* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [1. CALL TO ORDER – July 17, 2020 at 1:00pm] [00:00:03] I SEE THAT WE NEED TO DO A ROLL CALL. UM, DO Y'ALL WANT ME TO DO THAT? OR MARISSA OR TERESA? DO YOU WANT TO DO THE ROLL CALL? I CAN. IF YOU'D LIKE ME TO. OKAY. THAT'D BE SUPER. THANK YOU. AND REMIND EVERYBODY THE ROLL CALL AND THEN TO BE MUTED. EXCUSE ME, JUST ONE SECOND. I'M HAVING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. JUST ONE MOMENT. OKAY. OKAY. SO IN THIS, UH, ROLL CALL PROCESS, I'M GOING TO BE CALLING EACH MEMBER ONE BY ONE. AND UNFORTUNATELY WE'RE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY A USER THAT WILL BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE MEETING. JUST AS A NOTE FROM, UH, EVERYONE, JUST AS A NOTE FOR ALL OF OUR FOLKS. SO, UH, CHARLENE, LORIG NOT PRESENT. I'VE SENT JENNIFER WALKER. THANK YOU, LAUREN. ROSS. MARK IS ABSENT. ROBERT MAY. ROBERT IS HERE. THANK YOU, VANESSA. P WILLIAM PERRY. LAWRENCE I'M HERE. YEAH. MORIARTY. HEY MICHELLE. I'M HERE. DIANE KENNEDY. I'M HERE. CAN'T TELL IF I'M MUTED OR NOT. WE GOT YOU. DIANE, SARAH RICHARD. I AM HERE. IT'S GREAT TO SEE EVERYONE AND TODD MARTINE PRODUCT. WE ALSO HAVE A LIST OF EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS. UM, SO JUST FOR MY RECORD KEEPING PROCESSES, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND PULL OUT THE NAMES OF OUR EX OFFICIO MEMBERS. UH, KEVIN CRITTENDON, KATHLEEN GARRETT, MARCUS ABSENT, TONY DAVEY, SAM TEDFORD PRESENT. THANK YOU, CARRIE O'CONNOR. MARK IS ABSENT. THE CHIA ATHENS MARK IS ABSENT VIANNA VOCA. MARK IS ABSENT AND MIKE KELLY IS ASIC. THANK YOU, EVERYONE. RISA. DID WE HAVE, UM, DAVE ANDREWS AS WELL WAS ON THE, SEE IF HE'S STILL HERE? YEAH, FROM AUSTIN WATER AND TERESA LUTES. EVERYBODY. WHAT? A GOOD FRIDAY AFTERNOON TURNOUT EVERYBODY. OKAY. I DIDN'T COULDN'T PUT MY AGENDA THAT OUT. SO I'M GOING TO FLIP BACK AND FORTH HERE BETWEEN MY AGENDA. OKAY. SO, UM, NOW THAT WE'VE DONE CALLED THE ORDER, OH, DO WE NEED TO OFFICIALLY CALL THE ORDER OR ARE WE ALREADY IN ORDER? I MARKED IT AS CALLED THE ORDER WHEN YOU SAID LET'S GET STARTED. SO WE STARTED AT ONE OH FIVE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY. UM, DO WE HAVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON HERE? I DON'T SEE IT ON THE AGENDA, BUT WE USUALLY DO. YES. AND WE DO HAVE ONE REGISTERED SPEAKER. THEY REGISTERED TO SPEAK ON ITEMS THREE, A THREE B AND A TWO, TWO OF THE SUB ITEMS UNDERNEATH ITEM THREE B. OKAY. HELP ME REMEMBER TO CALL ON THE ONE THAT TIME. ARE THEY ON THE LINE? I DO BELIEVE THEY RSE THE, UH, CITY HALL CITIZENS SPEAKER CONFERENCE LINE [00:05:01] ON OUR, DO WE KNOW WHO THAT IS? YES. THAT'S DAVID FOSTER WITH CLEAN WATER ACTION. OH, EXCELLENT. OKAY. SO WE'LL CALL HIM DAVID WHEN THE TIME COMES. OKAY. SO [2. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES a. Approval of the meeting minutes from the May 4, 2020 Task Force meeting] OUR FIRST AGENDA ITEM IS APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES AND THE MEETING MINUTES BEGAN ON, WELL, UH, PAGE SIX, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE PDF NUMBERING OF YOUR PACKET, UM, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES YET? WHO WAS YES. ANY AWESOME. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? THANK YOU, ROBERT. WE HAVE, UM, ANYBODY THAT DISAGREES WITH APPROVING THE MINUTES? IS THAT AN OKAY WAY TO ASK? I THINK THAT'S THE BEST ON THESE POLES. OKAY. THE MEETING THE MINUTES PASS. OKAY. WHO WAS THAT THOUGH? THAT WAS SARAH. SORRY, AGENDA ON TOP OF YOUR FACE. OKAY. PERFECT. SARAH ABSTAINS AND THEN APPROVAL BY NOT DISAPPROVING FROM THE REST. OKIE DOKIE. SO [3A. STAFF BRIEFINGS, PRESENTATIONS, AND OR REPORTS a. Water Forward Implementation Progress and Outlook – City Staff (15 min) i. Task Force Questions and Discussion] NEXT IS, UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE INTO CITY STAFF PRESENTATION. I'M JUST REVIEWING THE AGENDA. WE'VE GOT WATERFORD IMPLEMENTATION, PROGRESS AND OUTLET. WE'VE GOT SOME REPORTS FROM OUR TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUPS AND SUBCOMMITTEES, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ON AFFORDABILITY. WE HAVE A HARD STOP AT THE END OF THIS MEETING AT TWO 30, I BELIEVE. AND SO I WANT EVERYONE TO BE MINDFUL OF THE TIME SO WE CAN GET TO ALL THE AGENDA ITEMS. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, ASK QUESTIONS AND STUFF, BUT WE WILL BE KICKING SOME OF THIS STUFF TO SUBCOMMITTEE IF WE NEED TO HAVE A DEEPER DISCUSSION ON IT. UM, AND I GUESS I'LL KICK IT OVER TO MERISSA AT THIS POINT. ALL RIGHT. THANKS. AND I BELIEVE CITY HALL HAS OUR PRESENTATION SLIDES. IF, IF Y'ALL COULD BRING THOSE UP. YES. I WANT TO REMIND EVERYBODY TOO, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS AS WE GO, UM, YOU USE THE, PUT YOUR HAND UP FUNCTION AND I'LL TRY TO KEEP A QUEUE OF FOLKS THAT PUT THEIR HANDS UP AND, AND, UM, WE'LL LET MERISSA TALK AND THEN, AND THEN ANSWER QUESTIONS. OR IF YOU SEE FOLKS PUT THEIR HANDS UP AND YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO CALL THEM, BUT I'LL, I'LL TRY TO KEEP TRACK OF THAT. OKAY, GREAT. YEAH. IF YOU COULD HELP WITH THAT, CAUSE I'M TAKING NOTES ON ONE SIDE OF MY SCREEN AND THEN HAVE THIS ON THE OTHER SIDE. SO GREAT. IF YOU COULD MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, SO JENNIFER WALKED US THROUGH, UH, THE AGENDA AGAIN, WE'RE TRYING TO STICK TO OUR TIME HERE. SO WE'RE ALIGNED ABOUT 15 MINUTES FOR UPDATE ON PROGRESS ABOUT A HALF HOUR FOR, UM, ADVISORY GROUP AND SUBCOMMITTEES RECAP. AND THEN ABOUT 15 MINUTES AT THE END FOR AFFORDABILITY, UM, DISCUSSION, IF YOU COULD MOVE TO THE NEXT ONE. UM, SO THIS PRESENTATION WILL BE TO PROVIDE A BRIEF UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF WATERFORD AUSTIN'S 100 YEAR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLANS. NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. JUST FOR CONTEXT, FOR THOSE WHO MAY BE WATCHING THE MEETING. UM, AND AS YOU ALL KNOW, AUSTIN'S WATER SUPPLIES ARE MADE UP OF BRENDA RIVER RIGHTS FROM THE COLORADO RIVER AND THE CONTRACT WITH THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY FOR BACKUP WATER SUPPLY FROM THE HIGHLAND LAKES. WHEN WE LOOK AT, UM, THE PICTURE OF CURRENT WATER SUPPLIES, UM, INFLOWS TO THE HIGHLAND LAKES HAVE BEEN VERY LOW FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS. AND THAT TREND LOOKS TO CONTINUE THIS MONTH. THIS CHART SHOWS MONTHLY INFLOWS TO LAKE B CANNON AND TRAVIS AND THE ORANGE BARS IN MAY AND JUNE, UH, INDICATE THE, UM, INFLOWS FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS. AS YOU CAN SEE, THOSE ARE BELOW THE AVERAGE OVER THE PERIOD OF RECORD, AND ALSO, UM, BELOW THE AVERAGE, UM, IN 2019 OR IN INFLOWS IN 2019 NEXT MONTH, LIKE TRAVIS AND BUCHANAN ARE CURRENTLY 86% FULL AT 1.7, 2 MILLION ACRE FEET OVER THE COMING MONTHS, WE'LL BE WATCHING TO SEE IF MONEY NEW [00:10:01] CONDITIONS DEVELOP IN THE FALL AND WINTER. UM, EVEN THOUGH WE EXPECT THAT WE MAY SEE A CONTINUED DRY PATTERN, WE ARE IN A PRETTY GOOD POSITION IN TERMS OF OVERALL COMBINED STORAGE, JUST FOR SOME CONTEXT, NEXT SLIDE. SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE WATERFORD PLAN WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER OF 2018. AND SINCE THAT TIME, AUSTIN WATER STAFF HAS BEEN WORKING TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN THAT DOESN'T BOX BLOCKS OF THE PLAN, UM, ARE SHOWN HERE AND THEY INCLUDE REDUCING DEMAND, MOVING GRIEVED FORWARD, PROTECTING OUR CORE COLORADO RIVER SUPPLIES AND BUILDING DROUGHT RESILIENCY. AND THEN UNDERLYING ALL OF THAT IS THE FOUNDATIONAL EFFORT. IS THERE CONTINUED STAKEHOLDER AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. AND TODAY WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT PROGRESS MADE TO IMPLEMENT SOME OF OUR NEAR TERM STRATEGIES. NEXT TIME, THIS SUMMER, THE ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE IMPLEMENTATION RFQ RECEIVED COUNSEL APPROVAL. SHE SAID A GREAT MILESTONE TO REACH OFTEN WATER'S AMI TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING ON INITIAL PILOT PLANNING AND COMMUNICATION EFFORTS. 