>>> the time is 9:31, will the
clerk call the roll.
>>> council member Herbert.
>>> counsel sill member morale
ES.
>> here.
>> council member STRAUS.
>> present.
>> chair Peterson.
>> present.
>>> if there's no objection
today's proposed agenda will be
approved.
the agenda is don'ted.
good morning, we have 15 items
on today's agenda many of which
are appointments to Seattle city
lights customer review panel and
the Seattle public utility
review panel.
we also have a public hearing on
Seattle city lights petition to
vacate a portion of diagonal
avenue southwest of 4th avenue
south to provide to other
departments and city Government
to facilitate the completion of
the bike and pet trail and an
off LAESH dog park.
we'll receive a briefing on the
financial audit.
then we'll have our first
discussion of three ordinances
that will implement Seattle
public utility rates for three
of the four SPU lines of
business, drainage, waste water
and fresh water.
at this time we will open the
public comment period, the
general public comment period
and we will also have time later
for the public hearing on the
vacation of diagonal avenue
south and that portion of that
road.
for the general public comment
period I ask everyone will be
patient as we operate the online
system.
we're continuously looking for
ways to fine tune the process in
public participation.
the city council reserves the
right to modify public comment
periods at any point if we deem
it's unsuitable allowing meeting
to be conducted officially.
I will moderate the public
comment period in the foaling
manner.
we will have 20 minutes each
speaker will be given two
minutes to speak.
I'll call on the two speakers at
a time and the order in which
the registered on the city
council website.
if you not registered to speak
but would like to, sign up
before the end of the public
comment period by going to the
council's website.
the public comment
link is also listed on today's
agenda.
once a call a speaker's name
staff will unmute the mic phone
and it will be the speaker's cue
to speak and that speaker must
press star 6 to begin speaking.
star 6.
please begin speaking by stating
your name and the item you're
addressing.
it should be rerated to the
agenda or subject matter.
speakers will have a chime.
once you hear the chime we will
ask that you wrap up your
comment.
if speakers do not end their
comments at the end of the
allotted time, the speaks
microphone will be muted to
allow us to call on the next
speaker.
once you have completed your
public comment we ask that you
disconnect from the line.
and if you plan to continue
following this meeting, please
do so via Seattle channel or
listing options listed on the
committee agenda.
her bolt joined us so
the entire committee is here.
the regular public comment
period for this meeting is open
and we'll begin with the first
speaker on the list.
please remember to press star 6
before speaking.
the first speaker is
blare pearl man followed by
sylvey Reynolds go ahead blare.
>>> hi my name is blare and I'm
a resident of green lake.
I am asking the committee to
support and advocate to the
mayor to open west green lake
way north.
this road was closed due to
Covid and one of the keep moving
streets in Seattle and now that
governor Inslee has removed the
restrictions we're asking that
this committee support the
reopening of the road for cars
in both directions.
cars and bikes have coexisted on
this road for 30 plus years.
there's never been an issue with
accidents or bicycle and cars
being able to use the road.
the closure has caused
unbelievable amounts of traffic
around the community.
it's diverted people's shopping
habits and rather than shopping
local, they are actually driving
to north cape to get their
shopping done because they don't
want to sit in the 20-30 minute
traffic that this road closure
has caused.
it's cut off communities like
Fowler, physician gnu and green
lake from crossing over to the
other side and even residents in
Fremont people with mobility
issues.
and I'm just shocked that the
city hasn't received an ADA
complaint at this point about
this closure as it's closed off
half the lake to people that
used to park and use this lake.
the put put bongos many
businesses green lake crew have
complained to the city to please
reopen this road as it's been
detrimental to their survey
value and we received no
response.
a petition is circulating now
and proximately 3600 people have
signed it so I urge this
committee to strongly consider
reaching out to the mayor and
advocating for the opening of
the road, thank you.
>>> thank you, blare.
next we have sylvey Reynolds
followed by Paul Andrews.
we only six or seven speakers
just for the committee members
to be aware of.
so go ahead sylvey.
>> hi, this is sylvey Reynolds
and I live in green lake and I'm
calling to support the reopening
of west green lake way north to
cars in both directions for 24-7
the entire community is just up
in arms and furious about this
and there are so many stories
about individuals not being able
to access the lake.
for recreation because of the
closure.
it also impacts drivers because
they have to drive around the
whole lake.
the traffic around the lake is
incredible.
I'll just read a few comments
from the petition.
that people have left in support
of opening the road.
someone says, we deserve access
to the entire park.
someone says please open west
green way back up.
the closure is the large
incondition convenience and
makes traffic way worse.
someone else says I live by the
lake and used to access this
road on a daily basis and now I
have to go through entire
neighborhood to do the same.
it's also backed up traffic and
people are not able to access
tennis courts and track.
The Road has bike
lanes on each side.
you can go on and on and read
the comments.
it just impacts everyone and we
urge you to please reopen the
road, thank you.
>>> next up we have Paul
Andrews.
press star 6 on your phone to
begin speaking, Paul Andrews.
if you're there, I'm
ready please press star 6.
.
>> finally, sorry it took a
while.
I'm Paul Andrews representing
the PRC and I want to read into
the record a formal letter that
the TR CC has forwarded to the
city to request again the
reopening of west green lake way
north.
I understand there's movement at
the council level on this.
and we wanted to thank alex
Peterson for hiss response to
our recent KEER ri.
this letter is addressd to the
mayor and sparks superintendent
and SDOT director.
on behalf of the board of
directors we request that west
lake north be restored to two
way vehicular traffic.
this provides link between
Ballard, green lake and Whitman
park and University of
Washington east green lake
southbound I-5 and light rail
stations.
west way north was closed to
promote social distancing and
increase bicycle walking areas
during the Covid pandemic.
with low TROFK volumes during
lock down traffic was rerouted
on 50th, 80 and Winona as
business and park facilities
reopen, the traffic reported
back to prepandemic levels
causing significant congestion
and air pollution and delays.
the new traffic signal at the
easterly terminal of this
arterial in stone way avenue
north based on the city's own
traffic studies showing the peak
traffic volume exceeded 11,000
vehicles per day in June of
2008.
and we attached that traffic.
sorry if this goes over I wanted
to read the entire letter I
appreciate the fore BER RANS of
the committee.
>> thank you.
Paul next up we have got Noel
Miller followed by trip Allen.
go ahead.
>>> good morning, I'm Noel
Miller member of the penny ridge
neighborhood and I'm supportive
of the points made in the letter
that Paul was reading.
as a career transportation and
utilities professional, it's
somewhat mystifying to me as to
the rationale to keep the road
closed while SDOT is developing
LAN plans to design the cycle
track around the west pseudoof
the lake.
the current lake there the
vehicular capacity on roadway
network during peak demand
continued roadway closure is XAS
baiting the fact.
I'm a cyclist as well.
and do not see a reason that
reopening the roadway now will
pose a danger to cyclists as the
roadway has paved shoulders and
no on street parking allowed.
