[00:00:01]
SO LONG BLUE MOON, YOU APPROVE ALL THE MINUTES AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO THE SPEAKER.
UM, AFTER WE DO THAT, SO WE HAVE MINUTES TO, OH WAIT, LET ME CALL IT ORDER.
[CALL TO ORDER]
CALLING THE, UM, AUSTIN WATERS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER AT ONE OH TWO, UM, ON APRIL 19TH.[Approval of Minutes]
APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 28TH, 2020 REGULAR MEETING OF AUSTIN WATERSIDE.UM, WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
DO I HAVE A MOTION MOTION FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ELLA SECOND FROM COUNCIL MEMBER POOL.
THE SECOND SET OF MINUTES WE HAVE TO APPROVE ARE FROM THE MARCH 3RD AND THE MARCH 31ST, UH, MEETINGS OF THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
I GUESS WE'LL TAKE THOSE TOGETHER.
CAN, UM, UH, DO I HEAR A MOTION FOR APPROVAL FROM COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS, THE SECOND FROM COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AND I HAVE ONE COMMENT TO MAKE.
UM, WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND COMMENT.
UM, I NOTICED THAT EVEN THOUGH BOTH OF THOSE MEETINGS WERE A COMBINATION OF JOINT MEETING OF OUR OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES, AUSTIN ENERGY AND AUSTIN WATER, THE MARCH 31ST ONE TALKED ABOUT US, UM, CONVENING AND THEN A JOURNEY AND THEN CONVENING THE SECOND, THE OTHER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
BUT THE FIRST ONE JUST HAS ONE GENERAL CONVENING AND ONE GENERAL, A GERMAN, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE THE SAME, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST IN, IN OUR MINDS.
SO I DON'T THINK IT HAS ANY STRUCTURAL MAKES ANY STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCE, BUT I WANTED TO NOTE THAT EVEN THOUGH WE CONDUCTED THE MEETINGS THE SAME WAY, BOTH TIMES THEY WERE MEMORIALIZED DIFFERENTLY BY STAFF.
DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD MAKE AN EDIT THERE OR DO YOU THINK HE JUST WANTED TO NOTE IT ON THE ROAD? I JUST WANT TO NOTE IT AND LET'S PICK ONE OR THE OTHER SO THAT IT DOESN'T GET CONFUSING FOR PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE.
SHOULD WE DO THIS AGAIN? WHICH I KNOW WE'RE NOT REALLY PLANNING TO DO.
UM, BUT, BUT WHEN, AND IF WE DO, BUT WE SHOULD BE CLEARER ABOUT IT.
ALL IN FAVOR WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US, A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 3RD AND THE MARCH 31ST REGULAR MEETING.
WE HAVE, UM, APPROVAL FROM THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WITH, UM, VICE CHAIR, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER OF THE DICE.
[Citizen Communication: General]
WE'RE GOING TO START FIRST WITH OUR CITIZENS COMMUNICATION AND WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER, JAMES PETERSON, AND I BELIEVE JUST MR. PETERSON'S FROM DISTRICT 10, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING, CORRECT? YEAH.MR. PETERSON, IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD.
UM, I JUST GOT A SCAM IN AT THE RIGHT SAME TIME, BUT I THINK WE CAN HEAR YOU.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE MAY HAVE TO COME BACK TO MR. PETERSON.
HE JUST DROPPED OFF THE CALL FOR SOME REASON.
WHY DON'T YOU TRY HIM REAL QUICK? WE'LL WAIT JUST A MINUTE.
I CAN ATTEMPT TO CALL THE SPEAKER.
HE SEEMED TO HAVE DISCONNECTED HIMSELF INADVERTENTLY.
MR. PETERSON, MR. PETERSON, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, BUT THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ALWAYS A LITTLE BIT WEIRD.
[00:05:01]
FOR WANTING TO TALK WAS ABOUT WASTEWATER AVERAGING AND THE BIG FREEZE ISSUES.BUT I GOT A CALL THIS MORNING FROM JESSICA AT AUSTIN WATER AND SHE EXPLAINED WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND EVERYTHING SEEMS REALLY FINE THERE.
SHE EXPLAINED IT ALL CAREFULLY.
UM, AND I UNDERSTAND ALL OF THAT.
AND, AND SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING THAT I NEED TO TALK ABOUT ON THAT.
BUT ORIGINALLY, UM, BACK IN NOVEMBER, I HAD WANTED TO TALK TO THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ABOUT A BILLING ISSUE, UM, WITH THE WAY THAT THE RATE STRUCTURES ARE SET UP, WHICH IS REALLY MORE OF JUST A COMMENT ON IT IN TERMS OF WHEN RATES ARE, UM, TO BE READJUSTED IN THE FUTURE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER US A DIFFERENT ASPECT OF IT.
AND I DIDN'T WANT TO IMPOSE THAT ON THE, WHICH IS WHY I'VE HELD OFF OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MEETINGS.
BUT IF THIS IS AN OPPORTUNE TIME, I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS THAT.
YOU HAVE ANOTHER COUPLE OF MINUTES, PLEASE.
UM, SO I GOT MY OCTOBER BILL AND IT SEEMED FINE.
AND THEN I GOT MY NOVEMBER BILL AND THE NOVEMBER BILL HAD GONE UP BY 40 SOME BUCKS AND I FIGURED OUT, OKAY, WELL, I PROBABLY CHANGED THINGS, BUT OF COURSE EVERYTHING IS IDENTICAL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE WATER SERVICE.
MY ELECTRIC IS ENTIRELY SEPARATE.
THIS IS JUST WATER, UH, WASTEWATER AND, AND STREET PLANNING AND SO FORTH.
AND ALL OF THE THINGS WERE THE SAME EXCEPT WATER.
SO I FIGURED, OKAY, SO I GUESS MY WATER USAGE WENT UP SUBSTANTIALLY AND THAT'S WHY I'M PAYING AN EXTRA 40 BUCKS, LIKE A 50% INCREASE IN WATER CHARGES.
BUT WHEN I STARTED LOOKING AT THAT, MY WATER USAGE HAD ACTUALLY ONLY GONE UP FROM 10,000 TO 11,000, ALMOST 12,000.
SO IT HAD GONE UP BY LIKE 10% AND YET MY TOTAL BILL WAS UP BY 40 50%.
SO I STARTED LOOKING AT IT IN MORE DETAIL AND I AGREE WITH THE GENERAL POLICY THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE TIERS AND THE TIERS OF COURSE ARE, IF YOU USE MORE WATER, YOU GET CHARGED AT A HIGHER RATE, JUST LIKE WITH THE GRADUATED INCOME TAX, PEOPLE FROM USE MORE, PAY MORE AT A HIGHER RATE, BUT I ACTUALLY DIDN'T USE THAT MUCH MORE.
IT TURNS OUT I DID MOVE FROM ONE TIER TO ANOTHER TIER.
AND SO I FINISHED OUT TIER THREE OF, UH, FROM GOING FROM 4,000 POUNDS TO 5,000 GALLONS, BUT THAT'S IT $707 AND 51 CENTS A THOUSAND GALLONS.
SO THAT WAS AN EXTRA SEVEN 50.
UM, AND THEN I USED A LITTLE BIT INTO THE NEXT TIER 800 GALLONS THAT 1270 A A THOUSAND GALLON.
SO NO, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S LIKE 10 BUCKS AND IT IS AT A HIGHER RATE, WHICH IS GOOD, BUT IT DIDN'T EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE.
AND WHEN I LOOKED AT THE DIFFERENCES AND TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHERE IT'S ACTUALLY GOING, THERE IS THIS STRANGE THING CALLED IT TIERED FIXED CHARGE.
AND THE TIERED FIXED CHARGE SEEMS TO BE MISNAMED BECAUSE IT ISN'T FIXED.
IT ACTUALLY VARIES DEPENDING UPON WHICH TIER YOU'RE IN.
SO IT'S FIXED IN A TIER, BUT NOT BETWEEN TIERS AND GOING FROM WHAT ONE TIER THREE TO TIER FOUR OR FOUR TO FIVE OR WHATEVER.
SO THERE'S A $20 INCREASE IF YOU SIMPLY MOVE FROM ONE TIER TO ANOTHER.
AND OF COURSE, MOVING FROM ONE TIER TO ANOTHER COULD BE THE RESULT OF JUST ONE EXTRA GLASS OF WATER OR, OR A SHOWER OR FLUSHING THE TOILET.
ONE TIME, ONE GALLON MORE IS ALL IT TAKES TO MOVE FROM ONE TIER TO ANOTHER AND THAT EXTRA GALLON, BUT IT ENDED UP COSTING 20 BUCKS.
AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THE IDEA THAT, THAT AS YOU USE MORE, YOU SHOULD BE CHARGED MORE, BUT THAT SEEMS EXCESSIVE.
AND IT'S NOT REALLY SOMETHING THAT AS A USER, I CAN CONTROL VERY MUCH.
I MEAN, I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHEN EXACTLY I'M AT ONE TIER AND GOING INTO ANOTHER OR WHATEVER.
SO MR. PETERSON, MR. PETERSON, WE, YOU KNOW, WE ONLY HAVE A LIMITED TIME FOR, FOR COMMUNICATION.
SO, SO WE'RE PAST YOUR TIME, BUT, UM, WE DO WANT TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU.
YOU'RE RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WAY THE TIERED STRUCTURE IS SET UP.
SO I THINK WE CAN GET BACK TO YOU WITH A,
[00:10:01]
MORE OF AN EXPLANATION ABOUT WHY IT'S SET UP THAT WAY.AND, UM, AND THEN WE'RE HEARING YOUR CONCERNS THAT PERHAPS IT'S TOO MUCH OF A JOB.
SO, UM, SO, WELL, IN GENERAL IT SEEMS THAT IF YOU'RE TRYING TO DISCOURAGE USAGE, ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION, WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO IS MAKE SURE THAT THE MARGINAL COST FOR EACH ADDITIONAL UNIT CHARGE INCREASES OVER TIME, BUT IN A LINEAR WAY.
AND WHAT YOU'VE GOT HERE IS A SPIKE FUNCTION AT ONE PARTICULAR VALUE.
AND EVERY TIME YOU CHANGE FROM ONE TO ANOTHER AND YOU WANT TO JUST TRY AND AVOID SPIKES IS WHAT I'M SAYING.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENT.
AND I WOULD INVITE YOU TO EMAIL US AND WE WILL ALSO FOLLOW UP ON THIS WITH YOU.
SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION.
UM, COUNCILOR ELLIS, DID YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING? THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING ME CHAIR.
I'M JUST WONDERING IF IN THAT RESPONSE, WE MIGHT ALSO GET THAT RESPONSE.
IF WE GET QUESTIONS FROM OUR CONSTITUENTS AND THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING ABOUT ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE, THE AMI THAT WE'VE BEEN PILOTING THAT MIGHT BE OF HELP TO CONSUMERS TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION AS, AS THE MONTH CONTINUES.
SO MR. MAZARRA, CAN YOU, UH, RESPOND TO THAT AND SEND US ALL AN EMAIL AND THEN WE CAN BE SURE AND SHARE IT WITH, UM, MR. PETERSON, CAN YOU DO THAT FOR US? WE'LL FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
[3. February Winter Storm Event Updates]
NOW WE'RE GOING TO TURN TO, UM, OUR BRIEFING, OUR BRIEFING TODAY IS WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TODAY IS TO HAVE MORE TIME FOR DISCUSSION.YOU KNOW, THE LAST TWO MEETINGS WE HAVE HAVE BEEN, UM, YOU KNOW, TIME LIMITED, AND WE'VE ONLY HAD, YOU KNOW, RELATIVELY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS AND, AND TALK WITH MR.
WE HAVE TWO AREAS THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON, UH, THE FIRST ONE BEING COMMUNICATIONS, THE SECOND ONE BEING INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY.
SO WHAT I'LL, WHAT I'LL DO IS WE'LL BREAK IN BETWEEN THE TWO, UM, TOPICS SO WE CAN TALK.
AND SO WE CAN, UH, STOP AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WE SHOULD HAVE, I DUNNO, AT LEAST 30 MINUTES OR SO, WE'LL SEE, UM, TO TALK ABOUT EACH, EACH TOPIC.
SO, SO MR. MASSARA, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
UH, TWO WINTER STORM TOPICS TODAY, UH, COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AND TOOLS THAT WE USED, AND THAT WILL BE PRESENTED BY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UH, RANDY JENKINS.
AND, UH, AND, UH, WE'VE ORGANIZED THE CONTENT FOR, UH, ROUGHLY 20 TO 25 MINUTES OF CONTENT.
AND THEN, UH, UP TO 30 MINUTES OR MORE OF DISCUSSION.
SO, UH, I THINK THE AMPLE TIME TO PROBE THESE AREAS, AND THEN FOLLOWING THE COMMUNICATION DISCUSSION, WE'LL BE PRESENTING INFRASTRUCTURE, RESILIENCY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, SHEA ROLES, ROLES.
ROLSON, WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH THAT.
AND I'LL LOOK LOOKING AT SOME OF THE WAY WE PLAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS, UH, HOW SOME OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PERFORMED DURING THE EVENT, AND SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SOME AREAS TO FOCUS ON IN THE FUTURE.
AND SO AGAIN, THE TWO MAIN TOPICS WITH THE WINTER STORM TODAY.
AND, UM, AND WITH THAT, I THINK, I THINK WE'RE READY TO START WITH COMMUNICATIONS AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO RANDY.
GOOD AFTERNOON, COMPLETE CHAIR AND COMMITTEE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
GREAT TO TALK WITH YOU THIS AFTERNOON.
SO AS DIRECTOR MAZARRA WAS INTRODUCED, I AM RANDY JENKINS, AUSTIN WATER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OVER OUR OVERSEEING OUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PROGRAM AREA.
SO TODAY I'M GOING TO COVER AUSTIN WATERS COMMUNICATIONS DURING WINTER STORM URI.
AND SO AS A BIT OF TODAY'S OVERVIEW, I'M GOING TO COVER OUR WINTER PREPAREDNESS MESSAGING, EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS, OVERALL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS, AND OUR ASSOCIATED NEXT STEPS AND FOLLOW-UP TO THE WINTER STORM.
AND SO AS I MOVE THROUGHOUT THIS AFTERNOON SLIDES, I WILL NOT ONLY DISCUSS OUR MESSAGES, UM, BUT THE COMMUNICATIONS THAT WERE UTILIZED DURING THIS EVENT, YOU KNOW, A MAIN COMPONENT, UM, THAT WE USED AND KIND OF OUR STRATEGY AND DEVELOPING OUR MESSAGING WAS LISTENING TO OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, WE USE QUESTIONS THAT WE RECEIVED, UM, NOT ONLY DIRECTLY FROM OUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND EMAIL CAMPAIGNS, BUT ALSO, UM, THOSE THAT WE RECEIVED FROM YOUR OFFICES AND FROM YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
SO WE USE THOSE THROUGHOUT THE EVENT TO SHAPE THE CONTENT OF OUR COMMUNICATIONS.
AND SO REALLY TO DIG, UM, KIND OF THE INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE EVENT AND REALLY KIND OF GEARING UP FOR THAT WINTER PREPAREDNESS MESSAGING.
WE BEGAN A WINTER WEATHER PREP MESSAGING ON FEBRUARY 9TH,
[00:15:01]
AND THEN ON FEBRUARY 10TH, WE BEGAN, WE POSTED A MEDIA RELEASE AS WELL AS, UM, UPDATED OUR WEBSITES LANDING PAGE AND, UM, PUSHED OUT INFORMATION THROUGH OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS.SO THIS INCLUDED TIPS FOR FREEZING AND SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, CONSERVATION REMINDERS ABOUT COLLECTING, UM, ANY, UM, WATER FROM DRIP FAUCETS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE HOME.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, LASTLY, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST HOW TO LOCATE, UM, UH, PROPERTIES, UM, PROPERTY OWNER, A SHUT OFF VALVE, SO THAT IN THE EVENT OF A, OF A BURST OR A BREAK IN THEIR HOME, THEY KNEW HOW TO CUT THE WATER SERVICE OFF TO THEIR HOME SO THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY FLOODING INSIDE.
AND SO A BIT A BIT TO DIG INTO THERE.
UM, THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW THAT THAT'S BEEN HIGHLIGHTED, NOT ONLY THROUGH YOUR RESOLUTION COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, BUT ALSO, UM, DIGGING INTO, UM, THE CITY'S OVERALL AFTER ACTION REVIEW AND OUR OWN, WE WILL BE REVISITING OUR WINTER PREPAREDNESS MESSAGING.
YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LEARNED THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT THAT WHILE, UM, ONE OF THE KEY ACTIVITIES THAT WE ALWAYS PROMOTE DURING, UH, A NORMAL CENTRAL TEXAS FREEZE THAT, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY LAST UP TO TWO DAYS IS THAT WE ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS TO DRIP THEIR FAUCETS, BUT GIVEN THIS SUBSTANTIAL ON STORAGE THAT WAS LOST IN OUR SYSTEM DUE TO PRIVATE SIDE BREAKS OR ON PUBLIC SIDE BREAKS, UM, WE KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT SUSTAINABLE GOING FORWARD.
AND SO, UM, WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE'RE GOING TO BE COLLABORATING WITH OTHER UTILITIES FOR BEST PRACTICES.
YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS CERTAINLY, UM, THIS WAS FELT ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS 1.7 MILLION RESIDENTS EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF WATER DISRUPTION STATEWIDE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, COORDINATING WITH OTHER UTILITIES ACROSS THE STATE ABOUT HOW WE WOULD BEST COMMUNICATE WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO PREPARE FOR A WINTER STORM WILL BE KEY.
SO THAT, THAT WILL BE FORTHCOMING.
SO I'M GOING TO COVER TWO DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF OUR EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS.
UM, WE UTILIZE TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT OUR BOIL WATER NOTICE WHEN THAT WAS ENACTED.
SO THE FIRST OF THOSE WAS THE WARRANTS CENTRAL TEXAS SYSTEM, WHICH IS ALSO OFTEN REFERRED TO AS OUR REVERSE NINE 11 SYSTEM THAT KEPT COG MANAGES.
SO AS, AS YOU ARE LIKELY AWARE, UM, LANDLINES, UM, ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLED THROUGH THE NINE 11 SYSTEM INTO THIS, UH, NOTIFICATION SYSTEM, BUT RESIDENTS MUST SUBSCRIBED TO RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES, CELL PHONE CALLS, ROBOCALLS, OR EMAILS.
UM, SO THAT IS, THAT IS A DIFFERENCE THERE.
UM, CUSTOMERS DO HAVE TO TAKE AN ACTION, UM, TO, TO SUBSCRIBE IF THEY WANT TO RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION THROUGH THEIR CELLULAR DEVICE.
UM, THAT SAID THERE ARE 1.1 MILLION CONTACTS, UH, ENROLLED IN THE CENTRAL TEXAS AUSTIN AREA.
UM, AND WE UTILIZE THE SYSTEM, UM, IN TWO DIFFERENT, UM, POINTS WITHIN THE EMERGENCY EVENT.
AND THAT WAS TO ANNOUNCE THE BOIL WATER NOTICE ON FEBRUARY 17TH AND TO ALSO RESEND THE BOIL WATER NOTICE ON FEBRUARY 23RD AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE SCREEN ON THE SLIDE, THERE IS, UM, A SCREENSHOT OF WHAT THAT NOTICE LOOKED LIKE IN A TEXT MESSAGE FORMAT.
AND SO THE OTHER SYSTEM THAT WE UTILIZE AS THE MAI ATX WATER CUSTOMER PORTAL AND THE SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MITX WATER CUSTOMER PORTAL, AS OPPOSED TO THE, UM, REVERSE NINE 11 SYSTEM, IS THAT OUR PORTAL DOES NOT REQUIRE A CUSTOMER TO SIGN UP FOR THIS SERVICE.
WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DIRECTLY MESSAGE OUR CUSTOMERS, THAT OUR, UM, OUR CONTACTS WITHIN OUR BILLING SYSTEM.
SO, UM, OUR ACCOUNT HOLDERS WITHIN OUR BILLING SYSTEM, IF WE HAVE A CELL PHONE EMAIL ADDRESS, UM, WE ARE ABLE TO PRODUCE ROBO CALLS, TEXT MESSAGES, AND EMAILS.
AND SO A LITTLE BIT OF A HIGHLIGHT ABOUT HOW THAT WAS UTILIZED.
UM, WE S WE SENT OUT JUST SHORT OF A MILLION EMAIL AND TEXT MESSAGES THROUGHOUT THE EVENT.
AND I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION AROUND HOW LONG THAT, THAT TOOK TO GET THOSE MESSAGES OUT.
AND WE'VE DONE SOME DIGGING WITH OUR PORTAL VENDOR.
UM, AND, AND ON AVERAGE, THERE WERE 1800, UM, TEXT MESSAGES SENT IN PER MINUTE.
AND SO THAT EQUATES TO A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND TEXTS PER HOUR.
AND WE HAVE, UM, RIGHT AT 250,000 ACCOUNT HOLDERS IN OUR BILLING SYSTEM.
SO THAT KIND OF GIVES YOU SOME SENSE THAT OVER A COUPLE OF HOURS, UM, TEXT MESSAGES WERE SENT OUT TO OUR CUSTOMER BASE, LIKEWISE EMAILS, AVERAGE, UM, 675 EMAILS PER MINUTE, UM, WHICH IS WHICH EQUATES TO ABOUT 40,000 EMAILS
[00:20:01]
PER HOUR.UM, SO AGAIN, AND, AND, UM, EMAILS DID TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER THAN A TEXT MESSAGE.
UM, BUT THOSE WERE STILL ABLE TO BE SENT, UM, IN A, IN A RELATIVELY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME.
AND SO THE OTHER, UM, AREA, UM, THAT THIS PORTAL WAS UTILIZED IS FOR THOSE THAT ARE ENROLLED AS PART OF OUR PILOT, OUR AMI, UM, PILOT THAT ACTUALLY HAVE AMI METERS INSTALLED AT THEIR ADDRESS, THIS PORTAL WAS ALSO ABLE, AS YOU MAY RECALL, FROM PRIOR PRESENTATIONS AND WHAT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR COORDINATOR POINTED OUT IN HIS LAST PRESENTATION IS THAT, UM, THERE WERE SEVERAL CUSTOMERS THAT DID RECEIVE THAT HAVE A PILOT METER, UM, THAT DID RECEIVE OUR ALERTS FOR BOTH, UM, CONTINUOUS USAGE ALERTS, WHICH IS DEFINED AS AT 36 HOURS OF AT LEAST THREE OUT THREE GALLONS OR MORE PER HOUR, THAT WAS REGISTERING ON THEIR AMI METER.
AND SO, UM, AS AN UPDATE THERE, THERE WERE 4,190 ALERTS BASED ON THAT HOURLY, CONTINUOUS USAGE CHANGE, AND THAT EQUATED TO ABOUT TWO, 2000 ACCOUNT HOLDERS.
AND SO BASED ON THAT, UM, WE ARE ABLE TO HAVE SOME INSIGHTS INTO, YOU KNOW, THE OPEN RATE FOR THAT INFORMATION.
AND, UM, ABOUT 62% OF THE CUSTOMERS THAT WERE SENT THAT ALERT OPENED THAT ALERT THAT WAS SENT TO THEIR, UM, REGISTERED ADDRESS OR ACCOUNT.
AND THEN ON THE LEAK ALERTS, THAT'S, THAT'S ACTUALLY PROVIDING, YOU KNOW, A BURST, UM, A HIGH, A SPIKE IN USAGE IS DEFINED AS ANYTHING ABOVE 750 GALLONS PER DAY OR MORE, AND 200% ABOVE THEIR SEASONAL HISTORIC USAGE.
AND SO IN THAT CASE, UM, THERE WERE 4,500 ALERTS THAT WERE SENT OUT, UM, INDICATING A BURST OF SOME SORT.
UM, AND, AND SO THROUGHOUT BOTH OF THOSE DIFFERENT, UM, LEAK AND USAGE ALERT TYPES, WE DID HAVE AN OVERALL 92% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATE, UM, THROUGH THEIR FEEDBACKS AND COMMENTS BACK TO US THROUGH OUR PORTAL.
SO, UM, WHILE IT IS A SMALL, YOU KNOW, PILOT AND CUSTOMER BASE OVERALL, THEY WERE HAPPY WITH, WITH OUR ACTIVITY THERE.
AND SO MOVING INTO OUR CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS, UM, AT THE ONSET OF THE BOWL WATER NOTICE, UM, WE BEGAN PROVIDING ROUTINE EVERY 12 HOUR OPERATIONAL UPDATES, AND THIS WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, TO PROVIDE SOME ROUTINE ABOUT WHEN OUR CUSTOMER BASE MIGHT HEAR FROM US.
WE PROVIDED THESE OPERATIONAL UPDATES THROUGHOUT AND WERE, WERE KEY, UM, IN, IN PRODUCING OUR UPDATES TO OUR CUSTOMER BASE.
AND SO AS A PART OF THOSE, THOSE WERE POSTED BOTH ON OUR S OUR WEBSITE AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES.
AND AS I MENTIONED ABOUT THE COMMENTS THAT WE RECEIVED, UM, THROUGHOUT THE EVENT, UM, JUST TO, TO QUANTITATE THAT WE RECEIVED OVER 15,000 COMMENTS AND DIRECT MESSAGES AND QUESTIONS THROUGH OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS.
AND AGAIN, THAT THOSE QUESTIONS, UM, FUELED A LOT OF OUR RESPONSES AND OUR UPDATES AND HIGHLIGHTED, UM, THINGS THAT CUSTOMERS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT, QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAD ABOUT HOW THE SYSTEM WORKED, WHAT WAS A PRESSURE ZONE AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
UM, WE, WE USE THAT TO UPDATE OUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, AND THEN ALL OF THOSE DOCUMENTS AND, AND OUR FORMS WERE UPDATED AND, UM, TRANSLATED IN SPANISH, VIETNAMESE, CHINESE AND ARRAY.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THOSE ACTIVITIES, WE ALSO PRODUCED AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE MAP THAT, THAT WOULD ALLOW A CUSTOMER TO LOOK INTO, UM, THEIR PRESSURE ZONE, UNDERSTAND WHICH PRESSURE ZONE THEY WERE, UM, THEY RESIDED IN AND THEN UNDERSTAND THE BOWL OF WATER NOTICE IMPACTS AND WHETHER THEY WERE STILL WITHIN THE BOWL OF WATER NOTICE OR OUTSIDE OF, AND COULD GO BACK TO CONSUMING ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, ONE ITEM TO NOTE THERE IS THAT WE DID HAVE SIGNIFICANT, UM, TECHNOLOGY ISSUES THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT, YOU KNOW, AS WE HAD POWER OUTAGES AND OTHER TECHNICAL ISSUES, THE CITY'S WEBSITE, UM, DID CRASH AND THEN DUE TO, UM, THE HIGH VOLUME OF CUSTOMERS HITTING THAT WEBSITE, WE HAD ANOTHER SECOND ROUND OF FAILURES WITH OUR ONLINE INTERACTIVE MAP, AND WE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH CTM TO GET THAT STOOD BACK UP IN A TIMELY MANNER AND WE'RE ABLE TO DO SO, BUT THAT IS AN ITEM OF NOTE THAT WE'LL BE DIGGING FURTHER INTO IN OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN PREVENT THAT SORT OF WEBSITE, UM, FAILURE IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN THE LAST THING THAT I WANTED TO NOTE, UM, HERE ON THIS SLIDE IS OUR CRITICAL CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION.
SO, UM, AS YOU ALL ARE AWARE, WE DID, UM, COORDINATE VERY CLOSELY WITH CRITICAL FACILITIES AND HOSPITALS THROUGHOUT TOWN TO, UM, BEST UNDERSTAND, UM, HOW WE RECORD RECORDING WITH THE TCEQ AND WHEN THEY COULD EXPECT, UM, TO BE BACK IN SERVICE AND, OR BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND TAKING IN, UM,
[00:25:01]
CUSTOMERS AND, AND, UM, AT, AT THE HOSPITAL FACILITIES, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.AND SO TO CONTINUE OUR CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS, UM, WE STOOD UP OUTBOUND OUTBOUND CALL SYSTEM.
BUT PRIOR TO THAT, I DO WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR INBOUND CALLS.
UM, SO AUSTIN WATERS, CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER, WHICH IS ALSO REFERRED TO AS OUR DISPATCH TEAM, THEY TAKE CALLS 24 HOURS A DAY, EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 365 DAYS OUT OF THE YEAR, THEY ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS 24 SEVEN.
UM, AND SO A TYPICAL INBOUND CALL VOLUME FOR THAT TEAM THAT'S TAKING CALLS FROM RESIDENTS, UM, IS USUALLY AROUND 50 CALLS PER DAY.
DURING THE WINTER WEATHER EVENT, THAT TEAM WAS RECEIVING MORE THAN 10,000 CALLS PER DAY.
AND SIMILAR TO OUR WEBSITE, WE ALSO EXPERIENCED A SIGNIFICANT FAILURE IN OUR PHONE SYSTEM.
SO IN ADDITION TO AUSTIN, THREE, ONE, ONE CALL CENTER, UM, BEING TAKEN OFFLINE, WE ALSO HAD THE SAME FAILURE, UM, WITH OUR PHONE SYSTEM AND TAKING IT IN THROUGH DISPATCH.
AGAIN, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH CTM TO GET THAT STOOD BACK UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
UM, BUT WE DID HAVE NOTABLE CHALLENGES THERE WHERE, UM, CUSTOMERS WERE EXP EXPERIENCING EXTREMELY LONG WAIT TIMES.
UM, THERE, THERE WAS ALSO TIMES THAT CUSTOMER PHONE CALLS WERE BEING MERGED DUE TO, TO THESE TECHNOLOGY GLITCHES.
UM, AND SO TO, TO HELP, UM, RECTIFY THAT WE STOOD UP AN ONLINE CUSTOMER INTAKE FORM THAT WAS ALSO AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.
AND, AND THROUGH THAT ONLINE FORM ALONE, WE COULD HEAR FROM OUR CUSTOMERS AND THEY COULD LET US KNOW WHAT, WHAT SERVICE DISRUPTION THEY WERE EXPERIENCING.
UM, WE RECEIVED NEARLY 30,000 REQUESTS AND OVER FOUR DAYS IN ORDER TO HELP REMEDY THAT AND PROVIDE SOME POINT OF CONTACT FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.
UM, AS I NOTED, WE DID STAND UP AN OUTBOUND CALL TEAM, A VIRTUAL CALL CENTER THAT WAS STAFFED WITH OVER 60 AUSTIN WATER STAFF, VOLUNTEERS, AS WELL AS 24 CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF VOLUNTEERS.
I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY DID, UM, TO HELP US DURING THIS EVENT.
UM, THEY CONTACTED CUSTOMERS FOR NOT ONLY SERVICE REQUESTS, BUT ALSO, UM, IN THE AFTERMATH OF OUR COMMUNITY RECOVERY AND APARTMENT COMPLEX CHECKS.
SO TO ROUND OUT MY PRESENTATION, UM, I WANTED TO TALK, UM, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR NEXT STEP AND IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND KIND OF OUR ACTION ITEMS THAT WE'LL BE TAKING.
SO I MENTIONED OUR OUTBOUND CALL EFFORTS.
UM, WE WILL BE CONTINUING THAT, THAT EFFORT.
IN FACT, PRIOR TO THIS EVENT, WE WERE PILOTING AN OUTBOUND CALL EFFORT IN WHICH WHEN A CUSTOMER WOULD CALL US INDICATING SOME SORT OF SERVICE DISRUPTION OR INQUIRY, IF OUR AUSTIN WATERFIELD STAFF WERE NOT ABLE TO CONTACT THAT CUSTOMER WHILE THEY WERE THERE ON SITE IN THE FIELD, WE WOULD FOLLOW THAT, UM, SERVICE REQUEST TICKET UP WITH AN OUTBOUND CALL.
SO THAT WAS AN EXISTING PILOT THAT WE REALLY EXPANDED DURING THIS EVENT.
AND SO THAT OUTBOUND CALL EFFORT WILL CONTINUE.
UM, AND WE WILL CONTINUE THAT PILOT AND TO EVALUATE THAT AND GROW AND EXPAND THAT.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, UM, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE OUR ONLINE CUSTOMER INTAKE FORM, UM, THAT IS STILL ONLINE AND ON OUR WEBSITE ACTIVE TODAY.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE IN THAT WAY.
AND WE'VE, WE'VE ALREADY TALKED INTERNALLY ABOUT A LOT OF WAYS THAT WE CAN IMPROVE THAT CUSTOMER INTAKE FORM TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INFORMATION THAT WE'RE RECEIVING FOR CUSTOMERS IS ACCURATE AND THAT IT INTERFACES WITH OUR APPROPRIATE ASSET MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE REQUEST FORMS. UM, BUT THAT, THAT DOES EXIST AND WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST GOING FORWARD SO THAT WE'RE PREPARED, UM, NOT ONLY FOR DAILY BUSINESS, BUT IN THE EVENT OF A FUTURE EMERGENCY.
UM, I DID HIGHLIGHT OUR ONLINE INTERACTIVE MAP.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH OUR, UM, IT SERVICES GROUP INTERNAL AT AUSTIN WATER TO STAND THAT UP, YOU KNOW, RECOGNIZING THAT WHILE THIS EVENT WAS A PRESSURE ZONE EVENT, SURROUNDED AROUND A BOIL WATER NOTICE, WE DO RECOGNIZE, UM, THE NEED TO EXPAND THAT INTERACTIVE CAPABILITY SO THAT AT ANY GIVEN TIME INDIVIDUALS CAN, UM, REVIEW THAT AND UNDERSTAND IF THERE'S A LARGER, UM, SERVICE ISSUE, OR IF THAT IS JUST SOMETHING THAT THAT INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER IS EXPERIENCING.
YOU KNOW, AT THE BEGINNING OF MY PRESENTATION, I DID HIGHLIGHT THAT WE ARE REVISITING WINTER PREPAREDNESS COMMUNICATIONS, COLLABORATING WITH OTHER UTILITIES, AND, UM, WOULD ALSO NOTE THAT WE WILL ALSO BE COLLABORATING WITH, UM, THE TEXAS CHAPTER FOR AUSTIN AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION, UM, ALONGSIDE
[00:30:01]
THOSE OTHER UTILITIES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING THE BEST PRACTICES IN PLACE.AND THEN, YOU KNOW, AS I NOTED, UM, WE HAD SUBSTANTIAL ISSUES WITH OUR PHONE SYSTEM.
