[00:00:03]
WE DO HAVE A TASK FORCE MEMBER JOINING VIA PHONE WHILE TRAVELING.
AND SO WE WERE HOPING THAT MAYBE WE COULD START THE AGENDA WITH THE VOTING ITEMS AND THEN FOLLOW WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE AGENDA.
UM, OF COURSE WE'LL, UH, HAVE, UH, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION FIRST.
WE DO HAVE TWO REGISTERED SPEAKERS AND THEN WE WOULD FOLLOW WITH VOTING ITEMS AND THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE AGENDA.
IF THAT SOUNDS OKAY TO YOU, CHARLENE
SO I'M HAPPY TO GET STARTED THEN.
MADDIE, DO YOU WANT ME TO GO AHEAD? ALL RIGHT.
[1. CALL TO ORDER – November 13, 2020 at 9:00am]
GO AHEAD AND, UM, CALLED THE ORDER AND, UH, WHO,[CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
WHO ARE THE TWO FOLKS WE HAVE SIGNED UP TODAY? MARTY.TODAY WE HAVE, UH, DAVID FOSTER AND BOBBY LAVINSKY.
SO WE HAVE A DAVID FOSTER IN THE ATTENDEES LIST.
YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND UNMUTE YOURSELF NOW AND, UH, WHENEVER YOU START SPEAKING, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND ROLL, ROLL THE CLOCK FOR THE THREE MINUTES AND THEN CITY HALL.
ARE YOU, ARE YOU ALL WORKING WITH DAVID TO HELP HIM UNMUTE? YEAH.
UM, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK NOW.
I THINK IT, MAYBE HE STEPPED AWAY FROM HIS PHONE OR IS JUST NOT HEARING, UH, WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO START WITH BOBBY? SURE.
UM, IF WE HAVE A BOBBY LEVINSKY ALSO ON THE LINE LISTENING AND READY TO SPEAK, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND TAKE YOUR COMMENTS ALSO.
THIS IS BOBBY LEVINSKY WITH THE SAVE OUR SPRINGS ALLIANCE.
UM, I'M JUST CALLING INTO SPEAK IN FAVOR OF THE WATER FORD CODE AMENDMENTS THAT ARE MOVING FORWARD.
I WANT TO, UM, REALLY APPRECIATE THE WATER UTILITY STAFF FOR ADVANCING THESE ITEMS. AND ALSO THIS TASK FORCE WHO HAVE BEEN CARRYING THIS BALL FOR QUITE A WHILE.
UM, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY IN THE CITY KNOWS QUITE THIS WATER SEVERITY CRISIS THAT WE'RE IN MORE THAN THIS TASK FORCE.
UM, THE ONLY THING THAT I WANT TO MENTION ON THESE ITEMS IS THAT I DO BELIEVE THAT IT'S ONLY HALF THE EQUATION, UM, WITH THESE, THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK THAT'S BEING ADOPTED BY THE TITLE 15 AMENDMENTS.
AND, UM, I KNOW THAT MANY OF US WHAT OUR ADVOCATES ARE TRYING TO WORK WITH THE CITY COUNCIL TO GO AHEAD AND ADVANCE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENTS THAT RELATE ONLY TO THESE ITEMS, UM, AS WELL.
UH, SO THAT WAY WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET THEM ON THE BOOKS AND GET OUR DEVELOPMENTS WORKING IN A MORE WATER EFFICIENT WAY.
UM, PART OF SOLVING THE WATER CRISIS MOVING FORWARD IS, UM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WATER USERS DON'T HAVE TO OVERTHINK THEIR WATER USE AND THESE, UH, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE WATER BENCHMARKING THAT CAN HELP DEVELOPERS, UM, UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE THE WATER EFFICIENCY OF THEIR BUILDINGS CAN REALLY MAKE A HUGE IMPACT IN THE FUTURE FOR THEIR USERS AND THEIR TENANTS, UM, MOVING FORWARD AND ULTIMATELY, UM, IT'S, UH, ALSO AN AFFORDABILITY METRIC.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE USING LESS WATER, YOU ARE SPENDING LESS WATER, UH, SPENDING LESS MONEY ON THAT WATER.
SO JUST WANTED TO REITERATE THAT WE'RE REALLY APPRECIATIVE OF YOUR EFFORTS.
WE'RE HERE TO HELP IN ANY WAY THAT'S POSSIBLE.
UM, AND FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO US IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO.
I HAD A QUESTION JUST FOR CLARIFICATION.
UH, MARTY, CAN I GO AHEAD AND REFER THAT TO BOBBY? YES.
UM, BOBBY, AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR COMMENT, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT, THAT THE ENVISIONED CODES AND ORDINANCES WERE ONLY, UM, RE RELATIVE TO KIND OF HALF HALF OF THE EQUATION.
AND, AND YOU SPECIFICALLY SPOKE TO CODE, UM, I'M SORRY, CHAPTER 15.
UH, WOULD YOU MIND JUST UNPACKING THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE LESS FAMILIAR WITH LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE? SURE.
MY UNDERSTANDING AND, YOU KNOW, I HOPE THAT I'M RIGHT, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHAT SUE FOR YOU WITH THESE TITLES WITH TEEN AMENDMENT, UM, IS MORE, UH, AKIN TO THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK THAT WOULD HAPPEN WHEN SOMEBODY APPLIES FOR LIKE AN ONSITE WATER REUSE PERMIT.
UM, BUT WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE NOW THE RECODE
[00:05:01]
REQUIREMENT THAT WOULD TRIGGER THAT, UH, MY UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WOULD COME INTO PLACE IN 2023.UM, BUT THAT, UM, THAT CODE CODE PROVISIONS THAT WERE READY TO BE ADOPTED EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND IT WAS PUT ON HOLD BY, UM, THE LAWSUIT THAT'S RELATED TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
UM, THOSE CODE AMENDMENTS ARE DRAFTED.
THEY'RE READY TO GO, BUT THEY'RE JUST KIND OF SITTING OUT THERE.
UM, WE CAN ADVANCE THOSE RIGHT NOW AND IT ACTUALLY HAS NO BEARING ON THE LAWSUIT BECAUSE THESE CODE AMENDMENTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ZONING.
I'M PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE, UM, THE LAWSUIT MYSELF.
I'VE DONE THE LEGAL RESEARCH MYSELF ON IT.
AND, UM, THERE IS REALLY NO PROBLEM WITH ADVANCING ANYTHING THAT'S NON ZONING RELATED BECAUSE THAT LAWSUIT CENTERS AROUND, UM, STATUTORY RIGHTS OF VOTING, UH, AFFORDED TO, UH, RESIDENTS FOR ZONING DECISIONS.
AND, UM, THESE ARE THE ONLY NOTICE, UH, REQUIRED FOR THESE CODE AMENDMENTS WOULD BE WHAT'S IN OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE ITSELF.
SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT'S EMPHASIZED IS THOSE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENTS FOR WATER FORWARD, HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LAWSUIT THAT'S PENDING.
UM, I THINK BECAUSE THAT'S SUCH A SUBSTANTIVE, UM, DISCUSSION THAT, AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE ELEMENTS OF THE AGENDA WHERE WE'LL BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THAT DIRECTLY.
THAT'S JUST HELPFUL BACKGROUND TO TEE UP A CONVERSATION ONCE WE GET TO THAT PORTION OF THE, OF THE AGENDA.
I THINK DAVID WE'VE BEEN TEXTING MARTY AND I HAVE BEEN TEXTING DAVID AND I THINK HE MAY NOW HAVE THE CORRECT, UM, INFORMATION FOR HOW TO SIGN ON, IS HE ON? I THINK SO.
I, AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING AVAILABLE EARLIER.
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET A PHONE CALL, BUT IT'S BEEN WORKED OUT.
SO, UM, YEAH, MY NAME'S DAVID FOSTER HERE TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF CLEAN WATER ACTION.
UH, AND SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE ITEM THAT YOU HAVE POSTED FOR ACTION TODAY.
AND I JUST WANT TO REINFORCE WHAT BOBBY LEVINSKY OF THE SAVE OUR SPRINGS ALLIANCE JUST SAID.
I, LET ME JUST SAY THAT I DO SUPPORT EVERYTHING THAT STAFF IS BRINGING TO YOU TODAY.
IT'S THEY PUT A LOT OF GOOD WORK AND GOOD THINKING INTO THIS, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT WHAT THEY'RE PROPOSING THAT YOU, UH, RECOMMEND TODAY AS SIMPLY, UH, WOULD SIMPLY ESTABLISH THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR, UH, SOME OF THIS ONSITE WATER REUSE THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR ALL THESE YEARS.
THAT'S A GOOD THING THAT WE REALLY NEED TO MOVE FORWARD MORE AGGRESSIVELY WITH THE MANDATORY PIECES WE'VE ALREADY MISSED WHAT WE THOUGHT WERE GOING TO BE DEADLINES, FINDING OUT FOR WATER BUDGETING AND, AND BENCHMARKING.
UH, AND WE'VE YET TO TAKE ACTION ON REQUIRING THAT THE LARGER DEVELOPMENTS EITHER HOOK UP TO THE CITY'S RECLAIMED WATER LINES, UH, OR, OR CAPTURE AND REUSE WATER ON SITE.
UH, I DID LISTEN TO THE, UH, OFTEN WATERSIDE OVER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING THAT COUNCIL COMMITTEE, THE MOST RECENT ONE.
AND IT'S CLEAR TWO THINGS ARE CLEAR FROM THAT.
ONE IS, UH, THE STAFF OF AUSTIN WATER.
I DON'T THINK HAS ANY PROBLEM WITH MOVING FORWARD WITH MAN WITH MANDATES.
NOW IT'S ENVISIONED, UH, IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE PIECES THAT WE GOT IN THERE.
THEY SIMPLY DON'T THINK THAT THEY HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DO THAT ON THEIR OWN.
THEY'RE THEY'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR DIRECTION FROM COUNCIL.
IT'S ALSO CLEAR THAT A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THAT WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, COUNCIL MEMBERS SUPPORT MOVING FORWARD WITH THE MANDATES NOW, TOO.
AND I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE TRUE ALSO OF THE CITY COUNCIL AS A WHOLE.
AND SO I THINK WE CAN EXPECT IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE, I HOPE THAT THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING, UH, UM, UM, A DRAFT ORDINANCE THAT WOULD DO JUST THAT, THAT WOULD MAKE THESE MANDATES AND I THINK IS CORRECT.
UH, THIS REALLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING THAT'S AT THE HEART OF THAT LAWSUIT THAT HAS EVERYBODY, YOU KNOW, SO WORRIED.
THIS IS ABOUT VISIONARY WATER SUPPLY AND WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES.
AND THERE'S NO REASON LEGALLY WHY WE CAN'T MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS RIGHT NOW.
AND I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE, AND YOU KNOW, IT MAY SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, BUT I THINK WHAT I WOULD ASK YOU ALL, UH, YOU TASKFORCE MEMBERS TO DO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN APPOINTED BY CITY COUNCIL IS A COUPLE OF THINGS.
ONE, GIVEN THAT THIS IS POSTED FOR ACTION TODAY, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE ASKED TO TAKE A VOTE ON THIS RECOMMENDATION.
I, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO AMEND FAST, UH, AND ASK COUNCIL TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE FULL COUNCIL TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE, MAKE THOSE ITEMS MANDATORY.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT STAFF IS THIS TO YOU TODAY BY, BY AMENDING IT AND BROADENING IT? UH, I'M NOT SURE IF YOU'RE ALLOWED TO DO THAT, UH, SINCE THAT WASN'T EXACTLY WHAT WAS CALLED FOR, OR WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA, BUT IF YOU CAN PLEASE DO IT AND I'D LIKE TO HEAR THAT CONVERSATION.
[00:10:02]
AND SECONDLY, IF YOU CAN'T DO THAT, OR EVEN IF YOU CAN, I WOULD ENCOURAGE EACH OF YOU TO REACH OUT TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER WHO APPOINTED YOU AND, AND HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS.NOW, NOBODY KNOWS WHEN THIS LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE MATTERS IS GOING TO BE SETTLED.
