>> Good morning. Good morning,
everyone, and welcome
to this regular meeting of
Tampa Bay Water for Monday,
July 21. This meeting was
noticed in the Florida
Administrative Register and
on the Tampa Bay Water website.
The meeting is available
for viewing through live
streaming and a recording
of the meeting will be posted
on the agency's website. This
time I would like to ask Vice
Chair Hanewicz to lead us
in the Pledge of Allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United
States of America and
to the republic
for which it stands, one
nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice
for all.
>> Commissioner Oakley,
Commissioner Peters and Mayor
Davis will not be
in attendance
for this meeting. Kathleen?
At this time,
could we please have a roll
call to determine if there is a
quorum?
[ CALLING ROLL ]
>> Mr. Chair, we have a quorum.
>> Thank you very much.
At this time, we are going to
open the regular meeting and
ask if there are any changes
to the agenda. And seeing none,
we will go to public comment.
Public comment is three minutes
per speaker. We have two people
who have signed up this
morning. The first is Mark
Clutho. Good morning. Ah, he's
walking in. Mr. Clutho, good
morning.
>> Mark Lutho, Largo. Oh, A5.
Yeah. You're talking here
about environmental conditions.
Yeah. Well, all you do is
degrade the environmental
conditions and your water wise.
Update A7. Well, how wise
is it that all these plants
that you have
around this building you have
to mutilate because there isn't
room for them to grow? That's
completely asinine. And again
today we're going
to have a heat index over 100
degrees. And all the fools are
wearing coats so we'll buy more
air conditioning so everybody's
comfortable. So what happens?
We have these headlines. We're
heading
into hurricane season.
Unprepared storms like Milton
will strike. Will we see them
coming? The flooding in Texas
is the future. We need
to prepare. What caused extreme
rainfall flooding in Texas
Hill country? Well, you're
complicit. The waters
in the gulf are often 3, 4, 5
degrees warmer than normal.
At one point this year,
sea surface temperatures
in the gulf of Texas and
Louisiana were more than 8
degrees above normal. As has
been shown time and time again,
event after event,
climate change is heading
to wetter. More extreme
precipitation events. Well, you
are doing your part ignoring
science. I mean, I just don't
see how you can be more stupid.
Get rid of the stupid coats.
Now. Maybe you need
to see a doctor. There's just
something wrong
with you idiots.
>> David Ballard Geddes, Jr.
Good morning.
>> Hi. Thank you, sir. David
Ballard Geddes, Jr. I live on
Georgia Avenue in Palm
Harbor. Thomas Jefferson's
Louisiana land purchase was
negotiated by three people.
Thomas Jefferson, Robert
Livingston and James Monroe.
Jefferson is accredited
with writing both the
Religious Freedom act,
where he juxtapositions
Almighty God in an attempt
at confusing us
with his deceptive dialogue,
coupled with the Declaration
of Independence, which
in perpetuity serves as
preamble to a second
Constitution. Evil
in its nature. Jefferson was a
sacrilegious scallywag and a
total fraud. Now, Robert
Livingston, he comes
from a family that profited
from the slave trade. He was
given the nickname of the
Chancellor
for his legal tenure in New
York. He was one of the
Committee of Five
in the framing of the
Declaration of Independence,
yet he never signed the
Declaration. Livingston
administered the oath
of office to George
Washington. Livingston was the
Grand Master of the
Freemasons, belonging to the
Society of the Cincinnati 13.
Livingston was a real fly
by night shady character. Then
there's James Monroe. He was
our fifth president. And oddly,
most of all,
he opposed ratifying the US
Constitution. Why would he do
that? As negotiated
by these three conflicted men,
the Louisiana land purchase,
in reality is the western half
of the Mississippi watershed
region. Irrespective
of the nation's borders, the
watershed region goes all the
way up into Canada. The
Louisiana watershed purchase
does not recognize the
arbitrary boundaries
between countries, states,
counties, cities or municipal
governments. You're not living
in Kansas anymore. You never
were. That was created as an
illusion. The western half
of the Mississippi watershed
region was sold by an entity
that did not have rightful
ownership
of the land or the water.
Thereby, the sale of such
stolen territory is null and
void. Thomas Jefferson's
assumption
in constitutionally doubling
down and furthering
in his piracy of both land and
water is invalid.
In its possession, the
territory as stolen must resort
back to the indigenous Indians
that first inhabited this land.
They need to be given a
justifiable and rightful say so
in the pursuings
of this government. Thank you.
>> All right. And that is our
public comment
for this morning.
At this time, we are going
to move on
to the consent agenda. Is there
anyone pulling anything
off consent before we go ahead
with a motion? I don't see any.
>> Move approval.
>> Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion
from Councilman Miranda,
seconded by Councilwoman
Hanewicz. Please record your
vote.
>> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
unanimously.
>> We are going to move now
to the regular agenda. And our
first item is item number B1.
And that is the General Manager
and General Counsel's report.
Mr. Carden, good morning.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members
of the board, it's good
to see all of you. We had a
short break there and so now
we're back
to business. The first item or
the first slide I want to show
you is where we are using all
the sources and our targets.
And if you can go to the July
on the very far right,
you can see we're right
on target
with our projections. And you
can see the different various
sources with yellow,
which is the Desal plant. So,
it's been running and doing
well. Through June 30th, we
delivered an average
about just a little bit over
200 million gallons a day. And
that is less than the same
water delivery
for the same period last year.
It's about 1.5% lower. We did
receive about 7.42 inches. And
that is
about a half an inch shy
of the average,
but pretty close. Doing fine.
So, we are moving
through the next slide,
please. I'm going to talk
about the well fields. That is
the consolidated well field
slide. And as you can see,
the black line's the 90 million
gallon a day permit limit. And
it's taken an anomaly where
it's dropped down and there's
quite a cushion there
from that. We're about 75.93
million gallons a day. And that
was done on purpose. We ran the
surface water harder in May and
June than we normally would.
And that was anticipation
of doing some work at the
surface water treatment plant
which is going on right now.
So, we're running the surface
water a little bit lower than
we would at this time,
but they will balance out.
So, we just kind of flip
flopped our running scenarios.
The next slide shows you the
south-central Hillsborough
regional well field permit.
Again, the black line is the
limit of 24.95 and we are at
24.96. And it will. It'll
bounce around the black line
for a little bit. We do
anticipate the permit being
raised to 26.9 in October
of this year. So that should be.
The black line will go up. See
that coming soon. This is a
graph of how are we doing
with the reservoir. The blue,
all the blue is the actual
water that we anticipate. It
says 9.5 billion. That is what
we anticipate by the end
of this month to be in there.
And that is ahead of target
by quite a sum. Again, last
year at this time we were
hovering a little over 2
billion gallons
in the reservoir. So, it's
quite a different story. This
is generally the average year.
Last year was not and hopefully
we'll never see another year
like that. Here's some things
I'm going to chat with you
down the line. We'll start
with the Legislative
Appropriations update. As you
know, the session just ended
in June and the governor signed
the budget on June 30th. And we
did receive two awards. One for
the surface water treatment
plant, that's $650,000. And
then another project was
awarded a million dollars
for our SCADA Secure Ops
project. The bond refinancing.
We asked the board and the
board approved in May to
refinance the 2015A bonds and
we went to market. They closed
on July 3rd, I believe, and we
achieved a 4% savings which
equates to about $680,000 a
year and that is very close
to one penny off of our rate.
So that was very good news.
On water quality, we are still
watching closely the EPA and
the rulemaking that's going on.
