Let's call a meeting to order. City of Laredo special council meeting. A2424- SCC-09 Council Chambers 1110 Houston Street, Laredo, Texas, October 25th, 2024. That's 5:34 p.m. All right, for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Moment of silence, please. Thank you. You may be seated. >> Mr. Secretary, roll call, please. >> Yes, Mayor. >> Honorable mayor, Dr. Victor D. Travinho, >> present. >> Council member, district 1, Gilbert Gonzalez, >> president. Council member District 2, Ricardo Ranel Jr. >> Council Member District Three, Melissa Saroa, >> Council Member District 4, Alberto Torres Jr. >> here. >> Mayor Protemp Ruben Guter Jr. >> Present. >> Council member District 6, Dr. Tyler King. >> Council member District 7, Vanessa Perez. Council member District 8, Alisa Cigaroa. >> Mayor, you have a quorum. >> All right. Thank you. >> The purpose of this meeting is to make sure that the public is informed of the latest progress with any water developments and mitigation. I am hopeful that this meeting will be informative and I want to make sure that we maintain the quorum and with without disparrangements or insulting staff. I also want to make sure that the public is aware that the information being presented is accurate, upto-date information and to be careful with unverified sources and/or anonymous sources which may be working to create fear or civil unrest during this election cycle. As we move to the next phase of managing this emergency event, we're focusing on addressing some of the challenges that have been years in the making. The recommendations from TCQ and addressing some of the economic losses suffered our community. We're also moving coordination with the governor's office when it comes to the economic loss proclamation. So knowing that before I go into management and their presentation I would like to go into citizens comments and citizen may participate in person comment. Citizens wishing to provide in person comments are required to fill our witness card and submit it into the city secretary no later than 5:45 p.m. and identify themselves at the microphone. Comments are limited to three minutes around three minutes per speaker. Speaker Speakers may not pass their minutes to any other speaker. All comments should be revalent to say business and delivered in a professional manner. No derogatory remarks will be permitted. We will go into citizens com Martinez. >> Good afternoon, mayor. >> Good to see you again. >> Good. Thank you. >> Members of the city council and uh administration and then some colleagues of mine and friends of mine. Joel. Uh, my name is Sergio Martinez. I am here uh in exercise of free speech and address grievances to our elected officials. Values that our forefathers gave up their lives, homes, and families and fought for our independent son. I'm I'm glad that you're here with me because this is what you you're expected to do later on in life. Okay? Don't be afraid. Okay? The problem was ultimately the quality of our water supply. That's what we're here for. That's the purpose of this meeting. The cause, however, was not eoli in the system, but rather our officials were elected and and city administration have lost sight of the responsibilities. We let things slide. I understand this is not the first time it happens in two years. By deduction, your responsibilities is not giving yourself a raise or voting for a pension for life with four years of service as an elected official. It is not wasteful and irresponsible spending temple the painting on the underneath of a city bridge unfortunately happened in my precinct and that's why I'm here for I feel a responsibility to come and address both factor if not allowing this qualified candidate for office to run as a writing candidate and this I I address it to Mr. Under Texas election code, we all know that the qual is very specific. Section 140 says these provisions apply to people that are running a serotic cate. This meth is prevalent in Laredo. This is the second time it happens and I think the department of justice should give the city a visit. What I cannot fathom is the lack of courage and valor of those opponents or those candidates not having the valor to complain and file legal actions. One candidate that running right now and I don't see him here said this afternoon, well, this person, you know, is is uh has not said anything bad about me, so I let it right. That's the attitude that prevails also with the opponent. people that are breaking the law. Okay. It makes it all right, I guess, to feel that way. It is just as bad our existed politicality. Which means they haven't catch catch me in the act. So therefore, I'll keep on doing. >> Mayor, three minutes. >> All of you are here. I feel I have One more thing. >> Go ahead. Finish up. >> All of you are here to serve your citizenry and follow the rule of law. That's all I ask of you. I thought the people here in Loredo have asked we have a humble citizenry. Many the majority are not educated. They're afraid to come and be here. They're afraid to be here. And that's why this is what you should do. Come and address the people. You're my friends. Some of you went to college with me. Some of you I've helped in political circles. Even though sometimes we lost, but nevertheless, some of you I know you personally establish a good relationship. We're here to fix the problem here for Four. You're a doctor. I've got two in my family, one more on the way. Fix the problem for Four. I ask you, my son and I, fix the problem. Let's get get on the ball. If we've located the source where the problem is, let's start fixing the the system there. You're right. The president over there said, "No, no. Maybe that's a proper attitude. Let's get those people, give them amnesty, and then go on fix the problem. Fix it. If we have to go and issue a multi- mega billion dollar uh what do you call it? uh municipal court bonds to fix the problem. Let's do it. Land that they went and borrowed a lot of money, raise the taxes, but they fixed all the elements. >> Thank you very much for your time and and thank you for allowing me three more more than three minutes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Have a good day. God bless you all. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Next is Kayla Sanchez. >> Not here yet. >> Not here. >> Michelle Segoia. >> Hello everybody. I do I'm Michelle Segoia. I work with my primary care. I do not live here on the rad, but I commute every day to and from Heville. My concern is the the water boil because a lot of my clients that I visit weren't able to go and get water from the distribution centers or whatever because they do not leave their homes and they weren't aware of a lot of the what was going on. A lot of people want to put this on the mayor. It's not just the mayor. This has been an ongoing situation for years and y'all have known about it and you know who you are. This situation affects everybody from kids to the elderly that have been getting sick and then I mean not just with their bathing but to brush your teeth you need a bottle of water. I mean a lot of the elderly don't know ex the specifics on on this ecoly. So y'all need to fix this problem. Everybody's running or the majority of y'all are running right now and y'all make promises that are not kept. But you need to think about, you know, the people of Laredo, the people of Web County because this is not just on the mayor. This is on everybody that are, you know, voted into this position. So I I mean, like I say, I just come and go, but I myself see my clients. I myself have to, you know, use the water. You, you know, I we took water out to a lot of our clients. I had to buy them ice from Heville because they need the ice, the elderly, you know. So, I would really appreciate if you really think about it and really like fix this situation and like not just say, you know, wipe your hands because it's fixed for right now. It needs to be fixed for the long term. Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Yes. Go ahead. >> They may have wanted it to be. So, just just throwing it out there for people to watch. >> All right. Go ahead. Noted. Thank you, Sioantes. foreign. Okay. This is for housing. Are you happy? Mexico. Chief police minutes. Yes. Gracias. Valentine Ruiz. Uh before I start, Mayor, I I I'm making a request. Um last time I spoke here this week, I asked the people back there to post a picture of you when you're drinking water, and I saw the feed on the video, and it wasn't posted on the video feed. And that was part of my first amendment right of free speech. And now I'm going to be asking questions of the council members. and I like the cameras to point at them when they're responding to my questions. Okay, I'm ready to start. Valentine Ruiz, for the record, veteran activist. Um, this is what I expect from transparency. Council member uh Torres, District 4. Did your district test positive for E.coli once in 2024? Yes or no? Sir, >> we cannot engage. You can ask the questions and continue asking. Well, that's the trans transparency that our our people, our community wants. Ricardo, Jr., District 2. Did your district test positive for E.coli once in 2024? No answer. >> That is not allowed. Just >> Gilbert Gonzalez, District 1, did your district test positive for E.coli once in 2024? Ruben Gutierrez, did your district test positive for E.coli in 2024? Yes or no? Vanessa Perez, did your district test positive for E.coli in district 7 in 2024? Yes or no? You see, that is not transparency. A simple yes or no quest answer was not given. On the topic of amnesty, I say please don't give anybody amnesty because a lot of people's lives were put in jeopardy. A lot of people want to divide our community between rich and poor and that is wrong. They take advantage of us taxpayers. It doesn't matter if they're rich or poor. City Council never received a salary in the past. This is just an example. But now you receive a salary of $50,000. You voted in a a 40% raise. What is 40%. That's $20,000. $20,000. That is an extreme cost of living adjustment. But the city employees only got a 4% raise. That's not a raise. That is a pay cut when citizens are facing a 99% inflation rate. I strongly supported you Vanessa Perez in the past and I do not any longer for this and many other reasons. For example, the issue of a fellow advocate George Al getting a cease and a cease order led by you Vanessa Perez on behalf of the city. All of you council members swore an oath to defend and uphold the constitution of the the US. That's a first amendment right covers freedom of speech. And you guys are trying to silence the public. As a veteran, I'm upset at this because I had fellow veterans that died for these rights for the people to have >> and it's a shame that you're doing that. >> And that is all. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, >> mayor. I'd like for legal to clarify that I did not request any letters be sent to anybody >> because that is not true. and and he's coming here to to make a political hit as he was paid to do and it's not true. >> Legal, you may respond. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Uh Mr. Mayor, uh the letter was sent by my boss, uh Mr. Zom. Okay. That letter was drafted by our office and it was sent by him. Uh the next thing I would like to uh discuss before the council is as you know when public comments are are being uh made, council has been told not to engage. So if questions are ever asked just as you did right now, you are not to answer any of those questions or engage with any of the people making public comment. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Luxandrea. >> Hello. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Landrea. For the record, I am here because of the water. Um they're blaming the mayor for this. How long have we had this water issue? We're talking about seven years. Pete SCS was here for eight years and he never did anything. So why blame one person for this? See, now the mayor doesn't have the right to vote. You all have the right to vote. Now let me go back to Mr. Ree. He mentioned all of you except for Melissa Saroa, Dr. Tyler King, and Alisa. What about them? Do you all have E.coli in your water? He forgot to mention that. Is he here on behalf of you all? because he didn't he didn't target none of you all just uh Commissioner Gonzalez Rael Torres Gutierrez and Perez what about Alisa Seoa Melissa Searoa and Dr. Tyler King. I didn't hear him say anything about that. Right now, we need to stop all projects. All projects. And I'm talking about B by National Rural Park. It's going to cost the city one $1 billion. We have an issue with the water and us not being fixed. There's people getting sick. There's an elderly, a two-month old baby in the hospital right now sick because of the water. And you're here talking about projects or do this or do paint murals. The trash in Laadia where I live, it's a mess. And you're here, you sit here and say, "Oh, this you you haven't done anything for our district." Councilman Roa, there's a mess. People don't want you there because you don't fix the streets, there's no lighting, you promise so many things. That's why people don't want to go out and vote anymore because they're they they do promises that never happen. And don't blame one person. Don't blame the mayor. He's He's been here for two years, two and a half years, going on three. This issue has been going on for a long time. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] Kayla Sanchez. >> Pardon me. >> I'm passing this time. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. All right. Okay. Let's proceed to general council discussions and presentation request by mayor discussion and update on progress of water infrastructure improvements and mitigation. Mr. N go ahead. >> Mayor, good afternoon. Uh council, good afternoon. Um you have a copy of my presentation there. There is over 35 different slides within this part. Uh but I I will go through some of them very quickly. you just stop me when you have had enough of the information uh because we continue to collect information. I really want to start with this first slide here though as we walk through uh the update of where we're at. Uh the the question that we have and and as you look through every emergency, as you look through everything we're doing, we are still in the boil water notice emergency. We still have people in the field. We still have people walking through there to help determine the illegal connections, the cross connections and trying to find out what what was exasperating our system to cause the the contamination within the system. So I I would ask for everybody's patience to allow us to walk through the triage of this system and once we are done with the emergency basis and and I will tell you that when you look at the one to two weeks after the emergency initial debrief of hotwash that's what they call it when the EOC comes together and they look at the the lessons learned the processes that they've used and everything they've already done that so we are in the method of of in here but I would say that we will not have the fully clear picture until a little bit As we get farther away from this, staff is meeting regularly. We are talking about a lot of different things. But I want to give you a picture of what we are doing with this. I really believe that what's going to happen is that uh when we get said and done, this contamination was an external introduction within our system, which means it's either a broken water line, it is a illegal connection, it is something that is allowing it to go in there. Because four years ago in 2019, the city invested a lot of money in there and fixed the water plants and they all the as TCQ had stated with it throughout this emergency, the water coming out of the plants is high quality. It's when it gets into our system, it's being recontaminated within our system. And so the idea is that we we have to walk through all this. If we are going to replace water lines and go in and ch change out this 30% of our system is over 50 years old. So we have pipes that are out there that are over 50 years old. We just talked at a recent council meeting about the lead and copper rule and the updates of that. We have we have lead and copper piping out there that we need to be replacing as well too. I think we're going to be able to marry these relationships together between the types of pipe we have out there and and eliminate two problems for at one time. But it takes a while to plan out these projects. Any project we start today, it'll take the design. It'll take all that work. We'll have to go through the RC process to bring in the the engineering firm to help us design up the project. It'll take it's a nine-month ordeal coming through this. It'll take a three-month ordeal in order to do the project. I want to make sure everybody understands that the work that we start today and the work that we started even last month, it'll be about a year before we reap the benefits of all of that work because it takes time to replace out the lines. So, that's why the illegal connections have been very important to us and why we're focusing on that. If we can eliminate any of those sources that are coming in, we will get to the uh the older older pipes and get them done. But if you walk through this thing, uh this is kind of the timeline for the postemergency response. Two to four weeks after the emergency, we continue to collect data. I'm going to show you some of that today, we begin compiling the afteraction reports. Six to eight weeks after the emergency, we will have a workshop and we will be talking about what do we do now and that's where you'll all come involved as as well. 8 to 12 weeks, we'll have the plan of action done. three to six months after the emergency, we'll be doing training, policies, system updates, and then a year after, we will be doing a lot of the we'll have a lot of that work all in play. I wanted to make sure that I just gave you a a manage of the expectations of where we are at and where we are going. And I and I appreciate that everybody wants to know all the ins and outs of any of this emergency. And that's what we've been trying to do through all of the press conferences, all of the information that the mayor has been putting out is we want to keep that information going, but we are learning as we go. And I want to make sure that and you can see the evolution in our systems and how we've actually walked through this. Um, Mayor M, >> can I get my uh we have a question? >> Yes, I have a quick question. Why is the reason that we have to wait 12 months? Is there any way that we can expedite this? We'll we'll do everything we can to expedite, but if you if you look at the processes of how we have to go because we'll have to do ground work. Well, you know, there's elevations that'll be taken there. We'll have to figure out where we're going to dig. Uh there's a talk right now about whether or not we bore the lines, you know, a directional bore u or or we're going to open up the open cut and then replace lines. So, there's a lot of work that goes into that. I council member I I would say that we will try to speed this up as best we can. >> But but I I I just want to make sure that everybody understands that it'll take it'll take probably three months in order to do design. It'll take a couple months in order to to hire a contractor to do the work. I think the easy work is going to be securing the funding for for that and and walking through that. So is this the only slide I do have up there or do I have the presentation? I can't. The keyboard is not Yeah. So it is only the uh well >> yeah no I have I have more slides there. So for some reason it didn't want to work for me. Okay. I wanted to give you a little bit and so when we put this stuff together I back it up and I bring it all the way forward. Boil water notices are common. They happen in everybody's system. Texas alone in 2022 3,143 boil water notices occurred which average about 8 to nine notices per day in the state alone. The frequency uh reflects the ongoing infrastructure challenges such as aging water system, pressure losses and everything that goes with that. Many of the boil water notices are due to unexpected disruptions but like the main breaks. The CDC and state agencies are stressing the importance that when this happens, we need to declare a boil water notice for the safety of our people. We will do that. We will take whatever the uh the the the passion is, whatever the the conversation is because it is about protecting our people. And so we will uh we will actually issue future boil water notices uh as we go. The the thing is not a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um Mr. understanding that they're common. Do you know are they broken out as to causes and how many of these occur? >> I was not able to get that information for here. We will keep looking at that just for the sake of of understanding uh what it is because yeah that um I I would like to go through it further for that uh because we I think there was a question that was also asked how many of them are related to uh the the the seriousness of an ecoli how much is the high bacteria what what is actually what triggers all those boil water notices and and I will say though because I I I am familiar with enough of this when you get a low low pressure in your system like When the when the tanks lower for some big main break and everything, that's when that's when the danger becomes. And there have been boil water notices triggered just because of the pressure lowering in there where there was no contaminants found, but it was for the safety of the people as well too. There are cities that actually go to that level in order to protect that. So, um, and so yes, we that will be part of that that triage that we're walking through in order to get there. I wish I had more of that information. We had a line break in 2023 at at 59 and that was that caused the drop in pressure and there was a boil water notice for that particular area >> and I'll share I'll share all eight of the ones since 2019 in here for a little bit of that background is everything. >> The one thing I want to say about boil water notices and our response that we will respond. We don't have to like it. We don't have to like that we have to do a boil water notice. I and that's where I I appreciate what what the concern of our people and everything. We should not accept it as a norm. We should not ever accept it and say, "Well, that's business. That's the way it happens. That's all there." Our work from here on out and what has been happening, I will say since 2019, and I wasn't here at that time, but you can see what the city council, you can see what the staff have been doing since the the problem with the plant. There has been movement and uh and I want to make sure that everybody kind of understands some of that. Okay. So, we are preparing the final report in a final report that we will give to you and present to the council because this is the ongoing information. What happened? Why did it happen? And how are we going to handle it moving forward? Um, another way to say that past, present, future. We want to make sure that we put it out there. This is what's called a 360 degree incident analysis. We're going to look at it from all different angles. As you as you'll as I'll explain some of the responses that we've had from our departments, you're going to see that this is an all hands-on deck situation. So, here's here's what'll be in the post incident investigation and reporting process. The root cause analysis, identifying what caused the incident, the timeline of the actions, what did we do from day one when we when we got noticed all the way through. And as as everybody's aware, we had triggers even prior to that. How did those triggers warrant within our response? Because we were we we cleared we clear every bad test or every positive test for any kind of contaminants in the system. And if we've met the guidelines of what TCQ says, then we release that and we say, "All right, it's all clear." But I think that the the thing we want to look at though is we want to look at that trend line. And you'll see exactly why I'm talking about trend lines here in a second. We need to put out im intermediate immediate and long-term solutions and our corrective actions. We want to talk about our transparency and public updates. It's a we are all talking about the transparency. We are all talking about whether or not we were transparent enough, whether enough not enough enough information is going out, whether or not we're doing all of that. I will tell you that based upon the information that I'm receiving from all of the news channels and and the information coming in, we were out there constantly. Mayor, city council, you guys did a fantastic job of this. You were out there continuously putting information out there. All we were trying to do is make sure you had the information that you could utilize. That was that was the staff's effort while we were trying to deal with this. But I will say that is so different than what I hear about 2019 from us. So congratulations on on at least moving that forward. Public engagement, education, FAQs, ongoing support will be all part of this post incident. and of course the documentation and and compliance. All right, really quickly, here's the eight incidents that happened since 2019 all the way through. And here's an explanation as to which what happened with each one of them. This is why it is so difficult to find a a one solution and correct all of the system because it is a system that we don't have full control of even though we're in charge of it. And I think those are the things you need to watch for. So in September of 2019, a citywide bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo boil water water notice occurred because of low chlorine levels linked to the nitrification uh which had been ongoing for months before detection. June September 2020. This was a notice that happened on Highway 389 lasting over two months because of low chlorine levels, poor infrastructure impacting about 830 residents. February 2021. Another notice based upon the Texas winter storm in San Antonio. A lot of people had issues during this with the freezing lines and everything breaking that causes a boil water notice because of the the ability for the contamination in there. May 21, South Laredo faced a notice because of main maintenance which was resolved within 5 days. July of 21, the 4th of July holiday. City issued a notice because of low corine levels uh which only affected initially affected only parts of the city but then expanded citywide. February 22, a significant line break led to a citywide notice and a declaration of a local disaster. Uh water service was restored after nine days. July 23, Highway 389 again was affected by a 212inch waterline break with the notice lifted after seven days. And of course, October 2024, I'm sharing this because as we look at this this information, as we look at what is happening, what are the root causes? What what is what's going on with our in our system? Because there's lessons learned from the past. Aging infrastructure and maintenance issues are a big thing. Over 30% of our lines, we have a thousand miles of