I'm appreciative of both county
member STRAUS involvement in
working to resolve this current
situation with the mayor and
SDOT.
thank you.
>>> thank you our last speaker
present is trip Allen.
go ahead.
trip.
go ahead, trip Allen.
looks like you pressed
star 6 so you can go ahead and
speak.
we're not hearing you
though.
okay we're not hear as
good trip Allen, the last public
speaker so please do send an
email.
>> hello?
>> yeah, go ahead.
>> yes am I in now?
>> yes.
>> I've lived on the northwest
side of green lake for 20 years
where the new multimodal paving
project begins.
OOUM going to sculpture a lot of
comments because basic they are
ditto, I support the comments
made previously by the first
four callers.
we're sick of it.
we're fatigued from the paving
project as it was and pandemic.
it's time to open that road.
it failed as a reimagining
experiment.
no one uses it in any capacity.
why would anyone use a deserted
street for recreation when a
park is on either side.
the existing road and bike lanes
on it were fully functional and
safe.
those lanes on that road are a
full two plus feet wider than
the lanes on the two way new
paths around the lake.
I aoppose the idea of building
more two way multimodeAL type
lanes anywhere they don't
believe they're dangerous.
do not build another more costly
and dangerous two way path to
one side of BADOS.
they need to be fully separated
from the street to be safe and
effective.
this closure is inconvenienced
people and put extra burden on
residents with traffic noise,
traffic emissions and road rage.
I'm upset at how the city is
continuing to move the goalpost
and play hide the ball from the
people.
it's dishonest and I was
surprised Dan to hear there's
ideaings to open it only during
commutes and weekends.
it's wrong and we're tired of
being disconnected give us our
street back.
thank you.
>>> that concludes our list of
speakers for the committee this
morning.
and we'll go to the 15 items to
cover, we'll go ahead and jump
in.
Thanks for folks taking the time
to call in and we do hear you.
the clerk please read the titles
of the first five agenda items
into the record?
>> agenda items one through
five.
appointments 1987 and 1919,
1988, 1989 and 1990.
reappointment of Michael Hanson
for a term to April 12th, 2024,
and appointments of Timmy O
SKEEL for a term to April 10th,
2023, Leo L lament for a term to
September 30th, 2022.
and Carrie Lynn immediate and
Joel PAZ NER for terms to
April 30th, 2024, as members
city light review panel.
for briefing discussion and
possible vote.
.
>> thank you.
colleagues from both panels and
the Seattle public utility
review panel we were fortunate
our seasoned members stayed on
long enough to complete their
review and endorsement of the
multiyear plans of the city
utilities.
it's a lot of hard work and
we're having natural turnestones
overand ready to welcome new
members who are willing to
serve.
I believe we have three of the
appointees present to meet the
committee this morning.
not everybody is able to be here
at 9:30 on a Wednesday morning.
the agenda pacts are published
and we have a good group of
appointees here.
we want to ensure we vote on all
five today to get city lights
review panel back to full
capacity.
to provide proper oversight for
this large agency moving
forward.
so we are going to turn it over
to Lee, good morning and I would
like to meet these appointees
here.
>> thank you very much.
we're very excited to bring to
you four new members as well as
one reappointed member for your
consideration today.
Timmy SKEEL is in our economist
position which is the mayor
appointed position.
Carrie MEADE came to us from the
northwest energy coalition for
the nonprofit energy position.
we have Leah lamb as a nominee
for the residential position and
he actually came to us through
council member Peterson's office
so thank you for that.
Michael Hanson is our current
cochair up for reappointment and
he spoke with you at the last
committee meeting regarding the
strategic plan.
finally Joel PES NER is our
nominee for the Suburban
franchise city position.
so thank you again for hearing
them and considering their
appointments.
let's council member, do you
want to go on and call it.
>> let's hear from our
appointees who were able to be
here this morning and if could
introduce them in the order to
speak and why they like to serve
and what they're looking forward
to most.
the appointment pacts are
published online for these
qualified individuals.
>> thank you.
on my list, the first present is
Carrie MEADE.
.
>> good morning, everybody.
I am going to keep my camera
off.
I'm bouncing my newborn son.
you might hear him.
it's an honor to be appointed
and I have been working in the
energy efficiency industry for
ten years.
I'm the director of the council
a nonprofit trade association
and it's the real excitement I
have of joining the review panel
is because the energy industry
is going through major
transition and I think
municipality utility is in an
incredible position where you
can lead the direction that we
would like to see utilities go.
there's a lot of innovative
policy around building
efficiency and in the energy
space in general and I would
love to be part of supporting
the utility as they work through
and process the strategy going
forward.
so apologies my little guy is
not asleep at the moment but
it's an honor, Thanks.
.
>> thank you for being willing
to serve and being here.
as well as you too.
>> next up is Leah lamb.
>>> good morning, I'm Leo lamb
and I live in Fremont and I
would like to thank the
counselor Peterson staff for
reaching out to me.
apparently I was popular on next
door.
I am a former faculty at
University of Washington and the
electrical engineering
department.
so I'm really excited to go
behind the scene and help the
utility company that I have used
for almost 28 years and I'm very
proud of them for being carbon
neutral since 2005.
I'm particularly interested in
climate change given my
dissertation was on energy
storage for sustainable energy
and my father was chairman at
the IPCC of the mental panel on
climate change.
and I have lived in Seattle
since 1998.
by the way of London UK.
and I'm very pleased to be part
of the team.
thank you.
>>> thank you.
and finally we have Joel Pez NER
our franchise city
representative nominee.
>> good morning, nice to meet
you all.
I live in the city of lake
forest park but lived in Seattle
in the past and been a customer
of Seattle city lights for 30
plus years.
it's a great utility and I too
am honored to serve especially
with some of my newly esteemed
colleagues here.
I'm an attorney and I began my
career as a civil deputy
prosecutor in king county.
and have worked in and around
municipal Government my whole
career I spent a lot of time
representing electric utilities
up and down the northwest from
Alaska throughout the Washington
and Oregon.
I bring a different orientation
to utility representation.
Seattle city light is a leader
and it will be a challenging and
interesting time to be to be
able to support what the
utilities are trying to do in
terms of climate change and
efficiency.
and really trying to be
equitable to all of its
customers.
Thanks for the opportunity and
I'm very much appreciative.
>>> thank you very much
colleagues I know you all read
the appointment pacts and do you
have any questions for these
potential appointments or Lee
about the others?
.
>> we're really fortunate to
have you step up to serve.
this is lots of advisories
boards and commissions.
some are formal for oversite for
ballot approved voter approved
ballot measures and this
obviously overseeing helping us
to oversee the one billion
dollar utility enterprise is
critical.
so we appreciate your attention
to this and lots of hours
involved and hard work.
so asking those questions of
Seattle city life to keep them
doing the good work they're
doing, so thank you for your
willingness to serve.
council members unless more of
you wish to separate out any of
the applicants for a separate
vote, I would be happy to do
these as we normally would as a
group.
we would vote on all five of the
appointments together.
does anybody wish to
separate anybody?
