GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO THE NOVEMBER 15TH 2021 WORK SESSION FOR THE GARLAND CITY [00:00:07] COUNCIL. WE WILL START WITH OUR FIRST ITEM. ITEM ONE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON WORK SESSION ITEMS. MADAM SECRETARY, DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK TONIGHT? WE DO NOT. OK. WE DO NOT. ALL RIGHT. [2. Consider the Consent Agenda] WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO CONSIDER THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR TOMORROW NIGHT. I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY REQUESTS TO HAVE ANY ITEMS PULLED AND CONSIDERED SEPARATELY. AND IF THERE ARE ANY, JUST MAKE SURE WE KNOW, HOPEFULLY SO WE CAN HAVE STAFF HERE TO ADDRESS IT. [3. Written Briefings] MOVING ON TO WRITTEN BRIEFINGS ITEM THREE. THREE A INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO SUMMARY. ITEM THREE B NAAMAN SCHOOL ROAD AND BOTTLENECK IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM CONDEMNATION. AND THAT WAS THE LAST ONE UNDER THAT ITEM. ITEM FOUR VERBAL BRIEFINGS. [4A. COVID-19 Briefing] ITEM 4A COVID 19 BRIEFING, JASON. THANK YOU, MAYOR. GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MISTIE IS NOT HERE TONIGHT, BUT I DO HAVE HER THE TYPICAL HOSPITAL NUMBERS THAT SHE REPORTS AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION. SO THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT TODAY'S PRESENTATION IS REMARKABLY SIMILAR TO LAST WEEK'S IN THAT'S GOOD NEWS BECAUSE WE'RE STILL SEEING FAIRLY LOW LEVELS OF COVID 19 IN THE COMMUNITY. YOU CAN SEE ON THE GRAPH HERE THAT I WILL SAY WE DID HAVE A SLIGHTLY HIGHER NUMBER OF NEW CASES REPORTED THIS WEEK TO LAST WEEK, BUT NOT A, YOU KNOW, NOT A BIG JUMP AND MORE THAN LIKELY JUST VARIATION THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT TO SEE. BUT IF YOU SEE THE GRAPH HERE, WE'RE WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO WHAT WE'RE REFERRING TO AS BACKGROUND LEVELS, THOSE LEVELS IN BETWEEN THE THREE PEAKS THAT WE'VE HAD. SO FOR THE LAST WEEK, WE HAD 193 NEW CASES, WHICH WAS UP A BIT FROM 156 THE WEEK PRIOR. BUT OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, THE NUMBER OF CASES HAVE CONTINUED TO DROP AND THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES HAS DROPPED. SO YOU SEE A TOTAL OF THIRTY NINE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY THREE CASES FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC TO DATE OR TO THE END OF LAST WEEK. THE VAST MAJORITY ARE RECOVERED. WE DID ADD NINE DEATHS, NINE GARLAND RESIDENT DEATHS THIS WEEK AND THE MOST COMMON THEME THAT WE'RE SEEING AMONG THE DEATHS IS THEY ARE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY UNVACCINATED INDIVIDUALS. SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I KNOW THAT WE'VE URGED FOLKS TO TO GET THE VACCINE AND GET THEIR BOOSTERS WHENEVER THEY'RE ELIGIBLE. BUT WE CONTINUE TO SEE DEATHS. AND AGAIN, IT'S ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY UNVACCINATED INDIVIDUALS. YOU SEE, WE HAVE ABOUT 349 ACTIVE CASES IN THE COMMUNITY. FOR THE COVID IMPACTS TO CITY STAFF. I WILL SAY THAT WE DID HAVE A ANOTHER EMPLOYEE COVID RELATED FATALITY, A FIREFIGHTER OVER THE WEEKEND. I THINK YOU ALL ARE AWARE OF THAT. BUT FOR THE IMPACT AND BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, THAT WAS A LONG, DRAWN OUT CASE OF COVID 19. NOT NECESSARILY WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER A RECENT INFECTION, BUT FOR THE IMPACTS ON THE STAFF. AS OF FRIDAY, WE HAD A TOTAL OF SEVEN EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED, SIX BECAUSE OF POSITIVE CASES AND ONE BECAUSE OF HIGH RISK CONTACT. AND AGAIN, THE GRAPH THAT SHOWS THOSE NUMBERS AND YOU CAN SEE WE'RE AGAIN BACK DOWN TO THE LEVELS THAT WE SAW BEFORE THE DELTA PEAK. SO VACCINES, WE HAD A PRETTY STRONG UPTAKE IN THE NUMBER OF VACCINES OVER THE LAST WEEK, WE SURPASSED FORTY THREE THOUSAND CASES. THE PEDIATRIC DOSES, THIRD DOSES REALLY MAKE UP THE BULK OF THE VACCINES, THE JUMP IN THE VACCINES THAT WE'VE HAD IN THE LAST WEEK AND THE PEDIATRIC CASES OR DOSES. WE'VE GIVEN A LOT OF THOSE AT THE GISD SCHOOLS, ALL OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS WE'RE SENDING STAFF TO. I BELIEVE THE COUNT IS TWENTY ONE SCHOOLS WERE WRAPPING UP THE FIRST ROUND THIS WEEK. OF COURSE, NEXT WEEK'S THE HOLIDAY AND THEN WE'LL START BACK ON THE SECOND ROUND OF DOSES. BUT YOU CAN SEE THE SCHOOLS THAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR THE REST OF THIS WEEK AND SCHOOLS THAT WERE DONE IN THE PAST WEEK OR OTHER RECENT EVENTS. YOU CAN SEE HILLSIDE ACADEMY IS THE STANDOUT THERE. THEY HAD 111 TOTAL VACCINES PROVIDED. NOW THAT'S BOTH PEDIATRIC AND ADULT DOSES. WE DID GIVE A NUMBER OF ADULT DOSES TO NOT ONLY STAFF BUT TO PARENTS. SO VERY MUCH WORTH OUR WHILE TO GO OUT FOR THOSE EVENTS. AND I THINK I'VE GOT A SLIDE OUT OF ORDER. I APOLOGIZE. FOR THE HOSPITALIZATIONS. AGAIN, THESE ARE THE SLIDES THAT MISTIE TYPICALLY GOES OVER VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE [00:05:05] SAW LAST WEEK JUST OVER FIVE PERCENT OF HOSPITALIZATIONS OR COVID CASES IN THE TRAUMA SERVICE AREA E. YOU CAN SEE BY COUNTY DALLAS COUNTY THERE IS JUST OVER THREE POINT SEVENTY FOUR PERCENT COVID CASES IN HOSPITALS. SO AGAIN, NUMBERS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN WEEKS PAST. AND THEN THE GRAPH THAT YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH, WHICH FOLLOWS THE TRENDS THAT WE'VE SEEN VERY WELL, ALMOST DOWN TO THE PRE DELTA LEVELS. IN TERMS OF HOSPITALIZATIONS. MAYOR, I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE DONE AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. ANY QUESTIONS FOR JASON THIS EVENING. EXCUSE ME, COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, JASON, FOR THE PRESENTATION ON THE BOOSTERS. DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE ELIGIBILITY VERSUS THE UPTAKE OR ARE WE DOING ANYTHING TO DO OUTREACH TO FOLKS TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEIR BOOSTER ELIGIBLE OR ANYTHING LIKE. WE HAVE STARTED RECALLS ON BOOSTER DOSES FOR THE FOLKS, AND I STARTED TO LOOK OVER TO DIANA, BUT I KNOW SHE UPDATED ME ON THIS LAST WEEK. WE HAVE STARTED TO REACH OUT TO THE FOLKS THAT WE GAVE INITIAL DOSES TO UP TO SIX MONTHS AGO AND BEYOND TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOW ELIGIBLE OR POTENTIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR BOOSTER DOSES. NOT EVERYONE IN THE POPULATION IS ELIGIBLE FOR BOOSTER DOSES, BUT A LARGE MAJORITY ARE ELIGIBLE FOLKS OVER 65 OR FOLKS THAT LIVE OR WORK IN WHAT'S CONSIDERED HIGH RISK SETTINGS. SO TO GET TO THE POINT OF YOUR QUESTION, YES, SIR, WE ARE TRYING TO REACH OUT TO THOSE FOLKS THAT WE VACCINATED TO PROMPT THEM TO COME IN AND GET A BOOSTER DOSE. OK, GOOD. I'M JUST THE STUFF YOU SEE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BOOSTER UPTAKE AND WHATNOT, AND WE SEE SOME OTHER JURISDICTIONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY OPENING THE BOOSTERS TO EVERYBODY AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE. AND ON THE COVID DEATHS WHERE YOU TALKED ABOUT NEARLY ALL. I THINK IT WAS TEXAS THAT REPORTED LAST WEEK THE STATISTICS THAT OUT OF THE TWENTY NINE THOUSAND WHO'VE DIED FROM COVID RELATED ILLNESSES SINCE MID-JANUARY, NINETY TWO PERCENT OF THEM WERE NOT FULLY VACCINATED, EIGHT PERCENT WERE FULLY VACCINATED. AND OF THAT EIGHT PERCENT HALF OF THOSE WERE OVER 75. SO YES, SIR, AND CLEARLY WHAT WE'RE SEEING THE TREND THAT WE'RE SEEING ON FATALITIES AND HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR THAT MATTER, IT'S LARGELY INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE UNVACCINATED. AND AS YOU SUGGEST, THERE IS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF VACCINATED FOLKS. BUT TYPICALLY WE SEE THOSE FOLKS THAT ARE VACCINATED AND END UP WITH A CASE OF COVID THAT REQUIRES HOSPITALIZATION OR RESULT IN A FATALITY. THEY HAVE SIGNIFICANT UNDERLYING CONDITIONS, SO THE VACCINES WORK REALLY WELL. THEY WORK EXCEPTIONALLY WELL AT PREVENTING FATALITIES OR SEVERE CASES THAT REQUIRE HOSPITALIZATIONS. THEY WORK VERY WELL IN PREVENTING DISEASE ALTOGETHER. GREAT. THANK YOU AND ENCOURAGE ANYONE WHO'S WATCHING THIS. IF YOU'VE HAD ANY KIND OF HESITANCY OR YOU KNOW, NO JUDGMENT, JUST COME, YOU KNOW, TALK TO PEOPLE AND SEE ABOUT GETTING A VACCINE THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE AND THOSE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS. AND IF YOU DON'T MIND ON THAT POINT, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THERE'S A DEBATE ABOUT NATURAL ACQUIRED IMMUNITY, WHICH THERE IS CERTAINLY NATURAL ACQUIRED IMMUNITY FOR FOLKS THAT HAVE HAD A PAST INFECTION. BUT WE'RE ALMOST TWO YEARS INTO THIS PANDEMIC, AND THERE'S CERTAINLY THE POTENTIAL FOR WANING IMMUNITY FOR BOTH THOSE THAT ARE VACCINATED OR THOSE FOLKS THAT HAVE NATURALLY ACQUIRED IMMUNITY. SO I WOULD ECHO THAT WHAT YOU STATED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGING FOLKS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN VACCINATED TO BEGIN THE SERIES AND FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN VACCINATED CERTAINLY NEED TO ASSESS WHETHER THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR A BOOSTER. GREAT. THANK YOU, JASON, THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. COUNCIL LADY MORRIS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. JASON, I'VE HAD SEVERAL PEOPLE NOW ASK ME ABOUT THE ANTIBODY INFUSIONS, WHICH ARE ARE BEING USED PRETTY WIDELY NOW WITH PEOPLE WHO GET COVID AND HAVE IT CAUGHT EARLY ENOUGH. BUT THE QUESTION THAT THEY'VE ASKED AND IT'S BEEN VERY EFFECTIVE. I NOW KNOW A PRETTY DECENT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE GONE IN AND EITHER HAD THE INFUSION OR THE SHOT, AND THEY CONSIDERED IT VERY EFFECTIVE. SO THE QUESTION THAT THEY'RE ASKING AND THAT I WONDERED IF YOU MIGHT HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER TO IS HOW LONG DOES THAT PROTECTION LASTS? AT LEAST TWO OF THEM THAT I KNOW OF HAD NOT BEEN VACCINATED BEFORE, AND THEY'RE VERY ANXIOUS NOW AFTER HAVING COVID TO GET VACCINATED, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW HOW SOON [00:10:01] AFTER THE INFUSION THEY CAN OR SHOULD GET VACCINATED, DO YOU? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU KNOW OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD? I'M ASHAMED TO SAY THAT I DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I WILL FIND OUT AND FOLLOW UP WITH YOU. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. OK, HANG ON. COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN. JUST TO RESPOND TO COUNCIL MEMBER MORRIS' QUESTION FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN IN THE LITERATURE, THE ANTIBODY INFUSIONS CAN PROVIDE SOME LEVEL OF BASIC KIND OF IMMUNITY FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME, BUT IT'S NOT EXPECTED TO TO BE PARTICULARLY LONG AS OPPOSED TO BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY TEACHING YOUR BODY TO MAKE THE ANTIBODIES, YOU'RE JUST GIVING FOLKS THE ANTIBODIES. SO AND THE SUGGESTIONS THAT I'VE SEEN FROM THE CDC AND FROM OTHER FOLKS IS THAT YOU CAN GET THE VACCINE AT ANY TIME THAT YOU KNOW, PREVIOUSLY WHEN WE WERE TELLING PEOPLE WAIT A FEW MONTHS AFTERWARDS WAS MOSTLY DUE TO THE LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF VACCINES. AND NOW THEY'RE SAYING IF YOU'VE HAD COVID OR IF YOU HAD ANTIBODY AND MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY INFUSION, ANY OF THAT STUFF, YOU CAN STILL, THE EFFICACY OF THE VACCINE WILL STILL TAKES THE WHOLE SERIES OF IT. BUT YOU CAN GET THE VACCINE AT ANY TIME. IT WON'T INTERFERE WITH ANY OTHER THERAPIES YOU'RE TAKING. OF COURSE, ANYONE HEARING THAT SHOULD, YOU KNOW, GO TO THE CDC SITES AND LOOK AT MATERIALS, TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. THINGS OF THAT NATURE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT REALLY HERE TO GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE, BUT HERE WE ARE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR JASON? VERY GOOD, SIR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THAT MOVES US TO ITEM 4B COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT. [4B. Community Service Committee Report] COUNCIL LADY MORRIS. YOU WANT TO START US OFF? ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, MAYOR. ALL RIGHT. SO WE HAD REFERRED TO THE COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE BACK AT THE END OF 2019, AND THIS WAS A REFERRAL BY COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN A QUESTION OF, WELL, IF I HAVE MY NOTES HERE, I CAN READ THE RIGHT THING TO CONSIDER THE U.S. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL'S PLAN TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS AS IT PERTAINS TO HOMELESS VETERANS IN GARLAND. AND REPORTING IT OUT TONIGHT I THINK THIS IS PERFECT TIMING WITH OUR JUST HAVING CELEBRATED VETERANS DAY AND WITH THE EXCITING EVENT WHERE A FEMALE ARMY VETERAN LIVING IN A SHELTER WAS PRESENTED WITH A HOME OF HER OWN THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR OWN HOUSING DEPARTMENT AND GHFC AND MANY ON COUNCIL WERE PRESENT FOR THAT HAPPY DAY. SO WE GAVE AN INITIAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION BACK ON MARCH 16TH, 2020, IF ANYONE REMEMBERS MARCH 2020. SO AND JUST I'M TAKING YOU BACK OVER THE GROUND ON THIS AGAIN BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN A PENDING ITEM. SO THE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE GAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH 2020 WERE TO ONE, AND BOTH OF THESE WERE THINGS COUNCIL AGREED TO AT THAT TIME TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION STATING OUR INTENTION TO END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS IN GARLAND AND TWO TO INCLUDE IN THE NEXT BUDGET CYCLE THE HIRING OF A SOCIAL WORKER TO ACT AS A CENTRAL LIAISON TO COORDINATE SERVICES FOR THE HOMELESS, INCLUDING HOMELESS VETERANS. SO, AND AS A REMINDER, DUE TO COVID'S IMPACT LAST YEAR, WE WERE SHUT DOWN LIKE A WEEK OR 10 DAYS AFTER THIS RECOMMENDATION COMMITTEE STOPPED MEETING. AND THE HIRING RECOMMENDATION DID NOT MOVE FORWARD IN LAST YEAR'S BUDGET BECAUSE NOTHING MOVED FORWARD IN LAST YEAR'S BUDGET. BUT THIS YEAR WE DID FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THAT RECOMMENDATION. WE INCLUDED A NEW MASTER'S DEGREE SOCIAL WORKER POSITION IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, AND THIS IS THROUGH GARLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT. I UNDERSTAND FROM CHIEF BRYAN THAT GPD HAS BEEN ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS, AND WE'LL BE STARTING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS RIGHT AFTER THANKSGIVING, SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT. SO TONIGHT I'LL BE MAKING A FINAL REPORT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON THIS TOPIC. THE COMMITTEE NARROWED IT DOWN TO ACTION ITEMS, POTENTIALLY WITHIN OUR REACH AS A MUNICIPALITY, AND I WANT TO JUST GIVE A VERY QUICK ACKNOWLEDGMENT. WE RECEIVED VERY HELPFUL INPUT FROM KIM CAMPBELL AND NAVY VETERAN ED VONDRA FROM THE VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER IN DALLAS, WITH THANKS TO DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS FOR SUGGESTING INVITING THEIR INPUT. SO HERE ARE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. THERE ARE THREE. FIRST, IT IS RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE THAT WE FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WITH ORGANIZATIONS INTERESTED IN BUILDING PERMANENT OR [00:15:01] TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR HOMELESS VETERANS IN GARLAND. EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE THE MULLINS TRANSITIONAL HOME FOR FEMALE VETERANS IN LEWISVILLE. THIS IS A FACILITY THAT COMMISSIONER DANIEL AND I TOURED WHEN THEY DEDICATED THE HOME BACK IN SEPTEMBER 2019. THIS BECAUSE LEWISVILLE PERMITS THIS. THIS WAS A VERY LARGE, SINGLE FAMILY HOME WITH A NUMBER OF BEDROOMS AND A HOUSEKEEPER THAT WAS FOR TRANSITIONAL LIVING WITH FEMALE VETERANS WHO CAME IN AND WERE ABLE TO LIVE THERE UNTIL THEY TRANSITIONED OUT TO INDIVIDUAL HOMES. PART OF THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER TO SEE IF WE CAN MOVE IN THE DIRECTION WITH PARTNERSHIPS TO PROVIDE MORE OF THIS KIND OF HOUSING IN THE CITY WAS THAT SHELTERS HAVE VERY RESTRICTIVE HOURS AND THAT LITERALLY KEEPS VETERANS WHO HAVE JOBS FROM BEING ABLE TO COME HOME TO THE SHELTER. THEY LOCK THE DOORS AT NIGHT AT FAIRLY EARLY, AND IF YOU WORK A JOB AND YOU WORK PAST THAT HOUR, YOU CAN'T GET BACK IN. SO THEY SAID THAT THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. SO IN THOSE TERMS, GHFC HAS ACTUALLY EXPRESSED INTEREST IN HELPING TOWARD THIS END AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND AS OPPORTUNITIES ARISE. AND WE'VE ALREADY SEEN JUST THIS LAST WEEK HOW HELPFUL GHFC HAS BEEN IN PROVIDING AND PARTNERING TO PROVIDE HOUSING FOR VETERANS. AND THAT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS. THEY ALSO MENTIONED VASH, WHICH IS A FEDERAL PROGRAM, THE VA SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, WHICH