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I'M COUNCILMAN JOHN CUR, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MUNICIPAL UTILITIES COMMITTEE.
WELCOME TO OUR MEETING FOR NOVEMBER 29TH.
UH, JUST SO WE ARE, WE'RE ALL KIND OF STARTING FROM THE SAME PAGE.
WE'VE ASKED YOU ALL TO COME TOGETHER AND LET US KNOW, UH, ABOUT YOUR PREPAREDNESS FOR THE UPCOMING WINTER SEASON.
KIND OF IN LINE WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHEN WE WENT THROUGH, UH, SUCH A, A TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE.
UH, I KNOW ALL OF US LEARNED A LOT FROM THAT.
WE'VE ASKED SAWS AND C P S AND THE CITY TO, UH, LOOK AT THEIR EMERGENCY OPERATION PLANS.
AND I KNOW ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO WE VISITED, UH, TO SEE HOW, UH, ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS WERE DOING, AND THIS IS, AGAIN, AN UPDATE TO MAKE SURE WE'RE PREPARED AGAIN THIS YEAR.
I KNOW THAT THERE WERE ADDITIONAL IDEAS OR, UH, PROGRAMS THAT WERE GOING TO BE INITIATED OVER THE LAST YEAR, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, IT WAS, UM, TRYING TO GET MORE SUPPORT INTO WATER FACILITIES TO MAKE SURE THE ENERGY WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE IF THEY NEEDED, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, WE'RE JUST HOPING RIGHT NOW TO GET AN UPDATE ON THOSE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES AND PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED BY BOTH SA C P S AND THE CITY.
SO THAT'S OUR PURPOSE IN MEETING TODAY.
UH, SO WE'LL BEGIN BY, UH, HAVING A CALL FOR ROLL CALL, PLEASE.
COUNCIL MEMBER MAKI RODRIGUEZ.
PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN IS HERE REMOTELY.
COUNCIL MEMBER CAVEO VARDA HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL CHAIR, COURAGE PRESENT.
AND WE WANNA, UH, WELCOME, UH, COUNCILMAN MCGEE RODRIGUEZ FOR JOINING US ON THE COMMITTEE.
AND, UH, WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY YOUR SERVICE HERE.
UH, LET'S GO AHEAD AND SEE IF WE HAVE, UH, ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MINUTES FROM
[Approval of Minutes ]
OUR OCTOBER 25TH MEETING.AND IF THERE ARE NONE, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A MOTION TO APPROVE THOSE MINUTES.
A MOTION'S BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 25TH.
AND YOU KNOW, ANY ABSTENTION?
COUNCILWOMAN, WOULD YOU GIVE US YOUR VERBAL APPROVAL ON MINUTES? THANK YOU.
[Briefing and Possible Action on the following items ]
GOING TO BE A PRESENTATION BY C P S.UH, IT'S A BRIEFING REGARDING THEIR, UH, PREPARATION FOR THE UPCOMING WINTER SEASON OPERATING CONDITIONS, INCLUDING POWER, PLANT GENERATION, GAS SYSTEM OPERATIONS, ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, AND CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION PLANS.
ALSO, WE UNDERSTAND THAT, UH, C P S ENERGY HAS A, A FULL BOARD MEETING THIS AFTERNOON, SO THEY WILL BE LEAVING, LEAVING AFTER THEIR PRESENTATION.
UH, BUT WE WILL BE, UH, INVITING A FEW QUESTIONS AND ANYTHING THAT, UH, WE THINK NEEDS AN EXTENDED, UH, VISIT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CONTACT C P S AND ASK THEM TO VISIT WITH US, MAYBE INDIVIDUALLY ABOUT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
BUT AT THIS POINT IN TIME, I'LL RECOGNIZE C P SS ENERGY TO MAKE THEIR PRESENTATION.
C P S ENERGY, AS YOU INDICATED, WE'VE GOT A BRIEF PRESENTATION ON OUR WINTER PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES.
WE'LL, WE'LL BEGIN BY TALKING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE WEATHER.
WE'LL MOVE THROUGH POWER GENERATION, WE'LL TALK ABOUT OUR TRANSMISSION DISTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES, GAS SOLUTIONS, AND, AND FINALLY, COMMUNICATIONS.
I WANTED TO TAKE A LOOK AT WEATHER TO GET THINGS STARTED.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE HAD A VERY CHALLENGING SUMMER, AND WE SET RECORDS FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.
OVER THAT SUMMER PERIOD, WE DIDN'T GET A LOT OF RAIN LOOKING AT FORECAST FOR THE FALL AND WINTER.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE STILL GONNA BE A LITTLE DRY AND WARMER THAN NORMAL, BUT WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT STILL LEAVES US OPEN TO POTENTIAL WEATHER EVENTS, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE PREPARED FOR.
AS WE LOOK AT OUR POWER GENERATION TEAM, THE GROUP FOCUSES IN THREE KEY AREAS, SAFETY, OPERATIONAL, PERFORMANCE, AND THEN EQUIPMENT.
AND AS, AS YOU CAN SEE IN YOUR PRESENTATION THERE, WE IDENTIFY EACH OF THOSE.
COLD WEATHER RELATED INJURY PREVENTION IS KEY.
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PREPARATION, AND FINALLY GETTING READY FOR THE PRECIPITATION.
WE HAVE A PRETTY WELL DEVELOPED WEATHER FORECASTING PROGRAM IN PLACE NOW.
WE'VE GOT MARKET POSITION PLANNING IN PLACE, AND OUR PLANTS, UH, HAVE COMPLETED THEIR CHECKLISTS AND REVIEWS, INCLUDING ERCOT TRAINING.
AND FINALLY, OUR READINESS OUTAGES ARE CONCLUDING THIS MONTH.
AND INSPECTIONS AND TESTING HAVE ALL, ALL BEEN, STORES ARE FILLED.
SO IN ADDITION TO THE WINTER PREPARATIONS WE PERFORM, WE'VE ALSO GOT THE WEATHERIZATION
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ACTIVITY PUT IN PLACE BY THE, UH, COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.WE COMPLETED THOSE MILESTONES.
LANCE ARE IN A GOOD POSITION THERE.
BOTTOM LINE IS WE'VE GOT THE ENHANCED WEATHER
OKAY, CAN, IS THAT BETTER? AND WE'VE COMPLETED OUR WINTER PREPARATION ACTIVITIES, AND IN FACT, YESTERDAY WE SIGNED THE DOCUMENTATION TO MOVE FORWARD TO ERCOT.
AND IT HAS BEEN FILED CERTIFYING THAT WE ARE IN FACT READY FOR THE WINTER SEASON AS WE THINK ABOUT RESOURCE ADEQUACY.
ERCOT, THE SLIDE WAS PREPARED BEFORE ERCOT MEETING YESTERDAY.
THEY HAVE RELEASED JUST YESTERDAY.
THERE'S SEASONAL ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCE ADEQUACY.
SO THAT CAME OUT FOR THE WINTER SEASON.
BOTTOM LINE IS WE HAVE NO OUTAGES SCHEDULE DURING THE WINTER PERIOD, AND ERCOT WILL MAINTAIN THAT SAME DISCIPLINE, UH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF LOW IMPACT ISSUES THAT COME UP FROM TIME TO TIME FOR THE FLEETS ACROSS THE STATE.
AND FINALLY, NATURAL GAS SUPPLIER WEATHERIZATION ACTIVITIES, UH, WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN COMPLETED IN ALL AREAS.
WE'VE TALKED TO OURS, UH, BUT OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE AS WELL.
AS YOU CAN SEE THERE TO YOUR RIGHT, WE'RE RUNNING ABOUT A 28% RESERVE MARGIN HERE IN SAN ANTONIO TO PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS THIS YEAR.
SO WE BELIEVE THAT WE ARE IN A VERY GOOD POSITION.
OUR FACILITIES ARE READY TO GO, AND WE'VE, UH, WE'VE GOT A RESERVE MARGIN IN PLACE.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO RICHARD MEDINA.
UM, SO TODAY, UM, I'M GONNA BE PRESENTING, I'M RICHARD BEDINA, THE E V P OVER ENERGY DELIVERY SERVICES.
SO, UH, I COVER REALLY ALL THE WIRE SIDE OF THE BUSINESS, THE TRANSMISSION DISTRIBUTION AND SUBSTATIONS.
UM, SO SIMILAR TO BENNY, WE FOCUS ON THE THREE, UH, CORE AREAS, WHICH IS SAFETY OF OUR PEOPLE, OPERATIONAL, UH, AND OUR EQUIPMENT.
UM, AS FAR AS OUR SAFETY TRAINING, OUR, OUR, UH, EMPLOYEES HAVE COMPLETED THE CODE STRESS SIGNS.
UM, THEY ARE AWARE OF ALL THE LAYERING OF CLOTHES AND HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS.
AS FAR AS OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, OUR ENGINEERS HAVE PERFORMED, UH, LOAD FLOAT STUDIES ON THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS, AND ANY DEFICIENCIES HAVE BEEN CORRECTED.
UM, WE ALSO WORK, WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH ERCOT.
ERCOT MANAGES THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, AND BOTH ERCOT AND US KIND OF LOOK AT THOSE SYSTEMS TOGETHER AS WE DO THE MODELING.
UM, OUR SYSTEM OPERATIONS FOLKS ALSO HAVE REAL TIME, UH, VISIBILITY TO THE ENTIRE SYSTEM, BOTH ON THE TRANSMISSION SIDE AND THE SUBSTATIONS, AND LOOKING AT POWER FLOWS.
IF THERE'S ANY ISSUES, WE, WE WERE IN CONTACT WITH ERCOT TO MAKE, UH, MODIFICATIONS.
UM, LIKE BENNY MENTIONED, WE ALSO CERTIFIED TO ERCOT YESTERDAY THAT, UM, WE ARE READY FOR THE WINTER SEASON ON OUR TRANSMISSION AND SUBSTATIONS.
AND THEN AS FAR AS EQUIPMENT, UM, ALL OUR SUBSTATIONS HAVE BEEN INSPECTED, UM, OIL LEVELS, GAS LEVELS, AND ALL OUR EQUIPMENT HAVE BEEN, UH, UH, INSPECTED AND TESTED.
UM, WE, WE DO ALSO LOOK AT, UH, EMERGENCY INVENTORIES JUST BECAUSE OF SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.
SO WE DO HAVE ADEQUATE POLES, TRANSFORMERS, AND WIRES.
UH, NEXT I JUST WANNA TOUCH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE LOAD SHED ENHANCEMENTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, OVER THE YEARS, WE HAVE BEEN IMPROVING THAT SYSTEM.
WE'RE ADDING SMART SWITCHES TO HELP US BETTER CONTROL LOAD IF WE HAVE TO LOAD SHED.
UM, OUR SYSTEM OPERATORS ALL HAVE BEEN TRAINED.
UM, WE DO A LOT OF TRAINING WITH ERCOT NOW ON, UH, LOAD SHED.
AND THEN OUR INTERNAL STAFF HAS BEEN, UH, TRAINED ON, ON LOAD SHED READINESS.
UM, THIS PAST YEAR WE HAD A LOT OF, UH, DRILLS AND EXERCISES WITH THE CITY, UM, AND OUR SISTER AGENCIES.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF 'EM WERE, WERE WITH OR ERCOT.
AND THEN A LOT OF 'EM, WE HAD, UH, WITH OUR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER, UH, RECENTLY WE HAD ONE IN NOVEMBER, UM, 16TH, WHICH WE HAD A JOINT, UH, WINTER PREPAREDNESS, UH, DRILL.
AND THEN ALSO, WE HAVE A UPCOMING WINTER WEATHER EVENT LOAD SHED, UH, DRILL SCHEDULED WITH ERCOT ON DECEMBER 8TH.
SO, NEXT I'LL TURN IT OVER TO RICHARD LUHAN.
I'M THE INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT OF C P S ENERGY'S GAS BUSINESS.
I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A FEW MOMENTS, UH, TO PROVIDE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF OUR NATURAL GAS SYSTEM.
UH, WE SERVE ABOUT 380,000 CUSTOMERS, UH, WITHIN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
WE ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROVIDER OF NATURAL GAS OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS.
WE ARE IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET.
UH, WE MAINTAIN ABOUT 10,000 MILES OF PIPELINE, AND THAT IS TO SERVE OUR TRANSMISSION FACILITIES AND OUR POWER PLANTS, UH, AS WELL AS OUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
UH, WE ARE REGULATED BY THE TEXAS
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RAILROAD COMMISSION, UH, AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.AND THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE OUR REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SERVES AS A FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE KEEP OUR SYSTEM SAFE, OUR COMMUNITY SAFE, AND OUR SYSTEM RELIABLE.
UH, LIKE MY PEERS HAVE MENTIONED, WE START OFF WITH SAFETY, AND THAT IS THE, UH, REFRESHER TRAINING FOR OUR PERSONNEL, PREPARING THEM TO WORK DURING ADVERSE WINTER CONDITIONS.
UH, BUT A BIG PART OF OUR FOCUS IN, IN THE NATURAL GAS BUSINESS IS, UH, IS ENHANCED PUBLIC AWARENESS, OUTREACH AND DAMAGE PREVENTION.
UH, THIS IS ALSO A REGULATORY COMPLIANT, UH, COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT FOR US.
AND SO THIS TIME OF YEAR, YOU'LL SEE A LOT OF, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA BILLBOARDS, UH, BILL INSERTS THAT TALK ABOUT NATURAL GAS SAFETY, CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY, AND TEXAS 8 1 1 CALL.
BEFORE YOU DIG OPERATIONALLY, UH, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, WE REMODEL OUR SYSTEM TO ACCOUNT FOR NEW GROWTH ON THE SYSTEM, UH, TO ENSURE THAT OUR SYSTEM PRESSURES REMAIN STABLE, UH, TO, UH, ACCOUNT FOR THE INCREASED WINTER DEMAND THAT WE SEE, UH, FOR OUR NATURAL GAS BUSINESS.
UH, THE WINTER TIME IS REALLY OUR PEAK SEASON.
UH, 40% OF ALL C P S CUSTOMERS RELY ON NATURAL GAS FOR THEIR HEATING AND COOKING NEEDS.
AND SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE MAINTAIN SYSTEM PRESSURES, UH, THROUGHOUT, ESPECIALLY DURING ADVERSE WINTER CONDITIONS.
UH, ALONG WITH THAT, WE COORDINATE CLOSELY WITH OUR ENERGY SUPPLY TEAM, UH, TO ENSURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH GAS SUPPLY WILL BE NEEDED FOR THE, THE WINTER SEASON, UH, BOTH ON THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND THE GENERATION SYSTEMS. UH, FINALLY, WITH RESPECT TO OUR EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE, WE DO A LOT OF MAINTENANCE YEAR ROUND ON OUR CRITICAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE.
UH, BUT THIS YEAR WE PUT A SPECIAL FOCUS ON, UH, UPDATING OUR PROCEDURES FOR OUR SUPPLY GATE STATIONS THAT SERVE THE POWER GENERATION FLEET.
UH, WE BROUGHT IN A THIRD CONSULTANT, UH, TO TAKE A LOOK AT AT OUR PRACTICES AND, AND HELP US UPDATE THAT.
AND, AND WITH THAT, WE HAVE ENHANCED OUR MAINTENANCE TO ENSURE THAT THE POWER GENERATION FLEET RECEIVES THE SUPPLY THAT IT NEEDS TO GET US THROUGH THE PEAK MONTHS.
I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MELISSA OLA, OUR VP OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS NOW.
I'M MELISSA SOLA, VP OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING.
AND I'M GONNA GO OVER A LITTLE BIT OF OUR STRATEGY, UH, TO PREPARE OUR CUSTOMERS THIS WINTER.
NOT ONLY TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE PREPARED IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, BUT TO KEEP THEM SAFE AND ALSO HELP THEM SAVE SOME MONEY AS, UH, WE ANTICIPATE FINANCIAL GAS PRICES.
UM, SO THIS MAY BE FAMILIAR TO YOU.
WE TALKED ABOUT THIS PROBABLY A COUPLE OF, UH, MEETINGS AGO, OUR COLOR CODED CONSERVATION, UM, LEVELS THAT WE LAUNCHED THIS SUMMER.
AND WE'RE TAKING THAT AND EXPANDING THAT, UH, FOR WINTER.
SO THIS WILL BE SOMETHING YOU'RE GONNA SEE OUT IN THE MARKET, UM, VERY, UH, PROACTIVELY.
UH, AND WE DO THAT AS PART OF OUR TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, SO AGAIN, UH, THE GOAL IS FOR IT TO KEEP OUR CUSTOMERS SAFE AND PREPARED, UM, THIS WINTER, UH, THROUGH MULTIPLE CHANNELS PAID, SO PAID SOCIAL MEDIA EARNED, AND OF COURSE, NON-DIGITAL AND EVERYTHING IN ENGLISH AND IN SPANISH.
UH, WE'RE TAKING THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE HEARD FROM OUR CUSTOMERS.
UM, AND IN PARTICULAR, WE KNOW LESSONS LEARNED, UM, AND ENHANCING CONTINUE TO ENHANCE OUR COMMUNICATIONS WORK.
UH, WE DO HAVE A CURRENT LIBRARY OF ABOUT FOUR VIDEOS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH WITH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TIPS, WHAT TO DO IN AN OUTAGE, UM, GENERATOR SAFETY, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, IN THE EVENT OF A LOAD SHED, UM, INFORMATION ON WHAT WOULD HAPPEN DURING THAT, DURING THAT TIME.
SO WE'RE GONNA ADD TO THAT, TO THAT LIBRARY.
WE'RE GONNA ADD ADDITIONAL, UM, GAS SAFETY TIPS AND WASTE CUSTOMERS CAN SPECIFICALLY, UM, SAVE, YOU KNOW, SAVE ENERGY THIS WINTER.
UH, ONE OF THE OTHER FEEDBACK THAT WE HEARD IS PEOPLE WANNA KNOW HOW WE AS AN ORGANIZATION ARE PREPARED.
AND YOU HEARD BENNY, RICHARD AND RICHARD, UH, HIGHLIGHT ALL THE THINGS THEY'RE DOING FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT.
THAT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA SHOWCASE BROADLY.
WE DID THAT EARLIER THIS FEBRUARY, WE TORE OUT AT OUR GAS PLANT.
YOU SEE A COUPLE OF OF IMAGES THERE FOR SOME USE COVERAGE.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE, WE KNOW THAT OUR CUSTOMERS WANNA HEAR, SO THAT THEY'RE REASSURED THAT, THAT WE'RE READY.
UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT, UM, ADDING SOME INFLUENCERS, UH, TO OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS.
UH, THE MORE PEOPLE THAT CAN TALK AND SHARE ABOUT THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE, THE BETTER.
AND SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER THAT IT COMES FROM, FROM SOMEBODY ELSE.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A CHIEF METEOROLOGIST ON STAFF, AND WE'RE GONNA UTILIZE HIM FOR WEATHER RELATED CONTENT.
UM, WE'VE ADDED TO OUR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, UH, WITH ONE DEDICATED PERSON WHO'S WORKING ON, UH, STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS.
WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND ARE SHARING DIGITAL TOOLKITS WITH YOUR OFFICES.
I'VE SEEN A LOT OF SHARING RECENTLY ABOUT OUR POWER GENERATION, OUR GENERATION PLANNING.
I'VE SEEN IT IN NEWSLETTERS I'VE SEEN ON SOCIAL FROM, FROM ALL YOUR OFFICES.
AND, AND WE THANK YOU FOR THAT.
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WINTER COMMS WILL ALSO BE COMING TO YOU ALL.UM, WE'VE ALSO STRENGTHENED OUR BILINGUAL COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS.
AND THEN AS ALWAYS, UH, THROUGHOUT AN EVERGREEN EFFORT FOR US IS TO ENCOURAGE OUR CUSTOMERS TO SIGN UP AND UPDATE THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION SO THAT WE CAN REACH THEM IN THE, IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS PREPAREDNESS IS ALSO PART OF OUR STRATEGY.
AND, UH, WE HAVE VERY CLOSE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR COMMUNICATIONS PEERS AT THE CITY SAWS, UH, VIA THE COUNTY.
UH, WE WORK REALLY CLOSELY TOGETHER.
AND ANY TIME THAT THERE IS A CUSTOMER IMPACTING EVENT, SEPARATE LITTLE TEXT THREADS GOING ON, UM, OUR TEAM HAS ALSO, FROM COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING TEAM PARTICIPATED IN FOUR JOINT TABLETOP EXERCISES, UH, ALONG WITH THE CITY, THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY, UM, PREPAREDNESS.
UM, IT'S, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO GO THROUGH THAT IN PRACTICE SO THAT IN THE EVENT A REAL TIME, UM, EVENT HAPPENS THAT WE'RE PREPARED.
UM, AND WE'RE ALL COMMITTED TO WORKING TOGETHER IN CASE WE DO NEED TO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE SEE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE CUSTOMER IMPACTING.
I THINK A GREAT EXAMPLE WAS THIS SUMMER, UH, WHEN ACTUALLY IN THIS ROOM, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD RUDY HERE, CITY MANAGER, MR. PUENTA, UM, AND VIA, UH, VIA, UH, TALKING ABOUT SUMMER AND, UM, THE NEED FOR CONSERVATION.
SO THAT'LL CONTINUE TO BE PART OF OUR EFFORTS, AND WE'RE C COMMITTED TO WORKING TOGETHER.
AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION, AND WE'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY, ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
I, ABOUT EQUIPMENT AND EVERYTHING THERE.
ONE OF THE CONCERNS, ONE OF THE CONCERNS WE'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT IS THE, UH, UNAVAILABILITY OF TRANSFORMERS KIND OF AROUND THE COUNTRY, UH, BECAUSE OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BACKUP AND DELIVERY FROM OVERSEAS OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT YOU MENTIONED YOU FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN GOOD SHAPE, THAT WE'VE GOT BACKUP TRANSFORMERS.
