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DRIVING.[CALL TO ORDER]
ARE WE GOOD? OKAY.CALL THIS MEETING OF THE RICHARDSON CITY COUNCIL TO ORDER AT 6:00 PM AND ON BEHALF OF THE AUDIENCE, I'D LIKE TO SEE THE GAVEL WORK THIS MEETING'S IN ORDER.
SO, FIRST ON OUR AGENDA,
UH, PLEASE RISE AS YOU'RE ABLE AND JOIN ME IN PRAYER.
OUR LORD, OUR GOD, WE ASK YOUR BLESSING UPON US AND UPON OUR CITY.
GIVE US STRENGTH OF CHARACTER AND PURPOSE SO THAT WE MAY FULFILL OUR PROMISE AND FAITHFULLY OBEY OUR LAW.
TEACH US TO UNDERSTAND THAT BY LIVING UP TO THE IDEALS OF OUR, OF OUR MOVEMENT, WE ARE HELPING TO BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW FOR OURSELVES AND ALL PEOPLE.
UH, THAT WAS A GIRL SCOUT PRAYER.
AND SO TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA HAVE A GIRL SCOUT MIA FORD.
JOIN US FROM TROOP, UH, 80 41 TO LEAD US IN THE PLEDGES TO THE FLAG OF UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD WITH LIBERTY.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE TEXAS ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE.
THAT'S ALWAYS SPECIAL WHEN WE HAVE SOMEONE OTHER THAN US LEAD.
[3. MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 9, 2024 MEETING]
THIS TIME WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR A MOTION TO MR. HUTCHIN RIDER.MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 9TH, 2024 MEETING, PLEASE.
ALL IN FAVOR? SHOW OF HANDS, PLEASE.
WE GO TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS AND VISITOR FORUM.
MR. BECKNER? UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR.
WE DID NOT RECEIVE ANY COMMENT CARDS IN ADVANCE OF THE 5:00 PM DEADLINE.
AND, UH, WE HAD ONE SPEAKER DID INDICATE HE WAS GONNA BE HERE TO SPEAK, BUT I DON'T SEE HIM.
I'LL HAVE, UH, MS. ER CALL HIM JUST TO CONFIRM.
[5. REVIEW AND DISCUSS UPDATE ON THE NOVEMBER 6TH BOIL WATER NOTICE]
OKAY.WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER FIVE.
UPDATE ON THE NOVEMBER 6TH BOIL WATER NOTICE.
MR. MAGNER, UH, THANK YOU MAYOR, UH, MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT TO PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE, UH, WORK THAT WE HAVE BEEN PERFORMING TO, UH, INVESTIGATE THE BOIL WATER NOTICE, UH, THAT WAS ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 6TH.
UH, THE INCIDENTS LEADING UP TO, UM, THE ACTIONS TAKEN DURING, AND THEN OF COURSE, UH, UH, SUBSEQUENTLY HOW WE, UM, CAN WORK TO IMPROVE, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
UM, I'VE PROVIDED YOU WITH A MEMORANDUM FOR MYSELF.
UM, I'M GONNA USE THIS MEMORANDUM AS, UH, A WAY TO KIND OF, UM, MANAGE OUR DISCUSSION THIS EVENING.
UH, I ALSO WANT TO DRAW ATTENTION FOR THE PUBLIC THAT THE MEMORANDUM WAS POSTED ONLINE AT 5:00 PM WITH THE OTHER MEDIAN RESOURCES, EXCUSE ME, THAT WERE PROVIDED FOR TONIGHT.
UM, I, I DO WANNA MENTION, I'M NOT GONNA READ, UH, THE MEMORANDUM VERBATIM, BUT THERE ARE IMPORTANT PARTS, UH, OF THE MEMORANDUM, UH, EXCERPTS, IF YOU WILL, THAT I WOULD LIKE TO READ, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE, UM, ACHIEVE THE UTMOST CLARITY.
UM, 'CAUSE SOME OF THIS CAN BE QUITE DETAILED, UM, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, CAPTURE, UH, THE SPECIFICS AND, UH, COMMUNICATE THOSE.
UH, I'LL CONCLUDE BY PROVIDING A, UH, SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, TO YOU, MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
UM, AND OF COURSE, UH, AT THAT TIME, I'D LOVE TO HEAR ANY FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE, ANY SUGGESTIONS OR GUIDANCE, UH, AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, AS I MENTIONED THE MEMORANDUM BEFORE YOU IS INTENDED TO BE A FACT FINDING.
UM, WE'VE BEEN, UH, ON THIS FACT FINDING MISSION SINCE THE NOTICE WAS ISSUED ON NOVEMBER 6TH AFTER WE EXPERIENCED A BRIEF LOSS OF PRESSURE AT THE HOLLY WATER TANK EARLIER THAT DAY.
UM, THE PURPOSE OF THIS FACT FINDING EFFORT WAS TO DETERMINE PRECISELY WHAT OCCURRED, UM, IN THE, UH, HOURS LEADING UP TO, UH, UM, THE LOSS OF PRESSURE, HOW AND WHY, UH, ALSO THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE MOVING FORWARD, UH, AND SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF A SIMILAR INCIDENT OCCURRING IN THE FUTURE.
UH, MY INTENTION, OUR INTENTION AS A TEAM IS TO LEARN VALUABLE LESSONS FROM THIS INCIDENT, AND OF COURSE, TO APPLY THEM TO OUR OPERATIONS OF PROTOCOLS SO THAT WE BECOME, UH, BECOME EVEN MORE RESILIENT, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
UM, AT THIS POINT IN MY ASSESSMENT, I CAN SAY WITHOUT, UH, WITH CONFIDENCE, WITHOUT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE INCIDENT WAS PREVENTABLE AND SHOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED.
UM, THE REASON THE INCIDENT DID OCCUR WAS A COMBINATION OF ERRORS IN HUMAN JUDGMENT, FIRST AND FOREMOST, UH, A, A COUPLED WITH, UH, A, A EQUIPMENT FAILURE.
UH, AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY, I BELIEVE IN ADDITION, UM, THAT, UH, IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED, UH, THAT ARE NEEDED IN TRAINING AND, AND OPERATIONAL OVERSIGHT ALSO, UH, LED TO, TO THE,
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UH, INCIDENT THAT DAY.UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT BOIL WATER NOTICE, UH, BOIL WATER NOTICES OR VIRTUALLY UNHEARD OF HERE IN RICHARDSON, AND WE'VE NEVER HAD A COMMUNITY WIDE BOIL WATER NOTICE PREVIOUSLY.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO UNDERSCORE BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, AS A TAKEAWAY, BUT IT WAS ALSO IMPORTANT IN SOME OF THE DECISION MAKING THAT WAS MADE THAT DAY, THAT THIS, UH, IN THIS CASE, NO CONTAMINANTS WERE INTRODUCED INTO THE WATER SYSTEM.
AND CONSEQUENTLY, AND, UH, PRAYERFULLY, NO ONE IN OUR COMMUNITY GOT SICK OR WAS HURT AS A RESULT OF THE, UH, LOSS OF PRESSURE THROUGHOUT THE INCIDENT.
THE WATER SYSTEM REMAINED CLOSED AND CONTAINED AT ALL TIMES, AND THE LOSS OF PRESSURE, UH, LASTED FOR APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES.
UM, WE WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES, UH, EXPERIENCED, UH, IN, UH, INCONVENIENT AND IN SOME CASES COSTLY DIS DISRUPTIONS TO THEIR LIVES AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS AS A, AS A RESULT OF THIS BOIL WATER NOTICE, UM, WE TRY TO MITIGATE THESE AS MUCH AS WE COULD THROUGH A SERIES OF ACTIONS THAT WE TOOK AND COMMUNICATIONS THAT WE SHARED THROUGHOUT THE INCIDENT, UM, THROUGH A VARIETY OF CHANNELS, AS WELL AS THROUGH THE MUCH APPRECIATED COOPERATION AND SUPPORT OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
UH, THAT HELPED, UH, UM, UH, REALLY FROM THE, UH, VERY EARLY STAGES, UH, OF COURSE RISD, UH, THE NORTH TEXAS MISSILE WATER DISTRICT, THE NETWORK OF COMMUNITY MINISTRIES AND THE NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK ALL PLAYED IMPORTANT, UM, ROLES IN OUR RESPONSE TO, UH, THE LOSS OF PRESSURE.
UM, NOTWITHSTANDING AS, AS PART OF, UM, RICHARDSON'S COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE, MY COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE, OUR ORGANIZATION'S COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AS PART, AS WELL AS IN SUPPORT OF YOUR GOALS, UM, IT'S ESSENTIAL THAT WE TAKE THIS INCIDENT VERY SERIOUSLY TO LEARN FROM IT AND TO TAKE ACTIONS THAT MAKE FUTURE INCIDENTS AS RARE AND UNLIKELY AS POSSIBLE.
UM, THE NEXT SECTION IN THE MEMORANDUM PROVIDES SOME IMPORTANT BACKGROUND RELATED TO TCQ REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS, UM, OUR SYSTEMS NORMAL OPERATING PROCEDURES.
I'M GONNA JUST SUMMARIZE THESE AS MOST OF THESE ARE FACTUAL AND CAN BE EASILY, UM, DOCUMENTED AND, AND, AND TAKEN AWAY FROM, UH, A ONLINE SEARCH.
BUT THE IMPORTANT PARTS ARE, UM, FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS STORY THAT TCEQ RULES REQUIRE THAT ALL POTABLE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS BE DESIGNED TO MAINTAIN A MINIMUM PRESSURE OF 35 PSI AT ALL POINTS WITHIN THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, AT FLOW RATES, AT AT LEAST 1.5 GALLONS PER MINUTE PER CONNECTION.
UH, WHEN A SYSTEM IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY, IT MUST ALSO BE DESIGNED TO MAINTAIN A MINIMUM PRESSURE OF 20 PSI UNDER COMBINED FIRE AND DRINKING WATER FLOWS.
UM, THE TCQ REQUIRES PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM OPERATORS TO ISSUE A BOIL WATER NOTICE IN SEVERAL, IN SEVERAL, UM, TYPICAL SITUATIONS, INCLUDING WHEN WATER OUTAGES OR PRESSURES BELOW 20 PSI IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ARE IDENTIFIED.
THAT IS THE SITUATION THAT'S APPLICABLE TO THE INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED ON NOVEMBER 6TH.
WITH RESPECT TO OUR WATER, UH, THE CITY OF RICHARDSON, UH, WATER SYSTEM, LIKE MANY OTHER PUBLIC WATER OPERATORS, WE USE A SUPERVISORY CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION SKI SYSTEM, OR A SCADA SYSTEM TO MONITOR, CONTROL AND ANALYZE OUR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.
SCADA SYSTEMS ARE INTEGRATED WITH AND WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERS OR PLCS.
UM, THESE, UH, DEVICES AUTOMATE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS TURNING PUMPS ON AND OFF, FOR INSTANCE.
UM, THE CITY'S, UH, SCADA SYSTEM CAN OPERATE IN EITHER MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC MODES.
AND THESE ARE IMPORTANT POINTS, AGAIN, TO THE REMAINDER OF THE STORY.
IN BOTH MODES, THE SCADA SYSTEM RELAYS, UH, THE SCADA SYSTEM RELAYS REALTIME INFORMATION REGARDING EL ELEVATED STORAGE, TANK WATER LEVELS, SYSTEM PRESSURE, CHLORINE LEVELS, AND OTHER PERTINENT INFORM INFORMATION CRITICAL TO THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE WATER SYSTEM.
WHEN THE SCADA SYSTEM IS IN AUTOMATIC MODE, SPECIFIC LOGIC IS PROGRAMMED INTO THE SYSTEM, SO THE PUMPS CAN CONTROL WATER TANK LEVELS AUTOMATICALLY.
IN MANUAL MODE, ES SCADA OPERATOR MUST MONITOR AND CONTROL WATER TANK LEVELS MANUALLY.
THIS REQUIRES OPERATORS TO MAINTAIN A HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF AWARENESS AND COMMUNICATION.
I NOW WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE TOP OF PAGE THREE, WHICH IS A SUMMARY OF THE INCIDENT TIMELINE.
UH, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE, UM, SITUATION, UH, AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO THE LOSS OF PRESSURE BEGAN AT 7:30 AM ON NOVEMBER 6TH, WHEN THE C OF SUPERVISOR ARRIVED AND PLACED THE WEST SIDE PUMP STATION, UM, UH, PUMPS IN MANUAL STATUS TO PERFORM WHAT'S CALLED DEEP CYCLING OF THE HOLLY WATER TOWER.
THIS WAS BEING DONE IN PREPARATION FOR A PROJECT AT THE NORTH SIDE PUMP STATION, OUR NEW, UH, UH, GROUND STORAGE TANK AND PUMP STATION.
UH, THE OPERATOR INTENDED TO DRAW THE TANK WATER LEVEL DOWN FROM AT 17 FEET, WHICH, WHICH, UH, IS WHAT THE LEVEL WAS AT APPROXIMATELY 7:30 AM 7:30 AM TO APPROXIMATELY EIGHT OR NINE FEET.
THE REASON FOR DEEP CYCLING THE TANK WAS TO REDUCE THE AGE OF THE WATER IN THE TANK FOR THE UPCOMING PROJECT.
THE OPERATOR PLAN TO TURN THE PUMPS BACK ON AT APPROXIMATELY 2:00 PM UM, SINCE THAT WOULD BE AT THE TIME, UH, WITH, UH, WHICH THE WATER LEVEL WOULD BE EXPECTED TO REACH EIGHT TO NINE FEET, AS THE HOLLY TANK DROPS
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ONE TO ONE AND A HALF FOOT PER HOUR, UH, DURING DEEP CYCLING AT APPROXIMATELY ONE 20, THE C OPERATOR ON DUTY, UH, NOTICED THAT THE NOTICED AND, UH, REPORTED TO THE SCADA SUPERVISOR THAT THE HOLLY WATER TANK LEVEL READING WAS STUCK AT AN APPARENT WATER LEVEL OF 9.9 FEET.AGAIN, THIS WAS, UH, VERY UNUSUAL AND UNEXPECTED BECAUSE THE DRAWDOWN WAS IN, WAS TAKING PLACE AND THE TANK SHOULD HAVE CONTINUOUSLY BEEN LOWERING, UH, THE, THE WATER LEVEL.
UH, IN RESPONSE, THE SCADA SUPERVISOR, WHO AT THIS POINT, TOOK CONTROL OF THE SITUATION, REDEPLOYED OR REBOOTED THE PLCS AND ACTION.
THE CITY SCADA SYSTEM INTEGRATOR, A THIRD PARTY VENDOR WHO WE WORKED FOR FOR MANY YEARS, HAD PREVIOUSLY INSTRUCTED THE SCADA SYSTEM SUPERVISOR TO PERFORM AS A MATTER OF PRACTICE.
WHEN SUCH ISSUES WERE OBSERVED PREVIOUSLY, THE REDEPLOYMENT OR THE REBOOT TOOK APPROXIMATELY 25 OR 30 MINUTES, SO IT'S APPROXIMATELY 1 45 OR ONE 50 AS IT TYPICALLY DID, UH, DURING WHICH TIME THE HOLLY WATER TOWER COULD NOT BE SEEN ON SCADA AFTER THE REDEPLOYMENT AND, UH, THE, UH, WATER TOWER COULD NOW BE SEEN UNS SKID.
THE TANK'S REPORTED WATER LEVEL REMAINED UNCHANGED AT THAT 9.9 FEET AT A FLAT LINE LEVEL.
AT APPROXIMATELY 2 0 4, SYSTEM PRESSURE READOUTS FOR THE HOLLY WATER TANK BEGAN TO DROP AT AN ACCELERATED RATE.
IT STARTED AT 37 PSI, AGAIN, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT I'LL COME BACK TO.
THE SCADA SYSTEM SUPERVISOR RECEIVED AN EMAIL ALERT TWO MINUTES LATER, INDICATING LOW PRESSURE IN THE 7 67 PRESSURE ZONE.
THE ALERT WAS GENERATED FROM A STANDALONE FIRE HYDRANT PRESSURE GAUGE, OR A PRESSURE LOGER, UH, THAT WAS DEPLOYED PREVIOUSLY AT 2 0 9.
THE SYSTEM PRESSURE READOUTS FOR THE HIGHLY WATER TAKE INDICATED A ZERO PSI.
THAT WAS AT 2 0 9 5 MINUTES, UH, FROM THE, UH, 37 PSI BEGINNING TO FALL.
SHORTLY THEREAFTER, ABOUT APPROXIMATELY TWO 10, THE SCADA SYSTEM SUPERVISOR CALLED THE UTILITY SYSTEM SUPERVISOR TO INQUIRE IF HE WAS AWARE OF ANY WORK TAKING PLACE IN THE 7 67 ZONE, BECAUSE THE SCADA SYSTEM WAS SHOWING A LOSS OF PRESSURE, UH, AT THE H WATER TOWER, BUT A WATER LEVEL OF 9.9 FEET.
THEY DISCUSSED POTENTIAL CAUSES AND BEGAN TO STRATEGIZE, UM, UM, ON DIFFERENT, UH, SOLUTIONS.
DURING THE DISCUSSION, THE SUPERINTENDENT NOTED THAT THE RESPONSE CENTER HAD STARTED TO RECEIVE CALLS REGARDING LOW PRESSURE AND NO WATER IN THAT ZONE.
AND AT THAT TIME, UH, PROBABLY ABOUT 2 12, 2 13 ASKED THE, UH, SUPERVISOR IF HE HAD STARTED THE PUMPS TO WHICH HE WAS, UH, TO WHICH THE SUPERVISOR SAID NO, BUT THAT HE INTENDED TO DO.
SO, IMMEDIATELY FROM THAT TIME, UM, I'VE DETAILED FOR YOU A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TASKS, UM, AND THE NEXT, ESSENTIALLY FOUR BULLETS, UH, THAT OUR PUBLIC SERVICES TEAM DID TO TRIAGE THE SITUATION IN THE FIELD AND TO TRY TO GAIN AS MUCH CLARITY AS THEY COULD AROUND WHAT WAS ACTUALLY OCCURRING, BECAUSE THEY WERE RECEIVING, UM, INFORMATION THAT WAS INCONSISTENT.
UH, IE NO PRESSURE, BUT THE 9.9 LEVEL.
AND SO I WON'T DETAIL ALL OF THAT, UM, BUT YOU CAN KIND OF SEE HOW, UH, THAT TOOK PLACE, UM, FOR THE BETTER PART OF ABOUT ANOTHER HOUR OR SO, UM, INCLUDING, UM, THE, UH, INFORMATION THAT I'VE OUTLINED FOR YOU THERE AT TWO 14.
AT TWO 14, JUST, UH, AT, UH, FIVE MINUTES AFTER WE LOST THE PRESSURE, UH, AND THE PUMPS WERE RETURNED ON, UH, WE RETURNED TO THE 35 PSI.
SO WE WERE WITHOUT PRESSURE OR BELOW PRESSURE FOR A TOTAL OF FIVE MINUTES AT, UH, REGARDING THE POST INCIDENT RESPONSE AT APPROXIMATELY FOUR O'CLOCK, UM, THE PUBLIC SERVICES TEAM, AFTER, UM, AGAIN, UH, DOING A LOT OF, UM, ANALYSIS AND DIAGNOSIS IN THE FIELD, AS WELL AS COMING BACK AS A LEADERSHIP TEAM AND EVALUATING NEXT STEPS, UM, CAME TO MEET WITH, UH, MYSELF AND OUR CITY MANAGEMENT TEAM, OUR CITY ATTORNEY, OUR COMMUNICATION STAFF, JUST TO NAME A FEW.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT BASED ON THAT, UH, MORE THAN HOUR OF ANALYSIS AND DIAGNOSIS IN THE FIELD, UM, WE BELIEVE THAT, UM, CONTAMINANTS WERE NOT INTRODUCED INTO THE WATER SYSTEM BECAUSE, AGAIN, IT WAS CONFINED, I'M SORRY, IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE WATER SYSTEM REMAINED CLOSED AND CONTAINED DURING THE ENTIRE FIVE MINUTES OF THE PRESSURE LOSS.
SO IT WASN'T LIKE WE EXPERIENCED A LARGE MAIN BREAK AND OUR WATER SYSTEM WAS EXPOSED.
UM, THERE WERE NO, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE AT THAT TIME THAT ANY, UM, BREACH OF THE SYSTEM HAD OCCURRED.
UH, OVER THE NEXT, UH, UM, UM, BIT OF TIME, UM, STAFF HELD CALLS WITH RSD OFFICIALS.
SO A COORDINATED AND ORDERLY SET OF MESSAGES ABOUT THE BOIL WATER NOTICE COULD BE SHARED WITH BOTH CITY AND RSD STAKEHOLDERS.
AND SO, RSD, UH, COULD MAKE OPERATIONAL DECISIONS AS NEEDED FOR, FOR IMPACTED CAMPUSES.
AT SEVEN 10, THE BOIL WATER NOTICE WAS DISTRIBUTED BOTTLED WATER, UH, DISTRIBUTION BEGAN AT HEIGHTS RECREATION CENTER ABOUT A, UH, AN AT ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER AT EIGHT 30 THAT SAME EVENING.
UM, THE NEXT PAGE AND A HALF DETAILS, UM, THE PUBLIC NOTIFICATIONS,
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UM, FROM THAT POINT FORWARD THAT WE USED THAT EVENING, I'LL TELL YOU, WE, WE IMMEDIATELY KNEW, UM, THAT WE WERE GOING TO NEED TO, UH, ENGAGE AND LEVERAGE THE NEWS MEDIA TO GET THE WORD OUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.AND THAT'S WHY WE FACILITATED, UH, OVER THE NEXT, UH, SAY ABOUT 12 HOURS OR SO, WE FACILITATED TWO NEWS CONFERENCES, UM, THERE, UM, ON SITE.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, AGAIN, UH, AND, UH, UM, IN ADDITION TO THE NEWS RELEASES, UM, THE IMPROMPTU PRESS RELEASES, UH, THE MORNING NEWS ADVISORY, UM, UM, UTILIZING EVERY COMMUNICATION CHANNEL WE COULD, UM, TO GET WORD OUT TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THE BOIL WATER NEWS BEYOND THE MULTIPLE PRESS RELEASES AND MEDIA ADVISORIES.
UM, WE ALSO COMMUNICATED THE INCIDENT WITH THE PUBLIC.
IN, SUPPORTED THE PUBLIC IN A VARIETY OF WAYS.
UM, AGAIN, OUR COMMUNICATIONS, UH, TEAM DEPLOYED THE CITY'S EVERBRIDGE, OR 9 1 1 OUTBOUND CALLING SYSTEM, NOTIFYING EVERY RESIDENT WHO HAD SIGNED UP TO RECEIVE THE CITY'S EMERGENCY ALERTS.
UH, BASED ON, UH, THAT SPECIFIC, UM, AREA AND PREFERENCES, THE CITY ACTIVATED THE STATE OF TEXAS'S EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE REGISTRY OR STEER TO NOTIFY RESIDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, AND WHO SIGNED UP IN ADVANCE FOR THIS FREE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION.
UH, THROUGH THAT STAR PROGRAM, THE CITY IDENTIFIED ABOUT 20 RESIDENTS REGISTERED IN THE AREA, AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DELIVERED WATER TO 14, UH, INDIVIDUALS DESIRING HEALTH.
THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT BEGAN IMMEDIATELY CONDUCTING DOOR TO DOOR NOTIFICATIONS OF RESTAURANTS AND THE AFFECTED AREA TO INFORM THEM OF THE SITUATION AND HOW IF THEY INTENDED TO OPERATE, UH, THEY COULD DO SO SAFELY.
UM, WE REACHED OUT TO THE, UH, DIALYSIS FACILITY IN THE AREA.
UM, AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THERE, UM, OVER THE COURSE OF ABOUT, UH, UH, JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN 36 HOUR, WE HAD HOURS.
WE HAD 36 MEDIA POSTS WITH ABOUT 200,000 IMPRESSIONS.
UM, WE HAD 56 NEWS STORIES ON LOCAL, UH, TV STATIONS, UM, UH, WHICH WAS, AGAIN, BY FAR THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF GETTING THE WORD OUT.
AND SO WE WERE PLEASED WITH THAT.
UH, WE DEPLOYED THREE ELECTRONIC MESSAGING BOARDS ON MAJOR, AND THEN AGAIN, UM, WE, UH, USED OUR, OUR OWN, UH, COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS.
SO FOR SIX WEEKS, WE'VE BEEN STUDYING THE SITUATION AND REALLY, UM, TAKEN AN HONEST LOOK AT WHAT OCCURRED THAT DAY AND WHAT WE, UH, CAN DO BETTER MOVING FORWARD.
WE'VE IDENTIFIED THREE PRINCIPLE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS THAT LED TO THE BOIL WATER NOTICE ON NOVEMBER 6TH.
THESE INCLUDE, UH, IN ORDER OF IMPACT, UH, FIRST AND FOREMOST, THERE WERE ERRORS IN HUMAN IN, IN HUMAN JUDGMENT THAT DAY.
EVERYTHING ELSE THAT I WOULD DESCRIBE TO YOU SUBSEQUENT TO THIS, UM, WOULD NOT HAVE MATTERED HAD WE MADE APPROPRIATE DECISIONS AS A STAFF THAT DAY.
THE FIRST, THE FIRST MISTAKE WAS, WAS, UH, THE DECISION TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM IN MANUAL MODE DURING THE DEEP CYCLING DRAWDOWN WITHOUT THE SUPERVISOR NOTIFYING HIS CHAIN OF COMMAND.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR PUMPS IN MANUAL MODE, IT'S IN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR AS MANY PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT AS POSSIBLE.
UM, THERE NEEDS TO BE HUMAN REDUNDANCY, UM, IN PLACE WHEN WE ARE OPERATING IN MANUAL MODE, AND THAT WAS A FAIL ON OUR PART.
THE SECOND SITUATION THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER WAS THE DECISION NOT TO RESTART THE PUMP.
IMMEDIATELY UPON NOTICING THE INITIAL ISSUE, THE STAGNANT 9.9 FOOT WATER LEVEL READOUT, WHICH DID NOT MAKE SENSE CONSIDERING THE ONGOING DRAWDOWN, THERE WAS NO DOWNSIDE TO STARTING A PUMP AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE WORST THING THAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED MIGHT HAVE BEEN A MAIN BREAK IF THERE WAS A PRESSURE ISSUE, BUT WE DEAL WITH 200 PLUS MAIN BREAKS A YEAR, AND, UH, WE COULD HAVE DEALT WITH THAT.
UM, A MAIN BREAK OR ANY OTHER CONSEQUENCE FROM STARTING THE PUMP WOULD'VE BEEN FAR LESS SEVERE AND EASIER TO MANAGE THAN THE BOIL WATER NOTICE AND THE, OR THAN THE LOST OF PRESSURE AND THE BOILED WATER.