WE WILL BE LOOKING INTO WHAT TYPE OF, OF ENHANCEMENT THAT PHONE SYSTEM NEEDS AND, OR POTENTIAL OTHER VENDORS THAT CAN HELP US, UM, AND IN THAT REALM SO THAT WE DO NOT EXPERIENCE THAT SORT OF, UM, ISSUE AGAIN.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, LASTLY, WHAT I WILL NOTE HERE IS THAT WE WILL, UM, IN FACT, WE CONDUCTING AN AFTER ACTION REVIEW, PURELY FOR, UM, CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS, LOOKING AT WHAT WE DID AND, UM, HOW WE CAN DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO COORDINATING WITH, UM, HAYSOM'S, UH, AFTER ACTION REVIEW AT THE CITY-WIDE LEVEL, UM, AS WELL AS INTERNALLY WITH OUR, UM, WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION WORKING GROUP.
AND SO WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, BUT I WILL OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE AT THIS TIME.
IF YOU COULD, UH, TAKE DOWN THE SLIDES, THAT'LL HELP US SEE EACH OTHER.
SO WHO HAS QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER OF WINTERS.
AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT STAFF WAS ABLE TO RESPOND TO THE EMERGENCY IN REAL TIME AND CREATING THE INTAKE FORM AND GETTING THAT PROCESS UP AND ROLLING AND, UH, AND PUTTING UP THE MAP, UH, THAT WAS VERY HELPFUL.
SO I APPRECIATE THE FLEXIBILITY THERE AND THE ADAPTABILITY TO RESPOND IN TIMES OF CRISIS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A POINT, UM, DURING THE EVENT THAT I WANTED TO ADDRESS, BECAUSE WHAT I RECEIVED, THE FEEDBACK I RECEIVED FROM MY COMMUNITY WAS THAT AT ONE POINT I HAD POSTED, I RECEIVED COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTIN WATER TO POST THAT WE DID NOT EXPECT A BOIL WATER NOTICE.
WE DIDN'T EXPECT AN IMPACT TO OUR WATER SYSTEM.
AND THEN THE VERY NEXT DAY, LESS THAN 24 HOURS, WE WERE IN A BOIL WATER NOTICE.
UM, AND LOT OF FRUSTRATED EMAILS AND CALLS CAME IN ONE POINT, THEY ASKED ME, WHY DID AUSTIN WATER LIE TO YOU? AND SO IT WAS REALLY DISHEARTENING FOR ME AS A POLICY MAKER, BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE TO GIVE THEM AS TO WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE IN COMMUNICATION.
UM, SO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I HAVE AROUND AROUND THE COMMUNICATIONS PIECE, BECAUSE THAT IS A CRITICAL FACTOR, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE DEALING IN A CRISIS, IT REAL TIME AND HAVING TO PROVIDE UPDATES IN THIS AGE TO OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO I GUESS IF YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, IS THERE A PHASE SYSTEM THAT TRIGGERS A CERTAIN LEVEL OF COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION REGARDING PROBATION AND PREVENTION? I KNOW YOU REFERENCED THAT SOME SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGES WENT OUT AROUND CONSERVATION AHEAD OF, UH, AHEAD OF THE STORM, BUT IS THERE A FACE IS THAT AUSTIN WATER USES, UH, TO GUIDE THEM THROUGH THAT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY? UM, I'M TRYING TO GET A BETTER SENSE OF HOW THAT IS PLANNED AND EXECUTED, ESPECIALLY IN TIME OF CRISIS.
AND WHAT IS THE STRATEGY BEHIND THAT AS WELL? IF YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THAT.
SO, UM, TO KIND OF STEP BACK AND KIND OF ADDRESS THE, UM, UNFORTUNATE WHERE, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMERS FELT LIKE WE WERE NOT BEING HONEST OR FORTHRIGHT WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND BEHIND THE SCENES, BUT TO ADDRESS THAT, UM, ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE PUT OUT THAT COMMUNICATION ABOUT WE WEREN'T EXPERIENCING ISSUES IN OUR SYSTEM, UM, THAT WAS TRUE IN THAT MOMENT.
WE WEREN'T, WE WEREN'T AWARE OF ANY, ANY SYSTEMATIC FAILURES AT THAT TIME.
UM, IN ADDITION, WE WERE GETTING WORD THAT, UM, CUSTOMERS WERE RECEIVING NOTIFICATION FROM FALSE, UM, COMPANIES.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE, WHERE THIS INFORMATION WAS COMING FROM, BUT THEY WERE SAYING AUSTIN WATER WAS UNDER A BOIL WATER NOTICE, AND THAT WAS NOT AT THAT TIME, NOT FACTUAL.
AND SO WE PUT OUT THAT MESSAGE TO REALLY PROVIDE THAT ASSURANCE THAT THERE WASN'T AN ISSUE.
CUSTOMERS DIDN'T NEED TO BOIL THEIR WATER AT THAT MOMENT.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, STUFF IS IN QUAINTLY DID GO INTO A BOIL WATER NOTICE AND DIDN'T HAVE THAT CATASTROPHIC DYSTROPHIC FAILURE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S REALLY, UM, TO THAT POINT ABOUT THE TIMING OF THAT ISSUE IS THAT WE WERE TRYING TO CALM THE WATERS, ASSURE CUSTOMERS THAT IF THEY WERE RECEIVING THAT NOTICE THAT THAT WAS NOT FROM AUSTIN WATER AND TO KIND OF HELP ADDRESS THAT TO YOUR OTHER POINT ABOUT A PHASING SYSTEM, THAT'LL BE CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE DIG IN FURTHER DURING OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW.
UM, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT INTERNALLY IS LIKE, WHAT ARE THOSE TRIGGERS, UM, IN A FUTURE EVENT, SUCH AS THIS THAT WE WOULD HIGHLIGHT, UM, AT WHAT POINT DO WE, UM, YOU KNOW, TRIGGER WHICH MESSAGES, AND THERE IS ALSO A REGULATORY REQUIREMENT, UM, THAT WE WERE WELL WITHIN GETTING OUT OUR BOIL WATER NOTICE WITHIN THAT REGULATORY REQUIREMENT TIMEFRAME, BUT, YOU KNOW,
[00:35:01]
EVEN SAYING THAT RECOGNIZING, UM, THE NEED TO ALWAYS BE ON OUR TOES AND BE READY TO PUSH OUT THAT MESSAGE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT.I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, THAT ADDRESSED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS OR IF YOU HAVE ANY FOLLOW-UP THEN, WELL, I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK OF FROM A COMMUNICATION STANDPOINT, IS IT THEN THAT WE SHOULD PUT THAT, THAT CLAUSE THAT MIGHT NOT KNOW IF THERE WOULD BE AN IMPACT TO OUR SYSTEM, RIGHT? SO THAT WHEN WE'RE COMMUNICATING, WE STILL GIVE OURSELVES THAT ROOM FOR THE UNPREDICTABLE AND THE UNFORESEEN.
UM, BECAUSE AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S JUST SO FRUSTRATING FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO WE KNOW ARE WITHOUT WHO, WHO CAN SEE IT, WHO CAN SEE WHAT THE WRITING ON THE WALL THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE UNDER A BOIL WATER NOTICE, AND JUST WANT TO PREPARE.
IT'S JUST REALLY COMING FROM A, FROM A SENTENCE AND A FEELING OF HOW CAN WE BEST PREPARE MYSELF AND MY FAMILY IN THE MIDST OF THIS CRISIS.
AND I THINK ONE THING, IF I CAN JUST ADD ONTO MY THOUGHTS THERE, AND THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANYONE ELSE THAT MIGHT HAVE THOUGHTS.
I DON'T HAVE DIRECTOR WAS OURS, HAS ANYTHING TO ADD, BUT THE ONE THING THAT I KNOW WILL BETTER PREPARE US IN THE FUTURE, UM, IS OUR AMI PROJECT.
SO AS, AS OUR SMART METERS ARE INSTALLED, THAT WILL GIVE US, UM, INSIGHT TO SYSTEM-WIDE ISSUES AT THE CUSTOMER LEVEL.
YOU KNOW, OUR LAST POINT OF, OF, UM, INFORMATION IS REALLY AT OUR STORAGE LEVELS.
AND SO AT THE TIME WHEN WE FIRST INITIALLY STARTED TO RECEIVE, UM, CALLS OR INTAKE FORMS, HIGHLIGHTING THAT CUSTOMERS WERE OUT OF WATER, UM, WE REALLY, AT THAT TIME CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE LIKELY EXPERIENCING PRIVATE SIDE BREAKS, WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN TRUE, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE JUST WASN'T WASN'T THAT SENSE THAT IT WAS AT THAT SYSTEM-WIDE IMPACT.
AND IT CERTAINLY ISN'T THE OUTSKIRTS OF OUR, OF OUR SERVICE AREA.
I, I WOULD JUST ADD, I THINK RANDY'S HITTING ON SOME OF THE TOPICS THAT THERE'S SOME, UH, SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS INTO SYSTEM USE THAT WE'LL GET WITH AMI THAT WILL GIVE US BETTER TOOLS TO, TO COMMUNICATE.
I THINK THAT THERE'S SOME, UM, SOME LAG IN, IN THE WAY, UH, WE GET OPERATIONAL DATA AND HOW THAT TRANSLATES THROUGH TO OUR PIO TEAMS FOR COMMUNICATIONS.
WE NEED BETTER TOOLS TO, UH, FORECAST, UH, WHERE OUR SYSTEM IS GOING.
AND SOME OF THE DYNAMICS, PARTICULARLY DURING AN EMERGENCY OR UNDER INTENSE CONDITIONS, WHEN THINGS CAN DETERIORATE RAPIDLY, UM, IF YOU EXPERIENCED, YOU KNOW, MAYBE A LARGE TRANSMISSION FAILURE OR, YOU KNOW, UNUSUAL FREEZING CONDITIONS LIKE WE WERE IN, UH, THINGS CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY AND WE NEED A BETTER SYSTEM INTERNAL TO AUSTIN WATER FOR HOW WE TAKE OPERATIONALIZED DATA AND USE THAT TO, TO DRIVE, UH, FORECASTING AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES.
UM, AND, UH, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE AFTER ACTION ITEMS THAT WE'LL BE EXAMINING MORE CLOSELY.
AND IN A MATTER OF FACT, I WOULD EXPECT IN OUR BUDGET FOR MIDDLE FOR 22, YOU'LL SEE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ALREADY TO START TO STRENGTHEN THAT ABILITY, UH, AT THE UTILITY.
UM, UH, SO, UH, SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, WE HAVE SOME MILES TO GO HERE STILL.
COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS HAD A QUESTION, WHICH I DID.
I HAVE JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, WE HAD TOUCHED ON THIS BRIEFLY IN OTHER MEETINGS, BUT SOME BEST PRACTICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO FIND THEMSELVES WITHOUT WATER.
SUDDENLY I KNOW THIS MAY NOT NECESSARILY AUSTIN WATERS, REGULAR PROTOCOL, BUT KNOWING THAT IN AN EMERGENCY PEOPLE ARE OFTENTIMES ONLY REFRESHING THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA TO LOOK AT ENERGY AND WATER INFORMATION.
AND IS THERE, IS THERE A PLAN TO HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT, FOR INSTANCE, HOW MUCH DRINKING WATER SHOULD IT, SHOULD EACH PERSON IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD HAVE AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, BATHING PEOPLE WITH INFANTS, UM, NON-POTABLE USES IS, IS THERE AN EFFORT BEING MADE TO TRY TO HAVE SOME SORT OF APPROVED INFORMATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO WANT TO BE BETTER PREPARED IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS AGAIN? I THINK YOU'RE MUTED, SORRY.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE STARTED TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS INTERNALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WILL OUR MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY BE? UM, AND HOW CAN WE STRENGTHEN THEIR PREPAREDNESS IN ADDITION TO OUR OWN PREPAREDNESS AND HOW WE COMMUNICATE THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, COULD IT POTENTIALLY BE, YOU KNOW, JUST COMMUNITY-BASED MEETINGS WHERE WE GO OUT AND TALK ABOUT WHAT THAT WINTER PREPAREDNESS MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY FOR WATER NEEDS.
UM, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CERTAINLY DIG IN DEEPER AND FURTHER AND REFINE THAT APPROACH THROUGHOUT OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW.
I WOULD, I WOULD ADD JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I KNOW THAT OBVIOUSLY THAT, THAT THAT'S GOING TO INVOLVE, UH, HOMELAND SECURITY MANAGEMENT, AS YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY MORE OF A COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS STRATEGY.
[00:40:01]
CERTAINLY I THINK WE CAN BE A BIG PART OF THAT PROVIDING ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE FOR HOW MUCH WATER, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY MAYBE YOU SHOULD STORE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN, UH, IN GALLON JUGS OR OTHER OTHER TOOLS.UM, YOU KNOW, WE DID THAT DURING THE 2018 EVENT.
THERE WAS A LOT OF QUESTIONS LIKE HOW LONG SHOULD I BOIL MY WATER? AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE PINNED DOWN AND DID SOME VIDEOS, I THINK WE'LL BE DOING MORE VIDEO CONTENT FOR PEOPLE AHEAD OF, OF A PARTICULARLY SOMETHING LIKE, LIKE A COLD WEATHER EVENT, WHERE A BETTER TOOLS TO SHOW YOU HOW TO TURN OFF YOUR WATER, UH, AT THE CURBS, OR YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, REDUCE THE RISK OF, OF A PIPE BURST, UH, HAPPENING.
UH, AND, AND THOSE ARE CERTAINLY THE ACTIONS WILL BE TAKEN.
AND I KNOW THAT OBVIOUSLY IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT WATER, THERE'S SO MANY OTHER NUANCES TOO, ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE WITH NO POWER FOR CERTAIN PERIODS OF TIME.
SO I, THAT THAT COULD BE A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR US IN SOME CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO GIVE PEOPLE THAT INFORMATION, JUST SO THAT THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO FIND IT AFTER THE FACT LATER.
SO I THINK WE JUST WANT TO OVERSHARE AND MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT, WHAT ARE GROUP GUIDELINES AND HOW, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE TO SURVIVE WITHOUT ENERGY OR WATER FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME, WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SOONER THAN WHEN, WHEN IT'S OFF.
UM, CAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT CUT, YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE OFF GUARD.
UM, AND MY OTHER QUESTION IS ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY.
I DO APPRECIATE THE SLIDE ON HOW MANY TEXTS AND EMAILS YOU WERE ABLE TO SEND OUT AND HOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT METHODS YOU WERE ABLE TO UTILIZE.
DO YOU KNOW THAT ANY DEVELOPMENTS HAPPENING TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT TEXTS AND EMAILS CAN GO OUT FASTER? UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE REALLY HIGH TO BE ABLE TO GET HOW MANY HOURS THAT YOU DID EACH MINUTES.
UM, BUT JUST KNOWING HOW LONG IT MIGHT TAKE TO GET TO A CITY OF A MILLION PEOPLE.
UM, IT, I'M JUST CURIOUS IF THERE'S OTHER TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES THAT PEOPLE ARE WORKING ON.
WE, WE WILL BE LOOKING INTO OTHER TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAY EXIST OR AFTER ACTION REVIEW, BUT I WILL SAY THAT WE HAVE ALREADY CONTACTED OUR VENDOR, UM, THROUGH THE MITX WATER PORTAL AND THEY ARE LOOKING INTO IT.
THEY'RE NOT ONLY A VENDOR FOR AUSTIN WATER, BUT THEY DO HAVE ANOTHER, UM, TEXAS CUSTOMERS, TEXAS UTILITY CUSTOMERS.
AND SO, UM, THAT IS A QUESTION THAT NOT ONLY WE WE'VE ASKED, BUT THEY'VE BEEN ASKED BY OTHER UTILITIES ABOUT CAN, CAN THIS BE ANY FASTER? AND SO THEY ARE LOOKING INTO THAT AND WE DO HOPE TO HEAR FROM THEM SOON AND WE'LL BE, UM, POPULATING THAT INFORMATION INTO OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW.
AND I JUST THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE APPS THAT ARE OUT NOW, WHERE ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU GET THE ALERTS, THE SECOND AN ALERT GOES OUT.
AND SO THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK AT AS WELL.
I THINK YOU WERE GOING TO NO, NO, I DO.
I THINK YOU'RE, YOU'RE HITTING ON IT TOO.
AND I JUST WANT TO MAKE THE POINT THAT OUR AMI PORTAL WAS STILL EXPERIMENTAL.
IT'S STILL IN THE PILOT PHASES.
SO WE REALLY PUSHED IT BEYOND ITS DESIGN PARAMETERS, UH, WITH THIS STORM EVENT.
AND SO, UH, IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORK ON AND MAKE INVESTMENTS IN.
AND, UH, I HEAR YOU COUNCIL MEMBER, I THINK, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, CHUGGING OUT, UH, THAT THE TAX, EVEN AT 50,000 AN HOUR, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE A MILLION PEOPLE IT'S, IT'S, IT'S GOTTA BE FASTER.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR.
I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
I WANTED TO, UM, DELVE A LITTLE BIT DEEPER INTO THE ONLINE OUTAGE AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT YOU CALL IT IN, IN, UM, FOR AND WATER, UH, HAD A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH EXPERIENCE WITH THE ASTON ENERGY OUTAGE MAP FROM FEBRUARY 11TH ON.
