Jun 02, 2025 Austin Climate, Water, Environment and Parks Committee Special Called Meeting

AND THEN FINALLY, LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.

SO, UM, SO SOME OF THE, UM, THE LARGEST SOURCES OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND POLLUTANTS THAT, THAT CAUSE OZONE IN OUR AIR QUALITY PROBLEMS COME FROM ON-ROAD VEHICLES.

SO, UH, THE LARGEST SECTOR OF, OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IS ON-ROAD TRANSPORTATION.

UH, THE LARGEST SECTOR OF, UM, NOX AND VOCS, WHICH CAUSES OZONE IS ALSO SOME FORM ON-ROAD TRANSPORTATION.

SO THOSE TWO SECTORS ARE REALLY ESSENTIAL, UM, TO MANAGE AND LOOK AT NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS, UM, TO REDUCE THOSE POLLUTANTS TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND AIR POLLUTION IN OUR REGION.

UH, OUR GOAL FOR, UM, FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES FROM THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS TO GET TO ELECTRIFICATION OF 40% OF VIABLE FLEET VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED BY 2030.

THAT SUPPORTS OUR OVERARCHING CLIMATE TARGET OF NET ZERO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 2040.

UH, THE KEY THING WITH FLEET ELECTRIFICATION IS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON THE USE CASE, THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE READINESS, UM, TO IMPLEMENT THOSE SOLUTIONS THAT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

UM, SO YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM, UM, A LOT MORE FROM FLEET THAT WE'RE REALLY, REALLY FOCUSING ON VIABILITY THRE THRESHOLDS TO INFORM OUR INVESTMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE INVESTING IN THE RIGHT VEHICLES THAT SAVE US MONEY, THAT MAXIMIZE POLLUTANT REDUCTIONS, UM, AND REALLY MAXIMIZE BENEFITS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

SO, UH, IN TERMS OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND HOW MUCH PROGRESS WE'VE MADE, WE HAVE 373 BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES CURRENTLY IN THE FLEET.

UH, LAST YEAR THEY DROVE 1.8 MILLION ELECTRIC VEHICLE MILES, UM, OVER THE COURSE OF THAT YEAR.

SO THAT IS SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS.

WHEN YOU JUST THINK ABOUT 373 VEHICLES, THAT'S A LOT OF VEHICLES.

UM, OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT TWO, FOUR YEARS, BY, BY 2030 WE WILL BE TO OVER 700 BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE FLEET.

WE'RE PRIORITIZING HIGH USAGE UNITS, DEPARTMENTAL READINESS, AND REALLY TRYING TO RIGHT FIND THAT RIGHT FIT WHERE WE MAXIMIZE EMISSION REDUCTIONS AND MAXIMIZE COST SAVINGS.

'CAUSE AS YOU'RE GONNA HEAR, THERE'S A RIGHT WAY TO DO THIS AND THERE'S A WAY THAT COSTS THE CITY MORE MONEY.

UM, WE ALSO HAVE EDF FELLOW THIS SUMMER WHO STARTS IN A COUPLE WEEKS HERE, WHO'S GONNA PARTNER WITH OUR OFFICE FLEET AND A RR TO LOOK AT, UH, ELECTRIFICATION IN THE RIGHT WAY TO ELECT FUTURE ELECTRIFY AND PLAN FOR THE ELECTRIFICATION OF THE A RR FLEET.

UM, AND YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT PILOT PROGRAMS WITH HEAVY DUTY AND PUBLIC SAFETY VEHICLES ACROSS

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THE ORGANIZATION.

SO AFTER YOU GET THOSE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE DOOR, YOU HAVE TO HAVE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.

'CAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND IT'S NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE, UM, ELECTRIC VEHICLES DON'T WORK.

SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE 282 DEDICATED FLEET CHARGING PORTS ON CITY FACILITIES.

UM, THAT'S BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.

AND THEN WE'LL BE TO ALMOST 500 PORTS AT CITY FACILITIES BY 2030.

UM, WE ALSO HAVE A MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE MODELING PROJECT UNDERWAY THAT YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, TO INFORM OUR SITE SELECTION, CHARGING ACCESS GRID ALIGNMENT, TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT AS WE SCALE THIS TO HUNDREDS AND THEN THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES, THAT WE DO IT IN THE RIGHT WAY.

THAT IS, AGAIN, COST EFFECTIVE AND MAXIMIZES EMISSION REDUCTIONS.

UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, THIS ISN'T REALLY, UH, A LANDSCAPE.

A LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT IS NOT REALLY, UM, A MAJOR SOURCE OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, BUT IT IS, UM, AN SORT OF OUTSIZED EMITTER OF, UM, OF AIR POLLUTANTS AND REALLY, UM, HAS AN OUTSIZED IMPACT ON AIR POLLUTION IN OUR COMMUNITY.

SO WE KNOW THIS HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT, UM, TOPIC FOR CITY COUNCIL.

SO PART IS GONNA GIVE, UH, AN UPDATE ON A STUDY THAT'S UNDERWAY IN COLLABORATION WITH MY OFFICE TO ASSESS COST AND USABILITY AND MARKET READINESS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.

UM, AND THEN TALK ABOUT, UH, A PILOT THAT WE'RE GONNA RUN WITH PART IN THE COMING YEARS.

AND THAT REALLY SHOULD SUPPORT OUR BROADER TRANSITION TO GET AWAY FROM, UM, SMALL ENGINES IN TWO STROKES, WHICH SORT OF HAVE THIS OUTSIZE, UH, EMISSIONS IMPACT.

SO, UH, THAT'S THE, THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.

WE ARE GONNA HAVE THREE SECTIONS TO THIS PRESENTATION.

FLEET IS GONNA TALK THROUGH FLEET VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION.

UH, THEN CAMERON IS GONNA COME UP AND TALK ABOUT CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.

RICK, THANK YOU ZACH, I APPRECIATE THAT.

UH, GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.

MY NAME IS RICK HARLAN.

I'M ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT FLEET MOBILITY SERVICES.

UM, FLEET ELECTRIFICATION IS ONE OF THE MOST ACTIONABLE AND MEASURABLE WAYS THAT WE CAN, UH, CONTRIBUTE TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

EVERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE THAT WE DEPLOY REDUCES GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, IMPROVES LOCAL AIR QUALITY, SUPPORTS HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY IN FRONTLINE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE MOST IMPACTED BY POLLUTION.

BY ALIGNING OUR FLEET STRATEGY WITH THE CITY'S CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS, WE'RE BUILDING A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM THAT'S CLEANER, MORE RESILIENT, AND MORE JUST AS ZACH MENTIONED EARLIER, THE FLEET TRAVELED 43.8 MILLION MILES IN 2024, THE BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE FLEET TRAVELED 1.8 MILLION MILES.

THAT'S 10% OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN GOAL TODAY, WHICH IS 18 MILLION MILES.

SO I'M HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU HOW WE STAND AND HOW FAR WE'VE COME WITH THE TRANSITION OF THE LARGEST, ONE OF THE LARGEST MUNICIPAL FLEETS IN TEXAS TOWARDS ELECTRIFICATION.

FLEET ELECTRIFICATION ISN'T JUST A GOAL, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE ACTIVELY BUILDING EVERY DAY WITH REAL DEPLOYMENT, REAL DATA, AND REAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO TODAY IS PROVIDE A QUICK LOOK AT WHAT OUR FLEET ACTUALLY IS, BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO IDENTIFYING THE OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE US.

SO WHAT IS THE FLEET THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ELECTRIFY TODAY? THE CITY OF AUSTIN OPERATES ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE MISSION CRITICAL FLEETS IN TEXAS, SUPPORTING EVERYTHING FROM POLICE, PATROL, FIRE RESPONSE, REFUSE COLLECTION, AND POWER LINE REPAIR, SOMETHING THAT WE ALL APPRECIATE MUCH LAST WEEK TO MAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO MAKE THIS COMPLEXITY MORE DIGESTIBLE, WE'VE BROKEN THE FLEET DOWN INTO CORE VEHICLE CATEGORIES SO THAT YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE ELECTRIFICATION IS VIABLE TODAY.

ELECTRIFYING THE FLEET ISN'T ABOUT SWAPPING SEDANS, IT'S ABOUT ALIGNING TECHNOLOGY CYCLES, SERVICE REQUIREMENTS, AND COMMUNITY NEEDS.

UNDERSTANDING THAT COMPLEXITY IS THE KEY TO SETTING REALISTIC, IMPACTFUL GOALS FOR FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.

SO WHAT'S VIABLE TODAY? YOU COULD SEE ON THIS GRAPH HERE ON THIS PIE CHART THAT ONLY 29% OF OUR FLEET HAS A VIABLE BEV OPTION TODAY.

AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHERE WE'VE FOCUSED OUR EFFORT.

WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN DEPLOYING THESE UNITS, BUILDING, CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, ALIGNING WITH THE CITY GOALS AND WHY WE'D LOVE TO ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING TOMORROW.

REALITY IS THAT SOME EQUIPMENT CATEGORIES SIMPLY DON'T HAVE A VIABLE BEV OPTION YET WE'RE TRACKING THAT, WE'RE TESTING IT, WE'RE READY TO MOVE WHEN THE MARKET CATCHES UP WITH US.

SO WHAT I'M SHOWING YOU TODAY IS NOT A BARRIER, IT'S A ROADMAP.

IT'S HOW WE TURN VISION INTO SUSTAINED PROGRESS, NOT JUST AMBITION.

WE'RE LASER FOCUSED ON THAT 29%

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AND THAT'S WHERE REAL PROGRESS IS HAPPENING.

WE'RE TESTING THE REST, WE'RE TRACKING THE MARKET DAILY, AND WE'LL MOVE WHEN TECHNOLOGY CATCHES UP WITH US.

SO HERE'S HOW WE STACK UP.

AUSTIN ISN'T CHASING THE EV MARKET.

WE'RE LEADING IT WHERE IT MAKES OPERATIONAL SENSE.

IN 20 24, 8 0.2% OF OUR VE NEW VEHICLE PURCHASES WERE BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES COMPARED TO THE MARKET NATIONAL MARKET AT 7.9.

SINCE 2017, WE'VE AVERAGED A 10% BEV ADOPTION.

THAT'S NEARLY DOUBLE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

WE'RE NOT WAITING.

WE'RE BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE, DEPLOYING THE VEHICLES, AND EXECUTING A LONG-TERM STRATEGY THAT WORKS.

AND THIS ISN'T JUST A PILOT, IT'S A CITYWIDE SHIFT.

OVER 86% OF OUR DEPARTMENTS ARE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRANSITION, NOT JUST EARLY ADOPTERS.

SO THIS IS WHAT'S ON THE GROUND TODAY, NOT A PLAN, NOT A PROJECTION.

WE HAVE, AS ZACH MENTIONED, 373 BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN SERVICE.

AND WE'LL HAVE RIGHT AT 400 BY THE END OF THE YEAR THAT'S ALREADY DELIVERED 2.5 MILLION IN LIFETIME SAVINGS IN REAL FUEL AND REAL MAINTENANCE SAVINGS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENTS.

ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE SIDE, WE WILL HAVE 282 CHARGING PORTS INSTALLED BY THE END OF THE YEAR WITH MORE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

WE'RE AVERAGING 1.3 VEHICLES PER LEVEL TWO CHARGING PORT, WHICH IS A HEALTHY AND BALANCED RATIO.

BUT WE KNOW LEVEL TWO ISN'T THE WHOLE STORY.

TO NORMALIZE REFUELING, THE REFUELING EXPERIENCE FOR HIGHER DEMAND VEHICLES, WE'RE ACTIVELY OVERLAYING DC FAST CHARGE WHERE IT MAKES SENSE OPERATIONALLY.

SO HERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT.

AS WE TRANSITION TOWARDS A MORE ELECTRIFIED AND SUSTAINABLE FLEET, WERE TAKING A DISCIPLINED DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH, SCALING THROUGH TARGETED PILOT PROGRAMS. EACH PILOT WAS SELECTED NOT BECAUSE OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT EXISTS, BUT BECAUSE OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT.

AND BECAUSE WE CAN MEASURE REAL OUTCOMES THAT INFORM FUTURE INVESTMENTS.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A PD, WE'RE INTRODUCING A BATTERY ELECTRIC POLICE PURSUIT RATED VEHICLE TO FRONTLINE LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS.

THESE VEHICLES ACCOUNT FOR 18 MILLION MILES BY THEMSELVES ANNUALLY OR 40% OF THE TOTAL VEHICLE MILES FOR THE FLEET, AND HAVE THE HIGHEST IDLE TIME IN THE ENTIRE FLEET.

THE UNITS ARE ALREADY ON THE GROUND AND HAVE SPENT TIME AT THE TRAINING ACADEMY AND A FORMAL LAUNCH.

COMMUNICATION TO COUNCIL IS FORTHCOMING.

WE'RE ALSO PILOTING ELECTRIC REFUSE TRUCKS, OUR HARDEST WORKING HIGHEST COST PER MILE SEGMENT OF OUR ENTIRE FLEET.

THESE UNITS PROVIDE A PERFECT TEST CASE FOR EVALUATING ELECTRIC VEHICLE PERFORMANCE UNDER HEAVY DUTY DAILY CYCLES.

THESE PILOTS ALLOW US TO ASSESS REAL WORLD DUTY CYCLES, EVALUATE RELIABILITY, CHARGING LOGISTICS AND MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS BEFORE MAKING LARGE SCALE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.

OUR STRATEGY IS SIMPLE.

PROVE IT FIRST, SCALE IT SECOND.

THIS STAGED APPROACH REDUCES RISK, ENSURES TAXPAYERS DOLLARS ARE USED WISELY AND BUILDS INTERNAL READINESS FOR LONG-TERM TRANSFORMATION.

THE INSIGHTS WE'RE GAINING NOW ARE ALREADY SHAPING OUR 2026 TO 2030 PROCUREMENT PROJECTIONS AND HELPING US ALIGN BEV ADOPTION WITH INFRASTRUCTURE BUILD OUT AND FUNDING CYCLES.

SO WHAT'S NEXT? WE'VE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ELECTRIFYING OUR FLEET WHERE MARKET READY OPTIONS EXIST.

WE'VE MOVED TO SUSTAIN THAT MOMENTUM.

WE MUST KEEP EXPANDING OUR CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, PURSUE STRATEGIC GRANT FUNDING WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DEPARTMENTS AND COUNCIL TO ALIGN DEPLOYMENT WITH SERVICE NEEDS.

BUT WE ALSO NEED HELP FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR MANUFACTURERS MUST ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC MODELS FOR THE 71% OF OUR FLEET THAT STILL LACKS A VIABLE BEV OPTION.

AND BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES MUST EVOLVE TO MEET REAL WORLD DUTY CYCLES.

SUCCESS AT SCALE DEPENDS ON ALIGNMENT READINESS ACROSS THREE FRONTS, VEHICLES, INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY.

AND THAT'S HOW WE MAKE LONG-TERM TRANSFORMATION ACHIEVABLE.

I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.

COUNCIL MEMBER SIEGEL.

THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION, UH, AND ALL THE GREAT PROGRESS.

UM, JUST A COUPLE CLARIFYING QUESTIONS.

UM, ONE, IN TERMS OF KIND OF THESE, UH, MARKET DYNAMICS WITH TARIFFS AND INCREASING COSTS, UM, DO YOU THINK THAT'S GONNA IMPACT OUR RATE OF CONVERSION TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES? WELL, I THINK THAT COMPARED TO COVID, IT WILL HAVE LESS OF AN EFFECT BECAUSE THE AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN WAS, UM, SEVERELY DEVASTATED, UM, IN 2022

[00:15:01]

AS A RESULT OF COVID AND HAS BEEN ON A STEADY STATE OF RECOVERING AND ACTUALLY SHORING UP ITS FOOTING.

I THINK WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS WE MAY SEE SOME COST INCREASES, BUT YOU'RE SEEING THE SUPPLY CHAINS SHORTEN MANUFACTURING COMING BACK TO THE UNITED STATES.

UH, THE MANUFACTURERS HAVE HAD A FEW YEARS UNDER THEIR BELT TO BUILD THESE MANUFACTURING OR ASSEMBLY FACILITIES AT THIS POINT.

SO THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF LOGISTICS ARE GONNA BECOME A LITTLE BIT BETTER FOR US IN THE FUTURE.

I DON'T SEE US SLOWING DOWN.

I I SEE, UH, NEW BATTERY TECHNOLOGY ON THE HORIZON, WHICH COULD BE THE TIPPING POINT OF A FEW THINGS.

I ALSO SEE, UH, AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY SERVICES AND RIDE SHARING AND OTHER TYPES OF, UM, BUSINESSES CREATING DEMAND FOR BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND THAT BEING A TIPPING POINT IN THE MARKET COULD ACTUALLY CREATE, UM, UH, A DECREASE IN, IN COSTS OVER TIME BECAUSE WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN, UH, GO TO SCALE WITH SOME PRODUCTION.

YEAH, THAT'S GREAT TO HEAR.

AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION IS MORE ABOUT KIND OF, UH, I GUESS WORKFORCE, UH, STANDARDS.

I UNDERSTAND THAT INSTALLING THESE EV PORTS CAN BE, UH, SOMETIMES DIFFICULT OR EVEN DANGEROUS WORK, AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GONNA ADD ANOTHER COUPLE HUNDRED PORTS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

AND SO I WANTED TO SEE IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO HOW WE MAKE SURE THERE'S SAFE WORKING CONDITIONS, YOU KNOW, UH, GOOD PAYING JOBS.

I DON'T KNOW IF WE USE THE BETTER BUILDER PROGRAM, BUT IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO HOW WE SELECT OUR, OUR CONTRACTORS FOR THE PORT INSTALLATIONS.

WELL, SO, UM, AND I DON'T WANT TO, UH, TAKE THE, CAMERON COULD PROBABLY SPEAK BEST TO THIS THAN I CAN.

UM, BUT UH, UM, THIS HAS BEEN A COTTAGE INDUSTRY THAT WE'VE INITIATED FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.

WE, UH, AT THE BEGINNING WE HAD DIFFICULTY FINDING QUALIFIED SKILLED PEOPLE THAT COULD UNDERSTAND HOW TO BRING TOGETHER COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK AND ELECTRIFICATION NETWORK, UH, AND THEN BUILD AND CONSTRUCT THESE CHARGING STATIONS AT A REASONABLE PRICE PER PORT.

UM, WELL, WE'VE DONE THAT.

WE'VE, WE'VE LEARNED OVER TIME HOW TO ENGINEER AND DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT, AND WE'VE BUILT A BASE OF GOOD QUALIFIED CONTRACTORS THAT OPERATE UNDER THE IDIQ CONTRACT LABOR CONTRACT.

SO WE'VE ESTABLISHED A NICE PRICING SCHEDULE ACROSS THE BOARD THAT WE CAN HAVE A NUMBER OF CONTRACTORS, UH, OPERATE OFF OF.

UM, AND OF COURSE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN REQUIRES IN ALL OF OUR CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS THAT THEY GET PAID EQUITABLY AND ARE COMPENSATED ACCORDINGLY AND ARE WELL INSURED, UH, AND FALL WITHIN ALL THE SAFETY STANDARDS, UH, AT THE SAFE WORKING PRACTICES.

OKAY, GREAT.

THINK WE'RE SLOWING DOWN.

THANK YOU CHAIR.

THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.

UH, I WANTED TO START WITH IF WE CAN LOOK AT, UH, SLIDE NUMBER SEVEN, WHICH IS THE CHART OVER TIME FOR HOW WE'RE DOING WITH EV ADOPTION.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S BEEN KIND OF BUMPY OVER TIME.

UH OH, DO YOU WANNA GO BACK ONE MORE SLIDE OR THIS ONE? YEAH, ONE MORE SLIDE.

CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND, WELL, THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS I WANT TO ASK HERE, BUT CAN YOU HELP ME FIRST UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE EVOLUTION OVER THE LAST, UH, DECADE OR HALF DECADE? WHY IT'S, WHAT WOULD WE, IS THIS SORT OF WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT? SO FIRST OFF, GREAT QUESTION.

UM, NOW OUR VEHICLE REPLACEMENT STRATEGY, THE NUMBER OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES THAT WE'RE BUYING WE'RE, UH, WE'RE PURCHASING THEM BASED ON ATTRITION AND, UH, AND SO IT'S A NATURAL REPLACEMENT RATE.

UH, IN THE EARLY STAGES WE HAD SOME OPPORTUNITY THAT WAS PINNED UP AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO JUMP OUT THERE VERY EARLY AND GET RID OF SOME INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VEHICLES.

UH, AND YOU COULD SEE WE WERE AT A PRETTY FAST CLIP GOING FOR THE, ALL THE WAY TO 2021.

THAT DROP IN 2022 WAS A-C-O-V-I-D IMPACT.

BUT WE'RE ALSO STARTING TO GRIND THROUGH ALL OF THOSE SEDANS AND CROSSOVERS AND, UH, ALL OF THAT KIND OF LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT'S WAS EASY FOR US TO GET OUR HANDS ON.

WE'VE GOT SOMETHING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF SIX OR SEVEN DIFFERENT MANUFACTURER MODELS OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES THAT WE'VE, UH, PULLED IN AND WE TRIED.