lines in the city. 1,000 miles of lines, 30% is 300 miles of lines that are 50 years or older within our system. Everything man-made has a tendency to wear out and it's going to have to be replaced. So, 30% of those lines, that's 300 miles of water line that we need to be looking at. Um, in multiple incidences like the 2022, faulty valves also played a part. The deteriorated line pipes played a part. So, we know that that is a very big issue for us. I can't I I I can't say enough about the crew that we have, our staff. We have a wonderful staff. We have very committed people to that. But we also had operational deficiencies within our system. That is something that we've been working on throughout there. You can see that um in 21 city employees declined some training that TCQ would provide which exasperated the chlorine management issue. That decision there alone doesn't help. We want to keep our people trained. I will tell you that the employees themselves are probably not the ones that denied the training. These employees are scrambling for training at all the time. But there are this actually in 21 it actually caused some leadership changes. Resignation of that and some organizational challenge back in 21. Those challenges have been that the city has over the years has tried to fill those those areas and try to make it better. I would say that we have made strides in that but we have some lasting issues that we're that we're now uh working on chlorine management issues and nitrification again our system uh we had 2019 20 2019 2021 uh which when the nitrification occurs it allows for better bacterial growth within our system. environmental factors, external uh events. This Texas winter storm uh that was something that uh nobody saw coming until it happened and it caused havoc within our system. High temperatures, drought conditions in July of 21 actually accelerated the water stagnation in our system. So, where we live is is partly to do with that. If we can make it cooler around here, we might be okay. All right. Never. Okay. Uh contamination issues and illegal connections. Um again the 2024 was due to the ecoli contamination. It was linked to a faulty backflow device hydrome meters. Uh we also are uncovering that there's ilial connections and we continue with that work today. And then of course the delayed responses and communication challenges. I believe that and this is why I talked just a little bit about our transparency and our effort to try to put more information out there. We get smarter as everything happens. But our our our delay in responses in previous events help exasperate the situation farther. And so just wanted to make sure I shared that. I want to make sure that everybody understands because I think this is something that as we go through all of the conversations, the city takes its responsibilities seriously. the mayor, each one of you as a city council member, we've been on the phone continuously talking about what happened, how it happened, what can we do better, how can we take care of our people all the way through there. This goes all the way down through our employees. They take their job seriously. The idea is to try to get everybody focused in this in the same vision. And so, I think that's why I wanted to put that out there. Let me talk a little bit about where we're at because we we talk a lot about how the EOC operates, how our distribution systems go and everything, but I want to share a little bit more with you on on some of our other things within the health department. The boil water notice was issued on October 10th. The team activated and coordinated with the emergency operations center and then they line listed initiated for tracking self-reportings and lab confirmed cases. When you look at all of that, they were involved in the public health leadership briefings. They were involved, they contacted with the hospital CEOs, they stayed close to the medical community because we were looking for the signs of whether or not this ecoli contamination with our own system was being transmitted to our people. We re-evaluated the hospital data. We looked at the 2024 cases. We looked at the 2023 cases. We the health alert was issued. We continue to look at uh we asked all of the medical providers to provide us with the non-reportable E.coli path pathotypes to ensure the continuity that of our database. They were putting all this information together. Right now uh as they continue to talk with the hospitals, we know of 19 cases of EC coli within the system that we're aware of, but we have not been able to designate whether or not it was ours. some of the some of that and as the our health medical professionals know it can be generated in other ways. So we are trying to correlate that data to try to determine was there an impact to that. We will look at where they live. We will look at that. The first case that we dealt with this uh this individual drank bottled water all the time. They didn't drink any of the tap water. They didn't get water from anywhere else. And so it was uh essentially it was a condition within their body that was generating that within their body. So, I just wanted to make sure that I shared what the health team did with that. Uh, and this is a document that um, Mr. Chavez has been putting together. As you can tell, this is going through all of this. This is the listing on here. That's the detail. We will provide this data as well too because this is how we are triaging through the engineering departments and into our systems. The things that we have found is that uh the valve exercising, we need to uh we need to uh reinvigorate our valve exercising. When we were looking at separating the um uh the the north water plant from the Jefferson water plant, um we have 50 valves that separate those two water plants. The first valve that we went out there to exercise to close it froze up. We couldn't shut it. Of course, a comment from TCQ at that time says, "Well, you're batting a thousand." We have 50 valves along that line, right? We have we're batting a thousand. So, we're sitting there going, "We we have one valve. The first valve we check does not work." And so, when we go out there, we they dig it up, they start trying to work on it. Then this the valve shatters. That's why we had the main break on Delmare and the loop. And it was because we were trying to fix this system. The great thing about that was is that that was one valve out of 50 that did not work. When they tested all the other valves, they were able to shut all the other valves between the two plants, which allowed us to test away from the the one water plant. We got to concentrate and focus on the other one. We believe that uh within the Jefferson water plant, we have five different pressure plans within that area. And you saw it on the map when you when we were looking at the sampling sites. And so within those different those different areas, we should be able to isolate out smaller parts of the city. So, but if we were doing our valve exercising program, we want to exercise valves every year. If we were doing it to the level that we wanted to have it done, we could we could have started to close off, we could have proven to and justified to TCQ that we could close off our pressure planes, which then we could have reduced our our impact a little bit better. And so we we walk through all of that. One of the things that's recommended in uh Mr. Chavez's report as well too is the flushing. We have automatic flushers. I think some of you may have seen them work and everything, but the challenge with the automatic flushers is that the uh AWA standard says that we should do unidirectional flushing, which means that you shut some of the val valves and you make sure that the water is only flowing one direction to the flushing point. Because what the flushing does, it aggressively scour the inside of the pipe and it blows all the contaminants out in the flushing. Because we didn't shut off the system and we did a all directional type flushing, it brought water in from all sides because we we loop our system. That that was a concern for us operationally. So flushing unit directly and that's where we have SOPs now that show we're going to go into that. >> Mayor, may I? >> Yes. >> I'm sorry to interrupt. You said AWA or >> American Waterworks Association AWA and that is one that is utilized very heavily by everybody out there. Uh if you their their standards are based upon EPA guidelines, based upon TCQ's guidelines as well too. And so but I I I like an AWA standards more to the operation side of that and they're very good standards for that. You'll find them very quickly when looking for them. Next item on there was the sample sites and testing. Um what we found is that we do 150 tests every month of our system. They're done they're done throughout the entire city and we they're to be representative samples of our city. But when you do when you do sampling in a bad area uh where the the home is overgrown or or it's not taken care of the way it is or in a on a a dead end line, let's use the dead in line example a lot better for that. you have to flush it enough otherwise you're going to get the stagnant water that's not in the system but that has just sat at the end of that. So we are going through our sampling sites. We are going through our testing data. We are uh with the health department. They are looking right now uh we are getting in equipment that will provide us up toate information once the samples are done. They have ordered new incubators. Our incubators had some age on them within the laboratories and they will be able to do even additional samples as we need. Just so you know our lab is a rated lab with TCEQ. It's one of the top-notch ones and we take four to six other counties in and we're testing for a lot of different people. Um, and so I'm not talking about that, but I'm talking about making sure our equipment is adequate for that. They are also bringing in what what we call a rapid test and that we can't use it for regulatory purposes, but it'll tell us if there is any any chance of having ecoli or any pathogens within our water in the field. And if we can find that, then we can actually start the emergency responses quicker and eliminate it from ever becoming the to the magnitude of a of a boil water notice. So, >> Mr. N, was that a PCR test? >> I'm sorry. >> Is that a PCR test? >> A PCR >> the rapid test? >> A very sim Yeah, I believe that's what we're looking into. We're we're trying to get it narrowed down to what it is, but it'll be Yeah, it'll be a very quick test out in the field to uh to bring it through there. Um I'll I'll let I'll let our doctor talk about Dr. Chamberlain talk about it if necessary. But yes, the PCR test that is the essentially that's the area we're looking for EPA certified as well. >> Mr. Mayor, may I have you heard? >> Yes. Go ahead. >> Um Mr. Can we hear briefly from Dr. Chamberlain? >> If you would like conversations I have with him, there was another type of test. >> And yes, just to clarify on that, it is a screening tool only. It is not PCR or an antibbody test. Um, but I'm here to help support Mr. Neb in clarifying that statement. Dr. Chamberlain, for the record, excuse me. >> All right. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yes. Go ahead. >> When was the water? >> Um, you know, I I I don't know if that's in the report yet. That'll be something we put together. I do know that the the sampling the sampling site report does get updated occasionally because we do we do change properties but I don't know if we've changed properties for a while. I mean I think that's what we're seeing is that some of the properties we are using are really not representative of our system >> and um and I I think moving forward from this we do want to make sure that the u the updates essentially an annual update. I mean there should be somebody looking at that on an annual basis and saying are we still where we should be. One of the things that are in there and the and on the testing as well too is an SOP because we want to make sure that while those inspectors are out there, it's not just about pulling the water, it's about pulling the water correctly and they do they do corine residual, they do all that work out there and they then they pull the sample, but we want to make sure that they are observant of that because some of our sites actually have the illegal connections within them in the in the home itself. Now, we don't enter the house usually. I believe it's an outside bib that we actually uh pull the samples from so we're not interfering with the the the livelihood of the people. But but I think we need to make sure that the places we see at least are not are are not indicative of those kind of issues. And I think those are some of those cleanup things that we're doing. The monitoring plan is in there. The hydraulic isolation plan, I talked about that with the the closure of the valves and everything. I will state that all of our testers and inspectors, I know there was a question at one point in time All of our all of our testers are certified with TCQ. We were not able to find all their records ourselves, but we were able to get clarification from TCQ on that. So, we are very comfortable with our inspectors. Uh some of the inspectors that had worked really hard, they actually have three to four different license with within what their jobs are. Very qualified people. Uh the same as our people that are that are doing the testing up in up in the laboratory. Uh we are doing field reports on Kentucky and Saunders which are in the heart of where some of these issues are. Uh we have a little had had another