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HomeMy WebLinkAbout240111 -- City Council -- Agenda QuestionsciffN C:i-ry OF COLLEGE STATION Mom ofTao" A¢:1d lArnivergrig. Council questions and staff responses for items on January llth, 2024 City Council Meeting 6.2: Repair Parts and Labor for Fire Trucks Sponsors: Mary Ellen Leonard Question: Page 21 of our packet says "contracts go live Dec 1, 2023. What does that mean? Can you explain go live? Response: Item 6.2 relates to a contract that we access via the Purchasing Cooperative, Buy - Board. Management of the contracts on this cooperative is not controlled by the City. "Go Live" is a term used in online systems to mean active. The attachment contained on this consent item is a notification from Buy -Board of several contracts whose update was set for December 1, 2023. 6.5: Contract for cisco Phone Licensing Sponsors: Sam Rivera Question: What is phone licensing? Response: Cisco charges a license fee for each phone extension used by staff. Each phone extension is required to have a license to make/receive calls. Typically, companies will charge a software subscription/license fee for each authorized user. Cisco charges by the phone extension and not the individual user. We have Cisco software and hardware running our phone system. 7.1: CSU Electric's Operation and Services Sponsors: Tom Jordan Question 1: How does CSU interact with homeowner solar panels? How many customers are using solar? How does CSU encourage such production? Response 1: We currently have about 287 customers with solar installations. CSU's payment for power returned to the system and permitting process are covered in detail in the "Frequently asked questions" portion of the webpage: https://www.cstx.eov/cros/one.aspx?portalld=12410917&pageld=17175364. Question 2: Are there areas of the city that lose electricity service more frequently than others? For instance, my understanding is that San Benito has lost electricity 3 times in the last several months, but my house on Tiffany Trail hasn't had any outages in that same time -period. Are there such patterns city wide? Is it aging infrastructure, or random squirrel populations? Response 2: We have not had system problems or identified any trends that would substantiate an area being more prone to power outages. If there is an area that has had more recent outages it is most likely due to external factors such as squirrels, snakes, wind, etc. If there is a specific customer or address, we can look it up on our system to determine the causes of the outages. Question 3: Is the text messaging system operational? When neighborhoods have outages, are text messages being sent to them? Response 3: Yes. When outages occur, messages are automatically sent to affected accounts if they have signed up. Question 4: How has the transition to the new metering system progressed? Are we still employing meter readers? Response 4: Electric has three AMI Technicians that are involved with any Electric metering issues and that still address Water metering issues. All the meter reading for Electric is through the AMI system. Water meters are read by contractors. Question 5: What services does the city offer to residents to address electric usage? Can you review the website that residents can use to track their consumption? Are there still active rebate programs? Response 5: All of the rebates and our audit services are covered on the same webpage as above: https://www.cstx.gov/cros/one.aspx?portalld=12410917&pageld=17175364 . These are mentioned in our presentation tonight, but if they need to be covered in detail that would be a separate presentation.