AND, UH, SO NOW WE'RE FOCUSED ON SOME OF THE MORE, UH, I WOULD SAY WE'RE GETTING INTO THE PICKUP TRUCK WORLD.

AND THAT, THAT LIGHT DUTY PICKUP TRUCK, THAT'S OUR BREAD AND BUTTER, THAT'S A HUGE PIECE OF THE FLEET.

IT IS ALSO WHY YOU SAW THE VEHICLE MILES TRAVEL JUMP FROM 1.2 IS WHAT I THINK I REPORTED TO YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, UH, LAST YEAR AND NOW WE'RE AT 1.8.

THAT'S LARGELY BEING DRIVEN BY THE FACT THAT WE'RE STARTING TO GET INTO THE HIGHER USAGE VEHICLES THAT ARE MORE CRITICAL TO THE OPERATION.

I SEE US TAKING IN 2026, A PRETTY GOOD UPTICK IN TERMS OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE ADOPTION.

I DON'T THINK, I DON'T

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UH, I THINK WE TAKE THE NEXT BIG STEP.

OUR GROWTH RATE, BASELINE GROWTH RATE IS 14% PER YEAR.

UH, THAT'S A PROJECTION.

UH, BUT I THINK LOOKING AT PRELIMINARY NUMBERS, WE'RE IN THE 80 PLUS BEV PURCHASE RANGE FOR 2026 AT THIS POINT NOW.

AND WHAT I THINK IS SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITY THAT'S COMING ABOUT IN FRONT OF US IS SOME, UH, COMMERCIAL LAWN EQUIPMENT IS STARTING TO BECOME MORE VIABLE TO US.

UH, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, SOME COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT, UH, BACKHOES AND UH, THINGS LIKE THAT THAT CAN OPERATE OFF OF A BATTERY.

AND SO WE'RE KIND OF SPREADING OUT A LITTLE BIT, GETTING OFF ROAD, GETTING INTO SOME OF THE HIGHER USE VEHICLES.

AND, UH, SO I DON'T THINK WE SLOW DOWN.

I THINK WE KEEP GOING.

I THINK IN FACT, ACTUALLY WE START PICKING UP THE PACE A LITTLE BIT.

AND IN THAT CHART, THE NATIONAL AVERAGE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IS THAT COMPARING US TO PEER CITIES AN AVERAGE, OR IS THAT COMPARING US TO CONSUMER? THAT'S JUST PEER CONSUMER NATIONAL? THIS IS, THIS IS VEHICLE SALES, UH, TOTAL VEHICLE SALES.

SO, UH, LET'S SAY PRE COVID, UH, THERE'D BE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 17 MILLION VEHICLES SOLD PER YEAR.

AND THAT IS THE BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL, UH, VEHICLES SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES.

DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF ANALYSIS COMPARING US TO P CITIES WHO'S DOING REALLY WELL IN THIS SPACE, WHO'S MAYBE LAGGING FURTHER BEHIND? SO WE'RE ONE OF THE LEADING CITIES AND I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM THERE.

UM, WE, WE ABSOLUTELY, EVERYBODY COUNTS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY.

LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF OUR, I DON'T WANNA NAME ANY CITIES BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO, UH, CALL 'EM OUT, BUT THERE ARE SOME CITIES THAT COUNT THINGS A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY THAN WHAT WE DO.

WE COUNT PURE ON ROAD AND THINGS THAT ARE FLEET ASSETS.

WE DON'T COUNT PLUGIN, UH, GOLF CARTS.

UH, WE DON'T COUNT SMALL PIECES OF EQUIPMENT LIKE THAT.

THIS IS JUST PURE, UH, AT FLEET ASSETS THAT DRIVE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.

THE COST PER MILE, UH, IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER TO RUN SOME HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES OR MEDIUM AND HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES.

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.

UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT, I THINK IT'S THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH YOU WERE ON WHERE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAVINGS PROGRAM DATE.

YEAH.

I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AROUND JUST HELPING ME UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE QUANTIFYING, UH, THE BENEFITS OF WHAT THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.

AND WHEN I SAY THAT, I MEAN, IS THERE ANY PLACE THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY QUANTIFYING THE, UH, EMISSIONS OR AIR QUALITY OR CARBON FOOTPRINT OR ANYTHING ALONG THOSE LINES? AND AT THE SAME TIME, UH, IS THERE A POINT THAT WE'RE ALSO CALCULATING, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE SWITCHING COSTS? UM, WHAT'S HAPPENING? YOU KNOW, ARE WE RIDING OFF ANY VEHICLES? IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE USING ATTRITION, BUT MAYBE THAT'S SLOWING DOWN AND YOU'RE HAVING TO BE MORE SELECTIVE NOW.

UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND THIS COULD BE TAKEN AS FAR AS ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO, BUT EVERYTHING FROM UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINING RARE EARTH MINERALS FOR LITHIUM BATTERIES.

IT COULD BE, UM, WHAT THE ONGOING COSTS OF MAINTAINING OUR, UH, CHARGING STATIONS.

BUT I'M CURIOUS, IS THAT WORK BEING DONE ANYWHERE IN YOUR TEAM OR ANYWHERE ELSE? SO THOSE ARE VERY THOUGHTFUL AND ABSOLUTELY GREAT QUESTIONS.

UM, AND WE ARE, SO, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, I'LL GIVE YOU SOME THINGS HERE THAT I JUST RECENT ANALYSIS THAT WE'VE COMPLETED.

SO WE LOOKED AT THAT 29% OF THE REMAINING VEHICLES THAT WE COULD ELECTRIFY.

UH, AND, UH, WE DID A NET PRESENT VALUE OVER THE LIFE OF THOSE VEHICLES.

AND THAT ESSENTIALLY WOULD BE ABOUT A $35 MILLION LOSS OVER EIGHT YEARS TO ACTUALLY REPLACE ALL THOSE VEHICLES WITH BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES TODAY.

UM, IN THAT SAME TIME PERIOD, IF WE DID THAT, WE WOULD SAVE ONLY 21,000 METRIC TONS OF CARBON OUTPUT AS A RESULT OF REPLACING ALL OF THAT TODAY, UH, BASICALLY ABOUT 2,700 METRIC TONS PER, PER YEAR.

THE FLEET ITSELF IS A 48,000 METRIC TON OUTPUT PER YEAR FLEET.

UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING AT PROACTIVE REPLACEMENT AND WE SEE WHERE THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES, UH, BUT IT'S VERY SELECTIVE, UH, IN TERMS OF, SO THAT'S LOOKING FORWARD AND CAN WE ACCELERATE THE PROGRAM AND IF SO, WHAT WILL IT COST US IN NET PRESENT VALUE TODAY? AND THAT INCLUDES REAL WORLD MILES, REAL SALVAGE VALUE, REAL COST OF REPLACEMENT, 5% INTEREST.

WE VALUE, WE DID THE COMPLETE ANALYSIS ON IT AND I'D BE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT, UH, MODEL WITH YOU IN DETAIL.

UM, BUT, UH, UH, AND, AND THEN OF COURSE THE CARBON SAVINGS, RIGHT? AS WE GET INTO THE REFUSE SOLID WASTE FLEET AND SOME OF THE HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES, WHICH ALMOST IS 50% OF OUR ENTIRE FLEET, REALLY, I MEAN, YOU START GETTING INTO SOME REALLY SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS BECAUSE

[00:25:01]

SO I, I WOULD SAY TO YOU, AND THEN THE OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE CARBON OUTPUT ARE EV ARE SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER.

SO I THINK THE BEST IS YET TO COME.

AND, UH, WHERE WE'RE AT NOW IS WE'RE JUST IN THAT EARLY STAGES, BUT WE'RE LOOKING OUT INTO THE FUTURE TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, THESE SAVINGS THAT WE HAVE, THE $2.5 MILLION, THAT'S JUST FUEL AND THAT'S JUST MAINTENANCE.

AND THAT JUST GETS, AND IT GETS BURIED IN THE OVERALL COST OF DOING BUSINESS, BUT IT GETS PLOWED RIGHT BACK INTO THE DEPARTMENTS THAT ADOPT THE FASTEST.

THIS IS WHY WE TALK ABOUT THE CULTURE CHANGE.

THE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE CHANGING OVER TO BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE DO COST ALLOCATION AT FLEET, THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY BENEFIT THE MOST FROM ELECTRIFYING THEIR FLEET.

AND SO WE PASS THOSE DIRECT SAVINGS ONTO THEM AND THEIR FLEET.

AND I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT ANALYSIS WHENEVER IT'S COMPLETED.

I'D BE HAPPY TO SEND THAT OVER TO YOU.

I'M ALSO CURIOUS TO GO BACK TO THE SORT OF PIER CITY UNDERSTANDING.

I MEAN, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, AND THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT Y'ALL, BUT WE'VE HAD SOME CHALLENGES WITH OUR, UH, EFFORTS TO ELECTRIFY OUR BUSES.

AND SO AGAIN, I'M KIND OF WONDERING, IS IT PARTICULARLY IN THIS TIME WHERE WE'VE GOT SOME, UM, POTENTIAL FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS IN THE HORIZON, IS IT, WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE TO BE LOOKING AT PEER CITIES THAT ARE DOING A GOOD JOB IN THIS SPACE, PARTICULARLY WITH THE PLACES THAT WE'VE AS YET TO ELECTRIFY, UH, AND LOOK TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING FIRST BEFORE WE, WE MAKE SORT OF THE FIRST MOVE, WHICH MAY HAVE SOME ADVANTAGES, BUT MAY ALSO CARRY SOME, SOME COST TOO.

IF WE LOOK AT THE BUS EXAMPLE, IT'S VERY INTERESTING WHEN YOU LOOK AT PURE CITIES, 'CAUSE A LOT OF 'EM ARE VERY DIFFERENT THAN US.

WE TALK TO SOME CITIES THAT ARE VERY DISADVANTAGED.

THEY DON'T HAVE A POWER COMPANY LIKE WE DO, AND SO THEY CAN'T ORCHESTRATE THE CHANGE AS EFFICIENTLY AND RAPIDLY AS WE DO.

UM, AND UM, THEN THERE ARE OTHER CITIES THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE HAD SOME GOOD SUCCESS.

UM, BUT THE SUCCESS HAS TO BE DEFINED.

UH, I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.

ONE CITY IN COLUMBUS, OHIO WENT OUT AND LEASED A BUNCH OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES THAT WOULD APPEAR TO BE SUCCESS, BUT, UM, THAT WAS A LEASE.

THEY DIDN'T USE 'EM AND IT COST THEM OVER A MILLION DOLLARS TO GET OUT OF THE LEASE.

SO WE DON'T WANT, THIS IS WHY WE DO PILOT PROGRAMS, THIS IS WHY WE EVALUATE THE VEHICLES OURSELVES.

WE'VE GOT AN EXTREMELY QUALIFIED, UH, MECHANIC GROUP WITH OUR GROUP, AND WE ARE VERY AWARE OF THE MARKET CONDITIONS AND WE GO TO REGULARLY GO TO TRADE SHOWS.

WE TALK TO OTHER FLEETS ALL THE TIME.

I DO QUITE A BIT OF SPEAKING TO SOME OF OUR FELLOW FLEETS WHO HEAR ABOUT US AND ASK US HOW WE'RE DOING.

BUT IF YOU LOOK AT CITIES LIKE SEATTLE AND DENVER AND NEW YORK CITY AND LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO, WE'RE PROBABLY NUMBER THREE OR FOUR IN THE NATION IN TERMS OF DEPLOYMENT OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

IF I WAS TO PUT THAT IN ORDER, AND I WOULD SAY IT GOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS NEW YORK CITY, LOS ANGELES, AND THEN IT'S EITHER SAN FRANCISCO OR US.

WE'RE NECK AND NECK WITH EACH OTHER RIGHT NOW.

I APPRECIATE ALL OF THAT.

UH, I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT ANALYSIS AND, UH, MAY FOLLOW UP WITH SOME OTHER STUFF, UH, OFFLINE.

YES, SIR.

RICH, I HAVE JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR YOU AND THEN WE WILL CONTINUE THE PRESENTATION FIRST.

JUST A COUPLE OF FOLLOW UP INFORMATION ASIDE FROM THE ANALYSIS, WHICH IF YOU COULD SHARE WITH THE COMMITTEE, THAT'D BE GREAT.

I WAS CURIOUS IF YOU COULD PROVIDE US WITH THE, THE PIE CHARTS ON SLIDES FIVE AND SIX, BUT NOT BY, UM, SHARE OF THE FLEET, BUT BY SHARE OF VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED.

'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THAT'S GOING TO SHIFT THAT AROUND A LITTLE BIT.

UM, AND ALSO I WANT TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE VIABLE CATEGORY, WE HAVE THE INVIABLE CATEGORY, AND THEN WE HAVE THE PILOT WHERE MAYBE VIABLE, MAYBE NOT WE'RE, WE'RE FIGURING IT OUT.

I'M CURIOUS, JUST PARTICULARLY AROUND THE POLICE CRUISER PILOT, HOW ARE, ARE WE STILL ON THE SAME PATH OR DO WE THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, MY RECOLLECTION WAS LIKE 2028 WAS WHEN WE WERE GOING TO DO THE ANALYSIS AND FIGURE OUT YES OR NO.

SAME TIMELINE.

SO, SO WITH THE POLICE PURSUIT VEHICLE PILOT, I THINK WE GIVE A GOOD 12 MONTHS OF EVALUATION TO SEE IF THEY WORK WELL IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.

UM, THE, UH, POLICE ACADEMY WAS ALREADY KICKING THE TIRES ON IT AND, UH, RUNNING THEM AROUND.

WE HAD TO PULL 'EM BACK BECAUSE THEY WERE HAVING TOO MUCH FUN WITH 'EM.

UH, WE ARE GOING TO DO AN ANNOUNCEMENT.

WE'RE HOPING THAT YOU ALL MIGHT BE THERE AND SAY A WORD OR TWO.

UM, I KNOW YOU WERE THERE EARLY ON, UM, BUT I THINK A GOOD 12 MONTHS OF GOOD EVALUATION, UH, THEY'RE ALREADY BUILDING THEIR, UH, TESTING AND EVALUATION CRITERIA AT THE SAME

[00:30:01]

TIME.

FLEETS BUILDING OUR OWN EVALUATION CRITERIA, CHARGING CYCLES, MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, SUSPENSION, ALL THOSE GOOD THINGS THAT GO WITH THE VEHICLE ITSELF.

UM, I CAN ABSOLUTELY PROVIDE YOU A PIE CHART BY MILEAGE.

THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL.

UH, I THINK, UH, WE'RE PROBABLY LOOKING AT DECISIONS IN THE 2027 TIMEFRAME TO MAYBE STEP A LITTLE DEEPER INTO IT AT THAT POINT.

BUT THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE SELECTIVE LOCATION TO PUT THESE VEHICLES WITHIN, UH, THE COMMUNITY, UH, IS A DECISION THAT WOULD BE MADE BY CHIEF DAVIS AND HER TEAM AT, TO DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH THOSE VEHICLES.

WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS THEY CAN POSSIBLY BE.

EVERYTHING KIND OF WAS 20 22, 20 22, 23, 24.

THE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU IS, AND I'LL, FOR MY COLLEAGUES WHO WEREN'T HERE LAST YEAR AT THE AUDIT FINANCE COMMITTEE, WE DID A SIMILAR PRESENTATION, JUST KIND OF WHERE WE ARE, WHERE WE'RE GOING.

AND IN THAT PRESENTATION Y'ALL HAD ESTIMATED THAT BY 2030 WE WOULD BE AT A THOUSAND VEHICLES.

AND NOW YOUR ESTIMATE IS AT 705.

AND I'M CURIOUS, WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE YEAR SINCE WE LAST MET FOR THAT DRAMATIC SCALING DOWN? YEAH, I THINK WHAT WE JUST, UH, THERE WAS SOME EARLY ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE THERE.

I THINK WE WERE KIND OF STILL, UH, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE IMPACT OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN WAS.

WE HAD A LOT OF BACKLOG.

WE WERE JUST BASICALLY BARELY DIGESTING WHAT HAD ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO US.

WE HAD A LOT OF BACK ORDER, AND SO WE THOUGHT WE WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER ALONG.

NOW, OUR GOALS AND OUR FORECASTS ARE CONSERVATIVE.

UH, IT'S OUR BASELINE.

I SEE US ACTUALLY EXCEEDING THAT, BUT I'M GONNA TAKE A CONSERVATIVE LINE ON IT AND MEET THE 700 AND THEN I'M GONNA TRY TO EXCEED THAT TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.

AND THIS IS A, A, A QUESTION FOR ZACH, BUT NOT A A QUESTION FOR YOU TO ANSWER, BUT ONE THING I WAS HOPING YOU COULD THINK ABOUT AND, AND I THINK WE ALL LOVE TO THINK WITH MY COLLEAGUES HERE OF IS THE VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED, THE RIGHT METRIC? YOU KNOW, SHOULD WE BE ASKING OURSELVES OF HERE IS OUR FLEET EMISSIONS AMOUNT AND WE WANT TO SCALE THAT TOTAL AMOUNT DOWN SO THAT MAYBE IF WE, YOU KNOW, ONE MILE OF A LAWNMOWER IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN ONE MILE OF SOMETHING ELSE.

AND SO SHOULD WE BE FOCUSED MORE ON THAT EMISSIONS QUESTION THAN A MILE MILES TRAVELED? I'M SURE THAT WAS CHOSEN FOR A REASON, BUT JUST, UM, FOOD FOR THOUGHT AS WE LOOK FORWARD OF LIKE, SHOULD WE JUST HAVE A, A CAP THAT WE'RE SLOWLY WORKING OUR WAY DOWN TO GIVE YOU SOME FLEXIBILITY AND TO MEET THAT.

SO, UH, WITH THAT, I KNOW YOU HAVE, UH, SOMEBODY COMING UP BEHIND YOU HERE, SO SURE.

I APPRECIATE ALL THE INFORMATION.

INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE PORTFOLIO OF CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES.

THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS, MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.

UM, AS ZACH MENTIONED, MY NAME IS CAMERON FREEBERG.

I'M THE MANAGER OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AT AUSTIN ENERGY.

UH, SO WITH ALL THE EFFORTS THAT RICK MENTIONED, UH, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S FLEET, UM, WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE TO HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THAT CHANGE AS WELL.

AND MAYBE THERE WE, UH, SO CURRENTLY, UH, AT CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES, WE HAVE OVER 450 ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING PORTS, UH, TO SUPPORT BOTH THE FLEET, OUR EMPLOYEES, AS WELL AS THE PUBLIC.

AND THEN WE ARE NOW, UH, STARTING OR WE'RE ACTUALLY LAUNCHING IN THE NEXT PHASE.

UH, RICK MENTIONED THE I-D-I-E-Q CONTRACT TO DEPLOY MORE EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CITY OF AUSTIN FLEET SERVICES THAT IS NOW UNDERWAY AS WELL.

UM, AT AUSTIN ENERGY, WE'RE ALSO WORKING CROSS-DEPARTMENTALLY TO GET SOME GUIDANCE DOCUMENTATION, UM, THAT HELPS, UH, WITH THE INSTALLATION OPERATIONS, CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES I MENTIONED EARLIER AROUND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WITH, UH, WORKING WITH MAYBE, UH, CONTRACTORS OR INSTALLERS, UH, TO GET INFRASTRUCTURE IN.

SO WE WANT VERY CLEAR GUIDANCE, VERY CLEAR SPECIFICATIONS THAT GO INTO THAT, THAT NOT ONLY WE CAN USE AUSTIN ENERGY, BUT ALSO OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS AS THEY EITHER BUILD NEW FACILITIES, INSTALL IT, OR RETROFIT THEIR FACILITIES.

AND THEN, UH, WE HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES, UH, AND GETTING EV INFRASTRUCTURE OUT THERE, BUT WE'RE ALSO DEVELOPING A PROGRAM INTERNALLY, UH, TO HELP SUPPORT THAT THROUGH STANDARDIZATION, THROUGH, UH, THROUGH INCENTIVES OF ALL SORTS OF THINGS TO HELP CITY OF BOSTON FACILITIES, UH, GROW THAT PORTFOLIO OF EV CHARGING.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

OH, UM, OH, SORRY.

UM, SO IN ADDITION TO THE STUFF THAT WE'RE, UH, HAVE BEEN DOING, WE REALLY WANT TO GET A MORE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING

[00:35:01]

UM, SO WE ARE WORKING WITH THE CONSULTING FIRM AS WELL AS ALL OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS TO CONDUCT A STUDY.

UM, THAT ONE, UH, YOU KNOW, ANALYZES AND MAPS OUT WHERE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE ALREADY IS.

UH, I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD GRASP ON THAT.

BUT THEN TAKE THAT AND THEN IDENTIFY THE FUTURE EXPANSION OPTIONS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN FLEET, UH, FOR OUR EMPLOYEES AND THE PUBLIC TO SUPPORT VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION.