WHEN THIS LAWSUIT'S GOING TO BE SETTLED, I'VE HEARD MARCH, MAYBE IT'LL FIT INTO THE SUMMER.
SO THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE MORE OPPORTUNITIES WE LOSE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, WITH EVERYTHING THAT YOU KNOW, WATER FOR IT IS ABOUT ON THE DISTRIBUTED WATER PIECE.
SO I'LL JUST WRAP UP MY REMARKS WITH THAT, AND THANKS AGAIN FOR LISTENING AND FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
UM, ARE THOSE THE TWO SPEAKERS? WE HAVE JEFF MORRIS.
UM, THEN I GUESS WE SHOULD JUMP
[2. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES]
INTO APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES.SO CAN I HEAR A MOTION TO APPROVE
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON TODAY.
UM, CAN I, UH, HERE ALL VOTES IN FAVOR? AYE.
UM, AND KEEP THEM RAISED IF SO, THEN MARTY HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TELL HIM I'M, BUT SINCE WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF FOLKS ON THE PHONE, I BELIEVE THAT PERRY IS ON THE PHONE AS WELL AS JENNIFER.
UM, FOR THIS MEETING, FOR THE VOTING ITEMS. DO YOU THINK WE COULD GO DOWN THE LIST OF FOLKS JUST TO GET THEIR VOTE, SORRY TO HAVE TO MAKE THIS PROCEDURALLY MORE TEDIOUS.
UM, AND I, UH, JENNIFER TERRY, YES.
BARCHIE SARAH FAST AND I DON'T THINK YOU WERE HI, SARAH, BY THE WAY.
WERE YOU ON THE LAST TASK FORCE AT THAT TIME? WELL WELCOME.
SO YOU GOT TO VERBALLY APPROVE IT.
HE HAS A MIC HE'S TELLING US HE DOESN'T HAVE A MIC.
WE'RE GOING TO TAKE HIM WITH YOU BILL WILLIAMS. YES.
UM, SO I KNOW THAT Y'ALL WANT US, I THINK MARTY, YOU WANTED US TO JUMP OVER ITEM ONE.
SO THREE B THE ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE, UH, RECAP AND QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
HOWEVER, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT THAT MIGHT BE FUNDAMENTALLY NECESSARY BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO VOTING ACTION ITEMS. TOTALLY FINE.
UM, I WOULD SUGGEST MAYBE WE DO THAT AS LONG AS I WOULD THINK THAT THE SUBCOMMITTEE CONVERSATION WOULD BE HITTING ON MANY OF THE POINTS WE HEARD FROM THE OTHER SPEAKERS AND RELATED.
WHAT TIME DOES
WE ACTUALLY HAD SOME CONNECTION ISSUES ON OUR END.
UH, IF YOU COULD REPEAT THAT FOR THE RECORD.
I WAS JUST ASKING, BECAUSE MARTY HAD MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING THAT THERE SOMEONE WHO NEEDED TO SIGN OFF LATER AND PERHAPS WE WERE AT RISK OF LOSING A QUORUM.
AND SO I WANT TO KNOW WHAT OUR DEAD STOP IS FOR TAKING VOTING
[00:15:01]
ACTION.OUR TARGET FOR THE END OF THE MEETING WAS 10 30.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S FINE IF WE, YOU KNOW, MOVE THROUGH THE AGENDA AS POSTED, WE WERE JUST HOPING TO GET THROUGH SOME OF THE VOTING ITEMS SO THAT, UH, FOLKS WHO ARE MAYBE ON THE ROAD OR, UH, CALLING IN BY PHONE COULD LOG OFF A LITTLE EARLIER.
UM, I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE THE COMPENSATION, CHARLENE.
UM, I'M GETTING FURTHER AND FURTHER OUT INTO THE COUNTRY, SO I MAY LOSE CONNECTIVITY.
UM, I, UH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S IT ON MY END, SO ITEMS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S WITH THE VOTING ITEM, IF THERE'S A DISCUSSION OF THAT ITEM.
AND SO THEREFORE IT BY DEFINITION GETS DISCUSSED.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, I DON'T THINK THAT IS THE DISCUSSION.
IT'S JUST SOMETHING IN THERE THAT, THAT PERTAINS TO THESE THAT WE NEED TO DO.
BUT, UM, ANYWAY,
UM, MARTY PROCEDURALLY, I'M ASSUMING WE ARE ALLOWED TO DISCUSS BEFORE WE'D ACTUALLY TAKE THE VOTING ACTION FOR EACH ITEM.
UM, OKAY, WELL, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE VOTING ITEMS AND WE'LL SEE HOW WE CAN WADE THROUGH THIS.
UM, SO MARTY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TEE
[4.a. Recommend approval of an ordinance amending City Code Chapter 6-4 (Water Conservation) and City Code Chapter 15-9 (Utility Regulations) related to: the assessment of administrative penalties and ineligibility for an evaporative loss credit on wastewater charges for failure to submit cooling tower water efficiency registration and inspection reports; the creation of an offense for submitting a false report or tampering with readout and reporting devices, the addition of efficiency performance standards for cooling tower drift eliminators; and a requirement to use of biocides in cooling tower water to increase water efficiency and protect public health.]
UP FOR A SURE THING? WOULD YOU MIND PULLING UP THE NIGHT? OKAY, CHARLENE, THIS IS, I'M SORRY TO INTERJECT.I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU NEED TO SKIP OVER, UM, THIS, THE COMMITTEE IS THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE THAT YOU FEEL LIKE WAS PREFACES.
UM, I DIDN'T WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ASSAULTS ARE, WAS JUST GOING TO BE LIKE OUT HERE.
I DON'T WANT TO CHANGE ANY OF THE ORDER THAT YOU PREFER TO GO THROUGH BASED ON WHERE I AM.
UM, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION, UM, BEFORE WE BEGIN VOTING ON FORAY, THAT WOULD HELP EVERYBODY FEEL COMFORTABLE ON THOSE FOUR, A AND FOUR B.
AND I, I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO HAVE ENOUGH CLARITY MENTALLY RIGHT NOW TO UNDERSTAND IF THERE'S ANY INTERRELATED ISSUES.
I JUST, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN FEEL WELL-VERSED IN BOTH AND HAVING A DISCUSSION THAT SUBSTANTIVELY INTEGRATES THE, UH, SPEAKER COMMENTS.
UM, SO IF WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT WHILE LOOKING AT THEM INDIVIDUALLY, GREAT.
IF WE CANNOT DO THAT PROCEDURALLY, THEN I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT WE HAVE A SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATE CONVERSATION IN WHICH WE'RE ABLE TO BROADLY DISCUSS ORDINANCES AND CODES SINCE THOSE ARE THE VOTING ITEMS WE HAVE, WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE.
SO AS LONG AS AUSTIN WATER STAFF IS COOL WITH US BEING ABLE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS THAT MIGHT VENTURE INTO FOUR B SO THAT PEOPLE REALLY FEEL LIKE THEY HAD THEIR LEGS UNDER THEM.
THEN I, THEN I THINK WE'RE FINE.
JUST MOVING INTO THE VOTING ITEMS CONVERSATION.
UM, AND JUST AS A NOTE, ITEM FOUR, A AND FOUR B HAVE A CERTAIN LANGUAGE THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE POSTED AGENDA.
THE AGENDA WAS POSTED LAST FRIDAY, SINCE THAT TIME, UH, SEVERAL EDITS WERE MADE TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNCIL ACTION, UH, THAT WE'RE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD TO BOTH WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND FOR THE COOLING TOWER, UM, UH, ORDINANCES, UH, TO THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
SO THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU SEE ON YOUR SCREEN AND THE LANGUAGE AND THE RCA WITH THAT'S WITHIN THE PACKET IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
UM, IT'S BEEN TRIMMED DOWN A LITTLE BIT, UH, AND IT'S, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, A LITTLE, UH, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES MADE, UH, SINCE THE POSTING OF THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE AGENDA ITEM.
WE JUST WANTED TO KEEP CONSISTENCY IN PRESENTING TO YOU ALL THE RCA THAT WAS GOING TO MOVE FORWARD TO THE WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
SO IF YOU WOULD CHOOSE, IF YOU CHOOSE TO, UM, ACT UPON THE LANGUAGE THAT IS IN THE RCA INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP.
AND I THINK WHAT WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN WOULD BE THAT THE CHAIR WOULD NEED TO READ THAT LANGUAGE ITEM LANGUAGE INTO THE RECORD AND THEN CALL FOR ACTION UPON ON THAT LANGUAGE.
THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THIS WOULD PROCEED.
SO MARTY, SO THAT I UNDERSTAND IF WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON FOUR A, AS WRITTEN IN THE AGENDA.
CAUSE IF IT WAS REVISED, THAT WOULD NEED TO READ IT OUT WHEN WE ACTUALLY COME FOR ACTION.
THAT ALSO MEANS WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE ANYTHING, GIVEN THAT
[00:20:01]
GOING ON, SOMETHING THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED, I GUESS, TECHNICALLY I'M NOT RECOMMENDING THE REDO SO NECESSARILY I'M JUST MAKING SURE EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS PROCEDURE.SO CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION REAL QUICK? I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT MARIE JUST SAID, OR ARE YOU SAYING THAT THERE ARE, THERE ARE SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES AND THE LANGUAGE THAT THAT WAS PROVIDED TO US AND THE BACKUP MATERIAL FROM WHY YOU ARE NOW, LIKE NOW TALKING ABOUT WHERE IS IT JUST SORT OF REFINEMENTS TO? I MEAN, DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT CHANGES WERE MADE? THE LANGUAGE, THE LANGUAGE CHANGES ARE NOT SUBSTANTIVE.
WHAT I CAN DO IS I CAN READ THE LANGUAGE AND THE AGENDA.
UM, I CAN READ YOU THE LANGUAGE AS INCLUDED IN THE AGENDA, AND THEN WE CAN LOOK AT THE LANGUAGE THAT'S HERE ON THE SLIDE, JUST TO COMPARE DIFFERENCES, IF THAT WOULD MAKE, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR BETTER CLARITY ON WHAT'S BEEN POSTED AND WHAT WOULD BE ACTED UPON.
I'M NOT SURE IF THAT WOULD HELP EVERYONE ELSE, BUT OKAY.
I THINK IT'S GOOD TO JUST LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE COMFORTABLE.
SO WHAT I'M GOING TO DO IS I'M GOING TO READ THE LANGUAGE AS WAS INCLUDED IN THE POSTED AGENDA FIRST FOR ITEM FOUR A THEN, AND THAT WAS RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER SIX FOR WATER CONSERVATION AND CITY CODE CHAPTER 15, NINE UTILITY REGULATIONS RELATED TO THE ASSESSMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES AND INELIGIBILITY FOR AN EVAPORATIVE LOSS CREDIT ON WASTEWATER CHARGES FOR FAILURE TO SUBMIT COOLING TOWER, WATER EFFICIENCY, REGISTRATION, AND INSPECTION REPORTS, THE CREATION OF AN OFFENSE FOR SUBMITTING A FALSE REPORT OR TAMPERING WITH READOUT AND REPORTING DEVICES.
THE ADDITION OF EFFICIENCY, PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR COOLING TOWER DRIFT ELIMINATORS, AND A REQUIREMENT TO USE OF TWO USE OF BIOCIDES AND COOLING TOWER WATER TO INCREASE WATER EFFICIENCY AND PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH.
SO THAT IS THE REVISED LANGUAGE THAT IS THE POSTED AGENDA LANGUAGE.
AND THEN THIS THAT IS SHOWN ON YOUR SCREEN IS THE REVISED LANGUAGE AS INCLUDED IN THE CURRENT RCA RECOMMENDATION FOR COUNCIL ACTION.
CAN I READ YOU THAT LANGUAGE PLACE? OKAY.
