* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.
          [Service Delivery Committee on August 28, 2024.]
          [00:00:15]
          AND WELCOME TO OUR SERVICE. 
          DEAR DELIVERY COMMITTEE MEETING IS AFTERNOON. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON, . 
          OKAY. 
          YEAH. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON, . 
          YEAH. 
          UM, IT'S WEDNESDAY, AUGUST OF 28, 20 24. 
          AND THE TIME IS 2:01 PM I AM COUNCIL MEMBER TARSHA JACKSON, CHAIR OF THE SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE. 
          AND I AM, UM, CALLED THIS MEETING TO ORDER. 
          UM, TODAY WE ARE JOINED TODAY BY COUNCIL MEMBERS IN THE CHAMBERS. 
          WE HAVE OUR VICE CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          WE HAVE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN VICE MAYOR, PRO TEM PECK, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLA. 
          AND WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ IN CHAMBERS AND ONLINE. 
          WE HAVE VIRTUALLY, WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER, NO COUNCIL MEMBERS VIRTUALLY, BUT WE HAVE STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, CAST TATUM'S OFFICE. 
          AND WE ALSO HAVE STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, FLICK, NO, NOT FLICKING CHAIR, HUFFMAN'S OFFICE. 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          AND THIS MEETING HAS BEEN HELD IN A HYBRID MODE IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY, AND IT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. 
          THE CHAIR, AS PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE COMMITTEE, IS PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN THE CHAMBERS, UM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 5 5 1 0.127 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE APPLICABLE TO A GOVERNMENT BODY THAT EXTENDS INTO THREE OR MORE COUNTIES. 
          ALL OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE THE OPTION TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY VIA MICROSOFT TEAMS. AND SO TODAY WE HAVE A, UM, SOME PRETTY GOOD PRESENTATIONS. 
          UM, WE HAVE AN APPEARANCE FRONT, PRESENTATION ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDING, PERMITTING PROCESS CONSENT DEGREE AND WATER CONSERVATION, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY, AND AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION PLANS. 
          COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, PLEASE HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATIONS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION. 
          AND OUR PRESENT IN THE CHAMBERS REQUEST TO SPEAK ARE IF YOU ARE JOINING VIRTUALLY, TYPE REQUEST TO SPEAK IN THE CHAT POD AND YOU WILL BE RECOGNIZED IN ORDER. 
          WHEN YOU ARE RECOGNIZED, PLEASE UNMUTE YOUR MICROPHONE AND ASSURE YOUR CAMERA IS ON. 
          YOU WILL BE ADVISED WHEN THE TWO MINUTES HAVE EXPIRED, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS ATTENDING VIRTUALLY, PLEASE USE THE CHAT POD. 
          IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY PROBLEMS, THEN WE WILL GO TO PUBLIC COMMENT. 
          TODAY. 
          WE HAVE SIX MEMBERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT HAVE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT BEFORE THE DEADLINE. 
          IF YOU DIDN'T GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIGN UP BEFORE DEADLINE AND YOU'D LIKE TO PLE SPEAK, PLEASE GO AND SIGN UP, SIGN ON THE SIGN UP SHEET AT THE FRONT TABLE ON YOUR RIGHT AND ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST. 
          OKAY. 
          WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER STAFF FROM, AND COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER OFFICE. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND I WANNA ASK MY VICE CHAIR, DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? VICE CHAIR. 
          I JUST NOTE, UH, MADAM CHAIR THAT SOME OF THE ISSUES WE'RE GONNA SPEAK ABOUT THIS AFTERNOON AND HEAR ABOUT THIS AFTERNOON ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES FACING OUR CITY. 
          MM-HMM . 
          UM, WHAT WE PROBABLY WON'T HEAR TOO MUCH ABOUT IS HOW TO PAY FOR THEM. 
          OKAY. 
          OF COURSE, AS ALWAYS, BUT, WE'LL, I'M SURE WE'LL HAVE THOSE DISCUSSIONS, UH, AT A LATER TIME. 
          BUT, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PRESENTATIONS, THIS IS GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WE'LL GET THIS MEETING STARTED WITH AN UPDATE ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITTING PROCESS BY RUDY MARINO, UM, WHICH IS DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSTON PERMITTING CENTER. 
          I KNOW PERMITTING HAS BEEN A BIG TOPIC HERE, AND SO HERE THE TABLE IS YOURS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA STAND IF IT'S OKAY. 
          UM, GOOD AFTERNOON. 
          THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO SHARE THIS PLAN, REVIEW AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT, UH, PRESENTATION WITH THE SERVICE DELIVERY COUNCIL COMMITTEE. 
          NEXT, PLEASE. 
          AS ALWAYS, WE START EVERY, ALL OF OUR PRESENTATIONS WITH A, UH, DISCUSSING OUR PURPOSE TOGETHER. 
          THIS, UH, WE CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR HOUSTON TO THRIVE. 
          WE DO THAT BY HONORING OUR FIVE TO THRIVE VALUES, RESPECT, OWNERSHIP, COMMUNICATION, INTEGRITY, AND TEAMWORK. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          THE HOUSTON PERMANENT CENTER OPENED IN 2011 AND IS HOME TO OVER 700, UH, CITY OF HOUSTON EMPLOYEES WITHIN SIX DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. 
          WE ARE BOTH A SERVICE LINE WITHIN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, AND WE'RE ALSO A MULTI-DEPARTMENT BUILDING. 
          TOGETHER, WE REGULATE CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY THROUGH 
          [00:05:01]
PERMITTING PLAN REVIEW AND INSPECTIONS, UH, PLAN REVIEW INSPECTION, COMPLIANCE WITH BUILDING CODES AND LIFE SAFETY STANDARDS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED HERE. 
          QUICK NOTE ABOUT THE DATA YOU'RE GONNA SEE TODAY. 
          ESSENTIALLY, IT'S THE DATA THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE. 
          AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS WHEN WE ARE, WE'RE CURRENTLY OPERATING IN A 30-YEAR-OLD PLATFORM. 
          AND ANYTIME YOU DO THAT, YOU HAVE KEY CHALLENGES THAT EXIST THAT CAN AFFECT DATA ANALYSIS. 
          SO I JUST WANNA MAKE EVERYONE AWARE THAT THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES TO THESE, BUT WE ARE, WE WE'RE CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO, WE'LL TALK ABOUT PLAN REVIEW PERFORMANCE INDICATORS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          THIS IS A PERFORMANCE SNAPSHOT FOR THE MONTH OF JULY. 
          UH, TO NOTE HERE IT IS COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL COMBINED. 
          I KNOW WE'RE GONNA, AND I'LL TALK A LITTLE DEEPER INTO RESIDENTIAL IN A FEW MINUTES, BUT THIS IS, IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, IT'S BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL. 
          THE THE, ALSO, THE IMPORTANT NOTE IS THAT THE NUMBER OF PLANS REVIEWED WHEN YOU SEE ON THE LEFT COLUMN, THAT'S THE NUMBER OF PLANS REVIEWED AGAINST THE NUMBER OF FTES PERFORMING THAT REVIEW. 
          I ALSO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE ONE STOP, ONE STOP. 
          AND ALSO IT DOES THESE PLAN REVIEWS ARE THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS. 
          THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT'S THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIFIC PROJECTS. 
          IT COULD BE ONE PROJECT THAT CAME IN TWO OR THREE TIMES WITHIN THE MONTH OF JULY. 
          SO THAT WOULD BE TWO REVIEWS. 
          'CAUSE WE PERFORMED THAT REVIEW A SECOND TIME. 
          SO JUST MAKE A NOTE OF THAT, UH, FOR THE COMMITTEE'S BENEFIT. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO, SO, YOU KNOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THIS DEAL IS THIS IS OUR CYCLE TIME. 
          THIS IS HOW LONG IT TAKES TO, FROM THE TIME YOU SUBMIT IT TO THE TIME IT, IT'S OUT WITH A EITHER A REJECTION OR, EXCUSE ME, AN APPROVAL OR A REJECTION. 
          SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE AND UP THE TOP, WE HAVE COMMERCIAL, THEY'RE AVERAGING EIGHT DAYS. 
          AND THEN IF YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM, UH, RESIDENTIAL IS ALSO AVERAGE IN EIGHT DAYS. 
          BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THESE DAYS ARE THE DAYS THAT IT'S TAKEN FOR THE WHOLE PRO FROM START TO FINISH AS FAR AS WHEN IT CAME IN. 
          SO, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          I'M NOT SURE, AND FORGIVE US ABOUT THE PRESENTATION WE HAVE HTV IS DOING SOMETHING OKAY THERE, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT, UM, WE HAVE OUR PRESENTATIONS HERE. 
          I KNOW THE AUDIENCE DON'T HAVE A PRESENTATION, SO WE, WE CAN JUST WAIT TO LET IT GO. 
          OKAY. 
          SO ON THIS NEXT SLIDE, THIS IS WHERE WE'RE DRILLING DOWN A LITTLE DEEPER INTO RESIDENTIAL, WHICH IS WHAT THE COMMITTEE'S ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT TODAY. 
          JUST TO CLARIFY, AS I SAID EARLIER, THESE REVIEWS ARE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REVIEWS, NOT INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS. 
          AND I ALSO WANNA CLARIFY THAT WE'RE ONLY SPEAKING ABOUT RESIDENTIAL HERE. 
          WE'RE NO LONGER SPEAKING ABOUT COMMERCIAL. 
          BUT IT ALSO WANNA POINT OUT THAT THESE AVERAGE DAYS, THESE ARE THE AVERAGE DAY. 
          WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS GRAPH HERE, IT'S TELLING YOU THE AVERAGE DAYS PER TEAM. 
          SO THAT MEANS WHEN THAT PARTICULAR DISCIPLINE, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS BY DEPARTMENT, SO THIS IS PUBLIC WORKS. 
          THE NEXT ONE IS THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT. 
          THE NEXT ONE'S THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE NEXT ONE'S HAS, THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND CONSULTANT. 
          UM, SO JUST KIND OF SHOWING YOU, YOU'RE SEEING WHERE THE AVERAGE DAYS OR HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR THEIR, FOR THAT REVIEW TO OCCUR WITHIN THOSE DEPARTMENTS. 
          SO THOSE ARE, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS, THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. 
          WHY YOU DON'T SEE ANYTHING IN HEALTH AND FIRE IS BECAUSE TYPICALLY FOR RESIDENTIAL, THEY'RE NOT DOING A REVIEW. 
          THEY'RE ONLY DOING IT FOR COMMERCIAL. 
          SO THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THESE NUMBERS WITH NOTHING. 
          THERE'S ALSO A ONE DAY PRELIMINARY INTAKE, AND THERE'S ALSO ONE DAY PROCESSING OUT ONCE WE DO THE REVIEWS. 
          SO WHEN YOU SEE THESE NUMBERS, YOU REALLY GOTTA ADD PROBABLY TWO DAYS. 
          ONE IN THE FRONT, ONE IN THE BACK. 
          IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          THIS IS CYCLE TIME BY BRANCH. 
          AND AGAIN, THIS IS RESIDENTIAL, EXCLUDING ONE SHOP, ONE STOP IS BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT. 
          THAT IS, UH, THESE ARE FOR BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT PLANS. 
          YOU SEE RIGHT HERE WHERE THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY RECEIVED 1200 PLANS IN THE MONTH OF JULY, AND THEY'RE AVERAGING RIGHT AT ABOUT THREE DAYS. 
          WHEN YOU ADD THOSE TWO EXTRA DAYS IN THE FRONT AND THE BACK, YOU WRITE IT AROUND FIVE, UH, IDS WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS, SAME, SAME. 
          THEY'VE GOTTEN A, THEY DON'T SEE QUITE AS MANY AS AS BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT. 
          THEIR DAYS ARE A LITTLE HIGHER, BUT I DO KNOW THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE IN A STAFFING ISSUE THAT THEY'RE WORKING TOWARDS. 
          SO THAT SHOULD KIND OF, UM, COME, THAT SHOULD COME DOWN. 
          AND THEN OF COURSE, THE LAST ONE IS OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER. 
          SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS, IT'S KIND OF INDICATIVE OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE MAKING IMPROVEMENTS. 
          UH, WHAT I CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE MY TEAM WITH IS, IS, IS TRYING TO IDENTIFY ARE 
          [00:10:01]
WE BECOMING MORE EFFICIENT OR ARE WE, OR IS THERE A, GOING INTO A, A ELECTION SEASON, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY THE ECONOMY STARTS TO SLOW DOWN A LITTLE BIT. 
          SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE STARTING TO MONITOR. 
          AS FAR AS THAT, THE MAIN THING IS JUST REALLY SPEAKING TO THE FACT THAT KEEP A, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE HAVE, WE'RE PUTTING K KPIS IN PLACE BECAUSE WE WANNA BE ABLE TO MEASURE, MEASURE PERFORMANCE, MEASURE HOW GOOD WE'RE DOING. 
          MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE HAVE BEEN STATED IN, IN THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION, CURRENT ADMINISTRATION. 
          AND, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS HAVE SAID, HERE'S WHAT WE, WE WANNA KNOW. 
          SO WE'RE WORKING ON THAT. 
          AND THEN THE LAST ONE, IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT PAGE. 
          HERE'S OUR CYCLE TIME BY DISCIPLINE. 
          THIS IS WHERE YOU HAVE, AND THIS IS WITHIN, UH, PUBLIC WORKS, B, CE. 
          BUT A AGAIN, YOU'LL SEE ELECTRICAL, HVAC, AND, UH, PLUMBING AND YOUR MEPS. 
          UM, YOU DON'T SEE ANY NUMBERS FOR THOSE BECAUSE WHEN IT'S A RESIDENTIAL, IT'S THE REVIEW IS BEING DONE BY THE STRUCTURAL DEPARTMENT AND THE MEPS ARE BEING VERIFIED BY, IN THE FIELD, BY THE INSPECTORS. 
          SO THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T SEE ANY NUMBERS THERE. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          THIS IS OUR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT OVERVIEW. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          YES. 
          UH, NEVERMIND NOT NEXT SLIDE. 
          UH, OVER THE PAST 90 DAYS, THE HPC LEADERSHIP TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING ON KEY INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AT HPC. 
          THOSE, THOSE INITIATIVES ARE KIND OF SPOKEN ABOUT IN OUR SNAPSHOT, BUT ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS WE'RE WORKING ON IS A NEW SINGLE FAMILY. 
          WE IMPLEMENTED A NEW SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL TEAM, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE A TEAM THAT CONSISTS OF ALL THE DEPARTMENTS THAT DO THAT REVIEW, THAT'S SOMEWHAT HOUSED TOGETHER, AND THEY'RE WORKING TOGETHER IN TANDEM TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE PERFORMING THOSE REVIEWS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 
          I SAY THIS ALL ALONG, I SAY IT ALL THE TIME THAT IF ONE TEAM REVIEWS IT IN FIVE DAYS AND THE OTHER TEAM REVIEWS IT IN 20 DAYS, THEN IT'S REALLY NOT EFFECTIVE IF WE'RE NOT ALL REVIEWING 'EM IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME. 
          SO WE'RE TRYING TO BRIDGE THAT GAP AND, AND, AND BRING THOSE CLOSER TOGETHER. 
          ONE THING I REALLY WANNA POINT OUT IS WE ARE PRIORITIZING RESUBMITTAL AND REVISIONS. 
          THIS IS WHAT I OFTEN HEAR. 
          I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          NOW, ALQUAN AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS MULTIPLE TIMES WHERE RESUBMITTAL AND REVISIONS ARE OFTEN THROWN, OR IN THE PAST THEY'VE BEEN THROWN INTO THE SAME QUEUE AS OUR FIRST TIME SUBMITTAL. 
          SO, WHEREAS A FIRST TIME SUBMITTAL, IN MY OPINION, SHOULD BE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW, IT SHOULD TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER. 
          BUT IF YOU HAVE A REVIEW THAT'S A RESUBMITTAL THAT ONLY HAS ONE COMMENT LEFT, I DON'T BELIEVE IT SHOULD WAIT 8, 10, 15, 20 DAYS IN THE SYSTEM UNTIL THEY'RE UP IN THE QUEUE. 
          SO, UH, WE ARE EMPOWERING OUR MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS AND EVEN STAFF TO DETERMINE THEIR WORKLOAD. 
          BUT I WANNA BE VERY CLEAR THAT A RESUBMITTAL IS NOT BEING PRIORITIZED. 
          WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE ARE IDENTIFYING IT, AND IF IT'S GOT ONE TO TWO COMMENTS, WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA PRIORITIZE THAT, GET IT IN, GET IT OUT. 
          BUT IF YOU HAVE A RESUBMITTAL THAT'S GOT 20 COMMENTS, IT'S GONNA GET SOMEWHAT THROWN IN THE SAME QUEUE. 
          SO I JUST WANNA BE VERY CLEAR IN THAT WE'RE NOT DOING ALL RESUBMITTAL BEFORE WE DO FIRST TIME SUBMITTALS. 
          'CAUSE THEN WE'LL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE TODAY WITH AS A WHOLE. 
          WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED THE CUSTOMER ADVOCACY MEETINGS. 
          THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE RECENTLY DID THAT, AGAIN, ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST, LAST 90 DAYS. 
          UH, AT THE THIRD REVIEW, THERE NEEDS TO BE SUPERVISOR INVOLVEMENT, WHETHER THAT'S A PHONE CALL, A MEETING, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE. 
          BY THE FOURTH REVIEW, THAT REVIEW IS ACTUALLY BEING DONE BY THE SUPERVISOR. 
          IT'S NO LONGER BEING DONE BY THE EMPLOYEE. 
          THIS IS TO MAKE SURE COMMENTS ARE CORRECT, UH, QAQC, OPPORTUNITIES, COACHING OPPORTUNITY, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE. 
          SO THAT'S ONE OF THE BIG THINGS WE'RE WORKING ON IS, IS THAT THIRD, AT THE THIRD AND FOURTH REVIEW, HAVING, UH, SUPERVISOR OR MANAGER INTER INTERVENTION. 
          SO, EXCUSE ME ONE SECOND. 
          AND OF COURSE THE MOST POPULAR THAT MANY HAVE ASKED IS, WE ARE PREPARING TO OPEN ONE STOP FOR IN-PERSON REVIEWS. 
          I KNOW I'VE ALMOST SPOKE WITH JUST ABOUT EVERYONE HERE, ABOUT ONE STOP. 
          THAT IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ASK, UH, FROM, FROM, UH, THE PUBLIC OR OUR STAKEHOLDERS. 
          AND THIS, THESE ARE ALSO CONSISTENT WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN'S SURVEY RESULTS THAT SPOKE ABOUT ONE STOP. 
          SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT. 
          WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE LOGISTICS OF HOW THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. 
          'CAUSE WE ARE ELECTRONIC. 
          WE, WE BELIEVE THAT WE MAY, I MEAN, WE CAN PROVIDE A BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE AND A QUICKER SERVICE IF WE HAVE SOME SORT OF AN IN-PERSON REVIEW. 
          SO WE'RE WORKING ON THAT ON ONE STOP PROJECTS. 
          YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND ON THIS ONE HERE, WE, WE ARE, THIS IS OUR CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 
          AND THIS IS OF COURSE OUR FUTURE, UH, SNAPSHOT. 
          WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. 
          WE'RE BENCHMARKING AGAINST OTHER MUNICIPALITIES. 
          WE'RE ASSESSING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF, OF THE A AND M CONSULTANT STRATEGIES. 
          AND WE'RE GONNA EXPAND OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH IT ON TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES. 
          AND FINALLY, WE, THERE IS A REORGANIZATION STRATEGY FOR HOUSTON, 
          [00:15:01]
UH, PUB HPC, EXCUSE ME, AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND INVEST IN OUR OWN TEAM. 
          I, I, I WILL QUICKLY GLANCE OVER THESE BELOW, BUT I, MANY OF THESE WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, WE'RE WORKING ON MAKING CHANGE TO THE ORDINANCE RELATED TO AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW, WHICH IS FORMERLY KNOWN AS CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME. 
          SO WE ARE WORKING ON THAT. 
          WE'RE WORKING WITH THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT TO, UH, CHANGE THE ORDINANCE. 
          RIGHT NOW, THE ORDINANCE IS RESTRICTED TO, TO BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT. 
          SO WE WANT TO INCLUDE OTHER OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS AND OUTSIDE GROUPS LIKE CITY ENGINEER'S, OFFICE IDS, POTENTIALLY, UH, HEALTH AND FIRE. 
          SO WE'RE WORKING WITH THOSE DEPARTMENT LEADERS TO GET THEIR BUY INTO THAT, UH, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 
          WE'RE CONTINUE TO DO THAT. 
          AND OF COURSE, THE MAIN THING, ALSO KEEP SAYING MAIN, HUH UH, THE, IS THE TECHNOLOGY AS FAR AS WE ARE LOOKING TO DO, UM, A CREATE A CALL CENTER ENVIRONMENT. 
          SO WHEN YOU CALL IN, YOU NO LONGER CALL INTO AN INDIVIDUAL, YOU'RE CALLING INTO THE CALL CENTER AT HPC WHO WILL ROUTE THAT AND MAKE SURE YOU GET TO AN INDIVIDUAL. 
          THE IDEA IS TO GIVE THAT, THAT FACE TO FACE OR OVER THE PHONE INTERACTION SO WE CAN, UH, MAKE THAT EXPERIENCE BETTER. 
          WE HAVE EMPLOYEE, WE'RE ALSO INVESTING IN OUR TALENT WITH EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION TRAINING. 
          WE DID 12 TRAINING, UM, EVENTS THIS PAST QUARTER, AND IT WAS RELATED TO, YOU KNOW, SCHOOLS, UH, ASSEMBLIES. 
          SO WE, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS IN THE, THE ASK THAT ARE COMING OUT OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS. 
          SO THAT'S BEEN REALLY BIG. 
          AND THEN OF COURSE, LAST THING IS JUST MORE OF A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH. 
          UH, THE, WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS A HOLISTIC APPROACH THAT REALLY SPEAKS TO ALL OF HPC. 
          AND I'LL, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL, I'LL ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON THAT. 
          SO RIGHT NOW WE WANNA REMOVE THE SILOS. 
          TODAY WE HAVE A PLAN REVIEW TEAM IN BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT. 
          WE HAVE A PLAN REVIEW TEAM IN OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER. 
          THE SAME APPLIES FOR SIGN ADMINISTRATION, SAME APPLIES FOR IDS. 
          SO WE ARE LOOKING TO, TO REMOVE THOSE EXISTING SILOS, UH, FOR B-C-E-O-C-E SIGNS AND, AND ANY OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS. 
          BUT ALSO REORGANIZE IT FROM MORE OF A FUNCTIONALITY STANDPOINT, WHERE YOU HAVE A PLAN REVIEW TEAM, YOU HAVE AN INSPECTION TEAM, YOU HAVE A PERMIT TEAM. 
          AND THEN OF COURSE WE HAVE AN INVESTIGATIONS TEAM. 
          SO THAT'S HOW WE'RE LOOKING TO REORGANIZE IT, KIND OF FROM THAT FUNCTION, EXPAND THAT BANDWIDTH. 
          SO WE HAVE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO HELP WITH THAT AND GET THOSE THINGS, UH, GET THAT STUFF OUT. 
          AND THEN OF COURSE, WE'RE GONNA PARTNER WITH OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS BECAUSE AS I SAID EARLIER, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY, IT DOESN'T DO ANYBODY ANY BENEFIT TO EXPEDITING OR GETTING THESE OUT BY, BY REALIGNING WHEN OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS MAY OR MAY NOT BE IN, UH, IN TUNE WITH, WITH THAT REALIGNMENT. 
          SO WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UH, I'D LIKE TO FINISH BY JUST ASKING MY HPC LEADERSHIP JUST TO STAND UP SO EVERYONE CAN SEE A PUT A FACE TO IT. 
          UM, I WILL TELL YOU THAT EACH OF US ARE COMMITTED TO CHANGING THE CULTURE AT HPC AND IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. 
          APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TODAY, NOW AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          DEPUTY, UM, DIRECTOR MARINO FOR THAT PER PRESENTATION. 
          APPRECIATED. 
          UM, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER AMY PECK. 
          NOT AMY PECK. 
          ABBY CAYMAN. 
          WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY ABBY CAYMAN. 
          THERE YOU GO. 
          I KNOW WE ALWAYS DO THAT, RIGHT? , THANK YOU FOR, UM, JOINING US. 
          UM, I HAVE ONE PERSON. 
          SO, UM, YES MA'AM. 
          AND AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENT PRESENTATION. 
          RIGHT NOW. 
          I HAVE A AUNT, AND THIS IS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. 
          SHE'S CURRENTLY TRYING TO BUILD HER HOME AND THE HOME. 
          THE PROJECT HAS BEEN STOPPED MULTIPLE TIMES BECAUSE OF PERMITTING. 
          AND, UM, SO MY QUESTION IS, HOW MANY PERMITS DO YOU NEED TO BUILD A HOUSE? UM, AND ONCE THE DEVELOPER PRESENT THE PLANS, IS, UH, IS THERE A WAY TO LIKE, STREAMLINE THE PROCESS OR JUST MAKE SURE THAT THEY GET ALL THE PERMITTING THAT THEY NEED, OR EVEN IF THEY DON'T KNOW THAT THEY NEED IT TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY NEED THESE PERMITS IN ORDER TO, UM, FINISH THIS PROJECT. 
          SO, UM, AS RESIDENTIAL'S DIFFERENT THAN COMMERCIAL, SO RESIDENTIAL, AS I STATED EARLIER, THAT REVIEW OF YOUR PLANS ARE GONNA BE SOLELY FOR THE STRUCTURAL REVIEW. 
          ALL YOUR MEPS ARE GONNA BE DONE BY THE INSPECTORS IN THE FIELD. 
          SO THAT'S MAY BE WHERE THEY'RE RUNNING INTO CHALLENGES. 
          BUT THE IDEA BEHIND THAT IS TO GET THOSE PLANS OUT TO THE FIELD, ALLOW YOU TO BE UNDER CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 
          WE DO HAVE SOPS THAT SPEAK TO WHICH, WELL, WHAT PROJECTS OR HOW, UH, BASED ON THE CLASSIFICATION WOULD NEED CERTAIN PERMITS. 
          WE CAN MAKE SURE TO GET YOU A COPY OF THAT. 
          AND, AND I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY POSTED ON OUR, ON OUR WEBSITE, SO MM-HMM . 
          WE CAN GET THAT FOR YOU. 
          SO HOW MANY PERMITS DO I DON'T HAVE? YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T KNOW NUMBER, BUT I CAN GET THAT INFORMATION. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          OKAY, SO WE HAVE SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS IN THE QUEUE. 
          UM, WE'RE GONNA START OFF WITH COUNCIL MEMBER . 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          AND THANK YOU RUDY. 
          GREAT PRESENTATION AND APPRECIATE ALL THE EFFORTS THAT ARE, UH, GOING ON TO STREAMLINE PROCESSES AT, UM, AT, UH, HOUSTON PERMITTING. 
          I WANT YOU TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE 
          [00:20:01]
STAFF AUGMENTATION CONTRACTS THAT WE HAVE GOING KIND OF WHAT, UM, LEVEL, UH, HOW, LIKE WHAT PERCENTAGE OF OF PLANS ARE GOING THROUGH THE OUTSIDE CONTRACTORS, WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE BEING HANDLED IN HOUSE? AND IF YOU, I KNOW WE HAVE MICHAEL BAKER, I KNOW WE HAVE ASANI, I KNOW WE HAVE, UH, BUREAU OF VERITAS. 
          IF YOU COULD KIND OF TALK TO THE, ABOUT THOSE THREE CONTRACTS AND WHAT, WHAT THE STATUS OF THEM ARE AND, AND HOW LONG WE'RE GONNA NEED THEM. 
          AND, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, I MEAN, I'M ASSUMING WE'RE GONNA NEED 'EM FOR A WHILE. 
          SO JUST TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE THIRD PARTY REVIEWERS. 
          SURE. 
          IF I COULD START, I'D LIKE TO SAY JUST OUR, OUR GOAL IS TO REDUCE THIRD PARTY DEPENDENCY. 
          IT, WE, WE WOULD LIKE TO DO THESE REVIEWS IN-HOUSE. 
          UNFORTUNATELY, BECAUSE OF STAFFING ISSUES, WE ARE HAVING TO BRIDGE THAT GAP BY USING THIRD PARTY CONSULT. 
          SO I JUST WANNA BE KIND OF CLEAR IN THAT, THAT IT'S NOT OUR LONG TERM SOLUTION OR IS A SHORT TERM. 
          UH, ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S BEEN A LITTLE LONGER THAN NORMAL. 
          BUT THE IDEA WOULD BE THAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE THESE REVIEWS DONE IN HOUSE, UM, AS FAR AS WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PAY PEOPLE A LOT MORE IF WE WANNA HAVE 'EM ALL DONE IN HOUSE. 
          AND I APPRECIATE, BUT GO ON. 
          I APPRECIATE YOU SAYING THAT. 
          AND THAT'S PART OF THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE TODAY WITH STAFFING IS WE ARE LOSING PEOPLE QUICKER THAN WE CAN GET PEOPLE ON BOARD. 
          SO WE'RE ACTIVELY WORKING ON THAT. 
          BUT I, SO I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT, THAT COMMENT 'CAUSE THAT IS AN ONGOING CHALLENGE. 
          SO WE HAVE BUREAU OF VERITAS, THEY, THEIR, THEIR CONTRACT'S COMING UP LIKE ABOUT TO BE DONE WITH THAT CONTRACT? THAT'S CORRECT. 
          UM, WE HAVE ASANI AND WE HAVE MICHAEL BAKER. 
          NOW I HAVE HEARD THAT LIKE WHEN, UH, WHEN THE, AS THE PLANS LINE UP IN THE QUEUE, THEY'RE ASSIGNED EITHER IN-HOUSE OR TO ONE OF THE, UH, STAFF AUGMENTATION CONTRACTORS. 
          AND THAT AFTER THE FIRST REVIEW, THAT MIGHT SWITCH. 
          LIKE THEY'RE ASSIGNED TO ASANI AND THEN THEY GO TO URA VERITAS. 
          AND, AND, AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE CONSISTENCY WITH A APPLICANTS, THAT THEY HAVE ONE PERSON THEY'RE KIND OF DEALING WITH THROUGH, OR ONE GROUP THAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. 
          SO IS THERE A WAY TO DO THAT? AND CAN YOU GIVE ME AN IDEA OF HOW MANY ARE BEING D DONE IN HOUSE AND HOW MANY ARE BEING DONE OUTSIDE? I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER FOR YOU, BUT I CAN'T GET THAT NUMBER. 
          OKAY. 
          NOT NUMBER, BUT IS IT HALF AND HALF? IS IT, IS IT, I WOULD SAY IT'S PROBABLY 25 TO 30% ARE BEING DONE OUTSIDE. 
          OKAY. 
          UH, WITH OUR CONSULTANTS, BUT YES. 
          BUT CAN WE, CAN WE WORK TO HAVE THE SAME GROUP, WHETHER IT BE INSIDE OR OUTSIDE, HANDLE THE SAME REVIEWS RIGHT. 
          ALL THE WAY THROUGH. 
          RIGHT. 
          AND JUST TO SHED A LITTLE LIGHT ON THAT, THE, UH, BUREAU OF VERITAS HAS BEEN PERFORMING OUR CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIMES, OUR CPO. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THAT'S WHY IT'S SHIFTING OVER TO THEM. 
          BUT WITH, WITH THE, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE RENEWING THAT CONTRACTOR OR WE'RE NOT IN A POSITION, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND TO RENEW IT. 
          SOME OF THAT WILL, MOST OF THAT WILL BE ABSORBED IN-HOUSE OR IN, AND THEN WITH AN OVERFLOW GOING INTO ASANI AND MICHAEL BAKER. 
          UM, FOR THOSE, FOR THOSE AND THE CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME THAT YOU'RE CONTEMPLATING RIGHT NOW THAT I UNDERSTAND, IS IN LEGAL, THAT ORDINANCE THAT IS GOING TO BE FOR BOTH IN-HOUSE AND AND OUT OF HOUSE PEOPLE THAT CAN BE USED FOR THAT IS CORRECT. 
          EITHER ONE. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THAT'S GONNA COVER ALL DISCIPLINES. 
          WELL, IN TODAY'S, TODAY'S ORIENT, I KNOW WE CAN'T RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU'RE GONNA COVER OCE, YOU'RE GONNA COVER B, C. 
          WHAT'S IDS? WHY DO I NOT KNOW INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES? THEY'RE WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          I JUST HAVEN'T HEARD IT DEFINED AS IDS, UM, AND, AND SO THAT IT'LL COVER ALL THOSE DISCIPLINES. 
          YES, MA'AM. 
          ON THE, THE SLAS THAT YOU HAVE SET UP, ARE THERE SIMULTANEOUS REVIEWS GOING ON? LIKE ONE GUY, IT DOESN'T CAN, CAN IT SIT ON FIRE'S DESK AND HEALTH'S DESK AT THE SAME TIME? OR IT HAS TO GO IN A, IN A SEQUENTIAL ORDER? IT'S NOT A LINEAR PROCESS. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WHEN, SO YOU HAVE, WHEN THE PLAN COMES INTO THE SYSTEM, OUR INTAKE TEAM WILL TAKE IT AND THEY WILL DISTRIBUTE IT OUT. 
          THEY WILL MAKE THE DETERMINATION AS TO WHO NEEDS, WHICH GROUPS NEED TO SEE IT. 
          AND IT'LL BE JUST RQ, WHAT WE CALL IT, RQ, IT'LL BE RQ TO THOSE INDIVIDUAL DISCIPLINES. 
          SO THEN EVERYBODY'S GETTING AT THE SAME TIME. 
          BUT AGAIN, IT DOESN'T, IT'S, IT'S, THE CHALLENGE IS IF WE ALL GET AT THE SAME TIME, BUT WE ALL COMPLETE AT DIFFERENT TIMES, THEN IT'S FROM THE CUSTOMER'S PERSPECTIVE, WE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HELPED THEM BECAUSE FROM A CUSTOMER'S PERSPECTIVE, AGAIN, I'LL, I'LL USE, UH, PLANNING AND AS, AS AN EXAMPLE, AND I'M NOT HERE TO TO TALK BAD ABOUT PLANNING, BUT PLANNING HISTORICALLY HAS HAD CHALLENGES WITH DOING THE REVIEWS QUICKLY IN A TIMELY MANNER. 
          SO, SO IF THEY GET THE REVIEW DONE THROUGH BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT OR IDS OR OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER, BUT THEY'RE STILL WAIT 20, 25 DAYS IN PLANNING, THEN UH, IT DOESN'T MATTER. 
          I MEAN, THEY'RE STILL WAITING THE 25 DAYS. 
          RIGHT. 
          UM, THAT'S WHAT WE WANNA CHANGE. 
          I WILL TELL YOU, I'M VERY EXCITED, UH, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DIRECTOR OF, UH, TRAN AND UH, YOU KNOW, ALSO WITH HECTOR RODRIGUEZ. 
          I HAD A MEETING WITH THEM YESTERDAY. 
          THEY'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK. 
          THAT'S RIGHT. 
          THEY HAVE, THEY HAVE A LOT MORE PEOPLE IN THERE TOO. 
          [00:25:01]
THAT'S CORRECT. 
          UM, I, I TELL ME WHEN I RUN OUT OF TIME, I'VE GOT A WHOLE, I'M OUT OF TIME. 
          PUT ME BACK IN. 
          SO, OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN NEXT WE'LL HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER PECK. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK ON THIS AND THANK YOU ALSO, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, I KNOW YOU'VE PUT IN A LOT OF WORK ON THIS SUBJECT AS WELL. 
          UM, SO FOR THE RESUBMITTAL, UM, AND I KNOW THE POLICY IS KI IT KIND OF GOES BACK AND FORTH OR AT LEAST HAS OVER THE YEARS AS FAR AS THE SAME EMPLOYEE REVIEWING IT AGAIN WHEN IT'S RESUBMITTED, IS THAT GOING TO BE THE CASE WITH ALL OF THESE CHANGES WHERE IT'S THE SAME EMPLOYEE? OR IS THERE A WAY TO CUT DOWN ON THE ISSUE THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST WHERE ONCE YOU RESUBMIT IT, SOMEBODY ELSE TAKES A LOOK AT IT AND THEN DECIDES ALL THESE OTHER THINGS THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU NEED TO CHANGE? ARE WE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN? IT WILL ALWAYS BE OUR GOAL TO HAVE THAT PLAN REVIEWED FROM CRADLE TO GRAY FROM THE SAME REVIEW. 
          OKAY. 
          UNFORTUNATELY, IN SOME CASES, WHEN YOU DO A CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME, OUR CONSULTANT HAS BEEN DOING THOSE. 
          SO IF, IF WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, WE ARE, WE'RE KIND OF DEFEATING THE PURPOSE WHEN WE SEND IT TO THE CONSULTANT. 
          BUT THAT IS THE OVERNIGHT REVIEW THAT, THAT THE STAKEHOLDERS AND OUR DEVELOPERS AND EVERYBODY WANTS. 
          SO FROM THAT SCENARIO, THAT IS, THAT DOES HAPPEN. 
          AND THAT OFTEN HAPPENS AS FAR AS PRESENTING CHALLENGES FOR NEW COMMENTS MEAN. 
          OKAY. 
          DO YOU SEE THAT FOR OTHER PEOPLE? THAT DOES HAPPEN AND THAT I ONLINE IF START . 
          BUT IF WE CAN KEEP THAT REVIEW IN-HOUSE, WHETHER IT'S CUSTOMER THAT PAID OVERTIME, WE WANNA MAKE SURE IF, WHEN ALL POSSIBLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT ONE REVIEW IS BEING DONE BY THE SAME REVIEWER AND OR THEIR SUPERVISOR IN THE EVENT THAT IT HAS, HAS BEEN ESCALATED TO THAT. 
          GREAT. 
          AND THEN, UM, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I UNDERSTOOD THE ANSWER, UM, TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN'S QUESTION. 
          SO THE CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME, UM, THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO ADD ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UM, DEPARTMENTS, WILL THAT INCLUDE EVERYTHING NOW THAT YOU KNOW, IF YOU NEED TO GET, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSTRUCTION DONE NOW, YOU COULD DO EVERYTHING IN CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME? OR ARE WE MISSING CERTAIN? IT WILL INCLUDE EVERY, ALL THE TEAMS WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS, WITHIN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS. 
          OKAY. 
          IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, HOWEVER, THEY ALSO HAVE A VERSION OF THAT WHERE IT'S A, AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW, BUT THEY ONLY, SOME CASES THEY DON'T GET TO IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 
          OURS, WHEN YOU REQUEST IT IS THE SAME EVENING REVIEW. 
          SO BY THE NEXT DAY YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AN APPROVAL OR A REJECTION. 
          HOPEFULLY IT'S APPROVAL. 
          BUT I'LL ALSO ELABORATE A LITTLE FURTHER ON THE CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME. 
          OUR, WHAT WE HAVE, WHAT WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR TEAM, UH, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN YOU, WHEN A CUSTOMER PAYS AND REQUESTS A CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME, WHICH ACTUALLY CALLED AFTER HOURS REVIEW, THEY'RE GETTING, THEY'RE, THEY'RE PAYING FOR A FOUR HOUR BLOCK. 
          SO WE ARE ALWAYS ENCOURAGING OUR TEAM TO APPROVE THOSE PLANS. 
          YOU KNOW, IF THAT PLAN CANNOT BE APPROVED AND WITHIN 15 MINUTES AND THE PLANS AND REJECTABLE STATUS, THEN THEY NEED TO ALERT THE, REVIEW THE, WHETHER THAT'S THE ENGINEER, ARCHITECT, OWNER, AND THEY NOW HAVE THREE HOURS AND 45 MINUTES TO MAKE THOSE CHANGES AND GET IT BACK TO US. 
          BECAUSE IN THAT'S HOW YOU'RE GONNA PROMOTE GETTING THIS AND, AND REALLY KIND OF CHANGING THAT CULTURE MENTALITY OF, HEY, WE WANT, WE'RE HERE TO HELP, WE'RE HERE TO HELP. 
          AND HOW DO WE DO THAT? AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE'RE ALSO GONNA ASK OUR TEAM TO, ASSUMING THAT APPROVAL HAPPENS IN THE FIRST 30 MINUTES OR AN HOUR, THAT WE'RE GONNA ASK THEM TO DO AT LEAST TAKE TWO UP TO TWO PLANS OUT OF THE SYSTEM THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN, IN QUEUE AND HAVE THOSE REVIEWED ALSO BECAUSE AT LEAST WE'RE ALSO GONNA DO OUR BEST TO REDUCE THE BACKLOG IN ADDITION TO REVIEWING THOSE PLANS. 
          THAT IS ONLY IF THOSE PLANS ARE APPROVED. 
          IF THE PLANS ARE REJECTED, THEY ARE TO WORK WITH THAT, WITH THE CONSULTANT OR WHOEVER THAT MAY BE TO WITHIN THAT, UH, ALLOTTED TIMEFRAME TO GET THAT PLAN APPROVED. 
          GREAT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          MM-HMM . 
          COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR. 
          AND THANK YOU RUDY AND, AND YOUR ENTIRE TEAM FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO. 
          I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE AN EASY JOB AND SO WE APPRECIATE ALL YOUR EFFORTS. 
          SO LOOKING AT SLIDE NUMBER THREE, UM, UH, ME, YOU MENTIONED OVER 700 EMPLOYEES ACROSS SIX DEPARTMENTS IN PERMITTING. 
          CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW MANY, UH, OPENINGS THERE ARE. 
          FTE OPENINGS THERE ARE ACROSS THOSE SAME DEPARTMENTS? ANY IDEA? I DON'T HAVE THE, UH, I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER OF TODAY. 
          I CAN'T GET YOU THAT NUMBER. 
          IS IT A LOT? IT'S, I'M GONNA TURN TO MY TEAM 60 OPENINGS FOR PUBLIC WORKS. 
          AND AS FAR AS OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS, UH, OKAY. 
          SO IF YOU HAD MORE, MORE PEOPLE, OBVIOUSLY, UH, YOU COULD SPEED THINGS ALONG. 
          IS IS ONE OF THOSE OPENINGS, UH, FOR BUILDING OFFICIAL, YES, SIR. 
          OKAY. 
          HOW'S THAT SEARCH COMING? ANY WE ARE ANY UPDATES? WE CAN, I'M SORRY. 
          WE CONTINUE TO, UH, EVALUATE, UH, REFERRALS THAT WE'RE RECEIVING. 
          UH, IT'S BEEN A SLOW PROCESS. 
          WE, UM, WE'VE LOOKED AT 
          [00:30:01]
SOME OF THOSE. 
          SOME OF 'EM WE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE WE WERE A GOOD FIT. 
          I, I THINK THAT IS, AS WE ALL KNOW, THAT CAN BE A VERY, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT POSITION AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET THE RIGHT CANDIDATE. 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          UM, ALSO WANT TO, AND WE'RE NOT, WE'RE REQUIRED, AND THIS IS NOT A DEAL, BUT I, I, THE LAST TWO BUILDING OFFICIALS WERE OUTTA STATE AND WHEN YOU GET AN OUTTA STATE, ANYBODY THAT COMES OUTTA STATE, THEY MAY NOT QUITE UNDERSTAND OUR LEARNING CURVE WAY OUR PROCESS WORKS. 
          SO IF WE HAD OUR, UH, PREFERENCE, WE'D FIND SOMEBODY IN-HOUSE AND OR SOMEONE WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON THAT UNDERSTANDS, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. 
          SO WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING TO FILL THAT POSITION. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          MOVING TO SLIDE NUMBER SEVEN. 
          SO THIS IS CYCLE TIME, RIGHT? AND SO YOU'VE GOT LOWEST DAYS, HIGHEST DAYS, MEDIAN AND AVERAGE. 
          IS THIS FOR THE, THE VERY FIRST INITIAL REVIEW, OR IS THIS FOR THE ENTIRE PROCESS? THIS IS FOR THE INITIAL REVIEW. 
          IT'S, IT'S A FULL CYCLE THAT INCLUDES ALL THE DISCIPLINES THAT NEEDED TO REVIEW IT. 
          MM-HMM . 
          SO THAT, THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT AVERAGE, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EIGHT DAYS FOR COMMERCIAL AND EIGHT DAYS FOR RESIDENTIAL. 
          SO IT DOESN'T COUNT, UH, RESUBMISSIONS RESUBMITTAL, NO. 
          IT, IT'S ALSO INCLUDE, IT'S, IT'S ALSO INCLUDED. 
          SO THAT'S THE WHOLE SHEBANG RIGHT HERE. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          SO I NOTICED IN THE BOTTOM, IN THE SMALL FINE PRINT, IT SAYS THE LAST, UH, SENTENCE, PROJECT NUMBERS FOR LONGEST REVIEW CYCLES ARE INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX. 
          BUT I DIDN'T SEE AN APPENDIX IN THIS PRESENTATION. 
          WELL, AND I APOLOGIZE, I PULLED THIS OFF OF ANOTHER SLIDE. 
          I SEE. 
          SO I, I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE MADE I, AGAIN, MY APOLOGIES FOR THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          CAN, CAN YOU SHARE THAT WITH, WITH US AT A LATER TIME? SURE. 
          AWESOME. 
          UM, LET'S SEE HERE. 
          SO THE SLIDES THAT SHOW PRELIMINARY REVIEW, AND I'M TALKING ABOUT, UH, I GUESS IT'S 8, 9, 10, ET CETERA, PRELIMINARY RE REVIEW. 
          DOES, DOES THAT MEAN LIKE THE ENTIRE PROCESS FROM FIRST LOOKING AT IT TO, UH, FINISHING THE REVIEW, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT SLIDE YOU WERE? WELL, I, I THINK I WANNA MAKE, I BELIEVE I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. 
          I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M ANSWERING. 
          OKAY. 
          WELL, LET'S, LET'S LOOK FOR INSTANCE AT SLIDE NUMBER NINE. 
          SO WE'RE LOOKING AT, AGAIN, IN THE FINE PRINT, UH, IT SAYS AVERAGE DAY SPENT IN PRELIMINARY REVIEW FOR THE MONTHS OF MAY, JUNE, AND JULY. 
          SO, SO IS THIS THE, THE ENTIRE PROCESS OF THE PRELIMINARY REVIEW OR, OR WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THIS AVERAGE DAY SPENT SAYS ONE DAY. 
          THAT'S THE INTAKE FROM THE TIME THE PLANS ARE SUBMITTED AND COME INTO ILMS OUR SYSTEM, IT TAKES APPROXIMATELY ONE DAY TO ROUTE IT TO ALL THE TEAMS TO BE REVIEWED. 
          THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REFERRING TO. 
          REFERRING TO. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          AND I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE, I GUESS. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          UM, SO I WANT TO COME BACK TO WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER PECK WAS, UH, SPEAKING TO, WHEN IT COMES TO THE INSPECTIONS, UM, I FEEL, I FEEL LIKE THERE SHOULD BE A BETTER WAY, RIGHT? WHEN YOU'RE SENDING FOLKS OUT AND THEN ANOTHER INSPECTOR COMES OUT, I, I FEEL LIKE IT SHOULD BE MORE OF A CHECKING OFF THE BOX RATHER THAN GOING BACK AND LOOKING AT THAT BOX THAT SOMEBODY ALREADY DID. 
          MY MY PERSONAL OPINION IS THESE ARE ALL EXPERTS IN THIS SPACE. 
          UM, AND SO THEY, THERE SHOULD BE TRUST IN YOUR, YOUR COUNTERPART GOING IN AND DOING THE RIGHT THING. 
          AND SO COMING BACK AND REVIEWING IT ALL AND THEN SENDING IT BACK, UH, YOU KNOW, BACK IN THE PROCESS TO BE A RESUBMITTAL AGAIN, THAT JUST CREATES THAT, THAT LENGTHIER PROCESS. 
          UH, WHY, WHY CAN'T WE DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT? AND, AND WHAT, FOR ME, WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT THE CULTURE AND CHANGING, UM, IT'S ALMOST LIKE IT'S A BOTTOM UP TYPE OF, UH, MANAGEMENT RATHER THAN A TOP DOWN. 
          THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE DONE. 
          CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT A BIT MORE? SO WHEN YOU'RE REFERRING TO, ARE YOU REFERRING TO INSPECTIONS? INSPECTIONS? CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO INSPECTIONS SIMILAR TO, TO, UM, PLAN REVIEW, THEY SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN ADDITIONAL COMMENTS UNLESS IT'S, UNLESS IT'S LIFE SAFETY RELATED. 
          SO WHEN THEY GET THOSE, I WOULD ASK AND, AND, YOU KNOW, BRING THAT TO OUR ATTENTION. 
          BUT THAT'S DEFINITELY AN ONGOING DISCUSSION THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE WITH OUR TEAMS AND MANAGERS IS IF IT'S NOT LIFE SAFETY, WE DON'T NEED TO BE AT ADDING ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. 
          NOW, AS FAR AS WHO GOING OUT THERE, I BELIEVE WE TRY TO SEND THE SAME INSPECTOR, BUT IN SOME CASES IT COULD BE A ROUTING ISSUE OR IT COULD BE SOMEONE THAT'S NOT THERE AND THEY SCHEDULE THAT INSPECTION. 