They did make an announcement
early this spring that they
would increase the time
for being in compliance
with PFAS from the year 2029
to the year 2031. And they
dropped some or they raised
some of the parts per trillion
for the PFAS from 4 to 10
on certain PFAS elements
but not on there was two
of them that are the main ones.
They're still at 4 parts per
trillion. I do understand that
the litigation is ongoing
against them. American
Waterworks association and
others have filed litigation
and that is ongoing. So we're
keeping a close eye on that.
We are working
on our water quality study
with Corolla engineers that
recently got all comments
from all of the members. We are
compiling those and we will
have a meeting with all staff
and then we will be bringing
forth some recommendations
to the board
in the next few months.
Hurricane resiliency, we are
in the middle of the hurricane
and I read somewhere today that
we are starting the peak season
and as we know, late August and
September is when a lot
of it starts.
After last year we went
through a variety
of meetings,
lessons learned and after
action plans and we've been
working hard to implement these
short and long term fixes. We
met with all the member
governments, all
of their utility, their
communications and their
emergency management staff and
we talked about improving our
coordination and communication.
We have implemented some
of the generator
Withlacoochee River Electric,
help us maintain and operate
the generators that run the
crossbar and the Cypress Creek
facilities. We've also updated
our fuel contracts
to stage a fuel tanker
at our regional site
to allow better access
for our workers in a more
central located place. And we
are working with Hillsborough
County and Pasco County
to come up with an MOU
to get some fuel as we need to
from them. We've done a lot of
tree trimming and we applied
sealants to most of all of our
buildings that experienced some
type of water damage last year.
We also hired a new emergency
management program manager. So
he started about two weeks ago
and we've been doing a lot
of training
for the last several months.
Lastly, we're going
to be establishing a schedule
to have a quarterly member
government meeting. It'll help
us enhance our communications
and prepare better
for the storms. And we'll be
meeting quarterly
during the hurricane season.
And I want
to mention purchasing. Our
purchasing department received
the Achievement of Excellence
in Procurement from the
National Institute of
Procurement. And that was the
first time they received that.
They're doing a great job.
Strong performance,
accountability, and they're
adding terrific strategic value
in our procurement here
at the agents. Next slide,
please. I want
to show you some
of the things we've been doing
out in the community. This is
the Girl Scouts of West
Central Florida's Water
Conservation Academy Camp. And
one of our staff members,
Aaron Hayes, was there and
helped the Girl Scouts
with some activities, learning
more about our aquifer.
>> They're all
drinking Sprite. They should be
drinking water.
>> They're making
an edible Aquifer. Needs
Sprite for a little kick. The
next slide shows three
of our purchasing team members.
They were
at a reverse trade show. And
then our chief operating
officer, Paul Stanek, helped
keep Pinellas beautiful. They
were evaluating environmental
action plans developed
by high school students during
a summer environmental
leadership workshop. And
Danielle Kersey, she is our
senior project manager. She
presented at the American
Waterworks Conference. She was
on a panel and she also did a
presentation. And lastly,
I will mention Pasco County
hired a new utility director,
Joseph Omoa. He's sitting
straight across
from me and welcome aboard,
Joseph. And that's my report.
>> Any questions
from board members?
Commissioner Mariano.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You know,
a while ago we talked
about the Four Rivers
Project, about a reservoir
project that the Army Corps had
designed for years ago. And I
mentioned out in Dade City
where they have all sorts
of flooding going
on this past year because of
water that just can't drain and
it abuts right up to the
Green Swamp
in certain areas. I asked
Tampa Bay Water staff
to go work
with our county and talking
to Jason Mickle, who was
Joseph's boss. Even this
morning they haven't had a
conversation yet. So, I don't
know where we are going
with that, but I would love
to see it happen. And maybe
before Joe leaves, you can
actually start the conversation
because the reservoir is great
for water itself,
but it's also great
for stormwater. And you maybe
have the dialogue today
to get it rolling.
>> Yes, I'll ask Warren too.
He's been our lead on that --.
I have talked with Pasco staff
on a couple of occasions
to coordinate. They have asked
that we stand by
for future meetings with the
Army Corps in the district in
Pasco County. Your staff wanted
to take the lead so that we
didn't jump in and things
become a little jumbled
with multiple meetings. So, I'm
waiting to hear back from your
staff. I will follow up
with them this week
to see how we can engage
with them
in those studies.
>> So, what staff person did
you talk to?
>> My notes are upstairs.
Dr, the name eludes me,
but I will reach out
to them this week.
>> And Joseph is coming right
from that department. So, I
that they're going to start
the conversation a little bit
more intensely, but something
we're should be looking at and
should have been done months
ago. Thank you.
>> All right, we are going
to move on now to the PFAS
litigation settlement update.
Ms. Fernandez.
>> Thank you. I'd like
to introduce Augie Ribeiro. He
is with Ventura Law and he's
one of the attorneys that has
been aptly handling Tampa Bay
Water's involvement
in the PFAS litigation. He's
here today to provide you
with a brief history of Tampa
Bay Water's involvement and
also an update on where we are
at with the settlements.
>> Thank you. Morning, Mr.
Ribeiro.
>> Thank you. Good morning,
Mr. Chairman. And I just like
to say that I know you get
heaped
with praise often as a board
for all your decisions and
sometimes it's probably merited
because I stood
before you or came
before you. This is my fifth
meeting
before the board and some
of the new members may not
recall, but going back to
2019, we decided to review and
discuss the potential of a
litigation involving bringing
an action against the component
manufacturers
of PFAs and PFOA. And this
board, this board,
through legal counsel and
through the five subsequent
meetings that I presented,
made a great decision. In
2020, you allowed our law firm,
you retained us and you allowed
us to bring a lawsuit
against 3M Dupont and a number
of defendants who were the
component manufacturers
of PFAS and PFOA. And because
of that decision, we were one
of the leaders
in this litigation that brought
about almost a $13 billion
settlement
about a year and a half ago
for cities and water suppliers
across the country. But because
this board gave us authority
in 2020, the amount that we
settled for Tampa Bay water was
a 25% increase. And I want
to point that out. That is an
extraordinary great decision
by this board. So, I'm here
to announce that on a gross
settlement basis that we're
proud
to report that we have settled
for Tampa Bay Water, an amount
that will be, in the end,
about 23 to 24 million dollars
as a gross award,
and net somewhere between 17
and 18 million dollars. 90%
of that comes from the company
of 3M. 10% comes from Dupont
and other defendants that we
have brought litigation
against. That last 10% has not
been resolved,
but the first 90% has,
and that amount is estimated
at $21.7 million. And then we
anticipate another 10% against
the remaining defendants. And
that's why our estimates are
somewhere between 23 and $24
million as a gross award.
We're proud
to have represented Tampa Bay
Water. I'm just by way
of history, I was here almost
10 years ago. I had the
privilege of representing
Tampa Bay Water again as a
resident of Pinellas County
for the BP oil disaster. And I
was proud to present an award
at that time. I know
oftentimes, as board members,
you're criticized. Then your
team, your staff, the
engineers, the people
on the field that had
to cooperate with us throughout
the many years, we also went
through Covid. So the decision
to allow us
to bring the suit and
to cooperate with us
to allow us
to get litigation testing,
we did our own testing,
which supplemented our efforts
in this case. And I want
to point out to you,
because many of the general
public don't understand this,
that many cities,
many cities that we presented
to
over the last six years refused
to get involved
in this action. Refused
for one reason or another.
They didn't want to bring light
that there might be a problem.