SO THE REVISED LANGUAGE IS RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER SIX FOR WATER CONSERVATION AND CITY CODE SECTION 14, 15 DASH NINE DASH TWO 41, UTILITY REGULATIONS RELATED TO COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL COOLING TOWER, WATER EFFICIENCY, PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, OPERATIONS, REGISTRATION, INSPECTION, AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.
AND MARTY, CAN I ASK, I MEAN, THIS LANGUAGE THAT'S NOW BEING RECOMMENDED FOR VOTE IS HIGHLY GENERAL.
THERE'S NO CLARITY TO ME ON WHAT SPECIFICALLY WOULD BE AMENDED WITHIN THAT ORDINANCE.
WHAT IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE GOING TOWARDS SUCH GENERIC LANGUAGE IN A WAY FROM SUCH SPECIFIC LANGUAGE? SO YOU HAVE YOUR HAND RAISED, WOULD YOU LIKE TO JUMP IN? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO OFFER, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS CAN I, I MEAN, IN MY, IN MY OPINION, JUST LOOKING OUT, JUST THINKING ABOUT LIKE OPEN MEETINGS WISE, I THINK WHAT STAFF SAYING IS THEY WANT TO MOVE, THEY WANT TO USE THIS OTHER LANGUAGE WHEN THEY POST AT WATER AND WASTEWATER AND I THINK RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, BUT WE ALREADY POSTED UNDER THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS ON OUR AGENDA.
SO I THINK IF, YOU KNOW, WE, I DON'T THINK WHATEVER MOST, YOU KNOW, THE MOTION WE MAKE SHOULD JUST BE UNDER OUR POSTED AGENDA AND THEN WAIT, AND THEN THEY CAN POST THIS ON THE MEETINGS.
I THINK SHE WAS JUST TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT'S IN HER PRESENTATION IS DIFFERENT AND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS LANGUAGE BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT PENALTIES.
AND I THINK THE BROADER LANGUAGE ALSO ALLOWS FOR ANY KIND OF CHANGES.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I MEAN, IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? WHAT WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON? I THINK IT DOES MAKE SENSE.
I'D ALSO ASK IF, UM, STAFF THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, THE OWNERS OF THIS LANGUAGE, IF MAYBE THERE'S ANY KIND OF CLARIFICATION THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL AS WELL.
BUT I, I THINK THAT, UM, MEMBER FILES YOUR COMMENTS, YOU MAKE SENSE.
SO YEAH, IF I MIGHT, UM, JUST FIRST OF ALL, A BIT OF AN APOLOGY, THERE'S A LOT OF MOVING PIECES RIGHT NOW AND CERTAINLY WITH THE COMPLICATIONS OF SCHEDULING
[00:25:01]
MEETINGS AND THE COVID ENVIRONMENT AND TIMING, UM, WE'VE GOTTEN A BIT OF A SEQUENTIAL ORDER KIND OF, UM, CHANGE THE LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN LAUNCHED RELATED TO THESE TWO ITEMS FOR WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION, WHICH WILL BE NEXT WEEK HAVE BEEN REVISED TO WHAT'S ON YOUR PAGE HERE.UM, BASICALLY THERE'S BEEN EFFORTS TO TRY TO FORGIVE ME, BUT KIND OF HOMOGENIZED THE LANGUAGE BETWEEN THE TWO ITEMS AND TRYING TO BE REASONABLY DESCRIPTIVE AND CONSISTENT.
UM, I THINK THE FIRST LANGUAGE THAT WAS ACTUALLY PUBLISHED, UM, THERE THERE'S NO TECHNICAL, UM, THERE'S NO TECHNICAL DEFECTS OR FLAWS WITH THAT.
IT'S JUST VERY BROAD, MORE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE AND WE DON'T HAVE SIMILAR SPECIFIC LANGUAGE AS IT RELATES TO THE TITLE 15 TRENCHES, BECAUSE AGAIN, UM, IT IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE 24 PAGES OF ORDINANCE EDITION.
SO AGAIN, IT'S, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THESE WERE BASICALLY ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTIONS THAT THEY DON'T CHANGE EITHER THE BODY OR THE LANGUAGE, THE CODE THEMSELVES.
UM, AND CERTAINLY THE LANGUAGE IN THE RCA BELOW THIS PARTICULAR, UM, ACTION DESCRIPTION ARE FUNDAMENTALLY THE SAME.
SO I WOULD JUST DESCRIBE THEM AS, AS SORT OF CLEAN UP OR JUST, UM, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE IN NATURE.
UM, CAN I HEAR DISCUSSION FROM OTHER TASK FORCE MEMBERS ON THIS? I GUESS I WANT TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND.
AND SARAH, YOUR COMMENTS, ARE YOU SAYING THAT BECAUSE, UM, THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS POSTED IS DIFFERENT AND THE LANGUAGE THAT, UM, THERE IS BEFORE THE TASK FORCE, NOW THAT THERE ARE SOME MEETINGS ACT AND THEREFORE WE CAN'T WE'RE OPEN.
SO THEREFORE WE SHOULDN'T VOTE ON THIS DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.
I WASN'T SAYING, I THINK THAT WE CAN JUST KEEP MOVING AND GET TO THE SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION.
I MEAN, THEY POSTED SOME LANGUAGE AND NOW THEY HAVE THEY'VE REVISED IT AND THAT'S THE LANGUAGE THEY'RE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD AND POST FOR THE OTHER COMMISSIONS.
AND THEY'RE SAYING THAT LIKE, WHAT I'M HEARING IS THIS IS WHAT THE RECOMMENDATION SHOULD BE WHEN YOU, SOMEBODY MAKES, THEY WANT HIM TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE RELATED TO COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL COOLING TOWER, WATER EFFICIENCY.
AND THAT, THAT IS BROAD ENOUGH THAT IT INCLUDES WHAT WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON.
SO THIS IS THE SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO THAT'LL MATCH WHAT THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS DO AND IT'S WITHIN HOSTING.
SO I THINK WE SHOULD JUST, I'M JUST SAYING IT ALL SOUNDS GOOD.
LET'S KEEP GOING AND GET TO THE DISCUSSION ON SOMETHING.
SO, SO I THINK IF, IF FOLKS ARE ABLE TO OPEN UP IN THEIR BOARD PACKET OR THE MEETING PACKET, THE RECOMMENDED, UM, LANGUAGE THAT'S BELOW, THERE'S NOTHING SUBSTANTIVE THAT'S CHANGING SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE ORDINANCE THAT'S BEING PROPOSED.
IT'S ONLY THE VOTING ACTION ITEM LANGUAGE THAT IS CHANGING, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE PACKAGE THAT WILL GO TO COMMISSIONS AND ULTIMATELY CITY COUNCIL.
I KNOW SOME OF US MIGHT BE, AND I'M NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, SOME OF THIS MAY BE SO PROSAIC THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER, AND IT JUST FEELS LIKE WE CAN BLAST RIGHT PAST IT, BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS SPECIFICALLY WHAT IS CHANGING AND WHAT IS NOT CHANGING WITHIN THIS.
UM, SO I THINK WE'RE FINE WITH THIS MORE GENERIC LANGUAGE AND UNDERSTANDING THAT NOTHING ELSE IN, IN THAT MATERIAL IS CHANGING IT.
THIS IS SIMPLY TO HAVE UNIFORMITY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS.
UM, SO YES, I'LL THANK YOU FOR THAT DISCUSSION.
I ALSO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE SCOPE OF THE CHANGES AND YES, WE APPRECIATE THAT.
YOU KNOW, THAT YOU ALL, UM, ARE, ARE VERY CONSIDERATE WHENEVER YOU'RE MAKING THESE TYPES OF ACTIONS.
SO, UM, WE DO THINK THAT THAT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS LANGUAGE IS GENERAL ENOUGH.
IF THE, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO, UH, TAKE, UH, AN ACTION ON THIS ITEM, THEN THAT'S TOTALLY APPROPRIATE.
HOWEVER, UM, I DID HEAR THAT Y'ALL WANTED TO HAVE SOME MORE DISCUSSION, SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO
[00:30:01]
KIND OF TALK ABOUT ITEM FOUR B UM, AND HAVE SOME DISCUSSION RELATED TO THAT ITEM.UH, BEFORE I THINK TO CLARIFY FOR EVERYBODY, BEFORE WE MOVE ON A SPECIFIC ACTION ON ITEM FOUR, A WE'VE GONE TO FOUR B, I WANT TO MAKE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THE POINTS THAT UNCOMPLICATED BY THE CITIZEN AND HOW THOSE MAY OR MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE FOR A OR FOR B.
RIGHT? SO THEREFORE A IS SPECIFICALLY FOR COOLING SYSTEMS AND IT'S, UH, IS IT, IS IT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT, THAT THIS LANGUAGE, IF PASSED BY COUNCIL, THAT'S BEING RECOMMENDED WOULD REQUIRE THESE ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY PROPERTY OWNERS FROM THE, FROM THE TIME THAT IT'S PASSED, HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHETHER OR NOT THIS ACTUALLY BECOMES A REQUIREMENT OR IF FORAY IS NOT A REQUIREMENT.
I MIGHT ASK THAT MARK JORDAN, WHO I BELIEVE IS ON THE LINE, MARK JORDAN IS OUR CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER.
I MIGHT ASK THAT HE PROVIDES SOME OF THAT CLARIFICATION.
HE'LL HAVE THE BEST KNOWLEDGE OF THE, THESE CODE CHANGES.
THIS IS MARK JORDAN WITH THE CONSERVATION DIVISION AT AUSTIN WATER.
JUST REAL QUICKLY THEN, UH, THE SIMPLE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS YES, THESE WOULD BE REQUIREMENTS.
UH, THEY, I CAN GO IN ANY KIND OF, UH, SPECIFICITY THAT YOU WANT, BUT BASICALLY THEY ARE, THEY WOULD REQUIRE, UM, UH, EQUIPMENT, UH, PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR THE DRIFT ELIMINATORS.
THEY WOULD ADD A REQUIRED BIOCIDE TO BE ADDED TO THE RECIRCULATION WATER.
THEY WOULD ASSESS ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO SUBMIT THE REGISTRATION AND RESECTION REPORTS.
THE, THIS WOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE PROGRAMS WE CURRENTLY HAVE FOR COMMERCIAL CAR WASHES AND COMMERCIAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. AND THEN FINALLY THE CHANGE TO CHAPTER, EXCUSE ME, CHAPTER 15, THE 15 DASH NINE DASH TWO 41 THAT WOULD, UH, PROVIDE THAT, UH, PEOPLE, UH, I MEAN, UH, OWNERS OF TOWERS WHO, UH, FAILED TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS OR REPORTING REQUIREMENTS, THEY WOULD BE INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A WASTEWATER CREDIT, UH, FOR THE EVAPORATIVE LOSS FOR THE COOLING TOWER.
SO THAT THAT'S SORT OF A SUMMARY OF WHAT THAT ITEM ENTAILS.
THE RCA ITSELF IN THE NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION, UH, GIVES A LITTLE BETTER EXPLANATION OF COURSE, THAN THE, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION THAN THE, UH, ACTION ITEM, UH, AS IT IS, UH, THERE UNDER, UH, WAS IT FOUR, BUT THEN THE SPECIFIC, UH, REQUIREMENTS THAT CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE LANGUAGE ITSELF IS I UNDERSTAND ALSO ATTACHED, UH, AS A PART OF YOUR BACKUP MATERIAL.
SO YOU CAN SEE SPECIFICALLY WHAT SECTIONS ARE BEING AMENDED IN SIX DASH FOUR, FOR EXAMPLE, SIX DASH FOUR DASH TWO, THE DEFINITIONS SIX DASH FOUR DASH 10, THE FACILITIES REGULATED THAT'S WHERE THE COOLING TOWER PROVISIONS HAVE BEEN ADDED, UH, SIX DASH FOUR DASH 42, THE PENALTIES, AND THEN FINALLY 15 DASH NINE DASH TWO 41.
THAT IS THE EVAPORATIVE LOSS CREDIT PROVISION.
