* 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. WE'RE GOOD. OKAY. [00:00:03] HELLO EVERYONE. GOOD [Call to Order] AFTERNOON. GOOD AFTERNOON. HELLO. THANK YOU BOARD MEMBERS FOR JOINING US TODAY AND OUR TEAM FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD MEETING TODAY'S NOVEMBER 19TH, 2025. AND I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AT 2:05 PM THE MEETING IS BEING CONDUCTED AT AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP HEADQUARTERS, LOCATED AT 2 0 3 COLORADO STREET IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. AND AS A REMINDER, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES BOTH AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND OTHER INTERPRETER SERVICES. SO PLEASE LET US KNOW WHEN YOU NEED OUR HELP IN COMMUNICATING WITH AND ADDRESSING THE BOARD. UH, MAYOR KIRWA, AS WELL AS OUR DEPUTY CITY MANAGER, JOHN FORTUNE, WILL NOT BE WITH US TODAY, BUT WE DO HAVE QUORUM FOR THIS BOARD TO ENGAGE. UM, I BELIEVE WE [1. Public Comment] HAVE ONE SPEAKER SIGN UP TO SPEAK TODAY. UM, MR. CARLOS LEON, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU, SIR. WELCOME. THANK YOU CHAIR. SO, CARLOS LEON, FIRST AND FOREMOST, GRACIAS FOR LETTING ME SPEAK TO MULTIPLE AGENDA ITEMS RELATED TO KAT METRO'S PLANNED OPERATION OF THE LIGHT RAIL A TP IS BUILDING PER THEIR 2030 STRATEGIC PLAN. KAT METRO BOARD CHAIR JEFFREY ILION, SAID QUOTE, OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WE WILL ALSO BE PREPARING FOR OUR ROLE AS A FUTURE LIGHT RAIL OPERATOR TO ENSURE THIS NEW SERVICE WILL PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CITING SECURITY AS A CRITICAL RESULT FOR CUSTOMERS. YET HE TACITLY SUPPORTS CAP METRO SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. DARRELL J'S UNWARRANTED FRAUDULENT SIX MONTH SUSPENSION AGAINST ME IN FRONT OF YOU NOW IS AN EXCERPT OF THE REPORT THAT I'M WRITING FOR APDS SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT TO LAWFULLY HOLD JAMEL ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ALLEGED UNLAWFUL ACT PER POLICY SUSPENSION IS THE TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT REMOVAL OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S RIGHT TO USE CAT METRO TRANSIT SERVICES DUE TO VIOLATIONS OF CAT METRO'S CODE OF CONDUCT THAT REPRESENT A DIRECT THREAT TO HEALTH OR SAFETY. SAYING DIRECT THREAT MEANS A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF SUBSTANTIAL HARM TO THE HEALTH OR SAFETY OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR OTHERS THAT CANNOT BE REDUCED OR ELIMINATED BY REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION COUNT. METRO PLAGIARIZED DIRECT THREATS DEFINITION WORD FOR WORD FROM AMERICA WITH DISABILITIES ACT, SECTION 1630 0.2 R, HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH SUSPENDING A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC FROM MASS TRANSIT SERVICE, BUT EVERYTHING TO DO WITH PREVENTING WORKPLACE DIS UH, DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION. BECAUSE, QUOTE, THE DETERMINATION THAT AN INDIVIDUAL POSES A DIRECT THREAT SHALL BE BASED ON AN INDIVIDUALIZED ASSESSMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL'S PRESENT ABILITY TO SAFELY PERFORM THE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE JOB. THIS ASSESSMENT SHALL BE BASED ON A REASONABLE MEDICAL JUDGMENT THAT RELIES ON THE MOST CURRENT MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE AND OR ON THE BEST AVAILABLE OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE. BECAUSE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC LIKE ME USING CAT METRO SERVICES AND PROPERTIES ARE NOT CAT METRO EMPLOYEES. CAT METRO MISAPPROPRIATED, A DA LANGUAGE TO MISAPPLY FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE INTENT TO ITS SUSPENSION POLICY, WHICH THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT WOULD LIKELY REJECT BECAUSE CONGRESS DID NOT INTEND A DA FOR THAT OUT OF CONTEXT, PURPOSE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR CUSTOMERS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE FOR DIRECT THREAT LEVEL CODE OF CONDUCT VIOLATIONS BECAUSE, QUOTE, ALL CAP METRO CUSTOMERS ARE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LAWS WHILE USING CAP METRO FACILITIES AND SERVICES IN ADDITION TO ADHERING TO THESE RULES. WARNING QUOTE, ILLEGAL OR PROHIBITED CONDUCT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND MAY RESULT IN A SUSPENSION FROM CAP METRO SERVICES AND OR CRIMINAL PENALTIES. BOTTOM LINE BOARD, DO NOT ALLOW CAP METRO TO RUN OR SECURE YOUR LIGHT RAIL. IN JESUS' NAME I PRAY, AMEN. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY OTHER SPEAKERS SIGN UP TO SPEAK TODAY? NO MORE SPEAKERS. THANK YOU MR. DE LEON. YOU GOT IT, CHAIR. UM, SO TODAY [2. Executive Director Report] WE'RE GOING TO START OUR MEETING WITH OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT. GREAT. THANK YOU. BOARD CHAIR, UH, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, APPRECIATE IT. WE SET UP TODAY A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. UM, I THINK IT'S TIME FOR ONE OF OUR GOOD OLD ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE WORK SESSIONS. WE HAVE A LOT OF THINGS TO GO THROUGH TODAY, JUST KIND OF FOR THE BIG YEAR AHEAD OF US IN 2026. AND, UH, WE'VE BEEN OUT AND AROUND TALKING ABOUT THE BIG YEAR 2026, UM, CONTINUING TO BE IN THE LEARNING PHASE AND MAKING SURE [00:05:01] THAT AS WE GET READY TO BUILD AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, WE HAVE DONE ALL THE DUE DILIGENCE THAT WE CAN. SO REALLY THAT'S WHAT TODAY IS ABOUT, UM, IS EXCITING. WE'RE GONNA BASICALLY, UH, KIND OF OPEN UP THE HOOD A LITTLE BIT. ONE OF THE YEARS WHERE, UH, SOME OF OUR STAFF JOINED SOME CITY STAFF OUT IN PHOENIX TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE CITY, UH, THE CITIES AND, AND, AND THE BUILDER OF, UH, VALLEY METRO. SOME OF THE WORK THEY'RE DOING THERE. UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, MIKE ROGERS AND LEE ANN CONTE WENT OUT THERE WITH US. QUICK LITTLE DAY TRIP. UM, I THINK THEY LEARNED A LOT, NOT ONLY ABOUT THAT, BUT THE SENSE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOING ON AROUND, UH, ALL OF THE LIGHT RAIL. WE'VE ALSO BEEN, I THINK IT'S TIS THE SEASON TO BE OUT AND ABOUT. I KNOW SOME OF OUR FOLKS WHO ARE JUST AT TRANSIT FORWARD TODAY, UM, UH, GETTING OUT THERE AND JUST TALKING ABOUT WHERE WE'RE DOING. WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THERE'S JUST STILL SUCH A GREAT HUNGER TO MAKE SURE WE'RE OUT THERE TALKING ABOUT ALL THE BENEFITS OF ALL OF OUR TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE DOING AS PART OF PROJECT CONNECT. UM, AND, UH, SOME GREAT DIALOGUE THIS MORNING ACTUALLY WITH ULI TALKING ABOUT ALL THE MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND WHAT'S GOING ON FROM A COORDINATION PERSPECTIVE IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN AND THROUGHOUT THE REGION. SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUING TO DO THAT, UM, AS WELL AS TODAY. HOPEFULLY FOLKS GET TO WATCH THIS AND, AND SEE SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING BEING READY FOR, UH, OUR YEAR AHEAD AND THE YEARS AHEAD. UM, SO I'LL LEAVE IT TO THAT. I THINK WE'LL COME BACK AND HAVE A FEW MORE WORDS TO SAY BEFORE WE GET KICK OFF THE WORK SESSION. PART OF THE AGENDA, I DON'T HAVE MY MIC ON, SORRY. I'D LIKE TO TAKE UP ACTION ITEM [3.1. Approval of a resolution to appoint an Interim Secretary to the ATP Board of Directors.] ONE, WHICH IS THE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION TO APPOINT AN INTERIM BOARD SECRETARY TO THE A TP BOARD OF DIRECTORS. THIS POSITION DESIGNATES CASEY BURAK TO SERVE AS INTERIM SECRETARY. IN ANY EVENT, THE POSITION OF SECRETARY IS NOT AVAILABLE. SO I'D LIKE TO REQUEST A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THIS ITEM TO MOVE. SECOND, MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER GARZA, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HORN. ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION. UM, JUST WELCOME BACK TO THE CASEY. THANK YOU. UM, UM, EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE. A AYE, AYE. ACTION. ITEM ONE IS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY WITH MAYOR WATSON. ABSENT, UM, THE APPROVAL, [3.2. Approval of minutes from the September 17, 2025 ATP Board Meeting.] THE SECOND ITEM, ACTION ITEM IS THE APPROVAL OF A MEETING MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 29, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2025 A TP BOARD MEETING. MINUTES. CAN I PLEASE GET A MOTION AND A SECOND? SO MOVED. MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER BILION, SECOND BY MEMBER HORN. ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS? NONE. UM, SORRY. EXCUSE ME. I THINK IT WAS ACTUALLY SEPTEMBER 17TH. THERE'S JUST A ERROR. OKAY. SEPTEMBER 17TH, I MAKE A CORRECTION. THE ACTION ITEM HAS BEEN, UM, CORRECTED TO REFLECT THAT SEPTEMBER 17TH WAS WHEN WE HAD THE BOARD MEETING AND WE'VE HAD THE MINUTES REFLECT THE ACTUAL DATES. SO EVERYTHING GREAT. OKAY. SO MAY I ASK FOR A VOTE? EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. THE BOARD MEETING MINUTES HAVE BEEN APPROVED WITH MAYOR WATSON ABSENT. AND OUR FINAL [3.3. Approval of a resolution appointing six community members to the Project Connect Community Advisory Committee (CAC).] ITEM IS ACTION ITEM NUMBER THREE, THE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION APPOINTING SIX COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO THE PROJECT CONNECT COMMITTEE, ADVISORY COUNCIL, THE COMMITTEE. AND, UH, I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CAC NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR THEIR WORK. UH, BOARD MEMBER KAMI HORN, WHO REPRESENTED A TP IN THIS PROCESS, AND WHO WAS JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ELA, SERVING AS HIS ROLE ON THE CABINET BOARD, AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER PAIGE ELLIS, REPRESENTING THE CITY OF AUSTIN AAR, REPRESENTING THE CAC AND ALL OF THE WORK THAT WENT ONTO SELECTING THIS WONDERFUL GROUP OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS DEVOTED TO TRANSIT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. SO THANK YOU ALSO TO THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE. THAT WAS, I'M SURE, A HEAVY LIFT. SO I'D LIKE TO REQUEST A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THIS ITEM. MOVE BY BOARD MEMBER GARZA. SECOND, SECOND, SECOND BY, UH, COMMISSIONER IAN, ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS? I, I JUST, UH, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO, UM, JUST SAY HOW EXCITED I AM TO WELCOME THE NEW MEMBERS. UM, AND, UM, I WAS ALSO VERY EXCITED TO SEE THE INTEREST, UM, AND EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE PROGRAM. SO, UM, THANK [00:10:01] YOU. THANK YOU. I UNDERSTOOD THAT WE HAD ABOUT 51 APPLICANTS FOR THIS POSITION, SO IT'S, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY NOT ONLY WANT LIGHT RAIL, BUT THEY WANT TO SERVE TO MAKE SURE WE DELIVER IT RIGHT. SO IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE THAT NUISANCE. THANK YOU FOR READING THROUGH ALL THOSE APPLICATIONS. THERE WAS A 16-YEAR-OLD, I BELIEVE, THAT ALSO APPLIED, WHICH I THINK'S WONDERFUL. JUST SAYING THIS IS GREAT NEWS. SO THANK YOU. UM, DID WE VOTE ALREADY ON THAT ONE? ACTION ITEM THREE. NO, THANK YOU. SO, UH, EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. SO, ACTION ITEM NUMBER THREE HAS BEEN APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY WITH, UH, MAYOR WATSON ABSENT. SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO OUR [4.1 Update on Austin Light Rail Phase 1 Implementation: Progress on Federal Program, Project Delivery, and Design.] DISCUSSION ITEMS, AND I'D LIKE TO INVITE AGAIN, OUR CEO GREG CANALI TO INTRODUCE OUR DISCUSSION ITEMS. THANKS, BOARD CHAIR. UM, SO AS I ALLUDED TO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE THIS, UM, EVERY SO OFTEN JUST TO KIND OF STOP AND, AND, AND HAVE A DEEPER CONVERSATION ABOUT SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING AS WE GET READY. UM, I THINK BACK OVER THE LAST YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF, WE, WE DID A LOT OF THIS AROUND OUR PROCUREMENT AND OUR, OUR METHODOLOGY AROUND DELIVERY. I THINK WE SPENT AN, UH, AN EXTENSIVE TIME TALKING ABOUT HOW WE LANDED ON OUR DELIVERY METHOD OVER PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD FOR BOTH OUR, OUR LIGHT RAIL 10 MILES AS WELL AS THE OMF. UM, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT OUR FEDERAL PROCESS, UM, AND THEY'RE ALL GREAT. WE FEEL REALLY, WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN A REALLY GOOD SPOT FOR BOTH OF THOSE. IN FACT, ON OUR PROCUREMENTS, WE HAVE THREE ACTIVE SOLICITATIONS THAT ARE ALL OUT RIGHT NOW. UM, SOME ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING EVALUATED. UM, WE'VE HIT OUR MARK ON ALL OF THOSE. UM, WE LAID OUT A SCHEDULE ON A CALENDAR, AND THEY ARE ALL ACTIVELY PER, UM, UH, ADVANCING, WHICH IS WONDERFUL. FEDERALLY, WE HAVE A FEW LITTLE UPDATES I THINK, THINK JEN'S GONNA WALK US THROUGH. BUT WE HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT I THINK ACTIONS HAVE BEEN IN FRONT OF THIS BOARD AROUND OUR TECHNOLOGY, UH, AROUND SOME OF OUR DESIGN WORK. WE WANNA SHOW YOU ALL THAT WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING TO BE READY FOR 2026 IN THE YEAR BEHIND. AND PART OF THAT IS GET SOME OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS UP HERE THAT ARE WORKING HERE, ALL THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEN IN SOME INSTANCES, BUT ARE LEADING THE CHARGE ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS, UH, OF THE EFFORT. AND REALLY JUST HAVE A DIALOGUE WITH YOU GUYS. THAT'S, AS WE ALWAYS DO WITH THESE WORK SESSIONS. WE HAVE SOME SLIDES TO KIND OF HELP PROMPT THE DISCUSSION THROUGH IT. UM, TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR FEDERAL UPDATE, REALLY OUR DELIVERY READINESS, AND THEN COMING BACK AND SETTING THE STAGE FOR 2026. SO IF YOU GUYS ARE GAME, UH, WE'RE READY TO, WE'RE READY TO DIVE IN. GREAT. LET'S DO IT. OKAY. I THINK I'LL TURN IT OVER TO, TO JEN TO GET US STARTED. ALRIGHT. GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY. THANK YOU. UH, SO I'LL START WITH JUST THE BIG PICTURE AND WHERE WE ARE IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. UM, WE'RE STILL IN THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PHASE, WHICH MEANS WE ARE COMPLETING OUR PRELIMINARY DESIGN. WE'RE CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND OTHER ANALYSES, UM, REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL PROCESS. AND IN GENERAL, JUST PROGRESSING OUR PROJECT THROUGH THE PIPELINE FOR THE GRANT FUNDING THAT WE ARE PURSUING. UM, IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, ONE THING I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT RIGHT OFF THE BAT, THIS JUST HAPPENED WITHIN THE LAST WEEK OR SO. UM, OUR PROJECT WAS INCLUDED IN THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION'S FISCAL YEAR 26 ANNUAL REPORT ON FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS. UM, AND WE RECEIVED A PROJECT RATING. UM, SO YOU MIGHT REMEMBER OVER TIME, UM, WE ACTUALLY SUBMITTED, UM, A LARGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION TO FTA TO ENABLE THEM TO EVALUATE THE PROJECT AND RATE IT. AND SO OUR RATING IS A MEDIUM HIGH, WHICH IS EXCELLENT. UM, IT'S, THAT IS THE HIGHEST, UM, RATING THEY PROVIDED TO ANY PROJECT IN THIS CYCLE, UM, AND IS REALLY A TESTAMENT TO KIND OF ALL THE WORK OF THE TEAM. BUT ALSO, I'LL CALL OUT THE CITY TOO BECAUSE ONE PIECE OF THIS IS THE LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASPECT OF THE PROJECT, AND ALL OF THE LAND USE POLICY CHANGE THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS. UM, IT, IT WAS EVIDENCED, UH, IN THE MATERIALS THAT WE SUBMITTED AND CERTAINLY PART OF THE REASON FOR THIS SUCCESS. UM, SO THIS MARKS, UM, THE FUNDING, IT'S A REQUIRED, YOU KNOW, CRITICAL ELEMENT OF THE FEDERAL PROCESS, BUT ALSO, UM, A RATING OF THIS SORT, UM, IS A INDICATION THAT, UH, THE FTA FEELS LIKE THIS IS A VERY COMPETITIVE PROJECT FOR THESE FEDERAL FUNDS. I, I JUST WANNA SAY THAT CONGRATULATIONS. UM, I, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE THERE ARE PROJECTS THAT ARE HIGH, HIGH, BUT THAT SEEMS TO ME LIKE THE HIGHEST, UH, THAT YOU CAN GET. SO, UM, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE, THE TEAM. THAT'S REALLY GREAT. THANK YOU. OR JUST REAL QUICK TO ADD TO THAT. YEAH, JUST TO COMMEND THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT HAD TO WORK ON GETTING THAT DONE. I MEAN, JUST ON GEN TEAMS, DARREN AND, AND RACHEL WORKING THE HDR TEAM THAT HELPED US PUT THAT TOGETHER IN AECOM, KIND OF PICKING THAT UP