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MONDAY EVERYONE.THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THIS MEETING OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
THANK YOU TO THE ENTIRE BOARD FOR COMING IN EARLY ON A MONDAY MORNING.
I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
TODAY IS SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2026, AND THE TIME IS 9:02 AM THIS MEETING IS BEING CONDUCTED AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP OFFICE, LOCATED AT 2 0 3 COLORADO STREET IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
AS A REMINDER, THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES BOTH AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND OTHER INTERPRETER SERVICES.
WE HAVE A QUORUM THIS MORNING WITH EVERYONE PRESENT TODAY.
AND, UM, IF YOU EVER NEED ASSISTANCE WITH AN INTERPRETER SERVICES, PLEASE CONTACT CHLOE MAXWELL AND HER CONTACT IS IN EACH AGENDA POSTING.
[1. Public Comment]
SPEAKERS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK THIS MORNING AND THE FIRST, UM, WE HAVE FOUR PEOPLE REGISTERED AND WE'RE GONNA FIRST WELCOME HAYDEN BLACK WALKER, WHO'S JOINING US VIRTUALLY.YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES, VERY MUCH.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME OKAY? YES.
GOOD MORNING, MADAM CHAIR OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME'S HAYDEN BLACK WALKER.
I'M THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD FOR FAITH SPACE AUSTIN.
UM, I'M JOINING YOU THIS MORNING TO INVITE ALL OF YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING, WHICH IS OCTOBER 1ST TO OCTOBER 8TH.
UM, WE WITHOUT DRIVING IS A NATIONAL CHALLENGE THAT HAPPENS IN ALL 50 STATES.
THIS IS THE THIRD YEAR WE'RE DOING IT IN AUSTIN.
UM, IT'S MEANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE, THE ONE THIRD OF THE POPULATION WHO DON'T DRIVE, WHO, UM, NEED TO USE TRANSIT OR WALK OR BIKE, UM, AND CAN'T DRIVE THEMSELVES.
SO I THINK YOU DO HAVE FLYERS IN YOUR PACKET, IN YOUR BOARD PACKET THIS MORNING.
BUT I ALSO WANTED TO EXTEND A PERSONAL INVITATION TO JOIN US.
UM, THAT THIRD OF THE POPULATION, IT'S JUST GOOD TO BE AWARE.
THEY OFTEN ARE, ARE VERY HIDDEN, UM, FROM THE PUBLIC VIEW, UM, AND THAT MAYBE THEY DON'T DRIVE BECAUSE OF A DISABILITY, A MEDICAL CONDITION BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE NOT YET 16, YOU'RE NOT DRIVING, UM, OR EVEN THE COST OF A VEHICLE.
SO, UM, THE CHALLENGE IS TO NOT DRIVE YOURSELF.
AS I SAID, IF YOU DO HAVE TO DRIVE DURING THE WEEK AND YOU'RE PARTICIPATING IN THE CHALLENGE, WE ASK THAT YOU JUST THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD'VE DONE.
DRIVING YOURSELF WAS, WAS, UH, NOT AN OPTION.
SO, UM, WE JUST, WE WANTED TO INVITE A TP TO JOIN THE COALITION.
THE COALITION IN AUSTIN HAS OVER 20 ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING CAP METRO AND GET THEIR A TX, BEVERLY LAND INSTITUTE, AND AUSTIN, A BUNCH OF OTHER FOLKS.
UM, YOU CAN SIGN UP TO JOIN, UH, AT WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING.ORG INDIVIDUALLY.
YOU CAN ALSO, UM, A TP CAN ALSO BE A COALITION MEMBER.
THERE'S STILL TIME TO DO THAT IF, UM, A TP WOULD LIKE TO OFFICIALLY BE A COALITION MEMBER.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US, HAYDEN.
UM, OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS ASHIKA GLI.
GOOD MORNING, MADAM CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS ASHIKA GANGLY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TRANSIT FORWARD HERE IN AUSTIN.
UM, WE'RE AUSTIN'S PREMIER COMMUNITY LED ORGANIZATION, UH, DEDICATED TO EDUCATING ON THE BENEFITS OF A TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
I'M HERE TODAY IN SUPPORT OF PHASE ONE B AUTHORIZATION.
UM, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, THIS IS ABOUT MAINTAINING MOMENTUM AND MAKING SURE THAT AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL STAYS ON PATH TOWARD CONSTRUCTION.
WE'VE REACHED A POINT WHERE THE PROJECT IS MOVING FROM PLANNING INTO IMPLEMENTATION.
THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS IS COMPLETE.
MAJOR CONSTRUCTION TEAMS ARE IN PLACE, AND THE NEXT PHASE IS TO BE READY TO GET INTO DETAILED ENGINEERING, PERMITTING AND PRE-CONSTRUCTION WORK.
CONTINUING THAT WORK IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO OUR ABILITY TO COMPETE FOR SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL INVESTMENT, BUT FOR TRANSIT FORWARD, THE BIGGER PICTURE IS VERY SIMPLE.
AUSTIN VOTERS MADE A MAJOR COMMITMENT TO BUILDING A BETTER TRANSIT SYSTEM, AND IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US THAT WE SHOW, UH, PROGRESS TOWARDS COMPLETION.
AND DELIVERING ON THAT COMMITMENT REQUIRES CONTINUING TO MOVE THE PROJECT FORWARD DELIBERATELY AND RESPONSIBLY.
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THAT.IT ADVANCES THE ENGINEERING IDENTIFIES RISKS BEFORE CONSTRUCTION AND KEEPS THE PROJECT MOVING TOWARDS MAJOR MILESTONES.
TRANSIT FORWARD SUPPORTS THIS AUTHORIZATION AND WE APPRECIATE THE BOARD AND STAFF'S CONTINUED WORK TO MOVE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL FORWARD.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS AVES, SRI.
WELCOME, GOOD MORNING CHAIR BOARD MEMBERS.
I SERVE AS THE CHAIR OF THE PROJECT CONNECT COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
YOU'RE ALL GONNA BE WORKING ON THE BUDGET, WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CSE WE'RE FORWARDED TO Y'ALL IN ADVANCE, AND I'M ABLE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
I HAD ALREADY THE PLEASURE OF TALKING AT THE CAP METRO BOARD MEETING AS WELL.
UM, THREE THINGS THAT CAME FOR THE A TP BOARD FROM THE CACI REALLY WANT TO MENTION.
ONE WAS CONTINUED WORK ON GETTING TO THE AIRPORT.
I KNOW THAT IS A PRIORITY IN A DP STAFF AND ALL OF OUR PARTNERS, INCLUDING THE CITY, ARE WORKING ON ADVANCING THAT.
BUT THAT REMAINS A COMMITMENT.
WE HEAR THAT ALL THE TIME OF GETTING TO THE AIRPORT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT WITH THE CAVEAT OF COURSE, WE STILL WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE WORKING ON OTHER PRIORITY EXTENSIONS AS WELL, INCLUDING GOING NORTH AS WE CAN.
UM, WE ALSO WANT TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM.
UH, WE'VE SEEN PRESENTATIONS FROM A TP STAFF AND CONSULTANTS LOOKING AT HOW TO SET UP MORE SUPPORT FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES AS WE GO THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE AND IDENTIFYING THOSE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, INCLUDING LOOKING AT THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDS AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXIST.
WE ALSO WANT TO LOOK AT, UM, ESSENTIALLY SEEING HOW DO WE MORE LEVERAGE MORE OF THE BETTERMENTS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS WELL.
SO, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE BUDGET FOR A TP, THERE'S WORK ON BETTERMENTS.
THIS INCLUDES DIFFERENT ELEMENTS LIKE SIDEWALKS AND BIKE LANES AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD.
HOW DO WE COLLABORATE WITH THE CITY TO ADVANCE THOSE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT ALSO TO SEE SOME COST SHARING FROM THE CITY AND SEE IF THERE'S WAYS FOR US TO HAVE MORE, UM, YOU KNOW, FUNDING FROM THE A TP SIDE, GO TO TRANSIT DIRECTLY.
IN ADDITION, UM, YOU KNOW, TO THOSE THREE ITEMS, I DID WANNA MENTION TWO OTHER THINGS ON THE ITEM ONE, I, I WANNA REALLY SECOND WHAT WE HEARD FROM TRANSIT FORWARD.
EXCITED TO SEE THE WORK THAT'S HAPPENING ON ADVANCING LIGHT RAIL FORWARD WITH THE DIFFERENT CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES, BRINGING FOLKS ON FOR ON BOARD AND MOVING THAT FORWARD.
SO THANK YOU TO THE ENTIRE A DB BOARD AND LEADERSHIP AND Y'ALL HERE FOR MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE MOVING THIS PROJECT FORWARD.
AND IT'S EXCITING THAT I THINK WE'RE GETTING TO SOME REALLY CRITICAL POINTS HERE.
UM, AND THE LAST, I'LL JUST SAY ON THE OFFICE SPACE, UM, ITEM AS WELL, UH, REALLY LOOKING AT IT, EXCITED TO SEE THE, UH, THE OPTION THAT Y'ALL HAVE IN FRONT OF Y'ALL TODAY.
I'M HOPING THAT THAT CAN MOVE FORWARD.
I'M EXCITED TO SEE, HONESTLY, ONE, I JUST WANNA THANK THE BOARD AND THEIR LEADERSHIP FOR AND STAFF ARE WORKING TO GETTING TO THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE WAY OF MOVING FORWARD.
AND I THINK THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT.
OR BEING COST EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS, BUT ALSO KEEPING IT DOWNTOWN.
THAT WAS SOMETHING THE CSC HAD REALLY ASKED TO REMAIN DOWNTOWN, PARTIALLY JUST BECAUSE OF TRANSIT ACCESS, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE IN A VERY PUBLICLY AND COMMUNALLY ACCESSIBLE SPACE WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE COME AND GO ALL DAY LONG.
LIKE THIS MEETING HERE, WE HAVE A LOT OF MEETINGS HERE.
THE CSE AND COMMUNITY DOES A LOT OF MEETINGS IN THIS SPACE.
SO STAYING IN AN ACCESSIBLE SPOT, I THINK IS A PRIORITY AND WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE THAT MOVE FORWARD WHILE ENSURING THAT WE'RE BEING RESPONSIBLE TOWARDS THE FUNDING.
SO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I'M ALWAYS HAPPY TO HEAR TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE IN THE CAC OF THIS, UM, MR. CARLOS LEON.
SOY, CARLOS LEON, FIRST AND FOREMOST, GRA FOR LETTING ME UPDATE YOU ON CAT METRO'S STUFF AND MY BACKUP MATERIALS SENT TO YOU BEFORE THIS MEETING.
THE CCRS DOCUMENT, UNACCEPTABLE, UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR AGAINST ME, INITIATED AND ESCALATED BY CAT METRO BUS DRIVERS VIOLATING CAT METRO POLICY AND PROCEDURE AND OR THE TEXAS PENAL CODE SINCE YOUR LAST MEETING.
IN RESPONSE, CUSTOMER RELATIONS REP JOHN TORRES PROMPTLY EMAILS ME BACK, AN APOLOGY AND A PLEDGE TO FORWARD MY COMPLAINT TO THE ROOT SUPERVISOR TO FOLLOW UP, TO FIX FORWARD, WHICH SEEMS TO BE WORKING.
FOR EXAMPLE, AUGUST 23RD, GUILTY ULTRA ABUSIVE BLACK FEMALE DRIVER OPERATOR.
3 2 2 8 8 0 INITIALLY PASSED ME UP WITHOUT REMORSE OR TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, THOUGH I WAS STANDING IN PLAIN VIEW AT THE BUS STOP ON A SUNNY DAY, WAVING MY ARM UP AND DOWN.
THEN AFTER I BOARDED 75 FEET PAST, SHE GAVE ME ATTITUDE FOR HER WRONG BEHAVIOR.
SHE ILLEGALLY RETALIATED IN MY DESTINATION, STOP INITIALLY REFUSING TO OPEN THE FRONT DOOR TO OBSTRUCT MY EXITING,
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AND UNLAWFULLY RESTRAINED ME BY TRYING TO FORCE ME TO LEAVE THROUGH THE REAR DOOR, WHICH SHE JUST TRIED JUSTIFYING BY FALSELY ATTRIBUTING A NON-EXISTENT CAT METRO RULE AND ENFORCING HER OVERLY RESTRICTIVE, MADE UP RULE TO TRY GASLIGHTING ME, TO EMASCULATE ME, TO DENY ME WHAT IS MINE AND EXERT POWER AND CONTROL OVER ME.SO I LOUDLY STOOD MY GROUND UNTIL SHE WEIGHED TOO LATE, OPENED THE FRONT DOOR FOR ME TO GO.
THEN I FILED A COMPLAINT AGAINST HER THE NEXT TIME SHE WAS DRIVING A BUS I RODE.
SHE STOPPED AT THE RIGHT PLACE, OPENED THE DOORS AND LOWERED THE BUS WITHOUT SAYING A WORD.
SO I SILENTLY BOARDED, PAID AND SAT DOWN AT MY DESTINATION.
SHE OPENED THE FRONT AND REAR DOORS FOR EXITING.
THAT'S HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE, NOT JUST FOR ME, BUT FOR ALL PASSENGERS ALL THE TIME.
FOLLOWING THE 14TH AMENDMENT'S EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE.
HOLD WHOEVER YOU HIRED TO MANAGE AND SECURE YOUR LIGHT RAIL TO THE SAME CONSTITUTIONAL STANDARD IN WRITING ZERO TOLERANCE FOR ANYTHING LESS.
YOUR REAL RIDER SUSPENSION POLICY MUST NOT HAVE THE SERIOUS LEGAL PROBLEMS. KAT METRO'S PASSENGER SUSPENSION POLICY STILL HAS THOUGH I'VE BROUGHT THIS TO THE CEO'S ATTENTION AND YOUR ATTENTION.
AND THOUGH IT WAS SCHEDULED TO BE REVIEWED TWO MONTHS AGO, MAKE IT HAPPEN BOARD.
I BELIEVE THAT'S ALL OUR SPEAKERS RIGHT NOW.
[2. Executive Director Report]
NOW TO OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.WELCOME TO OUR SEPTEMBER, UH, BOARD MEETING.
