[00:00:02]
OKAY, FIRST DATE, IT IS, UH, SIX O'CLOCK,
[1. Call to order and roll call of members]
UH, ACTUALLY 6 0 1 NOW, AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.THE FIRST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA WOULD BE A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS.
UH, FIRST PAM ARNOLD, NOT HERE YET.
SO WE WILL, UH, CALL A MEETING TO ORDER.
[2. Approval of February 19, 2024, minutes]
WE NEED TO, UH, CONSIDER IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 19TH, 2000, 24 MINUTES MEETING.AND, UH, YOU'VE ALL RECEIVED COPIES OF THAT.
IT WAS PRETTY LENGTHY, BUT THEY DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF, OF, UH, CATCHING THE QUESTIONS AND THE ANSWERS AND, AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO IF THERE ARE NO CORRECTIONS OR ADDITIONS TO THE MINUTES OF THAT MEETING, UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CONSIDER THOSE.
UH, CONSIDER THOSE APPROVED AS SUBMITTED.
ITEM THREE IS CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
NOW THIS HAS TO DO WITH SOMETHING BESIDES SOMETHING ON THE PUBLIC HEARING.
SO, UH, YOU'LL, YOU'LL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT, THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THE A, B, AND C, UH, AS WE GO ALONG.
[4. Public Hearing and Action Items]
ITEM NUMBER FOUR WOULD BE PUBLIC HEARING AND ACTION ITEMS. AND WE'RE GONNA DO IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN WE DID LAST TIME.WHAT WE'LL DO IS, UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND READ IT, BUT WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PRESENTATION BY STAFF AND THEN REPRESENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE APPLICANT.
AND THEN WE'LL DO THE, GO INTO THE PUBLIC HEARING AND, AND HEAR EVERYBODY THAT WANTS TO, WANTS TO TALK AT THAT TIME.
NOW WITH, UH, THE PRESENTATION BY STAFF AND APPLICANT, WE WOULD ASK YOU TO LIMIT THAT TO, UH, A MINIMUM OR A MAXIMUM OF, OF 10 MINUTES.
AND, UH, WE'LL, WE WILL, UH, LET YOU KNOW IF YOU, IF YOU RUN OVERHAND, LEMME GO AHEAD AND READ THIS.
WHAT WE'RE FIXING TO DO IS HOLD THE PUBLIC HEARING AND MAKE RECOMMENDATION ON ZONING CHANGE APPLICATION MAP 23 0 0 0 8 BERKMAN, BESS, TO REZONE APPROXIMATELY 4.34 ACRES FROM CG GENERAL COMMERCIAL TO IL LIMITED INDUSTRIAL, AND CONSIDER A SPECIAL USE PERMIT ON THE SAME PROPERTY TO ALLOW A BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM, BETTER KNOWN AS A-B-E-S-S, A PRIVATE UTILITY USE TO OPERATE ON PROPERTY GENERALLY LOCATED ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF STATE HIGHWAY THREE, AND ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF WASHINGTON STREET.
MR. GLEN SMITH, YOU WANT TO ADDRESS IT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY? YES, SIR.
GOOD EVENING, COMMISSIONERS FOR THE RECORD.
MY NAME IS MARK LIE, SCHMIDT, PLANNING MANAGER FOR THE CITY OF LEAGUE CITY.
THE REQUEST BEFORE YOU TODAY IS FOR A, UH, THE BERKMAN BEST SITE, WHICH IS STANDS FOR BATTERY BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM.
THIS REQUEST IS LOCATED, UH, ON THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF HIGHWAY THREE AND WASHINGTON AVENUE.
IT'S APPROXIMATELY 5.8 ACRES OF WHICH THE APPLICANT IS PROPOSING APPROXIMATELY ABOUT 4.3 ACRES FOR THE, UH, ENERGY FACILITY WITH THE REMAINING 1.54 ACRES ALONG, WHICH IS, WOULD BE THE FRONTAGE ALONG HIGHWAY THREE FOR COMMERCIAL ASPECTS.
IF YOU'LL, UH, LOOK ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE UNDER THE AERIAL MAP, THE SITE IS LOCATED, UH, AS MENTIONED, BUT PREVIOUSLY ALONG THE HIGHWAY THREE CORRIDOR.
THE NEAREST, UH, SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE IS APPROXIMATELY 130 FEET TO THE EAST, THEN THE NEAREST SCHOOL IS APPROXIMATELY 1500 FEET TO THE SOUTH.
UH, AS WE MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS BEST SITE, UH, THEY DO TEND TO LOCATE NEAR THE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATIONS.
THIS IS A MAP, UH, SHOWING THE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATIONS ACROSS LEAGUE CITY.
THIS PARTICULAR AREA WOULD BE, UH, DIRECTLY DUE WEST OF THE POWER POWER STREET SUBSTATION.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE, UH, ZOOMED IN OF THE SITE PLAN, GETTING THE FRONT FIVE AND A ONE AND A HALF ACRES IS FOR THE COMMERCIAL REMAINING SITE WOULD BE A WALLED OFF, UM, AND SCREENED, UH, FACILITY FOR THE BATTERY STORAGE SYSTEM, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE, UH, WITH THE LANDSCAPING PLANS FOR THAT FACILITY.
UH, ALSO, UH, WHAT YOU CAN, WHAT IS PROVIDED HERE IS A CHRONOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE VIEW FROM HIGHWAY THREE, FROM THE DATE OF INSTALLATION TO APPROXIMATELY 10 YEAR TIME SPAN.
THIS ONE AGAIN, IS FOR HIGHWAY THREE, AND THEN THIS ONE IS ALSO FOR WASHINGTON STREET.
UH, AGAIN, UM, JUST TO TO FOLLOW UP, THERE ARE SEVERAL FACTORS WHEN STAFF WAS ADDRESSING NOT ONLY THIS
[00:05:01]
SITE, BUT BEST, UH, SITES IN GENERAL.UH, WE LOOK AT WHICH AFFECTED OUR RECOMMENDED CONDITIONS.
WE LOOK AT THE LOCATIONS, ZONING, FIRE AND SAFETY ISSUES, VISUAL AND NOISE IMPACTS OF THE NUISANCES, DECOMMISSIONING AND SURETY.
UM, BASED ON THAT, UM, STAFF DID PRESENT FINDINGS, UH, THAT WERE NOTED IN YOUR REPORT.
ALSO WITH OUR RECOMMENDATION IS THAT BASED ON THAT INFORMATION THAT WE PREVIOUS I PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED, BASED ON THESE CRITERIA, WE IDENTIFIED THAT, YOU KNOW, PRETTY MUCH THE THE BEST FACILITIES OPERATE SIMILARLY.
UM, BUT THEY NEED TO BE APPROPRIATELY MITIGATED BASED ON THREE MAIN CRITERIA.
ONE IS THE LOCATION OF THE FACILITY RELATIVE TO ITS SURROUNDING AREA IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
THAT WOULD ALSO WORK, UM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCATION WITH THE SUBSTATIONS.
NUMBER TWO IS THE APPROPRIATE SCALING OF THAT.
UM, BY THAT WE WOULD ANTICIPATE, YOU KNOW, LARGER, UH, FACILITIES WOULD NEED, YOU KNOW, APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS TO RELATE TO THAT LARGER FACILITY, AND THEN ANY UNIQUE CONDITIONS THAT WERE NECESSARY AS A RESULT OF THE PROPERTY OR ANYTHING SPECIFIC TO THAT SITE.
AS A RESULT, THE PROPOSED LOCATION FOR THIS PREFERRED SITE IS NOT OUR PREFERRED LOCATION.
UM, ALSO, UM, BUT THE APPLICANT DID WORK WITH US THROUGH THE, UM, REVIEW PHASE TO, UM, GENERATE, UH, SOME COMMERCIAL ASPECTS ALONG HIGHWAY THREE.
ADDITIONALLY, THERE'S A GREATER BENEFIT OF, OF THE BEST FACILITIES LOCATING NEAR THE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATIONS.
SHOULD THE REQUEST BE RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL.
DOES STAFF RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS BE INCLUDED? THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THEM.
THE FIRST ONE REGARDING THE TIMELINE, TWO LIMITATIONS FOR THE SUP LIMITED TO PRIVATE UTILITIES.
THREE IS RELATED TO IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR REGULATIONS.
AGAIN, THIS IS SPECIFICALLY NOT RELATED TO ANY BEST REGULATIONS SINCE THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE ANY.
BUT THESE ARE BASIC REGULATIONS THAT WE HAVE FOR DEVELOPMENT IN LANDSCAPING, PARKING, MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY CONDITIONS THAT ARE APPROVED IF THE SUP IS APPROVED.
NUMBER FOUR IS COMPLIANCE WITH THE FIRE MARSHALS OFFICE.
RECOMMENDATIONS NUMBER FIVE, THE CONDITIONS OF OPERATIONS PRIOR TO OPERATIONS.
AGAIN, THAT'S THE EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN, THE DECOMMISSIONING PLAN, THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DECOMMISSIONING BOND.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS THE CONDITIONS AND DECOMMISSIONING.
UM, IF YOU'LL RE, IF YOU'LL REMEMBER AT LAST MEETING WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE FIRST ONE, THESE SITES, IF NOT READ ENERGIZED, WOULD LAST APPROXIMATELY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 20 AND 25 YEARS.
UH, BUT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE ARE ADDRESSING THE LIFESPAN OF THE SITE AGAIN AS WELL.
UH, I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
THE APPLICANT HAS INDICATED THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A SMALL PRESENTATION AS WELL.
AND THE APPLICANT IS COMING UP.
IF YOU GUYS WOULD, UH, IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND TELL US WHO YOU REPRESENT.
MY NAME IS PARKER SLOAN WITH CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES, AND I'M JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUE BEHIND ME, JACOB GOARD, AS WELL AS HAILEY DERBYS AND THE AUDIENCE, AND OUR, OUR CONSULTANT ENGINEER FROM DNV ENGINEERING MARK KELLENBERGER.
UM, I WANTED TO START BY SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALL WATCHED THE RECORDING OF YOUR, OF YOUR PREVIOUS VIDEO, AND SO WE UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE HERE PREPARED TO ANSWER ANY OF ALL QUESTIONS THAT YOU, THAT YOU HAVE FOR AS LONG AS YOU'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, TALK ABOUT THOSE WITH US.
UM, AND ALSO JUST WE WANNA DO THE BEST WE CAN TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE HERE, WHY WE'RE INTERESTED, UH, IN LEAGUE CITY, WHY THIS TECHNOLOGY EXISTS AT ALL, AND WHY IT'S BEING DEPLOYED IN TEXAS, AND WHAT THE BENEFITS ARE TO YOUR COMMUNITY AND TO YOUR ELECTRIC GRID.
SO I WANNA START BY TALKING ABOUT WHO WE ARE.
WE ARE A NATIONWIDE INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER THAT'S BEEN AROUND SINCE 2014.
WE HAVE AROUND 400 EMPLOYEES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND WE HAVE WORKED IN 20 STATES TO DATE.
WE OWN 221 OPERATIONAL PROJECTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND WE HAVE AROUND 20, UH, SOLAR AND STORAGE PROJECTS IN TEXAS AND ARE POISED TO GROW THAT, UM, A LOT IN THE COMING YEARS.
WE ALSO HAVE A BEST IN CLASS OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE TEAM THAT MONITORS ALL OF OUR FACILITIES AROUND THE CLOCK 24 7, UM, FROM OUR REMOTE MONITORING FACILITY IN, IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, WHICH IS NERC CERTIFIED AND REQUIRED OF US TO, TO HAVE, AND TO MONITOR ALL OF OUR FACILITIES, JUST LIKE ANY POWER PLANT IS IN THE UNITED STATES.
BUT IT IS, IT IS THE, THE STAFF AT O AND M, UH, THAT WILL BE HIRED, UH, LOCALLY AND THAT ALREADY LIVE IN THIS AREA THAT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MON UH, MAINTAINING
[00:10:01]
THESE FACILITIES, UM, ON A, ON A MONTHLY AND YEARLY BASIS.SO WHAT IS ENERGY STORAGE? SO JUST LIKE CHARGING YOUR PHONE AND JUST NOT TOO SIMILAR FROM, NOT TOO DISSIMILAR FROM THE TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR PHONE, WHEN YOUR PHONE CHARGES, WHILE IT'S SLEEP, WHILE YOU SLEEP.
ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS EFFICIENTLY AND CONVENIENTLY CAPTURE ELECTRICITY SO THAT IT CAN BE USED WHEN IT'S MOST NEEDED.
THE HOUSTON METRO REGION IN PARTICULAR IS A, IS A PRIME LOAD CENTER.
IT INCLUDES A LOT OF RESIDENTIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LOAD, AND IT'S GROWING VERY RAPIDLY AS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, UM, AND THIS AREA SPECIFICALLY.
AND THAT THIS TRANSMISSION LINE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS AREA IS KNOWN TO BE CONGESTED, UH, WHICH MEANS THAT ACROSS A YEAR, DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY, UH, IN THIS AREA OFTEN OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY, WHICH IN A, IN A SENTENCE IS WHY, IS WHY WE'RE ALL HERE.
BECAUSE STORAGE CAN HELP MEET DEMAND DURING TIMES OF, OF TIGHT ENERGY SUPPLY.
THIS IS KIND OF A COMPLICATED GRAPH, BUT I WANTED TO TRY AND WALK YOU, WALK YOU GUYS THROUGH IT.
THIS IS FROM ERCOT, AND IT'S A SNAPSHOT IN TIME OF ONE DAY IN ALL OF TEXAS THAT SHOWS ALL OF THE ELECTRICITY THAT WAS GENERATED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH.
THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT MONDAY.
FEBRUARY 26TH IS SIMPLY THE DAY BEFORE I MADE THIS POWERPOINT.
AND YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT, STARTING IN TIME IS THE MORNING.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT YOUR, ALL OF YOUR, YOUR, YOUR POWER PLANTS, YOUR NUCLEAR, YOUR, YOUR COAL, YOUR GAS, YOUR WIND IS RUNNING.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE AROUND 6:00 AM WHEN EVERYONE WAKES UP, UH, PEOPLE ARE GETTING READY TO GO TO SCHOOL AND WORK AND THERE'S A, THERE'S A SPIKE IN DEMAND FOR THAT, UH, FOR THAT ELECTRICITY 'CAUSE WE'RE AWAKE.
AND THEN IT KIND OF TAPERS OFF A LITTLE BIT AND THEN GRADUALLY INCREASES TO THE RIGHT TO AROUND 6:00 PM WHERE JUST LIKE ALMOST EVERY PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES ON ALMOST EVERY DAY, THE GRID PEAKS FOR THAT DEMAND WHEN PEOPLE GET HOME FROM WORK AND FROM SCHOOL AND ARE COOKING DINNER AND TURNING ON THE TV AND WATCHING THE GAME AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND YOU CAN SEE ALMOST IF YOU SQUINT, UH, WHICH IS PART OF THE POINT HERE IN THE, IN THE RED, IN THE DARK RED AT THE VERY TOP, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE EXISTING BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE IN TEXAS DEPLOYING TO THE GRID WHEN IT IS NEEDED AT THAT PEAK IN THE EVENING.
YOU CAN ALSO SEE BARELY ACROSS THE DAY THAT RED AT THE TOP IS HELPING MANAGE THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS, UH, AMONGST, UH, SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF ELECTRICITY IN TEXAS.
AND IT IS ENERGY STORAGE THAT IS THE CHEAPEST, MOST EFFICIENT, MOST, UH, MOST RELIABLE AND RESILIENT, UH, WAY TO ADD POWER GENERATION TO YOUR, TO YOUR GRID AND TO HELP YOUR STATE AND YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY.
THIS GRAPH IS THE SAME DAY, ACROSS THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME, EXCEPT IT IS JUST SHOWING, UH, WHAT THE EXISTING ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES IN TEXAS ARE DOING.
SO THERE'S ABOUT 70 GIGAWATTS OF POWER STORAGE THAT EXIST TODAY.
THAT'S ABOUT, UM, THAT'S ROUGHLY, UM, I'M SORRY, THERE'S YEAH, SEVEN GIGAWATTS.
SO ROUGHLY 70 PROJECTS OF THE SIZE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
AND SO, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE MORNING WHEN MOST FOLKS ARE, ARE ASLEEP, AND IN MOST OF INDUSTRY, NOT ALL, BUT MOST OF INDUSTRY, UM, YOU KNOW, ISN'T WORKING, YOU CAN SEE THAT BLUE WHERE THE BATTERIES THAT EXIST, THE ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES THAT EXIST IN TEXAS ARE CHARGING UP.
'CAUSE YOU SEE THE, THE POWER THAT YOU'VE, THAT YOU PAY FOR THE, THE POWER PLANTS THAT EXIST TODAY THAT YOU, THAT YOU'RE PAYING FOR YOUR WIND, YOUR NUCLEAR, YOUR GAS, YOUR COAL, IT'S RUNNING.
WHEN WE'RE ASLEEP, IT'S AROUND, IT'S WORKING.
UM, WE'RE JUST, WE'RE JUST ASLEEP AND WE'RE NOT USING AS MUCH AS IT'S, SO THE BATTERIES CAN CHARGE THAT ELECTRICITY, UH, INTO THEMSELVES.
AND THEN YOU CAN, AND THEN YOU SEE AROUND 6:00 AM UH, IN THE RED WHERE PEOPLE ARE WAKING UP AND THERE'S THAT NEED FOR THAT POWER, THAT SPIKE IN THAT NEED FOR ELECTRICITY.
AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE DAY, AS YOU MOVE TO THE RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE BATTERIES ARE HELPING, UM, FILL IN THE GAPS, FILL IN THOSE PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
AND THEN IN THE EVENING, AS YOU, AS I SAID, YOU SEE THE DISCHARGING AGAIN OF, OF THOSE BATTERIES WHEN THERE'S, WHEN THERE'S HUGE DEMAND, CERTAINLY AROUND HERE IN THE SUMMER, THAT, THAT, THAT DEMAND SPIKE IS TREMENDOUS, UH, IN THE EVENING WHEN PEOPLE ARE GETTING HOME AND TURNING ON THEIR, UH, ON THEIR AIR CONDITIONERS.
SO THIS IS, THIS IS WHY WE'RE HERE.
THIS IS, THIS IS WHY WE'RE INTERESTED.
UM, IN, IN TEXAS, UH, THE TECHNOLOGY HAS COME A LONG WAY.