SO FOR, FOR GOOD FOR THE AUSTIN WATER ONE, I APPRECIATED YOUR PIVOT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO CALL IN THAT YOU DID THE ONLINE FORM OF REPORTING.
WELL, ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WE KEPT HAVING WAS THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW IF THE OUTAGE HAD BEEN REPORTED BECAUSE IT DIDN'T MAKE IT ONTO YOUR MAP UNTIL THEY, YOU HAD GONE OUT THERE AND CHECKED IT, BUT YOU COULDN'T GO OUT AND CHECK VERY MUCH.
AND SO A LOT OF THE EXTRA VOLUME AND A LOT OF FRANKLY, YOU KNOW, THE CALLS WE WERE GETTING WAS BECAUSE PEOPLE COULDN'T SEE THAT IT HAD BEEN REPORTED AND THAT YOU WERE AWARE OF AND WHERE IT WAS IN THE PROCESS.
SO TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU'RE PLANNING TO FIX THAT IN THE FUTURE.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT WE'RE, UM, REVIEWING WITH OUR IT SERVICES TEAM, UM, TO SEE HOW WE CAN FOLD THAT PORTION INTO OUR INTERACTIVE MAP AND, AND TO ALSO NOT CREATE ERRORS AND OUR SERVICE REQUEST TICKETS, ADDITIONALLY, TO ALSO REPLIED BACK TO THE CUSTOMER WHEN THEY SUBMIT THAT FORM, YOU KNOW, JUST ACKNOWLEDGING, HEY, WE GOT THIS.
UM, SO I THINK THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE DIRECT, UM, IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE PLANNING TO MAKE, UM, IMMEDIATELY.
SO WE'RE NOT WAITING ON OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW TO FINISH THAT AS A GO-TO ITEM.
AND WE'RE WORKING ON THAT NOW.
I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS DOING SOME OF THESE THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE AND NOT WAITING FOR THE REPORT.
[00:45:01]
UM, YOU ALSO MENTIONED, UM, YOU KNOW, THE MESSAGING ON DRIPPING AND THEN HOW THAT DIDN'T WORK AS PLANNED OR WHATEVER.HOW, HOW DO YOU BALANCE IN THE COMMUNICATIONS? YOU KNOW, THE NOTION THAT IF YOU DON'T DRIP, YOUR PIPES ARE GONNA FREEZE, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT WE SAW WHEN THE WATER WENT OUT WITH THAT KIND OF SHIFT IN MESSAGING.
AND HOW ARE WE THINKING THIS IS A COMMUNICATIONS QUESTION WAS ALSO AN OPERATIONAL QUESTION BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH OF FROZEN PIPES, BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO DRIP BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WATER, BUT IF THEY HAD TURNED, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IF THEY HAD TURNED OFF THE DRIPPING, WE, I DON'T KNOW IF THOSE PEOPLE TURNED OFF THEIR DRIPS OR NOT, BUT IF THEY DID TURN OFF THEIR DRIP, THEY WOULD'VE HAD FROZEN PIPES.
SO HOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE ADDRESS THAT ISSUE? IT'S CERTAINLY A TOUGH ONE TO UNTANGLE AND, AND, UM, I, WE WILL BE COORDINATING, UM, CLOSELY, NOT ONLY WITH OTHER UTILITIES AS I MENTIONED, UM, BUT ALSO, UM, THROUGH OUR TECHNICAL REVIEW AND AFTER ACTION REVIEW TO KIND OF DRILL IN DEEPER ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT BEST COORDINATE THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK IT'S, IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE PERFECT, THE PERFECT QUESTION.
PERFECT STORM ALMOST IF YOU WILL, THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE ONE THING THAT WE DO TO PREVENT THOSE THINGS IS THE ONE THING THAT KIND OF LED US INTO, UH, YOU KNOW, DOWN THE TRAIL OF AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.
UM, SO WE'LL, WE WILL BE LOOKING INTO IT.
AND, AND RANDY USED THE WORD, UH, UNTANGLE, CAUSE IT IS, I MEAN, YOU, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SOME DIFFICULT CHOICES AND, UH, UH, I, I SHORT-TERM FREEZE, IT'S OKAY TO DRIP FAUCETS WHERE YOU'RE MAYBE IN A FREEZE EVENT FOR 24 HOURS OR 30 HOURS, WHICH IS TYPICAL HERE, BUT, UM, THIS LONG DURATION FREEZE OF THAT, THAT WAS OVER A WEEK, I MEAN, WHICH IS SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED FOR A VERY LONG TIME IF EVER THAT LONG DRIPPING FAUCETS OVER THAT LENGTH OF TIME USES TOO MUCH WATER.
AND I MEAN, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T WANT THE CHOICE.
I MEAN, IT'S TOUGH CHOICES, BUT WE DO NOT WANT TO DO WATER THE SYSTEM AGAIN.
AND, UH, AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE WATER USES THAT THAT WAS SUBSTANTIAL WAS THE DRIPPING.
UM, WE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO HERE, HOW WE FIND THE RIGHT KIND OF COMMUNICATION MESSAGE.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, OTHER UTILITIES, SOME RECOMMENDED DRIPPING IN TEXAS, OTHER ONES DID NOT.
AND I, I THINK THAT'S WHY WE'RE TRYING TO REACH OUT ACROSS THE STATE WITH OTHER UTILITIES TO SEE MAYBE STATEWIDE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WAS THE BEST PRACTICES AND HOW DID THAT WORK? UM, I THINK THERE'S NON GRIPPING TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE USED, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO, UH, OPEN UP THEIR CABINETS TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, HEATED AIR IS GETTING IN THERE.
YOU KNOW, ASSUMING THAT THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM IS WORKING, UM, ALSO, UH, TURNING OFF THE WATER AT THE CURB AT NIGHT IS THE MOST PROTECTIVE WAY.
YOU JUST TURN OFF YOUR WATER AT THE CURB ON THE CUSTOMER SIDE AND A, AND A, AND OPEN YOUR FAUCET, DRAIN DOWN THE WATER.
AND THEN WHEN YOU GO TO BED, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE SAFE.
AND THEN WHEN YOU WAKE UP AND YOU START USING WATER DURING THE DAY, YOU KNOW, YOU GET ENOUGH FLOW AND YOU REDUCE THE RISK OF FREEZING.
I THINK THAT'S A STRATEGY WE, WE FEEL BETTER ABOUT, AND WE'LL TRY TO ENHANCE THAT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY ABOUT HOW CUSTOMERS CAN DO THAT.
UM, BUT I THINK THE SIMPLE DATE OF LOSS JUST ISSUING A DRIP, YOUR WATER MESSAGE.
AND THAT'S THE END OF THE COMMUNICATION THAT THOSE DAYS ARE OVER.
WE GOT TO FIGURE OUT A MORE SOPHISTICATED STRATEGY, PARTICULARLY FOR THESE LONGER TERM REES EVENTS.
WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS TODAY, BUT, UH, BUT THAT, THAT'S AN AREA THAT I'VE, I'VE CERTAINLY ASKED RANDY AND OTHERS TO HELP US SORT THROUGH.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE THING THAT MIGHT BE GOOD FOR AUSTIN WATER TO DO IS MAYBE TRY AND PARTNER WITH OUR REALTORS AND, YOU KNOW, MAKE ONE OF THOSE NEW, MAKE THE WATER KEY THAT YOU NEED A, UM, WATER WRENCH YOU NEED, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, A NEW HOUSE OWNER GIFT OR SOMETHING, AND HAVE A COMBINATION WITH AUSTIN WATER AND THAT, OR, YOU KNOW, GET ABER AND THOSE FOLKS TO PARTNER WITH US TO MAKE SURE THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE HAVE, UM, ACCESS TO THOSE KEYS AND, AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY BUY A BUY A HOME.
UM, MY LAST QUESTION BUILDS OFF OF MR.
UM, BUT I DON'T HAVE A REAL GOOD SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN OTHER CITIES AND HOW WE DID RELATIVE TO THEM.
THAT WILL CERTAINLY BE PART OF OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW.
UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE A, CERTAINLY A SENSE OF OVERALL HOW OTHER UTILITIES HANDLED IT.
[00:50:01]
YOU KNOW, IS SET UP A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY.UM, SO WE'LL BE DIGGING INTO THAT AND THAT WILL CERTAINLY BE PART OF OUR REVIEW SO THAT WE CAN COMPARE THOSE NOTES AND, UM, PROVIDE THAT TO YOU AND THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, BUT COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FIRST? AND THEN WE'LL OKAY.
I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO I ASKED MY QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, JUST, JUST TWO THINGS REALLY.
UM, RANDY, YOU HAD MENTIONED, UM, UH, REACHING OUT TO CRITICAL CUSTOMERS.
DO THE CRITICAL CUSTOMERS INCLUDE, UM, INCLUDE INDIVIDUALS.
AND CAN YOU KIND OF GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF THE SCOPE OF WHAT CRITICAL CUSTOMERS MEANS FOR YOU GUYS IN THIS CONTEXT OF OUTREACHING TO THEM? UM, IT WAS PRIMARILY HOSPITALS, UM, THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, CERTAINLY THOSE THAT WERE WITHOUT WATER AND THEN, AND THEN EVEN THOSE THAT WERE HAVING A HARD TIME BOILING THEIR WATER AND GETTING THOSE TO, UM, INDIVIDUALS AND CUSTOMERS WITHIN THEIR HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
UM, THERE, ADDITIONALLY WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS WERE PART OF THAT COMMUNICATIONS, UM, SO THAT WE COULD ALERT OTHER COMMUNITIES, UM, OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN WATER SERVICE AREA ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, UM, WITH OUR SERVICE.
AND SO THOSE WERE THE TWO PRIMARY CATEGORIES.
THERE WERE NOT INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE RIGHT NOW ANYWAY, OR JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND FOR Y'ALL SYSTEM OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
UM, I WANT, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS IF YOU, IF YOU OPERATE WITH A LIST OF CRITICAL CUSTOMERS, I KNOW AUSTIN ENERGY DOES, UM, NOT THAT IT'S COMPREHENSIVE, BUT JUST, THEY HAVE AT LEAST SOME SORT OF LIST.
AND SO MY QUESTION IS WHETHER AUSTIN WATER HAS A, UH, A LIST, UH, AKIN TO THAT.
YEAH, YES, THIS IS, THIS IS, UH, GREG AGAIN, UH, WE HAVE A CRITICAL CUSTOMER LIST AND IT'S ACTUALLY MAPPED FOR OUR, OUR OPERATIONS TEAM WHEN THEY'RE OUT WORKING.
THEY CAN SEE WHO'S A CRITICAL CUSTOMER.
IT'S OBVIOUSLY HEALTHCARE IS A BIG PART OF THAT, AND IT'S NOT JUST HOSPITALS.
IT'S, UH, IT'S, IT'S OTHER HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS.
UM, UH, AND AS RANDY MENTIONED, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, SOME OF OUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS, UH, LARGER SENSITIVE CUSTOMERS, WE DO, I BELIEVE HAVE INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS THAT ACT LIKE DIALYSIS PATIENTS ON THAT SYSTEM.
ALTHOUGH I'LL HAVE TO CONFIRM THAT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF, UM, ONE OF MY OTHER ADS MAY KNOW THAT IF THEY'RE, IF THEY'RE ON THE LINE, OKAY, THIS IS SHAY ROLSON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
UM, OUR CRITICAL CUSTOMER PROGRAM DOES INCLUDE INDIVIDUALS.
SO FOLKS THAT HAVE MEDICAL DEVICES AT HOME THAT REQUIRE, UM, WATER SO THAT WHEN OUR CREWS ARE OUT IN THE FIELD, THEY, THEY, UH, THEY ARE AWARE OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND THEN THE OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS THAT, UM, THAT WERE MENTIONED ALREADY.
SO ARE THEY, SO THEN AS YOU KNOW, LAST TIME WE MET, WE TALKED ABOUT Y'ALL'S RESILIENCY PLAN OR, OR YOUR RESPONSE PLAN.
I'M NOT GETTING THE WORDS RIGHT.
THE, TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN.
SO AT THIS POINT, ANYWAY, DO YOU INCLUDE THOSE INDIVIDUAL CRITICAL CUSTOMERS IN THE OUTBOUND MESSAGING TO KIND OF CHECKING ON THEM? I GUESS MIGHT BE THE QUESTION.
I THINK THAT AS A PART OF OUR OUTBOUND COMMUNICATION AT THIS TIME, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY AN AREA THAT WE COULD, THAT WE WILL REVIEW WHERE WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DOING AN EVALUATION OF OUR CRITICAL CUSTOMER PROGRAM THAT STARTED BEFORE THE STORM EVENT, IN ORDER TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE IT MORE ROBUST AND IMPROVE IT.
AND THAT INCLUDES THE CORRELATION OR COORDINATION WITH THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE TEAM AND RANDY'S PROGRAM AREA.
SO IF, IF I'M HEARING YOU RIGHT, THEN THERE'S A REVIEW OF, UH, THE CRITICAL CUSTOMER INDIVIDUAL CRITICAL CUSTOMER LIST, RIGHT.
AND YOUR POLICIES AROUND HOW TO RESPOND OR WORK WITH THEM.
I THINK THAT, THAT IS FAIR TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOING A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE PROGRAM AND THAT WILL INCLUDE EVERYONE.
WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AS A CRITICAL CUSTOMER, INCLUDING THE INDIVIDUALS.
UM, AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE, UH, THEIR EMERGENCY RESPONSE RELATED TO THEM RIGHT.
UM, AND THEN I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION THEN.
SO, SO IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE, UH, FROM WHAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, YOU SORT OF HAVE THAT, UM, TEXTING OUT AND PUSHING OUT MESSAGING YOU HAVE, IF I'M HEARING CORRECTLY THREE MAIN WAYS TO DO
[00:55:01]
THAT, UH, THROUGH THE AMI, THE CUSTOMERS THAT HAPPEN TO BE ON THE, IT WAS A STANFORD AUTOMATIC METERING INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, ADVANCED METERING, IF THEY HAD SPEED ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE.SO YOU'VE GOT THE, THAT, THAT MECHANISM, WHICH IS REALLY IN PILOT PHASE AND BEGINNING PHASE, YOU'VE GOT THE REVERSE NINE ONE ONE, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT YOUR CUSTOMER MESSAGING.
SO I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
UM, DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE A SENSE THAT, THAT THESE ALERTS THAT GO OUT THROUGH ONE OR MORE OF THESE, UH, SYSTEMS ARE EFFECTIVE IN TERMS OF, UH, IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND HAVING CUSTOMERS RESPOND? DO YOU, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THE DATA TO TELL YOU THAT OR NOT, BUT I'M TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THESE ARE ALERTS ARE THEN TRANSLATING INTO SOME ACTION THAT EITHER HELPS THE CONSUMER AND, OR HELPS YOU ALL AS YOU'RE RESPONDING, I WOULD SAY YES.
UM, IN SOME WAYS, UM, SO CERTAINLY DURING THIS EMERGENCY EVENT, WE WERE POINTING CUSTOMERS TO OUR OPERATIONAL UPDATES FOR MORE INFORMATION, YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE SAYING, YOU KNOW, UM, HERE IS THE UPDATE, UM, AND WHETHER IT WAS A BOIL WATER NOTICE OR OTHERWISE, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FOR MORE INFORMATION, UM, TUNE INTO OUR OPERATIONAL UPDATE ACTIVITIES, UM, OUTSIDE OF THAT, IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BEING MORE OF A TWO WAY COMMUNICATION, UM, IN OUR PORTAL, IT DOES HAVE THE, THE ABILITY TO, UM, RECEIVE CUSTOMER QUESTIONS AND EMAILS, OUR TEAM MEMBERS THAT, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY DURING THE EVENT, WE'RE STANDING BY TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS, BUT JUST IN, IN TRUTH IN DAY TO DAY OPERATION MODE, UM, HAS THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT CUSTOMER INTAKE BY, BY WAY OF EMAIL EMAIL, OR BY PHONE.
AND, AND SO, UM, I WOULD SAY YES, LARGELY, I THINK WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM THIS EVENT AND HOW WE UTILIZE THE TOOL.
UM, BUT IT, IT DOES HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, AS DIRECTOR MAZARA HAS MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST NEWLY LAUNCHED IN OCTOBER.
AND SO THIS WAS A BRAND NEW TOOL TO US AND, AND WE WERE ABLE TO UTILIZE IT, UM, FOR THIS EVENT.
THANKFULLY, I THINK IT, IT DID PLAY IN OUR FAVOR IN THAT WAY, BUT, UM, CAN WE MAKE SOME, SOME IMPROVEMENTS AND LEARN FROM IT AND KEEP MODIFYING FROM THERE YET? I'M INTERESTED IN OVERALL WITH THESE THREE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. YOU KNOW, I WOULD PROBABLY JUST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, SAY, YOU EAT, YOU NEED EACH OF THESE THREE SYSTEMS GOING FORWARD AND YOU MIGHT USE THEM FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK WOULD BE USEFUL IN YOUR AFTER-ACTION REPORT IS TO, IS TO KIND OF LAY THAT OUT FOR US SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHEN IS AMI TO BE USED VERSUS REVERSE NINE ONE, ONE VERSUS CUSTOMER MESSAGING, OR IS IT REALLY MORE JUST OVERLAYING ALL THREE, WHICH GIVES YOU THREE OPPORTUNITIES.