          SO WE HAVE TO GET SOMEBODY OUT THERE, WHICH IS, WHICH IS FINE, RIGHT? UM, SAY COUNCIL MEMBER P GOES OUT THERE, SHE DOES IT, THERE'S 10 THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT DAY. 
          SHE CAN'T GO OUT THERE, I HAVE TO GO OUT THERE AND THERE'S ONLY SIX BOXES TO LOOK AT. 
          THEY LOOK AT ALL 10. 
          AND THEN THEY, THOSE, YOU KNOW, THOSE INITIAL ONES THAT THEY'VE APPROVED ARE NOW HAVING TO BE, GO BACK AND CHANGE IT UP EVEN MORE. 
          AND SO THAT'S WHERE THE, THE CHALLENGE BECOMES. 
          UM, AND THEN, UM, FOR US, WHEN WE GET THOSE, THOSE RESUBMITTAL OR HEY, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE, THEY TOLD US THAT IT HAS TO BE A BIGGER SIZE OR IT SHOULD BE MOVED 
          [00:35:01]
SIX INCHES NOW AFTER THEY'VE ALREADY MOVED IT. 
          THAT, THAT, THAT BECOMES THE HEADACHE. 
          AND I SOME OF THE, THE CHALLENGES THAT, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, BUILDERS ARE HAVING. 
          UM, BUT JUST TO, UM, SO IF YOU CAN AGAIN TALK, TALK THROUGH THAT A BIT MORE. 
          HONESTLY, I JUST REALLY WANNA UNDERSTAND THAT PROCESS. 
          UH, THE OTHER THING IS, IS, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU, YOU'RE WORKING ON A 30 YEAR PLATFORM, SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE TECHNOLOGY THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING AT BRINGING IN AS WELL? SURE. 
          SO I'LL START WITH THAT. 
          UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE USING IMS, WHICH IS A 33 PLUS YEAR PLATFORM WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH. 
          AND FOUR, TO LAUNCH OUR NEW Q PERMITS, WHICH WILL RESOLVE A LOT OF THESE PROBLEMS. UM, WE ARE SCHEDULED TO, TO HAVE THAT IN PLACE BY DECEMBER, 2025. 
          SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE ACTIVELY WORKING ON AND WE BELIEVE THAT WILL HELP US AND REMOVE SOME OF THESE OBSTACLES. 
          GOING BACK TO THE INSPECTION THING, LIKE I SAID, WE ALWAYS WANT TO HAVE THE, THE SAME INSPECTOR WHEN POSSIBLE. 
          UH, ONE OTHER THING I WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR INSPECTION TEAM THAT IF THERE IS A PROJECT THAT COULD BE INSPECT, COULD BE INSPECTED AND APPROVED IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT OR THE PREVIOUS ENVIRONMENT, WE WOULD SEND THAT BACK TO. 
          SO MAYBE YOU USE, AND I, I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. 
          THE CONTRACTOR INSTALLED CPVC INSTEAD OF PVC. 
          WELL THE PLANS CALLED FOR PVC, TYPICALLY WE'LL SEND THAT BACK TO PLAN REVIEW AND THEY'LL SAY, HEY, I CAN APPROVE THIS, BUT I NEED YOU TO GO BACK AND GET YOUR PLANS REVISED TO REFLECT WHAT, WHAT WAS REALLY PUT IN. 
          WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR INSPECTORS AND THOSE SUPERVISORS TO GIVE A PRELIMINARY APPROVAL. 
          SO WE DON'T DO THAT AND ALMOST TREAT THOSE IN A AS-BUILT SITUATION WHERE BASED, THIS IS HOW IT WAS BUILT. 
          'CAUSE WE DON'T WANNA SEND SOMEBODY BACK IN THE QUEUE TO HAVE THOSE PLANS REVIEWED ALL OVER AGAIN NOW 'CAUSE SOMETHING STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. 
          THEN SOME OF THOSE MAY HAVE TO, BUT SOME THESE MINOR COMMENTS, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE ADDRESS THOSE AND GET THOSE OUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. 
          AND I'LL JUST, UH, SAY THAT I APPRECIATE YOU, UM, STOP WORKING IN SILOS AS WELL. 
          UM, I'VE HAD THE, I'VE HAD TO DO WHERE, UH, WHERE I'VE HAD TO SET UP A MEETING WITH TRAFFIC, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, DRAINAGE AND THEY'RE ALL ONES TELLING THE BUILDER TO DO SOMETHING, THEN TRAFFIC CHANGES IT UP. 
          SO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS AND IF THEY CAN HAVE BE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, UM, IT IT'S JUST SO MUCH MORE HELPFUL AND THEY CAN GET THROUGH THAT PROCESS A LOT QUICKER. 
          SO I APPRECIATE Y'ALL WORKING THROUGH THAT AS WELL. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER CASTEO. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          AND UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          UM, TO ASK A LITTLE MORE ON THE TECHNOLOGY SIDE, WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC OBSTACLES OR CHALLENGES THAT WILL BE IMPROVED WHEN YOU GET NEW SOFTWARE, UPGRADED TECHNOLOGY? WHEN YOU'RE REFERRING, WHAT, WHAT EXACTLY YOU'RE REFERRING TO WHEN YOU, TO THE DATA MART? YOU MENTIONED HOW IT'S, IT'S UH, OUT OF DATE, THERE'S A LOT OF LIMITATIONS. 
          SO WHEN IT'S IMPROVED, WHAT ARE WE GONNA SEE, UH, ON Y'ALL'S END IN TERMS OF BETTER OPERATIONS? BETTER INFORMATION SHOULD BE BETTER REPORTING. 
          WE'LL BE ABLE TO MANAGE THE LOAD. 
          LIKE I SAID, I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL SAW THAT, BUT ON ONE OF THESE YOU'LL SEE WHERE IT SKEWS UP. 
          I THINK IT'S RESIDENTIAL. 
          UNDER HPC YOU HAVE SOME PROJECTS THAT SHOW ONE PROJECT WAS REVIEWED BY ELECTRICAL WITHIN WITH, UH, BUT YET FOR RESIDENTIAL ELECTRICAL'S NOT REVIEWING THESE. 
          SO HOW DID THAT ONE PROJECT GET QUEUED THERE? SO THERE'S JUST SOME CHALLENGES TO THAT, BUT WE'RE THAT THIS SHOULD FIX THAT. 
          MM-HMM . 
          OKAY. 
          UM, GOOD, GOOD TO KNOW. 
          UM, ON THE ONE STOP CAN, I KNOW YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT HOW A LOT OF FOLKS ARE EXCITED ABOUT IT. 
          I HEAR A LOT ABOUT HOW PEOPLE WANT THAT IN PERSON INTERACTION AGAIN. 
          UM, CAN YOU JUST TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HOW THAT'S GONNA COME BACK ONLINE IN PERSON TIMELINE, YOU KNOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY DETAILS AROUND HOURS OF OPERATION DAYS, ANYTHING LIKE THAT? WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST, I'M A FIRM BELIEVER IN FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION, UH, WHETHER THAT BE IN PERSON OR OR TEAMS, BUT MY PREFERENCE WOULD ALWAYS BE IN PERSON. 
          A ONE STOP WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN THE OLD ENVIRONMENT WHEN WE WERE PAPER-BASED. 
          'CAUSE YOU PICKED YOUR PLANS UP, YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT PERSON. 
          WELL, IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT, EVERYTHING GETS SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY. 
          SO WE MAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO TAKE A STEP BACK ON THAT AND HAVE THEM SUBMIT IT PAPER BASED, BUT THEN WE'RE GONNA, UH, GET IT INTO THE SYSTEM ELECTRONICALLY. 
          BUT ULTIMATELY WHAT WE WANNA DO IS BE THERE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          IF WE CAN HAVE THESE PROJECTS APPROVED WITHIN THE SAME DAY REVIEW OR THE NEXT DAY REVIEW, THAT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN SPENDING 20, 30, 60 DAYS OR FOUR SUBMITTALS OR WHATEVER THAT MAY BE. 
          SO THAT'S ULTIMATELY WHAT THE GOAL OF ONE STOP IS. 
          MM-HMM . 
          I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THOUGH, AS I'VE SAID SEVERAL TIMES TODAY, IF, IF ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THE ONE STOP PROCESS, IN MY OPINION IT'S IRRELEVANT BECAUSE I CAN'T RUSH ONE GROUP AND NOT THE OTHER GROUP. 
          SO WE NEED TO GET THE BUY-IN OF ALL THESE OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THAT AVAILABLE. 
          I AGREE. 
          I'D BE A PROPONENT OF THAT. 
          UM, AND ALSO GIVING FOLKS THE OPPORTUNITY 
          [00:40:01]
TO, UM, VISIT ONE STOP ON THE WEEKEND. 
          IF IT'S HALF A DAY, YOU KNOW, MORE OPTIONS TO, TO GET THAT IN-PERSON INTERACTION. 
          UM, ON THE CYCLE TIME SLIDE. 
          HELP ME UNDERSTAND. 
          OKAY, SO RESIDENTIAL, WE HAVE LOWEST DAYS, HIGHEST DAYS, MEDIAN DAYS. 
          SO FOR MAY HIGHEST DAYS WAS 19 DAYS. 
          UM, THIS IS FOR EITHER APPROVAL OR REJECTION. 
          NUMBER OF DAYS IT TOOK FOR THE PROJECT TO RECEIVE A REVIEW IF IT'S KICKED BACK. 
          HOW IS THAT REFLECTED IN THIS? IS IT REFLECTED AT ALL IN THIS CHART OR HOW IS THAT INCORPORATED INTO THE, THE DAYS? IT'S NOT REFLECTED IN THIS CHART, HOWEVER, THESE ARE THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS BASED ON THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS THAT WERE SUBMITTED. 
          THIS IS THE AVERAGE. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THEN IF IT'S, IF IT'S KICKED BACK, THAT'S A, THAT'S A DIFFERENT DATA SET. 
          IF IT'S, NO, I MEAN IT'S, IT'S INCLUSIVE OF THIS. 
          I'M GONNA MAKE SURE I'M HEARING YOU RIGHT. 
          WHEN THEY SUBMIT THE DRAWINGS AND THEY GET A REVIEW, THAT TOTAL NUMBER, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REVIEWS PERFORMED ARE IN THIS NUMBER. 
          SO ONE PROJECT MAY HAVE BEEN REVIEWED TWO TIMES IN, IN IN MAY OR JUNE OR JULY. 
          WELL THAT PRO PROJECT'S GONNA GET ADDED TWICE, NOT ONCE. 
          SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE NOT INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS, THESE ARE REVIEWS PERFORMED, WHICH IS WHAT YOU SEE. 
          OKAY. 
          I I THINK I UNDERSTAND . 
          YEAH, I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED ON THE SLIDE. 
          UM, COULD YOU JUST WALK ME THROUGH IT ONE MORE TIME? UM, SO PLANS ARE SUBMITTED AND THEY'RE REVIEWED AND IT'S WITHIN, YOU KNOW, THE MEDIAN DAYS ON INMATES. 
          WITHIN EIGHT DAYS THEY GET KICKED BACK AND THEN THEY GET RESUBMITTED AND IT TAKES 12 DAYS. 
          SO HOW IS THAT REFLECTED IN THE CHART HERE? THAT'S COUNTED ALL OF THESE ARE ALL THE PLANS THAT WERE SUBMITTED COULD BE THE SAME PLAN SUBMITTED TWICE OR IN THIS OR IN THIS. 
          SO IT WOULD, IT WOULD COUNT ONCE FOR THE MEDIAN DAYS AND ONCE FOR THE HIGHEST DAYS. 
          WHAT, SO THE HIGHEST DAYS ARE JUST TELLING YOU ON THAT PARTICULAR ONE, THAT REVIEW AND I'LL USE, UM, COMMERCIAL FOR MAY 48 DAYS. 
          THAT MEANS WHEN THAT REVIEW WAS DONE FOR THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT, IT WAS 48 DAYS. 
          NOW THAT MEANS OBVIOUSLY THAT REVIEW DID NOT HAPPEN IN THAT MONTH. 
          IT HAPPENED, IT CAME IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. 
          MM-HMM . 
          SO THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SEEING. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          NOW WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, WHO'S ONLINE COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          UM, I MEET YOUR PHONE. 
          HE'S ON THE MOON. 
          YEAH. 
          IS HE THERE? HE'S FROZEN. 
          FROZEN. 
          'CAUSE HE'S ON THE MOON. 
          ON THE MOON. 
          HE'S ON THE MOON. 
          OKAY. 
          WE'LL COME BACK TO COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, YOU'RE BACK UP. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO KIND OF, UH, I WAS LOOKING AT THE CYCLE TIME AND 'CAUSE WHAT WE HEAR, WHAT WE HEAR AND, AND YOU LOOK AT THE SLAS ONLINE AND YOU GO TO THE DASHBOARD, PEOPLE WILL SAY, WELL THAT'S JUST THE INITIAL REVIEW. 
          I MEAN THAT I HAVE TO GO BACK AND BACK AND THE TIME ADDS ON. 
          BUT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THE TIME'S ALREADY ADDED ON FOR THOSE PROJECTS, THE TIME'S ALREADY ADDED ON LIKE THE 80, OBVIOUSLY THE 81 DAYS HAS GONE THROUGH SEVERAL RESUBMITTAL. 
          YES MA'AM. 
          IT COULD BE. 
          OKAY. 
          SO RESUBMITTAL ON SLIDE SIX, RESUBMITTAL ARE INCLUDED. 
          I MEAN, I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR 'CAUSE IT'S BEEN ASKED A COUPLE DIFFERENT WAYS. 
          AND YOU KE YOU SAY THESE ARE NOT PROJECTS, THESE ARE REVIEWS. 
          I MEAN, ISN'T A REVIEW A PROJECT? I MEAN, YOU'RE REVIEWING A PROJECT SO WELL, YOU, YOU COULD HAVE A PROJECT THAT GETS REVIEWED A, A SPECIFIC PROJECT THAT GETS REVIEWED TWICE IN THE SAME MONTH. 
          SURE. 
          THREE TIMES IN THE SAME. 
          SURE. 
          SO THERE WOULD BE COUNTED AS REVIEWS. 
          IT'S THE SAME PROJECT IN THAT PARTICULAR CASE IT WOULD BE THE SAME PROJECT, BUT IT'S COUNTED THREE TIMES. 
          SO THE MOST, THE MOST TIME IT TAKES FOR A COMMERCIAL. 
          SO SOMEBODY GOT THEIR SUBMITTAL IN JULY, SOMEBODY GOT THE RE SUBMITTED THEIR PLANS IN JULY, LIKE THERE WERE THE HIGHEST ONE TOOK 81 DAYS. 
          I MEAN THE ONE PROJECT TOOK 81 DAYS TO, TO FINALIZE THE REVIEW. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THIS IS INCLUSIVE OF RESUBMITTAL? THAT'S CORRECT. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          OKAY. 
          TALK TO ME ABOUT ALVAREZ AND MARSAL DURING THE BUDGET CYCLE. 
          UM, WE NOTICED THAT IN THE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING, UH, LINE ITEM, IT WENT FROM LIKE 68,000 TO 1.5 MILLION. 
          UM, I KNOW THAT ALVAREZ AND MARSAL HAD DID, HAS DONE A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ENGAGEMENT IN 2017. 
          THEY ARE, UH, KIND OF RESTARTING THAT OR, OR GOING INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, KIND OF DOING SOME, SOME WORK. 
          YOU YOU, 
          [00:45:01]
YOU AND I HAVE DISCUSSED THAT THAT HAS BEEN KIND OF UNDER THE CA THE COUNCIL THRESHOLD. 
          SO THAT HASN'T YET COME TO COUNCIL. 
          BUT TELL ME ABOUT WHAT THE PLANS ARE WITH ALVAREZ AND MARSAL AND SPECIFICALLY HOW THEY'RE WORKING WITH CUSTOMERS, UM, TO, TO, UH, YOU KNOW, MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS. 
          SO ALVAREZ AND MARSAL DID A, A STUDY OR A REVIEW OF THE PERMANENT CENTER IN 2017. 
          WHEN THAT REVIEW WAS DONE, IT WAS DONE WHEN WE WERE PAPER BASED. 
          SO HERE WE IN IN 2024, WE'VE ASKED THEM TO DO IT AGAIN AND TO REALLY KIND OF VALIDATE WHETHER OR NOT SOME OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE STILL APPLICABLE OR NOT. 
          OR THEY'RE STILL ADDITIONAL EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES, RIGHT. 
          THEY'RE EVALUATING ALL OF OUR PROCESSES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, THAT DOES IT MAKE SENSE? YOU KNOW, THEY'VE MET WITH A LOT OF THE, UH, OF OUR PARTNERS IN INTERNALLY. 
          THEY'VE MET WITH SOME OF THE OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS. 
          THEY'RE ALSO GONNA MEET WITH SOME OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS. 
          SO, UH, THEY'LL BE MEETING WITH EVERYONE JUST TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND AND HEAR THE PAIN POINTS SO THEY CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, MAKE A RECOMMENDATION ON HOW PROCESSES CAN BE, CAN BE STREAMLINED. 
          AND I KNOW I'VE SUBMITTED SOME NAMES FOR YOU TO INCLUDE IN THOSE STAKEHOLDERS. 
          I'M SURE MY COLLEAGUES PROBABLY HAVE SOME PEOPLE THAT MIGHT WANNA, UM, BE INVOLVED IN THAT PROCESS. 
          SO WILL YOU BE COMING TO COUNCIL WITH A, WITH A A A ANOTHER CONTRACT FOR ALVAREZ MARSAL TO CONTINUE THIS WORK? YES, THERE WERE SOME AREAS, BUT YES, THAT IS CORRECT. 
          AND, AND I DID GET A RESPONSE THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE DONE BY DECEMBER. 
          THAT IS THE GOAL. 
          OKAY. 
          TO BE DONE BY THE AND THEN HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH OF THAT CONS OF THE CONSULTING ENGAGEMENT WILL BE FOR THE FEE STUDY AND HOW MUCH FOR ALVAREZ AND MARCAL? SO THE FEE STUDY IS NOT INCLUDED IN OKAY. 
          FEE CONSULTANT IS INDEPENDENT OF THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THE FEE STUDY IS COMING FROM, WHEN IS THAT STARTING AND WHEN, WHAT MONEY IS THERE FOR THAT? WE, WE ARE WORKING TO IDENTIFY THE FUNDING FOR THAT. 
          UM, BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY VERY OPTIMISTIC AND EAGER TO GET THAT FEE STUDY DONE. 
          DO YOU HAVE STAFF TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS ON ONE STAFF, ON ONE STOP? DO YOU HAVE THE STAFF TO OPERATE ONE STOP? I HAVE THE STAFF TO OPERATE ONE STOP WITHIN BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT IN OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER. 
          I DON'T HAVE IT. 
          AND, AND I BELIEVE I ALSO HAVE IT WITHIN IDS, BUT WE DON'T HAVE IT IN, WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERING DEPARTMENTS TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THE STAFFING AVAILABLE. 
          OKAY. 
          THE CHALLENGE THAT WE RUN INTO WITH MANY OF OUR, UH, OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS IS THEIR GENERAL FUND WHERE WE'RE SPECIAL REVENUE. 
          SO THEY, THEY DON'T HAVE POSITIONS READILY AVAILABLE. 
          SO THEY'RE, IT'S BASED ON THE GENERAL FUND AND CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME. 
          IT'S MY, YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT'S A FOUR HOUR DEAL. 
          I, I'VE TALKED TO SEVERAL CUSTOMERS OF THE, OF THE  OF THE PERMITTING CENTER THAT SAID THEY DON'T CARE IF SOMEBODY WORKS ON IT 15 MINUTES, 10 MINUTES, ONE MINUTE. 
          THEY'LL PAY FOUR HOURS IF THEY CAN GET THEIR, THEIR THAT'S CORRECT THING DONE. 
          SO IS THAT THE PROGRAM THAT'S COMING BACK? I MEAN, IS IT GONNA BE LIKE THAT AGAIN? IT IT'S SCHEDULED TO BE STRUCTURED IN THE SAME MANNER. 
          OKAY. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          I'M PROBABLY GONNA THINK OF MORE, BUT THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          UM, WE'RE GONNA GO ONLINE TO COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, YOU'RE UP SIR. 
          CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YEP, WE CAN HEAR YOU. 
          YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, UH, MY CUSTOMERS GET PERMITS QUITE OFTEN AND FOR AS MANY PROBLEMS AS WE'VE HEARD FOR PERMITTING, UH, I HAD A CUSTOMER COME IN HERE YESTERDAY THAT, UH, SAID THEY FILED FOR A PERMIT. 
          WE'RE EXPECTING TWO TO THREE WEEKS BEFORE THEY COULD GET IT AND THEY ACTUALLY GOT IT IN THREE DAYS. 
          SO I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS A TREND OR WHAT, BUT IT CERTAINLY, AT LEAST IN HIS INSTANCE, WAS CONSIDERABLY BETTER. 
          AND THAT'S ALL THAT ARE YOU DONE COUNCIL MEMBER? OKAY. 
          SO WAS IT A COMMENT? YES. 
          OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          SO COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          ALRIGHT, FOLLOWING UP ON A COUPLE THINGS, UH, RUDY, I UNDERSTAND YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A RESIDENTIAL CHECKLIST FOR THE PUBLIC SO THEY CAN KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS REQUIRED. 
          CAN YOU TELL US THE STATUS OF THAT? WE ARE STILL, UH, KIND OF WEEDING OUT THAT CHECKLIST. 
          WHAT, WHAT I WANNA MAKE SURE IT'S A PREREQUISITE LIST. 
          AND THAT LIST HAS, UM, HISTORICALLY SERVED AS A PREREQUISITE, BUT WE'VE HAD OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS AND EVEN DEPARTMENTS WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS WHO WANNA HAVE, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, INFORMATION IN THERE THAT'S RELATED TO THE PLAN REVIEW. 
          BUT IT'S NOT NECESSARILY A PREREQUISITE. 
          IT'S KIND OF LET, LETTING THEM KNOW AHEAD OF TIME, HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT. 
          SO WE'RE REALLY WORKING TO MAKE, MAKE THAT A PRE A TRUE PREREQUISITE CHECKLIST. 
          AND WHEN, WHEN CAN WE EXPECT SOMETHING IN THAT REGARD? WE, WE ARE FINALIZING THAT, I WOULD SAY IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, IF NOT SOONER. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          AND LET ME ASK YOU, DO ALL THE REVIEWERS USE THE, THE SAME EXACT CHECKLIST OR NOT? YES, BECAUSE THEY'RE THE, THE SUBMITTALS COME IN WITH A, WITH THE CHECKLIST. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          SO ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS ARE USING THE SAME CHECKLIST 
          [00:50:01]
RIGHT NOW. 
          UM, COMMENTS ALSO BEEN MADE THAT WHEN UH, NEW COMMENTS ARE ENTERED, UH, THEY SHOULD BE AUTHORIZED BY SUPERVISORS. 
          WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? I A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE. 
          I MEAN, THEY SHOULD BE, WHICH IS WHY WE'VE, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED THIS INTERVENTION WITH THE THIRD AND FOURTH REVIEW BECAUSE IF WE'RE GETTING NEW OR ANY REVIEW, IF YOU GET NEW COMMENTS, BUT, UH, IF, IF THERE NEEDS TO BE SUPERVISOR AND MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT WHEN WE HAVE SITUATIONS LIKE THAT TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT IT'S A LIFE SAFETY ISSUE. 
          AND IS THAT THE PRACTICE RIGHT NOW? THAT'S THE PRACTICE TODAY, THAT'S CORRECT. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          NOW AGAIN, THAT'S THE PRACTICE TODAY WITHIN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS. 
          WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNER AND DEPARTMENTS TO GET THAT TO BE THE PRACTICE ACROSS THE BOARD AT HPC. 
          OKAY. 
          FROM OUR CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN HAVING AND WE APPRECIATE YOU MEETING WITH US AND, AND KEEPING US UPDATED AND EVERYTHING, I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN, UH, CONSIDERING A SELF CERTIFY OPTION. 
          CAN YOU TELL US WHAT THE STATUS OF THAT IS? THAT IS, I DON'T BELIEVE IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO TALK ABOUT THAT TODAY JUST BECAUSE IT'S SO PREMATURE. 
          IT'S SOMETHING WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, BUT WE ARE, I THINK THAT'S DEFINITELY DOWN THE ROAD. 
          SO I, I DON'T, I WOULDN'T EVEN FEEL COMFORTABLE DISCUSSING THAT TODAY 'CAUSE IT'S SO PREMATURE. 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          UH, LOOKING AT SLIDE NUMBER 13 REGARDING, UH, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT UNDER THE CONSULTANT ASSESSMENT CATEGORY. 
          DO YOU HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF YOU? YES SIR. 
