tuesday on that we went straight to council and then.

00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:09.400
 I understand.

00:36:09.400 --> 00:36:10.400
 Yeah.

00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:14.540
 And the ECA rate, the rate is written where it's a formula, it's an over or under collected,

00:36:14.540 --> 00:36:19.920
 but there's a discretion of the DME director to bring that to PUB and council as they see

00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:20.920
 fit.

00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:23.920
 We have to have some speculation, that's for sure.

00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:24.920
 Yes sir, you're sure.

00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:26.920
 Why is the RCA higher than the ECA?

00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:31.480
 The RCA is the cost of the rec.

00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:33.040
 Renewable energy credit.

00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:34.040
 Renewable energy credit.

00:36:34.040 --> 00:36:42.200
 So that's the ECA, it's the EC rate plus that .004 cents, that's the cost of the rec.

00:36:42.200 --> 00:36:48.160
 So this is a rate that'll stay on the books as directed for the, when we go 100% renewable,

00:36:48.160 --> 00:36:53.480
 at that time this rate would not be applicable, but it is on the rate book until we get to

00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:54.820
 that point.

00:36:54.820 --> 00:36:55.820
 And it is not changed?

00:36:55.820 --> 00:36:56.820
 No ma'am.

00:36:56.820 --> 00:36:57.820
 Yeah.

00:36:57.820 --> 00:36:58.820
 It's not changed.

00:36:58.820 --> 00:36:59.820
 Okay.

00:36:59.820 --> 00:37:05.120
 And the only other change we had on there that kind of skipped over was our demand charge,

00:37:05.120 --> 00:37:11.400
 it doesn't affect businesses at all, but it's just a unit change from KVA to KW.

00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:18.160
 So that as these accounts cross from one account or one level to the next, it takes a firmware

00:37:18.160 --> 00:37:21.440
 upgrade in the meters to capture that KVA.

00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:26.320
 So changing it to KW would be a better way that our meter shop can see when they need

00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:28.640
 to change that rate.

00:37:28.640 --> 00:37:32.060
 So but there's no cost to the businesses.

00:37:32.060 --> 00:37:35.800
 All right, other questions?

00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:40.080
 All right, thank you for your time.

00:37:40.080 --> 00:37:41.080
 Thank you.

00:37:41.080 --> 00:37:46.040
 And the next work session item, receive a report and hold a discussion and give staff

00:37:46.040 --> 00:37:59.360
 direction regarding credit collections, performance and processes.

00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:04.280
 Madam Chair, board members, Krista Foster, customer service, welcome to our new members

00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:06.000
 this evening.

00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:09.720
 So I'm here this evening to do a little bit of follow up again on our credit and collections

00:38:09.720 --> 00:38:12.260
 processes in the customer service division.

00:38:12.260 --> 00:38:18.720
 In February of 2018, we had some council directed changes to the way that we managed our credit

00:38:18.720 --> 00:38:19.900
 and collections.

00:38:19.900 --> 00:38:25.200
 We added about $25,000 a year to our plus one utility assistance program.

00:38:25.200 --> 00:38:29.880
 We also broadened those scope of that program so that we can assist families more than once

00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:33.820
 during the calendar year and we can assist with deposits.

00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:41.120
 We also introduced some additional deposit waiver options, including the bank draft deposit,

00:38:41.120 --> 00:38:47.880
 a recurring payment deposit waiver and a homelessness deposit waiver that's part of the rapid rehousing

00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:49.480
 program.

00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:54.400
 The more important changes that were made to this were we changed the internal credit

00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:58.240
 rating scale and that's what a lot of the things we're talking about today are related

00:38:58.240 --> 00:38:59.520
 to.

00:38:59.520 --> 00:39:05.560
 So what we did is we changed the way that we calculate some of the points that cause

00:39:05.560 --> 00:39:07.840
 us to do an increased deposit.

00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:13.280
 We also now have changed the credit scoring so it requires a greater number of events

00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:18.840
 before a deposit is required on the account and for a lot of customers, it reduced the

00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:21.680
 amount of deposit that's required by half.

00:39:21.680 --> 00:39:26.800
 So what has happened with this is it has allowed us to charge fewer deposits or charge a lot

00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:31.800
 less in deposits and we're providing some feedback on how that's going and what's happening

00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:33.360
 with our performance.

00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:37.920
 In March of 2019, we were asked to come back at a year into the program to provide some

00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:39.120
 updates.

00:39:39.120 --> 00:39:41.760
 We also came with Navigant Consulting.

00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:45.960
 That's the company that had helped with us putting our processes into place and meeting

00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:47.760
 some of the best practices.

00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:52.920
 So we wanted them to review how our performance is going as well as to provide an update related

00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:55.340
 to the changes that had been made.

00:39:55.340 --> 00:39:59.980
 As a result of that, we issued an informal staff report in June so that City Council

00:39:59.980 --> 00:40:04.380
 could have some of their additional follow-up questions answered and they asked a few clarifying

00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:08.200
 questions in the June 4th session when we were before them then.

00:40:08.200 --> 00:40:11.840
 So what we're doing is we're addressing some of those clarifications tonight.

00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:18.120
 >> Can I ask on that first slide, I'm not sure what you meant by interest no longer

00:40:18.120 --> 00:40:21.680
 counts as a -- >> So what happened is we have different types

00:40:21.680 --> 00:40:28.440
 of events like a late payment or interest when you would accrue interest on your account,

00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:32.360
 it would be counted toward your internal credit score as a negative.

00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:34.340
 So that was removed from it.

00:40:34.340 --> 00:40:40.520
 So the number of points that are accrued by a customer for their payment behaviors were

00:40:40.520 --> 00:40:45.480
 modified slightly and that's the one that was changed there.

00:40:45.480 --> 00:40:51.640
 So in the beginning of March, we only had just the very first portions of the bad debt

00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:54.640
 data that had happened after these changes were made.

00:40:54.640 --> 00:40:59.160
 So since we're coming back, we wanted to again continue to provide feedback on that.

00:40:59.160 --> 00:41:01.700
 We were asked to closely monitor that.

00:41:01.700 --> 00:41:06.800
 So again, just so that our new members can know, in 2010 is when we began implementing

00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:12.320
 credit and collection practices to mimic best practices of the industry and what happened

00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:18.640
 is we found that our annual bad debt was over $1.1 million that fiscal year.

00:41:18.640 --> 00:41:22.980
 And so once we put a program into place, we began following some of the different standards

00:41:22.980 --> 00:41:24.680
 that we followed today.

00:41:24.680 --> 00:41:32.040
 We saw that reduce all the way down to $381,000 a year, just continually throughout that time

00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:35.040
 period through FY '16-'17.

00:41:35.040 --> 00:41:41.680
 FY '17-'18 was the first time since introduction of those policies that we've seen a growth

00:41:41.680 --> 00:41:44.800
 in the annual amount of bad debt.

