[0:02] >> Good morning. Good morning,
[0:03] everyone, and welcome
[0:05] to this regular meeting of
[0:07] Tampa Bay Water for Monday,
[0:10] July 21. This meeting was
[0:12] noticed in the Florida
[0:13] Administrative Register and
[0:15] on the Tampa Bay Water website.
[0:17] The meeting is available
[0:18] for viewing through live
[0:19] streaming and a recording
[0:21] of the meeting will be posted
[0:23] on the agency's website. This
[0:24] time I would like to ask Vice
[0:26] Chair Hanewicz to lead us
[0:27] in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:33] >> I pledge allegiance
[0:34] to the flag of the United
[0:36] States of America and
[0:37] to the republic
[0:39] for which it stands, one
[0:40] nation, under God, indivisible,
[0:42] with liberty and justice
[0:44] for all.
[0:51] >> Commissioner Oakley,
[0:53] Commissioner Peters and Mayor
[0:55] Davis will not be
[0:56] in attendance
[0:58] for this meeting. Kathleen?
[0:59] At this time,
[1:00] could we please have a roll
[1:01] call to determine if there is a
[1:02] quorum?
[1:04] [ CALLING ROLL ]
[1:20] >> Mr. Chair, we have a quorum.
[1:23] >> Thank you very much.
[1:25] At this time, we are going to
[1:26] open the regular meeting and
[1:28] ask if there are any changes
[1:29] to the agenda. And seeing none,
[1:33] we will go to public comment.
[1:34] Public comment is three minutes
[1:37] per speaker. We have two people
[1:38] who have signed up this
[1:40] morning. The first is Mark
[1:42] Clutho. Good morning. Ah, he's
[1:46] walking in. Mr. Clutho, good
[1:50] morning.
[2:07] >> Mark Lutho, Largo. Oh, A5.
[2:12] Yeah. You're talking here
[2:17] about environmental conditions.
[2:20] Yeah. Well, all you do is
[2:23] degrade the environmental
[2:26] conditions and your water wise.
[2:33] Update A7. Well, how wise
[2:37] is it that all these plants
[2:40] that you have
[2:42] around this building you have
[2:46] to mutilate because there isn't
[2:49] room for them to grow? That's
[2:54] completely asinine. And again
[3:00] today we're going
[3:04] to have a heat index over 100
[3:09] degrees. And all the fools are
[3:13] wearing coats so we'll buy more
[3:18] air conditioning so everybody's
[3:22] comfortable. So what happens?
[3:26] We have these headlines. We're
[3:29] heading
[3:31] into hurricane season.
[3:33] Unprepared storms like Milton
[3:36] will strike. Will we see them
[3:39] coming? The flooding in Texas
[3:42] is the future. We need
[3:44] to prepare. What caused extreme
[3:48] rainfall flooding in Texas
[3:53] Hill country? Well, you're
[3:56] complicit. The waters
[4:00] in the gulf are often 3, 4, 5
[4:03] degrees warmer than normal.
[4:06] At one point this year,
[4:08] sea surface temperatures
[4:10] in the gulf of Texas and
[4:11] Louisiana were more than 8
[4:13] degrees above normal. As has
[4:16] been shown time and time again,
[4:18] event after event,
[4:20] climate change is heading
[4:22] to wetter. More extreme
[4:24] precipitation events. Well, you
[4:26] are doing your part ignoring
[4:35] science. I mean, I just don't
[4:44] see how you can be more stupid.
[4:50] Get rid of the stupid coats.
[4:56] Now. Maybe you need
[5:00] to see a doctor. There's just
[5:05] something wrong
[5:07] with you idiots.
[5:11] >> David Ballard Geddes, Jr.
[5:12] Good morning.
[5:16] >> Hi. Thank you, sir. David
[5:18] Ballard Geddes, Jr. I live on
[5:19] Georgia Avenue in Palm
[5:21] Harbor. Thomas Jefferson's
[5:23] Louisiana land purchase was
[5:26] negotiated by three people.
[5:29] Thomas Jefferson, Robert
[5:31] Livingston and James Monroe.
[5:34] Jefferson is accredited
[5:36] with writing both the
[5:37] Religious Freedom act,
[5:39] where he juxtapositions
[5:41] Almighty God in an attempt
[5:43] at confusing us
[5:45] with his deceptive dialogue,
[5:47] coupled with the Declaration
[5:49] of Independence, which
[5:50] in perpetuity serves as
[5:52] preamble to a second
[5:54] Constitution. Evil
[5:56] in its nature. Jefferson was a
[5:58] sacrilegious scallywag and a
[6:00] total fraud. Now, Robert
[6:03] Livingston, he comes
[6:04] from a family that profited
[6:06] from the slave trade. He was
[6:08] given the nickname of the
[6:10] Chancellor
[6:11] for his legal tenure in New
[6:13] York. He was one of the
[6:14] Committee of Five
[6:16] in the framing of the
[6:18] Declaration of Independence,
[6:20] yet he never signed the
[6:21] Declaration. Livingston
[6:23] administered the oath
[6:24] of office to George
[6:26] Washington. Livingston was the
[6:27] Grand Master of the
[6:29] Freemasons, belonging to the
[6:31] Society of the Cincinnati 13.
[6:35] Livingston was a real fly
[6:37] by night shady character. Then
[6:40] there's James Monroe. He was
[6:41] our fifth president. And oddly,
[6:44] most of all,
[6:45] he opposed ratifying the US
[6:48] Constitution. Why would he do
[6:50] that? As negotiated
[6:52] by these three conflicted men,
[6:54] the Louisiana land purchase,
[6:57] in reality is the western half
[7:00] of the Mississippi watershed
[7:03] region. Irrespective
[7:06] of the nation's borders, the
[7:07] watershed region goes all the
[7:10] way up into Canada. The
[7:12] Louisiana watershed purchase
[7:14] does not recognize the
[7:16] arbitrary boundaries
[7:19] between countries, states,
[7:21] counties, cities or municipal
[7:24] governments. You're not living
[7:26] in Kansas anymore. You never
[7:28] were. That was created as an
[7:30] illusion. The western half
[7:33] of the Mississippi watershed
[7:35] region was sold by an entity
[7:37] that did not have rightful
[7:40] ownership
[7:42] of the land or the water.
[7:43] Thereby, the sale of such
[7:45] stolen territory is null and
[7:47] void. Thomas Jefferson's
[7:48] assumption
[7:50] in constitutionally doubling
[7:52] down and furthering
[7:54] in his piracy of both land and
[7:56] water is invalid.
[7:59] In its possession, the
[8:01] territory as stolen must resort
[8:03] back to the indigenous Indians
[8:06] that first inhabited this land.
[8:09] They need to be given a
[8:11] justifiable and rightful say so
[8:13] in the pursuings
[8:16] of this government. Thank you.
[8:20] >> All right. And that is our
[8:22] public comment
[8:23] for this morning.
[8:25] At this time, we are going
[8:26] to move on
[8:28] to the consent agenda. Is there
[8:29] anyone pulling anything
[8:31] off consent before we go ahead
[8:33] with a motion? I don't see any.
[8:35] >> Move approval.
[8:37] >> Second.
[8:38] >> Okay. We have a motion
[8:39] from Councilman Miranda,
[8:40] seconded by Councilwoman
[8:42] Hanewicz. Please record your
[8:47] vote.
[8:52] >> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
[8:53] unanimously.
[8:55] >> We are going to move now
[8:56] to the regular agenda. And our
[8:58] first item is item number B1.
[9:00] And that is the General Manager
[9:02] and General Counsel's report.
[9:04] Mr. Carden, good morning.
[9:06] >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members
[9:07] of the board, it's good
[9:08] to see all of you. We had a
[9:09] short break there and so now
[9:11] we're back
[9:13] to business. The first item or
[9:15] the first slide I want to show
[9:18] you is where we are using all
[9:20] the sources and our targets.
[9:21] And if you can go to the July
[9:23] on the very far right,
[9:24] you can see we're right
[9:25] on target
[9:28] with our projections. And you
[9:29] can see the different various
[9:30] sources with yellow,
[9:32] which is the Desal plant. So,
[9:35] it's been running and doing
[9:36] well. Through June 30th, we
[9:39] delivered an average
[9:40] about just a little bit over
[9:42] 200 million gallons a day. And
[9:43] that is less than the same
[9:46] water delivery
[9:49] for the same period last year.
[9:50] It's about 1.5% lower. We did
[9:53] receive about 7.42 inches. And
[9:57] that is
[9:59] about a half an inch shy
[10:01] of the average,
[10:03] but pretty close. Doing fine.
[10:04] So, we are moving
[10:08] through the next slide,
[10:11] please. I'm going to talk
[10:13] about the well fields. That is
[10:15] the consolidated well field
[10:16] slide. And as you can see,
[10:19] the black line's the 90 million
[10:22] gallon a day permit limit. And
[10:23] it's taken an anomaly where
[10:25] it's dropped down and there's
[10:27] quite a cushion there
[10:28] from that. We're about 75.93
[10:31] million gallons a day. And that
[10:34] was done on purpose. We ran the
[10:36] surface water harder in May and
[10:38] June than we normally would.
[10:41] And that was anticipation
[10:42] of doing some work at the
[10:44] surface water treatment plant
[10:46] which is going on right now.
[10:48] So, we're running the surface
[10:49] water a little bit lower than
[10:51] we would at this time,
[10:52] but they will balance out.
[10:53] So, we just kind of flip
[10:55] flopped our running scenarios.
[10:56] The next slide shows you the
[10:59] south-central Hillsborough
[11:00] regional well field permit.
[11:02] Again, the black line is the
[11:04] limit of 24.95 and we are at
[11:07] 24.96. And it will. It'll
[11:11] bounce around the black line
[11:12] for a little bit. We do
[11:15] anticipate the permit being
[11:16] raised to 26.9 in October
[11:18] of this year. So that should be.
[11:21] The black line will go up. See
[11:23] that coming soon. This is a
[11:27] graph of how are we doing
[11:29] with the reservoir. The blue,
[11:30] all the blue is the actual
[11:32] water that we anticipate. It
[11:34] says 9.5 billion. That is what
[11:37] we anticipate by the end
[11:38] of this month to be in there.
[11:40] And that is ahead of target
[11:42] by quite a sum. Again, last
[11:45] year at this time we were
[11:47] hovering a little over 2
[11:49] billion gallons
[11:51] in the reservoir. So, it's
[11:53] quite a different story. This
[11:54] is generally the average year.
[11:56] Last year was not and hopefully
[11:58] we'll never see another year
[11:59] like that. Here's some things
[12:02] I'm going to chat with you
[12:04] down the line. We'll start
[12:05] with the Legislative
[12:06] Appropriations update. As you
[12:08] know, the session just ended
[12:09] in June and the governor signed
[12:11] the budget on June 30th. And we
[12:15] did receive two awards. One for
[12:17] the surface water treatment
[12:18] plant, that's $650,000. And
[12:20] then another project was
[12:22] awarded a million dollars
[12:24] for our SCADA Secure Ops
[12:26] project. The bond refinancing.
[12:30] We asked the board and the
[12:32] board approved in May to
[12:33] refinance the 2015A bonds and
[12:37] we went to market. They closed
[12:39] on July 3rd, I believe, and we
[12:41] achieved a 4% savings which
[12:43] equates to about $680,000 a
[12:46] year and that is very close
[12:49] to one penny off of our rate.
[12:51] So that was very good news.
[12:54] On water quality, we are still
[12:55] watching closely the EPA and
[12:59] the rulemaking that's going on.
[13:00] They did make an announcement
[13:02] early this spring that they
[13:04] would increase the time
[13:05] for being in compliance
[13:07] with PFAS from the year 2029
[13:09] to the year 2031. And they
[13:12] dropped some or they raised
[13:15] some of the parts per trillion
[13:17] for the PFAS from 4 to 10
[13:19] on certain PFAS elements
[13:21] but not on there was two
[13:23] of them that are the main ones.
[13:25] They're still at 4 parts per
[13:26] trillion. I do understand that
[13:28] the litigation is ongoing
[13:29] against them. American
[13:31] Waterworks association and
[13:32] others have filed litigation
[13:34] and that is ongoing. So we're
[13:36] keeping a close eye on that.