THE FINAL, UH, FAIL, WAS THE DECISION NOT TO RESTART THE PUMP IMMEDIATELY UPON NOTICING THE NEXT ISSUE, WHICH WAS THE RAPIDLY DROPPING PRESSURE.
WHEN WE SAW THE PRESSURE AT 37 AND DROP DROPPING RAPIDLY, IF WE WOULD'VE STARTED THE PUMPS AND CAPPED THE PRESSURE ABOVE 20, ACCORDING TO TCEQ AND STATE LAW, WE WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO HAVE A BOY WATER NOTICE BECAUSE WE DID HAVE A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION.
AND THAT IS, UH, THAT IS ALLOWED IF YOU KEEP IT ABOVE 20, IF YOU HAVE A MALFUNCTION THERE, THERE IS NOT A NEED FOR A BOIL OF WATER NOTICE, PARTICULARLY IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE, UM, THE SITUATION IS CONTAINED AND THERE IS NO BREACH IN THE SYSTEM.
UM, THE SECOND, UH, AREA, UM, FOR IMPROVEMENT, UH, THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED ARE WHAT I'M CALLING GAPS IN OUR TRAINING AND OPERATIONAL OVERSIGHT OF OUR PUBLIC SERVICE STAFF, CHIEFLY AND MAINLY RELATED TO MANUAL OPERATIONS OF THE SCADA SYSTEM DURING A DEEP CYCLING, AND HOW TO TAKE PROMPT AND PRECAUTIONARY ACTION WHEN SYSTEM, WHEN THE SYSTEM, UH, WHEN SYSTEM FAILURES, UM,
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UH, OCCUR, OR THERE ARE OTHER UNCERTAINTIES OR ISSUES ARISE, AS WELL AS PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF, OF THE MAINTENANCE.UM, WE HAVE A WEALTH OF INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE, UH, IN OUR CITY, AND WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT, EXCUSE ME, SORRY.
AND WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT WANNA DO THE RIGHT THING, BUT WE HAVE TO RECORD THOSE, THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE INTO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES THAT CAN BE UTILIZED BY ALL OF OUR STAFF.
AND THAT CAN BE, UM, DEPENDENT ON DURING CRITICAL TIMES WHEN IT'S OFTEN, UH, MORE DIFFICULT FOR FOLKS TO DRAW ON THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE.
AND WE HAVE THOSE SOPS, BUT WE NEED TO IMPROVE THEM, AND WE NEED TO EXPAND THEM, AND WE NEED TO MAKE 'EM MORE INCLUSIVE OF THE KINDS OF SITUATIONS THAT WE CAN, WE CAN FIND OURSELVES IN.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, I THINK ANOTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTOR, UH, FACTOR WAS OUR EXISTING SCADA SYSTEM.
UH, THE, THE SCADA SYSTEM IS APPROXIMATELY 12 YEARS OLD.
IT'S HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED BECAUSE OVER THE YEARS, WE'VE HAD TO, UH, MAKE ENHANCEMENTS TO IT TO DRAW OUT THE KINDS OF DATA THAT WE NEED.
UM, IT'S NO, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU ALL KNOW THAT WE ARE IN A MAJOR TRANSITION IN OUR IT SYSTEMS. UM, WE HAVE MANY LEGACY SYSTEMS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR MANY YEARS, UM, TO BRING UP TO MODERN CONTEMPORARY PLATFORMS AND APPLICATIONS.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS, THIS, THIS SYSTEM SHOULD BE NO DIFFERENT GIVEN ITS IMPORTANCE.
UM, AND I THINK, UH, AS YOU'LL SEE, ONE OF MY RECOMME RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE TO PRIORITIZE THAT EVEN IN WHILE WE ARE, WE'RE DEALING WITH THESE OTHER UPGRADES, UM, BASED ON, BASED ON THE FACTS THAT I'VE, I'VE DISCOVERED, UM, SO FAR.
UM, UM, NOW TURNING OUR ATTENTION TO ACTIONS TAKEN TO DATE AND RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE FACTS, UH, GATHERED SO FAR, I HAVE ORDERED DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR FOUR MEMBERS OF, UM, OUR PUBLIC SERVICES TEAM, WHO I BELIEVE FAILED TO FOLLOW THEIR TRAINING.
THEY FAILED TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITHIN THEIR CHAIN OF COMMAND, IN ADVANCE OF AND, AND DURING AND, AND EVEN SUBSEQUENT TO THE EVENT.
AND I BELIEVE THEY FAILED TO EXERCISE GOOD JUDGMENT IN THE EXECUTION OF JUDGE JOB RESPONSIBILITIES.
UM, I BELIEVE THIS DISCIPLINARY ACT, THIS DISCIPLINARY ACTION IS COMMENSURATE WITH THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION AND WITH THE WAY THEY HANDLED, UM, AND, UH, FAILED TO, UH, HANDLE THEIR JOB DUTIES ON THIS DAY.
UH, GOING FORWARD, I HAVE SEVERAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, FIRST, I BELIEVE, UM, THAT WE NEED TO, UH, AS I MENTIONED, WE NEED TO REVIEW, UPDATE AND PROPERLY DOCUMENT ALL OF OUR SOPS AND PROTOCOLS FOR, UH, VARIOUS WATER SYSTEM PROCESSES, UM, INCLUDING EVERYTHING FROM ROUTINE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE, MAINTENANCE OF THE SCADA SYSTEM AND PLCS TO SPECIAL OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS, UH, SUCH AS DEEP CYCLING AND OTHER NON-ROUTINE ACTIONS, UM, AND, UH, OTHER PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES AS, AS WARRANTED.
UM, I BELIEVE, UM, WE OFTEN REFER TO OUR PUBLIC SERVICES TEAM AS FIRST RESPONDERS, AND WE NEED TO BEGIN PLANNING AND TESTING AND REFINING THOSE PLANS JUST LIKE WE DO FOR PUBLIC SAFETY, POLICE AND FIRE.
UM, THIS WOULD ALSO INCLUDE REVIEWING PROCESSES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER AND WHEN ABOARD WATER NOTICE IS REQUIRED, AND MAKING SURE THAT THIS IS WELL DOCUMENTED INTERNALLY.
SO THE ACTION IS QUICKER, UH, IS, IS TRIGGERED QUICKER, UH, IN THE FUTURE IF NECESSARY.
UH, TO THIS END, I WILL TELL YOU THAT I'VE SOLICITED THE HELP OF, UH, CHIEF, UH, VY, WHO I HAVE ASKED TO SPEARHEAD, UM, WORKING WITH OUR, UH, PUBLIC SERVICES TEAM, UM, TO, UH, ENSURE THAT THE SOPS ARE PROPERLY DOCUMENTED AND THE PROTOCOLS ARE PUT INTO PLACE, UH, MUCH LIKE YOU WOULD EXPECT TO SEE, AND WE DO SEE IN BOTH OUR FIRE SERVICES AS WELL AS OUR POLICE SERVICES.
THE SECOND RECOMMENDATION IS, UH, THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING CLEAR PROTOCOLS FOR ONGOING TRAINING, UH, USING, UH, A VARIETY OF, UH, SIMULATED, UH, CRISIS AND NON-CRISIS SCENARIOS, AGAIN, MUCH LIKE WE DO WITH OTHER FIRST RESPONDERS, SO THAT OUR PUBLIC SERVICES PERSONNEL, UH, KNOW HOW TO RESPOND, AND SO THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY OTHER, UM, UM, TRAINING GAPS THAT MAY EXIST.
I BELIEVE WE ALSO NEED TO DEVELOP ENHANCED INTERNAL TRAINING PROTOCOLS, INCLUDING SETTING CLEARER STANDARDS FOR WHEN VITAL SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT RADIO ISSUES SHOULD BE ESCALATED TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, UM, FOR AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT HAD, UM, THE CADA, UM, THE, THE AGE OF THE SCADA AND SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS OF THE SCADA BEEN MORE CLEARLY COMMUNICATED TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, UH, BY THE LEADERSHIP TEAM, UM, THAT WE WOULD'VE BEEN MORE PROACTIVE.
UH, AGAIN, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WOULD'VE STOPPED, UM, WHAT OCCURRED THAT DAY.
UM, BUT IT, UM, IT SURELY IS WORTH IS A WORTHWHILE EFFORT, AND WE NEED TO FOCUS ON IT MOVING FORWARD, NOT WITHSTANDING.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, I BELIEVE WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE UPGRADING OUR SCADA SYSTEM.
[00:25:01]
HAVE BEEN PRIORITIZING, AND I KNOW WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE, UM, STAFF WORKLOAD, UH, BANDWIDTH ISSUES, THERE'S FINANCIAL BANDWIDTH ISSUES.UM, BUT I BELIEVE AFTER NOW BETTER APPRECIATING AND UNDERSTANDING, UH, THE NUANCES OF, UH, THE CURRENT SYSTEM, UH, PRIORITIZING A NEW SYSTEM, UH, WOULD BE CRITICAL.
WE'VE ALREADY ACTIVATED A NEW SECOND SCADA SYSTEM AND ARE IN CONVERSATIONS WITH THE APPLICATION DEVELOPER, UH, TO EXPLORE PURCHASING AND FULLY ADOPTING THE SYSTEM.
WE'RE CURRENTLY USING A 90 DAY LICENSE, UH, TO ASSESS AND TO CONFIRM THAT THE SYSTEM AS THE FUNCTIONALITY AND FEATURES THAT WE DESIRE, UM, AND THAT WE NEED.
UM, SINCE I'M, I'M, I'M PLEASED TO, TO, TO REPORT THAT SINCE INITIALLY A ACTIVATING, UH, THE SYSTEM SOON AFTER NOVEMBER 6TH, WE'VE EXPERIENCED NO FAILURES TO DATE, AND WE HAVE, WE CAN VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF THE READINGS, UM, UM, ON A REGULAR BASIS.
YOU KNOW, UNLIKE THE CURRENT SYSTEM, THIS NEW SYSTEM IS AN OUT OF THE BOX, NON CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM, BUT IT IS CONFIGURABLE, SO WE CAN MAKE IT WORK WELL FOR US, BUT IT'S NOT SO CUSTOMIZED LIKE THE CURRENT SYSTEM, THAT IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN AND IT'S MORE DIFFICULT TO SUPPORT BY OUR TEAM.
WE DO BELIEVE WITH THIS NEW SYSTEM, UM, THAT BETWEEN OUR IT STAFF AND ADDITIONAL TRAINING FOR OUR PUBLIC SERVICES STAFF, THAT A LOT OF WHAT WE'RE ENTRUSTING TO AND A THIRD PARTY INTEGRATOR NOW CAN BE BROUGHT IN-HOUSE.
WE CAN HAVE THAT TRAINING TO CREATE SUCCESSIONS SUCCESSION PLANS, UH, FOR THE TECH, THE TECHNOLOGY, A SPECIALIST IN THE DEPARTMENT, AND, AND HAVE A DEEPER AND WIDER BENCH WHEN IT COMES TO BACKUP.
UM, I AM GONNA JUST MAKE SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS HERE, THEN.
UH, I WOULD, UH, OPEN IT UP, MAYOR AND COUNSEL TO ANY FEEDBACK THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
I WANNA TELL YOU, UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST THAT I REMAIN CONFIDENT IN OUR TEAM.
UM, I AM, I AM PROUD OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE YEARS.
I THINK IT'S BEEN EXCEPTIONAL.
WE'RE FORTUNATE THAT INCIDENTS LIKE THIS, UM, IN THE CITY OF RICHARDSON ARE RARE, BUT IT IS INCUMBENT UPON ME AND MY TEAM TO KEEP IT THAT WAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO VITAL PUBLIC, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS OUR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM, UM, THAT, THAT WE DEPEND ON FOR SO MANY CRITICAL THINGS.
UH, I'D ALSO LIKE TO REITERATE THAT THE ACTION IS UNDERWEIGHT, IDENTIFY AND TEST THE REPLACEMENT SYSTEM FOR CDA.
AND THAT WOULD BE SOME SPECIFIC GUIDANCE I WOULD BE LOOKING FOR, UH, FROM YOU TONIGHT THAT YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO PROCEED WITH THAT POSTHASTE AND, UH, BEGIN WITH THAT IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, WE ARE GOING TO REFER IN, UH, BOB'S FOURTH QUARTER OF BUDGET REPORT TO THE FINANCIAL, UH, UH, IMPLICATIONS OF DOING THAT.
UM, AND, OR I COULD, I COULD ADDRESS THAT NOW IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
UM, I'VE ALSO ASKED, UH, AND TASKED MEMBERS OF MY CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TEAM WITH PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE REMAINING RECOMMENDATIONS IE ONE AND TWO.
UM, THESE ACTIONS WILL BE TRACKED CLOSELY AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE EVALUATED AND REFINED MOVING FORWARD.
I THINK IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO, UH, FOR ME TO REASSURE YOU AND THE COMMUNITY THAT OUR WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM IS SAFE AND SECURE.
THE ACT, THE BOIL WATER NOTICE COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED THAT DAY.
IT WAS NOT BECAUSE THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT FAILURE IN OUR WATER SYSTEM.
IT'S NOT BECAUSE THERE IS SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES.
UM, IT WAS HUMAN ERROR THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST CAUSED THE BOIL WATER NOTICE TO HAVE TO BE ISSUED.
UM, WE'RE GONNA USE THE LESSONS LEARNED HERE FROM THIS INCIDENT.
UM, WE'LL PUT 'EM TO GOOD USE TO STRENGTHEN OUR SYSTEMS, OUR TRAINING, AND OUR, OUR OPERATIONAL OVERSIGHT.
I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE THAT, UM, I WOULD SCHEDULE A UPDATE FOR YOU IN SIX MONTHS, UM, TO COME BACK AND DO ANOTHER FULL REPORT ON ALL THREE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT I HAVE AND BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH, UH, MUCH MORE DETAIL REGARDING WHERE WE ARE AT, UM, IN, IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTING THE DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROGRESSING WITH THE, UH, WITH THE DIFFERENT, UM, WITH THE DIFFERENT TASKS.
SO, UM, MAYOR, THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE I'D LIKE TO CONCLUDE, AND I'LL, I'LL STAND BY FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, MR. CORCORAN, UH, THANK YOU.
DON, THANK YOU FOR THIS UPDATE.
I, I DO APPRECIATE, UH, THE TRANSPARENCY THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN US HERE AND GIVEN THE PUBLIC WITH THIS.
AND I THINK THAT THAT GOES A REALLY LONG WAY TO MAINTAINING THAT TRUST THAT WE HAVE.
AND IT'S, IT'S HEARTENING EVEN TO, TO READ ON FACEBOOK SO MANY OF THE COMMENTS THAT WERE SUPPORTIVE OF WHAT WE WERE DOING IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I REALLY, I DON'T LIVE NEAR THE AREA, BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD PERSONALLY ANYTHING REALLY, TRULY NEGATIVE ABOUT THIS SITUATION AND THE WAY THAT IT WAS HANDLED.
UM, AND IT IS FUNNY, YOU, YOU READ MY MIND.
I ACTUALLY HAD WRITTEN DOWN HERE AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THIS QUESTION MARK, DUE DATE QUESTION MARKS SIX MONTHS REASONABLE.
SO I THINK THAT THAT'S A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR YOU TO COME BACK TO US ON THESE.
WHAT I WOULD ALSO ASK, UM, ON, UH, ACTION ITEM THREE, IF YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M PREPARED TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD DEFINITELY PRIORITIZE THIS AS ONE OF THE ACTION ITEMS, UM, WE'RE GONNA TAKE, WHAT I WOULD ASK IS THAT WHEN
[00:30:01]
YOU COME BACK WITH, UH, WITH THAT GAME PLAN, CAN YOU PRESENT US WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHAT WE WOULD CUT BACK, SO WE CAN DISCUSS THAT AS A GROUP HERE.UM, PLEASE MULTIPLE RECOMMENDATIONS, NOT JUST, NOT JUST ONE, UNLESS YOU FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT ONE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, AND THEN ALSO OBVIOUSLY A, A TIMELINE FOR WHEN THAT'LL BE IMPLEMENTED.
WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE THAT REPORT.
THAT WOULD BE A SOONER THAN THE SIX MONTH.
AND, UM, AND THEN AB ONCE WE, ONCE WE, UM, YOU KNOW, CONFIRM WITH WHICH APPLICATION WE'D LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD, THEN WE CAN HAVE A BETTER TIMELINE JUST DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH OF A THIRD PARTY INTEGRATORS HELP WE NEED VERSUS, SO, ABSOLUTELY.
UM, I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS BEFORE I GO TO THAT.
I DO WANT TO SAY I 100%, UH, HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU AND YOUR TEAM, AND OVERALL, UM, EXTREMELY PLEASED THAT THE TRANSPARENCY AT THE APPROACH YOU TAKE OF WHAT HUMAN ERRORS HAPPEN.
I'VE MADE 'EM PROBABLY DAILY IF YOU ASK MY WIFE, UH, BUT, UM, MISTAKES HAPPEN.
I THINK IT'S HOW WE, WHAT WE LEARN FROM IT AND HOW WE APPROACH IT THAT, UM, THAT TELLS, UH, THE PUBLIC AND AND STAFF, UM, THE KIND OF PEOPLE WE ARE.
SO I APPRECIATE, UH, YOU COMING TO US.
I APPRECIATE THE INFORMATION, APPRECIATE THIS COMING IN A TRANSPARENT FORM TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS OF CLARIFICATION.
UM, AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY OF THESE ANSWERS TODAY, UM, I UNDERSTAND AS I WAS READING THIS, PREPARING, I MEAN, THESE ARE ALL QUESTIONS THAT JUST POPPED UP.
UM, BUT OVERALL, GREAT JOB, AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE RESPONSE.
AND I WILL SAY, UH, DENETTE, I KNOW, I KNOW ALL EVERYBODY WAS INVOLVED, UH, BUT I KNOW DENETTE, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT RESPONDED WERE, WERE FROM YOUR TEAM.
AND I KNOW I WAS OUT THERE IN THE DISTRIBUTION.
THIS WAS, THIS WAS IN PLACE THREE, MY HOME WAS AFFECTED.
I WAS, I, I LIVE, I WAS, MY HOME WAS UNDER THE BOIL WATER NOTICE.
I WILL SAY, WHEN WE WERE DISTRIBUTING WATER, GREAT JOB.
I MEAN, THE ENTIRE STAFF OUT THERE PROFESSIONAL, THEY WERE HELPING PEOPLE, FRIENDLY WITH PEOPLE.
I HEARD IT FROM RESIDENTS, I SAW IT MYSELF IN MY OWN EYES.
AND, AND I KNOW THEY WEREN'T THE ONLY ONES.
THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES WORKING ON IT.
UM, SO GREAT JOB TO EVERYBODY GETTING THAT WATER OUT AND, UH, WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WITH THE SERVANT'S HEART TO TRYING TO HELP AND DO WHAT WE CAN.
UM, THE, ON THE TIMELINE, IT SHOWS ONE 20, AND THEN THERE'S A, IT SAYS IT TOOK 20, 25 MINUTES, AND AT 2 0 4, WE NOTICED IT.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE, AM I CORRECT? AM WE RESTARTED THE COMPUTERS? IT JUST, ONCE IT RESTARTED, IT LOOKS LIKE IT STARTED TO DROP, RIGHT? IS THAT ACCURATE? YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S WITHIN, YOU KNOW, FIVE TO SIX MINUTES.
IT'S HARD TO SAY PRECISELY, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TIME THE REBOOT COMPLETED AND THE, UM, THE, UH, INFORMATION FROM THE H WATER TOWER WAS VISIBLE AGAIN ON SCADA, BUT AS SOON AS IT WAS VISIBLE, IT WAS, IT REMAINED FLATLINED.
UM, AND THEN SHORTLY THEREAFTER IS WHEN THE PRESSURE BEGAN TO FALL.
DO WE, UM, LOOKING AT THE TIMELINE AND KNOWING THAT THERE WAS HUMAN ERROR IN THE RES IN THE UNDERSTANDING THINGS, UM, AS FAR AS RESPONDING AND JUST TRYING TO GET IT UP THE CHAIN, WHAT WOULD BE AN IDEAL RESPONSE TIME IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS? I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S NEVER AN IDEAL BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT THIS TO EVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
UM, BUT WHAT, WHAT, LIKE, IS IT NORMALLY AN HOUR, TWO HOURS, THREE HOURS, I MEAN, RIGHT.
WHAT WOULD, I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS IF THESE CHANGES TAKE PLACE, YOU KNOW, YOU TALK ABOUT, UH, STEPS YOU AND YOUR STAFF ARE GONNA TAKE TO, UM, CREATE A PLAN, BUT ALSO POSSIBLY UPDATING SOME TECHNOLOGY MM-HMM
IS THAT GONNA, IS THE IDEA A GOAL TO HAVE THAT WITHIN A TWO HOUR RESPONSE? IS IT, I MEAN, IS THERE A STANDARD, I GUESS, RESPONSE TO, ARE YOU, ARE YOU, ARE YOU, LET ME JUST CLARIFY THE QUESTION.
ARE YOU ASKING FROM THE TIME WE RECOGNIZED THAT THE PRESSURE WAS ZERO TO, TO THE, TO WHAT TIME TO WE NOTIFY THE BOIL OF WATER TO WE PUT OUT A BOILED WATER NOTICE? RIGHT.
UM, I WOULD ADD, I'D SAY, UH, IT REALLY DEPENDS.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE IMMEDIATE CONFIRMATION THAT THE, THAT THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN COMPROMISED AND THAT THERE'S A DA AN IMMEDIATE DANGER, I WOULD SAY WE WOULD NOT TRY TO, UH, FACILITATE AS ORDERLY A, UH, UM, ANNOUNCEMENT AS WE DID.
UM, IN THIS CASE, WE HAD A HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE THAT THERE WAS NOT A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, UH, THAT TURNED OUT TO BE PROVEN WITHIN ABOUT, YOU KNOW,
[00:35:01]
36 HOURS OR SO.UM, SO, UM, I THINK YOU HAVE TO WEIGH WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS THE, IS THE RISK OR THE, THE, THE HEALTH RISK, UM, VERSUS WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO, UM, ACCOMPLISH IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, THERE'S A LOT OF SCIENCE AROUND, UM, IF WE WOULD'VE DROPPED THE BOIL WATER NOTICE, UM, IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT ANY CONTEXT, UM, CONTEXT, THERE'S A SERIES OF THINGS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE COMMUNITY WITH, UH, PEOPLE PANICKING, UM, YOU KNOW, RUSHING TO THE STORE NECESSARILY.
UM, SO WHAT, BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE HAD, UM, A HIGH CONFIDENCE THAT A NO, THAT WE KNEW, LET ME, LET ME REPHRASE THAT.
BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE KNEW A BREACH OF THE SYSTEM DID NOT OCCUR, AND THAT THE CHANCES FOR, UM, SOME KIND OF WATER QUALITY ISSUE WERE MINIMAL, GIVEN THE PRESSURE WAS, UM, LOSS FOR LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES.
UM, WE, UH, WORKING WITH OUR OTHER STAKEHOLDERS CHOSE TO, UM, TAKE THE TIME TO TRY TO PUT OUT A HIGHLY ORDERLY AND COORDINATED MESSAGE SO THAT THE COMMUNITY WOULD BE ABLE TO RESPOND, UM, IN A, UH, IN A, IN A POSITIVE WAY.
UM, BUT AGAIN, ALL BETS WOULD OFF WOULD BE OFF.
THAT WOULD NOT BE THE APPROACH IF WE KNEW THERE WAS A HEALTH RISK OR EVEN IF WE HAD HIGH SUSPICION THAT THERE WAS A POTENTIAL HEALTH RISK.
AND SO, I DON'T KNOW THAT, UH, IT'S A LONG WAY OF SAYING IT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN GIVE YOU AN IDEAL TIME BECAUSE I THINK IT WOULD BE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT I, THAT STARTING AT THAT FOUR O'CLOCK HOUR WHEN I FIRST HEARD OF THIS, IT WOULD BE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THIS, ON THE, ON THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PRESENTED TO ME AT THAT TIME.
UH, DO WE HAVE A, IN, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE AT THAT POINT YET, ONLY SIX WEEKS POST, BUT, UH, DO WE HAVE A IDEA OF THE TOTAL COST OF INCIDENT WHEN WE CONSIDER, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT COSTS OVER TIME AND WATER OR ANY OF THAT? UH, I DON'T HAVE THAT TONIGHT, BUT I'D BE HAPPY TO SIX MONTHS FROM NOW.
UM, WHEN, WHEN WE LOSE PRESSURE, I'M POSITIVE THAT CHIEF POVY AND HIS TEAM HAVE ALL KINDS OF REDUNDANT PLAN AFTER PLAN AND PLAN, YOU KNOW, IN THESE SCENARIOS.
UM, IS, IS THAT ACCURATE TO, TO SAY, LOOK, WE LOST? 'CAUSE I, I HEARD YOU SAY SOMETHING ABOUT LOST PRESSURE.
FIRE HYDRANTS, SO AT THAT POINT, LOSE PRESSURE.
SO I'M ASSUMING THAT THERE'S A PLAN IN PLACE, A FIRE, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT KNOWS THAT, HEY, THESE HYDRANTS IN THIS SECTOR DON'T HAVE PRESSURE, SO IF YOU NEED IT, THESE ARE THE ALTERNATE.
I MEAN, IF IT WAS IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, IT WOULD BE OBVIOUSLY JUST AS QUICK AS TURNING THE PUMPS BACK ON AND, AND AS REESTABLISHING THE PRESSURE.
A MORE, A MORE SERIOUS SITUATION WOULD BE, FOR INSTANCE, IF A 36 INCH LINE, A 36 INCH MAIN BLEW OUT, UM, THAT WOULD, UM, NECESSITATE A WORKAROUND THROUGH WORKING VALVES.
AND SO, UM, THAT WOULD TAKE MUCH LONGER.
BUT IN EITHER CASE, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF THE SITUATION AND THEY DO HAVE A PLAN FOR, UM, FOR PROVIDING FIRE SERVICE OR FIRE RESPONSE GIVEN, KNOWING WHERE THE, WHERE THE HYDRANTS WOULD BE AT.
UM, WATER SYSTEM, I MEAN, THERE'S SO MANY OF THESE, I GUESS, CLOSED INDIVIDUAL, I GUESS THE ONE-OFFS, YOU KNOW, WATER, MOST OF US ARE NOT WATER SYSTEM EXPERTS.
UM, AND THE AVERAGE SYSTEM, I GUESS, DOES, WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT ALL GOES INTO PROVIDING CLEAN AND SAFE WATER AND WATER PRESSURE.
ARE THERE, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WERE GONNA LOOK AT, YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE GONNA LOOK AT THE, UM, SOPS AND JUST, UH, KIND OF LOOK OVER PROCEDURES OVERALL.
ARE THERE OTHER SYSTEMS IN OUR CITY THAT MIGHT BE WORTH LOOKING AT? I MEAN, I GUESS, WHAT ARE THE OTHER CRITICAL ONES? I MEAN MM-HMM
I MEAN, I, I AM JUST TRYING TO WRAP MY HEAD AROUND, OKAY, HEY, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW, AND WHICH IS GREAT, BUT IS THERE MAYBE ANOTHER SYSTEM THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT AN S YOU KNOW, SOP AND SAY, HEY, THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME, SO THAT WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH ANOTHER CRITICAL SYSTEM.
I MEAN, OUR, WE, SO WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A, A WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND THEN WE HAVE A WASTEWATER CONVEYANCE SYSTEM.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WASTEWATER CONVEYANCE, UM, WE, WE, UM, TO BE, I THINK TO BE, UM, ACCURATE, I WOULD SAY IT'S PROBABLY FURTHER ALONG BECAUSE A LOT OF THE CMOM WORK THAT WE WERE REQUIRED TO DO BY EPAA NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, AND SO WE HAVE, UM, THOSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, COMPLETELY, UH, AS A RESULT OF A LOT OF THE COMPLIANCE WORK THAT WE HAD TO DO.
I MEAN, YOUR, YOUR BIGGEST RISK ON WASTEWATER, FOR INSTANCE, IS, UM, IS A, IS A, IS A HEALTH, A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE WITH, YOU KNOW, A SIGNIFICANT SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.
[00:40:01]
AND SO A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UM, THAN, THAN WATER.UM, BUT, UM, BUT ABSOLUTELY, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE LESSON LEARNED HERE, UM, THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO ALL OF OUR DEPARTMENTS IS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH A, UH, SIGNIFICANT TRANSITION IN STAFF OVER THE YEARS, UM, WE HAVE, UM, LOST A LOT OF INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE THAT COMES TO THE OFFICE DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
AND WE NEED TO, UH, PROVIDE FOR AN ORDERLY TRANSFER OF THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE.
AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT KNOWLEDGE IS DOCUMENTED SO THAT, UM, OLDER EMPLOYEES, WHEN THEY, WHEN THEY, UH, WHEN THEY NEED IT, THEY CAN REFER TO IT, BUT NEW EMPLOYEES HAVE IT AS A RESOURCE, UH, DAY IN AND DAY OUT WHEN THEY DO THEIR JOBS.
AND SO I DO BELIEVE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'LL, IT, IT, IT IS, IT WILL BE PRUDENT ON US TO, UH, LOOK LEFT AND RIGHT AND UP AND DOWN ACROSS ALL, ALL, UM, YOU KNOW, FUNCTIONAL AREAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE IN AS GOOD A PLACE AS THAT WILL, THAT THAT WILL GET WITH WATER.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, UM, YOU MENTIONED THE, THIS POSSIBLE NEW, UH, SCADA.
WHAT DOES IT, WHAT DOES IT, WHAT DOES IT DO THAT A CURRENT ONE DOES NOT DO? IS IT JUST, I GUESS, MORE SENSITIVE SENSORS? IS IT, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THE INTERNAL SIDE, I GUESS THE ABILITY TO BUILD IT MM-HMM
INTERNALLY VERSUS EXTERNALLY, THEREFORE, THERE'LL PROBABLY BE SOME FINANCIAL OFFSETS ON THAT.
AND, UM, UM, BUT LIKE, IS THERE ANYTHING, I GUESS WHAT DOES IT DO? IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE, IT'S GOING TO BE A, A SIMPLER SYSTEM.
UM, THAT'LL BE EASIER TO MAINTAIN.
IT'LL BE EASIER FOR OUR STAFFS TO, UM, UH, BECOME KIND OF, UH, TECHNICALLY, YEAH, TECHNICALLY PROFICIENT IN IT.
WE WON'T LOSE ANY OF THE MONITORING OR ANY, ANY OF THE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S JUST THAT AS, UH, SCADA SYSTEMS HAVE EVOLVED OVER THE LAST DOZEN YEARS, IT'S EASIER TO EXTRACT THE SAME DATA COMPARED TO A SYSTEM THAT, AND I WON'T CALL IT A LEGACY SYSTEM, BUT IT'S A SYSTEM THAT'S A DOZEN YEARS OLD THAT WAS PROBABLY DEVELOPED 15 YEARS AGO.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN JUST THINK ACROSS ALL OF THE DIFFERENT AREAS THAT WE ALL WORK AND THINK ABOUT A PROGRAM THAT YOU WERE USING 12 YEARS AGO VERSUS ONE TODAY.
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THAT IT'S GOING TO PROVIDE US WITH ANY, UM, AND I, I'M NOT AN EXPERT.
I, I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD PROVIDE US WITH SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL CAPACITIES, BUT IT'LL MAKE IT, UM, IT'LL MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT AND MORE EFFECTIVE FOR US TO UTILIZE IT ON A DAILY BASIS, WHICH WILL MAKE IT MORE RELIABLE.
THAT, THAT SOUNDS, THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
UM, THE, THE, UH, YEAH, I GUESS, I GUESS NOT.
THE RESPONSE WHEN WE STARTED NOTIFYING PEOPLE, UM, DO WE CURRENTLY HAVE SOMETHING IN PLACE? UM, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT A RESPONSE.
I'LL MAKE THAT AS A COMMENT JUST SO THAT YOU CAN, I CAN TAKE IT AS YOU WANT.
WE COULD, BUT, UM, WHEN, WHEN WE, UM, START A NOTE NOTIFYING PEOPLE, UH, I GUESS I'D LIKE TO SAY, HEY, IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN AGAIN, HOW ARE WE GONNA, YOU KNOW, HOW WERE PEOPLE NOTIFIED? I KNOW WE USED THE REVERSE 9 1 1.
I WOULD HOPE THAT MAYBE WE CAN, UH, TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF REEDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON THAT AND WHAT THEY COULD SIGN UP ON MM-HMM
UH, SO I, I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DID THERE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, MAYBE WE LOOK AT HOW WE NOTIFY APARTMENTS AND, YOU KNOW, THOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MANAGERS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO, AND I KNOW YOU DID DO STUFF THERE, SO I, I'M NOT BY ANY MEANS IMPLYING THERE WASN'T.
SO, UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, ANYTIME WE, WE CAN, WE HAVE INCIDENTS LIKE THIS AND WE COULD ALWAYS LEARN TO SAY, HEY, DID THIS MEET OUR STANDARD OF COMMUNICATION ACROSS ALL BOARDS? AND I APPRECIATE WHAT EVERYBODY DID AS FAR AS NOTIFYING OUR BUSINESSES AND THOSE ELDERLY THAT ARE, UH, AT HOME.
AND, UM, SO GREAT JOB ON THAT.
AND AGAIN, HATS OFF TO THE ENTIRE STAFF WHO'S OUT THERE HANDING OUT WATER, UM, YOUR INTERVIEWS, COMMUNICATION STAFF TO THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA, I THOUGHT FELT THAT WAS STRONG.
SO THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THAT, AND THANK YOU.
APPRECIATE YOUR TRANSPARENCY, DON.
YEAH, I WOULD JUST REITERATE, THANK YOU FOR THE TRANSPARENCY.
THANK YOU FOR SORT OF, UM, JUST COMBING THROUGH EVERY DETAIL ON THIS.
AS COUNCILMAN CORCORAN SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, THE TRUST OF THE, THE PUBLIC IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, AND I THINK THIS IS REALLY HELPFUL AND, AND YOU, UM, SORT OF TAKING THE TIME TO REALLY MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTOOD WHAT HAPPENED HERE IS REALLY GREAT.
UM, AND, UM, ON HIS NOT LOST, HIS EXTRA QUESTION AT THE END, THERE IS WHAT I WAS GONNA GET AT, UH, HIS COMMENT REALLY IS, I, I THINK THE ONLY SORT OF NEGATIVE THING I HEARD IN THE PUBLIC, UM, DURING THIS TIME, DESPITE ALL THE WAYS THAT WE WERE COMMUNICATING WITH THE PUBLIC, IS I DIDN'T GET THE TEXT MESSAGE, OR, OH, I, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE SAYING I DID OR I DIDN'T.
UM, AND SO I THINK ANOTHER TAKEAWAY HERE SHOULD REALLY BE PUSHING OUT THIS REVERSE 9 1 1, BECAUSE IT IS, YOU DO OPT
[00:45:01]
INTO IT.UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, AND, AND EVERY, EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD SHOULD BE PUTTING IT IN THE NEWSLETTER.
AND I KNOW WE HAVE TOLD THEM, UM, AS PART OF OUR, UM, HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT, UM, BREAKFAST AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, BUT WE SHOULD REALLY BE PUSHING THAT OUT.
UM, IT IS BY FAR THE, THE FASTEST WAY TO GET INFORMATION TO SOMEONE.
UM, AND SO WE SHOULD REALLY FIGURE OUT, UM, I THINK THAT SHOULD BE ONE OF YOUR ACTION ITEMS AS WELL, TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN MAKE SURE EVERY RESIDENT IN THE CITY KNOWS THAT'S AN OPTION.
UM, SO IT, GOD FORBID SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED, AGAIN, WE'RE REACHING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE IMMEDIATELY.
UM, BUT THAT WAS, BUT OTHERWISE, I THINK THIS IS A, A REALLY GREAT JOB BY YOUR STAFF.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I APPRECIATE YOUR HONESTY.
UM, AS, AS COUNCILMAN BARRIO SAID, HUMAN ERRORS HAPPEN.
WE ALL MAKE THEM EVERY SINGLE DAY.
UM, AND SO I APPRECIATE YOU REALLY DIGGING INTO IT, TAKING THE, THE ACTION THAT YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS APPROPRIATE, UM, AND, UM, UH, PROVIDING THIS MEMORANDUM FOR THE PUBLIC.
I, UH, ACTUALLY KIND OF WANNA REITERATE THAT I, DON, I APPRECIATE YOU, UH, YOU KNOW, PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
I KNOW THIS IS VERY SENSITIVE FOR YOU, AND I KNOW IT'S VERY SENSITIVE FOR THE STAFF WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS AND, AND, AND YOU CAN'T HELP HUMAN ERROR.
AND I, ON A POSITIVE NOTE, I WANNA SAY THAT IN THE EVENT, UM, SOME PEOPLE DID NOT GET THE INFORMATION AS, AS COUNCILMAN JUSTICE SAID, I DID WANT TO SAY THAT THE STAFF, YOU AND THE STAFF PROVIDED THE INFORMATION TO COUNSEL AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE WERE ABLE TO, TO, UH, REDELIVER THAT INFORMATION OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
UH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE PHONE CALLS, EMAILS, TEXT MESSAGES, UH, RESPONSES TO NEXTDOOR FACEBOOK, AND IT WAS JUST GOOD THAT WE GOT ON IT, AND YOU GUYS TOOK, YOU KNOW, TOOK THE LEAD VERY, VERY QUICKLY.
SO I, I ADMIRE THAT AND APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I THINK EVERYONE THAT KNOWS HOW MUCH WORK AND EFFORT GOES INTO IT, HOPEFULLY WE'LL APPRECIATE IT AS WELL.
I ALSO LIKE THE FACT THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT THESE, UH, REPLACING THIS GADA EQUIPMENT.
I UNDERSTAND 25, I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT THE LIFE EXPECTANCY IS OF A SCADA SYSTEM, BUT I THINK 24 YEARS IS QUITE LONG AND IT'S GOOD THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING THAT AND POTENTIALLY PUTTING THAT IN THE BUDGET TO HOPEFULLY, UM, PROVIDE SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE.
SO, UM, I ALSO LIKE THE FACT THAT, UM, YOU'RE TAKING THE LEAD ON, UM, SPEARHEADING, UM, CHIEF'S BOOBY.
SO I ALWAYS LIKE SEEING THAT WHEN WE'RE, YOU KNOW, ENGAGING IN OUR POLICE AND OUR FIRE CHIEFS TO, YOU KNOW, HELP ENGAGE THAT.
I THINK THAT'S VERY, VERY GOOD AND, AND IT SHOWS THAT YOU WOULD CARE AS THE CITY.
I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU AND, AND I KNOW THAT WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS LIKE WE DO EVERYTHING ELSE, MR. CHU.
UH, I KNOW YOU CLARIFIED THAT BEFORE, BUT I'M GOING TO ASK YOU THE QUESTION SO YOU CAN REPEAT THAT.
THE NOTIFICATION THAT WENT OUT, THIS WAS TOTALLY C DID THAT ON THEIR OWN, NOT THAT THE SYSTEM FAILED.
SOMEBODY CAME, TCU CAME AND THEY ASKED YOU TO MAKE THE NOTIFICATION, RIGHT? IS THAT MY EXCEPTION? CORRECT.
SO, SO THAT WAS, YOU DID THAT JUST, YOU KNOW, AS A STANDARD PROCEDURE JUST TO BE CAUTIOUS, UH, THESE KIND OF THINGS.
YEAH, I MEAN THIS SYSTEM, THANK YOU.
AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS VERY COMPLICATED SYSTEM.
SOMETIMES THESE ARE LIKE A OLD, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE OLD PEOPLE HERE ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S THE DO SYSTEM IN THE COMPUTER VERSUS WHAT THE WINDOWS, UH, LOTS OF THINGS PROBABLY HA YOU KNOW, IS THE SAME THING, BUT THE SHELL COMES SOMETIMES DIFFERENTIAL SO THAT IT CAN WORK MUCH EASIER WITH THE SYSTEM.
I THINK PROBABLY SOME, SOMETHING LIKE THAT KIND OF IMPROVEMENT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, AND HUMAN ERROR DEFINITELY CAN HAPPEN.
AND I HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST THAT YOU DID MANAGE CO YOU KNOW, MUCH MORE COMPLICATED SITUATION, AVOIDED THE HOT WATER, BOIL WATER ISSUE.
SO, UH, AND YOU KNOW, I CAN SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, ALL THIS CLOSE TO FOUR YEARS I'VE SEEN YOU, THAT YOU CAME REALLY UPFRONT BEFORE ANYTHING EVEN CAN HAPPEN.
YOU UPDATED US AS A COUNCIL IMMEDIATELY.
SO I HAD NO DOUBT ABOUT YOUR TRANSPARENCY.
UH, I CAN ALWAYS SAY THAT AND UH, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE, EVEN THOUGH YOU SAY IT'S, UH, PREVENTABLE, IT WAS, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS REALLY TRULY EVEN AFTER YOU EXPLAIN, YOU KNOW, IF SOMETHING HAPPEN, IT'S EASY TO SAY SOME THINGS, BUT YOU KNOW, WE CAN ALWAYS IMPROVE DEFINITELY OURSELVES SO THAT WE CAN AVOID THE SIMILAR MISTAKE NEXT TIME.
UH, UNFORTUNATELY, MISTAKE, MISTAKE, WE SAY MISTAKE BECAUSE IT'S A ONE TIME HAPPEN.
SO, UH, I HAVE SEEN THE STAFFS CITY STAFF, THEY WORK SO MUCH HARD TIRELESSLY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UPDATE EVEN THAT FIVE MINUTES.
I MEAN, BUT AGAIN, YOU DID ALL THE STEPS TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE DID NOT HAVE THE CONTAMINATION.
UH, EVEN THOUGH WITH ALL THE DATA, IT SHOWS THAT THERE IS
[00:50:01]
NO POSSIBILITY, BUT YOU ALWAYS, YOU DEFINITELY TOOK THE RIGHT STEP TO DO THE TESTING AND THEN NOTIFY THAT.UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE ALL GREAT THINGS.
BUT ONE THING, UH, THIS, YOU KNOW, GOING INFORMING THE RESIDENTS, UH, THE REVERSE NINE ONE ONE, UH, CALL THAT YOU HAVE SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES AS A RESIDENT US, WE DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT HOW, YOU KNOW, I DON'T GET ANY, ANY STRANGE SALES CALL ON MY PHONE.
I MEAN, I GET A SALES CALL, BUT I DON'T GET ANY KIND OF CAMPAIGN, UH, OR EVEN THIS NINE ONE REVERSE NINE ONE ONE CALL ON MY PHONE BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON, MY NUMBER IS NOT REALLY ATTACHED TO MANY.
IT DID NOT GO REALLY TO THE PUBLIC, UH, WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS THING SYSTEM.
BUT I DO, I DO GET CALLS ON MY OTHER PHONES, MY FAMILY, THE FAMILY HAS.
SO, UH, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALLY, UH, REGISTER OUR NUMBERS TO THE SYSTEM SO THAT WE CAN GET CALL BACK.
UH, IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE COULD HAVE LIKE SOME KIND OF, YOU KNOW, TESTING LIKE SYSTEM THAT, UH, NOTHING EMERGENCY, LIKE IT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, EMERGENCY CALL THAT SOMETIMES WE GET THIS ISNT JUST A TEST.
OUR DEPART, OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, DOES, UH, TEST, UH, I THINK IT'S AT LEAST ANNUALLY.
UM, THE, THE NINE ONE REVERSE 9 1 1 CALLS, UH, THEY WILL PROMOTE THAT THE TESTING IS, UH, COMING SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW IT, YOU KNOW, TO EXPECT THE TEST.
BUT, UM, TO YOUR POINT, IT'S, IT'S OPTING IN.
AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY BENEFICIAL TO ADD THE NUMBER THAT WILL BE USED TO CALL YOU TO YOUR OWN PERSONAL CELL, UH, PHONE SO THAT YOU CAN RECOGNIZE IT, YOU CAN, IT CAN IDENTIFY IN A WAY THAT YOU WOULD ANSWER AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU ACCEPT THE CALL.
UM, I, I, UH, I, I COULDN'T AGREE MORE WITH ALL THE FEEDBACK WITH RESPECT TO REVERSE 9 1 1.
WE'LL, UM, I KNOW GREG IS PLANNING ON, YOU KNOW, REALLY PROMOTING AND HIGHLIGHTING THAT AS A, AS A MAJOR RICHARDSON TODAY STORY, WHICH IS OUR MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF COMMUNICATING WITH, YOU KNOW, 40,000, UH, HOUSEHOLDS A MONTH NOW.
AND, UH, WE WOULD LOVE, WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE HIGHEST RATE OF OPT-IN, YOU KNOW, OF ANY CITY IN NORTH TEXAS, BECAUSE IT'S A VALUABLE TOOL FOR US.
UM, AND, UH, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE JUST NOT ALLOWED TO PROACTIVELY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, ENROLL PEOPLE.
I THINK, UH, IN THE FUTURE, IF WE CAN DO, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING HAPPENED, I'M GLAD THAT IT WAS NOT, UH, FOR SOME IT'S A MAJOR THINGS, BUT IT IS NOT, YOU KNOW, IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, IT'S NOT THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, BREAKDOWN, SYSTEM BREAKDOWN.
SO SOMETIMES WE CAN LEARN FROM THESE KIND OF THINGS.
AVOID, UH, ABSOLUTELY THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANY CITIES, ANY PLACES.
UH, AND, UH, BUT IF WE CAN, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE FEW THINGS THAT WE CAN'T DISCUSS PUBLICLY.
YOU ALREADY HAVE DISCUSSED, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S ENOUGH FOR PUBLIC BECAUSE THESE ARE VERY SENSITIVE, NOT JUST POLITICAL SENSITIVE THINGS.
SO, UH, BUT THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT, UH, I'M SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS HAPPENED ONE PLACE, IT MIGHT, CAN THIS HAPPEN OTHER PLACES? UH, BUT I'M PRETTY MUCH SURE THAT YOU HAVE A BACKUP SYSTEM ALL THIS, AND I KNOW FOR SURE, SO I CAN, I CAN, I'M AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, ASSURED THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE A BACKUP PLAN FOR OTHER, OTHER CRITICAL, UH, THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN.
BECAUSE IF WE HAVE A LARGE DIAMETER PIPE FAILS, YOU KNOW, ARE WE GONNA BE THE SAME SITUATION? I CAN SEE THAT.
I MEAN, WE HAVE, I THINK YOU HAVE SOME BACKUP FOR THOSE KIND OF SCENARIO.
UH, AND, UH, THE WASTEWATER, IT'S NOT THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT THE SIMILAR THINGS FOR THE WATER SYSTEM.
UH, YOU KNOW, IF OVERFLOW HAPPENED, DEFINITELY IT'S A HEALTH ISSUE.
IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, THERE IS NO A HUNDRED PERCENT GUARANTEE THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN FOR ANY OTHER CITY.
IT HAPPENS, BUT, UH, THAT'S A DIFFERENT HEALTH ISSUE THAN THE LOSING THE WATER, UH, PRESSURE.
BUT AGAIN, EVEN FOR THE EMPLOYEE TO UNDERSTAND THE PRESSURE DROPS, WHAT ELSE CAN HAPPEN? ALL THESE, THIS VERY COMPLICATED.
SOUNDS VERY SIMPLE WHEN YOU EXPLAIN, AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU DID NOT SEE THAT HAPPEN LAST 50 YEARS, 20 YEARS, 30 YEARS.
UH, IT'S, IT'S LIKE, UH, HEALTH, HUMAN HEALTH THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO YOU DO? HOW DO YOU DO? SO THE OTHER THING MIGHT BE HELPFUL THAT IF YOU HAVE A, LIKE, UH, SOME KIND OF SEMINAR FOR THE, UH, FOR THE EMPLOYEE HEALTH, YOU KNOW, THAT, YOU KNOW, NOT JUST FOR THEM, SOME OTHER DEPARTMENT ALSO, THAT WHAT WE DO FOR THIS SCENARIO, YOU KNOW, DISCUSS FEW THINGS.
UH, I KNOW THIS IS STANDARD PROCEDURE, YOU DO THAT, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATE, RIGHT?
[00:55:01]
YOU DEFINITELY DID YOUR PART MORE THAN ENOUGH.UH, BUT INTERNALLY, SOMETIMES WE DON'T REALIZE WHAT TO DO.
UH, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRANSPARENCY, APPRECIATE AND, UH, THE WHOLE DEPARTMENT.
I THINK YOU ALL WORK HARD SO MUCH FOR THIS.
UM, DON, I JUST WANNA ADD MY 2 CENTS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS REPORT, FOR THE TRANSPARENCY, FOR ALL THE INFORMATION YOU'VE PROVIDED.
UM, COMPLETE CONFIDENCE IN YOU AND YOUR TEAM.
I HAVE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT QUESTION AND SOMETHING, IF WE COULD ADD THIS MAYBE TO THE LIST AND SEE, UM, IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE STILL TESTING IN THE 1980S WHEN THESE THINGS HAPPEN, BECAUSE I LOOK AT, FOR EXAMPLE, IN OUR LAB, THE AMOUNT OF RAPID TESTS THAT WE'RE NOW ABLE TO DO IN THE WORLD 2024.
AND SO I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO ASK THE QUESTION OF, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S NORTH, TEXAS, NORTH, I'M SORRY, I CAN'T TALK TONIGHT.
NORTH, NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT.
IF IT'S TO THE, UM, UM, TCEQ OR WHOEVER CAN THEY TAKE A HARD LOOK AND LOOK TO UPDATE TESTING BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THAT YOU CAN TURN AROUND NOW IN A MUCH SHORTER PERIOD THAN WHAT WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THE LAB TESTING TO COME BACK.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND I, AND I HAVE THIS A LITTLE FEAR OF, WELL, WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY AND IT WORKS REALLY WELL AND WE DON'T NEED TO UPDATE ANYTHING, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO UPDATE OUR CDO.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE ALL ARE CONSTANTLY UPDATING.
I'D REALLY LIKE TO ASK THAT QUESTION BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE TO ME NOW IN THE WORLD 2024, IT OUGHT TO NOT TAKE AS LONG TO GET LAB RESULTS BACK AS WHAT IS WHAT IT'S TAKING.
I KNOW THAT, WHAT WAS IT? WAS IT, UM, FERRIS OR SOMEWHERE DOWN SOUTH HAD A HAD ONE NOT TERRIBLY LONG AGO, AND THERE'S, THERE'S THEIRS WAS THAT SAME, SAME TIMEFRAME.
SO IF WE COULD, AS A PART OF OUR HAPPY ACTION PLAN TO ASK THAT QUESTION AND SAY, IS THERE NOT A WAY WE CAN, I MEAN, IF IT'S A, YOU KNOW, EQUIPMENT THAT NEEDS TO BE PURCHASED TO, TO, YOU KNOW, IMPRESS UPON NORTH TEXAS, OR IF IT'S TCEQ NEEDS TO CHANGE THEIR STANDARDS TO UPDATE TO THE T WORLD 2024 LAB TESTING, I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN BECAUSE IN A CASE LIKE THIS, IT SEEMS LIKE WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TAKE A WATER SAMPLE TEST, HAVE THOSE RESULTS BACK IMMEDIATELY, AND NOT GO THROUGH THE ROUGHLY 36 HOURS THAT WE WENT THROUGH.
SO I'D JUST LIKE TO ADD THAT IN THERE.
AND THAT'S TOTALLY SEPARATE FROM WHAT I KNOW YOU WERE FOCUSED ON IN CONCENTRATING, BUT JUST WANTED TO THROW THAT OUT THERE MORE OF LOOKING AT THIS AS A ABSOLUTELY.
YEAH, I THINK THAT THAT'S A GREAT POINT.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, TO, TO, TO, TO ADD ONTO THAT, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE HAD CONCLUDED OUR, UM, SAMPLING OF THE 11, UH, REPRESENTATIVE LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM THAT NIGHT, THAT FIRST NIGHT.
AND SO IF THERE IS A RAPID TEST, UM, YOU KNOW, WE COULD HAVE POTENTIALLY BEEN, YOU KNOW, 24 TO 30 HOURS EARLIER RELEASING THE NOTICE.
I'LL, WE DEFINITELY GET TO THAT.
MR. BURISH, YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE, SIR? YES, SIR.
JUST SOMETHING TO QUICKLY ADD.
UM, DON YOU MENTIONED EARLIER YOU WERE GONNA, UM, YOU WERE ALREADY IN CONTACT WITH CHIEF, CHIEF, UH, VY.
AND HE WAS GONNA BE A PART OF THAT.
UH, I JUST WANNA ADD, MAYBE WE CAN, UH, ALSO TALK TO ALICIA AND HER DEPARTMENT OVER THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
THEY MAY BE A GOOD RE I KNOW THEY DO A LOT OF STUFF IN THE COMMUNITY AT ALL KINDS OF EVENTS AND BOOTHS, AND THAT MAY BE A GOOD WAY TO GENERATE MORE PEOPLE AND KIND OF GET, HELP, GET THE WORD OUT, UM, FOR THE REVERSE 9 1 1.
