* 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. [00:00:03] AND WE'RE [ TOWN OF GREENBURGH OFFICE OF THE TOWN BOARD 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh, NY 10607 Tel: 914-989-1525 Fax: 914-993-1541 Email: jdudek@greenburghny.com ] GONNA HAVE A MEETING, UH, LATER ON, UH, TONIGHT. AND THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, IT'S, UH, DECEMBER 19TH, A LITTLE AFTER SIX. UH, SIX. AND, UH, FIRST ITEM IS TO, UH, DISCUSS PROPOSED, UM, WATER RATE, UM, UM, INCREASES, UH, WITH MEMBERS OF THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY, UH, COMMITTEE. AND YOUR COMMITTEE WAS FORMED HOW MANY YEARS AGO? IT MUST HAVE BEEN OVER 10. 10 YEARS. OVER 10 YEARS. WOULD YOU TURN YOUR MIC? IT'S NOT ON YET. AND THEN IF YOU COULD JUST PULL THEM A LITTLE CLOSER TO YOU SO WE CAN MAKE OVER 10 YEARS AGO. I BELIEVE SO. CLOSER? NO. YEAH, HE'S FINE. OKAY. THE MATH MAKES IT HARDER YET. OKAY. YEAH. SO THE FIRST, UM, ORDER OF BUSINESS IS BASICALLY THE, THE, UH, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. UM, THEY AND THE WATER DEPARTMENT, THEY'VE RECOMMENDED A 7% INCREASE. OH, WAIT, WAIT, SORRY. THE STUDIO'S NOT ON YOU. OKAY. JUST, JUST IF YOU RECORDING IN PROGRESS. OKAY. SO, WELCOME TARA TOWN BOARD, UH, UH, MEETING AND WORK SESSION. TODAY'S MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH. IT'S THE AFTER, UH, 6:00 PM AND, UM, THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS, UH, TO DISCUSS WITH MEMBERS OF THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD, UM, WHICH WAS CREATED ABOUT A DECADE AGO. UM, THE PROPOSED, UM, WATER RATE INCREASES, UM, THE, UH, WATER DISTRICT AND, UH, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IS RECOMMENDING A 7% INCREASE. THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS FEEL THAT, UM, THAT AMOUNT IS EXCESSIVE. THEY'VE RECOMMENDED A 3%, UM, INCREASE. AND, UM, AT OUR LAST, UM, TOWN BOARD MEETING, UM, WE DECIDED THAT BEFORE WE CAST A VOTE, UM, WE WOULD PROVIDE THE, THE MEMBERS OF THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, EXPRESS THEMSELVES. AND, YOU KNOW, THEN WE COULD HEAR FROM, UH, THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND, AND, AND DEPUTY. OKAY. SO IT'S ALL YOURS. OKAY. WELL, THE MEMBERS OF THE WATER ADVISORY BOARD INTRODUCED THEMSELVES FIRST BEFORE YOU SPEAK. SURE. THE POP, SO THE PUBLIC KNOWS YOU. OKAY. DAN ROSENBLUM. I'M CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE. I'VE BEEN DOING RATE MAKING WORK FOR THE LAST 45 YEARS IN VARIOUS, UH, VARIOUS WAYS. THANK YOU. DAN BEEN AROUND FOR A BIT OF TIME. ABSOLUTELY. UH, BASICALLY FINANCE TYPE BACKGROUND. OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS, I'VE BEEN DOING LITIGATION CONSULTING, NOT AS A LAWYER, AS MORE OF A BUSINESS PERSON. SO, UH, I DO THIS, I, THE REASON I GOT INVOLVED IS THAT THE AQUEDUCT GOES RIGHT UNDER MY HOUSE. THAT'S HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT WATER. OKAY. SO, UH, I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU BEHIND YOUR MASK. . MY NAME IS STU ZAMAN. I'VE LIVED IN THE TOWN OF GREENBURG PRETTY MUCH ALL MY LIFE. UM, I'M A RETIRED EDUCATOR AND I'VE BEEN ON THE BOARD FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS NOW. BEEN VERY INTERESTING WORKING WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT AND WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE. AND WE ALSO HAVE TWO OTHER, DAN, YOU WANNA INTRODUCE THE TWO OF THE MEMBERS YOU HAVE WHO'S NOT AHEAD. YOU JUST NEED TO COME. JUST MAKE SURE YOU'RE SPEAKING THE MIC. PLEASE DON'T COME HERE AND SPEAK INTO THE SPEAKER. YOU CAN HAND THE MICROPHONE. YOU COULD, UH, SHOULD WE GET A CHAIR FOR YOU? NO. MY NAME IS, UH, LAURA SPICE HANDLER. I'M A NEW MEMBER IN THE LAST YEAR, SO, UM, JUST SORT OF LEARNING THINGS. UM, BUT I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN BANKING AND FINANCE, UH, ABOUT 30 YEARS. I WORK FOR A BANK CURRENTLY. AND, UM, THIS IS REALLY A REMARKABLE GROUP OF PEOPLE AND THEY WORK VERY HARD FOR, UH, DOING THE RIGHT THING. SO I'M VERY PROUD TO BE A PART OF IT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. HI, I'M ASHING AND I'VE LIVED IN TOWN OF GREENBURG FOR ABOUT EIGHT YEARS. AND, UH, I JOINED, UH, WORKING CLOSELY, UH, WITH THE BOARD LAST YEAR. AND IT'S BEEN A GREAT LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ME PERSONALLY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. SO DO YOU ALL HAVE COPIES OF THE POWERPOINT IN FRONT OF YOU? DID YOU PROVIDE THEM? DID YOU, DID YOU GIVE US A COPY? I UPLOADED IT. JUDITH, WHERE IS SHE? SHE'S NOT, SHE GOT IT. OH, OKAY. NOW I HAVE A COPY HERE TO DISPLAY, BUT I DIDN'T GET ANY. WE, WE'LL HAVE A DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN. YEAH, IT'S GONNA BE, DID YOU NEED SOMEONE FOR HERE TO, OH, IS THIS SOMETHING I SHOULD DO? NO. OH, MAYBE CAN YOU HELP HIM NAVIGATE THE SLIDES WHILE WE, SO IS IT RIGHT ON THERE? I JUST SLIDE. I BELIEVE THE SLIDE IS ON THIS COMPUTER. OH, THERE IT IS. GOOD. PERFECT. OKAY, GREAT. DO YOU SEE IT ON THERE? GOOD. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. IT'S A LITTLE CHALLENGING. THAT'S MAKE IT HARD FOR YOU TO SEE. 'CAUSE YOU HAVE TO DO, [00:05:01] I DON'T HAVE MY GLASSES, SO THAT DOESN'T DOESN'T MAKE IT HARD FOR ME TO SEE, BUT FOR THE REST OF IT, KEN CAN LOOK HERE. OKAY. I HAVE A COUPLE COPIES. IS IT CONNECTED OVER THERE OR IS IT NO, I THOUGHT SHE WAS OPENING. SHE CAN'T DO THAT BECAUSE WE ALSO HAVE PEOPLE. RIGHT. SO YOU'RE NOT GONNA CONTROL OF IT, RIGHT? NO, I HAVE IT. IT'S UP HERE. NO, YEAH, YOU, YOU HAVE TO TELL ME WHEN YOU WANT TO CHANGE. THANK YOU. TWO COPIES. THAT'S IT. YOU JUST HAVE TO TELL HIM ONCE TO ADVANCE. OKAY. I'M VERY OBEDIENT. JUST TELL ME. SO, SO DAN WILL HAVE TO TELL YOU TOO, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE IT ON THIS THING. SO YOU CAN GO BACK OVER THERE BECAUSE OH, THOSE COPIES. WE DON'T HAVE IT ON THE NO, BUT, BUT FRANCIS IS GOING TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES FOR YOU. OH, OKAY. THANK YOU FRANCIS. I APPRECIATE IT. OKAY. SO FIRST, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE CHANCE TO BE HERE TODAY. AND, UM, YES, THERE'S A LOT THAT CAME OUT IN THE MEETING LAST WEEK. WE WANT TO, UH, RESPOND TO CLARIFY. UM, I EXPECT YOU ALL KNOW OUR MISSION, WHICH IS TO, UH, ADVISE THE WATER DISTRICT AND THE TOWN ON ISSUES INVOLVING RELIABILITY, AFFORDABILITY, TRY TO, UH, DO OUR BEST TO HELP YOU. UH, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THE WATER DISTRICT FOR YEARS NOW, AND WE'VE GENERALLY HAD A VERY COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP. WE THINK VERY HIGHLY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE WATER DISTRICT. I DON'T WANT ANY CONFUSION ABOUT THAT. THEY'RE, THEY'RE GREAT. UH, BUT WE'VE HAD SOME PROBLEMS HERE AND THERE TRYING TO, UH, GET INFORMATION AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER. UH, WE ARE, WE'RE VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT THIS YEAR, UNLIKE PAST YEARS, WE'VE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND COMMON GROUND. UH, I THINK IT MAY STILL BE POSSIBLE TO DO SO. I'M NOT GIVEN UP HOPE ON THAT, BUT SO FAR OUR CONCERNS HAVE, UH, ESSENTIALLY BEEN IGNORED AND WE'RE, WE'RE TROUBLED BY THAT, WHICH IS WHY WE'RE SO GLAD WE CAN BE HERE TODAY WITH YOU. UH, I SHOULD WARN YOU THAT FINDING COMMON GROUND MAY TAKE ADDITIONAL TIME AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER. OKAY. DO SLIDE IF I COULD. NEXT SLIDE. NEXT SLIDE. FRANCIS, YOU'RE, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG MEETING. THAT'S THE SEVEN 30 MEETING. OH, I SEE. OKAY. . YEAH, I KNOW. IT'S JUST, WE WERE SPEAKING NOW TALKING ABOUT THE SLIDE, SO I, THERE WE GO. KEEP GOING AND GOING AGAIN. ALRIGHT. SO WHAT YOU CAN SEE HERE ARE THE WATER DISTRICT PROPOSED INCREASES, 7% DECREASING EACH YEAR AFTER THAT. UH, JUST TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY, CLEARLY RATES DON'T DECREASE THE RATE OF INCREASE DECREASES YEAR TO YEAR. THE RATES CONTINUE TO GO UP. THE BROWN LINE, I GUESS THEY'D CALL THAT SHOWED WHAT WOULD BE REQUIRED FOR JUST IN TIME RATES. UH, BY THE WAY, IS PHILSON ON THE, ON THE CALL? YES. IS GOOD. PHIL. FEEL, FEEL FREE TO, UH, JUMP IN IF YOU FEEL LIKE I DON'T HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING CORRECTLY. OKAY. YEAH, I'M HERE. THANK YOU. GREAT. THANK YOU. UM, OKAY. OKAY. UM, WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THAT THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASES ARE FRONT LOADED DRAMATICALLY. IF YOU LOOK AT JUST IN TIME RATES, WE DON'T REALLY NEED A RATE INCREASE IN 2023. UH, WE NEED 'EM IN FUTURE YEARS. THE FRONT LOADING IS DRAMATIC HERE. IN FACT, IT'S MORE THAN JUST SMOOTHING. IT'S ACTUALLY THE HIGHEST INCREASE IN 2023, AND THEN IT GRADUALLY TAPERS DOWN. UM, NEXT SLIDE. COULD YOU ALSO EXPLAIN WHY YOU DON'T THINK WE NEED A, AN INCREASE IN 2000? OH, I'M GONNA GET TO THAT. ABSOLUTELY. YES. OKAY. YES. ACTUALLY THE NEXT SLIDE SHOWS OUR RECOMMENDATION. WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING IS A 3% INCREASE IN 2023, FOLLOWED BY EASE AND INCREASES IN EACH SUBSEQUENT YEAR. AND THIS IS IMPORTANT 'CAUSE I LISTENED TO YOUR DISCUSSION LAST WEEK AT THE TOWN BOARD MEETING, AND THERE SEEMED TO BE A MISUNDERSTANDING THAT WE WERE PROPOSING SOMETHING THAT WOULD'VE VOLATILE RATES. AND THAT'S NOTHING LIKE WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING HERE. THIS IS EITHER GONNA BE AN INCREASE OF FIRST YEAR, FOLLOWED BY EVEN INCREASES IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, SMOOTHING OF THE RATES, BUT ELIMINATING THE WORST OF THE FRONT LOADING. UM, BY THE WAY, YOU GUYS FEEL FREE TO JUMP IN ANYTIME YOU WANT TO. OKAY. UM, NEXT SLIDE IS A VERY IMPORTANT [00:10:01] ONE. I'M GONNA ASK. SURE. WHAT ARE THESE NUMBERS HERE ON THIS ONE THOUGH? 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD BE YOUR INCREASES. NO, THOSE ARE JUST IN TIME RATE INCREASES. THOSE ARE WHAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MEET THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE WATER DISTRICT. SO THAT'S, THIS IS WHAT THE NEEDS WOULD BE. BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING FOR EACH YEAR. YES. WE'RE NOT PROPOSING THAT AT ALL. ON CONTRARY. SO THIS NEXT SLIDE, IF WE CAN TURN, IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT HARD TO SEE. THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE REASONS WHY THE WATER DISTRICT IS A PROPOSING A 7% INCREASE. UH, AND YOU'LL SEE THE TOP LINE, YOU CAN BARELY MAKE IT OUT. THE TOP LINE REPRESENTS 57.2% OF THE RATE INCREASE OF INDEED FOR THE RATE INCREASE. AND THAT'S FOR RATE SMOOTHING. OKAY. IT'S UNRELATED TO CURRENT COSTS. IT'S JUST FOR RATE SMOOTHING. THIS IS THE FRONT LOADING. YOU SEE MUCH SMALLER NUMBERS FOR MISCELLANEOUS REVENUES, FIXED COSTS, VARIABLE COSTS, THE CHEMICALS AND UTILITIES. YOU'VE HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT FROM THE WATER DISTRICT. PRETTY SMALL AMOUNT. EVEN IF YOU DOUBLE IT, IT'S NOT A HUGE AMOUNT. UH, DEBT SERVICE PURCHASE WATER, THAT IS SOMETHING WE CAN'T GET AWAY FROM. THOSE ARE COSTS THAT ARE PASSED FROM THE CITY OF NEW YORK AND WE'RE STUCK WITH IT. UM, YOU ALSO HAVE THE CHEMICALS IN THERE TOO. YEAH, I MENTIONED THAT THAT'S THE ONE WHERE EVEN IF THEY DOUBLE IT, IT'S NOT YEAH. NOT A HUGE NUMBER. UH, LESS THAN 4% FOR CHEMICALS PUT IN OTHER WAY WITHOUT THE SMOOTHING. THE WATER RATE INCREASE WOULD BE JUST ABOUT 3% IN 2023, WHICH IS HOW WE GET TO THAT NUMBER. UH, NOW, NEXT SLIDE. IF I COULD, ONE KEY POINT HERE. CAN I JUST ASK ANOTHER QUESTION? PLEASE, PLEASE, YES. UM, WHEN I SPOKE TO RICH, UH, EARLIER TODAY, HE SAID WE WERE STARTING TO HAVE A LOT OF WATER MAIN BREAKS. YES. YOU KNOW, THERE WAS ONE, UH, THAT WE HAD ON OVER THE WEEKEND OR THE PAST WEEK THAT, YOU KNOW, HE SAID COULD BE LIKE A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, AND HE THINKS THAT THIS YEAR THE WATER MAIN BREAKS ARE GONNA BE WORSE THAN, YOU KNOW, IN PREVIOUS YEAR. HE SAID STARTING MUCH EARLIER. IF, LET'S ASSUME WE GO WITH A 3% INCREASE, AND LET'S SAY THE WATER, THERE'S A LOT OF WATER MAIN BREAKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS, WILL WE BE IN GE? WILL THE WATER DISTRICT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT, EVEN IF IT'S UNANTICIPATED BREAKS? FIRST OF ALL, I GET TO GET, GET THIS, BUT I'LL TALK ABOUT IT NOW. FIRST OF ALL, THE RATES ARE PROPOSED TO PROVIDE MONEY FOR WATER MAIN REPAIRS FOR ALL KINDS OF REPAIRS. THAT'S WHAT RATES ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU THINK YOUR COSTS ARE GOING TO BE AND YOU SET RATES TO COVER THEM. SO IT SHOULD BE IN THERE. SECOND, JUST DON'T FORGET THIS, UH, 57% OF THE RATE INCREASE FOR SMOOTHING. THAT'S NOT A FLUSH FUND. THAT IS MONEY THAT'S THERE TO PAY FOR THE COSTS OF THE NEW PUMPKIN STATION. IT'S NOT THERE TO TAKE CARE OF, YOU KNOW, IF THEY HAVE TO LOOK OVER, GO OVER THIS YEAR, IT'S UNRELATED. I'M NOT SURE WHERE THIS ARGUMENT COMES FROM, BUT THE COSTS OF REPAIRING WATER MAINS ARE IN THE RATES. NOW, THIS IS ONE OF OUR FRUSTRATIONS. WE HAD ASKED ON DECEMBER 6TH, I BELIEVE IT WAS, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, AT OUR LAST MEETING FOR INFORMATION SHOWING THE EXTENT TO WHICH IN PAST YEARS THE TOWN WENT EITHER OVER OR UNDER THEIR ANTICIPATED COST, THIS TYPE OF WORK. WE DIDN'T GET THAT ME AND NEVER COME OUT, COME OUT EXACTLY ON, ON TARGET. WE WANNA GET A SENSE, HOW DO WE DO USUALLY WE DON'T KNOW. 