That was going to be coming that isn't here.

No.

All right.

I'll give a couple more minutes and then we can start address uh an overall ongoing implementation with the billing and the new Munilink and invoice cloud and everything.

And so we're hopefully going to be back on the monthly schedule next month.

We do have a high volume of calls, but I just wanted to stress two things that right now there's no penalties or interests that are being applied to any of those bills.

And so we're working through all of that to get back on to the regular schedule for it.

And that should be happening next month.

And so outside of some of the implementation challenges with the various vendors to modernize that system, we also have two different rate cases, uh rate cases that got applied this year.

So water was back in March, which was around 17 to 18%, and then we just had the one for water pollution control that was 30 to 40 percent.

So there was quite a bit of rate shock.

Um we hadn't had one on the water pollution control end for for some time.

And so that that isn't helping, trying to have everyone understand and know where it is.

Uh I will have one of the billing staff members and I have a medium meter staff uh person here, Kyle, if anyone has questions on those elements.

But overall, um, from the standpoint of tonight, really what we wanted to do is kind of walk through uh where we were, where we are now, and and where we need to go uh across the board.

So it's very much kind of now into the future and more of the foundational level.

So I'm gonna try to not do buzzword bingos, and I bought friends, so everyone doesn't have to listen to me like they usually do for for uh an extended period of time.

Um we're gonna try to go through it at a at a good pace, and then realistically want to have three different areas where you can come up and interact with myself, staff or Jacobs or Raf Tellis team that are here.

Uh, and it's there's there's a lot into it.

We're not gonna try to get into the data and all that tonight.

We're gonna just wanna give you that outline and foundation so we can say you know where we were, where we are, and and where we're going.

And so it's very much to you know, try to get that information out to you.

And the other topic, and I'm I'm stealing it from uh a colleague at Ref Tellus is we've inherited much of this.

None of it happened yesterday, some of it was a decade ago.

That's probably the newest portion.

But if you actually dig into it, it's a hundred years or or more in several of the of the sections uh that that we have.

And so just as we inherited all of those decisions, some of them from over a century ago, it's aging, it's stress, the storm patterns are changing in that.

And so we're working with that, and we want to do it in a fair manner.

Uh I never have good news with the cost of it.

Nothing we do is is inexpensive.

Um, we do try to do everything we can as efficiently as possible, but uh, you know, as part of an add-on to this, we're we're getting a pretty good wellness check on our operational uh assessment in the in the financial on the water end.

Uh they do a deep dive every time we go up state to the to the public utilities commission.

And so uh there's a a lot of that in there.

Um, but you know, just from that standpoint that we're never gonna tell you what you want to hear.

We're always gonna say what it is, and we have known for for some time um that we needed to do some tweaks to it.

So we're gonna kind of walk through.

I took too long already with the welcome.

I promised I was gonna be brief, but I guess I'm I'm channeling Joe Nicholson as uh Crispian would say.

Uh and then very much, you know, where we are today, why the rate study, and we've already been kind of doing the rate study for a little more than a year.

Uh, the affordability of utilities, both water, uh, water pollution control and stormwater have been um I think my entire time with the city have been a big component of it.

It always kind of gets lost trying to balance everything.

Um, but now we're at a point where we can implement uh better and more modern uh and really kind of have have a fairer section to it.

And so this is gonna lead into us recommending uh a stormwater utility.

So we want to tell you what that is, and it can look like some from pretty different things.

So we're not ready to do that tonight, but you're going to have the guardrails on where we are for that.

And then we'll have the next steps.

One of the one of the biggest things is feedback.

So overall we want to get clear information.

I probably already use too many buzzwords.

How we do wastewater and stormwater services, how they're funded today, and then what the options are.

And so a lot of times people keep referencing their water bill, but your water bill that you get, or what is often uh called the water bill in Newport is not water, it's water, wastewater, and stormwater and one.

Um so the other element is that when I say we're inherited systems and that they're aging, uh we've actually made significant investments over time in the systems.

And uh I even forget about it.

Peter has to remind me of you know where we were and where we are uh today.

And so we are in a much better position.

That the money that was spent on those treatment plants, the money that was spent on transmission lines and that uh are actually giving and performing benefits today.