WE NEED, WOULD THAT BE ACROSS EVERY LEVEL THAT WE MIGHT NEED THEM? YES, SIR.
SO WHAT WE DID, UH, AS SOON AS WE STARTED SEEING A LOT OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, WE CREATED A EMERGENCY STOCK LEVELS OF VARIOUS EQUIPMENT JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT IF THERE'S EQUIPMENT FAILURES, THAT WE HAVE ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF POLES, WIRE, AND TRANSFORMERS.
SO WE KIND OF WENT THROUGH ALL THAT TO MAKE SURE, BUT, UM, WE ARE, WE DO HAVE A SHORTAGE OF TRANSFORMERS FOR NEW GROWTH.
BUT WE, WE HAVE ADEQUATE SUPPLY FOR YOU ALSO TALKED ABOUT, UH, LOAD ENHANCEMENTS.
UH, AND I, I RECALL, I THINK A LOT OF US DO, THE DIFFICULTIES WE HAD WITH SO MANY PARTS OF THE CITY NOT GETTING ENERGY OR GOING OFF AND ON AND OFF AND ON MM-HMM.
WE HAD LOOKED AT A LOT OF THE LINES THAT WERE INTENDED TO ALLOW HOSPITALS TO STAY WITH POWER AND OTHER IMPORTANT FACILITIES, UH, WHICH TO A CERTAIN EXTENT LEFT OUT A LOT OF AREAS.
AND SO I KNOW THERE WAS A REDESIGN ON HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS ADEQUATE, UH, SWITCHING AND ADEQUATE LINES.
SO CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THAT PROTECTS MAYBE A LARGER PERCENTAGE OF OUR POPULATION FROM BEING IN SUCH A, A CRITICAL SHUTDOWN POSITION FOR A LONG TIME? YES, SIR.
SO WHAT, WHAT WE'VE DONE IS, UM, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO REVISIT HOW WE DO THE LOAD SHED.
SO WE ACTUALLY WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT ALL THE CIRCUITS.
WE IDENTIFIED WHICH ONES ARE TRULY CRITICAL THAT HAVE HOSPITALS.
UM, AND THEN, SO THE MORE PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM, THE, THE LESS, IT'S BURDENSOME ON ONE AREA.
AND SO WE'VE, WE INCLUDED A BUNCH MORE CIRCUITS IN THAT.
WE ALSO ARE ADDING SMART SWITCHES.
SO IN THE EVENT THERE'S A, A LONG CIRCUIT WITH THE HOSPITAL ON IT, WE'VE PUT SOME SMART SWITCHES BEYOND THE HOSPITALS SO THAT WE CAN LOAD SHED BEYOND AND INCLUDE MORE PEOPLE IN THE, IN THE PROGRAM.
SO THAT WAY WE HAVE MORE LOAD TO ROTATE THROUGH THE SYSTEM.
SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS IF WE'RE TOLD TO CUT BACK ON POWER, WE CAN ROTATE THE AREAS THAT MAY RECEIVE THE GREATEST CUTBACK FOR LESS OF A PERIOD OF TIME AND THEN MOVE TO ANOTHER AREA IN ANOTHER AREA SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE ONE OR A DOZEN AREAS JUST CLOSED FOR A DAY OR TWO, RIGHT? CORRECT.
SHOULD THE TIME COME? YES, SIR.
I THINK I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION.
UH, AND THIS IS ABOUT NATURAL GAS PRICING, AND IT WAS ABOUT THE SUPPLY COORDINATION.
I KNOW ONE OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS THAT WE FACED WERE HEARING FROM OUR NATURAL GAS SUPPLIERS THAT THEY HAD EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS AND THEY COULDN'T DELIVER.
UH, AND THEN WE HAD OUTRAGEOUS PRICES FROM SOME OF OUR OTHER SUPPLIERS.
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UH, HOW HAVE WE KIND OF ENSURED OUR VIABILITY WHEN IT COMES TO THE DELIVERY OF NATURAL GAS? SHOULD WE HAVE, UH, ANOTHER WINTER STORM URI? UH, WHAT, WHAT STEPS HAVE WE TAKEN TO HARDEN OUR POSITION? SURE.SO, UH, WE'VE ACTUALLY INCREASED THE NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS THAT WE HAVE.
WE'VE INCREASED OUR SUPPLY BASE.
UH, WE'VE ALSO INCREASED THE VOLUME OF NATURAL GAS THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR CONTRACTS.
WE'VE INCREASED THE VOLUME OF STORAGE CAPACITY THAT WE HAVE THROUGH CONTRACTS, AND WE'VE ALSO INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF GAS THAT WE CAN WITHDRAW THROUGH THOSE CONTRACTS.
SO, SO THERE HAS BEEN, AND THERE CONTINUES TO BE WORK, UH, TOWARDS, UH, DIVERSIFYING OUR SUPPLY AND, AND TAKING A LOOK AT, UM, ADDING NEW SUPPLIERS, UH, YOU KNOW, CONTINUALLY, HAS THIS BEEN DRAMATICALLY EXPENSIVE? I KNOW THE COST OF NATURAL GAS HAS GONE UP.
HAVE WE FOUND SOME FRIENDLY, UH, YOU KNOW, COMPANIES TO WORK WITH THAT IS GONNA HELP US KEEP THESE PRICES FAIRLY MODERATE? I'M GONNA HAVE TO PHONE A FRIEND ON THAT ONE.
WE HAVE W W WE'VE, UH, WE'VE WORKED WITH SOME COMPANIES AND I, I THINK WE'VE GOT A VERY GOOD STRUCTURE IN PLACE.
UH, WE, YEAH, WE'VE GOT A VERY WELL DEVELOPED FOOTPRINT OUT THERE.
AND SO I, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN A GOOD POSITION, COUNCILMAN, I'LL SAY THAT THE PRICE OF NATURAL GAS IN GENERAL, YOU KNOW, AS WE SAW OVER THE, OVER THE SUMMER WENT UP.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PRICE THAT WE PAY FOR, UH, GAS, YOU KNOW, IT'S COME BACK DOWN.
IT'S MODERATED A BIT, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE SUMMER.
UH, BUT THERE ARE PREDICTIONS THAT WE, WE COULD SEE SOME, YOU KNOW, PRICE SPIKES AGAIN THIS WINTER, LIKE WE NORMALLY DO WHEN YOU'RE IN PEAK SEASON.
SO, UH, I WOULD EXPECT ANY PRICE INCREASES TO HAVE SOME MODERATE IMPACT ON, ON C P S ENERGY AND OUR CUSTOMERS.
UH, BUT, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE DIVERSIFIED OUR SUPPLIER BASE AND WE REALLY HAVE STOPPED DOING BUSINESS WITH SOME, UH, OF THE ACTORS THAT WE CONTINUE TO BE IN LITIGATION WITH, UH, I FEEL LIKE WE'VE DONE WHAT WE CAN TO, YOU KNOW, TO TRY TO PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS FROM, YOU KNOW, FROM SOME OF THAT VOLATILITY.
HAVE WE BEEN ABLE TO LOCK IN PRICES THROUGH BAD CONDITIONS LIKE THIS? OR IS THERE ALWAYS AN OUT FOR THE GAS COMPANY TO SAY, YEAH, WELL WE'VE GOTTA WE'VE GOTTA CHARGE YOU MORE? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION, UM, THE, THE STORAGE CAPA, YOU KNOW, CAPACITY THAT WE HAVE AND THE FIXED PRICE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE GAS THAT WE'RE BUYING, UH, ANYTHING OVER AND ABOVE THAT, YOU'RE GONNA SEE, YOU KNOW, SOME PRICE DIFFERENTIAL WHEN YOU HAVE TO BUY MORE, YOU KNOW, UM, BECAUSE THE, THE WEATHER'S REALLY COLD OR, YOU KNOW, THE USAGE IS REALLY HIGH.
UM, SO RATE US OF ANY, YOU KNOW, 30 PERCENTISH OF OUR OVERALL, YOU KNOW, PRICE IS KIND OF PROTECTED, BUT THERE IS GONNA BE SOME VOLATILITY BUILT IN THERE JUST BASED ON THE CONDITIONS THAT OF THE DAY, YOU KNOW, COUNCILMAN.
SO, SO, SO I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE, WE HAVE PROTECTED OUR CUSTOMERS TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT SOME OF THOSE VARIABLES, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BEING UNKNOWN.
I'M GONNA ASK YOU KIND OF A, A DIFFICULT QUESTION, BUT I THINK IT'S RELATED TO WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, YOU KNOW, URI LASTED REALLY A WEEK.
BUT THERE WERE FOUR OR FIVE DAYS THAT WAS MORE CRITICAL THAN ALL SEVEN OR EIGHT INVOLVED.
UH, WOULD YOU SAY WE STAND A, A STRONG CHANCE OF PROTECTING, UH, THE COST TO OUR CONSUMERS FOR AT LEAST A DAY OR TWO BEFORE WE WOULD START RUNNING INTO PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF WHAT WE HAVE IN STORAGE AND IN OUR CURRENT CONTRACTS? IN OTHER WORDS, WE COULD, WE COULD STAND A ONE OR A TWO DAY FREEZE SURE.
WITHOUT HAVING HAVE MUCH OF A PROBLEM.
I, I THINK THE SHORTER TERM EVENT THAT WE MIGHT, THAT WE SEE THE BETTER OFF WE ARE AT PROTECTING OUR CUSTOMERS, THE LONGER THAT EXTENDS, THEN YOU'RE GONNA GET INTO SOME ISSUES.
AND, AND I THINK IN GENERAL, IN GENERAL, UM, EVERY UTILITY HAS DONE WHAT WE'VE DONE FOR THE MOST PART.
SO, YOU KNOW, BEING 20,000 MEGAWATTS SHORT, LIKE WE WERE ACROSS THE SYSTEM, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS AGO, I THINK A LOT HAS BEEN DONE TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T GET CAUGHT UP, YOU KNOW, IN THAT AGAIN.
AND THAT ALSO CREATED, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY WAS KIND OF COMPETING FOR THE SAME GAS RESOURCES, WHICH ALSO HAD A, HAD A, A, YOU KNOW, A, UH, AN IMPACT ON THAT UPWARD PRICE MOVEMENT.
SO, UH, SO YEAH, THE SHORTER THE EVENT, I THINK THE, THE MORE RESILIENT WE'RE, WE'RE ABLE TO, TO KIND OF WORK THROUGH IT, SIR.
UH, ONE LAST QUESTION I HAD, HAVE WE ENERGY HARDENED ALL THE EMERGENCY HEATING AND COOLING FACILITIES THAT THE CITY HAS OPENED UP IN THE PAST OR WANTS TO OPEN UP IF WE SAT DOWN AND MADE SURE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GET THE ENERGY, WHETHER IT'S A HEATING CENTER, A COOLING CENTER IN THE SUMMER, OR A HEATING CENTER IN THE WINTER IF WE WORK AT THE CITY THAT, SO I WOULD TELL YOU, AND I'M GONNA TURN OVER TO RICHARD, WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF COORDINATION WITH THE CITY, UH, TO ENSURE THAT THEIR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS IDENTIFIED IN OUR SYSTEM.
ARE ALL OF THEM PROTECTED FROM GETTING LOAD JET? I WOULD TELL YOU NO.
UH, BUT THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER, FOR INSTANCE, THAT ONE'S ON, ON A PROTECTED CIRCUIT.
SO THERE ARE CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF THE, THE CITY SYSTEM THAT ARE PROTECTED AND OTHERS THAT WE ARE, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED TO ENSURE THAT,
[00:25:01]
YOU KNOW, IN A, IN AN EVENT WE'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO, TO THOSE PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE SYSTEM.BUT RICHARD, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR, OUR COORDINATION.
SO WE'VE BEEN COORDINATING WITH THE CITY.
THE CITY HAS GIVEN US, UH, A LIST OF THE SHELTERS AND WE WORK WITH THEM TO IDENTIFY WHICH ONES ARE ON THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CIRCUITS FOR LOAD SHED.
UM, SO WE'RE AWARE OF THOSE AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM.
DON'T, DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA MENTION A LITTLE MORE I CAN JUMP IN ON.
WHEN WE LOOK AT WARMING CENTERS IN PARTICULAR, CAN NC HUB CONCEPT THAT WE'VE BROUGHT TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE COUNCIL AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, I WAS GONNA GIVE YOU THIS DURING MY UPDATE, BUT I'LL SURPRISE YOU WITH A LITTLE, UH, PRECURSOR HERE.
UM, WE HAVE A GENERATOR PLAN IN PLACE FOR THOSE FACILITIES.
UH, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS AND, AND THANK YOU FOR THE FUNDING TO GO AHEAD AND PURCHASE THE PERMANENT GENERATORS FOR THOSE FOUR RESILIENCY HUBS.
HOWEVER, THEY WON'T BE DELIVERED IN TIME FOR THIS WINTER SEASON.
SO WE HAVE RENTAL GENERATORS THAT ARE BEING INSTALLED AT THOSE LOCATIONS RIGHT NOW.
AND SO, UH, THEY SHOULD BE IN, BY ABOUT, UH, DECEMBER 21ST IS THE DATE THAT WE'RE GETTING.
SO SHOULD BE IN PLENTY OF TIME FOR ANY WEATHER SEASON THAT WE GET.
WE ALSO HAVE BEEN COORDINATING WITH C P SS AND SAWS FOR ANY SHELTER LOCATIONS THAT WE WOULD LOOK TO STAND UP FOR WARMING CENTERS AND TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHICH ONES ARE ON THOSE CRITICAL CIRCUITS, UH, SO WE CAN DO SOME PLANNING AND HARDENING AS WELL.
UH, I'LL GO NOW TO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND COUNCILMAN CAVEDA HAD SOME QUESTIONS.
UM, I THINK THIS IS MAYBE FOR RICHARD.
I THINK SOMEBODY TALKED ABOUT THE ENHANCED WEATHERIZATION SYSTEMS. I WANTED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT, BUT MAYBE SLIDE EIGHT.
WAS THAT WHAT SLIDE EIGHT WAS? WE WERE LIKE SLIDE EIGHT.
I THINK YOU, YOU MENTIONED THE FIRST GENTLEMAN, WAS IT BENNY? UM, MENTIONED ENHANCED WEATHER EYE SYSTEMS. MY QUESTION REALLY WAS WHAT, WHAT ARE THOSE? BUT IS IT SLIDE EIGHT? UM, IS THAT WHAT ENHANCE WEATHERIZATION SYSTEMS? I, I THINK, WELL, I TALKED ABOUT LIKE, UM, OUR SUBSTATIONS AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS. UM, THEY'VE ALL BEEN INSPECTED AND TESTED FOR THE WINTER, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE TO CERTIFY THAT TO ERCOT.
UM, WE DO OUR, OUR ENGINEERS HAVE DONE POWER FLOW STUDIES ON THE SYSTEMS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE ADEQUATE, UH, THE LINES CAN CARRY THE LOADS AND THE POWER FOR THOSE SYSTEMS. AND THEN IN SOME AREAS WE, WE, UM, IF WE HAD TO, WE WOULD MAKE A CIRCUIT CONNECT DIFFERENT CONNECTIONS.
ARE THOSE, ALL, THOSE ARE ALL DIRECTLY IN RESPONSE TO THE WINTER STORM? THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAD BEFORE.
UM, WE'VE, WE'VE ALWAYS, I MEAN, WE'VE ALWAYS DONE THE STUDIES AND WORKED WITH ERCOT.
I THINK DURING THE WINTER STORM IT WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT 'CAUSE IT WAS A, A POWER ISSUE.
THERE WASN'T ENOUGH POWER TO DISTRIBUTE, SO WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE SYSTEM ISSUES ON THE TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION OTHER, OTHER THAN THERE WASN'T ENOUGH POWER TO ROTATE.
SO A LOT OF THE FOCUS HAS BEEN ON THE ENHANCEMENT FOR THE LOAD SHED, INCLUDING MORE LOAD MORE PEOPLE ON THOSE SYSTEMS SO THAT WE CAN ROTATE THE LOAD SO WE'RE NOT HAVING TO TURN OFF CIRCUITS.
AND THAT IS, IS IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO YES, THAT'S DIRECT RESPONSE FORM.
AND THEN OF COURSE TRYING TO PREVENT THAT.
AND THEN A LOT MORE, UM, DRILLS, EXERCISES TO MAKE SURE WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH ALL THE AGENCIES.
UM, WE HAVE WORKED WITH SAWS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CRITICAL PUMP STATIONS ARE ON NON LOAD SHED CIRCUITS.
WE'RE NOT SHUTTING THOSE, UM, THOSE CRITICAL PUMP STATIONS ALSO HAVE DUAL CIRCUITS TO 'EM.
SO IF A CIRCUIT GOES OUT FOR, YOU KNOW, ANY REASON EQUIPMENT FAILURE, IT WILL FLIP TO THE OTHER CIRCUIT.
AND THAT'S NOT SOMETHING WE USED TO HAVE, UH, THAT WE HAD IN PLACE.
AND THINGS ARE JUST, JUST, WE'RE, WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ALL IN SYNC NOW.
ARE THERE ANY FAILURES, UM, FROM THE WINTER STORM THAT HAVE NOT YET BEEN ADDRESSED, THAT ARE WITHIN OUR CONTROL, OBVIOUSLY? UM, NO.
WE'VE, WE'VE, UM, WE'VE ADDRESSED PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AND WE CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR IMPROVEMENTS EVERY YEAR.
UM, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TOO, OUTSIDE OF THE STORM.
HOPEFULLY WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN.
BUT, UM, BUT EVEN OUTSIDE OF THAT, YOU'RE STILL LOOKING FOR KIND OF THOSE FAILURES HERE AND THERE.
TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT IT'S AS OPERATIONAL AND AS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE.
THE, UM, THE, I THINK YOU MENTIONED THE WINTER REPORT CAME OUT YESTERDAY, THE ERCOT REPORT.
UM, IS THERE A WAY TO GET THAT REPORT OR A SUMMARY OF IT, OR JUST TO KIND OF WE CAN READ IT.
I, I MEAN THAT WAS TO ME THAT THAT'S WHAT I UNDERSTOOD TO BE THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WAS THE INTERACTION OF ERCOT AND, AND US RIGHT.
SO, UM, I THINK THOSE REPORTS ARE PROBABLY PRETTY USEFUL TO YOU GUYS, BUT I, I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN GET ACCESS TO THEM OR A SUMMARY.
SO COUNCILWOMAN, WE'RE GONNA SEND OUR BOARD, UM, A, UH, TODAY ERCOT AND THE P C ARE HAVING A PRESS CONFERENCE.
[00:30:01]
UH, AND SO, AND THEY'VE RELEASED THEIR REPORTS YESTERDAY.WE'RE GONNA SEND OUR BOARD AN UPDATE, UH, THAT INCLUDES THE LINKS TO THOSE TWO REPORTS ALONG WITH WHATEVER ERCOT SAYS TODAY.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO, TO FORWARD THAT ON TO COUNCIL.
AND THEN, UM, GOING OVER TO THE LOAD SHED ENHANCEMENT, YOU TALKED, UM, A BIT ABOUT IT, BUT DID, IS IT INCREASED CAPAS CAPACITY? I THINK YOU'D MAYBE JUST EXPLAINED THIS, BUT INCREASED CAPACITY, UM, IS GOING TO PREVENT FUTURE OUTAGES IN, IN, IN NOT ONLY THE EVENT OF A WINTER STORM, BUT YOU KNOW, HEAVY OTHER, OTHER WEATHER CATASTROPHES.
IS THAT TRUE NOW? SO THE, THE WAY THE LOAD SHED WORKS IS, UM, LIKE, LIKE, UH, BENNY HAD MENTIONED EARLIER DURING THE WINTER STORM, THERE WASN'T ALL, ALL UTILITIES GOT CAUGHT BECAUSE THERE'S NEVER BEEN A LOAD SHED EVENT OF THAT MAGNITUDE.
SO THE COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND EVERYBODY'S CIRCUITS DIDN'T, YOU DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY TO ROTATE.
AND SO THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN NOW ROTATE LOAD IS YOU'VE GOTTA INCLUDE MORE PEOPLE.
AND THE WAY YOU INCLUDE MORE PEOPLE IS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO REVISIT ALL THE CIRCUITS AND MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S PARTICIPATING AS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
AND, AND EVEN ON THE LONG CIRCUITS WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF LOAD, IF THERE'S HOSPITALS, I MEAN, IN THE PAST YOU WERE LUCKY THAT YOU LIVED AT THE END OF THE CIRCUIT AND YOU, YOU JUST LIVED ON THE HOSPITAL CIRCUIT.
SO NOW WE'RE, WE'RE USING THE SMART SWITCHES THAT WE GOT FUNDING FOR TO PUT, UH, BEYOND THE CRITICAL LOADS THAT WE CAN SHED THAT LOAD TO.
SO THE MORE, THE MORE PEOPLE, THE BETTER IT IS FOR EVERYBODY.
THE MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE PARTICIPATE IN THE, THEY'RE LESS LIKELY LOSE POWER AT THE END OF IT.
IF YOU'RE INCREASING THIS FOR, FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
AND I KNOW, 'CAUSE ONE OF THE OTHER CRITICISMS OF, IT SEEMS LIKE A MILLION YEARS AGO NOW, BUT I'M SURE Y'ALL REMEMBER PEOPLE WERE GETTING POWER FOR 20 SECONDS OR FOR A MINUTE OR HERE OR THERE.
SO THAT LOAD SHED, UM, WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON, ON THAT PHENOMENON AS WELL.
AND THEN ALSO WE, WE, WE HAVE SOME NEW DASHBOARDS AND EVERYTHING SO WE CAN SEE THE VISIBILITY OF WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE SYSTEM.
ARE THOSE PUBLIC THE DASHBOARDS? NO, THEY'RE JUST COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT, OH, THEY CAN SEE WHEN I HEAR DASHBOARD, I THINK.
WELL, I MEAN, SITUATIONAL ALERT.
AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK FEBRUARY ONE, RETEST LADIES, AND YOU KNOW, THIS PAST YEAR WE SAW THAT WE DIDN'T QUITE HAVE THOSE SAME EFFECTS.
AND SO, UM, I DON'T DOUBT THE, UM, THE EFFORTS THAT YOU ALL HAVE PUT IN.
AND WHAT I'M MOST INTERESTED IN, UM, YOU KNOW, AFTER SAM'S PRESENTATION IS, UM, ADVANCED COMMUNICATION TO ALL C P S CUSTOMERS, AND PARTICULARLY THOSE MOST VULNERABLE.
AND I'LL PROBABLY SAY THAT A FEW MORE TIMES.
UM, THEY NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AS THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THERE'S STILL A LINGERING ANXIETY, UM, THAT ANOTHER CRISIS LIKE THAT, A STORM URI, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T CONTROL THE WEATHER AND WE CAN'T ALWAYS PREDICT IT.
AND SO I WANNA KNOW, OR AT LEAST SET THE EXPECTATION THAT THOSE MOST VULNERABLE, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE MOST IMPACTED BY THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, ARE BEING, UH, REACHED EFFECTIVELY.
AND I SAW ON THE LIST, I SEE VIDEOS, INFLUENCER ENGAGEMENT, WHETHER RELATED CONTENT, A DEDICATED COMMS PERSON FOR STAKEHOLDERS, INCREASED BILINGUAL EFFORTS AND MASS ALERTS AND NOTIFICATIONS.
UM, BUT I'M MODERATELY CONCERNED, AND MAYBE IT JUST WASN'T LISTED, UM, WHAT SPECIFIC DIRECT OUTREACH WE COULD EXPECT.
AND THAT COULD BE MAIL, TEXT, ROBOCALL, UM, PROACTIVE PITCHES TO THE NEWS MEDIA COMMUNITY AND SENIOR CENTER VISITS OR COMMS WITH OUR LARGEST EMPLOYERS EVEN.
AND, AND YES, THAT'S PART OF THE ENTIRE PLAN.
UH, BUT WE'RE ALSO, AS WE WORK THROUGH IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, AND WE'RE AT THE E O C, WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH PARTNERS THAT HAVE DIRECT OUTREACH TO VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE BOOTS ON THE GROUND, UH, THROUGH OUR CUSTOMER ENG, OUR CREW, OUR CREW CUSTOMER RE UM, CUSTOMER RESOURCE OUTREACH TEAM.
SO THEY'LL BE IN THE FIELD AS WELL IN THE EVENT OF EMERGENCY.
AND I, AND I THINK EVERYONE'S SEEN AN INCREASED, UM, ADVANCED NOTICE ALREADY THROUGH, UM, THE TEXT, EMAILS, PHONE, UH, THAT WE'RE SENDING OUT NOW IF WE SEE THAT INCOMING WEATHER IS COMING AND SO THAT PEOPLE, PEOPLE ARE PREPARED.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THERE'S STILL WE NEED TO, TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE REFINEMENT ON IS COMMUNICATIONS WITH HOAS.
I KNOW HOAS ARE ALSO VERY, UM, CRITICAL.
THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE OUR ENGAGEMENT.
UM, PERSON WHO AS WELL IS GONNA FOCUS ON THAT COMMUNICATIONS WITH HOAS TOO.
SO ALL ABOVE, I WONDER, HAS THERE EVER BEEN ANY EFFORTS TO ENGAGE, UM, SCHOOL DISTRICTS? SO I IMAGINE IF THERE WAS SOME SORT OF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION THAT COULD BE DISTRIBUTED AT SCHOOLS MM-HMM.
I THINK THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS I'M GONNA GO TO, I'M GONNA FORWARD A LITTLE BIT HERE.
SO ON IN THIS PART, THE ENERGY CONSERVATION
[00:35:01]
LEVELS THAT WE'VE HAD, AGAIN, ENGLISH AND SPANISH, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A VERSION THAT'S ACCESSIBLE FOR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.AND WE RECENTLY DID, UM, FOCUS GROUPS WHO, AND THE FEEDBACK THEY RECEIVED IS LIKE, THIS IS ALL GREAT INFORMATION, BUT THEY WANT IT IN THEIR HOMES.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE THAT AS A RESOURCE DIRECTLY AT THEIR HOMES SO THAT WHEN THEY SEE US ON THE NEWS OR HEAR FROM A GROUP THAT IT'S A, A YELLOW DAY, THEY CAN TAKE THOSE TIPS TO CONSERVE.
SO THEN I WOULD REQUEST, UM, SOME, AT LEAST AN INITIATION TO THOSE CONVERSATIONS WITH MAYBE OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
THEN I THINK OUR LARGEST EMPLOYERS, IF WE REACH PEOPLE WHERE THEY'RE AT, WHICH WOULD BE AT WORK, UM, THAT MIGHT BE A ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY THAT MAYBE WE HAVEN'T, UH, TRIED JUST YET.
I'M ALSO WONDERING, AND MAYBE THIS IS PROBABLY NOT A QUESTION FOR YOU, BUT RATHER FOR CITY STAFF, UM, WHAT WAYS HAS THE CITY PREPARED TO SUPPORT IN THESE COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS? UM, YEAH, I DON'T, SOMEBODY FROM CITY SIDE.
I KNOW THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT MM-HMM.
BUT I CAN TAG TEAM A LITTLE BIT ON ONE OF THE EFFORTS DURING THE SUMMER, WE DID COLLECTIVELY THE CITY, UM, OURSELVES, COUNTY SAWS HAD TO BEAT THE HEAT CAMPAIGN.
SO ALL EVERYBODY'S COLLECTIVE INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE.
I KNOW THE CITY PROVIDED, UH, A REALLY NICE PRINTED HANDOUT THAT WAS DISTRIBUTED AT EVENTS.
UM, AND, AND WE WERE ALL COLLECTIVELY UNDER THAT ONE UMBRELLA.
SO I THINK WE'RE GONNA STILL BE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO FOR WINTER COLLECTIVELY TOO, SO WE CAN GET THE WORD OUT.
IF YOU COULD REMIND ME TO ASK THAT QUESTION.
UM, AND I GUESS IN THE CASE OF A FREEZE WITH DAYS LONG OUTAGES, HAVE WE PREPARED A SYSTEM TO CONDUCT WELLNESS CHECKS? AND I KNOW THAT THERE WOULD PROBABLY BE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT.
THE CITY COULD HAVE THEIR OWN MM-HMM.
SO THAT'LL BE ONE ASPECT THAT, THAT WE TAKE ON PREVIEW AGAIN.
UM, SO THE CITY ALSO TAKES PART IN THE STATE'S STEER PROGRAM WILL, IT LOOKS AT THE MEDICALLY FRAGILE AND SOME VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AROUND THE COMMUNITY.
SO THEY CAN REGISTER WITH US THE REQUIREMENT FROM THERE WITH THE MEDICALLY FRAGILE, IF SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT AFFECTS THEIR AREA, WE'RE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW UP WITH THEM.
AND SO WE WOULD START WITH MESSAGING.
IF WE DON'T GET CONFIRMATION FROM THAT MESSAGING, THEN IT'LL GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO WHERE WE PERFORM A WELLNESS CHECK AT THAT, UH, INDIVIDUAL'S RESIDENCE.
AND I THINK I'LL SAVE MY REMAINING QUESTIONS FOR SOME OF THE LATER ITEMS. THANK YOU COUNSEL.
WELL, I, I THINK MY QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED.
UM, I GUESS I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT BY LOAD SHED READINESS, BUT THAT IS THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE CIRCUITS.
AND, UM, THE COUNCILWOMAN, UH, ASKED ANOTHER QUESTION I HAD REGARDING THE, THE INTERMITTENCY OF THE AVAILABILITY OF, OF POWER, HOW IT WAS, UH, ON FOR JUST A COUPLE OF SECONDS.
SO THE PROGRAM ITSELF AS, AS ERCOT KEPT SENDING SIGNALS TO SHED MORE LOAD, IT WAS TRYING TO MANAGE THAT.
AND SO IT WAS TURNING OFF SOME OF THE CIRCUITS QUICKER AND TURNING 'EM BACK ON.
AND SO WE, WHEN WE SAW THAT EVENTUALLY WE, WE, UH, WENT INTO A MANUAL MODE TO STOP THE COMPUTER SYSTEMS FROM DOING THAT.
SO NOW WE HAVE ENOUGH LOAD IN THE SYSTEMS TO, TO MANAGE ADEQUATE LOAD SHED.
SO IT'S NOT DOING THE ON OFF THING OR EVEN SHEDDING CIRCUITS OFF.
AND THEN OF COURSE WE ADDED THE, MORE, THE, THE SMART SWITCHES TO INCREASE LOAD ON THE OTHER CIRCUITS.
AND SO I JUST WANNA EMPHASIZE SOMETHING THAT, THAT YOU ALSO SAID WITH THE COUNCILWOMAN WHO HA WHO APPARENTLY READS MY MIND OR
BUT OVERALL THE SYSTEM WILL BE BETTER AND WE WON'T HAVE, UH, WE WON'T RUN THE RISK OF WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME.
THE, THE MORE PEOPLE, THE BETTER IT IS FOR THE SYSTEM SO THAT WE'RE NOT HAVING ALSO CODE LOAD PICKUP ISSUES.
AND I THINK WE TALKED ABOUT THAT LAST YEAR IN ONE OF THE PRESENTATIONS.
UM, AND THAT'S ANOTHER ISSUE THAT UTILITIES HAVE WHEN YOU SHUT POWER OFF TOO LONG, THEN WHEN THEY TURN THE POWER BACK ON THOSE CIRCUITS, THERE'S A HUGE IN RUSH OF, OF POWER.
AND THEN IT, IT KIND OF LIKE TRIPS A BREAKER AND KEEPS TRIPPING.
AND SO THE MORE LOAD THAT WE HAVE TO SHED THAT WE CAN ROTATE, IT PREVENTS A LOT OF ISSUES.
AND THEN, UH, YOU ADDRESSED THE QUESTION ABOUT THE CITY'S
[00:40:01]
RESILIENCY CENTERS.AND RIGHT NOW THEY'RE NOT ALL NECESSARILY ON CRITICAL CIRCUITS, BUT IS THAT GOING TO BE A POSSIBILITY IN THE FUTURE? I, I, I THINK THE MAIN, UM, WORKINGS IN WITH THE CITY IS JUST, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T RESERVE TOO MANY CIRCUITS OR WE'RE GONNA RUN INTO THE SAME ISSUE.
SO, UM, WE WERE IDENTIFYING HERE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE ON NON LOAD.
SHE, HERE'S THE ONES ON LOAD, SHE, THERE, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE EVEN IF YOU'RE ON A LOAD, SHE CIRCUIT OR NON LOAD, SHE CIRCUIT THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE EQUIPMENT ISSUES AND YOU MIGHT STILL BE OUTTA POWER.
SO I THINK THE GAME PLAN IS TO WORK WITH THE CITY TO FIGURE OUT HOW THEY USE THE EMERGENCY GENERATORS AS ANOTHER BACKUP TOOL.
AND IN TERMS OF RESILIENCY CENTERS OUTSIDE OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS, UM, ARE YOU WORKING WITH ANY, WELL, I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE ARE ANY, BUT IF THERE ARE, ARE YOU WORKING WITH THEM? YEAH, OUR STAFF WORKS WITH THE COUNTY ALSO.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL THOSE, ALL THE DIFFERENT HEATING, UH, SHELTER PLACES THAT THEY WANT TO PUT IN PLACE.
AND I'LL JUST ADD COUNCILMAN, WE ALSO SERVE 31 OTHER SMALL SUBURBAN CITIES, UH, AROUND THE COMMUNITY AND EACH OF THEM HAVE THEIR OWN RESILIENCY PLANS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON.
AND, AND LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, COSA IS, IS DOING, A LOT OF THEM HAVE, HAVE INVESTED IN THEIR OWN GENERATION, YOU KNOW, BACKUP GENERATION, UH, TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN, CITY HALL CAN BE A RESILIENCY CENTER FOR, YOU KNOW, LEON VALLEY OR WHEREVER THE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE AT.
SO, SO THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY OUTSIDE OF COSA THAT WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF EFFORT, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH OUR COMMUNITIES ON COUNCILWOMAN VERAN, DO YOU HAVE SOME QUESTIONS? NO, THANK YOU.
UH, SITTING ON THE RATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WE'VE, WE'VE HEARD A LOT OF THIS BEFORE AND I THINK ALL MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES COVERED MY QUESTIONS.
COUNCILMAN MCKEE RODRIGUEZ HAS ANOTHER QUESTION.
SORRY, I FORGOT TO TURN THE PAGE.
UM, SLIDE SIX OF THE PRESENTATION STATES THAT OUTAGES ARE GONNA BE MANAGED BY ERCOT AND THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE A GOOD TRACK RECORD WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO I KNOW ON SLIDE SIX IT SAYS THAT AIRCO HAS NOT ISSUED ITS REPORT FOR WINTER AND THERE'S NO SCHEDULED OUTAGES.
HOW RELIABLE IS THAT FOR US? AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW ARE THERE WAYS IN WHICH WE'RE MAKING OURSELVES MORE INDEPENDENT FROM ERCOT? SO IT'S VERY RELIABLE BECAUSE WE CONTROL IT, WE SCHEDULE THOSE OUTAGES OR NOT.
THAT'S NOT TO SAY A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT CAN'T BREAK DOWN, IN WHICH CASE WE'D BE REQUIRED TO DO SOME WORK ON IT TO GET IT BACK.
BUT IF YOU'LL LOOK THERE TO THE RIGHT, WE'RE RUNNING A 28% RESERVE MARGIN AT THIS POINT TO PROTECT US FROM JUST THAT.
ONE COMMENT I'LL ADD AND UH, IT'S, IT'S JUST BASED ON I THINK MY OWN EXPERIENCE DURING THE WINTER STORM.
I THINK A LOT OF US, UH, WHEN OUR, OUR LIGHTS WENT OUT, WE WENT AROUND TURNING LIGHTS OFF AND ON TO SEE IF MAYBE SOMETHING ELSE WOULD COME ON.
I THINK ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE ALL ADDRESS WAS THAT SO MANY HOMES HAD SO MANY LIGHTS ON THAT AS SOON AS YOUR CIRCUIT CAME BACK ON, IT WOULD KNOCK ITSELF OFF 'CAUSE IT WAS JUST DRAINING TOO MUCH POWER AT ONCE.
SO I HOPE WHAT WE'RE DOING IS EDUCATING THE PUBLIC THAT IF YOU END UP BEING IN A BLACKOUT, GO TURN ALL YOUR LIGHTS OFF EXCEPT MAYBE ONE OR TWO OR JUST LEAVE THE REFRIGERATOR ON OR SOMETHING SO THAT YOU'RE NOT AUTOMATICALLY HAVING THAT WHOLE CIRCUIT DRAW POWER FROM MULTIPLE OUTLETS BECAUSE YOU WANT TO KNOW WHEN THE LIGHTS COME ON.
SO YES, AND RICHARD TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT COLD LOAD SHOULD PICK UP AND THAT IS ONE OF THE NEW VIDEOS WE'LL HAVE READY FOR EVERYBODY.
AGAIN, ENGLISH AND SPANISH AND WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THAT TOO.
UH, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR OUR C P S UH, PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYBODY.
IF WE DO COME UP WITH ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, WE KNOW YOU HAVE A MEETING AT AT YOUR BOARD, SO WE'LL TRANSFER THEM TO YOU LATER.
WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM SAS ABOUT THEIR, UH, RESILIENCY BRIEFING AND HOW THINGS ARE GOING OVER THERE.
SO WE'LL HEAR FROM, UH, ROBERT PUENTE.
GOOD AFTERNOON, ROBERT, THANK YOU.
GOOD MORNING, UH, CHAIR COURAGE AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, ESPECIALLY THE NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THIS COMMITTEE.
UM, I, UM, UNDERSTAND AT THE END OF THE YEAR, RIGHT AFTER THANKSGIVING, UH, TOWARDS DECEMBER, THERE'S AN ALWAYS A TIME OF REFLECTION, UH, A TIME OF WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NEXT YEAR? AND AT SAS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THAT A TIME OF PERSONAL, ON MY BEHALF, PERSONAL REFLECTION AND FOR THE PROFESSIONAL PART OF OUR ORGANIZATION OF REFLECTION.
AND THAT IS BECAUSE STEVE KLAUS IS RETIRING AT THE END OF THE YEAR AGAIN.
UH, AND BELIEVE ME, COUNCILMAN COURAGE, I HAVE TRIED, I WAS SUCCESSFUL ONE TIME TRYING TO GET HIM BACK.
UH, AND UM, AND I DID ACTUALLY, HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RETIRE AT THE END OF LAST YEAR AND THEN HE AGREED MARCH
[00:45:01]
OF THIS YEAR AND WE AGREED AT THE END OF THIS YEAR.UM, AND IT IS A VERY SAD TIME AT SAS.
UM, I I TELL YOU, UH, BEFORE YURI, UH, UH, STEVE WAS THERE DURING YURI, STEVE WAS THERE AFTER YURI, STEVE WAS THERE, WE COULD NOT HAVE GOT THROUGH THAT THIS, NOT JUST SAS, BUT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, UH, WITHOUT STEVE KNOWING WHAT HE KNOWS HIS 35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, WE'RE GONNA MISS HIM.
WELL, GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, WHILE WE LOOK BACK AT EARLY FROM THE COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE OF JUST HOW DIFFICULT THAT WAS, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IT WAS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY CAREER.
NOT BECAUSE PEOPLE SUFFERED, BUT BECAUSE I GOT TO WATCH WHAT OUR FOLKS DID.
THE EFFORT, THE LEVEL OF EFFORT, THE CREATIVITY, THE INGENUITY, THE JUST GETTING THROUGH THAT EVENT AND WORKING AS HARD AS THEY DID.
SO THAT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING I'LL REMEMBER IN MY CAREER.
IT'S JUST HOW, HOW THAT EVENT UNFOLDED AND WHAT OUR FOLKS WERE REALLY WILLING TO DO TO SEE THOSE SERVICES PROVIDED.
SO, ALRIGHT, WITH THAT, I'M GONNA JUMP RIGHT INTO THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU MAY RECALL THAT WHEN URI HAPPENED DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE EVENT, MR. PUENTE ACTUALLY BROUGHT IN A INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY TO START THE REVIEW OF HOW DID WE DO? SO WE HAD THAT INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY, WE HAD THE, THE COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN.
WE HAD A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OUR BOARD.
SO IN TOTAL WE HAD 63 THINGS THAT WE NEEDED TO LOOK AT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE, UH, ADDRESSING THIS TO MINIMIZE ANY IMPACTS.
SHOULD WE HAVE AN EVENT LIKE THAT.
AGAIN, I WILL SAY THAT IF WE HAD MAINTAINED POWER, WE COULD PROBABLY WITHSTAND A FREEZE EVENT EQUAL TO OR WORSE THAN URI WITHOUT A SERVICE DISRUPTION.
SO ONCE WE LOST POWER, THAT'S WHEN EVERYTHING REALLY STARTED COMPOUNDING AND CASCADING AND CREATING A REAL HUGE PROBLEM FOR SAWS OVERALL.
WHEN WE MET WITH YOU LAST TIME, WE STILL HAD ONE OUTSTANDING ITEM FROM THE COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN THAT WE NEEDED TO WORK ON.
AND THAT IT WAS BRINGING IN, UH, THIRD PARTY AGENTS TO MAN THE PHONES DURING AN EVENT, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD GET OUR, OUR MESSAGE OUT, TAKE THAT INCOMING, UH, INFORMATION FROM THE COMMUNITY AND ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS FOR THEM ALL OVERALL.
SO I'M GONNA DIVE INTO THAT A LITTLE BIT ON THE FIRST SLIDES HERE.
UM, SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TO IMPROVE THAT SERVICE? WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT LAST TIME, THE, THE LONG-TERM GOAL TO ADDRESS THIS IS GOING IN WITH SOME AI SOFTWARE, SOFTWARE THAT CAN AUTOMATICALLY LEARN BASED ON THE QUESTIONS AND UPDATE THEIR ANSWERS BASED ON THE INCOMING INFORMATION.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE WATER IS OUT IN MY PART OF THE CITY, DO Y'ALL KNOW ABOUT THIS ALREADY? AND WE CAN START COMPOUNDING THAT INCOMING MESSAGE INTO WHAT WE'RE SENDING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO IT'S REALLY A A TWO PART ANSWER FOR US.
WE'RE WORKING ON THE LONG TERM AI SOLUTION.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT GOING FORWARD, BUT WE'VE ALSO IMPLEMENTED A, A VERY INTERACTIVE CHAT PROCESS WHERE WHEN FOLKS ARE CALLING IN, WE CAN IMMEDIATELY RESPOND TO THEM, WON'T NECESSARILY BE A HUMAN RESPONDING, BUT THEY WILL GET RESPONSES THAT ARE CRAFTED TO THEIR QUESTION.
AND THAT'S A EARLY FORM OF AI.
THE WAY THAT THEY'VE SET THIS UP, IT'S REALLY THE FIRST STEPS IN A, IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AI.
IT DOES TAKE THE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY AND UPDATE THOSE ANSWERS AS THEY GO OUT.
IT WILL TAKE SOME WORK OVER TIME, BUT THAT IS THE FIRST OF TWO STEPS THAT WE'VE DONE THAT WILL IMPROVE THE CALLS THAT COME IN.
SO WHY WERE PEOPLE CALLING SAWS THERE? WERE CALLING SAWS TO REPORT A WATER OUTAGE.