I MEAN, EVENTUALLY WITH AMI THAT GIVES YOU, YOU KNOW, TWO OR THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO REACH SOMEONE, BUT I THINK, I THINK IT'D BE AN, IT'D BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND HOW THOSE THREE SYSTEMS INTERACT IN THE BEST WAY AND THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY GOING FORWARD.
UM, AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL HAVE THOUGHT THROUGH THAT YET, BUT I, I WOULD THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, UH, TO UNDERSTAND THAT DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? IT DOES MAKE SENSE.
AND, AND AT A HIGH LEVEL, I WOULD SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE PLAN WOULD BE TO, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE TO UTILIZE THESE THREE AVENUES DOWN THE ROAD.
UM, BUT, BUT I DO HEAR YOUR POINT, UM, TO, TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE THAT BACK IN OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW ABOUT EXACTLY HOW WE WILL BE UTILIZING ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS. YEAH.
WHICH ONE DO YOU USE WHEN, AND WHAT THEY'RE GOOD FOR WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND? SO LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE IN THEN IS, UM, UH, LET'S SEE, WHAT WAS THE LAST QUESTION? OH, AMI, CAN YOU JUST REMIND PEOPLE, UM, I MEAN, THAT'S ON A IT'S THAT'S ON A PATH FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S ON A PATH TO BE ROLLED OUT, BE ROLLED OUT MORE BROADLY.
UH, AND I KNOW THERE'S, UH, A TIMELINE FOR THAT.
CAN YOU JUST REMIND PEOPLE OF WHAT THAT IS? AND THAT MAY BE A QUESTION FOR MR.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S, WHO CAN ANSWER THAT ONE.
THIS IS A RECORD AUTO SYSTEM DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS.
UH, I THINK, UH, WHAT WAS BEEN MENTIONED IS THAT, UH, WE DO HAVE THE AMI PILOT THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH WITH THE, UH, THE INTENT OF, UH, TESTING OUT THE 5,000, ROUGHLY METERS THAT WE HAVE IN THE GROUND.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL LAUNCH FULL-SCALE, UH, INSTALLATION
[01:00:01]
BY THIS YEAR, UM, TARGETED SOMETIME BY FALL TO START THE, UM, THE INITIATION OF A CITYWIDE, UH, DEPLOYMENT.AND PART OF THAT IS THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE IN WHICH COLLECTS ALL THIS DATA FROM EACH INDIVIDUAL METER.
AND SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE INSTALLATION OF WHAT WE CALL THE DIGITAL OR THE DC USE.
UH, THEY'RE THE COLLECTION UNITS THAT, THAT ARE STAGED THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND WHEN THOSE IS SOMEWHERE IN THE ORDER OF A HUNDRED TO 150 OF THOSE, UH, DC USE, AND THAT WILL HELP DETERMINE WHERE IN THE CITY WE'LL KIND OF NAVIGATE THROUGH, UH, NEXT STEPS OF FULL DEPLOYMENT.
THE INTENT IS TO CONTINUE WITH THE MANUAL, MEET, UH, READER, UH, CONTRACT AND PARALLEL WITH OUR DEPLOYMENT, WHICH SHOULD BE, UH, WRAPPED UP SOMETIME THE YEAR 20, 24 TIMEFRAME.
THAT'S A GOOD REMINDER INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE.
SO, UM, CAN'T REMEMBER TOVA I THINK YOU MAY HAVE QUESTIONS WHERE WE ARE FOCUSED RIGHT NOW ON THE COMMUNICATION.
I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU HAD HEARD THAT AND THEN WE'LL BE TURNING TO INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY AFTER WE FINISHED COMMUNICATION.
SO IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, PLEASE.
I JOINED A FEW MINUTES LATE, BUT I'VE BEEN HERE JUST WITH MY CAMERA OFF.
GREAT TO TOUCH ON A FEW OF THE ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED, BUT THEY WERE PART OF OUR EXHIBIT A THAT WE PASSED, UM, AT, AT THE MARCH 25TH, UM, DIRECTOR MS. OR, OR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UM, JENKINS.
I THINK I UNDERSTOOD FROM SOME OF THE RESPONSES IS THAT PART OF THE AFTER ACTION REPORT IS GOING TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF, OF POTENTIALLY IDENTIFYING THRESHOLDS FOR, UH, WHAT KIND OF MESSAGES GO OUT AT DIFFERENT POINTS REGARDING WATER USE, IS THAT CORRECT? AND IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE A MODEL FOR THAT WITH REGARD TO OUR DROUGHT, OUR DROUGHT RESPONSE.
I MEAN, NOT CERTAIN AT CERTAIN LEVELS, DIFFERENT KINDS OF USES WERE CURTAILED AND DIFFERENT MESSAGES WENT OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
AND SO, UH, IS THAT THE KIND OF THAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO AS YOU LOOK TO, TO REVISING AND SETTING THRESHOLDS FOR THIS? YEAH, THAT'S CERTAINLY A SYSTEM THAT WORKS, YOU KNOW, FOR DROUGHT RESPONSE.
SO I THINK IN, IN A WINTER EVENT, IT WORKS SIMILARLY, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE IT DOES FOR FLOODING, ET CETERA.
SO WE WILL BE LOOKING INTO THAT.
UM, AND I JUST WANT TO, TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT, WHAT SEVERAL OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SAID ABOUT INFORMATION, UM, INFORMATION AND PREPAREDNESS, YOU KNOW, AS I SOUGHT TO INFORM MYSELF IN THAT WEEK BEFORE THE STORM, I WAS SEEING DIFFERENT MESSAGES OUT IN SOCIAL MEDIA AND THEY SOMETIMES CONFLICT, THEY CONFLICTED WITH ONE ANOTHER AND THEY CONFLICTED AT TIMES WITH AUSTIN WATER UTILITIES, MESSAGES ABOUT, FOR EXAMPLE, SHOULD YOU WRAP YOUR OUTSIDE PIPES, UM, AND, AND A COUPLE OTHER POINTS, BUT THAT WAS THE MAIN ONE WHERE THERE WAS CONFLICTING INFORMATION ABOUT WHETHER YOU SHOULD WRAP THEM AND WHETHER YOU SHOULD DRIP THE OUTDOOR PIPES.
SO I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO AUSTIN WATER, UM, GETTING SOME VERY CLEAR, SOME VERY CLEAR EDUCATION OUT THERE.
I KNOW THAT'S WHERE I EVENTUALLY TURNED TO FOR INFORMATION, UH, AND, AND GOT GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN MAKE THAT AVAILABLE SOONER, UM, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER HAD A GOOD IDEA ABOUT HOW TO, HOW TO LINK UP WITH REALTORS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S ON MY TO-DO LIST.
IN FACT, I THINK I ORDERED ONE YESTERDAY, UM, ONE OF THOSE KEYS AND HAD MY PLUMBER OUT WHO WAS REPAIRING SOME LEAKS, SHOW ME, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT AT THE STREET.
I THINK THAT IT'S GREAT IF WE PUSH OUT THAT MESSAGE BEFORE THE NEXT WINTER STORM, BUT I THINK WHILE IT'S ON A LOT OF PEOPLE'S MINDS, I WOULD ENCOURAGE AUSTIN WATER TO GET THAT INFORMATION.
IF IT'S NOT ALREADY ON OUR WEBSITE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A GREAT TIME WHILE THE WEATHER IS WARMER.
IT'S A GREAT TIME TO LOCATE THAT, UM, THAT CUTOFF VALVE AT THE CITY AND GET THAT TOOL.
IF YOU DON'T OWN ONE ALREADY AND ASK YOUR NEIGHBOR OR, YOU KNOW, LOOK UP ONLINE OR POTENTIALLY EVEN HAVE, HAVE ONE ON OUR AUSTIN WATER UTILITY, UM, A LITTLE VIDEO ABOUT HOW YOU USE ONE OF THOSE TOOLS, WHICH YOU CAN GET, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, ANY HARDWARE THOUGH, THEY'VE BEEN OUT, THEY'VE BEEN SOLD OUT FOR WEEKS NOW.
UM, SO AGAIN, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE THAT EDUCATION AS SOON AS WE'RE, AS SOON AS YOU'RE READY TO ROLL IT OUT.
I KNOW YOU'RE IN THE MIDST OF DOING THAT AFTER ACTION REPORT.
AND I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAVE WITH RELATIONSHIP TO THIS SECTION.
UM, I DO, I DO HAVE A QUESTION THAT KIND OF BRIDGES INTO THE NEXT TOPIC, AND THAT IS WHETHER WE'RE DOING COUNCIL MEMBER TOPO COULD ENLIST IT'S ON POINT, COULD WE WAIT FOR THEIR PRESENTATION? UM, CAUSE I THINK THEY'VE GOT A WHOLE PRESENTATION ON INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE, OR IT WAS ABOUT COMMUNICATION WITH UTILITY
[01:05:01]
ORGANIZATIONS.UM, I KNOW THAT YOU HAD MENTIONED IN THE PRESENTATION THAT YOU'RE IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION.
I KNOW THE AUSTIN WATER UTILITY HAS HAD A VERY LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AUSTIN WITH THE WATER UTILITY CLIMATE ALLIANCE.
AND I WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOU'RE CONTINUING, WHETHER WE ARE STILL MEMBERS OF THE AUSTIN WATER OF THE WATER UTILITY CLIMATE ALLIANCE.
AND IF THAT IS TO ONE OF THE SOURCES OF, UM, INFORMATION SHARING THAT WE'RE ENGAGED IN COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS DIRECTOR MAZARRA YES, WE ARE STILL A MEMBER OF MUKHA OR THE WATER UTILITY CLIMATE ALLIANCE.
AND, UH, AND THAT'S, UH, ONE OF THE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT WILL, UH, UH, UH, GET INFORMATION ON, ON CLIMATE RESILIENCY AND STRATEGIES THAT ARE, UH, WORKING, UH, FOR OTHER UTILITIES, UH, BESIDES THAT UTILITY AND OR THAT GROUP.
AND AWW, I'M ALSO IN CONTACT WITH OTHER UTILITY DIRECTORS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS ON, UH, ON, UH, TECHNIQUES AND, AND APPROACHES THAT THEY USED IN THEIR UTILITIES EXPERIENCES.
SO, UH, THIS WILL BE, UH, KIND OF AT MULTIPLE LEVELS THAT WE'LL BE SEEKING FEEDBACK ON, ON THINGS LIKE THIS WINTER STORM.
AND AS WE CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT THE RESILIENCE PIECE, IT'D BE INTERESTING TO KNOW HOW ENGAGED WE ARE WITH BUKA AT THIS POINT AND HOW THAT'S INFORMING THE CHOICES, BUT THAT, THAT TAKES US INTO THE NEXT PRESENTATION.
I JUST WANTED TO GET A SENSE OF WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE STILL IN COMMUNICATION WITH THAT ORGANIZATION AND COUNCIL MEMBER.
UH, SINCE YOU BROUGHT UP THE TOPIC, I MIGHT USE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANNOUNCE WE HAVE HIRED WHAT WE CALL AN ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE OFFICER FOR AUSTIN WATER.
IT'S OUR HIGHEST LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL CONTACT AT AUSTIN WATER.
AND YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH SHERRY COOL, WHO LEADS OUR WILDLANDS? SHE'S JUST ACCEPTED THIS PROMOTION AS THE CITY, AS AUSTIN WATERS, ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE OFFICER, AND ONE OF HER CHARGES IS TO BE WORKING ON OUR CLIMATE STRATEGIES.
WOOKAH SHE HAS OTHER STAFF WORKING FOR HER HERE.
AND SO WE HAVE A PARTICULAR POINT OF CONTACT, UH, DRIVING THESE EFFORTS AT AUSTIN WATER NOW WITH JERRY AND THIS NEW ROLE.
SO, OKAY, SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO TURN TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY PORTION.
SO SHEA RAUL'S ROLE SOON WILL BE LEADING THAT, TURN IT OVER TO SHEA.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, CHAIR, KITCHEN.
AS GREG MENTIONED, I'M SHEA RAWLS, ROLSON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES AND AUSTIN WATER.
I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, PLANNING PROCESS AND HOW WE INCORPORATE RESILIENCY AND RISK MANAGEMENT INTO PROJECT PLANNING AND DELIVERY.
BOSTON WATER USES A RISK-BASED PLANNING PROCESS, WHICH IS AN ALL HAZARDS APPROACH TO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.
WE RECOGNIZE THAT IN ORDER FOR OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE RESILIENT AGAINST ALL KINDS OF STRESSORS AND CHALLENGES, WE NEED A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND PRIORITIZING INVESTMENTS.
YOU'VE HEARD FROM OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM ABOUT HOW WE USE EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT.
TWO OF OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES ARE TO ADDRESS CRITICAL ASSET AND DEMONSTRATE MAINTENANCE EXCELLENCE.
AUSTIN WATER HAS A LARGE AND AMBITIOUS CIP PROGRAM.
WE WILL BUILD MORE THAN A BILLION DOLLARS IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
93% OF THAT IS DIRECT INVESTMENT IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TREATMENT PLANTS, PUMP STATIONS, LIFT STATIONS, PIPELINES, AND RESERVOIRS.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE STABILITY IN OUR PLANNING PROCESS, BUT IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT EVERY DOLLAR INVESTED IS REDUCING OUR RISK AND IMPROVING OUR RESILIENCY.
SO WE EMPLOY A BUDGETING PROCESS.
THAT IS ZERO-BASED, WHICH MEANS WE BUILD IT FROM THE GROUND UP EVERY YEAR.
AND EVERY YEAR WE LOOK AT THE NEXT FIVE, 10 AND 20 YEARS TO ASSESS THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS BECAUSE AFFORDABILITY IS A CORE PRIORITY AT AUSTIN WATER ALONGSIDE RESILIENCY.
THIS IS THERE'S AN INTENSELY DATA-DRIVEN PROCESS IN ORDER TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS, WE NEED GOOD DATA.
AND THAT REQUIRES A ROBUST ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
NOW ASSET MANAGEMENT IS A TERM THAT GETS THROWN AROUND A LOT AND CAN MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN ORGANIZATIONS.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BOSTON WATER IS THAT WE KNOW WHAT ASSETS WE OWN, WHERE THEY ARE AND WHAT CONDITION THEY'RE IN, IN ORDER TO TRULY UNDERSTAND THE RISK OF ANY OF OUR ASSETS.
WE NEED TO KNOW HOW LIKELY IT IS TO FAIL.
AND WE NEED TO KNOW THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES CONSEQUENCE OF ITS FAILURE.
WE HAVE EXTENSIVE DATABASES FOR OUR HORIZONTAL ASSETS AND OUR VERTICAL ASSETS, AND THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO MAINTAIN THIS DATA IS SPREAD THROUGHOUT OUR ORGANIZATION.
SO WE'VE CULTIVATED A CULTURE OF MAINTAINING THAT DATA AND KEEPING IT UPDATED.
ASSET MANAGEMENT IS TRULY A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION.
SO WE CONTINUE TO REFINE OUR PROCESSES AND DEVELOP NEW TOOLS.
[01:10:01]
PLEASE HELP US ASSESS NEW DATA AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS THAT MAY SUPPORT OR IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE RISKS INHERENT IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.AS WE ALL KNOW, TIGHT BREAKS, BOTH PRIVATE SIDE AND PUBLIC SIDE CREATED AN INCREDIBLE DEMAND DURING A WINTER STORM.
SO WE'VE TAKEN A LOOK AT THE DATA AVAILABLE FROM THE PUBLIC SIDE BREAKS.
WE FOUND THAT 85% OF THE PUBLIC SIDE BREAKS WERE ON CAST IRON PIPE.
AND THAT 95% OF THE BREAKS WERE ON TYPES, EIGHT INCHES IN DIAMETER OR SMALLER.
SO THIS DATA TELLS US THAT WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE REPLACING SMALL DIAMETER CAST IRON PIPE TO REDUCE RISK FROM FUTURE FREEZE EVENTS.
DATA IS CONSISTENT WITH BREAK DATA OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, 76% OF THE BRIGHT BREAKS EXPERIENCED BY AUSTIN WATER HAVE BEEN ON CAST IRON PIPE.
HOWEVER, ONLY A FRACTION OF ALL THE CAST IRON PIPE IN OUR SYSTEM HAS ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED A BREAK.
FURTHERMORE CAST IRON REPRESENTS MORE THAN A QUARTER OF ALL THE PIPE IN OUR SYSTEM, AND IT HAS A REPLACEMENT VALUE OF $1.3 BILLION.
THAT'S 20% MORE THAN THE FIVE-YEAR CIP FOR THE ENTIRE UTILITY.
SO THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY THAN JUST REPLACING ALL THE CAST IRON PIPE IN OUR SYSTEM.
THAT'S WHERE DATA ANALYTICS AND RISK-BASED DECISION MAKING COME IN.
SO WE CAN TARGET RENEWAL FUNDING TO WHERE IT HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF REDUCING OUR RISK FROM PIPE BREAKS.
IN 2011, AUSTIN WATER INITIATED A PROGRAMMATIC APPROACH TO REDUCING PIPE BREAKS, WHICH WE CALL RENEWING AUSTIN.
IT AIMS TO DO EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE TARGET THE WORST PERFORMING PIPE FOR REPLACEMENT, WITH A FOCUS ON SMALL DIAMETER PIPE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.
SINCE THE PROGRAM'S INCEPTION, WE HAVE REPLACED 57 MILES OF PIPE AND SPEND $115 MILLION.
