MINUTES
OF MEETING
PINE
TREE WATER CONTROL DISTRICT
The
regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Pine Tree Water Control District
was held on
Present and constituting a quorum were:
David Rosenof President
Margaret Bertolami Vice
President
Paul Brewer Secretary
Donna Benckenstein Assistant
Secretary
Mark Weissman Supervisor
Also present were:
John Petty Manager
DJ Doody Attorney
Warren Craven Engineer
Randy Frederick Field Superintendent
John McKune CH2M Hill
Several Residents
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll Call
Mr.
Rosenof called the meeting to order and Mr. Petty called the roll.
SECOND
ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval
of the Minutes of the December 7, 2006 Meeting
Mr.
Rosenof stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the
Ms.
Bertolami stated on page 21, I did not second the motion in the first motion
box and in the second motion box, I voted against the motion.
On MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Mr. Brewer with all in
favor the minutes of the
THIRD ORDER OF
BUSINESS Consideration
of Award of Contract for the Purchase of Aquatic Weed Control Chemicals
Mr. Petty stated we do this annually. These are the chemicals we use to control
aquatic plants in our waterways. We
recommend the Board award the contract to the lowest responsive bidder in each
chemical category.
On
MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Ms. Bertolami with all in favor the chemical
contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder as listed on the bid tabulation.
FOURTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Consideration
of Customer Service Division
Mr.
Petty stated the manager listed this item on the agenda for the Board’s consideration. We had considerable public input in regards
to the construction project in Winner’s Circle and Country Acres. As you are aware, we do not have a Customer
Service Division. The contractor has not
yet arrived on-site to do the work as we are defining our accessibility to
these facilities. District counsel is
getting closer as we speak. In the
meantime, we wondered if the Board wished to consider a customer service
element. We used this approach in your
sister districts to answer customer calls.
Currently, we are handling calls as they come in with available staff
but we do not have a dedicated customer service division. We have a shared resource with our sister
districts and it is possible for us to share customer service responsibilities
with CSID, the paternal district. Does
this Board wish to participate or do you believe it may not be required?
Mr.
Rosenof stated I assume there are no monies budgeted for customer service.
Mr.
Petty stated correct. This is why we are
discussing this item. If approved, there
will need to be a budget amendment. As
we start to do projects in the District, it is something the other districts
found to be necessary.
Mr.
Weissman asked what is our annual cost?
Mr.
Petty responded it depends on the level you wish to participate. We can share with the other districts so we
do not have to incur costs for an employee or office. You will only be billed for the hours incurred. I cannot see this going above $1,500 for the
month or two we will be under construction.
Mr.
Rosenof asked can this be considered cost recovery since Stiles caused the
problem to begin with?
Mr.
Petty responded we have not closed the book on Stiles so it is certainly
something the Board can consider.
Mr.
Rosenof stated at one time we discussed being more proactive in communicating
with the residents of our District via websites. We can post something on the
Mr.
Weissman asked do you know someone who can develop a website we can link to or
be freestanding?
Mr.
Rosenof responded Severn Trent Services has a website. My thought was to go onto the City of
Mr.
Weissman stated where they can access when our meetings are or print out
minutes.
Mr.
Petty stated the District office has such a website. The address is: www.fladistricts.com. The districts participating are NSID, CSID
and Sunshine. A small district out west
called Port of the
Mr.
Rosenof stated if anyone wants to look at our budget they should have easy
access to it.
Mr.
Petty stated I can come back and talk to you about participation.
Mr.
Rosenof stated when you brought this up my first thought was to spend the money
on this rather than on someone who is going to answer a phone.
Mr.
Weissman stated I do not mind employing them for the time it takes to complete
the project.
Ms.
Bertolami asked what types of calls do customer service representatives get for
other districts in a non-construction activity time frame?
Mr.
Petty responded CSID and NSID receive greater numbers of calls because they
have water and sewer utilities. Water
management calls typically go straight to staff unless there is a larger
issue. When staff is spraying the aquatics,
residents who have not seen them out there before may call and ask what is
going on. If something has changed in
their backyard or if water levels have gone past a certain point, they will
call. Mr. Fredericks has been doing a
great job of answering those calls to date.
