[00:00:36]
[Call Meeting to Order]
THE TIME IS NOW 5:31 PM UH, WE'RE CALLING THIS MEETING TO ORDER.IT HAS BEEN DULY POSTED AS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW.
THIS IS A JOINT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE HARLINGEN CITY COMMISSION IN THE HARLINGEN WATER WORK SYSTEM, UM, BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
WE DO HAVE A QUORUM OF THE CITY OF HARLINGEN.
I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER LOPEZ IS ON HIS WAY.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE QUORUM AS WELL.
ALRIGHT, AND IF WE CAN ALL STAND AND I'LL ASK COMMISSIONER KINSLEY TO LEAD US IN OUR INVOCATION
[Invocation -Commission Ford Kinsley]
FLORIDA AS WE GATHER HERE TODAY TO DISCUSS MATTERS OF I IMPORTANCE TO OUR COMMUNITY.WE ASK FOR YOUR GUIDANCE AND WISDOM GRANTED US THE STRENGTH TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT BENEFIT ALL RESIDENTS AND UPHOLD THE VALUES THAT BIND US TOGETHER.
MAY OUR DISCUSSIONS BE THOUGHTFUL.
OUR ACTIONS BE JUST, AND OUR COMMITMENT TO THE WELLBEING OF THIS CITY BE UNWAVERING.
NOW, A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, A PLEDGE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, OUR NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE ALL.
ASK THE CITY ATTORNEY TO READ THE CONFLICT OF INTERESTS UNDER STATE LAW.
A CONFLICT OF INTEREST EXISTS.
THE COUNCIL MEMBER OF THAT PERSON'S FAMILY HAS A QUALIFYING FINANCIAL INTEREST IN AN AGENDA ITEM MEMBERS WITH A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
AND DO ANY MEMBERS HAVE WITH A CONFLICT OF INTEREST TO DISCLOSE AT THIS TIME? NONE.
ARE THERE ANY CONFLICTS WITH OUR BOARD MEMBERS? THANK YOU.
ALRIGHT, MOVING RIGHT ALONG, UM, TO CITIZEN COMMUNICATION, DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP? MS. AMANDA? NO MA'AM.
UM, WE WILL CLOSE CITIZEN COMMUNICATION AT THIS TIME.
[1 . Presentation by Willdan Financial Services regarding draft water and wastewater rate plans.]
PRESENTATION BY WELDON FINANCIAL SERVICES REGARDING DRAFT WATER AND WASTEWATER.UH, DAN JACKSON IS WITH US ON ZOOM.
UH, HE SPENT, UH, ABOUT FIVE HOURS, UH, AT DFW TODAY AND HAD A FLIGHT CANCELED.
SO, UM, ZOOM IS THE WAY TO DO IT.
UH, SO GLAD THIS IS GONNA WORK OUT.
UH, WE HAD A GOOD MEETING, UH, BACK ON THE 18TH OF DECEMBER.
WILL THEN HAS WORKED ON, UH, FOUR ALTERNATIVES OF PERMUTATIONS OF SOME OF THE CONCEPTS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT.
SO I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO DAN TO TAKE US THROUGH, UH, WHAT HE HAS DEVELOPED.
UM, WE DO ANTICIPATE ONE ADDITIONAL JOINT MEETING.
THERE'S SOME TOPICS THAT ARE COVERED HERE, LIKE WHOLESALE RATES, BUT, UH, WE'VE GOT A COUPLE, UM, GREAT PLANS THAT, UH, ARE REALLY STARTING TO ZOOM IN ON WHAT WE THINK ARE GOOD OPTIONS.
COMMISSION CERTAINLY HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THAT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION IF YOU WANT.
BUT, UM, WITH THAT, DAN, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
UM, I APPRECIATE THE CHANCE TO TALK TO YOU ALL TONIGHT.
ONCE AGAIN, I DO WANNA APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING THERE IN PERSON, UH, THIS MORNING.
MY PLANE GOT TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE DUE TO A MECHANICAL PROBLEM.
AND THEN A STORM ROLLED INTO DFW AIRPORT RIGHT AT MY REVISED DEPARTURE TIME.
SO I THINK IT WAS NEVER DESTINED FOR ME TO BE THERE TODAY, UH, WHEN YOU HAVE MULTIPLE PROBLEMS LIKE THAT.
BUT, UH, ANYWAY, UM, WHAT I'LL TRY TO DO IS I'LL GO THROUGH, UM, THIS PRESENTATION THAT WE'VE, UH, PREPARED FOR YOU.
UM, YOU'VE SEEN SOME OF THESE CHARTS BEFORE, SO I'LL GO OVER THEM, UH, FAIRLY QUICKLY.
A LOT OF THIS PRESENTATION IS BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM ALL OF YOU AT THE MEETING ON DECEMBER 18TH.
UM, IF YOU RECALL IN THE DECEMBER 18TH MEETING, WE TALKED ABOUT RATES IN MORE, IN MORE OF A CONCEPTUAL STANDPOINT.
UM, WHAT DO YOU WANNA ACCOMPLISH WITH YOUR RATE PLAN? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO FUND? WHO DO YOU WANT TO BEAR THE BURDEN OR THE BRUNT OF ANY POTENTIAL RATE ADJUSTMENTS? UM,
[00:05:01]
AS I'VE OFTEN SAID, RATE MAKING IS AS MUCH AN ART AS IT IS A SCIENCE.AND ANY DIFFERENT RATE PLAN THAT YOU ADOPT IS ULTIMATELY GOING TO AFFECT, AFFECT DIFFERENT RATE PAYERS IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO IN THAT SENSE, RATE MAKING IS AS MUCH A POLICY DECISION AS IT, AS IT IS A FINANCIAL DECISION.
YOU DECIDE ON THE POLICIES THAT YOU WANNA IMPLEMENT AND THEN THE RATE PLAN WILL BE DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE OBJECTIVES.
AS A RESULT OF THE, UH, MEETING LAST WEEK, UH, IN DECEMBER, IT SEEMED TO US THAT A COUPLE OF VERY BASIC THEMES CAME OUT THAT WE WERE, UH, INTENDED TO DESIGN RATES TO COVER.
THE FIRST THEME INVOLVES YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
HOW MUCH CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN DO YOU WANT TO FUND? UM, IT'S OBVI, IT'S PRETTY SELF-EVIDENT THAT THE MORE CIP YOU'RE GONNA FUND, THE HIGHER YOUR RATE ADJUSTMENTS HAVE TO BE.
BUT THAT IS A KEY VARIABLE INTO WHAT YOUR ULTIMATE RATE PLAN WILL BE.
THE SECOND UH, THEME THAT CAME OUT WAS THE RATE DESIGN ITSELF.
YOU WANT TO MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO, THE RATE PLAN THAT YOU'VE GOT RIGHT NOW, WHICH HAS BEEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL RATE PLAN IN THE PAST.
IT'S GOTTEN YOU THE REVENUES THAT YOU'VE NEEDED TO FUND YOUR SYSTEM.
DO YOU WANNA KEEP THAT PLAN OR DO YOU WANT TO IMPLEMENT A NEW PLAN DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION AND TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF ANY RATE ADJUSTMENTS ON LOW VOLUME, UH, USERS.
THAT'S WHAT'S KNOWN AS AN INVERTED BLOCK RATE DESIGN.
SO AS A RESULT OF THESE TWO THEMES, WE'RE GONNA PRESENT TO YOU FOUR DIFFERENT RATE PLANS FOR YOU TO ASSESS.
EACH OF THESE RATE PLANS WILL GET YOU THE SAME AMOUNT OF REVENUE.
SO THEY'RE ALL WHAT WE CALL REVENUE NEUTRAL.
THE FIRST RATE PLAN SCENARIO ONE A IS ASSUMING THAT YOU DO A LONG DELAY IN YOUR, UM, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND YOU MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO.
THE SECOND SCENARIO WILL MEAN, WILL CONTINUE THE LONG DELAY IN YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
IN OTHER WORDS, MINIMAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, BUT IMPLEMENT AN INVERTED BLOCK.
SCENARIO TWO A WOULD BE IS WHAT WE CALL A MODERATE DELAY WHERE IT FUNDS MORE OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, BUT KEEPS THE STATUS QUO.
AND THEN SCENARIO TWO B IMPLEMENTS A MODERATE DELAY, BUT IMPLEMENTS AN INVERTED BLOCK RATE PLAN.
SO AGAIN, JUST A COUPLE OF BRIEF, UH, PRE UH, CHARTS, UH, ON BACKGROUND THAT YOU'VE SEEN BEFORE.
THIS IS YOUR CURRENT WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE PLAN.
YOU CHARGE A MINIMUM CHARGE EACH, UH, EACH MONTH BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE METER.
AND THEN YOU CHARGE A VOLUME RATE OF A DOLLAR 65 PER THOUSAND GALLONS FOR ALL YOUR RATE PAYERS, AND YOU CHARGE A HIGHER RATE FOR YOUR OUTSIDE CITY CUSTOMERS.
YOU ALSO HAVE A NOMINAL FUEL ADJUSTMENT CHARGE THAT YOU CHARGE, UH, EACH MONTH, 6 CENTS PER THOUSAND GALLONS.
YOU ALSO HAVE A VOLUME, WELL, A MINIMUM MONTHLY MINIMUM CHARGE, AND THEN YOU HAVE A VOLUME RATE PER A THOUSAND GALLONS.
YOUR RATES COMPARE VERY FAVORABLY TO THE REST OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.
THIS CHART RIGHT HERE COMPARES MONTHLY CHARGES OF WATER AND SEWER FOR 5,000 GALLONS, THREE QUARTER INCH METER OR A FIVE EIGHTH INCH METER, FIVE EIGHTHS BY THREE QUARTER INCH METER WITH HARLINGEN, WITH OTHER CITIES IN THE VALLEY.
AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU'RE ONE OF THE LOWEST RATES IN THE VALLEY RIGHT NOW.
FOR 5,000 GALLONS OF WATER AND SEWER SERVICE, YOU ONLY CHARGE $41 A MONTH.
AND THAT'S LOWER THAN JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY.
UM, YOU'RE A LITTLE HIGHER THAN EDINBURG RIGHT NOW, BUT EDINBURG FOR YOUR INFORMATION IS ABOUT TO ADOPT A MULTI-YEAR WA UH, SIGNIFICANT WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE INCREASE PLAN.
I KNOW THAT 'CAUSE I DESIGNED THAT RATE PLAN FOR THEM.
WHAT'S ALSO IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU ARE ABOUT HALF THE STATE AVERAGE.
SO YOU HAVE DONE A REMARKABLE JOB AT KEEPING YOUR RATES VERY LOW IN THE, UH, OVER THE LAST 10 TO 20 YEARS.
AS A RESULT, YOUR RATE PAYERS HAVE REALLY BENEFITED FROM A COMBINATION OF GOOD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND CONCERN ABOUT THE IMPACT AND BURDEN OF RATES ON YOUR RATE PAYERS.
UM, SO LET'S, UH, MOVE AHEAD AGAIN TO YOUR, UH, CURRENT, UH, ACCOUNTS AND YOUR CURRENT VOLUMES.
YOU'VE GOT ABOUT 28,000 ACCOUNT WATER ACCOUNTS AND ABOUT 22,000 WASTEWATER ACCOUNTS.
WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE PROVIDED A 10 YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN FOR YOU.
AND IN THAT THE 10 YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN, UM, WE ARE ASSUMING THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A FAIRLY ROBUST AMOUNT OF GROWTH, THREE TO 400 NEW ACCOUNTS PER YEAR.
THAT FACTORS INTO ANY RATE PLAN BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO A RATE PLAN THAT'S GONNA COVER A NUMBER OF YEARS, YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE FACT THAT YOUR RATE, YOUR UTILITY IS GONNA BE DIFFERENT FIVE, 10 YEARS FROM NOW THAN IT IS TODAY.
AND IT IS GOING TO BE LARGER, AND THAT IS, BUT GROWTH PROPERLY MANAGED CAN BE VERY BENEFICIAL TO A UTILITY.
UM, THIS IS KIND OF CHART THAT WATER PEOPLE LIKE ME REALLY ENJOY BECAUSE IT KIND OF GIVES YOU A PERSPECTIVE OF WHO IS USING WATER.
[00:10:01]
CURRENT YEAR, YOU, YOU HAVE SOLD ABOUT 4 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER.THAT'S THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF WATER CONSUMPTION.
ABOUT HALF OF THAT IS RESIDENTIAL.
ABOUT ANOTHER 17% OF IT IS COMMERCIAL.
UH, MULTI, UH, FAMILY AND PUBLIC SERVICES ARE ABOUT ANOTHER 22%.
AND THEN YOUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS ARE A LITTLE LESS THAN 10% OF THE TOTAL.
BUT TO NO GREAT SURPRISE, RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL ARE THE LION'S SHARE OF YOUR WATER USAGE.
THAT WATER USAGE, OF COURSE, IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN THE COMING YEARS.
UM, YOUR WA AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS CHART, IT SHOWS HISTORIC AND FORECAST WATER CONSUMPTION.
YOUR WATER CONSUMPTION HAS TRENDED UPWARDS IN RECENT YEARS.
IT'S GONNA BOUNCE UP AND DOWN YEAR BY YEAR, JUST SIMPLY DUE TO WEATHER.
YOU KNOW, IN WHITE YEARS YOU'RE GOING TO SELL LESS WATER IN DRY YEARS ARE GONNA SELL MORE WATER, BUT THE TREND IS GENERALLY UPWARDS.
I WILL, UH, WELL DO WANNA, UH, POINT OUT THAT, UH, WE'VE HAD SOME CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS WITH, UH, STAFF, UH, AND WE MAY SCALE BACK SOME OF OUR FORECAST OF FUTURE GROWTH.
UM, THERE'S CONCERN ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE BEING A LITTLE BIT TOO AGGRESSIVE IN OUR GROWTH, UH, FORECAST.
SO WE'RE GONNA REVISIT THOSE NUMBERS.
I DON'T BELIEVE IT WILL MATERIALLY CHANGE THE RATE PLAN AT ALL.
BUT OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANNA BE TOO AGGRESSIVE IN OUR FORECAST.
WE WOULD LIKE TO BE AS CONSERVATIVE AS POSSIBLE.
SO WHEN THE REPORT AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE FINALIZED, YOU MIGHT SEE SOME OF THESE NUMBERS TWEAKED A LITTLE BIT.
OKAY? UM, ON YOUR COST OF SERVICE, UM, WE'RE OF COURSE FORECASTING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, YOUR, UH, MOST OF YOUR OPERATING COSTS ARE GONNA GO UP THREE TO 5% A YEAR.
CERTAIN OF YOUR EXPENSES ARE GONNA INCREASE AT, UH, HIGHER RATES, BUT THE DEBT REQUIRED TO FUND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IS THE BIGGEST SINGLE FACTOR IN YOUR RATE PLAN.
HOW MUCH CIP YOU WANNA FUND IS GONNA DIRECTLY IMPACT HOW HIGH YOUR RATES HAVE TO GO.
SO ONCE AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA PRESENT YOU FOUR SCENARIOS.
TWO OF THE, THE SCENARIOS ASSUME A LONG DELAY IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
IN OTHER WORDS, FOR THE FIRST FIVE YEARS, YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ARE FOCUSED ON ONLY YOUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS TO OVERCOME PREEXISTING SYSTEM ISSUES.
THE MODERATE DELAY SCENARIO ASSUMES THAT YOU WANNA OVERCOME THESE PREEXISTING SYSTEM ISSUES, BUT ALSO MAKE SOME ADDITIONAL KNOWN SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS.