AND OUR APPROACH HAS PROVEN EFFECTIVE.
OUR ANNUAL BREAK RATE DECLINED 43%, AND WE'RE NOW BELOW THE INDUSTRY, AVERAGE OF 14 BREAKS PER HUNDRED MILES OF PIPE.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO FUND THIS PROJECT ON AN ONGOING BASIS, UH, ON THIS PROGRAM.
OUR UPCOMING FIVE-YEAR CIP INCLUDES MORE THAN 60 PIPELINE, RENEWABLE PROJECTS LOCATED ACROSS THE CITY.
ANOTHER AREA OF RISK THAT WAS HIGHLIGHTED DURING THE WINTER STORM IS THE RISK OF POWER OUTAGES, WATER, AND POWER ARE INEXORABLY TIED TOGETHER.
YOU LITERALLY CAN'T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER.
HAVING ROBUST POWER SYSTEMS PROTECTS OUR ABILITY TO RUN OUR EQUIPMENT FROM A VARIETY OF RISKS.
SO A PROGRAM OF MODERNIZATION AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM RENEWAL IS FOUNDATIONAL TO ALL HAZARDS RISK MANAGEMENT.
WE ACTIVELY COLLABORATE WITH OUR PARTNERS AT AUSTIN ENERGY, AND WE HAVE BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTING IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM RENEWAL OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS.
I KNOW THIS SLIDE HAS A LOT OF INFORMATION ON IT, AND IT ONLY HITS THE HIGHLIGHTS OF ALL THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE DONE OR ARE DOING TO REINVEST IN ELECTRICAL AND POWER SYSTEMS AT ALL.
OUR FACILITIES, SEVERAL KEY WATER PROJECTS ARE LISTED ABOVE THE ARROWS AND WASTEWATER PROJECT.
EXCUSE ME, WASTEWATER PROJECTS ARE LISTED BELOW THE ARROWS.
YOU CAN SEE THAT OUR FOCUS ON THE WATER SIDE HAS BEEN ON BRINGING DUAL POWER TO PUMP STATIONS, REPLACING MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT AT PUMP STATIONS, UM, BUILDING NEW SUBSTATIONS AT THE TREATMENT PLANTS AND UPGRADING POWER DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE PLANTS ON THE WASTEWATER SIDE, THE FOCUS IS SIMILAR NEW SUBSTATIONS AT THE TREATMENT PLANTS, ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS AT THE LIFT STATIONS AND EMERGENCY GENERATORS ARE PLANNED FOR A NUMBER OF LIFT STATIONS, COMPLETED PROJECTS OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS OR SO COMPRISED AND INVESTMENT OF ABOUT $40 MILLION ONGOING PROJECTS HAVE A PRICE TAG OF OVER 200 MILLION JUST FOR THE ELECTRICAL PORTION.
AND OUR FUTURE PROJECTS ALREADY IDENTIFIED AND PROGRAMMED INTO THE LONG RANGE.
SO THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT FOR THE UTILITY AND WE EXPECT IT TO CONTINUE.
SIMILARLY TO THE DISCUSSION ON PIPE BREAKS, THE ANSWERS ARE NOT EASY.
IT'S NOT FEASIBLE TO MAINTAIN EMERGENCY GENERATORS AT ALL 135 OF OUR LIFT STATIONS.
AND THE LOADS THAT OUR TREATMENT PLANTS ARE LARGE.
WE ARE ONE OF AUSTIN ENERGY'S LARGEST CUSTOMERS.
SO EACH PLANT WOULD REQUIRE MULTIPLE LARGE GENERATORS AND GENERATORS HAVE TO BE EXERCISED AND FUELED A GENERATOR.
DOES YOU NO GOOD IF IT WON'T FIRE UP OR YOU CAN'T GET DIESEL TO IT DUE TO ROAD CONDITIONS.
AND THERE ARE NOISY MANY OF OUR LIFT STATIONS AND SEVERAL OF OUR TREATMENT PLANTS ARE NESTLED IN NEIGHBORHOODS NEXT TO PEOPLE'S HOMES, BUT WE MUST ADDRESS POWER LIABILITY.
SO AGAIN, WE ARE TAKING A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH, IMPLEMENTING GENERATORS AT SOME LOCATIONS, COLLABORATING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY ON OPTIONS, SUCH AS A THIRD REDUNDANT FEED AT OTHER LOCATIONS AND EVALUATING NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR EMERGENCY POWER.
[01:15:03]
ALONG WITH POWER MODERN WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS REQUIRE COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROLS.WE HAVE AN EXTENSIVE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK OF RADIOS AND FIBER OPTIC THAT CONNECTS ALL OF OUR FACILITIES AND THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
WE HAVE PRESSURE POINTS, SOME STATION, OPERATIONAL DATA AND RESERVOIR LEVEL DATA.
WE HAVE LIFT STATION OPERATIONAL DATA AND ALL OF OUR WATER AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS HAVE ELABORATE COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL SYSTEMS. ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS TALK BACK TO OUR CONTROL CENTER EXHIBIT ON THE TOP, RIGHT? SHOWS OUR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.
WHEN IT'S HEALTHY, YOU CAN SEE THE FIBER OPTIC NETWORK CONNECTING VARIOUS RADIO LOCATIONS THAT TALK TO THE INDIVIDUAL SITES OUT IN THE DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION SYSTEM OR WIDE AREA NETWORK REQUIRES POWER TO OPERATE AND ON THE BOTTOM, RIGHT? YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE AT THE WORST POINT OF THE STORM, MULTIPLE FIBER OPTIC LINKS, ROUTE OF SERVICE.
HOWEVER, OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, WE INVESTED IN RADIO UPGRADES AND NEW CELLULAR LINKS.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE NEVER LOST COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR REMOTE SITES DURING THE STORM.
WE LOST SOME INSTRUMENTS THAT FROZE, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO TALK TO ALL OF THE OPERATING INSTRUMENTS, THE ABILITY TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE SYSTEM WAS CRUCIAL TO RESTORING SYSTEM OPERATION.
WE'RE MAKING OTHER STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS THAT BUILD RESILIENCY IN OUR SYSTEM.
YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH MY HEX WATER THAT RANDY, UH, DISCUSSED EXTENSIVELY EARLIER, OUR AUTOMATED METERING SYSTEM, AND RICK CORNADO SHOWED YOU SOME OF THE DATA THAT CAME OUT OF THE PILOT OF THAT SYSTEM.
DURING THE STORM EVENT A FEW YEARS FROM NOW, THE ROLLOUT WILL BE COMPLETE ACROSS THE CITY, GIVING US MUCH BETTER VISIBILITY INTO THE STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS.
ADDITIONALLY, AND EQUALLY IMPORTANTLY, THE DATA COMING FROM THOSE METERS WILL HELP OUR CUSTOMERS MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ABOUT WATER USE DURING DROUGHT, BECAUSE THEY'LL HAVE REAL-TIME INFORMATION AT THEIR FINGERTIPS.
WE'RE ALSO INVESTED IN INVESTING IN EXTENDING OUR RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM BY INITIATING SEVERAL PROJECTS.
WE KNOW FROM THE WATER FORWARD PLANNING PROCESS, THAT RECLAIMED WATER IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR SUPPLY PORTFOLIO FOR FUTURE DEMAND, ESPECIALLY DURING DROUGHT.
SIMILARLY, WE'RE BEGINNING THE PILOT OF THE AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY PROJECT.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO STORE DRINKING WATER UNDERGROUND DURING WHAT YEARS, AND THEN BRING IT BACK WHEN WE NEED IT.
WHETHER THAT'S FOR A DROUGHT OR WATER QUALITY ISSUE OR EXTENDED DEMANDS FROM EXCESSIVE DEMANDS, FROM AN EXTENDED FREEZE, ALL OF THESE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS IMPROVE OUR RESILIENCE AND ADDRESS ALL HAZARD RISK MITIGATION.
SOMETIMES WE FIND THAT OUR RENEWAL PROJECT IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS REPLACING OLD GEAR WITH NEW GEAR.
INSTEAD, WE NEED TO MAKE AN, A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT IN A MORE EXTENSIVE PROJECT TO BETTER SERVE OUR LONGTERM NEEDS.
TWO EXAMPLES ARE SHOWN HERE BACK IN DECEMBER, THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR REPLACING THE ELECTRICAL SWITCH GEAR AT THE OLD REGULAR SERVICE PUMP STATION.
AND WE DISCUSSED AT THAT TIME THAT THERE IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH ROOM WHERE THE EXISTING GEAR IS LOCATED TO MEET INDUSTRY CURRENT STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES.
SIMILARLY, THE NORTH AUSTIN RESERVOIR AND PUMP STATION WAS NOT A SIMPLE TANK REHABILITATION PROJECT.
THE EXISTING TANK WAS OVER 100 YEARS OLD AND THE RIGHT THING TO DO WAS DEMOLISH IT AND CONSTRUCT A NEW SMALLER TANK IN ITS PLACE.
THESE ARE JUST TWO EXAMPLES OF PLACES WHERE WE'RE MAKING STRATEGIC INVESTMENT TO BUILD RELIABILITY IN OUR SYSTEM.
PRIOR TO THE WINTER STORM, TWO MONTHS AGO, A PROLONGED FREEZE WAS NOT AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF EXPECTED RISKS AT THE ALL HAZARD RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESSES, FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE.
MANY OF THE PROJECTS WE ALREADY HAVE PLANNED WILL HELP US ADDRESS THIS RISK GOING FORWARD.
WE'VE BEEN EXAMINING OUR LONGTERM CIP TO DETERMINE WHICH PROJECTS WOULD BE PRUDENT TO PULL FORWARD AND DO SOONER THAN WE HAD PLANNED.
WE'VE IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF AREAS TO FOCUS ON, INCLUDING EXPANDING THE RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM, ACCELERATING SEVERAL CIP PROJECTS FOR WATER STORAGE, ACCELERATING IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR OPERATIONS CENTER AND CONTINUING OUR PROGRAMMATIC APPROACH TO ELECTRICAL RESILIENCY.
WE'VE ALSO ADDED THE PURCHASE OF ONE TO TWO VOLT WATER TRUCKS.
ADDITIONALLY, WE CONTINUE OUR AFTER ACTION REVIEW, INCLUDING CONSULTING WITH OUR PEER UTILITIES ON THEIR AFTER ACTION FINDINGS.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO ASSESS OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD RESILIENCY AND RELIABILITY IN THE FACE OF THE CHANGING CLIMATE AND ASSOCIATED RISKS TO OUR OPERATION.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TO YOU TODAY TO YOUR KITCHEN.
I TURN IT BACK TO YOU FOR QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
QUESTIONS WHO WOULD LIKE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS, COUNCIL MEMBER FORTIS.
AND MY QUESTIONS ARE AROUND THE EFFORTS TO ACCELERATE CERTAIN CIP PROJECTS.
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BIT MORE ABOUT THAT? UM, THE EFFORTS REQUIRED TO ACCELERATE CERTAIN PROJECTS AND IF OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY, I AM JUST TRYING TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMING, THE FUNDING AND WHAT ALL WOULD NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISHED TO GET THESE PROJECTS CREATED VERSUS WHAT THEY WERE ORIGINALLY SLATED FOR.SO WE GO THROUGH OUR ANNUAL CIP BUDGETING PROCESS AND WE LAY OUT THE NEXT FIVE TO 10 TO 15 TO 20 YEARS AND, AND WE SHOW INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS AND WHEN THEY'LL START AND WHEN THEY'LL BE COMPLETED IN THAT PLAN SO THAT WE CAN DO THE FINANCIAL PLANNING.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE GONE BACK AND, AND IDENTIFIED SEVERAL PROJECTS THAT, UM, THAT WE'D LIKE TO DO SOONER BASED ON THIS, UM, RECENT EVENT.
AND, AND WE WILL JUST PROGRAM THAT IN TO A SOONER YEAR AND WE WILL GET THAT ASSIGNED OUT TO OUR, OUT TO OUR TEAMS. AND THEN WE WILL HAVE TO DO THE FINANCIAL.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO DO THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE, UM, IF WE CAN, UM, EFFECTIVELY MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
OR IF THERE ARE OTHER PROJECTS THAT WE NEED TO, UM, DEFER SPACE OUT IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE THAT ONE.
SO YOU'RE STILL IN THE FORECASTING REALIGNMENT MODE OF UNDERSTANDING IF YOU ACCELERATE CERTAIN PROJECTS, WHAT FINANCIALLY THAT WOULD MEAN? YES, WE ARE.
SO COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, TO START A CIP PROJECT, IT'S TYPICALLY ENGINEERING, WHICH IS A FAIRLY LOW COST START.
UH IT'S WHEN YOU GET INTO THE CONSTRUCTION.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU'RE GONNA DO A NEW STORAGE TANK, THE ENGINEERING OF THAT MIGHT JUST BE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND EASILY ACCOMMODATED, YOU KNOW, WITHIN OUR, OUR, OUR BUDGETS.
BUT WHEN WE GET INTO THE CONSTRUCTION, THAT MIGHT BE IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THAT'S WHEN IT MIGHT REQUIRE A FUTURE RATE INCREASES.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE DO IS LOOK LONG RANGE AND GIVE THE COUNCIL KIND OF INSIGHTS INTO, YOU KNOW, WHERE RATES ARE GOING AND, UH, AND, UH, AND W WHEN WE MIGHT NEED TO TACKLE RATE INCREASES.
AND MY LAST QUESTION WAS AROUND, UM, THE RESILIENCE INVESTMENTS.
I KNOW YOU MENTIONED OLRICK AS ONE OF THE, UM, PLANTS THAT WILL GET, UH, SOME FUNDING OR SO MUCH NEEDED REPAIRS.
UM, HOW DID YOU BASE THAT DECISION ON WHERE THERE WERE MORE PIPE BREAKS? UM, LIKE I'M JUST TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF, ARE THE INVESTMENTS GOING EQUITABLY THROUGHOUT THE CITY, OR, UH, HOW, HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT DETERMINATION? SO WE HAVE A, UM, WE DO A CONDITION ASSESSMENT ON ALL OF OUR, UM, ALL OF OUR ASSETS, WHETHER IT'S THE HORIZONTAL PIPELINE ASSETS OR THE, WHAT WE CALL THE VERTICAL ASSETS AT OUR TREATMENT PLANTS AND COMPENSATION AND LIMITATION.
AND WE IDENTIFY WHICH ASSETS ARE IN FOUR OR VERY POOR CONDITION.
AND WE PROGRAM THOSE IN, FOR RENEWAL FUNDING IN THE NEXT FIVE-YEAR CIP CYCLE.
AND THEN WE DO A BACK-CHECK OF, UM, LOOKING AT ALL OUR POOR AND VERY POOR CONDITIONED ASSETS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE INCLUDED IN A S IN AN UPCOMING CIP PROJECT.
UM, AND SO IN THAT WAY, WE CONFIRM THAT, UM, THAT WE ARE SPENDING OUR DOLLARS EFFECTIVELY ON, ON, ON ASSET RENEWAL, AS FAR AS GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION.
UM, THAT IS ONE THING THAT WE LOOK AT SPECIFICALLY WHEN WE'RE SCOPING RENEWING AUSTIN PROJECT PROJECTS AND OTHER, UM, TYPELINE PROJECTS, UH, IS HOW ARE WE, ARE WE ADDRESSING OUR WORST CONDITION ASSETS EQUITABLY ACROSS THE CITY? SO THAT'S, THAT IS, UM, THAT'S PART OF OUR PROJECT SCOPING FOR PIPELINE PROJECTS AS WELL.
SO THE, THE INVESTMENT OF THE RENEWAL NEW RENEWAL FUNDS IS BASED ON THE CONDITIONS OF THE ASSETS AND NOT NECESSARILY CORRELATED WITH WHERE WE SEE MORE BREAKING IN BURSTED PIPES.
THOSE TWO, THOSE TWO THINGS GO TOGETHER.
SO IF A PIPE HAS A BREAK HISTORY, THEN, THEN IT IS RATED AS A POOR CONDITION ASSETS.
OTHER QUESTIONS, COUNCILMEMBER ALTAR.
SO I WANT TO MAKE, SO I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT STUFF YOU ALREADY HAD PLANNED AND TRYING TO ACCELERATE CERTAIN THINGS.
UM, AND I HEARD YOU SAY, YOU'D BE PURCHASING ANOTHER WATER TRUCK, HELP ME UNDERSTAND BETTER THE, THE NEW THINGS YOU'RE LOOKING AT, BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE DISCUSSED AT OUR LAST MEETING, THERE WAS NO, UM, ANTICIPATION OF A FREEZE IN YOUR PLANNING.
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ME THAT WE'RE JUST GOING TO GO AND MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PROJECTS WE ALREADY HAD WHEN OUR PLANNING DIDN'T ACCOUNT FOR A MULTI-DAY FREEZE THAT ALONE, ISN'T HELPED ME SEE WHAT WE'RE DOING, UM, TO AVOID THIS IN THE FUTURE AT THE DEGREE, THAT I WOULD LIKE.UM, SO CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL THINGS THAT YOU WERE THINKING, OR HOW SOME OF THESE OTHER PROJECTS ADDRESS THAT, THAT MAYBE IT'S NOT SO APPARENT FROM WHAT I KNOW AT THIS POINT OR SO, YOU KNOW, IN TALKING ABOUT HOW WE DO OUR CIP PLANNING AND OUR ALL, ALL HAZARDS APPROACH, UM, IT, IT REALLY, THAT SPEAKS TO WHEN WE BUILD RESILIENCY AND ROBUSTNESS INTO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, IT HELPS US PROTECT AGAINST WHATEVER MIGHT HAPPEN.
