1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,920 All right, Susan. You're right. It is nine o'clock and we do have a quorum, so it's called 2 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:17,520 to order the Public Utilities Board meeting for September 14th, 2020. The first item is 3 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:24,000 the consent agenda. Does any board member wish to pull an item from A through E? Yes, 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:32,080 Billy. I'd like to pull item C as in cat, just for my entertainment. C as in cat. Any others? 5 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,680 Thanks, Billy. 6 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:46,320 If there's no others, do we have a motion to approve items A, B, D, and E? I so move. Second. 7 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:57,840 Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, item C. Well, my question is just like I said, 8 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,560 it's for entertainment purposes, but I didn't realize that we had to do this. I think it's 9 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:12,080 interesting. And notice that we didn't get a lot of bids on it, but I would assume not a lot of 10 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:22,560 people do this. Is that correct? Aye. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. 11 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:28,320 My name is Brian Burner, Director of Solid Waste, and you are correct. This is a very small pool of 12 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:35,440 individuals who do perform this service, and as a result, the number of people who can do this and 13 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:41,040 then have capacity within their existing system to manage additional work is extremely limited, 14 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,200 and it's not inconsistent with other bids at other cities that I've encountered. 15 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:53,360 You usually have between one and three individuals who are responding to requesting this nature. 16 00:01:53,360 --> 00:02:02,960 So, Brian, I just had a quick question. Do all contracts like this have a piggyback clause? 17 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,520 I'm sorry, you broke up on my end. I did not get the full question. I apologize. 18 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,440 It was meant for humor. Do all contracts like this have a piggyback clause? 19 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:26,960 Again, I'm sorry. I did not get it from this end. 20 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:37,600 Do all contracts have a piggyback clause? A piggyback clause? 21 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:49,280 Come on, it's Monday, but wake up there. It is. I can't say that it does. I had a couple 22 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:56,800 of other jokes myself, but I appreciate that one. All is good fat, and days get slaughtered. 23 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:02,000 Any other questions? Go on all day. 24 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,280 Do we know what they're going to do with all of these animals? 25 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,800 That's up to them? We do. 26 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:25,360 Brian, if you could hold off for one second. Let me see if we can find out from Billy. 27 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,000 It looks like we're having some technical problems here. 28 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:34,000 You're all frozen. If you could just give us one quick second here, let's get with Billy 29 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:47,760 and find out if that's something on our side. It's 9.08, and we're back on. We were discussing 30 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:56,800 consent agenda item C, the feral hawk. Are there any other questions of the board? 31 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,600 None here. Do we have a motion? 32 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,480 Move approval. Second. 33 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,480 All in favor say aye. Aye. 34 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:16,640 Motion carries. Now we are to recess the regular meeting and go into a work session. 35 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,800 Is there anything else we need to do, Tony, other than just an answer? 36 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,560 No, ma'am. We'll have Nick on the line. He'll be walking through the presentation. 37 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,600 The first item is the work sessions. Receive a report, hold a discussion, 38 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,080 and give staff direction regarding the proposed water, electric, solid waste, 39 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,880 wastewater, and miscellaneous rates for fiscal year 2020 to 2021. 40 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:44,400 Good morning, chair, PV members, Nick Vinson, assistant director of finance. As Tony said, 41 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:49,360 I'll walk you through a brief presentation to talk about the 2021 proposed rate changes with you. 42 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,640 Really quick, before we get started, just kind of as a recap for all the PV members, 43 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:00,160 on September 4th, we did give each one of you a memo with supporting documentation that included 44 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,800 the red line rate ordinances. And that memo and supporting documentation is really meant to be 45 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,680 provided before this meeting to allow sufficient time for questions and comments from the public 46 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,720 utility board members. So today we'll walk through a work session item really quick, 47 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,240 have a brief discussion, see if you have any questions. There's plenty of staff members 48 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,240 online from each of the utilities to address the questions if you have them. And if not, 49 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,440 we will seek your approval later in this meeting through an individual consideration 50 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:30,880 item for each of the utilities. With that, I will pull up the presentation and get started. 