[13:38] We are working
[13:39] on our water quality study
[13:41] with Corolla engineers that
[13:44] recently got all comments
[13:47] from all of the members. We are
[13:50] compiling those and we will
[13:52] have a meeting with all staff
[13:54] and then we will be bringing
[13:55] forth some recommendations
[13:57] to the board
[13:59] in the next few months.
[14:03] Hurricane resiliency, we are
[14:05] in the middle of the hurricane
[14:06] and I read somewhere today that
[14:08] we are starting the peak season
[14:10] and as we know, late August and
[14:11] September is when a lot
[14:13] of it starts.
[14:16] After last year we went
[14:18] through a variety
[14:19] of meetings,
[14:21] lessons learned and after
[14:23] action plans and we've been
[14:25] working hard to implement these
[14:27] short and long term fixes. We
[14:30] met with all the member
[14:31] governments, all
[14:33] of their utility, their
[14:34] communications and their
[14:36] emergency management staff and
[14:37] we talked about improving our
[14:39] coordination and communication.
[14:40] We have implemented some
[14:42] of the generator
[14:45] Withlacoochee River Electric,
[14:48] help us maintain and operate
[14:50] the generators that run the
[14:52] crossbar and the Cypress Creek
[14:54] facilities. We've also updated
[14:55] our fuel contracts
[14:59] to stage a fuel tanker
[15:01] at our regional site
[15:02] to allow better access
[15:04] for our workers in a more
[15:06] central located place. And we
[15:09] are working with Hillsborough
[15:10] County and Pasco County
[15:12] to come up with an MOU
[15:14] to get some fuel as we need to
[15:16] from them. We've done a lot of
[15:18] tree trimming and we applied
[15:20] sealants to most of all of our
[15:22] buildings that experienced some
[15:25] type of water damage last year.
[15:27] We also hired a new emergency
[15:30] management program manager. So
[15:31] he started about two weeks ago
[15:34] and we've been doing a lot
[15:36] of training
[15:38] for the last several months.
[15:40] Lastly, we're going
[15:42] to be establishing a schedule
[15:43] to have a quarterly member
[15:45] government meeting. It'll help
[15:48] us enhance our communications
[15:49] and prepare better
[15:51] for the storms. And we'll be
[15:53] meeting quarterly
[15:54] during the hurricane season.
[15:56] And I want
[15:58] to mention purchasing. Our
[15:59] purchasing department received
[16:01] the Achievement of Excellence
[16:02] in Procurement from the
[16:04] National Institute of
[16:05] Procurement. And that was the
[16:07] first time they received that.
[16:09] They're doing a great job.
[16:11] Strong performance,
[16:13] accountability, and they're
[16:14] adding terrific strategic value
[16:17] in our procurement here
[16:18] at the agents. Next slide,
[16:24] please. I want
[16:26] to show you some
[16:27] of the things we've been doing
[16:28] out in the community. This is
[16:29] the Girl Scouts of West
[16:31] Central Florida's Water
[16:32] Conservation Academy Camp. And
[16:34] one of our staff members,
[16:36] Aaron Hayes, was there and
[16:37] helped the Girl Scouts
[16:39] with some activities, learning
[16:40] more about our aquifer.
[16:42] >> They're all
[16:43] drinking Sprite. They should be
[16:45] drinking water.
[16:47] >> They're making
[16:48] an edible Aquifer. Needs
[16:51] Sprite for a little kick. The
[16:55] next slide shows three
[16:57] of our purchasing team members.
[16:59] They were
[17:01] at a reverse trade show. And
[17:03] then our chief operating
[17:04] officer, Paul Stanek, helped
[17:06] keep Pinellas beautiful. They
[17:09] were evaluating environmental
[17:10] action plans developed
[17:12] by high school students during
[17:14] a summer environmental
[17:16] leadership workshop. And
[17:19] Danielle Kersey, she is our
[17:21] senior project manager. She
[17:23] presented at the American
[17:24] Waterworks Conference. She was
[17:28] on a panel and she also did a
[17:31] presentation. And lastly,
[17:35] I will mention Pasco County
[17:38] hired a new utility director,
[17:40] Joseph Omoa. He's sitting
[17:42] straight across
[17:44] from me and welcome aboard,
[17:47] Joseph. And that's my report.
[17:55] >> Any questions
[17:57] from board members?
[17:59] Commissioner Mariano.
[18:00] >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[18:01] You know,
[18:02] a while ago we talked
[18:03] about the Four Rivers
[18:04] Project, about a reservoir
[18:05] project that the Army Corps had
[18:07] designed for years ago. And I
[18:08] mentioned out in Dade City
[18:09] where they have all sorts
[18:10] of flooding going
[18:12] on this past year because of
[18:14] water that just can't drain and
[18:15] it abuts right up to the
[18:16] Green Swamp
[18:18] in certain areas. I asked
[18:19] Tampa Bay Water staff
[18:21] to go work
[18:22] with our county and talking
[18:23] to Jason Mickle, who was
[18:24] Joseph's boss. Even this
[18:26] morning they haven't had a
[18:27] conversation yet. So, I don't
[18:29] know where we are going
[18:30] with that, but I would love
[18:31] to see it happen. And maybe
[18:32] before Joe leaves, you can
[18:34] actually start the conversation
[18:35] because the reservoir is great
[18:36] for water itself,
[18:37] but it's also great
[18:39] for stormwater. And you maybe
[18:40] have the dialogue today
[18:41] to get it rolling.
[18:42] >> Yes, I'll ask Warren too.
[18:43] He's been our lead on that --.
[18:45] I have talked with Pasco staff
[18:49] on a couple of occasions
[18:50] to coordinate. They have asked
[18:53] that we stand by
[18:55] for future meetings with the
[18:56] Army Corps in the district in
[18:58] Pasco County. Your staff wanted
[18:59] to take the lead so that we
[19:02] didn't jump in and things
[19:04] become a little jumbled
[19:05] with multiple meetings. So, I'm
[19:06] waiting to hear back from your
[19:07] staff. I will follow up
[19:09] with them this week
[19:10] to see how we can engage
[19:11] with them
[19:13] in those studies.
[19:14] >> So, what staff person did
[19:15] you talk to?
[19:18] >> My notes are upstairs.
[19:23] Dr, the name eludes me,
[19:25] but I will reach out
[19:26] to them this week.
[19:27] >> And Joseph is coming right
[19:29] from that department. So, I
[19:30] that they're going to start
[19:31] the conversation a little bit
[19:33] more intensely, but something
[19:38] we're should be looking at and
[19:40] should have been done months
[19:41] ago. Thank you.
[19:43] >> All right, we are going
[19:45] to move on now to the PFAS
[19:46] litigation settlement update.
[19:47] Ms. Fernandez.
[19:49] >> Thank you. I'd like
[19:51] to introduce Augie Ribeiro. He
[19:52] is with Ventura Law and he's
[19:54] one of the attorneys that has
[19:55] been aptly handling Tampa Bay
[19:57] Water's involvement
[19:59] in the PFAS litigation. He's
[20:01] here today to provide you
[20:02] with a brief history of Tampa
[20:03] Bay Water's involvement and
[20:05] also an update on where we are
[20:07] at with the settlements.
[20:10] >> Thank you. Morning, Mr.
[20:11] Ribeiro.
[20:12] >> Thank you. Good morning,
[20:14] Mr. Chairman. And I just like
[20:17] to say that I know you get
[20:19] heaped
[20:21] with praise often as a board
[20:22] for all your decisions and
[20:24] sometimes it's probably merited
[20:25] because I stood
[20:28] before you or came
[20:30] before you. This is my fifth
[20:32] meeting
[20:33] before the board and some
[20:34] of the new members may not
[20:36] recall, but going back to
[20:37] 2019, we decided to review and
[20:39] discuss the potential of a
[20:42] litigation involving bringing
[20:43] an action against the component
[20:45] manufacturers
[20:48] of PFAs and PFOA. And this
[20:50] board, this board,
[20:53] through legal counsel and
[20:54] through the five subsequent
[20:56] meetings that I presented,
[20:57] made a great decision. In
[21:00] 2020, you allowed our law firm,
[21:03] you retained us and you allowed
[21:05] us to bring a lawsuit
[21:07] against 3M Dupont and a number
[21:10] of defendants who were the
[21:12] component manufacturers
[21:14] of PFAS and PFOA. And because
[21:16] of that decision, we were one
[21:18] of the leaders
[21:20] in this litigation that brought
[21:21] about almost a $13 billion
[21:24] settlement
[21:25] about a year and a half ago
[21:27] for cities and water suppliers
[21:29] across the country. But because
[21:31] this board gave us authority
[21:33] in 2020, the amount that we
[21:35] settled for Tampa Bay water was
[21:37] a 25% increase. And I want
[21:40] to point that out. That is an
[21:42] extraordinary great decision
[21:45] by this board. So, I'm here
[21:49] to announce that on a gross
[21:52] settlement basis that we're
[21:53] proud
[21:55] to report that we have settled
[21:57] for Tampa Bay Water, an amount
[21:59] that will be, in the end,
[22:01] about 23 to 24 million dollars
[22:04] as a gross award,
[22:06] and net somewhere between 17
[22:08] and 18 million dollars. 90%
[22:10] of that comes from the company
[22:12] of 3M. 10% comes from Dupont
[22:15] and other defendants that we
[22:18] have brought litigation
[22:20] against. That last 10% has not
[22:22] been resolved,
[22:23] but the first 90% has,
[22:25] and that amount is estimated
[22:28] at $21.7 million. And then we
[22:33] anticipate another 10% against
[22:35] the remaining defendants. And
[22:36] that's why our estimates are
[22:38] somewhere between 23 and $24
[22:41] million as a gross award.
[22:42] We're proud
[22:44] to have represented Tampa Bay
[22:46] Water. I'm just by way
[22:49] of history, I was here almost
[22:51] 10 years ago. I had the
[22:53] privilege of representing
[22:55] Tampa Bay Water again as a
[22:56] resident of Pinellas County
[22:58] for the BP oil disaster. And I
[23:01] was proud to present an award
[23:03] at that time. I know
[23:06] oftentimes, as board members,
[23:07] you're criticized. Then your
[23:09] team, your staff, the
[23:11] engineers, the people
[23:12] on the field that had
[23:13] to cooperate with us throughout
[23:15] the many years, we also went
[23:17] through Covid. So the decision
[23:18] to allow us
[23:20] to bring the suit and
[23:22] to cooperate with us
[23:24] to allow us
[23:26] to get litigation testing,
[23:28] we did our own testing,
[23:29] which supplemented our efforts
[23:31] in this case. And I want
[23:33] to point out to you,
[23:35] because many of the general
[23:36] public don't understand this,
[23:38] that many cities,
[23:40] many cities that we presented
[23:41] to
[23:43] over the last six years refused
[23:44] to get involved
[23:47] in this action. Refused
[23:48] for one reason or another.
[23:50] They didn't want to bring light
[23:52] that there might be a problem.
[23:53] Many cities and water suppliers
[23:55] failed to receive any monies
[23:58] from this settlement because
[24:00] they didn't file timely. And
[24:03] so, I think it's time that we
[24:05] say thank you and hats off
[24:07] to this board for making great
[24:10] decision and funds will be
[24:12] forthcoming. And I've supplied
[24:14] a memo to that effect. And I
[24:16] thank you for the privilege
[24:18] of allowing me
[24:19] to represent you
[24:20] over these years. Thank you
[24:21] very much. Any questions?
[24:23] >> Well, Mr. Ribeiro, thank you
[24:25] and thank you
[24:26] for that wonderful report, you
[24:28] know, Councilman Miranda and I,
[24:30] when we were on Tampa City
[24:31] Council, the Tampa recovered
[24:33] money in the BP litigation.
[24:35] And that at the time, a lot
[24:36] of that money was used
[24:38] to build, to rebuild Julian
[24:40] B. Lane Park, which is a
[24:42] tremendous park on the
[24:43] Hillsborough River. And the
[24:45] reason I mention that is
[24:46] because these, these types
[24:48] of verdicts,
[24:50] the money that comes from them
[24:52] can be transformative.
[24:55] This is a huge amount
[24:57] of money that is coming
[24:59] into our hands in this case. I
[25:00] know this board's going to act
[25:02] very wisely and use the money
[25:03] to make our water as clean as
[25:06] possible. That's our top
[25:07] priority. But, you know,
[25:09] having the foresight
[25:10] to follow this litigation
[25:12] through to,
[25:14] to have the courage to file it
[25:16] to begin with and, and to. To
[25:17] take the time and effort ne
[25:19] really was very, very important
[25:20] and will have a very meaningful
[25:22] impact on this agency and
[25:24] on the public that we serve.