ALSO, IT MAY BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO INVOLVE THEM AS CREATE A PLAN TO THOSE APARTMENTS AND SAYING, OKAY, HOW CAN WE COMMUNICATE? YOU KNOW, WHAT DID WE DO RIGHT? WHAT WERE SOME LESSONS LEARNED AND HOW, HOW, YOU KNOW, HOW CAN WE DO THIS IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN AGAIN? WHICH WE'RE ALL ABSOLUTELY.
OF COURSE, KEEPING OUR FINGERS CROSSED THE THUMB NET, THAT WON'T HAVE TO HAPPEN AGAIN.
AND, UH, BUT, UH, THANK YOU AGAIN, DON, AND APPRECIATE IT.
ALRIGHT, COUNSEL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
UM, MR. MAGNER, I WILL GIVE A, MY CONSENSUS WHAT I'VE GATHERED FROM LISTENING TO THE COUNSEL TALK, AND I THINK ALL OF THEM, UH, USE MS. JUSTICE'S WORDS.
AND, AND I THINK THAT, UM, I WANNA SAY THAT YOU APPROACHED THIS, I THINK YOU DID EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE OR KNEW TO DO AT THE TIME THAT YOU HAD THE INFORMATION AND YOU WERE VERY TIMELY WITH IT.
UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE CITIZENS KNOW, AND THE COUNCIL TRULY APPRECIATES THE FACT THAT YOU AND YOUR STAFF TOOK INSTANT OWNERSHIP OF THE ISSUE.
UM, YOU'RE THE HEAD COACH, YOU MADE IT HAPPEN.
YOU WERE LOOKING AT IT AND YOU WERE RESPONDING TO IT.
AND I THINK WITH THE THINGS THAT ARE IN PLACE UP TO THIS POINT, YOU FOLLOWED BEST PRACTICES TO WORK WITH THE SCENARIOS THAT HAPPEN.
THE FACT THAT YOU'RE TRANSPARENT AND
[01:00:01]
YOU INVESTIGATED.YOU TOOK THE TIME TO GO TO EVERY DETAIL, THEN WORK WITH THE PEOPLE AND FIND OUT WHAT TOOK PLACE.
I THINK THAT SPEAKS OF VOLUMES.
PART OF OUR COUNCIL GOALS IS WE WANT AND EXPECT THAT WE NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT.
AND I THINK YOU HAVE MET AND EXCEEDED THAT PARTICULAR THING.
ONE THING YOU'VE SAID IS YOU'RE GOING TO FIND ADDITIONAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ENTIRE STAFF.
AND I THINK A KEY POINT HERE IS THAT IF THOSE TRAINING THINGS LIKE OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, THEY'RE DOING THINGS EVERY SINGLE DAY, EVERY MONTH.
AND THOSE ARE MANDATED THINGS.
AND THEN WE MEET AND EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS BY THE STATE IN BOTH OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS.
OBVIOUSLY THE STATE HAS NOT COME DOWN OR TQ, WHATEVER THEY ARE ANYWAY, THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVEN'T SET A STANDARD OR EXPECTATIONS TO ADVANCE THAT TRAINING, OR WE WOULD'VE ALREADY DONE IT.
SO I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR LOOKING AT THAT AND SAYING WE WILL GO ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THE STATE IS ASKING AND THE TECQ.
AND I THINK IT'S REAL IMPORTANT THAT OUR CITIZENS UNDERSTAND THAT METEOR BUREAUCRACY IS NOT AN OPTION FOR THE CITY OF RICHARDSON.
WE'RE NOT SAYING WE'RE GONNA STAY HERE, WE'RE GONNA MEET AND EXCEED.
UM, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, A MECHANICAL ERROR, A MECHANICAL DYSFUNCTION SHUT US DOWN.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT WERE ALL THINGS THAT MAYBE COULD HAVE BEEN CORRECTED OR GONE IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, BUT OUR EYES ARE OPEN.
WE, YOU'VE HIT ALL THE POINTS THAT YOU NEED TO HIT.
AND I WANNA THANK YOU FOR THAT.
I THINK YOU'VE GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THE AVERAGE CITY MANAGER MIGHT HAVE DONE.
SO YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE IS STELLAR.
YOU HAVE, UM, COMMUNICATED WITH EVERYONE ON THE COUNCIL AND YOU HAD YOUR, ALL OF YOUR DEPARTMENTS REACHING OUT IN AS MANY WAYS AS YOU COULD.
SO ONCE AGAIN, I STARTED OUT BY SAYING, GREAT JOB.
I'LL FINISH BY SAYING, GREAT JOB.
AND THANK YOU FOR THE TRANSPARENCY.
THANK YOU FOR COMMUNICATING A HARD TOPIC, A HARD SUBJECT.
AND I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY DISCIPLINING PEOPLE THAT WORK WITHIN THE SYSTEM, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE COMMUNITY KNOWS THAT WE DON'T TAKE THESE THINGS LIGHTLY.
AND I KNOW YOU DIDN'T, AND TONIGHT IS EVIDENT THAT YOU'RE THE MAN FOR THE JOB TO TAKE CARE OF 'EM.
[6. REVIEW AND DISCUSS HEALTHIER TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE]
LET'S MOVE ON AND GO TO ITEM NUMBER SIX, REFER, REVIEW, AND DISCUSS HEALTHIER TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.UM, ASHLEY WAKEFIELD IS OUR NEW CORPORATE RECREATION MANAGER.
WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
SHE'S GONNA TAKE THE PODIUM HERE AND PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE, UH, ON A VERY FUN PROGRAM THAT WE ALL HAVE A LOT OF, UM, FUN WITH AT THE START OF EACH YEAR.
AND SO ASHLEY'S GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE REBRANDING AND WHAT, UH, PARKS HAS PLANNED FOR US, UH, THIS JANUARY INTO MARCH.
ASHLEY, THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
UH, THANK YOU MR. MAGNER, AND THANK YOU DON IS FINE.
GOOD EVENING MAYOR AND CASTLE.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR HAVING ME THIS EVENING.
I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE UPDATES FOR THE 2025 HEALTHIER TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.
MY NAME IS ASHLEY WAKEFIELD, AND AS HE SAID, I'M THE NEW CORPORATE RECREATION MANAGER.
UH, SO I JUST WANNA START OFF AND SAY THAT, UM, THIS PROGRAM, UH, YOU'LL SEE HOW OUR PROGRAM IS MEETING THE CITY COUNCIL'S GOALS AS FAR AS TO HAVE RESIDENTS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS CHOOSE RICHARDSON AS THE BEST PLACE, UH, EXCUSE ME, AS THE BEST PLACE TO LOCATE, CONTRIBUTE, AND TO ENGAGE.
UM, AND WE'RE ACCOMPLISHING THAT BY, UH, CONTINUING TO EXPLORE UNIQUE, UH, INCENTIVES INITIATIVES TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN RESIDENTS AS THE OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, AND THEN ALSO TO PROMOTE AVENUES, UH, FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND INPUT AS WELL.
UH, SO THIS IS JUST A LITTLE OVERVIEW OF WHAT I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THROUGHOUT MY PRESENTATION.
UH, I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT INFORMATION ABOUT THE HEALTHIER TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE AS FAR AS THE REBRAND NAME.
THAT WAY YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE BIG WRAP BACKGROUND ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN ALSO AS WELL, THE WEEKLY PRIZES AND OVERALL WINNERS THAT THEY'LL BE, UH, ANNOUNCING THROUGHOUT THE CHALLENGE, HOW TO EARN POINTS AND TRACKING, UH, THE 2025 ACTIVITIES THAT WE'LL BE OFFERING THROUGHOUT THIS, THIS CHALLENGE.
AND THEN ALSO HOW WE'RE GONNA PROMOTE IT THROUGHOUT THE CITY TO GET THE RESIDENTS INVOLVED IN PARTICIPATION.
AND THEN, UH, JUST TO GET YOU ALL, HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITHIN THE OR, UH, THE PROGRAM FOR THE ORGANIZATION.
OH, SO FIRST OFF, UM, COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.
THIS IS ALL, EVERYONE USED TO KNOW THIS AS IT'S TIME TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.
IT IS NOW BEING CALLED HEALTHIER TEXAS COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.
[01:05:01]
THEY DECIDED TO DO THE REBRAND BECAUSE THEY WANTED SOMETHING TO FLOW BETTER WITH THEIR MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT, UM, THAT THEY HAVE FOR THEIR ORGANIZATION THAT THEY SET FORTH.UM, AND THAT WAY PARTICIPANTS AND JUST TEXANS OVERALL STATEWIDE CAN UNDERSTAND AND GET A BETTER CONCEPT OF WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO FOR THEIR GOAL.
UM, SO THIS CHALLENGE WILL BEGIN JANUARY 13TH THROUGH MARCH 9TH.
IT'S AN EIGHT WEEK COMPETITION, FREE TO PARTICIPATE, UM, TEXANS ACROSS STATEWIDE COMMUNITIES, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATIONS CAN COMPETE IN THIS THROUGHOUT THIS CHALLENGE.
IN 2024, THE CITY OF RICHARDSON AS A COMMUNITY, UH, WE ACCRUED A TOTAL POINTS OF 1,313,800 AS A COMMUNITY, UH, OUT OF 800 OUTTA 185 INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANTS.
WE HAD 69 IN-APP HEALTH PLEDGES.
UH, AND THEN ALSO WE HAD OVER 1000 VISITS AT OUR PARKS DESTINATION CHECK-INS THAT VISIT OUR PARKS, OUR FACILITIES THAT WERE LISTED ON OUR MAP.
DEFINITELY LOOKING TO GET THAT NUMBER INCREASED BECAUSE WE HAVE BEAUTIFUL PARKS TO OFFER HERE THROUGHOUT OUR CITY.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, STATEWIDE, WE HAD 362 PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD LOVE FOR THE CITY TO PARTICIPATE IN IS, UH, THE COMMUNITY AND PARTNER PLEDGE, UH, COUNCIL AND MAYOR, YOU ALL RECEIVED THE COUNCIL PLEDGE.
UH, WE WILL HAVE YOU ALL SIGN THAT AND TAKE A PICTURE AFTER MY PRESENTATION SO WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET OUR 5,000 POINTS TO GET THE CITY GOING.
UH, BUT OTHER WAYS THAT WE WILL GET ACTIVE IS ACTIVELY PROMOTE THE CHALLENGE WITHIN OUR ORGANIZATION BY PLEDGING INFLUENCES, RECRUIT LIKE-MINDED LEADERS THAT'LL HELP US GET, ENCOURAGE OTHERS AS WELL.
AND THEN HOST HEALTH RELATED GROUPS OR ACTIVITIES, UH, THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY.
SO ONE THING I DID MENTION, WE'LL HAVE WEEKLY PRIZES IN OVERALL WINNERS.
SO HEALTHIER TEXAS WILL HAVE THEIR OWN ANNOUNCED WINS WINNERS THROUGHOUT THE CA CHALLENGE.
THEY'LL REACH OUT TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS DIRECTLY ON THEIR OWN.
BUT AS A CITY FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT SURPASSED 25,000 POINTS, WE WILL BE SUPPLYING, UH, TUMBLRS AGAIN.
UH, WE'RE ACTUALLY REALLY EXCITED FOR THAT.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, UM, AT THE END OF THE EIGHT WEEKS, COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS WILL BE ABLE TO CELEBRATE AND BE RECOGNIZED BY BUILDING HEALTHIER TEXAS.
THEY SEND A TROPHY, UH, TO THE WINNING COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND WE GET A LITTLE PARTY, UH, WE GET A TAKE PICTURE PICTURE WITH THAT TROPHY AND THEN GET BRAGGING RIGHTS FOR UNTIL NEXT YEAR.
UH, AND THEN ALSO IF YOU SIGN UP FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, UM, OR THE CITY OF RICHARDSON AS COMMUNITY, YOU'LL HAVE A PERSONAL CHALLENGE, BUT THEN YOUR POINTS WILL ALSO GO TOWARDS THE COMMUNITY OR TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AS WELL.
SO HOW DO YOU GAIN POINTS? UH, EARLY REGISTRATION, UH, YOU GAIN 500 POINTS UP TO 500 POINTS FOR EARLY REGISTRATION.
THIS EVENT RIGHT NOW, THIS MEETING, WE'RE ACTUALLY GAINING POINTS RIGHT NOW FOR EARLY REGISTRATION
THERE IS ALSO A HEALTH CHAMPION PLEDGE.
UM, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS JUST GO ON THE APP, SAY YOU WANNA PLEDGE TO BE A HEALTH CHAMPION, YOU GET POINTS THAT WAY.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE, JUST REPORTING YOUR INDIVIDUAL HEALTH ACTIONS LIKE DRINKING WATER, UH, EATING HELP, EATING HEALTHY, UH, WORKING OUT MEDITATION, UM, ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN LOG A HEALTHY ACTION, YOU RECEIVE UP TO 50 POINTS FOR THAT.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE, JUST CHECKING IN.
AND WHAT I MEAN BY CHECKING IN, WE WILL OFFER GROUP FITNESS CLASSES.
AND THEN OF COURSE, AGAIN, BRINGING UP OUR, OUR PARKS AND OUR FACILITIES.
THOSE WOULD BE OUR DESTINATION CHECK-INS THAT WE'LL OFFER.
SO THE APP IS NOT CHANGING MUCH.
THEY'RE STILL IN THE REBRANDING ON REDESIGNING THAT.
UH, IT'S STILL THE SAME APP, JUST CHANGING THE NAME, STILL GONNA BE THE SAME FEATURES THAT YOU ALL ARE USED TO USING.
UM, SO YOU PRE PRETTY MUCH WILL CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT BY LOGGING IN, REGISTERING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
YOU'LL LOG IN AND AS SOON AS YOU LOG IN, YOU'LL GET TO THE MAIN PAGE WHERE YOU REPORT YOUR POINTS.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE, YOU CAN INTERACT WITH OTHERS ON THE TIMELINE.
UH, WHAT'S NOT A BETTER WAY TO GIVE EACH OTHER HIGH FIVES AND ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER TO KEEP GOING ALONG YOUR HEALTH JOURNEY.
AND THEN OF COURSE, AS YOU SEE CHECKING AT DESTINATIONS, YOU CAN PULL UP THE MAP WHERE YOU ARE TO YOUR GEOLOCATION AND YOU CAN CHECK IN, UM, I BELIEVE THE, THE RADIUS THAT YOU CAN BELIEVE CHECK IN.
I USED THIS OFFICE OUT OF PHIS REC CENTER.
I COULD CHECK INTO THE REC CENTER AND ALSO THE BALLPARK, AND I WOULD JUST GO ON A LITTLE WALK A MILE AND A HALF AND GET THOSE POINTS.
UH, SO THERE'S DEFINITELY VARIOUS WAYS TO GET POINTS AND GET INVOLVED.
UH, THE BEST THING ABOUT THE TIMELINE, UH, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE VERY ACTIVE ON THERE, AND SO THEY REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU.
AND THERE'S OTHER WAYS TO GAIN POINTS IN HOW TO GET, MEET NEW PEOPLE AND SOCIALIZE.
SO THIS IS, UH, THE VARIOUS FITNESS APPS THAT YOU CAN USE OR CONNECT DEVICES THAT YOU USE TO TRACK YOUR POINTS.
UM, IF YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE OR THESE APPS, UM, IT'LL AUTOMATICALLY TRACK AND AUTOMATICALLY INPUT YOUR POINTS INTO YOUR, INTO YOUR PROFILE FOR THE COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.
[01:10:04]
ALL RIGHT, SO 2025 ACTIVITIES.UH, WE WILL BE OFFERING THE FREE GROUP CLASSES IN OUR FACILITIES, INCLUDING YOGA, DANCE, FITNESS.
UM, BUT THEY WE'RE OFFERING TWO NEW PROGRAMS, UH, FOR THE SCHEDULE THIS YEAR.
WE'RE BRINGING A DRUM CARDIO, UH, CLASS.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE WE'RE OFFERING NUTRITIONAL AND COOKING CLASSES AS WELL.
UH, WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE SHEFIELD ARE ONE OF OUR INSTRUCTORS AT THE REC CENTER, CHESTERVILLE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, TEXAS A AND M AGRILIFE WILL HELP PUT ON COOKING CLASSES AND NUTRITIONAL FOR US.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE, SATURDAY, JANUARY 25TH, 2025, WE'LL DO OUR KICKOFF CELEBRATION, THE WALKIN YOGA EVENT AT HUFF FINDS PARK, UH, FIRST HUNDRED THAT ATTEND, WE'LL RECEIVE A FREE T-SHIRT, AND THEN WE'LL ALSO HAVE RAFFLE PRIZES THROUGHOUT FOR ANYONE THAT ATTENDS AS WELL.
UH, THE YOGA PORTION WILL TAKE PLACE AT HUFFINES RECREATION CENTER FOLLOWING THE WALK PORTION.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, UM, THE REC CENTERS WILL BE DOING A 25% DISCOUNT IN JANUARY TO PROMOTE.
SO HOPEFULLY WE GET THAT DRIVE TO GIVE MEMBERS, UH, COMMUNITY, OUR COMMUNITY TO GET SIGNED UP FOR THAT MEMBERSHIP AND ALSO GET THE PARTICIPATION INVOLVED TOO AS WELL.
AND THESE ARE THE, UH, EMPLOYEE WELL PROGRAM WELLNESS PROGRAMS THAT WE ARE OFFERING, UH, THROUGHOUT THE TIME OF THE CHALLENGES TAKING PLACE.
AND THEN PROMOTING A CHALLENGE.
WE ARE GOING TO RUN A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN THAT'LL INCLUDE A COUNTDOWN THAT WILL HELP, UM, EVERYBODY KNOW, LIKE MID-DECEMBER, LIKE, HEY, WE'RE ABOUT 30 DAYS OUT.
AND THEN OF COURSE, UM, WE'RE GONNA PROMOTE TO OUR HOAS AND NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
BUT ONE THING WE'RE REALLY GONNA DO AND PUSH THIS YEAR IS REALLY PROMOTE IT TO OUR CORPORATE BASE RICHARDSON PROGRAM.
SO THE CORPORATE CHALLENGE, WE REALLY WANNA GET THEM ENGAGED THROUGHOUT YEAR ROUND VERSUS JUST COMPETING IN OUR PROGRAM THAT WE DO IN AUGUST, AUGUST THROUGH OCTOBER AS WELL.
KEY DATES THAT WE'RE HAVING, AGAIN, JANUARY 13TH, THE CHALLENGE, THE CHALLENGE BEGINS, UH, JANUARY 18TH, UH, FREE TO THE PUBLIC CLASSES WILL BEGIN AT RESPECTIVE HUFFINES AND RECREATION AT HUFFINES AND HEIGHTS RECREATION CENTER.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, JANUARY 25TH IS OUR WALKIN YOGA EVENT.
AND THEN MARCH 9TH, THAT'S WHEN WE'LL CLOSE IT OUT.
UH, HOW YOU CAN BECOME INVOLVED USE TO SIGN UP AT OUR WEBSITE AT REGISTER DOT TX COMMUNITY CHALLENGE.ORG.
IT'S NOT LISTED ON THERE, UH, BUT I ALSO HAVE A QR CODE THAT WE CAN SCAN AND THEN THE TRACK YOUR ACTIVITIES, SUBMIT HEALTHY ACTIONS TO EARN YOUR POINTS FOR YOUR COMMUNITY AND PRIZES FOR YOURSELF.
FOLLOW THE COMPETITION IN, OF COURSE, LET'S USE THAT HASHTAG, UH, HASHTAG COMMUNITY CHALLENGE, AND THEN HASHTAG COMMUNITY CHALLENGE, RICHARDSON TO ENCOURAGE.
I'LL JUST GET INVOLVED AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
I'LL OPEN THIS UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS FOR FEEDBACK.
UH, COUNSEL, ANY QUESTIONS FOR ASHLEY? MS. JUSTICE? NO QUESTION.
I THINK YOU'RE OUR INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION, BY THE WAY.
YEAH, I, I, I THINK I WAS THE, UM, ONE PUSHING THIS.
UM, WE, WE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, THERE'S SOME FOLKS IN SOUTH TEXAS, GOD LOVE 'EM, WHO HAVE FIGURED OUT A WAY, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE GAME IN THE SYSTEM OR WHAT THEY'RE DOING, BUT WE CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER IN RICHARDSON AND WE CAN TAKE THEM ON.
I THINK STAYING IN THE TOP 10 ISH IN THE STATE, OR, YOU KNOW, TOP 15, WE'VE DONE A REALLY GOOD JOB, BUT WE CAN, WE CAN DO BETTER.
SO I HOPE THAT, UM, EVERYBODY WILL REALLY PUSH THIS AND WE CAN GET MORE PEOPLE TO SIGN UP AND PARTICIPATE.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, I THINK PROBABLY 75% OF THE POINTS WERE JUST FROM THE, YOU KNOW, THOSE OF US UP HERE BEING COMPETITIVE, UH, WITH EACH OTHER AND TRYING TO LOG AS MANY POINTS AS POSSIBLE.
SO IF WE COULD GET MORE IN THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO GET COMPETITIVE WITH US, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK IN DOING THIS.
I THINK IT'S GREAT THAT YOU'RE REACHING OUT TO CORPORATE PARTNERS TO KEEP THEM INVOLVED AS WELL.
UH, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT WAY TO, YOU KNOW, GET MORE POINTS AND, AND LIKE YOU SAID, SORT OF KEEP THOSE RELATIONSHIPS GOING YEAR ROUND.
SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK AND I'M EXCITED.
THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN JUSTICE.
NO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, ASHLEY.
I JUST WANTED TO, DID EVERYTHING COUNCILMAN JUSTICE SAID, AND, UH, CONGRATULATIONS ON THE PRESENTATION AND THANK YOU AND WELCOME TO THE TEAM.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ASHLEY UP FRONT HERE, OR, UH, GREG IS ACTUALLY, THERE'S GREG.
UH, GREG WILL KIND OF GET YOU ALL SITUATED FOR A QUICK PHOTO.
FOR THE PHOTO IN ORDER TO GET OUR FULL, GET, UH, IVAN AND CHRIS.
CHRIS, CHRIS, BRING YOUR CHALLENGE, UH, PAPERS.
NO, I GOT, I GOT CERTAIN I CAN GET IT.
[01:15:01]
MUST LY DISPLAY COUNCIL MEMBER.WHAT'S AARON'S LAST NAME? YEAH.
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT GETTING, I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY.
[7. REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE YEAR-END FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FY 2023-2024 OPERATING BUDGET]
ALL RIGHT.THAT BRINGS US TO ITEM SEVEN, REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE YEAR END FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 20 23, 20 24 OPERATING BUDGET.
MR. MAGNER, I THANK YOU MAYOR AND COUNCIL, UH, BUDGET OFFICER BOB KLEIER HERE TO PRESENT, UH, UH, KIND OF OUR CLOSEOUT REPORT FOR, UH, FY 25.
AND SO I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE AT THE CONCLUSION OF BOB'S REPORT REPORT, BIBLE ATTORNEY.
AS, UH, DON MENTIONED, OUR PURPOSE TONIGHT IS TO PROVIDE YOU WITH, UH, AN UPDATE ON HOW THE CITY'S FIVE MAIN OPERATING FUNDS FINISHED THE YEAR.
THE NUMBERS THAT WE'LL BE DISCUSSING ARE HOW, UH, THE YEAR END ACTUALS VERSUS THE ORIGINAL BUDGET FOR THESE FUNDS.
UH, THIS YEAR HAD SOME CHALLENGES AND I THINK, UH, WE FINISHED THE YEAR STRONG, UH, PUTTING OURSELF IN STRONG POSITION FOR A SUCCESSFUL, UH, 20 FY 25, UH, GENERAL FUND, UH, TOTAL REVENUE, UM, OF, UH, $178 MILLION, ABOUT $1.3 MILLION BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
YOU'LL SEE THREE MAIN AREAS OF THOSE VARIANCES.
UH, PROPERTY TAXES, SALES TAXES, AND THE OTHER, UH, REVENUE CATEGORY.
UM, GENERAL FUND REVENUE, OR EXCUSE ME, GENERAL FUND, UH, PROPERTY TAXES FINISHED $1.2 MILLION BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
448,000 OF THAT WAS IN THE CURRENT, UH, TAXES CATEGORY, WHICH IS THE LARGEST, UH, THAT CATEGORY IS BUDGETED AT A HUNDRED PERCENT COLLECTION, WHICH WE USUALLY, UM, UH, ACHIEVE VERY CLOSELY.
UH, THIS YEAR WAS, UH, VERY, UM, ON TARGET WITH THAT.
WHERE WE DID SEE, UH, IN, IN CURRENT YEAR TAXES AS WELL AS PRIOR YEAR TAXES WAS THE SETTLEMENT OF, UH, UH, LAWSUIT, UM, PROPERTY VALUE CHALLENGES.
UH, WE SAW ABOUT, UH, $400,000 IN THE GEN IN THE CURRENT COLLECTIONS AND ABOUT 771,000 IN, UH, PRIOR YEAR COLLECTIONS.
NOW, A BIG CONTRIBUTOR TO THAT 7 71 WAS, UH, IF YOU REMEMBER, IN 2023, THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT HAD A CYBER ATTACK, WHICH ALLOW, UH, DIDN'T ALLOW SOME OF THOSE, UM, CASES THAT WERE SETTLED IN THAT YEAR TO BE RECORDED IN THAT YEAR.
AND THEY ACTUALLY IMPACTED FY 24, UH, SALE OR, UH, FRANCHISE FEES, UH, $228,000, UH, ABOVE THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 19.1.
YOU'LL SEE THE BIG VARIANCES THERE OF ELECTRIC FRANCHISES AND GAS FRANCHISES.
UH, WE BUDGET BOTH OF THOSE BASED ON WHAT WE CONSIDER A STANDARD YEAR, AND IF IT'S EITHER HOTTER OR COLDER, WE WILL SEE ONE GO UP AND ONE GO DOWN.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
UH, THE REMAINING, UH, SO WE DID SEE A CONTINUED DECLINE IN, IN TELEPHONE FRANCHISES, BUT THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH THE, UH, TREND WE ARE SEEING, UH, UH, SALES TAX AS A WHOLE, UH, $3 MILLION BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF, OF 58.4 MILLION.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE FACED.
UM, THE LARGEST AREA OF THAT, OF COURSE, IS THE TRADITIONAL 1 CENT, UH, SALES TAX.
AND THAT FINISHED, UH, $3 MILLION BELOW OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET, AND ACTUALLY $4.2 MILLION BELOW THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
UM, AS WE DISCUSSED THIS SUMMER, THE, THE BIGGEST AREAS OF THOSE DECLINES WERE IN SALES TAX FROM THE SALE OF HIGH TECH EQUIPMENT, AS WELL AS INSURANCE RELATED SERVICES.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS CONTINUING TO STAY ON OUR RADAR.
