* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CALL TO ORDER] [00:00:06] WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AT 4 0 4. UM, QUICKLY TAKE ATTENDANCE. PRESENT IS MYSELF, COMMISSIONER ION. WE HAVE COMMISSIONER ORTIZ, COMMISSIONER WOOLSTENCROFT, COMMISSIONER PENN, COMMISSIONER NAVARRO NAVARRO, AND COMMISSIONER PANDER ENGI. UM, IF WE CAN GO THROUGH QUICKLY AND IDENTIFY IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS OR RECUSALS ON ANY SPECIFIC ITEMS. THE REMOTE, OH, MY BAD. AND REMOTELY, WE HAVE COMMISSIONER MARLO, COMMISSIONER TRI COMMISSIONER MOR YARDI, AS WELL AS COMMISSIONER RES. GREAT. THANK YOU. AND SO MYSELF, I HAVE, UM, NO QUESTIONS AND I'M RECUSING MYSELF FROM ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, COMMISSIONER ORTIZ , UH, I HAVE QUESTIONS ON ITEM, EH, I HAVE TO RE LOOK AT THE AGENDA. UM, I HAVE QUESTIONS ON ITEM EIGHT, ONLY ITEM EIGHT, AND NO RECUSALS QUESTION ON ITEMS, UH, TWO AND EIGHT. NO RECUSALS, NO, NO QUESTIONS. I HAVE A RECUSAL. AND ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, AS A SUB CONSULTANT ON THAT PROJECT, AND 10 AND 12 AS A DESIGN ENGINEER ON THOSE, THOSE TWO PROJECTS. NO QUESTIONS, NO RECUSALS, NO QUESTIONS. I HAVE A RECUSAL ON NUMBER THREE. WE ARE THE CONSULTANT ON THE PROJECT. AND THEN ON LINE TWO, COMMISSIONER MORIARTY, YOU'RE ON MUTE, SIR. SORRY ABOUT THAT. IS ITEM SEVEN THE ONE RELATED TO THE A SR? NO, SIR. THAT'S ITEM NUMBER EIGHT. OKAY. I HAVE A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR ITEM EIGHT, OTHERWISE I HAVE NO QUESTIONS OR RECUSALS. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER ZULO, JUST MUTED AGAIN. YOU'RE MUTED AGAIN. SORRY ABOUT THAT. NO QUESTIONS. NO RECUSALS. GREAT. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER TRU, UH, QUESTIONS ON FOUR AND NINE AND NO RECUSALS. THANK YOU. PERFECT. AND COMMISSIONER NAVARRO, RES REYES, , UH, NO QUESTIONS. UH, RECUSAL ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR. LET'S JUST . YEAH. PERFECT. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THAT. WE WILL ACTUALLY GO [8. Recommend approval to execute a collaboration agreement with stakeholders related to field testing for an Aquifer Storage & Recovery project in Bastrop County. Funding: This item has no fiscal impact. Should the project move forward, the future financial impact will be determined as specific funding needs are presented to City Council, in alignment with Austin Water’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan.] OUT OF ORDER TODAY. WE'LL START WITH ITEM NUMBER EIGHT. UM, WE HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE, UM, THAT WISHES TO SPEAK ON THAT ITEMS WE'RE, GO AHEAD AND START WITH THAT. UM, IT'LL BE FOLLOWED BY A BRIEFING, UM, BY SHAY. AND THEN ANY DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONERS SPEAKER. SO I'M CALLING TO THE MIC, UM, STATE REPRESENTATIVE STAN GERDES. AND YOU CAN, YEAH, IF YOU JUST PUSH THE MIC, IT'LL TURN GREEN FOR YOU. I THINK I CAN GET THAT FIGURED OUT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION MEMBERS. UM, YESTERDAY I SENT A LETTER TO THE MAYOR ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED IN AQUA AUSTIN'S AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY, AND HOW IT'S NOT A COLLABORATION OF WHAT, UH, YOU GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT. FIRST, LET ME SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. I REPRESENT BASTROP COUNTY, MILAM COUNTY, LEE COUNTY, BURLESON COUNTY, AND CALDWELL COUNTY. SO THE FIVE COUNTIES TO THE EAST OF HERE, AND I LIVE IN BASTROP COUNTY. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, THIS PROJECT HAS FACED CLEAR AND UNANIMOUS OPPOSITION FROM THE PEOPLE WHO ACTIVELY LIVE ABOVE THAT AQUIFER. EVERY PUBLIC MEETING HAS BEEN PACKED. HUNDREDS OF COMMENTS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED, AND NOT A SINGLE ELECTED OFFICIAL IN BASTROP COUNTY SUPPORTS THE MOU OR THE PROJECT BEHIND IT. AT ITS CORE, IT'S ABOUT TRUST. AUSTIN WATER ANNOUNCED THIS PROJECT SOMETIME IN 2021 AND FAILED TO ENGAGE OUR COMMUNITY AS A PARTNER. INSTEAD OF OPEN DIALOGUE, THERE WAS DIRECTION FROM CITY HALL. INSTEAD OF COOPERATION, THERE WAS CONTROL. THAT APPROACH CREATED DEEP SKEPTICISM THAT AUSTIN [00:05:01] HAS NEVER REPAIRED. IN FACT, THE ONLY TIME AUSTIN CAME TO THE TABLE WAS AFTER I FILED A PIECE OF LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT THIS PROJECT. THAT LEGISLATION PASSED BECAUSE LAWMAKERS ACROSS TEXAS AGREED. THIS KIND OF CROSS COUNTY TYPE OF PROJECT SETS A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT. LET ME BE CLEAR. CROSSING COUNTY LINES TO INJECT TREATED WATER INTO AN AQUIFER THAT SERVES ANOTHER COMMUNITY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE PLANNING. IT'S GOVERNMENT OVERREACH. PLAIN AND SIMPLE, AUSTIN HAS OPTIONS, REAL VIABLE OPTIONS WITHIN ITS OWN COUNTY. THE CITY'S OWN AUDIT IDENTIFIED NEARLY 30,000 ACRE FEET OF WATER LOSS THAT COULD BE ADDRESSED BEFORE SPENDING MILLIONS ON A PROJECT THAT BASTROP RESIDENTS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT. SIGNING. THIS MOU WOULD COMMIT AUSTIN TAXPAYERS TO MILLIONS IN SPENDING FOR A PROJECT THAT WILL NEVER BE BUILT MOVING FORWARD, WOULD ONLY WASTE TAXPAYER DOLLARS WHEN THIS PROJECT IS INEVITABLY GOING TO BE STOPPED. I'VE ALREADY PASSED LEGISLATION TO BLOCK IT ONCE, AND I'LL USE EVERY LEGISLATIVE TOOL AVAILABLE TO STOP IT PERMANENTLY. THE LEGISLATURE HAS MADE IT CLEAR ANY EFFORT TO MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT LOCAL CONSENT WILL FACE SERIOUS SCRUTINY. SO TODAY I'M ASKING YOU TO PAUSE, TO LISTEN, AND TO RESPECT THE PEOPLE THAT I REPRESENT. THE PEOPLE IN BASTROP COUNTY, THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES WHO HAVE VOICED THEIR CONCERNS, WHO'VE SPOKE UP, SHOWED UP, THEY DON'T WANT THIS PROJECT. THEY'VE BEEN LOUD, THEY'VE BEEN CLEAR. I JUST DON'T THINK THE VOICE AND THE MESSAGE HAS HAS CARRIED WHERE IT'S NEEDED TO BE. SO THAT'S WHY I'M HERE TODAY TO REPRESENT THE PEOPLE THAT ELECTED ME TO OFFICE TO DO SO. OUR COMMUNITY, OUR LAND, AND OUR WATER DESERVE TO BE HEARD AND PROTECTED. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY OTHER PUBLIC SPEAKERS THAT WISH TO SPEAK TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT? THANK YOU, REPRESENTATIVE. THERE YOU GO. THANK YOU. OKAY. HAVING NONE. I THINK WE'LL MOVE ON TO YOUR, UH, BRIEFINGS. SHA RIGHT. THANK YOU. WE HAVE A FEW SLIDES FOR YOU TODAY. UM, THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS. UM, THE ITEM ON THE AGENDA FOR YOU TODAY IS A BINDING COLLABORATION AGREEMENT THAT HAS BEEN NEGOTIATED WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN BASTROP COUNTY. AND WE ARE SEEKING YOUR RECOMMENDATION AS CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE AGREEMENT. THE PROPOSED COLLABORATION AGREEMENT DEFINES HOW WE WILL WORK WITH BASTROP COUNTY ENTITIES DURING THE FIELD TESTING PHASE OF AUSTIN'S A SR PROJECT. IT DOES NOT AUTHORIZE THE FIELD TESTING PHASE. WE WILL NEED FUTURE COUNCIL ACTION TO AUTHORIZE CONTRACTS AND SPENDING FOR FIELD TESTING. SO SINCE APRIL OF THIS YEAR, WE HAVE HELD NINE MEETINGS WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN BASTROP COUNTY TO NEGOTIATE THIS PROPOSED AGREEMENT. THE MEETINGS WERE PROMPTED BY LEGISLATION FILED BY REPRESENTATIVE STAN GERDY OF BASTROP COUNTY, WHICH WOULD HAVE PROHIBITED AUSTIN'S A SR PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY. AUSTIN WATER CAME TOGETHER WITH VARIOUS BA BASTROP STAKEHOLDERS AND HAS WORKED DILIGENTLY TO DEFINE PROTECTIONS AND POTENTIAL BA BENEFITS FOR BASTROP COUNTY. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, WE HELD A SERIES OF PUBLIC MEETINGS IN SEPTEMBER IN BASTROP COUNTY THAT WERE WELL ATTENDED. WE HELD EIGHT MEETINGS AND TALKED TO NEARLY 300 RESIDENTS DURING THOSE MEETINGS. THE MEETINGS WERE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED A SR PROJECT AND TO HEAR LOCAL CONCERNS AND INPUT. AND I, I WANNA BE CANDID THAT BASTROP RESIDENTS AND LANDOWNERS ARE GENERALLY CONCERNED AND OPPOSED TO THIS PROJECT. FOLLOWING THE PUBLIC MEETINGS, BASTROP ENTITIES CONSIDERED THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT ON THEIR AGENDAS. UH, ALL WATER RELATED ENTITIES HAVE APPROVED THE AGREEMENT, INCLUDING LOST PINES GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, SIMSBORO AQUIFER WATER DEFENSE FUND, AQUA WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION, AND BASTROP COUNTY WATER CONTROL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NUMBER TWO, UH, THE CITY OF SMITHVILLE AND THE CITY OF BASTROP DID NOT TAKE UP THE AGREEMENT, AND BASTROP COUNTY VOTED TO NOT SIGN THE AGREEMENT. SO, WITH THIS INTRODUCTION, I WANNA SHARE SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT THAT WE HAVE ALSO SHARED WITH THOSE BASTROP COUNTY ENTITIES. SO ON THIS SLIDE, YOU CAN, UM, MANY OF YOU KNOW THIS ALREADY, BUT, UH, [00:10:01] AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY IS ONE OF SEVERAL STRATEGIES IN AUSTIN'S 100 YEAR WATER PLAN, WHICH IS OUR ROADMAP FOR MEETING OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS IN THE FUTURE. AND THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS HOW A CITY OF AUSTIN A SR PROJECT WOULD WORK. THE WATER THAT WOULD BE STORED IS AUSTIN'S DRINKING WATER. IT COMES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER UPSTREAM OF AUSTIN IN THE HIGHLAND LAKES, AND IS TREATED TO DRINKING WATER STANDARDS. ONE OF OUR THREE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS DURING TIMES OF PLENTY WATER WOULD BE PIPED TO THE A SR PROJECT LOCATION TO BE STORED DEEP UNDERGROUND BEFORE BEING STORED IN THE AQUIFER. THE WATER WOULD BE FURTHER TREATED TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH NATIVE GROUNDWATER. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TO PROTECT THE AQUIFER AND NATIVE GROUNDWATER AS WELL AS THE STORED WATER. WHEN THE STORED WATER IS NEEDED, IT WOULD BE PUMPED BACK TO AUSTIN WATER SYSTEM. IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IT IS A PERMIT REQUIREMENT THAT MORE WATER BE PUT INTO THE AQUIFER THAN IT HAS TAKEN OUT. SO THIS PROJECT IS ONE WAY TO STRETCH OUR WATER SUPPLIES AND MAKE THEM LAST LIKE A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. A SR IS AN IMPORTANT STRATEGY IN THE STATE WATER PLANNING PROCESS. SO MUCH SO THAT THE LEGISLATURE PASSED A REQUIREMENT THAT AREAS LIKE OURS THAT SHOW SIGNIFICANT WATER SHORTAGES MUST CONSIDER A SR AUSTIN'S. A SR PROJECT HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE STATE WATER PLAN SINCE 2016. WE STUDIED AN EIGHT COUNTY AREA BEFORE IDENTIFYING A PORTION OF THE CARRIZO WILCOX AQUIFER IN BASTROP COUNTY AND THE TRINITY AQUIFER IN TRAVIS COUNTY AS SUITED LOCATIONS FOR TESTING AND FURTHER STUDY. THIS IS BASED ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AQUIFER AND THE ABILITY TO STORE AND RETRIEVE LARGE QUANTITIES OF WATER. IN BASTROP COUNTY. WE IDENTIFIED AN AREA SEVERAL MILES SOUTH OF THE COMMUNITY OF PAGE FOR THIS TESTING. AND IN TRAVIS COUNTY WILL BE TESTING ON CITY OWNED PROPERTY. THIS PROJECT DOES NOT INCLUDE TAKING NATIVE GROUNDWATER FROM THE BASTROP COUNTY COMMUNITY. WE ARE LOOKING TO STORE AUSTIN'S WATER. UM, WE ARE INTENTIONALLY TAKING THIS APPROACH BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR IS PART OF OUR VALUES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO YOU'LL SEE ON THIS TIMELINE THAT WE'RE VERY EARLY IN THIS PROPOSED PROJECT. WE'VE COMPLETED THE DESKTOP STUDY, AND NOW WE'RE WORKING TO BEGIN A THREE YEAR STUDY IN A LAB, NOT THE AQUIFER, TO TEST WATER COMPATIBILITY. IF THE PROJECT PROCEEDS TO THE NEXT STEP, WE WOULD DO AN ADDITIONAL THREE YEARS OF TESTING THROUGH A LIMITED PILOT PROJECT. AND IF IT PROCEEDS BEYOND THAT STEP, THAT IS WHEN FULL SCALE CONSTRUCTION WOULD BEGIN. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO, I'LL EMPHASIZE JUST A FEW KEY POINTS ABOUT THE PROJECT. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL STORE AUSTIN'S WATER NOT TAKE BASTROP COUNTY'S WATER. WE WILL NOT TAKE GROUNDWATER. THAT'S BEEN A COMMITMENT IN THE WATER FORWARD PLAN FROM FROM THE BEGINNING. ALSO, WE ARE COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH WILLING LANDOWNERS. WE WILL NOT USE IMMINENT IMMINENT DOMAIN FOR THIS PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY. AND FINALLY, THE CURRENT ASK IS TO BEGIN WATER COMPATIBILITY TESTING IN A LAB OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS, WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BASTROP COUNTY STAKEHOLDERS, WE'LL WORK HAND IN HAND WITH INDUSTRY AND LOCAL EXPERTS ON AN A SR TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP. SO, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, NEXT STEPS, CITY COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT NEXT WEEK, THURSDAY THE 20TH, IF THE AGREEMENT IS FOR, UH, APPROVED WILL BEGIN FORMING THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY, UH, GROUP. AND THEN IN EARLY 2026, FUTURE COUNCIL ITEMS WILL BE NEEDED TO INITIATE THE FIELD TESTING PHASE. PURSUING FIELD TESTING IN BOTH TRAVIS COUNTY AND BASTROP COUNTY WILL PROVIDE DATA THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR AUSTIN WATER TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT FUTURE WATER SUPPLY INVESTMENTS. SO WE ARE NOT ASKING ANYONE FOR, TO SUPPORT BUILDING THIS A SR PROJECT TODAY. UH, WE AT AUSTIN WATER DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION YET TO RECOMMEND THAT THE PROJECT SHOULD BE BUILT. WE ARE ASKING TO WORK TOGETHER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THESE ENTITIES TO DO THREE YEARS OF TESTING IN A LAB TO GATHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AT THE END OF THAT TESTING, EVERYONE WILL HAVE THE SAME DATA ABOUT WATER QUALITY, AND WE'LL ALL LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AQUIFER. OUR COLLABORATION AGREEMENT SETS A PROCESS FOR BASTROP COUNTY STAKEHOLDERS, A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP WITH LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES AND AUSTIN WATER TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT WHETHER THE PROJECT SHOULD MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP. SO WE APPRECIATE YOUR CONSIDERATION OF THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT AND ARE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU, JAY. APPRECIATE THAT. UM, I KNOW IT WAS HELPFUL FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE MORE KIND OF WHAT IS BEING ASKED OF [00:15:01] US TODAY, COMMISSIONERS PRESENT AND ONLINE. UM, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS? I KNOW A FEW OF YOU NOTED THAT YOU HAD QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM. NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO BRING THAT UP. START. OKAY. ABSOLUTELY. THANKS, SHAY. THAT WAS SUPER, SUPER HELPFUL. UM, IS IT FAIR? SO I, I STARTED GOING THROUGH THE COMMENTS THAT THAT WAS ACTUALLY WHY I WAS LATE. I WAS SITTING ON MY COMPUTER READING THEM. UM, AND IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF CONCERN IS ABOUT THE INTRODUCTION OF CONTAMINANTS OR DIFFERING WATER QUALITY COMING OUT OF AUSTIN WATER AND THEN INTO THE AQUIFER AS A, AT, AT LEAST AS FAR AS THE COMMENTS THAT AUSTIN WATER RECEIVED? UH, I, I HESITATE TO CONSOLIDATE COMMENTS INTO THEMES. AND THAT'S WHY WHAT YOU SEE IN THE DOCUMENT THAT WE PREPARED IS EACH INDIVIDUAL COMMENT AND WHAT THEIR RESPONSE IS TO IT. UM, WE DO SEE CONCERNS ABOUT WATER QUALITY. UH, WE SEE CONCERNS ABOUT IMPACTS TO EXISTING WELLS, QUANTITY AND QUALITY. UM, WE SEE CONCERNS THAT WE MAY SOMEDAY IN THE FUTURE EXPORT GROUNDWATER, EVEN THOUGH THIS PROJECT IS NOT DESIGNED TO DO THAT. UM, AND WE DO SEE CONCERNS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF AUSTIN'S DRINKING WATER. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE, UM, UH, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONCERNS THAT WE, AND THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO BE SURE THAT WE GAVE YOU THE SPECIFIC COMMENTS THAT, THAT THE INDIVIDUALS MADE, AND THEN WHAT OUR RESPONSES TO THOSE COMMENTS ARE. AND AS IT RELATES TO WATER QUALITY, RIGHT? THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THIS PHASE IS DESIGNED TO DO, RIGHT? IT'S DESIGNED TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT MOVING FORWARD IS A SENSIBLE PROTECTIVE DECISION. THAT THAT'S, THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. SO THIS FIELD TESTING PHASE IS, WILL BE DESIGNED TO ANSWER, UM, MANY OF THESE QUESTIONS THAT, THAT FOLKS HAVE, AND THEN THE PILOTING BEYOND THAT, RIGHT? I MEAN, THIS, THIS IS A STEPWISE CAREFUL SCIENTIFIC STUDY, UM, DESIGNED TO DEVELOP THE DATA, UM, THAT IS NEEDED TO MAKE A GOOD DECISION. UM, I DID WANNA KNOW, AND, UH, ASSUMING THAT Y'ALL CAN SHARE THIS INFORMATION, ARE THERE EXISTING WILLING LANDOWNERS THAT AUSTIN WATER'S BEEN IN CONTACT WITH ON THIS SIDE OF THE PROJECT OR NOT EVEN YET? SO WE'RE SO EARLY IN THIS PROJECT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE IDENTIFIED A GENERAL AREA AND WE'VE BEGUN THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT. UM, AND WE HAVE COMMITTED THAT WE WILL ONLY WORK WITH WILLING LANDOWNERS. UM, SO THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO ON THAT FRONT. OKAY. AND THEN MY SORT OF LAST QUESTION IS ARE, ARE THERE BEYOND LIKE THE WATER QUALITY CONCERNS THEMSELVES, ARE THERE POTENTIAL O OTHER POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS THAT COULD EXIST, WHETHER IT'S HARM TO WILDLIFE OR IN THE, THE ACTUAL PROCESS OF INSTITUTING AN A SR PROJECT? SO THE, THE, THE SHORT ANSWER TO THAT IS THAT WE WILL BE ENGAGING IN THIS INITIAL WORK TO, THAT WILL HELP US DEFINE WHAT THE POTENTIAL REALM OF IMPACTS ARE AND WHAT THE POTENTIAL MITIGATIONS ARE TO THOSE IMPACTS. THANKS. LOTS OF WORK STILL TO DO. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER ORTIZ. COMMISSIONER WOOLSTENCROFT, SHAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. I APPRECIATE THE BACKGROUND. UM, AND ALSO CANDIDLY RECOGNIZING SOME OF THE PUSHBACK FROM FOLKS IN BASTROP. UM, I HAVE TWO SORT OF BIG CATEGORIES OF QUESTION ONE, JUST SORT OF ON THE, UH, DRAFT AGREEMENT BEFORE THE COMMISSION, AND THEN ONE ON SOME OF WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK MEETINGS HAPPENING IN BASTROP. AND SO LOOKING FIRST AT THE AGREEMENT, UM, I KNOW SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP IN RELATION TO, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, REPRESENTATIVE GERDES MENTIONED THAT ELECTEDS IN BASTROP HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT AS OF YET. UM, ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT I HAVE SEEN BUBBLE UP IS A CONCERN AROUND, IS THE LANGUAGE OF THIS AGREEMENT, SPECIFICALLY A PLEDGE NOT TO INITIATE IMMINENT DOMAIN, UM, NOT TO EXPORT GROUNDWATER. IS THAT BINDING ON FUTURE CITY COUNCILS? IS THAT BINDING ON PHASE TWO AND THREE OF THE A SR PROJECT? SO THIS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT IS FOR THE FIELD TESTING PHASE. AND BEFORE WE GO FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE PHASES, WE ANTICIPATE HAVING ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS IN PLACE. UM, THE, WHAT I WILL SAY ABOUT IMMINENT DOMAIN IS THAT THAT IS A COMMITMENT THAT, THAT WE MADE, AND FRANKLY, THE MAYOR MADE RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE. UM, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S A COMMITMENT THAT WE WILL CARRY THROUGH, THROUGH THE END OF THIS PROJECT, UM, AND HONESTLY MAY MAKE THAT MAY BE A FACTOR IN THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS PROJECT [00:20:02] ON ITS OWN. UM, AND SO WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO IN THIS FIELD TESTING PHASE TO UNDERSTAND OUR ABILITY TO ACQUIRE THE PROPERTY NEEDED TO MAKE THIS PROJECT FEASIBLE. THANK YOU. THAT'S HELPFUL CLARIFICATION. UM, LOOKING AT, UM, ONE OF THE FURTHER SECTIONS IN THE AGREEMENT AROUND, UM, ONE B, DEFINING A PARTNER, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY SORT OF LOOKING AT FUTURE AGREEMENTS, HELPING TO DEFINE WHAT BENEFITS A PARTNER MAY HAVE UNDER THE A SR PROJECT. UM, AND I KNOW IT'S STILL VERY EARLY DAYS, WE HAVE NOT REACHED THESE PHASES OF THE PROJECT YET. THESE AGREEMENTS DO NOT EXIST, LET ALONE ARE THEY BEING DRAFTED. BUT IS IT WITHIN THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY THAT IF THE CITY OF SMITHVILLE, IF THE CITY OF BASTROP OR OTHER MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS BECOME PARTNERS IN THIS PROJECT, WOULD THEY THEN BE ELIGIBLE TO NEGOTIATE BENEFITS IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY IN THE EVENT OF A DROUGHT, UM, THAT AFFECTS, UH, THEIR SUPPLIES LOCALLY? UH, OUR, OUR GOAL IS COLLABORATION AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE. AND SO WE WELCOME THE PARTICIPATION, UM, IN THESE PARTNERSHIPS MOVING FORWARD AND EXPLORATION. WE'VE IDENTIFIED SOME COMMUNITY BENEFITS, UH, SOME OF WHICH ARE, UH, UM, TALKED ABOUT IN THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT OR IN THE ATTACHMENTS. UM, BUT, UH, WE ARE OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS THAT THAT, THAT THOSE LOCAL PARTNERS WANNA SEE. UM, I HAD THE CHANCE TO REVIEW SOME OF THE COMMENTS, NOT ALL OF THEM. WE RECEIVED A LOT OF COMMENTS IN THE PACKET. UM, ONE, UH, THAT STUCK WITH ME IS, UM, SORT OF ASKING WHAT THE BENEFITS MIGHT BE TO RESIDENTS IN BASTROP COUNTY. THE RESPONSE FROM AUSTIN WATER, AND I'M PARAPHRASING, UM, WAS TO THE SPIRIT OF WE ARE OPEN TO RECEIVING FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN BASTROP, WHAT BENEFITS COULD BE, UM, HAS AUSTIN WATER SKETCH OUT, UM, SOME ANSWER TO THAT FROM OUR SIDE, JUST AS THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AS AUSTIN WATER, IN TERMS OF WHAT BENEFITS COULD LOOK LIKE TO THE COMMUNITY, WHY THEY SHOULD PARTICIPATE? HMM. WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, AND MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ, FEEL FREE TO COME UP AND HELP ME ANSWER THIS QUESTION. UM, BUT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BENEFITS LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PROPERTY OVER THE STORAGE ZONE CAN CONTINUE TO BE USED FOR COMPATIBLE LAND USES LIKE RANCHING AND FARMING. UM, AND ALSO COULD BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR PARKS AND TRAILS AND OTHER SORT OF COMMUNITY AMENITIES. AND THAT WILL DEPEND ON THE AGREEMENTS WITH THE INDIVIDUAL LANDOWNERS. UM, WE'VE, UH, YOU MENTIONED ABOUT WATER SUPPLY CONTRACTS, UM, THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, POTENTIAL BENEFIT OF THE CONTRACT. WE'VE HAD SOME INTEREST THAT'S BEEN RAISED ABOUT WHAT ABOUT, UH, WATER CONSERVATION REBATES? WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A GREAT, AS YOU ALL WELL KNOW, WATER CONSERVATION REBATE PROGRAM. UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY MAKING THOSE KINDS OF, UH, PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. SO THERE ARE A FEW THINGS, AND I, I DON'T THINK I'M HITTING ALL OF THEM, BUT THERE ARE, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE HAVE THOUGHT OF AND SUGGESTED JUST A COUPLE. THAT WAS A GREAT RECAP. AND JUST A COUPLE MORE THINGS WOULD INCLUDE OUR COMMITMENT TO DEVELOPING A LOCAL EDUCATION CENTER THAT WAS A BENEFIT THAT WAS REQUESTED BY BASTROP COUNTY STAKEHOLDERS. AND WE'VE SAID, UM, THAT WE WOULD DEFINITELY DO THAT IF THIS PROJECT PROCEEDS TO FULL SCALE IMPLEMENTATION. UM, WE'VE ALSO, UH, COMMITTED TO PROVIDING, UH, GRANTS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS LIKE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS. UM, LCRA HAS SIMILAR TYPES OF PROGRAMS. UM, AND THEN LIKE SHEA MENTIONED, THE RECREATIONAL ACCESS, UM, AND PRESERVATION OF LAND IS, WE ALREADY ENGAGE IN LAND CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES IN THE 49,000 ACRES THAT WE MANAGE. UM, AND WE WOULD BRING THAT SAME CARE TO BASTROP COUNTY. THANK YOU. MARISOL, COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE ON, UM, THE EDUCATION CENTER THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED? SURE. UH, SO IN, UH, IMPLEMENTING THIS PROJECT, WE, IT WOULD REQUIRE THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEVERAL FACILITIES. UM, ONE OF THOSE WOULD LIKELY BE A CONDITIONING FACILITY SERVICE CENTER FOR STAFF. AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT, UM, WE SEE THE, THE POTENTIAL AND THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP A CENTER THAT WOULD PROVIDE EDUCATION TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THAT COULD BE VISITED BY STUDENTS OR OTHERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WATER, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AQUIFER, AND, UM, TO SERVE AS, AS A GATHERING SPACE AS WELL. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT. UM, MARISA, WOULD YOU MIND INTRODUCING YOURSELF? AND I'M SO SORRY. MY NAME IS MARISA FLORES GONZALEZ AND I'M THE SUPERVISOR OF THE WATER RESOURCES TEAM HERE AT AUSTIN WATER. UM, I THINK, UH, ANOTHER QUESTION I HAVE [00:25:01] SPECIFICALLY AROUND THE ENGAGEMENT OF STAKEHOLDERS, UM, AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL IN BASTROP WOULD BE, UM, IF YOU COULD PROVIDE SOME, UM, FURTHER BACKGROUND FOR US IN TERMS OF HOW THIS MAY INTERACT WITH, UM, THE CITY OR COUNTIES IN BASTROP, UM, THEIR PROJECTED WATER NEEDS GOING INTO THE FUTURE. AND I'LL UNPACK THAT A LITTLE BIT JUST 'CAUSE I'M NOT SURE, UM, IF THAT'S A VERY CLEAR QUESTION. AND SO LOOKING AT A HUNDRED YEAR WATER PLAN, WHAT A SR IS PROJECTED TO, UM, PROVIDE IN TERMS OF ADDITIONAL SUPPLY, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN 40 AND 50,000 ADDITIONAL ACRE FEET PER YEAR, ESPECIALLY AT, UM, SORT OF THE, THE FRONT OF THIS PLAN TO HELP US SMOOTH OUT, UM, ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLY NEEDED, UM, HEADING INTO, YOU KNOW, THE BACK HALF OF THIS CENTURY. BUT, UM, OF COURSE LOOKING AT POPULATION PROJECTIONS AND PROJECTED WATER DEMAND IN BASTROP COUNTY AS THESE BECOME SUBURBS OF AUSTIN, AS THEY CONTINUE TO GET, UM, NEW BUSINESS INSTALLATIONS, UM, AND CONTINUE TO SORT OF GROW OUT THEIR COMMUNITIES AND ATTRACT NEW POPULATION, DO WE SEE A SENSE OF IF INCREASING DEMAND IN BASTROP COUNTY IN THE NEXT FEW DECADES MAY DRAW ON THE RESERVES IN THE AQUIFER, OR PUSH THEM TOWARD OTHER WATER SUPPLY SOURCES LOCALLY BEYOND THE SHALLOW GROUNDWATER THAT THEY'RE ALREADY PUMPING FROM, THAT MAY AFFECT THE A SR PROJECT? SO WE, UM, REGION K OF THE STATE WATER PLANNING PROCESS IS THE LOWER COLORADO REGION AND, UM, AUSTIN AND BASTROP COUNTY AND ALL THE WAY DOWN TO MATAGORDA BAY AS A PART OF THAT, UH, REGIONAL PLANNING PROCESS. AND THAT'S WHERE THE VARIOUS WATER USER GROUPS IDENTIFY THEIR PROJECTIONS AND THEIR NEEDS INTO THE FUTURE. UH, AND SO WE DO ALREADY COLLABORATE WITH, UH, BASTROP COUNTY IN, IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION K PART OF THE STATE WATER PLAN. UM, AS FAR AS HOW THOSE DEMANDS MIGHT, UM, THEIR DEMAND ON THE AQUIFER MIGHT AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO STORE WATER. I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOUR QUESTION IS, IS THAT CORRECT? UM, THAT IS, THAT IS ONE ELEMENT THAT WE WILL BE EXPLORING FURTHER IN THIS FIELD TESTING AND PILOT TESTING PHASE BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF DEMANDS ON THE AQUIFER AND WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IF WE WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP OUR STORED WATER IN PLACE IN LIGHT OF THOSE DEMANDS. FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN. YEAH. THE, UM, GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AREA 12, UM, THEY DEVELOP INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS AREA AS WELL ABOUT, UM, DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS FOR THE AQUIFER, HOW MUCH WATER IS AVAILABLE, THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF, UH, AVAILABLE GROUNDWATER THAT'S AVAILABLE TO MEET THOSE DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS. AND THEN THERE'S MODELING THAT'S PERFORMED, UM, IN THAT, UH, PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THOSE DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS. LOST PINES. GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT ALSO PERFORMS MODELING TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL FUTURE DRAWDOWNS OF THE AQUIFER AND WILL BE LOOKING AT ALL OF THAT MODELING AND INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND HOW THAT COULD IMPACT A POTENTIAL A SR PROJECT IN BASTROP COUNTY. SHAY MENTIONED BEFORE, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION YET TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION OURSELVES ON WHETHER OR HOW THIS PROJECT COULD PROCEED, AND THAT'LL BE A PART OF THE NEXT FEW YEARS OF, OF TESTING AND FURTHER STUDY. THANK YOU. FINAL QUESTION, I PROMISE. UM, THINKING OF SOME OF THE NATURE OF THE COMMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD, UM, SOME TIME TO QUICKLY REVIEW, UM, THE, UH, STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE IESS, UM, SHEA, I'M JUST, UH, DEEPLY APPRECIATE, UM, YOU SPEAKING TO THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR IN ALL OF THIS. UM, IN THE EVENT THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE DO NOT WIN OVER THE PARTNERS OR STAKEHOLDERS THAT WE WOULD WANT TO WIN OVER LOCALLY, DO WE MOVE FORWARD WITH A SR IN SPITE OF LOCAL OPPOSITION? WE NEED TO GATHER ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, ANSWER QUESTIONS AS BEST WE CAN, AND THEN MAKE DECISIONS AT THE TIME AT WHICH WE HAVE THE, THAT INFORMATION ENTIRELY FAIR. AND THAT CONCLUDES MY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. YOU THANK YOU COMMISSIONER WILSON KRA, AND THANK YOU, SHAY. DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING ITEM NUMBER EIGHT? SO I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE NOT FULLY ROLLED EVERYTHING OUT, BUT WHEN YOU'VE ENGAGED THESE LANDOWNERS, WHAT HAS BEEN THE OVERALL SENTIMENT AFTER TRULY INFORMING THEM WHAT THIS IS AND WHAT THIS IS NOT? I, I HESITATE TO CHARACTERIZE, UM, GENERAL CONSENSUS BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THERE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT, UM, WHAT WE WANNA DO IS ADDRESS EACH PERSON THEIR COMMENTS AND CONCERNS INDIVIDUALLY. AND I WOULD SAY WE GET IT. WE EXPERIENCED A WIDE RANGE OF, OF [00:30:01] REACTION AND INTERACTION WITH, UH, WITH THE NEARLY 300 PEOPLE THAT CAME TO THE OPEN HOUSES AND OFFICE HOURS, AND, UM, THAT THOSE CONVERSATIONS WERE, UH, MEANINGFUL AND, AND AND MEATY. AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THOSE CONVERSATIONS. GREAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I