AND SO WE NOW HAVE THE WATER MAX ONLINE AND WE HAVE THE INPUTS IN PLACE THAT WHEN SOMEONE'S CALLING IN TO SAY, HEY, I'M OUTTA WATER AT MY HOUSE, THEY CAN AUTOMATICALLY GO TO THESE SITES AND SEE EXACTLY WHERE WE HAVE WATER OUTAGES AND ANSWER THAT QUESTION OF, ARE YOU AWARE THAT WE HAVE A WATER OUTAGE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD OR OUR APARTMENT OR IN OUR SECTION OF TOWN? SO THE MAPS WILL BE THERE, THE CHATS WILL BE THERE, AND THOSE TWO PARTS WE THINK IS BETTER THAN HAVING A THIRD PARTY SERVICES JUST ANSWERING THE PHONE BECAUSE THOSE THIRD PARTY PEOPLE AREN'T GONNA KNOW ANYTHING MORE THAN WHAT THE CHAT WOULD TELL THEM OR WHAT THEY WOULD SEE AVAILABLE ON THE MAP.
SO WE HAVE THAT INTERFACE GOING ON WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND WE THINK THESE TWO SYSTEMS WILL WORK WELL TOGETHER.
YOU MAY RECOGNIZE THE, THE IMAGE OF THE MAPS THAT WE'RE USING, IT'S VERY SIMILAR, IT'S
[00:50:01]
NOT AN EXACT COPY, BUT IT HAS THE SAME LOOK AND FEEL THAT C P S HAS.I DON'T THINK THE COMMUNITY REALLY DIFFERENTIATES US AND C P S WHEN THEY'RE HAVING A PROBLEM LIKE THAT.
SO WE'VE TRIED TO BUILD THESE TWO SYSTEMS SO THAT THEY HAVE SIMILARITIES TO WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TO RELEARN A SYSTEM TO GO LOOK AT C P S OR GO LOOK AT SAWS OVERALL.
AND THEN OF COURSE WE HAVE THE BIG OUTREACH.
WE CAN DO ROBOCALLS, TEXT MESSAGING, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA WHENEVER WE NEED TO WORKING WITH THE CITY.
AND I THINK THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE COORDINATE THOSE MESSAGES WITH THE CITY, THAT WHEN WE HAVE AN EVENT GOING ON LIKE THAT, WE HAVE WAYS, MULTIPLE WAYS WE CAN PUSH INFORMATION OUT, WHETHER THEY'RE TRYING TO CONTACT THE CITIZENS OR TRYING TO CONTACT US OR NOT.
SO THE BIGGEST ADVANCE THAT WE HAVE, UH, FOR OUR SYSTEM OVERALL IS THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE WITH C P S AND IF ANYTHING, URI HAS BROUGHT SAWS AND C P S INTO MUCH CLOSER COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION FOR EVENTS LIKE THIS.
WE HAVE NOW HAD A JOINT BOARD MEETING.
WE HAVE NOW, UM, REACHED THE VERY END OF A NEGOTIATION PROCESS WHERE A SERIES OF GENERATORS WILL BE PUT AT 15 OF OUR PUMP STATIONS.
YOU CAN SEE THE COST IS ABOUT 97 MILLION.
IT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE HIGHER THAN THAT BASED ON SOME RECENT COMMUNICATIONS WE'VE HAD WITH THE VENDORS.
BUT THIS IS FOR THE FIRST GROUP OF STATIONS, SOME OF OUR MOST CRITICAL STATIONS WHERE WE WILL LAND THESE GENERATORS.
AND THE FIRST GENERATORS THAT ARE GOING IN ARE GONNA BE IN, IN COORDINATION WITH C P S AND THEY WILL BE POWERED BY NATURAL GAS.
WE HAVE 54 STATIONS IN TOTAL THAT WE WILL BE PUTTING GENERATORS IN THAT THIS IS GONNA BE OVER $200 MILLION WORTH OF INFRASTRUCTURE.
THE FIRST 15 ARE, ARE A COMBINATION OF OUR EFFORTS AND CPSS EFFORTS WHERE SAWS PROCURES THE GENERATOR.
CCPS WILL MAINTAIN AND OPERATE THE GENERATOR.
THESE GENERATORS THAT ARE BEING PUT IN FOR ONE EMERGENCY SERVICE TO SAW SYSTEMS SHOULD WE LOSE POWER.
THEY'RE DEDICATED TO PUMP WATER AT OUR PUMPING STATIONS, BUT TWO, THEY CAN BE USED BY C P S FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE AT ANY OTHER TIME.
SO WHENEVER THERE'S SHORTAGES ON THE GRID OR SOME OTHER PROBLEM OUT THERE AND C P S FEELS LIKE THEY NEED A LITTLE MORE POWER RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF SAN ANTONIO WHERE OUR BIG PUMPING STATIONS ARE, THEY CAN TURN THOSE ON AND OPERATE THEM AS THEY WISH.
WE HAVE HAD A JOINT BOARD MEETING BETWEEN OUR TWO UTILITIES.
WE EXPECT TO HAVE MORE JOINT BOARD MEETINGS MOVING FORWARD.
OVERALL, HERE'S A PICTURE OF WHAT THOSE GENERATORS LOOK LIKE.
UM, SOME OF THESE STATIONS WILL HAVE MULTIPLE GENERATORS OF WHAT YOU CAN SEE HERE.
THIS IS JUST AN IMAGE OF A SMALLER SITE.
UM, THESE GENERATORS HAVE VERY LONG PROCUREMENT TIMES, ABOUT 18 MONTHS OVERALL.
SO WE EXPECT THAT WE'RE GOING WELL.
WE HOPE TO BE, UM, PRESENTING THIS TO OUR BOARD IN JANUARY, UM, FOR THEIR CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL.
UH, ONCE THOSE, ONCE THAT AWARD HAS OCCURRED, THEN WE WILL AWARD THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE CONTRACTOR WHO WILL COME IN AND ACTUALLY LAND THESE UNITS AND DO ALL THE OTHER MODIFICATIONS THAT OUR STATIONS THAT NEED TO PUT THEM IN PLACE, THEY WILL BE MODULAR.
AND WHEN I SAY THAT EVERY GENERATOR WILL BE AN EXACT DUPLICATE OF EVERY OTHER GENERATOR THAT REALLY HOLDS DOWN OUR MAINTENANCE COST, MINIMIZES OUR TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.
UH, SHOULD WE LOSE A GENERATOR? WE'LL JUST TAKE THE SPARE AND PUT IT RIGHT IN PLACE.
WE SHOULDN'T MISS A BEAT WITHOUT OVERALL.
UM, IT WILL TAKE US ABOUT TWO YEARS TO COMPLETE THAT PROJECT.
AFTER THE WORK IS DONE WITH C P S, THEN WE WILL START LANDING OUR DIESEL GENERATORS AT ALL THE OTHER STATIONS.
A LOT OF GOOD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURAL GAS GRID.
IS IT RELIABLE? UH, CAN WE, CAN WE BANK ON THAT? WE SAW THAT RISK AND SO WE SPLIT THE FUELS TO WHERE A LOT OF OUR STATIONS WILL RUN ON DIESEL.
QUITE A FEW OF OUR STATIONS WILL RUN ON NATURAL GAS.
SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE OUT TWO FUELS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE DOWN OUR SYSTEM OVERALL.
BUT THE DIESEL WORK IS GONNA BE THE SECOND PHASE OF THIS AND THAT WILL BE STARTING IN 2025.
DONE A LOT OF WORK WITH THE CITY AND PLANNING INTERNALLY AT SAWS ON, ON WHAT DO WE DO IF WE WIND UP IN THIS SITUATION WHERE WE HAVE TO DO ANOTHER BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION? WE'VE INCREASED THE NUMBER OF SITES WHERE WE CAN DO BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION.
THEY'RE, THEY WILL NEED TO HELP US IF WE'RE IN A BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION MODE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME.
YOU CAN BET THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF TRAFFIC CONTROL AND THAT SORT OF THING.
WE HAVE SOME VERY SMALL STATIONS THAT ALREADY HAVE GENERATORS AT THEM.
SO THOSE SMALLER STATIONS WE WILL BE USING FOR BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION.
IF WE GET INTO ANOTHER BOTTLED WATER DISTRIBUTION, DEPENDING ON WHAT PART OF THE CITY WE WOULD BE, UH, DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE WOULD BE VERY CLOSELY ALIGNED WITH THE CITY AND THE
[00:55:01]
REALLY, THE CITY WILL BE MANAGING THAT, THAT BOTTLED WATER DISTRIBUTION LIKE THEY DID THROUGH THE URI PROCESS.I'M SURE SAWS WOULD HAVE SOME ROLE IN FUNDING SOME OF THAT BOTTLED WATER DISTRIBUTION IF WE WOUND UP IN THAT ONCE AGAIN.
SO WHAT ARE WE DOING AS FAR AS OUR, OUR SYSTEMS OVERALL? WELL, WE BELIEVE WE'RE READY IN, IN SAN ANTONIO AND IN BEXAR COUNTY.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? HAS A BIG DEAL ON THE IMPACT FROM A FREEZE PERSPECTIVE.
OBVIOUSLY THOSE HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE NORTHWEST GET MUCH COLDER.
AND FOR THOSE LOCATIONS IN PARTICULAR, WE'VE GONE ON AND BEYOND AND, AND REALLY BUILT UP OUR INSULATION AND OUR, OUR HEAT TAPE PROCESSES.
THE PICTURE YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE ON A LEFT, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY'S REALLY SEEN HEAT TAPE, BUT UH, IT IS JUST A WIRE THAT RUNS UNDERNEATH, UH, AN INSULATION BARRIER.
AND IF YOU HAVE A VERY COLD EVENT, THEN THAT WILL, UM, ADD A HEATING ELEMENT UNDERNEATH THE INSULATION.
YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THAT SERIES OF PICTURES, WE'VE GOT, UH, SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UM, LOCATIONS THERE.
AND, AND SOME OF THE ADDITIONAL INSULATION WRAPPING THAT WE'VE DONE NORMALLY IN A, UH, REAL TIME SITUATION, IF WE HAVE POWER, IF IT GETS EXTREMELY COLD, WE WILL NOT FREEZE AT THOSE STATIONS.
BUT WHEN WE LOST POWER, EVEN THOSE LARGER DIAMETER PIPES, UM, AND ALL THE LITTLE TUBES THAT SUPPORT THE MONITORS AND THE CONTROLS IN THOSE LARGER DIAMETER PIPES AND VALVES FROZE.
SO WE HAVE INSULATED PIPES, UH, BASED ON WHAT WE'VE LEARNED FROM URI THAT HISTORICALLY WE HAVE NEVER HAD TO INSULATE BEFORE, BUT WE'RE DOING THAT JUST IN CASE WE LOSE POWER AT SOME OF THOSE STATIONS.
EVERYBODY THINKS ABOUT WATER AND, AND WE HAVE REALLY FOCUSED WITH THIS COMMITTEE ON THE WATER SIDE, BUT EVERY, BUT I WANT PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE OUR WASTEWATER PLANTS WERE JUST AS IMPACTED AS OUR WASTEWATER SYSTEM WAS.
I WAS HERE WHEN WE BUILT SOME OF THOSE PLANTS, AND WE ACTUALLY DESIGNED THOSE PLANTS, IF YOU CAN IMAGINE THIS, THEY'RE IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY.
WE USE GRAVITY TO GET WASTEWATER DOWNHILL, AND THOSE SOUTHERN LOCATIONS ALSO FROZE.
WE DESIGNED THOSE PLANTS FOR A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT, BUT WE'VE LEARNED THAT WE HAVE TO DO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT TO THE COMMITTEE THAT WE HAVE DONE ADDITIONAL INSULATION AT OUR WASTEWATER FACILITIES.
UM, THOSE FACILITIES, UM, GREATLY STRUGGLED THROUGH THE URI EVENT.
UH, THEY JUST WEREN'T AS, UH, PUBLICLY NOTICED, UH, AS THE IMPACTS WERE HAPPENING.
YOU CAN SEE THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT THERE SHOWS YOU ONE OF THE LARGE BUILDINGS THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP IN 24 HOUR OPERATION AT THE PLANT.
THAT'S WHERE WE DE-WATER SOLIDS.
SO WE NOW HAVE, UH, TEMPORARY WALLS THAT WE CAN OPEN UP THOSE BIG CURTAINS.
YOU CAN SEE WE CAN CLOSE OFF THE WALLS THERE.
WE'VE GOT A SERIES OF, UH, WHAT WE CALL TURBO HEATERS IN THE PICTURE THERE WHERE WE CAN TRY TO KEEP THE EMPLOYEES AS WELL AS, UH, THE EQUIPMENT AND THE SMALL DIAMETER TUBING ONLINE.
WE'VE REALLY STOCKED UP ON OUR SUPPLIES, UH, AT EACH OF OUR FACILITIES, WATER OR WASTEWATER.
SO THOSE THINGS THAT YOU, THAT WE KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD PROBLEMS WITH IN URI, IF YOU GO OUT TO A LOT OF THOSE STATIONS NOW, YOU WILL SEE THOSE SUPPLIES ARE LOCKED UP AND READY, THAT IF WE DID HAVE A BIG EVENT THIS YEAR, WE, WE WON'T BE OUT, UM, HUNTING THINGS AND DRIVING BACK AND FORTH TRYING TO GET SUPPLIES EVERYWHERE.
WE'VE GOT 'EM SITTING THERE AT THE STATIONS READY TO GO.
WE'VE TAKEN THIS SERIOUSLY AND THAT WE KNOW THIS ISN'T DAY ONE AND DONE.
UM, WE'LL PROBABLY GO ANOTHER 20 OR 30 YEARS BEFORE WE SEE ANOTHER
BUT NONETHELESS, WE HAVE PROGRAMMED ALL THIS INTO OUR WORK ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WHERE WE HAVE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE WORK ORDERS THAT WILL COME UP IN THAT AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER TIMEFRAME WHEN NOBODY REALLY THINKS ABOUT A FREEZE.
AND WE'LL BE DOING THAT WORK EVERY YEAR TO BE READY, UM, WHENEVER THAT NEXT EVENT DOES ACTUALLY COME ALONG.
AND OF COURSE, WE, WE WANT TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLE.
UM, AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, THE, THE WORK AND THE COMMITMENT OF THE CREWS THAT WERE OUT THERE, UH, TRYING TO FIX FROZEN PLUMBING, UH, THROUGH THAT EVENT, UH, WE HAVE COATS THAT WE ISSUED, BUT THEY WERE NOT ADEQUATE FOR AN URI TYPE EVENT.
WE HAVE GLOVES THAT WE ISSUED, BUT THEY WERE NOT ADEQUATE.
SO I SAY HEAD TO TOE HERE, YOU CAN SEE EVEN YOUR HARD HAT.
WE HAVE SPECIAL INSULATION THAT THEY CAN WEAR UNDERNEATH THEIR HARD HAT.
SO WE'VE TAKEN FEEDBACK FROM OUR CREWS ON WHAT WAS IT THAT THEY WISHED THEY HAD, AND WE'VE GONE OUT AND WE'VE STOCKED THAT.
WE HAVEN'T NECESSARILY ISSUED IT TO THEM BECAUSE EVERY YEAR WE'LL BE ISSUING THAT AND WE MAY NOT HAVE AN ERY EVENT, NOTHING QUITE THAT COLD, BUT WE'VE GOT IT IN THE WAREHOUSE AND IT'S READY TO GO.
AND IF WE SEE AN EVENT LIKE THAT COMING UP WITH THE WEATHER FORECAST, WE CAN JUST DISTRIBUTE AND WE'LL BE READY
[01:00:01]
TO ROLL.OF COURSE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, DID CREATE A PROBLEM FOR US WAS THE ICING THAT HAPPENED.
AND WE HAVE SEVERAL OF OUR PUMP STATIONS THAT ARE AT THE VERY TOP OF THE HILLS, PARTICULARLY UP THERE IN THE NORTHWEST SECTION, WHERE, UM, OUR EMPLOYEES HAD TO HIKE UP THE HILL AND THAT HIKE WAS FROZEN.
SO WE'VE GONE IN AND BOUGHT CHAINS FOR VEHICLES THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE.
WE HAD A COUPLE OF CHAINS, BUT REALLY NOTHING ADEQUATE TO PROVIDE SERVICE FOR US.
SO WE'VE STUCK UP ON CHAINS, ET CETERA.
FUEL TO A LOT OF OUR GENERATOR SITES WAS A HUGE DIFFICULTY FOR US.
FUEL DELIVERIES WE COULDN'T GET BY OUR CONTRACTED VENDORS.
SO WE'VE ORDERED AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS SO WE CAN DROP IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK AND USE OUR OWN FUEL STOCKPILES TO TRY TO GET THAT FUEL OUT.
AND THEN DIESEL FUEL ADDITIVES, WE DID HAVE QUITE A FEW TRUCKS.
WHEN IT GETS REALLY COLD LIKE THAT, THIS WILL FUEL BECOMES A PROBLEM.
SO WE ALSO HAVE, UH, LITTLE THINGS LIKE THOSE ADDITIVES THAT WE'VE PUT IN PLACE AND WE ARE READY TO GO.
SO OVERALL, ARE WE READY FOR A FREEZE? I WILL TELL YOU YES, I THINK WE'RE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE, AND IF WE HAD ANOTHER ERY TYPE EVENT, I THINK THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH THAT.
UM, EVEN IF WE DON'T HAVE POWER, OF COURSE WE CAN'T PUMP, BUT WE WON'T SEE THE DAMAGE AND THE DELAY IN GETTING OUR SYSTEMS BACK ONLINE THAT WE SAW THROUGH URI OVERALL.
SO THAT ENDS THE PRESENTATION.
I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTION.
I'VE GOT A, A QUESTION OR TWO.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I, I DON'T SEE ADDRESSED IN HERE, BUT I KNOW THAT, THAT, UH, SAWS TOOK IT ON THEMSELVES TO BE PREPARED WAS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO HAVE, UH, PIPES THAT BREAK AND IT'S FLOODING THEIR YARD.
IT'S ON THEIR SIDE, NOT ON THE, ON THE SAW SIDE.
UH, IS THERE A PLAN TO CONTINUE THAT KIND OF, UH, INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE? SHOULD WE GET INTO ANOTHER URI SITUATION, WHICH CAN CAUSE THOSE THINGS? SO THAT'S TWO PARTS REALLY.
IF WE WOUND UP IN ANOTHER URI EVENT, I THINK WE WOULD HAVE A GREATLY ENHANCED STABILITY TO GET OUT THERE, UH, AND TURN PEOPLE OFF BECAUSE THAT WATER FLOWING OUT OF SOMEBODY'S GARAGE WHO IS OVER AT, UH, THEIR GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE TAKING CARE OF THEIR GRANDMOTHER, NOBODY KNEW ABOUT THAT, THAT, SO WE BLOCK WALKED AND WE TURNED OFF INDIVIDUAL HOUSES WHERE WE COULD SEE WATER FLOWING OUT LIKE THAT.
AS FAR AS ARE WE GONNA, UH, IS YOUR QUESTION ON, ON THE FRONT END OF IT, AS I'VE MENTIONED? OR IS IT MORE ON THE BACK END OF IT? MORE ON THE BACK END WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PERSON'S PIPES ARE BROKEN AND, AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
AND I KNOW WE HAD THAT PLUMBER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
UH, SO IT'S SOMETHING LIKE THAT STILL GONNA BE AVAILABLE FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO JUST, YOU KNOW, CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX THAT PROBLEM.
AND WATERS, AND I, I UNDERSTAND WITH THE NEW A M I SYSTEM, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE LEAKS LIKE THAT AND TURN OFF A SYSTEM.
BUT WILL WE BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE TOO THROUGH THAT? YES, SIR.
I THINK WE ARE, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE HAD CALLED THE COMMUNITY PIPE REPAIR PROGRAM.
SO THAT WAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY AS WELL AS THE SPURS AND OTHER PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS.
AND SO WHAT THAT DID WAS WE WERE RAISED ENOUGH MONEY WHERE WE THEN TURNED AROUND AND UTILIZED THE MECHANISM WE HAVE FOR THE PLUMBERS TO PEOPLE.
SO LUCKILY WE HAVE THE PLUMBERS TO PEOPLE AND THE LATERALS PEOPLE.
SO WE HAD A PLAN ALREADY IN PLACE TO HELP KICK OFF A PROGRAM LIKE THIS.
BUT IT WAS THAT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY, UH, I THINK IT WAS THE SPURS, THE AREA FOUNDATION THAT THEN PUT THAT, UH, NONPROFIT INTO PLACE, THE 5 0 1 C THREE TYPE PROGRAM.
AND SO WE HAVE THAT ALREADY SET UP.
AND SO IF WE WERE TO GET INTO A SITUATION LIKE THIS, IT'D BE EASY TO START, UH, IMPLEMENTING SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
SO THAT IS STILL THERE AND THAT IS A, A FACET OF THE PLUMBERS TO PEOPLE AND LADDERS PEOPLE.
SO THE LONG ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS, YES, SIR.
WE'LL BE READY AND WE'LL HAVE IT PREPARED.
AND I, I THINK IT'S THE A M I SYSTEM THAT'S REALLY GONNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE KINDS OF SITUATIONS.
AND THAT'S GONNA BE A, A BIG TELL BECAUSE AS STEVE SAID, WE HAD TO DEPEND ON SEEING THE WATER OR HEARING FROM PEOPLE THIS WAY, NOW THAT WE'LL SEE WHERE PEOPLE HAVE LEFT THEIR HOUSE, THEY'LL LET US KNOW AND THEN WE'LL SEE THE CONSTANT RUNNING AND WE CAN THEN IMPLEMENT SOME OF OUR EMPLOYEES TO COME OUT AND CONTACT OTHER FOLKS.
I THOUGHT I HAD ONE OTHER, IT'S PROBABLY SLIPPED MY MIND NOW, BUT LET'S GO AHEAD AND GO ON TO SOME OF THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS' QUESTIONS.
COUNCILMAN KEDA HAS QUESTIONS.
UM, THE 15 GENERATORS, I'M, I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT THE TIMING OF THOSE.