I think a couple areas in Jefferson as well too and on the street of Jefferson. So we are looking at those fields. Yes sir. >> Yes sir. about training the our our texts. Do we how often are we going to train our texts or do you have that something in in plans that are we going to need to send them as our classes that we have to send them or how often are we >> so so the the nice thing so you know we look at the water operator D license there there are reertifications for those license at every time. So when we talk about training of of these individuals, it's it's more of a reminder and and and it's somebody going out there saying, "Show me how you test." And actually, TCU did that back in August with us. I think it was when we had one uh one positive report. TCU came out and audited all of our people and they said, "You guys are testing perfectly. You you guys are doing really good." But what we want to do is we want our own people to go out there with them and say, "Walk us through exactly what you're doing. Make sure that we're we're covering that." So in my mind, the uh the operator license, I believe the reertification is every three years and they have to hit certain points through within those three years. So annually we have to do certain trainings and what we'll do is we'll place into each one of those trainings the things that are the most important to us as well. >> Mr. Mr. the 19 tests that were reported were not the strains identified. Maybe that's a question for Dr. Ch. >> It is and we'll bring him back down for that one because uh I just wanted to share that we are we are learning of of some some cases coming in but we've not been able to confirm what they were but I'll let you >> and the question is uh they were not identified the strains were not identified and how many were reportable to the SH >> so if I may Dr. Chamberlain um Lorita public health director mayor and councel regarding reportable conditions to the state of Texas. We've had 22 investigations of sugar toxin ecoli and that is reportable to the state of Texas but this is since the beginning of the year. This isn't just in the month of um October. This is an aggregate number that we've um investigated over the course of this year um with the vast majority of them being probable no confirmed cases and we've had not um not cases identified as well within that 22 some chotoxin ecoli cases regarding EC coli cases in the community ecoli that is detected by GI panels is not a reportable condition in the state of Texas so any information that we are getting is voluntarily sub submitted to by members of the community via the emergency decree that you did put out on um October 11th asking the members of the community to report that that to the to the public health which we that have then identified from the reports 19 um ecoli detections by GI panel um in the community which we have investigated. >> All right. So the strains were not identified >> um specific strains on on them. It it's they from the laboratory G um from the laboratory GI panel it just says that it's EPC um or it is Shagella EIC on the panels as it breathes. >> All right. So those can be from food or environmental or dirt or >> correct anything. >> Okay. Yes. Go ahead. But I just it's on the same topic follow. So when you say the 22, you're not saying 22xoli found in the water samples. You're saying in the community >> in the community, correct? And this has been since January of this year. >> Right. Right. Because on October 15th, I know there was a press conference where you and the mayor both said that there were no reportable ecoli in our in our water samples. Right. >> Correct. Um and the only reportable strand of E.coli to the state is the shiktoxin ecoli. >> Correct. >> So the 22 number you just referenced is just want to be extra clear that's water samples or in the community >> community >> like just >> community reports from possible laboratory reports or private laboratory reports. >> So just triple confirming shetoxin. Ecoli has not been found not even preliminary or whatsoever in our water. >> Correct. >> That's the only one. Um, that's that's all I have. Thank you. >> Yes. I think we're getting a little bit nerdy but >> No, no, that's okay because I want to make sure and I I think Council Member King's point is is right on. There are no confirmed issues. >> We will keep looking. However, we will keep looking because we want to make sure that our public is safe. >> Council woman, you have >> Thank you. Yes. Um, so I just also I have another question with the routine sampling. um is that how do we how do we know that it's being done throughout the city and not just in in specific locations like you I believe you mentioned this a little bit earlier um and because at the end of the day there's supposed to be self policing and so who how would we know if if um if they're actually >> pulling the samples >> pulling the samples from throughout the >> so so there is a and I and I will tell you and again it goes back to the professionalism of of the people that are doing that and all of that. There is a report that has to be filled out when they're in in the field and that is all marked down within that system. Um I I think that if uh you know they they are signing off there it's an affidavit system as well too that this sample was taken at this level. Uh when you look at how the TCAQ comes out and actually audits our system as well too. Uh I would maybe to give you just a little more comfort would be is that if we were doing some type of an audit system within ours where we we would verify that but at at some point in time it's going to be the the person is going to go out there and pull the sample and whether it be the supervisor, whether it be the inspector, whether it be the tester, but I but every one of them are signed off on um and and they're they're saying these are where those tests are at >> and and and how it was taken. And with the when it comes to the h the hydraulic isolation plan um did did was the the water hydraulic model completed in in 2023 um by land ever utilized >> the what for now >> the the hydraulic model that was completed in 2023 >> right >> by land was that utilized over the >> I I believe Mr. Chavez when he was looking through all that information that was pulled together. So yes, I I I believe that hydrarology model played a role. I think it's been in TCQ's hands as well too. I'm just not sure if it was that one in 2023 or or how that information came to them. But but yes, I I would almost I give you an 85 90% yes that was the that was the map that was used because I believe it was the one that we had. So yeah, and I'm getting a confirmation from my counselor. Quick question, sir. Do we have any in the plans? Do we have any plans to set up like sample stations for every corners around the the city which is like let's say in the heights area the you know in the south and the north. Do we have any plans to set up a sample station >> uh for us to test for our sampling? Get >> mayor mayor and city council. Yes. The so the the idea of the sampling is that it has to be representative of river city. So the conversation we've been having now and I expect that our sampling sites that we're going to go through each one of them and make sure that they're adequate for our our representation of that. I one of my things is that if 30% of our lines are 50 years or older then we should do 30% of our samples there. Then we should do we should do some business samples then we should do some industrial samples. Then we should do city samples as well too. So the idea is that we would establish uh yes some sites that we would say this is a formal sample station >> but then we will also go and do the sampling in because we want it representative of our system. So yes you're you're right on point of where we are going with our SOP. >> Okay. >> And all those are the sampler the ones that are picking up the samples are they licensed or >> they are all licensed >> and what's the the classifications? is it's the white water operator DL license I believe is what what it's called and but they are all licensed and actually some of them actually have two or three licensed so I don't have all the names of them there but it will be in this pamphlet here that has all of them identified with all of their license and and certifications because we went through that >> for the plan of large size how what's the the the requirement of license that we need on AB or C or D >> well we have them we have them all I think for Uh I was trying to remember what the responsible charge is. It's the highest level. We have to have at least one responsible charge at the highest level. >> And then Yeah. And then all of our people as we train them up, they kind of come up through there. And then I'm trying to remember which way Texas goes. If it's A to D. >> I think it's D from D to >> D to A, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So which is all right. That makes a little bit of sense for the D license. So that is more of the distribution system license is the lower end of that. And then you go up to the A license being the one that can be a responsible charge of a plantar size. We have to we have to have the best out there just because of the size of >> So our our director on you director does he have an a license or is it >> it has to either be the director or it has to be uh like u our our director our previous director was an engineer did not carry that class license. It was carried by one of our operators within the system. Well, why wouldn't why wouldn't the the director have the license if he's going to be controlled of the whole sampling? So, I would assume that the director having the license, he will be responsible for all all the sampling. >> Yeah. Yeah. And and it is and it's just it's more of a span of control for for that. But I can I understand what you're saying. >> We'll we'll walk through all that. That's uh uh yeah, that'll be in that next step for that. Really quickly on community development, the water distribution to the elderly. I know there was questions about we weren't taking care of the elderly. Here's here's what community development is doing. They were getting it out there. We we actually handd delivered if we knew that an elderly resident needed it and some of you actually called some in. We handd delivered to them to make sure they were taken care of. Uh we actually re extended support to the nonprofits that were serving the elderly. So we actually we found we found partners in order to get that done. Uh community development coordinator with the health department to distribute the water notices that some some field work some leg work and then we had staff assigned to assist at all the water distribution cycles. Let's go into the inspection and enforcement efforts. Uh inspection enforcement began on October 19th led by the TDM request. There was going out there before because it started on October 10th. But this is the intensive when we isol when we were to isolate down and we could find where we went. This is where we went walking. This is where we went door to door along every street where the isolated areas were. We actually had six inspectors from McAllen partnered with six law officers. Uh we are requesting from the state right now. Uh McAllen is actually calling their people home. But uh through Tedum uh the department of management they said we can ask for more. So we are asking for 10 more from the state to come in and help us walk as the governor's declaration emergency declaration runs its course and uh and they're they're all happy to do that. I believe they've already been ordered. Uh when these teams were out there from October 19th they inspected 94 properties. 