Many cities and water suppliers
failed to receive any monies
from this settlement because
they didn't file timely. And
so, I think it's time that we
say thank you and hats off
to this board for making great
decision and funds will be
forthcoming. And I've supplied
a memo to that effect. And I
thank you for the privilege
of allowing me
to represent you
over these years. Thank you
very much. Any questions?
>> Well, Mr. Ribeiro, thank you
and thank you
for that wonderful report, you
know, Councilman Miranda and I,
when we were on Tampa City
Council, the Tampa recovered
money in the BP litigation.
And that at the time, a lot
of that money was used
to build, to rebuild Julian
B. Lane Park, which is a
tremendous park on the
Hillsborough River. And the
reason I mention that is
because these, these types
of verdicts,
the money that comes from them
can be transformative.
This is a huge amount
of money that is coming
into our hands in this case. I
know this board's going to act
very wisely and use the money
to make our water as clean as
possible. That's our top
priority. But, you know,
having the foresight
to follow this litigation
through to,
to have the courage to file it
to begin with and, and to. To
take the time and effort ne
really was very, very important
and will have a very meaningful
impact on this agency and
on the public that we serve.
So thank you. Is there any
other board members that would
like to. Councilwoman
Hanewicz.
>> Thank you. Chair, I just.
First of all, Augie, great
work. Thank you. Obviously,
five years is a long road,
and we had many meetings
on this, and it's come
to a good conclusion. My
question is in terms of when we
expect the money and then how
are we going to,
where are we going
to put the money in terms
of invest the money or put it
in a place where it earns what
it should earn
until we decide what happens
with it and what's going to.
What's going to,
you know what. Are there any
limitations in terms of how we
can use this money and what we
should use it for? So, I just.
There are a couple
of questions
in there that I would like,
and I don't know if Christina
can help
on the financial part. Sorry,
Christina, if I'm, like,
throwing you out there or
Augie, if you can help out.
>> The only thing I can say is
that, number one,
we've made a payment. One
payment was made last month,
and I have another check here
today to drop off. Okay. Which
is the second payment. And then
by the end of the year, we
expect another larger payment.
And so, we expect by the end of
this year that you will be
receiving 65% of this amount of
money that you're entitled to.
And then the next payments,
the next 35%, will be paid out
over the next four
to five years. That's our
estimates. So, by the end
of the year, you should have
about 65% of this award, and
there are no restrictions.
>> Okay, great. So, I would
just like to see if wherever
we're putting our money or
holding our money,
because it's going
to take a while anyhow, to make
sure we're earning the best
interest rates while it's there
until a decision is made,
I would assume in the future,
sometime.
>> So, we are setting up a
separate fund that we will be
able to track the money, and
then any interest that it earns
will stay with that fund. And
then once the board makes the
decision what
to spend those funds on,
then we will track it as well,
just like we do with any bond
proceeds we receive. We track
those separately, maintaining
the interest and where all the
money is spent. So, we'll do
the same thing
with these funds. We're
creating a separate fund
to do that with.
>> Okay, well, thank you very
much, and thank you, Augie,
for all you've done.
>> Any other comments,
Commissioner Eggers?
>> Yeah, just real quickly,
I wanted to second some
of the comments. You know,
these kinds of efforts are
like five years, sometimes
in the making,
sometimes longer. And the
attitudes can be, why bother?
But we do have an incredible
staff that brought it to, you
know, to a point where I think
everybody was pretty clear on
what could happen and why we
were doing it. So I just, you
know, the residents of Tampa
Bay region and why this board
was created some 25 years ago
couldn't be more apparent.
So, I'm really just proud
of the effort by staff. They
really are the folks that made
this happen. And thank you for
your efforts as well and past
board members that were up here
when we did all this work.
So, thank you again.
>> Thank you. It's so much
easier to not do anything,
especially
with a difficult decision.
>> There was a lot of talk
about it when we were
considering.
>> So thank you again.
>> Yes, I just want
to thank you. You know,
there's something to say. Why
not do it? Can you imagine if
it wasn't done from this agency
or any other agency where we
would be in 10 years?
>> Yes, sir.
>> So, money isn't everything.
It's a cutting
off a period where all
of society would have been in
deep trouble if these things
keep on perpetuating itself
for many years to come. So,
for that, money comes
in common goals. But people
lives mean more than money.
So, thank you and everybody
in the staff who voted
for all this and thank
everybody in the audience who
participated. Thank you very
much.
>> Thank you, Councilman
Miranda.
>> Commissioner Mariano.
>> I just want to thank you for
bringing it forward and thanks
for your great work on it.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you. All right,
great. Thank you. All right,
let's see where we are here.
Thanks. Oh, we probably ought
to do that a little more
ceremonially the next time.
>> I will keep it. I promise.
I'll make sure it gets to
Christina.
>> At this time, we are going
to move on
to our action items. We have
two this morning. The first
will be presented by Maribel
Medina, Planning and Projects
Director, and that is
in relation to the South
Hillsborough Pipeline Segment
A. Good morning.
>> Well, Good morning, Mr.
Chairman and members of the
Board. Today I will request
your approval
for agenda items C1, C2 and C3,
which are closely related and
pertain
to the construction phase
of the South Hillsborough
pipeline project. With a
clearly defined construction
strategy now in place,
we have negotiated a schedule,
scopes and fees with the
respective engineering teams
that are helping us
with this project
to support the phase that align
with that strategy.
Specifically, I will be
presenting and requesting
approval for the following: the
third amendment
to contract 2021-024 with
WestRim Inc., the second
amendment to contract 2021-025
with Stantec Consulting
Services, and work assignment
number three amendment
under contract 2022-001 with
Black & Veatch. But
before diving into the details
of these amendments,
I will begin
with a brief project update.
And as a reminder,
this pipeline will span about
26 miles and will have a
diameter of up to 60 inches.
It is assigned to deliver up
to 65 million gallons per day
to South Hillsborough County
and this map illustrates the
pipeline route. To date we have
completed several milestones
and have reached the 90% design
for the pipeline while we
continue property and permit
acquisition design
of the points of connection and
continue our public outreach
efforts.
On the public outreach. We have
just completed a public
engagement activity that was
required by Hillsborough
County. The County's Board
Policy 09010101 requires BOCC
approval
of temporary road closures
by a public entity that exceed
30 days in duration. This
policy also requires public
engagement at least 14 days
prior to the BOCC meeting at
which this item will be
considered. At the direction
of Hillsborough county staff,
we had an online engagement
from June 20th through July
18th, and we had
in person meetings last week,
July 15th through the 17th, and
this engagement opportunity was
extensively noticed
with direct mail postcards,
emails
to our email subscriber list,
Facebook ads, Facebook posts
that were shared and pick up
by the community,
and news articles and more.
The project requires a total
of 29 permits. Today we have
submitted nine permit
applications, including the two
major environmental permits.
So far we have received one
permit and the remaining eight
applications are currently
under review
by the regulatory agencies.
Now that we have reached the
90% design, the engineering
team is preparing 10 additional
permit applications and as we
approach the construction
phase, Garney, our construction
manager at risk,
will be responsible for
applying and obtaining the
final term permits needed
for construction. We remain
on schedule to obtain all the
critical path permits prior
to the start
of the construction activities.
In addition to that,
the project requires a total
of 218 temporary and permanent
utility easements. The left pie
chart shows the current status
of easements acquisition. We
have obtained 89 easements
which represent 41%
of the total easements needed.