[25:28] So thank you. Is there any
[25:29] other board members that would
[25:31] like to. Councilwoman
[25:33] Hanewicz.
[25:35] >> Thank you. Chair, I just.
[25:36] First of all, Augie, great
[25:37] work. Thank you. Obviously,
[25:40] five years is a long road,
[25:42] and we had many meetings
[25:43] on this, and it's come
[25:45] to a good conclusion. My
[25:46] question is in terms of when we
[25:48] expect the money and then how
[25:50] are we going to,
[25:52] where are we going
[25:53] to put the money in terms
[25:56] of invest the money or put it
[25:57] in a place where it earns what
[25:59] it should earn
[26:00] until we decide what happens
[26:02] with it and what's going to.
[26:04] What's going to,
[26:06] you know what. Are there any
[26:07] limitations in terms of how we
[26:09] can use this money and what we
[26:10] should use it for? So, I just.
[26:12] There are a couple
[26:13] of questions
[26:14] in there that I would like,
[26:16] and I don't know if Christina
[26:17] can help
[26:18] on the financial part. Sorry,
[26:19] Christina, if I'm, like,
[26:20] throwing you out there or
[26:22] Augie, if you can help out.
[26:23] >> The only thing I can say is
[26:25] that, number one,
[26:26] we've made a payment. One
[26:27] payment was made last month,
[26:29] and I have another check here
[26:31] today to drop off. Okay. Which
[26:33] is the second payment. And then
[26:34] by the end of the year, we
[26:36] expect another larger payment.
[26:37] And so, we expect by the end of
[26:39] this year that you will be
[26:41] receiving 65% of this amount of
[26:43] money that you're entitled to.
[26:45] And then the next payments,
[26:47] the next 35%, will be paid out
[26:48] over the next four
[26:50] to five years. That's our
[26:52] estimates. So, by the end
[26:53] of the year, you should have
[26:55] about 65% of this award, and
[26:56] there are no restrictions.
[26:58] >> Okay, great. So, I would
[27:01] just like to see if wherever
[27:02] we're putting our money or
[27:04] holding our money,
[27:05] because it's going
[27:06] to take a while anyhow, to make
[27:08] sure we're earning the best
[27:09] interest rates while it's there
[27:11] until a decision is made,
[27:13] I would assume in the future,
[27:15] sometime.
[27:16] >> So, we are setting up a
[27:17] separate fund that we will be
[27:19] able to track the money, and
[27:20] then any interest that it earns
[27:22] will stay with that fund. And
[27:24] then once the board makes the
[27:25] decision what
[27:27] to spend those funds on,
[27:28] then we will track it as well,
[27:29] just like we do with any bond
[27:31] proceeds we receive. We track
[27:32] those separately, maintaining
[27:34] the interest and where all the
[27:35] money is spent. So, we'll do
[27:36] the same thing
[27:37] with these funds. We're
[27:39] creating a separate fund
[27:41] to do that with.
[27:43] >> Okay, well, thank you very
[27:44] much, and thank you, Augie,
[27:46] for all you've done.
[27:47] >> Any other comments,
[27:49] Commissioner Eggers?
[27:50] >> Yeah, just real quickly,
[27:51] I wanted to second some
[27:52] of the comments. You know,
[27:53] these kinds of efforts are
[27:54] like five years, sometimes
[27:56] in the making,
[27:58] sometimes longer. And the
[28:00] attitudes can be, why bother?
[28:01] But we do have an incredible
[28:03] staff that brought it to, you
[28:05] know, to a point where I think
[28:07] everybody was pretty clear on
[28:08] what could happen and why we
[28:10] were doing it. So I just, you
[28:11] know, the residents of Tampa
[28:13] Bay region and why this board
[28:15] was created some 25 years ago
[28:17] couldn't be more apparent.
[28:20] So, I'm really just proud
[28:23] of the effort by staff. They
[28:25] really are the folks that made
[28:26] this happen. And thank you for
[28:28] your efforts as well and past
[28:29] board members that were up here
[28:31] when we did all this work.
[28:33] So, thank you again.
[28:35] >> Thank you. It's so much
[28:37] easier to not do anything,
[28:38] especially
[28:39] with a difficult decision.
[28:40] >> There was a lot of talk
[28:42] about it when we were
[28:43] considering.
[28:44] >> So thank you again.
[28:46] >> Yes, I just want
[28:47] to thank you. You know,
[28:48] there's something to say. Why
[28:49] not do it? Can you imagine if
[28:52] it wasn't done from this agency
[28:54] or any other agency where we
[28:55] would be in 10 years?
[28:57] >> Yes, sir.
[28:59] >> So, money isn't everything.
[29:01] It's a cutting
[29:02] off a period where all
[29:04] of society would have been in
[29:05] deep trouble if these things
[29:06] keep on perpetuating itself
[29:08] for many years to come. So,
[29:09] for that, money comes
[29:11] in common goals. But people
[29:12] lives mean more than money.
[29:13] So, thank you and everybody
[29:15] in the staff who voted
[29:16] for all this and thank
[29:17] everybody in the audience who
[29:18] participated. Thank you very
[29:19] much.
[29:21] >> Thank you, Councilman
[29:22] Miranda.
[29:23] >> Commissioner Mariano.
[29:24] >> I just want to thank you for
[29:25] bringing it forward and thanks
[29:26] for your great work on it.
[29:28] Thank you.
[29:29] >> Thank you.
[29:30] >> Thank you. All right,
[29:31] great. Thank you. All right,
[29:33] let's see where we are here.
[29:36] Thanks. Oh, we probably ought
[29:39] to do that a little more
[29:41] ceremonially the next time.
[29:42] >> I will keep it. I promise.
[29:45] I'll make sure it gets to
[29:46] Christina.
[29:47] >> At this time, we are going
[29:48] to move on
[29:49] to our action items. We have
[29:51] two this morning. The first
[29:52] will be presented by Maribel
[29:54] Medina, Planning and Projects
[29:55] Director, and that is
[29:57] in relation to the South
[29:59] Hillsborough Pipeline Segment
[30:02] A. Good morning.
[30:03] >> Well, Good morning, Mr.
[30:04] Chairman and members of the
[30:05] Board. Today I will request
[30:07] your approval
[30:08] for agenda items C1, C2 and C3,
[30:09] which are closely related and
[30:11] pertain
[30:13] to the construction phase
[30:15] of the South Hillsborough
[30:17] pipeline project. With a
[30:18] clearly defined construction
[30:20] strategy now in place,
[30:21] we have negotiated a schedule,
[30:23] scopes and fees with the
[30:25] respective engineering teams
[30:27] that are helping us
[30:28] with this project
[30:29] to support the phase that align
[30:31] with that strategy.
[30:32] Specifically, I will be
[30:34] presenting and requesting
[30:36] approval for the following: the
[30:37] third amendment
[30:38] to contract 2021-024 with
[30:41] WestRim Inc., the second
[30:44] amendment to contract 2021-025
[30:45] with Stantec Consulting
[30:48] Services, and work assignment
[30:50] number three amendment
[30:51] under contract 2022-001 with
[30:56] Black & Veatch. But
[30:58] before diving into the details
[30:59] of these amendments,
[31:00] I will begin
[31:02] with a brief project update.
[31:04] And as a reminder,
[31:06] this pipeline will span about
[31:07] 26 miles and will have a
[31:09] diameter of up to 60 inches.
[31:11] It is assigned to deliver up
[31:13] to 65 million gallons per day
[31:15] to South Hillsborough County
[31:17] and this map illustrates the
[31:19] pipeline route. To date we have
[31:21] completed several milestones
[31:25] and have reached the 90% design
[31:27] for the pipeline while we
[31:30] continue property and permit
[31:31] acquisition design
[31:33] of the points of connection and
[31:35] continue our public outreach
[31:37] efforts.
[31:39] On the public outreach. We have
[31:41] just completed a public
[31:43] engagement activity that was
[31:45] required by Hillsborough
[31:46] County. The County's Board
[31:48] Policy 09010101 requires BOCC
[31:52] approval
[31:54] of temporary road closures
[31:55] by a public entity that exceed
[31:57] 30 days in duration. This
[32:00] policy also requires public
[32:02] engagement at least 14 days
[32:04] prior to the BOCC meeting at
[32:07] which this item will be
[32:08] considered. At the direction
[32:10] of Hillsborough county staff,
[32:12] we had an online engagement
[32:14] from June 20th through July
[32:15] 18th, and we had
[32:18] in person meetings last week,
[32:20] July 15th through the 17th, and
[32:22] this engagement opportunity was
[32:24] extensively noticed
[32:26] with direct mail postcards,
[32:28] emails
[32:29] to our email subscriber list,
[32:32] Facebook ads, Facebook posts
[32:33] that were shared and pick up
[32:36] by the community,
[32:38] and news articles and more.
[32:40] The project requires a total
[32:42] of 29 permits. Today we have
[32:44] submitted nine permit
[32:46] applications, including the two
[32:48] major environmental permits.
[32:50] So far we have received one
[32:52] permit and the remaining eight
[32:54] applications are currently
[32:56] under review
[32:58] by the regulatory agencies.
[33:00] Now that we have reached the
[33:02] 90% design, the engineering
[33:04] team is preparing 10 additional
[33:06] permit applications and as we
[33:08] approach the construction
[33:10] phase, Garney, our construction
[33:13] manager at risk,
[33:15] will be responsible for
[33:17] applying and obtaining the
[33:19] final term permits needed
[33:20] for construction. We remain
[33:23] on schedule to obtain all the
[33:24] critical path permits prior
[33:26] to the start
[33:28] of the construction activities.
[33:29] In addition to that,
[33:32] the project requires a total
[33:33] of 218 temporary and permanent
[33:35] utility easements. The left pie
[33:37] chart shows the current status
[33:39] of easements acquisition. We
[33:42] have obtained 89 easements
[33:43] which represent 41%
[33:46] of the total easements needed.
[33:48] 112 easements have been
[33:50] included in the eminent domain
[33:54] resolutions that have been
[33:55] approved by this board and as
[33:57] of today, three
[33:59] of those parcels have been
[34:00] filed in court while we
[34:02] continue negotiations
[34:03] with the property owners. The
[34:05] remaining 17 parcels are owned
[34:07] by Hillsborough County, ELAP,
[34:10] the Fish and Wildlife and TECO,
[34:12] and the right chart displays
[34:14] the expenditures today and the
[34:16] remaining budget
[34:17] for easement acquisition.
[34:19] We're on schedule and
[34:21] within budget to get all the
[34:23] parcels and easements by the
[34:24] time that we begin construction
[34:26] activities and
[34:27] to date we have spent 15% of
[34:29] our property acquisition budget
[34:30] on that 41%
[34:32] of the closed easements. This
[34:35] slide shows the project overall
[34:40] schedule. Construction is
[34:42] tentatively scheduled to begin
[34:43] as early as this fall pending
[34:44] the final design,
[34:46] property acquisition and
[34:48] permitting,
[34:50] and we're expecting
[34:51] to have this pipeline
[34:52] in service in late 2028. This
[34:53] is a detailed schedule for
[34:57] construction phase pending
[34:59] obtaining those necessary
[35:00] permits. We will begin with
[35:02] trenchless or tunneling
[35:04] crossing operations
[35:06] for segment A this fall,
[35:07] followed by segment B
[35:10] in the summer of 2026. Open cut
[35:13] pipe installation is scheduled
[35:15] to begin in the spring of 2026
[35:17] and in general we will be
[35:19] completing restoration
[35:21] activities as we follow the
[35:23] pipe installation. These
[35:26] activities include surface
[35:27] restoration and addressing any
[35:29] immediate impacts. The points
[35:31] of connections which we have
[35:34] three of them and associated
[35:36] construction activities will
[35:38] also begin in the summer of
[35:39] 2026 and then we will be
[35:41] completing pipeline flushing,
[35:43] disinfection and commissioning
[35:45] which is planned to be
[35:47] in the fall of 2028. The final
[35:49] restoration and construction
[35:50] closeout phase will continue
[35:52] from the fall of 2028
[35:54] through the summer of 2029. In
[35:56] this slide we can see the
[35:59] complexity involved in
[36:04] constructing the 26-mile
[36:06] pipeline over a period
[36:08] of more than 36 months. The
[36:11] construction effort will
[36:12] involve a team of over 130
[36:14] personnel with up to nine crews
[36:16] working simultaneously
[36:19] across different locations
[36:21] at any given time. Segment A
[36:23] will be the most resource
[36:25] intensive with four tunneling
[36:27] crews and four open cut crews.