30% of them had missing backflow preventures. I think that's a really good sign because when when we looked at the the 200 samples that sounded like a big number to us when we found 200 illegal connections in one day but I think when you're starting to look at the 30% of missing black folk preventers when you overlay that over the the entire city I don't think we're going to continue to find this heavy influx of illegal connections and everything which is a really good thing. We're going to find the little pockets and we're going to find the little things that are happening. So that was a nice thing to see. We are in planning on keeping the inspections going for 14 days and the additional focus on the city cemetery and the lion water tanks because of the construction there. But I will mention the city cemetery because that was our own our own area because we have tanks out there that we use for irrigation and everything and we feed in water to those tanks from our system. We did not have the backflow preventers or in the right places for that. And so that happened sometime in the past. We don't know how far back you can want to go to when those tanks went in, but the connections when we found them, we found our own house being needing some work as well, too. And I bring that up because it's like we're equal opportunity on all of this and we're going to walk out there and do that. I know that one of the last slides is talking about the amnesty program and everything, but we are walking through to make those corrections. >> Yes. Question. out of that. >> Um, so out of the 200 that were out there, there were, I believe, 27 of them that were highlighted as serious. And there, now they were serious for a lot of different reasons because it's not just that whether or not it's an illegal connection. what TCQ was looking at because um and I I'll you know we had some very uh we had some medical centers that were in violation of that because their paperwork on how they maintain their backflow preventers were not up to date. That is a that is a violation of the law which then means they go on that list and in TCQ's mind if you're not keeping that up because of the seriousness of that facility then they they need to they need to be fixing that. But that's a that's an inspection issue. That's that's going out there and actually doing the paperwork. The nice thing is that they had backflow preventers just didn't we we couldn't confirm the last time they were tested. That was what was happening there. So So when you look when you go out there and you look at those, it is a base upon the seriousness of that. Our response right now is that and um m Mr. Pisker uh we talked about this today with the fire department and everything else. We are we are essentially identifying those and we're giving them a critical uh viewpoint on on each one of what the severity of the issue is when they find it. Then we're going out and if it's if we can if we can if it's not severe, if if it's going to affect the elderly, if it's going to affect some children or anything, we're giving them five days to correct the problem. So it doesn't get fixed right away. As you go up into the severity, then that means that that that time frame shortens and shortens and shortens. uh one of the ones that were found in the first one, we gave them essentially two hours to fix it or we would pull our meter. That's the only thing we can do is remove them from our system if we can't get the service. We do have some people out there that are also not uh allowing us in to inspect their property and we you know and so we want to be able to get there and legal working through that as well too because we don't want to be we don't want to swing a hammer. We just want to make sure that our system is safe. If we get into a situation where we cannot justify or prove that that facility is safe, staff has been directed to pull the meter and take them off of our system. We don't want we don't want to see all we don't want to see their dirty rooms. We don't want to see anything that's going on in their home or anything, but we want to make sure that our system is protected. So, if it's a if it's a water softener that is incorrectly connected, if it's a hot water heater that's not working right, we want to make sure that we help with that. Go ahead. >> She already she already went on another topic. >> Well, I I went down that path, I think. So, >> I have a question where you're at right now. >> Is there water notice while the legal connections are are still in in play? And >> we you walk through this because there there system is moving. It's a living system for for lack of a better way. Uh I mean that's why we spent time on the hydrant hydrant meters as well too. By the way, 140 hydrant meters have been updated. All the back backflow preventers, construction, the development teams all together. But we walk through this and and we want to make sure that uh we're we're respectful of that because um imagine imagine if we had one of our hospitals that had a had a serious violation of that. Would we go out there and pull a water meter and not allow the hospital to continue to operate just because of whatever the condition is? I I think those are the things that that that we have to walk through and and put a little bit of common sense in that system because uh and I think the mayor said it really well is if the if the cure is worse than the disease, we have to look at that. And I think that was the the intent. So, we are walking through the severity of each one of those. And we and I've just made sure that staff knows you have to pull a meter. I would rather have them pull the meter than impacting our entire city again with a boil water notice. >> Mr. N. >> Yes. >> We got a just an email come through just a minute ago if I may. Out of the 59 immediate action coded location 46 have been addressed sir. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I knew if I waited long enough I would get No. [laughter] >> Council member, >> did you have a question? >> Yeah. Um but I I'll yield to Dr. King. I think he wants clarification on that comment. Then I'll make my question. >> 46 out of 59. What? >> They were we we just got a report right now from from the utilities department at 4:44 p.m. I just saw it right now. Out of the 59 immediate action coded locations from the inspections, the people walking the streets of Mr. Ne was talking about, 59 were identified as immediate action items. As of 4:44, the report went out. Two TCQ 46 have been addressed >> and and they'll they will continue addressing them because we'll have we'll have a couple more come in. We'll have a couple more come in. So, but that's why it's a moving that's why every one of these meetings will shift a little bit on on where we're at within the status of that. So, >> you have a question. >> Yeah, mayor. So, I think that when we say and when we hear amnesty, right? I think and correct me if wrong, Mr. Mayor. I think you you mean amnesty not as if the city's going to look away for what we perceive has caused this problem, but rather amnesty in the sense of we're going to find out how exactly we got to the illegal connection. It could have been a plumber, right, that was hired and that plumber >> incorrectly who should have been an expert made that connection. So, we can't really blame the property owner and we've got to dig into these 22 connections, right? illegal connections. Um I think that the word amnesty is being um misused, right, in the sense that it's not going to be a slap in the hand. It's not going to be a don't do it again, but rather we want to find out how the illegal connection happened. And if someone illegally connected to our system for the purpose of theft of water, whatever the case may be, then yes, we shall expect prosecution and work with the district attorney's office and the Laredo Police Department to ensure we address those legal matters and civil matters because we would expect some sort of restitution to the water system. Yeah, >> but if there's a constituent that hired a plumber to do a a a backflow or a connection to an extension of a building or added another, whatever the case may be, that we've got to work with those people because that may be the reason why they don't want to let us into their properties because they're hearing all these different ideas out there, right? >> And life is water, right? People need water every day to be able to go on with their daily activities, right, and their families. I would just suggest, and we hear that if they don't let us through their property, we're going to pull the meters, right? And maybe what we should ask before we just pull a meter, I would suggest that we have the legal department send a letter saying, "You've got to schedule us to go into your property within 5 days. If not, we will pull your meter." Right? because we don't want to just leave someone without water, >> right? >> Because they may have the fear or may be concerned about their privacy or letting city officials into their property line um rather than just going and removing meters. Right. And that's something I'd suggest we do to give people fair warning. >> Yeah. And and mayor and mayor and city council that that is exactly we talked a little bit about this when we talked about the goodwill rebate as well too and the amnesty and everything. What we want is we want everybody's help to get this thing corrected. Uh we're not looking for anybody to point the finger. My fear and and this is what I I see occasionally as well too is that the property owner needs work done on their house. Whoever the contractor is, whether it be one fly by night that's coming through here or somebody that's in a hurry, they say, "I'll get the permit for you. I'll get the work done, but here's here's what it is. Here's what the check is. This is what I need you to write out to me." My fear is is that they're charging them for the permit but then not following through with the permit and that's the stuff that really kind of it irritates me with that and I don't have a lot of sympathy for people that really mess our people over and so the intent is it's really not the property owner. We will every every one of these things once we once we find out where the problem is once we know the severity if the severity is dangerous to our system we want to pull the meter fairly quickly and that's why we won't have time for a legal letter and everything but we want to be very cautious of that because we want to go back did they pull a permit did they have to pull a permit who who did this work how long ago was it happened and everything and and there's a there's this whole discovery stage right that goes through that and I think council member that's exactly what you're talking about making sure that we're not not out there making a rash decision to say let's get them off the system and I think the mayor's been very adamant about that through the entire process is that we want to make sure that we we do all this correctly. Um really quickly on the PIO's role uh it's really really cool to look at all this all the dedicated hours that were positioned there. at the EOC, our communication strategy shifted out and we focused a lot on the water crisis, the press releases, social media post, graphics, city newsletter, uh trying to keep all that information out there. Yep. >> No, I'm just going to keep moving through unless unless you stop. Yes, ma'am. >> Um I wanted to ask about inspectors. So I as so much of this is key to inspections. I you know had extra addition staff come in and do the inspections and have found 200 legal connections and perhaps there's more, but you're working through that. We have extra staff because of this outcry and and the fact that cities are willing to come in and assist us with that. >> What happens when they leave? What are we going to do as a city to ensure that we have the the right number of inspectors? Because construction keeps booming. We've got things going on all over the city. What can we do as a city to make sure we have the correct number of inspectors to prevent a future >> mayor and council member and councel? Thank you for that one because that is that one of those next steps and I think we we we talked about it a little bit that we have to make sure we have the right number of personnel in our budget. We did we did position another 14 code enforcement officers. I would say that they are not the specific ones for the utility side. So there will be work for the council. Uh we'll be looking at that. will be coming forward to make sure that we have enough inspectors and enough for the utility side. Uh we talked a lot about the engineering piece of the of the utility and that trying to rebuild that as well too. So in this review that we're walking through there, we will be identifying those fairly quickly. Uh the personnel and our uh capital budgeting is going to be very important within this the process. And this is the stuff we have to get to you faster than than normal because we need to get that those positions out there and we need to get them one, we need to get them online. We have to get them trained up to do the work that we need them to do. And that all takes a little bit of time. So that that'll be forthcoming. Within that, what we will do is we'll look within again the utility budget to try to figure out is there room is there space for that? We have a we have a number of positions open that all the time in the entire city. So can we isolate? Can we can we focus on those jobs. >> Mayor, >> yes. Go ahead. >> So, those inspectors, I know they're code enforcement. Are they going to be are are you going to are we going to send them to get licensed or are they just going to go just through training? >> No. Yes, sir. Uh they all of our code enforcement officers, every officer we have, every regulatory officer we have is in is trained and they are certified, >> but for the water sample. >> Yeah. Now, that that's Yeah. So, they're either certified on the building side or they're certified on the uh on the in water side. So, yes, we We're going to need both, right? We we had already talked about this side on the building side because we have so much growth as well too. We now need to find out exactly how many more inspect. >> So, isn't there there any way that we can cross trainin them? They know about >> I think we could. I think we could. I think the challenge comes um we want them to have a focus on utilities on the utility side because one of the kind things we talked about at budget was moving our code enforcement division underneath the PD part and we believe that'll help with the property and all that different things but I I think there are eyes and ears out on the out on the streets anyway as well too. So there has to either be the cross training across or there has to be that um that awareness the sense of awareness in order to to work both sides if they have to. Uh we did we we brought in our code enforcement officers I believe came in to help us on the community development side because we needed the extra hands but we were able to we were effective at bringing in what's called the star program through the state and they brought in people from Macauen and different areas as well too that had had that background. Uh really quickly on on PIO for that. Here's just the information on that. One more question. >> One more question. Um so we qualified for this star program. We were able to get inspectors to our city. Is this because of the E coline designation? How is it that other boil notices did not trigger the same attention? >> If