WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.160 Hello, everybody. Welcome to committee on the environment. Glad we could be here today. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:20.240 It is Tuesday, September 8. And the time is 102. We do have a quorum. So we will go ahead 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:25.960 and get started rather quickly. Our first item for individual consideration is consider 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:37.220 approval of the June 25, 2020 minutes. Councilmember Metzler. So moved. Okay. Second. All right. 00:00:37.220 --> 00:00:43.520 All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. All right. We'll move right now to the next one. Item 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:49.520 B, receive a report, hold a discussion on the regional air quality update and collaboration 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:55.440 summary. Is that you, James? That is. Good afternoon, council members. James Douglas 00:00:55.440 --> 00:01:13.980 conservation programs coordinator. Let me pull up the screen here. Okay. And can everybody 00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:23.320 see that? Yes. I think we're good. Okay. Perfect. So like you said, we're here to give an update 00:01:23.320 --> 00:01:28.840 on the regional collaboration efforts on the topic of air quality between the sustainability 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:34.560 office and the north central Texas council of governments. And so you'll hear me refer 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:39.240 to it as the cog, probably from here on out. And so the cog has some great efforts going 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:45.400 and the city of Dutton participates in those as one of many cities in the region. And so 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:52.200 we are here to give you an update on some of the things going on there. So for today's 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:57.160 presentation, we're going to discuss three of the different partnerships that are going 00:01:57.160 --> 00:02:02.860 on with the cog right now. And the results of some of those partnerships are some information 00:02:02.860 --> 00:02:08.040 related to the impacts of COVID-19 on both transportation and regional air quality. And 00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:12.280 so we're going to touch on that a little bit. And towards the end of the presentation, we 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:20.480 will give a 2020 update on the regional analysis of air quality, both in Dutton and the DFW 00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:28.300 as a whole. So just a little bit of background. Today, you're going to hear me reference some 00:02:28.300 --> 00:02:33.000 numbers related to ozone. What that is, is the air quality index, and that's an EPA index 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:39.160 for measuring major air pollutants that are a part of the Clean Air Act. Like I said, 00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:45.480 today we're going to focus mainly on ozone. That's the main one that we see when we get 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:53.000 an air quality alert here in DFW, typically it's ozone. So the, I mentioned three partnerships 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:59.200 before that are led by the cog and the sustainability office participates in. And so just briefly, 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:03.720 the three of those, the first one is Air North Texas, which acts as the outreach and education 00:03:03.720 --> 00:03:09.880 wing of the air quality and transportation division for the cog. And so basically what 00:03:09.880 --> 00:03:15.240 the cog does there is they help us to standardize our outreach information with our neighboring 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:21.960 cities and other public entities. And so you may be familiar with one of those standardizations, 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:27.040 which is Arlo the Air Modillo, and he's their mascot for that. And in 2018, Denton actually 00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:36.480 got an award for best utilization of that character throughout 2018 marketing. The second 00:03:36.480 --> 00:03:40.440 that I have listed here is a new initiative that we're really excited to be a part of, 00:03:40.440 --> 00:03:46.320 and that's the Air Quality Public Health Task Force. And in terms of some of the collaboration 00:03:46.320 --> 00:03:53.620 regionally, this is probably the most horizontal of the efforts crossing many different sectors. 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:59.200 And so this brings together education, atmospheric science, nonprofit, public health, and of 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:06.400 course the local governments. And so basically this is in the early stages, but the goal 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:11.680 is to bring these organizations together and to share data sets, which is what we're doing 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.360 right now. And so really we're learning from each other what everybody has to offer. And 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:21.840 from that, we're going to pose some actionable questions that at the regional level we can 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:27.080 use this data to improve air quality. And so, like I said, really excited for the new 00:04:27.080 --> 00:04:31.520 initiative and we'll have more updates on that in the future. And then briefly, the 00:04:31.520 --> 00:04:36.320 last one is the Local Government Energy Reporting Group. This was previously at the state level 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:42.440 but the COG took this over for a regional effort to increase energy reporting amongst 00:04:42.440 --> 00:04:48.620 public entities. And so this is for a state effort to improve air quality by lowering 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:54.080 energy consumption in the region. And so Denton has been participating in that reporting since 00:04:54.080 --> 00:05:00.960 about 2001. And so the sustainability staff has had a pretty big role in terms of getting 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:06.960 other cities reporting. And I think between the year before and the year after the COG 00:05:06.960 --> 00:05:11.360 took this over, there was about a 90% increase in regional reporting in the area. So it's 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:19.040 really good to see. And like I said, Denton has had a role in that. And so the COG kindly 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:25.000 provided some slides and this is for the effects of COVID-19 on regional transportation and 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.000 air quality. And so we've got a lot of good information here. And so we're going to dive 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:34.320 right into that. So we're going to start with the transportation side of things and then 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:40.080 we'll talk about the impacts to air quality after that. So we're going to get started 00:05:40.080 --> 00:05:47.920 just pretty generic here. We're going to compare the freeway volumes from 2019 to 2020. And 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:53.100 this is a comparison of each individual month. And so you can see that this kind of peaks, 00:05:53.100 --> 00:06:00.040 the decrease peaks in April, we see about a 30% decrease in freeway volumes. And this 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:06.040 follows, it was the, I believe the second or third week of March when the stay at home 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:11.520 started coming about. And so we can expect to see that peak in April. To give you a little 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:17.880 bit of reference here, a 10% decrease is what we would typically see between weekday and 00:06:17.880 --> 00:06:24.640 weekend volumes. And so, you know, we get at least that March through July, and then 00:06:24.640 --> 00:06:31.360 we see about a 30% there in April. Another way of thinking about that data, we can think 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:38.440 about freeway speed. And so this is average weekday speeds weighted by traffic volume. 