UH, WE BUDGETED A DECLINE FOR THIS YEAR, UH, ABOVE AND BEYOND THE, THE DECLINE WE ALREADY SAW.
[01:20:01]
THROUGH TWO MONTHS OF, UH, REMITTANCES, WE ARE UP ABOUT 608,000 ABOVE OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET.NOW, WE ARE STILL BELOW, UH, LAST YEAR AT THIS POINT, UM, BUT IT'S, UH, AT LEAST TRENDING ABOVE WHAT OUR TARGET IS.
WE'RE NOT TAKING THAT FOR GRANTED.
WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO MONITOR THAT AND, UH, KEEP THAT IN MIND GOING FORWARD.
UH, THE OTHER REVENUE CATEGORIES WHERE WE SAW ANOTHER VARIANCE, 1.7 MILLION OVER THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 4.6, THE, THE LARGEST TWO, UH, VARIANCES THERE AT THE BOTTOM, INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVENUE, UH, WE TYPICALLY BUDGET JUST A SMALL AMOUNT THERE BECAUSE THERE'S USUALLY SOME SMALL GRANTS AND STUFF THAT COMES, BUT THIS PAST YEAR WE'VE HAD QUITE A FEW CALLS FOR STATEWIDE ASSISTANCE, WHETHER IT WAS THE HOUSTON AREA FLOODING OR THE WEST TEXAS WILDFIRES.
AS WE RESPOND TO THOSE, WE GET REIMBURSED BY THE STATE.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
AND THE MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE CATEGORY, IT, IT, UM, EXCEEDED OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET BY 714,000.
A MAJORITY OF THAT WAS ONE TIME, UH, REIMBURSEMENTS FOR THINGS LIKE INSURANCE CLAIMS AND DAMAGE TO CITY PROPERTY AND THAT KIND OF STUFF LIKE THAT.
UM, BUT AS A WHOLE, THO THAT HELPED TO COVER SOME OF THE DECLINES WE SAW IN OTHER CATEGORIES, TOTAL EXPENDITURES, MINUS ANY KIND OF YEAR END SWEEP, UH, DECLINE OF $4 MILLION FROM THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 178.1 MILLION.
UH, WE SAW SOME OF THAT SAVINGS IN THE PERSONNEL CATEGORY ABOUT 1.1 MILLION.
WE AVERAGED ABOUT 44 VACANCIES A MONTH THIS YEAR, AND THAT'S 5%.
NOW, THAT IS AN IMPROVEMENT FROM THE 8.1% THAT WE SAW THE YEAR BEFORE.
UH, THERE ARE SOME CONTINUED CHALLENGES FOR RECRUITING FRONTLINE WORKERS, UH, BUT SOME OF THAT SAVINGS WAS A RESPONSE TO THE, UH, SALES TAX DECLINE WITH SOME FROZEN POSITIONS, UH, THAT WE REVIEW ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UH, THE REMAINING CATEGORIES, WE DID SEE ABOUT $1.3 MILLION IN SAVINGS OVERALL, UH, IN THE GENERAL FUND FOR, UH, US SWITCHING INSURANCE CARRIERS.
AND THEN, THEN THE, THE MULTIPLE SAVINGS ACROSS MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS AS OUR RESPONSE, UH, TO DECLINING REVENUE.
UM, KICKED IN, UH, $1.6 MILLION OF SOME OF THAT SAVINGS IS STILL ENCUMBERED AT YEAR END AND WILL BE COVERED IN FY 25 AS A RESERVE OF, OF, UH, FUND BALANCE OUR TRANSFER OUT IN SUPPORT OF STREET VALLEY REHAB, PARKS MAINTENANCE, FACILITY MAINTENANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UH, FINISHED AS PLANNED.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, ACHIEVING 90 DAYS, THAT ALLOWS US TO, UM, TRANSFER $2.8 MILLION, ALMOST $2.9 MILLION TO THE CAPITAL RESERVE FUND.
AND WHAT OUR SUGGESTIONS ARE FOR THAT 2.8 MILLION, $2.9 MILLION IS, UH, TO USE 1 MILLION OF THAT TO CREATE A EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESERVE, UH, FOR FUTURE USE.
I MEAN, THAT'S WHAT, IT'S THERE FOR AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
AND THE REMAINING OF THAT 1.8 1.9 MILLION, UH, WILL BE JUST SET ASIDE FOR FUTURE CAPITAL ONE TIME NEEDS, UH, TO BE DETERMINED AT A LATER DATE.
UH, WITH THAT, UH, THE GENERAL FUND FINISHES AT $44.1 MILLION IN TOTAL FUND BALANCE, AND THAT IS 90.99 DAYS 0.99 DAYS ABOVE THE ADOPTED FINANCIAL POLICY OF 90 DAYS.
UH, WATER FUND, UH, 3.8 MILLION, UH, OF REVENUE OVER THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF $106 MILLION.
YOU SEE, A MAJORITY OF THAT CAME IN WATER AND SEWER SALES.
UH, 1.7 MILLION IN WATER SALES ARE 2.8 MILLION.
UH, SEWER SALES, UM, EXCEEDED ITS ORIGINAL BUDGET BY SEVEN 56,000 OR 1.9%.
THE REMAINING REVENUES WERE MADE UP OF ADDITIONAL LATE FEES, INTEREST EARNINGS.
AND THEN THAT OTHER MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORY FINISHED 200 OR $583,000 ABOVE THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
UH, THAT PRIMARILY WAS DUE TO AN UNANTICIPATED, UM, REIMBURSEMENT FROM THE NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT AS PART OF THE SETTLEMENT WHEN THEY DO THEIR FUND BALANCE, UH, TRUE UP AT AT THEIR YEAR END.
UH, HERE IS JUST A QUICK ILLUSTRATION OF OUR WATER SALES, PRETTY MUCH, UH, FOLLOWED WHAT WE ANTICIPATED FOR THE YEAR.
UH, OCTOBER AND SEPTEMBER WERE IMPACTED BY, UH, IRRIGATION SALES, AND THEN SEWER.
PRETTY MUCH, UH, UH, HANDLED WITH WHAT TRACKED WITH WHAT WE WERE KIND OF LAID OUT FOR THE, THE ADOPTED BUDGET.
UH, TOTAL EXPENDITURES, EXCLUDING ANY KIND OF YEAR END, UH, SWEEP, $5 MILLION, UH, UNDER THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 105 MILLION.
THE MAJORITY OF THAT COMES IN THE CONTRACTS CATEGORY, WHICH WE'LL TOUCH ON SLIGHTLY HERE.
UH, PERSONNEL SERVICES, UH, $981,000 IN SAVINGS.
UH, THE WATER FUND HAS HAD SOME TROUBLE WITH RECRUITING FRONTLINE WORKERS, AND WE'VE MADE SOME, SOME PROGRESS IN THAT AREA.
AVERAGE VACANCY RATE WENT FROM JUST UNDER 20%, DOWN TO JUST UNDER 15%.
SO WE FEEL LIKE SOME OF THE STEPS WE'VE TAKEN OF STARTING TO MAKE SOME LEEWAY THERE, HERE'S WHERE WE SAW THE MAJORITY OF THE SAVINGS.
UH, $4.1 MILLION IN OUR CONTRACTS CATEGORY, $4.2 MILLION, UH, WATER SA SAVINGS FROM OUR WATER CONTRACT, UH, $2.2 MILLION.
THAT IS A RESULT OF A MID-YEAR REDUCTION IN OUR COST PER THOUSAND GALLONS, AS WELL AS A YEAR END, UH, UH, A REBATE OF A LITTLE OVER $660,000.
[01:25:01]
SAVED ABOUT $1.9 MILLION OFF THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 25.8.THAT INCLUDED ROUGHLY, UM, 500 AND, UH, $600,000 IN TRU UP FROM NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT, AS WELL AS $1.3 MILLION IN SAVINGS FROM, UH, COMBINED SAVINGS FROM DALLAS AND GARLAND.
OUR OPERATING TRANSFERS WERE TRUED UP FOR FRANCHISE FEES BASED OFF OF THAT INCREASED WATER AND SEWER REVENUE.
AND THEN OUR, UH, SUPPORT IN, IN OUR TRANSFER OUT IN SUPPORT OF THE REPLACEMENT OF OUR LEGACY SYSTEM WAS INCREASED FROM 200,000 TO 300,000 AS THE SYSTEM BEGINS TO TRANSFER OR TRANSITION INTO THE REPLACEMENT OF THE UTILITY BILLING, WHICH IS SUPPORTED, UH, BY THE, UH, WATER FUND, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE, UH, BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED REVENUE, UH, FIVE POINT AND, AND AS WELL AS THE EXPENDITURE SAVINGS, UH, A LITTLE OVER FIVE OR $8.5 MILLION WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO A CAPITAL RESERVE FUND OF THAT, UH, THAT IS AN INCREASE OF, UH, ONE, UH, 8.1 MILLION OVER THE PLAN.
400,000 OF THAT 1.5 WILL BE USED FOR CORE DISTRICT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS, WHICH I BELIEVE WE WERE, WE BRIEFED YOU ON A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.
UM, FOUR, A LITTLE OVER $4 MILLION WILL BE USED TO, UM, OFFSET SOME FUTURE DEBT NEEDS FOR THE 8 25 PRESSURE ZONE.
AND THEN $3 MILLION WILL BE SET ASIDE FOR ONE TIME NEEDS, UH, IN THE FUTURE.
UH, AND THIS IS WHERE DON KIND OF MENTIONED, WE ARE AT THIS TIME RECOMMENDING OF THAT $3 MILLION TO USE ABOUT 250,000 OF THAT TO PURCHASE A NEW, UM, SCADA SYSTEM, AS WELL AS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT, THAT NEW SOFTWARE SYSTEM.
WITH THAT, UH, THE, THE WATER FUND FINISHES WITH THE FUND BALANCE OF 26.9 MILLION, AGAIN, 90.99 DAYS, 0.99 DAYS OVER THE ADOPTED BUDGET OF, OR ADOPTED PO ADOPTED FINANCIAL POLICY OF 90 DAYS.
UH, THE SU, UH, SALT WASTE FUND, A VERY, UH, STRAIGHTFORWARD, UH, FUND, 308,000 OVER OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET OF, UH, 18.4 MILLION.
THE, UH, INCREASE THERE IN RESIDENTIAL WAS A RESULT OF INCREASE IN THE, UH, RECYCLING COMMODITY, THE PRICING FOR THE COMMODITIES RECYCLED MATERIALS, UH, COMMERCIAL 181,000.
A LOT OF THAT WAS A RESULT OF, UH, THE INCREASES IN SOME OF OUR MULTI-FAMILY, UH, PROPERTIES.
UH, TOTAL EXPENDITURES, WE SAW A DEC OR, UH, THEY FINISHED THE YEAR 265,000, UH, BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
AND WITH THAT, THAT ALLOWS US TO TRANSFER OUT ABOUT 515,000 FOR FUTURE, UH, NEEDS.
UH, AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE SAW WASTE MASTER PLAN, UH, THAT DOES ALLOW US TO FINISH AT $4.6 MILLION IN FUND BALANCE, OR 90.99 DAYS.
AGAIN, THAT'S, UH, 0.99 DAYS OVER THE, UH, UH, BUDGETED TARGET OF 90 DAYS.
THIS WAS ONE, UH, THAT 92,000.
IT'S KIND OF MISLEADING REALLY, BECAUSE, UH, WE HAD A, UH, TRANSFER IN PLANNED IN SUPPORT OF THE FUND WHILE, UH, THE, THE COURSE WAS COURSE TWO WAS CLOSED FOR RENOVATION.
WE'RE NOT GONNA NEED THAT TRANSFER.
UH, THE, THE GOLF, UH, COURSE, UM, PER, UM, PERFORMED WAY BETTER THAN WHAT WE ANTICIPATED WITH THE CLOSURE OF ONE COURSE.
UH, WE PLANNED ON 50, UH, THOUSAND ROUNDS.
WE FINISHED AT 69,160, SO NINE 19,000 160 OVER WHAT WE ANTICIPATED.
UH, JUST FOR A REFERENCE, WE DID 97,000, OVER 97,000 ROUNDS THE LAST YEAR THAT BOTH COURSES WERE OPEN.
AGAIN, GOLF COURSE REVENUE, 427,000 ABOVE THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 1.3 RES, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE STRONG PLAY CART FEES OF 90,000 OVER THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THE STRONG PLAY, UH, THE REMAINING REVENUE IS 348,000.
UH, DID FINISH THE, THE 426 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET, 500 7590 5,000 OF IT IS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT DOING THAT TRANSFER.
UM, IN THE OTHER MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORY, WE DID EXCEED, UH, OUR EXPECTATIONS THERE BY ABOUT 122,000, 117,000 OF THAT WAS FOR A ONE TIME PRIOR YEAR EXPENSE RECOVERY, UH, REIMBURSEMENT, BASICALLY, UM, TOTAL EXPENDITURES, AN $18,000 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF, UH, 2.8 MILLION.
RONNIE AND HIS GROUP, UH, KNOWING THE CONSTRAINTS THAT THEY HAD, DID A GREAT JOB OF, OF MONITORING THEIR BUDGET AND, AND COMING IN SLIGHTLY UNDER WHAT WE ANTICIPATED.
UM, AS A RESULT OF THE ADDITIONAL FUNDS WE LEFT AT THE END OF FY 23, WE LEFT ADDITIONAL FUND BALANCE IN THE FUND TO HELP SUPPORT IT AS WELL.
AS A RESULT OF THAT ADDITIONAL FUND BALANCE THAT WE LEFT IN THERE, UH, AS WELL AS THE STRONG REVENUE, UH, 300,000 IS GONNA BE TRANSFERRED TO THE GULF CAPITAL RESERVE FUND FOR FUTURE CAPITAL NEEDS.
WE ARE GONNA LEAVE AT THIS TIME, OR WE ARE RECOMMENDING LEAVING $150,000 ABOVE THE 60 DAY TARGET TO HELP, UH, BUFFER THAT FUND, AS THERE'S BEEN SOME LITTLE BIT DELAYS IN THE REOPENING OF COURSE, TOO.
UH, AND YOU CAN SEE WE'RE PLANNING ON THIS, UH, THE, THE BUDGET OR THE GOLF COURSE FINISHING AT 81.63 DAYS.
THAT'S 21.63 DAYS ABOVE THE TARGET
[01:30:01]
OF 60 DAYS.IF YOU LOOK ON, UH, THE MIDDLE COLUMN THERE, THE FY 2223, WE FINISHED THAT YEAR AT 154 DAYS, KNOWING THAT IF WE, YOU KNOW, HAD THAT EXTRA FUND BALANCE THERE TO HELP SUPPORT IT IF IF NEED BE, WE ARE THEN DRAWING DOWN SOME OF THAT.
THE HOTEL, UH, MOTEL TAX FUND, THIS WAS A FUND THAT, THAT, UM, HAD SOME CHALLENGES AS WELL.
UM, THE TOTAL REVENUE OF, UH, 8.2 MILLION IS ROUGHLY 654,000 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 8.9 MILLION.
UM, PROPERTY TAX OR HOTEL MOTEL TAX, UH, WAS A GOOD STORY.
$410,000 ABOVE OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 4.7.
THIS WAS A RESULT OF BOTH HIGHER OCCUPANCY RATES AS WELL AS HIGHER AVERAGE DAILY RATES.
UH, PARKING FEES FINISHED ABOUT WHERE WE ANTICIPATED JUST ROUGHLY 4,000, UH, OR 4,000 BELOW OUR, THE ORIGINAL BUDGET.
AND THEN INTEREST EARNINGS, LIKE WE SAW IN MOST OF THE OTHER FUNDS, WE DID, UH, THE ORIGINAL BUDGET PLANNED ON SOME, UH, AGGRESSIVE STEP DOWNS IN THE INTEREST RATE, AND WE JUST DIDN'T SEE THAT.
SO ALL FUNDS, UH, PRETTY MUCH, UM, PERFORMED BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED.
AND HERE'S JUST A QUICK GRAPH OF, UH, WHERE OUR TAXES OR HOTEL TEL TAXES TRENDED EVERY MONTH UNTIL MAYBE AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS.
UH, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THAT AS, UH, FFY 25 GOES ON.
NOW, WHERE WE DID SEE A DECLINE IN REVENUE, UH, THE EISMAN CENTER REVENUE OF, UH, UH, 2.3 MILLION WAS 1.2 MILLION BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 3.5.
UH, GENERAL OR EISMAN CENTER OPERATIONS FINISHED 4,000 OR $400,000 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF, UH, 2 MILLION.
THIS WAS A RESULT OF LOWER THAN ANTICIPATED RENTAL ACTIVITY, WHICH THEN ALSO, IT'S NOT JUST THE ROOM RENTAL, BUT ALL THE, SO THE ADDITIONAL FEES THAT COME OFF THOSE ROOM RENTALS, EISMAN CENTER PRESENTS, UH, FINISHED $775,000 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 1.5 MILLION AS A RESULT OF LOWER THAN AN ANTICIPATED ATTENDANCE, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS CANCELED, UH, PERFORMANCES, TOTAL EXPENDITURES, $357,000 BELOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGET OF 9.3 MILLION.
UH, SAVINGS WAS KIND OF ACROSS, UH, MULTIPLE CATEGORIES HERE.
THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CATEGORY WAS UP BY 484,000.
UH, THE MAJORITY OF THAT WAS FOR ONE TIME COST ASSOCIATED WITH STAGE AND PRODUCTION COSTS FOR WILDFLOWER.
UM, THE CATEGORY ALSO HOSTED A MILLION OR A MILLION, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OF A, A ONE-TIME GRANT MATCH FOR THE RICHARDSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.
THE REMAINING CATEGORY SHOWED SOME VARIOUS SAVINGS AS A RESPONSE TO THE, UM, THE REDUCED ACTIVITY THERE.
UH, THE CAPITAL CATEGORY, THE MAJORITY OF THAT, THOSE REMAINING FUNDS HAVE BEEN ENCUMBERED AND WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE IN FY 24 AS A RESERVE OF FUND BALANCE.
UH, AND THAT'S RELATED TO, UH, ELEVATOR FIRE SYSTEM AND SECURITY UPGRADES.
UH, WITH THAT, UM, AS A REMINDER, WE DID TALK ABOUT THIS SUMMER, UH, 1 MILLION WAS BEING TRANSFERRED AT YEAR END, UH, TO THE GENERAL SPECIAL PROJECTS FUND AS A REPAYMENT OF SOME OF THE FUND BALANCE SUPPORT IT GOT DURING COVID.
UM, WE ARE ALSO TRANSFERRING OUT 450,000 TO THE EISMAN CENTER FACILITY MAINTENANCE FUND, UH, IN, UH, CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS TO THE ELEVATORS AS WELL AS THE PARKING GARAGE, UH, UH, RELIGHTING OR AMPING OUT THERE.
UH, WITH THAT, THE, THE FUND FINISHES AT 4.7, $4.8 MILLION IN TOTAL FUND BALANCE.
THERE ARE, IS NO SPECIFIC FUND BALANCE TARGET IN THIS FUND.
UH, WITH THAT, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT YOU HAD, BOB.
UM, THAT LAST LINE YOU JUST SAID THAT THERE'S NO TARGETED FUND BALANCE FOR THIS LAST ONE.
OH, THAT'S THE HOTEL MOTEL, I'M SORRY.
UM, THERE WAS ONE IS THE GOLF THAT WAS AT 60 VERSUS THE OTHERS ARE AT 90 DAYS.
IS THERE A REASON? I MEAN, IS THAT A STANDARD? IS IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S REALLY A, IT'S A SPECIAL REVENUE FUND.
IT REALLY DOES NOT HAVE A OVERALL REQUIREMENT.
IT'S OUR FINANCIAL POLICY TO BE 60 DAYS.
UH, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF FINANCE.
KENT AND ANITA ARE IN THE PROCESS OF REVIEWING OUR FINANCIAL POLICIES, AND WE'LL COME BACK PROBABLY IN FEBRUARY, MARCH WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ON, ON SOME OF THOSE.
BUT LIKE THE ONE, THIS ONE HERE, THE 30 BUILDING TO 60, WE PLAN ON RECOMMENDING THAT BEING 60, UM, AND THE, THE MAKING THE 90 DAYS OFFICIAL INSTALL WASTE.
I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE'RE HEADING.
I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO SPEAK FOR THEM.
YEAH, THE, THERE WAS, UH, THE MILLION DOLLARS, WAS IT 1 MILLION? I THINK IT WAS TO PUT TOWARDS BASICALLY RAINY DAY FUND? YES, SIR.
EMERGENCY IN THE GENERAL FUND, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESERVE.
SO ARE THERE SPECIFIC RULES HOW THAT'S USED? LIKE NORMALLY, YOU
[01:35:01]
KNOW, IF WE PULL, IF WE'RE REIMBURSED FOR, YOU KNOW, A BIG STORM THAT COMES THROUGH THE TOWN ON THIS, DO WE TAKE OUTTA THERE AND THEN WHATEVER WE REIMBURSE GETS PUT BACK INTO THERE? AND THEN, I GUESS, IS IT ONE OF THOSE, THE FUND, I GUESS, THAT IS JUST MANAGED, LIKE YOU WOULD MAKE ANY CALL ON ANYTHING ELSE? SURE.WHEN TO USE MONEY, RIGHT? THIS WAS A SUGGESTION SUBSEQUENT TO THE MAY 28TH STORM.
AND SO THIS WILL BE THE INAUGURAL KIND OF YEAR OF THE, THE RESERVE WE WOULD, UM, UTILIZE AND, AND IN A RESPONSE SIMILAR TO, TO, TO, UH, YOU KNOW, THE TORNADO MAY 28TH, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
WE WOULD UTILIZE THESE FUNDS PROBABLY IN THEIR, AT THIS LEVEL, AT THIS 1 MILLION LEVEL PROBABLY FOR OUR, UH, TO HELP COVER SOME OF THE INITIAL COSTS DURING THE TRIAGE STAGE.
UH, WE'D PROBABLY, WITH IT JUST BEING A MILLION, WE'D STILL HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, UTILIZE SOME OTHER RESERVES AT THIS POINT.
WE'D LIKE TO BUILD THIS RESERVE, UM, YOU KNOW, TO THREE OR $4 MILLION LEVEL, WHICH IS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE NEEDED WHEN WE, UH, RESPONDED TO MAY 28TH, WHICH WAS, YOU KNOW, FOUR TIMES LARGER THAN THE TORNADO, FOR INSTANCE, IN TERMS OF THE DEBRIS COST, WHICH BY FAR WAS THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL PART OF THAT RESPONSE.
UM, WE WOULD, UM, WE WOULD TAP INTO THIS INITIALLY AND THEN COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE GIVE OUR BRIEFING ON THE RESPONSE AND EXPLAIN, UM, THAT WE WERE UTILIZING THE RESERVE.
UH, BUT THEN IF WE NEEDED TO, UH, HAVE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WHERE WE WOULD GET THOSE FROM, UH, ANY REIMBURSEMENT THAT WE WOULD RECEIVE WOULD REPLENISH THE RESERVE.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, I THINK IF I HEARD THE COUNCIL RIGHT OVER THE, OVER THE SUMMER, WE'D LOOK TO KIND OF MAYBE, YOU KNOW, TRY TO INJECT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES INTO THIS FUND EACH OF THE NEXT FEW YEARS UNTIL WE GET IT TO THAT THREE AND A HALF TO $4 MILLION RANGE.
YEAH, I, AND I THINK, I BELIEVE COUNCILMAN HUTTER, I MAY BE WRONG, BUT I THINK THIS WAS ONE OF YOUR IDEAS.
YEAH, THIS WAS, UM, AND I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA.
AND TO BE HONEST, I ONE $1 MILLION, THAT'S, I MEAN, IT'S A LOT OF MONEY, BUT IT'S, UH, I WOULD, I'D BE OPEN, YOU KNOW, DOWN THE ROAD AS WE LOOK AT THE REST OF THAT, EVEN MAYBE SAYING, HEY, CAN WE DO 1.5 OR SOMETHING JUST TO, SO WE COULD SEED IT $1 MILLION IN OUR RESPONSE ISN'T A LOT IF WE WERE, I DON'T KNOW, WE'VE BEEN AVERAGING WHAT A RESPONSE EVERY YEAR AND A HALF OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
I'D HATE TO SAY, HEY, WE DIDN'T SEED IT WITH ENOUGH AT THE BEGINNING WHEN WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY.
WHEN WHEN WE GET THE RE YOU KNOW, WE, WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE IN, WE'VE POSITIONED OURSELVES VERY WELL, UM, TO, UM, BE REIMBURSED FOR, UM, COST ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAY 28TH, UM, STORM.
SO WHEN WE GET CONFIRMATION OF THAT AND THOSE FUNDS ARE, UH, TRANSFERRED TO US, WE CAN BRING THOSE, THAT CONVERSATION BACK TO YOU AT THAT TIME AND SEE WHAT PORTION OF THOSE DOLLARS YOU MIGHT WANNA GROW THIS, UH, RESERVE BY.
AND I, I LOVE THE IDEA, AND I'M GLAD THAT THIS IS SOMETHING WE'RE, UH, STARTING TO DO.
SO, GREAT JOB, MR. HUTCHER RUNNER.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE REPORT.
AND DON, I JUST WANTED, YEAH, AND THANK YOU, UH, COUNCILMAN BARRIOS FOR RECOGNIZING THAT THAT WAS MY, MY PUSH DURING THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, SUMMER SESSION.
AND I'D LOVE TO SEE US GET TO THAT THREE AND A HALF, $4 MILLION MARK SO THAT WE HAVE THAT THERE.
AND WE'RE NOT CONSTANTLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, OKAY, WHERE ARE WE GONNA PULL, YOU KNOW, ON A YEAR TO YEAR BASIS, UM, WHEN WE HAVE THESE SITUATIONS OCCUR.
SO, UM, JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT IN THERE.
I JUST WANTED TO, TO THANK YOU AND, AND YOUR TEAM FOR THE FORECASTING THAT YOU DO, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING THROUGH THE REPORT IT AND, AND READING IT, I MEAN, REALLY WHY I HAVE A LOT OF, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS YOU CAN TALK ABOUT WITH THIS BECAUSE IT, IT IS A BUDGET, BUT ULTIMATELY, I MEAN, THE THING TO LOOK AT HERE IS HOW CLOSE WERE WE TO THE MARK, RIGHT? AND WITH THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY COULD CONTROL, UM, I WAS REALLY PLEASED TO SEE HOW CLOSE TO THE MARK WE WERE, RIGHT? AND WITH THE THINGS LIKE SALES TAX FORECASTS AND SOME OF THE STUFF THAT WAS JUST REALLY OUTTA LEFT FIELD FOR EVERYONE IN THE REGION, WE CAN'T CONTROL THAT, AND WE HAD TO ADJUST ACCORDINGLY.