UH, LOTS OF ACTION ITEMS AS WE WORK THROUGH WRAP UP OUR SUMMER OF WORK.
JUST AS A REMINDER, THIS IS OUR PROJECT CONNECT STATUS REPORT.
THIS NOT ONLY PROVIDES AN UPDATE OF OUR LIGHT RAIL PROJECT, BUT THE OTHER EFFORTS THAT ARE GOING ON AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WITH ANTI DISPLACEMENT AS WELL AS THE CAT METRO, UH, NON LIGHT RAIL PROJECTS THAT THEY HAVE UNDERWAY AND, AND, AND COMPLETED SOME OF THOSE AS WELL, AS WELL AS OUR OVERALL EFFORT.
UH, CONTINUED EFFORT ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, AGAIN, WE ARE ALWAYS OUT AND ABOUT TRYING TO, UH, ENGAGE, UM, LISTEN AND LEARN ABOUT WHERE WE ARE.
WE'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY NOW THAT SCHOOL IS BACK.
UM, WE'VE, LAST TIME WE WERE HERE, WE TALKED ABOUT OUR, OUR BACKPACKS, BUT NOW WE, THIS LAST MONTH, WE HAD SOME OPPORTUNITIES TO BE UP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF GREAT, UM, COMMUNICATION AND EFFORTS WITH THEM IN THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS AND PLANNING AND ENGINEERING.
WE GO UP THERE AND, AND, UH, AND WORK AND, AND KIND OF PARTICIPATE IN SOME OF THE CLASSES.
IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR, UM, OUR STUDENTS IN AUSTIN TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL AND OUR IMPROVEMENTS TO TRANSIT.
AND WE'VE HAD GREAT MEETINGS WITH OUR ADVISORY GROUP.
CAC AS VE MENTIONED, WAS HERE, UH, LAST WEEK, UH, TRANSIT FORWARD EVENT, UH, MOVABILITY.
AND THEN I KNOW THIS PAST WEEK, UH, CAMI, THE IMPACT CONFERENCE AND COMMISSIONER BILION HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK AND TELL THE STORY OF A TP AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IN AUSTIN, UH, UP THERE AS WELL.
WE HAVE MORE COMING, I THINK IN THE FALL, UH, OUT AND ABOUT A LOT MORE AS WE CONTINUE TO, UH, ADVANCE OUR PLANNING AND ENGINEERING WORK AND PRE-CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES.
WE'LL BE OUT IN THE COMMUNITY EVEN MORE AND CONTINUE TO REPORT BACK ON THAT.
I TOO HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT MOVABILITY CONFERENCE THAT WAS ORGANIZED ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERSITY.
BUT I LOVE TO SEE SO MANY FRIENDLY FACES FROM A TP ATTENDING THE SESSION.
SO IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THIS CROSS POLLINATION OF, OF IDEAS AS WE TRY TO ALL WORK TOGETHER TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL.
SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE, UH, THROUGH OUR ACTION ITEMS. WE HAVE A PRETTY PACKED AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING.
[3.1 Approval of minutes from the July 15, 2026 and August 19, 2026 meetings of the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors. ]
IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES FOR FROM THE JULY 15TH AND AUGUST 29 BOARD MEETINGS.DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THIS ITEM? SO MOVED.
MOVED BY MEMBER BILION, SECOND BY MEMBER GARZA.
ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION PLEASE.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
THE MEETING MINUTES HAVE BEEN APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
[3.2 Approval of a resolution adopting the Austin Transit Partnership Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget.]
[3.3 Approval of a resolution adopting the Austin Transit Partnership Fiscal Year 2026-27 Investment Policy.]
TWO AND THREE RELATE TO ATP'S FISCAL YEAR 2026 AND 2027.BUDGET, AN INVESTMENT POLICY, AND WE HAVE A PRESENTATION BY STAFF ON THESE ITEMS. WELCOME MR. RIVERA.
GOOD MORNING CHAIR BOARD MEMBERS.
UM, SO I HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDES TO WALK THROUGH.
NOTHING TOO, TOO IN DEPTH, BUT JUST AGAIN, JUST TO REFRAME OF THE
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COMPONENTS OF OUR BUDGET AND THEN ALSO OUR TIMELINE AND HOW WE'VE GOTTEN THROUGH THIS, UM, BUDGET CYCLE THIS YEAR.SO AS, AS MENTIONED ON, UM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CANAL'S RAPPORT AT THE AUSTIN LABOR ADVISORY GROUP EARLIER IN AUGUST, WE MET WITH THE GROUP TO INFORM THEM ABOUT OUR BUDGET.
ALSO HAD A GOOD CONVERSATION WITH THE CAC IN AUGUST AS WELL.
UM, AND WE'RE HERE IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE BUDGET.
THERE ARE TWO, TWO MAIN COMPONENTS, WELL, THREE REALLY.
UM, THERE'S OUR ANNUAL BUDGET WHERE WE RECEIVE OUR OPERATING DOLLARS OF THE PROP A FUNDS.
UM, AND THEN ALL OF THE EXPENDITURES HAPPEN OUT OF THE CAPITAL BUDGET ALONGSIDE THE SPEND PLAN WITH OUR SPEND PLAN FOR FY 27.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME RECOMMENDED CHANGES, WHICH I'LL WALK THROUGH HERE WITH, WITH THE BOARD IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES.
BUT INCLUDED IN OUR FY 27 BUDGET ARE SOME, ARE, ARE THE NEGOTIATED DOLLAR AMOUNTS FOR THE PHASE ONE B.
UM, AUTHORIZATIONS WITH THE BOARD WILL BE CONSIDERING LATER IN THE AGENDA AS SOME OF THE MEMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY MENTIONED.
ALL OF THAT IS REALLY PUSHING FORWARD, UM, THE DESIGN FOR FY 27 AND ALIGNS WITH REALLY ALL OF THE WORK THAT WE'LL BE COMPLETING OVER THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR, RAMPING US UP AND GETTING US READY FOR CONSTRUCTION.
WE ALSO DO HAVE SOME DOLLARS IN OUR FY 27 BUDGET SET ASIDE FOR SOME REIMBURSEMENTS FOR CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAP METRO SUPPORT STAFF.
UM, AND THEN ALSO ONE OF THE BIG THINGS WITH OUR BUDGET THIS YEAR, WE HAVE 64 FTES OR FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS, A TP STAFF MEMBERS THAT WE'RE CARRYING FORWARD INTO THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 BUDGET.
AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THIS IS ONE OF THE STAFF RECOMMENDED CHANGES THAT WE DO HAVE IN THE FY 27 BUDGET.
AS WE MENTIONED IN OUR AUGUST BOARD BRIEFING ALONGSIDE THE BUDGET, WE'RE STILL NEGOTIATING THOSE DOLLAR AMOUNTS FOR THE PHASE ONE B WORK.
AND AS WE'VE DONE IN YEARS PAST, WE'VE ALWAYS INCLUDED A PORTION OF THE DOLLARS FOR THE UPCOMING, UM, CONTRACTS THAT WE WOULD, WE WOULD BE NEGOTIATING AND ALIGNING THE, A BUDGET AMENDMENT OR MOVING THE APPROPRIATIONS FROM OUR OPERATING FUND INTO OUR CAPITAL FUND TO ALIGN WITH THE NEGOTIATED DOLLAR AMOUNTS.
SO THAT'S THE IN AND OUT THAT YOU SEE HERE ON THIS PAGE.
AND REALLY WANTED TO JUST PUT THIS IN, IN FRONT OF THE BOARD AND THE PUBLIC BECAUSE THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS WHAT WILL BE REFLECTED IN THE FINAL BUDGET DOCUMENT THAT IS ULTIMATELY ADOPTED BY THE BOARD.
AND LASTLY, ON THE SPEND PLAN SIDE AND THE LIGHT RAIL CAPITAL, UM, FUND, THIS JUST SHOWS THE DOLLARS COMING INTO THE OPERATING FUND AND ALIGNS THE, THE SPEND PLAN WITH THE NEGOTIATED DOLLAR AMOUNTS AND AS WELL AS THE LIGHT RAIL, LIGHT RAIL, UM, PROGRAM OFFICE EXPENSES, AGAIN, WHICH WILL BE CONSIDERED LATER ON IN THE AGENDA.
AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE ON ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO.
UM, BEFORE WE ENTER DISCUSSION, DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE ACTION ITEMS? NUMBER TWO, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED.
MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER TRIVI, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER GARZA.
ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS FOR MR. RIVERA? HEARING NONE, I'D LIKE TO LIKE CALL FOR A VOTE ON ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO IS APPROVE UNANIMOUSLY.
DO I HAVE A MOTION? AND A SECOND TO APPROVE.
ITEM NUMBER THREE, THE ATP'S INVESTMENT POLICY MOVE MOVED BY MAYOR WATSON.
ANY DISCUSSION ON OUR INVESTMENT POLICY? NO DISCUSSION.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ACTION ITEM NUMBER THREE, APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
[3.4 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to take actions necessary to commence work under Phase 1B of the contract approved in Resolution ATP-2026-009 with Austin Rail Constructors, a joint venture between Stacy and Witbeck Inc. and Sundt Construction, Inc. for design and construction services for the civil works, rail, stations, and system elements of Austin Light Rail, and authorizing funding for the first portion of the Phase 1B Work under that contract in an amount not to exceed $122,000,000.]
[3.5 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to take actions necessary to commence work under Phase 1B of the contract approved in Resolution ATP-2026-012 with Kiewit Austin Partnership, a Joint Venture between Kiewit Building Group, Inc. and Austin Commercial, LP for design and construction services for the operations and maintenance facility elements of Austin Light Rail, and authorizing funding for the first portion of the work under Phase 1B in an amount not to exceed $44,000,000.]
[3.8 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director, or their designee, to negotiate and execute amendments to contracts approved in Resolution No. 2022-ATP-020 with Stateside Right of Way, LLC and LJA Engineering Inc. for real estate acquisition and relocation services to add funding in an amount not to exceed $20,000,000.]
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UH, STAFF PRESENT ITEMS RELATED TO THE APPROVAL OF FINAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT AUTHORIZATIONS TO ADVANCE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL UNDER OUR EXISTING CONTRACTS, WHICH ARE ITEMS FOUR AND FIVE ON OUR AGENDA, ALONG WITH ITEM EIGHT, PROVIDING ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION SERVICES.GOOD MORNING BOARD, LINDSAY WOOD, A TP, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION.
AND BRAD CUMMINGS, A TP, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS.
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JUMP INTO THE SERVICES COVERED BY THIS AUTHORIZATION, WE'RE ASKING OF THE BOARD, I WANT TO NOTE THE APPROACH WE TOOK WHEN FRAMING THESE AUTHORIZATIONS ON WHAT WORK, UM, SHOULD BE DONE NOW VERSUS LATER.UM, AND ALSO HIGHLIGHT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, WHAT'S BEEN ACCOMPLISHED SINCE YOU APPROVED THE, THE PREVIOUS AUTHORIZATION UNDER THESE CONTRACTS.
UH, SO THE APPROACH WE HAVE TAKEN IS TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE PRESERVING PROJECT READINESS AND PROGRESS AS, AS SOME OF OUR SPEAKERS MENTIONED EARLIER THIS MORNING, UH, IN FULFILLING OUR COMMITMENTS TO THE VOTERS AND, AND MEETING THOSE NEXT MILESTONES, NOT ONLY IN THE FEDERAL FUNDING PROCESS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN OUR ELIGIBILITY, UM, FOR THOSE FUNDS, BUT ALSO OUR READINESS TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION AS WE HAVE COMMITTED TO OUR COMMUNITY NEXT YEAR.
UH, AND WHILE MAINTAINING THAT MEDI READINESS, UH, THE SECOND KIND OF FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE, UH, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MANAGING THE EXPENDITURES AND ALIGNING WITH WHERE WE'RE AT IN THAT FEDERAL PROCESS AND ASKING OURSELVES HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IS NEEDED NOW TO PRESERVE READINESS AND WHAT IS NOT NEEDED NOW.
UH, SO I, UH, SHOWING HERE HAVE BROKEN UP THE AUTHORIZATIONS INTO MULTIPLE STEPS.
AND THE FIRST ONE WAS FOR THE PRE EARLY PRE-CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, WHICH OUR BOARD AUTHORIZED WHEN WE AWARDED THE CONTRACTS BACK IN FEBRUARY AND APRIL.
UM, SINCE THEN, WE HAVE BEEN PROGRESSING WITH OUR CONTRACTORS HERE IN THE OFFICE.
IN ACHIEVING OUR NEXT MAJOR DESIGN MILESTONE, WE HAVE BEEN HELPING TO DE-RISK THE PROJECT BY COMPLETING SUBSTANTIAL FIELD INVESTIGATIONS.
UH, I THINK NEARLY A HUNDRED BORINGS, MANY UTILITY TEST HOLES, SURVEYS OF, UM, MANY, MANY TREES AND, AND THE TOPOGRAPHY ALONG THE ALIGNMENT.
AND AGAIN, GETTING OURSELVES COMFORTABLE WITH THE EXISTING CONDITIONS SO THAT CONSTRUCTION MAY BEGIN RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
WE'VE ALSO INITIATED THE PERMITTING PROCESS AND SPENT VERY INTENTIONAL TIME DEFINING THE CRITERIA, SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS HAND IN HAND WITH OUR CONTRACTORS SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT, UH, WHAT IS GOING TO BE BUILT, UH, WHAT IT WILL COST AND HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE.
UH, SO WE ARE NOW, AS WE ARE, ARE REACHING THE COMPLETION OF THAT WORK, READY TO COME BACK WITH THE NEXT PHASE OF SERVICES, WHICH IS TO, AGAIN, ADVANCE DESIGN TO THE NEXT MILESTONE OF, OF AROUND 50 TO 60%.
UH, AND CONTINUE FOCUSING ON THOSE HIGH RISK ITEMS THAT I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MOMENT.
UH, WHILE PRESERVING OUR READINESS IN THE FEDERAL, UH, FUNDING PIPELINE FOR THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM, WE WILL THEN COME BACK TO OUR BOARD AT THE END OF THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR TO ASK FOR THE REMAINDER TO FINISH ALL OF THE REMAINING DESIGN AND, AND PERMITTING.
