MINUTES OF MEETING
SUNSHINE WATER CONTROL DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of the Sunshine Water Control District was held on Wednesday,
January 12, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at the City Commission Chambers, 9551 West Sample
Road, Coral Springs, Florida.
Present and constituting a quorum
were:
Russell Parks President
Mary Macomber Vice President
Phil Sobers Secretary
Also present were:
Rich Hans Manager
Bruce Cramner Attorney
Cedo DaSilva Engineer
Jean Rugg Severn Trent Services
Roger Moore Severn Trent Services
Cory Selchan Field Superintendent
Sam DeJohn Resident
Greg Miro Keith &
Associates
Marc
Carsarno Engineer
for Coral Springs Christian Academy
Mr. Parks called the meeting to
order and Mr. Hans called the roll.
SECOND
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of the minutes of the November 10, 2004 meeting
Mr. Parks stated that each Board member received a copy of
the minutes of the November 10, 2004 meeting and requested any additions, corrections
or deletions.
There
not being any,
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Sobers with all in favor the minutes of the November 10, 2004 meeting were
approved.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS Public Hearing to
Adopt Amendments to the Permit Criteria Manual, Establish a Fee for Permit and
Plat Review and Increase the Amount for a Cash Trash Bond Resolution 2005-2
Mr.
Hans opened the public hearing and asked for any comments.
Mr.
Hans stated the fees we are adopting is a $350 permit review fee and if they go
over the 1 1/ 2 hours time there will be an additional fee and we increased the
trash bond to $2,500 and that is returnable.
It is to make sure they clean up the site and everything is back in
order. The manual was updated to cover
language; there were not any major changes to it.
Ms.
Macomber asked is it online?
Mr.
Hans responded not yet. It has been
processed where we can put it online.
Ms.
Macomber asked do we have a website?
Mr.
Hans responded yes FLADISTRICTS.COM and there is a link to the District.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor Resolution 2005-2 to adopt amendments to the Permit
Criteria Manual, establish a fee for permit and plat review and increase the
amount for a cash trash bond was adopted.
Mr.
Hans closed the public hearing.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of Request
from Mr. Sam DeJohn to Vacate a Portion of the Right-of-Way at 4162 NW 73rd
Way
Mr. DeJohn stated we have a 40 easement
at the back of our house up to the T of a creek which in turn is backed up to
by a 35 easement from the property behind me.
I would like to add an addition to the back of my house and our setbacks
are 15 and I basically do not have much room in my backyard where my property
line is. I am looking to acquire 10 of
the easement not to build on, the addition will still be within 5 of my
current property line.
Ms. Macomber stated
you need a setback.
Mr. DeJohn stated
nothing is going on the land, it is just a setback.
Mr. Cramner stated
that is the Board of Adjustment issue.
City code provides for this subdivision that any structure has to be
within 15 of the property line. They
consider a structure to be a building or a screen. It is vertical and can be seen from the
street. A pool deck which is not
screened can be within 5 of the line because when you drive past you cannot
see it. It appears what you wish to do
is build on top of the existing slab and then go a little further out. You need to use some of our land as setback,
in other words what you wish to do is move your boundary line in terms of
setback and we do not have the jurisdiction to do that.
Mr. DeJohn stated when
I talked to the city they said I had to talk to the water authority.
Mr. Cramner stated you
need to deal with two different authorities.
They are saying see if we are amendable to it before you petition.
Mr. DeJohn stated if I
build currently on my land I can go out 9.
Mr. Cramner stated you
can use most of the slab that is already there.
Mr. DeJohn stated actually
I put in pavers.
Ms. Macomber asked is
it appropriate for us if there are no legal issues to say that we do not object
to this.
Mr. Cramner responded
we need to have our engineer determine whether our drain field capacity is
affected.
Mr. DaSilva stated for
the 40 we own as a right-of-way. Most
of the right-of-ways were given to us have a reverse clause that if we ever
give them away or try to sell them it will go back to the original owner.
Mr. Cramner stated he
is not asking for a conveyance of fee simple.
Mr. DaSilva asked does
he want to move the property line?
Mr. Cramner responded
no that is a defacto sense indicating he wants to use our space.
Mr. DaSIlva asked does
he want to encroach into our right-of-way?
Mr. Cramner responded
he wants to encroach into the city setback of 15. He needs about 3 minimum to build a
structure in the backyard that is 15 off his property line. He only has 12.19 so he is looking to use
some space but not to build on it.
Mr. DaSilva stated
setbacks are measured from the property line.
The property line is not going to move so how is that going to benefit?
Mr. Cramner responded
first he needs to find out if the city will give him the variance allowing him
to build closer to his property line than the code permits. The city is saying if the District does not
care, we do not care; but the problem is you are in a defacto sense moving the
property line. The question arises if
the reversion of that land takes effect because we are not conveying a fee
simple.
Mr. DaSilva stated
whenever we allow people to encroach we keep it to a minimum and in several
other districts I work with they do a license agreement. In a license agreement, you have to provide
insurance and indemnification to the District.
Mr. Cramner stated he
is not proposing to build.
Mr. DeJohn stated I am
not going to go on to the easement at all.
Mr. Cramner stated he
is going to be to close to his property line for the city.
Mr. Hans stated he
wants to use our property in the calculation of the 15 setback, not put
anything there.
Mr. DaSIlva asked you
are not going to put anything there and you are not going to move the fence?
Mr. DeJohn responded
no the fence is going to stay there.
They city told me if I file for a variance I will be wasting my money
that the water department owns the land.
Mr. Cramner stated we
do not have jurisdiction to allow you to encroach. What you propose to do has negligible if any
impact on our access or our drainage. I
think the jurisdiction lies with the Board of Adjustment.
Mr. DeJohn stated I
was told if I go beyond my 15 I have to get permits and everything.
Mr. DaSilva stated we
cannot give him that property.
Mr. Cramner stated
because of the reversion.
Mr. Hans asked can we write
a letter along the line of we do not object to them using our property to count
as his 15 setback, not giving him any right to put anything on it and not
giving up any of our right to the easement.
Mr. Cramner responded
with it being our opinion that it would have no effect on our access and
drainage. He has got a slab and then
pavers and water is not being absorbed in that.
He is proposing to cover 3 more and given what is left of the depth of
your setback plus the 40 that is an insignificant affect on our drainage
capacity of the bank.
Mr. DeJohn stated the
drainage is fantastic in the back.
Mr. Cramner stated we
do not have jurisdiction to give you a variance and if the Board of Adjustments
decided to give it to you; they would require you to do the minimum necessary.
Mr. Sobers stated I
suggest we give Mr. DeJohn a letter summarizing what we just indicated and
refer him to the Board of Adjustments for them to make the necessary
amendments.
Mr. Sobers moved to authorize staff to
write a letter stating the Board has no objection to the Board of Adjustments
using our property to count as Mr. DeJohns 15 setback but we are not giving
Mr. DeJohn any rights to put anything on it nor are we giving up our right to
the easement and Ms. Macomber seconded the motion.
Mr. Cramner stated
there is one precedent about 5 years ago.
A builder had built a pool and then he built a cabana house and then he
started to build another on in tandem with it and he realized he was
encroaching in our drain field although he was still on his own land and that
was granted.
Ms. Macomber asked by
the Board of Adjustments?
Mr. Cramner responded
it was permitted by both.
Mr. Sobers stated you
can cite that in the letter.
On VOICE VOTE with all in favor the motion
was approved.
Fifth
order of business Consideration of Agreement with the City
of Coral Springs for Removal of Vegetation from Designated Box-Cut Canal Banks
within the Area known as the Meadows and Dells Neighborhood
Mr. Hans stated Mr.
Moore spoke about this at the last meeting, and he has been working with the
city and it is in final form.
Mr. Cramner stated
they have to stop this from happening ever again by enforcing their own code,
which is 8-20 Section B.
Ms. Macomber asked do
you think they are ready, willing and able?
Mr. Moore responded we
have a legal document now and I would like to also add they are classifying the
Dells area as being box-cuts and they have also cited at least three or four
other people in the city who have spent anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000
individually to remove vegetation from behind their houses. It will be a slow process and I think in the
years to come we will be participating a lot more. We have to do our outfalls. We have spent quite a bit of money in the
FEMA process of which we are going to get 90% of the funds back. The city is excited about getting this
going. How much we are going to get done
for the $100,000 we are not sure. We are
putting together bid specifications and we have met with the city and the
HOA. We hope to have it out to bid
within two months and the work completed by June or July.
Ms. Macomber asked are
there some areas that are worse than others?
Mr. Moore responded
there are and we have prioritized with the city and their staff. We are going to work with the homeowners in
those areas. There are eight areas and
we figure to get three of them done. It
is numbered by priority. There is a
vacant duplex lot owned by the city that is now being taken over by the county;
it is going to be a small park and they are going to let that be a staging
area. There is debris we may not be able
to get out with our staff and we will have to look at what it is going to cost
to get out and I believe as I do the evaluations, we may have to clean and
deepen the canals; there are several areas you can almost walk across. It still gives you flood protection; however,
because some of the canals are full and we cannot get the water out fast
enough.
Ms. Macomber stated
you have some congested areas.
Mr. Moore stated
fortunately this is the upper end so it is not quite as important as the center
canal or one of the major canals.
Mr. Sobers stated
along that area of the city it is advisable for us to work in tandem with code
enforcement. I am of the opinion that a
lot of this dumping in the canals is a cultural thing. People are not fully appreciative of the fact
that certain things do not get dumped into the canal.
Mr. Moore stated you
will also notice on the contract it is going to be a joint effort between the
city and us to have educational material and it is possible it may be
bilingual. We have equal say on what
goes in the material.
Ms. Macomber stated
there is an association for the Dells and Meadows, which is quite active and it
will be beneficial to get them on board.
Mr. Moore stated we
met with three of them last night and they are on board.
Mr. Parks asked what
other areas do you have box-cut canals in?
Mr. Moore responded
everything there, except to the west, is a box-cut. I have had one discussion, and hope to have
more with the School Board to possibly have them maintain their areas.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor the agreement with the City of Coral Springs for
removal of vegetation from designated box-cut canal banks within the Meadows
and Dells was approved.
Mr. Sobers asked is
there a City Commission meeting March 18, 2005?
Mr. Moore responded
yes. They are going to approve this
agreement then.
SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Resolutions
A.
Resolution
2005-3 Amending the General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2004-2005
Mr.
Hans stated the resolution amends the general fund budget. This is doing accounting for the carry
forward surplus off setting debt service expenses. There is a slight error in the management
fees, it was $953 over due to a 5% instead of a 3% increase, this cleans up the
budget so when the audit starts everything is in line with the new GASB 34
standards. If we need to make changes we
cannot wait until the end of the year.
Ms.
Macomber stated this is different than what we have in our packet.
Mr.
Hans stated my accountant did this before I saw it. We do not need to adjust anything as far as
our expenses.
Mr.
Sobers stated this is encouraging that we have a carry forward surplus.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Sobers with all in favor Resolution 2005-3 amending the general fund budget for
fiscal year 2004-2005 was adopted.
B. Resolution 2005-4 Designating a
Treasurer, and Assistant Treasurer
Mr. Hans stated
Resolution 2005-4 designating myself as Treasurer and Mr. Jan Zilmer as
Assistant Treasurer; he handles our human resources and payroll. Ms. Patti Powers who was our treasurer has
resigned from Severn Trent. The next
appropriate person is myself and as a backup if I am not available Mr. Zilmer
is in the office.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor Resolution 2005-4 designating Mr. Rich Hans as
Treasurer and Mr. Jan Zilmer as Assistant Treasurer was adopted.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of Permit
Requests
A.
Andrew
Ponnack, Titleco Inc., Building, for the Installation and Construction of a
Surface Water Management System Ultimately Discharging into Canal Q
Mr.
DaSilva stated CH2M HILL has reviewed the application and it is recommended for
approval with the following special conditions set forth, applicant must secure
a permit modification from SFWMD, a copy of as-builts should be submitted upon
completion of construction, and notify the District 24 hours prior to any
construction and/or pre-construction meeting regarding this project.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor the installation and construction of a surface water
management system ultimately discharging into Canal Q for Andrew Ponnack,
Titleco Inc., Building was approved subject to conditions outlined in CH2M HILL
letter dated January 4, 2005 was approved.
B.
City
of Margate, for a Drainage Outfall to the East Outfall Canal
Mr.
DaSilva stated this is a request from the City of Margate to install an outfall
pipe into the east outfall canal. We did
not have any objection to them discharging into our outfall canal.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor the drainage outfall for City of Margate to the East
Outfall Canal was approved.
C.
School
Board of Broward County, Coral Springs High School New Classroom Building, for
the Installation and Construction of a Surface Water Management System
Connecting to the Existing School Drainage System
Mr.
DaSilva stated this is for portables on the east side of the building. CH2M
HILL has reviewed the application and recommends approval with the following
special conditions set forth, applicant must secure a permit modification from
SFWMD, a copy of as-builts should be submitted upon completion of construction,
and notify the District 24 hours prior to any construction and/or pre
construction meeting regarding this project.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Sobers with all in favor the Coral Springs High School New Classroom Building,
for the installation and construction of a surface water management system
connecting to the existing school drainage system for the School Board of
Broward County was approved subject to conditions outlined in CH2M HILL letter
dated January 5, 2005.
D.
Coral
Springs Christian School, for the Installation and Construction of One Drainage
Outfall into Districts Canal E, just North of Pump Station; and Proposal to
Fill in Canal I Right-Of-Way and Install a New 54 Culvert Pipe for a Parking
Facility
Mr.
DaSilva stated we have reviewed this project and recommend for approval with
special conditions set forth in letter.
There is one item as far as this application. They are proposing to fill a portion of the
east outfall canal to extend the culvert.
We do not recommend approval for that item.
Mr.
Carsarno stated that is part of a future phase.
We discussed the possibility of instead of a culvert extension maybe
installing a bridge and it is not shown in that plan.
Mr.
Sobers asked do you have the amendments for this plan drawn up yet?
Mr.
Carsarno responded no I do not. I have
submitted my package to CH2M HILL sometime ago and since then we have met with
Mr. Moore to discuss some additional comments.
Mr.
Sobers stated in view of the fact that the revision of the site plan is still
in the ambionic stage we should hold off on approving everything until the site
plan has been officially received and filed with us.
Mr.
Carsarno stated there are some adjustments to be made.
The
Board tabled this item until final site plans are submitted.
Mr.
Miro stated as part of the procedural elements we are going through with the
City of Coral Springs, they requested we perform a plat waiver, which is
basically unity of title. The school
owns several parcels, three platted parcels and a triangular piece of property
south of the canal and pump station. The
city is requesting we perform the unity of title exercise. Will the District review that as a separate
plat entity or is it possible to put it in the permitting process at this time?
Mr.
Sobers responded if both were available at our next meeting that will be
appreciated.
Mr.
Miro stated two years ago the Christian Academy applied to the city to add
portable units. As a condition of that
temporary exercise, the city required them to do certain improvements on the
project to bring it up to speed to allow for a permanent improvement. Part of that is to increase the parking size
and stabilize various elements on site to meet city code. In December the city also requested that we
do the Unity Title. Since part of our
permit includes filling in a portion of the canal, the city is concerned that
you be made aware of what we are doing and asked that you join in the plat
waiver. I prepared a signature block for
that but it basically pertains to the fact we have applied for a permit and it
does not indicate you have given us any approval. My question is how do we proceed with that
particular element; along with the permit so we can satisfy the citys concern
you are aware of our actions?
Mr.
Sobers responded you can go back to the city and say in an attempt to present
your presentation tonight your plans were not ready to be presented to the
Board. Therefore, the Board has postponed
your presentation until the plans are ready.
Ms.
Macomber stated with the understanding, as far as we can tell on the surface it
looks like it is not going to be an issue.
Mr.
Moore stated in discussing this matter with the city north of this project
along our outfall canal is a tremendous amount of Australian Pines and by
accident; the city approved a permit to only trim these trees for the
church. In all of these negotiations
with the city, the church agreed to take all of those trees down at their
expense of a period of time agreeable to the city, which is a big asset to
us. They have been working quite well
with the city on all this other stuff.
Also the pipe they are putting in is going to be lowered so it may play
an important part in some later drainage and recharge we have in the west
basin.
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A. Attorney
There being no report, the next item
followed.
B. Engineer
There being no report, the next item
followed.
C. Superintendent
There being no report, the next item
followed.
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor's
Requests and Audience Comments
There being not being
any, the next item followed.
TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval of
Warrants 8615-8640
There being no
questions or comments,
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor Warrants 8615-8640 were approved.
ELEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There being no further business,
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr.
Parks with all in favor the meeting was adjourned at 7:23 p.m.
Philip J. Sobers Russell Parks
Secretary President