'CAUSE THEY DIDN'T TELL US. CAN I JUST ASK, CAN I ASK A QUESTION PLEASE? SURE. UM, I'M LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION, WHY SHOULD CUSTOMERS IN 23 PAPER CONSTRUCTION THAT WILL NOT PROVIDE BENEFITS UNTIL 2025 OR LATER? UM, ARE THOSE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS? THE CONSTRUCTION, BECAUSE THE PROJECTS, DOCUMENTS AND ENGINEERING FOR THE PUMPING STATION. OH, NO, I, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK WE ARE. NO. AND SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THOSE COSTS ARE AND IF ANY OF THIS, I'M JUST ASKING IF ANY OF THE INCREASE IS PAYING FOR THOSE UPFRONT COSTS. IT'S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, YOU SAY, OKAY, TODAY I AM GONNA BUILD A PUMPING STATION. NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, I'VE NEVER HEARD AN ARGUMENT THAT THE MONEY IS NEEDED FOR THAT. BUT I, I, I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE. YEAH, I DON'T KNOW EITHER. SO THAT'S A QUESTION. WELL, I THINK, I THINK AT SOME POINT RICH AND PHIL WILL COME IN AND SURE. RIGHT. ASK THEIR PRESENTATIONS. IT'S A FAIR QUESTION. YEAH. UM, BUT ONE, ONE IMPORTANT THING THERE IS THAT IF YOU REALLY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT PUTTING AWAY THE MONEY TO PAY THAT $22 MILLION, WHICH JUST GOT [00:15:01] PUSHED BACK FROM 23 TO 25, THAT SHOULD BE LIKE A RESTRICTED FUND. IT SHOULD BE DEDICATED TO THAT. IT SHOULDN'T BE THERE TO BE USED TO COVER CURRENT YOUR SHORTFALLS. I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT I'M ASKING SPECIFIC TO THE PUMPING STATION. YEAH. RIGHT. I'LL HAVE TO NO. AL'S MAKING A SEPARATE, SEPARATE POINT. YEAH. MAKE IT A SEPARATE POINT. UH, THIS WHOLE ARGUMENT IS WHAT'S CALLED INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY. THAT ONE GENERATION OF CUSTOMERS SHOULDN'T PAY FOR COSTS THAT THEY'RE NOT GONNA BENEFIT FROM. BUT A SUBSEQUENT CLASS OF CUSTOMERS WILL. UH, SO QUESTION WOULD BE WHY SHOULD A CUSTOMER NOW PAY FOR COSTS? THEY'RE GONNA BE INCURRED IN TWO YEARS WHEN THE CUSTOMER NOW MAY DIE, MAY MOVE AWAY. UH, NEW CUSTOMERS WILL COME IN IN TWO YEARS AND THEY'LL HAVE BEEN SUBSIDIZED BY THE CURRENT CUSTOMERS. SO THERE'S, THERE'S AN EQUITY ISSUE, UH, HOW YOU WANNA RESOLVE, IT'S UP TO YOU, BUT YOU SHOULD AT LEAST BE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS AN EQUITY ISSUE AND SOME PEOPLE GET HURT. A ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT WE'RE ESSENTIALLY ASKING THE CURRENT CUSTOMERS TO MAKE MONEY AVAILABLE TO THE TOWN FOR FUTURE FUTURE COSTS. THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY LENDING MONEY TO THE TOWN. NOW THAT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A BIG DEAL, BUT IF YOU ARE POOR, THEN YOUR COST OF BORROWING MONEY IS A LOT HIGHER THAN IT IS FOR MOST OF US. YOUR COST OF BORROWING WHATEVER YOU'RE PAYING FOR A CAR LOAN OR FOR A PAYROLL ADVANCE, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY. AND YOU CAN'T JUST IGNORE THAT. SO THAT'S A SIDE OF THE INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY ISSUE. OKAY. IT'S HARD TO SAY A GENERATION WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TWO YEARS, RIGHT? 'CAUSE WE DO THAT ALL THE TIME. WE HAVE A FUND BALANCE WHERE PRIOR GENERATION, SO TO SPEAK, ARE PAYING TAXES SO THAT THERE'S MONEY AVAILABLE. SHOULD THERE BE AN EMERGENCY? UH, SHOULDN'T A GENERATION BE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN TWO YEARS? WELL, THAT'S HOW IT'S BEEN USED IN UTILITY RATE MAKING FOR YEARS. YOU MAY REMEMBER BACK THE TIME WHEN THEY WERE TRYING TO BUILD NUCLEAR PLANTS, CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS. REMEMBER THAT ISSUE? WOW. OKAY. WELL, CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS FOR YEARS, ELECTRIC UTILITIES TRIED TO GET CUSTOMERS TO PAY FOR THE PLANTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION BEFORE THEY'RE FINISHED. THEY SAID CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS SHOULD BE IN CURRENT RATES. UM, THAT WAS THE INTERGEN INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY ISSUE. UH, SOMETIMES IT'S MORE THAN TWO YEARS, SOMETIMES NOT. BUT, UH, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS CORRECT TO THE EXTENT THAT A TWO YEAR INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY ISSUE IS LESS SIGNIFICANT THAN A FIVE YEAR. IT'S STILL AN ISSUE. I GUESS THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO WHAT BEST WAY TO RESPOND. OKAY. UH, SO LET ME ASK YOU, SO IS IT, IS IT THAT TAKE FOR INSTANCE, THE COST OF THE PUMPING STATION, IF, IF, IF WE DON'T, IF, IF, IF IT'S NOT GONNA BE PROVI, IF IT'S, IF WE'RE IF EXPECTING IT TO PROVIDE BENEFITS IN 2025, DON'T WE HAVE TO PAY FOR IT AND BUILD IT NOW IN ORDER FOR THAT TO OCCUR? NO, ACTUALLY YOU BORROW MONEY, MUCH OF THE MONEY FOR THE PLANT WILL BE BORROWED AND YOU PAY FOR IT OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS. UH, SO RATHER THAN INCREASING THE RATES, WE WOULD JUST BORROW THE MONEY. RIGHT. AND USE THAT BORROWED MONEY TO BUILD. BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA PAY FOR THE WHOLE PLANT IN 2025. NO, BUT MY POINT IS DON'T WE HAVE TO START DOING IT NOW IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE READY TO I'M NOT IMM NOT SURE. YOU DO IN 2025. THEY'RE NOT GONNA START THE PLANT UNTIL 2025, WHAT YOU SAID. OH, THEY'RE NOT. OKAY. THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS SAYS. NO, NO, NO. THIS, THIS, THIS, YOU SAYING THAT CONSTRUCTION WILL NOT PROVIDE BENEFITS UNTIL 2025. THAT DOESN'T SAY WE'RE GONNA START BUILDING 25. OH, OKAY. NO, YOU'RE, THAT'S MY, THAT'S WHAT I'M ASKING. FAIR POINT. YEAH. OKAY. YEAH. UH, AND BY THE WAY, WE HAVE NO IDEA REALLY. MM-HMM. WHEN THE PLANT'S GONNA BE BUILT. UH, THE REASON WHY, A MAJOR REASON WHY THE FRONT LOANING ISN'T NECESSARY THIS YEAR IS 'CAUSE THE PLANT WAS DELAYED TWO YEARS. WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THAT'S A GOOD IDEA, FRANKLY, TO DELAY IT. WE'RE ALSO NOT SURE IT'S GONNA BE REALLY STARTED IN 2025. WE DON'T KNOW. WELL, WE, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE REASON FOR THE DELAY IS. YEAH. SO WOULD WE YEAH, WE, WE DIDN'T, WE DID NOT GET A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THAT, FRANKLY. DID YOU, DID YOU WANNA HEAR, DID YOU WANNA HEAR FROM RICH? SURE. BUT WE, WE THINK IT'S IN PART IT'S FINANCIAL THAT THEY WANTED TO PUT OFF THE COST FOR A COUPLE MORE YEARS FOR IT. BUT I NOTICED THIS HAS A DATE OF THE PRESENTATION OF TODAY, RIGHT. DECEMBER 19TH. HAVE YOU, HAVE YOU SHARED THESE SLIDES, PARTICULARLY THE ONES WITH YOUR SMOOTH RATE INCREASES WITH THE, WITH THE D P W? I FINISHED THESE SLIDES ABOUT AN HOUR AGO. UH OH. UH, THEY'RE FRESH OFF THE PRESS. WE, WE SHARED [00:20:01] MUCH, IF NOT MOST OF THIS ANALYSIS WITH THE TOWN ON DECEMBER 2ND. ALTHOUGH I INADVERTENTLY ONLY SENT IT TO BRIAN. I THINK THAT, UH, RICH AND ANDY GOT IT THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, BUT BRIAN GOT IT ON FRIDAY. SO THEY HAD IT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2ND. WE DIDN'T GET MUCH RESPONSE TO IT. AND WE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE AT ALL TO ANY OF OUR SUBSTANTIVE ARGUMENTS IN HERE. THEY JUST IGNORED 'EM. GO AHEAD. AT THIS POINT, WE WERE KIND OF RUNNING ABOUT A QUARTER LATE ON THE CONTACT TANK, WHICH IS BEING BUILT NOW, AND THE CHEMISTRY AND THE CHEMICAL PLANT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE IN 2022. PROBABLY. NOW WE'RE GONNA GO INTO 2023. WE'RE HOLDING OUR BREATHS THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE AN OVERRUN ON THAT. AND WHAT WE DID PURSUE, BECAUSE THE, THE, UH, PUB STATION WAS BUILT IN 1954 THAT WAS ESTIMATED TO HAVE ABOUT A 50 YEAR LIFE MAX. WE'RE WELL PAST THAT NOW. UM, AND THAT WAS STARTING A, BEING A HIGH PRIORITY IN THE 1998 STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WAS DEVELOPED. AND IT HAS NOT BEEN DONE. AND IT COULDN'T BE DONE UNTIL THE INTERCONNECT WAS DONE BETWEEN THE TWO PUMP STATIONS, WHICH WE FINALLY GOT DONE ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, A YEAR AGO. DID THEY PROJECT A PANDEMIC? , YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT MUST PAY FOR, SO THINGS ARE FLOATING. AND WE DID SPECIFICALLY ASK IF THIS WAS SUCH A HIGH PRIORITY STARTING IN 1998. UH, AND, AND NOW WHY CAN IT JUST BE PUT OFF TWO YEARS? WE GOT SOME EXPLANATIONS, BUT THEY WEREN'T FULSOME, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THEY WERE NOT, I'M SORRY. THEY WERE WHAT? THEY WEREN'T PARTICULARLY HELPFUL. THEY OH, HELPFUL, WHOLESOME, TECHNICAL TERM I WAS TRYING TO USE. SO ARE RICH, ARE THEY COMING? THEY WERE ON, THEY WERE ON. THEY WERE ON. I JUST, I JUST WANNA WAIT TILL I FINISH YOUR PRESENTATION. I JUST HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION. BUT THIS, BY THE WAY, THIS SLIDE WAS NOT SOMETHING WE CREATED. IT WAS SOMETHING THAT PHIL CREATED. YEAH. WE ASKED THEM TO DO IT. BUT I VERY HELPFUL. THE PRESENTATION IS DATED TODAY, BUT, AND YOU PUT IT TOGETHER IN ABOUT AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE THE MEETING. WHEN WAS THIS SLIDE CREATED? OH, THIS WAS, THIS WAS PREPARED BY PHIL. NO, THIS SLIDE, NO, YOUR SLIDE, YOUR RECOMMENDATION SLIDE IS, OH, THAT WAS ALSO, THAT WAS BACK IN DECEMBER 2ND. SURE. THAT WAS DECEMBER 2ND TOO. THAT SHOULD BE IN THE, IN OUR RECOMMENDATION. THIS IS NOTHING NEW HERE AT ALL. THE, THE, THE TOWN, YOU KNOW, THE WATER DISTRICT HAS SEEN ALL OF THIS BEFORE. THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE POWERPOINT AS I PUT IT TOGETHER TODAY. BUT I THINK THEY HAVE PROBABLY SEEN MOST, IF NOT ALL OF THE SLIDES. YEAH. I DON'T THINK I CREATED ANY SLIDES OVER THE LAST WEEK, FRANKLY. YEAH. UM, MUCH OF WHAT I HAVE HERE, I JUST CUT AND PASTED FROM THE RECOMMENDATION THAT I SENT TO ALL OF YOU. OKAY. OKAY. UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, WHICH ONE IS THAT FINE WATER DISTRICT IS FINANCIALLY STRONG WITHOUT THE 2023 RATE INCREASE. AND WHAT THIS SAYS IS WE'RE NOT TRYING TO CUT THINGS INTO THE BONE HERE BY ANY MEANS. UH, THE TOWN HAS ABOUT 4 MILLION. THE TOWN, THE WATER DISTRICT HAS ABOUT $4 MILLION AVAILABLE IN NET ASSETS BALANCE BASED ON FISCAL YEAR 2021 NUMBERS. AND YOU COMPARE THAT NUMBER TO THE SIZE OF THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASE, WHICH IS A LITTLE OVER 1.3 MILLION. AND, UH, THE WATER, WATER DISTRICT IS NOT HURTING FOR CASH RIGHT NOW. IT'S IN GOOD SHAPE. THE REVENUE PROJECTIONS FROM EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN TOLD ARE CONSERVATIVE. THE COST PROJECTIONS ARE CONSERVATIVE. THE WATER DISTRICT HAS NOT SPENT BUDGETED AMOUNTS IN PAST YEARS. MEANING IT'S MAY MAYBE EVEN MORE CASH AVAILABLE IN, WE THINK, UH, YOU TALKING ABOUT, UH, FOR CAPITAL EXPENSES OR OPERATING? NO, I'M TALKING FOR OPERATING. I'M SORRY. OPERATING. YEAH. LOOK, GOOD QUESTION. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH HASN'T BEEN SPENT? THAT WAS, UH, NO, I CAN GET TO THAT LATER, BUT I CAN TOUCH ON IT BRIEFLY. UH, WE LOOKED AT THE TENTATIVE 2023 BUDGET AND THAT SHOWS THE ACTUALS FOR 2021, BUDGET FOR 2022, AND THEN TWO DATES THROUGH, I BELIEVE IT'S OCTOBER FOR EXPENSES. AND THEY'RE GENERALLY WELL BELOW THE BUDGETED NUMBERS. WE DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT FROM WHAT WE SEE SO FAR, THERE COULD BE A LOT OF EXTRA MONEY. WE, WE'VE, WE'VE SEEN A HISTORY OF, UM, EXTRA MONEY, I GUESS GIVEN THE WATER DISTRICT. I USE THE TERM SLOSHING AROUND, UH, AL DID A GREAT JOB COMING UP WITH MONEY THAT NOBODY REALLY KNEW ABOUT FOR YEARS IN THE WATER DISTRICT. HE FOUND $32 MILLION [00:25:02] IN UNSPENT BOND PROCEEDS. YEAH. WE FOUND, UH, $32 MILLION THAT HAD BEEN MOVED FROM THE WATER DEPARTMENT. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE GAP ACCOUNTING 'CAUSE IT WAS A, DUE TO DUE FRAUD HONOR, I BELIEVE. CAN YOU TALK INTO THE YEAH, I'M SORRY. THE, UH, WHAT HAPPENED? UH, I KEPT LOOKING AT THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SOMETHING DIDN'T MAKE SENSE AND THEN IT TOOK ME ABOUT A YEAR, A YEAR AND A HALF GOING BETWEEN VICTOR AND BRINGING, UH, UH, THE TOWN CONTROLLER IN ON IT. AND BASICALLY WHAT'S HAPPENING OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, CASH WAS BEING MOVED OUT OF THE ENTERPRISE FUND, WHICH IS THE LEGAL ENTITY FOR THE WATER DEPARTMENT INTO THE MUNICIPAL, UH, SIDE OF THE HOUSE. THE, UH, NORMAL MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS, IT WAS BEING BOOKED, KEPT PROPERLY, BUT WE WERE GOING OUT AND BORROWING MONEY REGULARLY. DIDN'T REALIZING THAT THERE WAS MONEY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN OUR FUND AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED. AND THAT'S BEEN COVERING FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS. ALL THE OVERRUNS THAT THEY'VE BEEN RUNNING ON, LIKE THE CONTACT TANK IS ABOUT $8 MILLION OVER RIGHT NOW. AND THAT WAS COVERED THROUGH, UH, THIS 32 MILLION. THEY'VE BEEN WEEDING THEIR WAY THROUGH IT. AND THE LAC TREE TAKES SOME, AND THAT'S COMING IN THIS YEAR. IT'S COVERING THE, UH, A GOOD PART OF THE WATER TANK REHAB. UH, WE HAVE A DETAILED ANALYSIS ON THIS THAT IS COVERING A LOT OF THE, UH, OF THE OVERRUNS AND SOME OF THE JUST PLAIN OLD CAPITAL COSTS, WHICH THEREFORE ARE NOT BEING REFLECTED IN THE RATES. SO I'M NOT CLEAR THAT WHAT MONEY IS COVERING THE COST. THE 32 MILLION. 