THANK YOU, ANDY AND MARK AND OTHERS AT AUSTIN WATER, JUST TO FURTHER HELP DISAMBIGUATE BETWEEN FOUR A AND FOUR B NOT ONLY IN TERMS OF TYPES OF WATER THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, THIS IS JUST COOLING WATER, BUT THIS WOULD BECOME IMMEDIATELY A REQUIREMENT VERSUS FOUR B, WHICH IS TO PUT IN PLACE KIND OF REGULATORY MECHANISMS FOR AUSTIN WATER TO OVERSEE AND PLAN FOR AND MANAGE ONSITE WATER, BUT WOULD NOT REQUIRE ONSITE WATER SYSTEMS TO, TO BE DEVELOPED BECAUSE THAT WAS A SEPARATE ACTION IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
IS THERE, IS THERE A SUBSTANTIVELY A DIFFERENCE OR IS THIS THE REGULATORY MECHANISM, BUT NOT A REQUIREMENT TO IMPLEMENT IN A SIMILAR WAY TO FOUR B? WELL, I, I CAN SPEAK TO FOR A, I MAY DEFER TO ANOTHER STAFF MEMBER FOR ANY QUESTIONS TO REPORT, BUT WITH REGARD TO YOUR QUESTION ON, FOR A, IF COUNCIL ADOPTED, THEN IT WOULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE EFFECTIVE DATE THAT A COUNCIL TYPICALLY PROVIDES FOR PROVISIONS THAT THEY APPROVE.
AND IT'S TYPICALLY A, I THINK IT'S A 10 DAY PERIOD OR SO, UH, FROM COUNCIL ACTION TO
[00:35:01]
EFFECTIVE DATE, BUT ALSO ADD THAT, UM, THE WORDING ON THE ITEM THAT YOU SEE IN FOR A, UM, THE, THE BACKUP MATERIALS, THE, THE TEXT OF THE, UH, RCA, OF COURSE, THE, UH, AMENDED, UH, ORDINANCES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS WHAT, UH, HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO THE RMC AND THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION.SO THERE'S NO SUBSTANTIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE, UH, BACKUP MATERIALS THAT CHANGE ORDINANCES THAT YOU SEE AS FAR AS WELL AS THE NARRATIVE DESCRIPTIONS.
I UNDERSTAND IN THE RCAS WHERE ALL THREE, UH, FOR ALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS IN THE TASK FORCE.
AND CHARLENE, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION, THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS BASICALLY, YES, THIS WOULD BE A REQUIREMENT 10 DAYS AFTER, UM, COUNCIL APPROVAL OR ACCORDING TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE THAT COUNCIL WOULD PUT INTO PLACE.
SO THIS IS A SEPARATE SITUATION THEN FOR B WE'RE FOUR P PUTS THAT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IN PLACE, WHICH IS A REQUIREMENT FOR ANYONE WHO IS VOLUNTARILY DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM.
THEY MUST COMPLY WITH THOSE REQUIREMENTS IN, IN 15, HOWEVER, THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO PUT IN PLACE IN ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEM.
UM, ARE THERE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON FORAY BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTING ACTION ON ITEM FOUR? A EVERYBODY'S GOOD.
UM, THEN I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND READ OUT THIS, UH, THIS ITEM AND ITS ENTIRETY FOR APPROVAL.
AND LET ME MAKE SURE THAT I GET THE LANGUAGE CORRECT.
AND THE, AND THE ONE MOMENT, YOU KNOW, OKAY.
SO I CAN JUST READ THE ITEM ON ITS OWN.
I DON'T EVEN MEAN LANGUAGE BEFORE THAT.
RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE CHAPTER SIX DASH FOUR, WATER CONSERVATION AND CITY CODE SECTION 15 DASH NINE DASH TWO 41.
UTILITY REGULATIONS RELATED TO COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL COOLING TOWER, WATER EFFICIENCY, PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, OPERATIONS, REGISTRATION, INSPECTION, AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.
MAY I HEAR A MOTION TO
I'M GOING TO GO BACK REMEMBERS.
WE ALREADY RECEIVED A MOTION FROM JENNIFER, UM, TODD BARTEE, SARAH DIANE PERRY, LAUREN.
WE ALREADY RECEIVED A VOTE FROM VANESSA.
[4.b. Recommend approval of 1) an ordinance to establish Chapter 15-13 of the Austin City Code regarding treatment, monitoring, and reporting regulations for Onsite Water Reuse Systems and 2) a pilot incentive program to encourage the development of local, sustainable water supplies using alternative source waters at building or neighborhood scale for non-potable uses.]
B, LET ME ASK A QUESTION.AS WE WADE INTO FOUR B UM, I FULLY UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE AND AM SYMPATHETIC TO, UH, THE COMMENTS BY OUR TWO, UM, CITIZEN SPEAKERS.
UM, AND I ALSO FULLY APPRECIATE WHAT AUSTIN WATER STAFF HAVE EDUCATED ME AND OTHERS ON THIS TASK FORCE ON PREVIOUSLY THAT, UM, OF THE, OF THE WISDOM AND NECESSITY OF HAVING A PERIOD IN WHICH AUSTIN WATER CAN OBSERVE THE VOLUNTARY IMPLEMENTATIONS OF, OF ONSITE WATER REUSE SO THAT THEY CAN IMPROVE AND PERFECT THEIR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICES TO ENSURE PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE MAINTENANCE AND LONGEVITY OF THOSE SYSTEMS. UM, I THINK THAT'S ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.
[00:40:01]
IF THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CODE LANGUAGE TO BE REVISED AND FOR US TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION IN THIS VOTING ACTION ITEM, UH, TO HAVE A DATE BY WHICH THAT CODE WILL BE MODIFIED.UM, SO THAT IT ACTUALLY IS SOMETHING THAT IS ASSUMED TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE WITHIN THE, IN THE RCA LANGUAGE THAT WE HAVE AND THE, AND THE, UM, LANGUAGE THAT GOES TO COUNCIL, BUT NOT SOMETHING THAT HAS A FIRM START DATE.
SO FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT, I'M WONDERING IF FOLKS CAN WEIGH IN ON IF THAT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO RECOMMEND.
AND IF THAT WOULD, UM, HELP HELP US FIND A WAY FORWARD, BOTH IN TERMS OF MOVING FORWARD WITH CERTAINTY AND KNOWING THAT THIS REQUIREMENT IS GOING TO BE PUT IN PLACE WHILE ALSO BEING ADEQUATELY, SUFFICIENTLY PROTECTIVE.
IT'S KEVIN CRITTENDON SYSTEM, BIRTH RALSTON WATER.
LET ME, I'LL TRY MY BEST TO ANSWER WHAT I BELIEVE YOUR QUESTION IS, UM, THIS PARTICULAR AGENDA ITEM AND THE DETAILED LANGUAGE THAT DESCRIBES, UM, AGAIN, RELATES TO SPECIFIC BODY OF TEXTS THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND OFFERED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONFORM TO MEET, UM, THE LANGUAGE IN EXISTING CODE THAT IS CURRENTLY IN TITLE 15.
UM, I THINK THE CHALLENGE BEFORE US IS TO SIMPLY ADD LANGUAGE FROM THE DIOCESE.
UM, THERE'S, IT WOULD BE VERY CHALLENGING IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO, TO PUT ALL OF THAT LANGUAGE OUT BEFORE THIS BODY CONFORM IT IN A MANNER THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
AND SO, UM, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S AS DIRECT AN ANSWER AS I CAN GIVE YOU, AS FAR AS THE PROCESS TO ADD ON ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE TO WHAT HAS CURRENTLY BEEN PROPOSED AS SPECIFIC CHANGES TO CHAPTER 15, SO, AND MODELING.
CHARLENE, COULD I ASK THAT YOU RESTATE, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I'M UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING.
SO I'M IN VERY MURKY TERRITORY HERE, SO I DON'T HAVE A FIRM PROPOSAL.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM FOLKS THIS MORNING AND WHAT I THINK THERE ARE MEMBERS OF THIS TASK FORCE, WHO WOULD AGREE WITH IS THAT IT'S A PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE THAT THERE'D BE ACTIONS TAKEN TO NOT ONLY DEFINE THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE, BUT ALSO TO ENSHRINE A REQUIREMENT FOR LARGE DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT THAT'S BEEN ON HOLD BECAUSE OF THE LDC PROCESS BEING EMBROILED IN A LAWSUIT.
UM, I THINK WE'VE HEARD FROM THE SPEAKERS EARLIER THAT THERE IS NOTHING SUBSTANTIVE WITHIN THAT LAWSUIT THAT WOULD PREVENT THE CITY FROM MOVING FORWARD ON A LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE CHANGE, UH, TO MAKE THE REQUIREMENT FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE, TO BE IMPLEMENTED BY LARGE SYSTEMS. UM, AND WHAT I'M WONDERING IS, IS THERE LEGALLY AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO SUBMIT LANGUAGE THAT WOULD BE VOTED ON BY THIS BODY TODAY THAT WOULD BE OFFICIALLY RECOMMENDING TO COUNCIL, THAT THEY MODIFY THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR THE ONSITE WATER REUSE REQUIREMENTS, UM, AS PART OF AN ACTION THAT WOULD ALSO AFFIRM THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, WHICH I UNDERSTAND ARE IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF CODE.
THEN IN PARALLEL TO THAT, I'M ALSO SAYING, I PERSONALLY FEEL THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE REUSE REQUIREMENT AS OF LIKE 10 DAYS FROM NOW, BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK BEING FIRMED UP AND A VOLUNTARY PROCESS THAT GIVES YOU THE TIME TO, TO MAKE THAT IS AWFUL.
UM, BUT I'M WONDERING, IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LANGUAGE TO RECOMMEND THAT THAT REQUIREMENT BE ENSHRINED AS OF SOME DATE, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS HENCE, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHICH IS YOUR PLANNED DATE FOR IMPLEMENTATION ANYWAY.
HEY, CAN I, UM, THIS IS JENNIFER.
CAN I, CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME OKAY? YES.
SO, UM, A COUPLE OF THINGS, UM,
[00:45:01]
ONE IS, I AGREED WITH THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE SAYING, CHARLENE, I'M UNCOMFORTABLE.I THINK THAT WE SHOULD JUST GO AHEAD AND PROCEED WITH THESE CODE AMENDMENTS FOR CHAPTER 15, AS SUFFICIENT AS A STANDALONE ITEM, BECAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND WE JUST, I JUST FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO FOLLOW THE PROCESS ON THAT AND NOT GET IT, GET IT KIND OF MUDDIED UP WITH ANYTHING ELSE, LIKE ATTACHED TO IT AND JUST KEEP A KIND OF HOLD THE WAY THAT IT IS RIGHT NOW.
UM, WE'RE ALREADY RUNNING INTO SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE OTHER WATER POURED ELEMENTS THAT ARE IN THE CORPORATE AND LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH I'LL COMMENT ON IN A SECOND.
SO I FEEL LIKE PROCEEDING WITH THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR THE ON-SITE REUSE IS IMPORTANT AND IMPORTANT TO DO AS A STANDALONE ITEM.
UM, I'M PERFECTLY FINE WITH MAKING A SEPARATE RECOMMENDATION OR REQUEST FROM A TASK FORCE THAT, UM, THAT WE WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS PROBABLY EVERY MEETING, UM, THAT WE PURSUE OR ASK THE COUNCIL OR AT A WALKER, SOMEBODY TO PURSUE, UM, LOOKING AT THOSE ITEMS THAT ARE, THAT ARE IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, BUT ARE NOT NECESSARILY PART OF THAT, BUT PERTAIN TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER FORWARDS AND LOOK AT HOW TO MOVE THOSE FORWARD IN AN EXPEDITIOUS MANNER.
UM, THE, UM, I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW THIS, BUT JUST THE WAY YOU WERE SAYING THE CHARLENE.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THAT, UM, THAT, THAT THE, UM, REQUIRING ON-SITE REUSE DOES NOT BECOME MANDATORY UNTIL 2023.
THAT'S THE WAY THE CODE IS WRITTEN TO THE SPAN BETWEEN WHENEVER IT'S ADOPTED AND LATE 20, 23 IS VOLUNTARY.