51 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:44,880 Bear with me here. 52 00:05:52,240 --> 00:06:14,880 A little bit of difficulty finding my presentation. Hang on just a second. 53 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:34,080 Tony, I don't know if I'll be able to share my screen here. Give me just a second. I may have 54 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:39,520 to... Nick, if you want, we can pull it up here if you want. That'd be great if you wouldn't mind. 55 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,880 Yeah, Cassie's coming up and she'll kind of pull it up on our side and drive for you. Perfect. 56 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:54,880 Okay. 57 00:06:54,880 --> 00:07:21,760 Pull it up on our side and drive for you. Perfect. 58 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:30,480 All right, Nick, it's up. Okay, perfect. Yeah, Cassie, if you want to blow it, thank you. And 59 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,440 then just go to the first slide really quick. So real quick, just a high-level overview, then we'll 60 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,440 walk through each of the changes again. So we'll discuss the water rate changes with you, electric 61 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,760 rate changes, solid waste rate changes, really discuss those next steps, what's coming up here 62 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,480 in the next month or two, and address any questions that you had as I previously stated. One thing I 63 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,680 want to say before we get started, we are not talking about the wastewater rates today or the 64 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:56,160 miscellaneous rates. There are no recommended changes to those rate ordinances, so they actually 65 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,480 will carry forward, the existing ones will carry forward in the next year. So we'll only be talking 66 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:10,480 about the three utilities today. Next slide, please. So proposed changes for water, as we 67 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:16,560 discussed with the public utility board last week or a couple of weeks ago, actually on August 24th, 68 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:22,160 there's a 2% rate decrease for inside the city, residential and commercial customers. And there 69 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:26,960 were two different options that were presented to the public utility board, option one being a cost 70 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:32,400 of service decrease that you can see in this table, and option two being a cost of board decrease. 71 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:37,040 We did receive direction from the public utility board to proceed with option one. So the red line 72 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,760 rate ordinances fronted you today is based on the cost of service model and assumptions. So as you 73 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:48,080 can see, the facility charge for a residential customer with a three quarter inch meter will go 74 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:55,600 to 16 to 1584. And then that first tier is zero to 15,000 gallons would go from 415 to 405. 75 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,480 Commercial inside customers, same thing here. This was a cost of service decrease. The facility 76 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:06,160 charge, a two inch meter is our most common meter for commercial customers. This would go from 5150 77 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:11,840 to 5131. And then the volume charge, there's not a tier structure in place. It does charge per 78 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:20,720 thousand gallons. It's 445 going to 434. This decrease does vary based on the size of meter 79 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,560 that a customer has and then which tier that they're in. And that's included in your backup 80 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:32,640 material. Next slide. Water rate changes continued. These are contractual rates that we'll be adjusting 81 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,800 this year. This is something we bring forward to the public utility board and city council each year 82 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,880 based on those contractual agreements we have with these entities. So the first one would be the 83 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:45,120 wholesale raw water service to the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. And the current rate is 84 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:52,640 0.7401. And this rate will go to 0.7578. This is based on 85% of the Dallas wholesale rate. 85 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,360 And the second one being the Lake Chapman pass through rate. And this is adjusted each year based 86 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:03,280 on the CPI adjuster for the month of June. And the current rate is 0.0270. That rate will be going to 87 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:11,520 0.0275. Next slide. Electric rate changes. The redline ordinance with electric utility was included 88 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,120 in your backup. We'll be available to answer questions after this presentation if you have them. 89 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,600 Really quick, we are looking to discontinue several rates. The first one being the residential 90 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:25,280 renewable service rider, also referred to as RG. All customers are receiving 100% renewable energy. 