Well, good evening, everybody.

Welcome to the Arlington City Council meeting.

Uh today is December tenth, twenty twenty-four.

I'm gonna go ahead and call the city council session to order.

I'm gonna ask Miss Lori Key from the Renewed Life Church to come forward and lead us in an invocation, please.

Y'all please stand if you can.

Good evening.

Father God, we just thank you for this evening, Lord.

We thank you for our council members, Lord.

We just ask your Holy Spirit to just um impart wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, Father God, into this session, Lord Jesus.

That Father God, every distance decision is made with discernment, Father God.

We thank you, Father God, for our council members and their leadership, Lord, and we just thank you, Father God, for this season that we get to celebrate, Father God.

Um, just the peace of it, the love, the hope, and the joy of it all that we get to do it together in community and with one another.

So we thank you, we praise you, and we give you all the glory and the honor, and it's in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Please join us for the pleasure of allegiance.

Dear God, individual liberty, and justice flags flag.

I pleased the lead Texas, one state under God.

Thank you, you may be seated.

I'm gonna ask Miss Danielle O'Neill to please come up to the podium.

Why don't you come join her up here?

And thank you very much for having me this evening.

Um, as you are aware, uh, WaterSense is focused on helping people find simple ways to save water by installing water efficient products, indoors and outdoors, practicing water efficient behaviors around the home, and looking for water sense certified irrigation professionals to help you have a better yard.

We value our water sense partners, including manufacturers, retailers, builders, promotional partners to help educate on water efficiency and water sense labeled products.

We spend most of our time focused on providing resources for year-long engagement to help water providers and local governments engage with consumers.

Since the inception of the program in 2006, our more than 2200 partners countrywide have helped save over 8.7 trillion gallons of water and over 207 billion dollars in consumer bills.

Water sense celebrated our award winners at the Water Smart Innovations Conference this past September in Las Vegas.

WaterSense awarded 51 awards, and we're very excited to award Arlington Water Utilities for their very first Water Sense Award for excellence in outreach and education.

I am very happy to recognize Arlington Water Utilities for excellence over the past year, educating and promoting water sense and water efficiency in 2023.

Collaborating with the Terrant Regional Water District to encourage residents to shower better and switch to WaterSense labeled shower heads.

Just under 100 residents took advantage and switched out their shower heads uh during the month of October.

Arlington also worked with Terrant Regional to offer pre-sprinkler evaluations with a certified irrigation professional, resulting in the highest number of evaluations to date to 538.

Congratulations.

Arlington promoted other water sense campaigns like fix a fix a leak week to educate homeowners on finding and fixing household leaks.

Did you know that the toilet flapper is inexpensive, easy to replace, and is the number one culprit in household leaks?

Most people don't know that.

Arlington held two DIY repair classes and offered an online option with information sent to over 17,000 customers.

In springtime, Arlington promoted Sprinkler Spruce Up to save water outdoors on social media posts, educating customers on how to look for Brooklyn sprinkler heads and water leaks that are outdoors.

In February, Arlington created the Love Your Yard campaign, distributing over 50 irrigation test kits.

WaterSense released the community-based social media kit last year, and utilities and to help utilities make changes in and around their communities.

Also be on the lookout for our uh media and promotional calendars in 2025, which is an easy way to participate in WaterSense.

So, really it's about raising awareness and making people more mindful about water.

And the work that Arlington Water is doing and plans to do will help raise this awareness.

Everybody has a role to play, and we look forward to continuing to help your communities.

Congratulations again to Director Whiteway and the entire team from Arlington Water Utilities.

We can't wait to see your application in 2024.

Thank you.

So, Mayor, we have a um, you know, first of all, we want to say thank you on behalf of all of water utility staff, but then also thank you to the residents because collaborative, you know, this is what happens.

We got to have everyone come together, and this is the results that happens when everyone comes together.

So just want to say thank you so much to the residents, and again, thank you so much to my staff.

They're awesome, they're great, and couldn't do it without them.

So we have a trophy that we would like mayor of you to come down and kind of take a snap of quick photo with us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

The city of Arlington fully embraces the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility where people of all identities and experiences are understood, appreciated, and fully included in the community and more equitable treatment and outcomes prevail.

We ask that the citizens and other visitors in attendance assist in preserving the order and decorum of this meeting and to provide for attendance at and participation in the meeting without fear of intimidation, threats, or hostility.

Any person making personal, profane, hostile, slanderous, or threatening remarks, who uses vulgar or obscene language, who engages in any other actions that disturb or are calculated to disturb the meeting, or who becomes disruptive while addressing the mayor and the city council or while attending the city council meeting may be removed from the council chambers.

All speakers shall address the city council and not the audience or city staff and shall not call out individually named members of city staff or the public.

For speakers tonight, when your name is called, please come to the microphone at the podium and state your name and city of residence for the record.