MINUTES
OF MEETING
CORAL
SPRINGS
IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the
Board of Supervisors of the Coral Springs Improvement District was held on
Monday, December 12, 2005 at 4:04 p.m. at the District Office, 10300 NW 11th
Manor, Coral Springs, Florida.
Present and constituting a quorum
were:
Bob Fennell President
Bill Eissler Vice President (by
phone)
Glen Hanks Secretary
Also present were:
John Petty Manager
Doug Hyche District Staff
Mel Entus Severn Trent
Services
Dennis Lyles Attorney
John McKune Engineer
Craig Wrathell Wrathell,
Hart, Hunt & Associates
Jean Rugg Severn Trent
Services
Mona Slaughter Severn
Trent Services
William Hodges Arbor
Tree & Land
Terry Hodges Arbor Tree & Land
Brian Austin Ground Force, LLC
Mr.
Petty called the meeting to order and called the roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval of the Minutes of
the November 21, 2005 Meeting
Mr. Fennell stated each Board member
received a copy of the November 21, 2005 minutes and requested any additions,
corrections or deletions.
There not being any,
On MOTION by Mr. Hanks seconded by Mr. Fennell
with all in favor the minutes of the November 21, 2005 meeting were approved as
amended.
THIRD
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of FEMA Grant and Debris Removal Contracts
Mr.
Fennell stated this item is the reason we had to move our meeting up a
week.
Mr. Petty stated I am serving in Mr.
Witschen’s place as he has a conflict. The
Board received a copy of the grant application, which we request the Board
approve and direct staff to spend the dollar amounts on the contracts as long
as they were bid according to Florida Statutes and meet the attorney’s criteria. By doing this, we will be piggybacking the
City of Coral Springs contracts.
Mr. Hyche stated I provided the NRCS
Agreement to the Board as well as an agreement with the city.
Mr. Petty stated this is the agency
FEMA uses for canal clearing ONLY. We
are mandated to go to this agency first before going to FEMA, which is the
agency we applied to last year. Once
they are out of funds, we deal with FEMA, if they have funds available. This application is for emergency removal, including
material fallen next to head walls, outflow canals, anything being a threat to
the flow of water.
Mr. Fennell stated the agreement references
NRCS being with the Department of Agriculture.
Is this correct?
Mr.
Petty responded yes. We will ask the
Board to approve this agreement today, subject to review of counsel. I believe District Counsel received this
agreement before the meeting but may still need a few more days. I will also ask the Board to authorize staff
to enter into a contract for the canal clearing in the amount of $470,000, as
long as it meets the competitive bidding requirements under the Florida
Statutes and the attorney’s review.
Mr. Fennell asked how can we do this
if we are authorized to go out for bids on projects costing more than $4,000?
Mr. Lyles responded this is an
emergency situation to assist with the cleanup we need to undertake. I have not seen this paperwork as I was out
of town for the last few days of last week.
However, you are not bound by any particular threshold for grants. In terms of spending the money and entering
into the necessary agreements, there may be other steps we have to go through,
but in order to submit our grant applications in a timely fashion to make sure the
money is obtained by staff or the District, we moved this meeting up a week. We are going to ask the Board to authorize
all of these steps be taken today in a blanket fashion to protect our ability
to obtain and expend grant funds. Some
of these contracts have been bid and we will be able to take advantage of them. However, we may find something has not been
bid and because of our bidding requirements, we will have to authorize them in
another way.
Mr. Hanks stated there may be some special
component.
Mr. Lyles stated while we have the
bidding thresholds for agreements we enter into directly for maintenance of
District projects, we also have the ability to enter into contracts with other
government entities for joint and mutual responsibilities, which does not
require bidding. Some of this is joint
work with the city or county. Therefore,
we will be structuring some of these agreements in a slightly different way
than originally presented to us, but we want to have the flexibility as staff to
submit our applications, apply for and attain grant funds expeditiously, meet
the deadlines and get the work completed by appropriate contracts certified,
licensed, insured and qualified for other disaster relief type activities.
Mr. Fennell asked where did the $470,000
amount come from?
Mr. Petty responded a work order is
prepared by an agent who reviews the situation with staff and comes up with a
dollar value based on their experience in estimating the initial action to be
taken.
Mr. Hyche stated this has already
been done for CSID by NRCS.
Mr. Petty asked do we have a copy of
their work order?
Mr. Hyche responded yes.