GOING FORWARD. UM, IT REALLY IS A BIG DEAL, RIGHT? IT'S A SIGNAL THAT WE'VE ADVANCED THROUGH THE FEDERAL PROCESS, RIGHT? THERE'S FIVE KEY STEPS TO GO THROUGH THE FEDERAL FUNDING PROCESS. AND I THINK IT'S AN INDICATION NOT [00:15:01] ONLY ABOUT HOW FTA IS VIEWING US, BUT ALSO THERE'S OTHER PROJECTS LISTED IN THIS, UH, RECOMMENDATION TO CONGRESS. AND I THINK IT'S AN INDICATION THAT THERE'S GONNA BE INVESTMENTS IN TRANSIT IN THIS ADMINISTRATION, AND WE HAVE TO BE WELL POSITIONED TO, TO GET THESE COMPETITIVE FUNDS. AND THIS IS A SIGNAL THAT WE'VE DONE THAT LOTS OF WORK AHEAD OF US. UM, AND WE'RE GONNA DO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, BE VERY TRANSPARENT. YOU REMEMBER ONE OF OUR WORK SESSIONS ACTUALLY, WE HAD AN INCREDIBLE DEEP DIVE ON ALL OF THE NE ELEMENTS OF NEPA AND OUR RATINGS PROCESS. AND IT'S MULTI-FACTOR TO GET THE RATING RIGHT? IT'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT'S LAND USE, IT'S RIDERSHIP, UM, IT'S CONNECTIVITY TO OUR TRANSIT, THE OVERALL TRANSIT NETWORK. SO GETTING THAT MEDIUM HIGH RATING IS REALLY A, IT'S A REALLY BIG DEAL AND A REALLY KEY SIGNAL. UM, HERE WE ARE, AND WE'RE GONNA TALK MORE ABOUT SOME OF THE NEXT STEPS THAT ARE COMING UP IN RAPID SUCCESSION. SO, UM, LOT OF REFLECTION ON THE GOOD WORK, BUT WE'RE ALSO FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE THAT THIS KIND OF GREEN LIGHT TO KEEP ADVANCING THROUGH THE FEDERAL PROCESS. UM, WE'RE GONNA KEEP WORKING HARD TO MAKE SURE WE CAN BRING, UH, BRING THESE FEDERAL FUNDS BACK TO TEXAS AND BACK HERE TO AUSTIN. THANK YOU. IF WE COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. UH, THANK YOU. UH, SO ANOTHER BIG ITEM THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IS OUR COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT. UM, THAT'S BEEN UNFOLDING OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, AND WE ARE ON TRACK TO COMPLETE THAT PROCESS AT THE END OF THIS YEAR. UM, AND SO JUST TO THINK BACK FOR A MINUTE, UM, 'CAUSE THIS HAS BEEN A VERY COMMUNITY DRIVEN EFFORT, UM, STARTING, I GUESS IT'S PROBABLY FAIR TO SAY, ACTUALLY STARTING IN JUNE OF 2023, WHICH IS WHEN THE A TP BOARD, THE CAT METRO BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR LIGHT RAIL, WHICH DEFINED WHAT THE FIRST PHASE WOULD BE. SO THAT FIRST PHASE OF LIGHT RAIL IS WHAT WE'VE CARRIED THROUGH THIS ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS. UM, WHICH KICKED OFF IN JANUARY OF 2024 WITH GOING OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND EXPLAINING ABOUT WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO DO, WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO STUDY, WHAT THE PROJECT IS THAT WE'RE STUDYING, AND SOME DIFFERENT DESIGN OPTIONS THAT WE WERE CONTEMPLATING BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM BEFORE OR PERHAPS SOME OF THE TECHNICAL ENGINEERING ITEMS. SO THEN WE CAME BACK A YEAR LATER WITH THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT, WHICH IS ALL OF THE STEADY WORK, ALL OF THE KIND OF EVIDENCING OF THE ANALYSIS THAT WE SAID WE WERE GOING TO DO OVER A COUPLE A MONTH PERIOD. WE RECEIVED REALLY THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS ON THAT DRAFT, EIS. AND SO, UM, WHAT WE ARE CONCLUDING AT THE END OF THIS YEAR IS PUBLISHING A FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND RECORD OF DECISION. AND THAT WILL MARK THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PARTICULAR PROCESS. UM, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, A, A BIG REQUIREMENT, UM, TOWARDS THE FEDERAL FUNDING. AND IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, WHAT'S IN THE FINAL EIS AND RECORD OF DECISION, AMONG OTHER THINGS YOU'LL SEE FOR EVERY COMMENT THAT WE RECEIVE DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, THERE WILL BE A RESPONSE. UM, AND WE DID RECEIVE THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS FROM NEIGHBORHOODS, FROM INDIVIDUALS, FROM AGENCIES. UH, WE'VE ALSO MADE SOME DESIGN UPDATES THAT WILL BE IN THE FINAL EIS, UM, SOME RESPONDING TO COMMENTS, AND SOME WILL ALWAYS BE, YOU KNOW, AND CONTINUING TO KIND OF REFINE THE DESIGN TO, UH, REDUCE OUR PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS OR OTHER, UM, IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESIGN. BUT YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THAT IN THE FINAL EIS, UH, AND ALSO SOME COMMITMENTS, UM, TO MITIGATE IMPACTS OR OTHER ACTIONS THAT WE AND OR OUR PARTNERS ARE, ARE COMMITTED TO TAKE AS WE DELIVER THIS PROJECT. UM, SO THE RECORD OF DECISION ALSO, WHEN THAT IS ISSUED, AGAIN AT THE END OF THE YEAR, UH, FROM THE FEDERAL PROCESS STANDPOINT, IT'S IMPORTANT NOT JUST BECAUSE IT DEMONSTRATES COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA, BUT ALSO IN THE FEDERAL GRANTS PROJECT. IT'S ONE OF THOSE GATES AFTER WHICH WE HAVE, UM, THE ABILITY TO CONDUCT CERTAIN OTHER ACTIVITIES, UM, AND IN OUR CASE WILL BE ADDITIONAL DESIGN, UM, TO CONTINUE TO ADVANCE WORK, BUT ALSO, UM, RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION, UTILITIES, RELOCATIONS, WHEN WE'RE READY TO DO SO. THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE ALSO, UM, ARE AUTHORIZED TO DO UNDER THE GRANT PROGRAM. SO, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I JUST WANTED TO NOTE TOO THAT ALL OF THE COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION THAT THIS WORK HAS ENTAILED, UM, CERTAINLY, UM, WITH MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE PUBLIC, BUT ALSO AMONG OUR PARTNERS AND OTHER AGENCIES. UM, WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE CITY, YOU KNOW, AND WITH CAP METRO AT EVERY STAGE OF THE GAME. UM, WE DO HAVE FORMAL ROLES IN THE PROCESS, WHETHER IT'S BEING A COOPERATING AGENCY OR PARTICIPATING AGENCY, AND THOSE ARE CERTAIN JOBS, BUT, UM, WE WANTED TO LET EVERYBODY IN THE TENT WITH THAT, THOSE INFORMAL REVIEWS ALL ALONG THE WAY. UM, SOME OF THE AGENCIES THAT WE WORKED WITH AS WELL ON THIS WOULD INCLUDE TXDOT, THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, THE TEXAS HISTORIC COMMISSION, AND TRAVIS COUNTY. AND SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH ALL THOSE PARTIES AS, AS THINGS GO ON. UM, [00:20:01] AND SOME OF THIS COORDINATION TOO, WE WANTED TO NOTE IS AS PART OF OUR PROCUREMENT PROCESS, UM, TO BE INCLUSIVE AS WE CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE WORK. ALRIGHT. AND AS JEN MENTIONED, THE COMPLETION OF THE NEPA PROCESS, UH, OH, ACTUALLY I SHOULD INTRODUCE MYSELF, LINDSAY WOOD, , EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. UH, WITH THE COMPLETION OF THE NEPA PROCESS, IT ALLOWS US TO MOVE INTO THE NEXT PHASE OF WORK OF FINAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. AND WE HAVE BEEN GETTING READY FOR THAT PHASE FOR MANY MONTHS NOW THROUGH OUR PROCUREMENT OF THREE MAJOR CONTRACTS. AND SO WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO GET READY FOR THEM ACTUALLY COMING ON BOARD NEXT YEAR, AND WHAT THAT PROCESS LOOKS LIKE OF BRINGING THEM ON BOARD. UH, YOU'LL SEE HERE IN THIS TIMELINE THAT WE ARE STAGGERING HOW EACH OF THESE NEW PARTNERS WILL JOIN US. UH, WE WILL HAVE BOARD AWARDS AND ISSUING NOTICE TO PROCEED, STARTING WITH THE LIGHT RAIL PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD HERE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR, WHICH IS JUST RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, UM, FOLLOWED IN THE SECOND QUARTER BY BRINGING ON OUR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY, PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILDER. AND AT THAT SAME TIME, OUR, ROUGHLY THE SAME TIME, WE ARE ANTICIPATING BRINGING ON OUR CAR BUILDERS FOR THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES TO ALLOW THEM AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EARLY COORDINATION WITH THE TWO DESIGN BUILDERS, SO THAT ONCE WE HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SELECTED VEHICLE, OUR DESIGN BUILDERS ON THE, THE LIGHT RAIL, YOU KNOW, CIVIL AND STRUCTURES AND STATIONS AND SYSTEMS ELEMENTS HAVE THE CHANCE TO COLLABORATE WITH, UH, THE, THE TRAINS AND THEIR VARIOUS NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS AS THEY DEVELOP THEIR EARLY DESIGN. AND SO YOU SEE HERE, UM, AND REALLY OUR FOCUS FOR TODAY IS THINKING ABOUT WHAT'S NEXT AFTER THOSE AWARDS AND WHAT WE'RE DOING TO DELIVER THIS WORK. UH, YOU'LL SEE THE REFERENCES TO PHASE ONE A AND PHASE ONE B, WHICH ALVIN'S GONNA TALK TO US HERE ABOUT IN JUST A MOMENT. AND WHAT THAT IS SHOWING ARE THE PRE-CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES THAT WILL BE THE, THE KEY FOCUS OF 2026. I HAVE A QUESTION. YES. UM, AND, UM, ON THE INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT, AND, YOU KNOW, MY OBSERVATION WAS THAT THAT WAS REALLY ROBUST AND, AND REALLY GREAT LEADING UP TO THIS POINT. AND, UM, ALL OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS GOING OUT. JUST CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT THAT WILL LOOK LIKE, UM, MOVING FORWARD? YOU HAVE IT ON THE TIMELINE AND JUST ASKING ABOUT THAT, THE INDUSTRY. OH, YES. UM, SO AS PART OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS, WE HAVE ENGAGED INDUSTRY AT MULTIPLE POINTS ALONG THE WAY. ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT HOW WE'LL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE THEM GOING FORWARD OR HOW WE'RE ENGAGING THEM, UM, LEADING UP TO THE AWARD OF THESE CONTRACTS? N NO, JUST, JUST WHAT EXACTLY THE, THIS MEANS ON YOUR DIAGRAM, ONGOING INDUSTRY. I WOULD, I WAS BASICALLY SAYING LEADING UP TO, UM, YES, IT'S BEEN VERY ROBUST. SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? UH, WE ACTUALLY COULDN'T FIT ALL OF THE DOTS THAT WOULD GO ON THESE TIMELINES BECAUSE OF HOW MANY INDUSTRY TOUCH POINTS THERE ARE. IT WOULD JUST START TO LOOK LIKE A SOLID LIST OF DOTS. SO THAT IS WHAT THAT BULLET IS REFERENCING, IS THAT WE'VE HAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR ONE-ON-ONES, UH, AT MANY STAGES ALONG EACH OF THE THREE PROCUREMENTS. WE HAVE HAD THOSE AFTER EACH RFI GIVING THE CONTRACTORS THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE FULL SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS, PROVIDE THEIR FEEDBACK BACK TO US, AND, AND MEET WITH US TO TALK ABOUT THAT. UH, WE'VE ALSO HAD IT AT THE RFQ STAGE WHEN THEY SUBMIT THEIR QUALIFICATIONS AND, UH, AT THE RFP STAGE AS THEY'RE DEVELOPING THEIR APPROACH AND PROPOSAL SO THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO GAIN FEEDBACK ALONG THE WAY AND SEEK CLARIFICATION IN TERMS OF, UM, REALLY ANY ELEMENT OF THE SOLICITATION FROM COMMERCIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO THE TECHNICAL WORK AND UNDERSTANDING THE SCOPE AND THE OBJECTIVES OF, UH, WHAT WE ARE GOING TO ACHIEVE HERE. THANK YOU. I, I WASN'T SURE IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS INDICATED BY THIS THAT WAS POST AWARD, WHICH IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS JUST BASICALLY THE PROCESSES THAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH. OKAY. THE PROCESS LEADING UP TO THE AWARD. UM, I, I'LL ACTUALLY ASK ALVIN TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE'LL BE WORKING WITH THE CONTRACTORS AFTER AWARD AND THE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES THAT WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON, UM, PRIMARILY IN THE, THE PRE-CONSTRUCTION PHASES OF WORK. THANK YOU, LINDSEY. SO, GOOD AFTERNOON, BOARD CHAIR, MEMBER OF THE BOARD. MY NAME IS ALVIN [00:25:01] LIVINGSTONE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING OR DESIGNING CONSTRUCTION WITH A TP. WELL, A COUPLE OF THINGS, UM, HAVE OCCURRED. UH, PHASE ONE IS ACTUALLY BROKEN UP INTO TWO COMPONENTS. UM, UH, AND THAT'S ALL PRE-CONSTRUCTION. SO ONE A, WE ACTUALLY STARTED BY DEVELOPING A SCOPE OF WORK AND TO TIE INTO WHAT, UM, BOARD MEMBER HORN HAD MENTIONED ABOUT, UM, IN TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE GOT OUT OF THE ENGAGEMENT, UM, IS WHEN WE PUT THE SCOPE OUT THERE, IS THAT THE CONTRACTOR SAYS, HEY, LISTEN, YOU, YOU'RE PRETTY AGGRESSIVE WITH THE THINGS YOU'RE ASKING FOR, AND WE'RE GONNA NEED SOME TIME TO KIND OF GET A HEAD START. SO WE CREATE OUR OWN HEAD, HEAD START PROGRAM, AND THAT'S WHERE THE MOBILIZATION CAME IN. SO THE MOBILIZATION PORTION ACTUALLY INVOLVES THEM GETTING ON BOARD, US ACTUALLY WALKING THEM THROUGH THE DESIGN, GETTING THEM UP TO SPEED WITH EVERYTHING THEY'RE GONNA BRING ON THEIR KEY PERSONNELS. UM, AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO PLAN THE REST OF THE WORK. THIS ALSO ALLOWS THEM TO, TO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHO WE ARE AND UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR DIFFERENT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ARE, AND KNOW WHO TO GO TO TO SERVE FOR CERTAIN ELEMENTS, AND WE CAN PLAN THE REMAINDER OF THE PROGRAM. SO THAT PHASE IS GONNA BE PRETTY, PRETTY IMPORTANT GOING INTO IT. AND THEN THERE'S AN ELEMENT OF IT WHERE WE ARE GONNA GET INTO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. SO THEY'RE GONNA GET THE, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE, AGAIN, IN ITS ENTIRETY. UM, THEY'RE GONNA TRY TO MAKE SURE THEY VALIDATE THE DESIGN, MAKE SURE THE DESIGN IS ACTUALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, PRETTY EFFICIENT IN TERMS OF WHAT WE RECOMMENDED. UM, AND ALSO IN TERMS OF CONSTRUCTION REVIEW, UM, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE FOR THEM TO START, UH, WORKING THROUGH THE, THE DESIGN PHASING, THE CONSTRUCTION PHASING AS WELL, AND WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE TO DO THAT. AND THEN WE'RE GONNA GET INTO INNOVATIONS AND VALUE ENGINEERING. AND ONE OF THE THINGS WITH THAT IS THAT WE'RE NOT JUST GONNA BE LOOKING AT THE PEBBLES PER SE, WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT MORE OF THE BOLDEST THINGS, THINGS THAT ACTUALLY MOVE THE NEEDLE. SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO THAT. AND AS PART OF THEIR RFP PROPOSAL THAT THEY CAME IN WITH, UM, THEY WERE ASKED TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT KIND OF GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO WHAT THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF THE, THE BRIDGE AND WHAT THAT CAN LOOK LIKE AND HOW WE CAN INNOVATE THERE. AND SOME OF THE STATIONS, THEY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO PICK A STATION OF THEIR CHOICE. SO WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT. SO WE EXPECT LIKE MORE OF THOSE TYPES OF INNOVATIONS THAT COME OUT OF THAT AND KIND OF UNPEEL AND UNPACK THOSE A LITTLE BIT MORE. THE OTHER THING WE WANNA DO AS WELL IS LET'S, LET'S LOOK AT THE CONSTRUCTION. LET'S LOOK AT OUR ASSUMPTIONS. LET'S UNDERSTAND THAT, LET'S MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTAND AND THAT THINGS ARE ALIGNED BETWEEN WHAT THEY, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY SEE AND WHAT WE SEE IN THE PROGRAM SO THAT THE COST AND EVERYTHING ALIGNS. BUT AT THE CULMINATION OF THAT, WE'RE GONNA GET A, A DESIGN, WHAT WE CALL DESIGN MILESTONE ONE. AT ONE POINT WE USED TO REFER TO THAT AS A 40% DESIGN, BUT IT'S KIND OF HARD TO PUT A NUMBER ON ON THAT BEING A 40% DESIGN. WE REALLY DON'T KNOW. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT WE'VE DONE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WORK LEADING UP TO THIS POINT, AND WE JUST NEED TO HAVE A BALANCE BETWEEN WHAT SOME THINGS COULD BE ADVANCED OF 40%. THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT ARE GONNA NEED MORE EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT BEFORE, BEFORE WE GET THERE, UM, THERE'S A, DID YOU WANT TO ADD SOMETHING? YEAH. AND MAYBE JUST TO NOTE, THE OBJECTIVE OF THAT DESIGN, AND REALLY THIS ENTIRE PHASE IS TO LEVERAGE THE STRENGTHS AND TALENTS THAT OUR CONTRACTORS CAN BRING ON EARLY IN THE PROCESS TO ALIGN US ON SCOPE, SCHEDULE AND BUDGET ASSOCIATED WITH THAT DESIGN. SO BY ALLOWING THEM TO ADVANCE, UH, OUR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PLANS AND PUT THEIR OWN FINGERPRINT ON IT, UM, HAVING A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP THAT THOSE THINGS ARE ALIGNED BETWEEN OUR SCOPE, SCHEDULE AND BUDGET. AND ULTIMATELY GIVING US THE CONFIDENCE AS WE MOVE THROUGH OUR FEDERAL FUNDING PROCESS, UM, TO SHOW THAT WE ARE BEING, UM, MINDFUL AND THOUGHTFUL ABOUT HOW WE ADVANCE THIS PROJECT IN ORDER TO OPTIMIZE OUR FEDERAL FUNDING PARTNERSHIPS. RIGHT? AND, AND PART OF THAT NOW GOES INTO THE, TO MANAGEMENT PLANS, RIGHT? SO THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO DEVELOP SOME MANAGEMENT PLANS FOR US, SOME THAT'S GONNA FEED INTO THOSE REQUIREMENTS AS WELL. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO WORK THROUGH THE INTERFACE COORDINATION, UM, AND THE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION. AND ULTIMATELY AT THE END OF, AT THE END OF, UH, PHASE ONE A, IF YOU WILL, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THE CONTRACTOR TO DEVELOP THE SCOPE FOR WHAT ACTUALLY GOES INTO TO, TO THE NEXT PHASE. AND SOME OF THAT COULD INCLUDE LIKE SOME ADDITIONAL, UM, ADDITIONAL FIELD WORK. SO IF WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH GEOTECH DATA, THE CONTRACTOR'S GONNA COME IN AND SAY, HEY, LISTEN, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH GEOTECH IN THIS AREA. LET'S TRY TO MINIMIZE THE RISK AND GET SOME MORE THERE. WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT RELATE TO, UM, SUBSURFACE UTILITY ENGINEERING OR POTHOLING, IF YOU WILL, TO IDENTIFY WHERE UTILITIES ARE IN PLACE SURVEYING. THEY'RE GONNA PROBABLY COME BACK AND SAY, WE NEED SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN THESE AREAS SO WE CAN ACTUALLY COMPLETE OUR DESIGN SO WE CAN REDUCE THE RISK AGAIN. SO THOSE ARE THINGS WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT. AND THEN ON THE OTHER ELEMENT OF IT IS THAT THERE'S GONNA BE SOME EARLY WORKS IDENTIFICATION DURING PHASE ONE A. THEY'RE GONNA SAY, OKAY, WELL THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WE COULD DO, UM, THAT CAN ALLOW US TO START WORK EARLIER. UM, SOME THINGS THAT MAY BE ON THE TABLE IS LIKE FOURTH STREET AS AN EXAMPLE, UM, MAYBE LA VACA, SO, AND SOME ADDITIONAL UTILITY RELOCATION. SO THOSE THINGS ARE, ARE THE TYPE OF THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT. UM, SO AS WE DEVELOP THE SCOPE FOR FOR ONE B, AND THEN THE INTENT IS ONCE THEY GET INTO ONE B, THAT'S WHEN THINGS REALLY START HAPPENING. UM, THEY [00:30:01] START GETTING INTO WORK SITE INVESTIGATION, UM, EARLY WORKS, THAT'S WHERE SOME OF THOSE THINGS, SO THE UTILITIES AS AN EXAMPLE, WE MAY HAVE TO ADVANCE SOME OF THE UTILITIES BEYOND A A 60% OR 90% LEVEL. SO THEY MAY GO AT A FASTER PACE TO ALLOW FOR THAT CONSTRUCTION TO START A LITTLE BIT EARLY, WHERE WE WOULD THEN IN EFFECT, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH, WORK WITH OUR, UM, WITH OUR FINANCE TEAM TO KIND OF MAKE SURE WE, WE, WE HAVE ENOUGH, UM, WE, WE TRACK THE, THE, YOU KNOW, I'M TRYING TO SAY IT RIGHT, CASH, THE CASH FLOW, YEAH, TRACK THE CASH FLOW TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET THE WORK DONE IN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME AS WELL. AND ALTHOUGH THIS DIAGRAM SHOWS THESE ALL AS DISCREET SEPARATE PHASES, THE REALITY IS THEY'RE ALL A BIT GRADE WITH EACH OTHER, PARTICULARLY PHASE ONE B AND PHASE TWO, BECAUSE AS WE HAVE, UM, SOME OF THOSE EARLY WORKS OPPORTUNITIES COME ON BOARD, YOU'LL HAVE DESIGN IN ONE AREA PROGRESSING AT THE SAME TIME THAT CONSTRUCTION IN ANOTHER MAY BE OCCURRING. UM, SO THERE'S NOT A HARD LINE AS YOU HAVE IN SAY, A DESIGN BID BUILD WORLD, UH, WHEN REALLY THESE PHASES ARE, ARE GOING TO BEGIN TO OVERLAP WITH EACH OTHER. UH, AND, AND OPPORTUNITY WITH THIS APPROACH ALLOWS US, UH, REALLY THROUGH ALL PHASES OF WORK, BUT ESPECIALLY DURING THAT PHASE ONE, A TIME PERIOD OF THOSE FIRST NINE MONTHS OR SO OF BRINGING OUR, OUR CONTRACTORS ON BOARD TO ALIGN THE INTERFACES ACROSS THE THREE CONTRACTS. WE WILL BE MANAGING THIS WORK WITH THEM, VERY CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER, AND OF COURSE WITH US, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE LIGHT RAIL, THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY, AND THE LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES ALL HAVE A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF JOINT SCHEDULE MILESTONES OF INPUTS THAT THEY NEED FROM EACH OTHER AND VICE VERSA, THINGS THAT THEY DO THAT WILL AFFECT SOMEONE ELSE. AND THAT WE ARE CLOSELY COORDINATING THAT, UH, THROUGH OUR INTERFACE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM DURING THIS PERIOD. WE GO NEXT, NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. SO HOW ARE WE GETTING READY TO DELIVER ALL THIS? I WANNA ASK SOME ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM TO COME UP AND JOIN US. UH, WE'VE BROKEN DOWN READINESS INTO THREE TOPICS OF DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. UH, FOR THIS FIRST DESIGN TOPIC, IF, UH, SEE KEITH, OUR, OUR FRIENDS AT THE CITY ARE GOING TO HELP, UM, US WITH THE PERMITTING PROCESS AND SHARE SOME OF THE RECENT EXCITING, SUCCESSFUL ADVANCEMENTS IN THAT AREA. AND ALSO LISA AND GEORGE, IF, IF Y'ALL CAN JOIN US UP HERE. UM, AND I'LL MENTION, SO ALVIN IS OUR LEAD FOR THE LIGHT BRAIL PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD CONTRACT, AND WILL BE HELPING US DIRECT THAT WORK. UH, HIS COUNTERPART ON THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY SIDE, JOHN ROHN, UM, WASN'T AVAILABLE TO JOIN US TODAY, UH, BUT WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLY STRONG TEAM, NOT ONLY, UH, WITH ALVIN AND JOHN, BUT THE MANY THAT WILL SUPPORT THEM ACROSS A NUMBER OF AREAS OF EXPERTISE FROM DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, UNDERSTANDING OF OUR CITY PROCESSES, AND ARE REALLY EXCITED TO INTRODUCE SOME, UM, NEW FACES TO YOU ALL TODAY AND TALK THROUGH SOME OF THESE EXCITING ACTIVITIES. UH, SO BEFORE WE JUMP INTO, I THINK LISA'S GONNA START WITH PUBLIC ART. UH, THESE TWO THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED ABOVE ARE THOSE THAT WE'RE GONNA DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER ON. UH, BUT I DON'T WANNA SWEEP OVER ALL OF THE ONES THAT ARE IN GRAY BELOW. THERE IS A LOT OF WORK GOING ON IN ORDER TO BE READY TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING AS OUR CONTRACTORS JOIN US HERE, JUST RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND A FEW OF THOSE AREAS. AND, AND PLEASE JUMP IN ALL, UM, TO GO THROUGH THESE. BUT I WANNA HIGHLIGHT ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THE PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD MODEL IS THAT WE, AS, AS THE OWNER AND, UM, THE AGENCY IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE INCREDIBLY CLOSELY INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN PROCESS. YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, UM, THERE, THERE'S GREAT THINGS ABOUT P THREE MODELS, DON'T GET ME WRONG, BUT YOU HAVE A, A LOT LESS INVOLVEMENT. YOU KIND OF SAY, HERE'S A, A PRICE, GO DELIVER TO THAT PRICE, AND YOU KIND OF HAVE TO LIVE WITH WHAT YOU GET BACK. UH, IN THIS CASE, LIGHT RAIL IS NEW TO AUSTIN, AND WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEFINE WHAT IT WILL BE IN SUCH A WAY THAT, UH, MEETS OUR COMMUNITY'S NEEDS, UH, BOTH FOR THE RIDER AND REALLY TO CREATE A, A SENSE OF CIVIC PRIDE FOR ALL. AUSTINITES TO BE PROUD OF THIS AS WE ARE A GLOBAL CITY, AND SOME OF THE WAYS WE'RE DOING THAT IS TO ESTABLISH CLEAR REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROJECT. AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT ARE THINGS LIKE DESIGN CRITERIA AS WELL AS OUR [00:35:01] SPECIFICATIONS, UM, AND GUIDELINES THAT HELP US TO CREATE A SHARED VISION WITH OUR CONTRACTING PARTNERS AS TO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE HERE. UH, I'M INCREDIBLY EXCITED TO SEE THROUGH THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS THAT THAT VISION IS BEING REFLECTED BACK TO US. LIKE WE'RE SEEING THAT THIS INTENTIONAL COMMUNICATION, UH, IS BEING RECEIVED AND, AND UNDERSTOOD. UH, WE'RE ALSO GETTING READY FOR HOW WE WILL DESIGN WITH OUR CONTRACTING PARTNERS AND THINKING ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF, UM, KIND OF THE FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION AND THE WORKING GROUPS THAT WILL BE SET UP SO THAT WE HAVE ALL OF THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVES AT THE TABLE. UM, NOT JUST A TP BUT OUR PARTNERS IN MANY CASES, STAKEHOLDERS, UH, THE, THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES BEYOND JUST THE TRADITIONAL DESIGN LENS, BUT THINKING ABOUT COMMERCIAL ASPECTS, REAL ESTATE, UH, AND MANY MORE. AND, UM, EXCITED TO REALLY ENGAGE A, A LARGE TEAM IN THAT PROCESS. AND I, I MIGHT, UM, PICK ONE MORE THAT, UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE HAD MANY, UM, ADJACENT DEVELOPMENTS REACH OUT TO US TO RECOGNIZE THE OPPORTUNITY THAT LIGHT RAIL BRINGS TO AUSTIN IN, UM, SUPPORTING OUR GROWTH AND, AND CATALYZING THAT GROWTH. AND IN DOING SO, WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THAT'S A SPECIAL AUDIENCE WELL, THAT WE NEED TO INTEGRATE INTO THAT FABRIC OF WHAT'S BEING BUILT, UH, ALONGSIDE OUR ALIGNMENT AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT THOSE THINGS ARE FITTING TOGETHER IN A, A COHESIVE WAY. SO, JUST A FEW TO HIGHLIGHT HERE, BUT I'LL, I'LL PAUSE A MOMENT AND SEE IF OUR TEAM WANTS TO HIGHLIGHT ANY OTHERS. YES, A COUPLE OF THINGS, UM, SINCE I'M TALKING, WOULD IT, WOULD IT BE, UM, WOULD YOU ALL BE ABLE TO INTRODUCE JUST, UM, EACH OF YOU BEFORE? YES. UM, WAS GOING TO HAVE THEM INTRODUCE WHEN THEY PRESENT EACH TOPIC. PERFECT. BUT HAPPY TO DO THAT. NO, NO, THAT'S GREAT. THAT'S GREAT. AND I JUST WAS WONDERING, YOU KNOW, IN SOME OF THESE I SEE LIKE THE DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS, LIKE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF AN UMBRELLA OVER SOME OF THE OTHERS. AND, UM, COULD YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT AND ATP'S ROLE VERSUS THE ROLE OF, UM, THE CONTRACTORS? OKAY, SO THE DESIGN REVIEW PROCESS, IN FACT, SOME OF IT, SOME OF THAT THAT HAS ALREADY STARTED FOR US INITIALLY. SO WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY STARTING WITH IS COMMENTS THAT WE HAVE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN UNRESOLVED IN THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PLANS THAT WE HAVE. SO THE CONTRACT IS GONNA GET THAT ON DAY ONE INITIALLY. SO ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY'RE GONNA BE TASKED WITH IS LIKE HELPING US RESOLVE THOSE COMMENTS. THEY'RE GONNA LOOK AT IT, BUCKET IT AND SAY, HEY, LISTEN GUYS, WE CAN ACTUALLY ADDRESS THIS IN DESIGN MILESTONE ONE, AND THERE MIGHT BE SOME THAT THEY CAN'T ADDRESS RIGHT THERE, AND THEY MAY HAVE TO DO ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS, SO THEY'RE GONNA, THEY'RE GONNA FLAG THAT AS WELL. AND THEN THERE'S GONNA BE SOME THAT HAVE TO BE DONE A LITTLE BIT LATER ON. BUT EITHER WAY TO STEP, EITHER STEP IT AWAY, THEY'RE GONNA ACTUALLY TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT IT'S ADDRESSED ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. AND THEN ONCE WE GET THE DESIGN MILESTONE ONE, WE GO THROUGH A PROCESS AGAIN WHERE WE MAKE THE SUBMITTAL, THE, OUR PARTNER AGENCIES, UM, GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT, PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, AGAIN, UM, THERE'S GONNA BE A, A REVIEW PERIOD THAT THEY'LL BE UNDERTAKEN. UM, THEN WE'LL GATHER THE COMMENTS, THE CONTRACT WILL BE PART OF THAT. THEY'LL EVEN DO THE WALKTHROUGH ON THAT AS WELL. AND, AND THEN WE'LL GO THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS AGAIN, LET'S GET THROUGH THE COMMENTS, SEE WHERE IT IS, RESOLVE THE COMMENTS THAT WE FEEL THAT NEED SOME ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATIONS. AND THEN THE INTENT IS TO ADDRESS THAT AT THE NEXT SUBMITTAL UNTIL, AND WE, WE RINSE AND REPEAT AT LEAST THROUGH THE 60% PHASE. AND WHEN YOU GET TO 90% PHASE, UM, WE SHOULD BE DOWN TO MINUSCULE COMMENTS, IF ANYTHING, MINOR COMMENTS AT THAT POINT, BECAUSE AT THAT POINT WE'RE HOPING TO GET TO, TO NEGOTIATE A GMP. AND AT THAT POINT, WE'LL, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T WANT TO BE MAKING CHANGES BEYOND THAT. AND CAN I ASK A FOLLOW UP QUESTION ON THAT? IS IT, WAS THERE ANYTHING, UM, IN THE MITIGATION, UM, THAT YOU SPOKE ABOUT, UM, IN THE NEPA PROCESS THAT REALLY SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED ANY OF THE DESIGN ASSUMPTIONS? OR IS THAT TOO MUCH TO GO INTO? YOU MEAN FEEDBACK FROM THE NPA PROCESS THAT INFORMED CHANGES TO THE DESIGN? YEAH. WAS THERE, YEAH, WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT WAS AGREED TO, UM, IN TERMS OF MITIGATION, UM, THAT SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED? I MEAN, THAT MIGHT BE A DIFFERENT TOPIC OR A DIFFERENT, AND MAYBE IT'S TOO MUCH OF A DEEPER DIVE, MAYBE WANT MITIGATION, BUT I WOULD SAY THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THE NEPA, UM, PUBLIC REVIEW AND EVEN JUST CONTINUOUS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT ABSOLUTELY CHANGED OUR DESIGN. JUST LIKE THE FINAL, UM, THE FINAL, UM, WHAT IS UPCOMING TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE FEIS, WAS THERE ANYTHING NEW THAT SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED? [00:40:01] WHAT WILL GO INTO THE DESIGN? DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THE MITIGATION MONITORING PLAN MAYBE AND HOW WE'LL CARRY THAT FORWARD? SURE. UM, LIKE A STATION STATION OR LIKE A STATION? YEAH, I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. CAN YOU, LIKE IF YOU WERE ADDING A STATION OR MAKING SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO, UM, I DON'T KNOW. OKAY. YEAH. YOU KNOW, I GUESS I WOULD SAY MAYBE NOT MAJOR CHANGES IN THE WAY YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE WHEN WE WENT OUT TO SCOPING, WE HAD A SET OF DESIGN OPTIONS, UM, THAT WE PRESENTED AND THAT WE STUDIED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE NEPA PROCESS. AND SO, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE FINAL EIS, YOU KNOW, WE ARE ADDING A STATION AT WOOLDRIDGE SQUARE, FOR EXAMPLE, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN TRACKING THROUGH OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. UM, YOU KNOW, AND SO, SO THERE ARE, THERE ARE A FEW THINGS LIKE THAT. THE MITIGATION, UM, PLAN ITSELF, UM, INCLUDES A NUMBER OF THINGS ABOUT HOW WE'LL MANAGE, YOU KNOW, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES, UM, AND MONITOR, UM, THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPACTS THROUGHOUT CONSTRUCTION, UM, PLANNING AHEAD, YOU KNOW, LIKE WHAT DO WE DO IF, UH, WE HAVE SOME UNDISCOVERED, YOU KNOW, ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCE FOR EXAMPLE. UM, AND SO IT'S, UM, THE MITIGATION MEASURES THEMSELVES ARE NOT SPECIFIC CHANGES SO MUCH AS BEING READY, YOU KNOW, TO, UM, PLAN AHEAD TO AVOID CERTAIN IMPACTS THAT WE MIGHT FORESEE, UM, OR HAVE A GAME PLAN IF THERE'S SOMETHING UNEXPECTED THAT COMES UP. DOES THAT ANSWER THE QUESTION? YEAH. THAT, THAT DOES. I MEAN, ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT HAS BEEN HANDLED EARLIER IN THE PROCESS? I THINK SO I THINK THERE WAS SOME END OF LINE AS WELL. WE SOME FROM OF THE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON, ON, YEAH. AND RIDES 30 STREET PARK AND RIDES, YES. FEEDBACK ACTUALLY DID THAT DID, UM, HELP US ADVANCE DESIGN. I THINK THAT, I THINK THE WAY, I THINK IT'S BEING FRAMED AS THERE'S NEPA PROCESS, BUT THAT ONGOING DESIGN, THEY WE'RE USING THAT WORK, RIGHT? NOT JUST TO SAY, HEY, IT'S PART OF THE NEPA DOCUMENT, BUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD TO HAND OVER TO THE PDB TRYING TO RESOLVE AS MUCH AS WE CAN. SO MAYBE A COUPLE MORE EXAMPLES ON THAT. SURE. UH, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS REALLY THOUGHTFUL COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AROUND SEVERAL AREAS THAT ARE CONSTRAINED ALONG THE CORRIDOR, AND WE'RE TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, MEET MULTIPLE NEEDS THAT HELPED INFORM, UM, SOME DESIGN SOLUTIONS, UH, LIKE TRINITY COMES TO MIND. UM, SO THE CUL-DE-SAC, YOU KNOW, SOUTH OF WHERE THE CONVENTION CENTER IS JUST ON THE NORTH SHORE OF LADY BIRD LAKE, WE HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, A MAJOR HOTEL AND RESIDENCES ON ONE SIDE, AND WE HAVE APARTMENTS WITH A VERY, UM, VULNERABLE COMMUNITY THAT, THAT NEEDS A LOT OF EMERGENCY ACCESS NEEDS WHILE WE'RE APPROACHING THE NEW BRIDGE OVER, UH, LADY BIRD LAKE, UH, WHERE A LOT OF BICYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS CONVERGE TO, UH, ACCESS THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL. UM, AND THE LIGHT RAIL COMING RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF ALL OF THAT WAS, UH, A GREAT EXAMPLE WHERE WE HAVE BEEN HAVING COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS FOR MONTHS, UH, TO HEAR EACH OF THOSE DIFFERENT NEEDS AND WHAT WAS IMPORTANT TO THEM TO PROTECT IN THE DESIGN. AND IT DID CHANGE THE DESIGN. UM, WE SHIFTED THE ENTIRE LIGHT RAIL ALIGNMENT, UM, FROM ONE SIDE OF THE STREET TO THE OTHER. WE ADDED SOME SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS AND SIGNALIZATION TO ALLOW SAFE, UM, INGRESS AND EGRESS ACCESS TO THE VARIOUS PROPERTIES. AND WE'VE MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS TO ALLOW PROVISIONING FOR THAT BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ACCESS TO THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL. UH, AND THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE. I WOULD SAY THERE'S MANY OF THOSE ALONG THE ALIGNMENT WHERE WHAT WE HEAR FROM COMMUNITY IS HELPING TO MAKE OUR DESIGN BETTER AND BETTER SERVE THE NEEDS OF, OF NOT ONLY, AGAIN, THE WRITERS AND, AND THE PEOPLE USING IT, BUT, UM, THOSE THAT HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE LIVING WITH IT AND, AND ARE OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE SYSTEM AS WELL. NO, THAT, THAT'S GREAT AND SHOULD BE CELEBRATED, BUT THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION. SO, OKAY. I THINK THAT BRINGS US, UM, WE'LL DIVE INTO PUBLIC ART FIRST. SO I WANNA INTRODUCE LISA STOR, OUR VICE PRESIDENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, UM, TO TALK TO US. WE HAVEN'T REALLY TALKED ABOUT PUBLIC ART IN THIS PROCESS BEFORE, SO I WANT TO INTRODUCE, UM, A CRITICAL AND I THINK IMPACTFUL ELEMENT OF THE PROGRAM. THANK YOU. THANK YOU ALL FOR HAVING ME. UM, OKAY, THANKS. UH, I'M EXCITED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PUBLIC ART PROGRAM AND THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE THROUGH THIS COMPONENT TO CELEBRATE AND INTEGRATE AUSTIN'S DNA INTO OUR TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECT. UM, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THESE QUOTES AND STATS, ART IN THE PUBLIC REALM CAN BE SUPER POWERFUL. IT [00:45:01] CAN BE A CONNECTOR, AN IDENTIFIER, AND A MEANS OF COMMUNITY REPRESENTATION THAT ENHANCES USER EXPERIENCE EVEN MORE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WORLD CLASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS. UM, THEY ALL HAVE REALLY ROBUST PUBLIC ART PROGRAMS, AND WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO IMPLEMENTING BOTH PERMANENTLY INTEGRATED AND TEMPORARY ARTWORK, UH, THROUGHOUT AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL. NEXT SLIDE. THANKS. ON THE READINESS FRONT, UH, WE'RE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS IN MOVING FROM RESEARCH AND PLANNING. I THINK THAT'S A COMMON THEME, MOVING FROM RESEARCH AND PLANNING TO IMPLEMENTATION. UH, THIS YEAR WE GREW OUR RANKS ON THE PUBLIC ARTS SIDE BY, UH, INCLUDING EISENHART STUDIO AS PART OF OUR, UM, DELIVERY PARTNER TEAM. MANY OF Y'ALL LOCALLY PROBABLY KNOW AND LOVE EMILY AND CHRISTIANE, WHO ARE HERE IN THE ROOM WITH US TODAY AND AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS AFTER, UM, THEY WERE BROUGHT ON WITH AN INITIAL BRIEF TO HELP US DO SOME LOCAL ART RESEARCH AND HELP FLESH OUT AND GROUND, UM, THE SORT OF BENCHMARKING THAT WE DO GLOBALLY FOR OTHER SYSTEMS HERE IN AUSTIN AND REALLY MAKE IT, UH, MAKE IT LOCAL. THEIR INITIAL SORT OF ASSIGNMENT WAS TO EXPLORE LOCAL PERSPECTIVES, GATHERING BEST PRACTICES FOR SUCCESS, SORRY, AND IDENTIFY KEY NEEDS TOWARD DEVELOPING A REALLY POWERFUL PUBLIC ART PROGRAM. UM, AND THERE ARE KEY FINDINGS THAT I THINK ARE IMPORTANT TO JUST TOUCH ON QUICKLY WHERE NOT NONE OF THIS IS SURPRISING, BUT IT WILL SHAPE SORT OF HOW WE MOVE FORWARD TOWARD IMPLEMENTATION. KEY FINDINGS ARE BUILDING A STRONG ARTIST COHORT. SO THROUGH SELECTING, SUPPORTING, AND MENTORING ARTISTS, FOSTERING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND CONNECTION, UM, ENGAGING AND CONNECTING WITH PARTNERS, ORGANIZATIONS, WRITERS AND RESIDENTS, AND SUPPORTING PROGRAM STRUCTURE AND LONGEVITY THROUGH GOVERNANCE, BUDGETING, AND STEWARDSHIP FOR THE LONG TERM. SO, AGAIN, NO SURPRISES, BUT ON THE SORT OF ACTION ITEMS THAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARD ON DEVELOPING THAT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, I AM, UH, HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE HAVE POSTED AND THEN HAD TO TAKE DOWN THE ART PROGRAM MANAGER POSITION BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN A HUGELY ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE FOR THAT, FOR THAT POSITION. UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO INTERVIEWS COMING UP HERE SHORTLY AND BRINGING THAT PERSON ON BOARD AS OUR NEW ART PROGRAM MANAGER IN-HOUSE. UH, WE'LL CONTINUE WORKING ON AN ART SELECTION PROCESS AND BUDGETING, UH, WORKING ON AN INTERNAL FRAMEWORK AND WORKING GROUP TO HELP ESTABLISH THAT SORT OF CROSS DEPART DEPARTMENTALLY AND THEN ALSO AN OUTWARD FACING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON, ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. SO LOTS MORE TO COME UP, UH, NEXT YEAR, AND EXCITED TO CONTINUE TO REPORT ON THIS ONE FOR YOU ALL. THANKS. I HAVE NOT QUESTION. WELL, I, I DO, I HAVE QUESTIONS AND, AND, UM, CURIOSITIES. UM, SO I'M SUPER EXCITED TO FINALLY GET TO THIS POINT TO BE TALKING MORE ABOUT HOW WE'RE DOING THIS PIECE, ELEMENTS THAT I DO KNOW MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN NOT ONLY HOW WE PROCURE THE ART, BUT HOW WE'RE GONNA MAINTAIN IT OVER ITS LIFE. I THINK THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF OUR PROGRAMS FIND THEIR HEEL. UM, AND IF ELEMENTS OF HOW WE INTEGRATE THE ART INTO THE ARCHITECTURE, INTO THE SITE, INTO THE URBAN DESIGN MATTER DEEPLY IN, IN TERMS NOT ONLY IN THE MAINTAINABILITY, BUT THE SENSE OF OWNERSHIP AND, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE BLUR THAT LINE OF, IS IT PART OF THE ARCHITECTURE? IS IT PART OF THE URBAN FABRIC? IS IT PART OF OUR STORY? UM, I AGREE A LOT OF GOOD TRANSIT PROGRAMS, THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT, RIGHT? SO IT'S VERY INTENTIONAL, IT'S FUNDED WELL. IT'S VERY MUCH AN ATTRACTION OF HOW PEOPLE GET INVITED TO RIDE THE TRAIN AND FEEL A SENSE OF SAFETY. SO I KNOW I'M PREACHING PROBABLY A LOT TO, TO THE CHOIR HERE, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE AS, AS A BOARD HAVE BEEN TO DAY ONE PASSIONATELY ADVOCATING FOR THIS ELEMENT. SO THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT, UM, GIVE IT THE SERIOUSNESS THAT IT DESERVES. AND I FIND IT HILARIOUS THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE A SLIDE WHERE YOU WOULD SEE PERMITTING AND PUBLIC ART, LIKE, KIND OF LIKE THE BOOK ENDS OF THAT. LIKE THOSE TWO CON YOUR WORK IS RELEVANT. I MEAN, IT, IT CAN BE LIKE THE TWO MOST POLAR OPPOSITE PIECES, RIGHT? BUT IT'S VERY, VERY RELEVANT IN HOW WE INTEGRATE THE ART TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT FORGOTTEN. BECAUSE IT IS WHERE A LOT OF THE, THE DISCUSSIONS HAPPEN OR HOW WE PROCURE ARTISTS TO COME EARLY AND BE PART OF HOW WE INTEGRATE THE ART INTO [00:50:01] THE ARCHITECTURE AND THE THE STATIONS, IS THAT IT DOES HAVE TO BE PERMITTED IN MANY WAYS, RIGHT? AND, AND SO IT'S, IT'S SO CREATIVE AND I THINK WE NEED TO REALLY EMBRACE THIS PIECE. SO THANK YOU, LISA, FOR SHEPHERDING THIS, THIS NEXT EVOLUTION. SO, AND I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE EMILY'S STUDIO ON THIS. SO BIG ADMIRER OF YOUR WORK, BIG FAN. AND SO THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON THIS, ON THIS JOURNEY, EMILY. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT. UH, SO SPEAKING OF PERMITTING, I WANT TO INTRODUCE, UM, OUR TEAM HERE FIRST STARTING WITH KEITH MARS, UH, WHO'S BEEN AN INCREDIBLE PARTNER AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS THE INTERIM DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, AND REALLY HELPING US TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT HOW DO WE BEST SERVE AUSTIN'S NEEDS AND KEEP US MOVING FORWARD EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY. UH, AND THEN ALSO WANNA INTRODUCE GEORGE ADAMS ON OUR TEAM WHO'S GOING TO BE HELPING TO, UM, SHEPHERD THE PERMITTING PROCESS AS WE MOVE ALONG. AND WANT TO START WITH WHY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PERMITTING HERE TODAY. UH, YOU MAY REMEMBER, OR OR, UM, HAVE HEARD ABOUT A REPORT THAT CAME OUT FROM THE ENO CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION, WHICH IS A, A NON-PARTISAN, NON-PROFIT INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER IN THE TRANSPORTATION REALM. UH, AND WHAT THEY PUBLISHED WAS REALLY IDENTIFYING KEY FINDINGS, PARTICULARLY AROUND KEY RISKS, UH, THAT ARE DRIVING THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF BIG CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. AND FIVE OF THOSE ARE LISTED HERE TODAY. AND, AND YOU SEE PERMITTING IS AT THE TOP OF THAT LIST. UH, IT IS A RISK FROM A COST, A SCHEDULE, A FEDERAL PROCESS STANDPOINT AND OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE FOR US TO BE PROACTIVE IN DEFINING OUR PERMITTING APPROACH FOR THIS PROJECT TO MANAGE THAT RISK. AND, UM, WITH THAT, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO KEITH TO TALK ABOUT HOW, UM, WE, AND PARTICULARLY THE CITY HAS BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT DIFFERENTLY, NOT JUST FOR LIGHT RAIL, BUT FOR ALL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CITY. THANK YOU LINDSAY. AFTERNOON, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, KEITH MARS. I'M THE INTERIM DIRECTOR AT AUSTIN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEVELOP WAIT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT. SO ACRONYMS CHANGE, BUT OUR WORK REMAINS THE SAME. YEAH, YES, I'VE, I'VE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT, UH, OUR CORE FUNCTIONS REMAIN THE SAME. SO, UH, LINDSEY TEED THIS UP SO WELL, SO I'M GONNA ZOOM BACK OUT AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHERE WE WERE WITH PERMITTING IN THE CITY, WHERE WE ARE NOW, AND THEN WHERE WE'RE GOING. UH, IT'S, YOU KNOW, NO SURPRISE TO THIS ROOM THAT, THAT DEVELOPMENT OF ANY KIND BE IT CAPITAL PROJECTS, MOM AND POP GROCERY STORE TO BIG DEVELOPMENT AUSTIN HAS A COMPLICATED HISTORY WITH DEVELOPMENT. AND I THINK WHAT HAS CHANGED AND BOTH CHANGED IN OUR COMMUNITY AND ALSO CHANGED IN THE CULTURE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD IN THE CITY, IS ONE WHERE, WHERE ONE, WE'RE, WE'RE ONE CITY ORGANIZATION WHEN IT COMES TO DEVELOPMENT. AUSTIN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IS, IS THE, UH, IS THE, THE, THE LEAD, THE TIP OF THE SPEAR. AND I GUESS YOU COULD THINK OF MY ROLE AS BEING, BEING THE CONDUCTOR OF THE ORCHESTRA, BUT IT TAKES ALL OF US AND IT TAKES A FULL CITY APPROACH TO HOW WE VIEW PERMITTING. AND THEN HOW DO WE GO FROM AN UNDERSTANDING THAT PERMITTING DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN? AND OUR, I I, I PREACH THIS CONSTANTLY TO, TO TEAMS WITHIN THE CITY, ANYONE I CAN ENGAGE WITH. AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS DEVELOPMENT IS NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS ON A PIECE OF PAPER DEVELOPMENT IS IF ANY OF US HAVE A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD THAT'S DEVELOPMENT. IF YOU GO TO HEB AND BUY YOUR GROCERIES, THAT'S DEVELOPMENT. IF YOU'RE YOUR TEETH CLEANED, WHICH WAS A TRUE STORY, HAVING TO TALK TO MY DENTIST ABOUT WHO HAD JUST BUILT A NEW PROJECT AND WENT THROUGH THE PERMITTING PROCESS AS I'M GETTING TEETH WORK DONE, , THAT WAS, THAT WAS THAT. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. BUT ALL THOSE THINGS, POINT BEING IS ALL THOSE THINGS ARE, ARE DEVELOPMENT. SO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. SO WHY THAT'S IMPORTANT TO ZOOM BACK OUT IS, IS AS LINDSAY MENTIONED, US RETHINKING WHAT ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE SOLVING FOR? AND NOT IN A PLACE WHERE THE PROCESS IS THE PRODUCT OR THAT THE PROCESS IS A, A TOOL TO DELIBERATELY OR, OR INTENTIONALLY TO SLOW SOMETHING DOWN. THIS IS A PROJECT THAT'S EMITS IMPORTANCE TO THE CITY AND IT'S UNLIKE ANYTHING WE'VE EVER DONE BEFORE. THE CLOSEST APPROXIMATION WE HAVE THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW IS THE AIRPORT EXPANSION, WHICH WE HAVE A LOT OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM THAT. SO WHERE WE WERE WITH PERMITTING IN PEAK, I WOULD SAY PEAK COVID WAS PEAK WORST. PERMITTING IN GENERAL, WE WERE TAKING [00:55:01] ABOUT A HUNDRED DAYS OF THE CITY. EVEN THE TURNAROUND COMMENTS FOR A SITE PLAN WHERE WE ARE NOW IS 25 ISH DAYS, I THINK 25 TO 28 DAYS. WE'VE CUT REVIEW TIMES, NEARLY 75%. WHERE WE ARE NOW IS STEADY, BUT WHAT, WHERE THE, THE NORMALIZATION HAS TO HAPPEN NOW IS THAT'S JUST WHAT, THAT'S GOOD. THAT'S GOOD BY AUSTIN STANDARDS. THAT'S REALLY GOOD FOR WHERE WE NEED TO BE. AND THAT'S A STABLE FOUNDATION TO TAKE THE NEXT STEPS. SO, AND, AND GEORGE'S GONNA TALK MORE ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF, OF OUR APPROACH TO, TO THIS PROJECT, BUT I CAN TELL YOU BIG PICTURE IS WE'RE LOOKING AT SOME OF THIS AND RETHINKING THE WORK IS NOT ACTUALLY GOING TO BE PERMITTING IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE. IT'S GONNA BE UTILITY COORDINATION AND LET'S LEVERAGE THAT. AND THAT'S A DESIGN REVIEW. HOW, HOW DO WE ALL COME TOGETHER? THAT'S PUBLIC BETTERMENTS, THAT'S PRIVATE RELOCATION. THAT'S, THAT'S PRIVATE BETTERMENTS THAT'S THINKING ABOUT HOW DO WE COORDINATE INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE WE CAN SEE BOTH TREMENDOUS TIME SAVING AND COST SAVINGS FROM THAT APPROACH. DON'T USE, DON'T USE PERMITTING AS THE INSTRUMENT TO GET AT COORDINATION, COORDINATION'S COORDINATION SO THAT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE THE ENTRY POINT. SO THERE MAY BE SOME OF THIS THAT IS VERY, VERY, VERY LIGHT ON THE PERMITTING, WHERE WE WOULD GO FROM YEARS OF PERMITTING TO NO PERMITTING. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE NOT BEING JUDICIOUS AND WE'RE NOT BEING CONSIDERED A PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, UH, LOCAL LAND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS. IT JUST MEANS THERE'S A DIFFERENT AVENUE OF GETTING AT THAT, THAT'S MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT. AND AT THE LONGEST END, WE'LL HAVE A PROCESS WHERE, UH, WE ARE NOW PILOTING, UH, A ESSENTIALLY ALL HANDS ON DECK SITE PLAN REVIEW THAT HAS BOTH CHANGED THE MODEL AND ALSO BROUGHT ALL TEAMS TOGETHER FROM ACROSS THE CITY AS ONE TEAM. AND THAT IS GOING TO BE A DESIGN REVIEW MODEL THAT WE ARE TARGETING A SIX MONTH TIME TO PERMIT FOR A SITE PLAN FOR REFERENCE. THE WORST OF TIMES IS ABOUT TWO YEARS. WHERE WE ARE NOW IS ABOUT 12 TO 14 MONTHS. SO EVEN TAKING WHAT IS REALLY GOOD BY AUSTIN STANDARDS AND CUTTING IN HALF ACTUALLY MAKES US FROM NOT JUST FOR THIS PROJECT, BUT OVERALL LOOKING AT PERMITTING AS AS A VALUE ADD, LOOKING AT IT AS A, THAT THAT IS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC RETENTION. THAT ALSO MEANS SIMPLIFYING PROCESS FOR SMALL BUSINESS. SO THAT PROCESS AND THE PRODUCT IS RIGHT SIZE RELATIVE TO WHAT'S WHAT'S BEING DONE. SO I'M GONNA RUN JUST QUICKLY RUN THROUGH SOME OF THESE BIGGER PICTURE THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON IN THE DEPARTMENT. 'CAUSE THIS IS A LITTLE BIT OF A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS APPROACH. SO WE ARE A COST OF SERVICE DEPARTMENT. UH, OUR, OUR REVENUE AND OUR EXPENSES NEED TO BALANCE OUT. AND PART OF THAT IS HAVING A KEEN EYE ON BEING A LEANER A, A LEANER AND MEANER ORGANIZATION AND, AND TALKING CANDIDLY ABOUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? AND THAT MEANS RIGHT SIZING OUR STAFFING. THAT MEANS RIGHT SIZING THE PROCESS AND REGULATING AND LEANING ON THAT WHERE WE'RE ACTUALLY, WHERE THERE'S A PUBLIC SAFETY OR PUBLIC BETTERMENT OR A, OR SOME TYPE OF HARM THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE FOR, OR A LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, JUST A COMMUNITY VALUE THAT WE'RE SOLVING FOR. AND MAKING SURE THAT PROCESS IS ALIGNED WITH THAT, BUT ALSO MEANS TAKING A HARD LOOK AT THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING THAT HAS PUSHING PAPER THAT MAYBE DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE REAL WORLD AND STOPPING SOME OF THAT IS JUST STOPPING DOING THAT WORK. AND REAPPLYING IT TO, TO US. WE, WE HAVE, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF RIGHT SIZING OUR, OUR DEPARTMENT. AND WE'VE MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, TO BE CLEAR, NO, NO, NO. REDUCTION IN, IN, IN OUR, IN OUR STAFFING, BUT CERTAINLY IN VACANCIES THAT MAYBE AREN'T IN, IN THE RIGHT PLACE, THAT WE MAY HAVE THE RIGHT SIZE OF THE ORGANIZATION. I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED SOME OF THE PROCESS, THE STREAMLINING OF PROCESS AND THE REGULATORY COMPLEXITY. SOME OF THE INTERESTING THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT WITH EXPANDED USE OF, OF TECHNOLOGY IS IT, IT WON'T AFFECT THIS PROJECT JUST YET, BUT WE ARE, UH, PILOTING, UH, UH, THIS AI SOFTWARE ON RESIDENTIAL SCALE PLAN REVIEW. AND THE SIMPLE LOGIC IS, AND THIS OVERSIMPLIFIES, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF CONVERSATION, IS IF IT CAN BE MEASURED, IT CAN BE TAUGHT. SO RIGHT NOW, A LOT OF THAT WORK IS BEING DONE MANUALLY. WE HAVE WELL QUALIFIED ENGINEERS AND PLANNERS AND ARCHITECTS THAT ARE, THAT ARE MEASURING STUFF ON THE SCREEN. AND THAT IS NOT THE BEST USE OF THAT INCREDIBLE TALENT THAT WE HAVE. SO THIS IS NOT TO, TO REDUCE OUR STAFFING. THIS IS TO USE OUR STAFFING MORE EFFICIENTLY AND ALLOW THAT SOFTWARE TO, TO REALLY BE THE, THE, THE BOLT ON. THINK IT AS A ALMOST LIKE A TSA PRE-CHECK THAT YOU WOULD GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, UH, ON A RESIDENTIAL [01:00:01] DEVELOPMENT, SUBMIT YOUR PLANS TO US. WE WOULD RUN IT THROUGH THIS FILTER, THROUGH THIS SCREENING SOFTWARE, AND THEN IT WOULD COME BACK WITH KIND OF HIGH LEVEL, YES, SETBACKS ARE MET, HEIGHT IS MET, AND THEN, THEN THE ACTUAL HARD STUFF IS, AND THE NUANCED STUFF IS ACTUALLY REVIEWED BY OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF. AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT'S CUTTING SOME REVIEW TIMES DOWN UPWARDS OF, OF 50%. SO REALLY LEVERAGING THAT AND THEN BUILDING ON THAT AND THINKING ABOUT THAT BASE LOGIC, AND THEN WHERE CAN THAT BE APPLIED ELSEWHERE. THANKS, KEITH. I, I JUST, I, I JUST WANTED TO ASK A QUESTION OR JUST CONFIRM, UM, THAT YOUR ASSUMPTIONS THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH A TP, UM, HAVE CONSERVATIVELY PUT THE PERMITTING PROCESS WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE IN TERMS OF THE OVERALL PROJECT SCHEDULE. IT ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. AND, AND IT'S, I APPRECIATE THAT QUESTION. 'CAUSE I'LL, I'LL FINISH WITH, IN INVESTING IN, IN, IN PARTNERSHIPS. AND THAT IS A CULTURAL ELEMENT FOR US TO BOTH GO BEYOND JUST STATING THAT OUT LOUD, BUT ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATING ACTIONS THAT SHOW THAT. AND IT'S INVESTING IN A CULTURE OF, OF HERE TO SERVE THE, THE COMMUNITY AND ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY. AND THEN REALLY LOOKING AT THIS THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP APPROACH, THE, THE OLD, THE, THE OLDER WAYS MAY HAVE BEEN MORE OF A, A GRADING PAPERS APPROACH. THE PROJECT WOULD'VE SUBMITTED, PERMITS WE WOULD'VE REVIEWED, IT WOULD'VE GONE BACK THIS BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH, ALMOST JUST GRADING PAPERS TYPE. AND THERE'S A MORE PRODUCTIVE WAY TO GET TO ACTUALLY BETTER OUTCOMES AND MORE CONSISTENT OUTCOMES. SO WE, THAT'S WHERE ALL OF THIS, THIS WORK THAT WE'VE DONE TO DATE, I THINK IS POSITIONING THE PROJECT TO BE FOR PERMITTING, HOPEFULLY TO END UP BEING THE NATIONAL MODEL OF HOW WE ADDRESS THIS AT THE LOCAL, AT HOW WE ADDRESS IT AT THE LOCAL, AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. THANK. AND I'LL PASS IT ON TO, TO GEORGE. GREAT. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON. UH, GEORGE ADAMS, SVP OF URBAN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT, AND GLAD TO BE HERE. UM, SO I'M GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT ONE ASPECT OF THE PERMITTING PROCESS, AND THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TIME, EFFORT, DISCUSSION, COLLABORATION OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS FOCUSED ON THIS. SO THIS IS, UH, A LONG-TERM EFFORT THAT IS REALLY STARTING TO COME TOGETHER AND BEAR FRUIT. UH, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THAT CREDIT GOES TO KEITH AND HIS STAFF, UH, FOR REALLY COMING TO US WITH, YOU KNOW, INNOVATIVE AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO, UH, TO PERMITTING FOR THIS PROJECT. UM, ONE THING THAT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IS THIS, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL PERMITTING MANUAL. UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WAS, UH, LED BY PROJECT CONNECT AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES STAFF, UH, WITH A LOT OF INVOLVEMENT FROM A TP. UM, IT'S REALLY, UH, LINDSEY MENTIONED MITIGATING RISK. IT'S, IT'S ONE IMPORTANT PIECE OF OUR APPROACH TO MITIGATE RISK, THE RISK OF THE PERMITTING PROCESS. UM, IT ESTABLISHES A, A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS FOR, UH, AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, SO THAT, UH, A TP OUR CONTRACTORS AND CITY STAFF ARE ALL WORKING FROM THE SAME PLAYBOOK, UH, RELATIVE TO, UH, UH, TO PERMITTING. UH, IT INCORPORATES, UH, A LOT OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE PERMITTING PROCESS. BUT, UH, I'M GONNA FOCUS ON SOME, SOME RECENT ONES THAT, UH, KEITH AND HIS STAFF AND AND PROJECT CONNECT STAFF HAVE HELPED TO ADVANCE AND MOVE FORWARD. AND ONCE AGAIN, THESE ARE APPLICABLE TO, UH, TO PUBLIC PROJECTS. AND EVEN MY UNDERSTANDING IS EVEN SOME PRIVATE SECTOR PROJECTS THAT INCORPORATE HOUSING COMPONENTS, BUT THEY'VE BEEN ALSO TAILORED TO ASSIST WITH, UH, LIGHT RAIL PERMITTING. SO THOSE INCLUDE AN EXPEDITED SITE PLAN, REVIEW PROCESS AND A PUBLIC PROJECTS TEAM THAT IS FOCUSED ON THOSE, UH, THOSE TYPES OF PROJECTS. UM, A GENERAL PERMIT PROCESS, UH, WHICH WAS, KEITH TOUCHED ON THIS IN GENERAL TERMS, WHERE WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED MORE ON THE COORDINATION SIDE AS OPPOSED TO THE, THE TRADITIONAL PERMITTING SIDE. UH, AND THEN IT ALSO INCLUDES, UM, CITY CODE AND CRITERIA AMENDMENTS THAT HAVE EITHER GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS OR WILL GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. AND THOSE ARE REALLY DESIGNED TO PROVIDE MORE FLEXIBILITY, UM, RELATIVE TO LIGHT RAIL PERMITTING AND TO, UM, TO HOPEFULLY EXPEDITE THAT, THAT PROCESS. SO, UH, YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED, THIS IS, THIS IS ONE ELEMENT OF OUR FOCUS ON PERMITTING, BUT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE MANUAL, ABOUT THE OTHER EFFORTS, AND WE'RE REALLY, UH, UH, HAPPY TO, TO HAVE BEEN IN THIS COLLABORATION WITH, UH, OUR [01:05:01] CITY PARTNERS. SO, AND I WANNA ADD, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO CONVEY ON A SLIDE, BUT THIS IS HUGE. I MEAN, IT, I CAN'T COMMUNICATE HOW BIG THIS IS BEING ABLE TO APPLY, UM, YOU KNOW, GENERAL PERMIT PROCESSES TO OUR PROJECT WILL SAVE REAL TIME AND MONEY. AND ACTUALLY BRINGING THIS BACK TO TWO QUESTIONS YOU HAD BOARD MEMBER ABOUT BOTH INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT AND OUR SCHEDULE ON THE INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT SIDE, AND THESE MANY ONE-ON-ONES WE HAVE, UM, I DIDN'T COUNT, SO I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES THE QUESTION OF PERMITTING CAME UP, BUT MANY, MANY, MANY TIMES FROM OUR CONTRACTORS. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH A LENS OF RISK AND WANTING TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO THINGS HERE, AND IS IT GOING TO BE THE SAME WAY IT'S ALWAYS BEEN DONE OR WILL IT BE DONE DIFFERENTLY? AND EVERY TIME AS WE CONVEYED THESE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, INCLUDING THE EXPEDITED SITE PLAN AND, AND THE PUBLIC PROJECTS REVIEW TEAM, AS WELL AS THIS MONUMENTAL, UM, GENERAL PERMIT POLICY, THERE WAS JUST EVERY TIME A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF. AND THAT COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF MEANS MORE MONEY TO OUR PROJECT IN BUILDING THE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO BUILD VERSUS GOING TO PROCESSES, UH, WHICH ALSO HAS A DIRECT EFFECT ON BEING ABLE TO, UM, FULFILL OUR COMMITMENTS TO COMMUNITY ON OPENING THIS FOR SERVICE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN BY SPENDING THE TIME WHERE WE WANT, JUST AS WE WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY, UM, ON THE, ON THE THINGS THAT DELIVER, SPENDING OUR TIME ON THE THINGS THAT DELIVER FOR COMMUNITY AND SPENDING IT ON DESIGN, UM, RATHER THAN JUST THE PERMITTING. SO A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR CITY PARTNERS FOR THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, AND I AM REALLY EXCITED TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF, OF IMPLEMENTING THIS CHANGE. YOU'RE RIGHT, THIS IS HARD TO CONVEY IN A SLIDE, UM, , BUT, UH, I, I KIND OF CALL MYSELF A SURVIVOR OF THE PERMITTING PROCESS, , BUT SOMETIMES HAVING TO GO THROUGH THE SHREDDER, IT WAS HARD. I WILL SAY THERE'S STILL SOME SCARS THAT SPEAK FOR HOW HARD IT IS. AND I DO THINK THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS THE BEST INTENTIONS FROM A RESILIENT STANDPOINT ON WHY THOSE PROCESSES AND PERMITTING WERE PUT IN PLACE. UM, THE PART I'M CURIOUS ABOUT, SO THE CITY CODE AMENDMENTS AND CRITERIA, HAS THAT ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL? THERE WAS A, THOSE AMENDMENTS, UH, THERE WAS A FIRST TRANCHE OF AMENDMENTS THAT WENT THROUGH, I BELIEVE, IN LATE 2022. OKAY. UH, AND SO YES, MANY OF THOSE HAVE BEEN, UH, APPROVED. UH, THERE IS, THERE'LL BE ANOTHER SMALLER GROUP OF AMENDMENTS COMING THROUGH BY FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR. AND IF THESE ARE AMENDMENTS DONE TO THE GENERAL PERMIT POLICY, SO IT'S WORK IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, RIGHT? THAT'S WHERE THE GENERAL PERMIT APPLIES. IS THAT ALSO AFFECTING, FOR INSTANCE, THE RELOCATION OF A WATER LINE? BECAUSE I KNOW THE WATER LINE, I MEAN, WE HAVE TO CONNECT TO A LARGER SYSTEM. SO HOW IS THE GENERAL PERMIT APPLICABLE FOR THIS TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE? SO I, I CAN TELL YOU, I THINK HOW WE USED TO APPROACH THAT AND WHERE WE'RE GOING TO APPROACH IT NOW, OKAY. IS IF, IF THAT'S KNOWN, THAT WHAT WE NEED TO DO, OFTENTIMES PERMITTING IN THE PAST WASN'T DONE UNTIL 90% PLANNED DEVELOPMENT. MM-HMM . LIKE, WELL, WHAT IF WE'RE NOT, WHAT IF WE'RE NOT RIGHT ON THE, THE RELOCATION, UH, WHAT IF WE'RE NOT RIGHT ON MATERIALS OR PIPE SIZE? IT'D BEEN REALLY NICE TO KNOW THAT 30%, AND IT WOULD'VE BEEN REALLY NICE TO NOT WAIT TO, THEY USE THE REGULATORY MM-HMM . REGULATORY INSTRUMENT FOR WHAT IS JUST SIMPLY UTILITY COORDINATION. MM-HMM . SO THERE IS A SEPARATE UTILITY COORDINATION PROCESS IN THE CITY THAT DOES OVERLAP WITH A LOT OF THIS WORK. OKAY. IT'S CALLED THE AUSTIN U. LONG ACRONYM. YEAH. , IT'S A CITY UTILITY COORDINATION. YEAH. THE CITY COORDINATION. YEAH. THANK YOU. THAT IS WHERE THAT WORK, THAT'S WHERE THAT TYPE OF HARD WORK IS GOING TO BE DONE. NOT WAITING UNTIL 90% AT THE PERMITTING PHASE TWO TO GET THAT NEWS OF, OF NO, NOT NOT RIGHT LOCATION, NOT RIGHT SIZE, AND HAVE TO GO BACK TO, TO SQUARE ONE. THAT'S THE BIG DIFFERENCE THAT WILL HAPPEN. UM, YES, MADAM CHAIR, UHHUH, , I HATE TO COMPLICATE THIS MORE BY ADDING COUNTY PROCESSES HERE. UM, BUT, BUT WHAT THE COUNTY DID DO, UH, WAS PUT A PILOT TOGETHER FOR ITS ENTIRE, UH, BOND PROJECT, UM, SERIES. AND BASICALLY WHAT WE HAD WAS, UH, SOMEONE COME IN AND, UH, LOOK AT EVERY PROJECT, PROJECT BY PROJECT SO THAT WE COULD KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE WERE, ARE WE PLANNING, [01:10:01] IS IT IMPLEMENTATION? ARE WE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE? AND, UH, THERE WAS A WEBSITE SO THAT YOU COULD GO AND SEE WHERE YOU WERE. UM, LOT OF, LOT OF, UH, PREPARATION IN PUTTING THE SYSTEM TOGETHER, BUT AS, AS A CONTRACTOR WHO IS LOOKING IN TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR, TO SEE, UH, THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERMITS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR THIS PROJECT AND WHERE THEY ARE IN LINE, AND THEN TO BE ABLE TO SAY, WELL, NOW I, I KNOW YOU WANT TO GET TO D BUT YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN THROUGH B YET. UM, ENDED UP, UH, ENDED UP BEING VERY SUCCESSFUL FOR US. WE'RE STILL EVOLVING NOTHING PERFECT UNDER THE SUN, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO ORGANIZE IT IN A WAY, UH, THAT PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY ARE PROJECT BY PROJECT. LET'S SEE IF YOU, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I THINK, UH, AND, UH, COMMISSIONER AND BOARD MEMBER, UH, I, I, WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA LEARN THE LESSONS FROM THE COUNTY ON, ON WHAT'S WORKED AND, AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT THAT. AND I THINK THAT'S A SIMILAR CONVERSATION THAT YOU AND I HAD LAST TIME ABOUT ZOOMING OUT, LOOKING AT THE ENTIRETY OF THE PROJECT. UH, THERE'S SOME STUFF IN OUR, IN BOTH CODE AND THEN JUST HOW WE'VE DONE THINGS THAT ARE ARBITRARY LINES, NOT ALLOWING PLANS TO CROSS OVER ONE ANOTHER. IT'S LIKE MM-HMM . BUT, BUT WHY, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE SOLVING FOR THERE? AND JUST BECAUSE WE PERMIT IN A CERTAIN ORDER, DOES THAT REALLY MEAN THAT THAT'S THE ORDER OF, OF HOW THE PROJECT IS, IS GOING TO OPERATE? UH, SO BEING ABLE TO ALSO UNTETHER CERTAIN PROJECTS THAT EITHER ARE TIME SENSITIVE AND KNOWING THERE'S LONG LEAD TIME ON OTHER ITEMS OF BEING ABLE TO ALSO PHASE PERMITTING, I THINK WILL BE A VERY USEFUL TOOL THAT I'VE SEEN SOME TYPE OF RISK ASSESSMENT SO THAT YOU CAN LAY OUT PRIORITIES. YES. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. THIS IS A REALLY HEAVY LIFT AND SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING AT LENGTH. UH, ONE LAST THING I'D LIKE TO JUST POINT OUT THAT PERSONALLY, JUST AS NON-NEGOTIABLES THAT I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT, AGAIN, PERSONALLY, IS THE COORDINATION OF OUR STREET, UH, STREET TREES AND WATER LINES AND FIRE ACCESS AND ALL THE THINGS THAT EVERYBODY HAS A VOICE IN PERMITTING, AND THEY SEEM TO BE AT ODDS THAT WE REALLY NEED TO REALLY DIVE IN AND MAKE SURE WE HAVE ALL THE CLEARANCES NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS NOT FORGOTTEN IN THE END. MADAM CHAIR? YES. IF I COULD ADD PLEASE. UM, SO, UM, I HAD AN UP UPWARD ENERGY FOR SIX YEARS, AND ONE OF THE HARDEST PROBLEMS I HAD TO DEAL WITH WAS AN ANGRY CITIZEN, REALLY UPSET WITH US BECAUSE WE WERE CUTTING DOWN TREES THAT THE CITY REQUIRED THEM TO PLANT UNDER . OH, I TRIED FIXING THAT. I HOPE YOU GUYS CAN DO IT. YOU KNOW, A TOUGH JOB, , AND I THINK I'M GOOD AT MY JOB, BUT I COULDN'T FIX IT. AND, UH, I HOPE THAT YOU CAN GET THOSE COMPLEX RESOLVED FOR US. . THANK YOU. YES, THANK YOU, CHAIR. I JUST, I'M GONNA, I CAN'T HELP BUT JUST TO PILE ON THE, THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS, UH, COMMISSIONER, I THINK YOU MIGHT, I'M GONNA TAKE US BACK A LITTLE BIT LIKE WAY BACK TO OUR CAPITAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE THAT WE WOULD HAVE BACK 20 YEARS AGO. AND WE WOULD SIT EVERY QUARTER LOOKING AT, LOOKING AT WHERE WE ARE ON THE PROJECTS, RIGHT? YOU WERE PART OF THAT TEAM, RIGHT? AND ALL THE, ALL THE DIRECTORS AND EVERY QUARTER WE COME BACK AND TALK ABOUT THE RESTROOM THAT WASN'T GET THE, THE, THE RESTROOM, A CITY PROJECT THAT WASN'T GETTING DONE. AND THEN THE NEXT QUARTER, THE CITY PROJECT THAT WASN'T GETTING DONE OVER AND OVER, THAT WENT ON FOR TWO OR THREE YEARS. AND SO YOU ZOOM THAT OUT TO GIANT BOAT BOND PROGRAMS, YOU ZOOM THAT OUT TO, UM, THE PRIVATE SIDE OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING. THIS IS TRANSFORMATIONAL. LIKE I COLE, KEITH, HE AND I, WE CROSSED PATHS IN OUR WORLD, BUT WHEN WE SAT DOWN, I WAS LIKE, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? RIGHT? LIKE, THIS IS, UM, AND IT'S MONUMENTAL TO GET THE WORK DONE, BY THE WAY, RIGHT? THE, THE, THE SLIDE SAYS IT. BUT TO, TO GO THROUGH THE NAVIGATION OF THAT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS TO LAND WHERE WE ARE IS, UM, IS, IS A, IS A FEAT, BASICALLY. SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT. AND THEN ALSO THIS WORK THAT WE'RE DOING, THIS DETAIL WHERE I LOOK KEITH, THE WAY YOU SAID THAT, RIGHT? THE NITTY GRITTY WORK OF LOOKING AT THAT DESIGN OF, OF UTILITIES, RIGHT? WE'VE BEEN DOING, WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT, RIGHT? WE, UM, AND, AND CAN, AND I WANT TO KIND OF, UM, SHOUT OUT LEANNE AND THE WORK THAT, UH, THE CITY TEAM HAS DONE WHEN WE'VE INTERFACING WITH DEPARTMENTS TO EXPLAIN WHAT THIS REVIEW IS VERSUS THE NEXT ONE. THAT THIS WASN'T THE CHANCE, YOUR ONE CHANCE TO DO YOUR REGULATORY REVIEW. IT WAS A CHANCE TO BRING YOU ALONG. BUT ALL THAT BEING SAID, THE REAL STORY HERE IS WE'RE DOING THIS NOW, NOT FOUR YEARS INTO CONSTRUCTION, SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU [01:15:01] SAYING, WE GOTTA TELL YOU WHY WE'RE BEHIND ON CONSTRUCTION. AND THIS IS THE LESSON WE LEARNED GOING AROUND TALKING TO THE COUNTRY IN NORTH AMERICA AND ALL AROUND REALLY THE WORLD. SO DOING THIS NOW IS THE THING, RIGHT? AND IT TAKES PEOPLE GETTING IN A ROOM WEEK AFTER WEEK GOING THROUGH THAT. AND IT'S SO MANY PEOPLE TO DO THAT, BUT IT'S A BIG, BIG DEAL. AND SO, UH, UH, JUST A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF GRATITUDE FOR YOU DOING THIS. OBVIOUSLY FOR US, WE'RE SELFISH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. BUT WE KNOW THE IMPACT THAT IT'S GONNA HAVE, OBVIOUSLY FOR DELIVERING ALL OF THE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT AS IT SPILLS OUT INTO THE PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE, IT'S REALLY A GAME CHANGER FOR AUSTIN. ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU, APPRECIATE VERY MUCH. UH, AS WE MOVE ONTO OUR NEXT CATEGORY OF READINESS, WANT TO INVITE SEAN AND FRANCIS TO COME UP AND JOIN US. UM, YOU'LL SEE HERE AGAIN HIGHLIGHTED UP AT THE TOP, A FEW TOPICS WE'RE GONNA SPEND A MOMENT ON. UM, BUT AGAIN, I DON'T WANT TO, UM, SWEEP OVER ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS THERE ARE. SO ALTHOUGH CONSTRUCTION, UH, YOU KNOW, IT IS, WE'RE TARGETING 2027 FOR THAT STARTING THAT REALLY IS HERE SOONER THAN YOU THINK. AND THERE IS A LOT OF WORK THAT NEEDS TO GO INTO PREPARING FOR THAT. ABOVE AND BEYOND DEVELOPING THE DESIGN PLANS TO BE READY FOR CONSTRUCTION, IT'S DEVELOPING THE PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE IN PLACE SO THAT OUR COMMUNITY, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR, THAT WE'RE GOOD NEIGHBORS WITH OUR COMMUNITY AS WE ARE BUILDING THIS, UH, TRANSFORMATIONAL PROGRAM FOR AUSTIN. UH, SO I WANT TO ALSO NOTE AS PART OF THAT, THAT OUR CONTRACTORS, ALTHOUGH NOT ON BOARD WITH US YET, UH, WILL FOR OBVIOUS REASONS BE CRITICAL PLAYERS IN HOW WE APPROACH THIS. NOT JUST FROM THE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ASPECT, BUT REALLY HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AS A WHOLE. UM, IF I HAD A LIST OF TOP 10 QUESTIONS, I'M POSITIVE THAT ONE THAT WOULD FALL IN IT AS WE SPEAK TO WHETHER IT'S COMMUNITY MEMBERS, DEVELOPERS, JUST ABOUT ANY AUDIENCE, IS WHEN ARE YOU BUILDING RIGHT HERE? LIKE, WHEN ARE YOU BUILDING IN FRONT OF ME? WHEN WILL I FEEL THE EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTION? AND ONE OF OUR EARLY FOCUS ACTIVITIES THAT ALVIN TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT AS PART OF, UH, THE PHASE ONE A OR THE PRE-CONSTRUCTION WORK WITH OUR CONTRACTOR IS INFORMING THAT PHASING AND SEQUENCING PLAN. NOT JUST BECAUSE WE NEED TO, UM, FOR THE SCHEDULE OF THE PROJECT, BUT ALSO BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH COMMUNITY AND, AND REALLY, UM, BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT OUR PLANS ARE. UH, I'M EXCITED ABOUT HOW THAT INPUT TO INFORM WHAT IS TODAY A PLANNING LEVEL SCHEDULE, BUT MAKING IT A CONTRACTOR INFORMED SCHEDULE. UH, SO AS WE JUMP IN, OH, JEN, DO YOU WANNA KICK OFF OUR, OUR FIRST TOPIC AND INTRODUCE FRANCIS? SURE. THANK YOU. NOW I'M REALLY EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT OUR FIRST TOPIC ACTUALLY. THIS IS FRANCIS JORDAN. SHE IS OUR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT MANAGER AND HAS BEEN REALLY OUR, OUR LEADING THE CHARGE FOR US IN THINKING ABOUT THE BUSINESSES ALONG THE LINE AND ONCE CONSTRUCTION STARTS, HOW TO SUPPORT THEM BEST AND WHAT WE CAN DO NOT ONLY DURING CONSTRUCTION, BUT IN ADVANCE OF CONSTRUCTION TO KINDA STRENGTHEN THEM TO BE READY TO GO. SO I'M JUST, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I'LL JUST PASS IT OVER TO FRANCIS TO TALK ABOUT THE WORK SHE'S BEEN DOING. HELLO, FOR THOSE OF YOU I HAVE NOT MET, UM, SUPPORTING BUSINESSES, AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, UH, WITH ANY, UH, LIGHT RAIL PROJECT. AND THIS IS TRUE ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THAT SUPPORTING BUSINESSES WHILE IT'S BEING CONSTRUCTED IS REALLY IMPORTANT. AND A TP IS REALLY IN A POSITION TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE WITH THE COMMUNITY. AND SO WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON IS KIND OF AN INITIATIVE TO KIND OF GO OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND REALLY DISCUSS, UM, AND TALK TO BUSINESSES FURTHER, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE NEPA PROCESS, THROUGH THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. THERE'S ALREADY BEEN SOME GOOD DIALOGUE. AND SO THIS IS KIND OF BUILDING UPON THAT AND CONTINUING AND DEEPENING THOSE CONVERSATIONS. AND SO THIS IDEA THAT WE WANT TO BRING TOGETHER LOCAL BUSINESSES AND KEYTO STAKEHOLDERS TO KIND OF REALLY DISCUSS AND THINK ABOUT THE SUPPORT THAT REALLY FITS AUSTIN. AND SO THAT IS KIND OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA START DOING. UM, AND SO WE HAVE A COUPLE DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES SUCH AS FOCUS GROUPS, RIGHT? SO, WE'LL, YOU KNOW, ATP IS REALLY KNOWN FOR DOING FOCUS GROUPS, SO THAT'S ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE'LL HAVE DIALOGUES, UM, AND HAVE DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS. WE ALSO ARE GONNA BE CONDUCTING EXTENSIVE RESEARCH. THERE ARE A LOT OF REALLY GOOD, UH, INITIATIVES ACROSS, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SOME THAT WE'VE ALREADY KIND OF HAD INITIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH. UH, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF DATA. AND WHAT'S REALLY NICE IS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SOME SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS POST COVID, RIGHT? WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE, UH, PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORTED BUSINESSES BEFORE COVID, THEY'RE KIND OF STRUCTURED A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. AND SO IT'S KIND OF EXCITING TO HAVE, WE GOT FOUR OR FIVE PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO KIND OF LOOK AT AND REALLY WILL BE ABLE [01:20:01] TO KIND OF DIVE IN AND REALLY LEARN FROM THEM WHILE ALSO TALKING TO BUSINESSES AND LEARNING FROM THEM. SPECIFICALLY SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO ON SOUTH CONGRESS, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET REALLY, REALLY GOOD CONVERSATIONS ALREADY. AND SO WE'RE HOPING TO DO THAT ON EVERY, UH, PART OF THE ALIGNMENT. AND THEN THE OTHER REALLY BIG PIECE IS KIND OF IDENTIFYING RESOURCES. SO YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHAT KIND OF, HOW CAN WE SUPPORT BUSINESSES? WELL, THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT THESE BUSINESSES NEED TO BE IN REALLY GOOD POSITION BEFORE CONSTRUCTION EVER HAPPENS, RIGHT? SO THAT IS LOOKING AT WAYS YOU CAN DO BUSINESS CONSULTATION. A LOT OF THEM REALLY APPRECIATE MARKETING SERVICES AND DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT PROGRAMS ARE BUILT AROUND. AND SO, UM, NO AGENCY EVER DOES THIS ON THEIR OWN. THEY WORK WITH PARTNERS. AND SO WE'VE ALREADY KIND OF STARTED TO IDENTIFY PARTNERS THAT WE WANT TO TALK TO. UM, SOME OF THAT IS WHETHER THEY'D BE PROVIDING SERVICES OR EVEN JUST, UM, REALLY IMPORTANT PROMOTIONAL PARTNERS WHO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT DURING CONSTRUCTION, UM, PEOPLE WANNA GET OUT AND, UH, GO TO BUSINESSES, WHETHER IT'S RETAIL, WHETHER IT'S RESTAURANTS. AND SO WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE AN EFFORT WHERE WE'RE TALKING WITH DIFFERENT PARTNERS. SO I THINK THAT'S AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF THE PROJECT. I'M HAPPY TO TALK FURTHER, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IF I'D LIKE TO FOCUS ON THE RESTAURANTS . I LIKE TO RECOMMEND A CITY TO LOOK INTO THAT. I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED. SO HOW THEY ADDRESS BUSINESSES DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE TUNNEL IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. THAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE THE FOLKS THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE UNDERSTANDING THAT IS THE PEOPLE THAT BUY, SO HOW YOU PEOPLE GET TO THE BUSINESSES AND KEEP THE PEDESTRIAN ACCESS TO THOSE BUSINESSES, BUT HOW THEY CREATED THOSE PROTECTION TUNNELS WITH SIGNALIZATION ON THE SIDEWALK MM-HMM . AND ALLOWING LIGHTING AND BRANDING ON THE, ON THE PROTECTION SIDE OF THE BARRICADES WAS REALLY INTERESTING. SO, SO I THINK GOOD LESSONS LEARNED TO BE LEARNED FROM OTHER CITIES. SO I LOVE SEEING THAT AS A BULLET. LET'S NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL, BUT WE CAN ALWAYS GIVE IT THE AUSTIN FLARE OF HOW WE ADDRESS OUR BUSINESS TO KEEP THEM ALIVE. UM, AND YEAH, MEETING WITH THEM SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. I THINK IT'S GONNA BE KEY. SO ONE THING I DID FORGET IS THAT ALL THIS WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING IS GONNA KIND OF CREATE THIS NEEDS ASSESSMENT. THAT'S THE WORD I WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY BEFORE I WALKED OUTTA HERE, UM, IS THIS IDEA OF HAVING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT. SO WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING AND THAT IS SOMETHING WE'D BE ABLE TO SHARE. AND, UM, I THINK, UM, FOR PEOPLE TO KIND OF SEE, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL TALK ABOUT WITH THE CAC AND YOU ALL AS WELL IS JUST KIND OF UNDERSTANDING. AND SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE MARCHING TOWARDS WITH ALL OF THESE ITEMS IS KIND OF A NEEDS ASSESSMENTS OF SUPPORTING BUSINESSES. YEAH. AND WELCOME TO THE TEAM . I DON'T THINK WE'VE MET BEFORE. SO WELCOME. YES, NICE TO MEET YOU. HAPPY TO BE HERE. THANK YOU. I'LL ADD ONE THING I'M EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROGRAM IS, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WE THINK ABOUT CONSTRUCTION OR, OR MANAGING THE EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTION AS KEEPING PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE CONSTRUCTION AND HELPING THEM AVOID IT AND MOVE AROUND IT. BUT WE REALLY WANT A PROGRAM THAT SAYS, COME SEE US. BUSINESSES ARE OPEN ALONG THE LINE, LIFE WILL RESUME ALONG WHILE WE'RE BUILDING AND FINDING WAYS TO HIGHLIGHT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING PEOPLE IN WHILE WE'RE BUILDING. YEAH, THAT'S EXCITING. ALRIGHT, JUST ONE COMMENT AND YOU ALL HAVE DONE SO MUCH, UM, COORDINATION WITH OTHER CITIES AND OF COURSE I'M THINKING ABOUT, UM, PHOENIX HAS DONE EXTENSIVE WORK WITH BUSINESSES THROUGH THEIR DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT RAIL. SO I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE TAKING LIKE THE LESSONS LEARNED AND BEST PRACTICES, WHICH IS FANTASTIC, RIGHT? SO YES, AND I THINK THE THING, THAT'S WHY I WAS REALLY EXCITING ABOUT THE PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO WORK, UH, POST COVID, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT PEOPLE ARE SHARING AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO KIND OF RECEIVE A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION. SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DIGGING INTO SOME OF THAT DATA AND INFORMATION, UM, ON SOME OF THE PROJECTS. AND, UM, IN MARYLAND, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST RECENT PROGRAMS, THEY'VE DONE SEVERAL DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO KIND OF LEARN FROM THEM AS WELL. SO YEAH, I'M EXCITED TO SEE IT. I DO SEE THAT WAS YOUR SECOND BULLET. ALRIGHT. AND, UM, I'LL INTRODUCE SEAN FOR OUR NEXT TOPIC. SO SEAN BARRY IS OUR, UH, VICE PRESIDENT OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AND HAS BEEN HELPING US TO, UM, HERD THE CATS OR IN THIS CASE LOGOS, UH, AND PULLING TOGETHER A PROGRAM FOR THE MANY DIFFERENT THIRD PARTIES THAT WE ARE TO BE ENGAGING WITH THROUGHOUT DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AND HAVING THE RULES OF THE ROAD IN PLACE TO GUIDE THAT ENGAGEMENT. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. UM, I'M GONNA ZOOM OUT JUST A TINY BIT FROM THIS SLIDE FOR A MOMENT TO GIVE CONTEXT. AND YOU KNOW, AS YOU'VE PROBABLY DEFINITELY HEARD A LOT TODAY, WE ARE VERY MUCH NOT WORKING WITHIN A SILO. WE HAVE A LOT OF OTHER PARTNERS, AGENCIES, ENTITIES THAT WE [01:25:01] ARE, THAT ARE REALLY VERY CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR PROJECT, RIGHT? AND SO FROM A THIRD PARTY COORDINATION STANDPOINT, WE GENERALLY HAVE FOUR MAIN WORK STREAMS THAT WE LOOK AT PERMITTING, WHICH YOU'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT TODAY ALREADY. UH, REAL ESTATE, WHICH HAS BEEN A FREQUENT TOPIC HERE AS WELL. UM, BUT TODAY REALLY GONNA KIND OF HIT A LITTLE MORE ON UTILITY COORDINATION AND AGREEMENTS AND, AND ALL THOSE THINGS YOU START TO SEE, THEY ALL RELATE TO EACH OTHER. UM, SO, SO THE AGREEMENTS THOUGH, IN MANY WAYS ARE THE RULES OF THE ROAD THAT HELP INFORM HOW WE'RE GONNA GO ABOUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS. SO STARTING FROM UTILITY COORDINATION, LINDSAY MENTIONED THE LOGOS. SO ALL OF THESE LOGOS ARE FOLKS THAT HAVE UTILITIES THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AS NECESSARY RELOCATIONS FOR OUR PROJECT. UM, THERE MAY TURN OUT TO BE OTHERS OR MAYBE WE'LL FIND WAYS TO AVOID RELOCATING A FEW OF THESE. BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, 10 MILES OF URBAN ROADWAY RECONFIGURATION REQUIRES A LOT OF UTILITY RELOCATIONS. WITH THAT, WE'LL SET THE CITY OF AUSTIN ONE TO THE SIDE FOR A MOMENT. I'LL HIT ON THAT WHEN I GET TO, TO KIND OF MORE THE TRUE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENTS, JUST THE PRIVATE UTILITIES, WHICH IS ALL THE OTHER LOGOS THAT ARE ON HERE. UM, WE ARE WORKING FORWARD TO GET THE AGREEMENT STRUCTURE IN PLACE WITH THEM TO ALLOW OUR PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILDER TO ENGAGE WITH THEM ON THOSE RELOCATIONS. SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE IN NEGOTIATIONS OF MASTER UTILITY AGREEMENTS THAT ESSENTIALLY IS KIND OF THE, THE UMBRELLA OR PARENT AGREEMENT THAT ALLOWS US TO HAVE THAT CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THOSE UTILITIES SETS, KEY TERMS AND PARAMETERS OF HOW WE'RE GONNA GO ABOUT WORKING WITH THEM. OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE THOSE IN PLACE IN EARLY 2026 SO THAT THEY'RE READY WHEN THE PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILDER COMES ON BOARD. UH, REALLY BOTH PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILDERS. WHILE THE OMF SITE IS MOSTLY OFF OUT OF THE RIGHT OF WAY, IT DOES HAVE A UTILITY COORDINATION ASPECT AS WELL. UM, SO WITH THAT, UNDER THOSE AGREEMENTS IN THE, WE WOULD HAVE WORK ORDERS IN THE FUTURE FOR THE DESIGN AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THOSE ASSOCIATED UTILITY RELOCATIONS THAT'LL SET OUT THE PARAMETERS AROUND COST RESPONSIBILITIES AND WHO'S DOING THE WORK. UM, GENERALLY TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN, WE'RE GONNA BE DOING A LOT OF THE CIVIL WORKS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT. THAT ALLOWS FOR A MORE STREAMLINED COORDINATION WITH OUR CONTRACTOR DOING THE WORK, OPENING IT UP THEMSELVES. BUT THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF NUANCE TO HOW THAT WORK IS DONE BY THOSE COMPANIES. AND TELECOMS, FOR EXAMPLE, WE MIGHT BE PUTTING ALL THE CONDUIT OUT THERE, BUT THEN THEY'RE GONNA COME AND PULL ALL THE CABLE. THERE'S A LOT OF SCHEDULING AND COORDINATION THAT GOES INTO THAT AND COST RESPONSIBILITIES. EVEN IF WE'RE DOING A LOT OF THE WORK, THERE'S STILL A PAYMENT TO BE MADE FOR THE WORK THAT THEY ARE DOING. AND SO WORKING THROUGH THOSE TERMS RIGHT NOW, UM, THAT THAT'S A, A KEY AREA THAT WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS ON AND WE'RE THANKFUL TO THOSE UTILITY PARTNERS FOR CONTINUING TO WORK WITH US THERE. UM, THEN REALLY KIND OF DIALING BACK TO OUR PUBLIC PARTNERS AND IN PARTICULAR THE CITY AND CAP METRO, OBVIOUSLY VERY CRITICAL TO OUR SUCCESS AND, AND REALLY WORKING RIGHT NOW ON MAKING SURE TO LAY OUT THE PROCESSES THAT ARE NECESSARY AS WE GO INTO DESIGN AND THEN INTO CONSTRUCTION. UM, SO ONE OF THE ONES NOTED UP THERE IS RIGHT OF WAY USE. IT SOUNDS REALLY SIMPLE, BUT IT IS TRULY VERY CRITICAL AND IT'S ONE THAT THE FDA VERY MUCH WANTS TO SEE DOCUMENTED IN A WAY THAT HELPS MITIGATE THEIR RISK AS THEY MAKE AN INVESTMENT IN OUR PROJECT. AND SO THAT IS QUITE SIMPLY THE ABILITY TO, UH, TO BUILD AND OPERATE OUR TRAIN WITHIN THE CITY'S RIGHT OF WAY. SO SOMETHING WE HAVE A LOT OF BUY-IN ON ALREADY THAT WE'VE GOTTEN TO THIS POINT, BUT HAVING THE ACTUAL AGREEMENT IN PLACE THAT LAYS OUT THE PARAMETERS AROUND THAT WITH OTHER FUTURE DETAILS OF THAT TO BE WORKED OUT IN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLANNING. THEN MOVING FORWARD TO ACTUAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENTS, REALLY WE'RE WORKING RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE WORKING GROUPS LAID OUT ONE WITH THE CITY AND ONE WITH CAP METRO TO WORK THROUGH DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENTS. UH, THESE LAY OUT ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, COMMITMENTS THAT ARE LAY THAT, THAT SET THE GROUNDWORK FOR HOW WE, AND HOW OUR PDBS WILL GO ABOUT WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO GET TO DESIGN DECISIONS, TO GET TO DESIGN APPROVALS, UM, MEMORIALIZES A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING THAT WE'VE ALREADY BEEN COORDINATING WELL WITH THEM, BUT HOW ARE WE GONNA DO THAT WHEN IT GETS TO FAST AND FURIOUS DESIGN WORK AND IT'S NO LONGER PLANNING, BUT DECISION MAKING, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE TIMELINESS THAT'S NEEDED. IT ALSO LAYS OUT WHAT IS OUR COMMITMENTS RELATIVE TO THOSE PARTNERS BECAUSE WE'RE REBUILDING A LOT OF THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE, WE'RE REBUILDING THE ROADWAYS, WE'RE REBUILDING A LOT OF CITY UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE. WE'RE REBUILDING CAP METRO BUS STOPS AND BIKE SHARE INFRASTRUCTURE. AND WE, THERE'S CERTAIN COMMITMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE THERE AS WELL AS CERTAIN TIMELINESS THAT WE NEED ON INPUTS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE KEEP MOVING FORWARD. SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE KEY THINGS THAT WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE RIGHT NOW. THIS IS ALSO A LITTLE BIT OF A HEADS UP BECAUSE SOME OF THESE THINGS WILL REQUIRE ACTION BY THE BOARD AND, AND YOU'LL START TO SEE THAT IN 2026 AS WELL. SO, UM, A LOT OF PROGRESS BEING MADE THERE AND REALLY APPRECIATE THE, THE TIME THAT OUR PARTNERS ARE SPENDING WORKING WITH US TO WORK THROUGH THOSE VARIOUS ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS WELL. AND WITH THAT, ONE OF THE LAST BULLETS ON THERE IS THE CONSTRUCTION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, WHICH LINDSAY'S GONNA GET INTO ON THE NEXT SLIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DETAIL. YES. UM, SO SPEAKING OF AGREEMENTS THAT WILL BE COMING TO THE BOARD IN EARLY NEXT YEAR, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TDOT HAVE CONVENED A, A PARTNERSHIP [01:30:01] PROGRAM ACROSS ALL OF THE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AGENCIES IN OUR REGION, UM, INCLUDING AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, CAP METRO, C-T-R-M-A, UM, UM, CAMPO, I'M SURE I'M FORGETTING SOMEBODY, AND WE ARE, ARE ALL COMING TOGETHER TO ACCOMPLISH SOME OF THE GOALS YOU'VE SEEN HERE, WHICH ARE TO HAVE A ONE STOP SHOP FOR COMMUNITY AS THEY SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE ACTIVITIES AND EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTION ACROSS THE, THE $20 BILLION PLUS OF, UM, OF CONSTRUCTION OCCURRING OVER A ROUGHLY 10 YEAR TIMEFRAME. BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW TO GO TO CT MA'S WEBSITE OR THE CITY'S WEBSITE OR TEXT DOT'S WEBSITE OR OURS. THEY DON'T NEED TO KNOW, FRANKLY, UM, WHO'S BUILDING WHAT PROJECT AND CREATING A CENTRALIZED PLATFORM FOR THAT PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, UM, IN THE FORM OF AN APP THAT, UM, CAN, UH, BE ACCESSED FROM THEIR PHONES. ALSO, THERE IS A WEBSITE VERSION. THE INFORMATION FROM THAT APP WILL ALSO BE INPUT DIRECTLY INTO, UM, THEIR, I GUESS WHAT'S IT CALLED, UH, WAY FINDING, UM, METHOD OF CHOICE. SO WAYS OR GOOGLE MAPS, UH, YOU KNOW, THOSE TOOLS THAT ALREADY EXIST THAT, THAT PEOPLE ARE USED TO WILL BE PULLING FROM THIS INFORMATION SO THAT THEY CAN SAY, I NEED TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B. AND IT'S PULLING REAL TIME INFORMATION FROM ALL OF OUR CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULES AND WORK ZONES. AND, AND ALVIN HAS BEEN KEY IN COORDINATING WITH THIS PROGRAM AS WELL, SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE TYPE OF DATA AND INFORMATION THAT'S NECESSARY TO INFORM THIS PROCESS. AND THEN THAT WE CAN SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE BACK TO COMMUNITY AS WELL. SO WE WILL HAVE THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT RELATED TO THIS PARTNERSHIP TO BRING BACK TO THE BOARD EARLY NEXT YEAR AS THOSE TERMS GET FINALIZED HERE IN THE NEXT, UM, MONTH OR TWO. ALL RIGHT. AND THAT BRINGS US TO OUR LAST CATEGORY OF THE DAY. THANK Y'ALL, UH, OF ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. AND I WANT TO ASK HAILEY, CHRIS AND ERIN TO COME JOIN US. UM, WE'RE GOING TO TALK A BIT ABOUT, UH, OUR PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES AND TOOLS THAT WE WILL BE USING TO MANAGE, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS LARGE LIFT OF WORK THAT IS FAST APPROACHING US, UH, BEGINNING NEXT YEAR AND GOING TO TALK ABOUT BOTH QUALITY AND THE TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION ACROSS THE PROGRAM AS SOME OF THOSE ELEMENTS. BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THOSE, JUST TO HIGHLIGHT ONE OF THESE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, UM, WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT ISN'T OUR, OUR FOCUS HERE TODAY, BUT ARE EXCITED TO COME BACK WITH UPDATES IN, UM, IN THE NEAR TERM ABOUT HOW WE PLAN TO COLLABORATE AND INTEGRATE WITH OUR INCOMING CONTRACTOR PARTNERS. UM, HOW WE WILL SET UP OUR ORGANIZATION TO OVERSEE AND MANAGE THE WORK AND HAVE THE APPROPRIATE COUNTERPARTS WITH THOSE CONTRACTORS. AND, YOU KNOW, I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPERTISE THAT OUR TEAM BRINGS AND THE PROVEN EXPERIENCE FROM LIGHT RAIL PROJECTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY MATCHED WITH THE LOCAL EXPERIENCE OF UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS IN AUSTIN. UH, SO MORE TO COME ON HOW WE'RE SETTING UP OUR, OUR FUNCTIONAL TEAM, AND WE WILL ALSO BE SHARING THAT WITH OUR CONTRACTORS AS THEY COME ON BOARD. SO THAT DAY ONE, EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS HOW WE'RE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER AND WHAT THAT FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE LOOKS LIKE. UM, WE'RE ALSO, UH, HIGHLIGHTED UP HERE TRAINING, YOU KNOW, WORKING ON, UM, THINGS SO THAT THAT TEAM OF OURS IS FULLY READY TO EXECUTE DAY ONE. THINGS LIKE TRAINING ON THE CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS. UH, I ACTUALLY, I WAS A CONSULTANT FOR MUCH LONGER THAN I'VE BEEN ON THE, THE PUBLIC SIDE AND, UM, WAS ON MANY, UH, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, UM, JOBS IN THE PAST. AND, AND ONE THING I LEARNED IS, UH, WHEN I WAS THE PROGRAM MANAGER, IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY TIME THE CONTRACTOR CAME IN KNOWING THE CONTRACT FAR BETTER THAN THAN WE EVER DID. UM, SO WE ARE WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE KNOW OUR CONTRACTS JUST AS WELL AS OUR CONTRACTOR KNOWS THOSE CONTRACTS. SO COMING UP WITH A, UM, AN ONBOARDING PROGRAM FOR OURSELVES TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THE PEOPLE WILL BE ARMED WITH ALL OF THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO MANAGE AND OVERSEE THE WORK. UH, SO LINDSEY COULD, OH YES, PLEASE, THANK YOU FOR THIS. UM, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT WHAT'S TO COME. UM, YOU KNOW, IN LOOKING AT THESE, THESE BUBBLES OR THESE, UM, HEADINGS UNDER ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE, I'M WONDERING IF KIND OF MAYBE PERIODICALLY THROUGH, [01:35:01] UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, IF IF YOU COULD ALSO SHARE. SO I THINK ONE GREAT THING IS THERE ARE SO MANY, UM, CONSULTANTS AND CONTRACTORS IN THE TEAM, AND THERE'S THIS, YOU KNOW, SPIRIT OF THE TEAM AND YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY DOING THINGS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL. AND SO PERHAPS, YOU KNOW, AT, AT, AT INTERVALS ALONG THE WAY YOU COULD, UM, HIGHLIGHT SOME, SOME EFFICIENCIES THAT PEOPLE ARE BRINGING FORWARD, SOME OF THE, THE EFFICIENCIES THAT ARE, UM, ALLOWING, UH, TO MOVE FORWARD. WHETHER THAT'S A TIME OR MONEY OR THINGS THAT ARE JUST, UM, THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN CELEBRATE. I, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT THOSE. GREAT. I, I LOVE THAT IDEA BOTH IN PROCESSES AND OUR, UM, STRUCTURE OF THE WORK, HOW WE'RE FORMING TEAMS, HOW WE'RE SPENDING OUR TIME WITH EACH OTHER, BOTH WITH OUR CONSULTANTS AND THE CONTRACTORS. UM, YES, WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE A NOTE AND, AND FEED THAT INTO FUTURE UPDATES. MADAM CHAIR. YES. UM, JUST, JUST TO PIGGYBACK ON THAT POINT, UH, WHAT BILLY HAMILTON USED TO DO AT THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE WAS BASICALLY SET IN WORKING PAPER STANDARDS FOR EVERYTHING. ULTIMATELY, UH, AS WE WENT PROJECT BY PROJECT, WE WOULD PUT A CROSSWALK TOGETHER, WHICH LAID OUT EVERY DELIVERABLE, WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT, WHEN IT WAS RESPONSIBLE, HOW IT FIT OUR CRITICAL PATH SO THAT WE WOULD, SO THAT WE WOULDN'T WAIT UNTIL THE FOURTH QUARTER TO FIND OUT THAT THERE MIGHT BE A PROBLEM. WE WERE LOOKING IN THE FIRST QUARTER AND THE SECOND QUARTER AND THE THIRD QUARTER, AND IT DOCUMENTED EVERYTHING, UH, THAT WAS DONE, WHETHER IT WAS AN ASSIGNMENT THAT WAS MADE, AN ASSIGNMENT THAT WAS COMPLETED, UH, IT WAS OUR, IT WAS OUR TOTAL PLAYBOOK. AND I SEE ELEMENTS HERE AS I LOOK AT OPERATING PROCEDURES, UH, AND AS I, I LOOK AT PROJECT CONTROLS, THE THINGS THAT ALWAYS, UH, INTERESTED US WERE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA DO ONE THING, DUG A HOLE AND FIGURED OUT, HMM, WE GOTTA DO FIVE OTHER THINGS. AND IN ADDITION TO, SO HOW DO WE MANAGE, UH, AND CONTROL CHANGE OVER TIME, DOCUMENT CHANGE OVER TIME? ABSOLUTELY. THAT, THAT IS CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY IN A PROGRAM OF, OF THIS SCALE AND COMPLEXITY OF HAVING, UM, NOT ONLY THE PROCESSES AND SORT OF THE, THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES IN PLACE FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, MUCH BROADER THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ACROSS OUR TEAM REALLY FOR ALL ELEMENTS OF WORK BEING CLEAR FROM THE BEGINNING, I APPRECIATE, UM, THAT COMMENT. AND YES, WE CAN I THINK COME BACK AND, AND PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON HOW WE'RE APPROACHING THAT. ALL RIGHT. I THINK THAT BRINGS US TO ERIN. SO I WANNA INTRODUCE AARON FRANKLIN AND I SAY THE AARON FRANKLIN, UH, YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF OTHER AARON FRANKLIN'S, BUT REALLY THIS IS, UH, THE AARON FRANKLIN THAT MATTERS. SO , THANK YOU LINDSAY. YEAH, AND UNLIKE THE MORE FAMOUS AARON FRANKLIN IN THIS TOWN, I DO NOT HAVE ANY GOOD BARBECUE RECIPES, SO I JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT THERE RIGHT AWAY. UH, CAN WE GET THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? I KNOW, I KNOW, RIGHT? BUT WHAT I CAN DO, I CAN GIVE YOU GUYS A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF OUR EQUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, WHICH, UH, I LIKE TO LIKEN IT TO AN UMBRELLA BECAUSE IT COVERS A LOT OF THE ACTIVITIES AND FUNCTIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA USE TO EVALUATE AND CONFIRM THE CONSISTENCY AND THE COMPLETENESS OF THE ENGINEERING AND THE CONSTRUCTION WORK THAT OUR FUTURE CONTRACTORS ARE GONNA PUT FORWARD. UH, IT ALSO FUNCTIONS, UH, IN A MANNER TO PROTECT AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM FROM POTENTIAL DEFECTS. SO OUR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED BY OUR QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, WHICH IS A, UH, FORMAL SET OF WRITTEN PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES THAT'S GONNA ASSIST US IN MANAGING RISK AND MEETING PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND ALSO DELIVERING ON CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS. UH, THE PROGRAM IS DEVELOPED BASED ON THETA'S QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GUIDELINES AND ALSO THE ISO 9,001 STANDARD FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. AND EACH OF THOSE, UH, MANUALS ALSO ASSISTS US IN PROVIDING A ROADMAP FOR, UH, TRANSIT PROJECTS LIKE OURS AND IN IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE QUALITY PROGRAM, UH, SO QA OR QUALITY ASSURANCE AS IT'S KNOWN. UH, ON THE LEFT SIDE HERE IS, IS GONNA BE A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY BETWEEN A TP AND THE CONTRACTOR'S QUALITY GROUP. AND THE QA INCLUDES THE PLANNING OF ALL QUALITY MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES AND ALSO CONFIRMING THAT THOSE ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED. SO UNDER QA WE'RE GONNA HAVE PROCESS AND, UH, PROCESS CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES, AND ALSO CONDUCTING OVERSIGHT OF THE CONTRACTOR'S ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD, MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE RIGHT PERSONNEL AND THAT THEY'RE PERFORMING THE INSPECTIONS AND TESTING, UH, AS PER THE CONTRACT. UM, WE'RE ALSO GOING TO, UH, UNDERTAKE AUDITS [01:40:01] AND SURVEILLANCE AND, UH, FOR THOSE ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE TERM SURVEILLANCE IN THIS, UH, CONTEXT IS CONSIDERED AN EXPEDIENT WAY OF DOING AN AUDIT. AND IT'S USUALLY SINGULARLY FOCUSED ON ONE ACTIVITY OR TOPIC, AND ALSO DOCUMENTATION SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A CONCISE RECORD OF ALL THE QUALITY ACTIVITIES THAT WERE PERFORMED FOR THE PROJECT. AND UNDER QUALITY CONTROL OR QC AS THIS, UH, FORMALLY KNOWN, UH, IT'S A SET OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS INCLUDING DESIGN ANALYSIS THAT ARE GONNA BE USED TO CONFIRM THAT THE PROCESSES ARE BEING PERFORMED CORRECTLY AND COMPLETELY. AND, UH, THE PHYSICAL INSPECTION IS GOING TO, UM, ALSO TIE INTO INSPECTION FOR DEFECTS ALONG THE ALIGNMENT OF ANY OF THE WORK AND ALSO MATERIALS TESTING SO THAT WE CAN, UM, ENSURE THAT THE MATERIALS THAT ARE USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION ARE VALIDATED AND THAT THOSE, UH, MATERIALS MEET THE PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS. UH, ALSO, UH, PART OF QC IS GONNA BE SUPPLIER EVALUATION SO THAT, UH, WE CAN HAVE ASSURANCE THAT THE MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS THAT ARE FEEDING MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT TO THE PROJECT ALSO ARE MEETING THE QUALITY REQUIREMENTS FOR OUR PROJECT. AND NEXT SLIDE. AND SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF AN EFFECTIVE QUALITY PROGRAM, UH, CONSISTS OF REDUCED REWORK, UH, FIRST DOING THINGS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME THAT'S WE WANNA STRIVE FOR, WHICH ROLLS INTO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS AND REDUCE PROJECT COSTS, WHICH HELPS A TP TO, UH, BE GOOD STEWARDS OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE EFFECTIVELY MANAGING, UH, THOSE FUNDS. UH, IT ALSO HELPS US WITH SUCCESSFUL PROJECT CLOSEOUT. UH, IF ANYONE IN THIS ROOM, WHICH A LOT OF FOLKS HERE, KNOW THAT ONCE YOU GET DOWN TO THE END, THAT'S WHERE THE TOUGH WORK BEGINS, IS TRYING TO WRAP EVERYTHING UP AND, AND GET IT COMPLETE. SO, UH, GOOD QUALITY PROGRAM ASSISTS IN THAT AND ALSO IN, UH, LONG-TERM RELIABILITY OF THE SYSTEM SO THAT, UH, THE USERS OF THE SYSTEM HAVE A FUNCTIONAL AND EFFICIENT MODE OF TRANSPORTATION THAT WILL SERVE AUSTIN FOR MANY YEARS. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. I WOULD JUST ADD SAFETY AS ONE OF THE BENEFITS, SO MAYBE THAT'S ON THERE, BUT OH YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SAFETY AND QUALITY ARE ALWAYS INTER MESH, SO YEAH. MM-HMM . ALRIGHT, UM, NEXT I'LL INTRODUCE, UH, HALEY GARCIA AND, AND CHRIS OWEN WHO ARE, UH, SO HALEY IS OUR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF PROJECT CONTROLS AND CHRIS LEADING OUR IT PLANNING INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT, UH, A WORLD THAT BAFFLES ME ON A DAILY BASIS AND WORKING TOGETHER TO INTEGRATE ALL OF OUR VARIOUS TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS, UM, BEING PROACTIVE BEFORE OUR CONTRACTORS COME ON BOARD, SO THAT WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE PROCESSES IN PLACE THAT WILL GUIDE HOW WE DO THE WORK. ALL RIGHT. THANKS. BOARD FOR HAVING ME HERE. I'M CHRIS OWEN, THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND MY PARTNER IN CRIME HERE, HALEY GARCIA. UH, AS, UH, LINDSEY SAID, WE WORK VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER, UH, BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROJECT CONTROLS AROUND EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING, AND SO HOW TECHNOLOGY ROLLS INTO THAT. UM, A WHILE BACK WE CAME IN FRONT OF THE BOARD AND ASKED FOR APPROVAL FOR SOME DIFFERENT SOFTWARES AND SYSTEMS AND WHATNOT, INCLUDING PROCORE, OUR ORACLE ERP SYSTEM AND WHATNOT. SO I WANTED TO COME BACK NOW AND KIND OF GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPDATE OF WHERE WE'VE GONE SINCE THAT TIME. AND SO SINCE THAT TIME, WE'VE BROUGHT UP OUR ORACLE ERP SYSTEM AND HAVE THAT IN PLACE NOW. AND WE'VE ALSO GONE THROUGH THE FIRST MAJOR PHASE OF OUR PROCORE IMPLEMENTATION. UM, SO WITH THAT IN PLACE, NOW THAT WE HAVE PROCORE IN PLACE, WE'RE NOW ACTUALLY RUNNING OUR SUBMITTALS, OUR CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER VARIOUS WORKFLOWS, DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AND STUFF THROUGH PROCORE ITSELF RIGHT NOW. UM, AS PART OF THE SOLICITATION PROCESSES THAT ARE GOING ON RIGHT NOW RELATED TO THE PDBS, WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO UTILIZE IT FOR OUR DIGITAL PLAN ROOM FOR THAT. SO THAT WAS NOT EVEN AN INTENDED USE CASE OF PROCORE, BUT A NEED CAME UP AND WE WERE ABLE TO ACTUALLY UTILIZE IT FOR THAT. SO THAT WAS JUST A, A KIND OF BENEFIT OF THAT. UM, THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS, WE'VE BEEN DEVELOPING A WHOLE SERIES OF STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES TO GO ALONG WITH ALL THESE DIFFERENT PROCESSES THAT WE'RE, UH, AUTOMATING WITHIN THE TOOLS. UM, WE FULLY ALIGNED OUR ORACLE AND PROCORE SYSTEMS ALONG THE LINES OF OUR PROJECT HIERARCHY AND OUR WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE SO THAT WE CAN EFFICIENTLY [01:45:01] REPORT OUT TO THE FTA ON, ON THE PROJECT ITSELF. UM, ALSO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, UH, YOU'D MENTIONED A BOARD MEMBER EARLIER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IMPROVEMENTS OR ENHANCEMENTS THROUGH THIS PROCESS, WE REALLY TOOK A HARD LOOK AT OUR INVOICING WORKFLOW AND PROCESSES OF HOW THEY'RE SUBMITTED, REVIEWED, APPROVED, AND WE'VE GREATLY ENHANCED THAT PROCESS NOW AS IT FLOWS THROUGH PROCORE AND ORACLE. SO THAT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE BEING ABLE TO, TO PAY THOSE INVOICES IN A VERY EFFICIENT MANNER, UM, IS GONNA BE A BIG BENEFIT OUT OF THIS. AND NOW WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE WE'RE BASICALLY SHIFTING FROM THE INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF PROCORE TO ACTUALLY FULLY INTEGRATING IT WITH OUR ORACLE ERP SYSTEM. AND WHAT THAT'S REALLY GONNA ALLOW US TO DO IS HAVE SOME REALLY ROBUST REPORTING AND ANALYTICS THAT WILL SUPPORT OUR PROJECT CONTROLS TEAM, BUT NOT ONLY PROJECT CONTROLS. ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL UNITS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS INTEGRATION. AND SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO REALLY HAVE A LOT OF, UH, OF REPORTING AND ANALYTICS CAPABILITIES THAT COME OUT OF IT. BEYOND PROCORE ORACLE, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED A SYSTEM TO HELP OUT OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TEAM RELATED TO STAKEHOLDER, UH, MANAGEMENT. UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR REAL ESTATE TEAM TO IMPLEMENT A REAL ESTATE AND RIGHT OF WAY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AS WELL. SO THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THE TECHNOLOGY WORLD. WELL, TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE ALL OF THIS, WE'VE WORKED WITH OUR DELIVERY PARTNER AND STOOD UP A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP THAT'S GOING TO KIND OF GUIDE ALL OF OUR, UH, DIGITAL DELIVERY AND TECHNOLOGY DECISIONS. AND THEN ALONG WITH THAT, INTERNALLY WE HAVE AN INTERNAL A TP IT CABINET THAT HAS LEADERS FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL UNITS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION ON THERE THAT'S GONNA HELP US WITH OUR OVERALL TECHNOLOGY, GOVERNANCE, SECURITY, UM, AND OUR TECHNOLOGY RISK MANAGEMENT. SO TO THIS POINT, I THINK WE'VE DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF POSITIONING OURSELVES AS WE GO INTO 2026 FOR, YOU KNOW, TO BE READY FOR ONBOARDING THE PDB AND TO BE READINESS. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT OUR WORK ISN'T DONE, WE HAVE MUCH, MUCH MORE TO DO. UH, BUT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE HERE. SO, UH, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO Y'ALL FOR ANY QUESTIONS. I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT WHEN YOU MENTIONED PROCORE IN THE PLAN ROOM, DID YOU, DID I HEAR YOU CORRECTLY? YEAH. SO WHAT, WHAT, SO WE HAVE VARIOUS TOOLS FOR SOLICITATIONS AND WHATNOT FOR THE, THE DIGITAL PLAN ROOM ARE OUR PLANS, OUR DOCUMENTS, OUR CAD DRAWINGS, ALL THOSE VERY LARGE, VERY BIG FILES. UH, THE SYSTEM THAT WE HAD FOR OUR SOLICITATION PURPOSES WASN'T GOING WORK FOR THAT. SO WE WERE LOOKING AT HOW DO WE SHARE ALL THAT. SO, YOU KNOW, TXDOT HAS THEIR OWN SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS DIFFERENT, UH, UH, ENTITIES OUT THERE HAVE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. BUT WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO, TO UTILIZE IT TO BE ABLE TO TRACK WHO HAD, WHO HAD CHECKED OUT THE PLANS, WHO HAD REVIEWED THE PLANS AND WHATNOT. AND SO, UH, IT ALLOWED BASICALLY ALL OF THE VARIOUS PARTIES ACCESS INTO THAT SYSTEM TO REVIEW THE PANS, CHECK 'EM OUT, AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO TRACK AND LOG ALL OF THAT INFORMATION. AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS PROGRAMMED SEPARATELY, THAT YOU WORKED DIRECTLY WITH PROCORE TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN, OR THAT WAS KIND OF THE IT CAME, I'LL, I'LL LET HAILEY, UH, . OKAY. I'M JUST REALLY CURIOUS BECAUSE I DO FIND IT THAT AS WE SET UP THESE SYSTEMS NOW AND WE TEST THEM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SETTING OURSELVES READY FOR A SUCCESSFUL, YOU KNOW, WE CAN HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. YEAH. SO DURING THIS PROCUREMENT, UM, THERE WERE SEVERAL STAGES WHERE DURING RFQ AND RFP, A LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA NEEDED TO BE SHARED. OKAY. AND SO WHAT CHRIS HAS REFERENCE IS WE SET UP MIDI, WE SET, WE'RE CALLED 'EM DATA ROOMS. AND SO EACH RESPONDENT WAS ACTUALLY GIVEN ACCESS TO A RESPONDENT SPECIFIC FOLDER, AND IT WAS LAID OUT. ALL OF THE INFORMATION WAS IN THERE. UM, THERE WAS A TEAM WORKING IN THE BACKGROUND, LIKE MASSIVE HOURS LEADING UP TO THIS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DATA WAS ORGANIZED, IT WAS NAMED CORRECTLY, SO THAT EACH OF THE TEAMS THAT WERE GIVEN ACCESS COULD GO IN SEARCH, LOOK UP ALL OF THE REFERENCE DOCUMENTS THAT THEY NEEDED TO IN ORDER TO PREPARE THEIR, UM, PROPOSALS FOR US TO REVIEW. SO IT GAVE THEM ACCESS TO ALL THAT DATA. UM, CHRIS IS REFERENCING A VERY QUICK TURNAROUND TIME. WE GOT ONE OF THESE SET UP, THE TEAM SET ONE OF 'EM UP IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS. THAT'S HOW EASY THE SYSTEM WAS TO USE. UM, AND THAT TWO WEEKS WENT FROM, WE HAVE AN IDEA TO, WE GOT PEOPLE WORKING IN IT AND HAD GIVEN ACCESS TO THE CONTRACTORS. [01:50:01] SO TO SAY THAT WE'RE BEING SUCCESSFUL IN THIS IMPLEMENTATION FOR PHASE ONE, I THINK IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. I THINK WE'VE EXCELLED AT THIS IMPLEMENTATION. UM, AND THAT FIRST INITIATIVE WAS SO SUCCESSFUL WE IMPLEMENTED IT AGAIN FOR, UH, THE SECOND SET OF DATA THAT NEEDED TO GO OUT FOR THE RFP AND IT'S CONTINUING TO BE USED AND IT'S ALSO ALLOWED US TO LEARN SOME LESSONS IN HOW IT'S WORKING FOR US, WHAT ARE THE SUCCESSES, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES, AND WE'RE INCORPORATING THOSE REAL TIME AS WE COME INTO OUR PHASE TWO IMPLEMENTATION, WHICH AS CHRIS MENTIONED, IS THE INTEGRATIONS BETWEEN THE SYSTEMS. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YEAH, NO, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO GET A GRASP ON TO SEE IF, IF, IF SOMETHING THAT CAN GROW WITH US AND BE, IS ROBUST AND IS MEETING OUR NEEDS AND IS MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE CONSULTANTS. AND IT'S KIND OF ONE PLATFORM THAT CAN HOUSE IT ALL. I MEAN, I DO SEE IN TRA IN THE TRANSIT WORLD, I'M FAMILIAR WITH PROJECT WISE FOR THE ACTUAL PRODUCTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND HOW THINGS GET ORGANIZED, BUT IT'S EXCITING TO SEE THAT THERE, THERE'S A COMMON LANGUAGE AND THAT THE DATA SHARING IS COMPATIBLE AND NIMBLE AND USER FRIENDLY IN A WAY THAT IT IS. IT IS. IF IT CAN MEET ALL THAT, I'M IMPRESSED. YEAH. AND NOT ONLY IS IT USER FRIENDLY, SO PROJECTWISE IS LIKE THE REAL WORK FOR DESIGN, RIGHT? RIGHT. BUT WHEN THEY SUBMIT AND WE NEED TO DO THOSE DESIGN REVIEWS THAT WE HAVE AN INTEGRATION THAT WE'RE WORKING ON WITH BLUEBEAM MM-HMM . SO THAT, UH, THROUGH THE DESIGN TOOL, OUR BLUEBEAM ADMINISTRATOR CAN KICK THOSE OFF IN PROCO, PROCORE. MM-HMM . EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN BLUEBEAM, WHICH IS MOST PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH ALREADY. RIGHT. BUT THEN IT COMES BACK INTO PROCORE. SO EVERYTHING IS IN PROCORE FOR OUR DOCUMENT CONTROL, OUR DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT, OUR RECORD KEEPING, UM, RESOLUTION, DISPOSITIONING OF THOSE COMMENTS. AND THEN THAT JUST KICKS INTO ALL THE OTHER TOOLS THAT WE'LL BE UTILIZING. SO PROCORE ISN'T JUST DOCUMENTS, THIS IS A FULL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT WE WILL BE USING TO RUN DESIGN RIGHT NOW, BUT IT WILL GROW WITH US THROUGH CONSTRUCTION AND THEN ALSO POTENTIALLY CAN GROW WITH US INTO OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT. THAT'S FANTASTIC TO HEAR ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD? NO, I DO HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION FOR YOU, AARON. A GREAT NAME. UM, . SHORT OF SAYING THAT'S A DELICIOUS NAME. UM, THAT PUT THAT, UM, WITH THE QUALITY CONTROL. I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU'RE USING SOMETHING THAT'S ALREADY PRE-ESTABLISHED BY THE FDA AS, AS THE QUALITY ASSURANCE AND THE ISO STANDARDS FOR QUALITY CONTROL AND QUALITY ASSURANCE AS A PHILOSOPHY OF HOW WE DO THINGS INTERNALLY FOR QUALITY CONTROL. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I HAVE FOUND SUCCESSFUL IS WHEN OUR SAME TEAMS ARE EMPOWERED TO SAY, HEY, I MADE A MISTAKE. RIGHT? RATHER THAN AFTER YOU GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS PROCESS, THEN WE FIND THE ERRORS. BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS TO HEAR FROM YOU, WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY ON EMPOWERING THE TEAMS TO RECOGNIZE AHEAD OF TIME? LIKE, HEY, LET'S DOUBLE CHECK THIS OR DOUBLE CHECK MY WORK. OH, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO THAT'S ONE OF OUR MAIN FOCUSES IS THE DOUBLE CHECK FACTOR. SO WE'RE RELYING ON OUR CONTRACTOR TO PERFORM QUALITY CONTROL BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORK THEY PRODUCE, AND ALSO THEY'RE MORE INTIMATELY INVOLVED WITH SCHEDULE, THEY'RE SUBCONTRACTORS, ET CETERA. SO OUR PRIMARY FOCUS IS THE DOUBLE CHECK ASPECT, AND WE WANNA EMPOWER ALL OF OUR INSPECTION, ALL, EXCUSE ME, ALL OF OUR INSPECTORS, ALL OF OUR QUALITY ENGINEERS, OUR QUALITY MANAGERS TO RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMETHING'S GOING IN A DIRECTION WE DON'T WANT IT TO, AND TO BRING THAT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE TEAM SO THAT IT CAN BE CORRECTED BEFORE IT BECOMES A BIGGER ISSUE. SO THAT'S DEFINITELY BAKED INTO OUR QUALITY PROGRAM IS, UH, KIND OF A SEE SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING, UH, ATTITUDE. SO YEAH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY FOLLOWS THAT PHILOSOPHY AND, AND UH, USES IT, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT TO, FROM A PUNITIVE SIDE OF THINGS. IT'S, IT'S, IN MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN THAT IT'S MUCH BETTER AND MUCH MORE EFFICIENT TO SAY. I KNOW WHERE THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE SKIPPED THAT, AND I'M JUST REALLY CURIOUS TO, ARE WE GOING THROUGH LIKE A SEVEN SIGNATURE PROCESS? LIKE WE DO A DART, LIKE THEY DID A DART WHERE SEVEN PEOPLE HAVE TO SIGN OFF ON EVERY ONE OF THOSE? NO, I DON'T THINK IT'LL BE THAT. OKAY. ENTAILED, BUT, UH, JUST CHECKING. YEAH, WE DO. WE'LL HAVE A, A SET OF CHECKS AND BALANCES THOUGH UHHUH TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, EVERYTHING FROM DESIGN THROUGH SPECIFICATIONS, THROUGH THE WORK, AND THEN LIKE I SAID, ALL THE WAY THROUGH PROJECT CLOSEOUT HAS BEEN DOUBLECHECK AND RECHECKED ALONG THE WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT [01:55:01] WHAT WE'RE DELIVERING TO AUSTIN IS THE BEST THAT IT COULD POSSIBLY BE. AND IT COMES BACK, OH, GO AHEAD. IT, IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT, UM, HOW THE BOSS REACTS TO AN EMPLOYEE WHEN THEY SAY I MADE A MISTAKE, DETERMINES EVERYTHING. MM-HMM . YEAH. AND THAT'S THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE, THAT IF I THINK ALL OF US HAVE A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP AND INVESTMENT OF THIS PROGRAM AND HOW WE OWN IT AND OWN OUR, OUR DESIGN, OUR CREATIVITY AND OUR, AND OUR ERRORS POTENTIALLY CAN MAKE IT A VERY SUCCESSFUL, UM, ENDEAVOR. MM-HMM . SO I JUST AS A PHILOSOPHY OF, OF EMBRACING CREATIVITY AND BEING IN A SAFE PLACE TO MAKE MISTAKES, LET'S, LET'S RECOGNIZE THAT MISTAKES ARE ALWAYS MADE AND CHALLENGES ARE ALWAYS FOUND. YEAH. AND HOW WE RESOLVE THEM IS REALLY THE, THE KEY THAT I THINK VERY SUCCESSFUL QUALITY CONTROL PROGRAMS ESTABLISH EARLY THAT PHILOSOPHY. ABSOLUTELY. I AGREE. BOARD MEMBER, OUR TEAM IS VERY PRACTICED IN TELLING ME WHEN I HAVE A BAD IDEA. . SO , WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, THAT'S GREAT. THOSE ARE GREAT. HE MEANS ME. . OH, THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF THE UPDATES WE HAVE FOR YOU TODAY. I THINK, GREG, DID YOU WANNA CLOSE THIS OUT? YEAH, I JUST, I'LL JUST, I THINK REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ALL THOSE, THOSE KIND OF GRAYED OUT BOXES ON EACH OF THOSE PAGES AND I THINK, UM, THEY WILL ALL BE COMING BACK RIGHT IN IN, IN IN MOMENTS. WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THESE BIG ONES. YOU'LL START HEARING ABOUT MORE AND MORE AS WE'RE JUST DOING UPDATES ON THE PROJECT. WE'RE GOING THROUGH CONTRACTS, WE'LL COME BACK AND HAVE TO DO DEEP DIVES ON CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF THOSE. I THINK WAS TO JUST GET ACROSS THE EXTENT OF ALL THIS WORK WE'RE DOING AND WE'VE BEEN HIGHLY FOCUSED IN 25 ON OUR FEDERAL WORK AND OUR INDUSTRY WORK. WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF THAT. WE'RE ALSO SUPER PROUD OF ALL THIS OTHER THING BECAUSE WE HAVE TO BE ROWING A LOT OF BOATS ALL AT THE SAME TIME TO BE ABLE TO GET READY FOR, WE ARE IN 2026. WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT 26. UM, I THINK WE'RE REALLY AT AN INFLECTION POINT AS, UM, AN ORGANIZATION AND AS A COMMUNITY AS WE GET READY FOR, UH, WHAT'S ABOUT TO COMING DOWN. OUR COMING DOWN HERE STARTS WITH NEPA. JEN WAS ABLE TO TALK ABOUT OUR SUCCESS HOPEFULLY HERE, UM, IN THE UPCOMING MONTH OF COMPLETING OUR NEPA AND OUR, AND GETTING A RECORD OF DECISION, A CONTINUING ADVANCEMENT OF OUR FEDERAL PROCESS. UM, WE'VE BEEN LOCKSTEP. WE, WE LAID OUT A FEDERAL TIMELINE, UM, FOR THIS BOARD AND THIS COMMUNITY IN 20, UH, IN 23. AND WE'VE HIT THAT. UM, UH, WE HAVE THESE MAJOR CONTRACTS YOU'VE ALL HAD. WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THOSE A LOT. UM, WE'RE GONNA BE BRINGING THOSE ALL BACK HERE IN THE FIRST BEGINNING OF THE FIRST QUARTER AND THEN DOING ALL THESE ADDITIONAL AGREEMENTS. AND SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE WORK. I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS WE'LL DO IS THINK ABOUT OUR, OUR TIME TOGETHER, UM, UM, KIND OF FEEDBACK ON WHAT'S WORK SESSION, BOARD WORK VERSUS KIND OF REGULAR MEETINGS. I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE CRAFT THAT AGAIN AS WE HIT THIS INFLECTION POINT. BUT IT IS A BIG MOMENT FOR AUSTIN. IT'S GREAT. UM, THERE'S SO MUCH GOING ON IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW WITH ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND OUR OPPORTUNITY IS TO MAKE SURE, REMIND FOLKS ABOUT WHY WE'RE DOING IT OR WE'RE DOING THIS. 'CAUSE PEOPLE WANT A BETTER OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER, THE OPPORTUNITIES AROUND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THAT, THAT GET FROM OUR PROJECT. BUT ALL THE OTHER PROJECTS, AS AUSTIN KIND OF GETS READY FOR THE DECADE THAT'S AHEAD OF US. SO, UH, WE'RE EXCITED TO BRING BACK A LOT OF WORK TO YOU ALL HERE IN THE UPCOMING, UH, MONTHS. AND HOPEFULLY THIS TODAY WAS JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A TASTE OF IT. IT'S NOT EVERYTHING, FEEDBACK THAT YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ON. WE'D LOVE TO KIND OF HEAR FROM THAT SO WE CAN KEEP CONSTRUCTING THESE, UM, DIALOGUES IN A WAY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, GETTING YOU WHAT YOU NEED AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND GETTING US READY FOR, UH, 2026 AS WE LOOK TO CONSTRUCTION IN 27. THANK YOU. ANY CLOSING STATEMENTS FROM THE BOARD? I JUST WANTED TO THANK THE WHOLE TEAM FOR SUCH AN EXCELLENT, UH, AND THOROUGH OVERVIEW, AND I'M EXCITED TOO. SO THANK YOU TEAM. THANK YOU. I KNOW WE'RE APPROACHING THE HOLIDAY SEASON, SO I JUST WANNA WISH EVERYONE, UM, A SAFE AND, UH, DELICIOUS THANKSGIVING . UM, SO ALSO I'M GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOU AND FOR THE HEAVY LIFT THAT EVERYONE IS AND THE DEVOTION THAT EVERYONE IS SHOWING AS WE ADVANCE THIS PROGRAM. SO THANK YOU FOR THE TEAM AND THANK YOU FOR THE HEAVY LIFT TO ALL OF YOU. UH, THIS CONCLUDES THE NOVEMBER 19TH A TP BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING. THE MEETING STANDS ADJOURNED AT 4:04 PM THANK YOU. * 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.