112 easements have been
included in the eminent domain
resolutions that have been
approved by this board and as
of today, three
of those parcels have been
filed in court while we
continue negotiations
with the property owners. The
remaining 17 parcels are owned
by Hillsborough County, ELAP,
the Fish and Wildlife and TECO,
and the right chart displays
the expenditures today and the
remaining budget
for easement acquisition.
We're on schedule and
within budget to get all the
parcels and easements by the
time that we begin construction
activities and
to date we have spent 15% of
our property acquisition budget
on that 41%
of the closed easements. This
slide shows the project overall
schedule. Construction is
tentatively scheduled to begin
as early as this fall pending
the final design,
property acquisition and
permitting,
and we're expecting
to have this pipeline
in service in late 2028. This
is a detailed schedule for
construction phase pending
obtaining those necessary
permits. We will begin with
trenchless or tunneling
crossing operations
for segment A this fall,
followed by segment B
in the summer of 2026. Open cut
pipe installation is scheduled
to begin in the spring of 2026
and in general we will be
completing restoration
activities as we follow the
pipe installation. These
activities include surface
restoration and addressing any
immediate impacts. The points
of connections which we have
three of them and associated
construction activities will
also begin in the summer of
2026 and then we will be
completing pipeline flushing,
disinfection and commissioning
which is planned to be
in the fall of 2028. The final
restoration and construction
closeout phase will continue
from the fall of 2028
through the summer of 2029. In
this slide we can see the
complexity involved in
constructing the 26-mile
pipeline over a period
of more than 36 months. The
construction effort will
involve a team of over 130
personnel with up to nine crews
working simultaneously
across different locations
at any given time. Segment A
will be the most resource
intensive with four tunneling
crews and four open cut crews.
We will also have front end and
back end teams handling the
preparation and restoration
work. And we have in this
segment significant maintenance
of traffic. Coordination due
to its location and impacts
on the roadways. In Segment B,
while less intensive, will
still require two trenchless
tunneling crews and one open
cut crew support from front end
and back end teams and increase
attention to environmental
considerations throughout the
construction process. This
level of coordination
highlights the scale and
complexity of this project,
requiring careful planning,
sequencing,
management and communication
across all teams. I would like
to pause now and give you an
opportunity
to ask me any questions
before I move on
to the action items.
>> Commissioner Eggers.
>> Yeah. Thank you
for that summary. That's good
to kind of always go back and
visit and kind
of get some updates. One of the
most important things that we
do at Tampa Bay Water is manage
projects. So, we assign
experienced project managers
to this. And my understanding
is that we have perhaps gotten
a little thin in that area and
that we are using Black and
Veatch even more. So maybe you
could speak to that,
to the thought process behind
when we do that versus using
our own folks. And is there a
possibility of kind
of switching back
to our own personnel? So, thank
you.
>> Sure. Yes. That's one
of the key mandates of my
department and my division.
So, when we select project
managers, they're based
on the risk complexity
of each one
of these projects. We determine
that for this particular
project we need a really
seasoned and experienced
project manager that is able
to handle a half. This is half
a billion dollar project when
you account for all the cost,
including property acquisition
and design and construction
services. We have a multiple
consultants working
in this project. We have two
engineering firms. We have a
construction manager at risk
with multiple construction or
guarantee maximum packages
involved. And we have a complex
permitting strategy and
property acquisition. So, we
determined that we needed a
good and experienced candidate.
Although we do have really
talented team members
in my department.
>> How many? I'm sorry.
>> We have four project
managers. Well, sorry,
three project managers in my
team and we have two
construction managers
in my division.
>> And that's fully staffed
right now?
>> Fully staffed. I'm missing
one project manager.
>> Okay.
>> But we have a lot of capital
projects that are ongoing.
We're managing about 30
projects in addition
to the pipeline project. And we
needed somebody
with that capability
of handling this large,
complex project. That
individual from Black and
Veatch has been selected to
help me and the agency manage
these projects
through the closeout phase. We
did have one staff person a
year ago that left the agency
and had the experience
to manage this project. He
returned back home
in another state. And
unfortunately we have not been
able to find, to find a fit
that have that experience.
>> Okay. All right,
I appreciate that. And is
there, the added cost
to doing that included
in the original approval?
>> Absolutely. The project
includes, our budget is half a
billion dollars.
For the entire project we made,
we had budget line items for
program management and project
management and construction
management, support services.
And to date, we are forecasting
that we will spend less than 1%
for that role. That will be
supporting Tampa Bay water,
actually 0.67%.
>> Okay, so no additional funds
requested?
>> No. Not at this point.
>> Thank you. Appreciate the
detailed summary. Thanks.
Thank you.
>> Okay, Commissioner
Mariano.
>> So, looking at the easement
acquisition status with 85%
of the budget remaining,
is that just way ahead of what
you thought and it's gone much
better than you expected?
>> Well, as we. It's a good
observation that as we are
entering into the eminent
domain process,
we're expecting that we're
going to be burning that money
at a higher rate
for the remaining parcels. So
we still think that the budget
is sufficient to cover those
additional easements that will,
we'll be negotiating
with attorneys and
in court.
>> Okay, so you're not
optimistic that you'll have a
huge surplus there?
>> I'm going
to keep my fingers crossed,
yes.
>> All right. And I think, I
think your next slide's coming
up. You're going to show
construction costs are actually
higher than we expected,
so.
>> Well, so far we have
received two guarantee. We do
have approved two guarantee
maximum packages. GMP number
one was where we saw
significant savings when we
purchased the pipeline
materials almost a year ago.
And then the second GMP,
which was taken,
I believe earlier this year as
well, was for the tunneling and
trenchless operations that we
are planning to be beginning
October. We are currently
in the phase of advertise for
the third guarantee maximum
package, which is
for the open cut installation.
We will be back in October and
hopefully we are still
within budget. We have three
prospective bidders that will
be providing bids and we hope
to be within budget.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay, so this is C1. Why
don't we go ahead and have a
vote
on this and then we'll move on
to the next.
>> Sure. We're going
to brief two slides on C1.
So, C1 is
for the third amendment for
construction phase and design
services
to Wade Trim and Wade Trim
is the engineer of record
for segment A. And their scope
during the construction phase
includes the key service areas
shown in the slide. They will
provide construction oversight
services
for segment A activities.
They will provide engineering
services and inspection
services,
environmental support and
public involvement,
and will support the cathodic
protection, construction,
engineering services and
inspection of those corrosion
protection systems. And
in addition to that, we'll
support the project pipeline
portion of it
through the closed
out phase and verification
of any as built drawings. The
scope
of this segment is funded by
Tampa Bay Water. And we will
plan to request reimbursements
from the Southwest Florida
Water Management District. And
also we negotiated as part of
our amended joint project
agreement with Hillsborough
County, a scope of work to
design the jard piping
modifications that
Hillsborough County's Lithia
Water Treatment Plant will need
to receive the water from
pipeline segment A Wade Trim
will be providing the
engineering services
for design. And the scope is
highlighted on the slide. And
this is totally funded by
Hillsborough County. And
at this point, I'm ready
to request your approval
for C1.
>> Anything else
before we move forward?
>> Move approval.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion from
Commissioner Wostal seconded
by Councilwoman Hanewicz.
Please record your vote.
>> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
unanimously.
>> Okay, thank you very much.
We will move on now
to item C2.
>> All right, so agenda item C2
is for the corresponding scope
of work
for engineering services
for construction
for segment B, which is going
to be provided by the engineer
of record, Stantec. And this
scope is very similar to the
scope that I highlighted
earlier today
for Wade Trim. And this scope
will be totally funded by
Hillsborough County. And
with that,
staff requests approval
for the Second Amendment of
Stantec in the amount of $6.9
million.