Mr. Petty stated they only looked at
the material affecting the outfall structures and flow of water. There is a great deal more debris removal to
be done in the middle of a canal, which may not be blocking the water and does
not seem to be a threat at this particular time, but nevertheless is something
we will have to look at. The first step
is to approve the grant application so we can receive any monies available from
the Federal Government and authorize staff to start the contract work. We already begun to do what we can
in-house. This contract is for getting
rid of the items we cannot do in-house.
The next step is to look at ways of handling cash flow issues, as we do
not know when the money is going to be available from these agencies. We know what the intent is but just in case,
we would like to have a backup plan.
Mr. Fennell stated it said in the
application, they pay 75% of the $470,000.
Mr. Petty stated as part of the
application process, the District is willing to do the work, even if grant money
is not available. If it is done only
because grant money is available, then you do not qualify.
Mr. Fennell stated the agreement is
25 pages long and covers all contingencies.
Mr. Petty stated it is not subject
to negotiation. Either you accept it or
reject it. If you reject it, then we are
on our own. This is similar to the agreement
you signed last year. Their process is as
fairly rigid as our permit application with those who want to do something in
our water management facilities or our property. There is no agency I am familiar with that
will negotiate this.
Mr. Lyles stated Mr. Petty did a
good job of explaining what this agreement covers. It obligates the District to do certain
things with or without these grants.
On MOTION by Mr. Hanks seconded by Mr.
Eissler with all in favor the Emergency Project Agreement with the US
Department of Agricultural NRCS was approved, subject to final legal review.
Mr. Lyles asked is the grant
application to FEMA independent of this agreement?
Mr. Petty responded FEMA has
deposited $1,870,000,000 with the State of Florida, which is where we will make
our application to. Almost $1,800,009,000
was received by Palm Beach County alone.
Among the eight or nine counties hit fairly hard during this event were Palm
Beach, Broward and Dade Counties according to their dollar values. However, this money will probably be gone
long before we get to FEMA and ask for our “second helping” of funds. What will be approved by legislative bodies
in the months to come is unknown, but for monies available now they are
offering 75¢ on the dollar with the state possibly contributing 12.5% and local
cities being responsible for 12.5% with certain conditions. For three days maximum, you get 100% coverage
under FEMA, so long as funds are available.
The District will be responsible for paying the contractor regardless of
FEMA funds or government grants. Keep in
mind, these are dollars you may have total responsibility for, depending on
what is available. Approximately
$2,000,000 has been deposited with the state and Palm Beach has asked for
almost the entire amount in its claim.
Broward County is going to match or exceed this amount.
Mr. Fennell asked do we need to fill
out these forms?
Mr. Petty responded we do not need
to do anything with FEMA. At this point
in time, we have to go through their agent, the NRCS. We asked FEMA to give us permission to talk
to them while we are working on the NRCS program. The initial response has been, “no, we cannot
work with you”, until we provide you with a letter of no available funding for
the second phase. However, this will not
be until some time period in the future.
What was the total estimate?
Mr. Hyche responded $4,000,000 was for
CSID alone.
Mr. Petty stated there were other
contracts for oversight groups working with the contractor. Mr. Hyche did a great job of putting this all
together and working with the system.
Before a storm hits, an engineer certifies the water management system and
after the storm, the same engineer will need to certify the system to you. Working under FEMA’s system is not very
complicated to where your current engineer cannot follow the quantity list to
make sure whatever contract this District gets involved with for debris removal
is in conformance with FEMA. At the end
of the day, I still want to use my District Engineer to determine whether the
system is functional. Using outside
contractors is something I am not willing to recommend to you at this
time. The recommendation is whatever
contract we get involved in within this next 60 day period for $470,000 will be
overseen by your District Engineer; quantified, recorded and archived for
substantive compliance with the NRCS Agreement and reported to the Board at every
meeting versus using an outside contractor.
Mr. Fennell stated we may have a
$4,000,000 problem.
Mr. Petty stated possibly. It has not been quantified.
Mr. Fennell stated we are hitting
10% of it now because of the emergency outflow.
This leaves us with $3,600,000.
Mr. Petty stated Mr. Hyche has
worked with some outside agencies who provided him a ballpark number. However, we have not quantified this number
from the District Engineer’s perspective or from staff’s perspective. Staff is aware of the problem, know where the
troublesome sites are, but I have not received a report on whether 5%, 10% or
20% of our flowways are blocked or the scale of the situation because we do not
have a FEMA work order. We can get these
reports but we need more time and for the District Engineer to have the
opportunity to look at the flowways. I
have spoke to Mr. McKune about this problem.
