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:
Salvatore J. Mendolia President
Steve Mendelson Secretary
Also present were:
John Petty Manager
Dennis Lyles Attorney
Jane Early Engineer
Isabello Rodriguez CH2M-Hill
Ed Flavin CH2M-Hill
Kevin Alvarez CH2M-Hill
Cory Johnson CH2M-Hill
Sean Skehan CH2M-Hill
Rob Hungate CH2M-Hill
Randy Fredericks Field
Supervisor
Doug Hyche District Staff
John McKune District Staff
Warren R. Craven, Jr. TOUSA Homes
Marie
Ferngren
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr.
Petty called the meeting to order and called the roll.
SECOND
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of the Minutes of the February 8, 2007 Meeting
Mr.
Petty stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the
There
not being any,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor the minutes of the
THIRD
ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion
of Capital Improvement Program
Mr. Petty stated the engineers are doing the preliminary
work but I believe they are prepared to delve into the bureaucracy of obtaining
a permit for expansion of our Water Treatment Plant. Many new homes are being built and it is time
to build up the plant to handle the flow.
Mr.
Skehan stated we have been working closely with Mr. McKune
and Mr. Petty on some of the preliminary issues tied to how you are looking to
the future for your water supply. Your
Water Use Permit, which is the cornerstone for any utility, expires in January
of 2008. It has been permitted for 6.4
mgd. For any possible expansion, you are
looking at potentially adding another 3 mgd to your needed capacity and
allocation. The key is your allocation,
which will be coming from the Water Management District, as it has in the
past.
Unfortunately, where you are and
some of the other utilities are, in looking into the future, SFWMD has gotten a
tight grip on small utilities in the lower east coast. What was possible in the past from a
permitting standpoint and the ease of permitting is not possible or feasible in
the future. What used to be a fairly
simple straightforward process has now become a complex process manifesting
itself more and more into the future because you will have to deal with getting
more water out of the ground. SFWMD is
beginning to implement rules and not tying into the physical component of how
the utility will be operating. There are
governmental and legal aspects in trying to get this additional water as well
as stormwater issues, which will tie into this in the future.
The District prided itself over the
years since its inception, of being able to stand alone and be an independent
provider to get to where you currently are.
SFWMD pushed so many utilities to this regionalization concept. What we think is going to be necessary is
standing up and saying, “We want to be able to find out where NSID can go to
pursue their resources independently and be able to do so for the next 20 years. This is where many of the Water Use Permits
are going. However, with discharges
going into the
Mr. Petty stated we talked over the
years about how SFWMD was going to tax the taxpayers in the state because of their
loss in the courts over their handling of the
If we do not have access to the
Biscayne Aquifer and this good water source, we must consider an alternative
water source for our water treatment.
The one being pushed by SFWMD is the Florida Aquifer, which is a dirty
water supply; made up of chlorides and dissolved solids. As a former reverse osmosis treatment
operator, I would not want to tap this aquifer.
Even with the membrane process, you are looking at high pressure, heavy
following, and heavy pre-treatment style water before it can be delivered to
our residents. I project cost increases
of 100% or more to our residents by using this aquifer. This is why we asked the engineer, after
hearing these rumors, to talk to the SFWMD and begin the preliminary
conversation of quickly bringing a capital improvement program to the Board. Mr. McKune, the engineers and I personally
spoke to SFWMD. There is not a simple
matter to resolve by any stretch of the imagination but you have a good team
and are the ones to resolve it. SFWMD
said to us:
“We are going
keep our water consumption exactly where it is because the
This is a balancing act. They are saying the
We request the Board consider
authorizing the engineers to start the capital improvement program through a
two part process. The first part authorizes
them to apply for a Consumptive Use Permit in an amount not to exceed
$12,000. At next month’s meeting, the
engineers will provide a work authorization to the Board on a capital
improvement program covering the water plant expansion, any regionalization and
any other water balancing acts. Tonight
we only want the Board to authorize the engineers to start the process of
obtaining the Consumptive Use Permit for our water plant, which we need to have
by January of 2008. It typically takes
three to four months to receive approval of the permit under normal
conditions. However, since these are not
normal conditions, we wish to start as soon as possible.
Mr. Mendolia asked do we have any
legal ramifications?