AND, UM, I'M JUST REALLY, I'M REALLY IN A WEIRD WAY, PROUD OF THE WORK THAT WE DID ADJUSTING, AND, AND THIS JUST SHOWS HOW WELL WE DID THAT.
SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND, AND REALLY JUST KIND OF PUT INTO CONTEXT, YOU KNOW, MY OPINION OF WHAT I SEE HERE IN THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, I JUST WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THE, THE SHORTFALL AND THE HOTEL MOTO TAX RELATED TO THE EISMAN CENTER, UM, PROGRAMMING.
AND I JUST WANTED TO, TO SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT WE CHALLENGED ALLIE WITH WAS TO COME UP WITH CREATIVE PROGRAMMING, AND WE'RE STILL EDUCATING THE PUBLIC AND, YOU KNOW, REACHING THE RIGHT AUDIENCES.
SO I, I JUST WANNA LEND MY SUPPORT TO THAT.
I THINK SHE'S DONE A FANTASTIC JOB WITH THE PROGRAMMING THAT SHE'S BROUGHT TO THE EISMAN.
IT IS, UH, WILDLY DIVERSE, WHICH IS WHAT EXACTLY WHAT WE ASKED HER FOR.
AND SO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO JUST SORT OF PUBLICLY STATE MY, UM, SUPPORT OF WHAT SHE'S DOING AND, AND KEEP SAYING, DO DOING, DO WHAT YOU DO, UM, AND KEEP DOING IT SO WELL, UM, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S BEEN FANTASTIC PROGRAMMING AND I THINK WE'LL GET THERE.
[01:40:01]
BEEN HERE I THINK TWO YEARS NOW, AND SO WE JUST NEED TO KEEP, UM, SORT OF SUPPORTING, SO ANYONE WHO SEES THAT NUMBER AND THINKS WHAT, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? SHE'S DOING EXACTLY WHAT WE ASKED HER TO DO.AND, UM, I THINK THAT SHE NEEDS TO, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, GIVE IT A COUPLE MORE YEARS, LIKE I SAID, TO REACH THE RIGHT AUDIENCES AND, AND REALLY BUILD THE AUDIENCE, THE ICEMAN.
UM, AND I THINK SHE'S DOING A REALLY GREAT JOB OF THAT.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR DETAILED PRESENTATION.
AGAIN, AS USUAL, THIS IS NOT, I'M NOT SURPRISED WITH THE DETAILED PRESENTATION THAT YOU HAVE TONIGHT, BUT I'M HAPPY THAT AT LEAST IN OUR, UH, SALES TAX HAS BEEN, ARE GETTING STABILIZED, UH, MORE PREDICTABLE.
AND, UM, I LIKE TO SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, 2025, HOPEFULLY IT'LL GO UP AND THERE IS A REASON TO BE THIS TO GO UP, AND I'M HOPEFUL ON THAT NUMBER.
BUT, UH, CAN YOU, UH, SAY A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE HOTEL, HOTEL TAX? WHY THAT, UH, IS THAT, I MEAN, IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC THINGS THAT YOU NOTICED THAT, WHY THAT'S LITTLE LOW THIS TIME? THE, THE, THE HOTEL HOTEL, THE TAXES ITSELF, I MEAN, IT EXCEEDED WHAT OUR ANTICIPATION FOR, UH, OR EXPECT WERE.
UM, COULD YOU GO TO THAT SLIDE? I MEAN, SURE.
I PROBABLY DID NOT SEE THAT CLEARLY THAT YEAH.
THE REVENUE FOUR 10,000 OVER OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET FOR HOTEL TAXES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO GET BACK TO, YOU KNOW, I GUESS YOU WOULD SAY PRE COVID EXPECTATIONS IN THIS FUND.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA BE ON THE SIDE OF, OF, UH, CAUTION, BE A LITTLE BIT CONSERVATIVE.
UH, THIS FUND WAS VERY IMPACTED BY THE COVID PANDEMIC, AND THIS WAS REALLY THE FIRST FULL YEAR OF COMING OUT OF THAT.
SEE, I THINK THERE HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPTICK IN SOME OF THE BUSINESS TRAVEL, UM, BUT I THINK A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH THE STAYCATIONS AND THE COMING TO SEE FAMILY THAT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IN A WHILE.
AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE JUST GONNA CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE WE'RE NOT OVERHEATING IT OR, OR OVER, UH, RELYING ON THOSE, THOSE TAXES.
BUT I MEAN, EXCEEDING OUR TARGET WAS, WAS DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT WE WERE HOPING FOR.
WE, WE NEVER WANT TO GO THE OTHER WAY.
UM, BUT WE ALSO DON'T WANNA OVERHEAT WHAT OUR, OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE IN THAT FUND AS WELL.
NO, THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION.
I THINK THE NUMBER THAT PROBABLY I HAD IN MY MIND THAT WAS LIKE THE OLD NUMBERS AND I WAS NOT LOOKING AT THE TEXT.
UH, BUT, YOU KNOW, REGARDING THE EISMAN CENTER PROGRAMMING, I THINK THAT'S GOING TO TAKE LITTLE TIME, UH, THE NEW PROGRAMMING, DEFINITELY I HAVE HARD POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT IT, SO IT, IT'S, YOU KNOW, PREDICTING THE FUTURE IN THAT SIDE IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY.
BUT SO FAR I SEE POSITIVE FEEDBACK, UH, THAT WILL PROBABLY PICK UP SLOWLY ON THAT.
SO WE PROBABLY NEED TO DEFINITELY STAY ON THE COURSE UNTIL WE SEE, UH, THERE IS NO REASON TO CHANGE IT RIGHT NOW.
UH, NOW THE OTHER THING THAT I SEE THAT, UH, THE WATER FUND REVENUE WENT UP AND, UH, I THINK THIS IS, THE WASTEWATER IS PRETTY MUCH TIED WITH THE WATER, SO I'M NOT SURPRISED THAT WASTEWATER ALSO WENT UP, UH, PROPORTIONATELY, UH, ONE POINT SOME MM-HMM
1.7 AND 700,000 FOR THE WASTEWATER, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
THAT THE MAJORITY OF THAT WAS TWO MONTHS, UH, OCTOBER AND SEPTEMBER MADE UP, YOU KNOW, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THAT.
SO, UH, AGAIN, WE, WE TRY TO BUDGET BASED ON, UH, WHAT WE CONSIDER, UH, A NORMAL YEAR OF CONSUMPTION, AND IF THERE'S HIGHER THAN ANTICIPATED IRRIGATION, WHICH WE BELIEVE THAT WAS ATTRIBUTED TO, THEN WE'LL SEE THAT ADDITIONAL REVENUE KICK IN THERE.
BUT, UH, YOU SAID SEPTEMBER IN OCTOBER, RIGHT? JUST TWO MONTHS? YEAH.
SO THE, THE SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER USAGE IS ACTUALLY, OR THAT'S THE REVENUE IN OCTOBER, BUT IT'S FOR SEPTEMBER USAGE.
AND THEN SEPTEMBER, UH, REVENUE WAS FROM AUGUST, AUGUST, TRYING TO GO BACKWARD IN THE CALENDAR, NOT WORKING.
IT'S AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, YOU'RE SAYING? YES, SIR.
IT'S NOT QUITE THE SUMMER THOUGH, I THINK THIS IS, UM, NO, WE HAD EXTENDED PERIODS OF DRY WEATHER DURING THAT, THAT TIME, AND WE DID SEE IRRIGATION.
UH, NOW MOST OF OUR RESIDENTIAL, UH, CUSTOMERS DON'T HAVE A SEPARATE IRRIGATION METER, SO WE MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS BASED OFF OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE THAT A LOT OF THOSE DO HAVE THE IRRIGATION METERS.
BUT WE, WE DEFINITELY SAW AN UPSWING IN IRRIGATION IN THOSE THAT CORRESPONDED WITH INCREASES, UM, ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE WITH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF LABOR DAY WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER WAS, UH, ALMOST ENTIRELY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
HOW ABOUT, UH, WELL, EXCEPT TODAY THAT WE HAVE SOME RAIN TODAY, BUT HOW ABOUT, UH, NOVEMBER? DO YOU HAVE SEE ANYTHING, WHAT'S GOING ON IN NOVEMBER? IT'S BEEN PRETTY DRY.
UH, YEAH, I MEAN, WE'LL, WE WILL HAVE THAT FOR YOU COMING UP IN THE, THE NEXT MONTHLY REPORT OR QUARTERLY
[01:45:01]
REPORT.I DO BELIEVE, UM, WE WERE DOWN A LITTLE BIT IN OCTOBER.
I THINK THERE WAS SOME RAIN THAT PROBABLY CAME IN IN SEPTEMBER.
UH, NOVEMBER, UH, REVENUE WAS ACTUALLY UP ABOVE WHAT OUR EXPECTATION WAS.
SO WHEN YOU, YOU BALANCE THOSE TWO MONTHS OUT, WE'RE WE'RE ABOUT WHERE WE ANTICIPATED BEING THROUGH, UH, TWO MONTHS.
UH, BUT REALLY, UH, UNTIL WE GET INTO THE SUMMER, WE WON'T REALLY SEE, YOU KNOW, HOW ACCURATELY WE'RE TRACKING, UH, OUR MODEL.
SO THE THING IS, LIKE, I WAS TRYING TO SEE THAT THERE IS NO CHANGE OVERALL IN THE CITY.
NO NEW BUSINESS, NO, NOTHING THAT WOULD BRING, YOU KNOW, THAT NEEDED THE ADDITIONAL WATER.
IT JUST, IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE WEATHER, MOST LIKELY.
I, UH, I HAD A COUPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS ALREADY, STILL WITH THE THUNDER ON THE HOTEL MOTEL TAX, AND I DON'T WANT TO BEAT IT TO DEATH, BUT I DID WANNA SAY THIS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF PUTTING SOMEONE IN A POSITION THAT CAN ELEVATE THE CITY'S AGENDA, BRINGING PEOPLE INTO THE CITY TO SPEND THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY TO GO TO THE ICEMAN AND SEE SOME OF THE PLAYS.
IT SHOWS ACTIVITY, IT SHOWS THAT ALLIE'S DOING A GREAT JOB.
AND I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND ALSO TOO, THIS FUND CERTAINLY SUPPORTS OUR CULTURAL ARTS COMMUNITY, WHICH, UM, IS INVALUABLE.
SO I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU AND THANK YOU, BOB, FOR PUTTING MM-HMM
I KNOW IT'S A LOT TO TRACK AND, AND IT'S A LOT OF WORK, SO I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME.
OKAY, BOB, GREAT PRESENTATION.
[8. CONSIDER REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A MASTER SIGN PLAN ON 14.87-ACRES LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY AND E. CAMPBELL ROAD.]
AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GONNA GO TO ACTION ITEMS. NUMBER EIGHT, CONSIDER REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A MASTER SIGN PLAN ON 14.87 ACRES LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY AND EAST CAMPBELL ROAD.MR. MAGNER, UH, THANK YOU MAYOR.
OUR PLANNER, TOO IS GOING TO PRESENT THE CASE AND I SEE THE APPLICANT IS HERE AS WELL, AND, UH, WILL BE AVAILABLE, UH, MAYBE AFTER MAKING SOME COMMENTS TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
I DID WANNA MAKE NOTE, UH, UH, FOR YOU AND FOR THE AUDIENCE.
UM, THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC HEARING TONIGHT.
UM, THIS ACTION, UM, WE WILL, UH, YOU'LL HEAR FROM, UH, THE CITY, AND THEN YOU'LL HEAR FROM THE APPLICANT, UH, THEN YOU'RE ABLE TO DELIBERATE AMONGST YOURSELF.
AND THEN, UM, ACTION ITEM, UH, NUMBER EIGHT, UH, WILL BE UP FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
SO, AARON, LET ME TURN IT OVER TO YOU, AND THEN, UH, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO HEAR FROM THE APPLICANT AS WELL.
THANK YOU, UH, MR. MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
TONIGHT WE HAVE THE MASTER SIGN PLAN FOR EAST SIDE.
UH, THEY'RE GENERALLY LOCATED THERE AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF, UH, NORTH CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY AND WEST CAMPBELL ROAD.
UH, THE CURRENT ZONING TODAY IS UNDER PD 35 35.
UH, THE COUNCIL APPROVED AN AMENDMENT TO THIS PD BACK IN OCTOBER TO ALLOW THIS PD TO ACCEPT THIS PARTICULAR ITEM, THE MASTER SIGN PLAN.
UH, YOU WILL BE MAKING THE FINAL ACTION ON HIM TONIGHT, AS YOU REQUESTED BACK IN OCTOBER.
AND LIKE MR. MAGNER SAID, OR DAWN, UH, THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC HEARING.
UH, THE INTENT OF THE MASTER SIGN PLAN IS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL OR MODIFIED SIGN TYPES THAT ARE NOT CURRENTLY ALLOWED IN THE CODE.
THE PROPOSED MASTER SIGN PLAN ESTABLISHES CONSISTENCY FOR THE MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT WHILE ALLOWING FLEXIBILITY AND CREATIVITY.
THE MASTER SIGN PLAN IDENTIFIES THREE PROPOSED SIGN TYPES, UM, WITHIN THIS DEVELOPMENT.
THESE SIGN TYPES ARE AS FOLLOWS, THE MONUMENT SIGN WITH MULTIPLE USES THE WALL-MOUNTED ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SIGN AND THE ELECTRONIC MESSAGING PEDESTRIAN DIRECTORY SIGN.
UH, SO FOR THE FIRST SIGN, THE APPLICANT IS REQUESTING THE FOLLOWING VARIANCES, UH, FROM THE CITY SIGN CODE FOR THE MONUMENT SIGN.
THE SIGN IS REQUESTED TO BE AT THE, LOCATED AT THE SOUTH DRIVEWAY OR SOUTH OF THE DRIVEWAY, UH, ENTRY OF THE FRONTAGE ROAD.
THIS AREA IS WITHIN THE DART RIGHT OF WAY AND OFF-PREMISE.
THE CODE DOES NOT ALLOW, UH, FOR OFF-PREMISE MONUMENT SIGNS.
UH, THE APPLICANT HAS REACHED OUT TO DART AND RECEIVED A LETTER OF NO OBJECTION TO THE PROS PROPOSED LOCATION.
UH, THE SECOND VARI VARIATION TO THE CODE IS THE INCREASE IN SIZE.
UH, OUR CODE TODAY ALLOWS 80 SQUARE FEET AND EIGHT FEET IN HEIGHT FOR THE SIGN TYPE, UH, THE APPLICANT HAS REQUESTED, UH, AN AREA OF 200 SQUARE FEET AND 17 FEET FIVE INCHES IN HEIGHT FOR THE SECOND TYPE OF SIGN TYPE.
UH, FOR THIS, UH, MASTER SIGN PLAN IS THE WALL MOUNTED ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SIGN.
UH, THE FIRST VARIATION IS LOCATION OF, OR THE FIRST VARIATION IS MOUNTING LOCATION.
UH, OUR CODE REQUIRES ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SIGNS BE EITHER MOUNTED TO POLE SIGNS OR DISPLAYED AS MONUMENT SIGNS.
THE APPLICANT APPLICANT IS REQUESTING TO, TO HAVE THIS SIGN LOCATED ON THE WESTERN ELEVATION OF THE NORTHWESTERN BUILDING ADJACENT TO THE DART RAIL LINE, APPROXIMATELY 39 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND FACING NORTH CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY.
SECONDLY, THE APPLICANT, UH, REQUESTS THE SIGN BE ABLE TO DISPLAY MULTIPLE TENANTS OR EVENTS WITHIN THE
[01:50:01]
DEVELOPMENT.OUR CODE TODAY DEFINES ELECTRONIC MESSAGING AS QUOTE, PROVIDING IDENTIFICATION OR ADVERTISEMENT OF A SPECIFIC BUSINESS SERVICE OR PRODUCT.
UH, THIS SIGN WILL ADVERTISE FOR MULTIPLE BUSINESSES AND EVENTS FOR, UH, FOR ONSITE ONLY, NOT JUST THE ONE TO WHICH THE SIGN IS ATTACHED.
THIRDLY, UH, THE APPLICANT REQUESTS AN INCREASE IN SIZE OF THE SIGN.
THE APPLICANT HAS REQUESTED 139 SQUARE FOOT SIGN.
WHILE THE CODE REQUIRES, UH, 80 SQUARE FEET, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE CITY'S LIGHTING DESIGN REQUIREMENTS STILL REMAIN UNCHANGED.
UH, THESE INCLUDE SUCH ITEMS LIKE FLASHING OR DISPLAYS ARE PROHIBITED.
EACH MESSAGE SHALL BE DISPLAYED FOR A MINIMUM OF FOUR MINUTES AND CHANGE WITHIN LESS THAN TWO SECONDS, AND THE BRIGHTNESS LEVELS CANNOT INTERFERE WITH TRAFFIC.
AND ILLUMINATIONS MUST NOT EXCEED ONE FOOT CANDLE AT THE PROPERTY LINE.
UH, THIS IS A PROPOSED ELEVATION OF WHAT IT COULD LOOK LIKE FROM NORTH CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY.
UH, THE FINAL ONE IS THE ELECTRONIC, UH, MESSAGING, UH, PEDESTRIAN DIRECTORY SIGN.
UH, THIS SIGN IS NOT WITHIN OUR CODE TODAY.
UH, IT IS, IT WILL BE PROPOSED AT A MAXIMUM OF EIGHT FEET IN HEIGHT AND THREE FOOT SIX AND WIDTH, IT WILL, UH, HAVE A MAXIMUM AREA OF 28 SQUARE FEET.
THESE SIGNS WILL BE INTERACTIVE DIGITAL TOUCH DISPLAY KIOSKS FOR GROUND LEVEL FOOT TRAFFIC TO USE AND LOCATE BUSINESSES WITHIN THE DISTRICT.
UH, THE APPLICANT PROPOSES A TOTAL OF THREE OF THESE SIGNS ON THE PROPERTY, GENERALLY LOCATED AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE CENTRAL OPEN SPACE AREA.
UH, THIS IS IN YOUR PACKETS AND IS MORE DETAILED, UH, TABLE OF ALL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH OF THE DIFFERENT SIGNS.
SO IN SUMMARY, UH, ALL OTHER REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY SIGN CODE, THAT'S CHAPTER 18, SIGN REGULATIONS OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES NOT MENTIONED OR SPECIFICALLY MODIFIED BY THIS MASTER SIGN PLAN SHALL STILL APPLY.
UH, THIS INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO SIGN MAINTENANCE, SIGN LANDSCAPING AND ILLUMINATION REQUIREMENTS.
UH, THE FULL PACKAGES IN YOUR, IN YOUR PACKET, UH, THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION VOTED TO APPROVE THIS REQUEST, UH, SEPTEMBER 2ND, OR EXCUSE ME, DECEMBER 2ND, UH, BY A VOTE OF THREE TO ONE.
UH, THE COUNCIL DENY IT MAY EITHER APPROVE THE REQUEST AS PRESENTED, APPROVE WITH CONDITIONS OR AMENDED CONDITIONS, OR DENY THE REQUEST.
I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY.
AARON, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR AARON, BUT WE COULD ASK THE APPLICANT TO COME FORWARD NOW AND ADD OR TAKE AWAY OR PRESENT WHATEVER YOU'D LIKE TO PLEASE, SIR.
UM, STUART CORDY, SEVEN 40 CAMPBELL ROAD, RICHARDSON, TEXAS, SUITE ONE TEN SEVEN FIVE ZERO EIGHT ONE.
I KNOW SOME OF THIS MIGHT BE REDUNDANT FROM, UH, THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE IN FRONT OF YOU.
UH, BUT AGAIN, THE EAST SIDE DEVELOPMENT IS A 15 ACRE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, UH, WITH AN OFFICE 10 STORY OFFICE TOWER, UH, APPROXIMATELY 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL.
AND THEN, UH, THE MULTIFAMILY COMPONENT OF THAT AS WELL, WHICH I IS ROUGHLY 430, 35 UNITS OR SO.
AND SO THE PURPOSE HERE TODAY IS WE'RE REALLY JUST TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO BETTER PROMOTE THESE, UH, THE BUSINESSES THAT, THAT OCCUPY THIS PROPERTY.
AND HOW CAN WE, YOU KNOW, DRIVE, DRIVE MORE BUSINESS, DRIVE MORE CUSTOMERS INTO THOSE BUSINESSES? UM, HOW CAN WE, YOU KNOW, CREATE BETTER EXPOSURE TO, UH, LET YOU KNOW THE COMMUNITY AND, UH, JUST THE PUBLIC IN GENERAL KNOW THAT, UH, THAT THESE BUSINESSES ARE THERE AND THAT THEY EXIST TODAY? UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'LL SEE WITH THE PROPERTY IS A LOT OF THE TENANTS HAVE, UM, A LOT OF THE RETAIL TENANTS THAT IS, UH, THEY'RE INTERIOR FACING, UH, MEANING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF THEM, UH, DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY DIRECT EXPOSURE TO, UH, TO THE PUBLIC ROADS.
THEY'RE EITHER TO CAMPBELL ROAD, UM, OR TO 75.
AND SO THAT DOES CREATE, UH, CHALLENGES FOR SOME OF THESE TENANTS.
JUST NOT, YOU KNOW, WITH THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC THAT THEY'RE REALLY MISSING OUT ON EVERY DAY.
UM, PEOPLE JUST NOT KNOWING THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT ALL THOSE BUSINESSES ARE BACK THERE.
AND SO WE HAD, UM, MY COMPANY HAD PURCHASED THE THREE RETAIL BUILDINGS THERE ON THE, UH, WEST SIDE OF THE PROPERTY BACK IN OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR.
AND AT THAT TIME, UH, THE PROPERTY WAS OUR, OUR PORTION OF, UH, EAST SIDE WAS 50% LEASED.
[01:55:01]
UM, HAD OWNED THE PROPERTY FOR ROUGHLY SEVEN YEARS.AND TO OUR UNDERSTANDING DURING THAT TIME, UH, THEY'D ONLY SIGNED ONE NEW LEASE AND HAD A NUMBER OF TENANTS WHO HAD, UH, WHO HAD VACATED OVER THOSE YEARS.
AND SO, UM, JUST IN THIS ONE SHORT YEAR OF, UH, OF US TAKING OVER THE OWNERSHIP, UH, WE'VE NOW SIGNED EIGHT NEW LEASES, MA, WHICH IS THE OWNER OF THE APARTMENT.
UH, THEY HAVE ALSO BROUGHT IN SOME NEW TENANTS AS WELL.
AND SO IT'S JUST KIND OF SHOWS THAT ACTIVITY BREEDS MORE ACTIVITY AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES WANT TO BE A PART OF, UH, MORE OF KIND OF A THRIVING ENVIRONMENT THERE.
UH, BUT NOW WE'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, WANTING TO COME HERE AND DO WHAT WE CAN TO, TO BE ABLE TO RETAIN THESE TENANTS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN FIND WAYS TO BETTER PROMOTE THEM, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, IS ULTIMATELY GONNA RESULT IN BETTER SUCCESS FOR THEM, UM, YOU KNOW, BETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY, JUST BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE GOODS AND SERVICES TO THE, TO THE LOCAL RESIDENTS, UH, PROVIDE JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT, UH, PROVIDE SALES TAX TO THE, TO THE CITY.
AND SO, UH, WE REALLY VIEW THIS AS, YOU KNOW, A WIN FOR, FOR EVERYBODY IF WE CAN, YOU KNOW, MAKE THESE BUSINESSES AS SUCCESSFUL AS POSSIBLE.
SO JUST GOING THROUGH THESE ONE BY ONE.
SO THIS FIRST SIGN HERE, UH, IS A MONUMENT, JUST, UH, RELATIVELY STANDARD MONUMENT SIGN.
UM, WE ARE LOOKING TO, THERE WAS A MONUMENT SIGN THAT WAS RELOCATED, OR I'M SORRY, THAT WAS LOCATED AT THE PRIMARY ENTRANCE, UH, RIGHT THERE OFF OF THE, UM, ACCESS ROAD.
HOWEVER, THAT ONE HAD BEEN DAMAGED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS BY, UH, VEHICLES DRIVING INTO IT.
AND SO THE PURPOSE OF THIS HERE IS, UH, REALLY FOR TWO REASONS.
ONE, TO GET IT OUT OF, UM, WAY WHERE, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T BECOME, UM, HARMFUL TO PEOPLE IN THEIR VEHICLES.
ALSO, TO LOCATE IT A LITTLE BIT FURTHER SOUTH, THAT WAY, UH, PEOPLE WHO ARE DRIVING ALONG, UH, THE ACCESS ROAD HERE, THEY'RE ABLE TO ACTUALLY SEE THE SIGN, UH, BEFORE COMING TO THAT TURN, AND HOPEFULLY THEN REALIZING THAT THAT'S WHERE THEY NEED TO TURN IN.
UM, THE THIRD PART OF IT IS THAT YOU CAN SEE THE ORIGINAL SIGN THERE IN THE TOP LEFT CORNER, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL WITH, YOU KNOW, OVER 30 TENANTS.
THAT'S, UH, THAT WAS A CONFORMING SIGN IN TERMS OF SQUARE FOOTAGE.
BUT YOU CAN SEE IT'S, UH, QUITE SMALL AND YOU DON'T REALLY GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT MANY, MANY AT TENANTS ON THAT.
AND IF YOU DO THE, UM, EACH OF THOSE PANELS ARE AWFULLY SMALL AS WELL.
SO, UH, THIS IS THE LETTER WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM, UH, DART SAYING THAT THEY HAVE NO OBJECTION TO THIS.
UH, SINCE THIS DOES FALL UNDER DART'S RIGHT OF WAY, UH, IT SAYS THE NEXT STEP WE WOULD BE GOING TO DART.
AND AS I'M SURE A CONDITION TO THIS HERE, UH, WE WOULD BE GOING TO DART AND GETTING, UM, AN EASEMENT SET UP WITH, UH, WITH DART.
THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT WAS DONE WITH THE ORIGINAL SIGN.
SO WE WOULD JUST BE REPLICATING ANOTHER ONE IN THIS NEW LOCATION, THIS SIGN HERE.
UM, AND AGAIN, FOR EACH OF THESE SIGNS, UH, I DO WANNA MENTION THAT THIS IS NOT JUST FOR USE OF, UH, THE THREE RETAIL PROPERTIES THAT, THAT WE OWN.
UH, THIS IS GONNA BE FOR, UH, USE OF, UM, EACH OF THE, UH, THE BUILDINGS THERE WITHIN EAST SIDE.
SO THIS, UH, DIGITAL MESSAGING SIGN, UM, WOULD BE LOCATED, AS YOU CAN SEE THERE, UP ON THIS TOWER.
UM, THAT'S THE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FROM 75, SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE OVER THE DART RAIL.