.
>> hearing no one wishes to do
so I move the economy approval.
1988 and 1989.
and sorry, let me say that
again.
appointments 1987, 199, 1988,
1989 and 1990.
these are items one through five
on our agenda.
is there a second?
>> second.
>> thank you it's been moved and
second recommended passage of
appointments.
any final comments?
will the clerk please
call the roll on the
recommendations of five appoint
Ms be forwarded to the full city
council.
>> Gonzalez.
>> her bolt.
>> moraleS.
>> STRAUS.
>> chair Peterson.
>> yes.
>> five in favor none opposed.
>> thank you the motion carries
and the committee
recommendations the appointments
e sent for approval to the
July 26th council meeting.
>> thank you everybody for
joining us.
>> Thanks so much.
see you at the review
panel meeting.
>> looking forward to it, Thanks
everyone.
>>> so will the clerk please
read the short titles of the
next five agenda items into the
record.
>>> agenda item 6-10.
appointments 1991 through 1995.
appoint Ms of Gretchen glob
Maria McDaniel, as members
Seattle public utilities 2018 to
2023 strategic business plan
customer review panel for terms
to July 31st, 2024.
for briefing discussion and
possible vote.
>>> thank you.
colleagues another five
appointments this time to
Seattle public utility customer
review panel.
as with the city lights panel
after the recent completion of
its updated business plan we are
bringing in fresh recruits for
the next round of oversight.
we have four of the five
appointees who were able to make
this meeting this morning to
introduce themselveses and meet
you.
the appointment pacts are online
for review.
let's turn it over I think we
may even have the general
manager.
general manage Harrah good
morning.
>> good morning, council member.
and committee chair Peterson and
members of the committee.
we really appreciate the
opportunity to introduce this
great new group of proposed
members of our customer review
panel to you.
we're very excited about this
diverse group and the
perspectives and experiences
that they bring and how they
will contribute to the
development of our next
strategic business plan.
so I'm introducing five people
today.
and I'm just going to go over
their little description about
them and ask the ones in
attendance to say a couple words
if that's okay.
>> yes.
please.
> thank you.
So Gretchen globe is the
recovery coordinator for
Snohomish county interested in
Puget sound ecosystem recovery
and is working to recover
endangered species and restore
salmon runs.
Maria McDaniel is a current
member of the customer review
panel and she works with the
city of Seattle as an
information technology
department employee as a senior
business analyst.
Maria is interested in
continuing work with the
customer review panel to help
address issues surrounding those
living in RV's the ones living
in the nonpermanent resident and
available services to them
safely and without JUNLT dispose
of human waste.
MAHAAMME is interested in
bringing a social and racial
justice to the panel and as
Muslim and SOMALI American he's
interested to bring his work to
the civility.
>>> Tiffany wants to help
identify emerging strategies for
building community wealth and
passionate about working towards
environmental justice to support
public health OOCHLT Mickey
SOTOS owns three businesses in
Seattle.
bang bang kitchen and as a
member of the customer review
panel Mickey would like to
educate marginal lized community
on clean water issues while
bringing a business owner's
perspective to the customer
review panel.
this group of proposed members
is the most diverse in the
history of SPU customer review
panel and they wring a wide
range of experience and
backgrounds and geographic
locations to the panel.
so I'm going to ask the two that
have been able to attend to
introduce themselves, KHALID
start please.
.
>> yes, can you hear me?
>> yes.
>> okay.
hello, everyone.
I'm council member alex thank
you for your appointment.
my name is AHALID MUAMMED and I
live and work in west Seattle.
I'm a former Minnesota.
I've lived in Seattle for two
and a half years.
pretty excited about the work
and public utilities has been
doing and I'm more than happy to
be part of this great team doing
work in the next three years and
contribute that to our community
>>> something aye been
interested in for a long time so
I'm really excited and honored
to be part of it.
>>> thank you.
both for being here and general
manager HARA thank you for going
oer the resumes of the others
colleagues happy to have you ask
any questions of the two
potential appointees here or any
questions about the other
appointees so that we can vote
on the five before us today.
I know we all read the
pacts and come from a diverse
background and bring a lot of
things to the table here which
is appreciated because SVU has
four lines of business really
and you're asked to do other
things that aren't necessarily
in your regular lines of
business so we appreciate SVU
stepping up to do a lot of
things especially during the
pandemic.
and also trying to manage your
rates as well.
so thank you for doing
everything that you're doing and
we appreciate the customer
review panel asking the tough
questions of the utilities so
that we can have oversight from
a couple different angles.
this committee as well as the
reVAU panel.
>>> colleagues, unless one of
you would like to vote on these
separately we can vote on them
all at once.
all five of them.
not seeing any requests for
separate votes so I'll go ahead
and move all five.
I now move that the committee
recommend approval of the
appointments 1991-1995 item 6-10
on today's agenda.
is there a second?
>> second.
>> thank you.
it's been moved and recommended
passage of the five appointments
any final comments?
will the clerk please
call the roll on the committee
recommendation the five
recommendations.
>> Gonzalez?
>> I.
>> her bolt.
>> yes.
>> moraleS.
>> yes.
>> STRAUS?
>> yes.
>> chair Peterson.
>> yes.
in favor none opposed.
the approval be sent for
approval for the July 26th
council meeting and thank you
general manager HARA for being
here and the appointees willing
to serve.
>> thank you very much we
appreciate everyone's
consideration.
.
>> thank you.
>>> will the clerk please read
the title of the next agenda
item into the record.
>> clerk file 34451 petition of
Seattle city light to say Kate a
portion of diagonal avenue
southwest of fourth avenue south
for public hearing briefing and
discussion.
>> so we have seen other leg
slay tive action.
it's complicated but all good.
this is the next step in the
department work to get the
Georgetown south park trail
completed as well as other
items.
the action we're considering,
vacation happens to meet city
lights needs by making
operations at its self-service
station facility more efficient.
the policies regarding required
public benefits for vacation of
the right away at the facility
are met in large part by city
light conveying the land needed
for the Georgetown south park
trail as well adds providing
enough land for off leash dog
park and contributing towards
construction of both.
this complicated transaction
required the corporation of four
city departments.
we're actually going to have a
public hearing on this or at
least an opportunity to have a
public hearing.
we will open and close it but I
don't think we have speakers for
it.
so could you get a confirmation
from IT that you're not seeing
any separate public comments
speakers for the public hearing?
.
>> there are no public hearing
registrants.
>> I'm still going to open and
close and then we'll have the
presentation.
these are the -- and somebody
might pop in while I'm saying
this so we'll give them an
opportunity.
just the same procedures we use
the regular public comment
period.
people call in and get two
minutes press star 6.
and so I'll just go ahead and
open the public hearing for
clerk file and noting that there
are no speakers, I will now
close the public hearing on
clerk file 314451.
and we'll hear the presentation
if anybody is listening and want
to comment, they can email us
council at Seattle.gov but we'll
turn it over to -- let's hear
from central staff first.