>> Move approval.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion from
Commissioner Mariano, seconded
by Commissioner Wostal.
>> It was me.
>> Oh, excuse me. It was
Commissioner Eggers. I'm sorry.
>> We sound alike. --
>> I'm honored that you all
want to support for my
>> There we go. There we go. All
right,
please record your vote.
>> Mr. Chair. And the motion
passed unanimously.
>> All righty. And item number
C3.
>> Okay, so the final agenda,
item C3 is
for the third amendment
of work assignment number three
for both program and project
management services to Black
and Veatch. And as I briefly
touched on earlier today,
Black and Veatch has been
supporting the Tampa Bay water
team through their integrated
program management contract.
Their services continue
to be a key to the success
of this pipeline project. The
additional scope includes
program management and
coordination. Black and Veatch
would also continue to serve as
our owner's advisor. And they
will also provide staff
augmentation services to cover
construction management and
project management
for this project. This
amendment is only
for the first 12 months
starting this August. And we
anticipate, as we burn out the
money and see how things go,
to come back for future
amendments and request
additional funds as needed.
The scope of work for this
particular work scope is being
funded by both Tampa Bay Water
and Hillsborough County and any
reimbursements that we receive
from the Southwest Florida
Water Management District. And
with that,
staff requests approval
for this Third Amendment
to work assignment number three
with Black and Veatch.
>> Okay, thank you,
Commissioner Eggers.
>> One clarifying question back
on the project manager. Be
quick. So, the staff that we
have,
the one that we're looking
to replace, one of those
positions would give us that
ability to do projects
like this normally.
>> Correct.
>> But because we had one
person leave,
we didn't have the level
of expertise
for a project this size.
>> Correct. And it's very
difficult to find a project
person that have that level
of experience as well.
>> Yeah. Perfect. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
>> Move approval.
>> Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion
from Commissioner Wostal.
Commissioner Mariano, is that
you seconding it?
>> No, it was. It was you,
Commissioner Eggers.
>> You know, sorry. We're going
to let you do the next one,
so mess them up. All right.
Please record your vote.
>> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
unanimously.
>> All right,
thank you very much. We are
going to move on now to Item C4
and Michelle Stum.
>> Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Members of the board, I'm
Michelle Stum, your chief of
staff and chief strategy
officer. Item C4 is a request
for approval for the firm
to perform the agency's 2025
performance audit and
management study. The
interlocal agreement requires
that the agency conduct a
performance audit and
management study every five
years. This is an important
project because it gives the
agency the opportunity
to have a national firm look at
our programs and our governance
and offer us recommendations,
let us know what we're doing
well and what maybe we could do
better. The last performance
audit was completed in 2020.
The recommendations for that
audit have been reported
to the board as task updates on
the consent agenda regularly
and
through the annual presentation
on strategic plan progress.
In March, the agency advertised
a request for proposals
for firms
to perform the audit and study.
We received nine submissions,
and a selection committee
comprised of agency staff
scored and selected Baker
Tilly Advisory Group LP as the
top ranked firm
to perform the audit. Staff
subsequently negotiated a final
scope and fee,
which is attached
to your agenda item. I'd now
like to introduce Caitlin
Humrickhouse, a principal
with Baker Tilly, to provide
some additional details
on the firm and its approach
to this project.
>> Good morning, Mr.
Chairman. Members
of the board. So, Baker Tilly
is a national professional
services firm. We have about
11,000 employees nationwide and
my team in particular works
in the public sector. So,
at any given time we have
about 2,500 Utility Special
District Energy clients and
another 3,000 city county
government clients. We
specialize
in management consulting. So,
process improvement,
organizational design,
strategy, projects like Just
like this. We've done a number
of management studies
across the country for those
in the water industry. So, I'll
go a little bit into the scope
of what we plan to do. We are
going to couch our analysis in
the EPA's effective utility
management framework as updated
in 2024. So, it looks at 10 key
areas of operations and then
five overarching principles
related to leadership,
continuous improvement. And so,
as we go
through our analysis,
we'll be using different types
of benchmarks,
metrics associated with that
framework as applicable
to your organization. So, I
won't go through these, but
this is a little bit more
detail of each of those
different areas that we will be
looking at. Our project
approach goes through six key
activities which I'll go
through in detail
on the next slide.
But you know, we really sort
of start with some in depth
project management all the way
through reporting and lots
of feedback in between. So, our
first activity is to assemble
the project steering committee.
We plan to include individuals
from multiple levels
of the organization. We feel
like we get really rich
feedback on our deliverables
from your team when we do that.
And it also gives people a
chance to step up
in an important project
like this
into a leadership capacity.
We'll be finalizing our work
plan and schedule and issuing,
asking the staff
for information in order
to complete our study. So, any
types
of plans or reports you have,
data that you have in place and
we'll establish a regular
status reporting schedule.
Then we go into sort
of the meat of the project
which is really looking
at that data, obtaining input.
So, we'll be doing lots
of data analysis. We'll issue
an employee survey
to get feedback. We'll also be
doing in person interviews and
focus groups,
including interviews
with members
of the board and members
of your member government,
representatives
from your member governments.
And then what we do is we
document our initial
observations. So, sort
of our first take
at what are we seeing
in the data,
what are we hearing
from our interviews and sort
of giving the opportunity
for the steering committee
to give us feedback on those.
Then we go into peer
benchmarking and best practices
research. So we will establish
a group
of benchmark agencies. We
like that to be a mix of best
in class and then people that
are, you know, organizations
that are comparable
to you. I always like to say,
just because someone looks
like you on paper doesn't mean
they're doing things the right
way necessarily. So, we like to
make sure we're including the
best of the best
around the country. And then we
do a lot of industry analysis
and best practice research
pulling in from AWWA and other
industry associations. Then we
get into, you can think
of this as a gap analysis.
So, we understand, we have a
really good understanding
of your current operations,
we have a great understanding
of the industry and the peers.
And then we're saying, where
are the gaps that we're seeing?
Either where you're ahead
of that gap,
you're doing something best
in class, or there's an area
for you to improve. We couch
all of that
in as much data as we can,
as much feedback as we can,
and we're looking here
at things
like what is the effectiveness
of your processes? Where are
you using technology
appropriately
to support your operations? Do
you have any challenges with
succession and workforce
planning? What is the risk?
What are certain risks to the
organization that you should be
aware of? Again, we're getting
feedback throughout
from the steering committee
on that. And then we go
into preparing a draft report.
So that's, you know,
including everything we've done
for the project. We'll get
feedback
on that and then we'll go into
presenting the final report.
And I imagine that final report
will be presented
to this group as well.
After that, we prepare what we
call an implementation action
plan. So that is basically a,
to implement these
recommendations. Here's the
step by step,
here's who's accountable. We
want these to be implemented
after we leave and our project
is done so that you can
implement the change you need
in your organization. We
anticipate starting this month
if the project is approved with
a kickoff call and then going
through February. So you would
have that implementation action
plan and final report in
February. And that is it
for me.
>> Okay, thank you, Caitlin.
With that staff recommends
approval of the contract with
Baker Tilly Advisory Group
in a not to exceed amount of
125,000 to perform the 2025
performance audit and
management study.
>> Commissioner Mariano?
>> Yeah. When I first was
reading this,
I was a little suspect to it,
but actually I
like the fact that we want
to take a look at ourselves,
go see what we're doing
in there. You know,
the question we talk about,
are we contracting, setting up?
I think it's a good idea.
>> You know, I agree with you.
