[ Service Delivery Committee on October 23, 2024.]
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THE LABOR COMMITTEE.WE WILL GET THIS MEETING STARTED.
UM, I'M TARSHA JACKSON AS CHAIR OF THE SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, TODAY WE ARE JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN IN CHAMBERS.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER IS ON VIRTUALLY COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ IS IN CHAMBERS, AND HUFFMAN IS IN CHAMBERS.
UM, WE HAVE STAFF, UM, IN CHAMBERS.
I'M FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PECK, UM, CAYMAN CASTILLO, UM, VICE MAYOR PRO TIM CAST TATUM.
AND, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER PLUMMER.
SHE HELPS SOMEONE HERE AS WELL.
RIGHT? I GOT HER NAME HERE TWICE.
THIS MEETING TODAY HAS BEEN HELD IN HYBRID MODE IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY.
UM, AND IT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS THE CHAIR, UM, PRESIDING OFFICE OF THE COMMITTEE.
IT IS, I AM PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN THE CHAMBERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 5 51 DASH 1 27 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE APPLICABLE TO GOVERNMENTAL BODIES THAT EXTENDS INTO THREE OR MORE COUNTIES.
ALL OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE THE OPTION TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON OR VIRTUALLY VIA TEAMS. TODAY WE WILL HEAR PRESENTATIONS, UM, FROM OBO CERTIFICATION, PROCESS PERMITTING AFTER OUR REVIEW PROGRAM AND PLAN REVIEW DEPOSIT, AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAM CHANGES DUE TO THE UPDATED, UM, ORDINANCE RECENTLY.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, PLEASE HOLD ALL YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATION, UM, WHICH WE HAVE OBO THAT'S GOING TO PRESENT FIRST.
UM, AND THEN IF WE HAVE, UM, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND ARE PRESENT IN THE CHAMBERS, UM, REQUEST TO SPEAK.
AND WE HAVE BEEN, UM, WE HAVE BEEN COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER HAS JOINED US IN CHAMBERS.
AND, UM, MAYOR PRO TIM, UM, HAS HER STAFF IN CHAMBERS AS WELL.
SO, UM, WE'RE GONNA ASK OBO TO COME ON UP TO THE PODIUM AND FOR THOSE THAT ARE ON, UM, VIRTUALLY IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK, UM, TYPE REQUEST TO SPEAK IN THE CHAT POD.
UM, AND YOU WOULD BE RECOGNIZED IN THE ORDER THAT YOU, UM, REQUEST TO SPEAK.
BUT REMEMBER TO UNMUTE YOURSELF, YOUR MICROPHONES, AND PUT YOUR CAMERA ON SO THAT WE CAN, UM, SEE YOU AND WE WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE TWO MINUTES UP, UM, WHEN YOU DECIDE TO, WHEN YOU ASK TO SPEAK AFTER THIS PRESENTATION.
SO NOW, UM, WE ARE GOING TO BE, UM, OH AND CHAIR, HEY, RAM RAMIREZ.
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? I DO NOT.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, UM, PRESENTATION ON OBO CERTIFICATION PROCESS.
WE HAVE INTERIM DIRECT, UM, DIRECTOR SSTA LENCIA.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR LADY AND TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, AND THE REPRESENTATIVES FOR COUNCIL, UM, REPRESENTING THE OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.
I HAVE VANESSA ALON LEDON, WHO IS OUR DIVISION MANAGER FOR CERTIFICATION AND DESIGNATIONS.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH, THERE'S QUITE A BIT IN YOUR PRESENTATION, UM, BUT IN THE 15 MINUTES, WE'RE GONNA GO FAIRLY QUICKLY, BUT, UM, ANY QUESTIONS WE'LL BE ABLE TO ANSWER.
UM, SO I WANNA START OUT BY SAYING THAT THIS IS, UH, OBOS 40 YEARS OF SERVICE THIS YEAR.
WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR 40 YEARS.
THIS ORDINANCE WAS PUT IN PLACE.
WE ARE GOVERNED BY CHAPTER 15 OF THE CITY'S CODE OF ORDINANCE, WHICH WAS PUT IN PLACE IN 1984, FOLLOWING THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE FEDERAL PROGRAM, WHICH WAS PUT IN PLACE IN 1983.
SO THESE PROGRAMS ARE REALLY, UM, POSITIONED AFTER AND GOVERNED ACCORDINGLY WITH THE DBE PROGRAM, WHICH IS THE FEDERAL PROGRAM.
UM, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW THAT OUR, OUR VISION AND MISSION IS TO ELIMINATE SYSTEMIC BARRIERS, UH, TO PROSPERITY AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN GREATER HOUSTON AREA.
WE DO THAT THROUGH THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS.
BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, I LIKE TO SAY THAT THE CERTIFICATION BEING THE GATEWAY, UH, FOR COMPANIES TO COME IN AND DO, UH, PROVIDE CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UH, ONCE THOSE GOALS ARE SET, WE ALSO WATCH THE COMPLIANCE OF THOSE.
SO THERE'S A LIFELONG PROCESS FOR THESE CERTIFIED FIRMS. WE ARE CURRENTLY, UM, ADMINISTERING AND PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR FOUR LOCAL CERTIFICATIONS.
SO YOU HAVE THE MINORITY, THE WOMEN, UM, WE ALSO HAVE THE SMALL BUSINESS AND AS WELL AS OUR PDBE.
AND SO EACH OF THOSE PROGRAMS ARE SEPARATE CERTIFICATIONS AND SEPARATE, UH, PROCESSES.
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IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ARE ALSO CHARGED WITH ADMINISTERING THE FEDERAL PROGRAM, WHICH INCLUDES THE DBE PROGRAM, THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM, AND THE A-C-D-B-E PROGRAM, WHICH IS THE AIRPORT CONCESSIONS DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS PROGRAMS. THE DIFFERENCE IS THE FEDERAL PROGRAM IS, UH, THROUGH THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.TRADITIONALLY, THAT HAS MOSTLY BEEN AT THE HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM, WHERE WE RECEIVE OUR A IP GRANTS, BUT THERE ARE ALSO, UM, FEDERAL HIGHWAY DOLLARS THAT COME INTO THE CITY FROM TIME TO TIME.
AND WE, WE ANTICIPATE THAT THERE WILL BE INCREASED DBE CONTRACTING BECAUSE OF THE, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE DOLLARS THAT ARE COMING INTO THE CITY.
SO THERE WILL BE INCREASED DBE IN OUR HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
WE ALSO, UM, PROCESS THE CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE STATE HUB PROGRAM.
UM, AS YOU ARE AWARE, THE STATE HAS THE HISTORIC UNUTILIZED BUSINESS PROGRAM.
UM, THE CITY OF HOUSTON PARTNERS WITH THE STATE TO PROCESS THOSE CERTIFICATIONS FOR THEM.
SO AN ENTITY COMING INTO THE CITY OF HOUSTON COULD ACTUALLY REQUEST TO BE AN M-B-E-W-B-S-B.
AND THEN AT THE HUB IN, IF THEY ARE APPROVED FOR THE DMBE OR THE WBE, THEY AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE THE HUB AND ARE ADDED TO THE HUB DIRECTORY.
SO WE ALSO PROCESS THAT APPLICATION SEPARATELY AS WELL.
THE LGBT, UM, BUSINESS ENTERPRISE IS NOT AN, UH, CERTIFICATION THAT WE PROCESS, BUT WE DO RECEIVE THEIR CERTIFICATION FROM THEIR NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND LISTED IN OUR DIRECTORY, THE HIGHER HOUSTON FIRST PROGRAM, WHICH IS A DESIGNATION THAT WAS PUT INTO PLACE UNDER, UH, MAYOR PARKER IS A PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS, UH, FOR LOCAL COMPANIES TO RECEIVE, UH, A PREFERENCE IN CONTRACTING WHEN THEIR PRICING IS COMPETITIVE.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IN LAYMAN TERMS IS IF WE HAVE A CONTRACT THAT GOES OUT TO BID AND, AND, UM, PREFERABLY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, UM, HOUSTON FIRST USES THIS A LOT WHERE THEY GO OUT TO BID AND THERE'S A CHICAGO CONTRACTOR AND THERE'S A HOUSTON CONTRACTOR.
IF THE HOUSTON CONTRACTOR IS IN WITHIN 1% OF THAT, THEN THEY WILL ACTUALLY RECEIVE THAT CONTRACT.
SO, AS A LOCAL PREFERENCE, THERE IS AN APPLICATION FOR THAT AS WELL.
UM, I WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT THE AGENCY UTILIZING OUR CERTIFICATIONS RIGHT NOW.
SO WE ARE THE CERTIFYING AGENT FOR THE SURROUNDING 10 COUNTIES, BUT WE ALSO CERTIFY FOR ALL OUR SISTER AGENCIES WHO ARE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES THAT ALSO PLACE GOALS ON CONTRACTS.
UM, THEY'RE ON, UM, PAGE NINE.
SO YOU'LL SEE OF COURSE, METRO HARRIS HEALTH, HOUSTON FIRST, HOUSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY, FORT BEND, ISD, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, THE EPA PORT OF HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY, HCC, UM, AND KBR.
SOME OF THE, UM, PRIVATE FIRMS SOMETIMES UTILIZE THE CERTIFICATION, BUT WE'RE MOSTLY PUBLIC.
UM, FOR METRO, THEY ONLY USE OUR DBE CERTIFICATION.
SO THE COUNTY MAP SHOWS YOU ALL THE COUNTIES THAT ALSO UTILIZE A CERTIFICATION.
UM, THE REASON WHY THIS IS, IS THERE IS A UNIFIED CERTIFYING PROGRAM THAT ALL ALL STATES HAVE, UM, UNDER THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
UM, THEY THEN SELECT ENTITIES TO HAVE AN MOU WITH TO CERTIFY FOR CERTAIN AREAS.
WE ARE THE CERTIFIER FOR LIKE THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, THEREFORE CERTIFYING FOR NOT JUST HARRIS COUNTY, BUT AUSTIN BRAZORIA, CHAMBERS, FORT BEND, GALVESTON, LIBERTY, MONTGOMERY, SAN JACINTO, AND WALLER COUNTIES.
THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE JUST SHOWS YOU HOW MANY CERTIFICATIONS WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN EACH OF THE CERTIFYING, UM, CERTIFICATION AREAS AND THE DESIGNATIONS.
SO, UM, WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THE CERTIFICATION APPLICATION ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
WHEN YOU ARE COMING ONTO OUR WEBSITE, AND YOU, UM, WILL SEE THE CERTIFICATION APPLICATION PAGE THERE, YOU ARE ABLE TO SELECT THE CERTIFICATION THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR.
IF WE CAN CLICK ON THE UNIFORM CERTIFICATION APPLICATION LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE, PLEASE, HOPEFULLY IT'S GOING TO WORK.
IF IT DOES NOT, UM, THAT LINK WILL LINK YOU TO THE DBE APPLICATION.
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AND WHAT I WANTED TO DEMONSTRATE FOR YOU IS THAT APPLICATION, UM, WHICH WE DO IT IS, UM, ON OUR WEBSITE, WE ALSO HAVE TO TAKE IT IF YOU SEND IT TO US IN PAPER FORMAT.UM, BUT WE ACCEPT THAT APPLICATION.
IT'S ABOUT HOW MANY PAGES, 23 PAGES LONG, UM, EACH OF THOSE ITEMS ON, I THINK IT'S COMING UP.
EACH OF THOSE ITEMS ON THE APPLICATION.
ALSO HAS VERIFYING ITEMS THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRES US TO, NOT JUST, IT'S NOT A CHECKLIST.
WE LITERALLY HAVE TO GO THROUGH P AND WS AND INSURANCES AND TRUST FOR EACH OWNER OF EACH, UH, FIRM.
UM, SO, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR FIRM WERE TO COME IN AND BE A SINGLE OWNER, THAT'S PROBABLY THE SIMPLEST FORM SINGLE LLC UNDER ONE YEAR.
THERE AREN'T A LOT OF DOCUMENTATION TO TURN IN IF YOUR FIRM COMES IN AND YOU HAVE FIVE OWNERS.
UM, AND THEY ARE MIXED MINORITY WOMEN, UH, NON-MINORITY.
EACH OWNER HAS TO BE VETTED SEPARATELY.
SO EACH OWNER'S, UH, INFORMATION HAS TO BE VETTED VIA THE FEDERAL GOER'S QUALIFICATIONS AS WELL AS OUR LOCAL QUALIFICATIONS.
UM, I'M GONNA LET VANESSA KIND OF TALK THROUGH WHAT OUR WORKFLOW LOOKS LIKE FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UM, BUT IF YOU SCROLL DOWN FURTHER, IF YOU KEEP GOING, KEEP GOING.
THIS IS THE ACTUAL APPLICATION.
SO ALL OF THESE, UH, HAVE TO BE COMPLETED IN ITS ENTIRETY.
UM, IN EACH OF THESE, THERE'S A CHECKLIST, LIKE AT THE END OF ALL THE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE UPLOADED ALONG WITH THIS APPLICATION, UM, WHICH IS PART OF OUR SCREENING PROCESS.
BEFORE WE CAN BEGIN TO REVIEW, UM, I KIND OF OF LOOK AT IT LIKE WE ARE, UM, THE IRS, UM, AND SO IT'S NOT A, UM, AN AUTOMATED FUNCTION BECAUSE WE HAVE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND DELVE INTO, UM, HOW MONEY FLOWS, HOW OWNERSHIP CHANGES, HOW OWNERSHIP IS RELATED.
THE PERCENTAGES ALL HAVE TO BE CALCULATED, SO IT'S A VERY IN-DEPTH, UH, PROCESS.
SO I'LL LET VANESSA, UM, GET INTO THAT.
AND THAT WILL BE THE NEXT SLIDE.
GOOD AFTERNOON CERTIFICATION PROCESSES AS FOLLOWED.
SO WE HAVE AN INTAKE PROCESS, UH, WHICH IS TWO FULL-TIME, UH, EMPLOYEES NOW WHO SCREEN EVERY APPLICATION THAT COMES IN.
UH, THEY SCREEN 720 APPLICATIONS.
UH, WHAT SCREENING LOOKS LIKE, IT'S LOOKING AT EACH PAGE, MAKING SURE IT'S COMPLETE, AS WELL AS THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS NEEDED TO, UH, PROCESS THAT APPLICATION ACCORDING TO ITS BUSINESS STRUCTURE.
ONCE THAT APPLICATION IS AT 80% COMPLETENESS, UH, DEEMED BY THAT INTAKE TEAM, IT IS ASSIGNED TO A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR.
OUR CERTIFICATION SPECIALIST, UH, 80% COMPLETE.
LOOKS LIKE, UH, MOST OF THE DOCUMENTS ARE THERE ENOUGH, UH, FOR A BDC TO START.
ITS, UH, THEIR ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION, WHICH MEANS LOOKING AT THE FINANCIALS, UH, THE DESK AUDIT, UH, PERFORMING AN INTERVIEW IF NEEDED.
AND ONCE EVERYTHING IS, UH, THERE FOR THEIR REVIEW, A RECOMMENDATION TO COMMITTEE THOSE FILES, THEN CIRCLE DOWN TO THE COMMITTEE, WHICH IS TWO.
AND WHAT WE DO IN COMMITTEE IS REVIEW THOSE APPLICATIONS ACCORDING TO THE PROGRAMS THAT THEY ARE APPLYING FOR.
MAKE THE DETERMINATION BASED OFF OF THE, UH, REQUIREMENTS, WHETHER IT IS 49 CFR, PART 26, PART 23, OR THE CITY OF, UH, HOUSTON CODE OF ORDINANCE.
WE EITHER ISSUED THE APPROVALS OR A TENTATIVE DENIAL.
AND IN FY 24, WE DID 523 DECISIONS.
AND SO TO PUT THAT PROCESS WITH OUR, UH, FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, UH, APPLICATIONS COMING IN, AND THEN IT GOES TO THAT INTAKE TEAM AND TOGETHER THEY SCREEN, UH, THAT, UH, OVER 800 SIGNED TO EACH BDC RIGHT NOW.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THOSE BDCS, YOU SEE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT BLUES, UH, YOU'LL SEE TWO AT THE BOTTOM AND THOSE TWO AT THE BOTTOM.
UH, ONE IS IN, UH, MILITARY LEAVE UNTIL THE END OF 2025.
SO, UH, HE'S NOT WITH US RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN WE HAVE ONE THAT IS ACTUALLY LEAVING THIS WEEK.
SO WE ARE DOWN TO SEVEN BDCS PROCESSING EVERY APPLICATION THAT'S IN OUR OFFICE RIGHT NOW.
THEN IT FLOWS DOWN TO THAT COMMITTEE, WHICH IS TWO OF US, WHICH IS THE, UH, DIVISION MANAGER AND SUPERVISOR RIGHT NOW.
AND WE MAKE THOSE DECISIONS ON THOSE CERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS, WHICH MEANS WE EITHER APPROVE THOSE
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AND CIRCLE IT BACK DOWN TO THE INTAKE TEAM TO MAKE THE APPROVAL, OR WE DRAFT THE TENTATIVE DENIAL LETTER TO SEND OUT TO THE APPLICANTS.NEXT SLIDE, WE HAVE OUR TEAM THAT DOES THE RENEWALS, AND THAT IS A TOTAL OF THREE PEOPLE, BUT YOU'LL SEE TWO FULL-TIME BECAUSE THERE IS ONE FULL-TIME PERSON WORKING ON RENEWALS AS WELL AS A PERSON IN OUR INTAKE TEAM.
HALF OF HIS TIME IS DEVOTED TO RENEWALS AS WELL AS, UH, ONE OF OUR BDCS WHO IS DOING HIGHER HOUSTON FIRST AND ALSO RENEWALS.
AND SO THAT TOTALS, UH, IN OUR OPINION TOO, FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, THEY RECEIVE THOSE APPLICATIONS AND CREATE THOSE RECORDS.
UH, RIGHT NOW IS THAT M-B-E-W-B-E-S-B-E-P-D-B-E-A-C-D-B-E AND THE HUB.
SO A TOTAL SEVEN, REVIEW ALL THOSE ACCORDING TO THOSE REQUIREMENTS.
UPDATE ANY LICENSURE, UH, RUN THE FINANCIALS TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE STILL UNDER THE SBA SIDE STANDARD.
AND THEN IF THERE'S ANY CHANGES IN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE MUST BE ASSIGNED TO BDC FOR REVIEW, UH, TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE STILL ELIGIBLE FOR CERTIFICATION.
AND ONCE EVERYTHING IS COMPLETED, THEY DO THE UPDATE, SEND OUT EVERY LETTER THAT GOES OUT TO THOSE APPLICANTS.
SO THIS SLIDE HERE JUST SHOWS YOU GUYS THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THAT WE HAVE, UH, AS FAR AS DESIGNATIONS A LITTLE BIT OVER THREE 30 FOR THE LOCAL PROGRAM.
AND THEN OUR FEDERAL PROGRAM IS 76, UH, APPLICANTS ONCE CERTIFIED CAN EXPAND THEIR CAPABILITIES.
AND SO THOSE MUST BE REVIEWED BY CERTIFICATION SPECIALISTS AS WELL.
WE HAVE ABOUT 25 OF THOSE PENDING RENEWAL APPLICATIONS RIGHT NOW IS THREE A HUNDRED, I'M SORRY, 136.
AND WE HAVE ABOUT 70,000 DECISION RIGHT NOW.
AND TOWARDS THE BOTTOM OF THAT PAGE, YOU GUYS SEE WE HAVE A LITTLE OVER 330 APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN STARTED BY APPLICANTS AND CAN BE TRIGGERED AND SENT TO US AT ANY TIME, AS WELL AS THAT'S THE LOCAL PROGRAM.
BUT FOR THE DBE PROGRAM, WE HAVE 56 STARTED AND COULD BE TRIGGERED AND SENT TO US AT ANY TIME.
YOU GUYS SEE TWO PROCESSING TIMES IN FRONT OF YOU, UH, FROM THE TIME A APPLICATION IS RECEIVED UNTIL THE DECISION IS MADE FOR FFY 2025.
UH, FIRST QUARTER IS 138 DAYS FOR THE DBE PROGRAM.
WE ARE TASKED WITH PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FROM THE DAY APPLICATION IS COMPLETE, WHICH MEANS THAT ALL THE DOCUMENTS ARE THERE UNTIL THE DECISION IS MADE.
AND THEN OUR CERTIFICATION UPDATES ARE AVERAGING AT 44 DAYS.
AND THEN I HIRED HOUSTON FIRST DESIGNATIONS, UH, RIGHT NOW IN FFY 20, UH, 23, I'M SORRY, IN FY 23, WE PROCESS, WE RECEIVE 503 APPLICATIONS AND APPROVED 4 35 FY 24.
WE RECEIVE 681 APPROVED, 5 72, AND WE HAVE 186 PENDING, UH, PROCESSING IN HIGHER HOUSTON FIRST.
UM, SO THE NEXT SLIDE WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS OF COUNCIL MEMBER ASKED US TO ADDRESS THINGS THAT ARE IMPACTING OUR TIMELINE.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, IT'S THE VOLUME.
WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLY HIGH VOLUME.
WE ARE THE SECOND LARGEST CERTIFIER OUTSIDE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS HUB.
AND SO WE CERTIFY MORE FIRMS AND RECEIVED MORE APPLICATIONS THAN ANY CITY OR COUNTY IN THE STATE.