00:06:38.440 --> 00:06:43.120 And what you can see there in yellow for February is what we would typically see on any given 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:48.040 weekday where you see a decrease in speed with rush hour traffic. If you take a look 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:54.520 at April and May there in green and light blue, we see a much flatter curve. Due to 00:06:54.520 --> 00:06:59.680 those decreased volumes, we see a more consistent speed and we see, you know, less congestion 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:07.360 there on the freeways. And this is for the DFW region as a whole. With those, with less 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:12.280 cars on the road and increased speed, we see the following results in terms of motor vehicle 00:07:12.280 --> 00:07:19.360 accidents. And so we see a decrease in the number of accidents due to lower car volumes 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:23.880 on the road. But with that increased speed, we do see an increase in fatalities. And so 00:07:23.880 --> 00:07:29.660 those are, you know, inversely proportional there. And we can see that data March through 00:07:29.660 --> 00:07:37.640 July once again comparing those months, 2019 versus 2020. 00:07:37.640 --> 00:07:43.360 Moving to a different side of transportation. So this is public transportation here. Once 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:49.320 again, we see the highest decrease starting up in April. Unlike the previous slides, though, 00:07:49.320 --> 00:07:56.600 you'll notice that this has not started to return to 2019 levels. And so this is something 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.520 that we're definitely going to be keeping an eye on. And they are keeping an eye on 00:07:59.520 --> 00:08:06.480 at the regional level. And so we see a pretty consistent decrease there between April and 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.720 July. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:16.440 Another one that has a large impact on air quality is the impact of airports. And so 00:08:16.440 --> 00:08:24.080 a similar trend here. We do see this one starting to return to the sort of 2019 trend. But once 00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:31.720 again, peaking there in the decrease in April and, and slowly returning. And I would like 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:37.560 to point out that this is airport passengers. And so another good metric that we will more 00:08:37.560 --> 00:08:41.880 than likely have data for is the number of flights and fuel consumption as well may be 00:08:41.880 --> 00:08:48.200 better ways to track this. But this is good data to start with. 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:53.880 The flip side of that coin. So if we're driving and using transportation less, we see bicycle 00:08:53.880 --> 00:08:59.160 and pedestrian impacts here on trail counts. And so a 50% increase starting in March, and 00:08:59.160 --> 00:09:04.760 then we get into April and May, and we start to see increases in the 70% range as compared 00:09:04.760 --> 00:09:11.840 to those months in 2019. Once again, we're seeing that slowly return to 2019 values as 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:17.560 well. I would like to point out that this is not normalized for weather impacts. So, 00:09:17.560 --> 00:09:21.440 you know, January, February, maybe it was a little bit warmer. And people were out using 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:28.120 the trails, you know, during that timeframe, but still a large, a large impact. And we 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:37.080 can attribute that to, you know, less, less transportation by other means. 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:42.200 So with all of that in mind, those are the impacts to transportation. And we know, of 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:47.320 course, that transportation has an impact on air quality. And so this is something that 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:52.480 is probably going to be studied for five, 10 years to come. But it is a good case study 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:58.040 to take a look at, okay, we had in April, you know, a 30% decrease in freeway volumes. 00:09:58.040 --> 00:10:03.880 What was our impact to air quality? And so before we get into some of the graphics, just 00:10:03.880 --> 00:10:10.160 a brief summary of impacts here from the COG. And so, like I said, emissions from vehicles 00:10:10.160 --> 00:10:19.240 was reduced. Up until August 3, this was the lowest frequency of high-level unhealthy exposure 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:26.080 days to ozone that we've seen. And I would like to point out that ozone levels are influenced 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:33.080 by meteorological conditions, and that includes high temperature, low winds, high UV, limited 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:40.760 rain, and limited cloud cover. The transportation emissions that impact ozone are the ozone 00:10:40.760 --> 00:10:46.320 precursor pollutants, and those are nitrogen oxides and VOCs, volatile organic compounds. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:51.840 And so those are what are going to impact ozone levels in terms of the emissions side 00:10:51.840 --> 00:11:00.320 of things. In terms of visibility and just bluer skies and, you know, clearer skylines 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:09.760 as you drive in and out of DFW, something that is currently under review by that Clean 00:11:09.760 --> 00:11:15.440 Air Task Force in public health that I was speaking to earlier is the leading to a healthier 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:23.600 populace. Obviously, COVID-19 causes some variability, to say the least, in terms of 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:29.440 the public health data. And so it's going to be a bit of a challenge to take that variability 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:36.480 out to try and analyze the impact that the air quality had on public health, but that 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:42.100 is something that's under review. Like I said, this is, you know, one of the first times 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:48.920 that we can get a real-world analysis in terms of a regional reduction in transportation. 00:11:48.920 --> 00:11:53.760 And one of the COGS conclusions here is that state implementation plans on air quality 00:11:53.760 --> 00:11:58.960 are more than likely going to be necessary in the future to reduce background. And so 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:04.520 the transportation, the decrease in transportation, did have an impact, but it did not account 00:12:04.520 --> 00:12:09.400 for all of the variability. And so there is some variability due to background concentration 00:12:09.400 --> 00:12:14.200 of air pollutants. And so in order to address those, you know, we talk a lot about air quality 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:22.460 being a regional issue. You know, it does go beyond that to state by state. And one 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:29.800 of the things that the COG is focusing on is how can we sustain the impacts of this 00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:36.160 reduced transportation? And one of them is limited emission vehicles, electric and fuel 00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:40.880 cell and also travel demand management. And so things like telecommuting, how can we implement 00:12:40.880 --> 00:12:49.880 these to, you know, keep those transportation numbers a little bit lower? So with that, 00:12:49.880 --> 00:12:55.000 we will move into a little bit of the 2020 analysis for air quality. And so what you 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:01.920 see here is a regional map of all of the air monitors that monitor for ozone. You can see 00:13:01.920 --> 00:13:07.880 there towards the top in the center of Denton County is the one located at the Denton Airport. 