Lee nice to see you.
did you want to comment before
we turn it over to the executive
departments?
SFRJTS sure, just very briefly
to frame your decision today and
potentially your next meeting.
so this is a street vacation
Seattle city light has
petitioned the city council to
vacate the public's use of a
portion of diagonal way.
the council has adopted policies
that includes two part test
about whether or not to vacate
right of way.
the first test is called public
trust analysis and it's because
the city holds ownership in
right of way in trust for the
public.
so that part of the analysis
asks the council to consider
impacts to transportation and
circulation, and access to
properties.
utilities use of the right of
way for utility functions.
light open air space to use.
and the use of the right of way
for the urban form and finally,
consider use of the right of way
streets for public access and
public assembly.
and free speech.
second analysis, if it's
appropriate to give up the right
of way, a public benefit
analysis.
and the council should consider
whether or not the benefits the
public will be receiving from
the VAU occasion proposal
outweigh the loss to the public
from the right of way.
council has a two
phase approval process.
for vacations like you do for
term permits and sky BRAJs so
this is the first phase of that
approval.
if you vote to approve the
vacation, it would give city
light the ability to permanently
close off the right after way.
but they will not actually own
the right of way until the
second phase after they have
provided the public benefits
that they're committing to
provide today.
and I'm available for any
questions throughout the
meeting.
>> thank you, that's an
excellent overview of the
policies that previous council
put in place and I want to thank
those members on the previous
council that put those in place.
that's helpful to set up
guidelines because we're giving
up something and we do expect
the public benefit in return and
the principles you laid out are
important and I think we will
see that these are being met
here.
council members any questions
for our central staff before we
turn it over to I think BEFRly
Barnett from SDOT is going
first.
again, we are not suspending the
roles today or voting on this.
we have the public hearing and
even though there are no
speakers today, we'll get to the
presentation and vote on it at
another meeting.
.
>> go ahead Beverly Barnett,
welcome.
>> thank you.
we're happy to be here.
this project has turned out
really well.
so I am Beverly Barnett with
SDOT and it's my job to manage
the vacation program and I think
chair Peterson and Liz have
given a good overview of what we
look at and what the policies
cover so what we want to presen
to you today, Tim crawl from
city light who is the project
manager is going to present the
PowerPoint and we do find that
the PowerPoint is the best way
to understand the project so you
can see the maps and the
location and the public benefit
proposal.
and then following Tim's
presentation, we do have Mike
SWIN dale from parks who is the
project manager and Haley O'
Brian from SDOT working on the
trail connection so they will be
available if there's any
questions.
we also have Michael Jenkins who
is the executive director of the
design commission and we find
the committee usually has some
questions about what the design
commission looked at and
priorities.
so the SDOT recommendation is
included as part of your pacts
and this was a very
straightforward recommendation.
nothing that we particularly
need to highlight.
this project was interesting
because it's really KAND of all
about the public benefit.
as you go through the PowerPoint
you can see the right of way
proposed for vacation is right
of way that is dead end, hasn't
ben used by the general public
for a long time.
it's adjacent to city lights
south service center and the
vacation will allow city light
to fully incorporate and do
drainage and other kinds of
upgrades on the site.
after we go through everything,
if there's any questions about
the SDOT recommendation or
process.
or anything from Mike or Haley
and if you want to hear from
Michael Jenkins.
we're happy to be here because
everything just worked out with
this.
we believe the community is
supportive of the public benefit
proposal and this was a real
effort between parks, SDOT and
city light.
and everything really came
together with this.
so unless there's questions for
me, I think the best way to
understand the project is for
Tim to jump in the PowerPoint.
.
>> all right if that's all
right, I will share my screen.
hopefully that will.
.
>> site of the vacation requests
is our self-service center by
the west Seattle viaduct.
in the SOTO area at the south
end of that in between the
service center yard and Costco.
here's another view of it so
this is ST strip of street
actually not open now.
it's fenced off and they're
operating under a street use
permit.
we're looking for more permanent
security before we proceed with
improvements.
the strips on that side and on
that side are owned by city
lights so really, the only
adjacent property owners is us.
as Beverly mentioned it dead
ends so there's no traffic that
would be using this site.
.
>> vacation allows us to have
the security to make our
investments and upgrades in the
area more efficient and the
public benefit of course is only
in the vacation option.
there are important SPU
infrastructure utilities surface
water drain and sewer and a
potential future water main in
the area and SPU's access and
use of that will be preserved if
the vacation is granted by a
memorandum of understanding and
also when the time comes to
transfer the ownership of the
property by a partial transfer
of jurisdiction to SPU so they
would have the same rights that
they do now for it being a
street right away.
>> we carried out a community
engagement plan which was
approved by department
neighborhoods.
quite extensive including a
survey.
and the results showed great
community support for the
proposal.
over 90 percent supporting the
vacation and 87% supporting the
FLUM property transfer for the
public benefit and 83% viewed it
as a fair public benefit.
other results we looked at,
Georgetown community for many
years even before the project
they supported the off leash
area and the trail segments and
through our interaction with the
community we have made
improvements to the project and
added trees and we have added
bringing in water to the site to
irrigate and water for the dogs
to drink.
lighting so that the trail can
be used 24-7 and early versions
of the proposal involve relying
on future funding requests in
the CIP to the council but since
then we have identified existing
funds so it's fully funded as it
stands.
.
>> the public benefit would be
an off LAESH area and trail
segment in Georgetown.
wantd to point out that the
vacation site is in SOTO and the
public benefit site is in
Georgetown, a little distance
away but one that we think
creates more benefit for the
community and fits in with their
plans and that proximity so that
neighborhood.
so the FLUM location for the
public benefit.
there's Boeing field and the
Georgetown community so it's
south of the Georgetown
community.
and I wanted to highlight also
in addition to the property city
lights putting significant money
pledging significant money into
the development of the off leash
area and trail.
it's a rather long
project and city is helping with
portion in the middle.
Myrtle street, Boeing's
operation and east marginal way.
this is our old FLUM.
we used to when the river was
moved the FLUM to allow our
cooling water from the old
Georgetown steam plant to make
it to the river and that's been
out of service now for many
decades.
just details of how
we're going to transfer the
property, the larger segment is
going to parks for the off leash
area and other amenities and
this strip on the west will be
for the trail part that will be
transferred.
a general overview of
the amenity, a large off leash
area here and then a smaller one
for a small and shy dog as parks
often does.
a lot of paving for the access
into the benches and parks is
feeling good about this design
and setting the new bar for ADA
accessibility for off leash
areas and having the sidewalk
paved helps that and then you
actually use the trail as a way
to get from one area of the
project down to the other.
there are details of
the entrances the typical air
lock gates for the dogs to come
in through the different areas
and the benches.
some of the amenities we're
expecting, bench and water
available for dogs and the gates
and off leash area.