91 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:29,600 So we are looking to discontinue this rate. The next one being the weekend service, also referred 92 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:35,040 to as WK. We're looking to discontinue this rate. A recent audit did reveal that customers are 93 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:40,800 hitting their monthly demand peak outside of those designated weekend hours. Downtown decorative 94 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:46,640 lighting, DDL, we are looking to do away with this also. The dark fiber rate, we are looking 95 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:53,120 to discontinue this. Fiber is no longer a service under DME. And then the commercial renewable energy 96 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:59,360 services, CGR, all customers similar to residential are receiving 100% renewable energy. So we are 97 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:05,200 looking to discontinue this rate. And then independent wholesale generator, IWG. And then 98 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,760 DME has never utilized this rate to purchase energy from non-renewable wholesale generators. So we're 99 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:14,080 looking to do away with that. And as previously stated, there are 186 residential customers that 100 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:20,400 will be impacted by the RG rate being discontinued with an annual savings of 47.36. Next slide, 101 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:26,000 please. Solid waste proposed rate changes. I'll start at the top really quick and work our way 102 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:31,440 down. The valid shared service for commercial customers, we are looking to decrease the tier 103 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:36,800 two rate based on that cost of service model for the solid waste fund. The rate is currently 138.28. 104 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:41,600 We're looking to take that rate to 74.16. Yard waste service, we are looking to implement that 105 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:47,440 commercial yard waste collection service similar to residential. The rate is $75 per hour. We're 106 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,480 looking to build that on 15 minute increments. And then the standard cart rate decrease, this is that 107 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:58,800 5% decrease or $1 a month for a standard cart customer. You can see that rate going from 21.51 108 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:06,640 to 20.51. And then a large cart customer going from 26.26 to 25.04. And then the additional 109 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:13,120 large cart going from 17.38 to 16.57. And then a gate disposal rate for non-city-dent customers, 110 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:19,040 we are looking to increase this based on the amount of volume coming into the city's landfill. 111 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:24,800 So we're looking to increase this rate from $46 a ton to 48. And then sludge dewatered, 112 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,200 we are looking to increase this from 46 to 50. And then there is a note here at the bottom, 113 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,760 as previously communicated, we are looking to adjust those wholesale contract agreements 114 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:39,680 based on those adjustments that are called out in that contract. It's 2.3% is the CPI adjuster, 115 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:45,840 which is an additional 400,000 in revenue. Next slide, please. This is the table that summarizes 116 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:50,640 the rate changes and the rate decreases for the water and solid waste utility. Starting at the 117 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:56,240 top, you can see the average residential customer for electric service is paying $124.80 for water. 118 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:02,800 Going forward into 2021, be paying $53.10. Wastewater based on 5,400 gallons of wastewater 119 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:10,880 would be $31.52. Solid waste is $20.51 for a total of $2.29.93. So really overall, 120 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:18,720 a decrease of $2.08 for both of those utilities. Next steps. So today is September 14th. We are 121 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,360 looking for your feedback to address any questions during this work session item. This will go forward 122 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:30,160 to the city council on September 22nd for adoption, along with the budget and the capital plan, 123 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:34,480 and then circling back with the public utility board with that detailed rate and budget discussion 124 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:41,360 in December as previously mentioned. And then that concludes the presentation. And we'll pull it down. 125 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,960 And if you have any questions, I can address them. If there's something I can't answer, 126 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,560 Kenny's on the phone. We have Chris Lutruc. We have Terry Nalt. We have a bunch of people on 127 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:55,680 the phone that can address your questions. I have a question. Yes, sir. The water rate, 128 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:02,400 we charge Dallas compared to the water rate we charge Upper Trinity. Upper Trinity is 85% 129 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:09,520 of the Dallas rate. What's the rationale for the disparity there? What's the reason for the 130 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:15,760 difference? Why do we only charge a percentage of Dallas wholesale rated? Mr. Baffert, is that 131 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:22,560 your question? Correct. Why do we charge the two different entities, different unit prices? So Kenny 132 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,400 Banks on the phone, he may be familiar with the agreement. I know in the agreement, it does call 133 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:31,920 out 85% of that wholesale rate. Kenny's on the phone or Frank Pugsley will be able to address 134 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:44,320 that question also. Kenny, are you on the phone? 135 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:07,040 And Mr. Baffert, if he's not on the phone, we can follow up with you and get you a response to that. 136 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,120 Tony, did you want to say something different? Yeah. Let me send Kenny a text and if there's 137 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:16,400 other questions, we can come back to this one. Okay. Of course. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes, 138 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:23,440 sir. Okay. Oh, great. Thank you. Sorry. Had a little technical difficulty there. Kenny Banks, 139 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:31,680 general manager of utility. Good morning board members. Nick is correct. That wholesale rate was 140 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:39,680 negotiated with the opportunity, and it was essentially a form of competitiveness. It was 141 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:46,560 put in place many years ago, but essentially, they've got an opportunity to buy Dallas water. 142 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:53,040 They've got an opportunity to buy water from the city of Denton. It was simply based on our overall 143 00:15:53,040 --> 00:16:04,560 water rights. And so we were essentially able to negotiate with them effectively in 85 percent 144 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:14,160 of the total of the Dallas rate. So it really was just a contractual negotiation that 145 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:20,160 had come before the board and council many years ago. And it was just an attempt to be competitive 146 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:26,560 and ensure that the opportunity had an economic incentive to purchase the available wholesale 147 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:33,840 water from the city of Denton first. Okay. Thank you. And how long is that contract? What is the 148 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:43,440 term? That contract is currently in place, but we need to renegotiate it. And so we are actively 149 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:53,680 in process of doing that now. Okay. So we've been kind of operating under the contract as it exists, 150 00:16:53,680 --> 00:17:01,360 but we definitely are in talks right now to renegotiate. Okay. Thank you. Other questions? 151 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:08,480 I have a question about the landfill rates. You're not going to fund the Denton 152 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:16,480 residences to take to the landfill. You're going on the non-Denton residents, correct? 153 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,800 That's correct. Yes ma'am. The rate would only increase for non-city of Denton residents. The 154 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:30,000 city of Denton residents rate would stay the same. Thank you. Charlie, go ahead. Okay. I have a 155 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:37,040 question and a couple of comments. I'm fixating on the water rates. First of all, just an editorial 156 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:46,720 comment for future years. It seems to me that we're micromanaging our customers if our water 157 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:55,600 rates take 20 pages to list all the different water rates and tables. That seems like micromanagement 158 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:00,640 to me. Second, I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. It's my opinion that the 159 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:08,880 top two tiers of residential are overly punitive. I agree we want to discourage waste, but some of 160 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:16,160 our older neighborhoods, the houses just use more water. And if we're wanting to, let's say, I 161 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:21,760 believe the Denton plan says we want to maintain the rural character of many of our neighborhoods. 162 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:27,360 If we want to do that, we've got to make it possible for people to use water to irrigate at 163 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:36,480 reasonable prices. And I think the comparison, if I read the 20-page document, we charge buckies and 164 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:44,240 we charge Acme Brick a maximum of $6 per thousand for irrigation, and we charge them $4.34 per 165 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:52,400 thousand, regardless of the amount of use. By comparison, some residential users are being 166 00:18:52,400 --> 00:19:00,640 charged $10.64. And I think one and a half times what luck is paying seems excessive to me. And 167 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:07,440 the other comment that I want to make is that on our water bills, nobody sees the details of 168 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:14,560 the calculation. All they see is a gallon amount and a price. If we're wanting to use the rates 169 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:20,400 to motivate certain behaviors, we ought to show a little more clearly to our customers 170 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:30,000 what happens to your rate when you go up. Anyway, that's all of my comments. My question is, 171 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:37,280 it looks like our cheapest rate is $4.05 per thousand for anybody at a retail kind of level. 172 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:42,080 Does that exceed the cost of our water production or are we subsidizing at that rate? 173 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:50,320 Mr. Parker, no. It is believed that that rate covers our cost of water production, 174 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:55,040 is sufficient to cover our cost of water production. And then what we plan to do is when 175 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,960 we circle back, so we're right in the middle of a cost of service study now, we're actually 176 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:04,080 wrapping that up. And when we come back to you, going back to your comment about the top two 177 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,280 tiers that actually fits into that volume discussion that you're talking about with that rate. That is 178 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:13,200 something we've discussed with the consultant previously, and we continue to discuss with them, 179 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,120 and actually the board members have brought it before the city council members. So we do intend 180 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,760 to address that with you this coming November, December, discussing those tiers and what the 181 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,600 public utility board and the city council would like that to look like. But to answer your question, 182 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,200 yes, that volume rate does recover our cost of producing water. That is correct. 