IT'S BECOME A LOT MORE AFFORDABLE AND, AND IT'S CHANGED A LOT JUST OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
AND, AND SO THIS IS WHY WE'RE IN TEXAS AND WHY, WHY WE'RE IN LEAGUE CITY AS WELL AT THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION.
AND YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THIS PLAY OUT IN THE NEWSPAPER HEADLINES AS WELL THAT JUST IN THE RECENT YEAR, LAST 18 MONTHS, REALLY IT IS THAT EXISTING BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE THAT IS HELPING
[00:15:01]
MAINTAIN THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND CHALLENGES THAT YOUR ELECTRIC GRID IS SEEING, UH, WITH THE TREMENDOUS GROWTH THAT YOU HAVE AND AND DEMAND FOR THAT POWER, UH, ON A DAILY AND, AND REALLY HOURLY BASIS THAT ONLY BATTERY STORAGE CAN MEET AND BATTERY STORAGE MEETS BEST.THIS MAP IS, IS SIMPLY A MAP OF THE EXISTING BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES THAT YOU HAVE IN, IN GALVESTON COUNTY.
THE GREEN PLUS LINES, YOU CAN SEE THE EXISTING ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
AND ON THE LEFT THERE'S A YELLOW ONE THAT'S CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN YOUR AREA.
AND SO THIS IS, THIS IS A, A DIAGRAM OR A BAR GRAPH RATHER OF THE BENEFIT, THE DIRECT BENEFIT TO THE PEOPLE OF LEAGUE CITY AND TO THE CITY OF, OF LEAGUE CITY.
AND IT'S IN THE FORM OF, OF DRAMATIC TAX REVENUE IN CONTRAST TO THE VACANT LAND THAT IS THERE TODAY.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE FOR YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT, YOUR CLEAR CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT, IT'S APPROXIMATELY $11 MILLION IN BENEFIT ACROSS THE 20 YEAR LIFESPAN.
AND FOR LEAGUE CITY DIRECTLY, 4 MILLION GALVESTON COUNTY, 3.6 MILLION, UH, WHICH IN MY CAREER, I, I, I FIND THIS, THESE NUMBERS TO BE, UM, DRAMATIC AND ON THE, ON THE HIGHER END THAT I'VE SEEN, UM, IN MY, IN MY SIX YEARS.
THIS MAP, UH, IS JUST TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE THE FACILITY IS.
THE GREEN AND THE RED BOXES ARE, ARE KIND OF LIKE, UM, IS WHAT MARK WAS ALLUDING TO, WE'RE PROPOSING TO SUBDIVIDE THE PROPERTY AND MAINTAIN THAT GREEN PARCEL FOR FUTURE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT.
OR THE LANDOWNER IS RATHER NOT, NOT CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES.
THE LANDOWNER IS MAIN IS GONNA MAINTAIN THAT, THAT PARCEL IN THE FUTURE TO HELP MEET, UH, THE REQUIREMENTS AND GOALS OF YOUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND WITHIN THAT RED BOX IS THE, IS THE ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TONIGHT.
UM, AGAIN, THIS LOCATION, THE PARCELS SURROUNDED BY POWER LINES TODAY, AND THERE'S AN EXISTING TRANSMISSION LINE CORRIDOR ON THE SOUTH, UH, THAT WE WOULD BE CONNECTING ALONG THOSE EXISTING POWER LINES THAT RUN TO THE NORTHEAST, TO THE EXISTING, UM, SUBSTATION TO THE NORTHEAST.
AND THERE'S, THERE'S TRANSMISSION LINES THAT RUN TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH FROM THERE.
AND IT IS THAT TRANSMISSION LINE, UH, THAT IS VOLATILE THAT I WAS, I WAS MENTIONING EARLIER IN TERMS OF THE, THE DEMAND FOR POWER ACROSS A YEAR OUTSTRIPPING SUPPLY.
I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO JACOB.
UH, JACOB BERT, I'M THE DIRECTOR OF ENERGY STORAGE ENGINEERING AT CYPRESS CREEK.
I'M JUST GONNA GO OVER A COUPLE SLIDES, UH, WITH A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF WHAT, WHAT THIS EQUIPMENT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE, UM, IN INTERNALLY AS WELL.
AND SOME OF THE PROTECTION SYSTEMS EXIST, UM, AND THE CODES THAT, THAT GOVERN THIS INDUSTRY.
SO THIS PICTURE IS THE BATTERY CONTAINERS AND THE TRANSFORMER SKIDS.
UM, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY'RE JUST BOXES.
THEY LOOK LIKE SHIPPING CONEXES.
THEY'RE ROUGHLY 20 FEET BY EIGHT FEET, UM, BY 10 FEET TALL.
UM, INSIDE OF EACH BOX IS THE BATTERIES AND INVERTERS.
UM, SO YOU HAVE RACKS OF BATTERIES WITH THE INVERTERS AT THE BOTTOM.
UH, AN INTERNALIST CONTAINER IS A HANDFUL OF MECHANISMS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE, OF THE BATTERIES.
UM, SO THERE ARE DEFLAGRATION VENTS, THERE'S GAS DETECTORS, SMOKE DETECTORS, TEMPERATURE DETECTORS, FIRE ALARM CONTROL PANELS, A WATER HOOKUP, UM, INTERNAL AEROSOL TO THE INVERTERS, MANY MECHANISMS THAT ARE REDUNDANT WITH ANY WITHIN THEMSELVES TO, TO PREVENT ANY THERMAL EVENT FROM HAPPENING.
AND IF IT DOES HAPPEN FROM SPREADING TO WITHIN THE CONTAINER OR TO ADJACENT CONTAINERS, UM, THE INDUSTRY IS PRIMARILY DICTATED BY THE CODE, THE NFPA 55, THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTOR AGENCY, FIRE PROTECTION AGENCY 8 55.
UM, THIS IS HEAVILY MIRRORED IN THE INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE CHAPTER 12.
UH, AND, AND THIS CODE COMES OUT EVERY THREE YEARS WITH A NEW VERSION.
UM, SO SINCE ONE OF THE, THE MORE PUBLIC EVENTS IN THE US HAPPENED IN ARIZONA IN 2019, THERE'S BEEN TWO VERSIONS OF THIS CODE, WHICH HAVE HEAVILY ADDRESSED MANY OF THE SAFETY CONCERNS THAT RESULTED FROM THAT UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT IN ARIZONA.
UM, INCLUDING DICTATING HOW BIG THE BATTERIES CAN BE, WHERE THEY CAN BE LOCATED, HOW MUCH THEY NEED TO BE SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER TO PREVENT THE FIRE OR THERMAL EVENT FROM PROPAGATING, UM, HAVING EXPLOSION, ANTI EXPLOSION MECHANISMS WITHIN THE CONTAINER, UH, DICTATING WHAT NEEDS TO BE REQUIRED IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY, ET CETERA.
AND THIS IS WHERE WE GO TO, TO DETERMINE HOW TO DESIGN OUR SITES.
AND THEY HAVE TO COMPLY WITH THIS CODE, UM, IN ORDER TO BE BUILT.
SO WHY IS ENERGY STORAGE USEFUL? PARKER ALREADY HIT ON IT A LOT.
UM, IT'S A RELIABLE, UH, ENERGY SOURCE THAT IS, THAT IS DISPATCHABLE AS OPPOSED TO SOME OF THE OTHER RENEWABLES.
WE DON'T GET TO PICK WHEN THE SUN IS ON OR WHEN THE WIND IS BLOWING.
UM, BUT WE CAN PICK WHEN THESE BATTERIES ARE BEING USED, ESPECIALLY IF THAT HAPPENS AT PEAK TIMES OR DURING EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS LIKE THE WINTER STORMS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN TEXAS IN RECENT YEARS.
[00:20:02]
AND THERE'S ALSO A GREAT ECONOMIC BENEFIT WHICH PARKER HIT ON.YOU CAN JUST, Y'ALL CAN SIT WHEREVER YOU WANT TO.
YOU MIGHT WANNA TAKE SOME NOTES THOUGH, 'CAUSE YOU'LL PROBABLY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS A LITTLE BIT LATER.
SO ANYWAY, UM, THAT CONCLUDES THAT PART OF OUR, OUR PROGRAM.
WE WILL GO AHEAD AND OPEN THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING AT 6 21.
AND WE HAVE A LIST, I BELIEVE MR. LI SMITH.
AND WE'D ASK YOU TO, UH, PLEASE LIMIT YOUR, UM, YOUR COMMENTS TO THREE MINUTES.
AND THE FIRST PERSON ON OUR LIST IS LAURA ASHWORTH.
IT'S SO GREAT TO SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN.
I LIVE AT FIVE 17 SMALL CEDAR DRIVE IN LEAGUE CITY.
I AM THE LEAGUE CITY, HOA CHAIRPERSON.
AND I COME BEFORE YOU TODAY BECAUSE THERE'S QUITE A CONCERN ABOUT THESE BEST UNITS.
I'M FROM IOWA, AND IN IOWA WE SAY THIS ONE SAYING, IF YOU BUILD IT, WE WILL COME.
WE'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH ON BES, AND ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND IS THE POTENTIAL FOR INTERNAL SHORTS AND THERMAL RUNAWAY AND THE INABILITY FOR OUR EMERGENCY PERSONNEL WHOM LEAGUE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENTS SAID LAST TIME WE MET HAS NOT BEEN TRAINED TO MANAGE THESE EMERGENCIES.
NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT CONTAINMENT STRATEGIES WITH THESE, AND HE DID SAY MONITORED IN NORTH CAROLINA, ALTHOUGH DESIGNED TO BACK UP ERCOT.
I'M STILL TRYING TO FIND OUT WHERE THIS IS GOING TO BENEFIT OUR CITY AND OUR RESIDENTS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT TECHNOLOGY IS COMING, BUT NIMBY IS STILL A THOUGHT HERE, NOT IN MY BACKYARD.
WE ALSO MIGHT WANNA CONSIDER AND INVESTIGATE THE TAX EXEMPTION THAT THEY MIGHT GET FOR BUILDING IN A NON-ATTAINMENT AREA.
THIS COULD REMOVE ALL PROPERTY TAX REVENUE FOR THE CITY, COUNTY AND C-C-I-S-D.
WE ARE IN A NON-ATTAINMENT AREA.
I ASK YOU TONIGHT, PLEASE DENY THIS PERMIT.
THIS IS NOT AN AREA IN WHICH OUR RESIDENTS WANT TO HAVE THIS FACILITY AND WE FEEL UNSAFE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
I LIVE AT 1305 FAWN VALLEY DRIVE, UH, IN LAKE CITY IN THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK SUBDIVISION.
I HAVE 48 SOLAR PANELS ON MY HOUSE.
I THINK THE MOST THAT I'VE EVER SEEN IN LEAGUE CITY.
I DON'T KNOW, BUT I AM, I CONSIDER MYSELF PROGRESSIVE WHEN IT COMES TO ENERGY.
I'M PROGRESSIVE IN A LOT OF THINGS, BUT ESPECIALLY ENERGY.
AND I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THESE KIND OF FACILITIES.
I QUITE FRANKLY, PROBABLY OWN STOCK IN THEM, IF NOT THIS COMPANY, SOME OTHER ONE.
UM, BUT OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS SO WONDERFUL SINCE THE, UM, SINCE THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN BUILT, RIGHT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE HAVE YOUNG FAMILIES WITH LITTLE KIDS AND WITH SCHOOL KIDS, AND THEY WALK TO SCHOOL AND THEY RIDE THEIR BIKES TO SCHOOL AND THEY WALK HOME FROM SCHOOL.
AND I LOVE SEEING THEM AND I LOVE MY NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE TOGETHER SIX KIDS IN THREE HOUSES WHO WHEN MY HUSBAND WAS MISDIAGNOSED WITH A LSA COUPLE YEARS AGO, PITCHED IN AND DID EVERYTHING FOR US.
THOSE KIDS CONSIDER US THEIR OTHER GRANDPARENTS.
UM, I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A SENIOR NEIGHBORHOOD.
I WANNA LIVE IN THIS KIND OF VITAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAVE PERSONALLY IS WITH THE LOCATION.
IT'S JUST TOO CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL AND TO
[00:25:01]
ALL THOSE KIDS THAT ARE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, AND WE HAVE A LOT OF KIDS, IT'S THE REASON THAT PEOPLE MOVE TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS BECAUSE OF THAT SCHOOL.AND IT'S THE REASON WE CAN SELL OUR HOUSES WHEN AS QUICK AS WE WANT TO, BECAUSE PEOPLE WANNA LIVE THERE.
AND THIS JUST, THERE'S JUST TOO MANY IFS WHAT IFS.
AND FOR THAT REASON, THERE'S A LOT OF EMPTY SPACE.
THERE'S A LOT OF EMPTY SPACE AROUND HERE.
I DON'T THINK THE MONEY IS WORTH IT TO THE CITY, ESPECIALLY IF THERE'S AN ACCIDENT.
BUT EVEN SAYING THERE'S NO ACCIDENT AND THERE MIGHT NOT BE, IT'S TOO DAMN CLOSE TO THAT SCHOOL.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU MS. THOMAS.
NEXT WOULD BE, UH, GREGORY TINO VINNO 1350 FOREST ROAD, OAK DRIVE, LAKE CITY.
UH, I LIVE IN THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK.
UH, I JUST HAD A FEW QUESTIONS.
UM, ARE THERE GONNA BE MORE MEETINGS OR IS THIS GONNA BE A DECISION TONIGHT? I HAVE NO IDEA.
AND AND IF THERE'S GONNA BE A DECISION TONIGHT, SOMETHING'S WRONG, I'LL, I'LL GO AHEAD AND ANSWER THAT.
THE DECISION TONIGHT WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND IT'LL BE HEARD BY THE CITY COUNCIL.
THEY'LL HAVE ANOTHER PUBLIC HEARING SOMETIME IN APRIL, I BELIEVE IT IS.
UH, THE OTHER THING THAT CONCERNS ME IS THEY SAID THE CLOSEST SCHOOL WAS WHAT, 1500 FEET AWAY.
WOULD THAT BE THE ONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD, OR WOULD THAT BE THE, UH, OTHER SCHOOL THAT'S JUST DOWN THE ROAD? WHICH ONE IS THE CLOSEST? PARK PARK? WE'LL, GO AHEAD.
WE'LL ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS AS WE GO ALONG IN THE NIGHT.
RIGHT, AND WE'LL SOMETIME OR THE OTHER.
THE OTHER THING IS, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ENOUGH LAND THERE FOR IT, BECAUSE SOMETHING LIKE THIS, AND I'VE SEEN THESE BATTERIES GO AND WHEN THEY BURN, THEY BURN.
SO YOU NEED ENOUGH LAND TO HAVE YOUR BATTERY CONTAINMENT HERE.
AND THEN ANOTHER CONTAINMENT AROUND THAT, AND ANOTHER CONTAINMENT AROUND THAT, AND ANOTHER ONE, BECAUSE WHEN THESE HURRICANES HIT AND THE FLOODS COME, NOTHING'S GONNA STOP IT.
AND, UH, WATER GETS IN THERE, FORGET IT.
AND WHEN THAT SMOKE STARTS COMING, IT'S JUST NOT, YOU KNOW, VAPOR, IT'S POISON.
AND I'VE SEEN A LITTLE CELL PHONE BLOW UP AND THAT THING PRODUCED A LOT OF GAS AND IT'S BAD.
I'M AGAINST IT AND I'LL FIGHT IT UNTIL I DIE.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. PATO.
I, I AGREE WITH A LOT OF WHAT HAS BEEN SAID.
I HOPE YOU DENY DENIED THE PERMIT.
UH, SARAH PEAKS, I WAS WONDERING WHO YOU WERE.
I DIDN'T WANNA HOLD UP EVERYBODY BY HAVING TO WALK SLOWLY UP HERE.
UM, I'M SARAH PEAKS, MY HUSBAND, AL MYRNA.
I'VE LIVED IN THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK ON MOSSY OAK DRIVE FOR 30 YEARS.
WE WERE SOME OF THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE WHO SETTLED IN THERE, AND WE'VE SEEN THIS, UH, COMMUNITY GROW.
WE LOVE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
I'VE WORKED IN, UH, CLEAR CREEK SCHOOLS FOR 20 SOME OF THOSE 30 YEARS, AND I ENJOYED IT.
AND JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM WHERE WE LIVE IS PAR ELEMENTARY.
AND I WORKED AT PAR ELEMENTARY, AND I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE CHILDREN WHO GO TO AND FROM THAT SCHOOL, I'M RETIRED NOW, THANK GOODNESS,
BUT, UH, WHAT 1500 FEET THEY SAID WAS THE PROXIMITY OF PAR ELEMENTARY.
BUT AS THE CROW FLIES, THERE'S LESS THAN A HALF A MILE, PROBABLY MORE LIKE THREE A QUARTER OF A MILE TO LEAGUE CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
AND I'M WONDERING HOW MANY OF THE PARENTS OF THOSE CHILDREN WERE INFORMED THAT THIS FACILITY WAS GOING TO BE BUILT CLOSE TO WHERE THEIR CHILDREN ARE GOING TO SCHOOL, NOT JUST OURS FROM PAR ELEMENTARY.
ALSO, THERE'S, UH, THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL, WHICH IS DOWN THE STREET A LITTLE BIT FURTHER.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO OUTSIDE ON ANY GIVEN DAY, AND YOU CAN
[00:30:01]
SMELL DIFFERENT AROMAS COMING FROM DIFFERENT AREAS WHERE THERE ARE OIL REFINERY FACILITIES.AND JUST DOWN THE ROAD IN WEBSTER, WE GET A LITTLE WHIFF OF THINGS EVERY NOW AND THEN BLOWING OUR WAY.
AND SO I'M WONDERING WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IF WE HAVE A CATEGORY THREE, OR HEAVEN FORBID, A FOUR COME THIS WAY AND FLOOD THAT FACILITY.
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN WE HAVE DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY OF A HUNDRED DEGREE PLUS TEMPERATURES RADIATING DOWN ON THAT FACILITY? CAN THEY WITHSTAND THE HEAT FROM WITHOUT? CAN THEY WITHSTAND THE HEAT FROM WITHIN? WILL IT EXPLODE? WILL IT BE CONTAINED? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? I DON'T KNOW.
DO YOU ALL KNOW? DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? WILL I BE SAFE? I WANNA LIVE A LITTLE BIT LONGER.
MY HAIR IS GRAY, BUT I'M NOT READY TO GO YET.
MY LUNGS ARE PRETTY GOOD, BUT I'VE GOT ASTHMA.
I'M NOT READY TO GO YET, AND I DON'T WANT THIS FACILITY HERE THAT MIGHT TAKE ME OUT BEFORE I'M READY.