SDOT provided this general path
which will be a shared path for
bicycles and pedestrians with
buffer on each side.
so milestones on the project,
this is the street vacation
approval.
this by itself even when council
were to take action on that, it
does not actually transfer the
property.
we will have a is rat ordinance
for that to transfer the off
leash area and trail area to
SDOT on that we expect to be in
front of the council in the near
future in the next month or so.
the project schedule calls for
completing the design this year
and the construction plan for
next year.
this just recaps the
contributions from the different
departments.
it's a multidepartment project
and parks and SDOT are each in
for $400,000 and that would be
cash or in labor in kind work
for labor for the design.
and for the development cost
city light is picking up the
rest of almost two million
dollars of cash for the
development cost.
when we add that to the value of
the property being transferred
it comes out to a total
contribution of $3.8 million and
the total project is about
4.6 million with all the
departments considered.
that is the extent of
it.
glad to take your questions and
I'll keep this up in case people
want to refer back to diagrams.
>>> thank you colleagues any
questions on that power point
before we move on to the other
city departments.
E with appreciate those maps
every time we hear another piece
of legislation for this project,
the maps get better and more
clear and it's really helpful to
see the trade offs that are
being made.
Beverly, you want to
turn it over to the next?
>> yeah, I think so for looking
at the off leash area and
additional questions on the
trail design, we have Haley O'
Brian and Mike swindle here and
they envision being valuable for
questions because we feel like
the group presentation covered
it.
so they are available and
Michael Jenkins has comments on
the design commission process
and everyone else is available
for questions so I think Michael
would be next then.
unless there are questions on
off leash area or that trail
design piece.
>> any questions at this point
before we hear from Mr. Jenkins?
we're not voting on it today so
if you have questions, you can
get answers between now and we
vote on it at the next meeting.
>>> good morning council members
can you hear me okay?
>> yes,.
>> great thank you.
I wanted to take a few minutes.
this is an important project for
the commission and certainly an
important project for the
Georgetown neighborhood.
just want to remind you, council
members about the role of the
commission in vacations as LISH
had in his opening comments, the
commission and all the reviewers
look at two fundamental issues.
public trust which ST loss of
the right of way and its impact
on the function of the remaining
roadway.
and public benefit.
how is the public actually
benefitting from public
improvements to off set the loss
of the right of way.
we also have a unique role when
the city seeks a vacation of a
right of way because as like all
vacations there needs to be
concurrent development.
so we also review the proposal
like we review the capital
projects coming before us so we
conducted that review
concurrently as well.
then the full commission after I
looked at this project three
times it was an important
project for the commission
because of the outcomes.
in terms of the loss of the
right of way, given the nature
in the role of this segment at
diagonal south.
no significant issues found and
frankly sees the support and
gives support to light based on
proposal which enhances safety
and security for the south
service center as well as
addressing ongoing utility needs
specifically with drainage on
the site like Tim talked about.
in TERPs of public benefit
package, it's fair to say the
commission was um pressed in
general with Seattle city lights
transfer of underutilized land
to fill a need NA was identified
by the Georgetown community PRU
through what was clearly
significant community
engagement.
the Georgetown community has
been deficient in the resurfaces
frankly and I think it also
provides an important lesson for
our elected and seeing the role
of converting underutilized city
properties into working
community assets.
KWIFT to other open
spaces we have seen in the city,
Seattle city light created an
important partnership with SDOT
to implement imPROMENTs that
makes this open space as a
community assess.
Haley O' Brian is managing the
south park trail and this is an
important part in the larger
commitment that the council
financeded last year.
and the design is working to
design specifics.
what we see here also is the
result of this project that the
cost associated with the
development exceed the actual
value of the flowing property
which was an important part in
the project's success and one
that we want to thank Seattle
city light for doing much more
than they originally intended to
do beyond the transfer of the
property.
so on behalf of the commission I
want to thank Seattle city
lights for that leadership.
we're thrilled to see a positive
outcome and especially how city
departments can work together to
create positive community
outcomes.
so thank you.
again I want to thank Tim and
his team for committing to such
an important project for the
neighborhood.
.
>> thank you Mr. General kins
and for your work and design
commission too and for reminding
folks yet another thing they are
very helpful in moving forward.
Jenkins.
I appreciate your description
Beverly of all the departments
involved because it shows how
well the city department can
work to get things done.
any questions while we have the
departments here?
again we'll get to vote on this
item at our next committee
meeting.
>>> okay, Thanks everybody for
joining us today.
we appreciate it.
for the public that's listening,
these materials are all online
and the PowerPoints are very
helpful.
>>> everybody thank you and
we'll move on to the next item
on the agenda.
>>> thank you.
will the clerk please read the
title of the next agenda item
into the record.
>> agenda item 12.
presentation 2020 outside
financial audit of Seattle city
light for briefing and
discussion.
.
>> thank you.
Seattle city light one of our
municipality owned utility as an
outside auditor conducting an
independent review of financial
and other records.
it's standard for this billion
dollar city owned enterprise.
a massive undertaking and they
will have a presentation from
the outside auditor action baker
tilly.
the audit reports are included
in the online agenda.
I'm pleased our financial
statements were clean and they
kept financial records in good
shape and delivering clean
energy, keeping their lights on
and utility rates low.
so welcome.
we have MARA BRUGer did you want
to introduce those?
oh you're on mute.
>> good morning, thank you
council member.
we have this morning Mike
Simmons from Seattle city light
who will lead the utility who is
our controller and then AR Ron
from baker tilly who has been a
long time outside auditor for
Seattle city light so over to
them.
>>> good morning, council
members I'm Mike Simmons the
accounting director.
I'll get out of the way.
just wantd to clarify city light
issues a separate set of
financial statements that become
consolidated but these separate
statements are important to you
our GLOVRNing body and bond
holders investors who make
excess of $2 billion in debt
outstanding.
the financial statements
themselves is a supporting
document number two a 97 page
lengthy document with our
balance sheets and income
statements and lots of
accompanying information.
it's my team's job to prepare
those financials and city light
management responsible for the
accuracy of the information in
there.
and the engagement in the role
of the auditor is to express and
perform a review and audit and
exPREKS an opinion about the
accuracy of those.
so that is the role of the
auditor Erin and he's going to
make a presentation about that
engagement so I would like to
introduce AR Ron worth man
working for several years with
us and they are one of the
larger firms nationwide.
and they do specialization in
electric utilities especially
municipal water and electric so
I would allow Erin to do his
pressation on the audit
completed.
>>> thank you, Mike.
definitely appreciate the
opportunity to present our 2020
financial statement audit.
next slide.
so what I want to do
as part of the presentation, I
want to go through an audit
overview and give you a
background of what is it we do
as part of the audit process and
then I want to go through our
internal control communication
and conclude with the auditors
communication with those charged
with governens and lastly, open
it up to any questions that
anyone may have.
next slide.
