MINUTES OF MEETING
PORT OF THE
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of
Supervisors of the Port of the Islands Community Improvement District was held
on
Present and constituting a quorum
were:
Richard
Gatti Chairman
Dale
Lambert Vice Chairman
Ted
Bissell Assistant
Secretary
Norine
Dillon Assistant
Secretary
Richard
Ziko Assistant
Secretary
Also present were:
Cal
Teague
Dan
Cox Attorney
(via Telephone)
Ron
Benson Engineer
Bob
Dick Field
Manager
Tom
Mack Staff
Christopher
Shucart POI
Hotel &
James
Shucart POI Hotel &
Sue
Beck Resident
Manuel
Chivelti Resident
George
Cramer Resident
J.
David Dreyer Resident
Jim
Dyer Resident
R.W.
Gulledge Resident
Ginny
Vern
Hamilton Resident
Art
Henry Resident
Barbara
Henry Resident
Bill
Kiep Resident
Dennis
McKay Resident
George
Miserendino Resident
Robert
Moses Resident
Fred
Osswald Resident
J.V.
Siano Resident
Jerry
Wintern Resident
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS Roll
Call
Mr. Gatti called the meeting to order
and Mr. Teague called the roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS Organizational Matters
A.
Oath of
Office for Newly Elected Supervisor – Supervisor Elected by General Election
(Ted Bissell)
Mr.
Gatti stated Mr. Cox will swear in both Mr. Bissell and I. Since he has not called in yet, can you take
care of it?
Mr. Teague responded this actually
does not have to be done. Mr. Bissell
just has to fill out the form and send it in.
Since we did not have you listed, I thought you were already set.
Mr. Gatti stated I am already set,
but I thought we had to do this.
Ms. Dillon stated they both have to
be sworn in since they were both elected.
Mr. Teague stated it was explained
to me to fill out the form and send it in.
The
record reflects Mr. Cox telephoned in and is now part of the meeting.
Mr. Gatti stated you need to swear
Mr. Bissell and I in. While you are
getting organized, I want to discuss another issue relating to this. We discussed rotating the chairmanship every
one or two years, which we should consider now.
We must determine whether or not we want to do this every two
years. Is a policy or resolution
required?
Mr. Cox responded you can just do a
resolution of the Board.
On MOTION by Ms. Dillon
seconded by Mr. Ziko with all in favor a policy to elect a new Chairman every
two years by linking it with the election of officers was approved.
Mr. Cox being a Notary Public of the
State of
B.
Election of
Officers – Resolution 2007-3
Mr.
Gatti stated I wish to nominate Mr. Bissell as Chairman for the next two years. Mr. Bissell is eminently qualified; he was a
member of the School Board in
Mr. Gatti nominated Mr.
Bissell as Chairman and Ms. Dillon seconded the nomination. There being no further nominations with all
in favor, Mr. Bissell was elected Chairman.
Mr. Bissell stated I believe the
Board as well as the community thanks Mr. Gatti for all of his years of
leadership.
We
also need to nominate a Vice Chairman.
Ms. Dillon nominated Mr.
Lambert as Vice Chairman and Mr. Gatti seconded the nomination. There being no further nominations with all
in favor, Mr. Lambert was elected Vice Chairman.
Mr. Bissell asked how is the
Secretary elected?
Mr. Teague responded this is part of
the resolution.
Mr. Cox stated someone from the
District Manager’s office usually serves as the Secretary since it helps with
the administration of the District. Each
of the other Board members other than you and Mr. Lambert are to be appointed
as Assistant Secretaries.
Mr. Bissell stated both the Chairman
and another Board member usually sign the minutes.
Ms. Dillon asked who has been
signing the minutes?
Mr. Bissell responded Mr. Gatti and
I have been signing them.
Ms. Dillon asked should the Vice
Chairman sign?
Mr. Bissell responded the Secretary
usually signs them.
Mr. Gatti stated since Ms. Dillon reads
the minutes faster than any of us, I believe she should be nominated as the
Secretary.
Mr. Bissell stated Mr. Gatti and Mr.
Ziko will be Assistant Secretaries.
Mr. Teague stated we still need to
adopt Resolution 2007-3 which would confirm the nominations and the Assistant
Secretaries will be Mr. Ziko, Mr. Lambert and Ms. Dillon.
Mr. Benson stated Ms. Dillon is the
Secretary.
Mr. Lambert asked does Severn Trent
have someone to serve as Assistant Secretary?
Mr. Teague responded it may work out
well if you name me as Assistant Secretary, since I will be here whenever Mr.
Goscicki cannot attend.
Ms. Dillon asked will Mr. Goscicki
still be part of the CID?
Mr. Teague responded Mr. Goscicki is
still the District Manager.
On MOTION by Mr. Lambert
seconded by Ms. Dillon with all in favor Resolution 2007-3 Designating Officers
of the District was adopted.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS Approval of the
Minutes of the November 10, 2006 Meeting
Mr. Bissell stated each Board member
received copy of the minutes of the
There not being any,
On MOTION by Ms. Dillon
seconded by Mr. Ziko with all in favor the minutes of the
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Manager’s Report –
Field Manager’s Report
Mr. Teague stated with regards to
the water conservation brochure which was to be presented, it should be ready
before January. I am the new District
Manager in
Mr. Bissell asked are you replacing
Mr. Goscicki?