SO JUST KEEP IN MIND, I'M NOT AGAINST PROGRESS.
WHEN WE HAD THAT COLD FRONT MOVE THROUGH HERE, I WAS FREEZING MY TAIL OFF.
I KNOW HOW TO MANAGE THE COAL, BUT I DON'T WANNA HAVE TO BE WORRYING ABOUT OTHER THINGS.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPEN SPACES AROUND LEAGUE CITY.
I'M NOTICING THAT THIS IS NOT GOING DOWN IN SOUTH SHORE HARBOR.
THIS IS NOT GOING DOWN SOMEPLACE ELSE.
THERE'S LOTS OF OPEN SPACE IN LEAGUE CITY.
THERE'D BE BETTER PLACES TO PUT THIS THAN IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
KIM CONSTANTINE, OR ORTON? THANK YOU.
I ACTUALLY LIVE, UH, ON FOND VALLEY.
AND THIS PLACE WOULD ACTUALLY BE PRACTICALLY IN MY BACKYARD.
IT WOULD BE IN THE CLARK'S BACKYARD AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF O OTHER PEOPLE'S BACKYARD.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A SCHOOL DOWN THE ROAD AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A CHURCH THAT'S GOING UP ON ONE SIDE OF WHERE THIS PROPOSED PROPERTY IS, IS RIGHT NOW.
AND THERE'S, AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT, THERE'S ACTUALLY ANOTHER, UH, PIECE OF PROPERTY WHERE THE, WHERE A CHURCH HAS, YOU KNOW, THEY OWN THAT PROPERTY AND I THINK THEY HAVE IN THEIR, THEIR PLANS TO, TO BUILD.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK, WOULD YOU LIKE THIS IN YOUR BACKYARD? I MEAN, I THINK THE RISK IS TOO GREAT.
YOU KNOW, I THINK OF, YOU KNOW, THE LAST TIME I, I, UH, CHECKED MY LUGGAGE ON AN AIRPLANE, YOU KNOW, THEY ASKED ME IF I HAD A LITHIUM BATTERY IN MY, MY SUITCASE.
AND THE LAST TIME I WENT TO THE POST OFFICE, YOU KNOW, THEY ASKED ME, WELL, DO YOU HAVE A LITHIUM CHECKOFF LITTLE THING HERE THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE A LITHIUM BATTERY IN YOUR, IN THIS BOX THAT YOU'RE SENDING? SO THERE REALLY IS, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT AN EXPERT, BUT I THINK THAT THERE'S SOMETHING TO THESE, TO THESE BATTERIES THAT YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER.
AND I GUESS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THESE GENTLEMEN RIGHT HERE, THEY HAD A REALLY FINE PRESENTATION AND IT WAS REALLY GOOD.
I MEAN, IT MAKES ME THINK, MAN, I NEED TO GO OUT AND BUY SOME STOCK FROM THIS COMPANY.
BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANY RESIDENTIAL AREAS AROUND YOUR FACILITIES.
AND, UH, HOW MANY COMMUNITIES HAVE YOU PRESENTED THIS TO IN THE PAST THAT HAVE REJECTED THIS VERY PROPOSAL THAT THEY'RE GIVING OUT TODAY? AND I WOULD REALLY, YOU KNOW, LIKE TO SAY THAT I WOULD TRUST THAT Y'ALL WOULD LOOK OUT FOR US, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN, IN, UH, THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK, THE CHILDREN, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE DOWN THE ROAD IN THE SCHOOL.
SO THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
UM, LIKE SOME OF MY NEIGHBORS, I'M AN ORIGINAL HOMEOWNER IN THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK, 30 YEARS NOW.
SO, UM, A LOT OF THIS IS GONNA BE REPEAT FROM SOME OF THE THINGS MY NEIGHBORS SAID, BUT, UM, I TURNED TO GOOGLE WHEN I DON'T UNDERSTAND, UM, THE NATURE OF SOMETHING.
SO I JUST STARTED GOOGLING ARTICLES ABOUT THE BEST U UNITS AND, UM, ONE OF THE ARTICLES WAS THE JOURNAL OF LOSS PREVENTION, AND IT TALKED ABOUT LITHIUM ION HAZARDS.
AND IT STATED OVER 30 LARGE SCALE BEST SYSTEMS GLOBALLY HAVE EXPERIENCED FAILURES THAT RESULTED IN DESTRUCTIVE FIRES OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.
THE NEXT, AND IT, THE ARTICLE CONTINUES ON AND IT SAID THE TYPICAL CONSEQUENCE IS CELL RUPTURE AND THE RELEASE OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF FLAMMABLE AND POTENTIALLY TOXIC GASES, WHICH LEAD TO FIRE AND EXPLOSION THAT.
SO GOT MY ATTENTION ON THIS WHOLE THING.
[00:35:01]
AND THEN IT SAID SINCE 20 17, 27 BEST FIRES WERE REPORTED IN SOUTH KOREA, AND NOW WE'RE NOW TALKING GLOBALLY AGAIN.BUT, UM, 23 OF THOSE WERE RECORDED IN 2018.
SO THE NEXT ARTICLE THAT I LOOKED AT, AND YOU GENTLEMAN REFERENCED IT, THE NFPA, AND IT WAS THE ONLINE, UM, MAGAZINE, AND IT'S TALKED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS LEADING TO LEADING TO THE BATTERY FAILURE.
AND IT WAS, IT SAID, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS CAN LEAD TO VA BATTERY FAILURE.
THIS CAN BE THE RESULT OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE EXTREMES.
WOW, THAT'S US
AND THEN, UM, IT SAID SALT FOG, WHICH IS MORE RELATIVE TO MARINE LOCATIONS OR EVEN RODENT DAMAGE.
SO THE, UM, BEST THERMAL EVENTS, WHAT TO KNOW AND EXPECT IN PV MAGAZINE REPORTED POTENTIAL BE BEST HAZARDS WERE THE RADIANT HEAT.
AND IT SAID IN AUGUST, 2023, THE HOTTEST SEASON ON RECORD, THREE BEST FACILITIES IN NEW YORK STATE WERE THE SUBJECT OF THERMAL EVENTS.
JEFFERSON COUNTY RESIDENTS WERE ORDERED TO SHELTER IN PLACE FOR SEVERAL HOURS.
IT SAID AIRBORNE CONTAMINANTS, SOME OF THE PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION FROM THESE THERMAL EVENTS MAY BE CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION.
THAT WAS, UH, IT SAID, CONCERNS AROUND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LEAKING INTO THE GROUND DURING A FAILURE INCLUDE THE INTRODUCTION OF FIRE WATER.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LIQUIDS ARE RELEASED IN A THERMAL EVENT, WHETHER THEY'RE SOLUBLE.
AND THEN AGAIN, THE DECOMMISSIONING, WHICH THE GENTLEMAN I HAD REAL CONCERNS, UM, IF YOU LOOK DOWN THE BRIA, IS IT BRIA IN FRIENDSWOOD? IT JUST RANG OF THAT.
SO, UM, IT'S MY HOPE AND PRAYER THAT YOU DENY THE PERMIT.
UH, COMMISSIONERS, UM, PRESENT PRESENTATORS, EVERYBODY.
UM, WHEN I, WHEN I, UH, FIRST HEARD ABOUT THIS, UH, FIRST THING I DID WAS GOOGLE LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND I'M GONNA TRY NOT TO REPEAT WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID, BUT A LOT OF IT IS, THERE'S A LOT OF ISSUES WITH THESE, UM, BATTERY ENERGY, UH, STORAGE SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, THE THERMAL RUNAWAY LIKE THAT.
WE'VE ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE.
UM, OFFGASSING, THESE GASES CAN BE HIGHLY FLAMMABLE AND TOXIC.
UM, WE ALREADY DISCUSSED FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS.
UM, LITHIUM HEXA, FLUORO, PHOSPHATE, BIG WORD, UM, CAN DO A LOT OF SEVERE SKIN EYE DAMAGE AND LONG-TERM.
I LOOKING THROUGH THAT, I REMEMBER IN, UH, 2016, THE, THE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE SEVEN, ALL THE ISSUES WE HAD.
AND LIKE EVERYBODY SAID, THEY'RE, UM, WE HAVE 1500 FEET TO THE SOUTH.
UH, WE HAVE PAR ELEMENTARY, WE HAVE LAKE CITY ELEMENTARY, WE HAVE ST.
THAT THE, ALL THAT POTENTIAL IS SO CLOSE TO ALL THOSE, YEAH, 800, 900 KIDS WHERE WE COULD HAVE AN EVENT LIKE THAT.
AND MY QUESTION IS, DO WE REALLY WANT TO HAVE A POTENTIAL BOMB, UM, SO CLOSE TO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THREE, YOU KNOW, TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL, UM, BECAUSE IT'S, UM, IT COULD BE A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT WAITING TO OCCUR.
I WORK IN THE, UH, SOFTWARE INDUSTRY WHERE WE DO LIKE CYBERSECURITY THERE.
THIS COULD ALSO PROPOSE A SIGNIFICANT, YOU KNOW, CYBER THREAT.
UM, SO THAT IS SOMETHING I ALSO WANT ANOTHER ONE OF MY CONCERNS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT TO THE TEAM, UH, TO THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THAT.
I'VE BEEN A LEAGUE CITY RESIDENT FOR ABOUT 31 YEARS.
I TOO WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY OPPOSITION TO THE ZONING PROPOSAL OF MAP 23 DASH 0 0 0 8, UH, TO ALLOW A BEST LITHIUM BATTERY FACILITY AT THE CORNER OF HIGHWAY THREE IN WASHINGTON STREET.
WHILE I'M SURE THAT MR. MEYER,
[00:40:01]
COULD YOU SPEAK INTO THE MIC? I, THERE'S AT LEAST ONE OF US UP HERE THAT DOESN'T HEAR REALLY WELL.WELL, I'M SURE THAT CYPRESS CREEK AND BERGMAN STORAGE LSC INTENDS TO BUILD A SAFE FACILITY.
THEY ARE A FOR-PROFIT COMPANY.
THEIR PRIMARY CHOICE OF THIS LOCATION IS TO BE AS CLOSE TO A, AN EXISTING UTILITY SUBSTATION TO LOWER TRANSMISSION COST AND NOT THE SAFETY OF FAR ELEMENTARY OR THE OAKS CLEAR CREEK SUBDIVISION.
THESE LITHIUM BATTERY STORAGE FACILITIES ARE STILL A FAIRLY NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS NOT YET BEEN TIME TESTED.
UH, AT THE FEBRUARY LEAGUE CITY ZONING MEETING, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LEAGUE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, STATED THAT FIRE CODES GOVERNING AND GOVERNING REGULATIONS COVERING THIS TYPE OF FACILITY HAVE EXPANDED QUITE A BIT OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS, AND ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REVISED AS THEY GAIN MORE EXPERIENCE WITH THEM.
UNTIL THESE FACILITIES HAVE BEEN TIME TESTED AND REGULATIONS HAVE CAUGHT UP WITH THE TECHNOLOGY, I BELIEVE LEAGUE CITIES SHOULD BE OVERLY CAUTIOUS AND NOT LOCATE THESE FACILITIES ACROSS THE STREET FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION.
UH, WHEN STATED AS A PERCENTAGE, THESE FACILITIES, ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH, HAVE A VERY GOOD, UH, TRACK RECORD FOR SAFETY.
HOWEVER, ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN, MANY OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MENTIONED BY, UH, PREVIOUS SPEAKERS.
THE ARIZONA SURPRISE IN 2019, WHERE IT WAS FIREFIGHTERS THAT ACTUALLY CAUSED THE EXPLOSION WHEN, WHEN THEIR INEXPERIENCED OF HANDLING A LITHIUM BATTERY, BATTERY FIRE CAUSED THEM TO MAKE MISTAKES.
THREE FIREFIGHTERS WERE INJURED IN THAT DEAL.
THEN IN SEPTEMBER, 2022, MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA WHEN, UH, A FIRE AT, UH, BEST FACILITY OWNED BY PG AND E BROKE OUT DUE TO ERRORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FACILITY.
SO IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE UNITS THEMSELVES, IT WAS THE PEOPLE INSTALLING THE UNITS, UH, THAT ALLOW, THAT MADE MISTAKES, THAT ALLOWED MOISTURE INTO THE UNITS.
IT WAS LUCKILY LUCKY THAT THERE WAS NO, UH, UH, INJURIES DURING THAT FIRE.
AND THE FIREFIGHTERS KNEW TO JUST LET THE FACILITY BURN ITSELF OUT OF FUEL, LET THE FIRE BURN ITSELF OUT OF FUEL.
UH, IT WAS ALSO LUCKY THAT, UH, THAT ONE FIRE UNCOVERED THE CONSTRUCTION ERRORS ON MANY OTHER UNITS IN THAT FACILITY.
UH, WHILE IT APPEARS THE CONSTRUCTION OF LITHIUM BATAM BATTERY, UH, BEST FACILITIES IS AN INEVITABLE PART OF OUR CARBON NEUTRAL POWER SYSTEM AND OUR FUTURE POWER NEEDS, THE LOCATION IS CRITICAL.
WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCE LONG-TERM EXPERIENCES WITH THESE FACILITIES TO HAVE THEM SO CLOSE TO RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
UM, UM, LAKE CITY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION.
AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE HERE BEING ENGAGED IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
UH, I'M THE FIELD DIRECTOR FOR THE TEXAS LAND AND LIBERTY COALITION.
WE UNITE LANDOWNERS, FARMERS, AND CLEAN ENERGY SUPPORTERS.
I AM A PROUD PRODUCT OF C-C-I-S-D.
WENT TO CLEAR LAKE FIGHTING FALCON.
UM, I HAVE A VERY PROFOUND RESPECT FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND ITS LEADERSHIP.
UH, UH, ONE OF MY PARENTS ALSO SERVED THIS AREA, SO I EXPRESSED MY GRATITUDE FOR YOUR DEDICATION.
IT TAKES A LOT FROM YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
UH, BUT I'M HERE TO ADVOCATE FOR THE BERKMAN ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT.
IT'S A VENTURE THAT STANDS TO SIGNIFICANTLY BENEFIT THE RESIDENTS AND INSTITUTIONS OF LEAGUE CITY, GALVESTON COUNTY, AND C-C-I-S-D.
IT'S NOT MERELY AN INVESTMENT IN LAND.
IT'S AN INVESTMENT IN THIS COMMUNITY'S FUTURE BY CONVERTING A DORMANT ASSET INTO A MULTIMILLION DOLLAR TAXABLE ENTITY, UM, IT ENHANCES THE, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S REVENUE STREAMS. IT OFFERS AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH WITHOUT ADDITIONAL BURDENS ON LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
IT'S, UM, UH, THE ESSENCE OF TEXAS, UH, IS OUR LAND AND RESOURCES.
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN OUR STRONGEST ASSET.
THE BERKMAN PROJECT ALIGNS PERFECTLY WITH THIS ETHOS.
IT PROPELS US TOWARDS A FUTURE WHERE ECONOMY THRIVES ON SUSTAINABILITY, RELIABILITY, AND RELIABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I REALLY DO FEEL LIKE BATTERY ENERGY SOURCE SYSTEMS ARE THE EPITOME OF CONSERVATIVE
SO IT REDUCES THE NEED FOR EXPENSIVE PEAK TIME ENERGY PRODUCTION AND, UH, LOWERS OVERALL ENERGY COSTS.
I, I SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME IN
[00:45:01]
RURAL TEXAS.UM, THAT'S WHERE SOME, UM, SOLAR FARMS AND WIND FARMS. MY FAMILY HAS A RANCH IN CONCHO COUNTY, AND WE HAVE A WIND FARM THERE.
AND, UM, I'VE SEEN SOME BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE PROJECTS IN AND AROUND.
UH, I'M WORKING WITH AN ISD RIGHT NOW IN NO ESS COUNTY THAT, UH, THEY'RE THRILLED THAT, UM, AND I A, UH, BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM AND, UH, SOLAR FARM, VERY DIFFERENT FROM THIS ARE COMING TO THEIR COMMUNITY.
THE KIDS ARE ALREADY ALIGNING, UH, UH, FIELD TRIPS TO LEARN ABOUT THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY.
TEXANS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INNOVATIVE, AND I THINK THAT WE'RE A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE, I MEAN, I'M HEARING A LOT OF WHAT IFS.
UM, GOOGLE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE EVIL, YOU WILL FIND IT.
UM, BUT IT'S, THEY'RE NOT REALLY BEING HELD BY ANYTHING.
UH, BUT I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO SUPPORT IT AND, UM, TO REALLY THINK FOR YOURSELVES ON THIS PROJECT.
AND I JUST, I REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S DEDICATION TO THE COMMUNITY.
YOU HAVE QUESTION? NOT NO, NO MA'AM.
OH, I, I DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.
MY, MY, MY, UH, MY NIECE AND NEPHEWS, UH, MY BROTHERS WE'RE BE STAYING TONIGHT.
UM, BUT, UM, BUT YEAH, BUT I DON'T KNOW.
I'M FROM HERE, SO THANK YOU, MR. DAVIS.
I DIDN'T MEAN TO CUT YOU OFF, BUT WE JUST, WE ALL, I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO ASK.
I AM A RESIDENT OF LAKE CITY OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK ON COLEMAN BOYLAND DRIVE.
I AM ONE OF THE FAMILIES MENTIONED THAT HAVE CHILDREN THAT BIKE AND WALK TO AND FROM PAR ELEMENTARY.
I'M ALSO AN OWNER OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES THAT CHARGE OVERNIGHT ON 100% WIND POWER.
SO I'M APPRECIATIVE OF BATTERY STORAGE CONCEPTS.
SO MY QUESTIONS WOULD BE RELATED TO THE CAPACITY.
I BELIEVE THE CHART SAID A HUNDRED MEGAWATT HOUR CAPACITY THAT'S EQUIVALENT TO 1200 ELECTRIC VEHICLES IF YOU HAVE A 80 KILOWATT HOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
AND WHAT ARE THE THERMAL CONTROL METHODS USED FOR THIS FACILITY FOR MAINTAINING EFFICIENCY OF THE BATTERIES DURING COLD TIMES AND HOT SUMMER PERIODS, AND WHAT WOULD BE THE AVAILABILITY OF THAT ELECTRICITY DURING THE MENTIONED, UH, WINTER STORMS AND PEAK USAGE AT 6:00 PM ON A HOT SUMMER'S DAY AS IT RELATES TO THE PROFITABILITY PLANS OF THE COMPANY.
