[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:02] Good morning. It is 9.02. We recall the meeting in the order, first order of business, to ensure that we've met the requirements of the Open Meetings Act.
[0:08] Yes, ma'am.
[0:08] Would you call roll, please?
[0:09] Committee.
[0:10] Present.
[0:11] President.
[0:11] President.
[0:12] President.
[0:14] Scammer to appeal.
[0:15] Present.
[0:16] Drama can be delivered.
[0:17] Present.
[0:19] Very good.
[0:21] All right. All right. Able, please stand for the pledges.
[0:27] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which
[0:33] which stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[0:41] On all my texts in July, I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God, one and indivisible.
[1:02] Next is public comment. Citizens may present public comment at this time,
[1:05] limited to a total time of three minutes per speaker unless the speaker addresses the board
[1:09] through a translator, in which case the limit is a total time of six minutes,
[1:13] Each proposed speaker must have completed and submitted a speaker card prior to the
[1:17] commencement of the meeting, identifying any agenda, item, numbers, and topics the speaker
[1:21] wishes to address with the board.
[1:23] By law, the board may not deliberate, debate, or take action on public comment, but may
[1:27] place the item on a future agenda.
[1:29] We have no public comment.
[1:30] Next up, consider approval of the minutes for the meeting held on December 16, 2025.
[1:40] I'm at present.
[1:40] I've reviewed the minutes and moved to approve.
[1:45] Thank you.
[1:45] We have a motion and second.
[1:46] Any further discussion? All those in favor?
[1:50] Aye.
[1:50] Any opposed? Motion carries.
[1:52] Next up, consider approval of contract with the Street Plans Collaborative
[1:55] for activation planning and execution on Panther Island.
[1:59] Morning, Susan.
[2:08] So this morning for your consideration is a contract for an activation consultant partner
[2:13] that we've been talking about for some time that we know that activity on the island
[2:18] is going to be really important to generate support and attention for the initial projects
[2:23] projects that are planned to commence. And so we went through an RFP process. We had a
[2:30] really good response. Eight proposals were received. We interviewed four, some really
[2:36] qualified teams, and we ultimately decided on street plans. One of the things that
[2:41] they will be doing as a deliverable for us is that they'll be working with us to
[2:45] identify areas on the island that make sense, including our phase one area, helping
[2:50] us identify partners and projects. They may be temporary installations. They may be events,
[2:58] those kinds of things that will take place. And they'll be helping us have a deliverable
[3:04] plan for three potential activities for the first year. Eventually this will be turned
[3:11] over as a PID activity. You know, we've got the Public Improvement District that
[3:14] we anticipate the City Council will be considering on February the 10th and this will align
[3:19] with the work that they're to do going forward in the near term
[3:24] because we will be the management partner for the PID.
[3:27] We'll get this stood up and then eventually it'll be overseen
[3:30] by that organization once it's formed.
[3:33] But I'd be happy to answer any questions.
[3:42] Susan, this is just a one-year engagement, correct?
[3:45] Yes, and in fact the term, we're likely to be finished
[3:48] with the project in about six months.
[3:51] But it is a one-time engagement.
[3:54] Susan, I can recall from our committee meeting, you said that Street Plains has done several
[4:02] other similar type of projects in Texas.
[4:05] They have.
[4:06] The lead is out of San Antonio and actually they have a local partner with Better Blocks
[4:12] which is out of Dallas and so they've done a lot of interesting projects all over the
[4:15] country.
[4:16] And what we found most interesting about them is the examples that they had ranging
[4:20] from very immature locations like we are right now
[4:25] to very mature locations.
[4:26] And so over time, they could prove
[4:28] to be a really beneficial partner to us.
[4:30] Excellent.
[4:33] I'd move approval of agenda item number four.
[4:37] Second.
[4:38] We have a motion and a second.
[4:39] Any further discussion?
[4:41] All those in favor?
[4:42] Aye.
[4:43] You oppose?
[4:44] Motion carries.
[4:45] Thank you.
[4:45] Next up, consider adoption of resolution
[4:47] for Panther Island Canal connection fee.
[4:51] So, as you may recall, we've been under development for a canal connection fee for some time.
[4:57] Our strategy for implementation of the canal system is to use revenues that are contributed
[5:02] by developers as they come on board and along with land sales to fund future phases
[5:07] of the canal system beyond phase one.
[5:09] So one of the things that we did is spent some time thinking about what our purpose
[5:15] was for it.
[5:15] And so, of course, we need to recover a reasonable share
[5:18] from those private landowners and developers,
[5:21] but we also need to have sufficient resources
[5:24] to plan for the system over time.
[5:26] So we worked with Kimmelhorn to develop a cost estimate
[5:30] in $20.25, and of what could be recovered
[5:34] through a canal connection fee,
[5:35] it has to have an access to drainage
[5:37] to assess a fee like that.
[5:39] We anticipate the cost is about $180 million.
[5:42] That's less than the total canal system
[5:45] because you've probably heard the number about 210.
[5:49] And part of it is because we're only using the attributes that are specifically for the drainage
[5:53] and operations of the canal system rather than some of the aesthetic attributes that
[5:57] can't be recoverable through a fee. So this is our baseline in terms of how we've established
[6:01] the fee. The other thing that we did is we spent some time
[6:05] thinking about what the implications would be of a fee. And we know that we needed to
[6:09] think about what I'll call the tipping point of developer cost.
[6:13] we know that it's going to be more expensive in some ways to develop on the island, but
[6:17] we also need to be cognizant of not negatively impacting the pace and quality of development
[6:22] because we know we need the revenue stream for the canals, but more importantly, the
[6:27] TIF performance is really critical as well because we've got a lot of investment there
[6:30] and benefit from the revenue that will be generated in a timely way.
[6:34] We also know that any additional costs that we put on a project are going to have
[6:38] of pressure on city incentives because many of the projects, including the first one that
[6:43] we're working with, has a gap that they've projected in terms of their ability to develop.
[6:49] So this is, and I've got a handout for you, and you don't need to study this, but what
[6:53] we wanted to do is make sure that you had an understanding of the effort that we
[6:57] had gone through just to understand comparative development costs.
[7:00] This is a really difficult exercise to get to apples and apples, quite frankly, because
[7:04] every site is different.
[7:05] Initially, we even started out thinking about what's the average cost on Panther Island of the impact of these different things,
[7:11] but it varies so widely depending on the existing infrastructure of streets and things like that that it becomes a kind of a challenge.
[7:18] So what we spent some time doing is looking at various settings and things that may be an additional pressure.
[7:26] And so where you see red are things that could be additional costs that are not incurred elsewhere.
[7:30] So for example, a canal connection fee, that'll be an additional cost that doesn't exist in other places, including downtown.
[7:39] The stormwater laterals will be an expense. Those are the connections to the canal system that, again, that's completely missing infrastructure right now.
[7:47] There is a transportation impact fee that the city assesses on Panther Island that doesn't apply to downtown and many other areas within the central city
[7:54] because the existing street capacity is already there through the arterial network.
[8:01] And so that's an additional cost that could happen on the island.
[8:04] There's other areas across the Frisco, for example, has a transportation impact fee as well,
[8:10] so there are other communities that assess that.
[8:13] We've got water and wastewater impact fees.
[8:15] We also know the electrical system.
[8:18] There's triple redundancy downtown, so that's kind of an unknown site-by-site cost
[8:23] that happens downtown that could be a negative thing to them, but we also know that on the
[8:27] island we're talking about undergrounding utilities and also expanding the capacity there.
[8:31] So we think that's an area that could be a challenge.
[8:35] The roadway improvements, we know that they are likely because even in places where the
[8:39] capacity in the streets exist, the condition of the streets don't match what the form
[8:45] based code would imply over time.
[8:47] And then finally that we do have a public improvement district that will be similar
[8:52] to downtown. So the next thing we did is we spent some time just comparing to
[8:56] downtown because that's the most adjacent and similar place and you can see
[9:02] that and we tried to look at a typical project of a two-and-a-half acre site and
[9:09] looking at what they might develop there and the canal connection fee that
[9:13] we were recommending and I'll get to that in just a minute is $11.80 per
[9:17] land square foot that's 40% of the total cost and I'll explain that a
[9:22] a little bit further in a minute, but you can also see that the transportation impact
[9:26] fee could have, it's a $411,000 average cost if you look across the island about what it
[9:32] might look like to apply the entire infrastructure need across the island by per square foot,
[9:38] but because that fee is driven by land use, if you look at a typical project with a commercial
[9:44] component as well as a residential component, the sample case has a $1.7 million additional
[9:50] cost by the city. And so, again, the development on the island could be between 1.7 and 3.4
[9:59] million dollars more than a typical site downtown. There's offsets to that. The land values,
[10:04] which I know are fluctuating now on the island with anticipation of what's about to develop,
[10:08] but also you would expect that they're more expensive downtown. They've also got some
[10:13] rights, including unlimited heights that are not enjoyed by some of the other restrictions
[10:17] and other areas that we look at, and, again, that may translate into lower land prices
[10:24] on the island, but, again, that will continue to shake out.
[10:28] So I guess the moral of the story is that it's going to vary a lot site by site, and
[10:35] as we get development off the ground, we, in partnership with the city, are going
[10:39] to be looking at each one of these projects to figure out the impacts are for them,
[10:43] what makes sense to incentivize, and so on.