00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:49.840
 That is the year we're partway through we've made these changes to our collection practices.

00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:54.160
 The more concerning thing for us currently is that we had mentioned before that as we're

00:41:54.160 --> 00:41:57.960
 just starting to see the data, it's a very volatile number.

00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:05.820
 So over the first quarter of FY '18-'19, we've already seen a 44% increase in bad debt

00:42:05.820 --> 00:42:08.720
 over the first quarter of the previous year.

00:42:08.720 --> 00:42:12.560
 So we are still very closely monitoring these numbers.

00:42:12.560 --> 00:42:15.460
 And that was before the hot weather.

00:42:15.460 --> 00:42:17.200
 And that was before the hot weather.

00:42:17.200 --> 00:42:18.280
 And the high bills.

00:42:18.280 --> 00:42:23.120
 And right now, we're looking at we have an additional 3,000 residential accounts that

00:42:23.120 --> 00:42:25.320
 have been added in the last year.

00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:32.480
 But we're at $850,000 fewer deposits on file than we would have had prior.

00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:36.840
 So another quick summary so everyone can kind of see year over or quarter over quarter for

00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:42.840
 the last three years, that in '15-'16, we followed the same practices that had been implemented

00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:45.160
 in FY 2010.

00:42:45.160 --> 00:42:50.780
 In '16-'17, we followed the same practices that we had followed in 2010.

00:42:50.780 --> 00:42:56.760
 And then as you see in FY '17-'18, it's the point where you see the black outline.

00:42:56.760 --> 00:43:02.200
 This is the quarters that represent the changes to our policy over time.

00:43:02.200 --> 00:43:06.240
 And then of course, the FY '18-'19 is there as well.

00:43:06.240 --> 00:43:11.440
 The thing that's most alarming to us at this point is that over the last 13 consecutive

00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:18.360
 quarters, we've only seen bad debt exceed an average of $50,000 a month three times

00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:22.360
 and two of those are the last two consecutive quarters.

00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:28.200
 So there's still a lot of need for us to continue to closely monitor what's going on with this

00:43:28.200 --> 00:43:32.520
 performance of debt.

00:43:32.520 --> 00:43:36.580
 One of the questions that we were asked to provide a little additional clarification

00:43:36.580 --> 00:43:42.760
 on is the relation of late fees and interest to bad debt.

00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:48.120
 We were specifically asked what part of late fees, interest and deposits make up bad debt.

00:43:48.120 --> 00:43:50.800
 So first I want to make sure that it's clarified.

00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:54.920
 Deposits are never a contributor in a negative way to bad debt.

00:43:54.920 --> 00:43:56.960
 That money belongs to the customer.

00:43:56.960 --> 00:43:59.600
 We are simply holding it on their behalf.

00:43:59.600 --> 00:44:05.000
 Once that account closes, we refund the balance of that plus interest to the customer so it

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.440
 only ever offsets the numbers for bad debt.

00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:15.080
 The second thing that's important to note is that final balances are not subject to

00:44:15.080 --> 00:44:17.120
 late fees or interest.

00:44:17.120 --> 00:44:23.280
 At the point the customer initiates that termination request, that balance is no longer subject

00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:24.460
 to a late fee.

00:44:24.460 --> 00:44:29.240
 So anytime there is a late fee that's part of a write-off balance, it means that those

00:44:29.240 --> 00:44:34.840
 fees existed prior to the customer requesting service termination.

00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:42.040
 That being said, for our residential accounts, the average write-off is $278.

00:44:42.040 --> 00:44:48.180
 And of that, $8 is fees and $0.75 would be interest on average.

00:44:48.180 --> 00:44:51.360
 It accounts for about 3% of our bad debt.

00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:58.480
 And only 35% of those write-off accounts actually have some form of fear interest that was included.

00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:04.960
 Excuse me, just a quick question, how is the interest determined on how you're going to

00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:08.600
 pay interest on the deposit back to the customer?

00:45:08.600 --> 00:45:12.600
 We follow the federal interest rates.

00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:13.600
 Okay.

00:45:13.600 --> 00:45:14.600
 Which one?

00:45:14.600 --> 00:45:15.600
 I don't know.

00:45:15.600 --> 00:45:16.600
 Okay.

00:45:16.600 --> 00:45:17.600
 I know.

00:45:17.600 --> 00:45:18.600
 I'm off the top of my head.

00:45:18.600 --> 00:45:19.600
 I can get the information and provide it back.

00:45:19.600 --> 00:45:22.120
 I was just thinking about putting some money in the deposit.

00:45:22.120 --> 00:45:25.120
 I don't think you'd pay that much bill.

00:45:25.120 --> 00:45:30.000
 I will allow Tiffany to address that.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:33.240
 Good evening, Tiffany Thompson, Director of Customer Service.

00:45:33.240 --> 00:45:35.320
 I would not recommend putting your money there.

00:45:35.320 --> 00:45:40.280
 It is a very small amount, but we do work with finance on what that is updated, but

00:45:40.280 --> 00:45:44.440
 we work with the federal reserves on what that amount is, but it's very small.

00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:51.800
 I wouldn't -- I care about you, don't do it.

00:45:51.800 --> 00:45:53.200
 Any other questions?

00:45:53.200 --> 00:45:54.200
 Okay.

00:45:54.200 --> 00:45:59.320
 So, the other things that we were talking about, one of them is the way that late fees

00:45:59.320 --> 00:46:00.560
 are assessed.

00:46:00.560 --> 00:46:03.960
 So I wanted to address late fees and payment behavior.

00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:11.900
 So in FY 2010, we increased our late fee from $10 to $20.

00:46:11.900 --> 00:46:17.760
 We are one of the few municipalities that charges a flat late fee versus a percentage,

00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:20.000
 which is where the question was raised.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:26.160
 So as we're looking at this, what happened is we found that the $10 fee was not significant

00:46:26.160 --> 00:46:29.920
 enough to deter the behaviors in the payment patterns.

00:46:29.920 --> 00:46:37.360
 As soon as that fee changed to a $20 flat fee, we saw an immediate 29% month over month

00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:38.520
 increase.

00:46:38.520 --> 00:46:45.480
 And across eight years, that has resulted in over 42% fewer account delinquencies.

00:46:45.480 --> 00:46:51.160
 The fewer delinquent accounts, the fewer customers who are being impacted negatively with fees,

00:46:51.160 --> 00:46:54.160
 with interest, or with additional deposits.

00:46:54.160 --> 00:47:00.000
 So we recommend, you know, that this stays as it is because it is an effective deterrent

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:09.640
 to keep customers out of situations where they may be charged additional funds.

00:47:09.640 --> 00:47:14.800
 Another area that we had questions about was the way we handle our deposits on transfers

00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:17.080
 of service.

00:47:17.080 --> 00:47:18.780
 We are an outlier.

00:47:18.780 --> 00:47:24.240
 A lot of the different utilities actually transfer everything with the service.

