your time, and we all appreciate it very much. >> absolutely. thank you and last month president courtney came to our meeting which wasn't a formal meeting so we didn't have quorum but we had a discussion and surprised to see president courtney and we would love to see more commissioners come to the meeting and see what we do. >> good. any comments commissioners? thank you very much. >> thank you. >> do i have any public comment on that report? seeing none we move to the next item. >> item 9 is a sewer system improvement program update. >> good afternoon commissioners. karen kubick director of the sewer system improvement program. can you bring the slides up please?

today is my regular quarterly update. we're going to focus on the projects and program status and talk a little bit about the projects that are in construction as well as stakeholder and work force development. so here on the graphic you see all of the projects moving forward in phase one, and these have been scoped based on the levels of service we discussed with the commission and have been endorsed. we have 37 projects that are in planning or design and three projects in construction. phase one represents 2.7 billion dollars and to date we have spent 88 million. so now for some program level updates. we're doing a lot of work on cellties plant because there is going to be so much construction happening at the same time we initiated this integration plan because we have to keep the

plant running 24/7 even so we have different projects moving plus our planned r and r in addition to maintenance so we're looking at utilities and mapping that out in terms of gif so we know where they are and where foot prints are at facilities or planned or existing. we're identifying the staging and layout areas and folding into a master schedule, really a logistical effort. when do we need it available? when will each project start? and how will the plant form with these constructions so maintenance and operations can be fully up to speed. we're doing work on climate change. we completed the mapping for the areas and we are looking at the areas of risk are. pump stations at risk sooner? will we get salt water into the system? this includes

sea level rise as well as storm surge. we are updating our contacting plant. as we move forward with this we will have opportunities where we're putting out rfps and putting out proposals to get engineering services. we will put out proposals to get technical advisory assistance with projects. we're looking at different approaches and these are things we can bring on the contractor sooner so we can get projects implemented sooner so we want to meet or exceed all of the schedules we put out for the public. we're pulling in the design institute of america to give training across disciplines, including legal, and contract managers to look at alternative ways to deliver projects at a quicker pace. we're looking at alternative funding, things like low interest state funds as well as grants. we hired a coordinator

focused in this area. first we want to ensure that alternative funding will meet the puc requirements but i don't think deputy general manager harlan is here but they went to up sacramento on our behalf to talk to state leadership to say that we have the program coming and our funding needs and would save money in the long haul. we will issue a report when we close 2014 so now for some projects. most of the energy in the program is spent on planning and design and i know the dio solids a project you're tracking closely and on schedule moving forward. the alternative analysis is developed around the technology that was presented to you last month. that presentation has been given to the wastewater cac. the team has developed a dynamic odor

model and it's such a concern this gives us an opportunity to look at sources and alternatives so we can best address them and mitigate any odors for the future. north point facility is a wet weather facility located in north beach and they're the projects we're moving forward with have to do with reliability so we're working on the out fall which is old from the 1950's and pump station upgrades and we have initiated the environmental review for work on that bay out fall. head works is making good progress and where all the flows from the north and the south converge and this is where we have our opportunity to make use of grit removal processes. we received two proposals for design of the new head works and we will be back to the commission in october to seek an award for those proposals and i will show you pictures of the technology because we have constructed two pilot studies at

seltise plant. on the collection side we're making great strides. the bay side improvement project and effort that is gray and green infrastructure to manage flows on the bay side of the city. we have been working on alternative analysis currently and what the components are and where they would be located tightly coordinated with watershed assessment where we look at geography, the soils, land use and look at things very differently. some are upstream storage and others are green storage along right-of-way. we had two open houses one in dog patch and one in po troaro and the alignment will be close to the areas and this is the start of the public outreach we will be doing. on the eight infrastructure early implementation projects a lot

has been . >> >> happening and we have completed sunset and environmental review on three of the projects and the next in construction at the beginning of 2015 which is mission valencia and by st. luke's hospital and cesar chavez converge, a great area. the first one is construction and i will show you a picture of that. -- we have a working draft for alternative analysis comparing what alternatives we want to move forward w we have completed on the west side of town our characterization looking at all of the streets, all of the issues with storm water collection and the collection system and what opportunities to move forward with. we recently had a public process in golden gate park on a saturday and attended by 65 people that hung in there with us for over three