In the past, going into a tree program can generate a great number of
calls and will keep him busy enough to where he cannot fulfill his job as supervisor
because he is on the phone all day. In
those instances for the other districts we looked at customer service. We can do both, especially on a cost recovery
basis. There may only be five calls from
Winner’s Circle and Country Acres once construction starts because there has
been a great deal of public notice and discussion about the project. The cost recovery will be minimal.
Mr.
Rosenof asked how do people know to call the District office if someone is
spraying in their backyard? Do they call
the city first?
Mr.
Petty responded many times they will call the city first. Our phone numbers are listed on other
government agencies websites. The county
and cities publish the District information on a regular basis. Mr. Fredericks has been involved with this
for years. They can obtain our phone
number fairly readily. Having a website
increases the resident’s awareness of who we are and what we do.
Ms.
Bertolami stated I suggest putting something on the city website for Winner’s
Circle because they will not know to call Pine Tree.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I want to do both. We
talked for years about having a place where anyone can look up whatever
information they need. My personal
opinion was to pursue both.
Ms.
Bertolami asked who will post the information on the website?
Mr.
Petty responded we have staff at the District office who does this on a regular
basis. When we are referring to files
like minutes and agendas, these are fairly simple links. You spend a great deal of time on the
construction of the website. The links
can be handled during the course of daily business. It is only when you start expanding to where
you have blank forms to be filled out or information, you get into more time
and money. We can handle the typical items
Pine Tree wishes to display such as agendas, minutes and budgets.
Mr.
Rosenof asked who maintains the City of
Ms.
Bertolami responded the library has a dedicated person handling the website.
Mr.
Rosenof asked does Sunshine provide any website information?
Mr.
Petty responded they share with CSID.
Mr.
Rosenof stated we can put something on the City of
Mr.
Petty stated anyone in
Mr.
Rosenof asked do we have to amend the budget for the customer service
hotline? We cannot just give you an open
check.
Mr.
Petty stated you can take action by motion.
We will come to you later on depending on the cost. If it was relevant in material, we will ask
for a budget amendment afterwards, not before.
Mr.
Rosenof asked do we need to have a cap?
Mr.
Petty responded yes, a not to exceed amount of $1,500.
On
MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Mr. Brewer with all in favor a customer
service division will be established in an amount not to exceed $1,500 during
the construction period for Winner’s Circle and Country Acres.
FIFTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Ratification
of Resolution 2006-119A Authorizing the Parkland City Commission to Appoint
Mark Weissman to the District Board
Mr.
Petty stated this is a housekeeping matter.
In an abundance of caution, staff recommends adopting this
resolution.
On
MOTION by Ms. Bertolami seconded by Mr. Brewer with all in favor Resolution
2006-119A Authorizing the Parkland City Commission to Appoint Mr. Mark Weissman
to the District Board was ratified.
SIXTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Manager’s
Report – Discussion of Tree Repair at Winner’s Circle/Country Acres
Mr.
Petty stated we are prepared to do this work but are waiting to clear up
ownership and right of access issues. District
Counsel is keeping staff up to date on the progress. We are all hopeful. As soon as Mr. Doody gives us authorization,
we have instructions by this Board to proceed with the project approved at the
last meeting.
Mr.
Rosenof stated please summarize the project so I can understand what we are
doing.
Mr.
Petty stated the project will replace Australian Pines cut down on the first
400’ of swale with Areca Palms in Country Acres. There is soil and root ball material constituting
a small berm. At the last meeting, the
Board chose to re-plant with Areca Palms.
We will add soil to the berm to help stabilize where root balls have
moved and patch any holes. We will plant
Wedelia to help with erosion control. At
Winner’s Circle, we had a three tier program of small, medium and tall plant
materials installed. This was approved
by the Parkland City Commission. We need
to make sure when we do the work, we do not receive a letter from someone
saying, “Why are you on my property”.
Mr.