ADRIANA WEATHERS, I THINK I, UH, HAVE COME TWICE LAST YEAR IN JULY AND THIS FRIDAY TO SPEAK WITH THE PLANNING PEOPLE BECAUSE I'M EXTREMELY CONCERNED.
AS SOON AS I HEARD THAT THEY HAD BOUGHT THE PROPERTY RIGHT NEXT TO ME, RIGHT HERE, THIS IS WHERE HE'S GONNA PULL THAT DOWN.
SO THEIR GRID IS RIGHT NEXT TO MY PROPERTY.
I AM ON 10 0 8 AND 10 12 SOUTH HIGHWAY THREE.
THAT'S WHERE THE TWO LITTLE HOUSES ARE AND IS PART OF THAT BEAUTIFUL AND ITALIAN FARM THAT CAME THROUGH GALVESTON A LONG TIME AGO.
THE THOUGHT OF HAVING ALL THOSE CHILDREN IN PERIL.
I'M A COUNSELOR BY PROFESSION.
I DEDICATED MY ENTIRE LIFE TO HELPING KIDS.
AND THE THOUGHT OF THEM GETTING HURT AND THESE PEOPLE NOT GIVING A THOUGHT TO WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO WITHOUT A THOUGHT FOR THE CHILDREN, IT'S UNFATHOMABLE TO ME.
I JUST CANNOT UNDERSTAND THAT.
AND SO FOR ME, THE CHILDREN ARE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD.
AFTER THAT, I WORRY ABOUT MY PROPERTY.
I WILL LOSE EVERYTHING BECAUSE IF THAT EXPLODES, IT WILL RENDER MY PROPERTY USELESS AND TOXIC.
SO I WILL HAVE NOTHING TO SELL.
BUT WHAT WORRIES ME THE MOST IS THE CHILDREN.
I JUST LOST MY GRANDDAUGHTER AND HER BROTHER IS IN BAD SHAPE BECAUSE OF THE VACCINES AND THE LOCKDOWNS.
[00:50:01]
GRANDDAUGHTER DIED RECENTLY, AND HER BROTHER HAS MYOCARDITIS.HE HAD SURGERY, AND WE DON'T KNOW IF HE'S GONNA SURVIVE THAT.
AND SO THE THOUGHT OF HAVING HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN DYING, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE WANTED TO MAKE MONEY, AND THEY CAME FROM OTHER STATES TO TEXAS.
AND I'VE BEEN WONDERING WHY DID THEY COME HERE? WHY COULDN'T THEY DO THAT IN THEIR OWN STATES? AND THIS SHOULD NEVER BE BUILT IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA.
IT IS UNFATHOMABLE TO ME THAT THEY WOULD DO THAT WITHOUT KNOWING.
I HAVE LOOKED THROUGH A LOT OF, I'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH ON PLACES THAT, WHERE THESE BATTERIES, UH, LITHIUM BATTERIES HAVE BLOWN UP IN CALIFORNIA, IN ARIZONA, IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES.
AND WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS AFTERWARDS? ALL THAT TOXICITY KILLS THE REMAINING ONES WITH CANCERS.
AND WHY ARE WE DOING THIS SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE MONEY OUT OF OUR MYSTERY AND DEATH KILLING OUR CHILDREN? HOW COULD YOU ALLOW FOR THIS TO HAPPEN? I AM TOTALLY AGAINST IT.
WE NEED TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN.
THAT'S WHAT I CAME HERE TO TALK TO THE PERSON IN PLANNING IN JULY OF 2023.
SOMEBODY HAS TO BE A SPEAKER FOR THEM.
YOU TWO, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THIS.
AND I HOPE GOD IS LISTENING TO ME.
I'M A RETIRED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER, ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER LIVING IN OAKS CREEK, UH, CLEAR CREEK FOR 30 YEARS.
AND I WANTED TO RAISE THE POINT ABOUT RISK-BASED ANALYSIS OF THE FACILITY, NOT LOOKING AT IT FROM A COST EFFECTIVE OVER THE 20 YEARS.
I KNOW MOST OF THE PEOPLE HERE WERE HERE IN HAR DURING HARVEY.
THE NEWS FIELDS ACROSS WERE FLOODED, INCLUDING OUR STREET.
WE HAD ABOUT 30% OF THE HOMES IN OAKS.
CLARE CREEK FLOODED DURING HARVEY, AND WE HAVE 416 HOMES.
SO I THINK THE PLANNING COMMISSION SHOULD NOT LOOK AT THE COST EFFECTIVE BENEFIT OF THIS FOR TAXES, BUT RISK BASE.
AND UNTIL FURTHER STUDIES DONE, I'M NOT AGAINST THE CONCEPT OF THE BATTERY STORAGE, BUT I AM AGAINST THE LOCATION FOR THE VARIOUS REASONS ABOUT THE SCHOOLS, THE CHURCH, UH, OUR HOUSE.
I'M LESS THAN A, I'M PROBABLY ABOUT 500 FEET FROM THE CORNER OF THE PROPERTY.
I LIVE ON 1237 DEER RIDGE, UH, THE FIRST STREET INN OFF OF HIGHWAY THREE.
AND THE CITY WORKED ON DRAINAGE THERE AT BRADSHAW NURSERY.
THEY WORKED WITH THE SUBDIVISION ON GETTING THAT IMPROVED.
BUT OVER A 20 YEAR LIFESPAN THAT THEY'VE LOOKED AT FOR THE FINANCIAL IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS, WE KNOW RAINSTORMS ARE WORSE.
CLIMATE CHANGE WON'T NECESSARILY HAVE A HARVEY, BUT YOU CAN ALMOST BE GUARANTEED THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE VERY BAD FLOODING CONDITIONS IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS, MAYBE THREE, FOUR OR FIVE TIMES.
AND BECAUSE OF THE LOCATION, AND YOU CAN'T IMPACT THE DOWNSTREAM WHEN YOU BUILD A FACILITY, AND IT'S GUARANTEED THAT'S GONNA INCREASE RUNOFF FROM THAT WHERE IT IS NOW.
AND IT GOES TO THE EAST SIDE OF HIGHWAY THREE, WHICH THEY DID UPGRADE.
AND THERE'S NO, NO WAY OVER 20 YEARS THAT THAT FIELD WON'T GET FLOODED UNLESS THEY BUILD IT UP SUPER HIGH AND THEN THEY DON'T WANT WATER GETTING TO IT.
SO MY POSITION IS DENY AT THE PRESENT TIME THE CHANGE IN THE CLASSIFICATION FOR THE ZONING, AND DO ADDITIONAL RISK-BASED STUDIES ON IT.
NOT FROM THE FINANCIAL BASIS, BUT FROM A SAFETY ANALYSIS BECAUSE OF THE HOLMES CHURCH AND TWO SCHOOLS, WELL, THREE SCHOOLS REALLY.
I LIVE IN THE OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK OVER ON WILLOW BRANCH DRIVE.
I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS TODAY.
UM, AND YOU'VE HEARD A LOT TODAY ABOUT THE BATTERIES THAT THEY'RE PRONE TO OVERHEATING, SWELLING, ELECTROLYTE LEAKAGE, VENTING, FIRE, SMOKE, AND THERMAL RUNAWAY DUE TO EXPLOSIONS.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT THE FIRE NEEDING SPECIFIC CHEMICALS FOR THAT, NEEDING
[00:55:01]
SPECIFIC TRAINING.THOSE ARE ALL, ALL TRUE THINGS.
AND A COUPLE OF THINGS MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT TODAY.
UM, I THINK THERE'S A FEW STATS HERE THAT MAYBE WE DIDN'T HAVE.
SOMEBODY TALKED ABOUT THE 23 REPORTED FIRES IN SOUTH KOREA IN 2017 AND 18.
IN APRIL OF 19, THERE WAS A FIRE AND EXPLOSION AT ONE OF THESE FACILITIES IN SURPRISE, ARIZONA.
THAT SAME FACILITY CAUGHT FIRE AGAIN THREE YEARS LATER, AND SMOLDERED CONTINUED FOR TWO WEEKS IN JULY OF 21, A FIRE AT A BATTERY FACILITY IN VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, SEPTEMBER OF 20 FIRE AT A BATTERY FACILITY IN MONTEREY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
I MEAN, I'VE, I'VE GOT, I'VE GOT TONS OF THESE.
THEY JUST GO ON AND ON AND ON.
THEY TALKED ABOUT REGULATIONS BEING UPDATED.
REGULATIONS WILL CONTINUE TO BE UPDATED.
WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE THESE ARE, WE'VE GOT GOOD REGULATIONS ACROSS THE BOARD.
YET, AFTER THOSE REGULATIONS WERE UPDATED, THE SUMMER OF 20 23, 3 FIRES AT SEPARATE BATTERY PROTECTION FACILITIES IN NEW YORK, INCLUDING ONE THAT TOOK FOUR DAYS TO EXTINGUISH, SPARKING AIR QUALITY ALERTS AND POTENTIALLY TOXIC SMOKE.
SEPTEMBER 23, LARGE SCALE FIRE IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRIA CAUSING HAZARDOUS SMOKE AND SHELTER IN PLACE FOR DAYS SEPTEMBER 23, FIRE AT SAN DIEGO ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY, DAY LONG SHELTER IN PLACE FOR THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.
THESE FACILITIES JUST AREN'T WELL UNDERSTOOD YET.
THEY'VE GOT A LOT OF DIFFERENT AREAS OF SAFETY CONCERNS.
AND MY CONCERN ISN'T SO MUCH ABOUT THE FACILITY ITSELF, IT'S THE LOCATION.
I THINK THIS IS WHERE THESE FACILITIES ARE WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO, NEED TO GO.
WE NEED TO START CONSERVING ENERGY.
LOVE THE IDEA OF SAVING THAT, UH, OFF PEAK HOURS.
BUT THE LOCATION, BEING CLOSE TO A SCHOOL, BEING CLOSE TO A RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY.
THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES WE COULD PUT THIS.
WE, THIS COMMUNITY COULD INVEST IN THIS TECHNOLOGY.
THE LOCATION'S JUST NOT THE RIGHT PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE KEEPING OUR CITIZENS SAFE.
WHEN THIS TECHNOLOGY IS JUST STILL DEVELOPING, THE REGULATIONS ARE STILL DEVELOPING.
COLEMAN BOYLAN, UH, OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK.
MY KIDS WENT TO SCHOOL HERE IN THE CLEAR CREEK.
UM, THERE'S SO MANY GOOD POINTS.
THE, THE MIKE MAN IS GONNA ASK YOU TO SPEAK INTO THIS.
SO MANY, UH, SO MANY GOOD POINTS THAT, UM, INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS HAVE ALREADY MADE ABOUT THE, UH, POTENTIAL HAZARDS AND DANGERS OF THIS.
UM, I'M NOT AGAINST GREEN ENERGY OR, UH, THE TECHNOLOGY, BUT AGAIN, AS WITH THE LAST SPEAKER, IT'S IN THE WRONG LOCATION.
THE, UH, THERE ARE THREE SCHOOLS.
THERE ARE MANY CHILDREN THAT LIVE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, ONE OF THE POINTS THAT A GREAT MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHER MADE THOMAS AQUINAS WAS THAT THE ROLE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT IS TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY.
SO AGAIN, UH, IT'S THE WRONG LOCATION.
UH, IT'S TOO CLOSE TO RESIDENTS AND, UM, SCHOOLS.
AND SO I THINK WE SHOULD PROTECT THE CHILDREN.
AND VOTE NO, VOTE NO, UM, FOR THIS, UH, UH, FACILITY.
UH, IS THAT DODSON? TIMOTHY? THERE YOU GO.
GOOD THING ABOUT GOING LAST IS PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY HERE HAS ALREADY POINTED OUT ALL OF THE OBVIOUS REASONS, RIGHT? WE'VE GONE OVER THE 2019 ARIZONA FIRE, THE, UH, 2021 AUSTRALIA DEAL.
I THINK EVERYBODY CAN AGREE WITH THAT.
SOME THINGS TO POINT OUT, THOUGH, YOU CAN MAKE A PRETTY PRESENTATION ALL YOU WANT.
I ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH.
WE'VE HAD PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, SAFETY IMPACT, THE FIRE IMPACT.
WHAT'S THE LONG-TERM IMPACT TO OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT? OUR FIREFIGHTERS ARE GONNA HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS.
SHOULD SOMETHING GO BAD, THEY'RE GONNA TELL YOU WHATEVER THEY NEED TO TELL YOU TO GET THIS FACILITY PUT WHERE IT'S GOING.
THEY CAN PUT TOGETHER ALL THE PRETTY SLIDES THEY WANT.
ALL OF THAT ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER IT'S WRITTEN ON.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FACTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAFETY OF THIS LITHIUM AND COBALT HORRIBLE THINGS, IT'S 500 FEET FROM OUR HOUSE, 1500 FEET FROM THE SCHOOL.
WE DON'T PLAN FOR THINGS TO GO CATASTROPHIC, BUT THEY HAPPEN.
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REFINERIES, HAVE SOME OF THESE STRICTEST SAFETY POLICIES IN THE WORLD, YET THEY STILL EXPLODE.TRAINS STILL DERAIL, SHUT DOWN CITIES.
IT'S BEEN PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN UP HERE BY SEVERAL PEOPLE.
WHY WOULD WE EXPOSE THAT TO AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD, ALL OF OUR CHILDREN? WHAT HAPPENS IF WE HAVE A SHELTER IN PLACE AND THOSE KIDS ARE IN SCHOOL, OR THE ELDERLY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, THAT WE HAVE TO TURN OFF OUR VENTILATION AND IT'S 110 DEGREES OUTSIDE.
ONE WAS FOR FOUR DAYS WITH NO VENTILATION SHELTER IN PLACE.
I WOULD REALLY HOPE THAT YOU GUYS WOULD DO WHATEVER IT IS THAT Y'ALL NEED TO DO.
IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE SURROUNDED BY NEIGHBORHOOD AND SCHOOLS.
NOW IT DID WE, DID WE MISS ANYBODY? IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE THAT YES, SIR.
COME UP AND TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU REPRESENT.
I LIVE IN A NEARBY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH MY WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN.
I'VE BEEN DOING IT IN SOME CAPACITY FOR ABOUT 30 YEARS.
UM, I CURRENTLY WORK IN CYBERSECURITY THREAT INTELLIGENCE.
I HAVE A DEGREE IN IT SECURITY AND MANY CERTIFICATIONS I WON'T BORE WITH.
I'VE WORKED WITH COMPUTER SERVERS, NETWORKING, PROCESS CONTROL, OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, AND CHRISTENING OF A WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
THE SIZE OF A WALMART AND CONSULTING HAVE DONE IT FOR FIRE POLICE CITY NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER, AND THE FBI.
SOME OF YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH CHRIS RAY OF THE FBI IN HIS RECENT TESTIMONY, THE HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON CHINA'S TARGETING OF US INFRASTRUCTURE WITH CYBERSECURITY ATTACKS.
THAT INCLUDES OIL AND GAS, ELECTRICAL, MUNICIPAL WATER.
THE EMPHASIS OF RAY'S TESTIMONY WAS NOT THAT WE WERE, UH, THAT WE ARE BEING TARGETED.
HIS EMPHASIS WAS ON THE, WAS ON THE, IN THE INCREASING SOPHISTICATION OF THE ATTACKS THAT WE'RE SEEING, AND THAT THE CHINA IS PIVOTING FROM PREVIOUS TACTICS TO NOW POSITIONING THEMSELVES INTO US INFRASTRUCTURE TO CAUSE DISRUPTION AND DESTRUCTION IN THE EVENT OF A CONFLICT.
AND, AND HOW CHINA'S NATION STATE OFFENSIVE CYBERSECURITY STAFF OUTNUMBERS THE UNITED STATES, AT LEAST 50 TO ONE, AND THE BATTERIES ARE MADE IN CHINA.
THE US' INVOLVEMENT IN UKRAINE, ISRAEL, TAIWAN, AND SOUTH KOREA PUTS A HUGE TARGET ON US INFRASTRUCTURE.
WE ALSO HAVE FLOODS, HURRICANES, AND TORNADOES, BUT I'LL STICK TO MY SPECIALTY.
LET'S NOT PUT OUR CHILDREN AND RESIDENTS AT RISK.
THIS FACILITY NEEDS TO BE BUILT FAR FROM SCHOOLS AND NEIGHBORHOODS.
MARK? SIR MARK, I HAVE A LETTER THAT WAS ATTACHED TO VINCE'S, UH, PRESENTATION FROM, UH, MARY GIBSON, WHO EXPRESSED AN OPINION BUT WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND TONIGHT.
SHOULD THIS BE MADE PART OF THE, UH, RECORDS OR HOW DO WE HANDLE THAT? IT ALREADY IS.
IT WAS A PART OF THE, UH, PART OF THE REPORT SINCE PART OF HER, PART OF HIS RES UH, PRESENTATION.
THAT WAS A PART OF STAFF'S REPORT TO THE COMMISSION.
AND THEN THAT WILL BE FORWARDED ON TO CITY COUNCIL.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT HER OPINION WAS, UH, INCLUDED.
ANYBODY ELSE? THAT'D BE THE CASE.
THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE CLOSED AT 7 0 5 AND WE'LL HEAR FROM THE, UH, COMMISSION AT THIS TIME.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? YES.
AS LONG AS LONG AS YOU DON'T ASK MY QUESTIONS, WE'RE GONNA START AT THIS END THIS TIME.
UM, SO WE MADE MENTION OF THIS, UH, NON-ATTAINMENT AND A POTENTIAL FOR GETTING A TAX EXEMPTION.
UM, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN HERE? BECAUSE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT'S GREAT TAX REVENUE FOR US, BUT YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET A TAX EXEMPTION AND THAT IT'S NOT REALLY REVENUE FOR US.
HAILEY LARABY WITH CYPRESS CREEK.
I'M A DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AT CYPRESS THAT FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR,
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UH, ENERGY STORAGE PROJECTS AS WELL AS OUR, UH, SOLAR PROJECTS ACROSS TEXAS.UH, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, UM, THERE IS A PROGRAM CALLED THE, UH, THREE 12 TAX ABATEMENT PROGRAM WHERE APPLICANTS CAN SEEK TAX ABATEMENTS FROM THE COUNTY SPECIFICALLY.
UM, SHOULD THIS PROJECT MOVE FORWARD, WE WOULD INTEND TO SEEK A TAX ABATEMENT.
HOWEVER, THAT TAX ABATEMENT IS ONLY GOOD FOR THE FIRST 10 YEARS.
AND WHAT WE DO IS WE AGREE TO A PILOT AMOUNT.