hours talking about the collection system and opened our eyes in a lot of cases. it was a really neat process. people from age seven up to 85 or so, older, but that was a very cool experience. i want to show you just a couple of things [inaudible] bottom line and something we're employing with the design teams. all of these must meet the level of service. we further screen these with environmental, social -- let me give you a blow up of what the triple bottom line criteria are. operations and maintenances cost, looking at life cycle cost of projects, looking at climate change. comparing different alternatives to see what the net impact is on greenhouse gas. looking at cultural resources so these are a very positive thing and you could see -- actually on

the previous slide when we apply it is between alternative analysis and conceptual engineering. now some shots of the construction. this is phase one and we broke ground earlier this month and occurring at four locations -- [inaudible] broderick and baker. and we have a lot of work going on at seat ise plant and this will be rebuilt in a seismic safe manner and reduce need. this is the conveyer two and conveys sludge from the digesters to our cake bins and here is a shot of them. this is the holding place prior to where trucks come and off haul biosolids and the digester

roof repair. we have two additional digesters to stabilize prior to the new facility being up and running. the replacement oxygen facility -- things failed so badly with the other facility the plapt had to truck it in and this plant does it in the treatment process. and finally the two grit studies and 5.5 million gallons and 7.5 million gallons will run in wet weather to show how well we can remove grit from the system. on the stakeholder engagement side you have been briefed on the southeast working group. we had four meetings with them. much of the investment of time is focused on projects but the one in august focused on community benefits. the september meeting focused on programming for the southeast community facility. 15 of the 19 members have worked with us

and gone on a walking tour of seltise plant which is a wonderful eye opening time. we have been spending more time with wastewater citizens' advisory committee and we presented a project -- basically the same that came to the commission and continued outreach all summer long and tough to do, tough to get the public involved in the summer. on the work force development side actually put on each of your places our year book for the improvement program student interns. this was a part of the overall -- a thousand interns that were influenced by the public utilities commission. this is our third year of having the kids and basically assigned a mentor -- either a person downtown or at the plant or one of the consultant firms working with us and a true partnership

and learn all about wastewater and present their projects to the large audience and good to see the kids mature and we had some returnees. we are working with the -- >> excuse me. >> yes? >> one of the issues that has been important to me is with any of these programs is how many of these young people are being given jobs for future enhancement? it's wonderful to have the internship programs but the real value is what percentage, what success rate have you had in bringing those young people into the system so they follow a trajectory toward potential management or potential other jobs? >> that's a really good question, so it's been three years. some are in high school, some are in college and at this time i know two that have been placed with jobs and i will look over my shoulder to see if it's

more than two. >> two. >> i was right. >> that's it, two? >> they're high school -- they're going back to college every year -- >> juliet ellis, manager for external affairs. we're going to miss you, so with the summer youth program we have been tracking the number of kids that come back every summer so there are several of them that come back every summer and again because they're high school students starting in ninth grade and not gone into full employment but come back every year and some have come back after college and have employment so they're not full time job ready with that program in particular. >> maybe i should have asked how long it's been going on? >> this is the third year. >> okay. that makes sense hen. >> when we did the update a couple meetings ago and talking

about the people we invested in over the summer again the investments really are focused on high school students and having them have exposure to possible careers and concepts and doing projects related to this. >> how are they recruited? >> they're recruited in a bunch of different ways. we recruit them through san francisco unified school district. we partner with community based organizations so we provided grants to about 25 organizations this past summer that helped us reach young people that we don't typically have access to so whether it's gay and lesbian youths and others. we did a pilot program trying to increase the number of african-americans in the internship program because we weren't meeting the targets but your conversation about the pipeline we have been in conversation with commissioner

moran and met with him last week to start about what the concrete pipeline tas people can move into different career. >> thank you. >> part of the program and what we were able to do is have the minor tinder program where we work with the contractor and get employment after the training which is in arizona so we're looking at opportunities. i think for the most part it gives the exposure to everyone, but also give them the qualifications to pursue a career, and try to connect hem. i think -- them. i think we need to temper the expectations that everyone that goes through here will get a job and bay cats is another way we are working

with other utilities -- >> bay works. >> bay works, yeah. how they actually can work with other utilities in the bay area so if they get the training they not only work for us they can look for employment outside with other agencies as well, so we're working on many different avenues. >> that's great. we are giving them skills that can be applied to other utilities companies in the bay area region or where they want to go and there might not be vacancies here. >> absolutely and we met with the superintendent last week and how to partner with them around stem and making sure they have the core work around engineering and science so it's a multiple strategy approach. >> well, it's a very important formula because we use it with the stem cell institute where we try to bring in young people

that are not necessarily engaged in the sciences and all of a sudden they become engaged as we give them a job and a lab and right now we placed over 250 young people that are in good paying jobs that working in the stem cell science field and were introduced by accident in terms of the program and the bridges program for state university people, and we also have a creativity program for high school students and you would be amazed -- at least i was with the tremendous brain power that these young people in high school have. science projects that they presented to us. oh my god i was embarrassed. i couldn't believe the brain power of young people from every ethnic and racial group in california that was represented there so i am glad you're concentrating with high school students because many times organizations think they're not ready or prepared. know me more prepared than i ever was in high

school. >> and we're moving in that direction to really focus on service learning projects so have them produce something we can use and allows us to tap into their creativity that we couldn't do on our own. >> thank you for that. >> there was a stat that you mentioned about the work force and how it's aging and a high number -- >> [inaudible] >> wishes. and it was a high percentage so i think it's a thing to be tracking bringing on the next generation of workers. >> that's something that multiple utilities throughout the country are dealing with and the succession numbers. in san francisco the numbers are approximately 40% of our work force will be eligible for retirement in the next five

years so there is a concrete need to prepare for that and a huge opportunity and our general manager talks about all over the country. it's not just a challenge but opportunity to look at all different people coming into the utilities as looking to the future and i know you're planning an up date on that work at the next commission meeting. >> all right. thank you. >> just to conclude and we also held green infrastructure training for contractors and inspectors and had two classes through the assistance center and that's it. thank you very much. >> questions? yes? >> i have a question. that $88 million number seems like a big number. i don't know it all feels like big numbers. i don't know now if the time but at some point in the not too distant future i would like a better understanding of that number and

what it's gone towards to date and if we're on budget as far as the 2.7 and some of the allocation, a deeper dive into the numbers? >> so one of the things we produce is a quarterly update that tells you progress, schedule and budget so you can look at the project and how much is spent during design. construction -- very few. >> very few projects in construction and on calendar too. >> keep in mind that 30% of the cost of a project is in soft costs where you're doing design. 70% is in construction. that's why you want to go through the triple bottom line and all of the analysis before construction. that's where the big dollars are spent. also 2 billion is for the southeast treatment plant. >> yeah, it seemed like if 2 billion is for that and

88 million has been spent are we still hitting all of the targets on the other projects and a lot going on besides the treatment center rebuild. >> there's a lot going on, yeah, and the program report should help and i am happy to go deeper on the next one. thank you. >> how many digesters are in service now? >> two additional ones are being -- will have the roofs repaired. i believe two are out of service at this time and have two final digesters to repair the roofs from. >> >> so right now they're four out of service now. >> two out now and two out shortly. >> thank you. >> i have one more question. i know that the central bay tunnel conversation is on going and i would like a sense of what that

conversation is and the options and related to that and i don't know if it's the next meeting or at some point because i know that is emerging as a need. >> great. thank you. >> any other comments commissioners? i would like to call for public comment now. >> commissioners, i want to bring to your attention that some of the us in the community did a very important role in creating that contractor's center. now i do not what the city thinks about it or what the general manager thinks about it, but the concept initially of the contractor's center was to be

progressive, so first and foremost when they created a task force and asked for them to be in charge of the task force they thought -- they asked for 10% community benefits, 10% of 7 billion. they settled for 5% which comes to about 50 million -- billion -- times seven. 350 million. now, we know that 2.6 billion dollars or 2.7 billion dollars is given for the planning and designing of the digesters and we haven't had one focused meeting at the contractor's center to know what is happening with that. it's past 18 months so we can come here and give some general presentation about this, that and the other, but again and

again -- [inaudible] doesn't want to come anymore and she repeats it and there are people on the staff that doesn't get it. we need to know in this design and planning what is happening because guess what? that task force is instrumental in choosing the site where the digesters would be, not your staff. your staff agreed to it. the other people -- the departments just agreed to it, so when it comes to getting the money for community benefits, when it comes to choosing the site you rely on the community, but when it comes to sitting down with the community, the focus group and listen this is what you're doing with sea level rise. this is what you're doing with the site you all choose or whenever it's going to happen and what is happening with the

digesters. we want to how many are operational? two, four, six? . if it's two it's fantastic. if it's four smoots something. that's are what we want to do and we got the money and other people are spending the money and the $200,000 that given to the east bay and returned. there are shenanigans and we want this done with the community and focus groups. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> . >> thank you for this opportunity gain. how many of you have a reel to reel player at home? not many and if we are talk about the digesters we're talking about the ruse using the same technology and we're talking about things that don't

have to exist and there is technology we don't have to have biosolids and maybe a billion dollars that could be saved by doing that. i want to ask how many solutions are solved in the new design you are talking about implementing and issue a challenge because every drop that we save today is available to use tomorrow and i don't see that happening on the projects i have been listening to see i want to offer a challenge today for the technology i of talking about. for the money we can save you we ask for 50% of the money we save or even 30%. i am calling this a challenge because i hear the same things over and over and francisco talked about the community not involved. i have ph.ds that can design the blueprint. we have a draft blueprint -- if not in the u.s. we're going to take it abroad because there seems innovation stipelling going o we have a

company with technology here in the u.s. and brought to market by an individual born in san francisco yet we can't present it. i want to know if we can take a look at change because we want to create jobs. this technology can be done in bay view and i have talked to them and have a manufacturing plant and sustainable jobs and build by san franciscans that will solve the problem with the water shortage. we opportunities to bring cleaner water to the people in the community and one of the things i am concerned about when we mix the groundwater with the hetch hetchy water who will be the five% that receive that water and those that receive it how we will protect them? because we talk about pipes leaking and they all leak but what is leaking in? we know it's tested at the point of distribution and not at the point of use. what are we getting in the water and

especially the old pipes in san francisco. are we getting copper, lead? who knows and we will know when consumers test at home and we can protect them and there is technology that will improve the safety but reduce the costs so we don't have to rate increases and conserve the water and recharge the groundwater with the water supply so think about those things reduce, recycle and recharge. there is technology here today. >> any more speakers? before we move on anything we can do about the air conditioning in this room? is there a control? >> i can call. >> okay. thank you very much. okay. item 10. >> item 10 is a bawsca update.

>> good afternoon. >> greetings. thank you for having me here today. i appreciate this opportunity to get this every month. can we bring up the slides please? i am pleased to be able to report today on stuff i have been talking about for a while. we have completed our demand projection frs the wholesale customer service area and i presented this -- a report was presented to my board last week and made public and i will walk through the findings today. we initiated our long-term reliable water strategy, our long-term water planning effort to do two things, do a regional assessment of the water supply needs for normal and dry years through 2040 and evaluate water

management actions to meet those needs. we look at reliability assessment. it takes two pieces. you look at both the demand and the projections and the supplies projected to meet the demand and our projections are the as a result of this project showing more than normal demands than before so lower demands and we're increasing projected development of the local agencies by other water supplies and i will walk through each of these for you. so first we did this updated water demand projections and came out of the recommendations of the phase two report two years ago because it was clear that our old numbers from 2008 were not a solid basis for regional planning. they were developed for different purposes and pulled together as a region but weren't a true