          BY THE WAY. 
          OKAY. 
          UH, FIRST BULLET POINT IS NEW ORDINANCES. 
          CAN YOU GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT SORT OF NEW ORDINANCES YOU GUYS MIGHT BE HAVE UNDER CONSIDERATION? THE ORDINANCE THAT WE'RE WORKING ON IS THE A ONE RE-IMPLEMENT, HAVE A FEE STUDY. 
          THE OTHER, BUT THE MAIN ONE IS CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME. 
          RIGHT NOW IT ONLY IS IN INCLUDES BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT. 
          SO WE WE'RE GOING BACK, WE'RE WORKING WITH LEGAL TO INCLUDE THESE OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS AND AT MINIMUM HAVE ALL THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED IN THIS. 
          ANY OTHER TYPE OF NEW ORDINANCES THAT ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION? NOT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT WE, WE WE'RE LOOKING AT ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO MAKE THINGS MORE EFFICIENT. 
          OKAY. 
          AND LAST BULLET POINT UNDER THAT COLUMN IS SPEED AND SIMPLIFICATION. 
          AND, AND SO WHAT, WHAT IS THAT IN RELATION TO? JUST HOW DO WE STREAMLINE OUR PROCESS? I THINK IT'S ALSO RELATED TO OUR CONSULTANTS. 
          THEY'RE, THEY'RE EVALUATING EVERYTHING AND MAKE US FIGURING OUT WHERE WE CAN SPEED UP THE PROCESS OR SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS. 
          THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REFERRING TO THERE. 
          OKAY. 
          I WILL PASS ALONG. 
          ONE, ONE GOOD THING THAT WE'VE HEARD IS UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP, UH, FOLKS APPRECIATE THE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME IN AND MEET IN PERSON WITH THEIR REVIEWER AND, AND PLEAD THEIR CASE. 
          AND SO, UH, THEY APPRECIATE THAT. 
          SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          YEAH. 
          AND THANK YOU DEPUTY DIRECTOR MORENO, I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE BREAKING DOWN THOSE SILOS, YOU KNOW, UM, THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT WE ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO MOVE PROJECTS FORWARD OF EFFICIENTLY. 
          SO THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          VERY HELPFUL AND YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY, SIR. 
          THANK YOU. 
          IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S SUPPORT. 
          NO. 
          OH, OH, NO. 
          I KNOW YOU HAD MARTINEZ. 
          I'M SORRY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ. 
          NO, I, I I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU AS WELL, DIRECTOR. 
          UM, I, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A, A HEAVY LIFT, UM, JUST HISTORICALLY WORKING OUT OF THE OFFICE AND WORKING THROUGH A LOT OF THE PERMITTING ISSUES. 
          UM, SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT. 
          IT SOUNDS LIKE WE NEED TO BRING THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS HERE AS WELL AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY GET ON THE SAME, UH, TRAINING AS AND SO WE CAN MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER. 
          UM, I WANTED TO JUST, JUST QUICKLY ASK, BECAUSE WHEN WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT OVERTIME, UH, AND I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS, UH, IT WAS AN EMAIL. 
          I REMEMBER WE RECEIVED, IT WAS OVER 4,000 BACKLOGGED OVERTIME KICKED IN. 
          PEOPLE WERE, YES, WE WANT TO, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, GETTING 15 MINUTES REAL QUICK THAT THEY NEED TO REVIEW TO GET, GET IT THROUGH, AND THEN THAT STARTED GETTING BACKLOGGED. 
          UH, SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT Y'ALL ARE READY TO TAKE THESE OVERTIMES. 
          'CAUSE FOLKS THEY JUST WANNA GET THEIR PROJECTS DONE AT THE END OF THE DAY. 
          AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA BE SUPPORTIVE OF, OF YOU AND, AND YOUR TEAM AND THE SHOP. 
          UM, UH, BUT, UH, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, LET US KNOW HOW WE CAN SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS AS WELL. 
          UM, AND THEN THE LAST COMMENT, UM, AS WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE CYCLE TIME, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE A, A GOOD, UH, PICTURE WOULD BE LET'S JUST PUT UP A PROJECT NUMBER AND RUN THROUGH IT AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE, UM, ON, ON YOUR BEST DAY? AND THEN WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE ON THE WORST DAY? AND THEN LET'S TALK THROUGH THE WORST DAYS AND FIGURE OUT HOW CAN WE FIX THAT OR, OR AT LEAST HAVE THAT DISCUSSION SO WE KNOW HOW BETTER TO EXPLAIN THAT TO CONSTITUENTS AS WELL. 
          THANK YOU. 
          A PROCESS FLOW CHART, RIGHT? YEP. 
          THAT'LL BE GOOD. 
          YEAH. 
          SO, ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. 
          I THINK THERE'S MORE QUESTIONS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ALL RIGHT, SO NOW WE ARE HERE FROM MR. GREG HOURLY, THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER, AND PHILIP GOODWIN, REGULATORY COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER ON THE CONSENT DEGREE. 
          [00:55:03]
THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US. 
          YEAH. 
          UH, MY NAME IS GREG ARLEY. 
          I'M THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER, MY , SORRY. 
          MY NAME IS PHILLIP GOODWIN. 
          I'M THE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR FOR HOUSTON WATER. 
          AND WE ARE HERE TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE OF HOUSTON'S WASTEWATER CONSENT DECREE, WHICH BEGAN IN APRIL, 2021 AND IS CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO SUNSET MARCH 31ST, 2036. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          YOU'VE SEEN THIS. 
          SO, NEXT SLIDE. 
          HOUSTON WATER IS THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPLEX SANITARY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES. 
          IT ENCOMPASSES NEARLY 600 SQUARE MILES, AND IN THAT 600 SQUARE MILES, YOU COULD FIT THE CITIES OF BALTIMORE, BOSTON, CLEVELAND, DENVER, MIAMI, PITTSBURGH, ST. 
          LOUIS, AND WASHINGTON DC AND THE ASTROS CAN BEAT EVERY ONE OF THOSE BASEBALL TEAMS. . 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          HOUSTON WATER IS, UH, FROM A WASTEWATER PERSPECTIVE, VERY COMPLEX WITHIN THAT FOOTPRINT, WE HAVE 38 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS, TWO WET WEATHER FACILITIES, 376 LIFT LIFT STATIONS, NEARLY 6,000 MILES OF GRAVITY MAINS, 304 MILES OF FORCE MAINS. 
          A FORCE MAIN IS A SEWER PIPE THAT FLOWS FULL AND IS UNDER PRESSURE. 
          OUR GRAVITY MAINS COULD DO A ROUND TRIP BETWEEN DC AND SEATTLE. 
          WE HAVE NEARLY 135,000 MANHOLES. 
          IF YOU COMPARE, COMPARE THE COMPLEXITY OF OUR SYSTEM TO OUR NEXT CLOSEST CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. 
          CHICAGO, WHICH HAS NEARLY THE IDENTICAL POPULATION, IS THE CITY. 
          HOUSTON. 
          CHICAGO HAS ONE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT COMPARED TO R 38. 
          THE UTILITY I JUST RECENTLY MANAGED, UH, HAD FIVE. 
          SO OUR SYSTEM IS VERY, VERY COMPLEX. 
          THE CITY HAS BEEN UNDER PRIOR, UH, AGREED ORDERS AND TORE, UH, THE GREATER HOUSTON WASTEWATER PROGRAM AS WELL AS THE TCEQ AGREED ORDER. 
          UH, THESE PROGRAMS PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON REHABILITATION OF PIPE, HOWEVER, THEY WERE NOT A SUSTAINED AND SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN THE UTILITIES, OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE, AND BEST PRACTICES. 
          AS A GENERALIZATION, WE FIXED STUFF, BUT WE DIDN'T REALLY CHANGE OUR PROCESSES AS A UTILITY. 
          THESE PROGRAMS WERE MORE LIKE A DIET, NOT A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. 
          AND WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO PHILIP TO TALK ABOUT THE CONSENT DECREE. 
          THANK YOU, GREG, FOR SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION. 
          LET ME EXPLAIN WHAT OUR CONSENT DECREE IS. 
          OUR WASTEWATER CONSENT DECREE IS A SETTLEMENT THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON ENGAGED IN IN 2019 WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THE UNITED STATES. 
          THIS SETTLEMENT WAS LODGED IN FEDERAL COURT AND APPROVED BY A FEDERAL JUDGE AFTER BEING APPROVED, OF COURSE, BY CITY COUNCIL IN 2019. 
          AND THIS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT EMBODIES OUR SCOPE OF WORK AND AS GREG PUT IT, OUR LIFESTYLE CHANGE FOR HOW WE MANAGE OUR UTILITY. 
          OUR CONSENT DECREE IS A BINDING COMMITMENT. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          I'M SORRY. 
          OUR CONSENT DECREE IS A BINDING COMMITMENT THAT INCLUDES A SCHEDULE OF WORK OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS OF CERTAIN PROJECTS AND CERTAIN ACTIVITIES THAT MUST BE PERFORMED IN THE TIMEFRAME PRESCRIBED IN THE CONSENT DECREE. 
          OR WE ARE SUBJECT TO DAILY PENALTIES FOR NOT MEETING OUR OBLIGATIONS. 
          AS GREG SAID, THIS IS A 15 YEAR 
          [01:00:01]
CONSENT DECREE, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO END IN 2036. 
          WE ARE CURRENTLY JUST INTO THE FOURTH YEAR OF OUR 15 YEAR COMMITMENT. 
          HOUSTON'S CONSENT DECREE IS AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE OF OUR SEWER SYSTEM FOR OUR RESIDENTS. 
          THE SCOPE OF WORK THAT WE HAVE UNDERTAKEN IN THIS CONSENT DECREE WILL IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT OUR CUSTOMERS RECEIVE. 
          IT WILL IMPROVE OUR COMPLIANCE WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS, INCLUDING THE CLEAN WATER ACT, AND IT WILL IMPROVE AND BETTER PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT BY NOT HAVING THE, THE NUMBER OF DANGEROUS SPILLS THAT WE HAVE NOW OF UNTREATED SEWAGE INTO THE PUBLIC. 
          THE PRIMARY GOAL THERE, THERE ARE REALLY TWO GOALS OF OUR CONSENT DECREE. 
          ONE OF THEM IS, AS GREG SAID, IS OUR LIFESTYLE CHANGE TO BRING THE WAY THAT WE MANAGE OUR ASSETS IN LINE WITH INDUSTRY STANDARDS. 
          THE OTHER IS TO MAKE UP FOR A HISTORY OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE IN PUBLIC UTILITIES, WHICH IS A SUBJECT THAT I KNOW WE'VE ALL HEARD FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 
          WE HAVE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE NOT ONLY IN OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS THAT NEED UPGRADES TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TREATING WASTEWATER EFFECTIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY DISCHARGING CLEAN WATER BACK INTO OUR BAUSE, BUT ALSO OUR COLLECTION SYSTEM SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER OF SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS THAT WE HAVE TODAY THAT IMPACT THE PUBLIC. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND HOW IT WORKS. 
          WASTE WATER'S COLLECTED, UH, AT HOMES AND THEN IT IS CONVEYED DOWN THE COLLECTION SYSTEM TO THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. 
          THERE IT IS TREATED AND DISCHARGED, UH, DISINFECTED PRIOR TO DISCHARGE. 
          IF YOU COULD TAKE ONE REALLY GOOD TAKEAWAY TODAY IS WASTEWATER TREATMENT IS A BIOLOGICAL PROCESS. 
          THAT'S HOW WE TREAT WHAT'S IN WASTEWATER. 
          SO WE CULTIVATE BIOLOGY. 
          WATER TREATMENT IS A PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESS. 
          WE TRY TO KEEP BIOLOGY AT ALL COSTS AWAY FROM DRINKING WATER. 
          SO THEY'RE DIFFERENT IN THAT WAY. 
          MOST WASTEWATER SYSTEMS RELY ON GRAVITY. 
          AS I POINTED OUT, WE HAVE A LOT OF LIFT STATION. 
          THAT'S BECAUSE HOUSTON'S TOPOGRAPHY IS FLAT. 
          THE PROBLEMS THAT CREATES FOR OUR COLLECTION SYSTEM IS THE SPEED AT WHICH WATER FLOWS THROUGH THE CON, UH, COLLECTION SYSTEM IS SLOW, THAT MAKES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BLOCKAGES GREATER. 
          A SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW OCCURS WHEN THERE'S A BLOCKAGE IN THE COLLECTION SYSTEM AND IT CAUSES A DISCHARGE ONTO THE SURFACE, EITHER ONTO THE STREET, A HOME, A YARD, OR A NEARBY WATERWAY. 
          SSOS ARE PRIMARILY CAUSED BECAUSE OF FATS, OILS, AND GREASE WE CALL FOG RAGS AND WIPES THAT GET FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET INTO THE SYSTEM. 
          AND DURING WINTER MONTHS, UH, WHEN IT GETS COOLER, THE GREASE IN THE SYSTEM COAGULATES AND WE END UP WITH QUITE A FEW BLOCKAGES IN THE WINTER, WHICH IS ACTUALLY OUR GREATER TIME OF BLOCKAGES, EFFLUENT EFFLUENT VIOLATIONS THAT THE TREATMENT PLANTS OCCUR WHEN WE DON'T MEET THE TCEQ STANDARDS FOR OUR PERMITS AT OUR TREATMENT PLANTS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          PHILLIP'S GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TIMELINE. 
          CAN I GET THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE? THANK YOU, GREG. 
          OUR CONSENT DECREE FIRST BEGAN IN 2010 WHEN EPA REACHED OUT TO HOUSTON. 
          WHILE WE WERE STILL PERFORMING UNDER OUR AGREED ORDER WITH TCEQ TO LET US KNOW THEY HAD SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE OPERATION OF OUR WASTEWATER SYSTEM AND THE NUMBER OF SSOS THAT WE WERE HAVING AT THAT TIME. 
          THOSE DISCUSSIONS RESULTED IN THE CITY RECEIVING OUR FIRST DRAFT OF WHAT IS NOW OUR FINAL WASTEWATER CONSENT DECREE IN 2013. 
          FOLLOWING SEVERAL YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS, CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE FINAL ITERATION OF WHAT IS NOW OUR CONSENT DECREE, AS DID THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THE UNITED STATES IN 2019, AT WHICH TIME IT WAS LODGED IN FEDERAL COURT IN 20 21, 2 YEARS. 
          ACTUALLY, ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, THE FEDERAL JUDGE FORMALLY APPROVED THE CONSENT DECREE AND IT BECAME EFFECTIVE ON APRIL 1ST, 2021. 
          AS WE ALL KNOW, SOMETHING BIG HAPPENED BETWEEN 2019 AND 2021 CALLED THE COVID PANDEMIC AND THAT PANDEMIC, WHICH OCCURRED JUST AFTER WE FINALIZED OUR SCOPE OF WORK AND SCHEDULE FOR THE CONSENT DECREE, HAS CERTAINLY POSED SOME CHALLENGES AS IT HAS DISRUPTED 
          [01:05:01]
BOTH SUPPLY CHAIN AND THE AVAILABILITY OF OUR WORKFORCE TO PERFORM. 
          AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'RE NOW IN YEAR FOUR OF OUR 15 YEAR CONSENT DECREE, AND WE ARE UNSCHEDULED TO COMPLETE OUR ACTIONS IN 2036. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          NOW I'D LIKE TO WALK THROUGH SOME OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF OUR CONSENT DECREE AND THE STATUS OF OUR PROGRESS IN PERFORMING THOSE ACTIVITIES. 
          I'LL BEGIN WITH OUR EARLY ACTION PROGRAM. 
          WE IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF EARLY ACTION PROJECTS THAT WE COMMITTED TO IN OUR CONSENT DECREE IDENTIFIED WITH SPECIFICITY AS TO WHAT WORK WE WERE GOING TO PERFORM. 
          THOSE EARLY ACTION PROJECTS INCLUDE LIFT STATION RENEWAL AND REPLACEMENT FORCE MAIN RENEWAL AND REPLACEMENT CONSOLIDATION PROJECTS TO HELP REDUCE THE NUMBER OF TREATMENT PLANTS AND LIFT STATIONS THAT, THAT WE MAINTAIN IN OUR SYSTEM AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTS. 
          WE ARE ON SCHEDULE TO MEET THESE OBLIGATIONS. 
          64% OF OUR EARLY ACTION PROJECTS ARE ALREADY COMPLETE, LEAVING 36% THAT WILL BE COMPLETED IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. 
          MOVING ON TO CAPACITY ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION. 
          OUR CONSENT DECREE IDENTIFIES CAPACITY ISSUES WHEN WE HAVE WET WEATHER SITUATIONS THAT CAUSE EITHER REPEAT SSOS IN THE SAME LOCATION WHEN IT RAINS HEAVILY, OR WE HAVE A SINGLE LOCATION THAT JUST HAS AN OVERFLOW OF A HUGE AMOUNT DURING HEAVY RAINFALL. 
          THOSE INDICATE THAT FLOW CAN'T HAPPEN THROUGH IT. 
          THERE'S A CONSTRAINT SOMEWHERE THAT'S KEEPING OUR SYSTEM FROM GETTING IT WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO TO BE TREATED. 
          THERE WERE NINE AREAS THAT HAD THIS ISSUE IDENTIFIED IN OUR ORIGINAL CONSENT DECREE, AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED USING THE PROCESSES IN THE CONSENT DECREE TO RECOGNIZE WHEN OUR SYSTEM IS TELLING US IT HAS A PROBLEM. 
          WE'VE IDENTIFIED ANOTHER EIGHT AREAS, ALL OF WHICH ARE CURRENTLY BEING ASSESSED. 
          WE HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED 10 OF THESE 17 AREAS TO EPA WITH OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION AND ARE WORKING ON THE OTHER SEVEN RIGHT NOW. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION. 
          OUR AGREEMENT WITH, WITH EPA IN TEXAS FOR THIS OBLIGATION IS TO INSPECT AND ASSESS THE CONDITION OF OUR WHOLE COLLECTION SYSTEM EVERY 10 YEARS THAT ROUND TRIP DC TO SEATTLE END-TO-END AMOUNT OF SEWER REMAINS THAT WE MAINTAIN EVERY 10 YEARS, WE ARE GOING TO CLEAN AND INSPECT EVERY LAST INCH OF IT TO MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTAND THE CONDITION, WE UNDERSTAND WHERE DEFECTS ARE AND ARE ABLE TO ADDRESS THEM AS WE MOVE FROM A MORE REACTIVE UTILITY TO A MORE PROACTIVE UTILITY. 
          BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THEM BEFORE THEY CAUSE A PROBLEM INSTEAD OF BECOMING AWARE OF THEM AFTER THEY CAUSE A PROBLEM. 
          AND THAT'S THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS. 
          OF COURSE, WE ALSO HAVE AGREED TO REMEDIATE TO FIX THE DEFECTS THAT WE FIND THAT NEED TO BE FIXED. 
          WE ARE AHEAD OF OUR SCHEDULE IN OUR CONSENT DECREE WITH ASSESSING OUR SYSTEM. 
          AND NOW THAT WE HAVE SOME DATA ON WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR SYSTEM, WE'RE ACTIVELY MOVING THROUGH THE REMEDIATION PHASE TO PRIORITIZE WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED FIRST AND TO DO THOSE FIXES EXPEDITIOUSLY CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION. 
          UNDER THIS OBLIGATION, WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS, WE PERFORM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS OF ALL OF OUR 38 TREATMENT PLANTS ON A FIVE YEAR CYCLE. 
          AND OUR PERMIT CYCLE FOR THESE PLANTS IS ALSO A FIVE YEAR CYCLE. 
          WHAT WE'VE COMMITTED TO DOING IS EVALUATING EACH PLANT TO DETERMINE IS THIS THING WORKING WELL ENOUGH TO KEEP US IN COMPLIANCE FOR OUR NEXT FIVE YEAR PERMIT CYCLE? AND IF NOT, WHAT DO WE NEED TO FIX TO MAKE SURE IT STAYS THAT WAY? WE ARE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THOSE PROCESSES YEAR FOUR OUT OF THE FIRST FIVE YEARS, WE'LL HAVE ALL 38 DONE IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS, AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT, FRANKLY, MORE, MORE THAN WE EXPECTED OF DEFECTS IN OUR TREATMENT PLANTS DUE TO DEFERRED MAINTENANCE THAT WE ARE SCHEDULING IN CIP TO ADDRESS GOING FORWARD. 
          AND THOSE DEFECTS THAT CAN BE ADDRESSED THROUGH OUR O AND M BUDGET WE ARE ADDRESSING IMMEDIATELY. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          THE NEXT ITEM I'M GOING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT, WE REFER TO AS 
          [01:10:01]
CMOM, WHICH IS CAPACITY MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE. 
          THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT ADDRESSES HOW WE MAINTAIN OUR UTILITY ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE IN LINE WITH INDUSTRY STANDARDS. 
          WE HAD TO SUBMIT UNDER OUR CONSENT DECREE, A-C-M-O-M PROGRAM PLAN IN 2022, WHICH WE DID ON SCHEDULE. 
          WE HAD TO, UNDER OUR EARLY TARGETED CLEANING PROGRAM, DO AN ACCELERATED AMOUNT OF CLEANING IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS, TARGETING PARTS OF THE CITY THAT HAD MORE THAN 10 SSOS PER MILE. 
          IN OTHER WORDS, HOTSPOTS FOR SSOS. 
          WE COMPLETED THOSE 1500 MILES IN OUR PRESCRIBED TIMEFRAME OF THE FIRST TWO YEARS IN THE MINDSET OF ADDRESSING WORST FIRST. 
          AND AS AN ASIDE, OUR CONSENT DECREE PRIORITIZES ALL WORK ON A WORST FIRST BASIS. 
          WE ASSESS OUR SEWER SYSTEM ON THE CYCLE OF OF 10 YEARS. 
          FOR MOST OF IT, IT IS PRIORITIZED ON THE BASINS THAT ARE HAVING THE MOST ISSUES FIRST, IT IS INTENTIONALLY LOOKING TO GO FIRST WHERE PROBLEMS ARE SO THEY CAN BE ADDRESSED BEFORE OTHER AREAS. 
          WE'VE, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, AGREED TO CLEAN AND INSPECT OUR SEWER SYSTEM ON A 10 YEAR CYCLE. 
          WE'RE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE IN DOING THAT. 
          WE'VE ALSO AGREED TO HELP MINIMIZE OUR NUMBER OF SSOS TO CLEAN IN ADDITIONAL AT LEAST 275 MILES A YEAR OF WHAT IS CALLED PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE CLEANING. 
          WE REFER TO AS HOTSPOT CLEANING LOCATIONS THAT WE'VE NOTICED TEND TO ACCUMULATE GREASE OR RAGS AND WIPES OR DEBRIS AND NEED A MORE FREQUENT CLEANING THAN ONCE EVERY 10 YEARS TO AVOID BLOCKAGES. 
          WE ARE DOING WELL IN EXCESS OF THOSE 275 MILES ADDRESSING THESE AREAS WITHIN HOUSTON. 
          WE ARE ALSO CONTINUING TO PROMOTE OUR FATS, OILS, AND GREASE PROGRAM PROTECT OUR PIPES.ORG. 
          AND OUR PROGRAM INCLUDES EDUCATION, WHICH IS THE PROTECT OUR PIPES COMPONENT. 
          ALSO INSPECTION, OUTREACH AND ENFORCEMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, THE PARTIES THAT DISCHARGE WASTEWATER INTO OUR SYSTEM DO NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF FATS, OILS, AND GREASE THAT COUNSEL HAS ADOPTED AS ALLOWABLE FOR THEM TO DISCHARGE. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          WE HAVE ALSO AGREED REGARDING OUR WET WEATHER FLOW, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, TO LOOK FOR WAYS THAT DURING THE EXTREME WET WEATHER THAT WE EXPERIENCE IN HOUSTON, WE CAN RAPIDLY TREAT WASTEWATER WHEN WE GET A SUDDEN SURGE FROM HEAVY RAINFALL. 
          AS WE RECENTLY EXPERIENCED IN BARREL, WE HAVE ALREADY PILOT TESTED TWO NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND ARE MOVING FORWARD IN DISCUSSIONS WITH EPA AND WITH TCEQ ON ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES WHERE WE CAN TREAT AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT OF WASTEWATER USING A SPECIAL SYSTEM THAT WE'RE WORKING ON DURING THAT HEAVY FLOW DURING HIGH RAINFALL. 
          WE WOULD RATHER, NOT ONLY ARE WE OBLIGATED TO, WE WOULD OF COURSE WOULD RATHER TREAT THAT WASTEWATER DURING HEAVY FLOW THAN HAVE IT BACK UP AND COME OUT AS SEWER OVERFLOWS THAT COMBINE WITH FLOOD WATER AND HEAVY RAINFALL. 