UM, WE RECENTLY HELD OUR STAKEHOLDER KICKOFF MEETING A FEW WEEKS AGO ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS TO START, UM, YOU KNOW, GETTING THE INPUT FOR DATA THAT WE'LL NEED TO HELP SUPPORT THIS EFFORT, HOW WE IDENTIFY FUTURE USE CASES AND, AND WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO WITH FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPAND IT AT CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES.

SO BEHIND THIS EFFORT, THERE'S UH, THERE'S QUITE A FEW GOALS THAT ARE TIED TO IT.

UM, SO ONE OF 'EM IS KIND OF A BUILD FIRST OR BUILD ONCE APPROACH.

SO WE WANNA IDENTIFY AREAS WHERE WE'RE GONNA NEED FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT RICK'S EFFORTS IN ELECTRIFYING OUR FLEET.

WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SUPPORTING OUR EMPLOYEES AND THE PUBLIC THAT VISITS OUR FACILITIES.

UH, SO WE NEED TO DETERMINE WHAT'S THE QUANTITY AND WHAT'S THE LOCATION OF THIS FUTURE DEPLOYMENT OF EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, AS WELL AS DETERMINE THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT.

THAT WAY WE CAN START DOING BUDGET PLANNING, NOT JUST AT AUSTIN ENERGY, NOT JUST A FLEET MOBILITY SERVICES, BUT, YOU KNOW, CITYWIDE, THIS ALSO PUTS POSITION AS WELL FOR IF GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES COME UP, WE HAVE A ROBUST PLAN, WE COULD SAY WE'D LIKE TO APPLY THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY TO THIS PLAN, UM, AS WELL AS ANY KIND OF FUTURE BUDGETING ASK THAT COME OUT OF IT.

SO THIS GIVES US A PRIORITIZATION OF WHERE EV CHARGING WILL GO.

UH, IT GIVES US A COST ANALYSIS OF WHERE IT WILL GO AND, AND KIND OF HELPS US DO THIS IN A COHESIVE FASHION.

FOR THESE THREE USE CASES.

I JUST WANNA ALSO GIVE THE EMPHASIS THAT FLEET CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, PUBLIC CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND WORKPLACE, THEY ALL MIGHT BE CLOSE TO THE SAME EQUIPMENT, BUT THERE'S NUANCES TO EACH AND AS WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THOSE, UH, VETTED CORRECTLY.

SO AT THE END OF THIS, UM, AT THE END OF THIS STUDY, WHICH WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR, WE'LL HAVE THAT EXCEL BASED INVENTORY OF CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES, QUANTITIES, LOCATIONS, AS WELL AS THE DETAILED COST ANALYSIS.

AND THEN GOING FROM JUST EXPANDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE, IT'S ALSO ABOUT HOW WE USE IT AND HOW DO WE MAKE THAT EXPERIENCE, UH, AS SEAMLESS AS POSSIBLE GOING FORWARD.

UH, I'M SURE ANY EARLY ADOPTER OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING HAS BEEN FRUSTRATED BY, UH, A VERY LARGE GAS VEHICLE, PARKING IN THAT INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, ET CETERA, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.

UM, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE DO NOT REPEAT THOSE PROBLEMS THAT HAPPENED OUT IN THE WILD AT OUR OWN FACILITY.

SO, UH, I'VE GOTTEN TO WORK WITH THE ENTIRE TEAM BEHIND ME, AS WELL AS OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS FOR HOW WE'RE GONNA LAUNCH AN EV CHARGING PARKING POLICY THAT CAN BE CITYWIDE.

UH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE PROMOTE THAT ACCESS FOR ALL ACROSS THOSE THREE USE CASES.

UH, 'CAUSE LAST THING WE WANT IS TO HAVE CONFLICT BETWEEN OUR EMPLOYEES AND FLEET VEHICLES AND THE PUBLIC FOR USING THOSE SPACES.

UH, WE ALSO WANNA CREATE A SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES THAT ARE ADOPTING ELECTRIC VEHICLES THAT MAKE SURE THEY HAVE AVAILABLE CHARGING THERE.

UM, MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT LEAVING CARS THERE FOR DAYS, WEEKS, AT A TIME.

SOMETIMES THAT CAN BLOCK THAT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT SOMEONE ELSE ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY NEEDS.

AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO STANDARDIZE, UH, THE USAGE GUIDELINES, UM, GOING FROM EVERYTHING FROM HAVING DESIGNATED SPACES, CLEAR SIGNAGE, UH, TIME OF OR WHAT TIMES THEY CAN BE USED, AND THEN POTENTIALLY HOW WE MITIGATE ANY PROBLEMS THAT ARISE OUT OF THAT ONE.

I, I BELIEVE THAT WAS MY LAST ONE, ZACH.

I CAN PICK QUESTIONS OR LET, LET'S DO HARD.

'CAUSE I THINK THEY'RE ALSO KIND OF INFRASTRUCTURE BASED AND THEN WE MIGHT HAVE THE, THE QUESTIONS MIGHT BE INFORMED BY THAT AS WELL.

AB.

ABSOLUTELY.

SO THANKS CAMERON.

I'M SARAH TALKINGTON, I'M A CONSULTING ENGINEER AND I WORK FOR THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.

SO, UM, PRIOR TO THIS YEAR, PAR HAS BEEN TESTING, PILOTING AND ADOPTING ELECTRIC LAWN AND LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT AS IT BECAME AVAILABLE.

UM, IT'S BEEN A PIECEMEAL APPROACH, PRIMARILY LED BY THE MANAGERS, UM, LEADING THE WORK IN 2025.

SO, UM, ACTUALLY JUST LAST MONTH IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER CITY OF AUSTIN DEPARTMENTS, SPECIFICALLY THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE, AUSTIN ENERGY AND FLEET, WE HAVE LAUNCHED A NEW STUDY.

IT'S, UM, BEING PERFORMED BY A CONSULTANT.

WE'RE GOING TO ES ESSENTIALLY, UM, SURVEY THE ENTIRE LANDSCAPE AND LAWN MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT, UM, MARKET HERE IN AUSTIN TO BETTER UNDERSTAND, UM, THE RISKS, THE LIABILITIES, UM, THE OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH ADOPTING, UH, LOW CARBON LAWN AND

[00:40:01]

LANDSCAPE EQUIPMENT.

SO WE'RE GOING TO SURVEY, UM, WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, SO OUR OWN EMPLOYEES, THE VENDORS THAT WE CONTRACT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS TO MAINTAIN, AND ALSO, UM, THE SMALL AND LARGE COMPANIES THAT JUST WORK IN AUSTIN, WHETHER THEY BE IN MULTI-FAMILY PROPERTIES, COMMERCIAL, ET CETERA.

SO, UM, THE OUTPUT OF THE STUDY WILL BE TO, UM, RESEARCH ALL OF THE PEER CITIES AND BETTER UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT WOULD BE THE ROLE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE, UM, TRANSITION TO LOW CARBON OPTIONS AND PARKS HAS STEPPED UP TO BE THE PILOT AND TO ESSENTIALLY, UM, WE'LL HAVE A MANUAL FOR HOW TO APPROACH THE TRANSITION, HOW TO IDENTIFY SUCCESS, UM, AND WHERE TO, UM, FOCUS OUR, UM, PRIOR OUR FIRST STEPS.

UM, SO I GUESS JUST WHAT I WOULD WANNA UNDERSCORE IS THAT THERE'S A LOT OF COMPLEXITY BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH, UM, VARIETY OF WORK BEING DONE AT PARKS.

SO WE HAVE TEAMS THAT GO OUT AND MAINTAIN NON IMPROVED LAND.

WE ALSO MAINTAIN TREES IN PARKS.

WE HAVE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT TEAMS THAT GO OUT AND MOW, UM, LARGE ATHLETIC FIELDS, ET CETERA.

WE ALSO HAVE A PARK CONSTRUCTION TEAM THAT WORKS LIKE, UM, ARTISTS ESSENTIALLY WITH CHAINSAWS.

AND THEN WE ALSO, UM, HAVE A LOT OF PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND THEY ALSO CONTRACT OUT WORK.

SO, UM, THE SCOPE IS REALLY, UH, UH, I GUESS BROAD IN TERMS OF ALL OF THE, UM, UH, SPECIFICS THAT THE EQUIPMENT NEEDS TO ACHIEVE.

AND THAT'S IT FOR ME.

VERY GOOD.

I'M GONNA CHECK WITH VICE CHAIR ELLIS FIRST, JUST TO MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

I KNOW.

CAN BE TOUGH.

I THINK I'M ALL RIGHT.

THANKS.

YOU GOT IT.

ANY QUESTIONS IN THERE OR CAS FORWARD? UH, FIRST THANKS BOTH OF Y'ALL FOR HELPING ME BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT.

UM, I THINK MY QUESTIONS ARE REALLY MAINLY WELL START WITH, START WITH PAR, IF YOU DON'T MIND.

UM, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT'S COME UP EVEN LAST YEAR, UM, FROM TALKING TO CONSTITUENTS IS SPECIFICALLY AROUND LEAF BLOWERS.

AND SO I'M CURIOUS WHAT ALL EQUIPMENT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.

IS IT, YOU MENTIONED CHAINSAWS, I WOULD ASSUME IT'S MOWERS OR LEAF BLOWERS IN THE MIX.

WHAT ELSE IS IN THE MIX THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH ME THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT AS PART OF THE STUDY AND, AND WHAT TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW THAT YOU, YOU YOU'RE ALREADY USING? SO, MOWERS, BLOWERS, HEDGERS, LIKE THE FULL GAMUT.

UM, AND I'D SAY THAT AS A PIECEMEAL APPROACH, WE'VE ESSENTIALLY TRIED EVERYTHING.

UM, THE TEAMS ARE EAGER TO TRANSITION WHERE IT'S VIABLE AND WHERE THE EQUIPMENT IS BETTER.

UM, AND EVERYONE FEELS AS THOUGH, UM, THEY'VE MADE ALL OF THE TRANSITIONS THAT, UH, ESSENTIALLY THE CULTURE AND THE STAFF ARE WILLING TO, UM, SACRIFICE.

SO IN SOME CASES, THE EQUIPMENT'S HEAVIER.

IN SOME CASES THE EQUIPMENT IS, UM, REQUIRES MORE TURNS, SO A LONGER TIMEFRAME, UM, IN SOME CASES THEY JUST REALLY STRUGGLE TO KEEP BATTERIES, UH, CHARGED IN THE FIELD.

SO ESSENTIALLY WE TRY EVERYTHING UNTIL WE HIT A, A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT ROADBLOCK.

AND IS THAT STUDY THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON, IS THAT INTENDED TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND WHICH ARE MORE VIABLE AND WHICH ARE NOT AS FAR AS REPLACING IN THE FUTURE? EXACTLY.

AND JUST THE NUANCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORK THAT EACH TEAM DOES, AND HOW, UM, ONE TEAM MIGHT BE PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH AN ELECTRIC CHAINSAW WHILE ANOTHER TEAM MIGHT NOT, IT NOT, MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD OPTION FOR THEM.

AND PROPERTY OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT COMPANIES ABOUT WHAT THEY COULD SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITION TO, INCLUDING WHAT THE BENEFITS OF THOSE TRANSITIONS DO SINCE YOU GUYS HAVE SORT OF DONE THE DATA AND EXPLORED THAT YOURSELF? IT HAS BEEN MY UNDERSTANDING, AND I THINK THAT THIS WAS PRIMARILY DONE BY OFFICE, THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE AND AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, THAT, UH, RESIDENTIAL EQUIPMENT IS FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF THE TRANSITION.

AND I'M LOOKING AT THE SLIDE, IT SAYS PILOT PROGRAM MANUAL FOR PAR IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR.

IS THAT WHEN YOU WOULD EXPECT THAT STUDY TO COMPLETE IT AND HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS EXACTLY THAT COULD BE ROLLED OUT TO OTHER FOLKS? UM, IF I'M BEING OPTIMISTIC IN SAYING WE'RE GONNA HAVE SOME SUCCESSES FROM THAT, SOME EQUIPMENT'S ABLE TO BE TRANSITIONED.

IS THERE A WAY, AND THIS IS AGAIN WHAT I'M HEARING FROM, FROM FOLKS IN NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE THEY'RE FRUSTRATED BY THE NOISE AND BY THE FUMES AND BY THE, YOU KNOW, BY THE EMISSIONS.

UM, IS THERE A WAY TO TAKE THAT MANUAL OR THE OUTCOMES THAT YOU'VE CONCLUDED AND START TO ADVISE HOMEOWNERS

[00:45:01]

AND SO THIS FOCUS WAS SPECIFICALLY FOR, UH, COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE LAWN MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT AND THE COMPANIES THAT PERFORM IT OR THE PEOPLE WHO DO IT, UH, FOR LARGE CAMPUSES OR LOTS OF BUILDINGS.

AND HOW WOULD WE, I, I MEAN, ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW WE INCENTIVIZE THEM GOING FORWARD THEN TO MAKE THOSE TRANSITIONS IF THEY'RE IN THE PRIVATE SPACE? THAT IS, UM, SO THERE'S TWO OUTPUTS, TWO REPORTS THAT'LL COME OUT OF THE, UH, CONSULTANTS WORK.

AND THE FIRST ONE WILL BE A LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE CITY CAN ADOPT IN ORDER TO SPEED UP THE TRANSITION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE AND LAWN MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

MY OTHER QUESTIONS ARE REGARDING THE CHARGERS.

UM, I'M CURIOUS, UH, AND THIS I GUESS GOES ALONG AND MAYBE I CAN GET THE SAME DATA FROM THE ANALYSIS THAT RICK TALKED ABOUT EARLIER.

UH, BUT I'M WONDERING, ARE WE, IS THERE, HAVE YOU GUYS DONE WORK IN FIGURING OUT KIND OF WHAT ARE THE CAPITAL COSTS, UM, UH, AND ALL THE OTHER INPUTS AND OUTPUTS ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH DEPLOYING THE CHARGING EQUIPMENT THAT WE'D NEED TO SUPPORT THE FLEET AND ALSO POTENTIALLY PART EQUIPMENT AND EVERYTHING ELSE? UM, DO WE HAVE THAT SORT OF HIGH LEVEL DATA FOR, UM, UH, ALL, AGAIN, I'LL JUST SAY IT AGAIN, ALL THE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS, WHETHER THEY'RE EMISSIONS, UH, WHETHER THEY'RE, UH, MAINTENANCE, ET CETERA.

CERTAINLY, YEAH, WE, WE'VE BEEN TRACKING THAT KIND OF WORK FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW BECAUSE EARLY ON A LOT OF IT GOT LOOKED AT JUST EQUIPMENT COST AND THEN THAT WENT FROM EQUIPMENT AND INSTALLATION COST.

YOU HAVE A GIANT VARIABLE THERE, .

UM, AND THEN YOU ADD THE O AND M COMPONENT ONTO IT AS WELL.

SO WE'VE RUN ROBUST MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, UM, FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY, UH, DC FAST CHARGING AND LEVEL TWO CHARGING LOOK, UH, VERY DIFFERENT IN THE AMOUNT OF, UH, COST OF LABOR THEY MIGHT NEED OR, UH, WHAT REPAIRS LOOK LIKE THERE.

SO WE DO HAVE MAINTENANCE BUDGETS AND WE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, TRACK WHAT REPAIRS LOOK LIKE.

WE'RE ALSO GOING INTO POTENTIALLY MORE OF THE WARRANTY SPACE, LIKE, AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO, UM, JUST PURE REACTIVE, WE CAN, WE CAN WORK IN A MORE PROACTIVE APPROACH TO HAVE CONTRACT STRUCTURES SET UP TO DO THAT.

UM, AND THEN ON THE EMISSION SIDE, WE, WE DO TRACK ALL OF THAT IN TERMS OF GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION, UH, FROM THE USAGE OF OUR PUBLIC STATIONS.

UM, SO WE GET THAT, YOU KNOW, THROUGH LIKE THE ELECTRICITY USAGE AND, AND HAVE THE OUTPUT OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS THERE.

IS THERE A SPLIT BETWEEN CITY STUFF AND, UM, REGULAR FOLKS CHARGING THEIR VEHICLES AT THE STATIONS? YEAH, SO, UM, ON THE PUBLIC, SORRY, ON THE, IT'D BE THE PUBLIC AND THE FLEET INFRASTRUCTURE SIDE, WE DO.

UM, SO WE CAN PULL THE DATA FROM LIKE THE EMISSIONS REDUCTION, STUFF LIKE THAT, UH, FOR EITHER ONE OF THOSE SETS, UM, AS WELL AS THE COST ANALYSIS.

UM, SO WE'VE DONE DEPLOYMENTS ON OUR SIDE FOR LIKE PUBLIC USAGE FOR LIKE DC FAST CHARGING, UM, AS WELL AS DO LIKE, UM, WHEN RICK MENTIONED LIKE THE, THE IDIQ CONTRACTS TO DEPLOY FLEET CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, LIKE COST PER PORT AND THEN THE MAINTENANCE SIDE OF IT.

WE HAVE, UH, SPENDING DATA THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF HOW MUCH WE'VE ACTUALLY PAID INTO LIKE, MAINTAINING, OWNING, OPERATING, ALL OF THAT, THAT GOES INTO IT.

IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD SHARE THAT WITH OUR OFFICE OR IF THERE'S INTEREST WITH THE, THE COMMITTEE HERE.

SURE.

I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.

YES SIR.

THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH.

I'M SURE WE WILL FOLLOW UP ON THIS TOPIC AGAIN, BUT, UH, VERY INSIGHTFUL.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

INTO A NONPROFIT THAT PROVIDES GRANTS VOLUNTEER SUPPORT AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION THROUGHOUT THIS CITY.

AND WITH THAT WE CAN MOVE ON

[3. Briefing on the Parks and Recreation Department partnership with Austin Parks Foundation (Liana Kallivoka, Assistant Director - Parks and Recreations Department; Christine Chute Canul, Program Manager II - Parks and Recreations Department; Colin Wallis - Austin Parks Foundation).]

TO ITEM NUMBER THREE.

THIS IS A BRIEFING ON THE PARKS AND RECREATIONS DEPARTMENT'S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.

AND HERE WE GO.

[00:50:29]

GOOD MORNING.

I AM LIANA KAKA AND I SERVE AS THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION.

I'M HERE TODAY WITH, UH, CHRISTINE SCH KANU.

SHE IS THE MANAGER FOR THE PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE DEPARTMENT, AND ALSO WITH OUR PARTNERS FROM AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.

AND WE THANK YOU FOR, UH, GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT ON PARTNERSHIPS AT AUSTIN PARKS CENTER CREATION.

WE ARE COMMITTED TO PARTNERSHIPS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES, AND THAT DELIVER TANGIBLE BENEFITS TO THE PUBLIC AND THE AUSTIN PARK SYSTEM.

WE ACTIVELY SEEK COLLABORATIONS WITH NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, CONSERVANCIES AND BUSINESSES, TO SUPPORT PARK DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAMMING.

PARTNERING WITH NONPROFITS IS A NATIONAL BEST PRACTICE THAT HELPS EXPAND CAPACITY, ENGAGE COMMUNITIES, AND DELIVER EQUITABLE HIGH IMPACT PARK PROGRAMS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

THESE PARTNERSHIPS ALIGNED WITH CITY GOALS WHILE LEVERAGING EXTERNAL FUNDING, VOLUNTEERISM, UH, SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE AND ALL.

WITHOUT REPLACING C CORE FUNCTIONS OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, UH, WE DEVELOPED A PARTNERSHIP MODEL BASED ON THE DIRECTION WE RECEIVED FROM COUNCIL IN MARCH OF 2020.

AND BASED ON PLANNING PRIORITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE OUTLINED IN THE LONG RANGE PLAN, EXTENSIVE, UH, RESEARCH INFORMED THE FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK AND THE PARTNERSHIP CONFIGURATIONS THAT YOU SEE ON THIS SLIDE FROM A THROUGH D SUPPORT, EVERYTHING FROM GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY GROUPS TO ESTABLISHED NON-PROFITS IMPROVING PARKLAND.

I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSCORE, UH, TWO POINTS.

THE PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK ACKNOWLEDGES THAT OVERSIGHT, TRANSPARENCY AND MONITORING ARE VITAL TO MAINTAINING PUBLIC TRUST AND SUPPORT.

AND THE DEPARTMENT IS PRIORITIZING THE DEVELOPMENT OF OVERARCHING PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS WITH ALL KEY PARTNERS.

THE BENEFITS OF PARTNERSHIPS ARE MULTIFOLD PARTNERS CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO CELEBRATE AND GIVE BACK TO PARKS.

CASE IN POINT, IN FISCAL YEAR 24, MORE THAN 24,000 VOLUNTEERS WORKED MORE THAN 75,000 HOURS, AND THAT WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF OVER TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS IN LABOR THAT WAS GIVEN TO OUR PARKS.

PARTNERS ARE ALSO THROUGH THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP KEEP PARKS HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL.

THEY CLEAN, UM, SO THAT THE PARKS CLEAN, AUSTIN'S AIR PROTECT OUR WATER SUPPLY AND REDUCE HEAT ISLANDS.

IN FISCAL YEAR, 24 PARTNERS PLANTED MORE THAN 14,000 TREES AND SAPLINGS AND COLLECTED MORE THAN 250,000 POUNDS OF TRASH, WHICH IS ABOUT THE SAME WEIGHT AS 10 SCHOOL BUSES, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A VISUAL ABOUT THAT.