Doody stated I received the legal descriptions and initiated a title search
with Pinelli National Title who provided a title commitment back indicating the
property in question is owned by
Mr.
Rosenof asked do we need to formalize this?
Mr.
Doody responded there is no indication of any formalization required at this
point. I inquired and they were not sure
how to initiate it.
Mr.
Rosenof asked do we want to initiate something to them?
Mr.
Doody responded I will follow-up with the
Mr.
Rosenof stated I wonder if we need a letter saying, “This is what we are doing,
if you have any objections, let us know”.
Mr.
Doody stated I can send a letter to the
Mr.
Weissman stated subsequent to our last meeting, I had conversations with two
I
also propose removing the remaining Australian Pines and rebuilding the berm as
much as we can safely, whether it is 4 to 5’ and plant Areca Palms along the
entire length. This matter has been
ongoing for several months with nothing being done. Counsel spoke to the county, which I am
comfortable with and with hurricane season approaching, I suggest giving Stiles
approval to begin the project. Two
months ago Stiles wanted to do this while they still had equipment and manpower
in the area. Currently, we have not
authorized them to do anything. Tonight
we need to give them approval to move forward.
The county is not going to stand in our way of making the necessary
repairs. I recommend authorizing Stiles
to proceed and put them and their insurance carrier on notice of their
liability.
Mr.
Doody asked how will funds be available to the District from the county?
Mr.
Weissman responded you will have to speak to County Commissioners Lieberman and
Ritter. They have discretionary funds which
can be used for greenway projects.
Mr.
Rosenof asked do they write the check to us or Stiles?
Mr.
Weissman responded it does not matter.
Mr.
Doody asked are we required to repay them?
Mr.
Weissman responded no. There are no
strings attached.
Mr.
Doody stated then we cannot seek recourse from Stiles.
Mr.
Weissman stated not for the county funds.
Only for funds the District expended.
Mr.
Petty stated I like the idea of doing whatever is in the best interest of the
residents to resolve this matter. If
funds are available to us without strings attached, great, however, before you
authorize the work, you may want to know the cost involved. We are working with Stiles on an agreement to
repair the damages caused by them going outside of the bounds of the
contract. I heard tonight we will go
after them after this work is completed for additional funds. This may put them into the issue of, “Let’s
start the proceedings now before I do any work”. In other words, we negotiated a corrected
action, which we discussed at the last meeting and have options to. If we decide to have them remove the entire
berm, all the trees and come after them for any shortfalls, particularly in
Country Acres, they may see this as being too open ended and may refer us to
their insurance carrier before doing the work.
This was part of the negotiations by staff with the contractor in trying
to come to an amicable solution.
Mr.
Weissman stated I suggest proceeding with the work and spend whatever monies
are necessary out of District funds to complete the job. After it is completed, Stiles will tell us
which amount they are not covering, we will pay it and let the county pay some
portion of it. Then we will find out who
their insurance carrier is and make our claim.
Mr.
Rosenof asked if this is a million dollar project, are you assigning $200,000
to Stiles for damages; going to the county for $200,000 and having the District
pay the rest?
Mr.
Weissman responded no. I am saying whatever
the county pays we cannot seek.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I understand but before we can figure this out, we have to know
what the entire project costs.
Mr.
Weissman stated we have some estimates of $60,000 to $80,000 for the portion
Stiles is not going to pick up.
Mr.
Petty stated this is my recollection as well.
The issue was whether or not the Areca Palms were going into the full
length of the berm or just in the headlight zones. The engineer estimated between $60,000 to
$80,000 to plant along the entire 800’.
This took us out of the area of accessibility by the contractor.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I am wondering why this is so complicated. We know what the exact amount is and the
county is willing to pay the shortfall.
Mr.
Petty asked do the
Mr.
Weissman responded they are not funding it.
There is an amount the District will have to pay upfront. It will probably be more than half.
Mr.
Rosenof stated you are saying the remaining funds will have to come out of the
District funds or from Stiles.
Mr.
