[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER]
SO I'M CALLING THE MEETING TO ORDER IF EVERYBODY ON, UH, IF EVERY, EVERYBODY WHO'S NOT ON CAMERA, ALL THE, THE MEMBERS CAN JUST COME TURN ON YOUR CAMERAS TO BE COUNTED AS PRESENT.[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
WITH CITIZEN PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.SCOTT, ARE YOU WANTING TO SPEAK? YES.
I'M A MEMBER OF THE CONSUMPTION WORKING GROUP, ALONG WITH EVA WHITE AND ANNA SCOTT AND MELISSA CODDLE.
I'VE BEEN TRACKING THE ITEM, WHICH DIDN'T GET APPROVED BY THE BUDGET AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE TAX RATE ELECTION, UH, CAUSING IT NOT TO HAPPEN.
AND THAT'S THIS IDEA THAT THE JSC APPROVED $75,000 FOR A BATTERY ELECTRIC RIDING MOWER FOR PARD THAT PASSED.
IT APPEARS WITH THAT FUNDING, THEY CAN LIKELY BUY TWO OF THEM.
AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, THEY GOT SOME CIP MONEY AND THEY'RE BUILDING A NEW MAINTENANCE BARN FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE NEW MOWERS, WHICH SHOULD BE THERE SOMETIME BY EARLY SUMMER OF NEXT YEAR TO BE USED IN ER PARK AND POSSIBLY OTHER PARKS BY PART.
AND HOPEFULLY THAT WILL SPREAD OVER TIME.
TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS DOES MAINTENANCE, LANDSCAPING, MAINTENANCE ON THE MEDIANS AND OTHER PLACES.
AND THERE ARE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE GASOLINE POWERED AND LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.
THERE'S, THERE'S ACTUALLY QUITE A FEW.
I GOT SOME SPREADSHEETS, UH, LAST YEAR OR SO AND SHARED THEM WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE CONSUMPTION WORKING GROUP.
SO I'M ALSO VERY INTERESTED IN TRYING TO SUPPORT THE TWO FTES OR STAFF POSITIONS THAT WOULD GO IN THE OFFICE OF CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.
ALL OF YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW THAT THOSE, UH, ARE NOT APPROVED BASED ON THE TAX RATE ELECTION FAILING.
I JUST HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH A STAFF MEMBER OF A COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER'S OFFICE RECENTLY, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE WORKING DILIGENTLY TO FIND FUNDING FOR ONE OR BOTH POSITIONS.
I, THEY'RE, IT'S A CHALLENGING SITUATION SINCE, SINCE CUTS HAVE TO BE MADE IN ORDER TO MAKE, UH, THE BUDGET WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE.
SO I'M HOPEFUL THAT THERE'S SOMETHING THERE, BUT WE'LL KNOW VERY LIKELY BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK OR SOONER, MAYBE AS SOON AS TOMORROW IF THEY HAVE A MEETING WHERE THEY VOTE ON THE BUDGET.
SO, UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
ALRIGHT, UH, WE'VE GOT QUITE A FEW ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA, SO, UM, I MAY ENCOURAGE BREVITY WHERE WE CAN, UM, WHILE STILL, YOU KNOW, HAVING A THOROUGH DISCUSSION AND, AND HOPEFULLY, UH, TAKING ACTION ON, ON SOME OF THE, THE ACTION ITEMS. UM, WE WILL START WITH
[3. Presentation regarding Austin Resource Recovery Fleet Electrification. Presentation by Nia Nickens, Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Fellow.]
THE BRIEFINGS.WE'RE GONNA GO A LITTLE OUT OF ORDER SINCE ROHAN WILL BE HERE WITH US FOR THE DURATION.
UH, WE'RE GONNA START WITH THE FLEET ELECTRIFICATION PRESENTATION.
AND WE HAVE NIA NICKENS HERE TO PRESENT HERE FRONT.
AND IT LOOKS LIKE PHILIP IS GONNA ASSIST.
NO, I, I AM, I'M NOT NIA NICKENS, UH, PHILIP DRAWN, UH, SENIOR CLIMATE ANALYST FOR, UH, AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE.
I JUST WANTED TO, UH, INTRODUCE NIA AND SORT OF LIKE PUT HER PRESENTATION IN CONTEXT 'CAUSE IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A SPECIAL CASE.
SO, NIA WAS WORKING WITH US AND MYSELF AND FOLKS FROM FLEET AND, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY OVER THE SUMMER IN THE CAPACITY AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND, CLIMATE CORPS FELLOW.
WE HOSTED A NUMBER IN THE PAST, UM, JUST OFTENTIMES JUST REALLY IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS AND THEY DO REALLY GREAT WORK.
AND, AND SO NIA WORKED WITH US FOR THREE MONTHS ON THIS PROJECT THAT SHE'S GONNA PRESENT TODAY THAT IS SORT OF A SNAPSHOT OF THAT, UH, POINT IN TIME OF WHERE THE CONVERSATION WAS.
UM, NIA NIA COMES TO US FROM, UH, TEXAS A AND M, WHERE SHE GOT A MASTER'S IN ENERGY AND THEN WAS ALSO WORKING ON THE HILL FOR, UH, RAFAEL AN, UH, BEFORE COMING TO WORK WITH US.
SO SHE BRINGS A LOT OF SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE AND VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION AND POLICY, AND SHE IS TAKING TIME SINCE SHE NO LONGER WORKS WITH US.
UH, SHE'S TAKING TIME OUT OF HER LIFE TO DO THIS.
SO REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE TO TONIGHT.
[00:05:01]
HI.UM, I'M EXCITED TO SHOW YOU WHAT I WAS ABLE TO PRODUCE OVER THE SUMMER.
UH, THIS ELECTRIFICATION PLAN WAS QUITE AMBITIOUS WHEN WE STARTED.
UM, HOWEVER, I WAS ABLE TO GET IT DONE WITH IMMENSE COLLABORATION WITH DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND INDUSTRY LEADERS OFFERING THEIR EXPERTISE.
UH, SO JUST THE PROJECT OVERVIEW.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF HOW THE PROJECT CAME TO BE.
UM, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY ADOPTED THEIR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN BACK IN 2023, AND, UH, THEY SET A GOAL OF ACHIEVING ZERO WASTE BY 2040.
A LARGE PART OF THE WASTE INDUSTRY IS DIESEL REFUSE TRUCKS THAT OPERATE EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND SO, SPECIFICALLY CHAPTERS FOUR AND EIGHT OF THIS PLAN, UH, MAKE SURE TO ADDRESS THE LONG TERM GOAL OF DEVELOPING THE NECESSARY INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.
UM, AND AS YOU'VE HEARD, UH, DUE TO THE RESOLUTION MADE BY THE ZERO WASTE COMMISSION, UH, THERE'S COLLABORATION WITH, UH, THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND TO BRING ON A FELLOW AS MYSELF TO KIND OF BRING THIS ELECTRIFICATION PLAN INTO FRUITION.
SO, UM, THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT, I WAS ABLE TO, UH, BUILD UPON THESE LIKE FIVE PILLARS THAT I HAVE OUTLINED HERE, WHICH IS BASICALLY THE BASIS OF THE PROJECT.
SO FIRST WE HAVE FLEET ASSESSMENT.
UM, I IDENTIFIED, UH, ELECTRIC ALTERNATIVES FOR THE REFUGE TRUCKS, AND THEN I PROPOSED A FLEET, UH, OR PROPOSED A PHASE ELECTRIFICATION STRUCTURE, UH, SCHEDULE, UM, IN ORDER TO ALIGN WITH THE RETIREMENT OF OLDER DIESEL, UH, VEHICLES.
AND THEN WE HAVE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF, UM, THE TYPE AND LO LOCATION OF THOSE CHARGERS, AND MAKING SURE TO PLAN THE BUILD OUT TIMELINE OF THOSE CHARGES TO ALIGN WITH THE ADOPTION OF EVS.
UM, OF COURSE WE HAVE THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, WE HAVE THE OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY USING THAT, UH, ROUTE ANALYSIS TO INFORM US HOW TO, UH, WHERE TO PLACE THOSE CHARGING LOCATIONS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.
AND THEN FOR THE FLEET ASSESSMENT, UM, AS OF THIS YEAR, A RR HAS, UM, ONE OPERATING ELECTRIC VEHICLE REFUSE TRUCK, UH, WHICH I THINK WAS LAUNCHED, UM, JUNE OF THE SUMMER, ALONG WITH TWO OPERATING ON COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS.
AND THEN THE REST, THE REMAINDER ARE OPERATING ON DIESEL.
UH, THE FLEET INCLUDES A WIDE, UH, VARIETY OF MAKES AND MODELS THAT RANGE FROM 2015 TO 2025.
UM, AND THE FLEET ALSO HAS VARIOUS REFUSE COLLECTIONS SUCH AS RECYCLING, GARBAGE, COMPOSTS.
UM, THE THREE MAIN CATEGORIES OF THESE TRUCKS INCLUDES SOME OF THOSE SMALLER, UH, 11 YARD CAPACITY TRUCKS, AND THEN WE HAVE LARGER REAR LOADERS AND SIDE LOADERS.
UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS THE PROPOSED ELECTRIFICATION TIMELINE THAT ALIGNS WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S, UH, CLIMATE GOALS.
SO THIS VERY TIMELINE IS WHAT THE ANALYSIS IS BASED ON.
HOWEVER, IT CAN BE SHIFTED TO ANOTHER ADOPTION TIMELINE OF THAT IS WHAT IS CHOSEN.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE IN 2031 AND 2032, IT DISPLAYS A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN THE TIMELINE, UM, FROM 26% TO 40% IN CUMULATIVE, UH, PERCENTAGE INCREASE.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE IN THOSE YEARS, UM, 27 BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE PURCHASED DURING THAT TIME.
UM, AND THAT JUST GOES TO INFORM US ABOUT THE ANTICIPATED MARKET READINESS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF EVS, UM, EV REFUGE TRUCKS IN PARTICULAR OVER TIME.
UH, THIS NEXT SLIDE, UH, FOR THE EV ALTERNATIVES, I WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY THREE ALTERNATIVES FOR THOSE SMALLER 11 YARD CAPACITY REAR LOADERS, EIGHT ALTERNATIVES FOR THE LARGER SIDE LOADERS, AND THREE ALTERNATIVES FOR THE LARGER REAR LOADERS.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE TO FULLY ELECTRIFY ARRS, UM, FLEET, WHICH IS 189
[00:10:01]
TRUCKS, WE HAVE TO STRATEGICALLY PLACE THESE DC FAST CHARGERS TO MATCH CERTAIN ASPECTS LIKE ROUTE SCHEDULES, CHARGING WINDOWS, AND SOME FACILITY CONSTRAINTS.UH, THESE ARE REALLY HIGH POWERED CHARGERS AND THEY'RE ESSENTIAL BECAUSE THEY RAPIDLY CHARGE THESE VEHICLES, UM, IN A MATTER OF HOURS AND THEY'LL BE ABLE TO SUPPORT MID ROUTE CHARGING WHERE IT'S NEEDED.
UM, AND SO WE MADE SURE TO PLACE THE CHARGING BASED ON A 60 40 SPLIT, UH, BETWEEN THE TWO SERVICE CENTERS IN THE NORTHEAST AND THE KENNETH GARNER SERVICE CENTER, UH, WHERE THOSE VEHICLES WOULD BE DOMICILED.
AND ALSO, UH, TRY TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF A TRANSFER STATION.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE STANDALONE DC FAST CHARGERS, THEY'RE QUITE EXPENSIVE.
THEY RANGE FROM 60 TO A HUNDRED THOUSAND PER PORT AND INSTALLATION EXPENSES.
SO IN THIS PLAN, WE MADE SURE TO INCLUDE SOME MORE DIVERSE TECHNOLOGY, UH, TO HANDLE A LARGER FLEET LIKE FOR A RR.
ONE EXAMPLE ON THE RIGHT, AS YOU CAN SEE, IS THE GO EV DOCK CHAIN SYSTEM.
AND SO INSTEAD OF BUILDING ONE CHARGER FOR EVERY TRUCK, THERE IS A DOCK CHAIN SYSTEM THAT CONNECTS MULTIPLE VEHICLES, UM, TO A SINGLE CHARGER THROUGH A DAISY CHAIN, UM, FOR EACH TERMINAL.
AND IT ALSO HAS, UM, SEQUENTIAL CHARGING.
UM, AND SO USING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE THIS CAN LOWER INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS AND, UM, MAKE THE CHARGING PROCESS A LOT MORE EFFICIENT.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING AND THE ASSOCIATED COSTS WITH O AND M WILL BE COVERED BY FLEET MOBILITY SERVICES.
UM, CURRENTLY CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, FOR ARR IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT, UH, FOR BOTH THE SERVICE CENTERS.
UH, 11 FUNDED FOR THE NORTHEAST AND FOR THE KINDERGARTNER, THERE'S FOUR THAT ARE ALREADY UNDERWAY.
UM, BUT THE REMAINING 174 CHARGERS, UH, I DISTRIBUTED IT BASED ON THAT 60 40 SPLIT OF WHERE THE TRUCKS WILL BE DOMICILED.
SO, UM, I MADE SURE TO ADD MORE DAISY CHAINS THAN DC FAST CHARGERS, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE MAP, JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE LESS EXPENSIVE, THE UPFRONT COSTS OF THE STANDALONE CHARGES ARE ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 70,000, UM, WITH 3000 PER PORT FOR MAINTENANCE AS OPPOSED TO 35,000, UM, UPFRONT FOR THE DAISY CHAIN WITH 1600 FOR MAINTENANCE.
UM, AND I ALSO MADE SURE TO NOTE THAT THERE ARE 20 OR PROPOSED 20 DC FAST CHARGES FOR A POTENTIAL, UH, TRANSFER STATION IN THE NORTH AUSTIN AREA.
UH, THIS WAS JUST BASED ON THE TRANSFER STATION ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY THAT WAS COMPLETED THIS YEAR, UH, WHERE THEY IDENTIFIED FIVE POTENTIAL SITES WHERE THEY COULD PUT A TRANSFER STATION.
UM, AND THE REASON WHY IT'S SPECIFICALLY 20 IS BECAUSE, UM, IN THE ROUTE ROUTE ANALYSIS THAT YOU'LL SEE LATER, UM, 20 CHARGERS REPRESENTS ROUGHLY HALF OF THE TOTAL ROUTES AFFECTED ON ARRS, UM, HIGHEST DEMAND DAY, WHICH IS A WEDNESDAY.
AND SO, UH, WE'RE BASICALLY JUST USING THOSE 20 TO ACT AS A BUFFER TO MAKE SURE THERE'S ENOUGH CAPACITY TO SUPPORT THE WORST CASE OPERATIONAL NEEDS, UM, WITHOUT HAVING TO OVERBUILD INFRASTRUCTURE.
UH, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS, UM, JUST A VISUAL OF HOW THOSE CHARGERS WILL BE BUILT IN BULK OVER THE TIMELINE IN REFERENCE TO THE ADOPTION CURVE LINE.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THOSE LIKE INITIALLY FUNDED CHARGERS IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS, AND IT SLOWLY PROGRESSES, UH, ALL THE WAY TO 2039.
UM, AS FAR AS THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, THIS IS BASED ON THE PHASE, THE PHASING OUT OF DIESEL TRUCKS AND THEIR, UH, LIFECYCLE.
SO MAKING SURE THAT WHATEVER IS BUDGETED OUT INITIALLY, UM, IS IN LINE WITH THE PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE.
SO RIGHT NOW, DIESEL TRUCKS COST ABOUT A HUNDRED TO 150, UH, DOLLARS PER DAY JUST TO FUEL.
BUT BY SWITCHING TO ELECTRIC, UM, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY COULD CUT THOSE COSTS NEARLY IN HALF, UH, DROPPING FROM 4.8 MILLION
[00:15:01]
TO AROUND 2.1 MILLION ONCE THE FLEET IS FULLY ELECTRIFIED.UM, SO TO MAKE THESE SAVINGS A LITTLE BIT MORE REAL, UM, A RR WILL DEFINITELY NEED TO LEVERAGE ANY FEDERAL OR STATE INCENTIVES THERE MIGHT BE LEFT TO APPLY FOR, TO, UM, OFFSET THOSE HIGHER UPFRONT COSTS, UH, FOR THOSE TRUCKS.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT AS THE MARKET GROWS, THE PRICE OF BATTERIES FALL AS WELL.
SO, UM, IN MY RESEARCH, I FOUND THAT EXPECTED, UH, FOR THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THOSE VEHICLES TO DROP ABOUT FIVE TO 7% PER YEAR, UH, WHICH IS, UM, MAKES FINANCIAL ASPECTS A LITTLE BIT MORE REALISTIC FOR A RR.
UM, AND SO TO CAPTURE THIS, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE BOTTOM, WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT DIFFERENT MODELING SCENARIOS.
THE FIRST ONE HAS NO COST REDUCTIONS, THE SECOND ONE HAS A 4% ANNUAL DECREASE FROM THE PURCHASE PRICE, AND THEN THE THIRD ONE HAS THAT BOTH, THAT 4% ANNUAL DECREASE, ALONG WITH, UM, UH, THE GOVERNMENTAL ALTERNATIVE FUEL FLEET PROGRAM FROM, THAT'S RUN BY THE TCEQ.
UM, IT'S UNDER THE TEXAS EMISSIONS REDUCTION PLAN.
UM, IN THIS PROJECT, WE ASSUMED THAT A RR COULD GET AN THE MAXIMUM AWARD OF $1 MILLION PER YEAR.
BUT SINCE GAF IS A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PROGRAM AND IT'S VERY SELECTIVE, THE ACTUAL AWARD AMOUNT WOULD LIKELY BE SMALLER.
BUT WE CONSIDERED THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE IT'S NICE TO CONSIDER, OR IT'S NICE TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE HOW CRUCIAL IN GRANT, HOW CRUCIAL GRANTS AND INCENTIVES ARE TO, UH, ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT LIKE THIS.
UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THE THREE, UM, THE THREE SCENARIOS MAPPED OUT ON THIS GRAPH.
UH, THE BLUE LINE YOU SEE IS THE BASE CASE.
UM, THERE ARE NO SAVINGS FOR THAT ONE.
UM, AND THE REASON FOR THE LARGE DIP IN THE YEAR 2032 IS BECAUSE, UM, 27 OF THOSE EVS FROM THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, ARE PURCHASED THAT YEAR.
UM, BUT AS YOU SEE JUST ALONE WITH THE MARKET TRANSFER, THE 4% ANNUAL DECREASE, UH, THOSE COSTS FLIP INTO MAJOR SAVINGS, UM, STARTING AT 2033, THAT'S ABOUT $372,000, AND IT REACHES UP TO 6 MILLION BY, UM, 2039.
SO THAT'S, UM, REALLY SIGNIFICANT JUST BASED OFF OF MARKET TRENDS ALONE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE LAST, UH, SCENARIO WITH THE USE OF THE 4% AND THE, THE TCEQ GRANT, UM, A RR COULD YIELD UP TO 1.3 MILLION IN SAVINGS BY 2033 AND ALL THE WAY UP TO 6.9 MILLION IN 2039.
AND SO, UH, IT JUST GOES TO SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF, UH, GRANTS.
UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE JUST PUTS INTO PERSPECTIVE HOW COST EFFECTIVE, UH, REFUSE EV UH, PER COST EFFECTIVE PURCHASING REFUSE.
EVS ARE, UH, THIS GRAPH SHOWS THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP FOR A SINGLE TRUCK BOUGHT IN A YEAR.
AND SO THE TCO CAN, UM, INCLUDES FACTORS LIKE THE, UH, REPLACEMENT LIFECYCLE, THE ANNUAL COST OF MAINTENANCE, UH, FUEL COSTS, AND THE ESTIMATED RESALE VALUE, UH, WHICH TENDS TO BE LOW.
BUT IT'S DEFINITELY IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE, UM, THIS FIGURES, UH, CONSIDERS TRUCKS THE MOST EXPENSIVE TRUCKS IN THE FLEET, WHICH IS THE SIDE LOADER, AND THAT'S BECAUSE IT HAS AN AUTOMATIC ARM AND, UM, NO ADDITIONAL MECHANICAL FACTOR.
SO THAT'S WHY THOSE COSTS TEND TO BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER.
BUT, UM, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE BAR CHART, LIKE BY 2030, UH, THERE'S A SHIFT IN THE TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP IN WHICH THE ICE VEHICLES START COSTING MORE THAN THE, THE EVS.
AND YOU SEE THE TREND CONTINUING OVER TIME.
UM, THIS CHART, UH, NOW THAT I'VE SHOWN YOU THE METRICS FOR THE PURCHASING FORECAST SCENARIOS, UH, WE SAW, WE DEEMED THAT THE 4% PURCHASE PRICE SCENARIO WAS THE MOST REALISTIC FOR A A RR.
SO, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, EVEN THOUGH IN 2026
[00:20:02]
TO 2032, THERE IS, UM, SOME SUBSTANTIAL LIKE COST, UH, BUT THERE ARE SOME SAVINGS OVER TIME STARTING IN 2033 AND UPWARDS OF 6 BILLION BY 2039.UM, FOR OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY, UH, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT ELECTRIFICATION IS ACTUALLY WORKABLE FOR A RR.
SO WE ANALYZE, UH, REAL OPERATIONS THAT WERE CONDUCTED OVER A TWO WEEK PERIOD IN JUNE OF THIS SUMMER.
WE SIMULATED, UH, THREE ROUTES A RECYCLING ROUTE IN NORTH AUSTIN, UM, A TRASH ROUTE IN EAST AUSTIN AND COMPOSTING ROUTE IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
AND THEN WE ALSO DID A, UH, A BROADER ANALYSIS OF 104 ROUTES TOTAL, UM, WHICH YOU'LL SEE LATER.
UM, THESE ROUTES WERE CHOSEN JUST BASED ON THE DIVERSITY OF GEOGRAPHY, UH, THE DIFFERENT TRUCK TYPES THAT WERE BEING USED AND SOME SERVICE PATTERNS THAT WE NOTICED.
UM, AND, UH, WE ALSO KIND OF SIMILARLY REFLECTED A STUDY THAT WAS DONE IN NORTH TEXAS.
UH, WE DIDN'T JUST EVALUATE THE MILEAGE AND THE TRIP DURATION.
WE ALSO PUT INTO ACCOUNT, UM, THINGS LIKE HEAVY LOADS, THE HILLY TERRAIN OF AUSTIN, UH, THE CLIMATE CONTROL DEMANDS THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE BAT, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ACTUAL BATTERY.
AND SO THAT GIVES US A MUCH CLEARER PICTURE OF HOW, UH, AN EV MIGHT ACTUALLY OPERATE IN AN ENVIRONMENT LIKE AUSTIN.
UH, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS JUST TO GIVE YOU A REFERENCE OF ALL OF THE, THE LOCATIONS WHERE THAT WERE CONSIDERED IN THIS ROUTE ANALYSIS.
OF COURSE, THE GARBAGE GOES TO THE TEXAS DISPOSAL SYSTEM.
UM, COMPOST GOES TO ORGANICS, BY GOSH, UH, THE RECYCLING GOES TO CIRCULAR SERVICES.
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE TWO, UH, SERVICE CENTERS WHERE THE THE VEHICLES GO TO, UM, ARE EITHER PARKED TO BE DOMICILE.
UH, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE MORE ZOOMED IN, UM, ROUTE ANALYSIS THAT I DID.
SO THIS IS A RECYCLING ROUTE, UH, FOR A COMPACT AREA THAT HAD A LOT OF STOPS.
UM, THE TOTAL, IT INCLUDED THE TOTAL ENERGY DEMAND HAULING, ARM LIFTS, COMPACTION, UM, CABIN NEEDS, AND ACCOUNTED FOR TERRAIN AND REGENERA REGENERATIVE BRAKING, WHICH CAME TO A TOTAL OF 285 KILOWATT HOURS.
AND SO WHEN YOU, UH, USE A MAC LR EV THAT HAS BATTERY CAPACITY OF 375 KILOWATT HOURS, UM, THIS, UH, AFTER THE WHOLE ROUTE IS COMPLETED, THE BATTERY WOULD BE PROJECTED TO COME BACK WITH ABOUT 24% CHARGE LEFT ON THE BATTERY.
UH, WHICH SHOWS THAT IT'S VERY FEASIBLE WITHOUT THE ROUTE IS FEASIBLE AND WOULDN'T REQUIRE MID ROUTE CHARGING.
UM, SO THIS IS IMPORTANT 'CAUSE IT JUST LETS US KNOW THAT ROUTES UNDER ABOUT 80 MILES CAN BE COMPLETED, UH, CAN BE COMPLETED WITHOUT, UM, CHARGING.
HOWEVER, THIS WASN'T THE CASE FOR THE COMPOST AND THE GARBAGE, UM, ROUTES.
THE COMPOSTING ROUTE WAS LEFT WITH 2% BATTERY AFTER A 120 MILE RANGE.
AND, UH, THE GARBAGE ROUTE WAS ALSO LEFT WITH 2%, UH, BATTERY LEFT AFTER 120 MILE ROUTE.
SO, UH, WE USED THAT ROUTE ANALYSIS TO INFORM HOW, UM, TO IDENTIFY CERTAIN THRESHOLDS TO CONDUCT OUR BROADER ROUTE ANALYSIS.
UH, IT'S BEST PRACTICE TO RETURN THE TRUCKS TO A DEPOT, UH, WITH ABOUT 15 TO 20% CHARGE LEFT ON THE BATTERY JUST TO, UH, PROTECT THE HEALTH OF THE BATTERY.
AND SO, UM, WE IDENTIFIED THAT THE THREE THRESHOLDS WOULD BE THAT, UH, ROUTES LESS THAN 70 MILES WOULD BE DEEMED UNAFFECTED BY ELECTRIFICATION.
UM, POTENTIAL AFFECTED ROUTES WHERE BETWEEN 70 TO 90 MILES AND THEN ROUTES, UM, THAT WERE HIGHLY AFFECTED ARE DEEMED, UM, 70, I MEAN DEEMED MORE THAN 90 MILES, SO THEY WOULD BE AFFECTED BY ELECTRIFICATION.
UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS A, JUST A SUNBURST
[00:25:01]
TO SHOW YOU THE BROADER ROUTE ANALYSIS.SO OUT OF THE 804 TOTAL ROUTES, UH, WE FOUND THAT EVS CAN MEET 65% OF THE DAILY SERVICES WITHOUT MID ROUTE CHARGING.
UM, HOWEVER, 14% OF THE DAILY NEEDS FOR THOSE THAT WERE 70 TO 90 MILES, THEY WERE IDENTIFIED AS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED.
UM, THEY MAY NEED ROUTE, UH, CHARGING AND IT THAT CAN BE SOLVED BY ADJUSTMENTS LIKE, UM, BACKUP OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES AND, UM, MAYBE DIFFERENCES IN SCHEDULING.
UM, BUT ABOUT 21% OF THE ROUTES OVER THE 90 MILE RANGE, THEY WERE DEEMED AS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ROUTES AND WOULD CERTAINLY REQUIRE MID ROUTE CHARGING.
AND SO, UH, I THINK THIS ANALYSIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT HELPED INFORM US OF HOW, UM, THE, THOSE CHARGERS, LIKE THE DC FAST CHARGERS, SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT SERVICE CENTERS.
AND IT ALSO OFFERS, UM, A BETTER JUSTIFICATION FOR THE NEED FOR A TRANSFER STATION IN NORTH AUSTIN.
UM, AND THIS IS A BAR CHART AS I MENTIONED.
I SHOW YOU A COUPLE SLIDES AGO ABOUT PROPOSING 20 CHARGERS IN THE NORTH OF AUSTIN AT A TRANSFER STATION.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THAT WEDNESDAY, THAT GREEN BAR, ABOUT 27 ROUTES ON A WEDNESDAY WOULD BE IMPACTED BY THE LIMITED RANGE OF THE, THE REFUGE TRUCKS, UM, AND WOULD REQUIRE MID ROUTE CHARGING.
SO THAT'S THE, THE EXPLANATION FOR THOSE CHARGERS.
AND LASTLY, WE HAVE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE BROADER BENEFITS OF ELECTRIFYING THE FLEET.
SO, UM, IT'S VERY BENEFICIAL BECAUSE IT HELPS THE DRIVERS EXPERIENCE A QUIETER, SMOOTHER AND, UM, HEALTHIER WORK ENVIRONMENT.
IT GETS REALLY HOT WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING IT ALL DAY.
UM, AND THE COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE, UH, BETTER AIR QUALITY, UM, LESS NOISE POLLUTION, AND, UM, ESPECIALLY IN NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE HISTORICALLY KNOWN TO BE EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF POLLUTION.
UM, SO IN THIS NEXT SLIDE, YOU SEE THAT THE AVOIDED, UM, CO2 EMISSIONS, UH, BY 2039 A RR WOULD BE ABLE TO, WHEN THEY ACHIEVE, UH, FULL, UH, EV ADOPTION, THE ANNUAL EMISSION SAVINGS WOULD REACH ABOUT, UM, 11,000 METRIC TONS.
AND IN THIS NEXT SLIDE, UM, IT'S JUST THE VISUALIZATION OF HOW IMPACTFUL THIS PROJECT COULD BE.
UM, WITH JUST REPLACING ONE, UH, DIESEL REFUGE TRUCK, YOU COULD BE TAKING LIKE 13 SUDANS OFF OF THE ROAD.
AND WHEN YOU, UM, MULTIPLY THAT BY 189, THAT'S 2,457 SUDAN.
SO THAT WOULD BE PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, I THINK.
UH, AND THEN LASTLY, WE HAVE A CO-BENEFITS RISK ASSESSMENT TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE THE, THE PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS AND KIND OF QUANTIFY THAT, UM, USING, UM, THE EPAS COBRA MODELS.
SO, UM, YOU'RE ABLE TO AVOID NOX AND PARTICULATE MATTER EMISSIONS FROM 2026 TO 2039 THAT TRANSLATE TO 505,000 TO 751,000 AND CUMULATIVE SOCIETAL BENEFITS.
UH, THIS ALSO INCLUDES REDUCTIONS IN IN INFANT MORTALITY AND, UH, RESPIR RESPIRATORY AND CARDIOVASCULAR ILLNESS, UH, WHICH WOULD COST ABOUT 195,000 TO 441,000, UH, WHICH IS LINKED TO PARTICULATE MATTER EXPOSURE.
UM, AND AVOIDING OZONE RELATED TESTS WOULD COST ABOUT, UH, 223,000.
UM, SO I JUST THINK THAT THESE RESULTS KIND OF HIGHLIGHT THE TANGIBLE HEALTH, UH, VALUE OF ELECTRIFYING ARRS FLEET.
UM, THIS LAST SIDE IS JUST KIND OF SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS THAT I GOT AT THE END OF THE PROJECT.
SO MAKING SURE THAT, UH, HOPEFULLY A RR COULD, UH, PHASE, UH, IN REPLACEMENT OF THOSE VEHICLES BY NEXT YEAR TO ALIGN WITH THE RETIREMENT OF THOSE OLDER DIESEL VEHICLES.
UM, MAKING SURE THAT, OF COURSE, SEC, UH, FUNDING IS SECURE TO OFFSET
[00:30:01]
SOME OF THOSE INITIAL COSTS, UM, IN PRIORITIZING, OF COURSE, THE DC FAST CHARGERS AND THE DAISY CHAIN TECHNOLOGY THAT I SHOW YOU TO SUPPORT THAT MID ROUTE CHARGING, UM, FOR SOME OF THOSE, THOSE ROUTES THAT, UH, WERE HIGHLY AFFECTED.AND THEN OF COURSE, TRACKING, UH, ROUTE PERFORMANCE, ENERGY USE, AND, UM, BATTERY RANGE TO ENSURE, UM, OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY.
THIS IS JUST GREAT WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE.
I'M, I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT.
I'VE GOT A FEW QUESTIONS, BUT FIRST, UH, I'LL TURN TO MY FELLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
I CAN, I CAN SEE ANNA JUST JUMPING OUT OF HER SEAT, SO
YEAH, NO, I JUST WANNA ECHO, YOU KNOW, AMAZING WORK.
UM, I THINK I ALSO HAVE MANY QUESTIONS, UH, BUT I'LL, I'LL SELF EDIT, UM, AND, AND ASK, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE, UM, THESE HIGHLY IMPACTED ROUTES YEAH.
UH, DID YOU LOOK AT ANY OF THE GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRATION? AND IN PARTICULAR, I'M THINKING ABOUT SOME OF THESE EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS.
YOU KNOW, YOU ENDED ON THIS NOTE OF LIKE THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS OF THIS IS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ROLLING THIS OUT.
IF THE CITY TOOK AN EQUITY LENS TO THIS, LIKE, WOULD THAT BE HARDER OR EASIER TO DO, GIVEN WHERE THE ROUTES STAND NOW? UM, LIKE FOR THE PLAN TO BE IMPLEMENTED, LIKE, SO WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION, I GUESS A COUPLE MONTHS AGO THAT HONESTLY WAS A LITTLE BIT DISAPPOINTING WHEN WE ASKED ABOUT EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS FROM LIKE, ROLLING OUT THESE BUS ROUTES.
AND ONE OF THE ANSWERS WE GOT WAS LIKE, OH, IN OUR, YOU KNOW, IN OUR LIKE RICH NEIGHBORHOODS, IT'S LIKE ESSENTIALLY EASIER TO ELECTRIFY BECAUSE WE'VE GOT, OH, THAT MAKES, I DON'T KNOW, X, Y, Z INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, AND SO I'M, I'M WONDERING IF THIS IS SOMETHING WHERE THAT'S THE CASE OR MAYBE LIKE HAPPILY THE OPPOSITE COULD BE TRUE.
UM, AND IF THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT YOU TOOK INTO CONSIDERATION AT ALL IN THIS ANALYSIS OR MAYBE JUST NOTICED EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T DO LIKE, THE NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF, WELL, WHEN I WAS PICKING OUT THE, THE MORE ZOOMED IN ROUTE ANALYSIS THAT YOU SAW IN THE BEGINNING OF THE OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY, I DID MAKE SURE TO CONSIDER LIKE, UM, SOME EQUITY FACTORS WHEN IT CAME TO PICKING OUT THE ROUTES AND THE LOCATION OF THEM.
BUT IN THAT BROADER ROUTE ANALYSIS, IT WASN'T CONSIDERED AS MUCH, I THINK.
PHIL'S GONNA SURE, SURE, SURE.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? YEAH, I WAS JUST GONNA ADD TO THAT A LITTLE BIT.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE SERVICE MAP PROBABLY FOR A RR TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
IT'S BEEN A MINUTE, BUT IF MEMORY SERVES WEDNESDAY, WHICH WAS SORT OF THE WORST, THE MOST IMPACTED DAY, WE'LL CALL IT, UH, SERVE SERVICE NORTH AND NORTHWEST AUSTIN.
AND I THINK THAT WAS, IT'S PART OF THE MOTIVATION FOR A NORTH AUSTIN TRANSFER CENTER.
I DON'T RECALL WHICH DAY EAST AUSTIN IS SERVICE, BUT, BUT I THINK WE COULD, WE COULD LIKE TAKE THE BAR CHART AND THEN LOOK AT A SERVICE MAP AND KIND OF GET A BEAT ON THAT QUESTION THERE.
I, I'D ENCOURAGE YOU GUYS TO MAYBE DO A LITTLE, DO A LITTLE LOOK IN AFTERWARDS.
'CAUSE I THINK, I THINK THAT COULD, THAT COULD BE AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION FOR THIS FOR SURE.
UH, I WAS WONDERING IN TERMS OF RESILIENCE, UH, CENTERS, ARE THESE TRUCKS ABLE TO BE USED AS KINDA LIKE MOBILE BATTERIES IN THE EVENT OF POWER OUTAGES OR, YOU KNOW, EMERGENCIES LIKE THAT? UM, THAT WAS DEFINITELY A HUGE CONSIDERATION.
THAT WAS, UM, MENTIONED TO ME WHEN I HAD MEETING WITH DIFF MEETINGS WITH DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS AND PEOPLE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY.
UM, I KNOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S DONE IN HOUSTON, I BELIEVE, UH, WITH ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
UM, SO I DEFINITELY CAN SEE IT BEING DONE.
UH, GREAT, GREAT PRESENTATION.
APPRECIATE, UH, APPRECIATE THE WORK.
UH, SO I WAS JUST CURIOUS, WHENEVER YOU WERE, UH, CALCULATING YOUR EMISSION REDUCTIONS FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE EV ADOPTION, WERE YOU TAKING INTO ACCOUNT, UH, THE ELECTRIFICATION, THE YEAH, I GUESS THE MORE RENEW THE GREENING OF THE GRID AS TIME, UH, WENT BY? UM, OR WAS IT MORE LIKE JUST KIND OF LIKE A, UH, SEEING, YOU KNOW, LIKE IF YOU WOULD CHARGE
[00:35:02]
THE VE THE VEHICLES NOW BASED ON THE, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE ENERGY MIX RIGHT NOW, LIKE FOSSIL FUEL RENEWABLE, LIKE WHAT IT IS RIGHT NOW? OR WERE YOU CONSIDERING, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT IT'S EXPECTED THAT THE GRID IS GONNA GET, YOU KNOW, MORE WITH MORE RENEWABLES IN THE, IN THE FUTURE? OH, I BELIEVE THESE, UM, THESE LIKE EMISSIONS NUMBERS WERE BASED ON THE CURRENT MAKEUP OF THE GRID AS IT IS NOW.SO YEAH, SO IT SEEMS LIKE IF YOU WOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, UH, THE GREENING OF THE GRID, THEN YOU WILL SEE, YOU KNOW, MORE, MORE REDUCTIONS THAN, THAN THAT, UH, POTENTIALLY.
SO THAT'S ONE THING TO CONSIDER.
UM, AND THEN I GUESS THE OTHER THING THAT I WAS CURIOUS, WHENEVER YOU WERE, UH, CALCULATING THE, THE SAVINGS OVER TIME, LIKE, DID YOU KIND OF LIKE BE, UH, DIFFERENT COST OF CHARGING THE VEHICLES, YOU KNOW, DURING DAYTIME OR, OR NIGHTTIME KIND OF THING? BECAUSE I KNOW IF, YOU KNOW, I OWN AN EV AND, AND I KNOW IF I CHARGE DURING THE NIGHT, UH, THE, THE, THE CHARGING CAN BE LIKE HALF THEN IN THE DAYTIME.
UH, WE DID NOT CONSIDER THE COST OF CHARGING, WE JUST CONSIDERED THE, UM, INITIAL UPFRONT COSTS OF THE, LIKE THE INFRASTRUCTURE ITSELF AND, UM, THOSE MAINTENANCE COSTS, BUT NOT THE, THE COST OF CHARGING.
BUT THAT'S, UH, THAT'S GOOD TO BE AWARE OF.
YEAH, BECAUSE THAT, THAT WOULD GIVE YOU, LIKE, WHENEVER YOU'RE COMPARING, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE, THE DIFFERENCE IN FUEL COSTS BETWEEN THE DIESEL AND THE, THE ELECTRICITY, THEN, UM, YEAH, THAT'LL BE, THAT'LL BE GOOD TO FACTOR IN.
CHRIS, DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? UH, JOHN, YOU CAN GO FIRST, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I HAD A QUESTION ON THIS SLIDE THAT THE DIESEL, THE, THE VEHICLES THAT ARE, THAT ARE, UH, BEING REPLACED 2026, HOW LONG WERE THOSE IN ACTION FOR? UM, I WOULD HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT OUR DATA.
AND I GUESS THIS, THE OTHER PART TO THAT IS WHAT IS THE LIFECYCLE OF ONE OF THESE VEHICLES? OH, MAN.
OF THE ELECTRIC, ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
UH, I WOULD HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK BACK AGAIN TO GET AN ANSWER FOR YOU.
I DON'T WANNA GIVE YOU WRONG INFORMATION.
AND THEN ONE OTHER QUESTION IS JUST GENERALLY THINKING ABOUT THIS, IS THERE ANOTHER CITY THAT IS ALREADY AHEAD OF US IN DOING THIS, AND IS THERE ANY LESSONS LEARNED FROM HOW THEY'RE DOING IT? UM, FOR MY RESEARCH, THE OTHER CITIES THAT ARE DOING IT, THEY'RE JUST STARTING OFF.
THEY DON'T HAVE THAT MANY, UM, ELECTRIC REFUSE TRUCKS MAYBE ABOUT MM-HMM
SO I WOULD SAY COMPARED TO THAT, THIS IS, UM, A LOT LARGER THAN WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
I THINK THIS IS VERY EXCITING.
I DO AGREE WITH, UH, CHRIS'S ASSESSMENT ON THAT UTIL UTILIZING THESE TRUCKS FOR THE RESILIENCY JUST TO CONTRIBUTE TO A MUCH MORE RESILIENT FABRIC, UH, FOR OUR CITY.
I, I WOULD LOVE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOING THAT, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I'M NOT SEEING OTHER HANDS, SO I'M GONNA ASK A COUPLE OF MY MANY
UM, AND, AND ONE OF THEM, I, I GUESS I WOULD JUST MAYBE SAY IS IF, IF YOU'RE WILLING, UM, IT, IT SOUNDED FROM YOUR PRESENTATION, LIKE YOU DID ASSESS THE OTHER KIND OF AIR POLLUTION SAVINGS IN ADDITION TO CO2 AND, AND JUST DIDN'T, UH, MAYBE GIVE THE, DIDN'T INCLUDE ALL THOSE SLIDES.
I CAN UNDERSTAND, UH, THAT I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU MIGHT BE WILLING TO FOLLOW UP WITH, WITH THOSE NUMBERS.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALREADY HAVE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY MADE A GRAPH, THAT'S FINE.
JUST THE NUMBERS WOULD BE GREAT.
[00:40:01]
AND THEN YOU WENT THROUGH SOME NUMBERS ON THE KIND OF COST OF THE DIFFERENT CHARGERS AND I WROTE DOWN 70,000 FOR THE STANDALONE DC FAST CHARGER.AND THEN I THINK YOU SAID 30 FOR THE DC 30 35.
AND, AND SO HOW MANY VEHICLES CAN THAT FOR? 35,000, DOES THAT CHARGER, CHARGER ONCE, UH, FOR THE, THE DAISY CHAIN, I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE HOW MANY LIKE PORTS IT HAS.
UM, IT'S NEW TECHNOLOGY, UM, THAT'S LIKE PROPRIETARY, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY IT COULD HOLD UP, BUT YEAH.
AND I SAW THE, ON YOUR, ON YOUR MAP, UM, YOU HAD DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF, OF CHARGERS FOR EACH OF THE LOCATIONS AND THEN YOU KIND OF WENT THROUGH HOW YOU GOT TO THE NUMBER FOR THE NORTH TRANSFER STATION.
AND I WAS JUST WONDERING, DID YOU USE THAT SAME KIND OF METHODOLOGY FOR HOW TO ASSIGN THE NUMBER OF DC FAST CHARGERS TO THE OTHER TWO LOCATIONS IN TERMS OF LIKE, THAT WAS HOW MANY ROUTES AND THOSE AREAS WERE IN NEED? YEAH.
UM, YEAH, I MAINLY BASED IT OFF OF IT, UH, KIND OF THE ROUTES NEEDING MORE SUPPORT IN THE NORTH AREA AND UM, UH, WHAT WAS I GONNA SAY? ALSO BASING IT OFF OF THAT, UH, 30 40 SPLIT, UH, THAT, UH, THE VEHICLES WILL BE DOMICILED.
SO JUST FACTORING IN THOSE TWO COMPONENTS.
AND SO THOSE NUMBERS OF CHARGERS, UM, IF THE, WOULD THAT BE IN ADDITION TO OTHER CHARGERS THAT ARE OUT ALONG THE ROUTE OR HOW, HOW DID THAT FACTOR INTO THAT CALCULATION? UH, I BELIEVE THESE CHARGERS WOULD MAINLY SERVE THE, THE, LIKE ELECTRIC, THE ELECTRIC REFUSE TRUCKS, UH, THAT A RR WOULD HAVE.
UM, YEAH, I'M NOT SURE IF THE TRUCKS WOULD BE USED WITH OTHER CHARGERS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THOSE TWO OR THREE LOCATIONS.
SO THE ONES THAT YOU IDENTIFIED AS NEEDING LIKE MID ROUTE CHARGING, IS THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD GO BACK TO THE STATION TO CHARGE? YES.
HOW LONG WOULD THEY HAVE TO BE OFFLINE TO CHARGE IN THAT SCENARIO? UH, I AM NOT ENTIRELY SURE, BUT I KNOW LIKE, SINCE THEY'RE PRETTY HIGH LEVEL CHARGERS, IT ONLY TAKE LIKE A MATTER OF FEW HOURS OKAY.
UM, I, I WAS, YOU KNOW, CURIOUS ON THAT QUESTION WITH THE, UM, VEHICLES FOR 2026, UM, IF THERE WAS AN ASSU ASSUMPTION THAT THOSE WERE GONNA BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM ANY OF THE TURP UH, PROGRAMS MM-HMM
AND IF YOU TOOK THIRD PARTY SCRAPPAGE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DOING THAT ANALYSIS, UH, I DON'T THINK I TOOK THE, THE THIRD PARTY SCRAPPAGE COMPONENT, UM, INTO FACTOR, BUT, UH, I DEFINITELY FACTORED IN THE TURP GRANT.
UM, AND IT'S HARD TO SAVE, LIKE WHO GETS WHAT SINCE THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT APPLY TO THESE GRANTS.
UM, BUT JUST TRY TO GIVE THE BEST CASE SCENARIO TO SHOW PEOPLE, UM, THE EFFECT OF LIKE, THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT A GRANT CAN GIVE AND SHOW PEOPLE THE IMPACT OF THAT.
I WANTED TO GO BACK TO LIKE THE COST SAVINGS PART OF THIS.
'CAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY AFTER OUR RECENT ELECTION RESULTS, THAT'S SO, SO IMPORTANT.
UM, I WOULD'VE APPRECIATED A SLIDE WITH PILES OF MONEY AFTER THE, LIKE, PILES OF CARS, JUST UNSOLICITED FEEDBACK.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU DID KIND OF LIKE, IT WAS A TIMELINE, RIGHT? LIKE COST SAVINGS BY YEAR.
UM, AND MAYBE THIS WAS, I MISSED THIS 'CAUSE IT WAS PART OF THE GRANTS, BUT LIKE, IS THERE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COST SAVINGS AND LIKE PENETRATION OF, OF, OF, OF EV NOT SALES, BUT LIKE, LIKE EV PERCENTAGES, RIGHT? LIKE YOU SHOWED, LIKE, YOU KNOW, OVER TIME LIKE COST SAVINGS GROW GREW MM-HMM
AND SO WAS, I ASSUMED THAT WAS BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST ADDING MORE EVS TO THE SYSTEM.
IT WAS BASED ON HOW MANY EVS WERE BOUGHT THROUGHOUT THAT TIMELINE OR THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
SO THAT'S WHY LIKE IN ONE OF THE SLIDES YOU SEE A BIG DIP IN SAVINGS FOR, UM, THE SCENARIO THAT HAS NO, LIKE OUTSIDE FACTORS IS BECAUSE THERE ARE 27 VEHICLES PURCHASED THAT YEAR.
SO THE AMOUNT OF VEHICLES THAT ARE
[00:45:01]
PURCHASED, UM, DEFINITELY IMPACT THE AMOUNT OF SAVINGS THAT YOU GET.WAS, WAS THERE ANY LIKE, BREAK EVEN POINTS HERE, RIGHT? LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAD 25% FLEET ELECTRIFICATION, WOULD WE, YOU KNOW, BE SAVING MONEY? WOULD WE HIT THAT AT LIKE A HUNDRED PERCENT FLEET ELECTRIFICATION? I MEAN, I THINK YOUR NUMBERS SHOW YOU HIT THAT BEFORE THAT, BUT CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING ON, ON THAT? LIKE WHAT'S THE SCALE THAT THIS PROGRAM NEEDS TO BE IN ORDER TO BE COST EFFECTIVE OR SORRY TO BE COST NEGATIVE, LIKE TO SAVE MONEY, HOW MANY EVS DO WE NEED? AND IS THAT DATA IN HERE? UM, I WOULD HAVE TO LOOK BACK ON OUR DATA, BUT I KNOW BY 2032, I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY VEHICLES ARE ACCUMULATED AT THAT TIME, BUT THAT WAS LIKE THE SOONEST DATE THAT, UH, WE WOULD BREAK EVEN.
SO LIKE, IT'S 20, HOLD ON, I CAN PULL THIS UP, BUT IT'S LIKE 2032.
AND THEN JUST GO TO WHATEVER THAT THAT NUMBER IS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR NIA? PHILLIP, DID YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING? YEAH, JUST THERE WE GO.
UM, JUST THAT ONCE THIS RECORDING IS UP, EXCUSE ME, WE'LL REVIEW THE QUESTIONS AND UH, CAN MAKE SURE WE GET ALL THE DETAIL, UH, THAT, THAT Y'ALL ARE ASKING FOR HERE.
AND WE'LL, WE CAN FOLLOW UP THERE AND CLARIFY ANYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED.
BY THE WAY, MY READ OF THESE NUMBERS LOOKS LIKE THAT 2032 IS LIKE 40% IF I'M READING THE SLIDE RIGHT ON SLIDE SEVEN.
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE, I THINK THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME OTHER FACTORS THERE.
LIKE TO YOUR EARLIER QUESTION ABOUT DOES EV MARKET PENETRATION AFFECT THAT? AND IT DOES, THAT'S, IT'S SORT OF BAKED INTO THE 4% ANNUAL COST DECREASE, RIGHT? LIKE, AS THEY BECOME MORE COMMON AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE START PILING UP, THEY JUST GET CHEAPER TO PRODUCE AND BUY.
AND SO IT'S MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN JUST THAT, THAN 40% BEING THE BREAKEVEN POINT.
BUT WE CAN LOOK FURTHER INTO IT.
UM, OH, IS THERE CHRIS, QUESTION BEFORE SHE, YEAH, JUST, JUST, YEAH, JUST ONE FINAL QUESTION.
I GUESS NIA, FROM, FROM ALL THE RESEARCH THAT YOU, YOU'VE DONE, AND MAYBE YOU ALREADY KIND OF TOUCHED ON THIS, BUT I'M KIND OF CURIOUS ON YOUR SENSE, UH, ON LIKE WHAT'S THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO, TO KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, IMPLEMENT THIS TRANSITION OR EVEN MAKE IT MORE, MORE AGGRESSIVE.
IS IT MORE, YOU KNOW, THE FUNDING FOR, YOU KNOW, FOR THE VEHICLES ITSELF? IS IT MORE LIKE THE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING? UM, YOU KNOW, IF, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE UH, YOU KNOW, FROM OUR SIDE, IF WE'RE THINKING ABOUT EVENTUALLY, YOU KNOW, BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND STUFF, WE WANT TO KIND OF TRY TO PRIORITIZE WHAT WOULD BE MOST EFFECTIVE.
SO, UH, JUST CURIOUS, CURIOUS IF YOU HAVE, UH, THOUGHTS ON, ON THAT.
UH, I BELIEVE THE BIGGEST BARRIER WOULD DEFINITELY BE THE FINANCES.
LIKE, IF THE MONEY ISN'T THERE, THEN UM, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET IT DONE.
SO DEFINITELY, UH, TRYING TO LEVERAGE LIKE THE MARKET TRENDS AND ANY GRANTS AND INCENTIVES THERE ARE IS DEFINITELY IMPORTANT.
WAS IT, WAS IT KIND OF OUTSIDE OF YOUR SCOPE? YEAH.
TO REALLY DIG INTO THE FINANCES OF THE TWO DEPARTMENTS THAT WOULD BE INVOLVED? UM, FOR SOME OF THE, SOME OF IT, YEAH, I BELIEVE SO, BUT I TRY MY BEST.
UM, ANY FINAL QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHT, WELL THIS IS EXCITING.
I THINK IT REALLY CAN HELP MOVE A RR AND THE CITY FORWARD, SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK.
