* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:05] ALL THIS SPECIAL MEDIA HOPEFUL CITY COUNCIL ORDER ROLL CALL PLEASE. MAYOR, PART, VICE MAYOR JOYNER. HERE. COUNCILOR HARRIS. HERE. COUNCILOR ELLIS. COUNCILOR DAY HERE. COUNCILOR STOKES. COUNCILOR HOLLOWAY. HERE. WE HAVE A QUORUM. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UM, WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY PARTICIPATING REMOTELY AT THIS TIME, BUT CAN YOU CHECK AGAIN, MAKE SURE? CORRECT. OKAY. ALRIGHT. WELL, UH, COUNCIL STOKES ASKED FOR THE LINK. I THOUGHT THAT THOUGH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS ASKING. YEAH. DID YOU SEND THE, UH, THE LINK? SHE, YES, SIR. OKAY. OKAY. ALRIGHT, WE'RE GOOD TO GO. ALRIGHT, WE'LL [Special Business] MOVE ON TO, UM, THE, UM, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, UH, FISCAL YEAR, 25 YEAR IN PRELIMINARY, PRESENTED BY STACY JORDAN, OUR DEPUTY CITY MANAGER, AND CFO. GOOD EVENING VICE MAYOR AND COUNSELORS. THIS IS THE PRELIMINARY FIGURES FOR OUR FISCAL YEAR. 25. PARDON? SO, CITYWIDE REVENUES FOR 25 WERE 1.83%, OR 4.2 MILLION HIGHER THAN 25. IN 25 VERSUS 24. OUR EXPENSES WERE 20 FOR ONE POINT 36 HIGHER, OR 3 MILLION FOR 25. A LOT OF THE EXPENSES CAME FROM THE 2.5% INCREASE THAT WAS GIVEN IN 24. OKAY. GENERAL FUND, GENERAL FUND FOR 25 IS 9.78 OR 473,000 LOWER IN REVENUES FOR 25 VERSUS 24. THE DECREASE CAME FROM A ARBOR FUNDING AS WELL AS A SLIGHT DECREASE IN PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX COLLECTIONS. PSC, TAX AND MACHINERY AND TOOLS. TAX EXPENSES FOR 25 ARE 2.64 OR THREE POINT MILLION. HIGHER INCREASE DUE TO 2.5% INCREASE GIVEN IN 24 IN CAPITAL TRANSFERS. REVENUES OVER EXPEND EXPENSES ARE 2.1 AND MORE REVENUES THAN EXPENSES, BUT THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY REVENUE ACCRUALS THAT EXIST FOR JULY, WHICH USUALLY FOR HOPEWELL IS ABOUT $2 MILLION. OKAY. SO WE'RE LOOKING TO ADD AT LEAST ANOTHER ONE TO $2 MILLION. OKAY. ENTERPRISE FUND. ENTERPRISE FUND FOR 25 IS 5.3 MILLION HIGHER IN REVENUES OVER FOR 25 VERSUS 24. A LOT OF THIS COMES FROM ONE TIME BILLING EXPENSES FOR 25 FOR 2.7 MILLION. LESS THAN 24 REVENUE SHOWS REFLECTION OF ON TIME BILLING VERSUS LAST YEAR. AND EXPENSES DECREASE STEM FROM REDUCTION OF EMERGENCY REPAIRS COMPARED TO LAST, UH, LAST YEAR, AS WELL AS A DECREASE IN CAPITAL FUNDING SCHOOLS. SCHOOLS FOR 25 IS 10 POINT 19 OR 4.5 LOWER IN REVENUES. THE DECREASE COMES FROM REDUCTION IN FEDERAL REVENUES. RECEIVED EXPENSES FOR 25 ARE 3% OR 702,000 HIGHER IN 25 VERSUS 24. IT STILL PUTS THE SCHOOLS IN A POSITIVE POSITION FOR 25, ALTHOUGH THEIR REVENUES ARE LESS FROM THE FEDERAL. OKAY. OUR DATA INTEGRATORS COLLECTIONS FOR UTILITIES FOR JUNE WAS 97% ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND DEBT SERVICE. WE PROCESSED 1,394 INVOICES FOR A TOTAL OF $6.7 MILLION IN JUNE. DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS FOR JUNE WAS OUR SEWER DEBT OF 215,000. THE CASHFLOW AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 25 WAS $22 MILLION, ALMOST 22, 22 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. AND THE MAYOR HAD ASKED, UM, THAT WE SHOW PRELIMINARY FUND BALANCE. AGAIN, THIS INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY. IT'S BASED OFF OF THE LAST A CFR THAT WE RECEIVED, WHICH WAS 21. IT, UM, I WAS ABLE TO PULL BUDGET TO ACTUALS FOR 22 THROUGH 25. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY TRANSFERS REVENUE OR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, ACCRUALS ADJUSTED ENTRIES, OR ANY RESTATED BALANCES. SO FOR THE GENERAL, THE 25 PRELIMINARY FUND BALANCE WOULD BE 28 MILLION. UH, FOR VPA IT WOULD BE 960,000. CAPITAL IS A NEGATIVE, UH, 6,000. THE CITY HAS BEEN USING FUND BALANCE TO TAKE CARE OF CAPITAL. AND FOR HRW WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT $77 MILLION FUND BALANCE. SEWER 22 MILLION SOLID WASTE 3.4 IN STORMWATER 2.3. AGAIN, THESE ARE PRELIMINARY FIGURES BASED OFF OF BUDGET OF ACTUALS [00:05:01] FOR 22 THROUGH 25 AND USING THE LAST A CFR THAT THE CITY RECEIVED, NOT INCLUDING ANY KIND OF TRANSFERS, UH, REVENUE OR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ACCRUALS ADJUSTING ENTRIES IN ANY RESTATED BALANCES TONIGHT, DAVID FOLEY WILL COME TO PRESENT THE, UM, DRAFT 22 A CFR. HE WILL PROVIDE A COPY FOR THE COUNSEL. AND 23 IS DUE TO BE COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2025. 24 WILL BE COMPLETED DECEMBER 31ST, 2025 AND 25 A CR IS DUE TO BE COMPLETED ON MARCH 31ST, 2025. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? I'M SORRY. 2026. I'M SO SORRY. 2026. OKAY. 26. AND THAT SHOULD PUT THE CITY BACK ON TRACK FOR THE AFR. YES, I NOTED ACTUALLY, I, THE OPEN AWARD RENEWALS, UH, BUDGET I REQUESTED I PUT IT IN YOUR, UM, MAILBOX IF YOU DIDN'T GET IT, YOU'RE WELCOME. OKAY. I'LL PRINT IT OUT AGAIN. YEAH. THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNSEL. THANK YOU. YOU THANK, THANK YOU. ALONG TO OUR SECOND AGENDA ITEM, SANITARY SEWER FINANCIAL PLAN AND RATE STUDY. OKAY. WELL, GOOD EVENING COUNCIL MEMBERS. UM, IT'S ON, IT'S A PLEASURE BEING HERE TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO YOU ALL TONIGHT. MY NAME'S FORD MOTE. I'M WITH REF DALLAS. WE'RE A, A NATIONAL FIRM. UM, BUT WE'VE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH THE CITY SEVERAL YEARS AGO ON, ON A SEPARATE PROJECT. BUT IT'S JUST A NOTE. GREAT TO BE HERE AGAIN WITH YOU IN PRESENTING ON THIS. UM, FOR, UH, IF, IF YOU SLIPPED TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, YOU KNOW, RAP DALLAS IS ENGAGED BY THE CITY, UH, THIS PAST FEBRUARY TO PERFORM A, A RATE S OR RATE STUDY. UM, I'VE LISTED A FEW OF THE MAJOR, UH, SCOPE PROJECTS, UM, HERE. BUT THE MAIN, UH, TASK THAT I WANTED TO FOCUS ON AND DISCUSS WITH YOU ALL TONIGHT WERE THE, UM, UPDATE TO THE FINANCIAL PLAN AND THE RECOMMENDATION OF, OF SEWER RATES. UM, BUT ALSO, JUST SO YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE DID, UH, REVIEW THE EXISTING, UH, SEWER, UH, RATE STRUCTURES AND WORKED WITH STAFF TO LOOK AT SOME, UH, RATE STRUCTURE ALTERNATIVES. UM, AND, AND WE ALSO LOOKED AT THE, A REVIEW OF THE CITY'S COST ALLOCATION PORTION OF THE, UH, WASTEWATER TREATMENT, UH, FACILITY. BUT I I, WE MAY BE COMING BACK TO PRESENT THAT AT A SEPARATE TIME. YEAH. OKAY. UM, SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, I'LL, I'LL START ON THE FINANCIAL PLAN. UM, SO THIS WAS THE FIRST STEP, UH, OF OUR STUDY. UM, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS A, IS A LOOK AT WHAT GOES INTO THAT FINANCIAL PLAN. SO ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IN OUR FINANCIAL PLAN IS TO DEVELOP AN ANNUAL CASH FLOW, UM, FOR THE SEWER FUND ON A, ON A CASH NEEDS BASIS. UM, AND HERE, UH, IN IT, WE'RE GONNA FORECAST OUR REVENUES AND EXPENSES, UM, OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD AND ENSURE THAT OUR REVENUES ARE SUFFICIENT TO, TO MEET ALL OF OUR, OUR EXPENSES. UM, TO DO THIS, WE BUILT A, A DETAILED FINANCIAL MODEL. UM, I'LL SHARE A FEW OF THE, OF THE ASSUMPTIONS, UM, THAT WE MADE, UM, IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES. BUT JUST AT A HIGH LEVEL, I WANNA WALK THROUGH A FEW OF THESE, UM, ELEMENTS, UH, STARTING, UH, IF YOU LOOK TO THAT CIRCLE ON, ON THE RIGHT WITH THE EXPENSES. YOU KNOW, WE WORKED WITH, WITH, UH, WITH STAFF TO BRING IN THE OPERATING BUDGET. UM, AND WE MADE SEVERAL, UM, ASSUMPTIONS FOR, UH, OF INFLATIONARY FACTORS TO ESCALATE THAT IN THE FUTURE YEARS. UM, ON TOP OF OPERATING EXPENSES, WE ALSO LOOKED AT, AT CAPITAL PROJECTS AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES. UM, THESE CAPITAL COSTS, UH, ARE, ARE THE CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT THE SEWER FUND ANTICIPATES, UH, AS IT REINVEST IN ITS SYSTEM OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS. UM, SO WE LOOK AT WHAT THE CASH FUNDING IS FOR THOSE PROJECTS, AS WELL AS ANY DEBT THAT THE, THE SEWER FUND MAY HAVE, UM, EITHER OUTSTANDING DEBT, UM, FOR EXISTING PROJECTS OR, UH, ANTICIPATED DEBT FROM THESE, UH, FROM FORECASTED PROJECTS. SO ALL THESE EXPENSES COME TOGETHER TO, UH, CREATE OUR REVENUE REQUIREMENTS. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATION, WE LOOK AT, UH, REVENUES, UM, STARTING WITH THE OPERATING REVENUES. UM, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE THE REVENUES THAT WE COLLECT FROM, FROM CUSTOMERS THROUGH USER RATES AND CHARGES. UM, AND WE ACTUALLY USE CUSTOMER BILLING DATA, UH, TO FORECAST THESE REVENUES. ON TOP OF THAT, WE LOOK AT IF THERE'S ANY OTHER ANCILLARY REVENUES THAT THE FUND MAY, UM, COLLECT. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE INCLUDE THESE IN THE FORECAST. [00:10:01] UH, FINALLY, UH, THAT CIRCLE IN THE MIDDLE, WE WANNA ALSO LOOK AT ANY FINANCIAL, EXISTING FINANCIAL POLICIES, UM, THAT THE CITY MAY HAVE IN PLACE. UH, THIS IS REALLY THE, THE BALANCING MECHANISM IN OUR MODEL. UM, AND, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, THESE ENSURE THAT THE FINANCE, THAT THE SURE FUND IS KEEPING A, A HEALTHY, UH, FINANCIAL OUTLOOK. SO ALL OF THAT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE COMING, WE'RE BRINGING ALL THESE ELEMENTS TOGETHER, UH, TO INFORM US IF OUR REVENUES ARE SUFFICIENTLY COVERING THESE EXPENSES. AND IF NOT, UH, THE MODEL THEN, UH, ALLOWS US TO, UH, TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH WE NEED TO INCREASE OUR USER, UH, RATES AND FEES TO COVER THOSE EXPENSES. UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I JUST REVIEW A FEW OF THE, THE KEY ASSUMPTIONS HERE. UH, STARTING ON THE REVENUE SIDE, YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, WE LOOK AT ACTUAL CUSTOMER DATA WHEN WE FORECAST OUT REVENUES. UM, IN, IN OUR MODEL, WE ARE NOT ANTICIPATING ANY FUTURE CUSTOMER GROWTH JUST TO REMAIN CONSERVATIVE. AND WE ALSO, UM, ARE ASSUMING A, A SLIGHT DECLINE IN USAGE. UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS PRETTY TYPICAL WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, THE INDUSTRY WITH, UH, WITH, UH, LOWER PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION AS, UH, WITH THE EMERGENCE OF LOW LOWER FLOW FIXTURES AND JUST THE GENERAL, UH, EMPHASIS ON ON CONSERVATION. UM, ON THE EXPENSE SIDE, AS I SAID, WE, WE TAKE THE OPERATING BUDGET AS THE BASE. UM, THE FISCAL YEAR 25 OPERATING BUDGET WAS USED FOR OUR BASE FOR OPERATING EXPENSES, AND, AND WE ESCALATE THAT BY SEVERAL INFLATIONARY FACTORS DEPENDING ON WHAT, UH, THE, THE EXPENSES ARE. BUT ULTIMATELY WE ARE, UH, UH, INCREASING THAT BY ABOUT THREE, ASSUMING INCREASE OF 3.1%, UM, YEAR OVER YEAR. UM, FINALLY, FOR THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, YOU KNOW, WE DID, UM, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT ONE PROJECT, THE, UH, QUEEN ANNE PUMP STATION PROJECT, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 3 MILLION. THIS IS OCCURRING OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS. UM, AND WE ARE ASSUMING THAT IT'S FUNDED THROUGH A MIXTURE OF, UH, CASH FROM THE GENERAL RESERVE, BUT ALSO, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE PULLING SOME FROM THE RATE STABILIZATION FUND AS WELL. IN TERMS OF THE, THE LONGER TERM CAPITAL NEEDS, UH, WE DID WANT TO, AT A MINIMUM, UH, MODEL ABOUT $2 MILLION OF CAPITAL SPENDING. UH, THE REASON FOR THIS IS WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE, THE LAST AVAILABLE AUDIT, WE DID SEE THAT THERE'S ABOUT $2 MILLION IN DEPRECIATION. SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE AT LEAST COVERING, UM, THAT EXPENSE, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE REINVESTING IN THE, IN THE SYSTEM. BUT THAT IS A, A MINIMUM CAPITAL NUMBER. UM, AND, AND THAT WILL BE FUNDED THROUGH, UH, THROUGH PEGO, WHICH IS, UH, CASH FUND, CAPITAL AND RESERVES. FINALLY, UM, I, I'LL JUST ON THIS NEXT SLIDE, I'LL, I'LL TALK THROUGH SOME OF THOSE FINANCIAL POLICIES AND TARGETS. UM, SO FIRST OF ALL, YOU KNOW, THE SEWER SERVICE FUND IS AN ENTERPRISE FUND. AND, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, IT, IT NEEDS TO OPERATE SIMILAR TO A BUSINESS, UM, WHICH MEANS BASICALLY WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR MONTHLY USER CHARGES ARE COVERING ALL OF OUR EXPENSES, UM, WITHOUT THE, THE SUPPORT OF, OF PROPERTY, UH, TAX REVENUES. UM, SO THAT, THAT'S OUR FIRST EMPHASIS. ON TOP OF THAT, WE ALSO LIKE TO TRACK A FEW OTHER, UH, KEY, UH, METRICS. STARTING WITH THE RESERVE FUNDS. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AT, UH, A, A GOOD LEVEL OF RESERVES IN OUR ACCOUNT. SO FOR THAT GENERAL RESERVE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE AT LEAST 180 DAYS OF CASH IN THAT. AND WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN A, A BALANCE IN THAT RATE STABILIZATION FUND. UM, THE SEAWARD SERVICE FUND ALSO HAS TWO OUTSTANDING, UH, BONDS AND WITH, UH, AGREEMENTS OF TRUST. UM, I'VE LAID OUT THOSE, THE TEST, THE, THE DEBT SERVICE COVERAGE TESTS FOR THOSE, UM, ON THIS SLIDE. UM, BUT ULTIMATE, JUST FOR, FOR, SO THAT YOU ARE ALL AWARE, YOU KNOW, IN OUR MODEL, WE ARE TRACKING THESE, UH, THESE METRICS AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE MEETING THEM. UM, AND, AND AT A MINIMUM, WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COVERING AT LEAST ONE AND A HALF TIMES, UH, NET REVENUES TO COVER OUR, OUR DEBT EXPENDITURES. OKAY. UM, SO WITH ALL THAT OUTTA THE WAY, THIS NEXT SLIDE IS, IS REALLY WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD. THIS IS THE RESULTS OF THAT FINANCIAL PLAN. UM, I, I'LL JUST WALK THROUGH THEM. THE ELEMENTS OF THIS GRAPH, UH, QUICKLY. UH, THE BARS WILL REPRESENT THE EXPENSES. SO YOU SEE THAT, THAT, UH, LOWER DARK BLUE BAR, THAT IS YOUR OPERATING EXPENSES. UM, THE LIGHTER BLUE IS THE, UH, EXISTING DEBT SERVICE OBLIGATIONS. UM, THE GREEN BAR REPRESENTS OUR PEGO, [00:15:01] OUR CASH FUNDED CAPITAL. UM, SO ALL OF THOSE BARS, UH, STACK UP EACH YEAR TO REPRESENT OUR, OUR EXPENDITURES EACH YEAR IN THE FORECAST. MOVING TO THE LINES, UM, THE LINES IN THIS GRAPH REPRESENT, UM, ARE OUR REVENUES. AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT FIRST AT THAT, UH, DIAD RED LINE, THAT IS OUR REDS AT EXISTING RATES, OUR EXISTING RATES, UH, THE LAST, UH, RATE INCREASE, UH, WAS BACK IN 2017. SO THAT IS THE, THE BASELINE OF OUR, OUR REVENUES. UM, SO IF YOU LOOK BASICALLY IN THAT FIRST YEAR FY 25, UM, THOSE EXISTING RATES, UH, THE REVENUES FROM EXISTING RATES ARE ABLE TO COVER OUR OPERATING EXPENSES, A PORTION OF OUR DEBT, BUT WE ARE STILL HAVING TO PULL, UH, FROM OUR FUND BALANCE TO COVER THE REMAINING PIECE OF THE DEBT AS WELL AS ANY, UH, REINVESTMENT IN, IN THE, IN THE SYSTEM THAT THAT PAY GO. UM, YOU KNOW, SAID ANOTHER WAY, ANY, ANY AMOUNT OVER THAT DOTTED RED LINE IS, IS GONNA BE PULLING FUNDS IN, UH, OR PULLING MONEY IN FROM THE RESERVE FUND OF TO FUND THOSE EXPENSES. SO THAT KIND OF BRINGS US TO THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. UM, THAT BLACK LINE IS THE, THE, UH, OUR PROPOSED, UH, RATE INCREASES OVER THE FORECAST PERIOD. UM, STARTING WITH THIS YEAR, FY 25, WE RECOMMEND A A 40% RATE INCREASE, UM, ACROSS THE BOARD THAT'S FOR RETAIL AND CONTRACTED CUSTOMERS, FOLLOWED BY A 15% RATE INCREASE IN 27, AND THEN 5% RATE INCREASES OUT IN THE FUTURE YEARS. THOSE ARE MORE INFLATIONARY FACTORS, UM, IN THOSE OUT YEARS. UM, YOU KNOW, JUST, JUST QUICKLY TO SAY, I MEAN, AGAIN, IF, IF WE'RE STARTING IN FFY 20, LOOKING AT THE RESULTS OF FY 25, WE ARE REALLY BARELY ABLE TO, TO FUND THOSE OPERATING EXPENSES AND, AND NEARLY NOT A ABLE TO, TO FUND OUR, OUR DEBT OBLIGATIONS WITH AND LEAVING US NO FREE CASH FLOW FOR THOSE FUTURE PROJECTS. SO THAT'S REALLY THE START OF THE NEED FOR RATE INCREASES. UM, IF, IF YOU LOOK ON THE NEXT SLIDE, AND, AND I APOLOGIZE, SORRY IF YOU, UH, SKIP TO, TO THE NEXT SLIDE AFTER THAT, AND I CAN COME BACK TO THIS, I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. UM, IF YOU, THESE ARE THE, THE FINANCIAL METRICS THAT, UH, I DISCUSSED AS WELL WITH, WITH NO RATE INCREASES. UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE CHARTS, UM, ON THE LEFT, THESE REPRESENT OUR, OUR, OUR COVERAGE, UH, METRICS. UM, BASICALLY NET REVENUES AFTER PAYING FOR OP OPERATING EXPENSES TO COVER ANNUAL DEBT SERVICE. IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE MINIMUMS THAT WERE SET UP IN THE BOND COVENANTS, UM, IN THE AGREEMENT OF TRUST, THAT IS THE, UH, GRAY LINE AT THE TOP OF THOSE CHARTS. THE, THE BLUE LINE IS WHERE OUR, WE CURRENTLY ARE WITH OUR METRICS, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WITH NO RATE INCREASES, YOU KNOW, WE WERE BARELY ABLE TO MEET COVERAGE IN 2025, UM, AND WE ARE EXPECTED TO NOT MEET COVERAGE THIS YEAR IN 2026, UM, WITHOUT RATE INCREASES. UM, SIMILARLY ON THE, THE, THE NEXT CHART THERE ON THE RIGHT THAT IS REPRESENTING THE, UM, OPERATING DAYS CASH, THAT'S ESSENTIALLY THE, THE MONEY THAT WE HAVE IN OUR RESERVES. IF YOU LOOK AT THAT BLUE LINE, THAT IS OUR GENERAL RESERVE. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE GREEN LINE, THAT IS OUR GENERAL RESERVE, PLUS ANY FUNDS AVAILABLE IN THAT RATE STABILIZATION FUND, IF YOU LOOK AT BOTH OF THOSE, WE ARE, AGAIN, ON A DOWNWARD TRAJECTORY WITHOUT RATE INCREASES AND ACTUALLY GOING NEGATIVE IN, UH, IN NEXT YEAR. UM, SO I DON'T WANNA BE DOOM AND GLOOM, BUT I, I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IF WE DO NOT INCREASE RATES, UM, IF WE SLIP AND SORRY ABOUT THIS, IF WE, IF WE SKIP TO THE, THE SLIDE RIGHT BEFORE THIS ONE, UM, THIS ARE, THESE SHOW OUR FINANCIAL METRICS WITH THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASES, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE ARE HITTING OUR DEBT COVERAGE, UH, REQUIREMENTS, UH, THAT WERE SET FORTH IN THOSE BOND COVENANTS. UM, AND, AND WE ARE SLOWLY COMING BACK OR BRINGING BACK OUR GENERAL RESERVE FUND, UM, AFTER PAYING FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS, TRYING TO BRING BACK SOME, SOME FUNDS INTO THAT. UM, SO THAT WAS JUST AN OVERVIEW OF THE FINANCIAL PLAN. UM, I'LL JUST TAKE, I'LL, I'LL SWITCH TO THE RATE SIDE OF THINGS AND LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THE RATE INCREASES AND WHAT THEY'RE GONNA BE, BUT LET'S SEE WHAT THEY ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE FOR RATES. UM, SO ON THIS NEXT SLIDE I JUST WANTED TO BRING TOGETHER, THIS IS OUR EXISTING RATE STRUCTURE. UM, AND, AND THE COLUMN IN THE MIDDLE ARE OUR EXISTING RATES. UM, I, I, AGAIN, [00:20:01] I JUST WANNA REEMPHASIZE THAT THE LAST RATE INCREASES IN WHAT THIS REFLECTS IS AN INCREASE IN 2017. UM, SO THESE RATES HAVE STAYED THE SAME SINCE THEN. UM, JUST TO, UH, GIVE YOU GUYS A QUICK REFRESHER, UM, THE MAJORITY OF OUR CUSTOMERS, UH, RECEIVE A MINIMUM CHARGE WITH A, AN AN ALLOWANCE OF 2 2200 GALLONS A MONTH. UM, SO THEY'LL BE ASSESSED A MINIMUM CHARGE FOR THAT. ANY USAGE OVER THAT AMOUNT, THEY WILL BE ASSESSED OF VOLUMETRIC, UH, TIERED VOLUMETRIC RATE OF, UM, AND YOU CAN SEE ALL THE DIFFERENT RATES THERE PER, PER THOUSAND GALLONS ABOVE THAT 21ST 2200 GALLONS. UM, SO THAT MIDDLE COLUMN, UH, IS OUR EXISTING RATES. THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT ARE THE PROPOSED RATES THAT WE WOULD, UH, WE WOULD RECOMMEND PUTTING INTO EFFECT THIS YEAR. UM, JUST LOOKING A ACROSS THE BOARD, ALL OF THESE CUSTOMER TYPES WILL RECEIVE THAT 40% INCREASE. UM, AND THOSE ARE REPRESENTED HERE. UM, ON THIS NEXT SLIDE, I THINK THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS IS, WELL, YOU SEE THE 40% INCREASE. WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE FOR, FOR OUR CUSTOMERS? SO THIS SLIDE IS JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF MONTHLY BILLS, UH, WE PUT TOGETHER ON THIS FIRST SLIDE, THE, THE RESIDENTIAL EXAMPLE OF MONTHLY BILLS AT VARIOUS, UH, LEVELS OF USAGE. UM, I'LL, I'LL JUST START WITH THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE HERE. THE 3000 GALLON USAGE. THAT IS YOUR TYPICAL CUSTOMER. ABOUT 50% OF RESIDENTIAL BILLS FALL, UH, 3000 GALLONS OF USAGE OR BELOW. UM, SO RIGHT NOW, UH, THOSE CUSTOMERS ARE BEING CHARGED A SEWER FEE OF $16 AND 26 CENTS, UM, WITH, WITH OUR INCREASE NEXT YEAR, THAT THAT TYPICAL CUSTOMER WOULD EXPERIENCE A MONTHLY BILL OF $22 IN 76 CENTS, UM, ABOUT A $6 AND 50 CENTS INCREASE IN THEIR BILL. AND THEN YOU, WE ALSO HAVE THE THOSE OUT YEAR INCREASES AS WELL. UM, I, I, I WILL JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO DO THIS STU STUDIES LIKE THIS ACROSS VIRGINIA AND THE CAROLINAS, UH, UH, 22 DO A $23 BILL IS A VERY, A VERY GOOD PRICE, AN INCREDIBLE PRICE FOR, FOR SEWER SERVICE. UM, JUST COMPARATIVELY ACROSS THE CO THE, UH, VIRGINIA AND, AND CAROLINAS, WE HAVE, UH, SOME SLIDES, UM, ON THE BACK OF THIS THAT ARE MAYBE COMPARISONS TO SOME OF THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. UM, BUT I JUST WANNA SAY THAT, UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE ALSO, UH, HAVE SOME EXAMPLE NON-RESIDENTIAL BILLS. AGAIN, AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, THOSE, THOSE DOLLAR INCREASES, UM, BASICALLY THE MORE, UH, USAGE YOU HAVE THAT RELATIVELY YOUR BILL IS GONNA BE HIGHER, BUT ALL OF THESE CUSTOMERS ARE GONNA BE EXPERIENCING JUST A 40% INCREASE THAT FIRST YEAR. UM, WE PULLED THIS GRAPH TOGETHER FOR YOU. UH, JUST, UH, I THINK IT'S INTERESTING FOR, FOR SEVERAL OR A FEW DIFFERENT REASONS. UM, WHAT IT IS, IS BASICALLY LOOKING AT THE RATES. YOU KNOW, WE STARTING IN 2017, WHAT IF WE HAD INCREASED THEM JUST BY INFLATIONARY FACTORS YEAR OVER YEAR? WHERE WOULD WE BE TODAY? UM, SO IF, IF WE LOOK IN 2017, UH, THIS, THAT RATE DOWN THERE, I KNOW IT'S A LITTLE COMPLICATED BECAUSE IT'S IN A HUNDRED GALLONS, BUT JUST THINK ABOUT THE, THE EXISTING RESIDENTIAL VOLUMETRIC RATE TODAY, THAT'S $3 90 CENTS PER THOUSAND GALLON. IF WE HAD BASICALLY INCREASED THAT WITH INFLATION, UM, BY INFLATION EACH YEAR, UM, IN 2025, WE WOULD BE LOOKING AT A, A $5 20, UM, 20 CENT PER THOUSAND GALLON CHARGE, ABOUT 36%, UM, INCREASE FROM 2017. SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, JUST THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS, JUST THAT INFLATION, UM, IN THE, IN THE PAST EIGHT TO NINE YEARS HAS REALLY DR. BEEN DRIVING THIS, THIS INCREASE AND THIS RATE INCREASE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT IS REALLY JUST A CATCH UP FOR THAT. UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THE, THE CUSTOMERS', CUSTOMERS HAVE SEEN A, A, A LITTLE BIT OF AN ARTIFICIALLY LOW BILL, AND THIS INCREASE IS KIND OF MAKING UP FOR THAT JUST AS, UM, IN TERMS OF INFLATION. UM, FINALLY, I JUST, THIS LAST, UH, CHART IS JUST AGAIN, AS I SAID, A BI A BILL COMPARISON THAT WE PUT TOGETHER. UM, THIS IS, UH, A RE A RESIDENTIAL BILL, UH, A RESIDENTIAL SEWER CUSTOMER USING 4,000 GALLONS. YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, OUR EXISTING, UH, OUR EXISTING RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER IN THAT, UH, ORANGE BAR, UM, IS AT THE LOWER END OF, OF THAT GRAPH. UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN WITH THE 40% INCREASE, [00:25:01] UH, YOU SEE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE JUMPING TO THAT, THAT GREEN BAR ABOUT TWO, TWO BARS ABOVE, UM, BUT STILL RELATIVELY ON THE LOWER END OF THAT, THAT GRAPH. SO I KNOW EVERY UTILITY IS DIFFERENT AND, AND HAVE THEIR DIFFERENT PRIORITIES FOR SETTING RATES. BUT, UM, JUST WANTED TO POINT THIS OUT AS A, AS A POINT OF COMPARISON FOR YOU ALL. UM, WITH THAT, I JUST, AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK YOU GUYS FOR LETTING ME COME OUT AND PRESENT TO YOU ALL. UM, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. UM, BUT AGAIN, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNSELORS. DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY. I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU GUYS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. MOVING ALONG TO SB THREE, THE FISCAL YEAR 22, A CFR WITH STACY JORDAN AND, UH, DAVID FOLEY. GOOD EVENING, UH, MEMBERS, THE COUNCIL. UH, THANKS FOR, UH, HAVING ME HERE, UH, THIS EVENING. UH, GLAD TO BE WITH YOU ALL AGAIN. UM, WE'VE BEEN, UM, AGAIN, MY NAME IS DAVID FOLEY. I'M A, UH, PARTNER WITH ROBINSON FARMER COX ASSOCIATES, AND WE'VE BEEN, UH, PERFORMING THE, THE CITY'S, UH, AUDIT FOR THE, UH, FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30TH, UH, 2022. AND, UM, SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH THAT AUDIT. WE HAVE, UM, ISSUED OUR INITIAL, UM, ROUGH DRAFT OF THE FY, UH, 22 ACT FOR, UM, THE, THIS DRAFT, UM, INCLUDES, UH, DRAFT OPINIONS, UH, THAT WE ANTICIPATE WILL BE, UH, INCLUDED IN THE, UH, FINAL DOCUMENT ONCE IT'S, IT'S, UM, ONCE THE DOCUMENT'S FINAL. SO WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH, UM, PIECES OF THE AUDIT JUST TO, AND MAKING, WE'LL BE MAKING EDITS. SO THIS DOCUMENT, THERE'S DEFINITELY SCHEDULES AND, AND ITEMS AND ADJUSTMENTS THAT WE'LL BE MAKING. SO IT IS, IT IS NOT IN ITS FINAL FORM, BUT AGAIN, IT'S THE, THE INITIAL DRAFT WITH THE INITIAL DRAFT OPINIONS MM-HMM . UM, SO INCLUDED IN THE, THE, UH, DRAFT, UH, AUDIT REPORT OR THE THREE REPORTS FROM US THAT WILL COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS OF THE AUDIT. UH, THE FIRST IS NEAR THE FRONT OF THE REPORT. MM-HMM . WHICH IS OUR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT. MM-HMM . AND THIS IS WHERE WE STATE, WE DID, UH, PERFORM AN AUDIT ON THE, UM, CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. AND IT'S WHERE WE WILL, UM, ISSUE OUR OPINION ON THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. SO WE ANTICIPATE, UM, ISSUING AN UNMODIFIED OPINION ON THE CITY'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, UM, WHICH IS A, UH, CLEAN OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SIMILAR TO WHAT THE CITY RECEIVED IN FY 21 AND FY 2020. UM, THE OTHER TWO REPORTS FROM US ARE IN THE BACK OF THE REPORT. UM, THOSE ARE, THOSE TWO REPORTS ARE ISSUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, UH, GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS. UM, AND I APOLOGIZE, THERE'S NO, UH, PAGE NUMBERS ON THE REPORT YET, BUT THE FINAL DOCUMENT CERTAINLY WILL HAVE, UH, PAGE NUMBERS. UM, BUT IN THE BACK, UM, AGAIN, A DRAFT OF OUR REPORT OVER THE CITY'S INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING AS IN PAST YEARS. UH, WE DO, UH, WILL BE REPORTING, UH, MATERIAL WEAKNESSES, UM, OVER THE CITY'S INTERNAL CONTROLS. UM, AGAIN, THE DETAILS OF THOSE FINDINGS ARE, UM, IN THE BACK OF THE REPORT. UM, AGAIN, THESE FINDINGS ARE VERY SIMILAR TO, UM, WHAT THE CITY'S HAD IN THE PAST, UH, FISCAL YEARS. UM, AGAIN, AS WE WORK THROUGH THESE OLDER AUDITS, UM, UNTIL WE GET CAUGHT UP, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA KEEP SEEING THESE FINDINGS. 'CAUSE THIS IS WHAT EXISTED AS OF FY 22, SO MM-HMM . UM, YOU KNOW, VERY SIMILAR FINDINGS, UM, COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS, UH, AUDITS. UM, AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE, THE THEME BEHIND THESE, THESE FINDINGS ARE, YOU KNOW, MONTHLY RECONCILIATIONS TYING OUT, YOU KNOW, DOING BANK RECONCILIATIONS IN A TIMELY MANNER, TYING OUT SUBSIDIARY LEDGERS, UM, AND, AND SO FORTH. UM, AND THEN THE LAST, UH, REPORT, UH, FROM US IS ON THE, UH, FEDERAL COMPLIANCE UNIFORM GUIDANCE. UM, THIS REPORT WILL BE CLEAR, WE HAD NO FEDERAL, FEDERAL AWARD FINDINGS. UM, SO THE, UM, NO, NO ITEMS OF NON-COMPLIANCE RELATED TO THE, UH, FEDERAL PROGRAMS. SO AGAIN, THIS IS JUST A DRAFT OF THE OPINIONS THAT, UH, WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE, THE FINALIZED DOCUMENT. AGAIN, WE'RE WORKING THROUGH TO CLOSE OUT, UM, FY 22, UM, AGAIN, MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THIS. AND THEN, UH, WE'LL BE ISSUING, [00:30:01] UH, THE FINAL, THE FINAL DOCUMENT. MM-HMM . UM, AND THEN WE'LL ALSO BE, UH, STARTING IN AUGUST, UH, MOVING INTO FY 23 TO GET THAT AUDIT MOVING. BUT THAT'S ALL I HAVE, BUT BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ANYONE MAY HAVE. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE, WHAT'S THE TIMETABLE FOR FINALIZATION WITH THIS? SO FOR 22, I, I WOULD SAY, UM, BY THE TIME WE FINISH, MAKE THE EDITS AND THEN GO THROUGH QUALITY CONTROL, I WOULD ANTICIPATE MID AUGUST FOR THE, THE DOCUMENT. OKAY. I'VE GOT, THAT PUTS US A LITTLE BIT OFF OUR, OUR GOAL, BECAUSE OUR GOAL WAS TO HAVE EVERYTHING FINISHED BY JUNE 30TH, I BELIEVE. MM-HMM . SO WE'RE LOOK GOOD WHAT, SIX, SEVEN WEEKS OFF THAT TARGET. UM, WITH REGARD TO THE MATERIAL WEAKNESSES, TELL ME AGAIN, I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT THESE MATERIAL WEAKNESSES, WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ADDRESSING THEM. AND OBVIOUSLY SOME OF THEM HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED OBVIOUSLY ALREADY, BUT TALK TO ME ABOUT, TELL ME AGAIN WHEN WE'LL SEE THESE DISAPPEAR. SO I WOULD, UM, ANTICIPATE MAYBE IN JUNE OF JUNE 24, YOU MAY START SEEING, UH, SOME OF THESE, SO NEXT YEAR WHEN WE, WHEN WE DO THE RECONCILIATION FOR, RIGHT. YEAH. FISCAL YEAR 24. YEAH. SO I, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THE ROBERT BOB GROUP CAME ON AND WHAT, 23 START? 