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 Mendolia President
Steve Mendelson Secretary
Also present were:
John Petty Manager
Dennis Lyles Attorney
Jane Early Engineer
John McKune CH2M Hill
Michael Hessler WCI
Communities
Jean M. Rugg
Janice Larned
Sandra Demarco
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr.
Mendolia called the meeting to order and Mr. Petty called the roll.
SECOND
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of the Minutes of the August 9, 2006 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 Public
Hearing to Consider the Adoption of the Water and Sewer Budget for Fiscal Year
2007, Resolution 2006-10
Mr.
Mendolia opened the public hearing.
Mr.
Petty stated there is only one change in the budget. It is for the public relations entity we
discussed at the last meeting.
There
were no comments from the public.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Resolution 2006-10 adopting the water and sewer budget for fiscal year
2007 was adopted.
FOURTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Fee Letter from Ruden McClosky for the
Mr.
Petty stated our counsel has been working on these issues as well. It was anticipated this bond issue was going
to be in three pieces. It ended up being
in four pieces. This is to cover the
fourth piece which is not covered under the current agreement. Staff has reviewed the cost associated with
it and the work done. It is in
conformance with work and fees charged for similar pieces of the bond.
Mr.
Lyles stated this will not cost NSID or its residents any money in terms of
your budget and your assessments. It is
a slight reduction in the proceeds which will be available to pay to the developer for the project to be funded by these
bonds. The developer has signed off on
the change. The original fee letter you
approved when we started the process had several bond issues in it. The fee was quoted at a lower number
contingent upon things being combined.
Those other closings occurred last fall.
It has required additional work by bond counsel. She submitted the proposed change to the
developer, whose pocket this comes out of, as well as staff. Both the manager and I recommend you approve
the amendment to the fee arrangement with bond counsel.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do you see any problems?
Mr.
Lyles responded no sir.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor the fee letter from Ruden McClsoky was approved.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Change Orders and Contract Modification
A. Change
Order No. 1 – Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc. for Holmberg Road Overlay and Bike
Lane, University Drive and Trails End Final Lift and Modifications for a Net
Increase of $94,676
Ms.
Early stated there is a contract with Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc., NSID and
WCI Communities. They are doing the
second lift of asphalt on
Mr.
Mendolia asked when do they intend to finish it?
Ms.
Early responded the signal was held up because of materials. They are telling us two weeks, but they have
been saying this for a while. They have
given us letters from the supplier.
There is a problem with the FPL connection. This is what we are trying to work out.
Mr.
Mendolia stated I was approached by the Mayor of Parkland.
Ms.
Early stated I had several calls as well.
WCI Communities is contacting the contractor as well to get flagmen out
in the morning because of the school traffic.
The MOT was approved by the City of
Mr.
Mendelson asked is the problem with FPL and their connection?
Ms.
Early responded yes. There is a problem
with the box and whether it was there for the signal as well as who is supposed
to do the connection. They are working
it out between the signal people and FPL.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do we have a date on anything?
Ms.
Early responded no. It was supposed to
be done in the beginning of August. They
are getting a great deal of heat as well.
They are trying to get done as fast as they can.
Mr.
Mendolia asked did they subcontract it to another person?
Ms.
Early responded they had to in order to do the signal. There were only three signal companies in the
area. This is a reputable firm. They do these all of the time.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do they have a schedule?
Ms.
Early responded the last letter I received said they anticipate the work being
completed in the middle of October.
Mr.
Petty stated they are never on time.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor Change Order No. 1 with Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc. for a net
increase in the amount of $94,676 was approved.
B. Change
Order No. 2 – Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc. for Holmberg Road Overlay and Bike
Lane, University Drive and Trails End Final Lift and Modifications for a Net
Increase of $58,229.46
Ms.
Early stated this is the same project, but this is an NSID cost. There is a turnout on
Mr.
Mendolia stated it seems like a great deal of money.
Ms.
Early stated it does. The prices have
doubled on road work.
Mr.
Mendelson asked what is the timeframe on this?
Ms.
Early responded this should take a month.
It is not a major project. It is
north of City Hall on the east side.
Mr.
Petty stated since we are utilizing bond funds for this the bonds are already
set. If you have overages like this, it
means you will have less for the project at the end.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Change Order No. 2 with Weekley Asphalt Paving, Inc. for a net
increase in the amount of $58,229.46 was approved.
C. Change
Order No. 2 – Triple R. Paving for Heron Bay North Plats 3 & 4 Drainageways
for a Net Increase of $28,200
Ms. Early stated this is for the lakes north of
Mr.