WHEN, WHEN WILL THE, THE CRITICAL 15 GO IN? WE WILL BE AT OUR BOARD IN JANUARY, UM, FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF THE GENERATORS, THEIR CONSIDERATION FOR PROCUREMENT, THERE'S AN 18 MONTH LEAD TIME.
WITH THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES AND THE DEMAND.
THE DEMAND FOR GENERATORS REALLY ACROSS THE STATE, UM, WE THINK THAT IT WILL BE AT LEAST 18 MONTHS.
SO WE'LL BE WORKING, BUT WE WON'T BE ABLE
[01:05:01]
TO KNOW THAT WE CAN LAND THOSE FOR AT LEAST 18 MONTHS.IN 2025, THOSE GENERATORS WILL BE GOING ON THE GROUND.
WE'LL BE AWARDING CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS IN 2023 WHERE THEY CAN DO SOME OF THE PREP WORK, GETTING READY FOR THE GENERATORS.
THERE'S A LOT, A LOT OF WORK THAT NEEDS TO GO INTERNAL TO THE FACILITY.
BUT THEY WON'T BE ONLINE UNTIL 2024 OR 2025.
THAT'S WHEN THE DIESEL PORTION OF IT WILL BE KICKING OFF.
AND WE HOPE TO BE LANDING DIESEL GENERATOR GENERATORS ON OUR SITES RIGHT AFTER THAT.
AND THOSE ARE THE 54, THEY'RE 54 TOTAL STATIONS? THAT'S CORRECT.
I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 15 AND 54.
THE, SO THE TIMING IS ABOUT THE SAME.
IT'S JUST ONE IS THE 54 DIESEL, THE 15 ARE CRITICAL.
UM, IN OUR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN, WHICH WE WERE, UM, REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO THE STATE, WE TOLD THEM IT WOULD TAKE US 10 YEARS TO DO IT AT ACROSS ALL 54 STATIONS.
WE THINK WE CAN DO IT A LOT FASTER THAN THAT.
OUR GOAL IS TO DO IT A LOT FASTER THAN THAT.
SO THERE WILL BE A LITTLE BIT OF OVERLAP BETWEEN THE NATURAL GAS SYSTEMS BEING IN PLACE AND STARTED AND THE DIESEL SYSTEMS BEING DESIGNED.
AND THE GENERATORS, UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE GONNA KEEP THE WATER FLOWING, RIGHT? I MEAN, THIS IS KEEPING THE, THE POWER GOING TO KEEP YOUR EQUIPMENT MOVING? THAT'S CORRECT.
THEIR, THEIR SOLE PURPOSES FOR THEIR PRIMARY PURPOSES FOR PUSHING WATER, BUT 99.99% OF THE TIME, WE HAVE VERY RELIABLE POWER FROM C P S.
IF C P S NEEDS ADDITIONAL POWER, THEY CAN RUN THOSE AT ANY TIME THEY WANT.
AND SO, I MEAN, I APPRECIATE THAT IT'S, IT'S EXTRA CAUTIOUS BACKUP, WHICH IS WHAT WE NEED.
UM, THE, THE, UH, MY CONCERN IS A LITTLE MORE FOR THE, THE IMMEDIATE WINTER.
UM, SO WE DON'T HAVE ANY GENERATORS FOR, FOR THIS YEAR, FOR OUR, FOR OUR WINTER COMING UP.
WE DO HAVE SOME GENERATORS AT OUR VERY SMALLEST PUMP STATION.
UM, THOSE ARE THE PUMP STATIONS THAT WE WILL USE FOR BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION IF WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
UP UNTIL THAT TIME, SMALL STATIONS ARE USUALLY IN, UH, AREAS THAT ARE HARDER TO GET TO, UNFORTUNATELY.
SO THAT'S WHY WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE CITY SS A P D AND THE CITY'S EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN MANAGE TRAFFIC FLOW IF WE'RE IN THAT TYPE OF AN EVENT.
AND WHEN YOU SAY BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION, WHAT, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT LIKE BOTTLED WATER OR, UM, WELL, YOU HAVE TWO APPROACHES TO THAT BOTTLED WATER, BOTH OF THOSE WE DID DURING URI BOTTLED WATER WHERE THE CITY SET UP THERE, MASS DISTRIBUTION SIDE SET, THE SEAWORLD PARKING LOT, FOR EXAMPLE, AND BULK WATER WHERE YOU CAN BRING BUCKETS AND, AND LOAD UP AS MANY BUCKETS OF WATER JUGS, WHAT HAVE YOU.
WE'LL JUST HAVE WATER OPEN AND FLOWING THERE, AND A BUNCH OF SAWS, PEOPLE HELPING OUT TO GET FOLKS THROUGH.
BECAUSE MY CONCERN WAS THE GENERATOR, I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THE GENERATOR, BUT WHEN DURING THE STORM, UH, IT WASN'T ACTUALLY DURING THE STORM, WE HAD THE PROBLEMS. IT WAS RIGHT AFTER, UM, THE SNOW HAD KIND OF CLEARED UP.
BUT IN A LOT OF APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN, UH, IN MY DISTRICT, I'M SURE ACROSS THE CITY, THEIR PIPES HAD BUST.
NOW I KNOW IT'S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE, THE LANDOWNER.
BUT THE FACT OF THE MATTER WAS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WERE WITHOUT WATER.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CITY DID THE DISTRIBUTION AT SEAWORLD, WE WERE VERY, UH, VERY BLESSED THAT, THAT WALMART HAD DONATED A BUNCH OF, UM, BOTTLED WATER PALLETS TO US AND DELIVERED THEM TO THESE DIFFERENT APARTMENT COMPLEXES.
UM, SO I WASN'T, I WASN'T GETTING THE GENERATOR.
AND THE, THE BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION, THE GENERATOR ARE TWO DIFFERENT, THEY'RE ADDRESSING TWO DIFFERENT ISSUES.
ONCE THE GENERATORS ARE IN PLACE, THERE REALLY SHOULD NOT BE A REASON FOR THE BULK WATER DISTRIBUTION OR THE BOTTLED WATER DISTRIBUTION.
WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP THE SYSTEM OPERATIONAL LONG BEYOND A POWER LOSS.
BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY, THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED.
IT WASN'T, IT WASN'T DURING THE STORM.
IT WAS A, A WEEKS AFTER THE, IT WAS ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AFTER THE STORM THAT PEOPLE WERE GOING, UM, GETTING BUCKETS AND GOING TO THE POOL TO, I MEAN, SORRY, BUT T M I, BUT LIKE TO FLUSH RIGHT.
SO WHAT, WHEN WE PROVIDED THIS BOTTLED WATER, THEY WERE COOKING, THEY WERE, UM, DOING DIFFERENT THINGS BECAUSE FOR A WEEK AND A HALF OR SO AFTER THE STORM, THEY STILL DIDN'T HAVE WHAT THEY NEEDED.
AND AGAIN, I WANNA BE CLEAR, IT'S NOT ON SAWS, IT WAS THE, THE PROPERTY OWNERS.
'CAUSE THEY WERE PREDOMINANTLY IN APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN MY DISTRICT.
AND YOU MAY RECALL, UM, BY REGULATION, ONCE WE GET OUR SYSTEM COMPLETELY RE PRESSURIZED, ONCE WE CAN DEMONSTRATE THAT WE HAVE DISINFECTION ACROSS OUR ENTIRE SYSTEM, THEN WE COLLECT OUR WATER SAMPLES.
AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT 24 HOURS FOR THOSE SAMPLES.
VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT HOUSTON JUST WENT THROUGH, IF YOU'VE SEEN ALL THAT IN THE MEDIA.
BUT THEY HAD TO WAIT TO GET THOSE WATER SAMPLES BACK.
AND THAT'S PROBABLY THE MOST FRUSTRATING PERIOD
[01:10:01]
BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THE WATER IS COMPLETELY POTABLE AND PEOPLE CAN CONSUME.BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THAT PROCESS TO RUN.
BEFORE WE CAN LIFT THE BOIL WATER.
NOTICE OVERALL, OF COURSE, WE WOULDN'T WANT ANYBODY TO GET SICK ON TOP OF IT.
UH, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RETIREMENT.
WE'RE SORRY TO LOSE YOU, BUT I'M SURE YOU HAVE, UM, ALL KINDS OF PLANS TO NOT, UH, TO RELAX.
I, I'VE LOVED MY OPPORTUNITY AT SASS, BUT IT'S TIME TO LET SOMEBODY ELSE HAVE ALL THE
AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RETIREMENT.
UM, I HAVE THE SAME SORT OF CONCERNS OR THOUGHTS ON COMMUNICATION THAT I HAD WITH THE C P S, UH, PRESENTATION.
UM, AND SO I'M WONDERING, AND I, WE BROUGHT UP THE HOUSTON, UH, BOIL WATER NOTICE, AND I WAS IN HOUSTON SATURDAY UNTIL SUNDAY, AND I DIDN'T LEAVE UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT.
AND I, WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT IS THAT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THERE WAS A BOIL WATER NOTICE UNTIL ABOUT 10:00 PM EVEN THOUGH THE EVENT HAPPENED AT 10:00 AM.
AND SO COMMUNICATION IS, UM, YOU KNOW, A PROBLEM THERE.
I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE ON TWITTER TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND IF SOMEONE IS NOT WATCHING THE NEWS OR DOES NOT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS, HOW ARE THEY TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH? AND I THINK THAT'S A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE SHOULD BE, UM, THINKING ABOUT.
UM, I WAS ALSO IN HOUSTON YESTERDAY MORNING, AND NOTHING'S WORSE THAN A BACKED UP AIRPORT THAT STARBUCKS HAS SHUT DOWN IN
BUT, UM, HOUSTON DEALT WITH, UH, PROBLEMS THAT I THINK ALL WATER UTILITIES EXPERIENCE EVENTUALLY.
AND THAT'S A, A TEMPORARY DIP IN WATER PRESSURE.
THEY, THEY LOST WATER PRESSURE.
THEY WENT BELOW THAT REGULATORY MINIMUM OF 20 P S I.
AND YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE AT THAT POINT.
YOU HAVE TO PUT THE SYSTEM ON BOIL.
UM, THE WATER WAS PROBABLY PERFECTLY SAFE.
AND THE DELAY IN THEIR ANNOUNCEMENT TO BOIL, I AM POSITIVE, ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT TALKED TO THE FOLKS IN HOUSTON YET, I WILL, WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE, UH, DEBATING WITH THE STATE AND TRYING TO GET CLARIFICATION FROM THE STATE AS TO WHETHER THEY HAD TO BOIL OR NOT.
SO I EMPATHIZE WITH THEIR PROBLEM THERE.
A VERY TEMPORARY LOSS IN POWER, UH, DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY MEAN THAT YOU HAVE A PATHOGENS OR DANGEROUS THINGS IN THE WATER.
THEY DIDN'T WANNA BOIL, BUT ULTIMATELY THE STATE TOLD THEM TO BOIL.
NOW FOR THE, THE SECOND PART OF YOUR, YOUR, UH, COMMENT, I'M GONNA HAVE GINO COME UP ON HOW WE'D REACH OUT BEYOND, UM, OUR NORMAL MASS MEDIA.
VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT MELISSA WAS TALKING ABOUT, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE CITY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE STARTED PLANNING TO DO IS USING THE ROBO DIAL.
'CAUSE YOU'RE A HUNDRED PERCENT CORRECT.
NOT EVERYBODY'S ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
AND I ALWAYS TEND TO THINK OF MY PARENTS.
SO HOW WOULD WE COMMUNICATE WITH THEM? WE USE A, A ROBO DIAL WOULD BE PART OF THE MAIN WAY TO GET TO OUR CUSTOMERS AS WELL AS WORKING WITH OUR PARTNER AGENCIES.
AND SO WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY, OUR CUSTOMERS WILL GO TO ST.
VINCENT DEPAUL WILL GO TO THE FOOD BANK, WILL GO TO THOSE TYPE OF AGENCIES LOOKING FOR HELP.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING VERY, VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR THIRD PARTY AGENCIES AS WELL.
Y'ALL'S OFFICES HAVE BEEN A GREAT OUTLET TO GET INFORMATION OUT.
I KNOW WE'VE DELIVERED DIGITAL TOOLKITS FOLLOWING THE YURI.
WE HAD HEARD KIND OF WHAT, UH, COUNCILMAN HA WAS TALKING ABOUT, HOW CAN WE FLUSH OUR TOILETS, WHAT CAN WE DO? SO WE CREATED DIGITAL, UH, TOOLKITS SO YOU ALL CAN USE AS WELL.
BUT THEN, UH, IN TERMS OF REACHING OUT TO CUSTOMERS THAT DON'T HAVE, UH, WIFI, THAT DON'T HAVE MOBILE PHONES, THAT DON'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE HAVE NOWADAYS, WE LOOK TO USE ROBO DIALS AS WELL.
WE HAVE OUR CREWS THAT ARE OUT IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE TURNING OFF WATER THAT WE COULD PLACE SIGNAGE UP IN THE MAJOR ENTRANCES TO NEIGHBORHOODS JUST TO INFORM THEM.
BUT, UM, ON TOP OF THAT, WE'LL THEN START USING, YOU KNOW, JUST REGULAR PHONE CALLS TO THE, THE PARTY AGENCIES AND TO LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY SO THAT THEY CAN HELP US THEN GET THAT WORD OUT.
I THINK THAT WAS ALL I, I'M GONNA ADD, I KNOW THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS HAD A QUESTION, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNICATION, ONE THING THAT, UH, OUR STAFF HAD HAD BEEN ASKING FOR WAS A BETTER WAY FOR THE STAFF TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO CALLS THAT WE GET FROM CUSTOMERS WHEN THIS THING HAPPENED.
UH, AND WHAT WE NEED IS SOME KIND OF A GUIDELINE FROM BOTH C P SS, WHICH I MENTIONED TO THEM.
AND, AND TO YOU, WHAT DOES A STAFF MEMBER DO? WHO WOULD THEY CALL TO FIND OUT WHAT'S THE LATEST INFORMATION THAT THEY THEN COULD TRANSFER TO? UH, OUR CONSTITUENTS WHO CALL US, THEY MIGHT TRY AND CALL SAWS, BUT THEY CAN'T GET THROUGH THE LINE'S BUSY, SO THEY CALL US.
AND SO WE'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME KIND OF A COMMUNICATIONS PACKAGE THAT WE CAN USE, WHETHER IT'S FOR OUR STAFF TO CALL YOU GINO OR
[01:15:01]
YOU HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE IN YOUR SYSTEM THAT WE COULD CALL TO GET UPDATED SO THAT WE CAN ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS THAT WE GET FROM OUR CONSTITUENTS DURING EMERGENCIES LIKE THIS.I BELIEVE SOME TIME AGO WE'VE DELIVERED TO ALL THE COUNCIL OFFICES, UH, LAMINATED CARDS THAT HAD NOT ONLY ROBERT'S NUMBER, MY NUMBER, AND A FEW OTHER FOLKS' NUMBERS, SO THAT IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY, YOU KNOW WHO TO CALL.
BUT IS THAT WHAT YOU'D REALLY WANT US TO DO TO CALL YOU OR CALL ROBERT? I MEAN, THERE IS NO OTHER EASIER PROCESS, LIKE A, A NUMBER TO CALL THAT INFORMATION.
I THINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT, THERE'S A NUMBER FOR OUR E O C, IT SAYS CUSTOMER CALL CENTER AND EMERGENCY OPS, AND THAT'S THE, THE NUMBER THAT WE PUSH, UH, 7 0 4 SAWS.
BUT IF SOMEBODY'S CALLING YOUR OFFICE, THE ODDS ARE THAT'S GONNA BE A BIGGER, UH, EMERGENCY THAN JUST A TYPICAL PHONE CALL INTO OUR CALL CENTER.
AND SO WHAT WE DID WAS WE PASSED OUT THOSE CARDS, SO YOU HAD OPPORTUNITY TO REACH US.
NOW, ON TOP OF THAT, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ROBERT PUSHES ON US IS WE SHOULDN'T DEPEND ON YOU ALL CALLING US FOR INFORMATION.
WE SHOULD HAVE THE INITIATIVE TO CALL YOU ALL.
AND SO WE'D WORKED OUT, I THINK IN ONE OF THE PRESENTATIONS AT THE START OF THIS UTILITY COMMITTEE WAS THE LIST OF WHAT WE WOULD DO.
I KNOW THAT, UH, ROBERT AND I AND SELECT FOLKS FROM HIS E M T WOULD BE CHARGED WITH REACHING OUT TO COUNCIL, PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES.
AND ONCE WE GET THOSE UPDATES AND WE DISTRIBUTE 'EM, IF THERE'S CHANGES, THEN WE GET ON THE PHONE AGAIN.
AND SO YOU'D HAVE AT LEAST FOUR E M T MEMBERS FROM SASS CONTACTING THE COUNCIL AS WELL AS THE COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES, AS WELL AS CITY STAFF, SO THAT WE INFORM YOU OF THE LATEST HAPPENINGS.
AND SO YOU HAVE OUR NUMBERS, WE HAVE Y'ALL'S NUMBERS, AND WE WOULD WORK WITH Y'ALL THAT WAY.
UH, WE HAVE A COUPLE MEMBERS ON OUR STAFF THAT WOULD THEN REACH OUT TO YOUR STAFFS AS WELL, BECAUSE WE KNOW ODDS ARE YOUR STAFFS ARE GONNA BE GETTING CALLS QUICKER THAN YOU ALL PERSONALLY.
AND SO THE SAME INFORMATION WE'D BE RELAYING TO YOU ALL WOULD BE RELATE TO YOUR STAFF SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
I'LL JUST SAY THEN, I HOPE IT WORKS THAT WAY BECAUSE BYRON'S NOT ALWAYS THE EASIEST PERSON TO GET IN TOUCH WITH AND NEITHER ARE YOU.
AND WE'RE NOT GONNA CALL ROBERT.
SO THAT'S WHY I AM HOPING THAT IT, IT WORKS OUT THE WAY YOU SAY.
WELL, AND THAT'S WHY I, ON THAT CHART, WE HAVE ALL THE WAY FROM OUR CALL CENTER TO, UH, MYSELF, TO ROBERT, TO BYRON, TO CECILIA.
AND SO WE HAVE QUITE A FEW FOLKS THAT IF YOU CAN'T REACH ONE OF US, THEN SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON.
CECILIA'S NOT ON HERE, SO ADD HER TO OH, BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T COVER YOUR DISTRICT.
SHE'S ON I BELIEVE, YES, ON DISTRICT SEVEN.
AND I CAN ADD, IF, LET ME ADD TO THAT, ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, AND WE'VE NOW EXERCISED IT, IS FOR US WHEN IN URI WE WERE OPERATING OUT OF THE SASS HEADQUARTERS AND C P S IS OPERATING OUT OF THEIR FACILITY, AND THE CITY'S OPERATING OUTTA THE CITY'S E O C.
SO WE'RE ALL CALLING EACH OTHER.
WELL, SASS WILL RELOCATE AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO OPERATE OUT OF THE CITY'S E O C I DON'T THINK THERE'S A BETTER WAY FOR YOU TO GET REAL TIME STATUS OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE THAN, THAN BEING RIGHT THERE IN THE CITY'S E O C.
WE KNOW THAT SYSTEM IS, IS GOING TO WORK.
NOW WE WON'T HAVE ALL OF OUR OPERATORS THERE, BUT ANY QUESTION YOU CAN ASK US ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON ON THE SYSTEM, YOU CAN SEE IT RIGHT THERE REAL TIME IN THE C D Z O C WHILE WE'RE THERE AND WE WILL HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.
SO I THINK THAT'S A HUGE STEP FORWARD.
OF COURSE, THE QUESTION EVERYBODY WANTS TO ASK IS WHEN IS IT GONNA BE OVER? AND WE MAY NOT HAVE THAT ANSWER, BUT WE CAN GIVE YOU REAL TIME STATUS ON WHAT WE KNOW AS THE SITUATION DEVELOPS.
BEN, YOU WANTED TO ADD SOMETHING TO THAT? UH, CHAIR ACTUALLY, SORRY ABOUT THAT CHAIR.
UM, ACTUALLY STEVE KIND OF COVERED WHAT I WAS GONNA MENTION.
THAT WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A BIG PART OF WHAT I THINK WE LEARNED FROM JURY TOO, WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEEDED TO HAVE BETTER COORDINATION COMMUNICATION AMONGST THE UTILITIES.
UM, I THINK THEY'VE DONE A GREAT JOB OF, OF INCORPORATING ALL OF THAT.
AND AS STEVE SAID, THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN THE E O C WITH THE CITY AND C P S.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UH, PUT OUT COMMUNICATION TO YOU ALL INTO COMMUNITY THAT'S COORDINATED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE AS WELL.
I THINK THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT AVENUES I BELIEVE THAT WE'VE ALSO COORDINATED SO THAT, UM, YOU CAN CALL THE CITY'S THREE ONE ONE NUMBER AND GET THAT SAME INFORMATION.
SO I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE PUSHING INFORMATION OUT IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CHANNELS, BUT I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS WE'RE COORDINATING THAT VERY CLOSELY.
YOU KNOW, I WILL JUST ADD THAT THE NEXT TIME YOU DO AN EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, UH, TEST RUN OR SOMETHING, LET US KNOW, LET OUR OFFICES FOLLOW UP AND START MAKING THE CALLS AND SEE IF WE GET CONNECTED ADEQUATELY SO THAT IF IT WORKS IN PRACTICE, HOPEFULLY IT'LL WORK, YOU KNOW, IN ACTUALITY.
OTHER COUNT, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS HAVE QUESTIONS, SO, UH, COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL.
[01:20:01]
THANK YOU.UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION REGARDING THE GENERATORS, UM, THAT YOU'RE, UH, PROCURING WITH C P S, UH, I GUESS WHAT IS THEIR CAPACITY? UM, HOW MUCH WILL THEY BE ABLE TO COVER ALL, YOU KNOW, WILL IT BE EQUIVALENT TO ALL THE POWER REQUIRED AT THE 15 STATIONS? UM, GREAT QUESTION.