20 AT THE END OF 23. SO THAT WAS STARTING, YOU WERE ALREADY IN MM-HMM . FY 24. SO IT'S A POTENTIAL THAT SOME OF THESE WILL BE GONE IN FY 24 AND THEN CERTAINLY IN, UH, 25. YEP. WE HAVE TO, THEY HAVE TO BE GONE IN 25. THEY REALLY, FOR FISCAL YEAR 25. 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, THAT JUST, IT'S GONNA AFFECT OUR, OUR, THE RATING AGENCIES LOOKING AT US AND SO FORTH. THOSE, THAT'S MY MAIN CONCERN WITH THESE. RIGHT. AND I LOOK FORWARD TO READING THROUGH THIS IN MORE, MORE DETAIL, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM ANYBODY? ANY QUESTIONS? NO. OKAY. WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. FOLEY. ALL THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. MOVING ON TO, UM, SB FOUR, WHICH IS THE FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT OUT STACY JORDAN AND SOMEONE ELSE. . YES. SORRY. THAT'S OKAY. THIS IS OUR FORENSIC, UM, AUDIT COMPANY. EDIE BAILEY. YES. OKAY. AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO HIM. ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. YES. UH, THANK YOU COUNSELORS. YES, I'M COST OF CHUCK HY WITH I BAILEY NATIONAL, UH, AUDIT TAX AND, UH, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM. I WORK IN THE FORENSIC ACCOUNTING GROUP. I'M A SENIOR MANAGER THERE. AND WE WERE TASKED, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE WERE TASKED WITH PERFORMING A FORENSIC ACCOUNTING OF THE CITY'S CREDIT TRANSACTIONS AND RELATED INTERNAL CONTROLS FROM FISCAL YEAR 2019 TO PRESENT. SO ABOUT SIX YEARS. AND, YOU KNOW, CREDIT TRANSACTIONS MEANING PARTICULARLY, OR MAINLY, UM, PURCHASE CARD TRANSACTIONS AS WELL AS THE, UH, FUEL PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS. AND AGAIN, I SEE THE RELATED INTERNAL CONTROLS. SO WE LOOK, YOU KNOW, PERFORMED A NUMBER OF PROCEDURES ON THIS FIRST SLIDE. AGAIN, WE REVIEWED PURCHASE CARD TRANSACTIONS AND THOSE FUEL PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS. THESE ARE MONTHLY PCARD STATEMENTS. AND THEN ALSO WE HAVE A, UM, RECEIVED A DATABASE, AN EXTRACT OF FUEL PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS. WE ALSO PERFORMED A DETAILED REVIEW OF THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR A SAMPLE ABOUT 500 P CARD TRANSACTIONS. AND THAT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION MEANS LOOKING AT THE SUPPORTING ON INVOICES, RECEIPTS, UM, YOU KNOW, CHARGE CARD LOGS, EXTINGUISHER APPROVALS FOR AGAIN, THAT SELECT SAMPLE TO JUST TO, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF DIG A LITTLE BIT DEEPER INTO THE P CARDS. UH, THOSE DOCUMENTATION AND THE, AND THE APPROVALS. WE ALSO LOOKED AT IN THE THIRD BULLET UNDER PROCEDURES PERFORMED, UH, PAR PAYMENTS MADE BY THE CITY. THIS WAS A SMALLER TASK. THIS IS JUST CONFIRMING THAT THE PAYMENTS THAT THE CITY MAKES TO THE, UH, THE, THE BANK, THOSE MATCHED, THE ONES THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY IN THE STATEMENT JUST TO CONFIRM THAT THERE WAS NO, YOU KNOW, DIVERSION OF THOSE PAYMENTS OR MISAPPROPRIATION OF THOSE PAYMENTS. AND THEN LAST, WE PERFORMED A SITE VISIT HERE, UH, TO THE CITY'S MAIN OFFICE. MAINLY IT WAS TO COLLECT SOME ADDITIONAL, UM, SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION. AS YOU MAY KNOW, A LOT OF THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION IS DIGITIZED, BUT THERE WAS SOMEWHERE, UM, THEY WEREN'T IN A DIGITAL FORMAT. SO WE CAME HERE, JUST KIND OF OBTAINED THE PAPER COPIES. AND WHILE WE WERE, WHILE WE WERE HERE, WE CONDUCTED SOME INFORMATION GATHERING INTERVIEWS AS WELL WITH PROCUREMENT AND FLEET MENTIONED STAFF. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO, IN INFOR INFORMATION RELIED UPON, YOU KNOW, KINDA THE MAIN, THE MAIN ITEMS WERE, UH, EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK, AND THEN REALLY FOR THE PURCHASE CARD SIDE, TWO, TWO POLICIES. THERE WAS ONE POLICY THAT, UM, WAS [00:35:01] EFFECTIVE A WHILE AGO, JULY OH TWO FYO THREE. AND THEN THERE WAS A NEW ONE THAT WAS PUT IN PLACE IN, UH, JULY OF 2024. SO FISCAL YEAR 2025. AND, YOU KNOW, THOSE TWO POLICIES REALLY COVERED KIND OF THE SCOPE HERE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. AGAIN, FISCAL YEAR IS 2019, UH, TO PRESENT. AND THEN AGAIN, IN TERMS OF THE DATE ITSELF, MONTHLY PCARD STATEMENTS FOR ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 60 MONTHS, UM, FOR THAT, YOU KNOW, SIX YEAR PERIOD, I'M SORRY, PROBABLY THAT'S, UM, WELL, 72, 72 MONTHS I GUESS. YEAH. UH, AND THEN AGAIN, THAT SUPPORTING, UH, EXPENSE DOCUMENTATION, THE CHECK LEDGER AGAIN FOR CONFIRMING THOSE PAYMENTS THAT THE CITY MAKES, UM, TO DEPEND ON THOSE BALANCES AGAINST WHAT WE SEE IN THE STATEMENTS. AND THEN FOR THE FUEL PURCHASES, KIND OF LIKE I TOUCHED ON A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, THAT WAS IN A KIND, A DATABASE FORMAT THAT SHOWS ALL THE, UH, FUELING OF VEHICLES BY, UM, BY DRIVER, BY STATION, YOU KNOW, GALLONS, THAT KIND OF THING. AND THEN AGAIN, I MENTIONED, UH, THE INFORMATION GATHERING INTERVIEWS. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, JUST HIGH LEVEL, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF P CARD USAGE, THERE'S A, A BAR CHART HERE THAT JUST SHOWS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNT OF PCARD PURCHASES BY FISCAL YEAR. SO AS YOU CAN SEE, IT KIND OF DECREASED AND THEN IT'S INCREASED, UM, IN FISCAL YEAR 2024 LAST YEAR THAT WE HAD THOSE, UH, PCARD STATEMENTS, IT IS THE HIGHEST FOR IT, THE, THE SIX YEAR PERIOD. SO PCARD USAGE HAS BEEN INCREASING. UM, YOU KNOW, IT DIPPED KIND OF AROUND THAT COVID TIME. SO YOU SEE THAT, UH, THAT DIP IN FOI 2021 THAT REALLY KIND OF STARTED AROUND APRIL OF 2020. SO IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S KIND OF RECOVERED IN A SENSE. AND THEN OF COURSE, NOW, THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR OF 20 20, 20 24, AT LEAST IT WAS THE HIGHEST, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST SOME HIGH LEVEL NUMBERS ABOUT 17,000 P CAR TRANSACTIONS OVER THE SIX YEARS, ABOUT 3000 A YEAR, $2.7 MILLION. SO AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE CHARTS AROUND, YOU KNOW, $400,000 A YEAR AND AN AVERAGE OF $157 PER TRANSACTION. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO IN TERMS OF THE INTERNAL CONTROLS, KEY CARDS, AGAIN, WE LOOKED AT INTERNAL CONTROLS IN ADDITION TO THE, THE DATE ITSELF. UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE POLICIES, UH, DO HAVE A LOT OF THE INTERNAL CONTROL BEST PRACTICES THAT WE WOULD LOOK FOR. AND SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE GOOD POLICIES. AND, YOU KNOW, WE SEE GUIDANCE ON PURCHASE LIMITATIONS, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S KIND OF MONTHLY, UM, OR IT COULD BE SET, YOU KNOW, UH, FOR A PARTICULAR TRANSACTION, YOU KNOW, THOSE LISTINGS OF PROHIBITED, PROHIBITED ITEMS. UM, THERE'S A REQUIREMENT FOR MULTIPLE LAYERS OF SIGNATURE APPROVALS, UH, REQUIREMENTS FOR SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION AND MONTHLY RECONCILIATIONS. AND WE SEE THAT IN BOTH THE EARLIER POLICY AND ALSO THE NEW POLICY THAT, UM, SIA HASKINS IMPLEMENTED STARTING IN FISCAL, FISCAL YEAR 2025. AND THEN JUST, YOU KNOW, ON THAT NEW POLICY, THAT SECOND BULLET THERE, IT IS AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE OLD POLICY. THERE ARE SOME ADDITIONAL INTERNAL CONTROLS THAT, YOU KNOW, HAS IMPLEMENTED IN THE POLICY. YOU KNOW, AND YOU KNOW, ONE, ONE REALLY GOOD THING IS THAT THERE'S GONNA BE THIS USE FOR THIS, THERE'S A USE NOW THIS FIFTH CARD, UH, FIFTH, THIRD PCARD SYSTEM TO VALIDATE TRANSACTIONS AGAINST PRESET LIMITS. YOU CAN, BEFORE I UNDERSTAND SET LIMITS FOR INDIVIDUAL CARD HOLDERS. UM, THERE'S ALSO ADDITIONAL SECTIONS ON DISCLOSURE OF PERCEIVED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, ITEMIZATION OF RECEIPTS, OF COURSE, THAT PROVIDES THAT DETAIL YOU WANNA SEE AS PART OF KIND OF AN AUDIT TRAIL TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S BEING PURCHASED, UM, YOU KNOW, LISTS OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND, UH, KIND OF EXPANDED USE OR DISCUSSION OF, UM, MISUSE AND FRACTIONS AND VIOLATIONS. AND SO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF SUMMARY LEVEL IN TERMS OF INTERNAL CONTROLS, THE C THE CITY DOES HAVE THESE INTERNAL CONTROLS IN PLACE. IT HAS HAD THEM, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, DOCUMENTED IN THESE POLICIES AND, YOU KNOW, THERE HAVE BEEN ADDITIONAL ONES THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED. AND, YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO THAT FIFTH, THIRD PCARD SYSTEM STARTING IN FISCAL YEAR 2024, THE MUNI SYSTEM HAS ALSO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, AUTOMATED OR DIGITIZED. A LOT OF THIS, YOU KNOW, THE APPROVALS ARE NOW DONE ELECTRONICALLY. THE RECEIPTS AND DOCUMENTATION ARE NOW MAINTAINED IN UNI AS YOU, AS YOU MAY KNOW. SO THOSE ARE, UH, GOOD IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE SEE. NEXT SLIDE. SO, UH, IN TERMS OF SPENDING LIMITS, SO WE LOOKED AT, YOU KNOW, WE UNDERSTAND THE, YOU KNOW, PER, ONE OF THE PURPOSE OF THE KEYCARDS IS FOR SMALL PURCHASES, IT'S KIND OF A SMALL PURCHASE CARD, AND, YOU KNOW, THE OLDER POLICY ESTABLISHED A PURCHASE LIMIT OF A THOUSAND DOLLARS PER TRANSACTION. THE NEW POLICY REALLY TALKS MORE ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF ESTABLISHING THAT LIMIT BASED UPON THE USER. BUT IT DOES SEEM TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT KIND OF A MAXIMUM CAP OF $5,000. SO WE DECIDED JUST TO LOOK AT ALL THE TRANSACTIONS AND SEE, OKAY, [00:40:01] HOW MANY ARE EXCEEDING THAT, UH, THOUSAND DOLLARS LIMIT? SO, YOU KNOW, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE SLIDE OF THE 17,000 TRANSACTIONS, YOU KNOW, NOT TOO MANY. UM, YOU COULD SAY, YOU KNOW, 294, SO 1.7% EXCEEDED THAT $1,000 TRANSACTION. SO, YOU KNOW, IT DOES LOOK LIKE GENERALLY CARD HOLDERS WERE USING THE P CARD FOR SMALLER PURCHASES, LESS THAN A THOUSAND DOLLARS. AND, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD EXPECT, AND ONE, WE RECOMMEND THAT THE CITY DO, UM, PERFORM THESE PERIODIC AUDITS GOING AUDITS GOING FORWARD TO CONFIRM THAT THE NEW SYSTEM, THE FIFTH, UH, THIRD BANK SYSTEM IS, YOU KNOW, DOES HAVE THOSE PRESET LIMITS WORKING PROPERLY, WE WOULD EXPECT THAT WE PROBABLY SEE THAT DROP EVEN FURTHER, UM, WITH A NEW SYSTEM. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO A COUPLE OF JUST HIGH LEVEL TABLES HERE. THIS JUST SUMMARIZES ALL THE PURCHASES, UM, IN THAT FIRST TABLE BY DEPARTMENT. SO $2.7 MILLION FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD, ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THAT FIRST TABLE. AND, YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF, WE DID THIS NOT ONLY JUST INFORMATIONAL, BUT YOU KNOW, WE DO UNDERSTAND TALKING TO , THAT SHE'S LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, WAYS TO KIND OF, UH, LIMIT OR REDUCE THE USE OF P CARDS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT IS USED FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS AND REALLY A WHOLE HOST OF TRANSACTIONS. AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW SHE'S THINKING ABOUT REDUCING PROBABLY THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES THAT ARE GONNA BE USING, UH, PCARDS. AND THAT'S A, THAT IS A GOOD THING. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, JUST IN TERMS OF DEPARTMENTS YOU CAN SEE OF, YOU KNOW, APPROXIMATELY 26 DEPARTMENTS. THERE ARE ON 15 DEPARTMENTS THAT ACCOUNTED FOR 95% OF THE PURCHASES. SO ONE THING THE CITY COULD DO IS LOOK AT SOME DEPARTMENTS THAT MAYBE DON'T HAVE AS GREAT OF NEED, UH, FOR PURCHASE CARDS AND THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY SOME LIMITATIONS THERE. UM, IN TERMS OF EMPLOYEES, THERE ARE ABOUT 80 EMPLOYEES EVERY YEAR THAT USE P CARDS. UM, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD ALSO KIND OF LOOK AT THOSE EMPLOYEES THAT DON'T REALLY ALSO HAVE THAT GREAT OF A NEED FOR PURCHASE CARDS. SO YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, OF THE, OF THE 80 20, UH, PURCHASE LESS THAN $2,000, UH, OF TRANSACTIONS IN A PARTICULAR YEAR. SO THAT MIGHT BE SOMEWHERE TO KIND OF START IN TERMS OF THINKING ABOUT THAT. AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, SPEAKING OFIA, UM, SHE'S ALREADY THINKING ABOUT KIND OF, YOU KNOW, HOW TO KIND OF LIMIT THIS. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE USING P CARDS LESS AND MAYBE EVEN MOVING A LITTLE BIT MORE IN SOME CASES TO PURCHASE ORDERS, UM, AND KIND OF MOVING SOME OF THESE THINGS OUT OF THE, UM, P CARD PROCESS. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO THIS ONE HAS A SIMILAR SUM SUMMARY. IT'S THE PURCHASE CARDS, PURCHASE CARD, UH, TRANSACTIONS BY VENDOR, UH, BY YEAR. SO YOU CAN SEE HERE, UM, YOU KNOW, IT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST BULLET. THERE WERE 550 DIFFERENT VENDORS THAT REALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, PURCHASES WERE MADE THROUGH. SO, UH, AT LEAST IN A PARTICULAR YEAR. AND THEN OVER THE ENTIRE SCOPE, YOU'RE OVER, UH, 1700. SO A LOT OF DIFFERENT VENDORS, AND YOU CAN SEE THE TOP VENDORS HERE ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT 40% OF THE TOTAL PURPOSES. SO AMAZON, STAPLES, LOW SAM'S CLUB, AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THESE YOU CAN KIND OF SEE ARE KIND OF LIKE OFFICE RELATED, OFFICE SUPPLY RELATED. NOT THAT THAT'S THE ONLY CATEGORY. AGAIN, LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, A LOT OF DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE CITY DOES USE THESE, UM, VENDORS, YOU KNOW, WE RECOMMEND THE CITY MAINTAIN CORPORATE ACCOUNTS WITH SOME OF THESE LARGER VENDORS, AND WE KNOW IT ALREADY DOES MAINTAIN CERTAIN, UH, CORPORATE ACCOUNTS WITH CERTAIN VENDORS. BUT, UM, JUST TO KIND OF CONTINUE THINKING ABOUT DOING THAT BECAUSE THAT, THAT FACILITATES THE ABILITY TO, UH, FURTHER SET SPENDING LIMITS AND AUDIT PURCHASES MADE BY EMPLOYEES. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE DID A SO DETAILED REVIEW OF ABOUT 500 TRANSACTIONS WHERE WE LOOKED AT THE PURCHASE CARD, UH, TRANSACTION. WE LOOKED AT THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION, AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE LOOKED AT WERE WAS THE SIGNATURE APPROVALS. SO WE KNOW THAT THE OLD POLICY, UH, YOU KNOW, WHICH AGAIN, WASN'T, UH, IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF THE SCOPE PERIOD, DOES TALK ABOUT REQUIRING TWO SIGNATURE APPROVALS, UH, FOR P GUARD TRANSACTIONS. SO JUST AN EXAMPLE ON THE LEFT SIDE, THAT SIGNATURE APPROVAL EXAMPLE, THAT'S KIND OF, THAT'S THAT, UM, SMALL PURCHASE CHARGE CARD PAYMENT, UH, REQUEST. SO YOU CAN SEE THERE, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THREE SIGNATURE LINES, CARD HOLDER SUPERVISOR, UH, AND DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR. SO WE LOOKED AT THAT, WE DECIDED, WE LOOKED AT, OKAY, HOW MANY, UM, FOR HOW MANY TRANSACTIONS WERE THERE, TWO, UH, APPROVALS. AND YOU KNOW, THERE WERE, UM, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 35% OR SO THAT DID NOT HAVE TWO APPROVALS. NOW, IN A LOT OF CASES IT WAS A DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR AND THEY WERE PROBABLY JUST SIGN, THEY WERE KIND OF JUST SIGNING FOR THE [00:45:01] CARD. THEY WERE THE CARD HOLDER AND THE DIRECTOR. SO THEY WERE JUST, THEY WERE KIND OF SIGNING FOR BOTH LINES. SO IT'S ONE SIGNATURE. UM, NOW SPEAKING OF THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE, WE DO KNOW THAT THERE WAS THAT SECONDARY LEVEL OF APPROVAL THAT WAS OCCURRING AT THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE. SO EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T NECESSARILY DOCUMENTED ON THE FORM, WE DO NOT, WE DO KNOW THAT THERE WAS THAT SECONDARY LEVEL, UM, THAT WAS, THAT WAS OCCURRING SPEAKING TO THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, JUST GOING FORWARD, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW NOW THINGS ARE NEWNESS, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE IN THE LAST FISCAL YEAR, 2024, THAT NUMBER DID DROP A LOT FROM AROUND 40% TO 10%. SO THAT MIGHT BE A REFLECTION OF THIS PROCESS BEING AUTOMATED NOW, OR AT LEAST, UM, NOT AUTOMATED, BUT BEING DONE THROUGH EUNICE. SO WE WOULD JUST RECOMMEND, UM, YOU KNOW, AUDITS IN THE FUTURE JUST TO KIND OF CONFIRM OR THAT THAT'S STILL OCCURRING IN TERMS OF THE CHARGE CARD LOG. SO THIS IS A, THIS IS A LOG THAT JUST DESCRIBES, UH, THE PURCHASE AND KIND OF WHAT IT WAS FOR. AND YOU CAN SEE HERE IN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 96% OF THE CASES THAT, UH, CHARGE LOG WAS PROVIDED. SO, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE CONCERN THERE, YOU KNOW, THE DOCUMENTATION WAS THERE AND THEN, YOU KNOW, GOING FORWARD, OR AT LEAST STARTING FISCAL YEAR 2024 WITH MUNIS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOW IN THE SYSTEM. SO WE SAW IN ALL THE CASES IN THE SAMPLE THAT THAT INFORMATION WAS, WAS BEING PROVIDED. ALRIGHT, NEXT SLIDE. SO, ITEMIZATION OF RECEIPTS AGAIN, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS WASN'T IN THE PRIOR POLICY, THE REQUIREMENT FOR ITEMIZATION, ITEMIZATION OF RECEIPTS, BUT WE EMPLOYEES WERE FOLLOWING THAT PRACTICE NONETHELESS. AND YOU CAN SEE HERE IN ALMOST WHAT 95% OF THE CASES, UM, ITEMIZATION WAS BEING PROVIDED. SO THAT'S A GOOD INTERNAL, UH, CONTROL PRACTICE THAT THAT WAS BEING FOLLOWED. AND, UM, SO THE NEXT SLIDE IN TERMS OF RESTRICTED PURCHASES, YOU KNOW, PERMIT PURCHASES, WE DIDN'T SEE ANY, YOU KNOW, KIND OF REALLY MAJOR CONCERNS HERE. UM, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS IN INSTANCES WHERE WE MIGHT HAVE SEEN SOMETHING AND WE KIND OF JUST NOTICED THAT WE DID FOLLOW UP WITH, UM, THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE. LIKE WE KNOW IN A COUPLE CASES, GIFT CARDS WERE USED TO PAY, UM, INCENTIVE BONUSES, BUT THAT PRACTICE, UM, YOU KNOW, HAS BEEN STOPPED OR IT'S BEEN COMMUNICATED THAT THAT WOULD NEED, UM, EXPRESSED WRITTEN CONSENT GOING FORWARD. YOU KNOW, AIRFARE AND LODGING, WE GENERALLY SEE, YOU KNOW, ECONOMY CLASS TICKETS BEING PURCHASED, SO NOT A, NOT A CONCERN THERE. UM, AND YOU KNOW, OVERALL, OUR MAIN OBSERVATION HERE IS THAT, KIND OF WHAT I WAS SAYING EARLIER, WE DO SEE PCARDS BEING USED FOR JUST A WHOLE HOST OF SERVICES AND YOU KNOW, THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT THAT, THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE BECAUSE OF THE WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES THE CITY DOES, UM, DOES PROVIDE, BUT AGAIN, KIND OF A PREVENTIVE CONTROL IS WHAT I THINK THE, THE CITY'S ALREADY LOOKING AT, WHICH IS THINKING ABOUT HOW TO MAYBE LIMIT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHO REALLY NEEDS A P CARD AND KIND OF DOING A PREVENTIVE CONTROL. UM, AND THEN ALSO AS YOU MENTIONED EARLIER, DOING SOME KIND OF PERIODIC AUDITS EVERY NOW AND THEN, JUST TO CONFIRM THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE NO, THERE ARE NO CONCERNS. UH, LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE LOOKED AT THE PAYMENTS THAT THE CITY MAKES, UH, UH, TO THE BANK TO PAY DOWN THE BALANCES OF THE P CARDS. THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, 72 PAYMENTS MADE TOTALING $2.6 MILLION. WE DID CONFIRM THAT ALL THOSE PAYMENTS, YOU KNOW, WERE PROPERLY REFLECTED, UM, IN THE MONTHLY STATEMENTS. SO, YOU KNOW, NO CONCERN ABOUT ANY KIND OF DIVERSION OR MISAPPROPRIATION OF THOSE PAYMENTS. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO ON FUEL PURCHASES, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO SEE A LOT OF GOOD INTERNAL CONTROLS HERE. UM, ON FUEL PURCHASES, JUST THAT BAR CHART THAT'S JUST GALLONS, UH, FUELED BY FISCAL YEAR. YOU CAN SEE IT ALSO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, DECREASED A BIT THROUGH FY 2021 AND THEN IT INCREASED, UM, FFY 2025, YOU KNOW, BE HAD THE FIRST 10 MONTHS FROM JULY TO APRIL. IF YOU KINDA EXTRAPOLATE THAT TO AN ENTIRE YEAR, IT'S PROBABLY GONNA COME IN AROUND THE SAME AS 2024. UM, BUT THERE ARE GOOD, GOOD INTERNAL CONTROLS. YOU KNOW, VEHICLES ARE FUELED AT A, A CITY OPERATED FUELING STATION. THERE'S A KEY FOB LINKED TO EACH VEHICLE. UM, THEIR EMPLOYEE, THERE ARE PINS ASSIGNED TO EACH EMPLOYEE OR DRIVER THAT'S NEEDED TO FUEL THE VEHICLE. AND VEHICLES ALL ARE ALSO USUALLY RETURNED TO THE CITY LOCATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. UM, WE DID NOTE THAT THERE'S NO POLICY IN PLACE FOR FUELING VEHICLES, SO WE WOULD RECOMMEND DEVELOPING A FUEL, DEVELOPING A FUEL PURCHASE POLICY, EVEN THOUGH IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT THEY SHOULDN'T BE USED FOR, YOU KNOW, PERSONAL, [00:50:01] PERSONAL USAGE. IT'D BE GOOD TO JUST HAVE THAT DOCUMENTED. UM, AND WE ALSO DID NOTICE THAT, YOU KNOW, EMPLOYEE DRIVERS ARE SUPPOSED TO ENTER IN THE ODOMETER MILEAGE WHEN THEY THROUGH THE VEHICLE, BUT SOMETIMES IT LOOKED THERE MAYBE PUTTING IN THE TRIP BAROMETER INSTEAD OF THE ODOMETER. SO IT'S KIND OF MADE SOME ANALYSIS A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT TO PERFORM BECAUSE WE COULDN'T REALLY RELY ON THAT DATA. SO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOME GUIDANCE IN THE POLICY REGARDING HOW TO PULL THE RIGHT NUMBER WOULD ALSO BE HELPFUL. AND THEN IN 2025 THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, 3 38 DRIVERS THAT USED VEHICLES. AND I KNOW TALKING ABOUT , SHE'S ALSO, UM, THINKING ABOUT HOW THEY'RE, HOW THE CITY'S THINKING ABOUT KIND OF REDUCING EITHER THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES THAT THE CITY, UM, IS USING. YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT SOME OF THEM ARE, ARE LEASED AND ALSO MAYBE ALSO LIMITING THE NUMBER OF DRIVERS JUST BECAUSE THAT NUMBER PROBABLY DOES SOUND A LITTLE BIT HIGH. UM, AND THAT'S ANOTHER KIND OF PREVENTATIVE, PREVENTATIVE CONTROL, JUST LIKE WITH THE P GUARDS. AND YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, OUT OUTTA THE 3 38 DRIVERS, A HUNDRED FUELED FEWER THAN A HUNDRED GALLONS IN A, YOU KNOW, PARTICULAR YEAR. SO THAT MIGHT BE SOMEPLACE TO START IN TERMS OF THINKING ABOUT HOW TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ADD THIS PREVENTIVE CONTROL ON, ON A FUEL CARD USAGE. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO WITH THE FUEL PURCHASES, WE DID A COUPLE ANALYSES LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, FUEL PURCHASES IN TERMS OF GALLONS, UM, BY DAY OF THE WEEK AND ALSO BY, BY TIME OF DAY. SO YOU CAN SEE HERE ON THAT FIRST CHART TO THE LEFT, YOU KNOW, 89% OF VEHICLE FUELING OCCURRED BETWEEN MONDAY AND FRIDAY, UM, AND 70% BETWEEN 7:00 AM AND 5:00 PM AND THAT'S CONSISTENT WITH WE, WE, WE WOULD EXPECT, YOU KNOW, IF WE KNOW FOR THE MOST PART, AGAIN, DRIVERS ARE RETURNING VEHICLES TO A CITY LOCATION, THERE'S REALLY ONLY A NEED FOR A CITY VEHICLE DURING THE DAY WITH EXCEPTIONS LIKE ON-CALL STAFF AND CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS LIKE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. UM, YOU KNOW, WE'D RECOMMEND GOING FORWARD JUST MAYBE KIND OF TRACKING A METRIC LIKE THIS AGAINST THIS KIND OF BASELINE JUST TO MAKE SURE THERE AREN'T ANY, THERE AREN'T ANY UNEXPECTED, UNEXPECTED CHANGES IN SOME OF THESE KIND OF TRENDS, UM, THAT YOU STILL SEE, YOU KNOW, LIMITED, LIMITED FUELING OVER THE WEEKENDS, UM, AND THAT, THAT SORT OF THING. SO IN CONCLUSION, AGAIN, WE WERE ENGAGED TO LOOK AT, UM, UH, CREDIT TRANSACTIONS RELATED INTERNAL CONTROLS, REALLY FOCUSING ON P CARDS AND FUEL TRANSACTIONS. YOU KNOW, WE DO SEE A LOT OF GOOD INTERNAL CONTROLS IN PLACE, BOTH ON THE PCARD SIDE, UM, AND WITH THE FUEL PURCHASES. YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT, UM, THAT WE PROVIDED, THAT WE DID SUBMIT, WHICH IS A, A LENGTHIER REPORT, UM, SEPARATE FROM THIS, THE SLIDE DECK, YOU KNOW, HAS RECOMMENDATIONS. AND A LOT OF IT IS MAYBE SOME AREAS FOR ADDITIONAL DOC DOCUMENTATION. UM, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T TOUCH ON IT YET, BUT, UM, LIKE IN SOME CASES, LIKE IF GIFT CARDS ARE USED OR FOR CERTAIN PURCHASES, IF IT'S, IF YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE, UH, NOTE NOTEPAD PORTFOLIOS THAT ARE GIVEN TO EMPLOYEES, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TRACKING WHICH EMPLOYEES RECEIVE THOSE OR IF THERE'S AN EVENT LIKE SOME THEATER EVENT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TRACKING WHICH EMPLOYEES, UM, ATTENDED THAT, JUST SO YOU CAN HAVE THAT AUDIT TRAIL. SO YOU CAN KIND OF MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE BEING USED FOR CITY PURPOSES AND NOT PERSONAL PURPOSES. MM-HMM . UM, SO AGAIN, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, LOOKS LIKE GOOD, UH, GOOD APPROVAL, YOU KNOW, GOOD LAYERS OF APPROVAL. UM, BUT MAYBE JUST SOME, YOU KNOW, IN ONE SENSE, UH, SOME OF THAT PREVENTATIVE, THOSE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES MAYBE LIMITING, UH, PCARD AND EVEN, UM, YOU KNOW, VEHICLES TO A CERTAIN EXTENT AS WELL AS SOME OF THAT DETECTIVE, THOSE DETECTIVE CONTROLS ON THE OTHER SIDE. UM, PERIOD AUDITS AND MAYBE SOME ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION IN SOME CASES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WE HAVE A QUESTION. COUNCILOR HOLLOW. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS QUESTION IS, UH, MORE SO FOR YOU OR THE FINANCE OR, UH, MS. ROGERS, THE, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU WERE DISCUSSING WAS, UM, I GUESS SOPS IN PLACE FOR THE USE OF THE GAS CAR. THAT WAS A SITUATION THAT WAS ADDRESSED, I BELIEVE. I THOUGHT THE OTHER A COUPLE MONTHS AGO. UH, I DON'T KNOW MR. ROGERS IF IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE HE GOT HERE OR RIGHT AFTER YOU GOT HERE, I CAN'T REMEMBER. BUT, UM, THEY HAVE CERTAIN METHOD ALREADY, I BELIEVE, WITH THE CARDS AND IT'S USE. BUT I BELIEVE IT WAS SUGGESTED, AND SOMEBODY CAN CORRECT ME IF I WAS WRONG ALREADY TO HAVE THAT IN PLACE. I DON'T KNOW IF IT CAME FROM THE ROBERT BOB GROUP. UH, BUT, BUT ANYWAY, IT CAME FROM SOME, I THINK IT WAS THE ROBERT BOB GROUP THAT MIGHT HAVE INITIALLY SET THAT IN PLACE. AND I, I THOUGHT, AND UM, SO [00:55:01] INTERESTING. SO THAT STILL HASN'T GOTTEN IN PLACE YET. WHAT WAS THAT? UM, WHAT WAS THAT PROCEDURE? THE GAS REFUELING? MM-HMM . UM, 'CAUSE SOMEBODY THOUGHT THAT IT, IT COULD HAVE BEEN A CONCERN, BUT I THINK THEY HAD ALREADY PUT SOMETHING IN PLACE, SO TO SPEAK, AS HOW THE EMPLOYEES, UH, WOULD BE ABLE TO FUEL. 'CAUSE EACH ONE OF 'EM, I THINK THEY SAID THEY HAVE TO HAVE A KEY CARD, SO IT'S ALREADY TRACKED, SO FORTH AND SO ON. I THOUGHT THAT WE ALREADY HAD SOMETHING. WE DO HAVE SOMETHING, UM, IN PLACE AS FAR AS FUEL IS CONCERNED. WHAT DOESN'T EXIST THOUGH THAT NEEDS TO BE, THAT NEEDS TO EXIST IS ACTUAL POLICIES IN REGARDS TO FUEL. RIGHT. THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT I WAS SAYING. RIGHT. UH, I CAN'T REMEMBER, I DON'T REMEMBER WHO POINTED THAT OUT. I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS RIGHT AFTER MR. ROGERS GOT HERE. IF YOU SAID, I, I THOUGHT YOU MENTIONED IT. I, I'M NOT, I CAN'T REMEMBER DON'T, BUT I THOUGHT THAT WAS ALREADY SOMETHING WE WERE ALREADY, UH, TAKING CARE OF. PROCUREMENT HAS BEEN WORKING WITH, UH, FUEL RUSS, UM, WHO IS THE FLEET MANAGER IN REGARDS TO POLICIES IMPLEMENTED, NOT ONLY IN REGARDS TO FUEL, BUT AS FAR AS THE VEHICLES AS WELL. CORRECT. 'CAUSE AS, UM, HE SAID STATED THERE'S 300 AND SOMETHING VEHICLES IN THE CITY OF HOPEWELL. YEAH. THERE ARE 400 AND SOMETHING EMPLOYEES. SOMEONE SAYS IF EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE HAS A VEHICLE, THERE'S TOO MANY VEHICLES. I'VE ASKED THAT QUESTION SO MANY TIMES 'CAUSE THEY'RE SITTING DOWN AND I'M JUST LIKE, WHY ARE WE RENTING NEW VEHICLES? I'M SEEING VEHICLES SITTING IN PARKING LOTS, RIGHT. UM, BESIDE US AND DOWN, UM, SOCIAL SERVICES AND SO FORTH. MM-HMM . CROCK, MR. CROCKER AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON LIKE, WHY DO WE BALANCE THE LIST AND SEEING WHICH VEHICLES CAN BE EITHER SENT BACK AND IF THAT'S EVEN THE OPTION, BECAUSE THERE IS A CONTRACT THAT, UM, EXISTS ALREADY WITH ENTERPRISE RENT A CAR. SO THE CITY PAYS A DEPOSIT UP FRONT AND AFTER CERTAIN TIME THE CITY HE CAN BUY IT. BUT IF WE HAVE OLDER VEHICLES THAT WE CAN SELL ON GO DEALS.COM AND, UH, COUNSELOR, NOT COUNSELOR, VICE MAYOR, JOINER. JOINER. ACTUALLY HAD MADE THAT STATEMENT. 