HAVE A QUESTION. THANKS SHAY. UM, PRESENTATION WAS GREAT. A MORE IMPLEMENTATIONAL QUESTION. I SEE SOME SIGNED AGREEMENTS FROM LOST PINES AND AQUA, SO ON. HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT FROM THIS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT? LIKE WHAT, WHAT IS TRULY THE SUBTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO? SO THE SIGNATURE PAGES THAT YOU SEE AS A PART OF THIS ITEM, THOSE ARE THE FOUR ENTITIES THAT HAVE AGREED TO SIGN ON TO THIS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT. AND SO WHEN WE, UM, SHOULD THIS AGREEMENT BE APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL, THEN UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN WOULD BE THE FIFTH SIGNATORY, AND THOSE WOULD BE THE FIVE ENTITIES THAT WOULD HAVE REPRESENTATION ON THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP THAT WE DISCUSSED EARLIER. SO FROM TODAY'S, DID I GET ALL THOSE NUMBERS RIGHT? OKAY, THANK YOU. SO FROM TODAY'S THANK YOU, THAT CLARIFICATION'S HELPFUL. SO FROM TODAY'S SCOPE THEN, THE SCOPE IS VERY NARROW. IT'S REALLY LIKE, CAN WE TAKE THESE FIVE AGREEMENTS FORWARD JUST SO WE CAN GET THEM EXECUTED? THAT THAT'S RIGHT. THIS IS WHAT, WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY IS THE FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE WILL WORK WITH OUR LOCAL PARTNERS IN BASTROP COUNTY FOR THE FIELD TESTING. BUT FOR THE FIELD TESTING ITSELF, THERE'S GONNA BE A SUBSEQUENT FOLLOW UP. THAT'S RIGHT. SO WE WILL ACTUALLY BRING THE SCOPE AND FEE FOR THE FIELD TESTING ITSELF TO A FUTURE MEETING. THANK YOU. I HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONERS. ANY REMOTE COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER? TRULY, YES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU EVERYONE SO FAR. IT'S BEEN A VERY RICH, RICH DISCUSSION. UM, I THINK THIS IS, I WANNA KIND OF PULL OUT TO A BIGGER PICTURE, WHICH IS TEXAS NEEDS WATER AND WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FOR THE FUTURE. AND BEYOND TRAVIS AND BASTROP AND LEE AND OTHER COUNTIES, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGURE OUT BETWEEN THE CITIES AND RURAL AREAS HOW TO COLLABORATE, I THINK. RIGHT? AND I JUST THINK, I KNOW WE'VE GOT A SAN ANTONIO MODEL, BUT HOW AUSTIN NAVIGATES THIS DISCUSSION, I HOPE IN A POSITIVE WAY CAN GUIDE THE REST OF THE STATE WHERE WE'RE ALL GONNA NEED TO STORE WATER AND, AND AQUAFOR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY IS A PRIMARY STRATEGY OF DOING THAT. I CONTINUE TO BE, I GET THAT THIS IS A NARROW REQUEST TO DO STUDIES. UM, BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND MORE IS ONE CLARIFICATION. SO YOU'VE GOT THE BASTROP WATER PROVIDER AND THE MAYOR SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT FOR THE STUDY, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT LOCAL CITIZENS WHO ARE CONCERNED AND A STATE REP WHO JOINED US TODAY THAT'S CONCERNED. IS THAT CORRECT? SO THE, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND NAME THEM AGAIN. UM, THE FOUR ENTITIES THAT HAVE SIGNED, THAT HAVE SIGNED THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT, WHICH IS AGAIN THE FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE WILL WORK TOGETHER IN THE FIELD TESTING, ARE THE LOST PINES GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT, THE SIMSBORO AQUIFER WATER DEFENSE FUND, AQUA WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION, AND BASTROP COUNTY WATER CONTROL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NUMBER TWO. AND SHOULD THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE AUSTIN'S PARTICIPATION IN THIS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT, THEN WE WILL ALSO SIGN IT. AND THEN THOSE ARE THE FIVE ENTITIES THAT WILL MOVE FORWARD TO FORM THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP WHERE WE WILL HAVE SUBJECT MATTER E EACH OF US WILL HAVE A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT ON THAT GROUP TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT, REVIEW THE FIELD TESTING DATA, UH, IN THE FIELD TESTING PHASE. AND AGAIN, WE DO, WE WILL HAVE TO COME BACK TO COMMISSION AND COUNCIL EARLY NEXT YEAR FOR ACTUAL APPROVAL TO FUND THAT FIELD TESTING, UH, WITH A SCOPE AND FEE AT THAT TIME. SO RIGHT NOW, WE'RE JUST ASKING FOR YOU TO APPROVE THE, UH, RECOMMEND FOR APPROVAL, THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT. NOW, THE, THE, UH, TWO CITIES, CITY OF SMITHVILLE AND CITY OF BASTROP, UM, DID NOT TAKE ACTION ON THIS AGREEMENT. AND BASTROP COUNTY ELECTED, UH, NOT TO VOTED NOT TO SIGN IT. UM, AND CITY OF ELGIN DIDN'T TAKE IT UP AT ALL. SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE ARE ON THE VARIOUS ENTITIES THAT HAVE CONSIDERED THE AGREEMENT. AND AS YOU MENTIONED, A LOT OF COMMUNITY FEEDBACK WITH CONCERNS. YEAH, I KNOW. I'M STATING THE OBVIOUS. [00:35:01] UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT. I HAVE, I HAD ALL THE, THE SIGNEES, UH, IN OUR BACKGROUND DATA. I GUESS I, I'M GONNA JUST AIR AND STATE THE OBVIOUS THAT THERE'S THE TECHNICAL REVIEW AND THEN THERE'S THE ONGOING WORK, KIND OF THE SPIRIT OF THIS, WHICH IS ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY. IT, IT, IT'S NOT THEIR PROBLEM IF THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, IT'S OUR PROBLEM, RIGHT? SO JUST I'M CURIOUS AS THE PROJECT GOES ON, I DON'T WANNA, I, I GET THAT, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION IS TECHNICALLY, CAN WE DO A STUDY, BUT IF WE DON'T ALSO GET IN FRONT OF THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION AND STAY ON TOP OF IT, UM, I, WE COULD LOSE, YOU KNOW, WE COULD LOSE A GREAT IDEA, RIGHT? AND, AND SOMETHING THAT BASTROP COULD BENEFIT FROM. SO YES, I JUST WANT THAT, I GUESS NOTED. AND, AND I THINK I, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM, FROM YOU ALSO, UM, WHAT IS KIND OF THE HIGH LEVEL ANSWER. I THINK I HEARD IT EARLIER LIKE, WHY NOT TRAVIS COUNTY? LIKE THE GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS DON'T WORK, BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA BE THE NUMBER ONE QUESTION, RIGHT? SO WHY NOT TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, AND HAVE, HAVE WE MESSAGED WELL, LIKE WHAT BASTROP COULD, COULD GET FROM THIS, RIGHT? UM, AND, AND I THINK THIS IS ALSO WHERE I WOULD ASK WHAT IS, WHERE'S THE STATE PLANNING ON THIS? AND I THINK MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS ASKED THAT EARLIER BECAUSE WE'RE NOT, AGAIN, WE'RE NOT THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF VARIOUS MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES HAVING TO COORDINATE AND WORK TOGETHER WITH THAT BIGGER PICTURE OF WE NEED WATER, THIS STATE NEEDS WATER. SO YEAH, I'LL, THE QUESTION WOULD BE WHAT ARE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE, WHY NOT TRAVIS COUNTY RESPONSE? 'CAUSE WE'RE, IT'S GONNA COME UP OVER AND OVER AND AS A MEMBER OF THIS COMMISSION, I WANT THOSE TALKING POINTS. AND TWO WOULD BE WHAT ARE WE, YOU KNOW, DO WE HAVE OUR IDEA OF WHAT THE BENEFITS TO BASTROP IN THIS CASE WOULD BE? POTENTIALLY? AND I KNOW IT'S EARLY, BUT THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANNA KNOW. SO I'M, I'M GONNA NAME THOSE THINGS. GREAT, THANK YOU. UM, AND SO I'M GONNA, I WANNA TALK ABOUT TRAVIS COUNTY FIRST, BUT I'M GONNA INVITE EMILY CHANCELLOR TO COME UP TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WILL LOOK LIKE GOING FORWARD. UM, SO WE WILL BE FIELD TESTING IN TRAVIS COUNTY AS WELL. THAT IS THE PLAN. UH, AND SO, UM, WE IDENTIFIED, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY AND THIS AREA OF BASTROP COUNTY AS BEING AREAS SUITED FOR FIELD TESTING. UM, AND SO HAVING, AS YOU, UM, AS YOU DISCUSSED COMMISSIONER TRI, THE, THE, THE VALUE OF THIS DATA IN UNDERSTANDING THE ABILITY OF ANY WATER PROVIDER TO DO A SR, UH, IN CENTRAL TEXAS WILL BE, WILL BE REALLY VALUABLE. AND THAT IS A BENEFIT, UM, TO, TO BASTROP COUNTY. I HOPE THAT, THAT, UM, I KNOW THE WATER ENTITIES ARE, UM, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THAT. WELL, I DON'T WANNA PUT WORDS IN THEIR MOUTH, BUT I THINK THEY'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO SEEING THAT DATA. UM, AND THEN AS YOU STATED, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO STAY ENGAGED WITH THE COMMUNITY. AND SO I'LL ASK, UH, EMILY CHANCELLOR TO INTRODUCE HERSELF AND THEN TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT. SURE. THANK YOU. TURN IT ON THERE. I'M EMILY CHANCELLOR. I'M ONE OF THE MANAGERS IN OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE HERE AT AUSTIN WATER, AND I'VE BEEN PART OF THIS PROJECT TEAM AND PARTICIPATED IN THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH WE DID JUST IN SEPTEMBER. SO WE ARE STARTING TO LOOK AT PLANS FOR HOW WE WOULD CONTINUE, UM, OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE BASTROP COMMUNITY THROUGH THE FIELD TESTING PHASE. WE THINK IT'S GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME FREQUENT INFORMATION SHARE OUTS, UH, THAT WILL SORT OF BE IN A CADENCE WITH THE WORK OF THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP. SO BEING TRANSPARENT AND PROVIDING ALL OF THE INFORMATION TO EVERYONE IS SOMETHING THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR THIS GOING FORWARD TO HELP TO BUILD TRUST. AND WE KNOW THAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT ANY DATA OR, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THAT TECHNICAL GROUP AND PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT AND ALSO TO HEAR FEEDBACK. SO THOSE WOULD BE IN PERSON, I THINK, AS WELL AS, UM, INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE. AND, UM, WE HAVE SAID CLEARLY THAT ALL THE DATA WILL BE PROVIDED SO WE'LL ALL HAVE THE SAME INFORMATION. SO THE ONLINE PRESENCE FOR THAT, UH, OUR OPEN HOUSE MEETINGS WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL AND WELL ATTENDED. AND SO WE WOULD CONTINUE TO DO THOSE. ALSO, WE DID, UM, WHAT WE CALLED OFFICE HOURS, WHICH WAS A SMALLER SETTING WHERE FOLKS COULD JUST DROP IN DURING A TIME PERIOD AND HAVE SMALL, UM, ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATIONS. AND THAT WAS REALLY, UM, A GOOD TACTIC FOR THIS. 'CAUSE FOLKS COME TO THE OPEN HOUSE, HEAR THE INFORMATION, AND THEN COME BACK WITH THEIR DETAILED QUESTIONS THAT THEY WANTED TO HAVE A DEEPER CONVERSATION ABOUT. UM, SO THOSE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE, UH, ALREADY WORKING ON PLANNING, AND I'D BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY MORE QUESTIONS OR ELABORATE. THANK YOU. I WILL POINT OUT TOO THAT, UM, THE, THE PLAN THAT WE AGREED ON IN THE COLLABORATION AGREEMENT, [00:40:01] UH, FOR THE FIELD TESTING IN BASTROP COUNTY INCLUDES TWO WELLS, SAMPLING WELLS TO TAKE CORE SAMPLES AND WATER SAMPLES TO DO THE FIELD TESTING IN THE LAB. UM, SHOULD THIS PROJECT NOT MOVE FORWARD TO, UM, PILOT TESTING, UM, OR FULL SCALE IMPLEMENTATION, WE'VE AGREED TO TURN THOSE WELLS OVER TO THE LOST PINES GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT. SO THAT'S, THAT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT TO THE, TO, TO THAT, UH, ENTITY. THANK YOU, DIRECTOR ROLSON, THIS WAS SO HELPFUL. APPRECIATE YOU. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER TRILLIAN. SORRY FOR REPEATING THINGS THAT YOU ALREADY KNEW AT THE VERY BEGINNING THERE. NO , WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO HEAR THEM. EMILY WILL TELL US, RIGHT? PEOPLE HAVE TO HEAR THINGS 12 TIMES IN CERTAIN NUMBER. NO, THANK YOU FOR, FOR ABSOLUTELY. COMMISSIONER PRANGE, YOU HAD A FOLLOW UP QUESTION THEN? I I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS AFTERWARDS. YES, I JUST, BECAUSE IT WAS GONNA TAIL INTO WHAT COMMISSIONER TRU SAID. SO JUST TO BE FAIR, AND MORE SO FROM A PERCEPTIVE STANDPOINT, ARE WE ALSO GONNA DO COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH FOLKS IN TRAVIS COUNTY OR THE TRAVIS COUNTY THEMSELVES? WE, OH, I HAVE IT ON. SORRY. DID, DID, SORRY GUYS. OKAY. JUST TO BE FAIR, ARE WE GOING FROM A PER PERCEPTIVE STANDPOINT? SHOULD WE ALSO DO COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH TRAVIS COUNTY AND OTHER ENTITIES HERE? WE DO INTEND TO CREATE A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP FOR THE TRAVIS COUNTY FIELD TESTING AS WELL. UM, SO RIGHT NOW THAT DOESN'T, UH, WE HAVEN'T DEVELOPED AN ACTUAL, LIKE, COLLABORATION AGREEMENT THAT'S A FRAMEWORK THE SAME WAY WE HAVE THIS ONE. UM, BUT CERTAINLY SHOULD IT BE NEEDED, WE WOULD, WE WOULD DO THAT, BUT WE'LL, WE WILL ABSOLUTELY FORM A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP. OKAY. AND SO I GUESS THREE QUESTIONS NOW, DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE'LL GET TO SEE THAT COLLABORATION AGREEMENT SIMILAR TO THIS WITH TRAVIS COUNTY THAT WOULD ALSO COME THROUGH COMMISSION, OR NOT NECESSARILY? WELL, RIGHT NOW WE DON'T HAVE A PLAN TO DEVELOP A, A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH SPECIFIC ENTITIES IN TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT WE WILL FORM A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP AND WE WILL CERTAINLY REPORT OUT ON THAT TO YOU. IF WE WERE TO FIND THE NEED TO, TO DOCUMENT A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT IN A BINDING AGREEMENT, THEN YEAH. YES, YOU WOULD SEE IT. OKAY, PERFECT. UM, I SEE THAT OF, OF THE ENTITIES THAT CHOSE NOT TO JOIN THIS AGREEMENT OR CHOSE NOT TO SIGN, WILL, WOULD THERE BE AN OPPORTUNITY IN THE FUTURE FOR THEM TO JOIN, OR IS THIS KIND OF THE MOMENT IN WHICH THAT DECISION NEEDS TO BE MADE? WE, WE WILL NEVER CLOSE THE DOOR ON FURTHER COLLABORATION. GOOD ANSWER. UM, THE, UH, TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP, WILL THAT SPECIFIC GROUP ALSO CONTINUE THROUGH? SHOULD THE PROJECT CONTINUE TO FURTHER PHASES? WOULD THAT GROUP ALSO CONTINUE? GO AHEAD, MARISA. I THINK WE'LL CONSIDER THAT THE, UM, EXPERTISE THAT WE MAY REQUIRE AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PROJECT MAY EVOLVE. UM, BUT WE WILL REFLECT THAT IN, WE WOULD REFLECT THAT IN FUTURE COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS FOR THE BASTROP COUNTY TESTING AND ANY REVISIONS WE MAKE TO THE GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK FOR THE TRAVIS COUNTY TA TAG AS WE MOVE INTO FUTURE PHASES. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE ALL OF THE INPUT. AND, OR DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? MR. MORIARTY? OH, COMMISSIONER MORIARTY, THE FLOOR IS YOURS, SIR, AS YOU, UM, AS, AS I'VE BEEN A MEMBER OF THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE FOR OVER A DECADE, I'VE BEEN VERY IMPRESSED WITH BOSTON WATER'S CARE AND LEVEL OF DETAIL ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PROJECT OVER THE YEARS. UH, THEY'VE BROUGHT IN, UH, EXPERTS FROM MAJOR A SR DEVELOPERS AND OPERATORS WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO ASK DETAILED QUESTIONS ABOUT ISSUES WITH A SR. AND OF COURSE, WE WENT AND VISITED THE A SR FACILITY, THE SAN ANTONIO WATER HAS, WHICH I BELIEVE HAS BEEN CATEGORIZED AS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROJECT. AND MY STATEMENT TODAY, I ENCOURAGE MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE YES ON THIS. I'D THINK IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT WATER STRATEGY, AND I'M HOPING WE CAN WORK WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES, UH, TO, UH, TO HOPE, HOPEFULLY THEY'LL REALIZE THAT TOO, AND THAT WE COULD DO THIS BECAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT. THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER MORIARTY. COMMISSIONER, THANK, FOLLOWING ALL THAT DISCUSSION. COMMISSIONER MOSSOFF, ONE LAST QUESTION. UM, AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONER MORTY FOR YOUR STATEMENT. UM, BUT THINKING OF SOME, THE REMARKS FROM COMMISSIONER, TRULY JUST, UM, REFLECTING ON THE WAY THAT WE APPROACH THIS PROJECT, MOVING THROUGH PHASE [00:45:01] ONE B AND INTO PHASES TWO AND THREE MAY SET A TONE FOR OTHER A SR PROJECTS THAT CONTINUE TO PROPAGATE AGAINST, UH, AROUND THE STATE. UM, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY NOW TO BUILD, I THINK, GOODWILL AND BUY-IN FROM, UM, OTHER COMMUNITIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. SO I THINK MY QUESTION MAY BE TO EMILY, IF YOU COULD JOIN US BACK ON THE DAAS, UM, WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE SEPTEMBER OUTREACH FROM AUSTIN WATER, A LOT OF PUBLIC COMMENTS, UM, A LOT OF IN-PERSON MEETINGS WITH AUSTIN WATER STAFF AND LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS, THINKING HOW WE MOVE FORWARD TO TRY AND CHANGE SOME MINDS LOCALLY TO BRING IN MORE LOCAL BUY-IN FROM OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN WATER AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN. DO WE HAVE A SENSE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THIS DATA OVER THE LAST MONTH SINCE THE MEETINGS ENDED IN SEPTEMBER, I BELIEVE, DO WE HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW WE MIGHT WANT TO IMPROVE OR CHANGE, UM, SOME OF OUR STRATEGY TO WIN OVER NEW STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS? OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM INTERACTING WITH LOCALS AND BASTROP, UM, THAT MAY REVEAL SOME GAPS IN HOW WE ARE COMMUNICATING AND WHAT WE NEED TO, UM, SORT OF SAY OUT LOUD? I THINK THE FIRST THING I WOULD SAY IS WE JUST NEED TO KEEP SHOWING UP, AND IT'S GOING TO BE A PROCESS TO, UM, SHARE INFORMATION, CREATE, UM, UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT THE PROJECT IS ABOUT AND WHAT IT ISN'T, AND TO BUILD TRUST. AND SO, UM, I THINK WE WILL LOOK AT HAVING A VARIETY OF MEETING TYPES. THE OPEN HOUSE MEETING WAS GOOD FOR THIS. UM, AND WE ALSO HEARD FROM SOME FOLKS THEY WANT TO HEAR A PRESENTATION FROM US IN THE FUTURE. SO, UM, IF WE WERE TO PROCEED FOR THROUGH THE FIELD TESTING, WE WOULD HAVE INFORMATION TO PRESENT AND SHARE. UM, AND SO I, AND WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT PLANS FOR, IN TRAVIS COUNTY, HERE IN AUSTIN, HOW WE WILL, UM, ENGAGE WITH OUR COMMUNITY HERE, UH, THROUGH THIS FIELD TESTING PHASE. SO I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, KIND OF USING ALL THE TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX AND, UM, A LOT OF IN-PERSON, UM, INTERACTION IS, IS WHAT I SEE BEING SUCCESSFUL IN BASTROP COUNTY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . THANK YOU. I THINK FOLLOWING ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS IN THE DISCUSSION, UM, I THINK IT'S TIME TO CALL A VOTE. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND VOTE ON THIS ITEM FIRST, AND THEN WE'LL PICK UP WITH ITEM NUMBER ONE. UM, GET A MOTION. I MOVE APPROVAL. COMMISSIONER MORIARTY MOVES TO APPROVE. I'LL SECOND COMMISSIONER PENN SECONDS. EVERYONE WOULD SHOW THEIR RIGHT HAND TO VOTE IN FAVOR. AND MY, UM, CAMERA JUST DIED, BUT I'M RAISING MY HAND . I APOLOGIZE. OKAY. THAT'S OKAY. OKAY, PERFECT. SO THE VOTE IS APPROVED OR WE HAVE A VOTE. WAS THAT YEAH. WAS A YES. UNANIMOUS? YES. I THINK IT WAS UNANIMOUS. OKAY. OKAY. SAY COMMISSIONER. UM, MAR VOTED YES. COMMISSIONER MARLO ALSO VOTED YES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, SHAY. THANK YOU. [APPROVAL OF MINUTES] ALL RIGHT, SO NOW WE'RE GONNA GO BACKWARDS AND WE'RE GONNA START ON ITEM NUMBER ONE, . UM, SO THE FIRST ITEM, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON OUR MINUTES FROM LAST WEEK. UM, CAN I GET THAT'S FINE. LAST MONTH. LAST MONTH, NOT LAST WEEK, LAST MONTH. UM, FROM OUR MEETING ON OCTOBER 15TH. CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE COMMISSIONER PEN. DURANG MOVES TO APPROVE. CAN I GET A SECOND? I SECOND THAT MOTION. SECONDED. NAVARRO. COMMISSIONER NAVARRO. PERFECT. SO NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO, OH, TAKE A VOTE. OH, JUST KIDDING. I DO, I ALWAYS FORGET THAT. TAKE A VOTE. EVERYONE. SHOW OF HANDS, PLEASE. IF YOU'VE MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES. WHAT ABOUT COMMISSIONER MARLO AND COMMISSIONER MARLO? CAN YOU LET US KNOW IF YOU'RE SAYING YES OR NO? I'M TRYING. JUST HAVE HER SAY COMMISSIONER MARLOW. DANG. YES. I'M GONNA LOG OUT AND LOG BACK IN BECAUSE I'M HAVING, OKAY. OKAY. SAY THAT SHE'S OFF THE, SO COMMISSIONER MARULA IS OFF D FOR THAT VOTE. UM, OTHERWISE ALL OTHER COMMISSIONERS VOTED IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES. PERFECT. [Additional Item] SO NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO THE CONSENT AGENDA. THERE WERE VARIOUS ITEMS THAT NEEDED TO BE PULLED FOR QUESTIONS AND RECUSALS. SO OUR CONSENT AGENDA IS COMPRISED OF ITEMS [00:50:01] NUMBER FIVE, SIX, AND 11. IF THERE ARE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, QUESTION ON TWO, RIGHT? SO WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA, WHICH, YEAH, SO JUST FIVE, SIX, AND 11. AND THEN WE WILL GO OVER THE OTHER ONES INDIVIDUALLY. THAT'S A CORRECTION TO READ. AND THERE IS A CORRECTION TO READ ON ITEM NUMBER SIX, HEATHER. UM, THE ORDINANCE NUMBER THAT WAS WRITTEN INTO THE AGENDA WAS INCORRECT. AND THE CORRECTION FOR THE RECORD OF THE ORDINANCE NUMBER IS 2 0 2 5 0 8. 5 0 5. PERFECT. SO NOW IF I COULD GET A MOTION TO APPROVE THESE THREE ITEMS. I MOVE TO APPROVE. I SECOND. WE'VE GOT A MOTION TO APPROVE COMMISSIONER ORTIZ. MOTION TO, OR SECOND? SECOND IS COMMISSIONER PAN DUREN. AND CAN WE TAKE A VOTE? SHOW OF HANDS. SIX. UNANIMOUS. MM-HMM . UNANIMOUS WITH COMMISSIONER MARLO OFF THE DAYS. ALRIGHT, PERFECT. AND [2. Recommend approval of a contract for Wallace and Tiernan parts for critical equipment for Austin Water with Environmental Improvements, Inc. for an initial term of two years with up to three one-year extension options in an amount not to exceed $1,261,600. Funding: $231,293 is available in the Operating Budget of Austin Water. Funding for the remaining contract term is contingent upon available funding in future budgets.] NOW WE'LL GO ITEM BY ITEM, UM, STARTING WITH ITEM NUMBER TWO. AND THE ITEM IS RECOMMENDATION OF APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT FOR WALLACE AND TIERNAN PARTS FOR CRITICAL EQUIPMENT FOR AUSTIN WATER WITH ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS INC. COMMISSIONER WOOLSTENCROFT, YOU HAD A QUESTION? I DO. THANK YOU. UM, SO, UH, I HAD SUBMITTED SOME QUESTIONS TO STAFF AHEAD OF THE MEETING. JUST, UM, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND MORE OF THE NATURE OF SOME OF THE PARTS FAILURES, UM, CONSIDERED BY, UH, ITEM TWO AND THE RECOMMENDED TO THE RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT, UM, WITH ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS. UM, I'M WONDERING IF Y'ALL COULD HELP ME UNDERSTAND, UM, WHY WE SAW INCREASED WATER PRODUCTION, UM, AND HIGHER OPERATIONAL DEMAND THAT ACCELERATED THE USAGE OF THESE PARTS. DOES THAT, UM, POSSIBLY SUGGEST THAT WE MAY NEED TO CONSIDER OTHER FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS, INCREASED PRODUCTION CAPACITY? UM, JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE, THE PARTS, UM, DID EXPERIENCE, UH, SORT OF UNANTICIPATED, UH, OVERUSE, ASSISTANT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF OPERATION. THE, UH, THOSE PARTS ARE RATED ON THE, THE NUMBER OF GALLONS THAT WE TREAT THROUGH THEM. SO AS WE TREAT MORE THE LIFE OF THE PARTS WILL, UH, WILL, WILL BE SHORTENED THE EXP BB BASED ON OUR PRODUCTION. SO IT'S INVERSELY RELATED TO OUR PRODUCTION. THE MORE OUR PRODUCTION GOES UP, THE LIFE WILL GO DOWN. SO I THINK MY QUESTION IS MORE AROUND, UM, WHY WE DIDN'T, UH, NECESSARILY SEE THE PRODUCTION LEVELS THAT WE HAD INITIALLY SCOPED IN THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT FOR THESE PARTS. ACTUALLY THE, THE, THE, THE MAIN CAUSE FOR THE, FOR, FOR, UH, FOR THIS SERVICE PURCHASES, WE, WE HAD AN EMERGENCY SPENDING HAPPEN AT WALNUT CREEK WATER TREATMENT PLANT, WHERE WE LOST TWO EVAPORATORS. THAT COST US ABOUT UP TO 400,000, INCLUDING INSTALLATION THAT IT'S ABOUT TWO YEARS WORTH OF, UH, UH, AUTHORIZATION OF THE FIVE YEARS. THAT'S WHAT REALLY PROMPTED US GOING BACK PLUS THE ADDED LIFE, UH, USAGE FROM THE WATERSIDE. BUT MOSTLY IT'S BECAUSE OF THE WALNUT INCIDENT. AND THEN, UM, MY SECOND QUESTION RELATED TO ITEM TWO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE ADDITIONAL CONTEXT. I APPRECIATE THAT. UM, JUST ON WHY THE ADDITIONAL CONTRACT AUTHORITY IS NEEDED. UM, THINKING ABOUT, UM, JUST GENERALLY SPEAKING, UM, THE USEFUL LIFE, THE, THE USEFUL LIFE OF, UM, PARTS USED IN OUR TREATMENT PLANTS AND OTHER FACILITIES. UM, COULD YOU JUST SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THE BACKGROUND OF WHAT OUR WARRANTY POLICY IS? WHEN PARTS DO FAIL, IS IT LIMITED? IS IT LIFETIME? UM, KNOWING THAT THERE'S SORT OF, I I WANNA SAY THE BACKGROUND ITEM MENTIONED THAT THERE'S ONE PROVIDER OF THESE PARTS. UM, WHAT IS THE PROTECTION TO AUSTIN WATER WHEN WE SORT OF GO OUT, USE THE SOLE PROVIDER? UM, AND PARTS MAY FAIL UNEXPECTEDLY OR, UM, FOR OTHER REASONS? JUST WANTING TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT WHAT OUR WARRANTY POLICIES ARE WHEN WE CONTRACT. TYPICALLY FOR PARTS, WE HAVE ONE YEAR WARRANTY. ONCE WE PURCHASE THEM, ONCE WE INSTALL THEM, WE HAVE ONE YEAR WARRANTY ON THEM. THAT'S AS FAR AS WARRANTY. UH, AS FAR AS USING THIS ONE VENDOR, IT'S, IT'S, IT GIVES US BETTER, UH, CONTROL OF OUR SUPPLY CHAIN BECAUSE WE'RE USING IT IN ALL FIVE [00:55:01] PLANS. WE'RE DEALING WITH ONE CONTRACT IN MAINTENANCE AND STILL DEALING FIVE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS. AND DOES THE WARRANTY COVER, UM, PARTS AS WELL AS, UM, SERVICE AND LABOR TO INSTALL AND MAINTAIN THOSE PARTS WITHIN THE ONE YEAR? I, I WANNA SAY THAT, UM, THIS CONTRACTOR ALSO PER IS THE SORT OF DESIGNATED, UM, SERVICE PROVIDER FOR, FOR MAINTAINING THESE PARTS OVER TIME. THAT'S CORRECT. THANK YOU. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER THEM. DOES ANYONE, ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE A QUESTION FOR ITEM NUMBER TWO? OKAY. SEEING NO QUESTIONS, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? I MOVE TO APPROVE. COMMISSIONER WOLSTONCROFT MOVES TO APPROVE. DO I HAVE A SECOND? ALL RIGHT, I'LL SECOND IT. . COMMISSIONER. WAITING A SECOND. COMMISSIONER ORTIZ TO GO THIS TIME YOU TAKE A VOTE. SHOW OF HANDS. SIX. YEP. THANK YOU. PERFECT. AND SO THAT'S UNANIMOUS WITH UM, I GUESS COMMISSIONER MARLO IS OFF THE DAYS SHE'S OFFLINE NOW. GREAT. ALL RIGHT. [3. Recommend approval of a contract for construction services for the Northwest Area Lift Station Improvements: Four Points Center Lift Station with Facilities Rehabilitation, Inc., in the amount of $3,774,900 plus a $377,490 contingency for a total contract amount not to exceed $4,152,390. Funding is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water.] SO NOW MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER THREE. RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE NORTHWEST AREA LIFT STATION IMPROVEMENTS. FOUR POINT CENTER LIFT STATION WITH FACILITIES REHABILITATION INC. SO THIS ONE HAD A RECUSAL MM-HMM . RIGHT? CORRECT. IT WAS COMMISSIONER PANDERING. HE WAS RECUSING ON THIS ONE. OKAY. AS IT'S OPEN AND IT'S ON THE FLOOR, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM? OKAY, NO QUESTIONS. WE HAVE COMMISSIONER PANDERING, YOU'RE RECUSING. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOVE TO APPROVE. OKAY. MOVE TO APPROVE. COMMISSIONER PENN. DO I HAVE A SECOND? I SECOND THAT MOTION COMMISSIONER NAVARRO SECONDS? NO. CAN WE GET A VOTE? SHOW OF HANDS. THREE FIVE. YEP. SEVEN EIGHT. YEP, WE GOT IT. OKAY, SO WE HAVE LIKE ITEM PASSES WITH COMMISSIONER PGE RECUSING. YES. OKAY, PERFECT. OKAY. [4. Recommend approval of an amendment to the contract for engineering services for the Center Street Pump Station Replacement and Electrical Improvements project with CDM Smith, Inc., in the amount of $6,000,000 for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $12,000,000. Funding: $6,000,000 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water.] ITEM NUMBER FOUR, RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE CENTER STREET PUMP STATION REPLACEMENT AND ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT WITH CDM SMITH. AND THIS ONE WAS ALSO RECUSAL. MM-HMM . UH, OR A QUESTION. OH, THANKS. I CAN DOUBLE CHECK. THANK YOU. DID SOMEONE HAVE A QUESTION ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR, COMMISSIONER? TRULY, UH, YES. UM, ONLY JUST A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND AROUND THE EXTENSION. I KNOW THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CONTRACT WAS DESIGN. IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE EXTENDING INTO MORE DESIGN, SO, UM, THERE COULD BE A LOT OF GOOD REASONS FOR THAT. SO JUST SOME BACKGROUND ON WHY DID WE FINISH WHAT WE WANTED IN THE FIRST PHASE. OBVIOUSLY WE MUST BE HAPPY WITH THE FIRM IF WE'RE CONTINUING THE CONTRACT. SO, UH, YEAH, PLEASE. JUST SOME BACKGROUND ON THE EXTENSION. UH, CHARLES SOLARO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING TECHNICAL SERVICES, UH, THE CENTER STREET PUMP STATION PROJECT, UM, IS WHAT WE CALL A STANDALONE PROJECT. IT'S A LARGER PROJECT AND FOR THESE STYLES OF PROJECTS, WE USUALLY, UH, WELL WE, WE ISSUE A REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS TO SELECT AN ENGINEER. AND THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR SELECTION IS FOR PRELIMINARY, UH, FINAL DETAIL DESIGN BID PHASE, AS WELL AS CONSTRUCTION PHASE SERVICES. UM, WE GO TO THE CITY COUNCIL WITH THAT, BUT AUSTIN WATER, UH, ONLY REQUESTS AUTHORIZATION FOR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING. UM, ONCE PRELIMINARY PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING IS DONE, WE HAVE A BETTER SENSE OF THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT. THIS IS A VERY OLD FACILITY. UH, WE, WE WANTED TO GO IN AND EVALUATE IT AND SEE EXACTLY IF THE SCOPE THAT WE FELT WE NEEDED TO BEGIN WITH WAS WHAT CAME OUT OF THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT. SO WE HAVE A BUNCH BETTER, UM, KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN FINAL DESIGN. THEN WE ASK THE ENGINEER TO, UH, GIVE US A, UH, A PROPOSAL FOR FINAL DESIGN. AND THEN WE COME BACK TO WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION MEETING AS WELL, CITY COUNCIL AND ASK FOR, UM, APPROVAL TO PROCEED WITH FINAL DESIGN. SO THIS REQUEST HERE IS MOVING FROM PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PHASE TO FINAL DESIGN AND BID PHASE. AND ONCE WE GET THROUGH FINAL DESIGN AND BID PHASE, UM, WE WILL BID THE PROJECT AND YOU WILL SEE THAT AS A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COMING TO YOU. BUT ALSO WE'LL COME BACK AGAIN ON THE [01:00:01] ENGINEERING CONTRACT AND ASK FOR ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION FOR FUNDS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE SERVICES. SO ON THE LARGER PROJECTS, UH, UM, WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION MEETING, WE'LL SEE IT THREE TIMES, WHICH GIVES Y'ALL, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, BETTER VISIBILITY INTO OUR LARGER PROJECTS. UM, AND ALSO PROVIDES ALSO MORE THE BENEFIT OF COMING TO, UH, WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION MEETING WITH THE BEST DATA POSSIBLE FOR THE AUTHORIZATION THAT WE'RE REQUESTING. SO WE, SO, UM, IN TERMS OF YOUR QUESTION, THAT WAS, UH, CDM SMITH WERE DOING WELL, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD. I WANTED TO BE CLEAR THAT WHEN WE WENT TO THE CITY COUNCIL INITIALLY, WE, WE AUTH, WE WERE, WE'RE, UM, AUTHORIZING OR APPROVING THE ENGINEER FROM PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PHASE ALL THE WAY THROUGH CONSTRUCTION PHASE SERVICES. WE JUST ASKED FOR MONEY JUST FOR THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING ONLY. SO THIS IS ASKING FOR MONEY FOR DESIGN BID. THIS, THIS, YEAH. AND THIS REQUEST IS THIS ASKING FOR MONEY FOR FINAL DETAILED DESIGN AND BID PHASE. VERY CLEAR. THANK YOU. YEP. PERFECT. AND IF THERE ARE NO MORE OR NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION TO APPROVE COMMISSIONER REYES? NO, I'M SORRY. I WAS RAISING MY HAND TO SAY I HAD TO RECRUIT RECUSE FROM THIS. I'M ON THE CONSULTANT TEAM. OKAY, PERFECT. , SO MANY MEANINGS FOR THAT HAND. UM, GREAT. SO COMMISSIONER REYES IS GONNA, IT WILL BE RECUSING FROM THIS ITEM. IF WE CAN TAKE A, MOVE A MOTION TO APPROVE. I, I MOVE TO APPROVE. GREAT. COMMISSIONER WILSON CRT MOVES TO APPROVE. DO I HAVE A SECOND? ALRIGHT, I MAKE A SECOND COMMISSIONER PEN SECONDS. AND WE'LL TAKE A VOTE WITH COMMISSIONER REYES RECUSING? YES. UH, COMMISSIONER CHILE. COMMISSIONER CHILE IS HANDS DOWN. OH NO. OH, OKAY. YOU ARE READY? HAND UP. HAND DOWN. OKAY. . OKAY. GOT IT. THANK YOU. PERFECT. THANK YOU. SO I [7. Recommend approval to authorize a contract for engineering services for Lime Sustainability and Water Treatment Process Evaluation for Austin Water with Hazen and Sawyer, D.P.C., in an amount not to exceed $1,100,000. Funding: $1,100,000 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water.] WILL PASS THE MIC TO COMMISSIONER PENGE AS I AM RECUSING FROM ITEM NUMBER SEVEN. ALL RIGHT. GOOD EVENING. UM, I'LL TAKE ITEM SEVEN. I THINK WE HAVE TWO RECUSALS. SO I, SINCE IT'S RECUSED, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON ITEM SEVEN? IF NOT, I'LL TAKE A MOTION. I MOVE TO APPROVE A SECOND. I'LL SECOND THEIR MOTION. UM, EVERYONE PLEASE RAISE YOUR HANDS. IS THAT WHAT I SAY? OKAY. IN SUPPORT SIX SEVEN. IT DOES PASS. ALRIGHT, MOTION PASSES. I WILL TURN IT BACK TO VICE CHAIR. THANK YOU. AND SO NOW, OKAY, SO WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED ITEM NUMBER EIGHT. MM-HMM . [9. Recommend approval to authorize a contract for construction services for the Guildford Cove Boosted Pressure Zone Waterline Improvements for Austin Capital Delivery Services with Packsaddle Management LLC, in the amount of $3,554,944 plus a $355,495 contingency for a total contract amount not to exceed $3,910,439. Funding: $3,910,439 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water.] AND SO WE ARE MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER NINE. RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE GUILFORD COVE, BOOSTED PRESSURE ZONE WATERLINE IMPROVEMENTS FOR AUSTIN CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES. AND NINE, WE HAD A QUESTION. QUESTION. WE CAN'T REMEMBER WHO HAD THE QUESTION. IT WAS FROM ME. . OH. UM, I'M IN SUPPORT OF THIS. IT'S MORE JUST POINT OF INFORMATION. I, WHAT I READ. I UNDERSTOOD THAT WE WERE REPLACING KINDA A SMALLER SET OF PIPES IN THE SYSTEM WITH LARGER RIGHT TO, TO INCREASE CAPACITY. UM, WILL WE CONTINUE? OH, LET ME PAUSE. IS THAT CORRECT BEFORE I ASK MY QUESTION? THAT IS CORRECT. OKAY. UM, WILL WE DECOMMISSION THE SMALLER PIPES OR WILL WE USE BOTH? 'CAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF THIS IS FIRE PREPAREDNESS AND UM, YEAH, JUST INCREASED CAPACITY. BUT WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS, UM, OR WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THIS CASE TO THE EXISTING SMALLER PIPES IN, IN THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT, UH, THIS IS A PARALLEL 16 INCH WIRE LINE AND THE FIRE HYDRANTS FROM THE SMALLER LINES WILL BE MOVED OVER TO THE LARGER LINES, THEREFORE PROVIDING A BETTER CAPACITY FOR FIRE FLOW IN THIS AREA. SO IN THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT, BOTH LINES WILL STILL EXIST AND THEY WILL BE USED? YES. THEY'LL STAY IN SERVICE, YES. SORRY. OKAY, PERFECT. NO, IT WAS GOOD. THANK YOU. GREAT. ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM? NOPE. PERFECT. DO WE GET A MOTION TO APPROVE PLEASE? I MOVE TO APPROVE COMMISSIONER TRI MOVES TO APPROVE. DO I HAVE A SECOND? ALRIGHT, I'LL SECOND IT. COMMISSIONER PENANG SECONDS NOW. SHOW OF HANDS [01:05:01] FOR EVERYONE IN FAVOR. ALL. GOT IT. OKAY, PERFECT. [10. Recommend approval to authorize a contract for construction services for the West Bank Lift Station Odor Control Facility for Austin Capital Delivery Services with Arguijo Corporation, in the amount of $673,012 plus a $67,302 contingency for a total contract amount not to exceed $740,313. Funding: $740,313 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water.] ALL RIGHT, MOVING RIGHT ALONG. ITEM NUMBER 10, RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE WEST BANK LIFT STATION ODOR CONTROL FACILITY FOR AUSTIN CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICE. AND WE HAD IT WAS COMMISSIONER PENN WAS RECUSING SEEING AS IT'S ON THE FLOOR. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM? OKAY, NO QUESTIONS WITH COMMISSIONER PENN. RECUSING, CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE? I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. COMMISSIONER PENNING, YOU MOVES TO APPROVE. DO I? I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION. COMMISSIONER NAVARRO SECONDS. SHOW OF HANDS PLEASE. OKAY. GOT ALL HANDS MINUS COMMISSIONER PENN? YEP. GREAT. ITEM NUMBER 11 WAS INCLUDED IN THE CONSENT AGENDA. SO WE SKIP [12. Recommend approval to authorize a contract for construction services for the Travis Heights Reclaimed Water Main for Austin Water with Cash Construction Company, Inc., in the amount of $5,018,290 plus a $501,829 contingency for a total contract amount not to exceed $5,520,119. Funding: $5,520,119 is available in the Capital Budget of Austin Water] IT. MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER 12, RECOMMEND APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION SERVICES FOR THE TRAVIS HEIGHTS RECLAIMED WATER MAIN. AND WE ALSO HAD A RECUSAL AND IT WAS COMMISSIONER PENN. UM, AGAIN, ANY QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS ITEM WHILE WE'RE ON IT? NO. GREAT. DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE. COMMISSIONER PENANG MOVES TO APPROVE. DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND. COMMISSIONER WOLSTONCROFT SECONDS. SHOW OF HANDS PLEASE. OKAY. YEP. OKAY. PERFECT. THANK YOU EVERYONE. THAT WAS LOVELY . GREAT TEAMWORK. ABSOLUTELY. WE'VE, UM, [14. Staff briefing regarding Austin Water Communications Overview. Presentation by Amy Petri, Austin Water Public Information Office Division Manager] LET'S SEE. YEP. SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE TO ITEM NUMBER 14 AS WE'VE ALREADY HAD THE A SR STAFF BRIEFING AND WE'LL TURN IT OVER TO Y'ALL. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. UM, THE, UH, AMY PETRI WILL BE PROVIDING THIS COMMUNICATIONS OVERVIEW, UH, AND THEN WE'LL MOVE INTO OUR QUARTERLY BRIEFING. UM, AND THOSE TWO THINGS ARE CONNECTED, SO I'LL, UM, ALLOW AMY TO INTRODUCE HERSELF AND THEN KICK IT OFF. YES. HI EVERYBODY. UM, I'M AMY PETRI. I AM THE DIVISION MANAGER OVER AUSTIN WATERS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE, AND I'M EXCITED TO BE HERE AND PROVIDE A BIT OF A COMM COMMUNICATIONS OVERVIEW OF THE WORK THAT OUR TEAM DOES. UM, I'LL JUST START BY STATING REALLY BRIEFLY, JUST HIGH LEVEL. I JOINED AUSTIN WATER IN 2020 RIGHT AS WE WENT INTO, UH, LOCKDOWN MODE. IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TIME. JUST START WORKING FOR SUCH A COMPLEX ORGANIZATION. I JOINED A TEAM OF 12 PEOPLE WHO WERE PART OF OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE. UM, OUR TEAM HAS GROWN SINCE THAT TIME, AND SOME OF THAT HAS COME, UH, DIRECTLY FROM AFTER ACTION REPORTS, AFTER SOME OF OUR WEATHER EMERGENCIES THAT WE'VE HAD OVER THE YEARS. WE ARE NOW A TEAM OF 20, SO WE'VE ADDED SIX NEW POSITIONS TO OUR, TO OUR STAFF. UM, AND WE HAVE ONE TEMP. UM, AND SO, UH, THIS WILL DESCRIBE SOME OF THE WORK THAT THAT TEAM DOES. SO, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UM, I THOUGHT I'D KEEP THIS PRETTY HIGH LEVEL. I WANTED TO GO OVER SOME OF THE CONSIDERATIONS AND DRIVERS THAT, UM, THAT HELP SHAPE OUR COMMUNICATION AS WELL AS THE TOOLBOX AND TACTICS THAT WE USE FOR OUR COMMUNICATIONS. AND THEN I'LL DIVE IN A LITTLE BIT DEEPER ON SOME OF OUR RECENT, RECENT INITIATIVES AND SOME OF THE OUTCOMES FROM THOSE. SO, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS SORT OF A GUIDING FRAMEWORK FOR ME AND MY TEAM. UM, WE, I FOUND THIS QUOTE SOMEWHERE IN THE COURSE OF MY CAREER. I HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO USE THE IDEA THAT GOOD COMMUNICATION IS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CONFUSION AND CLARITY. AND THIS IS A VERY COMPLEX ORGANIZATION WITHIN A COMPLEX CITY BUREAUCRACY. UM, AND SO I THINK TRYING TO BE AS CLEAR AND, AND CUT THROUGH CONFUSION AND NOISE IS IMPORTANT. SO, NEXT SLIDE. HOWEVER, , IT GETS MORE CHALLENGING. UM, WE ARE COMPETING. THERE'S A LOT OF NOISE IN THERE. IF YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR DAILY LIFE, THE NUMBER OF EMAILS THAT YOU GET ALONE, PLUS STREAMING SERVICES. DO YOU WATCH YOUR NEWS IN REAL TIME OR DO YOU STREAM IT LATER? DO YOU READ IT ON THE, ON THE INTERNET? ARE YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA? THERE ARE SO MANY PLATFORMS AND SO MANY WAYS THAT WE COMMUNICATE IN A DAILY ROUTINE THAT CAN BE OVERWHELMING, AND IT'S HARD TO, UH, CUT THROUGH ALL OF THE NOISE. SO HOW DO WE DO THAT? WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE CONSIDER? NEXT SLIDE. SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE DISCUSS IN MY TEAM WHEN WE'RE, UM, SHAPING OUR COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTION. UM, WHO ARE WE TRYING TO REACH AND WHAT ARE THEY INTERESTED [01:10:01] IN? UM, IF WE ARE JUST SHOUTING A BUNCH OF INFORMATION THAT THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT, IT'S NOT EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. WE HAVE TO HAVE A PULSE ON WHAT PEOPLE WANNA KNOW, WHERE THEY'RE CONFUSED, WHERE THEY NEED CLARITY, WHERE THEY WANT MORE INFORMATION. SECOND THOUGHT IS THE MESSENGER. UM, WE AS AUSTIN WATER HAVE LOTS OF PLATFORMS AND LOTS OF WAYS TO SHARE INFORMATION, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO BE SEEN AS SOMEONE WHO IS TRUSTED. UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT A LOT OF RESEARCH, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO TRUST THEIR NEIGHBORS OR WHAT THEY SEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAN EVEN THE MEDIA ITSELF, OR SCIENTISTS OR EXPERTS. GOVERNMENT FALLS DOWN THE LIST WHERE IN THE, IN THE STUDIES THAT I'VE SEEN, IT'S SORT OF FIFTH OR SIXTH IN TERMS OF PEOPLE'S TRUST LEVEL ABOUT WHAT THEY READ. AND SO WE HAVE TO KIND OF THINK ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE OTHER MESSENGERS, UM, TO HELP GET OUR WORD OUT, BECAUSE SOMETIMES THOSE ARE MORE TRUSTED MESSENGERS. THE TIMING, WHAT ARE WE COMPETING AGAINST? WHAT IS THE NEW CYCLE LOOKING LIKE? IS OUR STUFF GOING TO STAND OUT? ADAPTABILITY, A LOT OF TIMES WE HAVE TO PIVOT. WE'VE PREPARED OUR COMMUNICATION AND THEN THE SITUATION CHANGES AND WE NEED TO GO BACK AND CHANGE IT OR CORRECT SOMETHING THAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE TIME THAT WE'VE SENT IT OUT. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HOW DO WE MEASURE OUR SUCCESS? AND SO, YOU KNOW, IN, IN GENERAL, OUR TEAM IS LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE, ARE WE REACHING A BROAD AUDIENCE? WE SERVE, UM, OVER A MILLION CUSTOMERS IN THIS, IN THIS AREA. SO WE'RE TRYING TO REACH AS MANY OF THOSE CUSTOMERS AS WE CAN. UM, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT INDICATORS OF ENGAGEMENT. SO ARE THEY OPENING OUR EMAILS? ARE THEY CLICKING ON LINKS THAT WE GIVE THEM? ARE THEY, UH, COMMENTING AND SHARING OUR SOCIAL POSTS? ARE WE SEEING UPTICKS ON WEBPAGES FOR PROGRAMS THAT WE ARE PROMOTING? IF PEOPLE ARE, IF IF WE'RE SEEING MORE PEOPLE VISIT OUR WEBPAGE, THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING THERE BECAUSE THEY'VE SEEN SOMETHING THAT WE'VE PROVIDED THEM. SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE LOOK AT TO KNOW IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB. OKAY, NEXT SLIDE. SO THIS IS A, UH, A LIST OF SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT WE USE. UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT, UM, IS THIS, IS THIS A MESSAGE THAT WE PUT IN WORDS OR IS THIS A MESSAGE THAT IS BETTER VISUALLY COMMUNICATED? ARE WE USING PHOTOGRAPHY? ARE WE USING VIDEO? UM, WHERE IS THE BROCHURE NEEDED? UM, HOW ARE WE USING OUR WEBSITE? UM, I WANNA STOP FOR JUST A SECOND ON WEBSITE, JUST TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW THAT OUR, WE, MY TEAM MANAGES ABOUT 150 WEB PAGES, UM, WITH ASSOCIATED LINKS AND ALL KINDS OF INFORMATION. UM, WE ARE CONSTANTLY UPDATING THAT CONTENT. IT IS NOT A STATIC WEBSITE. THERE ARE ONGOING UPDATES ALL THE TIME. AND THIS IS SORT OF THE HOUSING THAT WE USE TO POINT PEOPLE TO FOR SPECIFIC THINGS THAT WE'RE SENDING OUT. SO WEBSITE IS A REAL IMPORTANT THING, AND WE CAN LOOK AT THOSE METRICS ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ARE VISITING OUR WEBSITE AND WHETHER OUR COMMUNICATIONS IS PUSHING THEM THERE. AND THEN WE'VE GOT OTHER TYPES OF THINGS IN OUR TOOLBOX. BUT THE LAST ONE, I ALSO WANNA EMPHASIZE OUR OWN EMPLOYEES AND THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE WITH OUR EMPLOYEES. WE HAVE, UM, AN INTRANET FOR OUR STAFF, AND WE SEND OUT WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS. WE HAVE A VARIETY OF MEETINGS FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS OF STAFF THROUGHOUT. UM, WE HAVE FOUND THAT A LOT OF TIMES IN AN EMERGENCY EVENT, THE COMMUNICATIONS THAT OUR STAFF ARE DOING WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ANYTHING WE'RE OFFICIALLY SENDING OUT ON A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM. SO KEEPING OUR EMPLOYEES ENGAGED HELPS OUR COMMUNICATIONS EFFORT BECAUSE THEY'RE SOMEBODY'S NEIGHBOR, THEY'RE SOMEBODY'S FRIEND. THEY CAN HELP US SPREAD THE WORD. OKAY, NEXT SLIDE. SO LET'S JUMP INTO SOME OF THE TACTICS. I'VE TRIED TO BUCKET THESE A LITTLE BIT. UM, AND SO, UH, THE FIRST ONE IS OUR OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT EFFORT. EMILY TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IN BASTROP, UM, AND OTHER, UH, COUNTIES AROUND, UH, THE BASTROP AREA. BUT THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. UH, AND THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT TOOL IN OUR TOOLBOX IN THE WAY THAT WE USE IT, BECAUSE MOST OF THESE INTERACTIONS ARE FACE TO FACE. AND WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT TRUST ISSUE AND BEING HEARD, THOSE FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTIONS ARE PROBABLY THE ONES THAT CUT THROUGH THE NOISE THE FASTEST, AND THEY'RE THE QUICKEST WAY TO ESTABLISH TRUST. SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF, UH, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS GOING ON ALL OVER TOWN AT ANY GIVEN TIME. WE HAVE ABOUT 40 ONGOING PROJECTS THAT WE ARE COMMUNICATING WITH GROUPS, UH, NEIGHBORS SURROUNDING THAT CONSTRUCTION TO LET THEM KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT, WHEN WE'LL BE THERE, WHAT THE PROJECT WILL ENTAIL, [01:15:01] HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE, YOU KNOW, ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAVE. AND THAT CAN TAKE THE FORM OF NEWSLETTERS. BUT WE ALSO DO INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS WITH THOSE NEIGHBORS. WE HAVE DEDICATED WEBPAGES THAT WE UPDATE REGULARLY, SO THEY KNOW WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROJECT. UM, THAT IS AN ONGOING EFFORT, UM, TO KEEP OUR, OUR CUSTOMERS INFORMED ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD AND WHY WE'RE DOING THEM. UM, WE ALSO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. UM, SO FAR YEAR TO DATE, WE HAVE PARTICIPATED IN 44 COMMUNITY EVENTS, AND WE'VE REACHED A LITTLE OVER 7,000 CUSTOMERS. AGAIN, THIS IS A CHANCE TO HAVE INFORMATION AT A TABLE, ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS. A LOT OF TIMES, UH, IF WE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER AT THAT PARTICULAR EVENT, WE'LL GET CONTACT INFORMATION AND FOLLOW UP WITH THEM AFTERWARDS. SO THESE ARE ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT WAYS FOR US TO REACH THE COMMUNITY. WE ALSO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVIDE PUBLIC INPUT AND OPEN HOUSES, OBVIOUSLY. UH, THE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY IS A RECENT EXAMPLE OF THAT, BUT WE DID A SERIES OF OPEN HOUSES AROUND, UM, OUR COST OF SERVICE STUDY AND HOW WE WERE, UH, DESIGNING OUR RATES AND TOOK INPUT FROM THE COMMUNITY FOR THAT AS WELL. UM, AS WE UPDATED THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, WE HAD COMMUNITY MEETINGS AROUND THAT. THOSE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK AND FOR US TO BUILD THAT INTO OUR PLANNING, UM, PROCESS. AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, ANOTHER, ANOTHER WAY THAT WE ARE ENGAGING WITH AUDIENCES IS THROUGH OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. AND SO WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, ACTIVE, UH, POSTS ON FACEBOOK, X, INSTAGRAM, AND YOUTUBE. OKAY. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OKAY. MEDIA RELATIONS. THIS IS, THIS IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT, UM, HAS BENEFITED FROM THE GROWTH OF MY TEAM BECAUSE IN THE PAST WE USED TO, UH, TAKE THINGS IN SHIFT WHERE, UM, DIFFERENT STAFF MEMBERS WOULD BE ON CALL, UH, OVERNIGHT AND WEEKENDS AND RESPOND TO MEDIA REQUESTS AS THEY CAME IN. UM, WE NOW HAVE DEDICATED STAFF WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR MEDIA. UM, THIS INVOLVES EVERYTHING FROM THE PRESS RELEASES WHERE WE ARE PUSHING OUT INFORMATION FOR, UM, HOPEFULLY TO GET COVERED, BUT ALSO RESPONDING TO INQUIRIES THAT COME IN FROM THE MEDIA AND COUNTING. TO DATE, WE HAVE 104 INTERVIEW OR STATEMENT REQUESTS SO FAR, YEAR TO DATE, WE, UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY BENEFICIAL ABOUT HAVING DEDICATED STAFF WHO ARE FOCUSED ON MEDIA IS THAT THEY HAVE BUILT THOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUTLETS NOW. AND SO WHERE THAT HELPS US IS THAT THEY ARE GREAT AT PARTNERING WITH US TO SHARE INFORMATION. AND THIS, AGAIN, GETS PAST THAT, THAT TRUST BARRIER THAT WE SOMETIMES CONFRONT AS A GOVERNMENT AGENCY. IF MEDIA COVERS IT AND HELPS US WITH THAT STORY, IT GETS THE WORD OUT AND IT IS PERHAPS MORE TRUSTED THAN IF IT'S JUST COMING FROM US. UM, IN ADDITION, OUR TEAM, UH, STAFFS ANY EMERGENCY ACTIVATION THAT WE HAVE. WE HAVE EIGHT OF OUR TEAM WHO ARE, UM, TRAINED AND PART OF OUR INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM THAT, UH, SERVE ON OUR DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS CENTER IF WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS DURING THOSE EMERGENCIES. THEY ARE INVOLVED WITH REGULAR, UH, TRAINING THAT'S DONE IN-HOUSE HERE AT AUSTIN WATER, AS WELL AS, UH, THE CITYWIDE TRAINING BECAUSE WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, CITYWIDE ACTIVATIONS THAT WE PARTICIPATE IN. SO WE ARE REGULARLY TRAINED UP ON THAT. AND THEN THAT TEAM IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSESSING ALL OF OUR EMERGENCY TEMPLATES THAT WE WOULD USE IN AN EMERGENCY EVENT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S, IT'S STILL ALIGNS WITH REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICATIONS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO SEND OUT, THAT IT'S IN ALL THE, UM, LANGUAGES. I THINK THAT I'VE LOST COUNT OF HOW MANY, I THINK WE ARE NOW UP TO 15 LANGUAGES THAT ALL OF OUR MATERIALS, OUR EMERGENCY MATERIALS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO. SO WE, WE MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE CURRENT SO THAT WE CAN BE AS NIMBLE AS POSSIBLE IN AN EMERGENCY. UM, WE ALSO HAVE, UH, ONGOING MAINTENANCE THROUGHOUT OUR, UM, THROUGHOUT OUR SYSTEM. UM, THOSE ARE PLANNED, AND WE USE OUR CUSTOMER PORTAL AND OTHER WAYS OF COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS TO LET THEM KNOW WHEN WE ARE THERE TO DO A PLANNED SHUTOUT, TO LET THEM KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. UM, AND THEN THERE ARE JUST TIMES THAT THINGS BREAK AND WE NEED TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. 'CAUSE A LOT OF TIMES THEY THINK WE JUST DID NOT TELL THEM. UM, AND IN FACT, WE DIDN'T KNOW. SO WE'RE, WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS AS THEY EXPERIENCE, UM, ISSUES WITH OUR SYSTEM. UM, AND AGAIN, OUR MEDIA TEAM TAKES THE LEAD ON THAT. WE ALSO FINALLY, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE HAVE, UM, REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS [01:20:01] FOR SOME OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS. WE HAVE ANNUAL WATER QUALITY REPORTS THAT WE HAVE TO PUT OUT, AS WELL AS, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT OUR LEAD, UH, OUR, OUR SERVICE LINE INVENTORY FOR LEAD, AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THOSE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO MEET, UH, REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR WHAT THAT COMMUNICATION ENTAILS. SO OUR, OUR MEDIA TEAM IS VITAL AND THEY GET A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION OUT FOR US. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST IS OUR ADVERTISING AND MARKETING. UM, WE TAKE A, A, A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO OUR ADVERTISING AND MARKETING IN TERMS OF THE CONTRACTS THAT WE SET UP WITH OUR VENDORS. UM, WE PURCHASE, WE, WE, UH, ESTABLISH ANNUAL CONTRACTS WITH OUR VENDORS. AND, UM, AND SO WE LOCK IN PLACE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, UM, THE SPOTS THAT WE ARE GOING TO BUY. AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT AN INFINITE NUMBER OF AD SPOTS. SO THIS SERVES TO OUR ADVANTAGE BY NOT BUYING ON A, ON A, YOU KNOW, AS NEEDED BASIS. WE'RE NOT FIGHTING FOR SPOTS. WE GET THE BEST VALUE, UM, FOR, FOR SETTING THESE CONTRACTS UP. A LOT OF TIMES WE CAN ESTABLISH PRIME SPOTS. UH, WE, WE, UH, HAVE SET UP OUR CONTRACTS SO THAT A LOT OF OUR SPOTS OR, OR OUR, OUR ADS RUN A LITTLE HEAVIER IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS WHEN WE'RE REALLY ENCOURAGING CONSERVATION. UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, LESS IN JANUARY. UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH INFORMATION TO PUSH OUT THEN. UM, SO WE, WE STRUCTURE ALL OF THOSE AD BUYS UPFRONT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS. UM, WE GET ENGLISH AND SPANISH OUTLETS. UM, AND BECAUSE WE HAVE THESE ANNUAL CONTRACTS, WHICH OUR ADVERTISERS ALSO APPRECIATE, OUR, OUR VENDORS APPRECIATE. A LOT OF TIMES THEY'LL THROW IN EXTRAS, BONUS ADS, THINGS LIKE THAT. SO WE, WE REALLY DO GET A GOOD VALUE FOR THAT. UM, IN ADDITION, I ALSO JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT THOSE ADS, YOU'LL HEAR THINGS BROADCAST ON THE RADIO OR SEE A SPOT ON TV, BUT THAT'S NOT ALL WE'RE GETTING. WE'RE ALSO GETTING COVERAGE ON THEIR WEBSITE, ON THEIR SOCIAL PLATFORMS. A LOT OF THEM HAVE APPS. WE CAN RUN ADS ON THE APPS BEFORE THE, BEFORE THEIR SEGMENTS RUN. UM, WE HAVE, UH, THAT THEY HAVE STREAMING SERVICES. SO IT, IT ENTAILS A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT PEOPLE ARE CONSUMING THEIR INFORMATION NOW. AND AGAIN, WE DO TAKE SORT OF A SEASONAL APPROACH, KIND OF GETTING BACK TO THAT. WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER MOST INTERESTED IN? WHAT DO THEY WANNA KNOW AT ANY GIVEN TIME? OKAY, SO NOW WE'LL DIVE INTO A COUPLE OF RECENT THINGS THAT WE'VE, THAT WE'VE STARTED. UM, WE, AS WE HAVE, UH, COMPLETED OUR INSTALLATION OF, OF ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, THAT WAS COMPLETED, YOU KNOW, GOING INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS, UM, WHICH MEANS THAT NOW EVERYBODY HAS A METER AND THEY CAN REALLY USE THEIR, THEIR, THEIR PORTAL THE WAY THAT THEY'RE MEANT TO. WE, UH, WE REALLY WANTED TO THINK ABOUT WAYS THAT WE COULD COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS. NOW THAT EVERYONE HAS ONE. WE ALSO KNEW THAT GOING INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS, WE WERE POTENTIALLY LOOKING AT DROUGHT STAGE THREE. AND SO, UM, A LOT OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS WAS VERY HEAVILY FOCUSED ON HOW TO USE THE INFORMATION THAT WAS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE PORTAL TO MANAGE THEIR WATER CONSUMPTION AND CONSERVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. UM, WE WERE, WE WERE REALLY TRYING TO AVOID THAT STAGE THREE, AND WE THOUGHT THAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN SEPTEMBER. SO WE CAME UP WITH THREE PILOT CAMPAIGNS. UM, ONE WAS TO INCREASE PORTAL REGISTRATIONS. AND BY THAT WE JUST MEAN THAT, YOU KNOW, ANYONE THAT WE HAVE AN ACCOUNT FOR IS IN OUR PORTAL, BUT WE NEED TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THEIR HOUSEHOLD, WHAT THEY'VE GOT IN THEIR HOU, HOW MANY BATHROOMS ARE IN THEIR HOU, YOU KNOW, THAT SORT OF INFORMATION GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE TO WORK WITH IN TERMS OF HOW THEY'RE USING WATER. SO WE WANTED TO INCREASE PORTAL REGISTRATIONS. UM, WE ALSO WANTED TO ENCOURAGE WATER SAVINGS WITH HOME WATER REPORTS, AND I'LL EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THOSE ARE. UM, AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS, UM, WE WANTED TO REDUCE OFF SCHEDULE AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SINCE, SINCE THAT CAN BE, UM, A BIG FACTOR IN TERMS OF OVERALL WATER USE. OKAY, SO NEXT SLIDE. SO OUR REGISTER NOW CAMPAIGN, WE STARTED OUT WITH TWO EMAIL MESSAGES, UM, AND, AND A TEXT REMINDER FOR THESE MESSAGES. UM, THESE WENT OUT, UH, TOWARDS THE END OF MAY, UH, AND INTO, UH, JULY. UM, WE HAD ABOUT 1600 NEW REGISTRATIONS. FROM THOSE TWO EMAIL MESSAGES, WE HAD ABOUT 250 UNSUBSCRIBES. SO, YOU KNOW, WITH EVERY COMMUNICATION YOU PUSH OUT, SOME PEOPLE ARE GONNA SAY, PLEASE DON'T BOTHER ME AGAIN. SO WE HAVE TO KIND OF FIND THE BALANCE BETWEEN ARE WE GETTING PEOPLE TO SIGN UP OR ARE WE TURNING PEOPLE OFF? UM, SO OVERALL, [01:25:01] OUR REGISTRATIONS, UM, DURING THE, THE COURSE OF, OF THIS CAMPAIGN INCREASED FROM 22% REGISTERED TO 24% REGISTERED. UM, HOWEVER, WE FOUND THAT WE HAD HIGHER REGISTRATIONS WHEN THEY WERE COUPLED WITH A DIFFERENT MESSAGE THAT WASN'T JUST A PLEASE REGISTER IN THE PORTAL IF IT WAS A, IF IT WAS A MESSAGE WITHIN A MESSAGE, WE GOT MORE REGISTRATIONS THAT WAY. WHEN WE SEND OUT OUR HOME WATER REPORTS WITH ENCOURAGEMENT TO, UH, TO REGISTER. 31% OF PEOPLE WHO RECEIVED THE HOME WATERING REPORTS, IN FACT WENT AND REGISTERED. SO IT WAS HIGHER THAN JUST THE REGISTER. UM, UM, COMMUNICATIONS, UH, AND THEN IN CHECKING WITH OUR VENDOR, BECAUSE THIS IS A PORTAL WHERE PEOPLE CAN'T PAY THEIR BILL, THIS IS REALLY TO MANAGE THEIR WATER USE. UM, OUR REGISTRATION RATE IS ACTUALLY QUITE HIGH. UM, IT WOULD BE HIGHER IF, IN FACT IT WA WE, THEY WERE PAYING THEIR BILL THROUGH THE PORTAL. BUT SINCE THIS IS JUST A WATER MANAGEMENT TOOL, NOT EVERYBODY, UM, IS GONNA FIND THAT INTERESTING OR COMPELLING. SO, UM, WE WANNA CONTINUE TO SEE IT GROW. UM, WE HAVE A CURRENT GOAL WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO GET TO 35%, UM, SO WE'RE GONNA KEEP PUSHING IT, BUT THIS WAS SORT OF INTERESTING FEEDBACK FROM THE FIRST ROUND OF COMMUNICATIONS. NEXT SLIDE. HOME WATER REPORTS. NOW, THIS ONE WAS A LOT OF FUN, UM, BECAUSE YOU CAN SEND A LOT OF MESSAGES ABOUT, PLEASE, PLEASE SAVE WATER. PLEASE DON'T USE AS MUCH WATER. BUT WHEN, WHEN PEOPLE ARE, ARE CONFRONTED WITH, BUT HOW DO I STACK UP COMPARED TO MY NEIGHBOR WHEN THEY'RE SORT OF A COMPETITIVE ELEMENT? UM, THAT IS A, IS IS MORE OF A, IS MORE OF A DRIVER FOR PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR. SO THESE REPORTS ARE PRODUCED BY OUR VENDOR, UM, AND THEY HAVE AN ALGORITHM THAT CALCULATES BASED ON THEIR AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD AND DYNAMIC, HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO OTHER SIMILAR HOUSEHOLDS. IF THEY GET THAT GREEN WATER DROP WITH A SMILEY FACE, IT MEANS THAT THEY'RE DOING GREAT. THERE'S ALSO AN ORANGE FROWNY FACE THAT PEOPLE CAN GET, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE, YOU'RE USING MORE WATER THAN YOUR NEIGHBOR, YOU KNOW, WITH A SIMILAR HOUSEHOLD. SO WE WANTED TO SEND THESE OUT JUST TO SEE IF WE WOULD GET GOOD RESPONSE TO THIS. UM, WITHIN OUR PORTAL, WE HAVE ABOUT 175,000 CUSTOMERS WITH AN EMAIL ADDRESS. UM, IT IS VERY COST EFFECTIVE FOR US TO DO THIS VIA EMAIL. WE WILL BE EXPLORING PRINT OPTIONS FOR THE FOLKS WHO DON'T HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS WITH US, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO BUDGET FOR THAT. UM, TO DATE, WE'VE SENT FOUR REPORTS. WE STARTED AT THE END OF JULY. UM, WE'VE SENT, WE'VE SENT THEM MONTHLY. UM, OUR OPEN RATES ARE HIGHER THAN 70%. UM, THEY'VE BEEN A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF INCREASED PORTAL REGISTRATIONS, AND WE'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF REALLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK. YOU KNOW, PEOPLE CAN RESPOND TO THESE AND ASK QUESTIONS. WE ACTUALLY SAW AN UPTICK. OUR, OUR CUSTOMER, UH, SERVICE FOLKS WERE LIKE, WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO HELP US. AND SO MY TEAM WAS HELPING DRAFT RESPONSES TO THIS. I THINK NOW THAT PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THEM FOR A FEW MONTHS, THEY'RE STARTING TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT. UM, BUT WE'RE THINKING THAT THIS IS GONNA BE A REALLY EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR US, AND WE PLAN TO CONTINUE DOING MONTHLY HOME WATER REPORTS, UM, FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS AND SEE WHERE THIS GETS US. NEXT SLIDE. SO THE LAST ONE WAS OUR OFF SCHEDULE, AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION MESSAGING. AGAIN, WE KIND OF WORKED WITH OUR VENDOR TO IDENTIFY HOUSEHOLDS WHO WERE WATERING MORE THAN THREE DAYS A WEEK. UM, TECHNICALLY THEY SHOULD ONLY BE WATERING ONE DAY A WEEK, BUT WE WANTED TO LEAVE A LITTLE ROOM FOR ERROR IN THERE, IN CASE IN CASE WE, WE WEREN'T, YOU KNOW, CAPTURING SOMETHING CORRECTLY. UM, AND WE, WE JUST DEVELOPED A SERIES OF MESSAGES TO EDUCATE THEM ABOUT THEIR IRRIGATION SYSTEM. SO ONE WAS TO KNOW THEIR WATERING DAY FIRST, AND MOST IMPORTANT, THEY SHOULD ONLY BE WATERING ONE DAY A WEEK, WEEK. SO WE PROVIDED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR WATERING DAY. WE PROVIDED LINKS, UM, IN A SECOND MESSAGE THAT SHOWED THEM HOW TO PROGRAM THEIR CONTROLLER. AND IN THE THIRD MESSAGE, UM, THEY CAN ALSO REQUEST AN IRRIGATION CHECKUP FROM SOME OF OUR STAFF TO GO OUT, UM, AND, AND LOOK AT THEIR IRRIGATION SYSTEM AND PROVIDE THEM WITH SOME TIPS. THE OPEN RATES FOR THESE WERE HIGH CLICK THROUGHS TO ANY OF THE LINKED VIDEOS OR MESSAGES OR SCHEDULES WERE LOW, SO PEOPLE READ IT, BUT THEY DIDN'T GO LOOK AT THE OTHER INFORMATION THAT WE GAVE THEM, AND WE DIDN'T GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK OR COMMENTS. UM, WE ALSO, BECAUSE THE SUMMER, AS THE SUMMER WENT ON, WE GOT MORE AND MORE RAIN, RIGHT? WHICH WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE, BUT WE WERE GRATEFUL FOR. UM, WE STARTED SENDING OUT A MESSAGE RIGHT AFTER A RAIN EVENT TO ALL OF OUR AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION, UM, UH, CUSTOMERS. UM, NOT JUST THE ONES WHO WERE WATERING OFF SCHEDULES. THIS WAS A HIGHER DISTRIBUTION. AND THOSE EMAILS, WE SAID, HEY, IT RAINED. [01:30:01] TURN OFF YOUR SYSTEM. YOU DON'T NEED TO WATER. AND IN FACT, WE GOT A LOT OF VERY POSITIVE FEEDBACK. THANKS FOR THE REMINDER. OH, THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. I'LL GO TURN IT OFF NOW. OR THINGS LIKE I ALREADY DID, YOU KNOW, THAT SORT OF THING. SO THOSE OPEN RATES WERE ALSO HIGH. WE HAD 60% OR HIGHER, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THOSE. WE'LL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO MESSAGE OUR, OUR AUTOMATIC IRRIGATORS. SO TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CAMPAIGN, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, UM, WE'RE, WE WANNA CONTINUE TO INCREASE PORTAL REGISTRATION SO THAT WE'RE GETTING GOOD DATA ABOUT OUR CUSTOMERS. UM, BUT WE'RE RECOGNIZING THAT, UM, WE MAY HAVE SORT OF HIT THE HIGHER END OF JUST A CAMPAIGN ABOUT REGISTERING ONLY. SO WE'RE BUILDING THAT MESSAGING INTO OTHER COMMUNICATION THAT'S TIED TO WATER CONSERVATION AND TIED TO HOW TO BE EFFICIENT. UM, AND SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL CONTINUE TO SEE AN INCREASE IN REGISTRATIONS, BUT I THINK WE MAY HAVE KIND OF MAXED OUT IN TERMS OF JUST A REGISTRATION ONLY COMMUNICATION. WE WILL CONTINUE TO USE THE PORTAL FOR, UH, UM, WEATHER RELATED EVENTS TO, TO HOPEFULLY GET PEOPLE TO CONSERVE AFTER A RAINY DAY WHEN THEY DON'T NEED TO WATER. AND THEN WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH OUR WATER CONSERVATION TEAM TO THINK ABOUT OTHER WAYS THAT WE CAN REACH THOSE, UM, IRRIGATORS WHO ARE, WHO CONTINUE TO WATER OFF SCHEDULE. UM, THIS WAS AN INTERESTING TIME TO START THAT CAMPAIGN WITH A MAJOR RAIN EVENT IN JULY. UM, AND SO THE TIMING, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THE URGENCY, PEOPLE MAY NOT HAVE FELT THE URGENCY. UM, BASED ON THE TIMING OF THIS, UM, WE, WE MAY NEED TO EXPLORE SOME BETTER MESSENGERS. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THIS PLATFORM ISN'T THE RIGHT WAY TO REACH THEM. MAYBE WE NEED TO BE MAILING THEM POSTCARDS, UM, WITH THE WATERING SCHEDULE ON IT AND INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL TRY SOME OTHER WAYS OF COMMUNICATING WITH THEM. ALL RIGHT, SO LAST, UH, INITIATIVE THAT I WANNA SHARE WITH YOU. GO, GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UM, AGAIN, MOVING INTO THE YEAR, WE RECOGNIZED THAT, UM, WE WERE IN, YOU KNOW, PRETTY DIRE STRAITS IN THE SPRING AND THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD JUST GET WORSE OVER THE SUMMER. UM, WE REVIEWED WITH OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM, UH, THE IDEA FOR ADDING TV UH, CAMPAIGNS TO OUR OVERALL ADVERTISING BUDGET, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE OTHER PLATFORMS THAT WE'VE USED IN THE PAST. SO WE DID MOVE FORWARD. WE FELT, WE FELT THAT THE SITUATION, UM, NEEDED THAT. AND SO, UM, WE EXECUTED CONTRACTS. WE, AGAIN, REACHED OUT TO FIVE OUTLETS AND SOUGHT PROPOSALS FOR THEM. UM, WE ONLY RECEIVED THREE BACK. AGAIN, THIS KIND OF POINTS TO THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S ONLY SO MANY SPOTS. AND FOR THE PRIME SPOTS THAT WE WANTED, NOT EVERY, UM, OUTLOOK COULD GIVE US THOSE. SO WE, UM, WE EXECUTED CONTRACTS WITH, UH, THREE OUTLETS, UH, IN FEBRUARY, AND BY APRIL WE WERE RUNNING SPOTS. UM, MY TEAM PRODUCED ALL OF THE ADVERTISING ASSETS FOR THAT VIDEOS, CONTENT, UM, GRAPHICS, ALL OF ALL OF THE CONTENT THAT WENT INTO THAT. SO WE PULLED THAT TOGETHER IN A MONTH. THESE WERE THINGS LIKE, KNOW YOUR WATERING DAY, MONITOR YOUR WATER USE WITH THE PORTAL, UM, HOW YOU CAN SAVE WATER, HOW YOU CAN DETECT LEAKS, UM, WHAT REBATES AND INCENTIVES ARE AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS. UM, WE REALLY, WE REALLY PUSHED ALL THAT STUFF OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM APRIL THROUGH SEPTEMBER. UM, YEAH. OKAY, SO, UH, LAST SLIDE PLEASE. SO, THE RESULT OF THAT CAMPAIGN IS THAT IN THAT FOUR MONTH PERIOD, WE HAD ABOUT A LITTLE OVER 11 MILLION IMPRESSIONS, UM, WHICH IS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. I LIKE TO THINK, YOU KNOW, I HEARD SOMEBODY SAY, WELL, YOU HAVE TO SAY THINGS 12 TIMES BEFORE PEOPLE HEAR YOU. WELL, WE ALMOST GOT THERE, RIGHT? IF WE'RE SERVING ABOUT A MILLION CUSTOMERS. HOPEFULLY EVERYBODY HEARD THINGS 11 TIMES. UM, BUT WE ALSO SAW A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN OUR, UM, IN OUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC, TWO PAGES LIKE THE WATERING SCHEDULE AND WHERE OUR REBATES WERE. SO WE DROVE A LOT OF TRAFFIC THERE THAT WENT UP. UM, I THINK WE HAD, UH, I WISH I HAD THE NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME. I'M NOT GONNA SAY, WELL, I'LL, I'LL SAY YOU WHAT I THINK IT IS, BUT I MAY HAVE TO COME BACK AND TELL YOU THAT I'M WRONG. I FEEL LIKE WE HA WE DROVE TRAFFIC TO OUR WEBSITE AND IT RESULTED IN OVER LIKE 18 MILLION VISITS TO OUR, TO OUR WEBSITE. UM, AND SO, UM, WE FOUND IT TO BE TREMENDOUSLY EFFECTIVE IN TERMS OF REACH AND ENGAGEMENT. UM, WE WERE INVITED TO, UM, TO, TO GUEST SPOTS ON MORNING TV SHOWS AND DID INTERVIEWS AND PAID CONTENT. UM, WE WERE, YOU KNOW, REGULARLY FEATURED ON DIFFERENT, UM, DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. UM, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, YOU KNOW, WE GET HALFWAY THROUGH THIS CAMPAIGN, WE'VE DEVELOPED ALL OF THESE [01:35:01] ASSETS AND THEN WE HAD HEAVY RAIN. UM, AND SO WE, WE HAD TO DIAL BACK A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE HAD SCHEDULED, UM, BECAUSE WE WEREN'T MOVING IN THE DIRECTION THAT WE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE MOVING IN. BUT WE ARE STILL PUSHING OUT CONSERVATION. IN FACT, WE ARE STILL IN A DROUGHT EVEN THOUGH WE HAD A FLOOD IN JULY. SO, UM, AS PART OF THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, WE HAVE APPROVED FUNDING TO CONTINUE THOSE TV CAMPAIGNS, AND WE HAVE PICKED UP TWO MORE OUTLETS. SO WE'RE, UM, CONTINUING TO WORK WITH THIS. AND THIS WILL BE ANOTHER TOOL IN OUR, IN OUR ARSENAL. UM, AND HOPEFULLY, UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH OUT THIS CONSERVATION MESSAGE AND, UM, AND GET EVERYBODY TO KNOW THEIR WATERING DAY. AND WITH THAT, I THINK I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT WAS A TON OF INFORMATION. YOU GUYS HAVE DONE SO MUCH WORK. THAT'S, THAT'S AMAZING. UM, I DID HAVE ONE QUICK QUESTION AND, AND THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANYONE ELSE. HAVE WE CONSIDERED, OR HAVE YOU GUYS THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE TO COMBINE THE MIT, LIKE THAT WATER CONSERVATION PORTAL, OR THE WATER USE PORTAL TO THE PAYMENT PORTAL TO HAVE JUST ONE LOGIN AND ONE STOP? I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA, UH, PHONE IN A FRIEND HERE. UM, , I'M SURE IT'S NOT EASY TO DO. UM, AND IT'S PROBABLY LOT OF MOVES TO, IT'S EASY. OUR BILLING IS ALL HANDLED THROUGH AUSTIN ENERGY, AND I THINK RANDY WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU SOME CONTEXT FOR, FOR WHY THAT IS SO, AND YEAH. GREAT. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. UH, THANK YOU FOR THIS INSIGHTFUL QUESTION. RANDY JENKINS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL SERVICES AT AUSTIN WATER. UM, YES, WE HAVE IN FACT THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. YOU KNOW, AS WE WERE ROLLING OUT MY A TX WATER, UM, AND GOING THROUGH OUR ADVANCED METERING DEPLOYMENT, WE, UM, PART OF OUR STEERING COMMITTEE WAS AUSTIN ENERGY PERSONNEL, WHO DO, AS AMY MENTIONED, MANAGE OUR SHARED UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN. AND SO WE HAVE HAD THOSE INITIAL ENGAGEMENTS. UM, THEY WERE ALSO ROLLING OUT THEIR BRAND NEW BILLING PORTAL AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE WERE TRYING TO DEPLOY AND GOING THROUGH OUR DEPLOYMENT EFFORTS AT AUSTIN WATER. AND SO THE TIMING DID NOT MASH UP AT THAT TIME. AND, UM, AS WE, UM, EVALUATED IT FURTHER, UM, THEIR PORTAL COULD NOT, UM, INGEST THE CONSERVATION ELEMENT OF OUR PORTAL. AND SO WE WOULD LOSE THAT ELEMENT. AND SO WHILE IT IS CERTAINLY, UM, UH, PART OF A FUTURE VISION TO BE ABLE TO COMBINE, I THINK MAKING SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN THAT CONSERVATION CENTRIC MESSAGE AND ABILITY TO SHARE WATER USE DATA WITH OUR COMMUNITY THAT, THAT WE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, THAT CENTRAL TO, TO THAT ROLLOUT AND THE PURPOSE OF THAT DEPLOYMENT. SO, UM, IT'S, IT'S CERTAINLY ON THE TABLE FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION. UM, I THINK IT'LL TAKE, UM, A DIFFERENT STYLE OF VENDOR TO GET THAT DONE IN THE FUTURE. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. COMMISSIONERS. ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONER PENN? KIND OF MORE OF A COMMENT, BUT I, I REALLY LIKE THE HOME WATER REPORT IDEA. I WISH I, I'D LOVE TO KNOW MINE. UH, I THINK, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S AVAILABLE IN MULTIFAMILY, I THINK WHEN YOU'VE GOT THAT KIND OF WATER THING, RIGHT? YEAH. UM, BUT TO THAT, BESIDE THAT, UM, IF I THINK IF I GOT A WATER BILL AND THERE WAS A NOTE THAT SAID, DO YOU KNOW YOUR HOME REPORT? AND IT'S LIKE, AND IT TOLD YOU TO GO SOMEWHERE TO GO FIND IT. MAYBE THAT COULD CROSS REFERENCE OR, I LIKE THE IDEA YOU MENTIONED MM-HMM . ABOUT A POSTCARD THAT SAID, HEY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR HOME SCORE IS? OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YEAH. JUST TO, IN INTRIGUE SOMEBODY. AND I LOVE THAT THERE WAS SOME GRAPHICS AND COOL THINGS THAT MIGHT ENGAGE SOMEBODY TO GET CURIOUS ABOUT IT. SO ANYWAY, I REALLY ENJOYED THAT PART. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, WE'RE HOPING THAT THAT'S GONNA BE A GREAT TOOL FOR US. UM, I, I LOVE THAT. I, I THINK PEOPLE JUST LIKE TO KNOW HOW THEY'RE DOING RELATIVE TO EVERYBODY ELSE, RIGHT? WHAT IS, WHAT IS SAVING WATER AND WHEN IS IT TOO MUCH WITHOUT A REFERENCE POINT? THEY DON'T KNOW. AND A FROWNY FACE OR A SMILEY FACE IS REALLY EASY TO UNDERSTAND. SO YEAH, I WAS EVEN THINKING LIKE A SAD KITTEN OR SOMETHING THAT MADE SOMEBODY FEEL GUILTY, YOU KNOW? I KNOW IF IT WAS A, IF IT WAS A SAD PUPPY, THAT WOULD GET EVEN MORE ATTENTION. FOR SURE. THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD GO ON INSTAGRAM, AND YES, WELL THINK ABOUT THAT. . WONDERFUL. THANK YOU FOR THAT. REALLY APPRECIATE IT. YEAH. OKAY. OKAY. OH YEAH, SORRY. THIS IS YOUR CALL. NO, TO MOVE ON THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM , WE DOING? ABSOLUTELY. I AM, [15. Staff briefing regarding Austin Water’s quarterly report on Water Management Strategy Implementation for Q3. Presentation by Kevin Kluge, Austin Water Conservation Division Manager] I AM PASSING IT BACK TO YOU OR YOU CAN KEEP IT FOR THE, UH, QUARTERLY REPORT ON WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION FOR Q3. GREAT, THANK YOU. UM, THIS IS NOW THE THIRD TIME [01:40:01] THAT WE HAVE PRESENTED THE QUARTERLY REPORT FOR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION. AND SO YOU ALL HAVE SEEN, PROBABLY FEELS LIKE YOU JUST SAW THIS, UM, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY BEEN A WHOLE QUARTER. UH, AND SO, UM, I'LL LET, UH, KEVIN KLUGE INTRODUCE HIMSELF AND THEN, UM, UH, OFFER UP THIS, UH, THIS QUARTER'S UPDATES. THANK YOU SHAY. GOOD AFTERNOON COMMISSIONERS. MY NAME IS KEVIN KLUGE, I'M THE WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION MANAGER AND ASHE MENTIONED THIS IS A BRIEFING REGARDING THE THIRD QUARTER WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION REPORT AND LIKE, UH, PREVIOUS BRIEFINGS. UM, I'M GOING TO KIND OF FLIP THROUGH THIS AND HIT THE HIGHLIGHTS. UM, PLEASE DO NOT BE HESITANT TO SHOUT OUT A QUESTION OR TELL US TO GO BACK A, A SLIDE OR TWO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. BUT OTHERWISE WE'LL MOVE THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. NEXT SLIDE. AND THIS CORE, THIS QUARTERLY REPORT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE FIRST ONES IN TERMS OF CONTENTS. I'M REALLY GLAD THAT AMY WAS HERE AND ABLE TO GIVE YOU A GOOD DESCRIPTION OF ALL THAT'S GOING ON. 'CAUSE REALLY ALL THAT THEY DO IS KIND OF CONDENSED INTO TWO SLIDES IN THIS. SO IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA THAT WHATEVER YOU SEE HERE, THERE'S A LOT MORE GOING ON BEYOND THAT, BUT WE'LL CONDENSE IT DOWN IN THIS REPORT. NEXT SLIDE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS DIFFERENT IN THIS QUARTERLY REPORT, IT REALLY STEMS FROM A SUGGESTION THAT WE GOT FROM ONE OF THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE MEMBERS WHO SUGGESTED THAT WE PROVIDE MORE LINKS IN THE QUARTERLY REPORT TO THE PLANS THAT WE ARE REPORTING ON. THIS IS AN IMPLEMENTATION REPORT OF THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE WATER FORWARD PLAN. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE OPENING THIS UP REALIZE THAT THERE ARE PLANS THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING. SO YOU'LL SEE MORE TEXT AND MORE LINKS REGARDING WHAT WE ARE IMPLEMENTING AND WHERE THEY ARE IN THOSE TWO PLANS. AS AMY MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS QUARTER JULY 1ST, WE ARE LOOKING AT 50% OF OUR RESERVOIRS SUPPLY AND REALLY LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF GOING INTO STAGE THREE, UM, IN SEPTEMBER. SO IT WAS LOOKING PRETTY DIRE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE QUARTER. AND THEN AS YOU KNOW, IT, IT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY A FEW DAYS LATER. NEXT SLIDE. MOVING INTO THE DIFFERENT AREAS IN TERMS OF WATER CONSERVATION UPDATES OVER THE LAST QUARTER, UM, WE HAVE UH, LAUNCHED UH, A NEW COMMUNITY OUTREACH GRANTS. THESE ARE SMALL GRANTS, ABOUT $3,000 FOR UP TO FIVE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR THIS FIRST YEAR. REALLY TRYING TO ENGAGE THEM AND LET THEM DO THE MESSAGING FOR US. 'CAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF VERY EXCITED GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS OUT IN OUR COMMUNITY AND WE WANNA PROVIDE THEM WITH THE BIT OF RESOURCES TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT. UM, WE'VE ALSO CATEGORIZED ALL OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS WITH INDUSTRIAL CODES TO HELP US LEAD TO BETTER BENCHMARKING AND IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH WATER USERS AND LOW WATER USERS. AND THEN FINALLY WE'VE STARTED THE INCLUSION OF OUR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS INTO OUR UTILITIES, UH, CUSTOMER RELATIONS MANAGEMENT TOOL. UM, SALESFORCE IS THE NAME OF IT, WHICH WILL REALLY ALLOW US TO DO MORE, I BELIEVE WITH OUR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AND REACHING OUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS. NEXT SLIDE IN TERMS OF OUR METRICS, UM, IS COMMON IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. YES, THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS FOR THE Q3 NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS TO DROP. JUST AS YOU GET INTO THE HOT DRY SUMMER, FEW PEOPLE ARE REALLY THAT INTERESTED TO GET OUT IN THEIR YARD AND CHANGE UP THEIR LANDSCAPE IN THE HIGH HEAT. UM, SO THEY PEAK IN THE SPRING QQ TWO PARTICULARLY AND GO DOWN A BIT IN Q3, BUT COMPARATIVELY TO PAST YEAR, WE ARE DOING BETTER WITH OUR APPLICATIONS THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR. NEXT SLIDE. IN TERMS OF OUR COMMERCIAL REBATE PROGRAMS, WE AGAIN HAD FOUR UH, APPLICATIONS FOR THIS LAST QUARTER. AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE NUMBERS SEEM MODEST WITH ONLY FOUR, BUT THE SAVINGS ARE QUITE SIGNIFICANT. THOSE FOUR APPLICATIONS WILL SAVE ALMOST 14 MILLION GALLONS A YEAR FOR JUST THOSE FOUR APPLICATIONS. SO THEY HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON, ON WATER USE. NEXT SLIDE ALSO SHOWING A BIG IMPACT ARE THE WATER CONSERVATION METRICS FOR THE COMPLIANT ASSESSMENTS. THESE ARE REQUIREMENTS FOR OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS TO UTILIZE WATER SAVING COMPONENTS FOR COOLING TOWERS, VEHICLE WASHES AND LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION. AND THEY HAVE TO ANNUALLY REPORT TO [01:45:01] US ON HOW THEY'RE SAVING. AND AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THESE ARE ABOUT 60% OF OUR QUANTIFIED WATER SAVINGS. SO YOU CAN SAVE A LOT OF WATER THROUGH ADHERING TO THESE CONSERVATION, UH, REQUIREMENTS. AND THE NUMBERS ARE PRETTY HIGH FOR COMPLIANCE AND WE ARE HOPING TO GET THEM HIGHER AS WE SHIFT INTO THAT NEW APPLICATION GOING FORWARD. NEXT SLIDE. MILESTONES FOR THE WATER CONSERVATION STRATEGIES YOU SEE AT THE TOP UNDER THE TITLE THERE, THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE ADDED. IT SHOWS LINKS ON WHERE EXACTLY THESE MILESTONES ARE AT IN THE WATER CONSERVATION AND THE WATER FORWARD PLANS. SO IN INDIVIDUALS ARE INTERESTED ON WHAT THESE MILESTONES ARE, WHY WE'RE LOOKING AT THEM, THAT GIVES YOU THE INFORMATION CHANGES FROM Q2, UH, IN THESE TERMS OF THE MILESTONES. THE SECOND ONE THERE, IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CII FACILITIES TO BENEFIT FROM MYX WATERS MOVED INTO IN PROGRESS. WE GOT SOME GOOD IDEAS ON HOW TO REACH OUT TO COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS AND THAT FINAL ONE ON THIS LIST, UH, INSPECTIONS OF ALL NEW RESIDENTIAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND NEW FOLLOWUP CHECKUPS THAT'S MOVED INTO COMPLETED. WERE FULLY IMPLEMENTING THOSE INSPECTIONS IN THOSE CHECKUPS. NEXT SLIDE. WATER LOSS REDUCTION. UM, WE'RE REALLY BULKING UP, UH, THE NUMBER OF RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE INTERNALLY. UM, PREVIOUSLY WE HAD ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS CERTIFIED TO DO WATER LOSS AUDITS AND NOW WE HAVE FOUR. SO THAT'S REALLY KINDA SHARING THE LOAD THERE, ALLOWING US TO DO MORE. IN ADDITION, WE ARE GONNA BE REPLACING MORE SERVICE LINES, GETTING A LOAN FROM THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD TO DO THAT. AND THEN FINALLY, WE ARE ALSO LOOKING TO HIRE, AS I MENTIONED, WITH EXPANDING OUR STAFF RESOURCES, UH, HIRING A WATER LOSS ENGINEER, UH, THAT WILL REALLY FOCUS MORE ON TRACKING AND REDUCTION OF WATER LOSS. NEXT SLIDE. NEXT SLIDE. NUMBER OF WATER LOSS MAIN, UH, DETECTED AND REPAIRED 116, UM, IN Q3, A BIT HIGHER THAN Q2 AND A BIT HIGHER THAN Q3 OF 24. NEXT SLIDE. IN TERMS OF LINEAR FEET OF LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR PERFORMED ON LARGE DIAMETER AND SMALL DIAMETER. UM, THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A A, A TRICKY SLIDE, UH, TO EXPLAIN BECAUSE THESE ARE ALL, THIS IS ALL CONTRACT OR SOME OF IT'S CONTRACTED WORK AND UNLESS THAT CONTRACT'S DONE, WE CAN'T ADD IT. SO WE ARE INCLUDING SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE SLIDE IN THIS QUARTERLY REPORT ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON FOR THE LARGE DIAMETER PIPES. WE ARE EXPECTING IN DECEMBER THAT THE CONTRACTOR WILL UNDERTAKE 32,000 FEET OF CONDITION ASSESSMENT ON THESE LARGE PIPES. UM, SO THAT'S GOOD. AND TO NOTE ON THE SMALL DIAMETER PIPING, UH, IT IS LOWER IN Q3 THAN Q2, BUT OVERALL IN THIS CALENDAR YEAR, UM, WE'VE DETECTED AND, UH, REPAIRED, UH, OVER, I'M SORRY, WE DETECTED, UH, 4 MILLION LINEAR FEET OF, UH, SMALL DIAMETER PIPE, WHICH IS MUCH HIGHER THAN OUR GOAL OF 2.6 HAS BEEN. SO WE ARE DOING A LOT OF LEAK DETECTION ON THE SMALL DIAMETER PIPES. NEXT SLIDE. WATER LOSS REDUCTION. NONE OF THE ARROWS HAVE CHANGED IN THIS SLIDE, BUT I DID JUST GET AN UPDATE EARLIER TODAY THAT, UH, THE UH, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE IN THE MIDDLE THERE, UPDATE WATER METER TESTING SOPS, UM, HAS JUST GOTTEN COMPLETE. SO IT WASN'T IN THE Q3 REPORT, BUT STAFF ARE MOVING FORWARD ON THESE TO GET THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW FOR THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES UNDERTAKEN. NEXT SLIDE. RECLAIMED WATER AND ONSITE WATER REUSE. UM, OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK ON GO PURPLE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS. THERE'S BEEN AN INCREASE PROMOTION OF THE GO PURPLE INCENTIVE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS. AND THEN ON THAT LAST BULLET THERE HAVE TO NOTE THAT THE CITY COUNCIL BACK IN JULY JUST APPROVED A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR TWO OF THE RECLAIMED PROJECTS. SO THOSE WILL BE MOVING FORWARD AND YOU'LL SEE THOSE IN IN TWO SLIDES, ALL THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN. NEXT SLIDE. RECLAIMED WATER METRICS. UH, WE GAINED A RECLAIMED CUSTOMER IN THE LAST QUARTER AND THE VOLUME OF OF CENTRALIZED RECLAIMED WATER USE INCREASED IN Q3, WHICH IS [01:50:01] NOT UNEXPECTED. YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE SUMMER. MORE PEOPLE USE WATER FOR IRR IRRIGATION. SO THAT INCREASED. NEXT SLIDE. THE CURRENT RECLAIMED CIP PROJECTS. I'D MENTIONED TWO SLIDES AGO THAT A COUPLE OF 'EM GOT APPROVED FOR CONSTRUCTION. UM, SO THOSE ARE GOING FORWARD. THE ONE CHANGE IN THIS SLIDE THAT, UH, FROM THE Q2 REPORT IS THAT, UH, FIVE DOWN, UM, THE CREEK FIELDS RECLAIMED WATER LANE RESTORATION WAS ADDED TO THIS REPORT. AND WE ALSO ADDED, AS YOU SEE IN PARENTHESES TO THE RIGHT OF THE PROJECT TITLED THE LINEAR FEET. SO YOU CAN SEE JUST HOW BIG THIS PROJECT IS AS WELL AS THE, UM, QUARTER THAT IT'S ANTICIPATED TO BE COMPLETE. I'LL JUMP IN AS WELL TO SAY THAT ON YOUR AGENDA TONIGHT WAS THE TRAVIS HEIGHTS RECLAIMED MAINE. UH, AND SO THAT'LL BE GOING INTO CONSTRUCTION AS WELL ONCE COUNCIL APPROVES THAT ITEM. YEP, VERY GOOD, THANK YOU SHEA. NEXT SLIDE, ONSITE WATER REUSE AND GO PURPLE. UM, METRICS ON THE LEFT THERE, YOU SEE WE REPORT THE INCENTIVES. I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT AT THE FINAL BULLET THERE THAT WE DO HAVE ONE, UH, UH, FINALIZED FEE IN LIEU INCENTIVE THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED IN THE LAST QUARTER. SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN BUILD ON THAT GOING FORWARD. AND WE CONTINUE TO APPROVE ONSITE WATER REUSE PERMITS YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT THERE ARE THREE MORE APPROVED IN THIS LAST QUARTER. NEXT SLIDE. MILESTONES FOR RECLAIMED ON-SITE. THE FINAL, UH, MILESTONE YOU SEE THERE. COMPLETE WASTEWATER COLLECTION SYSTEM, LONG RANGE PLAN THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED. SO WE ADDED A A FOURTH ARROW THERE, SO WE'RE GLAD TO GET THAT DONE. NEXT SLIDE. AND IN TERMS OF RECLAIMED, UM, UH, I'M SORRY, ONSITE WATER REUSE MILESTONES, THAT MIDDLE MILESTONE THERE WHERE WE AMEND GO PURPLE RESOLUTION, UH, HAS BEEN COMPLETED SO WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THAT FOR THE DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS. NEXT SLIDE. CONSERVATION OUTREACH UPDATES. YOU GOT A GREAT, UH, STORY ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT UH, PIO IS DOING IN THE UTILITIES DOING ABOUT CONSERVATION OUTREACH. AS AMY MENTIONED THERE, THE BIG SHIFT WAS NEEDED ON JULY 4TH OR SO IN TERMS OF THE MESSAGING THAT WAS BEING PLANNED AND THE MESSAGING THAT NEEDED TO GO OUT FOR THE REST OF THE QUARTER. SO A LOT OF OF WORK BEING DONE. I WON'T REPEAT ALL THAT SHE HAD MENTIONED JUST A BIT AGO. NEXT SLIDE IN TERMS OF THE METRICS IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN SHOWING FOR THE LAST TWO, THREE, UH, QUARTERLY REPORTS. YOU SEE THAT BIG IMPRESSIONS NUMBER THERE, 29 20 8 MILLION IMPRESSIONS YOU MAY NOT RECALL BUT IN Q1 THAT WAS 15 AND IN Q2 THAT WAS 23. SO IT ILLUSTRATES JUST HOW BIG OF A, UH, RAMP UP THAT PIO AND THE UTILITY DOES IN TERMS OF OUTREACH GOING INTO THE SUMMER. NEXT SLIDE. WE CONTINUE TO SEND OUT LEAK ALERTS THROUGH THE MANTIC WATER, WHICH IS ALWAYS A VERY POPULAR UH, THING TO RECEIVE. ONE OF THOSE WAS AT MY HOUSE LAST QUARTER. OH, ONE OF THE LEAKS. ALRIGHT, SO , I WAS VERY GRATEFUL TO FIND THAT WATER THAT WAS SPILLING OUT UNDER MY HOUSE THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE SEEN FOR MANY WEEKS OTHERWISE. VERY GOOD, VERY GOOD. AND UH, YOU ALSO SEE A MODEST INCREASE IN THE VOLUMES OF LEAK ALERT SAVINGS, UM, FOR THE, THE MY TX WATER LEAK ALERTS. NEXT SLIDE IN TERMS OF MILESTONES FOR MY TX WATER AND CONSERVATION OUTREACH, THE NEXT TO BOTTOM MILESTONE CONDUCT PILOT OUTREACH ACTIVITIES TO LEARN THE BEST WAYS TO ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS. WE'RE MARKING THAT AS COMPLETE AS WE, AS AMY MENTIONED, WE'VE BEEN DOING PILOTS OVER THE LAST SUMMER. WE'LL CONTINUE TO REF REFINE THOSE GOING IN INTO THE WINTER AND THEN INTO THE SUMMER. UM, BUT WE'RE MARKING THAT AS A A COMPLETED MILESTONE. NEXT SLIDE. WATER SUPPLY UPDATES. YOU GOT A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT A SR, UM, SO WE'LL JUST KIND OF LEAVE IT AT THAT IN TERMS OF PUBLIC OUTREACH. UM, BUT THEY'RE ALSO WORKING ON INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE AND, UH, WALTER E. LONG AS A SUPPLY RESERVOIR AND BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESAL. THEY'RE CONTINUING TO WORK ON THAT NEXT SLIDE. NO CHANGES IN TERMS OF BARS ON THIS, BUT AS YOU HEARD, [01:55:01] A LOT OF THE THINGS ARE BEING DONE ON THOSE DIFFERENT PROJECTS. NEXT SLIDE. AND HERE AGAIN, WE COME TO, UH, GPCD OR GALLONS PER CAPITA DAILY IN THE QUESTION OF HOW MUCH WATER DID WE USE PER PERSON IN Q3 OF THIS YEAR. WELL IT TURNS OUT THE, THE Q3 GPCD WAS 141 GALLONS PER PERSON PER DAY, WHICH IS ACTUALLY LOWER THAN THE SUMMER OF LAST YEAR. AND YOU'LL SEE THIS IN JUST A MINUTE, UH, AS WELL AS 2023 AND 2022. SO OF THE LAST FOUR YEARS, THIS IS THE LOWEST WE'VE HAD IN SINCE 2022. AND AND LIKELY THAT IS, UM, DUE TO THE RAINFALL AS WELL AS THE BIG OUTREACH, UH, PUSH THAT WE HAD FROM THE U UTILITY. NEXT SLIDE. AND HERE ARE THE BARS SHOWING THE GPCD AS I MENTIONED EACH TIME THE VERTICAL BAR SHOWS THE PER PERSON WATER USE IN EACH QUARTER. UM, AND IT'S SEGREGATED BY THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES GOING VERTICALLY. UM, BLUE ON THE BOTTOM IS SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AND THEN MULTI-FAMILY AND GOES UP TO THE TOP AS I MENTIONED THIS QUARTER, OR I'M SORRY, QUARTER THREE OF THIS YEAR WAS 1 41 AND 2024 IS 1 47 IN THE SUMMER, 1 66 THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND ONE 60 THE YEAR BEFORE THAT. SO WE HAVE HAD A LOWER WATER USE THIS SUMMER. SO WE WILL, IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT OUR FINAL G-P-D-G-P-C-D IS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. NEXT SLIDE. AND THERE'S THE SECOND SLIDE, SAME DATA, UM, BUT JUST SHOWED A LITTLE DIFFERENT FORMAT. UH, NEXT SLIDE. AND THEN MOVING FORWARD INTO THE LAST QUARTER OF THE YEAR, UH, KIND OF THE WINTER FALL-ISH WINTER, UH, QUARTER. SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON, AND THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY THINGS GOING ON. WE'LL BE WORKING WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS IN TERMS OF THE WINTER PREPARATION EVENTS TO HELP CUSTOMERS AVOID ANY, UH, WATER LEAKS DUE TO COLD WEATHER. UH, WE'LL BE LAUNCHING UH, LAUNDRY LANDSCAPE, GRAY WATER REUSE ASSISTANCE, UH, PROGRAM GOING FORWARD, REVAMPING OUR REBATES ON LAUNDRY LANDSCAPE AND INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. AND THEN FINALLY, AS WAS MENTIONED, A SR FIELD TESTING WILL BEGIN, UH, THIS LATER THIS QUARTER. AND THEN NEXT SLIDE IS AGAIN THE FINAL UH, FINE PRINT REGARDING THE DATA. AND THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF OUR PRESENTATION AND WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE. I APPRECIATE IT, APPRECIATE ALL THE INFORMATION, ALL THE EFFORT. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I SEE NO QUESTIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. CALL THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT, IS THERE SOMETHING JUST KIDDING PAM. I'M NOT TRYING TO GO OR ANYTHING. AND AND HE'S NOT HERE. HE'S NOT HERE. THAT'S RIGHT. HE'S NOT HERE. THAT'S WHY ANNOUNCED IT. OKAY. NO, SOUNDS GOOD. PERFECT. SO WE AGREED. SO THAT WAS JUST ITEM 15, WHICH WE DIDN'T SAY EARLIER. SO IT'S ITEM 15 AND WE'RE DONE WITH THE STAFF BRIEFINGS. WE'RE GONNA, WE SHOULD HAVE A COMMITTEE UPDATE WHICH ITEM 16 FOR THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE. UM, COMMISSIONER OR CHAIR MAXWELL GAINES IS NOT PRESENT AND COMMISSIONER MARLO IS THE ALTERNATE FOR THAT COMMITTEE AND THEY ARE ALSO NOT PRESENT. SO WE WILL SKIP THAT UPDATE AND ADD THAT TO THE NEXT AGENDA FOR THE NEXT MEETING. UM, NOW [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS] WE CAN ASK IF ANYONE HAS ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO ADD. THERE ARE NO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS TO ADD AT THIS TIME. AT ANY MOMENT YOU COME UP WITH ONE, YOU CAN EMAIL HEATHER AND THEY CAN ADD IT TO THE AGENDA. THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR TIME AND I WILL NOW OFFICIALLY CALL THE MEETING ADJOURNS AT SIX OH THREE. THANK YOU. THANKS EVERYONE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.