AND WE'LL ALSO COME BACK FOR ANY CONSTRUCTION WORK PACKAGES, INCLUDING WHAT WE ANTICIPATE NEXT YEAR FOR EARLY WORKS.
SO THOSE PRIORITIES I MENTIONED DRIVING DESIGN AND, AND WHAT TO DO NOW VERSUS WHAT TO DO LATER.
I WON'T READ THROUGH ALL OF THESE FOR YOU, BUT, UM, HIGHLIGHTING A FEW OF MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE PRESERVING THE PROJECT FOOTPRINT THAT WE WILL NEED, MEANING DOING ENOUGH DESIGN TO ADVANCE THE REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION, UH, PROCESS.
ALSO BEING READY FOR THOSE EARLY WORKS, MEANING THOSE FIRST PROJECTS THAT HELP ENABLE THE BIG HEAVY CONSTRUCTION.
UM, WE NEED TO MOVE DESIGN FORWARD TO HAVE ISSUE FOR CONSTRUCTION SET OF PLANS FOR THOSE EARLY PROJECTS, UM, AND THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY, WHICH IS KIND OF THE LINCHPIN IN THE PROJECT AND HAS SO MANY INTERFACES WITH THE LIGHT RAIL CONTRACT AND THE VEHICLES, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ADVANCING THE DESIGN OF THAT SO THAT ALL THREE CONTRACTS ALWAYS SEAMLESSLY FIT TOGETHER.
AND LAST, THE, THE LADY BIRD LAKE BRIDGE, WHICH IS A VERY COMPLEX DESIGN ELEMENT AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING AHEAD OF THAT AS WE SHOULD.
UH, SO THE, WHAT THE RESULT FROM ALL OF THAT IS THAT WE'LL BRING DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE DESIGN TO, TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPLETION AND PROGRESSION, WHILE ALWAYS MANAGING WHAT IS NEEDED IN THE FEDERAL PROCESS.
UM, SO YOU SEE HERE, WE, YOU KNOW, MIGHT MOVE THINGS LIKE, UM, THE TRACK AND THE ROADWAY THAT REALLY DEFINE WHAT THE RIGHT OF WAY FOOTPRINT AND, AND UTILITIES AS WELL A LITTLE BIT FURTHER THAN SAY SOME OF THE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS OF THE PROJECT.
UM, THAT CAN BE DEFINED IN LATER STAGES AND CAN BE, UM, DEFERRED TO OUR NEXT FISCAL YEAR AUTHORIZATION IN 2028.
UH, AND IN ADDITION TO DESIGN, WE WILL CONTINUE ALL OF THE OTHER, UH, PRE-CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES OF COMPLETING OUR FIELD INVESTIGATIONS, UH, MARCHING THROUGH OUR PERMITTING PROCESSES AND ALWAYS HAVING
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OUR CONTRACTOR INPUT AT THE TABLE, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, UM, FINDING THOSE INNOVATIONS THAT, THAT SAVE TIME AND MONEY AND, AND ULTIMATELY HELP US GET TO THE AIRPORT AS, AS WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING.AND WITH THAT, BRAD, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE STATUS? YEAH, HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE'VE TAKEN THE APPROACH.
THE BOARD IS RECOMMENDED TO BE REALLY FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE IN HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE PROJECT AND NEGOTIATED AN AMOUNT THAT WE BELIEVE IS FAIR AND REASONABLE FOR THE WORK THAT LINDSAY JUST DESCRIBED OVER THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
SO WE'RE ASKING THE BOARD TO AUTHORIZE, UM, AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $122 MILLION FOR THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM STATION'S, UM, CIVIL WORK CONTRACT WITH THE AUSTIN RAIL, UM, CONSTRUCTOR TEAM, AND THEN $44 MILLION FOR THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY, UM, WHICH IS WITH THE KIEWIT AUSTIN PARTNERSHIP TEAM.
UM, WE REALLY SET OUT TO NEGOTIATE THE, THE MOST FAIR RATE AND STARTED ASKING FOR A LOT WITH THEM, PROPOSING WHAT THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD GET DONE IN THE FISCAL YEAR AND THEN MARRIED THAT TO WHAT COULD ACTUALLY BE ACCOMPLISHED AND WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO ALL THE PRIORITIES THAT LINDSAY MENTIONED TODAY.
AND ARE REALLY HAPPY TO PRESENT THIS NUMBER TO THE BOARD TODAY.
AND LINDSAY AND I ARE HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING THESE, THESE AMOUNT, THESE AMOUNTS.
TEAM CHAIR? YES, I'VE, WE GOTTEN TO THE QUESTION PORTION YET? WELL, THAT WOULD BE PART OF MY DISCUSSION.
SO LET'S CALL FIRST FOR APPROVAL TO MOVE FORWARD.
UM, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO MOVE ACTION ITEMS? FOUR, FIVE, AND EIGHT.
MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER HORN SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER GARZA.
UM, YOU, YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING BRAD, OR JUST, I, I FORGOT ONE MORE ASK FROM THE BOARD THAT WE WANTED TO INCLUDE IN WITH THIS.
UM, THAT'S ITEM NUMBER EIGHT FOR REAL ESTATE SERVICES.
UM, PREVIOUSLY THE BOARD AWARDED A CONTRACT, TWO CONTRACTS, ONE TO LJA AND ONE TO STATESIDE RIGHT OF WAY, UM, FOR, UH, REAL ESTATE SERVICES, WHICH INCLUDES PROJECT ADMINISTRATION, APPRAISAL SERVICES, SURVEY SERVICES, AND A WIDE VARIETY OF OTHER ADDITIONAL REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION, UM, RELATED SERVICES.
UH, WE HAVEN'T USED THEM VERY OFTEN.
WE ORIGINALLY AWARDED THOSE CONTRACTS EARLY ON IN ATP'S EXISTENCE, BUT SINCE THE BOARD APPROVED THE ACQUISITION PROCESS OVER THE SUMMER FOR THE THE FIRST TRANCHE OF PROPERTIES, WE NEED TO, UM, RAMP UP THEIR WORK AS WELL.
SO WE'RE ASKING THE BOARD TO AUTHORIZE AN ADDITIONAL $20 MILLION FOR THOSE TWO CONTRACTS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO, UM, START THE ACQUISITION PROCESS AS, AS AUTHORIZED PREVIOUSLY.
WE JUST HAVE TO SHARE THE COFFEE WITH YOU.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, UM, LOOKING AT PAGE 16, UH, I JUST WANT TO, UH, COMMEND THE TEAM.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN TALKING FOR A GOOD PERIOD OF TIME ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFYING WHERE WE ARE, UH, LOOKING AT EVERY PHASE, UH, LAYING OUT DELIVERABLES SO THAT, UH, LAYING OUT WHAT THE DELIVERABLES WILL BE SO THAT WE CAN REPORT BACK TO THE COMMUNITY WHEN THOSE THINGS HAVE BEEN DELIVERED.
I, I THINK, UH, IT IS, IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO GIVE, UH, REALLY ACCURATE STATUS ACCOUNTS ALL ALONG THE WAY.
UH, BE BECAUSE, WELL, IN, IN THIS TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, UH, WE DELIVERED WHAT WE SAID WE WERE GONNA DELIVER AND, AND WHEN WE SAID WE WERE GONNA DELIVER IT, UM, JUST PLEASED WITH, WITH YOU ALL FOLLOWING UP ON THE DISCUSSIONS THAT WE, UH, THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, PUTTING A CROSSWALK TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN GO PHASE BY PHASE, DELIVERABLE BY DELIVERABLE AND SEE WHERE WE ARE ON A CONTINUING BASIS.
I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE'LL DO.
SO JUST WANT TO COMMEND YOU FOR YOUR WORK.
UM, YOU'VE ALREADY SAID THIS, BUT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE SOMETHING AND, AND THAT IS, THE BOARD HAS ADOPTED A PROTOCOL, WHICH YOU HAVE GENERALLY ADDRESSED IN YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY, BUT I WANT FOR CLARITY PURPOSES, I WANT US TO JUST TO CALL IT OUT AGAIN.
AND, AND THAT PROTOCOL HAS KIND OF TWO PARTS TO IT.
UH, THE FIRST IS, AS YOU HAVE PHRASED IT ACCURATELY, I THINK IS TO PRESERVE READINESS.
AND, AND THAT IS TO PRESERVE THE READINESS, UH, THAT WE, WE WERE WORKING WITH THE FDA, UH, WE, WE HAVE, WE HAVE A VOTE FROM THE PEOPLE SAYING THAT THEY WANT A, A LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM.
UH, WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO ASSURE THAT THAT LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM AS THE VOTERS HAVE MANDATED, GOES FORWARD.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE TO DO IS WE
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HAVE TO ACT IN A WAY WHERE EVEN WHEN THERE ARE TAX DOLLARS AT RISK, WE PRESERVE THE READINESS AND KEEP THINGS MOVING FORWARD IN A WAY WHERE WE DON'T PUT THE TAXPAYERS AT AN UNDUE RISK THAT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO RECEIVE THE FEDERAL MONEY.DO YOU AGREE THAT THAT'S THE, THE, THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO APPROACH THIS? ABSOLUTELY.
THE, THE SECOND PRONG OF THAT, UH, WHAT I WOULD CALL A STEWARDSHIP PROTOCOL IS THAT WE DON'T CREATE WHAT I JUST SUGGESTED, WHICH IS AN UNDUE TAXPAYER RISK WHEN WE HAVE, UM, AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN THE PAST, AND LET'S JUST BE CANDID, WE HAVE, UH, FTA MONEY THAT WE'RE HAVING TO RELY UPON, BUT YET WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED THAT MONEY.
UM, OR, OR A SPECIFIC TYPE OF COMMITMENT.
UH, THERE'S A LAWSUIT THAT'S BEEN FILED THAT HAS BEEN DELAYED BECAUSE OF, UH, ISSUES IN, IN THE COURTS.
SO AS PART OF WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING HERE AND THAT WE'RE GETTING READY TO VOTE ON, WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS YOU HAVEN'T OVEREMPHASIZED THE READINESS PART OF IT, BUT WHAT YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DO IS HIT THE RIGHT BALANCE OF PRESERVING READINESS ALONG WITH MAKING SURE WE DON'T PUT THE TAXPAYERS AT AN UNDUE RISK WITH, UH, STRANDED COSTS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT? YES.
AND I'LL USE THIS AS MY BACKGROUND.
WE'RE, WE'RE CONSIDERING WHAT IS TRULY NEEDED RIGHT NOW, BOTH FROM A DESIGN STANDPOINT AND A FEDERAL PROCESS STANDPOINT.
UM, MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY FOR THOSE FUTURE FEDERAL FUNDS HAS A, UH, PRESCRIPTIVE AND, AND LONG
SO WE, WE START WITH THAT AND SAY, ALL RIGHT, WELL, WE WILL DO ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO DO TO BE READY FOR FEDERAL DOLLARS.
AND THEN WE ADD IN THE LENS OF, UM, WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING FOR WHAT'S RIGHT FOR THE PROJECT? AND MAKING SURE WE'RE NOT PUTTING OURSELVES AT RISK AND, AND RUSHING INTO CONSTRUCTION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING ALL OF THE PROJECT RISKS.
AND THEN WE PUT THE THIRD LIST OF, UH, WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS THAT MAYBE IF WE WEREN'T MANAGING THE, THE, UH, KIND OF FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP AND, AND PROTOCOL THAT YOU'VE NOTED, WOULD WE MAYBE NICE TO HAVES AND DO RIGHT NOW AND DO IT ALL AT ONCE, BUT NOT REALLY NEED TO HAVES? AND SO THOSE THINGS ARE WHERE YOU KIND OF SEE THE UPS AND DOWNS IN THIS BAR GRAPH AND THE DOWNS BEING ONES THAT, UM, ARE IMPORTANT TO THE PROJECT, BUT ARE NOT CRITICAL IN THOSE OTHER CRITERIA OF NEEDING TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT EXPLANATION BECAUSE THAT IS, I, I BELIEVE THE BOARD HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR THAT IT WANTS THIS PROTOCOL FOLLOWED.
NOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS, UM, I GUESS WHAT WE WOULD CALL IT THE, THE MULTIMILLION DOLLAR ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS THAT EVEN IF YOU FOLLOW THIS, THIS PROTOCOL, THIS, UH, STEWARDSHIP PROTOCOL AS WE'VE REFERRED TO IT, UM, WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW DO WE PRESERVE READINESS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME NOT CREATE AN UNDUE RISK ON THE PART OF THE TAXPAYERS, IT STILL COSTS A TON OF MONEY.
AND, UM, I'D LIKE FOR YOU, THERE'S JUST, THERE'S NO WAY AROUND THAT, UH, IF YOU'RE GOING TO PRESERVE READINESS, I GUESS, LET ME ASK THAT AS A QUESTION TO YOU.
HAVE YOU BROUGHT TO US AS SCRUBBED A PROGRAM AS YOU CAN BRING TO US SO THAT WHEN WE, UH, VOTE FOR SOMETHING THAT HAS SUCH A, A HIGH COST TO IT, THAT WE'RE DOING IT IN SUCH A WAY WHERE AS OF TODAY WHEN WE VOTE, WE ARE BEING, WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD TO BE THE STEWARDS WHERE WE, WE REACH, WE ATTEMPT TO REACH THE PROMISE THAT HAS BEEN MADE TO THE TAXPAYERS.
AND THAT PROMISE IS THAT WE'RE YOU VOTED FOR A RAIL SYSTEM, WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE YOU A RAIL SYSTEM, BUT WE'VE ALSO MADE A PROMISE THAT YOU CAN TRUST US, THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IT IN AS, UH, EFFICIENT A WAY AS POSSIBLE, EVEN THOUGH THE PRICE TAG, UH, IS, IS, IS, IS BIG.
AND MAYBE WE CAN KIND OF TAG TEAM HERE FROM A NEGOTIATION STANDPOINT.