00:47:24.240 --> 00:47:28.920
 What we do internally is we will actually take the account that you're at today.

00:47:28.920 --> 00:47:30.320
 We finalize the account.

00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:34.280
 We apply your deposit and interest back to that final balance.

00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:39.240
 We assess to see if you still require a deposit at the new account and assess that at the

00:47:39.240 --> 00:47:40.800
 new account.

00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:45.160
 The customer does have the option if there isn't a deposit assessed that they can make

00:47:45.160 --> 00:47:46.820
 arrangements on that.

00:47:46.820 --> 00:47:52.640
 This gives that customer more access to fluid assets during that time that they're moving

00:47:52.640 --> 00:47:55.880
 than if we were to follow some of the other practices.

00:47:55.880 --> 00:47:59.880
 Most utilities will actually take at the time that account finalizes, they just transfer

00:47:59.880 --> 00:48:04.180
 the deposit as well as all of the final balances.

00:48:04.180 --> 00:48:08.660
 That means that immediately that customer could be in jeopardy of additional fees or interruptions

00:48:08.660 --> 00:48:11.120
 at the new account.

00:48:11.120 --> 00:48:17.040
 If that customer maybe would have to pay a lower deposit or no deposit at all, it doesn't

00:48:17.040 --> 00:48:19.320
 take that into consideration.

00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:25.040
 What we actually found was only 8% of our customers who have transferred service over

00:48:25.040 --> 00:48:31.040
 the last 12 months actually were assessed a deposit at their new location.

00:48:31.040 --> 00:48:38.200
 20% of our customers who had deposits got their deposit refunded and didn't require

00:48:38.200 --> 00:48:40.440
 a deposit at their new location.

00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:50.480
 So we're giving them that benefit of being able to have better access to those funds.

00:48:50.480 --> 00:48:55.680
 So for next steps, our recommendations are that we continue to monitor the uncollectible

00:48:55.680 --> 00:48:58.240
 debt trend over the next quarter.

00:48:58.240 --> 00:49:03.760
 In December of 2019, if we still continue to see the climb and the rates going up as

00:49:03.760 --> 00:49:10.000
 they are today, we will be coming back looking for some containment strategies to help mitigate

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.920
 that before we see a significant amount of bad debt at the end of the year.

00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:19.960
 We also would recommend postponing or avoiding any kind of policy or procedure updates that

00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:25.560
 are going to contribute to the growth of that current uncollectible bad debt that we maintain

00:49:25.560 --> 00:49:31.640
 our existing late fee structure as an effective deterrent to help prevent that from happening.

00:49:31.640 --> 00:49:34.080
 And that we continue with our current deposit process.

00:49:34.080 --> 00:49:39.360
 We actually did a little bit of surveying over the customers in the month of June, all

00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:41.640
 customers who had transferred service.

00:49:41.640 --> 00:49:45.040
 We did see one who said that he felt like he would rather have everything transferred

00:49:45.040 --> 00:49:48.880
 over but largely the customers like that process.

00:49:48.880 --> 00:49:54.060
 They felt like it was very easy to understand and they felt like it was beneficial to them

00:49:54.060 --> 00:49:59.200
 to be able to have that deposit pay off their final balances.

00:49:59.200 --> 00:50:04.560
 And we also want to continue to monitor and grow our pay as you go prepaid metering program

00:50:04.560 --> 00:50:09.720
 because of the -- it's the way that we can relieve burden to customers without having

00:50:09.720 --> 00:50:16.880
 an impact on uncollectible debt.

00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:22.160
 >> I remember we reduced it from a two-month balance to a one-month balance and utility

00:50:22.160 --> 00:50:29.500
 industry is two months because we don't even know yet that you're going bad if it's just

00:50:29.500 --> 00:50:30.500
 one month.

00:50:30.500 --> 00:50:33.000
 Do you think that is the contributing factor?

00:50:33.000 --> 00:50:39.400
 >> That is definitely a contributor to this because when a customer leaves the city and

00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:44.800
 they terminate an account, they're going to have their current bill as well as another

00:50:44.800 --> 00:50:47.520
 month of service that has yet to bill.

00:50:47.520 --> 00:50:50.340
 So that is typically why that standard is in place.

00:50:50.340 --> 00:50:57.520
 When we do still charge a two-month deposit on the lowest tiers of that credit score but

00:50:57.520 --> 00:51:02.240
 in that credit scale, we do have an entire section that is a one-month.

00:51:02.240 --> 00:51:03.360
 >> Okay.

00:51:03.360 --> 00:51:04.360
 Thank you.

00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:06.720
 >> Any additional questions?

00:51:06.720 --> 00:51:10.840
 >> You know how this -- how does this debt picture compare with other municipalities of

00:51:10.840 --> 00:51:11.840
 a similar size?

00:51:11.840 --> 00:51:16.800
 >> It is actually fairly difficult to be able to pull so that we -- Tiffany, do we have

00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:19.200
 that from the Navigant study?

00:51:19.200 --> 00:51:21.920
 >> If not, I'll provide that back to you.

00:51:21.920 --> 00:51:26.200
 We had provided some information in March related to that.

00:51:26.200 --> 00:51:29.800
 Only a handful of the other municipalities had actually provided some of their bad debt

00:51:29.800 --> 00:51:30.800
 statistics.

00:51:30.800 --> 00:51:36.240
 But I can certainly provide that back to you.

00:51:36.240 --> 00:51:42.760
 >> I have another question but it's gone.

00:51:42.760 --> 00:51:43.760
 Any other questions?

00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:44.760
 >> All right.

00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:45.760
 >> Thank you.

00:51:45.760 --> 00:51:46.760
 >> Thank you.

00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:47.760
 >> Oh, did you have something else?

00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:48.760
 >> No.

00:51:48.760 --> 00:51:49.760
 >> Okay.

00:51:49.760 --> 00:51:50.760
 >> Okay.

00:51:50.760 --> 00:51:52.360
 Next item then is consent agenda.

00:51:52.360 --> 00:51:54.360
 >> Did you find them?

00:51:54.360 --> 00:51:55.360
 >> Oh.

00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:56.360
 Okay.

00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:59.040
 >> Thank you for the question.

00:51:59.040 --> 00:52:03.280
 Whenever we did the Navigant consultant, City of Denton came in quite favorable for our

00:52:03.280 --> 00:52:05.280
 bad debt, what we had.

00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:11.400
 We had Denton, Austin, DeSoto, Houston, and some of those like Austin had .45%, Lubbock

00:52:11.400 --> 00:52:17.520
 was .54%, we were .15%, so we came out very favorable with our policies that were in place

00:52:17.520 --> 00:52:24.760
 with that so they were actually kind of recommending us as being the model to other utilities.

00:52:24.760 --> 00:52:25.760
 Does that answer your question?

00:52:25.760 --> 00:52:27.960
 >> Prior to the changes or after?