15 HAS BRANDED OUR AMI EFFORT AS MY ATX WATER. AND WE NOW HAVE A LIVE WEBPAGE@MYATXWATER.ORG, WHERE YOU CAN FIND A PROJECT OVERVIEW, LEARN ABOUT AMI BENEFITS TO CUSTOMERS AND FIND OTHER RESOURCES. AND WE'LL BE COMMUNICATING OUR PLANS ABOUT PILOTING, UM, TO COUNCIL MEMBER DISTRICTS IMPACTED THIS MONTH, WE'LL BEGIN PILOT COMMUNICATIONS TO CUSTOMERS IN EARLY AUGUST. ALL RIGHT, NEXT SLIDE. A LOT OF THE WORK IN THE PAST MONTH HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO OUR ONSITE REUSE STRATEGY. AS THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER PILOT COMMISSIONING PROCESS IS GOING TO BE ONGOING THROUGH FALL OF 2020. A LOT OF THAT IS CONTINGENT ON THE MOVING DATE OR PDC STAFF, UM, WITH, UH, KIND OF HAVING A DIFFERENT PROCESS NOW WITH THE COVID SITUATION, ALL OF THAT IS STILL SUBJECT TO CHANGE. UM, IN ADDITION, STAFF HAS DEVELOPED AN ONSITE. WE USE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND WE ARE CURRENTLY, UM, IN INTERNAL REVIEW WITH THAT FRAMEWORK, WE ARE PLANNING TO PRESENT THIS FRAMEWORK AND OTHER CODE CHANGES FOR STAKEHOLDER INPUT IN FALL OF 2020. THAT'LL BE THROUGH A VIRTUAL, A STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PROCESS. NEXT SLIDE, UH, AWS STAFF IS ALSO CONTINUING TO MOVE THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM WATER SYSTEM FORWARD. OUR WORK CONTINUES TO IMPLEMENT AWS 2013, COMPLETING THE CORE PLAN. UM, THAT'S THE PLAN TO CREATE A CORE RECLAIMED LOOP THROUGH DOWNTOWN AND EAST AUSTIN. AND, UM, OUR RECLAIMING WATER PROGRAM IS ANTICIPATING COMPLETION OF THAT LOOP. UM, I APPROXIMATELY 2025, UH, STAFF IS ALSO CONTINUING WORK ON THE CENTRALIZED RECLAIM WATER MASTER PLAN UPDATE WITH THE GOAL OF HAVING INITIAL PHASES OF THAT UPDATE COMPLETED IN LATE 20, 20 OR EARLY 2021 IN LATER PHASES OF THAT MASTER PLANNING PROCESS WILL INCLUDE INCORPORATION AS DECENTRALIZED, UM, OR COMMUNITY SCALE RECLAIMED DAN PEDERSON IS THEIR RECLAIMED WATER PROGRAM MANAGER. HE ALSO PRODUCES A RECLAIMED WATER, UM, QUARTERLY REPORT, IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT MAKE SENSE. AWESOME WATER STAFF HAS ALSO BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THE REGION. YES, MA'AM SORRY. I WAS TRYING TO UNMUTE TO ASK A QUESTION ON THE LAST SLIDE. UM, SO I HAVEN'T SEEN A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM DAN LATELY. UM, THERE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ONE, BUT CAN WE JUST WRITE DOWN AS A, TO DO, TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS ARE ON HIS DISTRIBUTION LIST FOR THE QUARTERLY REPORTS AND I CAN SEND THEM A MESSAGE TO THAT EFFECT AS WELL. UM, I GOT DROPPED OFF THE LIST WHEN I CHANGED JOBS, SO I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE BEEN ADDED BACK ON, BUT, UM, IT'S REALLY INFORMATIVE FOR THE FOLKS THAT HAVEN'T SEEN IT ALREADY. AND I THINK IT'S REALLY GREAT FOR EVERYBODY IN THE TASKFORCE AND EVERYBODY IN GENERALLY WHAT'S GOING ON ON THAT. AND THEN MAYBE IF, UM, HE COULD JUST PROVIDE ALSO, OR Y'ALL COULD JUST SEND AN EMAIL OUT TO THE GROUP ABOUT WHAT UPDATING THE MASTER PLAN, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN THE SCHEDULE. JUST LIKE IF THERE'S LIKE A, YOU KNOW, SHORT SUMMARY OR ONE PAGE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT ABOUT IT. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF FOLKS WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THAT, BUT THAT IS IT, YOU KNOW, A BIG PART OF OUR FUTURE PLANS. IT'D BE GOOD FOR FOLKS TO BE YEAH. I'VE WRITTEN DOWN THOSE TWO ACTION ITEMS. SO I CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE DOING A PRESENTATION AND TAKING NOTES, [00:15:04] MULTITASKING. UM, OKAY. SO, UM, JUST TO RETURN TO THIS SLIDE, UH, AWESOME WATER STAFF HAS BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THE REGION, K WATER PLANNING, UM, GROUP, UH, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING TO INTEGRATE OUR WATERFORD PLAN STRATEGIES INTO THIS BROADER, UM, REGIONAL AND STATE WATER PLANNING PROCESS. UM, THE REGION K INITIALLY PREPARED PLAN IS THROUGH THE PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS AND IS NOW MOVING TOWARDS ADOPTION AND EARLY FALL, 2020 NEXT NIGHT TO BUILD OUR RESILIENCY TO DROUGHT AND FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE. AUSTIN WATER IS ALSO CONTINUING TO WORK ON OUR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY STRATEGY. THE STRATEGY IS PLANNED FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY 2040 AND WOULD PROVIDE UP TO 60,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR OF PORTABLE WATER SUPPLY DURING THE DROUGHT OR OTHER EMERGENCY SITUATION. UM, OPTUM WATER IS IN THE FINAL PHASES OF PROCURING AN ASR PILOT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT THIS WORK NEXT NIGHT, WE'RE PLANNING TO BRING THE RCA FOR CONSULTANT PROCUREMENT TO WATERWAYS WATER COMMISSION AT, UM, THEIR AUGUST MEETING. UM, THIS INITIAL PROCUREMENT WILL BE FOR PHASE ONE SERVICES TO INCLUDE DESKTOP MODELING AND FIELD TESTING TO EVALUATE POTENTIAL SITES FOR PILOTING. UM, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SLIDE, THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN A MUCH LONGER TIMELINE NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT ASR. AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE REACHED THIS MILESTONE AND MAKES UP, AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR, UM, PRESENTATION FOR THE, UM, PROGRESS AT GATE AND BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE AND ALL THE TASK FORCE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THOSE ITEMS? WE'RE GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ASR, CAUSE WE HAVE A REPORT ON THAT. OKAY. I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS GOING UP OR PEOPLE CALLING OUT. I, UH, I, I PRESSED MY HAND, BUT OBVIOUSLY I DIDN'T REGISTER. CAN I ASK MY QUESTION? YEAH, GO AHEAD. MARISSA, ARE WE ON SCHEDULE WITH THE ASR THING? YES, I DO BELIEVE THAT WE'RE ON SCHEDULE. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF CITY HALL CAN GO BACK ONE SLIDE TO SHOW US THE OVERALL TIMELINE. THERE'S A THANK YOU. UM, WE HAD IDENTIFIED FROM NOW THROUGH 2023 TO IDENTIFY WHERE TO PILOT, UM, TO, UH, KIND OF KEEP US MOVING FORWARD. SO WE'RE RIGHT ON TARGET. WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, PROCURING THE CONSULTANT, WHO'S GONNA HELP US TO, TO DO THAT WORK. UM, IT'S WE HAD BEEN PLANNING FOR THIS TO TAKE A WHILE TO GET THROUGH THE INITIAL PILOTING PROCESS. THIS WE WANTED TO BE VERY INTENTIONAL ABOUT THAT PROCESS. UM, SO WE, I THINK THAT WE'RE RIGHT ON TARGET, EVEN WITH SOME SMALL DELAY THAT WE INCURRED WITH THE, WITH THE COVID SITUATION, ANYONE ELSE THAT I MAY NOT BE SEEING THEIR HANDS GO UP. OKAY. [3B. Technical Advisory Group and Task Force Subcommittees Recap – City Staff (30 min) i. Indirect Potable Reuse Subcommittee ii. Ordinance Subcommittee iii. Aquifer Storage and Recovery Technical Advisory Group iv. Task Force Questions and Discussion] ALL RIGHT. UM, DO YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. SO THIS PRESENTATION IS TO JUST GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF A RECAP ON OUR TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP AND TASKFORCE SUBCOMMITTEES, UH, THAT WE'VE HAD THREE DIFFERENT ITEMS, UM, BETWEEN THE LAST MEETING AND THIS MEETING. IF YOU GO ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL START WITH OUR ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE AT THE JUNE 2ND ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS, STAFF AND TASK FORCE MEMBERS, UM, MEK, AND THE DISCUSSION INCLUDED AN UPDATE ON UPCOMING CODE CHANGES, UH, TO INCLUDE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REVISION PROCESS, THE ONSITE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, AND OTHER CODE CHANGES PROPOSED BY OUR WATER CONSERVATION DIVISION. UH, THE MEETING ALSO INCLUDED DISCUSSION OF CONSERVATION RULES APPLICABLE TO DIFFERENT WHOLESALE, LARGE VOLUME AND HIGH WATER USE RETAIL CUSTOMERS. AND THAT OUR NEXT MEETING ON AUGUST 12TH, WE PLAN TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF UPCOMING CODE CHANGES. AND ALSO WATER STAFF IS ALSO WORKING TO COMPILE DEMAND INFORMATION THAT WAS REQUESTED BY TASK FORCE MEMBERS IN THAT MEETING, UH, TO HELP OUR, UM, INFORM OUR CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF CONSERVATION RULES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUSTOMERS. AND WE ALSO PLAN, UH, TO CONTINUE OUR DISCUSSION OF AFFORDABILITY WITH STAFF, FROM NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, UM, AS REQUESTED [00:20:01] BY OUR TASK FORCE MEMBERS. SHOULD I MOVE ON TO THE NEC SUBCOMMITTEE OR DID FOLKS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS COMMITTEE? UM, THE CONSERVATION THAT ARE CURRENTLY PART OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, HAS THERE BEEN ANY THOUGHT TO PULLING THOSE AWAY FROM THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND RUNNING THEM INDEPENDENTLY? BECAUSE I THINK THE WAY THE, UM, HUNG UP FOR SOME TIME, SO IF I MIGHT, UM, GO, WE, WE HAVE HAD THAT THOUGHT, UM, WE ARE IN FAIRLY CLOSE COMMUNICATION WITH LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REWRITE TEAM, NAMELY, UH, AND, UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE STAYING VERY CLOSE TO THAT PROCESS AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND KIND OF THEIR TIMEFRAME, UM, AT THIS POINT, UM, I THINK THE, THE, THE COMMON BELIEF IS THAT, THAT WE'RE FROM A TIMING STAND BEST SITUATED TO SORT OF STAY WITH THE PROCESS. UM, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, AS COVID CONTINUES AND AS, UM, COUNCIL CONTINUES TO KIND OF STRUGGLE WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S ON ITS PLATE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE TO REEVALUATE THAT STRATEGY, YOU KNOW, AS WE GET TO THE FALL TIMEFRAME. BUT I MEAN, I THINK AT THIS POINT THERE'S SOME EXPECTATION THAT, THAT BY THE FALL, THERE WILL BE A MORE DISCREET STRATEGY ASSOCIATED WITH, UM, UH, KIND OF, UM, MOVING FORWARD WITH THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE THAT MIGHT INVOLVE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF GET US A CLEARER PATH FOR THE NON ZONING PIECES OF LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH WOULD FREE US UP TO MOVE FORWARD WITH WATER FORWARD, UM, CODE ITEMS IN THAT CONTEXT, I GUESS, KEVIN WORK, WHAT I'D LIKE TO SUGGEST. AND, UH, I, I'M NOT AN EXPERT ON THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, BUT IT CERTAINLY HAS BEEN A ELUSIVE THING. WHY DON'T WE BEGIN MAKING PLANS, EVEN IF THE PLANS, BUT LAY OUT A STRATEGY TO RUN THESE CONSERVATION RULES, INDEPENDENT OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. WHY DON'T WE INVEST THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT WOULD TAKE? AND AGAIN, MAYBE MY QUESTION IS IF IT ISN'T THAT HARD, WHY WE JUST DON'T DO IT? IS THAT BETTER? YES. GOT IT. ALL RIGHT. BUT Y'ALL GOING TO SAY IT WAS VERY ARTICULATE AND VERY, UH, INSIGHTFUL ANYWAY. UM, NO, WE WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE IN ALIGNMENT WITH YOU. UM, I, I THINK, UM, I GUESS WHAT I WOULDN'T WANT TO DO IS, UM, AN INDEPENDENT PATH IS PROBABLY NOT AS EASY AS IT MIGHT APPEAR. UM, AND SO THERE'S GOING TO ALWAYS BE THAT, THAT ELEMENT THAT WE HAVE TO CONSIDER, BUT, BUT, BUT CERTAINLY THE, THE POINT OF KIND OF HAVING DEEPER EVALUATION OF WHAT AN INDEPENDENT PATH FROM THE LDC WOULD LOOK LIKE IS SOMETHING I THINK THAT THAT'S WORTH OUR TIME TO THINK THROUGH. UM, WE ARE IN KIND OF THE, AND, AND W WE ARE CONTINUING LIKE, UM, CODE RELATED ITEMS THAT WILL INVOLVE OUR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR ONSITE FOR YOU. SO THAT'LL BE COMING UP THROUGH THE FALL ANYWAY. SO THERE'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A NATURAL POINT IN TIME WHERE WE HAVE TO ASK THE VERY POINTED QUESTION THAT YOU'VE ASKED AND, UH, UH, FROM STAFF PERSPECTIVE, WE'LL BE MULLING THAT OVER AND KIND OF PUT OUR HEADS AROUND WHAT AN INDEPENDENT, UM, UM, PATH FORWARD WITH BROOKLYN. OKAY, THANKS. SO I WANT TO JUST CHECK IN AND, UM, BILL GOT TO THE MIC BEFORE I DID, BUT, UM, I BELIEVE THIS IS THE POINT THAT OUR PUBLIC CITIZEN, DAVID FOSTER WANTED TO MAKE A COMMENT YESTERDAY. OKAY. YEAH. SO IF WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET DAVID OR CITIZEN ONE ON THE LINE, [00:25:11] CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? HELLO? OKAY, GREAT. WELL, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK. UH, I KNOW IT'S CHALLENGING TO TAKE PUBLIC INPUT AT THE MOMENT. UH, MY NAME IS DAVID FOSTER HERE TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF CLEAN WATER ACTION. UH, AND, UH, REALLY, I, I CAME INTENDING TO SAY WHAT CHRISTY MARIOTTI JUST SAID PRETTY MUCH, UH, WHICH IS, UH, I THINK THERE ARE GOOD REASONS TO PULL THE WATER FORWARD PIECES OF LAND DEVELOPMENT, DRAFT CODE OUT AND MOVE FORWARD WITH HIM, UH, SEPARATELY. UM, AND SPECIFICALLY I'M THINKING OF, UH, AND THESE ARE REFERENCES TO THE DRAFT CODE. IT'S SECTION 23 DASH 90 DASH 10 48 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT REQUIREMENTS, 23 DASH 90 DASH, 10 50 ON TIDEWATER. WE USE THIS SYSTEM RULES AND INCENTIVE PROGRAM AND 23 DASH 90 DASH 10 30 RECLAIMED WATER CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS. UM, AND SO ASKED ME, YOU HAD, I, I THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY INFORMATIVE AND GOOD PRESENTATION FROM STAFF ABOUT THE PROGRESS THEY'VE MADE ON, ON THESE ISSUES, BUT AT LEAST AT THAT POINT, IT WAS CLEAR THAT AUSTIN WATER INTENDED, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE STILL INTENDS TO HAVE THESE MOVE FORWARD, NOT SEPARATELY, BUT AS A PART OF THE OVERALL LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT ANYBODY KNOWS FOR SURE WHEN WE'RE GOING TO GET AROUND TO PASSING A NEW CODE, EVEN THE NON-SELLING PIECES, OBVIOUSLY IT'S IN LITIGATION. WE HAVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS COMING UP AND, AND THE OF THOSE MIGHT CHANGE THE OVERALL DYNAMIC. MEANWHILE, THE REASONS FOR DOING THESE THINGS HAVE NOT LOST ANY OF THEIR, THEIR VALIDITY. IN FACT, IF ANYTHING, THEY'VE GAINED A SALIENCE THINKING ABOUT THAT RECENT TEXAS A AND M REPORT, UM, ON THE LIKELIHOOD THE TEXAS WILL SOON EXPERIENCE EXTREME DROUGHT. THEY EVEN USE THE PHRASE MEGA DROUGHT. I THINK IT'S VERY IMPERATIVE THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS ASAP. AND I ALSO JUST WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE WATER FORWARD PROCESS WAS THE SEPARATE ONE FROM THE OVERALL LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE PROCESS. THERE WAS SOME OVERLAP AND THERE NEEDED TO BE. AND OTHER STAFF, UM, WATERSHED PROTECTION, ET CETERA, WERE ALSO REPRESENTED AND THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN, BUT STILL FOR THE MOST PART, THIS WAS REALLY A SEPARATE PROCESS. SO THERE WERE TWO SEPARATE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS THAT I ATTENDED LAST YEAR TO LOOK AT THESE ALTERNATIVE WATER ASPECTS AND THE RECLAIMED WATER PIECE. UH, I THOUGHT THAT A CONSENSUS EMERGED THEN THERE'S, THERE'S NO MAJOR CONTROVERSY AROUND THESE PIECES, AS FAR AS I'M AWARE. NO, I'VE HEARD OF NO MAJOR PULLBACK FROM BUILDERS, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH IS CERTAINLY NOT THE CASE WITH SOME OF THESE OTHER, UM, NON ZONING PIECES OF, OF THE OVERALL LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. SO I THINK IT OUGHT TO BE RELATIVELY EASY TO PULL THESE OUT AND PASS THEM INDEPENDENTLY. AND I WOULD ALSO JUST REMIND YOU THAT, UM, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHANGES IN CODES AND ORDINANCES IN RESPONSE TO ALICE 14. SO THAT MOVES SEPARATELY. IT'S NOW A PART OF OUR CITY CODE. UH, IT COULD HAVE BEEN ROLLED IN WITH THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. IT WAS NOT GOOD THING THAT WASN'T, OR THAT WOULD ALSO BE ON HOLD. SO I THINK, I THINK IT MAKES SENSE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TESTS AND, UH, JUST IT JUST BY WAY OF CLOSING QUICKLY, I THINK THERE'S AN IMPORTANT AFFORDABILITY DIMENSION TO THIS THAT IS SOMETIMES OVERLOOKED EVERY, EVERY, EVERY WATER THAT WE USE, AGAIN, EVERY DROP OF WATER THROUGH OUR PURPLE PIPE SYSTEM, EVERY DROP OF WATER THAT THE BUILDING CAPTURES AND USES ONSITE, THE AC CONDENSATE RAINWATER THAT'S HARVEST. SO THE TUNDRA IS, IS WATER THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO WITHDRAW FROM FROM THE RIVER. AND OF COURSE, THAT POSTPONES THAT MOMENT IN WHICH WE REACH THAT TRIGGER WITH OUR CONTRACT, WITH THE LCRA, WHERE WE HAVE TO START PAYING AT WHATEVER THE CURRENT MARKET RATE IS. AND I TAKE IT TODAY'S RATES, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE SIX AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS AND AN ADDITIONAL THAT'S AN ADDITIONAL HIT TO THE RIGHT PAYERS. UM, SO THIS HELPS US PUT THAT OFF, AND IT ALSO MEANS THAT WHOEVER'S USING THOSE BUILDINGS, USING THE WATER INSIDE THOSE BUILDINGS WILL HAVE TO PAY, UH, LAST MONEY FOR POTABLE WATER BECAUSE THEY'RE PURCHASING AND USING LESS POTABLE WATER. SO I THINK THERE'S A, A DOUBLE, UH, AFFORDABILITY BENEFIT TO DOING THIS. AND, AND SO I URGE YOU TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS, AND I'M HAPPY TO BRAINSTORM WITH WHOEVER, UH, TO SEE HOW WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. SO, THANKS TO THANKS FOR LISTENING AND THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK. UM, THANK YOU. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS. AND, UM, WE ALWAYS DO APPRECIATE HEARING FROM YOU CAUSE YOU'RE FOLLOWING THIS PROCESS CLOSELY AND HAVE LOTS OF GOOD INPUT. UM, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP TO THAT? I DID GET A TEXT FROM VANESSA THAT SHE HAS HER HAND UP AND I CAN NOT SEE WHEN PEOPLE RAISE THEIR HANDS. SO THERE'S A FLAW IN THE SYSTEM OF ME TRACKING HANDS, [00:30:02] BUT, UM, BUT, UH, VANESSA IS IN THE QUEUE TO TALK UNLESS ANYBODY WANTS TO RESPOND DIRECTLY TO DAVID'S COMMENT. WELL, I, ACTUALLY, MY QUESTION OR COMMENT IS RELATED TO THE DISCUSSION. SO, UM, I ACTUALLY HAD MY HAND UP BEFORE BILL ASKED HIS QUESTION BECAUSE I HAD THE EXACT SAME QUESTION AS, UM, AS WELL. SO I APPRECIATE THOSE THOUGHTS AND DAVID'S AS WELL. AND I AGREE WITH BOTH OF THEM. AND SO I'M WONDERING, UM, SINCE, YOU KNOW, I'M CURIOUS WHAT SOME OF THE OTHER TASK FORCE MEMBERS THINK AS WELL, BUT THIS SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD ADDRESS IN THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE. AND I'M WONDERING IF, WHEN WE HAVE OUR NEXT MEETING AND AUGUST, I THINK YOU SAID MERISSA, IF WE COULD, UM, MAKE THIS KIND OF LIKE A FOCUS OF IT, I WOULD LOVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE OTHER PATHWAYS ARE. YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE PROVISIONS THAT DAVID MENTIONED, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT OTHER, UM, ORDINANCES WE COULD, UM, YOU KNOW, FIT THOSE IN. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A DISCUSSION THAT Y'ALL WOULD HAVE WITH LEGAL, IF WE CAN DO THAT WITHIN THE ORDINANCE, MANY, BUT I, I AGREE WITH BILL AND I, I WOULD LIKE TO AT LEAST HOW MY STRATEGY LAID OUT, UM, IN THE EVENT THAT IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE IS GOING TO BE A MUCH LONGER PROCESS THAN WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE. SO WE DO HAVE A ORDINANCE SUB COMMITTEE, AND THIS IS DEFINITELY, THAT IS DEFINITELY A GREAT VENUE TO TALK ABOUT THIS. SO I APPRECIATE YOU NAMING THAT SPECIFICALLY. I WAS LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR INVITE FOR THAT, UM, AND THE MEETINGS ONLY SCHEDULED FOR AN HOUR AND THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME OTHER STUFF THAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT TOO. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO BE KICKING SOME OF THE AFFORDABILITY DISCUSSION THERE, SUMMARY. SO WE MAY NEED TO LOOK AT LENGTHENING THAT MEETING. I KNOW IT'S REALLY HARD TO FIT IT IN AN HOUR, AND THESE ARE GOING TO BE SOME, SOME BEEFY DISCUSSIONS. SO, UM, JUST MAKE IT OUT. I MADE A NOTE OF THAT TOO. UM, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE COMMENTS ON THIS? AS I SAID, I CANNOT SEE WHEN PEOPLE RAISE THEIR HANDS. SO THIS IS, UH, THIS IS ROBERT MASON, JUST BRIEFLY DITTO. WHAT OTHER FOLKS ARE SAYING. I'M A CONCERN THAT THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, UM, FIGHT COULD GO ON FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND THAT'S GOING TO HOLD UP, UH, IMPLEMENTATION. I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. OKAY, GREAT. AND YOU KNOW, ONE OF MY OBSERVATIONS, DAVID MADE A LOT OF GREAT COMMENTS ABOUT THIS. UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT HASN'T STOPPED IN AUSTIN DURING COVID IS CONSTRUCTION. IN FACT, ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME AND ALL THREE HOUSES, ONE, TWO, THREE IN A ROW NEXT TO ME HAVE MAJOR CONSTRUCTION HAPPENED. I WAS Y'ALL CAN PROBABLY HEAR IT, BUT THAT'S NOT BIG BUILDINGS THAT WOULD BE IMPACTED BY THIS, BUT IT'S HAPPENING WHEN YOU GO OUT, IT'S ALL OVER AUSTIN, AUSTIN, STEVE'S STILL BEING BUILT. SO, UM, THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR US TO REALIZE THESE SAVINGS. OKAY. SO WE WILL DEFINITELY DISCUSS THIS MORE IN THE ORDINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE. AND WE, I WILL TALK WITH MERISSA ABOUT, UM, HOW TO MAKE THAT DESIGN THAT AS A ROBUST CONVERSATION. UM, MAYBE WE CAN GET A NICU OR SOMEBODY ELSE THERE TO TALK WITH US AS WELL. UM, ANY MORE COMMENTS ON THIS ONE? OKAY. LET'S KEEP GOING. OKAY. UM, OKAY. UM, I ALSO, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I WANTED TO, UM, THANK DAVID FOR HIS MENTION OF OUR PAPER, UH, THAT PAPER THAT HE MENTIONED, UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT CHALLENGES PROTECTS ITS WATER RESOURCES AND THE CHANGING CLIMATE WAS, UH, PUBLISHED IN FUTURE. DR. LAMBERT MACE WAS A COAUTHOR ON THAT AS WELL AS JOHN NIELSEN, GAMMON AND JAY BANNER FROM UT AND RICHARD HELPED TOWER. AND I, UM, AND WATERFORD IS FEATURED IN THAT ARTICLE AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO INCLUDE CLIMATE CHANGE DATA AND LONG GRAY WATER SUPPLY PLANNING. SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND SEND YOU GUYS OUT A LINK TO THAT PAPER. SO YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AND GREAT. AND, YOU KNOW, I SAW THAT PRESS RELEASE HAS COME OUT FOR THAT FROM UT AND ANM AND PULLED IT UP AND LOVED SEEING ALL OF Y'ALLS NAMES IN IT. AND IT'S, IT WAS OUR ROBUST, STEADY, AND REALLY GOT TO REGIONAL WATER PLANNING, WHICH WE'RE ALSO ALL VERY INVOLVED IN ON THE STATE LEVEL, NOT ONLY IN AUSTIN AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT EXPERTS. SO IT'S A REALLY INTERESTING PAPER. UM, SO IF WE WANT TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE. GREAT. SO AT [00:35:01] THE JUNE 4TH, INDIRECT POTABLE REUSE SUBCOMMITTEE COMMITTEE, MEETING STAFF AND TASK FORCE MEMBERS DISCUSSION INCLUDED A RECAP OF IPR AS A DEEP DROUGHT EMERGENCY STRATEGY TO BE USED ONLY WHEN COMBINED STORAGE REACHES 400,000 ACRE FEET. WE ALSO DISCUSSED TIMING AND IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES FOR IPR, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED AS A STRATEGY TO BE BROUGHT ON BY 2040, OR POTENTIALLY EARLIER IN THE EVENT OF A SEVERE DROUGHT. AND OUR NEXT STEP ON THIS ITEM WILL INCLUDE REFINEMENT OF OUR NEAR TERM STRATEGY PLAN. THIS MEANS FURTHER RESEARCH AND STUDY AND A DEVELOPMENT OF AN INITIAL ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY. AND THAT'S SOME WORK THAT WE ENVISION GEARING UP OVER THE NEXT SIX TO NINE MONTHS. THE SUBCOMMITTEE IS PLANNING TO MEET EVERY SIX MONTHS. UM, AND SO WE HOPE I'M PLANNED TO HAVE, UH, SOME, UH, SIGNIFICANT CONTENT TO DISCUSS AT THE NEXT MEETING. ARE THERE, UM, ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT FOLKS WANT TO ADD TO THAT? CAN YOU REMIND US WHO'S ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE MERISSA UM, IT WAS ON THAT SUBCOMMITTEE. HANEY IS ON THAT SUBCOMMITTEE. UM, RUBBER MACE IS ON THAT SUB COMMITTEE, UM, AND PULLING UP THE EXCEL SPREADSHEET AS I'M TALKING OF LET'S SEE. CHARLENE AND VANESSA. OKAY. AYE. OKAY. SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE. UM, ON JUNE 15TH AND 16TH, AUSTIN WATER CONVENED, THE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP. THIS INCLUDES MEMBERS FROM A TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, OTHER UTILITIES IN TEXAS AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. UM, AS WELL AS TWO OF OUR TASKFORCE MEMBERS, UH, DR. BARBARA MACE AND THE MORIARITY, UH, WE HAD THREE SESSIONS, THREE HOUR AND A HALF LONG SESSIONS. THIS WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED TO BE HELD AS IN AN IN PERSON, UH, KIND OF WORKSHOP AND WITH THE VIRTUAL FORMAT, WE HAD TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS, BUT WE HAD THREE GREAT PRESENTATIONS. AND WE WERE GOING TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF, UM, THOSE PRESENTATIONS. AND IF YOU HAVE, UM, ANY, YOU KNOW, MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS, WE ALSO HAVE HELEN GREYLOCK ON THE LINE. UH, HOW LONG IS THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR OUR ASR, UM, PILOT PROJECT? SO JUST TO DIVE IN DENVER WATER PROVIDED A PRESENTATION ON OVERVIEW, UM, OF THEIR ASR PROGRAM AND ASR PILOTING PROJECT. THEY'RE WORKING ON A SMALLER SCALE ASR PROJECT, AND THEY'RE SEVERAL STEPS AHEAD OF AUSTIN IN THEIR PROCESS CURRENTLY WORKING ON CITING THE PILOTING. THEY, UM, DID PERFORM DESKTOP MODELING, UM, AND THEY ALSO DRILLED CORES AND GOT SAMPLES TO GET MORE DATA TO LIKE THEIR PILOT SITES. AND IT WAS AN INTERESTING COMPONENT. UM, THEY DESCRIBED HOW THEY PERFORMED AUDIO MODELING, UM, AS WELL TO UNDERSTAND THE NOISE EFFECTS OF THE DRILLING PROCESS AND TO BE ABLE TO MITIGATE THOSE NOISE EFFECTS ON, UH, EVEN FOLKS WHO WERE, UH, FOLKS WHO LIVED AROUND THAT AREA, UH, THEY'RE CURRENTLY WORKING TO, UM, PERFORM THEIR PILOT, UM, GET RESULTS FROM THAT PILOT, UM, AND ALSO GO THROUGH A PERMITTING PROCESS WITH DPA. NEXT SLIDE, DR. GRETCHEN MILLER ARE FROM TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY ALSO PROVIDED A REALLY INFORMATIVE PRESENTATION ON ASR, FEASIBILITY MODELING. SHE AND HER TEAM PERFORMED A STUDY EVALUATING THE CREW, THE WILCOX AND GULF COAST AQUIFERS FOR ASR FEASIBILITY. THEY USED THE AVAILABLE QUANTITATIVE DATA TO DEVELOP A SCORING AND WEIGHTING