* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] OKAY, GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. [CALL TO ORDER] I'D LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TODAY AND ALSO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER FOR NOVEMBER 5TH. UH, THIS MORNING WE WILL HAVE ALYSSA [PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE] LOPEZ WILL LEAD US IN THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. PLEASE STAND IF YOU CAN. PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG. ONE NATION UNDER GOD. JUSTICE FOR ALL. THANK YOU, ALYSSA. OKAY. CALL, UH, UH, DINA, PLEASE [ROLL CALL] GIVE, DO THE ROLL CALL. PRESIDENT CORDERO? HERE. VICE PRESIDENT PARKIN. HERE. SECRETARY AUSTIN. COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE? HERE. COMMISSIONER SCOTT. PRESENT. WE HAVE A QUORUM. THANK YOU. GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UM, WE HAVE OUR CONSENT CALENDAR. JUST A FEW ITEMS ON [CONSENT CALENDAR] THAT. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT, UH, ITEMS OF ITEMS ONE THROUGH THREE? MOTION. OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE AND WE HAVE A SECOND. UH, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. OKAY. UH, ANY PUBLIC COMMENT? OKAY, SEEING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? NO. MOTION CARRIES. UM, BEFORE I GO INTO THE FIRST ITEM, I JUST DON'T KNOW IF IT'S APPROPRIATE AT THIS TIME TO JUST MAKE A, A QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT. UM, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAD A VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION YESTERDAY THAT'S ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BUT IN LONG BEACH WE HAD AN IMPORTANT, UH, ELECTION ALSO. AND IT, IT, I'M A LITTLE PREMATURE BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN TOTALLY CONFIRMED, BUT AS OF THIS POINT, I TOLD COMMISSIONER AUSTIN I WANTED TO HUG HIM AND THEN ALSO KIND OF LIKE NOT LET HIM GO. SO WE ARE, UH, POSSIBLY ABOUT TO LOSE, LOSE HIM. UM, BUT WE'RE VERY, VERY PROUD OF THE, OF HOW HE'S DONE. UM, IT SHOULD BE CONFIRMED SHORTLY, I WOULD ASSUME, BUT YOU'RE PRETTY FAR AHEAD. SO, UM, WE'RE EXCITED FOR YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE GOOD WORK. AND ONCE IT'S CONFIRMED, WE'LL BE ABLE TO RAISE THE GAVEL AND, AND SALUTE YOU. SO THANK YOU. HOW DO YOU FEEL THIS MORNING? YEAH. YEAH. OKAY. AND WITH THAT, UM, I HAD TOLD, UM, MANY OF YOU, OF YOU THAT I HAD, UM, GOING BACK TO GIVING YOU LITTLE QUOTES AND I'M GONNA GIVE YOU ONE RIGHT NOW. USUALLY I'LL TRY TO DO THEM AT THE END, BUT THIS IS KIND OF APPROPRIATE BECAUSE OUR FIRST, UH, GUEST TODAY THAT'S GONNA SPEAK, UM, WILL BE SPEAKING ON, UM, SIERRA NEVADA WATERSHED CONDITIONS AND THE RESTORATION ACTIVITIES UP IN THAT AREA. UM, AND I HAVE A QUOTE TODAY THAT I THINK IS APPROPRIATE AND I WANTED HER TO HEAR THIS AS WELL AND WELCOME HER, JENNIFER. SO THE QUOTE GOES LIKE THIS AND IT'S ABOUT CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE. ONE THING LEADS TO THE OTHER. DEFORESTATION LEADS TO CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH LEADS TO ECOSYSTEM LOSSES, WHICH NEGATIVELY IMPACTS OUR LIVELIHOOD. IT IS A VICIOUS CYCLE. AND WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO ANATOL WHO WILL, UM, BE INTRODUCING OUR GUEST [4. 26-56613 Recommendation to receive and file an update on Northern Sierra Nevada Watershed Conditions and Restoration Activities.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] FOR ITEM NUMBER ONE, WHICH IS RECEIVE AND FILE AN UPDATE ON NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA WATERSHED CONDITIONS AND RESTORATION ACTIVITIES. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE? OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ANATOL, PLEASE. THANK YOU. IT'S WITH GREAT PLEASURE THAT I'M HERE TO JUST GIVE A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO MS. JENNIFER NEVILLES FROM METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT. UM, I WAS ACTUALLY AT METROPOLITAN WHEN JENNIFER GOT HIRED. UH, SHE HAS BEEN WITH THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT DURING 23 YEARS AND DURING THAT TIME SHE HAS DEVELOPED EXPERTISE, WATER RESOURCES ANALYSIS, PLANNING AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT. IN 2017, JENNIFER MOVED TO METROPOLITAN SACRAMENTO OFFICE TO WORK ON SCIENCE AND POLICY MATTERS RELATED TO THE BAY DELTA. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS, SHE BEGAN LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN UPPER WATERSHED FOREST HEALTH INITIATIVES. PRIOR TO JOINING METROPOLITAN, JENNIFER WORKED ON ENDANGERED SPECIES ISSUES IN WASHINGTON STATE AND AS A BIOLOGIST FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, SHE HOLDS A BS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE FROM WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY AND IS WORKING ON A MASTER'S IN NATURAL RESOURCES STEWARDSHIP AT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY. AND WHICH I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT AND I NEVER REALLY ASKED JENNIFER FOR PERMISSION, BUT I KNEW ALL ALONG WHEN SHE GOT HIRED, THEY POINTED OUT TO ME THAT SHE ACTUALLY HIKED THE PACIFIC CREST TRAIL FROM MEXICO ALL THE WAY TO THE CANADA BORDER, WHICH IS NO SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT. IT IS A GREAT, GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT. SO WITH THAT, WE'RE GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO JENNIFER. JENNIFER? ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. OKAY. SO GOOD MORNING. UH, THANK YOU FOR THE KIND INTRODUCTION, ANATOL. UM, AND GOOD MORNING, CHAIR CARDERO, MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. UM, SO YEAH, I'M JENNIFER NEVILLES AND I'M A PROGRAM MANAGER IN METROPOLITAN'S, UM, SACRAMENTO OFFICE. AND I MANAGE OUR UPPER WATERSHEDS EFFORTS AND I'M HAPPY TO PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE, [00:05:01] UH, AND AN OVERVIEW TODAY. OKAY. SO MY UPDATE TODAY WILL TOUCH ON METROPOLITAN'S INTEREST IN WATERSHED HEALTH, OUR ONGOING PILOT INVESTIGATIONS, THE ASSOCIATED BUSINESS CASE DEVELOPMENT, UM, TO THOSE PILOTS, OUR RELATIONSHIP BUILDING AND COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS IN THE WATERSHED, AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. SO IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS. UH, SO LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT'S DRIVING METROPOLITAN'S INTEREST IN WATERSHED HEALTH. UM, SO CLIMATE CHANGE, I THINK GLORIA ALREADY PRESENTED THIS FOR ME, UM, BUT CERTAINLY A MAJOR FACTOR. SO BOTH OF THESE GRAPHICS WERE DEVELOPED BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES. UH, THE CHART TO THE RIGHT ILLUSTRATES RUNOFF IN THE SACRAMENTO RIVER, UM, HISTORICAL VERSUS 2040. AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THE PROJECTED SHIFT IN RUNOFF INTO THE WINTER MONTHS AWAY FROM THE SPRING AND SUMMER WHEN WE REALLY NEED IT. UM, SO THIS IMPLIES THAT THERE'S MORE PRECIPITATION FALLING AS RAIN OR THERE'S, UH, SNOW MELTING IN THE WINTER WHEN IT REALLY SHOULDN'T BE. UM, SO THAT'S A BIG, YOU KNOW, ISSUE IN TERMS OF, UM, OUR SUPPLIES FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, FROM THE STATE WATER PROJECT. UM, ON THE LEFT, UH, SNOW PACK IS ALSO PROJECTED TO DECLINE. DWR STUDIES SHOW, UM, ANYWHERE FROM A 45, 48 TO 65% LOSS, UH, DEPENDING ON SORT OF THE CLIMATE SCENARIO THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT. UM, THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN THE NORTHERN SIERRA WHERE WE'RE FOCUSED. SO I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE A POINTER, BUT, UM, SO SORT OF NORTH AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT LOSS IS A LOT BIGGER THAN IN THE SOUTH, AND THAT'S BECAUSE THE ELEVATIONS ARE NOT AS HIGH AS THOSE HIGH SIERRA. SO 8,000 FEET COMPARED TO LIKE 14,000 FEET. UM, SO WE'RE ALREADY SEEING REDUCED, UH, SNOW PACK ACCUMULATION, WHICH SERVES AS CALIFORNIA'S LARGEST RESERVOIR AND REGULATES THE WATER, UM, COMING INTO THE STATE WATER PROJECT. SO ALL OF THIS REALLY NEGATIVELY IMPACTS WATER SUPPLY AS WELL AS THOSE, UM, ECOSYSTEMS AND OUR MIL - UH, ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. ALL RIGHT. SO, OH, THERE'S MY CIRCLE. SO THAT'S THE, UM, THE AREA I'M TALKING ABOUT, THE FEATHER RIVER WATERSHED RIGHT THERE. ALL RIGHT. SO A SECOND BIG DRIVER IS, UH, WILDFIRES. CERTAINLY BEEN IN THE NEWS. UH, WILDFIRE IS A NATURAL AND ESSENTIAL PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM IN THE SIERRA, UM, BUT WILDFIRE REGIMES IN THE PAST COUPLE OF DECADES HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE EXTREME THAN IN THE PAST. SO CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALSO BRINGING THESE LONGER, DRIER HOT PERIODS, AND COMBINED WITH, UM, MODERN DAY FIRE SUPPRESSION, UM, ACTIVITIES, THE FORESTS ARE VERY, VERY DENSE AND VERY DRY, AND SO THEY CREATE A LOT OF FUEL TO BURN. AND SO YOU GET THESE MEGA FIRES THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING. UM, SO THIS MAP OF THE FEATHER RIVER WATERSHED, WHICH IS THE SOURCE OF OUR STATE WATER PROJECT SUPPLIES, UM, SHOWS THE AREAS THAT HAVE BURNED SINCE 2020. IT'S 57% OF THE WATERSHED HAS BURNED IN THE DIXIE FIRE IN 2021 AND THE NORTH COMPLEX FIRE IN 2020. UM, THAT DIXIE FIRE BURNED JUST ABOUT A MILLION ACRES AND IT BURNED FROM JULY THROUGH THE END OF OCTOBER. UH, I REMEMBER IT VERY WELL. IT WAS VERY POOR AIR QUALITY ALL THE WAY DOWN INTO SACRAMENTO AND FURTHER. UM, SO... SO METROPOLITAN'S INTERESTS HERE IN WATERSHED HEALTH ARE REALLY ABOUT LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY RESILIENCE. WE WANT TO SEE IF ACTIONS TO RESTORE AND PROTECT THESE WATERSHEDS CAN HELP LESSEN SOME OF THESE IMPACTS THAT WE'VE, UH, LOOKED AT. ALL RIGHT. SO TO TEST THIS, WE'RE PARTNERING IN THREE, UH, WHAT WE'RE CALLING PILOT INVESTIGATIONS. THE PILOT INVESTIGATIONS ARE ALL IN THE NORTHERN SIERRA AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A NONPROFIT CALLED BLUE FOREST. UM, AND THEY CREATED A FINANCING MECHANISM THAT I'LL TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT, UM, THAT'S CALLED A FOREST RESILIENCE BOND. SO ALL THREE ARE REALLY SMALL PRIORITY CHUNKS OF THESE, UH, MUCH LARGER FOOTPRINTS SHOWN ON THE MAP. UM, THEY INCLUDE WORK LIKE MECHANICAL AND HAND THINNING, PRESCRIBED FIRE AND MEADOW AND ASPEN, UM, RESTORATION WORK. SO THE, ALL THREE PILOTS INCLUDE [00:10:01] SORT OF SIMILAR ACTIONS, BUT THEY HAVE DIFFERENT AIMS. SO THE NORTH FORK FEATHER PROJECT, WHICH IS IN THE GREEN AT THE TOP, THAT IS FOCUSED ON POST-FIRE RESTORATION, SO DIXIE FIRE RECOVERY, ESSENTIALLY. UM, THE TOTAL FOOTPRINT THERE IS 167,000 ACRES AND OUR PILOT IS ABOUT 1,200 ACRES. AND WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, NOT ONLY BLUE FOREST, BUT THE PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST AND A LOCAL, UM, NGO THAT'S DOING THE WORK ON THE GROUND CALLED SIERRA INSTITUTE. UM, SIMILARLY, THE PLUMAS COMMUNITY PROTECTION PROJECT, WHICH IS THE BROWN, UM, AREA. SO YOU SEE IT'S KIND OF SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE WATERSHED. THAT, UM, PARTICULAR PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON GREEN FOREST AREAS, SO PROTECTING COMMUNITIES THAT ARE IN AREAS THAT HAVEN'T BURNED. SO THOSE ARE REALLY HIGH PRIORITY. UM, THE TOTAL FOOTPRINT THERE IS 250,000 ACRES, AND THE PILOT'S A LITTLE OVER 2,000 TO START. SO THE PARTNERS THERE ARE THE PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST AGAIN, AND THE IMPLEMENTING PARTNER IS THE NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION. AND THE LAST IS THE LITTLE SORT OF BLUE-GREEN ONE. UM, THAT'S THE UPPER BUTTE CREEK, UH, PROJECT. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY OUTSIDE OF THE FEATHER RIVER WATERSHED. IT FLOWS INTO THE SACRAMENTO, BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS ONE, UM, BECAUSE IT HAS, UH, AQUATIC HABITAT IMPLICATIONS. SO, UM, THE LAST WILD SPAWNING POPULATION OF CHINOOK, SPRING RUN CHINOOK SALMON USES, UM, MOST OF IT USES, UH, BUTTE CREEK THERE. SO WE'RE LOOKING TO SEE IF, UM, DOING WORK IN THE UPPER WATERSHED CAN HELP THOSE FISH OVER SUMMER, UM, AND SPAWN IN THE FALL. SO THAT TOTAL PROJECT IS A LITTLE SMALLER, ONLY 20,000 ACRES, AND WE'RE PILOTING ABOUT 1200 ACRES TO START. SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BLUE FOREST. UM, SO THEY'RE A NONPROFIT AND THEY SPECIALIZE IN GENERATING AND SUPPORTING CONSERVATION FINANCING. SO THEY DEVELOPED WHAT IS CALLED A FOREST RESILIENCE BOND. UM, IT'S REALLY A CONSERVATION FINANCING MECHANISM RATHER THAN A TRADITIONAL BOND LIKE YOU WOULD THINK OF. UM, AND IT FACILITATES A DIVERSITY OF PARTNERSHIPS AND FUNDING SOURCES TO GET WORK DONE FASTER AND ON A LARGER SCALE. UM, SO I DON'T KNOW, DO I HAVE A POINTER? YEAH. OKAY. UM, SO I'LL JUST VERY QUICKLY WALK THROUGH IT. IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT COMPLICATED, BUT, UM, JUST THE BIG CHUNKS. SO ESSENTIALLY, UM, BLUE FOREST WORKS WITH, UM, IN THIS CASE, U - THE US FOREST SERVICE TO IDENTIFY THOSE SORT OF PRIORITY CHUNKS OF RESTORATION WORK THAT NEED TO BE DONE. UM, THEY IDENTIFY WHAT SORT OF BENEFITS MAY COME FROM THAT WORK, AND THEN THEY IDENTIFY, UM, BENEFICIARIES THAT MIGHT BE WILLING TO INVEST TO RECEIVE THOSE BENEFITS. SO IN THIS SORT OF SCENARIO, METROPOLITAN AND OTHER, UM, INVESTORS FALL IN THIS BENEFICIARY, UM, BOX. AND SO THE BENEFICIARIES CONTRIBUTE, UM, FUNDS TO THE BOND, WHICH AGAIN IS NOT REALLY BOND. IT'S SORT OF LIKE A MONEY LAUNDERING MECHANISM, IF YOU WILL. UM, AND THEY LINE UP THEN, UM, PRIVATE INVESTORS. SO THESE ARE LIKE INSTITUTIONAL, UH, LARGE INVESTORS LIKE THE WALTON FOUNDATION, THOSE SORTS OF PEOPLE THAT NEED IMPACT INVESTMENTS. UM, AND SO THEY PUT UPFRONT MONEY INTO THE BOND AND THEN THAT UPFRONT MONEY IS USED TO, UM, FUND THOSE ON THE GROUND IMPLEMENTATION PARTNERS LIKE THE SIERRA INSTITUTE TO ACTUALLY DO THE WORK AND THEN THE BENEFITS FLOW THROUGH TO THE BENEFICIARIES. SO REALLY HANDY, IT SORT OF FREES UP, YOU KNOW, THE USE OF GRANT FUNDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT ARE, THAT ARE REALLY HARD FOR THE SMALL LOCAL IMPLEMENTERS TO, TO USE. THEY CAN'T WAIT 90 DAYS TO PAY THEIR PEOPLE, UM, THAT DO THE WORK. SO, UM, IT'S BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. OKAY, LET'S SEE. I THINK I GOT THROUGH THIS. UM, YES. SO THE FIRST, UM, USE OF THE FOREST RESILIENCE BOND WAS IN THE NORTH YUBA WATERSHED. UH, I THINK THAT LAUNCHED AROUND 2018. AND SINCE THEN, THERE ARE NOW 14 DIFFERENT PROJECTS IN VARIOUS, UM, STATES OF BEING, SO PRETTY EXCITING. IT'S REALLY MOVING THINGS FORWARD, WHICH IS GREAT. SO IN 2024, SEPTEMBER 2024, METROPOLITAN'S BOARD AUTHORIZED, UH, US TO ENTER INTO THE THREE PILOT INVESTIGATIONS. SO EACH OF THOSE PILOTS WERE TWO YEAR INVESTMENTS AT $200,000 PER YEAR. SO [00:15:01] THERE'S A, A NUMBER OF WAYS TO SORT OF SLICE AND DICE THAT, BUT IT'S 200, $400,000 PER PROJECT OR 1.2 MILLION IN TOTAL OVER THOSE TWO YEARS FOR THE THREE PROJECTS. SO THIS INITIAL PILOT FUNDING CAME FROM MY B DELTA SCIENCE, UH, BUDGET, THE DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET. SO IT WAS IN BUDGET ESSENTIALLY. UM, AND THE PURPOSE HERE REALLY IS TO EVALUATE THOSE BENEFITS AND SEE IF THERE'S A BUSINESS CASE FOR CONTINUED INVESTMENT. UM, BUT THAT BOARD ACTION BEYOND THAT WAS JUST REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S TIES TO THAT WATERSHED. SO WE REALLY HADN'T DONE THAT IN THE PAST. UM, IT ALSO BROUGHT IN OTHER BENEFICIARY PARTNERS IMMEDIATELY. SO AS SOON AS THE BOARD TOOK ACTION, PG&E AND THE DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES AND THE SIERRA NEVADA CONSERVANCY ALL BROUGHT IN MATCHING FUNDS. SO THAT WAS REALLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR AND THAT HAPPENED. UM, SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, OUR FUNDING, NOT VERY BIG, BUT IT'S FLEXIBLE AND IT PROVIDES SORT OF THOSE MATCHING FUNDS AND MORE, UM, ACCESSIBLE FUNDS THAT LIKE GRANTS DON'T PROVIDE. ALL RIGHT. SO MOVING ON TO THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND BUSINESS CASE DEVELOPMENT, THIS IS REALLY WHERE STAFF IS FOCUSED RIGHT NOW. A LOT OF WORK. UM, SO THIS IS OUR, UM, CLIMATE ACTION MASTER PLAN FOR WATER, CAMP FOR WATER, UM, EVALUATIVE CRITERIA. SO WE'RE NOT DOING A FULL CAMP FOR WATER EVALUATION, BUT IT PROVIDES SOME CATEGORIES THAT ARE REALLY SORT OF HANDY, LIKE EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CO-BENEFITS, RESILIENCE THAT REALLY, YOU KNOW, THIS PROJECT SPEAKS WELL TO THOSE. SO WE'RE USING IT AS A FRAMEWORK TO HIGHLIGHT ALL OF THE BENEFITS THAT WE THINK WE WOULD GET FROM THIS. SO WE SORT OF GRAPHICALLY SORT OF SHOWED WHERE WE THINK THERE ARE BENEFITS IN THOSE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES AND WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON SORT OF TWO AREAS. UM, SO WE THINK THAT A LOT OF THESE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF WOULD BE QUALITATIVE BENEFITS, SOME WOULD BE QUANTIFIABLE, AND A FEW WOULD BE MONETIZABLE. SO WE'RE REALLY LOOKING IN THAT WATER SUPPLY AND THE SEDIMENT AND DEBRIS FLOW CATEGORIES TO SEE HOW THOSE COULD IMPACT, UH, METROPOLITAN STATE WATER PROJECT SUPPLIES. AND SO WE'RE ACTUALLY RUNNING INFORMATION FROM BLUE FOREST AND