Doody stated in regards to the potential claim to the contractor, I have
reservations about our chances of succeeding in court of recovering monies against
Stiles going above and beyond the initial damage. We are going to install a berm and introduce
new material to enhance what was originally there. I am not comfortable with our chances of
success against the contractor in this regard.
Mr.
Weissman stated it is my understanding they destabilized the bank and the
existing Australian Pines. They have
liability.
Mr.
Doody stated yes, in this instance. If
we have to maintain the integrity of the bank, the engineer will have to tell
us what work is necessary to put the area back pre-storm.
Mr.
Weissman stated doing what we are doing may in fact be less expensive for them
than trying to accomplish this.
Ms.
Bertolami stated I am surprised to see this discussion arise again because I
believed we had a window of opportunity where NRCS was able to pick up the
funding for the removal of the Australian Pines and limit the contractors and
District’s liability to pay for the balance.
Mr.
Rosenof asked is this true, Mr. Petty?
Mr.
Petty responded we have to go back to NRCS to see if there was any
possibility. We are past the initial
deadline but they have shown some flexibility.
Mr. McKune has experience talking to these individuals but currently I
do not know whether or not we have an agreement with them for the removal or if
they submitted a letter saying they will compensate us for the remaining 600’
of Australian Pines.
Mr.
Doody stated we have $150,000 left in our contract with NRCS. They paid us $281,000 so far.
Mr.
Petty stated it is possible but we will have to talk to them to find out.
Ms.
Bertolami stated I also understood the residents did not want the Areca Palms
planted there. Was this because the berm
was too low?
Mr.
Petty responded I believe so.
Mr.
Rosenof stated they did not want the Areca Palms if there was no berm.
Ms.
Bertolami stated thanks for the clarification.
Mr.
George Rocca stated I live at
Mr.
Brewer asked how do we proceed?
Mr.
Rosenof responded at one point, we have to make a decision as a Board as to
whether or not we should seek reimbursement from Stiles and whether or not we
are going to be successful against them.
Mr.
Brewer asked do we know the cost if we entered into the agreement tomorrow?
Mr.
Petty responded I do not believe we do.
We have an estimate we are confident in if we can reach agreement with
the contractor. This puts him in the
position if he completes the work satisfactorily all obligations will be
fulfilled. If we leave it open opened to
go after the contractor for shortfalls in funds, from our negotiations over the
last several months, the contractor will not do this repair work beforehand and
our District Counsel will be in discussions with their counsel.
Mr.
Rosenof asked does it pay to have someone else do the work?
Mr.
Petty responded this is why I cannot give you a price because I will have to
put it out for bid. With this
contractor, we were getting his cost numbers.
With another contractor, I cannot tell you whether or not it will be the
same price. It may be higher.
Mr.
Rosenof stated if work stopped because of the argument, we can hire someone
else to do the work and go after them. However,
this is not my first choice.
Mr.
Petty stated in this case, we would put it out for bid and come back to the Board
to award the contract.
Mr.
Brewer stated it sounds to me like we are going out to get government money and
Stiles is going after it. We should not
be rewarding them because we are getting government funds. I just want to get the job completed.
Mr.
Weissman stated I agree but unfortunately it is time for us to proceed and get
this project completed. This has been
dragging on for much too long.
Mr.
Brewer stated I agree.
Mr.
Weissman stated District Counsel said the county wants us to proceed with the
work. Now we are sitting here deciding
whether or not to go out for bids. I
think we should give Stiles the authorization to proceed. We know it will cost us $60,000 to $80,000
for them to do the work.
Mr.
Petty stated this amount came from our engineers. I believe Stiles Landscaping is amenable to
proceed with the first proposal, which includes everything except planting
Areca Palms across the entire length of the berm, which will cost $60,000 to
$80,000. The District will be
responsible for this amount. We expect
to receive some compensation from the county from discretionary funds but the
District may be at risk for half of this amount.
Mr.
Rosenof asked instead of leaving it open ended, can we say, “You are going to
do this plus give us $40,000”?
Mr.
Petty responded it depends on what “Do this” entails.
Mr.
Rosenof stated the original work he already agreed to do.