UH, THE PRIMARY REASON, UH, THAT WE WANTED TO BRING THIS ONE FORWARD WAS, YOU KNOW, IT'S 75 AT CENTRAL, I'M SORRY, 75 AT CAMPBELL, UH, IS A FLYOVER.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PROPERTIES THAT ARE UP AND DOWN 75, UH, THOSE BUSINESSES, THEY GET THE BENEFIT OF THE EXPOSURE TO, YOU KNOW, 200,000 PLUS CARS PER DAY.
UH, WHEREAS HERE, UH, ONLY EXCEPT FOR MAYBE FROST AND SEVEN 11, WHO YOU CAN SEE THEIR, UH, BUILDING SIGNS THERE, UM, MOST OF THE TENANTS ARE, OR REALLY ALL OF THE TENANTS ARE MISSING OUT ON THAT, ON THAT INCREASED EXPOSURE.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A WAY FOR US TO, WE FEEL THAT, YOU KNOW, DIGITAL SIGN, IT'S, UH, MORE OF AN ELEVATED, UH, AESTHETIC LOOK FOR THE PROPERTY.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN, I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S IN HERE, BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OTHER CLASS A DEVELOPMENTS, UM, UP AND DOWN 75.
SO PRESTON HOLLOW VILLAGE AT WALNUT HILLMAN 75, AS WELL AS WATERS CREEK VILLAGE IN ALLEN, UH, YOU CAN SEE THEY HAVE MUCH LARGER, UM, DIGITAL DISPLAYS THERE.
[02:00:02]
BUT ULTIMATELY THIS WOULD BE USED, UH, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY THIRD PARTY MARKETING OR ADVERTISING TAKING PLACE.IT WOULD BE USED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF, UH, PROMOTING THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE WITHIN, UH, EAST SIDE AS WELL AS PROMOTING, UH, OCCASIONAL EVENTS THAT WE, UH, PUT ON AND HOST THERE IN THE, UH, CENTRAL PARK AREA, UH, SUCH AS A MOVIE NIGHT IN THE PARK.
UM, OR THEY DO A, A CHRISTMAS, UM, JUST AT A CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING AND, UH, TAKE PICTURES WITH SANTA, ET CETERA.
SO IS STEWART, COULD YOU HOLD UP RIGHT THERE? YES, SIR.
IF I COULD CLARIFY, BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THE PRESENTATION, THE TERMS WERE USED, THE TERMS YOU USED WERE ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTS.
I THINK THOSE WERE THE TWO TERMS THAT WERE SAID.
SO YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE PUTTING UP THERE FOR SALE A, WHATEVER RETAIL A, B, C WOULD BE SELLING.
IS THAT A, IS THAT A ACCURATE STATEMENT? RIGHT.
SO IF WE HAVE, UM, LIKE THE PEACH COBBLER FACTORY AS A TENANT, AND ARE YOU SAYING THAT, WOULD THEY YES.
WE WOULDN'T WANT, UM, SUNDAY SODA PEACHED, WHATEVER.
YOU KNOW, A MONTHLY SPECIAL OF THE BLUEBERRY COPPLER.
I, YEAH, THE REASON I'M ASKING, I, I KNOW THAT THIS WAS A CONCERN WITH THE COUNCIL IN OUR PRIOR MEETING AS TO EXACTLY WHAT WOULD WE SEE UP THERE.
UM, AND I'M NOT, DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR ANYBODY ELSE ON THE COUNCIL, BUT IF YOU'RE ADVERTISING A PRODUCT OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES, OR, YOU KNOW, FOR THE RETAIL, I'D SAY, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE WANT THAT.
IF YOU'RE PUTTING THE NAMES UP THERE, I DON'T KNOW.
AND YOU'RE PROMOTING YOUR COMPLEX, RIGHT? YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT THE COBBLER FACTORY IS HERE.
SAYING THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE 50 CENTS OFF TOMORROW, I'M NOT SURE, IS A GOOD THING.
THAT'S SOMETHING, AND I DON'T KNOW IF I'M SPEAKING FOR EVERYBODY HERE, BUT IT, ANYBODY ELSE WANT TO ADDRESS THAT? YEAH, GO AHEAD, JOE.
NO, MAYOR, I JUST WANNA SAY I AGREE WITH THAT AND I, I, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
IT'S HARD TO PUT THAT SENTIMENT INTO WORDS, BUT I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM ON THAT.
LET, LET, LET ME JUST, LEMME JUST PUT UP JUST A POINT OF CLARIFICATION.
IF YOU APPROVE THIS, YOU CANNOT REGULATE CONTENT.
SO THAT WAS MY QUESTION, THE SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF, I I, I UNDERSTAND THE SPIRIT OF WHAT THE MIRRORS, UH, MIRROR OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT YEAH.
UM, WELL, I'M ASKING BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE HEARD OVER HERE FROM AARON, RIGHT? AND THE WAY HE WORDED IT WERE TWO DIFFERENT RIGHT.
THAT, THAT, THAT'S WHY I HAVE THE CONCERN ABOUT THE SIGN.
I, I'M, I'LL JUST STATE IT RIGHT NOW.
WE, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER IT.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH THIS SIGN.
IT ENDS UP LOOKING LIKE A BILLBOARD.
WE'VE BANNED BILLBOARDS FOR YEARS IN THIS CITY.
AND SO THAT, THAT'S WHY I'M, I, I'M AGAINST THIS.
NOW, DAN, DID YOU WANT TO ADD TO, TO IT? NO, I, I SECOND WHAT COUNCILMAN HUTCHIN RIDER SAID, UM, I DO HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MONUMENT SIGN.
SO IN THIS GRAPHIC SHOWS 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 SLOTS FOR BUSINESSES, YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE MORE THAN 12 BUSINESSES.
IS THIS A SO IF I OPEN A, I DON'T KNOW, LET'S SAY I OPEN A DOG WASH IN YOUR, IN YOUR SURE.
IN YOUR BUSINESS, DO I, IS THIS TIED TO, YOU KNOW, THE UPPER LEFT, IS THAT TIED TO A SPECIFIC ANCHOR? IS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IS IT AN UPGRADE TYPE FEE TO THE RENT TO BE ON THIS BOARD? IS IT THE, THESE ARE NOT BEING PUT INTO TO GENERATE EXTRA REVENUE, UH, FOR, FOR THE OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY HERE? UM, YOU KNOW, COULD, I CAN'T SAY THAT THERE WOULD NEVER BE A SCENARIO WHERE A TENANT WOULDN'T PAY A LITTLE LECTURE TO BE ON THERE.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE, THE INTENT OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE.
AND SO REALLY IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE, LET ME GO BACK TO A SITE PLAN.
UM, SO IF YOU LOOK AT THIS IMAGE ON THE RIGHT, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE'S A TENANT LIKE PANERA, AND SO, YOU KNOW, PANERA, THEY HAVE EXPOSURE TO CAMPBELL ROAD.
IF YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN CAMPBELL, YOU CAN SEE PANERA.
IF YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN THE EXCESS ROAD, YOU CAN'T SEE PANERA.
AND SO IN VICE VERSA, IF Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE WING NUT, UM, TO US, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE SENSE TO GO PUT THE WING NUT ON A MONUMENT SIGN RIGHT THERE WHEN YOU'RE ALREADY GONNA BE SEEING THEM.
AND SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT STARTS TO BECOME TRYING TO, UH, SELECTIVELY FIGURE OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHO NEEDS THE EXPOSURE.
ALSO, TENANTS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, PANERA'S REALLY IN, OR RUSSO'S, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY'RE IN A, YOU KNOW, PRETTY PRIME SPOT THERE WHERE THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, EXPOSURE TO BOTH.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, DO THEY EVEN GET A, YOU KNOW, LOCATION ON, UM, ON THE PANEL WHATSOEVER.
AND SO THOSE ARE THE DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE'LL GO INTO, UH, PICKING WHICH TENANTS, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE ABLE TO,
[02:05:01]
UM, ADVERTISE ON THERE.UM, I DO HAVE TWO QUESTIONS FOR AARON, UH, BEFORE I ASK HIS QUESTIONS.
UM, I, AND I MENTIONED LAST TIME I FREQUENT THIS, THIS, UH, EAST SIDE, I GET MY HAIR CUT THERE.
I, YOU KNOW, GO TO THE WING NUT.
HARDEST PART FOR ME AS A CUSTOMER IS GETTING OUT OF IT.
AND, UH, I, I THINK THE ACCESS TO BE ABLE TO GET, I THINK WHAT IS THAT SERVICE ROAD IS, I THINK FOUR, FOUR LANES WIDE PLUS A TURNING LANE THERE.
UM, IT'S, UH, IT, IT'S HUGE AND THEY'RE SPEEDING DOWN.
BUT I WILL SAY, I THINK THAT'S THE BIGGEST, UM, CHALLENGE IS GETTING OUT OF YOUR PARKING LOT.
UH, AARON, A COUPLE QUESTIONS ON THIS.
SAME, THIS, UH, SAME GRAPHIC THAT SHOWS THE 2, 4, 6, 12 ON THE, UH, MONUMENT SIGN.
IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS PLAN THAT WOULD KEEP THEM FROM PUTTING 16 OR TAKING IT DOWN TO FOUR OR CHANGING THE AMOUNT OF, OR IS THIS APPROVING SPECIFICALLY 12 SPOTS ON A SIGN? UH, NO, I BELIEVE IT IS JUST, IT'S BOUND BY ITS HEIGHT, SO THEY DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE, YOU KNOW, LIKE I WAS SHOWN EM, THE, THE PICTURE THERE, FIVE BY TWO.
THEY MIGHT WANT TO GO SMALLER AND OR BIGGER, YOU KNOW, ADVERTISE, YOU KNOW, 30 OR HOWEVER MANY BUSINESSES THEY HAVE ON SITE.
UH, THEY'RE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE THE, THE SIGN COPY, WHICH IS THOSE SLOTS BE THAT SPECIFIC.
I THINK THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE OF, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, STUART, UH, JUST FOR VISUAL PURPOSES, AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF I MISSED THIS, AND IT MAY BE IN HERE AND I JUST DIDN'T SEE IT, BUT, UM, HOW MANY FEET FROM THE ROAD IS THIS MONUMENT SIGN, I GUESS PROPOSED? OR DO WE JUST HAVE TO, WHERE IS IT GONNA BE? BECAUSE I KNOW LIKE THE, THE SMALL SIGN, IT, IT'S FAIRLY CLOSE TO THE ROAD AND, BUT IT'S A SMALLER SIGN AND, YOU KNOW, UM, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A SIGN THIS BIG, BEING CLOSE TO THE ROAD AND HAVING, AGAIN, I, I FREQUENT THIS LOCATION COMING OUT.
UM, I USUALLY COME OUT THROUGH THE WING NUT, RIGHT WHERE THIS MONUMENT SIGN CURRENTLY IS.
THAT'S USUALLY MY EXIT FROM THERE.
AND I ALWAYS KNOW IT'S KIND OF A PAIN TURNING, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THOSE CARS ARE ZOOMING AND IT'S KIND OF HARD TO SEE SOME OF THOSE BECAUSE OF THAT ANGLE.
I WONDER OF A MONUMENT SIGN THIS LARGE, IT'S GONNA CREATE EVEN A BIGGER VISIBILITY ISSUE AND A SAFETY ISSUE OF SEEING THE CAR.
SO I'M WONDERING, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING HOW FAR FROM THE ROAD IS THAT REQUIRED TO BE? OR IS THIS PLAN SPECIFY THAT? OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE IN THE ORDINANCE THAT KEEPS THAT? YEAH, I MEAN, WE HAVE, WE HAVE VISIBILITY OBSTRUCTION, UM, STANDARDS AND SITE LINES.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE TRIED TO RECALL THOSE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
BUT I MEAN, IT'S USUALLY ABOUT A 45 FOOT FROM THE INTERSECTION WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE THE RIGHT TURN.
FOR INSTANCE, HERE, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CREATE A SITE LINE OBSTRUCTION.
AND SO AS, AS BRENT AND THE BUILDING INSPECTION TEAM WENT TO PERMIT THIS, THEY WOULD CONFIRM, UM, THE SETBACKS AND ALL THE SITE LINES WERE, WERE, UM, ADHERED TO.
I, I DON'T KNOW THE APPLICANT, YOU DON'T HAVE A EXACT SETBACK, RIGHT? WE, WE'VE GONE OUT AND I KNOW THE CITY DOES HAVE SETBACK REQUIREMENTS.
WE'VE GONE OUT AND MEASURED IT OURSELVES AND TAKEN A LOOK AT, AT THOSE EXACT THINGS.
ONE, JUST, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO CREATE ANY TYPE OF, UH, SAFETY HAZARD.
AND SO, UM, I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT THE PROPOSAL LOCATION, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT, UH, DIMENSIONS OR ANYTHING ON ME AT THE MOMENT, BUT I, I DO FEEL CONFIDENT THAT IT WOULD NOT PRESENT ANY TYPE OF HAZARD.
AND, UH, TO KIND OF FOLLOW UP WITH THE COUNCILMAN HUTCHIN WRITER SAID, I TOO HAVE MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SIGN.
UH, I, I LOVE THE IDEA OF THE PEDESTRIAN DIRECTORY SIGN.
I LOVE THAT YOU'RE GOING, UH, ELECTRONIC MESSAGING ON THAT, THE MONUMENT SIGN.
I DO HAVE CONCERNS THAT WE WANNA GO TWO AND A HALF SI TWO AND A HALF TIMES WHAT IS CURRENTLY ALLOWED.
UH, WE CURRENTLY ALLOW, SAY 80 DOUBLE, WHAT'S THAT? WE'RE GOING FROM 80 TO 200 SQUARE FEET, MAXIMUM SIZE.
AM I READING THAT PROPERLY? CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
OKAY, SO WE'RE GOING TWO AND A HALF TIMES, UH, 131 A HUNDRED.
WHAT IS MY MOUTH THERE? 'CAUSE UH, DOUBLE WOULD BE ONE 60.
HUH? THAT'S THE S THE ELECTRONIC SIGN? NO, NO, NO, NO.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THE, UH, MONUMENT.
OH, SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE TALKING THE EL SIGN.
I, UH, BACK IN THE BUDGET TALKS.
UM, SO I AM, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
AND WE'RE GOING FROM EIGHT FEET MAXIMUM HEIGHT TO 17 FEET, FIVE INCHES.
I MEAN, THAT'S A HUGE JUMP WE'RE ASKING FOR ON THESE MONUMENT SIGNS.
UH, SO I'M, I'M STRUGGLING WITH THAT.
UH, I LOVE THE IDEA OF THE, UH, THE DIRECTORY SIGNS.
[02:10:02]
I DEFINITELY KNOW ON THE, ON THE DIGITAL WALL SIGN, AND I'M LEANING TOWARDS, NO, ON THE MONUMENT SIDE, JUST BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A BIG JUMP.UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
YOU KNOW, ONE, I HAVE TO AGREE WITH COUNCILMAN HUTCHIN RIDER ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC SIDE SIGN UP TOP AND IF THAT COULD BE A DISRUPTION.
UM, HOWEVER, ON THE MONUMENT SIGN AND THE PEDESTRIAN KIOSK SIGNS INTERNALLY, I THINK THOSE ARE, UH, POTENTIALLY ESPECIALLY THE, THE PEDESTRIAN SIGNAGE AND MONUMENTS, I THINK THOSE ARE GOOD FOR NAVIGATING.
IF YOU'RE IN THERE AND YOU PARK AND YOU WALK AROUND AND YOU'RE TRYING TO LOCATE, UH, A, A RESTAURANT OR, OR A VENDOR, THE QUESTION, COUPLE QUESTIONS I HAVE ON THE MONUMENT IS, IS THAT'S 12 ON EACH SIDE, OR JUST 12 TOTAL SINGLE-SIDED.
AND WHERE IT'S BEING LO UH, OR WHERE IT'S PROPOSED TO BE INSTALLED IS THAT YOU CAN ONLY SEE THE SIGNAGE FROM ONE DIRECTION? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND THAT MEANS IT'S A ONE SINCE THE ACCESS ROAD IS ONE WAY RIGHT THERE.
UM, SO YOU'RE ONLY CATCHING THE ONE SIDE OF THE TRAFFIC.
DO YOU NEED BOTH SIDES TO BE EXPOSED? I MEAN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE 20, I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY, UH, TENANTS ARE IN THIS BUILDING, BUT, UM, YOU HAVE ENOUGH ROOM, WELL, ON THIS PROPOSED PLAN, YOU HAVE ROOM FOR 12 TENANTS TO PROMOTE THEIR BUSINESS, OR I SAY PROMOTE IT JUST TO AT LEAST DISPLAY IT.
YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE THE SIGNAGE, YOU KNOW, UNLESS YOU DRIVE RIGHT UP TO THE BUILDINGS, OR YOU CAN SEE LIKE FROST AND A FEW OTHERS THAT HAVE SOME LARGER SIGNAGE.
BUT, UH, IS THIS SIGN DEVELOPED, UH, OR DESIGNED WHERE BOTH SIDES COULD BE ILLUMINATED FOR, FOR 24 TENANTS? IT IS NOT.
UM, AND I THINK THAT IT'S JUST TOO, TOO FAR, UH, FROM CAMPBELL ROAD.
AND SO IF WE WERE, YOU KNOW, IF THIS SIGN WAS, IF WE WERE TALKING ABOUT PUTTING A SIGN ON CAMPBELL ROAD, THEN IT WOULD ABSOLUTELY BE, UH, TWO-SIDED.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S, YOU KNOW, ANYONE THAT'S LOOKING, UH, BACK SOUTH RIGHT THERE IS, YOU KNOW, MAYBE FOR, YOU KNOW, THE BRIEF SECOND THAT YOU'RE, THAT YOU'RE PASSING OVER FROM CAMPBELL ROAD AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE, YOU KNOW, ABLE TO SEE THAT FAR AND, UM, AT THAT DISTANCE.
AND SO WE HAVE NOT, UH, HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT.
UM, WHAT, WHAT IS THE, UH, THE THICKNESS OF THE SIGN? IT SAYS THERE'S A 12 INCH CONCRETE SLAB, SO I'M GUESSING IT'S ABOUT EIGHT TO 10 INCHES AND WIDTH, CORRECT? YEAH, I THINK IT'S, UH, GONNA BE ROUGHLY A FOOT, BUT I CAN A FULL FIT.
AND, UH, WHAT IS THE SIGN MADE OF? IS IT, IS IT METAL, STEEL, ALUMINUM? ALUMINUM, AND, UM, LET'S SEE, ALUMINUM PANELS AND CONCRETE BASE.
UM, AND THEN IT WILL BE BACK LIT AS WELL.
AND SO THE EAST SIDE, UH, WILL BE LIT WITH THOSE WHITE STRIPES DOWN THE SIDE.
AND A POLY, UH, CLEAR OR NOT CLEAR, BUT OPAQUE, I GUESS? CORRECT.
UM, WOULD YOU, WOULD, WOULD YOU CONSIDER REDUCING THE HEIGHT OF THE SIGN? RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE IT 17 AND A HALF FEET BY 13, I UNDERSTAND WHERE IT'S GOING.
UM, IT APPEARS THAT THERE'S ENOUGH SPACE THERE, BUT IF YOU WERE, IF WE WERE TO CONSIDER THIS, WOULD YOU, HAS THIS ALREADY BEEN, THIS HASN'T BEEN BUILT, IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST CONCEPTUAL, CORRECT.
SO IT CAN BE MANUFACTURED INTO WHATEVER SIZE.
WOULD THAT BE A CONSIDERATION? IT, IT WOULD BE.
WE'RE, UM, WE'RE JUST LOOKING TO YEAH.
YEAH, I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE SIZE COMMENT THOUGH, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS, UH, QUITE A JUMP FROM WHAT THE CODE CURRENTLY ALLOWS.
UH, BUT IN MY OPINION, THE CODE WAS ALSO DESIGNED FOR YOUR MORE TRADITIONAL, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOOD RETAIL STRIP CENTERS BEING THE ONES THAT ARE GENERALLY DEVELOPED IN THE 10,000 TO 20,000, MAYBE 30,000 SQUARE FEET.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THREE TO FIVE TIMES, YOU KNOW, THREE TO 10 TIMES LARGER THAN WHAT YOUR NORMAL, AND I'M ONLY, WHEN I SAY THREE TO 10 TIMES, I'M ONLY TALKING ABOUT OUR RETAIL COMPONENT AT EAST SIDE.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK UP AND DOWN CAMPBELL ROAD, YOU'LL SEE, YOU KNOW, MOST PROPERTIES FALL, UH, MOST RETAIL SHOPPING CENTERS ARE GONNA BE UNDER 30,000 SQUARE FEET.
SO, UM, THAT'S THE REASON THAT WE FEEL, YOU KNOW, AN EXCEPTION, UH, COULD BE LOOKED AT HERE IN, UM,
[02:15:01]
17 FEET, UH, JUST 200 SQUARE FEET OF SIGNAGE.I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT CAN FEEL LARGE.
UM, BUT I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT IF YOU GO DRIVE AROUND AND, UH, LOOK AT AS MANY SHOPPING CENTERS AS I DO, UH, YOU'LL START TO REALIZE THAT, UH, THERE, IT'S, IT'S NOT AN ABNORMALLY LARGE SIGN AND ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE, UH, THE SIZE OF THIS PROPERTY.
UM, ON THE, UH, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT, THE, THE, UH, PEDESTRIAN SIGN OR SIGNAGE ALSO.
UM, I'M, I'M ASSUMING IT'S, IT'S MADE FROM PRETTY MUCH THE SAME MATERIAL.
I COULDN'T HARDLY READ THE, HERE IT IS.
WELL, NO, ANYWAY, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ALSO A ALUMINUM FRAME WITH AN LED SCREEN, CORRECT? YES.
SO SIMILAR TO IF YOU GO TO, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO TO THE MALL YEAH.
AND THEY HAVE THE, THE TOUCH KIOSK THERE THAT TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE AND SHOW THE, THE PURPOSE HERE IS HAVING THREE OF THESE LOCATED, UH, ONE AT EACH END OF THE, EACH END OF THE PARK, AND THEN ONE, UH, OUTSIDE OF THE, UH, THE MAIN PARKING GARAGE.
ARE WE ABLE TO, IF, IF WE, IF SOMEONE ENDS UP MAKING A MOTION ON THIS, DO WE, WOULD WE BE ABLE TO, UH, POTENTIALLY SUPPORT THE PEDESTRIAN PI OR KIOSK, UM, MAYBE MODIFICATIONS ON THE SIGN WITHOUT THE, WITHOUT THE LED SCREEN? YES.
THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE.
UM, MAYOR COUNSEL, JUST TO THE ADVOCATE'S POINT, I, I, I, UM, KIND A SIMILAR SIGN THAT YOU MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH.
AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF, UH, CAMPBELL AND US 75.
THE SHOP COMPANIES REDEVELOPED THAT, UM, YOU MAY RECALL, UM, EXCUSE ME, THEY HAVE A MONUMENT SIGN, UM, WHO ACTUALLY HAS TWO ADDITIONAL, UM, SPACES FOR TENANT SIGNAGE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MY, MY GUESS WOULD BE IT'S PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, 18 TO 20 FEET TALL.
SO JUST KIND OF TO YOUR, TO THE APPLICANT'S POINT ABOUT THE SCALE OF THE, OF THE SHOPPING CENTER AND THE TOTAL SQUARE FEET, THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE CLOSEST THING THAT WE COULD, UM, YOU KNOW, CITY LAND'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BEAST.
THIS WOULD PROBABLY BE THE CLOSEST THING THAT WE COULD KIND OF DRAW AN ANALOGY TO.
JUST KIND OF TRYING TO MAKE THE, UH, KIND OF GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF THE POINT THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE.
WHERE'S THAT ONE LOCATED? IT'S, UM, AT THE CORNER.
IT, SO IT'S, UM, EVERY, IT STARTS WITH SPIN PIZZA, UH, AND WORKS ITS WAY AROUND, ALL THE WAY DOWN, UM, TO FIRST WATCH THAT'S, UH, CAMPBELL CREEK, UH, REDONE, UM, JUST PRIOR TO COVID BY THE SHOP COMPANIES.
AND, UH, AGAIN, A SIGN WITH 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 16, UM, SPACES WITHIN THE SIGN FOR TENANTS.
AND, UH, MY GUESS, UH, PROBABLY JUST A LITTLE BIT LESS OVERALL SQUARE FEET HERE.
AND THEN PROBABLY AT EAST SIDE AGAIN, JUST FOR COMPARE COMPARISON PURPOSES.
IS THAT ONE ON THE SERVER? IT'S ON CAMPBELL.
IT'S ON CAMPBELL SPIN CLOSER TO SPIN.
UM, UH, NO, ACTUALLY IT'S CLOSER TO THIS ENTRANCE THAT YOU, UH, SNUFFERS.
I, I, I'LL THROW IN A, I GUESS A COUPLE COMMENTS HERE.
UM, NOT TO CREATE, UH, A DIVISION AMONGST THE COUNCIL, I'M NOT TOTALLY OPPOSED TO THE, UH, VIDEO BOARD, UH, BECAUSE OF THE QUALITY OF VIDEO BOARDS NOWADAYS.
UM, THEY LOOK LIKE THE, OR BETTER THAN YOUR TVS IN YOUR ROOM IN MANY CASES.
UM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE PIXEL IS OR IS IT A, WHAT MILLIMETER THAT BOARD IS THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT? IS IT 10 MILLIMETER OR BETTER, OR? IT'S A 16 MILLIMETER, BUT, UH, 16, WE CAN CERTAINLY, AND I KNOW, UM, THAT'S WHAT WAS RECOMMENDED TO US JUST BASED ON THE, THE VIEWING DISTANCE AND THE TYPE OF IMAGERY THAT WOULD GO ON IT.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAPPY TO, UH, YOU KNOW, INCREASE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU NEED ANYTHING BETTER THAN 16 MILLIMETER, BUT I WILL SAY THAT A A 10 MILLIMETER IS BECOMING MORE THE STANDARD FOR A LOT OF THEM.
THEY'RE NOT AS GRAINY AND MAY BE EASIER TO READ IF IT, IF THIS COUNCIL WERE TO APPROVE SUCH A THING.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE TRY TO BE USER FRIENDLY, BUSINESS FRIENDLY AS A COUNCIL AND EVERYTHING YOU'VE SHOWN, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT YOU'RE REALLY TRYING TO IMPROVE THE OCCUPANCY AND PROVIDE INCENTIVE FOR BUSINESSES
[02:20:01]
TO JOIN YOU.WHAT IS YOUR PERCENTAGE NOW? YOU WERE AT, AT 50% WHEN YOU PURCHASED IT, AND YOU'RE NOW AT 92, IS THAT CORRECT? 90.