IT'S NOT LIKE WE JUST GET A TOTAL TAX BREAK.
UM, BUT THOSE FIRST 10 YEARS, WE WOULD NEGOTIATE A SLIGHTLY DECREASED RATE.
UM, MOST OF THE PROJECTS THAT I HAVE, UH, PARTICIPATED IN, DEPENDING ON THE LOCALITY, MOST OFTEN WE SEE LIKE A 20 TO 30% DISCOUNT ON THOSE TAXES, BUT IT CERTAINLY IS NOT A MAJORITY OF WHAT'S EXPECTED FROM THE PROJECT.
UM, PULLING YOUR, SO NEXT QUESTION.
UM, IN OUR LAST PRESENTATION FROM THE OTHER BEST, UH, COMPANY, THEY WERE GIVING US AN IDEA OF IF WE WERE TO HAVE AN ENERGY INCIDENT, UH, WE WERE WITHOUT POWER AND WE HAD TO USE THE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE POWER, HOW LONG AND HOW MANY, UH, HOW MANY HOMES.
WE KNOW THAT IT'S NOT GONNA GO DIRECTLY.
IT, IT, IT GOES WHEREVER IT'S NEEDED.
IT'S NOT LIKE GOING TO YOUR HOME DIRECTLY.
UM, BUT FOR HOW LONG WOULD THAT PARTICULAR ENERGY LAST THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR STORAGE? SO THE FACILITY IS A HUNDRED MEGAWATT FACILITY FOR A TWO HOUR DURATION THAT WOULD ESSENTIALLY PROVIDE POWER FOR 40,000 TEXAS RESIDENCES FOR TWO HOURS.
SO FOR TWO HOURS, 40,000 RESIDENCES SOMEWHERE WOULD BENEFIT FROM THAT? THAT'S CORRECT.
NOW, THIS, THIS BATTERY CAN BE RECHARGED AND RERELEASED THROUGHOUT THE DAY, AS WAS, UH, SHOWN IN THE EXHIBIT THAT MR. SLOAN, UH, SPOKE TO EARLIER.
YOU KNOW, THE GRAPH WITH THE, THE BLUE AND THE THE RED KIND OF BAR GRAPH.
SO IT'S NOT LIKE THIS BATTERY DISCHARGES FOR TWO HOURS AND THEN, THEN IT IS COMPLETELY DONE.
IT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECHARGE AND THEN BE RERELEASED AT OTHER TIMES OF PEAK NEED.
BUT IF WE'RE IN A, IN A CRITICAL INCIDENT WHERE WE HAVE NO POWER, UH, HOW DOES THAT WE, SO WE, WE JUST HAVE TWO HOURS AND THAT EXPIRES.
SO, AND SO THAT'S ACTUALLY WHERE ERCOT REALLY COMES IN.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, ERCOT IS THE GRID OPERATOR THAT ESSENTIALLY FORECASTS WHAT ENERGY DEMAND WILL BE ACROSS THE STATE AND ACROSS SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, AND ESSENTIALLY PLAN FOR WHICH UNITS WOULD BE UTILIZED TO BE ABLE TO MEET THAT DEMAND.
UM, IN A PERFECT WORLD, THEY, THEY HAVE THAT FORECASTED WELL, UM, YOU KNOW, IN OTHER OPPORTUNITIES, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE TO USE THEIR BEST JUDGMENT IN COORDINATION WITH THE UTILITIES AND THE PROVIDERS FOR ENERGY TO CALL ON DIFFERENT UNITS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT THE ONLY BATTERY PROJECT, WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ENERGY GENERATOR IN ALL OF LEAK CITY.
IT WOULD BE A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ENERGY USES.
AND REALLY WHERE ENERGY STORAGE COMES INTO PLAY IS IN THOSE TIMES OF NEED, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO RELEASE THAT POWER PRETTY INSTANTLY.
THERE'S NO RAMP UP RATE OR LIKE, YOU KNOW, 45 MINUTES YOU WOULD NEED FOR LIKE A GAS PEAKER PLANT OR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO BE ABLE TO COME ONLINE AND SERVE THAT NEED, BUT STILL JUST TWO HOURS FOR YOURS.
IF YOU WANNA, IF YOU WANNA PUT IT THAT WAY.
BUT THERE, BUT, BUT WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ENERGY PROVIDER IN THE ENTIRE CITY.
SO JUST BECAUSE WE CAN'T COME ONLINE AND WE'VE ALREADY ALREADY SERVED OUR NEED, DOES NOT MEAN THAT, YOU KNOW, ENERGY CANNOT BE PROVIDED THROUGH OTHER MEANS.
WHY, WHY AREN'T THE, UM, WHY ISN'T TEXAS NEW MEXICO POWER DOING THIS? IF, IF, IF, BECAUSE THERE ACTUALLY YOU'RE, YOU'RE PROFITING FROM IT.
SO IF IT'S SUCH A GREAT THING FOR US, WHY DON'T THEY HAVE THESE TYPES OF FACILITIES TO OFFSET THAT? SO THE UTILITIES MAKE THEIR MONEY BY BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ALLOWING THESE TYPES OF PROJECTS TO CONNECT.
SO WE ARE DIRECTLY COORDINATING WITH, UH, TEXAS NEW MEXICO POWER.
UM, THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY ALLOWING US TO UTILIZE THEIR EXISTING EASEMENT AND RIDE OF WAY FOR THE ELECTRICAL LINE THAT'LL GO FROM THE SUBSTATION DIRECTLY TO THIS PROJECT.
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT LOCATION.
THIS LOCATION WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE OF ITS PROXIMITY TO A LOCAL SUBSTATION THAT HAS A HISTORY OF BEING OVERLOADED AND, YOU KNOW, RUNS INTO SITUATIONS WHERE POWER GENERATION BECOMES PROBLEMATIC.
UM, ANOTHER REASON THAT THIS LOCATION WAS SELECTED WAS BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO LEVERAGE THE EXISTING SUBSTATION, MEANING THAT AN ENTIRE NEW SUBSTATION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BUILT TO INTERCONNECT TO THIS PROJECT AS IT WOULD IF YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, FARTHER OUT, MAYBE NOT NEAR A SUBSTATION OR ANOTHER ELECTRICAL LINE, BUT WE ARE COLLABORATING WITH, UH, TEXAS NEW MEXICO POWER DIRECTLY ON THIS PROJECT.
THEY WERE BUILDING ONE BEHIND MY BACKYARD, UM, THE FIRST TIME I HEARD ABOUT IT.
UM, AND I WAS VP ON MY HOA AND SO IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
AND THEN THIS LAST, UM, GO ROUND WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE WHERE WE LEARNED A LOT MORE ABOUT THE, THE FIRE HAZARDS AND THE, THE VARIABLES THAT THEY'RE NOT AWARE OF YET.
BUT LET ME GO BACK TO MY, MY LEADING INTO THIS OTHER QUESTION.
UM, THE PLUME STUDY, UH, WE WERE GIVEN THIS DOCUMENT ABOUT THE PLUME STUDY, UM, AND I, I HAVE SOME
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QUESTIONS ON IT.UM, FIRST BEING THE TIME PERIODS.
SO I GUESS UL DID, UH, A STUDY FOR YOU.
UM, AND IT, IT GIVES SOME BASIC DETAILS, BUT IT'S JUST SO VAGUE, UM, IN, YOU KNOW, HOW LONG WAS THE STUDY? UM, WHERE DID THEY DO THE STUDY? UM, I, I TRUST UL.
I I KNOW THE COMPANY AT THE, THE LABORATORIES ARE VERY EFFICIENT, BUT YOU DON'T GIVE ENOUGH INFORMATION.
SO CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH THIS, THIS PLUME STUDY, PLEASE? YEAH, YOU BET.
UH, I'LL JACOB BERT AGAIN, I'LL INTRODUCE MARK KELLENBERGER.
HE'S HERE FROM DNV WHO DID THE PLUME STUDY.
SO HE IS AN INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY FROM US.
UM, HE'S A PLUME STUDY EXPERT, SO I'LL LET MARK TALK TO TALK TO THAT A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO AS JACOB MENTIONED, MY NAME IS MARK KELLENBERGER.
I WORK FOR A COMPANY CALLED DNV.
WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING FIRM.
UM, WE HAVE OFFICES ACTUALLY IN KD TEXAS.
UM, THOSE ARE THE FOLKS THAT ACTUALLY DID THIS PLUME STUDY.
UM, THEY'RE EXPERTS IN RISK MANAGEMENT, UM, FOR GENERALLY OIL AND GAS AND PETROLEUM FACILITIES.
UM, MYSELF, I'M AN EXPERT IN LITHIUM ION BATTERY SAFETY AND EXPLOSION SAFETY.
I HAVE A PHD IN EXPLOSION PHYSICS.
UM, I DO A LOT OF TESTING OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS TO MAKE THEM SAFE FROM EXPLODING.
I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS OF LITHIUM ION BATTERIES AS WELL.
SO I CAN CERTAINLY SPEAK TO THE PLUME STUDY ITSELF.
SO WHAT THE PLUME STUDY DOES IS ACTUALLY A CONSEQUENCE STUDY AND DURING THE CONSEQUENCE STUDY, WE MODEL A RELEASE OF GAS FROM THE POTENTIAL BATTERY ON THE BATTERY SITE WITH THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD AROUND IT AND USING DIFFERENT WIND PARAMETERS LOCAL TO THE AREA, DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS LOCAL TO THE AREA.
WE CAN RUN A MODEL TO SEE WHERE THAT PLUME WILL TRAVEL BASED ON THE WEATHER CONDITIONS.
SO THIS PLUME STUDY THAT WE PERFORMED, IT ACTUALLY USED TWO DIFFERENT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
SO ONE OF THEM WAS WITH A MORE CALM WIND SITUATION.
SO THE WIND IS ABOUT FOUR MILES AN HOUR, AND ANOTHER ONE IS, UH, WIND SITUATION WHERE IT'S A LITTLE ELEVATED AT ABOUT AN 11 MILE PER HOUR AVERAGE WIND SPEED.
SO TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME CONTEXT, THE SLOWER WIND SPEED IS ACTUALLY MORE, UM, IT HAS MORE CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE THE GAS REMAINS CONCENTRATED AND DOES NOT MOVE.
SO WE'VE HEARD QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, PERHAPS HURRICANES, IF THERE IS AN INCIDENT AND THERE IS A HURRICANE, IT'LL ACTUALLY DISSIPATE ANY GAS OR SMOKE MORE QUICKLY.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE CONDITIONS, AND WHEN WE DID THE STUDY FOR THIS PARTICULAR SITE, UM, FOR THE BERKMAN SITE, WE FOUND THAT THE ACTUAL GAS CLOUD WHEN RELEASED FROM THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT DOES NOT REACH THE GROUND.
AND THERE WERE NO TOXIC HAZARDS MODELED OUTSIDE OF THE, UH, BOUNDARIES OF THE AREA OF THE, OF THE LAND.
AND THE REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE ANY CLOUD OF GAS THAT COMES OUTTA THE BATTERIES IS ACTUALLY RELEASED FROM A VENT AT THE TOP OF THE, OF THE COMPARTMENT, WHICH IS ABOUT 11 FEET OFF THE GROUND.
AND BECAUSE THIS GAS IS BUOYANT, SO THAT MEANS IT'S LIGHTER THAN AIR, IT WILL ACTUALLY RISE AND DISPERSE HIGHER UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
SO OUR MODEL NEVER SHOWED THE GAS REACHING GROUND LEVEL.
SO THE PLUME, DID HE ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? UM, WELL, I I I WASN'T SURE IF HE WAS FINISHED.
UM, BECAUSE THEY DID THIS, YOUR, YOUR QUESTION'S THE ONLY ONE THAT HE NEEDS TO BE ANSWERING RIGHT NOW.
SO HOW HIGH WAS THE PLUME? HOW HIGH WAS THE PLUME? YOU SAID IT GOES, IT GOES, IT'S VOYANT.
SO I MEAN, IT'S GONNA GO, IT'S GONNA, IT IS IT GONNA DISSIPATE IN THE AIR AT SOME POINT IN TIME, WHEREAS IF IT'S GONNA, I MEAN, IF THEY'RE DEPENDENT UPON THE CLOUD COVER AND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THAT, IT'S GONNA GO INTO, IF WE HAVE A LOW CEILING, I MEAN, IT MIGHT GO INTO, UH, ARE YOU THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE QUESTION.
HOW, HOW HIGH? I MEAN, 'CAUSE WE HAVE A LOW CEILING.
I MEAN, IT'S GONNA, SO, SO THE PLUME WILL DISPERSE.
IN THE PLUME STUDY, THERE'S ACTUALLY A MODEL OF THE PLUME.
IT EXTENDS HORIZONTALLY OUT ABOUT 30 FEET.
UM, AND UP INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, I BELIEVE IT TRAVELS A, A SIMILAR DISTANCE AS WELL.
SO FOR, FOR THE PLUME TO EXIST AT ALL IN THE FIRST PLACE, THERE HAS TO BE A FAILURE OF MULTIPLE SYSTEMS WITHIN THE BATTERY SAFETY SYSTEMS. SO YOU, WE'VE HEARD TALK ABOUT SOMETHING CALLED THERMAL RUNAWAY FOR THE BATTERIES.
SO THERMAL RUNAWAY IS WHEN A LITHIUM ION CELL ITSELF HEATS UP TO A POINT WHERE IT BEGINS TO SELF HEAT.
SO THE TEMPERATURE, ONCE IT GETS OVER A CERTAIN THRESHOLD, IT WILL CONTINUE TO RISE.
AND THAT'S THE RUNAWAY, THE HAZARD EXISTS IN A LITHIUM ION BATTERY SYSTEM WHEN MULTIPLE BATTERY CELLS ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER ALL ENTER THERMAL
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RUNAWAY.AND WHEN THEY REACH A CERTAIN TEMPERATURE, THEY'RE, THEY HAVE A SAFETY RELIEF VALVE ON THEM THAT POPS OPEN AND RELIEVES PRESSURE INSIDE THE CELL.
THIS GAS THAT COMES OUT ITSELF IS GENERALLY FLAMMABLE AND THESE SYSTEMS HANDLE THAT FLAMMABLE GAS.
SO WE, HER TALK ABOUT THE NFPA 8 55 SAFETY CODE THAT ACTUALLY HAS PROVISIONS IN IT FOR HOW THAT GAS IS HANDLED.
SO THESE BATTERY SYSTEMS HAVE SPECIAL VENTILATION SYSTEMS AND GAS DETECTORS.
SO IF THAT GAS IS DETECTED WITHIN THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT, EMERGENCY EXHAUST FANS WILL TURN ON AND PUSH THAT GAS OUTSIDE OF THE ENCLOSURE.
AND THAT WOULD COME OUT AT THE VENT AT THE TOP, AT THAT 11 FOOT MARK, AND THEN RISE AS I DESCRIBED EARLIER.
SO THE GAS AND THE PLUME IS ONLY RELEVANT IF THERE IS A FAILURE AT THE BATTERY SYSTEM AND IT ENTERS THERMAL RUNAWAY.
WHAT WAS THAT THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION? UH, IT ANSWERS MY QUESTION.
UM, OF COURSE I'M NOT FINISHED, BUT, UM, SO YOU'RE MONITORED FROM NORTH CAROLINA REMOTELY, UH, WHO'S ON, WHO'S, WHO'S ON, WHO'S HERE, UH, TO RESPOND? YES.
SO OUR, SO OUR REMOTELY MONITOR OR REMOTE MONITORING FACILITY IS LOCATED IN, IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA.
AND THAT'S WHERE ALL THE, YOU KNOW, THE SAFETY FEATURES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED REMOTELY.
EVERYTHING IS WATCHED REMOTELY FOR ALL OF OUR, OUR FACILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
BUT IT IS OUR, OUR STAFF, OUR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE STAFF, MANY OF WHOM ALREADY LIVE HERE, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BE HIRED, UH, AND BROUGHT ON BOARD IN THIS, IN THIS REGION THAT THEY, THEY ARE WHO WILL PHYSICALLY BE HERE, UH, TO MAINTAIN THE FACILITY, TO VISIT THE FACILITY AND TO RESPOND IN CASE, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE WAS, THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN ON, ON THE PROPERTY ITSELF PHYSICALLY.
SO RIGHT NOW THERE'S NO ONE, SO THERE'S NO ONE IN THEIR BACKYARD TO MONITOR, UM, THE, THE SITUATION IF YOU HAD TO HAVE BOOTS ON THE GROUND FOR SOMEBODY TO RESPOND TO THE, UM, THE CALL OUT FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE.
SO WE ALREADY HAVE SEVERAL OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY, UM, STAFF THAT LIVE IN THIS METRO REGION.
WE HAVE ONE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN ROSENBERG, TEXAS.
THAT'S, THAT WILL BE OPERATIONAL IN A MONTH OR TWO FROM NOW.
UM, AND SO ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL WILL, WILL CONTINUE AGAIN.
THEY ALREADY EXIST TODAY AND THEY LIVE IN THIS, THIS AREA.
THEY'LL CONTINUE, CONTINUE TO BE BROUGHT ON BOARD AND, AND HIRED AS MORE OF THESE PROJECTS GET GET BUILT.
SO IT WILL BE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THIS AREA, UH, THAT PHYSICALLY MAINTAIN THE FACILITY IN ADDITION TO THE REMOTELY MONITORED FACILITY.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA GO OVER, I'M NOT GONNA ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE, THE FIRE, THE SUPPRESSION, THE LEARNING, THE TRIAL AND ERROR, UM, BECAUSE THE COMMISSION ALREADY EXPERIENCED THAT WHEN WE WERE HERE AT THE LAST OCCASION.
UM, I, I JUST, I'M GONNA SAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR MY, MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS HERE.
UM, MY LAST QUESTION IS, HOW MANY REJECTIONS FOR THIS TYPE OF PROJECT HAVE YOU HAD SINCE YOU STARTED WORKING WITH THESE? I'M NOT AWARE OF IN THIS ENVIRONMENT.
YEAH, I'M NOT, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY REJECTIONS FROM ANY, UM, LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE FACILITY.
HOW MANY APPLICATIONS HAVE YOU PUT FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR THIS? UM, I'M, I'M NOT AWARE OF OUR, OF OUR TOTAL FOR THE COMPANY, YOU KNOW, NATIONWIDE.
I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT, BUT ACROSS AT LEAST THE THREE, THE THREE STATES THAT JACOB AND I ARE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, WE'RE NOT AWARE OF ANY REJECTIONS.
YEAH, I LEAVE IT TO MY COLLEAGUES.