>>> if we were to take a step
back and look at this year's
audit it was a unique year with
the Covid environment.
it's no surprise we had to
conduct our audit 100% remotely
which can add complexities.
in addition to that, city light
did have an key individual in
the audit that moving on to
retirement.
given all those things this
year's audit went very well.
management was prepared,
cooperative and available.
we were able to maybe Tim Kaine
the audit schedule for some
perspective.
we performed four weeks of field
work.
I use that term loosely.
one week of preliminary field
work in the fall and three weeks
in final in the spring.
last week of our field work
April 9th and one thing to note,
at the end of the this year's
audit we did not have any
adjusting journal entries and
identified no errors or
corrections to financial
statements so again, great job
by the management team and
staff.
great testament to the work they
performed during Covid.
next slide.
our audit was
performed in accordance with
generally accepted standards
that we're required to follow as
auditors.
we follow those in whether it's
utility or any of your peer
utilities.
in addition, because you receive
a federal funding, we also need
to audit you in compliance with
Government auditing standards.
those are standard that is have
additional requirements due to
the due care of AUD di and
quality asureness and continuing
education.
supervision of our audit team
and independence.
our OB apologetic tiff is obtain
reasonable assurens that final
statements are free from
material misstatement.
they received an unmodified
opinion known as the clean
opinion which is the highest
level of asureness that we can
provide.
as your audit firm.
next slide.
when we take a look at your
audit, I would say 30% of what
we do is specific to internal
controls.
what we'll do is take a look at
your major processes whether
it's your expenditures and
receivables and billing.
we'll take a look at those and
identify what key controls or
what key internal controls are
part of the processes.
and we'll test those to make
sure they're effective.
I would say the majority of the
types of controls we look at are
information technology based and
so much so in fact that we use a
certified information systems
auditor to go about and conduct
that testing.
I will say that this it internal
control portion of the audit
engagement continues to grow
every year.
and that's not surprising given
the dynamic nature of cyber
security and information
technology.
that's 30% of what we
do.
40% of what we do then is
relative to substantive testing
taking a look at your fixed
asset additions and tracing
those back to the invoices.
taking a look at your cash
investments and making sure that
your cash and investments are
reported at fair value, things
like that.
this is basically the nuts and
bolts of the audit, if you will
and that's 40% of what we do.
then the remaining 30% has to do
our planning of the audit and
also the financial reporting at
the end.
what I've done here is listed
the major areas of focus.
most of these should be of new
surprise.
capital assesses and if you were
look at the balance sheet, it
makes up a majority.
I mentioned earlier as
auditors we provide an opinion
on your financial statements.
I wanted to clarify though, we
do not provide an opinion on
internal controls.
however, as part of our audit
when we come across significant
deficiencies in internal
controls, we would need to
communicate those to you.
the profession requires us for
any internal control to evaluate
the SE varity of the break down.
>>> that's the possibility your
financial statements would be
mess Tated because of that lack
of control and that's the most
severe.
we did not identify any material
weaknesses.
the next category would be wa we
call significant deficiency.
obviously it's less and not
identify any significant
deficiencies.
often have NBA nor control
deficiencies and industry best
practices.
the end of the audit engagement
will communicate those with
management which we do every
year as part of the audit
process.
most of those are always going
to revolve around the
information technology area.
again, because it is so dynamic
and constantly changing.
but we have those discussions
with management and just wanted
to FUFRTH everyone SAZ that we
don't deem any of those to be
material or significant.
next slide.
BRAP
if you look at
those financial statements in
one, it contains all of city
lights accounting policies.
and an example of that would be
the capitalization policy.
what we knead to do is make sure
that your policies comply with
general linked principles and
not only do the policies comply
but that you're following those
so if you get a chance, I would
urge you to take a look at one
and see the different types
used.
with putting your financial
statements together.
I often get asked when governing
bodies or bond holders or anyone
looks at your financial
statements what are the
limitations of those financial
statements or what could
potentially be the risks and
I'll always say that it's
anything that has to do with an
estimate because it's exactly
that.
the amounts are disclosures that
we don't let the inclusive
significant amount of
uncertainty so I think a great
example of this would be city
lights proportion gnat share of
the employee retirement system
liability.
so one of the important
assumptions is the discount
rate.
that discount rate should be
7.25% as determined so with
that, city lights proportion
gnat share of that retirement
STM liability is $265 million.
if we were to increase that
discount rate to 8.25%.
that liability would decrease to
$169 million.
likewise, if we decreased the
discount rate to 6.25%, your
liability would become 379
million.
so as an auditor can I say that
your liability is $265 million?
as recorded in your financial
statements?
I can't say that with certainty.
but what I can tell you is more
than likely that liability
depending on certain assumptions
in the upcoming potential
changes in the future, it's more
than likely somewhere between
169 million, 379 million but
again, this is just one
illustration.
that there is sensitivity and
you should be aware of those
things.
a couple other items the
self-insurance liability we have
recorded and the allowance for
doubtful accounts.
unbilled rev knews and
environmental remediation
liability.
if we had significant
difficulties we would need to
disclose those and for this year
we did not.
just note again as part of the
process, if we had any
significant difficulties or
significant findings this would
not be the first time that you
folks would be hearing about
those.
I would reach out to you
separately the moment we IE
accident few these and we would
have these discussions on a
timely basis.
if we had any uncorrected
statements we're required to
disclose those to you and
they're attached to your aDIT
results letter.
I know these uncorrected
statements are senator material
and they were identified by
management not as part of the
audit process.
often times these material
entries to your financial
statements are not recorded
simply to expedite in process
your financial statement results
so late in the air sometimes
additional entries may come to
light.
if there's small in nature
management may choose not to
change the entire statement
book.
>> and as need to know you what
those are so attached to this
letter uncorrected misstatements
and they were trip-and-fall YAN
and immaterial.
were trivial and
immaterial.
>>> if we had disagreements with
management we would need to
disclose those.
next slide, please.
if we had any material corrected
misstatements we would need to
disclose those and we did not
have any.
next slide.
>>> the audit community occasion
letter with E have management
representations and if you
haven't looked at that I would
urge you to do so.
within this representation
letter management will attest to
many different things as part of
the audit process.
they will attest to thoughts on
fraud risk and internal
controls.
accounting policies and
significant estimates.
but again, if you haven't, take
a look at the types of things
that management is taking or
making representations to in the
process.
>>> if there were any
communications from the
management team with any other
audit if you remembers we would
be required to be notified of
those communications and pleased
to report we are not aware of
any communications with any
outside auditors or accountants.
next slide.
>>> auditor independence as
you're more than likely aware we
as a firm require independent to
conduct your audit and I'm here
to state that our firm and every
individual on it is independent
in fact and in appearance
relative to your organization.
next slide.
I would like to open up to
questions again.
everyone at city light for their
help during the process and
again, you can imagine how
difficult an audit is normally
but in a remote environment it
adds different areas of
complexity but again very please
bid the effort of the department
staff and we were able to
conduct the audit without any
issues and again appreciate the
help that they have provided
during the process.
but at this time I'll take any
questions anyone might have.