Mr.
Petty stated in our negotiations, I did not think we could get another $1,000
out of Stiles. We pushed them as far as
we could. We re-negotiated this several
times. One of the ways we were able to
expand the work was by including the removal of some Australian Pines, which
compensates him for some of his work.
Mr.
Weissman asked can the Board authorize Mr. Petty, Mr. Doody and Mr. Rosenof to
meet with Stiles as soon as possible and negotiate a final agreement for this
project?
Mr.
Petty responded the Board can delegate someone to act on their behalf within
certain boundaries but you have to define the power and vote on it. Only one Board member can enter into
negotiations, due to the Sunshine Law.
We suggest having your attorney and manager meet with Stiles but it is
at your discretion.
On MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Mr. Brewer with Mr.
Weissman, Ms. Beckenstein, Mr. Brewer and Mr. Rosenof voting aye and Ms.
Bertolami voting nay, Mr. Petty, Mr. Doody and Mr. Rosenof were authorized to
meet with Stiles as soon as possible to negotiate a final agreement for removal
of the remaining Australian Pines and rebuild the berm with Areca Palms at an
amount not to exceed $60,000.
Mr.
Rosenof stated when you set up the meeting, please let me know.
Mr.
Petty stated we will.
Mr.
Weissman stated we are only talking about Country Acres as far as any
negotiation. I assume we can give
authorization for them to proceed immediately for the Winner’s Circle project.
Mr.
Petty stated I believe the contractor will see the negotiations are for both
projects.
Mr.
Rosenof stated they are going to want a comprehensive resolution.
Ms.
Bertolami stated my understanding is Stiles was going to remove the remaining
trees at the cost of the benefit NRCS provided.
Mr.
Rosenof stated they were doing it as a reimbursement for the federal money.
Ms.
Bertolami asked do we need to determine this opportunity still exists?
Mr.
Petty responded we will do this before negotiations start at this meeting. Staff will check with NRCS. Good point.
We should know everything before going into negotiations.
Ms.
Bertolami stated definitely.
Mr.
Rosenof stated getting $30,000 from NRCS makes it easier to negotiate.
Mr.
Rosenof asked who are we meeting with?
Mr.
Petty responded we will try to meet with Vice President, Mr. Don Winslow and
the on-site contractor.
In
regards to the Sawgrass Expressway and our canals, there has been a great deal
of construction on the Sawgrass Expressway.
We believe there was damage to approximately 30’ of pipe. We notified counsel and the recommendation is
to get in writing the repairs will be taken care of along with any ancillary
costs associated with the repairs.
Because
of the issue of ownership, we may not be able to get an agreement in writing to
you but we have a commitment from the contractor and DOT to unearth it and if
it is their responsibility, to repair it.
At this time, we are getting, “I do not know” and “We do not believe we
heard it” answers. We put divers into
the pipe and know the damage is there.
We believe once they dig it up, which they offered to do, the damage
will be evident. They are working with
the sister districts on fixing damaged pipes.
Their pipes were not damaged anywhere near the extent ours were. We spoke to our engineer and Mr. Craven
recommended the pipes be replaced as they are beyond repair. The damage is such structurally we do not
believe they will be the same if you repair them.
Mr.
Craven stated it is my understanding only one pipe was damaged in Pine Tree.
Mr.
Petty stated staff will continue to work on this matter.
Mr.
Rosenof asked do we need to make any emergency repairs?
Mr.
Petty responded we want the repairs to be made as soon as possible since we
cannot predict a rain event. This pipe
carries water from the south to the north.
We do not have a redundant pipe.
Mr.
Craven asked why is there a question of ownership?
Mr.
Petty responded we spoke with the contractor about the right-of-way. The question is for all the districts and
whether or not they have proper title.
Mr.
Craven stated you do not own the right-of-way.
Mr.
Petty stated the pipes were installed by DOT when they built the Sawgrass
Expressway.
Mr.
Craven stated they were installed by the Broward County Turnpike
Authority.
Mr.
Petty stated this question came up when we addressed the issue of getting a
written agreement saying repairs will be made along with any other costs
associated with the repairs such as our engineering and legal costs. What came back to us from the other side was
we may need ownership proof.
Mr.
Craven asked from the contractor or the Turnpike Authority?
Mr.
McKune responded the contractor said the Turnpike Authority owns the pipe. The easements we found do not speak to
ownership.
Mr.
Craven stated there are no easements.
Mr.
Petty stated we are finding if we push hard, we may get pushed back. If we work with them, they will do the
repairs fairly quickly. All the other
cuts have been repaired. Pipes have not
been cleared yet but the patches to the pipes have been made. Those cuts were easy to repair. This is not an easy repair as there was
crushed pipe and a pushed in manhole.
Mr.
McKune stated the pipe Mr. Craven is referring to is the one where half of the
pipe is gone.
Mr.
Brewer asked was this addressed when they came to us when the Sawgrass
Expressway construction first started?
They said, “If we tear up your pipes, we will be more than happy to
repair them”. They knew these pipes were
there and were told not to tear them up.
Mr.
Craven asked who have you been talking to?
Mr.
McKune responded the General Contractor.
They are saying it is their responsibility.
Mr.
Craven stated we have a contact person and tomorrow I am going to call him to
find out what the position of the Turnpike Authority is.
Mr.
Brewer stated this goes back to the issue of whether this pipe is going to be a
problem for us in a rain event.
Mr.
Craven stated if we had 14” of rain tomorrow afternoon, it might be a problem
but it is not an emergency.
SEVENTH
ORDER OF BUSINESS Attorney’s
Report – Discussion of Expiring Supervisor Terms
Mr. Doody stated pursuant to the Board’s direction, an
advertisement was placed in the newspaper on two separate occasions stating the
qualifying period was from January 22 to
Ms.
Bertolami asked are they staggered terms?
Mr.
Doody responded yes. In two years there
will be another election.
Mr.
Weissman stated my understanding is we have two open seats and no one qualified
including the two current Board members.
Now the remaining three supervisors can appoint someone to those
positions. I suggest we not have any
resignations until the next meeting.
Between now and the next meeting, we can have an advertisement saying
the positions will be appointed. No one
qualified for the election meaning two supervisors could have run unopposed and
chose not to. We can accept the two
resignations at the beginning of the next meeting. The two supervisors can let Mr. Petty know
tonight if they are interested. An
advertisement will be run in the meantime.
Mr.
Petty stated the resignations are voluntary.
As counsel said, you stay until you are relieved.
Mr.
Brewer asked can I quit?
Mr.
Petty responded you can but it is voluntary.
The act of going to the public looking for anyone interested in serving
on the Board can be done at any time, at which time you may consider resigning
from the Board. I do not know if we need
to place an advertisement in the newspaper.
You can consider counsel’s recommendation, which is to resign one at a
time and be re-appointed by the Board at a future meeting in an abundance of
caution, while we put out a notice looking for anyone of interest to
serve.
Mr.
Weissman asked will these be four year appointments?
Mr.
Doody responded yes. I do not want to
have any issues regarding the legitimacy of your exercise of lawful authority
as a member of this Board. It is a
question of quantifying the term you serve.
Obviously the appointees serve at the discretion of the cities who
appoint them but the elected offices are supposed to have a specific term. This was the sole purpose of holding the
election. You are able to serve if you
are not inclined to offer your resignation.
There is no vacancy at this point.
The purpose of the resignation is to create vacancies through the
Special Act, which says “All supervisors hold office for the terms to which
they are elected or appointed and until their successors shall be chosen to
qualify”. There are no successors
because no one qualified.
In
the case of vacancies, the remaining supervisor or supervisors fill such vacancies
by appointment of a new supervisor or supervisors, for the unexpired term of a
supervisor who vacated the office. The
idea was the appointment will be for a term of four years, which will get us
back on track for the elected members of this Board. There is no requirement in this act for you
to resign.
Ms.
Bertolami stated in the minutes from the last meeting, you said “If no
individuals qualify, there will be no need for an election and this will
coincide with the March election”. I am
confused. What did you mean?
Mr.
Doody responded there is no need for an election as you have no candidates who
qualified. The qualification was open
for January and then there would have been an election in March. The idea was to have a March election, coinciding
with various municipalities.
Ms.
Bertolami asked are we going to have an election in March?
Mr.
Doody responded no, because you have no candidates. This is common practice in other districts
for similar situations on how to clarify how long the elected officers
serve.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I will resign from the Board.
Ms.
Bertolami stated you cannot resign.
Mr.
Weissman stated then we have to appoint someone tonight.
Mr.
Petty stated you can offer your resignation.
It becomes valid when accepted by the remaining Board members.
Mr.
Doody stated Mr. Rosenof can resign when he wants to. It does not take an act of the Board.
Mr.
Brewer stated if Mr. Rosenof resigns and I resign, then the Board has to
re-appoint someone immediately.
Mr.
Rosenof stated exactly.
On MOTION by Ms. Bertolami seconded by Mr. Brewer with all
in favor the resignation of Mr. Rosenof was accepted.
Ms. Bertolami appointed Mr. Rosenof as supervisor to fill
the vacancy for a term of four years and Ms. Beckenstein seconded the
nomination. There being no further
nominations, with all in favor Mr. Rosenof was elected as supervisor.
Mr.
Brewer stated at this time, I resign.
On MOTION by Ms. Bertolami seconded by Ms. Beckenstein with
all in favor the resignation of Mr. Brewer was accepted.
Mr. Weissman appointed Mr. Brewer as supervisor to fill the
vacancy for a term of four years and Ms. Bertolami seconded the
nomination. There being no further
nominations, with all in favor Mr. Brewer was elected as supervisor.
Mr.
Petty stated the Board should consider the officer structure at this time. One of your considerations may be to keep the
officers as previously elected and appointed.
On
MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Ms. Bertolami with all in favor the current officer
structure will remain the same.
Mr.
Petty stated the offices as evidenced by resolution, will be ratified at the
next meeting.
Mr.
Doody being a Notary of the State of Florida, administered the Oath of Office
to Mr. Rosenof and Mr. Brewer, signed copies of which are attached hereto to be
made a part of the official record.
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Engineer’s Report
Mr. Craven stated I received a phone call in December from
Mr. Fred Gaines from the Turnpike Authority regarding surplus property. He wanted to know if we were interested in
acquiring this property. Upon further
investigation, we felt the surplus property was not within our boundaries.
Mr.
Brewer asked was it in the District?
Mr.
Craven responded it was in Coconut Creek.
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Supervisor’s Requests
Ms. Bertolami stated the embankment along the sound walls is
relatively steep. Is there a plan to
repair it?
Mr.
Petty responded we do not have a current plan to do anything in there nor does
DOT or the Sawgrass Authority. They went
right up to the line. Your sister
districts are in communication, some are semi-hostile over this issue.
Ms.
Bertolami stated there is a design showing certain slopes. It does not appear they mesh.
Mr.
Petty stated only on their side, not on ours.
Some people were doing work on the lake bank on our side of the
wall. They came by with a grader and our
people barely made it back to the boat.
Mr.
Craven stated if I recall correctly, they were going to re-sod.
Mr.
Brewer asked is there a requirement to do something? I should think so.
Mr.
Bertolami responded I thought the design drawings had a cut section showing the
bank on the Pine Tree side.
Mr.
Petty stated just for existing bank.
Mr.
Craven stated I have a set of plans and will look at them. I will also speak to Mr. Fred Gaines.
Ms.
Bertolami stated thank you.
Mr.
Weissman stated for future agendas, I request the audience comments section be
moved to the third item, so the residents do not have to sit through the entire
meeting.
Mr.
Rosenof stated usually if I see any residents, I will move the item up the
agenda.
Mr.
Brewer asked how do we get to the point where this Board can make construction
issues happen more quickly?
Mr.
Rosenof responded the problem was we did not know if we owned the property.
Mr.
Brewer stated this is an issue we have to resolve.
Mr.
Rosenof stated this is one of the reasons we want to hold workshops. We cannot accomplish items like this in a
week.
Mr.
Brewer stated we will have to hold a workshop.
At one of these workshops, we will have to include Mr. Craven and Mr.
Doody. It might take a year or two
years. It is going to have to be in a
timely and costly fashion in order to get this District under control so if we
ever have a storm again, we can get our dollars. If we had another storm right now, I do not
think we are any better off now than the last one. This scares me.
Mr.
Petty stated I agree.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I do not know if we are mowing people’s lawns without an
agreement. It took a long time to create
this mess and we are working towards making it better.
Mr.
Doody stated it has to do with the development of the District. Obviously the communities have
developed. The District was created for
a different purpose than originally anticipated and it evolved into a more
sophisticated governmental entity.
Ms.
Bertolami stated in a perfect world, Stiles would have been out of there six
months ago. I think they are lingering
because of other issues. We have gone a
long way by creating a reserve.
Mr.
Brewer asked how much did we receive in NRCS money? I know we recouped some dollars.
Ms.
Bertolami responded we recouped our engineering and legal fees. It would be nice to see the costs on a
spreadsheet related to the storm in terms of what came in and what was expended.
Mr.
Petty stated good suggestion. We have
plans to do so once the project is complete.
As you know, there is still one element outstanding. Through some diligent work by Mr. McKune, we
maintained the availability of NRCS funds.
We believe it will be a considerable amount.
Mr.
McKune stated to date we received $281,000.
I think we will receive more.
Mr.
Petty stated we are happy with the work Mr. Craven performed in addressing this
issue. We are also happy with Mr. Doody
giving us the ability to sign the contract.
We are proud of the money we were able to receive. The issue of addressing these concerns have
been directed towards staff. It is our
intent to have these workshops completed in such a manner so when we consider
the budget in May, such projects may be contemplated. The cost of doing this work as discussed may
be considered and budgeted so this can be done in a timely fashion.
Mr.
Brewer stated I wish to have a breakdown of what our sister districts received
because they can prove ownership. The
amount of money we will have to spend to fix our situation might be
insignificant to what we are losing.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I think we all realize that.
Mr.
Brewer stated we are looking at a great deal of work to fix this. Correct?
Mr.
Doody responded yes, but my feeling is if in a year we can fix half of it, that
is half of what we did not have to fix before.
We need to have a systematic method of moving forward every month and
getting as much cleaned up as we can.
Before I became President, we talked about fixing it all at one time but
we did not have a steady manager or a commitment to do so.
TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Audience Comments
There not being any, the next item followed.
ELEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval of Financials and
Invoices
Mr. Rosenof stated I noticed we wrote a check for $250,000
to Stiles. We should not be paying them
until we have this matter settled.
Mr.
Petty stated I have no direction from the Board not to. This was part of what we discussed at the last
meeting. The work is completed and
verified by the engineer. This amount
was approved.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I do not want to see any more payments until this matter is
settled.
Mr.
Petty stated definitely.
Mr.
Brewer stated this is not going to help us in our negotiations.
Mr.
Weissman stated remind them of the check when you meet with them.
Mr.
Rosenof stated I am not above having a check in my hand when I meet with them.
On MOTION by Mr. Weissman seconded by Ms. Bertolami with all
in favor the financials and check registers for February 1, 2007 in the amount
of $448,907.88 were approved.
TWELFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Adjournment
There
being no further business,
On MOTION by Ms. Bertolami seconded by Mr. Weissman with all
in favor the meeting was adjourned.
Paul
Brewer David
Rosenof
Secretary President
NOTES
for 2/1/07 Pine Tree Meeting
John Petty
·
Contact NRCS to determine if Stiles is removing
the remaining Australian Pine trees as a reimbursement for federal money. Find out exact amount disbursed and received
from NRCS.
AGENDA ITEM FOR
NEXT MEETING
·
Ratification of Resolution Electing the Officers
of the District
AGENDA ITEM FOR
FUTURE MEETINGS
·
Move “Audience Comments” to the third item.