OKAY? ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS ALSO IMPORTANT IS TO, TO UNDERSTAND, AS I INDICATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PRESENTATION, THAT ALL OF THE RATE SCENARIOS ARE, ARE FORECAST TO, TO RECOVER EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF REVENUES.
IN OTHER WORDS, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT YOUR SYSTEM REMAINS IN THE SAME BASIC FINANCIAL CONDITION NO MATTER WHICH SCENARIO THAT YOU, UH, THAT YOU, THAT YOU ULTIMATELY END UP ADOPTING.
SO THIS CHART RIGHT HERE HAS A LOT OF NUMBERS ON IT, BUT IT BASICALLY SHOWS THAT UNDER ANY OF THE FOUR SCENARIOS YOUR WATER AND SEWER FUND BALANCE IS SUPPOSED IS FORECASTED STAY AT ABOUT 20 TO $22 MILLION AND YOUR FORECAST TO MEET YOUR DEBT COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS UNDER ANY OF THE FOUR SCENARIOS.
WHAT THIS, THE CHART ALSO SHOWS HOWEVER, IS THAT YOU MAY EXPERIENCE SOME, ALL, SOME TIGHTENING IN YOUR COVERAGE, UH, RATIOS IN THE, IN 20 27, 20 28 TIMEFRAME.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING YOU NEED TO KEEP COGNIZANT OF AND CONTINUE IN THE FUTURE, PARTICULARLY IF YOU ADOPT A FIVE-YEAR RATE PLAN.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE HERE AT THE BEGINNING OF 2024 TRYING TO PREDICT WHAT COSTS AND RATES IN THE ECONOMY IS GONNA BE LIKE 3, 4, 5 YEARS FROM NOW.
IT'S NOT AN EASY THING TO DO, BUT THE GENERAL TREND IS THAT YOU MIGHT SEE SOME TIGHTENING IN YOUR COVERAGE IN THE 2027 TO 2028 TIMEFRAME UNDER ANY OF THE SCENARIOS AS YOU CONTINUE TO ACCUMULATE MORE DEBT TO FUND YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
SO IF YOU WERE TO ADOPT WHAT THEY, WHAT WE CALL THE LONG DELAY APPROACH IN YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, ONLY FUNDING THE NECESSARY AMOUNT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS TO MEET IMMEDIATE SYSTEM NEEDS, IT WILL STILL REQUIRE YOU TO FUND APPROXIMATELY $136 MILLION IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE THE UTILITY TO ISSUE ABOUT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT.
WE'RE ASSUMING THAT THAT DEBT IS ISSUED A TERM OF ABOUT 20 YEARS WITH INTEREST RATES OF ABOUT FOUR AND A HALF PERCENT.
THIS CHART SHOWS WHAT THAT DOES TO YOUR COST OF SERVICE IN THE YEAR 2024, YOUR CURRENT YEAR.
IT'S FORECAST TO COST YOU ABOUT $25 MILLION TO RUN YOUR WATER AND SEWER OPERATION.
THAT COST IS EXPECTED TO GO UP TO ABOUT $38 MILLION BY 2028.
UNDER THE LONG DELAY SCENARIO, THE COST OF SERVICE IS, IS COMPOSED OF THREE PRIMARY COMPONENTS, OPERATING EXPENSES, CAPITAL OUTLAYS, AND DEBT SERVICE.
THE OPERATING EXPENSES IS THE BLUE PART OF THE BAR.
[00:15:01]
CAN SEE, IT GOES UP ON A MODERATE BASIS EACH YEAR AS YOU, AS YOU EXPECT, COST OF EVERYTHING GOES UP THREE TO 4% A YEAR.SO IT'S REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT YOUR OPERATING EXPENSES ARE GONNA TREND UPWARDS IN, UH, IN THE YEARS.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THE GREEN PORTION IS YOUR DEBT SERVICE, YOUR ANNUAL PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST PAYMENTS.
TO NO SURPRISE, AS YOU ISSUE MORE DEBT, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE HIGHER DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS.
AND THIS, UH, AND THIS FIRST SCENARIO ASSUMES THAT YOUR DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS ARE GONNA BE THE SHARE OF YOUR COST INCREASES, WHICH MEANS THAT YOUR TOTAL COST OF SERVICE IS GONNA GO FROM $25 MILLION TO $38 MILLION BY 2028.
AND YOU'LL NEED TO DESIGN A RATE PLAN AND ADOPT A RATE PLAN THAT WILL RECOVER, THAT WILL RECOVER THAT AMOUNT OF REVENUE.
UNDER SCENARIO TWO, AS YOU CAN SEE, YOUR COST OF SERVICE OF $25 MILLION IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO $41 MILLION BY 2028.
THAT'S BECAUSE UNDER SCENARIO TWO, THE MODERATE DELAY SCENARIO, YOU ARE FORECAST TO FUND $181 MILLION OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS INSTEAD OF $136 MILLION.
UNDER SCENARIO ONE, IT'S NOW FORECAST TO BE $181 MILLION.
THAT MEANS INSTEAD OF ISSUING A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT, YOU'D HAVE TO ISSUE $144 MILLION IN DEBT.
SO THAT INCREASES YOUR COST OF SERVICE A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND IT MEANS YOUR RATE ADJUSTMENTS WOULD HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
AGAIN, IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
THE MORE DEBT YOU ISSUE, THE MORE YOU HAVE TO ADJUST YOUR RATES TO PAY THE ANNUAL DEBT SERVICE.
SO THE OTHER, UH, SO THAT'S THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PORTION OF THE RATE PLAN.
THE OTHER PORTION OF THE RATE PLAN IS THE RATE DESIGN ITSELF UNDER THE STATUS QUO RATE.
IF YOU DECIDE TO KEEP THE STATUS QUO, WHAT YOU'RE BASICALLY SAYING IS, WE LIKE THE RATE PLAN WE'VE GOT, EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS IT.
IT'S BEEN IN PLACE FOR A LONG TIME, IT'S WORKED.
IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT.
SO YOU KEEP THE, UH, RATE PLAN AND YOU KEEP THE UNIFORM RATE PER THOUSAND GALLONS.
THE ONLY ADJUSTMENT THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND IS THAT YOU ELIMINATE THE FUEL COST ADJUSTMENT.
THE FUEL COST ADJUSTMENT HAS BEEN, IT'S KIND OF REDUNDANT TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.
AND SO WHAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND IS YOU JUST ELIMINATE THAT AND INCORPORATE THAT IN YOUR VOLUMETRIC RATE.
SO THAT'S A STATUS QUO RATE PLAN.
THE SECOND RATE PLAN IS THE INVERTED BLOCK.
THE IDEA OF AN INVERTED BLOCK IS THE MORE WATER A, UH, A RATE PAYER USES, THE MORE THAT CUSTOMER PAYS.
THE IDEA IS TO CREATE A FINANCIAL DISINCENTIVE TO USE GREATER AMOUNTS OF WATER.
IT WOULD APPLY ONLY TO YOUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
IT WOULD NOT APPLY TO YOUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
THE THINKING IS THAT A COMMERCIAL BUSINESS DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME ABILITY TO CONSERVE WATER AS A RESIDENTIAL HOUSEHOLD DOES.
SO UNDER AN INVERTED BLOCK CONSERVATION BASED RATE, YOU WOULD HAVE FOUR RATE BLOCKS.
THE FIRST RATE BLOCK IS ZERO TO 3000 GALLONS.
WE CALL THAT A LIFELINE BLOCK BECAUSE VERY FEW, THERE IS A CERTAIN ELEMENT OF POPULATION GENERALLY, UM, FIXED INCOME RESIDENTS, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE LIVING BY THEMSELVES, ELDERLY PEOPLE, UH, PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOMES WHO ONLY USE A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER, THEY WOULD BE IN THE LOWEST BLOCK THE FIRST, AND THEY WOULD PAY THE LOWEST RATE.
THE SECOND BLOCK WOULD BE THREE TO 10,000 GALLONS.
THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL USAGE IS ABOUT SEVEN TO 8,000 GALLONS.
SO THE SECOND BLOCK WOULD TAKE YOU AT TO ABOVE THE AVERAGE.
THE THIRD BLOCK IS 10 TO 20,000 GALLONS, AND THE FOURTH BLOCK WOULD BE 20,000 GALLONS AND ABOVE.
ONCE AGAIN, IF THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER USES ABOUT SEVEN TO 8,000 GALLONS OF WATER A MONTH, WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THE LION'S SHARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL BE 10,000 GALLONS OR LESS PER MONTH.
SEVEN, I WOULD ESTIMATE ABOUT 80% OF YOUR MONTHLY BILLS ARE GONNA BE 10,000 GALLONS OR LESS.
BUT THAT MEANS THERE ARE, THERE CERTAINLY ARE GOING TO BE SOME PEOPLE THAT USE MORE THAN 10,000 GALLONS.
IF YOU ARE A RESIDENTIAL HOUSEHOLD AND YOU'RE USING MORE THAN 10,000 GALLONS OF WATER A MONTH, THAT'S A LOT OF WATER TO USE.
THAT'S ABOVE THE STATE AVERAGE.
IT'S ABOVE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND IT'S WAY ABOVE THE CITY AVERAGE.
AND SO UNDER AN INVERTED BLOCK RATE, THAT WATER WOULD STILL BE AVAILABLE.
AND THE IDEA IS THAT IF PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY'RE PAYING MORE FOR GREATER AMOUNTS OF WATER USAGE, THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE AN INCENTIVE TO USE LESS WATER.
AND THAT CONSERVES A PRECIOUS AND DIMINISHING NATURAL RESOURCE.
I'VE OFTEN TOLD MY CLIENTS THAT, YOU KNOW, WATER'S A FUNNY BUSINESS.
[00:20:01]
IN THE BUSINESS OF PRODUCING A PRODUCT AND WATER'S A PRODUCT LIKE A MCDONALD'S HAMBURGER OR A GALLON OF GASOLINE OR ANYTHING ELSE.BUT YOU ARE PRODUCING A PRODUCT THAT YOU WANT YOUR CUSTOMERS NOT TO BUY BECAUSE YOU WANT THEM TO CONSERVE THIS PRECIOUS AND DIMINISHING NATURAL RESOURCE.
INVERTED BLOCK RATES HAVE BEEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MEANS THE INDUSTRY HAS EVER SEEN IN GETTING RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS TO CONSERVE WATER USAGE.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, AND PARTICULARLY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, NOW USE SOME FORM OF INVERTED BLOCK RATE STRUCTURE, BUT THEY ALL DON'T.
THERE IS NO LAW THAT SAYS YOU HAVE TO, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT MANY CITIES ARE DOING RIGHT NOW.
SO NOW THAT WE'VE GOT THAT, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT EACH OF THE SCENARIOS.
I WILL FIRST SHOW YOU THE RATES THEMSELVES, AND THEN I'LL SHOW YOU THE MORE IMPORTANT CONSIDER, UH, CHART.
AND IS THE IMPACT ON AVERAGE MONTHLY BILLS.
THIS IS THE FIRST SCENARIO, THE LONG DELAY SCENARIO, MINIMAL AMOUNT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS, AND KEEPING THE STATUS QUO.
I'M GOING TO THIS, THIS CHART SHOWS FIVE YEARS OF RATE ADJUSTMENTS THE FIRST TWO YEARS IN A PROPOSED RATE PLAN, AND THEN THE NEXT THREE YEARS IN THE OUT YEARS NOW.
AND NOW YOU HAVE THE RIGHT AS A CITY TO ADOPT A ONE YEAR RATE PLAN, A TWO YEAR RATE PLAN, OR A FIVE YEAR RATE PLAN, OR A THREE YEAR OR FOUR YEAR RATE PLAN.
SO WE'RE SHOWING YOU THE FIRST TWO YEARS AND THEN THE NEXT THREE YEARS AFTER THAT, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE FIRST SCENARIO UNDER A STATUS QUO RATE PLAN, YOUR WATER RATE GOES UP IN STAGES EACH YEAR GOES FROM A DOLLAR 65 TO A DOLLAR 85 TO 2 0 3 AND SO ON, ALL THE WAY UP TO $2 AND 78 CENTS PER A THOUSAND GALLONS BY OCTOBER OF 2027.
AND THE VOLUMETRIC RATE GOES UP ACCORDINGLY.
WASTEWATER RATE GOES UP AS WELL.
SO THE QUESTION IS, WHAT IS, WHAT IMPACT WOULD THIS BE ON YOUR AVERAGE CUSTOMER? AND THIS CHART RIGHT HERE ANSWERS THAT QUESTION.
REMEMBER I TOLD YOU THAT THE AVERAGE RATE PAYER IN THE CITY OF HARLINGEN USES ABOUT 7,000 TO 8,000 GALLONS OF WATER A MONTH.
IF YOU'RE A 7,000 GALLON RESIDENTIAL RATE PAYER, RIGHT NOW YOU'RE PAYING $44 AND 93 CENTS FOR 7,000 GALLONS OF WATER AND 5,000 GALLONS OF WASTEWATER.
'CAUSE THAT'S THE WINTER AVERAGE.
UNDER THIS PLAN, YOUR MONTHLY BILL WOULD GO UP BY $3 AND 57 CENTS.
THAT'S A 7.9% RATE ADJUSTMENT.
IN THE SECOND YEAR, IT WOULD GO UP BY $4 AND 58 CENTS A MONTH, WHICH IS A 9.4% RATE ADJUSTMENT.
IN THE THIRD THROUGH FIFTH YEARS, IT WOULD REQUIRE ABOUT A FIVE TO $7 A MONTH INCREASE, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT 11%.
IF YOU'RE ONLY A 3000 GALLON USER, YOUR BILL WOULD GO UP BY $2 AND 58 CENTS A MONTH.
IN THE FIRST YEAR, IT WOULD GO UP BY $3 AND 13 CENTS A MONTH IN THE SECOND YEAR, AND ABOUT THREE TO FOUR, $5 A MONTH EACH YEAR.
OBVIOUSLY, IF YOUR LARGER USER, YOUR YOUR BILL WOULD GO UP BY A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT THE AVERAGE RATE PAYER AVERAGE WOULD SEE AN INCREASE OF ABOUT THREE TO $4 A MONTH FOR EACH OF THE NEXT TWO YEARS UNDER THIS RATE PLAN.
NOW, FROM A PERCENTAGE STANDPOINT, IT DOES SOUND A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
YOU SEE, IN A SENSE, YOU'RE ALMOST THE VICTIM OF YOUR OWN SUCCESS.
YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR RATES SO LOW FOR SO LONG THAT ANY INCREASE OF ANY MAGNITUDE FROM A PERCENTAGE STANDPOINT IS GONNA SOUND LIKE IT'S AN AWFUL LOT.
IT MAY BE 7.9%, BUT IT'S ONLY THREE AND A HALF DOLLARS, AND IT'S ONLY FOUR AND A HALF DOLLARS IN THE SECOND YEAR.
SO THAT'S SCENARIO ONE A, THIS MINIMAL AMOUNT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, KEEPING THE STATUS QUO RATE PLAN.
NOW, LET'S SAY WE WANNA CONTINUE THE MINIMAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN, BUT WE WANT TO IMPLEMENT AN INVERTED BLOCK RATE.
UNDER THIS PLAN, YOUR VOL, YOUR MINIMUM WATER CHARGE WOULD STILL GO UP, BUT IT WOULDN'T GO UP AS MUCH AS IT DID BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU ARE IMPLEMENTING A VOLUMETRIC RATE PER THOUSAND GALLONS, WHICH IS BASED ON AN INVERTED BLOCK.
YOUR FIRST BLOCK, ZERO TO 3000 GALLONS WOULD BE A DOLLAR 50.
YOUR SECOND BLOCK WOULD BE $2 PER THOUSAND GALLONS BETWEEN THREE AND 10,000 GALLONS IN THE THIRD YEAR.