          THE LAST ITEM I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT IS OUR ADVANCED SEWER SYSTEM MONITORING. 
          AND THIS, I KNOW THIS IS ODD TO SAY IN A WASTEWATER PRESENTATION, THIS IS FUN STUFF. 
          WE HAVE OBLIGATED TO INSTALL 3000 SMART MANHOLE COVERS THAT GIVE US REAL TIME DATA THROUGHOUT OUR SEWER SYSTEM TO LET US KNOW IF THINGS ARE FLOWING PROPERLY OR IF THEY'RE STARTING TO SLOW DOWN, INDICATING THAT A BLOCKAGE IS STARTING TO FORM. 
          THEY AUTOMATICALLY RECOGNIZE THAT SOMETHING'S WRONG IN THE SYSTEM. 
          THEY DIRECTLY DIAL INTO 3 1 1 TO OPEN A SERVICE TICKET, AND WE ARE ABLE TO SEND INSPECTORS OUT AND CLEAR THAT BLOCKAGE BEFORE IT STOPS FLOW AND BEFORE AN OVERFLOW EVER OCCURS. 
          THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          HERE'S AN IMAGE OF WHAT THESE LOOK LIKE. 
          ALL YOU WOULD SEE AROUND A MANHOLE IS A LITTLE FLAT PLASTIC DISC, WHICH IS THE MONITORS ANTENNA THAT IS SENDING THE DATA OUT TO US AS SEEN IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER HERE. 
          WE HAVE ALMOST ALL OF THESE 3000 WE'RE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE IN INSTALLING THEM ALREADY IN ACTIVE IN OUR SYSTEM. 
          AND I'M EXCITED TO REPORT 639 POTENTIAL SSOS WHERE THE SYSTEM, WHEN WE CLAIMED IT WAS ON ITS WAY TO A BLOCKAGE AND WE STOPPED IT BEFORE IT BLOCKED AND CAUSED AN SSO ALMOST 640 SSOS. 
          WE'VE PREVENTED USING THIS SYSTEM SO FAR AND AS WE'RE CONTINUING TO FINE TUNE THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE DATA, 
          [01:15:01]
WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT NUMBER. 
          JUMPING UP EVEN MORE. 
          ONE, ONE NOTE TOO ON, UH, SMART MANHOLES IS, UH, WE'VE DEPLOYED SMART MANHOLE TECHNOLOGY AND AI TECHNOLOGY ON A SCALE THAT REALLY NOBODY ELSE HAS IN THE US AND SO OTHER UTILITIES ARE COMING TO US TO TALK TO US OF HOW WE DID THIS. 
          AND SO, UM, WE'RE CONTRIBUTING TO THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT COSTS. 
          SO CONSENT DECREE COSTS. 
          WHEN THIS CONSENT DECREE WAS SIGNED AND APPROVED BY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR IN 2019, AT THAT TIME IT WAS VALUED TO BE $6 BILLION OF WORK THAT GOT REPORTED AS IN $2 BILLION INCREMENTAL INCREASE OVER WHAT WE HAD ALREADY PLANNED TO DO IN OUR 15 YEAR CIP. 
          SO IT WAS, WE ORIGINALLY HAD PLANNED TO DO ABOUT 4 BILLION UH, DOLLARS OF WORK IN THAT 15 YEAR CYCLE, BUT THE CONSENT DECREE ADDED AN ADDITIONAL 2 BILLION. 
          AS PHILIP MENTIONED, UH, WE HAD THE PANDEMIC HIT, UH, THAT COST THAT DROVE THE, THE PRICE OF GOODS AND LABOR AND COST OF PROJECTS AND COMPLETING CAPITAL PROJECTS UP ABOUT 30 TO 40% DEPENDING ON, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU LIVE IN THE COUNTRY. 
          THAT MIGHT BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, BUT THAT, THAT IS A NATIONWIDE PHENOMENON THAT WE'RE SEEING. 
          ALSO, AS PHILIP MENTIONED, AS WE GOT IN TO REALLY ASSESS BOTH OUR COLLECTION SYSTEM AND OUR TREATMENT PLANTS, WE REALIZED THEY WERE IN WORSE CONDITION THAN WE HAD PREVIOUSLY KNOWN WHEN WE PUT THE SCOPE TOGETHER. 
          SO WITH THE COST OF, UH, LABOR GOING UP, THE COST OF SUPPLIES GOING UP, PROJECTS BEING EXTENDED IN TIME, AND THE ADDITIONAL SCOPE, THE NEW DRAFT ESTIMATE THAT WE'RE STILL FINALIZING, BUT IT IS, UH, MUCH HIGHER IS $9 BILLION. 
          OVER THE NEXT 11 AND A HALF YEARS, WE, UH, GENERATE ROUGHLY $1 BILLION A YEAR TO, UH, SPEND ON CAPITAL U UH, UTILITY WIDE. 
          AND SO THE PROBLEM THAT CREATES IS PAYING FOR THE CONSENT DECREE, UH, IS DIFFICULT AND, AND TRYING TO PAY FOR ALL THE OTHER NEEDS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE IN THE UTILITY. 
          SO WHAT CAN WE TAKE AWAY FROM ALL THIS NEXT SLIDE? UH, THE CON CONSENT DECREE WORK IS A PATHWAY TO IMPROVING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND PROVIDING BETTER SERVICES TO OUR RATE PAYERS. 
          THE CITY IS ON SCHEDULE OR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WITH ITS CONSENT DECREE REQUIREMENTS. 
          THE COST OF THE CONSENT DECREE SCOPE OF WORK HAS INCREASED POST PANDEMIC. 
          SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN ADDRESSING SSOS AND EFFLUENT VIOLATIONS, THOUGH MUCH MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE. 
          THE MAJORITY OF SSOS ARE CAUSED BY FATS, OILS, AND GREASE AS BLOCKAGES, AS WELL AS RAGS AND WIPES THAT CUSTOMERS IMPROPER RELEASE DISTILLS OF INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM. 
          HOW CAN YOU HELP PROMOTE, PROTECT OUR PIPES AND WE CAN, UH, REDUCE SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS AND MAKE IT EASIER, UH, FOR US TO TREAT WITH THAT? UH, WE WILL OPEN IT TO QUESTIONS. 
          THANK YOU DIRECTOR FOR, UM, THIS PRESENTATION. 
          UM, I HAVE ONE, ONE QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE, SO IT'S, IT'S GONNA TAKE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR RIGHT? TO STAY WITHIN COMPLIANCE OF THIS DECREE. 
          SO HOW ARE YOU COLLABORATING? I KNOW LIKE WITHIN OUR DISTRICT, WE SUBMITTED QUITE A FEW SWAT PROJECTS, UM, AND YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT THAT'S DEALING WITH THE PIPE. 
          SO HOW ARE WE COLLABORATING WITH, YOU KNOW, THE SWAT PROJECTS WITH OTHER PROJECTS THAT'S HAPPENING WITHIN THE AREA TO I GUESS COVER THE OVERHEAD? SO HOW ARE WE TAKING CARE OF THIS AND IN WHAT LOCATIONS? AGAIN, IN DISTRICT B IN NORTHEAST HOUSTON, THERE'S A LOT OF ACTIVITY. 
          YOU KNOW, WE SUBMITTED A BUDGET AMENDMENT TRYING TO INCREASE, UM, THE LOCAL DRAINAGE, UM, DOLLARS IN THE LOCAL DRAINAGE. 
          BUT HOW IS ALL OF THESE FUNDS SUPPORTING THIS DEGREE? SO WITH HOUSTON WATER, THE UTILITY, IT'S RATE, RATE PAYER FUNDED. 
          AND SO WHEN I SAID A BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, THAT IS FOR PUBLIC WORKS UTILITY WORK MM-HMM . 
          AND SO THAT'S SPECIFIC TO RATE PAYER UTILITY. 
          NOW WHEN IT'S POSSIBLE, LIKE IF WE'RE GONNA BE IN 
          [01:20:01]
THERE TO DO ANOTHER PROJECT LIKE A A A STREET PROJECT, YOU KNOW, WE USE INTERAGENCY COORDINATION SO WE CAN GO IN AND REPLACE STUFF AT THE SAME TIME. 
          A GREAT LIVE EXAMPLE OF THAT THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW, VERY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT THAT WE MEET ON EVERY WEEK IS THE WESTHEIMER PROJECT. 
          AND SO WE'RE GOING IN THERE AND RESURFACING WESTHEIMER. 
          WE'RE ALSO TAKING THAT OPPORTUNITY TO GET IN THERE BEFORE WE DO THAT, TO FIX THE WASTEWATER PIPES THAT ARE THERE THAT NEED REPAIRS, AS WELL AS REPLACE THE WATER PIPES SO WE DON'T HAVE LEAKS ALL OVER OUR BRAND NEW STREET. 
          SO THAT'S HOW WE DO THAT THROUGH INNER COORDINATE, UH, INTER AGENCY COORDINATION. 
          OKAY. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, SO WE ARE GONNA GO TO OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS. 
          OKAY. 
          OH, WE HAVE ANOTHER WHERE, WHAT AREAS, YOU MENTIONED NINE AREAS THAT THOSE NINE AREAS ARE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE HAD HISTORIC SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS OF LARGE VOLUME. 
          THERE ARE SEVERAL AROUND THE CITY. 
          THEY'RE LOCATED IN OUR CONSENT DECREE, WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON OUR CONSENT DECREE WEBPAGE. 
          I DON'T HAVE A GRAPHIC PREPARED RIGHT NOW CHAIR TO PREPARE TO, TO SHOW YOU MM-HMM . 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          WELL, THANK YOU. 
          OKAY, SO COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          YES. 
          THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU GREG AND PHILIP FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          VERY, VERY INFORMATIVE. 
          UH, IT'S NOT A PRETTY PICTURE UNFORTUNATELY, BUT SOMETHING WE WE HAVE TO DO. 
          SO, UH, YOU SAY THAT THE MAJORITY OF OUR SSOS ARE CAUSED BY FATS, OILS, GREASE AND WIPES AND, AND RAGS THAT ARE FLUSHED DOWN INTO OUR SEWER SYSTEM. 
          HOW, HOW DO Y'ALL DETERMINE THAT AND HOW DO YOU QUANTIFY THAT? ME TOO. 
          EACH OF OUR SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS, WE HAVE A ROOT CAUSE DETERMINATION AS WELL AS AN ASSESSMENT THAT WE REPORT OUT ON ACTIONS WE'RE GOING TO TAKE TO PREVENT THAT SPECIFIC SSO FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. 
          SO OUR FIELD STAFF WHO'S CLEARING THAT BLOCKAGE IN THE LINE IS ABLE TO SEE AS THEY'RE CLEANING IT OUT. 
          WHAT THE BLOCKAGE IS MADE OF IS VERY CLEAR. 
          WHEN, WHEN THEY'RE PULLING OUT A GREASE BALL, THEY KNOW, OKAY, THIS WAS A GREASE BLOCKAGE, OR I'M SURE Y'ALL HAVE SEEN VIDEOS IN THE MEDIA OF THE, THE FATBERG IN LONDON OR THESE, THESE OTHER THINGS WHERE THEY'RE PULLING OUT BIG STRINGS OF TIED TOGETHER RAGS THAT ACCUMULATE AROUND AROUND EACH OTHER. 
          SO WE'RE ABLE, AS WE'RE CLEARING A BLOCKAGE TO SEE WHAT IT'S MADE OF AND WE RECORD THAT AS THE CAUSE WHAT, WHAT THAT MATERIAL IS BE THAT FAT SOILS IN GREASE BE THAT RAGS AND WIPES OR BE THAT A STRUCTURAL ISSUE WHERE THERE'S A DAMAGE TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE PIPE AND IT'S FALLEN IN. 
          OKAY. 
          ARE THERE OTHER COMMON CAUSES ASIDE FROM THOSE? WHAT WEATHER WE, WHETHER, UM, THE TOP TWO NUMBER ONE IS FATS, OILS, AND GREASE. 
          NUMBER TWO, RAGS AND WIPES, AND ALL OF THESE COME FROM OUR CUSTOMERS, PUTTING THEM INTO THE SYSTEM. 
          MM-HMM . 
           THE CAUSES AFTER THAT, WHICH VARY FROM MONTH TO MONTH. 
          IF WE HAVE A PARTICULARLY WET MONTH LIKE WE DID DURING BARREL, WE'LL HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF WET WEATHER SSOS WHERE THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL THAT WE'VE RECEIVED EXCEEDS WHAT OUR SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO TAKE ANYWAY. 
          SO IT, IT, IT'S TOO MUCH. 
          SO IT CAUSES SSOS. 
          AND, AND YOU'VE MENTIONED THAT YOU FOCUSED ON SORT OF HOTSPOT AREAS WHERE YOU TEND TO SEE IT OVER AND OVER. 
          UH, HAVE WE SEEN IMPROVEMENTS SINCE YOU FOCUSED ON THESE AREAS? ABSOLUTELY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          AND PART OF YOUR EFFORT TO, TO STOP THIS OR REDUCE THE, UH, INCIDENTS IS PUBLIC EDUCATION, RIGHT? CORRECT. 
          AND SLIDE NUMBER 15, UH, SAYS PROMOTE THE PROTECT OUR PIPES CAMPAIGN, RIGHT? SO YOU'VE GOT A WEBSITE SET UP FOR THAT. 
          ARE YOU TRYING, ANY OTHER THINGS, ANY OTHER EFFORTS GOING ON TO, TO GET AT THIS PROBLEM? ASIDE FROM THE WEBSITE, OUR, WE HAVE A OUTREACH BRANCH WITHIN THE HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT THAT SUPPORTS OUR FOG PROGRAM AS WELL AS AN OUTREACH BRANCH WITHIN HOUSTON WATER ITSELF. 
          FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE HAVE AN APARTMENT COMPLEX AND WE'RE DOING HOTSPOT CLEANING IN FRONT OF IT BECAUSE THERE'S TOO MUCH GREASE COMING OUT, ONE OF THOSE TEAMS, IF NOT BOTH OF THEM AT SEPARATE TIMES, WILL HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS AT THOSE COMPLEXES, DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION, WILL GIVE INFORMATION TO THE PROJECT MANAGER TO DISTRIBUTE, TO HELP EDUCATE THE PUBLIC IN WHATEVER LANGUAGES ARE NECESSARY FOR THIS COMPLEX TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT WHAT SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT GO DOWN THE DRAIN. 
          I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT IT'S BEING DONE IN JUST MORE IN, IN ENGLISH. 
          SO WE CERTAINLY HAVE A LOT OF, LOT OF LANGUAGES SPOKEN HERE IN HOUSTON. 
          SO, SO WITH REGARD TO, UM, THE EXTREME COSTS, I KNOW YOU'VE SAID, UH, WELL ACTUALLY THERE WAS, THERE WAS AN ARTICLE IN THE CHRONICLE JUST THIS MORNING ABOUT 
          [01:25:01]
THE COST TO FIX THE, UH, THE EAST PLANT. 
          UM, AND THAT'S NOT INCLUDED IN THIS NINE ESTIMATED $9 BILLION PRICE TAG. 
          AND I BELIEVE THE THRUST OF THE ARTICLE, WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY ABBY CHURCH WHO'S HERE, IS THAT WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA ASK THE STATE TO HELP US, UH, COVER THE COST OF THIS. 
          UM, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE LIKELIHOOD IS THAT WE'LL SUCCEED IN THAT? ANY THOUGHTS? IT, UH, IT IS GONNA BE AN EFFORT THAT IS GONNA START AT THE STATE, BUT I WOULD ASSUME WE WILL MAKE OUR WAY TO THE FEDERAL LEVEL TO ASK FOR ADDITIONAL HELP TO HELP COVER THESE COSTS. 
          UH, ALSO THE CONSENT DECREE ITSELF, YOU KNOW, OTHER CITIES OR OTHER MUNICIPALITIES HAVE HAD CONSENT DECREES. 
          THEY HAVE OPENED THEM AND RENEGOTIATED THEM AND EXTENDED THE TERMS. SOME OF 'EM HAVE DONE IT MORE THAN ONCE. 
          AND BASICALLY IT'S, YOU'RE NOT STEPPING AWAY FROM ANY OF THE OBLIGATIONS WITHIN THAT CONSENT DECREE. 
          YOU'RE JUST, JUST EXTENDING THE TIME THAT YOU CAN GET THAT DONE. 
          THOSE ARE WAYS THEY CAN EXTEND THAT COST, UH, WITHOUT HAVING TO DRIVE UP RATES AS MUCH. 
          SO I'M HEARING A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT MIGHT HAPPEN. 
          I'M NOT COMMITTING YOU TO ANYTHING IS WE MIGHT SEEK SOME HELP FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, IS THAT RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT. 
          AND, UH, THE CONSENT DECREE COULD POSSIBLY BE MODIFIED TO ENCOMPASS THE COST OF REDOING THE EAST PLANET. 
          THERE, THERE ARE WHAT THEY CALL INTEGRATED CONSENT DECREES, INTEGRATED CONSENT DECREES COVER BOTH WATER AND WASTEWATER. 
          AND SO THAT, THAT, IT'S ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN. 
          THANK YOU, CHAIRWOMAN. 
          UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST, CONGRATULATIONS ON THE PROGRESS THAT IS BEING MADE. 
          UH, WE ARE NOT THE ONLY CITY UNDER A CONSENT DECREE WITH THE EPA, IS THAT CORRECT? COUNCIL MEMBER? WE ARE ALMOST A 200TH CITY THAT ENTERED ONE VIRTUALLY EVERY MAJOR CITY IN THE US NOT ONLY HAS OR HAD ONE, BUT HAD ONE BEFORE WE DID. 
          RIGHT. 
          SO I, I WANNA PUT THAT INTO THE CONTEXT. 
          UM, BUT AGAIN, THE FACT THAT WE, ONE, WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, THIS IS LIFE SAFETY, SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS ARE NOT OKAY. 
          UM, BUT AGAIN, VERY HAPPY TO SEE THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEING DONE ON THIS. 
          UH, AND MADAM CHAIR, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD WITH THE UPDATE, UH, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT. 
          YOU TALKED ABOUT YOUR DISTRICT, DISTRICT C UH, WITH SOME OF THE OLDEST INFRASTRUCTURE HAS, I THINK ONE OF THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF SSOS IN THE CITY IN DIFFERENT PARTS. 
          UH, SO WE, AGAIN, I'M HAPPY TO SEE THE PROGRESS BEING MADE. 
          MY UNDERSTANDING, IF YOU COULD JUST REEDUCATE ME, WAS THAT THE CONSENT DECREE ITSELF HAD A NUMBER ATTACHED TO IT OF WHAT THE CITY WAS GOING TO SPEND. 
          SO IT IT WAS PERFORMANCE BASED, BUT IT WAS ALSO WE WERE GONNA SPEND X BILLION DOLLARS. 
          SO NOW WE'RE SAYING WE NEED TO ADD ADDITIONAL MONEY TO THAT. 
          IS THAT CORRECT? THE CONSENT DECREE ITSELF DOES NOT HAVE LANGUAGE THAT SAYS HOUSTON WILL SPEND X DOLLARS. 
          OKAY. 
          SO IT WASN'T A FINANCIAL INCORPORATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE AGREEMENT, IT WAS STRICTLY PERFORMANCE BASED. 
          CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          UNDERSTOOD. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION. 
          UH, THE, GOING BACK TO THE ISSUE ABOUT GREECE, BECAUSE THAT HAS TO DO A LOT WITH OUR COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS. 
          UM, ARE WE DOING MORE TO ON THE ENFORCEMENT SIDE OF THINGS? SO IDENTIFYING, UM, SOME OF THE SOURCES OF, OF GREASE OF BLOCKAGES AS IT RELATES TO, UH, BECAUSE AGAIN, HOUSTON, EVERY HOUSTONIAN IS HAVING TO BEAR THE COST OF THIS RIGHT. 
          UM, ON THEIR BILLS. 
          SO WHAT ARE WE DOING RELATED TO ENFORCEMENT AND PREVENTION ON THAT END? THANK YOU FOR, FOR THAT WONDERFUL QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER, AND I'M GLAD TO RESPOND TO IT. 
          CITY COUNCIL IN 2019 APPROVED A CHANGE TO CHAPTER 47, ARTICLE FIVE OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, WHICH IS OUR INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER SECTION SPEC. 
          INCLUDED IN THAT CHANGE WAS A DROP IN THE ALLOWABLE AMOUNT OF OIL AND GREASE FROM COMMERCIAL DISCHARGE FROM 400 MILLIGRAMS PER LITER TO 200. 
          WE CUT IN HALF HOW MUCH OIL AND GREASE A RESTAURANT, A LAUNDROMAT, OR ANY OTHER FACILITY THAT IS PRODUCING GREASE IS LEGALLY ALLOWED TO PUT INTO OUR SYSTEM. 
          OUR CONSENT DECREE REQUIRES THAT WE INSPECT OUR DISCHARGES, OUR FOG DISCHARGES, THE ONES THAT HAVE GREASE TRAPS ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS. 
          WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT WHO, WHO DOES THAT PROGRAM FOR US, SINCE THEY'RE ALREADY DOING FOOD SAFETY INSPECTIONS AT THE SAME FACILITIES, THEY'RE DOING THEM EVERY YEAR. 
          WE ARE DOING THREE TIMES 
          [01:30:01]
MORE INSPECTIONS THAN WHAT WE'RE OBLIGATED TO. 
          AND IF THEY HAVE SOMEONE THAT ISN'T DISCHARGING WITHIN LIMITS AND THEY RUN SAMPLES WHENEVER THEY HAVE A CONCERN, THEY IMMEDIATELY ISSUE ENFORCEMENT AND CONTINUE FOLLOWING UP WITH THAT FACILITY UNTIL THEY GET INTO COMPLIANCE. 
          THEY RUN AN EXTREMELY ROBUST ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR DISCHARGES ARE COMPLIANT. 
          WONDERFUL. 
          AND IT, IT MAY BE HELPFUL JUST AS FOLLOW UP, I DON'T WANNA CREATE ADDITIONAL WORK, BUT JUST TO KNOW FROM THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT HOW THAT'S GOING. 
          IF THAT'S, IF WE'RE, WE'RE CATCHING PEOPLE THAT SHOULDN'T, IF MOST PEOPLE ARE COMPLYING, RIGHT, MOST BUSINESSES WANNA COMPLY, RIGHT? THEY'RE, THEY'RE PARTNERS IN THIS, UH, BUT IT WOULD JUST BE HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE. 
          UH, AND LASTLY, BECAUSE WE BROUGHT UP LIFT STATIONS, THIS IS NOT, UH, UH, GERMANE NECESSARILY TO THE CONSENT DECREE PER SE. 
          HOWEVER, UH, WE CONTINUE TO HAVE ISSUES WITH SMELLS, UH, FROM SOME OF OUR LIFT STATIONS. 
          HOW CAN YOU SPEAK TO ANY OF THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEING MADE THERE? I MEAN, EVERY FEW YEARS WE INVEST IN MORE TECHNOLOGY, MORE EFFORTS, MORE FUNDING TO GO BACK AND TRY TO FIX THINGS, BUT THE SMELLS REMAIN. 
          I THINK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, AS PART OF THE CONSENT DECREE, MIKE, MIKE, YOU'RE MINE. 
          UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION. 
          AS PART OF THE CONSENT DECREE, WE ARE REQUIRED TO REMEDIATE A SET NUMBER OF LIST STATIONS A YEAR. 
          IT'S 20. 
          AND, AND WE GO THROUGH AND MODERNIZE THOSE LIST STATIONS AND BRING THEM UP TO BETTER STANDARDS, WHICH INCLUDES, UH, ODOR CONTROL. 
          AND IN THE COMING YEARS WILL ALSO INCLUDE BACKUP GENERATION. 
          UH, WE DO FACE A LOT OF CHALLENGES WITH ODORS IN HOUSTON FOR, YOU KNOW, TWO REASONS. 
          ONE IS IT'S FLAT AND THINGS DON'T MOVE VERY QUICKLY. 
          AND SO HYDROGEN SULFIDE WILL BUILD UP SECOND, IT'S HOT AND THAT TOO MAKES, UH, ODORS, UH, MORE DIFFICULT. 
          SO, UH, WE'RE, AS WE GO THROUGH AND MODERNIZE THESE, UH, LIFT STATIONS, ODOR CONTROL IS A MUCH HIGHER PRIORITY. 
          THAT'S PART OF THAT SCOPE CHANGE I TALKED ABOUT, UH, WHEN, UH, WE STARTED LOOKING AT, UH, REDOING THE LIFT STATIONS AND WE, WE REALLY WANTED TO CHANGE THE SCOPE OF THAT WORK AND, AND MAKE A REAL IMPACTFUL, UM, REHAB OF THAT LIFT STATION. 
          SO WE'LL GET THERE. 
