Well it all depends on the other thing.

Sometimes we have a million questions.

That makes me feel like we brought that in for you.

No, that's okay.

You didn't come out.

That's fine.

I'm John.

Nice to know to you.

Okay, everybody, I'd like to call our um China City Council Strategic Planning to order.

Um can I get a motion to approve the minutes, please?

So move second.

All right.

Minutes are approved.

Um I'd like to welcome the American Water Company reached out to us because there is an initiative that they're required to take care of, which is understanding the type of pipe that uh that is the supply line, I believe, for homes.

Um, and so all of our constituents have been getting letters, and they wanted to make sure preemptively because of our schedule, they had to come a little bit after the letters went out, but um they wanted everybody to be able to ask questions so that we can then talk with our constituents about what is happening in line.

So we'll hand the floor over to you.

Very good.

Thank you.

Um I'm John Sparkman, I'm the director of engineering with Tennessee American Water.

I've been with the water company for 18 months.

A little bit about me.

Um prior to this role, I was with Cleveland Utilities as their manager of engineering for their water and wastewater divisions.

And then prior to that, I worked for two different consulting companies here in Chattanooga doing work for municipal clients and utility districts doing water and wastewater infrastructure.

I've done some city projects, been done projects at the landfill, done some city uh street projects, done some work out at Box and Bend.

So I've spent my career here in Southeast Tennessee and very familiar with the local the local market.

So I guess first let me preface all of this by saying there's not any problems with our water.

We have a new EPA mandate that we're having to navigate, and we're transitioning from kind of an internal records phase to a more externally focused phase dealing with our customers and your constituents, and we want you all to know what we're what we're doing and and kind of why why we're having to do what we're doing.

So I've got some of uh the local leadership of uh Tennessee American uh it takes a lot of people to support me, so uh so I had to bring them all with me.

So uh so if we've got any questions at the end of me and them uh keep you on the straight and narrow.

They got they gotta keep me on the straight and arrow, that's for sure.

So a little bit about the water company.

Um we uh we trace our routes back to 1886 here in uh here in Chattanooga.

We spend about 40 million dollars of capital investment annually and generate about two and a half million dollars in local taxes to to local governments.

Um we have our water treatment plant, our single water treatment plant is on the Tennessee River on Riverside Drive, and from there we have approximately 1,400 miles of transmission and distribution mains.

So the larger transmission means that's what's leaving the plant.

They go to various parts of our distribution system, the distribution mains that you might have in your in front of your house or along your street, those are like two or three or two or four six, eight-inch size size water.

And then from there, the service line, the service line is that portion of the the water distribution system from the distribution main to the house.

So those water service lines are typically three-quarters of an inch in size, sometimes they're an inch, but they're smaller diameter.

And these are the various materials that have been used through time.

So galvanized or plastic, copper, and then lead service lines.

So kind of depending on depending on the availability of the materials, the price, the serviceability.

There's we've used various different types of service line material through through uh through time.

The service line is divided up into two discrete parts, the company side and the customer side.

And that's located the different the boundary is located at the property line where the meter is.

So everything between the main and the meter is the company side, and everything between the meter and the house is the customer side.

So there's two different sides to two different sides to that single service line.

So a little bit about the lead and copper rule.

It was first promulgated in 1991, and it established some criteria about concentrations and testing methodologies and location.

Since that time, we have met all the criteria.

Some key dates, and they'll they'll get a little bit more important in the next slide.

But in 1988 was when the EPA and the state of Tennessee officially banned lead as a use of a service line material.

And then in the 70s, it's been our practice since early, I think 1973 or a little bit earlier.

It's been our practice.

If we were to find a lead service line out in the distribution system, we would replace it just as a course of just as a course of normal work.

In 2021, there was lead and copper rule revisions, and then 2024 there were improvements to those revisions.

Let me go back and say this is not uniquely an American water Tennessee American water issue.

This is all utilities in the United States.

This is this is an EPA federal mandate that we're navigating.

Again, all utilities are having to do this, is come up with an inventory to where we know the service line material is on our side and on the customer side.

That is on out that's on all utilities to know what's on our side and the customer side.