METHODOLOGY TO RANK DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ON THEIR RELATIVE POTENTIAL FOR AN ASR PROJECT. AND THEY ALSO LOOKED AT LOCAL SCALE CITING CONSIDERATIONS FOR A SEPARATE PROJECT. AND DR. MILLER PROVIDED US WITH, UM, THE, YOU KNOW, THAT INFORMATION WITH PRESENTATIONS AS WELL AS, UM, PAPERS THAT SHE HAD WRITTEN. AND ALL OF THAT INFORMATION WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND APPLICABLE TO OUR WORK NEXT MONTH. AND OUR AWS FINANCE TEAM ALSO PROVIDED AN, UH, PRESENTATION ON ASR FINANCING OPTIONS. UH, THEY PRESENTED ON THE CURRENT AWU FINANCING OR THE CURRENT AWS STRATEGY FOR ASR FUNDING AND PROVIDED A FINANCING OPTION OVERVIEW TO INCLUDE AN OVERVIEW OF TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, UM, SRS AND SWIFT LOANS, UM, AS COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL REVENUE BONDS. [00:40:01] AND THEY ALSO TALKED ABOUT HOW THEY MONITOR GRANTS AND OTHER POTENTIAL OPTIONS, UM, FOR APPLICABILITY TO OUR, UM, UH, FUNDING PROCESS. UM, THAT'S JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATIONS THAT WE RECEIVED, BUT WE'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE ON THOSE TOPICS. I KNOW SEVERAL OF YOU WILL SERVE ON THE ANSWER COMMITTEE. I JUST SAY, I'M SURE GLAD WE'RE NOT DEALING WITH THE CITY OF DENVER'S DOING. UM, AND I CERTAINLY RESPECT THE QUALITY AND THE INTELLECT BEHIND THE PRESENTATION, AND UNFORTUNATELY THEY'VE GOT DIFFERENT RULES, BUT THEY'RE PUTTING LITTLE ASR WELLS ALL OVER THE CITY. AND, UH, I JUST, AS IN HOW DIFFICULT THAT WOULD BE A, B, I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE STAFF'S PRESENTATION ON FINANCING. AND, UH, I CAN'T RECALL THE NAMES OF THE INDIVIDUALS, BUT I WAS QUITE IMPRESSED WITH THE DILIGENCE. AND I WAS IMPRESSED THAT THE ANSWER WOULD SEEMS LIKE THERE WAS GOING TO BE STRONG RELIANCE ON THE DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND LOAN PROGRAM OR FINANCING A PORTION OF IT OR, OR ALL OF THIS GETS, I THOUGHT IT WAS QUITE GOOD THAT THE, UH, YEAH, THIS IS MARISSA SAID THE PRESENTATIONS WERE, WERE GOOD. THE ONE THING, JUST, JUST AN INTERESTING TIDBIT WAS THAT, UH, FOR DENVER, IF THEY WANT TO BUY SURFACE WATER, THAT'S CLOSE TO DENVER. IT COSTS THEM 20,000 TO $25,000 AN ACRE FOOT, AND THEN SURFACE WATER IN THE AREA. IT CAN BE AS HIGH AS $80,000 PER, PER ACRE IN PURCHASING. SO, AND THAT, THAT MIGHT ALSO MAYBE HELP EXPLAIN THEIR APPROACH, UM, TO ASR, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, WHEN WATER IS THAT EXPENSIVE, YOU CAN AFFORD TO DO EXPENSIVE THINGS TO GET MORE WATER. YEAH. DENVER HAS A LOT OF INTERESTING CHALLENGES. I WAS JUST READING ABOUT THEIR NEW, THEIR NEW BUILDING THAT THEY JUST OPENED OR ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING. AND THEY'VE GOT THESE BIG RAINWATER CATCHMENT SYSTEMS ON THEM, BUT THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY LEGAL IN COLORADO, BUT THEY HAVE WATER RIGHTS THAT THEY CAN KIND OF TRADE FOR THAT. SO THEY'VE GOT THIS LIKE, YOU KNOW, BIG IN COLORADO, COLORADO HAS A LOT OF THINGS DIFFERENT. SO AS DO OTHER STATES IN GENERAL, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO LEARN WHAT OUR NEIGHBORS AND OTHER STATES ARE DOING. LEARN HOW GOOD OR BAD WE HAVE IT. OKAY. SO ANY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THAT SECTION? ALL RIGHT. [3C. Affordability Discussion – City Staff (15 min) i. Task Force Questions and Discussion`] LET'S MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM OR NEXT SECTION ON THE AGENDA. HOW COULD BRING UP THAT PRESENTATION IF YOU CLICKED THROUGH ONE MORE SLIDE, WE SHOULD BE GREAT WITH AUSTIN. WATER IS HERE TO PROVIDE US A PRESENTATION DISCUSSION. UH, THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON. UH, TASKFORCE MEMBERS. UM, YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD ABOUT AN ANALYSIS OR A STUDY THAT WAS PERFORMED FOR THE GUARDIAN AND A REPORT THAT WAS PROVIDED IN A RECENT ARTICLE, UH, IN THE GUARDIAN, UH, PROBABLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. AND IN THAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT AFFORDABILITY AND, AND REALLY THE UNAFFORDABILITY, UH, IN, IN LOOKING AT THAT POSSIBILITY ON DIFFERENT CITIES THROUGHOUT THE NATION. AND THEY NOTED THAT AUSTIN WATER HAD SIGNIFICANT, YOU KNOW, RATE INCREASES BETWEEN 2010 AND 2018 THAT, YOU KNOW, PROVIDED THAT THE AUSTIN WATER WAS SORT OF UNAFFORDABLE OR POTENTIALLY UNAFFORDABLE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. AND, AND SO WE HAVE DONE SOME ANALYSIS OF THAT AND WANTED TO PRESENT TO THE TASK FORCE. SOME OF OUR ANALYSIS ON THAT GUARDIAN REPORT AND SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT WE HAVE ABOUT HOW THEY HAVE, UH, WELL, WHAT THEY REPORTED. UH, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT WAS THE DATA THAT THEY USED FROM A CIRCLE OF BLUE ANALYSIS [00:45:01] THAT THEY DO, UM, EVERY SO OFTEN AN UPDATE FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, RATES WITHIN THE, UM, NATION DIFFERENT CITIES. AND THE TIMEFRAME WAS BETWEEN 2010 AND 2018. SO, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, REALLY TIMEFRAME DURING A SIGNIFICANT DROUGHT HERE IN AUSTIN AREA, WHERE WE HAD, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY PERMANENT 25% REDUCTIONS IN OUR WATER DEMAND THAT HAVE INFLUENCE OUR RATE INCREASES DURING THAT TIME. UH, BUT IT STILL IGNORED, UH, MORE RECENT TRENDS IN 2018 WHERE WE ACTUALLY REDUCED OUR RATES. AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, NO RATE CHANGES IN 2019, 2020, THERE'S NONE PROPOSED FOR 21. AND WE'RE PROJECTING THAT IN 22, WE WOULD HAVE NO RATE INCREASES AS WELL. SO SORT OF A DATED TITLE TYPE OF ANALYSIS THAT WE HAD SOME CONCERNS WITH. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WERE A LOT OF CONCERN FOR US WAS THE BILLS ARE CALCULATED AT A HIGHER WATER USE. THEY BASICALLY USE USE DATA FROM THE CIRCLE OF BLUE OF A HUNDRED GALLONS PER PERSON, PER DAY FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR, WHICH EQUATES TO BASICALLY 12,000 GALLONS FOR EACH MONTH, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN WHAT OUR AVERAGE CUSTOMER WOULD USE. IN FACT, IT'S MORE THAN DOUBLE, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR AVERAGE CUSTOMERS USE AROUND 5,800 GALLONS OF WATER PER MONTH IN ABOUT 66% OF OUR CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY USE AROUND THAT LEVEL ARE SMALLER. UH, IN CONTRAST, THE 12,000 GALLONS THAT THEY USED IN THE REPORT, UH, ONLY ABOUT 8% OF OUR CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY USE THAT LEVEL OF WATER. SO IT COMPLETELY USED A MUCH HIGHER WATER USE. UH, AND, AND OUR RATE STRUCTURES ARE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE AN INCENTIVE FOR CONSERVATION FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS. ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, THE REPORT WAS FOCUSED A LOT ON THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL, UH, THE, UH, LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS AND THE UNAFFORDABILITY FOR LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, BUT IN THE REPORT, THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION AT ALL ON OUR CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. AND WATER HAS VERY SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS WHERE QUALIFIED LOW-INCOME CUSTOMERS, IT'S SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNTS AS COMPARED TO, YOU KNOW, NON CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UH, BILLS. AND IN FACT, OUR LOW INCOME QUALIFYING CUSTOMERS HAVE DISCOUNTS CURRENTLY OF AROUND 45% COMPARED TO JUST REGULAR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS. AND IN FISCAL YEAR 21, WE'RE CONTINUING TO MAINTAIN OUR COVID RELATED 10% RATE REDUCTION FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS. AND SO THEIR DISCOUNT THROUGH 21 WOULD BE 51% DISCOUNT COMPARED TO, YOU KNOW, SORT OF NON-CASH RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS. UM, WE HAVE FOCUSED A LOT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS ON RATE REDUCTION FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, AND WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT RATE REDUCTION IN 2018, IN 2020, AND IN 2021 PROPOSED FOR THESE CUSTOMERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SOME OF THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, JUST SORT OF HISTORICAL CONTEXT. SO THIS, YOU KNOW, WE DID, UH, RAISE RATES SUBSTANTIALLY DURING THE DROUGHT OF RECORD BETWEEN 2011 AND 2015, AND EVEN THROUGH 2017 AS OUR WATER DEMAND DECREASED BY OVER 25%. AND SO OBVIOUSLY WE HAD TO SHORE UP OUR FINANCES