183 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:41,840 All right. Well, then we will reconvene into the regular meeting. 184 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,240 The first item is to consider the approval of the August 24th, 2020 minutes. Does anybody 185 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:58,800 have any changes or corrections? I move we approve. Second. All in favor, say aye. 186 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:09,200 Next item is consider recommending the approval of the water fiscal year 2020-2021 operating in 187 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:17,760 capital budget. Chair, PB members, Nick Vinson again. I have several items on the individual 188 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:23,120 consideration for your approval today. Walking through, I do have a short presentation if you'd 189 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:28,000 like to see that pro forma again for the water utility, be happy to pull it up. If not, we are 190 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:35,040 looking for your approval today regarding the 2020-2021 budget. Does the board member want to 191 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:40,560 see it again or? I think this is the same thing we've seen before, is it not? Correct. Yes, sir, 192 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:48,000 Mr. Baffert is. You did see this before on August 23rd and August 24th. It's a 10-year 193 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,600 forecast for the water utility, so absolutely you did see it before. I move we approve. 194 00:21:53,600 --> 00:22:01,200 All right. Do we have a second? Oh, Ed seconds. All in favor, say aye. Aye. 195 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:09,200 Motion carries. All right, the next item is consider recommending the adoption of an ordinance. 196 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:23,680 I'm sorry. You're on C. Yeah. Wastewater. Wastewater drainage. Sorry, my pages got mixed up here, 197 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:30,480 sorry. Yeah, consider approval of wastewater drainage fiscal year 2021 operating in capital 198 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:35,200 budgets. Again, is this the same? This is the same presentations we've seen. That is correct, 199 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,320 yes ma'am. Any board member wish to have any further discussion? 200 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:53,840 Do we have a motion? Move approval. Second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion 201 00:22:53,840 --> 00:23:00,080 carries. Consider recommending the approval of the electric fiscal year 2021 operating in capital 202 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:09,120 budgets. Any further discussion on this item? I guess my comment on all these would be what's 203 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:13,040 changed? Have any of these presentations changed since we saw them last time? 204 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:18,160 Sir, and I'll be happy. Cassie, are you available to pull up the presentation really quick or I can 205 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,960 just show them the performance if you're available to pull it up? I don't think it's on my screen here. 206 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:30,480 Yes, Mr. Baffert, let me let me walk you through really quick just to reassure you. So if you 207 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,400 wouldn't mind just going back to the beginning really quick. Cassie, I think we can start there 208 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:39,520 maybe. So the water pro forma, this is the 10-year forecast. Nothing has changed. You can see the 209 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:44,960 proposed 2021. We have that 2% rate decrease and the reserves are sufficient to be above those 210 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:51,680 minimum reserve requirements. The debt coverage ratio is 1.25 in the proposed budget or above. 211 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:57,600 Actually, it's 2.69. And then wastewater really quick, the next one. Same thing here, no change. 212 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:02,480 There are no rate adjustments to the wastewater utility. You can see that 5% rate decrease we 213 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:09,280 had in 2029. You know, in this utility is similar to water. The reserve is above the minimum reserve 214 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:15,840 requirement of 13.3 with that minimum being 15.4 and the debt coverage ratio of 2. So it is well 215 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:22,080 above that 1.25. And the next one I believe is a solid waste. This one will be considered for 216 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:29,200 approval here shortly. No changes here. This is just consider the 5% or $1 decrease for a standard 217 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,120 solid waste customer. So no changes to the solid waste 5-year forecast. 218 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:38,000 Could I say something here, Nick? Yes, sir. I appreciate how you've highlighted the line that 219 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:44,880 says use of reserves. Yes, sir. That's an important piece of information and I appreciate seeing that 220 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:50,880 and how you've highlighted it like that. Okay. You're welcome. And then Cassie, if you don't mind, 221 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,200 electric pro forma really quick. So to answer your question, Mr. Bafford, there are no changes to 222 00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:01,280 electric pro forma. This does not consider any rate changes. We have that no sell the TMP facility 223 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:06,320 included in this pro forma. We do have that $21 million in decommissioning costs associated 224 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,960 with that facility. And then that return on investment increasing from three and a half to 225 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:18,640 6%. And it does return back down starting in the fiscal year 2023 to 3.5%. So there are no changes 226 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:24,320 to the electric pro forma either. And then that's it. I think that concludes this short presentation. 