00:13:07.880 --> 00:13:16.180 And so a lot of information here, but you can see the ones with ozone design values 00:13:16.180 --> 00:13:24.640 between 71 and 85 are in orange, and then the lower ones between 56 and 70 are in yellow. 00:13:24.640 --> 00:13:28.840 And we're going to be talking a little bit about design values. And so it is a little 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:37.440 bit of a complicated value. And it's basically the three year average of all of these monitors. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:43.040 And you take the annual fourth highest daily maximum eight hour average ozone concentration, 00:13:43.040 --> 00:13:48.040 and that's the design value for any given three year period. And so those are what you're 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:53.680 taking a look at here. 00:13:53.680 --> 00:13:58.800 Another way of taking a look at this data, you can see 2020 on the far right side. So 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:06.520 this is, we talked about the air quality index. And so these are days in moderate and yellow, 00:14:06.520 --> 00:14:12.400 orange and then higher risk in red. And so in 2020, we have each month as it compares 00:14:12.400 --> 00:14:20.200 to 2017. And then you have your three year design value period there, 2018, 2019, and 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:26.160 2020. And so if you take a look at March and April, things were going really well with 00:14:26.160 --> 00:14:33.840 those. We did have one red day there in May. And then I think the next slide will kind 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:39.480 of give a better comparison there. So this is just a comparison with 2019. And so once 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:49.040 again, you can take a look at March and April, where we have lower values there in 2020. 00:14:49.040 --> 00:14:57.600 And then moving forward, we see comparisons in May, June, July, and August. And so I think 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:06.040 I mentioned August 3 earlier. So we did have some very hot weather there in the first two 00:15:06.040 --> 00:15:15.760 weeks of August. And so you see those two red days there. That's when those took place. 00:15:15.760 --> 00:15:21.560 So here we're taking a look at the cumulative ozone exceedances. And so this is any time 00:15:21.560 --> 00:15:27.600 that that air quality index ventured into yellow territory or higher. And so if you 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:32.720 take a look at the June and July timeframe, especially, we were kind of on pace there 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:38.520 to have the best year that we were going to have in five years. Like I said, those days 00:15:38.520 --> 00:15:45.360 in August did tip the scales a bit for us. And now we're kind of on an average pace here 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:55.800 for the five year period for 2020. So the previous slide showed the number of exceedances. 00:15:55.800 --> 00:16:00.840 So the number of times that we ventured into yellow territory or higher. This is a comparison 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:08.520 of the design values for 2016 through 2020. And blue is the current 2020 track. Once again, 00:16:08.520 --> 00:16:17.320 we can see there in July, we were on pace to meet the 2008 EPA standard of 75 there. 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:22.520 And once again, those exceedances in early August did tip the scales. And so we are on 00:16:22.520 --> 00:16:35.800 pace to be about in line with 2018. And then a little bit simpler way of taking a look 00:16:35.800 --> 00:16:39.920 at this here. So this is nothing to do with design values or anything like that. This 00:16:39.920 --> 00:16:47.680 is just the average regional ozone in months in 2019 versus 2020. And once again, a lot 00:16:47.680 --> 00:16:55.600 of variability based on meteorologic conditions. But we do see about a 30% decrease in average 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:04.520 in March and 9, 10% there in April. And we move sort of into a little bit more variability 00:17:04.520 --> 00:17:12.560 there May through August. And so the presentation today is really to 00:17:12.560 --> 00:17:17.640 give you a sense of the efforts that are going on at the cog. They do have a full team of 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:23.640 air quality planners there in their transportation division. And so the availability of information 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:30.360 over the last two years has definitely increased. And they are definitely taking a full new 00:17:30.360 --> 00:17:36.040 view of this topic. And so they, like I said, they kindly provided these slides to us and 00:17:36.040 --> 00:17:39.280 they wanted to also provide their contact information. So if you have any follow up 00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:44.520 questions, you can feel free to reach out to any of them. Also, feel free to reach out 00:17:44.520 --> 00:17:49.400 to the sustainability office if you have anything. And we've been working together for a few 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:56.080 years now and we would be happy to pass those along for you. So I will open it up to any 00:17:56.080 --> 00:18:00.400 questions that you might have. If we can take the slides down so we can see 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:06.320 everyone's smiling faces, we will take questions. Yes, Councilmember Meltzer. 00:18:06.320 --> 00:18:14.840 Yeah, I've kind of a minor-ish question and a major one. I don't think I understand page 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:25.200 16, slide 16. I think I heard what you said, but maybe just the facts are peculiar because 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:32.800 everything's about how, you know, there was less activity, therefore basically less pollution. 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:45.080 But then slide 16 shows several months of higher ozone in 2020 than in 2019. So correct. 00:18:45.080 --> 00:18:50.040 So that's something that is currently under review. So two main things that it could be. 00:18:50.040 --> 00:18:56.000 One of them is variability in meteorology. So the difference in, you know, high ozone 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:02.040 conditions, you know, the high UV index and low winds and high temperatures. The other 00:19:02.040 --> 00:19:09.640 thing and was kind of referenced in the COGS analysis was the need for more state-level 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:16.080 action and state implementation plans to address background. And so potentially less was attributed 00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:21.600 to transportation than was previously thought. And so that's another possible explanation. 00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:23.960 But like I said, currently under review with that. 