32 MILLION IS COVERING WHERE, WHERE IS IT COMING? YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE THIS MAGIC 32 MILLION THAT WAS MOVED OUT OF THE WATER DISTRICT HAS BEEN MOVED BACK IN. IT WAS MOVED BACK IN, RIGHT? YES. AFTER WE BROUGHT IT UP AND AFTER A NUMBER OF MEETINGS, IT WAS MOVED BACK INTO THE 2021 FINANCIAL. IT TOOK A LOT OF WORK, A LOT OF PERSISTENCE ON AL'S PART TO FINALLY GET HOLD OF NOW THAT WAS MAKE MAKE THAT MONEY AVAILABLE. YEAH. AND IT WAS ANOTHER FUND THAT WE CAME ACROSS, WHICH WHEN, UH, WHEN THEY HAD A PROJECT, ALL THE MONEY WASN'T SPENT. IT WAS SITTING THERE AND THAT MONEY WAS BEING RELEASED WHEN THEY HAD AN OVERRUN, OR LIKE THE UPFRONT COST, LET'S SAY FOR THE ENGINEERING WORK. THEY WERE TAKING THAT MONEY AND USING THAT AS WELL. SO OVER THE LAST FOUR FOR FIVE YEARS, USING WHAT? USING IT FOR WHAT THERE'S BEEN THE, THE, THE, UH, WATER USERS OF THIS TOWN HAVE GOTTEN A BIG BREAK AND THE PEOPLE PAID FOR IT WERE STARTING ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO. 'CAUSE I COULD ACTUALLY TRACK THE MONEY MOVING BY YEAR. WELL, THAT'S BASICALLY, BUT I, I'M, I'M, I'M SORRY, I'M I'M NOT QUITE YOU, YOU SAID THEY HAVE TAKEN THE MONEY. SO IT WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE WATER DEPARTMENT. IT WAS A, A, A SHORT-TERM INVESTMENT FUND AND IT WAS INVESTED ON THE, IN THE, UH, MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS AS OPPOSED TO THE ENTERPRISE FUND, WHICH HAS ALL THE ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AND BUSINESS OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT. SO THEN ONCE THE MONEY WAS TRANSFERRED, THAT'S, THEY THEN TOOK THAT AND USED IT FOR THESE THINGS. I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, YEAH, AND I WANNA CLARIFY ONE POINT. AL'S NOT SUGGESTING OTHERWISE, BUT WE ARE NOT SUGGESTING IN ANY WAY ANYTHING WAS EVER WRONG WITH THIS. YEAH. I MEAN, NOBODY HAS EVER MISUSED ANY OF THIS MONEY. THERE'S NEVER AN ISSUE AT ALL. THERE'S NEVER ANY ISSUE OF INTEGRITY. THIS IS ONLY A QUESTION OF ARE WE REALLY USING THE MONEY THE WATER DISTRICT HAS TO ITS FULL ADVANTAGE. YEAH. AND IT WASN'T. IT'S THE SAME, IT'S THE SAME THING. YOU KNOW, I HAVE PUT IN MY PROPOSED BUDGET THAT I WANTED SOMEBODY TO REPORT TO ME WHO WOULD BE HELPING WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, ANALYZE THE FINANCIALS BECAUSE WE FOUND THAT, UM, EVEN WITH THE BONDING, WE'VE BEEN BONDING FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS. AND THEN ROBERTA HAS SAID, YOU KNOW, WE NEVER, THE, SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS HAVE NEVER REALLY SPENT THE MONEY THAT WE THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA SPEND. YEAH. SO THE THING IS, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, UM, USE, SHE'S BEEN CLEANING IT UP BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T SPENT IT AND I FAIL. AND I REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE ON THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, YOU KNOW, RICHARD BOBBY AND ALAN HUCKER, AND YOU, EVERYBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT, WE NEED TO FIND OUT THE VARIANCES AND WE HAVE TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH IS BUDGETED EACH YEAR. AND, UM, AND BASICALLY ARE WE, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'RE OFF AT ANY GIVEN TIME. AND THAT'S WHY THE POSITION THAT I WANTED, I, I STILL THINK WOULD BE BENEFICIAL. EXACTLY. EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT. WELL, WE CAN, THAT'S NO, BUT I'M JUST SAYING IT'S [00:30:01] A, IT'S A MAJOR, UM, BUDGET. YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ONLY THE WATER DEPARTMENT, IT'S THROUGHOUT, THROUGHOUT THE TOWN, YOU KNOW. UNDERSTOOD. BUT THAT'S FOR ANOTHER DISCUSSION. RIGHT. SO LET'S HOLD THAT THOUGHT FOR NOW, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I CERTAINLY HAVE THOUGHTS AND I DON'T WANT RAIN ON THESE GENTLEMAN'S PARADE. AND WE DO HAVE A TOWN BOARD MEETING STARTING AT SEVEN 30. AT SEVEN 30. SO WE STILL WANT, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM THE TOWN, SO. SURE. OKAY. 'CAUSE I KNOW THERE WAS SOME THINGS I'LL, I'LL, I'LL TRY TO MOVE A LITTLE BIT FASTER HERE. OKAY. UM, THE NEXT COUPLE OF POINTS HERE ARE JUST ABOUT INTEREST COVERAGE AND DEBT COVERAGE REMAINING. UH, PERFECTLY FINE. SUFFICIENT. UM, NEXT SLIDE. OKAY. THIS GOES TO PART OF WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT, UH, THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES. JUST TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF HOW RATE MAKING IS USUALLY DONE. THE TOWN BOARD HERE IS ESSENTIALLY THE RATE MAKER YOU ARE IN THE SAME SPOT AS A REGULATORY COMMISSION WOULD BE FOR AN INVESTOR ON UTILITY. YOU'RE THE ONE WHO MAKES THE DECISIONS ON WHAT THE RATES ARE GOING TO BE. TRADITIONAL RATE MAKING IN ITS VERY SIMPLIFIED MANNER EXAMINES THE COSTS, INCLUDING CAPITAL COSTS, THE REVENUES, AND THEN ADJUSTS THE RATE LEVELS TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE REVENUES TO PROVIDE RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE SERVICE. THAT'S WHAT YOU DO. AND THAT INCLUDES SYSTEM MAINTENANCE AS NECESSARY. IN OUR CASE, IT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THE TYPE OF PROBLEMS THAT RICH AND BRIAN ARE TALKING ABOUT, UH, INCLUDES NECESSARY FUNDS FOR CONTINGENT CONTINGENCIES. YOU'RE LUCKY, UNLIKE IOUS INVESTOR ON UTILITIES, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PROFIT. SO IT MAKES IT A BIT EASIER. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO WHAT WOULD USUALLY HAPPEN IN A RATE MAKING PROCESS IS YOU EXAMINE PAST COSTS AND YOU ADJUST 'EM AS NECESSARY TO REFLECT ANTICIPATED CHANGES. YOU LOOK AT REVENUES, YOU DO MUCH THE SAME THING. YOU LOOK AT PAST REVENUES AND YOU LOOK, WELL ARE, THESE ARE REALLY WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IN THE FUTURE. AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS, THERE'S USUALLY A PROCESS WHERE THE UTILITY WOULD PRESENT ITS COSTS AND REVENUES. AND OTHER RATE CASE PARTICIPANTS MIGHT FREQUENTLY A REGULATORY STAFF OR INTERVENERS CAN REVIEW QUESTION, ADDRESS ANY ISSUES. AND OUT OF THAT PROCESS YOU GET BETTER ANSWERS. UH, NEXT SLIDE. THE WATER DISTRICT PROCESS. WELL, THERE ISN'T REALLY A PROCESS AND WE'VE TRIED EVERY YEAR TO CREATE A PROCESS EVERY YEAR WE'VE BEEN FRUSTRATED WHEN RATES ARE PUSHED THROUGH WITHOUT A REAL EXAMINATION. UH, YOU WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ONE OF THESE, DIDN'T YOU? YEAH, ACTUALLY, ABSOLUTELY. UM, OVER THE YEARS WHEN THE RATE INCREASES OR THE RATE, UM, UH, MODEL WAS BEING WORKED ON, WE AS A WATER COMMITTEE NEEDED INFORMATION AND INPUT SO THAT WE COULD WORK WITH THE WATER DEPARTMENT TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, UH, WHAT THEY WERE ASKING FOR IS, IS, UM, TRANSPARENT AND, UH, GIVES THE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE OVER THE YEARS, THE BUDGETS HAVE, THE RATE INCREASES HAVE BEEN PUSHED BACK. IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S INSTEAD OF HAVING IT IN, IN, UH, UM, JUNE, IT'S BEEN PUSHED BACK TO JANUARY, SOMETIMES IT'S BEEN PUSHED BACK EVEN FURTHER. UM, I HAVE IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT HERE, A, UM, AN EMAIL DATED MAY 24TH, 2014, IN WHICH, UH, THE ADVISORY BOARD, I'M GONNA READ THIS DIRECTLY. THE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS WILL BE UNABLE TO STATE AN ADVISORY BOARD POSITION ON THE PRECISE LEVELS OF THE PROPOSED RATE INCREASE SINCE WE HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED CONFIRMATION OF THE NUMBERS IN THE MEMO THAT WE DISCUSSED AND TENTATIVELY APPROVED SEVEN DAYS AGO. IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO GET INFORMATION SO THAT WE CAN CONFER AND SAY, YES, THESE, THESE FIGURES LOOK RIGHT. AND YES, WE CONCUR WITH YOUR RECOMMENDATION FOR A RATE INCREASE. AND GETTING THAT INFORMATION IS VERY, VERY DIFFICULT. IT'S ALSO VERY DIFFICULT TO GET INFORMATION FROM THE TOWN. UM, I KNOW ROBERTA IS, IS THE CONTROLLER OF, OF THE TOWN OF GREENBURG. I'M NOT SURE, UM, HOW MONIES AND FUNDS AND BILLING AND, AND AND UM, INCOME FOR REVENUES IS OUR PROCESS BETWEEN ROBERTA AND THE WATER DEPARTMENT. I'M NOT SURE. FOR EXAMPLE, WE DID A WATER, UM, INTERCONNECT. AND I AM UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT THERE WERE SOME GRANTS THAT THAT PROJECT HAS BEEN FINISHED. THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANT MONEY APPLIED FOR AND RECEIVED. I DON'T KNOW. WE DON'T KNOW. WE CAN'T SEE WHERE THOSE MONIES ARE IN THE PAPERS THAT WE ARE GIVEN. WE ASKED TO MEET WITH ROBERTA A NUMBER OF TIMES. IT TAKES TIME BECAUSE SHE'S VERY, VERY BUSY AND [00:35:01] SHE'S ONLY ONE PERSON. AND WE CAN'T ALWAYS GET THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO MAKE EDUCATED OPINIONS. AND WE'RE HERE AS AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND WE DON'T LIKE TO GIVE ADVICE WITHOUT HAVING THE KNOWLEDGE. AND, AND IT'S DIFFICULT. AND IT'S BEEN DIFFICULT. AND I'LL, AND I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING. THIS, THIS WATER DEPARTMENT IS PHENOMENAL. THE THINGS THAT THEY DO, THE WAY THEY, THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY. BUT TO BE A WATER DEPARTMENT PERSON ISN'T NECESSARILY A FINANCIAL PERSON. AND TO GET ANSWERS, FINANCIAL ANSWERS SO WE CAN MAKE APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS IS DIFFICULT. AND, UH, SO ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH, WITH, UH, THE RATE MAKING PROCESS, YOU KNOW, LEMME GIVE YOU ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF OUR EFFORTS TO TRY TO MAKE THIS PROCESS WORK. YOU, YOU END UP IN 2014, MORE RECENTLY LAST YEAR, IF YOU GO TO THE LAST SLIDE IN THE PACKAGE NUMBER 13, YOU'LL SEE PART OF AN EMAIL I'D SENT TO BRIAN, WHICH WAS REALLY JUST CUT AND PASTED FROM A, AN AGENDA FOR ONE OF OUR MEETINGS. YOU CAN LOOK AT IT LATER IF YOU WANT. WE DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT, EVERY WORD OF IT, BUT IT'S BASICALLY OUR TRYING TO LAY OUT A PROCESS AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT WOULD TAKE TO REALLY DO THE RIGHT KIND OF JOB. UH, WE NEED TO GET THE INFORMATION, WE HAVE THE TIME TO REVIEW IT, TIME TO BRING IT BACK TO THE WATER DISTRICT TO GET ANSWERS, MAYBE FOLLOW UP ON THOSE ANSWERS TO DO IT RIGHT, KIND OF THE TYPE OF THING YOU DO, BUT MUCH MORE CONCISE THAN A UTILITY REGULATORY CASE IN THE, UH, RE REGULATED INDUSTRIES. UH, BACK THEN I SAID, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE WHAT, UH, STU SAID, WE'VE NOT BEEN GIVEN ENOUGH TIME TO REVIEW IN THE PAST AND I'M NOT GONNA AGREE TO ANY POSITIVE RECOMMENDATION IN THE FUTURE. I DON'T HAVE THE INFORMATION I NEED. IT'S BEEN THAT KIND OF FRUSTRATION YEAR BY YEAR. SO LET'S GO BACK TO, UH, IF ADD SOMETHING ON THAT. SURE, PLEASE. YEAH. THE, UH, THE TOWN BUDGET IS DUE SEPTEMBER OR EARLY SEPTEMBER. THIS OCTOBER. RIGHT. MEAN THE TOWN, THE TOWN OPERATING BUDGET, IT'S OCTOBER 30TH, DUET AREA IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER. IT GOES TO THE CONTROLLER YEAH. FOR A REVIEW. YEAH. OC AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER. AND THEN WE BASICALLY, UH, I SUBMITTED MY PROPOSED BUDGET THE LAST DAY OF OCTOBER. OKAY. WELL THE POINT IN TIME WHERE THEY'VE SUBMITTED THE BUDGET TO ROBERTA, THEY SHOULD HAVE THEIR NUMBERS. WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG? WELL, OKAY, I HEAR A LOT. I, I JUST, I JUST FEEL LIKE I, I JUST NEED THE STAFF TO REALLY NOT FED, BUT REALLY COMMENT ON, UM, WHAT YOU HAVE STATED. SO, UM, RICH OR BRIAN OR, OR PHIL, DID YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING BEFORE? I JUST WANTED TO KNOW. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE DATA SECOND AND YOU CAN'T GIVE A A RECOMMENDATION WITHOUT THE DATA, HOW ARE YOU COMING UP WITH THIS GRAPH? WE'RE DOING IT BASED ON THE DATA WE HAVE, WHICH IS NOT COMPLETE. UH, AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM. THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES TALK ABOUT WHAT WE REALLY ARE LOOKING FOR. WE'RE USING THE BEST DATA WE HAVE, BUT WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IT'S NOT UP TO DATE. UH, AND AGAIN, NOT THAT ANYBODY'S TRYING TO MISLEAD, IT JUST ISN'T UP TO DATE. AND THAT MAKES US NERVOUS. 'CAUSE WE WANNA BE ABLE TO GIVE A RECOMMENDATION TO YOU BASED ON DATA THAT WE TRUST. OKAY. UH, AND TRUST IN THE SENSE THAT WE'VE HEARD HAVE SEEN IT. THOSE NUMBERS WERE CREATED BY BILL THAT ARE ON THAT SHEET. THEY WEREN'T CREATED BY SOME NO, NO. SOME WERE, I MEAN, SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE NEXT SLIDE SHOWS AN ISSUE WE HAD WITH REVENUES WHERE I'D ASKED, HOW COME THERE'S A $16 MILLION REVENUE FIGURE FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. UH, I ASKED THAT ASSET BACK ON DECEMBER 6TH, DIDN'T GET AN ANSWER TILL AFTER YOUR LAST HEARING ON THE 14TH. WHICH ONE PHIL SAID, OH YEAH, IT'S ACTUALLY OVER $90 MILLION. PHIL'S VERY RESPONSIVE, EXPLAINED IT TO ME. THAT'S GOOD. I SHOULD HAVE HAD AN ANSWER MANY DAYS EARLIER. SO WE COULD HAVE HAD A BETTER SENSE OF WHAT'S GOING ON HERE AND WE STILL DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT OTHER SIGNIFICANCE THERE MAY BE. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THE 16 MILLION IN THE BUDGET FOR 2022 MEANS THAT THERE'S GONNA BE MORE IN THE NET. NET CASH, WHAT'S THE TERM? NET ASSET CASH. I'M NOT SURE WHETHER THERE'S GONNA BE MORE MONEY OR NOT. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ALL THIS STUFF MEANS. THE NEXT SLIDE AND I'M TRYING TO GO FAST NOW LOOKS THAT SLIDES RIGHT. SOME OF THE, I THINK, I THINK WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM, LEMME MAKE A COUPLE REALLY KEY POINTS AND I'LL MOVE VERY QUICKLY. FUNDING FOR REPAIRING WATER MAIN BREAKS. JUST WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR. WE ASKED WHAT'S IN THE BUDGET WE DIDN'T GET YET. I'M ON SLIDE 12 AND THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE. AND THEN AT THE VERY END YOU'LL SEE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF EXPENSES IN THE TENTATIVE BUDGET. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THESE ARE PAGE REFERENCES YOU CAN SEE ON YOUR OWN WHERE YOU CAN SEE THAT THE NUMBERS SHOW THAT WE'RE NOT CLOSE YET [00:40:01] TO SPENDING THE BUDGETED AMOUNT. THERE MAY BE REASONS FOR THAT, BUT NOBODY'S TOLD US THAT. WE JUST HAVE NO IDEA. AND YOU PROBABLY WANT TO KNOW THAT BEFORE YOU APPROVE RATES. UM, ONE MORE THING WE PROBABLY SHOULDN'T, ONE POINT WE SHOULD HAVE MADE, WE ARE ASSUMING THAT THE RATES WE'RE PROPOSING WILL BRING IN THE SAME OVERALL REVENUES OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD AS THOSE PROPOSED BY THE WATER DISTRICT. WE ARE NOT PROPOSING A REDUCTION IN OVERALL RATES. WE'RE JUST SAYING GET 'EM LATER RATHER THAN EARLIER. THIS IS, THIS IS NOT SAYING LESS, I THINK SPOKE. YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT RATES, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT YOU'RE NOT PROPOSING A REDUCTION IN THE OVERALL AMOUNT YOU RAISE OVER THAT PERIOD OF TIME. PRECISELY. WE'RE JUST SAYING ONE, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT. WE'RE NOT SAYING YOU GET BUS. I THINK THEY'RE SAYING THE SAME THING. OKAY. I DON'T, I DIDN'T WANT ANY, ANY CONFUSION OVER THAT. ANYTHING ELSE? ANY, ANY OTHER POINTS COVERED? OKAY. UM, I THINK IT LET RICH IN THE INTEREST OF TIME. OKAY. WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. BUT YOU COULD SIT OH YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. RICH BRIAN, PHIL, I KNOW WHO SPEAK FIRST AND I THANK EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE AND I AGAIN THANK THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR ALL THE HARD WORK THEY PUT IN. JUST FOR POINT OF REFERENCE, WE DO MEET WITH THE ADVISORY BOARD ONCE A MONTH. GENERALLY RUNS A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR WHERE A LOT OF THESE THINGS ARE DISCUSSED. I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE DID MEET ON 1116 OF THIS YEAR. UM, AND I THINK AT THAT POINT WE HAD A PRETTY CLEAR CONSENSUS THAT THE CUT RATES THAT WERE APPROVED LAST YEAR WERE OKAY. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THAT MEETING AND A SUBSEQUENT WAIT MEETING. UM, I BELIEVE ON 1128, DAN AND AL UNKNOWN TO US, UM, STARTED WORKING WITH PHIL 'CAUSE THEY HAD IDEAS ABOUT REDUCING THE RATE. AND I THOUGHT I HAD MISSED A MEETING 'CAUSE I WAS NOT AWARE OF IT, NOR WAS BRIAN. UM, SO WE WERE KIND OF CUT OUT OF THE LOOP FOR A WHILE. SO WE DID HAVE ANOTHER MEETING. THERE WAS SOME DEBATE BACK AND FORTH. I WILL TELL YOU ON OUR END, WE'RE RELYING ON ANDY DONNELLY AND CHUCK MARTINS, WHO ARE COMBINED PROBABLY OVER 65 YEARS IN THE WATER INDUSTRY. UH, PHIL AND ARCADE, OR EXCUSE ME, PHIL AND REF TELLIS. I THINK PHIL, YOU'VE BEEN OUR CONSULTANT NOW FOR THE FINANCIAL END OF IT, FOR AT LEAST THE LAST SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS. BRIAN AND I HAVE BEEN PART OF THIS GROUP NOW FOR THE LAST TWO. UM, BUT I, WE HAVE, AND I WILL YIELD TO BRIAN AND PHIL ABOUT THE INFORMATION THEY'VE BEEN REALLY TRYING TO GET TO THE GROUP, BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS THAT EASILY GOTTEN. WE ARE CONCERNED FIRST AND FOREMOST ABOUT KEEPING IN EXCESS OF OUR 90 DAY, UH, BALANCE. WE WANNA HAVE MORE THAN THAT. UM, WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT OVERRUNS ON OUR $17 MILLION CONTACT TYPE PROJECT. AND I WANNA ALSO SPELL OUT THAT WHEN THE TWO PUMP STATIONS WERE CONNECTED, THERE WERE CHANGES RIGHT ON, ON SCENE CHANGES. CHUCK MARTINS HAS ACTUALLY BEEN USING THE OTHER STATION, THE NEWER STATION FOR ABOUT HALF THE PUMPING, WHICH CHANGED THINGS. THEY ALSO, AS PART OF THE CONTACT TANK, INCLUDED THE CHEMICAL FEED BUILDING BECAUSE OF ISSUES THEY WERE HAVING AT THE CURRENT BUILDING, THE OLD PUMP STATION. SO PART OF THE PUMP STATION IS ACTUALLY GETTING BUILT NOW. SO THE OTHER PART OF IT IS GONNA BE THE PUMPS, BUT WE'RE ALSO WORRIED AS COSTS TODAY. AND THE WAY THINGS HAVE RISEN, YOU KNOW, OUR, THE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE AS EVERYBODY'S WELL AWARE FOR THE CONTACT TANK WAS A SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. WE'RE UPWARDS OF 17 MILLION. AND WHEN YOU HAVE A PROJECT AT THAT SIZE, UNFORTUNATELY THERE'S GONNA BE CHANGE ORDERS. WE'LL COME TO THE BOARD WITH THOSE CHANGE ORDERS, BUT THEY'RE GONNA HAPPEN. THINGS HAPPEN. AND WE'RE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT BRAKES. SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE MORE THAN THAT 90 DAY, UH, BALANCE IN THERE. AND I'LL LET BRIAN AND PHIL TALK TO THE FINANCE AND THE, THE CAPITAL END OF IT. UM, BUT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING THE BEST WE CAN. AND AGAIN, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE ON 1116, THE BUDGET OR THE TAX RE INCREASES THAT WERE APPROVED LAST YEAR APPEARED TO BE OKAY. BUT AGAIN, I, AGAIN, I KNOW AL AND DAN WORKED VERY HARD AT THIS. WE'RE WORKING WITH PHIL AGAIN, WE WERE NOT IN THE LOOP ON THAT AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'M SEEING THE PRESENTATION. UM, BUT THAT BEING SAID, I I, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN AND WE'RE RELYING ON PROFESSIONALS THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE FIELD FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. AND REALLY, I MEAN, WE'VE TAKEN TOURS THIS YEAR, SHOWED EVERYBODY THE, THE PUMP STATIONS AND OUR OPERATIONS AND HOW, YOU KNOW, [00:45:01] YOU COULD SEE CLEARLY, AND YOU'VE HEARD IT FROM THE ADVISORY BOARD, HOW SERIOUS EVERYBODY TAKES THIS. UH, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY EATS LIVES AND BREATHES THIS. THIS IS NOT A FOR-PROFIT GROUP, THE TOWN. WE DO WHAT WE BELIEVE IS NECESSARY. WE RELY ON OUR PROFESSIONALS TO KEEP PEOPLE WITH SAFE DRINKING WATER. THAT BEING SAID, I'M GONNA YIELD TO BRIAN AND PHIL TO MOVE FORWARD ON THE INFORMATION IT WAS GIVING GIVEN AND THE CAPITAL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. SO GOOD EVENING EVERYONE, FIRST OF ALL. UM, SO FIRST AL I JUST WANNA, UM, ADDRESS YOUR POINT. YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION WITH REGARDS TO THE, THE PUMP STATION AND, UH, THE DELAY. SO I CAN'T SPEAK AS TO WHY THE PUMP STATION WAS DELAYED FROM 1999. UM, THAT WAS A PART OF THE ORIGINAL 1999 REPORT, UM, THAT WAS DONE BY HAZEN AND SAWYER. UH, UNFORTUNATELY IT HASN'T TAKEN PLACE SINCE THEN, BUT AT LEAST SINCE AT LEAST I'VE BEEN INVOLVED. UH, THE LAST YEAR THE CAPITAL PLAN WAS TO HAVE THE PUMP STATION, UH, BUILT IN 2024. UM, AND UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE OF THE CONTACTING PROJECT, LIKE WE ALL KNOW THAT RECENTLY CAME IN WAY OVERBID, UM, AND IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF SOME CHALLENGES THAT THEY'VE HAD WITH OBTAINING MATERIALS AND, AND JUST THE CONTRACTOR AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT, UH, STAYING ON SCHEDULE, THAT PROJECT OBVIOUSLY IS GONNA BE DONE UNTIL THIS SPRING. AND SO THE THOUGHT IS, WELL, IF WE CAN PUSH THE PUMP STATION OUT ONE MORE YEAR, THAT WOULD GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME RIGHT? TO PLAN FOR IT AS WELL AS GIVE US MORE TIME AS FAR AS TO TO, TO HAVE SOME OF THOSE CASH RESERVES IN PLACE. NOW WITH THAT, THAT PUMP STATION PROJECT, AS RICH MENTIONED, THE PORTION OF THAT IS CURRENTLY GONNA BE CONSTRUCTED WITH THE CONTACT TANK PROJECT. UM, AT THAT TIME, WE'RE NOT GONNA NECESSARILY KNOW, UH, WHAT THE COSTS MAY BE. SO DELAYED IT ONE YEAR. THE TRANSMISSION MAIN PROJECT, WE KNOW IT'S A PROJECT THAT HAS TO BE DONE. OBVIOUSLY IT HAS TO BE DONE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. UH, BUT BY PUSHING OFF ONE YEAR, THE COMPLETION OF THE TRANSMISSION MAIN PROJECT TOOK SOME OF THAT STRESS OFF THAT, THAT THAT PUMP STATION ITSELF AND ENABLED US TO BETTER PROVIDE THE, THE WATER BETWEEN THE TWO PUMP STATIONS BETWEEN RUM AND NORWOOD AS OPPOSED TO, UH, HAVING IT 75 25, WHAT IT WAS PRIOR TO. NOW OUR UNDERSTANDING WITH THE 7% VERSUS THE 3% REALLY COMES DOWN TO THE, UH, THE 90 DAY RESERVE, RIGHT? FROM A A A WATER PURVEYOR STANDPOINT, THE TARGET MINIMUM FOR EXPENSES TO HAVE IN, YOU KNOW, AS, AS FAR AS CASH ON RESERVES IS TO HAVE 90 DAYS WORTH. NOW THIS IS A NUMBER THAT, UH, IT'S, UH, KIND OF HAS BEEN THE, THE TOWN CONSOLIDATED WATER DISTRICT STANDARD FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. UM, AND WORKING WITH PHIL, WHO IS THE PROFESSIONAL RATE CONSULTANT THAT THE TOWN HAS. UM, SO LOOKING AROUND AT OTHER WATER PURVEYORS, THERE ARE OTHER WATER PURVEYORS OUT THERE THAT DO HAVE IT IN SOME CASES EVEN GREATER THAN 90 DAYS. UH, SOME HAVE IT UP TO ALMOST 360 DAYS. UM, BUT 90 DAYS SEEMS TO BE A, A HAPPY MEDIUM. NOW THAT 90 DAYS IS AN OPERATIONAL EXPENSE, SO THAT 90 DAYS IS INTENDED TO BE FOR VARIOUS THINGS THAT CAN COME UP. SO THAT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S A DELAY BETWEEN CASH IN AND CASH OUT, RIGHT? SO THE, THE POINT AT WHICH WHEN THE, THE TOWN HAS TO PAY BILLS RIGHT TO NEW YORK CITY FOR THE WATER AND THEN HAVE A DELAY BETWEEN WHEN THEN CASH THEN COMES IN FROM THE, THE THE CONSUMERS. UH, IT COULD ALSO BE FOR, YOU KNOW, PAYMENT DELAYS. UH, THERE'S VARIOUS THINGS THAT THOSE OPERATIONAL EXPENSES ARE SUPPOSED TO COVER. NOW, WHAT THE TOWN IS, IS, UH, HOPING FOR WITH THIS, THIS 7% IS TO HAVE SOMETHING OVER AND ABOVE THAT 90 DAY SUPPLY. IN OTHER WORDS, TO HAVE A, A CASH RESERVE FOR, UH, CAPITAL EXPENSES, IF YOU WILL. AND PART OF THOSE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COULD INCLUDE ANYTHING FROM VARIOUS EMERGENCY WATER MAIN BREAKS, UH, SUCH AS THE ONE THAT'S CURRENTLY GOING ON, AS WELL AS, AS AL MENTIONED EARLIER, ANY SORT OF POSSIBLE CHANGE ORDERS OR OVERRUNS FROM SOME OF THESE PROJECTS. JUST TO KIND OF PUT SOME THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE, UH, THE TRANSMISSION MAIN PROJECT THAT WE HAD WAS AROUND $8 MILLION AND THERE WAS ABOUT, UH, $500,000 IN CHANGE ORDERS FOR THAT PROJECT. AND EVERYONE, RIGHT? NOBODY LIKES CHANGE ORDERS. WE HOPE THAT CHANGE ORDERS NEVER COME UP, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT IS A, A REALITY OF THIS INDUSTRY, OF, OF JUST JUST CONSTRUCTION. AND SO SITE CONDITIONS MAY CHANGE. UM, AND, AND [00:50:01] SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT, LIKE I SAID, YOU, YOU HOPE DOESN'T COME UP, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY, THEY MAY COME UP. AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU MAY HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR. AND SO BY HAVING THOSE CASH RESERVES IN PLACE, IT PUTS THE, THE WATER DISTRICT IN A POSITION SO THAT THOSE RESERVES ARE, ARE AVAILABLE IF NEEDED. NOW, IF THEY'RE NOT NEEDED AND WE HOPE THAT THEY'RE NOT NEEDED, THEN IN THAT CASE YOU CAN THEN TAKE THOSE CASH RESERVES IN THE FUTURE AND YOU, YOU CAN THEN ALLOCATE THOSE TOWARDS A, A PROJECT COMING UP SO THAT THERE'S THEN LESS, UH, BORROWING THAT THEN HAS TO TAKE PLACE. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS LAST CONTACT TANK PROJECT IN 2020. UH, WELL 2022 EARLIER THIS YEAR WHERE WE HAD, UH, $5.1 MILLION IN CASH RESERVES AND THAT $5.1 MILLION IN CASH RESERVES WAS THEN ABLE TO BE ALLOCATED TOWARDS THIS PROJECT SO THEY COULD HELP FUND IT AND THEREFORE YOU'D HAVE TO BORROW LESS. SO I, I THINK WHEN IT, WHEN IT COMES TO THE TOWN'S POSITION, WE'D PREFER TO HAVE THOSE FUNDS THERE AND HAVE 'EM AVAILABLE IF THE, IN THE EVENT THAT THEY'RE NEEDED. UM, AND IN THE EVENT THAT THEY'RE NOT, THEN YOU CAN USE 'EM FOR A FUTURE PRODUCT. I HAD A QUESTION IF, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD SAYS THAT WE'RE FINANCIALLY IN, YOU KNOW, GOOD SHAPE AND WE DON'T NEED THE FUNDS. IN YOUR OPINION, IF WE WENT WITH A 3%, UH, RATHER THAN THE 7% ARE, IS THERE ANY RISK THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE WATER AND, YOU KNOW, THAT RESIDENTS WOULD NOT HAVE WATER AND THAT THERE'D BE, YOU KNOW, LIKE A, A CRISIS IN THE WATER, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENT, UH, IF WE WENT WITH, YOU KNOW, THE LESSER AMOUNT AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD WORK, UH, WORK WITH YOUR CONSULTANTS, YOU KNOW, IS THERE ANY, YOU KNOW, ANY REAL JEOPARDY TO THE WATER DEPARTMENT? SO BY GOING WITH THE 3%, MY UNDERSTANDING, AT LEAST IN TALKING WITH, UH, WITH REF TELLIS IS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DROPPING DOWN THE, THE RESERVES, IF YOU WILL, TO A POINT THAT'S, THAT'S AT OR JUST ABOVE OUR 90 DAY OPERATIONAL RESERVE. SO IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE KIND OF AT THAT 90 DAY MARK. AND JUST TO KIND OF PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE, THAT NUMBER IS, IS A ABOUT, YOU KNOW, $5 MILLION IS WHAT IT IS. UM, AND THAT'S THE, TO KEEP THE DEPARTMENT RUNNING FOR FULL 90 DAYS IF, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S NO FURTHER REVENUES BEYOND THAT POINT. AND SO WE WOULD BE BRINGING IT TO THAT POINT. AND THEN IF THERE WERE ANY UNEXPECTED OR UNFORESEEN, UH, EXPENSES THAT CAME UP, SUCH AS A MAJOR, MAJOR WATER MAIN BREAK. UM, AND, AND JUST SO EVERYONE'S AWARE THERE, THERE'S CURRENTLY ONE THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW. LUCKILY WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY OUT OF, OUT OF WATER. UM, BUT THE RESTORATION, UH, AND JUST THE REPAIR TO THE MAIN IS, YOU KNOW, AT THIS POINT IT IS GONNA BE AT LEAST OVER $300,000. IF IN THE EVENT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WERE TO COME UP, YOU'D BE THEN HAVE TO DIP INTO THOSE OPERATIONAL EXPENSES EVEN FURTHER. AND SO I THINK THE TOWN'S, UH, UH, UH, OPINION ON THIS IS YOU'D PREFER TO HAVE EXPENSES, CASH RESERVES, IF YOU WILL, OVER THAT 90 DAY OPERATIONAL, UH, SUPPLY SO THAT IT'S AVAILABLE IF IN THE EVENT YOU NEED SOMETHING. AND IT'S NOT AS IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT DOESN'T OCCUR, RIGHT? UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S VERY HARD TO, TO PUT A NUMBER ON. HOWEVER, UH, IT, IT VARIES, RIGHT? WATER MAIN BREAKS VARY. THEY, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING UPON THE, UH, THE YEAR, UH, YOU COULD HAVE A NUMBER OF SMALL MAIN WATER MAIN BREAK, YOU COULD HAVE A NUMBER OF LARGER WATER MAIN BREAKS. UH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT IT VARIES FROM YEAR TO YEAR AND, UH, IT, IT'S HARD TO, TO PUT IN, UH, NECESSARILY LIKE A, A ESTIMATE ON WHAT IT'S GONNA BE FROM YEAR AFTER YEAR. IT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE UNEXPECTED THINGS THAT WHEN IT COMES UP, YOU, YOU HOPE THAT YOU HAVE THE, THE PERSONNEL THAT YOU HAVE, THE, THE, UM, THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO GO AND MAKE THE FIX SO THAT YOU CAN ULTIMATELY, UH, MAKE THE REPAIR AND, AND RESTORE WATER QUALITY AND, AND WATER SUPPLY TO EVERYONE THAT'S THERE. AND IF I COULD TOO, UH, PHIL, IF YOU COULD TALK ABOUT BETWEEN THE 3% AND THE 7% FOR THE AVERAGE USER FOR THE YEAR, WHAT, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE THAT THE AVERAGE USER IS GONNA PAY BETWEEN THE 3% AND THE 7% RATE? YEAH, SO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO RATES IN 2023, FOR A TYPICAL USER, IT WOULD BE ABOUT $18 IN A YEAR. AND I THINK FOR, WE CALL 'EM LIKE A HIGHER END USER OR A LARGER WATER USER, IT'D BE ABOUT, I THINK IT WAS 35 OR $36 PER YEAR. OKAY. THANK YOU. SO WHAT, WHAT'S YOUR FEELING IF, UH, AT THE TIME WENT WITH A 3%? ARE WE PUTTING THE [00:55:01] WATER DEPARTMENT, THE WATER CUSTOMERS IN JEOPARDY OF NOT HAVING WATER? NO, I, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THAT IF YOU WENT THE 3% INCREASE THIS YEAR THAT THE WATER DISTRICT WOULD RUN OUT OF MONEY. NO, THE, THE ANALYSIS OR THE PROJECTIONS FOR 2023 DO NOT SHOW THAT. SO THE QUESTION I HAVE IS IF, YOU KNOW, IF BASIC, YOU KNOW, NOBODY WANTS TO SPEND MORE MONEY THAN THEY HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY WOULD BE IN AGREEMENT ON THAT. SO IF THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD FAILS THAT, YOU KNOW, A 3% WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT THEY, YOU KNOW, WOULD FIND ACCEPTABLE, AND YOU FEEL THAT THE THREE, IF THEY DID THE 3%, WE'RE NOT PUTTING ANYBODY AT RISK AND WE'RE NOT PUTTING YOU THE WATER DISTRICT AT RISK. DOESN'T IT MAKE SORT OF SOME SENSE, YOU KNOW, MY OPINION TO DO THE LESSER AMOUNT AND THEN MAYBE THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD COULD WORK WITH YOU AND, UM, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IN TERMS OF COMING UP WITH A, YOU KNOW, A LONG-TERM PLAN THAT WOULD HAVE, UM, THAT EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE COMFORT, YOU KNOW, WITH, BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN I PROPOSED THE CREATION OF THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD, IT WAS LIKE 10 YEARS AGO, AND PEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE RATES. I THINK, YOU KNOW, COCA-COLA WAS UPSET AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WERE, WERE UPSET. AND WE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, MOST PEOPLE REALLY DON'T TRUST GOVERNMENT. YOU KNOW, THAT'S LIKE INTERNATIONAL. I THINK NOT ONLY SO I, I, SO YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE, SO WE SAID WE ARE GONNA CREATE A COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS THAT WOULD BASICALLY HAVE OVER, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF ADVISORY, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS. AND THEN, UH, THERE'S A RATE INCREASE AND YOU KNOW, WE, PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING. TO ME, I COULD SAY AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE HAVE A GROUP OF CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT, YES, PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, THEY MAY DISAGREE WITH A LOT OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, WITH THE TOWN, BUT THEY'RE LOOKING AT THIS OBJECTIVELY AND THEY FEEL WE NEED THE WATER, THE, YOU KNOW, THE WATER RATE INCREASE. I MEAN, THAT TO ME IS A, THERE'S A BIG ADVANTAGE BECAUSE PEOPLE THEN HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE IN THE, THE DECISION MAKING, YOU KNOW, PRO YOU KNOW, PROCESS, YOU KNOW, AND, AND I THINK THAT'S WHY WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING THE RUMPER, UH, NORWOOD, UH, MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DONE. YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN THE WATER TANK, YOU KNOW, THE PAINTING, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN SO MUCH INFRASTRUCTURE WORK DONE IN THE WATER DEPARTMENT IN THE PAST 10 YEARS. PART OF IT'S BECAUSE, UH, THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD HAS, YOU KNOW, SUPPORTED THE, THE RATE INCREASE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE INITIATIVES, WHICH I THINK, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THESE INITIATIVES MIGHT NOT HAVE EVER GOTTEN APPROVED WITHOUT THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD, IN MY OPINION. I MEAN, SO BILL, IS THERE ANY WAY YOU COULD SHARE THE, I'M SORRY, PAUL, CAN YOU SHARE THE, UH, THE WATER RATES OF THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES IN THE TOWN? YEAH, YOU'D LIKE TO BRING THAT UP. SORRY, I THINK IT'S IRRELEVANT. WHAT DO YOU WANNA SHARE? YEAH, WHAT DO YOU WANT? SHARE ONE, ONE INTERESTING THING ON THOSE ANALYSIS, I DON'T IF YOU COULD BRING ONE UP OR NOT. THEY WOULD PUT OUT, UM, HERE WE GO. OH, THIS ANALYSIS, WHICH SHOWS UP TOP HERE, OTHER PEOPLE, OTHER MUNICIPALITIES HAVING A HIGHER RATE, AND WHERE AT THE BOTTOM WITH SLEEPY HOLLOW IN SCARSDALE, WHAT YOU WILL NOTE. THANK YOU. THERE IT IS UP THERE. AND I DON'T, AGAIN, THE WATER EXPERTS MAY HAVE SOME VIEW ON THIS, BUT IN LOOKING AT IT, WHICH YOU'LL NOTICE IS ALL THE RATES ABOVE IT, UH, ARE EITHER SUEZ OR WESTCHESTER JOINT WATERWORKS, INCLUDING VILLAGE OF LARCHMONT. UH, SO THEY'RE REALLY, AND I DON'T KNOW FULLY, I DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND IT. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT WHAT I SENT OVER THIS MORNING. I DO, YEAH. BUT THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT WORKING MODEL. THEY DO TAKE WATER FROM THE CITY SYSTEM. UM, THE, UH, THE WESTCHESTER JOINT WATERWORKS, THEY HAVE PROBLEMS. AND I REMEMBER THE STATE HAD SOME ACTION AGAINST THEM, AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT WAS. I THINK THE STATE WAS PUSHING FOR THEM TO HAVE BUILT A FILTER SYSTEM, BUT THEY DO GET WATER FROM THE CITY SYSTEM. UM, AND SUEZ, I BELIEVE, GETS SOME FROM THE CITY AND MAYBE SOME ELSEWHERE. BUT THOSE, IT'S A DIFFERENT MODEL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DISTINCTION IS, BUT IT'S A DIFFERENT MODEL AND IF YOU LOOK AT SCARSDALE BEING LOWER AT 32 40, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ARTICLES EARLIER THIS YEAR ABOUT SUBSTANTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS. THEY'RE THERE WHERE WE WERE PROBABLY 10 YEARS AGO. THEY HADN'T PUT MONEY IN INFRASTRUCTURE. THEY HAD A [01:00:01] TOWN MANAGER WHO WAS VERY, VERY TIGHT AND PRIDED HIMSELF IN KEEPING THAT RATE DOWN. AND I HAVE READ THAT SLEEPY HOLLOW HAS SOME INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES, PRIMARILY A WATER TANK. LET ME, LET ME TELL YOU ONE MORE REASON WHY THESE NUMBERS MAY NOT BE AS COMPELLING AS THEY APPEAR. WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THE MORE EXPENSIVE TOWNS ARE IN THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, YOU KNOW, SCHEDULE. THEY MAY BE FURTHER AHEAD OF US OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE RATE PLAN, WHETHER IT'S THE ONE TO WATER DISTRICT PROPOSED OR OURS, THERE'RE GONNA BE SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES OVER FIVE YEARS. IT'S GONNA GO UP QUITE A BIT. THE OTHER TOWNS MAY HAVE ALREADY DONE THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, SO THEY WON'T GO UP AS MUCH. SO THIS ALL MAY SHIFT AROUND, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT OURS ARE GOING TO BE GOING UP SUBSTANTIALLY, WHICHEVER RAY PLAN YOU APPROVE. CAN I ASK YOU ANOTHER QUESTION? YEAH. UM, LET'S SAY WE, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, WAIT, PULL, SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME. THE NUMBERS YOU'VE SEEN HERE. MM-HMM. SHOW A POINT IN TIME. MM-HMM. , WE KNOW THAT GREENBERG'S RATES ARE GONNA, ARE GOING TO GO UP SUBSTANTIALLY OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. MM-HMM. , WHETHER YOU ADOPT THE RATE PLAN LIKE WE PROPOSED MM-HMM. OR THE WATER DISTRICT. BUT EITHER WAY, IT'S GONNA GO UP SUBSTANTIALLY. THE OTHER TOWNS THAT ARE CURRENTLY MORE EXPENSIVE MM-HMM. , THEY MAY BE FURTHER ALONG, THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME KIND OF CAPITAL PROJECTS COMING DOWN THE LINE. MM-HMM. . SO YOU MAY SEE A SHIFTING WHERE WE MOVE UP THAT LINE, WHICH WOULD NOT BE GOOD. MM-HMM. . MM-HMM. , UH, AND I DON'T KNOW, IT JUST, YOU JUST CAN'T RELY ON THESE NUMBERS TO TELL YOU ANYTHING REALLY POINT IN TIME. BUT THAT'S ONE. IF I CAN JUMP IN ONE SECOND. I, I APOLOGIZE. PHIL, CAN YOU SHARE THE, UH, THE PROJECTION WITH THE CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT YOU HAD THE YEAR BY YEAR? SURE. SO THAT'S, AND BRIAN, I WOULD YIELD TO YOU ON THIS. THAT IS OUR PROJECTED CAPITAL PROJECTS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS. AND PHIL, THE, THE, UH, WATER RATE PLAN THAT WAS APPROVED LAST YEAR, IT STAYS THE SAME WITH THESE PROJECTS IN THERE. SO CAN YOU GO TO THE, THE FUTURE INCREASES THAT THIS ONE? YES. THANK YOU. SO THAT'S THE PROJECTED RATE INCREASE FOR THE TOWN UNTIL 2028. SO IT'S ON A DECLINE IN 2025 PLANNING TO BUILD THE, THE, UM, THE NEW PUMP STATION. CORRECT? YES. SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, WHAT, WHAT YOU GOTTA REMEMBER IS PART OF THAT PUMP STATION IS GETTING BUILT NOW, SO THE COST IS HOPEFULLY GONNA BE LESS. ALRIGHT. SO, AND AS WE PULL OUT OF THIS CURRENT, YOU KNOW, THIS CURRENT, UH, WORLD ECONOMY, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO DESCRIBE IT, WHERE EVERYTHING HAS JUST GONE THROUGH A ROOF AND YOU CAN'T GET ANYTHING, UM, HOPEFULLY THAT COMES IN YEARS, NOT THAT ANYTHING'S GONNA GET CHEAPER, BUT WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE 7% AND THE 6.5, IT'S NOT REALLY, UH, GOING DOWN BECAUSE THE SE YOU ARE ALREADY STARTING AT A HIGHER LEVEL OF 7% AND THEN YOU'RE ADDING 6.5 OVER THAT. RIGHT? RIGHT. UH, SO IF YOU WANT, OH, I JUST WANT, I WANT YOU TO KEEP IN MIND, PAUL, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FOR AN AVERAGE USER BETWEEN THE 3% AND THE 7% NO, I UNDERSTAND. ABOUT $18 A YEAR. NO, BUT I'M JUST SAYING FOR THE, FOR THE PUBLIC, I'M JUST SAYING, SO WHAT I, IF I COULD, YOUR WATER PROFESSIONALS, THE PEOPLE THAT RUN THE WATER SHOP, AND I DID CHECK WITH ROBERTA THIS MORNING JUST TO VERIFY WITH HER, 'CAUSE SHE HAD SAID IT ONCE BEFORE, SHE WOULD AGREES WITH THE 7%. YOU COULD TALK TO HER LATER ON THAT. BUT YOUR WATER PROFESSIONALS ARE SAYING, THIS IS THE WAY WE GOTTA GO. THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO. THE PEOPLE THAT RUN THE DEPARTMENT. OKAY. BUT THE QUESTION I HAD IS, AND THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT, THAT 90 DAY PERIOD. BUT I UNDERSTAND EVERYBODY'S CONCERNS. EVERYBODY'S MADE SOME VERY VALID POINTS. I I JUST, YOU KNOW, BUT WE HAVE PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE ON OUR END THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING. OKAY. I MEAN, I GOTTA TELL YOU, YOU'VE, YOU'VE GOT PROFESSIONALS ON THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WHO KNOW A LOT ABOUT RATEMAKING AND I, I JUST DON'T, I'M NOT, I'M NOT DISAGREEING. EXCUSE ME, RICH. LET ME FINISH. PLEASE. UH, YES SIR, BECAUSE YOUR ARGUMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN RESPONSIVE TO US AT ALL. YOU TALK ABOUT WORRYING ABOUT COSTS, AS YOU SAID, OR BRIAN SAID, YOU GOTTA MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EXTRA CASH FOR VARIOUS COSTS. THOSE SHOULD BE IN YOUR RATES ALREADY. YOU DON'T SET UP A SEPARATE SLUSH FUND TO COVER THOSE COSTS. YOUR RATES SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO COVER ALL OF THOSE COSTS. AND I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING, WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU SET RATES ARE SOME COSTS COME IN A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN YOU EXPECT. SOME COME IN A LITTLE BIT LOWER THAN YOU EXPECT. THAT'S THE WAY IT WORKS OUT. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I ASKED YOU FOR WAS, WELL, HOW HAS THAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST? TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE YOUR COSTS COME IN OVER OR UNDER? [01:05:01] UH, MY GUESS IS THEY'VE COME IN UNDER THAT YOU'VE NOT SPENT ALL OF YOUR BUDGETS, BUT TO SAY THAT CERTAIN PORTIONS OF YOUR COST MAY GO UP, WELL, OKAY, BUT OTHERS MAY NOT. AND IF YOU'VE ESTIMATED PROPERLY, THAT SHOULDN'T BE AN ISSUE ANYWAY. BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS SHOULD BE IN RACE ALREADY. THIS IS JUST, JUST ESSENTIALLY WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR IS DOUBLE COUNTING. GIVE, GIVE IT TO US ON THE RATES AND THEN GIVE US ANOTHER EXTRA AMOUNT JUST IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG. THAT'S, YOU KNOW, BUT THE, THE, THE CONCERN THAT I, THAT I HAD IS WHEN I, WE ASKED PHIL, I SAID, IS THERE, ARE WE PUTTING THE WATER DEPARTMENT OR THE RATE PAY THE RESIDENTS AT RISK IF WE GO WITH THE 3%? AND HE SAID, NO. SO THEN MY FAILING IS IF THERE'S, IF WE'RE NOT BEING IRRESPONSIBLE, UM, BECAUSE THERE'S NOBODY AT RISK, YOU KNOW, WHY DON'T WE JUST DO THE 3% AND THEN WORK WITH THE, THE, THE WATER DEPARTMENT AND THE PROFESSIONALS AND OUR CONSULTANTS AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IF IT, IF IF WE FIND IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR OR SOMETIME THAT WE HAVE TO GO HIGHER, THEN WE COULD JUST INCREASE THE, THE RATES, YOU KNOW, LATER ON. BUT I, I JUST SORT OF FEEL THAT IT'S GONNA BE MUCH HARD. WE HAVE SO MUCH INFRASTRUCTURE AND IF THE PUBLIC BASICALLY FEELS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE WORKING WITH ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND YOU HAVE A CITIZENS PANEL THAT IS INDEPENDENTLY LOOKING AND THEY'RE AGREEING, UH, YOU KNOW, TO WHAT WE'RE DOING, I THINK THERE'LL BE MUCH MORE LONG-TERM SUPPORT FOR THE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORK THAT WE HAVE TO DO. 