THROUGH CALCIUM TO SEE HOW THAT IMPACTS OUR, OUR WATER SUPPLY. UM, AND THEN YOU CAN THEN ASSIGN A, A COST TO THAT OR A, A VALUE TO THAT. ALL RIGHT. UH, OKAY. SO UP NEXT IS RELATIONSHIP BUILDING AND COLLABORATION. ANOTHER AREA WE'RE ALSO, YOU KNOW, SPENDING A LOT OF TIME. THIS IS AN ONGOING EFFORT. UM, WE HAD, HAVE NOT BUILT RELATIONSHIPS IN THE UPPER FEATHER RIVER, AND SO THIS IS NEW AND WILL TAKE SOME TIME. UM, BUT OUR EFFORTS ARE FOCUSED ON THE UPPER, UH, FEATHER RIVER WATERSHED. AND SO WE'RE WORKING WITH, UH, BLUE FOREST AND OUR, OUR PILOT, UM, PARTNERS, AS I NOTED EARLIER. AND WE'RE ALSO WORKING TO CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIPS WITH, UM, LEADERS IN THE UPPER FEATHER RIVER REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT GROUP. SO THESE ARE PEOPLE LIKE COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND TRIBAL LEADERS. UM, THEY HAVE A REALLY STRONG IRWIN GROUP UP THERE. UH, SO THE WATERSHED SOLUTIONS NETWORK IS FACILITATING, UM, A GUIDED SORT OF PROCESS CALLED THE WATER, UH, SHED FRAMEWORK TO REALLY MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS. SO THIS IS, AGAIN, ALL NEW. SO HAVING THAT FACIL- FACILITATION IS, IS REALLY HELPFUL, UM, TO INTRODUCE OUR LEADERS TO THEIR LEADERS ESSENTIALLY. UM, SO WE'VE BEEN TAKING TRIPS TO THE WATERSHED WITH, UM, BOARD MEMBERS AND WITH MANAGEMENT, UH, TO MEET THOSE PARTNERS AND TO SEE THE WATERSHED TO HEAR ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL ISSUES. UM, WE'RE STARTING TO SUPPORT OUR BOARD'S STATE WATER PROJECT INSPECTION TRIPS WITH A PRESENTATION AT ORVILLE IF THEY WANT IT. THOSE HAVE BEEN FUN. UM, AND WE'RE ALSO WORKING TO EXPLORE OTHER PARTNERSHIPS AND DEVELOP OTHER, UM, STRATEGIC CONNECTIONS AROUND THE STATE. SO, UM, OTHER THINGS INCLUDE LIKE PARTICIPATING IN THE AQUA HEADWATERS WORKING GROUP, LOOKING FOR WAYS TO ENGAGE IN THE STATE'S WILDFIRE AND FOREST RESILIENCE TASK FORCE, UM, THINGS LIKE THAT. SO A LOT GOING ON. SO IN TERMS OF NEXT STEPS, UM, WE'RE CURRENTLY WALKING, UH, WORKING TO DEVELOP THOSE BUSINESS CASE ANALYSES. LIKE I TOLD YOU, THAT'S A BIG FOCUS OF OUR, OUR TIME RIGHT NOW. UM, THIS INFORMATION WOULD, UH, HELP [00:20:01] INFORM A DRAFT RECOMMENDATION FOR METROPOLITAN'S BOARD TO CONSIDER, UM, YOU KNOW, FURTHER INVESTMENT. SO WE'RE HOPING TO START THAT PROCESS, UH, BRINGING THAT FORWARD SORT OF EARLY TO MID NEXT YEAR. UM, AND AS ALWAYS, WE CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, TO SUPPORT THE INVOLVEMENT OF ADDITIONAL BENEFICIARY PARTNERS, UM, AND TO BUILD THOSE RELATIONSHIPS, WHICH IS REALLY AN ONGOING AND LONG-TERM PROCESS. SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND I AM HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF WE HAVE TIME. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JENNIFER, FOR COMING DOWN THIS MORNING FROM SACRAMENTO. WISH YOU COULD SPEND A LITTLE MORE TIME IN LONG BEACH, BUT I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA GET, GET RIGHT BACK UP. UM, I WAS ABLE TO TOUR THAT WITH, WITH METROPOLITAN AS, UH, JENNIFER MENTIONED A LOT OF THE INSPECTION TRIPS. I THINK OURS IS GONNA BE... IS JOY HERE? I THINK OURS IS GONNA GO UP TO THE FEATHER RIVER AREA WHEN WE CAN GO OUT IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, UM, WHICH IS... I, I'M VERY PROUD OF WHAT METROPOLITAN HAS DONE. AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, UM, DON ORTEGA AS OUR CHAIR WAS REALLY INNOVATIVE IN, IN PUSHING THIS RELATIONSHIP AND, UH, THE INFLUENCE THAT METROPOLITAN HAS HAD ON THAT AREA, I THINK, JENNIFER, YOU'D AGREE, HAS BEEN, UM, JUST REVERBERATING THROUGH DIFFERENT OTHER AREAS LIKE PG&E AND, UM, NOW SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON HAD SOMEONE WHO IS SOME OF, SOME OF YOU KNOW, SELENA LUNA, WHO IS WITH EDISON. SHE USED TO BE WITH ROBERT GARCIA'S OFFICE. SHE'S NOW DESIGNATED AS, AS THE PERSON WHO'S GOING TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO WORK WITH, UM, THE FOREST RESTORATION AREA. SO I'M GONNA CONNECT HER WITH JENNIFER AND, UM, SEE IF THEY CAN, THEY CAN WORK TOGETHER. UM, SO IT, IT'S BECOME AN, AN AREA THAT'S OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE OF THE DEVASTATION OF THE DIXIE FIRE AND OTHER FIRES THAT WE'VE HAD, THERE WERE, IT WAS INCREDIBLE TO SEE WHAT, WHAT WENT ON, BUT BLUE FOREST STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE. UM, THE, THE CEO, THE, THE PERSON WHO CAME UP WITH BLUE FOREST, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THEM, BUT ONE OF THEM MENTIONED THAT THE NAME BLUE FOREST CAME SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THE, THE NEXUS BETWEEN WATER, BLUE, AND FOREST. SO, UM, I THOUGH THAT WAS VERY, VERY CLEVER, THE WAY THEY DID THAT. UM, THE FINANCING MECHANISM, I BELIEVE, IS VERY SIMILAR TO A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, UM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE HAD HERE IN LONG BEACH, UM, WHICH I THINK HAS ALLOWED THEM TO, UH, GET MORE FINANCING AND THEN ALSO LOOK INTO GRANTS AS WELL. UM, THERE'S A STRONG TRIBAL CONNECTION UP THERE. UM, THE STAFF DOES HAVE SEVERAL PEOPLE ON THEIR, UH, BLUE FOREST THAT WORK SPECIFICALLY WITH TRIBES, WHICH I THINK IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE'S A LARGE TRIBAL PRESENCE IN THAT AREA. UM, SMALL TOWNS, VERY DEVASTATED FOR MANY, MANY, YOU KNOW, YEARS AFTER THIS. WHEN YOU DRIVE THROUGH AND YOU SEE THESE JUST, LIKE, STICKS OF BURNT CHARRED TREES AND THE TREES, EVERYTHING'S GONE FOR MILES AND MILES. IT'S, IT'S, IT IS VERY DEVASTATING AND IT BRINGS TO LIGHT, UM, WHAT'S, WHAT'S IN FRONT OF US. SO I WANNA THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY. I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO THE COMMISSION AND SEE IF WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR JENNIFER? NO? OKAY, HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET YOU UP THERE TO SEE. ANATOLS, DO YOU WANNA... THERE WE GO. UM, JUST WANNA ALSO JOIN IN THE COMPLIMENTS TO JENNIFER AND METROPOLITAN'S EFFORTS AND, AND CONNECT A COUPLE OF POINTS FOR YOU. UH, JENNIFER WAS POINTING OUT THE SHIFT IN RAINFALL. THAT SHIFT IN RAINFALL MAKES STORAGE EVER MORE IMPORTANT, MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. AND WILDFIRE IS ANOTHER EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, AND WILDFIRE HAS DEVASTATING EFFECTS TO WATER QUALITY, BUT JENNIFER POINTED OUT THAT DEBRIS FLOWS ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TOO. UM, HERE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD ON THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER, ONE OF THE CRITICAL EFFORTS THAT LA COUNTY IS INVOLVED IN IS NOW HAVING TO DREDGE, UH, THE UPPER BASIN RESERVOIRS IN THE SAN GABRIEL WATERSHED BECAUSE OVER TIME, THE DEBRIS FLOWS HAVE JUST SIMPLY SETTLED IN, IN THE BACK OF THE DAM. THAT TAKES AWAY CRITICAL STORAGE. SO THE DAM THAT YOU BUILT OVER TIME JUST STORES LESS AND LESS AND LESS WATER. THE REMOVAL OF THAT IS INCREDIBLY COMPLEX AND INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO DO. SO FOREST HEALTH HAS AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT IF YOU CAN KEEP THE FOREST HEALTHY AND AVOID THESE DEBRIS FLOWS, WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT. UM, JENNIFER, I THINK THERE'S ANOTHER ASPECT OF MEADOW RESTORATION TOO, BECAUSE MEADOWS SERVE AS A WAY OF CAPTURING WATER IN THE WATERSHED BEFORE IT RUNS OFF. IS THAT TRUE? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO YEAH, MEADOWS SERVE AS A, A REGULATING RESERVOIR, UM, AS DOES A HEALTHY FOREST. SO YOU'RE GONNA GET MORE WATER PERCOLATING INTO THE, YOU KNOW, GROUND INSTEAD OF RUNNING RIGHT OFF. IF YOU [00:25:01] HAVE A HEALTHY WATERSHED AFTER A FIRE, IT'S THE OPPOSITE. SO THESE THINGS KIND OF COMPOUND ON EACH OTHER, WHICH IS I THINK WHAT YOU'RE POINTING OUT VERY WELL. ONE OF THE THINGS TO, UM, WE DIDN'T REHEARSE THIS, SO, UM, I MAY BE PUTTING YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT I NOTICED THAT, IF I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY, YOU MENTIONED THE WATERSHED SOLUTIONS NETWORK. IS THAT THE, THE PROGRAM THAT YOU WERE A PART OF AND THAT I WAS A PART OF? YES. SO THAT IS A, A LEADERSHIP PROGRAM IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THAT GOT STARTED, THE WATER SOLUTIONS NETWORK. UM, IT IS A BROAD BASED NETWORK OF LEADERS FROM THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRIES IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA RELATED TO WATER. AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIP THAT WAS MADE THERE. ONE OF OUR ALUMNI WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS IN THE IDEA OF CLIMATE RESILIENCE BONDS. UM, I THINK IT WAS HE WAS IN THE FIRST COHORT, RIGHT? UM - RICARDO? OH, YEAH. POSSIBLY NICK, UM, WILLBROCK, WHO'S THE... I FORGET HIS TITLE NOW, BUT HE'S ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF BLUE FOREST. HE WAS IN MY COHORT - AWESOME. COHORT TOO. SO THAT'S REALLY WHERE THIS STARTED. AND - YEAH. I'LL JUST SAY THAT YOU'RE THE PERSON THAT ENCOURAGED ME TO APPLY TO THAT COHORT, SO - OKAY. WELL, WE DIDN'T HEAR THAT PART EITHER. UM, IT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT, UH, AS JENNIFER POINTED OUT, THAT MANY OF THESE STRATEGIES, RIGHT, SOMETIMES THEY LACK IMMEDIATE FUNDING VEHICLES. UM, WE THINK OF BONDS TRADITIONALLY FROM A BANK AND THERE'S INTEREST TO PAY AND YOU'RE DOING THINGS A PARTICULAR WAY. AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE BOND STRUCTURES ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO BRING PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THAT HAS A WAY OF REAPING BENEFITS AND THEN PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS TOO. SO METROPOLITAN WITH COMMISSIONER DIRECTOR CORDERO AND WITH JENNIFER IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF TRYING TO LOOK AT THESE OPPORTUNITIES TO TRY TO MAKE A BIG, BIG IMPACT IN BENEFITING US IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY. SO THE MAGNITUDE IS IN- INCALCULABLE IN MY OPINION. GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. NO ONE ELSE. UM, JENNIFER, THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND YOU, YOU SAID SOUTHERN, UH, METROPOLITAN WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN TYING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO THE WATERSHED. UM, I DON'T THINK THAT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT, BUT I ALSO WANNA THANK YOU BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THAT AND YOUR GOOD WORK, UM, IS, IS LEADING THIS, THIS, UH, EFFORT. SO WE REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE HERE TODAY. AND I THINK WE'LL SEE YOU ON THE TOUR IF, IF I'M CORRECT. I'M SORRY, I WON'T BE THERE, BUT, UM, MAUREEN WILL - OH, MAUREEN WILL BE THERE. GIVE HER PRESENTATION FOR YOU. ALL RIGHT. I'M SORRY I MISSED IT. NO, NO. WE'LL, WE'LL SEE YOU, I'M SURE, AT ANOTHER TIME. BUT THANK YOU FOR COMING DOWN HERE. I THINK THIS IS VERY EDUCATIONAL AND WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING, UH, TO FOLLOW THE GOOD WORK THAT YOU DO. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. THANK YOU. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER FIVE. [5. 26-56614 Recommendation to authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to amend Agreement UT-3922 with All American Asphalt, of Corona, California, for street repair services, to increase the total aggregate contract amount by $11,739,200, for a revised contract amount not to exceed $18,559,200.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] UH, AUTHORIZE THE... NO, WE ALREADY DID. WE ALREADY DID, RIGHT? THE MOTION. WE ALREADY GOT EVERYTHING CLEARED. WE NEED TO VOTE. YES. I THOUGH WE VOTED. VOTE ON NUMBER FOUR. ALL RIGHT. WE NEED TO... DIDN'T, DIDN'T WE DO IT? WE DIDN'T. OKAY. I'M SORRY. CAN I, UH, HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? DID WE DO THAT? PUBLIC COMMENTS? SEEING NONE. ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? SEEING NONE. UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? OKAY. THANK YOU. I'M A LITTLE RUSTY TODAY. ALL RIGHT. ITEM NUMBER FIVE. THANK YOU, CHARLIE. AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO AMEND AGREEMENT UT3922 WITH ALL AMERICAN ASPHALT OF CORONA, CALIFORNIA FOR STREET REPAIR SERVICES. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION? WE, WE HAVE A MOTION. WE HAVE A SECOND. SECOND. WE HAVE A SECOND. UH, NO PRESENTATION AT THIS POINT IS NEEDED, BUT, UH, STAFF IS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS ON ITEM NUMBER FIVE? UH, I, I JUST, IF YOU MIND. SURE. I NOTICED THAT THIS, UH, THIS CONTRACT IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUS CONTRACT. UM, IS THAT, IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC REASON WHY, UM, I UNDERSTAND WE HAVE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF CIP PROJECTS AHEAD. RIGHT. I JUST WANTED TO GET SOME CLARIFICATION ON THAT. YES. I CAN PROVIDE THAT. UH, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, THE, THE CONTRACT, THERE WAS AN ERROR IN THE BOARD REQUEST. THE INTENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO REQUEST ROUGHLY AROUND SIX MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, WHICH IS WHAT OUR ANNUAL PAVING NEEDS ARE. UM, IN AN EFFORT TO... BACK THEN WE WERE TRYING TO CORRECT THE WAY WE WERE WRITING OUR BOARD LETTERS, AND I THINK THAT WENT THE WRONG DIRECTION AND WE INADVERTENTLY WROTE IT THE WRONG WAY. EVEN THOUGH WE WERE ALWAYS BUDGETING SIX MILLION A YEAR FOR PAVING WORK, UM, THE BOARD LETTER WAS, DID NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT WHAT OUR NEEDS WERE. SO THIS LETTER REALLY [00:30:01] IS TO CORRECT THAT, UM, MISTAKE IN THE BOARD LETTER BACK IN 2024. UM, AND THEN MOVING FORWARD, WE HAVE CORRECTED THE WAY WE DO OUR BOARD LETTER LANGUAGE SO THAT WE DON'T MAKE THAT TYPE OF MISTAKE IN THE FUTURE. WHEN, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS AND WE TALK ABOUT FISCAL IMPACT IN THE BOARD LETTER, WHEN WE BRING IT TO YOU FOR APPROVAL, WE BOTH TRY TO CHARACTERIZE THE ANNUAL AMOUNT AND THEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT. AND SO IN SOME CASES, IF WE'RE NOT CLEAR AND WE SPECIFY THE ANNUAL AMOUNT, BUT WE DON'T CLARIFY THAT IT'S AN ANNUAL AMOUNT EVERY YEAR, THEN THE TOTAL AMOUNT IS THE NUMBER OF YEARS TIMES THAT AMOUNT. SEEMS SIMPLE, BUT YET AT THE SAME TIME, DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE CONTRACT, HOW WE WRITE IT IN THE FISCAL IMPACT CANNOT APPROPRIATELY DESCRIBE THE CONTRACT. SO IF I'M SAYING THAT CORRECTLY, THIS IS IN ESSENCE MATHEMATICALLY TO CORRECT THAT RECORD AND SAY THIS IS THE AMOUNT. IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT. OKAY. THANK YOU, TY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR TY? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. MOVING ALONG TO ITEM NUMBER SIX, [6. 26-56615 Recommendation to adopt the Request for Proposals for Arc Flash Study of All Offsite Facilities, award a contract to Phase Engineering, a California general partnership, for professional electrical engineering services, in an amount not to exceed $152,520 for a period of two years; and authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any amendments.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] ADOPT THE REQUEST FOR PROPO- PROPOSALS FOR ARC FLASH STUDY OF ALL OFFSITE FACILITIES AND AWARD A CONTRACT OF PHASE ENGINEERING A CALIFORNIA GENERAL PARTNERSHIP FOR PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SERVICES. DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED. A SECOND PLEASE. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. I'D LIKE TO CALL ON MIVU, PLEASE. UM, GOOD MORNING COMMISSIONERS AND EVERYONE'S IN THE BOARDROOM THIS MORNING. MY NAME IS MIVU AND I'M CURRENTLY OUR SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER WITH THE TRUMP PLANT DIVISIONS. UM, I PRIMARILY HELP SUPPORT AND MANAGE, UH, MULTIPLE DIVISIONAL PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS, UH, SPANNING FROM REGULATORY COMPLIANCE TO SPECIAL IN-HOUSE PROJECTS, UH, SUCH AS MAJOR MAINTENANCE OR FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT. AND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MYSELF, UM, I AM ACTUALLY A CAL STATE LONG BEACH ALUMNI AND, UH, AFTER GRADUATIONS, I, UH, STARTED WITH A DEPARTMENT AT AN ENGINEERING INTERN AND I HAVE BEEN WITH A DEPARTMENT EVER SINCE. SO, UM, TODAY I'M HERE REGARDING THE RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADOPT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR AN ARC FLASH STUDY OF ALL OFFSITE FACILITIES AND TO AWARD THE CONTRACT TO FACE ENGINEERING, UH, CALIFORNIA GENERAL PARTNERSHIP TO PROVIDE ELECTRICALS, UM, TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SERVICES, UM, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 152, UH, 520 DOLLARS FOR A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS. SO, UM, WHAT IS AN R FLASH? SO BASICALLY AN R FLASH IS, UM, A SUDDEN DANGEROUS BURST OF HEAT AND LIGHT, UH, CAUSED BY ELECTRIC CITIES. SO THEREFORE, THE R FLASH STUDY'S PURPOSE IS TO IDENTIFY, UM, ELECTRICAL HAZARDS AND ESTABLISH APPROPRIATE ELECTRICALS, UH, SAFETY LABELS TO PROTECT WORKERS AS WELL AS TO STAY, UH, WITHIN, UH, COMPLIANCE, UM, REGULATIONS, AND THEN ALSO ESTABLISH A BASELINE FOR FUTURE SYSTEM MODIFICATIONS AND PERIODIC, UH, PERIODIC, UH, SYSTEM UPDATE. ACTUALLY, AN R FLASH STUDY ALREADY COMPLETED AT THE TRUMAN PLANT, AND NOW WE WOULD LIKE TO CONDUCT THE STUDIES THROUGH ALL APPLICABLE THREE-PHASE, UH, ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS AT ALL OFFSITE FACILITIES, WHICH THE NUMBER IS 68. AND THESE OFFSITE FACILITIES INCLUDES, UM, GROUNDWATER WELLS, SEWER LIFT STATIONS, UH, SPRING AND WATERLOW CAMPUSES AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS, UH, FACILITIES. SO, UM, THIS ARC FLASH STUDY ACTUALLY WILL UTILIZE IN-HOUSE, UH, TALENTS, MEANING THAT THE PLANT DIVISION'S ELECTRICAL AND INSTRUMENTATIONS E&I STAFF WILL CONDUCT ALL OF THE, UH, DATA COLLECTIONS AS WELL AS VERIFICATION NEEDED. MEANWHILE, THE CONSULTANT WILL ONLY FOCUS ON BUILDING THE MODELS AS WELL AS ASSESSING, UH, OUR FLASH HAZARDS, AS WELL AS, UM, PROVIDING US WITH ANY MITIGATIONS RECOMMENDATION IF NEEDED. AND THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS WAS ALREADY ISSUED, UM, ON AUGUST, UM, 13 OF 2026, AND 17 PROPOSALS WERE RECEIVED AND EVALUATED BASED ON THE RELEVANT, UH, EXPERIENCES, UH, THE PROJECT UNDERSTANDING, THE PROPOSED PROJECT TEAM, AS WELL AS, UH, THE REASONABLENESS OF FEES. UM, UH, STAFF RECOMMEND PHASE ENGINEERINGS AS, UH, TO PROVIDE THE BEST OVERALL VALUES TO THE LONG BEACH PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT. AND THEN THEREFORE, STAFF RECOMMEND THAT THE BOARD TO AWARD THE CONTRACT TO PHASE ENGINEERING, UM, AND AUTHORIZE, [00:35:01] UM, THE GENERAL MANAGERS TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO ENTER THE CONTRACT WITH PHASE ENGINEERING, AND INCLUDING ALL OF NECESSARY, UM, AMENDMENT. SO THAT CONCLUDE MY ORAL REPORT, AND I'M OPEN TO ANY OF THE QUESTIONS, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. WELL, YEAH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT REPORT. YOU DID A, A GREAT JOB ON THAT. UM, I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE, CAME FROM CAL STATE LONG BEACH AND THAT WE GOT TO KEEP YOU. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GOOD WORK. UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? ANY COMMISSIONER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? YES. THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT. HOW LONG WILL THIS STUDY TAKE ONCE IT BEGINS? IS IT GONNA TAKE TWO YEARS TO COMPLETE THE STUDY? I MEAN, THAT'S THE LENGTH OF THE CONTRACT, BUT I WAS JUST CURIOUS, HOW LONG DO YOU ESTIMATE THE CONTRACT TO TAKE? UM, IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT A YEAR TO A YEAR AND A HALF, UH, BECAUSE, UM, WE HAVE, UM, THE DATA COLLECTIONS PHASE, WHICH WE ACTUALLY ALREADY, UM, KIND OF LIKE UNDERGOING CURRENTLY BECAUSE, UM, WE NOT ONLY NEED TO COLLECT THE DATA FROM OUR SIDE, BUT ALSO FROM THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON SIDE, UH, BECAUSE, SO THAT WE WANTED TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE INFORMATION AND PUT THAT INTO THE MODELS FOR BUILT BY THE, UH, CONSULTANT AND THEY WILL KIND OF LIKE PROVIDING THE RESULTS TO US. THANK YOU. OKAY. SEE NO, NO OTHER QUESTIONS. UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND TAKE A VOTE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? OKAY, MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU SO MUCH. GREAT JOB. ALL RIGHT. ITEM NUMBER SEVEN [7. 26-56616 Recommendation to authorize the General Manager to execute an agreement and any necessary documents including any amendments, with Brax Company, Inc., of Valley Center, California, for pump repair and replacement services, in an annual amount not to exceed $200,000 for a period of one year, with the option to renew for up to two additional one-year periods, for a total contract amount not to exceed 600,000.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] IS AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT IN ANY NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS WITH BRAX COMPANY INC. OF VALLEY CENTER, CALIFORNIA FOR PUMP REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT SERVICES. DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND? DO WE HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED. WE HAVE A MOTION AND WE ALSO HAVE A SECOND. OKAY. COMMISSIONER PARKIN. UH, NO PRESENTATION IS GOING TO BE GIVEN AT THIS TIME. STAFF IS AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. UH, DO I HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT BEFORE WE GO TO THE COMMISSION? I SEE NONE. DO WE HAVE ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? OKAY, LET'S GO AHEAD AND TAKE A VOTE ON ITEM NUMBER SEVEN. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ITEM NUMBER EIGHT IS ADOPT SPECIFICATIONS [8. 26-56617 Recommendation to adopt Specifications WD-05-25 and award a contract to Silverlake Constructors, of Los Angeles, California, for the Groundwater Treatment Plant Filter Gallery Valve Rehabilitation Project – Phase 2 (EO-3742), in a total amount not to exceed $3,639,369.98; and authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any amendments.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO SILVER TAKE CONSTRUCTIONS OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA FOR THE GROUNDWATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTER GALLERY VALVE REHABILITATION PROJECT. AND THIS IS FOR PHASE TWO. AND ITEM NUMBER NINE, WHICH WE'RE TAKING IT [9. 26-56618 Recommendation to adopt Request for Proposal (RFP) to provide Construction Management and Inspection Services for the Groundwater Treatment Plant Filter Gallery Valve Rehabilitation Project – Phase 2 (EO-3742), and award a contract to Accenture Infrastructure and Capital Projects, LLC, of Chicago, Illinois, in a total amount not to exceed $782,684.00, for a period of three years; and authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any amendments.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] TOGETHER, IS ADOPT THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION SERVICES FOR GROUNDWATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTER GALLERY VALVE REPLACEMENT PROJECT, ALSO PHASE TWO. UH, WE'LL HAVE ONE PRESENTATION FOR BOTH ITEMS THIS MORNING AND WE'LL VOTE ON BOTH ITEMS TOGETHER. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND, PLEASE? SO MOVED. I HAVE A MOTION COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. UM, AND I'D LIKE TO CALL ON DONNA MONSOON. GOOD MORNING, DONNA. MORNING. UM, GOOD MORNING, COMMISSIONERS. SO I'M GONNA PRESENT ITEMS NUMBER EIGHT AND NINE THIS MORNING. IT'S, UH, REGARDING THE GROUNDWATER TREATMENT PLANT VALVE REHABILITATION PHASE TWO. SO FOR SOME BACKGROUND, OUR TREATMENT PLAN IS OVER 30 YEARS OLD NOW, AND OVER THE YEARS WE'VE CONDUCTED VARIOUS STUDIES AND CONDITION ASSESSMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING UP WITH OUR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS. UH, ONE OF THESE, UH, CONDITION ASSESSMENTS WAS CONDUCTED IN 2020 AND IT WAS SPECIFIC TO THE FILTER GALLERY, AND THAT'S SHOWN OVER HERE ON THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT. SO THE FILTER GALLERY TAKES CARE OF ALL OUR FILTERS. UNDERNEATH IT IS OUR LARGE FILTER GALLERY, WHICH IS ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL OUR PIPING AND OUR VALVES. UM, THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THIS STUDY INCLUDED THE REPLACEMENT OF 55 VALVES AND 62 ACTUATORS, AS LO - AS WELL AS MISCELLANEOUS REPAIRS AND ELECTRICAL UPGRADES. SO ON THE BOTTOM THERE, YOU CAN SEE TWO PHOTOS OF THE REPAIRS THAT WE WANNA HANDLE. UM, THE ONE ON THE LEFT IS CORROSION ON TOP OF THE BONNET OF A VALVE, AND ON THE RIGHT IS SOME MINOR SEEPAGE, UH, FROM A PIPE PENETRATION IN A WALL. UH, SO THE ACTUAL PROJECT, THE VALVE AND ACTUATOR REHABILITATION, PHASE ONE WAS COMPLETED IN 2024, AND THIS PHASE REPLACED 27 BUTTERFLY VALVES AND 32 ACTUATORS. IT ALSO INCLUDED SOME PIPE REHAB AND INTERIOR WALL CRACK REPAIRS. PHASE TWO, WE'RE PROPOSING TO COMPLETE IN 2028. THIS WILL REPLACE 28 BUTTERFLY VALVES AND 33 ACTUATORS. WE'LL ALSO INCLUDE SOME PIPE REHABILITATION AND NOW, UH, CRACK REPAIRS FOR THE EXTERIOR WALLS. UH, HERE YOU CAN SEE TWO PHOTOS, UH, ONE OF THE ACTUAL BUTTERFLY VALVE. THOSE ARE THE, THE VALVES THAT WE'LL BE REPLACING, AND ON THE RIGHT, THE ACTUATORS. THAT'S WHAT ACTUALLY CONTROLS AND OPENS AND CLOSES [00:40:01] THE VALVES. UH, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION PHASING, SO THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE BIDDER WAS SILVER LAKE CONSTRUCTORS. THEIR SCOPE OF WORK IS GOING TO INCLUDE THREE SHUTDOWNS AT OUR TREATMENT PLANT. THE FIRST SHUTDOWN ACTUALLY COINCIDES WITH THE FULL PLANT SHUTDOWN, WHICH IS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER TO NOVEMBER 2027 NEXT YEAR. SO THIS SHUTDOWN WILL ENABLE US TO HAVE ACCESS TO FIVE VALVES AND ACTUATORS AND TWO ADDITIONAL 24 INCH VALVES AND ACTUATORS THAT WE WOULD NORMAL- NORMALLY NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS WHEN THE PLANT IS IN SERVICE. SO WE WILL BE ABLE TO REPLACE ALL OF THESE VALVES, CONDUCT SOME MINOR PIPE REHABILITATION, AND ALSO DO THE WALL PENETRATION REPAIRS. THAT'S THE SEEPAGE THAT YOU SAW IN THE PREVIOUS PHOTO. THE NEXT SHUTDOWN, SHUTDOWN NUMBER TWO, WILL ISOLATE THE NORTH AND SOUTH FILTERS. YOU SEE THE PHOTO OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH FILTERS ON THE LEFT THERE. UH, THIS WILL ENABLE US TO WORK ON THE SOUTH FILTERS WHILE KEEPING THE NORTH FILTERS IN SERVICE. SO FOR THE SOUTH FILTERS, WE HAVE PLANNED FOR 10 VALVES REPLACEMENTS AND, SORRY, 15 VALVE REPLACEMENTS AND 15 ACTUATORS, AS WELL AS SOME PIPE REHABILITATION. AND THIS WILL TAKE PLACE BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER OF 2027. THE LAST PHASE OF THE PROJECT, SHUTDOWN NUMBER THREE, IS JUST SHUTDOWNS TO INDIVIDUAL FILTERS WHILE THE OTHER FILTERS CAN REMAIN IN SERVICE. THIS IS PLANNED FOR JANUARY TO APRIL OF 2028 AND WILL ENABLE US TO ACCESS AN ADDITIONAL 10 VALVES AND ACTUATORS, CONDUCT SOME MINOR PIPE REHABILITATION, AND SOME STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS TO EACH FILTER AS WE TAKE IT OUT OF SERVICE. SO THROUGHOUT CONSTRUCTION, WE WILL HAVE A CONSULTANT ON BOARD, THAT'S ACCENTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPITAL PROJECTS, WHO WILL BE PROVIDING CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION SERVICES. THEY WILL ALSO BE PERFORMING OFFICE ENGINEERING AND SUPPORT, MAINTAINING ONCE AGAIN, FULL-TIME INSPECTION AND BEING THE COORDINATION POINT BETWEEN, UH, ENGINEERING OPERATIONS AND THE CONTRACTOR AS WELL. AND WE'VE WORKED WITH ACCENTURE IN A COUPLE PROJECTS ALREADY, AND WE'RE, WE'RE CONFIDENT THAT THEY'LL BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE RFP. NOW FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS. FOR ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, ON SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2026, STAFF PUBLISHED A NOTICE INVITING BIDS FOR THE PROJECT. 237 POTENTIAL FIRMS WERE NOTIFIED. 11 PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS DOWNLOADED THE BID DOCUMENT. ON OCTOBER 8TH, 2026, SIX BIDS WERE RECEIVED AND OPENED, AND AFTER EVALUATING THE BIDS RECEIVED, THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE BID SUBMITTED BY SILVER LAKE CONSTRUCTORS IN THE AMOUNT OF $3.6 MILLION WAS FOUND TO BE IN CONFORMANCE WITH THE BID DOCUMENTS. SO STAFF RECOMMENDS TO ADOPT SPECIFICATIONS WD0525 AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO SILVER LAKE CONSTRUCTORS OF LA CALIFORNIA FOR THE GROUNDWATER TREATMENT PLANT FILTER GALLERY VALVE REHABILITATION PROJECT PHASE TWO IN A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $3.6 MILLION AND AUTHORIZE A GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO THE CONTRACT, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS. FOR ITEM NUMBER NINE. ON APRIL 14TH, 2026, STAFF SOLICITED THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION SERVICES FOR THE PROJECT. WE RECEIVED ONE PROPOSAL AND WE RECOMMEND AWARDING TO ACCENTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPITAL PROJECTS DUE TO THEIR PROJECT UNDERSTANDING, COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT APPROACH AND EXPERIENCE ON SIMILAR PROJECTS. THE NOT TO EXCEED AMOUNT FOR THEIR SERVICES IS $782,000. SO STAFF RECOMMENDS TO ADOPT THE RFP TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION SERVICES FOR THE PROJECT AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO ACCENTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPITAL PROJECTS OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS IN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $782,000 FOR A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS AND AUTHORIZE A GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO ENTER INTO THE CONTRACT, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS. THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. I CAN TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DONNA. APPRECIATE THAT. UM, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR. DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? OKAY, SEEING NONE, ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? OKAY, SEEING NONE. LET'S GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE VOTE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? THANK YOU. MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU, DONNA. ALL RIGHT. LET'S MOVE ON TO ITEM [10. 26-56619 Recommendation to adopt Specifications WD-11-26 and award a contract to Lucas Builders, Inc., of La Habra, California, for the Los Cerritos Channel at Bixby Hill Retaining Wall Repair (MC-5264), in a total amount not to exceed $1,403,800.00; and authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any amendments.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] NUMBER 10, UH, WHICH IS ADOPT SPECIFICATIONS AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO LUCAS BUILDERS INC. OF LA HABRA, CALIFORNIA FOR THE LOS CERRITOS CHANNEL AT BIXBY HILL RETAINING WALL REPAIR. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION ON THIS? A SECOND. WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER PARKIN AND A SECOND. SECOND. COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE. UH, I'D LIKE TO CALL ON CHRIS PINCIARELLI, PLEASE. HI, CHRIS. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING, COMMISSIONERS. MORNING. I'M HERE TO PRESENT ON ITEM 10 TODAY. UH, IN FEBRUARY OF 2025, A WATER MAIN BREAK OCCURRED ON THE 24 INCH STEEL CYLINDER CONCRETE TRANSMISSION MAIN WITHIN THE BIXBY NEIGHBORHOOD. UM, THE RESULTING [00:45:01] WATER FROM THE MAIN BREAK DAMAGED THE RETAINING WALL ALONG THE LOS CERRITOS CHANNEL. THE CURRENT SITUATION, UM, IS THAT WE HAVE A TEMPORARY FENCE OVER SECURING THE AREA AS WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THE DESIGN AND PERMITTING PROCESS. THE OBJECTIVE, THE PROJECT INCLUDES REPAIR AND RECONSTRUCTION OF AN EXISTING RETAINING WALL ALONG THE LOS CERRITOS CHANNEL AT BIXBY HILL, INCLUDING THE DEMOLITION OF THE DETERIORATED SECTIONS OF CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT RETAINING WALL, REPLACEMENT OF THE FOUNDATION WITH A 24 INCH DIAMETER EMBEDDED PILE TO 20 FEET DEEP, AND THE INSTALLATION OF A NEW CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT WALL. TWO BIDS WERE RECEIVED AND EVALUATED. STAFF RECOMMENDS TO ADOPT SPECIFICATION WD1126 AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO LUCAS BUILDERS INC. OF LA HABRA, CALIFORNIA FOR THE LOS CERRITOS CHANNEL AT BIXBY HILL RETAINING WALL REPAIR, MC5264, IN A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $1,403,800 AND TO AUTHORIZE A GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY AND TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS. WITH THAT, I'LL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, APPRECIATE THAT. DO WE HAVE, WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? OKAY. ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER PARKIN. CHRIS, THANK YOU. I'M GLAD TO SEE THIS FINALLY COMING FORWARD. UM, CAN YOU TELL US ONCE THE, ASSUMING WE AWARD THE CONTRACT TODAY, WHEN WOULD CONSTRUCTION BEGIN? CONSTRUCTION WILL BEGIN MOST LIKELY IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY. AND, AND THE REASON I ASK IS THAT'S AN ACCESS WAY AND I KNOW THE COUNCIL DISTRICT IN THAT AREA FOR THE CITY IS CONCERNED ABOUT ACCESS FOR THE CHILDREN TO AND FROM THE SCHOOL. WILL ACCESS BE MAINTAINED DURING CONSTRUCTION? SO A BYPASS OF THE BIKE PATH WILL BE SET UP. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING, REACHING OUT TO PUBLIC WORKS, UM, TO COORDINATE THAT WORK. BUT DURING THE WORK AND THE TIGHT AREA, I WILL - YEAH, I KNOW IT IS VERY TIGHT. UM, BY THE TIME THEY PUT A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AND START TO TURN IT, YOU CAN'T PUT ANYTHING ELSE THERE. AND FOR SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC AND ANYONE ACCESSING THAT, THAT BIKE PATH WILL BE REQUIRED TO BE SHUT DOWN ENTIRELY. AND HOW LONG DO YOU ANTICIPATE CONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE? 120 DAYS. ALL RIGHT. AND HAS THIS, I'M ASSUMING, BEEN COMMUNICATED WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICE SO THEY CAN LET THE SCHOOLS KNOW BOTH THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL? THERE'S AN EFFORT IN PLACE TO DO ADVANCED NOTIFICATION, UH, COORDINATION WITH PUBLIC WORKS, ESTABLISHING A BIKE PATH. THERE WERE CRITICAL CONCERNS FROM THE COMMUNITY DEALING WITH THE NEIGHBORHOODS AS A RESULT OF, UM, THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THEN OTHER PROGRAMS THAT WERE IN THE VICINITY THAT, UH, THAT MINORS WOULD USE WITH THE BIKES. SO AS CHRIS POINTED OUT, THERE, THERE ARE ALTERNATIVE, ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO BE ESTABLISHED AND NOTIFICATION. THE, THE NUMBER ONE CONCERN THAT WAS COME FORTH FROM THE COMMUNITY BEFORE WAS THAT WITHIN, WITHOUT ENOUGH ADVANCED NOTIFICATION, IN MANY CASES, THEY WERE UNABLE TO ESTABLISH ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE ISSUE. AS CHRIS POINTED OUT FROM A CONSTRUCTION PERSPECTIVE, THERE IS NO PHYSICAL SOLUTION AT THE CONSTRUCTION LOCATION ITSELF, RATHER IT'S BETWEEN US, PUBLIC WORKS, COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION TO TRY TO ESTABLISH ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS TO, TO THAT THROUGHWAY. THOMAS - I TOTALLY AGREE. I JUST THINK THAT, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE INVOLVE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SO THAT THEY'RE AWARE OF OUR PLANS AND, AND HOW LONG WE'LL BE OCCUPYING THAT SPACE. AND THEN I'M NOT SURE PUBLIC WORKS CAN HELP COMMUNICATE THE ALTERNATIVE ROUTING OF, OF THE STUDENTS, ET CETERA, DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. YEAH. UNDERSTOOD. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THOMAS, DID YOU HAVE A CLARIFICATION? JUST WANTED TO ADD TO THAT. YES, THERE'S A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH JOY, UH, ON, ON REACHING OUT TO THE, UH, COUNCIL, UH, DISTRICT ASSOCIATED WITH THAT AREA, THE SCHOOL AS WELL AS PUBLIC WORKS. UH, JUST A MINOR CLARIFICATION ON THE START OF CONSTRUCTION. RIGHT NOW, UH, BECAUSE OF THE COORDINATION THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WITH PUBLIC WORKS AND ALSO SOME OF THE CRITICAL SUBMITTALS THAT NEED TO BE SUBMITTED BEFORE WE START CONSTRUCTION, WE'RE ANTICIPATING LATE FEBRUARY, EARLY MARCH CONSTRUCTION START TIMEFRAME, AND WE WILL, WE'VE BEEN COMMUNICATING THAT WITH THE HOMEOWNERS AS WELL, UH, INCLUDING THE HOA. SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT CLARIFICATION REAL QUICK. THANK YOU. I, I HAVE A, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY OFF BASE QUESTION, JUST LOOKING AT THE PHOTO, THESE ARE RESI - THESE, THIS WALL ABUTS RESIDENTIAL HOMES, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT. ALL RIGHT. AND SO LOOKING AT THE, THE PHOTO HERE, UM, [00:50:02] ARE, ARE WE, WHAT ARE WE REPLACING? ARE WE REPLACING THE, A SIX FOOT WALL OR IS A, IS IT A 10 FOOT WALL? BECAUSE WHAT IT LOOKS HERE IS THAT THE WALL IS, HAS BEEN AUGMENTED, AT LEAST ONE THAT'S INTACT. UM, AND SO JUST, JUST CUR- CURIOUS, WHAT ARE WE OBLIGATED TO REPLACE? SO WE ARE REPLACING 80 FEET IN LENGTH OF A 13 FOOT TALL WALL. IT IS ABOUT EIGHT FOOT OF RETAINING WALL THAT IS HOLDING BACK SOIL, AND THEN A SIX FOOT PRIVACY WALL ON TOP OF THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? JUST A REAL QUICK ONE. UM, YOU, YOU ADDRESS THAT THE ENGINEER'S ESTIMATE IS LOWER, UM, AND FOR TWO REASONS, AND ONE'S THE COMPETITIVE BUSIN - BI- BIDDING RESULTS, BUT ALSO THE CURRENT CONSTRUCTION MARKETING CONDITIONS. DOES THAT HAVE TO BE DIRECTLY RELATED TO TARIFFS? IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THERE? UM, THERE ARE MULTIPLE. UM, ONE IS TARIFFS OR ONE IS THE COST OF DIESEL, UM - DIESEL. AND DELIVERY COSTS. UM, THE OTHER IS JUST ACCESS TO THE FACILITY. SO WE DO A LOT OF WORK AND, AND BUILDING A WALL IS A, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T DO IT HERE, IT'S A SIMILAR THING THAT A LOT OF ENGINEERS DO, BUT DOING IT IN THIS TIGHT OF AN AREA, UM, ADDS A COMPLICATION. GREAT. GREAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU, CHRIS, VERY MUCH. UM, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. ITEM NUMBER 11, WE'RE [11. 26-56620 Recommendation to authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. WD-3706 with Carollo Engineers, Inc., of Walnut Creek, California, for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Haynes Generating Station Recycled Water Pipeline Project (REO-0213), to increase the contract amount by $350,244, for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $1,914,431.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] GONNA HAVE DONNA BACK UP, AUTHORIZE A GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO AMEND THE CONTRACT WITH CARROYO ENGINEERS OF WALNUT CREEK FOR LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER, HAYNES POWER GENERATING STATION, RECYCLED WATER PIPELINE PROJECT. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR THIS ITEM, PLEASE? OKAY. I HAVE A MOTION BY, UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. UH, YES, DONNA, YOU'RE BACK UP. THANK YOU. HELLO AGAIN. ALL RIGHT. UH, THIS NEXT ITEM IS TO PER - TO PERFORM THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE LADWP GENERATING STATION RECYCLED WATER PIPELINE PROJECT. SO FOR SOME BACKGROUND, UM, THE LADWP HAINES GENERATING STATION IS LOCATED AT 6801 EAST 2ND STREET THAT'S SHOWN ON THE MAP HERE ON THE RIGHT. UM, THEY CURRENTLY USE A ONCE THROUGH COOLING SYSTEM, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY USE OCEAN WATER FOR COOLING AND DISCHARGE IT BACK INTO THE OCEAN AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE. SO ON JUNE 23RD, 2022, THE BOARD ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH LADWP TO MANAGE THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A RECYCLED WATER AND A SEWER PIPELINE TO ADDRESS THE PLANT'S FUTURE NEEDS, THAT IS DISCONTINUING THE USE OF ONCE THROUGH COOLING. UH, THE APPROVED... WE ALSO APPROVED AN ENGINEERING DESIGN SERVICES AGREEMENT, WD3706 WITH CAROLLO ENGINEERS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS. UH, THE RECYCLED WATER PIPELINE PROJECT, YOU CAN SEE THE ACTUAL ALIGNMENT OVER HERE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE. WE ARE CONNECTING TO AN EXISTING 21 INCH RECYCLED WATER MAIN LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF ATHERTON AND STUDEBAKER. WE'RE RUNNING THE PIPELINE DOWN THE FRONTAGE ROADS AND THE MAIN STUDEBAKER ROAD PROPER SOUTH ALL THE WAY CLOSER TO THE 22 FREEWAY. WE'RE CROSSING THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER USING THE COLLEGE PARK DRIVE BRIDGE, CROSSING UNDERNEATH THE 22 FREEWAY USING A MICRO TUNNEL AND CONNECTING TO THE NORTH SIDE OF HAINES HERE ON THE CONNECT - CUSTOMER POINT OF CONNECTION. UH, JUST TO NOTE, A PORTION OF THIS PIPELINE IS LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. SO FOR THE PROJECT STATUS, CONSTRUCTION IS ONGOING ALONG THE STUDEBAKER SERVICE ROAD AND STUDEBAKER PROPER. UM, THE FIRST POINT FOR THE CALTRANS PERMIT, WE ACTUALLY RECEIVED THE CALTRANS PERMIT EARLIER THIS WEEK, WHICH WILL ENABLE US TO WORK ON THE 22 FREEWAY OFF-RAMP. WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH TO GET AN FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH THEM, AND WE'RE UNDER COORDINATION WITH THEM FOR ANY PROJECTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE INSTALLING WITHIN THEIR CITY BOUNDARIES. UH, LASTLY, THE CONTRACTOR WAS ABLE TO GET A COU - A PERMIT FROM THE LA COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT FOR DEWATERING THAT HAS ENABLED THEM TO ACTUALLY PERFORM WORK IN THE, IN THE, UH, DEEPEST PART OF THE PROJECT, WHICH IS LOCATED ON ANAHEIM AND STUDEBAKER. SO THE PROPOSED CHANGES AND ADDITIONS TO THE ENGINEERING SERVICES, WE ARE UPSIZING THE PIPELINE SECTION ALONG THE COLLEGE PARK DRIVE FROM 16 TO 24 INCH, AND THAT IS TO SUPPORT THE FUTURE RECYCLED WATER NEEDS OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. WE ARE ALSO CONSTRUCTING AN ADDITIONAL MICRO TUNNEL UNDERNEATH THE 22 FREEWAY TO ACCOMMODATE POTENTIAL FUTURE SERVICE CONNECTION TO LEISURE ROLE IN THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. WE WILL BE COMPLETING A SEISMIC EVALUATION OF THE COLLEGE PARK DRIVE BRIDGE FOR THE PIPELINE SUPPORT SINCE WE ARE HANGING THE PIPELINE FROM THAT BRIDGE. WE WILL BE, UH, ADDING A REMOTE MOTOR ACTUATED VALVE FOR HAYNES RECYCLED WATER SUPPORTS TO CONTROL THE SUPPLY OF RECYCLED [00:55:01] WATER IN CASE WE EVER DON'T HAVE THE SUPPLY, WE CAN CUT OFF THE FLOW AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO USE PORTABLE WATER INSTEAD. AND LASTLY, WE'RE EXTENDING THE ENGINEERING SERVICES, UH, SUPPORT SERVICES DURING CONSTRUCTION, WHICH IS RELATED TO ALL THE ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS AND DESIGN CHANGES THAT WE'RE MAKING HERE. SO AS DESIGN HAS PROGRESSED, THESE ADDITIONAL SCOPE ITEMS WERE DETERMINED TO BE NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THE REGIONAL OPERATIONS AND AGENCY COORDINATION. THESE ITEMS WERE NOT A PART OF THE ORIGINAL SCOPE OF WORK AND THEY EMERGED AS ADDITIONAL NEEDS DURING THE PROJECT AS FURTHER DISCUSSIONS AND COORDINATION EFFORTS WITH THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH TOOK PLACE. SO STAFF RECOMMENDS TO AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO AMEND CONTRACT NUMBER WD3706 WITH CAROLLO ENGINEERS OF WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA FOR THE LADWP HAINES GENERATING STATION RECYCLED WATER PIPELINE PROJECT TO INCREASE THE CONTRACT AMOUNT BY $350,000 FOR A REVISED TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 1.9 MILLION. THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. I CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU GUYS HAVE. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DONNA. ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? SEEING NONE, ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER PARKIN. TH- THANK YOU. UM, FIRST OF ALL, TH- THIS 300 ADDITIONAL MONEY FOR THE, UH, PROJECT IS REIMBURSABLE BY LADWP? PORTION OF IT. SO GOING BACK TO OUR LIST, UM, ALL THE ITEMS HERE THAT ARE RELATED TO THE FUTURE SALE OF RECYCLED WATER TO SEAL BEACH WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FROM LONG BEACH SIDE. HAYNES HAS AGREED TO SPLIT THE COST FIFTY FIFTY. THE OTHER ITEMS, WHICH INCLUDE THE SEISMIC EVALUATION, THE REMOTE ACTUATED VALVE, THOSE ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO LADWP AND THEIR NEEDS, AND THOSE ARE COVERED BY THEM. AND, AND WHAT CAUSED US TO DO THIS FOR SEAL BEACH AND THE MICRO TUNNEL, THE ADDITIONAL MICRO TUNNEL? IS THAT A CONDITION OF THE PERMIT FROM SEAL BEACH? IT'S NOT, BUT IT'S RELATED TO OUR FUTURE, I BELIEVE IT'S THE RECYCLED WATER MASTER PLAN AND THE DIS - THE POTENTIAL SALE FOR THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, WHICH IDENTIFIED THAT THEY DO NEED RECYCLED WATER IN THE FUTURE, INCLUDING FOR LEISURE WORLD AND OTHER IRRIGATION NEEDS IN THE CITY. A- AND WE HAVE SUFFICIENT RECYCLED WATER TO PROVIDE TO SEAL BEACH? I BELIEVE THAT'S PART OF THE RECYCLED WATER MASTER PLAN AS WELL, CORRECT? COMMISSIONER PARKIN, I'M GONNA ASK DEAN TO GIVE YOU A PERSPECTIVE OF THE WATER RESOURCES PLAN THAT THE BOARD JUST ALSO RECEIVED AND FILED AS WELL AS RELATES TO THE RECYCLED WATER. RIGHT, AND SO, UM, TH- THIS IS PART OF A MULTI-YEAR EFFORT, AND AS PART OF THE WATER- WATER RESOURCES PLAN, WE HAD IDENTIFIED THE ADDITIONAL, UH, WATER, UM, RECYCLED WATER RESOURCE FROM THE LOS COYOTES WATER RECLAMATION PLANT THAT WE'RE GONNA WORK ON BRINGING THAT SUPPLY DOWN. UH, IF THAT DOES NOT MATERIALIZE, IT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT, UH, RECYCLED WATER AVAILABILITY, UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, THE WATER RESOURCES PLAN DOES IDENTIFY THAT ADDITIONAL SUPPLY AS, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, ONE OF OUR PRIMARY, UH, FUTURE PROJECTS. OKAY. THANK YOU. I- I- I THINK IT'S GREAT IF WE HAVE IT TO OUTSOURCE IT, THAT'D BE FANTASTIC. SO, SO DO WE HAVE A PERMIT FROM SEAL BEACH TO CROSS THAT BRIDGE, AND IS IT DEPENDENT ON THE STUDY, I'M SURE? THAT'S THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY COORDINATING WITH THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. SO THIS IS NOT A CONDITION OF APPROVAL, BUT THIS IS RELATED, ONCE AGAIN, TO, UM, THE RECYCLED WATER AVAILABILITY THAT WE'LL HAVE IN THE FUTURE. A- AND WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T GET THAT PERMIT? DO THESE PROJECTS STILL GO FORWARD? WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ENTER THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, SO WE WOULD NEED TO PROVIDE WATER TO HAYNES THROUGH AN ADDITIONAL, UH, LINE DOWN STUDEBAKER, POTENTIALLY. SO WOULDN'T WE WAIT UNTIL WE GET THE PERMIT FROM SEAL BEACH BEFORE WE SPEND THE MONEY TO DESIGN THE THINGS THAT MAY GO INTO SEAL BEACH? UNFORTUNATELY, IN CONSTRUCTION, WE'RE ALREADY AT A POINT WHERE WE'RE ABOUT TO INSTALL THE 16-INCH PIPELINE IN COLLEGE PARK DRIVE, SO THAT'S THE PIPELINE HERE. SO NOW THAT WE HAVE THE CALTRANS PERMIT, THE CONTRACTOR IS ABOUT TO ENTER THE 22 OFF-RAMP AND ENTER INTO THIS AREA WITH A 16-INCH PIPELINE. RIGHT. SO RATHER THAN INSTALL 16-INCH PIPELINE NOW AND HAVE TO COME BACK IN THE FUTURE AND UPSIZE IT, WE'RE TAKING THE DECISION NOW TO UPSIZE THE PIPELINE. AND THEN IT'LL JUST STOP, IT'LL TERMINATE RIGHT THERE UNTIL WE GET A PERMIT. IT WOULD STOP RIGHT HERE, RIGHT BEFORE THE BRIDGE. THAT'S CORRECT. AND WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY SAY NO? WOULD WE GO UNDER THE FREEWAY AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION OR? SO THE ALTERNATIVE ALIGNMENT THAT WE'VE, WE'VE NOTED FOR THIS PIPELINE JUST FOR HAYNES ALONE, WOULD HAVE TO GO DOWN STUDEBAKER ROAD ALL THE WAY DOWN THIS WAY TO THE SECOND STREET AND FEED HAYNES FROM THE SOUTHERN SIDE. SO THERE'S A PORTION OF THIS LINE THAT WE COULD UTILIZE TO, TO GO UNDERNEATH THE 22 FREEWAY, SINCE WE CAN'T USE THE BRIDGE ON STUDEBAKER TO CROSS THE 22 FREEWAY. SO THERE'S A PORTION OF THE PIPELINE THAT WE WOULD BE UTILIZING. OKAY. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. [01:00:02] ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY. SO I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED. SO HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? SEAL BEACH CAME TO US AND SAID, DURING DISCUSSIONS, WE PROBABLY ALERTED THEM THAT WE'RE DOING THIS AND THEY SAID, "WELL, HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE COULD BENEFIT FROM?" IS IT AS... I KNOW IT'S NOT AS SIMPLE AS THAT, BUT - IT'S CORRECT. OKAY. IN, IN, IN A NUTSHELL, WHEN WE WERE DOING DESIGN OF THIS PROJECT, THEY NOTED THAT THEY HAD SOME MINOR IRRIGATION NEEDS FOR EDISON PARK, WHICH IS LOCATED HERE. UM, WE, I BELIEVE WE WERE ABLE TO SUPPLY THEM WITH A SINGLE TWO INCH RECYCLED WATER SERVICE GIVEN THE 16 INCH PIPELINE CROSSING THE BRIDGE. HOWEVER, AS CONSTRUCTION HAS PROGRESSED AND WE KEEP CONTINUING TO DO COORDINATION WITH SEAL BEACH, THEY'VE NOTED ADDITIONAL RECYCLED WATER NEEDS. THAT'S TO THE LEISURE WORLD COMMUNITY LOCATED HERE AND OTHER IRRIGATION SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH. GREAT. WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS IS, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO ABOUT SIGNAL HILL AND A PARTNERSHIP THAT WE WERE BEGINNING TO HAVE WITH THEM, AND THEN NOW SEAL BEACH. SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW, I THINK IT, IT COULD PUTS US IN A, A REALLY GOOD POSITION TO BE ABLE TO, TO SUPPORT SOME OF OUR SURROUNDING CITIES, UH, WITH OUR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE. ANATOL? I THINK ONE OF THE, THE THINGS THAT I'LL DISCUSS WITH THE BOARD HERE IS THAT YOU HAVE THE ASPECT OF COMMUNITIES THAT SHOULD BE WORKING WITH EACH OTHER TO GRANT PERMITS. AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAVE COMMUNITIES THAT COME FORWARD AND SAY, "WELL, I HAVE MY OWN SET OF CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO SATISFY MY COMMUNITY THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR PROJECT." UM, WE FIND OURSELVES IN THAT SITUATION HERE WHERE WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORLY IN THE BENEFITS OF FURTHERING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HOPES OF FUTURE BENEFITS AS WELL. AND I'LL BE BRIEF AND JUST SIMPLY SAY THAT IN MANY CASES WE HAVE FOUND THE COMMUNITIES AT IMPASSE AND UNWILLING TO WHAT SHOULD BE JUST SIMPLY A NORMAL PERMIT. UM, I'M BRIEF ON PURPOSE, UH, BUT THAT IS PERHAPS PROBABLY THE FOUNDATION OF WHY THE NATURE OF COMMISSIONER PARKINS' QUESTIONS I THINK ARE ON POINT BECAUSE IT NOW CONVEYS A SENSE OF THAT SOMEHOW THE TIMING IS OFF. THE TIMING WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE OFF. UM, IT'S JUST SIMPLY THE COMMUNITY'S TRYING TO WORK IT OUT. THOMAS, DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS ON THAT? YES, THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT, UH, COMMENT, ANATOLD. SO IT'S A MATTER OF TIMING. UM, THE, I THINK WHETHER WE, UH, WERE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE NEGOTIATION OR THE CONVERSATION WITH THE FRA - UH, REGARDING THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT OR NOT, I SEE IT MORE OF A TIMING ISSUE ON US PROVIDING A COMMON GROUND FOR THE RESIDENTS OF SEAL BEACH AND, AND US TO MOVE FORWARD WITH. UH, UNFORTUNATELY THERE'S A LITTLE GAP HERE WITH REGARDS TO TIMING, BUT TO ANSWER YOUR, UH, QUESTION, COMMISSIONER PARKINS, UM, I DON'T, WE DON'T SEE IT AS A STOP. I THINK WE'LL FIND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD AND BE ABLE TO PROVIDE HAYNES WITH THE RECYCLED WATER PLANT. IT'S JUST THERE'S A LITTLE GAP IN TIMING AS TO WHEN WE COMPLETE THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT. I'M VERY OPTIMISTIC. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT. UM, THE, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD WAS IF YOU HAVE TO REROUTE IT, I DON'T THINK GOING DOWN STUDEBAKER IS AN OPTION ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY'VE JUST FINISHED THAT SECTION OF STUDEBAKER REMODEL AND THE OUTCRY WOULD BE, I THINK, INTENSE. SO INITIALLY FOR THE PROJECT, THE DESIGN WAS GOING DOWN STUDEBAKER, BUT THAT'S WHEN WE NOTICED THAT PUBLIC WORKS HAD THAT PROJECT FOR THE ENTIRETY OF STUDEBAKER. SO THROUGHOUT OUR DISCUSSIONS WITH LADWP, THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE PIVOTED TO GOING THIS ROUTE. NOW, IF WE DO HAVE TO GO DOWN STUDEBAKER, IT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSIONS WITH LADWP, WHETHER THEY WANT TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY OF CURB TO CURB REPAVING OF STUDEBAKER, IF POSSIBLE, OR AWAIT THE FIVE-YEAR MORATORIUM TO COME BACK AND INSTALL THIS PIPELINE. SO THAT LITTLE BIT OF TIME IS NOW FIVE YEARS. JUST, I'M TEASING. THANK YOU. I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S IMPORTANT, COMMISSIONER PARKER, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE BOARD TO UNDERSTAND WHAT... LADWP IS, IN ESSENCE, ANOTHER PUBLIC AGENCY THEY'RE LIVING WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY. THEY'RE FACING A STATE REGULATORY REQUIREMENT THAT THEY CANNOT USE SEAWATER FOR ONCE THROUGH COOLING. THAT, THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE. UM, PERHAPS IN THE UNDERCURRENT OF THIS CONVERSATION IS, WELL, THESE THINGS ARE REALLY COMPLEX IN TRYING TO GIVE THEM AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE, RECYCLED WATER, AND TRYING TO MAKE THAT WORK. AND THERE'S AN, A SUBTEXT TO THIS, WHICH IS, SO HOW DOES THIS WORK? IF, IF THE RECYCLED WATER CAN'T PHYSICALLY MAKE ITS WAY TO THEM AND THEY'RE UNDER THIS MANDATE, IT SEEMS THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN. WELL, IT CAN HAPPEN BECAUSE THEY COULD SIMPLY TURN TO US AND DEMAND DRINKING WATER. IT SEEMS [01:05:01] OUTRAGEOUS, BUT IN ORDER TO SATISFY THE STATE MANDATE, THEY ARE A CUSTOMER WITHIN OUR BOUNDARIES. THEY'D BE A COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER. THEY WOULD TURN TO US AND THEY WOULD SAY, "I'M GONNA TURN THE FAUCET ON AND I'M GONNA DEMAND THAT YOU SUPPLY ME WITH POTABLE WATER TO COOL A POWER PLANT." WE CAN DO THAT, AND YET AT THE SAME TIME, WE BELIEVE IT'S IN THE BEST INTEREST OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT THAT WE CONTINUE TO PURSUE THIS ANGLE AND TRY TO FIND A RECYCLED WATER SOLUTION. SO WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THESE THINGS ALL IN CONCERT, UM, NOTWITHSTANDING THE SUBTEXT OF SOME OF THE QUESTIONS OF, WELL, WHAT HAPPENS IF THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN? IF THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN, THE POWER PLANT WILL CONTINUE. IT WILL TURN INTO A POTABLE WATER MANDATE. WE WILL PROVIDE THEM THE WATER UNDER JUST ANY OTHER CUSTOMER, AND THEN THEY WILL COOL THE PLANT IN THAT MANNER. SO, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO TRY TO PURSUE THESE OPTIONS AND DELIVER IN THIS MANNER. UM, BUT IT'S NOT TO SAY THAT SOMEHOW THE RECYCLED WA - THE POWER PLANT WILL LOSE ITS ABILITY TO OPERATE. THAT, THAT'S ONE OF THE CRITICAL THINGS THAT LEDWP MUST ASSURE ITSELF OF. OKAY. NO OTHER FURTHER QUESTIONS. UH, WE'VE HAD NO PUBLIC COMMENT. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR FOR ITEM NUMBER 11. UH, THANK YOU, DONNA. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ALL RIGHT. [12. 26-56621 Recommendation to authorize the General Manager to execute all documents necessary to amend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the City of Long Beach (Harbor) and Board of Public Utilities Commissioners of the City of Long Beach (Utilities) regarding the transfer of portions of the Port Long Beach (Port) water distribution system.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER 12, WHICH IS TO AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY TO AMEND THE MOU BETWEEN THE BOARD OF HARBOR COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH AND THE BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION FOR THE CITY REGARDING THE TRANSFER OF PORTIONS OF THE PORT OF LONG BEACH WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND, PLEASE? I HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER PARKIN AND A SECOND BY - SECOND. COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, EXCUSE ME. COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS, PLEASE? I'M SORRY. WE'RE GONNA CALL ON ROBERT VERSAILLES. ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS THIS MORNING? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE'LL GO BACK TO ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS AT THIS POINT, BUT I GUESS WE DO THAT LATER, RIGHT? ALL RIGHT, ROBERT, GO AHEAD. THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING, UH, PRESIDENT CORDERO AND COMMISSIONERS. UH, THE ITEM I HAVE YOU BEFORE THIS MORNING IS THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO AN EXISTING MOU BETWEEN THE PORT OF LONG BEACH AND LONG BEACH UTILITIES. SO JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON THIS ITEM. UH, THE ORIGINAL MOU WAS ENTERED IN JANUARY OF 2020, UH, BETWEEN THE BOARD OF THEN WATER COMMISSIONERS AND THE BOARD OF HARBOR COMMISSIONERS. AND THE MOU ESSENTIALLY ESTABLISHES A FRAMEWORK OF HOW THE TRANSFER OF THE PORT'S WATER SYSTEM, OR RATHER PORTIONS OF THE PORT WATER SYSTEM WILL BE TRANSFERRED OVER TO LONG BEACH UTILITIES. UH, IN AUGUST OF 2021, UH, LBUD ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH HDR ENGINEERING WHO PERFORMED THE ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE TRANSFER STUDY. UM, THE SELECTION WAS MADE IN CONJUNCTION WITH, UH, THE PORT OF LONG BEACH. SO, UH, THEY WERE ON BOARD WITH THAT SELECTION. SO THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY IS TO ESSENTIALLY IDENTIFY ELEMENTS OF THE PORT WATER SYSTEM, UH, AND PERFORM AN ASSESSMENT OF, UH, THE PORT WATER SYSTEM. FROM THERE, UH, EVALUATE AND IDENTIFY ANY DEFICIENCIES IN THE PORT'S WATER SYSTEM AND PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT PLAN. UM, SOME OF THE EFFORTS THAT WERE UNDERTAKEN THROUGH THE YEARS INCLUDES, UM, FLOW MONITORING INSTALLATION, THAT'S THE PICTURE YOU SEE IN THE CENTER, AND ALSO, UH, BACKFLOW TESTING, WHICH IS THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT. UM, THE PORT WATER SYSTEM ESSENTIALLY IS A PIPELINE SYSTEM. UH, THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY STORAGE TANKS OR, UH, BOOSTER STATIONS SIMILAR TO OUR, UH, WATER SYSTEM THAT WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR. SO WITH THE PIPELINES, IT COMES WITH BACKFLOW, UH, DEVICES, VALVES, UM, AND, UH, AND OTHER PERTINENCES, UH, TO THE PIPELINE SYSTEM. OOPS. SO HERE IS A MAP OF THE IDENTIFIED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE HCR STUDY, AND I DO APOLOGIZE FOR THE QUALITY OF THE, UH, OF THE MAP ITSELF, BUT THE STUDY IDENTIFIED 17 DISTINCT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, UH, THAT ARE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT PIERS OF THE PORT. SO THERE WERE FOUR MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY, UH, THE FIRST ONE [01:10:01] BEING WATER QUALITY, AND THIS HAS TO DO WITH HOW THE PORT PIPELINE CONFIGURATIONS. UH, THERE ARE MANY DEAD END MAINS, UH, WITHIN THE PORT SYSTEM. UH, IT'S NOT A LOOP SYSTEM SIMILAR TO OURS. UH, SO THAT MEANS THERE'S LIMITED WATER CIRCULATION, UH, STAGNANT WATER, AND WHICH RESULTS IN LOW CHLORINE RESIDUALS. UH, THAT ALSO F - UH, IM- IMPACTS FIRE FLOW CAPACITY, UH, WHEN YOU HAVE, UM, WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A LOOP SYSTEM. SO, UM, THE STUDY WILL ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE FIRE FLOW CAPACITIES. UH, IT ALSO INVOLVES RELOCATION OF METERS. SO SOME OF THESE METERS ARE LOCATED WITHIN, UH, PORT TENANT PROPERTIES. SO IF THOSE METERS ARE TRANSFERRED OVER TO US, WE WOULDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE ACCESS. SO WE WOULD HAVE TO INSTALL NEW PIPELINES AND MOVE THOSE METERS. UH, LASTLY, PIPELINE ACCESSIBILITY. UH, SOME OF THESE PIPELINES ARE RUNNING THROUGH, AGAIN, PORT TENANT PROPERTIES. UH, THERE ARE CARGO CONTAINERS THAT ARE ABOVE THE PIPELINES, SO WE WOULD WANT THOSE PIPELINES TO BE MOVED OUT OF THE TENANT PROPERTIES SO THAT WE HAVE ACCESS FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE. AND THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF WATER QUALITY. UH, IT WAS DONE THROUGH A, UH, HYDRAULIC MODEL SIMULATION. SO WHAT IT SHOWS, BASICALLY, THE RED DOTS IS BASICALLY HAVE NO CHLORINE RESIDUAL, UH, IN THE WATER. UM, AGAIN, BECAUSE OF HOW THE PIPELINES ARE CONFIGURED, UH, THERE'S NO CIRCULATION OF THE WATER THROUGH SOME OF THE PORT SYSTEM, UH, THAT RESULTS IN POOR WATER QUALITY. SO WE FINALLY CAME TO, UH, A HUGE MILESTONE WHERE, UH, UTILITIES AND, UH, THE PORT AGREED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH TWO OF THE 17 PROJECTS, UH, IDENTIFIED IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. UH, THE FIRST OF THESE PROJECTS IS PIERS A AND B. UM, THIS IS THE TOYOTA SITE. UH, IT'S IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF, UH, THE PORT AREA, AND IT INVOLVES INSTALLING A BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION MAIN, UH, AROUND THE TOYOTA SITE. IT ALSO INCLUDES, UH, INSTALLING A, UH, BOOSTER STATION, UH, TO IMPROVE CIRCULATION OF THE WATER. UM, THIS PROJECT WAS IDENTIFIED BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S, UH, TO IMPROVE THE WATER QUALITY IN THIS GENERAL AREA, AND ONCE IT'S INSTALLED, IT COULD IMPROVE WATER QUALITY DOWNSTREAM OF THIS LOCATION, SO. THE SECOND PROJECT IDENTIFIED OUR IMPROVEMENTS TO PIER T, UM, AND THIS IMPACTS THE NAVY MOLD AS WELL. UH, WE ARE PROPOSING SOME ADDITIONAL PIPELINES, AS WELL AS A PROPOSED MASTER METER LOCATION HERE, AND A PROPOSED BOOSTER STATION, AGAIN, TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY AND CIRCULATION OF WATER THROUGH THIS AREA. SO, UH, AS PART OF THE MOU, EVERY TIME THE HARBOR AND THE PORT AGREES TO MOVE FORWARD WITH A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, UH, AN AMENDMENT IS REQUIRED, SO WE WILL BRING BACK EVERY, UH, NEW PROJECT TO THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL. UH, THE HARBOR WILL DO, UH, LIKEWISE DO THE SAME, UH, UH, AND RECEIVE APPROVAL FROM THEIR BOARD. UM, SO THE RECOMMENDATION, COMMISSIONERS, IS TO AUTHORIZE THE GEN - UH, GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL DOCUMENTS NECESSARY, UH, TO AMEND THE CURRENT MOU BETWEEN THE HARBOR COMMISSIONERS AND, UH, PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE, AND REGARDING TRANSFER PORTIONS OF THE PORT OF LONG BEACH WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. UH, THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT. I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THE PORT MAY HAVE. GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ROBERT. APPRECIATE THAT UPDATE AND, UH, DO WE HAVE ANY, UH, PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? CASEY, NONE. ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? YES, COMMISSIONER SCOTT. UH, THANK YOU. UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, THAT'S A, A COMPLICATED ANIMAL DOWN THERE THAT I KNOW HAS BEEN A LONG TIME, UH, UH, BEING WORKED ON. UH, I THINK THIS IS A, A GREAT START. I THINK IT'S SUPER CRITICAL, SUPER IMPORTANT. UH, I THINK IT BENEFITS, UH, NOT JUST THE UTILITY, BUT THE PORT OF LONG BEACH AS WELL. UH, ONE OF THE FACTS THAT'S OFTEN OVERLOOKED IS, UH, WE, WE VIEW THE PORT AS, [01:15:01] AS THIS, UH, INDUSTRIAL BEHEMOTH, UM, UH, WITH, YOU KNOW, LIMITED NEEDS FOR, FOR FRESH DRINKING WATER, UH, THE OFFICE WORKERS AND, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE, BUT THERE'S ACTUALLY, THERE'S, UH, SOME PRETTY CRITICAL RESOURCES DOWN THERE. THERE'S, UH, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I CAN THINK OF FOUR FIRE STATIONS THAT ARE OCCUPIED 24 HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK WITH MORE THAN TWO DOZEN FIREFIGHTERS. UM, THE, THE FACT THAT, THAT ON THE MAP THAT YOU REFERRED TO ON SLIDE SIX, UH, THOSE, THOSE RED DOTS, UH, I'M, I'M LOOKING AT THREE OF THOSE LANDING RIGHT ON TOP OF, OF FIRE STATIONS. UM, THE, THE IDEA OF OUR, OUR FIRST RESPONDERS, FRONTLINE FIREFIGHTERS BEING, UH, UH, SKEPTICAL OF THE MINIMUM RESIDUAL CHLORINE IN THEIR WATER BEING ZERO, UH, IS, IS A BIG CONCERN TO ME. AND I'M, I'M, I'M PLEASED THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD. I, I JUST DON'T WANT ANYONE TO LOSE SIGH OF THE FACT THAT, THAT THERE ARE RESIDENTS THAT LIVE THERE, UH, THAT, UH, UH, RE - DEPEND ON FRESH DRINKING WATER FOR COOKING, CLEANING, BATHING, ET CETERA. THANK YOU FOR THAT, UH, COMMIS - UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT. UH, THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENT. UH, AS ROB MENTIONED, THE TWO PROJECTS THAT ARE AT PIER A AND B, THEY WOULD LIKELY BENEFIT, UH, FIRE STATION 20, WHICH IS AT PIER C JUST DOWNSTREAM. UH, WE ARE ALSO KEEPING AN EYE ON FIRE STATION SIX AND FIRE STATION 15 AS WE'RE NEGOTIATING OR AS WE'RE WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THE SEVERAL PROJECTS THAT, UH, ROB JUST LISTED. SO WE, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP, MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PROJECTS THAT THE PORT AGREE WITH IN, IN A, IN A COLLABORATIVE WAY. I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO ADDRESS ONE OF THE LOCATIONS THAT YOU STATED AND, UM, THE TOYOTA SITE AS WELL AS SOME OTHER COMMERCIAL, UH, BUILDINGS WITHIN THAT AREA. UH, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE CHIPPING, UH, AS, AS MUCH AS WE CAN ON, ON THIS BIG, UH, AS YOU'VE MENTIONED, BEHEMOTH OF THE PROJECT. THANK YOU. I, I APPRECIATE THAT, THOMAS, AND, AND I KNOW THAT, THAT I'VE, I'VE EXPRESSED THIS CONCERN QUITE OFTEN BEHIND, UH, IN, IN, AMONGST, UH, STAFF, UM, UH, AND, AND WITH OUR GENERAL MANAGER. UM, SO I, I APPRECIATE THAT. AND IF THERE'S ANY WAY TO PRIORITIZE, UM, THE AREAS THAT THOSE FIRE STATIONS ARE, ARE IN, UH, THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC. UM, MY OTHER POINT, UH, IS THAT THE PORT IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING, CONSTANTLY GROWING, CONSTANTLY GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, RECOGNIZED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS ONE OF THE LEADING, THE LEADING DEEP WATER PORTS. UM, THE FACT THAT THE FIRE FLOW DOWN THERE IS, IS, IS, UH, I DON'T WANNA SAY TENUOUS, BUT NOT AS ROBUST AS IT SHOULD BE. UH, I'M, I'M HOPEFUL THAT THE PORT OF LONG BEACH AND THE HARBOR COMMISSION RECOGNIZE THAT, THAT THIS IS A, A MATTER THAT WILL BENEFIT, AGAIN, NOT JUST PUBLIC UTILITY, LONG BEACH PUBLIC UTILITIES, THE CITY OF LONG BEACH, BUT ESPECIALLY THE PORT OF LONG BEACH, UH, IN THEIR EFFORTS TO REMAIN OPEN DURING SIGNIFICANT FIRE EVENTS. SO I, I, I JUST WANNA CONVEY THAT, UH, TO ANY OF THOSE FOLKS THAT MIGHT BE LISTENING THAT, THAT, THAT IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT TO THIS ENTIRE PROJECT MOVING FORWARD AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I KNOW IT'S GOING TO TAKE TIME, IT'S GONNA TAKE YEARS, BUT CHIPPING AWAY, UH, PROJECT BY PROJECT IS, IS THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE THIS, AND, AND I'D LOVE TO SEE MORE IN THE FUTURE. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT, COMMISSIONER SCOTT. I THINK, UM, FIRE IS EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL IN THIS, IN THE, IN THE PORT COMPLEX. SO GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS AND YOUR DILIGENCE IN OVERLOOKING THAT, AND LOOKING OVER THAT, UH, ISSUE. UH, THANK YOU, ROBERT. THAT WAS A, A VERY GOOD REPORT. THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE. I'M SURE THIS ISN'T THE LAST WE'LL HEAR. UM, NO FURTHER COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS OR QUESTIONS? YES, COMMISSIONER PARKIN. R- ROBERT, THANK YOU. SO IF I, JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS ON THE WATER QUALITY, THAT'S A SNAPSHOT IN TIME, IS THAT- THAT'S CORRECT. MENTIONED A PARKING, IT'S JUST A SNAPSHOT. AND IS IT, DO YOU BELIEVE A FAIR REPRESENTATION OF THE AVERAGE WATER QUALITY AT THOSE LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OR HOW, HOW DOES IT CHANGE? SO THE PORTS, SO THE PORT'S CURRENT OPERATIONS, UH, IN DEALING WITH WATER QUALITY, UH, INVOLVES FLUSHING. SO I DO, THEY DO AN EXTRANEOUS AMOUNT OF FLUSHING, UH, ON A REGULAR BASIS. UH, THAT'S HOW THEY ADDRESS, UH, THESE WATER QUALITY ISSUES. SO, YOU KNOW, IS IT FAIR TO SAY ON AVERAGE THE WATER QUALITY IS GOOD? YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY, BUT PROBABLY NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A- AND THEN THIS STUDY, UH, ALL THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO SHARED [01:20:01] WITH THE BOARD OF HARBOR COMMISSIONERS ALSO? THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING, YES. AND THEN SO EXPLAIN TO ME ON MOVING FORWARD, THESE TWO PROJECTS THAT YOU'VE DESCRIBED, THE PORT WILL PAY FOR THOSE, WE WILL SUPERVISE IT, OR IT MEETS OUR STANDARDS, AND THEN WE ACCEPT THAT INFRASTRUCTURE INTO THE SYSTEM THAT YOU, YOU OPERATE? THAT IS CORRECT, YES. AND THE TIMING FOR THAT? SO, UH, PORT STAFF WILL NEED TO TAKE, UH, THIS ITEM TO THEIR COMMISSION. UH, ONCE THAT IS DONE, THEN WE WILL START DRAFTING THE RFP FOR DESIGN. UM, SO I ANTICIPATE DESIGN WILL START SOMETIME, YOU KNOW, BY MID-YEAR NEXT YEAR. UH, AND IT'S A HUGE PROJECT. I MEAN, IT'S, UM, ANYWHERE FROM 20 TO 35 MILLION DOLLARS, UH, FOR, FOR THESE TWO PIPELINE JOBS. UM, THAT COULD TAKE, UH, PROBABLY A YEAR AND A HALF TO TWO YEARS TO CONSTRUCT. SO THAT ROUGHLY PUTS US OUT, YOU KNOW, THREE TO FOUR YEARS. AND DURING THAT TIME, YOU'LL CON - THEY'LL, UM, HOPEFULLY THIS MOU WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT OTHER PROJECTS IN THE PORT AND KIND OF GET THIS SO THERE'S MAYBE MULTIPLE PROJECTS GOING IN DIFFERENT PHASES. THAT'S CORRECT, YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY, GREAT. GOOD QUESTIONS. UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ROBERT. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR. NO, UH, OTHER COMMENTS. UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THIS MO - ITEM, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ALL RIGHT. ITEM NUMBER... LET'S SEE. ARE WE ON 13 NOW? YEAH. 13. ALL RIGHT. LET'S GO TO [13. 26-56622 Recommendation to adopt Resolution No. UT-1570 and award a contract to Koppl Pipeline Services, Inc., to furnish and deliver pipeline stopper fittings and perform tapping and stopping services for natural gas pipelines, in an annual amount not to exceed $400,000 for a period of one (1) year, with the option to renew for four (4) additional one-year periods, for a total contract amount not to exceed $2,000,000; and authorize the General Manager to execute all necessary documents, including any amendments.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] ITEM NUMBER 13. THIS IS TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION AND AWARD A CONTRACT TO KOPI PIPELINE SERVICES TO FURNISH AND DELIVER PIPELINE STOPPER FITTINGS AND PERFORM TAPPING AND STOPPING SERVICES FOR THE NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR THIS ITEM, PLEASE? WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER PARKIN AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER SCOTT. I'D LIKE TO CALL ON KAVO. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MORNING. GO AHEAD. MORNING, COMMISSIONERS. TODAY ARE WE PRESENTING PIPELINE STOPPER FITTINGS AND TAPPING AND STOPPING SERVICES FOR NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. SO PIPELINE STOPPING AND TAPPING ARE CRITICAL OPERATIONS USED TO ISOLATE SECTIONS OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINE SYSTEM. THESE ACTIVITIES ALLOWS US TO PERFORM SAFE REPAIRS, REPLACEMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE WORK WHILE MINIMIZING SERVICE DISRUPTIONS TO OUR CUSTOMERS. SO CURRENTLY OUR IN-HOUSE STAFF PERFORMS AND MANAGES, UH, STOPPING AND TAPPING FUNCTIONS FOR 12 INCHES SMALLER. HEY KYLE, CAN YOU SPEAK INTO THE MIC A LITTLE MORE? SORRY ABOUT THAT. UH, I'LL REPEAT THE PART. UM, SO CURRENTLY OUR S - IN-HOUSE STAFF, UH, PERFORMS AND MANAGES STOPPING AND TAPPING F - OPERATIONS. UH, PIPELINES ARE 12 INCH AND SMALLER. THAT, THAT COVERS THE MAJORITY OF OUR PIPELINE, UM, WORK. HOWEVER, FOR SEAL PIPELINES LARGER THAN 12 INCHES REQUIRES SPECIALIZED STOPPING AND TAPPING EQUIPMENT THAT'S NOT MAINTAINED IN-HOUSE AND REQUIRED, UH, SPECIALIZED CONTRACTORS, UH, PROVIDE A SERVICE. UH, THE FOLLOWING RIGHT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TYPICAL MUELLER LINE STOPPER, STOPPER FITTING THAT WE USE TO ISOLATE PIPELINE. SO THIS NEXT SLIDE, UH, ILLUSTRATES THE GENERAL STOPPING AND TAPPING, UM, PROCESS TO ISOLATE AND REPAIR SECTION AND PIPELINE. SO HOW IT WORKS. SO THE PROCESS BEGINS BY INSTALLING A, UH, STOPPER FITTING AT THE REQUIRED LOCATIONS. SO ON THE DIAGRAM IS, UH, LOCATION A AND D ON THE RIGHT. THEN THE PIPELINE IS TAPPED BY INSERTING A CUTTING HEAD, UH, SHOWN IN B THERE DUE TO THAT SAME FITTING WE INSTALLED. NEXT, A STOPPER PLUG IS INSERTED, UH, SHOWN ON C, ALLOW US TO STOP THE GAS FLOW TO ISOLATE THE TARGETED PIPE SEGMENT, UH, BETWEEN THE TWO PIPE FITTINGS. IT'S CRITICAL THAT THE INTEGRITY OF THE STOPPER PLUGS IS VALIDATED TO ENSURE THAT NO GAS BYPASS THE, THE PLUGS TO CREATE A SAFE HAZARD, UH, TO PREVENT A HAZARD ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS. THE ISOLATED SEGMENT IS THEN PURGE OF GAS TO CREATE A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT, ALLOWING THE DAMAGE OR CORROSE SECTION TO BE REMOVED AND REPLACED. THE STOPPER PLUGS ARE THEN LIFTED AND THE PIPELINE IS ENERGIZED, FILLED WITH GASSED, AND THE STOPPING AND TAPPING EQUIPMENT CAN THEN BE REMOVED. AND THAT COMPLETES THE STOPPING AND TAPPING, UH, PROCESS. [01:25:09] SO WHEN EVALUATING OUR SUPPLIER, IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER EQUIPMENT COMPATIBILITY AND RESPONSE CAPABILITY. AND COPPER PIPELINE SERVICES IS A LOCAL VENDOR THAT MAINTAINS TOOLING COMPATIBLE WITH OUR SMALLER SIZES, THE MUELLER STOPPER FITTINGS, BUT ALSO HAS A SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT FOR LARGER SIZES OVER 12 INCHES. AND BECAUSE STOPPING AND TAPPING SERVICES ARE OFTEN NEEDED DURING MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES, EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, QUICK MOBILIZATION IS ESSENTIAL. AND HAVING A LOCAL CONTRACTOR HELPS ENSURE A TIMELY RESPONSE WHEN THESE SERVICES ARE REQUIRED. ADDITIONALLY, PORTIONS OF OUR EXISTING GAS PIPELINES ALREADY HAVE THE COPPER FITTINGS INSTALLED, MAKING COMPATIBILITY WITH CURRENT ASSETS AN IMPORTANT SELECTION FACTOR. LASTLY, WE ARE RECOMMENDING THE BOARD TO ADOPT RESOLUTION UT1570 TO AWARD THE CONTRACTOR COPPER PLUMBING SERVICES TO FURNISH AND DELIVER PIPELINE SOPPER FITTINGS AND PERFORM TAPPING AND STOPPING SERVICES FOR NATURAL GAS PIPELINES, AN ANNUAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 400,000 FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR WITH THE OPTION TO RENEW FOR FOUR ADDITIONAL ONE YEAR PERIODS FOR A TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED TWO MILLION AND AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL MANAGER TO EXECUTE ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS. AND THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION. I HAVE A FOUR QUESTIONS. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT REPORT. APPRECIATE IT. UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? YES, COMMISSIONER SCOTT. JUST CURIOUS. UM, GREATER THAN 12 INCH PIPELINES IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, RIGHT? YES. UH, HOW OFTEN DO WE NEED THESE SERVICES? UH, NOT VERY OFTEN. UM, THAT'S A NUMBER. SO FOR OUR STEEL PIPE MAIN, WE HAVE ABOUT 917 MILES OF MAIN, AND ABOUT 27 MILES OF THAT IS LARGER THAN 12 INCHES. SO ROUGHLY ABOUT 3% OF OUR PIPELINE, UH, FALLS IN THE CATEGORY. AND THE ANNUAL AMOUNT, UH, IS THAT BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF USAGE? SO FOR THE SERVICE, WE, WE PURCHASED BOTH, UH, THE, THE FITTING ITSELF AND THE SERVICE PROVIDED BY KAPUL, AND WE LOOK AT THE NUMBER BASED ON THE PROJECT WE HAVE AND THE ANTICIPATED NEEDS. OKAY. THANK YOU. GREAT. THANK YOU. NO OTHER, NO OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION. UM, I'D LIKE TO CALL FOR A ROLL CALL VOTE, DINA, PLEASE. VICE PRESIDENT, UH, PARKIN. SECRETARY AUSTIN? COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE? YES. COMMISSIONER SCOTT. AND PRESIDENT CORDERO. YES. COMMISSIONER CARRIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPORT. APPRECIATE IT. OKAY. ITEM NUMBER [14. 26-56623 Recommendation to receive and file the FY26 Business Plan Closing Report.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] FOUR, 14 IS TO RECEIVE AND FILE OUR, UH, FISCAL YEAR 26 BUSINESS PLAN CLOSING REPORT. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE AND A SECOND, PLEASE? SO MOVED. WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE AND A SECOND BY? SECOND. COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. UH, YES. AND THIS MORNING, I'D LIKE TO CALL ON CHUCK. CHUCK, THANK YOU. MORNING, COMMISSIONERS. MORNING. UH, SO WITH FY26 NOW COMPLETE AND THE FULL FISCAL YEAR BEHIND US OF THE BUSINESS PLAN, UH, WORK BEHIND US, WE'D LIKE TO PRESENT THE CLOSING REPORT UNDER, UH, ITEM NUMBER 14 IN THIS PRESENTATION. AND WE'LL BE PROVIDING A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF OUR PLAN, AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE TARGETS AND GOALS THE DEPARTMENT ACHIEVED THIS YEAR. NOW, BEFORE WE BEGIN, UH, LET'S FIRST REVISIT THE FY26 BUSINESS PLAN CYCLE. IT STARTED WHEN JENNIFER ROJAS INTRODUCED THE FY26 BUSINESS PLAN DURING TWO BOARD MEETINGS, ONE IN AUGUST AND THE OTHER IN SEPTEMBER OF 2025. SHE THEN, SHE THEN RETURNED JULY OF THIS YEAR TO PROVIDE A PROGRESS REPORT, AND TODAY WE'RE HERE TO PROVIDE THE CLOSING REPORT. LET'S ALSO BRIEFLY REVIEW THE BALANCE SCORECARD, WHICH PROVIDES THE STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY FOR THE BUSINESS PLAN. AT THE VERY TOP, WE HAVE THE OBJECTIVES. FROM THERE, IT BRANCHES OFF TO THE INITIATIVES, THEN THE MEASURES AND ACTIONS. AND LASTLY, WE GET TO THE TARGETS AND GOALS, UH, THAT DEFINE THE PLAN SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS, UH, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR. AND ON THIS SLIDE ARE THE BUSINESS PLAN'S FOUR CORE OBJECTIVES. WE HAVE CUSTOMER, FINANCIAL, INTERNAL OPERATIONS, AND WORKPLACE CULTURE. UH, AND EACH IN - OBJECTIVE INCLUDES ITS RESPECTIVE SET OF INITIATIVES SHOWN ALONGSIDE IT. THESE INITIATIVES [01:30:01] ARE INTERCONNECTED, WHICH MEANS THAT PROGRESS ON ONE INITIATIVE SUPPORTS, UH, THE ADVANCEMENTS OF THE OTHER INITIATIVES SURROUNDING IT AND SUPPORTING THE OVERALL BUSINESS PLAN AS A WHOLE. AND ON THIS, UH, UH, PROVIDED WITH THIS PRESENTATION, WE HAVE BEFORE YOU A, A HARD COPY OF THE FY26 BUSINESS PLAN SPREADSHEET, WHICH CONTAINS ALL 200 PLUS TARGETS AND GOALS, EACH ONE REPRESENTED BY A ROW ON THIS TABLE. AND TO ILLUSTRATE HOW TO READ THIS TABLE, WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE TARGETED GOAL ON THE SCREEN, SPECIFICALLY THE GOAL TO REDUCE CROSS-BORDER LIABILITY THROUGH INSPECTIONS. NOW, THE COLUMNS TO THE LEFT SHOW WHICH OBJECTIVE, INITIATIVE, AND MEASURES AND ACTIONS THIS GOAL FALLS UNDER. AND THEN THE, UH, COLUMNS TO THE RIGHT PROVIDE THE PERFORMANCE METRICS, THE DIVISION RESPONSIBLE, THE EXECUTIVE TEAM MEMBER, AND THE RELEVANT COMMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT GOAL. SO IN THIS EXAMPLE, WE CAN SEE THAT THE GAS ENGINEERING TEAM HAD AN FY26 GOAL OF 2,000 CROSSBOARD INSPECTIONS, AND THE TEAM ENDED UP FINISHING THE YEAR WITH 1,955 INSPECTIONS, A 98% COMPLETION OF THIS GOAL. THANKFULLY, UH, FOR EVERYONE HERE, I WON'T BE GOING THROUGH ALL 200 PLUS, UH, TARGETS AND GOALS. AND INSTEAD, UH, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO READ THE SPREADSHEET AT YOUR LEISURE AND STAFF WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. SO HOW WELL DID STAFF DO ON THE BUSINESS PLAN THIS FISCAL YEAR? WELL, OUT OF THE 218 TARGETS AND GOALS LISTED ON SPREADSHEET, WE HAD AN OVERALL COMPLETION PERCENTAGE OF 87%, WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION, WHY ISN'T THIS CLOSER TO 100%? UH, WHY DIDN'T WE C- COMPLETE 100% OF OUR GOALS? UM, IF THIS WAS 100%, IT WOULD LEAD ME TO WONDER WHETHER WE CAME UP WITH CHALLENGING GOALS FOR OURSELVES, UH, THAT STRETCHED THE STATUS QUO. I SEE THIS, UH, AS A BALANCE, THIS PERCENTAGE AS A BALANCE BETWEEN STAFF DEVELOPING CHALLENGING GOALS AND AN OVERALL EFFORT BY THE DEPARTMENT TO MEET THEM. SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT. OKAY, SO 87% IS THE OVERALL PERCENTAGE. HOW DO WE BREAK IT DOWN BY OBJECTIVES? THE CUSTOMER, AT THE CUSTOMER OBJECTIVE, WE HAD AN OVERALL COMPLETION PERCENTAGE OF 90, OF 92% WITH 66 GOALS ASSIGNED, OR UNDER FINANCIAL, 75% COMPLETION OVERALL WITH 39 GOALS ASSIGNED, WORKPLACE CUL- CULTURE, I'M SORRY, UM, INTERNAL OPERATIONS 92% WITH 63 GOALS ASSIGNED, AND WORKPLACE CULTURE, 84% WITH 50 GOALS ASSIGNED. AND IN THE FOLLOWING SLIDES, WE'LL GO ONE STEP FURTHER AND REVIEW THE INITIATIVES UNDER EACH OF THESE OBJECTS, OBJECTIVES STARTING WITH CUSTOMER. SO UNDER CUSTOMER, WE HAVE THESE FOUR INITIATIVES UNDER, UH, UNDER THAT OBJECTIVE, AND COMPLETION OF THESE INITIATIVES RANGE FROM 87% ALL THE WAY TO 100. MOST OF THE TARGETS AND GOALS UNDER THIS INITIATIVE FALL UNDER THE ENSURE SAFE WATER AND GAS INITIATIVE WITH 31 TARGETS AND GOALS. AND WE'LL BE HIGHLIGHTING A COUPLE OF THESE GOALS ON THE FOLLOWING SLIDE. THE FIRST TARGET AND GOAL COMES FROM THE GAS SERVICES DIVISION WHO MET THE GOAL OF REPLACING 45 PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERS TO UPGRADE THE SCADA SYSTEM. AND SCADA, FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT KNOW, IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT ALLOWS STAFF TO MONITOR GAS PRESSURES ACROSS THE SYSTEM AND OPEN AND CLOSE VALVES REMOTELY USING WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS. THE SECOND TARGET AND GOAL COMES FROM THE WATER SERVICES DIVISION WHO, UH, VIRTUALLY MET THEIR GOAL IN CAPTURING MISSING DATA FROM NEARLY 1,600 HYDRANT INSPECTIONS AND ALSO ESTABLISHED A BETA, A DATABASE TO HOUSE THAT INFORMATION. NOW WE MOVE ON TO FINANCIAL, WHICH IS COMPRISED OF THESE THREE INITIATIVES. AND ONE OF THE INITIATIVES IS THE MAINTAIN SUSTAINABLE FINANCES INITIATIVE WITH A 38% COMPLETION PERCENTAGE. LET'S REVIEW A COUPLE OF THE TARGETS AND GOALS UNDER THIS INITIATIVE IN THIS SLIDE. UH, BOTH TARGETS AND GOALS, UH, COME FROM FINANCE. THE FIRST ONE IS THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE ACFR, THE ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORTING OF ALL FUNDS, WHICH WAS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD EARLIER THIS YEAR. THE SECOND GOAL, UM, THE SECOND GOAL ON THIS SLIDE IS COMPRISED OF THREE SEPARATE GOALS. THE FIRST GOAL WAS TO IMPROVE THE TIMELY PROCESSING OF INVOICE PAYMENTS TO VENDORS, WHICH WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED. THE [01:35:01] OTHER TWO GOALS ARE IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE ROLLED OVER TO FY27. AND BECAUSE THIS GOAL IS MULTIFACETED WITH THREE PARTS, UH, IT, IT MADE IT MUCH MORE CHALLENGING TO COMPLETE. AND MOVING FORWARD, UM, THE PLAN IS TO TAKE THESE GOALS AND TO SEPARATE IT OUT INTO INDIVIDUAL GOALS, UH, TO HELP, UH, BETTER, YOU KNOW, UH, MEET THOSE GOALS. NEXT UP, WE HAVE INTERNAL OPERATIONS, WHICH ARE COMPRISED OF THESE FOUR GOALS, UH, FOUR INITIATIVES. COMPLETION OF THESE INITIATIVES RANGE FROM 86% TO 94%, AND MOST OF THE TARGETS AND GOALS IN THIS OBJECTIVE FALL UNDER THE FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE AND IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE WITH 22 TARGETS AND GOALS. AND WE'LL HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE IN THE NEXT SLIDE. THE FIRST TARGET AND GOAL COMES FROM THE GAS ENGINEERING DIVISION WHO MET THEIR GOAL OF PRIORITIZING THE DESIGN OF PROJECTS IN-HOUSE AND MAKING SURE MORE THAN HALF OF THE PROJECTS, HALF OF THE PROJECTS WERE DESIGNED BY STAFF. THE SECOND TARGET AND GOAL COMES FROM THE WATER CONSTRUCTION DIVISION WHO ALSO MET THEIR GOAL OF COMPLETING 95% OF CUSTOMER REQUESTED PROJECTS ON TIME WITH A DURATION OF 4.3 WEEKS. AND LASTLY, UH, BUT NOT LEAST, OBVIOUSLY, WE HAVE WORKPLACE CULTURE, WHICH IS COMPRISED OF THESE FOUR GOAL INITIATIVES. COMPLETION OF THESE INITIATIVES RANGED FROM 72% TO 92%, MOST OF WHICH FELL UNDER THE INCREASED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS INITIATIVE WITH 21 TARGETS AND GOALS, AND WE'LL HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THESE HERE. THE FIRST ONE COMES FROM THE ADMINISTRATION, CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION WHO MET THEIR GOAL OF IMPLEMENTING AN ACADEMY PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE AND THE MUNIC - CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL UTILITIES ASSOCIATION. THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, 25 NON-CAREER EMPLOYEES WERE HIRED, MANY OF WHICH ARE STILL CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR WORK GROUPS, THEIR ASSIGNED WORK GROUPS TODAY. THE LAST TARGET AND GOAL COMES FROM THE ENGINEERING DIVISION WHO ALSO MET THEIR GOAL OF IMPLEMENTING A SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, SEVERAL NEW INTERNS WERE HIRED TO SUPPORT PROJECTS AND DAILY OPERATIONS WITH WATER AND GAS ENGINEERING. AND BEFORE WE END THIS PRESENTATION, I JUST WANTED TO RECOGNIZE THE BUSINESS PLAN TEAM. UM, MANY OF, UH, THE TEAMMATES, UH, MY TEAMMATES ARE ACTUALLY HERE TODAY. IT WAS THROUGH THIS GROUP'S DILIGENCE IN GUIDING AND COLLECTING DATA FROM THE RESPECTIVE DI- DIVISIONS THAT MADE THE FINAL VERSION OF THE FY26 BUSINESS PLAN POSSIBLE. AND IT'S A PRIVILEGE FOR MYSELF TO REPRESENT THIS TEAM IN PRESENTING THIS CLOSING REPORT TO THE BOARD. SO TO RECAP, THE RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD IS TO RECEIVE AND FILE THE FY26 BUSINESS PLAN CLOSING REPORT. THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND I CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHUCK, FOR THAT. UM, TURN IT OVER AND ASK, ARE THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? YES. UM, OKAY. THERE'S 10 PEOPLE ON THAT WORK GROUP, CORRECT? SOMETHING LIKE THAT. LOSING MY VOICE. UM, WITHIN, DOES, DOES EACH OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS THEN HAVE PEOPLE WORKING WITH THEM? THAT, THAT IS CORRECT. SO - HOW DOES THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M JUST AMAZED BY THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAD TO BE INVOLVED PUTTING THIS TOGETHER BECAUSE THIS IS NO SMALL THING. ALL THAT DATA IS INCREDIBLE. IT REALLY IS. AND I THINK, IS THIS THE FIRST TIME, LIKE WE'VE SEEN A FULL YEAR NOW OF, OF THIS FINANCIAL PLAN THROUGH EVOLUTION TO THIS POINT WHERE WE HAVE THIS DATA, WHICH IS VERY HELPFUL. IS THAT TRUE, ANATOL? SO THIS IS THE THIRD YEAR OF THE BUSINESS PLAN AND EVERY YEAR WE, UH, WE TRY TO IMPROVE. UM, TO ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION, YES, IT, IT, IT IS, UH, AN OVERALL EFFORT. UH, THANKFULLY, UH, WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM. EACH, EACH TEAM MEMBER OVERSEES OR REPRESENTS, COULD BE ONE DIVISION, COULD BE SEVERAL DIVISIONS, AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR, UH, DISSEMINATING INFORMATION FROM OUR MEETINGS, UH, YOU KNOW, DIRECTION FROM ANATOL, AND THEN COLLECTING INFORMATION LIKE THE DATA THAT, THAT WE HAVE OVER HERE. IT'S JUST, IT'S A LOT. AND THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE'S A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, BUGGING AND REMINDING. IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A, A VERY, VERY DIFFICULT THING AND I'M, YOU KNOW, VERY APPRECIATIVE OF, OF, UH, MY TEAMMATES. THANK YOU. THAT'S AMAZING. OKAY. UH, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. I'M SORRY. UM, I REALLY, REALLY, UM, ENJOYED THE REPORT AND THE OVERVIEW. IT FEELS LIKE DEJA VU. UM - WE'VE SEEN IT. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE GOT THIS REPORT OR THIS OVERVIEW OF THE, THE BUSINESS PLAN? WAS IT RECENTLY? YES. UM, I, I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY IT FEELS LIKE DEJA VU, BECAUSE [01:40:01] I WAS JUST HERE A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, I THINK. YEAH. AND, UH, DURING THAT, DURING THAT BOARD MEETING, WE ACT - I ACTUALLY PRESENTED THE INTRODUCTION TO THE FY27 BUSINESS PLAN, AND WE HAD TO DO THAT BEFORE THE, THE START OF THE FISCAL YEAR. OKAY. THAT'S WHY, THAT'S WHY IT FEELS LIKE I'M HERE AGAIN. IT'S ALL GOOD. WE, WE ENJOY SEEING YOU. IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN. OKAY. UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT. UH, THANK YOU, CHUCK. UH, AS EVERYBODY PROBABLY KNOWS, I'M, I WAS AN EARLY AND ENTHUSIASTIC FANBOY OF, OF, UH, THE BUSINESS PLAN, AND TO SEE IT IN THIS ITERATION IS EXTREMELY EXCITING. I, I, I DISAGREE WITH YOUR TAKE ON 87% NOT BEING 100%. UH, I THINK 87% IS FANTASTIC. YEAH, IT WAS GREAT. UM, I, I LOVE, AND I CAN'T WAIT TO DIG DOWN INTO THIS AND, AND, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, SPEND THE NIGHT JUST CONSUMING THIS. UH, IT'S FANTASTIC FOR THE ORGANIZATION BECAUSE IT HELPS US ANSWER WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THE COMMUNITY LATELY? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THE UTILITY LATELY? WHAT IS ALL THIS EFFORT FOR? AND THIS PUTS IT IN BLACK AND WHITE IN A WAY THAT, UH, I DON'T THINK WE'VE EVER HAD THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT IT IN THIS FASHION. I THINK IT'S SUPER HELPFUL. UM, I CHALLENGE THE COMMUNICATIONS FOLKS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PUT THIS IN A GRAPHIC FORM FOR THE COMMUNITY TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE, UH, BECAUSE THERE'S SO MUCH GOOD WORK THAT HAPPENS HERE THAT'S ON THIS MASSIVE SPREADSHEET, UM, TRANSLATING THAT INTO CONSUMABLE INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE OUT IN THE WILD, IN THE REAL WORLD, UH, IS, IS A HUGE CHALLENGE. SO I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S GOING TO BE MAYBE THE NEXT, UH, THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR HOW TO, HOW TO MAKE THIS MORE APPROACHABLE FOR THE COMMON PERSON. SO THANK YOU, EVERYONE. GREAT. THANK YOU. ANYONE ELSE? YES, ANATOL. YEAH, I JUST WANT TO THANK THE BOARD FOR THEIR EMBRACING OF THIS APPROACH. AND I ACTUALLY WANT TO, UH, PERSONALLY ACKNOWLEDGE COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE, WHO WHEN I TOOK THIS JOB WAS PRESIDENT MCGUIRE AND, UH, BROUGHT TO ME THE, THE FLYWHEEL ANALOGY OF TRYING TO BRING ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE, UM, IN AN ENTITY IN PRIVATE BUSINESS AND PUBLIC AGENCY. AND, AND I THINK TO ALSO TO JOIN IN WHAT COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, WHAT SECRETARY AUSTIN WAS TALKING ABOUT AS WELL AS THIS IS DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN, UM, THE ASPECT OF A FLYWHEEL OF JUST CONSTANTLY PUTTING ENERGY INTO IT UNTIL SLOWLY BUT SURELY IT WINDS UP MOVING ALL ON ITS OWN WITH VERY LITTLE EFFORT IS IN ESSENCE WHAT YOU'VE SEEN FROM THE TEAM HERE. AND COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. THI- THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, RIGHT? BUT IN THE END, IN SUM TOTAL, THE VERY NATURE OF A BUSINESS PLAN IS WHAT I'VE COMMENTED BEFORE, WORDS AND MONEY. YOU DO A FANTASTIC JOB AS A BOARD GOVERNING AND GUIDING US AND ADOPTING BUDGETS, AND THAT'S MONEY. THE WORDS IS THE BUSINESS PLAN, PUTTING TOGETHER WHAT IS THIS MONEY FOR, WHAT IS IT INTENDED TO DO, AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR, HOW DID WE DO? SIMPLE TO SAY IN THAT MANNER, VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE ORGANIZATIONALLY, AND I CANNOT EXHAUST THE AMOUNT OF COMPLIMENTS THAT I WOULD GIVE TO THE TEAM, TO JENNIFER ROJAS, TO THE ENTIRE UTILITY, WHICH EMBRACES THE CONCEPT AND USES AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL FOR YOU, OR AS COMMISSIONER SCOTT MENTIONED, TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL. YOU WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY AGAIN IN DECEMBER. I'M EXPECTING, AGAIN, A MORNING RETREAT WITH THE BOARD. WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE ORGANIZATION COME FORWARD AND ALLOW THEM TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU WITH ALL OF THIS DATA AND INFORMATION, WHAT WOULD THEY LIKE TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU AND LEAVE WITH YOU AS THE STANDOUT OF THE ENTIRE YEAR'S WORTH OF EFFORT? NOT THAT WITHSTANDING, AS YOU POINTED OUT, YOU'VE SEEN FISCAL YEAR 27 KICKOFF, AND THAT HIGHLIGHTS TOO THIS ASPECT OF THE FLYWHEEL AGAIN, RIGHT, THAT WE'RE ALWAYS EXAMINING A BUSINESS PLAN. WE'RE ALWAYS EXAMINING WHAT ARE WE COMMITTING TO DO WITH THE BUDGET. UM, SO ANYWAY, IT, I, I THINK IT'S FANTASTIC. IT'S GREAT TO HEAR YOUR COMPLIMENTS TO THE STAFF. WE'LL MAKE SURE IT GETS COMMUNICATED THROUGHOUT. THANK YOU. GREAT. THANK YOU. UH, YES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UH, THANK YOU, CHUCK, FOR THAT, UM, IMPORTANT REPORT. I WANNA THANK JOSEPH AND JOY AND JEFF AND CHRIS AND CYNTHIA AND CHUCK, OF COURSE, ERIN, JENNIFER, DENNIS, AND JAN FOR THEIR GOOD WORK ON THIS AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE NOT MENTIONED HERE, WHO I'M SURE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS. UM, I THINK YOU CAN TELL THAT WE LOVE THIS. IT'S VERY VISIONARY. UM, IT'S VERY CHALLENGING, AND I THINK I AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER SCOTT WHEN YOU... I SAW 87, [01:45:01] I THOUGH THAT WAS A GREAT NUMBER. SO YOU'RE REALLY HOLDING YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE. WE APPRECIATE THAT AND YOUR GREAT ATTENTION TO DETAIL. SO THANK YOU. WE LOOK FORWARD TO FOLLOWING THIS FURTHER. APPRECIATE YOUR WORK. THANK YOU. OKAY. UH, WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR AND A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AND ANY OPPOSED? NO HEARING NONE. THIS MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE THE FISCAL YEAR 26 BUSINESS PLAN, UH, CLOSING REPORT HAS BEEN APPROVED. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. ITEM NUMBER 15 [15. 26-56624 Recommendation to receive and file an informational update on Long Beach Public Utilities Department (LBPUD) preparations for anticipated El Niño weather conditions and related storm events.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] IS AN ITEM TO RECEIVE AND FILE AND AN UPDATE ON THE PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT'S PREPARATIONS FOR THE ANTICIPATED EL NINO WEATHER CONDITIONS AND RELATED STORM EVENTS. UH, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE, PLEASE, AND A SECOND? WE HAVE A MOTION. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. I'D LIKE TO CALL ON ALYSSA LOPEZ. HI, ALYSSA. GOOD MORNING, PRESIDENT CORDERO AND COMMISSIONERS. UM, BEFORE I BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. MY NAME IS ALYSSA LOPEZ AND I'M AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ANALYST WITH OUR SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIVISION. I JOINED LONG BEACH UTILITIES IN JULY OF THIS YEAR, BRINGING IN SIX YEARS OF EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE CITY'S HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, AS WELL AS THE DEPARTMENT OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. IN THOSE ROLES, I SUPPORTED PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY RESPONSE, CITY-WIDE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, AND SEVERE WEATHER COORDINATION AND TRAINING AND EXERCISES. AS BOTH A CITY EMPLOYEE AND LONG BEACH RESIDENT, I UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING ESSENTIAL SERVICES, NOT ONLY FROM THE OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT ALSO FOR THE COMMUNITY THAT WE SERVE. TODAY, I'LL BE PROVIDING AN OVERVIEW OF HOW OUR DEPARTMENT IS PREPARING FOR THE 26 - 2026 TO 2027 EL NINO SEASON, INCLUDING THE MEASURES WE'RE TAKING TO PROTECT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, MAINTAIN RESPONSE READINESS, AND STRENGTHEN COORDINATION DURING SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENTS. SO FOR THIS SEASON, IT HAS PROVEN TO BE A VERY STRONG, UM, OCEANIC PATTERN, AND THIS EVENT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO EARLY 2027. WHILE EL NINO CAN INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF WEATHER CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY, UM, GUARANTEE ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL OR DETERMINE THE TIMING AND THE INTENSITY OF INDIVIDUAL STORMS. HOWEVER, AS WE'VE EXPERIENCED OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, OUR WEATHER-RELATED CONCERNS EXTEND BEYOND RAINFALL. WE'VE SEEN COASTAL FLOODING, ELEVATED TIDES, AND SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ALONG THE PENINSULA AND TWO NAPLES. LOOKING AHEAD, WE ALSO HAVE TO REMAIN MINDFUL OF ANNUAL SANTA ANA WINDS, PERIODS OF UNUSUAL ELEVATED TEMPERATURES, AND ADDITIONAL RAIN EVENTS AS WE MOVE FURTHER INTO OUR TRADITIONAL WET WEATHER SEASON. OF PARTICULAR CONCERN ARE THE ANTICIPATED KING TIDES THAT ARE FORECASTED AROUND THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS. THESE ELEVATED TIDES, UH, AND SOUTHERN SWELLS COULD CREATE IMPACTS LIKE THE ONES THAT WE HAVE SEEN FROM HURRICANE RACHEL. FOR UTILITIES, THESE CONDITIONS CAN AFFECT LOW LYING INFRASTRUCTURE, INCREASED STORMWATER ENTERING THE SEWER SYSTEM, AND CREATE POTENTIAL CHALLENGES FOR POWER DEPENDENT OPERATIONS. OUR PREPARATIONS FOCUS ON FOUR PRIORITIES, PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, ENSURING EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS ARE READY, MAINTAINING ADEQUATE STAFFING AND STRENGTHENING COORDINATION ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY. FOR OUR OPERATIONAL READINESS, STARTING WITH THE SEWER OPERATIONS, TREATMENT OPERATIONS AND GAS SERVICES, UH, WE HAVE BEEN ADDRESSING KNOWN VULNERABILITIES AND PREPARING FOR POTENTIAL WEATHER-RELATED IMPACTS. WITHIN SEWER OPERATIONS, CREWS HAVE BEEN SEALING AND MAINTAINING MANHOLES ALONG THE PENINSULA AND IDENTIFYING ADDITIONAL FLOOD PRONE LOCATIONS FOR POTENTIAL COMPOSITE LIDS. THESE MEASURES HELP REDUCE STORM WATER ENTERING THE SANI - UH, SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM AND PLACING ADDITIONAL DEMAND ON PUMP STATIONS. FOR GAS SERVICES, FLOOD PROTECTION DEVICES HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ON ALL CURB METERS AND PORTABLE PUMPING CAPABILITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS FLOODING AT VULNERABLE REGULATOR STATIONS. TREATMENT OPERATIONS HAS INSPECTED CRITICAL PUMPING STA - SYSTEMS, TESTED EMERGENCY GENERATORS AND PUMPS, AND STAGED BACKUP EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS TO SUPPORT OPERATIONAL NEEDS. ACROSS THESE DIVISIONS, ADDITIONAL STANDBY COVERAGE AND ADJUSTMENTS TO ROUTINE WORKLOADS CAN ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED DURING SIGNIFICANT EVENTS TO MAINTAIN EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPACITY. TOGETHER, THESE EFFORTS ARE INTENDED TO REDUCE INFRASTRUCTURE VULNERABILITIES AND IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO RESPOND WHEN OPERATIONAL IMPACTS OCCUR. IN ADDITION TO PROTECTING OUR UTILITY SYSTEMS, [01:50:01] WE'VE BEEN ADDRESSING POTENTIAL VULNERABILITIES AT OUR FACILITIES AND ENSURING OUR FIELD PERSONNEL HAVE THE RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED. OUR SUPPORT SERVICES TEAM HAVE BEEN ADDRESSING WEATHER RELATED CONCERNS INVOLVING TREES, ROOFS, GUTTERS, DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, AND KNOWN AREAS OF WATER INTRUSION. FLOOD PROTECTION MEASURES, INCLUDING SANDBAGS, HAVE BEEN PLACED AT VULNERABLE LOCATIONS AND EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT HAVE BEEN INSPECTED FOR READINESS. AT THE TREATMENT PLANT, ADDITIONAL WEATHER PROTECTION MEASURES HAVE BEEN STAGED, INCLUDING PREPARATIONS FOR SAMPLING EQUIPMENT DURING WET AND WINDY CONDITIONS, AND OUR WAREHOUSE ALSO MAINTAINS RAIN GEAR AND OTHER ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES TO SUPPORT FIELD OPERATIONS. THE GOAL OF THESE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES IS TO LIMIT AVOIDABLE FACILITY IMPACTS AND ENSURE OUR PERSONNEL CAN FOCUS ON OPERATIONAL RESPONSE NEEDS WHEN AN EVENT OCCURS. ANOTHER IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF OUR PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS IS ENSURING WE HAVE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION, NOT ONLY ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT, BUT WITHIN THE CITY AS WELL. OUR SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIVISION HAS ESTABLISHED A DEDICATED INCLEMENT WEATHER COORDINATION CHANNEL, BRINGING TOGETHER REPRESENTATIVES FROM OUR OPERATIONAL AND SUPPORT DIVISIONS. THIS HAS ALREADY SUPPORTED COORDINATION DURING RECENT WEATHER EVENTS BY ALLOWING TEAMS TO SHARE SITUATIONAL UPDATES, IDENTIFY INFRASTRUCTURE CONCERNS, AND COMMUNICATE RESOURCE NEEDS IN A CENTRALIZED LOCATION. WE'RE ALSO MAINTAINING CLOSE COORDINATION WITH THE CITY'S EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER AND RESPONSE PARTNERS TO ENSURE UTILITIES IS INTEGRATED INTO THE CITY-WIDE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, AND THAT ANY SIGNIFICANT SERVICE IMPACTS OR RESOURCE NEEDS ARE COMMUNICATED THOROUGHLY. LOOKING AHEAD, WE'LL CONTINUE MONITORING FORECASTS, ADJUSTING STAFFING AND RESPONSE RESOURCES AS CONDITIONS WARRANT, AND COMPLETING REMAINING READINESS ACTIVITIES. WE'LL ALSO CONTINUE EVALUATING LONGER TERM INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS BASED ON THOSE VULNERABILITIES IDENTIFIED DURING RECENT EVENTS. IN CLOSING, OUR PREPARATIONS REFLECT THE COORDINATED EFFORTS OF TEAMS THROUGHOUT LONG BEACH UTILITIES TO PROTECT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, MAINTAIN OPERATIONAL READINESS, AND STRENGTHEN OUR ABILITY TO RESPOND TO CHANGING CONDITIONS. ALTHOUGH WE CAN'T NECESSARILY PREDICT EXACTLY HOW THE REMAINDER OF THIS SEASON WILL UNFOLD, OUR RECENT EXPERIENCES REINFORCE THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED PREPAREDNESS, PARTICULARLY AS WE APPROACH THE WINTER, CONTINUE INTO THE WINTER MONTHS AND UPCOMING TIDE EVENTS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ALYSSA. ANY, UH, LET'S SEE, WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENT? YES, COMMISSIONER SCOTT, GO AHEAD. THANK YOU. UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION. I APPRECIATE THE, THE FORWARD LEANING, UH, EFFORTS, UH, WITH EL NINO. IT'S, IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT, UH, IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE ANYTIME SOON, AND, UH, SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT, THAT WE CONTINUALLY MONITOR AND, AND KEEP AN EYE ON THAT. SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT. UM, I HAD ONE MINOR JUST QUESTION THAT I HAD. UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT COMPOSITION LIDS FOR, UM, FLOOD-PRONE MANHOLE COVERS. WHAT, UH, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COMPOSITION LID AND MAYBE A, AN IRON OR STEEL LID? SORRY, I KNOW THIS IS A RIDICULOUS QUESTION. I'M JUST CURIOUS. GOOD, GOOD MORNING, COMMISSIONERS. SO, UH, THE TRADITIONAL MANHOLE LIDS ARE JUST IRON, UM, THE ONES THAT YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE USED TO SEEING. WHAT WE FOUND WITH OUR SMOKE, UH, SMOKE TESTING PROJECT, WHICH, UM, WAS TO MEASURE HOW MUCH, UH, INFLOW THERE WAS FROM RAIN EVENTS INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM. WE, UH, WE FOUND THAT COMPOSITE LIDS, WHICH ARE MADE OUT OF A POLYMER, HAD THE MOST PROTECTION FROM, UM, WHENEVER STREETS WERE FLOODED, WHENEVER THERE WAS, UH, A RAIN EVENT, UM, BECAUSE WITH OUR TRADITIONAL MANHOLE LIDS, THE ONLY THING WE COULD DO IS SEAL AND CORK THEM, WHICH MEANS WE PUT, WE WOULD PUT A SEAL OF SILICONE AROUND THE RING, PUT A PIECE OF CORK IN THE, THE LITTLE PICKLES, BUT THAT STILL LET IN AN AMOUNT OF RAIN INTO THE SYSTEM. SO COMPOSITE LIDS, WHICH WAS SOMETHING THAT WE HAD BEEN BROUGHT BROUGHT IN MAYBE A YEAR PRIOR BECAUSE OF, UH, UH, NEAR THE, NEAR THE BEACH, THE IRON MANHOLE LIDS WOULD SEIZE UP AND S - AND SEAL BECAUSE OF THE OCEAN WATER OR THE SALT WATER. AND SO THE COMPOSITE LIDS, WE, WE TRIED THEM DURING THE SMOKE TESTING, UH, PROJECT, AND WE FOUND THAT THEY DIDN'T LET ANY RAIN, ANY OF THE, UM, ANY WATER WHATSOEVER, THAT'S BECAUSE OF AN INNER GASKET THAT THEY HAVE AND THEY LOCK AS WELL. SO THOSE... WE, WE HAD INS - WE HAVE INSTALLED ABOUT [01:55:01] HUNDRED, OVER A HUNDRED THUS FAR, AND WE PLAN TO INSTALL ANOTHER, UH, 75 OR SO IN THE COMING YEAR AND, UH, AND GOING FORWARD AS WELL. THANK YOU. I PROMISE I WON'T ASK ANY MORE SILLY QUESTIONS. ACTUALLY, THAT WAS A GOOD QUESTION. THANK YOU. UH, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. YES. UH, SO, UH, IT'S GLAD THAT... I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT WE ARE, ARE FORWARD THINKING AND PREPARING FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, THE UNCERTAINTIES WITH, UH, EL NINO. I, I, MY QUESTION IS PROBABLY FOR FINANCE OR GENERAL MANAGER, UM, BECAUSE, UH, I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW WHAT, WHAT DO WE PROJECT, AND IT'S DIFFICULT TO PROJECT, I KNOW, BUT, UM, WHAT KIND OF PROVISIONS DO WE HAVE IN OUR, IN OUR FISCAL PLAN OR BUDGET FOR, YOU KNOW, THE UNEXPECTED EMERGENCIES? IS THIS GOING TO BE, UM, RESERVE? DO WE GO TO OUR RESERVES TO, TO DEAL WITH ANYTHING? UM, I'LL GIVE YOU CASE IN POINT, THE PENINSULA RIGHT NOW, THEY'RE DOING THIS MAJOR DREDGING OPERATION THAT WAS NOT PLANNED, YOU KNOW, IT'S TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT, THAT IS, IS GOING INTO THAT. UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE HERE THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT THIS DEPARTMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. UM, DO WE HAVE CONTINGENCIES IN PLACE? THE RESERVES WOULD BE ONE OF THOSE SOURCES, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE JUST HAVE THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BUDGET OVERALL. THE BUDGET IS AN ESTIMATE, AND SO CONSEQUENTLY, SOMETIMES DURING THE YEAR, VARIOUS ACCOUNTS RUN UNDER BUDGET. UM, THE RESERVES THEMSELVES HAVE THOSE ELEMENTS THAT BRING FORWARD THIS CONCEPT OF THESE TYPES OF COSTS THAT, IF I UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF YOUR INQUIRY, WOULD STAND JUST OUTSIDE THE DECLARATION OF AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE. WHEN WE HAVE DECLARATION OF EMERGENCIES, IT'S AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ACCOUNTING MECHANISM TRYING TO CAPTURE AND THEN SEE IF THERE'S FUNDS AVAILABLE TO REIMBURSE. THIS IS PROACTIVE, THIS IS DOING THINGS IN ADVANCE, AND SO CONSEQUENTLY, THOSE COSTS WOULD STAND OUTSIDE OF THAT. UH, IN THOSE CASES, IT WOULD COME FROM RESERVES AND BUDGET MANAGEMENT. I WANTED TO REINFORCE AGAIN THAT IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS, ONE OF THE ELEMENTS THAT HAS COME FORWARD WITH THE BOARD IS A REEVALUATION OF THE FINANCIAL RESERVE POLICY, THAT THAT ESTABLISHMENT OF MINIMUM RESERVES, BOUNDARIES OF ACTIONABLE RESERVES THAT THE BOARD HAS THE ABILITY TO ACT ON AND DO, AND THEN SUPPOSEDLY A HIGHER LEVEL TARGET ABOVE WHICH YOU NEED TO DO OTHER THINGS, THAT IS OPEN FOR THE BOARD TO PROVIDE INPUT ON, TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST BROUGHT UP RIGHT NOW. WHAT WOULD THE RESERVES BE USED FOR? YOU CAN EXPLICITLY STATE THAT IN THE FINANCIAL RESERVE POLICY WITH YOUR AUTHORITY AS THE BOARD TO SET THAT AND TO ACTUALLY WRITE THAT. AND, UH, O- OBVIOUSLY, I MAY NOT BE HERE FOR THAT, BUT, BUT I, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT, THAT, UH, WE TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT, THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ARE, ARE, UH, CHANGE AND, AND - YES. WEATHER FLUCTUIZATIONS ARE, ARE GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT WE, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH MOVING FORWARD, SO THANK YOU. YOUR DIRECTION IS NOTED. UH-HUH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. YES, COMMISSIONER PARKIN. ALYSSA, THANK YOU. UH, I'M GLAD TO SEE WE'RE PREPARING. UM, I JUST REALLY WANNA GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THE CREWS THAT WERE OUT IN THE LAST COUPLE OF EVENTS DOWN AT THE PENINSULA. I, I KNOW WHEN THEY RED TAG OR YELLOW TAG A BUILDING, THEY'VE GOTTA GO IN THERE AND SHUT OFF THE SERVICES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILY AND, AND, AND TAKING THAT TIME TO DO THAT. AND, AND I THINK MAKE THE CITY LOOK GOOD TOO. SO I, I CERTAINLY HOPE YOU'LL PASS ON OUR, UH, OUR THANKS AND OUR APPRECIATION FOR THEIR HARD WORK DURING THOSE EVENTS. AND, AND AS YOU'RE PREPARING, YOU MENTIONED THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS WITH THE KING TIDE. I THINK MY UNDERSTANDING OF THAT, IT'S GONNA BE EVEN HIGHER THAN WHAT IT WAS IN THIS MOST RECENT KING TIDE WHERE THERE WAS FLOODING - YES. DOWN IN THE PENINSULA AT THE, AT THE, IN THE NAPLES, YOU KNOW, AND E- ET CETERA. SO I, I ASSUME THOSE COMPOSITE LIDS WILL BE INSTALLED IN THOSE AREAS TOO AS WE'RE LOOKING AT ADDITIONAL INFLOW. SO, UH, JUST THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. YES, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. SO, SO, SO THE CO- COMPOSITE LIDS, JUST, JUST, UH, ARE WE PRIORITIZING WHERE THEY ARE? ARE WE LOOKING AT THE MORE COASTAL AREAS WHERE WE ARE PROJECTING THE FLOOD IMPACTS? YES. UM, THEY ARE, THEY ARE ALREADY INSTALLED THROUGHOUT NAPLES, AND THAT, THAT'S THE WORK WE DID THIS YEAR. AND, UM, THE NEXT SECTION IS AT THE PENINSULA. SO, UM, SO WE KNOW WHICH STREETS FLOOD, UM, AND WE, THOSE ARE THE ONES WE'RE PRIORITIZING FOR THESE COMPOSITE LIDS. OKAY. SEEING NO OTHER QUESTIONS. ALYSSA, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT. I LOVE THE FACT YOU SAID YOU'RE A LONG BEACH RESIDENT. YES. I LOVE THAT. I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU HAD SOME HEALTH DEPARTMENT RELATED WORK. YES, THAT IS CORRECT. OKAY, PERFECT. UM, WE'RE WE'RE VERY FORTUNATE THAT YOU'VE [02:00:01] BEEN HERE SINCE JULY. WE WERE ABLE TO GET YOU. WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. UH, HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OUR COMMUNITY IS SO IMPORTANT, SO I THINK YOU BRING SOMETHING TO THE, TO THIS DEPARTMENT AND WE'RE GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE. THANK YOU. GOOD REPORT. UM, OKAY. UH, OUR LAST ITEM IS ITEM NUMBER SIX, AND THAT'S TO RECEIVE AND FILE THE OCTOBER 15TH INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE REPORT. DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE THIS IN A SECOND? I'M SORRY, PRESIDENT CORDERO, CAN WE HAVE A VOTE ON - OH, I'M SORRY. SORRY ABOUT THAT. OKAY. ITEM NUMBER 15, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. ANY OPPOSED? OKAY. MOTION CARRIES ON ITEM NUMBER 15. THANK YOU, DI- DINA. ALL RIGHT. UH, LET'S GO AHEAD AND HAVE SECRETARY AUSTIN GIVE [16. 26-56625 Recommendation to receive and file October 15, 2026 Infrastructure Committee Report.       Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ] US HIS REPORT, PLEASE. OH, I'M SORRY. WE HAVE A MOTION. MOTION. MOTION AND A SECOND. DO WE HAVE A SECOND? OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER PARKIN AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER MCGUIRE. AND NOW WE WILL CALL ON COMMISSIONER AUSTIN. SECRETARY AUSTIN. OKAY. WE DID, UH, THE INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE DID MEET ON OCTOBER THE 15TH TO RECEIVE INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION REGARDING THE, UH, LONG BEACH UTILITIES DEPARTMENT WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS AND FISCAL YEAR 2026 WATER AND SEWER CAPITAL PROGRAM, IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, EXCUSE ME. THE, UH, COMMITTEE ALSO APPROVED THE AUGUST 6TH, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING, MINUTES. THE COMMITTEE RECEIVED AND FILED PRE - A PRESENTATION ON THE WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS AND PLANNED MODERNIZATION EFFORTS. STAFF DESCRIBED THE WAREHOUSE AS AN OPERATIONAL RESOURCE SUPPORTING WATER, SEWER GAS OPERATIONS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, MAINTENANCE, CONSTRUCTION, EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES. UH, STAFF, UH, EMPHASIZED THAT THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING THE APPROPRIATE INVENTORY LEVELS TO BALANCE OPERATIONAL READINESS WITH RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC RESOURCES. UM, PLAN IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE STANDARDIZING WAREHOUSE PROCEDURES, IMPROVING INVENTORY REPORTING AND VISIBILITY, DEVELOPING AN INVENTORY DASHBOARD AND USING DATA ANALY- ANALY- ANALYTICS TO, UH, EVALUATE STOCK LEVELS AND REORDER NEEDS AND PROVIDE EMPLOYEES WITH EASIER, EASIER ACCESS TO THE WAREHOUSE INFORMATION. UM, THESE MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ARE BEING DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE, UH, WHICH IS A GREAT THING, UM, AND INTENDED TO, UH, ESTABLISH CONSISTENT STANDARDS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS. UM, SO THAT, THAT IS, UM, REALLY APPRECIATED THAT REPORT. UM, AS AN INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE, UM, COMMISSIONER PARKIN AND I, ALONG WITH TY, WE'VE VISITED THE, THE WAREHOUSE. UH, WE, WE, WE NOTED SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES, AREAS OF OPPORTUNITIES AND, AND THIS, SEVERAL OF THEM ARE BEING ADDRESSED HERE. SO, UH, MOVING FORWARD, THE COMMITTEE ALSO EXPRESSED, UH, SUPPORT FOR THE MODERNIZATION EFFORTS, AS I JUST MENTIONED. WE ALSO RECEIVED AND FILE AN UPDATE ON THE FY26 WATER AND SEWER CIP. STAFF REVIEWED THE DEPARTMENT'S PORTFOLIO OF ACTIVE PLAN PROJECTS, THE PROCESS USED TO DEVELOP AND MANAGE CIP PROJECTS, MAJOR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION C - ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CHALLENGES AFFECTING THE PROJECT AND, UH, DELIVERY AND EXPENDITURES. STAFF REPORTED THAT APPROXIMATELY 60 MILLION DOLLARS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WERE AWARDED DURING THE PRIOR YEAR AND HIGHLIGHTED SEVERAL COMPLETED AND ONGOING WATER AND SEWER PROJECTS. PRESENTATION, UH, ALSO DESCRIBED PROJECT DELAYS ASSOCIATED WITH CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE, BID AND PERMITTING ISSUES, INTERACTION COORDINATORS, COORDINATION AND REGULATORY CHANGES AND SCHEDULING CONSTRAINTS. UM, WITH THIS, THIS REPORT WAS VERY, VERY COMPREHENSIVE. UM, I WANNA COMMEND, UH, THOMAS FOR, FOR THE PRESENTATION. I KNOW THERE WAS SOME, SOME, UH, CONCERNS ABOUT IT BEING LENGTHY, BUT, BUT, UH, AGAIN, IT WAS INFORMATION THAT WE, WE REALLY, UH, NEEDED AND, UH, I CERTAINLY, UH, WANTED TO EXTEND MY APPRECIATION PUBLICLY FOR IT. UM, WITH THAT, UM, THIS REPORT IS AS WRITTEN. DID YOU GUYS GET A COPY OF THIS WRITTEN REPORT? DO YOU HAVE IT? WE REQUEST THAT THE COMMISSION BE, BE AFFORDED A WRITTEN REPORT AS WELL. THAT'D BE GREAT. THAT IS MY REPORT. GREAT. THANK YOU, SECRETARY AUSTIN. APPRECIATE THAT REPORT AND THE FOLLOW UP. UM, ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM? ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY, HEARING NONE, UH, ALL TH - ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THIS ITEM, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES FOR ITEM NUMBER 16. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT. OKAY, WE COME DOWN TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT TIME. IS THERE ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ANY, UH, NON-AGENDA [PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity to address the Utilities Commission on non-agenda items. Each speaker is limited to three minutes to make their comments unless extended by the Board.] ITEM AT THIS TIME? OKAY, SEEING NONE, [02:05:01] THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED. UH, ANNOUNCEMENTS, DO WE HAVE [ANNOUNCEMENTS] ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS THIS MORNING? ANATOLE, ANYONE? NOPE. I DO. OKAY, GO AHEAD. SO JUST, JUST A, A BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL COMMUNICATIONS GIVEN TO YOU ABOUT A, UH, A SEWER PUMP STATION FORCE MAIN, UH, RUPTURE THAT OCCURRED, UH, LAST WEEK. SO IT, IT IS AN INVOLVED EFFORT. UM, THERE'S A LOT OF DETAIL THERE. HERE'S JUST OUR ANNOUNCEMENTS. I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOU DID RECEIVE THOSE COMMUNICATIONS. I WANT TO UPDATE YOU IN TERMS OF THE BEACH CLOSURE. THE BEACH CLOSURE CONTINUES TO REMAIN IN EFFECT. UH, HEALTH IS THE ONE THAT'S IN CHARGE OF THE WATER QUALITY MONITORING IN THAT REGARD. UM, DIFFERENT THAN WHEN WE HAD THE BOILED WATER NOTICE, WE WERE IN CHARGE OF THE WATER QUALITY TESTING AND SO FORTH. THIS IS A QUESTION OF CITY HEALTH DOING THAT. UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THEIR PROTOCOLS, UH, REQUIRE TWO DAYS OF CLEARANCE IN TERMS OF TESTING IN ORDER FOR THEM TO REOPEN. SO WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO THAT SEQUENCE YET. YOU DID HOLD OFF ON TESTING OVER THE WEEKEND, UM, AND INTO MONDAY THEY HELD OFF BECAUSE OF THE RAINFALL EVENTS THAT OCCURRED. THEY NORMALLY WOULD NOT DO TESTING IN THE FIRST PLACE ANYWAY. THAT KIND OF WALKS YOUR WAY AS TO WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY WAITING FOR TWO DAYS OF CLEARANCE ON THE WATER QUALITY TESTING FROM CITY HEALTH IN ORDER TO REOPEN THE BEACH. THAT CONCLUDES MY COMMENTS HERE. YOU'LL GET A MUCH MORE DETAILED AFTER ACTION REPORT, INCLUDING THINGS THAT WE INTEND TO DO AS A RESULT OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM THAT, UH, AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING. THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, I JUST WANT TO REITERATE WHAT, UH, COMMISSIONER PARK- PARKINSON ALREADY ELOQUENTLY STATED WAS OUR THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO, WHO WERE PART OF THAT EMERGENCY RESPONSE. IT'S NOT LOST ON US THAT WHILE WHEN WE RECEIVE THESE RESPO - THESE EMAILS AND TEXTS FROM ANATOLD REGARDING WHAT'S HAPPENING, THAT THERE'S A, A CREW OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE REPRESENTING US WELL AND, AND DOING THE WORK, UH, THAT YOU DO BEST. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. OKAY, WE'RE GONNA GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION. WE HAVE [CLOSED SESSION] TWO ITEMS PENDING LITIGATION ON BOTH THE CLOSED SESSION CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL RELATING TO LIABILITY CLAIMS PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH TWO OF SUBDIVISION D OF SECTION 54956.9 OF THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE, GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIM OF INTERINSURANCE EXCHANGE OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB. AND THE SECOND IS A PENDING LITIGATION ON CLOSED SESSION CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL RELATING TO THE LIABILITY CLAIMS PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH TWO OF SUBDIVISION D OF SECTION 54956.9 OF THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE, A GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIM OF THE VIVIAN ARLUCK... IS THAT IT? VIVIAN ARLUCK. UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS? OKAY, SEEING NONE, WE WILL RECESS INTO CLOSED SESSION AND WE'LL COME BACK AFTER. THANK YOU. SO FOR THE TWO CLOSED SESSION ITEMS, THE BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIONERS HAS SETTLED THE GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIM OF INTERINSURANCE EXCHANGE FOR, OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB CLAIM NUMBER 25-0514 IN THE AMOUNT OF $458,858.44. THE VOTE TO APPROVE WAS FIVE ZERO. ON THE SECOND CLOSED SESSION ITEM, THE BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIONERS HAS SETTLED THE GOVERNMENT TORT CLAIM OF VIVIAN ARLUCK, CLAIM NUMBER C25-30314 IN THE AMOUNT OF $84,315.23. THE VOTE TO APPROVE WAS 5-0. GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MARCIA. AND WITH THAT, THIS MEETING [ADJOURNMENT] IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU EVERYONE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.