if I'm remembering right, it is because of the declaration. >> Uh yes, mayor. Um, since we are in the declaration period, we can make requests for different things that the city needs to help with a response. And as we were in our daily meetings with TCQ, we committed to go out to the locations and investigate and use this personnel. And so that's why we put in a star request through the emergency management coordinator to trigger them, to tag them in with our personnel for that purpose. It's just because we are in emergency mode. >> So because and and that that was you know again that was part of the reason why the mayor declared the the emergency here and then why Abbott did theirs. We also needed Abbotts in order to go after federal funds as well too. And I know I I heard some of the public didn't like that we did that because we can't handle our own. No, it was a strategic decision in order to bring more resources to the city in order to take care of this. >> And How many inspectors do we have? >> Um I I believe uh off the list of the ones that are that are going out there and doing the testing and everything there's seven uh six >> six >> sorry >> with with the city. >> Yeah. Yeah. that do the sampling and the testing and everything. uh there our engineers and and there is a crossover from our engineer uh is the city with our engineers out at utilities when they're doing the uh the map revisions and all of that work that that we we need more but that's how they're doing that and they're overlapping with that >> and that was part of when we called TDM to request all the people to come in with research >> yes sir that's the star program yes >> and the people with star program that's how they they're got they get covered >> yes >> they get covered and that's that's why that's why we received the distribution of water from from the state as well through the state covered that uh that cost. Thank you, state of Texas. So, uh really quickly, 311 call center. I just wanted to show you how many calls uh it was three times the typical volume during this event. Uh during that surge, we were still able to hold a queue time of 2 minutes 7 seconds. The primary focus was mainly with the elderly wanting to get water distribution. And then there were a few other comments there. The health department actually sent us a couple people in order to help man more phones. I think that was one of the requests of the mayor as well too throughout this thing was get us additional help so that nobody's sitting online uh looking for help. All right, this slide here. Why hasn't the city done anything? We've heard that. I'm telling you we have. Have we done enough? Have we? That's all subjective. As you review the history since 2019 and through this boil water notice, the work of the council and the staff that they have done since the plan issues in 2019, that work that was done after that boil water notice then fixed our plants so that the qual quality of the water coming out of those plants was high quality. Over from 2019 to 2024, the city invested over hund $131 million in water infrastructure projects averaging 22 million a year. This year alone, in this budget coming up, we have 57 million budgeted for water. What we have discovered within this conversation though is that is it priority based where it needs to be because we have to have we have to have a a plan for 300 miles of water line to be replaced in the future and the more of that we can replace. Just so you know the uh the estimate on those 300 miles of water line right now is $175 million. So that is that's the number as we talk about making the adjustments within there for the line replacement. >> Okay. >> Yes. Go ahead. >> How can it only be $175 million if two miles I know it's a bigger line but the the 36 inch line that we just had the groundbreaking for in May. >> Uh you know it's two miles from Jefferson to Sakata Creek Lion Booster Station. That's $33 million. >> Where did that number come from? >> That came from our consultant. the number and be keep in mind that that is a dis the main distribution line with 36 inch the others vary in diameter as they get out because it's a main line they become branch lines and and >> yeah so it is about the size of the line as well too because uh what one of the lines that we we was problematic for us is a cast iron line that ran along I think it was Kentucky it's a 6 inch cast iron line that runs through there it's over 50 years old that that's through there and so that was. So, you're looking at a little bit smaller line. We are also considering because uh up front a pipe bursting or a directional boring of a line is more expensive on the front side, but you have less cost on the back side when you're digging up and replacing sidewalks and replacing all that work. So, we're we're preparing all that information for you. And that that is why the uh the 175 council member just so you know I never trust an engineers's estimate because uh in in today with COVID pricing the way it is and everything we we hope for the best with that and I I think that we we miss a lot of our numbers because it's based upon what's happening today. It's based on the availability of who's willing to uh do the workforce. There's a lot of different things in there. But I think that if in my mind I don't think we can replace 300 miles of lines in one year anyway. So it gives us time to evolve through that process and our numbers get better as we go through that. So so don't don't think that uh we're done even once we set a number once we set a plan that plan is going to go through that. Really quickly on the mayor's latest update on the initiatives I wanted to just really address we talked about this on the illegal connections and everything. Uh we talked about the amnesty program. Um we will give time for the corrections. We want we want everybody it I will tell you mayor city council if I haven't learned anything about how you deal with business is that you want us to always educate first. Leave the hammer on the table. Don't don't go and punish people. Educate first. And we I I know there's a lot of different people out there that don't appreciate the education first and they We're always wanting to use the hammer, but in my mind, I appreciate that so much because I really truly believe that we should be reminding people to do that. Now, our challenge is we have to follow through once we've educated once we've given them the opportunity to re to do what they are supposed to do. We have to go back and we have to make sure of that. And I think that's why we're asking for that the additional inspectors anyway because we can't seem to keep up with what's happening with us. There's too much growth. there's too much old stuff that we're trying to balance out through that and we have to keep on it and and and do it in the right way. But I I I'm telling you all thank you for uh always following that education first for our people. But as we walk through that, so we are addressing the illegal connections. We talked a little bit about that system. >> Mayor, if go ahead, >> Mr. N. Thank you. Um, so this council, at least in the time that I've been here, we've dealt with a lot of um, line breaks getting hit when, you know, new subdivisions or construction happens. And I know Council Member um, Gutierrez and I have placed it on the agenda multiple times over the past couple years to figure out what we can do about it. Sometimes the lines get marked and even though they're marked, they still hit our water lines and all of that compromises our system. Um, We're still getting more requests for for for growth and for installation of lines and upgrades in here and there. So, um you know, we need to find a way to balance that because it's causing a lot of um stress for people that are getting notices that their water's going to be interrupted due to construction and now they're wondering, >> okay, great. Like, is the water going to, you know, not going to be good, you know, because of this? Um, so I think we really need to hammer down on that. the illegal connections. We have a lot of people tapping into our hydrants without permission. Um and then um with this last issue, especially in the Mines Road area, we had um bacteria in one of the homes because of a system that was installed and we know the name of the company that's installing the system. So, are we enforcing and advising the public that anybody who hired this company maybe have had the same connection? I mean, those are lowhanging fruit when it comes to knocking out some of this these uh issues. >> Let me jump in and I'll answer some of that and I'll catch up to you. >> Okay. >> Um, so yeah, on on the on the front side, the work that you guys have put out on the table already, all of that's been being worked on. I believe that it was just a couple meetings ago, we actually brought forward some updates for our our fines when somebody goes into the, you know, we don't want anybody digging in our rideway, breaking a line, and saying it's just cheaper to pay the fine. And so, we want to make sure that that we do a little bit better with that. I will I'll give you a little bit of a story on on another issue that we discovered when we were out there is that and we have a lot of essentially directional boring going on because it's the easiest way to lay fiber within our rights away and everything. We did find within the trouble area we found a a a uh a small pipe running through one of our sewer laterals in our rideway. And of course because the sewer is not under pressure, it never comes up. But we that is one of the things that we found and then that creates a channel to that some of that sewer can come out of it into our system. This and this goes right to everybody's point about keeping a better eye on them and that that the inspectors are going to be very important for that and making sure that we we help them get done. um all the way up to uh with the uh the companies that are installing these water softeners and all this work. We appreciate what they're doing for our community. But we are going to actually and there's there will be people going to each one of their facilities, the one that we actually know who actually did installed at one of them. We will be going there first to check their records as well too. Who did you do work for? And then we will also ask for and that's why we're talking about the community rebates, the amnesty and everything. if our public will allow us to let us know if they've had any work done recently. Let us double check. Let us verify that they did pull the permit if they had to. Let us check and make sure that it was done right. Our people will go out there and say, "You got a good two thumbs up. We're all good to go." Or we'll say, "This is what we need to take care of." And uh and I think that's where we want to make sure that we keep talking about these rebates and the and the amnesty program. So, um, and that's what this slide is about is on the rebates themselves. Uh, the proposal is to eliminate non-essential projects. I've seen a couple of the items on for Monday. I won't go into that too much. Uh, redirecting funds as rebates. Customer service, respect for the customers was part of the reason why why the mayor initiated that rebate and then and for the compensation of service disruptions. We had presented the goodwill rebate. We will be having that coming back for you. Just so you know, we did a rebate back one of the previous ones. So, we will be bringing those numbers forward as well, too. They were they were they were a little bit higher than what we had presented earlier. And so, we're happy to follow whatever the council's comfortable with. Um, and we will we will start preparing some potential non-essential projects, but I would ask the city council. I think you have to be the ones to help us tell us which ones are non-essential. I've I've said that during the budget time. There's not a bad project out there. It's just the prioritize it when when that project happens. And so when you have those conversations, just keep that in mind for that. Also note that um we are we're working through a lot of different things with our system and the information will get stronger and better as we move. So there is time for that. We we did initiate our support for local business. Uh we actually opened the uh the program up yesterday. You I think you all saw the the outline for the information for that. >> Yeah, Mr. Mr. And uh I'd like to mention that I did get in touch with the SBA in Washington. >> Yes, sir. >> And they were able to coordinate with Congressman Qua to to qualify us because there were some parameters we need to identify and then we did qualify because of this. And just at the same line, I did call the mayors from the border cities and the conversation that we held was very productive and it's not it wasn't an intention to to say that we cannot handle our situation. and it was ask for help because when they when they have the same situation, we'll be able to to be on board. So, I think that's the meaning of collaboration. So, I think that was very helpful. >> I agree, mayor. Thank you. Um, yeah, and um and for the support on the businesses and everything. Yeah, the SBA I I'm going to I'll digress just a little bit off the slide because I was going to say this earlier, but I will say it now as well too. the mayor, the city council, every one of you worked tirelessly through this just like staff did, just like everybody did. Thank you for that. I don't I don't think anybody recognizes the thing. I I and I heard from some of you on and off throughout this entire thing. It's like I understand how how you