[36:29] We will also have front end and
[36:33] back end teams handling the
[36:35] preparation and restoration
[36:37] work. And we have in this
[36:39] segment significant maintenance
[36:41] of traffic. Coordination due
[36:43] to its location and impacts
[36:44] on the roadways. In Segment B,
[36:46] while less intensive, will
[36:50] still require two trenchless
[36:54] tunneling crews and one open
[36:56] cut crew support from front end
[36:58] and back end teams and increase
[36:59] attention to environmental
[37:03] considerations throughout the
[37:05] construction process. This
[37:07] level of coordination
[37:09] highlights the scale and
[37:11] complexity of this project,
[37:12] requiring careful planning,
[37:14] sequencing,
[37:16] management and communication
[37:18] across all teams. I would like
[37:20] to pause now and give you an
[37:22] opportunity
[37:23] to ask me any questions
[37:25] before I move on
[37:26] to the action items.
[37:28] >> Commissioner Eggers.
[37:29] >> Yeah. Thank you
[37:30] for that summary. That's good
[37:31] to kind of always go back and
[37:33] visit and kind
[37:34] of get some updates. One of the
[37:35] most important things that we
[37:37] do at Tampa Bay Water is manage
[37:39] projects. So, we assign
[37:41] experienced project managers
[37:43] to this. And my understanding
[37:45] is that we have perhaps gotten
[37:46] a little thin in that area and
[37:48] that we are using Black and
[37:52] Veatch even more. So maybe you
[37:54] could speak to that,
[37:56] to the thought process behind
[37:58] when we do that versus using
[38:00] our own folks. And is there a
[38:04] possibility of kind
[38:07] of switching back
[38:09] to our own personnel? So, thank
[38:10] you.
[38:11] >> Sure. Yes. That's one
[38:13] of the key mandates of my
[38:14] department and my division.
[38:16] So, when we select project
[38:18] managers, they're based
[38:19] on the risk complexity
[38:21] of each one
[38:23] of these projects. We determine
[38:24] that for this particular
[38:27] project we need a really
[38:29] seasoned and experienced
[38:31] project manager that is able
[38:33] to handle a half. This is half
[38:36] a billion dollar project when
[38:37] you account for all the cost,
[38:40] including property acquisition
[38:42] and design and construction
[38:44] services. We have a multiple
[38:46] consultants working
[38:48] in this project. We have two
[38:49] engineering firms. We have a
[38:51] construction manager at risk
[38:54] with multiple construction or
[38:56] guarantee maximum packages
[38:58] involved. And we have a complex
[39:00] permitting strategy and
[39:03] property acquisition. So, we
[39:05] determined that we needed a
[39:07] good and experienced candidate.
[39:09] Although we do have really
[39:11] talented team members
[39:15] in my department.
[39:17] >> How many? I'm sorry.
[39:18] >> We have four project
[39:20] managers. Well, sorry,
[39:21] three project managers in my
[39:23] team and we have two
[39:25] construction managers
[39:27] in my division.
[39:28] >> And that's fully staffed
[39:29] right now?
[39:30] >> Fully staffed. I'm missing
[39:32] one project manager.
[39:33] >> Okay.
[39:34] >> But we have a lot of capital
[39:36] projects that are ongoing.
[39:37] We're managing about 30
[39:39] projects in addition
[39:40] to the pipeline project. And we
[39:42] needed somebody
[39:43] with that capability
[39:45] of handling this large,
[39:46] complex project. That
[39:48] individual from Black and
[39:49] Veatch has been selected to
[39:50] help me and the agency manage
[39:53] these projects
[39:55] through the closeout phase. We
[39:56] did have one staff person a
[39:58] year ago that left the agency
[40:00] and had the experience
[40:01] to manage this project. He
[40:03] returned back home
[40:04] in another state. And
[40:06] unfortunately we have not been
[40:08] able to find, to find a fit
[40:10] that have that experience.
[40:13] >> Okay. All right,
[40:15] I appreciate that. And is
[40:16] there, the added cost
[40:19] to doing that included
[40:21] in the original approval?
[40:24] >> Absolutely. The project
[40:26] includes, our budget is half a
[40:27] billion dollars.
[40:29] For the entire project we made,
[40:30] we had budget line items for
[40:33] program management and project
[40:34] management and construction
[40:36] management, support services.
[40:38] And to date, we are forecasting
[40:40] that we will spend less than 1%
[40:42] for that role. That will be
[40:45] supporting Tampa Bay water,
[40:46] actually 0.67%.
[40:49] >> Okay, so no additional funds
[40:50] requested?
[40:51] >> No. Not at this point.
[40:55] >> Thank you. Appreciate the
[40:56] detailed summary. Thanks.
[40:58] Thank you.
[41:01] >> Okay, Commissioner
[41:02] Mariano.
[41:03] >> So, looking at the easement
[41:04] acquisition status with 85%
[41:06] of the budget remaining,
[41:07] is that just way ahead of what
[41:09] you thought and it's gone much
[41:10] better than you expected?
[41:11] >> Well, as we. It's a good
[41:13] observation that as we are
[41:14] entering into the eminent
[41:15] domain process,
[41:16] we're expecting that we're
[41:18] going to be burning that money
[41:19] at a higher rate
[41:21] for the remaining parcels. So
[41:22] we still think that the budget
[41:24] is sufficient to cover those
[41:26] additional easements that will,
[41:27] we'll be negotiating
[41:29] with attorneys and
[41:30] in court.
[41:32] >> Okay, so you're not
[41:33] optimistic that you'll have a
[41:34] huge surplus there?
[41:35] >> I'm going
[41:37] to keep my fingers crossed,
[41:38] yes.
[41:39] >> All right. And I think, I
[41:41] think your next slide's coming
[41:42] up. You're going to show
[41:44] construction costs are actually
[41:45] higher than we expected,
[41:46] so.
[41:47] >> Well, so far we have
[41:48] received two guarantee. We do
[41:50] have approved two guarantee
[41:51] maximum packages. GMP number
[41:52] one was where we saw
[41:54] significant savings when we
[41:55] purchased the pipeline
[41:56] materials almost a year ago.
[41:59] And then the second GMP,
[42:01] which was taken,
[42:03] I believe earlier this year as
[42:04] well, was for the tunneling and
[42:05] trenchless operations that we
[42:07] are planning to be beginning
[42:09] October. We are currently
[42:10] in the phase of advertise for
[42:11] the third guarantee maximum
[42:14] package, which is
[42:16] for the open cut installation.
[42:18] We will be back in October and
[42:20] hopefully we are still
[42:22] within budget. We have three
[42:24] prospective bidders that will
[42:26] be providing bids and we hope
[42:27] to be within budget.
[42:30] >> Thank you.
[42:32] >> Okay, so this is C1. Why
[42:33] don't we go ahead and have a
[42:36] vote
[42:38] on this and then we'll move on
[42:40] to the next.
[42:41] >> Sure. We're going
[42:42] to brief two slides on C1.
[42:44] So, C1 is
[42:45] for the third amendment for
[42:47] construction phase and design
[42:48] services
[42:49] to Wade Trim and Wade Trim
[42:51] is the engineer of record
[42:53] for segment A. And their scope
[42:55] during the construction phase
[42:57] includes the key service areas
[43:00] shown in the slide. They will
[43:02] provide construction oversight
[43:03] services
[43:04] for segment A activities.
[43:06] They will provide engineering
[43:08] services and inspection
[43:09] services,
[43:11] environmental support and
[43:12] public involvement,
[43:14] and will support the cathodic
[43:15] protection, construction,
[43:18] engineering services and
[43:19] inspection of those corrosion
[43:20] protection systems. And
[43:22] in addition to that, we'll
[43:23] support the project pipeline
[43:25] portion of it
[43:27] through the closed
[43:28] out phase and verification
[43:30] of any as built drawings. The
[43:32] scope
[43:34] of this segment is funded by
[43:35] Tampa Bay Water. And we will
[43:37] plan to request reimbursements
[43:38] from the Southwest Florida
[43:40] Water Management District. And
[43:41] also we negotiated as part of
[43:44] our amended joint project
[43:46] agreement with Hillsborough
[43:48] County, a scope of work to
[43:50] design the jard piping
[43:53] modifications that
[43:55] Hillsborough County's Lithia
[43:57] Water Treatment Plant will need
[43:59] to receive the water from
[44:00] pipeline segment A Wade Trim
[44:03] will be providing the
[44:05] engineering services
[44:06] for design. And the scope is
[44:08] highlighted on the slide. And
[44:10] this is totally funded by
[44:12] Hillsborough County. And
[44:15] at this point, I'm ready
[44:16] to request your approval
[44:17] for C1.
[44:20] >> Anything else
[44:21] before we move forward?
[44:23] >> Move approval.
[44:25] >> Second.
[44:26] >> We have a motion from
[44:27] Commissioner Wostal seconded
[44:30] by Councilwoman Hanewicz.
[44:32] Please record your vote.
[44:41] >> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
[44:42] unanimously.
[44:44] >> Okay, thank you very much.
[44:45] We will move on now
[44:46] to item C2.
[44:48] >> All right, so agenda item C2
[44:51] is for the corresponding scope
[44:53] of work
[44:55] for engineering services
[44:56] for construction
[44:57] for segment B, which is going
[44:59] to be provided by the engineer
[45:01] of record, Stantec. And this
[45:03] scope is very similar to the
[45:05] scope that I highlighted
[45:07] earlier today
[45:08] for Wade Trim. And this scope
[45:10] will be totally funded by
[45:11] Hillsborough County. And
[45:12] with that,
[45:14] staff requests approval
[45:15] for the Second Amendment of
[45:16] Stantec in the amount of $6.9
[45:18] million.
[45:21] >> Move approval.
[45:22] >> Second.
[45:23] >> We have a motion from
[45:24] Commissioner Mariano, seconded
[45:26] by Commissioner Wostal.
[45:28] >> It was me.
[45:30] >> Oh, excuse me. It was
[45:31] Commissioner Eggers. I'm sorry.
[45:33] >> We sound alike. --
[45:38] >> I'm honored that you all
[45:40] want to support for my
[45:43] >> There we go. There we go. All
[45:44] right,
[45:45] please record your vote.
[45:48] >> Mr. Chair. And the motion
[45:49] passed unanimously.
[45:50] >> All righty. And item number
[45:51] C3.
[45:52] >> Okay, so the final agenda,
[45:53] item C3 is
[45:55] for the third amendment
[45:56] of work assignment number three
[45:58] for both program and project
[46:00] management services to Black
[46:01] and Veatch. And as I briefly
[46:03] touched on earlier today,
[46:05] Black and Veatch has been
[46:07] supporting the Tampa Bay water
[46:08] team through their integrated
[46:10] program management contract.
[46:12] Their services continue
[46:13] to be a key to the success
[46:15] of this pipeline project. The
[46:16] additional scope includes
[46:18] program management and
[46:20] coordination. Black and Veatch
[46:22] would also continue to serve as
[46:23] our owner's advisor. And they
[46:25] will also provide staff
[46:27] augmentation services to cover
[46:28] construction management and
[46:30] project management
[46:31] for this project. This
[46:33] amendment is only
[46:34] for the first 12 months
[46:36] starting this August. And we
[46:38] anticipate, as we burn out the
[46:40] money and see how things go,
[46:41] to come back for future
[46:43] amendments and request
[46:44] additional funds as needed.
[46:47] The scope of work for this
[46:48] particular work scope is being
[46:51] funded by both Tampa Bay Water
[46:54] and Hillsborough County and any
[46:56] reimbursements that we receive
[46:57] from the Southwest Florida
[46:59] Water Management District. And
[47:00] with that,
[47:02] staff requests approval
[47:03] for this Third Amendment
[47:05] to work assignment number three
[47:07] with Black and Veatch.
[47:08] >> Okay, thank you,
[47:10] Commissioner Eggers.