THERE'S A LOT OF DETAIL THAT I DON'T WANNA SHARE FOR SECURITY RELATED REASONS, BUT THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO, IT WILL NOT COVER THOSE 15 STATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS GENERATORS WILL NOT COVER THE ENTIRE CITY.
BUT WE HAVE WORKED IT TO WHERE WE THINK THOSE CAN ADEQUATELY COVER OUR MOST CRITICAL STATIONS, THOSE STATIONS THAT PROVIDE H E B, THAT PROVIDE THE MILITARY, THAT PROVIDE THE MEDICAL CENTER, THAT PROVIDE THE DOWNTOWN OPERATION.
BEYOND THAT, THOSE WILL BE RELYING ON DIESEL SYSTEMS. WE WILL BE ABLE, WE BELIEVE, TO GET WATER ACROSS THE CITY, BUT WE WILL NOT HAVE ADEQUATE PRESSURE.
UM, WE COULD HAVE GONE IN WITH A A, A SYSTEM THAT WOULD BE FULLY REDUNDANT.
WE CAN DO EVERYTHING ON DIESEL OR EVERYTHING ON NATURAL GAS, BUT NOT ONLY IS IT ENORMOUSLY EXPENSIVE, WE'RE NOW PLANNING FOR THE 0.001 PERCENTILE AND WE JUST DIDN'T SEE THAT AS PRUDENT USE OF FUNDS.
AND, UH, I'M GLAD YOU'RE NOT GOING WITH DIESEL, UH, AND INSTEAD OF GOING WITH NATURAL GAS, BUT, UH, WE SAW LAST TIME NATURAL GAS WAS A VULNERABILITY IN THE SYSTEM.
SO CAN YOU TELL ME HOW YOU WERE PREPARING FOR THAT? WELL, NATURAL GAS IS WHAT STARTED THE URI EVENT IN TEXAS.
WE DIDN'T HAVE A POWER FAILURE.
WE HAD A NATURAL GAS PIT FAILURE THAT TURNED INTO A POWER FAILURE.
SO THAT'S JUST WHY WE SPLIT THE FUELS.
WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT, ALTHOUGH WE HAVEN'T MADE A COMMITMENT ON THIS YET, POSSIBLY BACKING UP THE MOST CRITICAL OF THE MOST CRITICAL STATIONS WITH PROPANE TO WHERE IF WE DID HAVE A NATURAL GAS LOSS, WE WOULD HAVE YET ANOTHER FUEL TYPE THAT WE COULD SWITCH OVER.
WE HAVE NOT MADE A COMMITMENT ON THAT YET.
SO IN TERMS OF THE NATURAL GAS SUPPLY YOU'LL BE USING FOR THE GENERATORS, WILL THAT BE PIPED IN OR OR DO YOU HAVE IT ON, BASICALLY, WILL YOU BE BUYING IT AS YOU'RE NEEDING IT? UM, IN THE DEAL THAT WE HAVE WORKED OUT WITH C P S WHERE THEY CAN RUN THOSE GENERATORS FOR THEIR BENEFIT AT ANY TIME, THE FUEL IS FREE.
SO WE ARE HOOKED ON TO CP S'S SYSTEMS. WE LOCATED THESE SITES WHERE WE COORDINATED WITH C P S QUICK FLOW AND PRESSURE TO HANDLE THE LARGE LOADS THAT THOSE GENERATORS WILL BE DEMANDING.
SO IT'S, IT'S SORT OF FREE, BUT WHERE IS THE FUEL COMING FROM? HAS IT ALREADY, I GUESS WILL C P S BE, WILL C P CPS BE PURCHASING IT AND PIPING IT IN, OR IS IT A RESERVE THAT THEY AL WILL ALREADY HAVE A SITE? NO, IT IS, IT IS CP S'S STANDARD, A CITYWIDE NATURAL GAS, NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
YEAH, THANK, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I THINK MY ONE QUESTION OR, UH, RECOMMENDATION IS, SO WE, HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS OUT OTHER THAN THE, UM, ONLINE? WHAT IS THE OTHER WAY WE'RE GOING TO GET, GET THIS OUT TO THE RESIDENTS, THIS INFORMATION OUT TO THEM, IF THERE IS A CRISIS, WILL IT BE THROUGH, UM, SEE, UH, THE CITY, SEE E SERVICE? WILL IT BE THROUGH TEXT MESSAGES? UM, HOW ARE WE GONNA WORK THAT? IT'D BE THROUGH ALL OF 'EM.
I KNOW THE, WORKING WITH THE CITY, I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.
UH, WORKING WITH THE CITY, THEY WOULD CARRY, UH, THE BULK OF IT SO THAT THE RESIDENTS DON'T GET A TEXT FROM SAS, FROM C P SS, FROM THE CITY AND FROM V AND FROM EVERYBODY ELSE.
SO WORKING WITH THE CITY, IT'D BE COORDINATED THAT THERE'D BE ONE MESSAGE VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WAS GOING ON, I GUESS A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, WHERE THE CITY WOULD SEND SOMETHING OUT AND THEN IT WOULD HAVE INFORMATION REGARDING SAWS, C P S AND ALL THE OTHER AGENCIES.
AND AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, THERE'S ALREADY BEEN A TON OF COORDINATION ALREADY.
AND SO WE'VE PRACTICED IT A LOT DURING THE, THE HEAT.
AND SO IT'LL BE ONE, UH, COORDINATED MESSAGE.
AND, UM, IF WE IN OUR FIELD OFFICE START START GETTING CALLS, WHICH WE HAVE ABOUT, UH, LEAKS, UH, HOW, HOW IS C P S DOING ON PERSONNEL TO, TO MANAGE THE, UM, THE, THE MINOR LEAKS, I'M SORRY, SAWS, UH, SAWS IS DOING ON THEIR PERSONNEL TO HANDLE THE MINOR LEAKS, THE, UM, MAYBE THE BUSTED PIPES, THINGS LIKE THAT? ARE WE, ARE WE
[01:25:01]
LIKE EVERY BUSINESS WE ARE STRUGGLING WITH, UM, HIRING FOLKS? THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.UM, OUR GOAL IS NOT TO HAVE THOSE LEAKS EVERYWHERE.
IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT LEAKS ON THE SIZE SIDE OF THE SYSTEM, WE CAN REDIRECT CREWS TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE TO HELP OUT FOR THE CREWS THAT WE HAVE THAT DO PIPELINE REPAIRS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF SAWS THAT WE CAN PARK FOR A WHILE TO SHIFT PEOPLE OVER TO HELP OUT, UH, WHEN WE DO GET INTO AN EVENT LIKE THIS.
BUT THE GOAL IS NOT TO BUILD UP A STAFF TO HANDLE ADDRESSING LOTS OF LEAKS.
IT'S TO BE FLEXIBLE IN HOW WE APPROACH IT SO THAT WHEN WE DO GET INTO AN EVENT LIKE THAT, WE CAN RESPOND AS ADEQUATELY AS WE CAN.
WE CAN ONLY HANDLE THE PUBLIC SIDE OF THE SYSTEM.
WE CAN'T GO OUT TO HELP OUT THE APARTMENT OWNERS AND THAT SORT OF THING WHERE THEY HAVE MAJOR LEAK PROBLEMS. WE, WE ENCOURAGE THEM TO WORK WITH THE PLUMBING COMMUNITY AND WE'LL WORK WITH THE PLUMBERS TO TRY TO, UM, HAVE A LIST AVAILABLE FOR FOLKS TO CALL IF THEY DO HAVE A PROBLEM ON THEIR SIDE.
AND, AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS AND, UM, AND THE CONSERVATION EFFORTS.
I JUST GOTTA GIVE Y'ALL A SHOUT OUT SAWS FOR THE CONSERVATION EFFORTS THAT Y'ALL CONTINUE TO DO WITH THE WATER.
I THINK THAT, UH, GIVES US THE INSIGHT ON WHAT'S GOING ON, ON, ON SAWS.
UH, SO WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING OUT AND MAKING THE PRESENTATION TODAY FOR US.
AND WHAT I WANNA EMPHASIZE IS THAT WE ARE READY, PERIOD.
EVEN IF THERE'S A HARD FREEZE, UH, THIS WINTER OR NEXT WINTER, WE ALREADY, UH, AS STEVE SAID, 99.99% OF THE TIME, C P S IS VERY, VERY RELIABLE.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT 1.0%.
AND I THINK, UH, WE HOPE ERCOT HAS LEARNED ITS LESSON.
THE STATE HAS LEARNED ITS LESSON AND, UH, IS MORE, UH, UH, UH, AVAILABLE AND WANTING TO PROVIDE THE SERVICES THAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE.
NOW WE'LL PROCEED WITH THE CITY'S PRESENTATION.
BEN, ARE YOU GONNA INTRODUCE ANYTHING? NOPE.
I'M A DEPUTY CHIEF WITH THE SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT, AND I ALSO SERVE AS THE CITY'S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR, UH, NEW TO THE POSITION SINCE WE'VE HAD WINTER STORM URI.
AND SO, UM, WHEN THE WINTER STORM CAME ABOUT, I WAS ACTUALLY ON THE OPERATION SIDE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, AND I REALIZED HOW IMPORTANT THAT POWER AND WATER REALLY IS TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
UH, AND SO I APPLAUD THE EFFORTS, YOU, SAWS, AND C P S AND THE, UH, OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE'VE HAD AT THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER TO WORK WITH THEM THROUGH THIS, ESPECIALLY ON THE COMMUNICATION SIDE.
AND SO I APPLAUD THEM FOR THEIR EFFORTS ON, ON EVERYTHING.
SO, UH, I'M HERE TO GIVE YOU A PROGRESS REPORT ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY ON, UH, I'M SORRY, THE COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.
UH, GOOD NEWS AS FAR AS THE PROGRESS, WE'RE ABOUT 92% COMPLETE, UH, OUTTA THE 24 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY AND THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
UM, 20 TWOS HAVE BEEN, 22 HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, AND WE'RE STILL WORKING ON TWO OF THEM.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY'VE BEEN CATEGORIZED AND, UH, WE'LL GO THROUGH 'EM ONE AT A TIME, UH, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, UH, TO SHOW YOU THAT WE ARE PREPARED FOR WINTER STORM COMING.
THE FIRST ONE IS THE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN, AND THE UPDATES ON THAT PLAN.
I KNOW THIS WENT TO COUNCIL, UH, ON, UH, NOVEMBER 3RD FOR APPROVAL.
UH, THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS APPROVED IN 2021 IN OCTOBER, AND AT THAT TIME, COUNCIL REQUESTED SOME AMENDMENTS.
ONE OF THE AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN WAS TO, UH, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE HAZARD OF WINTER, UH, WEATHER.
AND SO THAT WAS INCLUDED INTO THE PLAN.
UH, WE TALKED TO SEVERAL EXPERTS, SEVERAL OF THE PEOPLE THAT RESPONDED TO WINTER STORM YURI, AND THOSE AMENDMENTS WERE ADDED AND APPROVED BY COUNSEL.
THAT PLAN HAS SINCE GONE TO THE STATE FOR APPROVAL THROUGH THE STATE AND FEMA.
SO, UH, THE NEXT RECOMMENDATION, BACKUP COMMUNICATIONS FOR, UH, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO RESOURCES.
WE ARE WORKING WITH I T S D, UH, TO LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US.
UM, THE FIRST ONE IS THE NEW RADIO SYSTEM THAT HAS GONE INTO EFFECT OUR NEW P 25 SYSTEM.
THEY ALSO HAVE RADIOS FOR THE EXECUTIVE, UH, LEADERSHIP TEAM FOR THE CITY TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT RESOURCE AS WELL AS, UH, UH, SATELLITE PHONES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO CITY RESOURCES.
NOW IN THE CASE THAT OUR INFRASTRUCTURE WOULD GO DOWN ON THE CELLULAR TOWERS.
THE CITY'S ALSO IN PROGRESS RIGHT NOW AND UNDER REVIEW FOR CITY FIBER CONNECTIONS, UH, TO MAINTAIN INTERNET ACCESS AND IN TWO-WAY PUSH TO TALK TECHNOLOGY FROM CELL PHONE TO CELL PHONE THAT MAY NOT NEED THAT, UH, LEVEL OF, UH, THE FIVE TOWERS IN ORDER TO, TO PROGRESS.
AND SO, UH, WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THAT, AND WE ARE PREPARED, UH, IN THE CASE THAT THOSE CELL PHONE TOWERS GO DOWN.
THE NEXT ONE IS TO PRIORITIZE THE PURCHASE OF GENERATORS FOR KEY CITY FACILITIES.
UM, THESE CITY FACILITIES WERE DIVIDED
[01:30:01]
INTO TWO PRIORITY GROUPS.THE FIRST PRIORITY HAD TO DO WITH PUBLIC SAFETY AND ANIMAL CARE SERVICES.
THE SECOND LEVEL, OR PRIORITY TWO, HAD TO DO WITH COMMUNITY CENTERS AND LIBRARIES.
SO COUNCIL DID APPROACHES, UH, APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF GENERATORS FOR 14 FACILITIES IN JUNE.
UM, THOSE ARE UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW.
A LOT OF THOSE WERE FIRE DEPARTMENT FACILITIES AT OUR STATION LEVELS.
UM, AND SO AS, UH, YOU HEARD FROM SAS, GETTING GENERATORS IS QUITE TOUGH RIGHT NOW.
THE, THE DELIVERY TIME ON THOSE IS VERY EXTENDED.
AND SO WE ARE COMPLETING THE CONSTRUCTION WORK SIDE OF THAT, UH, AND PREPARATION FOR THOSE GENERATORS TO ARRIVE AT THE FIRE STATIONS AND THE OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY, UM, LOCATIONS.
WE'VE ALSO FILED GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS.
WE'RE WAITING ON THE RESULTS OF THAT, UH, TO SEE IF WE CAN GET THAT BOND PROGRAM FUNDS HAVE BEEN, UH, ALLOTTED FOR THOSE.
IT'S ABOUT $6 MILLION IN THAT.
AND WE'RE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH THE PLANNING PROCESS ON HOW THOSE FUNDS WILL BE ALLOCATED FOR THAT FUTURE BUDGET.
REQUESTS THAT YOU'LL SEE COMING DOWN THE LINE WILL INCLUDE LIBRARIES AND COMMUNITY CENTERS, AND THEN TALKING ABOUT THE RESILIENCY HUBS.
UM, AS ADDRESSED BEFORE THOSE FOUR CENTERS, THOSE GENERATORS HAVE BEEN PURCHASED.
WE'RE WAITING ON THE DELIVERY, BUT WE HAVE A RENTAL SYSTEM THAT'S GOING INTO EFFECT FOR THIS CURRENT WINTER SEASON.
THE NEXT ONE, UH, TIRES, CHAINS AND ACCESSORIES FOR OSA VEHICLES.
UH, THERE WAS AN EVALUATION DONE ACROSS THE CITY AND THE DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT WOULD BE RESPONDING TO THIS TYPE OF EVENT ON WHAT TYPE OF MATERIALS THEY WOULD NEED, UH, IN ORDER TO ENHANCE THEIR RESPONSE.
UH, THAT EVALUATION IS, IS COMPLETE AND THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS IS BEING GONE THROUGH BY ALL THE DEPARTMENTS TO, UH, ASCERTAIN THOSE NEEDED, UH, TOOLS THAT THEY WOULD NEED.
PLANNING FOR CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS TO INCLUDE FOOD AND WATER AT, UH, KEY CITY FACILITIES, HOUSING FOR ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES, REMOTE WORK, UH, ACCESS DURING POWER OUTAGES, AND THEN AN EMPLOYEE HOTLINE.
ALL FOUR OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON.
THE O E M STAFF IS WORKING WITH, UH, THE INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS TO REVISE THEIR CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANS, WHICH INCLUDES, UM, WHICH EMPLOYEES ARE ESSENTIAL VERSUS NON-ESSENTIAL, THE HOUSING, THE FOOD, AND THE WATER, UH, IF THEY WERE ESSENTIAL TO COME IN.
HR ARE HUMAN RESOURCES IS ALSO WORKING ON THE HOTLINE RIGHT NOW.
WHAT'S BEING LOOKED AT IS POSSIBLY TAKING THE C OVID 19 HOTLINE THAT THEY HAVE IN EFFECT NOW, AND JUST TRANSITIONING THAT INTO AN EMPLOYEE HOTLINE IN THE CASE THAT, UH, SOMETHING COMES UP LIKE A DISASTER.
UH, REVISION OF CITY ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTLY IS ALSO IN PROGRESS BY HUMAN RESOURCES, UM, TO CORRELATE WITH THE CHANGES THAT ARE GONNA COME ABOUT WITH THE CONTINUANCE OF OPERATIONS PLANS.
SO, REVIEW THE UTILIZATION OF WIRELESS ALERTS.
UH, CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES DURING, UH, OUTAGES.
SO WE HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF THINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US TO COMMUNICATE TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, ONE OF THE CRITICAL ISSUES THAT WE WANT TO AVOID IS FOR THESE ALERTS TO BECOME, UH, WE DON'T WANT 'EM TO BECOME JUST COMMON NOISE.
AND SO, UH, WHAT YOU GET NOW WITH A LOT OF THE AMBER ALERTS THAT GO OUT, THINGS LIKE THAT, UH, THE WEATHER ALERTS THAT GO OUT, PEOPLE TEND TO SILENCE THESE ON THEIR PHONES WHEN THEY SILENCE 'EM ON THEIR PHONES.
THEY'RE ALSO SILENCING THE ALERTS FROM US.
AND SO IN AN EFFORT NOT TO HAVE IT SO PREVALENT OUT THERE TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE JUST IGNORING WHAT WE'RE TELLING THEM, IT'S USED IN ONLY CRITICAL SITUATIONS.
BUT WE DO HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO US.
SO NOAH WEATHER RADIO, UH, WE HAVE THE WIRELESS ALERTING SYSTEM.
UM, WE CAN GO THROUGH THE STEER SYSTEM.
WE HAVE SYSTEMS THAT PEOPLE CAN SIGN UP FOR THROUGH THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER.
AND ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATIONS PROCESSES IS WHAT WE WOULD USE IN TIME OF EMERGENCY.
AND AS YOU HEARD FROM SAS, WE ARE COORDINATING BETWEEN SAWS, C P SS AND THE CITY TO HAVE THAT UNIFIED MESSAGE THAT WOULD GO OUT IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.
SO, AND WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOOKING AT WAYS TO IMPROVE THIS SYSTEM.
I KNOW WE JUST HAD MEETINGS WITH, UH, RING WHO HAS THEIR OWN NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.
AND SO UTILIZING EVERY ASPECT THAT WE CAN THAT, UH, WE COULD GET THE WORD OUT.
THE NEXT RECOMMENDATION WAS TO DEVELOP A SPECIFIC TRAINING AND EXERCISES FOCUSING ON LONG-TERM POWER AND WATER LOSS DURING UNFORESEEN EVENTS.
THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL TABLETOP EXERCISES.
I KNOW YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THOSE FROM C P S AND SAWS TODAY.
UM, STARTING IN 2021, WE'VE DONE, UH, THREE LARGE TABLETOPS WITH OUR, UH, UTILITIES PARTNERS IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR WINTER WEATHER EVENTS.
THE LAST ONE BEING, UH, ON NOVEMBER 16TH WITH C P S.
SO ENHANCED CITYWIDE CROSS DEPARTMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAINING AND AN ANNUAL TABLETOP FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS WAS THE NEXT RECOMMENDATION.
WE CONSISTENTLY ROLL OUT CLASSES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACROSS THE CITY DEPARTMENTS.
AND SO, UH, INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM 300 400 IS A, IS A VERY, UH, ENHANCED PROCESS TO GET PEOPLE USED TO WORKING IN OUR INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S ROLLED OFF, UH, ROLLED OUT ACROSS CITY DEPARTMENTS TO INCLUDE
[01:35:01]
PD, PUBLIC WORKS, UH, ANYBODY WHO, WHO WANTS TO COME TO THOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLASSES.UH, WE ARE COORDINATING OR DEVELOPING RIGHT NOW, UH, CURRENTLY AT TABLETOP FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM.
WE'RE ANTICIPATING THAT IT'S HOPEFULLY GONNA HAPPEN AROUND, UH, THE 25TH OF JANUARY.
I KNOW ALL OF YOUR OFFICES HAVE BEEN CONTACTED FOR THAT.
THERE ARE SOME DELAYS ON THE, UH, COORDINATION SIDE, BUT, UH, WE ARE STILL PREPARING FOR THAT.
SO ENHANCE THE RELATIONSHIP WITH C P SS AND SASS TO ADJUST STRUCTURE AND JOINT DECISION MAKING DURING DISASTERS.
AND I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE, THE BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE MADE IN THE SYSTEM SINCE WINTER STORM URI, THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND THE CITY ALONG WITH C P S AND SAWS, AND JUST THE COMMUNICATION THAT WOULD GO ON THERE.
ACTUALLY GETTING PEOPLE INTO THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER, FORMALIZING THAT, UH, OR FORMING THAT UNIFIED COMMAND TYPE STRUCTURE WILL REALLY HELP WITH COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS THE BOARD.
IT ALSO UNIFIES THE MESSAGE SO WE CAN GET INFORMATION OUT TO, UH, NOT ONLY THE PUBLIC, BUT ELECTED OFFICIALS AND EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COORDINATION OF COMMUNICATIONS TO THE PUBLIC BETWEEN SAS C P S CSA, UH, THROUGH THE JOINT INFORMATION CENTER.
UM, THIS WAS HEADED UP BY THE GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UH, DEPARTMENT AND WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, AND THE ENTITIES HAVE MET, WE'VE DEVELOPED A PROTOCOL FOR THE PUBLIC, UH, COMMUNICATION.