Mr. Lyles responded no. This is strictly an engineering
exercise. Mr. Petty said they are in the
process of changing their rules and tightening their requirements. It is going to be difficult in the future if
they pass this rule and it does not apply to us or similar districts to get
water treated and turned into potable water.
Moving now and not waiting is to the District’s advantage.
Mr. Mendelson asked did you say $9 billion?
Mr. Petty responded the last I
heard, SFWMD’s cost estimates were around $9 billion.
Mr. Mendelson asked how will NSID be
affected?
Mr. Petty responded we cannot touch
the water table one more inch and will have to use the Biscayne Aquifer. This will cost our residents double of what
they are currently paying for water. SFWMD
is not asking for a contribution to the $9 billion, they are trying to enforce
rules moving them incrementally forward.
They do not care what it costs us.
Their concern is applying credits to the problem they have, not to the
problem we have.
Mr. Mendelson asked has the District
been following the law as far as this project?
Mr. Lyles responded yes.
Mr. Petty stated we have been good
partners with SFWMD.
Mr. Mendelson stated it seems like
Mr. Petty stated I think SFWMD is
dumping on us. If we cannot solve this
problem locally, we will have to go to
Mr. Lyles stated SFWMD is a
regulatory body covering the southern part of the State of
Mr. Mendolia stated Mr. Petty is
saying we will be paying double.
Mr. Petty stated we are not the only
utility in
Mr. Mendolia asked do we have a
choice to say “no”?
Mr. Petty responded I believe you
have a choice; but one based on policy, not engineering.
Mr. Lyles stated you have the choice
to say “no”. You will incur expenses on
the items Mr. Petty and the engineers are recommending but in the long run, you
are probably going to have greater expenses if you wait for SFWMD to do
whatever it feels like doing. You are
the policy makers and always have the ability to direct staff to do something.
Mr. Mendelson stated it will be a
good idea to implement this now.
Mr. Lyles stated correct.
Mr. Petty stated whatever course of
action we take in the future, this is a step we recommend taking now. If we reach a problem going through the rule
process, which we believe to be unreasonable or unfounded, the engineers were
instructed by staff to bring this back for consideration by the Board. If they think policy direction is necessary,
you can have District Counsel look at this.
However, if you feel this is a political matter, you should be given the
opportunity to consider it. The
alternative is to comply. If we hit
anything we consider to be unreasonable, we will come back to the Board.
Mr. Mendolia stated I am thinking
about the residents. If they hear what
we are saying, you will have a riot.
Mr. Petty stated this comes from
SFWMD and their issues. However, I agree
with you. One of the reasons we entered
into a contract with a public relations firm is because of what we said is
possible in the next year or two. It
came earlier than we thought. You are
starting to see ads on TV where kids are singing, “Save our Swales”. This is the beginning of the concept of
educating the public on the water resource and its value so as these costs come
in, people accept them more readily. Our
Drainage District is going to be referred to as a pollutant source.
Mr. Mendolia asked is there any way
we can have a referendum where people can get involved? If we make a decision like this, everyone is
affected.
Mr. Petty responded yes. Your manager had those same thoughts and is
anxious. If SFWMD pushes this issue in
their meeting with us eight days from now, I will have to come back to the
Board to see if you wish to put out information to the residents to get their
input.
Mr. Lyles stated if you have a town
hall meeting where people can come to complain about what is happening when
SFWMD is not in the room; all you are doing is to make the District look like
the bad guys. We are trying to be the
good guys and stopping things from happening, to the extent we can. I feel Mr. Petty’s approach of having the
meeting, obtaining concrete information and putting the information together
and providing to the residents so they know what is going on, will make the
situation better.
Mr. Mendelson stated I am also
looking at this from a health aspect. We
should implement this now.
Mr. Lyles stated we are not going to
help them implement the plan to cause these outrageous price increases. We are trying to get our Consumptive Use
Permit renewed; taking into account we are a growth area as opposed to a built
out area. Pushing this process as hard
as we can and as fast as we can is our best first step. If it looks like they are not listening to us,
we may have to let our residents know we have this problem and what the
consequences are but we are working to make it have a different ending.
Mr. Mendolia stated I agree. Will we look at this again at a future date?
Mr. Lyles responded you are going to
hear about this for the next couple of months.
Mr. Mendolia stated I always worry
about the residents because they are going to come to the next meeting and
scream and holler.
Mr. Petty stated we are not
proposing anything outside of our master plan.