SO OUR VOLUME IN FY 23 WAS 810 NEW APPLICATIONS, WHICH WAS A 9% INCREASE FROM 22.
UM, AND OUR VOLUME IN FY 24 WAS 911 NEW APPLICATIONS, WHICH WAS A 12.35 INCREASE FROM FY 23.
AND SO YOU HAVE CERTIFIED FIRMS. SO WE HAVE OVER 5,800 CERTIFIED FIRMS. THOSE FIRMS ALSO HAVE TO BE RENEWED BI-ANNUALLY TO ENSURE THAT THEY'RE STILL MEETING SBA STANDARDS, THAT THEIR OWNERSHIP HAS NOT CHANGED, THAT THEY STILL MEET THE FUNCTIONAL MISSION, AND THAT, THAT THEY'RE STILL PERFORMING A COMMERCIAL USE OF FUNCTION IN THE NAS COASTS THAT THEY WERE CERTIFIED IN.
SO THOSE RENEWALS ARE ALSO A 50.
WE HAD A 55% INCREASE BECAUSE WE CERTIFIED MORE FIRMS. AND SO THERE WERE FOUR MORE FIRMS TO RENEW.
UM, AND FY 24, YOU'LL SEE THAT WAS 2,586.
UM, ADDITIONAL, UM, THINGS THAT BDCS RUN INTO IS EXPANSION REQUESTS.
AND SO IN ADDITION TO WORKING ON YOUR NEW APPLICATIONS, WORKING ON YOUR RENEWALS, A FIRM CAN COME IN AT ANY TIME AND SAY, I WANNA EXPAND, UH, MY CERTIFICATION.
I WANT TO ADD A CERTIFICATION.
UM, AND SO WE DO ALL ALONG THE
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YEAR HAVE EXPANSION REQUESTS THAT COME IN ON A DAILY BASIS, UM, CHANGES IN CIRCUMSTANCE, UM, CHANGES IN OWNERSHIP, MERGERS, JOINT VENTURES.UM, SOMEONE PASSES AWAY JUST RECENTLY HAD A FIRM WHERE THE HUSBAND, UH, BECAME ILL.
HE THEN, UM, SOLD HIS SHARES OR UM, GAVE OWNERSHIP OVER TO HIS WIFE.
UM, ALL OF THIS HAS TO BE VETTED, UH, ONCE OVER AGAIN TO ENSURE THAT THE OWNERSHIP IS INDEED IN THE PERSON WHO GAVE IT TO, AND THEY STILL MEET THE STANDARDS TO BE A MINORITY WOMAN OWNED BUSINESS.
THAT MAY CHANGE DEPENDING ON A PERCENTAGE OF OWNERSHIP.
UM, SO AS CHANGES IN OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT CONTROL, GENERAL INQUIRIES, UM, AND SO THAT CAN BE ANYTHING, UM, OUTSIDE.
AND SO ON THE COMPLIANCE SIDE, WE MAY BE MONITORING A CONTRACT AND REALIZE THAT THE OWNERSHIP HAS CHANGED SINCE THEY'VE STARTED ON THE CITY OF HOUSTON CONTRACT.
UM, THE CERTIFICATION, THE COMPLIANCE TEAM WILL NOTIFY THE CERTIFICATION TEAM.
THEY WILL PULL OUT THE CURRENT DOCUMENTS FROM THAT FIRM AND FIND OUT IF THEY'RE STILL CERTIFIED TO PARTICIPATE ON, UH, FOR A GOAL.
WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO SAY, OH, I KNOW JOHNNY IS NOT A MINORITY, OR, I KNOW SUSIE, UH, SHE REALLY DOESN'T OWN THAT FIRM.
HER HUSBAND DOES, SO IT SHOULDN'T BE A WBE.
WE INVESTIGATE EACH OF THOSE AND THAT ALSO GOES BACK TO THE CERTIFICATION TEAM TO, UM, TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT THAT INQUIRY.
UM, THE SECOND THING, NEXT SLIDE.
THERE'S A HUGE FACTOR IS BASICALLY STAFFING.
UM, CURRENTLY, UM, OUR STAFFING IS THE LOWEST PAID CERTIFIERS IN THIS REGION.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE A HIGH TURNOVER RATE, VERY HIGH.
UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY PAYING, OUR CERTIFIERS COME IN AT 51,000.
WE JUST LOST ONE TO THE PORT OF HOUSTON LAST WEEK FOR 70,000.
METRO PAYS 70,000 STATE OF HOUSTON HUB PAYS 81 5.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THIS CYCLE OF HIRING.
UM, IT'S THE LONGEST, WELL, WE MAY HAVE PEOPLE, WELL, VANESSA'S THE LONGEST 17 YEARS.
BUT, UM, GENERALLY PEOPLE STICK WITH US FOR TWO OR THREE YEARS.
I FEEL LIKE WE'RE LITERALLY TRAINING, UM, THE INDUSTRY'S PEOPLE AND THEN, UM, THEY FLIP OVER TO ANOTHER ORGANIZATION.
SO WE DEAL A LOT WITH RETRAINING.
UH, RETRAINING IS EXTENSIVE BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE REGULATIONS.
IT TAKES ABOUT SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS TO GET SOMEONE UP SO THAT THEY CAN TAKE A FULL LOAD.
AND THEN STAFF WORKLOAD OF COURSE, UM, ALSO ADDS TO OUR RETENTION.
A COUPLE OF IMPROVEMENTS REALLY FAST.
UM, WE HAVE WORKED ON ACTUALLY ONLY HAVING INTERVIEWS WHEN NECESSARY FOREGOING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS UNLESS THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY QUESTIONABLE.
WE ARE REQUIRED TO DO THE SITE VISIT FOR DBE FOR FEDERAL REGULATIONS.
BUT ON THE LOCAL PROGRAM, WE DECIDED TO FOREGO THAT.
UM, SITE VISITS ONLY FOR DBES.
UM, DENIALS ARE IN, UM, ISSUED IMMEDIATELY DUE TO, UM, SIZE AND LICENSURE.
SO WE DON'T EVEN PASS THAT ON.
WE REDUCED TO ONE POINT OF CONTACT BEFORE WE WERE LIKE FOLLOWING UP WITH PEOPLE FOLLOWING UP ASKING QUESTIONS, SENIOR INFORMATION, WHICH REALLY JUST INCREASE THE BACKLOG AND THE TIMELINE.
SO NOW WE DO, UM, ONE CONTACT, UM, VERSUS THE THREE.
UM, WE ACTUALLY DO A CHANGE REQUEST.
UM, OTHER THAN OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT CONTROL, WE ARE PROCESS BY OUR INTAKE, SO IT DOESN'T HAVE TO GO TO A BDC.
UM, AND ANY OF OUR INTERSTATE TRANSFERS, THE DBE PROGRAM CHANGED THEIR REGULATIONS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH A WHOLE NEW APPLICATION PROCESS.
IF YOU ARE ALREADY DB CERTIFIED IN ANOTHER STATE, WE AUTOMATICALLY TAKE THAT TRANSFER.
SO THAT IS SOME OF WHAT WE'RE DOING.
WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT, UM, CHANGING SOME.
OUR POLICIES HAVE NOT BEEN, WELL, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ACCORDING TO THE ORDINANCE HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED IN MANY YEARS.
UM, AND WE'VE NOTICED THAT A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING SINCE THE PANDEMIC EVEN HAS CHANGED.
AND ONE OF THOSE IS LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, PERSONS WORKING FROM HOME AND PEOPLE HAVING HOME OWNED BUSINESS, UM, PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, NOT HEARD OF SO FREQUENTLY.
BUT NOW WE HAVE A LOT OF THAT, BUT OUR CURRENT ORDINANCES THAT DO NOT ALLOW FOR THAT.
SO WE ARE NEEDING TO UPDATE SOME OF THOSE PROVISIONS.
SO WE ARE LOOKING AT THAT, UM, IMPROVING SALARIES.
WE HOPE THAT WE'LL, ONE DAY WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT AND ONE DAY WE'LL HAVE ADDITIONAL FTES.
BUT UNTIL THEN, WE UM, WOULD LIKE TO CHARGE FOR OUR PROCESSING FEES.
UM, EVERYTHING IS FREE SO WHEN IT'S FREE, EVERYBODY WANT TO DO IT.
UM, AND SO WE THINK THAT IF WE STARTED TO CHARGE A FEE, UM, IT'LL ALSO BRING REVENUE SO THAT WE CAN HOPEFULLY GET ADDITIONAL STAFF, BUT THAT WILL ALSO JUST DETER PEOPLE FROM DOING IT TO DO IT.
UM, WE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO CHARGE AN EXPEDITING FEE.
CURRENTLY WE DON'T EXPEDITE, BUT JUST IT'S NOT FAIR.
SOMEBODY'S BEEN SITTING THERE FOR SIX MONTHS TO EXPEDITE 'CAUSE YOU PUT IT IN LAST WEEK.
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UM, AND SO AN EXPEDITING FEE MIGHT BE PART OF THAT.UM, AN OUT OF JURISDICTION FEE FOR FIRMS OUT OF OUR 10 COUNTY JURISDICTION.
THAT HAPPENS, UH, MORE FREQUENTLY WITH THE DBE PROGRAM.
UM, CHARGING A FEE FOR THAT OUT OF JURISDICTION.
UM, ALSO ADOPTING A FAILURE TO COOPERATE POLICY IS SOMETHING THAT THE DBE PROGRAM HAS, BUT THE LOCAL PROGRAM DOES NOT, WOULD EXPEDITE SOME OF OUR REVIEWS.
WHEN YOU DON'T SEND INFORMATION IN A CERTAIN TIMEFRAME, WE JUST AUTOMATICALLY DENY IT AND CLOSE IT.
UM, AND THEN ACCEPTING CORE FINDINGS FROM OTHER D UH, DBE PROGRAMS, TUCP PROGRAMS AND THE PRIVATE ENTITIES WILL ALSO SPEED UP OUR PROCESS.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WE'RE THINKING OF MOVING STAFF AND DESIGNATING STAFF OR STREAMLINED APPLICATIONS FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN BUSINESS UNDER A YEAR.
SINGLE, SINGLE OWNER, UM, CAN GO TO ONE STAFF PERSON TO HAVE THEM PROCESS THOSE QUICKER THAN THE ONES THAT ARE MORE COMPLICATED.
THEY HAVE THEM ALL MIXED IN TOGETHER.
UM, AND SO WE'RE THINKING THAT THOSE WILL BE HELPFUL AS WELL.
THAT IS, UM, ME RUSHING THROUGH THIS.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, UM, DIRECTOR FOR, UM, THE PRESENTATION.
AND, UM, BEFORE WE GO INTO QUESTIONS, I WANNA RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE VICE MAYOR, UM, PRO TEM PECK HAS JOINED US IN CHAMBERS AND COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN HAS JOINED US IN CAME, UM, CHAMBERS.
AND WE ALSO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER, UM, IS ONLINE.
AND SO I I THANK YOU FOR THE PRESS BECAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE CONCERNS.
UM, WE'RE HEARING FROM, UM, BUSINESSES THE THE TIME THAT IT TAKES TO GET THE CERTIFICATION.
AND SO I GUESS YOU EXPLAINED IT THAT IT'S STAFF, RIGHT? UM, AND THEN THE OTHER PERSON I WAS GONNA ASK IS ABOUT FEES.
YOU KNOW, HOW ARE WE PAYING FOLLOW THIS? AND YOU ANSWERED THAT WE DO NOT CHARGE FEES.
AND SO, UM, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF AGENCIES THAT USE OUR CERTIFICATIONS LIKE METRO, UM, HARRIS HEALTH.
DO THEY HAVE THEIR OWN PROCESS OR DO THEY RELY ON OUR, UM, PROCESS? THEY HAVE, UM, DEPENDING ON THE AGENCY, THEY WILL HAVE A SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE THE, UH, THEY UTILIZE OUR MINORITY WOMEN AND OF COURSE OUR DBE CERTIFICATIONS.
AND SO ARE YOU ABLE TO TRACK LIKE THE NUMBER OF, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE AGENCIES THAT, OR WHEN PEOPLE GET THESE CERTIFICATIONS, THEY TAKE 'EM TO OTHER, YOU KNOW, TO GET OTHER CONTRACTS? HOW OFTEN, YOU KNOW, DO THEY, SO, UH, AS YOU'RE AWARE, I'VE BEEN IN THIS POST ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS AND SO THAT IS ONE OF MY QUESTIONS AS WELL.
AND SO WE ARE LOOKING AT, UM, HAVING A WAY TO TRACK THAT UPON APPLICATION.
LIKE WHY ARE YOU, ARE YOU GETTING CERTIFIED FOR A CERTAIN AGENCY? UM, THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO REPORT BACK TO US AND WE'VE ASKED FOR IT.
SO WE GET IT FROM SOME PEOPLE, NOT OTHERS.
UM, SO WE DO NOT HAVE THOSE NUMBERS.
I'M GONNA HAVE SOME MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I'M GONNA YES, MA'AM.
UM, TURN IT OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN.
AND I'M SORRY FOR EVERY TIME I'VE CALLED AND SAID, WHY IS THIS CERTIFICATION TAKING SO LONG? IT'S VERY CLEAR WHY THE CERTIFICATION'S TAKING SO LONG, UH, ON THE, ON THE RECOMMENDATION.
SOMETHING THAT, UM, THE CHAIR WAS JUST ASKING ABOUT.
AND I KNOW YOU'RE COMING NEXT WEEK, I THINK, TO A JOINT BFA AND SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE WHERE YOU'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT POTENTIALLY, UM, CHARGING THESE OTHER ENTITIES FOR USING OUR SERVICE.
ALL THESE OTHER PEOPLE AND COUNTIES AND EVERYBODY ARE RELYING ON US, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'VE GOT ZERO SKIN IN THIS GAME.
UM, TO, TO HELP US WITH STAFF AND THE SALARY.
I MEAN, EVERYBODY'S GONNA LEAVE.
I MEAN THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, WE GOTTA DO THAT.
I'LL DO EVERYTHING ON YOUR PAGE 22, UM,
I MEAN THAT'S, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO, UH, YOU, YOU'VE LAID IT OUT VERY, UM, SUCCINCTLY AND, AND THESE PRO THESE PROGRAMS ARE COMPLEX.
I, I AM REALLY GLAD THAT IT WORKED FOR YOU TO PULL UP THE APPLICATION 'CAUSE IT HELPED TO SEE IT.
I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY LOOKED THROUGH EVERY, I MEAN, THREE YEARS OF TAX RETURN.
I MEAN, YOU GUYS ARE CHECKING A LOT OF STUFF FOR, FOR EVERY SINGLE OWNER OF THESE COMPANIES.
AND THEN ON RENEWALS YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN.
AND, UH, AND WHY, WHY IS THAT THAT, UM, CHARGING THE OTHER ENTITIES NOT ON ONE OF YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS? I MEAN, YOU HAVE CHARGING, I'M ASSUMING YOU MEAN CHARGING THE PROCESSING FEE TO THE, UM, TO THE ACTUAL, TO THE APPLICANT.
BUT, BUT OUR, BUT I MEAN, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT WEEK, SO I DON'T WANNA GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES NEXT, IT'S NEXT WEEK, BUT WE, WE'LL DO THAT NEXT WEEK.
BUT, BUT WE NEED TO GET SOME, UM, WE NEED, IF, IF WE WANT THIS PROGRAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL, WE WANT TO GET A LOT OF PEOPLE IN AND OPERATING SUCCESSFULLY.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT EVERYBODY THAT USES, THAT RELIES ON OUR CITY OF HOUSTON EMPLOYEES TO, TO, TO MAKE THESE DETERMINATIONS, UM, HAS TO HELP PAY FOR IT.
UM, NEXT WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, YOU MENTIONED YOU HAD A HIGH TURNOVER RATE.
WHAT IS THE ANNUALIZED RATE? UH, I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK WITH
[00:30:01]
YOUR EXACT NUMBERS.'CAUSE WE WERE ACTUALLY STAFFED AT 99%, UM, UP UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO.
SO RIGHT NOW, UM, I'LL SEE WHAT IT HAS BEEN FOR THE LAST YEAR.
UM, I DO KNOW THAT COMING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC, OF COURSE WE WERE UNDERSTAFFED REALLY GREATLY.
UM, WHEN I CAME IN, UM, WE WERE AT ABOUT 60%, UM, STAFFING ACROSS THE BOARD WITH COMPLIANCE, CERTIFICATION, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS.
WE HAVE VACANCIES ALL ACROSS THE BOARD.
UH, WE WORK VERY DILIGENTLY WITH HR AND THE MANAGERS DID TO GET IN QUALIFIED STAFF.
UM, AND LIKE I SAID, PEOPLE USUALLY STAY WITH US AN AVERAGE OF TWO YEARS AND THEN WE START SEEING THE FLIGHT.
UM, THEY GO TO OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS PAY THE SAME TITLE MORE.
SO OUR COMPLIANCE OFFICERS USUALLY GET TRAINED AND THEY GO TO HOUSING, THEY GO TO AIRPORT, THEY GO TO EACH OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT CAN PAY THEM 10 OR 15,000 MORE.
UH, IT'S JUST THAT BIG OF A SPREAD.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE A VERY HARD TIME HOLDING ON THE STAFF.
UM, WE HAVE REALLY GOOD PEOPLE.
IT TAKES, UH, A LOT OF ENERGY TO TRAIN PEOPLE.
SO IT'S REALLY DISHEARTENING AFTER YOU TRAIN SOMEBODY FOR 11, VANESSA SPEAK TO THAT SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS 'CAUSE SHE TRAINS HER STAFF, UM, AND THEY FINALLY GET IT.
AND THEN SOMEBODY LIKE THE PORT SAYS, HEY, WE GOT 70,000.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR CURRENT HEAD COUNT IS? UH, WE WERE AT 47.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY YOU'VE HAD QUIT IN THE LAST YEAR? NO, BUT I CAN GET THAT BACK TO YOU.
YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT COMPLAINTS WHERE SOMEBODY'S CALLING IN SAYING, HEY, THEY'VE GOT MWBE CERTIFICATION, THEY'RE NOT REALLY MWBE.
HOW MANY OF THOSE YOU ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE AND FIND THAT THE COMPLAINANT WAS CORRECT, THAT THEY WEREN'T REALLY.
SO IF I HAD TO, UH, TALK ABOUT THE LAST YEAR, UH, IF CONTRACT COMPLIANCE CAME WITH A, A CONCERN, SO NOT NECESSARILY A COMPLAINT, BUT A CONCERN THAT OWNERSHIP HAS CHANGED OR MAYBE SOMEONE IN GSD AS, UH, SAYING THAT THIS IS A OWNER VERSUS THE OWNER WE HAVE OF RECORD.
UH, WE WOULDN'T, UH, IN THE LAST YEAR, I WOULD SAY WE FOUND ZERO, IF THAT TO BE TRUE.
UH, NOW OVER MY LAST 17 YEARS, WE HAVE FOUND THAT THAT HAS, UH, HAPPENED, THE OWNERSHIP HAS CHANGED, HAS NOT BEEN REPORTED TO US, BUT MAYBE ANOTHER CITY DEPARTMENT AND IT'S RAISED A CONCERN.
UM, AND SO WE DO HAVE TO INVESTIGATE THOSE.
AND I WOULD SAY OVER THE LAST 17 YEARS, PROBABLY FIVE, WE'VE HAD TO TAKE ACTION ON TWO, SUSPEND OR REMOVE THE CERTIFICATION.
DO YOU EVER FIND THEM WHERE SOMEBODY CALLS IN A COMPLAINT AND SAYS, HEY, THE WIFE'S NAME IS ON THE BUSINESS, BUT SHE DOESN'T WORK IN THE BUSINESS.
IT'S THE HUSBAND THAT'S DOING IT.
DO WE GET THOSE? SO, OH, SO I THINK SHE WANNA ANSWER.
WE ALSO GET THOSE ON A, UM, SO WE ALSO HEAR APPEALS AND SO IT'S THE DIRECTOR'S, UM, JOB TO HEAR ANY OF THEIR DENIALS.
SO I DIDN'T ADD THIS ON HERE, BUT BECAUSE THAT'S ME AND NOT THE CERTIFICATION TEAM, UH, WHENEVER THERE'S A DENIAL, YOU DO HAVE TIME TO APPEAL.
WE HAVE QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WHO APPEAL.
UM, AND IT'S USUALLY THAT CASE WHERE SOMEONE DOES NOT HAVE THE EXPERTISE.
THEY'RE THE BACK OFFICE PERSON, BUT THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN 51% OWNERSHIP SO THAT THEY CAN SAY THAT THEY OWN THE BUSINESS AND THOSE APPEALS COME TO THE DIRECTOR.
AND THAT'S A FINAL DETERMINATION.
SO WE DO HAVE THOSE INSTANCES AS WELL.
SO WE HAVE PEOPLE COMING FROM OUTSIDE THE CITY OF HOUSTON TO GET QUALIFIED.
UM, FOR THE DBE PROGRAM, YOU ARE ABLE TO WORK ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, ALL OVER THE STATE AS WELL.
SO COMPANIES CAN QUALIFY FOR THE FEDERAL PROGRAM AND COME IN AND UTILIZE THEIR CERTIFICATION.
HERE IS JUST AN INTERSTATE TRANSFER AT THIS POINT.
I, I WOULD THINK ENTITIES OUTSIDE THE CITY WOULD BE A PRIME ONE TO CHARGE FOR YES.
SINCE THEY'RE NOT PAYING TAXES IN THE CITY.