WE ACTUALLY JUST SIGNED A LEASE, UH, LAST WEEK FOR THE FORMER T-MOBILE SPACE.
SO THAT HAS NOW BUMPED US TO 94% WITH, UH, ONE VACANCY ON THE SECOND FLOOR.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S FOR THE THREE, UH, RETAIL SPECIFIC BUILDINGS THERE.
UH, I THINK M MA A WITH THE APARTMENTS AND THEIR RETAIL ON THE GROUND FLOOR, I BELIEVE THEY'RE AROUND 75% LEASE THERE.
SO ANY OR ALL OF THE SIGNS, THE INTENT IS TO HELP ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR TENANTS AND BRING BUSINESS IN, WHICH IN TURNS HELPS EVERYONE.
NOBODY, I THINK AS A CUSTOMER OR AS A TENANT, YOU KNOW, THE BUSINESS OWNER, I DON'T THINK, YOU KNOW, REALLY ONLY ENJOYS GOING TO A PROPERTY THAT'S 50%, HALF OF THE, THE SPACES ARE EMPTY.
GOING BACK TO YOUR VIDEO BOARD OR MARQUES, WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT, WHO REALLY SEES IT? IS IT ONLY 75 OR IS IT FACING TO THE NORTH IN SUCH A FASHION THAT ANYONE ON THE CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF CAMPBELL AND SERVICE ROAD BACK THERE IS GONNA SEE IT? OR IS THAT RIGHT THERE? IS THAT ON THE CORNER OF CAMPBELL? SO THE SOUTH EAST CORNER, IS THAT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE SERVICE ROAD IN CAMPBELL? SO IF YOU LOOK IN THE BOTTOM LEFT IMAGE HERE WITH THE SIDE PLANE, THERE MIGHT BE AN AERIAL VERSION OF IT.
UH, IF YOU CAN SEE RIGHT HERE.
SO CAMPBELL ROAD, THE INTERSECTION IS UP THERE ON THE TOP OF THE SCREEN.
UH, THE ENTRANCE TO THE PROPERTY FROM THE ACCESS ROAD.
UM, AND SO IT'S RIGHT THERE WHERE THAT B IS, IF THAT, UH, BUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WHO CAN SEE IT? SO IF YOU WERE RIGHT BENEATH IT, IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE ROUGHLY 40 FEET UP IN THE AIR.
AND SO OF COURSE, SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, COULD STAND THERE AND LOOK STRAIGHT UP, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA BE IN ANYONE'S, YOU KNOW, NORMAL, REGULAR VISUAL LINE OF SIGHT.
UM, IF YOU WERE DRIVING, UH, ALONG THE ACCESS ROAD HERE BECAUSE OF THE DART RAIL, AND SO IN THE, IN THIS IMAGE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT, UM, THE TOP LEFT CORNER OF IT, YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE BIT, LITTLE PIECE OF CONCRETE THERE.
WELL IT SAYS WEST ELEVATION DOWN THERE.
I I, OKAY, I KNOW WHERE IT'S AT.
AND SO, UH, IF YOU'RE SITTING THERE, STREET LEVEL ON THE ACCESS ROAD, UH, THAT THAT DART RAIL IS, IS GONNA BE BLOCKING, UM, GONNA BE BLOCKING IT, AND THEN, UM, SO TO MY UNDERSTANDING, YES, IT IS ONLY VISIBLE REALLY FROM 75.
OKAY, MR. CHU, THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR.
I, I THINK THIS, THIS AREA IS VERY CHALLENGING, YOU KNOW, AREA.
IT CAN REALLY SEE TOO MUCH RIGHT NOW IF YOU DRIVE AROUND THE SERVICE ROAD.
UH, I'M NOT TOO CONCERNED ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE SIGN THAT YOU HAVE ON THE GROUND THAT PROPOSING, THAT'S PRETTY STANDARD WHEN YOU DRIVE ALONG THE SERVICE ROAD WITH THAT DISTANCE AND THAT SIZE PROPORTION IS VERY REALLY IT'S TYPICAL SIZE, UH, RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH IT'S WAY MORE THAN THE STANDARD ALLOWED RIGHT NOW, BUT IF YOU PUT, IT'S NOT UNUSUAL SIGN, IT'S NOT GOING TO STAND OUT LIKE A HUGE SIGN IN FRONT OF US.
UH, BUT YES, SO WHENEVER YOU PUT THOSE SIGN, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS SIGN, UH, FOLLOWS THOSE, THE SIDE DISTANCE, THAT SAFETY SIDE, DISTANCE MADE, ALL THAT TRIANGLE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T CAUSE ANY PROBLEM.
WE HAVE, WE DO HAVE SOME RULES, BUT SOMETIMES STILL, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME TREE THAT WE HAVE PLANTED IN THE PAST.
UH, THOSE HAS GROWN BIGGER AND THOSE ARE CAUSING PROBLEM, YOU KNOW, SAFETY ISSUE RIGHT NOW.
ONE OF THEM IS COLLINS AND 75 SERVICE ROAD.
WHEN YOU TRY TO COME FROM THE WEST SIDE, IT'S VERY, YOU KNOW, DIFFICULT TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN WHEN YOU HAVE LINE OF TREE THAT'S BLOCKING YOUR VIEW COMING.
SO, BUT THIS IS NOT GOING TO REALLY CAUSE THAT PROBLEM.
UH, BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, YOU'RE NOT PUTTING THE SIGN SO THAT WHEN SOMEONE TRIED TO GET OUT FROM THE SERVICE, YOU KNOW, FROM THE SIDE OF THE SERVICE ROAD, IT DOES NOT BLOCK THE VIEW, UH, OF A TRAFFIC THAT'S COMING.
I DON'T KNOW THE TRAFFIC, UH, SPEED LIMIT PROBABLY 35, UH, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
[02:25:01]
SPEED.AND THEN PEOPLE DO DRIVE MORE THAN THAT, YOU KNOW, 45, 50 EVENTS, THAT'S WHEN THEY GET STOPPED ALSO.
SO, SO THOSE I DON'T HAVE, I THINK THOSE ARE IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO NEED TO ADVERTISE SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE.
BUT THE OTHER ONE, THAT VIDEO BOARD THAT YOU HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, I GUESS ONCE YOU, ONCE IT IS ALLOWED, YOU CAN'T REALLY CONTROL WHAT THEY PUT OUT THERE BECAUSE YOU ARE STOPPING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO WE ARE CROSSING, PROBABLY THE LAWYER CAN SPEAK ABOUT THAT MORE, UH, YOU KNOW, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THIS THING YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT OTHER THAN THE 75.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANT TO ATTRACT PEOPLE SUDDENLY LOOK ON THE RIGHT SIDE, WHILE THEY SHOULD BE DRIVING STRAIGHT, LOOKING AT AHEAD, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD CAUSE ANY TRAFFIC ISSUE BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT KNOW WHAT OUT THERE, UH, WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING EVEN LITTLE BIT BEHIND, BUT AS SOON AS YOU COME TO THE POINT, SOMETHING MIGHT FLASH AND YOU MIGHT LOOK ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
UH, THIS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, ADVERTISEMENT IS, UH, IT'S A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING, BUT IF YOU HAVE A LINE ENOUGH THINGS THAT YOU HAVE ALONG 75 UP THERE CLOSE TO THE DOWNTOWN OR WALNUT AREA, THOSE ARE LIKE YOU SAY, CONS, YOU KNOW, CONTINUOUS THINGS.
SO YOU GET USED TO SEEING, BUT SUDDENLY IF YOU, I DON'T KNOW HOW EFFECTIVE THAT THING AND HOW, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT RETURN OF INVESTMENT, EVEN IF IT'S GONNA BE, UH, IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY YOU COULD DO THINGS INSTEAD OF PUTTING A SIGN OUT THERE, WHICH IT NOT EVEN MIGHT BE, UH, EFFECTIVE.
AND WE ARE, WE ARE DISCUSSING THAT THING THAT'S EVEN DOESN'T HAVE ANY EFFECT NO MATTER WHAT YOU PUT OUT THERE.
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT? LOOKED AT THAT? WE, WE HAVE, UH, WE'VE LOOKED AT A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT, UH, DIFFERENT OPTIONS.
UM, I THINK FOR ONE, THE, THE SIGN THE INTENT HERE ISN'T TO, TO PUT UP A SIGN THAT'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, UH, DISTRACTING OR, YOU KNOW, TRY TO CATCH EVERYONE'S ATTENTION AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AT THE BRIGHTEST COLORS.
IT'S, UH, REALLY, YOU KNOW, NO DIFFERENT THAN, YOU KNOW, THE THOUSANDS OF JUST STATIC SHINES THAT YOU WOULD SEE DRIVING UP AND DOWN 75.
UH, WITH THE DIFFERENCE BEING THAT IT, YOU KNOW, WE FEEL HAVING IT AS DIGITAL, YOU KNOW, IS A LITTLE BIT MORE MODERN TODAY THAN HAVING JUST A STANDARD SHINE.
BUT IT ALSO ALLOWS US THE, THE FLEXIBILITY TO THEN, YOU KNOW, CYCLE THROUGH DIFFERENT TENANTS AND NOT IN A FLASHY TYPE OF, UH, TYPE OF MANNER.
I THINK THAT THE CODE ALLOWS FOR IT TO CHANGE ONCE EVERY FOUR MINUTES.
UM, WE, WE DID EXPLORE LOOKING AT SEEING IF WE COULD DO LIKE A TYPE OF MONUMENT, UH, THAT WOULD BE ATTACHED IN THAT SAME POSITION.
UM, YOU KNOW, WITH HAVING DIFFERENT PANELS, IF YOU CAN KIND OF VISUALIZE THE, THE MONUMENT THAT WE, UH, HAVE ON THE OTHER SLIDE THERE AND JUST TAKING SOME OF THOSE PANELS AND, YOU KNOW, FITTING MAYBE FOUR AND FOUR, AND THEN THAT WAY YOU'RE, UH, YOU'RE HAVING THE EXPOSURE, UH, BUT AGAIN, IT'S, UM, NOT QUITE SO EASY TO GO CHANGE OUT PANELS, UM, YOU KNOW, UP THERE 40 FEET HIGH JUST FOR A, A TENDON INSERT.
AND, UH, AGAIN, WE JUST FELT THIS WAS A, A MORE ELEVATED LOOK THAN BRINGING SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO Y'ALL.
BUT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, THE VISION NEED TO BE LIKE FROM RIGHT ANGLE, OR MAYBE YOU COULD BE OFF A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, I I, I DON'T WANT, YOU KNOW, I DEFINITELY, ONE THING I WANT THAT YOUR BUSINESS, THIS, YOU KNOW, NEED TO BE SUCCESS, UH, BECAUSE YOUR SUCCESS IS BASICALLY OUR CITY'S SUCCESS AND EVERYBODY HAS THAT THING IN THEIR MIND.
BUT SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, IF SOMETHING THAT'S NOT EFFECTIVE AND THAT COULD CAUSE SOME OTHER THING, THAT'S WHERE THE CONCERN IS.
I MEAN, THIS IS NOT, IF THIS WAS LITTLE ANGLED, YOU COULD SEE, BUT WITH THAT ANGLE IS, I, I DON'T SEE WHEN THAT'S MUCH, UH, EFFECTIVE.
BUT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S JUST MY OPINION BESIDES THE CONTENT, UH, IF WE, WHAT WE THINK TODAY IS INAPPROPRIATE, TOMORROW PROBABLY IS GONNA BE APPROPRIATE.
TOMORROW, SOMETHING APPROPRIATE TODAY IS PROBABLY NOT APPROPRIATE.
UH, SO, UH, I'LL JUST LEAVE IT THERE, BUT I DON'T HAVE CONCERN ABOUT THAT OTHER TWO SIGN IF YOU CAN, UH, SURE, LIKE FOLLOW SOME OF THE CODE, UH, VERY STRICTLY, CAREFULLY, BECAUSE HUMAN MISTAKE HAPPEN AND THAT'S WHY SOMETIMES SOME SIGN END UP SOMEWHERE, EVEN THE CODE ALLOWS, AND THAT'S WHY YOU SEE THAT YOUR OTHER SIGN HAS, YOU KNOW, TRAFFIC HAD CAUSED SOME TROUBLE WITH THE SIGN THAT YOU HAD BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE, AND, UH, IT END UP NOT TO BE SAFE BECAUSE NOT ALL THE TIME, IF YOU FOLLOW THE CODE, IT'S GOING TO BE SAFE.
WE UPDATE CODE, THAT'S HOW WE GO, WE
[02:30:01]
PROGRESS.I THINK, UH, I'LL JUST LEAVE THAT AT THAT POINT.
YOU, I GUESS IN SO FAR AS IT'S JUST A MATTER OF, OF TASTE.
I MEAN, I DON'T REALLY SEE TOO MUCH OF AN ISSUE.
I MEAN, WITH, WITH ANY OF THE PROPOSALS, UM, YEAH, I'M JUST, AS LONG AS WE'RE GIVEN OUR OPINIONS AS WELL, I REALLY DON'T SEE, I DON'T KNOW.
I MEAN, IT DOESN'T LOOK PARTICULARLY BIG FROM THE ROAD.
MAYBE IT, IT'S A LITTLE GAUDY, BUT IT'S NOT OVERBEARING.
SO I MEAN, I GUESS INSOFAR AS ALSO JUST A MORE OR LESS SUBJECTIVE OPINION, I MEAN, I DON'T THINK IT'S, MY OPINION IS, I, I DON'T THINK IT'S PARTICULARLY BAD AND I'D BE IN SUPPORT OF IT.
MR. BURRIS, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT? OKAY, MR. HUT, WRITER, IF THERE'S NO OTHER COMMENTS, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION.
I DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY BEFORE WE MOVE ON? WELL, I WOULD SAY, UM, FOR, I KNOW MR. MAGNA, YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE'S NOT THE ABILITY TO, UH, SET ANY TYPE OF STANDARDS FOR, FOR WHAT CAN BE DISPLAYED THERE.
UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, A POLICY THAT, UH, MAYBE IT'S FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATION, I'M NOT SURE.
UH, BUT FOR US AS THE LANDLORD, WE, WE DO HAVE THE RIGHTS TO BE ABLE TO MONITOR THAT AND DICTATE THAT.
AND SO, UM, IF THERE WAS A WAY WE COULD GO ABOUT IT, UH, WHEN YOU ASKED THE QUESTION EARLIER, MR. MAYOR, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WOULD WE BE ALLOWING ADVERTISEMENTS OF, YOU KNOW, HEY, HAPPY HOUR FROM 3:00 PM TO 5:00 PM TODAY, UH, YOU KNOW, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, THAT THAT HAD NOT COME UP.
WE HADN'T GOTTEN FAR ENOUGH ALONG TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE EXACT CONTENT THAT WE'RE GOING TO ALLOW ON HERE.
UM, BUT I DO THINK THAT IT'S SOMETHING, UM, WHERE WE, I I, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT I WOULD HAVE FULL SUPPORT OF, UM, THE OTHER PARTIES INVOLVED HERE BEING THE OTHER LANDLORDS AND SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, LET'S JUST LIMIT IT TO ONLY, YOU KNOW, THE NAMES OF BUSINESSES AND IF WE WERE ALLOWED TO DOING, UH, YOU KNOW, THE OCCASIONAL, UH, PROMOTIONAL EVENTS THAT TAKE PLACE AT THE PROPERTY AND WITHOUT ANY TYPE OF, YOU KNOW, SPECIALTY ADVERTISING TAKING PLACE UP THERE, EVEN IF IT IS FOR THE TENANT.
SO, UM, IF THERE'S A WAY TO INCLUDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE, WE WOULD BE AGREEABLE AS WELL.
I HAVE A QUESTION REAL QUICK, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
PLEASE JUST, I MEAN, JUST A, A QUESTION AND ALSO A COMMENT.
I MEAN, THEORETICALLY, IF YOU WERE TO PUT HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS UP THERE OR SOMETHING, WE COULD, WE COULD, LIKE MANY OF OUR OTHER MODIFICATIONS COME BACK AND RESEND THE WORK WE'VE APPROVED, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT PERMANENT BY ANY MEANS.
SO, SO ONCE YOU MAKE THIS DECISION, THAT'S, THAT'S THAT THIS IS A MASTER SIGN PLAN? YES, SIR.
MR. RE, MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MASTER SIGN PLAN ON 14.87 ACRES LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY IN EAST CAMPBELL ROAD APPROVING OPTIONS A AND C, BUT NOT APPROVING OPTION B, WHICH IS THE ATTACHED ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SIGN.
MRS. JUSTICE SECOND GOT A MOTION AND A SECOND.
ALL IN FAVOR OF THAT PROPOSAL.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND WE HAVE A VOTE, AND WE HAVE ACCEPTED THAT TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO, STEWART, I THINK YOU GOT YOUR MARCHING ORDER, SIR.
[9. CONSENT AGENDA]
ALRIGHTY, GANG.THAT BRINGS US TO ITEM NUMBER NINE, CONSENT AGENDA.
MRS. JUSTICE, MOTION TO APPROVE IS PUBLISHED.
GOT A MOTION TO APPROVE MR. HUTCHIN, WRITER.
WE GOT A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
ALL IN FAVOR, SHOW OF HANDS, PLEASE PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
[10. REPORT ON ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST]
ITEM NUMBER 10, REPORT ON ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST.ANYONE HAVE EXCITING THINGS THEY'D LIKE TO SHARE? MR. BARRIOS? THANK YOU, MAYOR.
LAST THURSDAY, UH, NOT ONLY WAS IT MY BIRTHDAY, BUT THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF, UH, RICHARDSON HAD THEIR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM A PARTY.
AND, UH, I KNOW SEVERAL OF US WERE, I THINK MOST OF US WERE IN ATTENDANCE.
WE WERE ALL THERE, BUT I THINK MOST OF US WERE THERE.
UM, AND OF COURSE, UM, ASSISTANT CHIEF, UH, EWT IS VERY INVOLVED WITH BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, AND IT, IT'S AMAZING TO SEE THE WORK THEY DO IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND AS A FORMER CLUB KID, MYSELF AS A KID, I JUST ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT AND I APPRECIATE WHAT THEY DO, UH, FOR THE ENTIRE CITY, BUT SPECIFICALLY IN PLACE THREE AS WELL, SINCE THEY'RE LOCATED JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM MY HOUSE.
[02:35:01]
THE HONOR OF, UM, REPRESENTING YOU AND THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE INDIAN AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL WHERE I, WHERE I, UM, WHERE I PRESENTED PROCLAMATION ON YOUR BEHALF.AND I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW PUBLICLY THAT THEY WERE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THE WORDS AND THE PROCLAMATION, AND THEY, THEY SEND THEIR REGARDS.
AND THANKS TO YOU AND THE ENTIRE COUNCIL FOR THAT.
APPRECIATE YOU REPRESENTING US, MRS. JUSTICE.
YEAH, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE EISEN CENTER EARLIER.
I JUST WANNA, UH, CONGRATULATE, UM, ALI ON A GREAT PROGRAM.
THEY WERE ON THEIR, I WENT, IT WAS THEIR LAST CONCERT ON THEIR US TOUR BEFORE GOING HOME TO THE UK.
AND, UM, THEY WERE REALLY FANTASTIC AND AN AWESOME, UM, ACAPELLA GROUP AND, UM, GREAT CHRISTMAS PROGRAMMING.
AND, UH, THERE'S ANOTHER GREAT CHRISTMAS PROGRAM COMING UP DECEMBER 28TH.
UH, YOU CAN STILL GET TICKETS FOR THANK YOU, MAYOR PROTO.
WELL, THERE IS A SMALL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
UH, WE OFTEN FORGET, I DON'T FORGET, UH, THE COUNTRY NAME IS BANGLADESH.
TODAY IS THEIR, UH, UH, VICTORY DAY.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S A SMALL COUNTRY AND THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR, UH, UM, DEMOCRACY.
UH, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN THE DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM, SO STILL, STILL THERE STRUGGLING, UH, BUT THEY'RE MAINTAINING THE PATH.
SO JUST WANTED TO SAY CONGRATULATION TO THEM.
UH, AND BESIDES THAT, UH, I ATTENDED, UM, MANY OF US ATTENDED, UH, YOU KNOW, MR. MAYOR YOU ATTENDED AND
INT HOSTED A, UH, UH, ROBOTICS COMPETITION.
AND, UH, MY MOM USED TO TELL ME ALWAYS, I STILL TELL THIS THING TO MY KIDS, THAT IF YOU WANT TO BE A ROOM, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE NOT THE SMARTEST ONE.
AND THAT DAY I WAS DEFINITELY NOT THE SMART ONE.
THEY, THEY WERE THERE, AND THEY ARE, THEY'RE THE ONE ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, I OFTEN SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS WORLD, WE ARE NOT REALLY MAKING OUR LIFE BETTER.
UH, BUT OUR MAIN FOCUS IS TO MAKE THE LIFE BETTER FOR THE FUTURE.
SO IF WE HAD TO SET UP ALL THIS TABLE AND CHAIR BY OURSELF TODAY AND HAVE THE MEETING, WE COULDN'T DO THAT.
SOMEBODY ELSE PREPARE ALL THIS THING.
SO, SO WE ARE ACTUALLY, WHATEVER WE ARE DOING TODAY, ACTUALLY, WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING IT FOR THE FUTURE.
UH, SO THAT'S HOW WE ARE PROGRESSING.
AND THOSE KIDS, THEY'RE MAKING THE ROBOTS TODAY.
UH, HOPEFULLY I CAN STILL ENJOY SOME OF THE ROBOT SERVICE.
UH, AND THEN IN THE EVENING, SATURDAY EVENING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BARRIO WENT TO THE INDIAN MUSLIM COUNCILS PROGRAM, AND I ATTENDED ANOTHER PROGRAM, SAME TIME.
UH, IT WAS A GROUP AGAIN, UH, UH, MAINLY FROM BANGLADESHI ORIGIN.
UH, THEY WERE RAISING FUND TO HELP ORPHANS AND, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, AROUND THE WORLD.
SO THEY'RE DOING GREAT JOB ALSO.
SO, UH, AND AGAIN, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, YOU KNOW, APPRECIATE EVERYONE, WHOEVER IS DOING TO HELP OTHERS WHEREVER THEY'RE SITTING OR WALKING OR WAITING.
AND THEN I APPRECIATE EVERYONE AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE.
AND WE JUST KNOW SOME, BUT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE THAT THEY'RE DOING IT.
AND SPEAKING OF HELPING EVERYONE, UH, WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY, UM, ACTUALLY MOST OF THE COUNCIL HERE, UH, MADE IT TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB ON THURSDAY, WHICH IS A VERY NICE EVENT.
I THINK THE CHILDREN WERE VERY HAPPY ABOUT GETTING OUR VILLE TO HAVE GIFTS AND SOME FOOD AND, AND, UH, OF COURSE OUR MAYOR, UH, DUBY HAD SPOKEN SOME REALLY GOOD WORDS THAT, UH, I THINK REALLY RESONATED WITH EVERYONE.
SO, UM, ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER WELL ATTENDED AND IN VALUABLE, UM, INSTITUTION THAT WE HAVE HERE IN RICHARDSON.
SO, AND DITTO ON EVERYTHING ELSE.
THANK YOU, MS. TREASURE WRITER
NOW, UM, UH, FIRST OFF, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO YOU MAYOR AND TO YOUR LOVELY WIFE FOR THE, UM, MAYOR BOB AND TAMMY DUBY, UH, CHRISTMAS PARTY WAS HELD HERE.
UM, UH, I, I KNOW YOU HOSTED IT, BUT THE CITY STAFF DID AN AMAZING JOB OF TURNING THIS ROOM INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND.
PART OF IT'S STILL OVER THERE IN THE CORNER.
MAY NOT BE ON CAMERA, BUT ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.
UM, AND SO I WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THAT.
AND THEN, UM, ON FRIDAY, COUNCILMAN DORIAN AND MYSELF HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ON THE, UH, COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION AWARDS PROGRAM COMMITTEE, UM, REVIEWING ALL OF THE SUBMITTALS.
AND I THINK THE COUNCIL WILL BE VERY, VERY PLEASED WHEN YOU SEE, UM, WHAT WAS SELECTED TO RECEIVE A COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION AWARD.
[02:40:01]
UM, I KNOW THAT'S COMING UP.I BELIEVE WE DO THAT IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY TIMEFRAME, JANUARY.
UM, AND SO I THINK YOU'LL BE VERY EXCITED.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY IT WAS MY HONOR TO, TO GET TO SERVE WITH COUNCILMAN DORIAN.
UM, REALLY APPRECIATED HIS INSIGHT.
UM, AND, AND JUST, IT WAS A REAL HONOR.
AND THANK YOU MAYOR FOR GIVING US THAT HONOR TO BE ABLE TO SERVE ON THAT COMMITTEE.
SO, AND WITH THAT, SINCE THIS IS THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING OF THE YEAR, I JUST WANNA WISH EVERYBODY A VERY MERRY S CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR.
HA UH, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND EVERY OTHER, PROBABLY HAPPY HANUKKAH AND MANY OTHERS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, JUST FOR THOSE OF US THAT ARE OLD ENOUGH, JOE, YOU DON'T WANNA BE INCLUDED.
HAPPY FESTIVUS RIGHT FROM THE SIGN.
DID YOU REMEMBER THAT? OKAY, I HAVE.
GOOD, I'LL PULL THAT BACK BOX SERIES THERE.
WELL, THEN I PULL THAT BACK, MY FRIEND.
I WILL, I WILL LEAVE THAT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
BUT ANYWAY, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND I HOPE EVERYBODY HAS SOME GREAT TIMES WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
UH, AS I MENTIONED IN OUR LAST COUNCIL MEETING, UH, THE PARKS COMMISSION HAD A SPECIAL CALL MEETING, UH, THIS PAST WEEK TO DISCUSS OUR AQUATICS MASTER PLAN.
UM, A LOT OF GOOD DISCUSSION JUST LIKE WE HAD.
AND SO I'M EXCITED, UH, NEXT YEAR FOR EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO SEE SORT OF THE RESULTS OF THAT.
UM, I THINK IT'LL, IT'LL HELP AFFIRM SOME OF THE DECISIONS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AND UM, ALSO PRESENT A COUPLE NEW PERSPECTIVES AS WELL.
I WILL JUST SAY HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO AND ALL THOSE SALUTATIONS TO
[EXECUTIVE SESSION]
EVERYONE.AT THIS TIME, WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION IN COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 5 51 0.00 8, 7 1, AND TWO OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENTAL CODE.
COUNSEL WILL CONVENE INTO A CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING DELIBERATION REGARDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS, COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, WEST RENER ROAD AND ALMA ROAD AREA.
THE TIME IS CURRENTLY 8 42 TO GIVE TIME FOR OUR PRESENTATION TO BE SET UP, LET'S SHOOT FOR EIGHT 50 TO RESTART.