I think it's a really smart
thing to always be evaluating
ourselves and making sure that
our processes are up
to snuff.
>> So move.
>> Second.
>> Okay, who else? Anyone else
want to talk before
>> I do.
>> Yes, Commissioner Eggers.
>> It wasn't,
I don't think he said.
>> Oh, okay. I haven't said who
yet.
>> I haven't said who yet.
>> Yeah, well, yeah, you have.
>> I don't even know. I just
anticipate.
>> I think this is extremely
important project. And when I
came on board in 2015, an audit
had been finished. And
subsequent
to that we had a lot
of issues,
not only that were brought
forward,
but that weren't being
addressed in a timely manner.
And that was more
about the top leadership
at the time. And then
subsequently
to that the projects got done.
The communication was perfect.
So, I really commend staff for
all the work that they did and
I want
to separate those comments out.
But this is extremely important
and it is. It is important
to be timely, it's important
to be critical. It's important
for us to take that criticism
and improve on it. And was your
organization been a part of the
last bidding process or not?
Okay, well, good to have you
on board. Look forward
to that. Have you had a chance
to look
at the last audit yet? Okay.
Any general comments
on that or are you going
to reserve that? I mean, I'd
like to just hear your
thoughts.
>> I thought it was very
thorough. I think what you'll
find in ours is you might see a
little bit more data and
advisory components. So, we
tend to be a little bit more
forward looking of.
For example, we'll do a five
year retirement analysis
to let you know what percentage
of your workforce is eligible
to retire
in the next five years.
>> None. Well, kidding.
>> Yeah, well, that would be
wonderful if that was the case,
you know. So, we'll do a little
bit more forward thinking
things like that. I think
you'll see that come through
in our report.
But I thought it was well done.
And I think the part as I was
actually preparing to bid
on this project, I went through
and I did. I could see very
clearly where your team had
addressed some of the findings
in that report,
where staff had addressed them.
And I was very impressed
at the level of transparency
there because you don't always
see that. So, I thought that
really stuck out to me about
you as an organization.
>> Well, the baton is yours now
and that transparency is
because
of the leader that we have down
here and the staff that we
have. So, I really appreciate
that. Look forward
to your work.
>> Thank you.
>> Chair.
>> Yes, Ms. Hanewicz.
>> I just was going to say,
you know,
sometimes when you have these
studies, some employees get
very apprehensive about it.
And look, we do it in the city
of St. Petersburg. City
Council can actually pick
different departments to act
to decide. Okay, we need
to do a management study. And
it's always a great thing.
Good things always come
from the management studies
in terms of resources that are
maybe necessary changes that
may be needed. And it's really
for the best with everyone.
So, I just wanted
to throw that out there,
that I agree
with everyone else. These are
always good. And so,
I'm very excited
to see what the results are.
Thank you, Chair.
>> Okay, now I believe the
motion was from Councilman
Miranda, who was the second?
>> Me. Oh, no.
>> Commissioner Mariano is the
second.
>> I don't think I can do a
third on this.
>> She can have it. Sorry.
>> All right,
please record your vote.
>> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
unanimously.
>> Thank you very much. We have
two presentations this morning.
The first is going
to be our rotation
of utility departments. And
today the city of Tampa is here
and Rory Jones from the water
department will give the
presentation. Good morning.
>> Good morning. I'm Rory
Jones with the city of Tampa
Water Department. Always
appreciate the chance
to share what we've got going
on over in Tampa. We have some
exciting projects we'd like
to highlight along
with a short video. And
like many of you,
we're juggling pipes, progress
and public expectations all
along the way. So, I'll try
to keep this brief and real.
You know, we have a large
footprint, 220 square miles and
a service population greater
than 725,000 people that rely
on us daily. We manage over
2,200 miles of pipe that range
in size from 2 to 54 inch. And
we're working hard to maintain
an ageing system that requires
proactive investments, pipes,
funding and bonds,
and long-term planning. We have
a one central treatment plant,
the David L. Water Treatment
Facility. It has recently or
getting ready
to hit the 100-year mark. And
believe it or not,
we have some
of those components still
in play today. Originally, this
was designed for a $7.6
million, 7.6 million gallons
per day facility. Although our
source water hasn't changed,
this campus has drastically
changed
over the last hundred years.
Today we draw 82 million
gallons per day on average.
And
with the regional partnership
of Tampa Bay Water, along with
our aquifer storage recovery
system, we're serving. Well,
more than that. Our
distribution is a mix of
elevated and ground storage
tanks and strategic locations.
You know, we have four ground
storage tanks and three
different pumping stations and
a couple
of elevated storage tanks.
Also, we have two interconnects
with Tampa Bay water and we're
grateful to have that
flexibility and resiliency
you've built
into our toolbox here. One of
our most recent projects is
wanted to highlight. Here is
our high surface pump station
project. We've added eight new
pumps, 140 million gallons per
day capacity and it now
includes a new chlorine contact
chamber. And we were able to
completely rehabilitate all our
clear wells. This was a
critical step for us in
improving our reliability and
resiliency. We've got a quick
video to show you here that
highlights the order of
magnitude and really the scale
does a good job
of humanizing these projects.
This was a project that was
just over $100 million. And
we're very pleased
with the product that Jacob's
design build team delivered
for us. There is some audio
with this if you wouldn't
mins. Someone's controlling
behind the scenes. Give me a
second here.
[VIDEO PLAYING]
>> We've got a
couple other projects we want
to highlight. We have our
chemical system improvements
project where we are
implementing hypochlorite
generators on site.
Essentially this is a low
strength bleach, a little less
than what you can buy at
Publix. This is going to give
us a safer facility and we're
going to rely less
on chemical deliveries
to continue delivering water.
Another is our filter
improvements. We're adding
additional 20 mgd
of capacity. These upgrades
will provide critical
redundancy and are part of our
long-term capacity planning.
Construction started this year
and is expected
to be completed in 2027. We do
have some challenges though,
and I think this is common
across all our work here. We,
like many others, are
experiencing significant
increases
in construction costs, in many
cases more than doubling,
especially with our pipeline.
These cost pressures are real
and force us
to rethink schedules,
scopes and delivery methods.
So, a couple years ago,
to help offset some
of these costs, we developed a
conservative business case
for our own construction crew.
The team structure equipment,
compared actual numbers to
projected rates and ultimately
received approvals
from our leadership and
from our council. So we started
first by hiring a great team.
It starts with that we ordered
equipment built, temporary
construction yards and
construction trailers and we
got to work. And their results
are impressive. You know, the
projects are completed faster
and significantly lower cost.
Matter of fact, we are seeing
roughly 70% savings compared
to a more traditional approach.
And today we've saved over
$1.4 million. And there's
opportunities to expand this
further and each this continues
to rise. So what's next
for us? We've got some major
capital work underway.
Suspended ion exchange is
going. We're going to start the
design this year and we're
going to shoehorn that
into our campus there. Now, we
are currently negotiating GMP
for a new raw water intake and
a new and rehabilitated ozone
system as well as site wide
electrical improvements where
we're going to modernize our
electrical delivery system and
add some, some generators. We
have some master plan updates
across distribution,
treatment and
in our resource planning. And
with that I will wrap it up.
You know, we're grateful for
the support and partnership
that we have with Tampa Bay
Water and each
of the member governments. We
recognize our unique position
and remain committed
to a regional collaboration.
We appreciate the relationship
we built with the team. Thank
you.
>> Thank you. Any questions or
comments? Commissioner
Eggers.
