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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-30 CITIZENS UTILITY BILLING REVIEW AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITEE MEETING MINUTESMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITIZENS UTILITY BILLING REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2021, VIA TELEPHONENIDEO CONFERENCE AT 4:30 P.M. Residents may watch this meeting online within 72 hours post meeting at: https://www.pearlandtx.gov/departments/water-billing/utility-bill inq-advisory-committee CALL TO ORDER Chairman Saboe called the meeting to order at 4:34 p.m. ROLL CALL AND CERTIFICATION OF QUORUM: Mayor Kevin Cole (Absent) Chairman Steve Saboe Vice -Chairman Denise Hewitt (Absent — Proxy issued) Committee Member Jimmy Davis Committee Member Ralph King Committee Member Julie Ward Committee Member Jennifer Sheffield Committee Member Patrick O'Day Committee Member Mark Smith Utility Billing Manager Nancy Massey Executive Assistant Melanie Lawson III Approval of April 22, 2021 Minutes & May 20, 2021 Minutes: After discussion, a decision was made to table the approval of the April 22, 2021 and May 20, 2021 Minutes to the next scheduled meeting. April 22, 2021 Minutes: Mr. Davis voiced concerns regarding verbiage by Mayor Cole, and Mr. O'Day requested time stamp review of said comments by the Mayor. Staff will review recording of this meeting. Mr. Davis also noted the following on Page 2, #5: "Chairman Saboe added the consensus vote can always be reopened to discuss edits if needed, but staff will need a vote tonight to begin process", should be revised due to staff requesting a vote and the committee disagreeing (no items were due to be adopted). May 20, 2021 Minutes: Chairman Saboe noted the following suggested edits: 1) Item #1 "approve" should be changed to "move"; and 2) Section 5, committee counts should be edited from "5 Ayes" and "0 Nayes", to "8 Ayes and 0 Nayes" due to proxies being held by Vice Chair for three committee members. Clean versions of Minutes from both April and May 2021 meetings were requested before approvals would be voted on. Staff requested edits from the Committee to provide clean versions. Motions by Chairman Saboe were then entertained to table the April 22, 2021 and May 20, 2021 Minutes. A motion was then made by Mr. Davis and a second given by Ms. Sheffield. II. Comments from Mayor Cole: Not in attendance Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular June 30, 2021 Meeting Minutes III. Input, Discussion, and 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. 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: (Completed; Further discussion as needed) 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 (Time permitting) i. Recommendation 9: Reorder billing cycles ii. Recommendation 12: Transition to a centralized staffing structure over time. Chairman Saboe offered a summary of previously discussed Raftelis items: February 4, 2021: Item #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 15 - developed consensus through vote and communicated this to City Council. March 8, 2021: Item #s 5, 8, 11 - developed consensuses through vote. March 11, 2021: Item #16 — developed consensus through vote. May 20, 2021: Item #6 — developed for formal consensus through vote and communicated comments to City Council. Remaining Raftelis item #s 9, 10, 12, 14 discussed and votes of consensus were requested by Chairman Saboe. Recommendations given as follows: Item #9: Motion requested by Chairman Saboe. Motion given by Mr. Davis and seconded by Ms. Sheffield. Motion passed unanimously. No additional comments given. Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular June 30, 2021 Meeting Minutes Item 12: Motion requested to enter into record by Chairman Saboe. Motion given by Mr. Davis and seconded by Mr. King. Committee agrees and urged for support by Chairman Saboe. Motion passed unanimously in support of this recommendation. IV. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action (Time permitting): a. Disagree i. Recommendation 10: Enhance delinquent account communications. Motion requested to enter into record by Chairman Saboe. Motion given by Mr. O'Day and seconded by Mr. Smith. Committee agrees and had no additional comments. Motion passed unanimously in support of this recommendation. ii. Recommendation 14: Pilot a 4-10 schedule for meter -to -cash staff. Motioned requested to enter into record for approval by Chairman Saboe. Motion given by Mr. O'Day and seconded by Ms. Sheffield. Committee agrees. Chairman Saboe then noted committee supports this recommendation being initiated after the implementation of AMI. Mr. Davis then noted it was previously discussed the committee would not offer a recommendation on this item. Committee discussion ensued. The result was the following: ✓ A motion was made by Chairman Saboe to amend the original recommendation of Raftelis item #14 to the following: The Committee has no comment or further recommendation on Raftelis Item #14. Motion requested for Amendment by Chairman Saboe. Motion and second given by Mr. Davis. Motion passed unanimously. V Chairman Saboe called the vote on the now amended motion to enter the recommendation as "Committee has no comment or further recommendation." This amended motion approved was unanimously by the Committee. . V. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action: Provide additional recommendations to City Council, as they apply to the Utility Billing systems, processes and infrastructure that may not be captured in the Raftelis Report. a. Recommendation 6: Consider alternatives to the 32/30 plan. Chairman Saboe noted one more meeting will take place prior to July 10, 2021. Vote will take place on a completed document to present to City Council. Mr. Davis recommended the last meeting should be solely to adopt the April/May/this meeting's Minutes. Chairman Saboe and Mr. Davis agreed to discuss this topic offline. VI. Input, Discussion, and Possible Action: Information requests, set next meeting goals, date/time, and agenda. No further items discussed by the Committee. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 4:59 p.m. Utility Billing Advisory Committee Regular June 30, 2021 Meeting Minutes