Uh why we have a rate study, why now, you know, we're reviewing how we pay for it to make sure that it's fair.

We want to kind of give you that idea that I talked about is that it's not just a water bill and where those components are, and then um some of my colleagues are going to go through and give you much more of a foundation on the stormwater utility and and what that can look like.

It gives us a lot more flexibility, it's really going to be able to uh allow us to kind of support that fairness and really show what's driving it.

And so, in essence, if you do it by whatever the impervious area is, you're gonna wind up having what's driving that stormwater um actually pay for it, unlike having the the sewer cost.

And and the biggest part is even if someone's not here tonight, there's the survey set up, it's gonna go out on social media and the website tomorrow.

There's a QR code.

We tried to simplify it as much as possible for for the questions, but it's really to kind of get a sense of what's important, what is understood or not understood as we as we walk through it.

So where are we today?

Uh better than I thought, um, but not where I would love to be.

Um there's measurable advances across the board, and we have a phenomenal staff.

Uh I did check with HR today, and I think we're down 13 people from fully staffed.

So uh if anyone's interested in in a nice job, the criteria are uh you need to be willing to work, and uh it's never in nice weather or clean conditions.

So um, but uh overall um there's a ton of history to go through, but you used to have one pipe and it went away.

Stormwater, wastewater, it went away.

And then the legacy from that big storms caused all sewage and stuff to go out into the harbor, the bay, and create issues.

Um that doesn't happen anymore.

And it hasn't happened for for some time, and that data is known and measurable.

We we see what's happening at the CSO facilities, we see what's happening in the harbor, and the the sewage that used to go out doesn't go out anymore.

And when it does go out, it's actually treated.

And so we have that that data that shows that.

Um this is one that I have to get reminded of that we had sunshine flooding.

So there was flooding in a bunch of neighborhoods that would happen numerous times a year on a moon tide or any tide, and we don't have that anymore.

So those those neighborhoods we we addressed it.

You still have it.

Um if you happen to catch a high tide and rain at the same time, you'll get that flooding.

Um, but the number of events went down from double digits to single digits when that what's occurring in a year.

And there's a ton of stuff that's kind of out of sight, out of mind.

Um we have a lot of sewer pump stations.

Long wharf just started their uh testing.

It's the last big project for us to transition from our our legacy to look forward to be kind of more value-driven.

And um I forget my math on it.

In a half hour, it would be a football field, including the end zones one feet deep is how much that station can pump, just to give you an idea of if there's a massive rain event, how much is getting moved through the system.

And that's tucked in a spot that you would never expect it, right down on Long Wharf, right where you can see everything.

Uh, and then the Wellington Avenue pump station, I believe has only overflowed once in the last decade.

And so all of those are measurable advances that I even forget about.

And so when we're looking at it and saying that we haven't made progress, we we actually have, and I even need to get reminded of it.

And so we're in a much better spot, and we've actually just gotten approval from the EPA to start to transition to that next permit.

So where we were stuck doing certain things, and we weren't going to get the return on investment or return on management.

The EPA just approved our reassessment so we can start doing things that make sense.

So once we close out long warp, we can come back and do a stormwater project instead of a sewer project and still have it meet um what we agreed to.

Oh that was 2012, I believe we we submitted the plan.

And as most of it is out of sight, out of mind, the Wellington Avenue Tide Gate, you had someone kayaking in it not long ago.

And then the scale and scope of stuff underground is often lost.

So you know, Kyle's kids, my kids could run through these pipes with without a problem and probably have a pretty interesting time.

Not safe and not recommended, but it's not small infrastructure.

Uh and for the majority of it, increase the level of service there.

You're not getting that sunshine flooding.

Now it has to back up, or the tide has to spill over the the you know, the seawalls or get it lined up with a rain event.

And then the long wharf pump station that handles 90% of our flow hadn't been touched since the 1970s.

Um, and literally hadn't been touched.

The the generator that's on the one side of this picture was the one that was still in there till two months ago.

So it was a giant old diesel engine that had been in use for for an extended period of time.

Uh and the Rhode Island portion of this would be that the general contractor there, uh his father and uncle built the addition in the 70s, and so now he's back modernizing the entire tire facility at some time later.

And the addition in the 70s was just some of the capacity.