[4. Presentation regarding Commercial Landscape Survey. Presentation by Jen Cregar, Terra Lumina Consulting. ]
GOT JEN ON THE LINE, SO I THINK WE'RE GONNA MOVE TO THAT PRESENTATION NOW ON LANDSCAPING, ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING MARKET SURVEY.JEN, IF YOU'RE ABLE TO SHARE FROM YOUR COMPUTER, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, BUT IF I, OH, YOU WANT ME TO SHARE? OKAY.
IF NOT, I CAN SHARE FROM HERE.
[00:50:09]
BEAR WITH ME JUST A MOMENT.ROHAN, I'M ACTUALLY, I'M HAVING A LITTLE BIT OF DIFFICULTY SHARING THROUGH WEBEX.
IS THERE ANY WAY YOU CAN PULL IT UP FOR ME? YES, YES.
UM, I'M THE FOUNDER OF TARA LUMINA CONSULTING.
I'M ONE HALF OF A TWO PERSON CONSULTING TEAM THAT, UM, RECENTLY COMPLETED A MARKET STUDY FOR THE CITY.
UM, CONTINUING ON THE ELECTRIFICATION THEME, TRYING TO ASSESS THE, THE VIABILITY AND IDENTIFY SOME POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADVANCE, UH, ELECTRIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL THAT IS PROFESSIONAL GRADE LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.
SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, THIS STUDY WAS COMMISSIONED BY, UH, A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE.
AMANDA MORTAL IS THE PROGRAM MANAGER, UH, WITH, WITH CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.
AND THEN AUSTIN, AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION.
SARAH TALKINGTON WAS THE, WAS THE LEAD ON PARK SIDE OF THINGS.
AND THEN, AS I MENTIONED, THIS WAS A, A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN MYSELF AND MY FIRM, TARA LUMINA CONSULTING AND LEON VARGAS, UM, WHO ALSO HAS AN INDEPENDENT CONSULTING FIRM.
AND WE JOINTLY, UM, DESIGNED AND DELIVERED THIS STUDY.
SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS.
YOU'RE ALL ON THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, SO YOU KNOW WHY THIS MATTERS.
BUT, UM, FOSSIL FUEL LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT IS REALLY LOUD AND REALLY DIRTY.
AND JUST ONE HOUR OF EXPOSURE TO A COMMERCIAL GRADE LEAF BLOWER CREATES THE SAME AMOUNT OF SMOG FORMING POLLUTION AS DRIVING, UH, FROM AUSTIN TO PHOENIX.
UM, AND SO IT IS PRIMARILY THE EQUIPMENT OPERATORS AND ALL OF US THAT HAVE LEAF BLOWERS AND OTHER TYPES OF LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT OPERATING ALL AROUND US THAT HAVE THAT EXPOSURE AND ALL OF THAT POLLUTION, BOTH NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION REALLY ADDS UP AS SHOWN HERE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.
UM, THIS STACKS UP BOTH THE LOCALIZED POLLUTANTS, THE, THE NOX EMISSIONS THAT CONTRIBUTES TO OZONE, UM, GROUND LEVEL OZONE AND THE PARTICULAR MATTER EMISSIONS AS WELL AS THE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS.
SO THIS IS SUMMING UP THE TOTALS FOR ALL OF TRAVIS COUNTY IN 2020.
SO FOR THIS REASON, THE CITY, UM, WAS REALLY PUSHING TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT BOTH THAT AIR AND NOISE POLLUTION CREATED BY, AGAIN, COMMERCIAL GRADE LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, AS CALLED FOR IN BOTH THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AS WE'RE TRYING TO SHIFT TO NET ZERO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 2040, AS WELL AS OUR REGIONAL KIND OF, UM, AIR QUALITY COMPLIANCE PLAN TO MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL AIR QUALITY STANDARDS FOR OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER.
AND THEN THERE WERE TWO RECENT CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, REALLY PUSHING CITY STAFF, UH, AND LEADERSHIP TO LOOK INTO THIS, BOTH FROM A PURCHASING PERSPECTIVE, HOW CAN THE CITY USE ITS PURCHASING POWER, UH, RELATED TO, UM, COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION, AS WELL AS PUSHING AUSTIN ENERGY AND OTHERS TO LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INCENTIVE PROGRAMS THAT COULD BE OFFERED AGAIN FOR COMMERCIAL GRID LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.
SO FOR THAT REASON, OUR CONSULTANT TEAM PUT TOGETHER THIS MARKET RESEARCH STUDY TO REALLY GO OUT AND ACTUALLY TALK TO THE EQUIPMENT OPERATORS, THE USERS THEMSELVES, WHETHER THEY WERE CITY STAFF OR OTHER PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, OR WHETHER THEY WERE KIND OF OWNERS', EMPLOYEES OF PRIVATE LANDSCAPING, UM, EQUIPMENT COMPANIES AS WELL.
UM, ALL IN ALL, WE TALKED TO ABOUT 85 DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM 38 UNIQUE ORGANIZATIONS, UM, THROUGH A COMBINATION OF METHODS.
ONE IS WE DID A STANDARD ONLINE SURVEY TO GET KIND OF BROAD REACH.
UH, THE SURVEY WAS ADMINISTERED IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
FOUR OF THOSE RESPONSES WERE FROM SPANISH SPEAKERS AND 49 WERE FROM ENGLISH SPEAKERS.
WE ALSO TALKED ONE-ON-ONE EITHER THROUGH, UM, EITHER THROUGH ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS OR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS AS WELL WITH FOLKS HERE LOCALLY.
AND THEN THOSE THAT ARE KIND OF A STEP AHEAD OF AUSTIN ACROSS THE NATION THAT MIGHT HAVE SOME BEST PRACTICES TO OFFER, BOTH
[00:55:01]
IN TERMS OF HAVING ALREADY CONVERTED A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THEIR PUBLIC AGENCY, UM, LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT TO ELECTRIC OPTIONS AND OR THEY WERE OFFERING INCENTIVES TO TRY TO SHIFT THE PRIVATE SECTOR, UM, AND OTHER COMMERCIAL PROFESSIONAL GRADE COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT OPERATORS.UM, SO WE TALKED TO 32 FOLKS LOCALLY, SO KEEPING THE FOCUS ON THE LOCAL, UM, BUT ALSO AGAIN, REACHING OUT NATIONALLY AS WELL.
WE ALSO HAD THE ABILITY TO DO A COUPLE DIFFERENT SITE TOURS.
SO WE CONNECTED WITH, UM, SOME LOCAL DIS EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS AND WERE ABLE TO GO OUT AND VISIT THEIR WAREHOUSE AND SEE SOME OF THE, THE CURRENT ELECTRIC MODELS THAT ARE ON THE MARKET AND AVAILABLE HERE LOCALLY IN THE AUSTIN AREA AS WELL AS WE WERE ABLE TO GO VISIT, UM, A PRIVATE COMPANY'S WAREHOUSE AS WELL AND SEE THE DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT, DIFFERENT TYPES OF EQUIPMENT THAT THEY HAD BEEN TRYING OUT.
UM, I DO WANNA MAKE REALLY CLEAR, I REFERENCED IT A COUPLE TIMES, BUT THIS WAS SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON COMMERCIAL GRADE EQUIPMENT.
SO WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT ALL YOU AND I CAN GO OUT AND BUY FROM LOWE'S OR HOME DEPOT TODAY.
THIS IS EQUIPMENT THAT HAS TO LIKE BE PUT THROUGH THE, THE PUT THROUGH THE TEST THAT NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE ALL DAY LONG IN HEAVIER DUTY APPLICATIONS.
SO THAT MEANS, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND MOW OUR WEED, MULTIPLE RESIDENTIAL LAWNS ACROSS THE DAY, OR MULTIPLE SPORTS COMPLEXES, OR PERHAPS YOU'RE OUT CLEARING BELT, YOU KNOW, DAMAGED TREES OR DEBRIS AS PART OF DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY.
UM, WE DID TALK TO A WIDE VARIETY OF FOLKS, UM, BOTH, UH, SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES.
SO MOM AND POP SHOPS ALL THE WAY UP TO, UM, NATIONAL COMPANIES WITH A LOCAL PRESENCE WHERE THEY HAD HUNDREDS EMPLOYEES AND THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF EQUIPMENT, UM, LOCALLY OWNED IN NATIONALLY OWNED, UM, MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES.
AND THEN, UM, BECAUSE THE STUDY WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON BOTH WHAT THE CITY COULD DO TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND STARTING TO, OR NOT STARTING, BUT CONTINUING AND ACCELERATING THE CONVERSION OF ITS OWN EQUIPMENT TO ELECTRIC OPTIONS, BUT ALSO PUSHING THE MARKET AS WELL.
WE WANTED TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE HEARING FROM THOSE CITY STAFF THAT WERE GONNA BE THE EARLY ADOPTERS AND TRANSITIONING THEIR FLEETS WITHIN THEIR DEPARTMENTS.
SO YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PIE CHART THAT WE TALKED TO STAFF ACROSS EIGHT DIFFERENT, UM, CITY DEPARTMENTS.
UH, THE MAJORITY OF THOSE WERE WITHIN AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION BECAUSE THEY ARE GONNA BE THE ONES TO DO KIND OF A LARGER SCALE PILOT BASED ON SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND IDEAS THAT WE OFFERED AS A RESULT OF THIS STUDY.
SO IN A NUTSHELL, WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT IT IS HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE BECAUSE THIS IS USER EXPERIENCE, RIGHT? UM, ALL OF THESE, THESE DOZENS OF EQUIPMENT OPERATORS THAT WE SPOKE TO, TO THE PEOPLE THAT ARE DOING THE PURCHASING OF THE EQUIPMENT.
SOME PEOPLE LOVED IT, SOME PEOPLE HATED IT AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.
BUT IF FORCED TO TRY TO GENERALIZE KIND OF THE PROS AND CONS OF THIS ELECTRIC COMMERCIAL GRADE EQUIPMENT, UM, THE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OR ARE THE PROS THE BENEFITS? ABSOLUTELY, YOU KNOW, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
IT'S QUIETER AND PEOPLE LOVE THAT IT'S QUIETER.
UM, IT IS CLEANER BOTH FROM AN EMISSIONS PERSPECTIVE AND FROM NOT HAVING TO HANDLE FUEL.
UM, THERE I WILL SAY THAT IS SOMEWHAT OFFSET WITH SOME CONCERNS ABOUT, WELL, WHAT ABOUT THE MINING AND EXTRACTION OF THE COMPONENTS THAT GO INTO THE BATTERY? WHAT ABOUT THE BATTERIES WHEN THEY DIE? WHAT DO WE DO WITH THEM? ARE WE JUST CREATING MORE WASTE? IS THAT A HAZARDOUS WASTE? SO THERE WAS SOME QUESTION AROUND THE CLEANLINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT OF IT.
UM, A LOT OF FOLKS, BUT NOT EVERYBODY THOUGHT THAT ELECTRIC OPTIONS WERE EASIER TO HANDLE.
SO THE ELECTRIC KIND OF HANDHELD TOOLS, THEY FELT LIKE THEY WERE A LITTLE BIT MORE ERGONOMIC.
UM, SO THEY MIGHT HAVE A BETTER WEIGHT BALANCE.
THEY MAY JUST GET PEOPLE'S HANDS AND BODIES BETTER.
UH, BUT AGAIN, THAT'S OFFSET ON THE OTHER SIDE WITH PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT BODY TYPES, UM, THAT ARE USING DIFFERENT WEIGHTS OF EQUIPMENT FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.
SOMETIMES THEY THOUGHT IT WAS HEAVIER, MORE CUMBERSOME THAN LIKE A, UM, A GAS OR DIESEL POWERED OPTION.
UM, IN GENERAL, I THINK THOUGH PEOPLE FOUND THAT IT WAS SAFER AND REQUIRED LESS MAINTENANCE BECAUSE ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT, UM, ELECTRIC ENGINES, THEY HAVE ELECTRIC MOTORS HAVE FEWER MOVING PARTS THAN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.
SO THERE'S LESS MAINTENANCE IN THE LONG RUN IN THE MOST CASE.
UM, AND THEN THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR FULL LIFECYCLE COST SAVINGS.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT HONESTLY, NOBODY THAT WE TALKED TO HAS ACTUALLY DONE A FULL LIFECYCLE COST ANALYSIS.
UM, BUT, UH, WE DID TALK TO SOMEBODY AT ANOTHER STATE AGENCY OUTSIDE OF TEXAS AND THEY TOLD US THAT FOR THE ALMOST FULL LIFECYCLE COST ANALYSIS THAT THEY'VE DONE IS THAT IT COMES OUT SLIGHTLY BETTER FOR THE ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT, OR AT LEAST ON PAR WHEN YOU'RE FACTORING IN NOT JUST THE FACT THAT THE EQUIPMENT IS MORE EXPENSIVE TO PURCHASE UP FRONT, BUT ELECTRICITY CAN BE A LOWER COST FUEL THAN GASOLINE OR DIESEL OR PROPANE.
YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME LABOR SAVINGS, ESPECIALLY WITH THINGS LIKE AUTOMATED OR ROBOTIC, UM, MOWERS, UM, AND POTENTIALLY, UH, LOWER MAINTENANCE COSTS BECAUSE THE MAINTENANCE IS LESS FREQUENT.
SO THAT'S ON THE BENEFITS COLUMN.
ON THE CHALLENGES SIDE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE, THE BIGGEST PUSHBACK WE'VE RECEIVED IS THAT, AGAIN, FOR THIS COMMERCIAL PROFESSIONAL GRADE EQUIPMENT,
[01:00:01]
THAT A LOT OF THE OPTIONS JUST AREN'T THERE YET IN TERMS OF EXPECTATIONS ABOUT POWER OUTPUT AND THE ABILITY TO LAST THROUGHOUT A FULL SHIFT OR FULL DAY.UM, AND THAT THAT IS COUPLED WITH JUST THE, THE PRACTICALITIES OF HAVING TO EITHER SWAP OUT BATTERIES OR CHARGE THEM UP INTRADAY IS REALLY CHALLENGING, ESPECIALLY IN, UM, KIND OF LIKE A, A GOVERNMENT SETTING.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU THINK ABOUT FOLKS THAT ARE MAINTAINING OUR CEMETERIES OR OUR SPORTS FIELDS, THERE AREN'T ALWAYS ELECTRICAL OUR OUTLETS TO PLUG INTO.
UM, A LOT OF OUR, UH, THE CITY'S BUILDINGS ARE PRETTY OLD, UM, AND HAVE DATED INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO THEY MIGHT REQUIRE SOME ELECTRICAL UPGRADES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE, THE POWER CAPACITY AND CHARGING REQUIREMENTS OF SOME OF THESE LARGER BATTERY PACKS.
AND FROM SOME OF THE LARGER, LIKE THINKING OF A WRITING MOWER FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THAT IT DOES COST MORE UPFRONT THAT CAN BE OFFSET ON THE BACKEND THROUGH, UM, O AND M SAVINGS.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT, OKAY, WELL WHAT DO I DO WHEN I'M SCRAPPING MY GAS EQUIPMENT OR DISPOSING OF BATTERIES THAT HAVE NO, NO RECHARGEABILITY LEFT.
UM, SO THERE WAS SOME HESITATION, SOME CONCERN ABOUT WHAT THEY DO WITH IT JUST AT AN ADDED COST TO HAVE A DISPOSAL CONTRACT.
UM, AND THEN AGAIN, FOR BODY TYPE AND USABILITY, IT KIND OF VARIED IN TERMS OF WEIGHT AND FEEL AND ERGONOMICS.
UM, AND THEN THIS LAST PIECE ON THE CHALLENGES SIDE IS, YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE THINGS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT ARE THEIR TECHNOLOGICAL OR FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS.
UM, BUT THERE'S ALSO THIS CULTURAL PIECE.
THIS IS ABOUT CHANGE AND WE LIKE TO RESIST CHANGE AS HUMANS.
AND UH, BY THE WAY, WE LIVE IN TEXAS, WHICH IS A, UH, HISTORICALLY A STRONG OIL AND GAS STATE.
SO THERE IS SOME PERCEPTION THAT IF I CAN'T HEAR IT, IT CAN'T DO ITS JOB.
I LIKE TO HEAR THE HUM OF THE MO OF THE ENGINE.
I NEED TO HEAR, FEEL IT VIBRATING IN MY HANDS, OTHERWISE IT'S NOT GONNA WORK.
SO THAT IS PURELY, UM, THAT'S A MENTAL STATE, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE OVERCOME WITH JUST GIVING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE, TRYING IT OUT AND STARTING TO GET SOME OF THAT PEER INFLUENCE OF HAVING PEOPLE TO TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT LIKE, YEAH, I WASN'T SO SURE ABOUT THIS EITHER, BUT ONCE I TRIED IT OUT, MAN, IT MADE THIS A BREEZE, OR OH MY GOODNESS, MY BACK FEELS SO MUCH BETTER.
SO THE NEXT THING, BECAUSE OF THE SUBJECTIVITY THAT I MENTIONED, UM, IT REALLY VARIES IN TERMS OF HOW MARKET READY, UH, THIS COMMERCIAL GRADE LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT IS.
IT MATTER, IT VARIES PIECE BY PIECE AND APPLICATION BY APPLICATION.
THIS SLIDE IS OUR ATTEMPT AT TRYING TO PUT ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THESE TYPES OF EQUIPMENT ARE GENERALLY MARKET READY AND AVAILABLE TODAY.
AND THEN THE ONES ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, UM, YOU KNOW, STILL HAVE SOME TECHNOLOGICAL OR FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS THAT NEED TO BE WORKED OUT BEFORE THEY'RE READY FOR KIND OF WIDE SCALE PRIME TIME USE.
SO IN GENERAL, IT IS A, UM, IT IS A, IT IS A HEFT AND AN APPLICATION, UM, CONSTRAINT.
SO THIS JUST KIND OF GOES THROUGH DIFFERENT TYPES OF LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, UM, STARTING WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF SAWS.
SO PRIMARILY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHAINSAWS HERE, BUT THERE'S ALSO POLE SAWS FOR LIKE, UH, TREE, TREE TRIMMING, UH, APPLICATIONS.
UM, SO TYPICALLY THOSE SMALLER CHAINSAWS, THE ELECTRIC OPTIONS, AGAIN, IT VARIED USER TO USER, BUT GENERALLY FOLKS REALLY LIKED THEM.
THEY FELT LIKE THEY HAD SOME BENNET UH, BENEFITS, BETTER WEIGHT BALANCE, LOWER WEIGHT, UM, DIDN'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, HUGE, UH, BATTERY, UM, CONSTRAINTS.
BUT ONCE YOU START TO GET UP ABOVE ABOUT A 20 BAR, UM, SAW, THAT'S WHEN IT FAILS PRETTY QUICKLY.
SO IT'S GONNA, THE BATTERY'S GONNA RUN OUT IN 20, 30 MINUTES MAX.
IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT TAKING DOWN A MATURE TREE.
UM, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GOING OUT AND DOING DEBRIS AND VEGETATION REMOVAL IN A DISASTER RESPONSE SITUATION, THOSE TYPES OF SAWS AND ELECTRIC OPTIONS AREN'T QUITE GONNA CUT IT YET.
UM, THINKING ABOUT TRIMMERS, BOTH STRING TRIERS AND HEDGE TRIMMERS, UH, FOLKS GENERALLY LIKE THEM QUITE A BIT IN ELECTRIC OPTIONS FOR LIGHT DUTY APPLICATIONS, YOU KNOW, LIGHT HEDGING AND TRIMMING.
UM, BUT FOR HEAVY DUTY APPLICATIONS, PEOPLE FELT LIKE THE, THE OUTPUT, THE POWER OUTPUT AND THE BATTERY LIFE WASN'T QUITE THERE YET.
IF YOU ARE OUT MAINTAINING, UM, A GOLF COURSE OR LIKE A CAMPUS, A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS FOR EXAMPLE, AND YOU'RE JUST CLEARING UH, LEAF OR DEBRIS OFF OF A SIDEWALK, UM, THEY WORK GREAT.
PEOPLE TEND TO LIKE THEM WELL, BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GOING OUT THERE RIGHT NOW AND WE'RE IN HEAVY LEAF WALL CONDITIONS, YOU'VE GOT REALLY BIG THICK WET LEAVES.
UM, AGAIN, THE BATTERY'S NOT GONNA LAST LONG ENOUGH.
PEOPLE ARE FRUSTRATED WITH HAVING TO CARRY AROUND A BIG BUCKET OF BATTERIES TO CONSTANTLY REPLACE 'EM OR FIND SOMEWHERE TO CHARGE THEM.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS REALLY SMALLER WALK BEHIND MOWERS OR SOME OF THE ROBOTIC MOWERS AND EVEN SOME OF THE SMALLER RIDING MOWERS.
[01:05:01]
TEND TO LIKE, THEY SEEM TO BE WORKING OUT OKAY WITH THE CAVEAT THAT YOU HAVE TO BE TALKING ABOUT ARE RELATIVELY SMALL GEOGRAPHIC AREA THAT YOU'RE WORKING IN.SO SMALLER ACREAGE OR JUST HAVING TO, YOU KNOW, JUST MAINTAINING A SINGLE SITE.
BUT IN A LOT OF CASES, ESPECIALLY FOR PARKS EMPLOYEES, UM, THEY ARE LOADING UP MOWERS AND DRIVING ALL OVER TOWN SERVICING MULTIPLE SITES IN A DAY AND VERY LARGE ACREAGE SITES.
SO THOSE LARGER RIDING MOWERS AND SOME OF THE LARGER ROBOTIC MOWERS FOLKS REALLY DIDN'T FEEL LIKE WERE THERE YET.
AND THEN, UH, THE LAST ONE IN THE MARKET READY COLUMN, THOSE KIND OF, UM, GO-KART TYPES OF EQUIPMENT, UTILITY VEHICLES, PEOPLE REALLY LIKE THOSE AND FELT LIKE THOSE WERE A GOOD FIT FOR THE ELECTRIC SIDE OF THINGS.
SO THAT IS WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE PEOPLE ACTUALLY USING THE EQUIPMENT, WHETHER THEY HAD FIRSTHAND REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE WITH ELECTRIC OPTIONS COMPARED TO THEIR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE EQUIVALENT, OR WHETHER IT WAS HEARSAY, WORD OF MOUTH, WHAT THEY HAD HEARD.
THAT'S KIND OF HOW THEY WOULD CATEGORIZE THE PROS AND CONS.
WHAT TYPES OF EQUIPMENT ARE MARKET READY, WHAT AREN'T QUITE THERE YET, AND NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME FOR THE TECHNOLOGY TO MATURE AND FOR THE PRICE POINTS TO COME DOWN.
AND SO WE TOOK WHAT WE HEARD AND WE PUT TOGETHER SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CITY, BOTH IN TERMS OF WHAT IT CAN DO TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE WITH ITS OWN EQUIPMENT INVENTORY, AND THEN ALSO WHAT IT CAN DO TO TRY TO PUSH THE MARKET AND THE COMMUNITY SECTOR A LITTLE BIT MORE TOWARDS ELECTRIC OPTIONS AS WELL.
SO THIS SLIDE KIND OF SUMMARIZES, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHAT THE CITY CAN DO INTERNALLY, BOTH WITH ITS OWN EQUIPMENT THAT IT PURCHASES AND OPERATES AS WELL AS USING, UM, ITS PURCHASING POWER THROUGH CONTRACTS FOR SERVICE AGREEMENTS WITH WITH VENDORS THAT MAINTAIN SOME CITY PROPERTIES AS WELL.
UM, THE REPORT, WHICH, UH, IF HASN'T, IF IT HASN'T BEEN SHARED WITH YOU YET, WE CAN GET CITY STAFF TO SHARE IT WITH YOU.
IT'S AVAILABLE IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
IT HAS MUCH MORE DETAIL, BUT JUST QUICKLY TO WALK THROUGH IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY HEARD FROM SOME OF THE OTHER MUNICIPAL AND STATE AGENCIES THAT WE TALKED TO THAT WERE A STEP AHEAD IN TERMS OF TRANSITIONING THEIR FLEET, IS THAT, UM, FULL SCALE, A HUNDRED PERCENT ELECTRIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL GRADE EQUIPMENT, WERE NOT QUITE THERE.
SO IT, THAT IT WOULD BE WISE FOR FOLKS LIKE THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO CONSIDER, LIKE, WHAT IS THE GOAL THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? IS IT YOU'RE TRYING TO REDUCE EMISSIONS? IS IT YOU'RE TRYING, YOU'RE TRYING TO IMPROVE WORKER HEALTH AND SAFETY? UM, AND TO SET THAT AS THE BAR RATHER THAN A HUNDRED PERCENT ELECTRIFICATION WITHIN X YEARS.
AND THEN THAT WOULD ALLOW SOME FLEXIBILITY TO, FOR THOSE TYPES OF EQUIPMENT THAT ARE MARKET READY NOW AND ELECTRIC OPTIONS, YES, START CONVERTING THOSE OVER AT END OF LIFE TO ELECTRIC OPTIONS.
BUT FOR THE EQUIPMENT THAT ISN'T QUITE THERE, IS THERE A LOWER EMISSIONS FUEL THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED? ARE THERE THINGS THAT WE CAN JUST REDUCE MO MOWING AND MAINTENANCE NEEDS OVERALL? UM, AND SO TO NOT LET THE END GAME BE PURE A HUNDRED PERCENT ELECTRIFICATION, KEEP THAT THAT EYE IN MIND.
UM, BUT DON'T LET THAT LIMIT OTHER OPTIONS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS AND PROTECT WORKER HEALTH.
RELATED TO THAT, UM, AGAIN, NOT TRYING TO DO THIS ALL TOMORROW, BUT IMPLEMENTING A PHASED ROLLOUT, JUST TO GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR WHAT THAT COULD LOOK LIKE.
UM, YOU KNOW, ON THE, ON THE HIGH END, THEIR LA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHICH IS THE LARGEST OR SECOND LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY, THEY HAVE ALMOST 800 CAMPUSES AND THEY HAVE MAJORITY TRANSITIONED ALL OF THEIR LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT TO ELECTRIC.
AND THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT IN PART BECAUSE THEY'RE IN CALIFORNIA AND THEY'RE MORE CHOICES AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET THERE.