UM, I'LL SAY WE HAD SOME VERY CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR CONTRACTORS IN THAT VERY SPIRIT OF, UM, NOT ONLY WHAT IS ONLY NEEDED RIGHT NOW AND ONLY DOING WHAT IS NEEDED RIGHT NOW, BUT ALSO WHAT'S THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO DELIVER AND COMBINE OUR RESOURCES AND UNDERSTAND OUR RESPECTIVE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES TO AVOID REDUNDANCIES AND, YOU KNOW, LEVERAGE OUR CO-LOCATION AND, AND GET DOWN TO ONLY THE CORE TEAM THAT WE REALLY NEED TO BE DELIVERING AND NO MORE, NO LESS, AND HAVE PEOPLE WEARING LOTS OF DIFFERENT HATS AND, UM, PERFORMING
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MANY DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS VERSUS HAVING, YOU KNOW, ONE PERSON DO THIS AND ONE PERSON DO THAT, AND YOU START TO STACK UP A WHOLE LOT OF LAYERS ACROSS THE PROJECT.AND, UM, THERE WERE MANY WEEKS OF, OF TENSE CONVERSATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE GETTING THAT AS AS TIGHT AS WE CAN POSSIBLY GET IT.
AND, UM, BRAD, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA ADD ANY MORE TO THAT.
UM, LIKE LINDSAY SAID, THERE WERE A LOT OF REALLY GOOD, TOUGH CONVERSATIONS TO BE HAD.
UM, I'M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE PROCESS THAT WE WENT THROUGH IN SELECTING THE PARTNERS THAT WE DID BECAUSE THROUGH THESE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS, WE WORKED REALLY EFFECTIVELY TOGETHER TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION THAT MET THE REQUIREMENTS THAT YOU JUST OUTLINED FOR US MAYOR OF BEING AS FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE AS POSSIBLE WHILE STILL MOVING THE PROJECT FORWARD TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE, THE FEDERAL PROCESS, UM, HELPING, UM, THEM AND US UNDERSTAND THAT REALLY LED TO REALLY GREAT DIALOGUE AND DISCUSSIONS.
UM, AND WE, WE, WE HAD GREAT ONES.
THEY WERE DIFFICULT AND HARD, BUT OVERALL, WE'RE REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF WHERE WE ENDED UP AT COMING TO THE BOARD TODAY WITH, WITH KIND OF THAT RIGHT GOLDILOCKS NUMBERS, UH, AS WELL AS WE COULD.
AND I'LL, I'LL JUST SAY TWO THINGS IN, IN CLOSING, MADAM CHAIR.
ONE IS TO THOSE THAT ARE GOING TO BE TALKING TO OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF A TP GOING FORWARD WITH REGARD TO CONTRACTS, I THINK I CAN SPEAK FOR ALL OF US.
I'LL LET THE BOARD, UH, JUMP IN AND SAY NO, IF THEY DISAGREE WITH ME.
BUT THIS BOARD REALLY IS TRYING TO, UH, IS, IS IN FACT FOLLOWING A STEWARDSHIP PROTOCOL.
AND IF OUR PROFESSIONAL STAFF IS DOING WHAT I THINK THEY'RE DOING, WHAT THEY APPEAR TO BE DOING, WHICH IS TO FOLLOW THE GUIDANCE OF THIS BOARD, THEN THOSE THAT ARE CONTRACTING WITH US NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS THE WAY WE WANT TO SEE IT HAPPEN.
AND IF IT COMES BACK TO US AND THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT'S HAPPENING, IT WON'T HAPPEN.
THE OTHER THING I'LL SAY IS THAT THE PUBLIC WAS AWARE AT THE TIME IT VOTED THAT IT WAS AN EXPENSIVE PROPOSITION.
WE HAVE ALSO DONE THINGS THAT, UH, RESULTED, HAVE RESULTED IN CONTROVERSY RELATED TO THE COST.
UM, AND, AND, AND BY THAT I MEAN, UM, MAKING IT FIT THE FIXED COST.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S A KEY PART OF THIS.
IT WAS TO FIT A FIXED COST AND WE'VE DONE THAT.
IT IS GOING TO BE EXPENSIVE AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR US, UH, TO LOOK AT JUST THE COST AND THEN SAY, WELL, I JUST THINK THAT'S TOO MUCH.
I, BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO BE AN EXPENSIVE PROJECT, IT IS GOING TO BE UPON US TO DO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE.
AND THAT IS TO FOLLOW A, A PROTOCOL WHERE WE PRESERVE OUR READINESS, BUT WE DON'T PUT THE TAXPAYERS AT AN UNDUE RISK.
AND I FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT THAT'S WHERE WE ARE ON THIS, BUT I WANTED TO, I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT IT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT IT TO BE JUST A QUICK VOTE ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
UH, IF NOTHING ELSE, THE SHEER SIZE OF THE PRICE TAG REQUIRES US TO PAY ATTENTION TO THAT.
UM, I DO HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION IN LINE WITH WHAT MAYOR WATSON SAID WITH THE STEWARDSHIP OF FINDING OUT AND DE-RISKING THE PROJECT, OUR 50 TO 60% MILESTONE OF WHERE WE'RE GOING TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS FUNDING, I CAN SEE THAT A LOT OF IT IS THE UNKNOWNS THAT ARE UNDERGROUND, RIGHT? THE, THE INVISIBLE STUFF, THE EX HAVING X-RAY VISION OF WHAT'S UNDERNEATH OUR STREETS.
SO HOW DOES THIS PREPARE US FOR MORE CLARITY AND, AND MORE, UM, PREPARE US FOR OUR RISK ANALYSIS WITH THE FDA? SO FOR OUR ROUGHLY 10 MILES OF LIGHT RAIL, WE HAVE AROUND 90 MILES OF UTILITIES, UM, MOST OF WHICH ARE UNDERGROUND
THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT THERE AND QUITE A BIT OF COMPLEXITY NOT ONLY IN LOCATING THOSE UTILITIES, BUT THEN DESIGNING THE RELOCATION OF RELOCATION OF THOSE THAT HAVE TO BE MOVED, UM, IN ORDER TO MAKE WAY FOR THE TRACK, UM, IN THE CENTER OF THE STREET, AND WHERE YOU CAN'T HAVE THOSE UTILITIES CONFLICTING WITH THAT.
SO TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ADEQUATELY ADDRESSING THAT RISK, UH, WE ARE CREATING 3D MODELS OF ALL OF THE UTILITIES WE ARE, ARE DOING POTHOLES AND TEST HOLES AND MULTIPLE LEVELS OF SUBSURFACE UTILITY, UM, ENGINEERING ALONG THE ENTIRE CORRIDOR, AND BRINGING THAT ALL IN FOR A CONFLICT DETECTION.
UH, AND THEN THAT BECOMES PART OF ACTUALLY OUR FEDERAL RISK READINESS APPROACH AND, AND THE REVIEW.
AND, UM, IN FACT, WE WILL HAVE OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS HERE LATER THIS WEEK, AND
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WE'LL BE PREVIEWING SOME OF THE IN PROGRESS WORK, UM, WITH THEM TO SHOW THEM THAT THAT MODELS OF, OF CLASH DETECTION ALONG THE CORRIDOR.AND WE WILL BE ADVANCING THAT WORK, UH, TO THE NECESSARY DEGREE AND A LITTLE BIT HIGHER DEGREE, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE MANAGING SUCH A HIGH RISK.
YOU KNOW, THE, THE TOP TECHNICAL RISKS TEND TO BE UTILITIES, REAL ESTATE AND THIRD PARTY AGREEMENTS, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING ALL THREE OF THOSE ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR READINESS.
ANY QUESTION? MEMBER HORN? THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, JUST WONDERING, UM, LINDSEY, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU'RE, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS, OR MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW IF I MISUNDERSTOOD, BUT MAYBE SOME OF THE, THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE UNCOVERED OR JUST SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF ANY, I GUESS, UM, RISK MITIGATION, UM, TO DATE.
I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THERE'S ANYTHING SPECIFICALLY YOU WANTED TO SHARE RIGHT NOW.
AND, AND ALSO CAN YOU, CAN YOU REMIND ME ON THE SCHEDULE WHEN THE, IT'S, UH, YOU ANTICIPATE TO HAVE THE, UM, FTA RISK WORKSHOP? UH, SO WE'RE PLANNING FOR THE RISK WORKSHOP IN, IN THE SPRING.
WE ARE, ARE MARCHING TOWARD OUR SUBMITTAL OF ALL OF THE ELEMENTS NECESSARY TO BE READY FOR THAT EARLY IN, IN THE NEW YEAR OF EARLY 2027.
UH, AND THEN THIS AUTHORIZATION FOR THE FY 27 ACTIVITIES IS CONTINUING THAT WORK ACTUALLY EVEN BEYOND THAT RISK WORKSHOP TO BE READY FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT MILESTONE.
SO ONCE IN ENGINEERING, THERE'S A WHOLE NEW CHECKLIST OF, UM, I THINK IT'S OP 52, ALL OF THE, THE NEXT TRANCHE OF REQUIREMENTS.
AND, AND THIS WILL HELP US ADVANCE TOWARD MEETING ALL OF THOSE REQUIREMENTS, UM, FROM A RISK MITIGATION STANDPOINT OF MAYBE SOME EARLY THINGS, UM, TO HIGHLIGHT OF, OF FINDINGS.
UM, I'D SAY ON THE UTILITY SIDE, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE I THINK, SOME REALLY GOOD PROGRESS AND SOIL CONDITIONS, KIND OF KNOWING BOTH OF THOSE TOGETHER IN WORKING WITH OUR CITY PARTNERS TO FIND THE RIGHT, UM, SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH THE MINIMUM SEPARATION DISTANCES BETWEEN THINGS LIKE WATER AND WASTEWATER.
AND USING THE SPECIFIC DETAILS OF THIS PROJECT TO DEFINE WHAT'LL BE NEEDED THERE VERSUS JUST A, YOU KNOW, KIND OF STANDARD RULE OF OF THUMB.
AND THAT HAS SAVED QUITE A BIT OF SPACE AND, AND MONEY BECAUSE WE'RE ABLE TO RIGHT SIZE EACH ONE AND COME UP WITH, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE GONNA USE FLOWABLE FILL TO, UM, STABILIZE THE WATER LINES IN ORDER TO GET THAT SEPARATION DISTANCE, UM, TAILORED TO WHAT IS REALLY NEEDED FOR THE UNIQUE CONDITIONS HERE.
AND, AND IT SAVES A GREAT DEAL OF COST BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT WE'RE NOT APPLYING SOME GENERAL RULE OF THUMB EVERYWHERE ON THE CORRIDOR, WHICH WIDENS OUT THE SPACE THAT WE NEED, UM, AND MAKES IT HARDER TO LOCATE TREES AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF HAVING THOSE SPECIFIC UNDERGROUND, UM, EXISTING CONDITIONS LED TO VERY SPECIFIC CRITERIA AND DESIGN THAT WE CAN OPTIMIZE THE PROJECT.
AND IS THAT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT YOU'RE DOING, UM, ON THIS PROJECT THAN YOU MIGHT SEE ON OTHER SIMILAR PROJECTS? I THINK MOST PROJECTS HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, EARLY FIELD INVESTIGATIONS.
I THINK WHAT MAKES THIS ONE DIFFERENT IS THAT WE HAVE OUR CONTRACTOR ON BOARD TO INFORM WHAT THAT FIELD INVESTIGATION PROGRAM IS.
NORMALLY IN LIKE A DESIGN BID BUILD WORLD, YOUR ENGINEERS GUESS HOW MANY POTHOLES YOU NEED AND HOW MANY BORINGS YOU NEED, AND INEVITABLY YOUR CONTRACTOR COMES IN AND TELLS YOU YOU DIDN'T DO NEAR ENOUGH AND PRICE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH NOT KNOWING EVERYTHING THEY WANNA KNOW INTO THAT.
SO HERE WE HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF OUR CONTRACTOR TELLING US, HERE'S WHAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO ULTIMATELY BUILD AND PRICE THE PROJECT MORE CONFIDENTLY.
YEAH, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF ALIGNMENT IS HAPPENING ALREADY AND, AND, UM, AND I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW WE'RE DOCUMENTING, DOCUMENTING IT.
AND LET ME UH, TELL YOU WHAT I MEAN BY THAT.
WHEN I FIRST MOVED OVER, UH, TO AUSTIN ENERGY AT THE CITY, UH, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATED TO, UH, UTILITIES THAT WERE UNDERGROUND, UH, DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF CURRENT MAPS BACK THEN, THAT WAS THE EARLY, THE LATE NINE, UH, LATE NINETIES, EARLY TWO THOUSANDS.
AND WHAT WE TRIED TO DO ALONG THE WAY WAS, UH, IDENTIFY WHERE EVERYTHING WAS, WHETHER IT WAS, UH, AE RELATED WATER, UTILITY
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RELATED, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS RELATED.HOW ARE WE DOCUMENTING WHAT IT IS WE LEARN SO THAT IN THE FUTURE WE CAN HAVE IT ON A GPS MAP OR, OR, UH, THERE IS SOME SYSTEM OF ACQUIRING AND MANAGING THAT DATA AND MAKE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE WORKING EFFECT EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.
HOW, HOW ARE WE DOING THAT IN THIS CONTEXT TEXT? SO STRICTLY FROM A UTILITY STANDPOINT, IT, IT DOES GO ALL INTO THAT 3D MODEL, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE REGULARLY COORDINATE WITH OUR CITY PARTNERS AS WELL, SO THAT THAT UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE, UM, YOU KNOW, CAN BE APPLIED FOR VARIOUS PUBLIC PURPOSES.
AND, UM, KNOWING WHERE THINGS ARE TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD, THAT THERE ARE OTHER BENEFITS DOWN THE ROAD THAT OCCUR, UH, FROM THIS TYPE OF WORK.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE, UH, THAT WE DOCUMENT THOSE THINGS FOR THE PUBLIC SO THAT, UH, WE KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT'S UNDERGROUND AS WE GO FORWARD.
WE ARE GONNA HAVE A GREAT 10 MILE MAP OF, OF UTILITIES
MY GRANDSON LOVES THE MAPS, SO, SO THIS IS GOOD TO KNOW.
WELL, AND PART OF THAT X-RAY EXERCISE, TO YOUR POINT MEMBER PAVILION IS THAT THE WAY WE DOCUMENT THAT IN TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IS DIFFERENT THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AGO WHEN WE WERE STILL USING CLAY PIPES IN MANY LOCATIONS, BUT ALSO WE'RE CROSSING, IT'S NOT LOST ON US THAT WE'RE CROSSING THE OLDEST CORRIDORS IN OUR CITY THAT ARE REALLY COMPLEX AND HAVE A LOT OF LAYERS.