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:30.520 That could be one of those little anomalies that isn't so little and that leads to like 00:19:30.520 --> 00:19:37.600 a major different way of viewing the world, right? Even if it's with so much less activity, 00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:41.640 you know, what else are the candidates for higher ozone? 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:42.640 Correct. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:48.880 So we don't know. Okay. Well, that's going to be very important to find out. Well, that 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:55.000 kind of, you know, sets the stage for my bigger question, which is what's actionable about 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:01.640 this? But I think we have to get the analysis first before we can even tell. There's something 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.280 very actionable that's very different than what anyone thought. 00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:10.240 Correct. And I think the question of actionability is really one of the things that's going to 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.440 be addressed in that air quality, regional air quality task force. And so when we take 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:19.760 a look at the different data sets that are available and what we can learn from those, 00:20:19.760 --> 00:20:22.800 you know, we'll be posing those questions for sure. 00:20:22.800 --> 00:20:28.880 Yeah, that's pretty shocking. You know, everybody stays home and it still gets worse. Weird. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.000 Okay. Thank you. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.800 Did you have another question or was that? 00:20:33.800 --> 00:20:34.800 No, that, that. 00:20:34.800 --> 00:20:35.800 I have to extend to that. 00:20:35.800 --> 00:20:36.800 That's it. 00:20:36.800 --> 00:20:37.800 Okay. 00:20:37.800 --> 00:20:38.800 Until we understand that, you know. 00:20:38.800 --> 00:20:41.760 Councilmember Davis, do you have any questions? 00:20:41.760 --> 00:20:47.240 No, I don't have any questions. I thank you, Paul, for asking that one though, because 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:53.000 that's, that's perplexing. That'll be interesting to find out what we can find out about that. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:59.360 Yeah, that was one of my observations and questions as well. I mean, because we hear 00:20:59.360 --> 00:21:05.040 the reason where our air quality is so bad is because of the traffic and transportation 00:21:05.040 --> 00:21:12.400 and everything in our area. And we have unfortunate situation that has lend itself to allow us 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:17.760 to get some data. And so now we can explore that. And I am equally as interested to figure 00:21:17.760 --> 00:21:22.920 out, you know, what's happening there. And one of the things that I thought was interesting 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:28.160 as well as now we can directly tie. I mean, we knew high speeds caused fatalities, but 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:35.520 now there's data that shows that those high speeds cause more fatalities, which is unfortunate. 00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:43.000 But it's there in the data. The only other question I have is as far as the non-attainment 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:47.800 area, when you looked around, I mean, we're all orange. Every one of those that surround 00:21:47.800 --> 00:21:55.920 Denton is orange. I guess just for clarification, are they supposed to be yellow or is it just 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:02.760 an orange monitor and we're within the data that's allowed? 00:22:02.760 --> 00:22:10.440 So the design value for that monitor determined whether it was orange or yellow. And so the 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:15.440 ones that fell into the higher category, I believe it was, we'll check on the numbers 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:28.280 there. Yeah, anything, yeah, between 71 and 85 was in the orange and then between 56 and 00:22:28.280 --> 00:22:32.520 70 was there in the yellow. And so that would be the design values for the individual monitors, 00:22:32.520 --> 00:22:40.320 not the region as a whole. Okay. And so there is a percentage that we're 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:46.640 supposed to be at and I'm trying, I'm going way back and I know that we had gone over 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:55.040 that limit. Are we still over the limit that's allowed for our area? And are there any penalties? 00:22:55.040 --> 00:23:02.080 I remember a couple of years back, there was discussion of a penalty or something that 00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:09.220 was attributed to those monitors. So I believe it's the, so the design value 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:15.040 for the region is the main value that we take a look at in terms of comparing it to the 00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:23.160 EPA design value. And so the 2008 design value is what we are currently as a region trying 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:30.840 to achieve. And then there's the 2015 one, which is beyond that still. And so it's at 00:23:30.840 --> 00:23:36.960 a regional level. And so, you know, whichever monitor is the highest in the region will 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:47.340 sort of drive that design value for the region. And it is not the Denton monitor at this time 00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:52.680 that is driving that design value. Okay. If that makes sense. 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:58.600 Okay. And I see Dr. Banks is here with us. Is there any chance, I know that we had talked 00:23:58.600 --> 00:24:03.280 about maybe trying to get another monitor since there was just one in Dent County. Is 00:24:03.280 --> 00:24:10.680 that still any, is that still a conversation or not a possibility at all? 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:21.920 Another monitor in our area. If you can unmute. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:33.080 There we go. Sorry about that. I haven't heard of any recent conversations. I'm looking 00:24:33.080 --> 00:24:39.680 over at Catherine just to see if there's been some here lately. All right. She's bringing 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:44.760 a note. All right. So they're looking at one in Pilot Point right now. Okay. So they've 00:24:44.760 --> 00:24:54.640 added one in Pilot Point since we talked last. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. All right. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:25:08.920 Dr. Meltzer? Yeah. You know, I'm just really, I've really taken cause over this oddity of 00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:14.040 less traffic, less flights and higher ozone. And I'm wondering, do we know, is this just 00:25:14.040 --> 00:25:23.360 a regional phenomenon or is this nationally true, globally true? You know, traffic down 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:26.400 and ozone up. So from what I've heard from some of the 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:31.160 conversations, it's relatively consistent, at least in some of the Texas area. And I 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:38.520 think that they're putting more of that information together. Obviously with the cog, they have, 00:25:38.520 --> 00:25:44.520 you know, this North Central Texas data more readily available. And as more people do these 00:25:44.520 --> 00:25:49.440 analyses, and I think that there will certainly be more coming, you know, as this does act 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:54.000 as a case study. And so as we get those in, we'll be able to compare more readily. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:26:00.640 Yeah. Okay. That'll be interesting to know. Thank you. I mean, maybe the planet's just 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:07.960 cooking and once fissures open up on the earth, you're done. I don't know. 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:17.880 Well on that comment, we will move on to the next item. Item C, Receive a Report, Hold 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:22.760 a Discussion, and Give Staff Direction Regarding an Update on the Recent and Upcoming Projects 00:26:22.760 --> 00:26:32.560 in the Solid Waste and Recycling Department. Dr. Oh, there you are, Brian. Welcome. If 00:26:32.560 --> 00:26:35.400 you could unmute and then you can start whenever you're ready. 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:39.440 Very good. Sorry about that. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the committee, Brian 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:45.280 Berner, Solid Waste Director with the City of Denton. We can all concede that the year 00:26:45.280 --> 00:26:49.760 2020 has been an interesting year and with COVID, it has pushed a lot of things back. 00:26:49.760 --> 00:26:54.040 And we've been before council here on several occasions over the past six months saying 00:26:54.040 --> 00:26:59.080 this thing is coming and that thing is coming. And we wanted to get before the COE today 00:26:59.080 --> 00:27:04.720 as we get closer to some of these things coming to fruition, lay out some of the projects 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:10.320 and give you a little better idea of what is coming down the pike. So with that, let 00:27:10.320 --> 00:27:34.200 me share the screen real quick. There we go. So project updates. So the purpose of this 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:38.360 is really to provide the Committee on the Environment an update on some outstanding 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:42.880 projects, some things that have recently been implemented, as well as some projects that 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:46.840 have been in the pipeline for a while. We want to talk a little bit about why they're 00:27:46.840 --> 00:27:51.960 important and really set some expectations as we're moving down the implementation and 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:57.800 set a timeline. A couple of these projects, we're still in the contracting phase. You 00:27:57.800 --> 00:28:02.720 will see them very, very shortly. But we are still under the Purchasing Non-Disclosure 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:07.280 Agreement. So we'll be talking generalities about the project. We will not be able to 00:28:07.280 --> 00:28:11.560 give the name of successful suppliers until that contracting is complete, but we'll try 00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:15.920 to answer as many questions as you can. There are several projects that we have here before 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:19.800 you today. What we'd like to do is go through the entire presentation and then come back 00:28:19.800 --> 00:28:26.320 and answer specific questions about the specific projects. With that, I do have a couple of 00:28:26.320 --> 00:28:34.880 people here to help me today, a couple of staff members, really key to help implement 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:39.240 some of these actions that we're going to be doing today. First off, we'll be introducing 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:44.520 Ms. Tina Eck. She is our Senior Business Analyst with the department. And following her, Ms. 00:28:44.520 --> 00:28:48.760 Alison Wing will be talking. She is our Solid Waste Applications Coordinator, and she'll 00:28:48.760 --> 00:28:52.040 be talking about a project that we have. So I'm going to switch places with Tina right 00:28:52.040 --> 00:29:05.880 now and we'll talk a little bit about our IVR system. Good afternoon. So our interactive 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:12.480 voice response system has been developed in a partnership with our customer service department, 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:17.480 and it provides our residents self-service options in making their solid waste requests 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:22.120 specifically related to our yard waste program. So we do have a separate number there that 00:29:22.120 --> 00:29:27.800 you can dial in. It is live and up to date right now. You can make requests in English 00:29:27.800 --> 00:29:33.440 and Spanish 24/7. And it allows you to do things like opt in and out of the yard waste 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:39.760 program, either craft bag or cart, and schedule a brush collection if you are not currently 00:29:39.760 --> 00:29:44.560 opted into the program. If you are opted in, you can already have your brush collected 00:29:44.560 --> 00:29:50.800 automatically weekly. And additionally, you can also schedule a brush bulk collection 00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:58.280 of bagged leaves two times per year. Some of the benefits are specifically with the 00:29:58.280 --> 00:30:03.400 Monday collection day, we do have customers there that can go ahead and call in over the 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:07.960 weekend. Formerly, they were having to wait essentially an additional week if they were 00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:13.440 to do yard waste kind of tasks over the weekend. So now that they can go ahead and call that 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:19.360 in and have it scheduled for Monday collection next day, and also it enables you to be able 00:30:19.360 --> 00:30:26.680 to have the reservation without having customer service. I'm pretty proud of that. And up 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:33.760 next, I'll be introducing Allison Lee, our applications coordinator. 00:30:33.760 --> 00:30:51.280 Hello. Hey, as Tina said, I'm Allison wing, the solid waste applications coordinator here 00:30:51.280 --> 00:30:58.240 to talk to you about the smart routing system. We are nearing the end of our RFP for smart 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:04.200 for procuring smart routing software. This will replace existing software for managing 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:10.460 work orders, container inventory, rolling stock inventory, and will support audit tracking 00:31:10.460 --> 00:31:16.240 and reporting, but will but will come with added enhancements that are new to the city. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.980 Each collections vehicle will be outfitted with an iPhone or iPad that will give turn 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:26.440 by turn directions for the day's route and work orders, and will be a communication portal 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:33.020 for the supervisors, dispatch and the collections technicians. 