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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK an approach here that really is very good for the environment,but also one(1)that is affordable to our residents. The approach by the EPA hasn't been involved in these in the past. I did notice a difference going there the first (1St) couple of times, with other cities, they almost treat you as environmental criminals.They're like,you guys are polluting the water,you're violating the Clean Water Act, and you guys need to pay. And it was really tough, because typically people in Public Works are environmentalists at heart, and they're really trying to do good things to protect water quality, so staff took it really hard because they felt like they were getting beat up unfairly. This time around, though, I thought they were very receptive. I think one (1)thing that helped was the results that showed we went from 2 billion gallons of overflow to 500 million gallons, we reduced by seventy-five percent (75%), and that was not easy. It was a lot of hard work and separations and other stuff that went into that. I think they've been very receptive,they like the results they've seen, but they're still a little bit cynical. We have to prove it to them, and we'll hope that they'll come along once they see we've done our homework and we have a good plan. Mr. Fahey added, I think since this is a more innovative plan than they've seen in other situations, they will probably have more questions for us. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, When was your most recent meeting with IDEM and the EPA, and when is the next one (1)? Mr. Fahey stated, The most recent one (1) was the fall of last year. They gave us a large amount of homework to do based on that. They were looking for a lot of data. We're in the position at the moment where that has been proofread and it is going to be going to them ideally this week. Councilmember Broden asked, And that's in advance of the March meeting? Mr. Fahey stated,There are two(2)requests in the package they sent out.One(1)is that previously, we had the Regional Administrator to South Bend which was very beneficial, but then she offered some of their career staff that deals with this more frequently so we can tell them and show them what we are talking about with smart sewers, and then also a request to have another technical meeting in the next three(3) weeks. Councilmember Broden asked, And that Regional Administrator is fairly new to the position, right? Mr. Fahey stated, Yes, she started about twelve(12)months ago. Committee Chair Teshka stated, I think that's something we've talked about before. Realistically, those long-term staff relationships are key, right? Because whether we can be in it, we can be in the same Administration two (2) years from now, or in a different Administration with a different Administrator, but it's likely that the career staffers will be there as well. I think the best thing, right,would be that President Buttigieg says,"just give these guys what they want."It kind of feels like we work those relationships with the career staffers, and thank you for all of the work that you're doing. We're really up against a time crunch. Say we get the meeting in three (3) or four (4) weeks, what does the timeline look like? What is the optimal outcome? Mr. Fahey stated, Looking right now, the way the consent decree was written, we don't have a deadline now until the end of 2023. We need to think in advance, but there is time right now. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend.Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 10