SO THESE NUMBERS CLEARLY SHOW THAT THE COMMUNITY IS SHOWING UP, ENGAGING AND PARTICIPATING IN PARTNER LED EVENTS AND PROGRAMS ON PARKLAND.

UM, IF YOU WOULD LIKE ACTUALLY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THE PARTNERSHIPS, WE, UM, WE PRODUCE THE ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT, WHICH IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBPAGE FOR PARTNERSHIPS.

AND WE ALSO HAVE A FEW PRINTED COPIES TODAY WITH US.

AND, UH, WITH REGARD TO AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION IS A KEY PARTNER AND A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS MODEL FOUNDED BY DEDICATED COMMUNITY MEMBERS, A PF HAS EVOLVED IN STEP WITH AUSTIN'S RAPID GROWTH, TRANSITIONING FROM A GRASSROOTS STEWARDSHIP GROUP

[00:55:01]

THIS EVOLUTION MIRRORS OUR DEPARTMENT'S LONGSTANDING APPROACH TO COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS AND SUPPORTS THE DIRECTION SET BY COUNCIL, WHICH CALLED FOR FORMAL FRAMEWORKS TO GUIDE AND STRENGTHEN THIS PARTNERSHIP RELATIONSHIPS.

ADVANCING THAT FRAMEWORK REMAINS A DEPARTMENTAL PRIORITY, AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO MOVING IT FORWARD.

AND WITH THAT, I WILL TURN THE FLOOR TO OUR A PF PARTNERS.

OF GUIDESTAR AND, AND THE FOUNDATION CENTER.

THANK YOU, LIANA.

GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.

THANKS FOR HAVING US TODAY.

UM, WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME AND, UH, TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION AND WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO.

UM, I'M JOINED TODAY BY, UH, THREE OF OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM, JOY KOVSKI, WHO'S BEEN WITH US FOR ABOUT FOUR YEARS.

AND PRIOR TO THAT WAS WITH THE SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER FOR I BELIEVE, 14 YEARS.

UM, KATIE ROBARD, WHO'S BEEN WITH US FOR ABOUT EIGHT, EIGHT YEARS, SHE'S A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, UH, RUNS OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM.

JOY RUNS OUR MISSION PROGRAM, UH, AND OUR CFO JAYNA BERGDORF, WHO, UH, HAS BEEN WITH US FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS PRIOR TO THAT WAS WITH TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOR ABOUT 11 YEARS.

UM, AND MOST OF YOU KNOW ME.

MY NAME IS COLIN WALLACE.

I HAVE, I'M THE CEO OF THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.

UH, I HAVE BEEN HERE, I'M A 36 YEAR AUSTINITE, UH, AND I'VE BEEN AT THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION FOR 13 YEARS.

IT HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS PLEASURE TO BE INVOLVED WITH THIS ORGANIZATION.

UM, PRIOR TO THAT, I WAS A VOLUNTEER, UH, FROM THE VERY EARLY DAYS ON WHAT USED TO BE THE TOWN LAKE TRAIL FOUNDATION BOARD.

UM, AND I WAS ON THAT BOARD FOR ABOUT NINE YEARS.

AND I CHAIRED THE BOARD WHEN WE RAISED FIVE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS IN LESS THAN A YEAR TO HELP THE CITY BUILD THE BOARDWALK THAT WE ALL, UH, KNOW AND LOVE TODAY.

UM, THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, AS LEONA SAID, UM, IS A 33-YEAR-OLD ORGANIZATION.

WE'VE BEEN PARTNERING WITH THE CITY AND THE PARKS DEPARTMENT FOR ALL 33 OF THOSE YEARS.

WE WERE FOUNDED BY A FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER NAMED BEVERLY GRIFFITH, UH, WHO IS STILL A DONOR TO THE PARKS FOUNDATION TO THIS DAY.

UM, WHAT BEVERLY KNEW BACK IN THOSE DAYS IS THE SAME THING THAT I KNOW, AND THE SAME THING THAT ALL OF YOU KNOW, AND THAT IS OUR PARKS ARE UNDERFUNDED, THEY ALWAYS HAVE BEEN, AND THEY ALWAYS WILL BE.

UM, IT'S JUST THE SAD REALITY OF PARKS IN OUR COUNTRY.

THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM THAT IS UNIQUE TO AUSTIN.

WE SEE IT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

UM, WE REALLY STARTED OUT 33 YEARS AGO AS A VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION.

THEY LITERALLY WERE JUST HELPING PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY NEEDED TO, TO DO IN THEIR PART TO MAKE IT BETTER.

UM, THAT REALLY HASN'T CHANGED.

IT'S CERTAINLY GOT MORE COMPLICATED, IT'S GOT MORE MULTIFACETED, BUT AT THE ROOT OF IT, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS HELPING OUR NEIGHBORS MAKE THEIR PARKS BETTER.

AND THAT IS A VERY DIFFERENT ENDEAVOR IN YOUR PARK THAN IT IS IN MY PARK.

EVERYBODY'S PARK IS VERY UNIQUE, UM, AND WE ARE JUST GETTING OUT THERE TO HELP PEOPLE DO WHAT IT IS THAT THEY NEED DONE IN THEIR PARKS.

UM, AND, AND LEANNA TALKED ABOUT IT A LITTLE BIT BEFORE, I THINK SHE SAID, UH, THERE WERE 24,000 VOLUNTEERS LAST YEAR TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

I BELIEVE ABOUT HALF OF THOSE CAME THROUGH THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, SO ABOUT 12,000 VOLUNTEERS A YEAR THAT COME THROUGH, UH, CORPORATE PARTNERS THAT COME THROUGH, NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS THAT COME FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE BECAUSE THEY WANNA, THEY WANNA LEND A HAND AND MAKE OUR PARKS BETTER.

UM, OUR ORGANIZATION IS MADE UP OF ABOUT 25 STAFF MEMBERS THAT ARE PRETTY TRADITIONAL NONPROFIT STAFF.

WE'VE GOT FINANCE PEOPLE, WE HAVE PROGRAMS PEOPLE, UH, WE HAVE MARKETING PEOPLE, UH, WE HAVE VOLUNTEER MANAGERS LIKE WE ARE MANAGED BY A AND LED BY A BOARD OF DIRECTORS THAT IS INDEPENDENTLY APPOINTED FROM THE COMMUNITY.

UM, OUR ORGANIZATION HAS VOLUNTARILY SUBMITTED TO A INDEPENDENT AUDIT FOR AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN THERE.

UH, AND I'M CERTAIN THAT EVERY YEAR I'VE BEEN THERE, WE'VE HAD A COMPLETELY CLEAN AUDIT.

WE ARE ALSO, UH, A FOUR STAR, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST RATING, UH, CHARITY NAVIGATOR, UH, RATED ORGANIZATION AND HAVE BEEN SINCE DAY ONE OF MY TENURE.

UH, AND WE'VE RECENTLY RECEIVED, UH, THE PLATINUM SEAL OF TRANSPARENCY FROM CANDID, WHICH IS, UH, A COLLABORATION

[01:00:01]

SO, UH, I THINK WE TAKE OUR, UH, FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS VERY SERIOUSLY IN THE WORK THAT WE DO VERY SERIOUSLY.

BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO, UH, UNDERSTAND IS THAT EVERY DIME THAT GOES THROUGH OUR ORGANIZATION IS GOING BACK INTO PARKS THAT DO NOT BELONG TO US.

UM, EVERYTHING WE DO IS GEARED TOWARDS MAKING THE CITY'S PARKS BETTER.

AND YES, THEY BELONG TO THE ROYAL US BUT NOT US AS AN ORGANIZATION.

UM, THE LION'S SHARE OF OUR DONORS, ABOUT 72,000 DONORS ARE INDIVIDUALS, YOU AND ME, PEOPLE THAT GIVE 5, 10, 25 BUCKS.

UH, AND, AND THAT HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE DAY ONE.

UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE ONE THING I WANT TO, AND LEONA TOUCHED ON THIS BEFORE, UM, ABOUT 10% OF AUSTIN SPENDING ON PARKS COMES FROM NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

SO US, THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY, THE WATER, THE GREENWAY, YOU ALL KNOW WHO THEY ARE, ARE CONTRIBUTING ABOUT 10% OF THE OVERALL SPEND, UH, IN AUSTIN TO OUR PARKS.

UM, I THINK THAT'S A GROWING TREND THAT YOU SEE NATIONALLY.

I THINK THE CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY REALLY STARTED THAT IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES IN NEW YORK.

UM, I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND TEXAS AND COMPARE US TO DALLAS AND HOUSTON, WHICH WE ALL LIKE TO DO, UH, DALLAS GETS ABOUT 20 PER 21% OF THEIR, UH, CITY SPENDING FOR PARKS THAT COMES FROM NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

AND HOUSTON'S ABOUT 28.

SO WHILE WE ARE, WE ARE BRINGING A LOT OF MONEY TO THE TABLE, THERE'S STILL A LOT OF UPWARD MOBILITY.

AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WHAT WE SAY TO OUR DONORS, WHAT WE SAY WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO PEOPLE ABOUT WHAT WE DO, IS THAT WE CAN'T JUST EXPECT THE CITY TO DO IT ALL.

IT'S, THAT'S NEVER GONNA BE THE CASE.

AND IF WE REALLY WANT TO TAKE CARE OF OUR PARKS, THE WAY OUR PARKS DESERVE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF, IT TAKES THE WHOLE COMMUNITY.

AND I THINK WHEN A PF IS AT ITS BEST, AND WHEN OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS ARE AT THEIR BEST, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE GROWING A CULTURE OF PHILANTHROPY TO PARKS.

AND I THINK YOU ALL KNOW THAT AUSTIN IS A VERY IMMATURE CITY WHEN IT COMES TO PHILANTHROPY.

UM, IT'S JUST THE NATURE OF, OF WHO WE ARE.

UM, BUT I THINK WE'VE REALLY MADE A LOT OF INROADS INTO MAKING, GIVING TO PARKS A COOL THING TO DO.

AND PEOPLE IN AUSTIN LOVE THEIR PARKS AND WE'RE MERELY PROVIDING THE CONDUIT FOR THEM TO DO THAT.

AND, AND AGAIN, WHAT WE, I THINK REALLY DO BEST IS LEVERAGE THOSE DOLLARS, UH, TO MAKE OUR PARKS BETTER.

LASTLY, JUST WANTED TO TOUCH ON, UH, THIS SLIDE THAT TALKS ABOUT, UH, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PARKS FOUNDATION AND PARD.

UM, WE HAVE A PHENOMENAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

COMPLICATED, MESSY, UGLY AT TIMES.

UH, BUT WE HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.

WE DO WITH THE CURRENT PARKS DIRECTOR, HIS PREDECESSOR, THE PREDECESSOR BEFORE THAT.

I THINK THEY ALL GET THAT.

THE PARKS FOUNDATION IS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT CAN BE A LOT MORE NIMBLE THAN THEY CAN, AND WE CAN WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY.

AND, AND SO WE REALLY DO OUR BEST TO RAISE MONEY TO BRING VOLUNTEERS INTO THE FOLD, TO HELP THEM AND, AND BE ADDITIVE TO THE WORK THAT THEY DO WHILE RESPECTING THE WORK THAT THEY DO, UM, BECAUSE THEY HAVE A HUGE JOB.

AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PARK SCORE DATA, WHICH I KNOW YOU'VE ALL SEEN, I'VE SENT IT TO ALL OF YOU.

WE JUST SPLIT.

WE JUST SLID 10 SPOTS.

UM, AND WHAT THAT MEANS, REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU CRUNCH THE DATA, IS THAT WE ARE NOT KEEPING UP THE WAY OTHER CITIES ARE KEEPING UP.

WE ARE NOT MAKING IT A PRIORITY TO INVEST IN OUR PARKS THE WAY OTHER CITIES ARE DOING.

AND I'VE SEEN US SORT OF BOUNCE AROUND BETWEEN 30 AND 40 IN MY TENURE.

UH, BACKSLIDING TO 54 IS, IS REALLY BAD.

UM, SO WE, WE TRY TO BE THE BEST PARTNER WE CAN TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UH, TO HELP THEM WITH ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING AS IT RELATES TO OUR PARKS.

UH, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO, UH, KICK IT OVER TO JOY KOVSKI TO GET A LITTLE MORE IN THE WEEDS ABOUT OUR MISSION.

GOOD MORNING.

UM, THANKS FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.

UM, LET'S SEE.

ALL RIGHT.

UM, SO YEAH, AS, AS COLIN SAID, I'M GONNA GET MORE INTO THE WEEDS ABOUT KIND OF WHAT WE DO, UH, THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF OUR ORGANIZATION, HOW WE HELP THE COMMUNITY, UM, TAKE CARE OF THEIR PARKS AND GET ENGAGED WITH THE PARKS.

UM, SO WE HAVE OUR ADOPT A PARK PROGRAM, WHICH WE PARTNER WITH THE, UM, PARKS DEPARTMENT TO CO TO CO-MANAGE.

WE HAVE WHAT ARE CALLED SPONSORED FUND ACCOUNTS.

[01:05:01]

UH, WE DO A LOT OF ADVOCACY, WHICH YOU ARE PROBABLY AWARE OF.

UM, WE HAVE COMMUNITY INITIATED, UM, GRANTS FOR PARK PROJECTS.

WE ALSO DO PARK ACTIVATIONS, LIKE PLAY DATES IN THE PARKS, HOOPS IN THE PARKS, ART IN THE PARKS, MOVIES, IN THE PARKS.

UH, WE DO A TON OF VOLUNTEERING, AND WE ALSO PROVIDE, UM, PARK DESIGN SERVICES, WHICH MY COLLEAGUE KATIE ROBARD WILL, WILL CHAT A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DETAIL.

BUT, UM, SO AGAIN, OUR, OUR ROOTS REALLY DATE BACK TO VOLUNTEERING, AND WE STILL ARE A, UM, HUGE VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION.

UM, THESE ARE NUMBERS FROM 2024, AND AS COLIN SAID, YOU KNOW, WE WORK WITH COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS.

WE WORK WITH CORPORATE VOLUNTEERS.

UM, WE WORK WITH SCHOOL GROUPS, CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS.

AND, UM, THE AMOUNT OF KIND OF VOLUNTEER LABOR THAT GOES INTO, UM, OR WHEN YOU CALCULATE IT IS, UM, UPWARDS OF A MILLION DOLLARS JUST IN TERMS OF THE, THE MAINTENANCE AND, AND THE TRASH COLLECTING AND THE SPREADING OF MULCH AND THE, UM, PICKING UP OF, OF DOWNED AND DEAD LIMBS, WHICH I HAD THE PLEASURE OF DOING THIS THIS WEEKEND WITH COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, UCHIN AT, UM, THE GREAT HILLS, UH, GREEN BELT.

WE'VE HAD A LOT OF, AS Y'ALL KNOW, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF, UM, KIND OF, UH, SEVERE STORMS OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.

AND WHAT THIS HAS CAUSED IS DOWNED, UM, AND DEAD LIMBS AND A LOT OF OUR BEAUTIFUL NATURAL AREAS THAT ARE ALSO BACKING UP TO, TO RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS AND NEIGHBORHOODS.

AND SO WE'VE GOTTEN APPROACH, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE GOTTEN APPROACHED ABOUT HOW CAN WE MITIGATE THE RISK OF FIRE? AND SO THIS WEEKEND WE HAD A REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY OF A PILOT.

WE HAD ABOUT 60 VOLUNTEERS, 60 PLUS I WANNA SAY.

AND WE LITERALLY, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T GET MACHINERY INTO THE GREEN AND INTO THE GREEN BELT AREA.

SO WE HAND DUG, OR HAND, YOU KNOW, DRAGGED, UM, TONS AND TONS OF DOWNED AND DEAD LIMBS.

AND WE DID THAT IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION WITHIN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AS A PILOT TO SEE, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH COULD WE GET DONE IN THREE HOURS WITH PEOPLE POWER? HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST? COULD WE REPLICATE THIS AT OTHER, AT OTHER PARKS? AND I THINK, YES, WE CAN, AND I'M EXCITED TO KIND OF GET THE DATA BACK TO, TO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, DUGAN AND, AND UCHIN AND, AND, UM, HIS STAFF AS WELL AS OTHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED.

BUT THAT'S JUST AN I AN EXAMPLE OF KIND OF HOW OUR NIMBLENESS ALLOWS US TO KIND OF JUMP ON AN OPPORTUNITY AND, AND TEST IT OUT.

UM, IT'S MY PARK DAY.

I THINK Y'ALL ARE FAIRLY FAMILIAR WITH.

THIS IS OUR BELOVED.

TWICE A YEAR, WE GET, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 3000 PEOPLE ALL VOLUNTEERING ON A SATURDAY MORNING DOING ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF, UM, PARK ACTIVITIES AND CLEANUPS IN THEIR PARK.

AND, AND EACH ONE OF THESE IS TAILORED TO THAT PARTICULAR PARK.

SO AGAIN, UM, PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT INTERESTS IN THEIR PARK, DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES USE THEIR PARK IN DIFFERENT WAYS, AND ALL OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE VETTED, UM, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE, THEY'RE FEASIBLE.

UM, AND IT'S JUST LIKE, IT'S A WONDERFUL, REALLY WONDERFUL DAY TO KNOW THAT SATURDAY MORNING YOU'VE GOT THOUSANDS OF OTHER PEOPLE ACROSS, UM, ACROSS THE CITY, GETTING INVOLVED IN THEIR PARKS WITH THEIR COMMUNITY AND THEIR FAMILIES.

UM, LET'S SEE, ADOPT A PARK.

SO, UM, PARK ADOPTERS ARE ESSENTIALLY KIND OF AMBASSADORS FOR THEIR PARKS.

UM, AND WE HAVE ABOUT 128 PARK ADOPTERS ALL ACROSS THE CITY AT DIFFERENT PARKS.

SO EXAMPLES ARE PATTERSON, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD PARK, BALCONES, DISTRICT PARK, UH, ST.

JOHN, POCKET PARK, BARRINGTON.

WE EVEN, WE WORK, UM, CLOSELY WITH SCHOOL PARKS AS WELL FOR A ISD AND PAR JOINT USE SITES.

SO BARRINGTON, UM, ELEMENTARY HAS A, HAS A PARK ADOPTER GROUP.

AND THEN SOMETHING ELSE WE'RE ABLE TO DO KIND OF, UM, TO SUPPORT PARK ADOPTERS IS ALSO HAVE WHAT ARE CALLED, WE CALL THEM SPONSORED FUND ACCOUNTS.

AND SO THESE ARE ACCOUNTS THAT WE HOLD THAT COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE ABLE TO RAISE MONEY FOR A PARTICULAR ACTIVITY OR A PARTICULAR IMPROVEMENT THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THEIR PARK.

SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO CREATE THEIR OWN 5 0 1 C3 FOR THIS.

WE CREATE, OR WE HOLD THAT MONEY, UM, FOR THEM AND ESSENTIALLY SERVE AS A, SERVE AS THEIR BANK, AND THEN HELP THEM WITH THEIR FIDUCIARY, UM, RESPONSIBILITY.

AND, UM, AND ALSO GUIDING, BECAUSE I THINK ONE THING TOO, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY SAYS, HEY, I'D LIKE TO PUT A SWING SET IN THIS PARK.

AND THAT SOUNDS VERY SIMPLE, BUT IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S PRIORITIES, THERE'S LIMITED FUNDING, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE THERE, ARE THERE OTHER ACTIVITIES? IS AUSTIN WATER GONNA BE DOING, DOING A PROJECT IN THAT PARK? AND SO WE, UM, WITH KATIE ROBARDS TEAM WORK VERY CLOSELY IN FIGURING OUT IF WE'RE GONNA DO SOME SORT OF COMMUNITY INITIATED INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S PART APPROVED, IT'S FEASIBLE.

UM, AND WE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, I LIKE TO, I LIKE TO THINK ABOUT US AS PATIENT NAVIGATORS, BUT KIND OF PARK NAVIGATORS.

WE HELP WALK ALONGSIDE THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO, TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS THAT FOLKS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THEIR PARKS.

[01:10:01]

UM, THIS WAS FROM, UH, LAST YEAR.

I KNOW BUDGET SEASON AT THE CITY IS ABOUT TO, TO, UM, RAMP UP.

AND SO LAST YEAR WE ADVOCATED FOR, UM, MORE, UH, FTES, SPECIFICALLY IN THE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT.

AGAIN, KIND OF AS COLIN MENTIONED OR REFERENCED THE, THE PARK SCORE.

UM, WE HAVE NOT KEPT UP WITH THE NEED FOR OUR MAINTENANCE FACIL OR MAINTENANCE IN TERMS OF MOWING AND WEEDING AND POOL MAINTENANCE AND HVAC MAINTENANCE, AND ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE NEED WHEN WE HAVE A ROBUST PARK SYSTEM.

UM, AS WE'VE HAD THE, THE, UM, GOOD BENEFIT OF PASSING BONDS, UM, AND BRINGING ON NEW FACILITIES, ACQUIRING MORE PARKLAND, WE ALSO NEED MORE BODIES TO TAKE CARE OF THAT.