[47:11] >> One clarifying question back
[47:13] on the project manager. Be
[47:14] quick. So, the staff that we
[47:16] have,
[47:17] the one that we're looking
[47:18] to replace, one of those
[47:20] positions would give us that
[47:21] ability to do projects
[47:23] like this normally.
[47:24] >> Correct.
[47:26] >> But because we had one
[47:27] person leave,
[47:29] we didn't have the level
[47:30] of expertise
[47:32] for a project this size.
[47:33] >> Correct. And it's very
[47:34] difficult to find a project
[47:35] person that have that level
[47:37] of experience as well.
[47:38] >> Yeah. Perfect. Thank you.
[47:40] Appreciate it.
[47:42] >> Move approval.
[47:43] >> Second.
[47:45] >> Okay. We have a motion
[47:46] from Commissioner Wostal.
[47:48] Commissioner Mariano, is that
[47:49] you seconding it?
[47:50] >> No, it was. It was you,
[47:52] Commissioner Eggers.
[47:54] >> You know, sorry. We're going
[47:56] to let you do the next one,
[47:58] so mess them up. All right.
[48:00] Please record your vote.
[48:05] >> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
[48:06] unanimously.
[48:07] >> All right,
[48:08] thank you very much. We are
[48:09] going to move on now to Item C4
[48:10] and Michelle Stum.
[48:19] >> Good morning, Mr. Chair.
[48:21] Members of the board, I'm
[48:22] Michelle Stum, your chief of
[48:23] staff and chief strategy
[48:25] officer. Item C4 is a request
[48:26] for approval for the firm
[48:27] to perform the agency's 2025
[48:29] performance audit and
[48:31] management study. The
[48:34] interlocal agreement requires
[48:35] that the agency conduct a
[48:37] performance audit and
[48:38] management study every five
[48:39] years. This is an important
[48:41] project because it gives the
[48:42] agency the opportunity
[48:44] to have a national firm look at
[48:45] our programs and our governance
[48:47] and offer us recommendations,
[48:50] let us know what we're doing
[48:52] well and what maybe we could do
[48:54] better. The last performance
[48:55] audit was completed in 2020.
[48:56] The recommendations for that
[48:59] audit have been reported
[49:01] to the board as task updates on
[49:02] the consent agenda regularly
[49:04] and
[49:06] through the annual presentation
[49:07] on strategic plan progress.
[49:09] In March, the agency advertised
[49:11] a request for proposals
[49:12] for firms
[49:14] to perform the audit and study.
[49:15] We received nine submissions,
[49:17] and a selection committee
[49:18] comprised of agency staff
[49:20] scored and selected Baker
[49:22] Tilly Advisory Group LP as the
[49:23] top ranked firm
[49:25] to perform the audit. Staff
[49:27] subsequently negotiated a final
[49:29] scope and fee,
[49:30] which is attached
[49:31] to your agenda item. I'd now
[49:33] like to introduce Caitlin
[49:34] Humrickhouse, a principal
[49:36] with Baker Tilly, to provide
[49:37] some additional details
[49:39] on the firm and its approach
[49:40] to this project.
[49:46] >> Good morning, Mr.
[49:47] Chairman. Members
[49:49] of the board. So, Baker Tilly
[49:50] is a national professional
[49:52] services firm. We have about
[49:53] 11,000 employees nationwide and
[49:55] my team in particular works
[49:57] in the public sector. So,
[49:59] at any given time we have
[50:01] about 2,500 Utility Special
[50:02] District Energy clients and
[50:04] another 3,000 city county
[50:06] government clients. We
[50:09] specialize
[50:10] in management consulting. So,
[50:11] process improvement,
[50:13] organizational design,
[50:14] strategy, projects like Just
[50:16] like this. We've done a number
[50:17] of management studies
[50:18] across the country for those
[50:21] in the water industry. So, I'll
[50:22] go a little bit into the scope
[50:24] of what we plan to do. We are
[50:26] going to couch our analysis in
[50:27] the EPA's effective utility
[50:30] management framework as updated
[50:32] in 2024. So, it looks at 10 key
[50:34] areas of operations and then
[50:36] five overarching principles
[50:38] related to leadership,
[50:41] continuous improvement. And so,
[50:43] as we go
[50:45] through our analysis,
[50:46] we'll be using different types
[50:47] of benchmarks,
[50:49] metrics associated with that
[50:50] framework as applicable
[50:52] to your organization. So, I
[50:53] won't go through these, but
[50:55] this is a little bit more
[50:56] detail of each of those
[50:57] different areas that we will be
[50:59] looking at. Our project
[51:00] approach goes through six key
[51:02] activities which I'll go
[51:03] through in detail
[51:05] on the next slide.
[51:06] But you know, we really sort
[51:07] of start with some in depth
[51:08] project management all the way
[51:10] through reporting and lots
[51:12] of feedback in between. So, our
[51:13] first activity is to assemble
[51:15] the project steering committee.
[51:17] We plan to include individuals
[51:18] from multiple levels
[51:21] of the organization. We feel
[51:22] like we get really rich
[51:24] feedback on our deliverables
[51:25] from your team when we do that.
[51:27] And it also gives people a
[51:30] chance to step up
[51:31] in an important project
[51:32] like this
[51:34] into a leadership capacity.
[51:35] We'll be finalizing our work
[51:37] plan and schedule and issuing,
[51:38] asking the staff
[51:40] for information in order
[51:41] to complete our study. So, any
[51:42] types
[51:44] of plans or reports you have,
[51:45] data that you have in place and
[51:46] we'll establish a regular
[51:48] status reporting schedule.
[51:50] Then we go into sort
[51:52] of the meat of the project
[51:53] which is really looking
[51:55] at that data, obtaining input.
[51:56] So, we'll be doing lots
[51:58] of data analysis. We'll issue
[51:59] an employee survey
[52:01] to get feedback. We'll also be
[52:02] doing in person interviews and
[52:04] focus groups,
[52:05] including interviews
[52:07] with members
[52:08] of the board and members
[52:09] of your member government,
[52:11] representatives
[52:12] from your member governments.
[52:14] And then what we do is we
[52:15] document our initial
[52:16] observations. So, sort
[52:18] of our first take
[52:19] at what are we seeing
[52:20] in the data,
[52:22] what are we hearing
[52:23] from our interviews and sort
[52:24] of giving the opportunity
[52:25] for the steering committee
[52:26] to give us feedback on those.
[52:28] Then we go into peer
[52:29] benchmarking and best practices
[52:30] research. So we will establish
[52:31] a group
[52:32] of benchmark agencies. We
[52:34] like that to be a mix of best
[52:35] in class and then people that
[52:38] are, you know, organizations
[52:39] that are comparable
[52:40] to you. I always like to say,
[52:42] just because someone looks
[52:43] like you on paper doesn't mean
[52:44] they're doing things the right
[52:45] way necessarily. So, we like to
[52:47] make sure we're including the
[52:49] best of the best
[52:50] around the country. And then we
[52:52] do a lot of industry analysis
[52:53] and best practice research
[52:54] pulling in from AWWA and other
[52:56] industry associations. Then we
[52:58] get into, you can think
[53:00] of this as a gap analysis.
[53:01] So, we understand, we have a
[53:03] really good understanding
[53:04] of your current operations,
[53:05] we have a great understanding
[53:07] of the industry and the peers.
[53:08] And then we're saying, where
[53:09] are the gaps that we're seeing?
[53:10] Either where you're ahead
[53:11] of that gap,
[53:13] you're doing something best
[53:14] in class, or there's an area
[53:15] for you to improve. We couch
[53:17] all of that
[53:18] in as much data as we can,
[53:19] as much feedback as we can,
[53:21] and we're looking here
[53:22] at things
[53:23] like what is the effectiveness
[53:24] of your processes? Where are
[53:26] you using technology
[53:27] appropriately
[53:28] to support your operations? Do
[53:30] you have any challenges with
[53:31] succession and workforce
[53:33] planning? What is the risk?
[53:34] What are certain risks to the
[53:36] organization that you should be
[53:37] aware of? Again, we're getting
[53:39] feedback throughout
[53:40] from the steering committee
[53:42] on that. And then we go
[53:44] into preparing a draft report.
[53:45] So that's, you know,
[53:47] including everything we've done
[53:49] for the project. We'll get
[53:50] feedback
[53:51] on that and then we'll go into
[53:52] presenting the final report.
[53:54] And I imagine that final report
[53:56] will be presented
[53:57] to this group as well.
[53:59] After that, we prepare what we
[54:00] call an implementation action
[54:01] plan. So that is basically a,
[54:03] to implement these
[54:05] recommendations. Here's the
[54:06] step by step,
[54:07] here's who's accountable. We
[54:08] want these to be implemented
[54:10] after we leave and our project
[54:11] is done so that you can
[54:13] implement the change you need
[54:15] in your organization. We
[54:16] anticipate starting this month
[54:19] if the project is approved with
[54:21] a kickoff call and then going
[54:23] through February. So you would
[54:26] have that implementation action
[54:28] plan and final report in
[54:29] February. And that is it
[54:31] for me.
[54:36] >> Okay, thank you, Caitlin.
[54:38] With that staff recommends
[54:39] approval of the contract with
[54:40] Baker Tilly Advisory Group
[54:42] in a not to exceed amount of
[54:44] 125,000 to perform the 2025
[54:46] performance audit and
[54:49] management study.
[54:50] >> Commissioner Mariano?
[54:52] >> Yeah. When I first was
[54:53] reading this,
[54:55] I was a little suspect to it,
[54:56] but actually I
[54:57] like the fact that we want
[54:58] to take a look at ourselves,
[55:00] go see what we're doing
[55:01] in there. You know,
[55:02] the question we talk about,
[55:03] are we contracting, setting up?
[55:04] I think it's a good idea.
[55:06] >> You know, I agree with you.
[55:07] I think it's a really smart
[55:09] thing to always be evaluating
[55:10] ourselves and making sure that
[55:12] our processes are up
[55:13] to snuff.
[55:17] >> So move.
[55:18] >> Second.
[55:19] >> Okay, who else? Anyone else
[55:21] want to talk before
[55:24] >> I do.
[55:25] >> Yes, Commissioner Eggers.
[55:26] >> It wasn't,
[55:27] I don't think he said.
[55:29] >> Oh, okay. I haven't said who
[55:30] yet.
[55:31] >> I haven't said who yet.
[55:32] >> Yeah, well, yeah, you have.
[55:34] >> I don't even know. I just
[55:35] anticipate.
[55:37] >> I think this is extremely
[55:39] important project. And when I
[55:40] came on board in 2015, an audit
[55:42] had been finished. And
[55:44] subsequent
[55:45] to that we had a lot
[55:46] of issues,
[55:47] not only that were brought
[55:49] forward,
[55:50] but that weren't being
[55:51] addressed in a timely manner.
[55:52] And that was more
[55:54] about the top leadership
[55:55] at the time. And then
[55:57] subsequently
[55:59] to that the projects got done.
[56:01] The communication was perfect.
[56:03] So, I really commend staff for
[56:04] all the work that they did and
[56:06] I want
[56:08] to separate those comments out.
[56:09] But this is extremely important
[56:11] and it is. It is important
[56:13] to be timely, it's important
[56:14] to be critical. It's important
[56:16] for us to take that criticism
[56:18] and improve on it. And was your
[56:21] organization been a part of the
[56:23] last bidding process or not?
[56:25] Okay, well, good to have you
[56:27] on board. Look forward
[56:29] to that. Have you had a chance
[56:30] to look
[56:32] at the last audit yet? Okay.
[56:34] Any general comments
[56:35] on that or are you going
[56:37] to reserve that? I mean, I'd
[56:39] like to just hear your
[56:40] thoughts.
[56:41] >> I thought it was very
[56:42] thorough. I think what you'll
[56:45] find in ours is you might see a
[56:46] little bit more data and
[56:48] advisory components. So, we
[56:50] tend to be a little bit more
[56:53] forward looking of.
[56:54] For example, we'll do a five
[56:56] year retirement analysis
[56:57] to let you know what percentage
[56:58] of your workforce is eligible
[57:00] to retire
[57:01] in the next five years.
[57:02] >> None. Well, kidding.
[57:05] >> Yeah, well, that would be
[57:06] wonderful if that was the case,
[57:08] you know. So, we'll do a little
[57:09] bit more forward thinking
[57:10] things like that. I think
[57:11] you'll see that come through
[57:13] in our report.