NEXT WE HAVE A COMMENT FROM COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ.
UH, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
I WAS WONDERING, DO EACH OF THESE CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRE RENEWAL EVERY TWO YEARS OR DOES IT VARY? UH, THE LOCAL PROGRAM, M-W-S-B-E AND PDBE IS EVERY THREE YEARS.
AND THAT D-B-E-A-C-D-B-E IS ANNUAL.
AND, AND THERE WAS MENTION THAT, UH, WE LOSE PEOPLE TO OTHER ENTITIES THAT WILL PAY MORE FOR THE EMPLOYEES TO DO THE SAME WORK.
I'M CURIOUS, WHEN A FIRM APPLIES FOR A CERTIFICATION,
[00:35:01]
UM, DO THEY ONLY HAVE TO APPLY TO ONE AGENCY OR DO YOU FIND THAT SOMETIMES THEY APPLY TO MULTIPLE AGENCIES FOR THE CERTIFICATION? I'LL CLARIFY ONE PART THAT THEY'RE USUALLY NOT DOING THE SAME WORK.THEY'RE DOING LESS WORK FOR MORE MONEY.
UM, AND SO YES, WE ARE THE CERTIFYING AGENTS.
SO WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS, UH, VETTING THEM AND LISTING THEM IN THEIR DI THEIR, THEIR DIRECTORY.
THEY'RE ALSO DOING SUPPLIER DIVERSITY, TRYING TO GET MORE FIRMS TO COME ON TO DO THEIR CONTRACTING.
SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT WORK.
UH, THEY CALL THEM CERTIFYING SPECIALISTS BECAUSE THEY TAKE THE CERTIFICATIONS AND LIST THEM.
UM, BUT THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO LESS WORK, UM, THAN THEY DO HERE AT THE CITY OF HOUSTON FOR MORE MONEY.
BUT LET ME, LET ME ASK YOU ALSO, LET'S SAY SOMEONE COMES IN AND THEY WANT TO TRY TO GET, UH, MBE CERTIFIED.
IS IT POSSIBLE THEY MIGHT ALSO SIMULTANEOUSLY BE GOING TO METRO OR THE PORT TO TRY TO GET MBE CERTIFIED OVER THERE? SO IN OTHER WORDS, IS THERE REDUNDANCY AMONG, AMONGST SOME OF THESE, UM, ENTITIES OR NOT? SO WE HAVE, UH, CITY OF HOUSTON HAS THE, UH, THE M-B-E-W-B-E, WELL, THE PORT AND METRO HAVE AN SBE PROGRAM ONLY.
ANY OTHER ENTITIES AROUND DO THE MBE CERTIFICATION? SO THERE IS THE HOUSTON MINORITY SUPPLY DIVERSITY COUNCIL, THAT'S A PRIVATE, UH, AND IT'S FOR PRIVATE CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES, UH, YOU DO HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT CERTIFICATION VERSUS OURS, WHICH IS FREE.
SO, SO IF, IF A FIRM WANTS TO BECOME MBE CERTIFIED IS, AND THEY'RE IN HOUSTON OR HARRIS COUNTY, IS THE CITY OF HOUSTON THEIR ONLY OPTION OR DO THEY HAVE OTHER OPTIONS ASIDE FROM THAT PRIVATE OUTFIT YOU MENTIONED OUTSIDE OF H-M-S-D-C? IT'S THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AND IF YOU WANT TO DO WORK WITH CITY OF HOUSTON, OUR MBE, UH, WE PROGRAM GOALS, THEN IT'S OUR CERTIFICATION, NOT H-M-S-D-C.
AND WHAT IS THE, WHAT'S THE FEE FOR THE APPLICATIONS, UH, FOR H-M-S-D-C? SO SLIDE AND SCALE STARTING AT MINIMUM 400 BASED OFF OF YOUR GROSS RECEIPTS ALL THE WAY UP TO 1400 DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU'RE MAKING.
HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK WE RAISED FROM THE FEES FOR US? WE DID AN ESTIMATE.
UH, SO WE BASED IT OFF OF FY 23 AND 24.
IT, UH, UNFORTUNATELY IN ANOTHER PRESENTATION, I'M SORRY.
UM, I HAVE TO GET THAT TO YOU.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO SET THE FEES TO WHERE IT PAYS FOR THE PROGRAM OR NOT? THERE, THERE ARE OTHER FEES.
THERE ARE OTHER FEES THAT WE COULD ALSO ASSESS.
UM, SOME THINGS THAT WE HAVE TOSSED AROUND IS, UH, FEES TO UTILIZE OUR B TWO G PLATFORM, WHICH IS, WOULD COME ON OUR COMPLIANCE SIDE.
UM, AND SO, UM, IF YOU'RE A PRIME CONTRACTOR, YOU NEED TO UPLOAD, YOU NEED TO CONFIRM PAYMENTS, YOU NEED TO ENTER PAYMENTS.
CURRENTLY THEY'RE JUST GIVEN THAT ACCESS.
WE ARE THINKING OF THEM PAYING FOR THAT ACCESS IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WHICH WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE PROGRAM.
UM, THERE ARE FEES FOR SOME OF OUR MEDIATION.
YOU, UM, WE ALSO PROVIDE MEDIATION TO FIRMS THAT HAVE COMPLAINTS OR ISSUES WITH, UM, PRIME CONTRACTORS.
AND THAT COSTS QUITE A BIT OF STAFF TIME.
UM, WE ARE THINKING OF CHARGING FOR MEDIATION, UM, BECAUSE WE, THEY ARE CERTIFIED MEDIATORS AND THAT PROCESS IS QUITE LENGTHY.
UM, SO THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO ALSO SHORE UP, UH, THE OFFICE ITSELF.
I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT SLIDE 14.
IT'S, THAT'S THE ONE THAT SAYS THE PROCESS STAFF FLOW ON THE FAR LEFT APPLICATIONS RECEIVE NINE 11.
IS THAT APPLICATIONS OF ALL TYPES? THAT IS THE, THAT IS, YES.
AND IF I COULD JUST FINISH OR UNLESS SOMEBODY ELSE IS IN THE QUEUE.
WHAT YOU HAVE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER.
OKAY, I'LL, I'LL, UH, DEFER TO OKAY.
UM, SO IS THIS FY 24 OR WHAT PERIOD OF TIME IS THIS? SO THIS IS, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE, I BELIEVE WE PULLED THIS BASED OFF OF FY EVERY, ALL THE, THAT IS BASED OFF OF FY 24.
AND WHAT THE BDCS, WHEN YOU SEE THE BDCS, THIS IS WHAT THEY HAD IN INVENTORY.
I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS, IS IT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED 9, 911 AND FFY 24, BUT IN FFY 24, WE ONLY REACHED 523 DECISIONS? YES.
INCLUDING DENIALS? INCLUDING DENIALS, YES.
SO WE'RE LOSING GROUND SUBSTANTIALLY.
AND IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE, UH, STAFF TURNOVER? SO WE HAVE, YOU SEE THE SEVEN THERE IN FRONT OF YOU, TWO OF THOSE, UH, WERE HIRED IN DECEMBER OF, UH, 2023 AND DID NOT TAKE AN INVENTORY UNTIL APRIL, MAY OF THIS YEAR.
[00:40:01]
UH, GAINING GROUND AND CATCHING UP SPEED WITH OTHER BDCS, BUT THEY'RE, UH, THERE'S A BIT OF A LEARNING CURVE AND, AND SO THEY HAVEN'T BUILT UP THE CONFIDENCE TO SUBMIT FILES TO COMMITTEE.AND IT JUST TAKES TIME WITH THIS TYPE OF WORK.
AND OUR MILITARY VACANCY IS UNTIL 2025, SO WE HOPE THAT HE'LL BE BACK NOVEMBER, 2025.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER KAMAN, THANK YOU, DIRECTOR TO THE ENTIRE TEAM.
UM, I THINK TO COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER QUESTION ABOUT, UH, WHAT YOU HAVE DISCOVERED, AND THAT'S SUCH A SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT ABIDING.
I THINK THAT SPEAKS TO THE DILIGENCE THAT YOUR OFFICE DOES THROUGH THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS AND THE RENEWAL PROCESS.
UH, WHICH MEANS THAT TAKES EVEN MORE TIME, BUT YOU'RE DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY.
UH, THEN YOU HAVE THE APPEALS, YOU HAVE INVESTIGATIONS.
UH, YOU AND I KNOW THAT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL, ESPECIALLY FOR THAT SINGLE PERSON WITH A SMALL BUSINESS THAT MAY NOT BE AS FAMILIAR, Y'ALL ARE HANDHOLDING TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY AS WELL.
UM, REALLY TRYING TO FOCUS ON THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE ASPECT.
SO ALL OF THAT SAID, YOU, I MAY HAVE MISSED IT.
DO YOU HAVE YET SUGGESTED DOLLAR AMOUNTS FOR THOSE FEES THAT YOU'RE PROPOSING? WE DO.
WE PREPARED THAT FOR THE BFA MEETING.
BUT YES, WE DO HAVE DOLLAR I'LL, I'LL HOLD FOR THAT.
UM, AND THEN MY OTHER QUESTION, THIS MAY GO TO BFA, BUT HOW DO WE MAKE SURE Y'ALL ARE GETTING SOME OF THOSE DOLLARS BACK? OR ARE THEY JUST GOING INTO THE GENERAL FUND? SO WHEN YOU TALK, SO THAT IS OUR VERY SPECIFIC REQUEST.
FOR BFA IS THAT THIS IS NOT A GENERAL FUND CALL CENTER THAT IS SET UP IF WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT, THAT IT IS SET UP SPECIFICALLY FOR OVO TO SUPPORT THE STAFFING AND THE INCREASING IN SALARIES SO THAT WE DO IT BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN TOLD IN THE PAST, WHICH IS WHY THEY HAVEN'T DONE IT, THAT IF WE DID THE FEES IT WOULD GO TO GENERAL FUND SO WE WOULDN'T SEE IT.
UM, SO IT DOES NEED TO BE, AND DON'T GET ME WRONG, IN THE CITY, WE NEED MORE GENERAL FUND DOLLARS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT, BUT IF RIGHT.
WE ARE DOING THESE FEES BECAUSE OF THE CHALLENGES Y'ALL ARE FACING, ABSOLUTELY.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE CAN ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGES.
UM, LASTLY, AND AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE, I DON'T HAVE THE SLIDES PRINTED IN FRONT OF ME.
UM, L-G-B-T-B-E BUSINESS ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION DOESN'T GO TOWARDS GOAL CREDIT.
SO FOR THOSE NOT AS FAMILIAR, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S CLEAR.
UM, BUT IT'S STILL AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM THAT WE REALLY PUSHED TO BE INCORPORATED IN.
ARE WE SEEING SUCCESS WITH THAT? UH, AND AGAIN, I DON'T NEED THOSE NUMBERS RIGHT NOW, BUT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE, UH, AN UPDATE ON HOW THAT SPECIFIC PROGRAM IS GOING AS WELL.
UM, HAVE Y'ALL EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITY OF USING FREE OR LOW COST MEDIATION THROUGH, FOR INSTANCE, HARRIS COUNTY DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTER OR THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU? UM, WE HAVE NOT.
UM, SO THERE'S, UH, ONE SERVICE WE OFFER.
WE DO HAVE A FREE LEGAL SERVICE THAT OUR FIRMS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
IT IS A COMPOSITE OF ABOUT 20 FIRMS THAT PROVIDE FREE LEGAL SERVICE.
WE SEND OVER REFERRALS ON EVERY FRIDAY.
WE DO HAVE FIRMS THAT REQUEST THAT ON A WEEKLY BASIS.
THEY DO NOT DO COURT PROCEEDINGS, THEY DON'T DO MEDIATION.
THEY PREPARE DOCUMENTS AND ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UM, BUT THERE'S, UH, ONE FIRM THAT LEADS THAT.
AND SO EVERY YEAR WE RE-UP THAT AGREEMENT WITH THEM.
SO WE HAVE THAT, BUT WE COULD ABSOLUTELY LOOK INTO WHAT DISPUTE RESOLUTION WILL LOOK LIKE WITH THE COUNTY.
I DON'T KNOW THEIR REQUIREMENTS, BUT IT MIGHT BE A WAY TO SAVE A LITTLE MONEY.
NOW WE HAVE, UM, COMMENT BY STAFF WITH MAYOR PROTO TATUM.
UM, INTERIM DIRECTOR, HORT AND STAFF.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, MAYOR PRO, TIM CASTEX, TATUM REGRET, SHE'S, UM, NOT HERE.
SHE HAD A CONFLICT IN SCHEDULING, BUT JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR, UM, THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND SINCE YOU'RE ASSUMING, UM, UM, THE DIRECTORSHIP POSITION, UM, EIGHT MONTHS AGO, THANK YOU ALL AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 40 YEARS OF PROVIDING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES TO THE CITY.
AGAIN, AND THANK YOU DIRECTOR, UM, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
REALLY APPRECIATE THE INFORMATION AND ACTUALLY, UM, SHED SOME LIGHT ON, YOU KNOW, WHY THESE, THE PROCESS HAS TAKEN SO LONG.
AND SO WHATEVER WE CAN DO, I CAN DO AS A COUNCIL MEMBER TO ADVOCATE FOR MORE RESOURCES.
BUT I DO ENCOURAGE THE FEES, UM, BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE, THESE COMPANIES ARE BENEFITING FROM, UM, OUR CERTIFICATIONS THAT THEY GET FROM THE CITY AND THEY'RE TAKING IT ELSEWHERE.
AND SO, UM, I JUST THINK IT'S, WE SHOULD GET PAID FOR WHAT WE GIVE THESE FOLKS 'CAUSE THEY GETTING PAID AFTER THE CERTIFICATION.
[00:45:01]
THANK YOU SO MUCH.SO NEXT, NOW WE ARE HERE FROM DIRECTOR OF PERMITTING, UM, OFFICE RUDY MARINO.
UM, WE'LL HEAR THE AFTER HOUR REVIEW PROGRAM PRESENTATION FIRST.
UM, THEN WE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL HEAR THE PLAN REVIEW, DEPOSIT CHANGE PRESENTATION, AND THEN WE'LL TAKE QUESTIONS.
THE, THE RECORD, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND START.
GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE.
I'M HERE TODAY ON BEHALF OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS SEEKING COUNCIL COMMITTEE SUPPORT, AND WE WELCOME ANY FEEDBACK TO OUR AFTER HOURS REVIEW PROGRAM.
AS ALWAYS, UH, WE START ALL PRESENTATIONS WITH OUR PURPOSE.
TOGETHER WE CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR HOUSTON TO THRIVE.
THAT'S DONE THROUGH OUR FIVE TO THRIVE VALUES OF RESPECT, OWNERSHIP, COMMUNICATION, INTEGRITY, AND TEAMWORK.
OUR AFTER HOURS REVIEW PROGRAM IS VERY POPULAR AMONGST OUR CUSTOMERS.
IT IS A PROGRAM THAT TODAY EXISTS.
UH, IT DOES NOT HAVE A WRITTEN POLICY.
UH, AND THOSE AFTER HOURS REVIEWS ARE CURRENTLY BEING PERFORMED BY THIRD PARTY CONSULTING, WHICH LEADS TO OFTEN LEADS TO, UH, INCONSISTENT REVIEWS.
UH, SO WHAT, WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING TODAY, THIS PROPOSAL IDENTIFIES THE KEY BENEFITS, WHICH IT, IT MEETS THE CUSTOMER'S DEMAND.
THE MAIN THING IS IT'S A FOUR HOUR WINDOW.
SO WHEN, WHEN A CUSTOMER BUYS AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW, THEY'RE GETTING, THEY'RE BOOKING FOUR HOURS WITH THE CITY OR WITH A REVIEWER TO HAVE THOSE PLANS REVIEWED.
IF IT'S REVIEWED IN 30 MINUTES OR AN HOUR AND IT'S REJECTED, THEY STILL HAVE TO SIT THERE FOR THREE HOURS.
THAT CUSTOMER HAS UP TO THREE, YOU KNOW, TO THE REMAINING PERIOD OF TIME TO MAKE THOSE CORRECTIONS AND SUBMIT IT BACK TO THEM AND HAVE THAT REVIEW PERFORMED IN, APPROVED THAT DAY, ASSUMING THEY CAN GET TO AN APPROVAL.
UM, MAIN MAIN THING IS THESE, THESE REVIEWS ARE BEING DONE IN-HOUSE, WHICH KIND OF PROMOTES CONSISTENT REVIEWS.
IT'S KIND OF THE SAME PERSON I KNOW.
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR A WHILE, ABOUT HAVING THE SAME PERSON PERFORM THOSE REVIEWS.
IN TODAY'S WORLD, WE'RE SENDING THEM TO THIRD PARTY, SO IT'S AUTO, WE'RE AUTOMATICALLY HANDING THAT OFF.
BUT THESE REVIEWS WOULD ACTUALLY BE D DONE IN-HOUSE.
UH, THE MAIN THING TODAY IS WE'RE EXPANDING THE PROGRAM TODAY.
IT EXISTS FOR BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT, BUT DOES NOT EXIST FOR THE CITY ENGINEER'S OFFICE.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IN MY OPINION, KIND OF PRODUCTIVE TO HAVE A REVIEW EXPEDITED OR DONE AFTER HOURS SAME DAY, ONLY FOR IT TO SIT ANOTHER 10 OR 15 DAYS IN ANOTHER DISCIPLINE WAITING FOR THAT REVIEW.
THIS PROPOSAL ENCOMPASSES HAVING ALL OF IT, ALL OF ALL OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, WHICH CONSISTS OF IDS AND OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO NOTE THAT THESE, UM, RIGHT NOW IN TODAY'S, UH, ALL OF OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS HAVE A, ALREADY HAVE THEIR OWN FORM OF AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW.
YOU NEXT SLIDE, KIND OF GOT A LITTLE AHEAD OF MYSELF HERE, BUT IN BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT, YOU'LL SEE ON THE LEFT SIDE IN BLUE, THIS IS CURRENTLY WHAT TODAY WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU REQUEST TO PAY FOR AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW, IT CAN BE REVIEWED BY ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING, STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, AND SPRINKLERS.
THE OFFICE OF THE SIT TODAY WE'RE AS OCE TO COMPLIMENT AND CREATE THE HOLISTIC AFTER HOURS REVIEW PROGRAM THAT WILL INCLUDE FLOOD PLAIN MANAGEMENT TRAFFIC AND RIGHT OF WAY STORM WATER, WATER AND WASTEWATER AND STREET AND PAVING.
SO IT'LL INCLUDE ALL THE, ALL THE GROUPS, INCLUDING OUR OUTSIDE DEPARTMENTS.
UH, THIS IS, AS I STATED, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF THIS IS IT IS A FOUR HOUR WINDOW THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU'RE BUYING, MEANING YOU'RE, WE HAVE, WE WILL HAVE A REVIEWER AVAILABLE TO YOU FOR THAT DURATION OF THE FOUR HOURS UNLESS THE APPROVAL HAPPENS.
IF THE APPROVAL HAPPENS, THEN THEY EMPLOYEES MAY BE SUBJECT TO PERFORMING UP TO TWO ADDITIONAL REVIEWS TO REDUCE OUR QUEUE.
THAT'S ONLY DURING WHEN IT YIELDS AN APPROVAL.
IF IT DOESN'T YIELD AN APPROVAL, THEY'RE PERFORMING THAT THAT PLAN OR THAT REVIEW FOR THAT PLAN THAT DAY.
UH, THESE FEES ASSOCIATED THE $502 AND THE, AND THE, AND ALSO THE FEES ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, BUILDING CODE, BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT WERE PERFORMED, YOU KNOW, THE CITY'S FINANCE DEPARTMENT AND HPC, WE DID, WE DID A COST OF SERVICE STUDY.
UH, ONE WAS DONE AS, AS RECENT AS THE LAST FEW YEARS FOR OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
WE WILL LOOK TO DO A NEW STUDY FOR THE BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT BECAUSE THIS, IT IS
[00:50:01]
A LITTLE OUTDATED.AND IF YOU NOTICE, YOU'LL SEE $300 FOR BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT AND ROUGHLY $500 FOR OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
THAT ALSO, PART OF THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH, YOU HAVE MORE LICENSED ENGINEERS WHO TYPICALLY COST MORE FOR THOSE REVIEWS.
BUT I, I THINK IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A RELATIVELY NEW, UH, COST OF SERVICE STUDY FOR ENGINEERING, BUT NOT FOR BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT.
SO, WE'LL, WE'RE GOING, WE'LL BE PRESENTING SOMETHING HERE SOON TO START OUR COST OF SERVICE SITE ACROSS THE BOARD.
HERE'S, HERE'S A FLOW CHART OF OUR DEAL, UH, OF, OF THE PROCESS.
BUT I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I WANNA POINT OUT IS THE PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.
THE PROJECT ELIGIBILITY MEANS THAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN REVIEWED, HAD ONE CYCLE REVIEW, WHICH HAS BEEN CONSISTENT.
SO WE IDENTIFY THE DEFICIENCIES AND THOSE DEFICIENCIES CAN BE CORRECTED.
WHERE WE'VE DONE, WHAT WE HAVE DONE IS WE'VE INCREASED THE NUMBER OF COMMENTS.
US USUALLY IN THE PAST IT WAS UP TO, I BELIEVE, THREE TO FIVE COMMENTS, WHERE NOW WE'VE INCREASED IT UP TO 20.