Mendolia asked do you see any problems with this?
Ms.
Early responded no. We checked the
drawings and we needed to increase the size of some of the structures. This project is going to take approximately a
year.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Change Order No. 2 with Triple R. Paving for a net increase of $28,200
was approved.
D. Change
Order No. 4 –
Ms.
Early stated this is a change to the entrance.
It is a WCI Communities cost.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor Change Order No. 4 with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for a net
increase of $4,058 was approved.
E. Change
Order No. 5 –
Ms.
Early stated this is the same project.
It is for price increases due to the delay in starting the project. They are also a WCI Communities cost. We bid them based on WCI Communities’
schedule. The projects did not get
started because WCI Communities was not ready.
We had price increases because it went past 90 days. WCI Communities will have to incur the cost.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Change Order No. 5 with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for a net
increase of $27,601.87 was approved.
F. Contract
Modification No. 1 – Chaz Equipment Co., Inc. for 20” Alternate Water
Mr.
McKune stated this is a water main coming out of the water plant to reinforce
the distribution system. The job was
recently completed. It is now in
service. During the construction we had a
fairly narrow alignment to stay within a newly platted easement and connect
with an existing easement adjacent to our existing water site. We were halfway through constructing the
pipeline. We had to trim trees and the
city ordinance came out. They told us we
were not trimming the trees in accordance with city code. The job was stopped. We were told if we were to move our pipeline,
we have to stay a minimum of 100” from the side of the tree trunks to the edge
of the trench. When they were done
telling us all of the things we cannot do we were left with one thing we can do
and stay within our easement without impacting a neighborhood swimming pool. We had to get the contractor to buy 20”
fittings to make the appropriate jogs to the pipeline. After negotiating with the contractor, we
took his request of $30,000 down to $20,000 for the extra work. Part of it came out of an allowance. The remainder is represented by this change
order.
Mr.
Mendolia asked do you think it is fair?
Mr.
McKune responded yes.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor Contract Modification No. 1 for a net increase of $10,825 was
approved.
SIXTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Work Authorization #167 for Heron Bay Commons Design of Additional Tennis
Courts
Ms.
Early stated this includes any coordination we need to do with the subcontractor. The architect was at the last meeting and
showed you the drawing. He gave his
proposal for $61,000. He is going to be
a subcontractor to us. Any coordination
we do going through the city and making sure Ms. Smith’s needs at the clubhouse
are met, we will bill on an as needed basis.
The majority of the cost is with the architect of the design.
Mr.
Petty stated Ms. Smith’s comfort at The Commons is minimal because they are a
contractor. It is for working within the
system. You told us you want us to go
forward with the tennis courts and we are going full speed ahead.
Mr.
Mendolia asked is this fixed?
Ms.
Early responded yes.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all
in favor Work Authorization #167 for the Heron Bay Commons design of additional
tennis courts was approved.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A. Manager’s
Report
i. Ratification
of Agreement with Ron Sachs Communications, Inc. for Public Relations
Mr. Petty stated there is a copy of the agreement in your
agenda package, which is the public relations company we talked to you about
when we were going through our budget.
They are on board and helping us out.
You have some of the work they helped us out with on the table
today. At the last meeting we discussed
how we would communicate with the residents at The Commons regarding the tennis
courts and the repairs we are doing.
What you see is their input on a great deal of material. We are sharing the cost of this public
relations firm with our sister districts; SWCD and CSID. We are looking for the Board to ratify the
agreement I signed.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor the agreement with Ron Sachs Communications, Inc. for public relations
services was ratified.
B. ii. Discussion of Agreement with WCI Communities,
Inc. to Manage Heron Bay Commons
Mr.
Petty stated staff and counsel have worked hard on this. Mr. Lyles’ office has been working on this
for two years. This agreement and
structure is fine with staff. We are
recommending the Board’s approval. We
have one item to bring to your attention.
There are fixed assets of the District still onsite. According to our agreement, the management
contractor is responsible for replacing all fixed assets as they wear out. We came up with an inventory we will
tag. As this material wears out they
have to replace them. This is a list of
what will be replaced in the first year, second year, third
year and so on. It has been reviewed
with WCI Communities and their staff.
We
need the Board to understand there are fixed assets, which will be there for a
period of time. The management company
is responsible for replacing them when their life expectancy is over. The dollar value you see is what we paid to
put the facility onsite eight to nine years ago. The current value is approximately 1/10 of
what you see. If the Board understands
this philosophy, the basic agreement prepared by counsel and reviewed by staff
is what we are asking the Board to consider.