THE THIRD BLOCK, I MEAN, BETWEEN 10 AND 20,000 GALLONS, IT WOULD BE $2 AND 50 CENTS PER THOUSAND GALLONS.
AND IN THE FOURTH BLOCK, 20,000 GALLONS AND ABOVE, IT WOULD BE $3 PER THOUSAND GALLONS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU ARE ONLY A, IF YOU ARE, IF YOU'RE ONLY USING 3000 GALLONS OR LESS, YOUR VOLUMETRIC RATE ACTUALLY GOES DOWN A LITTLE BIT IN THE FIRST YEAR.
BUT IN THE SECOND YEAR IT GOES UP TO A DOLLAR 64.
[00:25:02]
AND IN THE THIRD THROUGH FIFTH YEARS, IT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO GO UP.THE WASTEWATER RATES ARE UNCHANGED UNDER THIS.
IT'S SAME AS UNDER SCENARIO ONE A.
SO WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF THIS? WELL, OBVIOUSLY, THE MORE YOU USE, THE MORE YOU PAY.
SO UNDER THIS PLAN THAT RATE PAYER OF 3000 GALLONS, INSTEAD OF PAYING TWO AND A HALF DOLLARS MORE A MONTH, THEY'RE ONLY PAYING A DOLLAR 30 A MONTH.
INSTEAD OF SEEING AN 8% INCREASE, THEY'RE ONLY SEEING A 4% INCREASE IN THE FIRST YEAR.
OBVIOUSLY, THEY'RE USING LESS WATER, SO THEY PAY LESS.
THE 7,000 GALLON USER ONLY PAYS $2 AND 90 CENTS A MONTH MORE, WHICH IS A LITTLE LESS THAN THE THREE AND A HALF TO $4 A MONTH HE WAS PAYING UNDER THE FIRST SCENARIO.
BUT LOOK AT OUR 20,000 GALLON USER.
THE 20,000 GALLON USER, INSTEAD OF SEEING A 9% INCREASE IN THE FIRST YEAR, SEES A 17% INCREASE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE INVERTED BLOCK IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT IT'S DESIGNED TO DO.
IT IS CHARGING MORE FOR HIGHER USERS AND LESS FOR LOWER USERS.
BUT IN THE SUBSEQUENT YEARS, EVERYBODY SEES AN INCREASE.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THE INVERTED BLOCK RATE DESIGN PUTS MORE OF THE BURDEN ON THE HIGHER USERS AND LESS OF THE BURDEN ON THE LOWER USERS.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, EVERYBODY PAYS MORE UNDER THE SCENARIO.
THEY JUST PAY LESS MORE IF THEY'RE LOW VOLUME USERS AND THEY PAY MORE, MORE IF THEY'RE HIGH VOLUME USERS.
SO LET'S QUICKLY TAKE A LOOK AT THE SECOND SCENARIO SCENARIO.
LET'S SAY WE WANT TO, UM, WE WANNA DO MORE AGGRESSIVE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
WE WANNA NOT JUST DO WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, BUT DO SOME OF THE OTHER LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENTS.
UNDER THAT PLAN, YOUR RATE ADJUSTMENTS WOULD BE HIGHER.
IF YOU KEEP THE STATUS QUO, YOUR ADJUSTMENTS ARE GOING TO BE HIGHER IN EACH OF THE YEARS.
WHAT THIS SHOWS YOU IS THAT WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THIS IS THAT IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS, THE RATE ADJUSTMENTS ARE THE SAME AS UNDER SCENARIO 180, THE THE, UH, THE STATUS QUO UNDER THE LONG DELAY.
AND THE REASON IS THAT THE HIGHER ADJUSTMENTS DON'T KICK IN UNTIL THE THIRD YEAR BECAUSE IT'S GONNA TAKE YOU SOME TIME TO ISSUE THE DEBT TO GET YOUR PROJECTS GOING AND TO START SPENDING ALL THAT MONEY FROM THE BOND ISSUES.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS, IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS, YOU'RE STILL LOOKING AT THE EIGHT TO 9% ADJUSTMENTS, THE SAME ONE YOU WERE UNDER SCENARIO ONE A, BUT UNDER, UNDER SCENARIO TWO A, IN THE, THE YEARS THREE THROUGH FIVE, YOU'RE SEEING INCREASES OF 13.5% INSTEAD OF 11%.
NOW, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE LAST SCENARIO, AND THAT IS SCENARIO TWO B, WHICH IS THE MODERATE DELAY.
BUT YOU PUT IN THE INVERTED BLOCK RATE PLAN.
IN THE FIRST YEAR, THE INVERTED BLOCKS ARE THE EXACT SAME THEY WERE UNDER SCENARIO ONE B.
ONCE AGAIN, IT'S GONNA TAKE YOU SOME TIME TO ISSUE THAT DEBT.
AND SO THE IMPACT OF THE MODERATE DELAY OR THE HIGHER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN SPENDING DOESN'T GET FELT UNTIL THE THIRD YEAR OF RATE PLANS, WHICH WOULD, WHICH WOULD TAKE EFFECT AT THE BEGINNING OF FISCAL YEAR 2026.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE RATES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS, BUT IN YEARS THREE THROUGH FIVE, THEY'RE GOING TO BE HIGHER.
SO I KNOW THAT THIS IS A BUNCH OF NUMBERS.
I KNOW IT'S REALLY HARD TO PROCESS ALL THESE NUMBERS, BUT I JUST WANNA PRESENT SOME VERY, VERY BASIC THEMES.
AND, AND THAT IS BY, BY LOOKING AT THIS CHART RIGHT HERE, THIS CHART RIGHT HERE COMPARES THE FOUR SCENARIOS FOR YOUR VERY LOW VOLUME USER, YOUR 3000 GALLON USER OF WATER AND SEWER SERVICE.
UNDER THAT PLAN, IF YOU MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO, EITHER UNDER A LONG DELAY OR A MODERATE DELAY, YOU SEE YOUR MONTHLY BILL GOING FROM 30 HIGHER IN THE OUT YEARS.
SO IT'S JUST A MATTER OF HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO SPEND? AND THE OTHER QUESTION ASK IS, UN UNDER THE MODERATE SCENARIO, YOU ARE SPENDING ABOUT 60 TO $70 MILLION MORE IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AS A RESULT FOR YOUR 3000 GALLON USER, YOUR BILLS WOULD BE ABOUT THREE TO $4 MORE A MONTH BY 2028 THAN THEY ARE UNDER SCENARIO ONE.
SO THE QUESTION YOU WOULD'VE TO ASK YOURSELF IS, DO YOU WANT, IS IT WORTH IT TO HAVE THAT MUCH HIGHER RATE ADJUSTMENT TO GET ALL THAT ADDITIONAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN SPENDING? THAT'S ONLY A QUESTION THAT YOU CAN ANSWER.
SO THAT'S THE BENEFIT TO YOUR 3000 GALLON USER.
BUT OKAY, LOOK AT THE, ON THE WEB FOR SERIES $3.
I'M VERY, I'M VERY SORRY, MY SERIES SOMETIMES JUMPS IN AND WANTS TO, UH, TALK,
[00:30:01]
HEY, SIRI, STOP.OKAY,
WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING LIKE SIRI, I'M NOT GOING TO MENTION THAT AGAIN, OTHERWISE SHE'S GONNA START TALKING AGAIN,
NOW LET'S LOOK AT OUR 20,000 GALLON SCENARIO.
IF A PERSON USES 20,000 GALLONS, RIGHT NOW THEY'RE PAYING $67 AND 16 CENTS UNDER THE STATUS QUO.
THE MONTHLY BILL GOES TO $72 IN THE FIRST YEAR UNDER EITHER THE LONG DELAY OR THE MODERATE DELAY.
BUT UNDER THE INVERTED BLOCK, THE BILL GOES TO $78.
SO THE BILL GOES UP BY $11 A MONTH IN THE FIRST YEAR.
THAT'S THE IDEA OF AN INVERTED BLOCK.
IF YOU'RE A HIGH VOLUME USER, YOU PAY MORE.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU LOOK THROUGH THE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD, IF YOU KEEP THE STATUS QUO UNDER THE LONG DELAY APPROACH, EXCUSE, YOU GO TO $8.
BUT UNDER THE INVERTED BLOCK, YOU'RE GOING TO 117.
JUST LIKE UNDER THE MODERATE DELAY.
IF YOU KEEP THE STATUS QUO, YOU GO TO $115, THEN, BUT UNDER THE INVERTED BLOCK, YOU GO TO ONE $25.
I KNOW THIS IS A LOT OF NUMBERS TO PROCESS, THAT'S WHY ONCE AGAIN, WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR ANY FINAL DECISIONS TONIGHT.
BUT THE KEY, THE KEY CONCEPT IS A VERY BASIC ONE.
DO YOU WANNA, SHOULD EVERYBODY EQUALLY SHARE IN THE INCREASES NECESSARY TO FUND YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN OR SHOULD THE HIGH VOLUME USERS PAY MORE IN ORDER TO CONSERVE WATER UNDER, UH, THE PROPOSED RATE PLAN? SO I JUST HAVE ONE LAST ASPECT THAT I WANT TO GO OVER IN THIS, UH, PLAN.
AND THAT IS I JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE WINTER AVERAGE ONCE AGAIN.
'CAUSE I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT THAT IN THE LAST, UM, PRESENTATION.
BUT I DO WANNA REVISIT THIS TO AN EXTENT 'CAUSE I DID PRESENT A COUPLE OF NEW CHARTS TO PRESENT YOU A LITTLE BIT BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF THE WINTER AVERAGE.
WINTER AVERAGES ARE THE MOST COMMON FORM OF CHARGING FOR WASTEWATER SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE IDEA OF A WINTER AVERAGE IS THAT YOU TAKE THE THREE MONTHS OF WATER USAGE, UH, IN THE WINTER MONTHS, AND YOU ASSUME THAT THAT IS ALL INDOOR WATER USAGE.
YOU SEE, SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE A WASTEWATER METER, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH WASTEWATER GALLONAGE IS BEING CONTRIBUTED FROM A GIVEN HOUSEHOLD IN ANY YEAR.
AND SO YOU HAVE TO ESTIMATE THAT.
SO WHAT YOU DO IS YOU ASSUME THAT IN DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND FEBRUARY, ALL THE WATER YOU USE IS WATER THAT YOU USE INSIDE THE HOUSE.
AND SO THAT ACTS AS A DEFACTO CAP ON YOUR WASTEWATER CHARGES.
SO YOU TAKE THE AVERAGE OF THOSE THREE MONTHS, AND FOR THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, IT'S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 5,000 AND 6,000 GALLONS A MONTH.
AND, UM, YOU, UM, AND WHAT YOU DO IS YOU, YOU THAT ACTS AS SORT OF A CAP.
SO IN THE, IN THE JUNE, IF YOU'RE USING 15,000 GALLONS OF WATER, YOU'RE ONLY BEING CHARGED FOR FIVE TO 6,000 GALLONS OF WASTEWATER.
THE THE ADVANTAGES OF THAT IS THAT IT DOES A GREAT JOB OF CORRELATING A GIVEN RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER'S WATER USAGE TO HIS WASTEWATER BILLS.
BUT THE BIG DISADVANTAGE OF A, OF A WINTER AVERAGE IS THAT A WINTER AVERAGE, UM, TENDS TO, TENDS, UH, IN, IN A TEMPERATE CLIMATE LIKE THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY, A WINTER AVERAGE IS GOING TO NOT REALLY BE VERY EFFECTIVE BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE USE WATER OUTDOORS IN THE WINTER MONTHS.
SO WE DON'T RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO AWAY FROM A WINTER AVERAGE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THE, THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO CHARGE BASED ON ALL WATER USAGE.
AND YOU DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO DO THAT BECAUSE WHAT THAT DOES IS IT CAUSE PEOPLE TO USE A LOT TO HAVE MUCH HIGHER BILLS IN CERTAIN MONTHS OF THE YEAR.
THIS CHART RIGHT HERE JUST SHOWS YOU THE AMOUNT OF, UM, RIGHT NOW YOUR WINTER AVERAGE IS BASED ON THREE MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR.
IF YOU WERE TO EXPAND THAT TO FOUR OR FIVE OR SIX MONTHS, YOUR WINTER AVERAGE WOULD BE HIGHER AND YOUR WASTEWATER BILLS WOULD BE HIGHER.
THIS CHART RIGHT HERE SHOWS YOU WHAT THE AVERAGE WATER USAGE IS EACH MONTH FOR THE LAST 12 MONTHS.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE SUMMER MONTHS, JULY AND AUGUST, YOUR BILLS WOULD BE A LOT HIGHER IF YOU CHARGE BASED ON TOTAL WATER USAGE INSTEAD OF BEING, INSTEAD OF BASED ON WINTER AVERAGES.
AND FINALLY, I JUST WANNA SHOW THIS CHART 'CAUSE I THINK THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT CHART RIGHT HERE.
THIS IS ONE OF MY LAST CHARTS.
IT, IT COMPARES WHAT A MONTHLY CHARGE WOULD BE UNDER A WINTER AVERAGE APPROACH AND UNDER A NON WINTER AVERAGE APPROACH, UNDER THE WINTER AVERAGE, YOU'RE CAPPED AT 6,000 GALLONS.
SO YOUR BILL ONLY GOES UP TO $30.
IF YOU, IF YOU GO AWAY FROM THE WINTER AVERAGE AND GO TO JUST CHARGING BASED ON WATER USAGE, YOU WOULD ACTUALLY PAY A LITTLE LESS IF YOU USE 6,000 GALLONS OR
[00:35:01]
LESS.BUT IF YOU USE MORE THAN 6,000 GALLONS, YOU WOULD PAY MORE.
AND IF YOU USE 15 TO 20,000 GALLONS, YOU WOULD PAY A LOT MORE THAN WHAT YOU DO UNDER A WINTER AVERAGE APPROACH.
SO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN? SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT IF YOU, IF YOU GOT RID OF A WINTER AVERAGE AND WHAT YOU JUST CHARGING BASED ON YOUR WATER USAGE, A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD PAY A LITTLE LESS UNDER THAT SCENARIO, BUT A FEW PEOPLE WOULD PAY MORE AND A LIMITED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WOULD PAY A LOT MORE UNDER THAT APPROACH.
SO YOU'LL BE, YOU'LL BE VERY HAPPY TO KNOW.
I JUST WANNA SHOW YOU THAT ONCE AGAIN, WE'VE GONE THROUGH A LOT OF SCENARIOS TONIGHT AND I'M TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
UM, THE NEXT STEP IS REALLY UP TO YOU ALL TO LOOK AT THESE SCENARIOS AND DECIDE WHICH, WHAT YOU THINK IS MOST APPROPRIATE, UM, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU'D LIKE TO STICK WITH THE STATUS QUO OR GO WITH AN INVERTED BLOCK OPTION OR MAYBE EVEN LOOK AT ANOTHER OPTION AND THEN DECIDE HOW TO UNVEIL IT TO THE PUBLIC AND FINAL AND THEN SCHEDULE A FINAL COUNT, THE CITY COMMISSION MEETING TO DECIDE AND ADOPT A, UH, A FINAL RATE PLAN.
IT COULD BE A TWO YEAR RATE PLAN, IT COULD BE A FIVE YEAR RATE PLAN, IT COULD BE A ONE YEAR RATE PLAN, IT CAN BE WHATEVER PLAN THAT YOU'D LIKE IT TO BE.
SO ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LETTING ME TALK AND I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE AT THIS TIME.
UH, DAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, I CAN HEAR YOU FINE.
UM, ON YOUR SCENARIO COMPARISON, YES SIR, YOU HAVE A 3000 CHART AND A 20,000, YOU DON'T HAVE A 10, COULD YOU RIGHT.