The other one was even older.

And so the majority of that work hadn't even been touched outside of kind of band-aiding it together.

And so uh this project is 12 and a half million dollars that's gonna go online, and it's gonna allow an additional seven or eight million gallons to get moved through the through the system.

So now I get to someone that's gonna go very briefly and eloquently through the slides.

Uh good evening, everyone.

My name is Dave Fox.

I'm a vice president with RAF Tellus, part of the consulting team to perform this rate study.

Um, Rob said that because he knows I can be very long-winded.

He promised to tack me off the stage.

So I have a very short number of slides that I'll get through very quickly and then turn it over to my colleague Katie, um, who has much more interesting things to talk about than I do.

Uh I want to set the stage a little bit of why uh why rate study and why now.

Um historically, the city at one point in time had a single set of pipes that handled both sewage and and rainwater.

Um, the city has been doing a great job of separating these pipes to protect water quality and also reduce overflows within the city.

Um, at one point in time when there was a single set of pipes handling both sewage and rainwater, it made a whole lot of sense just to have a single rate structure to recover the costs associated with both of those components, giving a single given a single set of pipes handling both the sewage and the rainwater.

However, because of that separation, having sewage related pipes separated from uh stormwater or rainwater-related pipes, um, it today it makes a lot of sense to reevaluate how the costs are being recovered from residents within the city of Newport to make sure that that is the most equitable and fair way of uh recovering those costs.

So, what's in your bill today?

So, currently, although those pipes are uh largely separated, um today the uh water pollution control, or you'll hear it uh referred to as WPC, are paid through a single rate structure.

Um, that rate structure is made up predominantly or the bills that you receive are predominantly based on the amount of water that you use, um, which is very common to use on the wastewater side to reflect uh a reasonable expectation of the demand being placed on the the wastewater system of what's coming into your property versus what's leaving in terms of uh in terms of sewage, and then there's also a fixed component, a CSO fixed fee, which is a flat or a fixed charge that is based on uh the water meter within a property.

Um, again, as Rob mentioned earlier, we are not talking about the water service here.

We're solely talking about wastewater and stormwater.

That's not changing.

This is okay.

Nobody's looking at this.

Did they all change?

Yeah.

Great.

Um, I'm back 10 seconds.

Let me see if I can make this up.

Um the city and the department hired uh my firm, Ref Tellis, as well as our teaming partner Jacobs to uh conduct a deep dive into this rate study.

Um the goals of the rate study are to identify the costs, not only today of owning and operating the system, um, but into the future as well.

What are the infrastructure-related costs, uh, new infrastructure needed for both uh wastewater as well as stormwater, renewal and replacement related costs.

How are those costs going to change over time?

Um, and then also review how are they being paid for today.

So that rate structure that I just talked about, that uh volumetric charge based on water consumption only and the CSO fixed fee based on the meter size of the um sorry, the water meter size.

Is that the best approach for recovering those costs?

And that's what we're going through and trying to determine what is the best approach.

Um there is no you know, blanket approach across the industry across the country.

Uh every community is different.

And what we're trying to identify is what is the right approach for recovering those costs for the city of Newport, um, given the challenges that it's facing, given the separation of the sewage and the and the um stormwater costs.

And then also uh we want to come up with what is the most transparent, fair, equitable way of recovering those costs once we can identify them.

And then partially what we're doing here this evening is to start gathering input from the community of the best way of doing that, so we can take that all into uh consideration before moving forward.

Um one of the things we're considering is because we know those costs that are stormwater related versus the sanitary sewer, sewage related costs, um, is to separate those costs and recover them separately.

Um Katie's gonna just get up here in just about 30 seconds and talk about uh stormwater-related costs and ways in which that those stormwater-related costs are are um oftentimes recovered.

Um, the that's still gonna leave us with costs that are uh incurred for sanitary sewer reasons.

And we want to come up with the best approach to recovering those costs based on industry best practices to be able to have uh revenue stability, equity taking into consideration, seasonal customers, year-round customers, um, you know, sustainability of the infrastructure moving forward.

We're taking all that into consideration, obviously looking at customer impacts as well and making this understandable, easy, something transparent that we can communicate or the city can communicate to all residents.

That being said, Rob, hopefully that wasn't too long-winded.