SO WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN, IN GETTING MORE POSITIONS, UM, ADDED TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT LAST YEAR.

UM, OUR COMMUNITY INITIATED ACL FESTIVAL, MUSIC GRANTS.

UM, THESE ARE, UH, PROJECTS THAT, AGAIN, THAT ARE BROUGHT TO US BY COMMUNITY MEMBERS.

UM, AND SO THERE'S THREE EXAMPLES HERE ON THE SLIDE.

SO WE HELPED FUND THE, WE GAVE A GRANT TO THE AUSTIN NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER, UM, FOR THE, UH, SHADE COVERS OVER THE DINO PIT.

UM, IF YOU'RE A CHILD, IF YOU'RE A PARENT OF A CHILD IN TEXAS, YOU KNOW, IT GETS REALLY HOT.

SO SHADE IS, IS A HUGE THING.

UM, ALDERBROOK POCKET PARK IS ANOTHER PARK THAT RECENTLY CAME ONLINE.

THE, THE, UM, LAND WAS ACQUIRED BY THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, AND THEN WE WORKED WITH THEM TO HELP DEVELOP THAT PARK.

UM, AND THEN, AND THOSE WERE, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE FROM LIKE 50,000 FOR THE DINO PIT, A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOR ALDERBROOK POCKET PARK.

AND I WILL SAY THAT WASN'T THE ENTIRE PROJECT.

SO I DON'T WANT PEOPLE THINKING THAT A NEW PARK CAN BE DEVELOPED FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.

BUT JUST SHOWING OUR CONTRIBUTION IN TERMS OF GRANTS THAT WERE COMMUNITY INITIATED.

AND THEN SOMETHING SMALLER THAT HAPPENED JUST THIS, THIS PAST SPRING, UM, OR WINTER SPRING WAS IN PARKA.

THE AMIGOS OSA, WHO ARE THE ADOPTERS THERE, WANTED TO ADD MORE SHADE TO THE PLAYGROUND AREA.

SO WE HELPED THEM WITH A, I THINK A MODEST GRANT OF MAYBE $6,000 TO ADD, UM, SHADE TREES AS WELL AS IRRIGATION.

UM, I MENTIONED THIS, UH, QUICKLY.

WE DO PARK ACTIVATION, SO ALL ACROSS THE PARK PARKS, UM, ALL YEAR.

WE HAVE MOVIES IN THE PARK, UM, HOOPS IN THE PARK.

WE HAVE ART IN THE PARK.

UH, I KNOW THIS SUMMER OUR MOVIES ARE GONNA BE, I BELIEVE, EACH MONTH IN THE SUMMERTIME AT DEEP EDDY, JUST WITH THE HEAT, WE'VE REALLY NOTICED, LIKE THE, THE SUN GOES DOWN PRETTY LATE, AND THEN IT'S STILL REALLY HOT.

SO IT SEEMS THAT IN THE SUMMERTIME, THE MOVIES ARE MOST FUN WHEN THEY'RE IN A POOL.

SO WE'RE DOING THAT.

UM, SO THESE ARE JUST WAYS THAT WE CAN HELP ACTIVATE PARKS, REALLY BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.

ALSO, IF THERE'RE, IF THERE'S A PARK THAT'S UNADOPTED, WE CAN SPUR SOME INTEREST BY HOSTING THESE TYPES OF ACTIVITIES AT, AT THOSE PARKS.

UM, HOPEFULLY BY NOW EVERYBODY HAS RIDDEN THE NEW SILK OR EAGLE MINIATURE TRAIN.

WE'RE COMING UP ON ONE YEAR.

MID-JUNE WILL BE OUR FULL YEAR OF OPERATING IT, UM, OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND RIDERS.

THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE DATA I HAVE TO DATE.

OBVIOUSLY AT A YEAR, MARK WILL SURPASS THAT, AND ABOUT 5% OF THE TOTAL RIDERS RODE FOR FREE.

UM, SOMETHING THAT HASN'T, HASN'T BEEN DONE BEFORE IN TERMS OF HAVING FREE HOURS.

UM, THIS HAS BEEN A, A LABOR OF LOVE.

UM, BUT THE, THE AMOUNT I THINK OF JOY THAT WE'RE ABLE TO SEE FROM FAMILIES AND CHILDREN BEING ABLE TO RIDE THIS TRAIN, UM, AROUND THE PARK HAS, HAS BEEN, UM, REALLY, REALLY MAGICAL.

UM, WE HAD A REALLY FUN THING A FEW WEEKS AGO.

WE HAD OUR NATIONAL MINI TRAIN DAY, WHICH WE ACTUALLY ESTABLISHED, UM, ON MAY 18TH.

WE HAD A, A MASCOT RIDE.

SO WE HAD 20 PLUS MASCOTS FROM AUSTIN FC TO LONGHORNS TO SPURS, UM, ALL JOIN US ON, ON THE TRAIN.

AND IT WAS A REALLY, A REALLY FUN, UM, FUN DAY.

AND, UM, SOME OF THEM HAD TO, HAD TO CROUCH DOWN PRETTY LOW TO GET THROUGH THE TUNNELS.

UM, WE CHECKED THAT OUT BEFORE, BUT WE MADE IT ANYWAYS.

IT WAS, IT WAS, IT WAS REALLY FUN.

AND LIKE I SAID, I THINK HAVING THE ZILKER EAGLE BACK AT ZILKER, UM, HAS MADE A LOT OF FAMILIES, UM, NEW FAMILIES AS WELL AS OLDER WHO'VE BEEN IN THE COMMUNITY, REALLY HAPPY.

UM, LET'S SEE.

LASTLY HERE, JUST WANTED TO POINT A FEW THINGS IN.

IN ADDITION, UM, TO WHAT MY COLLEAGUE KATIE IS GONNA TALK ABOUT.

UM, WE PROVIDE OTHER SYSTEM-WIDE SUPPORT FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

SO WHETHER THAT'S OUR SHADE MATCH ALLOCATION OF $2 MILLION TO MATCH THE CITY'S INVESTMENT OF 2 MILLION FOR A TOTAL OF 4 MILLION.

UM, WE JUST, WE ACTUALLY FUNDED THE PARS, UH, SECURITY AUDIT, WHICH SOME OF Y'ALL MAY BE AWARE IS, UM, IS WRAPPING UP.

AND I KNOW THERE'S BEEN BRIEFINGS, UM, HELPING WITH VISION PLANS, UM, HELPING WITH LIFEGUARD TRAINING OR STIPENDS WHEN THERE'S A, WHEN THERE'S A A A A, A BUDGET SHORTFALL, UM, PAYING FOR PROGRAMMING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FAMILIES.

I KNOW PARD WAS ABLE TO REALLY INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS IT WAS ABLE TO GIVE

[01:15:01]

TO FAMILIES, AND THEY SAW AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF FOLKS USING THOSE SCHOLARSHIPS AT PARD PROGRAMMING SITES LIKE AFTER SCHOOL, UM, AND SUMMER CAMPS, UH, CURRENT RENOVATIONS, ATHLETIC FIELD MAINTENANCE.

SO ANYWAYS, IT'S JUST KIND OF ACROSS THE BOARD.

WE'RE WE'RE HERE, UM, REALLY WANTING TO HELP SUPPORT OUR PARKS DEPARTMENT, BOTH WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THROUGH, DIRECTLY THROUGH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

SO WITH THAT, UM, I AM GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO KATIE ROBARD.

HI THERE.

SEE IF I CAN OPERATE THIS.

I, OKAY.

SO I'M KATIE ROBARD.

I'M A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, AND I'VE, UM, I AM FORTUNATE, UH, TO WORK FOR AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.

UM, I THINK ONE OF THE UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT OUR TEAM IS, UH, OF THE 25, WE HAVE THREE DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, PROJECT MANAGERS, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS THAT HELP, UM, WITH PARK DESIGN ASSISTANTS, UM, AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND, UM, WORKING WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT TO, TO MAKE SOME OF THESE, UH, PARK PARK DREAMS A REALITY.

UM, SO THESE ARE THREE THAT WE OFFER TO THE COMMUNITY.

UM, A LOT OF TIMES THE PARKS DEPARTMENT IS ALSO OFFERING THESE, UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE LIMITED IN STAFFING.

AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SUPPLEMENT, UM, AND, AND WORK THROUGH, UH, THESE IDEAS THAT DIFFERENT COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE TO, UM, AND, AND HELP THEM, UH, HAVE A VISION OF WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE IN THEIR PARK, AND THEN ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT ON THEM AS WELL.

75% OF WHAT WE SPEND IS ON PROGRAMS. UM, A BIG CHUNK OF THAT IS CAPITAL PROJECTS.

UM, SO THIS IS, I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL THE DETAIL OF THIS.

UM, I THINK THIS JUST SHOWS, UM, SHOWS YOU A LOT OF THINGS THAT YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW THAT THESE PROJECTS TAKE A LOT OF TIME.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE BELIEVE THAT, UH, GOOD PROJECTS ARE VETTED WITH THE COMMUNITY, WITH COMMUNITY INPUT.

UM, THEY'RE DESIGNED WELL, ALL THE DETAILS ARE WORKED OUT.

UM, THEY'RE DONE IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE COMMUNITY.

UM, AND THIS PROJECT IS ACTUALLY FROM INCEPTION OF A PROJECT TO COMPLETION.

I WOULD SAY THE MINIMUM, UM, IS TYPICALLY A THREE YEAR, UH, PROJECT, UM, IF NOT MORE, IF IT'S MORE COMPLEX.

UM, AND SO A LOT OF TIMES WHEN THESE PROJECTS ARE IDENTIFIED, UM, WE'RE ABLE TO LEVERAGE THE FUNDING, BUT IT TAKES A WHILE TO GET 'EM IN THE GROUND.

UH, AND OF COURSE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEIR QUALITY PROJECTS AND THEY LAST, UM, FOR THE PUBLIC TO USE.

ON THIS SLIDE, I JUST SHOWED, UH, UH, 12 PROJECTS THAT YOU MAY RECOGNIZE OR MAYBE NOT, THAT WE WERE INVOLVED IN.

OVER THE YEARS.

WE'VE DONE QUITE A FEW, UM, PROJECTS AND OUR ROLES OFTEN VARY, UM, PROJECT BY PROJECT.

UM, SO I'LL JUST HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THEM, UM, TO SHOW HOW OUR WORK, UH, IS IMPACTFUL AND, UM, SPECIAL.

SO, HISTORIC PROJECTS, YOU'LL SEE A FEW IN HERE, UH, THE SEA HOME WATERFRONT.

UM, WE PARTNERED WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE TRAIL FOUNDATION TO HELP FUND, UH, AND LEAD THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING STUDY FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SEA HOME WATERFRONT.

UM, AND THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY IS MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT, UM, WHICH IS SUPER EXCITING.

UM, THE HENRY G MADISON CABIN IN THE MIDDLE AT ROSEWOOD PARK IS AN ONGOING PROJECT THAT WE'RE LEADING THE RESTORATION ON, AND WE'RE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT WE ARE ALMOST COMPLETE.

UM, SO THAT'S A, A DEFINITE, UM, WIN FOR, UH, THAT PARK.

UM, ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE LED AND PARTNERED ON MANY RENOVATIONS OF BELOVED PLAYGROUNDS, SPORT COURTS, AND EFFORTS TO MAKE OUR PARKLANDS MORE USABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY.

A FEW GOOD EXAMPLES ARE, UH, WHEN WE PARTNERED, UH, WITH THE SPURS TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AT GARRISON DISTRICT PARK.

UM, UH, EARLY ON WHEN I STARTED A PF, WE LED, UH, AND COLLABORATED WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT ON THE PAN AM RECREATION CENTER, PANAM NEIGHBORHOOD PARK PLAYGROUND.

UM, AND MORE RECENTLY WE'VE DONE BALL FIELD LIGHTING AT THAT FACILITY, AND THEN YOU'LL SEE DEEP EDDIE WHERE WE HELPED, UH, WITH SOME OF THE POOL REPAIR AND LIGHTING.

MORE RECENTLY, LIGHTING INSTALLATION AT DEEP EDDIE.

UM, BEFORE I DIVE DEEPER IN A FEW MORE PROJECTS, UM, AND AP P'S INVOLVEMENT, I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT, UM, SCENIC BROOK POCKET PARK, WHICH IS THE KIND OF AERIAL VIEW YOU SEE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER.

UM, BACK IN 2019, COMMUNITY MEMBERS APPLIED FOR A DESIGN SERVICE THROUGH AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.

UM, WE HELPED THEM, UH, CO-CREATE A CONCEPT PLAN WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

UM, THE PLAN WAS APPROVED IN 2020, AND THE PROJECT IS NOW APPROACHING COMPLETION.

UM, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ON THIS PROJECT SPECIFICALLY, WE WERE ABLE TO HELP IN A BIG WAY ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EARLY ON DESIGN.

UM, AND THEN WITH THE ENGINEERING AND PERMITTING, UM, TO ALLOW, UH, THE FUNDS THAT WERE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY TO FULLY CONSTRUCT THE

[01:20:01]

PARK.

UM, SO THAT'S AN EXCITING ONE TO SEE.

UM, AND THEN I'M GONNA DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER INTO A COUPLE MORE PROJECTS THAT YOU GUYS KNOW.

UH, REPUBLIC SQUARE, OF COURSE, IS A, WAS A TRANSFORMATIONAL AND HISTORIC DOWNTOWN PARK THAT WE WERE INVOLVED IN.

OOPS, SORRY.

UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ONE WAS, IS DEFINITELY A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DAA AND THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

UM, WE LED THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN AND MANAGED THE CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS TO FULLY RENOVATE THIS, UM, PARK.

AND YOU'LL JUST SEE THE TIMELINE, UM, I THINK IT REACHES A LITTLE BIT EARLIER THAN 2015, BUT, UM, IN 2014.

BUT, UM, THIS JUST SHOWS THE LONGEVITY OF THE PARTNERSHIP, UM, AND HOW, UH, WE WORK SO CLOSELY TO GET THESE SPECIAL PLACES RENOVATED AND TAKE CARE OF ACROSS THE CITY.

LITTLE WALNUT CREEK, UM, IS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE.

UM, AND IT DEFINITELY, UM, IT'S A PROJECT WE'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN FOR A LONG TIME.

IT'S CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION EARLY ON.

UM, WE HELPED WITH A TRAILHEAD, AND THE CONSTRUCTION IS NOW HAPPENING, AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN THE AERIAL.

UM, THIS PROJECT REALLY HIGHLIGHTS THE LONGTIME SUPPORT THAT WE'VE GIVEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE PROJECT, UM, AND HOW OUR PARTNERSHIP, UH, WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT IS MAKING THIS PROJECT A REALITY.

UM, LITTLE WALNUT CREEK GREENBELT IS A VERY LARGE, UM, UH, PREVIOUSLY UNDEVELOPED PARK, UM, THAT IS JUST, UH, HAS A LOT TO OFFER, UM, AND THERE'S A LOT OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT WANT TO ACCESS IT.

UM, SO EARLY ON WE DID, UH, PARTICIPATE, UH, WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND THE, UM, PARKS NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, UM, IN THE VISION PLANNING.

AND WE FOLLOWED IT ALL ALONG AND HELPED SUPPORT IT WITH DESIGN PERMITTING, UM, AND NOW CONSTRUCTION.

UM, AND THIS ONE WILL BE DONE HOPEFULLY IN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.

UM, YOU CAN SEE OUR FUNDING, UM, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PUT A LOT OF RESOURCES TO IT, UM, AND SUPPLEMENT, UH, KIND OF EQUALLY TO WHAT THE PARKS DEPARTMENT HAS DONE.

AND THEN ALL ABILITIES, UH, PLAYGROUND AT ONION CREEK METRO PARK.

THIS IS A PROJECT THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON A FEW YEARS, AND YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN SOME ABOUT IT RECENTLY.

IT IS DEFINITELY OUR BIGGEST PROJECT TO DATE WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UM, AND THE ONION CREEK METRO PARKS DISTRICT.

UM, OUR GOAL IS TO CREATE, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S FIRST UNIVERSALLY INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND, UH, THAT WILL TRULY SERVE THE RESIDENTS OF, OF ALL ABILITIES AND ALL AGES.

UM, SO THIS IS DEFINITELY A, A BIG PROJECT, UM, AND A HUGE LIFT.

UM, BUT LIKE ALWAYS, UM, IT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHERE THE NEED WAS IDENTIFIED.

UM, AND WE WILL WORK TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS, UH, PROJECT IS COMPLETED AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR ALL TO ENJOY.

ALL RIGHT, I'LL PASS IT ON TO JAYNA.

BERGDORF, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US.

UM, NOW I'M GONNA TELL YOU BRIEFLY ABOUT HOW WE PAY FOR ALL THESE WONDERFUL THINGS.

SO THIS SLIDE JUST SHOWS YOU, UM, WE HAVE BOTH INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS.

WE HAVE CORPORATIONS WHO GIVE US MONEY.

WE GET MONEY FROM FOUNDATIONS AND FROM GRANTS.

AND JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW EXAMPLES, UM, KATIE WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THE LITTLE WALNUT CREEK GREENBELT.

WE GOT A TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE GRANT.

FROM THAT, WE HAVE A HALF A MILLION DOLLAR DONATION FROM AN INDIVIDUAL FOR THE MON TOPLESS RENOVATION THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.

AND, UM, WE EVEN HAVE LIKE SMALL BUSINESSES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SPONSORED FUND ACCOUNTS.

SO WHAT WE DO IS WE TRY AND PROVIDE AN AVENUE FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO CONTRIBUTE TO PARKS IN AUSTIN AND MAKE THAT EASIER.

UM, MANY OF YOU WERE AT THE, UH, PRESS CONFERENCE RECENTLY FOR THE BIG CHECK PRESENTATION.

AS YOU KNOW, UM, A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF OUR FUNDING COMES FROM THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL IN 2024.

THIS, THIS GRAPHIC SHOWS YOU HOW WE ALLOCATED THOSE FUNDS.

GOT 4.5 MILLION GOING TO PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, GOT 2.4 MILLION GOING TO PROGRAMMING.

AND THE, UM, JUST THE OPERATIONS SUPPORT, UM, THAT GOES INTO OUR VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS. AND THEN 1.5 MILLION ACTUALLY GOES TO THE CITY AND IT IS A PER TICKET, UH, REVENUE.

AND THEN THIS SLIDE KIND OF SHOWS YOU LIKE ALL NONPROFITS.

WE CATEGORIZE OUR SPENDING BY FUNCTION.

SO THIS SHOWS YOU, UM, THAT ABOUT

[01:25:01]

THE PROGRAM EVENTS PIECE IS, IS ACTUALLY ALL THE SUPPLIES AND THINGS THAT GO FOR OUR VOLUNTEER PROJECTS AND OUR ACTIVATIONS.

PROGRAM SERVICES IS THEN MORE THE STAFF AND, UH, THE INSURANCE RELATED TO THE, TO THE ACTUAL PROGRAMS. AND I DO APOLOGIZE.

I KNOW THIS SLIDE IS NOT SUPER READABLE, BUT I WANTED TO SHOW YOU.

THIS IS OUR FUTURE INVESTMENTS.

UM, WE HAVE ABOUT 20 MILLION IN NET ASSETS, AND THESE FUNDS ARE ALL COMMITTED.

AND LIKE IF YOU SEE THE NAVY QUADRANT, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT IS ALL ABILITIES.

THAT'S $5 MILLION THAT WE HAVE SET ASIDE FOR THE ALL ABILITIES, UM, BIG PARK THAT WE'RE CREATING.

SO WE HAVE TO, IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, RAISE ANOTHER $10 MILLION.

SO THAT MONEY IS SET ASIDE AND IT IS BEING USED FOR DESIGNING AND PERMITTING, BUT, UM, IT'S ALSO WAITING FOR CONSTRUCTION.

UH, WE HAVE AN OPERATING RESERVE.

WE HAVE, AND YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, ONE POINT, I THINK IT'S $1.7 MILLION IN THE CITYWIDE SHADE INITIATIVE.

WELL, WE'VE ALREADY SPENT ALMOST 300, BUT WE'VE GOT THAT FULL $2 MILLION COMMITMENT THERE.

WE HAVE AN ENDOWMENT.

WE HAVE $1.3 MILLION IN SPONSORED FUND ACCOUNT.

SO WE ARE, WE ARE LIKE THEIR BANK.

WE PROCESS ALL THEIR PAYMENTS, WE TAKE IN ALL THEIR DONATIONS.

UM, WE HAVE ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS SET ASIDE FOR THE JAMESTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD PARK.

SO JUST WANTED TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE OUR FUNDS ARE COMMITTED AND WHERE THEY'RE, WHERE THEY'RE HEADED IN THE FUTURE.

AND THEN ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, WHAT HAVE WE DONE? AND WE HAVE THIS, UM, BEAUTIFUL IMPACT MAP THAT WE WILL BE SHARING WITH YOU HOPEFULLY IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS THAT'S GONNA SHOW ALL THE PROJECTS THAT WE'VE WORKED ON, UM, THROUGH THE CITY.

AND WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER FOR QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY, BY THE WAY.