NOW, THE FREEZE EVENT REALLY ILLUSTRATED FOR US THE RISKS THAT WE HAD NOT EXPERIENCED BEFORE WITH A PROLONGED FREEZE.
AND SO, UH, PIPE BREAKS WERE A PART OF THAT ELECTRICAL POWER WAS A PART OF THAT LOSS OF STORAGE WAS A PART OF THAT.
AND SO THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED TO ACCELERATE ADDRESS THOSE RISKS SPECIFIC TO WHAT WE EXPERIENCED IN THE STORM EVENT.
SO, UM, THE URGENCY THAT WE FEEL NOW TO GET THOSE PROJECTS DONE IS IT IS A RESULT OF WHAT WE EXPERIENCED IN THE STORM OF BEN AND NOW KNOW THAT WE NEED TO PLAN FOR, BUT ARE THERE, ARE THERE ANY, AND MAYBE THERE'S NOT, I, I'M NOT, OBVIOUSLY I DON'T KNOW THE INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT ARE THERE, I'M STILL NOT UNDERSTANDING IF WE'RE CONSIDERING NEW INVESTMENTS OR, OR NEW THINGS? I WOULD SAY THE, THE THINGS THAT WE NEED, UM, TO INVEST IN, IN OUR SYSTEM ARE THE, ARE THE SAME, THE SAME THINGS THAT WE ALWAYS NEED TO INVEST IN, IN OUR SYSTEM, WHICH IS, UM, YOU KNOW, GOOD, UH, QUALITY EQUIPMENT AND TYPE MATERIAL THAT WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND RESIST THE FORCES OF THESE EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
THERE'S NOT A, UH, AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY OF INFRASTRUCTURE OR EQUIPMENT THAT WE NEED, UM, FOR A PROLONGED FREEZE EVENT, BUT WE NEED TO ARMOR OUR SYSTEM MORE EFFECTIVELY AGAINST PROLONGED FREEZES.
SO, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, AND IT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF NEW, BUT, UM, STORAGE, UH, IS CRITICAL TO, UM, MANAGE A SEVERE ADVANCED THE MORE WATER WE CAN STORE AND HAVE READY, THE BETTER WE ARE AT WORKING, UH, THROUGH AN EVENT.
AND, UH, AND WE HAVE SOME OF OUR PRESSURE ZONES HAVE, UH, RELATIVELY LOW AMOUNTS OF STORAGE.
THEY'RE STILL ABOVE REGULATORY STANDARDS, BUT WITH GROWTH AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, THAT'S AN AREA THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE.
UH, AND SO WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH OUR STORAGE PROJECTS AND BRINGING SOME FORWARD, UH, MAYBE SOME NEW ONES THAT WE HADN'T HAD PLANNED AND BUILDING THOSE SOONER IN STRATEGIC LOCATIONS THAT ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO A STORAGE DRIVEN OUTAGES.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE EXAMPLES THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH.
I MEAN, MORE SPECIFICALLY THE LOWEST STORAGE ZONE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW, I BELIEVE IS SOUTHWEST SEA.
AND, UH, AND, UH, AND THAT WAS THE FIRST AREA THAT WENT OUT OF SERVICE.
AND, UM, AND THAT WOULD BE THE KIND OF DECISION-MAKING WE WOULD USE TO DRIVE SOMETHING LIKE, UH, ADDITIONAL STORAGE STRATEGIES, UM, YOU KNOW, SHAY I THINK THAT A NICE JOB OUTLINING THE WATER MAIN INVESTMENTS AND, UH, AND LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES, WE KNOW WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, WE'RE TARGETING THE RIGHT KIND OF WATER MAINS, IT'S REDUCING BREAKS.
WE MIGHT NEED TO ACCELERATE THAT PROCESS, PUT FORWARD SOME ADDITIONAL, A WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT PROJECTS THAT WE KNOW WE WANT TO DO.
AND, UH, AND DO THOSE SOONER AS A WAY TO REDUCE BREAKS AND, UH, AND REDUCE WATER, PUBLIC WATER LOSS, UH, DURING, DURING THE EVENT, UM, UH, OUR ELECTRICAL PROJECTS ARE ANOTHER AREA THAT SHEA OUTLINED WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THOSE, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN SHEA HIT ON THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, NEW IS, DO WE CONSIDER MAJOR GENERATORS AT PLANTS THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT UTILITY IS NOT RECOMMENDED IN THE PAST.
AND, UH, AND SOMETHING WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO WORK THROUGH, UH, AS A COMMUNITY, IF THAT MAKES SENSE FOR US.
AND THOSE ARE LONG-TERM PROJECTS.
THOSE AREN'T EASY TO DO SHORT ONES NECESSARILY, BUT, YOU KNOW, DO YOU TRY TO CREATE LARGE DIESEL FIRE GENERATORS
[01:30:01]
AT THE DRINKING WATER PLANTS? UM, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT TO SORT THROUGH WITH THAT, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY SOME OF THE NEW AREAS THAT WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE TO SPEND SOME TIME EXAMINING AND, YOU KNOW, WE WON'T MAKE THOSE DECISIONS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS THAT THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE TO WORK THROUGH AND, UH, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY A LITTLE LONGER RANGE.AND CAN YOU JUST SPEAK IF THERE'S ANY OF FEDERAL OR STATE FUNDING TO SUPPORT, UM, THIS, THESE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS THAT IS NEW OR ONGOING INSIDE OF IT? WELL, WE, UH, WE, WE ROUTINELY TAP, UH, WHATEVER FEDERAL FUNDING IS AVAILABLE.
TYPICALLY FEDERAL FUNDING FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE IS ALLOCATED TO THE STATES THROUGH THE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS, THE SRF FUNDS, WHERE YOU GET A VERY LOW INTEREST LOANS, UH, FROM THE STATE.
AND WE, WE, UH, TAKE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE OF THAT ALREADY AND, UH, WOULD CONTINUE TO LOOK TOWARDS THAT AND ENGAGE THEM ROUTINELY WITH THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD ON THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS OF LOANS ALREADY AND WOULD HOPE TO GROW THAT PORTFOLIO.
UH, THERE'S INFRASTRUCTURE DOLLARS IN SOME OF THE NEW PACKAGES THAT ARE COMING OUT WITH THE, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.
AND, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD HOPE TO TAP THOSE KINDS OF RESOURCES, DEPENDING ON HOW THEY'RE CONFIGURED IN, IN HOW THEY'RE MADE AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT IS STILL TO BE DETERMINED.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF DOLLARS THAT THEY'RE FOCUSING ON LED SERVICES THROUGH THOSE PROGRAMS. WE WERE FORTUNATE, WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A LED SERVICES IN OUR SYSTEM.
UH, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'LL, IT'LL DEPEND ON HOW THAT COMES OUT.
UM, BUT, BUT CERTAINLY COUNCIL MEMBER THAT THAT'S WHERE WE'LL, WE'LL BE LOOKING TO, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE WHEREVER POSSIBLE.
OTHER QUESTIONS THAT PEOPLE HAVE KILLED TAMARA ELLIS.
AND I APOLOGIZE, I HAD TO STEP AWAY FOR A SECOND.
SO THIS, THIS MAY HAVE BEEN COVERED.
UM, BUT WHEN YOU MENTIONED THE SOUTHWEST SEA AREA, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE DECIDED TO MAKE ANY IMPROVEMENTS OR ADDITIONS ONTO, OR IS THAT JUST AN IDEA THAT YOU NEED TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER? WELL, WE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO THERE, BUT WE DO KNOW, YOU KNOW, JUST THE WAY OUR SYSTEM IS CONFIGURED THAT THAT HAS, UH, HAS AN AREA THAT HAS, UM, LESS STORAGE THAT WE WOULD, WE WOULD WANT IN THAT SCENARIO.
WE WOULD LIKE TO LIKELY ENHANCE STORAGE, NOT THE ONLY AREA, BUT CERTAINLY A HIGH PRIORITY AREA, BUT I DON'T HAVE LIKE SPECIFICS PINNED DOWN YET WITH, WITH, UH, WITH WHAT WE WOULD DO THERE.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU THE RESIDENTS DOWN THERE WOULD BE VERY EXCITED IF SOMETHING HAPPENED.
UM, IT WAS, IT WAS HARD BEING THE FIRST OFF IN THE LAST TIME FOR MANY OF MY CONSTITUENTS.
UM, I KNOW YOU'RE VERY WELL AWARE OF THAT, SO I WON'T, I WON'T REHASH IT.
UM, BUT AS FAR AS SOME OF THE OTHER UPDATES THAT YOU WISH TO MAKE, DO YOU HAVE A, A TIMELINE OF HOW MAYBE NEW THINGS ADDED TO YOUR LIST WILL WEAVE INTO THE OTHER TIMELINE YOU PROVIDED ON? UH, I THINK IT'S SLIDE 18.
IT KIND OF GIVES THE 20 YEAR PLAN.
DO YOU, DO YOU KNOW HOW SOME NEW IDEAS MIGHT WORK WITH THAT? DO THEY HAVE TO WAIT IN THE, IN THE SHOOT UNTIL THERE'S MORE MONEY OR CAN THEY BE HAPPENING CONCURRENTLY? I THINK, UM, WHAT, WHAT DR.
MAZARIEGOS WAS SAYING ABOUT HOW, WHEN WE, WHEN WE START A PROJECT, WE START WITH ENGINEERING AND THAT'S RELATIVELY SMALL DOLLARS COMPARED TO THE CONSTRUCTION COST.
AND SO WE CAN GET SOME THINGS MOVING FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WE'LL HAVE TO DO THE ANALYSIS ON FITTING THE PIECES TOGETHER FOR THE CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS FOR THE LONG RANGE SPENDING.
UM, BUT, UM, I DON'T HAVE A TIMELINE FOR YOU OF THE PROJECTS WE'VE IDENTIFIED TO ACCELERATE WHERE THOSE MIGHT FALL, BUT WE ARE, UM, IN OUR MEETINGS RECENTLY, UM, OF OUR CAPITAL PLANNING TEAM, UM, ESSENTIALLY WE SAID, LET'S GET, LET'S GET THESE STARTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
SO IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WILL, UM, RUSH INTO.
WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES ABOUT WHICH PROJECTS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH, BUT WE, UM, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'LL WAIT ON EITHER.
THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL.
AND WOULD THAT, WOULD THOSE FUNDING SOURCES BE THINGS THAT ARE BROUGHT TO COUNCIL, LIKE AS A COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM TO SAY, WE WANT TO KICK OFF ENGINEERING? HOW HOW'S THAT GONNA WORK? OH, WHEN WE, UM, YES AND NO.
WHEN WE, UH, ISSUE A REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS TO SELECT AN ENGINEER FOR A SPECIFIC PROJECT, THEN WE WILL BRING THAT CONTRACT TO YOU FOR APPROVAL.
IF WE ARE ABLE TO GET STARTED, UM, GET A PROJECT STARTED OFF OF ONE OF OUR ENGINEERING ROTATION LISTS, THEN WE WILL, WE'LL AUTHORIZE THEM TO GET STARTED AT THE POINT WHERE WE WILL
[01:35:01]
BE SPENDING CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS.WE WILL BRING THAT TO YOU AS A REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION TO APPROVE THAT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT BEFORE WE START IT.
AND ANY GENERAL IDEA OF WHEN SOME OF THOSE MIGHT COME, ARE WE TALKING A COUPLE MONTHS, COUPLE YEARS? IT'S, IT'S MORE ON THE RANGE OF A COUPLE OF YEARS, UM, THAN IT IS A COUPLE OF MONTHS, BUT, UH, HOPEFULLY, UM, YOU KNOW, WITHIN, UM, YOU KNOW, LET ME RATHER THAN COMMIT TO A TIMEFRAME, LET ME COMMIT TO PUTTING A PLAN TOGETHER THAT I CAN SHARE WITH YOU.
THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL INFORMATION, AND I'M, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT Y'ALL ARE KIND OF THINKING ABOUT HOW CAN WE BE FLEXIBLE GIVEN THAT WE'RE AN ENTERPRISE FUND THAT HAS A LOT OF LONG-TERM AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HIGH DOLLAR FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS TO IMPROVE OUR WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO BE FLEXIBLE AND TRYING TO BE NIMBLE, UM, GIVEN THE WORK THAT YOU DO, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
I THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK OUR CIP PLANNING PROCESS, ONE OF ITS MAIN STRENGTHS IS ITS FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY.
UM, OBVIOUSLY OUR PROJECTS TAKE A LONG TIME TO DELIVER.
AND SO WE, UM, ONCE WE COMMIT TO SOMETHING, WE NEED TO SEE IT THROUGH, BUT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE FLEXIBLE ON HOW WE, UM, SCHEDULE OUR PROJECTS.
AND WE DO THAT TO ADJUST TO THE NEEDS OF OUR OPERATION.
AND I WOULD JUST ADD FROM A BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE IN, IN GOOD FINANCIAL STATE RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF FINANCIAL CAPACITY TO GET WORK DONE, NOT UNLIMITED, BUT THERE'S NO RATE BARRIER FOR US TO GET, UH, IMPORTANT WORK STARTED IN RESPONSE TO THE AFTER ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, I MEAN, ALL THE MUTLI WE'LL NEED TO ENGAGE THE COUNCIL WITH RATE STRATEGIES IN THE FUTURE, OF COURSE, BUT, UH, WE, WE DON'T SEE, UH, A FINANCIAL OBSTACLE RIGHT NOW TO US BEING ABLE TO CARRY OUT THE FIRST STEPS OF RECOMMENDED CHANGES ACROSS OUR UTILITY, UH, WITH REGARDS TO THIS A WINTER FREEZE EVENT.
OTHER QUESTIONS, COUNCIL MEMBER TOBO, UH, THANKS SO MUCH, UH, DIRECTOR MISSOURI'S OR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
ROLSON WHEN I LOOKED THROUGH THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTION PLAN FOR CITY ASSETS AND OPERATIONS, THAT TALKS ABOUT SYSTEM SYSTEMIZED REDUNDANT ENERGY SUPPLIES.
WAS THAT INTENDED JUST TO BE A RECOMMENDATION FOR DUAL ELECTRICITY FEEDS, WHICH I SEE ON YOUR PLAN ON PAGE 17 OR AT THE TIME OF THAT REPORT, WAS IT ALSO TALKED ABOUT TO HAVE GENERATION UP GENERATORS? YEAH, TYPICALLY WE HAVE A COMBINATION OF, FOR HOW OUR REDUNDANCY AT OUR FACILITIES.
UM, WE HAVE DUAL POWER, UH, TO SOME, WE HAVE, UM, GENERATORS AT OTHERS AND WE HAVE SOME MOBILE GENERATORS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, UM, TAKE, UH, TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
UH, SO I BELIEVE THAT THE PLAN ENVISIONED A MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO REDUNDANCY AND POWER, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S OUR, THAT'S WHAT WE, WHAT WE TYPICALLY DO.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION IS ABOUT THE, ABOUT THE LIFT STATIONS.
SO IN LOOKING AT SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS THAT HAVE COME OUT ACROSS THE STATE, UM, IN SOME PLACES, THE ELECTRICITY, THE CRITICAL CIRCUITS HADN'T BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.
DO YOU KNOW THE EXTENT TO WHICH THAT IS THE CASE HERE? OR, AND IF THAT'S NOT A QUESTION YOU CAN ANSWER RIGHT NOW, IF, IF YOU'RE INTENDING TO TALK ABOUT THAT IN THE AFTER-ACTION REPORT.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT ON THE AFTER ACTION REPORT, UM, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CORNADO MAY BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THIS, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE, UH, MOST OF THE PUMP STATIONS DID NOT EXPERIENCE POWER OUTAGES.
UM, AND SO WE DID HAVE A NUMBER OF LIFT STATIONS WITH POWER OUTAGES THAT WE WERE TRANSPORTING EMERGENCY GENERATORS, UM, AROUND THOSE LIFT STATIONS TO GET THEM BACK INTO OPERATION.
WAS THAT BECAUSE OF THE, BECAUSE THEY WERE ON THE PLANNED OUTAGE OR THAT THEY EXPERIENCED WEATHER OUTAGES? CAUSE REMEMBER IT WAS MORE WEATHER OUTAGE RELATED WAS MY UNDERSTANDING FROM, FROM LIKE TRUE LIMBS OR ICING ONLINES AND NOT BECAUSE OF A, OF A BLACKOUT FROM THE CRITICAL CIRCUITS.
UH, WE'LL CERTAINLY EXAMINE THAT TO SEE IF ANYTHING WAS LEFT OUT.
BUT I THINK THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE OUTAGES WERE STORM DAMAGE.
UM, AND THEN WE CAN GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER, ALTAR CUSTOMER PULL.
DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR, OKAY, SO, UH, MY QUESTION
[01:40:01]
THEN IS A KIND OF BUILDS OFF OF WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER HAD ASKED AND JUST A DIFFERENT WAY.I THINK YOU ANSWERED IT, BUT JUST LET ME JUST ASK THIS WAY.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE, YOU KNOW, THE GENERAL PUBLIC WAS TALKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE WINTERIZING OUR, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, DOES THAT HAVE A PARTICULAR MEANING TO SAY WINTERIZING IN TERMS OF OUR WATER INFRASTRUCTURE? AND IS IT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY COVERED IN WHAT YOU'VE TALKED TO US TODAY? I THINK IT DOES.