SO I, THAT'S TO ME VERY IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT, THAT THE COMPLEXITY OF THE UTILITIES THROUGH THIS CORE IS REALLY DIFFICULT TO DISCERN.
SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR THAT WORK.
IF THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, DISCUSSION WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO NOW CALL FOR A VOTE TO APPROVE THESE ITEMS. EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
FOR ITEMS FOUR, FIVE, AND EIGHT, AYE.
DID WE CAPTURE YOUR VOTE? YES, I'M AYE.
UM, ITEMS FOUR, FIVE, AND A PASS UNANIMOUSLY BY THE BOARD.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HEAVY LIFT.
[3.6 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to negotiate and execute an interlocal agreement with Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority for Austin Light Rail staffing support for an initial term of two years with up to two, one-year renewal terms, in a total amount not to exceed $1,018,906 for the initial term. ]
[3.7 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to execute an amendment to the interlocal cooperation agreement with Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority related to MetroRapid Projects and approved in Resolution No. ATP-2022-009 to extend the term of the such agreement through March 31, 2027.]
ITEM SIX AND SEVEN RELATE TO AGREEMENTS WITH OUR PARTNER CAP METRO.ITEM SIX IS AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR DESIGN SUPPORT SERVICES BY CAP METRO AND ITEM SEVEN IS AN AMENDMENT TO AN EXISTING INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH CAP METRO.
CONCERNING METRO RAPID PROJECTS TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THAT AGREEMENT THROUGH MARCH 31ST, 2027.
IF THERE'S NO DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEMS, I'D LIKE TO HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE ACTION ITEMS SIX AND SEVEN, MOVED BY MAYOR WATSON SECOND.
ANY DISCUSSION OR ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE, UM, EVERYONE IN FAVOR PLEASE SAY AYE.
SO ITEMS SIX AND SEVEN ARE APPROVED.
[3.9 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to negotiate and execute an amendment to the contract approved in Resolution ATP-2024-017 with International Business Machines Corporation for an enterprise resource planning system and implementation services to add funding in an amount not to exceed $850,000.]
NUMBER NINE, IS THE APPROVAL TO THE CONTRACT AMENDMENT THAT SUPPORTS WORK MOVING INTO THE NEXT YEAR BY FUNDING ATP'S, IT, IT SYSTEMS NEEDS.IF THERE'S NO DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEMS, I'D LIKE TO HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE ACTION ITEM NUMBER NINE.
SO MOVE MOVED BY BOARD MEMBER BILION, SECOND BY MEMBER GARZA.
ANY QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ACTION ITEM NUMBER NINE, IT'S APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
[3.10 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to negotiate and execute an agreement extending the current Austin Transit Partnership lease of approximately 32,000 square feet of administrative office space located at 203 Colorado Street, Austin, Texas 78701 with CR IV Industrial, LP for an additional two-month term ending February 28, 2027, for an amount not to exceed $400,000]
[3.11 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with WC 3rd and Congress, LP for administrative office space at 201 Colorado Street and 203 Colorado Street, Austin, Texas for a total of approximately 54,000 square feet, for a term of 48 months, in an amount not to exceed $13,500,000, including all associated costs and fees]
[3.12 Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director or their designee to negotiate and execute an agreement with CBRE, Inc. to provide certain owner representative services, including finish-out, improvements, and equipping of lease space at 201 Colorado Street and 203 Colorado Street, Austin, Texas in an amount not to exceed $6,000,000]
ON THE AGENDA ARE ITEMS 10, 11, AND 12.AND ALL RELATE TO ATP'S PROGRAM OFFICE HEARING.
UM, I LIKE TO CONSIDER THESE THREE ITEMS SEPARATELY, BUT IF THERE'S ANY DISCUSSION THAT YOU'D LIKE ME TO SEPARATE THIS ITEMS FOR SEPARATE VOTES, I'D LIKE TO HEAR IT NOW.
SO HOW I CALL FOR A VOTE IF YOU WANT ME TO COUPLE OR KEEP THEM BUNDLED OR SEPARATE THEM? I, I'M CLEAR YOU'RE SAYING YOU'RE GONNA BUNDLE THEM FOR ONE VOTE? YES.
RIGHT NOW I HAVE A SCRIPT FOR ONE VOTE, BUT I CAN ALSO, IT'S FINE, I JUST, I JUST DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE WAY YOU HAD SAID IT A MINUTE AGO, SO.
YEAH, OR I CAN, I CAN SEPARATE THEM TO BE THREE SEPARATE VOTES BECAUSE WE'RE ALL REAL ESTATE, BUT I LIKE TO HEAR FROM THE BOARD.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KEEP 'EM TOGETHER? IT'S FINE.
UM, SO HEARING NO OBJECTION, I'D LIKE TO TAKE UP ITEMS
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10, 11, AND 12 AND PLEASE CASEY AND, UM, ALEX PROVIDE THIS PRESENTATION ON THESE ITEMS. WELCOME, HAPPY TO HI, BOARD, BOARD, CHAIR AND BOARD MEMBERS.THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.
UM, WE'RE EXCITED TO BRING FORTH TO THE BOARD ARE, UM, THREE ACTION ITEMS AS THE CHAIR WAS MENTIONING, UH, RELATED TO OUR PROGRAM OFFICE.
UM, WE THINK THAT THIS ACHIEVES THE, UM, OBJECTIVES, THE STEWARDSHIP OBJECTIVES OF THIS BOARD AND THE DESIRE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, UM, DO YOU KNOW, BEST PRACTICES AROUND THE PROJECT IMPLEMENT, HAVE A SUCCESSFUL NEXT PHASE OF THE PROJECT AND HAVE A COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR OUR PROGRAM OFFICE.
SO WE HAVE THREE ACTION ITEMS, WHICH WE'LL JUST TAKE UP SOME QUESTIONS.
UH, IF THERE ARE ANY, WE HAVE A ANOTHER SLIDE TO EXPLAIN THAT TO THE EXTENT THERE ARE QUESTIONS.
BUT THESE THREE ITEMS RELATE TO, UM, BECAUSE OF THE OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE, STAYING HERE, EXTENDING THIS LEASE, UH, TWO MORE MONTHS, UM, FOR THE BEGINNING OF NEXT YEAR.
AND THEN IN MARCH WE WOULD HAVE, UH, WE WOULD NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A LEASE FOR FOUR YEARS TO STAY BOTH IN THIS SPACE, 2 0 3 COLORADO, WHERE WE BUILT OUT A LOT OF FACILITIES AND, UM, EXPAND INTO THE NEIGHBORING SPACE AT 2 0 1 COLORADO STREET, UM, WHERE WE WOULD HAVE TO DO SOME, UM, BUILD OUT SERVICES.
SO THAT IS ACTION ITEM 12 RELATED TO OUR CONTRACT WITH CBRE, WHICH THEY, THEY WOULD REPRESENT US BUT ALSO CARRY OUT THE BUILD OUT OF THAT WORK.
SO THAT'S THE TOTAL COST OF THAT, UM, BUILD OUT OF THE SPACE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND FROM.
WE HAVE, WE'RE STUFFED IN HERE WITH 200 PEOPLE RIGHT NOW.
WE'VE GOT CLOSE TO 300 AND 280 I BELIEVE.
AND ALEX CAN ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS TO IN THE EXPANDED SPACE.
SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO BRING THESE ACTION ITEMS 'CAUSE I THINK WE'VE ACHIEVED A BIT OF A GOLDILOCKS HERE, SO IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE.
UM, BACK IN APRIL WHEN THE DISCUSSION BECAME, THE DISCUSSION REGARDING REAL ESTATE BECAME VERY PUBLIC, ONE OF THE ISSUES AT THAT TIME WAS THAT ATPS, THE, THE POSITION OF THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF WAS WE HAD TO MOVE OUT.
WHAT'S CHANGED, UM, THE, THE, THE CHANGE THAT HAPPENED AGAIN, SORRY, ALEX GALE, SVP OF REAL ESTATE AND FACILITIES.
UM, THE, WHAT CHANGED FROM APRIL TO TODAY IS, UH, THIS OPPORTUNITY DID NOT EXIST AT THAT TIME.
SO ONCE THAT, THAT, YEAH, THE OPTION TO STAY HERE DIDN'T EXIST.
AND SO ONCE THAT DISCUSSION HAPPENED IN APRIL, IT WAS REALLY IN MAY, UH, WHERE THE OPTION TO STAY HERE, UH, CAME FORWARD AND REALLY LOOKING AT THAT COST EFFECTIVE, UM, PLAN, UH, REALLY KIND OF BROUGHT THIS TO THE FOREFRONT TO STAY HERE AND EXPAND IT TO THE NEXT, THIS SPACE, NEXT DOOR.
SO I WANT TO, I WANNA BE REAL CLEAR.
SO THE PUBLIC IS VERY CLEAR, SO BACK IN APRIL AND MAY, BUT WHEN, WHEN THE DISCUSSION FIRST BEGAN, UH, IT WAS VERY CLEAR AT THAT TIME THAT THE, THE ORGANIZATION HAD TO FIND SPACE OUTSIDE OF EXISTING SPACE, UH, WITH ALL THE DISRUPTION THAT GOES ALONG WITH THAT, FIND A NEW SPACE, UH, BUILDING OUT NEW SPACE, ALL OF THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
THE, THE POSITION THAT WAS BEING BROUGHT TO THE BOARD AT THAT TIME WAS THAT WE HAD THAT A TP MUST MOVE, BUT WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE THAT TIME IS THAT WE NOW ARE IN A POSITION WHERE WE CAN CONTINUE, IF CONTINUE IS THE RIGHT WORD, WE CAN ENTER INTO A NEW LEASE THAT CONTINUES STAYING IN THIS SPACE.
THAT OPTION WAS NOT AVAILABLE BEFORE MAY.
SO, UM, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT STAFF AND THE NUMBER OF STAFF PEOPLE.
I, I, I WANT TO EXPAND ON THAT A LITTLE BIT.
HOW MANY STAFF MEMBERS DO YOU ANTICIPATE THE PROGRAM OFFICE GROWING TO IN THE NEAR FUTURE? AND, AND HOW, BECAUSE THERE'S, THERE'S A LACK OF A LACK OF CLARITY I THINK, ON THAT AND WHY THERE'S A NEED FOR THE AMOUNT OF SPACE AND, AND INCLUDING THAT, IF YOU WILL, AT THE LAST MEETING, UH, OR THE LAST WORK SESSION OR WHATEVER WE CALL IT, UH, AECOM MADE A REPORT ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH THAT INCLUDE, I INCLUDE IN THAT, UH, WHAT IT IS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF THE NEEDS FOR SPACE, EVEN IF IT'S NOT SPECIFIC EMPLOYEES OF A TP.
SO CURRENTLY, UH, IN OUR SPACE RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS ABOUT 32,000 SQUARE FEET, WE HAVE ABOUT 200 PEOPLE, UH, IN OUR SPACE.
BUT WE KNOW OVER THIS NEXT YEAR AND, UH, OVER THE NEXT YEARS AS, AS OUR PLAN GROWTH IS HAPPENING BASED ON, UH, THE ACTION ITEMS THAT YOU ALL JUST, JUST, UH, TOOK IS WE ARE PLANNING TO GROW UP TO APPROXIMATELY 280 STAFF.
AND SO WE DO NOT HAVE THAT SPACE HERE.
AND SO THAT WAS REALLY THAT NEED OF OUR LEASES EXPIRING AT THE END OF THIS YEAR.
AND WE HAVE, UH, THE PLAN GROWTH FOR THE PROJECT THAT WE NEEDED TO FIND THE, THE 280, UH, SPACE TO FIT THE 280, UH, PERSONNEL OR DESKS IN ADDITION TO THAT.
[00:55:01]
CORRECT IN AECOM, UM, BRINGING KIND OF BEST PRACTICES OF HAVING THE CO-LOCATION FOR NOT JUST A TP BUT OUR DELIVERY PARTNER, OUR CONSULTANTS BEING THE ARC TEAM AND THE CAP TEAM FOR BOTH THE LRT CONTRACT AND THE OMF CONTRACT AS WELL AS, UH, OFFICE SPACE AND SPACE FOR OUR PARTNERS, INCLUDING THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAP METRO.AND SO REALLY THAT IS THE, THE ENTIRETY AS WELL AS SOME OTHER CONTRACTORS THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO FIT UNDER THAT ONE ROOF FOR THE CO-LOCATION.
SO THAT LEADS TO COST EFFICIENCIES, ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, REALLY, UM, DELIVER THINGS QUICKLY, MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY WHEN THEY NEED TO BE, UH, DELIVERED.
IN ADDITION, I KNOW ANSWERING A QUESTION, I THINK BOARD MEMBER HORN HAD, UH, AROUND, UM, SOME EFFICIENCIES WITH OUR CONTRACTS AND OUR CONSULTANTS AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FIELD RATES AND IN-OFFICE RATES.
WHAT WE'RE, UH, SOME OF THE ANALYSIS WE'VE DONE IS, UH, THEY'RE CURRENTLY IN LEASE SPACE, UH, FOR THOSE CONSULTANTS WHICH ARE REALLY PASSED THROUGHS THAT ARE RIGHT NOW COMING THROUGH US.
UH, AND BY GETTING RID OF THOSE LEASES AND HAVING THEM CO-LOCATED HERE, WE ANTICIPATE SAVING UP TO $50,000 PER MONTH BY, UH, NOT HAVING 'EM, UH, WITH THOSE FIELD OFFICE RATES AS WELL AS THE LEASE SPACE RATES FOR THE, THOSE OFFICES THAT OUR CONTRACTORS CURRENTLY HAVE.
SO I HEAR A COUPLE THINGS IN THAT, AND CORRECT ME IF I SAY THIS BACK TO YOU WRONG, ONE THING THAT I HEAR IS THAT IF YOU'RE TRYING TO DO A STRAIGHT UP SQUARE FOOTAGE, YOU KNOW PER PERSON THAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO THAT BY CALCULATING JUST THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AT A TP.
IT OUGHT TO BE THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AT A TP AND THE, THE NUMBER OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE BUILDING OF THE PROJECT AND NEEDED IN TERMS OF BUILDING OUT THE PROJECT.