AND ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE WOULD FORM UP IS A JOINT INFORMATION CENTER AND A JOINT INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT WOULD GET A UNIFIED MESSAGE OUT TO THE PUBLIC ACROSS, UH, ALL OF THE BARRIER OR ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UH, DELINEATION DEVICES THAT WE HAVE, OR DELIVERY DEVICES THAT WE HAVE.
AND SO THAT'S BEEN A VERY, UH, GOOD COLLABORATION BETWEEN, UM, THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOLKS ON ALL OF THE JURISDICTIONS.
AND SO WE ARE MOVING FORWARD AS FAR AS A UNIFIED MESSAGE ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND I KNOW ONE OF YOUR QUESTIONS, UM, COUNCILMAN, UH, THREE ONE ONE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE CALL CENTERS SHOULD BE, UH, SHOULD MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE TO INCLUDE, UH, ADDITIONAL HOURS OR EXTENDED HOURS DURING DISASTERS.
ALL OF THESE ENTITIES HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER.
UM, 3 1 1, UH, HAS DEVELOPED, UH, EXTENDED HOURS PROTOCOLS BASED ON NEED.
SO IF WE DO HAVE THAT DISASTER THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO STAND UP THOSE EXTRA HOURS THROUGH APPROVAL THROUGH THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.
AND, UH, 3 1 1 C P S AND SAS CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS HAVE MET, AND THEY DO HAVE A SYSTEM IN PLACE IN ORDER TO REFER OR TO TRANSFER CUSTOMERS TO C P S OR SAWS BASED ON THEIR NEED.
SO, ENHANCED COMMUNICATION WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE HAS DEVELOPED A PROTOCOL TO ENHANCE THIS COMMUNICATION, UH, AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.
I KNOW EACH OF YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT IS IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR OFFICES, AND THAT'S THE PROCESS THAT WE WILL, UH, BASE ANY COMMUNICATION ON SITUATIONAL AWARENESS THROUGH IN THE TIME OF A DISASTER.
SO BASICALLY, RIGHT NOW, WE'RE PRACTICING HOW WE EXPECT TO PLAY.
SO AS YOU HEAR FROM YOUR MEMBER OF, UM, EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM CURRENTLY, THAT'S HOW IT'LL HAPPEN DURING THE DISASTER.
THE IMPACT OF ROLLING OUTAGES TO BE CLEARLY COMMUNICATED.
I BELIEVE THAT THE UNIFIED COMMAND WILL DEFINITELY HELP WITH THIS COMMUNICATION.
UM, COMMUNICATION WAS A PROBLEM DURING RENTER STORE.
YURI, I DON'T THINK IT'S ANY SECRET TO ANYBODY.
AND THAT WAS EVEN BETWEEN THE EMERGENCY SERVICES, THE UTILITIES, THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER, CITY LEADERSHIP.
UH, I THINK WE'VE MADE GREAT STRIDES IN THAT COMMUNICATION.
UM, THERE ARE SOME SECURITY BARRIERS THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH.
THERE'S OTHER SITUATIONS THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH WITH A FREE FLOW OF COMMUNICATION, BUT I THINK, UH, IT'S VERY WELL ENHANCED OVER WHAT IT WAS PRE URI.
AND SO, UM, THE UNIFIED COMMAND WILL HELP IN THIS COMMUNICATIONS AND, UM, HAVING THEM IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER IS REALLY GONNA BE A BENEFIT TO EVERYBODY AS FAR AS SITUATIONAL AWARENESS TO IDENTIFY A SITUATIONAL AWARENESS PLATFORM THAT CAN PROVIDE EVOLVING INFORMATION TO THE LEADERSHIP.
SO THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT UTILIZES, UH, WEB E O C, WHICH IS A STATE-BASED SYSTEM FOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, SO WE CAN MAINTAIN, UH, WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE SOME DASHBOARDING APPLICATIONS AND SOFTWARE THAT IS AVAILABLE TO THE O E M STAFF.
AND NOW THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET THAT REAL TIME INFORMATION THAT WE CAN CREATE AND STAND UP ANYTHING THAT, UH, WE WOULD NEED IN ORDER TO, UH, COMMUNICATE ACROSS ALL THE PLATFORMS. AND SO YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO A LOT MORE INFORMATION THE NEXT TIME THAT SOME, UH, SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS.
AND SO WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE GIVEN, UH, TO THE CITY BY THE COMMISSION.
AND, UH, I WELCOME ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND JUST MENTION SOMETHING I HAD MENTIONED BEFORE, AND THAT IS, UM, MAKING SURE THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDS THE LEVEL OF AN EMERGENCY.
AND, UH, WITH ALL THE THINGS YOU'VE LAID OUT, I THINK IT STILL
[01:40:01]
RELIES ON TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, PEOPLE, UH, LOOKING AT THEIR CELL PHONE OR BEING NEAR THEIR CELL PHONE OR HAVING THEIR TV ON, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.UH, AND WE KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS HAVE ALL OF THAT ACCESS, UH, TO THAT KIND OF MEDIA TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING.
AND I THINK I'VE MENTIONED BEFORE, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT ALWAYS STICKS WITH ME, IS, UH, IF YOU, IF YOU WATCH ANYTHING IN THE WAY OF AN EMERGENCY THAT'S GOING ON, UH, IN OKLAHOMA OR A LOT OF OTHER PLACES, YOU HEAR THOSE HORNS GO OFF WHEN THERE'S A TORNADO COMING AND EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS.
IT MEANS THERE'S A REAL EMERGENCY, I NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY KIND OF WARNING SYSTEM LIKE THAT IN SAN ANTONIO.
BUT I, I KNOW, I'M, I'M SURE THAT IF ANYBODY IN SAN ANTONIO WAS OUT OR INSIDE AND THEY HEARD HORNS GO OFF LIKE THAT, THEY'RE GONNA SAY, HEY, SOMETHING'S GOING ON.
AND, UH, SO I DON'T KNOW WHY WE CAN'T EXPLORE THAT.
I RECOGNIZE PROBABLY A BIG COST, BUT WE'VE HAD TORNADOES COME INTO THE CITY BEFORE, AND THAT COMMUNITY WHERE THE TORNADOES WERE LIKELY TO COME, THE ONLY WAY THEY KNEW IS IF THEY'RE WATCHING TV OR SOMEBODY CALLED THEM OR SOMETHING.
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T ALWAYS GET THOSE MESSAGES.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE US EXPLORE HOW WE CAN DEVELOP THE KIND OF SYSTEM THAT EVERYBODY, WHEN THEY HEAR THAT HORN GO OFF, THEY'RE GONNA, THEY'RE GONNA KNOW, I NEED TO FIND OUT MORE TO PROTECT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY.
THE, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT REALLY STICKS WITH ME, THAT WE'RE NOT REALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT.
THE OTHER IS, UH, THE AMBER ALERTS.
AND I HEARD WHAT YOU SAY, YOU KNOW, WHEN I GET AN AMBER ALERT, A LOT OF TIMES I'LL TURN MY PHONE OFF, BUT I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S A MECHANISM TO DO THAT FOR THE CITY, WHICH WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT KIND OF SOUND THAT WE COULD EDUCATE PEOPLE.
NO, IF YOU HEAR THIS, IT'S NOT AN AMBER ALERT.
IT'S AN EMERGENCY IN YOUR CITY THAT YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO.
SO, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS TRYING TO GET THE WORD OUT TO THE PUBLIC THAT THERE'S A HEALTH OR SAFETY EMERGENCY THAT THEY NEED TO BE AWARE OF, I'D LIKE TO SEE THOSE TWO EXPLORED BEYOND WHAT WE ARE ALREADY DOING, BECAUSE THOSE ARE LIMITED.
AND I'D LIKE TO SEE A, A WIDER WAY OF, OF LETTING PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT EMERGENCY.
BUT AS FAR AS EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'VE SHOWN US, UH, AND IF EXPLAINED, YOU KNOW, IT'S IN LINE WITH WHAT WE HAD ASKED THE CITY TO ADDRESS, I THINK IT'S, IT'S GOING WELL.
AND I REALLY DON'T THINK I HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS MYSELF.
UH, SO I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO MAY HAVE QUESTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ.
I APPRECIATE, UM, THE UPDATE, AND I THINK THIS IS EXACTLY THE FORMAT I WOULD'VE, YOU KNOW, I WOULD'VE ASKED FOR.
I'M WONDERING, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, COMMUNICATION A LOT TODAY, I'M WONDERING, YOU KNOW, HAS ANY OUTREACH, WELL, FIRST I'LL ASK WHO WERE THE STAKEHOLDERS INCLUDED IN ESTABLISHING THE REPORT IN ESTABLISHING THE WINTER WEATHER REPORT? THE, THE, UM, WHAT'S IT CALLED? THE HAZARD MITIGATION COMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS REPORT.
SO THAT WAS PUT TOGETHER BY THE, THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
UM, THAT GROUP GOT TOGETHER AND FORMULATED THE REPORT AND MADE RECOMMENDATIONS THROUGH THERE.
I DON'T EXACTLY HAVE A LIST OF WHO ALL WAS ON THERE, BUT I KNOW IT WAS FORMED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
I MEAN, WERE THERE FURTHER, UM, FURTHER OUTREACH OR INPUT SOLICITED THAT WE KNOW OF? SO, COUNCILMAN THAT, UH, COMMITTEE WAS ACTUALLY APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR.
IT INCLUDED, UH, SEVERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL AS, UM, UH, OUTSIDE THIRD PARTIES ON THAT COMMITTEE.
THAT'S, THERE WAS, UH, AND WE'LL, THE THIRD PARTIES, WE'LL, I CAN GET YOU THE ENTIRE LIST, BUT AS THEY WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS, THEY DID SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, OTHER ISSUES THAT MAYBE WE WEREN'T AWARE OF.
ALL OF THAT WAS TAKEN IN, PROVIDED TO THE COMMITTEE.
SO THEY, AS THEY PUT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS TOGETHER, TOGETHER, THEY COULD CONSIDER ALL OF THAT.
BUT I'M HAPPY TO TO SHARE SOME OF THAT WITH YOU.
UM, I THINK IT WAS AROUND 10, MAYBE SOMEWHERE AROUND THERE, NINE OR 10, I BELIEVE.
AND YOU'RE, AND YOU'RE TAXING MY MEMORY 'CAUSE I CAN'T, I'M, I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER ALL THE NAMES THAT I CAN'T, I CAN'T DO WONDER.
I'M WONDERING, SO I'M WONDERING THERE'S, OH, DO YOU WANNA, YES, YES.
SO REED WILLIAMS WAS THE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE.
UM, COUNCILMAN, UH, PERRY, COUNCILMAN ELIAS, COUNCILWOMAN CHE GARCIA AND MYSELF WERE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON IT FROM THE OUTSIDE.
WE HAD, UM, THE ATTORNEY WHO, UH, WORKS WITH US A LOT, TATUM, LISA TATUM.
WE HAD A FORMER COMMANDER, UH, FROM,
[01:45:03]
DO YOU KNOW HIS NAME? A FORMER, UH, COMMANDER FROM, UH, OVER THERE AND AM I MISSING ANYBODY ELSE? OH, YES, IT WAS GENERAL RICE.AND SO HE, UH, REED AND LISA TATUM WERE THE OUTSIDE, UH, ENTITIES.
THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL.
UM, AND I GUESS WHAT I'M FEELING MAYBE MISSING, OR MAYBE IT'S NOT THE PURVIEW OF THIS EXACT, UH, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS IS WE HAVE A LOT OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, NONPROFITS, CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS THAT WILL TAKE INITIATIVE, UM, DURING TIMES OF EMERGENCY.
AND SO I'M WONDERING, HAS THERE BEEN OUTREACH CONDUCTED TO ORGANIZATIONS AND THESE OTHER GROUPS THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVE TAKEN THE INITIAL STEPS TO MAYBE DEVELOP THEIR OWN WARMING CENTERS OR RESILIENCY HUBS, AND HOW CAN WE SUPPORT THESE EFFORTS AND ENSURE THAT THEY REMAIN SAFE PLACES IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY? SO AS FAR AS THE RESILIENCY HUBS GO, I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE HAVE ENTERTAINED SOME THINGS.
I KNOW WE'VE TALKED TO ELLA AUSTIN, UH, COMMUNITY CENTER A LOT, UM, AND THERE'S BEEN SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THAT PART.
WE'VE HAD A LOT OF OUTREACH FROM CHURCHES.
UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE TRYING TO REALLY DEVELOP THE RESILIENCY HUB CONCEPT WITH THOSE FOUR CITY FACILITIES.
BUT THAT'S IN THE OUTLOOK TO, UH, DEVELOP MORE OF THOSE TYPE OF RESOURCES IN THE FUTURE.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LOOK AT FROM THE CITY PERSPECTIVE IS THE, UM, ABILITY TO CHANGE, RIGHT? AND SO AS WE'RE FORMULATING THESE PLANS, AND THIS IS KIND OF A NEW CONCEPT, EVEN IF YOU LOOK AROUND THE COUNTRY, UM, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO PIVOT AND WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO REALLY GET A GOOD SOLID PLAN IN PLACE BEFORE WE START TO OPEN IT UP.
AND SO, UH, ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE EVEN HAD FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE WITH THE CITY FACILITIES IS IF WE'RE GONNA HOUSE PEOPLE THERE OVERNIGHT, UM, THAT TAKES A STAFFING BURDEN ON EITHER THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, OTHER CITY RESOURCES THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE IN THAT DISASTER.
AND SO WORKING THROUGH THOSE DIFFERENT THINGS, IF WE WERE TO STAND UP 10 OF THESE, WE MAY NOT HAVE THE STAFF IN ORDER TO DO IT.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE A DELICATE BALANCE WHEN WE COME UP WITH THE OVERALL PLAN.
WE JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT BALANCE IS.
I GUESS MY, UM, PRIMARY REACTION TO ALL OF THIS, AND I THINK I'VE BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT THAT MY PRIMARY CONCERN IS GONNA BE COMMUNICATION.
UM, I'M GOING, I'VE PLACED MY TRUST AND MY CONSTITUENTS HAVE PLACED TRUST THAT THE EXPERTS HAVE BEEN DOING ALL OF THIS PLANNING AND HAVE BEEN MAKING SURE THAT THE SYSTEMS ARE IN PLACE, UM, TO BEST PREVENT ANY EMERGENCIES, UM, WITH THE POWER OR BEST RESPOND TO EMERGENCIES.
BUT, UH, HOW WE COMMUNICATE IS ENTIRELY UNDER OUR CONTROL.
AND SO I, I WONDER WHAT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES EXIST TO ENGAGE THOSE WHO ARE TRUSTED WITHIN COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE ACCESS TO FOLK, UM, UH, THAT MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE TOOLS TO REACH.
AND SO THAT'S JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT AND, UM, MAYBE WE CAN BRAINSTORM ON THAT LATER.
BUT I ALSO, I LIKE THE IDEA OF WHEN I'VE BEEN THINKING OF HOW CAN YOU REACH PEOPLE OR HOW DO YOU LET SOMEONE KNOW THERE'S AN EMERGENCY IF THEY'RE NOT ON THEIR, IF THEY'RE NOT WATCHING THE NEWS, AND IF THEY'RE NOT CONNECTED TO ANY DEVICE AND SOMEONE'S NOT KNOCKING DIRECTLY ON THEIR DOOR.
A SOUND SYSTEM DOES SOUND, IT SOUNDS, IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING YOU WOULD SEE IN A MOVIE, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT I THINK IT MIGHT BE EFFECTIVE.
SO I'D BE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING THAT IDEA A LITTLE BIT MORE OR SOME OTHER KIND OF, UM, LIKE SENSORY WAY TO LET PEOPLE KNOW.
COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN CAB HDA, OR DO YOU WANNA GO LAST? NO, I'LL GO SECOND.
UM, ACTUALLY IN THE SAME VEIN, ONE OF MY QUESTIONS WAS IF WE'RE SPECIFICALLY WORKING WITH OUR SENIOR CENTERS IN NUTRITION CENTERS, NOT JUST THE CITY, UM, UH, SENIOR CENTERS AND NUTRITION CENTERS, BUT TO, TO A LOT OF THE CHURCHES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN MY DISTRICT.
I KNOW THEY HAD THEIR OWN WARMING CENTER SOMETIMES, BUT THEY'RE REALLY GOOD AT GETTING INFORMATION OUT.
SO ARE, ARE WE AS THE CITY WORKING WITH THOSE? UM, WE, WE WORK ACROSS THE BOARD WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT PARTNERS, UH, INCLUDING THE SALVATION ARMY, THE RED CROSS.
UM, THERE ARE SOME NONPROFIT PARTNERS THAT ALSO COME IN ON THAT SIDE.
UH, IS IT A, IS IT A COMPLETE PARTNERSHIP, UH, THROUGH EVERY SINGLE NONPROFIT OUT THERE? NO.
UH, HOWEVER, WE DO CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS THOSE DIFFERENT GOALS.
WHEN WE DO HEAR OF WARMING CENTERS COMING UP, ONE OF OUR MAIN PRIORITIES RIGHT NOW IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE POWER AND WATER.
AND SO, UH, IN WORKING WITH SAWS AND C P SS TO TRY TO HARDEN THOSE FACILITIES THAT MAY BE, UH, NOT ON A CRITICAL CIRCUIT OR, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, IS SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO.
THE OTHER THING, UH, FOR A WINTER STORM THAT REALLY WASN'T BROUGHT UP BEFORE WAS THIS IS A EVENT THAT YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE AHEAD OF.
AND SO IF WE NEED TO OPEN COOLING CENTERS, I CAN TELL YOU TO GO TO A COOLING CENTER ANYTIME.
IF THE ROADS ARE GONNA BE FROZEN OVER AND I NEED TO TELL YOU TO GET TO A WARMING CENTER, BY THE TIME THE ROAD'S FROZE OVER, IT'S A LITTLE TOO LATE.
AND SO WE NEED TO BE MORE PROACTIVE ON THESE TYPE OF EMERGENCIES.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LEARNING OBVIOUSLY FROM WINTER STORM URI.
[01:50:01]
DO WANT TO CON TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THOSE NON-PROFIT PARTNERS, UM, IN, IN ADDRESSING, UH, LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE, UH, THE, IN THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID DO LAST YEAR IS WORKED WITH THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION TO LOOK AT THE SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX OF NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE CITY.
UH, 50 NEIGHBORHOODS WERE IDENTIFIED AND WE TEAMED UP WITH A, UH, WITH A COMPANY THAT WENT AND HUNG PREPAREDNESS DOOR HANGERS FOR WINTER WEATHER EVENTS.
UM, SO PREPAREDNESS IS OUR BEST TOOL FOR THIS.
BUT OBVIOUSLY WITH THE, WITH THE AUDIBLE WARNING SYSTEM, THINGS LIKE THAT ARE THINGS THAT WE STILL NEED TO LOOK INTO.
SO, AND I'M THINKING SPECIFICALLY OF, THERE'S A CHURCH IN MY DISTRICT, WESTOVER HILLS.
IT'S A BIG, IT'S A PRETTY BIG FACILITY.
AND SO THEY HAD, YES, THEY HAVE WARMING, THEY HAVE COLD COOLING, THEY FEED, YOU KNOW, WHEN THERE'S, UM, TIME OF CRISIS.
UM, BUT WHAT YOU SAID INITIALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE WERE AT LEAST SUPPORTING THE FACILITY SO THEY COULD SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY.
'CAUSE ONE OF THE CRITICISMS WE GOT WAS, UM, UH, THAT, THAT THE CITY HAD, AND I KNOW THERE WERE EMERGENCY.
IT WAS, AND THAT WAS MY, YOU KNOW, THAT'S MY ANSWER.
WE DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING, RIGHT? UM, WE HAD THESE, UH, WARMING CENTERS, BUT NONE OF THEM WERE ANYWHERE NEAR MY DISTRICT.
THEY WEREN'T, NONE OF 'EM WERE FAR WEST.
SO THE CHURCH WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE AND, AND THEY WERE ABLE TO HELP FOLKS.
BUT, UM, SO HAVING SAID THAT, I KNOW WITH THE, THE, IS IT FOUR RESILIENCY CENTERS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, RIGHT? YES, MA'AM.
AND, AND, AND I'M GLAD AND I SUPPORT THAT.
UH, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT EXPANDING AT SOME POINT BECAUSE KIND OF THE OUTER REACHES OF THE CITY ARE, UM, ARE GETTING LEFT BEHIND.
UM, AND, AND YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF OLDER FOLKS IN, IN THE OUTER PART OF MY DISTRICT, AND THAT'S OF COURSE THE MAIN CONCERN IS, UM, PEOPLE WITH, UH, SPECIAL NEEDS AND, AND ELDERLY, WHICH IS WHY I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO CONTACT OUR SENIOR CENTERS AND NUTRITION CENTERS AND CHURCHES WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE GO.
TO GET INFORMATION IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO, UM, BUT, UH, THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS.
I DO WANNA THANK ALL OF, UH, THE ENTITIES, I'M SORRY, C P SS LEFT, BUT IN THE TIME SINCE THE WINTER STORM, I'VE SAID THIS OVER AND OVER, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN SAY THAT WE GOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD THAT ONE TIME, BUT WE CAN'T SAY IT AGAIN.
AND, AND HOPEFULLY WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.
I THINK, UH, STEVE WAS TALKING ABOUT, OH, YOU KNOW, IT'LL BE ANOTHER HOWEVER MANY YEARS BEFORE ANOTHER STORM, BUT MAYBE THAT'S TRUE, MAYBE IT'S NOT.
UM, SO I, I AM REALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE WORK FOR ALL THE THREE ENTITIES, THE CITIES C P S, AND SAWS THAT HAVE DONE IN THE LAST, I GUESS IT'S BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF OR SO, UM, ALMOST TWO YEARS, I GUESS.
UH, THE COMMUNICATION WAS NUMBER ONE.