[10:45] But meanwhile, going and establishing our canal connection fee allows us to convey to the city the investment that this organization is making and an appropriate
[10:54] Split in cost
[10:56] I'll get to that here. So we are recommending right now a collection rate of 40%
[11:03] In to compare that to the transportation impact fees there between 40 and 50% is what the city
[11:10] typically charges in areas that do have a transportation impact fee on the island right
[11:15] now.
[11:16] They are actually at 100 percent, and we'll be having discussions with them over time
[11:19] about what that looks like.
[11:21] How we landed there is that we own about 40 percent of the developable land area
[11:27] on the island right now, and so it seems sort of reasonable for us to start there
[11:31] and see how that correlates with land prices and developer selling their, developing
[11:37] their land.
[11:38] And that could change over time.
[11:40] We could increase that as we decide that there's a need for us to have additional funding for
[11:45] successful implementation of the remainder of the canal system.
[11:49] There could be instances, as I noted here, that we've left open the opportunity for discounts
[11:54] and incentives as we choose to accelerate projects that would benefit TIF revenues.
[11:59] So, you know, again, it's sort of a lot of different ways that we benefit from
[12:02] development occurring.
[12:03] So we'll just have to weigh each of those as the projects come forward.
[12:05] The other thing I'll note is that this fee applies to every property on the island because
[12:10] they all benefit from the drainage attributes, whether they're adjacent to the canal or not.
[12:15] However, developers who are canal adjacent in future phases, we would anticipate them
[12:20] making the investments in the Paseo improvements.
[12:23] And so there are some credits that they would receive for costs actually incurred
[12:27] against fees otherwise due that we will put together a structure for.
[12:31] The other thing that we've committed in the resolution is that no more than five years
[12:39] will elapse without a review of the estimated construction costs. We'll update that. We'll
[12:46] also have a discussion as appropriate about the collection rate periodically over time.
[12:50] We sort of captured it in $20, $25 right now, not knowing when different segments
[12:55] of it will come on board. And so it's a little bit frozen in time, but that five-year
[12:59] horizon will probably more than capture what our issues are for this first phase as we're
[13:03] moving forward and getting development going. But with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions
[13:08] that you may have.
[13:12] And Susan, the canal system will serve as the primary stormwater conveyance for the
[13:19] island, correct, in lieu of traditional underground, although you'll have underground
[13:23] to connect to the system.
[13:24] That is correct.
[13:26] And if they connect directly to the canals, there won't be any detention required?
[13:31] are usually on the sites?
[13:33] So actually, we are, right now the form-based code
[13:37] actually prohibits on site detention,
[13:39] although theoretically they could do some
[13:41] underground storage, shouldn't be required.
[13:44] Now, our delivery of the canal system
[13:46] is going to dictate what is ready for development
[13:50] and we've included in the canal system manual
[13:53] the ability for them to either build additional segments
[13:57] of the canal at their expense, no less than a block
[13:59] or in very rare instances do on-site detention
[14:03] for some temporary period that we have an agreement
[14:04] for how that would be removed over time
[14:06] if they're getting on the periphery
[14:07] of what we're ready for from an infrastructure standpoint.
[14:10] But generally speaking, wherever we're ready to serve,
[14:14] there should be no on-site detention required.
[14:16] Excellent.
[14:17] That's definitely a huge factor
[14:19] in comparing all these costs.
[14:20] That's right.
[14:21] There should be cost savings associated with that.
[14:24] And so that you said you mentioned temporary detention,
[14:26] So that's if a private landowner somewhere outside of our kind of core development zone
[14:32] would be allowed to go and develop their property now if they wanted to.
[14:35] That's right.
[14:36] To accommodate that.
[14:37] That's right.
[14:37] Yeah, we didn't want to preclude anybody from advancing if they chose to, but we also need
[14:41] them to participate in how that would be managed effectively in correlation with
[14:45] what we're ready to build.
[14:47] That's great.
[14:48] And one other thing was the five-year timeline.
[14:51] I didn't, I can't find it now, but you said five years.
[14:55] Is that a not to exceed five years?
[14:57] Not to exceed five years.
[14:58] If potentially review the...
[14:59] If potentially review the...
[15:01] That's correct. It's not to exceed five years. So if there's a point in time earlier than that that we wanted to discuss that we're certainly able to do that.
[15:08] I definitely want to encourage people to develop sooner rather than later. And I want that to be sure that everybody knows, you know, these fees can and probably will go up at some point. So come on.
[15:22] That's right.
[15:24] Here we go. Any additional questions?
[15:31] It needs to take action on the resolution.
[15:33] I move to approve agenda item number five.
[15:36] Second.
[15:36] We have a motion in second. Any further discussion?
[15:39] All those in favor?
[15:41] Aye.
[15:41] Opposed? Motion carries.
[15:43] Thank you.
[15:45] Next up, consider approval of contract with Southern Tanical Landscaping for Airfield Falls Landscape Maintenance.
[15:51] Good morning, Darryl.