00:31:33.020 --> 00:31:39.340 Each vehicle will be tracked by GPS in real time. At all times, we will have the ability 00:31:39.340 --> 00:31:45.520 to log into a portal and see where all vehicles are and easily be able to send the best vehicle 00:31:45.520 --> 00:31:51.600 to an emergency situation, or quickly get to a vehicle in distress or whatever situation 00:31:51.600 --> 00:31:57.440 may arise. This also means that we will be able to see what percentage of each route 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:03.840 has been completed at any point during the day, and exactly where each vehicle is on 00:32:03.840 --> 00:32:09.120 their route. If someone calls customer service asking why their cart hasn't been emptied 00:32:09.120 --> 00:32:14.200 yet, customer service will be able to answer that question. They will be able to tell the 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:19.400 customer that their street hasn't been serviced yet, or that their particular home wasn't 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:24.920 serviced because the cart wasn't out when the truck serviced their street. There will 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:31.160 be a note and a photo indicating the reason with evidence for any missed service for both 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:38.360 residential and commercial collections immediately clearing up confusion for the customer. This 00:32:38.360 --> 00:32:45.400 photo evidence feature of the software will also back up any collections that require 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:53.760 fees, such as large piles of brush or bulky items in excess of two. We're really excited 00:32:53.760 --> 00:32:59.180 about this project and excited to get it rolling and expecting that we will see much more efficient 00:32:59.180 --> 00:33:14.400 service for the residents of Denton with implementation of this software. And now we will go back. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:20.040 From a timing standpoint, we anticipate that the smart routing system will be presented 00:33:20.040 --> 00:33:26.280 to the PUB next Monday, the 14th, and then will come before council for final approval 00:33:26.280 --> 00:33:31.280 on the 22nd. So that one is just right at the finish line. You should see that one within 00:33:31.280 --> 00:33:36.040 the next week, two weeks for approval. We'd like to talk a little bit about the comprehensive 00:33:36.040 --> 00:33:43.420 solid waste management strategy. We had re-upped that procurement, and we're in the process 00:33:43.420 --> 00:33:50.160 of finalizing contracts with our successful proposer at this point in time. As a reminder, 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:54.560 the comprehensive solid waste management strategy is really a forward-looking document that 00:33:54.560 --> 00:34:00.040 helps the city strategize and identify what its solid waste procurement or operations 00:34:00.040 --> 00:34:07.080 will look like over the next 5, 10, 15 years. It allows us to set long and short-term goals, 00:34:07.080 --> 00:34:12.320 look at policies and actions, really help manage the generation diversion disposal waste 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:18.000 in the 21st century. Now, this is not a solid waste management plan. The plan flows from 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.520 the strategy. We've all seen those war movies where, you know, the sergeant goes, take that 00:34:22.520 --> 00:34:26.680 hill and everybody, you know, gets ready and they move towards that hill. But how did they 00:34:26.680 --> 00:34:30.320 select that hill? Why did they select that hill? Is that the right hill that they should 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:37.500 be focusing on? So that's what the strategy is to do, is to look at everything in a large, 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:45.040 from a 30,000-foot view and help us really narrow down which pieces need to be implemented 00:34:45.040 --> 00:34:50.840 at the city level and how that will look. From the standpoint, you know, we're going 00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:58.080 to be talking with, we're going to start out doing residential and commercial waste audits. 00:34:58.080 --> 00:35:03.480 We are somewhat unique in the city of Denton in that we do provide commercial service. 00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:07.620 So while there have been residential waste audits that have been completed throughout 00:35:07.620 --> 00:35:12.180 the country and throughout the region, we have not seen really anything substantial 00:35:12.180 --> 00:35:17.720 in the commercial waste sector. So we'll be kicking the strategy off by completing commercial 00:35:17.720 --> 00:35:22.440 waste audits. While we're doing that, we're also going to be completing listening and 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:26.800 feedback sessions so that we can focus on the people that we'll be servicing. So again, 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.280 sitting down with council members, boards and commission members, community members, 00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:35.560 staff to really identify what's important, what needs to move forward, looking at different 00:35:35.560 --> 00:35:41.440 rules and regulations internal to the city as we operate, as well as federal, state and 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.720 local regulations, defining not only what we can do with recycles, but looking at how 00:35:46.720 --> 00:35:52.120 products are manufactured, supporting how material is managed throughout the process. 00:35:52.120 --> 00:35:57.640 We don't want the tail wagging the dog. We want it to flow the process from the start 00:35:57.640 --> 00:36:03.800 where materials are sourced to the end of life. And again, looking at these, at growth 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:10.360 from a regional, looking at regional growth and generation trends as we move forward. 00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:16.160 Denton is growing extremely rapidly. So how do we work to get ahead of this curve as opposed 00:36:16.160 --> 00:36:21.920 to trying just to play catch up all the time? And again, this project will be data driven. 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:27.440 So again, it's important that the data that we're getting from our smart routing system 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:33.720 as well as other implementation programs that we're looking forward to, we'll define the 00:36:33.720 --> 00:36:39.720 feedback on that. Again, the results of this project will help us, you know, use to vision 00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:44.980 the expectations of this program over the next 10, 15 years, answering those questions. 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:49.160 What should we be recycling? How should we be managing it? You know, looking at our long 00:36:49.160 --> 00:36:54.920 term garbage management goals, helping define what future legislative agendas might look 00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:58.840 like. And then again, as we're going through this, trying to identify, you know, third 00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:03.240 party or grant funding opportunities that will help us support us. So really, I'd like 00:37:03.240 --> 00:37:09.600 to refer to this as a solid waste 3.0, you know, solid waste 1.0 was when we went from, 00:37:09.600 --> 00:37:14.960 you know, at the turn of the 19th century, from burning trash in the backyard or whatever 00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:20.040 to actually being collected. And then solid waste 2.0 when we started separating it out 00:37:20.040 --> 00:37:24.560 and recycling. And this is really 3.0, taking that step back, looking at what's happening 00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:29.560 here in the 21st century and designing for the future as we're moving forward. As I said 00:37:29.560 --> 00:37:35.160 earlier, we're in the process of contracting, working through the contract with the successful 00:37:35.160 --> 00:37:41.160 proposer at this point in time. We anticipate bringing this to the PUB at the first meeting 00:37:41.160 --> 00:37:48.160 in October and then the council meeting following that for council approval. 