'CAUSE I GET A LOT OF CALLS FROM PEOPLE ABOUT THE WATER RATES, AND EVERY TIME PEOPLE ARE SAYING, OH, MY WATER BILLS ARE, YOU KNOW, TOO HIGH BECAUSE THEY'RE USED TO REALLY LOW, YOU KNOW, RATES FROM A LONG TIME AGO. TELL THEM ABOUT THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD. AND I INVITE THEM TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS IF THEY WANT, OR TO CALL DAN. YOU KNOW, I'VE FORWARDED SOME COMPLAINTS AND THEN THERE'S A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF COMFORT BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT, UM, THE WHOLE PROCESS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY BEING REALLY CAREFUL AND SCRUTINIZING. SO, SO AGAIN, I THINK THAT I HAVE, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR EVERYBODY IN THE WATER DEPARTMENT. I HAVE RESPECT FOR THE CONSULTANTS. BUT I THINK THAT IF, UM, IF WE BASICALLY ARE GOING AGAINST THE CITIZENS GROUP, IT'S GONNA MAKE IT MUCH, MUCH HARDER LONG TERM TO, UH, TO GET ANY MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, APPROVED. AND AGAIN, IF, IF, UH, IF PHIL HAD SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, IF YOU DON'T DO THIS, YOU'RE JEOPARDIZING THE WATER DEPARTMENT AND YOU'RE PUTTING THE TOWN AT RISK, YOU'RE BEING TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE. I WOULD'VE THEN GONE WITH THE 7% BECAUSE I, THEN I WOULD'VE FELT, YOU KNOW WHAT, I, I, I'M NOT GONNA PUT THE TOWN AT RISK. BUT IF HE'S SAYING THERE'S NO RISK, THEN I, I, I'D RATHER, UM, YOU KNOW, I'D RATHER GO WITH THE LOWER NUMBER. I'M JUST SPEAKING TO WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE 3% VERSUS 7%? NO, THAT, THAT, THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION. AND WE WISH WE'D HAD THE CHANCE TO ENGAGE WITH THE WATER DISTRICT ON JUST THAT QUESTION, WHETHER THERE WAS SOMETHING IN BETWEEN. BUT WE DIDN'T, THEY IGNORED US AND WE NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT THAT. SO, SO LET ME JUST, I MEAN, JUDGE, IF I COULD THAT, THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR. I'M SORRY. WE OKAY, RICH, I, I WILL SHOW YOU THE, I WILL SHOW YOU THE CORRESPONDENCE. DAN, YOU MET WITH PHIL. YOU HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR MEETING WITH PHIL ON, ALRIGHT. THIS WAS THIS, YOU SAID THAT ABOUT THIS. THERE'S NO, AND YOU CAME TO US WITH THIS CHANGE. WE DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME. OKAY. YOU SAID THAT, YOU SAID, SAID THAT IF WE'VE SAID THIS MONTHS AGO, WE COULD'VE TALKED ABOUT IT. BUT YOU LOOK, I, I HAVE THE DATES HERE. WE MET 11 16 0 2. YEAH. ALRIGHT. THAT 1128. WE HAD A SET, NOT THE ADVISORY BOARD, BUT WE HAD A MEETING WITH YOU AND AL WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT THIS. THAT'S A MONTH AGO. OKAY. LISTEN, RICH, I, I, I THINK YOU MISUNDERSTAND SOMETHING HERE. ONE, LET ME TALK FOR A MINUTE. OKAY. RICH, YOU WENT ON, YOU WENT ON MUTE. RICH, YOU ON ME TO THANK YOU. HEAR YOU. YOU'RE ON MUTE. RICH. YOU'RE ON MUTE. GOOD. AND STAY THERE FOR A MINUTE. 'CAUSE I WAS TRYING TO TALK BEFORE. NO, BUT, BUT HE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TALKING. I, I JUST GOT QUESTION. DID YOU, DID YOU MEET WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE WITH OUR CONSULTANT ABOUT THESE RING ABSO TIME? AB ABSOLUTELY. AND I WANTED TO RESPOND TO THAT. ALL RIGHT, LET FINISH. SO THAT'S A MONTH, BUT IT GAVE US A MONTH. NO, WE HAVE A WHOLE, HOLD ON ONE MINUTE. WE ARE THE WATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. WE HAVE EVERY REASON TO MEET ON OUR OWN. WE DO NOT HAVE TO MEET WITH YOU FOR EVERYONE. IF WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AN INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE, WHY WOULD WE INVITE YOU TO EVERY POSSIBLE MEETING? BUT LET ME TELL YOU, WE MOVED VERY, VERY QUICKLY OVER THE THANKSGIVING BREAK. WE GOT BACK TO YOU WITHIN A COUPLE WEEKS WITH OUR RECOMMENDATION. WE DID NOT SLOW THIS PROCESS DOWN. WE GAVE YOU, WE GAVE YOU OUR RECOMMENDATION ON THE SECOND WE MET ON WHATEVER IT WAS THE, I TOLD YOU BEFORE THE SEVENTH OR EIGHTH, I FORGOT THE EXACT DATE. UH, YOU PROMISED US INFORMATION. WE THOUGHT THE NEXT DAY WE NEVER GOT THAT INFORMATION. THAT'S WHAT I MEANT BY DELAY. THAT'S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. LET, LET, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO DEDICATE EVERY SINGLE MOMENT TO THE WATER DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, WE HAVE, WE HAVE A DEPARTMENT. NO, NOBODY'S ASKED ME TO. I BUT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR [01:10:01] A DAY TURNAROUND. BRIAN AND PHIL HAVE BEEN, I THINK WORKING VERY HARD WITH, WITH ANDY AND WITH, UH, CHUCK TO GET YOU THE INFORMATION. IF I CAN STEP IN RESPECT. WAIT, WAIT. AND IF I COULD, SO, SO, UH, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THE, THE, THERE WASN'T A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION EITHER THAT WAS MADE TO US. THE, THE DOCUMENT THAT WAS SENT, AND I'M GONNA CALL IT A DOCUMENT BECAUSE IT WAS LISTED AS A DRAFT, RIGHT? AND TWO ALTERNATIVES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THAT DRAFT. ONE OF WHICH WAS TO SUPPORT THE, THE PROPOSED RATE PLAN. THAT WAS FROM THE PRIOR YEAR, WHICH IS THE SAME THING AS WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING. AND THEN THE OTHER ONE WAS FOR THE 3%. NOW, DAN, AGAIN, WITH ALL RESPECT, THE, THE ELLIS IS THE TOWN'S CONSULTANT. SO THE TOWN SHOULD AT LEAST BE INVOLVED WITH ANY DISCUSSIONS THAT INVOLVE ELLIS BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE, THE TOWN IS PAYING FOR THAT SERVICE. SO THE TOWN HAS TO BE INVOLVED OR AT LEAST KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. I CAN UNDERSTAND THE COMMITTEE WANTING TO MEET AND HAVE A SEPARATE DISCUSSION BY THEMSELVES, BUT THE TOWN HAS TO AT LEAST BE AWARE OR AT LEAST KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. NOW, ASIDE FROM THAT, I THINK RIGHT NOW, IF YOU CAN I RESPOND TO THAT PART FIRST? CAN I RESPOND TO THAT PART FIRST? FIRST OF ALL, BEFORE YOU RESPOND, CAN I JUST QUICKLY SAY THAT IT IS SEVEN 30 AND THE TOWN BOARD MEETING IS SUPPOSED TO START AT SEVEN 30 AND WE STILL HAVE AGENDA REVIEW AS WELL. OKAY, FINE. AND, AND THAT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM HERE. THERE, THERE'S SOME VERY COMPLICATED ISSUES WE'RE TRYING TO DO. THAT'S WAY TOO FAST. THIS DECISION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MADE BY JANUARY 1ST. WE HAVE OFTEN MADE DECISIONS A QUARTER LATER, THE ONLY REAL TIME CONSTRAIN TO TRY TO HAVE A DECISION MADE BEFORE THE SUMMER BILLS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE REAL REVENUES START COMING IN. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW. THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPLICATED ISSUES. LET ME JUST SAY, WHEN YOU SAY WITH, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I REMEMBER A LAW PROFESSOR OF MINE SAYING, WHEN SOMEONE SAYS IT, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT FOR YOU, THEY GOT NO RESPECT FOR YOU. SO I HATE HEARING THAT, REALLY. BUT THAT, THATS WHAT IT MEANS. THEN IF WE DON'T HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION TONIGHT ON THIS NIGHT IN WHICH WE HAVE TO VOTE ON THE BUDGET, THAT WE HAVE AGENDA REVIEW AND EXECUTIVE SESSION BEFORE MEETING. THAT'S SUPPOSED TO START NOW IN A MINUTE AGO. UM, CAN WE THEN RESPECTFULLY, I'M SORRY. UH, CAN WE ADJOURN THE MEETING FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION TO BE TAKEN UP NEXT, UH, THE, THE TUESDAY AFTER THE NEW YEAR? COULD I MAKE ONE VERY QUICK COMMENT? I JUST WANT TO ASSURE PEOPLE THAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE WATER DISTRICT IN THE PATH. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS WHATEVER MONEY IT NEEDS TO PROVIDE RELIABLE SERVICE. IF FOR ANY REASON 3% IS NOT ENOUGH, WE'LL LOOK AT IT AGAIN, WE COULD DO AN EMERGENCY INCREASE IF THAT'S EVER NECESSARY. THERE'S NO WAY WE WANTED ANY WAY JEOPARDIZE THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE WATER DISTRICT UNDER CONCERNED. BUT THAT'S A CONCERN. 'CAUSE YOU KEEP SAYING WE CAN JUST INCREASE AT ANY TIME, BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TAXPAYERS WHO MAY BE, WHO ARE PLANNING AND BUDGETING THEIR MONEY. YES. SO WE WANT, I DON'T WANNA KNOW HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR THAT, UH, MY WATER BILL'S GONNA GO UP BY 4%, 3%, 6%. SO I WOULD LIKE TO PLAN THAT OUT. SO I DON'T WANT, SO IF, IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT'S BEING RECOMMENDED HERE, AND IT'S GOING TO MAKE SURE, BASED ON WHAT, AND I'M NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM ANY OF YOU GENTLEMEN. I UNDERSTAND. EVERYONE IS PROFESSIONALS HERE. YEAH. I HAVE A WATER BACKGROUND MYSELF. SURE. GOOD. OKAY. OKAY. SO, BUT MY CONCERN IS THAT WE HAVE WATER MAIN BREAKS, UNFORESEEN WATER MAIN BREAKS, THAT SOMETIMES THEY CAN BE $10,000 OR THEY CAN BE UPWARDS OF CLOSE TO A MILLION DOLLARS. THEY'RE ALREADY IN THE BUDGET. WE, WE, YEP. I JUST WANT, THEY'RE ALREADY IN THE BUDGET. I JUST WOULD LIKE TO FINISH. THANK YOU. OKAY. OKAY. SO WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PLAN FOR THAT BECAUSE I'VE WORKED IN AN AREA THAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE WAS CHALLENGED JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAS. AND EVEN THOUGH WE KEEP SAYING IT'S IN A BUDGET, YOU CAN'T PROTECT, YOU CAN'T PREDICT WHAT THE COST OF THOSE REPAIRS ARE GOING TO BE. SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WHEN WE SAY, OH, WE CAN JUST THROW IT OUT THERE, IF YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING CHECK TO, TO CHECK, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO PLAN FOR THAT. AND THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S MY ARGUMENT ON THIS. SO I JUST DON'T WANNA SAY WE JUST THROW SOMETHING OUT AND THEN WE CAN GO BACK. BUT CAN I JUST ASK, BECAUSE THAT'S NOT FAIR. THAT'S NOT, I FINISH, I I CAN AGREE COMPLETELY. THAT'S NOT FAIR. THAT'S NOT FAIR TO THE RESIDENTS. I AGREE. BUT THE WHOLE POINT IS I AM CONVINCED YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE THE MONEY. I'M JUST SAYING THAT IN THE HIGHLY UNLIKELY EVENT YOU DO, IT'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. I CANNOT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK I'M JUST ABOUT CONVINCED THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN. BUT, BUT I'M JUST SAYING IF YOU HAVE ANY RESIDUAL CONCERN ABOUT IT. BUT COULD I JUST, I'M REALLY WORRIED. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. BUT COULD I JUST ASK YOU A, A QUESTION, GINA? UM, IF WE SAY TONIGHT, I'M JUST THROWING OUT IF WE TONIGHT SAY DID THE 3% AND THEN THE, SO THIS WAY THE WATER DEPARTMENT IS GETTING, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD START, YOU KNOW, INCREASING, YOU KNOW, THE RATES AND THEN WE [01:15:01] SAY, SAY BY JULY, I'M JUST THROWING OUT BY JULY 1ST. UM, YOU KNOW, THE WATER ADVISORY BOARD, UM, THE, UH, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, OUR CONSULTANTS, THEY SHOULD COME UP WITH A LONG TERM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, PLAN THAT EVERYBODY COULD BASICALLY, THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL HAVE CON CONFIDENCE IN, THEY'LL WORK CLOSELY WITH, UH, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. THEY'LL ADVISE THE COMMISSIONER AND THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER WHEN THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY'RE MEETING BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S A LEGITIMATE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, CONCERN THAT THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT THE CONSULTANTS ARE DOING. THEN, YOU KNOW, THEN, YOU KNOW, UH, THE WATER DEPARTMENT WILL AT LEAST HAVE SOME INCREASE NOW, AND THEN WE, WE DON'T HAVE TO RUSH IT BECAUSE IF WE SAY WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING IT OFF UNTIL JANUARY, WE'RE GONNA GET, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA GET DISTRACTED AND WE'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, JANUARY WILL COME TO FEBRUARY AND MARCH AND APRIL AND WE'RE NOT GONNA GET AROUND TO IT ANYWAY. WE COULD PUT IT ON THE, WE COULD, WE COULD TELL, WE COULD PUT IT ON THE AGENDA NOW, RIGHT. FOR THAT DATE. THEREFORE, WE WILL NOT FORGET WE WE'RE GETTING DISTRACTED. WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET ALL THE ANSWERS BETWEEN NOW AND JANUARY. AND I, I, I FEEL PERSONALLY THAT IF WE DID THE 3% TODAY, IT'S ON THE, YOU KNOW, IT'S ON THE, ON THE AGENDA AND THAT'S APPROVED, UH, THEY'LL FEEL GOOD. THE WATER DEPARTMENT WILL BE GETTING MORE