[57:14] But I thought it was well done.
[57:15] And I think the part as I was
[57:16] actually preparing to bid
[57:18] on this project, I went through
[57:19] and I did. I could see very
[57:21] clearly where your team had
[57:22] addressed some of the findings
[57:24] in that report,
[57:25] where staff had addressed them.
[57:27] And I was very impressed
[57:28] at the level of transparency
[57:30] there because you don't always
[57:32] see that. So, I thought that
[57:34] really stuck out to me about
[57:36] you as an organization.
[57:38] >> Well, the baton is yours now
[57:39] and that transparency is
[57:40] because
[57:42] of the leader that we have down
[57:43] here and the staff that we
[57:44] have. So, I really appreciate
[57:46] that. Look forward
[57:47] to your work.
[57:48] >> Thank you.
[57:49] >> Chair.
[57:50] >> Yes, Ms. Hanewicz.
[57:51] >> I just was going to say,
[57:52] you know,
[57:53] sometimes when you have these
[57:54] studies, some employees get
[57:56] very apprehensive about it.
[57:57] And look, we do it in the city
[57:59] of St. Petersburg. City
[58:00] Council can actually pick
[58:01] different departments to act
[58:03] to decide. Okay, we need
[58:04] to do a management study. And
[58:06] it's always a great thing.
[58:07] Good things always come
[58:10] from the management studies
[58:12] in terms of resources that are
[58:13] maybe necessary changes that
[58:15] may be needed. And it's really
[58:17] for the best with everyone.
[58:18] So, I just wanted
[58:20] to throw that out there,
[58:21] that I agree
[58:23] with everyone else. These are
[58:24] always good. And so,
[58:25] I'm very excited
[58:27] to see what the results are.
[58:28] Thank you, Chair.
[58:29] >> Okay, now I believe the
[58:30] motion was from Councilman
[58:31] Miranda, who was the second?
[58:34] >> Me. Oh, no.
[58:37] >> Commissioner Mariano is the
[58:38] second.
[58:40] >> I don't think I can do a
[58:43] third on this.
[58:47] >> She can have it. Sorry.
[58:48] >> All right,
[58:50] please record your vote.
[58:55] >> Mr. Chair, the motion passed
[58:56] unanimously.
[58:57] >> Thank you very much. We have
[58:59] two presentations this morning.
[59:00] The first is going
[59:02] to be our rotation
[59:05] of utility departments. And
[59:07] today the city of Tampa is here
[59:09] and Rory Jones from the water
[59:11] department will give the
[59:13] presentation. Good morning.
[59:16] >> Good morning. I'm Rory
[59:17] Jones with the city of Tampa
[59:19] Water Department. Always
[59:21] appreciate the chance
[59:22] to share what we've got going
[59:23] on over in Tampa. We have some
[59:25] exciting projects we'd like
[59:26] to highlight along
[59:27] with a short video. And
[59:29] like many of you,
[59:31] we're juggling pipes, progress
[59:33] and public expectations all
[59:36] along the way. So, I'll try
[59:37] to keep this brief and real.
[59:40] You know, we have a large
[59:44] footprint, 220 square miles and
[59:46] a service population greater
[59:49] than 725,000 people that rely
[59:50] on us daily. We manage over
[59:52] 2,200 miles of pipe that range
[59:54] in size from 2 to 54 inch. And
[59:56] we're working hard to maintain
[59:59] an ageing system that requires
[1:00:02] proactive investments, pipes,
[1:00:04] funding and bonds,
[1:00:07] and long-term planning. We have
[1:00:10] a one central treatment plant,
[1:00:13] the David L. Water Treatment
[1:00:19] Facility. It has recently or
[1:00:20] getting ready
[1:00:22] to hit the 100-year mark. And
[1:00:23] believe it or not,
[1:00:25] we have some
[1:00:26] of those components still
[1:00:28] in play today. Originally, this
[1:00:29] was designed for a $7.6
[1:00:31] million, 7.6 million gallons
[1:00:33] per day facility. Although our
[1:00:35] source water hasn't changed,
[1:00:39] this campus has drastically
[1:00:40] changed
[1:00:41] over the last hundred years.
[1:00:43] Today we draw 82 million
[1:00:44] gallons per day on average.
[1:00:50] And
[1:00:52] with the regional partnership
[1:00:53] of Tampa Bay Water, along with
[1:00:54] our aquifer storage recovery
[1:00:55] system, we're serving. Well,
[1:00:57] more than that. Our
[1:00:58] distribution is a mix of
[1:01:01] elevated and ground storage
[1:01:03] tanks and strategic locations.
[1:01:04] You know, we have four ground
[1:01:06] storage tanks and three
[1:01:08] different pumping stations and
[1:01:09] a couple
[1:01:10] of elevated storage tanks.
[1:01:12] Also, we have two interconnects
[1:01:14] with Tampa Bay water and we're
[1:01:16] grateful to have that
[1:01:17] flexibility and resiliency
[1:01:18] you've built
[1:01:20] into our toolbox here. One of
[1:01:22] our most recent projects is
[1:01:23] wanted to highlight. Here is
[1:01:26] our high surface pump station
[1:01:27] project. We've added eight new
[1:01:29] pumps, 140 million gallons per
[1:01:30] day capacity and it now
[1:01:32] includes a new chlorine contact
[1:01:35] chamber. And we were able to
[1:01:38] completely rehabilitate all our
[1:01:40] clear wells. This was a
[1:01:42] critical step for us in
[1:01:44] improving our reliability and
[1:01:46] resiliency. We've got a quick
[1:01:48] video to show you here that
[1:01:50] highlights the order of
[1:01:51] magnitude and really the scale
[1:01:54] does a good job
[1:01:56] of humanizing these projects.
[1:01:58] This was a project that was
[1:02:00] just over $100 million. And
[1:02:02] we're very pleased
[1:02:03] with the product that Jacob's
[1:02:05] design build team delivered
[1:02:07] for us. There is some audio
[1:02:09] with this if you wouldn't
[1:02:19] mins. Someone's controlling
[1:02:20] behind the scenes. Give me a
[1:02:21] second here.
[1:02:28] [VIDEO PLAYING]
[1:05:29] >> We've got a
[1:05:30] couple other projects we want
[1:05:32] to highlight. We have our
[1:05:33] chemical system improvements
[1:05:34] project where we are
[1:05:36] implementing hypochlorite
[1:05:37] generators on site.
[1:05:38] Essentially this is a low
[1:05:40] strength bleach, a little less
[1:05:42] than what you can buy at
[1:05:43] Publix. This is going to give
[1:05:45] us a safer facility and we're
[1:05:46] going to rely less
[1:05:48] on chemical deliveries
[1:05:49] to continue delivering water.
[1:05:52] Another is our filter
[1:05:53] improvements. We're adding
[1:05:55] additional 20 mgd
[1:05:57] of capacity. These upgrades
[1:05:58] will provide critical
[1:06:01] redundancy and are part of our
[1:06:02] long-term capacity planning.
[1:06:04] Construction started this year
[1:06:07] and is expected
[1:06:08] to be completed in 2027. We do
[1:06:13] have some challenges though,
[1:06:15] and I think this is common
[1:06:16] across all our work here. We,
[1:06:18] like many others, are
[1:06:20] experiencing significant
[1:06:22] increases
[1:06:23] in construction costs, in many
[1:06:25] cases more than doubling,
[1:06:27] especially with our pipeline.
[1:06:28] These cost pressures are real
[1:06:30] and force us
[1:06:31] to rethink schedules,
[1:06:32] scopes and delivery methods.
[1:06:34] So, a couple years ago,
[1:06:36] to help offset some
[1:06:38] of these costs, we developed a
[1:06:40] conservative business case
[1:06:42] for our own construction crew.
[1:06:44] The team structure equipment,
[1:06:46] compared actual numbers to
[1:06:49] projected rates and ultimately
[1:06:51] received approvals
[1:06:53] from our leadership and
[1:06:54] from our council. So we started
[1:06:57] first by hiring a great team.
[1:06:59] It starts with that we ordered
[1:07:01] equipment built, temporary
[1:07:04] construction yards and
[1:07:06] construction trailers and we
[1:07:08] got to work. And their results
[1:07:11] are impressive. You know, the
[1:07:14] projects are completed faster
[1:07:19] and significantly lower cost.
[1:07:21] Matter of fact, we are seeing
[1:07:23] roughly 70% savings compared
[1:07:25] to a more traditional approach.
[1:07:27] And today we've saved over
[1:07:30] $1.4 million. And there's
[1:07:33] opportunities to expand this
[1:07:35] further and each this continues
[1:07:36] to rise. So what's next
[1:07:39] for us? We've got some major
[1:07:41] capital work underway.
[1:07:43] Suspended ion exchange is
[1:07:45] going. We're going to start the
[1:07:47] design this year and we're
[1:07:49] going to shoehorn that
[1:07:51] into our campus there. Now, we
[1:07:52] are currently negotiating GMP
[1:07:55] for a new raw water intake and
[1:07:57] a new and rehabilitated ozone
[1:07:58] system as well as site wide
[1:08:02] electrical improvements where
[1:08:04] we're going to modernize our
[1:08:07] electrical delivery system and
[1:08:09] add some, some generators. We
[1:08:10] have some master plan updates
[1:08:12] across distribution,
[1:08:15] treatment and
[1:08:16] in our resource planning. And
[1:08:17] with that I will wrap it up.
[1:08:20] You know, we're grateful for
[1:08:21] the support and partnership
[1:08:24] that we have with Tampa Bay
[1:08:25] Water and each
[1:08:27] of the member governments. We
[1:08:28] recognize our unique position
[1:08:29] and remain committed
[1:08:31] to a regional collaboration.
[1:08:32] We appreciate the relationship
[1:08:34] we built with the team. Thank
[1:08:35] you.
[1:08:37] >> Thank you. Any questions or
[1:08:40] comments? Commissioner
[1:08:41] Eggers.
[1:08:43] >> First of all, I just want
[1:08:44] to say congratulations on that
[1:08:45] commitment a few years back to
[1:08:47] doing what you're doing today
[1:08:48] and
[1:08:49] for your continuing commitment
[1:08:52] to Tampa Bay Water. I know when
[1:08:53] I first got on the board there
[1:08:55] was a little more acrimony
[1:08:57] between some of the partners.
[1:08:58] And I can't thank the city and
[1:09:00] the staff and the leadership
[1:09:02] for that continued commitment.
[1:09:06] It's really, really important
[1:09:07] that we all work together at
[1:09:09] Tampa Bay Water. Really commend
[1:09:11] you for that work. And I know
[1:09:12] that distribution challenge is
[1:09:14] just over the top when you get
[1:09:16] that old of a system. So
[1:09:17] anyway, good work. Appreciate
[1:09:19] your presentation today. Thank
[1:09:21] you.
[1:09:22] >> Commissioner Mariano.
[1:09:24] >> What a great project. Great
[1:09:25] engineering. Question
[1:09:26] for you, the Howard Curren
[1:09:28] plant, is that with the City
[1:09:29] of Tampa?
[1:09:30] >> It is with the City of
[1:09:31] Tampa. That's our wastewater
[1:09:32] department.
[1:09:33] >> Okay. Later on
[1:09:35] in committee reports, I want
[1:09:36] to talk a little bit more
[1:09:37] about the Howard Curren plant,
[1:09:39] Oldsmar Largo, and what's going
[1:09:40] on in old Tampa Bay. I've got
[1:09:42] some ideas. I think there's
[1:09:43] something we can look at,
[1:09:44] especially hearing what we
[1:09:46] heard from our attorney,
[1:09:47] talking about how we went
[1:09:48] after something to make
[1:09:50] something better. I won't hold
[1:09:51] you up for that one.
[1:09:52] >> Thank you, guys.
[1:09:54] >> Councilman Miranda.
[1:09:56] >> Thank you, Mr. Cohen,
[1:09:57] Chairman. I just want
[1:09:58] to thank the whole City Tampa
[1:10:00] government, the mayor,
[1:10:01] the city council, and Brad
[1:10:02] Baer, your super department
[1:10:03] head, yourself, for thinking
[1:10:05] outside the box and doing
[1:10:06] things today that were really
[1:10:07] needed yesterday and taking the
[1:10:09] step forward to make sure
[1:10:10] everything is done right
[1:10:11] at a lesser cost
[1:10:12] by doing it yourself. Thank you
[1:10:13] very much.