[15:52] Good morning.
[15:53] So,
[15:56] Airfield Falls Conservation Park's a little gem in our system over on the west side.
[16:01] It celebrates the impact that air defense has had on Fort Worth and blends that with a demonstration
[16:09] garden for water conserving plants, native and adaptives.
[16:13] The maintenance of that, or you can just go to see the county's largest natural water
[16:19] fall.
[16:20] So, the native and adaptive plants require some specialty care, so this contract before
[16:24] for you is to view the slide.
[16:29] The contract before you is for the maintenance of the walk
[16:34] of 1,000 plants, as the ops affectionately calls it,
[16:37] because there are so many plants down that walkway.
[16:40] We put this out for bid.
[16:42] Southern Botanical is the low bid and also the best bid.
[16:45] The reason it's coming to use, it's a one-year term
[16:48] with four options to renew, which
[16:50] brings the total to the level that
[16:52] requires board threshold board approval.
[16:54] So we're asking for you to approve the contract
[16:57] with Southern Botanical for $38
[17:04] ,000,
[17:04] sorry, $34,980 to our 28 cents
[17:07] for a potential spend of $174,911.40.
[17:13] Darryl, is this for all of the landscaping there
[17:15] or just related to some of the flower beds
[17:17] and things along the walkway?
[17:18] It's all of the landscaping.
[17:19] It's all of it.
[17:20] It's all of it.
[17:20] It's all of it.
[17:20] It's all of it.
[17:20] It's all of it.
[17:20] It's all of it.
[17:25] The special landscaping requirements that they are requiring is basically identifying the natural plants versus the non-natural plants.
[17:33] And as Darrell said, sometimes other landscapers will take natural landscaping as weeds and start pulling them.
[17:41] So it's not a matter of needing special irrigation or anything like that.
[17:46] It's just making sure that they understand what is not native and what is not and how to take care of it.
[17:54] And now you said they had experience with natural landscaping as well.
[17:59] Yes, their southern pretentive has the contract and they do the conservation garden down here
[18:02] and the one at the end of the North Annex
[18:08] for agenda item six.
[18:10] We have a motion to second any further discussion.
[18:13] All those in favor?
[18:14] Aye.
[18:15] Any opposed?
[18:15] Thank you.
[18:16] Thanks, Darryl.
[18:16] It's a beautiful place out there if you haven't been.
[18:19] All right.
[18:20] Next up, presentation of the district's annual Comprehensive Financial Report for
[18:24] the year ended September 30th.
[18:30] Good morning, ladies.
[18:31] Hi, good morning.
[18:34] We have our annual comprehensive financial report ready for you.
[18:39] As part of our year in process, we put together, our team puts together this financial report
[18:44] and we do a lot, they do a lot of great work to put this together.
[18:48] It's a huge effort across the team and not only for this report but to also ensure
[18:53] a clean, smooth audit.
[18:59] We couldn't wait. I can't believe you made us put wait till 7. We should have done this first.
[19:08] I know the report in front of you is large, so I'll familiarize it with you or try to get some basis for you.
[19:17] So it has three components that we have our introductory section, which includes our trans
[19:26] and middle letter.
[19:27] This is the introduction to not only our financial report, but to the district.
[19:32] It says who we are, what we do, why we do it.
[19:36] It goes through a high analysis or review of what we accomplished this year for large
[19:42] projects such as our IPL and Central City project.
[19:45] It talks about some community engagement, and it gives an overview of our financial planning.
[19:52] Then we have our financial section, so this is where we're going to focus on for today,
[19:57] the bulk of that.
[19:58] That's going to include our MD&A, which is our Management Discussion and Analysis.
[20:03] That's going to give you...
[20:04] Oh, sorry.
[20:06] No, I'm not ready yet.
[20:07] Sorry.
[20:08] I mean, we can go there, but I was just trying to orient for the financial, so it's
[20:12] so large.
[20:13] The MD&A will give you some analysis year over year.
[20:17] It will also do that in words and charts, so it will show the change in a high-level explanation
[20:23] of those variances, and then you'll have your financial statements, so these are the
[20:27] numbers and the accompanying notes, and then our last section is our statistical section,
[20:34] which will give a 10-year trend for various financial schedules, as well as some fun
[20:39] demographic, and miscellaneous facts. So I can start. On your report in front of you,
[20:46] there's tabs. So the first tab will correlate to our slide. This is our very exciting award
[20:54] for the GFOA. This is our 10th year to receive it, and this is a third-party review that
[20:59] we submit our annual financial report, and they review it, and they have given us this
[21:05] award for 10 years. So we are very proud of this. Just to be clear, it's for last years.
[21:10] So it takes a while for them to review so you put your last year one in there and then you
[21:15] submit the next one.
[21:18] I'm glad you anticipated because I was like, wait, 2024. I'm sorry.