AND THERE ARE MORE, UM, INCENTIVES AVAILABLE TO BRING DOWN THAT COST THERE.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE IS A, A CITY PARKS DEPARTMENT IN TEXAS THAT, UM, THEY WERE GIVEN A GOAL TO TRY TO FULLY ELECTRIFY WITHIN A FEW YEARS, AND THEY'RE NOT THERE YET.
UM, WHAT THEY DECIDED TO DO IS TO TAKE THREE HIGH PROFILE KIND OF FLAGSHIP PARKS, UM, THAT HAD HIGH VISIBILITY AND HIGH USE, AND THEY GOT TO ABOUT 80%, UM, ELECTRIFICATION OF THEIR LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT PORTFOLIO WITHIN A FEW YEARS.
AND THEY'RE HOLDING OFF ON BROADER ELECTRIFICATION THE REST OF THE DEPARTMENT.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING DEPARTMENT WIDE, THEY'RE ONLY AT ABOUT 10% ELECTRIFICATION OF THEIR TOTAL INVENTORY.
WHEREAS FOR THOSE THREE PRIORITY SITES, THEY'RE AT ABOUT 80%.
UM, SO JUST TO GIVE IT SOME TIME TO LET THE TECHNOLOGY MATURE PEOPLE TO GET SOME FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, UM, AND, AND GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE TECHNOLOGY.
UM, ONE OF THE REALLY PROMINENT CONSTRAINTS THAT WE DID HERE IN, IN STOCKING WITH CITY STAFF IN PARTICULAR IS THAT THERE, THE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IS BEING HANDLED ON A PIECEMEAL, YOU KNOW, WORK UNIT BY WORK UNIT BASIS RIGHT NOW THAT THERE ISN'T NECESSARILY AN OVERARCHING KIND OF CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY LIKE THE CITY HAS BEEN DOING WITH, UM, THE, THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE FLEET, UM, CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT CERTAINLY NEEDS TO, TO BE ADDRESSED IN ORDER FOR, UM, EQUIPMENT ELECTRIFICATION TO REALLY SCALE.
[01:10:01]
OFF OF THAT, UM, ENCOURAGING FOLKS TO TAKE A FULL LIFECYCLE COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS, NOT JUST LOOKING AT THE STICKER SHOCK OF THE HIGHER PRICE UP FRONT, WHICH BY THE WAY, THERE ARE SOME COST RANGES AVAILABLE IN THE REPORT AS WELL.UM, AND THEN FOR THAT KIND OF PUSHING THE MARKET SIDE, THE CITY DOES USE SOME SERVICE AGREEMENTS.
AND SO THERE ACTUALLY IS A STATE LAW, IT'S A TEXAS SENATE BILL, UM, 10 17, WHICH WAS IN, INTRODUCED IN 2023 THAT RESTRICTS, UM, THE CITY.
UH, OH WAIT, WAS THAT A BROWNOUT WHILE WE'RE AT AUSTIN ENERGY
SOMETHING HAPPENED MAYBE TO HER AT THE SAME TIME.
ANYONE WANNA CHECK THE GRID? JEN? I THINK, UH, I THINK THE SENSORS JUST TURNED OFF RIGHT? 'CAUSE NO ONE MOVED IN A WHILE.
WERE WE THAT STILL THAT SEEMS SURPRISING.
HI, MY, MY NAME'S LEONARD VARGAS AND I'M PART OF THE CONSULTING TEAM WITH JEN.
UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, YES.
UH, I CAN CONTINUE UNTIL SHE CAN COMES BACK ON, BUT AS SHE, AS JEN WAS MENTIONING.
IS THAT OKAY? THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
UM, PART OF WHAT WE LEARNED, UH, WE LEARNED IS ABOUT, FROM OTHER COUNTIES IS JUST LEVERAGING THE SERVICE AGREEMENTS, YOU KNOW, THAT WE MIGHT HAVE WITH OTHER CO UM, BUSINESSES IN THE, IN THE CITY TO LOOK AT WHO IS USING, YOU KNOW, ALREADY SOME OF THE PRIORITIES THAT THE CITY HAS OUTLINED IN THEIR PLAN.
AND THEN OF COURSE, IN INVEST IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HEARD FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY WAS JUST THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU IDENTIFY A CERTAIN GROUP, THAT YOU ACTUALLY TAKE THE TIME TO TRAIN THEM ON THE EQUIPMENT.
AND AS JEN HAD MENTIONED EARLIER, WAS ABOUT THAT WHOLE, UH, CULTURAL RESISTANCE THAT WHEN THEY FOUND THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO TRAIN INDIVIDUALS AND DO SOME ACTUALLY HANDS-ON, UM, USING THE TOOLS THAT WAS PART OF THE INVESTMENT.
AND THEY FOUND THAT IT SHIFTED SOME WILLINGNESS TO SAY LIKE, OH, I CAN WORK WITH THIS NOW I CAN USE THIS NOW I UNDERSTAND IT.
AND SO PART OF THAT IS ALSO JUST LEARNING, YOU KNOW, THE INVESTMENT NOT ONLY FROM THE, BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH THE TOOLS, BUT ALSO BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH, YOU KNOW, JUST THE SAFETY PROTOCOLS OF ALL THE TOOLS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, JEN MENTIONED EARLIER WAS THE PLAN FOR EQUIPMENT END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT IS TO REALLY LOOK AS, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH ESPECIALLY ALL THE BATTERIES, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE SOME OF THESE BATTERIES DON'T LAST AS LONG AS, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD LIKE FOR THEM TO LAST DEPENDING ON HOW WE'RE USING THEM.
SO HOW ARE WE GONNA RECYCLE THOSE BATTERIES? WHAT IS GONNA, HOW ARE WE GONNA SET UP SOMETHING WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN OR WHERE, YOU KNOW, THIS HAPPENS TO ADDRESS THAT? 'CAUSE THE LAST THING WE WANT IS TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, A PLACE WHERE WE HAVE ALL THESE IN THE LIFE BATTERIES AND REALLY NOT ADDRESSING SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS.
UM, THIS JUST, YOU KNOW, OUTLINES A PILOT PROGRAM, UH, BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE HEARD, UM, HERE IT, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT, AS WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, DOING A ROLLOUT AND NOT TRYING TO DO IT ALL AT ONE TIME.
AND PART OF THIS IS ACTUALLY ESTABLISHING A ELECTRIFICATION TEAM, YOU KNOW, AND THAT WOULD BE COM UH, COMBINED OF ALL THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AND, AND REALLY DOING, LOOKING AT HOW WE'RE GONNA WORK TOGETHER, UM, AND REALLY COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AND LOOK AT IDENTIFY ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT OPTIONS FOR WHAT WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH, AND THEN TEST THE OPTIONS.
UM, WE HEARD FROM SOME OF THE MANUFACTURERS THAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE WILLING TO, UH, ALLOW INDIVIDUALS TO USE THEIR TOOLS FOR ONE MONTH, TWO MONTH AND BECOME FAMILIAR WITH IT SO THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH IT, AND THEN ASSESS THAT CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE READINESS.
AND THAT IS GONNA BE SO IMPORTANT.
WE HEARD IT FROM A LOT OF THE COMPANIES, UM, INDIVIDUALS AND EVEN SOME STATES THAT THEY, HOW THAT IS GONNA BE REALLY CRITICAL, UM, BECAUSE IT'S NOT GOOD IF WE GO OUT AND BUY ALL THIS EQUIPMENT, BUT WE CAN CHARGE IT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY OR THE BUILDINGS ARE NOT EQUIPPED FOR THAT.
AND WHICH THEN IF WE ARE NOT EQUIPPED FOR THAT, IT CAN BECOME A SAFETY HAZARD, UM, FOR EVERYONE.
UM, AND THEN SELECT, UH, A PRO PRO CAR EQUIPMENT, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE WE GONNA BUY EQUIPMENT? WHERE ARE THE BEST ONES? WHO GIVES US THE BEST PRICES? UM, BECAUSE THERE ARE DIFFERENT PRICE, UH,
[01:15:01]
POINTS AND YOU WILL FIND THAT MORE IN THE REPORT, UM, SET UP AND CHARGING, UH, STORAGE THAT IS SO CRITICAL.AND, UH, UM, WE, WE LEARNED THAT, AND WE HAVE IT OUTLINED IN A REPORT THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE, UH, BE MINDFUL OF THAT HOW WE'RE GONNA STORE THIS EQUIPMENT BECAUSE IT IS IMPACTED BY THE WEATHER.
YOU KNOW, EITHER EXTREME HEAT OR EXTREME COAL CAN ACTUALLY IMPACT JUST HOW THE, THE TOOL WILL, HOW LONG IT WILL LAST, HOW IT WILL FUNCTION.
AND JUST, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT INVESTMENT AS BEING GOOD STEWARDS WITH THE FUNDS AND PROVIDE TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTING THE PILOT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S GONNA BE CRITICAL NOT ONLY JUST FOR INDIVIDUALS, UM, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE INITIAL TEAM, BUT JUST EVERYONE AND START FAMILIARIZING AND THEN EVALUATE AND SCALE THE PROGRAM.
EVALUATION IS GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT IS HOW EFFECTIVE IS THIS WHAT WE'RE DOING? AND YOU KNOW, WHEN WE SET UP OUR MATRIXES, WHEN I SAY WE MEANING THE CITY AND YOU KNOW, THE, THE PARTS AND HOW THEY'RE GONNA LOOK AT THAT.
UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A NEXT SLIDE.
THANKS FOR JUMPING RIGHT IN AND HELLO AGAIN EVERYBODY.
UM, SO THAT WAS, LEONARD WAS JUST MENTIONING THE, UM, PILOT PROGRAM GUIDE WE PUT TOGETHER FOR AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION.
UM, WE ALSO GAVE THEM KIND OF A TEMPLATE SO THAT THEY CAN DO A REALLY DETAILED INVENTORY.
IT WAS OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF OUR STUDY TO ACTUALLY DO INVENTORY THEIR CURRENT, UM, INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE FLEET AND THEN DO A ONE-TO-ONE MAPPING OF THE AVAILABLE ELECTRIC OPTIONS AND TO BE ABLE TO PRICE THAT OUT USING THAT FULL LIFECYCLE COST ANALYSIS.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO OFFERED SOME IDEAS BASED ON FOLKS WE TALKED TO ACROSS THE COUNTRY ABOUT, UM, WAYS TO THE CITY COULD OFFER INCENTIVE PROGRAMS HERE LOCALLY.
SO WE DID TALK TO A FEW DIFFERENT FOLKS, MOSTLY IN COLORADO AND CALIFORNIA, UM, WHERE THEY WERE KIND OF REALLY LEADING ON SOME OF THESE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS. AND THERE WERE THREE KIND OF KEY PROGRAM MODELS THAT ARE IN USE TODAY.
UM, AND THE MOST COMMON ONE IS PROVIDING EITHER A REBATE OR A VOUCHER TO ESSENTIALLY BUY DOWN THAT HIGHER UPFRONT COST OF THE EQUIPMENT, UH, GENERALLY INCLUDING AT LEAST THE INITIAL KIND OF LIKE CHARGING, STARTING STARTER PACK AS WELL.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LEARNED IS THAT A LOT OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO REDUCE LOCAL AIR POLLUTION EMISSIONS, NOT NECESSARILY TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
SO MANY OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE ADMINISTERED BY, UM, REGIONAL AIR QUALITY AGENCIES.
UM, SO WHEN AUSTIN'S THINKING ABOUT WHETHER TO OFFER SOME TYPE OF REBATE OR VOUCHER PROGRAM LOCALLY, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS, IT MIGHT NOT MAKE SENSE FOR IT TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE, BUT POTENTIALLY AUSTIN ENERGY BECAUSE THEY HAVE MULTI DECADE OLD EXPERIENCE, UM, ADMINISTERING REBATE PROGRAMS, UM, INCLUDING THEY ALREADY HAVE A POINT OF PURCHASE INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR RESIDENTIAL LAWN EQUIPMENT AND HAVE BEEN DOING SOME TRADE TRADE-IN EVENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL EQUIPMENT AS WELL.
UM, OR POTENTIALLY THINKING ABOUT KIND OF THAT AIR QUALITY AGENCY PERSPECTIVE, UM, USING THE CITY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CAP COG, UM, THAT RUNS THE REGIONAL AIR QUALITY PROGRAM.
SO THAT COULD BE A POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP AS WELL.
UM, JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH THOSE, UM, REBATE VOUCHER PROGRAMS COST FROM THE FOLKS THAT WE TALK TO.
IT'S GENERALLY IN THE LIKE LOW TO MID, UH, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR.
I WOULD SAY LIKE 150,000 TO 300,000 PER YEAR WAS TYPICAL.
AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE LIKE FOR A SMALLER PROGRAM, MAYBE A PART-TIME STAFF POSITION ONCE IT'S UP AND RUNNING JUST TO KIND OF KEEP IT GOING AND, AND MANAGE IT.
WHEREAS SOME OF THE LARGER PROGRAMS THEY MAY HAVE BOTH THE PROGRAM MANAGER AND SOME MORE, UM, EARLY CAREER OUTREACH STAFF THAT SUPPORT MULTIPLE PROGRAMS. UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IN TERMS OF BUDGETING.
AND THEN ANOTHER THING WE REALLY HEARD FROM THOSE REBATE AND VOUCHER PROGRAMS IS THAT YOU HAVE TO MINIMIZE THE PARTICIPATION BURDENS, BOTH FOR THE EQUIPMENT OPERATORS THAT WANT TO ACCESS THE REBATES TO HELP MAKE THAT ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT MORE AFFORDABLE AS WELL AS FOR THE LOCAL RETAILERS THAT ARE GONNA BE YOUR MAIN POINT OF CONTACT WITH THE EQUIPMENT OPERATOR.
SO THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM 'CAUSE THEY'RE GONNA BE YOUR PRIME MARKETING TOOL AND THAT CAN HELP CUT DOWN ON THE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR'S MARKETING COSTS.
UM, AND THEN ALSO TO REALLY PRIORITIZE OUTREACH TO HARDER TO REACH LANDSCAPING PROFESSIONALS, ESPECIALLY IN OUR AREA, THINKING ABOUT, UM, SPANISH SPEAKING FOLKS, UH, THAT IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT MAY NOT BE AS TRUSTING OF GOVERNMENT RUN PROGRAMS WANTING TO PARTICIPATE IN THEM.
AND SO BEING MINDFUL OF THOSE, UM, CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS AS WELL.
UM, THE, THE OTHER OPTION THAT I MENTIONED IS THE EQUIPMENT TRADE-IN.
SO I KNOW THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COUNCIL HAD EXPRESSED INTEREST IN.
UM, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN ENERGY AND PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE AND AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY HAS BEEN OFFERING A COUPLE OF KIND OF SINGLE DAY, UH, EQUIPMENT TRADE-IN EVENTS.
I THINK THE FOCUS HAS MOSTLY BEEN ON KIND OF US AS INDIVIDUAL USERS OF THIS EQUIPMENT, BUT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT SCALING THAT UP FOR, UM, SOME OF THOSE SMALLER, UM, LANDSCAPING BUSINESSES
[01:20:01]
THAT FOR WHOM EVEN WHEN YOU STILL HAVE THAT REBATE OR THAT VOUCHER TO HELP BUY DOWN THAT UPFRONT COST, IT MAY STILL BE OUT OF REACH.SO THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE TO OPERATE BECAUSE YOU'RE ACTUALLY PAYING FOR THE EQUIPMENT TO GIVE AWAY FOR FREE, AND THEN YOU'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO COME TURN IN THEIR OLD GAS OR DIESEL POWERED EQUIPMENT AND NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SCRAP THAT.
UM, AND THAT MAY HAVE A DISPOSAL COST WITH IT.
YOU MAY ACTUALLY MAKE A LITTLE BIT MONEY ON THE SCRAP MATERIALS THAT ARE SCRAP METAL AND THINGS THAT ARE RECYCLED.
AND THEN THE LAST OPTION WE WANTED TO MENTION IS THAT THERE ARE QUITE A FEW CITIES, INCLUDING QUITE A FEW TEXAS CITIES, UM, INCLUDING SAN MARCUS, SAN ANTONIO, DALLAS, THAT ARE NOT ONLY TRYING TO REACH, UM, KIND OF PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPERS, BUT ALSO TRYING TO GIVE MORE EXPOSURE TO, AGAIN, ON THE, THE RE THE RESIDENTIAL SCALE OR MAYBE LIKE A NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP SCALE WHERE THEY'RE OFFERING EQUIPMENT LENDING LIBRARIES.
SO MAYBE NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS CAN COME TOGETHER AND CAN CHECK OUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMMERCIAL GRADE ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT TO USE FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD BEAUTIFICATION OR CLEANUP DAY.
AND EVEN I THINK AS IN DALLAS, UM, THE CITY OF DALLAS PARTNERS WITH, UH, KEEP DALLAS BEAUTIFUL TO NOT ONLY DO THAT EQUIPMENT LENDING LIBRARY, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE, UM, A MOBILE SOLAR POWERED CHARGING SETUP SO PEOPLE CAN LEARN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE TO CHARGE THAT EQUIPMENT OUT IN THE FIELD AS WELL.
AGAIN, WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE REPORT.
IT'S AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH WITH MUCH MORE DETAIL.
UH, BUT IF WE STILL HAVE TIME, WE ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
WHO HAS QUESTIONS? ANDY? HEY THERE, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS.
UM, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU ALL LOOKED AT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHARGING, UM, LIKE USING ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS CHARGING SOURCES, AND I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH LANDSCAPING CREWS HAVE MOVED TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BUT, UM, IF THAT MIGHT BE AN OPTION.
AND THEN, UM, I GUESS I JUST, YEAH, REALLY WANTED TO, UM, UM, AFFIRM, I THINK THAT PHASED ROLLOUT THAT, THAT Y'ALL ARE RECOMMENDING.
AND I THINK ESPECIALLY FOCUSING ON, UM, LIKE I'VE, I'VE USED SOME OF THESE TOOLS IN A COMMERCIAL SETTING AND, AND FOCUSING ON THE TWO STROKE ENGINE, UM, ONES, YOU KNOW, LIKE THAT'S WHERE THEY'RE, THEY'RE MUCH EASIER TO ELECTRIFY AND THOSE ARE THE REALLY, REALLY DIRTY, UM, AND NOISY ENGINES, RIGHT? IT'S, IT'S, UM, I THINK THE IMPACT IS MUCH GREATER AND, AND THAT AND MORE AFFORDABLE.
UM, THE ANSWER IS YES, WE DEFINITELY TALKED TO, TO FOLKS THAT HAD VERY CREATIVE, UM, SETUPS OUT IN THE FIELD BOTH USING, UM, FOR, FOR CITY STAFF, BUT SOME OF THEM THAT HAVE ACCESS TO THE F-150 LIGHTNINGS FIRST THINGS FIRST, THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM.
LIKE UNIVERSALLY, EVERYBODY LOVES THE LIGHTNING.
AND TWO, YES, THAT CAN BE CHARGED TO POWER YOUR TOOLS OUT IN THE FIELD AND IS STARTING TO HAPPEN IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY TO BOTH HAVE THE FULL SCALE FLEET ELECTRIFICATION SUPPORT, THE LARGER KIND OF, UH, HANDHELD EQUIPMENT ELECTRIFICATION AS WELL.
SO THERE'S A BIG OPPORTUNITY THERE.
UM, FLEET SERVICES HAS ALSO, UM, BEEN, UH, SOURCING SOME KIND OF, UH, PORTABLE SOLAR CHARGING OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL.
AND I KNOW SOME DEPARTMENTS ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH THAT.
AND THEN UNFORTUNATELY ON THE NOT SO CLEAN SIDE, UH, THERE ARE DEFINITELY FOLKS THAT ARE JUST PUTTING TOGETHER THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS AND THEY'RE USING LIKE ONBOARD INVERTERS AND THINGS TO ESSENTIALLY RUN THEIR DIESEL TRUCK, UH, TO POWER UP
SO YOU KIND OF HAVE AN EMISSIONS TRADE OFF ON HAVING THE LOWER, GETTING RID OF THE TWO STROKE ON THE, UM, LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, BUT YOU'VE STILL NOW GOT A BIG DIESEL, UH, ENGINE OUT THERE PUMPING AWAY.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE MINDFUL OF.
SAME THING WITH LIKE GEN SETS WITH, UM, PORTABLE GENERATORS.
PEOPLE DID REFERENCE THAT THEY'RE USING SOME DIESEL OR GAS GENERATORS OUT IN THE FIELD.
UM, SO I THINK MAY HAVE TO DO THAT IN MORE REMOTE SITUATIONS FOR A WHILE, BUT THE CITY COULD CERTAINLY BE TRYING TO CENTRALIZE OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE MORE SOLAR POWERED OPTIONS, TO HAVE MORE BATTERY OPTIONS, YOU KNOW, LARGER BATTERIES, FEEDING SMALLER BATTERIES.
UM, THERE'S QUITE A FEW, UM, KIND OF OFF THE SHELF OPTIONS THAT ARE AVAILABLE NOW.
I KNOW AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN TESTING OUT SOME OF THOSE.
THEY'RE LOOKING AT KIND OF FIRE SAFE CHARGING CABINETS AS WELL FOR KIND OF OVERNIGHT CHARGING OPTIONS, BUT IT'S, ESPECIALLY THAT FIELD CHARGING, THAT'S A BIG CONSTRAINT.
SO YES, TO USING ELECTRIC VEHICLES TO CHARGE ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT.
OTHER QUESTIONS, ANNA, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS.
UH, THIS IS, UH, I GUESS WE REQUEST FOR EDUCATION WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHARGING NEEDS, LIKE WHAT, I MEAN, DO YOU JUST PLUG THESE INTO A WALL? LIKE WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE THE CHARGING, LIKE WHAT ARE THE CHARGING NEEDS? I KNOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A WIDE RANGE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF EQUIPMENT HERE, UM, BUT I KNOW ANDY JUST BROUGHT UP LIKE EV CHARGERS, BUT FROM SOME OF THESE LIKE LEAF BLOWERS I'VE SEEN, THEY DON'T LOOK TOO BIG.
SO MAYBE HELP ME UNDERSTAND LIKE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO CHARGE SOME OF THIS
[01:25:01]
EQUIPMENT.YES, THERE ARE SOME PICTURES IN THE REPORT.
UM, BUT YES, IT CAN BE EVERYWHERE FROM PLUGGING INTO A STANDARD 120 VOLT OUTLET FOR SOME OF THE LARGER, UH, SCALE LIKE STRING TRIERS OR, OR SMALL LEAF BLOWERS OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, ONE OF THE CATCHES I DON'T THINK WE'VE MENTIONED YET IS THAT OF COURSE ALL OF THE MANUFACTURERS ARE MAKING THEIR CHARGING PACKS PROPRIETARY TO ONLY WORK WITH THEIR EQUIPMENT.
SO ONE OF THE CONSTRAINTS FROM A PROCUREMENT PERSPECTIVE IS THAT, UM, OFTENTIMES WHEN PEOPLE ARE TRYING OUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES AT SCALE, THEY MIGHT WANNA BUY SEVERAL DIFFERENT BRANDS AND MAKES AND MODELS TO SEE WHAT'S GONNA WORK BEST AND THEN KIND OF GO ALL IN ON THAT.
THAT'S HARDER TO DO, UM, WITH THIS LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MIX AND MATCH THE CHARGERS WITH THE TOOLS THEMSELVES.
UM, SO, UM, THERE ARE KIND OF BUILT IN CHARGING OPTIONS THAT EACH, EACH OEM IS OFFERING.
UM, AND THEN AGAIN, LIKE FOR SOME OF THE MOWERS, AND, AND I'LL ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE PICTURES IN, IN THE REPORT, BUT SOME OF THE MOWERS, RATHER THAN IT BE LIKE A WALL PACK, IT'S LIKE A, IT'S LIKE A PORTABLE CHARGING STATION AND LIKE THE MOWER KIND OF SLOTS INTO THE CHARGING DECK.
UM, THERE ARE BOTH KIND OF JUST LIKE WE HAD FOR HYBRID VEHICLES, THERE'S BOTH SERIAL AND PARALLEL CHARGING SETUPS, UM, THAT HAVE DIFFERENT KIND OF, UH, FIRE SAFETY AND RISK PROFILES TO THEM.
A LOT OF THAT IS BEING WORKED OUT LIVE NOW.
UM, THE, THE NEW LOCAL CODE IN AUSTIN HAS, UH, REALLY GREAT PROTECTIVE, UM, FIRE RISK PROTECTIONS BUILT INTO 'EM, BUT IT'S GONNA REQUIRE SOME LARGER SCALE, UM, POTENTIALLY MORE EXPENSIVE CHARGING SETUPS.
UM, SO ANNA, WE'LL TRY TO GET YOU, GET YOU SOME PICTURES OF THAT SO YOU CAN SEE THAT IN REAL TIME.
JOHN, THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, I KEEP COMING BACK TO THE MAINTENANCE PORTION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO, UM, Y'ALL SPOKE ABOUT THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TO UTILIZE THE EQUIPMENT, BUT WHAT ARE Y'ALL FINDING AS FAR AS THE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE TEAMS THAT ACTUALLY MAINTAIN THE EQUIPMENT OF WHAT TYPES OF, UH, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENTS ARE NEEDED ON THAT END OF IT? SO I WOULD SAY IN GENERAL, WHAT WE HEARD OUTSIDE OF THE AUTOMATED ROBOTIC MOWERS, THAT THE MAINTENANCE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH OF A LEARNING CURVE.
AGAIN, THERE'S FEWER MOVING PARTS, NOT A WHOLE LOT YOU NEED TO DO.
UM, YOU'RE NOT DEALING WITH FUELS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND SO IT'S REALLY JUST EITHER THROUGH THE DISTRIBUTOR THAT YOU USE OR THE MANUFACTURER THAT THEY'LL GIVE YOU THE TRADING THAT YOU NEED.
UM, ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS ON THAT IS THAT THEY TYPICALLY WILL INVITE YOU TO THEIR SHOWROOM OR THEIR, THEIR FACILITY TO OFFER THAT TRAINING.
THEY DON'T ALWAYS COME ON SITE, WHICH IS REALLY CHALLENGING FOR ANYBODY, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR, UM, CITY STAFF THAT ARE ALWAYS OVERSTRETCHED AND UNDER RESOURCES TO GET THAT TIME AWAY AND THOSE TRAVEL MONIES TO GO AND DO THAT.