IF SOMEONE'S WILLING TO PAY FOR AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S, WE WANNA INCREASE THAT AND ALLOW FOR MORE PROJECTS TO BE REVIEWED THIS WAY.
UM, THAT WILL LEAD TO HAVING LONGER REVIEW TIME.
SO GETTING BACK TO THE FOUR HOURS, IF YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, AN HOUR, HOUR AND A HALF, YOU AND YOU HAVE A COMMENT OR SOMETHING, THEN THAT THOSE COMMENTS CAN BE ADDRESSED WITH THAT REMAINING TIME.
THERE IS ALSO THE, THE REQUEST MUST BE IN BY 10:00 AM UH, THAT DAY FOR, FOR THE REVIEW TO BE DONE PERFORMED THAT EVENING AND LAST, UH, THE, THE INDIVIDUAL DOING THE REVIEW CAN ONLY DO ONE PER DAY.
CUSTOMER BENEFITS ARE THEY GET THE SAME DAY RESULTS AND, UM, SAME DAY REVIEW AND A RESULT, THE REVIEWERS INITIATE THAT COMMUNICATION, WHETHER THAT IS A FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION OR WHETHER THAT IS A VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION, BUT THERE WILL BE FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION FOR THAT REVIEW BEING PERFORMED.
WE ALSO HAVE SP, UH, SOPS IN PLACE FOR, IN THE EVENT A PROJECT GETS REJECTED AND THEY REACH BACK OUT TO THE, TO THE ARCHITECT OR ENGINEER, AND YOU CAN'T GET AHOLD OF 'EM.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE, WE HAVE SOPS IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE OUR REVIEWERS PR PROVIDE EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CUSTOMER TO REACH US.
GETTING BACK TO WHAT I SAID EARLIER, THIS IS A WHOLE REALLY MAKING THIS PROGRAM OUT MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH AND HAVE IT A WHOLE BE A HOLISTIC PROGRAM.
LAST YEAR WE DID 4,000 PROJECTS THAT WERE AFTER HOURS REVIEWS, WHICH REPRESENTS ABOUT 6.25% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF PLANS REVIEWED LAST YEAR.
ALSO, I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT, BECAUSE THE PRIOR THE REPRIORITIZATION OF REVIEWS THAT BEING AND I PRESENTED THIS A FEW MONTHS BACK, THE RESUBMITTAL AND REVISIONS WERE REPRIORITIZING THOSE BY DOING.
SOME OF THESE THAT WOULD TYPICALLY GO INTO THE, UH, AFTER HOUR REVIEW, MAY ACTUALLY GET REVIEWED DURING THE DAY BECAUSE IT'S BEEN REP, UH, IT'S BEEN PRIORITIZED BECAUSE OF THAT.
IT COULD BE ONE COMMENT ISSUE OR IT COULD BE A MINOR REVISION.
IT REQUIRES A REVISION TO THE PLANS AND A REVIEW.
BUT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE TAKEN CARE OF IN 10, 15 MINUTES AS OPPOSED TO 19 TO 20 DAYS TO WAIT FOR IT TO GET CYCLED IN.
UH, WE, WE ANTICIPATE THAT THESE REVIEWS, UH, MAY DROP IF WE, BASED ON THE REPRIORITIZATION OF THE, OF THE REVIEWS, BUT, UH, WE'RE FOCUSED ON, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT WILL ALLOW US TO FOCUS MORE ON THE COMPLEX PLANS.
OUR AFTER HOURS REVIEW PROGRAM, AS I STATED, I KNOW I'VE SAID IT MULTIPLE TIMES, YOU'LL SEE HERE THAT IT INCLUDES HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, HEALTH DEPARTMENT PLANNING DEPARTMENT, AND NOW WE'RE INCLUDING THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER WITHIN THE HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
I WANNA AGAIN, POINT OUT THAT PLANNING HEALTH AND FIRE EACH HAVE THEIR OWN VERSION OF AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW.
IT WILL REDUCE SUBMISSIONS, THE NUMBER OF REVIEW DAYS WHILE MAINTAINING LIFE SAFETY.
IT STRENGTHEN IT, IT WILL STRENGTHEN THE CAP COLLABORATIONS WITH PARTNER PARTNERING DEPARTMENTS TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM.
I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TODAY AND I AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, WE HAVE QUESTIONS BY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, EVERYBODY'S EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
UM, SO REALLY THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK ON IT.
WE DIDN'T EVER THINK ABOUT JUST DOING A FLAT FEE.
LIKE YOU PAY X IT'S, IT'S A FOUR HOUR WINDOW.
ANYTHING THAT EXCEEDS FOUR HOURS HAS AN HOURLY RATE ON TOP OF THAT.
AND THE, THE, UM, I KNOW THE FEE IS, YOU KNOW, COMES INTO THE BUILDING INSPECTION FUND.
[00:55:01]
ARE THE, UH, THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE WORKING THE AFTER HOURS THING BEING PAID, UM, DOUBLE OR ONE AND A HALF, OR HOW DO, HOW, WHAT ARE THEY? THEY'RE PAID TIME AND A HALF TIME AND A HALF AT A FOUR HOUR INCREMENT.NOW THAT BEING SAID, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO BE THERE FOR FOUR HOURS IN THE EVENT IT DOESN'T YIELD A, AN APPROVAL.
IF IT YIELDS AN APPROVAL, THEY'LL STILL HAVE TO DO UP TO TWO ADDITIONAL REVIEWS TO, TO REDUCE THE QUEUE SO THEY DON'T GET TO GO HOME.
ALSO, BECAUSE WE INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF COMMENTS THAT FROM AN ELIGIBILITY STANDPOINT, WE EXPECT THESE REVIEWS TO TAKE LONGER THAN THOSE TYPICAL REVIEWS THAT YOU'VE SEEN IN THE PAST WHERE IT'S ONE COMMENT LEFT AND IT TAKES THEM TWO 15 MINUTES.
WHAT WAS THE, THERE WAS A, THERE WAS A, WHAT WAS THE MINIMUM BEFORE OR THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF COMMENTS BEFORE? I BELIEVE IT WAS FIVE FOR THIS PROGRAM.
SO T SO 20 COMMENTS PER DISCIPLINE.
SO THESE ARE COMPLEX, SOME OF THESE ARE COMPLEX, SOME OF THESE ARE VERY COMPLEX.
SO IT DOESN'T GET RESOLVED IN FOUR HOURS.
I MEAN, WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT IT WON'T, UH, NEED ADDITIONAL TIME.
BUT IN THE EVENT IT DOES, WE DO HAVE, YOU CAN BUY IN IN INCREMENTS OF ONE HOUR ADDITIONAL TIME.
AND, AND THE EMPLOYEES, UM, I UNDERSTAND WANT THIS, THEY ARE BACK, THEY MISS IT.
THEY'RE BEGGING AND THEY WANTED IT THIS, AND THE MAIN THING IS THIS INCENTIVIZES FINDING THAT APPROVAL.
FINDING A WAY TO GET THE PLANS APPROVED.
AND, UM, IS THERE A REASON WHY, AND IT MIGHT BE JUST LEVEL OF STAFF NOT AVAILABLE, BUT THAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH ONE REVIEW BEFORE WE CAN, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST START OFF WITH THIS? LIKE, HEY, I'M BUYING MY FOUR HOURS TODAY.
WE ARE GONNA ADDRESS THAT UNDER OUR PRE-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
WHERE YOU CAN TAKE THAT PROJECT, HAVE A PRE-DEVELOPMENT MEETING, MEET WITH ALL THE DISCIPLINES, SIT DOWN, HAVE THAT CONVERSATION, AND THEN THOSE REVIEWS WILL BE DONE AT A LATER DATE WITH A FEE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT TO HANDLE THAT.
THE REASON FOR THIS IS IN THE EVENT THAT YOU DON'T GET THE SAME REVIEWER, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT SOMEONE HAS ADDRESSED IT AND, AND, AND REALLY BEEN THOROUGH WITH THEIR COMMENTS.
THE IDEA IS NEVER TO ADD ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.
BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THE PROPER REVIEW OF THOSE PLANS ARE PERFORMED.
SO TO, TO QUALIFY FOR THIS ONE, YOU'LL, YOU HAVE TO HAVE GONE THROUGH ONE REVIEW WITH ALL THE DISCIPLINES OR THAT'S CORRECT.
BUT THE ONE REVIEW HAPPENS ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
SO WHEN YOU SUBMIT PLANS, SOMETIMES IT WILL GET ROUTED TO EVERY DISCIPLINE THAT NEEDS TO SEE IT.
ONCE THE DURATION OF THOSE, UH, OF THE DISCIPLINES HAVE, ONCE THEY'VE REVIEWED IT, THEN IT'S, THAT'S CONSIDERED ONE CYCLE.
SO YOU COME BACK IN, ASSUMING YOU'VE GOT LESS THAN 20 COMMENTS, WHICH IS PROBABLY A 20, I BELIEVE IS ACTUALLY A HIGH NUMBER.
SO IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN 20 COMMENTS, THEN YOU QUALIFY FOR A CUSTOMER PAID OVERTIME, EXCUSE ME, I I'M USED TO THE OLD PROGRAM, BUT AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW THAT GETS PERFORMED DURING THE EVENING.
THE MAIN THING ALSO TO POINT OUT IS THIS HAS NO IMPACT ON THE DAY-TO-DAY PRODUCTION OF US REVIEWING PLANS 'CAUSE IT'S BEING PERFORMED AFTER HOURS.
YOU SAID THE 4,000 PROJECTS WERE WHAT PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL? 6.256.
AND, AND, UM, THE FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS, YOU'RE STUDYING NOW, OR YOU KNOW WHAT, THIS FEE'S GONNA BE THE FEE ASSOCIATED WITH THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER, WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE PRESENTING TODAY, INCLUDING THEM.
I MEAN, IT IS THE PROPOSED FEE.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, THE 300 BASED ON A, A RECENT COST OF SERVICE STUDY.
SO WILL, UH, WILL THE THIRD PARTY REVIEWERS BE DOING ANY MORE OF THESE? WE WILL, OUR, OUR PREFERENCE WOULD BE TO HAVE THESE REVIEWS DONE IN-HOUSE AND HAVE OUR THIRD PARTIES, UH, CONCENTRATE ON OTHER AREAS.
UM, NEXT WE'LL HAVE VICE METRO TIM PECK.
I THINK COUNCILOR ALCORN ASKED MOST OF MY QUESTIONS, BUT, UM, THE, SO THE BUILDING CODE ENFORCEMENT FEE AND THE OFFICE OF ENGINEER, THOSE ARE TWO SEPARATE FEES, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT.
ARE THERE ANY OPTIONS IF YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH BOTH, UM, TO PAY LIKE A REDUCED COST IF YOU'RE DOING BOTH DEPARTMENTS OR? THE FEE IS THE FEE? WE CURRENTLY DON'T HAVE IT STRUCTURED IN THAT MANNER TODAY.
I MEAN, WE COULD LOOK AT THAT, BUT I THINK THEY'RE IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT, THEY'RE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.
UM, AND IF YOU DO HAVE TO GO THROUGH BOTH DEPARTMENTS, UM, WOULD THAT BOTH HAPPEN AT, ON THE SAME DAY? LIKE IF YOU NEED IT DONE ON BY A CERTAIN DAY, YOU CAN PAY BOTH ENTITIES AND STILL GET THAT DONE.
IN THE SAME, IN A PERFECT WORLD, THE PLANS WOULD BE REVIEWED BY EVERYBODY THAT YOU PAY THAT, THAT THE CUSTOMER PAYS FOR THAT OVERTIME FOR.
SO IF YOU HAVE FIVE DISCIPLINES, THEY'RE ALL GONNA REVIEW IT TODAY.
NOW THERE'S SOME LOGISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, MEANING WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO COORDINATE IF YOU GOT A REJECTION, WHO'S GONNA TALK TO, YOU KNOW, THE CUSTOMER FIRST.
BUT WE'RE WORKING ON THOSE BACKEND, YOU KNOW, ISSUES TO ADDRESS THOSE.
[01:00:01]
YOU.WHAT'S THE ADDITIONAL CHARGE PER HOUR IF YOU GO BEYOND THE FOUR HOURS? IS IT JUST DIVIDED BY FOUR? IT'S $125.
SORRY, I'M NOT SURE IF I SPOKE ABOUT THAT EARLIER.
YOU MENTIONED THE SAME REVIEWER.
UM, ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS I'VE GOTTEN FOR CONSTITUENTS IS THAT THEY WILL TURN SOMETHING IN, IT GETS REVIEWED, THERE'S A COMMENT, THEY'VE GOTTA FIX IT, THEY FIX IT, THEY TURN IT BACK IN, GET A DIFFERENT REVIEWER, AND THEY GET ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ISSUES.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS COMMONLY? THAT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN.
I WILL TELL YOU IT DOES HAPPEN.
WE ALWAYS TELL OUR TEAM THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE ADDING ADDITIONAL COMMENTS UNLESS IT'S LIFE SAFETY.
IF IT INCLUDES LIFE SAFETY, THEN WE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO APOLOGIZE.
BUT THOSE IN THOSE COMMENTS OR DEFICIENCIES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
CAN I PIGGY BACK OVER, HOLD ON ONE SECOND.
NOW THAT BEING SAID, THE, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE TODAY IS WHEN WE SEND IT TO OUR THIRD PARTY, THEY MAY OR MAY NOT BE AS VERSED OR AS EXPERIENCED, NOT TO DISCREDIT THEM, BUT AS THE REVIEWER ACTUALLY PERFORMING IT HERE, WE HAD THE SAME CHALLENGE.
UM, I'VE BEEN IN THIS, IN THIS ROLE FOR A COUPLE YEARS, BUT THIS IS NOT ANYTHING UNIQUE OR NEW.
THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING SITUATION, WHICH IS WHY WE WENT TO A SINGLE POINT REVIEWER FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE.
SO WE COULD INC INCLUDE INCREASE CONSISTENCY.
WHEN YOU DO HAVE THOSE ISSUES AND IT'S ALL IN HOUSE, NOT A THIRD PARTY, DO Y'ALL GO BACK TO THE FIRST REVIEWER AND SAY, HEY, YOU MISSED THIS.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING TODAY IS, UH, WITH A RECENT CHANGE I MADE IN, IN THE EXECUTIVE TEAM IS WE ARE IN ADDITION TO PRIORITIZING OUR REVIEWS, WE ARE ALSO REQUIRING AT THE THIRD REVIEW, THERE MUST BE MANAGEMENT OR SUPERVISOR INTERVENTION BY THE FOURTH REVIEW.
IF WE GET TO A FOURTH REVIEW, IN SOME CASES WE DO, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T.
BUT BY THE FOURTH REVIEW, THAT REVIEW IS NO LONGER BEING PERFORMED BY THE, BY THE REVIEWER.
IT'S BEING PERFORMED BY THEIR MANAGER OR SUPERVISOR FOR QUALITY CONTROL MEASURES.
UM, LAST YEAR WE ADDED A NEW PROPERTY CONSTRUCTION THAT I THINK EQUATED $26 MILLION IN REVENUE FOR THE CITY.
SO OBVIOUSLY IT'S A HUGE DEAL TO HAVE SOMETHING NEW BUILT, EVEN MORE SO IF IT'S A BUSINESS THAT'S COLLECTING SALES TAX.
'CAUSE THEN YOU GET NOT ONLY THE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE, BUT YOU GET THE SALES TAX REVENUE AS WELL.
IS THERE ANY DIFFERENTIATION MADE WHEN SOMEBODY'S COMING TO YOU WITH A PERMIT THAT'S GONNA BE PUTTING UP A BUSINESS THAT IS ALSO GONNA COLLECT SALES TAX TO WHERE THAT GOES TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE OR YOU MAKE SURE YOU WALK IT THROUGH? NOT TODAY.
NEXT WE'LL HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU GENTLEMEN FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UH, SLIDE TWO SAYS, UH, STAG STAFF AUGMENTATION CONTRACT'S NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
UH, WHY IS THAT? SO WE ARE, WE HAVE OUR AUGMENTATION CONTRACT WITH BUREAU OF VERITAS, WHICH IS BVNA HAS EXPIRED AND WE ARE WILL, IT WILL REMAIN IN PLACE UNTIL WE DEPLETE THE FUNDS.
BUT THAT, THAT PROJECT, THAT CONTRACT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO, TO MOVE FORWARD WITH RENEWING.
THAT'S JUST 'CAUSE WE LACK FUNDS OR IS THERE ANOTHER REASON FOR THAT? I THINK THERE'S REASONS, UH, OUTSIDE OF LACKING FUNDS, UM, THAT I'M NOT QUITE PRIVY TO, BUT I THINK THERE'S BEEN SOME CONCERNS AS FAR AS RENEWING THAT CONTRACT.
CONCERNS ON WHOSE PART DO YOU KNOW? I BELIEVE AND THAT IS S-P-D-S-P-D.
UM, WHY CAN'T WE JUST SCHEDULE THE SAME REVIEWER? WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU REFERRING TO? SAME REVIEW FOR WHAT? WELL, YOU, YOU, NOBODY LIKES TO HAVE A DIFFERENT REVIEWER, YOU KNOW, THE SECOND TIME AROUND AND GET, YOU KNOW, UM, DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT, UH, THOUGHTS AND REQUIREMENTS AND SO FORTH.
WHY CAN'T WE JUST SCHEDULE THE SAME REVIEWER FOR SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS? WE DO THAT TODAY.
NOW THERE ARE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH AN, AN EMPLOYEE COULD BE SICK THAT DAY.
A CAN BOY COULD BE ON A WEEK'S VACATION.
SO THERE ARE CIRCUMSTANCES TO WHERE WE HAVE TO MOVE IT, BUT IN MANY CASES, THE PLANS ARE BEING REVIEWED BY THE SAME REVIEWER.
THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THAT IS WHEN WE HAVE TO SEND IT TO THIRD PARTY BECAUSE THEY'RE PAYING, THEY'RE REQUESTING AN AFTER HOURS REVIEW.
AND, UM, YOU HAVE, OH, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS YOU CONSULTED, UH, IN COMING UP WITH THIS PLAN? WE'VE MET WITH MULTIPLE, UM, PERMIT SERVICES DEVELOPERS.
UM, I BELIEVE GHBA AND A CEC WERE INVOLVED IN THE, IN THIS DISCUSSION.
THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING EFFORT FOR OVER TWO YEARS.
[01:05:01]
MULTIPLE DISCUSSIONS WITH THIS.I'M NOT QUITE A HUNDRED PERCENT UP TO SPEED AS TO WHO WE'VE MET WITH, BUT I CAN GET THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU.
BUT THE DETAILS IN THIS PRESENTATION THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, WHAT EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS WERE CONSULTED IN THIS, IN THIS SCENARIO, I, I CAN GET THAT INFORMATION TO YOU AS FAR AS WHO WAS CONSULTED.
YOU DON'T KNOW OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD? OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
SO THERE'S A LIMIT OF ONE, ONE PROJECT PER FOUR HOUR SHIFT, IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT.
UH, IS THERE ANY SORT OF REQUIREMENT, UH, THAT AN EMPLOYEE WHO'S DOING THE REVIEW AFTER HOURS, UH, HOW MANY PROJECTS THEY MUST BE WORKING ON, UH, OUTSIDE OF THIS FOUR HOUR REVIEW PROCESS? YES.
AND I APPRECIATE YOU ASKING THAT QUESTION.
THE, THE EMPLOYEE MUST BE PRODUCTIVE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
IF THEY DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY'RE NOT PRODUCTIVE OR MAINTAINING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF SERVICE AS FAR AS REVIEWING PLANS, THEY WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR DOING THAT REVIEW.
AND SO IS THERE A NUMBER OF, UH, THAT YOU HAVE IN MIND? THERE'S NO SET NUMBER.
IT'S AN AVERAGE THAT WE TYPICALLY WANT THEM TO MAINTAIN.
AND, AND THERE'S SUPERVISORS THAT, MANAGERS OVERSEE THAT.
NOW, I'LL TELL YOU THE REASON WE DON'T GET A SET NUMBER IS BECAUSE IF YOU GOT A, A OVERTIME REVIEW FOR A, A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL EDITION VERSUS AN OVERTIME REVIEW FOR A MULTIFAMILY DEVELOPMENT, IT, IT IS NOT AN APPLES TO APPLES COMPARISON.
UM, SLIDE FIVE, BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER, ADDITIONAL PROJECT REVIEWS, POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL STANDARD Q PROJECTS.
SO WHAT DOES THAT REFER TO? SORRY, IF YOU COULD SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.
SLIDE FIVE, BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER.
ADDITIONAL PROJECT REVIEWS POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL STANDARD Q PROJECTS.
CAN YOU, UH, TELL US WHAT THAT, WHAT THAT MEANS? SLIDE SIX.
IT'S, I'VE GOT, I'VE GOT IT AS FIVE.
IT'S, IT'S THE ONE ON THE SCREEN I'M LOOKING AT.
THIS IS, THIS IS, AS I SPOKE ABOUT A LITTLE EARLIER, WHEN, WHEN THE REVIEW YIELDS AN APPROVAL, THEN THEY WILL HAVE TO DO, AND THIS WILL BE DETERMINED BEFOREHAND, THEY WILL HAVE TO DO UP TO TWO ADDITIONAL REVIEWS TO HELP REDUCE OUR QUEUE.
THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN IT YIELDS AN APPROVAL.
IF YOU GET THE PLANS APPROVED IN AN HOUR AND A HALF, YOU STILL HAVE TO DO YOUR ADDITIONAL TWO REVIEWS TO, TO SATISFY YOUR REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DAY.