WE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR FACILITIES, UM, WE, OUR STANDARD PRACTICE IS TO INSULATE EXPOSED, UH, CHEMICAL FEED LINES, UM, IT'S TO HEAT TAPE, UM, UH, MOTORS ON EQUIPMENT, BUT SOME OF THAT WAS NOT SUFFICIENT IN THIS STORM EVENT.
AND SO THAT'S A, THAT'S AN OPERATIONAL, UM, ISSUE THAT WE'LL BE ADDRESSING AT OUR DIFFERENT FACILITIES TO, UH, TO PREPARE FOR THE, OR AN EIGHT DAY FREEZE, AS OPPOSED TO, AS DIRECTOR ZERO SAID EARLIER, YOU KNOW, UH, A TWO DAY FREEZE, UM, IS, IS A LOT DIFFERENT.
SO, UM, I WOULD SAY THE WINTERIZATION WEATHERIZATION ITEMS ARE, UM, SPECIFICALLY IN THE O AND M AREAS OF OUR, OF OUR FACILITIES.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S AN INTENT TO DO THAT AND THE SPECIFICS OF IT WOULD BE IN YOUR AFTER-ACTION REPORT, OR CAN YOU GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT THE SPECIFIC THAT WILL BE? UH, YES.
THE, THE, UM, WHAT, UH, TRANSPIRED AT THE TREATMENT PLANTS, UM, WILL BE A PART OF OUR TECHNICAL AFTER ACTION REPORT.
AND SO THE WEATHERIZATION ISSUES WILL, OR ITEMS WILL COME, UM, BE SUMMARIZED THERE AND DIRECTOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, OR NATTO MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD ON, ON THE ONM SIDE OF THAT.
I'LL JUST ADD, UM, WHAT, UH, SHAY MENTIONED WAS TYPICAL WINTERIZATION OF OUR SYSTEMS IS THAT WE HAVE ADEQUATE INSTALLATION FOR A LOT OF THE PIPING AND THE EQUIPMENT THAT'S OUTDOORS.
WE DID EXPERIENCE SOME, YOU KNOW, UM, AREAS IN WHICH OUR OUTDOORS THAT WE CAN NOW, UH, WORK ON TO MAKE THEM MORE INDOOR RELATED.
SO WHETHER THEY'RE INSTRUMENTS THAT WERE THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UH, SO THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT, UH, IN OUR PLANNING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DO AND START DOING.
NOW THAT WOULDN'T TAKE A LOT OF, UH, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, UH, OUTSIDE OF UPDATING SOME OF OUR PROCEDURES.
IF, IF WE KEEP, UM, UNITS SUCH AS BASINS OR, UM, MAINTENANCE AREAS IN SERVICE VERSUS TAKE THEM DOWN.
AND DE-WATER THEM, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE PROCEDURAL ADJUSTMENTS THAT WE'LL MAKE.
BUT A LOT OF THAT, IT DOESN'T REQUIRE A LOT OF, UM, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR NEXT WINTER.
UH, BUT I, I WOULD ADD THAT, THAT TH THERE, THERE IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE SOME, UH, LONGER TERM OR LARGER EXPENSES WE'D HAVE TO MAKE TO WINTERIZE.
AND, AND, AND I MEAN, I'LL GIVE YOU A COUPLE EXAMPLES.
SO W WE, WE DID EXPERIENCE INSTRUMENTATION THAT FROZE LIKE PRESSURE GAUGES.
AND, AND I THINK RICK WAS TELLING ME THAT PRESSURE GAUGES, WE HAVE SOME PRESSURE GAUGES AT FIRE STATIONS AND, UH, AND THEY, THEY DID, THEY DID OKAY BY AND LARGE AND OTHER PRESSURE GAUGES THAT WERE OUT IN THE RAW ELEMENTS, YOU KNOW, FROZE UP.
SO WE MIGHT OVER PERIOD OF TIME RELOCATE MORE PRESSURE GAUGES TO FIRE STATIONS OR INDOOR BUILDINGS, WHICH WOULD COST SOME DOLLARS.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, BIGGER PROJECTS, UM, WITH THIS LONG DURATION PHRASE, IT'S CRITICAL THAT WE HAVE TO MOVE, WE TREAT USING LIME WE'RE LIME SOFTENING PLANTS, AND, UH, AND, AND WE HAVE TO HAUL LIME SLUDGE RESIDUALS, UH, EVERY DAY.
UH, AND, UH, AND DURING THE WINTER STORM WITH THE ROAD CONDITIONS, WE REALLY COULDN'T HAUL SLUDGE.
UM, I MEAN, IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN TO ORICK AND YOU GO UP THE HILL ON REDBUD THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A TOUGH HILL WHEN IT'S ICY.
AND SO, UH, I THINK WE'LL BE EXAMINING SOME OF THOSE ISSUES, LIKE, DO WE NEED TO INCREASE OUR ONSITE CAPACITY TO STORE LYME RESIDUALS AT THE PLANTS WHERE WE COULD STORE A FEW MORE DAYS OF LIME RESIDUALS VERSUS, YOU KNOW, THE NEED TO HAUL.
UM, AND, UH, AND SO AGAIN, WE'VE GOT MORE WORK TO DO THERE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CALL THAT WINTERIZATION, BUT, BUT THAT IS, THAT IS, YOU KNOW, POSSIBLE AREAS OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT THAT WE MAY NEED TO MAKE.
ONE LAST QUESTION FOR YOU THEN JUST TO, UH, CONFIRMED, UH, LET'S SEE.
I, I FORGET WHO ALL YOU WERE TALKING WITH ABOUT THAT, THIS, BUT, UM, SO IF I'M UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY, YOU ALL ARE STILL THINKING THROUGH YOUR CIP PROJECTS
[01:45:01]
AND, UH, WHICH, WHICH SPECIFIC ONES TO ACCELERATE IN WHICH ORDER.AND I THINK YOU MENTIONED COMING UP WITH A PLAN TO SHARE WITH US, UH, MY QUESTION IS, IS THAT GOING TO BE PART OF THE CIA, YOU KNOW, WE, WE APPROVE THE CIPS EVERY YEAR, YOU KNOW, AS PART OF OUR BUDGET ARE YOU EXPECTING TO HAVE, BY THE TIME WE DO OUR CIP FOR THIS BUDGET, UM, THAT ANALYSIS DONE ON WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCELERATE, OR JUST GIVE ME AN IDEA OF, OF WHETHER THAT'S, HOW YOU SEE THAT AS PART OF OUR BUDGET PROCESS.
YES, OUR, OUR PLAN IS TO UPDATE OUR FIVE-YEAR CIP PRIOR TO, UM, I BELIEVE IT'S, IT'S THE BEGINNING OF MAY WHEN THE BUDGET OFFICE NEEDS OUR FINAL NUMBERS FROM US.
SO, UM, HOWEVER THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE ACTUAL SCOPE OF THE PROJECT AND, UM, THE EXTENT OF EACH PROJECT WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON, BUT WE WILL, WE WILL BE MAKING CHANGES TO OUR CIP PLAN THAT, UM, FROM WHAT WE INITIALLY SUBMITTED TO WHAT YOU'LL APPROVE LATER THIS SPRING.
SO BY THAT TIME, IF WE WERE JUST, IF WE WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHICH TYPES OF PROJECTS OR WHICH SPECIFIC PROJECTS YOU HAD IDENTIFIED, THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ACCELERATE, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE SPECIFICS ABOUT IT, IS THAT FAIR TO SAY YES, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, BUT YOU KNOW, THIS WILL BE AN ONGOING PROCESS.
IT WON'T BE EVERYTHING THAT WE, YEAH.
BUT, BUT YOU, YOU SHOULD SEE SOME OF THAT EMERGE IN, IN THE INITIAL 22 BUDGETS IN THE MIDDLE.
THANK YOU SO WELL, UM, I THINK YOU ARE MORE FOCUSED ON THE CIP TODAY THAN THE ONM.
UM, BUT WE DO NEED SOMETHING TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER TO OUR CONSTITUENTS ARE ASKING US ABOUT THE WINTERIZING, UM, AND HOW THAT CAN BE IMPROVED.
UM, THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE TO BE SOME THINGS THAT WE'RE MAKING CHOICES ON ABOUT WINTERIZING OR NOT.
I MOVED HERE FROM MADISON, WISCONSIN, AND WE HAVE EIGHT DAY FREEZES EVERY YEAR, MULTIPLE TIMES AND LONGER, AND OUR PIPES HAVE NEVER FROZEN AND OUR, YOU KNOW, THE WATER ALWAYS RUNS.
SO, UM, WE, THERE, THERE MAY BE A LOTS OF TECHNICAL THINGS THAT GETAWAY IN ANSWERING THAT, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL FOR US TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE, UM, YOU KNOW, IN WRITING OR SOMETHING, SOMETHING MORE SUBSTANTIAL, UM, IN RESPONSE TO THE COMBINED QUESTION OF MINE AND, AND, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHENS.
SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE USEFUL AGAIN, I'M MINDFUL THAT THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNICAL STUFF THAT WE'RE, YOU GUYS ARE THE EXPERTS ON, BUT THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE'RE BEING ASKED TO, TO EXPLAIN TO FOLKS.
WELL, WHILE I APPRECIATE THE ALL HAZARDS, RISK ASSESSMENT, ET CETERA, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE W WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD BOTH WITH THAT SORT OF THE BROADER CLIMATE PICTURE AND ALL OF THE HAZARDS, BUT, UM, PEOPLE ARE RIGHTFULLY ASKING, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE DOING TO MAKE SURE IF WE HAVE ANY DAY FREEZING AND THAT WE'RE NOT RIGHT BACK WHERE WE, WHERE WE ARE.
UM, AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DIGEST THIS, BUT I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SURE THAT I'M TOTALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW THIS PAST HELPS US AVOID THAT IN THE FUTURE.
AGAIN, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDED, BUT THAT'S STILL A LINGERING QUESTION FOR ME.
UM, BUT I'M ALSO RECOGNIZING THAT I AM NOT AN INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST.
SO, SO I, I WANT TO KEEP BOTH OF THOSE THINGS IN MIND.
UM, MY QUESTION THOUGH IS ABOUT THE ONSITE EMERGENCY GENERATORS THAT ARE PROPOSED UNDER THE 2020, UM, OR UNDER THAT ORANGE LINE, WERE THOSE ALREADY IN THE WORKS AND THEY JUST HAPPENED TO BE ON THAT LINE, OR ARE YOU PLANNING GENERATORS THERE BECAUSE OF EXPERIENCES? UM, IN THE STORM, WE ALREADY HAD A NUMBER OF PROJECTS IDENTIFIED TO IMPLEMENT EMERGENCY GENERATORS AT LIFT STATIONS.
AND, UM, AND THEY, THEY ARE NOT ALL PLANNED FOR, UM, TO BEGIN IN 2020.
SOME OF THEM HAVE NOT BEGUN YET.
UM, SO THAT, UM, THE PROJECTS ON THE SLIDE DON'T MATCH UP EXACTLY WHAT THE YEARS, BUT THEY ARE.
UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SYSTEMATICALLY WORKING THROUGH, UH, IMPLEMENTING EMERGENCY GENERATORS THAT SELECT LIFT STATIONS BASED ON THEIR RISKS, OVERFLOWS WITH POWER OUTAGES.
SO I THINK TEXAS PLUME WAS ONE OF THE EARLY ONES TO GO OUT AND, UM, WAS THAT, THAT ONE WAS ALREADY ON THE LIST AND IT JUST DIDN'T HAVE IT UP AND RUNNING IT.
UM, AND THEN JUST QUICKLY GOING BACK TO THE COMMUNICATIONS, UM, IN THOSE EARLY STAGES, WHEN TEXAS PLUME WENT OUT, YOU KNOW, THOSE OF US WHO I THINK IT'S NOT ACTUALLY IN MY DISTRICT, BUT ACROSS TO MY DISTRICT
[01:50:01]
AND AN IMPACT IN MY DISTRICT, BUT THERE WAS NO DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS TO US TO KNOW THAT IT WAS A LIFT STATION THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, IN OUR DISTRICT THAT WE OUGHT TO BE COMMUNICATING OUT TO PEOPLE THAT THERE WERE PROBLEMS. UM, SO I KNOW YOU'RE SENDING THE GENERAL STUFF, BUT WHEN IT BECOMES SOMETHING THAT'S ALSO VERY CONCENTRATED AND YOU HAVE NAMES THAT, YOU KNOW, WE JUST DON'T ALWAYS RECOGNIZE, PARTICULARLY IT'S NOT IN OUR DISTRICT, BUT IMPACTS OUR DISTRICT, UM, IMPROVING THAT COMMUNICATION WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL, UM, FOR US IN GETTING THE WORD OUT.SO ARE FOLKS READY TO WRAP UP? LOOKS LIKE IT.
SO, UM, SO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, MR. MASSARO AND YOUR WHOLE TEAM.
AND I ALSO FELT LIKE IT WAS HELPFUL TO, TO, TO BE ABLE TO DRILL DOWN, YOU KNOW, TO SPEND SOME MORE TIME ON A COUPLE OF SPECIFIC ISSUES.
SO WE CAN DO THAT, UH, UM, IN, IN THE FUTURE.
[4. Identify items to discuss at future meetings]
OUR, UH, LAST TIME FOR FUTURE ITEMS, I KNOW THAT COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER HAD, UM, HIGHLIGHTED THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, UM, AND HYDRAULIC MODELING AND AN UPDATE ON WATER CONSUMPTION PAST AND PRESENT, INCLUDING LAKE LEVELS.SO THOSE TWO ITEMS WILL BE ON OUR NEXT AGENDA.
DID YOU WANT TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THOSE? NO, I DON'T.
I MEAN, AS WE'RE HEADED INTO A DROUGHT AND ISSUES RELATED TO WATER STORAGE, AS WELL AS I THINK IT'LL BE A GOOD TIME MR.
DO PEOPLE HAVE OTHER ITEMS OR COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS? DID YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? GO AHEAD.
UM, SINCE WE BROUGHT UP THE AMI PILOT, I HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW LONG THAT'S SUPPOSED TO GO THROUGH, BUT, UM, MAYBE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, BRING THAT BACK FOR AN UPDATE, JUST SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW WELL IT'S WORKING.
CAUSE I THINK PEOPLE ARE, UM, EAGER AND READY FOR IT.
SO, UM, UNDERSTANDING HOW WELL THE PILOTS WORKING AND WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED THROUGHOUT IT, I THINK WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL FOR US.
THAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, OTHER ITEMS THAT THE PEOPLE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT RIGHT NOW.
UM, IN CASE I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE TO DO IT AT, UM, AN AUSTIN WATER MEETING, BUT, UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ALSO VERY CONCERNED ABOUT WILDFIRE, UM, I'VE HAD SOME MEETINGS WITH AUSTIN WATER ABOUT THEIR WILDFIRE MITIGATION AND PREVENTION EFFORTS, INCLUDING AROUND THEIR FACILITIES, ET CETERA.
UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT AS AN IMMEDIATE NECESSARY NECESSITY FOR THIS COMMITTEE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER LSU MAY WANT TO GET SOME OF THAT UPDATE BECAUSE A LOT OF IT IS HAPPENING, UM, IN YOUR DISTRICT.
UM, BUT JUST BROADLY, YOU KNOW, WANT TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF AUSTIN WATERS TO TAKE SERIOUSLY, UM, THE WILDFIRE THREAT AND TO PUT SOME INVESTMENTS BEHIND THAT, BOTH FOR THE FACILITIES AND IN TERMS OF THE, THE WATER LANDS THAT THE QUALITY LANDS THAT THEY MANAGE.
AND THANK YOU, CAS MEMBER ALTAR FOR PURSUING THAT.
AND, UH, I'LL, I'LL, I NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT.
MY DISTRICT HAS SOME IMPACTS NOT AS MUCH AS YOURS AND COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS', BUT, UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU CONTINUING TO, TO WORK ON THAT.
AND SO I'LL MAKE SURE I'M UP TO DATE ON THAT.
SO I THINK THERE'S A SET OF ISSUES THAT ARE SPECIFIC FOR THE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND KIND OF JUST WANTED TO FLAG IT.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE, WE, WE, THIS WAS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WAS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND IN THEIR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN.
SO I THINK IT, THEY HAVE SORT OF THE NEXT STEPS ON THAT.
UM, BUT FOR AWARENESS, FOR MY COLLEAGUES WHO ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN THIS AND WHO WERE ON THIS COMMITTEE, I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT IT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT YOU WANT TO GET, UM, AN UPDATE ON, UM, FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE, IF YOU, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN BOTH THE AUSTIN WATER AND THE WILDFIRE NEXUS.
ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE WE, UH, BEFORE WE CLOSE? ALL RIGHT.
UM, I AM GOING TO ADJOURN THE AUSTIN WATER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AT TWO 57.
[01:55:20]
I BARELY MADE IT OUT THERE WITH MY HEART AND 10 IT'S STILL MOVING FASTER THAN I CAN THAN THE ONE YOU THIS WAY.I'VE SEEN YOU A DOZEN TIMES OR MORE BEFORE TODAY WHEN HE WALKED IN DO THAT.