IN THE, IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT FOLKS LIVE IN.

AS A, A WONDERFUL PRESENTATION REALLY DOES SHOW ALL THAT'S GOING ON, UH, AT THE PARKS FOUNDATION AND ALL THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING FOR THE CITY.

AND I THINK JUST BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS, UH, REALLY DO WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK Y'ALL FOR WHAT IS A, A LOT OF WORK AND A LOT OF VALUE THAT GOES INTO OUR PARKS AND HELPING MAKE THEM THE BEST THEY CAN BE.

YOU KNOW, WE, I WAS VERY TROUBLED TO SEE THE SLIDE AS WELL, UH, FROM 44TH TO 54TH LAST YEAR, OR I GUESS, YOU KNOW, THIS PAST YEAR.

AND IT SHOWS THAT WHILE WE ARE TRYING HARD, MORE MUST BE DONE IF WE WANT TO DELIVER THE KIND OF PARK SYSTEM THAT THE PUBLIC, UH, WANTS AND EXPECTS.

AND SO PART OF THAT IS PARTNERING WITH ORGANIZATIONS WHO, UH, ARE SHOWING UP TO DO THE WORK AND WITH THE RESOURCES.

AND SO REALLY APPRECIATE THAT AND, AND WOULD JUST BE REMISS TO NOT MENTION, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SO MANY CITIES WHO WOULD DIE TO HAVE, UH, A PARKS FOUNDATION LIKE THIS THAT, YOU KNOW, SHOWS UP WITH MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND, AND THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS TO HELP ENRICH OUR PARKS.

SO, UH, REALLY DO JUST APPRECIATE THE WORK Y'ALL ARE DOING.

UH, WITH THAT, I WILL OPEN IT UP FOR A FEW QUESTIONS.

I SEE VICE CHAIR ELLIS, UH, HAS SOME QUESTIONS.

I DO.

THANKS FOR THE RECOGNITION CHAIR.

I ALSO WANNA EXTEND MY APPRECIATION FOR ALL THE WORK THAT GOES INTO THIS.

I THINK, UM, BEING ABLE TO LEVERAGE OUR PRIVATE DOLLARS AND OUR PUBLIC DOLLARS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR PARK SYSTEM.

UM, THE ONLY QUESTION THAT I HAVE FOR THE PRESENTERS IS, UM, I DO APPRECIATE THE UPCOMING DASHBOARD.

IS THIS INFORMATION ALREADY AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT, OR IS THIS A NEW CONCEPT THAT IS BEING COMPILED AND RELEASED? THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.

UM, THE SORT OF COMPLICATED ANSWER IS IT HAS BEEN ON OUR SITE IN THE PAST.

WE KIND OF REVAMPED IT AND WE HAD SOME BROKEN LINKS AND SOME ISSUES, AND SO WE'RE JUST GETTING, IT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE LITERALLY IN THE COMING WEEKS.

WE ACTUALLY HAD HOPED TO, UH, HAVE IT DONE IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS.

WE WORKED WITH, UM, SOME RESEARCH STUDENTS FROM UT WHO HAVE BEEN HELPING US ALONG THE TECHNICAL SIDE.

IT SHOULD BE LIVE ANY DAY NOW.

THAT'S FANTASTIC TO HEAR.

I KNOW THAT WITH, UM, MOBILITY, UH, THE MOBILITY ANNUAL PLAN THAT COMES OUT IS A REALLY EASY WAY FOR FOLKS TO BE ABLE TO TOGGLE BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT MOBILITY PROGRAMS, THEIR FUNDING SOURCES, AND THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING COMPLETED

[01:30:01]

AND SO, I KNOW PARKLAND DEDICATION ALSO HAD A MAP WHERE YOU COULD SEE, YOU KNOW, WHICH PERMITS HAD PAID INTO PARKLAND DEDICATION FEES, AND IF THEY WERE ALLOCATED TO A SPECIFIC PROJECT.

SO I LOVE THE IDEA OF A DASHBOARD, AND I THINK THAT'S GONNA REALLY HELP FOLKS, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND WHO IS IT THAT BUILT THE PLAYGROUND AND WHERE DID IT COME FROM AND HOW, YOU KNOW, HOW DID THIS GET MADE? IS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF FOLKS BEING ABLE TO SEE AND, AND TOUCH AND PLAY WITH THINGS IN THEIR, IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS.

AND TO BE ABLE TO SHOWCASE THE, THIS IS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP WITH A LOT OF DEDICATED FOLKS BOTH IN AND OUTSIDE THE CITY TRYING TO DO THIS WORK.

SO, THANKS.

WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP TO IDENTIFY AMBITIOUS PROJECTS THAT WE KNOW ARE GONNA TAKE A LONG TIME AND PROJECTS THAT CAN GET DONE RIGHT NOW WHERE WE CAN WRITE A CHECK AND FIX SOMETHING THAT'S BROKEN, UH, YOU KNOW, AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN.

CUSTOMER SIEGEL OR CUSTOMER UCHIN, YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COUNCILOR UCHIN, UH, THANK YOU CHAIR.

UM, REALLY APPRECIATE THE THOROUGH PRESENTATION AND ALL THE WORK AND, AND OBVIOUSLY MY VERY DEEP THANKS TO JOY AND THE REST OF YOUR TEAM FOR COMING OUT HERE ON SATURDAY.

UH, WITH THOSE SORT OF THINGS, I'M ALWAYS TERRIFIED THAT, YOU KNOW, I MIGHT BE THE ONLY PERSON THAT SHOWS UP, SO IT WAS NICE TO SEE THAT Y'ALL HAD A FULL TEAM OUT THERE, PLUS A GOOD, LIKE 60 PLUS OTHER PEOPLE OUT DOING THE WORK AND REALLY, REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO RECONNECTING AND FIGURING OUT WHERE WE GO FROM HERE NEXT.

SO WAS VERY ENCOURAGED BY, UH, THAT PARTNERSHIP AND Y'ALL'S EFFORTS.

SO JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT REALLY QUICKLY.

UM, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.

UM, ONE IS, I NOTICED THAT YOU, ON ONE SLIDE, IT TALKS ABOUT HOW, UM, TRYING TO KNOCK OUT THOSE, UH, PROJECT TIMELINES ROUGHLY IN THREE YEARS.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL WITH DOING THAT FOR REPUBLIC SQUARE PARK, BUT IT'S TAKEN A LITTLE LONGER FOR WALNUT CREEK AND SOME OF THE OTHER PROJECTS.

IS THAT PURELY A FUNDING ISSUE? IS THAT WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? WHAT'S GOING ON WITH WHY IT SOMETIMES MAY TAKE LONGER FOR SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS? OH MY GOSH.

UH, EVERY PROJECT IS SO DIFFERENT.

UM, AND I THINK THREE YEARS IS A REALLY AMBITIOUS TIMELINE, HONESTLY.

AND KATIE TALKED ABOUT THE ALL ABILITIES PROJECT.

WE, YOU KNOW, AND THAT IS BY A FACTOR OF THREE, THE BIGGEST PROJECT WE WILL HAVE EVER DONE.

UM, CERTAINLY THE MOST COMPLICATED.

AND I THINK IF WE'RE DONE IN SEVEN YEARS, WE'RE ALL GONNA FEEL VERY GOOD ABOUT IT.

WE'RE ABOUT THREE YEARS INTO THE PROCESS NOW.

UM, IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROJECT, HOW MUCH THE COMMUNITY'S BOUGHT IN, UM, WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED IN IT.

UM, IT'S FUNNY, UH, WE GET SO MANY PEOPLE, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM COMMUNITIES THAT SAY, WELL, GOSH, WE JUST WANT TO, WE JUST WANNA PUT, PUT A PLAYGROUND IN THIS PARK.

AND YOU WOULD THINK, WELL, GOSH, EVERYONE'S GONNA WANT A PLAYGROUND IN THE PARK.

WELL, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SUGGEST THAT AS AN IDEA TO FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE THAT THINK THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, IT JUST THREE YEARS IS, IS AMBITIOUS.

AND I, FROM DAY ONE IN THIS ROLE, HAVE TOLD PEOPLE THAT ASK ME, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A PLAYGROUND IN YOUR PARK, YOU BETTER BE BUILDING IT FOR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, NOT YOUR CHILDREN, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT GONNA PLAY ON IT.

UM, AND AND PART OF THAT IS, UM, IT IS PUBLIC LAND AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND JUST BUILD WHATEVER YOU WANT ON PUBLIC LAND.

THAT'S NOT HOW YOU STEWARD PUBLIC LAND.

BUT I ALSO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY WE LIVE IN A CITY, UH, NOT UNFORTUNATELY, FORTUNATELY, WE LIVE IN A CITY THAT'S VERY CIVICALLY ENGAGED AND PEOPLE HAVE VERY STRONG OPINIONS.

UM, AND THAT JUST ENDS UP MAKING PROJECTS TAKE A LONG TIME.

UM, AND I THINK Y'ALL KNOW BETTER THAN THAN ANYONE.

AND YOU KNOW, WHEN I TOOK THIS JOB 13 YEARS AGO, I THOUGHT, OH MY GOSH, THIS IS SO EASY.

I'M JUST GONNA GIVE SOME MONEY OUT TO PARKS.

LIKE, WHO DOESN'T LOVE THAT? WELL, IMMEDIATELY I WAS SORT OF PUNCHED IN THE FACE WITH THE WHOLE OFF LEASH SITUATION, RIGHT? IT'S LIKE, YOU EITHER THINK YOUR DOG SHOULD ROAM OFF LEASH WHENEVER THEY WANT, OR YOU THINK THAT THEY SHOULD BE ON LEASH AT ALL TIMES AND THERE'S NO MIDDLE GROUND AND AND THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.

AND SO THEY'RE COMPLICATED.

I I I, I WISH EVERY PROJECT WE WE DID COULD BE DONE IN THREE YEARS, BUT I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY KIND OF AN AMBITIOUS TIMELINE FOR A CAPITAL PROJECT.

SO MAINLY THAT'S SORT OF ASPIRATIONAL.

YEAH, I THINK SO.

EVERYTHING IS VERY, AND I THINK IDIOSYNCRATIC, WE'VE GOTTEN BETTER AT WORK, UNDERSTANDING THE CITY PROCESS, WORKING WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UNDERSTANDING WHICH PROJECTS WE CAN GO INTO EXPECTING TO GET THEM DONE RELATIVELY QUICKLY VERSUS ONES WE KNOW ARE GONNA TAKE A LONG TIME.

AND I THINK JAY HAS SORT OF TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION, AND WE HEAR THAT A LOT.

PEOPLE WILL SAY, GOSH, WHY DO, WHY IS $20 MILLION IN YOUR BANK? WHY AREN'T YOU PUTTING THAT INTO THE GROUND? WELL, WE COULD GO PUT $20 MILLION INTO THE GROUND RIGHT NOW.

IT WOULDN'T BE A VERY, UH, WELL, A GOOD WAY TO USE THOSE FUNDS BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DO THINGS QUICKLY.

AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE DO A GOOD JOB OF WORKING

[01:35:01]

SO, UH, IT, IT'S DEFINITELY VERY, VERY DEPENDENT ON THE PROJECT.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME UNDERSTAND THAT.

UM, I WANNA TIE THIS INTO THE SLIDE THAT YOU HAD ABOUT MAINTENANCE AND THE GAP THAT WE'VE GOT OF ALMOST 75 POSITIONS RELATIVE TO WHAT YOU'RE, I GUESS YOU'RE LOOKING AT LIKE KINDA A NATIONAL STANDARD.

UH, I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT KIND OF A HOW DO WE GET THERE KNOWING THAT WE'RE SLIPPING IN THE RANKINGS, KNOWING THAT WE'VE GOT LIMITED WAYS IN THE BUDGET THAT WE CAN, UH, FUND MAINTENANCE OPPORTUNITIES RELATIVE TO BONDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

UM, AND THEN ALSO KNOWING THAT WE'VE ALSO GOT THESE PARK PROJECTS, HOW DO WE PRIORITIZE MAINTENANCE AND HOW DO WE MAKE INROADS? I MEAN, EVEN THE PROJECT THAT WE HAD OVER THE WEEKEND IN SOME WAYS, I WOULD ARGUE IS A MAINTENANCE RELATED PROJECT, AND THAT IT MAYBE IF WE DID HAVE 200 PEOPLE, WE WOULDN'T, YOU KNOW, WE COULD FOCUS OUR ENERGY ELSEWHERE.

CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND THE INTERSECTION OF THE PROJECTS Y'ALL HAVE WITH PARKS VERSUS JUST LIKE LAY EXCLUSIVELY FUNDING MAINTENANCE OR PRIORITIZING THE, THAT EFFORT? YEAH.

UH, SO I, I THINK THE SHORT ANSWER IS IT'S, IT'S JUST A FUNDING ISSUE, RIGHT? AND I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TPL DATA ON PARK SCORE, WHAT YOU SEE IS THAT AUSTIN SPENDS ABOUT HALF OF WHAT THE CITIES THAT ARE DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY ARE SPENDING PER CAPITA.

UM, I KNOW THE PARKS DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN SORT OF SPEARHEADING AN EFFORT TO LOOK AT ALTERNATIVE FUNDING STRATEGIES.

I I WOULD PROBABLY ARGUE THAT IF ONE OF THOSE IS IDENTIFIED THAT'S SIGNIFICANT, LIKE A USER FEE ON AN ELECTRIC BILL OR SOMETHING, UH, UH, ALONG THOSE LINES THAT EARMARKING SOME OF THOSE FUNDS FOR MAINTENANCE WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD IDEA.

UM, AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT IN THE PHILANTHROPIC WORLD, UM, MAINTENANCE IS NOT VERY SEXY.

UM, DONORS WANT TO, DONORS WANT TO FUND BRIGHT, SHINY PRETTY THINGS.

AND SELLING PARKS MAINTENANCE AS A, AS A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY IS A, IS A BIT OF A TOUGH SELL.

UM, THAT SAID, WE COULD EASILY DUMP ALL OF OUR MONEY INTO PARK MAINTENANCE, BUT I THINK WHAT WE'D END UP WITH IS, YOU KNOW, WE WOULDN'T BE MUCH FURTHER AHEAD THAN WE ARE NOW IF WE DON'T ADDRESS THE ONGOING ISSUE.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I THINK AS WE LOOK AT OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND CREATIVE FUNDING FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UM, MAKING SURE SOME OF THAT FUNDING IS GOING TOWARDS LONG-TERM MAINTENANCE IS, IS HUGE.

YOU KNOW, I THINK THE AMENITY PIECE IS, WE'RE VERY MINDFUL OF THAT, THAT EVERYTHING WE BUILD AND EVERYTHING WE DO ADDS TO THE STRAIN ON THE PARKS DEPARTMENT THAT'S ALREADY OVERTAXED.

SO I THINK WE'RE TALKING TO THEM ABOUT BEING CREATIVE ABOUT HOW WE TAKE SOME OF THAT BURDEN OFF OF THEM WITH REGARD TO OTHER PARTNERS.

UM, BUT I ALSO THINK WE LIVE IN A, WE LIVE IN THE MOST, UM, PROSPEROUS CITY POSSIBLY IN THE FREE WORLD.

PEOPLE ARE MOVING HERE IN DROVES.

AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU MOVE INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD LIKE A COLONY PARKER OR DOVE SPRINGS, THAT DOESN'T HAVE A LOT IN THE WAY OF AMENITIES.

PEOPLE WANT TO SEE MORE AMENITIES.

AND SO YOU CAN'T JUST NOT BUILD NEW AMENITIES BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE BANDWIDTH TO, TO MAINTAIN THEM.

SO THAT'S SORT OF THE, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG CHALLENGE IS, IS YOU'VE GOTTA KEEP UP WITH THE AMENITIES, YOU'VE GOTTA KEEP UP, KEEP UP WITH THE SHEER AMOUNT OF PARKLAND, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO MAINTAIN THEM.

AND I THINK Y'ALL HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS EXERCISE IN THE LAST MONTH ABOUT THE CAPS, RIGHT? AND IT'S A HUGE, THERE'S NO GOOD ANSWER, RIGHT? YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SPENDING A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS JUST TO BE, HAVE IT BE A POSSIBILITY.

AND, AND WE'VE GOT PARKS THAT HAVE NO AMENITIES.

UH, THE, THE MAINTENANCE IS WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE.

AND SO THERE'S NOT A GOOD ANSWER, UNFORTUNATELY, THE ANSWER IS, WE NEED MORE MONEY .

UM, AND AS Y'ALL KNOW, THE FUNDING'S GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION.

SO I THINK WHEN I EARLIER TALKED ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PERCENTAGE OF FUNDING FOR AUSTIN'S PARKS THAT COMES FROM THE PRIVATE SIDE, WE NEED TO FOCUS ON GROWING THAT, RIGHT? THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO FROM 10 TO 15 TO 20 TO $30 MILLION A YEAR, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT CAN REALLY MAKE AN IMPACT.

AND WHEN YOU HAVE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE PEACE PARK OR THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY THAT ARE TAKING THOSE ASSETS OFFLINE AND OUT OF THE PARKS DEPARTMENT'S, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIBILITY, YOU CAN START TO FREE UP SOME MONEY FOR ADDITIONAL MAINTENANCE,

[01:40:01]

HOPEFULLY.

SO AGAIN, A VERY COMPLICATED, UH, SITUATION THAT HOPEFULLY WE CAN FIND SOME MORE DOLLARS FOR.

NO, I APPRECIATE YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THAT.

I'M GONNA TRY AND LIMIT THIS TO JUST TWO MORE QUESTIONS SURE.

AND THE REST CAN TAKE OFFLINE, UH, TO YOU AND, AND LEONA.

UH, ONE QUESTION IS, CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ARE IDENTIFYING AND, UH, TRIAGING WHICH PARKS TO UPGRADE? IS THAT CONSTITUENT OR COMMUNITY FEEDBACK? IS THAT SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON? ARE YOU LOOKING AT NEEDS IN THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, LIKE YOU MENTIONED IN DELL SPRINGS? WHAT'S GOING ON WITH HOW YOU'RE, UH, PRIORITIZING THOSE DOLLARS AND PROJECTS? YEAH, SO, SO BOTH, UM, BOTH THE COMMUNITY AND THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, I THINK THE SORT OF OVERARCHING ANSWER IS THAT WE REALLY TEND TO FOCUS ON THE EASTERN CRESCENT AND, AND NEIGHBORHOODS AND PARTS OF TOWN THAT HISTORICALLY HAVE NOT SEEN A LOT OF INVESTMENT.

UM, WE STARTED OUT, UH, YOU KNOW, A BUNCH OF YEARS AGO, PROBABLY 20 YEARS AGO NOW, DOING THESE COMMUNITY GRANTS.

AND I THINK IN, IN AN IDEAL WORLD, WE'D GIVE ALL OF OUR MONEY AWAY THROUGH COMMUNITY GRANTS, BUT WHAT WE'VE LEARNED IS THAT PROCESS FOR A COMMUNITY MEMBER TO, TO HANG IN THERE AND GO THROUGH A THREE TO FIVE YEAR GRANT SEEKING APPROVAL BUILD PROCESS IS JUST REALLY HARD.

SO WE, WE CONTINUE THAT PROGRAM OF GRANTING AND HELPING THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS SEE THESE PROJECTS FROM START TO FINISH.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, UM, EVERY MEMBER OF MY TEAM WORKS DIRECTLY WITH THEIR COUNTERPARTS AT THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, AND TYPICALLY IT'S MULTIPLE PEOPLE.

AND SO WE ARE TALKING WITH THEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND IDENTIFYING PROJECTS THAT ARE HIGH PRIORITY.

SO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT HAS ALL OF THEIR ASSETS INVENTORIED.

THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHICH PLAY SCAPES ARE FAILING.

SO RATHER THAN US WAIT TILL A COMMUNITY COMES AND SAYS, HEY, OUR PLAY SCAPE IS FAILING, WE'VE GOT A REPORT THAT SAYS, HERE ARE ALL THE PLAY SCAPES THAT ARE FAILING.

AND WE TYPICALLY JUST LOOK AT THOSE AND RUN DOWN THE LIST AND START REPLACING THEM WHERE WE SEE WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.

UH, LAST QUESTION IS, UM, I'M CURIOUS IF YOU'VE GOT SOME DATA REGARDING, UH, JUST SORT OF THE TIMELINE AND HISTORY OF THE INVESTMENTS THAT YOU'VE MADE IN KIND OF THE PARK WORLD.

UM, AND IF THERE ARE OTHER MODELS IN OTHER CITIES, I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE, I WOULD IMAGINE YOU IN PART ARE ARE EQUALLY LOOKING AT, UM, WHO'S DOING REALLY WELL IN THIS SPACE, WHO'S GOT THE RIGHT KIND OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, WHO'S GOT, UH, THE RIGHT KIND OF SPECIFIC PROGRAMS OR, UH, OBVIOUSLY MAINTENANCE IS SOMETHING YOU'RE LOOKING AT TOO.