Mr. Teague responded I am not
replacing Mr. Goscicki, but my background is more closely related to District
Management, and this is the type of work I was relocated here to do. I was more involved with operations for the
Mr. Ziko asked will you attend more
meetings without Mr. Goscicki?
Mr. Teague responded Mr. Goscicki is
still your District Manager, but if he and the Board want to change, I will
certainly be happy to fill the position.
Ms. Dillon asked will you both
attend meetings?
Mr. Teague responded we can both
attend meetings.
Ms. Dillon stated I believe a
different person attending each month may make follow-up on issues
difficult. What do you think?
Mr. Bissell responded I agree.
Ms. Dillon asked will we have the
water conservation brochure ready for approval before the next meeting?
Mr. Teague responded this was my understanding,
and I will do my best to ensure it is ready for approval and distribution at
the next Board meeting.
Mr. Lambert asked is there a lag in
getting Mr. Stephens’ insurance paid or are we still required to pay for it?
Mr. Teague responded I am not
certain. There is always a lag as far as
months overlapping.
Mr. Lambert stated we asked for this
to be checked out before.
Mr. Teague stated I will e-mail a
response next week.
Mr. Ziko stated we are missing the
Statement of Revenues and Expenses as well as the tax collection information
which are normally included in the financial statements.
Mr. Teague asked do you want this
information sent via e-mail?
Ms. Dillon responded e-mail is a
good idea.
Mr. Bissell stated with regards to
e-mail, I am concerned people who have a Mac may not be able to access it.
Mr. Ziko asked what is the status of
the broken pumps?
Mr. Dick responded the contractor we
chose to evaluate the pump station was not able to provide a timely quote due
to their workload. Therefore, we had to hire
another company called Krueger Pump Systems, and I am going to meet them here
today. They are from the east coast, but
they have a service depot in this area.
I was disappointed the other company dropped us, but I was not able to wait
for their workload to decrease. Although
I have not made any progress, we are proceeding with this company who specializes
in irrigation pump stations.
Mr. Bissell asked does the
electrical panel which was just done three or four years ago still need
additional work?
Mr. Dick responded one pump does not
work and a large electrical cord is missing and has to be replaced. However, I will get a detailed report for the
next Board meeting or sooner.
There are no major problems with plant
operations at this time. Both plants are fully operational. We still have the nitrate problem at the
wastewater plant. The Board approved
some repairs to be done, which involve two phases. The new pipe was installed, and the second phase
involves cutting in a valve. We had to
border the valve, and they excavated and exposed the pipe where this valve will
be installed. They are installing it right
now, and I expect the system to be operational by Monday or Tuesday. The biological process will quickly start
within a couple of days, and we will have those nitrates down. This is the last issue to bring the
wastewater plant into compliance. With
regards to the front landscaping, we are going to deed the irrigation on the
flags. We did the paths on our
irrigation main in two locations. The
meters were set and they tie into those meters.
Since they want to establish a new electrical service which will
generate another bill, we worked with the county and the landscaper and came up
with a more efficient way which involves getting the electric out of the panel
at the pump station and run the irrigation timers, eliminating the need for another
electrical service and bill. We looked
at the panel and found a break in the one which was not being used which is
sufficient for irrigation. We were happy
to be able to do this without having to get another electrical service.
Mr. Teague asked where is this
located?
Mr. Dick responded it is at the pump
station at the river. They are going to
run a conduit over to us. Orchid Cove
and Mr. Benson will probably discuss this in further detail. I attended a lift station start-up in which
the representative from the pump manufacturer ran the pumps through the
different phases, tested the pressure and did an infiltration test measuring
the amount of water in the wet well to see how much it comes up from one day to
the next. It passed the initiatives
which were all done through RWA, the Orchid Cove engineer. The lift station passed the inspections, and
I have the request to DEP for certification on both the water and wastewater
systems. It requires approval from the
Board in order to certify the capacity both on the water and wastewater
side. I want to discuss this today and
see if can get them approved for submittal.
Once they are submitted and we receive certification back from the DEP,
we can commence setting meters and allowing those systems to come on line.
Ms. Dillon asked are there likely to
be any problems with the DEP?
Mr. Dick responded I do not believe
so.
Mr. Benson stated perhaps we should
do this now. We received applications
for Certification of Completion of Construction from RWA on December 1st. On the first submittal, I sent a notice
immediately via e-mail to the engineer and asked them change the record
drawings which is significant and we need to be aware of it. However, they made the change. The first set of drawings which were submitted
showed Buildings 37, 38, 39 and 40. If
you recall, Buildings 40 through 47 were removed from the plans during the
Collier County SDP process because according to the review of the utilities and
plans, we limited them to the number of buildings which have ERCs. Therefore, they had to take the other buildings
off of the plans. They brought this to
Mr. Williams’ attention and he sent a revised set of record drawings in which
those buildings were removed, and I received them back on December 5th. This second set of plans were approved by the
county and POI when this was all part of the construction. When it went in for the DEP permits, it was
for Buildings 1 through 36.
Mr. Ziko stated I want to know how
many buildings were on the plans and if they are identical to the original
plans because when I went over there with Mr. Dick they were at a different location. The two buildings at the entrance as well as
the two buildings across from the pool were taken off the plans. The original plan shows four buildings which
were already constructed.
Mr. Benson stated there was a series
of plans which went through the
Mr. Lambert asked are we telling
them we are supplying water only?