[21:21] Yes, this is for last year's award. Okay, our next tab. This is our audit opinion.
[21:29] This is found in that financial section. We received a clean audit opinion this year
[21:35] that this is what we want. Our auditors are here today for any questions that you
[21:39] may have. They reviewed the audit and the financials with the audit committee last
[21:45] week.
[21:51] On this next tab this is our MD&A so this is our high-level analysis year
[21:58] over year trends and information. On here I wanted to point out our net
[22:05] position is $1.7 billion. And think of that as equity, so assets less liabilities. That
[22:14] is about an $800 million growth from last year, or increase from last year. And so an
[22:18] increase in net position is a good sign of a strong financial organization.
[22:26] And that
[22:26] begins on page 23 of your report.
[22:32] Next page, or next tab is page 34. This is our government
[22:37] statement of net position. So think of this as a balance sheet, or this is a
[22:41] balance sheet. We call it statement of net position in governmental accounting.
[22:45] It's a balance sheet. On here I wanted to point out our something new for this year
[22:50] is our encore receivable. You can see it in that second column. It's 19.3
[22:55] million. This is related to the encore contract to provide power to the LP1
[23:02] pump station. There's about a $21 million contract of which a portion is refundable
[23:08] once the power load is met. So from that we've determined 19.3 of that is actually refundable
[23:16] once those conditions are met.
[23:20] The next item on here is our new debt for FY25. We had
[23:24] two debt issues this year, or this past year. The first being a $50 million issue
[23:31] for the governmental obligation or GEO bond related to the central city work
[23:34] and that is in your first column reflected and then that second column is
[23:40] our 400 million bond issue on behalf of the city of Dallas for IPL phase 3 work.
[23:58] Our next page or your next tab is page 35 and on here I wanted to point out
[24:04] the $29.5 million dollar program revenue which this is related to the
[24:10] Central City project. This is for the City of Fort Worth utility relocation.
[24:19] On our next page, one thing I wanted to point out on here is this is our balance
[24:27] sheet for governmental funds. This squared number up on top, the 33.8
[24:33] million these are remaining funds from that central city issue so we issued
[24:38] that 50 million late last year and we spent 41 million to the city of Fort
[24:44] Worth when we have 33 remaining.
[24:51] The next page I wanted to point out is page 42
[24:53] or that next tab in your book. This is up on here. This is our enterprise fund
[25:02] Statement of Revenues, Expenses, and Income Statement.
[25:07] We have our city of Dallas related payments in green.
[25:11] So you'll see the Sale Assistant Capacity in the top section
[25:14] as well as Sale Assistant Capacity for Debt Service
[25:16] in the bottom section.
[25:18] So you have 9 million and 47 million.
[25:21] That is related to our Dallas payments.
[25:25] And also on here under Utilities of our 13.2,
[25:29] the majority of this is pumping power.
[25:31] So this is our largest stand-alone expenditure after personnel and debt service and our enterprise fund
[25:40] It's been about 12.5 of our 19
[25:57] Our last tab is page 46. This is related to our OPEB and
[26:03] And on here, you can see that we made a contribution of 3.1 million at FY25 and this is our final
[26:11] contribution for the foreseeable future because with this contribution, our trust is 94% funded.
[26:20] So after this section, then you'll have your statistical section within your book
[26:25] and in between those are some notes and some supplementary information.
[26:29] That's
[26:33] what I had for you today. Do you have any questions for us or for the auditors?
[26:37] Not
[26:43] here. Nice, predictable, boring year.
[26:48] It's exciting.
[26:50] Boring is exciting. You want that.
[26:53] We did that for 2026. It's exciting.
[26:56] We successfully completed our audit and our financials with Workday.
[27:00] That's a big milestone.
[27:03] There is a call with the new computer financial system
[27:05] and of course our auditors did audit the old system
[27:08] transition to the new system, so that was exciting to get that done, and now we just
[27:14] got to get really good at our new system.
[27:15] Yeah, yeah.
[27:16] Trying to learn all of its functionality and how we can best use it.
[27:22] Now, major milestone, and so congratulations.
[27:25] It's a really stellar year all the way around, and particularly the benefits piece
[27:36] to have that funded at that rate is remarkable so it's good great work.
[27:45] Any
[27:46] questions? I move to approve agenda item number seven. We have a motion in a
[27:52] second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Hi. Motion carries.
[27:59] Perfect. Thank you. Next up consider approval to accept grant from Texas
[28:03] Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation for Eagle Mountain Park expenditures.
[28:08] So I know you think this is Groundhog Day, but it's not.
[28:12] This is exactly like the funding that we got last year, not that many months ago.
[28:18] It's another $20,000 grant that we're getting from the Texas Community Foundation, and
[28:24] they want us to use it on Eagle Mountain State Park.