UM, AND THEN OFTEN WATER WILL DEVELOP IT SENSES TO, TO INCENTIVIZE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN IT AND GET GROUPS OF CONCEPTS.
I DON'T SEE ANY OF THAT CHANGING OR ANYTHING BEING ADOPTED IN 10 DAYS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT HAPPENING WHATSOEVER BECAUSE EVERYONE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WE NEED TO HAVE, UM, AN ON RAMP TO HAVE THIS PROGRAM GET IN PLACE AND TO WORK IT THROUGH AND GET SOME PROOF OF CONCEPTS ON THE GROUND.
JENNIFER, CAN I JUST ASK FOR CLAIRE, CAN I, SO THAT'S VERY HELPFUL AND I, AND I WANT TO OPEN UP FOR CONVERSATION ON YOUR FIRST POINT IN A SECOND, BUT I DO WANT TO FIRST CONFIRM WITH AUSTIN WATER STAFF THAT THE CODE THAT'S BEING CONSIDERED, UM, AND IT IS PENDING BEFORE COUNCIL EITHER, YOU KNOW, CONTEMPORANEOUSLY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE REMAINDER OF THE, OR ON ITS OWN, THAT IT EXPLICITLY IDENTIFIES TO A 20, 23 DATE AS WHEN IT WILL BE A REQUIREMENT.
IS THAT BEEN MAINTAINED? BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS STILL SOME LACK OF, OF FIXEDNESS ON THAT AND THAT IT MIGHT REQUIRE ACTION BY A FUTURE COUNCIL.
THE LANGUAGE THAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REVISION DOES INCLUDE A 20, 23 DATE FOR, FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
AND IT, THE 2023 DATE IS FOR WHEN THOSE TEMPORARILY VOLUNTARY MEASURES BECOME REQUIREMENTS.
SO THAT'S THANK YOU FOR WALKING US THROUGH THAT.
AND I FEEL LIKE THAT'S BEEN A CONTINUAL QUESTION.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE STILL IN THAT SAME PLACE.
APPARENTLY THIS IS, THIS IS THE POINT THAT I'VE BEEN BRINGING UP LIKE AT EVERY MEETING, UM, IS THAT, THAT, UM, THERE IS THIS VOLUNTARY LEAD-UP TIME WITH, WITH, WITH, UH, WITH A PARALLEL INCENTIVE FROM OXFORD WATER, PEOPLE ARE PARTICIPATING IN OF IT IS THAT 20, 23 DAYS.
UM, SO I KEEP ASKING IF IT'S STILL THERE AND IF IT'S CHANGED AND IT HASN'T.
AND I LOOKED, AND I LOOKED AT THAT JUST THIS PAST WEEK AND THE, AND THE CODE.
SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE MANDATORY DATE AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS IS REAL IMPORTANT AND KIND OF WHAT WE'RE PLANNING ON AND WHAT THOSE SCENES REALLY START TO, UM, START TO ACCUMULATE AND BUILD UPON EACH OTHER.
AND THEN WE ARE WORKING THE PROGRAM OUT IN THE
SO, AND THANKS MARTY FOR CLARIFYING.
SO, UM, LET ME JUST OPEN UP FOR DISCUSSION AGAIN BY TASKFORCE MEMBERS.
UM, IS THERE GENERAL COMFORT WAS MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS AS WRITTEN? YEAH, JUST A THUMBS UP.
MY SUGGESTION WOULD BE THAT THERE'S A MOTION ON THE TABLE AND THEN JUST A MEMBER PROCEDURALLY, BUT, UH, THAT WAS ALL I WAS GETTING OUT.
NO, I THINK UNDER ROBERT'S RULES, USUALLY YOU MAKE SOME, MAKE A MOTION AND THEN YOU HAVE THE DISCUSSION.
[00:50:01]
ALL RIGHT.UM, THEN CAN I, WELL, THANK YOU, JENNIFER.
CAN I GET A SECOND? THIS IS PERRY.
UH, THIS IS A MOTION FOR DISCUSSION.
YES, SARAH, SHE'S MAKING THE MOTION TO RECOMMEND APPROVAL AND THEN WE DISCUSS AND VOTE.
I MEAN, I DON'T, I DON'T WANT TO INTERRUPT Y'ALL'S NORMAL PROCEDURE.
I ASSUME THAT, UM, SOMEBODY MAKES A, SORRY, WE CAN GO OVER.
AND ARE THERE PERSONALITY IN THE SENSE, SENSE? IT WOULD HELP TO KNOW WHAT'S ON THE TABLE.
UM, BECAUSE I THINK WHAT WAS JUST DISCUSSED WAS POSSIBLY, YOU KNOW, UN UN ANOTHER MOTION.
SO ANYWAYS, I THINK JENNIFER HAS MOVED TO APPROVAL, SO, YOU KNOW, SOME READS THE RECOMMENDATION AND THEN HER QUESTION WAS, IS EVERYBODY GOOD WITH IT? AND THAT'S ACTUALLY THE DISCUSSION.
AND THEN, UM, OKAY, LET ME READ THE QUESTION.
I RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH CHAPTER 15, 13 OF THE AUSTIN CITY CODE AND AMEND THE CITY CODE CHAPTER TWO DASH 13 REGARDING TREATMENT MONITORING AND REPORTING REGULATIONS FOR ONSITE WATER REUSE SYSTEMS TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL SUSTAINABLE WATER SUPPLIES USING ALTERNATIVE SOURCE WATERS IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS FOR NON-POTABLE USES.
UH, IS THERE FURTHER DISCUSSION REQUIRED BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? I'M NOT SEEING ANYTHING, SO, OKAY.
ALL MEMBERS IN FAVOR OF VOTING SAY, AYE, I'M SORRY.
Y'ALL THAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE MOST PAINFUL PROCESS OF ALL OF WATER FORWARD.
UM, CLEARLY YOU DON'T REMEMBER THAT SCOPE EDITING SESSIONS THAT WE HAD IN 2015.
UM, I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE GET THROUGH ALL THE VOTING ITEMS WE NEED TO SO THAT JENNIFER IS ABLE TO SIGN OFF.
[4.c. Discuss and consider approval of proposed meeting schedule for 2021]
ITEMS SECTION, UH, THE PROPOSED MEETING SCHEDULE.SO MARTY, DO YOU HAVE THAT IN A SLIDE DECK? YES, WE DO.
SO FOR, UH, 2021, UH, THEY, THE PROPOSED DATES ARE ON YOUR SCREEN.
WE'D BE CONTINUING WITH A UN BI-MONTHLY EVERY OTHER MONTH AND MEETING PAPPY RETARGETING THE FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH.
HOWEVER YOU SEE THAT SOME OF THESE DATES HAVE CHANGED, UM, BASED ON HOLIDAYS.
UM, AND, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THE JULY AND SEPTEMBER DATES JANUARY.
WE TYPICALLY DON'T MEET THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THAT MONTH BECAUSE FOLKS CAN STILL SOMETIMES BE OUT.
SO WE PROPOSED JANUARY 12TH AND, UH, JULY AND SEPTEMBER ARE BOTH DATES AFTER HOLIDAYS.
SO, UH, JULY 5TH IS A CITY HOLIDAY, UM, GIVEN TO US FORWARD THE 4TH OF JULY.
AND, UH, SEPTEMBER 7TH IS AFTER LABOR DAY, I BELIEVE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE WOULD BOTH BE THE FIRST DAYS OF THE WEEK.
I JUST WAS FEELING OKAY ABOUT KEEPING THOSE, BUT WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, FOLKS FELT COMFORTABLE WITH THOSE DATES.
UM, ALL GOOD TO ME, I GUESS JULY SIX IS THE ONLY DODGY ONE, BUT PROBABLY PEOPLE WILL BE BACK BY THEN.
[00:55:07]
I THINK, YEAH.I WOULD TRY TO CHANGE THAT JULY 6TH DATE, DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS WITH, BUT WE'LL BE OUT OF TOWN ON THE 4TH OF JULY.
MY SUGGESTION IS THAT POSSIBLE? YES, IT IS.
UM, WE CAN, UH, SHOOT FOR JULY 13TH, UH, A WEEK LATER.
AND, UM, FRANKLY WE ARE NOT SURE THAT THESE WILL ACTUALLY BE THE DATES.
WE'RE NOT CERTAIN HOW LONG THIS, UM, SOCIAL DISTANCING MODIFIED TASK FORCE MEETING PROCESS WILL LAST OR BOARDS OF COMMISSIONS SCHEDULING PROCESS WILL LAST TOO.
THESE ARE TARGETS WE'D BASICALLY BE SHOOTING FOR SOMETIME THIS WEEK, I BELIEVE DURING, DURING THE WEEK OF THESE DATES.
CAN I JUST SAY, I LOVE THE OPTIMISM THAT WE'LL BE TRAVELING ON JULY FOUR.
I DON'T SEE US ACTUALLY TAKING A VOTE ON THIS, ON THE AGENDA.
THIS IS JUST IN THE VOTING ITEMS SECTION FOR OTHER REASONS TO, IS THAT CORRECT? OH, YES, WE HAVE TO VOTE ON IT.
UM, TO HAVE IT APPROVED, UM, CALENDAR FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, SO, SO FAR WE'VE ONLY AMENDED, UH, THE JULY DATE, EVERY ALL THE OTHER DATES ARE GOOD.
CAN I HEAR A MOTION TO APPROVE, UH, THIS PROPOSED MOTION TO APPROVE YOU, ROBERT? THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN APPROVAL.
SARAH DIANE, DIANA APPROVED BILL MORIARTY.
THAT'S ALL THE VOTING ACTION ITEMS I'M SEEING IS JENNIFER FREE TO BEGIN HER VACATION, JENNIFER, YOU RELEASED.
UM, HEY Y'ALL, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE OTHER, UM, ITEMS ON THE AGENDA, I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR SARAH TO INTRODUCE HERSELF.
UH, SARAH IS THE NEW APPOINTEE YOU FOR IN KITCHEN, RIGHT? IS THAT CORRECT? REPLACING LAUREN.
I'M UM, SHE SAID, AND KITCHEN DISTRICT FIVES, APPOINTEE.
ROSS'S SERVICE ON THIS TASK FORCE.
UM, AND I HAVE NONE OF HER EXPERTISE ON THE TECHNICAL MATTERS.
SHE'S SO KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT AND CULTURAL, BUT I WILL, I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING HERE AND I'M HELPING WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION.
I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE WORK OF THE TASK FORCE SINCE IT WAS INITIATED.
AND I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEEN MADE AND, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO BE MADE.
UM, I WILL TRY TO, YOU KNOW, GET CONTACT INFORMATION FOR EVERYONE AND SORT OF REACH OUT ONE-ON-ONE AND INTRODUCE MYSELF MORE.
I DO KNOW A FEW OF YOU, UM, AND I'M JUST GLAD TO BE HERE TODAY.
CAN WE MAKE AN INTRODUCTION AS WELL? YES, PLEASE.
SO WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER ON OUR TEAM ON OUR WATER RESOURCES TEAM.
UM, UH, Y'ALL PROBABLY REMEMBER I GOT MADE A SUPERVISOR, UH, OF THE WATER RESOURCES TEAM BACK IN JULY.
AND, UH, SO NOW WE ARE, UH, WE HAVE BEEN A TEAM OF TWO ME AND HELEN AND THERESA AND KEVIN.
AND, UM, NOW WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER.
JAY NELL NICHOLSON HAS JUST JOINED US AS A PROGRAM MANAGER, HER TITLE AS A PROGRAM MANAGER OF PLANNING, RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT.
SO SHE'LL BE HELPING WITH, UM, COORDINATION AND FACILITATION OF DIFFERENT WATERFORD STRATEGIES, CONSERVATION REUSE, HELPING, UM, WITH, UH, SOME OF THE ONSITE REUSE THINGS AND WORKING WITH THAT TEAM,
[01:00:01]
UM, AS WELL AS A GOOD DEAL OF PLANNING, WATER RESOURCES, PLANNING, WORK IN GENERAL, SUPPORTING WATERFORD, DOING A GOOD DEAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.UM, SO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL, UH, COORDINATION.
NOW, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A MINUTE JUST TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF? YEAH, IT'S A LITTLE MUTED.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? OKAY, AWESOME.
UH, AS MANY AS I SAID, MY NAME IS JANE NICHOLSON.
I'M ORIGINALLY FROM PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AND I STUDIED CONSERVATION BIOLOGY IN UNDERGRAD.
AND THEN I WENT ON TO GRAD SCHOOL TO STUDY ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND SPECIFICALLY NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND POLICY DESIGN.
SO I'M REALLY EXCITED TO JOIN THE TEAM.
I USED TO DO A LOT OF RESEARCH WITH WATER.
UM, SO I'M, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE IN AUSTIN.
I MOVED HERE RIGHT BEFORE THE PANDEMIC HIT ITS HEIGHT, UM, BUT I'M REALLY HAPPY TO COST IN MY HOME NOW.
AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO JOIN THE TEAM AND LEARN A LOT MORE ABOUT, UM, EVERYTHING'S THAT'S GOING ON AND, AND HOW I CAN PLUG IN AND HELP.
SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ON THE TEAM.
UH, SO IF YOU, UH, SOME EMAILS FROM JAY, SHE'LL BE KIND OF, UH, HELPING OUT WITH THAT, THOSE ACTIVITIES SCHEDULING AND ALL THAT KINDA GOOD STUFF.
HEY, Y'ALL, I'M PLUGGING ALONG.
[3.a. Water Forward Implementation Progress and Outlook – City Staff (15 min)]
NOW TO HEAR THE PRESENTATION FROM STAFF.WE'RE JUST BRINGING THE SLIDES BACK UP.
AND THEN JUST ONE MORE SORRY OF, UH, UH, A VERY SMALL, BUT TRUSTEE TEAM HERE, THANK YOU TO, UH, CITY HALL, AAV TECHS FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT, AND THEY PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR ALL OF OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSION MEETINGS.
UM, SO OUR, UH, KIND OF GENERAL UPDATE ON, UH, WATERFORD IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTLOOK.
WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A PICTURE HERE OF, UH, CURRENT WATER SUPPLIES.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS MONTHLY INFLOWS TO LAKES, B CANNON AND TRAVIS.
UM, THE, UH, FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT HAVE SEEN THIS, UH, IN THE PAST, I'M GOING TO WALK THROUGH KIND OF SLOWLY, UM, THE BLUE LINE, UM, UH, THE BLUE BAR ON THIS CHART SHOWS THE AVERAGE MONTHLY INFLOW, UH, FROM 1942 TO PRESENT, WHICH IS THE, UH, HISTORICAL PERIOD OF RECORD, UH, FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
UH, SINCE THE HIGHLAND LAKES WERE BUILT, THE DARK BLUE BAR IS THE AVERAGE FROM 2008 TO 2015.
AND THAT WAS DURING THE LAST DROUGHT THAT WE EXPERIENCED, WHICH IS THE NEW WORST DROUGHT ON RECORD HERE IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
UM, NEIL, UH, SEE THE ORANGE BAR IS THE CURRENT YEAR 2020, THAT'S A CALENDAR YEAR, 2020.
SO, UM, UH, NOT NEWS FOR MOST OF THE FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN ON THESE CALLS AND ON THIS TASK FORCE, BUT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED VERY LOW INFLOWS THIS CALENDAR YEAR, WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A LANEA PATTERN, UH, WHICH MEANS THAT IT'S, UH, WARMER AND DRYER.
WE'LL HAVE A WARM, DRY WINTER, UM, UH, THIS YEAR.
AND, UM, WE ANTICIPATE THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'LL HAVE SOME EFFECTS, CONTINUED EFFECTS ON, ON COMBINED STORAGE AS YOU MOVE FORWARD.
YOU WANT TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, SO THIS IS OUR PICTURE OF COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKES, BUCHANAN, AND TRAVIS, THANKS BECAME AN TRAVIS OR ARE THERE SEPARATE LAKES? HOWEVER, WE, UM, UH, TAKE MEASURE OF THEM AS COMBINED STORAGE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT COMBINED GEORGE HAS BEEN DIPPING DOWN.
WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY SEE THE RAINS THAT WE NORMALLY WOULD, UM, DURING THE MONTHS OF, UH, SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER.
UM, SO WE HAVEN'T HAD THE, THE REFILL OR THE BUMP-UP THAT WE MIGHT'VE SEEN IN AN, IN AN AVERAGE YEAR.
HOWEVER, WE'RE HOPING THAT THE SPRING, WE MIGHT GET A LITTLE BIT OF A RELIEF.
UM, UH, WE'LL SEE, AS THIS DONE UNION PATTERN CONTINUES.
DO YOU WANT TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT, THANK YOU.
THIS IS A LAKE LEVELS FORECAST.
WE ACTUALLY PULL FROM THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITIES WEBSITE.
THE LCRA IS, UM, THE, UH, QUASI GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY THAT OWNS AND OPERATES THE HIGHLAND LAKES.
[01:05:01]
UH, THIS, UH, THE DARK BLUE LINE SHOWS ACTUAL LAKE STORAGE.UM, THIS IS THROUGH, UH, NOVEMBER 1ST OF 2020, AND THESE, UH, DOTTED LINES, UH, SHOW THE POTENTIAL LAKE LEVELS FORECASTED THE FUTURE.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A STOCHASTIC MODEL.
SO IT'S MANY RUNS, UH, OF, UH, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL, UM, FUTURE INFLOWS, UH, RUN, YOU KNOW, MANY TIMES DO THE WATER AVAILABILITY MODEL.
AND FROM THAT, WE COME OUT WITH A CERTAIN PERCENTILES, UH, THE, YOU KNOW, WHAT CONDITIONS MEETING CONDITIONS, DRY CONDITIONS, AND EXTREME CONDITIONS SHOWN THERE.
UM, AND IT'S LOOKING LIKE WE WILL BE, UH, LIKELY TRENDING DOWN AND COMBINED STORAGE.
UM, HOWEVER, WE'LL BE WATCHING THAT AS YOU MOVE UP.
UM, AS A REMINDER OR WATERFORD STRATEGIES, WE GROUPED THEM INTO THESE FOUR BUCKETS, UH, CONSERVATION REUSE, PROTECTING OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER SUPPLIES AND BUILDING DROUGHT RESILIENCY, ALL, UM, UH, BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF CONTINUED STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.
AND, UM, THOSE ARE IN, UH, SOME ALIGNMENT WITH THE REPORT OR IN A GOOD DEAL OF ALIGNMENT WITH THE REPORT THAT WE ACTUALLY PROVIDE TO THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THAT REPORT, UM, THAT WE PROVIDE IN A FUTURE.
WE WILL BE, UH, EMAILING THESE REPORTS OUT TO THE TASK FORCE AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE PROVIDE THESE REPORTS TO, UM, THE, A WALK, UH, ALSO FOR FOLKS WHO MAY NOT BE, UH, WATCHING THOSE MEETINGS, WE'LL BE SENDING OUT SOME LINKS SO THAT YOU CAN SEE THE RECORDINGS OF THOSE MEETINGS.
I KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD REQUESTS FROM TASK FORCE MEMBERS WHO WANT TO BE ABLE TO TRACK THOSE MEETINGS.
ALL OF THOSE MEETINGS ARE, UM, RECORDED AND THEY'RE, UM, AVAILABLE ONLINE THROUGH ATX M IF YOU JUST GOOGLE ATX AND YOU CAN FIND THAT WEBSITE AND, UM, YOU CAN, UH, FIND THE, THE PAST MEETINGS OF THE AUSTIN WATER, UM, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
HOWEVER, WE'LL BE, WE'LL BE SENDING SOME LINKS TO YOU JUST TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER.
SO TO WALK THROUGH, UH, SOME OF THIS REPORT IS, IS THE QUARTER FOUR REPORT FROM, UH, FY 20 IN TERMS OF PROTECTING OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER SUPPLIES.
DURING THAT QUARTER, THE STAFF WORK TO INTEGRATE OUR WATER FORD'S STRATEGIES INTO THE REGION K PLANNING PROCESS.
AND, UH, THE REGION K PLAN WAS ADOPTED, UM, ON OCTOBER 14TH BY THE REGION K PLANNING GROUP.
UM, OUR NEXT STEPS THERE, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO TRACK WITH THE REGION K PROCESS, AND WE ANTICIPATE WORKING ON, UH, SOME OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND SOME OF THE INITIAL PLANNING FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF REGION K PLANNING, UH, AND THE CONSERVATION FRONT, THE MAI ATX WATER, OUR ADVANCED METER INFRASTRUCTURE PILOT, UM, HAS BEGUN WITH NEARLY 5,000 WATER METERS DEPLOYED IN RIVER PLACE AND MUELLER.
THIS PILOT'S CONTINUING AND WILL BE THE BASIS FOR SYSTEMS ACCEPTANCE TESTING PRIOR TO FULL IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, WE, THAT, UM, IN 2021, THE, UM, UH, PROJECT WILL BEGIN THAT THE INSTALLATION OF OVER 250,000 METERS TO REPLACE OUR CURRENT NEEDERS THAT'LL HAPPEN OVER ABOUT A FOUR YEAR TIMEFRAME.
UM, ALSO IN QUARTER FOUR, AUSTIN WATER HELD A PUBLIC WORKSHOP TO PRESENT THE COOLING TOWER EFFICIENCY CODE CHANGES FOR COMMUNITY INPUT.
AND, UH, THOSE WERE THE CODE CHANGES THAT Y'ALL JUST VOTED ON.
WE ANTICIPATE THOSE GOING BEFORE COUNCIL, LIKE WE MENTIONED ON, UH, DECEMBER 10TH, UH, THAT WORKSHOP WAS THE SAME WORKSHOP WHERE WE PRESENTED TITLE 15 ONSITE WATER REUSE CODE CHANGES, AS WELL AS, UH, THE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AGAIN, THAT'LL GO BEFORE COUNCIL AND DECEMBER 10TH, UM, IN THERE REALLY WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO, IF WE HAVEN'T ALREADY WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF THAT WORKED HARD TO PUT THAT ON.
UM, AS WELL AS ALL OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS WHO WERE, UM, PAYING A LOT OF ATTENTION AND PARTICIPATED IN THAT WORKSHOP AND HAVE BEEN HELPING TO MOVE THESE THINGS ALONG, UM, OVER THESE PAST YEARS, UH, ON THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM FROM AUSTIN WATERS, CONTINUING OUR WORK TO IMPLEMENT, OR, UH, COMPLETING THE CORE PLAN AS WELL AS TO UPDATE OUR CENTRALIZED RECLAIM MASTER PLAN.
AND WE'RE ALSO, UM, WORKING TO DEVELOP A NOT LISTED NECESSARILY ON HERE, BUT WE'RE ALSO WORKING, OH, IT IS DEVELOPMENT OF A WE'RE WORKING ON DEVELOPMENT OF, UM, KIND OF DECENTRALIZED RECLAIMED APPROACHES.
SO AS A LOT OF Y'ALL KNOW, WE'VE BEEN KIND OF, UM, MOVING INTO THIS KIND OF NEW FRONTIER OF HAVING BOTH A CENTRALIZED RECLAIM SYSTEM, DECENTRALIZED RECLAIM FACILITIES THAT ARE BUILDING OFF OF THE CURRENT PACKAGE PLANTS THAT WE HAVE NOW.
[01:10:01]
AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, ONSITE REUSE, BUILDING SCALE ONSITE, REUSE, AND POTENTIALLY DISTRICTS GO ONSITE, REDUCE, IT'S REALLY EXCITING TO SEE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HOW ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS COME TOGETHER TO PROVIDE, UM, REUSE, UH, IN A FIT FOR PURPOSE WAY TO MEET NON-POTABLE NEEDS ALL ACROSS THE CITY.UM, DROUGHT SUPPLIES, AUSTIN WATER IS CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF, UM, UH, CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH, UM, HDR TO PROVIDE CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR THE ASR, AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PILOT, AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, UM, UH, CONTRACT.