The Consumptive Use Permit will allow us to use the Biscayne Aquifer for
high quality water.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor the engineers were authorized to apply for a Consumptive Use Permit in an
amount not to exceed $12,000 through a work authorization to be provided to the
Board at the next meeting.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Resolutions
A. Resolution
2007-2 Declaring Tangible Personal Property Surplus Equipment
Mr.
Petty stated these are the tangible personal property items we turned over to
the District. As you recall, our
contract calls for the HOA to be the managers and supply all the internal
elements; including the furniture and exercise equipment. We have these items in a warehouse. This resolution allows us to have a surplus
sale to bring money back into the District if there is any value for this
equipment. If there is no value, the
item will be discarded. You need to
handle this as an asset of the District.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is someone evaluating the value?
Mr.
Petty responded it is stated in our bond, after eight or nine years, we are off
of the depreciation schedule. I looked
through the list and feel we are going to get a good response.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is there a published list?
Mr.
Petty responded there is a list on our website.
We also placed an advertisement. It
will be run as a silent auction.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Resolution 2007-2 Declaring Certain Tangible Personal Property Surplus
Equipment and Authorizing the District Manager to Sell or Dispose of Said
Equipment as Expeditiously as Possible and Providing for an Effective Date was
adopted.
B. Resolution
2007-3 Relating to Membership into the
Mr.
Petty stated this item will be pulled from the agenda. We allocated funds in the budget for a
Florida Retirement System, however, District Counsel told us to take another
look at the program. The cost of the
benefit does not bother me but the cost of following a bureaucracy and their
new rules, may get us into trouble. The
9.75% pension they currently offer and the defined benefit package does not
bother me because we are going to have to be competitive. However, I do not think we want to
participate in a program dictating so many policies and procedures to where we
may have to add staff just to address those policies and procedures. In these forms, they ask for an administrator
of the program to be defined and a Registered Agent. Instead of asking for this upfront, they
should ask when I tell them how many people I have and what they make. They want this in the whereas clauses. I want to table this item until we can find
something less rigorous but having similar benefits. We thank District Counsel for his suggestion.
Mr.
Lyles stated it is a big change to put all of the employees into the Florida Retirement
System. It looked like a good change
because it is a bigger plan but there are some strings attached to it, which
staff needs to look at before giving their final recommendation. We may come back and say this works but at
this point we want to examine it further.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Award of Contract for Heron Bay Wetlands Mitigation Bank
Mr.
Petty stated we talked to the Board in the past about this item. Eight years ago, there was a Broward County
requirement for the developer to install certain eco-friendly plant materials
such as birds and fish when they build water facilities, which they were in the
process of doing in partnership with us.
From a water management perspective, as part of our drainage and flood
control, this is not a bad thing to do.
We went along with it and when Westinghouse turned their facilities over
to the District, we accepted it and took over the management. We then hired a contractor because our guys
are flood control specialists and not aquatic plant specialists. Although they can kill the plants fairly
well, growing them was a different story.
At
the end of nine years, we discovered Westinghouse never received a permit sent
to them in 1996 and never fulfilled the permit requirement. The mitigation program they thought they
complied with in the mid-1990’s was reviewed again. As a result, they had newer and stiffer
requirements. We looked at the
mitigation areas and discovered we lost half of the plants. Typically you lose 25% of the plants as water
levels go up and down and spraying for algae causes a burn zone. Our budgets did not include a planting
program over the last 10 years. We
expected to lose some plants but we were losing plants in the round areas,
which meant the maintenance company was not doing their job. We have been working with WCI on their
conforming to
Mr.
Mendolia asked is this an additional duty for him?
Mr.
Petty responded yes. From a staff
perspective, we expect Mr. Schooley to build up his staff to handle this. He will do this by contract as reflected in
the current bid specifications. The bid
specifications submitted a few months ago came back at a much higher cost. Our engineers worked with WCI and their
engineers on this issue and re-submitted.
This time the bids came back as estimated. Staff supports the engineer’s recommendation
for the lowest responsive bidder to be awarded the contract to repair and
extend the mitigation area and provide a two year maintenance program. These items are considered part of the budget
and monies are available.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is this an increase from the last contract?
Mr.
Petty responded it actually decreased, probably because the contractor is
installing the plants.
Mr.
Mendelson stated we are only going to benefit from it.
Mr.
Petty stated it makes the water management system look natural and
aesthetically pleasing while it is a beneficial process.