THAT'S BEEN, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IF IT'S, THERE'S A REJECTION BECAUSE IF THERE'S A REJECTION THAT PER, THAT CUSTOMER HAS BOUGHT THAT FOUR HOUR WINDOW FOR THAT.
SO THEY, WE WILL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMER AT, IF IT'S A ONE HOUR, WE'LL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMER AND THEY HAVE UP TO THREE HOURS TO, TO MAKE ANY CHANGES AND RESUBMIT IT TO, TO, UH, THE REVIEWER FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL.
UM, WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR COME FROM ALCORN.
UH, I'M, I'M GONNA GET THIS OUT TO ALL MY LITTLE PERMITTING, MY BIG HUGE PERMITTING LIST.
SO WHEN'S THIS STARTING? WHEN'S THE KICKOFF? OUR, OUR PROPOSAL WOULD BE TO START IT BY THE, BY THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.
I'D START IT TOMORROW IF, IF, IF WE CAN GET THERE.
BUT I WOULD SAY BY THE END OF THE YEAR, THE GOAL IS BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
AND, AND THIS IS JUST SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE, THIS DOESN'T COME TO COUNCIL OR ANYTHING, THIS IS JUST A PROGRAM YOU'RE TELLING US? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND JUST, WELL, WHAT HAS TO GO TO COUNCIL IS THE ADDITION OF ADDING OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER INTO THE PROGRAM TODAY.
SO THAT, THAT WILL COME TO COUNCIL.
THEY WILL REQUIRE COUNCIL ACTION.
AND, UM, THE EY, UM, AND NOT EY, THE, UM, THE ALVAREZ AND MARCEL, UM, UM, CONTRACT.
WHERE ARE WE ON THAT? WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THAT.
THERE WAS, UH, I THINK THERE'S SOME CONTRACTUAL ISSUES THAT THEY'RE ADDRESSING, BUT WE SHOULD, THEY'RE GONNA CONTINUE WORKING.
I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING TODAY ON IT.
SO I, I I WAS TOLD INITIALLY 16 WEEKS.
I THINK THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DELAYED A LITTLE BIT, BUT I THINK THAT WE'RE STILL ON, ON GOAL TO, TO FINISH BY THE, BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
SO, WE'LL, THEY'LL BE COMING WITH RECOMMENDATIONS OR, OR KIND OF A PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION BY THE END OF THE YEAR? THAT'S, THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, DOES COUNCIL HAVE TO APPROVE THE FEES? NO, SIR.
BECAUSE THE FEE STUDY HAS ALREADY BEEN THE, THE FEE STUDY HAS ALREADY BEEN PERFORMED.
THE OCE IS BEFORE FOR ACCOUNTS FOR CONSIDERATION.
AND I CAN'T SPEAK FOR EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT I THINK WE'RE JUST GIVING PEOPLE CHOICES.
SO I'M PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH IT.
SO, YEAH, LIKE I SAID, THIS IS A VERY POPULAR PROGRAM.
WE HAVE PEOPLE AND CUSTOMERS WHO STATE THEY'LL PAY DOUBLE AS TIME IS MONEY.
SO WE, WE WELCOME IT, WE WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE THE QUOTE UNQUOTE FAST PRO FAST PASS APPROACH.
THE, BUT AGAIN, I WANNA BE VERY CLEAR IN THAT WE ARE NOT, THERE'S, THIS IS HAS NO IMPACT TO THE DAILY OPERATIONS 'CAUSE THIS WORK IS BEING PERFORMED AFTER HOURS.
[01:10:05]
OKAY.SO YOU SAY IT'S BEEN PERFORMED AFTER HOURS.
I'M JUST CURIOUS, HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU HAVE WORKING AFTER HOURS? ERIC, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? IT VARIES.
BUT THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS PROGRAM IS THAT IT'S ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS.
IT'S A VERY POPULAR PROGRAM WITH THE EMPLOYEES.
SO THE WAY THIS WOULD WORK IS THE EMPLOYEE WOULD VOLUNTEER THE DAY BEFORE AND WE'D GET A LIST OF ALL THE EMPLOYEES THAT WANT TO PARTICIPATE.
AND BASED ON THAT LIST, WE WOULD THEN SELECT THE EMPLOYEE.
SO I GUESS, WHAT'S THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF, UM, EMPLOYEES THAT YOU HAVE PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM? MM-HMM
WELL, RIGHT NOW WE'RE NOT DOING IT IN-HOUSE, BUT BEFORE, I MEAN, WE, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 20 ON AVERAGE WORKING IN THE EVENINGS.
ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND SO YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE WITH THE PLAN REVIEW, UM, DEPOSIT CHANGE PRESENTATION.
I'M THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSTON DEPARTMENT CENTER.
I ALSO WANNA APOLOGIZE FOR NOT INTRODUCING ERIC COOCH EARLIER.
HE'S THE DEPUTY'S DIRECT DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OVER PLAN REVIEW.
SO ERIC HANDLES THE THE PLAN REVIEW TEAM.
I WANT, UM, I WANNA POINT OUT TODAY THAT WE'RE HERE TODAY ON BEHALF OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS TO PRESENT POTENT A POTENTIAL CHANGE IN THE PLAN REVIEW DEPOSIT STRUCTURE.
WE DO NOT INTEND TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS CHANGE WITHOUT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR STAKEHOLDERS TO COMMENT AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
WE ALSO WELCOME, UH, ANY FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMITTEE TODAY.
WE, UH, OUR PURPOSE IS ALWAYS TOGETHER.
WE CREATE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR HOUSTON TO THRIVE.
WE DO THAT BY, UH, MAINTAINING OUR FIVE TO THRIVE VALUES OF RESPECT, OWNERSHIP, COMMUNICATION, INTEGRITY, AND TEAMWORK.
HOUSTON IS UNIQUE AMONGST OUR TEXAS PEERS.
OUR SCOPE IS SIMILAR TO DALLAS, WHERE THEY PROVIDE A MULTIDISCIPLINARY REVIEW IN, IN ONE CYCLE, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HP UH, SIMILAR TO WHAT'S BEING PERFORMED AT HPC.
HOUSTON IS A LEADER IN SIZE, DOES NOT, DOES NOT, DOES NOT HAVE ZONING.
SO DEVELOPMENT IS UNIQUE TO HOUSTON.
I WANNA POINT OUT HERE, YOU KNOW, AS, AS WE STATED ABOVE, HOUSTON AND DALLAS ARE VERY UNIQUE TO EACH OTHER AS FAR AS HOW REVIEWS ARE BEING PERFORMED.
UM, BUT WE'RE ALSO ALMOST TWICE THE SIZE OF DALLAS.
UH, AND WE'RE, AND WE HAVE MAINTAIN, WELL, THE SAME SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS EXIST FOR BOTH.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, ALL THESE REVIEWS ARE PERFORMED BETWEEN BCE AND OCE BRANCH PERFORMED BY THE BCE AND OCE BRANCHES.
CURRENTLY TODAY, WE CHARGE 25% OF THE PERMIT FEE UPFRONT FOR US TO REVIEW YOUR PLANS.
OUR PROPOSAL TODAY, UH, FOR YOU, FOR CONSIDERATION, AND AS I STATED EARLIER, WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO DO ANYTHING TODAY.
BUT OUR PROPOSAL TODAY IS TO FLIP THAT FROM 25 TO 75% UPFRONT.
AND THAT IS TO, SO WE, WE RECOVER OUR COSTS.
YOU'LL SEE A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE SLIDE, IN, IN, IN THIS PRESENTATION THAT WE, WE HAVE ROUGHLY ABOUT AN 11.5% ABANDONMENT RATE OF PROJECTS.
SO THAT MEANS PROJECTS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED, THEY'RE TYING UP OUR QUEUE AND THE CUSTOMER REVIEWS IT OR GETS THE COMMENTS BACK AND DECIDES, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M NOT GONNA DO THE PROJECT, BUT IT'S STILL IN OUR QUEUE.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO DETER PROJECTS BEING SUBMITTED WHO HAVE A LOW, YOU KNOW, A LOW LIKELIHOOD OF DEVELOP ACTUALLY COME INTO FRUITION BEING DEVELOPED.
IT ALSO WILL INCLUDE AN IMPROVED QUEUE MANAGEMENT AND THE WORKFLOW FOR COMMITTED PROJECTS.
SO THE PRO COMMITTED PROJECTS, THE CUSTOMERS THAT DO WANNA MOVE FORWARD, THEY'RE ACTUALLY COMMITTED TO THESE PROJECTS, WHICH TYPICALLY MEANS THEY'RE WILLING TO PAY THAT 75% UPFRONT.
UM, IT ALSO GUARANTEES, UH, PAYMENT FOR THE MULTIPLE REVIEWS ACROSS THE SERVICE STUDY.
ALSO, WHEN PERFORM HAS TOLD US THAT WE LOSE MONEY AFTER THE SECOND REVIEW.
SO ANY, ANY REVIEW AFTER THE SECOND REVIEW, WE ARE LOSING MONEY.
NOW IMAGINE IF WE'RE LOSING MONEY AND THEN WE ONLY COLLECT 25% OF THAT AMOUNT BECAUSE THEY 'CAUSE THEY ABANDONED THE PROJECT.
UH, COLLECTIVELY SPEAKING BETWEEN THE COMMERCIAL AND THE RESIDENTIAL IS 7,400 PLANS IN THE, THAT WERE, THAT WERE ABANDONED LAST YEAR, UH, ACTUALLY FOR 2022 AND 2023
[01:15:01]
AND ROUGHLY, WE REVIEWED ABOUT 64,000 PLANS, WHICH YIELDS 11.5% ABANDONMENT RATE.YOU KNOW, WE ARE PROPOSING TO, TO, BASED ON THE, WE'RE PROPOSING TO FLIP THAT BACK TO 75% TO REDUCE THIS, BY THE WAY, THIS, THAT 11.5% REPRESENTS ABOUT A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS ANNUALLY.
SO IF WE FLIP IT ON THE FRONT END AND HAVE 75% UP FRONT, THEN THAT REDUCTION WILL GO DOWN TO ROUGHLY ABOUT $375,000 THAT WE'VE LOST.
WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT COLLECTING THAT REVENUE, OR WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT, UM, WE'RE STILL IN THE HOLE PER SE AS FAR AS THAT PARTICULAR REVIEW.
IT ALSO MORE ABILITY TO RECOUP OUR COST, UH, MITIGATE POTENTIAL NONPAYMENT AS I, AS WE TALKED ABOUT, AND REDUCE BACKEND EFFORT TO ENFORCE COLLECTION.
IT, IT PROVIDES BETTER QUEUE MANAGEMENT AND IT ALSO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT FOSTERS COMMITMENT.
IT FOSTERS COMMITMENT FROM THE OWNER TO REALLY MOVE FORWARD WITH IT BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A LITTLE MORE MONEY OR SWEAT IN THE GAME AS FAR AS WHAT THEY'RE HAVING TO PUT IN THE FRONT END.
SO THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR YOU TODAY.
I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING TO TRY TO SIMPLIFY AND SPEED UP THE PROCESS AND IMPROVE THE PROCESS.
UM, WE REALLY THANK YOU, UM, FOR, FOR YOUR EFFORTS.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, THANK YOU CHAIR.
I, I REALLY DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THIS, SO I I'M GLAD YOU SAID YOU'RE GONNA BE TALKING TO, UH, DEVELOPERS AND REAL ESTATE PEOPLE AND PERMIT PEOPLE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF, SO LIKE, BASICALLY IF YOU ABANDON YOUR PROJECT, YOU, YOU'RE PAYING 75% OF THE PERMIT FEE NO MATTER WHAT.
YOU DON'T GET THAT BACK OR ANYTHING THAT, THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT MEANS.
WHAT KIND OF PROJECTS ARE BEING ABANDONED? ARE THE, IS THERE A COMMON THREAT? ARE THEY ALL OVER THE MAP? ARE THEY I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION, BUT I CAN TELL YOU MY GUESS WOULD BE MORE RESIDENTIAL.
TYPICALLY, WHEN YOU HAVE MULTIFAMILY OR HIGH-END COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS, THEY USUALLY, I WOULD SAY, HAVE THEIR ACT TOGETHER AS FAR AS THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANNA DO.
WHAT WE OFTEN SEE IS YOU GET SOMEONE WHO SUBMITS A SET OF PLANS JUST TO GET THE COMMENTS BACK AND THEN MAKE THE DETERMINATION WHETHER OR NOT THEY WANNA MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PROJECT.
SO BASICALLY OUR 25% DEPOSIT WAS COVERING TWO REVIEWS AND THEN IT STARTED NO, OUR, OUR, OUR 25% DEPOSITS, LEMME BACK UP AFTER THE SECOND REVIEW.
WE ARE, WE'VE LOST ALL OF OUR, OUR PLAN REVIEW FEE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
SO YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU MAKE NOTHING.
I MEAN, YOU'RE BACK AT, OKAY, THAT'S WHAT I MEANT.
YEAH, I JUST, UM, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO, UH, REALLY GET ON BOARD UNTIL I HEARD FROM PEOPLE IF THIS WAS, THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS DOABLE.
DID YOU THINK ABOUT 50%? OR, OR, OR, OH, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE OTHER CITIES THAT YOU HAVE ON THIS SLIDE DO? YES.
AND I, I FAILED TO MENTION THAT AND I APPRECIATE YOU ASKING THAT QUESTION, BUT I CAN TELL YOU AUSTIN AND DALLAS, LEMME MAKE SURE I'M NOT LYING TO YOU, BUT AUSTIN AND DALLAS BOTH CHARGE A HUNDRED PERCENT UP FOR OH WOW.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ.
SO, UM, ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL US WHAT EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS WERE CONSULTED IN COMING UP WITH THIS PROPOSAL? S SAME THING.
WE, WE HA WE WILL START THAT FEEDBACK WITH THE, OUR EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE PRESENT THIS TO YOU TODAY.
AND WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REASONS, UM, APPLICATIONS OR GET, UH, UH, GET ABANDONED? I, I REALLY CAN'T SPEAK TO THE REASONS WHY THEY DO THAT.
IN MANY CASES, IT COULD BE THE REQUIREMENTS.
MAYBE THEY HAVE A DETENTION REQUIREMENT THAT THAT MAKES THE PROJECT NOT FEASIBLE OR IT COULD BE SOMETHING RELATED TO THE IMPACT FEES.
YOU KNOW, MAYBE THE IMPACT FEES.
THEY DETERMINE THAT THEY GOTTA PAY, YOU KNOW, $150,000, WHICH DOESN'T, IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO THE PROJECT.
SO I, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY, BUT I, THERE'S ALWAYS SOME SORT OF, USUALLY MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IT'S AN ECONOMIC ECONOMICAL REASON WHY IT'S BEING ABANDONED.
COULD IT BE THAT THE PROCESS HAS JUST TAKEN TOO LONG FOR 'EM? IT'S ALWAYS POSSIBLE THAT THAT COULD BE THE CASE.
UM, IS IT FEASIBLE MAYBE TO CHARGE A, A FEE OR A PENALTY TYPE OF CHARGE FOR WHEN, UH, AN APPLICATION GETS ABANDONED INSTEAD OF, UH, REQUIRING 75 UPFRONT AS A DEPOSIT? WE, THE PROBLEM IS WHAT, HOW DO YOU GET THE CUSTOMER TO COME BACK IN AND PAY THAT FEE? AND WHAT IF THIS JUST A BOB SMITH WHO'S BUILDING THAT ONE HOUSE? HE HAS NO INTENTIONS OF MOVING BACK FORWARD.
I MEAN, WE CAN SEND, WE COULD DO THAT, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU WOULD GUARANTEE THE RECOVERY OF THOSE FUNDS.
AREN'T AREN'T A LOT OF THESE, UH, CUSTOMERS, REPEAT CUSTOMERS OR NOT? IN SOME CASES, YES.
BUT I WOULD SAY, UH, NOT ALWAYS.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER.
I RECENTLY DEALT WITH A BUSINESS THAT WAS LOOKING TO EXPAND AND
[01:20:02]
THE REQUIREMENTS THAT WAS BEING PUT ON THEM FROM THE PERMITTING DEPARTMENT MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.UM, THEY WERE REQUIRING THEM TO HAVE A SIDEWALK.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE PROPERTY, THERE'S NO WAY THE SIDEWALK WORKS.
WHERE THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THEM TO TIE INTO THE SEWER, MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.
THEY HAD THEM GOING ACROSS THE STREET AND TYING IN RATHER THAN ON THE PROPERTY.
UH, THEY ALSO HAD THEM, UH, DOING RETENTION ON SITE WHERE IT'S ACTUALLY IN THE FLOODPLAIN.
UM, I MEAN, ARE, ARE THESE ALL CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INTO THIS ABANDONMENT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT, IT, IT COULD BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.
HAVE WE ASKED THE APPLICANTS, HEY, WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? I MEAN, MAYBE NOT EVEN NECESSARILY THE ONES THAT ARE ABANDONED, BUT MAYBE SURVEY ALL THE APPLICANTS AND SAY, HEY, WHAT HURDLES DO YOU HAVE WITH US THAT WE COULD TRY AND ELIMINATE? WE HAVE DONE THAT THROUGH CUSTOMER SURVEYS, UH, AS FAR AS CHALLENGES, EXISTING CHALLENGES, UM, WITH OUR, FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.
MAYBE NOT TO ANY SPECIFIC PROJECT.
WHAT, WHAT KIND OF RESULTS DO YOU GET BACK? I MEAN, IS THERE A COMMON THEME THAT YOU CAN LOOK AT IT AND SAY, YEAH, WE CAN PROBABLY DO THIS DIFFERENTLY? OR? WELL, I, I, I THINK WE ALL WOULD AGREE THAT THERE, THAT THE PERMITTING PROCESS CAN BE CUMBERSOME.
WE ARE LOOKING TO STREAMLINE THAT PROCESS.
PART OF THE REASON I'M HERE TODAY IS TO STREAMLINE THIS PROCESS AND CERTAINLY THE AFTER HOURS.
I I, I JUST LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY ASKING THE APPLICANTS, HEY, WHAT DO YOU FIND AS CHALLENGES IN DEALING WITH US? AND TO SEE IF WE CAN, AND SOME OF THOSE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO ELIMINATE, RIGHT? RIGHT.
IT'S JUST PART OF, PART OF THE NATURE OF THE BEAST.
UM, BUT MAYBE SOME OF 'EM, THERE, THERE IS STUFF WE CAN DO.
AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO POINT OUT, IF IT'S OKAY TO THE, RELATED TO THE SIDEWALK COMMENT, THAT'S ACTUALLY A PLANNING DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REQUIREMENT.
AND I, BUT I, I THINK IT'S CLEAR, I THINK IT'S, IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER BECAUSE IN THE EYES OF THE CUSTOMER, IT'S STILL A PERMITTING ISSUE.
SO WHEREAS, ALTHOUGH I DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER THOSE SIDEWALK REQUIREMENTS, AND I DO KNOW PLANNING IS WORKING ON THAT, I STILL DO, MY TEAM STILL DEALS WITH THE CUSTOMERS MM-HMM
SO HOW DO WE ADDRESS THAT? SO I, I APPRECIATE THOSE COMMENTS.
AND I MEAN, THE THING ABOUT THIS, THIS IS AN EXISTING BUSINESS LOOKING TO EXPAND.
THEY'RE NOT GOING TO ABANDON IT BECAUSE THEY'RE THERE ALREADY.
WHEREAS IF IT WAS SOMEBODY JUST GOING IN BRAND NEW, THEY'D PROBABLY SAY, I'M OUTTA HERE.
SO, YOU KNOW, I, I WOULD LOVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO EITHER GET WITH THAT CUSTOMER OR LOOK AT THE, THE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THAT PROJECT.
YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE YOUR TEAM
UM, IS THAT IT? THAT'S ALL I GOT FOR YOU TODAY.
WE DON DON'T HAVE ANY MORE PORTIONS.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND UM, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING.
SO OUR FINAL PRESENTATION COMES FROM, UH, ELENA PAPAS AND JOHANNA CLARK OF THE HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
UM, THEY WILL BE OUTLINING THE CHANGES TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.
AND THIS IS THE PROGRAM THAT, UM, THE ORDINANCE THAT WAS RECENTLY UPDATED, UM, THAT OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, PUT FORWARD.
GOOD AFTERNOON COUNCIL MEMBERS.
COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COUNCIL STAFF.
WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO BE HERE.
I'M AN ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR WITH TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE OPERATIONS IN HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS AND THE CURRENT ACTIVE ACTING TRAFFIC ENGINEER.
SHE'S THE MANAGING ENGINEER THAT OVERSEES THE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, KNOWN, UH, KNOWN, UM, KNOWN AS NTMP.
UM, THIS PROGRAM IS, AS YOU KNOW, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE COMMUNITY.
THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, WE IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR RESIDENTS.
WE DELIVER MITIGATION MEASURES TO BE SURE THAT WE ARE CONTROLLING, CONTROLLING EXCESSIVE, UH, VEHICULAR SPEEDS AND CUT THROUGH TRAFFIC THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS.
SO WE ARE HERE TODAY BECAUSE IF YOU RECALL LAST YEAR, THERE WERE SOME ORDINANCE CHANGES BACK IN JUNE, JUNE, 2023, UM, THROUGH CHAPTER 45, ARTICLE 15, WHO IS, UH, THAT IS THE ONE THAT GOVERNS THIS PROGRAM.