Mr. Benson responded we are
supplying water and sewer service for the first 36 billings, as we have always
agreed to.
Mr. Ziko asked are we currently
supplying them water?
Mr. Dick responded we are only
supplying irrigation water.
Mr. Benson asked do they have a construction
meter?
Mr. Dick responded there are no
physical meters set in the complex.
Mr. Benson stated when their
original permit was sent to DEP, I believe Mr. Lambert signed it in the absence
of the Chairman. Therefore, they had his
name and indicated Mr. Lambert as the Vice Chairman to sign the documents,
which I do not believe is a major issue.
Mr. Dick stated they applied for six
meters and five others, which will not be considered until we receive DEP
certification.
Mr. Ziko asked how are these
buildings going to be metered? Are there
going to four meters for each building?
Mr. Dick responded each unit will
have its own meter. The 10” irrigation
meter will be installed last at the front.
Mr. Lambert stated we will fill in
the individual unit elements.
Mr. Dick stated that is correct and
they will be for potable water. The
irrigation will be billed to the HOA.
Mr. Benson stated as soon as I
received the first set of plans, I immediately let the engineer know we will
not approve the record drawings with building numbers 37, 38, 39 and 40 shown
as being as being built and served. They
removed them, and I want to briefly read what he said when he sent the
documents back in order to ensure you have the same information I have.
Thank you for your e-mail on Friday
afternoon. I apologize for the oversight
regarding record drawings that were submitted on Friday. We are currently working with
I
wanted to make you aware of this since they were telling me they are trying to
obtain approval from
Ms. Dillon asked what is the normal
procedure? Should they come here first
before they go to the county in order to obtain approval to build?
Mr. Benson responded no. According to the process,
Mr. Lambert asked do they have
another site plan?
Mr. Benson responded I was told they
are currently working with
Mr. Ziko asked do you know anyone in
the department who could raise a flag for him and say they do not have the
required water and sewerage?
Mr. Benson responded I can do this if
you want me to.
Mr. Ziko stated this may not be a
bad idea before it gets lost in the paperwork.
Mr. Benson stated this is the reason
I brought it to your attention.
Ms. Dillon asked have you contacted
them in terms of them negotiating to get more ERCs?
Mr. Benson responded I do not have
any ERCs to sell them. If they acquire
some ERCs from another property owner, they must go through the ERC transfer
process, at which point we will know whether or not they have the ERCs. Based on what the Board told me in the past,
I am keeping my eyes open on this issue and I will send the letter.
Mr. Ziko stated since they have a
track record of doing what they want without informing us, I can see them
putting up these four buildings and trying to make it the CID’s responsibility
to supply them with water.
Mr. Benson stated I will make the
county aware one other item came up during construction, and I will take care
of this.
Mr. Dick stated we are in the
process of hiring a Field Technician who will not be obligated to stay at the
plant. Therefore, they will be able to
go out into the field, paint fire hydrants as well as other miscellaneous
repairs.
Ms. Dillon asked is this in your
contract?
Mr. Dick responded that is correct.
Ms. Dillon stated you will pay the
person.
Mr. Dick stated that is
correct. This person will help us handle
all of the necessary renovations.
Mr. Lambert asked do we have
something in the works to get the stem repaired and the fire hydrants done?
Mr. Dick responded that is
correct. We have several fire hydrants
at the plant and we want to try to take the stems out of them. Although we do not want to delay this, I believe
you will need to spend between $1,500 and $2,000 to install a new hydrant if the
broken one cannot be repaired, which we are trying to handle first.
Ms. Dillon asked do you have a
timetable as to when they expect to landscape the area on Route 41?
Mr. Dick responded trees are
supposed to be delivered today.
Mr. Lambert stated I was told they
are supposed to start next week.
Mr. Bissell asked what are they
going to plant?
Mr. Dick responded there are
landscape drawings at the plant which show the trees, shrubs and all
planting. I should have brought them
with me. However, it is going to be
extensive.
Mr. Bissell asked does the property between
the black top, under the road and the palm trees in the right-way belong to the
CID?
Mr. Ziko responded I believe so.
Mr. Bissell stated they put
irrigation in there, and they ran the irrigation from their driveway to the
construction area.
Mr. Dick asked are the trees which
they planted on Orchid Cove’s property?
Mr. Bissell responded they are on
our side, but I am not certain whether or not they are going to furnish the
water. Also, and they did this landscaping
on our property without permission.
Mr. Dick stated they will pay for
this.
Mr. Lambert asked are you referring
to the east or west side of
Mr. Bissell responded I am referring
to the west side of
Mr. Dick stated I will look at this,
but it is all coming through their 2” meter.
Ms. Dillon stated we also discussed
the possibility of the irrigation line going down the center.
Mr. Dick stated I was in touch with
a contractor and I hoped to have the proposal today. I waited as long as possible to receive the
fax, but we did have a company come out.
This job is bigger than he was able to handle. Since he is only fully equipped to repair the
existing system, he facilitated getting me a quote, which we should have today.
Mr. Bissell stated there is some
plywood which appears to be coming off on the entranceway. Perhaps you can check on those and see if
they are on our property.
Mr. Benson stated I will drive up
there after the meeting.
Ms. Dillon stated they are right
here.
Mr. Ziko asked can we get a status
report with regards to the paving on
Mr. Benson responded I can discuss
it during my report.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Attorney’s
Report
Mr. Cox stated with regards to the
entrance monument easement, we got consensus we are going to get the easement
from Southern Gulf Coast. I spoke to Mr.