[28:27] And we are happy to do that, but we need our board to accept any revenues.
[28:32] Is this going to be a standing agenda?
[28:34] We asked them that.
[28:36] What did they say?
[28:37] The Texas Personal Life Foundation did not have any additional information.
[28:40] We didn't know if this was going to be met potentially a yearly grant, so we were going
[28:43] to ask them that, but they didn't know, and so we would love it, of course.
[28:48] Absolutely.
[28:50] It's very nice.
[28:51] Very nice.
[28:52] I think it's exciting.
[28:53] They're really taking a big effort here in Tarr County and Fort Worth, so they're
[28:57] great partners.
[28:59] I'd move to approve.
[29:01] Agenda item number nine.
[29:03] Eight.
[29:04] Eight.
[29:05] Did I move one ahead?
[29:06] Yeah.
[29:07] Jumping ahead.
[29:08] I'm sorry.
[29:08] I moved to approve.
[29:09] Agenda item number eight.
[29:11] We have a motion and second.
[29:12] Any further discussion?
[29:15] All those in favor?
[29:16] Aye.
[29:18] Thank you, ladies.
[29:20] On to number nine.
[29:21] Usually that's me jumping ahead and being on the board.
[29:23] I consider approval of contract amendment with Guide House Inc. for workday post-production
[29:29] support to continue enhancing the workday platform.
[29:34] Hey, Mick.
[29:40] Good morning.
[29:41] Good morning.
[29:43] What I have for you here today, if you remember about a year ago, we had a contract with
[29:48] the same group to provide post-implementation support for our workday implementation.
[29:54] That's been going well.
[29:55] we continue to take advantage of the features and more modern system.
[30:00] They're, and are currently working through the process of implementing a new budget tool,
[30:04] which is tons of fun. Through that process, we've learned that there's a lot of stuff we
[30:11] don't know, and Guidehouse has provided us what is in effect, a staff augmentation that
[30:17] allows us on a time and materials type basis to bring them in to provide a degree of expertise
[30:22] that we just haven't had the opportunity to develop yet in-house. And so what we
[30:26] We have in front of you here today is a $250,000 amendment to the contract from last year to
[30:33] continue to use the same firm that we've had a good experience with to this point, to provide
[30:38] services where we have gaps as we continue our journey of implementing Workday.
[30:44] What questions can I answer for you?
[30:48] This is the – are we two years now into Workday?
[30:52] One year since implementation and not quite.
[30:55] but April would be a year. April-ish.
[31:00] There's a lot to learn. I've never used the Workday program, but
[31:04] I struggle with my own, so my own program is
[31:07] a lot less complicated than this. It's a lot harder than my QuickBooks at home.
[31:13] Any efforts on just
[31:15] training trainers? Is that something that Guidehouse is providing for us?
[31:19] We sit with them often when they're in-house working with us on things.
[31:23] It's a combination of things, not just the ongoing support,
[31:26] but also implementation kind of support,
[31:28] so that includes training and Q&A kind of stuff,
[31:32] phone a friend type arrangement with them, but yes.
[31:39] Any other questions?
[31:44] I've moved to approve agenda item number nine.
[31:47] Second.
[31:48] We have a motion to second any further discussion.
[31:51] All those in favor?
[31:53] Aye.
[31:53] Those?
[31:54] Motion carries.
[31:55] Thank you.
[31:56] We're going to skip agenda item number 10
[31:58] because we refuse to do it and go on to number 11. I'm just kidding. All right.
[32:04] Agenda item number 10, consider adoption of resolution honoring Carol Hathall on
[32:12] her retirement from the district. All right, May.
[32:17] So I'm not really sure how I
[32:19] got this honor. There are probably a dozen people in this room that would
[32:24] I would like the opportunity to do this.
[32:28] Are you sure?
[32:29] I mean, we could pretend like this never happened.
[32:34] I could just walk out the door.
[32:36] We all be okay.
[32:37] You sure?
[32:38] All right.
[32:39] Here we go.
[32:43] Whereas Carol Tackle has faithfully served the Tarrant Regional Water District since 2007,
[32:48] contributing exceptional professionalism, consistency, and leadership across the finance, purchasing,
[32:53] risk, and internal audit departments.
[32:56] Whereas Carol has demonstrated steadfast integrity
[32:59] and reliability throughout her career,
[33:02] quickly becoming a trusted resource across the district,
[33:05] her deep understanding of financial and operational processes,
[33:09] combined with her commitment to excellence,
[33:11] earned her increasing responsibility
[33:14] and ultimately leading to her position as chief internal auditor.
[33:19] Whereas in her role as chief auditor,
[33:20] Carol has been responsible for mitigating risks, creating efficiencies, and providing
[33:26] critical guidance to the Board of Directors.
[33:28] Her work has strengthened the district's commitment to transparency, accountability, and sound
[33:33] governance, making her a highly respected voice within the organization.