00:37:48.160 --> 00:37:52.960 The last project I'd like to identify and talk about today is our City of Denton landfill 00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:58.600 scale software system replacement. We have a system in place right now that's about 16 00:37:58.600 --> 00:38:03.120 years old. It's at the end of life. There was an audit completed three years ago. And 00:38:03.120 --> 00:38:07.160 as a result, there were several issues that are identified. First and foremost, there 00:38:07.160 --> 00:38:14.960 are no institutional controls available in this software system. Due to security issues, 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:22.920 it allowed different people to access different parts of the program. So keeping track of 00:38:22.920 --> 00:38:33.160 where the accounts were being managed was somewhat difficult. We have put some security 00:38:33.160 --> 00:38:39.200 in place to help us alleviate a lot of those issues. But again, we still have issues that 00:38:39.200 --> 00:38:44.760 require a lot of maintenance as we're moving forward. It's a very old piece of software. 00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:48.880 And it's at its end of life. And it's no longer being supported by the provider. So 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:55.200 we're at a point that necessitates us replacing this software piece. What we are hoping to 00:38:55.200 --> 00:39:00.840 do is within this next week actually have it hit the street. It will be open for about 00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:06.800 a month, six weeks. We'll go through a review process. And hopefully by the end of the year 00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:12.600 actually have a successful vendor selected, bring that forward to council and early in 00:39:12.600 --> 00:39:19.000 FY or early in calendar year 21, actually start moving towards the implementation of 00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:25.640 a new scale house system for the landfill. And that will help us again capture appropriate 00:39:25.640 --> 00:39:30.760 data that we need to make some of these long-term decisions. With that, I'd be willing to answer 00:39:30.760 --> 00:39:34.480 questions that you might have regarding the system. 00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:45.040 Okay. Take the slides down and see who has a question first. There we go. Anyone? Lots 00:39:45.040 --> 00:39:52.440 of information. No. Councilor Meltzer? Yeah, just to comment, you know, a lot of great 00:39:52.440 --> 00:40:00.080 new stuff on the systems front. And I wasn't sure I caught, I think you said next couple 00:40:00.080 --> 00:40:09.280 of weeks, but just what is your expected timing now on the next step of the big strategy process? 00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:14.160 As I stated, we're in the final stages of contracting. So that will still have to go 00:40:14.160 --> 00:40:18.920 through the city attorney's office. But once we get into the system, we're anticipating 00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:23.720 the first part of October, it will go to the PUB and then the next meeting that we would 00:40:23.720 --> 00:40:28.560 set the agenda date on. So probably middle of October, the council, the full council 00:40:28.560 --> 00:40:35.560 would see it for approval. To hire the? To hire the consultant. Correct. Okay. Thank 00:40:35.560 --> 00:40:43.000 you. All right. Well, thank you. I have just a kind of clarification question myself. So 00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:47.680 on this slide, we saw it was strategy that it wasn't the plan. And so to get from the 00:40:47.680 --> 00:40:54.560 strategy to the plan, we're going to hold a lot of meetings and discussions. And is 00:40:54.560 --> 00:41:00.640 that correct? Correct. To get to the end result of the strategy, we'll have visioning sessions. 00:41:00.640 --> 00:41:05.200 We'll create task force. We'll put this strategy together. And then moving from the strategy 00:41:05.200 --> 00:41:10.960 to the plan, again, we'll do significant outreach and we'll create those short term 00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:16.560 plans, those short term goals to move us forward into the implementation of the project. Okay. 00:41:16.560 --> 00:41:21.960 And that is where recycling and food diversion and all of those things that have been mentioned 00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:26.560 to us from the public will come in, those conversations. Correct. Yeah, the strategy 00:41:26.560 --> 00:41:30.840 may say what? Yeah, we're going to do food diversion. Food diversion is important because 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:34.760 of X, Y, and Z. And these are the things to consider. And then as we put the plan into 00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:39.880 place, you know, we may go with something curbside. Or as a result of what the strategy 00:41:39.880 --> 00:41:46.480 is telling us, it may say, no, that's not cost effective, nor is it physically appropriate. 00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:52.880 We may do some sort of centralized collection or an augmentation of an existing program. 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:58.740 So that strategy will help us define what the plan looks like. Okay. And just a couple 00:41:58.740 --> 00:42:04.920 of comments. Very good on the voice response system. That's really great to see positive 00:42:04.920 --> 00:42:10.660 feedback. And also the smart routing. I'm really excited to see that. I can't wait 00:42:10.660 --> 00:42:16.560 for that to be implemented. That's going to be pretty beneficial, I think, to everyone. 00:42:16.560 --> 00:42:24.280 On that, if a bin, recycling bin, trash bin gets eaten, will that also register on that 00:42:24.280 --> 00:42:30.560 system, smart routing system? Like, whoops, we just. Yes. If a bin falls in the hopper, 00:42:30.560 --> 00:42:33.920 I mean, obviously we don't want our driver crawling in and trying to recover it. Oh, 00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:39.600 no, no. But again, what that would add, what we would manage that as an exception, the 00:42:39.600 --> 00:42:43.640 driver would just basically punch a button on his tablet. It would automatically print 00:42:43.640 --> 00:42:48.880 a work order and we could dispatch our cart delivery team out to deliver another without 00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:54.240 the customer having to make a phone call or having to get back and manually tagging this 00:42:54.240 --> 00:43:03.040 through a manual paper process. That's fantastic. That's really great. Thank you. You're welcome. 00:43:03.040 --> 00:43:10.000 Okay, so I think if we don't have any more questions on that item, we will move down 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:17.880 to D, management updates. I think we have three here. Dr. Banks, are you going to go 00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:24.740 through those with us? Yes, just real briefly. So the first one is an update of the RISE 00:43:24.740 --> 00:43:30.260 coalition that stands for regional integration of sustainability efforts. Basically, this 00:43:30.260 --> 00:43:35.720 is an outgrowth of a name y'all may be more familiar with, the North Central Texas Stewardship 00:43:35.720 --> 00:43:43.480 Forum. That was an EPA grant and it was facilitated through the COG. And once the grant was over, 00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:49.360 this group saw benefit in continuing to share information, kind of work as a group, serve 00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:57.880 as a clearinghouse. And so they've created this next iteration of the group. A little 00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:05.240 bit of information available for you, as well as the web link. And then a little brief note 00:44:05.240 --> 00:44:11.240 in there just to acknowledge that Denton's own Catherine Barnett has been elected vice 00:44:11.240 --> 00:44:16.640 chair of this group. And so we congratulate her for that and interested to see where this 00:44:16.640 --> 00:44:24.600 group is going to go. The next item is just a very brief update on the sustainability 00:44:24.600 --> 00:44:32.640 advisory committee. That is item two of your matrix. And so we wanted to give you just 00:44:32.640 --> 00:44:37.640 a brief update on kind of where that's at. So the intention is to bring back, staff is 00:44:37.640 --> 00:44:41.840 still doing research. We're going to come back in front of the committee on the environment 00:44:41.840 --> 00:44:46.800 at the meeting in October. And right now we are targeting the October 13th meeting with 00:44:46.800 --> 00:44:52.920 the full council to have a discussion about options and hopefully get some guidance from 00:44:52.920 --> 00:45:00.120 the council on how they would like to put this together. Last item is basically just 00:45:00.120 --> 00:45:11.200 the actions matrix. And basically the only pending item that we have after the sustainable 00:45:11.200 --> 00:45:18.440 implementation committee is SoulSmart design. And we've spoken with the EME peers at the 00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:23.240 intentions to bring this back at the next meeting that we're going to have in October. 