feel, but I'm living it, too. And that's the idea is that this is taking care of our home and everything. And so I just want to say thank you to all of you for that because uh you all have different constituents. You all have different viewpoints on this thing and that commitment it shows true for that. The next the first meeting in November I will be providing you a list of all the uh the staff members and everything uh that have been active from day one through this thing because one we want to tell them thank you. We want to tell all the agency thank you. But I also want to I will be asking for you to consider and I'm just laying it in your head today. We have salary employees that worked extraordinary hours in order to get this work done. I believe it is appropriate during an emergency event to even recognize that and I and uh I will I will provide you with my my viewpoint on that at that time. But I wanted to make sure you understand we appreciate everybody. You guys were up at 11 o'clock at night. You guys were up at 2 o'lock in the morning. you were up at 7 o'clock in the morning. I know because I got most of your texts and I was up with you. I I tried to respond as well, too. But that that our crews went nonstop. We had to actually force some people to go home because they wouldn't. And I I think I want to drive that home that that we appreciate that so much. And and I understand as well too. What do we do from today? What do we do going forward? That's very very important. We got a great foundation to come from. And I I want to make sure that I just push that in there because I I think everybody loses sight of that for a lot of different reasons. This gets into the staffing shortages. Uh this is another thing that we are looking at, especially the inspectors, the utility personnel, making sure they're all in critical roles. I'll tell you that we have begun at the in-depth review. One of the thing that Mr. uh Pisker is working through is is part of that as well, too. Making sure we have the right people in the right places in order to get this done. We also know that we are we are short-handed in critical roles and so we are working on that. We are also putting together through HR along with the utilities to do a targeted marketing campaign. Mayor, may I interrupt briefly? >> Yes, go ahead. >> Mr. Neb, we we've heard uh time um after time in the media and the public criticizes the situation when we say we've been short staffed. And I want you to touch briefly on we didn't find out we were short staffed when this happened. We've known we've been short staffed. And talk to us a little bit about the efforts you have implemented along with your management team and the HR director to recruit employees to these positions because I want the public to know that we've known we've been short staffed and we haven't turned a blind eye on that and we just didn't find that out because of the water boil. >> Yes, sir. I I will. Mayor and council. So yeah. So this has been ongoing for the last year and a half as well too and and it and it proceeds it goes back a ways because there are certain industry specific positions that are very difficult. I think you should all be very thankful that when we have 24 positions open in the fire department we have a thousand people sign up to to pick from. That's uncommon. Police and fire are a very difficult field to get the right mentality to people. I 911 communications don't get me started on that one. And that is a very difficult field for those individuals. When we get into the utilities, this is the same thing. We see it with the engineering field and everything else. Uh being close to oil and gas messes all that up as well, too, because they can go to the oil and gas and and and make a little bit better money. We're just more stable all the way through this thing. And and I I do have some slides I wasn't going to cover tonight because I was going to be respectful of your time, but my position, and I talked a little bit about this before, my position is to salvage every employee that we have, if they're able to understand what they how they can do their work better, we're going to keep them because they have the heartbeat. They they know our city, they we need to put them to work. But when we bring people in, when we are out there doing that, uh, all the stuff that we are doing, and I will tell you, and then I've had this conversation more than once over the last year, is that if all we're doing is putting our our, uh, opening on our website, that's not enough. If that is a very important position, this should be in every association's hands. It should be out, whether it be a national search, whatever you want to call it. We want qualified people looking for us. Um, and so I I think those are the things that we we started doing a little better. We we put together the same type of brochures that we've used for the police chief, for the city manager and saying, "Come visit us." The mayor and I spent time with uh the uh the residents for Gateway just the other yesterday and and uh all our whole pitch was come stay now that we've got you here. Stay with us and here's why. And uh and that is all that information we're trying to put out there to try to help track people to us and actually I really believe and I think that you can see it in some of our departments is already paying dividends is to grow our own bring in somebody that's that doesn't have all those skills but they got a great spirit. They got the they got the heart of the city for them. They want to do customer service but then we have to invest in them and train them. And so all of that stuff is happening with that. We we've Laredo is no different than any other city about trying to find personnel. And so we we overhaul our our salary system. We look at all those pieces. We challenge ourselves out as to where do we place all these positions to make sure that we're attracting them. It's about attraction. It's about retention. And uh and I think those are the things and I have a couple slides in there just because I I know that u I I know that some of the frustration for you guys through this this event is that we've known about this in the past. We've known about this. I'm telling you, we've been doing work all along in order to improve upon that. We can't we there's so many different things that we're trying to juggle that we're focusing as much as we can and we're getting better every day. I really truly believe that. But if there if we're all we're doing is putting our application out on our website, we're not we're hoping somebody the fish swim by. We're in the wrong lake. I mean, if we want an engineer, we're in the wrong lake. We need to get outside of that. We need to get out there. And I think those are the things that we're changing. Those are the things that we're we're focusing on. Um all of the all the directors and I've shared with you my my goals and initiatives every year. I'll share that with you. I shared with you back in September of 23 what I told the count what I told all of our directors. Get your SOPs updated. We have a three-year cycle going through that. They have one they're in one year first. So all our SOPs should be available for that. Now we're testing them. Now we're analyzing them and then in the third year they're going to uh actually uh train all their people in order to do that. It'll all go simultaneously. But but that's how that's how we're doing that. So hopefully that kind of helps answer that question about that. We have been working. We have been we've been we've been changing our strategies. Uh, I will I will tell you that in my past um I receive emails every occasionally from other other cities and everything going, "Hey, I see I see your resume on LinkedIn or wherever else it is." And when I look down and I see the title on there, talent acquisition manager. That means that it's not just an HR department that is in their office waiting for the applications to come in. That means we're going we're going out and target marketing. And in my mind, in this one here, for engineers, if it's engineers we need, we better be go to every engineer school in the region and say, are you ready? Come on over with us and here's what'll happen. Same thing we were doing, same thing everybody's doing with the doctors and the nurses and everything, we need to be doing on our side as well, too. So, um, so we are working through that and and we're we're actually building that targeted campaign. We have some of them out there, but I would say that based upon the shortages we have, we have to reinvigorate that today. I mean, we have to go for that and get that done. The last item that the mayor had was public engagement. Um, I'm a firm believer. I I truly believe that we put more information out during this thing, sometimes to our detriment, but I think it's still the right way to go. I it's uh the bruises heal and uh and I think that that's that's where we can at least make sure everybody's taken care of. Our first town hall meeting on this will be November 7th. We're still trying to pick a site because I think the library is taken. So, we'll have a site for that. Uh but in the evening on November 7th, we we'll provide an update from where we are at from all the information that you're hearing where we are today and and what we're doing. And we'll get u what you'll what you'll also see you won't have to listen to me every one of these reports because I'm going to get my my tail out of the way and I will let you talk with just like tonight with Dr. Chamberlain. I'll let you talk to them as well too because I want them to champion exactly what they've all been doing. I just wanted to because this is a special meeting. I wanted to keep it in my hands as well too. So So we have a we have set that uh just the departmental work plans are are out there. I just wanted to show those to you because I shared those with you back in September. Our evaluation strategy, this is the part that I wanted to answer because we've you know there there's questions out there. Everybody's looking for the employee that dropped the ball and and and you guys all know and man, you have big shoes. You know that it drops it drops in your lap no matter which way you do that. I feel the same way. Anything that the employees do that's great, it's them. It's them that did it. if they don't do something correctly, it's my fault because I could have done one other thing differently. I could have done something a little bit better. And so I I will take that ownership just like each one of you do as well too because I think that's what our people deserve and I think that's what our our citizens deserve. So but I will again when I talk about this uh the success is measured in results, effort and commitment. I really don't care. Uh I told everybody because I heard all about political appointments. I heard all about all this noise and stuff. I don't care how they're there. If they're taking care of our city, we're we're solid. If I can train them to do better, we're solid where that's the way we're going to handle this thing. The corrective action with a growth mindset, coaching and mentoring. We actually have a policy already out there being reviewed uh to develop out. And this goes with our uh our CPM class that that some of you were able to participate with as well too. The Laredo College Project as well too. We are going to take these these people that have spent their time and devoted more of their time for that and we're going to make them into mentors. We're going to make them into coaches. We're going to take all of our young people and and help train them up better and uh and help make them not step in that. Police and fire have had such a good coaching and mentoring all the way up through there. We're just going to overlay it over the entire city. Structured corrective measures ensure fair chances to improve. I know you're all aware that we do let some employees go, but it's not because we've given up on them. It's because they don't fit it because they It's because they needed something else. I And I put that down there. I don't give up on anybody. I just can't. And I believe that if we give everybody the right tools, the right chance, they will perform very well. And I and I see that in all of our people. So, I just wanted to make sure I laid that out there. Uh if we're not moving fast enough, again, my fault then. My fault because I haven't I haven't understood the the direction that you wanted to go. Um, but we h we are seeing results. We are seeing our departments respond. We are seeing all of that happen. Operational stability, improved service delivery. We're seeing the the work environment shift. Do we still have some of the scars? We do. We still have things happening. Yes, we do. And I don't I don't know how you can get away from it with 3,000 employees. We're going to have that. We're going to have all those personalities, but we are aligning everybody's performance to the mission. And the stronger as you get stronger, we get stronger. And I think that's what's going to be awesome with where we're at. We want employees focused on community service and learning at every given chance. We want continuous improvement. And we want a strategy that ensures both individual development and organizational out excellence. Those are great words. We have to make sure that they are always focused with what we're doing. Finally, I I put this slide in there for you. Uh we will be putting u Mr. Fisker in front of you, Buzz. uh that is known but I wanted to give you some of that background as as everybody I I'm sure some of you have already googled already already searched uh but I wanted to put some of the stuff out there he was the interim director of water utilities later interim public works director in Amarillo in 22 23 um of course he went through leadership transition strategic oversight he was the director of waterworks in Arlington Texas and he managed operations for over 400,000 residents When you look at his responsibilities, I think the one that I that that came out that was in the one of the newspapers that I used to review him, he deploys sewer inspecting robots to improve the infrastructure management. And so if you're not thinking of somebody that is looking a little bit outside of the box, not stuck with the traditional means, that's what this is. It saved the city millions in maintenance costs. I will tell you that in the three days he's been there, he's already found uh where we have some lost revenue of about $250,000. So, I want to say that he's already found his salary. Now, he needs to find mine. So, but it's a but he is with us today. Uh Mr. Pisker is right over there. Buzz is right over there. Uh we'll let you talk to him after we're done. Uh but he has been involved a lot. uh he is already making that impact out there and and we will as he as he gets the lay of the land we will be bringing in whatever resources he needs and we'll be making the adjustments as we go. We'll keep you informed as where that's at. Uh but I wanted to make sure that you're aware of that and as you notice he has that class A water operator license as well. >> May I make a comment? >> Yes, go ahead. Um, it's it's uh obviously more than likely going to hit the local media, right, and our newspaper with a statement of the $250,000 of uh >> potential loss revenue, right? And I think that if that's what's happening, we need to involve our internal auditor as well to review um those um finances, >> identify that as well. Um because if I'm not mistaken, we have a specialized financial team within the utilities office. It's like a business, right? And um very different than our finance department. They have their own financial operations. I think it's important that this council be given a thorough review >> of those 250 or whatever else, right? >> I appreciate that. Yeah. So, yeah. So, these are uh these are late payments and payments that weren't made by contractors with the city that that owe us some funding as well too. I won't get into it much more than that. I I'll get but it will come out because I think these are the things that we're finding. These are the things that we're discovering and um and yes uh and we have done audits out there before, but I think what's going to happen now with uh m Mr. Pisker out there and with with city management on top of it as well too, we're gonna we're gonna actually prioritize. We're going to actually focus on those those pieces. It's not it's not looking at it is a holistic approach on it, but but we're going to identify those things based upon that expertise and and we're going to we're going to fix those pieces as we go. And so, mayor, city council, that is my update for where we are at. I I I could have brought in the EOC information as well, too, but I wanted to make sure that you saw some of these outside people that with all the work that we're doing. >> All right. One more thing I forgot to mention. Uh we did re I did reach out to Governor Abbott and he called me back and pledging his support to help us out with TDM and anything that we needed. Yes sir. >> So I did want to mention that he he made that declaration of of disaster for web county which allows us to to get federal funding. That's a step to go get federal funding through the SBA. So all those channels were open. So that could help us a little bit with our with our I agree, Mayor. I and your work with all the other elected officials, state and everything. Excellently done. >> Go ahead. >> Thank you. I mean, um, yeah. So, could we also get a report or or an an audit on all of the plans that we've paid for um, and just to make sure that whether they were put in place or if they they hadn't been implemented. Certainly. Yes. >> Similar to the the hydraulic plan if it was synced with the GIS system >> um on our our flushing plan. And then also do we know well um did so in the 2021 um boil water notice we had awarded an emergency contract to Adura for um to complete the work in the distribution system. Was that ever completed? We will we will we will we'll put that into that and then we are we are working through that as part of the metrics that uh that he's working through in order to determine all. >> Okay. And then also just so there there have been 11 times since August 2023 not including the special samples collected during the recent boil water notice that were E.coli positive. And could we I I would really um I believe that we as a city should understand what actions were taken how um >> Sure. >> after after understand like after those tests came back positive >> certainly and and yes and and at the start of that that is part of the triage that we are doing is is looking at uh and that's why I put the slide up there for the eight boil notices that we had as to what our response was for each one. And that's why I tried to pull them all together. What are the common threads within that system as well too uh we I I'm happy to give that information and say this is where we saw the sample. This is what we were required to do. This is what how we how we resolved it because samples could be bad samples as well too. And so if we get a sample and it goes in, if it if it triggers different things as to our response, we're happy to provide all that information. um if you uh if you have the 11, if you can show me uh which ones they are, what dates and everything, we can we can walk all that through and and and make sure that we've actually crossed our tea, dotted our eyes for every one of them. >> Go ahead, council. Mayor, uh, I just want to piggy back off of Council Member um, Shigaro's comments and and and request that or two things. Make a statement and a request that um, you know, we did have every council meeting we did have an agenda item for updates from the water department and um, we were never notified about any of these triggers that had occurred. I think it's important that the data that we collect is also in line with the data that's being collected by TCQ so that the public confused on if they're seeing it on TCQ's website and they're not seeing or hearing anything on on our end and also for us as a council to know when these things are happening because we're not getting these in our in our packets. We're not getting these we're not being notified of these of these occurrences and so it's hard for us to um justify that when it's just it's a lack of information being given to us. And then um so just want to request that that that that information information be given not only you know to us in the Friday packet but also brought to light when we have the agenda item that talks about the water quality because all we kept hearing when we would get updates from the water was we're working towards the problem we're we're working on it or I'll have an answer for you next time and you know that's all we would hear every two weeks and and and going back to the audit I think it's important for us to know you know exactly what happened the mistakes we made and how we can continue to move forward. Fix them. >> Yeah. And mayor and city council and just know that we struggle with this all the time as to what information gets to that serious level. I and I agree with you that uh because I will tell you that every one of those every one of those cases was corrected in the letter of what the responsibilities are. That's what that's why you that's why you're able to find them in the first place. So they turn the paperwork in. They clear it to make sure that it's safe and they walk through that. But we all we you know and I've had conversations with you over the last year and a half as well too is that we want to know when traffic slows down at the bridge. We want to know if there's a shooting. We want to know if there's you know some weird thing. Happy to get there. What we've never been able to find is that uh comprehensive listing. Please provide us with that. But we will add that to that information because at least for now it's a very important thing to understand. And I think part of what we're going to do And based upon what I'm sharing with you too is to educate you as well too and say this is the process and I want you to have that trust in our people to do that. So >> mayor >> yes >> just to reiterate Mr. Nev I understand that you're saying that there was a trail and a paper and a process but that was never provided to us. >> Right. And and it may not have been because what they did was they did all the legal stuff that they had to do to the TCQ. >> Right. But it would be we think >> Yes. Yes. And I and I and I understand what you're asking. >> Right. >> Yes ma'am. >> Go ahead. Are you aware of any were you aware of any of these um positive? >> No, just the just of the boil water notices and everything. I I would say that because I I've heard of um the grape vine and everything even from that ecoli in August, right? There was a sample there that that came back ecoli. They cleared it legally. They cleared it the proper way with TCP. TCP said, "Yep, we're all done with that one." I wasn't aware of that one either. So, but that that's not normally I I we can we can change our processes in order to make sure that these are these are important enough to let city management know as well as the city council. >> But if I may, just just a point of order. >> Yes. >> I believe based on the way in which this agenda item was was worded that we're just slightly exceeding the scope of how we are improving or mitigating any issues in our water infrastructure and I don't know how these previous um potential positive tests are relevant to this particular especially just the way in which it's written. So I would just just for the sake of staying clear of any possible violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, we we um keep our questions relevant or germanine to how the agenda item is written. That's all. City Council, let me make sure to assure you that myself, Mr. Landine, Mr. Valdez will make themselves available and you can come in and we can we can talk about this in greater detail. This is actually a a no decision meeting. It is about information and everything. So, we will help walk through if we believe that we need a directive from you, we will we will set that directive up for you and then we will uh address it accordingly. But >> do do know that you can come and for anything that you need. >> Thank you. Thank Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Mr. N. But I I mean, everything that we're talking about is about our water infrastructure improvements and mitigation, including I mean that that includes everything utilities. >> And I I would agree with you if it was worded in a way that said any other matter incident there too. The way I'm reading this respectfully, ma'am, is any updates on the water infrastructure improvements and And I don't know how these questions about previous tests are considered an update on our infrastructure. That is that is my interpretation based on this and and my advice to you as as council. >> Okay. Well, it was also in the report that Mr. Neb just presented. Not the test but previous >> we remain available. That's all I'm going to say. So if there's anything on my report then >> yes. Anything else? >> Mayor, I do want to make a comment. Um, Mr. Neb, I want to personally thank you for your leadership during this water boil. Um, many people may disagree with me, but I think that a lot of people did not know what was happening on our end and trying to mitigate this. And I think that you've demonstrated that you are a Laredoan as well and that you're one of us. We all had our families and our friends and our constituents going through this and you were not the exception. It's not like you live in a inside a bubble where your water was not potentially contaminated or any one of us live inside a bubble and are excluded from our water system. And I think that um you proved that you put this city um before your family. you canled a family trip that you had planned um to see your children and you proved that our city is your priority as city manager and I just want to applaud you and your wife and the family that lives with you here for not throwing the towel and saying they're recruiting me I'm I'm leaving right I'm bailing out of the city you've proven to believe in us to believe in Laredo and I want to personally thank you for that because some of my colleagues may not think exactly ly and I don't speak for the entire council but I speak for myself and I've seen not only the work you put but Chief Landine put um while you and uh council member Sigaroa and some staff were out in a um TML conference um and Chief Landine along with Mr. Valdez um handled uh until you returned and if I'm not mistaken you canceled your flight and you drove down to Larredo because it would get you here quicker to ensure that you started addressing the situation at hand. Um so thank you very much for that. Um we appreciate that and the rest of the individuals that were involved in the mitigation um of this whether it was not just the utilities department but all the departments that came together to ensure we would address this as efficiently and quickly as possible. >> Mayor city council. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Any questions? >> Make a motion to motion. Second. All in favor? Eating a jerk.