[33:37] Whereas Carol's colleagues describe her as trusted, respected, and grounded in
[33:42] integrity, qualities that allow her to connect with people across all levels
[33:46] of the organization, her ability to make others feel valued and heard has created
[33:50] an atmosphere of genuine trust where team members feel comfortable sharing openly and
[33:55] honestly. Whereas Carol has played a key role in establishing the district's first safety
[34:01] steering committee, dedicating significant time and effort to strengthening workplace
[34:05] safety culture. She has also led the purchasing team to receive the first achievement of Excellence
[34:11] in Procurement Award in 2015, an honor that continued in the years that followed. Additionally,
[34:17] Additionally, she contributed to the district earning its first certificate of achievement
[34:20] for excellence in financial reporting for fiscal year 2015, awarded by the Government
[34:25] Finance Officers Association.
[34:28] Whereas beyond her technical expertise, Carol is recognized for her thoughtfulness, mentorship,
[34:34] and dedication to the growth of her team.
[34:37] Her leadership has helped shape a supportive, collaborative work culture, and her influence
[34:41] will continue to resonate through the employees she has guided and developed.
[34:45] Now, therefore, be it resolved.
[34:49] The Board of Directors at Tarrant Regional Water District expresses its sincere appreciation
[34:54] to Carol Tackle for her distinguished service, unwavering integrity, and positive influence
[35:01] she has had on the district and its people.
[35:04] The district extends its deepest gratitude and warmest wishes to Carol as she enters
[35:09] this next chapter.
[35:10] with enduring respect for the impact she has made and the example she leaves behind.
[35:16] This resolution is adopted the 20th day of January 2026.
[35:54] I actually knew what TRWD was, but I took that challenge and I've never regretted it.
[36:04] This has been the most wonderful.
[36:05] And the only regret I have is that I didn't get here earlier, because I've enjoyed every
[36:12] moment of my time here.
[36:14] He asked me once, how long did I think I would stay?
[36:17] And I said, oh, probably five years or so, because I just retired from education 30 years
[36:22] there.
[36:24] Well, 18 and a half years later, here we are.
[36:28] Like I said, I would probably stay till the very end, but there are a lot of things
[36:33] things I haven't done yet. I need to get on the road. Thank you all so much.
[37:23] It's quite
[37:26] Thank you so much.
[37:32] We're so excited.
[37:34] I'm really excited.
[37:35] Enjoy.
[37:36] I will.
[37:37] Thank you.
[37:39] Thank you.
[37:42] Hold on.
[37:43] Hold on.
[37:43] Hold on.
[37:45] Hold on.
[37:46] Hold on.
[37:47] Hold on.
[37:58] So we tried to skip that one. We tried to skip the one last month. I don't know. You're
[38:05] not putting anything else on for the next month or because we'll boycott the meeting.
[38:11] We're kind of done with these. We're excited for the future for Carol just as we are.
[38:18] although it's nice to see Alan's sneak in here this morning, too.
[38:21] Very moving.
[38:24] Do we need a motion for that?
[38:26] I don't know.
[38:27] Oh.
[38:28] I would gladly make a motion.
[38:28] We didn't?
[38:29] I don't know.
[38:30] I guess I got ahead of myself.
[38:31] I'll make a second.
[38:31] We have a motion to second any further discussion.
[38:35] All those in favor?
[38:36] Aye.
[38:37] Can you pose?
[38:38] I know, right?
[38:40] I'm trying not to make it happen.
[38:41] Motion carries.
[38:42] Thank you.
[38:43] Thank you.
[38:44] And thanks for that reminder.
[38:46] All right.
[38:46] Next up, presentations, water resources, Rachel,
[38:57] morning.
[38:58] It's a tough act to follow.
[39:00] I have to say Carol made internal audit pleasant.
[39:04] As pleasant as anyone could.
[39:08] That's right, right.
[39:10] We won't miss her.
[39:12] All right, so if we look back over the year of 2025,
[39:18] The rainfall that fell across our system was average to above average, so we had a really
[39:24] good year as far as what Mother Nature provided to us, and the timely rainfall, as was mentioned
[39:30] in the financial report, you know, cut down on our power usage for the year.
[39:35] However the last two months have been very dry, and DFW airport has not seen more
[39:41] than a tenth of an inch of rain since November 24th when there was about an
[39:47] inch of rainfall then. So it's been almost two months where it's been really
[39:52] dry. However, we're seeing a pattern shift and I think if any of you are
[39:56] paying attention to the news and the weather, you know that there could be
[39:59] some rain coming at the end of this week and some snow, some significant
[40:03] snow. So that will be different. And then in the the days following that,
[40:08] the long-term forecasts are calling for above average precipitation, at least for a few days.
[40:14] And then as we move into the spring, we may have a transition.