00:45:23.240 --> 00:45:29.320 And that's all I have. I have a question about number one, my commercial 00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:34.880 food diversion programs. I know that was in 2018 and we've been kind of waiting for the 00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:42.240 conversation that's coming up. But I have a question because I'm not real sure and this 00:45:42.240 --> 00:45:47.360 could be brought back to us in an update next time or a work session if anyone wants to 00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:54.120 hear about what's allowed and what's not as far as for private businesses to do food scraps 00:45:54.120 --> 00:45:59.600 for commercials or residential. I know that council had someone come speak that had a 00:45:59.600 --> 00:46:06.160 company who did that for certain businesses. But since then I heard that it wasn't allowed. 00:46:06.160 --> 00:46:11.440 And so if I may have heard mistakenly or, you know, if that's something we need to discuss 00:46:11.440 --> 00:46:18.820 as a policy in the community, that may be something we need to do to allow private businesses 00:46:18.820 --> 00:46:29.440 to do that. I think Brian may have a comment on this. 00:46:29.440 --> 00:46:37.440 And it may be in our strategy. I don't know. Councilmember Briggs, that is true. It is 00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:44.120 an important element we are going to be examining in our strategy. And the name slips my mind 00:46:44.120 --> 00:46:49.360 of the person that came and did the presentation. But again, they are not the only person on 00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:54.800 the block doing this. There are several companies out there that, you know, will collect material 00:46:54.800 --> 00:47:02.440 and compost it. So there's nothing wrong with a private resident taking material to a third 00:47:02.440 --> 00:47:07.760 party, you know, just like sorting out aluminum cans and taking them to a metal processor. 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:12.640 There's nothing against the law for doing that. But the city is the sole by our ordinance 00:47:12.640 --> 00:47:19.320 is the sole provider of solid waste services in the city of Denton. So we cannot set up 00:47:19.320 --> 00:47:25.160 a program where, you know, allowing a third party to come in and provide part of that 00:47:25.160 --> 00:47:29.880 service. So as part of the strategy, we'll be looking at how that's implemented moving 00:47:29.880 --> 00:47:34.360 forward and determining what sort of ordinance we may have to change or how it may affect 00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:36.680 us in the way that we deliver that service. 00:47:36.680 --> 00:47:43.480 >> Okay. Well, I would like to keep that on the matrix just as we're going through to 00:47:43.480 --> 00:47:51.600 make sure that it stays on there as the conversation comes forward to us, if that's okay. And other 00:47:51.600 --> 00:47:58.480 than that, does anyone have anything to add to the matrix for our concluding items? 00:47:58.480 --> 00:48:02.440 We'll move to concluding items. 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:12.880 >> You know, I think it's sort of always the same things that I think there's a consensus 00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:18.200 for taking action on. Like maybe I'm wrong about this, but I think this consensus, at 00:48:18.200 --> 00:48:24.440 least on the part of our committee, taking action on collecting compost for attacking 00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:31.080 commercial and multifamily. And it just seems like it's always planning for another conversation 00:48:31.080 --> 00:48:35.760 about a conversation about a conversation. And I'm just kind of watching the years tick 00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:46.240 by. I'm a little curious how it ever comes to like, when are we actually going to look 00:48:46.240 --> 00:48:53.240 at options and to really do it. But maybe that's a concluding item, just an expression 00:48:53.240 --> 00:48:57.040 of frustration. 00:48:57.040 --> 00:49:03.400 >> Did we have a date for the strategy to come to -- I mean, I know that we saw a timeline, 00:49:03.400 --> 00:49:08.800 but is there a date that we can lock that down where this will be a discussion for us? 00:49:08.800 --> 00:49:18.800 >> Again, we're working, you know, trying to contract the contractor. And once we get 00:49:18.800 --> 00:49:23.600 that underway, then, you know, as part of a council presentation, or excuse me, as part 00:49:23.600 --> 00:49:27.640 of the approval by the council, we can take an opportunity there to discuss it as well 00:49:27.640 --> 00:49:34.000 as when we start implementing the process, we'll be having specific and direct and intimate 00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:38.440 conversations with each of the council members as we move forward. 00:49:38.440 --> 00:49:45.840 >> Okay. So I assume that will come to us as a body here as well. 00:49:45.840 --> 00:49:46.840 >> Correct. 00:49:46.840 --> 00:49:50.760 >> Okay. So thank you, Councilmember Metzler, for your note. Councilmember Davis, do you 00:49:50.760 --> 00:49:52.560 have anything you'd like to add? 00:49:52.560 --> 00:49:55.560 >> No, not today. 00:49:55.560 --> 00:50:02.440 >> Okay. The only -- I'm curious about our conversation on carbon reduction, if that's 00:50:02.440 --> 00:50:09.040 going to come back to us in the future. I know we were waiting on some more data there. 00:50:09.040 --> 00:50:16.240 And also the last thing is if we want to consider changing notification status, I think in our 00:50:16.240 --> 00:50:22.800 ordinance for spraying, it's 24 hours. If we wanted to up that to 48 or 72 hours, I 00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:31.080 know that our city has done well beyond the 24-hour notification that's in our ordinance. 00:50:31.080 --> 00:50:36.360 They've done really, really great on this one. But if we wanted to make those changes 00:50:36.360 --> 00:50:47.400 in an ordinance, if that's something we wanted to consider in the future for the matrix. 00:50:47.400 --> 00:50:51.320 Or an update on it, maybe, even. 00:50:51.320 --> 00:50:56.840 >> We can definitely add that to the matrix. We can discuss it in more detail. Part of 00:50:56.840 --> 00:51:02.520 the challenge is if you have multiple cases that are in close proximity in time, with 00:51:02.520 --> 00:51:08.600 a single applicator and a single machine to apply, sometimes you can't do that within 00:51:08.600 --> 00:51:17.480 a 48-hour time period. But we haven't seen a year like that since 2012. So we'd be glad 00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:21.080 to bring back some information to kind of discuss the pros and cons. 00:51:21.080 --> 00:51:27.560 >> Okay. That'd be great. So we'll just add that. Thank you. So I guess we are at our 00:51:27.560 --> 00:51:33.400 conclusion of the meeting. And I appreciate everyone joining in today. And we will adjourn 00:51:33.400 --> 00:51:38.460 at 1.53. Thank you, everybody. 00:51:38.460 --> 00:51:39.760 >> Thank you.