I'll turn it over to Katie now.

It is now.

Okay.

All right, great.

Hi, I'm Katie Cromwell.

I'm a senior manager with Reftellis in our stormwater practice.

And as both Dave and Rob mention, we're exploring some alternative options to fund stormwater, including a stormwater utility with a dedicated stormwater fee.

Uh, but before we kind of get into that, we need to talk about what are some available options to fund stormwater management.

So there are three main ways that communities often pay for operations and maintenance of their stormwater system, as well as enhancements to their system, including larger stormwater capital projects like the ones that Rob was mentioning.

So, first, some communities will use revenue from their wastewater fee to pay for stormwater.

And this is what Newport currently does.

But so how much a customer pays for stormwater is based on how much water they consume.

But how much water a customer consumes uh isn't really related to stormwater.

So for Newport, this um one of the effects of that means that seasonal residents are really only contributing to stormwater funding in the summers, even though stormwater management is of course needed year-round.

Another common way that communities pay for stormwater is through tax dollars.

So using this funding method, each year the council determines how much money should go towards stormwater management during the budget process.

And only properties that pay taxes then contribute to paying for stormwater management.

But property value isn't closely related to stormwater either.

And there's also the added um issue of you know variability in how much money is being dedicated towards stormwater management every year.

So a stormwater utility with a dedicated stormwater fee has some specific advantages compared to some other funding alternatives.

Importantly, this fee is based on property characteristics, the basis of which we're gonna get to um talk more about soon.

But uh these property characteristics are closely related to stormwater management.

And because the fee is based on property characteristics, it would be charged to properties year-round, providing a stable revenue stream to fund stormwater management.

So we've been talking about stormwater and stormwater management uh for a while, but um just a level set, you know, stormwater is runoff from rain or melted snow that flows over land or hard surfaces like roads and roofs rather than soaking into the ground.

As it flows, it picks up pollutants such as oil, litter, chemicals, pet waste, and it's channeled into storm drains and ditches that often lead directly to rivers, lakes, and oceans without treatment.

So this flow can cause flooding, erosion, and water pollution, harming aquatic habitats.

So Newport's stormwater system includes uh, you know, channels, ditches, storm sewers, uh, pump stations, inlets, catch basins, detention basins, and other similar features.

And so, in addition to the maintenance of this infrastructure and system, the city also completes storm drain improvements and enhancements as well as repair and replacement.

And in addition, the city is responsible for uh permit compliance associated with their storm sewer permit and water quality program.

So continuing to fund stormwater through the WPC rates is not really a sustainable option and doesn't really accurately reflect the demand that properties place on the city for stormwater management.

And because of this, Newport is considering a stormwater fee to more equitably fund stormwater operations and capital projects moving forward.

So we've been talking about the concept of a stormwater utility.

So what does that actually mean?

A stormwater utility is dedicated stormwater funding, often generated through fees based on property characteristics.

So that's what we're referring to when we say a stormwater fee.

So sometimes you'll see you'll hear us sort of talk about a stormwater fee and a stormwater utility somewhat interchangeably.

A stormwater utility also has defined services as well as an organizational structure to support uh stormwater-related activities.

And this is all in alignment with how water and wastewater utilities are structured.

Stormwater utilities are an increasingly common way that communities fund stormwater management across the country.

Uh, there are currently over 2,000 utilities in 43 states.

Uh communities that have stormwater utilities range in size from a few hundred to well over a million.

So it's approving funding a proven funding method for a variety of types of communities.

Uh stormwater utilities are somewhat of a new idea in Rhode Island, but both Newport and Providence are currently considering this funding method.

So, why have so many communities implemented stormwater utilities and why is Newport considering one?

So, stormwater utilities are fair, equitable, and stable ways to collect revenue to fund stormwater management.

This construct allows the city to come to couple this sustainable funding piece with a policy strategy that allows for partnerships and other funding strategies to really maximize stormwater dollars.

And stormwater utilities allow you to align the stormwater fee rate structure and design with the stormwater with the city's stormwater goals and program.

So, because of these benefits, more and more communities are considering this funding mechanism, and it's becoming uh much more common in the Northeast in particular.