>> thank you very much for that
thorough independent overview of
Seattle city lights financial
statements and its good news
that there are no material
adverse findings there and
colleagues, this is just an
informational item on your
agenda.
not voting on anything.
any questions colleagues for
city lathe or independent
auditor?
>> yes, her bolt?
>> Thanks I am a little bit more
familiar with the Seattle public
utilities audit having chaired
the committee with the oversight
of a few for a while and the SPU
financial audits also included
specific recommendations but
they incorporated information
that clarified whether the
department accepted the
recommendations and their
implementation status.
there's some recommendations on
Page 19 of the audit results
document but I didn't see where
to find information about how
Seattle city light will be
implementing the
recommendations.
.
>> we have a management response
loader in the process of going
back to Erin.
as he mentioned an overview, the
recommendations are largely
around technology access and
pass word policies.
audit logs.
we're rounding up those
responses in conjunction with
people at Seattle STU light but
we plan to in the process of we
plan to carry out all the
recommendations.
>> thank you.
if you're planning on
doing this anyway but please do
circulate that to members of the
committee so we can close the
loop on that.
thank you
Will do and thank you.
>>> colleagues any other
questions for the Seattle city
light or independent auditor.
?
well, thank you for joining us
today at our committee.
we appreciate it and if we do
have any follow up questions we
will reach out to you.
>> thank you very much for your
time and attention on this
matter.
greatly appreciated.
>>> all right, thank you.
next we're going to our other
one billion dollar enterprise,
Seattle public utilities.
will the clerk please read the
short titles of the next three
agenda items into the record.
>>> this is deputy clerk SWIN
and I'll read those items in for
you.
>> great, thank you.
>>> an ordinance related to
drainage services of Seattle
public utilities adjusting
drainage rates to pass to
treatment rates charged by king
county and meet capital
financing requirements.
an ordinance relating to waste
water services of Seattle public
utilities and discussing waste
water rates.
and an agenda item 15 an
ordinance relating to rates and
charges for water services of
Seattle public utilities and
revising water rates and charges
and credits to low income
customers for briefing and
discussion.
>>> thank you and colleagues as
our clerk said, this is just for
briefing and discussion today.
we'll be voting on these at the
next committee meeting and we
have seen these numbers before.
items 13-15 on our agenda and
these rate ordinances are
implementing the strategic
business plan and endorsed by
not only the customer review
panel but the city council and
resolution 32000 on may 10th.
fortunately the average rates
are lower than what was promised
during the previous plan in
2017.
this was made possible Thanks to
ideas proposed by our previous
committee XHAR and councilmen
her bolt as well as the laser
focus of our general manager and
her team keeping rates low and
it's important because rates are
regressive with lower income
house-holds paying a larger
percentage of income for utility
bills and many cost drivers
unlike Seattle city light,
several lines of business here
at SPU.
and their pass through rates we
can control from king county for
waste water and environmental
protection projects protected by
labor cost and utility taxes
caused by the general fund.
so today we will hear from
Seattle public utilities and at
our next meeting we'll vote on
the three ordinances.
and I believe our central staff
analysts are here, thank you for
joining us did you want to make
introductory comments on these
items before we turn it TOEFR
the general manager.
>> thank you, no I don't have
any.
happy to just turn it over,
thank you.
>> Thanks for your ongoing work
on this strategic business plan
and the rate path and during our
previous meetings.
general manager HARA please.
>> council member thank you for
the introductory comments and
thank you everybody for your
attention to these three rates
ordinances.
I would like to provide a little
bit of context.
if that's okay.
our practice is to adjust rates
serially for each of our three
lines of business on a three
year cycle.
so we typically bring you a
three year rate package for one
line of business.
so in effect for example waste
rates one year, water the next
and drainage rates the following
year.
but because of the anticipated
financial impacts of Covid on
our communities and finances we
did not implement a rate
increase for 2021.
therefore the water rate
increase is only for two years.
2022 through 2023 and the
drainage rates and waste water
rates are for three years.
2022 and 2023 and 2024.
this way we'll keep on our
anticipated serial three year
cycle.
and as council member Peterson
noted you will recall that
council adopted our STRA STEE
JIK business plan and rate path
for 2021-2026 back in may and
the legislation before the
committee enacts rates
identified in the strategic
business plan and I'm very
please, sired to report the
rates opposing are lower than
the 4.2 annual average rate
increase projected in the
strategic business plan and
Maria our rates manager is with
me today to walk you through a
presentation of how that all
works and to answer any
questions you might have.
so I'm going to ask Maria to
begin the presentation unless
council member Peterson you have
questions before we start.
.
>> please proceed.
>> thank you.
.
>> thank you, everybody.
my name is Maria CO and I'm the
rates manager of SPU and I'm
going to give you an update on
the path for water rates and
drainage for years 2022-2024.
before you are three separate
sets of legislation, for your
review and approval, there we
go.
that will adopt rates as part of
the strategic business plan.
first we'll briefly visit what
you endorsed as part of the
business plan and then I'll show
you what the overall updated
rates are based on results for
these lines of business.
finally I'll give you background
on why the rates have changed
and highlight the changes in
each line of business.
so to begin with, this is our
currently endorsed rate path.
as you may remember, we proposed
the rate path as part of the
business plan earlier this
spring and the council formally
endorsed it in may.
you'll notice in the lower right
hand corner the overall average
rate path is 4.2% among the
confined lines of business.
the gray area shows the rates
that council adopted by
ordinance.
we typically conduct rate
studies for each of the lines of
businesses every three years.
based on the rate studies
findings, and several other
factors which I'll highlight in
a minute, we have good news with
respect to the proposed repath
going forward.
so this is a slide we
really wanted you to see.
this provides an updated six
year rate path inCorp.ed in the
studies shown in the blue shaded
average.
the new average rate is now at
3.9% compared to 4.2% originally
proposed as you saw in the
previous slide.
this change is due to several
reasons which we'll detail in a
moment.
before we get to that, this next
slide highlights the changes to
the average residential customer
as a result of the lower rates.
it's a slight decrease but every
little bit counts.
so first we'll start with the
water rate study.
here's our proposed lower rate
for the water rate study.
you'll notice that the rate path
is lower to an average of 3.1%
per year compared with 3.4 per
year adopted in the strategic
business plan.
as mentioned we have three year
rate cycles but with Covid we're
able to keep water at 0% for
2021 and we're proposing two
years of increase to zinc up to
the cycle since the plan the
water fund has not only sold
bonds but was able to refund and
buy back and resale at lower
interest rates existing debt.
coupled with recent rate
increase to AAA, which is the
huest rating possible from
standard fours it was not
incorporated into the strategic
business plan.
it also assumed less revenue
from wholesale water customers.
since then, rates and revenue
are being held constant
resulting in increased revenue
relative to the plan.
as we come out of Covid, we're
anticipating revenues to grow
more slowly than previously
anticipated.
and FIEBLly, the con SUMS
forecast was updated to reflect
increased population and density
whereas we were previously
anticipating the small slow
down.
in addition to consumption
growth and con SUPGS we have
updated the utility program for
continued growth.
next, we will walk
through the drainage and waste
water rate proposal which
reflect updates to the strategic
business plan since it was
developed and approved.
for the drainage and
waste water rates we were able
to produce a rate path not only
smoother compared with the
strategic business plan but also
lower.
the plan projected average
annual waste water changes of
4.7% compared with updated
projections of 4.2% and drainage
rates projectd to be 6.7%
annually but now at 6.3%.