>> First of all, I just want
to say congratulations on that
commitment a few years back to
doing what you're doing today
and
for your continuing commitment
to Tampa Bay Water. I know when
I first got on the board there
was a little more acrimony
between some of the partners.
And I can't thank the city and
the staff and the leadership
for that continued commitment.
It's really, really important
that we all work together at
Tampa Bay Water. Really commend
you for that work. And I know
that distribution challenge is
just over the top when you get
that old of a system. So
anyway, good work. Appreciate
your presentation today. Thank
you.
>> Commissioner Mariano.
>> What a great project. Great
engineering. Question
for you, the Howard Curren
plant, is that with the City
of Tampa?
>> It is with the City of
Tampa. That's our wastewater
department.
>> Okay. Later on
in committee reports, I want
to talk a little bit more
about the Howard Curren plant,
Oldsmar Largo, and what's going
on in old Tampa Bay. I've got
some ideas. I think there's
something we can look at,
especially hearing what we
heard from our attorney,
talking about how we went
after something to make
something better. I won't hold
you up for that one.
>> Thank you, guys.
>> Councilman Miranda.
>> Thank you, Mr. Cohen,
Chairman. I just want
to thank the whole City Tampa
government, the mayor,
the city council, and Brad
Baer, your super department
head, yourself, for thinking
outside the box and doing
things today that were really
needed yesterday and taking the
step forward to make sure
everything is done right
at a lesser cost
by doing it yourself. Thank you
very much.
>> Thank you, Councilwoman
Hanewicz.
>> Thank you, Chair. And thank
you for all the work. Look,
in the city of St.
Petersburg, just like we all,
we all have the investments
that we need
in our wastewater systems. And
our water systems and all the
infrastructure. And a lot
of times I feel for you all
because it's never enough money
and you really do a great job
with trying
to maximize what you do with
the money that you have. I see,
when I look at the challenges
and I see the cost per mile
of pipe installed doubled in
2022 and then
>> Just continue to rise.
>> It's continuing to rise and
that is a huge challenge
because when you did a plan
which was back in 2019 or
whatever, and there was a plan
to pay for all, you know, all
these costs and infrastructure
and then this comes
in and it doubles. And so I
just want to put out there.
It's always very challenging
when it comes to making sure
that we upgrade our
infrastructure, but that you
all are really doing a great
job and trying
to do the best you can with
what you have and the resources
you have to give the level of
service that your constituents
are looking for.
>> Thank you.
>> Well, I just want to thank
you and I know that you owe
everything to past Tampa city
councils,
that that made it all possible.
So. But again, no,
in all seriousness,
congratulations because this,
this represents an awful lot
of hard work.
>> None of these could happened
without that proactive
investment. Thank you.
>> Kidding. Kidding.
>> Of course you are.
>> South Hillsborough County
Program update.
>> Okay. Agenda item D2 the
South Hills is for our South
Hillsborough County program and
is a status report. This agenda
item is for informational
purposes only and no action
will be requested today. As a
reminder, the South
Hillsborough County program is
a multi-approach initiative
designed to meet the demands
of South Hillsborough county
and the program includes three
major areas. The first one is
water supply management, water
conservation and infrastructure
projects. We have worked to
maximize our existing
infrastructure
by increasing the south-central
Hillsborough regional well
field permit limit. The permit
limit was increased by 850,000
gallons per day back in July
2022 and as the general manager
indicated earlier today,
it will be increased to 26.92
million per day by October this
year. Staff continues
to work closely with
Hillsborough County staff
on demand management actions
to educate the public and how
to use water responsibly. The
county helps to promote our
Tampa Bay water wise rebate
program and educate their
customers on water restrictions
and best landscape and
irrigation practices. And the
water management district issue
outdoor activities restrictions
last year to help us get
through a very dry time and
demands back then were greatly
reduced with their help.
Infrastructure projects are the
major component
of this program. The stars on
this map shows the general
location of the projects. Under
this program we have completed
three projects all of which
have increased the delivery
capacity in the in this area of
the county and as presented
earlier today
with agenda items C1
through C3, we continue
to work on the South Hills
Water Pipeline Project and
staff has been working
on getting ready
to request your approval
in a future Board meeting
to move forward with the
South Hillsborough well field
project. The South Hillsborough
well field is a new water
supply project that was
shortlisted in both the 2018
and the 2023 Master Water Plan
updates. The feasibility study
for this project was completed
back in 2021 and this new well
field will include eight
production wells and could
yield between 6 to 12 million
gallons per day as early as
2030. The project will require
ozone treatment
for the removal
of hydrogen sulfide, about 4
miles of collection mains,
a new point of connection
with Hillsborough County and we
are estimating capital costs
for these projects to be
about 126 to 160 million
dollars. Part
of the quantities
of this well field will come up
from our acquisition
of water use permits. The
Board may recall that it
previously approved staff to
acquire five water use permits
from five parcels owned by
Land Reserve and Farmland
Preserve. The capacity is
estimated to be 3.9 to 5.9
million gallons per day and we
are currently working
on a permit application
to transfer these quantities
to this location just like the
other permits we have purchased
and transferred. 10%
of the impacts from the donor
permit will go back
to the environment as part of
the transfer and those permits
plus the aquifer credits we
hope to acquire from
Hillsborough County will be
used for the South
Hillsborough well field if
approved by the Board
in the upcoming months. The
proposed well field will be
located at the ACMAR property
in the Balm area of South
Hillsborough County. This map
shows the proposed well field
layout. The western portion
of the ACMAR parcel is owned
by the Environmental Lands
Acquisition and Protection
Program of Hillsborough County
and the parcel is now known as
the Stacy R. White Nature
Preserve and wells 1 through 4
will be located in this area.
Well number five is our test
well which is shown
in the upper left corner
of this graphic and Wells 6
through 8 and the associated
water treatment facility will
be located
in the eastern portion
of the parcel. This well and
water treatment plant will be
co located with Hillsborough
County South Drinking Water
Facility and next
to the new BOEM point
of connection associated
with the South Hillsborough
Pipeline project. At the
April Board meeting I provided
an outline
of the upcoming war actions
for the potential new South
Hills Water well field and
these include approval
of an agreement with ELAP and
Hillsborough County Water
Resources Department to acquire
well sites and easements
on the ELAP owned part
of the ACMAR property
in exchange
for water development rights
on the former Cone Ranch well
field. This agreement will
include the four well sites,
associated collection main
easements and access. And
to date the county Department
of Real Estate has developed
the draft documents which are
undergoing their internal
review and soon will be shared
with our team
for our own review. Also, we
will work on the acquisition
of property from the Water
Resources Department
for the construction of the
three well sites and the water
treatment facility. And we
continue to work
with county staff
on a long-term agreement
for aquifer recharge
along the coast
to support the issuance
of a freshwater use permit
at this well field location. To
date we have drafted a term
sheet and county staff is
currently reviewing it. We have
a public meeting coming up on
August 5th at the South Shore
Regional Library and we
anticipate returning back
to this board
to request approval for early
implementation later this year.
And finally, we will proceed to
negotiate a joint project
agreement with Hillsborough
County where the county will
construct some
of the components
of this project. This is the
timeline for these upcoming
board actions. We will be back
late this summer
to request your approval
for the Cone Run exchange for
the ELAB own parcel easement's
rights. In late 2025 or early
2026, we will be requesting
approval
for a long-term agreement for
the reclaimed water recharge
and a joint project agreement
with the county. And finally,
we will return back
to request approval
for the acquisition
of the property
in the water resources parcel.
And this concludes my brief
presentation. I will be happy
to take any questions.