Wanklin again this week, and would like us to relocate the signs to our
existing easements, but he told me he would take another look at them and call me
at the beginning of the week with a final answer.
Ms. Dillon asked does he suggest we move
the masonry walls?
Mr. Cox responded yes.
Mr. Ziko stated only one of them is
on his property. We have one on the
center island. We will have to take the
one off of the west side. Perhaps we can
remove it completely and make the one in the center island look better.
Ms. Dillon stated we will have to go
through the entire sign permitting process.
Mr. Benson stated I recall the sign
on the left side of
Mr. Cox stated the part of the wall which
parallels U.S. 41 is probably 10’ outside of the easement, and the one on
Mr. Lambert asked do we have the
right to stay there since it has been there for such a long time?
Mr. Cox responded there is no
definitive answer. I looked at a few
cases, and whenever you try to claim an easement, you have to show you were not
aware you were outside of the area to which you had a right. You must show you were aware of this and you
purposely occupied the property with the intent of having the right to adverse
devotion. In situations in which you
abide by the state, you do not have this adversity and the courts do not see this
as an infringement of your rights.
Mr. Lambert stated there must have been
a drawing showing the location of the lot when they put this up. Therefore, they must have known where they
were putting it.
Mr. Cox stated it is difficult to
prove the intent of something which was done almost 20 years ago, especially
when the person has passed away. The
county needs to look at it and ensure there are no problems. If there is a problem they should let me know
at the beginning of the week and I will make further calls on how we should
proceed. You will probably hear back
from me during the middle of next week.
Ms. Dillon stated you were going to
get us copies of your correspondence with Orchid Cove.
Mr. Cox stated I will make a note
right now and get it to you.
Ms. Dillon stated last month we discussed
the swales again. According to the
minutes, perhaps you needed to look at one particular swale.
Mr. Cox stated the grounds and areas
where our swales and easement rights encroach do not match according to the
layout of the original platted property, and sometimes the swales are outside
of those easement areas, in which we really do not have a right of
enforcement. They are required to deal
with not allowing their discharge to go off of their property, but they must keep
the swale system intact even though it is not dedicated within our
easement. With regards to rights of
enforcement and whether or not anything can be done about them, I do not know
where we stand.
Ms. Dillon stated I am concerned going
forward as more building takes place and the swales start to fill in.
Mr. Cox stated it has been 30 years since
these were dedicated to the CID for maintenance. You established a service which does not involve
doing anything, and if you want to get into a position where you are
maintaining the area in order to ensure they have the appropriate floats, you
are going to have to set aside some funds.
This is going to be costly since the entire swale system will have to be
surveyed in order to determine whether or not they are in the right areas. This is a time consuming process for the
surveyors, and becomes expensive for us.
Ms. Dillon stated I recall the prior
Board decided we were not going to get involved in the maintenance of the
swales. However, I am worried about
drainage over time. Did we have a
potential problem in Eveningstar Cay?
Mr. Cox responded Mr. Benson can
answer this question.
Mr. Gatti stated since we still have
Mr. Cox with us perhaps Mr. Mack can brief us since we need a letter.
Mr. Lambert asked are we going to do
this in Executive Session?
Mr. Mack responded we had a meeting
with the fire chief, the
Mr. Gatti stated Mr. Bigelow, who is
in charge of real estate for the county suggested we send a letter to the
Mr. Mack responded yes.
Mr. Gatti asked did you receive my
notes?
Mr. Cox responded yes.
Mr. Gatti stated perhaps you can
draft a letter in this context. We want
to avoid the involved parties at this time.
Of course, we must show the appraisal, which Mr. Mack will have
available for you. From the Board’s
standpoint as well as the county, we are interested in resolving this. Do you have a problem with this?
Ms. Dillon responded I do not want
to wait an additional month. Do we need
a resolution or anything else to authorize Mr. Cox and Mr. Mack to proceed?
Mr. Cox responded your policy and
direction in telling me is fine.
Mr. Bissell asked will you e-mail a
copy of the letter to the Board?
Mr. Cox responded I will do so.
SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Engineer’s
Report
Mr. Benson stated with regards to pavement
of
Mr. Lambert asked was the physical
work done?
Mr. Benson responded I believe there
is a small amount of irrigation work to be done at the location of the median
cut, but we are getting it all done at once in order for it to look good
instead of having to come back later.
Ms. Dillon asked what is the cost?
Mr. Benson responded the cost for
the additional work for the median cut is being paid for by the developer. He will reimburse us for the same amount the
contractor adds to our contract for this work.
This work has taken a few more weeks, but we are getting it done now, so
it will not have to be added later.
There
was an item which has been going on for a few years with the DEP on a permit,
and I am happy to tell you we now have our permit. They forwarded a copy of the letter from the
DEP to the CID, and I only brought the first page of the 32-page permit, in
which you can see basically the work was added allowing us to upgrade the
wastewater plant as well as the canal pump station in order to be able to
combine those systems once all of the work is finished. The permit actually came through during the
last minutes of waiting for a public notice deadline to run its course.
Mr. Ziko asked are the filters which
are coming from Parkson on the way?
Mr. Benson responded the work being
done to the treatment units is almost done.
The equipment is fabricated and waiting to be installed through Parkson
and their contractor, Encore Construction.