COULD YOU GENERATE THE 10 SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AT IT ALSO? SURE.
TO BE THE AVERAGE OF MOST RESIDENTIAL, UH, CUSTOMERS? YES.
I CAN TELL YOU OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD THAT IF YOU DID A 10,000 GALLON APPROACH, IT WOULD BE BASICALLY A WASH.
IT WOULD, THERE WOULD BE VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO SCENARIOS.
I CAN GENERATE THAT CHART TO PROVE MY POINT, BUT, BUT, UH, I BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT THE OUTCOME WOULD BE.
WELL, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT BECAUSE IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN WE CAN SHOW THAT TO, UM, THE COMMITTEE THAT'S GONNA BE LOOKING AT THIS AND THEY CAN, THEY CAN MAKE A DECISION BASED ON THAT.
ALSO, UM, IN YOUR SCENARIO, YOU, YOU LEFT THE FUND BALANCE FOR WATERWORKS AT ABOUT $20 MILLION.
WAS THERE A REASON FOR THAT TO KEEP IT AT THAT LEVEL FOR THE FIVE YEARS? UM, IT JUST ASSUMES STATUS QUO.
AND THAT DOES BRING, UH, ONCE AGAIN THAT, THAT THAT BECOMES ANOTHER POLICY DECISION THAT THE BOARD AND THE COMMISSION WOULD HAVE TO DECIDE UPON, DO YOU WANT TO DRAW DOWN YOUR FUND BALANCE TO FUND SOME CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OR TO SUPPORT THE RATE PLAN? UM, THIS, THIS RATE PLAN ASSUMES YOU DO NOT DO THAT, THAT YOU DON'T TOUCH YOUR FUND BALANCE, THAT IT BASICALLY STAYS WHERE IT IS RIGHT NOW.
WHAT, WHAT REASON FOR THAT? JUST TO, JUST TIDBIT LIKE THAT? OR WAS THERE SOME SORT OF YES, JUST BASICALLY IT STAYS, IT STAYS AT ABOUT THE SAME UNDER EACH OF THE SCENARIOS.
IT DOESN'T CHANGE AT ALL UNDER THE, UNDER THE PLANS THAT WE'VE GENERATED RIGHT NOW UNDER DIRECTION FROM YOU.
WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO GENERATE NEW SCENARIOS BASED ON DIFFERENT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE FUND BALANCE AND, AND WE WOULD NEED SOME INPUT ON THAT.
UH, OUR FUND BALANCE HAS GONE UP, BUT WE DO NEED TO DO SOME CAPITAL PROJECTS.
WE DON'T HAVE A POLICY IN PLACE.
IT WOULD DICTATE WHAT THAT WOULD BE.
AND TYPICALLY YOUR FUND BALANCE MIGHT BE EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF DAYS OF WORKING CAPITAL.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF DAYS RIGHT NOW, BUT THE INTENT OR OUR INTENT BEFORE WE EVEN STARTED THE RATE STUDY WOULD THAT THERE WOULD BE A DRAW DOWN.
IT'S JUST WHAT IS THAT MINIMUM WORKING CAPITAL YOU WANNA MAINTAIN? AND THAT'S A, THAT'S A POLICY DECISION THAT, UH, I THINK THE BOARD AND THE COMMISSION WOULD NEED TO MAKE.
I THINK BEFORE WE GET INTO ANY RATES, WE NEED TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION SO THAT WHEN WE'VE GOT ALL THE NUMBERS BEFORE US, ESPECIALLY THE COMMITTEE, BECAUSE I THINK THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT IF, IF, AND I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WASN'T, YOU KNOW, THE COMMISSION, WE, WE UNDERSTAND, UH, HOW MANY DAYS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE TO HAVE IN OUR, UH, IN OUR POINT BALANCE.
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT, UM, AND WATERWORKS DIDN'T OPERATE THE SAME.
BUT I THINK EVEN IF, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK SET A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL, WE NEED TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION BEFORE MAKING ANY, ANY DECISIONS.
BUT I, I FEEL A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE, UH, MAKING ANY RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT THAT INFORMATION.
NOW, NOW DAN, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT DAYS OF WORKING CAPITAL TO THE FUND BALANCE, THAT'S NOT AN ANNUALLY COMPOUNDING THING THAT COULD BE DRAWN DOWN.
AND THEN LET'S SAY THE THRESHOLD INSTEAD OF 20 MILLION WOULD BE 10 MILLION, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT WOULD JUST MEAN THAT YOU WOULD NEED TO GENERATE $10 MILLION LESS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
IS THAT CORRECT? IS IT THAT SIMPLE THAT YES.
YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.
INSTEAD OF, IT MEANS THAT YOUR RATES COULD BE A LITTLE BIT LOWER, BUT YOU WOULD BE USING YOUR FUND BALANCE TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE AND SUPPORT IT.
[00:40:01]
DIFFERENCE LOOKS LIKE.IF IT IS SIGNIFICANT, THEN, THEN I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING DEFINITELY YOU CAN LOOK AT.
IF IT IS NOT THEN, THEN CLEARLY, UH, THAT'S ANOTHER CONVERSATION TO BE HAD.
AND SO JUST TO, TO FRAME THAT A LITTLE BIT, THE LONG DELAY IS A $136 MILLION CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
UM, AND SO THE, THE MODERATE DELAY IS ABOUT $181 MILLION.
SO YOU'RE JUST GOING TO, YOU'RE GONNA TAKE ANOTHER $10 MILLION OFF OF THAT.
SO THE, THE IMPACT ON YOUR RATES, WHAT, WHAT'S A FRACTION OF 10 MILLION OUT OF 136 OR 181? AND THAT KIND OF GIVES YOU A RELATIVE SENSE.
UM, IT'S LESS THAN 10% DIFFERENCE, BUT, BUT I THINK, I THINK THOUGH THAT IF WE SHOW THE RESIDENTS THAT WE'RE USING OUR FUND BALANCE TO TRY TO HELP THEM IN SOME WAY, ABSOLUTELY.
THAT THAT GOES A LONG WAY TO ACTUALLY SURE.
AND THIS, I MEAN, WE DIDN'T CRAFT THAT OR SPECIFY THAT, BUT WHEN WE COME BACK AGAIN, WE CAN CERTAINLY RUN THE SCENARIOS WITH THOSE TUNEUPS.
ANOTHER QUESTION THAT DAN HAD TALKED ABOUT, DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN BE AS PRESCRIPTIVE RIGHT NOW ABOUT? AND ONE OF THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT HE'S MADE THERE IS THAT YOU'RE BORROWING IS ON A 20 YEAR BASIS AND A LOT OF THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD FUNDING PROGRAMS WILL GIVE YOU A 30 YEAR OPTION, AND THAT CAN WORK TO REDUCE THE DEBT SERVICE.
AND SO THAT CAN EVEN FURTHER, BUT YOU, YOU MAKE, UH, A HOPEFUL ASSUMPTION OR DO YOU MAKE A CONSERVATIVE ASSUMPTION? SO I THINK THAT WHAT DAN HAS DONE HERE HAS MADE THE CONSERVATIVE ASSUMPTION, BUT CERTAINLY IF WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT A HUNDRED AND A DAYS OR 200 UH, DAYS OF WORKING CAPITAL, WE CAN DO THAT.
WHEN CONCERN ABOUT GOING TOO LOW IN THE WATER BUSINESS IS IF YOU HAVE A STRING OF COLD OR COOLER WETTER SUMMERS, YOUR REVENUE CAN REALLY SUFFER.
AND THIS WAS BEFORE MY TIME, BUT I KNOW WATERWORKS GOT INTO SOME REAL TOUGH DIFFICULTIES, UM, MAYBE ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO.
AND SO THERE WAS A LOT OF BELT TIGHTENING AND, AND, UH, RETIREMENT PLANS WERE, UH, WERE REDUCED AND SO FORTH.
AND THAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU HAVE MOST OF YOUR REVENUE BEING GENERATED BASED OFF OF COMMODITY.
THAT WAS ANOTHER QUE TOPIC THAT DAN AND I TALKED, WE TALKED ABOUT AT LENGTH.
IT WOULD GREAT TO HAVE ALL OF OUR FIXED COSTS RECOVERED BY THE BASE CHARGE.
AND THE PROBLEM IS, IS THE AFFORDABILITY FOR YOUR, YOUR LOWER, UH, INCOME RESIDENTS, THEY, THEY TAKE A HUGE HIT.
AND SO THERE'S A BALANCE BETWEEN HOW MUCH FIXED CHARGE, HOW HIGH CAN YOU GO WITH THAT WITHOUT IMPACTING YOUR AFFORDABILITY QUESTION.
AND I THINK WHAT DAN HAS DONE HERE WITH THE RATES THAT HE'S PRESENTED, THOSE BASE RATES AREN'T GOING UP VERY MUCH.
IN SOME CASES IN WASTEWATER, I THINK ARE LOWER THAN WHAT THE VALLEY HAS ON AN AVERAGE.
BUT IF YOU RAISE 'EM NOW, THE FOLKS ON THE LOWER END OF THE, THE ECONOMIC SCALE ARE HAVING TO PAY MORE.
THE, THE OTHER THING, IF, IF I COULD JUST MAKE ONE OTHER POINT, AND THAT IS THAT IF YOU ADOPT A FIVE YEAR RATE PLAN, UH, IT WOULD BE BASED ON THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR STUDY.
AND OBVIOUSLY A FORECAST IS NOT A GUARANTEE, IT'S JUST A PREDICTION BASED ON A SERIES OF ASSUMPTIONS.
IF YOU ADOPT A FIVE YEAR RATE PLAN BASED ON 20 YEAR DEBT, AND IT TURNS OUT THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO ISSUE 30 YEAR DEBT AND IT TURNS OUT YOUR EXPENSES ARE NOT AS HIGH AS WHAT IS FORECAST IN THE RATE PLAN, YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE ABILITY TO COME BACK IN AND ADJUST THAT RATE PLAN AT A FUTURE YEAR.
A FIVE-YEAR RATE PLAN IS A GUIDELINE.
IT IS THE DEFAULT OPTION IS THAT ALL THE PLAN, ALL THE RATES GO INTO EFFECT ON ALL THE GIVEN DATES, BUT YOU AS A BOARD, YOU AS A, AS A CITY COMMISSION HAVE THE RIGHT AT ANY TIME TO GO IN AND REVISIT THAT PLAN.
AND IF YOU'VE GOT 30 YEAR DEBT, IF YOUR EXPENSES HAVEN'T GONE UP AS MUCH AS YOU ANTICIPATED, THEN YOU CAN MODERATE ADJUST OR OUTRIGHT CANCEL SOME OF THE FUTURE RATE ADJUSTMENTS.
DAN, UH, I'VE GOT A STATEMENT FROM YOU AND THEN I'M GONNA QUESTION FOR GABE IN THE SAME SENTENCE.
SO, UH, OUR WATER BILL'S NOT A PURE WATER BILL.
UH, IN ORDER TO SAVE CAR STOCK AND POSTAGE, WE COMBINE LOTS OF OTHER THINGS WITH OUR WATER PILL.
AND SO THAT WHEN I GET A PILL IN THE SUMMER FOR $127, I THINK, MAN, I USED A LOT OF WATER, BUT THERE'S OTHER STUFF IN THERE AND I KNOW THERE'S OTHER STUFF IN THERE, AND I'M GUESSING MOST OF OUR CITIZENS DON'T CARE THAT THERE'S OTHER STUFF ON THERE.
THEY JUST LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE.
AND SO WHAT'S ON THERE IS GARBAGE AND SALES TAX FOR
[00:45:01]
GARBAGE AND A FEE TO GATHER MONEY TO PAY ROADS.AND WHAT ELSE GAVE, UH, ON THE CITY SIDE, UH, ASIDE FROM WATERWORKS, THAT'S, THAT'S IT.
JUST THE GARBAGE TREE AND UM, THE, UH, THE, UH, BUT THAT'S THE WATERWORKS YEAH, FOR THE CITY, IT'S JUST THE, UH, THE GARBAGE COLLECTION AND THE, UH, THE PREMIUM COLLECTED FOR THE STREET INFRASTRUCTURE FUND.
AND, AND SO THAT IN, IN QUOTATION MARKS, INFLATES THE WATER BILL.
AND SO WHEN PEOPLE SEE ANOTHER $3 OR $5 OR $7 INCREASE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT GONNA SAY, OH YES, I, I WILL SEPARATE THAT IN MY MIND.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THE CITY MAY WANT TO DO IS SEND A SEPARATE BILL TO MAKE IT PSYCHOLOGICALLY MORE PALATABLE.
WE CAN CERTAINLY DO WORK ON DOING THAT, SEPARATING OUT THAT PORTION.
THE REASON WE DO IT IS BECAUSE IT'S EASIER FOR THE, UM, CONSUMER TO PAY, UH, FOR THE CONSUMER TO PAY ONE BILL INSTEAD OF TWO BILLS.
BUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE INCREASING WATER, I WILL REPEAT MYSELF TO MAKE IT MORE PALATABLE, SEPARATED.
CONSIDER THAT, DAN, CAN WE GET THE NUMBERS FOR, UH, THE ON TIME PLAN? UM, YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS AS WELL? YES.
NOT THE NEXT TIME OR WHENEVER YOU SEND 'EM TO TAM, TIM CAN EMAIL IT OUT TO US PLEASE.
WOULD, WOULD THE BOARD AND COMMISSION AT THIS POINT IN TIME, UM, WE, WE CAN BRING PLANS BACK, BUT I'M HEARING THAT SPENDING DOWN ON THAT FUND BALANCE, A FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD HAD SUGGESTED A $12 MILLION BALANCE AT THAT POINT IN TIME WOULD BE APPROPRIATE.
BUT IS THERE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DAYS OF WORKING CAPITAL THAT IF WE'RE GONNA REVISE THIS FOR OUR NEXT MEETING AND COME BACK IN A COUPLE WEEKS, IS THERE, UH, A NUMBER OF DAYS THAT THE BOARD COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT BASED ON KANSAS MASTER CITIES? OURS IS 120 DAYS.
I, I HAVE TO CHECK, BUT I, I BELIEVE SO.
SO IS YOUR 20 MILLION, HOW MANY DAYS OFF OPERATING CAPITAL IS THAT? AND, AND I CAN'T AND, AND THE AND THE OUTLIERS ON THE CURVE SAYS OVER 500 DAYS, BUT THAT, THAT'S RIGHT.
NOW YOU, YOU'RE, YEAH, THE QUESTION IS YEAH, WHAT WE, WHAT WE DO IF WE WERE HUNDRED, I'M SORRY.
RIGHT NOW IT'S WHAT, FIVE TOTAL FIVE.
YOUR, YOUR, YOUR ANNUAL BUDGET'S.
LIKE WHAT? 10 10 THEM CLOSER TO 20, 23.
I VALID, VALID POINTS AND I THINK MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THE WATER WORKS WORKS DIFFERENTLY THAN THE CITY AND, AND TIME FOR THE FUTURE AND MAKING SURE THAT STABILITY AND, AND, AND THAT YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE IN A PICKLE, RIGHT.
SO I THINK, UM, THIS IS SOMETHING FOR YOU AND MAYBE STAFF TO, TO LOOK AT.
UM, AND MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
ALL BECAUSE WHAT WORKS SHOULD NEED DOES NOT WORK FOR, FOR, FOR YOU.
AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE RESPONSIBLE.
I SAID, AND AND ANOTHER THING IS A RESIDENT FUNCTION AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING THE KID IN THE GAME, RIGHT? AND, AND IF WE'RE, WE HAVE 500 DAYS OF, OF WORKING CAPITAL AND MAYBE, OR RESERVES, THEN WE NEED TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU HAVE THAT AND WHY WE SHOULDN'T DISTURB THAT, OR WHY WE CAN RESPONSIBLY REDUCE THAT.