UM, SO I THINK I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD INTO PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS THAT THE VENDOR PROVIDES ONSITE TRAINING AND THAT THAT'S OFFERED ACROSS DEPARTMENTS SO THAT THEY CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.
UM, 'CAUSE AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, FOLKS REALLY SEEMED INTERESTED IN THAT.
UM, FOR THE ROBOTIC MOWERS, THAT IS AN AREA WHERE WE HEARD KIND OF THE LEARNING CURVE WAS A LITTLE BIT STEEPER BECAUSE IT HAS ONBOARD ELECTRONICS MM-HMM
UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THOSE ARE PROGRAMMABLE.
AND SO THEY HAVE THEIR OWN PROPRIETARY HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS AND FOR FOLKS THAT OPERATE, UH, LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT, THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY USED TO THINKING LIKE A HARDWARE SOFTWARE ENGINEER.
UM, SO THEY HAVE TO LEARN THAT SIDE OF IT.
AND ALSO WE HEARD, UM, ESPECIALLY FROM OTHER PARKS DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN, THAT THOSE, UM, ROBOTIC MOWERS, WHILE THEY COULD BE REALLY COOL AND BE INCREDIBLY TIME-SAVING, WHEN YOU WERE ABLE TO PROGRAM THOSE SCHEDULES TO RUN EITHER AT NIGHT OR HAVE ONE FIELD GOING WHILE SOMEBODY'S MANUALLY OPERATING ON ANOTHER FIELD, UM, THAT THEY WERE SUBJECT TO MORE VANDALISM, PEOPLE JUST DON'T LIKE COMPUTERS, SO THEY WOULD LIKE POUR DRINKS DOWN INTO THEM OR THEY WOULD BEAT THEM WITH BATS,
SO THOSE ENDED UP NEEDING REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT MORE OFTEN.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT ON THE MAINTENANCE SIDE AS WELL, UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT APPLICATION FOR THOSE AUTOMATED MOWERS TRADE OFFS THERE.
YEAH, AND I THINK YOU, UH, ON THE NEXT NOTE, UM, YOU BRING UP A GOOD, A REALLY GOOD POINT THAT IS STILL A BIG VARIABLE AS FAR AS THE, UH, DISPOSAL OF, AND NOT ONLY COMMERCIALLY, BUT YOU KNOW, ALL THE FOLKS THAT ARE, ARE USING IT ON THE PRIVATE SIDE OF WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH THESE BATTERIES, UH, WHEN THEY
[01:30:01]
RUN THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFE AND THE EQUIPMENT ITSELF.UH, BUT YES, I THINK YOUR, UH, YOUR REPORT HERE IS VERY DETAILED ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE CULTURAL RESISTANCE.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
JEN, I WAS WONDERING, WAS IT AT ALL IN YOUR SCOPE TO COLLECT DATA ON LIKE HOW MANY LOCAL COMPANIES ARE USING ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT? UH, NOT EXPLICITLY, BUT WE DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, AN OUTREACH LIST THAT WE USE TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO TAKE THE SURVEY AND OR, UM, PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERVIEW WITH US.
SO WE DID SOME REALLY COMPREHENSIVE SEARCHING TO TRY TO DEVELOP A LIST OF DIFFERENT LANDSCAPING COMPANIES AND THEN OTHER INSTITUTIONS, YOU KNOW, WE, WE OUTREACH TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS, OTHER UNIVERSITIES, TRAVIS COUNTY, ET CETERA.
UM, SO FOR THE ONES THAT DID EITHER TAKE THE SURVEY OR TALK WITH US, WE DO HAVE SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LIKE ESTIMATES OF WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THEIR EQUIPMENT IS ELECTRIC VERSUS OTHER FUEL SOURCES, UH, ROUGHLY KIND OF WHAT IS THE COST BREAKDOWN BETWEEN PURCHASING THE EQUIPMENT VERSUS LABOR, UM, ANNUAL REVENUES, THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT THAT'S ONLY FOR THE SUBSET OF FOLKS THAT THAT TOOK THE SURVEY OR SPOKE WITH US.
SO IT'S NOT COMPREHENSIVE BY ANY MEANS, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE A FAIRLY COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF, OF COMPANIES OUT THERE.
IS THAT INFORMATION IN THE REPORT THAT YOU MENTIONED? UM, I DON'T THINK WE'VE SEEN THAT, THAT WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T INCLUDE ANY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION IN THE REPORT SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE SHARING FREELY WITH US.
UM, SO NO, IT IS NOT IN THE REPORT, BUT CITY STAFF DO HAVE ACCESS TO IT.
OH, YEAH, I, I MORE JUST MEANT THE, LIKE, THE KIND OF BREAKDOWN, THE SUMMARY NUMBERS OF, YOU KNOW, WHO'S DOING WHAT, IS THAT IN THERE OR, OR SOME OF THAT IS IN THERE.
UM, THERE IS AN APPENDIX THAT BASICALLY PROVIDES THE RAW DATA FROM THE SURVEY RESPONSES.
UM, SO SOME OF THAT IS IN THERE.
I CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT TO WHAT LEVEL WE SHARED THAT.
CHRIS, HEY JEN, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS A SMALL CONTRACTING BUSINESS OWNER MYSELF, I KNOW YOU IDENTIFIED SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND ONE OF 'EM WAS A HIGHER UPFRONT COST.
DO YOU HAVE A, LIKE A PERCENTAGE OF LIKE A ELECTRIC BLOWER VERSUS A GAS BLOWER ELECTRIC MOWER VERSUS A, A GAS MOWER KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, 1.5, 1.25 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE, YOU KNOW, JUST A, A, YOU KNOW, MAGNITUDE SO I CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE KIND OF FACING FROM A HIGHER UPFRONT COST? YEAH, I WOULD SAY THAT IN GENERAL WE HEARD, UM, THAT WHEN YOU FACTOR IN BOTH THE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND JUST THE BASIC BATTERY AND CHARGER TO GO WITH THE EQUIPMENT, NOT COUNTING THE MULTIPLE BATTERIES THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE ON HAND AS BACKUP, BUT JUST HAVING THE INITIAL BATTERY AND THE CHARGING EQUIPMENT THAT GOES WITH THE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT YOU'RE LOOKING ABOUT ONE AND A HALF TO THREE X THE PRICE POINT OF THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE EQUIVALENT.
AND SO THAT'S GONNA VARY BASED ON TYPE OF EQUIPMENT, BUT THAT'S KIND OF A GENERAL RULE OF THUMB THAT WE HEARD FROM THE FOLKS WE TALKED TO ABOUT ONE AND A HALF TO THREE X DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF EQUIPMENT.
YEAH, NO, THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE.
AND, UH, IF, IF IT'S THE SAME AS WITH MY EMPLOYEES, IT'S GETTING THEM TO PLUG IN THEIR CORDLESS, UH, BATTERIES AT THE END OF THE DAY SO THEY'RE READY FOR THE NEXT DAY.
SO, UM, UH, SO THAT'S A, A MAJOR BARRIER SOMETIMES TOO, BUT I APPRECIATE THE ANSWER.
I'M NOT SEEING ANY MORE HANDS.
SO JEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS REPORT WITH US.
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE, THE FULL REPORT.
UM, AND YEAH, THANKS FOR ANSWERING ALL OUR QUESTIONS TOO.
AND SORRY FOR HOP OFF LEONARDA, THANKS FOR JUMPING IN.
DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE YOU WERE THERE.
WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SIT AROUND WAITING, UH, TOO LONG TO SEE IF JEN WAS COMING BACK.
JEN, I'M GLAD YOU WERE ABLE TO GET BACK.
[5. Presentation regarding Farmland Acquisition and Preservation. Presentation by Andy Smith, Marissa Bell, and Matt Simon, Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board.]
GOING TO DO THE PRESENTATION ON FARMLAND ACQUISITION AND PRESENT, UH, PRESERVATION NEXT, UH, SO THAT MARISSA DOESN'T HAVE TO STICK AROUND TOO LONG.HEY EVERYONE, CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YEP.
I'M GONNA ATTEMPT TO SHARE MY SCREEN HERE.
LET'S SEE IF I CAN MAKE IT WORK.
[01:35:01]
SEE THAT OKAY? YEP, WE'RE SEEING IT.WELL, IT'S GOOD TO SEE SOME FAMILIAR FACES AND HEAR SOME FAMILIAR VOICES.
UM, FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW ME, MY NAME IS MARISSA BELL.
I AM A MEMBER OF THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD POLICY BOARD, AND I'M HERE TONIGHT WITH MY COLLEAGUE ANDY, WHO'S ALSO A FELLOW MEMBER OF THE FOOD POLICY BOARD.
AND TOGETHER WITH OUR COLLEAGUE MATT SIMON, WE'VE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY ON FARMLAND PRESERVATION EFFORTS.
AND OVER THE LAST MONTH, UM, I'M SORRY, LAST MONTH, THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD POLICY BOARD UNANIMOUSLY PASSED A RECOMMENDATION IN SUPPORT OF FARMLAND ACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION IN AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND, UM, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THAT RECOMMENDATION LATER THIS EVENING.
BUT SINCE THEN WE'VE WORKED ON DEVELOPING THIS PRESENTATION TO BRING TO YOU ALL TO HELP STRENGTHEN THE STORY AND PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT BEHIND THE RECOMMENDATION.
AND, UM, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT WHAT, UM, OR THE IMPORTANCE OF FARMLAND PRESERVATION, UM, WHY NOW IS A REALLY CRITICAL MOMENT TO BE TALKING ABOUT FARMLAND PRESERVATION.
AND THEN, UM, PROVIDE A CASE STUDY FOR A SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLE OF, UH, UTILIZING A CONSERVATION EASEMENT IN AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY FOR FARMLAND PRESERVATION EFFORTS.
AND SO WE'LL START BY TALKING ABOUT, UNFORTUNATELY, A GRIM STATISTIC THAT MANY OF Y'ALL MAY HAVE HEARD BEFORE.
UM, THAT LESS THAN 1% OF THE FOOD CONSUMED IN TRAVIS COUNTY IS ACTUALLY PRODUCED HERE IN TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND AS A RESULT, THE DEMAND FOR OUR LOCAL FOOD FAR EXCEEDS WHAT WE CAN SUPPLY SO THAT UNFORTUNATELY, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO REALISTICALLY MEET OUR TOTAL DEMAND FOR FOOD WITH OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM.
UM, THIS IS CREATING A REALLY FRAGILE STATE OF OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM, AND WE REALLY FELT THE EFFECTS OF THIS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
WE ALL HAD THIS SHARED EXPERIENCE OF, UM, EMPTY GROCERY STORE SHELVES.
AND IF WE CAN JUST PLACE OURSELVES BACK THERE FOR A MOMENT, UM, I'D LIKE TO SHARE THAT IN MY DAY JOB, I'M A DIETICIAN AT A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND WE FELT THE SAME EFFECTS OF THIS AT SCALE.
AND SO WE WERE TRYING TO FEED 11,000 STUDENTS PER DAY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
UM, AND WE WERE GETTING SHORTED ON ALL OF OUR FOOD.
WE COULDN'T RECEIVE CONSISTENT DELIVERIES, UM, FROM OUR NORMAL MANUFACTURERS.
AND SO WE REALLY TURNED TO OUR LOCAL PRODUCERS AND OUR VENDORS AT THAT TIME TO HELP STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND, UM, SERVE OUR, OUR KIDS.
AND I THINK WE ALL REMEMBER TOO, THE PUSH FOR SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES DURING THAT TIME, AND WE REALLY SAW THAT THEY WERE THE BACKGROUND.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE CAN HEAR YOU, BUT WE DID LOSE YOUR SCREEN SHARE.
WELL, I KICKED THE CORD, SO LET'S SEE IF I CAN FIX THIS.
ALRIGHT, ARE WE BACK ON TRACK? YEP.
SO, UM, REALLY JUST HONING IN ON THE POINT THAT, UM, DURING THE COVID-19 TE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, OUR LOCAL PRODUCERS AND VENDORS WERE MORE NIMBLE AND QUICK TO RESPOND AND REALLY SHOWED THAT THEY WERE A BACKBONE OF OUR COMMUNITY DURING AN UM, EMERGENCY.
AND SO, UNFORTUNATELY, NOT ONLY ARE WE NOT PRODUCING ENOUGH FOOD AS IT IS, BUT OUR EXISTING FOOD, FOOD SUPPLY IS DECLINING ITSELF AT A RAPID RATE DUE TO DEVELOPMENT.
UM, IN TRAVIS COUNTY ALONE, WE'RE LOSING 17 ACRES OF FARMLAND PER DAY DUE TO DEVELOPMENT.
AND, UM, IT'S NOT JUST US, OUR SURROUNDING COUNTIES, OUR NEIGHBORING COUNTIES ARE ALSO LOSING FARMLAND AT A RAPID RATE AND MOST DRASTICALLY.
I'D LIKE TO POINT EVERYONE TO THE HAYES COUNTY LINE ITEM HERE THAT SHOWS BETWEEN 2017 AND 2019, THEY LOST ALMOST 50% OF THEIR FARMLAND.
AND WHEN OUR NEIGHBORING COUNTIES AND WHEN WE'RE LOSING FARMLAND, THIS PUTS EVEN MORE PRESSURE ON SURROUNDING COUNTIES TO BOLSTER THE FOOD SUPPLY.
UM, BUT UNFORTUNATELY AT SOME POINT WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO RELY ON EACH OTHER ACROSS THE WHOLE REGION.
WE LOST A, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A QUARTER OF OUR FARMLAND BETWEEN 2017 AND 2022.
AND UNFORTUNATELY AT THIS RATE, WE'RE ON TRACK TO LOSE ALL OF OUR REMAINING FARMLAND BY 2035 IF NOTHING CHANGES.
AND SO FARMLAND IN CENTRAL TEXAS IS INCREASING IN VALUE AND DECREASING IN QUANTITY.
AND THIS IS GONNA CREATE A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE GONNA LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESERVE A MEANINGFUL AMOUNT OF FARMLAND AS DEVELOPMENT SPREADS AND LAND IS PERMANENTLY CONVERTED TO OTHER USES.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT TO ANDY TO TALK ABOUT THE LAND LOSS CYCLE.
CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME GREAT? YES.
[01:40:01]
UM, YEAH.SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FARMLAND, UH, PRESERVATION, IT, IT'S KIND OF THE SAME PRINCIPLE AS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WHEN, WHEN IT IS A GOOD TIME TO PLANT A TREATY.
LIKE A GOOD TIME WAS 20 YEARS AGO, AND, AND THE NEXT BEST TIME IS TODAY.
UM, AND IT'S THE SAME WITH FARMLAND.
THE, THE CHEAPEST TIME TO BREAK THIS CYCLE IS NOW, EVEN THOUGH IT'S, IT'S A PRETTY DIFFICULT CHALLENGE AND IT'LL ONLY GET MORE CHALLENGING AS TIME GOES ON.
UM, AND AS MORE FARMLAND IS LOST, UM, THEN THE PRICES OF LAND OBVIOUSLY, UM, CONTINUE TO RISE AND FARMERS CAN'T COMPETE, UM, WITH THOSE PRICES SELL OUT, THE LAND IS DEVELOPED AND THAT, YOU KNOW, IT JUST BECOMES A VICIOUS CYCLE, CYCLE OF DRIVING UP, UM, LAND PRICES EVEN MORE.
AND SO IT MAKES IT REALLY, REALLY CHALLENGING FOR ANY NEW, UH, I MEAN, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY NEW, UM, FARMERS TO, TO ACCESS LAND WITHOUT SOME, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.
AND, UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FARMLAND LOSS, WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING, UM, ABOUT, UM, UH, ABOUT FOOD.
THERE CERTAINLY IS A, A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT, UM, ON THE RESILIENCE OF OUR FOOD SYSTEM.
UM, AND, UM, IF WE DON'T HAVE LOCAL VIABLE FARM BUSINESSES, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA REALLY STRUGGLE TO, UM, FEED OUR COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY IN, IN EMERGENCY SETTINGS.
UM, BUT WHEN FARMLAND IS DEVELOPED, WE ALSO DISRUPT THE WATER CYCLE.
UM, AND, UM, WHEN THAT, WHEN HIGHER QUALITY AGRICULTURAL SOILS ARE CONVERTED TO IMPERVIOUS COVER OR, OR LOW VALUE LANDSCAPE, UM, LANDSCAPING LIKE, LIKE LAWNS, UM, IT REALLY DRAMATICALLY INCREASES, UM, THE RATE OF FLOODING AND DECREASES THE, THE RECHARGE RATE IN OUR AQUIFERS.
UM, AS, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, CARBON STORED IN SOILS.
AND SO WHEN THAT LAND IS DEVELOPED, YOU KNOW, ALL THAT CARBON IS RELEASED.
OBVIOUSLY THERE'S EMISSIONS RELATED WITH THE, THE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES THEMSELVES.
UM, BUT WE'RE ALSO, UM, PERMANENTLY, UM, UH, GETTING RID OF OUR ABILITY TO SEQUESTER CARBON IN THOSE SOILS IN THE FUTURE, UM, WHICH CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT CARBON SINK.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S REALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY WHEN, WHEN LAND FARMLAND IS DEVELOPED.
UM, AND, UH, REGENERATIVE RE REGENERATIVE FARMS IN PARTICULAR, UM, REALLY CAN BE THESE, UH, BIODIVERSE HOTSPOTS.
UM, PARTLY 'CAUSE REGENERATIVE FARMERS UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM IS, IS PART OF THEIR PEST MANAGEMENT, UM, SYSTEM.
UM, AND THEN OF COURSE THERE'S ECONOMIC IMPACTS.
UM, WE LOSE OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UM, FARM BUSINESS AND, AND THE JOBS THAT THEY CREATE AND, AND ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL, UM, FOOD RELATED, UM, BUSINESSES THAT RELY ON LOCAL FOOD SUPPLY, UM, AND, AND AGRI TUTORS ON A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT KIND OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS.
GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE THERE, MARISSA.
SO THERE'S A LOT ON THIS SLIDE AND, AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'LL PROVIDE THESE SLIDES AFTER.
WHAT WE WANT TO SHOW IS THAT, UM, FARMLAND PRESERVATION IS REALLY ALIGNED WITH A LOT OF OTHER, UM, ESTABLISHED CITY GOALS AND PLANS.
SO THIS INCLUDES THE CITY'S STRATEGIC PLAN ON ISSUES OF CLIMATE ACTION AND WATERSHED PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
UM, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN ON ISSUES OF CLIMATE ACTION, AGAIN, FARMLAND PROTECTION AND GREEN JOBS.
UM, CITY RESOLUTION 2023, UM, OH 1 26, UM, UM, UH, LAID OUT A MANDATE FOR MAINTAINING WILDLIFE HABITAT AND SOIL BIODIVERSITY.
UM, AND THEN, UM, THE WATERSHED PROTECTIONS, UH, MASTER PLAN, UM, THEY IDENTIFY USING FARMLAND TO PROTECT, UM, UH, THE WATERSHED QUALITY.
UM, AND THEN OUR, UH, THE AUSTIN PARKS, UM, OUR PARKS ARE FUTURE MASTER PLAN, UM, LAYS OUT A MANDATE FOR MAINTAINING OPEN SPACES, UM, WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY AGRICULTURE AND COMMUNITY GARDENS.
UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, UM, FOR MARISSA AND I, WHAT STARTED ALL OF THIS WAS THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD PLAN WHERE FARMLAND PRESERVATION IS REALLY ITS GOAL.
UM, ONE IS, IT'S REALLY THE FOUNDATION OF OF THE FOOD PLAN.
SO, UM, AUSTIN HAS ALREADY DONE A LOT OF LAND PROTECTION WORK AND LAND PRESERVATION WORK PRIMARILY FOR THE USES OF, UM, WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY, UM, FOR PROTECTING WILDLIFE AND FOR OPEN SPACES.
AND SO THE CITY HAS A PROCESS IN PLACE, UM, THAT CAN BE USED, UM, TO PRIORITIZE, UH, PROTECTING LAND FOR FOOD PRODUCTION.
SO, UM, THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS INVESTED NEARLY $240 MILLION IN LAND ACQUISITION OVER THE LAST 27 YEARS, UM, FOR THE WATER QUALITY PROTECTION PROGRAM ALONE, UM, WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON, ON THE BARTON SPRINGS RECHARGE AREA.
[01:45:01]
AND OVERALL THE CITY HAS PRESERVED OVER 64,000 ACRES FOR, FOR WATER QUALITY PARKS AND THE BALCONES CANYON LAND PRESERVE.UM, AND THE PRESERVE IS A BIT OF A UNIQUE SITUATION 'CAUSE THERE'S ENDANGERED SPECIES INVOLVED.
BUT, UM, THERE'S BEEN SOME REALLY SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS THAT THE CITY HAS MADE, UM, IN, UM, IN LAND PRESERVATION AND, UM, AND, AND IN SOME PLACES, UM, ESPECIALLY SOME OF THE WATER QUALITY PROTECTION LANDS, UM, SOME OF THAT LAND IS BEING RANCHED.
UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S IN AREAS WHERE MOST, MOST OF THE LAND THAT'S BEEN PRESERVED SO FAR HAS BEEN IN AREAS WHERE SOILS, UM, IT WAS MORE ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY, SOILS ARE THINNER AND NOT REALLY DESIGNED FOR MORE INTENSIVE REGENERATIVE VEGETABLE OR, OR FRUIT PRODUCTION, UM, OR, UM, UH, KIND OF PASTURE, UH, PASTURE RAISED, UM, UH, POULTRY OR, OR, UM, COWS.
UM, BUT THE, THE CITY REALLY DOES KNOW HOW TO, HOW TO, UH, PROTECT LAND FROM DEVELOPMENT AND, AND COULD CERTAINLY APPLY, UM, SOME OF THOSE SAME PROCESS.
AND, AND THERE'S A LOT OF STAFF, UM, UNDERSTANDING IN HOW TO, UM, ACQUIRE LAND EITHER FOR, FOR PURCHASE OR THROUGH CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND, AND MANAGE THOSE.
UM, GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS TIES INTO OUR RECOMMENDATION, WHICH, UM, WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON, ON FOUR DIFFERENT THINGS.
WE, UM, RECOMMENDED THAT, UM, THE CITY ALLOCATE MAKE A, A ONE-TIME INITIAL INVESTMENT OF $15 MILLION THROUGH THE 2026 GENERAL BOND, UM, ELECTION, UH, FOR PHASE ONE, UH, TO KIND OF START THIS FARM LINE PRESERVATION PROGRAM.
UM, AND THEN LOOK FOR WAYS TO LEVERAGE THAT INITIAL FUNDING, UM, TO ACCESS FEDERAL AND PRIVATE FUNDS.
AND IN PARTICULAR, THERE'S A PROGRAM OPERATED THROUGH USDA THAT, UM, STILL HAS, UM, WAS WAS ALLOCATED FUNDING IN THE LAST, UM, FEDERAL BUDGET CYCLE CALLED THE REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.
UM, THAT, UM, RECENTLY AWARDED, UH, $25 MILLION TO THE HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY AND OTHER PARTNERS, UM, IN, IN CENTRAL TEXAS, UM, TO, TO PRESERVE, UM, WORKING LANDS.
UM, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MORE, AGAIN, KIND OF RANCHING LANDS, BUT, UM, THE, IT'S A PROGRAM THAT HAS INVESTED ALREADY IN, IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
UM, AND THEN WE RECOMMEND, UM, TO, TO THE POINT THAT MARISSA MADE EARLY ON IN THE PRESENTATION ABOUT HOW THE LAND IS BEING REALLY, UM, UH, IT'S NOT JUST IN, IN TRAVIS COUNTY THAT WE'RE LOSING LAND, BUT THIS WIDER AREA AND THE WIDER IMPACT.
UM, WE'VE RECOMMENDED THAT, UM, THE CITY WORKED TO FORM A, A BROAD REGIONAL COLLABORATION WITH OTHER CENTRAL TEXAS CITY AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS AND, AND NONPROFITS AND LAND TRUST TO PRESERVE FARMLAND, UM, TO, TO TAKE MORE OF A REGIONAL APPROACH, RECOGNIZING THAT OUR FOOD SHED IS NOT JUST LOCAL, IT IS MORE OF A REGIONAL FOOD, UM, SHED THAT, THAT FEEDS OUR CITY OR THAT COULD FEED OUR CITY.
AND THEN WE ALSO RECOMMEND THAT, THAT AUSTIN CREATE, UM, A LITTLE BIT MORE FORMAL CONNECTION WITH, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY'S CONSERVATION EASEMENT PROGRAM.
UM, THEY HAVE AN ABILITY TO EASILY, UM, HOLD CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND DO SOME OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN OF THAT AND, AND HAVE DONE THAT WITH SOME, UM, AGRICULTURAL LANDS ALREADY.
SO, UM, GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO WHAT DOES $15 MILLION, UH, INVESTING IN FARMLAND GET US? UM, THIS IS, UM, I WON'T GO THROUGH AND READ ALL THE NUMBERS OUT.
YOU CAN, YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT FOR YOURSELF.
BUT, UM, JUST REALLY TOUCHING BACK ON, UM, WHAT'S AT STAKE WHEN WE LOSE FARMLAND.
IT TOUCHES FOOD SYSTEM RESILIENCE, WATER STORAGE AND FLOOD MITIGATION CLIMATE AND, AND THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
AND SO, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT, UM, PRESERVING AN ACRE OF FARMLAND AND MANAGING IT, UM, ACCORDING TO THIS MORE REGENERATIVE, UM, THESE REGENERATIVE PRINCIPLES, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A REALLY PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM IN TERMS OF, OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT CAN BE FED AND IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH CAN BE GENERATED IN TERMS OF REVENUE AND, AND, UH, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE NEEDED TO WORK ON THOSE MORE INTENSIVE FARMS. UM, BUT THEY ALSO, UH, BUILD A LOT OF CARBON IN THE SOIL, UM, THROUGH COVER CROPPING AND THROUGH, UM, U USE OF COMPOST.
UM, AND, UM, ALL OF THAT, UM, THAT ACCRUAL OF CARBON IN THE SOIL HAS REALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON THE WATER CYCLE AND, AND HOW MUCH WATER CAN BE INFILTRATED INTO THE SOIL AS WELL AS, UM, HOW MUCH CAN BE STORED IN THE SOIL.
UM, AND THE, THE $400 PER YEAR PER ACRE IN, UM, WATER RELATED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES,
[01:50:01]
UM, IS A, A NUMBER THAT COMES FROM, UM, WORK THAT, UM, THE A AND M NATURAL RESOURCE INSTITUTE AND THE NATURE CONSERVANCY DID, JUST LOOKING AT WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES THAT, UM, THESE, UM, FARMLANDS CAN PROVIDE.AND, UH, THE TOTAL VALUE WAS $629 PER ACRE THAT THEY CALCULATED, BUT JUST THE WATER RELATED PORTION THEY FIGURED WAS ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THAT.
UM, SO THERE'S SOME, SOME REALLY SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS HERE.
UM, AND, AND SO THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT IS JUST, UM, SAYING, OKAY, WELL IF, IF WE WERE ABLE TO ACQUIRE EITHER THROUGH FEE, SIMPLE PURCHASE, UM, OR CONSERVATION EASEMENTS, 700 ACRES, UM, UH, AT AT AROUND $21,000 PER ACRE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE EACH YEAR? UM, AND, AND THESE ARE AGAIN, ANNUAL BENEFITS AND, UM, AND WOULD CONTINUE IN PERPETUITY, UM, ASSUMING THAT THEY WERE CONTINUING TO BE, TO BE MANAGED, UM, AS THESE, UM, AS THESE MORE INTENSIVE REGENERATIVE FARMING SYSTEMS. UM, SO I THINK I'LL PASS IT BACK OVER TO MARISSA TO JUST TALK, UH, A BIT ABOUT WHAT THIS HAS LOOKED LIKE IN EASTERN, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, I'LL TAKE US HOME WITH A, A NICE HAPPY STORY OF A CASE STUDY THAT WHERE THIS IS ACTUALLY BEING USED, WHERE A CONSERVATION EASEMENT IS BEING USED TO PERMANENTLY PROTECT FARMLAND IN TRAVIS COUNTY AND PROVIDE THESE FOOD, WATER, AND CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS FOR OUR AUSTIN RESIDENTS.
UM, SO IN 1978, JOHN BEAL'S, A LANDOWNER WHO ACQUIRED THREE CREEKS FARM AFTER HE RETIRED FROM THE MILITARY.
UM, THREE CREEKS FARM IS IN
SO THIS IS AS CLOSE AS WE'RE GONNA GET FOR FARMLAND NEAR AUSTIN.
UM, IT IS MADE UP OF 315 ACRES OF PRIME FARMLAND, SOILS, WILDLIFE HABITAT, AND STREAM BANK HABITAT ALONG THE WILL BARKER, WILLOW, AND DRY CREEKS.
IN 2011, JOHN BEGAN HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY AROUND CONSERVATION EASEMENTS AND, UH, WAS AWARDED $1 MILLION THROUGH, UM, THE USDA PROGRAM THAT WAS THE PREDECESSOR PROGRAM TO THE REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM THAT ANDY REFERENCED IN OUR, UM, FOOD POLICY BOARD RECOMMENDATION.
UM, AND 2017 THEY SECURED THE EASEMENT, UM, USING THESE NRCS PROGRAM FUNDS AND MATCHING FUNDS FROM TRAVIS COUNTY AND OTHER PARTNERS.
UM, AND THIS ALLOWED THEM TO REACH A TOTAL OF CONSERVING 2000, MORE THAN 2000 CONTINUOUS ACRES OF FARMLAND WHEN THIS 315 ACRES WAS ADDED TO THE MIX.
UM, THIS LAND HAS BEEN ONGOING, UM, HAS BEEN STEWARDED BY, UM, MULTIPLE FARMERS WHO'VE BEEN LEASING THE LAND AND, UM, PRODUCING FOOD IN ALIGNMENT WITH CONSERVATION GOALS THAT, UM, THE WILBARGER CREEK CONSERVATION ALLIANCE, UM, ALIGNS WITH.
UM, SO THIS IS ONE OF OUR FIRST FARMERS OF THREE PROFILES THAT I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL.
THE REFUGEE COLLECTIVE IS A REFUGEE FARM.
IT EMPLOYS REFUGEES IN FAIR WAGE AND DIGNIFIED WORK.
UM, THEY LEASE 20 ACRES FROM THIS LANDOWNER SINCE 2018, AND THEY PRODUCE CERTIFIED ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND EGGS PRODUCING OVER 50,000 POUNDS OF FOOD ANNUALLY, WHICH IS ENOUGH TO FEED OVER 110 ADULTS.
UM, THEY EMPLOY 10 YEAR ROUND STAFF PAYING OVER $300,000 IN WAGES AND BEYOND THESE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS, THE FARM IS IMPLEMENTING TEXAS'S FIRST RESILIENT FARM PLAN, WHICH IS A ROADMAP DESIGNED TO MAKE THE FARM MORE PRODUCTIVE, SUSTAINABLE, AND ADAPTABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND ONCE THIS PLAN IS FULLY IMPLEMENTED, UM, THE PLAN WILL ALLOW EACH ACRE ON THE FARM TO CAPTURE 24 TONS OF CARBON PER YEAR AND IMPROVE THE SOIL'S WATER HOLDING CAPACITY, ADDING AN ESTIMATED 11 MILLION GALLONS OF STORAGE OVER 20 YEARS.
UM, OUR SECOND FARMER IS RYAN AT GEO OSMAN REGENERATIVE FARM.
HE LEASES 10 ACRES FROM JOHN SINCE JANUARY OF 2022.
UM, HE PRODUCES OVER 13,000 POUNDS OF PASTURE RAISED CHICKEN AND OVER 12,000 POUNDS OF EGGS ANNUALLY.
UM, HE EMPLOYS ONE FULL-TIME, ONE PART-TIME STAFF PAYING ABOUT $60,000 IN WAGES.
AND LASTLY, WE HAVE HOT SPELL FARM, WHICH IS A COOPERATIVELY OWNED AND OPERATED FARM LEASED ON TWO ACRES OF THIS, UM, TRACT SINCE 2023.
THEY PRODUCE OVER 10,000 POUNDS OF VEGETABLES ANNUALLY, INCLUDING FOOD FOR LOCAL SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAMS. AND I CAN SHARE AND WOULD LOVE TO SHARE THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE FARMER PARTNERS THAT WE'VE CHOSEN TO INVEST IN AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
[01:55:01]
UM, REALLY SHOWING THE FULL CIRCLE OPPORTUNITY HERE.UM, OUR STUDENTS HAVE EATEN LUNCHBOX PEPPERS GROWN BY THE, UM, THE FOLKS AT HOT SPELL FARM, AND WE'RE ABLE TO SHARE THE STORY OF THESE FARMERS WITH OUR STUDENTS IN OUR CAFETERIAS, AND THEY'RE ABLE TO ACCESS FOOD THAT THEY AREN'T ABLE TO GET FROM OUR NORMAL DISTRIBUTORS.
SO, UM, WE, WE'VE TRIED LUNCHBOX PEPPERS WAS THE, THE WINNING OPTION FROM HOT SPELL FARM, WHERE, UH, WE CANNOT ACCESS THESE FROM OUR NORMAL DISTRIBUTORS, BUT IT WAS REALLY SOMETHING THAT THE STUDENTS GOT EXCITED ABOUT AND REALLY GIVES THEM A TASTE OF TEXAS AND, UM, A A LOCAL FLAVOR.
UM, THEY EMPLOY FIVE STAFF POSITIONS AND THIS OPPORTUNITY THROUGH JOHN BEAL REALLY PROVIDED CRITICAL LAND ACCESS FOR THEM AS NEW FARMERS AND REMOVED THE FINANCIAL BARRIERS FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO START THEIR FARM.
AND SO I'LL LEAVE US WITH THESE, UM, QUOTES FROM GEO REGENERATIVE FARM AND HOT SPELL FARM, AND I'M GONNA LET THEM SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
SO I'M GONNA READ THEM TO YOU.
UM, RYAN AT GEOS SAID IT'S HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS HOW MUCH THIS OPPORTUNITY HAS PROVIDED ME.
I DO NOT OWN LAND, I HAVE A HOME IN TOWN.
IF I HADN'T FOUND JOHN'S LAND A LEASE AFFORDABLY AND AT A REASONABLE DISTANCE, I WOULDN'T BE FARMING.
THERE WERE NO OPTIONS OUT THERE.
AND THE FOLKS AT HOT SPELL FARM SHARED THAT THE RESOURCE THAT JOHN HAS PROVIDED ALL OF US WITH IS IMMEASURABLE.
LAND ACQUISITION IS AN IMMENSE FINANCIAL HURDLE FOR UP AND COMING FARM BUSINESSES, EITHER REQUIRING PRIOR WEALTH OR COMMITTING TO FIVE OR SIX FIGURE DEBT.
OUR ARRANGEMENT IS TRULY A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY AND WITHOUT IT, WE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO START HOT SPELL FARM AS A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN AUSTIN.
AND WITH THAT, UM, WE'LL TAKE SOME QUESTIONS.
ALRIGHT, UM, CAN YOU STOP SHARING? THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT NOBODY'S LIKE ABOUT TO DROP OFF AND WE'RE GONNA LOSE QUORUM OR SOMETHING.
I KNOW WE'VE SOMETIMES HAD TROUBLE WITH THAT, SO IS DOES ANYBODY HAVE A HARD STOP THAT WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF? OKAY, WE'VE GOT ONE AT NINE AND CHRIS, I, I HAVE A HARD STOP AT NINE.
YEAH, CHRIS? 30, HMM, EIGHT 30.
SO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
I THINK WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET PAST EIGHT 30, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE NEED TO BE DONE BY NINE, SO WE NEED TO SPEED IT UP.
UM, SO I'M GONNA SAY IF ANYBODY HAS A PRESSING QUESTION, GO AHEAD AND ASK IT, BUT, UM, IN TERMS OF GENERAL CONVERSATION ON THE TOPIC, LET'S SAVE THAT SO WE CAN GET TO OUR ACTION ITEMS. I SHOULDN'T SAY PRESSING, IF YOU HAVE AN ACTUAL, YOU KNOW, JUST IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION YOU CAN ASK.
BUT, UM, IF NOT, I, I THINK THERE WAS A LOT THERE.
AND, AND THANK YOU TO ANDY AND MARISSA, UH, FOR ALL THE INFORMATION.
[2. Staff briefing regarding Solar on City Facilities. Presentation by Rohan Lilauwala, Climate Project Manager, Austin Climate Action and Resilience.]
MORE PRESENTATION ON SOLAR FOR CITY BUILDINGS.SO ANDY HAS ASKED THAT YOU CONSIDER THE CAN I THAT YEAH.
WOULD IT BE, WE'RE GONNA WAIT, WE'RE GONNA WAIT TO DO THAT WITH THE DISCUSSION ON BOND.
I THINK I WILL KEEP THIS FAIRLY QUICK.
UM, PRESENTING HERE TODAY ON SOLAR ON CITY FACILITIES, ROHAN WALLA, AUSTIN, CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.
UM, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE PRESENTED ON THIS TOPIC HERE, AND WE'VE MADE QUITE A BIT OF PROGRESS SINCE THEN.
SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THE BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT, UH, OUR APPROACH SITE SCREENING, UH, REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, AND THEN OUR SCHEDULE AND NEXT STEPS.
SO A RECAP OF THE, OF THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION.
UM, COUNCIL ASKED US TO DO A NUMBER OF THINGS TO CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS OF CITY PROPERTY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FOR AREAS FOR SOLAR, UM, TO CALCULATE THE ENERGY COST SAVINGS OR REVENUE, AND USE AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF FUNDING FOR PROJECTS THAT HAVE A BENEFICIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, UM, TO EVALUATE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, FOR SOLAR, UM, ON PROPERTIES OWNED BY OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
UM, SO JUST A QUICK UPDATE ON THIS.
WE HAVE, UM, WE DID HAVE A MEETING AND HAVE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH PARTNERS IN, UM, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES LIKE TRAVIS COUNTY, A ISD, UT CENTRAL HEALTH, A
[02:00:01]
CC, UM, AND ESSENTIALLY WALK THEM THROUGH OUR APPROACH.UM, OUR FRAMEWORK, UM, OFFERED TO HELP, UM, WHERE POSSIBLE, UM, GIVEN THE TIGHT TIMELINES ON THIS PROJECT AND THE DIFFICULTIES WITH SECURING, SECURING APPROVALS FROM MULTIPLE DECISION MAKERS, UH, WE DETERMINED IT WAS NOT FEASIBLE TO INCLUDE THEM IN THIS PROJECT SPECIFICALLY, BUT HAVE OFFERED TO HELP, UH, THEM WORK THROUGH THEIR OWN PROJECTS, UM, ON THE TIMELINE AVAILABLE.
UM, AND FINALLY TO REQUIRE SOLAR CONTRACTORS TO USE, UH, WORKER PROTECTIONS, APPRENTICESHIPS, AND SO ON.
UH, AND WE ARE PLANNING TO INCLUDE A WORK SITE AGREEMENT, UM, IN OUR RFP, WHICH IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN CHAMPIONED BY THE LOCAL ELECTRICAL UNIONS AS WELL AS, UM, BEEN INCORPORATED IN AUSTIN ENERGY'S MOST RECENT BATTERY RFP.
SO THE REASON WHY OUR PROJECT IS SO TIME SENSITIVE IS BECAUSE OF THE CHANGING SOLAR LANDSCAPE.
THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2021 BROUGHT IN THE ELECTIVE PAY MECHANISM, WHICH ESSENTIALLY ALLOWED CITIES AND MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES AND OTHER ENTITIES THAT DON'T PAY TAX TO DIRECTLY LEVERAGE CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDITS, WHICH ARE, YOU KNOW, THE BASE OF 30%, UM, AND COULD INCLUDE AN ADDITIONAL 10% FOR DOMESTIC CONTENT.
HOWEVER, THE, UH, RECONCILIATION BILL IN 2025 STARTED TO PHASE OUT THOSE TAX CREDITS FOR CLEAN ENERGY.
AND THERE ARE TWO THRESHOLDS FOR SUCCESSFULLY OBTAINING THOSE TAX CREDITS.
THE FIRST ONE, AND THE ONE THAT WE ARE AIMING FOR IS THAT PROJECTS MUST COMMENCE CONSTRUCTION BY JULY 4TH, 2026.
THAT'S THE TARGET WE'RE AIMING FOR.
COMMENCE CONSTRUCTION IS IN QUOTES, BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN PHYSICAL WORK ON THIS SITE.
UH, THE IRS DOES HAVE A SAFE HARBOR PROVISION THAT SAYS IF YOU SPEND 5% OF THE PROJECTS TOTAL COST FOR SMALLER PROJECTS, WHICH ALL OF OURS WOULD QUALIFY UNDER YOU, YOU ARE ABLE TO GET THE 5% WITHOUT PHYSICAL WORK PERFORMED ON THE SITE.
IF WE DO START CONSTRUCTION BY JULY 4TH, 2026, WE HAVE FOUR YEARS TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT.
UM, THE OTHER ALTERNATIVE IS TO PLACE THE PROJECT INTO SERVICE BEFORE THE END OF 2027.
UM, THIS IS A POSSIBILITY FOR SOME PROJECTS, BUT WE DON'T THINK IT'S A PRUDENT APPROACH, UH, GIVEN THE SCALE OF THE PROJECT AND THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SITES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, TO AIM FOR.
SO WE'RE REALLY AIMING FOR THAT, UM, JULY 4TH, 2026 DATE TO GET STARTED.
UM, THE APPROACH THAT WE ARE TAKING, UM, IS SORT OF THREE STEPS.
AND THE FIRST STEP IS THE ASSESS APPROACH, UH, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY BRING TOGETHER A COLLABORATIVE TEAM DRIVING THIS FORWARD.
SO IT'S BEING LED BY AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.
UH, WE ARE SORT OF PROVIDING THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION, BUT WE'VE ALSO HAD FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INVOLVED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
UH, THE CITY ARCHITECT AND THE DIRECTOR HAVE BEEN INVOLVED.
UM, THEY ARE SORT OF HELPING US WITH SITE ANALYSIS AND INFORMATION GATHERING AND OUTREACH TO, UH, OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT OWN FACILITIES, UM, AS WELL AS AUSTIN ENERGY.
THEY'VE PROVIDED INVALUABLE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE, UM, HELPED US WITH ELECTRICAL SERVICE ANALYSIS AND ARE HELPING US WITH THE RFP DESIGN.
UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN ENGAGING WITH OTHER BUILDING OWNING DEPARTMENTS, UH, FROM THE BEGINNING, UH, TO BUILD SUPPORT AND TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS DOESN'T SURPRISE ANYONE.
UM, THIS IS A LARGE AND COMPLICATED PROJECT AND WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A, A BIG MARGIN FOR ERROR AND MAKING SURE THAT ALL THE DEPARTMENTS THAT OWN THE BUILDINGS THAT THE SOLAR, UH, MAY BE ON ONE DAY ARE, ARE LOOPED IN EARLY.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN INVENTORYING AND ASSESSING, UM, EXISTING CITY FACILITIES FOR SOLAR POTENTIAL.
THE NEXT STEP IS TO PROCURE, SO TO ISSUE AN RFP FOR, UM, MULTIPLE SITES, UM, DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIES OF SCALE.
SO WE WANT TO BRING OUR CITY'S ASSETS TOGETHER, UM, AND TRY AND LEVERAGE ALL OF THAT AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, ROOFTOP AND PARKING LOT SPACE, UH, TO DRIVE DOWN OUR COSTS, UM, AND BUILD A LARGE AMOUNT OF SOLAR, UM, YOU KNOW, EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY.
AND, UM, HELP TO MEET OUR GOALS, UH, WITHOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT DOING IT ON A SITE BY SITE BASIS.
UM, AND THEN WE PLAN TO EVALUATE PROPOSALS AND ARE PLANNING TO ACCEPT PROPOSALS ON, UH, TWO DIFFERENT OWNERSHIP MODELS.
THE CITY OWNED MODEL, WHERE THE CITY, UM, YOU KNOW,
[02:05:01]
PAYS UPFRONT FOR SOLAR, UM, AND THEN OWNS AND MANAGES IT.UM, AND, UH, RECEIVES ALL OF THE SAVINGS AS WELL AS THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER APPROACH, WHERE A THIRD PARTY WOULD, UH, FINANCE AND, AND PAY AND OWN THE SOLAR, PAY THE CITY A HOSTING FEE, AND THEN SELL THE ELECTRICITY PRODUCED TO AUSTIN ENERGY AT THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER RATE.
SO THE CITY OWNED APPROACH HAS HIGHER RISK, POTENTIALLY HIGHER REWARD, AND WE WOULD CONTROL THE SYSTEM.
THE SOLAR STANDARD OFFER HAS, UH, MUCH LOWER RISK BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE IS PAYING FOR IT AND GONNA OWN IT AND MANAGE IT.
UM, BUT LIKELY LOWER REWARD, UH, BECAUSE WE ARE SHARING THE SAVINGS OF THE THIRD PARTY.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY DECIDE AND BUILD, IDENTIFY WINNING PROPOSALS AND IDENTIFY FUNDING, BUILD THE SOLAR ASAP TO LEVERAGE FEDERAL TAX CREDITS AND MAKE SURE WE ARE, UM, OBTAINING THOSE TAX CREDITS AND FINALLY BUILD OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE INTO THE CONTRACT FOR LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE.
UM, WE KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF O AND M, UM, AND WE THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO, TO BUILD THAT IN TO BOTH PROTECT OUR INVESTMENT, UH, AND MAKE SURE WE ARE TAKING CARE OF OUR PARTNERS ON THIS PROJECT.
SO WE ARE CONSIDERING, OR WHEN WE STARTED THIS PROCESS, WE WERE CONSIDERING THREE TYPES OF SITES, UH, ROOFTOP, CANOPY, UH, AND THAT COULD BE CANOPY OVER PARKING OR CANOPY OVER, UM, RECREATIONAL AREAS AND GROUND MOUNTED.
AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS, WE'VE REALLY FOCUSED IN ON THE FIRST TWO, UM, GROUND MOUNTED SOLAR, OFFERS A REALLY EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY, UM, BUT HAS SOME OTHER, UM, REGULATORY AND PROCEDURAL HURDLES THAT DON'T MAKE IT AN IDEAL FIT FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, GROUND MOUNTED PROJECTS SOMETIMES HAVE TO GO THROUGH SITE PLAN APPROVAL, UH, DEAL WITH THINGS OR ISSUES LIKE HERITAGE TREES, IMPERVIOUS COVER.
UM, AND GIVEN THE TIGHT TIMELINES ON THIS, WE DON'T THINK IT'S AN IDEAL FIT FOR THIS SPECIFIC PROJECT.
SO WE ARE REALLY FOCUSING ON ROOFTOP AND CANOPY WITH A COUPLE OF POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS IS REALLY, UM, WORK TO IDENTIFY OUR FACILITIES AND SCREEN THEM.
AND OUR GOAL THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE PROCESS WAS TO IDENTIFY TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE SITES, UH, TO PUT FORWARD TO SOLAR DEVELOPERS AND ASK THE DEVELOPERS TO PROPOSE A PORTFOLIO THAT OPTIMIZES FOR MULTIPLE DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES.
SO OPTIMIZES FOR SCALE, OPTIMIZES FOR COST EFFECTIVENESS AND OPTIMIZES FOR COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THIS UPFRONT ANALYSIS IS ESSENTIALLY DE-RISK.
THE RFP, WE ARE TRYING TO DO THE LEGWORK SO THAT SOLAR DEVELOPERS AREN'T GUESSING ABOUT ROOF CONDITION OR MATERIAL OR AGE OR SIZE OF THE PROJECT.
UM, THEY HAVE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION UPFRONT, AND WHAT WE'RE HOPING THAT DOES IS, UH, IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE BIDS BECAUSE DEVELOPERS ARE BUILDING LESS RISK INTO THE PROJECT, UM, THAN IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THESE SITES.
SO WE SPENT A WHILE, YOU KNOW, REALLY GATHERING A TON OF INFORMATION ON THESE SITES.
UM, WE STARTED WITH OVER 250 PROPERTIES, UM, AND WE HAVE NARROWED DOWN TO ABOUT 120 DIFFERENT SITES ACROSS OUR PORTFOLIO THAT MEET OUR BASIC, SORT OF BASIC CRITERIA OF A MINIMUM SIZE ROOF LIFE THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, 20 YEARS OR MORE, AND SUFFICIENT ELECTRICAL CAPACITY.
UM, AND WE HAVE BEEN RUNNING THIS BY DEPARTMENTS, UM, AND I THINK WE'RE ALMOST AT THE FINISH LINE OF IDENTIFYING THE SITES THAT ARE GONNA GO INTO THE SHORT LIST FOR THE RFP.
UM, AND THEN FROM THE SITES IN THE SHORT SHORTLIST, DEVELOPERS HAVE THEIR PICK TO PROPOSE, YOU KNOW, WHICH ONES WILL WORK IN AN RFP AND WHICH ONES WHICH ONES WILL WORK IN AN OPTIMUM SOLAR PORTFOLIO.
SO THEY'RE NOT BOUND TO, TO PUT SOLAR ON ALL 125 SITES OR 120 SITES.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR A PORTFOLIO THAT REALLY BALANCES THOSE OBJECTIVES OF SCALE, COST EFFECTIVENESS, AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL GET TO THE RFP THEY PROPOSE, AND THEN THAT LIST PROBABLY GETS A LITTLE SMALLER.
UM, SO WHERE ARE WE NOW? UH, I MENTIONED WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, WORKING ON THIS FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS.
IT REALLY HAS BEEN, UM, YOU KNOW, A REAL FULL COURT PRESS ON THIS.
UM, I'VE BEEN IN, YOU KNOW, 10 MEETINGS A WEEK ON THIS TOPIC FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
UM, AND WE ARE GETTING CLOSE TO THE RELEASE OF THE RFP.
[02:10:01]
TO GO TO THE COUNCIL'S CLIMATE, WATER ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS COMMITTEE ON DECEMBER 2ND, WHERE WE WILL UPDATE THEM ON OUR APPROACH PROCESS AND RFP PLANS.WE ARE HOPING TO GET AN RFP RELEASED IN EARLY DECEMBER.
UM, AND WE ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A TWO STEP RFP, UM, FIRST TO EVALUATE ON QUALIFICATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE DEVELOPERS THAT, UM, CAN HANDLE A PROJECT OF THIS SCALE, UM, HAVE EXPERIENCE IN AUSTIN, UM, HAVE THE, UH, FINANCIAL RUNWAY TO BE ABLE TO CARRY OUT THIS KIND OF PROJECT AND SO ON.
UM, AND THEN INVITE QUALIFIED BIDDERS, UH, TO PROVIDE PROPOSALS AND PRICING, UH, FOR AN OPTIMUM PORTFOLIO.
UH, WE'RE PLANNING TO SPEND JANUARY THROUGH MARCH TO EVALUATE THOSE BIDS AND THEN DECIDE ON A A, AN APPROACH AND A FINANCIAL MODEL.
AND THEN THROUGH MARCH AND APRIL, GET FINAL APPROVAL FROM CITY MANAGEMENT AND APRIL THROUGH JUNE, UM, GO TO COUNCIL, GET A CONTRACT APPROVED, UM, GET A CONTRACT EXECUTED AND START CONSTRUCTION, UH, ALL BEFORE THE JULY 4TH, 2026 DEADLINE.
UM, VERY AGGRESSIVE TIMELINE, UH, BOUND BY NECESSITY.
UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY DOING OUR BEST TO DO, DO THIS FASTER THAN THE CITY WOULD NORMALLY DO A PROJECT OF THIS KIND.
UM, JUST BECAUSE THE, THE FEDERAL TAX CREDITS REALLY DO MAKE A PROJECT LIKE THIS MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN IT OTHERWISE WOULD BE.
UM, AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE IN TERMS OF A PRESENTATION, BUT I AM HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, UM, SLIDE SEVEN, YOU, YOU SHOW THE, THE FUNNEL AND IT SAYS, UM, CRITERIA, BUT YOU DIDN'T DESCRIBE THE CRITERIA.
COULD YOU TELL US WHAT THOSE CRITERIA ARE? YEAH, SO THE CRITERIA ESSENTIALLY ARE, FIRST OFF, THE SITE IS NOT EXPECTED TO GO THROUGH ANY LONG, ANY CHANGES, ANY MAJOR CHANGES IN THE NEAR TERM, WHETHER THAT IS REDEVELOPMENT OR, UM, THE CITY DISPOSING OF THE SITE.
UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT SITES THAT ARE 10,000 SQUARE FEET OR OVER.
UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT SITES WITH A ROOF LIFE OF, UM, OVER 20 MORE YEARS, UM, OR A PLANNED ROOF REPLACEMENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, THE SITES HAVE SUFFICIENT TRANSFORMER CAPACITY, UM, OR ARE ON A PART OF THE GRID THAT CAN RECEIVE, UM, SOLAR.
THERE ARE A FEW SITES THAT MIGHT NEED TRANSFORMER UPGRADES, BUT WE PLAN TO IDENTIFY THOSE IN THE RFP.
COULD YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU CAME TO 10,000 SQUARE FEET AND WHAT, UH, YOUR ANALYSIS SHOWS OR RMI THAT, THAT, HOW, HOW DOES THAT TRANSLATE INTO SOLAR CAPACITY? THAT'S SEEMS LIKE PRETTY LARGE.
UM, YEAH, PRETTY LARGE BUILDINGS.
SO, UM, RMI, SORT OF ANALYSIS HAS SHOWN THAT THAT'S SORT OF A, A THRESHOLD OF WHERE COMMERCIAL SOLAR BECOMES COST EFFECTIVE.
UM, WE DO HAVE A TON OF BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES AT THE CITY.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF TIME AND WE'RE REALLY, WE REALLY WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS ON THE LOWER HANGING FRUIT HERE, UM, WHICH WE REALLY THINK ARE THOSE BUILDINGS THAT ARE OVER 10,000 SQUARE FEET.
I DON'T HAVE A, UM, A KILOWATT NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME, UM, THAT WOULD, WOULD TELL ME HOW MUCH, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE, WHAT THE THRESHOLD IS.
UM, BUT FOR, FOR REFERENCE, SAN ANTONIO DID A SIMILAR PROJECT AND THEIR MINIMUM THRESHOLD WAS 15,000 SQUARE FEET.
UM, YOU ARE NOT SAYING THAT RMI IS SAYING THAT, THAT THAT SOLAR AT A SCALE SMALLER THAN THAT DOESN'T PAY BACK, ARE YOU? NO, I'M NOT SAYING THAT AT ALL.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY COST EFFECTIVE THEN? I'M, I THINK WE HAVE, THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE, YOU KNOW, UNLIMITED MONEY AND WE THINK THAT THE PROJECTS THAT ARE GONNA COME OUT OF THIS, UM, ARE GONNA BE THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE, ARE GONNA HAVE THE HIGHEST NET PRESENT VALUE, THE HIGHEST PAYBACK, THE SHORTEST PAYBACK, UM, THE HIGHEST RATE OF RETURN.
UM, AND I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A SHORTAGE OF SITES.
I THINK WE HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE OFFERING A, A, A VERY, VERY LARGE,
[02:15:01]
UM, PORTFOLIO TO THE MARKET.AND JUST THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN ESTIMATE IS, IT WOULD BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 10 AND 15% OF ALL OF THE CUSTOMER CITED SOLAR ENERGY THAT AUSTIN ENERGY HAS RIGHT NOW.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A, A, A VERY LARGE PORTFOLIO.
CAN YOU SHARE THOSE NUMBERS? BOTH WHAT WAS, UH, ESTIMATED FOR THE FULL TWO 50, OR, I MEAN, I GUESS MAYBE NOT THE FULL TWO 50, BUT ANYTHING THAT WAS, UH, FEASIBLE BEFORE, UM, I GUESS FILTERING OUT ANYTHING LESS THAN 10,000 SQUARE FEET.
I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT OUR ANALYSIS.
I'M NOT SURE IF WE'VE DONE THE ANALYSIS FOR SITES THAT DID NOT PASS THE SCREEN.
AND SO WHAT'S THE, UM, ESTIMATED CAPACITY FOR THE 120 SITES? UM, IT IS, IT'S HARD TO SAY.
UM, THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT NUMBERS FLOATING AROUND.
I MIGHT HAVE TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU AFTER.
UH, DO YOU KNOW WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE ROOF SPACE, THE 120 SITES ACCOUNTS FOR? YEAH, SO I THINK RMI DID A, A, A ROUGH, UM, LOOK AT THE ROOF AREA.
UM, TOOK OUT OBVIOUS OBSTRUCTIONS, TOOK OUT SHADE.
I I BELIEVE IT WAS AROUND 70% OF THE ROOF AREA, UM, WAS LOOKED AT.
UM, 70% OF THE ROOF AREA FOR THOSE ONE 20.
SO YOU'RE SAYING WITHIN THE ONE 20 BUCKET, ABOUT 70% OF THE ROOF AREA IS LIKELY VIABLE FOR, IS LIKELY VIABLE.
AND THEN, AND THEN I GUESS THE OTHER, UM, FACTOR TO CONSIDER IS THAT NOT ALL OF THOSE ONE 20 SITES ARE LIKELY TO END UP IN THE FINAL SOLAR PORTFOLIO? IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHAT DEVELOPERS PUT FORWARD.
AND FOR REFERENCE IN SAN ANTONIO, IT WAS ABOUT 64% OF THE PORTFOLIO THAT THEY PUT FORWARD WAS EVENTUALLY SELECTED FOR SOLAR.
SO ON ONE 20, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, 75%, OH, I MEAN 75 SITES OR SO.
UM, IF YOU USE THE SAME NUMBERS, IF OKAY.
UM, YEAH, I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW IF THERE'S, IF THERE WAS ANY CALCULATION OF THE ROOF SPACE IN THE, I GUESS, REMAINING 130 SITES.
I'M CURIOUS WHAT THAT REPRESENTS.
AND THEN I GUESS MY LAST QUESTION, AT LEAST FOR NOW,
AND WE'VE HAD A COUPLE OF MEETINGS WITH DEPARTMENTS ALREADY, AND I, I DON'T ANTICIPATE THAT THAT IS GONNA CUT OUT A TON OF SITES.
IT'S NOT LIKE ANOTHER CROSS-CUTTING FILTER.
IT'S JUST KIND OF A DOUBLE CHECK THAT YES, THESE ARE VIABLE SITES.
UH, OTHER QUESTIONS? AND I CAN'T, I DON'T THINK I CAN SEE EVERYBODY, SO IF YOU HAVE ONE, FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN.
UM, JUST LOOKING AT OR LOOKING AT THIS YELLOW AREA ABOUT THE ROOF LIFE.
UM, ARE YOU GUYS, UH, VERIFYING THE STRUCTURAL CAPACITY OF THESE BUILDINGS AT THIS POINT? UM, WE ARE NOT.
UM, OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM AUSTIN ENERGY AND RMI IS THAT THE SOLAR IS VERY UNLIKELY TO HAVE A STRUCTURAL EFFECT ON THESE BUILDINGS.
THE BUILDINGS ARE, ARE BUILT TO SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OF THE PANELS.
UM, I THINK THAT THE DEVELOPERS WILL HAVE TO VERIFY THIS AS PART OF THEIR DESIGN.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR ROHAN? I THINK THIS IS VERY EXCITING WORK.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU ALL.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Joint Sustainability Committee Regular Meeting on October 22, 2025.]
TO HAVE US TAKE UP OUR, UH, MEETING MINUTES APPROVAL FROM OUR LAST MEETING AT THE START.SO EXCITED TO GET IN INTO THESE PRESENTATIONS.
SO LET'S GO BACK, DO THAT AND THEN WE'LL
[02:20:01]
START THROUGH THE REST OF OUR, OUR ACTION ITEMS MOVE TO ADOPT THE MINUTES.YOU GOTTA, YOU GOTTA BE QUICK, CHRIS.
WE'VE GOT A MOTION FROM CHARLOTTE, A SECOND FROM ANNA.
ANY DISCUSSION? DID ANY EDITS NEEDED? OKAY.
UM, I'M NOT SEEING ANY, UH, ANY CONCERNS.
SO ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES.
[6. Approve the creation of working groups for FY27 City of Austin Budget, funding, and priority policy recommendations.]
NEXT ITEM, I'M HOPING AS A QUICK ONE.UM, YOU KNOW, EVERY YEAR WE NEED TO KIND OF FORMALLY, UH, RESET OUR, OUR WORKING GROUPS TO, TO WORK ON THE BUDGET AND, AND THE WAY I'VE WRITTEN IT UP, UM, IN THIS ITEM, UH, WITH INTENTIONALLY TO GIVE US SOME FLEXIBILITY SO IT'S NOT JUST THE FY 27 BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT OTHER KIND OF FUNDING AND AS WELL AS PRIORITY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.
'CAUSE SOMETIMES AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT MONEY, WE COME UP WITH POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL.
SO, UM, THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF, OF THIS.
I KNOW WE, WE HAD A SET OF WORKING GROUPS BEFORE AND, UH, AND FOR, FOR NEW FOLKS, AND JUST AS A REMINDER, THOSE WERE IN THE PAST SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS, NATURAL SYSTEMS CONSUMPTION AND, UH, TRANSPORTATION, WHICH INCLUDES TRANSPORTATION, ELECTRIFICATION.
THOSE WERE REFORMED KIND OF IN, UH, ALIGNMENT WITH THE SECTIONS OF THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
BUT WE COULD DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S DESIRE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
AND THEN EACH OF THOSE GROUPS, WHATEVER WE CHOOSE, UM, I WOULD LOVE IT IF WE CAN IDENTIFY WHO'S GONNA LEAD THEM.
AND THEN HOPEFULLY, AT LEAST ALL OF THE MEMBERS HERE TONIGHT CAN INDICATE WHAT WORKING GROUPS YOU MIGHT WANNA BE ON.
SO THAT'S WHAT I'M SUGGESTING.
ANY THOUGHTS? I, ANDY, DID YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? OKAY.
AND AS A REMINDER, JUST OF THE TIMELINE, UM, BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ARE DUE AT THE END OF MARCH BECAUSE WE HAVE A BUNCH OF MEMBERS THAT ARE ON OTHER BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
WE OFTEN TRY TO DO OURS IN FEBRUARY IF WE CAN.
WE DON'T ALWAYS HIT THAT MARK, BUT WE KIND OF AIM FOR THAT.
UM, WHICH MEANS THAT, YOU KNOW, EVEN BY OUR JANUARY MEETING, IT'S NICE IF WE CAN HAVE A DISCUSSION ITEM TO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF REPORT OUT FROM THE WORKING GROUPS.
SO THAT'S WHY EVEN THOUGH, UH, IN THIS CASE THE
SORRY, KI IS THERE A DRAFT LIKE, RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS ITEM SOMEWHERE? OR WE JUST NO, THIS ONE'S NOT.
I'M, I AM THE SUPPORTIVE OF THE CONCEPT OF, OF HAVING, UH, UH, ISSUE, SORRY, WHAT ARE IT CALLED? SUBGROUPS TO, UH, PUT TOGETHER BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
DO WE NEED A FORMAL MOTION? IS ANY, IS ANYONE AGAINST THIS IDEA? AND IS EVERYBODY WILLING TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE, I GUESS IS THE OTHER KEY? I I DON'T THINK YOUR MIC'S ON DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANY OPPOSITION AT LEAST.
I AM GONNA TAKE THAT, I GUESS IN A POSITIVE WAY, ALTHOUGH I, I, I HOPE
CAN I JUST SEE A SHOW OF HANDS? JUST, YOU KNOW, RE RECONSTITUTING THOSE SAME FOUR WORKING GROUPS.
SOUND GOOD TO EVERYBODY? OR SHOULD WE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT I GUESS RAISE YOUR HAND FOR YES.
SHOWING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO STICK WITH THOSE FOUR GROUPS
[02:25:01]
AND NO PRESSURE.IF YOUR HAND ISN'T GONNA BE RAISED THOUGH, I'M GONNA ASK YOU
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE ALL ON BOARD WITH THOSE FOUR GROUPS.
UM, I'M JUST GONNA CALL OUT FOLKS.
CAN I, I WAS GONNA MENTION, I, I THINK THAT THAT MAKES SENSE AS A STRUCTURE.
I, I WAS NEVER ON A WORKING GROUP, UM, BE BEFORE, YOU KNOW, SINCE I'VE JOINED.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD HAVE, UM, A LOT OF CAPACITY WITH, WITH SOME OF MY HOME COMMISSION OR HOME BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES TO JOIN A WORKING GROUP.
BUT I, I THINK THE STRUCTURE MAKES SENSE.
ANDY? YEAH, SO I THINK PREVIOUS CHAIRS, UM, SOME, SOME MAY BE WILLING TO CONTINUE AND I THINK SOME HAVE ALREADY PASSED THE BATON.
UM, CHRIS, I KNOW YOU WERE DOING TRANSPORTATION BEFORE.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CONTINUING THAT OR IS ANYBODY ELSE INTERESTED IN RUNNING THAT GROUP? YEAH, I'M OKAY TO, TO RUN IT, BUT HAPPY TO, TO PASS THE BATON, UH, SCHEDULE GETS KIND OF HECTIC AT THE END OF THE YEAR WITH WORK, BUT, UM, IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED IN, IN LEADING THAT GROUP, UH, THAT'LL BE GREAT.
UM, THANK YOU CHRIS, FOR BEING WILLING.
IS ANYBODY ELSE INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, FACILITATING, MAKING SURE MEETINGS, GET ON SCHEDULES, THAT KIND OF THING.
DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE DOING ALL THE WORK.
ALL RIGHT, CHRIS, LOOKS LIKE THAT ONE'S YOU.
I, ANNA YOU'VE BEEN LEADING CONSUMPTION.
ARE YOU UP FOR CONTINUING THAT? YES.
AND THEN CHARLOTTE, I THINK YOU'VE ALREADY PASSED THE BATON TO LANE.
LANE BECKER WILL BE ASSUMING THE LEAD ON THE NATURAL SYSTEMS WORKING GROUP, AND I'M HAPPY TO CONTINUE, UM, YOU KNOW, SERVING ON THAT WORKING GROUP TOO.
UM, I WAS LEADING SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS AND I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY.
UH, I'VE GOT MY, GOT MY HANDS IN A LOT OF THINGS RIGHT NOW, SO IF ANYBODY IS WILLING TO TAKE THE LEAD ON THAT, UM, THIS IS THE ONE THAT IS BASICALLY EVERYTHING THAT'S ENERGY, WATER, REFRIGERANTS, ANYTHING RELATED TO BUILDINGS.
DOES ANYBODY WANNA CONVENE THAT GROUP? I WOULD, BUT I JUST HAVE TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH.
I I'LL BE ON THE GROUP, BUT THANK YOU CHRIS.
ANYBODY ELSE? UH, FOR CONVENING SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS? I'M THE SAME AS CHRIS.
I WOULD LIKE TO BE ON IT, BUT I, AS FAR AS LEADING IT, I THINK IT WOULD, MY SCHEDULE'S TOO BUSY.
UM, JUST TO AS OBSERVATION, UH, THIS COMMIS COMMITTEE HAS 19, 19 MEMBERS AND I BELIEVE FIVE ARE MAYORAL APPOINTEES OR COUNCIL.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE A COUNCIL APPOINTEE, BUT THOSE DON'T HAVE ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONS THAT THEY SIT ON.
SO THAT MIGHT SOMEONE TO VOLUNTEER FROM THAT MIGHT BE, WOULD BE NICE.
UM, ALRIGHT, WELL I'M NOT SEEING A HAND, SO I WILL DO IT FOR NOW, BUT I, I REALLY LIKE, I'M ON LIKE FOUR WORKING GROUPS FOR THE BOND TASK FORCE AND I'M, I'M A LITTLE BIT LOSING IT, SO IF ANYBODY ELSE CAN COME UP WITH THE TIME, I'D APPRECIATE IT.
DO YOU WANNA LIKE FOLD IT INTO ONE OF THE OTHER ONES? KIVA? I MEAN, IT'S JUST DIFFERENT SUBJECT AREA, BUT I, YOU KNOW, BUILDING FOCUSED.
YEAH, IT'S VERY BUILDING FOCUSED.
SO I, I THINK, LET'S SEE, ARE WE MISSING 1, 1, 2, 3, 4? RIGHT.
I HAVE UNSUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS, KABA, JOHN, CHRIS, UM, NATURAL SYSTEMS. WE HAVE LANE AND CHARLOTTE.
ANYBODY ELSE ON THAT ONE? ANDY, ARE YOU, UM, WANTING TO, OR OH,
[02:30:01]
YOU SAID YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE TIME.SO, ALL RIGHT, GUY, BUT DO YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN MAYBE PARTICULARLY FOR NEW MEMBERS, MAYBE THE TIME THAT INVOLVED IN THIS SO THAT THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND? YEAH, I MEAN, IT KIND OF IS A LITTLE BIT SELF-DIRECTED, SO, UM, BUT I WOULD, YOU KNOW, ONE OR TWO MEETINGS A MONTH DEPENDING ON THE WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND THEN A LITTLE BIT OF TIME OUTSIDE OF THAT TO, YOU KNOW, DO SOME RESEARCH, FOLLOW UP WITH PEOPLE.
UM, I AM AWARE THAT WE ARE CRUISING TOWARDS NINE O'CLOCK, SO I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA SPEED US ALONG HERE.
UH, TRANSPORTATION, UH, WE HAVE CHRIS IS, AND, AND WHO ELSE WANTS TO BE ON THAT WORKING GROUP? OKAY, WE HAVE VARUN.
WE HAVE RODRIGO AND I GOT A MESSAGE FROM AARON GONZALEZ TO, I DON'T THINK HE'S IN, HE'S IN THE MEETING, BUT HE WAS, HE WAS INTERESTED AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN CONSUMPTION, I KNOW RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ANNA AND MYSELF.
ANYBODY ELSE FROM THE COMMISSION UP FOR THAT? I, DIANA.
I'M, I'M HAPPY TO SERVE ON WHATEVER, UH, WORKING GROUP DOESN'T HAVE THAT MANY PEOPLE TO TRY TO ROUND OUT THE NUMBERS.
YEAH, NO, I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A GREAT FIT.
SO HARRIS WILL BE ON NATURAL SYSTEMS. UM, ANYBODY ELSE WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS EFFORT THAT I'VE MISSED? OKAY, SO THE MOTION IS TO CREATE THOSE FOUR WORKING GROUPS AS WE'VE DESCRIBED.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HANDS.
WE'VE CREATED THE WORKING GROUPS.
IF YOU'RE IN CHARGE OF ONE, I WOULD ENCOURAGE AT LEAST GETTING, YOU KNOW, MOVE FORWARD RIGHT AWAY TO GET A MEETING SET IN DECEMBER, THEN THAT PART CAN BE DONE.
[7. Approve a recommendation related to climate and sustainability in the FY26 City of Austin Budget.]
ITEM SEVEN IS RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, THE AUSTIN, UH, FY 26 BUDGET, UH, I THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD FROM SCOTT AT PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, THOSE TWO POSITIONS THAT WERE APPROVED IN AUGUST IN THE BUDGET FOR CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE, UM, HAVE NOW BEEN SLATED TO BE REMOVED, UM, SINCE PREP Q DID NOT PASS.UM, SO THIS, THIS RESOLUTION REALLY IS JUST A RECOMMENDATION TO INCLUDE THOSE.
I'M NOT GONNA READ ALL THE WORDS, UM, BUT IF ANYBODY, HOPEFULLY EVERYBODY HAS THAT UP IN FRONT OF THEM.
UM, IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS, WE CAN DEFINITELY DISCUSS.
SORRY, CAN YOU JUST CLARIFY WHICH DOCUMENT WE'RE LOOKING AT SO I MAKE SURE I'M LOOKING AT THE RIGHT ONE? YEAH, THIS ONE ON THE WEBSITE IS 7 8 7 8.
SO THE TWO POSITIONS AS A REMINDER, THERE WAS THE ENERGY PROGRAM MANAGER AND THAT WAS TO MANAGE THAT REVOLVING FUND THAT IS RELATED TO THE SOLAR DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND MAYBE OTHER THINGS FOR CITY BUILDINGS.
AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS LISTED AS SUSTAINABLE PROGRAM MANAGER, AND THAT ONE WAS GONNA BE LEADING THE EFFORT ON SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING AT THE CITY, WHICH THERE IS CURRENTLY, I THINK 25% OF AMANDA'S TIME IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT'S BEING DEDICATED TO THAT.
CHARLOTTE, UM, SO ON FOR THE ENERGY PROGRAM MANAGER, DO I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT IS THE POSITION MANAGING, UM, THOSE, THOSE PROJECTS THAT ARE MEANT TO SAVE, UH, REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SAVE MONEY OVER
[02:35:01]
TIME AND ALLOCATE THOSE AND, AND IT IS ADMINISTERING A REVOLVING FUND, DO WE HAVE FUNDING FOR THAT REVOLVING FUND? SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS, AND ROHAN CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT THAT THE VISION IS THAT I THINK FROM THAT RESOLUTION, TWO THINGS.ONE, AS THEY INSTALL SOLAR, THERE WILL BE SAVINGS FROM THAT AND THAT MONEY WOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE REVOLVING FUND.
AND THE WAY I READ THE RESOLUTION, IT EVEN DIRECTED, I THINK MONEY THAT IS ALREADY BEING SAVED FROM EXISTING SOLAR INSTALLATIONS POTENTIALLY COULD ALSO BE DIRECTED INTO THAT.
THAT PART WAS NOT QUITE AS CLEAR TO ME, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'VE DONE THAT MATH OR ANYTHING.
ROHAN, DOES THAT ALIGN WITH WHAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING IS? I CAN'T SPEAK TO HER.
I CAN'T, I CAN'T SPEAK TO THE SECOND, UM, THING.
UM, THE INTENTION FOR THE SOLAR PROJECT WOULD BE YES, TO REDIRECT SAVINGS INTO THE REVOLVING FUND, ALTHOUGH THAT THOSE SAVINGS ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR AFTER THE DEBT SERVICE IS PAID OFF, WHICH COULD TAKE A NUMBER OF YEARS.
SO DEPENDING ON THE OWNERSHIP MODEL.
UM, SO I REMEMBER MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND THIS WITH AN INITIAL INVESTMENT TO INSTALL SOLAR AND TO, YOU KNOW, ESTABLISH THE FUND WITH $5 MILLION, $4 MILLION, 14 MILLION SOMETHING, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONGOING FROM THERE.
SO THAT INITIAL SEED FUNDING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN ALLOCATED AS YET? WELL, THERE WAS A SMALL AMOUNT ALLOCATED IN THE AUGUST BUDGET THAT HAS ALSO BEEN SLATED FOR REMOVAL.
UM, BUT THE SOLAR, I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS ROHAN ALLUDES TO, IS LIKELY TO BE FUNDED USING DEBT.
MONEY IS TIGHT FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
SO YEAH, SO I'M JUST GETTING AT THAT.
THERE, THERE IS STILL A NEED FOR THAT POSITION, REGARDLESS OF WHAT SHAKES OUT, THERE'S LIKE NOT A SEPARATE BUDGET ITEM THAT ALSO NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER TO NECESSITATE THIS POSITION.
I MEAN, MY TAKE
UM, BUT HEARING THE ROHAN'S BEEN DOING 10 MEETINGS A WEEK ON THIS,
I THINK THERE'S, OKAY, EVEN IF THERE'S NOT A LOT OF MONEY TO SPEND IN THE FIRST COUPLE YEARS OF THIS, UM, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE WORK, THERE'S A LOT OF PREPARATION WORK THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
NOT TO MENTION, I THINK, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY THAT PERSON WOULD BE INVOLVED IN, YOU KNOW, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WHATEVER COMES OUT OF THE SOLAR EFFORT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS ON THIS? EVEN IF IT'S LIKE NOW WE SHOULD JUST, YOU KNOW, UP, GIVE UP
I KNOW WE'VE, YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE BEEN LEADING THE CHARGE ON ADVOCATING FOR IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S A RECOMMENDATION.
OUR JOB IS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, NOT NECESSARILY SET THE FINAL BUDGET.
AND I WOULD SAY TO ME, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY WHO IS ADVOCATING, HEY, CAN WE SLIM DOWN AND SLIM DOWN LIKE WHAT OUR FINAL POLITICAL ASKS ARE? UM, THIS REPRESENTS LIKE A, HEY, NO, NO, NO.
LIKE, WE'RE REITERATING THAT THIS IS, THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WE IDENTIFIED AS IMPORTANT.
WE IDENTIFIED A LOT OF THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT.
WE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, WE HEARD THE VOTERS, UM, AND WE WERE RE-IDENTIFYING THIS IS IS AN IMPORTANT NEED.
I ALSO THINK ALIGNING THIS WITH FUTURE COST SAVINGS IS, IS AN IMPORTANT, I MEAN, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.
I ALSO THINK IT'S PROBABLY IMPORTANT TO COMMUNICATE, GIVEN THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION AS WELL.
AND SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, I'M SUPPORTIVE OF SUPPORTING THINGS THAT, THAT CAN BE FRAMED IN, IN THAT WAY THAT CAN HELP THE CITY CONTINUE ITS MISSION, WHICH I THINK IS GREAT AND IMPORTANT.
AND I THINK MAYBE AS THIS ELECTION SEEMS TO SUGGEST, THERE WAS ALSO NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED COMMUNICATION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW VITAL AND IMPORTANT SOME OF THIS WORK IS.
AND SOMETIMES THAT COSTS MONEY, BUT IN THIS CASE, WE'RE SUPPORTING COST SAVINGS, SO I SUPPORT THIS.
AND MY PERSONAL OPINION IS THAT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION FOR PROP Q WERE MORE ANTIS SWEET, GREEN THAN ANTI-SOLAR.
[02:40:03]
OKAY.UM, IN THE INTEREST OF MOVING US FORWARD, UM, I'M GONNA MAKE A MOTION THAT WE ADOPT THIS RECOMMENDATION AS DRAFTED TO RECOMMEND PRESERVING THOSE TWO POSITIONS.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND.
ALRIGHT, THE RECOMMENDATION IS ADOPTED.
UH, ROHAN, I WOULD SUPER APPRECIATE A QUICK TURNAROUND ON THAT SO I CAN GET IT OUT THERE TO COUNCIL.
[8. Approve a recommendation supporting funding for on-site solar and energy efficiency improvements for city facilities. ]
ONE, UH, IS ABOUT SUPPORTING THE SOLAR, UH, FUNDING FOR, WELL, IT SAYS SO FOR, SO FUNDING FOR SOLAR AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY, BUT I THINK, UH, REALLY AT, AT THE MOMENT IT'S GONNA BE SOLAR.IF IT IS ANYTHING WHICH HOPE, HOPEFULLY IT IS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANNA PUT THIS ONE ON THE SCREEN OR IF FOLKS HAVE FOLKS BEEN ABLE TO READ THAT RECOMMENDATION.
THIS IS LISTED AS ITEM EIGHT, DRAFT RECOMMENDATION, SUPPORTING FUNDING FOR ONSITE SOLAR AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS ONE.
UM, FOLLOWING ROHAN'S PRESENTATION, UM, IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING.
UM, IS THIS A, A THING THAT WE NEED TO RECOMMEND? IT'S, IT'S ALREADY IN THE WORKS.
IT, IT, I'M NOT SURE WHAT WILL COME OUT OF, I GUESS THE DECEMBER 2ND MEETING, UM, WHICH IS WHY I PUT THIS ON HERE JUST TO LIKE, WHATEVER, GIVE ANOTHER STAMP OF A RECOMMENDATION THERE, I GUESS.
UM, HOPEFULLY YES, BUT I GUESS I, YOU KNOW, I NEVER LIKE TO COUNT THINGS AS ACTUALLY DONE UNTIL THEY'RE DONE, BUT YEAH, I WOULD AGREE.
LIKE THIS SEEMS TO HAVE GOOD MOMENTUM.
I AM HAPPY TO SIGN MY NAME TO THIS.
UH, IF THAT IS A MOTION, WHICH I'M NOT SURE, THEN I'LL SECOND THAT.
OR IF IT'S NOT A MOTION, THEN I'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE THE MOTION.
I'LL, I'LL, I'LL SECOND THE MOTION.
WAS IT ANDY OR JOHN? I, SORRY, I I TOOK IT BACK DOWN.
I HAD, I HAD A, I HAD A COMMENT.
AND SO IT SEEMS, UH, UM, THAT THIS ONE IS NOT, IT'S NOT JUST SOLAR, RIGHT? AND IT ALSO, IT'S ALSO IN REGARDS TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND REFRIGERANT LEAKAGE.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT BE BEYOND WHAT, UH, THE, THE SOLAR INITIATIVE THAT THE ROHAN WAS TALKING ABOUT.
SO THAT'S JUST AS IT PERTAINS TO THE PURPOSE OF THAT REVOLVING FUND, AND THAT WAS TO KIND OF MIRROR THE LANGUAGE, UM, OR THE PURPOSES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN SOME OF THE OTHER, UM, RESOLUTIONS ON THIS, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, LISTED THAT KIND OF BROADER SET OF POTENTIAL BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS THAT COULD BE FUNDED THROUGH THE REVOLVING FUND, BUT THE RECOMMENDATION ISN'T TO ASSIGN MONEY TO THOSE RIGHT NOW.
UH, LAST QUESTION ON THIS ONE, UH, I HEARD ROHAN SAID, I THINK IT WAS 10,000 SQUARE FEET OF SPACE AND THIS ONE IS, UM, SUGGESTING 1500 SQUARE FEET.
UM, IS THAT, THAT'S JUST LIKE, THAT'S SORT OF THE MINIMUM THRESHOLD THAT WE THINK THAT THAT CITY OUGHT TO LOOK AT, EVEN IF IT'S NOT THE FIRST SET OF PROJECTS THAT THEY TAKE ON? YEAH, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT NUMBER CAME FROM, UM, SOME EXPERIENCE THAT, THAT I'VE BEEN HAVING THROUGH SOLAR AUSTIN, A NONPROFIT THAT I SERVE ON.
WE'RE DOING SOME INSTALLATIONS FOR NONPROFITS AND THOSE ARE, YOU KNOW, IN THE LIKE 20 KILOWATT RANGE.
UM, IT IS DEFINITELY TRUE THAT YOU DO GET, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY BETTER ECONOMICS OUT OF LARGER SCALE.
I MEAN, THE BEST ECONOMICS COME OUT OF UTILITY SCALE SOLAR FARM.
[02:45:01]
UM, BUT EVEN AT THAT SMALLER SCALE, YOU STILL GET A POSITIVE RETURN.AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I ADDED A FEED OF WAREHOUSES IN HERE TO TRY TO LIKE KIND OF EXPLAIN WHY I PERSONALLY THINK LIKE THE CITY SHOULD BE VERY BROAD WITH THE RFP AND LET WHAT THE COMPANIES PUT FORWARD WHAT THEY WANNA DO.
YOU JUST, YOU HAVE COMPANIES THAT SPECIALIZE IN DIFFERENT THINGS.
CERTAINLY NOT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHATEVER MOVES FORWARD, I WILL BE CELEBRATING IT AT THE END OF THE DAY.
UM, BUT THAT WOULD BE MY RECOMMENDATION TO LIKE NOT, UM, NOT NARROW IT DOWN SO MUCH AND, AND LEAVE IT OPEN FOR THEM.
IF, IF WHAT THEY COME FORWARD WITH IS THAT THEY JUST WANNA DO THE BIG ONES, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? OKAY.
ALL IN FAVOR? WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND.
OKAY, THE RESOLUTION IS, THE RECOMMENDATION IS ADOPTED.
[Items 9 & 10]
ITEMS, NINE AND 10, I THINK WE CAN JUST, UM, DISCUSS TOGETHER.UM, WE GOT THE PRESENTATION ON THE FIRM LAND.
UH, THAT'S TECHNICALLY ITEM 10 IS A RECOMMENDATION RELATED JUST TO FARMLAND ACQUISITION IN THE 2026 BOND.
AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT TO OUR ATTENTION, ANDY.
AND THEN I PUT ITEM NINE ON HERE BECAUSE WE HAVE IN THE PAST ALREADY MADE RECOMMENDATIONS ON, UM, ON, YOU KNOW, ON FUNDING PRIORITIES.
UM, THEY WERE NOT ALL NECESSARILY BOND FUNDING, UM, TYPE PROJECTS, BUT I INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP THE BIG 24 PAGE DOCUMENT THAT WAS OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
AND I MAY HAVE, YOU KNOW, I WAS DOING THIS QUICKLY, SO APOLOGIES IF I, YOU KNOW, MISSED SOMETHING IN MY HIGHLIGHTING.
UM, BUT I HIGHLIGHTED A FEW THAT, YOU KNOW, SEEMED LIKE THEY COULD POTENTIALLY BE, UH, ELIGIBLE FOR GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IN THIS CONTEXT.
SOME OF THESE, UH, MIGHT BE ALREADY PARTIALLY INCLUDED IN SOME OF THE, UM, PROPOSALS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH THE STAFF PROCESS.
OTHERS ARE NOT, UM, AN AGRICULTURAL LAND I WILL NOTE, UM, IS INCLUDED IN WHAT HAS COME THROUGH FROM STAFF, WHICH IS 300 MILLION FOR OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION.
I, I'LL NOTE THE LIST OF PROJECT PRIORITY PROJECTS FROM STAFF IS LIKE $3.9 BILLION AND WE HAVE 685 MILLION TO WORK WITH.
SO I DON'T THINK 300 MILLION IS GONNA GO TO OPEN SPACES, BUT JUST WANTED TO CALL THAT OUT.
SO WITH THAT, LET'S DISCUSS THOSE TWO ITEMS TOGETHER.
I'D LIKE TO HEAR IF FOLKS HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR MOVING FORWARD WITH ONE, MAKING A BROADER RECOMMENDATION NOW, OR THIS ONE IS NOT SO TIME SENSITIVE.
WE COULD GIVE IT A LITTLE MORE THOUGHT AND COME BACK IN DECEMBER ON THIS ITEM AND STILL BE TOTALLY TIMELY.
CAN, CAN I JUST ADD, ADD SOME CONTEXT ON THE FARM LINE PIECE? UM, WE ARE, ARE REALLY RECOMMENDING THAT, UM, LIKE THAT WHATEVER, UH, MONEY GOES TO, TO OPEN SPACE, UH, OR LAND ACQUISITION IN THE BOND, THAT THERE'S KIND OF LIKE A CARVE OUT FOR FARMLAND, RECOGNIZING THAT IT WILL ALSO MEET, UM, UH, ESPECIALLY LIKE WATER, UM, PROTECTION GOALS.
UM, AND SO CERTAINLY OPEN TO WAYS TO KIND OF, UM, COUCH THAT.
BUT I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE HOPING TO, TO GIVE THIS SAME PRESENTATION TO THE, UM, PARKS AND OPEN SPACES WORKING GROUP, UM, FOR, FOR THE BTIF, UM, IN DECEMBER.
AND SO WOULD, WOULD LOVE, UM, SUPPORT FROM THIS COMMITTEE JUST SAYING LIKE, HEY, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO ENSURE IS, IS PRIORITIZED IN LAND ACQUISITION AND, AND THAT THERE IS SOME CARVE OUT THERE.
UM, I THINK WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS THAT, UM, SOME OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS RECOGNIZE THAT THAT FARMLAND OR THAT THAT, UM, LAND PRESERVE CAN ALSO BE USED FOR AGRICULTURE, BUT IT'S NEVER BEEN A TOP PRIORITY.
AND SO, UM, AND SO WE'VE NOT SEEN REALLY PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURAL LAND PRESERVED.
UM, SO JUST TO ADD THAT CONTEXT.
[02:50:06]
MAYBE I SHOULD JUST SAY WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.
BOY, I WISH I COULD SAY LEAVE AND COME BACK.
CAN HE DO THAT WITHOUT US? YEP.
UH, VARUN, IF YOU WANNA LEAVE AND COME BACK, WE'LL WE'LL BE HERE.
UM, YOU COULD ALSO TRY CHATTING IF YOU HAVE THE ABILITY.
I THINK YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHAT.
HOPEFULLY SOMETIMES THEY ALLOW IT.
THEY'RE, WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO.
CAN, CAN HE CALL MY CELL PHONE AND I'LL JUST HOLD IT UP TO THE MIC.
THAT ONE WAS ACTUALLY NOT A JOKE, BUT I'LL TAKE THAT AS A DOUBT.
NO, I MEAN, YOU COULD, ANY OTHER COMMENTS, THOUGHTS ON THIS TOPIC OF BOND RECOMMENDATIONS? IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN IN FOR A WHILE, SO ON ITEM NINE, UM, SORRY, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME NOW? YES.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY, WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT ITEM NUMBER 10.
I MEAN, I, I SUGGESTED THAT WE CAN KIND OF TALK ABOUT NINE AND 10 TOGETHER, SO, OKAY.
YOU KNOW, ANYTHING THAT YOU HAVE TO SAY AROUND BOND RECOMMENDATIONS, I GUESS IS OUR, OUR TOPIC HERE, JUST SPECIFIC TO, TO 10.
I'M, I'M, I'M SUPPORTIVE OF IT IN GENERAL.
JUST HAD A QUESTION ABOUT, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY'S CONSERVATION EASEMENT PROGRAM BEING, UM, RECOMMENDED AS THE ADMINISTRATOR.
I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.
UM, SOME CONTEXT THERE WOULD BE HELPFUL THERE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY'S PURVIEW IT SEEMS LIKE, SO YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
UM, SO WE JUST, UH, IN, IN SOME, WELL THE CITY AND, AND THE COUNTY HAVE WORKED TOGETHER, UM, I THINK ON THE ES UH, CANYONLANDS PRESERVE, UM, THAT IT'S A, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT PARTNERSHIP, BUT, UM, THERE HAS BEEN SOME, SOME COLLABORATION CERTAINLY WITH THE COUNTY ON THAT.
UM, IT'S MORE RECOGNIZING THAT THE, THAT TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, IS MANAGING AGRICULTURAL LEASES ON, UM, UH, THROUGH THAT PROGRAM IN A WAY THAT, UM, THE CITY IS NOT, UM, THE CITY, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT OR, OR AUSTIN WATER ARE, UM, ARE NOT PRIMARILY THINKING THROUGH AN AGRICULTURAL LENS.
UM, SO IT'S JUST A RECOMMENDATION THAT STAFF EXPLORE CREATING A MORE FORMAL PARTNERSHIP WITH TRAVIS COUNTY AND THAT, THAT THAT'S AN EXISTING MECHANISM THAT COULD BE USED, UM, IF, IF THE CITY FELT LIKE IT WAS GONNA BE CHALLENGING TO, TO DO THAT WORK ITSELF.
CHRIS, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? I WAS JUST SAYING ON NINE, YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING THAT ONE'S, BECAUSE THAT'S A LOTTED TWO, THINK ABOUT SINCE IT'S OUR, UH, PUTTING BACK OUT THERE WHAT WE HAD, YOU KNOW, PUT TOGETHER IN A BIG DOCUMENT THAT WE COULD HOLD OFF MAYBE TILL NEXT MEETING.
BUT, UH, ITEM 10 I WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF, OF GOING THROUGH WITH THE RECOMMENDATION NOW.
FOR THAT, IF WE STILL HAVE QUORUM, WHICH WE DO.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THIS TOPIC? I MEAN, AT THIS POINT I'M INCLINED TO LIKE, LIKE I LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS.
I'LL JUST SAY THAT I THINK THESE ARE ALL GOOD, IMPORTANT IDEAS THAT WOULD MAKE AUSTIN A BETTER, MORE LIVABLE, VIBRANT PLACE.
AND I, I'M INCLINED TO GO WITH WHATEVER HAS LIKE THE MOST, I DON'T KNOW, PUBLIC POLITICAL SUPPORT, LIKE WHATEVER THE MATH IS TO, TO GET THIS THROUGH.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF SOMETHING HAS A FAIR AMOUNT OF, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT, THAT MATH LOOKS LIKE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ELECTORAL MATH LOOKS LIKE TO GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS THROUGH, BUT I'M SURE YOU GUYS HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
DO YOU MEAN THROUGH LIKE APPROVED BY VOTERS? YEAH, THIS IS LIKE A PATHETIC WAY OF SAYING LIKE, HEY, I'LL, I'LL SUPPORT WHICHEVER'S THE MOST POPULAR ONE.
UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW, AFTER THE ELECTION, THAT'S KIND OF HOW I'M FEELING.
IF ANYBODY KNOWS THE ANSWER TO THAT, THEN THEN YOU PROBABLY COULD GET RICH WITH SOMEBODY.
OTHER THOUGHTS? IF NOT ANYBODY CAN MAKE A MOTION?
[02:55:03]
WELL, I, MAYBE I'LL JUST ADD, I THINK, UM, LIKE IT PROBABLY DOES MAKE SENSE TO, LIKE, I I HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF TIME TO REVIEW THE OTHER, UH, LIKE THE NUMBER 10 PACKAGE, BUT JUST TO LIKE HAVE A MORE FULL CONVERSATION.I THINK GIVEN THAT, UM, THE, UM, THIS, LIKE THERE IS SUCH A HUGE LIST OF REQUESTS.
LIKE I THINK IF, IF WE CAN COME WITH A, A MORE TARGETED ASK, UM, I THINK THAT THAT WILL GET TAKEN A LITTLE BIT MORE SERIOUSLY FROM, FROM, UH, A SESSION WORKING GROUP SESSION FOR THE BTFI WENT TO FOR LAST WEEK OR WEEK BEFORE.
IT SEEMS LIKE THERE, THERE'S DEFINITELY A SENSE OF OVERWHELM OF LIKE, SURE, IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE ALL THESE THINGS, BUT LIKE WE NEED, THEY, THEY NEED SOME, UM, BACKGROUND THINKING TO BE DONE ABOUT WHAT'S ACTUALLY FEASIBLE AND KIND OF HIGHEST IMPACT.
UM, SO I THINK FOR KIND OF THE BIGGER LIST OF THINGS THAT MIGHT, I AT LEAST WOULD APPRECIATE BEING ABLE TO THINK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE IF WE, UM, IF WE HAVE TIME, UH, NEXT MEETING.
SO I CAN PLAN ON PUTTING THAT BACK ON THE AGENDA.
AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, LIKE, YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE THINGS ON THIS DOCUMENT I DON'T THINK ARE APPROPRIATE FOR THIS PURPOSE.
SO MAYBE EVERYBODY CAN TAKE, TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME WITH THAT DOCUMENT.
UM, AND PARTICULARLY THE ONES THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW, BUT THEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE I MISSED SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS MORE 20 YEAR INFRASTRUCTURE KIND OF STUFF.
UM, ANDY, DOES THAT MEAN THAT YOU WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, ARE, ARE YOU MAKE, ARE YOU, ARE YOU POSTPONING NINE AS WELL OR ARE YOU, I THINK, UM, ARE YOU GONNA MAKE A MOTION ON THAT? WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO? SURE.
I MEAN, I, I, YEAH, I GUESS I'LL MAKE A MOTION JUST TO, TO UM, SUPPORT THE RECOMMENDATION AS WRITTEN AND WOULD CERTAINLY ENTERTAIN FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS.
UM, BUT IT WOULD, IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE HELPFUL AS WE GO TO TRY AND, UM, ADVOCATE A BIT WITH, WITH BTIF TO KNOW THAT THERE'S SOME SUPPORT OR THAT WE'RE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE, UM, WHAT SUPPORT EXISTS FROM, FROM THIS COMMITTEE.
SO I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO, FOR THE, UH, JSC TO, TO SUPPORT THE RECOMMENDATION THAT THE FOOD POLICY BOARD PUT FORWARD.
REGARDING FARM LINE PRESERVATION, UH, NOT ITEM NINE.
OH YEAH, I'M SORRY, NOT ITEM NINE.
I HAD THOSE REVERSED, SO, ALL RIGHT.
ANDY IS RECOMMENDING THAT WE MOVE ON ITEM 10, NOT ITEM NINE.
UM, I, I'M GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THIS, UH, IN TERMS OF THE, THE CONCEPT OF OF, YOU KNOW, HAVING SOME, SOME MONEY FOR FARMLAND.
UM, I WILL SAY I THINK FROM A CLIMATE, UH, PERSPECTIVE, I'M NOT SOLD ON THE OVERALL BENEFIT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MORE ANIMAL BASED FARMING HAVING A NET BENEFIT FOR CLIMATE.
SO I'M WONDERING HOW YOU WOULD FEEL ABOUT, UH, THE FIRST, YOU KNOW, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED AND EDIT THERE, THAT COULD, THAT WOULD JUST SAY, COULD BE LEASED TO INSTEAD OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS JUST SAY VEGETABLE AND FRUIT FARMERS OR IF THERE'S SOME OTHER YEAH, CERTAINLY.
DOES THAT CUT OUT LIKE GRAINS, LEGUMES, STUFF LIKE THAT? I PERSONALLY CONSIDER, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, I, IT'S, I MAYBE THERE'S A DIFFERENT WAY OF, UM, PHRASING THAT I PLANT-BASED FARM.
I, I WILL SAY, I, I HEAR, I HEAR THE CONCERN THAT YOU'RE RAISING AND, AND I THINK THERE, THERE ARE WAYS IN WHICH IT, UM, LIKE ESPECIALLY WITHIN A, A REGENERATIVE SYSTEM, THE ANIMAL INTEGRATION CAN HAVE PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UM, BENEFITS TO, UM, TO THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
BUT IT'S, THAT'S VERY DIFFERENT THAN LIKE A FACTORY FARM.
UM, AND SO MAYBE IF WE SAID LIKE LEASE TO REGENERATIVE PRODUCERS OR, UM, UM, 'CAUSE I THINK THAT THAT CAPTURES AND, AND IN SOME OF OUR OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS WE'VE, WE'VE DEFINED WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, UM, UM, AND WANTING TO ADVISE THE, OR RECOMMENDED THAT THE CITY TAKE, UM, ACTUALLY CREATE A DEFINITION FOR ITSELF OF WHAT REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE LOOKS LIKE AND, AND THE, UM, BENEFITS OF THAT OR THE METRICS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
YEAH, I, I, UH, I WOULD WELCOME A, A DEEPER CONVERSATION AND, AND WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SEEING THE RESEARCH THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S, THERE'S STUFF OUT THERE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS IN TERMS OF THE, YOU KNOW, REGENERATIVE,
[03:00:01]
UM, I'M, WELL MAYBE JUST FOR SHORTHAND, I'LL CALL IT RANCHING, UM, ALTHOUGH I DON'T KNOW IF CHICKENS, DO YOU RANCH CHICKENS? I DON'T KNOW, WHATEVER.UM, I'VE SEEN CONFLICTING, I GUESS, UM, CONCLUSIONS THERE AS TO WHETHER IT'S ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, INCREASING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS OR, OR, OR NOT.
UM, SO YOU, YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE IT, I GUESS I JUST, I DON'T, I DON'T NECESSARILY THINK, UH, YEAH, I'M NOT SOLD THAT IT'S A, THAT IT'S A NET BENEFIT.
I, I THINK, UM, I, UH, LET ME JUST PULL IT UP AGAIN.
I THINK WE COULD DEFINITELY SPECIFY, I GUESS I WANT TO, I WANT TO BE MINDFUL OF LIKE HOW DO WE ACTUALLY INCREASE LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTION AND, AND THE BENEFITS THAT CAN COME FROM THAT.
AND SO TO NOT BE OVERLY, UM, PRESCRIPTIVE, BUT, UM, I THINK, I THINK THAT REGENERATIVE PRINCIPLE CAPTURES, UM, LIKE THE SPIRIT OF WHAT, UM, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE HERE.
UM, AND UM, BUT YEAH, WOULD CERTAINLY BE HAPPY TO TALK WITH YOU MORE ABOUT, ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE BACKGROUND RESEARCH.
I JUST WANTED TO BRING UP, YOU KNOW, I MEAN 0.06 OF OUR FOOD, YOU KNOW, THAT WE CONSUME IS GROWN AND UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY, UH, PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO ARE MEAT EATERS AND EGG EATERS AND STUFF, SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S A VIABLE, UM, YOU KNOW, FOOD SOURCE IF THAT COULD BE PRODUCED LOCALLY, YOU KNOW, SO TO PRECLUDE IT IN A RECOMMENDATION LIKE THIS, KNOWING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE UPHILL FIGHT OF, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPMENT TAKING OVER FARMS, YOU KNOW, SO I WOULDN'T WANT A RECOMMENDATION TO KIND OF STOP, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO ARE WANTING TO GET INTO, YOU KNOW, FARMING, UH, WHETHER THAT IS GOATS OR CHICKENS OR YOU KNOW, COWS THAT THIS WOULD TAKE THEM OUT FROM HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY, I GUESS ACCESS TO THESE FUNDS.
I GUESS THAT'S MY PERSPECTIVE, SO, YEAH.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THE RESOLUTION? YEAH, I, I TEND TO AGREE WITH THAT.
I GUESS BASED ON THE, THE PRESENTATION, UH, THAT ANDY MARISSA WAS SHOWING, IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THE CARBON BENEFIT IS, IS A BIG COMPONENT, BUT ALSO THE, IT SEEMS LIKE KIND OF THE, THE RESILIENCY OF THE, OF THE FOOD SUPPLY SUPPLY, ESPECIALLY ON AN EMERGENCY, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE, UH, A KEY COMPONENT IS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, ENOUGH FOOD, YOU KNOW.
SO I THINK I DO AGREE WITH THAT.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HANDS.
UM, DID HE SAY HE WAS COMING BACK? NO, HE SAID OKAY.
DOES THAT MEAN THAT PASSES OR NOT? YOU'RE THE PARLIAMENTARY
LET ME, I'M GONNA CHECK OUR BYLAWS 'CAUSE I DON'T WANNA GET IT WRONG.
I FEEL LIKE WE'VE PASSED THINGS LIKE THIS IN, IN THE PAST WITH, I KNOW WE'VE BEEN CONFUSED ABOUT IT IN THE PAST,
AND I THINK THERE WAS LIKE AN ABSTENTION OR TWO I THOUGHT WAS SIMILAR NUMBERS, BUT I'M JUST, I'M JUST CHECKING IF JUST, I, I I'VE GOT THE BYLAWS, UH, DUTIES, AGENDAS, S CAN I ADD AN ADDITIONAL COMPLICATION? I'M TECHNICALLY A SECOND LIKE APPOINTEE, SO I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN VOTE, BUT THAT MIGHT HELP.
YEAH, YOU'RE HERE AS A PRESENTER TONIGHT.
IT SAYS IF, IF ONLY A QUORUM IS PRESENT AT A MEETING, A BOARD ACTION IS ADOPTED BY AFFIRMATIVE VOTE OF TWO THIRDS OF THE QUORUM SEVEN VOTES.
[03:05:02]
SO IT DOES PASS.THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME LOOK IT UP.
I JUST REMEMBERED IT WAS SOMETHING, THERE'S, THERE'S NUANCE.
DO WE LOSE QUORUM IF I LEAVE? I'M, I'M ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATE TO SOMETHING ELSE THAT JOHN 30, JOHN HAD TO LEAVE.
SO HIS UPDATE, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET ANOTHER TIME.
UM, WE DO HAVE A MEETING IN DECEMBER.
UM, I KNOW DECEMBER SOMETIMES GETS ROUGH, SO MAKE SURE THAT'S ON YOUR CALENDAR.
PLEASE COMMUNICATE WITH ROHAN AND YOUR ALTERNATE IF YOU CAN'T BE HERE, WHAT IS, WHAT'S THE DATE? JUST THE 17TH.
AND YEAH, WE'RE BACK AT CITY HALL.
WE'RE, WE'RE AT AUSTIN ENERGY AGAIN IN DECEMBER.
AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT WITH ANY AGENDA ITEMS. WE, IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, WE'RE ADJOURNED.
HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE THANKSGIVING.