They had to get the county building permits, and although I do not have
a start date, it is going to be fairly soon.
Mr. Bissell stated I see this was
directed to Mr. Gatti and I imagine it will be to me in the future, but does
Mr. Gatti get a copy of this?
Mr. Benson responded Mr. Gatti is on
there because when we applied for the permit he was Chairman, and I received a
copy electronically as the engineer of record yesterday.
Ms. Dillon stated it should really
be addressed to the water plant.
Mr. Benson stated it was addressed
to the water plant, which is where it must go.
Mr. Bissell stated this is not a
problem, but when information comes from the DEP or any other entity, I plan on
forwarding a copy to the other Board members.
Does this then come to both the Chairman and the engineer or just to the
engineer?
Mr. Benson responded it will be
delivered by U.S. Mail to the water plant and I assume staff will follow their
normal procedures for copying the appropriate people. I do not believe this one even arrived via
U.S. Mail, but since my office was aware of today’s Board meeting, they
contacted DEP yesterday and asked them the status of the permit. They were told it was going out in the mail
and my staff asked for a copy to be sent electronically to me.
Ms. Dillon stated the signature date
is November 6th.
Mr. Benson stated DEP signed it, and
the date is on the last page of the letter.
Mr. Lambert stated it is dated
November 6th.
Mr. Ziko stated much of this
correspondence is going to the Union Road Water Plant. Perhaps we can get an inbox labeled with the
CID so anything coming in for the CID can be placed there, and we can look periodically
in order to ensure all of the correspondence gets to the appropriate staff.
Mr. Benson stated these documents
must be on file at the plant, as required by the permit.
Mr. Lambert asked is everything which
is sent to the plant filed appropriately?
Mr. Dick responded that is correct.
Mr. Lambert asked who will maintain
this inbox?
Mr. Dick responded any permit
modifications and correspondence will go to our files and anything which is in
the inbox will be a copy. We will have
the originals on file.
Mr. Benson stated Mr. Dick
distributed the Equipment Condition and Inventory Report at the last meeting, as
required by their contract. Prior to the
Severn Trent contract taking effect, Mr. Dick and I incorporated inventory into
the engineer’s report as directed by the Board.
My engineer’s report over the years always showed condition items and
recommendations of issues needing to be addressed. Most of the items in Mr. Dick’s report are
mentioned in my report. Therefore, I
prepared a memorandum which basically states I agree with Severn Trent’s report
as being a fair assessment of the condition of the facilities. There were some questions asked of me last
month on many of these items. Someone
asked if any of these items were on our CIP Plan or if they were items which we
already planned to take care of.
Unfortunately, these items were not part of the CIP. Many are considered maintenance and repair
items which were deferred over a number of years and did not receive the appropriate
attention. As a result, we have a longer
list of items than other years, and you need to ensure you are within the current
budget as established in your contract with Severn Trent to work against. Although I have not put a clear cost estimate
together, I believe it is going to cost more than what is usually there for a
typical year. I recommend putting
together a budget for the cost of these items, which I believe Mr. Dick is
already working on. Since there are such
a large number of items there should be a priority recommended by Severn Trent as
to which ones should be done first and perhaps develop a schedule, which I will
be happy to assist in reviewing.
The
chart recorders were previously identified for repair by DEP in their
inspection of our facilities. After their
inspection minor repairs were done in order to get it working. Therefore, I am not surprised it is not
working. Since the fire and irrigation
pumps which Mr. Dick discussed earlier are part of our fire protection system, the
repair is a higher priority.
I
want to address the stockpiling of sludge at the water and wastewater
plant. Basically, the water plant sludge
is an inert material, which is not harmful.
Since it has been stockpiled for a number of years, Severn Trent has
inherited responsibility for it. The
other issue is the wastewater treatment plant sludge. The tanks were full of sludge and these are
two catch-up items. This is listed as an
inventory item, and there are two ways of looking at this under their
contract. First of all, when they leave
at some point in the future, they may leave it the way they took it over as the
contract probably states, but I do not believe any of us want this to happen. This item is going to take some money and I
recommend getting this taken care of, at which time it may be updated to
reflect the condition after it has been caught up.
Mr. Ziko asked can we get someone to
haul the lime sludge?
Ms. Dillon asked when was this last
done?
Mr. Dick responded we are getting
caught up with the wastewater sludge through the terms of the contract, but we
do not have anything to apply for the cost of the lime sludge, which is
significant.
Mr. Ziko asked can we sell it?
Mr. Dick responded we will be lucky
to get someone to take it.
Mr. Ziko asked is it suitable to use
as fill?
Mr. Benson responded it is not
considered suitable for fill, but you may get someone to take it for a minimal
cost because they may be able to blend it in with something.
Ms. Dillon stated tell them they can
have it for free if they take it away.
Mr. Dick stated we will pursue this.
Mr. Benson stated I believe we
should get these issues caught up and amend the inventory with the date on
which everything was caught up.
Mr. Ziko asked has anything been
done about the vehicles?
Mr. Dick responded Ms. Swade in the
District Office was going to ask Mr. Cox how to handle this. Did you talk to Ms. Swade with regards to
disposal of the three vehicles?
Mr. Cox responded no.
Mr. Lambert asked do we still have
the three vehicles?
Mr. Dick responded we still have
them, and there is an issue of procedure with regards to advertising of a bid
form.
Ms. Dillon stated I thought we
approved this.