227 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,040 Just talking about the adoption. So city council will adopt the budgets, the rates, everything on 228 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:34,400 September 22nd, allowing that time for citizens input on September 15th, and then circling back 229 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:39,760 with you in December with that detailed rate, cost of service and budget discussion. So there are no 230 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:49,520 changes to the reform as to answer your question. I move we approve. All right. Second. Seconds. 231 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:56,160 All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Since we've already seen the presentation, 232 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:03,200 do we have a motion to approve the solid waste fiscal year 2021 operating in capital budget? 233 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:13,520 So I'll move. Second. Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 234 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:20,240 Consider recommending the approval of the customer service fiscal year 2021 operating budget. 235 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:25,360 That wasn't in the presentation. But we have the presentation available and Christa's on 236 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:29,440 the phone today if you have questions. Like I previously stated, customer service used to be 237 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,160 part of the water utility. We did break it out for transparency. At that time, we did communicate to 238 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,840 the public utility board. We continue to bring it back to you. So it is in front of you today 239 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:43,360 for approval before going to city council. Do you wish to see the presentation board? 240 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:55,200 Nope. I'm good. I move we approve. Thank you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Now 241 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,120 we'll go into the various rates. Item G is consider recommending the adoption of an ordinance 242 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:06,320 establishing the rates for water and water service providing for repealer and providing 243 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:14,240 for severability cause and providing for an effective date. Any questions from the board? 244 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:21,280 Do we have a motion to approve those rates? I move we approve. 245 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:31,200 Do we have a second? I have seconds. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. 246 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:36,720 Consider recommending the adoption of an ordinance establishing the rates for electric 247 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:41,200 service providing for a repealer providing for a severability clause and providing for 248 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,880 an effective date. Are there any questions on those rates from the board? 249 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:55,360 Do we have a motion to approve? I move. And a second? I have seconds. All in favor say aye. 250 00:27:55,360 --> 00:28:03,840 Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Consider recommending the adoption of an ordinance 251 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:10,560 establishing rates for solid waste and recycling collection service repealing ordinance 192523 252 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,200 providing for a repealer and providing a severability clause and providing for an 253 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:25,600 effective date. Any questions? Do we have a motion to approve? So moved. Thank you Karen. Second. 254 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:36,160 All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. That one carries. And item J consider recommending the adoption of 255 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:42,640 an ordinance of the City of Denton Texas amending the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget 256 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:48,560 an annual program of services of the City of Denton to offer the adjustments to the electric fund of 257 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:54,000 three million dollars for the purpose of purchasing the gas to energy facility and increase the general 258 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,200 fund return on investment declaring a public purpose providing the severability clause and 259 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:04,960 an open meetings clause in an effective date. And then Susan I do have one slide to walk the 260 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:14,240 PUB members through this budget amendment. I will pull that up for you. So we are looking to amend 261 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:21,280 the 1920 adopted budget today for the electric utility. Staff has been evaluating and each year 262 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:26,400 what we do is we go through each of the budgets in the current fiscal year about this time to make 263 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,800 sure that each fund has sufficient appropriations to get through the remainder of September 264 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:36,320 leading up to the end of the fiscal year. Staff does feel like after looking at the electric fund 265 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:41,200 and looking at purchase power and looking at some of the increases we had this actual fiscal year 266 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,040 that wasn't included in the original budget we feel like we do need a budget amendment for the 267 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:50,160 electric utility. So as stated on the slide we are looking to increase expense authority for the 268 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:55,760 electric fund by three million dollars and this will increase the expense authority from 229.2 269 00:29:55,760 --> 00:30:02,720 million to 232.2 million. This will go towards funding and in providing that expense authority 270 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:09,040 for the increased ROI that was mentioned on the 10-year forecast from 3.5 percent to 6 percent. 271 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:15,920 So 1.9 will go towards that and then 1.1 will go towards the DTE's facility purchase and this was 272 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,160 considered for approval by the Public Utility Board and City Council a few weeks ago and that 273 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:25,280 purchased it till 2.75. So staff feels like we can find appropriation authority within the budget to 274 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:30,080 fund the remainder of that facility but we do feel like we need to increase expense authority for 1.1 275 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:35,520 million. And then next steps this will go to City Council each year we do take the budget amendments 276 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:40,320 if there is one necessary to City Council usually on the date of budget adoption for the next fiscal 277 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:45,760 year. So we will take this forward to City Council on September 22nd for approval. Now I'll pull this 278 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:50,960 down and address any questions you may have. Thank you. Are there any questions? 279 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,920 All right do we have a motion to approve this item? 280 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:06,800 I move we approve. Thank you Russ. Do we have a second? I'll second. All in favor say aye. 281 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:15,520 Aye. Opposed? Carries. Management reports. So Madam Chair we do have a couple items or 282 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:20,800 few items on there. The first one is a memo following up with the PB on a request for this 283 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:27,680 root cost analysis on various issues that may occur from time to time. Frank Pugley's put 284 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,360 that together you have that in front of you. If you have any questions I think he's on the line 285 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,440 but also Kenny Banks on the line can talk a little bit further if there's any questions from the 286 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:42,720 members. Yes I have a question and this is something I initially brought up and I wondered if we could 287 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:50,560 see the actual template that has been created to do this. I assume it's a spreadsheet of some kind 288 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:56,320 but I don't know that. We can certainly follow up with you and get that to you for you to review. 289 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:02,480 Okay one other thing that's important in doing this kind of thing is to have some kind of a 290 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:09,280 tracking mechanism to follow up on the progress of any action items that come out of this analysis 291 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:18,000 and that's important. It doesn't really do as much good to have a report and stick it in a drawer 292 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,160 and never look at it again but if there's something that we need to do differently 293 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:27,120 we need to be able to track the action that we take toward that 294 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:36,720 toward that end and then after this is done I think it should be periodically I don't want to 295 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:42,480 tell you what kind of frequency it should be but periodically the results of this should be shown 296 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:49,360 to the utility board so we can look at it talk about it a little bit yeah we can certainly follow 297 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:55,840 up with you you know I think we're customarily do things on an annual by annual basis you know 298 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:04,480 and so we can certainly follow up with you on that okay okay if there's uh no other questions 299 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:11,280 the uh the next items that you have in front of you are just future agenda items um certainly 300 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:16,800 if there's any questions on those and then did want to mention that uh on the one outstanding 301 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:22,640 request that we had um there is a briefing tomorrow with the city council and call session 302 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:29,120 of our legal department uh on on the pub's request on that lawsuit information and so we 303 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:35,280 hope that once we get direction legal we'll be providing to the pub kind of the outcome of that 304 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:44,720 thank you thank you so with that susan that that uh concludes that section question please 305 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:51,520 oh I'm sorry go ahead yeah this is sort of I could be under new business but it's a question 306 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:59,440 and this might be for dr banks um I'm curious to know if if there the city has or utilities have 307 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:10,000 any information um forecasting or regarding possible climate change impacts in the future to 308 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,440 city and utility assets and operations 309 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:30,640 board members can you hear me yes good um yes uh we um we do have information regarding climate 310 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:37,520 projections uh ed I'm sorry you I wasn't able to catch the last part of your question could you 311 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:44,160 repeat it again just so I'd be sure that I'm being thorough on this sure sure just basically what what 312 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:53,520 you find are potential climate change impacts to city services and and assets operations that sort 313 00:34:53,520 --> 00:35:02,320 of thing right um we are working right now on the beginnings of a of a resiliency project which is I 314 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:09,200 believe what you're you're kind of uh going towards with regards to the idea of impact 315 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:17,680 right we are we're taking the