IS GRANTS AND VOUCHERS THAT GHFC TELLS ME A NUMBER OF HOUSING OF MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FACILITIES BUILT ONE IN PLANO AT SHILOH AND RENNER. THEY ACTUALLY SET ASIDE A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OR NUMBER. IN THAT CASE, 40 UNITS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY VASH UNITS THAT VETERANS WITH THESE VOUCHERS, THEY'RE RESERVED FOR THEM. AND SO THE THOUGHT WAS, I'M LARGELY LOOKING AT COUNCILMAN SMITH DOWN THERE. THE THOUGHT WAS IF WE COULD, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, REALLY THINK HARD ABOUT THIS KIND OF POTENTIAL HOUSING IN AND AROUND THE AREA WHERE THE VA HOSPITAL IS. IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE POTENTIAL FINANCE RESOURCES QUEUED UP AND ANXIOUS TO HELP WITH THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD. SO THIS ISN'T AN IMMEDIATE ACTION ITEM. THIS IS SOMETHING MOVING FORWARD FOR US ALL JUST TO KEEP IN MIND. THE SECOND RECOMMENDATION IS A VERY PRACTICAL ONE, AND THAT IS TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION VIA DART PASSES TO HOMELESS VETERANS BASED IN GARLAND TO CONNECT THEM WITH THE RESOURCES OFFERED THROUGH THE VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER IN DALLAS. THAT RESOURCE CENTER HAS RESOURCES THAT WE SIMPLY COULD NOT PROVIDE WITHOUT EXTREME COSTS, EXTREME NEW FACILITIES AND A LOT OF STAFFING. SO THEY HAVE THEY OFFER TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS. THEY OFFER HOUSING SERVICES, MEALS, SHOWERS, CLOTHING, CASE MANAGERS TO MANAGE MENTAL HEALTH, DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. AND THEY JUST SAID, IF YOU WILL GET THEM TO US, WE WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM AND WE HAVE PASSES TO GET THEM BACK TO YOU IF THAT'S WHERE THEY WANT TO GO. THIS IS A DAILY THING. SO THEY SAID DART PASSES MEAN A GREAT DEAL TO THEM THAT DART OFFERS DISCOUNTS FOR VARIOUS PEOPLE, STUDENTS AND DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF PEOPLE. BUT THE DISCOUNTS DON'T WORK WHEN YOU HAVE NO MONEY. AND SO THAT WAS ONE THING THAT THEY RECOMMENDED THAT WE FOLLOW THROUGH ON. I DID FOLLOW THROUGH WITH JONATHAN KELLY AND WITH DART FOLLOWING OUR LAST CSC MEETING AND HAVE BEEN IN CONVERSATIONS WITH MS. LEE, WHO IS THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF DART AND IN ADDITION TO THEIR MANY DISCOUNTS THAT THEY OFFER, MS. LEE SAID THAT SHE WOULD BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH US AND LOOK AT A LARGER REGIONAL SYSTEM THAT WOULD HELP WITH THIS SPECIFIC PROBLEM, FINDING WAYS TO ENHANCE THEIR PROGRAM, TO ENABLE US TO HAVE ACCESS TO PASSES THAT WE CAN MORE FREELY GIVE OUT. AND THAT WOULD. I'M ASSUMING THAT WOULD BE THROUGH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND OUR HOMELESS LIAISONS AND OUR TASK FORCE. BUT THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING ON THAT. AND MS. LEE COMMUNICATED WITH ME AS RECENTLY AS THIS MORNING AND IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT FOLLOWING THROUGH ON THIS. FINALLY, AND THIS SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE. THE THIRD RECOMMENDATION IS TO HIRE AN ADDITIONAL COORDINATOR, EVEN PART TIME [00:20:01] TO ASSIST AND SUPPORT THE GPD SOCIAL WORKER THAT WE WILL BE TASKING WITH COORDINATING HOMELESS ISSUES OF ALL KINDS. AND WE DON'T EVEN HAVE HIM OR HER YET. HOPEFULLY, SOMETIME IF THE INTERVIEWS START AFTER THANKSGIVING, IT WOULD BE AWFULLY NICE TO HAVE THIS PERSON IN PLACE BY THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. BUT I DON'T THINK CHIEF BRYAN IS IN HERE, BUT HIS I WILL TELL YOU HIS COMMENT WAS WE COULD USE 10. AND HE SAID MCKINNEY I THINK HE HAS THREE OR FOUR. MANY OTHER CITIES HAVE A A PRETTY ROBUST STOCK OF THE COORDINATORS WHO ARE FOCUSED LASER SHARP ON THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM. BECAUSE HOMELESSNESS IS NOT SHRINKING, IT IS GROWING SO CHIEF BRYAN WAS VERY ON BOARD WITH THAT, AND HE SAID EVEN A PART TIME PERSON TO ASSIST THE MASTER'S DEGREE SOCIAL WORKER. HE SAID IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE SOMEBODY WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE. IT'S SOMEBODY THAT WE COULD TRAIN SO THEY DON'T NEED THE SAME HIGH LEVEL OF QUALIFICATIONS OR PAY. BUT THAT WAS THE THIRD RECOMMENDATION FOR US TO CONSIDER. SO THAT CONCLUDES OUR RECOMMENDATIONS. AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'M HERE TO TAKE THEM. VERY GOOD. AND YOU KNOW, I WOULD HOPE, YOU KNOW, I WOULD HOPE THAT WE WOULD HAVE A STRONG POOL OF CANDIDATES FOR THAT POSITION WHERE IF WE WERE LOOKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL PERSON, IF IT WAS HALF TIME PART, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER THAT, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SORT OF FIND SOME OF THAT OUT IN THE INTERVIEWING PROCESS. SO THAT'S VERY GOOD. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. EXCELLENT REPORT BY OUR CHAIR. I JUST WANT TO MENTION A COUPLE OF THINGS I THINK THAT WE ALL FOUND VERY BENEFICIAL. THE LADY'S NAME WHAT'S THE FIRST KIM FROM THE VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER AND THE GENTLEMAN WHO CAME FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE AND FORMER VETERAN HIMSELF. BUT HE REPRESENTS THE ORGANIZATION, AND WE WERE DISCUSSING LOW HANGING FRUIT AND CONSISTENTLY A COMMON THREAD AND THAT THEY TALKED ABOUT. SHE TALKED ABOUT THE SERVICES THAT WERE AVAILABLE AT THE VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER OUT IN OAK CLIFF. BUT THE BIG THEME WAS GETTING THERE. THAT EVEN WITH THE DART CURRENT STRUCTURE AND OUR CHAIRS COMMENTED ON THAT OF DISCOUNTED PASSES THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE OTHER NEXT TO HOUSING THE TRANSPORTATION PIECE, GETTING THAT IN THE HANDS OF THE VETERANS. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY HAD INDICATED AND THE NEW DIRECTOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DART HAVE COMMITTED TO, AS THE CHAIR LATER HAD MENTIONED, WAS LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN, FROM AN ECONOMIC STANDPOINT, MAKE THOSE PASSES MORE ACCESSIBLE TO VETERANS RATHER THAN WAITING FOR VETERANS TO COME TO A GIVEN POINT. HOW CAN WE BETTER GO TO WHAT THE VETERANS ARE TO GET THOSE PASSES? BECAUSE THAT WAS ONE OF THE THE REAL CHALLENGES IN THIS PROCESS THAT HE TALKED ABOUT. I MEAN, THEY HAVE A LITANY OF SERVICE THAT DO GREAT WORK DOWN THERE, BUT GETTING THE VETERANS AND WE SORT OF KICKED AROUND WITH HIM USING AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DART IS GOING TO LOOK AT NOW, FOR ME, A MORE OF A METROPLEX STANDPOINT IS PERHAPS HOW CAN THEY BE BETTER PARTNERING WITH THEM AND THE USE OF CITY INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES FOR VETERANS OR SO THAT WE CAN MORE EFFECTIVELY GET THEM TO THE TRANSPORTATION POINT, EVEN AS RELATES TO WHAT RECENTLY, DART HAS UNDERGONE ANNOUNCED A NUMBER OF MASSIVE SCHEDULING CHANGES. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO GREATER REFINE THAT SCHEDULING CHANGES TO HELP TO MEET THIS ISSUE. SO THOSE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AND THOSE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE HEARD FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE THAT DART IS COMMITTED TO BEGIN TO EXPLORE IT. BUT THOSE WERE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT WE HAD AND OUR CONVERSATIONS, OUR MEETINGS WITH THEM WERE VERY PRODUCTIVE AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THEM. BUT THOSE TWO THINGS ARE HOUSING, AND THAT TRANSPORTATION PIECE WERE THE TWO CRITICAL ONES. SO I JUST WANTED TO PIGGYBACK ON THE CHAIR'S COMMENTS ABOUT THAT. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU SIR. COUNCIL MEMBER BASS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. DEBORAH, DO WE HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HOMELESS POPULATION IN GARLAND AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THOSE ARE VETERANS? [00:25:03] HANG ON HIT A BUTTON FOR THAT. GO AHEAD. THANK YOU. WE DO. I DID NOT COME WITH THAT TONIGHT. AND IT'S NOT ACCURATE. AND I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT TO BEGIN WITH THE PIT COUNT, WHICH IS THE THIRD WEEK IN JANUARY, EVERY YEAR IS NOTORIOUSLY UNRELIABLE AND THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF COVID IS EVEN MORE NOTORIOUSLY UNRELIABLE. SO I CAN GET YOU. I WILL BE HAPPY TO GET YOU THOSE NUMBERS, SUCH AS THEY ARE. I PUT A LOT MORE TRUST IN WHAT OUR HOMELESS LIAISONS ARE REPORTING AND WHAT GARLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT IS REPORTING. AND THEY ARE REPORTING AN ESCALATION, A SERIOUS ESCALATION OF HOMELESS. AND YOU KNOW, THEY FIND OUT HOW MANY ARE VETERANS A LOT OF TIMES IN WORKING WITH THEM SPECIFICALLY. BUT I WILL GIVE YOU THE NUMBERS WE HAVE. I'M JUST TELLING YOU THEY'RE NOT ACCURATE. SO, OK, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN. THANK YOU, MAYOR. MY RECOLLECTION AND THE CHAIR CAN CORRECT ME OR MS. MORRIS CAN CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG WAS THAT BACK WHEN I WAS ON CSC WAS THAT THERE WAS AN ESTIMATE. THE INITIAL ESTIMATIONS TWO YEARS AGO OR SO WHEN WE STARTED DOWN THIS PATH WAS THAT THE NUMBER OF VETERAN HOMELESS WAS RELATIVELY LOW. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED IT WAS LESS THAN TWO DOZEN. BUT THEN PERHAPS A YOU KNOW, THE LAST I RECALL WHEN WE SAT DOWN, WE HAD A BRIEFING IN CSC THAT THAT NUMBER WAS ABOVE 100. AND IN TERMS OF HOMELESS VETERANS, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT NUMBER HAS GONE SINCE THEN. YOU KNOW, LATELY I'VE STARTED TO HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, THE PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED THE HOMELESS POPULATION IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS. YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD SEVERAL SURGES OVER THE YEARS OUR OVERALL HOMELESS POPULATION HAS INCREASED, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO WHAT EVERY CITY IN THE METROPLEX HAS BEEN RUNNING INTO. CHIEF BRYAN WOULD TELL US STORIES THAT, YOU KNOW, UP IN MCKINNEY, THEY'RE HAVING ISSUES WITH HOMELESSNESS UP THERE, EVEN THOUGH SOME PEOPLE WOULD THINK, WELL, HOW WOULD YOU GET TO MCKINNEY? BUT, YOU KNOW, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN. SO THE HOMELESSNESS IS EVERYWHERE. AND YOU KNOW, FORTUNATELY, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE PROGRAMS THAT WE'VE STARTED CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE PROGRAMS DEALING WITH YOU KNOW I JUST A BRIEFING A WEEK OR TWO AGO, INDICATING THE CONTINUED WORK ON DEALING WITH SOME OF THE ENCAMPMENT ISSUES AND WHATNOT. BUT I APPRECIATE THE COMMITTEE'S WORK ON THIS VERY MUCH. THE QUESTION I HAVE IS I KNOW AT ONE POINT THERE WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT ACQUIRING AND I'M GOING TO GET THE NAME WRONG, BUT YOU'LL PROBABLY REMEMBER DEBORAH ACQUIRING SOFTWARE THAT WOULD HELP US TO IDENTIFY. THERE WAS A SOFTWARE THAT A LOT OF GROUPS USE THAT HELP US TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POPULATION AND CREATE KIND OF A DATA SET. DID WE MAKE ANY DETERMINATIONS OR CONSIDERATIONS OF THAT? AND I GUESS WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT IS KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, AS WE HAVE THESE PIECES TOGETHER, WHAT'S THE PROCESS THAT THAT KIND OF STITCHES THEM TOGETHER AND WHERE WE ARE ON THE KIND OF THE CONTINUUM OF BEING ABLE TO. THAT WAS ME. WHERE WE ARE IN THE CONTINUUM OF BEING ABLE TO BE KIND OF FULLY COMPLIANT WITH THE USA CH'S KIND OF PLAN. SO THANK YOU MAYOR. THANK YOU. GO AHEAD. OK. YEAH. IN RESPONSE TO THAT QUESTION, PARKLAND IS THE ONE WHO'S PUTTING ALL THAT TOGETHER. SO IT'S NOT AGAIN, COMMITTEE NARROWED THIS DOWN TO THINGS THAT WE HERE HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER. PARKLAND IS ACTIVELY IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING ON THAT, WHICH IS MORE THAN JUST AN IDENTIFYING PROGRAM. IT IS ACTUALLY AN IDENTIFYING AND MEDICAL PROGRAM THAT CAN BE USED AT DIFFERENT EVEN SHELTERS AT HOMELESS RESOURCE CENTERS. IT IS A LARGE PROGRAM AND THAT'S IN THEIR HANDS AND THEY ARE PROGRESSING WITH IT. BUT I DID NOT REPORT OFF ON THAT BECAUSE THAT IS IN THEIR HANDS AND IT'S COUNTY LEVEL AND THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB OF IT. SO IT IS IT'S PERCOLATING, BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT ANY OF US HERE HAVE DIRECT CONTROL OVER. GO AHEAD. OK. AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THE CROSSTALK MAYOR. BUT IS THAT SOMETHING WE EXPECT TO HAVE ACCESS TO THAT THEY'LL GIVE US? AND MY THOUGHT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF WHAT THE USA CH. TALKS ABOUT IS HAVING A PROCESS. IT'S LIKE YOU ENCOUNTER SOMEBODY AND YOU HAVE A SYSTEM OR WHATEVER AND [00:30:02] THEY'RE NOT IN IT AND YOU KIND OF ENTER THEM. AND YOU KIND OF YOU CREATE A SYSTEM BY WHICH WE CAN MOVE THEM THROUGH TO GET TO THE POINT WHERE WE'RE GIVING THEM THE WHETHER IT BE A DART PASS OR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING OR WHATEVER. ARE WE EXPECTED TO HAVE? IS THAT SOMETHING WHERE THEY'RE EXPECTING THAT WE WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THAT? SO AT OUR POLICE LEVEL WILL BE ABLE TO WORK THAT? THEY'RE EXPECTING THERE TO BE WIDESPREAD ACCESS TO IT. AND AGAIN, IT'S A COUNTY PROGRAM AND THEY'RE EXPECTING TO DISTRIBUTE IT BROADLY THROUGH THE COUNTY, DOWN AT THE GROUND LEVEL, WHERE ONE ON ONE WHERE THE HOMELESS COME IN CONTACT WITH A HELPER, IT'S TO THAT LEVEL. SO YES, I HAVEN'T GOTTEN A RECENT UPDATE ABOUT HOW CLOSE THEY ARE TO NAILING THAT DOWN, BUT I'VE HAD A NUMBER OF CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM ABOUT IT, AND THAT IS THAT'S WHERE THEY'RE HEADING. AND IT MAY BE, QUITE FRANKLY, IT MAY BE THAT IT'S SLOWED DOWN BECAUSE THEY'RE TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE, THE MEDICAL TRYING TO MAKE IT WHERE YOU CAN DO INTAKE WITH MEDICAL AS WELL AS OTHER IDENTIFICATION. AND IT MAY BE THAT THIS IS GOING TO END UP HAVING TO BE SPLIT ON THEIR END. SO BUT I AM HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND AGAIN, IT WOULD BE EXPECTED TO BE COMING OUT INTO OUR COMMUNITY AND INTO ALL THE HANDS OF THE HELPERS, WHOEVER THEY MAY BE, WHETHER IT'S FIRST RESPONDERS OR RESOURCE CENTERS. GREAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. VERY GOOD. COUNCIL LADY MORRIS, YOU HAVE ANYTHING ADDITIONAL. GO AHEAD. SORRY, I JUST I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY ELSE IN THE QUEUE, SO IF YOU WANTED TO WRAP IT UP, IF YOU HAD ANY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS. WELL, SO I DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S ANYTHING. WELL, I GUESS I WOULD ASK THIS ISN'T URGENT AT THIS POINT BECAUSE OUR NEXT BUDGET IS QUITE SOME TIME AWAY. BUT THE ONE RECOMMENDATION TO HIRE AN ADDITIONAL COORDINATOR LESS WELL DEGREED THAN THE SOCIAL WORKER, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING NOW. WOULD THAT HAVE COUNCIL'S APPROVAL MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR THAT WE WOULD LOOK AT THAT AS BEING A DIRECTION WE WOULD WANT TO HEAD AND WE MIGHT WANT TO ASK THE CITY MANAGER. OUR 10TH COUNCIL MEMBER. YEAH OUR 10TH [LAUGHTER] I DIDN'T SAY THAT. I THOUGHT IT. COUNCIL I GUESS WHAT I WOULD ASK YOU FOR TONIGHT IS, IS IF I CAN IDENTIFY THE FUNDING EARLIER THAN NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, WOULD COUNCIL BE AN AGREEMENT FOR US TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD? WELL, WE'LL HEAD THAT DIRECTION FOR SURE. GREAT QUESTION. OK. OK, SO DO WE WANT TO? WELL, I WAS JUST SO WE HAVE THE THREE RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE US AND I WILL TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THEM IS THE NUMBER ONE OR THE FIRST ONE. AS FAR AS THE HOUSING COMPONENT, YOU KNOW, ONE ONE THING THAT REALLY STRUCK ME HERE RECENTLY WITH NICOLE, THE VETERAN THAT WE HELPED THE OTHER DAY IS THAT SHE WAS CHOOSING TO LIVE IN HER CAR BECAUSE THE SHELTER SHE LIVED IN DIDN'T HAVE WI FI ACCESS. THEREFORE, SHE COULDN'T WORK ON HER HOMEWORK OR DO HER STUDIES AND ALL OF THAT. SO SHE MADE A WHAT I CAN IMAGINE IS AN EXCRUCIATINGLY DIFFICULT DECISION TO CHOOSE TO LIVE OUT OF HER CAR VERSUS A SHELTER AND SO THAT, YOU KNOW, SO I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, WITH THE THREE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE IN FRONT OF US, IS THERE COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE. ANOTHER REASON TOO THAT SHE CHOSE NOT TO LIVE IN THE SHELTER? WE'LL HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SHELTER IS PROTECTED IN SUCH A MANNER. WOMEN IN SHELTERS THAT ARE OPEN TO EVERYONE THEY FIND THEMSELVES A LOT OF TIMES THREATENED AS A RESULT OF THAT. SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS ALSO THAT SHE CHOSE NOT TO LIVE THERE. YES, SIR. THANK YOU MR. MAYOR. YES. SO WE HAVE THE COMMITTEE'S THREE RECOMMENDATIONS, WHICH I THINK ARE ALL VERY STRONG AND KEEP US MOVING TOWARDS THE DIRECTION THAT WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING AND HOPEFULLY WITH THE INTERVIEW PROCESS THAT WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO BE HAVING. HOPEFULLY WE CAN IDENTIFY THOSE ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUALS, BE THEY PART TIME, WHATEVER. SO I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYONE SHAKING THEIR HEAD NO. SO ARE WE GOOD WITH ALL THREE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE COMMITTEE HAS MADE? THAT WOULD BE UNANIMOUS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [LAUGHTER] ALL RIGHT, THAT WILL MOVE US TO ITEM 4C GP&L [4C. GP&L Communication and Outage Management Update] COMMUNICATION AND OUTAGE MANAGEMENT UPDATE. [00:35:10] MAYOR MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. GOOD EVENING. I'M GOING TO MAKE THE ASSUMPTION THAT VERSION TWO HERE IS THE CORRECT ONE. GOOD EVENING, I'M DARRELL CLINE GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT ALSO HAVE WITH ME TONIGHT MR. TOM HANCOCK, WHO IS OUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER. I'LL BE GOING OVER THE COMMUNICATION UPDATE AS FAR AS SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT FACED ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEBRUARY WINTER WEATHER EVENT. AND THEN, AS YOU MAY RECALL, TOM WENT THROUGH SOME OF THE OVERVIEW OF OUR OUTAGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES POST THE WINTER WEATHER EVENT. SO TOM WILL BE GIVING THE UPDATE ON OUR OUTAGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES AND SOME OF THE ACTIONS THAT WE'VE TAKEN. ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S UNDERSTOOD IS THAT WHAT THESE ACTIONS THAT WE HAVE TAKEN AND ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ARE TAKING OR NOT. I THINK COUNCIL IS FULLY AWARE AND I THINK EVEN NOW AFTER OUR FEBRUARY WINTER EVENT, THAT MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE AWARE THAT EVEN THOUGH WE OWN THOSE BIG, TALL TRANSMISSION POLES THAT YOU SEE IN THE CITY AND THE WIRES THAT ARE ON THEM, EVEN THOUGH WE OWN THOSE AND WE HAVE OPERATORS THAT OPERATE THOSE, THE ULTIMATE CONTROL OF THE OPERATIONS OF THOSE TRANSMISSION LINES ARE HELD WITH ERCOT. SO DURING THE WINTER EVENT, THE OPERATIONS WERE DICTATED BY ERCOT. SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO CONTROL AND THERE'S THINGS THAT WE ARE NOT ABLE TO CONTROL. THE ACTIONS THAT WE HAVE TAKEN ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE THINGS THAT WE CAN MEANINGFULLY CONTROL. ESSENTIALLY, WHAT WE'VE TRIED TO DO IS MITIGATE THOSE TYPE OF ISSUES THAT MAY ARISE DURING SOME TYPE OF FEBRUARY EVENT. AGAIN, CONTROLLING WHAT WE CAN CONTROL ASSOCIATED WITH THESE ACTIONS. SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S CLEAR OF WHAT THESE ACTIONS WE'VE TAKEN ARE AND AREN'T. THE UPDATE TONIGHT IS BASICALLY FROM THE COMMUNICATION STANDPOINT IS IN FOUR PARTS. IT'S THE COMMUNICATION THAT WE HAD FROM ERCOT, THE COMMUNICATION THAT WE HAD WITHIN THE CITY AS FAR AS BETWEEN GP&L AND THE CITY AND THEN THE COMMUNICATION THAT WE RECEIVED FROM OUR CUSTOMERS. THOSE THREE THINGS ULTIMATELY DICTATED HOW WE WERE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE OR NOT COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CUSTOMERS. BUT BEFORE I GET INTO THE PRESENTATION, I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO REVISIT TO A CERTAIN DEGREE. I DON'T WANT TO GO TOO IN DEPTH WITH THE WINTER EVENT BECAUSE FOR MANY OF US, THAT'S STILL A PAINFUL SORE SUBJECT MATTER AND I DON'T WANT TO BE RIPPING OFF THE SCAB OFF OF A WOUND, BUT I THINK IT'S GOOD TO LOOK AT THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS EVENT BECAUSE IT WILL GIVE SOME PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT THE ERCOT GRID WAS FACING, AS WELL AS OUR SYSTEM WAS FACING. I'VE TOLD MANY PEOPLE HAVE ASKED, YOU KNOW, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT WAS EXPECTED AND OBVIOUSLY NOT. I MEAN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY EVER ANTICIPATED THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS KIND OF EVENT. AND IT'S DEFINITELY EVIDENT WHEN YOU LOOK AT ERCOT AND THEY'RE PLANNING AND FORECASTING PRIOR TO THIS FEBRUARY EVENT, THEIR EXTREME WINTER FORECAST FOR ERCOT WAS NINE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED MEGAWATTS LOWER THAN WHAT WE EXPERIENCED. AND TO PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE, IF YOU LOOK AT GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT'S PEAK SUMMER DEMAND, WE'RE SOMETIMES AROUND FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TO FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY MEGAWATTS OF DEMAND ELECTRICITY DEMAND ON OUR SYSTEM. IF YOU DO THE MATH, THAT'S OFF ABOUT 20 GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT PEAK DEMANDS. AND SOME OF YOU MAY RECALL THAT WE HAD THE TMPA COAL PLANT, ITS FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY MEGAWATTS. IF YOU DO THE MATH, THAT'S OVER 20 TMPA COAL UNITS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT ERCOT SAID WOULD BE THE EXTREME WINTER WEATHER EVENT OF WHAT THEY WERE FORECASTING AND PLANNING VERSUS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, THAT WILL GIVE YOU KIND OF SOME IDEA OF THE MAGNITUDE. AND IT'S NOT JUST ON ERCOT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEIR FORECASTING. IF YOU LOOK AT THE WEATHER FORECAST JUST A WEEK BEFORE THE WINTER EVENT HAPPEN, [00:40:06] WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE WEATHER FORECAST, THERE WAS A COLD FRONT COMING THROUGH, BUT NOTHING OF THE MAGNITUDE THAT WE SAW. AND IN FACT, IF YOU LOOKED AT ERCOT'S FORECAST FOR THE PEAK AMOUNT OF USAGE THAT THEY WERE EXPECTING FOR THE WINTER EVENT ON FEBRUARY 14TH, WHICH IS A DAY BEFORE THE OUTAGES STARTED, THEIR PEAK ESTIMATE WAS FIFTEEN THOUSAND MEGAWATTS HIGHER THAN JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE, AGAIN, FIFTEEN THOUSAND MEGAWATTS, LET'S PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE. THAT WOULD BE OVER 30 GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT PEAK SUMMER DAYS OR OVER 30 TMPA GIBBONS CREEK COAL PLANTS. SO THAT'S THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MOVEMENT THAT ERCOT WAS SEEING IN JUST A LITTLE SHORT WINDOW BECAUSE OF THE CHANGE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WEATHER. JUST AGAIN, ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO OTHER WINTER WEATHER EVENTS THAT ERCOT HAD WITH REGARDS TO OUTAGES. IF YOU GO BACK TO 1989, WHICH I REMEMBER 1989 WELL, BECAUSE I WAS WORKING AT SAM'S CLUB IN TYLER, TEXAS, WHEN IT SET THE ALL TIME LOW OF ZERO DEGREES. I WAS OUT, I WAS A CART BOY. I WAS THE ONLY ONE OUT THERE BRINGING CARTS IN. SO I REMEMBER TOO WELL THE TEMPERATURES THAT WERE IN 1989. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THAT OUTAGE THAT HAPPENED ON ERCOT, THAT WAS ROUGHLY FOUR PERCENT OF THE ELECTRICITY USE WAS FORCIBLY REDUCED IN ERCOT FOR THAT EVENT. 2011 IF YOU'VE READ SOME OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, THERE'S A LOT OF REFERENCE BACK TO 2011 WEATHER EVENT. THAT WEATHER EVENT THERE WAS EIGHT PERCENT OF THE ELECTRIC USE WAS FORCIBLY REDUCED IN ERCOT FOR THAT EVENT. THOSE TWO EVENTS WERE ROUGHLY AROUND EIGHT OR NINE HOURS EACH AS FAR AS TOTAL OUTAGE. COME TO FEBRUARY OF 2021. TWENTY SIX PERCENT OF THE ELECTRICITY USE ON THE SYSTEM WAS FORCIBLY REDUCED AND THERE WAS AN OUTAGE ON THE SYSTEM FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE HOURS. AGAIN, THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS EVENT WAS HUGE. NOTHING THAT ANYBODY HAD ANTICIPATED THAT WOULD HAPPEN. SO I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD TO PUT SOME PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT NOT ONLY THE ERCOT GRID WAS FACING, BUT WHAT WE WERE FACING FROM A SYSTEM. AS I MENTIONED, THE FIRST PART IS THE COMMUNICATION THAT WE HAD FROM ERCOT DURING THE EVENT. HISTORICALLY, ERCOT HAS LED THE COMMUNICATION WITH REGARDS TO ANYTHING THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH ANY TYPE OF SYSTEM EVENT THAT'S HAPPENING ON THE ERCOT SYSTEM AND THAT NATURALLY MAKES SENSE. THEY'RE THE ONES ULTIMATELY THAT'S IN CONTROL OF THE SYSTEM, AND SO THEY SHOULD BE LEADING THE COMMUNICATION. IN ADDITION, I THINK MANY OF YOU ARE AWARE THAT IN ERCOT, THE ENERGY PRICES ARE BASED UPON SUPPLY AND DEMAND. SO IF YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR SITUATION WHERE A MARKET PARTICIPANT, WHICH WE GARLAND POWER AND LIGHT IS A MARKET PARTICIPANT WERE TO COMMUNICATE SOMETHING OUT INTO THE MARKETPLACE, YOU COULD HAVE A SITUATION WHERE IT COULD AFFECT THE MARKET PRICES. SO ERCOT IS VERY SENSITIVE ABOUT WHAT GETS COMMUNICATED OUT INTO THE MARKETPLACE. SO HISTORICALLY, MARKET PARTICIPANTS HAVE ALLOWED ERCOT TO LEAD THE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS. WELL, POST FEBRUARY, ERCOT REALIZED THAT THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS GARLAND POWER ANDLIGHT. WE'RE THE ONES WHO ARE GETTING TO TAKE THE CALLS. WE'RE THE ONES THAT ARE AT GROUND ZERO. WE'RE THE ONES ON THE FRONT LINES AND WE'RE HAVING TO FIELD ALL THESE QUESTIONS AND WE'RE WAITING ON ERCOT TO COMMUNICATE. SO THEY'VE CHANGED THEIR FOCUS. WE'VE HAD MEETINGS AND CALLS WITH ERCOT, AND THEY'RE TAKING MORE OF A MARKET PARTICIPANT FOCUSED TYPE OF APPROACH. THEY'VE RECOGNIZED SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT CAME OUT OF THIS EVENT, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT ON SOME OF THESE ITEMS HERE. DURING THE FEBRUARY EVENT ERCOT DIDN'T HAVE ANY TYPE OF DEFINED MEDIA UPDATES. THEY MIGHT DO ONE A DAY. THEY MIGHT DO TWO A DAY. THERE WERE NO SET TIMES AND ALSO FOR ALL THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS, THERE WAS NO NOTIFICATION. SO WE DIDN'T KNOW WHEN THESE WERE GOING TO BE COMING OUT. SO WHAT ERCOT HAS COME AND DONE IS, THEY SAID NOW FOR SOME TYPE OF CRISIS, LIKE WE'VE HAD WITH THE FEBRUARY EVENT, THERE WILL BE FOUR MEDIA UPDATES PER DAY. THE EXAMPLE THAT THEY'VE GIVEN US AND THIS COULD FLUCTUATE, BUT RIGHT NOW, THE EXAMPLE THEY'VE GIVEN US IS 4:00 A.M., 11:00 A.M., 3:00 P.M. AND 9:00 P.M. WOULD BE THE TIMES OF COMMUNICATION THAT THEY HAVE FOR THE UPDATES OF WHAT'S GOING ON WITHIN THE ERCOT SYSTEM. THE OTHER THING IS THAT THEY THEY WOULDN'T NOTIFY THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS, NOR [00:45:07] WOULD THEY ALLOW THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS TO ATTEND ANY OF THE MEDIA UPDATES. WELL, THAT'S CHANGED. NOW MARKET PARTICIPANTS ARE GIVEN NOTIFICATION 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE MEDIA UPDATE SO THAT OUR MEDIA FOLKS CAN GATHER THE INFORMATION, GET IT READY, SO THAT WE CAN DISSEMINATE OUT TO OUR CUSTOMERS. ALSO NOW THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS CAN ATTEND THESE MEDIA BRIEFINGS, SO THAT'S ANOTHER CHANGE THAT ERCOT HAS MADE. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY DURING THE EVENT ERCOT'S, EMAIL DISTRIBUTION SERVER WAS DOWN AND IT WASN'T DISCOVERED UNTIL FEBRUARY THE 16TH, WHICH WOULD'VE BEEN TUESDAY OF THE WINTER EVENT AND WASN'T FIXED UNTIL LATE THAT EVENING. SO ERCOT HAS GONE IN AND THEY'VE REPLACED THEIR EMAIL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, SO HOPEFULLY THAT THAT WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE GOING FORWARD. THE OTHER FEEDBACK THAT ERCOT RECEIVED WAS THAT THEY HAD TOO MUCH OF A TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRY JARGON ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT THEY WERE RELEASING TO THE MEDIA. AND SO WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO RIGHT NOW IS MOVE THIS INTO LAYMAN'S TERMS, BASICALLY WHERE MOST PEOPLE CAN BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND. AND AS SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR A LONG TIME, I TOTALLY GET THEIR POSITION. SO YOU'RE SO USED TO TALKING IN THAT TYPE OF VERNACULAR THAT YOU FORGET THAT THERE'S PEOPLE THAT KNOW THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT DEMAND IS OR WHAT RESOURCE MEANS. AND SO THEY'RE TRYING TO COME IN WITH DIFFERENT WORDING. BUT THIS IS STILL A PROCESS THEY HAVEN'T GIVEN US A TIMEFRAME ON WHEN THIS WILL BE COMPLETED, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S IN THE WORKS ON THE ERCOT SIDE. AND THEN FINALLY, THE OTHER FEEDBACK THAT THEY RECEIVED WAS THAT THEIR WEBSITE WAS TOO TECHNICAL. IT WAS TOO INDUSTRY FOCUSED. AND SO THEY'VE ALREADY GONE TO MAKE CHANGES WITH THEIR DESIGN ON THEIR WEBSITE TO TRY TO MAKE IT MORE USER FRIENDLY FOR THE PUBLIC. WITH REGARDS TO COMMUNICATION DURING THE EVENT BETWEEN GP&L AN THE CITY, THERE WAS LATE AND INCONSISTENT INFORMATION THAT WAS BEING PROVIDED TO CITY MANAGEMENT. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, SOME OF THAT IS, OF COURSE, DICTATED BY WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE COMMUNICATION OR LACK OF COMMUNICATION FROM ERCOT. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING TO TRY TO ADDRESS THAT ISSUE IS THAT WE WILL HAVE SCHEDULED UPDATES THAT WILL BE ASSOCIATED WHEN ERCOT IS RELEASING THEIR INFORMATION. IN ADDITION, WE WILL BE HAVING SCHEDULED UPDATES IN BETWEEN. NOW, I WON'T GIVE YOU THAT IT WILL BE EVERY HOUR, EVERY TWO HOURS BECAUSE YOU REALLY NEED TO LOOK AT WHAT'S THE PARTICULAR SITUATION BECAUSE YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE MORE COMMUNICATION UP FRONT DURING AN EVENT AND AS TIME GOES ON OR YOU REDUCE THAT AMOUNT OF COMMUNICATION. BUT REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE ULTIMATE APPROACH IS THAT WHEN AN EVENT STARTS TO HAPPEN, WE WILL HAVE A SCHEDULE IN PLACE BECAUSE THE ONE THING THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN IS SILENCE. IT MAY BE THAT YOU PUT IN THE SAME MESSAGE THAT YOU PREVIOUS PUT IN AND SAID, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO UPDATE, BUT HERE'S THE INFORMATION THAT WE DO KNOW, BUT THERE CAN'T BE SILENCE. AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'LL BE DOING. THE OTHER IS IN THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT THEY WERE HAVING DURING THE EVENT MEETINGS TWICE A DAY. TYPICALLY, OUR REPRESENTATIVE WOULD BE A DISTRIBUTION REPRESENTATIVE BECAUSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT A TORNADO, AN ICE STORM, YOU'RE TRYING TO RESTORE POLES, WIRES, TRANSFORMERS, THOSE TYPE OF THINGS ARE TRYING TO BE RESTORED. IN THIS PARTICULAR EVENT. IT WAS DIFFERENT. IT WASN'T A DISTRIBUTION ISSUE IT WAS AN OPERATIONAL ISSUE. SO IF ANY OF YOU ALL HAVE BEEN OUT TO OUR SYSTEM OPERATIONS AND SEEN THE BIG MAPS THAT THEY HAVE ON THE BOARDS, AND THIS IS WHERE THEY'RE SWITCHING POWER ON AND OFF, THAT'S WHERE THE ISSUE WAS. AND SO TO HAVE SOMEBODY THERE AVAILABLE AS A SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT IN THAT TYPE OF SITUATION WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BENEFICIAL. SO WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT DEPENDING UPON THE CRISIS, TO HAVE THE RIGHT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INVOLVED IN THOSE MEETINGS. WE ALSO RECEIVED THE SAME FEEDBACK AS FAR AS THE TECHNICAL JARGON. SO WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING AHEAD OF ERCOT AND WE'RE COMING IN AND TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT AND WE'RE HOPING TO BE COMPLETE BY THIS NEXT MONTH. WE WILL GO IN AND IF ERCOT HAS SOME DEFINITIONS THAT ARE DIFFERENT THAN OURS, WE'LL TRY TO RECONCILE THOSE TWO WHEN THEY EVENTUALLY COME OUT WITH THOSE. BUT WE'RE NOT WAITING ON ERCOT. WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND HAVE THOSE LAYMAN'S TERMS AVAILABLE SO THAT WHEN WE PUT OUT SOME TYPE OF MEDIA OR PRESS RELEASE, IT WILL BE MORE IN A COMMON VERNACULAR THAT YOU'D BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND RATHER THAN THAN THE VERNACULAR OF THE INDUSTRY. LASTLY, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO MAXIMIZE THE SYNERGIES BETWEEN GP&L'S COMMUNICATION [00:50:07] STAFF AND THE STAFF THAT'S IN THE CITY'S PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS GROUP. ON OUR SIDE, WE HAVE TWO POSITIONS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDIA. WE HAVE A MANAGER AND A POSITION THAT ASSISTS THE MANAGER. UNFORTUNATELY, JUST A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THIS EVENT, THE PERSON WHO ASSIST THE MANAGER LEFT FOR ANOTHER POSITION. WE HAD A NEW PERSON IN FOR ALL OF SIX WEEKS WHEN THIS HAPPENED. AND UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER THIS EVENT, THE PERSON DID LEAVE. BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT WAS OVERWHELMING FOR SOMEBODY. SO WE NORMALLY IN THESE TYPE OF A NORMAL TYPE OF EVENT FOR US, OUR MEDIA FOLKS CAN HANDLE WHETHER IT'S A TORNADO, ICE STORM, SOMETHING LIKE THAT WE CAN HANDLE. BUT IN THIS SITUATION, IT WAS SO LARGE WE NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THOSE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT ARE ON THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT. SO WHAT WE'VE DONE TO TRY TO INCREASE THAT CAPACITY, THAT RESOURCE IS THAT WE'VE HAD SOME CROSS TRAINING BETWEEN THE GROUPS. AND THEN IN ADDITION, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS WHERE GP&L WOULD BE THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT BASICALLY COMING UP WITH THE CONTENT AND THEN THE PUBLIC MEDIA RELATIONS GROUP WOULD BE THEN DISSEMINATING THAT INFORMATION. BECAUSE IF YOU CAN IMAGINE YOU'VE GOT ALL THESE PLATFORMS, WE'RE TRYING TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION ON, AND IF YOU'VE GOT ONE OR TWO PEOPLE TRYING TO DO IT, IT'S OVERWHELMING. SO WE'VE GOT MORE CAPACITY, MORE AVAILABILITY TO BE ABLE TO PUT THAT INFORMATION OUT. OUR NEXT AREA WAS THE CUSTOMERS COMMUNICATING WITH GP&L. DURING THE EVENT OUR OUTAGE SYSTEM WAS OVERWHELMED. AS FAR AS THE PHONE SIDE, WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY SEVENTY TWO THOUSAND CUSTOMERS WITH GP&L. WE RECEIVED ALMOST SEVENTY EIGHT THOUSAND CALLS ON THAT SYSTEM IN THAT FEW DAYS OF THE EVENT. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT TAXED THE SYSTEM. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE IS TO HAVE PREPARED MESSAGES SO THAT WHEN WE HAVE THIS TYPE OF EVENT THAT WHEN SOMEBODY CALLS, THEY CAN AT LEAST RECEIVE SOME INFORMATION THAT WE DO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. IT'S ALMOST LIKE WHEN YOU CALL AND IT SAYS, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A HEAVY CALL VOLUME RIGHT NOW. AND HERE'S THE REASON WHY. SAME TYPE OF PROCESS WHERE WE CAN PUT INFORMATION. WE DID THAT DURING THE EVENT. UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS ABOUT MIDWAY DURING THE EVENT. AND WHAT OUR FOLKS ARE TELLING US IS THAT WHEN THAT HAPPENED, THE CALL VOLUME THAT WOULD GO TO TRY TO GET TO SPEAK WITH SOMEBODY DROPPED OFF. SO ONCE PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO HEAR, HEY, THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, HERE'S THE INFORMATION THE CALL VOLUME OF TRYING TO SPEAK WITH SOMEBODY, FAILED. SO AGAIN, WE'VE ALREADY GOT THOSE PREPARED MESSAGES AVAILABLE. IT'S JUST THAT RATHER THAN USING THEM MIDSTREAM, THEY WOULD BE AT THE FRONT END OF THIS TYPE OF EVENT. THE OTHER THING WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS INVESTIGATING A THIRD PARTY CALL CENTER FOR ANY TYPE OF CALL OVERFLOWS AND AFTER HOURS. MANY, MANY YEARS AGO, WELL BEFORE ANY OF OUR TIME, THERE WAS A THIRD PARTY CALL CENTER THAT WAS UTILIZED BY GP&L. AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT REINSTITUTING THAT AND WE'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT THE SPRING OF 2022 AS FAR AS PUTTING THAT IN PLACE. IN ADDITION, THE CALL CENTER, I BELIEVE THEY WERE DOWN TO ABOUT OF A THIRD OF THE PEOPLE WE'RE ABLE TO GET IN AS FAR AS ON THE CALL CENTER SIDE. THE CITY IS RECENTLY GOING ON UNDER A VOICE OVER INTERNET AS FAR AS THE PHONE SERVICE THAT GIVES FLEXIBILITY. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THE CITY IS LOOKING AT DOING WITH THE CALL CENTER IS BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE REMOTE ACCESS WHERE THOSE CALL CENTER REPRESENTATIVES WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE THOSE PHONE CALLS. AND SO EVEN THOUGH I BELIEVE THERE'S 15 CALL CENTER REPRESENTATIVES, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE 78,000. BUT IF YOU'VE GOT THAT PLUS THE THIRD PARTY CALL CENTER, THAT'S JUST GIVING YOU MORE RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE. AND AGAIN, THIS IS LOOKING AT SPRING OF 2022 AS FAR AS PUTTING THAT IN PLACE. AND AS I MENTIONED, THE COMMUNICATION WITH ERCOT, THE COMMUNICATION INTERNALLY AND THEN THE COMMUNICATION FROM OUR CUSTOMERS ULTIMATELY IMPACTED HOW WE WERE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE OR NOT COMMUNICATE IN SOME CASES WITH OUR CUSTOMERS. ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT WE HAD IS THE REACH OF THE PLATFORMS THAT WE USED TO COMMUNICATE. WE USED THINGS LIKE TWITTER, FACEBOOK NEXT DOOR. PART OF THE PROBLEM IS I THINK YOU HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ME. I'M NOT ON ANY OF THAT. BUT WHAT I DO HAVE IS THIS I CAN TAKE TEXTS, EMAILS, CALLS. SO THIS IS A VERY POWERFUL. EVERBRIDGE ALLOWS US TO DO THAT. SO EVERBRIDGE, YOU CAN HAVE WHERE YOU CAN TEXT, YOU CAN CALL, YOU CAN EMAIL. [00:55:02] SO WE'RE EXPANDING THE USE ASSOCIATED WITH EVERBRIDGE TO BE ABLE TO GET OUR REACH BROADER TO THE COMMUNITY. THE OTHER THING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING IS DOING SOME MODIFICATIONS TO OUR OUTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. RIGHT NOW, WE CAN TAKE TEXT IF YOU HAVE AN OUTAGE, BUT WE CAN'T BLAST ANY MESSAGES BACK OUT. SO WE'RE GOING TO DO SOME MODIFICATIONS. SO NOT ONLY CAN WE BLAST MESSAGES BACK OUT THROUGH THROUGH OUR TEXT, EVERBRIDGE AND THEN OUR OTHER PLATFORMS THAT WE ALREADY HAVE WILL BE IN PLACE. LASTLY, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S A LITTLE BIT LONGER TERM. THIS WOULD BE AN ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM, AN AMI SYSTEM. THE COMMUNICATION SIDE OF THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY WHERE WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH THE CUSTOMER, BUT IT GIVES US MORE VISIBILITY AS FAR AS OUTAGE INFORMATION. RIGHT NOW, WE KNOW OUTAGES BASED UPON DISTRIBUTION FEEDERS. SO THOSE BIG LINES THAT ARE NOT THE REALLY BIG LINES, BUT THE BIG DISTRIBUTION LINES THAT ARE COMING OUT OF THE SUBSTATIONS THAT YOU SEE, THEY'RE FEEDING ELECTRICITY OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY. WE KNOW WHEN THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THOSE FEEDERS, BUT WE DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A PROBLEM ON AN INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER'S METER. THIS WILL GIVE US MORE VISIBILITY ASSOCIATED WITH THAT. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE WITH THE OUTAGE GOING ON, YOU STILL, ONCE YOU'RE RESTORING EVERYTHING, YOU STILL HAVE THAT EFFORT IF YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE IS EVERYBODY STILL BACK ON DOWN TO THE INDIVIDUAL METER? ALSO, WE HAD SIMILAR SITUATION WITH REGARDS TO COMMUNICATION WITH OUR CUSTOMERS THAT WE DID INTERNALLY INCONSISTENT INFREQUENT TECHNICAL TYPE OF MESSAGING. SO AS WE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, WE WILL BE DOING SCHEDULED MESSAGING THAT WILL HELP WITH REGARDS TO THE FREQUENCY. ALSO, THE COORDINATION WITH THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA RELATIONS GROUP THAT SHOULD HELP SPEED UP THE PROCESS AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT. THE OTHER THING WE'VE ALREADY DONE IS WE'VE OBTAINED A THIRD PARTY MESSAGING SERVICE. IT'S ACTUALLY NINETY NINE DOLLARS A MONTH FOR AN ENTITY THAT PROVIDES A PLATFORM WHERE THEY HAVE VARIOUS INCIDENCES THAT YOU CAN PUT INFORMATION IN AND IT WILL PROVIDE A PRESS RELEASE FOR YOU THAT'S IN COMMON VERNACULAR SO THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND THEN YOU CAN MAKE MODIFICATIONS TO IT. SO WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT TRYING TO SPEED UP THAT PROCESS. AND FOR $99 A MONTH, WE'LL DEFINITELY TAKE THAT ON. AND THEN LASTLY, WE'RE TRYING TO CENTRALIZE COMMUNICATION TO THE WEBSITE. WE'LL STILL HAVE THE MESSAGES GOING OUT, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO GO TO THE WEBSITE BECAUSE AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IF YOU'RE TRYING TO SEND INFORMATION OUT INTO MULTIPLE AREAS AND RESPOND TO MULTIPLE AREAS, IT BECOMES EXTREMELY DIFFICULT IN A CRISIS TYPE OF SITUATION. SO IF YOU CAN GET PEOPLE TO FOCUS AND GO TO A PARTICULAR SITE WHERE THEY CAN GET THE SAME INFORMATION, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS COORDINATE THOSE EFFORTS TO THE CITY WEBSITE AND TO THE GP&L WEBSITE. THESE LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES ON COMMUNICATION AREN'T REALLY REVOLVED AROUND THE FEBRUARY ISSUE. THIS IS JUST KIND OF GENERAL INFORMATION. YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT CHANGES THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING ASSOCIATED WITH SOME TYPE OF CRISIS EVENT, BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S UNDERSTOOD WE'RE STILL GOING TO HAVE THE ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS THAT WE'VE ALWAYS HAD. THE BILL INSERTS, CITY PRESS, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA. WE WILL STILL BE DOING THOSE TYPE OF ACTIVITIES THAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE, AND THERE MAY BE SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT WE'LL BE ADDING INTO IT ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEBRUARY EVENT. SOME OF THE OUTCOMES THERE THAT JUST SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR THE CITIZENS. AND THEN ALSO THERE'S SOME LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS THAT HAVE HAPPENED WITH SENATE BILL THREE. THERE'S SOME REQUIREMENTS WITH REGARDS TO BILL INSERTS. WE'RE ALREADY DOING THAT, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S IN THE RULE MAKING PROCESS BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS. SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL RESULTS WILL BE, BUT WE DON'T THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BE ANYTHING DRAMATIC COMPARED TO WHAT WE ALREADY DO. AND THEN ALSO, THERE'S GOING TO BE A STATEWIDE ALERT SYSTEM THROUGH TXDOT. AND FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THE WAY THIS IS GOING TO BE STRUCTURED IS SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE AMBER ALERT. SO IF WE HAVE SOME TYPE OF POWER ISSUE THAT WE SEE THAT'S GOING TO BE OCCURRING, THERE WOULD BE A SYSTEM ALERT ACROSS THE STATE. AND SO I HAVE SOME REQUESTS FROM THE COMMUNICATION STANDPOINT, FROM THE RESIDENT STANDPOINT. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD REALLY BENEFIT US IS WE'RE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, BUT IT'S HARD FOR US TO COMMUNICATE IF WE DON'T HAVE CERTAIN INFORMATION. SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE REQUESTING IS THAT CITIZENS LOOK AT SUBSCRIBING TO EVERBRIDGE, THE GARLAND ALERT SYSTEM. WE'VE GOT THE INFORMATION UP THERE AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE, I CAN TRY TO SHOW THE [01:00:05] WEBSITE I CAN TRY AND SHOW THE WEBSITE WHERE RESIDENTS CAN GO IN AND SIGN UP FOR THE GARLAND ALERT, AS WELL AS THE NOTIFICATIONS AND E NEWSLETTERS AT THE CITY'S WEBSITE. THE OTHER THING THAT WE'D BE REQUESTING IS IF YOU CAN ADD OR UPDATE YOUR PHONE NUMBER, IN PARTICULAR YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER, BECAUSE YOU CAN CALL AND TEXT WITH A CELL PHONE. AND SO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR UTILITY BILL ACCOUNT TIES WITH YOUR PHONE NUMBER. BECAUSE IF YOU CAN IMAGINE IF YOU STILL HAVE A LANDLINE SET UP AND NOW YOU'RE USING A CELL PHONE TO CALL, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE SITUATION THERE BECAUSE WE CAN'T IDENTIFY WHO OR WHERE YOU ARE. YOU DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER TIED TO IT NOW. YOU COULD ENTER IN YOUR BILL ACCOUNT NUMBER. BUT IF THE POWER'S OUT AND IT'S DARK AND YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR BILL ACCOUNT NUMBER, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE DIFFICULTY. SO AGAIN, WE'D APPRECIATE IF YOU'D REACH OUT TO OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND HAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER, EITHER ADD IT OR UPDATE IT TO YOUR UTILITY BILL ACCOUNT AND THEN ALSO FOLLOW THE CITY AND GP&L WEBSITES FOR INFORMATION. THEN WE HAVE A REQUEST OF COUNCIL IF WE CAN TRY TO ENCOURAGE CITIZENS TO SIGN UP FOR THESE ITEMS AND THEN ALSO UTILIZE THE CITY AND GP&L WEBSITES. AND THEN ALSO SHARE THE INFORMATION AS FAR AS OUTAGE, WHERE TO CALL OR WHERE TO TEXT. NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS TRY. I'M NOT THE MOST TECHNOLOGY, ADVANCED OR TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED PERSON HERE, BUT I'M GOING TO MAKE A TRY HERE AND SEE IF I CAN SHOW WHERE YOU CAN GO TO SIGN UP, HERE WE GO. NOTIFY ME. HERE'S THE NOTIFICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE E NEWSLETTERS. DOROTHY. AM I RIGHT? IS SHE NODDING HER HEAD. I'M WATCHING HER. I'M WATCHING HER REACTION. SO YES, YOU'RE GOOD. AND THERE'S THE GARLAND ALERT. SO IF YOU GO TO THE CITY WEBSITE, THESE TWO BUTTONS HERE ARE WHERE YOU WOULD NEED TO GO TO SIGN UP. AND AGAIN, WE PLEASE WOULD ASK IF YOU WOULD GO THROUGH AND TAKE THE FEW MINUTES THAT OUT OF YOUR DAY TO SIGN UP BECAUSE IT COULD BE VERY BENEFICIAL IN THESE TYPE OF EVENTS. I CAN EITHER TAKE QUESTIONS ON THE COMMUNICATION. YEAH, LET'S TAKE QUESTIONS. ANYONE WHO HAS QUESTIONS ON THE COMMUNICATION ASPECTS, IT'S GOING TO BE A SURPRISE TO YOU. BUT ALL OF THESE BUTTONS ARE LIGHTING UP, I'M SURE. YEAH. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS, YOU MADE IN FIRST. OH, WELL, THANK YOU, SIR. GOOD EVENING, SIR. GOOD EVENING. YEAH, WE'VE FINALLY GOT YOU HERE, DIDN'T WE? THANK YOU. WELL, I JUST HAVE A QUESTION ONE AND I KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS, BUT I'M GOING ASK IT ANYWAY. SB THREE DIDN'T PROVIDE ANY KIND OF FUNDING TO DO THE KIND OF THINGS THAT YOU'RE RECOMMENDING HERE. LOOK FOR LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES THERE, RIGHT? THAT'S RIGHT. OK. I KNEW THE ANSWER, BUT I JUST WANTED TO HEAR YOU SAY IT. ON THE ALERT SYSTEM. IT'S NOT HERE. RIGHT NOW I GET THE CITY UTILITY ELECTRONICALLY I GET AN EMAIL. ANY THOUGHT OF INCLUDING THIS INFORMATION IN THAT NOTICE? BECAUSE A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE PAPER STUFF ANYMORE, THE INFORMATION THAT'S ON THE SCREEN NOW, THE LINK FOLKS NOTICE THAT. SO IF WHEN I OPENED THAT EMAIL, I KNOW IT'S UTILITIES, IF THAT'S THERE, I DON'T HAVE TO GO SOMEPLACE ELSE TO LOOK FOR IT. THAT'S MY QUESTION. ANY THOUGHTS. I LIKE THAT IDEA I WOULD HAVE TO SEE FROM AGAIN WITH THE FROM THE IT PERSPECTIVE, THAT'S NOT MY EXPERTISE, BUT I LIKE THAT IDEA AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK WE PROBABLY COULD LOOK INTO. AND LET'S SEE IF WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN. OK, I'M JUST DOING AS A SUGGESTION REACTION, AND I THINK THAT'S TRUE FOR MOST OF MY NEIGHBORS. I SAID, YOU KNOW, FOLKS DON'T EVEN READ THEIR MAILS. I MEAN, THE MAIL GOES IN TRASH, BUT WHEN IT POPS UP, CITY OF GARLAND UTILITIES, FOLKS PAY ATTENTION TO THAT. AND I THINK TO GET PENETRATION THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR HERE, I THINK THAT WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT VEHICLE FOR GETTING FOLKS ATTENTION. MY NEXT QUESTION IS DURING THE ICEMAGEDDON WE GOT A LOT OF CALLS FROM INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD HEALTH ISSUES. [01:05:05] PEOPLE WERE ON MEDICAL DEVICES, THOSE KIND OF THINGS BETWEEN FIRE AND POLICE. SO HOW ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT YOU HAVE HERE? CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INTEGRATION WITH FIRE AND POLICE? ALL OF THOSE SITUATIONS PEOPLE CALL, YOU KNOW, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY POWER, BUT THEY'VE GOT SOMEBODY ON A BREATHING MACHINE. SO IS THAT GOING TO BE AUTOMATIC COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOUR TEAM, FIRE AND POLICE, FOR FOLKS WHO WERE IN THOSE SITUATIONS WHICH I THINK NORMALLY WOULD BE PRIORITY ONE BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT SOMEBODY WITH A MEDICAL NEED. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WE GOT? YOU KNOW, AND I THINK MOST OF MY COLLEAGUES HERE DID TOO WE GOT [INAUDIBLE] SOME FOLKS WHO YOU KNOW, THE RESPIRATOR'S NOT WORKING, THE OXYGEN TANKS NOT WORKING, THOSE KIND OF THINGS, AND I LIKE WHAT YOU PROPOSED HERE, BUT ANY THOUGHT TO HOW WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THOSE FOLKS DON'T FALL THROUGH THE BECAUSE YOU GOT THREE DEPARTMENTS, YOURS, FIRE, YOU GOT THREE DEPARTMENTS HAVING TO WORK ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY TO ADDRESS THESE FOLKS NEEDS. ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? THAT'S A DIFFICULT I MEAN, THAT'S A DIFFICULT QUESTION FROM THE STANDPOINT OF IN THIS SITUATION WHERE YOU'VE GOT A TOTAL THE SYSTEM. SO FROM THAT STANDPOINT, WE DO HAVE INFORMATION THAT IS PROVIDED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE AS FAR AS THE CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMERS. YOU KNOW, WITH REGARDS TO THE ELECTRIC SERVICE SIDE OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S INFORMATION THAT'S PROVIDED IN THE FORM AS FAR AS SIGNING UP FOR THAT, FOR THAT NOTIFICATION. WHAT WE NOTIFY UNDER THAT TYPE OF SYSTEM IS PLANNED OUTAGES. SO IF THERE'S A PLANNED OUTAGE ON THE SYSTEM, THEN WE WILL TRY TO DO THE NOTIFICATION TO THOSE CUSTOMERS SO THEY CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS. THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE AN UNPLANNED TYPE OF OUTAGE. YOU KNOW, FROM THE COMMUNICATION, I DON'T THINK WE'VE GONE THROUGH AND LOOKED TO SEE YOU KNOW DO WE NEED TO MAKE SURE FOR SOME TYPE OF EVENT LIKE THIS THAT THERE'S COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GP&L AND FIRE OR POLICE? OR IF THAT IS SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU MAY HAVE THESE CUSTOMERS MAY HAVE MADE SOME TYPE OF ARRANGEMENTS, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF BACKUP OR ANCILLARY TYPE OF SERVICE. AND SO THEY MAY HAVE GONE AND DONE THOSE ARRANGEMENTS AND WOULDN'T NEED THE ADDITIONAL TYPE OF SUPPORT OR HELP THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FROM POLICE AND FIRE. BUT WE HAVE IT, AT LEAST FROM THE GP&L SIDE, WE HAVEN'T TAKEN IT TO THAT POINT OF WHAT OF WHERE DO YOU DRAW THAT PARTICULAR LINE OF THAT NOTIFICATION WITH REGARDS TO A CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMER? OK. BUT COULD YOU HAVE THAT DISCUSSION, I'M JUST MAKING THAT SUGGESTION. YES. AS AN AREA. MY LAST QUESTION FOR YOU IS AND WE'VE GOT A SMALL POCKET, BUT I'VE GOT SOME FOLKS. ONE SIDE IS GP&L OTHER SIDE IS ONCOR BUT IN THIS CRISIS, NOBODY REALLY CARED. ALL THEY CARED ABOUT WAS, I'M IN THE DARK AND I'M FREEZING TO DEATH. SO WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE LEVEL OF COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TWO BECAUSE I LIVE IN GARLAND AND I'M FREEZING TO DEATH AND I GOT NO POWER. SO ANY THOUGHTS ON YOU KNOW I LIKE WHAT YOU'VE RECOMMENDED. YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE THIS. BUT HOW DO YOU SEE THAT COMMUNICATION TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IF IT'S AN ONCOR CUSTOMER AND THEY LIVE IN GARLAND, THEY DON'T CARE. THEY'RE GOING TO CALL, THEY'RE GOING TO CALL SOMEBODY UP HERE. SO ANY THOUGHT THERE. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE COMMUNICATION, WHEN WE'RE SENDING THE COMMUNICATION OUT, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, SAY EVERBRIDGE. SO IF YOU'RE SIGNED UP AND YOU'RE AN ONCOR CUSTOMER, YOU'LL STILL BE GETTING THOSE TYPE OF NOTIFICATIONS OUT. AND SO TYPICALLY WHAT WE'LL HAVE IN THAT COMMUNICATION WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM IF IT'S SPECIFIC JUST TO GP&L, THERE'LL BE SOME INDICATION THAT'S SPECIFIC TO GP&L. BUT IF IT'S SOME TYPE OF BROAD EVENT LIKE THIS, THEN OF COURSE, EVERYBODY WHO'S ON THE EVERBRIDGE WOULD BE GETTING THAT TYPE OF NOTIFICATION. BUT AS FAR AS THE COORDINATION BETWEEN ONCOR AND OURSELVES, AS FAR AS THE SERVICE. COMMUNICATION. AS FAR AS THE COORDINATION OF THE OPERATIONS, THERE WOULDN'T BE THE COORDINATION OF THE OPERATIONS BECAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE ERCOT DECIDING THE COORDINATION DOWN TO THE INDIVIDUAL MARKET. BUT THERE WILL BE COMMUNICATIONS. [01:10:03] BUT THERE WOULD BE COMMUNICATION COMING OUT FROM GP&L AND THE CITY AS FAR AS IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, THE EVENT THAT'S HAPPENING. OK. ALL RIGHT. THANKS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. MAYOR PRO TEM HEDRICK THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. THANK YOU, DARRELL, FOR THE PRESENTATION AND HAD A QUESTION ABOUT YOUR LONGEST LEAD TERM ITEM THERE, THE ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE. YOU SAID THAT CURRENTLY WE CAN TERMINOLOGIES DOWN TO THE FEEDER LEVEL AND LOOKING AT THE GP&L MAP RIGHT NOW, THE OUTAGE MAP. THANKFULLY, THERE'S NO OUTAGES. BUT JUST WONDERING HOW DO WE DETERMINE THOSE OUTAGES ON THAT INDIVIDUAL LEVEL NOW. ARE WE RELYING ON PEOPLE REPORTING IT, SELF-REPORTING IT? THAT IS CORRECT. SO THAT'S THE REASON WHY IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE TO SIGN UP AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO REPORT THE OUTAGE, WHETHER THEY CALL IN OR THEY TEXT IN. SO FOR AN INDIVIDUAL METER, THAT'S WHERE WE NEED THAT INFORMATION AGAIN, AT THE FEEDER LEVEL, IF THERE'S AN ISSUE ON THAT FEEDER. SO THEY SAY IT CAUSES IT THE BREAKER TO TRIP. WE'LL KNOW THAT INFORMATION, BUT DOWN TO THE INDIVIDUAL METER, WE WON'T KNOW IF, LET'S SAY, A TREE BRANCH FALLS AT THAT PARTICULAR PERSON'S RESIDENCE, THEN THEY'LL NEED TO CALL, NOTIFY US SO THAT WE CAN COME OUT AND TAKE CARE OF THE SITUATION. OK, AND WHEN WE GET THIS, NEW METERING INFRASTRUCTURE WILL IT REQUIRE NEW METERS ON ALL THE RESIDENTS HOUSES. THAT IS CORRECT. OK. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. THANKS, SIR. COUNCIL LADY MORRIS. THANK YOU, MAYOR, AND THANK YOU, DARRELL. THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION. AND I CAN JUST TELL YOU, I APPRECIATE HEARING AN UP TO DATE WHAT'S BEEN DONE, WHAT'S FINISHED, WHAT'S STILL COMING AND WHEN WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE IT DONE. THAT'S KIND OF INFORMATION I FIND PARTICULARLY HELPFUL. AND THAT WAS WHAT WE WEREN'T GETTING. AND AS YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE THING THAT WAS FRUSTRATING PEOPLE. SO AND I THINK YOU'VE ALREADY ANSWERED THIS, BUT THE OUTAGE MAP THAT WE HAVE ON OUR WEBSITE, OF COURSE, IT DID NOT WORK DURING THE WHOLE SNOWMAGEDDON. IT SHOWED WE HAD NO OUTAGES IN GARLAND. SO HAS THAT BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED, CORRECTED ADVANCED. THAT PARTICULAR SITUATION WHAT WE WOULD DO BECAUSE WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE IN THAT EVENT IS YOU SHOULD SEE BASICALLY THAT MAP ALMOST FULLY POPULATED. RIGHT. AND SO IT REALLY AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME, ONCE YOU GET TO THAT SITUATION, THE FEBRUARY EVENT, MY RECOMMENDATION IS TO PUT BASICALLY A MESSAGE ACROSS THE OUTAGE MAP SAYING, HERE'S WHAT'S GOING ON. HERE'S THE SITUATION THAT WE'RE FACING. BECAUSE THE REALITY IN THIS FEBRUARY EVENT, THAT OUTAGE MAP AND IF YOU'RE LET'S SAY YOU'RE IN A ROTATING, LET'S SAY WE DO HAVE ROTATING TYPE OF OUTAGES, THAT MAP IS WHEN YOU'RE DOING THAT TYPE OF ROTATION, YOU'RE GOING TO ALWAYS HAVE THIS TYPE OF LAG. SO THE CONCERN I WOULD HAVE IN THAT TYPE OF SITUATION IS WHAT IS THE MESSAGE THAT YOU'RE SENDING THAT IF YOU'VE GOT A DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN WHAT'S ON THAT MAP AND WHAT'S HAPPENING ACTUALLY IN THE SYSTEM? SO FOR A FEBRUARY TYPE OF EVENT, WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND IS GOING IN AND HAVING ACTUALLY SOMETHING SAYING ACROSS THERE WE RECOGNIZE WHAT'S GOING ON. HERE'S THE SITUATION, HERE'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW USEFUL THAT OUTAGE MAP WOULD BE IN A FEBRUARY TYPE OF EVENT SITUATION. I GUESS I WOULD PUSH BACK AGAINST THAT BECAUSE ONCOR'S MAP WAS EXTRAORDINARILY USEFUL DURING THE WHOLE SNOWMAGEDDON AND IT WAS DOWN TO THE BLOCK. AND I HEARD FROM A CRUSH OF ONCOR CUSTOMERS AS WELL AS OUR OWN, AND I HAD TO KEEP TELLING THE ONCOR CUSTOMERS IT'S NOT US, BUT THAT WAS HELPFUL TO THEM TO SEE IT DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL, IF WE CAN PROVIDE THAT. I WOULD PERSONALLY RATHER SEE US PROVIDE IT EVEN IF THERE'S A TIME LAG AND PUT A BANNER TO SAY THERE IS A TIME LAG ON THIS AND FLAG IT THAT WAY. BUT TO DO OUR BEST TO MAKE THAT AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AS ACCURATE AND AS DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL AS WE CAN. I HAD A LOT OF COMMENTS ABOUT THAT FROM OUR CUSTOMERS WHO TRIED TO ACCESS OUR MAP, AND WERE VERY FRUSTRATED. SO. I WOULD SAY UNTIL WE CAN LOOK AT MAKING SOME MODIFICATIONS, BUT REALLY UNTIL THE THE AMI SYSTEM. RIGHT. IS PUT IN PLACE TRYING TO GET TO THE BLOCK LEVEL, THAT'S THE TYPE OF SYSTEM YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE IN PLACE TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION. SO YOU'RE AT BECAUSE WHAT I'M SAYING IS AT THE FEEDER LEVEL, YOU'RE REALLY NOT GOING TO GET THAT GRANULARITY THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR UNTIL YOU GO TO AN AMI TYPE OF SYSTEM. BUT I MEAN, WE CAN LOOK TO SEE WHAT TYPE OF MODIFICATIONS WE CAN DO TO GIVE SOME EXTRA GRANULARITY. BUT I JUST WANT TO KIND OF GIVE SOME EXPECTATIONS OF UNTIL. I UNDERSTAND. YOU GET SOME TYPE OF AMI SYSTEM IN PLACE, YOU'RE JUST NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET REALLY GOOD INFORMATION DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL, OK. [01:15:03] AND I UNDERSTAND I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THAT, AND I ACTUALLY SHOULD HAVE SAID I WOULDN'T EXPECT THIS TO BE POSSIBLE UNTIL WE HAVE THAT IN PLACE. THAT BEING SAID, I WOULD LIKE THAT TO BE OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A REALLY CLEAR CRISP AS CLOSE TO REAL TIME OUTAGE MAP TO THE BLOCK LEVEL AS IS TECHNOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE. I'D LIKE THAT TO BE OUR GOAL RATHER THAN OUR GOAL BEING LESS THAN THAT. I WANT TO OFFER A SOME PRAISE SECOND HAND, WHICH I NEVER FORWARDED THIS BACK IN FEBRUARY WHEN ALL THIS WAS GOING ON. I GOT LOTS OF CALLS FROM ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW AND ONE OF THEM WAS AN ONCOR CUSTOMER AND I WAS LIKE, AND THEY HAD AN ELDERLY PERSON WHO'S AND SO I CALLED YOU GUYS AND I SAID, LOOK, I CAN'T HELP WITH THIS. DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? AND YOU ALL ACTUALLY GAVE ME A NAME AND A NUMBER AT ONCOR OF A HUMAN BEING TO CALL, AND I CALLED THAT HUMAN BEING AND TOLD HIM WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND ON HIS END, HE WORKED A MIRACLE AND HE FIXED THIS. AND SO I HAD A VERY GRATEFUL NON GP&L CUSTOMER WHO WAS VERY GRATEFUL TO GP&L BECAUSE I TOLD THEM THAT THAT YOU ALL HAD PROVIDED THAT INFORMATION. SO YOU ALL ARE REALLY GOOD WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND WE ALL ARE VERY WELL AWARE THAT FEBRUARY WAS A LIKE A METEOR STRIKING, AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL NEVER SEE SUCH A THING AGAIN, BUT REALLY COMMEND YOU GUYS FOR YOUR EXEMPLARY CUSTOMER SERVICE WITHIN THE CONFINES OF REALITY THAT WE WERE DEALING WITH THEN. AND FINALLY, ONE LAST QUESTION THIS I WILL SAY AGAIN, THIS IS FOR THE FUTURE, AND I REALIZE THIS CAN'T BE NOW, BUT IT'S ABOUT THE OUTAGE MANAGEMENT AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO TEXT THE OUT, WHICH I LOVE THAT I USE THAT IT'S GREAT. AND I THINK YOU'RE AWARE I HAVE HAD AN ISSUE WITH THAT WITH MY 90 SOMETHING YEAR OLD FATHER IN LAW WHO LIVES ALONE. HE'S DEAF AND HIS POWER GOES OUT AND TALKING TO HIM ON THE PHONE IT DOESN'T WORK. AND SO TRYING TO GET HIS ACCOUNT NUMBER BECAUSE HE CAN'T USE A PHONE, THERE'S NO PHONE ATTACHED TO HIS ACCOUNT. AND SO IT TOOK ME. I JUST ABOUT HAD TO DRIVE AND JUST SAY HIS LIGHTS ARE OUT. SO IS THERE SOME THOUGHT IN THE FUTURE OF US MOVING TOWARDS SOMETHING WHERE YOU CAN SPEAK AN ADDRESS BECAUSE I GOT CYCLED REPEATEDLY TO THE, YOU KNOW, TALK TO A PERSON? YES. AND THEN IT CYCLES AND IT GOES RIGHT BACK TO THE BEGINNING. NEVER. THERE'S NEVER A PERSON. SO IS THERE? DO WE HAVE A LONG TERM GOAL OF GETTING IT WHERE PEOPLE CAN, IF THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR PHONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACCOUNT AND SOME OF THEM JUST DON'T HAVE A CELL PHONE IF THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR ACCOUNT MEMORIZED AND IT'S DARK AND THEY CAN'T FIND THEIR BILL THAT THERE'S SOME WAY OTHER THAN HUMAN INTERACTION, THERE'S SOME WAY THEY CAN SPEAK THEIR ADDRESS OR DO SOMETHING SOME HOW TO GET HOOKED UP, TO BE ABLE TO REPORT THAT RATHER THAN WAITING TO TALK TO A PERSON WHEN THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE CALLING. THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK INTO. AGAIN, I'M NOT SURE FROM THE TECHNOLOGICAL STANDPOINT OF WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK INTO. OK, WELL, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. DARRELL, LET ME JUST SAY UPFRONT THAT FIRST OF ALL, I REALLY DO APPRECIATE YOU GUYS TAKING THE TIME LAST WEEK TO TAKE COUNCILMAN BASS AND MYSELF ON THAT TOUR. JUST GOING ON THE TOUR AND ASKING THE QUESTION THAT I'VE BEEN ASKED OF MANY OF THE CONSTITUENTS AND THE MANNER BY WHICH YOU ANSWERED THEM AND THE MANNER BY WHICH THE EMPLOYEES ANSWER THEM, THE MANNER BY WHICH EVERYONE JUST IT WAS JUST AWESOME. IT LET ME KNOW THAT I FEEL THAT WE TRULY ARE IN GOOD HANDS AS FAR AS OUR PEOPLE ARE CONCERNED, AND I BELIEVE THAT A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH WHAT YOU'VE JUST STATED WHEN YOU BEGAN TO SPEAK. AND THAT WAS THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL AND THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T. ALSO JUST READING THE PRESENTATION THAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO HERE TONIGHT. I THINK THAT YOU ARE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB IN THE WAY OF TRYING TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAD DURING FEBRUARY. BUT THERE WERE THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS I WANT TO ASK YOU TONIGHT THAT WILL HOPEFULLY HELP. I'VE TOLD MANY OF OUR CITIZENS BE HERE TONIGHT, WATCH THE BROADCAST TONIGHT, DARRELL IS GOING TO BE HERE AND HE'S GOING TO ANSWER A LOT OF THOSE QUESTIONS FOR YOU, OK . ONE QUESTION I WANT TO ASK IS WE ARE, THOUGH GP&L IS IN CONTROL OF THE POWER OF THE [01:20:05] ROVING POWER OUTAGE. CORRECT. IN OTHER WORDS, WE ARE IN CONTROL OF THE MANNER BY WHICH POWER GOES TO THE HOMES ON THE LOCAL LEVEL. CORRECT? CORRECT. OK. THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN CONTROL, AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE ISSUES. ONE OF THE GREATEST ISSUES WAS THAT THERE WAS POWER IN SO MANY OTHER PLACES THAT WERE. COUNCILMAN I THINK THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION IS GOING TO ADDRESS THAT PART OF IT. REST OF THE PRESENTATION IS GOING TO DISCUSS THE FEEDERS AND THAT SORT OF THAT END OF THIS ISSUE, OK. NOT TO INTERRUPT YOU, BUT SORRY. NO, NO, VERY GOOD. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. MOVE BACK THERE. OK. OK. YEAH. AND I INTERRUPTED YOU AND THEN I APOLOGIZED AFTERWARDS. IT'S KIND OF BACKWARDS. ALL RIGHT. SO ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THE COMMUNICATIONS AND I KNOW I'VE BEEN WATCHING DOROTHY AND I'VE BEEN WATCHING MR. SLAY AND THEY HAVE BEEN NODDING THEIR HEADS IN THE APPROPRIATE DIRECTION TO SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE AND SO I KNOW THAT THEY WILL BE FOLLOWING UP ON IT. AND TO THE, YOU KNOW, TO THE CITIZEN AND TO YOUR REQUEST, DAN OR NICK, WHOEVER'S IN THE BACK, IF YOU COULD BRING THE PRESENTATION UP, THAT'S ON OUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW. WE'LL GET ONE MORE SHOT THAT THE PUBLIC WHO'S WATCHING THIS MEETING CAN SEE THE NOTIFICATION AVENUES THAT THEY CAN GO TO TO SIGN UP FOR THESE VARIOUS THINGS. AND I KNOW I'M PRETTY SURE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE DIRECTING PEOPLE TO THIS, THESE NUMBERS AND THE SCREEN. SO BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT PORTION OF IT. SO IF WE WANT TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO THE NEXT. COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE. THERE WAS ONE COMMUNICATIONS QUESTION ON THE TIME FRAMES THAT YOU HAD THAT YOU SHOWED EARLIER. THERE WAS ONE TIME FRAME THERE, I BELIEVE, FROM EIGHT O'CLOCK UNTIL 4:00 THE NEXT MORNING THAT THERE WAS NO COMMUNICATIONS. SO THIS WOULD BE ERCOT. WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT DOING WOULD BE FOUR A.M. THEN OH NOW MY MIND'S GOING BLANK. FOUR A.M. NINE A.M., 11 A.M. 11. FOUR A.M., 11 A.M., THREE P.M. AND NINE P.M. THOSE WERE THE TIMES THAT ERCOT SAID THAT THEY WOULD BE COMMUNICATING. NOW THEY'RE GOING TO COMMUNICATE FOUR TIMES A DAY SO THEY CAN LOOK AT A SITUATION. THEY MIGHT MOVE THOSE TIMES AS WELL, BUT THEY'RE SAYING THERE'S GOING TO BE FOUR TO FIVE TIMES. AND RIGHT NOW, THE TIMES THEY'RE THROWING OUT. FOUR A.M., NINE A.M. 11:00 A.M. YEAH. SO SORRY. FOUR A.M., 11:00 A.M., 3:00 P.M. AND NINE P.M. IS THE TIMES THAT THEY'VE SAID THAT THEY WOULD DO IT. OK, THANK YOU. MR.. SORRY ABOUT THAT. ALL RIGHT. AND GOT A SUGGESTION THAT WE TAKE A SHORT BREAK BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION. SO WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A QUICK RECESS. LET'S HAVE EVERYBODY BACK AT 7:35 PLEASE. SEVEN THIRTY FIVE. ALL RIGHT, WE ARE COMING BACK FROM RECESS AT THE NOVEMBER 15TH 2021 WORK SESSION FOR THE GARLAND CITY COUNCIL. WE TOOK A SHORT RECESS. WE ARE AT ITEM FOUR C GP&L COMMUNICATION AND OUTAGE MANAGEMENT. WE HAVE FINISHED WITH COMMUNICATIONS. WHERE ARE WE NOW TOM? WE'RE ON OUTAGE MANAGEMENT. ALL RIGHT. VERY GOOD. MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M HERE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUTAGE MANAGEMENT AND WHERE WE ARE TODAY RELATIVE TO THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE. AS ALREADY HAS BEEN MENTIONED. AS DARRELL MENTIONED ERCOT CONTROLS THIS PROCESS, AT LEAST FROM THE STANDPOINT. WHEN WE GET INTO A FIRM LOAD SHED EVENT, THEY BASICALLY TELL ALL THE TRANSMISSION OPERATORS ON THE GRID HOW MUCH LOAD ERCOT NEEDS TO SHED AS A WHOLE. GARLAND SHARE OF THAT IS THREE QUARTERS OF ONE PERCENT. SO FROM THAT STANDPOINT, WE IT'S THEN UNDER OUR CONTROL TO DETERMINE HOW WE GIVE ERCOT THAT THREE QUARTERS OF ONE PERCENT OF WHATEVER THEY'RE ASKING FOR. AND SO THE ISSUE THAT WE RAN INTO BACK IN FEBRUARY WAS THAT OUR SHARE OF THAT 20,000 MEGAWATTS THAT ERCOT WAS ASKING FOR ON A SYSTEMWIDE BASIS WAS MORE LOAD OR AS MUCH LOAD THAT WE HAD IN TOTAL ON ALL OF OUR NON-CRITICAL FEEDERS THAT WE HAVE ON OUR SYSTEM. AND SO WHEN WE WENT INTO THE OUTAGE, OBVIOUSLY WE HAD PLANNED TO ROTATE. BUT HAVING TO USE ALL OF OUR NON-CRITICAL FEEDERS TO GET THE AMOUNT OF LOW THAT WE [01:25:04] WERE REQUIRED TO DID NOT ALLOW US TO ROTATE. IN ADDITION TO THESE NON-CRITICAL FEEDERS, WE HAVE OTHER FEEDERS, BUT THOSE FEEDERS WILL HAVE CRITICAL LOADS ON THEM, SUCH AS POLICE, FIRE HOSPITALS, ET CETERA. SO WE CAN'T ENTER THOSE INTO THE ROTATION SCHEDULE, SO TO SPEAK. THE REMAINING FEEDERS THAT WE HAVE THAT HAVE LOAD ON THEM ARE ARMED WITH UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS. WE ARE ALSO REQUIRED BY ERCOT AS A TRANSMISSION OPERATOR TO MAINTAIN AT LEAST 25 PERCENT OF OUR LOAD BEHIND OUR FREQUENCY RELAY. AND SO WE COULDN'T TOUCH THOSE FEEDERS AS WELL. SO WE WERE BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, SITTING HERE, YOU KNOW, WITH OUR HANDS IN OUR POCKETS, SO TO SPEAK, NOT BEING ABLE TO ROTATE CUSTOMERS LIKE WE WANTED TO AND WE WEREN'T THE ONLY ONES. THERE WERE A LOT OF FOLKS ACROSS THE ERCOT SYSTEM THAT HAD SOME OF THE SAME ISSUES THAT WE HAD. AND SO IN STEPPING BACK AND LOOKING AT, IF WE GET INTO A SIMILAR EVENT AGAIN, HOW CAN WE BE MORE EFFICIENT IN THE FEEDERS THAT WE HAVE THAT WE CAN ROTATE? AND ALSO, HOW CAN WE INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF POTENTIALLY THE FEEDERS THAT WE HAVE TO ENTER INTO OUR ROTATION SCHEDULE? AND SO WHAT WE'VE DONE SINCE THEN IS SEVERAL THINGS. FIRST OF ALL, WE'VE REBALANCED THE LOADING ON ALL OF OUR FEEDERS OVER TIME BECAUSE OF OUTAGES THAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR SYSTEM, CHANGES IN LOAD ON YOUR SYSTEM, FEEDERS WILL. SOME FEEDERS WILL GET 10 MEGAWATTS OF LOAD ON THEM. SOME FEEDERS MIGHT HAVE ONE OR TWO MEGAWATTS OF LOAD ON THEM. OBVIOUSLY, WHEN YOU GET INTO A SITUATION LIKE THIS AND YOU'RE MOVING FEEDERS AROUND OR TRYING TO ROTATE FEEDERS, HAVING DIFFERING AMOUNTS OF LOAD ON EACH ONE OF THOSE CAUSES YOU ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS THAN BEING EFFICIENT IN DOING THAT. SO WE'VE GONE THROUGH OUR SYSTEM AND WE'VE REBALANCED ALL OF OUR FEEDERS TO HAVE AS SIMILAR LOAD LOADING AS WE POSSIBLY CAN GET ON THOSE FEEDERS. SO THAT WILL HELP US AS WE'RE ROTATING, OBVIOUSLY, HOPEFULLY WE DON'T TO THE EXTENT THAT WE WERE. BUT IF WE'RE INTO A FIRM LOAD SHED EVENT, THAT'S NOT NEAR AS DRASTIC AS WE WERE IN BEFORE. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO MORE FREELY JUST MOVE FEEDERS IN AND OUT OF THAT ROTATION SCHEDULE, NOT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER WE'RE MEETING THE ERCOT OBLIGATION OR NOT, BECAUSE THAT'S GOING TO KIND OF TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. THE SECOND THING THAT WE DID UNDER THE UPDATE OF THE OUTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, THERE'S REALLY TWO THINGS THERE. ONE OF THEM IS SOME MAPPING THAT'S DONE AND BACK TO COUNCIL LADY MORRIS' THIS QUESTION EARLIER. WE DON'T HAVE AN AMI SYSTEM, BUT WE HAVE A SYSTEM CALLED RESPONDER THAT BASICALLY TAKES WHEN WE GET OUTAGES CALLS IN FROM CUSTOMERS. WE ENTER THOSE INTO THAT SYSTEM AND IT WILL PREDICT THE CUSTOMERS THAT WE HAVE OUT IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS. IT DOESN'T GET DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL, BUT IT MAY GET DOWN TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL OR A LATERAL LINE LEVEL, BUT IT WILL HELP US TO PROVIDE SOME INSIGHT INTO WHAT'S GOING ON WITH MORE GRANULARITY THAN THE FEEDER ITSELF. THE SECOND THING THAT WE'VE DONE THERE IS THAT WE HAVE AN UNDER FREQUENCY, EXCUSE ME, A LOAD SHED PROGRAM THAT'S AUTOMATIC. WE WEREN'T ABLE TO USE IT DURING THIS EVENT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY FEEDERS AVAILABLE TO ROTATE. SO WE BASICALLY THE SYSTEM SATURATED. WE'VE GONE THROUGH THERE AND MADE SOME CHANGES TO THAT SYSTEM REPRIORITIZED SOME FEEDERS SO THAT HOPEFULLY WHEN WE GET INTO THIS SITUATION NOW, ESPECIALLY WITH WHAT I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT HERE IN JUST A MINUTE, THAT WILL ALLOW US TO ACTUALLY HAVE THAT PROCESS AUTOMATED WHERE WE WON'T HAVE TO HAVE OPERATOR MANUAL INTERVENTION TO ROTATE FEEDERS FROM ONE TO THE NEXT. THIS ENHANCEMENT THAT I WAS JUST REFERRING TO IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO DO WAS TRY TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF FEEDERS THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE TO US. WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF OUR NON-CRITICAL FEEDERS THAT ARE ALSO ARMED WITH THAT ALSO HAVE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYING ON THEM IN THE FEBRUARY EVENT. THESE RELAYS WERE NOT ARMED BECAUSE WE HAD PLENTY OF OTHER FEEDERS THAT HAD UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYING ON THEM THAT WERE ARMED THAT ALLOWED US TO MEET OUR REQUIREMENT WITH ERCOT. SO WE'RE GOING AT IT. WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE PROCESS OF DOING THIS NOW IS GOING OUT AND ACTUALLY PROVIDING MANUAL CONTROLS AND TESTING OF THOSE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS SO THAT WE CAN ADD THEM TO OUR NON-CRITICAL FEEDER ROTATION LIST. SO ESSENTIALLY, AS WE TAKE A FEEDER OUT OF OUR NON-CRITICAL MOVE IT INTO THE ARM IT WITH AN UNDER FREQUENCY, WE CAN PUT IT INTO THAT POOL, BRING AN UNDER FREQUENCY FEEDER OUT OF ITS POOL AND BRING IT IN. SO ESSENTIALLY WE HAVE ROUGHLY THIRTY FOUR ADDITIONAL FEEDERS THAT WE [01:30:05] CAN BRING INTO OUR ROTATION. WE HAD FORTY NINE DURING THE EVENT. THIS WILL INCREASE THAT BY AN ADDITIONAL THIRTY FOUR. SO WE WILL HAVE ACTUALLY ADDITIONAL FEEDERS, ADDITIONAL LOAD THAT WE'RE ABLE TO BRING IN TO THE ROTATION SYSTEM GOING FORWARD. AGAIN, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT. WE HOPE TO HAVE THAT DONE SOMETIME IN MID-JANUARY. THEY'RE OUT THERE IN THE FIELD NOW DOING TWO OR THREE A DAY. AND, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU KNOW, WHAT DEVELOPS AND HOW THOSE WORK OUT WILL WE GO TO THE NEXT TWO OR THREE. SO THE SCHEDULE THAT THEY HAVE IN PLACE IS HOPEFULLY TO HAVE THAT COMPLETED IN MID-JANUARY. THEN THE LAST ITEM THERE UNDER THE ACTION COLUMN IS THAT SAME PROCESS WE'RE RIGHT NOW GIVEN THE OPERATOR A TOGGLE SWITCH ESSENTIALLY ON THE SCREEN THAT WILL ALLOW HIM OR HER TO TURN THEM ON OR OFF. WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO MAKE THAT MORE OF AN AUTOMATED PROCESS AS WELL, THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY ROLL INTO OUR OUTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM UNDER OUR LOAD SHED PROGRAM THAT DOES THAT AUTOMATICALLY. SO JUST AN ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENT TO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET IN PLACE MANUALLY BEFORE THE WINTER. WE JUST NEED A LITTLE MORE TIME TO BRING SOME SOFTWARE INTO THAT AND HAVE THAT AND AN AUTOMATED PROCESS A LITTLE LATER ON IN THE PROBABLY EARLY SECOND QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR. YOU KNOW, WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE HOPE THAT THIS WILL ALLOW US TO BE A LITTLE MORE EFFICIENT THAN WHERE WE WERE BEFORE. YOU KNOW, IT'S DIFFICULT BECAUSE YOU DO HAVE REQUIREMENTS THAT YOU'RE OBLIGATED AS BEING A MEMBER OF THE GRID AND WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO. OBVIOUSLY, NOT KNOWING THE SITUATION THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE IN. OBVIOUSLY, AS DARRELL MENTIONED, NO WAY. NO ONE THOUGHT THAT WE WOULD BE WHERE WE WERE IN FEBRUARY. BUT NOW THAT WE ARE, WE HAVE TO PLAN FOR THAT AND BE READY FOR EVEN SOMETHING BEYOND FEBRUARY. AND SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF. AND LIKE I SAID, WE'LL HAVE MOST OF THESE DONE BY THE TIME WE GET INTO THE TEETH OF THE WINTER, YOU KNOW, MID-JANUARY. WITH THAT, I'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, TOM. A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AND A LOT OF IT IS JUST KIND OF CLARIFICATION, I GUESS. AND IN FURTHERANCE OF THE IDEA OF REMOVING VERNACULAR, THAT DARRELL SPOKE OF. I GUESS THE FIRST THING TO START WITH IS WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE DO WITH THE POWER WE GET. WE'RE NOT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTION TYPE OF NETWORK. WE'RE NOT ERCOT'S IN CHARGE OF HERE'S HOW MANY MEGAWATTS YOU CAN HAVE. IS THAT ESSENTIALLY RIGHT IN A CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCE LIKE THIS? YES SIR. THAT'S RIGHT. I MEAN, THEY'RE DICTATING TO US, OK, WE ONLY HAVE SO MUCH GENERATION FOR THIS, MUCH LOAD THAN THE SYSTEM. GARLAND THIS IS ONLY HOW MUCH YOU CAN HAVE. THEREFORE, YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THIS AMOUNT. AND SO IT'S UP TO US TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET RID OF THAT AMOUNT. AND HAD IT BEEN ANTICIPATED AS BECAUSE I THINK THE ORIGINAL SHORT, I MEAN, THEY HAD PREDICTED A SHORTFALL FOR THE WINTER STORM. I THINK IT WAS AROUND FOUR PERCENT AND HAD IT BEEN FOUR PERCENT. WE COULD HAVE THAT'S WELL WITHIN OUR CAPACITY THEN AND NOW TO ROTATE THAT. ABSOLUTELY AND PEOPLE ROLLING OUTAGES. IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL. FIRM LOAD SHEDDING EVENT. SO FOR FOLKS AT HOME LOAD THAT THAT'S THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT WE'RE CONSUMING OR CAPABLE OF ENTIRE SYSTEM, RIGHT, RIGHT? OK. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT A LOAD SHEDDING EVENT, THAT'S ERCOT SAYING YOU HAVE TO CUT DOWN HOW MUCH YOU'RE CONSUMING. RIGHT. SO WE USUALLY HAVE WHAT'S OUR USUAL? IT WAS LIKE FOUR SOMETHING 480. THAT'S A SUMMER PEAK. OUR WINTER PEAK'S TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, AREN'T THAT LARGE. IN THIS CASE, IT'S KIND OF HARD TO KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE OF OF THE SITUATION, BUT WE WOULD HAVE PROBABLY BEEN APPROACHING A SUMMER PEAK TYPE OF LOAD IN FEBRUARY. SURE. I MEAN, WHEN YOU HAVE OUR NORMAL BECAUSE OUR SUMMERS ARE USUALLY I'M SORRY, OUR WINTERS ARE TYPICALLY FAIRLY MILD. PEOPLE AREN'T RUNNING A LOT OF EXTRA ADDITIONAL HEATING AND OTHER STUFF. BUT WHEN THINGS GET REALLY BAD, THAT'S WHEN EVERYBODY'S PULLING OUT EVERY ELECTRIC HEATER AND ELECTRIC BLANKET AND EVERYTHING ELSE THEY CAN FIND. AND SO THEN THE LOAD OR THE CONSUMPTION AMOUNT GOES WAY UP. THAT WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WE HAD, I THINK GETTING SOME OF OUR SWITCHES BACK ON BECAUSE IF YOU'VE BEEN WITHOUT POWER FOR A WHILE AND THE POWER COMES ON, PEOPLE TURN ON EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE IN ORDER TO TRY AND GET WARMED UP. AND THAT'S ACTUALLY THAT WAS ACTUALLY PART OF WHAT WAS CAUSING SOME SWITCHES. WE HAD TROUBLE WITH THEM STAYING ON BECAUSE OF THE SUDDEN LOADS THAT WERE COMING ON. IS THAT RIGHT? RIGHT? YES, SIR. OK, SO WE GET A FIRM LOAD SHED EVENT. SO POINT SEVEN FIVE PERCENT OF THAT TWENTY THOUSAND MEGAWATTS, THAT'S ABOUT ONE [01:35:05] HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEGAWATTS THAT WE HAVE TO SHED. RIGHT. IN THAT'S SPREAD ACROSS IS IT NINETY NINE FEEDERS THAT WE HAVE. WE HAVE A TOTAL OF NINETY NINE FEEDERS WE HAVE ROUGHLY 49 NON-CRITICAL FEEDERS, SO WE BASICALLY HAD 49 FEEDERS OF OUR 99 AVAILABLE TO MEET THAT 150 MEGAWATT FIRM LOAD SHED REQUIREMENT. BUT WE ENDED UP NEEDING MORE THAN THAT BECAUSE WE HAD. WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO MEET OUR OBLIGATION WITH THAT AMOUNT, BUT NO MORE, NO LESS, RIGHT. BUT IF YOU'RE TURNING OFF 49 FEEDERS TO MEET YOUR OBLIGATION, THEN YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH OUT OF FEEDERS. THAT'S WHY WE CAN'T ROTATE. YES, SIR. WE HAD THE ONLY FEEDERS WE HAD LEFT FOR 12 THAT HAVE CRITICAL LOAD ON THEM, WHICH WE COULDN'T TOUCH THEM. AND THEN THE REST OF THE OTHER THIRTY FOUR WERE WERE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS THAT HAVE LOAD BEHIND THEM THAT WE COULDN'T TOUCH BECAUSE WE HAVE TO KEEP 25 PERCENT OF OUR LOAD BEHIND THOSE IN CASE OF A MORE SIGNIFICANT FREQUENCY EVENT. AND SO LET'S TALK ABOUT UNDER FREQUENCY FIRST FROM A KIND OF A FROM THE TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE FOR FOLKS WATCHING AT HOME, IT'S YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HEAR 60 HERTZ OR WHATEVER YOU SAY, WE HAVE TO KEEP IT AS CLOSE TO 60 AS WE CAN OR VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN. AND SO WHEN THAT FREQUENCY DROPS DOWN INTO THE 59S, THAT'S WHEN WE HAVE THESE EMERGENCY SYSTEM TO PREVENT A CASCADING FAILURE ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. IS THAT RIGHT. CORRECT. THOSE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS ARE SET FIVE PERCENT TO GO AT FIFTY NINE THREE, 10 PERCENT TO GO AT FIFTY EIGHT NINE AND THE REMAINING 10 PERCENT TO GO AT FIFTY EIGHT FIVE FROM A FREQUENCY STANDPOINT. AND SO THESE ARE LAST DITCH THINGS THAT ARE LIKE IT'S AUTOMATIC. IT HAPPENS ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY ACROSS A NANOSECOND TRIPS AND IT'S ALL OVER THE STATE. IT'S NOT JUST US, IT'S EVERY. THAT'S CORRECT. EVERY TRANSMISSION OPERATOR IN ERCOT HAS TO PROVIDE THE SAME REQUIREMENT THAT WE DO. AND SO WHEN THOSE AND THAT'S THE LAST DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE THE SYSTEM FROM GOING INTO A BLACK START. CORRECT. YES, SIR. SO I'M GOING TO TRY AND PUT THAT. I STILL THINK THAT'S PRETTY JARGONY. AND WE TALKED A LITTLE EARLIER ABOUT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO COME UP WITH A METAPHOR FOR PROBABLY EIGHT OR NINE MONTHS, BUT I THINK THE ONE THAT I HAVE FOR PEOPLE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO KEEP THE LOAD. WE NEED TO KEEP AN AMOUNT OF UNDER FREQUENCY LOAD SO THAT WE CAN CUT IT IF WE HAVE TO, WHICH DOESN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE. BUT IF YOU THINK OF IT LIKE A HOT AIR BALLOON AND THE GENERATION IS THE HOT AIR THAT'S KEEPING YOU UP IN THE AIR AND YOU DON'T WANT TO GO TOO HIGH, BUT YOU ALSO DON'T WANT TO GO TOO LOW. AND THESE ARE LIKE THE SANDBAGS. THESE ARE THE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK THEY MAKE A LOT OF MOVIES WITH HOT AIR BALLOONS ANYMORE. BUT BACK WHEN THEY USED TO, YOU KNOW, YOU SEE HIM SAWING OFF, TRYING TO EITHER THROW THROW THINGS OUT OF THE BASKET OR THEY'RE TRYING TO CUT OFF THE SANDBAGS TO KEEP YOU FROM CRASHING DOWN INTO THE TREES. AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT THESE ARE THE UNDER [INAUDIBLE]. AND SO IF YOU'VE ALREADY THROWN EVERYTHING OVERBOARD AND YOU'RE STILL GOING DOWN, YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO CUT AT THAT LAST MINUTE TO HELP YOU GET UP ABOVE THE TREES. YES, SIR. IS THAT RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT, BASICALLY. SO THESE ARE LIKE HAVING AUTOMATIC SANDBAGS ON YOUR HOT AIR BALLOON THAT IT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, OH GOSH, WE'RE WITHIN ABOUT 10 FEET OF HITTING THAT, YOU KNOW, PECAN TREE. AND SO, BOOM, THEY CUT OFF AUTOMATICALLY AND UP YOU GO. SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH THERE. THIS IS THE LAST DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE THE GRID. OK. AND THE REWIRING TO EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE IT'S LIKE, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, CITIES AND CITY WIRING. IT'S NOT ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM YOUR HOUSE CONCEPTUALLY IN THAT YOUR HOUSE HAS BREAKERS, YOUR HOUSE HAS OTHER STUFF. AND YOU KNOW, MY HOUSE WAS BUILT IN LIKE 1949. SO IF SOMEBODY IS RUNNING THE HAIRDRYER IN THE BATHROOM, THEN WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE A REAL ISSUE WITH ME MAKING COFFEE IN THE KITCHEN WHILE THE OVEN IS ON. IN THE SENSE OF A LOT OF THINGS ARE WIRED TOGETHER THAT PROBABLY DON'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE, EXCEPT AT THE TIME WE WERE PUTTING IT TOGETHER. IT'S LIKE WE'LL JUST HOOK IT INTO THIS. IS THAT ABOUT KIND OF? I THINK THAT WORKS. YEAH. I MEAN, WE JUST HAVE PARTS OF THE CITY WHERE YOU END UP WITH WELL, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO BUILD THIS BUILDING HERE. AND SO NOW YOU'VE GOT COMMERCIAL TIED IN WITH OTHER STUFF. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU GOT ONE CIRCUIT THAT HAS A VERY LARGE LOAD THAT'S RUNNING, YOU KNOW, 10 MEGAWATTS. AND THEN YOU HAVE ANOTHER SYSTEM THAT'S RUNNING TWO TENTHS OF A MEGAWATT AND IT BECOMES VERY IT BECOMES EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO BALANCE THAT STUFF, RIGHT? AND THAT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, SYSTEMS THAT PROVIDE REAL TIME DATA TO YOU AND ALSO SOME OF THE OUTAGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS THAT I TALKED ABOUT WHERE WE HAVE AUTOMATION FROM A LOAD SHED PERSPECTIVE. [01:40:02] SO IT'S INSTANTANEOUSLY LOOKING AT THE VALUES OF THOSE DIFFERENT FEEDERS AND MAKING DECISIONS ON THE ROTATION SO THAT YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE MINIMIZING THE AMOUNT OF LOAD YOU HAVE TO INTERRUPT WHILE ALSO MEETING YOUR REQUIREMENTS TO ERCOT. RIGHT. SO IF WE DIVIDE THAT LOAD A LITTLE MORE, SPREAD THAT LOAD A LITTLE MORE, I DON'T WANT TO CALL IT INTELLIGENTLY, BUT RATIONALLY IN SUCH A WAY, THEN YOU KNOW WHICH SANDBAGS AND WHICH THINGS YOU CAN THROW OVERBOARD EARLY IN THE PROCESS AND WHICH THINGS YOU KNOW YOU CAN LEAVE UNTIL THE ABSOLUTE LAST. RIGHT. LAST BIT. I MEAN, OUR GOAL AT THE END OF THE DAY IS TO MEET REQUIREMENTS WHILE SHEDDING THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF LOAD THAT WE HAVE TO. OK, GREAT. I THINK THAT ANSWERS ALL THE QUESTIONS. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK YOU GUYS HAVE DONE. I MEAN, ALL OF THIS REALLY COMES DOWN TO THERE'S NOTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO PREVENT THE UNDERLYING EVENT OF A MASSIVE, CATASTROPHIC DROP IN GENERATION. THERE'S NOTHING MORE THAT WE CAN DO FROM GARLAND PERSPECTIVE. THAT'S A GRID PERSPECTIVE. BUT SHOULD THAT HAPPEN AGAIN? YOU KNOW, IT WOULD STILL BE PRETTY ROUGH. BUT WE'D AT LEAST HAVE SOME BETTER ABILITY TO ROTATE THESE OUTAGES AND NOTIFY PEOPLE AND ALL THAT OTHER STUFF. SO WE'LL BE AS PREPARED. WE'RE ALWAYS PREPARED FOR THE LAST DISASTER. BUT THAT'S THE GOAL HERE. YES, SIR. YES, SIR. WE OBVIOUSLY CAN'T CONTROL THE UPSTREAM, BUT WE CAN DO A MUCH BETTER JOB THAN WE DID AT CONTROLLING THE DOWNSTREAM. AND I THINK THAT'S ALL WE CAN ASK IS CONTROL WHAT WE CAN CONTROL AND HOPE THAT FROM OUR COUNCIL AND FROM OTHER FOLKS THAT WE CAN CONVINCE THE LEGISLATURE TO MAKE THE CHANGES SOME KIND OF CHANGES. THEY DIDN'T REALLY MAKE ANY CHANGES THAT WOULD POSITIVELY IMPACT THE SITUATION. THERE'S NOT FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, THE GRID IS NO MORE SECURE OR SAFER THAN IT WAS A YEAR AGO OR NOT MUCH MORE. I CAN ALL I CAN SAY. I GUESS THE BEST WAY TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IS THAT WE HAVE NOT ADDED ANY GENERATION THIS WINTER. WE ADDED SOME GENERATION OVERALL THIS YEAR THAT CAME IN OVER THE SUMMERTIME, BUT NO NEW GENERATION HAS BEEN ADDED BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST WINTER. IT TAKES TIME AND THE MARKET'S STILL WORKING ON SOME OF THE INCENTIVES AROUND TRYING TO HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN. AND BY THE SAME TOKEN, HAVE WE HAD ANY MOVEMENT ON, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SOUTHERN CROSS PROJECT WOULD HAVE ASSISTED US SIGNIFICANTLY. THAT'S TWO THOUSAND MEGAWATTS WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING IN. WE ARE GETTING IT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP AT THE COMMISSION BY ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS. AND SO THERE'S DISCUSSIONS AROUND THAT. SO, YOU KNOW, IT HAS SOME LEGS RIGHT NOW. SO HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, WE'LL SEE SOMETHING DEVELOP THERE THAT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL YEARS SINCE THAT PROJECT KIND OF HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS AT ERCOT AND THE COMMISSION. SO. SURE. BUT SO THIS EVENT AND MORE RECENTLY, SOUTHERN CROSS HAS SOME LIFE MORE LIFE AGAIN. SO WE'LL SEE WHERE THAT GOES. GOOD TO HEAR THAT. YOU KNOW, THAT WAS ONE OF THE EARLY THINGS THAT I VOTED ON ON COUNCIL WAS FOR COUNCIL TO SUPPORT THAT PROJECT BACK IN 2016. I THINK SO IT'S DEFINITELY A LONG TIME COMING. THANK YOU, TOM. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. MAYOR PRO TEM HEDRICK. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. AND WITH THAT HOT AIR BALLOON. I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FOLLOW THAT? [LAUGHTER] CERTAINLY MAKE A JOKE ABOUT HOT AIR, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO. SO I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND SCORE YOU A POINT FOR THAT ONE. YEAH, JUST FOR YEAH, MY QUESTION HAS TO DO MORE WITH THE POLICY ABOUT THESE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS, I KNOW WE'RE ADDING MORE, WHICH IS GREAT, THAT'S SOMETHING WE WANT TO DO. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT AFTER IMMEDIATELY AFTER, DO WE HAVE ANY POLICY ON WHEN THOSE WILL GET TURNED OFF AND ON AND ROTATED BECAUSE I HAD A LOT OF CALLS FROM PEOPLE JUST SAYING IF WE COULD HAVE POWER FOR JUST ONE HOUR, LET ME CHARGE MY PHONE BACK AND HEAT UP MY HOUSE. IT WOULD BE GREAT. AND THEN IF IT WENT BACK OFF AGAIN FOR FOUR HOURS, I'M FINE, BUT AT LEAST I HAVE THAT ONE HOUR. DO WE HAVE ANY POLICY BEHIND WHEN WE MAKE THOSE ROTATIONS IF WE. WE WILL. WE HAVE THE ABILITY THROUGH, AGAIN, THIS OUTAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO ACTUALLY SET THAT, YOU KNOW, SO IF WE'VE GOT AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF FEEDERS TO ROTATE, WE CAN ACTUALLY SET THAT TIME WITHIN THAT SYSTEM AS TO HOW OFTEN OR NOT WE WANT TO HAVE THOSE ROTATIONS GO THROUGH. SO, YOU KNOW, OUR GOAL WOULD BE IN A WORST CASE SITUATION TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE 30 MINUTE OUTAGES. SO EVERY 30 MINUTES, FOLKS POWER'S COMING ON AND OFF. BUT YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, IT DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION. IF WE'RE NOT THAT FAR INTO A LOAD SHED, WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF FEEDERS, THEN YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE FOLKS UP FOR, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE THEY SEE A ROTATION. IT JUST REALLY KIND OF IS DICTATED BASED ON THE SITUATION AT THE TIME. BUT OUR GOAL WOULD BE UNDER A WORST CASE SCENARIO TO HAVE AT LEAST 30 MINUTES OF UPTIME FOR EVERY CUSTOMER. AND I ALSO APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK YOU'RE DOING TO TRANSFORM THE INDUSTRY [01:45:01] JARGON, BUT ALSO SAY DON'T SHY AWAY FROM USING THOSE INDUSTRY TERMS THAT PEOPLE YOU KNOW, MAY WANT TO HAVE AS WELL. I WOULDN'T UNDERESTIMATE THE INTELLIGENCE OF OUR CITIZENS AND LET THEM BE ABLE TO I MEAN, THAT HELPS THEM TO UNDERSTAND IF THEY'RE WATCHING THE MEETINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN AUSTIN, BECAUSE THAT'S THE TERMINOLOGY THEY'LL USE IF THEY FOLLOW THAT KIND OF THING. SO IT'D BE GOOD MAYBE TO HAVE A COMBINATION OF BOTH WHEN WE DO UPDATE ALL THAT INFORMATION. AND I DO WANT TO CLARIFY JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'D HAVE 30 MINUTES ON 30 MINUTES OFF, RIGHT? OK. JUST TO MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDS THAT. SURE. THAT'S WHAT I MEAN BY WHEN I SAY 30 MINUTES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER SMITH. THANK YOU, MAYOR. EASY QUESTION. HOPEFULLY, WHAT ABILITY DO WE HAVE TO TEST THE NEW CONFIGURATIONS AND THE CHANGES THAT Y'ALL HAVE MADE? WE HAVE WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH THAT NOW. SO, YOU KNOW, IN THE FIELD, WE'RE ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY TESTING THOSE THE UNDER FREQUENCY RELAYS ON NONCRITICAL THAT WE'RE ADDING TO OUR ROTATION LIST. BUT WE HAVE THE ABILITY THROUGH OUR DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM, OUR OPERATING SYSTEM AT DISPATCH TO BE ABLE TO TEST SOME OF THESE THINGS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH THAT PROCESS RIGHT NOW. SO FAR, THINGS LOOK GOOD. WE'RE JUST NOT COMPLETELY THROUGH WITH THE TESTING. SO I DON'T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, MISREPRESENT THAT EVERYTHING'S A-OK READY TO GO. BUT SO FAR, SO GOOD. OK, AND WE'RE NOT EXPECTING ANY FORM OF OUTAGES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS DURING THAT TESTING. CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT. ABSOLUTELY NOT. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU, SIR. THANK YOU MAYOR. COUNCIL MEMBER VERA. THANK YOU, MAYOR. WELL, THIS IS DIRECTED TO COUNCILMAN AUBIN. WHEN YOU BUY AN OLD HOUSE, IT'S UNDER POWER. YOU'D NEED TO INCREASE THE PANEL, YOU KNOW, TO GET MORE POWER. THANK YOU, MAYOR. OK. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS. OH DARRELL, I DID GET THE PRESENTATION, SO CANCEL OUR CONVERSATION. FOLLOWING UP ON THE MAYOR PRO TEM'S COMMENT. IF CONSTITUENTS DIDN'T REMEMBER ANY OTHER TERMINOLOGY. WHAT BIG WORDS FROM ICE ARMAGEDDON THEY REMEMBER ONE TERM AND THAT TERM WAS WEATHERIZATION, OK? THE WINTERIZATION, I THINK THERE WAS A TERM, BUT SO IS THERE ANY NEED WE IN, GPL DID WE HAVE ANY ISSUES OR CHALLENGES AS IT RELATES TO THAT. YOU KNOW, I'VE GOTTEN QUESTIONS RECENTLY. PEOPLE SORT OF WATCH [INAUDIBLE] IS MAKING IN AUSTIN. AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE THE MAGICIAN SLEIGHT OF HANDS. BUT CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT, TOM, BECAUSE WE HAVE IN ANTICIPATION OF THIS WINTER? HOPEFULLY IT'LL BE A MILD ONE. BUT IF THEY DON'T REMEMBER, PEOPLE DON'T REMEMBER ONE OR ANY OTHER TERM. THEY REMEMBER THAT ONE AND THEY REMEMBER BEING THROWN AROUND. SO DO OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE ANY REASON TO BE CONCERNED AS IT RELATES TO THAT TERM THAT WAS THROWN AROUND BY EVERYBODY. DURING THIS EVENT THE TWO UNITS THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE TO RUN RAN THE ENTIRE TIME THEY WERE WINTERIZED BACK IN 2011 AFTER THAT WINTER EVENT. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE FEEL WE'RE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. BUT WITH THAT SAID, WE'VE. WE'VE DONE SOME ADDITIONAL WINTERIZATION AT OUR POWER PLANTS TO HOPEFULLY MAKE THOSE EVEN MORE RESISTANT TO ANY PROBLEMS IF WE EVER EXPERIENCE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. SO, YOU KNOW, FROM OUR STANDPOINT, WE WERE, YOU KNOW, WE FEEL WE WERE OBVIOUSLY AND WE WERE BATTLE TESTED THAT OUR WINTERIZATION METHODS WERE SUCCESSFUL. BUT YOU KNOW, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE IDENTIFIED AS WELL THAT WE THOUGHT MIGHT BE VULNERABLE, THAT MAYBE WE JUST GOT LUCKY THIS TIME. SO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TAKEN SOME ADDITIONAL MEASURES OUT TO BUILD SOME PERMANENT SHELTER AROUND SOME EQUIPMENT AS WELL AS SOME ADDITIONAL HEAT TRACING. AND THAT'S JUST WRAPPING, YOU KNOW, WIRE THAT AROUND PIPES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT MIGHT BE VULNERABLE TO FREEZING. SO WE DID GOOD THEN AND WE'VE MADE SOME ENHANCEMENTS. SO WE THINK WE'RE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE THERE. OK. AND THOSE INITIATIVES CAME OUT OF WHAT YOU GUYS IDENTIFIED AND YOUR INITIATIVES. RIGHT. THEY WERE NOT INSPIRED BY A THIRD PARTY, CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT. NOW WITH THAT SAID, WE DID HAVE A THIRD PARTY COME IN LAST WEEK AND REVIEW WHAT WE'VE DONE. SO WE ARE GETTING AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THAT. YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE WINTERIZATION RULES THAT'S COMING OUT ARE COMING OUT FROM THE PUC ARE BASED ON A STUDY THAT WAS DONE BACK IN 2011. [01:50:02] AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE READ IT. WE THINK WE'VE DONE WHAT WE NEED TO DO BASED ON THAT STUDY, BUT WE'RE HAVING A THIRD PARTY CHECK US ON THAT, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY MAY HAVE WITH REGARDS TO WINTERIZATION AT OUR POWER PLANTS. AND WE SHOULD EXPECT THAT REPORT HERE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS A WEEK OR TWO. WE'RE REQUIRED. DARRELL'S REQUIRED TO SIGN OFF ON SOME ATTESTATIONS REGARDING WINTERIZATION HERE BY DECEMBER 1ST. AND SO WE'LL HAVE THE REPORT BEFORE THAT TIME JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE THIRD PARTY ALSO BELIEVES THAT WE'VE DONE EVERYTHING WITH REGARDS TO THE RULE. OK, SO YOUR MESSAGE TO THE CUSTOMERS IS YOU'RE CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE IN POSITIVE, VERY GOOD SHAPE AS IT RELATES TO THAT TERM. I'M CONFIDENT I CAN'T GUARANTEE, BUT NO, NO. BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE JUST WENT THROUGH AND WHAT WE'VE DONE SINCE THEN, I FEEL REALLY GOOD THAT WE'RE WINTERIZED. THANK YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. COUNCIL MEMBER AUBIN. I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR ON THE WINTERIZATION PIECE. WE'RE DOING OUR PART. WE DID OUR PART BEFORE OUR PLANTS WERE WINTERIZED, OUR PLANTS RAN ALL THAT OTHER STUFF. BUT BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE GENERATION GRID IS SET UP, THE FACT THAT WE'RE WINTERIZED DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THAT. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE POWER. THAT'S CORRECT. SO WE COULD BE WINTERIZED. I MEAN, WE COULD HAVE THE WHOLE. I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU PUT EARMUFFS ON PLANTS WITH THE BIG EARMUFFS AND FUZZY WHATEVER SWEATERS ON ALL OUR PLANTS. AND IT COULD DO NOBODY ANY GOOD IF PLANTS ELSEWHERE IN THE STATE ARE NOT WINTERIZED AND IF THEY FAIL. THAT'S CORRECT. WE ARE PART OF THE GRID AND WE LEAN ON THAT GRID IN GOOD TIMES AND IN BAD. RIGHT. AND WE'LL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO KEEP OUR GENERATION UP AND RUNNING AS WE DO. BUT THAT'S A DIFFERENT ANIMAL FROM THERE. THE LEGISLATURE DID MANDATE SOME WINTERIZATION, BUT THEY DID NOT CREATE A SYSTEM TO PAY FOR THAT WINTERIZATION. IN OTHER WORDS, WE DON'T GET REIMBURSED. WE SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS TO WINTERIZE OLINGER. THAT'S NOT LIKE TRANSMISSION. WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET THAT MONEY. WE HAVE TO RECOVER THAT OR ON OUR OWN THROUGH RATES OR WHATEVER. THAT'S NOT SOMETHING WE GET BACK. AND IN FACT, WITH THE WAY THE LEGISLATURE DID THAT, THERE'S SOME POSSIBILITY THAT GENERATION WILL ACTUALLY THAT THE TOTAL GRID CAPACITY FOR GENERATION COULD ACTUALLY REDUCE. YES. IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S AN OPEN MARKET. IF YOU WANT TO GENERATE, YOU CAN GENERATE. BUT IF YOU HAVE A PLANT THAT'S ON THE EDGE, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF OUR PEAK GENERATION IS IN THE STATE IS OLD FACILITIES. THEY'RE NOT AS EFFICIENT. THEY DON'T RUN AS OFTEN. THEY ONLY RUN WHEN YOU KNOW THE PRICES ARE PARTICULARLY HIGH. AND NOW IF YOU GO TO THOSE FOLKS AND SAY, AND IF YOU WANT TO KEEP GENERATING, YOU HAVE TO PAY, YOU HAVE TO SPEND $5 MILLION DOLLARS TO WINTERIZE YOUR FACILITY. SOME OF THEM MIGHT JUST SAY, WELL, WE'RE OUT OF THE GAME BECAUSE WHO KNOWS WHEN PRICES WILL EVER BE HIGH ENOUGH FOR US TO EVER RECOVER THAT MONEY? CORRECT. SO, OK, I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR, AS WE TALK ABOUT THE STABILITY OF EVERYBODY'S ELECTRIC SERVICE, WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN IN GARLAND TO CONTROL THE THINGS WE CAN CONTROL. BUT THERE'S STILL A POSSIBILITY YOU COULD HAVE ANOTHER SITUATION, OR WE MAY EVEN END UP WITH A REDUCED CAPACITY SITUATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE GRID UNTIL HOPEFULLY A COUPLE SESSIONS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW SESSIONS, THE LEGISLATURE WILL FIGURE IT OUT AND START TO UNTANGLE SOME OF THE MARKET ISSUES THAT MAKE IT DIFFICULT. GREAT. YES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. TOM, THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. TOM, I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION WELL I HAVE TWO REALLY AND JUST PRETTY SIMPLE LAYMAN TERMS BASED ON THE UPDATES THAT HAVE OCCURRED. WE CAN PRETTY WELL SAY TO OUR CONSTITUENCY WITH CONFIDENCE. IF THIS SHOULD HAPPEN AGAIN, WE WILL HAVE AN EQUALIZATION AS FAR AS THE ROLLING POWER OUTAGE IN THE CITY. IS THAT SAFE TO SAY. YES. IF ERCOT ASKS US TO SHED FIRM LOAD, THERE WILL BE SOME LEVEL OF ROTATING OUTAGES WITHIN THE CITY OF GARLAND. CORRECT. THANK YOU. THAT'S REALLY ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES THAT WE EXPERIENCED. THE OTHER I MAY HAVE TO GO TO OUR COUNCIL MR. ENGLAND. THE QUESTION IS, ARE WE AS A CITY LIABLE TO HOMEOWNERS THAT SUFFER DAMAGE BECAUSE OF ROVING POWER OUTAGES THAT THEY FEEL THAT THE POWERING OUTAGE IT DIDN'T WORK. MR. ENGLAND. NO, WE DO NOT BELIEVE WE ARE. AND AS MOST OF YOU ARE AWARE, WE'RE CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN A LAWSUIT. [01:55:01] WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE WHAT THE CLAIMS ARE, BUT THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE LOOKING AT. AND NO, WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU MAYOR. THANK YOU, TOM. YES, SIR. THANKS, SIR. COUNCIL MEMBER BASS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, TOM. THANK YOU, DARRELL, FOR THANKS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY, AND THANK YOU FOR THE TIME YOU SPENT WITH COUNCIL MEMBER MOORE AND MYSELF SHOWING US JUST MORE THAN I EVER THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO LEARN ABOUT GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. SO BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE IS IF YOU COULD JUST SPEAK VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GP&L GENERATION AND ERCOT AND WHAT THAT MEANS TO THE PUBLIC CONSUMER. THANK YOU. YES, OUR GENERATION IS IN THE COMPETITIVE MARKET. SO, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATELY WE HAVE THE ABILITY FINANCIALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE GENERATION THAT WE HAVE AT OLINGER FROM A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE SERVES OUR CUSTOMERS HERE IN GARLAND. BUT FROM AN ELECTRICAL PERSPECTIVE OR HOW WE PARTICIPATE WITH THAT GENERATION IN THE MARKET THERE IS A SEPARATION BETWEEN OUR GENERATION AND OUR LOAD. AND SO ULTIMATELY THAT GENERATION RUNS OR NOT DEPENDING ON THE PRICE OF THE MARKET AND ITS COSTS. AND THAT'S THE SAME WAY FOR ANYBODY ELSE IN THE MARKET. AND SO THAT MARKET IS COMPETITIVE. AND IF YOUR COSTS ARE GOOD, YOU WILL RUN. IF YOUR COST AREN'T, YOU WILL SIT ON THE SIDELINES. EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF THE WINTER EVENT, WHEN OBVIOUSLY WE NEEDED ALL HANDS ON DECK FROM A GENERATION STANDPOINT. BUT THERE IS A DISCONNECT SO OUR GENERATION GENERATES BASED ON ITS COST AND WHAT THE MARKET PRICES ARE, AND THAT POWER GOES ON TO THE GRID WITH EVERYBODY ELSE THAT'S DOING THE SAME THING. AT THE END OF THE DAY FINANCIALLY, IT ALL COMES BACK TOGETHER SO THAT OUR RATEPAYERS ARE ULTIMATELY PAYING WHAT THE COST OF OUR GENERATION IS OR WHAT WE'RE BUYING IN THE MARKET AT A CHEAPER PRICE THAN OUR GENERATION CAN RUN. BUT ELECTRICALLY AND JUST FROM A MARKET PERSPECTIVE, THAT GENERATION IS ON THE COMPETITIVE SIDE OF THE BUSINESS WHERE OUR LOAD, OUR TRANSMISSION, OUR DISTRIBUTION IS NOT. SO HOPEFULLY THAT KIND OF ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION. OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC? NO, THAT'S IT. I JUST WANT FOR, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLIC WATCHING TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR GENERATION, THE ELECTRICITY THAT THEY USE IN THEIR HOMES THAT WE PAY GP&L FOR DOES NOT HAVE A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP TO THE ENERGY THAT WE GENERATE. THAT'S PERFECTLY SAID YES. THAT'S CORRECT. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS. THANK YOU MAYOR. I JUST WANT TO CIRCLE BACK JUST A SECOND. GO BACK TO DARRELL'S OPENING COMMENTS AND LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR TONIGHT'S PRESENTATION. BUT THE THINGS THAT WE CAN CONTROL AND THE THINGS THAT WE COULDN'T, AND TO WRAP THIS UP, THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT AND THE LAST THING WAS WINTERIZATION, ALL THOSE THINGS THAT WE CAN CONTROL. WE'VE DONE THOSE THINGS RIGHT? ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY. AND THAT'S THE MESSAGE THAT I WANT OUR CUSTOMERS TO REST ON, IF YOU WILL, THAT GP&L HAS DONE EVERYTHING. YOU KNOW, I'M NOT INTO WHAT, YOU KNOW, IF I WAS A BETTING PERSON I WOULDN'T BET ON THE LEGISLATURE FOR ANYTHING AND WHAT THEY MAY DO FOR EACH YEARS, BUT THAT'S A MESSAGE. AND I THINK THIS PRESENTATION HAS CIRCLED BACK AND ACHIEVED WHAT DARRELL SAID INITIALLY. AND HE CLARIFIED THOSE THINGS THAT WE COULD CONTROL AN THOSE THINGS THAT WE CANNOT. AND THAT GP&L HAS DONE EVERYTHING WITHIN YOUR POWER AND AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS THOSE THINGS THAT YOU CAN CONTROL, INCLUDING WINTERIZATION. IS THAT CORRECT? ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, SIR. ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AS WE WRAP THIS ITEM UP? I SEE NONE I WILL THANK YOU FOR. WELL, THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATES AND I GO BACK TO, YOU KNOW, WHEN ALL OF THIS STARTED AND THE ACTIONS THAT WE'VE TAKEN SINCE THEN, IT WAS OBVIOUSLY A VERY DEVASTATING EVENT FOR ALL OF US AND HAS PROVIDED US WITH AMPLE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN. AND I KNOW THAT IT HAS BEEN TOP OF MIND FOR US AS WE HAVE WORKED THROUGH THESE SOLUTIONS. AND I GUARANTEE YOU IT IS STILL TOP OF MIND WITH CITIZENS, NOT JUST HERE IN GARLAND, BUT ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS. I KNOW THERE'S LIKE A HYPER SENSITIVITY NOW IF WE HAVE ANY SMALL DISRUPTION OF [02:00:07] POWER. PEOPLE ARE PANICKING AND RIGHTLY SO AFTER AFTER WHAT WENT ON IN FEBRUARY. SO AT ANY AND EVERYTHING WE CAN DO TO AND HOPEFULLY SOME OF THE STUFF WE NEVER, EVER HAVE TO USE, BUT NOW KNOWING THAT WE WILL HAVE IT TO USE IF WE NEED IT, IT DOES CERTAINLY OFFER ME SOME REASSURANCES. SO THANK YOU. FEBRUARY IS THE NEW AUGUST. YES, LET'S JUST. FOR THE TIME BEING. YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE, ALL OF THESE PROCEDURES AND BACKUPS AND THE BACKUPS TO THE BACKUPS. I HOPE WE NEVER USE ANYTHING THAT WE DISCUSS TONIGHT. ME TOO. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE WILL MOVE ON NOW TO ITEM 4D PARK LAND ACQUISITION POLICY. [4D. Park Land Acquisition Policy] GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. GOOD EVENING. THIS ITEM IS TO DISCUSS PARK LAND ACQUISITION POLICY STAFF PRESENTED THIS ITEM AT THE COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AND WENT THROUGH SEVERAL ITEMS OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT TYPES OF THINGS WOULD BE INCLUDED INTO AN ACQUISITION POLICY THAT WOULD COMPLEMENT WHAT WAS IDENTIFIED IN OUR PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN AND HELP COUNCIL AND STAFF IDENTIFY AREAS WITHIN THE CITY TO ACQUIRE NEW PIECES OF LAND TO ADD TO THE PARK SYSTEM . SO JUST WANTED TO RUN THROUGH KIND OF A SUMMARY PRESENTATION OF WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR PACKET ALREADY. THERE'S QUITE A BIT INFORMATION THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE AGENDA ITEM, AND THE INFORMATION THAT IS ON THE SLIDE SHOW JUST KIND OF ECHOES A LOT OF WHAT YOU'LL ALREADY SEE IN YOUR PACKET. THE PURPOSE OF THE ACQUISITION POLICY IS TO CODIFY A POLICY THAT PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO AND BEST PRACTICES TO COUNCIL AND STAFF TO OBTAIN STRATEGIC AND EQUITABLE INVESTMENT OF PARKLAND THROUGHOUT THE CITY. FIRST AND FOREMOST, AND SO, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE GAIN FROM THE MASTER PLAN WAS A GREAT ANALYSIS OF WHERE PARK SERVICE IS LACKING THROUGHOUT THE CITY TO HELP US UNDERSTAND BETTER AREAS THAT WE CAN ACQUIRE LAND TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES TO OUR CITIZENS. SECONDLY, A DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION BY THE COUNCIL TO INCORPORATE POCKET PARKS AND DEFINE WHAT A POCKET PARK IS AND ADD IT TO THE STRATEGIC MASTER PLAN TO HELP IDENTIFY VARIOUS SIZES OF LAND THAT CAN BE USED AS OPEN SPACE AND PARKLAND IN THE CITY. SO JUST A QUICK BACKGROUND OF HOW THIS POLICY DISCUSSION CAME TO BE IS THAT A LOT OF THIS DISCUSSION WAS IN THE MASTER PLAN, AND WHAT WAS PROVIDED WAS CERTAIN STRATEGIES TO ACQUIRE LAND. AND THERE ARE SEVERAL STRATEGIES THAT WERE OUTLINED IN THE MASTER PLAN THAT PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO THAT END AND THE GOAL HERE WOULD BE TO PROVIDE OR IMPROVE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO PUBLIC PARKS THROUGHOUT THE CITY. AND SO THE COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE REQUESTED STAFF TO DEVELOP A CHECKLIST TO GUIDE THE POLICY, ESTABLISH A TOOLBOX TO HELP US IDENTIFY RESOURCES IN WAYS THAT WE CAN UTILIZE OUR INTERNAL RESOURCES AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES FOR THAT MATTER, TO GAIN BETTER INSIGHT INTO WHAT LAND IS AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND THEN IDENTIFY THE FIRST FIVE AREAS THAT WOULD BE IN GREATEST NEED OF FOCUSING OUR EFFORTS AND RESOURCES TO HELP IDENTIFY WHICH AREAS WE COULD RESEARCH. AND THEN DEFINE POCKET PARKS AND ESTABLISH STANDARDS AND SIZES FOR AMENITIES THAT CAN BE DEVELOPED INTO THOSE PARCELS. SO AS PART OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, STAFF'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CHECKLIST IS TO IDENTIFY REAL PROPERTY CONSIDERATIONS THINGS LIKE WHERE THE UNDERSERVED AREAS ARE, AREAS THAT WOULD BE CONTIGUOUS LAND TO EXISTING PARKS TO STRATEGIZE, YOU KNOW, UTILIZING EXISTING LAND AND MAXIMIZING OUR IMPACT OF THOSE EXISTING RESOURCES. IDENTIFYING WHERE CONNECTIVITY CAN BE MAXIMIZED EITHER THROUGH VEHICULAR OR PEDESTRIAN ACCESS, AREAS IN FLOODPLAIN AND PROXIMITY TO RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES. [02:05:06] IN ADDITION TO IDENTIFYING WHAT DEVELOPMENT COSTS MIGHT BE AS PART OF WHAT WOULD GO INTO THOSE PARCELS OF LAND AND IDENTIFY WHAT LEGAL CONSTRAINTS THE CITY MIGHT BE FACING IN TERMS OF ACQUISITION PROPERTY ENTITLEMENTS, RIGHT OF WAY ACCESS OR OTHER OBSTACLES SUCH AS RAILROAD RIGHTS OF WAY AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AS PART OF OUR TOOLBOX, IDENTIFYING WHAT RESOURCES WE HAVE INTERNALLY ALREADY TO MAXIMIZE WHAT WAYS WE CAN IDENTIFY PARCELS OF LAND, EITHER THROUGH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, PLANNING AND ZONING TAX ASSESSOR, CITY SURVEYORS, OFFICE, EVEN PARK STAFF, NEIGHBORHOOD VITALITY STAFF TO HELP US ON THE GROUND AND LOOK AT DIFFERENT PARCELS THAT MAY BE, YOU KNOW, JUST BEING SOLD OUTRIGHT IN THE MARKET. SO THERE'S MULTIPLE WAYS THAT LAND CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND WE WOULD WANT TO UTILIZE WHAT WE CAN INTERNALLY FIRST AND SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE TO US. OF COURSE, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THERE'S TAX LIENS AND LAND DONATION THROUGH PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT, LAND DEDICATION, FEE SIMPLE SITUATIONS WHERE YOU JUST PURCHASE THE LAND OUTRIGHT. LONG TERM LEASES AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGENCIES. SO IF THERE IS EXISTING LAND OUT THERE THAT WE CAN UTILIZE WITH ANOTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCY WITHIN THE CITY THAT WE CAN AS A POLICY, YOU KNOW, ESTABLISH SOME KIND OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THAT GROUP TO UTILIZE THAT LAND AS OPEN SPACE, THEN THAT MIGHT BE ONE WAY TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF ACCESS THAT WE HAVE FOR OUR CITIZENS. SO GETTING INTO THE RECOMMENDATION IN THE FIRST FIVE AREAS I PROVIDED A MAP IN YOUR PACKET. I'VE LISTED OUT THE AREAS IN HERE ON THE SLIDE IN TERMS OF WHERE THEY ARE. TO PUT IT INTO BETTER CONTEXT I'VE INCLUDED THE MAP HERE JUST TO SHOW GEOGRAPHICALLY AND VISUALLY, YOU KNOW WHERE THOSE END UP THROUGHOUT THE CITY. SO YOU'LL NOTICE THAT A LOT OF IT IS KIND OF IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CITY. AND THAT DIRECTLY CORRELATES TO THE HEAT MAP THAT WHAT WE CALL THE HEAT MAP OR PRIORITY INVESTMENT AREA MAP THAT'S FOUND IN OUR MASTER PLAN ON THIS NEXT SLIDE. THOSE CORRELATE DIRECTLY TO THOSE RED AND DARK RED AREAS ON THIS PRIORITY INVESTMENT MAP. AND SO WHAT WE'D BE LOOKING TO DO IN THESE AREAS IS IDENTIFY DIFFERENT PARCELS OF LAND, EITHER THROUGH ALL THOSE TOOLBOX RESOURCES THAT WE JUST MENTIONED TO SEE IF THERE ARE AREAS THAT MIGHT BE ABLE OR ELIGIBLE TO BE ACQUIRED OR DONATED OR PARTNER UP WITH ANOTHER AGENCY WITHIN THOSE AREAS TO SEE WHAT KIND OF LAND WE CAN UTILIZE AND MAXIMIZE TO GAIN BETTER ACCESS TO OPEN SPACE AND CERTAINLY MORE AMENITIES, YOU KNOW, THAN WHAT IS AVAILABLE TODAY. AND GETTING INTO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT POCKET PARKS IT WAS A RECOMMENDATION BY STAFF TO CLASSIFY IT UNDER SPECIALIZED SPACE SPECIALTY USE PARKS. SO THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CLASSIFICATIONS IN OUR MASTER PLAN FROM REGIONAL PARKS, COMMUNITY PARKS, NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS. BUT THESE ARE SPECIALTY PARKS THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND PLACING IT UNDER THAT CATEGORY AND PROVIDED A DEFINITION HERE THROUGH THE NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARKS ASSOCIATION. ESSENTIALLY, IT'S A SMALL AREA QUARTER TO A ONE ACRE SIZE. MOST OFTEN THEY'RE LOCATED WITHIN URBAN AREAS WITH GENERALLY WITH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO OPEN SPACE. THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF THIS IDEA WAS ORIGINATED. BUT WHAT WE'RE SEEING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND EVEN INTERNATIONALLY THAT THESE SPACES ARE TAKING DIFFERENT FORMS AND SHAPES AND NOT NECESSARILY LIMITED TO JUST THOSE URBAN SPACES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO THEM. SO THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS AND CREATIVE WAYS THAT PEOPLE ARE INCORPORATING POCKET PARKS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. TYPICAL AMENITIES THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE IN A POCKET PARK IN GARLAND COULD INCLUDE SIMPLY JUST A PAVED AREA WITH SEATING AND SHADE TO INCLUDE ALSO SIGNAGE, ART, LANDSCAPE ENHANCEMENTS AND OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST THAT FACILITATE A COMMUNITY'S IDENTITY. AND SO THAT'S ONE WAY THAT DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES OR DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE COMMUNITY, DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS CAN CAN EXPRESS THEIR IDENTITY IN THESE POCKET PARKS IS THROUGH ART AND THROUGH DIFFERENT AREAS OR DIFFERENT WAYS OF THEIR INTEREST AND EXPRESSION, EXPRESSING THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS ALREADY ESTABLISHED IDENTITY. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHAT STAFF RECOMMENDS IS IDENTIFYING PARCELS LIKE THESE [02:10:07] THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT MIGHT BE IN AN AREA WHERE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE HAVE LESS OPEN SPACE OR ACCESS TO OPEN SPACE. A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE WHO HAVE LARGE YARDS ARE ALREADY EXISTING ACCESS, YOU KNOW, MAY NOT UTILIZE THIS AS MUCH. AND FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO MAY NOT NECESSARILY HAVE LARGE YARDS, IT MIGHT BE A BETTER PLACE AND BETTER SUITED FOR THOSE AREAS OF THE CITY. JUST I WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF WHAT POCKET PARKS MIGHT LOOK LIKE, JUST TO GET A SENSE OF WHAT MIGHT BE INCLUDED. IT'S NOT JUST GREEN SPACE ALL THE TIME. IT CAN BE PAVED. IT CAN HAVE WATER FEATURES, THINGS LIKE THAT. THIS IS AN AREA IN FONDY PARK IN MILWAUKEE, OBVIOUSLY A LARGE GREEN SPACE AND COMMUNITY GATHERING SPACE WITH KIND OF A STAGE AT THE END. THIS IS JUST A REPURPOSED AREA OF A STREETSCAPE THAT INCLUDES JUST KIND OF PEDESTRIAN ACCESS SHADE AND JUST A PLACE FOR PEOPLE JUST TO KIND OF GATHER UNDER THAT SHADE CANOPY. YOU CAN TELL THERE'S A FEW PEOPLE UNDER THAT SHADE IN THE SUNNY DAY. THIS IS AN AREA AND THIS IS A PARK IN NEW YORK CALLED PALEY PARK. IT'S BEEN THERE FOR A LONG TIME. IT'S KIND OF JUST A HIDDEN AREA PEOPLE GATHER IN AND THEN THIS CAN ALSO BE A POCKET PARK IN SOMEBODY'S COMMUNITY. THIS COULD BE ANY LARGE, MEDIAN OR CUL DE SAC IN THE GARLAND AREA, SO IT CAN JUST BE LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS, LANDSCAPE ENHANCEMENTS. LOOKS LIKE THERE'S A FREE LITTLE LIBRARY, YOU KNOW, BEHIND THAT PERSON STANDING WITH THE RED SHIRT SO IT CAN TAKE A LOT OF DIFFERENT FORMS. AND SO I ALSO PROVIDED SOME REFERENCES TO ALSO FOUND IN YOUR PACKET TOO THE NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARKS ASSOCIATION WEBSITES AND THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND WEBSITES. STAFF IS SEEKING DIRECTION FROM COUNCIL TO ADOPT THIS POLICY AND MOVE FORWARD WITH WAYS TO IMPLEMENT IT INTO A MORE OF A CODIFIED POLICY. WE'RE ALSO HERE TO RECEIVE ANY FEEDBACK OR MODIFICATIONS TO THE POLICY THAT THE COUNCIL MAY HAVE. AND THEN OBVIOUSLY, THERE'S AN OPTION TO TAKE NO ACTION ON THIS ITEM TONIGHT, BUT I WANTED TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT'S IN YOUR PACKET AND WITH THAT, I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. OK, VERY GOOD. ANY QUESTIONS OR INPUT ON THIS ITEM I KNOW I BELIEVE COUNCIL MEMBER SMITH IS ALREADY WELL SPOKEN. HERE WE GO. COUNCIL MEMBER SMITH. THANK YOU, MAYOR. YEAH. THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT WORK ON THIS. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'D HOPED FOR WHEN I ASKED FOR THIS ITEM, AND I HAVE NO UPDATES OR CHANGES TO MAKE TO IT. YOU DELIVERED EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED. THANK YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MAYOR. VERY GOOD. COUNCIL LADY MORRIS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THE SAME THING. YOU ALL DID AN EXCELLENT JOB OF HUNTING DOWN WHAT WE TASKED YOU WITH. I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY THIS TURNED OUT. I APPRECIATE COUNCILMAN SMITH'S REFERRAL TO CSC FOR THIS, SO I AM FULLY IN FAVOR OF IT MOVING FORWARD AS WRITTEN. SO VERY GOOD. THANKS. THANK YOU. WITH THAT, SO I SEE YOU HAVE IT FOR A FUTURE MEETING FOR FORMAL CONSIDERATION. SEEMS TO ME THAT WHAT YOU HAVE PRESENTED IS WHAT WE'RE GOING FORWARD WITH. SO WHEN CAN YOU HAVE THIS BACK TO US FOR FORMAL CONSIDERATION? WE JUST NEED TO DISCUSS INTERNALLY HOW IT'S CODIFIED AND WHAT VEHICLE IT NEEDS TO BE CODIFIED INTO EITHER MASTER PLAN OR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OR WHAT'S MOST APPROPRIATE. SO WE'LL NEED TO CONFER WITH SEVERAL OTHER STAFF MEMBERS AND ATTORNEYS OFFICE LIKELY AND COME BACK TO YOU WITH A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION. OK. I GUESS WE'LL GO WITH THAT. I KNOW WITH HOLIDAY SEASON'S COMING UP, IT'S. RIGHT. DECEMBER, AS EARLY AS WE CAN DO IT. WE'RE READY. YEAH, IT'S DECEMBER IS BASICALLY JUST AROUND OUR CORNER, SO. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. AND THAT WAS OUR LAST VERBAL BRIEFING THAT BRINGS US TO ITEM FIVE DISCUSS APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. [5. Discuss Appointments to Boards and Commissions] TOMORROW NIGHT, DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM WILLIAMS HAS AN APPOINTMENT. WE'LL CALL ON YOU AT THAT TIME, SIR, TO MAKE THE MOTION. AND THEN WE ARE AT ITEM SIX ANNOUNCE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. [6. Announce Future Agenda Items] [02:15:07] ARE THERE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? COUNCIL MEMBER BASS SORRY. GO AHEAD, SIR. THANK YOU, MAYOR. YES, I'D LIKE TO SUGGEST AN AGENDA ITEM. WE WOULD LIKE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE TO REVIEW IF POSSIBLE. I'D LIKE TO REVIEW THE GDC REQUIREMENTS FOR DISTANCE REQUIRED BETWEEN CELL PHONE TOWERS. AND I THINK WE ALREADY HAVE THAT IN THE WORKS FOR THAT YES. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU, MAYOR. ANY ADDITIONAL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? OBVIOUSLY, IF SOMETHING COMES UP BEFOREHAND OR AFTER THIS, THERE IS A PROCESS I WITH THAT, WITH NOTHING ELSE COMING BEFORE US AT 8:28. WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.