So, as we discussed earlier, stormwater is runoff from rain or melted snow that flows over land or hard surfaces like roads and roofs rather than soaking into the ground.

Um, because hard surfaces are what we would call impervious surfaces are closely related to stormwater runoff.

The most common basis for stormwater fees is property impervious area.

So properties with more impervious area place more demand on the stormwater system in the form of increased stormwater management.

So with a stormwater utility, properties with more impervious area would contribute more to stormwater funding than properties with less impervious area.

And we will have additional details on a stormwater utility rate structures in future meetings.

But I think I'm gonna turn it back over to Rob to talk about some next steps.

I think we gave too many buzzwords again.

Um, but you know, overall, there's uh with most of my stuff, I could say it's clear as mud.

Um, but you you have a dedicated team here that's doing it.

And one of the most important things with this is that uh we get that feedback and understanding.

Um unfortunately, none of our stuff is overly simple.

Um, but so there's a flyers up here that have the QR code in it.

We want that public feedback.

So we're gonna do an open house, you know, next, right after this, we're gonna kind of have different stations where you can interact with uh folks from Jacobs, myself, the staff, or Ref Tellus, and really any questions you want, any areas you're curious about, uh, and if you have a specific question and we can't answer it, uh you can either email the rate study or I'll happily take down your information.

Uh it may take me a while sometimes to to get there or to explain it, but you know, we we have the information and the rationale someplace, it's just not not always easy to do.

And so even if someone isn't here tonight, uh tomorrow it's gonna be public on the website and go out.

So the more people that we can have, complete the survey, and the more feedback uh the better we're gonna be able to kind of put those guardrails in to and to go forward.

And I think the general kind of cadence for us for the next steps is we want to gather more feedback.

We're gonna incorporate that into the study and most likely come back for for another meeting.

Uh I would say the cadence we were talking about is probably every few months or so that we're gonna want to come back.

And then at some point uh we'll be sending a council action form up for the city administration to review and it come to council with with a recommendation to go forward, basically, you know, yes or no to we want to continue to the go.

And so it's not something that we're gonna cram in and have ready for for this budget cycle on July 1st, you know.

But we want to do it, we want to do it right.

And the uh the overall theme is is very much um fairness.

Um, kind of that that last point is all the water services, whether they're water, wastewater, or stormwater are essential to what we do.

They're often out of sight and out of mind for everyone.

And I fully appreciate the expectation is is that the sink's gonna work, the toilet's gonna flush, and I couch a little bit that the puddle or flooding will go away on one tide cycle.

Being on an island and looking at a couple of the maps, I don't think that we can do better right now with how we're funded and the projects we have than that one tide cycle.

Um, but we're have been uh working and slowly working to modernize.

I probably need to come up with with a new word, but there is uh ton of data that's behind the scenes to see where we're investing, what the return on our management is, or what the return on those investments are.

And honestly, there's no easy decisions for for what we're doing.

So it's it's always a trade-off.

Uh sometimes that really aligns really nice, and and the plans work and those projections work, and sometimes uh they don't.

The primary clarifiers are uh a good example of both.

So at the wastewater plant, when we did the big upgrade, they were supposed to be extended for another 10 or 15 years.

We saw indications with our you know responsive uh maintenance program and being more proactive that hey, we needed to take a bigger look and we caught it before it failed.

So that's a good thing, but it kind of messes up the schedule.

And so we're progressing from being very reactionary in dealing with something when it fails and progressing through.

And that's the conversation that we want to start for stormwater.

So stormwater has come far enough that it shouldn't be hidden in that water pollution control fee.

We should be able to separate it out and really have what's driving some of those impacts to the system.

Um, you know, pay their their share and have it fair across the board.

And so I appreciate everyone being here.

We're gonna kind of break up into different groups and take as many of the flyers or surveys as you want, give them to your neighbors, friends, whoever, or tell them to look online.

And even if they don't want to do that, have them, you know, shoot an email off to the rate study at city of newport.gov um or newport ri.gov.

I gotta remember that.

I keep messing up the two too long.

But um, so we're just available for any and all conversations anyone wants.

And again, it's the the start of the conversation that we have quite a bit more to process through, and and there'll be probably too much data behind it for the next time to give you the guardrails on what stuff's gonna look like.

So thank you.