'CAUSE I WAS QUESTIONING THE AMOUNT OF VEHICLES BEFORE AND THAT WAS HER QUESTION. IT'S A WHILE. UM, MAN, A GOOD WHILE BACK BEFORE WE RAN OUT THE VEHICLES, IS, UH, IS IT NOT POSSIBLE THAT, UM, SOME OF THE ONES THAT ARE NOT IN USE NOW REMEMBER, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO THAT PERSON WAS, BUT I REMEMBER THE PERSON ANSWERING BACK TO HER AT THAT TIME, UM, SOMETHING ON THE LINES OF SOME OF THE VEHICLES, UM, DON'T OPERATE AS WELL, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. BUT WHY HAVEN'T WE SOLD THEM AND WHY DID WE CONTINUE TO RENT VEHICLES? AND ME PERSONALLY, I COULDN'T TELL YOU WHY, BUT IT SEEMS THAT ALL OF THESE SUVS NOW UNDERSTAND FIRE, HAVING AN SUV V UH, HAVING TAHOE TRUCK AND IS OBVIOUSLY HAS SOME USE BEHIND IT AND PUBLIC WORKS, SOMEBODY LIKE THAT, HAVING A SUV, UM, BECAUSE OF THE SITUATIONS THAT THEY GOTTA GO IN. BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND PERSONALLY WHY, UM, WHY ALL OF THESE PATHFINDERS SPECIFICALLY ARE NECESSARY BEING THAT IT SEEMS AS IF THEY WOULD COST MORE. THEY DO. AND THAT'S THE SAME CONVERSATION WE'VE HAD IN REGARDS TO THE VEHICLES THAT CURRENTLY EXISTED WITHIN THE CITY. AGAIN, FOR CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS, LIKE FIRE OR PUBLIC WORKS IS MISUNDERSTOOD. CORRECT. RIGHT. ALL UNDERSTAND THEY'RE TOTING, UM, A LOT OF EQUIPMENT AND STUFF LIKE THAT, BUT FOR THE SMALLER DEPARTMENTS, THE PATHFINDER TRULY ISN'T REALLY NEEDED. A, A REGULAR FOUR DOOR SEDAN IS, IS SUFFICIENT. YEAH. I MEAN BETWEEN THE CITY MANAGER, THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, PUBLIC WORKS AND THOSE TYPE OF DEPARTMENTS. UNDERSTANDABLE. ESPECIALLY, UH, THE DI WITH THE DIRECTORS BASICALLY BECAUSE THEY MAY HAVE TO CARRY PEOPLE AROUND TOURING, DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT LIKE YOU SAID, THE, THE, IT'S JUST TOO MANY. YEAH. WE'RE WORKING, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING THROUGH, UM, THIS IS AN AREA THAT WE SHOULD STUDY AND LOOK AT BECAUSE JUST THE, THE RATIO OF, UH, CARS TO EMPLOYEES SEEMS OUT OF WHACK TO ME, RIGHT? MM-HMM . AND, AND IT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, I KNOW EMPLOYEES ARE GONNA GET ALL UPSET ABOUT THAT, THAT STATEMENT, BUT THE FACT IS THIS IS SOMETHING, UH, THAT WE NEED, NEED TO LOOK AT AND WE NEED TO, UH, UH, HONE IN ON OUR POLICIES IN TERMS OF THE ALLOCATION OF VEHICLES AND TYPES OF VEHICLES. AND WE WILL, UH, WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENTS TO DO THAT AND COME BACK TO COUNCIL WITH THE REPORT ON THAT. AND, AND ALSO, I DON'T KNOW IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, BUT, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN, UH, TRANSFER RESPONSIBILITIES IF WE CAN'T BREAK CONTRACT, UH, CAN WE HAVE TRANSFER RESPONSIBILITIES, UM, FOR NEWER VEHICLES LIKE THE TRUCKS THAT ARE UNNECESSARY, SUVS THAT ARE UNNECESSARY TO, UH, TO, LIKE FOR INSTANCE, IF THE SCHOOL IS ALSO GOING TO RENT A, UH, NEEDS TO LEASE A VEHICLE SPECIFICALLY FOR SOME, UH, FOR SOMETHING, IS THERE AN ABILITY TO DO A TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY WHERE WE CAN COME OUT THOSE INTERNALLY? I WOULD SAY YES. I DON'T THINK EXTERNALLY, I DON'T THINK THAT EXISTS IN THE CURRENT CONTRACT. UM, AFTER READING THROUGH IT, THE BIGGEST [01:00:01] THING FOR US IS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE TURN THESE VEHICLES IN, THE ONES THAT WE WANT TO CUT THE COST ON, THAT WE'RE NOT LOSING THE CITY IS NOT LOSING ANY ADDITIONAL MONEY, RIGHT? BECAUSE A LOT OF THIS HAS BEEN PAID FOR UPFRONT DOWN PAYMENT. SO AS WE GO THROUGH THE LIST AND WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENTS. WE JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE CITY IS NOT LOSING ANY MONEY IN REGARDS TO TURNING INTO SOME OF THESE. IT'S HEARTBREAKING. 'CAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE AT THE END OF THE YEAR THERE'S BE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, UM, THAT COULD BE GOING TO PUBLIC WORKS FOR DIRE. AND I SAY PUBLIC WORKS 'CAUSE I, I SEE HIM AUTOMATICALLY , SO I'M NOT TRYING TO PICK OUT, BUT HE'LL TAKE, IT'LL TAKE IT OFF. BUT, UH, FOR OR FOR WHATEVER OTHER DEPARTMENT. BUT, UM, SO WE ARE DEFINITELY WORKING THROUGH THAT AND TRYING TO GET TOGETHER GOV DEALS, UM, ACCOUNT SO THAT WE CAN PUT SURPLUS VEHICLES ONLINE AS WELL AS, SO THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YES, SURE. FOR YOU, SIR. UM, AND THE DETAILED REVIEW, RESTRICTED PURCHASES AT THE, THE LAST BULLET POINT, IT TALKS ABOUT THE WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES AND THAT SORT OF THING MM-HMM . AND WHEN WE DID HAVE SOME ISSUES, IT DID RELATE TO SOME SERVICES THAT WERE OUT OF THE NORMAL SCOPE OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE PURCHASING. UM, IS THERE, DID YOU ALL HONE IN IN ANY WAY, UM, ON THAT TO BE MAYBE LOOKING BY, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN VENDOR PURCHASES, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF THING, HONE IN WHERE YOU, YOU SAW SOME, I MEAN, WAS THERE ANY WAY YOU COULD LOOK AT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE CAREFULLY? I MEAN, I KNOW YOU DID 500 SAMPLES, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT OVER A PERIOD OF SIX YEARS OR SO, THAT'S NOT THAT MANY, YOU KNOW, AND I, I REALIZE THAT THAT'S THE WAY THE AUDITING PROCESS GOES, BUT THAT, THAT'S A LITTLE BIT CONCERNING THAT BOTTOM PIECE. PEOPLE USING THE CARDS FOR THINGS THAT REALLY ARE NOT RELATED TO ANYTHING THAT THE CITY NEEDS THAT THEY'RE USING FOR PERSONAL USE. RIGHT. YEAH. AND SO LOOK AT THE 500, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE LIKE, I, I DUNNO WHAT THE MATH IS ABOUT 2%, 83%. IT'S KIND OF A, YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE, WE USED TO KIND OF TAKE, KIND OF GET A SENSE IF WE NEEDED TO THEN KIND OF LOOK AT MORE. YEAH. AND YOU KNOW, I WILL SAY THE 500 TRANSACTIONS, THOSE WERE ABOVE, UM, MOST 'EM WERE $500 OR ABOVE. OKAY. SO ACTUALLY IN TERMS OF THE DOLLAR AMOUNT YEAH. UM, THE, THE PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL DOLLARS, THAT IS ACTUALLY A BIT HIGHER. I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EVEN LIKE YEAH. HALF OF ALL THE PURCHASE FROM DOLLAR PERSPECTIVE. YEAH. I JUST WAS CURIOUS, BUT YEAH, I GET WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. YEAH, NO, NO, BUT, BUT ACTUALLY, UM, BUT TO YOUR POINT, UM, YOU KNOW, SO THERE ARE A LOT OF VENDORS AND YOU KNOW, WHEN WE DID LOOK AT IT, IT'S NOT LIKE ANY VENDOR STUCK OUT AS BEING INAPPROPRIATE. I MEAN, UM, YOU KNOW, FOLKS GO TO RESTAURANTS, UH, YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE DO. SEE, I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF YOU HAD, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, I MEAN WE DO SEE LIKE, YOU KNOW, AN EXAMPLE OF MAYBE A PURCHASE OF A FIRE GRILL BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND, YOU KNOW, THAT NECESSARILY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT'S INAPPROPRIATE. UM, YOU CAN'T LOOK AT EVERYTHING ANYWAY. YEAH. BUT AGAIN, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THESE PURCHASES, YOU KNOW, OR WE SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE, UM, THOSE NOTEBOOK PADS BEING PURCHASED AND I THINK THEY'RE KIND OF GIVEN OUT TO EMPLOYEES. SO I THINK THERE IS, RIGHT. THESE PURCHASES, THEY COULD BE USED FOR LEGITIMATE CITY PURPOSES. BUT OF COURSE, A A LOT OF THESE THINGS, YOU KNOW, WE SEE MAYBE A BATCH OF 10 PURCHASES BEING PURCHASED. SURE. YOU COULD BE, THOSE COULD BE TAKEN AND TAKEN HOME. SO KINDA THE RECOMMENDATION THERE AGAIN IS IT'S NOT LIKE ANYTHING NECESSARILY JUMPED OUT AS BEING OKAY. INAPPROPRIATE. LIKE OKAY, WE SAW PRINTERS. SURE. OKAY. RIGHT. THAT MAKES SENSE. UM, YOU KNOW, FIRE GRILL, YOU KNOW, WE LOOKED AT, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE SOME THINGS LIKE THEATER TICKETS RIGHT. BUT WE LOOKED AT THE DETAIL AND IT WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S PART OF A PROGRAM WHERE SOME CHILDREN WERE TAKEN. UM, SO IT WASN'T LIKE ANYTHING OKAY. YOU KNOW, THERE WAS MAYBE ONE OR TWO WHERE, UM, THAT IT DID STICK OUT AND WE KIND OF MENTIONED IN THE REPORT YEAH. WHERE THERE WAS LIKE, UM, LIKE A, UH, LIKE A VEHICLE REPAIR THAT WAS DONE. RIGHT. RIGHT. AND THE CARD HOLDER NAME WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE NAME ON THE INVOICE AND THE NAME ON THE INVOICE DIDN'T SEEM TO BE A, THAT OF A CITY EMPLOYEE. RIGHT, RIGHT. AND THE, THE MAKE AND MODEL DIDN'T SEEM TO BE A CITY VEHICLE, BUT I HEAR YOU. YEAH, THERE WEREN'T MANY OF THOSE. OKAY. UM, OKAY. ALRIGHT. WELL I JUST, JUST, MY QUESTION WAS JUST A QUESTION. THANK YOU SO MUCH. YEAH, YEAH. NO, BUT IT'S A GOOD QUESTION. UM, YEAH, THANKS. YEAH. ALRIGHT. ANYTHING, SO YOUR SUMMARY IS, UM, THAT, UM, THAT THE PCARD IS USED, UH, QUITE A BIT, THE CITY, BUT YOU DID NOT DETECT ANY WIDESPREAD ABUSE OF THE PCARD FOR, FOR THE AREAS THAT FOR THE MOST PART IT WAS USED FOR THE PURPOSE THAT IT, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED. IS THAT RIGHT? YOU KNOW, I MEAN, BASED ON DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE. SO AGAIN, I MEAN THERE ARE KIND OF LOTS OF EXAMPLES WHERE, YOU KNOW, IF PRINTERS WERE PURCHASED, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T TELL FROM THE DOCUMENTATION. I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT WAS APPROPRIATE, BUT RIGHT. YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, FOR THESE PURCHASES, THERE WAS THAT APPROVAL, BUT, UH, PROVIDED WE SEE THE SIGNATURE, WE KNOW THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE WAS PROVIDING, UM, SOME OVERSIGHT. YOU KNOW, WE HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH PROCUREMENT STAFF AND THEY'VE BEEN TOLD US ABOUT A COUPLE CASES WHERE THEY DID CATCH SOMETHING. UM, SO YEAH, I THINK IT REALLY IS ABOUT, UM, YEP. YEAH, WE DIDN'T NOTICE ANYTHING SYSTEMATIC THAT WAS CONCERNING BASED ON DOCUMENTATION. BUT AGAIN, [01:05:01] I THINK JUST YEAH, GOING FORWARD, JUST BECAUSE IT IS USED SO MUCH AND YOU KNOW, REALLY WE SEE JUST USE FOR ALL KINDS OF THINGS. UM SURE. AND JUST KIND OF MAYBE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THAT'S AN AREA WHERE WE MIGHT FOCUS. YEAH. JUST BECAUSE RIGHT. IT'S, IT IS OBVIOUSLY IT'S A RISK FEES FOR ALL KINDS OF THINGS AND IT'S, AND YOU KNOW, PLACING A LOT OF BURDEN ON THE OFFICE STAFF, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THEY'VE GOT OTHER THINGS THEY'RE DOING. RIGHT. JUST TO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK DOING SOME OF THAT FRONT END PREVENTATIVE, THINK PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS, JUST LIMITING THE NUMBER OF CARDHOLDERS, UM, SOME OF THOSE, UH, OPTIONS THAT ARE IN PLACE WITH THAT, UH, FIFTH, THIRD BANK, WE CAN HAVE THOSE PRESET LIMITS. I THINK THESE ARE GOOD THINGS ON THE FRONT END. AND THEN AS WELL, DOING SOME OF THOSE PURE AUDIT, PURE AUDITS, JUST TO KIND OF CONFIRM THAT OKAY. AND THINGS ARE PURCHASED. ARE THEY, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY THERE DOING A SPOT CHECK? ARE THEY THERE AT THE FACILITY? RIGHT. UM, YOU KNOW, FOLLOW UP WITH THE EMPLOYEES THAT GOT THEM, YOU KNOW, DID YOU RECEIVE THESE ITEMS THAT WERE, UH, PURCHASED? BUT YEAH, I MEAN, TO KINDA ANSWER YOUR QUESTION RIGHT, BASED ON DOCUMENTATION, WE DIDN'T NOTICE ANYTHING SYSTEMATIC THAT WAS CONCERNING. BUT OBVIOUSLY I THINK THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT, UM, THE CITY MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER, BUT YOU POINT OUT SOME AREAS THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO TIGHTEN UP. RIGHT. YEAH. OKAY. AND WE'LL DO THAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. YEP. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, ELSE. OKAY. ALRIGHT, WE'LL MOVE ON TO SB FIVE, WHICH IS THE HOPE WATER RENEWAL OVERFLOW ISSUE. UM, MR. ROGERS. YES. UM, WE HAD A, UH, YOU KNOW, A ON SATURDAY, JULY 11TH, UH, APPROXIMATELY 11:50 PM UH, THE HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL FACILITY EXPERIENCED AT POWER FAILURE. AND, UH, WE'VE HAD, UH, SOME TIME, UM, TO, UH, SIT WITH THAT ISSUE OVER THE LAST, UH, LAST WEEK. AND, UH, MIKE CROCKER AND I HAVE, UH, PUT OUR HEADS TOGETHER AND HAVE, UH, WE'LL APPEAR PRESENT TO YOU, UH, KIND OF A REPORT ON, ON, ON THAT, AND THEN WE CAN DISCUSS ALL ASPECTS OF IT. SOUNDS GOOD. WE AWARE THAT YOU HAD SOME QUESTIONS, UH, UH, HAVE, UH, QUESTIONS HAVE COME TO ME FROM VARIOUS DIRECTIONS AND MR. CROCKER WILL, UH, ADDRESS THOSE, UH, IN THE COURSE OF HIS PRESENTATION. DID YOU WANNA, UH, THANK YOU, MR. ROGERS. MIKE CROCKER, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, INTERIM DIRECTOR OF HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL. UH, THE FIRST ISSUE I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS TONIGHT IS THE OVERFLOW THAT OCCURRED ON JULY THE 11TH, UM, INTO JULY THE 12TH. UH, JUST A RUNDOWN OF KIND OF THE FACTS. THE OVERFLOW TIMING WAS, UH, APPROXIMATELY 1115. UH, THAT WOULD'VE BEEN FRIDAY, JULY THE 11TH, UM, IN THE EVENING. UH, THIS WAS AT THE HWR FACILITY. UM, AFTER, UH, RECOUNT, OUR ESTIMATED HAS BEEN REDUCED BY A LITTLE BIT DOWN TO 1.198 MILLION GALLONS, UM, ESTIMATED OVERFLOW. UH, THE CO THE CAUSE OF THE OVERFLOW IS A COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER TO THE DOMESTIC HEADWORKS, UH, FOR A DURATION OF APPROXIMATELY 16 AND A HALF HOURS. UH, THE CAUSE OF THIS OUTAGE, UH, DETERMINED TO BE A SHORT OF POWER FEED TO THE DOMESTIC HEADWORKS, AND THEN THE OVERFLOW WAS RESOLVED, UH, THE NEXT DAY AT 3:30 PM ON JULY THE 12TH, UH, WHEN POWER WAS RESTORED BY A TEMPORARY PORTABLE POWER GENERATOR. UM, THE NEXT WOULD BE A SERIES OF IMAGES KIND OF OF THE DAY. UM, I EMBEDDED A VIDEO, IT MAY WORK. UM, JUST SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT GOES INTO THIS. IT DID TAKE A VERY, UH, CONCERTED EFFORT BY HWR STAFF AND CONTRACTORS. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, TO REACH THE TYPE OF EQUIPMENT THAT WE NEED AFTER MIDNIGHT ON A FRIDAY NIGHT IS CHALLENGING TO SAY THE LEAST. UM, BUT WE DID HAVE A, A FAIRLY GOOD RESPONSE TO THIS. UH, THIS UHM IMAGE HERE DEPICTS, UH, THE, UH, PUMPS BEING, UH, THESE ARE EMERGENCY BACKUP PUMPS. IN THE EVENT THAT THE GENERATOR WOULD FAIL THE TEMPORARY GENERATOR, UM, WE HAD TO HAVE A CRANE COME IN TO LIFT THESE PUMPS. THEY ARE SIZABLE AND THEY DO ACT INTO THEIR OWN POWER. UM, HERE YOU'LL SEE, UH, SOME OF THE BYPASS, UH, PIPING BEING INSTALLED. UH, THIS IS A IMAGE DEPICTING THE, UM, OVERFLOW OF THE HEADWORKS. UM, SO WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A, UH, A MOMENT IN TIME. THE OVERFLOW IS NOT CONTINUOUS. SO WHAT THE, THE HEAD WORKS IS LIMITED, UH, HYDRAULICALLY. SO WHEN THE SCREENS ARE NOT IN MOTION, AND THE PUMP STATION'S IN TOWN, WHICH WE HAVE 19, WHEN SOME OF THOSE KICK ON, THEY'LL [01:10:01] SEND MORE FLOW THAN CAN PASS THROUGH THE SCREENS WHEN THEY'RE NOT BEING CLEANED OFF. SO WHAT YOU SEE IS WHEN THOSE PUMPS ARE IN RUN MODE, THE, UM, HEAD WORKS OVERFLOWS WHEN THE PUMPS CUT OFF THE HEAD WORKS IS ABLE TO, TO PASS THE FLOW. UM, SO THESE, THIS PARTICULAR OVERFLOW IS ABOUT A DURATION OF ABOUT TWO MINUTES, AND THEN IT WAS OFF FOR ABOUT 20. UH, THIS IS A VIDEO DEPICTING THE OVERFLOW IN ITS OCCURRENCE RAINING TOO. YEAH. SO THE, UM, THE EMERGENCY POWER GENERATION AND THE, UM, BYPASS PUMPING WERE BEING SET UP. UM, AND JUST AS WE WERE ABOUT TO CONNECT THE TEMPORARY POWER, THE STORM CAME THROUGH TOWN, UM, ACTUALLY CAME FROM THE NORTH, UM, RANDOMLY. AND, UM, THE CREWS KEPT WORKING. I, I WAS, IT, IT WAS, IT WAS QUITE THE SPECTACLE. THERE'S A LOT OF LIGHTNING COMING OUT OF THE SKY THAT DAY, TOO. UH, THE IMAGE DEPICTED HERE. THIS IS THE EMERGENCY, UH, POWER GENERATOR THAT WAS BROUGHT, UM, BY GRECO TO, UM, ESSENTIALLY POWER THE SCREENS, UM, AND GET THEM BACK IN SERVICE. THESE ARE THE THREE, UH, PRIMARY FEED WIRES THAT COME, UH, FROM THE ELECTRICAL SWITCHGEAR BUILDING. UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT ALL THREE ARE IN FACT COMPROMISED. THIS WAS, UM, AS THE ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR PULLED IT OUT, UM, ON WEDNESDAY, THIS PAST WEDNESDAY. UM, HERE IS SOME VIDEO FROM INSIDE THE CONDUIT. SO THIS IS THE SITE OF THE ACTUAL SHORT, UM, THESE WIRES, WE DON'T KNOW WHEN IT STARTED SHORTING. UM, IT ONLY TAKES A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT'S TOO MUCH FOR THE, THE, UH, THE PRIMARY CABLE TO BE ABLE TO FEED POWER AND IT GOES TO GROUND. UM, THEY DID DO SOME INSPECTION OF THE CONDUIT ITSELF. THEY DID NOTE HERE, UH, THE PRESENCE OF, UM, SOME BURRS IN THE CONDUIT AS WELL AS SOME HARDENED, UH, PVC GLUE, WHICH CAN BE RATHER SHARP WHEN IT IS IN FACT, UM, IN EXCESS. AND IF A, A CABLE IS DRUG ALONG THAT, IT WILL DAMAGE A WIRE. UM, HERE'S THE ELECTRICAL REPORT FROM RUDY HAWKINS, UH, WHEN THEY TESTED THE WIRE TO DETERMINE THAT IT WAS IN FACT GOING TO GROUND AND NOT PROVIDING POWER. UM, THIS WAS, UM, THIS WAS DONE AFTER MIDNIGHT ON, UM, IT WOULD'VE BEEN THE EARLY MORNING OF JULY THE 12TH. UH, THIS WAS, UH, THERE'S SOME, SOME CONFUSION RELATIVE TO, UH, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS WIRE AND THE, UH, THE LACK OF MAINTENANCE THAT'S BEEN PERFORMED AT THE PLANT IN, IN YEARS PAST. UM, THAT IS NOT, UH, THIS, THIS WIRE WAS DAMAGED ON INSTALLATION. AND JUST FOR PERSPECTIVE, AND, UM, MR. HALEY WILL CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, THE FORMER CITY MANAGER AND DIRECTOR OF WATER RENEWAL, THE HEADWORKS INSTALLATION OCCURRED CIR CODE 2012. SO THAT WIRE WOULD'VE BEEN INSTALLED IN 2012. UM, RELATIVELY NEW WIRE ALL TO, UM, JUST ON DAMAGE ON INSTALLATION. IF YOU CAN'T SEE IT, YOU CAN'T SEE IT UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE. UM, SO THE HOPE WALL WATER RENEWAL, OVERFLOW RESPONSE COSTS, UM, THESE ARE ALL ESTIMATES UP UNTIL THIS POINT. UM, FOLKS STILL HAVE TO BILL US, BUT THESE ARE, THESE ARE GONNA BE PRETTY CLOSE. UH, PORTABLE POWER GENERATOR IS ABOUT 21,000 ESTIMATED, UH, THE EMERGENCY BACKUP PUMPS, UM, ABOUT 87,000. THE ELECTRICAL SUBCONTRACTOR, BOTH TO REMOVE, UH, TEST THE OLD WIRE, REMOVE THE OLD WIRE, AND INSTALL THE NEW WIRE IS 49,000. AND THEN WE HAD TO PAY $10,000 TO RENT A CRANE TO REMOVE THE PUMPS FROM THE, UH, DELIVERY VEHICLE. ALL TOTALED, UH, ABOUT 167,000 IN ADDITIONAL COST. UM, THIS INCIDENT WAS REPORTED, UH, TO DEQ AS REQUIRED BY OUR PERMIT. UM, WE DID ISSUE A FIVE DAY FOLLOW UP LETTER TO THEM, UM, AFTER OUR SIT DOWN AND REVIEW, KIND OF GO RUNNING BACK THROUGH, THROUGH THE CHAIN OF EVENTS. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, UM, HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL STAFF WITH FOUR SHIFTS OF OPERATORS THAT WORK ROTATING 12 HOUR SHIFTS. THEY'RE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE 24 HOURS A DAY. UH, THE MAINTENANCE STAFF EXISTS MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, UNLESS CALLED IN FOR AN INCIDENT, UM, SUCH AS THIS. UM, IT'S A, IT'S A LOT TO ASK OF PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO THIS AND, AND, UH, GET THINGS BACK ONLINE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE IN THE MIDST OF A, A MASSIVE, UH, I GUESS, UH, YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE EFFORT ACROSS THE PLANT. UM, THIS IS, THIS COULD BE DISTRACTING, UH, TO SAY THE LEAST. UM, BUT NONETHELESS, IT WAS REPORTED TO DEQ FIVE DAY LETTER WAS ISSUED. UM, THEY WILL FOLLOW UP, UH, WITH ANY, ANY FURTHER ACTION, UM, AT THEIR DISCRETION. UH, WITH THAT, I'LL [01:15:01] TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT ANY OF THE COUNSELORS MAY HAVE. MR. HOLLOWAY, I GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS. UH, ONE, I I KNOW IT HAS BEEN A QUESTION OF MINE BEFORE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, RIGHT BEFORE THIS HAPPENED, I EVEN ASKED IT AS YOU ABOUT THE GENERAT, UH, THE GENERATORS AND WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED, BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT WE HAD BACKUP GENERATORS. THIS IS, I MEAN, THIS IS SOMETHING I JUST HAD TALKED ABOUT RECENTLY AND WHY IS IT THAT WE HAD TO BRING IN GENERATORS. SO WE HAVE POWER GENERATION CONNECTED TO THESE COMPONENTS, THE WIRES THAT, UM, I'VE SHOWN YOU ON SLIDE EIGHT HERE. CORRECT. THOSE ARE THE WIRES BETWEEN THE EMERGENCY GENERATOR AND THE DOMESTIC SCREENINGS. SO, SO WHEN THEY'RE COMPROMISED THE EMERGENCY GENERATOR, WHAT DO YOU NO GOOD. RIGHT? SO, AND SOMETHING LIKE THAT. THEY CAN'T REPLACE THE WIRING, THE PLUGS. THEY HAVE TO BRING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE NEW THING, THE GENERATOR. WHY IS THAT? THE PORTABLE POWER GENERATOR WAS TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY POWER. IT'S NOT, WE DON'T MAINTAIN A PORTABLE POWER GENERATOR AT HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL. UM, SOME PLANTS OR SEWER UTILITIES DO, UM, HOPEWELL WATER RE RENEWAL DOES NOT. UM, SO IT PROVIDED TEMPORARY POWER TO THE SCREENS UNTIL, UH, THE ELECTRICAL SUBCONTRACTOR COULD ORDER THE WIRING. AND IT'S NOT AS, UM, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT OUR STAFF CAN ACCOMPLISH PUTTING THAT WIRE IN THAT CONDUIT, I MEAN, YOU GOTTA FIGURE THIS IS 480 VOLT WIRE. IT'S PRETTY THICK STUFF. IT'S HARD TO BEND, IT'S HARD TO PULL. UM, THAT'S THE NEED FOR THE EMERGENCY TEMPORARY POWER GENERATOR. AS SOON AS THE NEW WIRE WAS PULLED, WE CUT POWER TO THE GENERATOR. SO IT WAS A VERY TEMPORARY APPLICATION. SO EMERGENCY GENERATOR CAN'T BE USED DURING EMERGENCY. IT, I, I JUST THINK IT'S, UM, HOW DO WE RESOLVE THAT ISSUE GOING FORWARD? SO, BECAUSE THE EMERGENCY GENERATOR WIRE CAN HAVE AN EMERGENCY, AGAIN, SO DO WE PUT IN PLACE THESE PORTABLE GENERATORS? WHAT IS THE SUGGESTION FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? I THINK IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA LOOK INTO. THERE'S A LOT OF NEEDS FOR EMERGENCY POWER GENERATION, NOT ONLY AT THE PLANT, BUT ALSO AT THE PUMP STATIONS. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS OCCASIONS WHERE WE'VE HAD TO RENT PORTABLE GENERATORS TO RUN A PUMP STATION. RIGHT. AND FOR VARIOUS REASONS WHEN WE COUNCIL THE JOIN, AND I, UH, CAN'T REMEMBER IF COUNCIL HARRIS AS WELL, BUT ANYWAY, I MEAN, VICE MAYOR, EXCUSE ME. WHEN WE DID TOUR DOWN AT THE PLANT, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THEY STOPPED US AND TALKED ABOUT. AND, UM, I THOUGHT THE COMMUNICATION WAS THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN THEN. BUT I, I, I GUESS THAT KIND OF WENT OVER. I I IT MAY HAVE, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE I WASN'T BEING CONFUSED WITH PORTABLE PUMPS AS WELL. THERE'S NO, NOT THE PUMPS THAT GENERATOR, BECAUSE THEY, THEY SHOWED US, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE WAS, UM, THAT WE WERE GETTING A, SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING A NEW GENERATOR, AND THEN THEY HAD THE OLD ONE SITTING THERE. AND I ASKED THEM IF WHAT, WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT? AND I THINK THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THAT ONE AT ALL. IT JUST WASN'T AS BIG. IT WASN'T BIG ENOUGH, UH, TO TAKE CARE OF WHAT NEEDED TO BE TAKEN CARE OF IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED. I THINK THE CRITICAL PART OF EVALUATING FOR WHETHER OR NOT HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL SHOULD PURCHASE AN EMERGENCY POWER GENERATOR IS TO LOOK AT THE APPLICATIONS THAT WE HAVE AND TO FIGURE OUT WHAT FITS BEST. BECAUSE FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD THE EMERGENCY POWER GENERATOR BROUGHT ON A TRAILER. IT'S WHAT THEY HAD IS TOO BIG. IT'S TOO BIG TO POWER WHAT WE NEED, RIGHT? IT, IT, IT WAS MEANT FOR, UH, IT WAS MEANT FOR A BIGGER APPLICATION. SO WE DON'T WANNA END UP IN THAT SCENARIO BECAUSE THE, THE IDEA OF TRAINING PEOPLE TO OPERATE ALL OF THIS EQUIPMENT AS WELL IS, IS ALSO IMPORTANT. AND WE WANT SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA WORK IN MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS IF THAT'S THE ROUTE WE GO, WHETHER THAT'S A PUMP STATION APPLICATION OR WHETHER IT'S ANY UNIT PROCESS AT THE FACILITY ITSELF. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT CAN IN FACT, WORK. IT'S SOMETHING FOR CONSIDERATION, UM, FOR CERTAIN. IT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE BUDGETED AS WELL. UH, MY, MY OTHER ISSUE, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE, WHERE THE BALL DROPPED, BUT I WAS LIVID IS PROBABLY THE BEST OF WORDS I CAN CHOOSE AT THE MOMENT. WITH A LACK OF COMMUNICATION FROM PERSONNEL, WHOMEVER, UH, TO COUNSEL. I HAD TO FIND THIS OUT THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER. HOW ON EARTH, HOW ON EARTH, HOW ON EARTH DOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN? AND COUNCIL, AS A BODY [01:20:01] FINDS OUT THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER, THAT MEAN IT HAD TO GO THROUGH OUR COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT, THE CITY MANAGER, THE DIRECTORS AND ALL. AND BY THE CLARIFICATION OF WHAT I KNOW, THE ONLY PEOPLE, UH, ONLY PERSON FROM COUNCIL THAT I'M AWARE OF THAT KNEW WAS THE MAYOR, AND COMMUNICATING WITH, UH, MR. ROGERS, IT IS, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF WE CAN GET AN EXCUSE THAT IT'S GOOD ENOUGH TONIGHT, BUT I AM READY WITH OPEN EARS TO HEAR WHY ON EARTH COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE FINDING OUT THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS. CITIZENS, AS WE KNOW, BLAMES COUNSEL FOR EVERY LITTLE THING IF A ROCK DROP FROM OUT OF THE SKY INTO THEIR, UH, ONTO THEIR HOUSE. BUT THIS RIGHT HERE IS MOST DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT MAKE, MAKE NO SENSE TO ME AT ALL AS TO WHY WE WERE NOT MADE AWARE, HOW WE ARE NOT MADE AWARE. AND THIS, THIS IS NOT A LIGHT MATTER AS WE ARE DISCUSSING. IT IS HEALTH AND SAFETY, NOT JUST, UM, TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, UH, BUT TO STAFF AND PERSONNEL WHO HAS TO WORK IN THESE CONDITIONS. AS VICE MAYOR HAD POINTED OUT THE FACT THAT IT WAS RAINING AND, UH, UM, IT, IT WAS STORMING ACTUALLY. AND, UH, HAVING TO MAKE DECISIONS. AND I, I, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU CALL EMERGENCY MEETINGS, AND I'VE BEEN CALLED TO EMERGENCY MEETINGS, UH, WHEN BEING TOLD THAT IT WAS NOT AN EMERGENCY NECESSARILY, THAT THERE WAS AS THAT GENTLEMAN THAT JUST FINISHED SPEAKING, THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT COULD BE FRAUD RISK RIGHT IN PLACE. AND I'VE BEEN CALLED TO EMERGENCY MEETINGS, SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS. AND I FOUND OUT THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER HOW, AND MICHAEL, YOU WANT TO, UH, TALK ABOUT THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SURE. AND THE REPORTING AND HOW, UH, IN OUR REPORTING TO DEQ, THEY SEND A NOTICE THAT IT PICKS UP BY THE NEWSPAPER. SURE. UM, SO AGAIN, THE SPILL OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 1115. UM, I WAS NOTIFIED, UM, AFTER MIDNIGHT ABOUT THE SPILL FROM THE ACTING DEPUTY. UM, I TOLD HIM TO GET A HANDLE ON THE SITUATION. IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN STOP? IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE CANNOT STOP AND WE NEED TO CALL IN CONTRACTED FORCES WITH EMERGENCY POWER GENERATION PUMPS, ET CETERA? UM, I BELIEVE STACEY MAY REMEMBER IT WAS MAYBE 4:00 AM WHEN I TALKED 4:00 AM STACY, UM, AND ADVISED STACY OF WHAT WAS GOING DOWN. UM, I ADVISED THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR TO, UM, WAKE UP OUR PRETREATMENT COORDINATOR AROUND SIX AND USE THE DEQ HOTLINE TO NOTIFY THEM BECAUSE THE DEQ HOTLINE, THE PREP HOTLINE, IS THE MECHANISM AND THE CATALYST TO NOTIFY ALL NECESSARY PARTIES OF WHAT IS TRANSPIRING AND I MEAN, NECESSARY PARTIES RELATIVE TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE. UM, SO WHAT THAT DOES IS IT KICKS INTO GEAR, UH, THEIR NOTIFICATION TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, UM, GIVEN THE, THE, UM, SEVERITY OF, YOU KNOW, WASTEWATER ENTERING A STREAM. THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS IN FACT THE AUTHORITY ON NOTIFICATION IN THAT REGARD. THE OTHER THING IT NOTIFIES IS THE HOPEWELL EOC. UM, SO EVEN IF I WOULD'VE CALLED ROBERT WILLIAMS AND SAID, HEY, WE'RE HAVING TO SPILL DEQ THROUGH THEIR SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN THE CHAIN OF EVENTS WOULD'VE NOTIFIED THE EOC AS WELL. UM, SO THEY HAVE A, UM, THEY HAVE A LONG LIST OF PEOPLE, THEY GET NOTIFIED WHEN THAT HAPPENS. UM, ISSUE IT ISSUES PRESS RELEASES. UM, AS DAYLIGHT CAME UPON US, UM, I HAD SPOKEN TO MR. ROGERS, MAYBE, UH, 6:00 AM UM, HE ADVISED ME TO GET TOGETHER WITH THE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER DRAFT A PRESS RELEASE TO THIS EFFECT. UM, WE ALSO COORDINATED WITH DEQ TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE IN FACT, UM, WORKING IN COORDINATION WITH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND THEIR RELEASE AS WELL, UM, TO MAKE SURE WE WEREN'T MIXING COMMUNICATIONS. THAT'S THE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT HAPPENED. ALRIGHT. SO WITH ALL THAT BEING SAID, DO RESPECTFULLY, UH, AND THE NEWSPAPER CAN NOT NEWSPAPER IN THE NEWS. IT'S A LOAD OF CRAP. OKAY. I AM QUITE AWARE, QUITE AWARE. I'VE BEEN TO SEVERAL DQ UH, LIKE TOWN HALLS, BOTH IN OUR CITY AND OUTSIDE OF OUR CITY. [01:25:03] I KNOW THE PROCESS. THEY'VE EXPLAINED IT TO US IN DETAIL EVERY TIME THEY HAVE THESE TOWN HALL MEETINGS WITH THE DIRECTION OF JUST LIKE YOU SAID, RESPECTFULLY, HOW THAT GOES. RIGHT? THIS IS INDEED WAS AN EMERGENCY WHEN A EMERGENCY HAPPENS IN OUR CITY, IN OUR CITY, RIGHT. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANY OTHER COUNCIL UP HERE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT IN THE MORNING TIME AFTER ALL OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE ARE NOTIFIED. I THINK THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, IT'S AN EMERGENCY, RIGHT? SO YOU WAKE UP PEOPLE DURING AN EMERGENCIES, AND I DON'T THINK, I MEAN, EVEN IF IT WAS THE REST OF COUNCIL WOULD HAVE TO DETERMINE, UH, BEFORE THIS INTERIM WAS HERE, EMERGENCY HAP WE GET A GROUP TEXT MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFYING US OF WHAT'S GOING ON AND SO FORTH AND SO ON. SO WE'LL BE MADE ABREAST, AND THEN IF COUNSEL SO CHOOSES TO, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY SAYS, WELL, HEY, WE NEED TO SET AN EMERGENCY MEETING TO GATHER AND TO GET UNDERSTANDING, UM, OF WHAT'S GOING ON. AND THEN BY THE TIME WE HAVE MAYBE THAT MEETING, UH, Y'ALL GATHER WHATEVER OTHER INFORMATION TO GO FORWARD. BUT WHEN THAT NEWS PAPER REPORT CAME OUT, AS YOU STATED, THERE WAS STILL THE STATEMENT FROM THE INTERIM, UH, CITY MANAGER TO GIVE THIS REPORT TO PUT A PUBLIC, UH, NEWS RELEASE OUT WITHOUT THE COUNCIL, WITHOUT THE COUNCIL EVEN BEING NOTIFIED FIRST TO SAY, ALONG WITH THIS RELEASE, ET CETERA, SO THAT THESE SEVEN ELECTED OFFICIALS THAT REPRESENT OUR CITY CAN DEAL WITH THIS. I JUST THINK, AND THIS IS NOT JUST DIRECTED TO YOU, UH, ONLY, BUT I JUST THINK THAT THE BALL WAS DROPPED AND IT WAS HONESTLY DISGUSTING FOR ME TO SEE IT THAT WAY. I, I, SORRY, IF I MAY, IF I MAY, UH, COUNSEL WAS THOUGHT ABOUT, AND AT THE TIME THAT WE ASKED THAT THE, UH, PRESS RELEASE BE DEVELOPED WITH ALL OF THE FACTS, IT WAS TO GO TO COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC AT THE SAME TIME. NOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DISCOVERED IN THE, UM, AFTER ACTION REPORT IS THAT THIS TOWN DOES NOT HAVE A CRISIS COMMUNICATION POLICY. SO I HAVE STAFF WORKING TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL. YOU SAID WE DON'T HAVE WHAT HAPPENED? WE ACTUALLY SAT DOWN TO, UH, CRISIS COMMUNICATION THAT THAT WAS NOT, THAT WOULD BE A MI A HUGE MISUNDERSTANDING THEN, BECAUSE WE COMMUNICATED THIS AS A COUNCIL YEAR BEFORE THE LA YEAR BEFORE LAST ON HOW I DON'T ABOUT THAT, BUT I'M JUST SAYING IN TERMS OF MY DISCUSSION WITH, WITH WITH COUNCIL, I MEAN WITH STAFF THAT THERE'S WORK TO DO IN THAT AREA, AND I'M GONNA WORK WITH THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN. WELL, CRISIS COMMUNICATION ON THE FORM OF LETTING EVERYBODY KNOW, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, IS ONE THING. I DON'T THINK WE NEED A POLICY OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR IN EMERGENCIES FROM OUR EMPLOYEES. YOU SPECIFICALLY, WE DON'T NEED A POLICY IN PLACE WHERE THAT EMERGENCY IS IN PLACE THAT YOU WOULD NOT THINK, SIR, TO CONTACT US FIRST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, THE VERY MOMENT THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED, TO COMMUNICATE IT TO COUNSEL FIRST, WE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN, IF AT THE MINIMUM, A TEXT MESSAGE BEFORE TO SAY TO ME, WE, WE GET THE NOTIFICATION THE SAME TIME THE PUBLIC GETS THE NOTIFICATION. I JUST THINK THAT IT'S UNACCEPTABLE. YOU, YOU, IT IS UNACCEPTABLE. IT'S, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE. I ACCEPT THAT IT'S UNACCEPTABLE. AND, AND I JUST THINK THE EMERGENCY WAS LAST NIGHT. AND THAT COMMUNICATION TO DEQ WENT OUT AT SIX O'CLOCK, AND I'M JUST TELLING YOU THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATED TO COUNSEL. THAT IS MR. HARDWELL, YOU'VE EXCEEDED YOUR TIME RIGHT NOW. OKAY. YEAH. MR. HARRIS. IS THE WATER SAFE? THE RIVER WATER? YEAH. YES. UH, VDH LIFTED THEIR ADVISORY, I BELIEVE IT WAS [01:30:01] LAST FRIDAY, UM, AS, AS, AS A MERE PRECAUTION, THEY LET IT GO FOR QUITE SOME TIME, GIVEN THE VOLUME OF WATER IN THE RIVER, THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL WE'VE HAD. UM, THE BACTERIA THAT EXISTS IN THE RIVER TODAY IS THE BACTERIA THAT EXISTS EVERY DAY. IT'S NOT FROM, UH, IT'S NOT FROM THE WASTEWATER OVERFLOW. AND IT WAS SO, IT WAS, IT WAS SAFE BY WHAT, BY THE 18TH? UH, IF THAT WAS, DON'T HAVE MY CALENDAR IN FRONT OF ME, BUT THE DATE THAT WAS PUT OUT THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE BACK TO, SO THE, THE, THE OVERFLOW STOPPING AND THE PERMANENT REPAIR, THAT'S A DIFFERENT DATE THAN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT DETERMINING THAT IT'S OKAY FOR THE PUBLIC TO RECREATE IN THE WATER. UH, WE ANTICIPATED THE PERMANENT REPAIR TO BE FINISHED BY LAST FRIDAY WAS IN FACT FINISHED BY LAST WEDNESDAY. UM, THE OVERFLOW CEASED ON SATURDAY THE 12TH AT 3:30 PM MM-HMM . WELL, THERE, THERE'S BEEN OTHER QUESTIONS THAT'S BEEN COMMUNICATED TO ME BY CITIZENS FROM ALL OVER THE CITY MM-HMM . AND, UM, WHAT WE REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND IS A LOT OF THINGS THAT WENT ON WITH THIS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE SMELL. SO I'M HAPPY TO ADDRESS THAT IF YOU WOULD LIKE FOR ME TO ADDRESS THAT AS WELL. I WOULD. OKAY. UM, SO WE DO HAVE FOLKS WHO LIVE IN TOWN WHO HAVE WORKED AT THE WASTEWATER PLANT FOR OVER 20 YEARS. UM, I RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF A SMELL. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF A SMELL. THERE ARE A LOT OF INDUSTRIAL SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTANTS AND SMELLS IN THIS TOWN. IT'S NOT THE CHEMICAL CAPITAL OF THE SOUTH FOR NO REASON. UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL, I I, I THINK IT WAS DESCRIBED TO ME AS A ROTTEN EGG TYPE OF, UH, SMELL. OUR WASTEWATER INFLUENCE HAS HYDROGEN SULFIDE GAS TO IT, BUT IT DOESN'T SMELL LIKE ROTTEN EGGS. IT SMELLS LIKE DIRTY WASTEWATER. AND IT'S, AND MOST DAYS IT'S NOT THAT PUNGENT. UM, THE SMELL THAT MOST PEOPLE WERE DESCRIBING, UM, AS FAR AWAY AS POCAHONTAS PARK, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, UM, WAS ONE OF A ROTTEN EGG NATURE, WHICH IS SYNONYMOUS WITH SULFUR. UM, WE HAVE NUMEROUS INDUSTRIES IN TOWN THAT DEAL IN THAT APPLICATION. UM, NATURAL GAS PROVIDERS PUT, UH, A SULFUR COMPONENT IN NATURAL GAS BECAUSE IT IS IN FACT ODORLESS NATURALLY. AND THE SULFUR ALLOWS PEOPLE TO, TO, UH, PICK UP ON ITS SMELL WHEN IT'S LEAKING. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE SOURCE OF THAT SMELL WAS THE WASTEWATER OVERFLOW. I CAN'T PINPOINT TO THAT. THE, THE TIMING OF THE OCCURRENCE IS, IS UNIQUE GIVEN THAT THE STORM THAT MOVED IN, MOVED IN FROM, UH, THE NORTH. UM, AS YOU SAW IN THE VIDEO, THAT IT WAS IN FACT POURING DOWN RAIN OUT THERE, THE WINDS HAD TURNED AROUND. AND OUR TYPICAL PREVAILING WIND BLOWS EVERYTHING FROM HOPEWELL TO CHARLES CITY. ESSENTIALLY, THE WINDS HAD TURNED AROUND THAT DAY AND BLOWN BACK THE OTHER DIRECTION DURING THE COURSE OF THIS STORM. UM, GIVEN THE, THE, THE VOLUME OF WASTEWATER THAT WAS DISCHARGED BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND AND 3:00 PM THAT DAY PRIOR TO ANY RAINFALL, UH, IT'S RATHER UNIQUE THAT THE SMELL OCCURRED WITH THE TIMING OF THE CEASING OF THE RAIN. UH, I THINK IF IT WERE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE WASTEWATER, WE WOULD'VE KNOWN BEFORE THAT I LIVE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM, I LIVE IN THE PLANT AREA. MM-HMM . I DIDN'T SMELL IT UNTIL SUNDAY MYSELF. UH, BUT THAT, THAT IS A CONCERN. IT'S NOT WHAT I'M PARTICULARLY, UH, EXPERIENCED IN, UH, SMELLS AND, AND, UH, AIR POLLUTANTS. UH, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT MY BACKGROUND. UM, WE, WE CAN'T, UH, WE CAN'T POINT TO ANY ONE SOURCE, UH, OF, UH, OF THAT PARTICULAR, UM, THAT PARTICULAR SMELL. I, YOU KNOW, I, I'VE BEEN HERE ALL, ALL MY LIFE PLANT BEEN PUNKY ALL MY LIFE, SO I DON'T PRETTY, YOU KNOW, I, I I, THE SMELL I CAN GET THAT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. BUT THE QUESTION I'M GETTING FROM CITIZENS IS THE PLANT BROKE? IS THE PLANT BROKE? THE WASTEWATER PLANT, IS IT BROKE? IS IT BROKE? BROKE, NOT BROKEN? IS IT BROKE? BROKEN, BROKEN , I GUESS THAT'S, UH, THAT'S IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. UM, MR. HALEY WILL SUPPORT ME ON THIS. PLANTS ARE ALWAYS BREAKING, LITERALLY, THEY'RE ALWAYS BREAKING. THERE ARE REDUNDANCIES IN PLACE FOR VARIOUS THINGS. UH, THE WAY THAT THE TREATMENT WORKS AT THE PLANT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN DO WITHOUT ONE CLARIFIER FOR A DAY OR A WEEK OR A MONTH. UM, MONEY. IS IT BROKEN? NO. DOES IT NEED HELP? ABSOLUTELY. TALKING ABOUT MONEY, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MONEY? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MONEY? NO, NO. BROKEN. [01:35:01] LIKE SOMEBODY BROKE THEIR PHYSICALLY BROKEN NO NEEDS REPAIRS. IT NEEDS, IT NEEDS CAPITAL INVESTMENT, IT NEEDS REPAIRS. UM, IT IS OPERATING TODAY. OKAY. BECAUSE THAT, THAT QUESTION, YOU KNOW, LIKE COMING FROM OUR CITIZENS SURE. THEY SAID, UH, DO WE HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX IT? THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER QUESTION. OKAY. THAT'S, THAT'S A, THAT'S A QUESTION THAT'S COMING. THAT'S THEIR CONCERN. SURE. BECAUSE WHAT THEY DON'T WANT IT IS THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T WANT SEWAGE IN THE RIVER. UNDERSTOOD. UM, SO I CAN UNDERSTAND THEM WANTING TO QUESTION ME ABOUT THAT. I DON'T WANT TO NORMALIZE OVERFLOWS. UM, I, I, I APPRECIATE THE ENVIRONMENT. I'VE SPENT MY LIFE AROUND CHESTER AND HOPEWELL. UM, I DON'T WANT TO NORMALIZE OVERFLOWS AT ALL. I DO HAVE THE, THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LAST 15, 16 YEARS, UM, BACKING ME UP OF THE AMOUNT OF OVERFLOWS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA THAT I'VE WITNESSED. UM, IT'S UNFORTUNATE, BUT IT'S A COMMON OCCURRENCE RELATIVE TO PUMP STATIONS. I DON'T WANT TO NORMALIZE THE, UH, THE POWER OUTAGE AT THE HEADWORKS. THAT'S A VERY TRICKY PLACE TO HAVE YOUR PROCESS COMPROMISED. THAT'S OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE COMING INTO THE FACILITY. THOSE SCREENS, THE WHOLE HEADWORKS, THE GRIT REMOVAL, THAT WHOLE, THAT'S, THAT'S OUR DEFENSIVE LINE. SO WHEN YOU TAKE THAT OUT, AN OVERFLOW'S GOING TO HAPPEN. IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. THERE ARE WAYS TO, THERE ARE WAYS TO MITIGATE THAT. I DON'T, I DON'T WANT TO, UH, I DON'T WANNA DISCOURAGE YOU. THERE ARE WAYS TO MITIGATE, UM, OVERFLOWS AND THE DESIGN OF VARIOUS APPLICATIONS THAT ALLOW THAT FLOW TO PASS AND SO ON. UM, SEVERAL UPGRADES HAVE OCCURRED OVER THE YEARS THAT HAVE, UH, REDESIGNED THE HEAD WORKS TO SUPPORT OTHER UNIT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FACILITY, UM, THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, TAKEN AWAY SOME OF THAT FLEXIBILITY. THE LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE, YOU, YOU'VE ALREADY ANSWERED IT, AND THAT'S HOW MUCH IT COST FOR, UH, THE WORK THAT WAS DONE THAT DAY. 167,000. 67,000. OKAY. AND THAT WAS BASED ON THE FACT THAT, UH, THAT WAS OVER A MILLION GALLONS MM-HMM . OVER THE PERIOD IN 2024. THERE WERE SEVERAL SPILLAGES PUMP STATION OVERFLOWS. RIGHT. CORRECT. OVERFLOW SPILLS. RIGHT. THAT'S RIGHT. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE REASONS WERE, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT I ALSO WAS NOT AWARE OF. RIGHT. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HADN'T BEEN COMMUNICATED TO MYSELF AS THE OTHER COUNSELORS, I CAN'T SAY. BUT THAT WAS, I WAS KIND OF DISTURBED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I FOUND THAT I ABOUT THAT FROM SOME NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ALSO. SO I'M, YOU KNOW, WHAT IT IS THAT WE WORKING ON, I SEE IF WE WORKING ON THIS COMMUNICATION THING, IT'S A SERIOUS THING FOR ME ALSO IN REGARDS TO BEING COMMUNICATED. AND WHEN I TALKED TO OTHER COUNSELORS THAT WERE ALSO INFORM ME THAT THEY WERE NOT, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATED WITH, AND, UH, THAT IS SOMETHING, IT'S EMBARRASSING. I CAN IMAGINE INDIVIDUALS ALREADY CALLING US PICKY DILLY CIRCUSES UP HERE TO COUNCIL, AND THERE'S OTHER THINGS THAT THEY ARE RIGHT NOW ADDRESSING TO JUST THE COUNCIL FOR US TO CONSIDER. SO I'M ON TOP OF WANTING TO ADDRESS THIS WITH YOU AND WITH THE CITY MANAGER. RIGHT. IN REGARDS TO THIS THING BEING BETTER. I WANT THIS THING TO GET BETTER. SO, UM, THAT'S WHAT I'M DONE. SECOND, YOU MAY RECALL, UM, COUNCILLOR HARRIS BACK IN MARCH, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT DATE. I CAME TO COUNCIL, UM, AND GAVE A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE PLANT, CURRENT STATUS OF THE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST, AGAINST THE CITY, AND SOME OF THE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES THAT HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL FACES. RIGHT. UM, TURNING HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL INTO AN EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY MANAGED UTILITY IS AKIN TO TURNING AROUND AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER. I'M NOT GONNA SUGARCOAT IT. RIGHT. IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK. MM-HMM . AND IT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN A MINUTE. UM, THIS IS, THIS IS A, THIS IS A, A TEMPORARY HURDLE. THE, THE OVERFLOW, UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S UNFORTUNATE. UM, I COMMEND STAFF FOR JUMPING RIGHT BACK INTO THE PROJECTS THAT THEY WERE INVOLVED IN BEFORE THIS OVERFLOW HAPPENED. UM, THEY DON'T HAVE AN EASY, THEY DON'T HAVE AN EASY ROAD AHEAD OF THEM TO GET THE PLANT TO WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE. UM, YEARS, YEARS OF NEGLECT TAKE A LONG TIME TO FIX AND A LOT OF MONEY MM-HMM . UM, AND THAT, THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE NOT ONLY FOR, UM, HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL, BUT FOR THE CITY AND OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THAT PLAN. AND [01:40:01] CAN YOU CONSIDER THE FACT THAT, THAT, UM, SINCE THERE WAS NOT A RATE INCREASE SINCE 2017, IN THAT PERIOD OF TIME, THAT'S A LOT OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE, MAINTENANCE THAT, UM, UH, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. UM, BECAUSE THE MONEY WAS NOT THERE. SO NOW IT'S 40% INCREASES NECESSARY TO, TO, TO KIND OF CATCH UP COUNCILOR DAY. IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, THE DEQ HAD SOME CANISTERS THAT THEY'VE COLLECTED. AND I GUESS, ARE WE STILL WAITING ON ANY KIND OF RESULTS FROM THEM REGARDING THE SMELL? I KNOW THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THEY, THAT I HAD HEARD. UM, I'M GLAD TO CHECK WITH THEM. I'M NOT AWARE OF THAT SPECIFICALLY. I KNOW THEY DO MAINTAIN A MONITORING STATION IN TOWN THAT HAD THE INTERMITTENT SAMPLING, BUT THEY MAY HAVE COLLECTED SOME OTHER SAMPLES AS WELL. BUT I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO REACH OUT. IT'S LIKE COUNCILLOR HARRIS SAID. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALL LIVED HERE A VERY LONG TIME AND SMELLED ALL THE SMELLS. AND THIS WAS CERTAINLY, UM, CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT SEEMED NEW AND, AND QUITE ODS. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE WERE DEFINITELY GETTING A LOT OF CALLS FROM PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? UM, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE BEEN GIVING US REPORTS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND KIND OF FILLING US IN ON WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, GOING ON THERE. AND I APPRECIATE THAT. UM, I KNOW IN APRIL THERE WAS A SPILL AND I NEVER GOT ANY INFORMATION ABOUT IT. I, I HEARD IT FROM MAYOR PARTON WHEN HE ANNOUNCED IT IN A MEETING, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I'D NEVER GOTTEN ANY INFORMATION ABOUT IT. UM, SO I DO THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, GOING FORWARD, THAT WE DO HAVE SOME KIND OF SYSTEM, UM, FOR THINGS LIKE THIS WHERE WE'RE NOTICED, I'M DEFINITELY ON BOARD FOR THE TEXT MESSAGE. I DON'T MIND GETTING IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER. JUST SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE ARE QUICKLY ALERTED AND WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AS WELL, SO THAT WHEN PEOPLE START CONTACTING US, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, GET SOME ANSWERS FOR THEM. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE, I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT YOU KNOW YOU'RE DOING THERE AND ALL THE EFFORTS THAT PEOPLE PUT IN TO TRY TO GET THIS FIXED SO QUICKLY, YOU KNOW, AND, AND TRY TO CONTAIN IT AS FAST AS YOU COULD. SO APPRECIATE THAT. THE ONE, THE ONE THING I'LL POINT OUT RELATIVE TO, UM, MAYBE THE SPILL THAT THE MAYOR WAS, UM, TALKING ABOUT, WE CALL 'EM SPILLS. THEY'RE TECHNICALLY OVERFLOWS IN THE SANITARY SEWER WORLD. UM, THIS IS THE ONE COMMON OCCURRENCE YOU SEE IN A UTILITY SYSTEM. UH, EVEN CHESTERFIELD, RICHMOND, IT DOESN'T MATTER. PICK A COMMUNITY. UM, AND ESPECIALLY GIVEN OUR JULY, IT'S BEEN PRETTY PRETTY WET, RIGHT? UM, I'M USED TO SEEING BROWN GRASS THIS TIME OF YEAR, NOT GREEN GRASS. MM-HMM . UM, THE AMOUNT, TALKING ABOUT WHEN TO COMMUNICATE OVERFLOWS. SO WE'RE ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE BY PERMIT TO, UH, REPORT TO DEQ. THAT'S OUR, THAT IS, THAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS STAFF TO REPORT TO THEM. UH, IT'S A CONDITION OF THE CITY'S PERMIT. AND ANY OTHER PERMITEE, YOU ACROSS THE STATE, UM, WHEN WE GET SIGNIFICANT RAINS, LIKE WE DO, WE HAVE PUMP STATION OVERFLOWS. THEY'RE, THEY ARE, THEY CAN BE A COMMON OCCURRENCE, UH, FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. COULD BE SHEER VOLUME, COULD BE GREASE, COULD BE GRIT. UM, WE DEAL WITH A LOT OF GREASE IN THE CITY, BELIEVE IT OR NOT. AND THAT'S ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS IS TO REACH OUR CITIZENS AND OUR BUSINESSES AND EDUCATE THEM ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER DISPOSAL OF GREASE. YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT IT DOES TO OUR PUMP STATIONS AND OUR LINES. UM, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO GET IT OUT. UM, AND DURING THAT TIME WE EXPERIENCE OVERFLOWS, UM, RAIN'S A CHALLENGING IS A CHALLENGING THING. UM, BUT MR. ROGERS AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ESCALATION RELATIVE TO NOTIFICATION. UM, MY JOB IS TO FOLLOW THE CHAIN OF COMMAND AND REPORT UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, AND THAT'S WHAT I DO. UM, BUT WE'LL DISCUSS THESE EVENTS LIKE IN PARTICULAR AND SEE AT WHAT LEVEL DO THEY NEED TO RISE TO, YOU KNOW, THE LEVEL OF NOTIFICATION OF COUNCIL. I WANTED TO SPEAK BEFORE YOU SPOKE AGAIN. UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE. UM, WHEN WE RECEIVED THE DEQ LETTER, I CALLED FOR A SPECIAL MEETING. WE HAD THAT MEETING, AND YOU READ THAT LETTER OUT TO US. UM, AND I THINK IT'S VERY EASY FOR IT TO GET OFF OUR RADAR SCREEN. UH, RIGHT NOW IN THE CITY, THE STATUS OF THE HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL IS REALLY KIND OF NUMBER ONE. WE'VE REALLY GOT TO, UM, FOCUS A LOT OF OUR ATTENTION AND ENERGIES TO THAT. AND I THINK IN THE FUTURE, I MEAN, ONE OF THE ISSUES I KNOW IS PERSONNEL. WE HAVE, WE DO NOT HAVE A PERMANENT, UM, DIRECTOR, PERMANENT EXEC. AND WE, FOR A LONG TIME, WE HAD NO ASSISTANT. WE NOW HAVE SOMEBODY ON CONTRACT AS ASSISTANT, BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR COUNCIL, WORKING THROUGH THE CITY MANAGER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE REALLY FULLY INFORMED ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON. AND I KNOW MR. ROGERS, YOU MADE A COMMENT AT THE VERY FIRST MEETING YOU ATTENDED THAT YOU WANTED TO FOCUS ON, ON HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL. I KNOW YOU HAVE A UTILITIES BACKGROUND. UM, [01:45:01] BUT I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO BE KEYED IN ON WHAT, I THINK WE ALL ALL NEED TO GET ANOTHER COPY OF THAT DEQ LETTER SO THAT WE'RE FULLY, YOU KNOW, SO THAT WE ARE ON TOP OF IT. AND ALSO THERE'S THE DEBERRY REPORT THAT I THINK SOME OF US HAVE READ, SOME OF US HAVE NOT READ, AND I KNOW A LOT OF IT'S TECHNICAL, BUT IT DOES GIVE A LOT OF INSIGHTS INTO, YOU KNOW, STRATEGIC MOVES AND WHAT'S, WHAT ARE PRIORITIES AND WHAT NOT PRIORITIES. AND I REALLY THINK WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE, I MEAN, WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO CHALLENGE OURSELVES AS WELL TO MAKE SURE WE'RE FULLY ENGAGED IN THE OPERATION AND THAT WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON FOR OUR RETREAT. MM-HMM . IT IS A MAJOR SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION. GOOD. SO GOOD. SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO SOME GOOD WORK THERE RIGHT. IN ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES. FANTASTIC. AND YOU KNOW, I JUST KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER ISSUES OUT THERE THAT, YOU KNOW, REALLY NOT APPROPRIATE FOR DISCUSSION TONIGHT, BUT JUST, UM, JUST, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I, I, I AGREE WITH ALL THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN SAID AND, UM, BUT WE APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE. THAT'S, I WILL BACK UP MR. ROGERS TOO. IT'S, I THINK IT'S INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT, OR AT LEAST I'M NOTICING FOR ALL OF CITY COUNCIL TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE HOPEWELL WATER RENEWAL COMMISSION FUNCTIONS AND HOW THAT, HOW THAT WORKS FOR THE CITY. I BELIEVE THAT'S INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT. ABSOLUTELY. WE CAN ALL HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IT GETS FUNDED AND WHOSE VOICES ARE HEARD IN THAT. EXACTLY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UH, MR. HOLLOWAY, COUPLE THINGS, UH, TALKING ABOUT SPILLS AND SO FORTH, UH, ALONG OF THE OLD FLOWS OF PUMPS GOING BAD AND SO FORTH, WE, THE, WE EXPERIENCED THAT, LIKE WE DID FOREVER AND A DAY, UH, ON ARLINGTON ROAD AND WINSTON CHURCHILL. UH, NOW IT SEEMS AS IF THAT SAINT SMELL, OLD FLOW HAD IS HAPPENING RIGHT AT THE CVS. WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE THAT FOR I GUESS, BEFORE YOU GOT HERE? NO, I REMEMBER THE SMELL AT ARLINGTON AND WINSTON CHURCHILL. MY GOODNESS, THAT THING LASTED FOR A COUPLE YEARS AFTER THOSE HOUSES WERE, UH, THERE. AND I WOULD, UH, ASSUME THAT THE NEW BILLS AND EVERYTHING WERE JUST TOO MUCH FOR THOSE PUMPS THAT WERE THERE AT THE TIME. UH, BUT THERE'S NO NEW BUILD PARTICULARLY, UH, IN THE AREA OF THE CVS BESIDES LIKE CVS AND STUFF. MM-HMM . WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? THAT SAME EXACT SMELL IS RIGHT THERE AT THE CVS. I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT SPECIFICALLY. UM, I KNOW THE ONE THING THAT THE, WE HAVE A VERY SMALL SEWER COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT. UM, I THINK IT, IT WAS THREE PEOPLE DOWN TO TWO. UH, IT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT SEWER SYSTEM TO, TO MAINTAIN AND ALSO OPERATE A CAMERA TRUCK TO, THAT'S HOW WE TEND TO FIND THOSE SOURCES OF SMELLS. RIGHT. IT TENDS TO BE, UM, WASTEWATER GOING SEPTIC IN THE LINE. AND IF YOU'VE EVER SMELLED WASTEWATER GOING SEPTIC, IT'S A, IT'S A FOUL SMELL. YEAH. I'VE WORKED IN FUNERAL SERVICES FOR 24 YEARS, SO THAT SMELL SMELLS LIKE THAT. RIGHT. UH, LITERALLY IF YOU ARE ON WINSTON CHURCHILL GOING, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS HAD, BUT IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT NOW FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS, I GUESS. BUT IT IS, UH, YEAH. CHURCH, LIKE I SAID, IT SMELLS JUST LIKE ALTON ROAD WAS. AND SO THAT, I ASSUME THAT, UH, SECOND THING IS, UM, IN THE, LIKE I SAID, THE COMMUNICATION AND, AND, AND LIKE I SAID, WORKING ON COMMUNICATION GOING FORWARD WITH, UH, NOTIFICATIONS. AND I HOPE MR. ROGERS NOTE WE, WE, AND HE'S TACKLING OTHER THINGS AS HE'S BEEN HERE, BUT, UH, UH, LIKE A GROUP TEXT, UH, TO START BACK UP WITH COUNSEL, WE USUALLY GET NOTIFICATIONS OF, UH, SHOOTINGS, UM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE WELL SPECIFICALLY RESORT AND, UM, MAYBE SOMEBODY GETTING SHOT, UH, PARTICULARLY OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS AND STUFF LIKE THAT. BECAUSE EVEN AFTERWARDS, I STILL HAVE NOT FROM STAFF AS THE COUNCIL RECEIVED ANY UPDATES. UM, SO EVEN IF IT WAS INTENDED TO GO OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND COUNCIL TILL THIS DAY, I HAVE, I, I DON'T HAVE ONE EMAIL, UM, OR ANYTHING REGARDING, UH, THIS MATTER AND IT LEAVES ME TO HAVE TO GO SEARCH. UM, AND THEN CITIZENS ARE ASKING QUESTIONS AND, AND YOU KNOW, JUST AS LAW. SO, UH, UH, I JUST REALLY WANT US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE COMMUNICATING WITH, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, I THINK, AND I WANT TO APPLAUD, UM, MOST DEFINITELY, LIKE I SAID, THE COMMUNICATION WAS, I FEEL LIKE THE BALL WAS DROPPED, BUT AS FAR AS THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE, I WANT TO MAKE CLEAR TO THE CITIZENS THAT, UH, JUST LIKE THE DIRECTOR SAID, UH, THE THINGS THAT THE STAFF IS TACKLING, UH, OVERALL THERE WAS A LOT OF BALLS DROPPED [01:50:01] AND SO MUCH THINGS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED WORK ON. AND I THINK THEY'RE DOING THEIR BEST TO WORK ON THOSE THINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, AS, AS MUCH AS THEY CAN. AND LIKE VICE MAYOR SAID, WE HAVE TO HAVE SOMEBODY, UM, OVER HWR AND I THINK YOU'RE DOING, AND THAT DEFINITELY NOT TAKING FROM YOU 'CAUSE DOING SUCH A PHENOMENAL JOB, BUT IT'S, IT'S, IT'S SPLIT. UM, BUT IT'S SPLIT. BUT LIKE I SAID, THE COMMUNICATION, BUT, BUT THANK Y'ALL BECAUSE ALL I KEPT HEARING WAS THAT Y'ALL GOT TO IT PROMPTLY AND SO, UH, AS, AS FAST AS Y'ALL COULD. SO, AND, AND I THINK THAT'S THE POINT THAT, THAT, UM, FROM THE TIME THAT, UM, UH, MICHAEL DISCOVERED THAT THERE WOULD LEAK A RALLY, THE, UH, THE FORCES AT THE PLANT, THEY GOT ON THE JOB AND THEY WERE ABLE TO COLLECT ALL OF THE HEAVIER EQUIPMENT THEY NEEDED IN ORDER TO STOP THAT FLOW AND HAVE IT FIXED BY THREE 30 IN THE AFTERNOON. SO, I MEAN, THAT IS A, A TRIBUTE TO YOUR LEADERSHIP AND, AND, AND THE HARD WORK OF, UH, UH, YOU AND YOUR STAFF THERE. AND, AND WE COMMEND THEM FOR DOING THAT. ABSOLUTELY. I DEFINITELY HAVE TO THANK THE STAFF. IT'S A, YOU CAN IMAGINE IT'S HARD ENOUGH TO GET THINGS DURING THE DAYLIGHT OF A WEEK. IT'S INCREDIBLY HARD WHEN YOU HAVE TRYING TO WAKE UP A BUNCH OF PEOPLE. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE LOGISTICS THAT GO INTO DELIVERING THAT EQUIPMENT. IT, IT'S A, IT'S A TREMENDOUS UNDERTAKING. OUR ACTING DEPUTY PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN HELPING US TO GET THAT EQUIPMENT, DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM. UM, WE EXPERIENCED A SHIFT CHANGE DURING THE EVENT, UM, AND WE'RE ALREADY, OUR OPERATIONS IS ALREADY UNDERSTAFFED. UM, SO I CAN'T THANK THEM ENOUGH. THEY, THEY DID EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER. AND TO SEE A, AN INCIDENT OF THAT MAGNITUDE TURNED AROUND IN ROUGHLY 16 HOURS IS, IS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. YEAH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. YEAH. DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER BUSINESS? I JUST GOT ONE MORE COMMENT. OKAY. YES, SIR. WE DID GET A QUESTION FROM, UH, SOME CITIZENS ABOUT THE STAFF THAT YOU'RE WORKING WITH MM-HMM . AND, UH, I COULDN'T ANSWER EXACTLY. ALL I COULD SAY WAS THAT, UH, WE UNDERSTAFFED AND, UH MM-HMM . THE RESPONSE TO IT WAS RELATIVELY QUICKLY. AND ALSO, NOT ONLY WAS IT, UH, ONE, IT WAS TWO OR THREE PRESS RELEASES THAT WE SENT OUT IN REGARDS TO THIS. SO THERE WAS NO ARGUMENT ABOUT HOW YOU GUYS WORK. ALRIGHT. I JUST WANT TO COMMEND YOU ON THAT IN REGARDS TO THE WAY THAT YOU GOT THE ANSWERS OUT. I DIDN'T WANT YOU SAY THAT I WAS SITTING THERE FUSSING ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS WITHOUT ALSO GIVING YOU YOUR ACCOMMODATION ABOUT ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS ALSO. SO, YES. BUT THEY, THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS MORE THAN I WOULD REALIZE. BUT, UH, YES. I COMMEND YOU FOR WHAT HAPPENED AND THINGS I, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M, I'M, UH, I BELIEVE THAT THINGS, UH, CAN GET BETTER. ANYWAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. YEAH. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT. DO I HAVE MOTION? MOTION TO ADJOURN? I, I THINK STAFF OVER HERE, WE THINK STAFF. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. MOTION TO ADJOURN. THANK YOU AGAIN. MOTION TO ADJOURN. SO BE IT. SO BE IT. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.