Ms.
Early stated I agree. Miller, Legg
investigated the lowest responsive bidder thoroughly because I am not familiar
with them. They worked with the
contractor on other projects and were comfortable with them.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor the contract for the Heron Bay Wetlands Mitigation Bank was awarded to
Arazoza Brothers Corp. in the amount of $503,802.02.
SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Change Orders
A. Change
Order No. 6 & Final – Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for Banyan Isles and
Sable point for a Net Decrease of $125,243.94
B. Change
Order No. 7 & Final – Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for Banyon Isles and
Sable Point for a Net Decrease of $12,890.52
Mr.
Petty stated these change orders are for two segments of the same
contract. The engineer recommends
approval, subject to administrative review.
Ms.
Early stated on the last page of the change orders; you will see the split for
the WCI portion and NSID portion. This
is a decrease to both parties. WCI had
an increase on Change Order No. 7 and NSID has a decrease.
Mr.
Petty stated the contract amount is less than what was approved at the last
meeting, due to these change orders.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Change Order No. 6 & Final – Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for
Banyan Isles and Sable point for a Net Decrease of $125,243.94 and Change Order
No. 7 & Final – Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for Banyon Isles and Sable
Point for a Net Decrease of $12,890.52 were approved.
SEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Work Authorization No. 172 for SFWMD Permit Modification – BMP Requirements
Mr. Petty stated the recommendation from the engineer is to
be authorized to work on this matter. We
believe it is justified and recommend it.
We wanted to talk to the Board about the implications. This issue came up at the last meeting and
the Board authorized an extension as we wanted to discuss it further. SFWMD provided us with a letter for us to
respond to within 90 days. We asked for
the extension but have not been grated it to date, although they are meeting
with us in less than two weeks to discuss and acknowledged they received the
extension before the 90 days expired. We
are working with our engineers on the impact.
SFWMD is telling us if we pump to our permitted outfall; conservation
area 2A, the only way they can allow us to do so if we comply with the recent
water quality efforts, which our engineers tell us is impossible to do. We cannot possibly reduce the nutrient
loading in the canal system. This means
we have to look for an alternative discharge area. NSID, being at the end of the development
cycle in Broward County, was not allocated any space in the C-14 or
Hillsborough Canals. The only way we are
allowed to pump to either canal is if other permittees are not pumping their
full load. Therefore, we only get to
discharge water in NSID under a rain event if someone is not using their
allocation.
Mr.
Mendolia asked how will we know?
Mr.
Petty responded this is why we feel this is an extremely serious issue for the
District and we sent a letter to SFWMD with our findings. This means, there may not be drainage
available to existing homes. When I
asked SFWMD the question, they said we should be good for at least the next
couple of years.
Mr.
Mendolia asked how will the residents react?
Mr.
Petty responded I thought it would be nice to tell the homeowners who bought
their homes this year their drainage rights are good for at least two more
years. This is why we are taking this matter
seriously. Since all water is now being
combined, whether it is stormwater or coming out of the Biscayne Aquifer or
bleeding over from the conversation area through the levy, we need to start the
permitting process. Staff will meet with
SFWMD to listen to them say, “This is no big deal, you are good for a year or
two” and see if they can expand this out three or four years. They think the stakeholders include everyone
who lives in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
I do not know how they became part of the NSID system because I have not
seen any money coming in from them but I am willing to send them a bill. I recommend the Board approve this work
authorization because this will be an expanded work program from what BMP had
stated in the past. This is a
bureaucratic process in the cost of doing business with the SFWMD to be a good
partner.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do we have time to consider this work authorization?
Mr.
Petty responded the engineers have to come back to us with specific tasks and
authorization for funding. This work
authorization gives them the authority to work on this modification and then
come back to you.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do we have the funds?
Mr.
Petty responded yes, for the $5,000 one but I will look harder for funding for
the $50,000 one.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Work Authorization No. 172 for CH2M-Hill to Implement BMP Requirements
for the SFWMD Permit Modification in the Amount of $5,000 per month for six
months was approved.
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A. Manager’s
Report - Short
Term Financing
Mr. Petty stated in regards to our efforts to look at
short-term financing to fund the completion of the tennis courts, as the Board
may recall, we had $250,000 in our construction account. We looked at the demand and built tennis
courts because there was a strong demand.