MR. DOON, YOU DID STEAL ONE OF MY QUESTIONS.
UM, THANK Y'ALL FOR COMING OUT TONIGHT.
SO, UH, I WANNA LOOK AT IT FROM, I FEEL LIKE WE LIVE IN A PRETTY WET ENVIRONMENT.
SO Y'ALL TALK ABOUT THE, THE PLUME THAT WOULD DISSIPATE.
WHAT IF WE'RE UNDER A HEAVY THICK FOG? HOW DOES THAT REACT WITH THAT? WILL IT STILL DISSIPATE? WILL IT JUST GO OFF INTO THE FOG? WHAT DOES IT DO THEN? SO ANY KIND OF RAIN OR, UH, MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE WOULD ACTUALLY PREVENT THE PLUME FROM MOVING.
UH, SO IF IT WAS RAINING, IT WOULD TEND TO KNOCK THE PLUME DOWN.
BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT JUST FOG ROLLING IN.
SO THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD KEEP IT FROM EVER GOING A FOOT ABOVE THE UNIT.
SO THE, THE SMOKE, UM, OR THE PLUME WOULD ACTUALLY INTERSPERSE WITH THE FOG AND IT WOULD TRAVEL WITH THE FOG WITH ANY WIND PATTERN.
SO IT WOULDN'T, UH, IT WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO, WELL THAT'S, THAT'S MY CONCERN THAT IT GOES WITH THE FOG AND IT'S AT GROUND LEVEL.
SO NONETHELESS, UM, HOW MANY OF THESE FACILITIES DO YOU HAVE WHERE WE HAVE, UM, COMMERCIAL IN FRONT OF IT AS, AS THE CITY'S ASKING, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY OF THESE EXISTING FACILITIES THAT ACTUALLY HAVE BUILT COMMERCIAL IN FRONT OF
[01:20:01]
IT? SO THE, THE PROPERTY OWNER OF THIS, OF THIS PARCEL OF LAND IS, UH, HAS AGREED TO SUBDIVIDE THIS, THIS PROPERTY, UH, TO CONSTRUCT THE BATTERY ENERGY FACILITY AND THEN, UH, WOULD IN THE FUTURE DEVELOP THE REMAINING PROPERTY FOR COMMERCIAL.UM, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH ANOTHER, UM, PROJECT OF THIS TYPE WHERE THAT'S THE EXACT SAME CIRCUMSTANCE.
UM, BUT THESE FACILITIES EXIST NEAR COMMERCIAL, NEAR NEAR RESIDENTIAL, UM, ACROSS, ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN, IN SIMILAR AREAS AND, AND, AND NEIGHBORHOODS TO THIS OF THIS LAND USE TYPE.
SO OBVIOUSLY THE, THE GIST OF THIS IS WE NEED THESE FACILITIES, BUT THE LOCATION, SO Y'ALL SOUGHT OUT THIS SITE.
WAS THERE ANY OTHER LOCATIONS WITHIN LEAGUE CITY THAT WERE LOOKED AT, TALKED ABOUT, DISCUSSED, OR WAS THIS THE ONE SITE OR NOTHING? SO THERE'S A LOT THAT THAT GOES INTO OUR, OUR SEARCH FOR, FOR PROPERTY AND, UM, TRANSMISSION CORRIDORS.
THIS WAS AGAIN FOR THE, THE REASONS THAT THIS MS. DERBY SPOKE TO IN TERMS OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE AND THAT EXISTING SUBSTATION AND THE VOLATILITY OF THIS, OF THIS CORRIDOR AND THE VOLATILITY IN TERMS OF, UM, OF DEMAND OUTSTRIPPING SUPPLY THAT, THAT MADE THIS, THIS AREA ATTRACTIVE, UH, AND LOOKING FOR PROPERTY THAT, THAT, THAT WAS NEARBY THAT COULD BE INTERCONNECTED TO THAT, UH, TO THAT FACILITY.
SO, SO THIS, THIS LOCATION WAS, WAS SOUGHT AFTER.
THERE ARE CERTAINLY OTHER, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S PART OF KIND OF WHAT I WAS GETTING AT TO MY PRESENTATION.
IN TERMS OF TEXAS WIDE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE A LOT OF LOCATIONS, UH, THAT IN, IN WHAT I WOULD CALL URBAN AREAS LIKE THIS, UM, THAT MEET THAT DESCRIPTION AS WELL.
UH, THAT ALL, ALL OF WHICH WOULD BENEFIT FROM, FROM BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES.
PLEASE, YOU KNOW, IF I JUST MAY ADD TO THAT AS WELL, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF SITING IS SPECIFICALLY THE ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AS WELL AS THE INABILITY FOR THAT AREA TO BE ABLE TO MEET THE ELECTRIC, YOU KNOW, ELECTRICITY DEMAND, NOT ONLY NOW, BUT PROJECTED INTO THE FUTURE.
UH, BUT WE HAVEN'T ALSO TALKED ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.
THE LAND ITSELF, UM, THIS SITE WAS ALSO SELECTED BECAUSE IT IS FREE OF ANY KIND OF THREATEN AND ENDANGERED SPECIES.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH MIGRATORY BIRDS OR BATS OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE THAT MAY PUT ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR ABILITY TO DEVELOP.
UH, WE DID COMPLETE A WETLAND SURVEY AND HAVE COORDINATED WITH THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS TO CONFIRM A NO PERMIT REQUIRED ESSENTIALLY THAT THE, UH, VERY, VERY SMALL WETLAND ONSITE WILL BE 100% AVOIDED WITH THE PROJECT.
AND THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS HAS CONCURRED WITH THAT.
SO THERE IS ALSO A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS RELATED TO THE BUILDABILITY AND THE USABILITY OF THE SITE ITSELF, UM, IN ADDITION TO THE ACTUAL, UH, ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, AND AGAIN, JUST TARGETING THE AREAS THAT, YOU KNOW, KNOW ARE GOING TO NEED ADDITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE ABLE TO SERVE THE ELECTRICITY DEMAND FOR RESIDENCES.
AND, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER THING I'LL ADD, IT'S, IT'S NOT JUST ELECTRICAL LOAD FROM, YOU KNOW, TRENDING ON YOUR AC AT YOUR HOUSE, BUT A LOT OF JOB CREATING INDUSTRIES REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT ENERGY PRODUCTION AND THERE IS A LOT OF THAT INDUSTRY GROWTH EXPECTED, UH, GENERALLY IN THE AREA OF LEAGUE CITY AND HOUSTON AS A WHOLE.
AND SO, AGAIN, IN ADDITION TO ENVIRONMENTAL, THE ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS, IS ANOTHER PIECE OF THAT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT ADDITIONAL CONTEXT.
UM, AND AGAIN, AS ERCOT CONTROLS THIS, AND I PERSONALLY DON'T TRUST ERCOT, SO I DON'T THINK THIS BENEFITS LEAGUE CITY ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
I DON'T THINK THE TAX PURPOSE IS WORTH THE CRAP, AND I DON'T THINK THAT IT BEING NEXT TO A SCHOOL IS THE BEST PLACE FOR THIS.
SO HAVE THIS BEEN IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION? I MIGHT VOTE YES, BUT TONIGHT I'LL BE A NO ON THIS.
MR. DOMINGO, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO NO, I'M, I'M, ANY QUESTIONS? I'M, I'M GOOD MR. MAYES.
MR. HYDE? NO, I THINK THE COMMUNITY SPOKE SO SUB TESTIMONY.
I DO HAVE, I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS.
UM, SO WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS PLUME STUDY, IT'S MENTIONED 24 MODULES.
IS THAT AT LEAST ON THE SITE PLAN, WHAT CONSTITUTES ONE OF THE SMALL RECTANGULAR BOXES, AT LEAST ON THIS ONE THAT WE WERE GIVEN? SO IF I RECALL, UM, THIS SITE PLAN, UH, HAS ACTUALLY BEEN UPDATED WITH A NEWER, MORE ADVANCED BATTERY.
UM, SO IT'S ACTUALLY GONNA BE A SMALLER FACILITY THAN WHAT THIS PARTICULAR SITE PLAN MIGHT SHOW OR THE ONE THAT IS SHOWN IN THE PLUME STUDY.
UM, SO THAT MEANS IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE FURTHER AWAY FROM RESIDENCES THAN WHAT THE SITE LAYOUT IN THE PLUME STUDY ACTUALLY SHOWS.
[01:25:02]
SO WHEN IT'S TALKING ABOUT THOSE 24 MODULES, SO THOSE BATTERY MODULES ARE A SERIES OF INDIVIDUAL BATTERY CELLS.SO IF YOU GUYS THINK OF YOUR AA OR AAA BATTERY CELLS, THESE ARE, ARE MUCH LARGER LITHIUM ION CELLS, BUT THOSE ARE ARRANGED IN DIFFERENT GROUPS AND THERE ARE 24 OF THOSE GROUPS IN EACH ONE OF THESE, UM, CONTAINERS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE ACTUALLY STUDIED IN THE P SO IT'S 24 IN EACH CONTAINER? CORRECT.
SO THE, THE STUDY IS INDICATING IF ONE MODULE FAILED, BUT DOESN'T ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATE WHAT HAPPENS IF ANOTHER ONE CATCHES ALL THE REST OF THEM ON FIRE, RIGHT? YEAH.
SO THAT 24 MODULES IS ACTUALLY, UM, BASED ON, UH, THE STUDY THAT THE STUDIES THAT UL DID.
SO THOSE STUDIES THAT UL DID ARE ACTUALLY A FIRE TEST.
AND THOSE 24 MODULES THAT WE CHOSE TO DO THE PLUME STUDY WITH IS A VERY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATION.
IN THE UL TESTING, THERE WAS NO PROPAGATION BETWEEN MODULES IN THE ACTUAL TEST.
BUT SINCE, UH, CYBER CREEK WANTED TO LOOK AT THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, THAT'S WHY WE DID THE 24 MODULES.
AND THAT'S THE, THE PLUME THAT WE'VE PRESENTED IS THAT VERY WORST CASE SCENARIO.
UM, THAT WAS FAR BEYOND WHAT UL HAD EVEN TE UH, SEEN IN THEIR TESTING.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THIS QUESTION GETS DIRECTED TO YOU OR TO THEM, BUT WHENEVER THESE CATASTROPHIC FIRES ARE HAPPENING, IT'S NOT JUST ONE SET OF, NOT ONE UNIT, IT'S MULTIPLE UNITS.
SO THERE'S DIFFERENT THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN.
THESE UNITS ARE DESIGNED TO, UH, RESIST FIRE PROPAGATION AT BOTH THE CELL LEVEL.
SO IF A CELL IS NEXT TO ANOTHER CELL, THE CELL ITSELF IS DESIGNED TO BE RESILIENT AGAINST THAT PROPAGATION TO A NEIGHBORING CELL.
SO I UNDER, I UNDERSTAND THEY'RE DESIGNED THAT WAY, BUT WHEN THEY'RE HAVING THESE CATASTROPHIC FIRES, THEY'RE NOT JUST ONE MODULE OF 24 GOING OFF, THEY'RE MULTIPLES.
SO THESE PARTICULAR MODULES THAT ARE SLATED TO GO IN THIS PROJECT ARE VERY RESILIENT AND THE UL TESTING SHOWED THAT THERE WAS NO PROPAGATION BETWEEN THEM.
MY, MY BIGGEST CONCERN WAS JUST THAT THE PLUME STUDY ONLY COVERS IF ONE OF THESE GOES OFF.
SORRY, I WANT TO JUST ADD ON TO WHAT MARK SAID.
IF YOU LOOK AT ANY OF THE EVENTS LIKE IN THE LAST YEAR WITH THIS NEWER TECHNOLOGY THAT MARK ALLUDED TO WE'RE USING NOW, IT HAS BEEN LIMITED TO ONE CONTAINER EVEN IN HIGH WIND EVENTS.
UM, SO I GUESS MY OTHER QUESTIONS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT SORT OF A FIRE GOES OFF, IT SOUNDS THE COMMUNITY IN GENERAL DOES NOT SEEM TO BE IN FAVOR OF THE LOCATION.
I THINK EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE COMMUNITY, AGREES THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR THESE SOMEWHERE BECAUSE WE DO HAVE ENERGY DEMANDS AND WE DO HAVE FREEZES AND WE DO HAVE HURRICANES AND ALL THAT GOING ON.
UM, ONE THING THAT WE DIDN'T REALLY DISCUSS SO MUCH, I THINK WE HASHED OUT A LOT WITH THE WHOLE FIRE DEPARTMENT LAST TIME, WAS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE A FULL-TIME FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AND THAT NOT ALL THE STATIONS ARE STAFFED THAT IN THE ADVENT OF A FIRE, BESIDES THE FACT THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE THEM AS READILY AVAILABLE, YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THE GUY WHO IS TRAINED ON DEMAND AT THAT TIME TO COME DO THAT.
AND WHEN THEY WERE DISCUSSING, I KNOW SOME OF THESE WERE GOOGLING INCIDENTS, BUT IF SOMEONE'S NOT TRAINED, THEY CAN CAUSE MORE HARM THAN GOOD.
UM, I WOULD SAY THAT I DO AGREE ON THE NEED, UM, BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVEN AS STAFF DISCUSSED, THIS IS NOT IN THE PREFERRED LOCATION.
IT DOES NOT HAVE THE SETBACK THAT'S IDEAL FROM HIGHWAY THREE OR WASHINGTON STREET.
UM, IT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE NEARBY DEVELOPMENT AS DISCUSSED IN SECTION 10 OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND THEY MADE A POINT TO NOTE HOW CLOSE IT IS TO RESIDENCES, WHICH SOMEONE NOTED SHELTERING IN PLACE.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU GUYS, BUT WHEN THE AC GOES OUT AND IT'S 85 DEGREES OUTSIDE, THAT'S ENOUGH IN, IN ONE DAY.
BUT 110 DEGREES IS HEAT STROKE IN YOUR HOUSE.
SO, UM, I'M VOTING NO, BUT IF Y'ALL COME BACK WITH A BETTER LOCATION, THEN MAYBE IT'S A YES.
MS. MORRISON, MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS, UH, HOW OLD IS THE OLDEST FACILITY YOU HAVE IN THE UNITED STATES AND WHERE IS IT LOCATED? SO THE OLDEST FACILITIES THAT WE HAVE, UM, THAT ARE, THAT ARE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES, UM, ARE FIVE OR SIX YEARS OLD.
AND THEY'RE LOCATED, UH, THE UTILITY IS CALLED BRUNSWICK, EMC IN NORTH CAROLINA.
I'M NOT CERTAIN OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WHAT COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA THAT IS IN, BUT IT'S IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
AND THE, I'LL JUST ADD ONE LAST THING THAT THOSE FACIL, THE FIVE OR 6-YEAR-OLD FACILITIES ARE DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF
[01:30:01]
THE TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY FEATURES.IT'S AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ANIMAL THAN WHAT WE'RE DESCRIBING AND PROPOSING TODAY, BUT IT'S A GOOD, VERY GOOD QUESTION.
WELL, AND, AND THAT'S MY POINT, EXACTLY FIVE OR SIX YEARS IS NOT, UM, A VERY LONG TIME TO, TO STUDY AND UPDATE.
AND, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR BUILDING CODES, FOR INSTANCE, WHAT WE BUILT 10 YEARS AGO WOULD NOT WITHSTAND THE HURRICANES THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY.
SO, MM-HMM,
UM, THE, THE LONGER THAT YOU HAVE TO RESEARCH AND UPDATE MM-HMM.
UM, SO THAT WAS MY POINT THERE.
AND I, I'VE HEARD ALL THE QUESTIONS.
I'VE HEARD THE COMMUNITY, UM, I PERSONALLY BELIEVE WE OWE IT TO THE CHILDREN OF OUR COMMUNITY, NOT TO MENTION THE, UH, RESIDENTS THAT LIVE NEARBY, BUT WE DEFINITELY OWE IT TO THE CHILDREN THAT ARE IN THE THREE SCHOOLS NEARBY AND THE STAFF THERE, UM, TO PROTECT THEM.
AND I DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE, THE LOCATION FOR YOUR FACILITY, SO MY VOTE'S GONNA BE NO TONIGHT.
MR. LEGEND SMITH, YOU WANT TO COME BACK TO THE PODIUM? OKAY.
I THINK WE PROBABLY COVERED ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT, THAT THE, UH, COMMISSION MIGHT HAVE ON THIS SUBJECT.
I PERSONALLY CANNOT SUPPORT THIS.
UH, THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH THAT KEEPS COMING UP.
IT, MY QUESTION TO YOU IS, DO YOU THINK THAT, THAT IT'S GONNA BE POSSIBLE TO GET SOME CLARIFICATION AS TO LOCATIONS AND FIRES AND ALL THAT KINDA STUFF? WE HAVE VERY, THIS IS THE ONLY, THE SECOND TIME I'VE EVER SEEN ANYTHING ABOUT THIS.
UH, DO YOU KNOW IF COUNCIL HAS ANY INTENTION OF HAVING ANY KIND OF WORKSHOPS OR, OR STUDIES DONE ON THIS TO GIVE US SOME DIRECTION? AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND IT.
UH, YOU KNOW, THI THIS IS, UM, I DON'T KNOW.
I, I GUESS I COULD JUST SAY THIS IS THE BEST, THE BEST PUBLIC HEARING WE'VE HAD ON THIS SUBJECT, BUT THAT WOULD BE A TERRIBLE PUN TO USE.
BUT, UH, UH, ANYWAY, WE, I, I THINK WHAT I'M SAYING IS WE NEED SOME DIRECTION, UH, AND IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL AND, AND THE APPLICANTS ALL NEED DIRECTION TOO.
I, I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH THE FACT THAT, THAT IT'S PROPOSED TO BE NEXT TO HOUSES.
IT'S VERY, VERY CLOSE, VERY CLOSE TO THE SCHOOLS.
WHETHER OR NOT THAT REALLY IS A REAL CONCERN, UH, WE DON'T KNOW, BUT WE DON'T WANNA FIND OUT THE HARD WAY, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S, THAT'S THE THING.
SO I THINK PROBABLY, AND I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T HAVE A FEEL, TOTAL FEEL FOR HOW THE, UH, COMMISSION, UH, UH, IS LEANING TOWARD THIS.
BUT THE LAST TIME WE DID THIS, TO BE ABLE TO SEND THE, THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO COUNSEL, WHICH THIS WILL GO TO COUNSEL NEXT MONTH, UH, I THINK IN APRIL, PROBABLY, UH, I'M GONNA MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THIS BASED ON THE FACT THAT I THINK IT'S NOT GONNA FAIL, IT'S NOT GONNA PASS.