SO I THINK IT'S KIND OF HARD FOR US TO, TO STAY NATURAL WITH, SO YOU COULD, YOUR NEEDS MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN OUR, HOW, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT $10 MILLION NUMBER INITIALLY? 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING.
BRING IT DOWN AND JUST LEAVE 10 MILLION.
IT, IT WAS A FORMER, A FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO WE HAD A DISCUSSION.
WE, WE, WE BUILT A FORECAST, WHICH OF COURSE IS, YOU KNOW, A MUCH SLOWER LEVEL THAN WHAT WILL VAN'S DONE.
BUT WHEN WE BUILT THAT, UM, THAT BOTTOM LINE, HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH YOU HAVE IN YOUR BANK BALANCE WAS THE QUESTION, IF YOU HAD SOMETHING HAPPEN, HOW MANY DAYS COULD YOU OPERATE IF YOU COULDN'T TAKE ANY MORE REVENUE? AND HIS GUIDELINE WAS 12 MILLION AT THAT TIME.
SO IN TODAY'S DOLLARS, MAYBE THAT'S CLOSER TO 15 MILLION.
I THINK YOU'RE GOING INTO BROADER OR WELL, I MEAN, WELL, YOU KNOW, AND IT COMES BACK TO NOT HAVING A PROBLEM WHERE YOU HAVE JUST CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF BAD WEATHER AND THAT CAN REALLY, REALLY CAN HURT YOU.
UM, I'M THINKING THEN LINES ARE 210 WORKING DAYS, BUT WE WILL, AND WANDERING SEWAGE
[00:50:01]
OF OUR RESIDENTS USING 3000 LESS? OKAY.DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS? UM, MY GUT FEEL, MY GUT FEELING IS ABOUT 25% OF YOUR MONTHLY BILLS ARE 3000 GALLONS OR LESS.
WELL, THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE IF 80% ARE IN THE SEVEN, 10,000.
NO, 80, ABOUT 80% WOULD BE MORE THAN 3000 GALLONS A MONTH.
UH, EARLIER IN THE PRESENTATION, I, I WROTE IT DOWN 'CAUSE I WANTED TO SEE, UM, KIND OF, I I WAS WORKING OFF THE SEVEN TO 10,000 NUMBER BECAUSE YOU SAID THAT THAT WAS 8% OF USERS, UH, CONSUME THAT MUCH OR USE THAT MUCH WATER.
AND SO I WOULD, IT SEEMS LIKE IT COULD BE POSSIBLE FOR THERE TO BE 25% THAT ARE LESS.
THE, THE IDEA IS ABOUT 80% OF YOUR MONTHLY BILLS ARE GOING TO BE 10 THOU, UH, ABOUT 8,000 GALLONS OR LESS.
EVERY RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER HAS 12 BILLS IN A YEAR.
OKAY? SO YOU HAVE 25,000 CUSTOMERS, BUT YOU HAVE 300,000 BILLS A YEAR BECAUSE EVERY CUSTOMER PAYS 12 WATER BILLS A YEAR.
AND SO A TYPICAL RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER, MOST OF THE MONTHS HE, THAT PERSON WILL USE ONLY A FEW THOUSAND GALLONS, 5,000, 6,007.
BUT IN JULY AND AUGUST THEY WILL USE A LOT MORE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE RIGHT HERE, THIS IS AVERAGE USAGE FOR ALL OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
FOR EACH MONTH OF THE LAST 12, UH, OF THE LAST FISCAL YEAR.
LOOK AT DECEMBER, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY.
VERY LOW USAGE, LITTLE ODD MARCH AND APRIL SPIKED UP A LITTLE BIT.
MAY AND JUNE WERE LOWER THAN NORMAL.
SO IN JULY AND AUGUST, THE AVERAGE USAGE WAS NINE TO 10,000 GALLONS.
BUT IN MOST OF THE OTHER MONTHS IT WAS FIVE TO 6,000 GALLONS.
SEVEN, THAT'S, THAT'S HOW YOU COME UP WITH THESE NUMBERS.
I DIDN'T I FULLY UNDERSTAND THE WINTER AVERAGE.
DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE NEVER GO OVER, UH, A CERTAIN AMOUNT? AND SO ALL THESE, I LOST YOU.
OKAY? YOU TAKE YOUR WINTER MONTHS AND YOU AVERAGE THOSE THREE MONTHS, WHICH ARE TYPICALLY DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND FEBRUARY.
AND THAT AVERAGE ESTABLISHES THE CAP THAT YOU WILL PAY, THE VOLUME THAT YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS, INCLUDING THE NEXT DECEMBER, JANUARY, FEBRUARY.
AND SO
THOSE ARE THE WINTER MONTHS THAT THE WINTER AVERAGE IS CALCULATED ON.
THE WINTER AVERAGE COMES OUT TO 5,754 GALLONS A MONTH.
THAT'S THE AVERAGE FOR, FOR ALL OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
EVERY INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER HAS THEIR OWN WINTER AVERAGE.
SOME PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE A WINTER AVERAGE OF 3000 GALLONS, OTHERS MIGHT HAVE A WINTER AVERAGE OF 7,000 GALLONS.
BUT FOR THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE, IT'S 5,754.
SO IN JULY, WHEN A CUSTOMER USES 10,000 GALLONS OF WATER, THEY'RE ONLY BEING BILLED FOR 5,754 GALLONS OF WASTEWATER BECAUSE UNDER THE THEORY OF A WINTER AVERAGE, IT IS ASSUMED THAT ANY USAGE OVER 5,754 GALLONS IS WATER THAT IS USED OUTDOORS AND IS NOT RETURNED TO THE SEWER SYSTEM.
'CAUSE THE IDEA IS YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T DRINK ANY MORE WATER IN JULY THAN YOU DO IN DECEMBER.
YOU DON'T FLUSH THE TOILET ANYMORE IN JULY THAN YOU DO IN DECEMBER.
SO THE WINTER MONTHS GIVE YOU A VERY GOOD IDEA OF HOW MUCH WATER YOU'RE USING INSIDE YOUR HOUSE, AND THAT IS WHAT THE WINTER AVERAGE CALCULATES AND THAT'S WHAT THE CAP IS FOR.
OKAY? SO, UH, AND I APOLOGIZE IF THESE ARE REMEDIAL QUESTIONS, BUT JUST SO I HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING, THAT SIX THOU AVERAGE IS 6,000.
AND SO MOST RESIDENTS IN THE CITY OF PAREN, THEIR BILLS REFLECT 6,000, UM, ALL YEAR LONG.
UH, NOT NECESSARILY A 6,000 AVERAGE FOR THE YEAR MIGHT MEAN THAT YOU USE 3000 GALLONS IN DECEMBER AND 9,000 GALLONS IN JULY.
CAN'T REDUCE THE 6,000 GALLONS.
WHAT THEIR BILL, SO IF, IF, IF THIS IS ALL, IF THIS IS ACCURATE, AND THE VAST MAJORITY, 80% OF UM, RESIDENTS IN THE CITY OF HARLINGEN, THEIR WINTER AVERAGE IS AROUND 6,000 GALLONS.
AND THAT MEANS THAT MOST OF OUR RESIDENTS, THEIR BILLS ARE CAPPED AT 6,000.
IS THAT CORRECT? FOR SEWER? THE SEWER BILL IS OKAY.
I SAID, WELL THEN WHY ARE WE DOING
[00:55:01]
ALL OF THIS NOW? I UNDERSTAND.SORRY, KEEP, THAT'S MY, IT'S, IT'S A LOT NEED TO EVERYONE THAT IS, THAT IS TUNING IN BECAUSE WE, I HAD A LOT OF, OF OUR RESIDENTS, UH, CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN AND WHAT THE FUTURE IS GONNA LOOK LIKE IN TERMS OF THEIR WATER BILL.
AND IT CAN GET COMPLICATED AND I WANT IT TO BE FOR EVERYBODY TO FULLY, FULLY UNDERSTAND.
AND SO IF THAT MEANS THAT I ASK THE QUESTIONS, THEN I THINK THAT MIGHT, THAT MIGHT HELP BECAUSE OTHERS MAY NOT, UH, FEEL COMFORTABLE TO, TO CHIME IN AND, AND ASK THOSE QUESTIONS.
BUT I THINK ULTIMATELY I'D LIKE TO, AND I WISH WE HAD, YOU KNOW, A BLANK CHECK TO PROVIDE BECAUSE THE, THE IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED.
AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO FIND THAT SPOT WHERE WE CAN FUND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE, AS RESPONSIBLE AS POSSIBLE WITH THE LEAST IMPACT TO THE RESIDENT.
AND SO, UM, I THINK THAT A RECOMMENDATION OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FROM YOU, UM, AND YOUR STAFF AND OBVIOUSLY WITH INPUT FROM FROM THE BOARD IS SOMETHING THAT I'LL, I WOULD HOPE THAT THE COMMISSION ALSO WOULD, WOULD REALLY LOOK AT AND, AND CONSIDER BECAUSE THAT'S YOUR EXPERTISE AND, AND WE REALLY RELY ON, ON, ON YOU FOR THAT.
LIKE, WE RELY ON STAFF FOR THE VAST MAJORITY BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE IN IT EVERY DAY.
AND SO I FEEL LIKE THIS IS ALSO ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE WE NEED TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION TO FEEL COMFORTABLE ABOUT THIS DECISION.
'CAUSE IT'S A LONG-TERM DECISION, BUT THERE'S NO, UM, THERE'S NO HIDING THE FACT THAT WE NEED TO DO IT.
I WISH THINGS THAT WOULD'VE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY IN THE PAST SO WE WOULDN'T BE WHERE WE ARE.
UM, NOT TO SAY THAT YOU COULD HAVE, I MEAN, 'CAUSE YOU INHERITED A LOT OF THESE, THESE ISSUES WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU CAME ON, WHEN YOU CAME ON BOARD.
AND SO THUS WE'VE GOTTA FIGURE OUT A WAY TO MOVE ME FORWARD.
BUT HOW CAN WE DO IT WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF IMPACT TO THE RESIDENTS? THAT QUESTION, THAT QUESTION COMES BACK TO YOUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND WHAT PROBLEMS ARE YOU SOLVING WITH THAT? UM, THE MASTER PLAN DIDN'T TRY TO PRESUME WHAT WE COULD AFFORD.
IT JUST SAID WE'RE SLOTTING A PROJECT IN YOUR ZERO TO FIVE YEAR TIMEFRAME IF YOU NEED IT.
IF YOU'RE OVER CAPACITY, IF YOU HAVE PROBLEM NOW, I MEAN, IF IT'S THE SUMMER OF 2023 AND YOU DON'T HAVE A BIG RAINSTORM, THERE'S NO PROBLEM.
IT'S JUST WHEN THAT BIG STORM COMES.
AND SO, UM, WE DID PUT UP OUR FIRST JOINT MEETING THAT HAD A BUNCH OF RED DOTS ON IT AND YELLOW DOTS AND SAID, IF WE DO THESE PROJECTS, THEN THESE ARE GONNA GO AWAY.
ONE OF THE SLIDES WE'RE WORKING ON AND WE'VE HAD OUR CONSULTANT GO BACK AND SAY, SHOW US WHAT THAT MAP LOOKS LIKE AFTER WE DO THE PROJECTS.
AND SO THAT'S ONE WAY TO GRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATE, HERE'S WHERE PROBLEM GOES.
YOU DON'T HAVE RED DOTS WHERE SEWAGE IS FLOWING INTO THE STREETS.
WHEN YOU HAVE A MAJOR RAINSTORM, YELLOW DOTS MEAN YOU'RE COMPROMISED.
YOU, YOU CAN MOVE FURTHER AWAY FROM THAT.
THAT'S THE, THE QUESTION OF, OF IT, IT IS A DIFFICULT QUESTION.
AND, AND MAYBE BEFORE THAT FINAL ANSWER IS GIVEN, WE MAY NEED TO REVISIT THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN ON, ON A HIGH LEVEL AND TALK ABOUT WHAT IS IT THAT WE REALLY WANT TO ACCOMPLISH.
AND SO WE CAN DRAW A LINE AND SAY, HERE ARE THE TYPES OF PROJECTS AND THE TYPES OF PROBLEMS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET RID OF WITH THIS PLAN.
AND WE DID NOT DO THE ON-TIME PLAN BECAUSE, BECAUSE WE FELT THE RATE IMPACT WAS GOING TO BE REALLY ONEROUS.
AND NUMBER TWO, YOU START GETTING INTO A BUNCH OF SMALLER PROJECTS.
AND OUR ABILITY TO MANAGE THAT KIND OF WITH OUR CURRENT STAFF, UH, IS GOING TO BE, WOULD, WOULD BE A REAL CHALLENGE.
AND I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A PLACE WHERE WE WOULD HAVE TO HIRE OUTSIDE HELP TO HELP US MANAGE THAT KIND OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE LONG DELAY AND THE MODERATE DELAY, THE LONG DELAY IS EASIER, WOULD BE EASIER FOR US TO MANAGE.
THERE'S SOME BIG PROJECTS THAT ARE IN THERE, UH, BUT WE'RE NOT GONNA GET TO OSBORNE, WE'RE NOT GONNA GET TO BRIANNA CIRCLE.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET TO THOSE HIGH PRIORITY PLACES FOR DISTRICT FIVE UNLESS WE DO THE MODERATE PLAN.
A QUESTION ABOUT CAPITAL RESERVE, I REALIZE ON A $138 MILLION 20 YEAR OUTLAY THAT USING SOME OF THAT CAPITAL RESERVE DOESN'T AFFECT THE BILL THAT MUCH, BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY AFFECT IT ON A FIVE YEAR OR 10 YEAR PLAN.
IS THERE A HUGE, HUGE EFFECT THAT WE CAN PUT SOME BACK IN TO MEDIATE THE, THE COST PER MONTH? I, I THINK, I THINK WHAT THE MAYOR SAID WAS THAT IT SHOWS THAT WE HAVE SOME SKIN IN THE GAME AND THAT WE'RE PUTTING MONEY IN.
I THINK THAT'S A GOODWILL THAT WE WANT TO TRY TO SHOW TO OUR RESIDENTS.
UM, TIM, COULD YOU REMIND US OF THE, UH, TOTAL COST OF THE CAPTAIN IMPROVEMENT PLAN THAT FREE AND NICHOLS, UH, GAVE US?
[01:00:01]
I YES I CAN.AND I, I, I CAN SEARCH THROUGH THAT.
UM, WAS, IT WAS 280 MILLION OR TWO 50.
WELL SEE CO I MEAN THEY, WHAT YOU HEARD.
BUT THE COSTS HAVE CHANGED AND SO WHERE ARE WE AND ALL THAT.
UM, YEAH, BUT THIS WAS IN, WHAT YEAR WAS THAT DONE IN TWO YEARS AGO AT THAT, THEY, THEY, THEIR COST BASIS WAS 20 20 20.
BUT THEN, UH, IN OCTOBER WE ASKED THEM FOR AN UPDATE AND THEY GAVE US AN UPDATE, AND THAT'S WHERE THEY SAID, WE, WE WANT TO CALL YOU BEFORE WE SEND IT TO YOU.
BECAUSE COSTS ON A LOT OF PROJECTS HAVE DOUBLE SINCE THE 2020 NUMBERS, WHAT WE PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION AUGUST OF LAST YEAR, UH, WITH THE MASTER PLAN, WE WERE ASSUMING 40% INFLATION, BUT WHEN THAT WENT TO A HUNDRED PERCENT INFLATION, 80, A HUNDRED PERCENT INFLATION, I MEAN, THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING WE HAD TALKED ABOUT.
UM, SO I MEAN, I, ON MY SCREEN, I HAVE OUR CAP, OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
OUR MASTER PLAN COVERED WHAT WE CALL CONVEYANCE.
HOW DO YOU GET WATER TO CUSTOMERS AND BACK AWAY FROM CUSTOMERS, AND WHAT KIND OF CAPACITY DO YOU NEED AT YOUR TREATMENT PLANS? THAT'S NOT TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION.
WE'RE GONNA RENEW AND REPLACE SOME PIPELINES THAT ARE FAILING OR WE GOTTA TAKE CARE OF, YOU KNOW, SOME ISSUE.
OTHER ISSUES WITH FACILITIES, WITH THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN THAT DAN HAS USED, THAT IS THE COMPILATION OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN FREEZING ANKLE'S MASTER PLAN, BUT ALSO THOSE OTHER NON-CON CONVEYANCE PROJECTS.
AND SO WE'VE BLENDED THAT ALL TOGETHER SAYING, THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
AND IT'S LARGELY DRIVEN BY THE MASTER PLAN.
SO I MADE IT COMPLIC AN EASY QUESTION COMPLICATED, BUT I WANTED TO, YOU TEND TO DO THAT
I, I JUST, I'D LIKE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GONNA DO THIS, UM, WHAT PROJECTS ARE GOING TO BE FIVE HOLES? UM, AND INITIALLY, AND THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE IN DISTRICT FIVE, ANY DISTRICT TWO THAT REALLY NEED, UM, HELP, UH, I THINK THAT THEY'RE AT THE POINT WHERE IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE PRIORITIZE.
AND SO I'D JUST LIKE TO SEE WHAT THAT PLAN, WHAT THAT PLAN LOOKS LIKE.
AND, AND I WILL REITERATE, IT ALL ROLLS DOWNHILL.
AND SO YOU START DOWNHILL SURE.
AT THE EAST, AND THEN YOU WORK UPHILL TOWARDS THE WEST.
AND WE JUST NEED TO SEE WHEN, YOU KNOW, TIMELINE AND, AND, AND ADOPTING, AGAIN, IT GOES BACK TO ADOPTING, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WHICH IS THE PLAN TO ADOPT.
UM, I THINK THAT THE LONG DELAY IS PROBABLY NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE, OF THE CITY.
AND THAT'S JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION.
UH, BUT AGAIN, I THINK THAT WE NEED TO, TO LOOK AT IT MORE, MORE COMPREHENSIVE.
LOOK AT IT IS MORE STAFF MEMBERS.
WOULD YOU NEED TO HIRE TO DO THE, THE FASTER OPTION? YEAH.
WELL, NOT, NO, NOT THE ALL TIME.
THE, THE MODERATE, THE MODERATE DELAY THAT YOU COULD DO.
IS THAT CORRECT? WE PROBABLY WOULD NEED TO ADD SOME ENGINEERING HELP, BUT YOU CAN, THERE'S TWO WAYS TO GO ABOUT THAT.
WHAT IS, WHAT DOES YOUR LONG-TERM STAFF REALLY NEED TO BE? AND IF YOU DON'T WANNA CARRY THAT LONG-TERM STAFF BEYOND FIVE YEARS, OR THAT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, THEN YOU CAN HIRE PROGRAM MANAGERS FROM THE ENGINEERING COMMUNITY.
YOU SAY, WE'RE GONNA GO TO YOU, YOU'RE GONNA PAY, YOU'RE GONNA PAY A PREMIUM FOR THAT, BUT YOU'RE GOING TO NOT BE IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU NEED TO, YOU KNOW, CARRY EXTRA STAFFING LOAD.
UM, I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S VERY POSSIBLE WITH THE MODERATE PLAN, WE WOULD, UM, WE WOULD ADD, UH, ANOTHER SLOT FOR ENGINEERING HELP.
JUST, JUST ONE, JUST, JUST ONE.
WELL, YOU KNOW, THE, THE THING IS, WE, WE GOT A TREATMENT PLANT OF THE 181 MILLION.
YOU HAVE ONE PROJECT THAT'S 28 MILLION.
YOU HAVE ANOTHER PROJECT THAT'S ABOUT 50 MILLION.
AND SO YOU PROBABLY, I MEAN, WELL THAT'S ONE ENGINEER.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO HIRE SOME INSPECTORS TO GO INSPECT THIS STUFF.
OR YOU COULD HIRE ENGINEERS TO DO THAT.
ANYWAY, THAT'S A, I DON'T HAVE A PLAN, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY TALK ABOUT THAT TOO.
UH, WHAT'S THE BEST FORMAT FOR THE COMMUNICATION OF THOSE CAPITAL PROJECTS? DO WE WANT TO HAVE THAT THE NEXT JOINT MEETING TO MAYBE STEP THROUGH THAT IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL? YES OR YES.
MAYBE WE COULD, YEAH, AND I THINK THE SOONER THE BETTER.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED TO, UM, BE ABLE TO GET THAT TOGETHER.
WE CAN, WE CAN DO THAT IN A COUPLE WEEKS.
UM, WE CAN DO IT NEXT WEEK IF YOU NEED TO.
I, I HAVE UP ON MY SCREEN WHAT THAT PLAN IS, BUT IF YOU WANT A PRESENTATION WHERE YOU'RE NOT JUST LOOKING AT LINE, UM, IN THE FIRST PRESENTATION THAT WE PROVIDED IN THE MEMO THAT
[01:05:01]
WAS, UH, SENT TO YOU, UM, UH, NOVEMBER THE 27TH OR SIXTH OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IT HAD SOME SLIDES THAT WERE THERE.BUT I CAN SEND YOU A SPREADSHEET SAYING HERE IS WHAT THAT PLAN IS.
IF, IF YOU COULD DO THAT FOR THE LONG AND THEN THE MODERATE ADDITIONAL BEFORE WE, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR DAN WHILE HE'S SITTING ON THE HOLD THERE WITH YOU GUYS? JUST ONE MORE.
WELL, AT LEAST FOR ME, UH, CAN WE, UH, LOOK INTO A FLAT RATE AS WELL? UM, BY FLAT RATE, WOULD YOU MEAN THE STATUS QUO RATE, WHICH IS JUST, IT KEEPS THE SAME, IT'S A, IT'S A UNIFORM VOLUME RATE.
IT'S THE SAME VOLUME RATE FOR EVERY THOUSAND GALLONS.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? PER RESIDENT, PER METER? LIKE LET'S SAY FOR INSTANCE, UH, $5 FOR, UH, WATER SEWER, UH, FOR SEWER RATES INCREASE, ANOTHER $2 FOR WATER FLAT RATE AS PER METER.
WE ARE GONNA HAVE RESIDENTS THAT DO NOT USE, UH, THE, THE WASTEWATER.
WHY? BECAUSE THEY HAVE SEPTIC TANKS, RIGHT? MM-HMM,
SO THIS, THIS RATE WOULD APPLY TO EVERYBODY STRAIGHT UP, STRAIGHT ACROSS.
IT DOES NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN, UH, 3000 GALLONS, 5,000 OR 7,000 GALLONS OF WATER USAGE.
SO IT WOULD BE JUST ALL INCORPORATED INTO THE MONTHLY CHARGE.
UM, THAT CERTAINLY IS AN OPTION.
THE PROB THE PROBLEM THERE IS THE AFFORDABILITY QUESTION.
BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE A FLAT RATE, SOMEBODY'S USING 20,000 GALLONS IS GONNA GET THE BENEFIT BECAUSE SOMEBODY'S USING 3000 GALLONS, YOU'RE PAYING THE SAME AS THE 20,000.
SO WHAT THE WAY, THE WAY THE BILL WORKS, YOU HAVE A BASE RATE BASED ON YOUR METER SIZE AND YOUR, EVERYBODY'S GONNA PAY THAT.
I'D LIKE FOR THAT TO BE EQUAL TO OUR FIXED COST, BUT AFFORDABILITY WISE, IT DOESN'T WORK.
SO THEN YOU HAVE THE OTHER COMPONENT, WHICH IS COMMODITY.
SO IF YOU'RE USING 3000 GALLONS, YOU'RE IN THAT LOWER LOSS, YOU'RE PAYING THE ACTUAL CONSUMPTION THAT YOU USE, WHETHER IT BE 3000 OR 2000 OR A HUNDRED GALLONS, RIGHT? SO YOU'RE GETTING MULTIPLIER ON YOUR QUANTITY RATE, AND THEN YOU'RE ADDING THAT TO THE BASE.
WHAT DAN HAS DONE, HE'S KEPT THE BASE RATE REALLY QUITE LOW TO MAXIMIZE THE AFFORDABILITY COMPONENT THAT WE HEARD THE CITY COMMISSION WANTS.
SO WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS YOU'RE RELYING MORE ON THE COMMODITY.
IF YOU'RE USING VERY LITTLE, WELL, YOU'RE GONNA PAY VERY LITTLE.
IF YOU USE A LOT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA PAY MORE, MORE AS YOU PUT IT.
SO IF YOU GO TO A FIXED RATE PLAN, YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT VERY UNAFFORDABLE FOR AN AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE.
UM, BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME UP WITH $131 MILLION IN 20 YEARS.
AND SO YOU TAKE DIVIDE 131 MILLION BY THE METERS, AND THAT'S A HUGE MONTHLY INCREASE FOR EVERYBODY.
AND I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT IN TERMS OF CONSERVATION.
SO WHEN YOU HAVE THAT INVERTED PLAN OF PEOPLE THAT ARE MORE, UH, CONSCIOUS OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING, AND MAYBE THEY'RE, UH, CAREFUL TO NOT USE AS MUCH WATER IN IT AS A RESULT, YOU'VE GOT A WHOLE COMMUNITY THAT'S REALLY TRYING TO USE LESS WATER, WHICH OBVIOUSLY IS GONNA HELP EVERYONE IN THE LONG RUN.
AND SO YOU'RE KIND OF IN CONTROL OF WHAT THAT BILL LOOKS LIKE BASED ON USAGE.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF MOMS SAYING, GET OUTTA THE SHOWER,
ARE YOU ON THE CELL PHONE OR ARE YOU ON THE, SO, SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE, I THINK THAT MOST COMMUNITIES ARE, ARE, ARE LOOKING TOWARDS CONSERVATION ANYHOW.
AND SO I THINK THAT, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THE CITY HASN'T DONE BEFORE THE INVERTED PLAN.
I THINK, I DO THINK THAT THAT'S A, A GOOD, YOU KNOW, THANKS, UH, FOR, FOR PROVIDING THAT INFORMATION TO US.
I THINK IT GIVES US A LOT TO THINK ABOUT.
AND IS IS SOMETHING HELPFUL FOR THE COMMUNITY TO HAVE SOME CONTROL ANYHOW OF WHAT YOUR BILL LOOKS LIKE? THE OTHER THING, TIM, JUST TO CONFIRM, IS THAT FOR EACH PLAN, WHEN WE CUT OUT WHICH PROJECTS, RIGHT? WHEN YOU SHOWS WHICH PROJECT, I WANNA SEE IT ON THE MAP, LIKE YOU SAID EARLIER.
JUST TO CONFIRM THAT, BECAUSE I WANNA SEE, I'M NOT GONNA KNOW WHAT A CERTAIN PROJECT MEANS UNLESS I SEE WHO'S BEING BE AFFECTED, RIGHT? RIGHT.
AND SO THAT'S, TO ME, THAT'S EVEN THE BETTER, OR AT LEAST VISUALIZATION.
I MEAN, UP ON YOUR SCREEN IS IS AN EXAMPLE.
THIS IS WHERE WE'RE COMING FROM.
SO YOU GOT WASTEWATER, YOU GOT WATER METERS, AND YOU GOT FACILITIES, WHICH IS OFF THE SCREEN, AND THEN OVER HERE ON THE FAR
[01:10:04]
YEAH, WELL, INDEED.AND SO THERE'S ONE WAY TO DO THIS AND WE ATTEMPTED THAT.
AND I'M, I'M, UH, WORKING HOLD THAT WE'LL.
DO ANY OF US REALLY, LIKE, ARE ANY OF US ACTUALLY IN FAVOR OF THE LONG TERM? LIKE DO WE ACTUALLY NEED TO SEE THAT ONE FOR FRANKLY STUDY? YEAH, I HAVE TO, I, I GOTTA LOOK AT THE STUDY OF THE DIGEST.
I THINK IT'S BEST TO SEE EVERYTHING.
UM, I'M, AGAIN, I ALREADY SAID, I ALREADY PUT IT OUT THERE.
I MEAN, I INCLINED TO GO THE LONG TERM JUST BECAUSE I THINK WE'VE GOT PROBLEMS THAT WE NEED TO FIX.
BUT IF IT MAKES SENSE, IT MAKES SENSE.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WE NEED JUST TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN FRONT OF US BEFORE WE MAKE THAT, UM, RECOMMENDATION.
THERE'S PROJECTS THAT, SO THERE'S THIS DOT MAP, AND SO WHEN YOU ADD A PROJECT, YOU'LL SUBTRACT DOTS, YOU ADD ANOTHER PROJECT, YOU'LL SUBTRACT MORE.
SO WHAT I'VE ASKED OUR MASTER PLANNING CONSULTANT TO DO IS TO GIVE US THOSE FILES SO THAT WE CAN STEP THROUGH ON A MAP AND SHOW THE DOTS DISAPPEARING.
NOT ALL THE DOTS ARE GONNA DISAPPEAR.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SEE THE IMPACT OF REHABILITATION PROJECTS.
AND WE SPENT A GOOD BIT OF MONEY DOING REHABILITATION.
THAT DOESN'T AFFECT YOUR CAPACITY.
BUT IT DOES, IF YOU CAN'T FLOW WASTEWATER THROUGH A CRACKED PIPELINE OR WATER'S, YOU KNOW, LEAKING, AND YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF BREAKS GOING ON.
SO IN TERMS OF WASTEWATER, AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE SPENDING MOST OF THE MONEY.
I MEAN, IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS, IT IS HEAVILY WASTEWATER LOADED WATER.
WE DO HAVE PROJECTS WE NEED TO DO, BUT WE'RE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE.
SO I THINK IF YOU HAVE A GRAPHIC SAYING FOR CAPACITY PROJECTS, HERE'S A BUNCH OF DOTS.
ADD A PROJECT, DISAPPEARS, ADD ANOTHER PROJECT, AND SO YOU SHOW THE PROJECTS APPEARING AND THE DOTS DISAPPEARING IN SEQUENCE.
UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A POWERFUL WAY TO SHOW, SHOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.
IF PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE PAYING MORE, IF PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE PAYING MORE, THEY HAVE TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE GETTING OUT OF IT.
AND, AND, UH, I THINK BECAUSE WE'VE MADE THE INVESTMENT THAT WE HAVE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A TOOL THAT ALLOWS THEM TO SEE THAT.
OTHERWISE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT REHABILITATION PROJECTS, WE CAN'T REALLY SEE THAT ON A MAP BECAUSE IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT AS TANGIBLE.
UM, BUT WE, I THINK WE HAVE A GOOD GRAPHIC WAY TO DO THAT WITH $107 MILLION WORTH OR MORE OF OUR PROJECTS.
SO THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD CHUNK, I THINK.
I THINK WE CAN DO THAT AT THE NEXT MEETING.
THE PROBLEM YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE RESIDENTS WHERE THEY'RE GONNA SEE THEIR BILL GO UP, BUT THEY'RE STILL, UH, EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEMS THAT THEY'RE EXPERIENCING AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE UPSET ABOUT IT.
SO I THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, AS A COMMISSION, WE NEED TO HAVE THOSE ANSWERS TO SAY, WE UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION, BUT AT THIS POINT ON THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOU, YOUR ISSUES ARE GONNA BE RESOLVED.
BUT HOW MIKE CONTINUES TO, TO REITERATE, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE, I'M GONNA START HERE OR THERE.
THERE, THERE'S A SCIENCE TO IT AND WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THAT.
BUT WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO BE TRANSPARENT AND TO UNDERSTAND, I NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHEN THESE, WHEN THESE IMPROVEMENTS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN FOR SPECIFIC NEIGHBORHOODS, SO THAT WAY WE CAN, WE CAN BE ACCOUNTABLE TO OUR CONSTITUENTS.
'CAUSE THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE CALLING YOU.
WE'RE GONNA BE CALLING HIM HIM AND HIM AND THIS GUY
SO WE JUST WANNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE, UM, THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S, IT'S IMPORTANT.
AND I THINK THE SOONER THAT WE CAN GET THIS, UM, THE BETTER.
SO IN, AND PROBABLY ADDING THAT COST OF EXTRA STAFF, YOU PROBABLY MIGHT AS WELL
UM, BECAUSE WE NEED TO, TO KNOW WHAT THAT NUMBER LOOKS LIKE TOO, BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA NEED THE HELP, UM, TO BE ABLE TO TACKLE THESE ISSUES.
ESTIMATED TIMEFRAMES ARE GONNA BE IMPORTANT AS WELL.
BECAUSE I KNOW WHEN WE HAD THAT MEETING AT THE WATERWORKS, A LOT OF THE, SOME OF THE PEOPLE THAT WENT TO THAT, UM, TOWN ALL THE WAY TO YOUR, AT YOUR OFFICE, THEY WERE COMPLAINING THAT WE COULDN'T EVEN GIVE HIM A TIMEFRAME.
YOU CAN'T GIMME FIVE YEARS, 10 YEARS, 15 YEARS.
WE CAN JUST GIVE THEM A TIMEFRAME.
OKAY, YOU SHOULD HOPEFULLY GET SOMETHING IN 5, 10, 15 YEARS.
AT LEAST THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO INSTEAD OF RIGHT NOW WHEN THEY'RE, WHERE THE, WHERE THE ANSWER IS JUST LIKE, OH, YOU'LL GET IT EVENTUALLY.
WELL NOW IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RATES BEING IMPLEMENTED TO PROVIDE THE FUNDING TO DO THAT, AND, AND WE'RE, AND THAT'S BEING ASSUMED HERE IN A WAY THAT YEAH, WE WE'RE NOT ASSUMING WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, YES, E DAP, THAT'S BEEN WORKED INTO IT.
WE HAVE SOME OTHER E DAP OR OR SRF FUNDING THAT'S GOING TO COME TO US, BUT THE PLANS THAT DAN IS PREPARED, SAY BEYOND E DAP AND WHAT WE KNOW OF RIGHT NOW, WE'RE JUST ASSUMING WE'RE GOING OUT AT MARKET RATES TO GO FUND THESE PROJECTS.
AND THAT'S REALLY CONSERVATIVE.
SO IF YOU DO LAND SOME WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD PROJECTS ANYWAY, WE
[01:15:01]
HAVE THE ABILITY BY SELLING OUR OWN BONDS, WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.UM, IF THE TIMING IS RIGHT OR WE DON'T SCORE HIGH ENOUGH, WE CAN JUST GO AHEAD AND DO THOSE PROJECTS.
UM, AND SO THERE'S A SEQUENCE AND THERE'S A TIMELINE, AND WE'VE TALKED INTERNALLY ABOUT A TIMELINE TO DO THAT MAJOR COURSE SET OF PROJECTS.
SO I THINK YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE FOLKS, FOR EXAMPLE, ON BRIANNA CIRCLE, WELL, YOU NEED TO WORK DOWN THROUGH THAT PLAN.
WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT WITHIN FIVE YEARS IN THE MODERATE DELAY PLAN IN REALIZING, OF COURSE, ALL PEOPLE OPERATE ON THE MINI MAX PRINCIPLE, THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF EFFORT AND MONEY TO HAVE THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF PLEASURE QUICKLY.
SO, UM, AGAIN, I MEAN, I HATE TO BELABOR THE POINT, BUT AS LONG AS WE CAN SAY, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS BROADCAST BY THE WAY, YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS BASED ON OUR TIMELINE AND IS, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL, YOU'LL SEE IMPROVEMENTS AND WE'LL START IMPROVEMENTS IN YOUR AREA, IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN 20 27, 20 28, WHATEVER THAT CASE MAY BE.
UH, AND SHOULD WE GET MORE MONEY FROM THE WATER DEVELOPMENT WORK? FANTASTIC.
SHOULD THERE BE, UM, SOME OTHER SOURCE OF, OF, UH, IN, UH, OF, UH, GRANT MONEY OR IF ANYTHING CHANGES TO, TO MAKE THAT, UH, LESS TIME TO HAVE TO WAIT THAN FANTASTIC.
BUT I THINK THAT WE NEED TO HAVE A SET TIMELINE THAT IS A CONCRETE DATE, UH, NOT SPECIFIC TO THE, TO THE MONTH, BUT AT LEAST TO THE YEAR.
I THINK THAT THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD BE IDEAL.
AND THAT SHEET THAT YOU HAD THERE, ONE OF THOSE COLUMNS THAT YOU COULDN'T READ WAS A, AN OBLIGATION YEAR WHEN YOUR FUNDING HITS.
WELL, THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT FOR DAN.
BUT THEN WE CAN ALSO DO AN, AN ACTUAL COMPLETION.
SO IF YOU'VE GOT A PROJECT THAT'S GONNA TAKE YOU TWO YEARS, WELL THEN YOU CAN ESTIMATE THAT.
SO WE CAN PUT THAT ON THAT TABLE.
UM, THAT IN COMBINATION WITH THE GRAPHIC SHOWING OF WHERE THESE PROJECTS ARE, WE CAN JUST STEP THROUGH EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF 'EM AND SHOW AND, AND SHOW THEM.
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S DEFINITELY DOABLE.
WE'LL PROBABLY DO THAT, YOU KNOW, BY THE END OF THE WEEK IF YOU'D LIKE.
ONE OF THE, OUR, OUR, UM, I, I DID WANNA MENTION HERE, OUR PUBLIC OUTREACH COMMITTEE MET LAST WEEK ON WEDNESDAY AND HAD, HMM, DO YOU NEED TO, DO YOU NEED TO, I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANYWHERE ELSE TO, IF YOU'RE WAITING ON US,
WELL, DAN, YOU CAN LISTEN IF YOU WANT, BUT, UM, IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTION, IF NOT, I KNOW IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THAT, LIKE A LAWYER.
ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR, UH, FOR BEING SO ACCOMMODATING FOR MY, UH, TRAVEL MISHAP TODAY.
SO, UH, I WILL, UH, BE SEEING YOU AGAIN SOON.
I ALWAYS WANT THE CONSULTANTS OFF THE CLOCK.
YEAH,
UM, HE DID SPEND FIVE HOURS AT DFW, BUT THANK THE UNIVERSITY.
SO WHAT WAS THE LAST QUESTION YOU ASKED ME? I NEED TO REFRAME.
I THINK YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WOULD HAVE, UM, SOMETHING, YOU COULD PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER, UM, BY THE END OF THE WEEK AND THEN YOU WERE GOING ON TO ANOTHER TOPIC.
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT OUR MEETING THAT WE HAD.
THE, THE, THE, THAT'S, THAT'S RIGHT.
UM, WE HAD OUR PUBLIC OUTREACH, UH, MEETING ON WEDNESDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE.
AND DURING THAT MEETING I LEARNED THAT COMMISSIONERS HAVE LISTENING SESSION, TOWN HALL, LISTENING SESSIONS COMING UP.
AND SO THE FEELING RATHER THAN HAVING A SEPARATE RATE MEETING, WAS TO DO A PRESENTATION AT EACH OF THOSE TO TALK ABOUT HERE'S WHAT'S COMING.
OUR OUR CONSULTANT ON THE PUBLIC OUTREACH SIDE ISN'T GONNA BE ABLE TO PREPARE A LOT OF THOSE MATERIALS IN TIME FOR TOMORROW'S MEETING OR PERHAPS NEXT WEEK'S MEETING.
BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY DO A PRESENTATION ON WHAT WE KNOW DEMONSTRATING NEED 10 MINUTES, TAKE A FEW QUESTIONS AND IF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE INFORMATION, GET THEIR EMAIL ADDRESSES SO THAT WHEN WE DEVELOP THOSE RESOURCES THAT ARE GEARED FOR PUBLIC PRESENTATION, UM, THEY CAN GO TO OUR WEBSITE.
WE HAVE SOME INFORMATIONAL FLYERS THAT WE CAN SEND OUT A NUMBER OF THE STRATEGIES THAT THE COMMITTEE TALKED ABOUT.
BUT I DID, I DID WANT TO, UM, AT LEAST TALK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF GOING TO THOSE LISTENING SESSIONS AND PRESENTING AND USING THAT AS THE TIME THAT WE TALKED ABOUT FOR TOWN HALL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY AS OPPOSED TO DOING A SEPARATE MEETING AFTER THAT.
SO I, I DID WANNA ASK, I DID WANNA ASK THE COMMISSION ABOUT THAT.
I DON'T WANNA PRESUME THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, BUT, UH, THE COMMITTEE FELT LIKE THAT WAS A GOOD APPROACH AND, AND I WOULD, UH, AGREE.
I JUST WANT TO LIKE UNDERSTAND, SO WE'RE EACH DOING OUR OWN LITTLE
[01:20:01]
TOWN HALL AND THEN AT THE END WE'RE GONNA DO ONE AS TOGETHER AS A WHOLE.UM, SO THERE IS ONE TOMORROW FOR, UM, DISTRICT THREE.
AND SO EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE, UM, I'LL PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER.
I THINK THAT WOULD NO, HE PROMISED ME I THINK 10 MINUTES MAX
YOU KNOW, DAN POINTED OUT, I ALREADY HAVE MY ENGINEER JOKES LINED UP FOR
I THINK THAT IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT, BUT JUST TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I THINK THAT A 10 MINUTE, UM, SLOT WITHIN THE EACH OF THE TOWN HALLS IS FANTASTIC.
UM, BUT I DO THINK THAT YOU'RE GOING TO NEED YOUR OWN JUST FOR, UM, OUTREACH ALSO.
AT LEAST, AT LEAST ONE IF NOT MORE THAT.
BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE COMMITTEE, I KNOW FRANK IS ON THERE AND, AND, AND FOR IT.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? WELL, WE'RE GONNA GET THROUGH THE, TRY THIS FIRST AND I DON'T KNOW WHEN WE'RE GONNA GET BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.
DID YOU SET A DATE IN TERMS OF A JOINT MEETING? UM, NO, THE COMMITTEE.
OH, FOR THE COMMITTEE WE NEED TO MAKE SOME PROGRESS WITH THE CONSULTANT ON, ON MATERIALS AND WITH, WE'RE GONNA PUT TOGETHER SOME INFORMATION.
THEY WERE GONNA DO A, A VIDEO, WHICH THEY FELT WAS A VERY POWERFUL TOOL.
SO YOU CREATE A VIDEO THAT'S AT YOUR AVERAGE CITIZEN'S LEVEL THAT DESCRIBES WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO AND WHY YOU'RE TRYING TO DO IT ON TERMS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, DON'T, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A CIVIL ENGINEER TO, TO, TO GET THERE AND HAVE THAT AS A RESOURCE.
WE'LL PUT IT UP ON OUR WEBPAGE OR WE'RE GONNA CREATE A WEBPAGE, HWW S.COM/RATES.
AND THEN THAT CAN BE PUT UP ON THE C'S WEBSITE.
AND CUSTOMERS WHO WANNA LEARN ABOUT IT, THEY CAN WATCH THAT VIDEO, LOOK AT OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
WE HAVE MAPS, MAYBE SOME NARRATIVE DISCUSSING, YOU KNOW, THOSE WHO WANT TO DIVE INTO IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UH, WE'VE ALSO TALKED ABOUT A MAILOUT AND IT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT 30,000 ACCOUNTS.
IF WE SEND OUT A MAILOUT TO EVERYONE AT 50 CENTS A STAMP, YOU KNOW, YOU'D BE, YOU'D BE SOMEWHERE IN THE, YOU KNOW, $15,000 RANGE FOR THAT ONE MAILOUT.
I THINK THE WEBSITE IS A FANTASTIC IDEA.
I THINK MOST PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO THAT.
AND MAYBE A COUPLE OF ADS AND PAPER OR SOMETHING.
GOOD SOCIAL MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, ALL THE FREE STUFF.
DEFINITELY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT.
BUT I, WHEN I GET STUFF IN THE MAIL, I THROW IT IN THE TRASH.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE REALITY OF IT.
'CAUSE WE GET SO MUCH JUNK MAIL AND I JUST KIND OF, IF IT'S NOT A BILL, WHEN WILL THAT VIDEO BE READY? WHEN WILL, WHEN WILL THE VIDEO'S PROBABLY GONNA BE STILL A FEW WEEKS BEFORE WE GET THERE.
UM, I'M, I'M THINKING THREE WEEKS WHERE THAT'S READY TO GO.
WHEN WE, WHEN WE GO TO THESE TOWN HALL MEETINGS, WE CAN TAKE THOSE EMAIL ADDRESSES AND SAY, IF YOU'RE REALLY INTERESTED, WE'RE GOING TO, WE'LL, WE'LL GIVE 'EM THE WEBSITE ADDRESS.
AND IF IT'S NOT UP YET, WELL IT'S NOT UP, BUT THEY'LL JUST HAVE A MESSAGE TO SAY, CHECK BACK.
WE'RE ANTICIPATING ON RELEASING ON SUCH AND SUCH A DATE.
SO WE CAN GET ALL THAT SET UP NOW.
BUT I THINK IN THESE TOWN HALL MEETINGS, IT'S A GOOD CHANCE TO GET OUT THERE AND SAY, HERE'S WHAT THE NEED IS AND YES, REVENUE HAS TO GO UP AND THAT CAN ONLY COME FROM RATES THE WAY CAR ENGINE WORKS.
SO, UM, WE CAN TALK GENERALLY ABOUT SOME OF THE STUFF THAT DAN HAS TALKED, BUT NOT GOING INTO THIS DETAIL WE'RE SAYING YOU'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, EACH YEAR THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER ADJUSTMENT AND IT COULD RANGE FROM $3 TO, YOU KNOW, IN THE FIRST YEAR AND THEN ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, FOUR OR $5 WILL BE ADDED NEXT YEAR.
SOMETHING IN SIMPLE TERMS SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND HERE'S HOW MUCH IS GOING TO BE ADDED TO THEIR MONTHLY BILL.
I THINK ON THE VIDEO, YOU NEED TO PUSH THE FACT THAT, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE, AT LEAST FROM MY DISTRICT WHEN I TALK TO 'EM, THEY AUTOMATICALLY THINK THAT'S THE SAME PAID PROPERTY TAXES AND THEY PAY ALL THESE THAT, YOU KNOW, I SHOULD HAVE MY SEWERS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SEPARATION.
SO I THINK ON THE VIDEO YOU REALLY HAVE TO HIT ON THAT SEPARATION, HOW WATER WORKS AND THE CITY ARE, ARE DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT FUNDING SOURCES AND ALL THAT BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT.
WE'LL DO THAT MOST IF NOT ALL, I'LL SAY BECAUSE YES, IT'S BEEN A REOCCURRING, UH, THEME.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER AND IF YOU DON'T THEN YOU GET IT FOR ME LATER, BUT, OKAY.