results from our initial uh basically greenhouse gas management 316 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:24,880 and initial work that we've done on emissions combining that with projections regionally and 317 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:33,200 then looking on with regards to resiliency for things like weather impacts changes in rainfall 318 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:39,600 patterns etc we still got some work to do on that it's a big project but it is something that we're 319 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:45,040 working on right now and we could bring back to the public utility board when we're a little bit 320 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:51,280 closer to completion yeah I think that'd be great if you could share with us uh just progress 321 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:58,240 reports basically uh along the way and especially if there's anything that we can provide in the way 322 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:05,760 of input um but I would like to you know be informed about the progress and target dates 323 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:11,920 and that sort of thing so thanks yes we can definitely do that thank you very much I agree 324 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:21,920 yeah all right any other questions then we're into concluding items does any board member wish to 325 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:28,080 acknowledge a staff member or ask for something to be placed on the agenda I have an acknowledgement 326 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:38,000 I received a flyer in the mail detailing all the road construction when it be finished and etc and I 327 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:45,840 think that that's terrific that kind of communication with with with the residents is is just exactly the 328 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:51,200 sort of thing that that needs to be done to so that everybody knows what's been done and what's 329 00:36:51,200 --> 00:37:00,400 going to be done so thanks to the folks who put that together thank you yes Karen I I just had a 330 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:05,600 quick question I wasn't able to make the tour Ray Roberts I had a death in the family um is there 331 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:12,080 going to be I mean I don't want to drag the staff through that again but if anybody else had to miss 332 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:19,360 it would there be a chance for another tour we're certainly happy to schedule something if um you 333 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,400 know if there's a couple of you that would like to have a do-over on that not not if it's just me but 334 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:29,920 I wasn't sure how many people were able to make it I didn't make it either Karen I my daughter's 335 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:39,440 making me behave if she wants to see me I think we only had two oh three three okay all right 336 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:47,440 is that family of trolls still live up there in the system that's why I didn't go I'm afraid of 337 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:57,200 trolls and oh yes Charlie go ahead I will add there's one of the three that did make the tour 338 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:04,400 thanks to staff for accommodating us and um but seems like a neat facility and I enjoyed the 339 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:10,080 opportunity to see it so thank you yeah I'll definitely agree with that it was a very good 340 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:17,920 tour very good explanation and very beneficial for me I could understand what they were talking 341 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:26,720 about that was really great I also would like to piggyback on that on the streets that every time 342 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:32,960 I try to get out of my neighborhood I remind myself how wonderful it's going to be because 343 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:40,480 these guys are working six days a week to get these streets finished and they're working very 344 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:50,160 hard so it's it's a it is a challenge now but it will be so much better and I'm excited about it 345 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:58,640 okay and and I want to thank the staff I was one of the people who got the 346 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:05,760 pass-due call for my automatic payment on my utility bill and I want to thank Krista and 347 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:13,120 staff for getting a memo out to us so quickly addressing the issue and um I got it paid 348 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:23,520 that's the important thing so all right anybody else okay closed meeting um deliberations 349 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:28,400 regarding the certain public power utilities competitive matters under Texas government 350 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:34,480 code section five five one point zero eight six consultation with attorneys under Texas government 351 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:41,520 code five five one point zero seven one receive information from staff about and discuss and 352 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:47,680 deliberate the city's current renewable energy resources portfolio to the opportunities to add 353 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:53,200 additional renewable resources to the portfolio consultation with the city's attorneys regarding 354 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:59,520 legal issues associated with the procurement of additional renewable energy resources including 355 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:04,080 but not limited to agreements related to the above where discussions of these legal matters 356 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:09,440 in an open meeting would conflict with the duty of the city's attorneys to the city of Denton and 357 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:15,600 the Denton city council under Texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct of the state board 358 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:24,960 of Texas so with that we're in closed session and susan if you could just give us