[40:17] Right now we're in the La Nina condition, and we should transition into a neutral,
[40:22] which will give us kind of equal chances of precipitation above or below average.
[40:29] Make sure I covered everything there.
[40:33] If you look at the drought map for the state of Texas,
[40:36] This is the one that the TCEQ puts together that shows the different river basins.
[40:41] So the Trinity Basin, of course, is where all of our water supplies are currently.
[40:48] Abnormally dry is the yellow color.
[40:50] All of our reservoirs are in that color.
[40:52] So considering how dry it's been, we're still in pretty good condition.
[40:56] And part of our system along the Clear Fork is in no drought.
[41:01] So not looking too bad.
[41:03] And then in terms of our storage, we're really still in pretty good shape for this time of year at 87 and a half percent
[41:09] That's actually exactly where we were last year for total storage. However, we have more water in the West Fork now than we did a year ago
[41:19] 11% more in the West Fork so while the total is the same
[41:23] It's much more
[41:24] Distributed and so there's more water up in this area and in Bridgeport Eagle Mountain, you know
[41:29] where we really needed to meet the demands.
[41:31] So we do continue to pump from our East Texas reservoirs.
[41:36] Right now we're in the winter maintenance season,
[41:38] so part of the system is down,
[41:40] but part of it continues to pump.
[41:42] So all of that's being coordinated,
[41:44] and as far as I know, all of that's going pretty well.
[41:47] I guess the bright side of having some dry weather
[41:49] means all of the construction
[41:50] and all the maintenance that we have going on
[41:53] has been able to take place.
[41:58] So looking at our storage graph,
[41:59] looking back to this time last year to now the black line shows how we were
[42:05] about the same last year and then we had an increase in the spring and summer.
[42:09] I feel recall everything filled up to a hundred percent and we had some flood
[42:12] operations going on and then we've had just a gradual decline since then in
[42:17] the total storage. The forecast going forward if we if it stays dry we
[42:23] should stay pretty steady for the next few months. If we get average rainfall
[42:27] we should see some recovery, and above average rainfall might fill us all the way back up.
[42:32] So really sitting pretty good for this time of year and hoping for some rain over the
[42:36] next few months.
[42:39] So the short-term forecast, this is a map of, it shows, we call it the QPF, it's
[42:47] a forecast, and the different colors represent how much rain is expected or how much precipitation
[42:52] I guess is expected over the next seven days.
[42:56] This has actually changed significantly since I pulled it yesterday.
[42:59] I looked at it this morning and those darker colors have moved more over our area
[43:03] and the blue colors have moved further west.
[43:05] So that means we're, every time I look at the forecast,
[43:08] they're expecting more and more precipitation over these next few days.
[43:12] So we'll continue to keep an eye on that.
[43:15] And it should be good for the system as far as water storage,
[43:21] as far as how it might impact operations.
[43:23] I know there will be coordination calls and discussions as far as all of that goes.
[43:29] Don't expect any major issues, but we will be keeping our eyes on it
[43:34] and be happy to answer any questions that you have.
[43:41] Here, other than the kids are not happy because it's happening over the weekend.
[43:47] Right.
[43:47] You timed that wrong.
[43:49] Very good.
[43:51] Great. Thank you, Rachel.
[43:52] Thanks.
[43:54] Next up is executive session.
[43:57] Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code for a private consultation with its attorney,
[44:03] pardon me, about pending or contemplated litigation or on a matter in which the duty of the attorney
[44:09] to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State
[44:13] Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with the chapter and Section 551.072 of the Texas
[44:19] Government Code to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property
[44:24] We'll be discussing pending litigation and real property issues.
[44:29] We're now in executive session.
[44:39] All right, 1030.
[44:40] We'll call the meeting back to order.
[44:42] We are on agenda item 13.
[44:44] Consider approval of settlement of claims in the state of Texas,
[44:49] the TRWD, Tarrant Regional Water District,
[44:52] at our condemnation proceeding.
[44:55] Thank you.
[44:56] Yes, staff request approval to enter into.
[45:00] And the condemnation proceeding between the state of Texas on behalf of Texas Department
[45:05] of Transportation and TRWD for TRWD's conveyance to text dot of a 3.8162-acre easement situated
[45:14] in the John Little Survey, Abstract 958, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, for the
[45:20] negotiated settlement of $182,164.
[45:28] This easement was discussed in detail at the real estate committee and the executive session.
[45:33] I'd move approval.
[45:35] Second.
[45:36] We have a motion to second any further discussion.
[45:39] All those in favor?
[45:41] Aye.
[45:41] Any opposed?
[45:42] Motion carries.
[45:43] Thank you.
[45:44] Future agenda items?
[45:49] Hearing none.
[45:50] All right.
[45:51] Next, board meeting is scheduled for February 17, 2026, 9 a.m.
[45:55] We are adjourned.