Board of Water Commissioners, Committee Meetings

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department

Utilities

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024
1:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. EST

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Five consecutive committee meetings — same Zoom link

To attend online: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/81572635118

Agendas and times listed on the Legistar page:
https://dwsd.legistar.com/

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team

Live reporting by Nathaniel Eichenhorn

Customer contact volume in October was more than double what was expected, with 65,337 phone calls and 8,062 emails. The average speed for phone answers was over 7 minutes on the emergency line, and over 24 minutes on the non-emergency line.

Nachum Eichenhorn

Hello #Detroit ! I will be live tweeting the Board of Water Commissioners today at 1pm for #DetroitDocumenters @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @media_outlier @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit

11:02 AM Nov 6, 2024 CST

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Some info on the board:

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These meetings are actually several meetings right in a row. It can get speedy. Here's the agenda(s), for your ease of following. dwsd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

dwsd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

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Just waiting for them to begin

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They have begun and the finance committee is up first

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There is no quorum present, and commissioner Coleman tabled the finance committee meeting and the next meeting is scheduled to commence at 2pm. I'll be here.

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Sorry about that folks, I clicked on the wrong thread. They're back for the Customer Service Committee, approved the minutes and agenda and are now hearing public comment.

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Meeko Williams called in from Hydrate Detroit. hydratedetroit.org

hydratedetroit.org

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He reiterated the importance of keeping costs down for citizens, and suggested the time allotted for public comment be restored 3 minutes.

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Matthew Phillips is giving a report on the Customer Service committee

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Customer contact volume is 128% over forecast per day and only 10% of calls were answered within 2 minutes

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Half the people enrolled in Lifeline on October 1st have recertified, and half have not

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They've adjourned the Customer Service Committee and are convening the Human Resources Committee

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Agenda and minutes from last meeting were approved unanimously.

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Starting off with public comment, the first caller is muted.

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They didn't figure it out. Now Patricia Thornhill will present the HR metrics presentation.

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They conducted an engagement survey amongst the employees. 70% responded.

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47 questions were asked across 8 themes. 420 DWSD employees participated out of 602 invited to participate.

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The results:

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Some key highlights:

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Commissioner asked if the employees are aware and understanding, not just if their individual jobs, but of the goals of the department as a whole. Thornhill replied that that is, indeed, a focus of training.

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Interesting word cloud. I note remote work is larger than any other. A big current issue. I’ve been seeing workers call for more, and management call for less, as a general, anecdotal trend.

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They seem to have figured out the public comment problem. Meeko Williams is back on the line. He praised the Board and praised the proposal of town halls for prospective employees and customers.

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They're opening up the Legal Committee now, and Kinloch and Blackmon called present.

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Previous minutes and agenda were approved unanimously

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Excuse me, Legal Affairs Committee

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During public comment, Meeko Williams voiced his concern about the possibility of a lawsuit from Oakland County, and emphasized the need of residents for relief, regardless of their ability to pay.

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Commission voted unanimously to accept and file the DWSD FOIA report and the Litigation Report of the Office of the General Legal Counsel

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You can check both those out on the agendas, link provided above

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Thread continues https://twitter.com/nachumdetroit/status/1854248431306277205

https://twitter.com/nachumdetroit/status/1854248431306277205

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Thread continues here: https://twitter.com/nachumdetroit/status/1854248803852849416

https://twitter.com/nachumdetroit/status/1854248803852849416

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Two items came before the Committee, and both were approved unanimously

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Now they are moving on to the Capital Improvement Program and Operations Committee. The agenda and minutes from last meeting were approved unanimously

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No one called in for public comment, and the Committee is moving on to the Maintenance and Repair presentation, given by David Ridgeway

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Ridgeway is joined by Catharina Taylor

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In terms of water main repairs, 60% were given over to contractors, and 40% are handled by the Department's own crews.

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In terms of sewers, their goal is to clean 500 miles of sewers a year. Some numbers:

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Oh hey look a fun org chart:

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Now Catharina Taylor, Operation Center manager, is reviewing the Operation Center. It’s a new program to improve responses and service. Here’s a rundown of the ostensible before and after.

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The contractors utilized by the department:

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The presentation having finished, the meeting was adjourned at 3:16pm

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Well folks, this closes my coverage of the Detroit Board of Water Commissioners meeting for November 6th. Learn more about our coverage of local meetings at documenters.org

documenters.org

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‼️IMPORTANT: If you believe anything in the coverage today is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line

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Note-taking by Shannon Mackie

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Attachments

2 attachments

Transcript and recording, part 1

By Noah, Detroit - MI Documenters Team ⋅ November 6th, 2024

Otter transcript: Detroit Board of Water Commissioners — Committee meetings, part 1

Transcript and recording, part 2

By Noah, Detroit - MI Documenters Team ⋅ November 6th, 2024

Otter transcript: Detroit Board of Water Commissioners — Committee meetings, part 2

Agency Information

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department

dwsd.legistar.com

See Documenters reporting

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is one of the largest water and sewer utilities in the United States, serving more than 200,000 Detroit residential and commercial accounts that includes a city population of nearly 680,000. DWSD’s water network consists of more than 2,700 miles of transmission and distribution mains and nearly 3,000 miles of sewer collection piping.