YOU KNOW, WHERE DO WE, WHERE ALSO MIGHT WE, UM, SETTING ASIDE RESOURCES WHERE ALSO MIGHT WE EMULATE FOR, UH, OTHER APPROACHES TO MAINTENANCE OR PROJECTS OR OTHER THINGS THAT COULD HELP IMPROVE OUR PARK SYSTEM? UH, YEAH, I THINK, UM, WHEN I LOOK AT SORT OF CITYWIDE PARKS ORGANIZATIONS, WE'RE PROBABLY AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN.

THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS IN SEATTLE AND ATLANTA THAT ARE OF, OF SIMILAR SIZE AND SCOPE AS US.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE WORK PRETTY CLOSELY WITH PARK PRIDE IN ATLANTA.

UM, AND I THINK WHAT, WHAT WE'RE ALL FACING THE EXACT SAME CHALLENGES.

LIKE, WE'RE NOT UNIQUE AT ALL.

I THINK THEY'RE AN ORGANIZATION THAT SEEN, THEY'RE ACTUALLY EMBEDDED IN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

THEY OFFICE WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

UM, THEY HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC, UM, AGREEMENT WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

UM, YOU KNOW, UH, SO, AND, AND LITERALLY I'M ON CALLS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK TALKING TO OTHER CITIES, OTHER MUNICIPALITIES ABOUT HOW THEY CAN EMULATE WHAT, WHAT WE DO AND WHAT CHALLENGES WE FACE AND HOW, HOW WE'RE BEING SUCCESSFUL AT WHAT WE'RE DOING.

UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK I, I THINK MY PLUG TO Y'ALL WOULD BE LIKE, WE'VE GOTTA MAKE IT EASIER.

IT IS SO HARD WORKING, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WORKING WITH THE CITY IS DIFFICULT.

IT'S TIME CONSUMING.

UM, AND WE'VE GOTTA FIND WAYS TO MAKE IT EASIER.

UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE, THERE ARE A SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WILL RAISE THEIR HAND AND BE ENGAGED IN, IN HELPING IMPROVE SOMETHING LIKE A PARK FOR A FIVE YEAR PERIOD OF TIME.

AND WE'VE, WE'VE GOTTA FIND WAYS TO MAKE IT, UH, MORE SEAMLESS AND, AND EASIER TO DO SO NOW I APPRECIATE THAT.

I WILL TAKE THE REST OF THOSE QUESTIONS OFFLINE AND FOLLOW UP.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.

IS EXACTLY WHERE YOU LEFT.

AND ON THAT FINAL NOTE, ONE OF THE THINGS, ASIDE FROM A BETTER UNDERSTANDING WHAT A PF IS DOING IN THE COMMUNITY

[01:45:01]

AND I THINK WE ALL JUST ACCEPT THAT IT'S HARD TO WORK WITH THE CITY AND AS IF THAT SHOULD BE ACCEPTABLE.

UM, CERTAINLY THERE ARE ADDITIONAL HOOPS WE HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH THAT LET'S SAY A PRIVATE ENTITY OR A A BUSINESS DOES NOT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT SHOULD STILL BE REALLY DIFFICULT.

AND SO IF THERE ARE AREAS, UH, WHERE YOU THINK WE CAN SIMPLIFY PROCESSES, UM, AND THAT CAN BE WITH PART, AND I KNOW SOMETIMES PART IS TRYING TO GET IT THROUGH PERMITTING, AND SO THERE'S THAT ELEMENT, RIGHT? IT'S NOT ALL JUST IN ONE DEPARTMENT, BUT HELP US IDENTIFY SOME OF THESE CHALLENGES SO THAT WE CAN GET THESE PROJECTS DELIVERED, BECAUSE THAT'S ULTIMATELY WHAT OUR JOB IS.

SO REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

UM, NEXT WE'RE

[6. Staff Update to Park Funding Strategies (Resolution No. 20241121-072) (Jesús Aguirre, Director - Parks and Recreation Department).]

GOING TO SKIP TO ITEM NUMBER SIX, UH, WHICH IS THE PARKS FUNDING ITEM.

JUST AS A, A QUICK BRIEFING TO PIGGYBACK ON THE DISCUSSION WE JUST HAD.

AND THEN, UM, TAKE UP THE OTHERS WE MIGHT RUN 10 OR SO MINUTES BEHIND FOR, WE'RE GONNA TRY TO GET IT DONE HERE TO RESPECT EVERYBODY'S TIME.

SO IF WE COULD HAVE THE PARKS FUNDING ITEM PRESENTED, AND THEN WE'LL MOVE TO THE NEXT ITEM NUMBER SIX.

HI, UM, LEANNA KAKA WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.

SO, UM, WE, WE HAD THE RESOLUTION FROM LAST YEAR THAT ASKED THE DEPARTMENT TO PROCEED WITH A STUDY THAT WILL, UM, ALLOW US TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL, UH, FUNDING SOURCES SO THAT WE CAN SUPPORT OUR PARK SYSTEM ON ALL FRONTS.

UM, WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, ENGAGE WITH CONSULTANTS, PFM AND UH, TPL.

AND, UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE LAST, UM, THREE, FOUR MONTHS ON A, UH, COMPREHENSIVE STUDY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT, UH, SIMILAR CITIES TO US IN OUR DOING, UM, HOW THEIR FINANCING MODELS, UH, COMPARED TO OURS, WHAT ARE THINGS THAT WE MAY BE MISSING THAT WE SHOULD CONSIDER, AND WHAT ARE, UH, SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE WILL HAVE IN THE SHORT TERM OR EVEN PLAN FOR, UH, MIDTERM AND LONG TERM IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO, UH, INCREASE OUR BUDGET AND BE MORE RESPONSIVE AND TO WHAT THE COMMUNITY EXPECTS FROM FROM THE PARKS.

SO THE MEMO THAT WE SENT IN, UH, EARLY MAY SPOKE OF THE LAST REMAINING STEPS ALSO IN THIS PROCESS, WHICH IS TO COMPLETE THE REPORT, WHICH WILL BE COMPLETED IN JUNE, UH, AND WILL BE SUBMITTED TO COUNCIL, UM, PRIOR TO THE BUDGET, UH, DELIBERATIONS AS IT WAS REQUESTED IN THE SOLUTION.

GREAT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, VICE CHARLES, YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I WAS JUST GONNA ASK WHEN WE HAVE THE INFORMATION AND IF IT'D BE READY FOR BUDGET ADOPTION.

SO I GUESS THAT THAT ANSWERS IT.

ARE, ARE THERE ANY PRELIMINARY HIGHLIGHTS THAT YOU WOULD BE COMFORTABLE SHARING AT THIS STAGE? AGE? UM, I THINK THAT WHAT WE FOUND OUT WAS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT, UM, WHEN WE COMPARE AUSTIN TO A NUMBER OF CITIES THAT WE SELECTED FOR THIS STUDY, SOME OF THEM WERE, UM, ALONGSIDE THE SAME SIZE OF SYSTEM.

UH, OTHERS ARE ONES THAT WE ASPIRE TO, UM, BREACH AND, UH, A LOT OF, AND QUITE A FEW, LIKE DALLAS, TEXAS AND SAN ANTONIO WERE IN TEXAS.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT WAS THAT THE AMOUNT THAT WE SPENT IN MAINTENANCES SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN WHAT OUR, UM, OTHER CITIES ARE SPENDING.

SO MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE, WE HAVE TO LOOK FURTHER INTO.

UM, BEYOND THAT, UH, WE ALSO REALIZE THAT OUR SYSTEM HAS ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, CEMETERIES, UM, THAT THESE ARE NOT, UM, REGULAR, UH, FUNCTIONS THAT OTHER CITIES HAVE.

SO, UM, RECOGNIZING THAT WE HAVE A LARGE PARK SYSTEM, UH, WITH ADDITIONAL STRESSORS AS WELL, UM, IS MAYBE WILL BE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO FIND A FEW RECOMMENDATIONS

[01:50:01]

THAT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED TO ALLEVIATE THE STRESS RIGHT NOW.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

I KNOW, UM, AND THIS IS DEFINITELY PERTINENT TO THE, THE LAST PRESENTATION WE RECEIVED, BUT TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE OF WHAT IS, YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION THAT THIS, THE CITY REALLY NEEDS TO BE TAKING ON.

WHERE CAN, UM, THE FOLKS WHO WANNA BUY THE SHINY PRETTY THINGS AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE PUT THEIR NAME ON IT IS WHERE IS THE APPROPRIATE LANE FOR THAT? AS LONG AS EVERYTHING IS STILL, YOU KNOW, OPEN AND AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.

UM, BUT ALSO THEN HOW DO WE KIND OF MANAGE THAT WILDFIRE MITIGATION AND LAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING TOO? SO I FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE ALL SAY PARKS AS ONE UMBRELLA TOPIC, BUT FOR ME THERE'S REALLY A LOT OF DIFFERENT ANGLES IN THIS CONVERSATION THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THERE MAY BE STUFF THAT OUR, OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT NEEDS TO HELP WITH, OR NEIGHBORING HOMEOWNERS REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO, TO HAVE AN AVENUE FOR VOLUNTEER SERVICES TO HELP KEEP THE AREA AROUND THEM WELL MAINTAINED.

SO, UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING THE INFORMATION BACK, UM, BUT I THINK WE'RE ALL EAGER TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN BETTER SUPPORT OUR PARK SYSTEM.

ALL IN ALL, THANK YOU.

AND OF COURSE, THE LONG RANGE PLAN IS THE DOCUMENT THAT GUIDES A LOT OF THE DECISIONS THAT WE ARE MAKING AND HOW WE APPROACH NEXT STEPS.

ABSOLUTELY.

THANKS.

THANK YOU MUCH.

I'M GOING TO ASK IF, IF ANY OF Y'ALL HAVE QUESTIONS FOR LEANNA, I KNOW SHE'LL MAKE HERSELF AVAILABLE AFTER, BUT JUST SO I CAN GET TO THE OTHER TWO, UH, QUICKLY, REALLY APPRECIATE THAT, UM, UPDATE SO THAT WE CAN SEE THAT IN JULY.

ALRIGHT, IF I CAN

[4. Briefing on the Austin Resource Recovery’s recycling diversion and solar recycling programs (Amy Slagle, Assistant Director - Austin Resource Recovery; Ron Romero, Assistant Director - Austin Recourse Recovery).]

MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, THE AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY RECYCLING, DIVERSION AND SOLAR RECYCLING PROGRAM.

I SERVE AS YOUR DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.

I'M HERE TO, UH, FIRST I'D BE REMISS ALSO IN NOT THANKING THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION AND, UH, REMOVING, UH, UH, ALMOST 36 TONS OF LITTER OUT OF THE PARK.

SO REALLY, UH, REALLY, UH, HATS OFF TO THEM.

AND I, I THINK IT'S RIGHT, YOU KNOW, WE DO NEED SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY.

THE CITY CAN'T DO ALL THIS WORK BY THEMSELVES AND ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THAT, LIKE, UM, AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION AND KEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL, UH, CERTAINLY HELP US OUT AS WELL.

SO, UH, BUT WITH THAT, I WILL GO AHEAD AND, UM, INTRODUCE OUR TWO, TWO NEXT SPEAKERS.

UM, OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTORS, RON ROMERO AND, UH, UH, AMY SLAGEL WILL WE GIVE PRESENTATIONS ON SOME OF OUR RECYCLING PROGRAMS. A RR DOES A LOT OF PROGRAMS. UM, YOU'LL HEAR FROM RON TALK ABOUT SOME THAT ARE MORE, MORE WELL KNOWN, LIKE OUR CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

UM, AND AMY WILL TALK A BIT MORE ABOUT, UH, RECYCLING OF SOLAR PANELS, WHICH, UH, I'M SURE WE MAY BE GETTING A FEW MORE IN THIS WEEK AS FOLKS START, UH, GETTING HAIL DAMAGED, UH, PANELS OFF THEIR ROOFS AND WANT TO GET THOSE RECYCLED.

SO, UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RON ROMERO.

GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS.

THANK YOU FOR HAVING US.

THANK YOU FOR EXTENDING THE INVITATION FOR US TO TALK ABOUT ARRS PROGRAMS. UH, AS RICHARD, UH, DIRECTOR MIKHAIL STATED, I'M RON ROMERO, ONE OF THE ASSISTANT DIRECTORS AT, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.

AND, UH, WE APPRECIATE YOU HAVING US.

SO AS WE START, WE ALWAYS LIKE TO SHARE WHAT A R'S MISSION IS.

I THINK THAT'S ALWAYS REALLY IMPORTANT AS WE TALK ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS. OUR MISSION IS WE PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SERVICES TO PROTECT PEOPLE AND OUR PLANET AND OUR VALUE STATEMENT, WE'RE DRIVING THE GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION OF TRADITIONAL WASTE MANAGEMENT TO SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE RECOVERY.

SO AS WE TALK ABOUT RECYCLING, WE USUALLY LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY AND HOW IT ALL STARTED.

UM, BACK IN 1986, AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I WAS A SENIOR THAT YEAR.

I GRADUATED IN 1986, SO I'M SHOWING MY AGE.

UM, BUT, UH, WE STARTED A, UH, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN STARTED A CURBSIDE RECYCLING COLLECTION PROGRAM.

NOW, WE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WE HAD SOME ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS BEFORE 1986.

THERE WERE ALREADY, UH, STARTING TO RECYCLE.

YOU KNOW, WE HAD SOME REALLY, REALLY GOOD PEOPLE HERE THAT KIND OF STARTED THE MOVEMENT.

BUT THE CITY OFFICIALLY STARTED THAT, THAT COLLECTION PROGRAM IN 1986.

UH, SOURCE SEPARATED MEANS EVERYTHING WAS IN, IN ITS EACH STACK, AND IT WAS VERY, VERY LABOR INTENSIVE.

UH, WE WERE PICKING UP, WE WERE GOING THROUGH STREETS.

OF COURSE, NOT EVERYBODY WAS PARTICIPATING AT THAT TIME.

UH, AND JUST PICKING UP EVERYTHING, UH, WITH A PICKUP TRUCK, A TRAILER, AND SOME, UH, SOME 55 GALLON, UH, BUCKETS AND, UH, BARRELS.

IN THE LATE EIGHTIES AND EARLY NINETIES, THE INTRODUCTION OF MURPH'S, UH, UH, BECAME, UH, PREVALENT AND THE SHIFT TO DUAL STREAM RECYCLING, UH, BEGAN, UM, KEEPING PAPER AWAY FROM ALL THE OTHER MATERIALS.

IN 1992,

[01:55:01]

THE CITY OF AUSTIN STARTED A PAYAS YOU THROW PILOT PROGRAM.

AND AT THIS TIME, WE INTRODUCED THAT 14 GALLON, UH, BIN THAT YOU SEE ON TOP OF THE, UH, IRREGULAR RECYCLING BIN.

UM, WE STARTED THAT WHERE WE HAD GARBAGE COLLECTION, YARD TRIMMINGS COLLECTION, AND, UH, RECYCLING COLLECTION.

AND IN SHOWING THAT PICTURE, WE LIKE TO KIND OF SHOW THIS IS KIND OF WHAT AUSTIN WAS AND WHAT AUSTIN IS, AND HOW WE'VE GROWN FROM A 14 GALLON, UH, BUCKET TO A 96 GALLON BUCKET.

SO A LOT OF GROWTH HERE IN AUSTIN.

IN 2008, UH, WE STARTED A SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING PILOT PROGRAM, UH, WHERE WE INTRODUCED THE CART SYSTEM.

UM, THE YEAR, YEAR AFTER THE, THE PILOT PROGRAM, WHICH WAS SUCCESSFUL, OBVIOUSLY.

UM, WE STARTED, UH, A CART BASED COLLECTION SYSTEM WHERE EVERYTHING WENT IN THE CART, UH, MADE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, OUR RESIDENTS.

EVERYTHING GOES IN THE CART.

WE JUST GO BY AND PICK THE CART UP TO HELP US IN OUR COLLECTION EFFORTS.

AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY PARTNERS WITH ALCON'S RECYCLING AND TEXAS DISPOSAL SYSTEMS. CURRENTLY ALCON'S RECYCLING HANDLES 60% OF OUR RESIDENTIAL CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

AND TDS GETS 40% OF OUR RESIDENTIAL CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE THESE FACILITIES ARE LOCATED AT, YOU CAN SEE B'S UH, IN NORTHERN AUSTIN, UH, TWO 90 AND, UH, JOHNNY MORRIS ROAD.

UH, WE DO HAVE PINPOINT POINTED ON THERE WHERE OUR, THE ARRS NEW FACILITY, OUR NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER, WILL BE COMING ONLINE HERE IN FUTURE YEARS.

SO WE WILL BE REALLY, REALLY CLOSE TO ALCON'S RECYCLING.

UH, CURRENTLY, UH, WE ARE, UM, OUR HUB IS OFF OF TODD LANE AND BEN WHITE IN 71 IN SOUTH AUSTIN.

AND THEN WE'VE GOT TEXAS DISPOSAL SYSTEMS HIGHLIGHTED THERE AT THE BOTTOM, WHICH IS IN CREED MORE.

SO, UM, WHAT WE DO AS A DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, FOR EFFICIENCY PURPOSES IS WE, WE HAVE OUR ROUTES ROUTED.

SO ON CERTAIN DAYS, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, WHICH ARE YOUR NORTHERN MOST ROUTES, OF COURSE, WE GO TO, UH, BALCONES, YOUR SOUTHERN, UM, YOUR MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS GO TO, UH, TO TDS JUST FOR EFFICIENCY PURPOSES.

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF, UH, WHAT OUR RECYCLING TONNAGES HAVE LOOKED, LOOKED LIKE HERE FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS.

UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, FISCAL YEAR 19 ON THERE ALL THE WAY TO 24.

UM, WE LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT 22 AND 23 WHERE WE HAD, UH, RECORD, UM, TONNAGES OF RECYCLING, UM, 63, 64, UH, THOUSAND TONS.

UM, AND WE ATTRIBUTE THAT MOSTLY TO THE COVID TO, TO THE AFTER EFFECTS OF COVID.

PEOPLE BEGAN WORKING FROM HOME.

UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS, THERE WAS, UM, A, A LOT MORE ACTIVITY IN THE HOME.

UM, SO WE, UH, WE ATTRIBUTE THE, THAT UPTICK TO, TO THE COVID YEARS.

UH, WE LOOKING AT 24, UM, OUR TONNAGES HAVE GONE DOWN TO, TO 59 AND SO 59,000 TONS.

SO WE TRY TO LOOK AT THE NUMBERS AND SEE WHAT, WHAT THE TRENDS ARE, WHAT'S GOING ON, AND YOU KNOW, WHY THESE NUMBERS ARE, ARE PRESENTING THEMSELVES.

UM, JUST FOR REFERENCE, UH, COLLECTED MATERIALS, UH, INCLUDE OLD, OLD CORRUGATED CARDBOARD, OLD NEWSPAPER, MIXED PAPER, USED ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CANS, BUY METAL AND GLASS.

WE ARE ADDING A NEW COMMODITY THIS SUMMER.

UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH BOTH OF OUR PARTNERS, TDS AND VALCON.

SO, UH, BEGINNING IN SUMMER, THIS SUMMER, WE'LL BE, UH, ACCEPTING AND INTRODUCING ASEPTIC PACKAGING AND POLY CODED PAPER IN THE COLLECTION STREAM.

SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PUT THOSE PRODUCTS IN YOUR, UH, IN YOUR RECYCLING BIN, WHICH WE'RE REALLY, REALLY EXCITED ABOUT.

WHAT IS ASEPTIC PACKAGE? OKAY, THOSE ARE YOUR JUICE POUCHES, UH, YOUR WINE BOXES.

A LOT OF PEOPLE MISTAKENLY HAVE BEEN PUTTING THEM ALREADY IN THE RECYCLING BIN, BUT WE'RE OFFICIALLY GOING TO WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS, WE'RE OFFICIALLY GOING TO TAKE IT AND ROLL THAT OUT.

SO THAT'S WHAT THAT IS.

SO WE LOOKED AT THE NUMBERS AND WE TRY TO PUT OUR FINGER ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON, LET'S GET THE PULSE OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN, IN AUSTIN THROUGHOUT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.

SO WE WORKED REAL CLOSELY WITH OUR, UH, QUALITY ASSURANCE DIVISION AND, UH, CONDUCTED A PARTICIPATION SET OUT STUDY IN, IN 24, UH, TWO RECYCLING SET OUT.

STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED IN THE SPRING AND ALSO IN THE FALL.

UM, ALL CITY OF AUSTIN COUNCIL DISTRICT WERE AUDITED

[02:00:01]

TWICE.

AND, UM, JUST FOR REFERENCE, WE'RE GONNA DO THAT AGAIN THIS SUMMER, AND WE'LL DO IT THIS WINTER JUST TO KIND OF SEE WHERE WE ARE, LOOK TO WHERE WE NEED TO MAYBE CONCENTRATE OUR EFFORTS.

WHAT'S GOING ON? ARE WE GOING UP, ARE WE GOING DOWN? JUST THOSE NUMBERS ARE, ARE REALLY ASSIST US IN OUR PLANNING AND OUR, OUR LONG, LONG RANGE PLANNING.

ALSO, I LIKE TO SEE GRAPHICS.

I'M, I'M A VISUAL PERSON, SO I USUALLY LIKE TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THE GRAPHS ARE.

WE HAVE STAFF PUT, PUT THINGS TOGETHER.

UH, BUT WE PROVIDED YOU WITH SOME INFORMATION HERE, UH, IN REGARDS TO, UH, SET OUT RATE BY COUNCIL DISTRICT AND, UH, SET OUT RATE BY DAY.

I'M GONNA GO OVER A COUPLE OF THOSE HIGHLIGHTS HERE.

SO, THE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, UH, FROM OCTOBER VERSUS APRIL.

UH, THE OVERALL, UH, RECYCLING SET OUT RATE WAS 83.7 IN OCTOBER OF 24.

AND IN APRIL OF 24, THAT SAME YEAR, EARLIER THAT YEAR WAS 85.9%.

UM, IN OCTOBER 24, THE LOWEST SET OUT RATE WAS DISTRICT EIGHT, UH, AT 73, 70 0.3%.

IN APRIL, THE LOWEST SET OUT RATE WAS DISTRICT ONE.

UH, KUDOS TO DISTRICT SEVEN, AND I DIDN'T PUT ON THERE JUST 'CAUSE YOU'RE HERE, .

THESE ARE THE NUMBERS.

KUDOS TO DISTRICT SEVEN.

UH, OCTOBER AND APRIL THEY HAD THE HIGHEST SET OUT RATE, 94.3% AND 94.5%.

ALSO FINDINGS, THE LOWEST SET OUT RATE DATE IS, UH, DAY IS USUALLY MONDAYS AT 77%.

UM, AND IN APRIL IT WAS ALSO MONDAYS THE HIGHEST SET OUT RATE IS FRIDAYS, UH, 87.9% ON OCTOBER, UH, 88.4% IN, IN APRIL.

AND EACH OF THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS WERE AUDITED TWICE.

WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, WE GET CONCERNED AS A DEPARTMENT, UH, AS TO WHY NUMBERS MAY BE GOING DOWN.

AND WE, WE DO UNDERSTAND THAT RECYCLING IS, IS SECULAR.

YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT COMES AROUND THE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, A FEW YEARS IT'LL TICK BACK UP.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WE PUT IN SOME TIME TO LOOK AT AND IDENTIFIED IS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY SOME CHANGES IN CONSUMPTION PATTERNS, UH, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AFFECT RECYCLING IN THE NUMBERS.

UM, CONTAMINATION ISSUES IS ONE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN DEALING WITH HEAD ON.

UH, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO ELIMINATE, UH, UM, CONTAMINATION, UH, BY EDUCATING, UH, FLYERS, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THEN OF COURSE, CHANGES IN THE MATERIAL.

YOU KNOW, UH, A LOT OF THINGS ARE CHANGING.

THE OTHER DAY MY WIFE CAME HOME WITH SOME NEW COLOGNE SHE WANTED ME TO TRY AND THERE WAS NO BOX.

AND I WAS LIKE, WHERE'S THE BOX? I'M GONNA KIND OF READ WHAT IT IS.

AND JUST LIKE, THERE'S NO BOX ANYMORE.

HERE'S JUST, THIS IS A COLOGNE.

UM, SO THERE'S CHANGING CHANGES IN, IN, UH, IN THE MATERIALS THAT ARE COMING OUT ON PRODUCTS.

SO, UM, WE CONTINUE TO TRACK ALL THIS INFORMATION, UH, TRACKING STATISTICS FOR, UH, THIS DIVISION.

UH, THE RECYCLING DIVISION IS VERY IMPORTANT.

UH, WE'VE GOT A VERY ROBUST PROGRAM, A VERY POPULAR PROGRAM.

UH, I'M SURE YOU KNOW, EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS WE HAVE THE COMMUNITY SURVEY THAT COMES OUT.

AND, UH, THE RECYCLING PROGRAM IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY, UH, RATED, UH, PROGRAMS AND OFFERING CITY SERVICES AND WE'RE REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF THAT.

WE'VE GOT SOME GREAT EMPLOYEES THAT WORK IN, IN THE AREA AND JUST VERY COMMITTED TO, TO PUSHING THIS INITIATIVE.

AND WITH THAT, I'LL TAKE QUESTIONS AT THE END, BUT I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE, AMY SLAGEL.

GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.

UH, AMY SLAGEL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.

SO I WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND ON ARRS, UH, SOLAR PANEL RECYCLING EFFORTS.

UM, UH, WE ARE, UH, WE ACCEPT THOSE AT OUR RECYCLING REUSE FACILITY IN SOUTH AUSTIN.

UH, WE ACCEPT THEM FROM RESIDENTIAL HOMES AS WELL AS SMALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES.

UH, WE FIND 'EM AT ENCAMPMENTS, UH, DURING CLEANUPS FROM TIME TO TIME, AS WELL AS, UH, SOMETIMES THEY ARE, UH, ARE SET OUT AS PART OF OUR ON DEMAND BULK PROGRAM.

SO, UH, AND WHEN WE SAY, UH, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE ACCEPT FROM SMALL BUSINESSES, IT'S ABOUT, OR WE, EXCEPT SMALL AMOUNTS, IT'S ABOUT ONE TO TWO, UH, PANELS THAT ARE ACCEPTED AT NO COST.

AND ANYTHING BEYOND THAT WOULD BE, UH, WOULD INCUR A FEE.

SO LAST YEAR, UH, WE DIVERTED, UH, 10 TONS OF PANELS, UH, IN LAST FISCAL YEAR.

I KNOW THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A LOT WHEN YOU JUST HEARD MR. ROMERO MENTION WE DID 59,000 TONS OF, UH, SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING.

BUT, UH, CONSIDERING YOUR AVERAGE SOLAR PANEL IS ABOUT 45 POUNDS, JUST LIKE THE ONE PICTURED HERE, AS WELL AS THE, YOU'LL USE SOLAR PANELS FOR SOME OF YOUR HOME SECURITY SYSTEMS. THOSE ARE VERY LIGHTWEIGHT.

SO WE GET QUITE A FEW, UM, UH,

[02:05:01]

PANELS THROUGH THE FACILITY.

ALL THE PANELS ARE SHIPPED TO OUR VENDOR IN FORT WORTH.

UH, FROM THERE THEY SHIP THEM ONTO WISCONSIN FOR, FOR FURTHER PROCESSING.

AND SO THE RECYCLING, UH, THE SOLAR PANEL RECYCLING PROCESS IS ESSENTIALLY THEY'RE STRIPPED DOWN FOR PARTS.

UH, THEY, THEY TAKE THE SILVER, THEY TAKE THE ALUMINUM AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S ALL RECYCLED.

UH, THE WAFERS AND THE GLASS, UH, THAT'S ALL SHED, UH, SHREDDED AND SEPARATED.

AND THEN THAT MATERIAL IS SENT DOWNSTREAM TO RECYCLERS.

UM, IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR YOU TO END UP WITH A NEW SOLAR PANEL THAT'S ACTUALLY MADE FROM, UH, UH, PAST SOLAR PANEL, UH, MATERIAL.

SO, UH, ARR IS IN ITS FINAL YEAR OF THE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING CONTRACT.

WE ARE WORKING ON A, A NEW SOLICITATION.

UH, IN ORDER FOR VENDORS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THAT, THEY MUST HOLD A A A E STEWARD STANDARD CERTIFICATION.

UH, THAT'S A INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION THAT, UH, PROVIDES AN ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE FRAMEWORK THAT FOCUSES ON PROTECTING, UH, CUSTOMER DATA AND PRIVACY.

IT PROHIBITS, UH, EXPORT OF TOXIC WASTE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND PROHIBITS THE USE OF PRISON LABOR FOR PROCESSING ELECTRONICS.

SO SOLAR PANELS ARE ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITEMS THAT WE HAVE ON OUR ELECTRONICS PROGRAM.

OUR ELECTRONICS CONTRACT, UH, THEY'RE 50 CENTS PER POUND.

UH, SOME OF OUR OTHER ELECTRONIC ITEMS RANGE IN PRICE FROM 5 CENTS TO 17 CENTS A POUND.

SO, UH, RECYCLING, UH, SOLAR PANEL DEFINITELY CAN CREATE SOME CHALLENGES BASED, BASED AROUND COST.

SO, UH, AND WITH THAT, WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS.

I'M NOT IN THIS PHOTO, SO YOU JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH A LIVE VERSION.

SO, QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL DISTRICT RECYCLING CHAMPION.

RIGHT ON.

COUNCILOR SIEGEL, I'M GLAD YOU SAID THAT.

CHAIR.

UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO TURN THAT AND DO LIKE SOME SORT OF HIGHLIGHT VIDEO.

UM, I WANNA FOCUS ON THE, THE SOLAR PANEL STUFF.

UM, BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR HIGHLIGHTING DISTRICT SEVEN'S SET, SET UP RATE .

UM, LET'S SEE HERE.

UH, AND TRY TO GET THROUGH THIS PRETTY QUICKLY.

UM, SO IN TERMS OF RECYCLING, IF, IF, UH, A CONSTITUENT WANTS TO RECYCLE THEIR PANELS AT THE AR FACILITY, DID THEY HAVE TO LIVE IN THE A RR SERVICE AREA? YES, THEY WOULD NEED TO LIVE IN OUR, UH, IN THE FULL PURPOSE JURISDICTION AND THEY'RE ABLE TO UTILIZE THE RESOURCE AND RECOVERY CENTER.

OKAY, GREAT.

AND THEN IN TERMS OF, UM, I GUESS SOLAR PANELS FROM LARGER INSTALLATIONS, UH, LIKE THOSE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING BUILDING ON CITY FACILITIES, ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY LOCAL RECYCLING PROGRAMS THAT WOULD ACCEPT A LARGER NUMBER OF PANELS? UH, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY.

I KNOW THAT OURS, LIKE I MENTIONED, ARE BASED AROUND SMALLER SCALE RESIDENTIAL AND, UH, SMALL COMMERCIAL, UH, BUSINESSES.

OKAY, GREAT.

AND THEN, UM, IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE SOLAR PANELS THAT CONTAIN, UH, HARMFUL, UH, ELEMENTS IF, UH, DISPOSED OF IMPROPERLY, UM, DO PEOPLE SOMETIMES BRING THOSE IN? I, I UNDERSTAND THERE'S DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, COMPOSITIONS OF DIFFERENT PANELS, LIKE ARE ARE SOME PANELS THAT HAVE THESE MORE HAZARDOUS COMPOSITIONS BROUGHT INTO YOUR FACILITY? UM, AND THEN I GUESS IF YOU CAN COMMENT MORE ON LIKE, IS THERE A CONCERN ABOUT CONSTITUENTS HANDLING THESE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS BEING ASKED TO BRING THEM IN THEMSELVES? WE TAKE ALL, UH, SOLAR PANELS AT THE FACILITIES.

WE OBVIOUSLY WOULD WANT, UH, CITIZENS TO, TO HANDLE THEM AS SAFELY, UH, AS THEY CAN.

SO I, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY, ANY CHALLENGES WITH US ACCEPTING, UH, THE DIFFERENT LEVELS, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE ASKING OR THE DIFFERENT TYPES.

WELL, I MEAN, SOME OF US ARE ON COUNCIL CONSIDERING A RECYCLING PROGRAM THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, UH, POTENTIALLY REQUIRE A FEE TO BE PAID WHEN YOU, UH, GET A PERMIT TO INSTALL A PANEL, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES.

AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS, IS IT BETTER TO HAVE A PROGRAM WHERE THE PANELS ARE PICKED UP OR WHETHER PEOPLE BRING THEM IN, UH, ON THEIR OWN.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO THAT.

UH, SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE, UM, BEEN IN, HAD SOME DISCUSSIONS, UH, WITH AUSTIN ENERGY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SOLAR PANEL RECYCLING AND, AND, AND LARGER PROGRAMS. SO I THINK THAT THERE'S, UH, SOME MERIT THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED WITH, UH, LOOKING AT LARGER CUSTOMER BASES.

SO YOU CAN CAST, UH, CAST A WIDER NET FOR RECYCLING, UH, INSTALLING AND, AND RECYCLING THESE SOLAR PANELS.

SO ARRS BASE IS MORE, IS LIMITED COMPARED TO AUSTIN ENERGIES.

FAIR ENOUGH.

UM, THEN LAST QUESTION IS, UM, IN TERMS OF THE SOLAR PANEL RECYCLING PROGRAM OVERALL, DO YOU HAVE DATA THAT SHOWS, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY TONS WE'VE GOT PER YEAR? UM, UH, OR, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? MORE SPECIFIC TO, UM, KIND OF THE INTAKE? UH, THAT 10 TONS IS OUR MOST RECENT YEAR IF, UH, THAT WE'VE HAD, WE'LL HAVE TO FOLLOW UP WITH ADDITIONAL, UH, FROM PAST YEARS.

I KNOW WE HAVE SEEN INCREASES YEAR OVER YEAR, UH, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.

WHICH OF THOSE IS SORT OF MOST PROMINENT TO YOU IN TERMS OF THINGS THAT WE CAN GO THINK ABOUT AND WORK ON? I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING AT IS THE CONTAMINATION ISSUES.

WE'LL FOLLOW UP ON, UM, OFFLINE.

UH, JUST TWO QUESTIONS.

ONE IS YOU HAD A LIST OF I THINK, FOUR REASONS WHY YOU THOUGHT THAT RECYCLING HAD DROPPED OFF IN THIS MOST RECENT YEAR AFTER WHAT LOOKED LIKE A SPIKE AFTER COVID, ID UH,

[02:10:02]

UH, WE ALL KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, UH, WE DO AUDITS ON OUR RECYCLING.

UH, WE PARTNER WITH OUR, OUR TWO VENDORS AND, AND DO COMPOSITION AUDITS.

AND OUR CONTAMINATION HAS BEEN RUNNING ANYWHERE FROM 15% TO 22%.

UM, AND SO WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS JUST MESSAGING EDUCATION.

WE ALL KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S NOT AN ENDLESS BUCKET OF MONEY FOR EDUCATION.

UH, BUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE AND THAT, THAT WE ARE DOING, UM, ARE SHOWING SOME, WE THINK ARE SHOWING SOME RE RESULTS.

OUR LAST, UH, UH, AUDIT SHOWED, UH, ABOUT 15% CONTAMINATION, WHERE AT ONE POINT IT WAS AT A HIGH OF 22%.

UM, WE LIKE TO THINK THAT OUR PROGRAMS, WE'VE GOT A PROGRAM CALLED GENERATION ZERO WHERE WE PARTNER WITH, UH, KEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL.

WE GO INTO SCHOOLS, UH, WE TEACH, UH, CHILDREN FROM KINDER ALL THE WAY TO, UH, HIGH SCHOOL.

UM, YOU KNOW, ABOUT RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING.

UM, WE'VE LEARNED JUST BY GOING TO TOWN HALL MEETINGS AND TALKING TO PEOPLE THAT, UH, A LOT OF WHAT OUR CHILDREN DO DRIVES WHAT HAPPENS IN THE HOUSEHOLD WHEN YOU TEACH KIDS TO RECYCLE OR COMPOST.

UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY, THEY'RE THE, UH, THEY'RE THE STEWARDS AT THE HOUSE.

SO THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT A RR IS DOING TO ADDRESS THE CONTAMINATION ISSUE.

THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE THINK THAT WE CAN CONTROL.

THAT'S KINDA THE LOW HANGING FRUIT.

I'M CURIOUS, THIS IS MY IGNORANCE HERE.

UH, THE DATA THAT YOU'VE GOT FOR COUNCIL DISTRICT AND ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU'VE MEASURED HERE, THEY'RE ALL STRICTLY A RR DATA.

THEY'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT PRIVATE VENDORS THAT ARE DOING RECYCLING PICKUP? THAT IS CORRECT.

THAT'S, THIS IS ALL RESIDENTIAL DATA OUR CUSTOMERS.

THAT IS CORRECT, SIR.

SO IT MAY NOT BE FULLY ACCOUNTING, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE THINK OF MAYBE HOW WELL DISTRICT SEVEN HAS DONE AND, AND SAY, MY PROPERTY HAS A PRIVATE VENDOR THAT DOESN'T.

YES.

YES SIR.

NOT REALLY CAPTURING THE FULL PICTURE, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? YEAH, SO WHAT WE WANNA DO, I MEAN, YOU'RE, THIS DATA IS ALL A RR DATA.

OUR, OUR RESIDENTIAL DATA, UH, FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, CITY OF AUSTIN CUSTOMERS, WHAT WE WANT TO DO IN THE FUTURE IS DEFINITELY PARTNER WITH, UH, THE, UH, UH, THE PRIVATE HAULERS.

UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY'RE OUR VENDOR OR NOT, YOU KNOW, TDS BALCONES, THERE ARE OTHER PLAYERS OUT, BUT THAT WAY WE CAN GET SOME DATA, SHARE DATA.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA BE AS TRANSPARENT AS AS POSSIBLE.

UM, BUT WE, WE PLAN ON REACHING OUR LONG, OUR LONG-TERM GOAL IS REACHING OUT TO, TO OUR OTHER PARTNERS OUT THERE AND, AND TRYING TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT NUMBERS.

THAT WAY WE CAN GIVE, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLIC AND GIVE EVERYONE A TRUE NUMBER OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

YEAH.

I WOULD VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR EFFORTS AND ENERGY ON TRYING TO GET THAT KIND OF DATA IN THE FUTURE.

YES, SIR.

UH, LAST THING I THINK YOU MENTIONED, YOU USED THE PHRASE RECYCLING IS CYCLICAL.

CYCLICAL.

YES, SIR.

UH, WE'VE, IF YOU DON'T, IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE A SLOGAN, THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD ONE.

YEAH.

I, I, I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE OF, OF LEADING THIS PROGRAM, UH, FOR THE LAST 13 OR 14 YEARS.

AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN I FIRST STARTED IT, WE WERE AT A REAL HIGH, YOU KNOW, RECYCLING WAS, AND THEN THERE'S LOWS, THERE'S PEAKS AND VALLEYS.

SO, YOU KNOW, I, I, I LOOK FORWARD TO FOR IT TO BOUNCE BACK AND US TO GET THOSE NUMBERS UP.

WE'RE SO PROUD OF THIS PROGRAM.

YOU KNOW, I'M SO PROUD OF THE PROGRAM, UH, THAT WE WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD FOR THE NUMBERS TO BOUNCE BACK.

ME TOO.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I HAVE TWO QUICK QUESTIONS.

ONE IS A, JUST A TECHNICAL UNDERSTANDING, WHEN YOU SAY SET OUT RATE, THAT IS THE ELIGIBLE CURBSIDE HOMES THAT SET OUT THEIR CART ON THEIR GIVEN DAY, IS THAT THAT IS CORRECT.

JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD THAT CORRECT.

AND THEN THE OTHER IS JUST, I'M SURPRISED THAT SOLAR PANELS ARE SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE, THE RECYCLING, I INTUITIVELY, I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THERE'S SO MANY VALUABLE MATERIALS THERE THAT WE WOULD GET A GOOD RATE OR EVEN SOME KIND OF RETURN.

BUT I GUESS THAT'S JUST WRONG.

I THINK A LOT OF THE COSTS FOR THIS IS WRAPPED UP AROUND TRANSPORTATION.

SO, YOU KNOW, OUR FACILITY OR THE VENDOR'S FACILITY IS IN FORT WORTH AND THEN THEY, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL PROCESSING GOES TO WISCONSIN OR IS IN WISCONSIN.

SO I THINK THERE'S, YOU KNOW, UM, OTHER COMPANIES THAT MAY LOOK INTO THE SOUTHERN REGION OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SOLAR PANEL PLANT RECYCLING PLANTS, AND THEN THAT MIGHT BE A, A GREAT BENEFIT TO AUSTIN.

RECYCLED? UH, ASIDE FROM THE, UH, THE CONTAMINATION RATE THAT, THAT, THAT IS ALL LANDFILL, THAT 15%, WE CAN GIVE YOU SOME, PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME NUMBERS ON, ON WHAT WE HAVE ESTIMATED.

ALRIGHT.

WELL REALLY APPRE, I ACTUALLY DO HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION.

SORRY, THAT POPPED IN MY MIND.

DO WE HAVE AN ESTIMATE ON HOW MUCH ENDS UP IN THE LANDFILL THAT COULD BE

[02:15:01]

UM, BUT YEAH, I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT, WHAT PEOPLE AREN'T RECYCLING THAT THEY COULD, HOW MUCH WE THINK WE COULD GET FROM THE TRASH.

YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

WE ARE GOING TO, UH, BE CONDUCTING SOME, UH, SORRY, GO AHEAD.

GO AHEAD RICHARD.

YEAH, COUNCIL MEMBER, WE DO, UH, A CAPTURE RATE STUDY WHICH KIND OF LOOKS AT WHAT MATERIALS ARE GOING INTO THE CORRECT AREAS.

SO WE, WE CAN, WE CAN KIND OF BACK INTO THAT NUMBER TO KIND OF, WE WE'RE NOT ABLE TO NECESSARILY BREAK IT DOWN BY SPECIFIC TYPE OF MATERIAL, BUT WE CAN OVERALL SAY WHAT, UH, A GENERAL NUMBER OF WHAT'S GOING GETTING LANDFILLS.