SO, UH, RATHER THAN HAVING A MOTION TO DENY IT, I THINK I'D LIKE TO HAVE ONE THAT, THAT GETS VOTED DOWN.
IF I MAY, REAL QUICK, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION FOR THE AUDIENCE TO, FOR OUR CITY ATTORNEY TO EXPLAIN THE REASONING BEHIND THAT, RIGHT? AS WE HAVE, GO AHEAD.
WE WANT TO AVOID A SITUATION WHERE THERE'S LEGAL AMBIGUITY.
IF, FOR INSTANCE, SOMEONE WERE TO DO A MOTION TO DISPROVE SOMETHING AND THEN IT FAILS, THERE IS SOMETIMES A QUESTION OF, WELL, IF IT FAILED, DOES THAT MEAN YOU INADVERTENTLY APPROVED IT? AND SO THAT'S WHY OUR RECOMMENDATION TO THE CHAIR IS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT TYPE OF ACTION WE THINK ARE GOING TO TAKE, UH, DO A MOTION FOR SOMETHING IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
AND THAT WAY IF IT FAILS BECAUSE ONE, IT DIDN'T HAVE THE VOTES, OR IT DIDN'T EVEN GET A A SECOND, THEN AT LEAST IT'S CLEAR THAT YOU, THE MOTION FAILED.
AND THERE'S NO SORT SORT OF QUESTION ABOUT, WELL, BECAUSE YOU VOTED ANOTHER WAY, DID YOU INADVERTENTLY APPROVE IT.
SO THAT IS WHY OUR RECOMMENDATION, ALTHOUGH IT'S COUNT SOMETIMES COUNTERINTUITIVE AND IT CONFUSES PEOPLE, OUR RECOMMENDATION IS, IS THAT WAY SO THAT WE AVOID ANY SORT OF LEGAL AMBIGUITY.
AND LET ME CLARIFY, THIS IS OUR CITY ATTORNEY, UH, NEWLY APPOINTED.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, CONGRATULATIONS.
I'M GONNA MOVE THAT, UH, THAT THIS, UH, PROPOSAL BE
[01:35:01]
APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED BY, UH, STAFF.AND IS THERE A SECOND? WE DO NEED A SECOND TO BE ABLE TO VOTE ON IT.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR, RIGHT HAND LIFTED.
DO HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 OPPOSED THE MOTION FAILS.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT TONIGHT.
UH, WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THIS, THIS ISSUE AND, UH, HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME, SOME GUIDANCE IN THE, IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE.
UH, BUT ANYWAY, WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE.
I WANT TO STAY AND TALK ABOUT THE, UH, THE DOG BATH
I THINK, I THINK THIS ONE'S GONNA BE EXCITING.
IS ANYBODY HERE THAT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE DOG BATH? ALRIGHT.
YOU DON'T WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DOG BATH.
I ONLY, I ONLY HAVE 20 QUESTIONS ON THIS NEXT TOPIC.
YOU WEARING A CAT T-SHIRT? YOU KNOW, SHE'S, YOU KNOW, SHE'S WEARING A CAT T-SHIRT.
SHE'S NOT GONNA BE IN FAVOR OF THE DOG.
HEY, THIS, THIS WAS MY, THIS WAS ALL MY STUFF FROM THE LAST ONE.
SEE, I ONLY GOT DOWN TO ABOUT HERE ON THIS ONE.
THIS GROUP REALLY NEEDS, I, I'VE STARTED TO MENTION THIS, BUT THIS GROUP REALLY NEEDS TO GO WHEN IT GOES BEFORE CITY COUNCIL.
Y'ALL, Y'ALL ALL NEED TO SHOW BACK UP WHEN WE GO TO CITY COUNCIL.
NOW IT PROMPT EVERYBODY TO GO TO GO TO THE PUBLIC HEARING WHEN IT GOES BEFORE CITY COUNCIL NOW, BECAUSE THAT REGARDLESS WHAT WE DO, THEY CAN STILL PASS IT.
WE DIDN'T HAVE TO TELL HER THAT.
THE, UM, WE HAD ALREADY CLOSED THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING AT 7 0 5.
WE'LL GO TO, UH, ITEM FOUR B, HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION ON A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION SUP 24 0 0 0 1 BUBBLES AND BARKS PET GROOMING.
THIS IS THE, A PRETTY SPECIAL DEAL, BUT TO, TO ALLOW AN ANIMAL SALES AND SERVICE WITH NO OUTDOOR KENNELS OR OUTDOOR STORAGE USE ON APPROXIMATELY 1.35 ACRES ZONE CN COMMERCIAL, NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL, GENERALLY LOCATED ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE OF EAST FARM TO MARKET FIVE 18 EAST OF MEADOW PARKWAY AND WEST OF THERE GLEN DRIVE WITH THE ADDRESS OF 33 11 EAST FARM TO MARKET FIVE 18.
IT'S IN, UH, WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AT, UM, 7 39.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE THAT WANTS TO ADDRESS THE, THE COMMISSION AS FAR WITH THIS REGARD TO THIS ISSUE? IF NOT, WE'LL CLOSE THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING AT SEVEN 40.
STAFF WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS? YES, SIR.
THE REQUEST BEFORE YOU IS FOR GROOMING, UM, BASED ON, UH, THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BUSINESS, WHICH IS ANIMAL SALES AND SERVICES WITHOUT AN OUTDOOR KENNEL IN STORAGE.
THERE'S ALSO ONE WITH IN INDOOR WITH KENNELS AND OUTDOOR STORAGE.
BUT THIS IS THE WILL NOT HAVE THAT.
SO BASICALLY BASED ON OUR ZONING ORDINANCE AND, AND OUR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE, IT REQUIRES A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR PROPERTIES THAT ARE ZONED NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, ON THE ZONING MAP, THIS AREA OF, UH, KIND OF CORRIDOR ALONG EAST FM FIVE 18, UH, IS ALL ZONE NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL.
THE REQUEST BEFORE YOU TONIGHT IS TO LOCATE AN APPROXIMATELY ONE LEASE SPACE.
IT'S ABOUT 1500 SQUARE FEET IN SIZE.
UM, THE PROPERTY ITSELF IS 1.35 ACRES IN SIZE WITH AN EXISTING FACILITY.
SO IT'S NOT REALLY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOTHING TO BE DEVELOPED.
THE APPLICANT INDICATES THAT THEY DO NOT WANT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE SITE.
THEY JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE THE BUSINESS OUT OF THAT LEASE SPACE.
[01:40:02]
UM, A AS MENTIONED IN THE STAFF REPORT, THE SITE IS ALREADY, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, ALREADY EXISTS.IT'S GOT DIRECT ACCESS ONTO FM FIVE 18.
UM, IT IS ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR AND BEEN DEVELOPED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS AT THE TIME IT WAS DEVELOPED AS A RESULT.
UM, STAFF DOES, UH, WELL, LET ME BACK UP A SECOND.
SO HERE'S A COPY OF THE SITE PLAN WHEN IT, THE SITE WAS DEVELOPED, UH, ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO.
AND THEN HERE'S, UH, RECENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SITE, UH, ON STAFF'S INVESTIGATION BASED ON STAFF'S FINDINGS.
THE, AS THE EXISTING, UH, FACILITY OR THE EXISTING LEASE, UH, SHOPPING CENTER, UH, CONFORMS WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN, THE EXISTING SITE AD DOES HAVE DIRECT ACCESS AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, AND THE BUSINESS WILL, UH, OPERATE INTERNALLY TO THE BUILDING AS A RESULT.
STAFF DOES RECOMMENDATION BASED ON THOSE THAT THE USES PERMITTED BY SUP WILL BE LIMITED TO ONLY THE ANIMAL SALES AND SERVICES.
AND AGAIN, JUST EMPHASIZE WITH NOT OUTDOOR KENNELS AND OR OTHER OUTDOOR STORAGE.
NO OPERATIONAL PORTIONS OF THE BUSINESS WOULD BE LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THAT BUILDING.
I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, WHAT ELSE IS IN THAT BUILDING? I SEE BAHAMA MAMA COMING SOON.
I'M, I'M GONNA, UM, ASK VINCE, UH, GALAXY STEAD, WHO IS THE PROJECT MANAGER COME IN AND ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS FOR OKAY.
UH, THERE'S A GYM LOCATED IN THE BUILDING.
AND IS THIS GOING ON THE LEFT END? UH, IT'S GOING ON THE LEFT END, WHICH IS ALSO THE, UH, EAST END OF THE BUILDING.
UH, THAT PICTURE ON THE LEFT IS THE, UH, THE SUITE 100 WILLOW BE LOCATED.
UM, AND WHERE ARE THEY GONNA WALK? THE DOGS? I MEAN, THEY HAVE SALES, THEY MUST KEEP 'EM THERE, RIGHT? WELL, THEY ARE, UM, THEY'RE PRIMARILY, PRIMARILY A PET GROOMING BUSINESS.
UM, SO IT, UH, IN A SENSE BE SIMILAR TO A, WHEN I TALK TO THE APPLICANT'S, THEY, IT WOULD BE SIMILAR TO A, UH, A, UH, BARBERSHOP OR HAIR SALON EXCEPT FOR DOGS.
SO IT'S NOT DOG SALES, IT'S RETAIL SALES RELATED TO THE GROOMING.
UH, IT'S A PET GROOMING BUSINESS.
WELL, THERE USED TO BE A, UH, A, UH, ANIMAL SUPPLY BUSINESS THERE.
SO JUST KIND OF LIKE WHAT I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE HAVE TO, THE WAY THE, THE ZONING ORDINANCE KIND OF WORKS WITHIN THE UDC, WE HAVE TO, WE TAKE A FEW CLASSIFICATIONS FOR MANY DIFFERENT THINGS.
SO A DOG GROOMING FACILITY WOULD BE CLASSIFIED UNDER THIS NAME.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, RETAIL SALES, IT COULD BE IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSINESS BASED ON THAT CLASSIFICATION.
SO IT'S BASICALLY A NAME TO CLASSIFY IT HOW WE UTILIZE OUR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, I DID HAVE ONE QUESTION, UM, RELATED TO WHAT MS. MORRISON WAS SAYING.
SO, ARE THE DOGS KENNELED INSIDE IF, UH, I KNOW PARENTS, UH, DOGS DON'T ALWAYS PICK THEIR DOGS UP ON TIME.
AND IF THE DOG IS IN NEED OF GOING SOMEWHERE, UM, AND THERE'S NOTHING OUTSIDE AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S GONNA BE A RESTAURANT OF SOME SORT NEXT DOOR.
SO, UM, HOW WOULD THEY TAKE CARE OF THAT IN THAT INSTANCE? OR ARE THEY KENNELING THE DOGS INSIDE, UM, TO CONTAIN THAT? YES, ALL OPERATIONS FOR THE BUSINESS WOULD BE WITHIN THE, THE 1500 SQUARE FOOT LEASE SPACE.
BUT ARE THEY KENNELING THE DOGS LIKE INSIDE? UH, THERE'S, UH, NO OUTSIDE, UH, KILLING OF THE DOG.
AND SHE'S ASKING, SO WHEN A DOG HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE, A DOG HAS TO GO.
AND SO IF THE DOG IS, IS THERE OVER THE TIME, WHERE WOULD THE DOG GO? THE DOG WOULD HAVE TO GO INSIDE THE BUILDING AND THEN THEY WOULD CLEAN UP AFTER THAT.
THEY WOULD HAVE TO, AS INDICATED BY THE APPLICANT.
ALL, ALL OPERATIONS WOULD BE HANDLED INSIDE.
COULD THERE BE SOME KIND OF CONDITION ON THAT, THAT IT DOESN'T BECOME AN ISSUE BECAUSE ABOUT IT? YES.
YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO THE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN SUP AND, AND WHAT, WHAT STAFF MENTIONED.
THESE ARE STAFF'S RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, AS PART OF YOUR, UM, RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL TO ADD OR DELETE ANY COMMISSION CONDITIONS AS YOU SEE FIT.
THE COMP, THE, UH, BUSINESS NEXT DOOR THAT'S COMING IN IS, UH, LOOKS LIKE SOME TYPE OF A, A FOOD SERVICE.
WHAT'S THE OTHER ONE WITH THE LITTLE SIGN COMING SOON? LOOKS
IT'S SOME KIND OF FOOD, TEA, SNACKS.
I CAN'T REALLY TELL FROM THE PICTURE.
[01:45:01]
WELL, IT, IT LITERALLY SAYS TEA, SNACKS AND SWEETSS.DID THEY HAVE ANY, ANY CONCERNS ABOUT HAVING THAT FACILITY NEXT TO THEM? WE HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING FROM DO THEY KNOW? UM, MOST LIKELY NOT BECAUSE MOST OF WHAT WE HAVE TO NOTIFY WE'RE WE ONLY NOTIFY PROPERTY OWNERS.
UM, WELL, ME PERSONALLY, I WOULD RATHER WAIT ON THAT THAN AND KNOW IF THE NEXT DOOR, UM, HAS ANY INTEREST IN THERE.
'CAUSE THEY'RE JUST STARTING UP A NEW SMALL BUSINESS AND WE, WE NEED SMALLER, UM, BUSINESSES LIKE THAT.
I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT GROOMING 'CAUSE I HAVE DOGS AND I HAVE HUSKY.
UM, BUT I I I WOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR INTERESTS SINCE IT'S A FOOD ESTATE.
IF IT WAS JUST THE GYM, I WOULD WOULDN'T SAY TOO MUCH.
IS THAT IN THE PICTURE? THE COMING SOON SIGN ON THE FENCE? IS THAT FOR THAT BUSINESS OR IS THAT FOR SOMETHING ELSE? DO YOU KNOW? THAT IS FOR ANOTHER BUSINESS.
YEAH, ACTUALLY THE ONE ON THE FENCE ON THE FAR LEFT, I BELIEVE IT'S ACTUALLY FOR THIS FACILITY.
IF YOU ZOOM IN, IF I APOLOGIZE, WE DON'T HAVE, BUT, BUT THAT'S ACTUALLY, I BELIEVE IT'S, THAT'S WHERE IT SAYS THE NAME OF THE BUSINESS.
THAT AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I THOUGHT.
AND THEN THE ONE FURTHER TO THE LEFT IS FOR THE ADJACENT, UH, LIGHT AUTO THAT'S RIGHT NEXT DOOR.
I MEAN, I DON'T SEE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT.
IT, IT, THE, THE PLACE NEXT TO IT SEEMS TO BE JUST A, JUST A PLACE TO COME EAT.
IT'S NOT A, DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A FULL-BLOWN RESTAURANT.
AND AS LONG AS THERE'S SEPARATION BETWEEN THE TWO AND EVERYTHING IS KEPT INTERNAL, I MEAN, THE CITY'S GONNA, THE CITY'S GONNA, AND THEY HAVEN'T TAKEN TIME TO PUT THEIR SIGN BACK UP.
WE'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO, UH, I'LL MAKE A MOTION.
SECOND, WE HAVE A MOTION TO, UH, ACCEPT THE, UH, RECOMMENDATION OF STAFF SECOND AND THE SECOND IS MADE BY MR. DOMINGUEZ.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
OPPOSED? RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND.
MOTION CARRIES NOW AT, UH, ON FOUR C.
HOLD THE PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDER IT THAT SAYS, CONSIDER ATAC ATAC.
INTAKE ACTION ON A REPL BRITTANY PLAZA.
REPL NUMBER ONE PLAT 23 0 0 1 3.
BEING A RELAID OF THE BRITTANY PLAZA, FINAL PLAT LOCATED ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF WEST LEAGUE CITY PARKWAY AND ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF BUTLER ROAD.
WE'LL OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7 49.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE THAT NEEDS, THAT WOULD LIKE TO, UH, SPEAK TO THE ISSUE? IF NOT, WE'LL CLOSE THE, UH, PUBLIC HEARING AT 7 49 AND STAFF, YOU WANT TO TELL US ABOUT THIS? YES, SIR.
THIS IS A COMMERCIAL REPL OF APPROXIMATELY 8.18 ACRES.
THEY'RE WANTING TO SUBDIVIDE THE PROPERTY FROM ONE COMMERCIAL LOT TO THREE.
THE LOT SIZES RANGE FROM 0.8 OR EIGHT TENTHS OF AN A OF AN ACRE TO JUST OVER SIX ACRES.
THE REASON WHY IT IS BECOMING, WHY IT IS COMING BEFORE YOU AS A, UM, PUBLIC HEARING IS BECAUSE ALL RELAS MUST HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING.
THE DIFFERENCE IS RESIDENTIAL RELAS.
WE ARE REQUIRED TO NOTIFY THE SURROUNDING PROPERTY OWNERS AND THEN HAVE ONE.
UM, BUT FOR CO BUT FOR COMMERCIAL, WE ONLY NEED THE, UH, REPL.
AND THAT BASICALLY OUR NOTICE IS PROVIDED THROUGH THE AGENDA POSTING PROCESS.
THE PLAT DOES MEET ALL LOCAL AND STATE REQUIREMENTS.
I'M AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS OF STAFF? IS THERE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THEIR RECOMMENDATION? MOTION? I SECOND DR.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
OPPOSED? RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND.
THAT CONCLUDES THE, UH, ACTION ITEMS THAT UNDER
[5. New Business]
NEW BUSINESS.YEAH, I, I WAS GONNA, I WAS GONNA PRINT.
I WAS GONNA PRINT THIS CONSIDER AND MAKE, I WAS TOO, I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH PAPER.
CONSIDER AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON THE 2023 LEAGUE CITY MASTER WATER AND WASTEWATER MASTER PLAN UPDATE.
AND, UH, MY QUESTION, AND I DID, I DID CONTACT, UH, MR. LENN SMITH AND SEE IF WE WERE
[01:50:01]
EXPECTED TO, UH, ABSORB THIS 634 PAGES BEFORE TONIGHT.AND HE ASSURED ME THAT THAT'S NOT, THAT WAS NOT NECESSARY.
UH, GOOD EVENING FOR THE RECORD.
MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER SIMS. I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR LEAGUE CITY.
UM, LAST YEAR WE BROUGHT FORWARD A PORTION OF THE WATER AND WASTEWATER MASTER PLAN, SPECIFICALLY THE, UH, PORTIONS, UH, RELATED TO OUR CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES.
UH, THERE WAS A RECOMMENDATION MADE BY THIS COUNCIL.
IT WENT TO CITY COUNCIL, OR BY THIS COMMITTEE.