Mr.
Lyles stated this is a modification to the original agreement, which was a two
step agreement. The District was in
agreement with the HOA, which in turn contracted with an operator. This puts us directly in privity with the
HOA. They are going to comply with the
new requirements we installed. One of
the most important ones is the ability to terminate this agreement with a 30
day written notice. We will not run into
a problem again where we have a long period of going back and forth if the
parties are not getting along properly or if the work is not being done to the
standard you established for this facility.
This is an important concession WCI Communities has made. It indicates confidence on their part in
their performance under this agreement. I,
as well as the manger, recommend you approve execution of this agreement
between NSID and the Heron Bay HOA.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor the agreement with WCI Communities, Inc. to manage Heron Bay Commons
was approved.
Mr.
Petty stated I have a couple of things to bring to your attention. One is the insurance on The Commons for
Hurricane Wilma is not acceptable to staff.
They sent us a check for $24,000 and the roof itself is going to be
close to $150,000. We instructed our
engineer to do leg work on this before it hits counsel. Their job is to evaluate and fight with the
insurance company because they are the ones with the specifications and can see
the damage. We have the structural
engineers report. We have found an angry
person and the only reason I bring it to your attention is because it is Ms.
Early’s husband. He is considered to be
one of the best out there and they have contracted him through his
company. Since there is a relationship
with your engineer I am bringing it to your attention.
Mr.
Mendolia stated I do not see a problem.
Ms.
Early stated The Commons has a great deal of damage and you wanted it
fixed. We had the architect do a
report. We put it out to bid. After talking to Mr. Petty we decided to
include as a bid item that the contractor hire a public adjuster to go back
with the insurance company. The public
adjuster’s payment is based on whatever they collect. We went out to bid for The Commons repairs
and this was part of the bid. He is a
subcontractor to the contractor.
Mr.
Petty stated the bid prices were in line with the architect’s estimate.
Ms.
Early stated the architect’s estimate was $520,000. We had two bidders and the low bid was
$514,555.60. The contractor
as well as my husband want to get started as soon as possible. If you approve this contract, they would like
to get started on Monday. They met with
the architect onsite and have gone over the job. They met with Ms. Smith several times. I have contracts ready to go for them to sign
once you approve it.
Mr.
Petty stated we are looking for the District to do a work authorization with
CH2M Hill so they can have as their subcontractor whomever they feel is the
best. If we are going to do work with
this other company, we will normally talk to counsel to see if there are any
issues. In this case I believe they will
be a sub to CH2M Hill.
Ms.
Early stated no. We ended up including
it in the job of the contractor. They
are going to work directly through the contractor. We are asking for approval of this contract,
which includes the public adjuster.
Mr.
Petty stated let me rephrase what I said.
They took bids on The Commons.
They received the bids and they were underneath the estimate. They did not have time to put it in the package. They did not have time to discuss it before
the meeting. Since we are looking to
react as quickly as possible, are you willing to consider this matter tonight?
Mr.
Mendolia responded yes.
Mr.
Lyles stated what I am hearing from the District Engineer is in anticipation of
this matter being ready to go today you have properly noticed and bid the
job. You have a record of all of
this. Although I have not seen the
agreements or bid specifications, I know staff has handled it in normal fashion
complying with legal requirements applying to this District. I see no reason to hold this up for
additional review.
Mr.
Mendolia asked who is handling the insurance companies?
Mr.
Petty responded your manager is in discussion with the insurance agency. We told them their initial offering of a
settlement is unsatisfactory. We will be
working with them through the engineer on specific costs. I have been doing a value add on to the
contract, which gives us the entity who can speak to them from an adjuster’s viewpoint. Should this not work and we feel we are not
being satisfied from our insurance position, we will
bring it to counsel.
Mr.
Mendolia stated most insurance companies change their numbers upward when
approached. This should not be a
problem.
Mr.
Petty stated we ask you to consider approval of the contract for repairs and
renovation of The Commons in an amount not to exceed $514,555 with
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor the award of contract to
Mr.
Petty stated you asked for a brochure to be made discussing the repairs. It is sitting at the clubhouse as we
speak. We have two additional
signs. One says, “Construction. Please excuse our dust. This is being done by your Board of
Supervisors of NSID.” It should be going
up by Friday or Monday. There is an
additional sign going up where the tennis courts will be constructed. We hope to get a positive response.
The
next item is an issue with WCI Communities development. It refers to the mitigation area, which has
been a matter before this Board from time to time since 1995. There is a mitigation area. It is a new form of water management where
you have littoral plantings. The concept
is if you have aquatic plants, they will pull up the nutrients and will save
you money from spraying because you will not have broken your main
channels. This has been going on for 20
years. The mitigation area was planted
by WCI Communities and it was deeded to the District. The District accepted it and put money in the
budget for O&M and it has been sitting out there since 1995.
The
contractor is not doing a good job and the mitigation area has declined. WCI Communities never got it approved by
We
just went through a hurricane preparation.
It was a great exercise for us.
One of the things we saw at NSID is a couple of pumps are down for
repair. Since that time, two more have
failed. We are on high alert when it
comes to our pumps. Our staff is working
around the clock with various suppliers to get materials in. We have an issue on line with our engineer
who has proposed we do a manifold on the outfall of Pump Station No. 1. We have four or five pumps there. They are all going in a singular
direction. You cannot turn Pump No. 1
and send it north. It can only go
south. The engineer has proposed coming
up with a design. The engineer has
already received authority to work on the project. We are notifying you of the status. They are expediting this so Pump Station No.
1 can be used to its fullest. We will
discuss pump replacements or repair at a future meeting.
B. Attorney
Mr. Lyles stated at the last meeting you discussed your
desire to pursue an amendment to the special act authorizing this District to
exist. I began working with the staff of
the Legislative Delegation. The deadline
for filing local bills to amend acts such as the NSID special act is
One
of those areas is bidding thresholds, which are currently $4,000. It will come into line with other state
agencies such as CDDs allowing us to have a threshold of $150,000 before having
to go through a formal bidding process. We will still have the same limits on
construction projects, which is $200,000.
Our engineers have said this hampers them in doing work for the District
efficiently and economically. We will
ask the $4,000 cap be eliminated and follow state law for local government
agencies.
The
elections process is something we have discussed in the past. Several years ago we were the target of
efforts by certain local delegation members to change the method of elections. One of the ways we will get a positive reception
is something you previously discussed and authorized. We will propose to add a section allowing
this Board the option of converting to a popular election system without the
necessity of having a special referendum with a vote and petition process.
The
salary level for compensation of a Board member is outdated. It is currently $200 per meeting. I am struggling with this one because we are
going to have to align ourselves with another existing structure for
compensation of people elected to serve on these Boards. Chapter 190 for CDDs has an annual cap of
$4,800. It is $200 per meeting, but it
is $4,800. If we were to change the compensation
level to $400 per meeting with a cap of $4,800, it will
double the current compensation schedule assuming we have twelve meetings. It is a reasonable target, but I am looking
for direction from the Board on how to handle this.
Mr.
Mendolia stated what you are saying is perfect.
Mr.
Lyles stated CSID is going to want to do the same thing. We will be going in there with two large
districts, which have been on the books for many years. We will carry this through for you here and
in
C. Engineer
Ms. Early stated I want to give you an update on the tennis
court. We proceeded with the architect’s
design. We ordered the survey. It should have been done today. Once the survey is complete the architect can
complete his design work. He should be
ready for submittal to the city for the DRC review by the first week of
October. We anticipate a two week turn
around for any comments from them. We
will address those comments and get them back as soon as possible. We will get an approval and go out to bid.
Mr.
Petty stated we will not look for a contractor until after this. You will consider this in November or
December. We talked about funding for
this. We have some funds available. The costs for these things are high. If you want a quality court, you have to pay
for a quality court. We may come back to
you with a funding issue as well.
Mr.
Mendolia stated it will be helpful for the residents of
Mr.
Mendelson asked are they going to be using red clay?
Ms.
Early responded it will be the same as what they have now.
Mr.
Mendelson stated there is a composite they mix with clay, which helps with
drainage and absorption of water.
Mr.
Petty stated we will have the renovating repair contractor onsite. We will put notices up as we close sections.
EIGHTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of Requisitions and Invoices
Mr.
Mendolia asked why are they separate from the agenda package?
Ms.
Rugg responded they were not ready on time.
Mr.
Petty stated they were not ready a week before the meeting. Since you just received them today, we
understand if you want to hold approving them until the next meeting.
Mr.
Mendolia stated that is a good idea.
NINTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s
Request and Audience Comments
There not being any, the next item
followed.
TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There being no further business,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all
in favor the meeting was adjourned at
Steve Mendelson Salvatore Mendolia
Secretary President