[1:10:15] >> Thank you, Councilwoman
[1:10:16] Hanewicz.
[1:10:17] >> Thank you, Chair. And thank
[1:10:18] you for all the work. Look,
[1:10:19] in the city of St.
[1:10:21] Petersburg, just like we all,
[1:10:22] we all have the investments
[1:10:23] that we need
[1:10:25] in our wastewater systems. And
[1:10:26] our water systems and all the
[1:10:28] infrastructure. And a lot
[1:10:30] of times I feel for you all
[1:10:32] because it's never enough money
[1:10:33] and you really do a great job
[1:10:35] with trying
[1:10:38] to maximize what you do with
[1:10:40] the money that you have. I see,
[1:10:42] when I look at the challenges
[1:10:45] and I see the cost per mile
[1:10:47] of pipe installed doubled in
[1:10:49] 2022 and then
[1:10:52] >> Just continue to rise.
[1:10:53] >> It's continuing to rise and
[1:10:55] that is a huge challenge
[1:10:57] because when you did a plan
[1:10:59] which was back in 2019 or
[1:11:01] whatever, and there was a plan
[1:11:02] to pay for all, you know, all
[1:11:04] these costs and infrastructure
[1:11:05] and then this comes
[1:11:07] in and it doubles. And so I
[1:11:09] just want to put out there.
[1:11:11] It's always very challenging
[1:11:12] when it comes to making sure
[1:11:14] that we upgrade our
[1:11:16] infrastructure, but that you
[1:11:18] all are really doing a great
[1:11:20] job and trying
[1:11:21] to do the best you can with
[1:11:22] what you have and the resources
[1:11:24] you have to give the level of
[1:11:25] service that your constituents
[1:11:27] are looking for.
[1:11:29] >> Thank you.
[1:11:31] >> Well, I just want to thank
[1:11:32] you and I know that you owe
[1:11:34] everything to past Tampa city
[1:11:35] councils,
[1:11:38] that that made it all possible.
[1:11:40] So. But again, no,
[1:11:42] in all seriousness,
[1:11:43] congratulations because this,
[1:11:45] this represents an awful lot
[1:11:47] of hard work.
[1:11:48] >> None of these could happened
[1:11:49] without that proactive
[1:11:51] investment. Thank you.
[1:11:56] >> Kidding. Kidding.
[1:11:57] >> Of course you are.
[1:11:59] >> South Hillsborough County
[1:12:00] Program update.
[1:12:06] >> Okay. Agenda item D2 the
[1:12:07] South Hills is for our South
[1:12:09] Hillsborough County program and
[1:12:11] is a status report. This agenda
[1:12:13] item is for informational
[1:12:14] purposes only and no action
[1:12:16] will be requested today. As a
[1:12:17] reminder, the South
[1:12:20] Hillsborough County program is
[1:12:22] a multi-approach initiative
[1:12:24] designed to meet the demands
[1:12:26] of South Hillsborough county
[1:12:27] and the program includes three
[1:12:29] major areas. The first one is
[1:12:31] water supply management, water
[1:12:32] conservation and infrastructure
[1:12:34] projects. We have worked to
[1:12:38] maximize our existing
[1:12:39] infrastructure
[1:12:41] by increasing the south-central
[1:12:43] Hillsborough regional well
[1:12:44] field permit limit. The permit
[1:12:46] limit was increased by 850,000
[1:12:48] gallons per day back in July
[1:12:49] 2022 and as the general manager
[1:12:52] indicated earlier today,
[1:12:55] it will be increased to 26.92
[1:12:57] million per day by October this
[1:13:01] year. Staff continues
[1:13:03] to work closely with
[1:13:05] Hillsborough County staff
[1:13:07] on demand management actions
[1:13:09] to educate the public and how
[1:13:12] to use water responsibly. The
[1:13:13] county helps to promote our
[1:13:15] Tampa Bay water wise rebate
[1:13:16] program and educate their
[1:13:19] customers on water restrictions
[1:13:20] and best landscape and
[1:13:22] irrigation practices. And the
[1:13:24] water management district issue
[1:13:26] outdoor activities restrictions
[1:13:29] last year to help us get
[1:13:31] through a very dry time and
[1:13:34] demands back then were greatly
[1:13:36] reduced with their help.
[1:13:38] Infrastructure projects are the
[1:13:41] major component
[1:13:42] of this program. The stars on
[1:13:44] this map shows the general
[1:13:45] location of the projects. Under
[1:13:47] this program we have completed
[1:13:50] three projects all of which
[1:13:52] have increased the delivery
[1:13:54] capacity in the in this area of
[1:13:55] the county and as presented
[1:13:57] earlier today
[1:13:59] with agenda items C1
[1:14:00] through C3, we continue
[1:14:02] to work on the South Hills
[1:14:03] Water Pipeline Project and
[1:14:05] staff has been working
[1:14:06] on getting ready
[1:14:08] to request your approval
[1:14:09] in a future Board meeting
[1:14:11] to move forward with the
[1:14:12] South Hillsborough well field
[1:14:14] project. The South Hillsborough
[1:14:16] well field is a new water
[1:14:18] supply project that was
[1:14:19] shortlisted in both the 2018
[1:14:23] and the 2023 Master Water Plan
[1:14:26] updates. The feasibility study
[1:14:28] for this project was completed
[1:14:30] back in 2021 and this new well
[1:14:32] field will include eight
[1:14:34] production wells and could
[1:14:36] yield between 6 to 12 million
[1:14:39] gallons per day as early as
[1:14:41] 2030. The project will require
[1:14:44] ozone treatment
[1:14:46] for the removal
[1:14:47] of hydrogen sulfide, about 4
[1:14:49] miles of collection mains,
[1:14:51] a new point of connection
[1:14:53] with Hillsborough County and we
[1:14:56] are estimating capital costs
[1:14:58] for these projects to be
[1:15:00] about 126 to 160 million
[1:15:02] dollars. Part
[1:15:04] of the quantities
[1:15:05] of this well field will come up
[1:15:07] from our acquisition
[1:15:09] of water use permits. The
[1:15:10] Board may recall that it
[1:15:12] previously approved staff to
[1:15:14] acquire five water use permits
[1:15:15] from five parcels owned by
[1:15:17] Land Reserve and Farmland
[1:15:19] Preserve. The capacity is
[1:15:21] estimated to be 3.9 to 5.9
[1:15:25] million gallons per day and we
[1:15:27] are currently working
[1:15:28] on a permit application
[1:15:30] to transfer these quantities
[1:15:33] to this location just like the
[1:15:36] other permits we have purchased
[1:15:37] and transferred. 10%
[1:15:39] of the impacts from the donor
[1:15:40] permit will go back
[1:15:42] to the environment as part of
[1:15:43] the transfer and those permits
[1:15:45] plus the aquifer credits we
[1:15:47] hope to acquire from
[1:15:49] Hillsborough County will be
[1:15:51] used for the South
[1:15:52] Hillsborough well field if
[1:15:54] approved by the Board
[1:15:55] in the upcoming months. The
[1:15:57] proposed well field will be
[1:15:58] located at the ACMAR property
[1:16:00] in the Balm area of South
[1:16:02] Hillsborough County. This map
[1:16:04] shows the proposed well field
[1:16:06] layout. The western portion
[1:16:08] of the ACMAR parcel is owned
[1:16:10] by the Environmental Lands
[1:16:12] Acquisition and Protection
[1:16:13] Program of Hillsborough County
[1:16:15] and the parcel is now known as
[1:16:17] the Stacy R. White Nature
[1:16:20] Preserve and wells 1 through 4
[1:16:22] will be located in this area.
[1:16:24] Well number five is our test
[1:16:27] well which is shown
[1:16:29] in the upper left corner
[1:16:32] of this graphic and Wells 6
[1:16:34] through 8 and the associated
[1:16:36] water treatment facility will
[1:16:37] be located
[1:16:39] in the eastern portion
[1:16:42] of the parcel. This well and
[1:16:44] water treatment plant will be
[1:16:46] co located with Hillsborough
[1:16:48] County South Drinking Water
[1:16:50] Facility and next
[1:16:52] to the new BOEM point
[1:16:53] of connection associated
[1:16:55] with the South Hillsborough
[1:16:56] Pipeline project. At the
[1:16:58] April Board meeting I provided
[1:17:00] an outline
[1:17:01] of the upcoming war actions
[1:17:03] for the potential new South
[1:17:05] Hills Water well field and
[1:17:06] these include approval
[1:17:08] of an agreement with ELAP and
[1:17:10] Hillsborough County Water
[1:17:12] Resources Department to acquire
[1:17:13] well sites and easements
[1:17:15] on the ELAP owned part
[1:17:17] of the ACMAR property
[1:17:19] in exchange
[1:17:20] for water development rights
[1:17:22] on the former Cone Ranch well
[1:17:24] field. This agreement will
[1:17:25] include the four well sites,
[1:17:27] associated collection main
[1:17:30] easements and access. And
[1:17:31] to date the county Department
[1:17:33] of Real Estate has developed
[1:17:36] the draft documents which are
[1:17:37] undergoing their internal
[1:17:39] review and soon will be shared
[1:17:41] with our team
[1:17:43] for our own review. Also, we
[1:17:44] will work on the acquisition
[1:17:46] of property from the Water
[1:17:48] Resources Department
[1:17:50] for the construction of the
[1:17:51] three well sites and the water
[1:17:53] treatment facility. And we
[1:17:54] continue to work
[1:17:56] with county staff
[1:17:57] on a long-term agreement
[1:17:59] for aquifer recharge
[1:18:01] along the coast
[1:18:02] to support the issuance
[1:18:04] of a freshwater use permit
[1:18:06] at this well field location. To
[1:18:07] date we have drafted a term
[1:18:09] sheet and county staff is
[1:18:11] currently reviewing it. We have
[1:18:14] a public meeting coming up on
[1:18:16] August 5th at the South Shore
[1:18:18] Regional Library and we
[1:18:20] anticipate returning back
[1:18:22] to this board
[1:18:24] to request approval for early
[1:18:26] implementation later this year.
[1:18:27] And finally, we will proceed to
[1:18:29] negotiate a joint project
[1:18:31] agreement with Hillsborough
[1:18:33] County where the county will
[1:18:34] construct some
[1:18:36] of the components
[1:18:37] of this project. This is the
[1:18:39] timeline for these upcoming
[1:18:41] board actions. We will be back
[1:18:42] late this summer
[1:18:44] to request your approval
[1:18:45] for the Cone Run exchange for
[1:18:47] the ELAB own parcel easement's
[1:18:49] rights. In late 2025 or early
[1:18:50] 2026, we will be requesting
[1:18:54] approval
[1:18:56] for a long-term agreement for
[1:18:57] the reclaimed water recharge
[1:18:59] and a joint project agreement
[1:19:02] with the county. And finally,
[1:19:04] we will return back
[1:19:05] to request approval
[1:19:07] for the acquisition
[1:19:08] of the property
[1:19:10] in the water resources parcel.
[1:19:11] And this concludes my brief
[1:19:13] presentation. I will be happy
[1:19:14] to take any questions.
[1:19:16] >> Any questions.
[1:19:17] Commissioner Mariano.
[1:19:18] >> Could you explain exactly
[1:19:19] what the reclaim water credits
[1:19:21] are and how that works?
[1:19:23] >> Yes. So, you may not
[1:19:24] remember, but I will try
[1:19:27] to explain it back in when we
[1:19:29] conducted the feasibility study
[1:19:31] for this potential well field,
[1:19:33] we contemplating needing a
[1:19:35] water use permit
[1:19:38] in the southern portion of
[1:19:41] Hillsborough County relying
[1:19:43] on the injection
[1:19:44] of reclaimed water
[1:19:46] in the county's south
[1:19:49] Hillsborough County recharge
[1:19:51] program. Basically, the
[1:19:52] injection of reclaimed water
[1:19:54] by the county five miles
[1:19:55] along the coast in
[1:19:57] Hillsborough County will
[1:19:59] provide a net benefit for us
[1:20:01] to pull water, fresh water
[1:20:03] in this location in
[1:20:04] Hillsborough County and obtain
[1:20:07] up to 6 million gallons
[1:20:09] of fresh water from their
[1:20:11] reclaimed water injection,
[1:20:14] which could be 10 million
[1:20:16] gallons per day
[1:20:18] of reclaimed water injected
[1:20:19] in the aquifer.