RE MORE REVENUE. AND THEN FIVE OR SIX MONTHS FROM NOW, YOU KNOW, WE, AND THEN WE GIVE THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD OUR CONSULTANTS AND PUBLIC WORKS UNTIL, SAY, JULY 1ST TO COME UP WITH A LONG-TERM PLAN THAT EVERYBODY COULD LIVE WITH. AND, UH, AND THEN WE COULD HAVE A COUPLE YEAR, YOU KNOW, PLAN AND IT'S THOUGHT OUT. NOBODY'S RUSHED AND, YOU KNOW, NOBODY'S SIDETRACKED WITH OTHER, YOU KNOW, EMERGENCIES. I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE, THE, THE BEST, UH, SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM APPROACH. YEAH. MY, MY CON MY CONCERN IS THAT WHEN THEY SHOWED US THE PLAN THAT THIS BOARD APPROVED LAST YEAR FOR THE FIVE YEAR PROJECTION THAT HAD THE EIGHT, SEVEN, UH, SIX AND SO FORTH, WHAT THE D P W HAD SHOWED US, WAS IT HOW CLOSE WE CAME TO THE 90 DAY MINIMUM? I DIDN'T SEE THAT ON YOURS, BUT I DO REMEMBER, WAS IT ON YOUR SLIDE? I THINK WE SHOWED THE 90 DAY MINIMUM FOR YES, I WAS ON ONE OF THE SLIDES. I I'M PRETTY SURE OVER 90. I DIDN'T SEE IT. I CAN LOOK AGAIN. I DIDN'T SEE IT. UH, I THINK THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S PHIL'S SLIDE. WELL, THAT USED, RIGHT? CORRECT. RIGHT. YEAH. SO IN PHIL'S SLIDE, IT SHOWS THAT IN THE THIRD OR FOURTH YEAR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE GET JUST ABOVE THE 90 MINIMUM, ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. UH, ON THE OPERATIONAL SIDE, IF, IF WE DROP IT TO 3% AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IT'S SOME LOW NUMBER NEXT YEAR AS WELL, HOW CLOSE DO WE GET TO BEING JUST AT THE MINIMUM THAT, UH, YOU CAN HAVE WHAT? THE 90 DAY? THE 90 DAY, RIGHT. YEAH, I, I CAN ANSWER THAT. UM, SURE, I'LL TRY TO DO IT QUICKLY. UM, BUT I, I'M SHARING MY SCREEN HERE. I HAVE A CHART. SO THE BLUE BARS IS THE 7% SCENARIO AND THE INCREASES THAT I PRESENTED, I THINK LAST WEDNESDAY, THOSE ARE THE BLUE BARS. SO YOU CAN SEE, I'M SORRY, THOSE ARE THE ORANGE BARS. SORRY ABOUT THAT. THAT, THAT WAS THE RATE FORECAST THAT PRESENTED ON WEDNESDAY. THE BLUE BARS ARE THE 3% SCENARIO IN THE, I THINK THEY WERE THE SIX AND A THREE QUARTERS PERCENT, DAN, THAT YOU SHOWED IN YOUR, IN YOUR SLIDE, I BELIEVE. SO YOU CAN SEE THE BLUE BARS ARE CLOSER TO THE 90 DAY TARGET THAN THE ORANGE BARS. THE ORANGE BARS GIVE A MARGIN ABOVE THE 90 DAY TARGET. WE RECOGNIZE THAT AS A CAPITAL RESERVE. SO RESULTING CAPITAL RESERVES UNDER THE 7% SCENARIO ARE LARGER THAN THEY WOULD BE UNDER THE 3% SCENARIO. ABSOLUTELY. BUT YOU'LL SEE THAT BOTH, BOTH NUMBERS. IT ACTUALLY HAD THE, HOW THE NUMBER OF DAYS, ONE OF THE SLIDES ACTUALLY HAD THE NUMBER OF DAYS. OH, OKAY. YEAH, I CAN THERE, THERE YOU GO. RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. THAT, THAT SHOWED 30 DAYS OVER FOR 2023, RIGHT? YES. WITH, WITH THESE INCREASES UP HERE. RIGHT. AND WHAT WOULD IT BE WITH THEIRS? UH, I DON'T HAVE IT CONVERTED DAYS. ALL I CAN SHOW YOU IS IT'S, I CAN GIVE YOU DOLLARS, UM, NEVER MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS. WHEREAS THE DAYS CONVERTED TO DOLLARS HERE, IT RANGES FROM ABOUT ONE AND A HALF MILLION TO ALMOST 3 MILLION. WHEREAS THE 3% SCENARIO, IT'S LIKE JUST ABOVE TO MAYBE A MILLION . SO IT'S JUST ABOVE 90 DAYS. YEAH. IN 2026, [01:20:01] IT WAS SHOWING JUST ABOVE. SO IT'S ANYWHERE FROM JUST ABOVE TO A MILLION DOLLARS ABOVE. THE 7% SCENARIO WAS ANYWHERE FROM A MILLION AND A HALF, MILLION AND A HALF ABOVE. $3 MILLION ABOVE. WELL, IS THERE CONSENSUS THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER IF WE DO THIS NOW OR WE DO THIS BEFORE THE SUMMER? WELL, IT HAS TO BE FAR ENOUGH BEFORE THE SUMMER TO HAVE THE RATES IN EFFECT FOR THE SUMMER. THAT'S WHAT I MEAN. YEP. YEP. OKAY. FRANCIS, WE'RE NOT GONNA GET OUR FINAL REVENUE TOTALS, I THINK, TILL THE END OF FEBRUARY, UH, AS PER CHUCK MARTINS. SO, SO THEN WOULD THE RATES HAVE TO BE HIGHER TO COVER THE WELL, WE DON'T, WE DON'T TAKE IN NOW. THEY'LL HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, BUT, UH, I, I WOULDN'T ASK PHIL THAT. I MEAN, IT WILL NOT BE IN THE HIGH CONSUMPTION PERIOD. IT'LL BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, BUT TO, TO GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF REVENUE IF YOU IMPLEMENTED THE RATES HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR. YEAH. I MEAN, THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE HIGHER. I I'M NOT SAYING RATES. I STILL THINK THAT IT WOULD BE, THE SIMPLEST THING WOULD BE JUST TO PASS THE 3% TODAY AND THEN GIVE OURSELVES SIX MONTHS TO, UM, WORK OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, LONGER TERM PLAN AND EVERYBODY WORK TOGETHER. BECAUSE I SORT OF FEEL THAT WE HAVE AN, THE WATER DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARD, THEY'RE NOT BEING OBSTRUCTIONIST, THEY'RE NOT SAYING WE DON'T WANT ANY INCREASES. THEY BASICALLY ARE, ARE, ARE WORKING WITH THE TOWN. THEY HAVE A, A 10 YEAR HISTORY OF BASICALLY SUPPORTING ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE'VE WANTED AND ALL THE RATE INCREASE AND, AND BASICALLY INCREASING RATES. SO I FEEL THAT IF WE DID THAT AND THEN IT TAKES US A LITTLE LONGER WHERE THERE'S PROBLEMS, THEN THERE'S NOT A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, I DON'T LIKE HAVING LIKE THE PRESSURE WHERE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE IF WE HAVE OTHER CRISISES IN THE TOWN OR OTHER PROBLEMS, WE'RE SIDETRACKED. AND MEANWHILE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO NEED THE THREE PER, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE DO NEED THE, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE TOWN TO GET THE 3%. YEAH. BUT NOW, NOW IT APPEARS WE ARE, WE'RE GUESSING 'CAUSE THEY'RE SAYING THEY DON'T HAVE THE DATA TO SAY THAT THAT NO, I'M, I'M JUST GIVING YOU RIGHT. BUT, BUT WE KNOW THAT THE, IT'S SOMEWHERE GONNA BE AROUND THE 3%. BUT I, YOU KNOW, I COULD , IF I, IF I COULD RESPECTFULLY JUST JUMP IN REAL QUICK, I WOULD, IF YOU'RE GONNA PUSH THIS OFF, I WOULD NOT MAKE ANY DECISION RIGHT NOW. I THINK WE'RE GONNA WORK WITH PHIL. OKAY. WE'RE GONNA GET THE, THE DATA THAT WE NEED. I WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, THEN I WOULD PUSH IT OFF. ALL RIGHT. AND CAN I SUGGEST THAT THERE SHOULD BE TRANSPARENCY ON BOTH SIDES? UM, I DON'T THINK THERE'S A REASON. DATA'S DATA. SO IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE A LIST, UM, MEETING WITH OUR CONSULTANT WHO'S I THINK ABOUT $200 AN HOUR, WHY NOT HAVE TOWN STAFF, SINCE YOU ALREADY SAY THAT THEY DO A GREAT JOB AND THEY HAVE THEIR BEST INTEREST IN MIND, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE KEEPING A, A, UH, SYSTEM WORKING, YOU KNOW, ALMOST HEROICALLY, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'D BE MORE DISCUSSION AMONG IT AMONG YOU. AND FRANKLY, GIVING THEM SOMETHING ON DECEMBER 7TH OR WHATEVER IT IS, AND EXPECT TO HAVE SOMETHING BY THE 14TH PUBLIC HEARING, IS NOT MEETING WITH REALITY OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN EVERYDAY WORK. BECAUSE THEY ARE RUNNING AN ENTIRE DEPARTMENT, NOT JUST THE WATER DISTRICT. NO, THAT'S, AND TO SAY, AND TO SAY, YOU KNOW, THEY DIDN'T, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE DELAYED IN GETTING INTO US, AND THEN YOU PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER AN HOUR BEFORE THIS MEETING. UM, I I I I, I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE IN APRIL AND MAY HAVING THIS TAKEN DISCUSSION. OKAY, LISTEN, THE REASON, FIRST OF ALL, WE TURNED IT AROUND VERY, VERY QUICKLY AFTER WE KNEW WHAT THE NUMBERS WERE FROM THE TOWN. WE TURNED THAT AROUND VERY, VERY QUICKLY. WHEN YOU SAY VERY, VERY QUICKLY, WHAT'S VERY, VERY QUICKLY WE MET RICHMOND, CORRECT? WAS NOVEMBER 16TH, YOU SAID NOVEMBER 18TH OR 22ND? I THINK WE GOT YOUR NUMBERS. I, I, I HAVE, I I HAVE ALL THE NUMBERS. WE MET ORIGINALLY ON 1116 WHERE IT APPEARED WE WERE GONE WITH THE 7% INCREASE. OKAY. ON 1128. WE MET AT THREE O'CLOCK WITH DAN AND AL WHERE THEY HAD PROPOSED THE 3%. UM, I'M SORRY. SO IT WAS 1128 WITH THEY, SO SOMETHING HAPPENED AFTER EIGHT ON, ON ON 1128. WE, WE MET THAT'S CORRECT. ON DECEMBER 1ST, I SENT A DRAFT RECOMMENDATION TO THE WATER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THE COMMITTEE TURNED THAT AROUND TODAY. WE SENT, AND WE MOVED VERY, VERY QUICKLY. UH, WE GOT IT TO THE WATER, WATER, GOT TO THE WATER DISTRICT. BUT WHY DID WE HAVE TO MOVE SO FAST? BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE. REMEMBER WHAT I SHOWED YOU BEFORE? WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THIS STUFF WEEKS IN ADVANCE SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TO RUSH LIKE THIS. THIS NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED WHERE WE HAVE TO DO IT LIKE THIS. WE NEED TO HAVE THE NUMBERS IN TIME [01:25:01] SO WE CAN ANALYZE AND GET BACK TO THE TOWN SO WE DON'T HAVE THESE CRAZY RUSH SITUATIONS. YOU'RE RIGHT. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. YEAH, I UNDERSTAND. WE TURNED IT AROUND IN A BIG, BIG HURRY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE RUSHES, IF IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE DONE RIGHT AWAY. NO, BUT RICH SAID THAT WE, RICH SAID HE WOULD, HE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT WE JUST HOLD OFF SO WE COULD TAKE A FULL, RIGHT. BUT DO THAT, I THINK WE SHOULD DO THAT. I THINK WE SHOULD JUST DO THAT. SO EVERYBODY, WE'RE NOT MOVING ANYTHING FORWARD THAT WE HAVE THAT CONVERSATION THAT EVERYONE CAN MEET AT THE TABLE AND HAVE THAT DISCUSSION. WHEN DO YOU THINK, WHEN DO YOU THINK WE WOULD WANNA MEET AGAIN? ONE ADVANTAGE OF THAT. IF YOU CAN WAIT THAT LONG DEAL. WHEN WOULD YOU HAVE YEAR END DATA FOR 2022 THEN YOU IN, WHEN YOU SAID FEBRUARY, YOU SAID YOU DID IT FEBRUARY. IF YEAR 20 DATA, WE'D ONLY FOR YEAR END DATA. YEAH. YOU WEREN'T GONNA GET THAT UNTIL JANUARY OF FEBRUARY. EXACTLY. IF WE WAIT FOR YEAR END DATA, WE'LL BE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE. WON'T BE. OKAY. SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA YEAH, I THINK THAT'S MUCH BETTER. THAT'S GOOD. SO THEN THAN WE REACHED A GOOD AGREEMENT, THIS WAS WORTHWHILE. I ALSO WANNA JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S A LITTLE CONTROVERSY OVER THIS, A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, I GET A LOT OF CALLS FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT PART OF THE GREENBURG WATER. I'M IN ANOTHER, THE OLD SOS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SAYING THEY WISH THEY WERE GREENBURG WATER. SO EVEN THOUGH WE'RE WE'RE GETTING CRITICIZED OR THERE'S SOME CRITICAL COMMENTS, THERE'S A LOT OF POSITIVE THINGS THAT THE WATER DEPARTMENT DOES. I THINK THE STAFF IS REALLY GREAT. THERE'S A LOT OF POSITIVITY ON, ON ALL SIDES. NO, I'M JUST SAYING THANK YOU ALL. THANK YOU MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO BE CONTINUED. GREAT TO SEE YOU BEHIND THE MASK EARLIER. OKAY. THANK YOU. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH JUST THIS AREA FOR, THIS WAS GOOD. VERY HARD. CAN NOW WE'RE GONNA DO THE AGENDA REVIEW. WELL, AT THIS POINT IT IS WHAT IT IS AND WHEN WE CAN ADDRESS IT WHEN WE'RE UP THERE EXCEPT, UH, BD, BD ONE IS GONNA BE HELD OVER BECAUSE A QUOTE CAME BACK OF $280,000. WAIT, WHICH, WHAT BD ONE WE HAVE TO HAVE SOMEBODY, UH, DO, UH, THE INSPECTIONS FOR REGENERON MM-HMM. AND, UH, FRANK HAD MENTIONED A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS AND BASICALLY BROUGHT IT DOWN TO 40,000. UH, THE QUOTE FOR ONE BUILDING IS $280,000. AND SO HE HAS IDEAS OF HOW WE CAN SUBSTANTIALLY DROP THAT NUMBER. SO LET'S, LET'S HOLD THAT OVER. OKAY. WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO HIRE SOMEBODY IF IT'S $280,000 JUST TO VERY WELL MAY BE, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA COST US 280,000. RIGHT. SO, SO YEAH, WE HAVE TO JUST HOLD IT OVER A DISCUSSION. HOPEFUL DISCUSS THAT. LET ME ASK A QUESTION. THE ONLY CONCERN THAT I HAD WITH THE BUDGET WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, I EMAILED EVERYBODY ABOUT A MILLION TIMES OVER THE WEEKEND, WAS THE INTERNS, UH, THE, THE QUEST OF, UM, YOU KNOW, I WANTED TO PUT 'EM, YOU KNOW, MUST AGREE. I'D LIKE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE A MOTION TO RESTORE THE $10,000 FOR, UH, THE INTERN THAT WOULD ONLY BE USED, UM, IF WE HAVE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, AN ENROLLMENT THAT EXCEEDS, UM, WHAT WE HAD IN, YOU KNOW, 2000, YOU KNOW, 2021. WE, WE SPENT THE 25,000 LAST YEAR BECAUSE WE HAD OVER 45, YOU KNOW, STUDENTS. AND, YOU KNOW, I JUST SORT OF FEEL THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOMEBODY WHO CALLED ME, THEY SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUALITY, GIVING PEOPLE FROM LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS PEOPLE WHO ARE WEALTHY. THIS SUB, YOU KNOW, THIS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IS A GREAT EQUALIZER BECAUSE CHILDREN FROM EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT, THEY'RE WORKING TOGETHER. UH, THEY'VE HAD FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES. UH, WE, I SHARED AN EMAIL THAT I GOT, UM, FROM, UM, THE WINNER OF THE TONY AWARDS FOR BEST PLAY, UM, WHO LIVES IN HASTINGS. AND HE INDICATED THAT, UM, HE ACTUALLY IS MENTORING A FORMER INTERN AND GOT HER A JOB IN LA. UM, OR SO, YOU KNOW, TO ME, UM, THERE ARE SO MANY POSITIVE, YOU KNOW, OPPORTUNITIES, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TREATING EVERYBODY EQUALLY THERE. SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE SUGGESTION WAS MADE BY SOMEBODY MADE, YOU KNOW, LAST WEEK, WELL, MAYBE YOU SHOULD REDUCE THE STIPENDS, BUT NOT EVERYBODY WHO, UM, YOU KNOW, IS A, AN INTERN COULD AFFORD NOT GETTING PAID. SO I FEEL, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SO MANY GREAT PROGRAMS IN THE TOWN. WE HAVE, UH, THE, THE PROGRAMS AT THE THEATER YOUNG COMMUNITY CENTER. WE HAVE THE SUMMER YOUTH, UH, POLICE CAMP. UH, WE'VE GIVEN SO MANY PEOPLE OPPORTUNITIES AND YOU KNOW, I'M [01:30:01] LIKE SO PROUD OF THIS INTERNSHIP. YOU KNOW, THEY'VE MET HILLARY CLINTON, THEY MET ME, MEREDITH VIERA, THEY MET, UM, COLUMNISTS. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY WHAT YOU, YOU'VE SAID, YOU KNOW, THE LAST TWO MEETINGS CAN I, I, I DID SOME RESEARCH. I'D LIKE TO, UH, HAND OUT A, A DOCUMENT EXPLAINING WHAT I'VE DONE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, ALICE. YOU ARE WELCOME, KEN. OKAY. I CALLED, I SPOKE TO A HALF DOZEN OTHER MUNICIPALITIES TO DO AND DID A COMPARISON OF WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMS THEY HAVE. I ALSO INCLUDED THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE AND THE COUNTY BOARD OF LEGISLATORS IN THIS SUMMARY. UM, SO THE SUM OF IT IS THAT NO, NO ONE HAS AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM FOR AS MANY STUDENTS AS WE DO, AND MOST DO NOT PAY. UM, IN WHITE PLAINS, THEY DO PAY ABOUT 15 INTERNS THAT ARE PUT INTO SEPARATE, UM, DEPARTMENTS DEPENDING ON WHAT THEIR INTEREST IS OR WHAT THEIR MAJOR IS IN SCHOOL SO THAT THEY CAN BE OF THE BENEFICIAL PART AND LEARN FROM, FROM THAT. UM, NEW ROCHELLE PLACES STUDENTS. THEY BASICALLY, THEIR YOUTH BUREAU PLACES STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AT DIFFERENT BUSINESSES AND RESTAURANTS. THOSE BUSINESSES PAY THOSE INTERNS. THEY PAY NOTHING. UM, NORTH CASTLE HAS A SIMILAR THING, BUT THEY ONLY HAVE FOUR TO SIX INTERNS, NEW CASTLE, SIMILAR, AND THEY PLACE THEM IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS. NEWCASTLE DOES PAY A STIPEND OF $1,500 FOR COLLEGE SOPHOMORES. AND THOSE COLLEGE SOPHOMORES ESSENTIALLY HAVE THEIR, THEIR, UM, THEIR MAJORS SELECTED. SO THEY CAN BE SLOTTED INTO DEPARTMENTS WHERE THEY CAN GET, UM, COLLEGE CREDIT. THEY CAN GET, UH, LEARNING EXPERIENCE, UM, ESSENTIALLY. ARE THEY ACTUALLY WORKING? PARDON ME? ARE THEY ACTUALLY PERFORMING WORK? THEY'RE PERFORMING WORK, YES. THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY HAVE SPECIFIC JOBS. SO THEY MIGHT BE SOMEONE WHO'S A FINANCIAL MAJOR, MIGHT GO INTO FINANCE, SOMEONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN ENGINEERING, MIGHT GO INTO D B W, UM, OR IF THEY'RE INTERESTED IN COMMUNITY SERVICE, THEN THERE IS, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO THAT THAT MIGHT PREPARE THEM FOR A CAREER IN, UM, IN COMMUNITY SERVICE. UM, , ESSENTIALLY IT'S CATCHES CATCH CAN, THEY MIGHT HAVE ONE, THEY MIGHT NOT. THAT'S THE TOWN OF MA, UM, HAS ALSO ONE OR TWO. AND IT'S A VERY INFORMAL PROCESS. THEY GENERALLY DO SLOT SOMEONE INTO THE ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE THEY HAVE, UM, A LOT OF FLOODING AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. SO THAT IS PRETTY STANDARD IN, OCCASIONALLY THEY'LL, YOU KNOW, IF A STUDENT EXPRESSES A STRONG INTEREST, IN ONE CASE IT WAS ADMINISTRATIVE, AND THEN THEY WILL PAY A 1500 TO $2,000 STIPEND FOR A COLLEGE KID, UH, COUNTY EXECUTIVE'S OFFICE. WE, THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE OFFICE DOES NOT PAY ANYTHING. BOARD OF LEGISLATORS. EACH, UM, EACH LEGISLATOR DOES HAVE THE ABILITY TO HIRE AN INTERN FOR A THOUSAND DOLLARS. UM, AND THEN THEY, THEY, ANY NUMBER OF, UM, I'M SORRY, ANY NUMBER OF, UM, UNPAID INTERNS ARE, ARE HIRED AND THEY ARE SLOTTED IN TO DEPARTMENTS, YOU KNOW, ON THE EXECUTIVE FLOOR. AND THEY HELP OUT, THEY MONITOR, THEY DO ALL KINDS OF THINGS. SO I'VE EXPLAINED THAT. NOW THAT BEING SAID, I, I FEEL STRONGLY THAT OTHERS ON THE BOARD AGREE, UM, THAT WE, WE THINK THAT THE, OUR INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IS [01:35:01] A VERY WORTHY PROGRAM. YOU KNOW, YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB, BUT WE NEED, THERE, THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO, TO ARRANGE IT. EITHER HAVE, HAVE, UM, PAY STIPENDS BASED ON NEED FOR SOME OF THE STUDENTS AND FOR OTHERS, UM, THEY, YOU KNOW, HA HELPING THEM GET COLLEGE CREDIT. FOR INSTANCE, I, I KNOW I DID THIS MYSELF WHEN I WORKED IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE, AND I, I HELPED STUDENTS FILL OUT THE, THE FORM SO THAT THEY COULD GET COLLEGE CREDIT. AND THE LEGISLATOR REVIEWED AND SIGNED OFF ON THAT, AND THEY GOT LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION WHICH GO, WHICH REALLY ARE HELPFUL FOR APPLYING FOR, UM, COLLEGE, FUTURE COLLEGE OR COLLEGE, UM, UM, FURTHER COLLEGE EDUCATION OR FOR JOBS. AND I FEEL THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN, IN, IN THIS CASE, THAT IT APPEARS THAT WE SPENT SOMEWHERE AROUND CL CLOSE TO $25,000 IN 2022, WHERE, WELL, ONLY $15,000 WERE ALLOCATED. AND THE, THE $10,000 CAME FROM UNNAMED OTHER DISTRIBUTION ALLOCATIONS. SO GIVEN THE FINANCIAL SITUATION OF THE TOWN, I BELIEVE THAT WE BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD LIMIT THAT THE INTERNSHIP STIPENDS TO THE SAME $15,000 ALLOCATED IN 2022 WITH NO OTHER UNAUTHORIZED FUND ALLOCATIONS. SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE ARE DOING SO MUCH AND WE CAN STILL CONTINUE TO DO A LOT FOR THESE STUDENTS WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY OUT SO MUCH MONEY WHEN OTHER DEPARTMENTS END UP, WHEN WE'VE GOT SO MANY DEPARTMENTS WHO HAVE GIVEN UP, HAVE MADE CUTS HERE AND THERE, AND IMPORTANT THINGS THAT THEY, THAT THEY FELT WAS NECESSARY THEN TO ALLOCATE THAT LARGE SUM OF MONEY WHERE OTHER DEPARTMENTS COULD USE FUNDS FOR, FOR THINGS THAT THEY HAD CUT OUT FROM THEM. WELL, YOU KNOW, I OBVIOUSLY THINK THAT'S A RIDICULOUS ARGUMENT. UM, YOU KNOW, I SHOULD MENTION THAT JUST BECAUSE, UM, OTHER COMMUNITIES DON'T HAVE THE TREMENDOUS PROGRAMS THAT WE DO, UH, DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO FOLLOW OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT ARE NOT GIVING YOUNG PEOPLE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES THAT, UH, THAT STUDENTS DESERVE. I DIDN'T SUGGEST THAT. WE DON'T. I'M SAYING YOU'RE COMPARING GREENBERG WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES. SHOULD WE GET RID OF THE THEATER YOUNG COMMUNITY CENTER BECAUSE WE HAVE THE BEST COMMUNITY CENTER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND ALL THESE OTHER COMMUNITIES AREN'T DOING AS MUCH FOR OUR YOUTH? NO. UH, SHOULD WE GET RID OF THE SUMMER POLICE YOUTH CAMP BECAUSE WE'RE THE ONLY ONE, UH, IN WESTCHESTER THAT ? WELL, WE HAVE A CENTRAL, WE HAVE A CENTRAL SERVICE. I HAVE IT RIGHT. DIDN'T INTERRUPT YOU, BUT WE ARE RIGHT. AND WELL, I'M SAYING, IS THAT YOUR LOGIC? IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. AND, YOU KNOW, THE THING IS, WE HAD THIS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM HAS BEEN AMAZING. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IF WE KEEP THE FUNDING LEVEL AS IT WAS TWO YEARS AGO, WE'RE GONNA BE DENYING STUDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A PROGRAM WHERE THEY'RE EXPOSED TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S TOP PEOPLE. BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE YEAR WE'VE HAD, UM, OUR STUDENT INTERNS INTERACT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ONLY LOCALLY FAMOUS, BUT INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS. MEREDITH THERA, LEON TALLEY. WE NAMED THE STREET FOR HIM. HE SPOKE TO THE STUDENTS. HE WAS WILLING TO MENTOR THE STUDENTS. UH, THEY'VE WORKED ON ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, PROJECTS. A COUPLE YEARS AGO, UM, WHEN HILLSIDE AVENUE HAD ALL THESE POTHOLES ALL OVER, THE STUDENTS ON THEIR OWN CAME UP WITH A LOBBYING PLAN AND THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL. THEY MET, THEY ORGANIZED AN ONLINE PETITION. UH, THEY MET WITH SENATOR COUSINS, THEY MET WITH, UM, THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE STATE, D O T AS A RE THEY, THEY INTERACTED WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AS A RESULT OF THEIR EFFORT. NEW YORK STATE REPAVED, ALL OF HILLSIDE AVENUE, WHICH THEY WEREN'T PLANNING TO DO. AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF INTERNS. A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, UM, WE HAD A STUDENT, UM, WHO UM, BASICALLY WROTE THE GRANT, A FIVE, $600,000 GRANT APPLICATION THAT WAS APPROVED, UM, FOR THE ODELL HOUSE. AND AS A RESULT OF HIS EFFORTS, WE GOT THE, WE GOT THE GRANT. WE HAD A STUDENT ONE YEAR ORGANIZING, UM, [01:40:01] A JOB THERE HELPING OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE GET EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. UM, WE HAD, UM, A STUDENT ONE YEAR, UM, WORKING, UM, UH, A YOUNG WOMAN FROM, UM, EDGEMONT WHO ACTUALLY, UM, SET UP A SELF-DEFENSE PROGRAM FOR, UH, YOUNG GIRLS WHO WERE GOING INTO, UM, YOU KNOW, COLLEGE. AND THEY WERE BASICALLY AFRAID THAT, UH, AFRAID FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL SAFETY. SO WE TAUGHT, UH, STUDENTS, UH, SELF-DEFENSE. AND WE HAD SOMEBODY, UH, ORGAN ORGANIZE THAT. SO POSSIBLY, UH, SO PARENTS AND, UH, UH, UH, YOUNG WOMAN AND MEN WOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES IF THEY WERE ASSAULTED WHILE THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, OUT OF TOWN. SO ONE YEAR THEY ORGANIZED A LOT A, A TRIP TO WASHINGTON DC, A BIKE TRIP FROM HERE TO WASHINGTON, DC UM, AND WE MET WITH HILLARY CLINTON. WE MET WITH SENATOR SCHUMER. UM, WE MET WITH THE DANA, UM, UH, FACILITY, UH, THAT DEALT WITH STEM CELL, UH, RESEARCH. THEY ORGANIZED A LOBBYING EFFORT. THEY WERE WRITTEN UP IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, UM, FOR THEIR, THEIR WORK. OUR INTERN PROGRAM IS NATIONALLY KNOWN. UH, IT'S PROBABLY THE BEST INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN THE UNITED STATES. I WOULD, I'M POSITIVE. AND YOU KNOW WHAT I FEEL, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WHOLE BUDGET FOR THE TOWN, UM, IF YOU'RE GONNA ELIMINATE $10,000, YOU COULD BE HAVING A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON SOMEBODY'S LIFE BECAUSE WE'RE NOT GIVING THEM AN OPPORTUNITY. I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE ELIMINATE THE PROGRAM. I'M SUGGESTING THAT WE COME UP WITH AN ALTERNATIVE, NOT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT A FILIBUSTER, YOU CAN FILIBUSTER, BUT I HAVE FILIBUSTER. YES. WELL, LET, I THINK YOU SHOULD LET OTHER THREE O' ONE GO AT A TIME. I THINK YOU SHOULD, SHOULD LET OTHER PEOPLE TALK. I'M VERY UPSET BECAUSE OUT THE WHOLE BUDGET, WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS YOU'RE BASICALLY, UH, NOT GIVING A, A YOUNG PERSON ON, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THE SAME, UH, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT DOING THAT. YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE NOT. YOU'RE MISINTERPRETING YOURSELF. I'M MAKING A MOTION AT THE, THAT WE COME UP WITH TO THE BOARD MEETING. SAY IS SIGN WE'RE MAKE A, I'M SUGGESTING THAT WE COME UP WITH ALTERNATIVES. I MADE ONE SUGGESTION. THERE ARE OTHER SUGGESTIONS, LIKE GETTING FUNDING, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO, GETTING A GRANT TO HELP. I'M GONNA TRY GETTING WELL, YES. OKAY. SO WHY DON'T, DON'T KEEP THE 10,000 DON. DON'T ACCUSE ME. I'M ACCUSED. EXCUSE. I'M, YES. AND I, HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT. TRYING TO SABOTAGE YOUR PROGRAM. ELLEN, PAUL. ELLEN, I'M NOT GONNA ENGAGE IN THIS RIDICULOUS, HAVE YOU CALL ME NAMES. HOLD ON A SECOND. PLEASE HAVE YOU CALL ME NAMES AND ACCUSE ME OF THINGS THAT I AM NOT GUILTY OF. IS NOT, IT'S, I'M SHOWING, I SHOW RESPECT. I THINK THAT YOU CAN SHOW THAT. WELL, I NEVER CALLED YOU NAMES. I SHOW RESPECT TO YOU. CAREFUL CHILDREN. HOW DARE YOU MAKE ACCUSATIONS LIKE THAT. SO TAKE THAT AND DISRESPECTFUL AND, AND PUT IT OKAY. WHEREVER YOU WANNA PUT IT. BUT JUST LET IT GO AND LET OTHER PEOPLE LET'S MOVE ON WITH THE MEETING. OKAY. ALRIGHT. SO WE STILL HAVE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION WHERE WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PERSONNEL ISSUE. AND THE PERSON'S BEEN WAITING, EVEN THOUGH THE MEETING WAS SUPPOSED TO START AT SEVEN 30 AND THE WATER DISCUSSION WAS SUPPOSED TO BE 30 MINUTES. DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY ITEMS FOR THE AGENDA? ANY? NO. NO, NO. SO WE NEED A MEETING BEFORE YOU GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. I JUST WANT TO THANK PAUL FOR STANDING UP FOR THE GREENBERG TOWN HALL SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM THAT HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE FOR 14 YEARS. FOR 14 YEARS. AND THE EVIDENCE OF WHICH, UM, IS, IS, UH, HAS PROVEN TO BE EXTREMELY AND HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WE HAVE SERVED. AND AGAIN, THE EVIDENCE IS IN THE COMMENTS AND THE STATEMENTS THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN US. AND I'M WILLING, IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE STATEMENTS, JUST CONTACT ME OR GOOGLE THEM AND I WILL SHARE THEM WITH YOU. BECAUSE THE STUDENTS STATE THE BENEFIT, THEY VALUE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PROGRAM TO THEIR JOB READINESS AND TO THEIR EXPERIENCE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT. AND THE ONLY OTHER THING I, I WANT TO SAY IS WITH OTHER INTERNSHIP, I MOVE THAT WE END THIS MEETING, SECOND BUSINESS, I WANNA SAY SESSION TO DEAL WITH THE PERSON. THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T. * 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.