AFTER THOSE SIGNIFICANT LOSSES DURING THE DROUGHT, UH, AND PROVIDED AN INCENTIVE FOR CONSERVATION TO PROTECT OUR WATER SUPPLY GOING FORWARD. SO OUR RATE STRUCTURE CHANGED TO HELP DO THAT DURING THAT TIMEFRAME AS WELL. AND SPEAKING OF OUR RATE STRUCTURE, WE HAVE A VERY STRONG CONSERVATION INCENTIVE. UH, SO WE HAVE TIERED FIXED FEES AND, AND VOLUME RATES, UM, UNDER THIS PARTICULAR ANALYSIS USING 12,000 GALLONS AND BLOCK FOUR IT'S, YOU KNOW, A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER FIXED FEE AND VOLUME RATES COMPARED TO SORT OF OUR AVERAGE CUSTOMER. SO THAT'S WHY YOU CAN SEE THAT DISPARITY IN, IN THE VOLUME THAT WAS SELECTED FOR THIS PARTICULAR STUDY. UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE 12,000 GALLONS, YOU KNOW, SIGNIFICANTLY [00:50:01] HIGHER FIXED VOLUME RATES, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST TO TOUCH A LITTLE BIT ON OUR AFFORDABILITY EFFORTS, UH, WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT DEBT MANAGEMENT AND ACTUALLY AFFORDABILITY METRICS, UH, REPORTS THAT WE PROVIDE. SO WE HAVE HAD APPROVAL OF OVER 266 MILLION IN LOW INTEREST LOAN FROM THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD MOVING FORWARD. AND, YOU KNOW, WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THOSE, UH, OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUNDING, UH, SOME OF OUR MAJOR CIP PROJECTS THROUGH THAT LOWER INTEREST LOANS. ALSO SINCE 2016, WE'VE DEFEATED DEBT OF OVER $200 MILLION USING CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES, UH, FROM DEVELOPMENT TO, UH, ACHIEVE DEBT SERVICE SAVINGS, UH, OVER MULTIPLE YEARS THAT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED SOME OF OUR FINANCIAL METRICS AS WELL AS ALLOWED US TO KEEP OUR RATES STABLE OVER THAT TIMEFRAME. AND THEN IN 2018, WE CONDUCTED A 2018, UH, AFFORDABILITY BENCHMARK STUDY, AND WE CONTINUE TO UPDATE THOSE METRICS ANNUALLY AND PRESENT THOSE, UH, TO OUR WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION AND COUNCIL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. UM, SO THAT JUST SORT OF KEEPS AN, UH, A LOOK AND A SORT OF ACCOUNTABILITY ON OUR AFFORDABILITY AND MAKING CERTAIN THAT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, TO PROVIDE A COUPLE OF THE, UH, AFFORDABILITY METRICS THAT COME OUT IN THAT REPORT THAT SORT OF RELATE TO SOME OF THE GUARDIAN ANALYSIS. SO NEXT SLIDE, IF YOU WOULD, FIRST GRAPH, THERE WE GO. UM, SO THIS PARTICULAR METRIC COMPARES 37 CITIES WITH AUSTIN ON A RESIDENTIAL LOW VOLUME USERS. SO THIS IS USING 3000 GALLONS OF WATER IN 2000 GALLONS OF WASTEWATER AND COMPARES THE BILLS OF ALL THESE CITIES WITH AUSTIN WATER, UH, WHICH YOU'LL SEE IS LISTED AS AUSTIN, TEXAS, WHICH IS JUST OUR RESIDENTIAL, NON CAP CUSTOMER. AND THEN UP AT THE TOP, YOU'LL SEE AN AUSTIN CAP, UH, HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW. THAT IS OUR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR 20 CAP CUSTOMER BILL AT THIS LEVEL. AND THEN OUR PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 21 CAP CUSTOMER ALSO IN YELLOW IS THE, UH, PROPOSED FOR, FOR THAT YEAR. SO YOU CAN SEE THAT WE'RE RIGHT ABOUT THE 50TH PERCENTILE FOR OUR NON CAP CUSTOMERS WITH A BILL FOR THESE GALLONS AT ABOUT $42, UH, 29 CENTS. BUT YOU CAN SEE FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, WHICH ARE OUR MOST VULNERABLE, LOW INCOME CUSTOMERS, UH, THEY ARE CURRENTLY THE LOWEST BILLS OF ALL OF THESE CITIES, UH, AND PROPOSED FOR FISCAL YEAR 21, STILL A REDUCTION OF OVER A DOLLAR. SO WE ARE COMPLETELY VERY AFFORDABLE FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS. AND THIS GRAPHIC SHOWS THAT COMPARED TO SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES THAT MANY CITIES DO NOT HAVE A CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, OR IF THEY DO, IT'S VERY LIMITED COMPARED TO, UH, AUSTIN WATER. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS A SIMILAR GRAPHIC WITH THE SAME KIND OF NOTATIONS WITH THIS IS OUR AVERAGE VOLUME USER. AND SO THIS IS 5,800 GALLONS PER WATER, 4,000 GALLON WASTEWATER. SO THIS WOULD BE SIMILAR TO, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY, UH, THE LOW VOLUME USE OUR SORT OF THE AVERAGE USE THAT WAS SHOWN IN THE CIRCLE OF BLUE, AS OPPOSED TO THIS REPORT THAT USE THE HIGH USE OF 12,000 GALLONS. SO FOR THIS, YOU CAN SEE OUR GOAL FOR OUR NON CAP. UH, CUSTOMERS IS THE 65TH PERCENTILE. WE'RE AT 80 79. UH, CURRENTLY THAT'S BEEN THAT WAY SINCE 2018, UH, CAUSE WE HAVE HAD NO RATE INCREASES. SO WE CONTINUE TO, TO IMPROVE A LITTLE BIT ON THAT PARTICULAR GOAL AS OTHER CITIES HAVE RATE INCREASES, BUT THEN YOU CAN SEE OUR CAP CUSTOMER CURRENTLY IS RANKED ABOUT SIXTH OUT OF ALL THESE CITIES AND WITH THE PROPOSAL FOR FISCAL YEAR 21, WE WOULD BE RANKED FOURTH FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, WHICH PROVIDES, YOU KNOW, THOSE [00:55:01] CAP CUSTOMERS WITH A VERY AFFORDABLE WATER FEES, AVERAGE CUSTOMER LEVELS. UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS JUST SORT OF A RECAP OF OUR HISTORICAL CAP CUSTOMER BILLS. UH, WE HAD NO PROGRAM IN 2008, SO ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS WERE TREATED THE SAME. WE DID NOT HAVE A CAP CUSTOMER DISCOUNT, AND WE INITIATED THAT IN 2009 WITH FIXED FEE DISCOUNTS THAT BROUGHT THAT AVERAGE BILL DOWN TO WHERE YOU SEE THERE AROUND $33. AND THEN IN 2013 WE HAD ADDED TO THAT ADDITIONAL WATER VOLUME DISCOUNTS. UM, IN ADDITION TO THE FIXED FEE DISCOUNTS IN 2018, WE ACTUALLY INCREASED OUR, WE HAD A RATE DECREASE AND THEN WE ALSO ADDED THE WASTEWATER VOLUME DISCOUNTS THAT PROVIDED FOR BASICALLY ABOUT 11% A RATE DECREASE FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS AT THAT TIME. AND THEN IN 2020, WE HAD A RATE REDUCTION FOR OUR CAP CUSTOMERS. IT WAS $4 AND THE VOLUME METRIC RATES. UM, SO THAT BROUGHT DOWN THAT BILL AVERAGE BILL FURTHER. AND THEN IN FISCAL YEAR 21, WE'RE CONTINUING OUR COVID-19 RATE REDUCTION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. AND SO THAT BROUGHT IT DOWN, UH, ANOTHER $4 AND 38 CENTS, UH, BASICALLY 10%, UH, TO, TO SHOW WHERE WE ARE OR WILL BE IN FISCAL YEAR 21, WHICH WHEN YOU COMPARE TO PRIOR TO, UH, THIS ACTUAL PROGRAM GOING INTO EFFECT, WE'RE ACTUALLY AT A AVERAGE BILL THAT IS LOWER THAN WHAT IT WAS IN 2008, BASICALLY 12 YEARS PRIOR. SO WE'VE MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON OUR CAP, CUSTOMER WATER AND WASTEWATER BILLS. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GUARDIAN REPORT JUST DIDN'T REFLECT THIS KIND OF INFORMATION. AND, UM, WE JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU THIS INFORMATION AND WITH THAT, WE CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT, THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE. GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH IN THIS PRESENTATION DAY. THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING. MERISSA DID YOU SAY DAVID FOSTER WOULD MAKE A COMMENT ITEM B, WHICH YOU ALREADY DID AND C WHICH IS THIS ONE YOU MIGHT BE ON MUTE MERISSA OR YOU'RE NOT ON MUTE ON MY PHONE. OKAY. I AM, I DO BELIEVE IT WAS THIS ITEM. SO I THINK IT'S, UH, COULD CONNECT US TO SPEAKER IF YOU STILL ON THE LINE. YES, I'M STILL HERE. CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEP. YES. HELLO? OKAY, GREAT. I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AGAIN, UH, IF, IF IT'S OK. UH, AND I'LL BE VERY BRIEF, UH, I, I WANT TO THANK DAVE AS WELL FOR THAT PRESENTATION. UH, AND I REMEMBER WHEN AUSTIN REVISED ITS RATE STRUCTURE SOME YEARS AGO, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT ITS REVENUES WERE STABLE ENOUGH, YOU KNOW, SO WE COULD MOVE FORWARD TO SOME OF THESE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAYS, SEEM TO ME AS WE'RE NOT SELLING AS MUCH WATER AND THAT THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN. I JUST HAD A QUESTION, UH, THAT CIRCLE OF WATER REPORT THAT THE GUARDIAN PROBABLY HAS ANOTHER METRIC. IT'S THE NOTION THAT NO HASSLE SHOULD PAY MORE THAN 4% OF ITS INCOME FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICES. AND I'M WONDERING WHAT THE SITUATION IS HERE IN AUSTIN. IS THERE A GROUP OF, UM, HOUSEHOLDS IN THE CITY THAT EVEN WITH THE CAP PROGRAM IS PAYING MORE THAN 4% OF THEIR HOUSEHOLD INCOME FOR WATER WASTEWATER SERVICES, AND THINK OF ALL THE, UH, RELEASE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF MULTIGENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT, FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE THE OVERALL HOUSEHOLD, WHY YOU MIGHT SEEM HIGH, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THAT HOUSE, THEIR PER CAPITA USE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE VERY LOW, UH, AND, AND DO OUR PROGRAMS, UH, ARE THEY STRUCTURED IN A WAY THAT MEET THE NEEDS OF THOSE HOUSEHOLDS? AND IS THERE A WAY TO COMPLIMENT OUR CAP PROGRAM WITH A PROGRAM THAT ALSO MEETS THIS 4% METRIC? [01:00:04] THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. UM, WE, WE DO HAVE A METRIC THAT WE DIDN'T INCLUDE TODAY. UM, AND IT IS A, BASICALLY A WATER AND WASTEWATER BILL AS A PERCENT OF MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME. AND THAT IS A METRIC THAT MANY UTILITIES ACROSS THE NATION USE, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT, UH, IT'S NOT VERY REPRESENTATIVE SOMETIMES OF THE LOW INCOME CAUSE YOU'RE JUST LOOKING AT MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME. AND SO AUSTIN, UH, WE HAVE A GOAL OF OUR, UM, AVERAGE BILL BEING, YOU KNOW, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS BEING BELOW 1.5% OF THE MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME FOR THE CITY. AND WE ARE CURRENTLY AT ABOUT 1.4, 4%. SO WE ARE MEETING THAT GOAL SIGNIFICANTLY, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE DESCRIBING, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT MORE ON A CENSUS TRACK BASIS, THERE ARE SOME CENSUS TRACKS THAT MIGHT HAVE A MUCH LOWER MEDIAN INCOME WITHIN THAT CENSUS TRACT, AND YOU CAN GET THAT INFORMATION. AND SO THERE ARE SOME, UH, CENSUS TRACKS THAT INSTEAD OF HAVING A $70,000 MEDIAN INCOME IN AUSTIN AS A WHOLE MIGHT ONLY HAVE A 35 OR 40,000. AND SO THIS AVERAGE BILL WOULD BE CLOSER TO THREE, 4% IN THAT VICINITY. BUT I THINK OUR AVERAGE BILL IS PRETTY GOOD FROM A, UM, A STANDPOINT OF, YOU KNOW, A PERCENT OF, OF INCOME, BUT I'M SURE THERE ARE CENSUS TRACKS AROUND THE CITY WHERE WE MIGHT, UH, BEAT THAT 4%. IT'D BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, UH, JUST USING THAT AVERAGE. SO WE HAVE DONE SOME ANALYSIS IN THE PAST, UH, UH, PARTIALLY TO LOOK AT IT BY CENSUS TRACK, BUT THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT UNDERTAKING TO LOOK AT THAT AND TRY TO GET BILLS. CAUSE YOU'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THE AVERAGE CONSUMPTION AND THE AVERAGE BILLS WITHIN THAT CENSUS TRACK AND COMPARE THAT TO THE MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME WITHIN THAT CENSUS TRACT. AND IT'S JUST A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DATA. WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT IN A WHILE, BUT YOU KNOW, THE LAST TIME WE DID, THERE WAS SOME CENSUS TRACKS WHERE WE, WE HAD HIGHER PERCENTAGES OF MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME. THANK YOU FOR THAT. DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE TEST SCORES? THIS IS QUESTIONS LET'S DO BILL AND THEN SOMEBODY ELSE, WHOEVER THAT WAS COULD GO AFTER BILL, UH, DAVE, THERE WAS A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE CAP PROGRAM IN TERMS OF PEOPLE GETTING ON IT. IT REALLY SHOULDN'T BE, I KNOW THE CITY HAS ENDEAVORED TO TIGHTEN THAT UP. WOULD YOU SAY WE'VE GOT THAT TIGHTENED UP PRETTY WELL, SUCH THAT ONLY THE DESERVING ARE GETTING THOSE CAP BENEFITS? UH, YES, WE DID REVISE THAT IN WORK W WORKING WITH AUSTIN TD AND THE COUNCIL, WE REVISE THAT QUITE A BIT. UH, SO THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT RESTRICTIONS AS FAR AS, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ELIGIBLE RATHER THAN AUTO ENROLLING, EVERY ELIGIBLE PERSON THAT COMES UP, THERE ARE CERTAIN CONDITIONS THAT THEY CHECKED FOR. UH, I THINK ONE OF THOSE IS, UH, LIKE THE, UM, VALUE OF THE PROPERTY ON THAT PARTICULAR ONE. SO, YOU KNOW, IF SOMEBODY HAD A, A MILLION DOLLAR HOME, BUT THEY HAD A, A MOTHER-IN-LAW THAT WAS ON MEDICAID, UH, LIVING WITH THEM, THOSE MIGHT HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN AUTO-ENROLLED. AND, AND NOW FOR THOSE KINDS OF CIRCUMSTANCES, AUSTIN ENERGY, DOESN'T JUST DENY THEM, BUT THEY PROVIDE AN ABILITY FOR A, YOU KNOW, AN ACTUAL, UM, SORT OF A HAND SUBMITTED, UH, APPLICATION. SO THEY REACH OUT TO THAT CUSTOMER AND SAY, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE, BUT WE SEE THESE CONDITIONS. SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR THE CAP CUSTOMERS, THEN, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND THEY STILL HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY. SO THAT HAS TIGHTENED IT UP. AND THERE'S SEVERAL RESTRICTIONS THAT GO THROUGH TO TRY AND MAKE CERTAIN THEY'RE ONLY PROVIDING THOSE [01:05:01] TO, UH, THOSE CUSTOMERS THAT REALLY NEED THAT, UH, THAT BENEFIT. THIS IS ROBERT MACE. UM, LAST, UH, DURING THE PRESENTATION TWO COMMENTS, FIRST ONE IS EARLIEST SPRING. IF THE CENTRAL TEXAS WATER CONSERVATION SYMPOSIUM, UH, WE HEARD, UH, DAVID SWITZER FROM UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, TALK ABOUT BALANCING AFFORDABILITY AND CONSERVATION WATER RATES SET SETTING. AND, UM, AND IN HIS OPINION, HE THOUGHT, UM, AVERAGE WATER BILL DIVIDED BY MEDIAN HOUSE INCOME, UM, WAS, IS HOW THINGS ARE TYPICALLY DONE, BUT IT'S NOT VERY GOOD. AND, UH, I'D HAVE NOTES ON OTHER THINGS HE SAID TO CONSIDER. I DON'T HAVE A NOTE ON ACTUALLY WHAT HE RECOMMENDED, BUT, BUT, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, PERCENT OF DISPOSABLE INCOME AND WHAT PERCENT OF THAT DISPOSABLE INCOME IS A WATERVILLE, SOME COAL THERE'S PLENTY AFFORDABILITY FOR THE 20TH PERCENTILE RATHER THAN AFFORDABILITY FOR THE MEDIAN. AND THEN, UH, THEN ANOTHER WAY HE OFFERED WAS HOURS OF MINIMUM WAGE TO AFFORD WATER. UM, MY SECOND COMMENT IS, IS, UH, I REALLY LIKE THAT JERSEY, YOU HAVE HANGING BEHIND YOU APPRECIATE THAT. YEAH, YOU'RE VERY, YOU'RE VERY GOOD WITH THE, UM, WITH THE OTHER METRICS AND OUR, UH, AFFORDABILITY METRIC REPORT DOES INCLUDE, UH, TWO ADDITIONAL METRICS THAT HAVE BEEN PUT FORTH BY A, UM, A MANNY TEODORO WHO IS AN AFFORDABILITY EXPERT FROM THE TEXAS A AND M. AND HE HAS WORKED WITH AUSTIN WATER. AND IN FACT, HE'S CURRENTLY WORKING WITH US TO, UM, PROVIDE SOME FINAL UPDATES ON AN AR 20 AS HE CALLS IT AND THEN AN HOURLY WAGE, UH, METRIC. AND SO WE DO HAVE THOSE TWO METRICS THAT WE HAVE REPORTED ON SINCE 2018. AND WE HAVE MADE SOME IMPROVEMENTS ON THAT, AND IT SHOWS SIMILARLY THAT OUR CAP CUSTOMERS, UM, UH, AND THE PERCENTAGE THAT THEY WOULD USE FOR THE LOW INCOME AT THE 20TH PERCENTILE WOULD USE IS VERY LOW PERCENTAGES. THERE ARE OUR CAP, CUS ARMY. NOW NON CAP IS AT AROUND 5% AND I DON'T HAVE IT RIGHT UP. BUT I THINK OUR, OUR CAP CUSTOMERS ARE ABOUT 2.7% AND HIS SORT OF RECOMMENDED WAS BELOW 10%. SO WE'RE DOING EXTREMELY WELL ON THOSE METRICS. AND THOSE WILL BE INCLUDED IN OUR, UH, UPDATE THIS YEAR OF OUR AFFORDABILITY METRIC REPORT. AND WE ARE, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE RIGHT IN THE PROCESS RIGHT NOW OF FINALIZING THAT. AND PROBABLY WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, UH, WE'LL HAVE THAT OUT. AND OUR INTENTION GENERALLY IS TO PROVIDE THAT TO COUNSEL, UH, UH, OR, OR THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. SO, UM, I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO PROVIDE THAT TO MARISA, TO PROVIDE TO THE TASK FORCE, UH, SO THAT YOU CAN SEE ALL THE AFFORDABILITY METRICS AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE. AND IT ALSO WILL SPEAK TO IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD SINCE THE PRIOR YEAR AS WELL. THAT'S GREAT. AND IT'S ALWAYS INTERESTING HOW THESE THINGS CIRCLE AROUND. SO DAVID SWITZER SPOKE AT THE WATER SYMPOSIUM CAUSE, UM, I HAD INVITED MANNY TO SPEAK MANY TEODORO AND HE, UM, ENDED UP NOT BEING AVAILABLE, BUT DAVID WORKS WITH HIM. UM, SO I ACTUALLY, ROBERT I'LL SEND YOU A COPY OF HIS PRESENTATION. I JUST SAW IT ON MY DESKTOP LAST NIGHT. SO YOU HAVE THE COMPLETE PACKAGE AND IT'S REALLY GREAT TO HEAR THAT, UM, THAT MANNY'S DOING SOME WORK WITH AUSTIN. I REMEMBER HIM MENTIONING THAT AS WELL. SO, UM, THIS IS ALL REALLY INTERESTING. AND DAVE, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU AND RESPONSE TO A NEWS ARTICLE, BUT IT SENT SOME RIPPLES AROUND, YOU KNOW, AS THEY WILL, UM, UH, PUTTING, PUTTING TOGETHER SOME INFORMATION FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER, UM, ON THE SURFACE, JUST YOU GOING THROUGH IT, I FEEL, YOU KNOW, PRETTY GOOD. I HAVE KNOWLEDGE I DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE ABOUT HOW WE'RE DOING GOOD WORK ON THIS. AND I DO REMEMBER DURING THE DROP OUT, UM, WHY DON'T YOU USE WENT DOWN A LOT? UM, AND AUSTIN WATER WAS REALLY SCRAMBLING. AND I REMEMBER THERE WAS A JOINT COMMITTEE OF, UM, RMC AND WATER WASTEWATER, AND I BELIEVE MAYBE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION TO GET TOGETHER, TO LOOK AT RATES AND TO WORK WITH AUSTIN WATER. AND IT WAS A BIG SCRAMBLE THAT BIG DEAL AND THEY NEEDED TO ADDRESS IT. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ALSO CONTEXT THAT, THAT WASN'T IN THE ARTICLE. UM, SO ANYWAY, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO DO THIS. DO OTHER FOLKS HAVE QUESTIONS ON THIS? OKAY. I CAN SEND IT TO SAY SOMETHING. FIRST OF ALL, I WANT [01:10:01] TO THANK DAVID FOR JOINING US TODAY IN THIS MEETING AND PROVIDING SOME INSIGHT, I WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND TO ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WHEN WE GET THAT AFFORDABILITY METRICS REPORT, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD MEAT THERE THAT, THAT DOES TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THE GOOD WORK THAT UTILITY OVERALL IS TRYING TO ADVANCE RESPECTFUL AFFORDABILITY IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO AGAIN, THANKS DAVID FOR SITTING IN AND, UM, ASKING FOR THOSE THAT ARE INTERESTED. THERE'S GOOD INFORMATION AND GOOD WORK IS HAPPENING. IT'S A LITTLE UNFORTUNATE HOW SOME THINGS WERE CHARACTERIZED, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, SUCH AS OUR CHALLENGE, WELL, IT ALSO GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IT. AND LUCKILY IT SOUNDS LIKE AUSTIN WAS ALREADY DOING A BUNCH OF RESEARCH AND DIGGING INTO YOUR RATES. UM, SO LET'S MAKE SURE THAT THE FOLKS ON THE TASK FORCE GET COPIES OF THAT REPORT WHEN IT COMES OUT, BECAUSE, UM, WE TRY TO BE REALLY PROACTIVE ABOUT TALKING TO OUR, THE PEOPLE THAT APPOINTED US TO SERVE ON THE TASK FORCE AND AFFORDABILITY COMES UP. SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE, UM, THE INFORMATION THAT Y'ALL ARE WORKING HARD TO PUT TOGETHER IN ORDER TO, UM, INFORM THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND TO POINT THEM TOWARDS IT, UM, ON AFFORDABILITY ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE ON OUR WATER ORDINANCE TASKFORCE AND INCLUDE AFFORDABILITY IN THAT. AND WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT AFFORDABILITY AS FAR AS WATERFORD ORDINANCE GOES AND HOW IT IMPACTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND OTHER ASPECTS. UM, SO WE WANT TO CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION. UM, WHEN WE, WHEN WE, UM, CONVENE THE COMMITTEE ON AUGUST 12TH, UM, I KNOW WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, AND THEY'VE HAD STAFF CHANGES RECENTLY. AND SO I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING SAM AND VIRTUALLY AND TALKING ABOUT THAT SOME MORE AND CONTINUING THAT CONVERSATION AS WELL. CAUSE THAT'S, UM, REALLY IMPORTANT TO US AS WELL, CAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO RUN, UH, GET SOME OF THAT WRONG AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION. AND WHEN WE GO IN WITH EYES WIDE OPEN. SO, UM, OKAY. SO WE CAN GO AHEAD AND KEEP MOVING UNLESS ANYONE ELSE HAS COMMENTS, RIGHT? I'M TURN IT [Items 4 & 5: 4. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 5. ADJOURN] BACK OVER TO, MERISSA JUST BE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS I WILL MENTION JUST QUICKLY BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, THAT, UM, JUST FOR SOME DATES FOR FOLKS TO REMEMBER, UM, OUR NEXT MEETING, OUR NEXT GOAL TASK FORCE MEETING WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER 1ST. AND RIGHT NOW IT'S SHOWING ON YOUR OUTLOOK CALENDARS AS SEPTEMBER 1ST, JUST TO NOTE THAT THAT WILL LIKELY CHANGE. UM, WE'LL BE COORDINATING WITH THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS COORDINATOR TO SCHEDULE THAT, MEETING THAT AS A, WE SENT OUT VIA EMAIL AND THIS LAST COORDINATING GROUNDS, UH, WE'RE ONLY ABLE TO SCHEDULE THOSE MEETINGS ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE OF THE WEEK THAT THE MEETING WILL BE HELD. SO, UM, JUST KIND OF KEEP THAT WEEK OPEN IF YOU WILL. UM, BECAUSE WE MAY HAVE TO ADJUST THE DATE AND THE TIME OF THAT MEETING, AND IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT WE WILL HAVE TO DO THAT. UH, WE'LL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED AS SOON AS WE KNOW ANYTHING Y'ALL WILL KNOW ANYTHING. UH, SO THAT WE KNOW, UH, YES, I JUST, I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE SAW THAT EMAIL AND UNDERSTANDS THAT BECAUSE WE DISCUSSED THIS IN A MEETING TO TALK ABOUT THIS MEETING, BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, PLEASE HAVE FORGIVENESS ON THE SCHEDULING BECAUSE, BECAUSE ALSO THEIR WATER IN THE CITY IS DEALING WITH JUGGLING A LOT OF COMMISSION MEETINGS AND DIFFERENT MEETINGS. AND SO THEY COULD ONLY BE SCHEDULED A WEEK IN ADVANCE. SO WHEN YOU GET THESE DOODLE POLLS WITH SHORT NOTICE, UM, THINK EXPANSIVELY ABOUT YOUR AVAILABILITY. SO WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET ON THE CALENDAR AND WE CAN HAVE A QUORUM. UM, IT'S NOT IDEAL, BUT IT'S THE SITUATION THAT WE HAVE. SO WHEN YOU THAT, IF THERE'S THINGS YOU CAN MOVE TO INCREASE YOUR AVAILABILITY, IT'S WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS AVAILABLE. UM, PLEASE THINK ABOUT DOING THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE A SMALL WINDOW AND IF WE CAN'T GET SOMETHING SCHEDULED WAS A FORM IN THAT WEEK, MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MEET. THANK YOU. YES, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE A QUORUM IN ANY MEETINGS THAT WE SCHEDULE, BUT WE'VE BEEN DOING A GOOD JOB SO FAR, AND WE WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR FLEXIBILITY IN SCHEDULING THESE MEETINGS. YOU REALLY APPRECIATE IT BECAUSE WE KNOW IT'S A DIFFICULT TIME FOR EVERYBODY AND EVERYONE IS JUGGLING A LOT. AND WE APPRECIATE THAT. UH, JUST A COUPLE OF OTHER DATES. UM, WE DO HAVE SCHEDULED A LEAD ABATEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE FOR JULY 21ST THAT'S NEXT WEEK, UM, AND SHOULD BE ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS CALENDARS. [01:15:01] I JUST WANTED TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THAT TO FOLKS ATTENTION AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, UM, THAT THAT IS STILL A GOOD DATE FOR EVERYONE. UM, IF YOU HAVE ANY, UH, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERATIONS OR AVAILABILITY ISSUES WITH THAT DATE, IF YOU COULD JUST LET ME KNOW THAT WE CAN WORK THROUGH THAT, THAT'S COMING UP PRETTY QUICKLY. AND THEN OUR NEXT ORDINANCE SUB COMMITTEE MEETING IS GOING TO BE PLANNED FOR AUGUST 12TH. LIKE WE DISCUSSED THAT ALSO SHOULD BE ON YOUR CALENDAR RIGHT NOW, IT'S SET UP AS A SKYPE CALL AND I'LL BE ADJUSTING THAT TO MAKE IT INTO A MICROSOFT TEAM CALL. UM, THOSE ARE ALL THE KIND OF DATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS I HAD. UM, IF WE WANT, IF ANYONE HAS ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, UM, THAT THEY WANT TO, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO LOOK INTO ADDING AN EXTRA 30 MINUTES MEETING SO WE CAN USE THAT TIME FOR DISCUSSION IF WE NEED TO. OKAY. AND I PRESUME THAT'S AN OPEN MEETING AND I WOULD BE ABLE TO JOIN THAT IF THEY WANT TO. THESE, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS ARE NOT PUBLICLY POSTED MEETINGS. UM, IF WE DID, YOU KNOW, IF WE WANTED THOSE TO BE PUBLICLY POSTED MEETINGS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS, UH, KIND OF BOARD THING, COMMISSION SCHEDULING PROCESS FOR THE VIRTUAL MEETING. AND I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO WE RUN INTO THE SAME PROBLEM WAS DOING SCHEDULE THIS. UM, OKAY. SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT. ANYTHING ELSE FROM OTHER SITES MERISSA, I'M SORRY, WHEN DID YOU SAY THAT? WHEN THE IPR POTABLE REUSE SUBCOMMITTEE IS MEETING THAT SUBCOMMITTEE, WE TALKED ABOUT HAVING THAT EVERY SIX MONTHS AND THE LAST MEETING. AND SO, AND MY CALENDAR THAT THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER OF 2020. OKAY. OKAY. WELL, I WANNA THANK EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE TODAY AND FOR MERISSA AND ALL THE FOLKS THAT ALSO WATER AND CITY HALL FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN. UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF MEETINGS HAPPENING. THIS WENT REALLY SMOOTHLY. UH, AS I COULD HERE, I HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE IN THE LAST MEETING BEING ABLE TO HEAR STUFF AND PARTICIPATE. SO THIS, THIS WENT MUCH BETTER FOR ME. UM, AND I HOPE IT DID FOR EVERYBODY AS WELL, BUT, UM, IT'S A NICE WAY TO CLOSE OUT OUR FRIDAY. SO HOPEFULLY EVERYONE'S JUST GONNA TAKE THE REST OF THE DAY OFF AND, UM, IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU ALL, AND WE'LL SEE YOU ON, ON THE OTHER SIDE AND WE HAVE MORE MEETINGS COMING UP NEXT WEEK. THANKS EVERYBODY. . * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.