Mr. Dick stated please call Ms.
Swade.
Mr. Bissell stated this was approved
to be done last month.
Mr. Benson stated the old fuel tanks
which were stored at the wastewater plant were also approved for surplus last
month. We had at least one proposal prior
to last month’s meeting, and we have since received other quotes which were
forwarded to Mr. Dick from my office. As
a result of my discussions with Mr. Goscicki, once we have the proper amount of
quotes, we can go with the lowest price.
The value of the scrap metal pays for a substantial portion of the cost
to remove it but we still have to pay someone to haul it away. However, we will pay the person who gives us
the lowest price to haul the material away.
Mr. Dick and I will ensure this gets taken care of.
We
came to an understanding of what to include in the electrical service upgrades
to the water and wastewater treatment plant.
At the Board’s direction, we took the generator out of the project and
we are only going to do the electrical service upgrades. I gave this to the electrical engineer doing
work for the Board and the plans should be ready for bidding in a matter of
days. The electrical service upgrades do
not cover the items in Mr. Dick’s report, which apply to equipment inside the
water plant. We identified this a few
years ago when we first brought up this project. The electrical service upgrades were for all
the lines outside. However, the
equipment inside the building was functioning, but it was old and needed to be
replaced one item at a time or it could be done all at once. I believe Severn Trent can do all the types
of work which are identified in Mr. Dick’s report or they can bring in normal
subcontractors they work with, but if there is a group of items needing to be
done at once, it could be made into a project.
For example, Severn Trent may wish to suggest all the electrical
upgrades inside the building may go together, and if it is more than what they
would normally do, you may have an electrician doing a larger project add it
on. If it just involves taking an existing
panel which is deteriorated and old, their electricians will normally handle it.
Mr. Lambert stated in reading Mr.
Dick’s report on the condition of the equipment, I got the impression the motor
control center should not be where there are too many chemicals. Since we are getting ready to do some
upgrades on electrical service, perhaps we need to lay out the plan area over
there. We know we will have to build a
new water plant in the future, which may affect the plan for the layout of this
electrical work.
Mr. Benson stated this is a good
point because basically the electrical power coming into one point
approximately where the existing transformer is located for the wastewater
plant is not far off of Union Road, but between the water and wastewater plants
in a central location. When we do the
new system, we are going to upgrade to this point and we are going to feed the
water plant in order for both plants to be served by the same generator. They are currently served by the same
generator, but it was not designed to code.
I told the electrical engineer to design the project in a way to make it
easy for us to serve the existing water plant building when we add a new water
plant. We have the design laid out in such
a way there may be a section of conduit for the new wiring to go to a future
water plant which will be put in the ground with this project in order for us
to be able to serve the new plant while the existing one is operational. The size of the service which is coming on
and what is split off to the water plant will be larger than the loads at the
water plant. It is my understanding and Mr.
Dick should correct me if I am wrong, those chemicals probably should never be
stored in the room with the electrical gear and there is another location where
they should be stored.
Mr. Lambert stated it appears this
probably expedited the deterioration process.
Mr. Dick stated I agree with you.
Mr. Lambert stated in order to have
another source for potable water for the future, we must ensure the CID has enough
property.
Mr. Benson stated there is a plan for
the future reclaimed water and irrigation tanks which show where the next water
tank will go. However, we do not have a
new water plant laid out yet, but we have enough property assuming the old
water plant is torn down. One of my
recommendations a couple of years ago when we first brought up the idea was to do
the preliminary engineering necessary to build a new water plant. At some point there is more work to be done which
will allow you to plan for the cost of this project. However, we have not been authorized to proceed.
Mr. Lambert stated in the future we may
want to get to the point where the operator has to work in one building and not
have equipment in both places.
Mr. Ziko stated Mr. Benson mentioned
the generator was eliminated. I thought
we deferred it.
Mr. Benson stated you are correct.
Mr. Ziko asked will it be part of
this master plan?
Mr. Benson responded the generator
is already designed, but we asked the engineer to take it off and modify the
plan in order to allow the new generator to be phased in. We do not want to connect it to the existing
generator.
Mr. Ziko asked will this all be
underground?
Mr. Benson responded yes.
Mr. Ziko asked will the transformer
be dropped over to the property line and installed underground from there?
Mr. Benson responded it currently
drops off the line to the pole on the southeast corner of the wastewater plant
site. It will go underground and around
the wastewater plant site to a transformer which will feed the equipment at the
wastewater plant. We are going to
replace the transformer in order to make everything serve both plants and the
future demands. We are going to continue
underground to feed the water plant, and the above ground transformer will go
away.
Mr. Lambert asked will we have all
underground transformers?
Mr. Benson responded that is
correct. We are getting all of the
equipment upgraded for protection against wind damage potential, and we are
getting it sized for future loads.
Mr. Ziko stated you mentioned the
recorders which had bandaged repairs.
Will it behoove us to upgrade some of these to more modern technology
since they are approximately 20 years old?
Mr. Benson responded they are close
to 15 years old. The recorders can be
replaced with a computerized system, in which the information can be downloaded
to a file in order to ensure there is always a written copy of the
information. The purpose of those
recorders is to provide DEP information on these circular charts. However, the modernization cost is significant
and DEP only requires the repair.
Perhaps Mr. Dick has some ideas.
Mr. Bissell stated when they moved
the fire hydrant they found the feed pipe in a different place than they
thought it was going to be. Is this what
the extra money was for?
Mr. Benson responded the water line
was in the right location, but it was not fully understood how the fire
hydrants were attached. I believe the
old fire hydrants were on the potable water system and got switched over. They thought the line was set a certain way
and it was only so long. However, it was
set differently because it was done 20 years ago.
Mr. Bissell asked how often are the
fire hydrants tested?
Mr. Dick responded the fire
department handles this, but the physical schedule is done annually.
Mr. Bissell stated in the past we handled
this as opposed to the fire department.
We have some old ones, but there is one on
Mr. Dick responded I will coordinate
with the fire department. However, a
gentleman from the fire department told us at a previous Board meeting he will
maintain the fire hydrants. If he does
not, we will since they must be maintained and exercised.
Mr. Bissell stated a record should
be kept indicating these hydrants are checked.
Mr. Benson stated some hydrants were
replaced with new ones. Although the
parts may not be of much use, I believe the old ones were salvaged for this
purpose.
Mr. Dick stated we will salvage what
we can.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion
of Open Items
Reuse Water for
Irrigation
Mr. Benson stated we received all
permits, including those from SFWMD and DEP.
We are working with SFWMD for a use agreement for additional property
adjacent to our existing irrigation pump station to locate the new filter
equipment which is now a higher priority since we have everything else we need.
Mr. Bissell asked do you think this
will be accomplished by next month?
Mr. Benson responded I hope so, but they
may have to go to the Governing Board of the SFWMD in order to authorize them
to sign off on documents, which may not be accomplished by next month. However, I am not certain whether or not this
is required.
Mr. Bissell asked will you report
back to the Board?
Mr. Benson responded I will make
this a high priority since we have some of the other issues accomplished.
Mr. Ziko asked do you have an
estimate of when we are actually going to be able to use this water?
Mr. Benson responded you asked me
about this last month and I believe I told you it will be six months, which has
not changed.
Ms. Dillon asked what is your
opinion with regards to the federal funding which did not ever go through for
Mr. Benson responded I am not
certain how it may affect this entire project.
Ms. Dillon stated we were heavily involved
with the issue with regards to the
Mr. Lambert stated the state is
pushing through much of this even though no federal funds were approved.
Mr. Benson stated I believe this major
project which has been talked about will take place, it is just a matter of
timing.
Entrance Monuments
This
issue was discussed during the Attorney’s Report.
Discrepancy Between Gallons of Water
Pumped and Gallons Billed
Mr. Dick stated on the second to
last page of my report there is a running chart showing water produced versus
water sold. The most current data we
have is for October. Since we just read
the water meters, we do not have November water sold yet, but there was 35.8%
unaccounted for water in October. I did
not average these, but it appears we are in the 30% range. Since we were in the 50% range, this is a small
improvement, but certainly not where we want to be. We believe the RV park accounts for 10% or
15% of this, which is in smaller increments than reported last month or the
previous month. We are looking at 20
gallons per minute which is not quite a needle in the haystack, but close. We found a poly tube on one of the vacant
lots which was leaking a half gallon per minute. There may be 15 or 20 of these leaking. As we find them, we are starting to lower
this number, but there are no major leaks out there which I can find and repair. As we become more active in the system, I want
to go on all of the docks, not just at the marina, and see if someone tied in
an unmetered potable water line. This
takes time, but I believe we are decreasing this number, and we hope to reduce
it to the single digits.
Mr. Lambert asked do you believe
reducing the numbers to single digits is possible?
Mr. Dick responded absolutely. The percentage is a large number, but the
volume is small. AWWA standards are
anything less than 10%, but this is more difficult because the water
consumption is small on an annual, monthly or daily basis.
Mr. Gatti stated to give the Board a
sense of this, there are few standards which go below 10%.
Mr. Dick stated this is our goal.
Bond Payoff Procedure
Mr. Ziko stated we had a number of
lost checks in which Severn Trent deposited them in the wrong accounts and were
not properly administrated. We want to
know what the procedure is if someone wants to pay off their bonds and ensure
the check is not deposited into the wrong account.
Ms. Dillon stated some people paid
off their bond, but there was no record of it.
Mr. Teague stated I thought the
Board wanted to eliminate and pre-pay the bonds, but this is record-keeping for
individual bond payments.
Mr. Ziko stated Mr. Goscicki will be
able to update you on this.
Proposed Fire Station
Mr. Ziko stated since Mr. Cox is
handling this issue, this item will remain open.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Attorney’s
Report (Continued)
Ms. Dillon asked what is the status
of the hotel sign in front?
Mr. Cox responded Robbie from the
hotel asked the Board for permission to put the sign up, which is coming from
my memory. I asked corporate Severn
Trent to send me the minutes from the year which I think this took place as
well as a couple of other issues we have been looking into. I have not received those minutes yet, but
when I get them I will see if I can actually find this. Robbie asked for permission to put up the hotel
sign, but this is something different and I need to find those minutes in order
to determine exactly what was said.
Mr. Bissell asked approximately what
year did this take place?
Mr. Cox responded since I believe
this was right after I moved up here, I asked for the entire year of 2004.
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion of Brick
Paver Driveways in Port of the
Mr. Bissell asked does anyone know the
details?
Mr. Gatti responded a gentleman
requested discussion of this issue, but he is not here. Perhaps Mr. Cramer can discuss it.
Mr.
Cramer stated I went through this one year ago.