UM, HOW MANY PEOPLE OR WHAT PERCENTAGE OF FOLKS ACTUALLY PAY THEIR BILL THROUGH THE DRIVE THROUGH OR AT YOUR UP IN PERSON? I WISH I COULD.
I I WILL QUOTE IT FOR YOU, BUT, UM, APPROXIMATE REAL QUICK.
I'M GOING TO GO TO OUR ENERGY REPORT, CEASE OPERATIONS.
IS THIS, UM, THERE? IT'S THERE.
IT'S, I'M NOT EVEN LOGGED INTO THE MEETING ANYMORE.
[01:25:01]
WE GO.SO CASH, IT USED TO BE ABOUT 25%.
UM, IT'S NOW DOWN TO ABOUT 15%.
IT'S BIG CHANGE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC.
UM, WELL THEY, THAT THAT'S GONE UP ABOUT 10% FROM WHERE IT WAS EIGHT OR NINE YEARS AGO.
IVR 7.1 ON THE MAIL DROP, UH, WHICH WE STILL HAVE.
YOU CAN DROP, YOU KNOW, STOP BY OUR MAIN OFFICE AND DROP AT THE BOX BANK DRAFTS.
UM, WE WERE AT 10.7 BACK IN 2012.
WE'RE NOW UP TO 18 POINT OR ABOUT 18% YOU MIGHT WANNA GIVE.
SO ONLINE AND BANK DRAFTS, UM, ACCOUNT FOR ALMOST HALF.
AND THEN THERE'S SOME OTHER, YOU MIGHT WANNA GIVE THE FLYERS TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
I WONDER IF, UM, AND THIS IS AGAIN SOMETHING FOR THE, FOR THE COMMITTEE, I'M JUST GIVING YOU MY, MY INPUT, BUT KIND OF MEETING EACH, UM, CUSTOMER, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER IT IS THAT THEY PAY THEIR BILLS.
SO IF THEY PAY ONLINE, THEN A LINK TO THE WEBSITE THAT SAYS, HEY, AND, AND, AND A BIG, LIKE A, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE FLAG, UH, SOMETHING THAT SAYS, HEY, YES, YOU NEED TO CLICK ON IT BEFORE YOU CAN PAY YOUR BILL.
THAT TELLS YOU, GO TO THIS WEBSITE, THERE'S INFORMATION.
AND THEN THOSE FOLKS, THAT'S HOW THEY'RE GOING CONSUME THAT INFORMATION ANYHOW.
EVEN IF YOU GIVE THEM A FLYER.
RIGHT? AND SO, AND IF THEY'RE GONNA GO IN PERSON AND PAY, THE SMALL PERCENTAGES ARE GONNA BE THE ELDERLY MOST LIKELY, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
AND IF IT'S THE, THE, THE MAILBOX OR WHAT HAVE YOU, MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING THERE THAT THEY CAN TAKE A FLYER WITH THEM.
AND JUST A QUICK, AND SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, YOU, I I MAKE PHONE CALLS AND YOU GET, YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THESE PROMPTS BEFORE YOU GET TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT PERSON.
UM, SO MAYBE YOU HAVE A LITTLE DISCLAIMER BEFORE YOU CAN MAKE THAT PAYMENT THAT SAYS, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, GOING TO BE GOING UP IN RATES.
IT'S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO GO TO THIS WEBSITE AND PROVIDE THE INFORMATION THAT WAY EVERY SINGLE PERSON PAYS THEIR BILL.
SO THEY'RE GONNA HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
YOU SEND OUT ANY TYPE OF MESSAGE, LIKE, DO YOU HAVE ANY TYPE OF MESSAGING SERVICE, LIKE TEXT MESSAGING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? SOME, UH, MANY CUSTOMERS SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EMAILS AND WE CAN CERTAINLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT, BUT IT'S NOT EVERYBODY.
UM, 'CAUSE I KNOW HISD SEND TEXT MESSAGES LIKE, LIKE CRAZY.
UH, HISD, THEY, THEY SEND OUT TEXT MESSAGES LIKE CRAZY TO THE PARENTS AND, AND I'LL GET IT ON MY PHONE AND OKAY, THAT COULD BE ONE THING THAT YOU GUYS CAN DO IS SEND OUT THE TEXT MESSAGES FOR THE PEOPLE THAT PAY ON THEIR PHONE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
THE ONES THAT CHOOSE TO CLICK ON IT, CAN CLICK ON IT.
THE ONES THAT DON'T, BY LEAST WE'RE KIND OF GIVING IT TO THEM.
LIKE, HERE, HERE, IT, IT MAY, IT MAY BE LOST, BUT ON OUR CARDS WE CAN ALSO PUT SOME KIND OF A NOTICE ON THERE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE CAN PUT BRIGHT, YOU KNOW, BRIGHT RED TO CALL ATTENTION TO IT.
BUT, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S ON THE INCOMING.
BUT THEN WHEN THEY COME TO PAY, TRYING TO REACH THEM THAT WAY IS ANOTHER WAY.
AND OF COURSE THE EMAILS, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE CATEGORIZED BY HOME PHONE NUMBER VERSUS CELL PHONE.
BUT NOWADAYS, WHO HAS A HOME HOME PHONE? WE, WE USE THAT YOUR DATA TO TRY TO REACH, UH, PEOPLE FOR THE CENSUS AND ABOUT 20% OF THE NUMBERS WERE DISCONNECTED OR VALID OLD.
OLD ACCOUNTS DON'T GET UPDATED.
I THINK YOU GET 'EM WHEN THEY PAY.
YOU GET YOUR, BECAUSE EVERYBODY PAYS THE BILL.
AND SO HOWEVER IT IS THAT THEY PAY, IF YOU CAN PROVIDE SYSTEM INFORMATION, UH, AT LEAST YOU'VE, YOU'VE DONE YOUR PART TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO RESEARCH AND, AND LEARN MORE.
AND WILL THIS INFORMATION BE IN, IN THE, IN THE WEBSITE, BE BOTH IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH? WE CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT.
WE HADN'T GOT TO THAT LEVEL YET, BUT YEAH, SO YEAH, YOU KNOW, 31, 30% BEING ONLINE AND CASH, UH, BEING 15%, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TO 45 NOW AND THERE'S A LOT OF THE OTHERS BANK GRAPHS.
THERE'S NO WAY TO REACH THEM WHEN THEY PAY.
BUT, BUT ONLINE AND IN-PERSON PAYMENTS, CERTAINLY IT'S ABOUT, UH, ABOUT 50%.
WE HAVE MORE MEETING TO GO FROM.
IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? YES.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO AND I BELIEVE THAT'S FOR YOUR BOARD.
SO ITEM NUMBER TWO, HARLAND OF WATER WORK SYSTEM BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
UH, THIS IS A CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION BY THE HARLAND OF WATER WORK SYSTEM UTILITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF A FINANCIAL APPLICATION TO TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD UNDER THE DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND PROGRAM FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 2,185,000 TO FUND PHYSICAL SURVEY AND INVENTORY INVENTORY, EXCUSE ME, OF WATER SERVICE LINE MATERIALS IN COMPLIANCE WITH EPAS 2021 LEAD AND COPPER RULE REVISIONS.
[01:30:01]
ANYTHING TO ADD AT THIS POINT ON THAT, KIM? THAT IS ONE LONG SENTENCE.SO THERE'S A RES I MEAN WE CAN DO A DITTO ON THIS.
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT.
UH, BOTTOM LINE LEAD HAS BECOME A KNOWN PROBLEM.
THE IIJA, THE INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS ACT OF 2021 APPROPRIATED A LOT OF MONEY TO TAKE CARE OF LEAD PIPE PROBLEMS. THERE'S REPLACING PIPES, BUT FIRST YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S THERE.
WE DON'T THINK WE HAVE VERY MANY, IF ANY LEAD SERVICE LINES, I'M TALKING ABOUT MAINS, BUT SERVICE LINES GOING TO CUSTOMERS.
BUT THE OBLIGATION UNDER EPAS RULE IS THAT YOU HAVE TO GO AND DO A PHYSICAL SURVEY WHERE YOU CAN'T RULE OUT THAT SERVICE LINE.
WE'VE GOT ABOUT 30,000 ACCOUNTS.
WE'VE GOT STAFF WHOSE WORK USING HISTORICAL RECORDS OF WHEN A HOUSE WAS BUILT.
KNOWING WHAT YOUR BUILDING CODES WERE AT THAT TIME CAN HELP YOU TO RULE OUT ANYTHING AFTER 1980 WOULD NOT HAVE HAD LEAD.
BUT ANYTHING BEFORE THAT, OR IF YOU DON'T HAVE A WAY TO KNOW, YOU CAN'T RULE IT OUT.
YOU HAVE TO GO AND DO A PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT TO LOOK IN INVENTORY.
UH, OUT OF OUR 30,000 ACCOUNTS, ABOUT 9,000, UH, WE CANNOT RULE OUT.
SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO PHYSICAL SURVEY.
WE GOT A QUOTE TO GO DO THIS WORK PHYSICALLY, WE TRIED TO DO IT ON OUR OWN.
SO WE REALIZED WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO CONTRACT IT.
WHAT'S THE PART ABOUT COPPER? WHAT'S THE PART ABOUT COPPER? WHY IS THAT AN ISSUE? SO THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE KIND OF CAME ABOUT BECAUSE OF CORROSION.
AND IF YOU HAVE A MORE CORROSIVE WATER, IT CAN LEACH MORE, MORE.
WELL, IT DESTROYS YOUR COPPER PIPE.
YOU'LL GET PINHOLE LEAKS, RIGHT? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
BUT THE LEDGE IS THE CONTAMINANT WHERE YEAH, I UNDERSTAND LEAD, BUT, BUT WHY COPPER? JUST 'CAUSE IT LEAKS? BECAUSE IT LEAKS AND THE EPA GROUPED THAT ALL UNDER ONE CATEGORY.
SO YOU GET TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF PROBLEMS, BUT IT'S BOTH CAUSED BY CORROSION.
AND SO IF YOU CONTROL IT, UH, WE APPLIED TO, FOR SOME OF THESE I-I-J-A-A FUNDS, EXCUSE ME, UM, BACK IN MAY AND WE THOUGHT, UH, YOU KNOW, TOOK A LONG TIME TO HEAR BACK.
WE HEARD BACK, WE WERE RANKED IN THE SEVENTIES, I THINK, AND WE SAID, OKAY, NO CHANCE.
WE GOT A CALL BACK SAYING, WE'RE GONNA INVITE YOU TO, UH, A 51% LOAN FORGIVENESS, PRINCIPAL FORGIVENESS, AND A 49% LOAN TO DO THAT.
AND SO THEY ASKED US TO SUBMIT A FINANCIAL APPLICATION BY DECEMBER THE 29TH, WHICH WE DID, BUT WE NEED TO HAVE A RESOLUTION FROM OUR BOARD AND THE CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF, OF THAT APPLICATION.
SO THIS IS KIND OF AFTER THE FACT, BUT THEY RUSHED THE DEADLINE TO HAVE PEOPLE SUBMIT ON THE 29TH OF DECEMBER, WHICH IS KIND OF AN OFF WEEK.
WE JUST NEED THE AUTHORIZING RESOLUTION, WHICH YOU HAVE HERE.
THIS IS A PROJECT THAT APPEARS ON OUR CAPITAL PLAN, OUR CIP LIST.
SO TO THE EXTENT YOU GET A MILLION DOLLARS OFF, THAT'S A MILLION DOLLARS THAT COMES OFF OF THAT LIST THAT WE HAVE TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR OTHERWISE.
UH, THE, UM, I HAVE A QUICK INQUIRY ON THE, IF WE DO NOT EXPEND THAT, DO WE ANTICIPATE TO EXPEND THAT TOTAL AMOUNT? WE DO NOT.
UH, THAT WAS WHAT WE, OUR PRELIMINARY, UM, APPLICATION WAS IN FOR, WE THINK IT'S BASED ON THE CONSULTANT'S MOST RECENT QUOTE.
SIMILAR IN THE ORDER OF 1.7 MILLION.
SO HALF OF THAT IS GONNA BE, WOULD THE REMAINDER BE RETURNED TO THEM IF NOT USED? WELL, THAT'S, I MEAN THAT'S WHAT WE, WE, WE, WE ARE GONNA APPLY FOR THE 1.7 MILLION.
AND SO THIS IS JUST A CARRYOVER.
IF OUR QUOTES COME BACK IS LESS, THEY MAY FIND US ANOTHER WAY TO USE THAT MONEY.
TYPICALLY, THEY DON'T COME, WE DON'T TYPICALLY REFUND IT.
IT'S A LOAN THAT WE'RE PAYING FOR.
SO, UM, I'VE SEEN THAT ON OTHER PROJECTS WHERE YOU'VE GOT MORE FUNDING THAN YOU NEED AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL HELP YOU FIND ANOTHER PROJECT WHERE YOU CAN USE IT.
I'LL MOVE A MOTION BY STEVE, I SECOND, SECOND BY MIKE.
ALL IN FAVOR STATEMENT SAYING AYE.
SHOULD HAVE ASKED, WHAT'S THE INTEREST RATE? RON, DO YOU REMEMBER THAT THE INTEREST RATE ON THIS DISCOUNTING INTEREST RATE IS GONNA BE, UH, A LITTLE OVER 3%,
[3. (Harlingen City Commission) Consideration and adoption of a resolution by the Harlingen City Commission authorizing Harlingen Waterworks System to submit a financial application to Texas Water Development Board]
BUT IT'S ZERO.I'M SORRY RON, BECAUSE THAT WAS IN THAT BECAUSE WE, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE DOING PHYSICAL REPLACEMENT OF LEAD PIPES.
MAYBE WE'LL FIND SOME, BUT WHAT THEY TOLD US WAS THAT IF YOU'RE DOING SURVEY ONLY, YOUR LOAN IS 0%.
[01:35:01]
CITY COMMISSION CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION[2. (Harlingen Waterworks System Utility Board of Trustees) Consideration and adoption of a resolution by the Harlingen Waterworks System Utility Board of Trustees authorizing submission of a financial application to Texas Water Development Board]
OF A RESOLUTION BY THE HARLINGEN CITY COMMISSION AUTHORIZING THE HARLINGEN WATER WORK SYSTEM TO SUBMIT A FINANCIAL APPLICATION TO THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD UNDER THE DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND PROGRAM FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 2,185,000 TO FUND THE PHYSICAL SURVEY AND INVENTORY OF WATER SERVICE LINE MATERIALS AND COMPLIANCE WITH EPAS 2021 LEAD AND PROPER RULE.ITEM FOUR, CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION APPOINTING
[4. (Harlingen City Commission) Consideration and adoption of a resolution appointing a capital improvements advisory committee (CIAC)]
A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE AS REQUIRED UNDER CHAPTER 3 95 OF THE TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF WATER AND WASTEWATER IMPACT FEES.I THINK AT THE LAST, UH, MEETING WE DISCUSSED POTENTIALLY ASSIGNING THE P AND Z BOARD TO BE THIS, UM, ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
AND THE ONLY OTHER THING IS I SPOKE WITH GABE AND HE MENTIONED THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE SOMEONE, UM, FROM THE ETJ TO BE ABLE TO BE IN COMPLIANCE.
AND SO I'D RECOMMEND, UM, ARMANDO CASAS AND HE LIVES IN THE ETJ, UH, AS A CONTRACTOR AND I THINK WOULD SERVE WELL, UM, TO COMPLETE THIS COMMITTEE.
MOTION TO APPROVE ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
OPPOSED? THIS IS FOR THE HARINGTON CITY COMMITTEE ONLY.
OKAY, SO WE GOT, UM, THE SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MS. MOORE, MIKE.
UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
[5. Adjournment]
HERE.