What troubles me is because of New
Orleans, FEMA is doing the audit after they give you the money. Our staff is trained to quantify the money
upfront. For example, you can remove a
stump if it is attached to a tree that was uprooted. However, if the stump is still in the ground,
you cannot remove it unless you can prove you need to remove it to get
access. Access clearing is allowed but
stump removal is not. In previous
hurricanes, you argued your point, gave examples, worked with FEMA
representatives and once you obtained the money you passed all of your
tests. However, in this case, FEMA is
geared up to give the estimates and dollar amounts so we can be reimbursed in
100 days and do the audit after the fact, but for the next five years we are
subject to the audit on the FEMA funds we receive today. I am concerned about this because I am used
to negotiating my costs upfront. If I do
it now when there is no resistance and we get audited in five years, the
records may not be able to substantiate this.
With this in mind, I very much want the District Engineer to have a
visual record, onsite experience and evaluation so he can substantiate this
during an audit.
Mr. Fennell asked is your concern we
are going to spend all of this money and FEMA will not reimburse us for the
entire amount or come back and ask for their money back?
Mr. Petty responded yes.
Mr. Fennell asked how can they get
money back?
Mr. Petty responded we signed an
agreement to agree to do this.
Mr. Fennell asked how soon would we
have to pay money back to them? I would
not want us to do any work we did not need to do. However, on the other hand, if we are
removing a tree stump and end up having to pay for it, this almost looks like a
loan.
Mr. Petty responded the impact to
the residents is going to be felt and I am trying to avoid them having a one
year hit. Doing this gradually over a
period of time is better than having a one year hit.
Mr. Fennell stated good point. What is the danger to us by having all of
these trees floating around?
Mr. Hanks responded we have trash
racks.
Mr. Fennell stated we have places
where the trees are not in the canal but across the canal.
Mr. Petty stated if there are trees
on the canal leading up to the pumps, this is a big problem as the trash
screens are going to be clogged and we are not going to be able to clean the
trees off. We can rake small debris but
cannot handle the big debris. This is
another reason why I want the engineer involved in the tree removal,
particularly with how the original $450,000 gets spent. I will have him clear out the feeding canals
first.
Mr. Fennell asked what is the time
frame for spending this money?
Mr. Petty responded we would like to
spend this money within the next 60 days, if not 30 days as directed by your
District Engineer.
Mr. Hanks stated we have the money
set aside and the engineer determines how the money will be spent.
Mr. Fennell asked are we doing any
other work while this is taking place?
Mr. Petty responded not on the
secondary work. We will be coming back
to you at future meetings, but will take care of the immediate work more so
because of our residents who are looking for closure from this storm. I need to have time to quantify this so I can
bring it to the Board.
Mr. Fennell stated this all sounds
good but you may not be at the next meeting.
Mr. Petty stated if it is the
pleasure of this Board, my intention is to come to the next meeting and future
meetings.
Mr. Fennell asked will you be
replacing Mr. Witschen?
Mr. Petty responded yes. We need a motion to authorize staff to
implement contracts subject to District Counsel’s approval for a not to exceed
amount.
Mr. Eissler stated we have competent
engineers and I do not think we should be concerned with audits five years from
now.
On MOTION by Mr. Hanks seconded by Mr.
Eissler with all in favor District staff was authorized to implement the debris
removal contracts based on the NRCS Agreement, subject to review and approval
by District Counsel.
Mr. Petty stated Mr. Hyche has been
working very hard and I recommend we take things in a more timely fashion so we
can do some due diligence. He has
prepared the various elements so you can do the entire $10,000,000 project the
four Districts are involved in, $4,000,000 of which is CSID’s responsibility. Mr. Hyche has an oversight group who monitors
the contract in accordance with FEMA so all of the paperwork is filled out
correctly in order to get the entire project done. I would like to authorize the engineer to do
the emergency work to clear our canal system.
I like the proximity of CH2M-Hill/Gee & Jensen who employs Mr. John
McKune. I have worked with Mr. McKune
since 1990 and know how to get in touch with him and hold his firm
accountable. In the case where I know
money is going to run out, I want someone I can rely on. Mr. Hyche has the ability to go outside of
our own abilities if we wish, but I am recommending we go with the District
Engineer on overseeing this contract.
Mr. Fennell asked would I normally
make this choice?
Mr. Petty responded I believe you
would.
Mr. Brian Austin stated you have a
purchase order for Ground Source who is providing service to you under contract,
while we were waiting for the contract to be signed at this emergency
meeting. Now CH2M-Hill would like to
obtain this contract and try to run it themselves, which is well and good, but
this is why you are being asked to make this decision.
Mr. Hyche stated this all started
when we went to a kickoff meeting at the City of Coral Springs when we were making
our applications and Mr. Jeff Maslin, who is the EOC for the City of Coral
Springs, heard us complaining that last year we did not receive monies for our
canal cleanup. As a result, he introduced
Mr. Austin to us as someone who could help us.
We then went into a meeting with Mr. Billy Morgan with Homeland Security
who performs debris removal for the City of Coral Springs. I wanted to know anything and everything I
could about FEMA. I gave Mr. Austin a work
authorization in the amount of $3,995 but did not enter into any signed
agreements with him.
Mr. McKune has more history with
us. Ground Force is a company from
Kentucky. After listening to Mr. Petty’s
reasoning, I agree that Mr. McKune should be doing this work for us.
Mr. Hanks asked Mr. Austin, do you
have professional engineers in your office?
Mr. Austin responded we have
professional engineers under contract with us from a local engineering
firm. The first conversation we had was
with CH2M-Hill to advise them of the requirements we would like them to provide
as the in-house engineer.
Mr. Hanks asked is there a contract
with your scope of services?
Mr. Austin responded the original
one was given to your site supervisor, then provided to your District Engineer,
which was then plagiarized and given to the Board as his scope of work.
Mr. Petty stated we stopped delivery
of this package. It appears this gentleman
believes there was a sale on certain professional services staff did not have
the authority to enter into and did not have the authority to sign. It was with the understanding it would be
brought to a meeting for your consideration.
Mr. Austin stated they made a
decision because of the allegation of fraud and corruption and now they are now
trying to push me out.
Mr. Petty stated I would not have
any qualms considering payment of services rendered to date as long as it was a
reasonable amount on an hourly basis. I
cannot recommend to the Board the signing of a contract with an outside company
when you have an onsite District Engineer.
Mr. Fennell stated the problem is
you are talking about something we do not know anything about. We have not even seen anything or discussed
this matter among ourselves.
Mr. Austin stated I was going to
talk to the District Attorney when all of this first happened and he refused to
meet with me. I contacted your engineer
to tell him about the corruption and he refused to meet with me.
Mr. Petty stated I had a meeting
scheduled with you, the attorney and the engineer, which you never showed up
for.
Mr. Fennell stated Mr. Austin’s
letter says, “possible corruption is occurring at this time with the CSID. The District’s Manager consulted Ground
Source, LLC, the contractor that is in the City of Coral Springs Piggyback
Agreement…” So far you do not have an
agreement with anyone. Is your concern
the recommendation coming from our staff to us?
Mr. Austin responded the truth was
misrepresented. Mr. Hyche contacted Mr.
Maslin before the kickoff meeting. I
made the arrangements through FEMA at the kickoff meeting to have Ms. Debbie
Morgan there to discuss their canal program.
On two different occasions, I was asked to invest my own time to give
them a contract.
Mr. Fennell asked what is your job
with the company you work for?
Mr. Austin responded I am the
Director of Construction Services.
Mr. Fennell asked is your job to get
business?
Mr. Austin responded either to run
the jobs or get the jobs. We provided
them with a copy of our contract.
Mr. Fennell stated your hope was to
get some business yourself.
Mr. Austin stated they requested our
business to facilitate the contracts because we are familiar with the FEMA
process. We were under the pretence this
contract would be signed at this meeting.
Not to give information on how someone can take our business away and
learn as they go. The District Engineer
has no prior experience working with the Federal Government.
Mr. Fennell stated the agreement
with you was to act as a consultant for a set amount of money.
Mr. Austin stated at our hourly
rate.
Mr. Fennell stated you were hoping
this would lead to a contract with you.
Mr. Austin stated Ground Force was
originally asked to give that contract and provide those services.
Mr. Hyche stated they were only
asked to provide a bid.
Mr. Petty stated this cannot be
possible. If they ever dealt with a
government agency, they certainly know a public works officer cannot sign this
type of a contract. It must come before
this meeting for approval.
Mr. Fennell stated we can go up to
$3,999 without going out for bid.
Therefore, this amount can be paid.
However, this does not imply you are going to get $100,000.
Mr. Austin stated it implies we have
the knowledge, skills and ability to perform the task we were asked to perform. We only asked them to perform services such
as the mapping, GPS services, etc. The
items that were not their expertise such as dealing with the Federal Government
the engineer would learn from us. FEMA
is not the only Federal Government entity you need to apply for funding.
Mr. Fennell stated you were hired as
a consultant for $3,999. Is the issue
you are not going to be paid the $3,999?
Mr. Austin responded the first part
of the issue is they did not even want me to come to this Board meeting and
threatened to have the police arrest me because of the fact they did not want
me to talk about any of this and Mr. McKune would get another contract.
Mr. Fennell stated so the $4,000 is
not an issue.
Mr. Austin stated no.
Mr. Hanks asked what are we getting
for this amount?
Mr. Austin responded we made the
initial appointment to get FEMA out here.
We were also at the meeting where FEMA said they have no money for
you. We basically got you to the point
where you can run this on your own.
Mr. Fennell stated but this is what
you were paid to do. How do we bid for
this?
Mr. Austin responded there is no
bid. You are using an in-house engineer
on something he has no prior experience of.
Mr. Fennell stated he knows more
about our canals than anyone else.
Mr. Hyche stated we are going to do
the emergency work under the NRCS, not the FEMA portion, which is what Ground
Force would have been involved in.
Mr. Petty asked should we put this
out for bid? If so, there are specific
requirements the state mandates such as asking for a Request for
Qualifications. This will be quite a
process. You certainly would not do it based
on your Operations Manager coming into contact with someone at a city meeting
and signing a less than $4,000 bill.
Mr. Fennell asked what was the scope
of work for this contract?
Mr. Austin responded it is in your
documents. The engineer copied our scope
of work.
Mr. Fennell stated if Mr. Hyche gave
you the money for an evaluation, it becomes the property of the District. Was there a non-disclosure agreement?
Mr. Austin responded no.
Mr. Lyles asked was any product
delivered by Mr. Austin?
Mr. Hyche responded the knowledge
and the contacts to call for FEMA.
Mr. Lyles asked was any report
produced?
Mr. Hyche responded no.
Mr. Lyles asked is there a contract?
Mr. Hyche responded no.
Mr. Lyles stated there is an
agreement in the amount of $3,999, which is below the $4,000 bidding
threshold. There is nothing associated
with this number, which makes it a binding agreement on behalf of the District
and this Board to be negotiated by a staff member. There is no contract. I think I heard Mr. Austin say he was happy
to be out there and discuss matters with people at this meeting and give them
the benefit of some of his experience. Someone
believed there was a contract in conjunction with our cleanup problem, but
there have been no negotiations or agreement.
There is no obligation on the District to pay for anything. The production of some thoughts, ideas and
some phone numbers to call FEMA is not what we normally enter into a contract
with someone to provide. This information
is in the public domain and we did not need an expert for.
Mr. Austin stated you set me up in
an office in your facility for a certain period of time.
Mr. Lyles stated my understanding is
someone on your staff had some discussions at a city meeting with someone on
our staff who wanted to get a contract in place with the District to do some
work. I received a phone message from
Mr. Austin insisting upon a meeting prior to today’s meeting. Not knowing what he was asking about or what
was involved, I spoke to Mr. Petty about what was occurring and he indicated he
had meeting scheduled with Mr. Austin for last Thursday morning. Since I was out of town for a couple of days,
I had my associate attend this meeting but I heard it did not go off as
planned. I am hearing all of this from
Mr. Austin today for the first time.
What I heard from staff is there have been some discussions; some hope
for a contract but no signed contract and no one was authorized to enter into a
contract on behalf of the District. We
are going to talk back and forth about who said what to whom and when and I
suggest you let Mr. Petty and staff give a report on this matter at some later
time after they can sort out all of the details. It is NOT a matter to take up with the
elected Board. You are going to continue
to hear this until a contract is entered into with this individual.
Mr. Austin stated we have a signed work
authorization for work we already performed by sitting in an office provided by
you. This $3,995 is where our service
ends. There was supposed to be a signed
agreement today to facilitate this contract.
Your District Engineer or facilitator can perform the part of the
contract under his expertise but there is other expertise needed, which needs
to be facilitated through this Board because of the client’s best interest, not
a way for someone to make more money off of the District. This money is owed for time spent in your
office working for this District facilitating the information and going
forward.
Mr. Fennell stated thank you, Mr.
Austin.
Mr. Petty stated we are looking for
approval so we can do the work in-house and utilize the District’s Engineer for
oversight of such work. You already
approved us going out and contracting for the work with NRCS, subject to the
limits. When we do the contract
inspection, we are looking for authorization to ask the District Engineer to
submit a work authorization.
Mr. Fennell asked who is the
engineering firm?
Mr. Petty responded CH2M-Hill.
Mr. Fennell asked who is going to do
the accounting work to keep track of all of this money?
Mr. Petty responded this is part of
what you pay the District Engineer to do, other than to pay off invoices signed
by the engineer, which is a fairly simple process. If it is signed off by the District Engineer,
it is very easy to cut the check from the funds we have made available.
Mr. Fennell asked who is doing the
work in-house? We seem to be straining
under our current financial capabilities.
We plan to spend several millions of dollars that have to be carefully
accounted for. What is our plan for
making sure this money is monitored?
Mr. Petty responded the engineering
firm has an accounting of the exact cost of each invoice and what was due and
payable on each invoice.
Mr. Fennell stated I am more
concerned about the in-house accounting.
Someone has to be sitting there saying, “here is how you contract”,
“here is the money we received”, etc.
Mr. Hanks stated I agree with Mr.
Petty. It is the engineer’s
responsibility in this situation.
Mr. Petty stated we are going to
cover all of your concerns, other than the in-house project, discussed at
length at the last meeting but this is not the first time this matter has been
discussed. I have a great deal of faith
in the system as it exists to be able to handle this item and feel Ms. Walker
is more than capable of handling this item without difficulty because of such
good oversight by the engineer. It makes
the payables so much simpler. I think we
are going to do just fine. You can
always come after the manager if you think this is not going accordingly since
manager is supposed to be responsible for motivating individuals into doing an
excellent job.
Mr. Fennell asked who else is with
us today?
Mr. Terry Hodges responded I am here
with my brother Mr. Bill Hodges and we represent Arbor Tree & Land. We are the contractors for the City of Coral
Springs for all of their tree trimming and debris removal. We worked for this District and Gee &
Jenson on the large canal separating Margate from Coral Springs.
Mr. Bill Hodges stated we do work in
Broward County and West Palm Beach. Our
site is at the high school at the Sawgrass Expressway and Sample Road.
Mr. Petty stated they are one of the
firms we can use if we decided to piggyback the city’s contract as the best
alternative. They have been number one
in canal clearing with SFWMD.
Mr. Bill Hodges stated we met Mr.
Austin the same way Mr. Hyche did and found he has a wealth of knowledge.
Mr. Terry Hodges stated all we are
asking is for you obtain bids from qualified contractors who are requesting the
amount of money you are asking for.
Furthermore, you need to use a company who has accomplished multimillion
dollar canal cleaning contracts.
Mr. Lyles asked do you suggest
looking for a record of past projects?
Mr. Terry Hodges responded yes.
Mr. Hanks asked how do you get big
trees out of the canal?
Mr. Terry Hodges responded we have
specialized equipment. We also use
barges and excavation equipment. I have
been doing this work for 28 years. If
you call SFWMD and ask them who is their most productive and qualified company
to do this type of work, they will tell you we are. We have worked with them for years.
Mr. Hanks asked do you have any
specialized licenses?
Mr. Terry Hodges responded we are a
licensed boat captain and general contractor.
Mr. Fennell asked what action do we
need to take?
Mr. Petty responded the Board needs
to authorize the engineer to prepare a work authorization and provide oversight
of the contract for emergency debris removal with NCRS.
Mr. Lyles stated CH2M-Hill is your
District engineer pursuant to a CCNA process.
They are currently under contract to do everything required both in the
past and with respect to the emergency situation you are facing. What you have typically done when there is an
additional task before you is to receive a work authorization from the
engineer, which is what you act upon. We
do not need formal action by the Board.
They just need to be aware of the process Mr. Petty is outlining. You are not going to get a proposal and work
authorization today anyway. It will come
before you at your next meeting. Is that
correct?
Mr. McKune responded yes.
Mr. Lyles stated therefore, we will
go ahead with the program outlined by Mr. Petty, part of which will include a
task order and work authorization to be presented by the District Engineer at
the next meeting. In the meantime, I am
sure he will handle everything he needs to under his appointment as District
Engineer.
Mr. Fennell stated you are
correct. We already have a contract with
CH2M-Hill for certain amounts of money.
Mr. Petty stated I just wanted the
Board to understand we will start this work at an hourly amount the Board
already approved.
Mr. Fennell asked can you explain to
me how we get to FEMA and when?
Mr. Petty responded we are currently
working with a FEMA officer to change their position from “no” to “maybe”. FEMA would not process the application
because we already received funds from NCRS.
The way it has been reported to me by staff is “they are not going to
hand out second helpings until everyone has been fed”.
Mr. Fennell stated I would like to
know Mr. Hyche’s opinion to the NRCS Agreement.
Mr. Hyche stated Mr. Petty is moving
fine on the emergency portion. However,
when you get to the FEMA portion, you will need to go to bid.
Mr. Fennell asked what does it take
for us to go to bid?
Mr. Petty responded I am looking for
quantification of the debris before I ask the Board for any action.
Mr. Fennell asked when will you have
this quantification?
Mr. McKune responded in 30 days.
Mr. Austin stated before you go out
for bids, you need to make sure your engineer knows how to apply for the grants
from FEMA after the fact because it is not under the same requirements. Just make sure the person handling this for
you knows the phone number of the person to call in order to get FEMA to pick
up.
Mr. Hanks asked are you comfortable
with this, Mr. Petty?
Mr. Petty responded FEMA is not hard
to work with. Working with bureaucracy
is my life. These are engineers who are
doing this as a secondary or part-time income and are usually very easy to talk
to. Of course they talk about specific
quantities and reimbursements, which is why I want an engineer to work with
them. I am very comfortable meeting with
Mr. McKune when he talks with FEMA.
Mr. Fennell stated in 30 days, we
will have a report. What will the report
say?
Mr. Petty responded it will quantify
the extent of the damage and an estimate of the costs.
Mr. Hanks asked when you see a
project come out for bid, what will it be based on, the diameter of the tree?
Mr. Terry Hodge responded it will be
based on access/ingress, how much material, where it is going, how it will be
removed without tearing up the surrounding areas, whether the material will be
floated out or will tear up the neighbor’s property? You also have to look at power lines,
underground lines, etc.
Mr. Hanks asked how do you quantify
the amount?
Mr. Terry Hodges responded I will
count the trees. I can tell how much work
a tree needs for removal.
Mr. Petty stated the engineer will
be working with us and the NCRS and/or FEMA estimator. If FEMA gets involved and they have funds
available, they will do a work authorization.
They will send down an estimator who will work with your engineer and
the engineer has the opportunity to argue their case. They will both sign off on the estimate. After the evaluation, the engineer will be an
expert, compared to what FEMA is offering to pay.
Mr. Hanks stated we are basically
coupling Mr. Petty’s expertise with the operation of the stormwater management
system and the FEMA estimator’s resources and experience.
Mr. Petty stated even though FEMA is
not available to talk to us yet because we have qualified for the NCRS Grant,
we are going to see if we can get FEMA to allow us to use their estimator,
should funds become available at a later date.
Mr. Fennell asked is the estimator a
person?
Mr. Petty responded there are two
people in Broward County that FEMA uses.
We have their names and phone numbers.
Mr. Hanks asked are they contract
employees?
Mr. Petty responded almost all FEMA
employees are contract employees. Very
few are permanent.
Mr. Hanks stated it is possible to
contract with them independently.
Mr. Petty stated I hope to contract
with them to help our engineer quantify the next step, if I can get funds from
FEMA to do so. Let them at least do the
estimate. I am hoping not to be billed.
Mr. Fennell asked how much money do
we have? We could run into a cashflow
problem fairly quickly.
Mr. Petty responded one of the few
benefits you are able to see from Severn Trent is utilizing Ms. Janice
Larned. We are developing several
different short term financial instruments which this District can take
advantage of. Currently we are looking
at an interest rate of 3.8% for a short term note. We are doing well on our worst case scenario
and providing some liquidity. Closing
costs to secure such a note for a short term period of two years is $5,400,
which is based around FEMA applications, offered by the Association of Counties
and administered by Bank of America. We
are not engaging you in this debt but making sure we have it available should
you need it.
Mr. Fennell stated I would like a
cashflow analysis for the next meeting, projecting the costs we will be paying
and reporting on what happens if we have slow input as well as a statement of
how much money we have in our account should FEMA not pay us anything.
Mr. Petty stated we will make it a
living model. Even though FEMA is
committed to paying upon invoice, NCRS is not.
Were we paid for last year?
Mr. Hyche responded Sunshine is
still waiting to be paid for $300,000.
CSID received reimbursement.
Mr. Petty stated you have to be able
to flow with it. Before taking money from
your Reserve Fund, which limits your reaction to any emergency this summer, I
will recommend using a Letter of Credit or other short term instrument.
Mr. Terry Hodges stated you could
use a contractor who will fund the operation or piggyback the city’s contract
and all other FEMA guidelines and start the project tomorrow. My company could fund the entire project with
a percentage over 30 days, which could be equivalent to what you would pay now
minus $5,000.
Mr. Petty stated I think this is a
generous offer and something we can consider once we have quantified the job
and scale and received an estimate. Therefore,
when the contractor says he will do the job for $4,000,000, our engineer can
opine whether he thinks there is great value in this offer.
Mr. Austin stated you made a few
points about accountability. You are
going to have an in-house accountability problem to address on your own. No matter how great your accounts
payable/accounts receivable person is, they will spend 25% to 30% of their time
dealing with this. This is something the
District and consultant will have to look for as an extra burden coming back to
you. If a company offers to finance this
for you because of your situation, you may want to ask them for a monthly
billable amount to compare to the City of Coral Springs. Vegetation on these canals is more abundant
and you will eat up your estimate of $400,000 in a month and a half. Furthermore, you want to piggyback Coral
Springs because the cost is based on cubic yardage. If you lump sum it, you are going to leave a
great deal of money on the table for someone to walk away from as his
profit.
Mr. Fennell stated from an
accounting standpoint, this is beyond bookkeeping. We are a $600,000 firm and we are talking
about spending millions.
Mr. Petty stated your net worth is
probably closer to $30,000,000.
Mr. Fennell stated I am talking
about the operating budget.
Mr. Petty stated you are talking
about consumables. The state quantifies
you to define yourself on the books.
Mr. Fennell stated we can spend
$600,000 in three to four months. However,
we have other options because this is a taxing District and we have a benefit
in that we have paid off all our bonds for the canals.
Mr. Petty stated we would be glad to
put all of this into the analysis.
Mr. Hanks stated we should look at
our capital improvement plan to see whether we need to incorporate a bond
issue.
Mr. Petty stated in response to
Hurricane Wilma, you saw the need for greater diesel storage capacity.
FOURTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Report
from Mr. Eissler on District Accounting Procedures
Mr.
Eissler stated due to some unusual circumstances, I am going to have to
postpone my report until the next meeting when I will have a written report
that will cover everything in detail.
However, I met with CSID staff and some outside consulting firms and before
we get carried away about a new District Manager, in view of Mr. Pete Witschen
leaving us, I suggest we wait until the January meeting.
Mr. Fennell asked is there any way
you can send out this material ahead of time for us to review?
Mr. Eissler responded yes. I think our next meeting is on Martin Luther
King’s Birthday.
Mr. Petty stated we have not moved
it yet. We can move it today.
Mr. Lyles stated I think it is
scheduled for January 9th.
Mr. Eissler stated I will provide
the report to the other two Supervisors and the manager by January 4th. We currently do not have a manager.
Mr. Lyles stated you have a
management company. Mr. Petty announced
Mr. Witschen is not here today due to a conflict with his schedule. Therefore, there is no need for the Board to
take any action today and this matter can wait until the January meeting.
FIFTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Correspondence
from Doug Hyche to Publix Super Markets
Mr.
Hyche stated Publix offered to give us some food after the hurricane since
their freezers were down. We sent over
some of our people and they loaded us up with some food. We cooked for everyone who was involved in
the cleanup. This was just a thank you
note to them.
Mr. Fennell stated the Board would
like to express their appreciation to Publix.
We thought they did a very good job during the storm in getting their
operations back up.
Mr. Eissler stated we were going to
discuss some type of compensation, not for the hourly employees but to those
managers who worked overtime during the storm.
Mr. Hyche was supposed to come up with some ideas.
Mr. Hyche stated we prepared a
proposal for reimbursement to management for those employees working over 40
hours. The proposal had some suggestions
such as converting hours over 40 hours to vacation time or having a lump sum
payment as a bonus (cash only).
Employees included in the plan were Mr. Hyche, Mr. Ward Cromley and Mr.
Nick Schooley. Non essential employees
with the City of Coral Springs were paid for two days during the storm and employees
who worked overtime were given up to 116 hours comp time for
reimbursement. Exempt employees were
given cash bonuses ranging from $500 to $1,500 depending on the amount of hours
worked. Non-essential employees with the
City of Tamarac were paid for one day off during the storm and any additional
was taken as vacation. The employees who
worked were awarded one day comp time.
City Managers and exempt employees were awarded cash bonuses, which were
to be provided at the employees Christmas party.