THE CHANGES WERE MADE WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO MAKE THE PROGRAM MORE FLEXIBLE, MORE PRACTICAL, PRACTICAL, AND GIVE MORE CLARITY TO THE WAY THE STEPS GO ALONG THE ENTIRE PROCESS.
SO WE'RE HERE TODAY TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE, UM, THE PROCESS OF THE NEW PROGRAM AND HOW WE ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO DELIVER AGAIN, THAT ADDITIONAL CLARITY AND FLEXIBILITY AND OF COURSE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE REGARDING THE PROGRAM.
WITH THAT, I WANNA PASS IT ON TO ELENI WHO'S GONNA WALK YOU THROUGH THOSE CHANGES.
YEAH, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY.
HAPPY TO BE HERE WITH YOU ALL TODAY.
AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO OUR AGENDA VERY BRIEFLY AND WHAT WE'LL KEEP IT, WE'LL KEEP IT PRETTY SHORT, UM, IS TO REVIEW THE SHORT CHANGES TO REMIND EVERYONE WHAT HAPPENED
[01:25:01]
ON JUNE 5TH.UM, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH THE PROCESS FOR NEW APPLICATIONS.
WHAT STEPS ARE WE GONNA TAKE AND HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH YOU? THEN WE'LL TALK THROUGH THE PROCESS OF OUR EXISTING APPLICATIONS.
'CAUSE WE HAVE A BIG BACKLOG AND THAT'S A BIG QUESTION IS HOW DID THE CHANGES APPLY TO WHAT CAME BEFORE? WE'LL TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE IMPACTS TO THE VOLUME CONTROL PROGRAM, WHICH IS WE HAVE SORT OF AT ALL.
NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL EXPLAIN THIS A BIT MORE FOR CLARITY.
UM, WE'LL GO THROUGH NEXT STEPS AND THEN OF COURSE, ANY QUESTIONS WE'D LOVE TO BE ANSWERED ANSWER FOR YOU ALL.
UM, SO WHAT IS THE PROGRAM? SO AS JOHANNA SAID, THE PROGRAM REALLY IS ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN OUR RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGH MITIGATING SPEEDING TRAFFIC AND CUT THROUGH TRAFFIC AS WELL.
THE WAY THE PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY SET UP IS THERE'S TWO APPLICATIONS.
THERE'S THE SPEED CONTROL APPLICATION AND THE VOLUME CONTROL APPLICATION.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS GOVERNED BY ORDINANCE.
SO THE TOOLS FOR EACH APPLICATION ARE DIFFERENT.
THE SPEED CONTROL APPLICATION, THE TOOLS ARE SPEED CUSHIONS ONLY.
THE VOLUME CONTROL APPLICATION HAS A MUCH LONGER PROCESS.
ANY TOOL IS AVAILABLE IN THE TOOLBOX.
THINGS LIKE TRAFFIC CIRCLES INCLUDING SPEED CUSHIONS, MEDIANS, PARTIAL ROAD CLOSURES, FULL ROAD CLOSURES.
ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE THE VOLUME CONTROL PROGRAM.
AND IT TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF A LONGER PROCESS, VERY ENGAGED WITH COMMUNITY.
MINIMUM OF THREE PUBLIC MEETINGS, MULTIPLE STEPS.
MOST OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY IS THAT SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM.
AS MUCH OF MOST OF THE CHANGES WERE ABOUT THE SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM, AGAIN, MOVING IT QUICKER, UM, WE'RE GOVERNED BY ORDINANCE, WHICH IS WHY WE'RE HERE TODAY.
AND THEN A PART OF THE PROGRAM IS ALSO DICTATED BY THE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CODE.
SO WE ALSO HAVE SOME STATE REGULATION WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE FOLLOWING AS WELL.
SO KIND OF UM, WHAT WE ALWAYS WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE FOLLOWING THINGS AND DOING THINGS APPROPRIATELY TO ORDINANCE AND TO STATE CODE.
UH, THE OTHER PIECE OF THIS, NOT ON THE SLIDE, BUT IT'S A KEY PART OF THIS, IS THE MAJORITY OF THIS PROGRAM IS FUNDED THROUGH COUNCIL MEMBER DISCRETIONARY FUNDS.
SO THAT'S WHY THIS IS SUCH A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN US AND ALL OF YOU, IS THAT WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MEET THESE NEEDS OF THESE COMMUNITIES.
IF THIS IS THE DESIRED, YOU KNOW, OUTCOME FOR ALL OF US.
SO THE CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE ITSELF CREATED A NEW TERM CALLED A PRIORITY AREA.
SO BASICALLY WHEN SOMEBODY SUBMITS AN APPLICATION, WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE WANNA BE HAVE TO GET A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING.
SOMETIMES THESE NARROW AREAS CAN BE VERY LARGE.
THE PROGRAM, UH, THE PROJECT BECOMES ALMOST COST PROHIBITIVE HOW DUE TO HOW LARGE THE NEIGHBORHOOD AREA IS.
SO NOW WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS HAVE THE NEIGHBORHOOD AREA DRAWN VERY SIMILAR, BUT ALSO THE PRIORITY AREA.
WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS? SOMETIME RESIDENTS COME IN AND SAY, PLEASE THE SPEEDING BY THE SCHOOL COME, YOU KNOW, FOCUS ON THAT.
IT'LL BE ONE STREET VERSUS ANOTHER STREET.
SO WE'LL START DOCUMENTING THAT BASED OFF OF THAT INPUT FROM THE RESIDENTS WHO KNOW THEIR STREETS BEST.
UM, IT FORMALIZES THE ABILITY TO FUND PROJECTS AND PHASES BASED OFF FUNDING AVAILABILITY, WHICH I THINK CREATES A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY AGAIN, ON THOSE LARGER PROGRAMS, BUT ALSO ON JUST BALANCING THE NEEDS OF DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES.
IF YOU PHASE A VARIETY OF COMMUNITIES, YOU'RE KIND OF DOING A LITTLE BIT IN EVERY ONE AND IT CAN WORK THAT WAY.
AND THIS ACTUALLY NOW ALLOWS US TO FORMALIZE THAT PROCESS AND, UM, WILL MAKE THINGS A LITTLE SMOOTHER.
IT ALSO ALLOWS FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY, AGAIN, ON THOSE BOUNDARIES.
ARE WE DRAWING THE CORRECT BOUNDARY? ARE WE, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I NEVER WANT TO START A PROCESS AND MAKE IT TOO HARD TO MOVE THE PROCESS FORWARD.
SO THIS IS ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WHEN SOMEBODY COMES IN, WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM TO FIND THE RIGHT, RIGHT WAY TO MOVE THE PROCESS FORWARD IF THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS.
SO WHEN WE GET A NEW APPLICATION, WHAT HAPPENS? WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO IT'S KIND OF A FIVE STEP PROCESS.
UM, AND BASICALLY THE WAY IT STARTS IS ALL RESIDENTS, ALL APPLICATIONS COME FROM RESIDENTS.
IT'S A REQUIREMENT AND THEY HAVE TO HAVE A FULL APPLICATION COMPLETED WITH ALL NECESSARY INFORMATION.
THEY HAVE TO HAVE A PETITION AND OR, UM, A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM A CIVIC CLUB.
SO AGAIN, IT'S NOT JUST ONE RESIDENT, WE KNOW IT'S A COMMUNITY GOAL TO BE LOOKING AT THIS APPLICATION PROCESS.
WE ALSO ASK FOR A TRAFFIC DESCRIPTION.
AND THIS IS REALLY CRITICAL 'CAUSE AGAIN, IT TELLS US WHAT DO THEY SEE, WHAT ARE THEIR CONCERNS THAT TYPICALLY WILL CORRESPOND WITH THAT PRIORITY AREA I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE'RE ALSO GONNA FORMALIZE THAT.
SO LIKE THE APPLICATION SAYS, WHAT IS YOUR PRIORITY? AND WE'LL BE MAPPING THAT AND DOCUMENTING THAT AS PER THE NEW ORDINANCE CHANGES.
ONCE AN APPLICATION IS FULL COMPLETED, IT GOES INTO OUR BACKLOG AND BECOMES CALLED AN INACTIVE PROJECT.
UM, AT THAT POINT, COUNCIL MEMBER, SINCE THIS IS REALLY MORE FOR OUR DISTRICT, UH, MEN MEMBERS, I'M SORRY OUR LARGEST DOESN'T PLAY TO YOU GUYS AS MUCH, BUT I ALWAYS APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S FEEDBACK, UM, AS THESE, YOUR CONSTITUENTS FOR UH, EVERYBODY AS WELL.
BUT BASICALLY WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS A DISTRICT DECIDES WE WANNA MOVE ONE OF THESE FORWARD.
COULD WE LOOK AT THAT? CAN YOU CREATE A PLAN FOR US? SO WE WILL START CREATING THE CONCEPT PLAN AND WE'LL STILL DRAW THAT NEIGHBORHOOD AREA, BUT THEN WE'LL FOCUS ON THAT PRIORITY
[01:30:01]
AREA AND BASED OFF OF THE NEEDS OF EACH DISTRICT, WE'LL START LOOKING AT ALSO FUNDING, UH, FUNDING POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES.SO HERE'S THE PRIORITY AREA HERE, HOW MUCH THAT COSTS, THE WHOLE AREA COSTS.
THIS, HERE'S SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PHASING.
IF YOU WANT TO PHASE IT, YOU COULD DO OVER TWO YEARS, THREE YEARS HERE.
AND THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU ARE BE BASED OFF OF BASICALLY WE NEVER WANNA PUT SOMETHING IN ONE AREA THAT'S GONNA NEGATIVELY IMPACT ANOTHER AREA.
SO WE'LL ACTUALLY CREATE PLANS AROUND THAT.
SO KIND OF AGAIN, BALANCING THE NEEDS OF COST AS WELL AS ACTUALLY HOW THIS PLAN'S GONNA WORK AND FUNCTION ON THE CITY STREETS.
THAT THEN GOES TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S OFFICE GETS REVIEWED, WE TALK BACK AND FORTH, MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT.
AND IF THAT MOVES FORWARD AND FUNDINGS IS ALLOCATED, WE START THE DETAILED PROCESS OF KIND OF REVIEWING IT, FINALIZING IT.
SO THAT MEANS WE GO INTO THE FIELD, WE MAKE SURE THINGS LOOK GOOD, WE TALK TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, MAKE SURE THEY'RE SUPPORTIVE.
WE ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH WHAT'S CALLED OUR PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS, WHERE WE NOTIFY EVERYONE WITHIN A HALF MILE THAT THIS IS COMING AND WE GET THEIR FEEDBACK THAT SETS TEXAS STATE CODE THAT'S REQUIRED THAT WE DO THAT.
UM, AND BASED OFF ALL OF THAT TOO, WE'LL TALK THROUGH, THIS MAY BE A THREE YEAR FUNDING PROCESS OR MAYBE ONLY PART OF THIS IS FUNDED TODAY, BUT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FUNDING FOR OTHERS.
THE GOAL OF THESE, THIS PROCESS IS THAT WE TAKE THE TIME NOW TO CREATE THAT REALLY COMPREHENSIVE CONCEPT PLAN, GET THOSE LOCATIONS APPROVED, EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT ALL FUNDED, WE HAVE THREE YEARS TO FUND THEM.
AND SO THAT ALLOWS US TO LOOK FOR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TOO, TO SUPPORT YOU ALL.
WE'LL LOOK AT GRANTS, WE'LL LOOK AT PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE COUNTY POSSIBLY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S TONS OF OPPORTUNITY OUT THERE, BUT IF WE HAVE A SELECT APPROVED SERIES OF LOCATIONS, IT MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO FIND THOSE OTHER KIND OF DOLLARS.
A LOT OF COMMUNITIES WANT TO PAY FOR THEIR CUSHIONS.
THIS NOW MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO DO THAT.
SO AGAIN, WE'LL CREATE THESE PLANS.
THEY'LL BE ACTIVE FOR THREE YEARS, EVEN AFTER THREE YEARS.
IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO COME BACK AND FUND A CUSHION THAT WAS APPROVED, THAT'S OKAY.
WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE KIND OF THAT, THAT UH, DETAILED REVIEW PROCESS.
AGAIN, THINGS CHANGE OVER THREE YEARS.
WE NEVER WANNA SAY YES TO SOMETHING IF WE HAVEN'T GONE OUT THERE TO MAKE SURE IT STILL MAKES SENSE AND NOTIFY THE COMMUNITY AT THAT POINT.
THE PLAN THEN GOES BACK TO YOU, YOU ALL.
AND IF WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT AND READY TO KIND OF ALLOCATE FUNDS, THEY GET ALLOCATED.
WHAT IS BEING FUNDED GOES TO CONSTRUCTION.
THOSE THAT MAY NOT BE FUNDED TODAY WILL EITHER TRY TO FIND FUNDING FOR OR WILL BE FUNDED OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS BASED OFF OF WHATEVER THE PLAN MAY BE.
AND WE'LL CREATE THAT PLAN AND THEN MOVE FORWARD AND THEN CLOSE OUT THE PLAN AND THE PROJECT.
SO I HAVE SOME KIND OF HYPOTHETICAL OF WHAT THIS COULD LOOK LIKE.
SO WE HAVE RESIDENTS ON HOUSTON STREET AND THEY COME IN, THEY SAY, WE'VE GOT CONCERNS.
SO WE'RE LIKE, COOL, LET'S FIGURE THIS OUT.
THEY SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION AND THE APPLICATION, THE PRIORITY AREA IS HOUSTON STREET.
HOWEVER, THEIR ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD EXTENDS FROM, NOW I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER MY STREETS MAIN STREET TO PARK STREET, TO CITY HALL AVENUE TO PUBLIC WORKS WAY.
SO THAT'S THE ENTIRE BOUNDARY AREA FOR THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO THIS GETS ELEVATED BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT.
WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND WE CREATE A PLAN AND WE SAY, LOOK, NOW I WANNA CAVEAT THIS IS NOT TO ANY OF OUR STANDARDS, THIS IS FULLY HYPOTHETICAL AND JUST FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES.
BUT WE SAY, GREAT, HERE'S THE PRIORITY AREA FOR HOUSTON STREET, HERE'S HOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD, WHAT THE PRIORITIES TO THE COMMUNITY.
HOWEVER, LET'S LOOK AT THESE OTHER STREETS AS WELL.
AND IF WE WERE TO DO A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, PHASE IT OVER THREE YEARS, HERE IS OUR RECOMMENDATION TO YOU AND WHAT THIS COULD LOOK LIKE MOVING FORWARD.
THE NEXT SLIDE, THERE MAY BE TIMES THE DISTRICT CAN ONLY FUND THE PRIORITY AREA.
WE WILL START LOOKING FOR MAYBE FUNDING FOR THOSE OTHER TWO BUCKETS AS WELL.
WE'LL BE VERY UPFRONT AS WE DO THIS WITH CIPL REGULARLY, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN, LET'S MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S BOUGHT IN AND THEN WE'LL FIND FUNDING AVAILABILITY INTO THE FUTURE.
BUT WE'LL STILL APPROVE THOSE LOCATIONS.
AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT THIS SHOWS TOO, IS WE CAN STILL PHASE EVEN IF WE'RE NOT SURE WHERE THE FUNDING IS COMING FROM.
SO NOW THAT WE'VE KIND OF GONE THROUGH NEW APPLICATIONS, THE PROCESS FOR INACTIVE APPLICATIONS, I WANNA TOUCH ON REALLY BRIEFLY WITH THE NEXT SLIDE.
THE BIG DIFFERENCE HERE IS WE DO NOT HAVE A PRIORITY AREA TO FIND.
HOWEVER, TYPICALLY WE ALREADY HAVE RESIDENTS TELLING US INDIRECTLY THIS IS THE ISSUE THROUGH THOSE TRAFFIC DESCRIPTIONS, ET CETERA.
SO WE MAY NOT ACTUALLY HAVE AN OFFICIAL PRIORITY AREA TO FIND.
TYPICALLY, WE ALSO HAVE THE CONTACT INFORMATION CAN REACH OUT TO THOSE RESIDENTS.
TYPICALLY, YOU ALL HAVE GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THOSE RESIDENTS ALREADY, SO WE CAN HEAR FROM FROM THEM.
SO WHILE WE WON'T HAVE THAT OFFICIAL DEFINED BY APPLICATION PRIORITY AREA, WE DO BELIEVE WE HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO APPLY THIS PROCESS EVEN TO HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN OUR BACKLOG, WHICH THEN GOES INTO OUR NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE HAVE THE OLDEST APPLICATION WE CURRENTLY HAVE GOES BACK TO 2010.
UM, THERE'S 228 INACTIVE PROJECT AREAS.
136 ARE FROM JANUARY 1ST, 2020.
WE HAVE A BIG BACKLOG AND THAT'S OKAY.
[01:35:01]
ISSUE WE HAVE AS STAFF WITH A BACKLOG IS THAT SOMETIMES WE LOOK AT AN APPLICATION FROM 10 YEARS AGO AND IT'S NOT REALLY RELEVANT TO WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY.SO WE DON'T HAVE THE BEST INFORMATION.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO GO SOLVE A PROBLEM AND WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AT THAT POINT.
UM, OFTEN THE INFORMATION'S THE RESIDENT WHO WANTED IT HAS LEFT THE COMMUNITY, HAS DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES AND DIFFERENT DESIRES TODAY, OR THERE'S NOT THE BEST INFORMATION AVAILABLE FOR US TO MAKE THE MOST INFORMED DECISION ABOUT WHERE WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, HELP YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT WHERE TO SPEND DOLLARS WHEN IT COMES TO SPEED MITIGATION IN THESE NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO WE ARE PROPOSING MOVING FORWARD, WE ARE GONNA START IN JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR, ROLLING OFF APPLICATIONS.
AFTER FOUR YEARS, WE WILL NOTIFY RESIDENTS.
UM, THEY'LL GET A CHANCE TO REAPPLY WITH THE NEW APPLICATION.
WE WILL ALSO ALLOW EACH DISTRICT TO SAY, HEY, PLEASE KEEP THESE ON, THEY'RE ON OUR RADAR.
WE WILL FUND THEM EVENTUALLY, SO DON'T TAKE THEM OFF YET.
UM, BUT BASICALLY WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS NOTIFY RESIDENTS, HEY, YOU'RE ROLLING OFF, HERE'S HOW TO REAPPLY.
AND THEN YOUR, YOUR APPLICATION WILL STAY ACTIVE FOR FOUR YEARS.
IT JUST GIVES US A BETTER POOL AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THE NEEDS REALLY ARE IN EACH OF THESE COMMUNITIES AND WILL ALLOW US, I THINK TO BE, BE MORE TARGETED MOVING FORWARD.
AGAIN, JOHANNA SAID, FLEXIBILITY, ADAPTABILITY, THIS IS PART OF THAT.
SO AGAIN, SO NOW THAT'S THE SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM.
SO HOW DO THE ORDINANCE CHANGE IMPACTS THE VOLUME CONTROL PROGRAM, THAT LONGER, MORE, UM, COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS.
WHAT IT DOES HERE AGAIN, IS ALLOW FEES, UM, ALLOW IMPLEMENTATION TO BE BASED AROUND WHAT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE.
SO SAY THE PLAN COMES UP AND WE WANNA INSTALL SIX TRAFFIC CIRCLES, BUT THE FUNDING IS JUST CHALLENGING FOR THAT.
SO THAT CAN BE PHASED OVER A FEW YEARS.
WE CAN THINK ABOUT AGAIN, RIGHT SIZING SOLUTIONS WITH THE FUNDING DOLLARS AVAILABLE.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, IT JUST GIVES US MORE FLEXIBILITY ON REALLY SOLVING THESE PROBLEMS. UM, YOU EVEN THROUGH THE VOLUME CONTROL PROGRAM, HOWEVER, THIS IS STILL OUR VERY TRAFFIC INTENSE PROGRAM, VERY DATA DRIVEN, VERY RESIDENT DRIVEN.
SO NONE OF THOSE THINGS CHANGE.
IT JUST, AGAIN, SLIGHTLY MORE ADAPTABLE WHEN IT COMES TO FUNDING AND BOUNDARIES.
UM, WE ARE SO HAPPY TO BE HERE TALKING TO YOU ALL TODAY.
I FEEL LIKE WE FINALLY, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THIS HAPPENED IN JUNE 5TH AND WE, THE AMOUNT OF EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS WE GET OF LIKE, HOW CAN WE START USING THIS? AND WE KIND OF HAVE INFORMALLY, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO GO AND CHANGE ALL OF OUR MATERIALS, YOU KNOW, SO WE WANNA BE HAVE THE RIGHT THING STATED.
WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT, WE ALL, YOU KNOW, UM, HAVE THE RIGHT VISION FORWARD FOR THIS PROGRAM 'CAUSE IT IS SO POPULAR FOR, FOR RESIDENTS.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO NOW IS IF WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT AND THINGS GO WELL, UM, WE'RE GONNA START DEVELOPING THE NEW APPLICATIONS, UM, THE NEW BROCHURES AND FAQS, WE'RE GONNA GET A BETTER WEBSITE
AND THEN WE'RE GONNA UPDATE OUR ONLINE RESPONSE PORTAL TOO.
SO JUST AGAIN, MAKING SURE WE'RE EVERYTHING KIND OF TRICKLES THROUGH, TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO DO IT IT, RIGHT, AND THEN IT'LL HAVE ITS OFFICIAL LAUNCH AND NEXT SLIDE.