A neighbor who lives on
Ms. Dillon asked is he aware you
assume responsibility for the sidewalk?
Mr.
Cramer responded he is aware of this.
Mr. Gatti stated I have his letter
in my office.
Mr. Ziko stated I do not believe we
can act on this until we see the letter.
If it is in the minutes, we should at least be able to read the letter in
order for us to understand what he is requesting.
Mr. Lambert stated I agree. I believe the entire Board needs to see the
letter. What is the timeframe to do the
work?
Mr.
Cramer responded I understand he entered into a contractual agreement with
Material Pavers Marco to do the work, but I am not aware of the timeframe.
Mr. Gatti stated our policy is to
approve these subject to the person agreeing to assume responsibility for the
sidewalk.
Mr. Ziko stated we never had a
policy. You authorized Mr. Cramer to go
through with this without consulting the Board, and we had a liability issue as
to who is responsible if a paver lifts and someone gets injured. We never established a policy of paving over
a sidewalk which is why I want to see the letter.
Mr. Bissell stated I will pick up the
letter from you, make copies for the Board and we can discuss it at the next Board
meeting.
Ms. Dillon stated I am also concerned
about this gentleman and his timing. If
he does not need it within one month there is no problem, but if he does,
perhaps the Board can approve this. Do
you know the address?
Mr.
Cramer responded I do not know.
Ms. Dillon asked are you referring
to the house with the swing inside the garage?
Mr.
Cramer responded I believe so.
Mr. Ziko stated perhaps you can get
the letter and e-mail it to the Board. I
am willing to sign off on a letter and e-mail it back.
Ms.
Dillon asked did we ever send you a formal letter?
Mr.
Cramer responded Mr. Cox sent me a letter.
Mr. Cox stated I do not recall.
Mr. Bissell stated you sent a letter
to Mr. Cramer giving permission to install pavers on his property.
Mr. Gatti stated it also outlined
his responsibility and liability.
Mr. Bissell stated I believe you
should have a copy of the letter in your records.
Mr. Lambert stated it should have
been recorded at the courthouse.
Mr. Cox asked how long ago did this
take place?
Mr. Bissell responded this was
approximately one year ago. Was there a
use agreement?
Mr. Cox responded I believe so.
Mr.
Cramer stated there was a use agreement as well as an addendum recorded on my
deed.
Mr. Cox stated we recorded it in the
public records.
Mr. Gatti stated if there is a
legitimate concern we can put this off, but we can give him approval subject to
the conditions of the attorney’s letter.
Mr. Ziko stated this is up to the
Board. However, since the gentleman did
not show up and we do not have the letter, we do not have anything to act
on. I may have felt differently if he
were here or if we were able to read the letter.
Ms. Dillon stated perhaps we can get
the letter as you suggested and if we are in agreement, we can send it to Mr.
Cox.
Mr. Bissell stated I will have to
fax the letter to Mr. Cox.
Ms. Dillon stated Mr. Cox will have
to handle it the same way we did with Mr. Cramer in terms of an addendum to his
deed.
Mr. Lambert asked is there any
reason not to allow him to do this?
Ms. Dillon responded he must be willing
to assume the liability and put it on the deed.
Mr. Ziko stated we have not yet
written a letter.
Mr. Bissell asked do you have any
suggestions other than getting the letter from Mr. Gatti and giving the Board a
copy?
Mr. Cox responded perhaps can we
reassess this issue next month.
Ms. Dillon stated the problem is
timing. He has a contractor ready to do
the work. If we make him wait an
additional month he may lose the contractor, which I do not want to happen if
this is just a procedural issue.
Mr. Cox stated I can tell him he has
to sign the same letter as Mr. Cramer and send it back to me if he is
interested in doing this.
Mr. Gatti stated his letter simply
requests permission to do this.
Mr. Cox stated he is not actually
going into the road area.
Mr. Gatti stated he is going through
the sidewalk.
Mr. Cox asked is he going to remove
the sidewalk?
Ms. Dillon responded he is going to
remove the sidewalk, which is a liability issue.
Certain
portions of Mr. Cox’ statement was inaudible.
Mr. Cox stated we need a diagram
showing what he wants to do as well as a letter in which we are giving consent
to install a brick paver driveway. He
accepts the consent with full knowledge of our rights and does not diminish our
rights. It must be utilized, constructed
and maintained. We can remove it at any
time we determine in order to construct, alter, repair, replace or remove
facilities within the right-of-way. We
are not liable for any damages to him if we do this. He indemnifies us from any claims and this is
in full force until it is terminated by the District unilaterally at any time.
Mr. Gatti moved to approve
the request by a resident to have a brick paver driveway installed through the
Port of the
Mr. Lambert asked is he going to
provide us with a sketch to go with the documents?
Mr. Cox responded that is correct.
Mr. Ziko stated for clarification, he
is going to have this done before we give him permission so he does not lose
his contract.
Mr. Cox stated I will send a letter
to him which states once he signs it I will record it.
Mr. Bissell asked do you want me to
fax his letter to you?
Mr. Cox responded yes.
On VOICE vote with all in
favor the previous motion was approved.
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS Discussion of Draft
Developer’s Agreement
Mr. Teague stated this draft
agreement was prepared in anticipation of use for any development such as
Orchid Cove, but this gives you a structure to negotiate those new
developments.
Ms. Dillon stated we made some
changes last month which I believe were factored in.