UM, WE HOPE TO HAVE THAT CONTRACT EXECUTED BY THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
AND ONCE THAT'S COMPLETED, WE'LL BEGIN A PHASE ONE EIGHT DESKTOP MODELING.
THAT WAS THE OVERALL, UM, PICTURE OF OUR IMPLEMENTATION, UH, PROGRESS.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS I, OR OTHERS WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER Q COMMENTS, QUESTIONS.
UH, ARE YOU SAYING MARISSA FROM NOW ON WHEN THE CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER HAS A MEETING THAT'S GERMANE TO ANYTHING WE'RE DOING, WE WILL GET A NOTICE IN ADVANCE OF SAID MEETING AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO LINK TO THAT MEETING.
IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, OR IF IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, I'D LIKE TO ASK THAT WE HAVE THAT IN THE FUTURE.
UH, WHAT I WAS SAYING IS THAT, UM, I'LL BE PROVIDING THE QUARTERLY REPORT THAT WE PROVIDE TO COUNCIL ALSO TO THE TASK FORCE WITH, UH, LINKS TO WATCH THE RECORDINGS OF THE MEETINGS LIVE RECORDINGS WILL ONLY BE POSTED AFTER THE MEETINGS HAPPEN.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT, UH, I MAY HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD, BUT I BELIEVE THAT ONLY COUNCIL, UM, MEMBERS THAT ARE APPOINTED TO THAT COMMITTEE CAN PARTICIPATE IN THAT MEETING.
UM, HOWEVER, THEIR MEETING AGENDAS ARE POSTED ONLINE ON THEIR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, UH, OR, UM, ON THEIR COUNCIL COMMITTEE PAGE, UH, AND ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE TO SEE PRIOR TO THE MEETING PUBLIC WATCH THE MEETING.
YES, THE PUBLIC CAN WATCH THE MEETING LIVE ON ATX AND THAT IS CORRECT.
SO I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING, COULD WE, BECAUSE I DON'T FOLLOW THIS CAREFULLY ENOUGH TO KNOW WHEN THEY'RE DOING THINGS THAT RELATE TO OUR TASK FORCE, AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL SO THAT WE COULD, AS A, AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, WATCH THESE MEETINGS AS THEY'RE GOING.
CAUSE I, I HEAR ABOUT THEM A WEEK LATER AND I'M LIKE, NO ONE TOLD ME I DON'T MIND DOING THAT.
I THINK I ASKED THIS THE OTHER DAY AND THE ONE WATER MEETING ARE WE CONVINCED THAT THE BOTTOM OF THESE LAKES ARE BEING PROPERLY SURVEYED AND THE FIRM YIELD THAT EVERYBODY BELIEVES IS IN THESE LAKES IS REALLY THERE.
UH, AND I THINK KEVIN, YOU KINDA, UH, SWAYS ME ON THAT.
ARE WE CONVINCED THOSE LAKES, THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKES ARE SURVEYED AND THEY'RE NOT FULL OF SILL.
UM, WE WERE CONFIDENT THAT THAT PROCESS IS REGULARLY HIKING.
THE CEMETERY IS REGULARLY UPDATED.
UM, SO, UH, YEAH, SO I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE COMFORTABLE THAT WE HAVE A GOOD IDEA AND THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD DOES THAT.
HOW FREQUENTLY DO THEY SURVEY THE BOTTOM OF LIKE, I DON'T SPECIFICALLY HAVE THAT.
I THINK IT'S A RECURRING PROCESS.
I CAN GET YOU THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THERE, MAYBE A FUTURE MEETING.
CAN SOMEONE MAYBE GIVE SOMEONE FROM THE WATER VALVE BOARD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT? I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND AS, UH, I THINK WHAT I SEE THESE CURVES GOING DOWN, I GET SHOOK AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT WE GOT ALL THE WATER.
I KNOW WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME, UH, BILL, LET ROBERT BUTTON FOR A SEC.
I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY THAT USED TO BE A PROGRAM IN MY PORTFOLIO AT THE BOARD.
AND IT, UH, IT LOOKS LIKE 2008.
I'M ON THE BOARD'S WEBSITE, 2008 WAS THE LAST SURVEY.
THE STATE HAS A GOAL OF TRYING TO RESURVEY THE LAKES.
I WAS THINKING IT WAS EVERY FIVE YEARS, BUT IT DEPENDS SOMEBODY HAS GOT TO PAY.
AND SO IT DEPENDS ON, UM, REALLY LCRA, UM, CONTRACTING WITH THE BOARD TO DO THOSE SURVEYS.
AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY, THEY'RE VERY SOPHISTICATED AND HIGHLY DETAILED.
SO WHEN THOSE SURVEYS GET DONE, UH, I FEEL CONFIDENT THAT THEY'RE ACCURATE, BUT THE FACT IS THEY'RE NOT DOING THEM.
[01:15:01]
AYE.BUT I THINK LCRA MAY BE DOING OR MAY HAVE DONE IN THE RECENT PAST TO HIDE ON THAT SURVEY.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL CHECK ON THAT AND GET BACK TO YOU.
I'D LIKE TO HEAR A REPORT ON THAT.
I'M MOVING QUICKLY, YOU KNOW, THE NEW, REGIONAL FLOOD PLANNING PROCESS, THAT'S SET UP BY THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
AND I KNOW THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS PEOPLE THAT ARE ON THESE.
HOW IS AUSTIN WATER PLUGGED INTO THE FLOOD THING? UH, DOES THAT POSE ANY ISSUES RELATED TO OUR WATER PLAN? UH, YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TODAY, BUT AGAIN, I WOULD LOCK INTO THAT AND, UM, SEE IF THERE'S THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN WHEN PEOPLE MAKE REGIONAL FLOOD PLANS THAT COULD SCREW UP THE WATER PROCESS, KIND OF TYING OUR WATER WITH OUR FLOOD WATER, ONE WATER.
I AM STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE POISON ALGAE IN THE LAKES THAT IS NOT JUST INFESTED LADY, BIRD LAKE IT'S IN ALL THE LAKES.
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT STUFF.
GETTING INTO THE WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM.
I'M CONCERNED WITH CHILDREN GETTING MIXED UP WITH THAT ALGAE AND, AND, AND HAVING A HARMFUL EFFECT ON THEM.
UH, I, I DON'T THINK THE CITY IS DOING ENOUGH AND, UH, I WOULD ENCOURAGE THIS ITEM TO GET MOVED UP THE LADDER.
CAUSE I DON'T THINK WE COULD SIT HERE FOR YEARS AND SIMPLY DO SAMPLING AND LET US KNOW THIS, THE POISON LD IS THERE.
AND, UH, I'M CONCERNED THAT WE MAY HAVE A FEED QUALITY.
UM, DID THE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE COMMITTEE MEET LAST WEEK? WAS IT LAST WEEK OR THE WEEK BEFORE? I DON'T THINK SO.
I DON'T THINK WE EVER COULD GET A DATE.
UH, THE FIGURED OUT MARTY IN TERMS OF PROCESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT WASN'T HELPFUL FOR THE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS TO HAVE DATES FLOATED A FEW WEEKS IN ADVANCE.
REALLY WE WERE DOING, I DO WANT TO BE RAISED IN THAT INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE, UH, CONVERSATION, JUST IN TERMS OF IDENTIFYING SOME CONCRETE, NEXT STEPS AND ALLOWING US TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE SUBSTANTIVE SESSIONS.
UM, SO BILL, THAT WOULD BE MY, UM, AFFIRMATION TO YOU THAT I, I CONCUR THAT WE NEED TO HAVE MORE ACTION.
AND TO ME THAT'S THE MOST RELEVANT VEHICLE THROUGH WHICH TO ADDRESS THIS AND JUST TO UNDERSCORE IT, THE REASON IT RELATES TO THIS, UH, TASK FORCE IS OUR INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT ELEMENTS OF WATER SUPPLY IS LIKELY IN FEASIBLE.
I JUST CANNOT IMAGINE ANYBODY ALLOW US TO POUR A NUTRIENT RICH RECLAIMED WATER INTO LADY BIRD LAKE WITH THIS ALGAE OUT OF CONTROL.
SO MY INTEREST IS TO SEE WHERE ARE WE ON INDIRECT, POTABLE REUSE? IS IT A VIABLE OPTION? IF IT'S NOT, THEN WE'VE GOT TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE BECAUSE THERE'S SOME FROM YIELD THAT WAS PART OF OUR EQUATION.
AND, UH, SO I, I APPRECIATE HAVING THE, THE SUB COMMITTEE MEETINGS TO GET THIS MOVING.
SO CAN I JUST RESPOND TO A COUPLE OF THOSE THINGS? UM, UM, THE, UH, THE HIGHLAND LAKES SURVEYS LCRA IS CURRENTLY CONTRACTING WITH TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD FOR A RESURVEY OF LIKE TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN.
AND WE CAN, UM, FOLLOW UP WITH MORE INFORMATION ON THAT ON THE FLOOD PLANNING SIDE, UH, MATT HOLLAND FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION, WHO OFTEN PARTICIPATES IN OUR MEETINGS IS THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR MUNICIPALITIES IN THE, IN THE BASIN AND WITHIN THE COLORADO AND LAVACA, WE COORDINATE VERY CLOSELY WITH, UH, MATT, WE HAVE REGULAR MEETINGS, UM, AND HE HAS, UH, DISCUSSED, IN FACT, WE JUST HAD A MEETING YESTERDAY TO DISCUSS SOME OF THAT.
UM, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE VERY CLOSE, UH, COORDINATION ON ALL THINGS, REGIONAL WATER PLANNING, UH, FROM THE SUPPLY PERSPECTIVE, AS WELL AS FROM THE, THE FLOOD PERSPECTIVE.
UM, AND THEN ON THE IPR SUBCOMMITTEE FROM YES, AND I DO APOLOGIZE ABOUT THE, UH, THE, UM, IPR SUBCOMMITTEE SCHEDULING.
I'M HOPING THAT NOW THAT WE HAVE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UM, SCHEDULE THOSE MEETINGS IN A, IN KIND OF A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY.
SO WE'LL BE WORKING ON GETTING THAT ONTO YOUR CALENDARS.
AND I, I, UM, HAD ALSO REQUESTED AT THE LAST, UH, BRIEFING ON ALGAE THAT WE, UM, HAVE A QUARTERLY MEETING OF THAT INDIRECT, POTABLE REUSE COMMITTEE.
CAN YOU JUST CONFIRM THAT THAT'S OUR SCHEDULE GOING FORWARD AND PREVIOUSLY IT HAD BEEN TWICE PER YEAR? YES.
AND BUCHANAN WAS SURVEYED LAST YEAR AND THE REPORT IS ONLINE AT THE WATER FILM IMPORTANT.
[01:20:01]
THAT THE TIMING IS REALLY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY ON ALGAE GROWTH, BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS THEY, THEY LOWER THE LAKE, UM, DURING THE WINTER OPENING THAT THERE'S A FREEZE TO KILL THE ALGAE.SO, YOU KNOW, I PROBABLY NEED TO GET ON THIS AUSTIN WATER SPENDING.
I DO, UM, IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN THIS YEAR, UM, OR THERE ARE OTHER MEASURES THAT HAVE, I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION IN AN UPCOMING MEETING THAT WE HAVE A, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE BACKLASH OVER THE LAST QUARTER OR TWO, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE DIFFERENT, UM, KIND OF BEST SETTLES WERE OF, OF POTENTIAL INFLOWS, HOW WE'RE TRACKING AGAINST THAT CURVE.
UM, SINCE THE LAST UPDATE YOU GAVE US, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE CONSISTENTLY TRENDING QUITE LOW.