UM, THIS IS JUST CLOSING UP THE ACTUAL DOCUMENTS THEMSELVES, THE 600 PAGES.
UH, WE WANTED TO COME BACK, UH, BEFORE WE DO OUR, OUR FORMAL PUBLIC HEARING WITH, UH, CITY COUNCIL AT THE END OF MARCH.
WE WANTED TO COME BACK TO PNZ, PRESENT THE PLAN IN ITS ENTIRETY.
UM, OUR CONSULTANTS ARE HERE TONIGHT.
THEY'RE JUST GOING TO KIND OF WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT WE'VE DONE AND WHAT THESE PLANS ARE, AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE NEED, WELL, WE DO NEED A RECOMMENDATION TO ADOPT IT, BUT AGAIN, THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED SOMEWHAT, SO TO SPEAK, THROUGH THE CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES.
WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN, SO THERE'S NOTHING, THERE'S NOTHING NEW OR NOTHING UNUSUAL? NO, SIR.
IT'S NOT LIKE PASS IT SO YOU CAN READ IT TYPE THING.
NO, WE, WE'VE ALREADY DONE THAT.
NO, I I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO OUR CONSULTANTS NOW TO, UH, MAKE THE PRESENTATION AND WE'LL ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
WHEN DOES THIS GO, UH, TO COUNSEL? UH, MARCH.
MARCH THE 26TH, LATTER PART OF MARCH? YES, SIR.
MEMBERS OF THE P AND Z, UM, THIS PRESENTATION IS HERE TODAY.
UH, WE'RE DOING THIS PRESENTATION TODAY SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THE ENTIRE REPORT.
I'M REPRESENTING FRIES AND NICHOLS.
AND, UH, THE, WE STARTED THIS PROJECT, UH, IN 20, UH, 22, WHEN WAS RETAINED BY THE CITY TO UPDATE THE WATER AND WASTEWATER MASTER PLAN, WHICH WAS LAST UPDATED IN 2018.
AND IT'S A TEAM OF FRIES, NICHOLS, AND ARTURA.
I'M REPRESENTING FRIES NICHOLS TODAY, AND I HAVE BAILEY KELLER WITH ME FROM FRIES NICHOLS AND JEFF PETERS FROM ARTURA.
SO, UM, UH, CHRISTOPHER ALREADY TOLD YOU A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND THAT WE HAVE BEEN HERE IN APRIL OF 2023, PRESENTING PART OF THIS PLAN AS PART OF THE CAPITAL RECOVERY FREE UPDATE STUDY.
UM, AT THAT TIME WE DISCUSSED THE LAND USE ASSUMPTION AND ALSO THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN PROJECTS THAT ARE RELATED TO GROWTH.
AND WERE ELIGIBLE FOR THE CAPITAL RECOVERY FREE STUDY.
SO THIS MASTER PLAN, UH, BASICALLY INCLUDES THE PROJECTS THAT ARE NOT INCLU, UM, UH, THOSE PROJECTS, AS WELL AS PROJECTS THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR REHAB PURPOSES, WHICH ARE NOT, UH, CRF ELIGIBLE AND ALSO, UH, WHICH WILL SERVE GROWTH BEYOND 10 YEARS.
SO, WE'LL, UH, GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION REAL QUICK.
SO, UH, AS PART OF THE, UM, MASTER PLAN, WE WORKED WITH THE CITY STAFF TO UPDATE THE WATER IS WASTEWATER IN INVENTORIES, BASICALLY ON WHAT NEW, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE YOU HAVE CONSTRUCTED, INCLUDING THAT IN THE STUDY AND ALSO IN THE MODELS THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN THE 2018 STUDY.
WE ALSO DID FLOW MONITORING IN THE CITY'S WASTEWATER SYSTEM AND PRESSURE TESTING IN THE CITY'S WATER SYSTEM.
UH, WE LOOKED AT HISTORICAL DATA, WATER DEMANDS, WATER PRODUCTION AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN EFFLUENCE TO IDENTIFY, UM, WHAT, WHAT PLANNING CRITERIA SHOULD BE USED TO PROJECT FUTURE WATER DEMANDS AND FUTURE WASTEWATER FLOWS.
ALL THAT WAS PUT WERE PUT INTO THE MODEL TO, UH, DO THE ANALYSIS TO FIND WHAT DEFICIENCIES LIE IN THE EXISTING SYSTEM AND WHAT IMPROVEMENTS ARE NEEDED FOR, UH, TO SERVE FUTURE CUSTOMERS IN THE CITY.
UM, BASED OFF OF THAT ANALYSIS, UM, UH, PHASED, PRIORITIZED CIP WAS DEVELOPED, WHICH WOULD GO IN, UM, PROVIDING INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CITY'S BUDGETING PROCESS.
THE MASTER PLAN ALL INCLUDES A CIP MAP THAT PROVIDES THE LOCATION OF THE PROJECT AND ALSO PROVIDES IN IN INDIVIDUAL OPCC SHEETS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES.
UM, IT'S ALL INCLUDED IN THE MASTER PLAN.
AND THEN WE'LL GO THROUGH SOME OF THE FEATURES OF THE MASTER PLAN TO GIVE YOU A VERY BRIEF OVERVIEW.
SO THIS IS AN A SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE LAND USE ASSUMPTIONS UPDATE PROCESS.
AGAIN, UM, WE HAVE PRESENTED THIS AT THE, UM, PNZ MEETING IN APRIL OF 2023.
THE MAIN, UM, SOURCE OF INFORMATION HERE WHERE INFORMATION FROM THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT AND ALSO THE FUTURE LAND USE PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED
[01:55:01]
IN JU JULY OF 2017.UM, WE IN, UH, RECEIVED INFORMATION ON THE KNOWN DEVELOPMENTS AT THAT TIME.
AND WHEREVER, UM, INFORMATION ON THE NUMBER OF UNITS OR NUMBER OF, UH, ACREAGE WERE AVAILABLE OR DENSITY WAS AVAILABLE, WE UTILIZED IT AS, AS IS WHERE INFORMATION WAS NOT UNAVAILABLE BECAUSE, UH, NOTHING HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR THOSE LAND YET.
WE LOOKED AT THE EXISTING WATER CUSTOMERS IN THE CITY AND ALSO THE EXISTING PARCELS TO IDENTIFY WATER, THE VACANT AREAS THAT COULD HAVE POTENTIAL GROWTH.
AND WE WORKED WITH CITY STAFF TO IDENTIFY, UM, WHICH OF THE AREAS ARE NOT, NOT DEVELOPABLE.
SO ANYTHING THAT WAS IDENTIFIED DEVELOPER ROLE WENT INTO THE PROJECTION.
AND THESE TWO CHARTS ARE SHOWING THE POPULATION GROWTH AND ALSO THE GROWTH IN COMMERCIAL ACREAGE THAT IS PROJECTED FOR IN, BY UP TO BUILD OUT.
SO, UM, OUR PLANNING YEARS OR FIVE YEAR TENURE YEAR AND BUILD OUT, AND IF CIP IS ALSO DEVELOPED IN THE SAME WAY FOLLOWING THESE PLANNING YEARS.
SO THOSE GROW POPULATION AND COMMERCIAL ACREAGE PROJECTIONS, AS WELL AS OUR LOOK ON INTO THE HISTORICAL WATER USAGE AND WASTEWATER FLOW FLOWS WENT INTO DEVELOPING THE WATER DEMAND PROJECTIONS AND THEN WASTEWATER FLOW PROJECTIONS IN THE CITY'S WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE WATER DEMAND AVERAGE DAY IS THE VERY, UH, BOTTOM LINE.
UM, THE BLUE LINE, THE ON, SORRY, THIS IS, I'M TALKING ABOUT THE CHART TO THE LEFT.
THAT'S THE WATER DEMAND PROJECTION.
THE VERY BOTTOM LINE IS THE AVERAGE DAY, UM, DEMAND.
AND THEN, UH, THE RED LINE IS MAXIMUM DAY DEMAND.
THE LINE ON TOP OF IN GREEN IS THE PEAK ARGUMENT.
UM, THOSE ARE THE THREE CRITERIA THAT, UM, WE LOOK AT IN THE MODELING.
AND THEN ALSO WHEN WE COMPARE TO DO ANALYSIS WITH THE GUIDELINES OF TCEQ, THOSE ARE THE, THE NUMBERS THAT ARE IMPORTANT AND ALL THE WASTEWATER FLOW PROJECTIONS, THOSE ARE AVERAGE DAILY FLOW PROJECTIONS.
UH, WE HAVE SEPARATED THEM BY THE TWO WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS THAT ARE IN YOUR SYSTEM AND WHAT FLOWS WE ARE, UM, SEE PROJECTING IN, IN THOSE INDIVIDUAL SERVICE AREAS.
SO ON TOP OF THAT, WE, UM, UH, MENTIONED THAT WE WORKED WITH STAFF TO IDENTIFY WHERE, UH, NEW INFRASTRUCTURE HAD BEEN PUT IN, WHERE WOULD THERE HAS BEEN CHANGE IN OPERATION.
SO ALL THAT INFORMATION WAS IN WERE INPUT IN THE MODEL.
UM, WE DID, UM, INSTALL, WE INSTALLED 16 TEMPORARY FLOW METERS IN THE WASTEWATER SYSTEM TO SEE WHAT FLOWS GOING TO IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY.
AND SIX, WHILE PRESSURE RECORDERS IN THE WATER SYSTEM TO SEE WHAT PRESSURES ARE IDENTIFIED.
AND THEY WERE SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
SO WE HAVE A GOOD, UH, COVERAGE.
AND, UH, THESE CHARTS ARE BASICALLY SHOWING WHAT, HOW WE ANALYZE THAT INFORMATION.
AND THIS INFORMATION WILL PUT INTO THE MODEL TO VALIDATE THOSE MODELS OR CALIBRATE THOSE MODELS TO, SO TO MATCH UP WITH THE EXISTING CONDITIONS, UH, THESE MODELS.
UM, AND AS WELL AS INFORMATION IN WITH QTC GOOGLE GUIDELINES WHERE UTILIZE TO IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENT NEEDS IN THE SYSTEM.
SO WITH ALL THAT INFORMATION, THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE MASTER PLAN.
UM, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
THE, THIS MAP IS SHOWING THE WATER CIP PROJECTS.
UM, IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO SEE HERE, BUT, UH, WE HAVE, WE'RE USING FOUR DIFFERENT COLORS TO SHOW, UH, PROJECTS IN DIFFERENT PLANNING YEARS.
IF IT'S SHOWN IN ORANGE, THAT'S A PROJECT THAT WAS ONGOING DURING TIME OF THE STUDY.
IF IT'S SHOWN IN RED, THEN IT'S A PROJECT THAT IT'S WILL EITHER BE NEEDED TO SERVE IMMEDIATE GROWTH OR, UM, OUR REHAB, UM, NEED TO SERVE, UH, EXISTING DEFICIENCY, UH, PROJECTS IN BLUE.
UM, SO WE'LL CALL IT WITHIN ZERO TO FIVE YEARS.
AND PROJECTS IN BLUE ARE FIVE TO 10 YEARS.
PROJECT IN GREEN ARE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE, WE ANTICIPATE NEEDING BEYOND 10 YEARS.
UM, THERE WERE TOTAL, SO THIS TABLE IS SHOWING THE, A LIST OF ONGOING PROJECTS.
THESE ARE NOT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THIS MASTER PLAN.
WE ARE LISTING THEM HERE BECAUSE THEY ARE ONGOING IN TERMS OF TERMS OF THE MASTER PLAN.
AND WE INCLUDED THAT IN THE ANALYSIS BECAUSE THESE PROVIDE CAPACITY TO YOUR SYSTEM.
UM, ON, FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS, THE WATER, UM, ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED TO ANY SIX, UH, TOTAL PROJECTS IN DIFFERENT PLANNING YEARS.
UH, TOTAL WORTH OF, UH, 2, 290 $9 MILLION IN THE 2020 $3.
AND THAT'S ALL OF THE PROJECTS COMBINED.
WE DID THE SAME, UH, MAPPING FOR WASTEWATER WITH THE SAME COLOR CODING.
AND, UH, THIS MAP IS SHOWING ALL OF THOSE PROJECTS.
UH, THIS TABLE IS SHOWING THE ONGOING PROJECTS FOR WASTEWATER DURING THE STUDY.
AND THESE TABLE, THIS TABLE IS SHOWING THE PROJECTS THAT ARE NEAR TERM ZERO TO FIVE YEAR PROJECTS.
UM, THIS TABLE IS A COMBINATION OF BLUE OR FIVE TO 10 YEAR PROJECTS AND BUILD THE BUILD OUT PROJECTS FOR THE WASTEWATER.
[02:00:01]
UM, APPROXIMATELY 219 MILLION.AND THOSE ARE ALL THE CAPACITY RELATED PROJECTS BEYOND THAT.
UM, THE MASTER PLAN ALSO HAD THE FLOW MONITORING, WHICH HELPED THAT AS IDENTIFIED.
WHAT IS THE INFLOW AND INFILTRATION THAT YOUR WASTEWATER SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY SEEING? UM, SO THE MAP TO THE LEFT IS SHOWING THE, UH, A VOLUME FOR THE VOLUME OF INFLOW AND INFILTRATION IN DIFFERENT PARTS, PARTS OF YOUR SYSTEM.
BROKEN SYSTEM BROKEN DOWN INTO 16 SMALL PIECES BASED ON THE FLOW METER LOCATIONS.
UM, BA UH, THE CITY HAS ALREADY, UH, IS WORKING ON, UM, UH, SSES OR SARY, YOUR EVALUATION STUDY PROGRAM.
SO THIS INFORMATION HELPED US PROVIDE SOME UPDATE TO THE PROGRAM BASICALLY ON UPDATED PHASING.
UM, SO WE WOULD, UH, WE PROVIDED A REPRIORITIZED LIST FOR THE CITY TO WORK WITH FOR THE, UM, PROGRAM AS PART OF THE MASTER PLAN.
SO THIS LIST IS PROVIDING, UM, WHAT WE ANTICIPATE THE NUMBER OF, UH, INSPECTION, UM, UM, INSTRUMENTS THAT WOULD BE NEEDED, WHAT WOULD BE THE APPROXIMATE COST FOR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, THOSE INSTRUMENT AND FOR REHAB DESIGN FOR ALL FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES.
SO THAT IS ALL, UM, UH, A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE MASTER PLAN.
UM, WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, ASSIST THE CITY ON THIS AND WOULD BE HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
IT WAS A VERY GOOD RECORD AND I, UH, I, WHAT, WHAT PART OF IT THAT I WAS ABLE TO, TO READ
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? IF NOT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE A MOTION THAT WE ACCEPT THIS, UH, REPORT AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL THAT IT BE, UH, IT BE ENACTED AND, AND, UH, THEY, THEY ALSO ACCEPT IT.
AND WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
MR. DODSON, ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
[6. Staff Comments ]
SIX, WE HAVE STAFF COMMENT.STAFF HAVE ANY MORE COMMENTS TONIGHT? YES, SIR.
UM, JUST A COUPLE ITEMS, UH, REMINDERS REALLY.
UM, NEXT WEEK'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED BECAUSE OF THE, UH, SPRING BREAK.
ALSO, JUST FOR INFORMATION FOR UPCOMING DATES.
UM, REAL, ACTUALLY, REAL QUICK, LET ME BACK UP TO CITY COUNCIL REAL QUICK.
AT LAST MEETING THEY DID APPROVE THE 19TH STREET REZONING AS WELL AS, UH, THEY APPROVED ON FIRST AND FINAL OF THE REMOVAL OF APPEND APPENDICES FROM THE UDC.
THOSE WILL STILL REMAIN LIKE, SO IF YOU GO ON THE WEBSITE TODAY, TOMORROW AND FURTHER ON DOWN, THOSE WILL STILL BE THERE.
IT'S JUST HOW THEY GOT THEIR APPROVALS.
IT'LL BE DOWN TO, TO ONE INSTEAD OF TWO.
UM, BUT UP ON THE SCREEN, THE UPCOMING ME UPCOMING MEETING DATES TO REMEMBER THE MARCH 18TH, WHICH WILL BE OUR NEXT P AND Z MEETING.
WE'LL HAVE THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION, AND THEN WE'LL AFTER THAT WE'LL HAVE THE STRATEGIC PLAN WORKSHOP.
AND THEN ON APRIL 1ST, AFTER OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE CIAC OR THE CITIZEN IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS THE 2024 MASTER MOBILITY PLAN AND ROADWAY CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES.
THAT UPDATE, THAT IS ALL STAFF HAS.
AND LET ME, UH, REITERATE, UH, CONGRATULATIONS TO, UH, MICHELLE FOR, FOR BEING, UH, NAMED THE, UH, THE, THE, THE REAL CITY ATTORNEY NOW
WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR US.
UM, MARK, I, I, I, I THINK IT'S, IT IS ONLY FAIR FOR, FOR ME TO TO SAY THAT WE APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT YOU GUYS HAVE DONE ON THIS, UH, ON THIS BEST PROJECT.
UH, I MEAN, Y'ALL PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT IN THAT THE WHOLE STAFF HAS, AND I KNOW IT, IT IS KIND OF LIKE RUNNING INTO A, A BRICK WALL, BUT I I, I TRULY THINK THAT THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE ON THIS.
AND, AND I, I, I SUSPECT THAT YOU PROBABLY WILL AGREE THAT, UH, YES SIR.
AS, AS WE LIKE TO SAY, IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS.
YOU KNOW, EVERY DAY WE'RE LEARNING INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, WE'LL LEARN MORE INFORMATION WHEN THESE GO TO CITY COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, EVEN AS, AS THE FARM MARSHAL'S OFFICE SAID, YOU KNOW, KNOW, IT'S JUST IN GENERAL, IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS.
WE WANT TO KNOW, WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU THAT YOU'VE DONE ON THAT AND EVERYTHING YOU DO ON EVERYTHING ELSE, BUT, UH, SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NOT ALL THAT EASY.
BUT I MEAN, WHO KNOWS? COUNSEL MAY PASS IT ANYWAY.
[02:05:01]
HAVE INPUT AS, AS FAR AS WHAT THEY DO, UM, FROM A PLANNING DEPARTMENT IF WE'RE ASKED, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THEY HAVE.UM, BUT REALLY KIND OF THE INTENT IS TO KIND OF GET THE APPLICANT UP BEFORE CITY COUNCIL AND HAVE THEM HAVE THAT DIALOGUE.
THAT IS, AND THEN WE'RE THERE TO SUPPORT THAT DISCUSSION.
WELL, WE'LL, WE'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN.