MINUTES OF MEETING
NORTH SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of the North Springs Improvement District was held on Thursday,
March 3, 2005 at 4:00 p.m. in the District Office, 10300 N.W. 11 Manor, Coral
Springs, Florida.
Present and constituting a quorum
were:
Matt Lauritzen President
Salvatore J. Mendolia Secretary
Bob Miner Assistant Secretary
Also present were:
George Keller Manager
Dennis Lyles Attorney
Jane Early CH2M-Hill
Dan Daly Staff
Jean M. Rugg Severn Trent
Roger Moore Severn Trent
Tara Patton WCI
Joe Guttuso WCI
Michael Udine Parkland City
Commissioner
Michael Hollander Resident
Todd Stevens Resident
Paul Brewer Paul Brewer &
Associates
Mark Mallwitz Paul Brewer &
Associates
Sallie James Sun-Sentinel
The Pledge of Allegiance was
recited.
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr. Lauritzen called the meeting to order
and called the roll.
SECOND
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of Minutes of the February 3, 2005 Meeting
Mr. Keller stated each Board member had received a copy of
the minutes of the February 3, 2005 meeting and requested any additons,
corrections or deletions.
There
not being any,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the minutes of the February 3, 2005 meeting were
approved as submitted.
NINTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion
Items
A.
Room Rental Charges at Heron Bay North
with WCI
Mr. Lyles stated there are a number of
interested individuals in attendance for item 9C of the agenda, and staff
suggests we take this out of order.
Mr. Keller stated the accountant from
NSID who has been performing the internal audit on this matter has done a good
deal of work on it. There is more work
to be done and we do not have all the answers and information we need now to
give a bottom line recommendation. It is
recommended at this time to give us an another month to be prepared to move on
a sound foundation of facts.
Mr. Lyles stated if any questions were to
come up, the accountant has taken ill and is not available to answer. We have a preliminary report, but we
certainly do not have anything final and do not feel we can give a complete
report or recommendation either from management or legal to the Board at this
time and under these circumstances.
Mr. Hollander asked we brought this to
the Board in October, when can we see something? Since that time the people who caused this
issue are still coming before you asking for things and maybe we should table
that until we resolve this issue. This
to me looks like there is some criminal activity. Are you seeking any other outside agencies to
help?
Mr. Lauritzen responded I appreciate your
comments but we have a pretty strong manager and attorney and I typically take
their guidance on issues. I am going to
suggest we table it to next month. You
are more than welcome to come back and if you have any facts to bring on board
to help us make a decision, bring them on.
Mr. Hollander asked who can I
contact? I have some information.
Mr. Keller responded please contact me.
Mr. Lauritzen asked are you a homeowner
in Heron Bay? You said you live in Parkland.
Mr. Hollander responded yes. Will you be looking to other agencies for
help or not yet?
Mr . Keller responded we will do a
complete review first internally and we will do what we think is appropriate
and see where it takes us.
Mr. Udine asked will we be able to
comment next month?
Mr. Lauritzen responded yes.
Mr. Udine asked will we be able to get
documents? If we need additional
documents are we entitled to them by public records through your office?
Mr. Lauritzen responded I do not know
what you are asking for but if we have it we will get it to you. We want to resolve this issue.
Mr. Udine stated Ms. Walker says she does
not have the documents and she has been asking for them. Were you aware of that?
Mr. Lauritzen responded not until now.
Mr. Keller stated we are aware we do not
have all the information to give a firm recommendation and recommend tabling
this.
Mr. Hollander asked will you be tabling
any other issues WCI brings before you?
Mr. Lauritzen responded we have not gone
through the agenda yet, so I do not think so.
If we do not have all the facts, we usually table the issue.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor the room rental charges at Heron Bay was tabled
until the next meeting.
THIRD
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Award of Contracts and Associated Agreements
A.
Heron Bay North Two – Drainageways
i.
Award
of Contract
Ms. Early stated we had three bids, the low bid
was submitted by Triple R Paving. Triple
R Paving is currently doing the drains in Heron Bay Northeast. We are confident in their work and recommend
accepting their bid and awarding the contract subject to funding. Their base bid was $2,882,645.87. In the funding agreement the NSID portion is
$687,376.
Mr.
Lauritzen stated they have done a lot of work for us, Heron Bay Northeast,
Heron Bay East and Heron Bay Central.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the Nob Hill Road and University Drive was awarded to
Triple R Paving.
ii.
Construction Financing Agreement #401
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor Construction Financing Agreement #401 in the amount of
$687,376 was approved.
iii.
Construction Trust Fund Agreement #403
Ms. Early
stated Agreement #403 does not have water and sewer listed. We only need Agreement #401 for the
drainageways. I’ll have to get with Ms.
Walker and Ms. Rugg on this. The wording
needs to be corrected.
B.
Banyan Isles/Sable Point Water and Sewer
i.
Award of Contract
ii. Construction Financing #400
iii. Construction Trust Fund Agreement #402
Ms.
Early stated we had three bids, lowest responsive bidder was Florida Sewer and
Water. We are recommending total award
of the contract. Their base bid was
$2,656,409.15. In the funding agreement
the NSID portion is $880,896.25. These
are sealed bids when they come to my office.
They are not opened until 10:30 a.m. or 11:00 a.m., whatever the bid
states and we sit down with the contractors who show up and open the bids
publically so everybody can see them.
There are no bids that are not public information and if the bidders
want to look at the other bids they are allowed to do so.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the Banyan Isles/Sable Pointe Water and Sewer Contract
was awarded to Florida Water and Sewer Inc, in the amount of $2,656,409.15 and
Construction Financing Agreement #400 in the amount of $880,896.25 and
Construction Trust Fund Agreement #402 were approved.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Change Orders
A.
No. 1 with Triple R Paving, Inc. for Nob
Hill Road, University Drive (Phase 2) and County Line Road for a Net Increase
of $6,017.20
Ms.
Early stated County Line Road between Nob Hill and University Drive is under
construction and the county nor Parkland wanted to say they were taking
juridication, we were bidding it trying to move the job along and finally the
county decided they would take it. They
had a revision on the turn lane, the change order is for curbing and is a WCI
cost; it is a tri-party agreement and is why I am bringing it to the Board.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor Change Order No. 1 with Triple R Paving for a net
increase of $6017.20 was approved.
B.
No. 2 with Florida Sewer and Water,
Inc. for Heron Bay Northeast
“Greenbrier” for a Net Increase of $2,002
Ms. Early stated this was a change in the plans with
the addition of type F curbs and is a WCI cost.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor Change Order No. 2 with Florida Water and Sewer, Inc.,
for a net increase of $2002 was approved.
C.
No. 6 & Final with Astaldi
Construction Corporation for University Drive for a Net Decrease of $932,505.71
Ms.
Early stated this is the portion of University Drive north of the city building
up to the commerical site. We are not
doing the second lift with Astaldi Construction Corporation. This is a balancing change order to equal out
their quantities.
Mr.
Lauritzen asked are they not going to finish the job and someone else is going
to?
Ms.
Early responded they have done as much as we want them to do and we will work
with WCI when we are ready to do the second one.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 6 with Astaldi for a net decrease
of $932,505.71 was approved.
D.
No. 12 & Final with Astaldi
Construction Corporation for Trails End Road for a Net Decrease of $504,483.46
Ms.
Early stated this is Trails End Road from the grade school to University
Drive.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 12 with Astaldi for a net decrease
of $504,483.46 was approved.
E.
No. 16 with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc.
for Osprey Trail and Heron Bay Recreation Amenity Offsite Roadway Improvements
for a Net Decrease of $22,443.21
Ms. Early stated this is for Creekside change order in Osprey Trail. We had two change orders and this change
order is going to deduct Change Order No. 9 and No. 10. This is a WCI cost.
F.
No. 17 with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc.
for Osprey Trailand Heron Bay Recreation Amenity Offsite Roadway Improvemnets
for a Net Decrease of $150,069.45
Ms. Early stated this is also for Creekside in
Meadow Brook and is balancing changes for the two parcels for this
project. This is a WCI cost.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor Change Order No. 16 for a net decrease of $22,443.21
and Change Order No. 17. for a net decrease of $150,069.45 with Florida Sewer
and Water, Inc were approved.
Ms. Early stated I have one more if I may add. This is Heron Bay Northeast drainage
ways. This is two additional parcels
they are going to fill and is a WCI cost.
The change order is $72,000 and is for work at the Greenbier area and
the Heron Bay recreational center and the Glens.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 4 with Triple R Paving for Heron
Bay North Drainageways for a net increase of $72,000 was approved.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Plats
A.
Rayel Estates Plats 1, 2 & 3
(Continued from last meeting)
Ms.
Early stated at the last meeting there was a service letter stating the
District had adequate water and sewage service and this letter states we can
accept the drainage from the plats located in Cypress Estates.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the Rayel Estates Plats 1, 2 & 3, as respects to
drainage was approved.
B.
Parkland Commercial
Ms.
Early stated there is a letter included we have reviewed and the District can
accept the drainage. We checked the
easement and we do have stub outs for the drainage. There is a 15’ flowage easement and we would
rather have a 20’ and we will make the change.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the Parkland commercial plat and drainage was approved
as amended.
C.
Heron Bay North Plat 3
Ms. Tara
Patton stated what we are coming forward with is Heron Bay North Plat 3, which
is the next series of the Heron Bay subdivision. It is a mixture of different product types
that exist within Heron Bay. We have 50’,
65’ and 75’ lots. We are here for you to
consider acceptance of the drainage, appropriate flowage easements, lift
station easements and sewer easements for the District according to this plat.
Mr.
Moore stated I do not believe there is a letter yet from our consultants.
Ms.
Early stated an engineer in my office has met with Ms. Patton and gone through
the easements we request for the District.
Mr.
Moore stated my only suggestion is they be approved subject to working out the
details. The plat submitted had
hand-drawn easements with some numbers and they need to be cleaned up. The lift station easement was shown as 30x30
and needs to be 45x30 setback. There are
a couple of lake maintenance easements that may need to be looked at because
there needs to be no fencing or landscaping on those easements.
Mr.
Keller asked do you think this is ready to go forward? Do you think it needs to be amended
significantly? Are those substentive or
not?
Mr.
Moore responded my recommendation is to approve it subject to
finalization. I will meet with Ms.
Patton to see if we can work out all of the little details. In concept it looks okay. We need to make sure individuals who buy the
property cannot put in fences in the easements.
Mr. Keller
asked are we all in agreement it is substantially complete subject to the
engineering corrections that need to be made?
If that is the case they will need to be enumerated in detail so they
can be incorporated in a motion as part of the action.
Ms. Early
responded yes.
SiXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Permit Requests
A.
Stoneman Douglas High School – Irrigation
Pump
Ms.
Early stated the high school has requested an irrigation pump and suction
line. Our letter states pumps are not
permitted in the Districts right-of-way.
We recommend approval subject to conditions as outlined in our letter
dated February 23, 2005.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the permit for the irrigation pump for Stoneman Douglas
High School was approved subject to the conditions outlined in the Engineer’s
letter dated February 23, 2005.
B.
Sable Point Heron Bay Northwest – Surface
Water Management System
Ms. Early stated this is the actual service water drainage
permit for one of the subdivisions we awarded the contract on. We recommend approval subject to conditions
as outlined in our letter dated February 16, 2005.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor Sable Point Heron Bay Northwest – Surface Water
Management System Permit was approved, subject to the conditions outlined in
the engineer’s letter of February 16, 2005.
SEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Quit Claim Deed for the Heron Bay Commercial Presevation Parcels
Ms. Patton stated Heron Bay
Commercial is a project we have been coming to you with for the past several
months. Over the last couple of months I
have come to the Board with the various easement relating to this project which
is located in the City of Coral Springs and wraps around the Sawgrass Center
Publix Site adjacent to Coral Ridge Drive.
This is one of the final pieces to the easements and grants the three
preservation parcels. These parcels are
serving as retention areas; they have been permitted through Borward County
DEPAP and have been given the appropriate licensure. It is our intent to give them to the District
for drainage purposes.
Mr.
Lyles stated this is being done pursuant to a deed that was presented to and
reviewed by me and is in order. It will
be of no cost to the District and will become part of our system and part of
the preservation areas for the District.
On MOTION by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr.
Mendolia with all in favor the Quit Claim Deed for the Heron Bay Commercial
Preservation Parcels was approved.
EIGHTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Resolution 2005-4 Designating James P. Ward as Treasurer, Karen Ellis as
Assistant Treasurer and George R. Keller, Jr. as Assistant Secretary
Mr. Keller stated this is
housekeeping business. Ms. Patti Powers
who previously served with Severn Trent Services and Mr. Rich Hans as the
District Manager, have, as you know, resigned.
This will formalize the fact that Mr. Ward be
designated as treasurer and Ms. Ellis as assistant treasurer. Mr. Ward is one of the founding principals of
Severn Trent or its predecesor company, GL Moyer, and has been in place for 26
years and is the Senior Manager with the company. Ms. Karen Ellis is the financial officer with
the company and has been in place about 8 years and both come with high regards
and our recommendations and if I may be designated as an assistant secretary it
will allow me to execute documents on behalf of the Board.
Mr. Lyles stated when Mr. Keller
says execute documents on behalf of the Board, as an assistant secretary he can
attest to the chairman’s signature, where we are taking action pursuant to
authorization of the Board.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor Resolution 2005-4 designating James P. Ward as Treasurer, Karen Ellis as Assistant Treasurer and George
R. Keller, Jr. as Assistant Secretary was approved.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration of
Plats (continued)
C.
Heron Bay North Plat 3 (continued)
Mr. Moore
stated comments to be clarified for final approval:
· on the title
page – there is a dedication discussed over previous years that all utilities
easements shown are granted to the City of Parkland for the construction,
installation, maintenance and operation of utilities and cable TV
services. In the past I have brought
this up and we requested they also include the NSID because in the 15’ easement
of the plat we install our cleanouts and water meters. In previous plats that has never been
included. Several plats in the last year
we have the terminology to include NSID; however, I was told prior to the
meeting the city has reqeuested NSID be eliminated from this dediction. I would like to meet with WCI and the city to
clarify why they want to exclude us from the dedication or if we will have to
enter into an agreement with the city to allow us to use their easements to put
our water lines into.
Mr. Lyles asked
are you saying this in not a condition to the approval of this plat by the
District Board? You are indicating it is an item of information. They are either going to approval or disapprove
this plat today. If you say it is a
condition that we be included as one of the parties to the dedication then it
is a condition under which it is going to be approved.
Mr. Moore
responded my recommendation is we negotiate with the city. The city has told them they will not sign the
plat. I would like to know why they have
now come up with that decision.
Ms. Early
stated in my opinion they do not want us to be able to start putting things in
the easement anywhere we want after the fact.
Ms. Patton
stated the city, in their code, has a franchise that says all utilities in
regard to cable and other utilities services, Parkland be the holder of the
utility easement.
Mr. Lyles asked
could our requirements be met with a separate instrument that we will meet the
city to dicuss and therefore we could allow the Board to take up this matter
without this condition holding up the
recording of the plat?
Mr. Moore
responded yes and listed the following items to be corrected on the plat:
· Sheet 3 the
lift station easement needs to be 40X30 or 40X45 exclusive of the 12’ utility
easement.
· Sheet 5 the 20’
flowage easement is not adequetly dimensioned on Tract B4.
· Sheet 8 Tract
B4 the 20’ lake maintenance easement dimension is showing the wrong direction
through tract B1.
On MOTION
by Mr. Miner seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor the Heron Bay North
Plat 3 was approved subject to the conditions outlined above by Mr. Moore.
NINTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion
Items
Mr. Keller stated in the past week we were able to have a
meeting with the President, Mr. Gary Moyer, Mr. Ed Goscicki, the Vice President
and myself to discuss some of the questions raised at the last meeting:
·
The changes in the company
·
Where the company is coming from and going to
·
The relationship with NSID
·
How do we proceed from here
I can give you brief summary
comments today and what we propose to do, if it is the Board’s pleasure when we
can have a large block of time, to give you a more detailed powerpoint
presentation on our roll, orginatizational structure, improvement or change
areas. I would characterize it as a
positive productive meeting. We are
committed as we go through the changes in the orgination right now that those
resources are needed here to make sure business goes on in a proper way and
quality fashion takes place. Mr. Moyer
and Mr. Goscicki would like to be part of the presentation
and discussion and they could not be here this evening. It will take an hour or so, based on our experience
with CSID recently. We would offer you
based on some of those issues and topics we focus on specifically and do a
lengthy workshop session.
Mr. Lauritzen stated sounds great.
B.
Status Report on Parkland Village Project
Ms. Rugg stated Ms. Patti Hitchcock is not in
attendance. They are in the process of
proceeding with the bond issuance and she is waiting on more information. Once that is handled they will bring it to the
Board at a later time.
TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Staff Reports
A.
Attorney
Mr. Lyles stated our special act we filed again this year
with the legislative delegation has been approved at the public hearings in
Broward County. It is now in the
legislative process in Tallahassee. I
was provided this week with a revised version of the bill prepared by the
legislative bill drafting people in Tallahassee. We are comparing it against what we submitted
and they have made a number of changes.
We are optimistic the bill will be approved and signed by the govenor
this year.
B.
Engineer
Mr. Moore stated the HOA in
Parkland Isles was damaged during the hurricane and we take care of the
berm. We have had approximately $17,000
worth of damage. It has been cleaned up. FEMA may cover some of it, but it does not
cover any replacement. The HOA has
requested a replacement program. They asked to find out what it will cost to
assess everyone to replace the trees and do enhncements around the berm areas. Ms. Walker put together four options on what
happens based on getting reimbursement, not getting reimbursement, considering
the insurance payments, etc. A letter
has been sent to us from Parkland Isles HOA authorizing us to go through the
public hearing to do the assessment on option three, $69 a unit, which will
allow for a $40,000 replacement program.
We have met with the board and their financial committees giving them
the option of waiting until October or doing it immediately. They would like to do it immediately and the
reason I brought it up to this Board instead of waiting thirty days is to get a
thirty day jump. It has to be advertised
for public hearing and then we can bid the project and begin constucting.
Mr. Lauritzen asked are we getting
involved with this because it is our easement area?
Mr. Moore responded it is our
easement, our property. It is a special
assessment strictly to the HOA, not overall to the general budget.
Mr. Lauritzen asked are we going to
deal directly with the HOA?
Mr. Moore responded the public
hearing will have to notify all the people and is why I requested the letter
from the HOA that represents the entire group.
They have supposedly done a survey of the people and gave them the
options and had it at their last board meeting.
Mr. Keller asked who will the
assessment be levied by?
Mr. Moore responded NSID.
Mr. Keller stated because it is our
property. They have agreed to the
assessment in those amounts to make the improvements.
Mr. Moore stated that is
correct.
Mr. Lyles asked pursuant to what are
we levying these assessments?
Mr. Moore responded I will defer, I
am not sure I understand the question.
Mr. Lyles stated this is the first I
have heard of this; I did not know discussions were going on. I guess we can consider this a presentation
to tell you about the meetings and the negotiations that have been going on
that Mr. Moore has been handling. We
will do the necessary homework now to determine if this is even within our
power.
Mr. Moore stated I have been
following directions to get this done and this is the conclusion of what I have
been asked to do.
Mr. Lyles stated unlike a HOA or a
property owners association, we do not have the authority to levy assessments
to do a particular task. Our assessment
process is a much more time consuming and annual process. I will work with Mr. Moore and Mr. Keller to
see how and if we can accomplish this.
C.
Superintendent
There not being
any, the next item follwed.
ELEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s
Request and Audience Comments
Mr. Udine stated I do not want to
reopen the whole Heron Bay issue, I know you have spoke about it. I do want to compliment you and your staff
because I think you are doing a good job on the issue. I have what I consider a very good relationship
with WCI; the problem goes beyond a room at the Heron Bay Conference
Center. I read some of the questions you
had last meeting after we had left and I personally have no problem with
anybody using a room who wants to use a room.
The problem that happened with this room was you were being billed and
assessing us for the bills and we were paying those bills. As you look more and more into these issues,
and I have spoken with your attorney on this, you and your staff are not being
presented with all the facts.
Mr. Udine presented the following
examples:
·
In 2003 there was a management agreement signed by
Heron Bay Community Association with WCI proprty management. I have seen the agreement, they would not
give it to me, but they said they would make a copy for me and get it mailed to
be or give it to me when I pay, which is fine I will pay. It is a document that you and Ms. Walker
should have and the reason you should have it is on the first page of the
agreement it talks about what the HBCA and WCI property management are supposed
to manage. They are supposed to manage
all the common areas and any buildings that the HBCA is contracted to
operate. I get the newsletter every
quarter and the Heron Bay Commons is a building HBCA is supposed to be
operating. The charge is $14 per unit
per month. Why then are you paying an
assessment for another management fee at $3,200 a month? That is a question that deserves to be
answered.
·
Pursuant to those contracts they are allowed to
bundle and buy materials for all their different facilities. To me it sounds like the right way to do
things if there is somebody to determine the stuff coming into the building the
residents are supposed to be paying for is actually taking place. That is not being done because Ms. Walker
cannot get those reciepts. That should
be the first red flag. I am not sure how
it is passing by the audits. Under
Florida Statutes you are allowed to give a management contract to manage this
buidling. I don’t have a problem with
it; you are not in the recreational business.
You take it out of the public record, but then you can assess us to pay
for it.
·
There are no contracts for the vendors in the
building. The tennis facility and
program has $100,000’s passing through that facility and none of that is being
sent to the District. Shouldn’t it be
sent to the District to lower our cost factor in the building? Coral Springs has a tennis program and
facility. They have a tennis pro who
pays 10% of what he makes to the facility.
I have spoken to the person who had the food service and came out on the
weekends. She was sending money every
month to NSID. There was no contract,
but she said she had a contract and a check was coming. Ms. Walker said there is no contract. At that point don’t you think as a Board you
have a fiduciary duty to start asking questions?
·
In 1999 there apparently was Lang management that
managed the building for HBCA. I looked
at the minutes of all the HBCA meetings and there was no mention of them being
terminated as the manager. Why were they
terminated and a new management company brought in that is related to the
HBCA? You have all the same entities
with all the same people passing things on to you to be approved. You have a duty to ask deeper questions than
just approving invoices and requisistions.
Interestingly enough when your lawyer drew up the contracts he
recognized that because all of the bills in the contract are supposed to be
sent to NSID for NSID to pay the bills.
I looked at it, it is clear and on point. That was not done, they were sent to WCI
employees for WCI to bring them to you to pay the bills. I have no problem if that is the way you
choose to do it, but don’t you think you should be asking some questions. Pursuant to the contracts I have seen you
have a contractor on the premises who is supposed to be charging you $1,500 a
month for a service, one month he charged you $4,700 and one month $3,600. I have seen in your minutes you have argued
over $269 for tennis balls, and rightfully so it is not your money. Why aren’t you asking those questions on this
issue on this building? You are taking
all of this stuff at everybody’s word, when you see the issues over and over
again being raised by the residents. You
had a meeting in December and you were provided with a new janitorial company
and you, yourself, and Mr. Lauritzen asked the question, why are we rebating
the contract, and they said we only like our contract to go five years. If you had looked at the contract you would
have seen the contract was a one year contract signed in 1999 and there had
been no contract to begin with after the year 2000, or none is able to be found
or produced. You have to ask yourself at
what point are you not getting all the information as a Board to make a
decision like this. You have very
competent and very able legal help and staff people, but are you being given
all that information. Are the things
that I am telling you not known to you?
Mr. Lauritzen responded we meet once
a month for an hour and half. We have an
agenda and we do our best to manage the District. This was a unique situation we got into with
Heron Bay. We do have to trust and rely
on a lot of management people to do their jobs.
I said last meeting, and I cannot speak for the rest of the Board, I am
not an attorney, a CPA or an engineer.
When we look at our agenda we do the best we can under the
circumstances, without trust and confidence in management, it is a tough
job. I read an article regarding St.
Lucie West where they cannot operate their own water district. You are talking about a lot of micromanagement
issues, and we will look into it. I
respect your concerns and we have to always manage and make sure this District
runs the most efficient way possible with all parties involved. That is our objective and goal.
Mr. Udine asked is staff being given
all the information?
Mr. Lauritzen responded we have gone
through some changes in staff and we need a little more time to look at these
issues. Mr. Lyles stated earlier we have
a new manager here. If there are things
that are not being done properly we are going to shed light on them and we are
going to continue to do the right thing.
This community is growing rapidly.
The builder, the developer and everybody is trying to get jobs done and
I appreciate what you are talking about, but honestly these are some
micromanagement issues. From what I can
see WCI has made a few mistakes, maybe we all have made a few mistakes but I am
not looking for a dark horse to shoot. A
lot of the issues you bring up are issues we do not look at as the Board. We trust management to solve those problems
and run it, that is why we have the management we do. Mr. Hollander was here in December and he did
not like the tennis pro.
Mr. Udine stated that was a year ago
and he was not talking about the tennis pro.
He was talking about the facility generating $100,000’s profit, has that
issue been brought out? Some of that
money should go back to the District for the residents benefit.
Mr. Minor stated if you read the
minutes, Mr. Hollander was upset about the particular pro he wanted. I resent the fact that he is talking about
criminal activity and people stonewalling; it is insulting. I sell books for a living, I am not an
engineer, I am not a lawyer, I do this out of the goodness of my heart and we
are here to represent the people. We are
not here to represent WCI. When people
come in and start throwing terms around about criminal activity or we are
stonewalling and bringing reporters and people calling my home if the truth
were known Mr. Hollander, if I am not mistaken, has a restraining order on him
with certain aspects of WCI, because of some of the letters and things that he
has done, so maybe we need to bring that up to Parkland and the newspaper. The newspapers are reporting that you have
been to 13 to 14 meetings and I have seen you once before. We are trying our best.
Mr. Udine stated trying your best is
not the answer. The answer is it has to
be done right. I am hearing and seeing
things in the minutes that are just not correct.
Mr. Lauritzen stated why don’t we
have a time out here and let the dust settle.
Why don’t we give Mr. Lyles his request.
They asked for a little more time and in all fairness this is new management,
we are going through some changes in our District, you have to appreciate these
things happen. Let’s table this until
next month, relook at the issues and we will work out a solution so everybody
is going to be happy. The bottom line is
we are humble taxpayers and we are with you.
Nobody has any ulterior motives and my concern is we have to manage this
District and the bottom line is we do water and we get water to the houses so
when they turn on the faucets water comes out and I do not want to get so
caught up that, we could filabuster meetings all day long but we have to get
District business done. We do not live
in a perfect world, we all try our best and in that spirit I say to you we will
look at those issues. Please be patient
with us and we will work this thing out.
Mr. Lyles stated let me make one
quick reference to the agreement that exists between this District and
HBCA. This is a contractural obligation
they have undertaken. “The community
association shall at all times and at it’s own expense maintain an accurate and
complete set of books and records of all income and expenses asscoiated in
connection with the management of Heron Bay Commons, which books and records
shall during normal business hours be open to inspection by NSID or it’s duly
authorized representatives.” Everything
they do that is in any way related to funding that orginates with this District
is not only contractually open to NSID it becomes a public record. There may be some misunderstanding on the
part of the community association or it’s contractors as to what records they
are required to turn over or make available to the District. We will make sure they understand they can be
compelled to provide those records to the District and I am sure they will and
this is probably just a matter of people not getting things when they are
requested. I want everybody to
understand this is not a hands off they can do whatever they want to do. There are fairly tight controls and they have
to be audited annually, they cannot enter into any expenses that will exceed
$4,000 without letting us know first. We
do tightly control contractually what can and cannot happen but at the same
time we did authorize the community association, which will eventually be the
residents themselves, to enter into appropriate management contracts,
landscaping contracts, contracts with tennis pros and to adopt and enforce
rules relating to all those things. The
idea was to act the way we were created by Florida Legislation as a funding
mechanism to get infrastructure and recreation facilities funded and in place
to let the residents and their representatives actually run them.
Mr. Udine asked can we get the
records from WCI for free?
Mr. Lyles responded it depends on
what they are.
Mr. Udine stated if they have
something to do with what we are talking about.
Mr. Lyles stated if it has something
to do with what we are talking about there should be no charge over and above
normal photocoping and gathering records, anything that you are allowed to
charge for in a public records request which is very limited.
Mr. Udine stated I want a copy of
the 2003 Management Agreement and they just sent me an email and they will send
it to me for $20. I have faxes from Ms.
Walker, your accountant, that states she cannot get the stuff.
TWELVTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Financial
Statements, Approval of Requisitions and Invoices
There being no questions or
comments,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the invoices and requisitions were approved.
THIRTEENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There being nothing further,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr.
Miner with all in favor the meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m.
_____________________________ ___________________________
Salvatore J.
Mendolia Matt
Lauritzen
Secretary President