>>> drainage and waste water was
also able to recognize
significant savings from
accommodation of new lower cost
bonds and activity in late may.
the fund also had the rating
agency negative outlook
designation removed as a result
of strong leadership in stable
performance through Covid.
customers assumption were also
updated reflecting the increased
density and participation in the
utility discount program.
it places downward pressure on
the rates.
the king county waste water
rate.
when the plan was adopted the
county was projecting 10.25
treatment increases every other
year.
since the treatment rate
accounts for 40% of the funds
expenses, the double digit
increases followed by year of no
rate increase was causing large
swings in our rate path.
the county has since adopted
annual increases of 4% for 2022
and is projecting annual
increases of 4% during the rate
period hoping to smooth the
rates further.
we thought it would be
important to highlight one of
the main drivers of our rates.
the ship canal water quality
project is the largest and most
expensive project the city has
ever undertaken.
one of the host of projects
required under federal consent
decree which impacts rates for
those two lines of business.
the table provides a snapshot of
the impact the projects have on
each of the water and drainage
rates.
this final slide provides an
update path.
the average annual increase is
at 3.9% compared to 2.4%
originally proposed.
essentially SPU was able to
leverage the bond sales and
better ratings and change in
county treatment rates to our
advantage ultimately lowering
rates to customers.
thank you.
>>> want to thank SPU getting
them closer to the rate of
inflation and vesting previous
so many initiatives to lowerng
those rates.
especially when we don't have a
lot of control over those rates
the past through from king
county, for example.
council members any questions
about this pressation or the
three ordinates that will be
implementing the rates for the
three lines of SPU business.
again council member STRAUS.
>> yes, thank you chair Peterson
and thank you to SPU to coming
before us with this information
today.
this slide is indicating where
we're going and director HARA if
you could briefly share with us.
I know you shared at the
beginning of the pressation on
other slides what's the
difference between these rates
and the strategic business plan
proposal rates so that we can
all have it in one place.
>> sure, of course.
we have a slide that I believe
shows the PROOE YOUSly proposed
for an average of 4.2%.
annual rate increases and for
the six year rate period and now
we are proposing 3.9.
additionally the 4.2 bettered
our projection from this
business plan that proceeded.
the newest one and so this
represents successive attempts
to better in terms of
affordability and I do have to
give many Thanks to members of
council including new council
member Peter son, council member
her bolt who have been our
chairs and to others such as
yourself who have taken a
serious interest in how to
increase the affordability.
I have to really share what
advocates that council members
are for rate affordability.
thank you.
>>> thank you.
and so I'm seeing drainage at
8.6 in the proposal and waste
water at 3.1.
can we slide back to where we
were.
this does it justice here.
I'm seeing drainage was reduced
by nearly 2% and waste water was
also reduced for this year which
thank you, congratulations good
work here.
I know in our conversations we
discussed similar to how Seattle
city light, their rates are
dependent upon the Bonneville
power administrations rates that
are passed through to the city.
can you speak just a minute
about how we have the similar
situation with king county for
both drainage and waste water?
>> yes, of course.
I don't know that folks are
generally aware.
definitely council is but that
the general public is aware king
county provides treatment
services for waste water as a
city and that our rates include
the cost of king county
treatment.
and we do not impact the rates
that they set but there are
normally just passed through and
included into our rates.
is that sufficient would you
like more detail?
>> yes, it's helpfu context to
understand that while you do
your best to reduce our rates,
some of it is out of your
control.
in this case, king county sets
rates that we have to then pass
on to Seattle IETs and I'm
noticing here we discussed
before this meeting the drainage
and waste water specifically the
DRANL AJ rates and they are the
highest percentages on this
chart.
when we discussed we were
talking about the consent decree
that we are under for drainage
water.
could you speak to that and also
to the how large are the
projects that you are working on
right now to meet that consent
decree.
we have the ship canal water
quality project.
can you remind me is that the
MOEKS expensive project the city
has undertaken.
can you help me understand why
the percentages are so high.
>> yes, of course.
can I ask you to go to the ship
canal water quality project
slide.
great.
wonderful and thank you so much.
yes, the city of Seattle has
inherited legacy system that
includes a combined if not in
total but significant portion of
the city served by combined
sewer and drainage systems that
will over flow in extreme storm
events and that must be
encontrolled through different
measures that can include
detaining the water before it
goes to the waste water
treatment plan and overwhelming
the capacity of the system or
through green infraSTRAUK CHUR
depending on the characteristics
of the system and land that feed
into the storm water system.
and so any given place, we use a
variety of approaches and we are
machine dated to reduce
overflows to no more than 1
overflow per out fall per year
and which is a exceedingly high
threshold well beyond any
national thresholds.
this is a local state
requirement and so our consent
decree embodies those
requirements through projects
that are anticipated to meet
that requirement.
so the overall cost of the
projects what I will get to so I
don't MITS quote it.
it's driving rates to a pretty
profound degree and that's why
our drainage and waste water
rates are as high as they are as
the primary driver in costs.
>> thank you.
just wanted to receive that
information here on the record
because it is important for us
to understand that there are
cost drivers which create those
high percentages and then I also
want to highlight the fact that
you again have brought us a rate
path that is lower than what was
in the endorsed strategic
business MRAB so understanding
that we have a lot of work to do
to meet that one or fewer
overflows per year.
there's a lot of work to do and
that's where a lot of the cost
drivers are coming from.
just for the general public's
wareness, those overflows are
different than what has happened
at the west point treatment
facility when they have had
outflows that pollute the water.
and so it is important that we
increase our water quality and
this is where those dollars are
going.
so just once again understanding
that we have very high cost
drivers influencing these rate
paths and Seattle public utility
has done a great job to meet our
external drivers and reduce our
rates as best as possible.
so thank you director and Maria.
>> thank you very much and to
all of you for your interest.
in making sure these costs are
low and programs are well run,
thank you.
>>> colleagues any other
comments or questions?
these are our last three items
on the agenda and we'll conclude
the meetings if there's no final
questions.
just a reminder these
ordinances are back to the
committee to vote on them.
so seeing no final comments,
from the committee members, we
will go ahead and say goodbye to
SPU and thank you Brian for
being here and thank you
colleagues.
this concludes the July 21st,
2021, meeting of the utilities
and transportation committee.
we will meet again our next
regularly scheduled time
Wednesday August 4th.
thank you all for attending.
this concludes the meeting and
we're adjourned.
>> thank you bye.