We are looking at short-term funding for this issue, which we do not
think is going to be a problem. We
looked at the budget and it should fit in nicely and be competitive. As a matter of fact, we just spoke with WCI
and even with this short-term note for the tennis courts, our rates for the
commons should still be below what they are charging for the new clubhouse.
Mr.
Mendolia asked when are the tennis courts going to be completed?
Mr.
Petty responded I never thought it would take this long.
Ms.
Early stated they had a difficult time obtaining permits from the City of Coral
Springs.
Mr.
Mendolia asked why?
Ms.
Early responded they wanted modifications to the permit. When it was approved by the Zoning
Department, they did not tell the Building Department. When the builder went down there, he was told
they could not get the permit until zoning approved it.
Mr.
Petty stated this is the process you have to go through in Coral Springs, which
reached the zenith of their building era a long time ago. We are getting the scaled down version of the
process. The days of getting a seven day
turn around are long gone. The engineers
are constantly trying to push the issue.
I want to see them dig up some dirt.
Mr.
Mendelson stated I want to see a sign saying they are done.
Mr.
Mendolia stated if you need any assistance dealing with the City of Coral
Springs, let me know. I had good success
with them. With the last house I built
they were knowledgeable, honest, fair and quick. I thought we had the funds.
Mr.
Petty stated we do.
Mr.
Mendolia stated you said it cost $741,000 for the tennis courts.
Ms.
Early stated there is $250,000 in the remaining bond issuance.
Mr.
Petty stated in the bond issue for the commons, which we need to put into a
construction program for a capital asset.
The tennis courts were perfect for this.
This amount covers a third of the contract. We need to cover the other two-thirds. Keep in mind, the commons is a small separate
assessment area from the rest of North Springs and their books have to be
separate. We need this funding in our
budget. We went through those reserves
in the repair and remodeling of the facility, which cost $600,000. We used up most of our reserve, if not all of
it and I do not feel comfortable going further into our reserves. What we are looking at doing is getting
short-term funding benefiting the District.
We have been working on this for other entities and brought it into its
own under NSID.
I
have a commercial note with SunTrust bank.
It is a revolving Line of Credit, which gives us the ability to draw
small amounts of money; $5 million or less in less than 30 days for periods of
five years or less. District Counsel can
tell you the reasons why we have those limits.
This is based on a percentage of the LIBOR rate, which is a standard
currently used. The rate currently
brought to us and in this agreement makes us better than their best commercial
customer, which we expected to be. We
think this is a good instrument, which gives us great flexibility. It saves the District from asking its
residents to fund reserves for a possibility which may or may not occur,
instead of using this Line of Credit available to them. In this case, we wish to use some of this
money to complete the tennis courts. It
is going well as we are talking with the banks, finalized the language and we
are ready to provide to District Counsel for his review. At the next meeting, we hope to have a
finished document both staff and District Counsel can recommend to you for
consideration.
Mr.
Mendolia asked can we approach WCI and request to a donation towards the tennis
courts?
Mr.
Petty responded we spoke to WCI last week about NSID. As the Board is aware, many of the original
members are gone and most of the employees are there less than a year. We spoke to Mr. David Wolfe who has been
there four or five years. According to Mr.
Wolfe, the tennis courts were not perceived to be of any marginal benefit to
Mr. Wolfe’s efforts, in particular to the new clubhouse, which he felt was
going to end up taking quite a few of the residents. I do not agree. I think our facility currently looks good and
the last time I was there, the residents were thrilled with the tennis courts
and using it extensively. It adds a good
flavor. The bar looks wonderful and
inviting. He was not interested in the
additional tennis courts. At one time,
there was a gentleman from the west coast who came to our meetings but he is no
longer with WCI.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is he not in favor of the tennis courts?
Mr.
Petty responded he was of the opinion the current model applied to the commons
for its management to be better used. He
has a vision of what it may be used for, which is more akin to the Tennis
Center in Coral Springs and opening it up to tournaments to bring in outside
money. I told him we are amenable to
discussing with him any and all such options as long as residents were in favor
of it. We have not asked them to
contribute.
Mr.
Mendolia stated they should contribute because those tennis courts are a great
asset to WCI. When people look at
houses, they see the tennis courts. The
new clubhouse will not have any tennis courts.
They will be an asset to the current residents, future residents and
WCI.
Mr.