00:52:27.960 --> 00:52:29.320
 >> Prior to the changes.

00:52:29.320 --> 00:52:32.920
 But that's where we're still at whenever we were reporting this.

00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:33.920
 >> Okay.

00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:34.920
 Thank you.

00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:37.360
 >> I wanted to get that answered this evening.

00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:38.880
 >> Thank you.

00:52:38.880 --> 00:52:39.880
 >> Okay.

00:52:39.880 --> 00:52:45.200
 Now we're onto the consent agenda and I believe we have just one item.

00:52:45.200 --> 00:52:49.200
 Does the board, any board member wish to pull that item?

00:52:49.200 --> 00:52:52.520
 All right.

00:52:52.520 --> 00:52:54.960
 Then do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:55.960
 >> I move approval.

00:52:55.960 --> 00:52:56.960
 >> I'll second.

00:52:56.960 --> 00:52:58.760
 >> All in favor say aye.

00:52:58.760 --> 00:52:59.760
 >> Aye.

00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:00.760
 >> Opposed?

00:53:00.760 --> 00:53:01.760
 Carries.

00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:02.760
 Okay.

00:53:02.760 --> 00:53:05.400
 Items for individual consideration.

00:53:05.400 --> 00:53:11.320
 The minutes of July 22, 2019, did anyone have any changes or corrections?

00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:16.280
 Okay, then they'll stand approved as presented.

00:53:16.280 --> 00:53:20.720
 Next item is consider recommending the adoption of an ordinance for the municipal electric

00:53:20.720 --> 00:53:25.720
 fiscal year 2019-2020 schedule of rates for electric service.

00:53:25.720 --> 00:53:31.000
 Since we already had a presentation, do we have a motion to approve?

00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:35.680
 >> Unless there's any additional information on it, I make a motion to approve.

00:53:35.680 --> 00:53:36.680
 >> I second.

00:53:36.680 --> 00:53:37.680
 >> Okay.

00:53:37.680 --> 00:53:38.680
 All in favor say aye.

00:53:38.680 --> 00:53:39.680
 >> Aye.

00:53:39.680 --> 00:53:40.680
 >> Opposed?

00:53:40.680 --> 00:53:43.480
 That one carries.

00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:47.120
 Consider recommending adoption of an ordinance from the City of Denton, Texas, Home Rule

00:53:47.120 --> 00:53:52.000
 Municipal Corporation authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Archer

00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:56.900
 Western Construction for the construction of Lake Louisville water treatment plant dewatering

00:53:56.900 --> 00:53:57.900
 facility.

00:53:57.900 --> 00:54:00.520
 I'm not going to read it all for the amount of $8,124,640.

00:54:00.520 --> 00:54:19.840
 >> Oops, I grabbed the wrong presentation on my flash drive.

00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:20.840
 >> Okay.

00:54:20.840 --> 00:54:21.840
 >> Good evening, Madam Chair, PUB.

00:54:21.840 --> 00:54:38.440
 I am Frank Pugsley, the Director of Water Utilities here to discuss the Lake Louisville

00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:54.560
 water treatment plant dewatering facility, let me see if I can get this full screen.

00:54:54.560 --> 00:54:58.640
 Here we go.

00:54:58.640 --> 00:55:06.240
 Well, it's not working out for me as well as I'd like.

00:55:06.240 --> 00:55:12.200
 The Louisville dewatering project, historically the Lake Louisville water treatment plant

00:55:12.200 --> 00:55:20.880
 has discharged our water treatment plant solids to the sanitary sewer for ultimate treatment

00:55:20.880 --> 00:55:24.720
 and removal at the Pecan Creek wastewater treatment facility.

00:55:24.720 --> 00:55:29.960
 In about 2015, after the new phosphorus removal regulations, the discharge of the solids to

00:55:29.960 --> 00:55:33.600
 the wastewater plant became problematic and interfered with their process for phosphorus

00:55:33.600 --> 00:55:34.600
 removal.

00:55:34.600 --> 00:55:40.880
 They requested that we cease discharging solids and in 2017, we took steps to do that, installed

00:55:40.880 --> 00:55:45.760
 some additional pumps at the plant and began discharging our water treatment plant residuals

00:55:45.760 --> 00:55:49.080
 to the existing lagoon that's present on site.

00:55:49.080 --> 00:55:55.680
 The lagoon has finite capacity and we have been adding solids to it since 2017, knowing

00:55:55.680 --> 00:56:01.480
 that we would either have to routinely dewater the solids in the lagoon or come up with another

00:56:01.480 --> 00:56:02.480
 solution.

00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:08.920
 We have added a dewatering system at the plant.

00:56:08.920 --> 00:56:14.280
 Garver engineers were selected for that project and the ultimate design is a belt filter press

00:56:14.280 --> 00:56:19.520
 facility and some gravity thickeners to be installed at the plant.

00:56:19.520 --> 00:56:27.160
 Requests for bids were sent out and two bids were received, one being Archer Western.

00:56:27.160 --> 00:56:33.360
 The bid from Archer Western was $8.124 million and change, the two bids are actually very

00:56:33.360 --> 00:56:36.360
 close, they're within $70,000 each other.

00:56:36.360 --> 00:56:40.280
 Let's just know we at least had probably a good set of plans and competitive bidding

00:56:40.280 --> 00:56:45.160
 and the staff recommendation for that is to award the contract to Archer Western construction.

00:56:45.160 --> 00:56:51.280
 So the total is very close, but the pay items are not.

00:56:51.280 --> 00:56:52.280
 True.

00:56:52.280 --> 00:56:54.960
 So any explanation for that whatsoever?

00:56:54.960 --> 00:56:59.720
 I mean, I've seen a lot of bids and people think put money in different places.

00:56:59.720 --> 00:57:03.840
 Yeah, that's the only explanation we can have without having to dig into it, the two contractors

00:57:03.840 --> 00:57:06.720
 as they're trying to load their profit in one place or another.

00:57:06.720 --> 00:57:10.960
 Archer Western or Red River may have more expertise in one position or maybe using subs

00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:15.480
 in one place where they're wanting to add profit rather than the other.

00:57:15.480 --> 00:57:18.920
 This would love some, right?

00:57:18.920 --> 00:57:21.400
 Yes, I believe so.

00:57:21.400 --> 00:57:24.240
 Can I ask a question?

00:57:24.240 --> 00:57:25.240
 Yes, sir.

00:57:25.240 --> 00:57:29.240
 I'm just curious, what are the new phosphate regulations?

00:57:29.240 --> 00:57:32.720
 I don't have that information on me, but it's a wastewater treatment issue.

00:57:32.720 --> 00:57:38.520
 It's just to remove the phosphate from the ultimate discharge to Pecan Creek, reducing

00:57:38.520 --> 00:57:40.920
 the phosphate loads going to Lake Louisville.

00:57:40.920 --> 00:57:46.720
 Are there any primary sources that this comes from, fertilizer or?