AND AFTER THOSE STEPS ARE DONE, WHAT WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO DO IS CREATE A MORE INTER, UM, FOR BOTH INTERNAL PARTIES AND EXTERNAL PARTIES, IS AN ONLINE DASHBOARD.
THIS STUFF IS VERY VISUAL AND VERY MAP BASED AND IT'S REALLY HARD FOR RESIDENTS TO BE LIKE, OKAY, THIS IS MY STREET.
I'M NOT SURE WHERE IT'S GONNA BE LOCATED.
SO WE'RE GONNA GET TO A PLACE EVENTUALLY ONE DAY AND IT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT YEAR WHERE YOU CAN ZOOM IN AND SEE, OH, HERE'S WHAT'S PROPOSED.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA TRY TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE GRANULAR AND HAVE BETTER VISUALS IN AN ONLINE DASHBOARD.
WE HAVE THAT ABILITY TO DO IT ON OUR SIDE.
WE WANNA BE ABLE TO SHOW IT OUT TO EVERYBODY ELSE, NOT JUST Y'ALL, BUT STAFF AS, UH, PUBLIC AS WELL.
UM, WE'RE GONNA IMPROVE OUR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
WE WANNA GET HIGHER RESPONSE RATES.
UM, WE HAVE TO MAIL EVERYBODY.
MAIL IS OLD FASHIONED AND WE KNOW THAT CAN BE CHALLENGING.
AND SO WHAT CAN WE DO, POSTCARDS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THEN WE ALSO WANNA UPDATE THE PROGRAM.
SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THE VERY FAST SPEED CONTROL PROGRAM AND THE MUCH SLOWER VOLUME CONTROL PROGRAM.
SO WHAT WE CAN DO, WE DO ABOUT IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE, WE FEEL LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE THAT'S KIND OF A GAP.
AND SO WE WANNA START LOOKING AT WHAT CAN THAT PROGRAM LOOK LIKE? SO CAN IT BE SOMETHING THAT IS MAYBE FOR TRAFFIC CIRCLES OR OTHER THINGS, A LITTLE MORE COMPREHENSIVE, A LITTLE BIT MORE ADAPTABLE TO REALLY LOOK AT CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS IN A LITTLE DIFFERENT WAY.
AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR YOU ALL TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, WE HAVE A FEW COUNCIL MEMBERS IN, UM, Q UM, TO ASK QUESTIONS.
WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN.
UM, FIRST DIRECTOR AND EMMY, UH,
I WANNA SAY THAT AT THE OUT OUTSET AND THE THOUGHTFULNESS OF THIS PROGRAM REGARDING THE INHERITED RIGHT, THE OUTDATED COMING INTO OFFICE, UH, OUR OFFICE INHERITED OVER 30 APPLICATIONS AND WE'VE SINCE THAT TIME GOTTEN MORE AND MORE
[01:40:01]
AND MORE.SO I APPRECIATE THAT Y'ALL ARE ADDRESSING THAT AS WELL.
UM, AND I KNOW OTHER DISTRICTS REALLY STRUGGLE WITH THAT, RIGHT? HOW DO WE PRIORITIZE SOMETHING NEW WHEN WE HAVE ALL OF THESE OUTSTANDING AND THERE'S NO WAY TO GET TO ALL OF THEM.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES AS A DISTRICT OFFICE THAT WE FACE, UH, AND I CAN SPEAK FOR DISTRICT C, BUT I'M ASSUMING THERE ARE OTHERS AS WELL MM-HMM
THE EXPECTED COST, MY UNDERSTANDING OF A SINGLE SPEED CUSHION IS $5,000, $5,000.
AND THAT MEANS THAT A PROJECT MIGHT RANGE ANYWHERE FROM $50,000 TO, UH, MULTIPLE SIX FIGURES.
AND FOR RESIDENTS THAT ARE SPEED CUSHIONS ARE A PASSIONATE ISSUE, RIGHT? IT'S OUR CHILDREN, IT'S OUR FAMILIES, IT'S OUR HOMES, IT'S OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, AND PEOPLE WANT SLOWER TRAFFIC.
UM, BUT WE AS DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN'T AFFORD THESE PROJECTS.
UH, WE'RE FOCUSED ON DRAINAGE, WE'RE FOCUSED ON DITCH REHABS, WE'RE FOCUSED ON SIDEWALKS, WE'RE FOCUSED ON ALL OF THESE OTHER THINGS IN ADDITION TO THAT.
SO I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE, UH, I APPRECIATE US TRYING TO CATER AND FIND A SOLUTION, BUT I WANNA BE VERY CLEAR, UM, THE CITY STILL HAS NO FUNDING SOURCE FOR SPEED CUSHIONS.
AND THIS IS FALLING ON COUNCIL OFFICES AND WE DON'T HAVE, PEOPLE MAY THINK WE HAVE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO SPEND.
SO WHEN WE, UH, GIVEN THE SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO MOVE A LOT FORWARD.
WE HAVE FOUND SUCCESS IN PARTNERING WITH NEIGHBORHOODS WHO HAVE FUNDRAISED FOR THEM AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AGAIN, WE'RE NOW TALKING ABOUT, HEY, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO TACKLE ONE STREET, BUT ONE OF MY, THERE'S SEVERAL, UH, INQUIRIES I HAVE.
ONE IS GIVING RESIDENTS, UH, A FALSE PRETENSE OR A POLITICAL FOOTBALL OF, OH, IT'S UP TO YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER TO APPROVE THESE WHEN REALLY WE'RE SITTING HERE WITH NO ABILITY TO FUND BECAUSE THERE'S NO CITY FUNDING FOR SPEED CUSHIONS.
UH, SO I WANNA MAKE SURE IF WE'RE DOING MATERIALS, IF WE'RE COMMUNICATING THAT, THAT'S MADE VERY CLEAR BECAUSE I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE THE FALSE IMPRESSION THAT AS COUNCIL MEMBERS WE'RE NOT FIGHTING AND ADVOCATING JUST LIKE YOU ALL ARE AND WE'RE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP.
BUT AGAIN, THERE'S NO FUNDING FOR THIS.
THE OTHER CONCERN I HAVE, AND I'M I'M HOPING YOU CAN SPEAK TO THIS, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE A HOLISTIC PLAN FOR AN AREA AND THAT THERE'S NOT UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
SO IF WE'RE FUNDING ONE STREET AND THERE'S A PLAN, HEY, IN ONE YEAR, TWO YEAR WE'RE GONNA GET TO THIS, THERE CAN BE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES AND PUSHOVER INTO ANOTHER STREET.
AND SO FOR EXAMPLE, IF THERE'S A, A, UH, SCHOOL OR A PARK WHERE SPEED CUSHIONS MAY REALLY BE NEEDED, THAT'S ONE WAY TO VIEW THIS.
BUT IT, ARE THERE ANY PARAMETERS THAT SPECIFY, HEY, THIS IS A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR A PRIORITY SEGMENT OR NOT? ARE THERE, OR IS IT COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE BASED ON WHAT A NEIGHBORHOOD IS SAYING? THE ORDINANCE IS SET UP WHERE THERE ARE NO PARAMETERS.
THE ONLY PARAMETER IS WHAT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE.
HOWEVER, I I VERY MUCH AGREE WITH WHAT YOU'RE STATING.
AND THAT'S BEEN, I THINK A CONCERN OF OURS IS THAT WE NEVER WANT TO CAUSE AN ISSUE ELSEWHERE BY TRYING TO SOLVE ONE PROBLEM.
AND THAT'S WHY I THINK WHEN WE DO THAT CONCEPT PLANNING STAGE, REALLY TAKING THE TIME AND COMMUNICATING THIS IS THE PRIORITY AREA.
AND IT COULD BE LIKE THAT GRAPHIC I SHOWED YOU WHERE IT'S JUST THAT, OR IT COULD SAY THE PRIORITY AREA NEEDS TO BE THREE, THESE THREE AND THEN WHAT WE CAN COME BACK AND SAID, BUT WE WANTED THAT TO BE PART OF THE CONCEPT PLANNING STAGE.
AND WE ARE GONNA BE VERY ACTIVE ABOUT THAT.
HOWEVER, THERE IS NO FORESEE MECHANISM THAT WILL REQUIRE THAT TO WHAT IS CONSIDERED THE PRIORITY TO BE IMPLEMENTED.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S WHY LIKE I KNOW WE'RE TRYING TO CATER TO NEEDS IN SPECIFIC DISTRICTS THAT THIS HAS COME UP.
BUT AGAIN, WHEN I'M DEALING WITH AN ENTIRE, FOR EXAMPLE, GARDEN OAKS AND OAK FOREST DESPERATELY NEED SPEED CALMING MEASURES AND MECHANISMS AND WE'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN, BUT IF WE JUST DO ONE STREET, THE WHOLE REST OF THE AREA IS NEGLECTED.
SO I'D LIKE, I'D HOPE WE CAN FLUSH THAT OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND I'M HAPPY TO, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA BE MEETING AND TALKING OFFLINE, BUT HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE THAT TO RESIDENTS AND IS ARE THERE ANY SAFEGUARDS FROM A PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE? I CAN BE SUBJECTIVE, ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER CAN, BUT HAVING ENGINEERS LOOKING AT, NO, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE IMPACT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
THAT IT'S NOT JUST PUT ON A COUNCIL OFFICE TO, TO BLESS SOMETHING YES OR NO.
BUT TO REALLY HAVE THAT, UM, SAFETY LENS ON ALL OF THIS.
UH, IN TERMS OF NOTIFICA AND, EXCUSE ME, YOU MAY WANNA RESPOND TO THAT.
NO, I'M JUST GONNA ADD UP COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH YOUR COMMENT.
AND EVEN IF FUNDING IS WHAT IS DRIVING MOST OF THESE DECISIONS OF HOW TO FACE THIS TYPE OF PROJECTS, WE ARE HAVING A TECHNICAL
[01:45:01]
EYE AND CONCENTRATED ON THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM, WHICH IS SAFETY.UM, SO WHEN WE DEFINE PRIORITY STREETS, YES WE WANNA BE LOOKING INTO REASONABLE TIMELINES TO DEFINE THOSE PHASES.
OBVIOUSLY FUNDING IS A LIMITATION FOR US.
AND THAT COULD GET CUT, RIGHT? YES.
SO SOMEONE I COULD FUND SOME AT ONE BLOCK AND THEN I'M, I'M OUT OF OFFICE IN THE NEXT YEAR AND ALL OF THAT GOES AWAY.
AND HERE WE ARE WITH THAT TYPE OF PROJECT.
UH, AND I'M HAPPY TO GO BACK IN QUEUE, BUT ONE OTHER QUESTION PERTAINING TO THIS THAT'S GERMANE.
UM, THE, IF A RESIDENT SUBMITS AN APPLICATION, THEY SAY, HEY, WE WANT OUR STREET TO BE THE PRIORITY AREA.
WHAT'S THE PROCESS SO THAT THERE'S OTHER ENGAGEMENT FROM THE SURROUNDING STREETS SO THAT THEY'RE NOT LEFT WITH THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF THAT OTHER STREET NEXT TO 'EM BEING THE PRIORITY.
SO WHAT IT, IS THERE ENGAGEMENT REQUIREMENT FOR THAT? HEY, THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS TO COME TOGETHER AND AGREE TO THIS.
WHAT, WHAT ARE THE STEPS THERE? THAT, THAT'S A GREAT POINT.
IT, IT'S ALMOST LIKE THE FIRST PERSON TO SUBMIT THE APPLICATION GETS THAT BENEFIT.
SO I KIND OF, THERE'S TWO WAYS THAT WE WANNA BE ADDRESSING THAT.
'CAUSE THAT IS, AGAIN, THAT IS A REAL CONCERN THAT WE HAVE WITH HOW THIS IS GONNA MOVE FORWARD.
ONE, WE OFTEN DO GET MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS FOR AN AREA.
SO WE WILL KNOW, WE WILL TRACK ALL OF THOSE PRIORITY AREAS.
SO YOU COULD HAVE FOUR PRIORITY AREAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THEY COULD ALL BE ACTUALLY INDEPENDENT APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED OR THEY COULD ALL BE PART OF ONE APPLICATION SUBMITTED.
BUT THAT'S THE IDEAL SITUATION WHERE THAT OTHER STREET SUBMIT AN APPLICATION.
SO THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS HAPPEN.
UM, THE SECOND WAY IS WE ARE REQUIRED TO NOTIFY EVERYONE WITHIN A HALF MILE OF PROPOSED DEVICE THAT THERE'S A PROPOSED DEVICE GOING IN.
AND THOSE, THOSE CONCEPT PLANS THAT WE MAIL OUT, AND THIS IS PART OF WHY WE'RE DOING IT THIS WAY, IS STILL GONNA INCLUDE ALL APPROVED LOCATIONS.
SO EVEN IF A LOCATION'S NOT FUNDED, IT WILL BE ON THAT MAP AND SAY THIS IS APPROVED AND IT MAY NOT BE FUNDED AND WE'LL NOTIFY THAT, BUT IT'S A, WE STILL WANT TO PUT ONE ON THIS STREET AND IT'S BECAUSE IT MAY BE PARALLEL TO THAT OTHER PRIORITY STREET.
SO THEY WILL NOT BE NECESSARILY, AND THEN IF WE SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, STRONG SUPPORT THAT CAN THEN HELP US THINK THROUGH, DO WE CONVINCE YOU TO FUND THAT ONE OR DO WE FIND ANOTHER WAY TO FUND IT? AND THAT'S ONE THING I'M, I'M, AND MAYBE NAIVELY BUT EXCITED ABOUT IS LOOKING FOR OTHER FUNDING SOURCES TOO.
SO IF I HAVE A BACKLOG OF A BUNCH OF APPROVED LOCATIONS THAT I HAVE THE ABILITY TO START LOOKING FOR GRANT DOLLARS, OTHER, THOSE PARTNERSHIPS I MENTIONED EARLIER, RIGHT? AND, AND I'M ALL ON BOARD.
WITH THE HAVING APPROVED PLANS, I WILL GET THOSE INTO YOU IMMEDIATELY.
SAY WE GOT ALL THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, IT'S THE, WE'RE GONNA PICK ONE STREET TO START WITH, AND THAT'S BASED ON WHOEVER'S APPLYING OR ME WHEN THAT'S GOING TO HAVE AN IMPACT YEAH.
AND I DON'T, AGAIN, THE COMMUNICATIONS, THE MAILERS, YES, ALL OF THAT CAN LEAVE RESIDENTS WITH AN IMPRESSION, OH, THIS IS APPROVED.
SO AGAIN, I'M NOT POINTING FINGERS, I KNOW Y'ALL SHARE SOME OF THESE CONCERNS AND ARE WORKING WITH WHAT THE GUIDANCE YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN IS AND TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS, BUT, UM, REALLY WANNA MAKE SURE THE MATERIALS WE'RE DOING AND JUST TALK OFFLINE ABOUT HOW WE FLUSH THIS OUT BECAUSE ALL OF US ARE GONNA GET THOSE CALLS WHEN IT'S, OH, IT'S THE COUNCIL MEMBER THAT'S APPROVED OR NOT APPROVED WHEN REALLY THERE'S A WHOLE OTHER LIST OF THINGS INCLUDING FUNDING THAT GOES INTO THIS.
UH, SO PLEASE PUT ME BACK IN QUEUE, BUT THANK YOU.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, CAYMAN FOR, YOU KNOW, RAISING THAT ISSUE, THE, THE DOLLARS, WHAT IT TAKES TO DO THESE SPEED CUSHIONS.
WHEN WE CAME IN OFFICE, UM, THE, THE COUNCIL MEMBER BEFORE ME DIDN'T DO SPEED CUSHIONS.
AND SO 10 TH 2010 WE HAD, UM, APPLICATIONS, UM, DATED BACK, UM, THROUGH THAT DATE.
AND WE TRIED TO LIKE DO WHAT WE CAN TO SUPPORT AS MANY AS WE CAN, BUT THAT'S TAKING ALL OF OUR DISTRICT SERVICE FUNDS.
AND SO, UM, YEAH, I'M GLAD YOU HAD EXCITED ABOUT LOOKING FOR OTHER FUNDING SOURCES.
AND SO THAT WAY WE CAN REALLY, YOU KNOW, TAKE CARE OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS.
'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS THAT, UM, A LOT OF COMMUNITIES THAT WANT 'EM.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I GET A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT RACING AND THE NOISE AND THE DANGER THAT, THAT THAT COMES WITH THAT.
UM, DO YOU ALL DEAL WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT RACING AND HOW TO, UH, UM, ELIMINATE IT OR LIMIT IT? UH, AND GENERALLY, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, IT PERTAINS TO ROADS THAT ARE MORE WELL TRAVELED THAN LARGER ROADS THAN, THAN SOME OF THE ONES YOU'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
DO Y'ALL EVER DEAL WITH THAT? YEAH, SOMETIMES WE GET THOSE TYPE OF REQUESTS WHEN THERE IS SOME SPEED VIOLATION CONSISTENT PATTERN IN CERTAIN AREAS.
SO, UM, FROM THE TRAFFIC ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE, WE ALWAYS START VERY VERIFY THAT THE TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES ON THOSE SEGMENTS ARE IN PLACE.
UH, IT COULD BE SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A
[01:50:01]
STOP SIGN.BE SURE IT'S THE PROPER SIZE THAT THE VISIBILITY IS ADEQUATE PAVEMENT MARKINGS, THOSE ITEMS THAT WE KNOW ARE UNDER OUR CONTROL TRAFFIC SIGNAL OPERATIONS TOO.
SOMETIMES UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF SYNCHRONIZING A CORRIDOR MIGHT BE SPEEDING.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE EXAMPLES THAT WE SEE HERE AND THERE.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE IS ENDS UP BEING A LAW ENFORCEMENT ISSUE.
SO WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH HPD AND THEIR OPERATIONS, THEIR SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAM, UM, WHO IS DEDICATED AND HAS BEEN VERY HISTORICALLY VERY SUPPORTIVE OF TRAFFIC OPERATIONS.
BUT YES, OUR FIRST TASK, ONCE WE GET THIS TYPE OF COMPLAINTS, AGAIN, IT'S NOT THE, UM, TYPICAL TYPE OF REQUEST THAT WE GET, BUT WE, WE DO SEE THOSE SOMETIMES.
AND UM, I MEAN I, I HEAR THEM ALL OVER, I HEAR THEM ON STREETS NEAR WHERE I LIVE, BUT I'VE ALSO HEARD COMPLAINTS ABOUT THROUGH MEMORIAL PARK, RIGHT? UH, THEY MADE SOME VERY BEAUTIFUL AND SUBSTANTIAL, UH, CHANGES OVER THERE.
THE LAND BRIDGES, UH, OVER, OVER MEMORIAL CONNECTING ONE HALF OF THE PARK TO THE OTHER.
APPARENTLY EARLY IN THE MORNING, UH, YOU'LL HAVE RACERS THAT GO, UH, UP AND DOWN MEMORIAL THROUGH THOSE, THROUGH THOSE LAND BRIDGES.
AND I'M THINKING, WHAT POSSIBLE OPTIONS DO WE HAVE BECAUSE WE CAN'T HAVE POLICE STATION THERE ALL THE TIME.
AND I THOUGHT, WHAT ABOUT TEMPORARY CLOSURES WHERE YOU, YOU CLOSE OFF DURING CERTAIN HOURS, YOU KNOW, A PART OF MEMORIAL THROUGH THAT, THROUGH THE HEART OF MEMORIAL PARK.
UM, DO Y'ALL EVER CONSIDER TEMPORARY CLOSURES BASED ON HOURS OF THE DAY? UH, NOT NECESSARILY.
THAT HAS NOT BEEN, UM, A PREDOMINANT, UM, TOOL ON OUR SET OF OPTIONS.
UM, I MEAN WE HAVE SEEN THAT, AGAIN, ATTEMPTING ALL THE OTHER OPTIONS LIKE AGAIN, TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES, LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CLOSING THE STREETS OR LANES TEMPORARILY.
UM, I AM NOT AWARE THAT WE HAVE TRIED THAT.
UH, SOMETHING TO CONSIDER IS THAT RESOURCES THAT WILL TAKE AND HOW WE ARE GONNA MITIGATE THAT.
WILL WE BE MOVING THE PROBLEM TO MAYBE ANOTHER ROAD? UM, BUT WE'LL BE HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT THOSE REQUESTS AND, AND COMPLAINTS THAT YOU'RE RECEIVING COUNCIL MEMBER.
WE'D BE HAPPY TO LOOK INTO IT.
I'M NOT AWARE THAT THOSE HAVE REACHED OUR OFFICE, BUT AGAIN, HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT THE DETAILS.
AND, AND I MIGHT CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION, UH, FURTHER WITH YOU, BUT THE RACERS GENERALLY ARE NOT GONNA FOLLOW ANY TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES.
THEY'RE NOT GONNA OBEY THE STOP SIGNS OR, UH, NOT NECESSARILY.
WHAT I WAS REFERRING IS OUR FIRST ACTION TYPICALLY IS LET'S VERIFY THAT ALL OUR TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES ARE PROPERLY IN PLACE.
UM, YEAH, AGAIN, FAILURES ON THAT SIDE CAN TRIGGER SOME ISSUES LIKE THAT ONE.
COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO'S OFFICE.
UH, SO I HAD SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING YOUR PUBLIC NOTICING PROCESS.