THAT WAS MY BIGGEST FRUSTRATION WAS, UH, GETTING CALLS FROM MY CONSTITUENTS AND NOT HAVING ANYTHING TO SAY BECAUSE I COULDN'T GET AHOLD OF ANYBODY.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND MAYBE ANY OF THESE ENTITIES OR ANY, AT LEAST NOT ALL ENTITIES, I SHOULDN'T SAY THAT.
I COULD GET AHOLD OF SAS IN, IN THE CITY VERY EASILY, BUT NOT LIKING THE ANSWERS.
SO, UH, WE HAVE ANSWERS TO GIVE NEXT TIME, YOU KNOW, AND I'M, SO, I'M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THREE OF THE ENTITIES AND WORKING TOGETHER SPECIFICALLY.
SO, FOLLOWING UP ON THE QUESTION REGARDING ADDITIONAL RESILIENCY CENTERS AND HUBS, IS THAT PART OF THE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN TO EXPAND THE NUMBER THAT'S NOT IN THE HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN? THAT'S GONNA BE IN THE, UH, RESPONSE PLAN FOR THE CITY? AND SO, UH, IN LOOKING AT THE RESILIENCY HUB PIECE OF THE WHOLE PIECE, YES, WE ARE GONNA LOOK AT MORE OF 'EM IN THE FUTURE, BUT GETTING THESE FOUR ESTABLISHED IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY.
SO WHEN YOU SAY THE RESPONSE PLAN, UM, THE RESPONSE PLAN AS IT STANDS OR, OR I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE RESPONSE PLAN LOOKS LIKE.
SO, SO THOSE ARE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MITIGATION, IT'S UH, HOW TO PREVENT THE DISASTER FROM HAVING SUCH AN IMPACT.
AND SO A LOT OF YOUR HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN LOOKS AT LIKE FLOOD PROJECTS.
UH, PUBLIC WORKS HAS AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF FLOOD PROJECTS INSIDE THE MITIGATION PLAN.
SO WHEN THE EVENT ACTUALLY HAPPENS, THE IMPACT IS LESSENED 'CAUSE OF THOSE PROJECTS IN THAT PLAN.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ACTUAL RESPONSE PLAN FOR THE CITY, THAT'S WHEN WE LOOK AT, SORRY, I THOUGHT MY TIME WAS CUT OFF.
THAT WOULD BE A VERY NICE WAY OF CUTTING OFF YOUR
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S WHEN WE, THAT'S WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SHELTERING AND THE DIS DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF WHAT WE NEED TO STAND UP.
AND SO WHAT WE NEED TO REMEMBER WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR RESPONSES, NOT ALL OF THE DISASTERS THAT ARE GONNA HIT ARE GONNA HIT CITYWIDE.
SO IF WE HAVE A TORNADO, FOR EXAMPLE, OR SOME FLOODING IMPACTS, FOR EXAMPLE, IT'S DIFFERENT SECTIONS OR DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF THE CITY THAT ARE GONNA BE IMPACTED, THAT'S WHEN WE LOOK AT WHEN TO STAND UP THE DIFFERENT SHELTERING AGENCIES ACROSS THE OKAY.
UH, SO, BUT IN TERMS OF A PERMANENT RESILIENCY CENTER OR AN ON MAYBE AN ON-CALL RESILIENCY CENTER, I, I HEAR THE, THE VERBAL COMMITMENT, I GUESS, WHERE IS THAT DOCUMENTED FOR THE DAY THAT WE'RE NOT HERE ON COUNCIL ANYMORE OR, YOU KNOW, YOU GET SOME, YOU GET PICKED UP BY THE STATE TO GO WORK WITH.
WHO'S GONNA, WHO'S GONNA REMEMBER THAT? THAT THAT WAS A COMMITMENT THAT WE MADE.
[01:55:01]
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S IN WRITING ANYWHERE, BUT WE CAN GET IT TO YOU.UM, BEN, WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND? LET ME, LET ME FOLLOW UP WITH THE TEAM AND, AND WE'LL SEND SOMETHING OUT TO THE COMMITTEE ON THAT PARTICULAR QUESTION.
THE, THE OTHER THING I, I DID WANNA MENTION ABOUT, UH, RESILIENCY CENTERS IS, UM, OR EVEN EXPANDING HOURS AT, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, HOT DAYS OR, OR COLD DAYS AT, UM, I'M SORRY, WHAT DO WE CALL THEM? COOLING CENTERS? COOLING CENTERS, YEAH.
UM, SO WHEN THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE, THE RESILIENCY FUND, THE RESILIENCY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY FUND, UH, WITH THE ADOPTION OF THIS BUDGET, THEY, THEY APPROVED A, A GENERAL FRAMEWORK THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT BEN AND I WORKED ON.
AND PART OF THAT FRAMEWORK, THIS IS JUST A REMINDER, PART OF THE FRAMEWORK HAD TO DO WITH, UM, RESILIENCY CENTERS AND AWARDING GRANTS TO, UH, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND, AND THE INTENT BEHIND THAT, WE STILL NEED TO FLESH THIS OUT, WAS THAT IF I AM, UM, A CHURCH AND I WANT TO BE ABLE TO SET UP A RESILIENCY CENTER, BUT I NEED, UH, MAYBE TO PURCHASE, UH, SOME EQUIPMENT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, TO BE MORE RELIABLE, THAT I CAN APPLY TO THIS GRANT FUND IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND I, I THINK WHAT THAT DOES IS IT EXTENDS THE REACH, UH, BEYOND WHAT YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU'RE ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR.
AND IT HELPS US POPULATE CENTERS IN THOSE AREAS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO REACH EVERYWHERE.
UM, SO JUST WANTED TO, TO BRING THAT UP AND WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THAT AT THE, AT THE B SESSION ON, ON DECEMBER 14TH.
UM, UH, COULD I GO BACK? I'M SORRY, I HAD TO STEP BACK 'CAUSE I REALLY HAD TO GO TO THE LADIES ROOM.
BUT WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT THE DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION PLAN AND SAS TOLD US THAT WHEN IT CAME TO, UM, THE ACTUAL DISTRIBUTION OF, OF POTABLE WATER THAT THE CITY HAD ITS PLAN.
COULD YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT'S, WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON FOR THAT? YOU DIDN'T MISS THE SLIDE 'CAUSE THERE WASN'T ONE IN THERE.
AND SO, UM, WHEN WE DID HAVE TO DO THE MASS WATER DISTRIBUTION, THE CITY GOT TOGETHER A, ALONG WITH, UH, SEVERAL CITY DEPARTMENTS AND CREATED A A WATER POD DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM THAT WAS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, SOMETHING BRAND NEW FOR US THAT WE HAD NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH BEFORE.
BUT WE WOULD LOOK AT THOSE DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE CITY THAT ARE AFFECTED BY A WATER OUTAGE AND SET UP THE SAME TYPE OF POD SYSTEM.
THE CHALLENGE IS GETTING THE WATER IN.
AND SO, UH, ONCE WE HAVE THE WATER IN, WE WE'RE ABLE TO STAND UP A VERY VAST DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, UH, VERY QUICKLY.
SO WAS THAT ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE, UH, EMERGENCY, UH, PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE? IT'S NOT ONE THAT I HAD SEEN, MA'AM.
I THINK, WAS IT ONE OF THE ONES FROM SA IT, IT WAS THE, THE WATER DISTRIBUTION WAS A TWO-PART RECOMMENDATION ON THE CITY'S THE COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLAN RELATIVE TO SA SO ITEM 12 HAD THREE SUB BULLETS UNDER IT, AND IT WAS ONE OF THOSE SUB-BULLETS.
YOU'VE GOT, UM, A FAR SHARPER MEMORY THAN, THAN I DO.
UM, SO IF, SO IT WAS A RECOMMENDATION UNDER SAWS, BUT SAWS SAYS THAT'S ACTUALLY GONNA BE THE CITY'S RESPONSIBILITY.
WHEN IS, IS WELL, WHAT I THINK WE'RE QUICKLY LEARNED IN THE EARLY EVENT IS THAT THE CITY IS MUCH BETTER AT DISTRIBUTING NOT ONLY IN, UM, RESOURCES AND MANPOWER, BUT UM, GETTING THAT WATER OUT AND BEING ABLE TO STAFF IT IN THE AREAS THAT WE CAN GET THE MOST VEHICLES THROUGH.
THE CITY FOLKS DID A, A WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A GREAT JOB.
OUR INVOLVEMENT WAS WORKING WITH BEN, HOW ARE WE GONNA PAY FOR ALL THIS? AND THEN THE, THE CITY FOLKS TOOK OVER ON MAKING SURE WE GOT IT OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
SO, SO CHIEF, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, MAKING POTABLE WATER ACCESSIBLE, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ACTUALLY SETTING UP MORE OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE.
YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT DISTRIBUTING WATER BOTTLES? NO, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DISTRIBUTING WATER BOTTLES.
AND SO THE, THE PLAN FOR THAT IS WHEN DO WE SEE THAT? SO QUESTION IS, I'LL HAVE TO GET, I'LL HAVE TO GET THAT TO YOU.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS, UH, WRITTEN DOWN.
I KNOW IT WAS A DIFFERENT STANDUP THAN WE HAD ANY OTHER TIME.
WE'VE NEVER DEALT WITH THAT BEFORE.
SO, UH, MUCH LIKE THE OXYGEN UNITS THAT WE STOOD UP FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, FOR PEOPLE WHO HAD MEDICAL NEEDS, THINGS LIKE THAT, THOSE WERE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT AT THE TIME WAS PART OF OUR RESPONSE.
UH, BUT THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE CAN STAND UP VERY QUICKLY TO BE ABLE TO GET THOSE RESOURCES OUT.
SO CHAIR, IF I CAN JUST ADD, I, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT BRIAN, UM, CHIEF NOTED EARLIER THAT I THINK WAS ONE OF, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO COME OUT OF THIS PROCESS WAS THE CLOSE COORDINATION BETWEEN
[02:00:01]
C P S SAWS AND THE CITY.AND WHILE I THINK SOMETIMES IT'S EASY TO PLAN FOR AN EVENT THAT'S ALREADY HAPPENED, IT'S MUCH HARDER TO PLAN FOR SOMETHING THAT HASN'T HAPPENED YET.
IT MIGHT BE WEATHER MIGHT BE SOMETHING ELSE.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT COMMUNICATION OR WATER DISTRIBUTION, I THINK WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT WE'VE SET THE INFRASTRUCTURE UP WITHIN THE E O C WITH C P S AND SAW SO THAT THEY CAN DEPLOY RESOURCES AS EFFICIENTLY AND, AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND, AND DO THAT IN CLOSE COORDINATION.
SO, UM, I REALLY WANT TO THANK THE CHIEF.
UH, CHRIS STOKES IS HERE AS WELL.
I DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T INTRODUCE CHRIS EARLIER.
UH, I WANNA THANK ROBERT AND HIS TEAM, RUDY AND HIS TEAM OVER AT C P S.
I MEAN, I REALLY THINK THAT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT GOING FORWARD SO THAT IN THE EVENT WE HAVE AN ISSUE, HAVE TO DISTRIBUTE WATER, WE'RE POSITIONED MORE CLOSELY AND ALIGNED WITH THE UTILITY TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
UM, I THINK THE OTHER THING TO YOUR COMMENT, UH, CHAIR ABOUT THE COMMUNICATION, I THINK WE'LL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT AGAIN.
I THINK WE WERE, WE'RE, AND RIGHTFULLY SO, LOOKING BACK AT WINTER STORM BUR A LOT, BUT THAT WAS AN EVENT THAT STARTED OUT AS A VERY SEVERE WEATHER EVENT THAT TURNED INTO A POWER EVENT THAT TURNED INTO A WATER LOSS EVENT.
YOU KNOW, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE NEXT ONE MIGHT LOOK LIKE OR HOW IT MIGHT AFFECT US.
SO I THINK IT'S GONNA BE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION, BUT I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE WITH THE TWO UTILITIES AS WE CONTINUE TO TALK TO THOSE ISSUES.
SO, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH BEN.
AND YOU'RE RIGHT, WE ARE, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO PLAN FOR EXACTLY THE WAY WE MAY HAVE WATER LOSS IN THE FUTURE.
I GUESS WHEN I SAY PLAN, MAYBE I'LL, I'LL BE MORE SPECIFIC.
DO WE KNOW WHERE WE WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, PROCURE WATER FROM? DO WE LIKE THINKING THOSE THINGS THROUGH? IT'S BASICALLY IT.
SO, SO WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT PLACES THAT WE GET DIFFERENT THINGS FROM, RIGHT.
SO, UH, WHEN WE HAD A WINTER STORM WHERE URI THAT WAS A STATEWIDE EVENT COMING, UH, WATER WAS VERY HARD TO COME BY.
EVEN THOUGH H E B IS USUALLY VERY RELIABLE, WALMART'S VERY RELIABLE TO HELP US OUT IN THOSE TYPE OF SITUATIONS.
AND SO LOOKING AT THOSE DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION MEASURES IS, OR RECEIVING MEASURES PROCUREMENT MEASURES IS, IS REALLY KIND OF A, AT THE TIME, BASED ON THE, ON THE DISASTER THAT WE CAN GET, IF IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS GONNA AFFECT ONE PART OF THE CITY, UH, WE HAVE, UH, RESOURCES IN PLACE TO WHERE WE CAN GET THE DIFFERENT, UH, MATERIALS THAT WE MAY NEED VERY QUICKLY.
BUT WE KNOW THAT, THAT LIST TO DO ABSOLUTELY WE, WE START LOOKING BASED ON THE NEED DURING THE DISASTER, THAT'S WHEN WE START LOOKING AT HOW TO PROCURE THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE NEED.
UH, WE DO HAVE GREAT PARTNERSHIPS WITH, LIKE I SAID, THE RED CROSS, THE SALVATION ARMY.
UH, H E B HAS BEEN A GREAT CORPORATE PARTNER, UH, TO LOOK AT, UH, PROCURING THOSE DIFFERENT RESOURCES.
SORRY, SORRY, SORRY TO BELABOR THE POINT.
THAT'S, HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME? BECAUSE THE, THE DEMAND ACROSS THE STATE WAS SO GREAT, THE NORMAL RESOURCES THAT WE WOULD NORMALLY USE TO GET THOSE IN THE STATE WERE TAXED.
AND SO LITERALLY IT CAME IN, UH, ON PART OF A STATE REQUEST TO GET A LOT OF THE WATER THAT WE HAD.
SO IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN AGAIN AND THE STATE RESOURCES WERE TO BE TAXED, WHAT WOULD WE DO? WE WOULD, WE WOULD FILE REQUESTS WITH THE STATE TO BE PART OF THE ORDER THAT'S COMING IN THERE, WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW WE GOT THE WATER LAST TIME.
SO IT WOULD STILL TAKE AS LONG AS IT DID LAST TIME, PROBABLY, DEPENDING ON THE SUPPLY MEASURE THAT WE COULD FIND.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT WE HAD IN, IN INTENDED RIGHT.
TO, IT SOUNDS LIKE IT WOULD BE A REPEAT OF, OF THAT DISASTER.
SO I, YEAH, I'M, I'M HEARING AND I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE A PLAN AND YOU'RE SAYING WE DON'T FOR DISTRIBUTING, DISTRIBUTING WATER.
SO I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE CITY NEEDS TO GO AHEAD AND ADDRESS.
'CAUSE I REMEMBER TALKING TO THE CITY MANAGER ABOUT THIS AFTER THE EVENT AND HE SAID, WHEN I UNDERSTOOD THAT WE WERE HAVING THIS PROBLEM, HE REACHED OUT TO HOUSTON AND A LOT OF OTHER PLACES AND THEY GOT WATER DELIVERED AND WE WERE ABLE TO SET UP PODS AND GET THAT WATER OUT.
AND I KNOW THERE WERE OTHER FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED THAT, BUT YOU JUST SAID, WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A PLAN FOR THAT.
SO LET'S INCLUDE HAVING, UH, A PLAN FOR, UH, GETTING AND DISTRIBUTING WATER, EVEN IF IT MEANS HAVING WATER, YOU KNOW, STORED, UH, THAT WE CAN ALWAYS USE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY AND YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T KEEP WATER FOREVER, BUT THEN ROTATE SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO THAT WE DO HAVE A PLAN TO ADDRESS THAT IN THE FUTURE.
I THINK THAT'S HER POINT AND I WOULD AGREE WITH THAT TOO.
AND CHERYL, I'LL JUST FOLLOW UP THAT, THAT I THINK THERE, THERE ARE, UM, TWO PIECES HERE.
UM, ONE IS GETTING THE WATER IN THE EVENT WE HAVE AN ISSUE, AND THE SECOND IS DISTRIBUTING THE DISTRIBUTION PLAN WOULD BE DONE IN CLOSE COORDINATION BASED ON THE AREAS THAT WERE AFFECTED ON THE PROCUREMENT SIDE.
AS YOU MENTIONED WHEN THIS EVENT HAPPENED, UM, AGAIN, IT KIND OF WENT FROM WEATHER TO POWER TO WATER AND THEN WE HAD THE BOILED WATER NOTICE.
SO WE BOUGHT WATER IMMEDIATELY THAT DAY, HAD IT
[02:05:01]
DELIVERED ABOUT, I THINK A DAY OR TWO LATER.UM, I THINK PART OF IT IS BRIAN AND THE PLANNING THAT WE'RE DOING SO THAT WE DO HAVE THOSE CONTRACTS OR THINGS IN PLACE BEFORE THE EVENT HAPPENS.
UM, I HAVEN'T BEEN AS CLOSE TO THAT PART OF IT, BUT I'LL, BUT WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ALL ON THAT PART AS WELL TO MAKE SURE THAT I, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS WE MAKING SURE WE HAVE THE RIGHT RESOURCING AVAILABLE TO ENSURE WE CAN GET A SUPPLY OF WATER BEFORE THE SHORTAGE HAPPENS.
I, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR.
SO I'LL, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THAT.
I'D EVEN HEARD TALK OF PURCHASING THE TYPE OF WATER THAT LASTS, YOU KNOW, LONGER AND HAVING A STORAGE OF THAT.
I DUNNO IF WE TALKED ABOUT IT AT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OR IF IT WAS A ONE-ON-ONE WITH ERIC.
SO THAT, I GUESS THAT'S WHAT I WAS EXPECTING TO HEAR AS PART OF THIS DISCUSSION.
IF I CAN ADD, UM, DISTRIBUTION OF THE WATER IS NOT THE PROBLEM.
ACQUISITION OF THE WATER IS WHAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON AND YOU'RE CORRECT.
WE DID LOOK AT CANS OF WATER PROVIDED BY FEMA THAT CLAIM A 20 YEAR SHELF LIFE.
I'VE TALKED TO THE CITIES ALONG THE COAST WHO, UM, ROUTINELY HAVE MAJOR EMERGENCIES LIKE THIS WHERE THEY NEED BOTTLED WATER.
I'VE TALKED TO PROBABLY FOUR OF THE MAJOR BOTTLED WATER PROVIDERS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, WHAT CAN WE DO WHEN WE HAVE, UM, A CITYWIDE EVENT AND A STATEWIDE EVENT? CHIEF NORRIS IS EXACTLY CORRECT ON A CITYWIDE EVENT.
THEY WILL DO A GREAT JOB OF HELPING US OUT STATEWIDE.
EVERY ONE OF THEM WANT TO HOLD THEIR CARDS AND SAY, WE CAN'T GIVE YOU THAT WATER.
UM, I WANT TO JUST REMIND EVERYONE THAT IN 2024, OUR GENERATORS START TO LAND.
SO 20 YEAR WATER FOR A TWO YEAR WINDOW THAT WE'LL CLOSE VERY QUICKLY IS, UM, A HUGE INVESTMENT FOR A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME.
YES, WE RUN THE RISK, WE HAVE INCREASED OUR STOCKPILES AT SAWS JUST SO YOU'LL KNOW THAT AS WELL.
WE DISTRIBUTE WATER ALL THE TIME UNDER SMALLER EMERGENCIES, BUT WE CANNOT CARRY THE CITY.
WE JUST DON'T HAVE THE, THE AREA AND WE DON'T WANNA PUT THE CHEAPER WATER BECAUSE THE CHEAPER WATER HAS A ONE YEAR SHELF LIFE ACCORDING TO SOME OF THOSE MANUFACTURERS.
SO IT'S, UM, IT'S A, A HUGE LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE TO BRING IN THE CHEAPER WATER AND TRY TO ROTATE IT.
UM, IT IS A HUGE EXPENSE TO GO IN WITH THE 20 YEAR WATER.
SO WE'VE TRIED TO SPLIT IT AND WE'VE INCREASED OUR SUCK PILES AND WE WANNA WORK HARDER TO GET THOSE GENERATORS IN FASTER.
UH, COUNCILMAN GRO, IF YOU'RE STILL WITH US, YOU MAY HAVE A QUESTION.
DID WE LOSE HER? SHE'S NO LONGER THERE.
WELL I THINK THEN THAT, UH, CONCLUDES EVERYTHING THAT WE HAD TODAY.
[Consideration of items for future meetings ]
ONE THING I WANTED TO BRING UP TO THE COMMITTEE FOR FUTURE MEETINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, C P S, UH, IS INITIATING ITS STEP PROGRAM AND THERE HAD BEEN SOME, UH, ASKS OF THIS COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER, UH, TALKING WITH, UH, C P S ABOUT HAVING SOME KIND OF COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE OR OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR THAT STEP PROGRAM.AND SO I'D LIKE TO, UH, ADD THAT TO OUR AGENDA THE NEXT TIME FOR JUST THE POINT OF DISCUSSION.
SEE WHAT, UH, C P S MAY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT, WHAT THIS COMMITTEE MAY FEEL ABOUT THAT.
SO OTHER THAN THAT, UH, I THINK THAT CONCLUDES OUR MEETING.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE WITH US AND WE ARE ADJOURNED.