          UM, ODORS, UH, THEY'RE NOT A SWITCH. 
          THEY'RE THAT LIGHT SWITCH THAT'S A DIAL. 
          YOU PUSH IT INTO TURN IT ON, AND EVERY LITTLE CHANGE YOU MAKE MAKES AN IN INCREMENTAL INCREASE OR DECREASE IN ITS EFFECTIVENESS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          PHILIP, YOU, YOU'VE BEEN AT THIS CONSENT DECREE GOOD LONG TIME. 
          UM, CONGRATS ON ON BEING AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND ON SCHEDULE. 
          THAT'S MUSIC TO MY EARS, SO WE DON'T NEED TO ADD ANY MORE MONEY. 
          AND SPEAKING OF THE MONEY, UH, DO WE HAVE THE CURRENT RATE STRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THE ADDITIONAL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THE CONSENT DECREE AND WASTEWATER? IF THAT'S WHERE WE INVEST MOST OF OUR MONEY? UH, THE ANSWER IS YES, BUT WE'RE GOING TO CONDUCT A RATE STUDY THAT WILL START NEXT YEAR, AND WE'LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT'S REQUIRED IN THE FUTURE WHEN WE ROLL IN THE CHANGE OF SCOPE WITH THE AND TO THE WATER, THE WATER PLANTS AND, AND THE WATER. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THEN WHAT KIND OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE OR STATE ASSISTANCE WE GET AS PART OF THAT EQUATION. 
          RIGHT. 
          IF YOU WANT MORE DETAIL, I DO HAVE SAMIR RIGHT BEHIND ME READY TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. 
          SO I'LL GIVE THEM A BREAK HERE. 
          BUT, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S COMING. 
          OKAY. 
          AND, AND, UM, YOU MENTIONED THAT ON THE SSOS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S TWO WAYS THEY COME UP. 
          THEY COME UP ON THE STREET, THEY'RE THE MANHOLE OR THEY COME UP IN SOMEBODY'S HOME. 
          WE'VE DEALT WITH SOME RESIDENTS THAT HAVE THAT HAPPEN AND EVERYBODY HAS, AND WHAT'S THE CITY'S POLICY? I MEAN, IF WE LIKE, MESS UP THEIR HOME WITH OUR BAD PIPES, I'VE FOUND THAT WE DON'T, WE DON'T SETTLE THE, I MEAN, WE DON'T DEAL WITH THOSE CLAIMS. I MEAN, WE DON'T HAVE, WHAT'S OUR LIABILITY IF, IF LIKE WE, YOU KNOW, THE SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS MESSES UP YOUR HOUSE AND WHAT, WHAT, WHAT'S THE CITY'S RESPONSIBILITY? THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          WE REFER TO THOSE INCIDENTS AS AN SIR, WHICH STANDS FOR SEWER IN RESIDENCE. 
          WHEN THEY OCCUR, WE HAVE A CODE FOR THEM, AND OUR POLICY IS TO WORK WITH LEGAL ON THE CLAIM FOR IT TO PUT THE RESIDENT AS NECESSARY AND TEMPORARY HOUSING AND TO FUND THE REMEDIATION OF CLEANUP OF THEIR HOME. 
          OKAY. 
          IF, IF THAT IS NOT YOUR EXPERIENCE AND THAT OUR UTILITY HAS CAUSED AN ISSUE THAT HASN'T BEEN ADDRESSED, IT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE'D LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT. 
          OKAY. 
          WELL WE WILL BE FORWARDING THAT ALONG. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND, UH, I REALLY APPRECIATE 
          [01:35:01]
THE GOOD WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE ON THIS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          UM, I DO WANT TO TALK MORE ABOUT THE COST. 
          UH, SO WE'RE IN OUR FOURTH YEAR BY, UH, YEAR FIVE, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DOUBLE PEOPLE'S WATER BILLS, I THINK. 
          SO WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THAT FIFTH YEAR. 
          UM, I'M INTERESTED TO KNOW WHAT THAT STUDY'S GONNA LOOK LIKE BECAUSE WE'RE NOW GONNA INCREASE IT FROM SIX TO NINE, UM, IN A SHORTER AMOUNT OF TIME IN 11 YEARS. 
          AND SO DEFINITELY, UH, AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION TO HAVE. 
          UM, I'M GLAD THAT MAINTENANCE IS INCLUDED IN THE CONSENT DECREE. 
          UM, ONCE WE COMPLETE THESE PROJECTS, IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOWER THE, THE WATER BILL SINCE WE'RE BEING FOCUSED MORE ON MAINTENANCE RATHER THAN LARGER PROJECTS THAT THEORETICALLY YES. 
          THAT, THAT WOULD CERTAINLY MAKE SENSE. 
          THAT WHAT WE'RE TACKLING RIGHT NOW IS A BACKLOG OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE. 
          RIGHT. 
          ONCE IT IS NO LONGER DEFERRED AND IT IS MAINTAINED, IT SHOULD HELP. 
          YEAH, I CAN'T, I DON'T HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL TO SEE THAT FAR IN THE FUTURE, BUT LOGICALLY THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. 
          AND, AND THEN I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE ALWAYS HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS ON THE FRONT END AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS DEFERRED MAINTENANCE, DEFERRED MAINTENANCE, AND THEN WE HAVE THIS HUGE BILL THAT WE HAVE TO PAY ON. 
          AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IT JUST MAKES, IT MAKES FOR A DIFFICULT SELL TO THE COMMUNITY, RIGHT? MM-HMM . 
          AND WE'RE STARTING TO TALK ABOUT REVENUE CAP, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A TRASH FEE AND SO ON. 
          AND IF WE'RE ASKING THEM TO, YOU KNOW, PARTICIPATE IN THIS, RIGHT? WE, THEY HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS, THEN AT SOME POINT, WHEN DO YOU ALLEVIATE THAT STRESS ON THEM? BECAUSE OF OUR FAULT HERE AT THE CITY FOR NOT TAKING CARE OF INFRASTRUCTURE, NOT TAKING CARE OF, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENTS THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE. 
          AND SO MY HOPE IS THAT AS WE LOOK AT THIS RATE STRUCTURE NEXT YEAR, WE CAN ALSO IN THE FRONT END START TALKING ABOUT WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE, UH, CHANGING ONCE WE'VE TAKEN CARE OF THE LARGER PROJECTS AS WELL. 
          MM-HMM . 
          I, I WANNA ADD SOME CONTEXT TO THAT ANSWER. 
          AND, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT OTHER UTILITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED EARLIER THIS IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. 
          IT'S NOT A DIET. 
          AND WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, WE SPENT $3 BILLION IN THE PAST ON, UH, PROJECTS, BUT WE DIDN'T CHANGE THE UTILITY. 
          AND MOST UTILITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE, IF NOT ALL, UH, THEY, UH, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN WHAT YOUR BUILDING REMEMBER, WE WE'RE NOT REPLACING EVERYTHING IN THIS CONSENT DECREE. 
          THERE'LL BE, UH, NEW THINGS NOW THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED. 
          IT'LL BE DIFFICULT TO LOWER RATES. 
          UH, THE RATE AT WHICH YOU INCREASE RATES MIGHT LOWER. 
          SO THE RATE AT WHICH YOU INCREASE RATES MIGHT SLOW DOWN, BUT TO LOWER RATES, UH, THERE'S NOT A LOT OF STATISTICAL AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION AROUND THERE. 
          UH, WE CAN LOOK FOR IT AND COME BACK TO YOU WITH AN ANSWER. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, BUT THAT'S WHAT THE NEXT RATE STUDY'S FOR. 
          AND, UM, WE WILL WE'LL KNOW A LOT MORE IN, I WOULD DEFINITELY APPRECIATE JUST A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT IT. 
          MM-HMM . 
          JUST, JUST BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, FOLKS WITH WATER BILLS HAVE INCREASED IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS. 
          UM, AND SOME OF THESE FOLKS, THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO PAY, YOU KNOW, ONCE THEY'RE PAYING 30 BUCKS, NOW THEY'RE PAYING 60 BUCKS, AND NOW THEY MIGHT BE PAYING 90 BUCKS. 
          UM, AND THEN WE ADD A TRASH FEE AND THEN WE START TALKING ABOUT REV, REV CAP. 
          UM, I, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT AT SOME POINT, IF WE'RE NOT HAVING THE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT ANYMORE AND IT'S MORE OF A $50 MILLION MAINTENANCE, THERE HAS TO BE, UH, SOME WAY THAT WE CAN COMMUNICATE THAT TO THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. 
          SO THAT WOULD, AGAIN, THEY, THERE'S A BUY-IN, THEY UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, DO, DO WITH, UH, HERE AT THE CITY. 
          SO, UM, WANNA DIVE INTO THAT? DEFINITELY A LOT MORE, UM, AS, AS THE TIME COMES. 
          THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER AND THANK YOU DIRECTOR. 
          AND, UM, MR. PHILLIP GOODWIN, THANK YOU FOR, UM, THE PRESENTATION. 
          UM, AND SO WE ARE GONNA MOVE ON BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PRESENTATION. 
          COUNCIL MEMBERS, I NEED TO GET YOUR PERMISSION TO, UM, KIND OF ADJUST OUR AGENDA. 
          UM, I KNOW DIRECTOR MARINO HAS TO LEAVE, BUT WE WANNA HAVE, WE HAVE SEVERAL PEOPLE SPEAKING ON PERMITTING, AND SO WANT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THEM GET FEEDBACK FROM DIRECTOR. 
          SO I'M GONNA BRING THE PUBLIC COMMENT, PUBLIC SPEAKERS UP FIRST BEFORE WE GO INTO THE NEXT PRESENTATION. 
          UM, SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, THE FIRST SPEAKER, UM, WHICH IS CHRISTINA HUFFMAN. 
          HI, I'M CHRISTINA HUFFMAN. 
          TURN YOUR MIC. 
          YOU HIT YOUR MIC. 
          YEAH, GO. 
          I'M CHRISTINA HUFFMAN WITH CHERRY HOUSE MOVING. 
          WE'RE A STRUCTURAL RELOCATION COMPANY, AND IF YOU'RE UNFAMILIAR WITH KIND OF WORK WE 
          [01:40:01]
DO. 
          IF YOU LOOK IN THE SAM HOUSTON PARK, WE'VE MOVED A LOT OF THOSE BIG STRUCTURES INTO THAT PART. 
          UM, IN TERMS OF PERMITTING, BEFORE COVID HIT, WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO WALK THROUGH A PERMIT, WE'D GET OUR PERMIT IN ONE DAY, ONE DAY. 
          NOW 45 TO 60 DAYS, LIKE OUR, OUR COMPANY. 
          AND WHAT WE DO IS VERY, IS VERY TIME SENSITIVE. 
          WHEN WE HAVE A BUILDER, SAY IN THE HEIGHTS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT IS ABOUT TO TEAR DOWN A LITTLE BUNGALOW, WE CAN SAVE THAT HOUSE FROM DEMOLITION AND MOVE IT TO A CUSTOMER, BUT NOT IF WE CAN'T GET A PERMIT IN A TIMELY MANNER. 
          SO INSTEAD OF, IF I HAVE A CUSTOMER COMING TO ME AND THEY ONLY HAVE 30 DAYS TO GET THAT HOUSE OUT OF THERE, IT'S GONNA GET TORE DOWN. 
          AND THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW THAT THE PERMIT PROCESS IS TAKING 45 TO 60 DAYS. 
          IT'S KILLING THE INDUSTRY, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, GOING TO THE LANDFILL INSTEAD OF GOING TO A CUSTOMER WHO CAN'T AFFORD A HOME. 
          OTHERWISE, LIKE WE FINANCE A LOT OF THESE HOMES FOR CUSTOMERS. 
          UM, A LOT OF THEM CAN'T AFFORD NEW HOMES. 
          THIS IS A WAY FOR THEM TO GET INTO A HOUSE. 
          AND, UH, THIS PROCESS IS NOT WORKING FOR US. 
          WE REALLY HOPE THAT WE CAN START WALKING PERMITS THROUGH AGAIN. 
          UM, IT'S VERY ESSENTIAL FOR US AND WHAT WE DO AND FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          ALSO, ANOTHER THING IS THE SIDEWALK FEES. 
          THAT'S KILLING OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          ALSO, OUR PERMITS FOR THESE CUSTOMERS ARE GENERALLY AVERAGING AROUND $800 FOR A PERMIT. 
          UM, IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT THE CITY RIGHT OF WAY DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH ROOM FOR A SIDEWALK IF THERE'S A DITCH IN FRONT OF THEIR PROPERTY. 
          IF THERE'S NOT ENOUGH SPACE AND THEY'RE GETTING PENALIZED, THEY'RE GETTING FINED, IS THE WAY I SEE IT. 
          3000, $6,000 WHEN THEIR PERMIT WOULD'VE COST 800, THEY CAN'T AFFORD IT. 
          THEY'RE HAVING TO PUT ON A CREDIT CARD, FINANCE IT. 
          THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY HURTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING. 
          SO ANY WAY WE CAN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE NEW, A NEW BUILDER CAN AFFORD THESE SIDEWALK FEES, BUT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, THESE PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD IT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP. 
          UM, I KNOW I WAS SPEAKING EARLIER ABOUT MY AUNT, SHE'S BUILDING A HOUSE AND THE, IT KEPT GETTING STALLED AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, UM, THE PROJECT WAS SHUT DOWN BECAUSE SHE NEEDED TO WIDEN THE SIDEWALK. 
          UM, AND SHE WAS LIKE, I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD TO WIDEN THE SIDEWALK. 
          UM, BUT BECAUSE OF THE, I MEAN, THE SIDEWALK WAS PRETTY SMALL, AND EVENTUALLY SHE HAD TO COME OFF SOME, SOME MONEY THAT SHE DIDN'T HAVE, UM, TO WIDEN THE SIDEWALK, UM, SO THAT SHE CAN GET HER HOUSE MOVING FORWARD. 
          SO I'M GLAD, THANK YOU FOR COMING. 
          UM, AND SHARING THAT CONCERN. 
          UM, I THINK ANGELICA HAS, SHE'S, SHE ALSO IS ON THE LIST TO SPEAK, BUT SHE'S HERE. 
          YES. 
          UM, OKAY. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN IS IN THE QUEUE. 
          FIRST JUST, I CAME IN A LITTLE LATE ON YOUR COMMENTS, BUT JUST ON THE SIDEWALK THING, I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT IS BEING ADDRESSED BY THE ADMINISTRATION. 
          THE, UM, WHEN THERE IS NOT ROOM FOR ONE, THAT, THAT, THAT'S BEING ADDRESSED. 
          SO, GOOD POINT. 
          AND IT'S, UM, I THINK, I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE WAIVED IF YOU CAN'T FIT A SIDEWALK THERE. 
          UM, COMING UP, COMING SOON. 
          SO I'M TOLD, WELL, CAN I SAY SOMETHING REAL QUICK ON THAT? BECAUSE, UM, FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, UM, WHEN IT WENT FROM BEING FREE FOR A SIDEWALK VARIANCE, THEN IT WENT TO $1,200. 
          NOW I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT. 
          I'M TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFICALLY IF IT, IF ONE PHYSICALLY CANNOT FIT MM-HMM . 
          UM, THE SIDEWALK FEE IN LIEU OF, UM, AND THE APPLICATION FEE, THAT'S NOT GONNA CHANGE. 
          OKAY. 
          AND, AND I KNOW DIRECTOR IS HERE, AND AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SIDEWALKS, BUT, OKAY, SO THIS, MY AUNT'S PROPERTY, SHE WAS, AND I'M USING IT BECAUSE THIS IS REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. 
          SHE'S, SHE ACTUALLY BUILDING A NEW HOUSE ON A PROPERTY THAT ALREADY EXISTED AND THE SIDEWALK WAS THERE, BUT IT WAS LIKE, WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPAND THE SIDEWALK IF A SIDEWALK WAS ALREADY THERE? AND SO THEY HAD 'EM COME AND TEAR UP THE SIDEWALK. 
          UM, AND THEN THE INSPECTOR CAME BACK BY AND, UM, SHUT THE PROJECT DOWN AND SAID SHE NEEDED A MOBILITY PERMIT. 
          UM, . 
          YEAH. 
          RIGHT? YES. 
          THAT'S, AND IT WAS LIKE, WHY DO I NEED A MOBILITY PERMIT? AND I DIDN'T TRY, I WAS NOT TRYING TO REPLACE THE SIDEWALK IN THE FIRST PLACE. 
          AND SO, UM, IT'S AN ISSUE, UM, BECAUSE I'M SEEING IT FIRSTHAND WITH MY AUNT, BUT I KNOW IT'S HAPPENING TO OTHER PEOPLE, UM, THROUGH THE COMMUNITY. 
          AND SO I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION. 
          UM, BUT HOPEFULLY THE ADMINISTRATION CAN PUT SOMETHING IN PLACE, UM, TO PROTECT THESE HOMEOWNERS THAT'S FOLKS THAT'S TRYING TO BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING, IF THAT'S WHAT WE NEED THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITIES. 
          SO, THANK YOU. 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CAMAN. 
          YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THOUGH, THAT SIDEWALKS FALL UNDER PLANNING, NOT THE PERMITTING CENTER. 
          UM, BUT TO THAT POINT, I UNDERSTAND THE SENSITIVITY AND THE NEED TO BUILD AND FOR THAT TO BE AFFORDABLE, BUT WE ALSO NEED FOR THOSE PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO WALK SAFELY 
          [01:45:01]
IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. 
          AND I APPRECIATE THAT THE ADMINISTRATION IS WORKING TO ACCOMMODATE, BUT AS IT RELATES TO THE DESIGN AND BUILD OF, OF BUILDINGS, OF HOMES, OF APARTMENTS, YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE ALSO PLANNING FOR A SIDEWALK AS PART OF THAT COMMUNITY. 
          SO I WANNA BE VERY CAREFUL. 
          YES. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER, TO YOUR POINT, WE DO HAVE TROUBLE WHEN, UH, AN AVERAGE RESIDENT ISN'T EXPECTING IT AND IT'S AN ADDITIONAL COST AND WE SHOULD BE SENSITIVE TO THAT. 
          BUT FOR PROFESSIONAL BUILDERS, MANY OF WHO ARE MY FRIENDS, AND I'M LOOKING OUT IN THE AUDIENCE, IT'S SOME OF YOU, IT IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO NOT INCLUDE A SIDEWALK THAT IS PART OF A COMMUNITY TO ENABLE RESIDENTS, WHETHER YOU'RE A SENIOR CITIZEN AND WE JUST MET WITH A A RP, WHETHER IT'S A SENIOR CITIZEN TO BE ABLE TO SAFELY WALK OR A MOTHER WITH A STROLLER TO GET OUT OF THE STREET. 
          SO I UNDERSTAND, I, I REPRESENT AND LIVE IN AN AREA WITH OPEN DISHES, NO SIDEWALKS, AND ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE FOR RESIDENTS TO GO BECAUSE CARS PARK ALL ALONG THE STREETS. 
          THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY CONSTRAINTS WHEN IT COMES TO DEVELOPMENT. 
          AND I THINK THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS ALWAYS ATTEMPTED TO BE VERY FRIENDLY AND IN GOOD FAITH WORKING WITH OUR DEVELOPERS AND OUR BUILDERS. 
          BUT WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE REQUIRED TO PUT SIDEWALKS IN BECAUSE OF WHAT THE COST IS TO THE CITY AS A WHOLE. 
          AND I THINK WE'VE ALL PRETTY MUCH BEEN ON RECORD IS SAYING THAT, UH, THE, FOR THE FORMULA THAT WE USE, THE, UH, WAY IN WHICH WE SAY IT IS AN INDIVIDUAL HOMEOWNER THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF THEIR SIDEWALK, IT'S NOT WORKING. 
          AND WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THAT BIGGER ISSUE. 
          AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THOSE PARTNERSHIPS AND THOSE CONVERSATIONS. 
          BUT WE DO HAVE TO INSTALL SIDEWALKS. 
          YES. 
          I'M JUST REFERENCING. 
          AND YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN A SIDEWALK DOESN'T FIT AND THEY'RE FINED BASICALLY BECAUSE THEY'RE CHARGED $12 A SQUARE FOOT FOR A SIDEWALK THAT IS NOT GONNA BE INSTALLED IN FRONT OF THEIR PROPERTY, BUT JUST GOES INTO A, A FEE FEE FOR THE CITY, RIGHT? THAT THAT FUND IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED PART, A PORTION OF THAT FUND GOES DIRECTLY INTO AN AREA NEARBY IN THAT AREA SO THAT THE CITY CAN MAINTAIN AND BUILD THOSE SIDEWALKS. 
          AND THEN ANOTHER PORTION OF THAT GOES TO A CITYWIDE POT. 
          SO THAT AREAS OF DISPARITY AREAS, AREAS WHERE THERE HAS NOT BEEN EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS AND INVESTMENT IN SIDEWALKS CAN GO. 
          BECAUSE RIGHT NOW THE CITY HAS NO MECHANISM FOR THAT. 
          SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT THOSE FUNDS AREN'T JUST GOING INTO THE ETHER. 
          THOSE FUNDS ARE BEING INVESTED BACK INTO THAT NEIGHBORHOOD IN THAT AREA, AND A PORTION OF THOSE FUNDS GO CITYWIDE TO ASSIST THE CITY IN BUILDING SIDEWALKS. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          UM, 'CAUSE I WAS TALKING ABOUT AN INDIVIDUAL 'CAUSE HER HOME WAS DAMAGED DURING HURRICANE HARVEY AND SHE'S PAYING FOR IT HERSELF TO REBUILD HER HOUSE. 
          UM, BUT THESE WERE ADDITIONAL FEES THAT SHE DIDN'T EXPECT, UM, AS SHE STARTED TO REBUILD HER HOME. 
          OKAY, MS. FRANKS? YES. 
          HELLO. 
          UM, SO I NORMALLY AM THE ONE SUBMITTING STUFF FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. 
          UM, OUR, I KNOW MR. MORENO WAS SAYING IT LIKE EIGHT DAYS FOR THE WHOLE PROCESS, BUT ON OUR PROJECTS, WHEN WE SUBMIT THEM, IT TAKES UP TO THREE DAYS JUST TO SEE WHICH DEPARTMENTS IT NEEDS TO GO THROUGH. 
          THEN IT'S SUBMITTED TO THOSE DEPARTMENTS AND IT SHOWS, LIKE, LET'S SAY TRAFFIC'S THE FIRST ONE. 
          IT ACTUALLY SAYS ON THE WEBSITE, WHEN YOU GO INTO THAT PROJECT NUMBER, IT'S IN THAT QUEUE FOR TRAFFIC TO LOOK AT. 
          THEN ONCE THEY APPROVE OR DENY IT, IT GOES TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT. 
          AND THEN ONCE THEY DO THE SAME THING, A NEXT ONE. 
          SO IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S GOING INTO EVERYBODY'S QUEUE TO LOOK AT IT. 
          AND OF COURSE, PLANNING'S ALWAYS THE LONGEST. 
          SO A PLAN, A PERMIT THAT WE PUT IN, UM, I WANNA SAY IN JULY, IT'S PRETTY MUCH AUGUST WHEN WE GET THROUGH IT AND THAT'S PUSHING IT THROUGH IF IT'S REJECTED, FIXING ALL THE COMMENTS. 
          AND WHENEVER I DO CALL ANYBODY AT THE CITY, IT IS SO HARD TO EVEN GET AHOLD OF ANYBODY. 
          'CAUSE I EMAIL, I PRETTY MUCH KNOW THE HIGHER UP. 
          SO I EMAIL THEM, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSING THE PROJECT TOO. 
          AND IT'S, YOU CAN'T GET AHOLD OF ANYBODY. 
          SO OF COURSE IT PUSHES US BACK. 
          AND LIKE CHRISTINA SAID, OUR BUSINESS IS MOVING HOUSES AND TRYING TO PROTECT THESE HOUSES AND SAVE THEM, BUT IT JUST TAKES SO LONG TO GET A PERMIT WITH THE CITY THAT SOME OF THEM JUST GET DEMOED. 
          AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO PREVENT SINCE IT IS AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR A LOT OF CUSTOMERS WHO CAN'T AFFORD IT. 
          UM, 
          [01:50:01]
AND ALSO IT DOES, WE DO GET WCR LETTERS TO SEE WHERE THE CUSTOMERS, 'CAUSE THESE ARE ALL VACANT PROPERTIES, HAS TO SEE WHERE THEY'RE GONNA TAP INTO THE WATER AND SEWER. 
          SO WHENEVER I DO, LET'S SAY THE BEGINNING, SUBMIT EVERYTHING THROUGH PROJECT DOCS, GETTING THE WCR WITH THE UTILITY IS A DIFFERENT APPLICATION. 
          SO TO KIND OF PUSH THINGS FORWARD, I SUBMIT EVERYTHING. 