AND ONE THING TO ADD, MAYOR, IS IN THE AECOM, UM, MEMO THAT THEY PROVIDED IS THE NEED FOR US TO HAVE DE LARGE DEDICATED MEETING SPACES, WHICH ADDS OF COURSE TO SQUARE FOOTAGE REQUIREMENTS BECAUSE OF A, A COMPLICATED PROJECT, A MEGA PROJECT LIKE THIS, YOU NEED THESE LARGE DEDICATED SPACES.
UM, WE, WE CALL 'EM COLLABORATION ROOMS, BUT REALLY WHERE THOSE TEAMS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON THOSE SEGMENTS ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHERE THEY GO TO GET THE WORK DONE.
THEY HAVE THE PLANS UP, THEY CAN CONSTANTLY JUST GO INTO THOSE DEDICATED SPACES TO REALLY UNDERSTAND AND REALLY WORK THROUGH THE, THE, THE PROBLEMS AND THE ISSUES OF THE PROJECT.
WELL, A BEST PRACTICE OF, UH, A BEST PRACTICE OF BUILDING OUT A PROJECT LIKE THIS, UH, REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE SOME SQUARE FOOTAGE THAT MAY NOT TRANSLATE EASILY INTO, SAY, UH, YOUR TYPICAL ENGINEER'S OFFICE WHERE YOU HAVE X NUMBER OF ENGINEERS AND THEY OCCUPY Y NUMBER OF SQUARE FEET PER PERSON.
UM, THE SECOND THING THAT, UH, I HEAR IN ALL OF THIS IS, UH, AND I WANT YOU TO VERIFY THIS FOR ME, IS THAT THE JUSTIFICATION FOR DOING THIS NOW IS WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A MINUTE AGO, WHICH IS THE VOTERS HAVE MANDATED THAT WE MOVE FORWARD.
UH, WE ARE MOVING FORWARD IN ORDER TO TRY TO MEET THE MANDATE THAT WE WE SEE OF THE VOTERS.
AND IF WE'RE GOING TO, IF WE'RE GOING TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE TELLING THE VOTERS WE'RE GONNA ACHIEVE, WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND HAVE THE SPACE AND, AND, UH, MOVE PEOPLE INTO IT.
AND YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN VERY THOUGHTFUL ABOUT OUR SPACE.
WE'VE ONLY LEASED WHAT WE NEED AT THE TIME FOR THAT PHASE OF THE PROJECT, AND THAT'S BEEN PART OF OUR STEWARDSHIP TOO, THAT'S REALLY IMBUED IN OUR, IN OUR, UH, DELIVERY MODEL AS WELL.
SO NOW THAT WE ARE MOVING INTO NEXT YEAR AND, YOU KNOW, TOWARD THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR GETTING READY FOR CONSTRUCTION, THAT WE NEED THAT FULL TEAM ON BOARD TO FINALIZE THE DESIGN WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING IN THE PRE-CONSTRUCTION WORK NEXT YEAR.
I'LL HAVE SOME OTHER THINGS TO SAY, BUT THOSE ARE ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE.
AND BEFORE WE GO FURTHER ON ANY DISCUSSION, UM, CAN WE, I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE ACTIONS NINE, 10 AND 10, 11 AND 12, AND THEN WE CAN GO ON INTO FURTHER DISCUSSION.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOVE, MOVE BY BOARD MEMBER GARCIA SECOND.
THERE'S NO SECOND CALLING AGAIN FOR A SECOND ON ITEMS NINE, TEN SECOND MOTION.
OKAY, LET'S CONTINUE WITH FURTHER DISCUSSION.
I THINK THAT, UM, YOU HAD, WERE KIND OF ALLUDING TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I HAD PREVIOUSLY AND, AND I APPRECIATE THE, THE PRESENTATION, UM, CASEY
[01:00:01]
AS WELL.UM, I, I WANNA LEAN INTO THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE.
WE, WE, WE DID SPEAK AT THE LAST MEETING ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF CO-LOCATION AND THE, YOU KNOW, UM, JUST GENERALLY AND, AND SORT OF QUALITATIVELY WHAT, WHAT THOSE, WHAT THOSE ARE.
UM, BUT SO JUST, JUST MORE BASICALLY, SO A TP, YOU KNOW, WILL BE PROVIDING THE SPACE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE HEATING, THE AIR CONDITIONING, THE, EVERYTHING THAT GOES WITH THAT FOR ALL OF OUR CONSULTANTS AND CONTRACTORS RIGHT.
SO MY, MY QUESTION IS, UM, IS THERE A WAY THAT WE, UH, THAT WE KIND OF CAN, CAN KNOW THAT WE ARE, ARE SORT OF PAYING LESS FOR THOSE, UM, CONSULTANTS AND CONTRACTORS TO DO THAT, YOU KNOW, VERSUS IF THEY WERE WORKING OUT OF THEIR OWN SPACE? LIKE IS THERE A WAY TO KNOW THAT? I MEAN, IF THERE'S NOT, YOU KNOW, THAT I, BUT I'M JUST, I JUST WANNA LEAN INTO THIS AND ASK THAT QUESTION ABOUT THE, THE COST SAVINGS.
IS THERE A WAY TO KNOW THAT WE WERE BEING SORT OF CHARGED LESS BECAUSE WE'RE PROVIDING ALL OF THOSE OVERHEAD ITEMS THAN IF THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, WORKING FROM THEIR OWN SPACES.
AND I, AND I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THE, THE, THE $50,000 SAVINGS.
UM, BUT I'M ALSO WONDERING, LIKE, I MEAN, NOT ALL THESE CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS ARE JUST WORKING ON A TP, RIGHT? I MEAN, THEY, THEY HAVE SPACE FOR OTHER REASONS AS WELL.
SO, UM, JUST WONDERING IF YOU CAN SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE, AND AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A WAY TO KNOW THAT, UM, AND THEN IT IS, YOU KNOW, BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE SAVING, THOSE, THOSE ACTUAL SAVINGS ARE, YOU KNOW, ABOVE AND BEYOND THE IMPORTANCE OF, OF WORKING TOGETHER AND THOSE THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T REALLY QUANTIFY, LIKE ACTUALLY A DOLLAR BY DOLLAR.
CAN WE, CAN WE MEASURE THAT? CAN WE, CAN WE REPORT ON THAT? BECAUSE I, I DO THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
SO I, I WOULD JUST SAY THE 50,000 NUMBER IS THE ONE WE, WE REALLY, TRULY CAN MEASURE AT THAT LEVEL OF SAVINGS.
WE KNOW THAT OFFICE SPACE CURRENTLY IS DEDICATED TO PEOPLE ONLY WORKING ON OUR PROJECT.
AND THAT WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THAT ONCE WE MOVE EVERYBODY INTO THIS SPACE.
AND I BELIEVE THE CAP TEAM ALSO HAS, AND BRAD CAN ANSWER TO ANY CONTRACTUAL QUESTIONS, UM, BUT WE HAVE LARGE DESIGN TEAMS WITH LOTS OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES, AND WE'VE NEGOTIATED, UM, WHAT WE CALL LIKE MULTIPLIER RATES.
AND SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLEX THAN MAYBE A DESIGN BID BUILD, UM, STRUCTURE IN TERMS OF CONTRACTING.
BUT MAYBE JUST SUPER HIGH LEVEL BRAD CAN ANSWER.
UM, SO NORMALLY THERE'S TWO WAYS YOU CAN TRY TO CALCULATE THAT NUMBER.
ONE OF THE WAYS, UM, WHICH IS DONE IN A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT AREN'T PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD OR DESIGN BUILD IS BY ASKING FIRMS TO PROPOSE A HOME OFFICE RATE VERSUS A FILLED RATE.
WHERE THEY ARE, ARE VERY DIFFERENT BECAUSE IN A FILLED RATE, THEY REDUCE THE NUMBER, UM, THE, THE, THE RATE BASED ON THE THINGS THAT ARE PROVIDED BY THE OWNER OF THE, THE, THE PROJECT.
UM, SO THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT.
WHAT'S DONE IN PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD, BECAUSE YOU'RE BRINGING ON THE CONTRACTOR AND THE DESIGNERS SO EARLY ON IN THE DESIGN PROCESS.
AND THE GOAL FOR US HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO HAVE US CO-LOCATED INTO ONE SINGULAR SPACE.
WE ASK THEM TO PROPOSE A SINGULAR, UM, GNA RATE, A GENERAL, UM, SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATION RATE, OR IT'S ALSO CALLED A CORPORATE HOME OFFICE RATE.
UM, AND HAD THAT COMPETED AGAINST EACH OTHER'S COMPE AND COMPETITORS THROUGH THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS TO TRY TO REDUCE THAT RATE.
UM, BUT THEY ALSO, UM, HAVE REDUCED THAT RATE ON THEIR OWN TOO, BASED ON THE CO-LOCATION.
I, I'VE TALKED TO BOTH FIRMS AND, FOR INSTANCE, THE, THE TWO DESIGN FIRMS UNDER THE ART CONTRACT REDUCED THEIR MULTIPLIER RATE BY ABOUT 5%, UM, BECAUSE OF THE CO-LOCATION THAT WE, WE, UM, REQUIRED AS A PART OF THE PROJECT, UM, WHICH WE CAN QUANTIFY, UM, TO SOME EXTENT, IT'S A LITTLE HARDER TO DO VERSUS, UM, YOU KNOW, A DESIGN BUILD BUILDER WHERE YOU HAVE FILLED VERSUS HOME OFFICE RATES DIRECTLY COMPARED TO EACH OTHER.
UM, BUT ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT CO-LOCATION ALSO PROVIDES IS TIME REDUCED OVERHEAD.
UM, CO-LOCATION ALLOWS YOU TO MAKE DECISIONS QUICKER, FASTER, AND EASIER INSTEAD OF HAVING TO EXCHANGE THINGS OVER EMAILS AND WAITING SO MUCH TIME FOR RESPONSES, AND HAVING COLLABORATION SPACES ALLOWS THINGS TO BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD A LOT QUICKER.
WHAT WE KNOW IN THESE MAKE PROJECTS IS TIME EQUALS MONEY AND TIME WASTED ON WAITING TO RESPOND WHEN YOU HAVE A SIMPLE CONVERSATION REALLY DOES ADD UP AS WELL.
UM, SO THAT'S, AGAIN, A MUCH HARDER THING TO QUANTIFY, UM, IN THAT REGARD.
BUT WE REALLY DO WANNA FOCUS, THERE ARE DIRECT COSTS.
THE $50,000 THAT ALEX MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO DEFINE COST IN THE, THE WAY THAT WE FUNCTIONED THE MULTIPLIER OF OVERHEAD RATE,
[01:05:01]
BUT IT HAS THEN COME DOWN FOR THE PROJECT, IT HAS COME DOWN FOR OUR PROJECT, AND THEN THERE ARE REALLY, AND THE TEACHER SAVINGS BEING CO-LOCATED BY HAVING THOSE PEOPLE WORKING DIRECTLY WITH OUR STAFF IN THIS BUILDING.I, I, I THINK IT'S REALLY, UM, WILL BE GOOD TO, YOU KNOW, IN THE MONTHS AHEAD, JUST REPORT ON THOSE SAVINGS, UM, AND, AND JUST, AND SHARE THAT, UM, SHARE THAT INFORMATION TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU CAN.
BUT, BUT I APPRECIATE, I APPRECIATE THAT INFORMATION.
UM, I GUESS THE, MY, MY PRIMARY THOUGHT IS, UH, THE MORE COMPLEX A SYSTEM IS, THE MORE IMPORTANT IT IS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO DISSECT IT AND EXPLAIN IT SO THAT REGULAR FOLK UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
THAT'S USUALLY WHY I ASK FOR SIDE BY SIDES REGULARLY.
SO WE'RE ABLE TO COMPARE ONE CONTRACT TO ANOTHER CONTRACT AND SEE WHAT ONE COSTS AND COMPARE IT, UH, TO ANOTHER ONE.
I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT, THE MORE COMPLEX, AND THAT'S ALSO, UH, THE REASON THAT I ASK FOR A CROSSWALK AS WELL, UH, SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY LAY OUT, UH, WHAT OUR DELIVERABLES ARE PHASE BY PHASE BY PHASE, AND THEN BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN, UH, WHEN WE ACHIEVE OUR DELIVERABLES AND SO THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY ALL THE THINGS THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, THE COST ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
AND THEN A COMPARISON TO OTHER CONTRACTS, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, THAT WE DIDN'T PURSUE BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT DELIVERING WITH THIS PROCESS WOULD PUT US IN A BETTER SPACE AT THE END OF THE DAY.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE PUBLIC EXPECTS, THAT WE TAKE THINGS THAT ARE VERY COMPLEX, UH, THAT ONLY CPAS UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN IT IN A WAY THAT WE CAN TAKE IT, UH, TO, UM, MY GRANDSON'S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THEY SAY, OH, NOT ONLY DO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT NOW I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT THAT WE'RE ABLE TO LAY THINGS OUTSIDE BY SIDE AND BE CLEAR AND, AND MAKE SURE FOLKS UNDERSTAND THE ELEMENTS OF THE DECISION AND HOW THE PUBLIC BENEFITED FROM THE, THE DECISION THAT WAS MADE.
WE CAN PUT SOMETHING IN WRITING TOGETHER, FOLLOWING UP ON THE MEETING SO EVERYTHING'S CLEAR, HAPPY TO.
I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF OF QUESTIONS.
UM, FIRST, UM, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING US THE, THE MEMORANDUM AND THE DATA THAT, THAT YOU'VE GIVEN US IN THE BACKGROUND.
UM, THIS HAS BEEN A LONG JOURNEY.
I MEAN, WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS AT LENGTH, BUT ALSO I JUST WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT A LOT OF THE HOMEWORK THAT WAS DONE AND FINDING OTHER SPACES THAT FIT THE NEEDS OF THE STAFF, THE, THE NEEDS OF THE PROGRAM, THE NEEDS OF, OF, YOU KNOW, DELIVERING A COMPLEX PROGRAM.
I JUST WANNA THANK CAP METRO FOR THEIR PATIENTS, AND THANK YOU FOR LETTING US POKE AROUND THROUGH YOUR OFFICES AND ALL THE DATA THAT YOU GUYS PROVIDED TO US.