00:57:46.720 --> 00:57:49.920
 Things like fertilizer, yes, are a source.

00:57:49.920 --> 00:57:50.920
 Thank you.

00:57:50.920 --> 00:57:51.920
 Sure.

00:57:51.920 --> 00:57:58.600
 There's no chance of eliminating the belt filter presses and dumps surveyor, is there?

00:57:58.600 --> 00:58:00.440
 To eliminate the belt filter press altogether?

00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:01.440
 Yes.

00:58:01.440 --> 00:58:05.800
 No, we have to have some means to dewater the sludge enough that we can haul it off and

00:58:05.800 --> 00:58:11.320
 we need to get it down to a nice dry cake rather than have it be heavy and wet.

00:58:11.320 --> 00:58:15.680
 The belt filter press one, we did a pretty exhaustive evaluation of different dewatering

00:58:15.680 --> 00:58:16.800
 technologies.

00:58:16.800 --> 00:58:22.000
 I was just trying to find an angle, what the angle is here for that to be such a lower

00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:25.280
 price than the other construction company.

00:58:25.280 --> 00:58:29.080
 Trust that you guys know what you're doing.

00:58:29.080 --> 00:58:31.040
 Has Archer Western done this before?

00:58:31.040 --> 00:58:35.280
 Yes, Archer Western is a very reputable well-known contractor in the water treatment industry

00:58:35.280 --> 00:58:39.680
 particularly.

00:58:39.680 --> 00:58:42.560
 This was within what we thought it was going to cost?

00:58:42.560 --> 00:58:43.560
 Correct.

00:58:43.560 --> 00:58:47.880
 I believe the engineer's estimate was around eight and a half, nine million.

00:58:47.880 --> 00:58:50.360
 That's what my memory said.

00:58:50.360 --> 00:58:51.360
 Yes.

00:58:51.360 --> 00:58:52.360
 It was a number.

00:58:52.360 --> 00:58:53.360
 All right.

00:58:53.360 --> 00:58:54.360
 Any other questions?

00:58:54.360 --> 00:58:59.800
 Do we have a motion to approve?

00:58:59.800 --> 00:59:00.960
 So moved.

00:59:00.960 --> 00:59:01.960
 Oh.

00:59:01.960 --> 00:59:04.240
 You'll be the second, okay.

00:59:04.240 --> 00:59:05.240
 Or second.

00:59:05.240 --> 00:59:06.240
 Yeah.

00:59:06.240 --> 00:59:08.400
 He raised his hand and you spoke.

00:59:08.400 --> 00:59:10.160
 We'll do Ed and then Charlie.

00:59:10.160 --> 00:59:11.160
 Okay.

00:59:11.160 --> 00:59:12.160
 All in favor say aye.

00:59:12.160 --> 00:59:13.160
 Aye.

00:59:13.160 --> 00:59:14.160
 Aye.

00:59:14.160 --> 00:59:15.160
 Aye.

00:59:15.160 --> 00:59:17.120
 Motion carries.

00:59:17.120 --> 00:59:25.120
 Consider recommending adoption of an ordinance establishing rates for water and water service

00:59:25.120 --> 00:59:35.240
 providing for repealer and providing a several clause that you can sever and providing for

00:59:35.240 --> 00:59:38.240
 an effective date.

00:59:38.240 --> 00:59:43.680
 We're just seeking approval, I did have a presentation if you want to run through it

00:59:43.680 --> 00:59:50.400
 I'd be happy to otherwise we're looking just for approval today.

00:59:50.400 --> 00:59:51.400
 Presentation anyone?

00:59:51.400 --> 00:59:52.400
 New board members?

00:59:52.400 --> 00:59:53.400
 No.

00:59:53.400 --> 00:59:54.400
 Okay.

00:59:54.400 --> 00:59:55.400
 Do we have a motion to approve?

00:59:55.400 --> 00:59:56.400
 So moved.

00:59:56.400 --> 00:59:57.400
 Second.

00:59:57.400 --> 01:00:00.000
 All in favor say aye.

01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:01.000
 Aye.

01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:02.480
 All right.

01:00:02.480 --> 01:00:06.800
 Consider recommending adoption of an ordinance establishing the schedule of rates for wastewater

01:00:06.800 --> 01:00:12.080
 service providing for repealer same clause and an effective date.

01:00:12.080 --> 01:00:16.000
 I'm not going to try it twice.

01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:19.080
 Similar to water if anybody wants a presentation I'll have be happy to walk through it with

01:00:19.080 --> 01:00:20.080
 you.

01:00:20.080 --> 01:00:22.360
 Otherwise do we have a motion for approval?

01:00:22.360 --> 01:00:23.360
 I move.

01:00:23.360 --> 01:00:24.360
 We approve.

01:00:24.360 --> 01:00:25.360
 Second.

01:00:25.360 --> 01:00:26.360
 All in favor?

01:00:26.360 --> 01:00:27.360
 Say aye.

01:00:27.360 --> 01:00:28.360
 Aye.

01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:29.360
 Okay.

01:00:29.360 --> 01:00:32.880
 Then consider recommending the adoption for the rates for solid waste and recycling collection

01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:33.880
 service.

01:00:33.880 --> 01:00:38.120
 As you saw this presentation so moved approval.

01:00:38.120 --> 01:00:39.120
 All right.

01:00:39.120 --> 01:00:40.120
 Second.

01:00:40.120 --> 01:00:41.640
 All in favor say aye.

01:00:41.640 --> 01:00:42.640
 Aye.

01:00:42.640 --> 01:00:43.640
 Aye.

01:00:43.640 --> 01:00:44.640
 Motion carries.

01:00:44.640 --> 01:00:45.640
 All right.

01:00:45.640 --> 01:00:50.440
 Next item receive nominations to elect a vice chair.

01:00:50.440 --> 01:00:52.840
 So do we have any nominations for vice chair?

01:00:52.840 --> 01:00:55.440
 I'd like to nominate Billy Cheek.

01:00:55.440 --> 01:00:56.440
 Okay.

01:00:56.440 --> 01:01:00.560
 Do we have any other nominations?

01:01:00.560 --> 01:01:07.080
 Okay then we need a motion to approve his nomination so do we have a motion to approve

01:01:07.080 --> 01:01:08.400
 Billy's nomination?

01:01:08.400 --> 01:01:09.400
 Mr. Cheek's nomination.

01:01:09.400 --> 01:01:10.400
 Mr. Cheek.

01:01:10.400 --> 01:01:11.400
 I so move.

01:01:11.400 --> 01:01:12.400
 Board member Cheek.

01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:13.400
 I move.

01:01:13.400 --> 01:01:14.400
 We approve that.

01:01:14.400 --> 01:01:15.400
 Okay.

01:01:15.400 --> 01:01:16.400
 First of all Bruce.

01:01:16.400 --> 01:01:17.400
 Second.

01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:18.400
 All right.

01:01:18.400 --> 01:01:19.400
 All in favor say aye.

01:01:19.400 --> 01:01:20.400
 Aye.

01:01:20.400 --> 01:01:21.400
 All right.

01:01:21.400 --> 01:01:23.560
 Welcome aboard.

01:01:23.560 --> 01:01:28.520
 Receive nominations to select a secretary and for the two new members you don't really

01:01:28.520 --> 01:01:33.000
 take minutes you just have to be the backup to the vice chair.

01:01:33.000 --> 01:01:38.440
 So it's if I'm gone and Mr. Cheek is gone somebody needs to run the meeting.

01:01:38.440 --> 01:01:40.440
 So nomination for that.

01:01:40.440 --> 01:01:41.440
 Anybody?

01:01:41.440 --> 01:01:42.440
 Any volunteers?

01:01:42.440 --> 01:01:43.440
 Any volunteers?

01:01:43.440 --> 01:01:44.440
 That'd be first.

01:01:44.440 --> 01:01:50.440
 It very rarely does it very rarely happens.

01:01:50.440 --> 01:01:55.720
 We did have a situation a couple of months ago where the chair and vice chair and we

01:01:55.720 --> 01:02:00.280
 had not elected a secretary in a while so in the moment we had to the board had to

01:02:00.280 --> 01:02:11.920
 nominate a chair and Ms. Bynum was was nominated for that for that day so just FYI.

01:02:11.920 --> 01:02:17.480
 So yeah in the last four years I think it happened once right so if anybody would like

01:02:17.480 --> 01:02:18.480
 to volunteer.

01:02:18.480 --> 01:02:19.480
 I'll volunteer.

01:02:19.480 --> 01:02:20.480
 Well thank you.

01:02:20.480 --> 01:02:25.280
 Well I'll nominate you.

01:02:25.280 --> 01:02:33.240
 So do we still I suppose we still need to motion to approve all right second all in

01:02:33.240 --> 01:02:42.000
 favor say aye aye aye thank you ACM update yes madam chair members of the board for the

01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:49.160
 new board members we provide the assistant city manager update ACM for short update what

01:02:49.160 --> 01:02:53.840
 it is is typically just memorandums or other pieces of correspondence that have gone to

01:02:53.840 --> 01:02:58.600
 the council that it may be pertinent to to the board it's intended to provide you all

01:02:58.600 --> 01:03:03.720
 with staff reports avoid to have to make presentations things that nature to get your get through

01:03:03.720 --> 01:03:10.200
 your agenda however this is tonight's is rather lengthy because we've had a number of items

01:03:10.200 --> 01:03:14.480
 we wanted to present to you those first two were actually action items that would have

01:03:14.480 --> 01:03:19.040
 been on your board agenda last time but we did not have a quorum so we had to cancel

01:03:19.040 --> 01:03:23.160
 a meeting so obviously there's no point of going through that process has already been

01:03:23.160 --> 01:03:29.000
 approved by council but we wanted to provide it to you just as a FYI for the board again

01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:34.980
 the other items are there for your for your your reading enjoyment if you have any questions

01:03:34.980 --> 01:03:39.760
 we've got members of staff here that can answer specific questions about any of these reports

01:03:39.760 --> 01:03:43.880
 and then if you have items that you would like for follow-up we typically bring those

01:03:43.880 --> 01:03:49.120
 to you back in a as an ACM update just again to get your agenda moving and also just to

01:03:49.120 --> 01:03:54.160
 verify that for you and also for the record so if you have any questions for me or staff

01:03:54.160 --> 01:03:59.080
 would be happy to answer any of these questions regarding regarding these items and items

01:03:59.080 --> 01:04:04.640
 five and six was in response to uh brenda carroll's that's correct former board member

01:04:04.640 --> 01:04:11.720
 carroll uh had requested information regarding the city's recycling program and so again

01:04:11.720 --> 01:04:17.400
 uh with his departure um uh we weren't unable to get that on in time for him to be able

01:04:17.400 --> 01:04:23.080
 to review that but again it's it was been on the uh the new business matrix and so we

01:04:23.080 --> 01:04:26.600
 would like to present it to you all again if you have any questions be happy to answer

01:04:26.600 --> 01:04:31.940
 them then it also at least in staff's opinion fulfills the the request on the new business

01:04:31.940 --> 01:04:38.000
 matrix and just kind of give you an idea when uh through um if you have follow-up items

01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:42.880
 and you would like to request out of staff uh we would go through that through concluding

01:04:42.880 --> 01:04:48.000
 items we put on a new business matrix try to give you all uh an understanding of when

01:04:48.000 --> 01:04:51.280
 we would be able to present that information either through a work session or through the

01:04:51.280 --> 01:04:56.000
 ACM update and that way you can you can at least be a prize of that information from

01:04:56.000 --> 01:05:03.680
 staff i have a comment a question i was looking through the recycling powerpoint and i saw

01:05:03.680 --> 01:05:13.680
 that the uh i guess it was the mixed use paper uh revenue was 56 dollars in change per ton

01:05:13.680 --> 01:05:21.280
 couple years ago and it dropped to seven dollars a ton in the last in at least on the slide

01:05:21.280 --> 01:05:31.440
 your powerpoint slide have you got a feel for what's going on there yes he does

01:05:31.440 --> 01:05:35.680
 with that drop the city is really fortunate there's a thing that's happened in the past

01:05:35.680 --> 01:05:43.000
 couple of years called the national sword prior to about beginning of 2017 probably

01:05:43.000 --> 01:05:47.440
 eighty percent of all recyclables uh in the united states of america was actually shipped

01:05:47.440 --> 01:05:52.860
 to china and into the asian countries for processing they were they were basically taking

01:05:52.860 --> 01:05:57.120
 in as raw materials and then processing it and making new materials out of it however

01:05:57.120 --> 01:06:02.600
 in 2017 they did a couple things happen first of all they had they were overwhelmed by the

01:06:02.600 --> 01:06:06.400
 amount of recyclables that were sent there but second of all probably 50 percent of everything

01:06:06.400 --> 01:06:11.560
 that was sent was actually garbage and in a measure to control waste and to basically

01:06:11.560 --> 01:06:15.560
 heat garbage in the united states they they closed their borders with their their national

01:06:15.560 --> 01:06:24.520
 sword as a result all recycled cost or the value of all recyclables in the united states

01:06:24.520 --> 01:06:32.720
 of america have dropped tremendously which means that the our our responsibility to increase

01:06:32.720 --> 01:06:37.800
 the quality of the recyclable material that we collect curb size extremely important in

01:06:37.800 --> 01:06:41.960
 my previous presentation i talked about how you know less than eight percent contamination

01:06:41.960 --> 01:06:48.100
 that is that is wonderful because that means that that the value of that material is just

01:06:48.100 --> 01:06:53.280
 tremendously more valuable than than something that would have come in on off of a load and

01:06:53.280 --> 01:06:57.680
 as a result of the glut in the market in the united states right now because there's just

01:06:57.680 --> 01:07:01.360
 so much paper out there you know so the law of supply and demand there's too much supply

01:07:01.360 --> 01:07:07.800
 so or this and not enough demand so the cost really drops right now so that's whether it

01:07:07.800 --> 01:07:13.920
 be mixed paper whether it be cardboard whether it be plastics whether it be glass it's falling

01:07:13.920 --> 01:07:18.280
 right now we actually still get paid for the recyclables we collect curbside most cities

01:07:18.280 --> 01:07:23.640
 right now are re-evaluating the recycling contracts because they're going up many in

01:07:23.640 --> 01:07:28.200
 the east and northeast and some on the west coast have actually stopped collecting recyclables

01:07:28.200 --> 01:07:35.000
 just because it's it's costing so much right now the anticipated cost if we were to bid

01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:39.080
 out our contract again we would actually be paying a processor 95 dollars a ton to manage

01:07:39.080 --> 01:07:48.520
 that material some places up in the northeast it's 350 up to 400 dollars a ton to manage

01:07:48.520 --> 01:07:52.760
 it's a tough one it is a tough one and that's one reason why we focus on cleanliness and

01:07:52.760 --> 01:08:00.440
 compliance with our program material but pratt also uses the pratt uses our recycled paper

01:08:00.440 --> 01:08:04.160
 yes yeah and that and that's really one of our saving grace for lack of a better term

01:08:04.160 --> 01:08:08.720
 because pratt is the paper market in north america and because they are so closely tied

01:08:08.720 --> 01:08:13.560
 with the city of dentons program they they need our paper they need our fiber so it's

01:08:13.560 --> 01:08:18.440
 a very very good relationship that we have with them on the fiber but still from a market

01:08:18.440 --> 01:08:25.040
 standpoint that the prices are extremely depressed but there's hope that we're starting to do

01:08:25.040 --> 01:08:32.600
 our own here in the united our own recycling we have our own in in market processors here

01:08:32.600 --> 01:08:36.720
 in the united state that is correct and there's developments going on and there's currently

01:08:36.720 --> 01:08:40.880
 between what the state of texas did the last legislative session and some things that are

01:08:40.880 --> 01:08:44.440
 happening at the epa level right now they're actually trying to spin up some additional

01:08:44.440 --> 01:08:50.040
 markets related to the the reuse of plastics so next couple of years there's gonna be a

01:08:50.040 --> 01:08:55.560
 couple studies out and i think it will really help as we approach when our contract comes

01:08:55.560 --> 01:09:01.360
 up in in about six years and hopefully we'll be back on really good feet and and it the

01:09:01.360 --> 01:09:08.240
 cost differential won't affect us at that time i have a question about multi-family

01:09:08.240 --> 01:09:14.240
 yes cycling i was looking at this backup material and i see where the committee on the environment

01:09:14.240 --> 01:09:20.720
 one of their recommendations was to evaluate the implementation of mandatory rather than

01:09:20.720 --> 01:09:26.440
 voluntary multifamily has there been any movement in that direction not specifically what we

01:09:26.440 --> 01:09:33.160
 are proposing to do is to uh excuse me is to go and actually look at this the the city

01:09:33.160 --> 01:09:37.660
 wide our entire comprehensive solid waste management plan and actually you know looking

01:09:37.660 --> 01:09:41.280
 at both what we're doing residentially as well as commercially and from a multifamily

01:09:41.280 --> 01:09:48.560
 standpoint and from that standpoint you know moving forward to to more holistically manage

01:09:48.560 --> 01:09:53.000
 the waste that we have instead of individual programs as we're looking at them now thank

01:09:53.000 --> 01:10:12.960
 you all right i have a question on the denton energy center dashboard is it okay

01:10:12.960 --> 01:10:21.880
 i see a number on the dashboard of 2.44 million projected loss for 2018 19 is that right uh

01:10:21.880 --> 01:10:29.360
 yes sir terry nalte assistant general manager for the month of june that's showing uh or

01:10:29.360 --> 01:10:36.760
 i'm sorry through the end of june that was a negative two million dollar net income number

01:10:36.760 --> 01:10:44.400
 now we have done much better obviously in the last several weeks with july july was

01:10:44.400 --> 01:10:52.080
 actually a very bad month for us very mild weather uh but august has been a record month

01:10:52.080 --> 01:11:00.200
 for us with uh significant revenues and gross margins produced because of very high temperatures

01:11:00.200 --> 01:11:06.640
 and very high prices i do have uh some data i can show you on that but you have to bear

01:11:06.640 --> 01:11:12.960
 with me a second i can bear terry i'd be careful uh going out too far outside the agenda too

01:11:12.960 --> 01:11:18.080
 far outside the agenda if you would like to provide something as a as a acm update for

01:11:18.080 --> 01:11:21.960
 a future board meeting it's just because the way this item was posted is absolutely something

01:11:21.960 --> 01:11:26.960
 in the past not for something in the future or current yeah apologize actually i think

01:11:26.960 --> 01:11:31.520
 that would be a really good we're going to have four new board members i think that would

01:11:31.520 --> 01:11:37.720
 be really good to have some of these things kind of an education process right so the

01:11:37.720 --> 01:11:48.320
 thing i'll add is that you know uh the deck as a as a generation resource is uh is dispatched

01:11:48.320 --> 01:11:55.240
 based upon the market price of energy and so as as the market price of energy is higher

01:11:55.240 --> 01:12:03.760
 the deck uh dispatches more and more and uh through june although we were showing a negative

01:12:03.760 --> 01:12:10.800
 uh two million dollar net income we were actually right on budget through june um all of our

01:12:10.800 --> 01:12:15.600
 money most of the money that we make from the deck or the margin that we generate from

01:12:15.600 --> 01:12:20.080
 the deck comes in july and august during the hot the very hot months where we have the

01:12:20.080 --> 01:12:31.520
 highest prices okay all right thank you and then our final item oh go ahead one more comment

01:12:31.520 --> 01:12:37.480
 oh sure when i when i look at item number one and a i c s and try to delve into it it

01:12:37.480 --> 01:12:51.080
 looks a lot like item number two we attached all the hazen and stuff item number one oh

01:12:51.080 --> 01:12:57.120
 it was duplicate yeah we can fix that yeah just yeah yeah not that i'm going to read

01:12:57.120 --> 01:13:11.400
 all hundred how many pages okay then our final item is uh eminent domain good evening madam

01:13:11.400 --> 01:13:21.920
 chair and pub i'm diana cody deputy director of capital projects and real estate and tonight

01:13:21.920 --> 01:13:32.280
 i have for you um the hickory creek sanitary sewer interceptor project phases one and two

01:13:32.280 --> 01:13:41.920
 this is a location map that shows that um the properties are located in between um let's

01:13:41.920 --> 01:13:53.400
 go back 377 and 35 and with anticipated growth in southwest portion of the city it's necessary

01:13:53.400 --> 01:14:00.480
 to complete the installation of uh the hickory creek sanitary sewer interceptor there are

01:14:00.480 --> 01:14:07.800
 about four property owners that are being impacted on the project and um we're approaching

01:14:07.800 --> 01:14:14.280
 them for permanent and temporary easements that are needed for the installation so if

01:14:14.280 --> 01:14:18.280
 if a favorable recommendation from the pub is received today this item will go before

01:14:18.280 --> 01:14:23.160
 city council tomorrow to consider approval to authorize the city manager and the city

01:14:23.160 --> 01:14:28.760
 attorney or their designees to acquire the property interest by agreement including making

01:14:28.760 --> 01:14:33.800
 all offers required by law and to authorize the city attorney or his designee to file

01:14:33.800 --> 01:14:41.360
 imminent domain proceedings if necessary and to authorize the expenditure of funds therefore

01:14:41.360 --> 01:14:53.440
 and to provide for the chair's favorite word severability and to provide an effective date

01:14:53.440 --> 01:14:59.000
 so this is just an exhibit to the actual ordinance that will be presented tomorrow that identifies

01:14:59.000 --> 01:15:11.680
 the properties um the location and the property owners any questions so really what we're

01:15:11.680 --> 01:15:17.200
 we're just establishing it so that we can move forward yes okay it's to provide a recommendation

01:15:17.200 --> 01:15:21.640
 it's not going to eminent domain it's starting down the entire process no no no it's authorizing

01:15:21.640 --> 01:15:27.920
 the acquisitions and discussion yes and discussion just making it clear how often has the city

01:15:27.920 --> 01:15:36.880
 gone to eminent donate domain for easements like this small parcels uh it happens on occasion

01:15:36.880 --> 01:15:43.400
 um generally speaking we're able to negotiate acquisitions and so easements we don't often

01:15:43.400 --> 01:15:48.720
 end up in eminent domain it's a very small percentage of the time that that happens and

01:15:48.720 --> 01:15:53.040
 you need this to even start those discussions we've started the discussions with the property

01:15:53.040 --> 01:16:00.000
 owners the negotiations yes all right do you know if there are any uh private improvements

01:16:00.000 --> 01:16:07.320
 on the land that you're seeking to have an easement for off the top of my head i can't

01:16:07.320 --> 01:16:12.960
 say with certainty i think the majority of the properties are raw land vacant land if

01:16:12.960 --> 01:16:18.280
 you'll see one of them one of the property owners says 195 dentin partners it's owned

01:16:18.280 --> 01:16:23.560
 by 195 dentin partners they own 195 acres so there's not a whole heck of a lot out there

01:16:23.560 --> 01:16:32.200
 yeah a lot of floodplain yeah a lot of floodplains a lot in the floodplain all right okay thank

01:16:32.200 --> 01:16:43.800
 you do we have a motion so moved all in favor say aye aye motion carries okay concluding

01:16:43.800 --> 01:16:50.560
 items uh there any item that a board member would wish to have on the future agenda like

01:16:50.560 --> 01:17:00.280
 the the deck and the environmental concerns or okay we uh i missed an opportunity to comment

01:17:00.280 --> 01:17:07.480
 on something but that's okay i'm new here um the in the purchasing process i know there's

01:17:07.480 --> 01:17:15.120
 a normally written into the conditions we have an opportunity to audit vendors and particularly

01:17:15.120 --> 01:17:23.160
 the one that's doing the billing i wondered uh if we had ever audited that process in

01:17:23.160 --> 01:17:31.120
 the past uh to check to see that the amount uh that we know is billed is actually being

01:17:31.120 --> 01:17:37.800
 sent out and how that matches with what's coming back and so forth and that can add

01:17:37.800 --> 01:17:44.120
 that to the new business to the new business matrix and report back if i'm might clarify

01:17:44.120 --> 01:17:51.680
 what you said about the environmental i think um what i would like when it's available obviously

01:17:51.680 --> 01:18:02.080
 uh any developments with mandatory multi-family recycling that moves is that moves along just

01:18:02.080 --> 01:18:09.520
 so we can see if it's positive or negative whatever thank you just a question do you

01:18:09.520 --> 01:18:18.120
 please still do board member orientations doesn't seem we have a new city secretary

01:18:18.120 --> 01:18:23.080
 and they are looking at revamping the boards of procedures for board members and it was

01:18:23.080 --> 01:18:28.280
 really helpful when i did it a long time ago me too okay you brought in an hour with different

01:18:28.280 --> 01:18:31.800
 department heads and just got to ask questions sure we can pass that information on

01:18:31.800 --> 01:18:40.400
 all right any other items well we are going to be saying goodbye to two of our board members

01:18:40.400 --> 01:18:49.160
 tonight both charlie and lilia are it's our last meeting thank you for serving i was surprised

01:18:49.160 --> 01:18:56.840
 lilia how many years now uh i've been on the board for since 2012 so that's what seven

01:18:56.840 --> 01:19:03.320
 years yeah so you almost turned out yeah yeah about seven years but charlie i did want to

01:19:03.320 --> 01:19:09.040
 say if you don't mind that um that thank you for allowing me to serve i have really enjoyed

01:19:09.040 --> 01:19:15.200
 serving on this board i was appointed by kevin rodin and i've enjoyed learning all about

01:19:15.200 --> 01:19:20.240
 dm e and the water and wastewater department and the solid waste department and going on

01:19:20.240 --> 01:19:24.400
 tours i've been on two tours of the and if you haven't been on a tour yet you really

01:19:24.400 --> 01:19:30.080
 need to go because it's it'll make you very proud of where of how far we've come and where

01:19:30.080 --> 01:19:38.920
 we stand in in in texas um some incredibly dedicated people who are on staff here working

01:19:38.920 --> 01:19:44.560
 for the city they've been very patient very respectful and very thorough in answering

01:19:44.560 --> 01:19:50.640
 my questions and i appreciate the hard work and the sacrifices that they make in service

01:19:50.640 --> 01:19:55.200
 to the people of denton and like i said i've enjoyed meeting and working with good people

01:19:55.200 --> 01:20:00.960
 on the pub board um i'm glad that i was able to work with billy again because we had worked

01:20:00.960 --> 01:20:06.920
 together before on this board and uh i've enjoyed being a volunteer for the better part

01:20:06.920 --> 01:20:13.960
 of my life and i will continue to do so and um thanks again for the opportunity it was

01:20:13.960 --> 01:20:24.320
 it was wonderful thank you are you just gonna wait okay how can you follow that right you

01:20:24.320 --> 01:20:31.920
 know it's been interesting in times and it's been a hoot and it's been a hoot okay all

01:20:31.920 --> 01:20:38.320
 right we have a motion to adjourn all right we're adjourned