          WE DO IMPACT FEE EXEMPTIONS. 
          I PUSH THAT IN FIRST, THEN WE GO GET THE WCR LETTER THAT TAKES ABOUT A WEEK TO GET IT. 
          AND NORMALLY THEY JUST EMAIL IT BACK TO US. 
          AND I'M LUCKY THAT I DID FIND SOMEONE IN THE CITY WHO'S NOT THERE ANYMORE, WHO I COULD EMAIL AND SAY, HEY, CAN YOU MAYBE PUSH IT IN, LIKE ATTACH IT INTO PROJECT DOCS SO WHEN IT GOES THROUGH UTILITY REVIEW, IT WON'T GET REJECTED. 
          AND THEN WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR EVERYBODY ELSE TO LOOK AT IT. 
          SO THEY'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR ME. 
          AND, UM, I DID FIND ANOTHER PERSON THAT WAS ABLE TO DO IT TOO. 
          SO THAT KIND OF SAVES TIME. 
          BUT JUST SEEING IF SOMEONE, AS SOON AS WE GET THAT LETTER, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN AUTOMATICALLY, YOU KNOW, ATTACH IT TO THE PROJECT DOCS TO THAT PROJECT NUMBER, THAT WOULD SAVE A LOT OF TIME TOO. 
          OKAY. 
          WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. 
          UM, THEN ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND UM, WE, WE GOT THE DIRECTOR HERE, HE'S LISTENING IN, UM, AND I'M SURE HE'LL TAKE YOUR COMMENTS INTO CONSIDERATION. 
          GREAT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          NEXT WE'LL HAVE MS. MARINA MCLEAN. 
          NOPE. 
          MARINA MCLEAN. 
          MS. CRYSTAL. 
          CASEY. 
          THANK YOU MA'AM. 
          HI, HOW'S EVERYBODY DOING TODAY? THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR FOR LETTING ME GO BECAUSE I AM, HAVE A PRETTY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THESE PEOPLE HERE AND I DON'T KNOW IF I WOULD IF THEY HAD TO SIT THE REST. 
          . 
          THANK Y'ALL. 
          THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR STAYING. 
          I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE COUNCIL. 
          I THINK THAT, UM, OUT OF THIS WHOLE COUNCIL, YOU HAVE ALL BEEN AMAZING AT TRYING TO, UM, IMPROVE, UM, THE, AND LISTENING. 
          YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING TO US AND I WANNA THANK RUDY AND HIS TEAM AND EVERYBODY AT HPC. 
          IT FEELS LIKE THE STAKEHOLDERS WEREN'T ENGAGED FOR A LONG TIME AND NOW WE ARE, UM, SITTING AT THE ROUND TABLES AND THEN NOW BEING INVOLVED IN THE IDM, I'M VERY, VERY GRATEFUL, UM, THAT WE'RE BEING HEARD AND THAT THAT RES THAT RESOLUTION IS HAPPENING AND THAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING. 
          UM, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING BACK ONE STOP. 
          THAT'S AMAZING. 
          UH, I, WHEN I KNOW THE RICHARD'S TEAM DID THAT, UH, DURING COVID AND IT WAS VERY, VERY HELPFUL JUST GOING AND SITTING AND THEY WOULD HAVE THE PLANS ON THE SCREEN, UM, THAT'S GONNA BE A GAME CHANGER FOR EVERYONE AND THE CCP, UH, CPOS OR S WHATEVER THEY'RE GONNA BE CALLED NOW. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          UM, UH, ONE COMMENT. 
          I KNOW THAT SOMETIMES THINGS GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER. 
          I DO SEE SOME IMPROVEMENT HAPPENING AND AGAIN, GRATEFUL FOR EVERYBODY WHO'S BEEN LISTENING TO US. 
          UM, THE QUALITY PLAN SUBMISSIONS, RUDY, I KNOW THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT QUITE A BIT. 
          UM, AND I KNOW FOR OUR TEAM, UM, OH, I'M SORRY, I'M CRYSTAL WITH UNICORN SERVICE SOLUTION. 
          WE DO DEVELOPMENT AND GENERAL CONSULTING AND PERMIT MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT. 
          WE ARE METICULOUS ABOUT MAKING SURE WE PUT IN QUALITY PLANS. 
          UH, ONE THING THAT WE NOTICE ON OCCASION IS OUR PLANS. 
          UM, WE WORK REALLY HARD TO MAKE THEM, TO LABEL THEM CORRECTLY WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS DO THAT. 
          AND, BUT THEY'LL STILL GET APPROVED. 
          SO JUST TRYING TO FIND A WAY WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'RE DOING QUALITY PLANS, THAT THERE'S SOME TYPE OF, UM, UM, I DON'T KNOW, NOT FAVOR, THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WORD, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING. 
          BEING ABLE TO, TO GAUGE THAT AND JUST, UH, UM, FOR THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING TO PUT THEM IN, UH, CORRECTLY. 
          AND, UH, SO IT'S EASY FOR EVERYBODY TO READ. 
          AND THEN I WASN'T PLANNING ON LISTENING TO THE WASTEWATER THING, BUT, UM, THE PROTECT OUR PIPES, I JUST HAD AN IDEA, ELIZABETH, Y'ALL SEND OUT THESE AMAZING NEWSLETTERS FROM THE PERMITTING CENTER AND MAYBE JUST PUT A, A LINK TO THE PROTECT OUR PIPES ON THE TOTALLY NOT IN MY NORMAL COMMENTS, BUT I JUST THOUGHT WE GET THOSE AND THEN WE, WE SEND THOSE OUT TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS. 
          SO IT MIGHT BE AN EASY WAY TO GET THAT MESSAGE OUT TO PEOPLE. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, JUST BEING HELPFUL IN OUR DEPARTMENTAL, UM, SUPPORTING EACH OTHER. 
          SO THAT'S IT. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. 
          I APPRECIATE Y'ALL VERY MUCH. 
          THANK YOU MS. CASEY. 
          THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. 
          WE GOT, WE HAVE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ IN THE QUEUE. 
          , UH, CRYSTAL, I JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT. 
          UH, IT'S VERY VALUABLE AND WE'RE GONNA END UP WITH BETTER PROCESSES BECAUSE OF YOUR INTEREST AND YOUR PARTICIPATION. 
          SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          THANK YOU. 
          APPRECIATE Y'ALL VERY MUCH. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, GURE LUPE FERNANDEZ. 
          AND THEN NEXT WE'LL GO INTO OUR NEXT PRESENTATION, OUR 
          [01:55:01]
FINAL PRESENTATION, WHICH IS THE WATER CONSERVATION GOOD AFTERNOON, MEMBERS OF THE SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE AND THE HOUSTON WATER DIRECTORS. 
          I AM GUADALUPE FERNANDEZ WITH BAYOU CITY WATERKEEPER AND A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT I. 
          WHILE THE CONSENT DECREE SO FAR HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN IMPROVING OUR CITY'S WATER AND PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE, THERE IS STILL MUCH WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO ENSURE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY. 
          WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE COST OF THE CONSENT DECREE SCOPE OF WORK HAS INCREASED POST PANDEMIC HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES. 
          I URGE THE COMMITTEE TO ALLOCATE SUFFICIENT FUNDS AND THE WATER DEPARTMENT TO ALLOCATE SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO ADDRESS SEWAGE PROBLEMS, INCLUDING REPAIRS, MAINTENANCE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS BY LEVERAGING FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO MAXIMIZE THE INVESTMENT, ESPECIALLY IN DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES, OUR ORGANIZATION IS WILLING TO WORK WITH THE CITY IN IDENTIFYING AND APPLYING FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES SUCH AS I-R-A-B-I-L-E-A-C-D-B-G FUNDS SUSTAIN REVOLVING FUNDS. 
          OUR TEAM HAS DONE DEEP ANALYSIS ON HOW THE CITY COULD BETTER PULL DOWN FUNDS AND WOULD BE HAPPY TO SHARE THOSE FINDINGS WITH YOU. 
          THE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE HAS LED TO IMPACTS ON PRIVATE SEWER LINES. 
          ADDRESSING PRIVATE SEWER LATERAL PROBLEMS WILL RESULT IN LESS SEWAGE PROBLEMS FOR ALL RESIDENTS AND IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE HEALTH OF THE PUBLIC SEWER SYSTEM AND FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD. 
          BY ENSURING THAT PRIVATE LATERALS ARE IN GOOD CONDITION, WE CAN REDUCE THE RISK OF SANITARY SEWAGE OVERFLOWS, PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH, REDUCE TREATMENT PLANT COSTS BY DECREASING THE AMOUNT OF WASTEWATER THAT IS PROCESSED AND ULTIMATELY IMPROVE PROPERTY VALUES. 
          THAT'S WHY WE CALL ON THE CITY TO INVEST IN PRIVATE SEWER LATERAL REPAIRS BY ALLOCATING $20 MILLION TO A DEDICATED FUND TO ASSIST RESIDENTS WITH THE COST OF REPAIRING PRIVATE SEWER LATERALS. 
          PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO RESIDENTS WHO CANNOT AFFORD THESE NECESSARY REPAIRS WILL ALLEVIATE SIGNIFICANT BURDENS AND PROMOTE EQUITY AND HELP PREVENT FUTURE SEWAGE BACKUPS. 
          THIS IS NO DIFFERENT FROM THE HOMEOWNER REPAIR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE. 
          UH, I'M WILLING TO WORK WITH Y'ALL TO RESOURCE THOSE FUNDS EITHER BY AMENDING THE CONSENT DECREE OR AS OTHER CITIES HAVE INCLUDED PRIVATE SUR LATER REPAIRS IN THEIR CONSENT DECREE OR BY PULLING DOWN FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDS. 
          I HAVE AN ADDITIONAL POINT IF I CAN'T CONTINUE. 
          OKAY. 
          WE ALSO CALL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT IS MORE EFFECTIVE BEYOND PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS. 
          THIS MEANS TRANSPARENCY BY SHARING PROCESSES AND TIMELINES OF THE CITY'S WASTEWATER CONSENT DECREE PAGE AND PROCESS FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, IN WASTEWATER SYSTEM ISSUES THAT ENSURE RESIDENT VOICES ARE HEARD AND THEIR CONCERNS ARE ADDRESSED. 
          THIS INCLUDES LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY IN THE ONGOING CONSENT DECREE PROCESS AND TRANSLATING ALL OF THAT INFORMATION ON THE PAGE. 
          AS A DIRECTOR MENTIONED, OUR SYSTEM IS LARGE AND COMPLEX, SO WE SHOULD SEE COMMUNITY AS AN ASSET, AS PARTNERS TO HELP SOLVE THESE ISSUES TOGETHER. 
          BY INVESTING IN THE WATER SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE AND PRIORITIZING MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WE CAN ENSURE A HEALTHIER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE HOUSTON. 
          I LOOK FORWARD TO FOLLOWING UP WITH Y'ALL VIA EMAIL. 
          ALRIGHT, THANK YOU MS. FERNANDEZ. 
          YOU BRING UP SOME GOOD POINTS. 
          WE APPRECIATE IT. 
          UM, I DON'T SEE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS OR STAFF IN THE QUEUE, SO THANK YOU FOR COMING. 
          I BELIEVE, UH, MS. FERNANDEZ WAS THE LAST SPEAKER ON THE LIST. 
          IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO DIDN'T SIGN UP, WHO WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK AND COME FORWARD? ALRIGHT, SO, UH, FYI IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS, COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON HAD TO STEP AWAY. 
          SO, AS VICE CHAIR, I WILL, UH, CONTINUE, UH, TO RUN THE MEETING HERE. 
          SO OUR FINAL PRESENTATION WILL BE ON WATER CONSERVATION, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY, AND AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION PLANS. 
          AND WE'RE GONNA HEAR AGAIN FROM, UH, GREG ILEY, DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER AT CATERINA VITOS. 
          I HOPE I'M NOT BUTCHERING THAT TOO BADLY. 
          PLANNING DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER AND MANDY SIEBELS, SENIOR DIVISION MANAGER OF HOUSTON WATER. 
          SO PLEASE COME FORWARD, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, CAYMAN. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND I'M SO SORRY, I JUST, I WANTED Y'ALL TO KNOW 'CAUSE Y'ALL HAVE BEEN SO PATIENT. 
          MANY OF US HAVE SOMETHING WE HAVE TO GO TO. 
          UM, BUT THAT DOESN'T TAKE AWAY FROM THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PRESENTATION. 
          SO MANY OF US, I KNOW WE HAVE A LOT OF STAFF WATCHING ONLINE. 
          I JUST WANNA BE RESPECTFUL OF ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE WAITED TO PRESENT AND EXPLAINING, BUT THERE ARE, THERE ARE A LOT OF STAFF MEMBERS ONLINE AND WE'LL BE WATCHING AFTERWARDS AS WELL, SO WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCIL 
          [02:00:01]
MEMBER CAYMAN, AND YOU FOLKS CAN GET STARTED WHEN YOU'RE READY. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON, VICE CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. 
          MY NAME IS GREG ILEY. 
          I AM THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON WATER. 
          I'D LIKE TO READ INTO THE RECORD AND SPEAK INTO THE RECORD, UH, THAT HOUSTON, UH, SERVES SAFE DRINKING WATER FOR OVER 5.3 MILLION PEOPLE ACROSS SEVEN COUNTIES, WHICH IS PRODUCED BY THREE SURFACE WATER PLANTS, 49 GROUNDWATER PLANTS AND APPROXIMATELY 100 WELLS AND CONVEYS, UH, THIS USING 7,600 MILES OF PIPELINE ACROSS 2,400 SQUARE MILES. 
          AGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND LACK OF REDUNDANCY COUPLED WITH RAPID POPULATION GROWTH IN MORE FREQUENT AND INTENSE CLIMATE EVENTS, THREATENS THE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF DRINKING WATER IN THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA. 
          FOR EXAMPLE, THE EAST WATER PURIFICATION PLANT SERVES THE HEART OF THE CITY AND REQUIRES REPLACEMENT AND EXPANSION OF BOTH SOURCE WATER CONVEYANCE AND PURIFICATION SYSTEMS TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. 
          ADDITIONALLY, THE WATER DISTRIBUTION AND CONVEYANCE SYSTEM IS IN NEED OF EXTENSIVE PIPE REPLACEMENT TO REDUCE WATER LOSS OF OVER 32 BA BILLION GALLONS ANNUALLY. 
          ENOUGH WATER TO SUPPLY THE CITY OF FORT WORTH. 
          THE WATER RELIABILITY OF THE HOUSTON REGION IMPACTS STATE AND NATIONAL ECONOMIES ON MULTIPLE FRONTS. 
          HOUSTON SUPPORTS 608 18 LOCAL PETROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING FACILITIES, WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR 44% OF THE PETROCHEMICAL PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
          THE PORT OF HOUSTON IS THE LARGEST PORT IN THE, UH, THE NATION BY WATERBORNE TAGE, AND SERVES AS A VITAL ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES. 
          THE PORT SUPPORTS 1.5 MILLION JOBS THROUGHOUT TEXAS, PROVIDING 900 BILLION IN NATIONAL ECONOMIC VALUE AND NEARLY 11 BILLION IN STATE AND LOCAL TAX REVENUE. 
          THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER IS THE LARGEST MEDICAL COMPLEX IN THE WORLD, SERVING 60,000 PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD EVERY DAY. 
          ALL OF THESE WOULD BE IMPACTED BY A LOSS OF HOUSTON WATER ACCORDING TO THE GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP. 
          THE HOUSTON REGION ACCOUNTS FOR 26.4% OF THE STATE'S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT. 
          24.6% OF THE STATE'S POPULATION, 24.3% OF STATE JOBS, 26.3% OF ALL JOBS CREATED IN TEXAS SINCE MAY OF 20 22, 39 0.5% OF THE STATE'S EXPORTS COME THROUGH HOUSTON. 
          ONE THIRD OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WINS, UH, DEVELOPMENT WINS THE STATE TEXAS, THE SITE SELECTION GOVERNOR'S CUP IN 2020, UH, FOUR. 
          BY PARTNERING WITH STATE AND LOCAL AND COUNTY AND OTHER PARTNERS, THE HOUSTON REGIONAL WATER SYSTEM CAN LEVERAGE RESOURCES TO CONTINUE TO ELIMINATE RISKS TO WATER RELIABILITY. 
          WE CAN AVOID LARGE SCALE WATER OUTAGES LIKE WE SAW THAT HAPPEN IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI IN 2022 AND THE COMING WEEKS. 
          WE WILL BE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS NEXT WEEK. 
          WE'LL BE IN AUSTIN GIVING THIS TESTIMONY AS WE START THAT JOURNEY TODAY. 
          UH, WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT WATER CONSERVATION. 
          AS I HAD MENTIONED, THE SERVICE AREA FOR HOUSTON WATER TO INCLUDE, UH, COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY, WHICH HAS OUR CONVEYANCE SYSTEMS IS OVER 2,400 SQUARE MILES AND ENCOMPASSES THOSE CITIES THAT YOU SEE ON THE MAP THERE. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          AS I'D MENTIONED BEFORE, THE CRITICAL PATH FOR THE UTILITY, UH, STARTS WITH, UH, IMPROVING OUR SOURCE WATER CONVEYANCE, DOING, UH, REDOING AND REBUILDING AND PLACING THE EAST PLANT, REPLACING PIPE TO REDUCE LEAKS, OPTIMIZE OUR REPAIRS, AND IMPROVE OUR SERVICE. 
          NEXT SLIDE TO DATE, THIS IS OUR PROGRESS ON TREATING WATER LEAKS. 
          I MENTIONED 32 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER LOSS. 
          WE HAVE REDUCED OUR LEAKS FROM A MAXIMUM OF JUST OVER 1500. 
          UH, NOW WE'RE IN THE 700 RANGE. 
          IN OCTOBER, WE'LL BE BRINGING ON A ADDITIONAL 
          [02:05:01]
RESOURCES THROUGH CONTRACTED SERVICES BACK IN NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR, IF YOU RECALL, UH, WE, UM, ENDED THE CONTRACTS OF MANY LOCAL CONTRACTORS. 
          OCTOBER. 
          UH, WE WILL START REPLACING THOSE CONTRACTS AND BY THE END OF THE YEAR YOU'LL SEE THIS LINE, UH, GRADUALLY CONTINUING TO GO DOWN AS WE GET MORE RESOURCES, UH, TO REPAIR LEAKS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          WATER LEAKS. 
          HISTORICALLY, UH, IN THE LAST, UH, FOUR YEARS, YOU CAN SEE HAVE GONE UP STEADILY. 
          UH, REPLACEMENT OF PIPE IS THE LONGER TERM SOLUTION AND WE JUST THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT, UH, WE TALK ABOUT WHAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, UH, PUBLIC WORKS IS DOING ABOUT OUR WATER CONSERVATION AND REDUCING LEAKS. 
          BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT THE GREATER WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, UH, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UH, FOR THE RECORD, I'M E KATERINA FIDOS PLANNING DIRECTOR HOUSTON WATER. 
          UM, SO WE, UM, WE'RE REQUIRED TO DEVELOP THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S WATER CONSERVATION PLAN PER THE REQUIREMENTS BY TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TCQ AND THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD EVERY FIVE YEARS. 
          THIS REQUIRES ALL CITIES WITHIN WITH OVER 3,300 CONNECTIONS TO HAVE THIS PLAN. 
          AND LIKE I MENTIONED, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN OUR FIVE YEAR UPDATE PHASE, UM, TO ENSURE THAT OUR COMPLIANCE AND THAT WE ADDRESS, UM, EVOLVING WATER NEEDS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          OH, I'M SORRY. 
          NEXT SLIDE AGAIN. 
          SO LET'S FIRST BEGIN WITH A FEW BASICS ON WATER CONSERVATION. 
          UH, WATER CONSERVATION BRINGS SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM BENEFITS. 
          IT HELPS OPTIMIZE EXISTING WATER SUPPLY. 
          IT MAY HELP US POSTPONE FOR COSTLY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS BY USING WATER MORE EFFICIENTLY. 
          IT ALSO LESSENS THE DEMAND ON OUR TREATMENT FACILITIES AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS, WHICH IN TURN TRANSLATES TO EXTENDING THE USEFUL LIFE, UM, AND LIFESPAN OF THOSE ASSETS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          WATER. 
          SORRY. 
          WATER CONSERVATION BRINGS MANY BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING PRESERVING NATURAL HABITATS AND PROTECTING OUR BIODIVERSITY. 
          IT ENSURES RELIABLE WATER SUPPLY DURING DROUGHTS AND SAFEGUARDS RESOURCES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. 
          ADDITIONALLY, IT HELPS MAINTAIN WATER LEVELS FOR RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES LIKE FISHING, BOATING, AND SWIMMING, AND ENHANCES OUR OVERALL QUALITY TO THESE COMMUNITIES. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          CONSERVING WATER HELPS REDUCE DEMAND ON OUR SYSTEM DURING SEVERE DROUGHT. 
          IT PREVENTS GROUNDWATER DEPLETION AND MINIMIZES SUBSIDENCE. 
          SUBSIDENCE IS THE GRADUAL SINKING OF LAND DUE TO OVER PUMPING BY GROUNDWATER AND SUBSIDENCE INCREASES OUR VULNERABILITY TO FLOODING. 
          UM, WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER HERE TO DISCUSS MORE DETAILS ON OUR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCIES. 
          OUR SENIOR DIVISION MANAGER, MANDY SIEBELS. 
          HI, GOOD AFTERNOON. 
          UH, NEXT SLIDE. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          FIRST I'M GONNA WALK YOU THROUGH OUR UPDATES TO OUR WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. 
          UM, THIS PLAN INCLUDES MULTIPLE COMPONENTS TO FORM THE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO A SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR HOUSTON, WHICH INCLUDE THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, OUR AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION PLAN. 
          WE REVIEW OUR CURRENT WATER TRENDS OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, FIVE AND 10 YEAR TARGET GOALS FOR WATER CONSERVATION, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OUR WATER LOSS PROGRAM, AND OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAM. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          HERE YOU CAN SEE OUR UPDATES TO THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN. 
          UM, FROM 2019, EVERYTHING REMAINS THE SAME EXCEPT WE HAVE THREE MAIN UM, CHANGES. 
          FIRST, OUTDOOR WATER RESTRICTION TIMES WILL CHANGE FROM 7:00 PM TILL 8:00 AM AND IN STAGE THREE, WATERING IS ALLOWED TWICE A WEEK, AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM WATER USAGE OF 5,000 GALLONS PER MONTH. 
          ALLOWING THE CUSTOMER TO HAVE GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN HOW THEY CHOOSE TO CONSERVE WATER IN THEIR HOUSEHOLDS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          HERE'S A GRAPH THAT SHOWS OUR CURRENT WATER TRENDS FROM 2019 TO 2023. 
          AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, IN THIS SLIDE IN 2019, OUR LARGEST WATER USER WAS COMMERCIAL. 
          HOWEVER, THE PANDEMIC CHANGED OUR WATER USE TRENDS AS MORE PEOPLE STARTED TO WORK FROM HOME. 
          MULTI-FAMILY FOLLOWED BY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTS WERE THE LARGEST USERS STARTING IN 2020 AND AGAIN IN 2023. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          UM, HERE WE'RE SHOWING OUR ANNUAL GOWNS PER DAY PER CAPITA, WHICH IS THE MAIN METRICS WE 
          [02:10:01]
USE FOR MONITORING OUR WATER CONSERVATION EFFORTS. 
          TO CALCULATE OUR GPCD, WE TAKE OUR TOTAL WATER SYSTEM INTAKE, WHICH IS 120 BILLION GALLONS IN 2023, DIVIDED BY OUR RESIDENTIAL POPULATION DIVIDED BY 365. 
          AND IN 2023, OUR ANNUAL GPCD WAS 129. 
          WE SHOULD NOTE THAT IN 2021 WE HAD AN UPDATED CENSUS AND ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL, WHICH IS WHY OUR VALUE IS SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN PREVIOUS YEARS IN 2021 AT A VALUE OF ONE 16. 
          HOWEVER, WE ARE CURRENTLY TRENDING UPWARDS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, WHICH ARE A COMBINATION OF WEATHER CONDITIONS, INCLUDING EXTREME DROUGHT, WHICH INCREASED OUR NUMBER OF WATER LEAKS IN OUR SYSTEM, INCREASING OUR GPCD. 
          OUR PROJECTED GOALS FOR 2024 IS 1 26 AND 1 20 20, UH, 1 21 22 GPCD OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS. 
          BUT IT IS IMPORTANT NOTE THAT WE ARE OUTPERFORMING THE REGION EIGHT STATE WATER PLAN GOAL, WHICH SETS THE GPC, THE TOTAL GPCD OF AT ONE 40. 
          NEXT SLIDE HERE. 
          WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT HOW WE'RE DOING OVER THE PAST DECADE WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR GPCD. 
          BASED ON OUR PREVIOUS WATER CONSERVATION PLANS BACK IN 2014, OUR FIVE AND 10 YEAR GOALS WERE 1 44 AND 2024. 
          WE WANT 1 39. 
          SO WE ARE EATING, WE ARE EXCEEDING OUR GOALS FROM 2014. 
          UH, WE UPDATED OUR PLAN IN 2019 AND OUR FIVE YEAR ROLLING AVERAGE WAS 1 29 WITH A GOAL OF 1 25 FOR 2024. 
          SO WE'RE CURRENTLY AT ONE GPCD ABOVE OUR GOAL FROM OUR PREVIOUS PLAN. 
          HOWEVER, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO MEET OR EXCEED OUR GOALS IF WE INVEST IN, IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON REDUCING OUR WATER LEAKS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          THIS TABLE SHOWS OUR HISTORICAL WATER LOSS AND FUTURE WATER LOSS GOALS. 
          AS OUTLINED IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN IN 2022, OUR WATER LOSS WAS 29 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY AND INCREASE TO 37 GALLONS PER CAPITA PER DAY IN 2023. 
          ANOTHER MEASURE THAT WE USE TO MEASURE WATER LOSS IS WE USE THE IN INFRASTRUCTURE LEAKAGE INDEX OR THE ILI. 
          THE ILI TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE LENGTH OF HOUSTON'S WATER MAINS, THE SYSTEM PRESSURE, AND THE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS. 
          AND IT CALCULATES YOUR UNAVOIDABLE WATER LOSS BASED ON YOUR SYSTEM'S OPERATIONAL CONDITION AND SIZE. 
          THE LOWER THE AMOUNT OF LEAKS, UM, THE LOWER THE AMOUNT OF LEAKS AND WATER LOSS THAT EXIST IN YOUR SYSTEM. 
          THE LOWER YOUR ILI WILL BE. 
          FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE HAD AN ILI OF ONE, WE WOULD STILL LOSE 4.6 BILLION GALLONS A YEAR DUE TO OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS. 
          THIS IS YOUR UNAVOIDABLE ANNUAL WATER LOSS IN 2023. 
          OUR ILI WAS 6.79. 
          THE INCREASE IN OUR ILI WAS PRIMARILY DUE TO LAST SUMMER'S DROUGHT WITH RECORD SETTING HEAT COMBINED WITH EXTREMELY LOWER AVERAGE RAINFALL CAUSE HOUSTON SOIL TO DRY OUT DRY SOILS, ESPECIALLY THE CLAY FOUND IN HU. 
          MUCH OF HOUSTON SHIFTS WHEN DRY CAUSING WATER LINES TO SHIFT AS RESULTING IN BREAKS AND LEAKS. 
          ADDITIONALLY, OUR AGING WATER LINES ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO FAILURE, RESULTING IN HIGHER NUMBERS OF BREAKS AND LEAKS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          TO PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR OUR WATER LOSS, HERE'S A GRAPH COMPARING THE WATER LOSS AMONG THE LARGEST CITIES IN TEXAS, TEXAS IN 2023. 
          IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT HOUSTON BEING THE LARGEST UTILITY IN TEXAS WITH THE LARGEST POPULATION NATURALLY EXPERIENCES THE GREATEST WATER LOSS IN 2023, HOUSTON LOST 31.8 BILLION GALLONS OF WATER. 
          TO PUT THAT INTO PERSPECTIVE, THIS AMOUNT OF WATER COULD HAVE SUPPLIED THE ENTIRE CITY OF FORT WORTH, APPROXIMATELY 900,000 PEOPLE FOR A YEAR. 
          THIS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF ADOPTING A MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO REVERSING OUR CURRENT WATER LOSS TRENDS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          SO HOW DID WE GET HERE? SIMPLY PUT OUR AGING INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          ON THIS SLIDE, YOU SEE A GRAPH OF THE PERCENT OF PIPES THAT WE HAVE REPLACED OVER THE LAST DECADE. 
          THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IS TO REPLACE 2% OF PIPELINES EACH YEAR, WHICH WILL PUT YOUR UTILITY ON A CYCLE TO REPLACE ALL OF YOUR PIPES EVERY 50 YEARS. 
          SO IF YOU MAINTAIN A 2% REPLACEMENT PROGRAM, YOUR PIPE WILL HAVE A 50 YEAR LIFESPAN. 
          IN THE PAST 10 YEARS, BASED ON INDUSTRY STANDARD, WE SHOULD HAVE REPLACED 20% OF OUR WATER LINES OR APPROXIMATELY 2,800 MILES OF PIPE. 
          BUT AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS GRAPH, WE ONLY REPLACED 6% OF OUR WATER LINES OR APPROXIMATELY 850 MILES OF PIPE. 
          AND IN 2023 WE REPLACED 4.4 MILES OF PIPE. 
          SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? WE HAVE AN AGING INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS PRONE TO FAILURES AND LEAKS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          TO HAVE AN EFFECTIVE WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM, FIRST AND FOREMOST, 
          [02:15:01]
REDUCING WATER LOSS FROM LEAKS MUST BE OUR TOP PRIORITY, WHICH WILL REQUIRE A STRONG COMMITMENT TO A ROBUST PIPELINE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM. 
          RESULTS FROM A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON LEAKS INDICATED THAT REPLACING JUST 6% OF OUR MOST VULNERABLE PIPES IN OUR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM COULD CUT THE NUMBER OF LEAKS BY OVER HALF AND SAVE ENOUGH WATER TO SUPPLY 160,000 HOUSEHOLDS, ALL WITHOUT NEEDING TO EXPAND OUR EXISTING SYSTEM. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          WE DO HAVE OTHER STRATEGIES OUTLINED IN THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN TO HELP REDUCE OUR WATER LOSS WITHIN OUR SYSTEM. 
          UM, DEDICATED LEAK DETECTION CREWS IN CONTINUOUS INSTALLATION OF ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY UPDATING OUR HYDRAULIC WATER MODEL AND CONTINUE TO PRIORITIZE THE REPLACEMENT OF AGING WATER LINES. 
          UH, NEXT SLIDE. 
          WE ALSO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THE PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS THAT WE DO WITH THE WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 
          UM, ONE OF OUR FAVORITE, UH, EVENTS IS THE WATERWORKS FESTIVAL, WHICH WAS HELD LAST APRIL. 
          IT'S OUR BIGGEST EVENT, UH, THAT WE PARTNER WITH DISCOVERY GREEN'S EARTH DAY FESTIVAL, WHICH BRINGS IN AN ESTIMATED CROWD OF 30,000 PEOPLE WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON WATER CONSERVATION. 
          WE HOST TWO RAINBOW SALES EVERY YEAR. 
          UM, COMING UP NEXT IS OUR IMAGINE A DAY WITHOUT WATER CAMPAIGN, AND WE HAVE CONTINUOUS, WE HAVE CONTINUOUS, UM, SOCIAL MEDIA, UM, POSTINGS YEAR ROUND FOR OUR GIVE WATER A BREAK CAMPAIGN. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          WE HAVE TWO INCENTIVE PROGRAMS CURRENTLY WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS UNDER THE WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 
          UH, WE HAVE A SUBSIDIZED RAIN BARREL SALE LAST JUNE, WE PARTNERED WITH HPC AND WE, UH, FOR THE EVENT WHICH SOLD OVER A THOUSAND RAIN BARRELS. 
          UM, WE HAVE A WATER EFFICIENCY SHOWER HEAD PROGRAM FOR A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE. 
          ANYONE CAN EMAIL THE WATER CONSERVATION EMAIL ACCOUNT, REQUESTING TWO FREE SHOWER HEADS. 
          AND WE'RE, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON A NEW HIGH EFFICIENCY TOILET AND SHOWER HEAD REBATE PROGRAM FOR OUR MULTI-FAMILY HOMES, UM, IN THE COMING FISCAL YEARS. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          UM, ALSO OUTLINED FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS OF OUR WATER CONSERVATION EFFORTS BEYOND, UH, THE ROBUST PIPELINE REPLACEMENT. 
          UH, WE WANNA CONTINUE TO EXPAND OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION EFFORTS, PILOTING A PLUMBING ASSISTANT PROGRAM AND DEVELOPING A ZEROSCAPING NATIVE PLANT PROGRAM TO HELP REDUCE OUTDOOR WATER USAGE. 
          UH, NEXT SLIDE. 
          HERE'S THE SCHEDULE FOR ADOPTING THE UPDATED 2024 WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. 
          WE AIM TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS BY EARLY NEXT MONTH WITH SUBMISSION TO TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD IN OCTOBER. 
          UM, FOLLOWING THIS PRESENTATION WILL BEGIN A TWO WEEK PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ON THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. 
          WE ENCOURAGE THE COMMUNITY TO GO TO OUR WEBSITE@HOUSTONPUBLICWORKS.ORG SLASH WATER CONSERVATION TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE DRAFT WATER CONSERVATION PLAN AND PROVIDE ANY COMMENTS. 
          UH, NEXT SLIDE. 
          UM, WE WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND WE ARE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION. 
          I DON'T SEE ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS IN THE QUEUE. 
          HOWEVER, I HAVE, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, SOME OF WHICH, UH, I DON'T KNOW. 
          GREG, WOULD YOU MIND COMING BACK UP AND, AND TAKING ONE? UM, AND THIS IS BASED ON YOUR OPENING REMARKS, WHICH I FOUND VERY INTERESTING. 
          UM, CAN WE, CAN YOU MAYBE SEND THAT TO US SO WE CAN MAKE IT PART OF THE, UH, I KNOW YOU READ IT INTO THE RECORD, SO TO SPEAK, WOULD LIKE TO PUT IT ON THE WEBSITE SO THAT UH, THE PUBLIC CAN GET ACCESS TO IT? SURE. 
          SO IF YOU COULD SEND THAT TO US, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. 
          DID I HEAR YOU CORRECTLY WHEN YOU SAY THAT, UM, WE PROVIDE WATER FOR 5.3 MILLION PEOPLE? THAT IS CORRECT. 
          THAT'S A CONSERVATIVE NUMBER. 
          OKAY. 
          HOUSTON'S POPULATION IS WHAT, 2.2 2.3 MILLION? YES, THAT'S CORRECT. 
          SO WE PROVIDE MORE THAN WATER FOR MORE THAN TWICE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY LIVE IN THE CITY. 
          CORRECT. 
          UH, SO THE RETAIL CUSTOMERS ARE WITHIN THE CITY AND THEN THE WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS, UH, ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY, BUT WE ARE THE PRI PROVIDER. 
          WHAT DO THE WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS PAY FOR THE WATER WE PROVIDE FOR THEM? UH, THAT'S SOMETHING I'D HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU WITH. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, I'M WONDERING, YOU KNOW, WHEN CENTERPOINT WANTS TO UPGRADE THEIR SYSTEM, THEY TRY TO PASS THEIR COSTS ALONG TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. 
          RIGHT? UM, DO WE PLAN ON, UH, TRYING TO, UH, ENLIST OUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS TO HELP US UPGRADE OUR SYSTEM? THEY, THEY DO PRESENTLY PAY, UH, FOR OUR SYSTEM. 
          SO THEY, THEY HELP US WITH THAT. 
          SO IN, 
          [02:20:01]
FOR EXAMPLE, WITH THE NEW NORTHEAST PLANT EXPANSION, UH, WE ARE ACTUALLY A MINORITY PARTNER IN THAT MINORITY. 
          OKAY. 
          GOTCHA. 
          I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT. 
          ALRIGHT, SO I THINK THE REST OF MY QUESTIONS HAVE TO DEAL WITH, UH, CONSERVATION. 
          SO IN, LET'S TURN TO SLIDE NUMBER NINE IF WE CAN. 
          AND ACTUALLY, I'M SORRY, IT'S SLIDE EIGHT. 
          SO FIRST BULLET POINT, SLIDE EIGHT, WHICH DEALS WITH LONG-TERM COST REDUCTIONS, OPTIMIZES NEW SOURCE WATER DEVELOPMENT COSTS. 
          CAN YOU SORT OF WALK US THROUGH HOW LONG-TERM COST REDUCTIONS WILL OPTIMIZE NEW SOURCE WATER DEVELOPMENT COSTS? WHAT IS, WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN? SORRY, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, SO MOST OF WHERE WE'RE FOCUSING SOME OF THE STRATEGIES IS GOING TO BE WITH, UM, WATER LOSS AND THE WATER LEAKS. 
          AND SO BY GETTING SOME OF THAT UNDER CONTROL AND INVESTING BACK IN THE SYSTEM, WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO, WHEN WE SAY OPTIMIZE, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE LOOKING TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, GET THE WATER LOSS, UM, AT MORE OF A REASONABLE RATE. 
          UM, AND THEN THE FUTURE ITEMS, UM, WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT NEW SOURCE WATER, UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE, IF YOU GET THAT WATER LOSS UNDER CONTROL, UM, TO THE POINT WHERE, UM, IT'S MORE SUSTAINABLE, THEN UM, YOU CAN, THEN YOU HAVE MORE WATER WHERE YOU CAN SERVICE OUTWARDS TO THE PUBLIC. 
          SO YOU RECOVER A LOT OF THAT SUPPLY THAT IS OTHERWISE LOST AND EVEN ACCOUNTS FOR A LOT OF LOSS REVENUE. 
          UM, SO WITH REGARD TO ALSO NEW SOURCE WATER, AS MANY OF YOU MAY BE AWARE, WE'RE CURRENTLY ALSO ENGAGED IN THE ONE WATER PLAN, WHICH TIES INTO SOME OF THESE WATER CONSERVATION EFFORTS. 
          AND WE'RE THE CURRENT PHASE ONE, SO WE'RE LOOKING TO DEFINE WHERE WE GO, BUT A LOT OF THE PHASE TWO AND LATER IMPLEMENTATIONS WILL LOOK AT DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLIES. 
          AND SO A LOT OF THAT TIES INTO, UM, MAKING SURE WATER IS, UM, AFFORDABLE, BUT ALSO, UM, THAT WE'RE ALSO DOING WHAT WE CAN TO REINVEST INTO THE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, TO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR WATER SUPPLY IS, IS MAXIMIZED. 
          SO IT, IT IS VERY TIED TOGETHER. 
          OKAY. 
          IF WE COULD GO, THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          IF WE COULD GO TO SLIDE 12, DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN. 
          AND YOU MAY HAVE SAID THIS, BUT WHERE, WHERE ARE WE RIGHT NOW IN THIS PLAN? SO CURRENTLY, AS YOU'RE AWARE, WE ARE HAVE NOT IMPLEMENTED DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN MEASURES, UM, THIS MONTH OR DURING THE SUMMER. 
          WE JUST RECENTLY ACTUALLY REMOVED STAGE ONE, WHICH WERE VOLUNTARY RESTRICTIONS EARLIER THIS YEAR. 
          PRIOR TO THAT WE WERE IN STAGE TWO. 
          AND EVEN PRIOR TO EVEN CALLING STAGE TWO, WE WERE, UM, EXTENSIVELY, WE WERE, WE WERE QUITE A LONG TIME IN STAGE ONE. 
          UM, WE FELT THAT, UH, WE COULD MOVE FORWARD WITH THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL, THE RESERVOIR MEASURES AND ALSO WE LOOK AT OTHER STRESSORS IN THE SYSTEM, UM, THAT WE WERE REMOVE THAT STAGE ONE, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR. 
          LIKE I SAID, SO CURRENTLY WE, WE DON'T HAVE THOSE MEASURES IMPLEMENTED. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THE CHANGES ARE BEING MADE TO STAGE THREE. 
          UM, I SEE THE HOURS OF WATERING RESTRICTION, THE TIMES PER WEEK THAT CAN BE DONE, AND THEN THE MAXIMUM USAGE, UH, PER MONTH. 
          CAN YOU, CAN YOU TELL US WHY CHANGES ARE BEING MADE TO STAGE THIS STAGE THREE PLAN? SO WE THOUGHT THIS WOULD BETTER ALIGN WITH SOME OF THE HIGH DEMAND TIMEFRAMES TO ALSO MINIMIZE. 
          SO DURING THAT TIMEFRAME, WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UM, SPECIFICALLY THAT 8:00 AM PERIOD, THAT'S WHEN PEOPLE ARE GETTING READY FOR WORK, THEY'RE UTILIZING A LOT OF WATER. 
          UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING AT WAYS, UM, TO KIND OF REALIGN IT, MAKE IT MORE CONSISTENT. 
          UM, AND THEN THAT'S WHY WE'RE, WE MODIFIED STAGE THREE, STAGE FOUR, UM, AFTER STAGE THREE YOU GET TO A VERY CRITICAL POINT IN, IN YOUR MEASURES. 
          UM, NOT THAT STAGE THREE IS NOT, BUT THERE'S THAT HIGHER CRITICALITY AT STAGE FOUR. 
          WE FELT THAT STAGE THREE JUST ALIGNED A LITTLE BIT BETTER WITH THAT STAGE TWO AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE NOT IMPACTING, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE'S LIVES AS MUCH, UM, THAT WE WERE STILL MINDFUL OF, OF THOSE BEHAVIORS. 
          AND SO IF, UM, A CUSTOMER EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM WATER USAGE ALLOWED PER MONTH, IS THERE A PENALTY ASSOCIATED WITH THAT? I DON'T BELIEVE SO AT THIS TIME. 
          SORRY, CAN YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION? IF THEY IS, ARE YOU ASKING IF THERE'S A FINE YES OR SOME SORT OF PENALTY OR UPGRADED CHARGE? 
          [02:25:01]
I THINK AT STAGE THREE THERE WILL JUST BE WARNINGS. 
          WARNINGS, OKAY. 
          MM-HMM . 
          IF WE COULD GO TO SLIDE 13 AND I WAS JUST CURIOUS, YOU HAVE UM, MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL WATER USE SHOWN OVER ABOUT A FIVE YEAR PERIOD AND IT'S GONE DOWN STEADILY THE LAST THREE YEARS IN CONTRAST TO SOME OF THE OTHER, UH, TYPES OF USERS. 
          CAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY, ANY EXPLANATION FOR THAT OR THOUGHTS ON WHY THAT'S OCCURRED? I'M SORRY, TO BE CLEAR, WERE YOU LOOKING AT MULTIFAMILY? MULTIFAMILY? RIGHT. 
          SO THE USAGE HAS GONE DOWN THE LAST THREE YEARS. 
          WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF THE TRENDS, YOU KNOW, ARE PRETTY VARIABLE, SO IT COULD BE THAT THERE WAS CHANGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT, BUT WE CAN LOOK, INVESTIGATE THAT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER. 
          OKAY. 
          BACK TO YOU. 
          IF WE CAN GO TO SLIDE 19, ROBUST PIPELINE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM. 
          SO NUMBER OF, UM, THINGS LISTED ON THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE, CAN YOU TELL US WHETHER OR NOT, UH, THE BUDGET THAT WE JUST APPROVED INCLUDES FUNDING FOR ALL THIS? THAT I WOULD HAVE TO REFER BACK TO. 
          IT'S A LITTLE OUTSIDE OF OUR PURVIEW. 
          UM, ALRIGHT. 
          AND THEN I, I DON'T BELIEVE IT DID. 
          NO. 
          OKAY. 
          RANDY'S SHAKING HIS HEAD NO. 
          . 
          . 
          ALRIGHT. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          UH, AND WITH REGARD TO THE PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM, UH, SHOWN ON SLIDE 21, HAVE YOU ALL CONSIDERED PARTNERING WITH ANY ADVOCACY OR GARDENING GROUPS WHOSE INTEREST WOULD ALIGN WITH OUR GOALS? UM, IN GETTING THE WORD OUT? DID YOU WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP AS WELL FOR THE ONE WATER? YEAH, SO WE'RE STARTING PHASE ONE OF OUR ONE WATER PROGRAM. 
          SO PHASE ONE IS ALL ABOUT COLLABORATION WITH OUR NONPROFITS AND OUR EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS, ALONG WITH OUR INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS TO REALLY BREAK DOWN THE SILOS TO START WORKING TOGETHER. 
          SO THIS WOULD BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY THAT WE COULD ALSO PARTNER WITH THEM AT OUR GIVE WATER A BREAK CAMPAIGN AND OUR PROTECT OUR PIPES CAMPAIGN AS WELL. 
          UM, I WILL ALSO NOTE THAT, UM, WE HAVE IN THE PAST, UM, ALSO PARTNERED WITH, UH, GRUNDFOS, UM, ON SOME OF OUR EVENTS. 
          UM, AND THEN ALSO, UH, FOR SOME OF THE RAIN BARREL SALES, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS COME TO US ON OCCASION AND WE'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THAT AS WELL. 
          SO, SO WE DO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES, UM, NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, LARGE OR SMALL TO, TO FIND THOSE PARTNERSHIP. 
          UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE MAIN DRIVERS TO PARTNER WITH DISCOVERY GREEN TO BRING THE, 'CAUSE THE FESTIVAL USED TO BE HELD AT THE NOEA EDUCATION FACILITY, BUT NOW WE CAN REACH A LOT A BROADER AUDIENCE BY BRINGING IT DOWNTOWN. 
          ALRIGHT, THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          AND IF I COULD JUST GO BACK TO SLIDE 19 AGAIN. 
          SO THIS ROBUST PIPELINE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM, SO THE SLIDE BEFORE THAT, ACTUALLY 18. 
          UM, SO THE RECOMMENDATION IS TO REPLACE 2% OF THE PIPELINE PER YEAR, PIPELINES PER YEAR, IF I UNDERSTAND THIS SLIDE CORRECTLY. 
          IS THAT RIGHT? YES. 
          THAT'S BASED ON THE 50 YEAR LIFE CYCLE OR LIFE, YOU KNOW, THE AVERAGE AGE THAT YOU WOULD SEE FOR THAT LIFE OF THAT PIPE. 
          OKAY. 
          SO THE NEXT SLIDE TALKS ABOUT INCREASING THE REPLACEMENT TO 6% PER YEAR. 
          DO I UNDERSTAND THAT RIGHT? YES. 
          OKAY. 
          SO IS THERE, IS THERE SOME PLAN TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL FOR INCREASED FUNDING FOR THAT OR, YES, WE, UH, AS PART OF, UH, OUR PLAN MOVING AHEAD, WE DO HAVE PLANS FOR INCREASED FUNDING IN THE NEXT, UH, NEXT FIVE YEARS. 
          THE 6% REPRESENTS, UH, $480 MILLION. 
          AND WHY THAT, WHY, WHY DID WE CHOOSE 6%? UH, 6% ACCORDING TO OUR MODELING, UH, THE 6% OF OUR WORST PIPE ACCOUNTS FOR 67% OF OUR LEAKS. 
          SO, UH, THAT 4.93 BILLION THAT WAS REPORTED IN THE CHRONICLE THIS MORNING, THAT DOES INCLUDE $480 MILLION FOR THAT FIRST 6%. 
          SO THE IDEA IS TO, TO GET OFF TO A A, A QUICK START, GO AFTER THAT 6% AND THEN GO TO A 2%, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT A HUNDRED. 
          AND, UH, EVERY, EVERY PERCENT'S 80 MILLION, SO 160 MILLION A YEAR AFTER THAT. 
          SO 480 MILLION UPFRONT TO GET 
          [02:30:01]
US LIKE A BOOST AND THEN DROP TO, UH, A MORE SUSTAINABLE LEVEL. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT, GREG. 
          THAT IS ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE AND, UM, DON'T SEE ANYBODY IN THE QUEUE. 
          SO WE ARE GONNA GO AHEAD AND CONCLUDE THIS MEETING. 
          I WANT TO REMIND OUR AUDIENCE THAT, UH, THIS IS YOUR COMMITTEE. 
          YOU'LL HELP SET THE AGENDA FOR FUTURE MEETINGS. 
          AND SO IF YOU HAVE IDEAS ON SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD COVER IN A MEETING, PLEASE GIVE US A CALL, EMAIL AT DISTRICT B@HOUSTONTX.GOV OR CALL OR TEXT OUR OFFICE, EIGHT THREE TWO THREE NINE THREE THREE NINE. 
          BEFORE YOU ADJOURN, I WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE THE NEXT SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH AT 2:00 PM WHERE WE WILL HEAR FROM THE OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ON THE PROCESS TO OBTAIN CERTIFICATIONS TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE CITY. 
          ALSO, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN RECEIVING INFORMATION ON THIS COMMITTEE AND ITS MEETINGS, PLEASE CONTACT THE DISTRICT B OFFICE, THE OFFICE OF, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON AT DISTRICT B@HOUSTONTX.GOV. 
          THE TIME IS ABOUT 4:32 PM WE STAND ADJOURNED. 
          THANKS TO COUNCIL MEMBER PECK AND STAFF FOR STICKING IT OUT WITH US. 
          AND THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. 
          THANK YOU.
* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.