[1:20:20] >> Right. And if you,
[1:20:21] if that did come up for,
[1:20:22] I would have voted
[1:20:23] against that. So not a fan
[1:20:25] of that, but I just wanted
[1:20:27] to understand the credits.
[1:20:28] >> Okay.
[1:20:29] >> So, that explains that.
[1:20:30] Thank you.
[1:20:32] >> Okay.
[1:20:33] >> Anyone else? Commissioner
[1:20:34] Eggers.
[1:20:36] >> I think as we go forward,
[1:20:38] that whole idea of injecting
[1:20:40] reclaimed water just anywhere
[1:20:41] is different than what we're
[1:20:43] talking about here. I mean,
[1:20:45] this is along the coastline.
[1:20:46] It helps keep the saltwater
[1:20:48] intrusion and there's a lot
[1:20:50] of benefits
[1:20:52] to that and benefits of
[1:20:53] utilizing excessive reclaimed
[1:20:56] water that would otherwise go
[1:20:59] into the bay at this point.
[1:21:00] So, I think it's a great
[1:21:02] project. What I, you know,
[1:21:04] continue to. Since
[1:21:06] Hillsborough has all the
[1:21:08] growth, it's easy for somebody
[1:21:09] from Pinellas to ask, you know,
[1:21:11] the critical challenges, but I
[1:21:12] really hope that we're able to
[1:21:14] work that reasonable agreement
[1:21:16] on those credits, the costs of
[1:21:19] that system so that we can do
[1:21:22] this project. I think this is
[1:21:24] an exciting project, has real
[1:21:26] potential, less capital cost
[1:21:28] than others might. So, I mean,
[1:21:33] I know we've got capital costs.
[1:21:35] I'm not saying that, but I
[1:21:36] think this is a really great
[1:21:38] opportunity and really
[1:21:39] appreciate the work and the
[1:21:41] summary. But I think
[1:21:42] along the way, if we can have
[1:21:44] maybe some little tutorials
[1:21:45] for all of us, reminders about
[1:21:48] the different technologies that
[1:21:49] we're talking about,
[1:21:51] I think it helps put things
[1:21:53] in perspective, or not,
[1:21:54] depending. But thank you.
[1:21:56] Appreciate all the work.
[1:22:01] >> Thank you very much. And I
[1:22:02] agree about this is very much a
[1:22:03] saltwater intrusion program.
[1:22:05] So perhaps we could,
[1:22:07] we could talk about that again
[1:22:09] at some point.
[1:22:11] At this point we are going
[1:22:13] to move on to other
[1:22:14] administrative matters, old
[1:22:16] business and any new business.
[1:22:18] If there's anyone that has
[1:22:20] anything before we move on
[1:22:22] to receive and file.
[1:22:23] Commissioner Mariano.
[1:22:25] >> So, I've got several points,
[1:22:26] so bear with me,
[1:22:27] but it's something I want
[1:22:29] to talk about a big,
[1:22:30] big thought
[1:22:31] about the whole region
[1:22:32] from a high level. First
[1:22:34] question I have is, we asked
[1:22:35] like we have a lot of wells
[1:22:37] in Pasco county
[1:22:38] along the coast that we've
[1:22:40] like capped, taken
[1:22:41] over and have it used. I asked
[1:22:42] Chuck to go
[1:22:44] through and he was going
[1:22:45] to look at, not only that,
[1:22:46] but then he was going to look
[1:22:49] at other wells up and down the
[1:22:50] coast as well. I wonder if we
[1:22:52] get any update on that.
[1:22:53] Chuck.
[1:22:54] >> Yes, again, Warren's taking
[1:22:55] the lead. He's met with them
[1:22:57] and we're currently compiling a
[1:22:58] list
[1:23:00] of the inventory that you have,
[1:23:03] and I believe you've enlisted a
[1:23:05] consultant to help and if you
[1:23:07] have anything,
[1:23:09] you can color it.
[1:23:11] >> We're looking
[1:23:13] at comprehensively
[1:23:15] across the county at permits
[1:23:17] and wells that are owned
[1:23:19] by the county for public supply
[1:23:20] as well as other entities other
[1:23:21] than the county. When we do
[1:23:24] that, we'll find out the water
[1:23:25] used the permit quantities and
[1:23:27] compile that database. Sit and
[1:23:29] meet with your staff to find
[1:23:31] out where those systems are
[1:23:34] with respect
[1:23:36] to your and our systems. And
[1:23:38] for those that are logical,
[1:23:39] we would work
[1:23:40] on acquisition agreements
[1:23:41] to bring back. There's a real
[1:23:43] potential that we could harvest
[1:23:45] some of those quantities. Some
[1:23:47] may be unused quantities
[1:23:49] for consolidation
[1:23:51] in our current, current permits
[1:23:53] and use our existing
[1:23:54] infrastructure and pipeline
[1:23:57] system to bring a cost benefit
[1:23:59] for the region.
[1:24:01] >> Okay, so again, waiting
[1:24:02] for that, but should go on.
[1:24:03] All right. You know, years ago
[1:24:05] we had the BP's consortium
[1:24:06] settlement where Florida was
[1:24:09] very smart about having 23
[1:24:11] counties take over it. So, a
[1:24:13] lot of the money went back
[1:24:15] locally directly
[1:24:16] to the state,
[1:24:17] to the counties, at least on
[1:24:18] the part one money and state
[1:24:20] expenditure plan. We had
[1:24:21] control over that, too, with
[1:24:22] putting a plan together where
[1:24:24] the county got the money direct
[1:24:25] instead of going
[1:24:26] through the state.
[1:24:28] But there's a giant pot that's
[1:24:29] out there called pot 2 that's
[1:24:30] out there currently,
[1:24:32] if you look at it
[1:24:34] from what I'm hearing
[1:24:36] from just coming
[1:24:37] from a NACO conference,
[1:24:38] that a lot
[1:24:40] of the money that's being spent
[1:24:41] along the coast,
[1:24:42] it should be the big coastal
[1:24:43] areas, Texas, Louisiana and
[1:24:45] Florida. And being that we have
[1:24:46] that,
[1:24:47] we should be looking heavily
[1:24:49] to go after that money. You
[1:24:50] know, beaches, fishing, number
[1:24:53] one,
[1:24:55] tourist development things in
[1:24:56] Florida. I don't know if you
[1:24:57] guys know, but in Okaloosa
[1:24:59] County, we had a consortium
[1:25:00] meeting up there in August and
[1:25:02] July. They have the largest
[1:25:03] tourist development numbers
[1:25:05] because of that. And I know as
[1:25:06] we check our coast,
[1:25:07] especially Pinellas County, the
[1:25:09] beaches are critical
[1:25:10] to what's going to go on. The
[1:25:12] image that's out there. There
[1:25:13] was a presentation from
[1:25:15] Governor DeSantis coming down
[1:25:17] to the environmental conference
[1:25:20] that was just down on Marco
[1:25:21] Island. And that conference was
[1:25:23] all
[1:25:24] about how much they're spending
[1:25:26] in South Florida
[1:25:27] to protect local Okeechobee,
[1:25:29] the Everglades, like $500
[1:25:30] million a year
[1:25:32] with different projects. Part
[1:25:33] of it is to take the
[1:25:35] Kissimmee River and do
[1:25:37] treatment there. Part of it's
[1:25:38] to take the two side rows going
[1:25:39] east west that go out that,
[1:25:41] you know, we cause a lot
[1:25:43] of algae bloom down
[1:25:44] to the south. So, if they're
[1:25:47] going to spend,
[1:25:48] and this is federally backed as
[1:25:50] well,
[1:25:51] it was a big accomplishment
[1:25:52] to get it funded with the
[1:25:54] Trump administration. Make it
[1:25:55] happen. And having that happen
[1:25:57] is kind of eye opening. How
[1:25:58] much money is out there that I
[1:26:00] think we should be looking
[1:26:01] at a big project? Now, the
[1:26:03] project that was just mentioned
[1:26:04] here, we talked about looking
[1:26:06] at probably reclaimed water
[1:26:08] lines running out there. And
[1:26:09] when we've got the old Tampa
[1:26:11] Bay that was doing great
[1:26:13] replenishing seagrass
[1:26:14] for a while,
[1:26:16] we should really look
[1:26:17] at a project to take. There's
[1:26:19] at least two cities in the
[1:26:20] Howard Curren plant that are
[1:26:22] putting money into that bay.
[1:26:24] So, it's not just one thing.
[1:26:26] And there may be more. And I
[1:26:27] sit in the estuary project,
[1:26:28] the estuary program,
[1:26:30] actually chair
[1:26:31] of it this year, even though
[1:26:32] Pasco County's probably got the
[1:26:34] least impact to the estuary.
[1:26:37] But I think we should work
[1:26:39] with the estuary. Let's go
[1:26:40] study the issue and find out
[1:26:41] how we can take those reclaimed
[1:26:43] water things. And whether it be
[1:26:44] from the BP pot money too, or
[1:26:45] from the feds to say Tampa Bay
[1:26:47] is very important,
[1:26:48] that we want
[1:26:50] to protect our bay,
[1:26:51] and here's the way we need help
[1:26:52] to get it done, I don't think.
[1:26:54] I think it's just as important.
[1:26:55] It is for, let's say Miami is
[1:26:56] for this region to have Tampa
[1:26:58] Bay thriving,
[1:26:59] because as water goes out,
[1:27:00] the cleaner it is, it's going
[1:27:01] to keep algae bloom down and
[1:27:03] keep our beaches clean. We
[1:27:05] don't have to worry about. Do
[1:27:06] we have a notice coming up. So
[1:27:07] I'd like to see Tampa Bay water
[1:27:09] work
[1:27:10] with the estuary directly,
[1:27:12] with Swift Mud and the Army
[1:27:13] Corps as well, to kind of find
[1:27:15] out what can we go do
[1:27:16] to make it. And as
[1:27:18] Hillsborough is expanding down
[1:27:20] to the south with all that, the
[1:27:21] more reclaimed water you guys
[1:27:23] can put in lines, the better
[1:27:24] off you'll be as far as being
[1:27:26] able to move that water less
[1:27:28] expensively than going, let's
[1:27:29] say, up to Pasco, where I think
[1:27:31] we could probably take a huge
[1:27:32] chunk
[1:27:34] of reclaimed water up there.
[1:27:35] We had a gas plant that we put
[1:27:37] up in an area that actually
[1:27:38] used a lot
[1:27:40] of our reclaimed water,
[1:27:41] which we didn't anticipate.
[1:27:43] So, we've really got
[1:27:44] overcapacity
[1:27:45] of pipes up there.
[1:27:46] But I think it'd be great
[1:27:47] to take a look
[1:27:48] at all that that's out there.
[1:27:49] There's a federal impetus
[1:27:51] about water, and especially
[1:27:52] in Florida, I think it's a good
[1:27:53] opportunity for us
[1:27:54] to start a conversation.
[1:27:57] >> Commissioner Wostal.
[1:27:59] >> I think that that's a great
[1:28:00] segue for me to say that.
[1:28:02] >> I would support any future
[1:28:04] item to use tourism dollars to
[1:28:06] protect our water rather than
[1:28:07] subsidize rich people
[1:28:09] in their expensive stadiums.
[1:28:10] Thank you.
[1:28:16] >> I want to supply my water,
[1:28:17] but I'm going
[1:28:18] to protect it also
[1:28:20] from everyone,
[1:28:22] including reclaim.
[1:28:25] >> Okay, is there any other
[1:28:28] business
[1:28:30] before we entertain a motion
[1:28:31] to receive and file?
[1:28:33] >> Yes.
[1:28:34] >> No. Just move approval
[1:28:36] of receiving file.
[1:28:37] >> We have a motion from
[1:28:39] Councilwoman Hanewicz.
[1:28:40] Seconded by Commissioner
[1:28:41] Eggers, I believe. Please
[1:28:43] record your vote.
[1:28:54] >> Motion passed unanimously.
[1:28:56] >> All righty,
[1:28:57] our next meeting will be
[1:29:00] Monday, Aug. 18, at 9:30am and
[1:29:03] until then, have a good rest
[1:29:04] of the summer.