>> Any questions.
Commissioner Mariano.
>> Could you explain exactly
what the reclaim water credits
are and how that works?
>> Yes. So, you may not
remember, but I will try
to explain it back in when we
conducted the feasibility study
for this potential well field,
we contemplating needing a
water use permit
in the southern portion of
Hillsborough County relying
on the injection
of reclaimed water
in the county's south
Hillsborough County recharge
program. Basically, the
injection of reclaimed water
by the county five miles
along the coast in
Hillsborough County will
provide a net benefit for us
to pull water, fresh water
in this location in
Hillsborough County and obtain
up to 6 million gallons
of fresh water from their
reclaimed water injection,
which could be 10 million
gallons per day
of reclaimed water injected
in the aquifer.
>> Right. And if you,
if that did come up for,
I would have voted
against that. So not a fan
of that, but I just wanted
to understand the credits.
>> Okay.
>> So, that explains that.
Thank you.
>> Okay.
>> Anyone else? Commissioner
Eggers.
>> I think as we go forward,
that whole idea of injecting
reclaimed water just anywhere
is different than what we're
talking about here. I mean,
this is along the coastline.
It helps keep the saltwater
intrusion and there's a lot
of benefits
to that and benefits of
utilizing excessive reclaimed
water that would otherwise go
into the bay at this point.
So, I think it's a great
project. What I, you know,
continue to. Since
Hillsborough has all the
growth, it's easy for somebody
from Pinellas to ask, you know,
the critical challenges, but I
really hope that we're able to
work that reasonable agreement
on those credits, the costs of
that system so that we can do
this project. I think this is
an exciting project, has real
potential, less capital cost
than others might. So, I mean,
I know we've got capital costs.
I'm not saying that, but I
think this is a really great
opportunity and really
appreciate the work and the
summary. But I think
along the way, if we can have
maybe some little tutorials
for all of us, reminders about
the different technologies that
we're talking about,
I think it helps put things
in perspective, or not,
depending. But thank you.
Appreciate all the work.
>> Thank you very much. And I
agree about this is very much a
saltwater intrusion program.
So perhaps we could,
we could talk about that again
at some point.
At this point we are going
to move on to other
administrative matters, old
business and any new business.
If there's anyone that has
anything before we move on
to receive and file.
Commissioner Mariano.
>> So, I've got several points,
so bear with me,
but it's something I want
to talk about a big,
big thought
about the whole region
from a high level. First
question I have is, we asked
like we have a lot of wells
in Pasco county
along the coast that we've
like capped, taken
over and have it used. I asked
Chuck to go
through and he was going
to look at, not only that,
but then he was going to look
at other wells up and down the
coast as well. I wonder if we
get any update on that.
Chuck.
>> Yes, again, Warren's taking
the lead. He's met with them
and we're currently compiling a
list
of the inventory that you have,
and I believe you've enlisted a
consultant to help and if you
have anything,
you can color it.
>> We're looking
at comprehensively
across the county at permits
and wells that are owned
by the county for public supply
as well as other entities other
than the county. When we do
that, we'll find out the water
used the permit quantities and
compile that database. Sit and
meet with your staff to find
out where those systems are
with respect
to your and our systems. And
for those that are logical,
we would work
on acquisition agreements
to bring back. There's a real
potential that we could harvest
some of those quantities. Some
may be unused quantities
for consolidation
in our current, current permits
and use our existing
infrastructure and pipeline
system to bring a cost benefit
for the region.
>> Okay, so again, waiting
for that, but should go on.
All right. You know, years ago
we had the BP's consortium
settlement where Florida was
very smart about having 23
counties take over it. So, a
lot of the money went back
locally directly
to the state,
to the counties, at least on
the part one money and state
expenditure plan. We had
control over that, too, with
putting a plan together where
the county got the money direct
instead of going
through the state.
But there's a giant pot that's
out there called pot 2 that's
out there currently,
if you look at it
from what I'm hearing
from just coming
from a NACO conference,
that a lot
of the money that's being spent
along the coast,
it should be the big coastal
areas, Texas, Louisiana and
Florida. And being that we have
that,
we should be looking heavily
to go after that money. You
know, beaches, fishing, number
one,
tourist development things in
Florida. I don't know if you
guys know, but in Okaloosa
County, we had a consortium
meeting up there in August and
July. They have the largest
tourist development numbers
because of that. And I know as
we check our coast,
especially Pinellas County, the
beaches are critical
to what's going to go on. The
image that's out there. There
was a presentation from
Governor DeSantis coming down
to the environmental conference
that was just down on Marco
Island. And that conference was
all
about how much they're spending
in South Florida
to protect local Okeechobee,
the Everglades, like $500
million a year
with different projects. Part
of it is to take the
Kissimmee River and do
treatment there. Part of it's
to take the two side rows going
east west that go out that,
you know, we cause a lot
of algae bloom down
to the south. So, if they're
going to spend,
and this is federally backed as
well,
it was a big accomplishment
to get it funded with the
Trump administration. Make it
happen. And having that happen
is kind of eye opening. How
much money is out there that I
think we should be looking
at a big project? Now, the
project that was just mentioned
here, we talked about looking
at probably reclaimed water
lines running out there. And
when we've got the old Tampa
Bay that was doing great
replenishing seagrass
for a while,
we should really look
at a project to take. There's
at least two cities in the
Howard Curren plant that are
putting money into that bay.
So, it's not just one thing.
And there may be more. And I
sit in the estuary project,
the estuary program,
actually chair
of it this year, even though
Pasco County's probably got the
least impact to the estuary.
But I think we should work
with the estuary. Let's go
study the issue and find out
how we can take those reclaimed
water things. And whether it be
from the BP pot money too, or
from the feds to say Tampa Bay
is very important,
that we want
to protect our bay,
and here's the way we need help
to get it done, I don't think.
I think it's just as important.
It is for, let's say Miami is
for this region to have Tampa
Bay thriving,
because as water goes out,
the cleaner it is, it's going
to keep algae bloom down and
keep our beaches clean. We
don't have to worry about. Do
we have a notice coming up. So
I'd like to see Tampa Bay water
work
with the estuary directly,
with Swift Mud and the Army
Corps as well, to kind of find
out what can we go do
to make it. And as
Hillsborough is expanding down
to the south with all that, the
more reclaimed water you guys
can put in lines, the better
off you'll be as far as being
able to move that water less
expensively than going, let's
say, up to Pasco, where I think
we could probably take a huge
chunk
of reclaimed water up there.
We had a gas plant that we put
up in an area that actually
used a lot
of our reclaimed water,
which we didn't anticipate.
So, we've really got
overcapacity
of pipes up there.
But I think it'd be great
to take a look
at all that that's out there.
There's a federal impetus
about water, and especially
in Florida, I think it's a good
opportunity for us
to start a conversation.
>> Commissioner Wostal.
>> I think that that's a great
segue for me to say that.
>> I would support any future
item to use tourism dollars to
protect our water rather than
subsidize rich people
in their expensive stadiums.
Thank you.
>> I want to supply my water,
but I'm going
to protect it also
from everyone,
including reclaim.
>> Okay, is there any other
business
before we entertain a motion
to receive and file?
>> Yes.
>> No. Just move approval
of receiving file.
>> We have a motion from
Councilwoman Hanewicz.
Seconded by Commissioner
Eggers, I believe. Please
record your vote.
>> Motion passed unanimously.
>> All righty,
our next meeting will be
Monday, Aug. 18, at 9:30am and
until then, have a good rest
of the summer.