UM, HAVE Y'ALL DONE ANY FORECASTING AND COULD YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH US A FORECAST OF IF TRENDS FOR 2019 AND 2020 WERE TO CONTINUE WHEN WE MIGHT START EDGING TOWARD THAT? UM, SOME OF THOSE TRIGGERS ON COMBINED TOTAL COMBINED STORAGE, IS THAT SOMETHING WE NEED TO HAVE IN OUR BACK POCKET AS WE GO INTO THOSE INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE COMMITTEE CONVERSATIONS? YES, WE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT MODELING WORK WITH, UH, RICHARD HOFFPAUIR, OUR, UM, UH, WATER AVAILABILITY MODELING CONSULTANT.
AND WHEN WE LAST LOOKED AT THIS, I THINK IT WAS, UH, THERESA.
YOU HAVE TO, UM, REMIND ME, BUT I THINK WE LAST LOOKED AT THIS BACK IN SEPTEMBER AND WHEN WE WERE, UH, DOING THE MODELING WITH RICHARD, IT WAS LOOKING LIKE WE WOULDN'T, UH, REACH THOSE, UM, TRIGGER LEVELS FOR IPR.
THAT WOULD BE 400,000 ACRE FEET OF COMBINED STORAGE.
UM, AND UNTIL ABOUT THREE TO FIVE YEARS OUT WITH LAKE LEVELS BEING WHERE THEY WERE BACK IN, UM, UH, IN SEPTEMBER, AND THAT'S KIND OF DOING SOME, UH, UH, CONDITIONAL RELIABILITY MODELING.
SO AGAIN, RUNNING DIFFERENT SEQUENCES OF, OF HYDROLOGY TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF WHEN WE WOULD HIT THOSE TRIGGER LEVELS.
SO IT DID SEEM LIKE WE HAD SEVERAL YEARS, HOWEVER THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WOULD BE WANTING TO, TO NOT MOVE EXPEDITIOUSLY, UM, TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS AROUND HABS AND IPR, UM, IN, IN WAYS TO MITIGATE, UH, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES FROM USE OF THAT STRATEGY FROM A CAPITAL PLANNING PERSPECTIVE, HOW MANY YEARS OUT DO YOU NEED TO EXECUTE AN IPR STRATEGY? GREAT QUESTION.
UM, SO THERE, WE ALSO WERE LOOKING AT A DIFFERENT WAYS AND TERESA AND KEVIN Y'ALL FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN HERE.
WE WERE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS TO DEPLOY THAT INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, TO BE ABLE TO, UM, ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THE IPR STRATEGY OF NECESSARY.
UM, THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THAT WE COULD RUN, YOU KNOW, IN AN SITUATION WE WOULD BE, UH, YOU KNOW, GOING THROUGH AN, UH, LIKELY AN EMERGENCY, UM, PERMITTING PROCESS.
WE WOULD, UM, BE WORKING THROUGH THAT, UH, THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, A MUCH MORE RAPID BASIS.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'D PROBABLY NEED A YEAR AND A HALF TO PROBABLY IMPLEMENT THAT, UM, ON A MORE KIND OF MEASURED ROUTE, IF WE'RE NOT AN EMERGENT IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.
OH, ROBERT, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, OR YOU'RE TAKEN OFF BY IF WE'RE NOT IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, THEN WE COULD KIND OF DO THIS IN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS WE COULD HAVE, WE WERE CALLING KIND OF A SHOVEL-READY IMPLEMENTATION WHERE WE'VE GOT SOME OF THE PIECES OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE ALREADY CONSTRUCTED, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE'VE GOT WORKING THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE RECLAIMED, UM, TRANSMISSION LINES, AND THEN WE WOULD BE WORKING ON KIND OF THE, THE PUMP STATION AND ALL OF THE OTHER, UM, COMPONENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENTS.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE GOT TO A POINT WHERE WE WOULD NEED THAT STRATEGY TO BE IMPLEMENTED, AND THEN THE KIND OF THE LONGER TERM, THE LONGEST TERM IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH, WOULD WE US, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GOING THROUGH MAYBE 10, UM, YEAR PROCESS, A 10, 15 YEAR PROCESS TO ACTUALLY KIND OF WORK THROUGH TRANSMISSION LINE PUMP STATION, ALL OF THE OTHER COMPONENTS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO ACTUALLY DEPLOY THAT STRATEGY.
THAT'S IN A SITUATION WHERE THERE'S, YOU KNOW, 10, 15, 20 YEARS WHERE WE ACTUALLY DON'T NEED TO IMPLEMENT THAT STRATEGY.
SO THOSE WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE COMMITTEE MEETING AS WELL.
UM, JUST UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS, AND OBVIOUSLY WE CAN'T SPEND ANY MORE TIME ON THIS TOPIC, BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT.
[01:25:01]
FOR THAT COMMITTEE MEETING.UM, DID YOU HAVE A FINAL QUESTION BEFORE THIS CONCLUDES? I, I CAN WAIT ON IT.
I THINK WE'RE ABOUT TO RUN OUT OF TIME AND GET CUT OFF.
SO I'LL, I'LL MAYBE MOVE BACK OVER EMAIL.
ANY, ANYTHING FURTHER BEFORE WE ADJOURN, WE ACTUALLY DO HAVE ONE MORE ITEM ON THE AGENDA ORDINANCE.
I'M SORRY IF WE COULD BRING THE SLIDES BACK UP.
[3.b. Technical Advisory Group and Task Force Subcommittees Recap – City Staff (15 min)]
WE HAD THIS, THE ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS RECAP.WE CAN KIND OF VERY BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THIS.
UM, AND WE HAD ACTUALLY TWO ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS, UM, SINCE THE LAST TASK FORCE MEETING ONE IN SEPTEMBER.
AND THEN, UM, ONE IN OCTOBER, THE MEETING IN OCTOBER, WE REALLY FOCUSED IN ON THE AFFORDABILITY DISCUSSION AND SAM TEDFORD FROM NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ATTENDED AND WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE US WITH A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION, UM, ABOUT, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND JUST SOME BACKGROUND.
WE'RE KIND OF SEEING THE NEED TO MAYBE UNDERSTAND, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST SOME OF THE BASICS ABOUT A CAPITAL, A AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AS WELL AS JUST LIKE MARKET RATE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, TO BE ABLE TO FURTHER THAT CONVERSATION IN THE CONTEXT OF WATER.
UM, AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETING, WE WERE TALKING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE RECENT WORKSHOP THAT HAD OCCURRED, UM, AS WELL AS SOME POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS FOR THE NON LDC CODE CHANGES.
IT ALSO VEERED INTO SOME OF THE LDC ITEMS. AND THEN WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT A POTENTIAL COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP.
I WON'T BELABOR THAT, UM, RECAP.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE COVERED THE, THE POSTED AGENDA ITEM, IF ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT SUMMARY.
WELL, I, I JUST MIGHT ADD TO THE AFFORDABILITY DISCUSSION.
I DID LEAVE THAT MEETING, FEELING A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT THE NEXT STEPS ARE, UM, WITH RESPECT TO T BASICALLY WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW, UM, IF YOU WERE ABLE TO FILL ME IN OR RISA ON THAT, UM, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE WE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION ON WHAT THE POTENTIAL ISSUES COULD BE, BUT DIDN'T REALLY IDENTIFY LIKE WHAT THE PATH FORWARD IS.
YEAH, I THINK, UM, SOME OF WHAT, UH, WE WERE TRYING TO PICK UP WAS A THREAD WE HAD BEEN RUNNING PREVIOUSLY, UM, WITH, UH, JOSH REDOWL FROM NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING.
UM, AND, AND, UH, CHARLENE YOU'RE PART OF THESE, UH, SOME OF THESE DISCUSSIONS AS WELL, BUT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UM, POTENTIAL IMPACTS.
CAN YOU JUST GETTING BACKGROUND? OH, SURE.
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF, UM, ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS ON, UH, ON WHETHER OR NOT AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS WOULD BASICALLY PENCIL OUT OR IF, UM, UH, ON-SITE REUSE SYSTEMS COULD POSSIBLY, UH, IN IMPACT SOME OF THE, UM, INCENTIVES THAT DEVELOPERS ARE PROVIDED TO, UH, PUT INPUT, TO PUT, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNIT TO THE GATE WITHIN THEIR DEVELOPMENT, OR, UH, TO INCLUDE, UM, KIND OF A MARKET RATE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO PICK UP ON.
WE, I THINK WE STILL NEED TO KIND OF DEFINE OUR QUESTION A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE YOU WERE MENTIONING VANESSA.
I THINK THAT JUST SPEAKS TO US LIKE NEEDING TO DEFINE WHAT IT IS THAT WE'RE REALLY ASKING ABOUT.
UM, AND ONCE WE DO DEFINE YOUR QUESTION A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN I THINK WE CAN KIND OF LAY OUT WHAT, WHAT ARE OUR SCOPE THERE IN TERMS OF AN AFFORDABILITY DISCUSSION IN FUTURE? I THINK IT WOULD JUST BE A PART OF, YOU KNOW, OUR REGULAR ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS.
UM, BUT MAYBE THAT CAN BE SOMETHING WE PICK UP THIS NEXT TIME AROUND, UM, DO THINK THAT THERE'S A NEED TO GET SOME CLARITY BEFORE COUNCIL VOTES ON THIS FRAMEWORK, BECAUSE I DO FEEL LIKE THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT'S, YOU KNOW, BROUGHT UP FROM THE PUBLIC OR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE FROM ONE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
AND AT THIS POINT IT SEEMS LIKE WE DON'T REALLY HAVE AN ANSWER.
SO I'M WONDERING IF MAYBE WE NEED TO FIGURE THAT OUT BETWEEN NOW.
AND I THINK YOU SAID DECEMBER IS THAT WHEN THE COUNCIL'S DECEMBER 10TH.
BUT ONLY ON THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.
AND SO I AGREE WITH YOU, THERE'S AN INCREDIBLE NEED TO NAIL THIS DOWN BEFORE ANY SORT OF ACTION IS TAKEN ON THE LDC OR THE STUFF THAT MIGHT BE PULLED OUT FROM THE LDC, BUT THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK IS JUST, HOW DOES AUSTIN WATER MAKE SURE THAT OUR RESOURCES OR TOWER RESOURCES ARE TAPPED INTO ALL BEING PROTECTIVE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND UNDER A FRAMEWORK THROUGH WHICH
[01:30:01]
AUSTIN WATER HAS OVERSIGHT ON WHAT'S ONLINE, RIGHT? YEAH.IT'S JUST PROTECTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
IT'S THE LD STUFF THAT, UM, REALLY DOES DEMAND AND AFFORDABILITY GOAL AND CONVERSATION.
YEAH, NO, I THINK THAT MAKES SENSE.
I JUST, WE'D BEEN TALKING ABOUT AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, I GUESS THOSE, THAT FRAMEWORK MAY BECOME MANDATORY.
AND SO, BUT I, I, YOU KNOW, I, I GUESS THERE'S STILL SOME TIME BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, BUT ANYWAY, I'M HAPPY TO KIND OF HELP MOVE THAT CONVERSATION FORWARD.
SO, UM, AND VANESSA LET'S CONNECT, UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN CONNECT WITH MARTY OUTSIDE OF THE AUSPICES OF THE COMMITTEE.
I THINK IT'S FINE JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE ON WHAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT FROM A PACE FINANCING PERSPECTIVE, BECAUSE I DO THINK SOME OF THE GRANT MONIES THAT AUSTIN WATER HAS STARTED WITH, TO THE MOBILIZED FOR ONSITE WATER THAT COULD OPERATE IN A LOT OF THE SAME WAYS, UM, THAT THAT PACE OPERATES THEORETICALLY IN SOME FUTURE WAY TO BE PROTECTIVE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO I THINK WE HAVE TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX.
WE JUST NEED TO HAVE SPECIFIC GOALS THAT WE'RE ARTICULATING.
UM, IS THAT ANYTHING FURTHER? I KNOW WE'RE OVER TIME, SO I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S TIME TODAY AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING THAT COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED THE CODES AND ORDINANCES THAT WERE DISCUSSED TODAY.
NOW, USUALLY OUR MEETINGS ARE MUCH MORE JOYFUL.