Yesterday I spent the day with the staff of the Utilities Department and their Director Dorothy O'Brien.
Utilities are and enterprise department, meaning the fees and rates they charge cover the expenses for the department. The Town's Utilities does exactly that. They give portions back to the Town's General Fund for the services the Town provides for the whole organization; human resources, purchasing, legal etc..
Water is billed per 1,000 gallons used, and I was able to go around with the Superintendent and see what the meter looks like and how it is read. They use a radial system where the technician can gather 3,500 radio signals in about 4 hours. There are two billing cycles and one guy goes out during these times to gather the water readings for all 5,500 meters within the Town's water service. The two cycles are divided up into north and south, essentially, and the online system charges the rates based on the water used by that structure. Its a really sleek and efficient system.
I chatted with Dorothy in the morning about her goals for the department and what the Town would like to accomplish. It was a lot of discussion about becoming more autonomous and having more control over their own growth, planning and essentially, destiny. This included the water infrastructure that is currently located within the Town that is served by Tucson Water or another water provider, as well as the fight for the control over the effluent that comes from recharged waste water. Dorothy would like to build up a reserve fund, much like the Town's general fund, for any upcoming projects (cough cough new waste water facility cough cough). These reserves will allow the Utilities Department to generate a bond rating that is unique from the Town and then be able to issue bonds for capital improvements.
Since Dorothy is the Director, we attended the Emergency Management Systems meeting. This was the planning stages for what should happen if a terrible disaster hit the Town. There were 15 areas, and each was assigned to the appropriate department for coordination. These coordinating agencies then will figure out how they are going to work with the other departments to make sure nothing is missed. There was a test scenario regarding a fire in Marana, which seemed to be very applicable to the times. There was discussion about how to plan for an evacuation and what steps needed to be taken to make sure people were safe and the Town continued to function.
As I said above, I was able to get a tour of some of the water facilities within the Town's system. There are several distinct systems that serve specific areas of town. It seems like the goal is to reduce the amount of systems and eliminate redundancy throughout the whole infrastrcuture. There was one system that was a "float" system where it was operated by gravity and that saved a TON of money from the Town's electric bill. I was able to see where they were working on connecting one system to another on Hartman Road. What I learned is that this was not just to serve customers, but it also opened up the capability for the shopping plaza to entice other types of businesses. The way it was currently set up, there was not enough water or pressure for a furniture store, for example, to go into that shopping center. Now that they have connected those lines they fire capacity is much greater. Something as small as that is nothing I would have thought would be a huge deal regarding development and growth. But obviously, it is and should be paid close attention to. This makes the battle for waste water that much more important.
Waste Water....where to start. I am still a little unclear about the entire process, but from what I understand after water has been recharged the Town is able to use those water credits and it does not have to go out and buy additional water credits. Example, the Town needs 1,500 acre feet. If they had access to the recharged effluent of 500 credits they would only have to find or buy 1,000 acre feet. So it saves the Town money and enables them to have more negotiation power. There are some places that have more wet water than they can handle, but need more water on paper. There is also the stipulation from law that whatever water you take out of the ground you have to put the same amount back in. This is not literal, but the credit system helps meet this requirement. So now that I have thoroughly confused you...
This was my last rotation. Well, not technically, I still have HR in two weeks, but it is the end of the month long trip through each department. I have really enjoyed meeting the staff in each department, everyone was open and friendly and I felt that I could ask them any question in the future. I am so grateful to them all for taking the time out of their days to talk with me and answer my, potentially, silly questions. It was a great experience and knowing that I can go back if I need is really comforting. Thanks so much to everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment