MINUTES
OF MEETING
NORTH
SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The
regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the North Springs Improvement
District was held on
Present and constituting a quorum were:
Steve Mendelson President
David L. Gray Secretary
Also present were:
Ed Goscicki Interim Manager -
Pamela Rower
Terri Lusk
Dennis Lyles Attorney
Jane
Early Engineer
John
McKune Capital
Improvement Coordinator
Nick Schooley Field Superintendent
Doug Hyche CSID Staff
Warren R. Craven, Jr. TOUSA Homes
Mark Capwell Resident
Salvatore J. Mendolia Consultant
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr. Goscicki called the meeting to order and called the
roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS Organizational Matters
A. Acceptance
of Resignation from Mr. Sal Mendolia
Mr. Goscicki stated Mr. Mendolia has moved from
Mr.
Mendolia stated at this time, against my better judgment, I resign from the
Board. I will provide the necessary
paperwork. I am choked up about this
because I enjoyed all of my years here. Thank
you!
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in
favor the resignation of Mr. Mendolia was accepted.
D. Election
of Officers – Resolution 2007-10
Mr. Goscicki stated according to your legislation, when
there is a vacancy; the Board is required to have an election of officers. The required positions are President and
Secretary. Mr. Mendelson currently
serves as Secretary. We provided a
resolution in this regard. Under Section
1 of the resolution, “Chairman” should be “President”. You may or may not want to appoint a Vice
Chairman as it is not called for in your House Bill but you need to designate a
Secretary. We request Ms. Pam Rower be
appointed Treasurer, which is the role she currently provides for you. I currently serve as Assistant Treasurer and
request you re-appoint me to continue serving in this capacity. We also request you appoint Mr. Bob Koncar as
Assistant Treasurer who is the head of our management services group. You met him two months ago and he is in the
process of relocating to
Mr. Gray nominated Mr. Mendelson as President
and Mr. Mendelson seconded the nomination; there being no further nominations,
with all in favor Mr. Mendelson was elected President.
Mr.
Goscicki stated Mr. Gary will take on the role of Secretary.
Mr. Mendelson nominated Mr. Gray as Secretary and
Mr. Gray seconded the nomination; there being no further nominations, with all
in favor Mr. Gray was elected Secretary.
Mr.
Goscicki stated Resolution 2007-10 appoints the offices of NSID which is Mr.
Mendelson as President, Mr. Gray as Secretary, Ms. Rower as Treasurer, Mr.
Koncar and me as Assistant Treasurers. I
also request the Board appoint me as Assistant Secretary.
Mr.
Lyles stated Resolution 2007-10 incorporates the names previously announced by
the manager.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor Mr. Mendelson was elected President, Mr. Gray was elected
Secretary, Ms. Rower was elected Treasurer, Mr. Goscicki was elected Assistant
Secretary and Mr. Koncar and Mr. Goscicki were elected Assistant Treasurer as
evidenced by Resolution 2007-10.
B. Appointment
of Supervisor to Fill the Unexpired Term of Office (6/2008)
Mr. Goscicki stated we placed this item on the agenda as a
formality. This is not something the
Board needs to do today but we wanted to make you aware this was the next
course of action. We will solicit
interest from the community in terms of filling this position; however, we
already received one resume, which we forwarded to the Board members. If anyone else is interested in serving on
the Board, they should submit their resume to me and we will provide to the
Board. The Board can take up this item
at their pleasure. Unless there is an
appointment from the Board today, we will continue this item. The way the House Bill reads, this is an
appointment by the existing Board members.
Mr.
Mendelson stated I request tabling this item to a later time. Thank you, Mr. Mendolia for all of your years
of service.
C. Oath
of Office for Newly Appointed Supervisor
There not being any, the next item followed.
THIRD
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of the Minutes of the August 9, 2007 Meeting
Mr.
Goscicki stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the
There
not being any,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in
favor the minutes of the
FOURTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Public
Hearing to Consider Adoption of the Water and Sewer Budget for Fiscal Year 2008
(Resolution 2007-11)
Mr.
Goscicki stated at this time, I request the President to open the public
hearing to consider the adoption of the Water and Sewer Budget for fiscal year
2008.
Mr.
Mendelson stated the public hearing is now open.
Mr.
Goscicki stated the Board received in their agenda package a copy of Resolution
2007-10 adopting the budget and the revised proposed budget. This version of the budget is slightly
different than the one provided to you last month, but only in a positive
way. I met with Mr. Hyche and his team
to review this budget in great detail and we ended up reducing some of the
expenditures. We eliminated one vacant
position, which has been open for the better part of the year. Mr. Hyche and I realized we do not need to
fill this position as we are working fine without it. We also reduced some capital expenses such as
budgeting for too many generators in the initial draft. Mr. Hyche is credited for bringing to my
attention the fact we can get by with fewer generators. CSID already has several generators, which we
can share.
The
budget in front of you is a flat budget from last year with no proposed
increase in rates as we are staying within the current water and sewer rate
structure funding this budget. Revenues
increased from $9 million to $9,100,000 due to interest income, which is higher
this year than what we budgeted for. We
were conservative and budgeted well under this year’s current estimates of
interest income. Debt service is the
same. The administrative costs decreased
slightly while the plant operations costs increased slightly due to chemical
costs for the Water Treatment Plant. We
increased the maintenance expense from $130,000 to $261,000 as there are
significant maintenance items we need to move forward on. We also increased operating supplies to reflect
some increased costs. Field operations
decreased slightly, due to the elimination of the open position. This is the most significant change. Additionally, there was a reduction in
repairs and materials as we found out we were over budget in the previous year
on the meter replacement program. We
reduced this item to more reasonable levels.
You are looking at a budget where total operations last year was
$6,057,000 but this year is $6,100,000.
Even with cost of living and employee raises, we still have a flat
budget and stay within the framework the Board laid out for us. If there are any questions, we are happy to
answer them.
Hearing
no public comments, we will close the public hearing.
On
MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor Resolution 2007-11
Adopting the Water and Sewer Budget for Fiscal Year 2008 was adopted.
Mr.
Goscicki stated I had the opportunity last week to spend a day touring the
Water Treatment Plant. Mr. Hyche is
doing an excellent job of identifying issues, advancing the program and making
sure we get the correct technologies in place.
Having seen Water Treatment Plants throughout the state and the country,
this is one you can be proud of.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of Change
Orders
A.
Change Order No. 1 – Florida Sewer &
Water, Inc. for Parkland Village Paving, Drainage, Water Distribution and
Wastewater Collection for a Net Increase of $127,206.21
B.
Change Order No. 2 – Triple R. Paving,
Inc. for
Mr. Goscicki stated these change orders are for the
Ms.
Early stated I request the Board table Change Order No. 1 for Florida Sewer
& Water until next month. Change Order
Number 2 is for Triple R. Paving who is doing the earthwork portion, mainly the
digging of the lakes. This change order
calls for construction of the perimeter berm, which will belong to NSID if and
when the bond is sold. The developer is
currently Tousa Homes and all of the money comes from them. However, this will be a cost from this future
bond issue.
Mr.
Mendelson asked are we tabling this change order?
Ms.
Early responded no. We are only tabling
the change order for Florida Sewer & Water.
Mr. Craven obtained several different prices.
Mr.
Gray asked is the purpose of this change order to change the intended
completion time or move to a different time?
Ms.
Early responded the plans were not ready at the time we started digging the
lakes and was not included in the original bid.
Mr.
Mendelson asked will the prices remain the same?
Ms.
Early responded we are still within the numbers we priced out the bond issue at.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in
favor Change Order No. 2 with Triple R. Paving, Inc. for the Parkland Village
Drainageways for a Net Increase of $116,867.00 was approved.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A. Manager’s
Report
Mr. Goscicki stated when we prepared the General Fund Budget;
we talked about transitioning some of the functions being done by CSID back to Severn
Trent Services, specifically
the accounting function. Over time, this
evolved from a Severn Trent Services responsibility because staff migrated
back and forth between CSID and Severn Trent Services, the work moved back and forth and the
fee adjusted back and forth. Our
contract never changed and we still maintained all of the responsibilities in
our contract. However, we were concerned
about not doing the work, the contract not reflecting the reality and the efficiencies
of the contract not being there. Mr.
Hyche is a CSID employee and a shared employee with NSID. This makes a tremendous amount of sense
because we have the benefit of a Senior Operations Manager to provide all of
the services but we share in the cost with CSID.
In
the case of the accounting, we currently have a single individual with no
backup and no additional resources providing this service. Within Severn Trent Services, we have professional staff with over 22
people doing this work. Therefore,
effective October 1st Severn Trent Services will take over the accounting services. We have been working with current CSID
employees to start transitioning the files and I wanted to make the Board aware
of this and introduce Ms. Terri Lusk who will be the Senior Accountant for the
District. You already met Ms. Pam Rower
who is our Fiscal Manager. Another name
you may hear every now and then is Ms. Paula Davis who heads up our Accounts
Payable Department and will be handling this side of the business. The transition is moving along smoothly.
We
are trying to move forward with the bond sale for the Parkland Villages
Development. I met this month with
representatives of the commercial development along with their consultant in
regards to some of the issues. One such
issue is there will be a perimeter berm around the entire development, which we
will own through the bond sale. There
will also be a village green within the commercial area, which we will own as
well as a road through the middle of this District. The message we gave to the developers is we
expect them to create a Master HOA for this development for the purpose of
entering into an agreement with the District to provide maintenance. This Board does not have any interest in
maintaining the landscape berms. Finally,
there will be a park surrounding an interior drainage lake. When it comes to these types of amenities, we
told them this is not the core business of the District per the Board’s
previous direction. I just wanted to
confirm this with you. If there is no
change in your direction, we will continue our negotiations.
B. Attorney’s
Report
Mr.
Lyles stated this has been a quiet month.
We are going to be busy next month because of the bond closing, which
the developer is interested in proceeding with as quickly as possible. They are already incurring expenses on behalf
of the District and already validated the bonds to pay for these capital
infrastructure improvements. The
scheduling will happen fairly quickly.
Shortly after or at your next meeting, we will be in a position to have
this closing where the President and Secretary will have to execute a number of
documents. In the absence of the
Secretary, the Assistant Secretary will execute these documents but we will
need the Board’s presence at this closing.
Mr.
Mendelson asked do we have the date for this closing?
Mr.
Lyles responded no. My best estimate is
the closing will be in connection with or just after your October meeting.
Mr.
Gray asked at the next meeting, will we receive all of the details?
Mr.
Lyles responded yes.
C. Engineer’s
Report – Pump Station Evaluation Report
Ms. Early stated we are currently
constructing a Lift Station in
Mr.
Lyles stated this looks like a standard form of easement you and I have seen
before whereby WCI Communities transfers an easement directly to the
District. I have not seen this
particular document and want to check to make sure all of our issues are
covered. I am sure this is the case but
in order not to delay the project for 30 days, I feel it is in order and
request the Board pass a motion authorizing acceptance of this Grant of
Easement, subject to final legal review by District staff.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in
favor the Grant of Easement for
Ms.
Early stated a few months ago we had a work authorization to do a study on the
pump station to see if there needed to be any repairs or improvements.
Mr.
Mendelson asked did we already discuss this report?
Ms.
Early responded Mr. Schooley took some pictures and requested a pump
repair.
Mr.
Schooley stated this was for an emergency pump repair, which was not included
in the work authorization. I do not need
direction from the Board but I wanted to inform you I met with Mr. Schooley the
other day and we went through the list in front of you. Many of these items are mechanical and
architectural in nature in order to bring them up to hurricane code. Basically, the pump stations are in good
condition. This is a wish list of items
we thought the District should take care of.
The yellow highlighted items, Mr. Schooley feels he can either do
himself or are not necessary. I want to
meet with Mr. Goscicki and Mr. Schooley over the next month to come up with a
plan we all agree on and at the next meeting, provide you with a final
list. The Board can then decide on how
to move forward with these improvements.
Mr.
Mendelson stated so everything is up and running now.
Ms.
Early stated everything is running.
Mr.
Schooley stated many of these items include painting of the walls and filling
in cracks. We are certainly capable of
doing some of this work ourselves. For a
certain amount of money we can go to Home Depot and purchase the
materials. This is what I recommend but
if the Board wants something different, we can certainly do something
different.
Mr.
Gray asked what items does he feel are not necessary?
Ms.
Early responded Mr. Schooley does not feel the fence needs to be replaced. We are recommending a prison type of fencing
to curtail vandalism but Mr. Schooley said he does not have any vandalism.
Mr.
Schooley stated we probably need a new fence, but they are talking about an 8’
fence. We have no problem with vandalism
as of today. Therefore, I cannot see us
spending $18,000 for something we do not have any problems with. However, if the Board wants an 8’ fence, we
can certainly get one for you.
Mr.
Goscicki stated the problem at the south pump station is being able to get off
of the highway to gain access. There is
not easy access anymore.
Mr.
Schooley stated Sunshine has a lot of vandalism. All of their pump stations were vandalized.
Mr.
Goscicki stated they are probably more visible.
Mr.
Schooley stated CSID has little vandalism other than getting hit by
bullets. However, you do not need to
cross the fence to shoot a gun at the building.
This has stopped in the last few years.
Personally I do not recommend spending money for an 8’ fence when we
already have one in place.
Mr.
Goscicki stated this is only for the Board’s information. We will be looking over this list and
comparing it to the budget to come up with a course of action of what we can do
internally and what we need to contract out.
Mr.
Mendelson stated for only necessary items.
Mr.
Gray asked is this report a comprehensive review of everything out there we
maintain.
Mr.
Goscicki responded yes. It is the type
of report you do every five years to get an outside view of the current status
of everything mechanically, electrically, structurally and architecturally.
Mr.
Gray asked will you have a revised list at the next meeting?
Ms.
Early responded yes.
SEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of Requisitions and Invoices
There
being no questions or comments,
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in
favor the requisitions for
EIGHTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s
Requests and Audience Comments
Mr.
Mendolia stated since there is a vacant seat and you have not appointed anyone
to this seat, I wish to offer my services until you have a third member on the
Board. If this is possible, until a
replacement is found, I will assist you in any way I can.
Mr.
Gray stated we appreciate your assistance.
Mr.
Goscicki stated the correct way to do this is by establishing some type of
consulting arrangement with Mr. Mendolia where he can participate as staff, not
as a Board member and provide any input or advice to the Board at
meetings. This is not a usual situation
but certainly not unheard of. In terms
of compensation, I am not sure what either party is looking at. Typically you pay for travel expenses for
attendance at Board meetings.
Mr.
Gray asked could you prepare some type of agreement for the next meeting?
Mr.
Goscicki responded yes.
Mr.
Mark Capwell stated I submitted a resume several months ago when Mr. Petty was
the manager. The only issue presented to
me at the time was not being a
Mr.
Mendelson stated we will take your resume under consideration.
Mr.
Craven stated I have been doing business with the District for 15 years and I
wanted to thank Mr. Mendolia for his years of service to NSID. I think he did a great job as the Board
President and he will be missed. Thank
you, Mr. Mendolia!
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There
being no further business,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in
favor the meeting was adjourned.
David
Gray Steve
Mendelson
Secretary President
Notes for
AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
1.
Appointment of
Supervisor for Mr. Mendolia’s Unexpired Term
2.
Oath of Office
3.
Consideration
of Consultant Agreement for Sal Mendolia