UH, COULD YOU CLARIFY THE STEPS INVOLVED IN ADDRESSING THE FEEDBACK ON THE PLACEMENT OF SPEED CUSHIONS FROM CONSTITUENTS? UH, 'CAUSE ORIGINALLY IN SOME PLANS YOU HAVE IT LAID OUT WHERE THERE ARE, UM, SPEED CUSHIONS PLACED ON ROADS AND THEN ONE IN PARTICULAR ROAD IN THE MIDDLE, AS I PIGGYBACK OFF, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMANS, UH, ONE ROAD DOESN'T HAVE ANY SPEED BUMPS.
SO THEN THAT ROAD BECOMES THE MAJOR, UH, SPEEDING ROAD.
WHEN WE HAVE THESE PUBLIC NOTICES AND THESE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIODS.
UM, WHAT LEVEL OF PLANNING WILL BE REQUIRED TO ACCOMMODATE TO THESE CONCERNS? ARE THERE COSTS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED TO THAT AS WELL FOR IMPLEMENTING MORE SPEED BUMPS THERE? OR WILL YOU TAKE IT AWAY FROM OTHER ROADS? LIKE HOW DOES THAT PROCESS LOOK? YEAH, NO, THOSE ARE GREAT.
SO THE WAY IT, THE PROCESS WORKS, AND IT WON'T CHANGE TOO MUCH FROM HOW IT'S CURRENTLY OPERATING, IS THAT ONCE WE HAVE KIND OF FIGURED OUT THE TECHNICAL PLAN THAT WE AS HP A W AND YOU AS A COUNCIL OFFICE ARE IN AGREEMENT ON, WE WILL THEN CREATE A NOTICE AND IT GETS MAILED TO EVERY ADDRESS, UM, WITHIN A HALF MILE OF ANY PROPOSED DEVICE, WHICH MEANS IT ACTUALLY WILL BE EVEN MORE THAN THAT PROJECT NEIGHBORHOOD TYPICALLY.
SO A LOT OF PEOPLE GET THESE NOTICES USUALLY GET NEW APPLICATIONS AFTER THAT TOO.
'CAUSE THEY'RE LIKE, I WANT THIS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, WITH THE SYSTEM WE HAVE, WE ACTUALLY HAVE BOTH AN ONLINE PORTAL AS WELL AS THEY CAN JUST MAIL IT IN.
AND BASICALLY WHAT WE ASK IS, DO YOU SUPPORT THIS? DO YOU NOT SUPPORT THIS? AND PLEASE TELL US YOUR COMMENTS.
THOSE COMMENTS ARE INVALUABLE.
WE READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
A LOT OF TIMES IT ACTUALLY WILL HAVE THINGS NOT GERMANE TO THE PLAN.
IT'LL BE THINGS THAT CAN BE ACTUALLY A THREE AND ONE REQUEST AND THEN WE'LL SUBMIT IT ON THEIR BEHALF OR IT'LL BE THINGS THAT KIND OF HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND IT'S REALLY USEFUL FOR OUR COUNCIL OFFICES.
BUT THE QUESTIONS ARE THE COMMENTS RELATED TO, OH, I WANT MY STREET TOO, OR I DON'T WANT MY STREET.
WE TAKE THOSE UNDER ADVISEMENT AND WE'VE ACTUALLY TYPICALLY DO CHANGE PLANS.
SOMETIMES IT'S JUST A SMALL SHIFT.
SOMETIMES IT'S A FULL ON, WE'RE MISSING A WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD OR WE UNDERESTIMATED.
AND A LOT OF TIMES TOO IT'S OKAY, THIS WHOLE
[01:55:01]
BLOCK IS REALLY UPSET.WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? HOW ARE WE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE HEARING THEM AND THEY FEEL HEARD? AND SO WE THEN COME BACK TO YOU AND WANT TO KIND OF TALK THROUGH WHAT THOSE OPTIONS LOOK LIKE AND HOW WE WANNA MODIFY IT.
YOUR QUESTION ABOUT COST, TYPICALLY, HOPEFULLY WE, WHEN WE BUILD THE INITIAL COST ESTIMATE, THERE'S CONTINGENCY THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT.
SO TYPICALLY WE CAN ABSORB ONE OR TWO.
IF IT'S A HUGE CHANGE, WE CAN'T AND WE COME BACK AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ASK FOR MORE DOLLARS.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE CAN, THAT CONVERSATION OF NOW WE CAN PHASE IT OR OTHER THINGS OF THAT SORT TOO.
SO BASICALLY IT'S A CRITICAL STEP OF THE CONCEPT PLAN BUILDING STAGE BECAUSE RESIDENTS KNOW THEIR STREETS BEST AND WE REALLY TAKE, I MEAN, EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD'S DIFFERENT AND THE COMMENTS WE GET ARE DIFFERENT.
SOMETIMES IT'S JUST, YEAH, THIS IS GREAT AND YOU KNOW, WE JUST MOVE IT FORWARD.
BUT SOMETIMES WE KIND OF GET INTO A LOT OF CONCERNS.
A SPECIFIC ONE RELATE RECENTLY WAS JUST, HEY, OUR STREETS ARE NOT IN GREAT CONDITION.
MAYBE WE SHOULD GET THOSE FIXED FIRST AND THEN LOOK AT THIS.
AND THAT WAS REALLY USEFUL INFORMATION FOR US TO MAKE A MORE INFORMED DECISION ABOUT WHEN TO PHASE THIS PROJECT MOVING FORWARD.
AM I ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION? NO, THAT THAT'S GREAT.
UM, AND SO WHEN WE GO BACK ON THE PUBLIC COMMENT SIDE, UH, YOU SAID YOU MAIL THEM IN TO THE HOUSES.
WE MAIL TO EVERY ADDRESS, BOTH THE SITE ADDRESS AS WELL AS THE OWNERSHIP ADDRESS.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION OF HAVING ANY, UM, TOWN HALLS OR ANY, UM, LIKE PUBLIC MEETINGS IN, IN PERSON? I KNOW WE'VE HAD ONE PREVIOUSLY WHERE WE SET IT UP AND THEN THEY WERE ABLE TO WALK 'EM TO IT, PUT THEIR OWN STICKY NOTES ON IT, AND THEN, UM, THAT WAS TAKEN BACK TO PUBLIC WORKS.
UH, HOW DO WE INTERVENE OF HAVING THAT HAPPEN INSTEAD OF THE MAIL-IN? SO WE HAVING BOTH, AT LEAST WE ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO DO THAT.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT IF IT, IF IT FEELS THAT, YOU KNOW, DISTRICT H WE WANNA HAVE A PUBLIC MEETING AS PART OF EACH OF THESE, THEN WE'LL WORK WITH YOU TO GET THAT SCHEDULED, GET THAT COORDINATED, AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WE'LL BE LEANING ON YOU BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR A LOT OF THAT STUFF.
BUT, UM, THE PREVIOUS PROGRAM, BUT PRIOR TO 2016, HAD A PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AS A, A MEETING WAS ACTUALLY A REQUIREMENT.
SOMETIMES NSA NEIGHBORHOODS, THEY DIDN'T EVEN, AGAIN, THEY WERE HAPPY WITH JUST THE MAILER, BUT SOME NEIGHBORHOODS WANT THAT APPROACH IN PERSON ENGAGEMENT.
AND I'VE HAD THE CHANCE WITH SOME, AGAIN, COUNSELORS HAVE ASKED, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TALK TO THE RESIDENTS? THEY SET UP A ZOOM, WE DO SOMETHING IN PERSON.
SO I THINK IT'S ONE OF THOSE, AGAIN, MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY BEST AND WORKING WITH YOU TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT MEANS.
UM, AGAIN, I THINK YOU GET THE, THE GIST.
WE KNOW Y'ALL ARE TRYING TO WORK ON THIS AND AGAIN, OUR, MY CONCERN, OTHER OFFICES MAY BE CONCERNED THAT WE'RE GONNA END UP BEING THE, THE MESSENGER AND PEOPLE AREN'T NECESSARILY GONNA UNDERSTAND WHY THIS ISN'T FEASIBLE AND TAKING ACCOUNT INTO ACCOUNT OTHER THINGS.
SO I THINK HAVING A FULL PLAN AND Y'ALL'S WILLINGNESS TO SAY, HEY, WE'RE GONNA GO TO THE COUNTY WITH THIS.
WE'RE GONNA GO TO OTHER PEOPLE TO TRY TO FIND THAT FUNDING AS WELL AS CRITICAL, UH, A VERY CRITICAL COMPONENT.
SO WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO SUPPORT YOU ALL WITH THAT EFFORT, UH, PLEASE LET US KNOW BECAUSE AGAIN, THERE'S NO FUNDING FOR THIS RIGHT NOW.
AS IT RELATES TO JUST TECHNICALLY SOME OF THE IMAGES Y'ALL SHOWED OF THE, OF THE NEWER SPEED CUSHIONS, I BELIEVE THERE'S CUTS WITHIN THE CUSHIONS.
UH, SO PRIMARILY FOR EMS I'M ASSUMING? IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT, YES.
SO LARGER TRUCKS THAT CUT THROUGH CAN ALSO, UH, CONTINUE TO CUT THROUGH USING THOSE, THOSE CUTS THERE.
WHEEL BASE IS NOT AS WIDE AS A EMERGENCY VEHICLE, BUT YES, IT'S A LITTLE BIT EASIER IF YOU'RE IN A WIDE BODY VEHICLE.
NOT TO KNOCK ON SPEED CUSHIONS.
AGAIN, WE ALL LOVE SPEED CUSHIONS, NEIGHBORHOODS CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM.
BUT WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR SOME TIME, AGAIN, NOT DIRECTED TOWARDS YOU ALL, BUT FOR THOSE ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS, WHAT IS THE MENU OF OPTIONS THAT WE HAVE? NOT NECESSARILY FOR VOLUME CONTROL, BUT FOR SPEED CONTROL IN NEIGHBORHOODS? WHETHER THAT IS THOSE BULB OUTS, WHETHER IT'S ADDITIONAL SIGNAGE, ALL OF THOSE TOOLS.
Y'ALL ARE WORKING DILIGENTLY ON THAT.
DO WE HAVE ANY TIMELINE SPECIFICALLY FOR WHAT THAT MENU IS AND ARE WE ABLE TO START ASSESSING SOME OF THOSE? AND I THINK Y'ALL KNOW WITH OUR OFFICE WHAT THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS ARE WHERE WE'RE LIKE, CAN'T DO THIS WHOLE THING.
WHAT ARE OUR OTHER OPTIONS? SO HOW IS THAT COMING? SO WE, I WILL SAY INTERNALLY WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT BECAUSE WE KNOW IT OPENS UP A SLEW AND SOLVES A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS OF THE CURRENT PROGRAM.
UM, BUT JUST 'CAUSE WE'RE EXCITED AND THINK ABOUT IT OURSELVES, THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT ACTUALLY HAS MOVED FORWARD.
OUR FOCUS HAS ALWAYS BEEN GETTING THIS DONE AS THIS WAS A KIND OF CAME FROM PROP A WAS INITIATED BY YOU ALL THE PRIORITY OF THIS, GETTING IT THROUGH THE PROCESS.
AND ALSO THE FIRST TIME WE'VE KIND OF DONE THIS TOO WITH A PROP A, UM, ORDINANCE CHANGE, WHICH IS KIND OF EXCITING.
SO I THINK THAT WAS THAT, THAT THAT PROCESS, WE JUST WANNA DEDICATE IT TO THIS, THE MINUTE THESE MATERIALS ARE UP TO DATE AND WE'RE MOVING FORWARD, I THINK WE WANNA WORK TOWARDS WHAT THAT OTHER PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE.
UM, I THINK THE BIG QUESTION IS, DOES THE OTHER TWO PROGRAMS CHANGE? YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S JUST A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND WE WANNA START DOING THAT.
SO WE DO PLAN TO, I CAN'T GIVE YOU A
[02:00:01]
TIMELINE, BUT WHAT I WANNA DO, WHAT I GIVE YOU IS ONE THING THAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT IS, IS THERE A PILOT PROGRAM? IS THERE POTENTIAL FOR THAT? SO WE'RE OPEN TO THINGS LIKE THAT.WE'LL TAKE IT, WE'LL BE THE GUINEA PIG.
WE'RE HAPPY TO BE, AGAIN, I KEEP GOING BACK TO GARDEN OAK, OAK FOREST BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A LARGE AREA, UM, THAT DEF DEFINITELY NEEDS THIS ATTENTION.
THERE ARE OTHER AREAS AS WELL.
UM, BUT WE'VE BEEN WAITING AND WAITING AND TRYING TO SAY, HEY, WHAT CAN WE DO HERE? WHAT CAN WE DO HERE? SO THERE'S A LOT OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT NEED ATTENTION.
UH, I DON'T WANNA DETRACT FROM ANY OF THOSE.
I'M LOOKING AT MY COLLEAGUES IN OTHER DISTRICTS.
I FEEL LIKE THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING THROUGH THE SAME PAINS THAT WE ARE.
UH, BUT THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR BEING VERY SOLUTION ORIENTED AND THE CALIBER OF PARTNERSHIP THAT YOU ALL PROVIDE.
AND IF WE CAN JUST WORK TOGETHER AND MAKING SURE IT'S CLEAR, IT'S NOT JUST, OH, GO TO YOUR COUNCIL DISTRICT OFFICE AND FOR THEIR APPROVAL, UH, WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT BECAUSE WE REALLY WANT RESIDENTS TO BE EDUCATED AND BE ABLE TO MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS, UH, IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THEN ALSO LETTING NEIGHBORHOODS KNOW THAT THEY CAN FUNDRAISE, THEY CAN SUPPORT THIS EFFORT.
YOU KNOW, THE HOAS, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A FEW IN MY DISTRICT THAT WANTED TO BE BUMPED.
I'M LIKE, HEY, Y'ALL GOT A HOA, YOU KNOW, Y'ALL PAY DUES FOR THINGS LIKE THIS AND SO MAYBE YOU CAN SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S WHERE WE, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS FOR THOSE THAT ARE WILLING TO, AGAIN, I THINK IT'S THE COMMUNICATION OF THE CITY DOESN'T HAVE A FUNDING SOURCE RIGHT NOW.
SO THANK YOU, UM, STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ OFFICE.
I JUST WANNA THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE AND ALL THIS HELPFUL INFORMATION.
I'VE BEEN WORKING ON, ON ONE ONE OF THESE PROJECTS WITH ONE OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND JUST A QUICK QUESTION I HAD WAS BETWEEN THE TIME THAT WE SUBMIT A APPLICATION FOR, FOR THIS BIG CUSHIONS AND WHAT'S LIKE THE TIMEFRAME TO GET AN ANSWER IN BETWEEN THAT FIRST STEP AND THE SECOND STEP, WHICH WOULD BE LIKE THE DEVELOPMENT OF COST AND, AND KIND OF LIKE THE CONCEPT PLAN.
SO THAT CAN BE VERY FAST ACTUALLY.
SO THOSE TWO STEP ONE AND TWO ON THE CHART, UM, BASICALLY ONCE WE HAVE ALL PIECES OF THE APPLICATION, WE FULLY HAVE PROCESSED IT, WHICH IS JUST SOME ADMINISTRATIVE WORK ON OUR END.
THE MINUTE THAT YOU COME, THE COUNCIL DISTRICT SAYS, HEY, WE'D LIKE TO COST THIS.
USUALLY IT CAN TAKE US ONE TO TWO WEEKS SO WE CAN GET BACK TO YOU.
SO THAT PART CAN ACTUALLY BE FAIRLY QUICK.
UM, AND SO YEAH, WE'RE ALWAYS HAPPY TO, AND THAT SOMETIMES IT ACTUALLY DOES HAPPEN IS SOMETIMES THE APPLICATION COMES WITH A REQUEST TO GO AHEAD AND COST 'CAUSE WE KNOW IT'S GONNA BE A PRIORITY.
UM, SO WE CAN MOVE THOSE TWO STEPS QUICKLY WHERE THE TIME THERE'S ADDITIONAL TIME IS ALL THOSE OTHER KIND OF FIELD VERIFICATIONS COMMUNICATING THE PUBLIC NOTICE PHASE.
AND THEN SOMETIMES ALSO WE'VE GOTTA 'CAUSE PE SO POPULAR, WE'VE GOT A BACKLOG WITH CONSTRUCTION TOO.
SO GETTING THROUGH ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT PIECES, BUT THOSE FIRST TWO STEPS CAN BE VERY FAST.
UM, QUESTION FROM STAFF COUNCIL MEMBER CAST, TATUM DEDE.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE WITH THE RECENT APPLICATION, UM, THAT WE REACHED OUT TO YOUR OFFICE ABOUT, UM, FOR AN APPLICATION THAT IS IN DISTRICT K, UH, THE INFORMATION YOU GAVE US THOROUGH AND, UM, VERY HELPFUL.
UH, BUT THANKS AGAIN FOR THIS INFORMATION AND LISTEN AND ALSO FOR LISTENING TO THE CONCERNS, YOU KNOW, OF THE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THIS, UM, CHANGE.
AND I, I MEAN, I'M JUST UNSOLICITED COMMENT, I REALLY ENJOYED GETTING A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH EVERYBODY'S OFFICES GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS JUST BECAUSE WE JUST, THERE'S SOME ONE ON, THERE'S JUST GREAT FEEDBACK.
LIKE WE, I WAS LIKE, OH, THAT'S A GOOD IDEA.
SO THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND YOUR GUIDANCE AND YOUR INPUT.
IT'S REALLY, IT'S REALLY MAKING THIS BETTER.
SO THANK YOU AND THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THE, UM, DIALOGUE.
UM, NOW WE ARE GONNA GO TO OUR PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
UM, WE HAVE TWO PUBLIC SPEAKERS, UM, THAT HAVE SIGNED UP BEFORE, UM, THE DEADLINE.
IF YOU ARE HERE AND WANNA SPEAK, UM, LET US KNOW.
UM, AND SO THE FIRST PUBLIC SPEAKER, JUST ONE SECOND, WE'RE GONNA GET THE PUBLIC, I DON'T SEE A LIST HERE.
ALRIGHT, THE FIRST SPEAKER IS, UM, IRBY FOSTER.
I WAS ASKED, UH, TO COME COMMENT ON THE CPO FOR THE PERMITTING CENTER.
I THINK MOST OF YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WE DO, DEVELOPMENT, CONSULTING AND HELP WITH PERMITTING.
UM, WE ARE, THE INDUSTRY IS DEFINITELY IN FAVOR.
UM, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE MAYBE, UH, INTERVIEWING THE STAFF AT HPC
[02:05:01]
ABOUT HOW THEY'RE ROLLING IT OUT.IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM, BUT, UM, WE'RE DEFINITELY IN FAVOR OF ANYTHING THAT CAN BE EXPEDITED AND THE, THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, UM, THE BUILDERS, THEY'RE ALWAYS WILLING TO PAY TO GET IT DONE BECAUSE IT COSTS THEM LESS TO PAY UP FRONT THAN THE CARRY COST.
UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UM, IT BEING AVAILABLE ON THE FIRST ROUND.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD PAY FOR IT ON THE FIRST ROUND.
SO JUST WANTED TO COMMENT THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA SEE AND, AND WOULD BE HAPPY TO BE PART OF THE STAKEHOLDER CONVERSATION AS IT MOVES FORWARD.
OH, AND ALSO ON, I DIDN'T KNOW OBO WAS GONNA BE HERE.
WE'RE ACTUALLY A CERTIFIED WMBE HUB AND SPE AND UM, I WOULD HAVE HAPPILY PAID A FEE.
SO I JUST, AS A PERSON WHO RECEIVES THAT SERVICE AND APPLIED FOR THAT SERVICE, I WOULD'VE BEEN MORE THAN HAPPY AND WOULD STILL BE HAPPY TO PAY A FEE, A RENEWAL FEE.
UM, I THINK I, I, I HAD NO IDEA OF THE BACKLOG THAT THEY HAD AND THAT THEY WERE SERVING OTHER PEOPLE.
SO I, THAT WAS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR, BUT I JUST, I WOULD HAPPILY PAY A FEE AND I'M PRETTY SURE MOST OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW THAT HAVE THAT CERTIFICATION WOULD DO THAT.
SO ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP IN STAKEHOLDER GETTING INFORMATION TO YOU OR WHAT, WHAT WOULD BE A COMFORTABLE FEE, I'M HAPPY TO GIVE THAT, BUT I WOULD, I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO DO THAT.
WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT AND THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE INDUSTRY, RIGHT? YEP, YEP.
I'M SURE THEY WILL APPRECIATE THAT FEE.
AND WE APPRECIATE THE FEE TOO.
'CAUSE YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU PAY FOR SOMETHING YOU TEND TO GET IT QUICKER, SO.
UM, I SUPPORT THE FEE, SO THANK YOU FOR COMING IN.
DO WE HAVE MORE, UM, ANYONE ELSE WANNA SPEAK? IF NOT, AND SEEING THAT THERE ARE NO MORE SPEAKERS, I REMIND YOU, THE AUDIENCE THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS FOR YOU.
UM, PLEASE HELP US, UM, SET THE AGENDA IN THE FUTURE.
SO, UM, CONTACT OUR OFFICE AT 8 3 2 3 9 3 3 0 0 9.
IF YOU HAVE ANY TOPICS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO UM, HEAR AT THIS COMMITTEE.
AND OUR DISTRICT B ADDRESS IS DISTRICT B@HOUSTONTX.GOV.
UM, AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYBODY FOR JOINING.
THE NEXT SERVICE DELIVERY COMMITTEE MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER THE 12TH AT 2:00 PM AND SO THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US.