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2021-03-04 CITIZENS UTILITY BILLING REVIEW AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 4, 2021 MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITIZENS UTILITY BILLING REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, HELD ON THURSDAY, March 4, 2021, VIA TELEPHONE/VIDEO CONFERENCE AT 4:00 P.M. Residents may watch this meeting online within 72 hours post meeting at: https://www.pearlandtx.gov/departments/water-billing/utility-billing-advisory-committee CALL TO ORDER Chairman Saboe called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. ROLL CALL AND CERTIFICATION OF QUORUM; Mayor Kevin Cole Chairman Steve Saboe Committee Member Jimmy Davis Committee Member Denise Hewitt Committee Member Ralph King Committee Member Julie Ward Committee Member Patrick O’Day Committee Member Jennifer Sheffield Chief Information Officer Daniel McGhinnis Director of Communications Joshua Lee HR Assistant Director LaRae James Utility Billing Manager Nancy Massey Executive Assistant Melanie Lawson Utility Billing Assistant Manager Dara Eng CONSENT AGENDA; I. Approval of February 15, 2021 Minutes: Chairman Stephen Saboe Upon motion by Committee Member Patrick O’Day, seconded by Committee Member Julie Ward, after full discussion and the question being put to the Committee, the Advisory Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of February 15, 2021. II. Comments from Mayor Cole; Mayor Cole discussed concerns on the meter functionality and expressed the importance of effectively resolving issues quickly to better the community’s trust. Chairman Saboe stressed the concern of the timeline of the 32/30 financial data. Chairman Saboe mentioned Mr. McCarter’s departure and the freeze, however the Ad Hoc cannot move forward on the 32/30 options. III. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action; Initial recommendations were presented at the February 22, 2021 Council Meeting. a. Agreed, already underway i. Recommendation 1: Foster a culture of engagement and continuous improvement Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 4, 2021 ii. Recommendation 2: Establish formal performance measures to track service delivery iii. Recommendation 3: Review and update written standard operating procedures (SOPs) regularly. iv. Recommendation 4: Develop an enhanced training program. v. Recommendation 7: Synchronize meter reading and billing cycles vi. Recommendation 13: Adjust staffing to reflect short-term needs and prepare for AMI implementation. vii. Recommendation 15: Create an inclusive AMI Implementation Team b. Agreed, with caveats; There was no discussion or decision made on this item. i. Recommendation 5: Improve external communication plans for meter-to- cash activities. ii. Recommendation 8: Implement a streamlined meter-to-cash process. iii. Recommendation 11: Create designated morning and afternoon call- takers to streamline CSR workload. iv. Recommendation 16: Continue engaging Tyler Technologies to resolve inefficiencies and errors in New World. c. No Opinion Put Forth; There was no discussion or decision made on this item. i. Recommendation 9: Reorder billing cycles ii. Recommendation 12: Transition to a centralized staffing structure over time. IV. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action; There was no discussion or decision made on this item. a. Disagree i. Recommendation 10: Enhance delinquent account communications ii. Recommendation 14: Pilot a 4-10 schedule for meter-to-cash staff. b. No Opinion Put Forth i. Recommendation 6: Consider alternative options to the 32-30 Plan. V. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action (Time permitting); a. AMI – Further discussion of the AMI project implementation plan. Chairman Saboe recognized Committee Member Ralph King who presented to and reviewed with the Committee the Technical Discussion on Meters. Mr. King’s presentation referenced documented usages and charges from the November and December audits (data previously presented by Staff to the UB Committee.) Mr. King stated there were several non- working meters which drew a concern from the community and was discussed on social media. The purpose of Mr. King’s presentation was to ask the Advisory Committee should an attempt be made to address the perception in making recommendations to the city for a resolution path. Committee member Patrick O’Day inquired on the result of the listed customers whose charges were more than a 100% of their regular billed amount to which Mr. King stated he has no information on the listed customer’s results. Mr. O’Day informed the Committee of his related issue regarding high usages and stated after testing the reading and usages individually, Mr. O’Day’s results reflected his charged usages were correct. Discussion ensued. Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes March 4, 2021 b. Recommendation 6; Consider alternatives to the 32-30 Plan. VI. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action: Information requests, set next meeting goals, date/time and agenda. Vice-Chairman Denise Hewitt inquired on the status of the financial data request. Ms. Nancy Massey stated the data has been pushed out to the week of March 15, however after auditors, Raftelis and CMO review, staff may need additional time. a. Information requests from the Committee may require external or extraordinary resources, with related costs; discuss process for Council / staff review and approval of these resources. Vice-Chairman Hewitt moved the continued discussion on the Raftelis’ report for the Advisory Committee meeting to be held on Monday, March 8, 2021 at 4 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 5:49 p.m.