I THINK YOUR, YOUR TEAM IS AMAZING, SO THANK YOU FOR ALL HELPING US DO THE COMPARISON.
UM, ANOTHER THING I LIKE TO EMPHASIZE IS BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY INVESTED IN THIS PARTICULAR SPACE, WE'VE ALREADY PAID FOR A LOT OF THE, THE TENANT FINISH OUTS OF, OF THIS PARTICULAR LOCATION.
SO THE COST SAVINGS THAT WE ARE, THAT, THAT YOU GUYS HAVE CALCULATED, THEREFORE, THIS RECOMMENDATION TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION THAT WE'VE ALREADY ALREADY MADE THAT INVESTMENT, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WE DID NOT HAVE THE LUXURY AT THE CAB METRO OFFICES BECAUSE IT'S MORE OF AN OPEN SPACE THAT HASN'T BEEN FINISHED OUT.
UM, AND MY CURIOSITY, I'M GONNA CHANGE CHANNELS A LITTLE BIT, BUT TO YOUR POINT ABOUT THE $50,000 RIGHT NOW THAT WE'RE PAYING FOR THE CO THE SEPARATE OFFICE BECAUSE WE DON'T LONGER FIT IN THIS PARTICULAR SPACE, WHAT IS THE TRANSITION PLAN FOR THIS CO-LOCATION TO BE ON THE ONE ROOF? BECAUSE I KNOW WE STILL HAVE TO FINISH OUT NEXT DOOR, AND IF THIS WERE TO BE APPROVED, BUT ALSO WHAT'S THAT TIMELINE AND HAVE WE CAPTURED THAT COST? SURE.
SO WE, UH, ONE THING TO POINT OUT IS PART OF THE ACTION ITEMS IS THAT CARRYOVER LEASE, UH, TO EXTEND THE CURRENT LEASE INTO JANUARY AND FEBRUARY.
AND SO THE, THE, THE BIG ITEM, ITEM 11, WHICH IS THE NEW LEASE, UH, THAT DOES NOT GO IN EFFECT UNTIL MARCH.
AND SO WE, UH, TECHNICALLY WON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE EXPANDED SPACE UNTIL MARCH 1ST.
UM, BUT THE TIMELINE THAT WE'VE PUT TOGETHER IS ROUGHLY A SIX MONTH TIMELINE TO DO THE BUILD OUT, WHICH IS THE ITEM 12 ITEM, UH, TO ALLOW FOR, UH, THE COMPLETION OF THAT BUILD OUT AND THEN HAVE THE, THE ADDITIONAL STAFF, UH, MOVE IN HOPEFULLY, UH, BY, UH, SUMMER OF NEXT YEAR,
[01:10:01]
SUMMER FALL TIMEFRAME.SO IF I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY, SO BETWEEN NOW AND FALL OF NEXT YEAR, WE WILL STILL BE CAPTURING THE COST OF HAVING THAT OTHER REMOTE OFFICE? THAT'S RIGHT.
THERE ARE, THE CURRENT COST IS THEY HAVE A, THERE, THERE ARE EXISTING LEASES RIGHT NOW FOR THOSE OFFICE SPACES.
UM, IS IT JUST BECAUSE THIS IS A, ALSO A PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD, IF I WAS UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE STAFF IS RECOMMENDING IS THAT TO BOARD MEMBER HORN'S POINT ABOUT HOW CLEAR CAN WE HAVE A CLEAR COMPARISON OF APPLES TO APPLES THE BEST WAY, WHAT WE CONSIDER THE OVERHEAD RATE, RIGHT.
OF THE OFFICE BASIS OF, OF OTHER FIRMS? THE ABILITY FOR US TO, JUST IN, IN SUMMARY FROM HER QUESTION TO HOW YOU GUYS ARE EXPLAINING IT TO US, IS THAT OVERALL THIS RECOMMENDATION IS AN OVERALL COST SAVINGS.
FOR THE LIFE OF THE LEASE, YEAH.
UM, I DON'T HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS.
DOES THE BOARD HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NO MORE QUESTIONS.
I'D LIKE TO MAKE A STATEMENT WHEN IT'S TIGHT.
I THINK THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME.
UM, I WANT TO MAKE A STATE, I WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE JUST BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE IN A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THIS.
AND I WOULD ARGUE THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S OCCURRED IS THIS PROTOCOL THAT WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO, THE STEWARDSHIP PROTOCOL THAT WE'VE ATTEMPTED TO PUT INTO PLACE HAS PLAYED OUT IN THIS EXAMPLE AS WELL.
AND THAT IS, AGAIN, I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THE, THE PROTOCOL, WHICH IS THAT WE PRESERVE OUR READINESS.
UH, WE, WE PRESERVE WHAT WE NEED TO PRESERVE SO THAT WE CAN GET FEDERAL, UH, FUNDING, BUT WE ALSO DON'T PUT THE TAXPAYERS AT A, AN UNDUE RISK AS WE GO FORWARD.
BACK IN APRIL WHEN THIS ALL KIND OF CAME TO LIGHT, AND NOT WHEN IT REALLY STARTED, BUT IT FELT LIKE IT KIND OF STARTED BACK IN APRIL, UH, THE BOARD WAS, WAS FACING, CONSIDERING A PROPOSAL TO LEASE NEW DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE, UH, FOR UP TO $32 MILLION WITH ANOTHER 15 MILLION TO BUILD IT OUT.
AND, UH, I WAS PRETTY CLEAR ABOUT MY OPPOSITION TO THAT ITEM.
I SAID SO DIRECTLY TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAID IT TO PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY LISTEN TO ME, UH, FRANKLY, UH, IF, IF I'M HONEST ABOUT IT.
UH, BUT MY CONCERN WAS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD, AND IT WAS THAT WE WERE ABOUT TO SIGN WHAT APPEARED TO BE A 10 YEAR COMMITMENT DOWNTOWN WITH F WITHOUT, IN MY VIEW, ASKING APPROPRIATELY WHETHER THERE WAS A BETTER PATH.
AND I WANNA SAY I APPRECIATE THE CHAIR'S DECISION AT THAT TIME TO PULL THOSE ITEMS RATHER THAN PUSH FORWARD AND FORCE A VOTE SO THAT WE COULD HAVE THE KIND OF DISCUSSION THAT HAS LED US TO, TO TODAY.
UM, AT THAT POINT, WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT, I DID, UH, WHAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT, AND I MADE A SUGGESTION AND THAT SUGGESTION WAS THAT A TP LOOKS SERIOUSLY AT CO-LOCATING WITH CAPITAL METRO, GIVEN THAT CAPITAL METRO ALREADY OWNS PROPERTY AND, AND IT IT HAS ITS HEADQUARTERS.
UM, THAT SUGGESTION WAS TAKEN, UH, SERIOUSLY, I BELIEVE, UH, IT, UH, A TP AND CAP METRO STAFF DID THE WORK, AS HAS BEEN SUGGESTED BY, UH, THE CHAIR OVER THE FOLLOWING MONTHS.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, A TP LOOKED AT WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO SIMPLY STAY PUT IN THE SPACE IT ALREADY OCCUPIES AND EXPAND THAT SPACE.
UH, IT, IT ISN'T CURRENTLY U INTO SPACE IT ISN'T CURRENTLY USING, BUT THAT IS A CHANGED CONDITION.
AND THAT'S WHY I ASKED THE QUESTION.
I I WANTED TO ASK AT THE TIME WE WERE DEALING WITH THIS, AND AT THE TIME WE WERE LOOKING AT OTHER SPACE, UH, THERE WAS NOT THE OPPORTUNITY THAT CAME UP IN PART BECAUSE OF THE, THE DELAY THAT HAPPENED WHEN WE, WE DIDN'T HAVE THE VOTE.
I WANT TO REITERATE WHAT THE CHAIR SAID ABOUT, UM, THIS IS CAPITAL METRO, CEO, DOTTIE WATKINS, UH, I, I'M REALLY APPRECIATIVE OF, OF CAPITAL METRO'S, UH, WORKING VERY HARD WITH THIS AND CHAIR TAVION.
I, I, I EXTEND THAT THANKS TO YOU AND TO YOUR BOARD.
UH, CAPITAL METRO WAS AVAILABLE TO US AND WORKED HARD TO PUT US IN A SITUATION WHERE WE COULD LOOK AT THAT SPACE.
THE CHANGE CONDITION CHANGES THINGS IN A LOT OF WAYS, AND WE'VE HAD A, A GOOD DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW THAT DOES THAT WHAT'S IN FRONT OF US TODAY, THE TWO OFFICE SPACE CONTRACTS IS THE RESULT OF THE REVIEW THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE SINCE APRIL AND MAY.
IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE PERSONNEL NEEDS, THE, THE, THE HOU OF HOUSING OUR EMPLOYEES, UH, AND WHAT WE WILL ALSO HAVE, NOT IN TERMS OF A TP PERSONNEL, BUT IT WILL INCORPORATE LESSONS
[01:15:01]
LEARNED ABOUT OTHER LIGHT RAIL PROJECT DELIVERY, UH, WITH OTHER PEOPLE THAT WE WILL NEED TO HAVE IN THE SPACE.AND IT DOES IT WHILE TAKING IN, INTO CONSIDERATION THE POTENTIAL FUTURE COST CONSTRAINTS, UH, UNIQUE TO AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL.
IT IS A CONSIDERABLY SMALLER COMMITMENT THAN WHAT WAS FIRST PROPOSED.
AND IT GETS US THERE WITHOUT THE LONG TERM DOWNTOWN COMMITMENT, UH, WHICH IS ONE OF THE THINGS I RAISED CONCERNS ABOUT BACK IN APRIL.
I BELIEVE THAT THE PROCESS WORKED, THE STOP, THE SLOWDOWN AND THE ANALYSIS DID END UP WORKING.
WE ARE FACING NOW A LEASE OF THE, THE, WITH THESE ITEMS THAT IS LESS EXPENSIVE AND HAS LESS TIME.
I WILL REITERATE, COST WILL ALWAYS BE THERE ON THIS PROJECT.
AND JUST BECAUSE YOU SOMEONE SEES A COST DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY MAKE THAT COST WRONG.
UH, THERE ARE SOME THAT SEEM TO THINK THAT, BUT THAT'S NOT THE CASE.
AND, AND SO I BELIEVE IN PROJECT CONNECT.
I BELIEVE IN LIGHT RAIL, THE VOTERS MANDATED LIGHT RAIL, AND WE NEED TO DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY TO BUILD IT.
WE JUST NEED TO DO IT IN A WAY THAT SHOWS GOOD STEWARDSHIP.
AND I BELIEVE WE'VE, WE HAVE GOTTEN THERE, UH, WITH THIS ITEM.
AND THAT'S WHY, UH, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS AND, UH, I'M GET THAT ON THE RECORD.
UM, ONE LAST THING I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WE DID RECEIVE, AND THE BOARD RECEIVED THE PACKAGE OF A LOT OF, UH, PETITION AND A LOT OF COMMUNICATION THAT CAME FROM THE PUBLIC.
SO IT'S NOT LOST ON US THAT THIS HAS STRUCK A CHORD WITH THE COMMUNITY OF HOW MUCH THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY EXERCISE BY THIS BOARD.
SO WE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WE RECEIVED THAT COMMUNICATION AND, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME IN THAT LETTER WAS THE, THE INACCURACY OF THE NUMBER OF STAFF, BECAUSE THEY ONLY POINT OUT 60 MEMBERS VERSUS 280 STAFF MEMBERS.
SO TO ME, THAT WAS A SALIENT POINT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PHYSICAL FOOTPRINT OF WHAT THIS OFFICE ENTAILS IS MUCH LARGER AND, UH, AS IT IS FOR A CAPITAL PROGRAM OF THIS MAGNITUDE.
SO, UM, BUT I CARE SO MUCH THAT THE, THAT ALL THE SPEAKERS THAT CAME IN TODAY, THANK YOU AS WELL, BECAUSE THESE, THESE ITEMS DO MATTER AND THE PEOPLE THAT CALLED IN AND THE PEOPLE THAT WROTE US.
SO WITH THAT, UM, WITHOUT FURTHER DISCUSSION, I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR A VOTE.
EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF ITEMS 10, 11, AND 12, PLEASE SAY AYE.
IS IT EVERYONE? IT'S UNANIMOUS.
AND I KNOW WE'RE DOING ON OUR FINAL ITEM ON THIS AGENDA.
[4.1 Approval of a resolution adopting the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Audit Plan.]
BE PRESENTED BY TPS, INTERNAL AUDIT STAFF, LED BY CHIEF AUDIT EXECUTIVE, KATIE HOUSTON.KATIE HOUSTON, CHIEF AUDIT EXECUTIVE.
I'M HERE TODAY TO PRESENT THE PROPOSED AUDIT PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR.
UH, THIS HAS BEEN CIRCULATING VIA EMAIL, SO I THINK Y'ALL HAVE SEEN IT ALREADY.
WE'RE PROPOSING TWO AUDITS AND REALLY TWO ADVISORY SERVICES.
TWO PLUS THERE'S A BONUS ONE THERE AT THE END.
UH, BASICALLY WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP PACE WITH THE PROGRAM.
YOU'VE HEARD A LOT OF GOOD PROGRESS TODAY, AND WE THINK WE'RE AT A GOOD JUNCTURE TO LOOK INTO THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLANS.
THAT'LL BE KIND OF A PRE-CONSTRUCTION REVIEW.
I KNOW WE'VE HEARD THE WORD READINESS A WHOLE LOT TODAY.
UH, BUT OUR WORK WILL BE TO ASSESS THAT READINESS AND HOPEFULLY BRING Y'ALL SOME ASSURANCE THAT THAT IS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
THE NEXT ONE THERE IS OUR PURCHASING CARD, UH, AUDIT.
THAT'S KIND OF BREAD AND BUTTER FOR AUDITORS, BUT THAT WOULD TAKE A LOOK AT, UH, A TP CREDIT CARDS.
UM, ARE WE SPENDING WITHIN OUR APPROVED LIMITS? UM, IDENTIFYING UNDER AUTHORIZED TRANSACTIONS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND THEN THE TWO ADVISORY SERVICE PROJECTS YOU SEE THERE, UH, REALLY IS GONNA LOOK AT INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES, HOW OTHER TRANSIT ORGANIZATIONS, UH, TRACK AND REPORT, UH, PRE-CONSTRUCTION, UH, TYPE MEASURES.
AND ALSO WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT LONG-TERM RETENTION.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WITH PROGRAMS OF THIS NATURE, AS Y'ALL KNOW, IS, UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF GREAT FOLKS AND WE WANNA KEEP THEM WITH US.
UH, SO WHAT CAN WE DO, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT HAPPENS? SO, UM, AND THEN THE LAST ONE THERE IS REALLY JUST A BONUS FOR ANY OF Y'ALL.
IF SOMETHING COMES UP THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, YOU THINK OF SOMETHING THAT YOU WANT CAMERON AND I TO LOOK INTO GREG AS WELL.
SO WE HAVE SPACE IN THE BANDWIDTH
[01:20:01]
TO, UH, DO SOME EXTRA BONUS PROJECTS AS NEEDED.THIS IS REALLY OUR KIND OF, WE CALL 'EM OUR OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED, UH, TYPE LIST.
SO THESE ARE THE SAME EVERY YEAR, REALLY.
ANNUAL AUDIT PLANNING AGAIN FOR NEXT YEAR.
UH, I WILL NOTE WE HAD A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UH, DECREASE IN, UM, OUR RESPONSE RATE THIS YEAR, UH, AS WE GOT INTO, UH, LOOKING FOR AUDIT TOPICS, UH, FOR NEXT YEAR.
SO WE HAVE A COUPLE IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THAT NEXT YEAR, MAKE A COUPLE CHANGES THERE, FOLLOW UP.
WE BRING THAT FORTH EVERY SUMMER.
UH, MANAGING ATBS ETHICS HOTLINE AND CONDUCTING THE RELATED ETHICS INVESTIGATIONS.
THAT'S ALWAYS, UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING WE'RE WORKING ON.
AND THEN DOING OUR FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE TRAINING, UH, FOR STAFF IN NEW EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION.
THE ONLY ONE THAT'S NEW THIS YEAR AS OPPOSED TO PRIOR YEARS, IS THAT EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT REVIEW.
UH, THAT IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO DO, UH, GIVEN THE AUDIT STANDARDS WE FOLLOW, WE HAVE TO DO THAT EVERY FIVE YEARS.
SO THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST ONE SINCE WE'RE NOW APPROACHING THAT FIVE YEAR, UH, MILESTONE.
BASICALLY, OTHER AUDITORS WILL COME AUDIT US, UH, AND, UH, HOPEFULLY TELL US WE'RE DOING GOOD WORK.
UH, THEY'LL PROBABLY WANNA MEET WITH Y'ALL.
UM, I'LL LOOP BACK ON THAT AS WE OPEN THAT PROJECT.
IT'LL PROBABLY BE NEXT SPRING, EARLY SUMMER.
UH, BUT THAT'S WHAT THAT PROJECT IS THERE.
AND THEN THIS IS AN ACTION ITEM, A REMINDER.
SO I'M ASKING FOR YOUR APPROVAL ON THIS TODAY.
UM, I HAVE, UH, SO WELL, FIRST OFF, I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE MOVED BY MAYOR, AND SECOND BY MEMBER GARZA.
UM, SO THIS IS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 26 27 AUDIT PLAN.
UM, IS THERE, DO ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS OR ANY IDEAS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO ADD ITEMS TO THIS AUDIT PLAN? YEAH, MEMBER GARZA THE COMMENT, UM, JUST THE, FOR THE PUBLIC, UH, THE AUDITOR REPORTS TO THE BOARD, UM, TO REPORT TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
UM, I WANNA SAY I APPRECIATE THE WAY THE WORKING RELATIONSHIP THAT, UH, KATIE AND GREG HAVE.
UM, IT CAN GET TESTED ONCE IN A WHILE, IT'S SUPPOSED TO.
UM, BUT THE, THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO OF 'EM IS REALLY EXEMPLARY.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS AUDIT PLAN? NOT, NOT REALLY.
JUST THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD MM-HMM
IT IS, UM, IT, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO, UH, TO MAKE STAFF UNDERSTAND UPFRONT, UH, WHAT MY, WHAT MY AUDIT PROCESS IS.
UH, YOU KNOW, A A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK OF AUDITS AS AS VISITS TO THE DENTIST'S OFFICE.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UH, IF PEOPLE KNOW WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR, UM, AND, AND WE DEFINE WHERE IT IS, WE KEEP IT, UH, SO THAT WE CAN DOCUMENT IT SO THAT YOU CAN VERIFY IT.
I MEAN, HOW WE LAY IT OUT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING IS REALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
I THINK, UH, IF I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE EXPECTING, UH, THEN I CAN PROVIDE THAT.
IF I DON'T KNOW, UH, AN AUDIT PROCESS SHOULD NEVER BE A GOTCHA PROCESS.
IT'S, IT'S LAID OUT WHERE WHAT WE WANT, WHERE WE WANT IT, THE INTERVALS THAT WE WANT TO LOOK AT IT.
AND I, I THINK THOSE THINGS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.
BUT I ALSO LIKE, UH, THAT IF THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE DID NOT ANTICIPATE, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THOSE THINGS ON THE AGENDA AS WELL.
I THINK IT'S CRITICAL TO HAVE BOTH OF THOSE THINGS.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS ITSELF AND THE ABILITY TO ADD IMPORTANT THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN NECESSARY SIX MONTHS AGO.
SO I JUST WANT TO COMMEND YOU ON THE, THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
WE, CAMERON AND I ARE TRYING VERY HARD, UH, TO CHANGE THAT REPUTATION OF, UH, HAVING AN AUDITS LIKE GOING TO THE DENTIST.
UH, BUT YES, UH, I APPRECIATE YOUR REMARKS.
UH, JUST, JUST OUTTA CURIOSITY, UM, THE FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE TRAINING IS UP THERE AND THAT'S PRETTY STANDARD.
IS, IS THERE SOMETHING MAYBE THAT CAP METRO HAS THAT COULD, AND AND I'M JUST, I DON'T WANNA GET IN THE WEEDS ON THIS, BUT IT JUST POPPED IN MY HEAD, LIKE, COULD THAT BE SHARED AND COULD, COULD, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? PROBABLY, YEAH.
I MEET, UH, ROUTINELY WITH TERRY.
UH, SO WE'RE ALWAYS TALKING SHOP.
IN FACT, WE'RE MEETING AGAIN TOMORROW.
UM, WE DO OUR FRAUD WASTE ABUSE TRAINING AND NEW EMPLOYEE, UH, ORIENTATION.
UH, SO IT'S PRETTY BRIEF AND STRAIGHTFORWARD, BUT WE WANNA KIND OF GET IN FRONT OF NEW EMPLOYEES AS SOON AS THEY WALK IN THE DOOR AND LET THEM KNOW WE HAVE A FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE POLICY, HOW TO SPOT, UH, POTENTIALLY INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT, HOW TO REPORT IT, UM, OUR RULES AROUND ANTI-RETALIATION AND MAINTAINING AN ANTI-RETALIATION WORKFORCE.
UM, SO THAT'S KIND OF HOW WE DO IT NOW.
BUT YEAH, I'M HAPPY TO VISIT WITH TERRY AND SEE IF THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE.
SO THIS LAST ONE WOULD BE LIKE, CONTINUE TO PROVIDE, 'CAUSE YOU HAVE A TP
[01:25:01]
STAFF, SO, SO IT IS BEING PROVIDED.CONTINUE IS PROBABLY THE RIGHT WORD THERE.
MY FAVORITE ONE, JUST, JUST TO PIGGYBACK ON SOMETHING MY, MY COLLEAGUE SAID, I THINK, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO GO THROUGH THE MATERIALS IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.
WE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE FACE TO FACE.
I, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT, BUT WE SHOULD HAVE A VIRTUAL OPTION AS WELL, UH, SO THAT PEOPLE CAN, UH, GO THROUGH A PROCESS, UH, TAKE A TEST AND CERTIFY, UH, THAT EVERY YEAR I, UH, I HAVE BEEN REMINDED OF MY ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS, I'VE BEEN REMINDED OF MY EXPECTATIONS, AND IT'S DOCUMENTED.
SOMEWHERE WE CAN SEE THAT A PERSON ACTUALLY SPENT AN HOUR OR THREE HOURS OR WHATEVER IT WAS, UH, MAKING SURE THAT, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DOC DOCUMENTED.
BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES, UM, I SHOULDN'T SAY A LOT OF TIMES, SOMETIMES YOU'LL FIND, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, THINGS SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS UNLESS YOU MAKE THEM MANDATORY.
AND, AND WE USUALLY DO IT AROUND, UH, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION TIME.
IT'S JUST, UH, A, A VIRTUAL OPTION AND, AND A, UM, AND A, UH, FACE-TO-FACE OPTION AS WELL.
I'LL TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.
YEAH, I JUST WANNA COMMEND YOU, THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR COMMENTS, UM, TO THE BOARD, BUT I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU SEPARATE THE AUDIT PROJECTS VERSUS THE ADVISORY MM-HMM
AT SERVICES THAT YOU PROVIDE FOR THE BOARD.
AND ONE THING THAT REALLY TO HIGHLIGHT FOR ME PERSONALLY IS THAT THE PAST AUDITS THAT WE, THAT THIS BOARD HAS ASKED OF YOU, YOU'RE STILL KEEPING TRACK OF THOSE.
IT'S LIKE KEEPING A MEASUREMENT IN THE PULSES MM-HMM
OF SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT BEGAN AS A PROJECT THAT NOW HAVE TRANSFERRED OVER TO BECOME ADVISORY SERVICES.
SO ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT I THINK WAS BROUGHT TO LIFE FROM THIS MEETING, UM, TO THE POINT OF BOARD MEMBER HORN, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE TRACK AND HOW DO WE MEASURE, UM, THE ELEMENTS OF OUR OVERALL OVERHEAD AND COST, RIGHT? AND I THINK THAT US HAVING THE ABILITY TO HAVE A BENCHMARK AND THEN ARE WE DOING BETTER THAN PROJECTED OR WORSE THAN PROJECTED? MM-HMM
I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, SO FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND HOW WE, I MEAN, WE'RE APPROVING THIS VERY SPECIFIC PLAN RIGHT NOW AT THIS POINT AS AN ACTION ITEM, BUT JUST SOMETHING FOR US TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT WE MEASURE AND WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO THEN REPORT BACK IN COLLABORATION WITH, WITH CONTRACTING, COLLABORATION WITH OUR FINANCE TEAM.
BUT I'M REALLY CURIOUS, REALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BUILDING SOMETHING UNIQUE IN THIS COLLA, IN THIS PROGRESSIVE DESIGN BUILD EFFORT.
SO JUST SOMETHING FOR US TO THINK ABOUT AS A BOARD IN HELPING TRACK THIS COST AND THIS, UM, NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS AND DELIVERING LARGE CAPITAL PROJECTS.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE HOW YOU FRAME THE WORK AND HOW YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO EXECUTE ON THIS.
SO VERY CLEAR, VERY KIND OF YOU TO, TO REALLY HAVE THE PATIENCE TO GO THROUGH THIS EFFORT WITH US.
SO, UM, NO FURTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS, BUT UM, WITH THAT I'D LIKE TO, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? YEAH, JUST ECHO.
I THINK IT'S BEEN, UM, I DUNNO IF I'LL USE THE DENTAL ANALOGY, BUT IF WE HAD TO, IT'S MORE JUST LIKE A GOOD CLEANING THAT WE NEED TO GO THROUGH AND GO, GO TO THAT POSITIVE.
I THINK KATIE AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT, AS WE'VE SET UP A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO DELIVERING A BIG PROJECT, I THE SAME SET.
AND AS WE DO STEP ALONG IN THIS JOURNEY, THEY'VE BEEN INCREDIBLY VALUABLE.
THE DIALOGUE THAT, UM, KATIE AND CAMERON ARE WORKING THROUGH WITH OUR STAFF AS WE, AS WE DO THIS, I THINK WE'RE ALL ALIGNED ABOUT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH FROM A FIDUCIARY PERSPECTIVE, BUT ALSO FROM A PROGRAM PERSPECTIVE.
I WAS THINKING MORE ROOT CANAL.
I HAVE SOME OLD AUDITOR ROOT CANAL STORIES, BUT WE'LL TAKE THEM OFFLINE.
IS THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD? COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS? NO.
UM, I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR NOW, EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF THIS, UH, ITEM, PLEASE SAY AYE.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, UM, MS. HOUSTON FOR THE HEAVY LIFT, MS. MUCH.
SO WE'RE ABOUT TO CONCLUDE OUR BOARD MEETING, AND I'D JUST LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO REFLECT THAT.
THIS REALLY CONCLUDES OUR FISCAL YEAR EFFORT AND JUST ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT A BIG LIFT THIS HAS BEEN FOR EVERYONE OVER THIS LAST YEAR.
AND I REALLY WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THE TRANSPARENCY, THE ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS AS THEY CAME AND AS WE'RE PIVOTING ON MANY ASPECTS OF DELIVERING THIS PROGRAM, BUT REALLY THE PARTNERS AND HOW EVERYONE, WE, WE JUST NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HOW MUCH WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS FISCAL YEAR.
AND SO MAJOR CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED.
WE ARE ADVANCING ON OUR VEHICLES.
[01:30:01]
IN THIS COMMUNITY DEEPER AS WE'RE MOBILIZING TEAMS THAT ARE MOVING FROM OTHER PLACES TO COME JOIN US, RELOCATING THEIR FAMILIES.SO IT'S NOTHING, IT, IT'S NOT LOST ON US.
SO FOR, FOR THAT, I JUST WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO, TO THANK THE BOARD FOR THE HEAVY WORK AND, AND ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU'VE ASKED.
AND I ALSO WANT TO JUST CELEBRATE THIS NEW FISCAL YEAR THAT THIS BOARD HAS NOW APPROVED, UM, AND WRAPPING A BOW ON OUR PREVIOUS FISCAL YEAR.
SO WITH THAT, THANK YOU, GREG, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP.
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON AND, UM, LET'S CALL IT A MEETING.
THIS CONCLUDES OUR MEETING AT 10:33 AM ON SEPTEMBER 21ST.
AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED.