MINUTES OF MEETING
SUNSHINE WATER CONTROL DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of the Sunshine Water Control District was held on
Present and
constituting a quorum were:
Russell
Parks President
Mary
Macomber Vice
President
Philip
Sobers Secretary
Also present
were:
John
Petty Manager
Bruce Cranmer Attorney
Cory Selchan Field
Superintendent
Cedo DaSilva Engineer
Jean Rugg
Scott Levin Attorney
for Oriole Townhomes
FIRST ORDER OR BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr.
Petty called the meeting to order and called the roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval of the Minutes of the
Mr. Parks stated each Board member
had received a copy of the minutes of the
Mr. Petty stated at this time, we
will also be requesting the Board to ratify the action taken approving the
National Resource Conservation Service Agreement that was discussed in great
detail.
There not being any,
On
MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr. Sobers with all in favor the minutes of
THIRD
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of Resolution 2006-2 Amending
the General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2004-2005
Mr. Petty stated this is a
housekeeping matter where in any changes to the budget line items are collected
at the end of the year and we ask the Board to approve this. If you notice in your agenda package the
change was basically due to hurricane clean-ups for the prior years.
On
MOTION by Ms. Macomber seconded by Mr. Sobers with all in favor Resolution
2006-2 amending the General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2004-2005 was adopted.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A.
Attorney
Mr.
Cranmer stated I received a fax from Mr. Eugene Steinfeld, city attorney for
the City of
There is a case out of
The case also talks of the plaintiff
seeking proactive action in advance of the storm. Why didn’t we top off the trees so they
didn’t hit the property? He is seeking a
mandatory injunction requiring the defendant to do things before a storm and
after the storm to remove the fallen trees from the yard. It is quite a leap from the doctrine in this
case to our facts in light of forecast and past expectations of storms. Were there diseased trees and many complaints
then that is a whole different story.
At the present time, Mr. Steinfeld’s
comment is they want authority to pass over our rights-of-way to remove those
trees and worry about the cost of who pays what later. He was supposed to be here to show us some
photos of the area.
Ms. Macomber stated it seems we have
several issues. I agree, unless it is
proven beyond a reasonable doubt, this is an Act of God. If we allow the city to come onto our property
we will be concerned with liability.
There will need to be a waiver, and by the virtue of allowing them to do
so we are not making any admission of our responsibility.
Mr. Cramner stated the law
encourages us to take corrective actions and it should not be treated as a sign
of guilt or liability. He is also
talking about a continuing nuisance in where children may be hurt by trees half
fallen, which may fall. His initial
request is we allow them access to clean up the area. I suggest photos be taken.
Ms. Macomber asked is this gentleman
a representative of the city?
Mr. Scott Levine responded I am an
attorney on behalf of the Townhomes of Oriole, the HOA.
Ms. Macomber stated this came from
the city.
Mr. Levin stated it is my
understanding there is a city commission meeting tonight Mr. Steinfeld had to
attend. I was actually called two hours
ago and informed of this meeting tonight.
Mr. Petty stated the staff has
received other communications from the City of
Ms. Macomber stated they could go on
their own property, cut the tree and to abate the concern.
Mr. Petty stated physically in
trying to remove those trees, whoever does so without cutting at the property
line or even right now if we wanted to cut at the property line, there could be
considerable damage since these trees are up against private property and
structures. Since we cannot get onto
private property and would be outside the District if we did there is an
issue. Physically you need to know what
the limits are here as well. I
understand the request to come on site and certainly after a hurricane we have
always been opened to helping our neighbors and we have a standard permit for
anybody who wishes to work on our facility or on our easements that can be gone
to the attorney. The only issue here of
course is what do we require of a government coming on our property doing this
especially were damage is quite likely because of the situation. Trying to remove trees six inches away from a
structure a hundred feet in length without touching the structure could become
difficult. We do not have unlimited
space here. We have basically the width
of the maintenance berm road so it is not like they can take it and back it up
perfectly. This is going to be some
difficult work unless you cut starting from the building and work your way back
to get a safety zone. I do not see where
we should not consider helping our neighbors and allowing them access the same
way we do to the residents of
The city on a fax request from the
city attorney of
Ms. Macomber stated it seems to me a
reasonable combination we would have great liability to go their property at
this point and we should respond by saying we will give you whatever easement
you may require and we want all the standard indemnities and by doing so we do
not acknowledge any liability.
Mr. Parks stated they have taken the
trees out up against the property they are not still there.
Mr. Petty stated only the ones
touching the house or units themselves are my understanding have been taken
down. Mr. Selchan is that what you see
as well or can you see from your viewpoint?
Mr. Selchan responded no. It seems most of them are cut away but it
looks like some of the trees on the pool enclosure and fences behind the homes.
M. Petty stated pulling this
material off is going to damage whatever is out there in the yards sprinkler
systems, sod, landscaping, etc. If you
try and lift it straight up you have a real fine balancing act, the cleanest
way is cut in four to five foot sections and work your way back. During the hurricane everybody worked on
their own property, cut to the property line and you were responsible for
whatever was in the yard. It has been
the policy. They have brought forth some
thoughts that FEMA has plenty of money to pay for this, so I rechecked with our
people and while FEMA does have an open program at the time, money is not
unlimited and we are still at the bottom of a priority list. Any project you commit the District too,
District funds have to pay for it and whatever FEMA can compensate us for we
will try and get but we cannot be guaranteed.
Ms. Macomber stated why not write a
nice polite letter back telling them our position.
Mr. Cranmer stated if I heard you
correctly the water flow is not obstructed.
Mr. Petty responded not in this
particular location. This group of trees
basically fell east. They are not on our
list for the primary work and it was conveyed to the City of
Mr. Cranmer stated with the
appropriate permits and guarantees we will allow them access without admission
of guilt. We should notify our carrier
of this issue.
Mr. Levin stated I agreed with
counsel it is an issue of facts. Based
on the onslaught of storms we had over the last couple of years, it is a
question fact and going forward basically, the way the Board sees it they want to
see what is being done. What you can do
for them what you position is and I will go back to let them know what the
status is. It looks like you are ready
to vote to grant access and they are looking for you to step up as well. Because there is an issue of fact and trying
to resolve the issue amicably rather than get further into legal remedies, I
wanted to basically try to find out your Board’s position on this in terms of
assisting in administering this question of fact, it is clear it is a health safety
and welfare issue, it is not an attractive nuisance and needs to be taken care
of and we are looking for some direction from you.
Mr. Cranmer stated you can tell them
we have given it strong consideration to granting access to get the job done
with the appropriate indemnifications.
Ms. Macomber stated but without any
agreement admitting responsibility whatsoever.
Mr. Petty stated we are doing this
in the spirit of being a good neighbor we understand these are tall trees and
getting access to it is a problem. To
offer you the availability of our access berm is what we think we should do as
a good neighbor as long as there is no harm to the District and its taxpayers,
we should do so and I think it what we will try to do.
Mr. Levin stated in terms of you
take care of what is on your yard and we take care of what is on our yard, will
the Board entertain splitting the cost and what the cost will be as far as your
property.
Ms. Macomber stated without an
extensive study about what is where we cannot make that determination; we do
not have facts before us.
Mr. Levin stated so right now your
position is to grant access through proper permit channels, liability
insurance, etc.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber second by Mr. Parks with all
in favor for Mr. Cranmer to respond to the attorney’s letter with the
aforementioned action was approved.
Mr. Petty stated this is a common
thing with drainage in this area and the City of
Mr. Parks stated when we did do the removal of the trees along the main canal the people who complained about the trees being taken down. They did not want them down and now they are very happy they did come down. There was also the drainage issue of drains being blocked.
B. Engineer
Mr. Petty stated the next item your
engineer has a bit of an update on our status of this topic.
Mr. Silva stated we have being cleaning up and rehabbing the canals.
C.
Superintendent
Mr. Petty stated if the Board will
recall from the last meeting we basically asked you approve us to do this and
authorize the engineer to go out and prepare a scope for the Phase II, we had a
scope for Phase I, which was done with the NRCS estimator. We have since received maps and know exactly
where those spots are; they have been GPS located and we have pictures. The second phase is currently underway by
CH2MHill and from what I understand in talking with Mr. McKune who is heading
the project is they are very near completion.
For Phase I we had hoped to be underway but we could not piggyback an
existing contract because no one had a specification close enough. We had to have the engineer write
specifications and they are just about complete, we expect to put the ads out
in the next week and hopefully award in the first week of February for Phase
I. At your next Board meeting, you
should get a detail of Phase II and the scope and the estimated cost. The numbers we are hearing are as you have
heard in the past - high. Staff is
recommending you approve this so we can continue on with our work.
Mr. Sobers asked will the bid be
advertised in a couple of weeks?
Mr. Petty responded we hope to put
the bids in the paper in the next week or so, where they will be publicly bid
according to statute.
Ms. Macomber asked this is being
given to us in accordance to the discussion at the last meeting of the
engineer.
Mr. Petty responded exactly. This basically good housekeeping, the
engineer is making sure he has given us the proper paperwork for what we have
verbally authorized.
On MOTION by Ms. Macomber second by Mr. Parks with all
in favor the work authorization was approved.
Mr. Parks asked when these bids go out are we
sending letters to people locally also?
Mr. Petty responded yes. As a matter of fact Mr. Selchan has been very
active in encouraging local efforts and has gotten some encouraging quotes
which we cannot authorized but it was for us to get prices on from local
contractors who could work on a timely manner basically as there crews are
available right now, it was getting very competitive pricing which we are
hopeful our bids will be able to get.
Mr. Sobers stated these individuals
which are being targeted when you send out contracts forbid are they from the
listing of licenses with the City of
Mr. Petty stated they do have
licenses within the city and they are contractors, which we work with locally
in the City of
Mr. Parks stated some of the canals
look like they are impossible to get into.
How are they going to get in there to cut them with large vehicles?
Mr. Petty responded you are
absolutely right. There are two methods
to do this and we are talking with two groups of contractors. There is a very large contractor working for
most of the municipalities in this area, Arbor Tree who is out of
Mr. DaSilva stated he is the one we
worked with on the east outfall canal.
Mr. Selchan stated the canal we are
speaking of he did the removal on the opposite side.
Mr. Petty stated we hope the bids
will hit the papers within a week and we hope to award very quickly. We do not think we will need sixty days for
the contractor to evaluate this. The
specifications are being written up to match FEMA criteria and language so the
contractors understand what we are talking about in the tree removal. We hope the bids come back quickly. I believe we are going to try to get them
done by the first week of February. The
Board has authorized us to go ahead with Phase I with a not to exceed figure
which we intend to do, of course we will bring the Board all the information on
the bid process and the contracts for their consideration.
The other items we talked about at
the last meeting which are part of this is how do you handle the costs and Ms.
Larned is here again this evening. If
you recall we talked at the last meeting about developing short term credit
lines with commercial carriers. There is
a short-term line available from the Florida Association of Counties
specifically for FEMA related issues.
The fact we are dealing within NRCS puts a little crimp in it. It is a different process, the paperwork is
not the same and the people handling the forms are going to go you do not have
the right form, so we are glad we have worked out the competitive process with
the commercial carriers. We are close to
finalizing the general scope and Ms. Larned has down a heck of a job with Sun
Trust and basically what this will be is a revolving line of credit on what we
think will be a one to one ratio with your budget so you have instant line of
credit equal to one year’s budget amount.
It gives you more than enough time to do due diligence and decide what
you want to do. At the first of October
when our budget will kick in, we will be required to either fix the loan for a
period between 2 and 5 years or roll it into another mechanism. Before that time it will be an interest only
type mechanism and the interest rates are at competitive with the Florida
League of Cities at 3.9%. We are very
happy with the concept. I do not think
we have any issues or emergency meetings to call. We have everything in place to do the work
and in the meantime I know Mr. Selchan’s crews are out there with backhoes,
boats, and chain saws and working their way from the roads and far back as they
can go. It is not the most efficient,
but they are not giving up.
Ms. Macomber stated you need to tell
them we really appreciate it because I can imagine having with as much other
stuff as they have to do and having this whole thing hang over them has to be
traumatizing.
Mr. Selchan stated I appreciate your
comments.
Mr. Petty stated the status of the
application to NRCS which is our agency of the Federal government we have to
apply to, we have submitted our emergency plan which you had a chance to look
at and they called us back to say we are changing the plan, but we are
expanding it so do not worry. They say
the commitment level is still at the same amount of $470,000 which you have
authorized us to commit District monies in an equal amount regardless of
whether we see a dime of this or not it is our first phase. We are cautious but we are working with them
because the changing of this operation they are trying to expand it to include
root ball removal and tree removal from the bank not just the water. I talked with FEMA to see if the dollar
amount had increased and if a chance of an extend program were real. I was told it was not impossible but they did
not see it on the horizon they had before them.
Counsel received notice of the
widening of Sawgrass for the Sunshine Water Control District. We know the widening is currently ongoing in
the Pine Tree Water Control District.
Have you heard they are going to continue the widening around the curve
and come south?
Mr. Selchan responded I have but I
heard it would be a second or third phase and there is nothing from Sunshine in
the area.
Mr. Cranmer stated this is from
Mr. Selchan stated there are no
Sunshine structures or culverts that I am aware of. The ones there were put there by the Sawgrass
employees to drain into our waterways.
Mr. Petty stated may I suggest we give the notification to our engineers to call the entity to verify and report at the next meeting what the construction schedule is.
FIFTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s
Requests and Audience Comments
There not being any, the next item
followed.
SIXTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of Warrants 8769-8794
Mr. Sobers asked has there been
any adjustments to the engineers rates since 2003.
Mr. DaSilva responded no.
On MOTION by Mr. Macomber seconded Mr. Sobers with all
in favor the Warrants 8769-8794 were approved.
Ms. Macomber stated before we
adjourn I will not be here at the next meeting, I will be in
SEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There being no further business,
On MOTION by Mr. Parks seconded by Ms. Macomber with all
in favor the meeting was adjourned.
_____ ____________________________________
John
Petty Russell
Parks
Assistant
Secretary President