Petty stated we talked to Mr. Wolfe about Funding Agreements of the subdivision
lines and how we wished to come to conclusion on this matter and do a one time
payment to clear up the last 10 years worth of agreements. If we have excess funds after this
calculation is done, they may or may not be applied to WCI. We are not happy with the continued
relationship we have with WCI after we paid and are calculating what we think
is due to WCI. We asked them to consider
a different type of agreement for subdivision lines and they are amenable to
doing so. It is one where they will not
fund it and look for us to collect fees and then pay them back because we are
just exchanging the same money. They
will bill for the subdivision lines and donate those to the District. We will not charge subdivision connections
for those lines and will be working with District Counsel on the preparation of
those agreements. We are trying to
calculate the numbers so we can say to WCI, “This fulfills all of our
commitments over the prior years for water and sewer lines.” We will work with them on getting the proper
transfer of title, ownership, deeds, rights-of-way and all other instruments
associated with fixed assets. They are
amenable to this and I have no trouble bringing up the tennis courts with them. We will bring this note back to you.
We
received interest from Mr. Cathwell, a resident of NSID, to fill the vacant
seat. I have copies of his letter for
consideration as well as a resume.
District Counsel can inform you of the requirements of the
position. You are not mandated to fill
this position but you may consider it as you deem appropriate. The vacant seat expires in June of 2008.
Mr.
Lyles stated this is the seat created by the resignation of Mr. Matt Lauritzen
and a resident of Parkland is required to fill this seat. They must also be a citizen of the United
States and the State of Florida.
Mr.
Petty stated it is nice to have such interest from the residents. I do not know if this resident meets the
requirements for living in Parkland but if he does not, I request he be
notified during the landowner’s election so he may participate as we are
changing the law.
Mr.
Mendolia asked why do you want to be on this Board?
Mr.
Cathwell responded I do not have any experience serving on Boards but I am hard
working and open minded. I felt it was
time for me to get more involved in the District as my youngest child is five
years old and starting school. I have
been an attorney for over five years.
This is an interest of mine.
Mr.
Mendolia asked are you a Real Estate Attorney?
Mr.
Cathwell responded I handle personal injury, workers compensation and real
estate type cases. I also have a real
estate license. Is the requirement of
the resident living in Parkland a part of the law being changed?
Mr.
Petty responded for the Board to be properly represented there was a
requirement put into place for one of the Board members to live in Parkland,
another living in Coral Springs and one living in the entire District.
Mr.
Cathwell asked is this mandatory?
Mr.
Petty responded the seats are assigned to those requirements. The vacant seat must be filled by someone who
lives in the City of Parkland.
Mr.
Lyles stated this District is authorized and operates under a special act of
the Florida legislature in effect since the early 1970’s. It has always required one resident on the
Board living in Parkland, one from Coral Springs and one elected at large. We filed a bill to convert from a landowner’s
election where only people who own property can vote to a popular election
where every registered voter can vote.
In the initial version of the bill, we did not have a requirement for
anyone to live in a particular District or city. When this bill came up for consideration
before the Legislative Delegation in Broward County, the City of Parkland
represented to the legislators and us they are concerned and thought we should
continue to have this requirement. At
the request of the Legislative Delegation, we inserted this mechanism into our
bill. If it passes and we convert to a
popular vote run by the Supervisor of Elections, the seats will still have
residency requirements, like a District in a City Council election.
Mr.
Cathwell stated I am fine with a temporary appointment.
Mr.
Lyles asked are you a resident of Parkland?
Mr.
Cathwell responded I live in Wyndham Lakes.
Mr.
Mendolia stated Wyndham Lakes is in Coral Springs.
Mr.
Lyles stated under the legislation establishing the District and qualifications
for members of the Board, you do not meet the requirements for the open seat.
Mr.
Cathwell asked is this only for the election to the Board?
Mr.
Lyles responded it is for an appointment as well. In order to hold the office, you have to meet
the requirements of the office.
Mr.
Petty stated this does not mean you should stop your interest in the
District.
Mr.
Mendolia asked did anyone recommend you?
Mr.
Cathwell responded when I went to pay my water bill online, I saw the minutes.
Mr.
Mendolia stated we will hold onto your resume and see what happens.
Mr.
Petty stated no action is required by the Board.
B. Attorney’s
Report
Mr.
Lyles stated the legislature is in session as of this past week. So far they have done no harm to us with our
proposed bill. Of course, we are
monitoring this as it goes through the legislature. These bills tend to be picked up towards the
end of the session. We have not run into
any road blocks or obstacles and are moving along. This has been a quiet month on the legal side.
C. Engineer’s
Report
There not being any, the next item followed.
NINTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s
Requests and Audience Comments
Mr.
Craven stated at the last meeting, the Board awarded the contract for Parkland
Village infrastructure to Florida Sewer & Water with conditions. What is the status? The contractor executed the contracts and
provided them to TOUSA Homes. I should
be able to deliver them to the Board tomorrow.
We were originally looking at a start date of March 19th. All of the permits from the city should be in
order by then. Can we move forward? I know there is an issue with the agreements.
Mr.
Petty responded Mr. Craven is going to be at our meetings quite frequently
now. He has always been instrumental in
the development of NSID. We have been
working with him for some time. We do
not foresee any problems.
Mr.
Craven stated I did not know if the Board took further action.
Mr.
Petty stated we are not asking for any further responsibilities or
changes. At the last meeting, we looked
at the funding agreements and reported the subdivision lines were going to
change. The rest are the same because
they go through bond funds.
Mr.
Craven asked will we be able to obtain a Notice to Proceed?
Mr.
Lyles responded we had the agreements and permitting in place and were ready to
go but I raised the issue of whether there was a defined funding source to make
the payments called for under the contract.
The Board previously authorized and District Counsel validated the bond
issue. We were waiting for them to have
a bond closing. Currently, there are no
funds available to make payments under those agreements until we have the bond
closing, generate the funds through the sale of the bonds and put the funds into
the construction fund account. This is
the outstanding issue.
Mr.
Craven stated this is for the special assessment. There are three funding sources involved;
water and sewer, refunding and special assessment.
Mr.
Lyles stated as long as the manager is satisfied there is a source of funds for
the contract, there is nothing more to do as the Board authorized it to be
signed subject to identification of a funding source.
Mr.
Petty stated I agree with District Counsel, it is conditional upon funds being
available as stated in the agreement.
You know as well as we do, there is an outstanding bond. In regards to whether or not we can move
forward for bonds issued, the answer is I see no reason why. I see no restrictions. You are good about coming to us and working
with us on the issue of the subdivision lines and your client described how
they wished to go further. We have had
nothing but a great working relationship.
Mr.
Craven stated as far as the special assessment bonds, those do not exist.
Mr.
Petty stated there is no entitlement unless they are issued.
Mr.
Craven stated TOUSA is obligated to fund this portion until those bonds are
available. I wanted to make sure the
other issues were covered.
Ms.
Early stated the contractor signed the contracts, they are at TOUSA Homes and
then they come to the District for signature.
Since we did not have a bond issue, we needed those funding agreements
to be in place. I do not know if TOUSA
Homes signed them. This is the funding
mechanism until the bonds are sold. This
is my understanding. There was one for
water and sewer and one for the roadwork.
Mr.
Petty stated there are no projects management is considering. Of course, you are the one who sends them to
me. However, if they are not covered by
an existing funding source, the District has no funds available of its own from
a General or Enterprise Fund available to this outside of the outstanding bond
issue construction account.
Ms.
Early stated on the last agenda, there were advance funding agreements for
different segments of the work because there was no bond issue. Does TOUSA have them?
Mr.
Petty responded I cannot tell you if TOUSA has them.
Ms.
Early stated I am afraid to send them to you if these funding agreements are
not signed.
Mr.
Petty asked what do you want for the Board to consider?
Mr.
Lyles responded the Board already did what it needs to do by awarding the
contract, subject to management identifying a specific funding source. The bonds are not closed so there are no bond
funds. Ms. Early is saying before the
construction contract is signed and issuing a Notice to Proceed, make sure the
fully executed advance funding agreements are there as a substitute for the closing
of the bonds. It has to be one or the
other because there are no other sources of funds.
Ms.
Early stated I do not have a copy of them, which is why I am concerned.
Mr.
Petty stated we can talk after the meeting and get you a copy of whatever you
need.
Mr.
Craven stated I have no problem assisting them.
Ms.
Marie Ferngren stated I am with Florida Sewer & Water. We have a long standing relationship with the
Board as we have done a great deal of water, sewer and drainage infrastructure
at Heron Bay and Parkland Country Club.
We appreciate all of the business.
I spoke with Mr. Petty about this issue but was not happy with his
response. I have invoices dating back to
September. I do the work, your employee,
Mr. Andy Waypa approves my quantities and at the end of the month, gives me a
sheet of the approved quantities, which I attach to my invoice and provide to
Ms. Early. Her inspector then approves
it, Ms. Early does a split sheet and it is then sent to either Ms. Walker or
Mr. Petty’s attention. One invoice is
dated September 30th. The
letter was sent to NSID on October 3rd and another on October 5th. What is the process? I am getting involved in more work at larger
dollar amounts involving more suppliers.
I do not feel it is realistic for a supplier or contractor to wait five
months for payment. I have not found out
any information other than Ms. Walker is no longer with this division. In the meantime, I have been dealing with Ms.
Kay Woodward but have not been able to get many answers from her. I am looking for direction from the Board and
Mr. Petty. What does the Board consider
to be reasonable?
Mr.
Mendolia asked do we have any input in regards to paying them?
Mr.
Petty responded certainly the Board can make a policy on the objectives. We have such a policy, which is to pay the
bills as quickly as possible. We had
several issues with the handling of diverse products and services we offer. If it was a singular entity, we did a special
audit internally and it came back saying there must be multiple individuals
working on this for checks and balances because if your accountant gets sick or
leaves, we have problems. Ms. Walker,
who is considered to be a chief asset of the District, is currently working on
what we consider to be our biggest priority, which is the $100 million in fixed
assets we built over the past decade and trying to organize this into a
manageable system. In the meantime, we
tried to produce the checks and balances we deem to be required of a public
agency. I notified all vendors including
Florida Water & Sewer of this procedure in order to protect the District’s
interest for due diligence and send out correct payments as soon as possible.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is there a problem with their request for payment?
Mr.
Petty responded there have been problems with request for payments where they
had to go back and be re-assigned to the proper contract or there needed to be
a Change Order from the Board or other material changes. We have no problem with the quality of their
work. We are talking about due diligence
and the processing of millions of dollars.
We believe our checks and balances are reasonable, which comes from our
40 years experience with government agencies accounting and auditing.
Mr.
Mendolia stated we never had this problem before.
Mr.
Petty stated we always had an invoice, which went unpaid for three to four
months.
Ms.
Ferngren stated we have been in business with the District for 12 to 13
years. The average wait time for
invoices to be processed is 60 days.
When things were running smoothly, they were processed in 45 days. However, there was no occasion where we had
anything going over 90 days in the last 18 months. On the rare occasions when we approached 60
days, I was able to find out why. This
is the first time I am hearing about problems with my invoices. I do not want Florida Sewer & Water to
get a reputation of not paying their suppliers and subcontractors but at the
same time, five months is a long time to wait and not have a concrete answer.
Mr.
Petty stated it is not standard for every invoice to wait five months until
they are paid. If an invoice is five
months old, there has to be a reason for the delay, whether it was lost,
stolen, misplaced or not paid. We can
investigate and provide due diligence, which is what we are currently
doing. However, to imply payments always
takes five months to process is incorrect and I do not want the Board to have
this impression.
Mr.
Mendolia stated she said this one is taking five months. Prior invoices were paid within 45 to 60
days.
Mr.
Petty stated on average, it is within a 30 day time frame.
Mr.
Mendolia stated then the ones she has are problem ones.
Ms.
Ferngren stated I spoke with WCI and the process is for Mr. Petty to sign off
on the invoice and is then submitted to WCI for advance funding. Invoices presented to Mr. Petty’s office on
February 1st still have not approached WCI for advance funding. This is where my concern is. We are at five weeks and WCI needs an
additional three to four weeks to process them.
They do not pay me directly; they pay NSID. NSID usually takes another week to pay
me. At best, we are already looking at
an additional four weeks, which puts me nine weeks out from the date of my
invoice. The problem is when I spoke
with Ms. Woodward; no answer could be given to me. Therefore, I cannot respond to my suppliers
with proper information.
Mr. Petty stated we have a vendor who wants us to commit to a time certain when we can pay bills and due diligence will not allow me to give you a date. Even if the Board directed me to, I am afraid I could not provide one because of the due diligence issue. If there is a problem with the bill, it is going to take longer than 30 days. We try to pay the bills as soon as we can through our checks and balance system, which we think is not unreasonable. It involves a fairly complicated system; involving funding from WCI, the engineer or two c