The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Thursday, November 21, 2019

6:30 pm

Lake Delhi Trustees Administration Building

Delhi, IA 52223

The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 6:30 pm by Larry Burger.

Trustees present: Burger and Schermann, Leonard and Althoff by phone

Absent: Staebell, Herman and Davidson

Visitors: Ben Pasker

Burger asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Leonard, seconded by Schermann. Motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Schermann, seconded by Burger. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $23,491.26 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, diesel generator inspection, printer maintenance, supplies, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, beach cleanup, repairs to overhead hoist at the dam and LP gas. A motion was made by Althoff to accept the claims as presented. Seconded by Leonard. Motion carried.

October financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $28,624.10 from Delaware County. Expenditures for October were $27,786.15 ending October at $1,960,093.67. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $32,671.73 from Delaware County expenditures of $236,251.50, ending October at $56,948.63. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending October with a $30,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Althoff to receive and file the October financial report. Leonard seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Committee Updates:

Leonard informed the Trustees that meetings will be forthcoming with our lobbyists to discuss the upcoming 2020 legislative session.

A motion to adjourn was made by Leonard, second by Althoff. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:47 p.m.

The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Thursday, October 17, 2019

6:30 pm

Lake Delhi Trustees Administration Building

Delhi, IA 52223

The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 6:30 pm by President Staebell.

Trustees present: Staebell, Davidson, Burger, Herman, Schermann and Alftoff by phone

Absent: Leonard

Visitors: Dan Reyner, Ed Schmidt, Larry Aschbrenner, Ed Winfield and Randy Rattenborg

Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Schermann, seconded by Burger. Motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Herman, seconded by Davidson. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $6,983.61 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, additional insurance coverage, beach cleanup, office cleanup and LP gas. Burger noted that an additional invoice from ICAP was for liability coverage on both Lost Beach and North Beach.  A motion was made by Burger to accept the claims as presented. Seconded by Herman. Motion carried.

September financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $126,469.49 from Delaware County. Expenditures for September were $14,394.57 ending September at $1,949,255.72. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $165,554.57 from Delaware County with no expenditures, ending September at $260,528.40. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending September with a $30,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Herman to receive and file the September financial report. Burger seconded the motion. Motion carried.

The Board considered a request for a donation to the LDRA for assistance with their dredge debt. The payment is for interest only in the amount of $20,517.55.   Herman made a motion to approve payment and Davidson seconded the motion. Herman noted that there has been previous discussions of meeting with Bank One to renegotiate the loan schedule. Staebell suggested the Finance Committee get together before the next regular meeting to discuss possible options for renegotiations. With no further comment, Staebell asked for a vote. Motion carried.

The Board considered a request from Laurie Kramer for partial reimbursement on a new printer she purchased for lake and other use. Her invoice included the cost of the printer, one black printer cartridge and a service agreement. Davidson made a motion to pay for the printer cartridge and one-half of the cost of the printer. Burger seconded the motion. After some discussion the motion was amended to include paying for one-half of any future ink cartridge purchases. Davidson moved to approve the amended motion, Herman seconded. Motion carried.

Committee Updates:

Finance Committee – Burger noted he put together copies of the dredge loan for the new board members. The LDRA dredge loan has a current balance of $1.2M which includes $188,000 in interest. The interest rate is currently 3.26%. Because the loan is currently in a call position there’s an opportunity to pay off the entire loan or do a partial payoff. The GO Bond loan has been refinanced from 4.25% to 2.66%. The call provision is in 2023. By refunding we saved $528,000 in interest. Leonard had asked for updated information on the debt capacity of the lake. Burger noted that in 2018 there was a $2.5M increase in debt capacity and in July, 2019 the increase was $3.1M. Burger stated he projected an increase of 5% growth going forward. That estimate is subject to change and hard to predict. Burger noted any change in debt capacity would take a vote of the Lake Delhi residents but he felt giving the board this information would be helpful when looking at potential future projects such as dredging and water quality.

Staebell suggested the trustees consider holding a work session after a board meeting when the regular agenda is light to provide for more in-depth committee updates. He stated he would take that into consideration going forward and would check with the trustees to see if there would be a consensus to hold work sessions in the future.

Staebell suggested moving Joe Schermann to the Community of Life Committee and Joel Althoff to the Finance/Budget Committee. Both members agreed to the change.

Water Quality/Sediment Control Committee – Herman provided an update. He noted at the last meeting of the MR WMA he visited with Dave Mack from the NRCS. Dave mentioned they are doing water sampling above the lake. They checked for nitrates, sulfates and e-coli. Dave noted certain spots on Lake Delhi would be good testing sites. The costs would not be excessive and samples are taken by trained volunteers. Herman felt this was something the board should consider at a future meeting. Staebell suggested Dave come to a future meeting to provide more information.

Property Assets Committee – Davidson noted the Operations Team had a meeting on Tuesday, October 15. He reviewed some of the items that were discussed. Burrington Group is going to be doing a check for settlement issues on the south embankment. There’s also a gate actuator that is still stored with Lunda. There’s some discussion of moving that back to the dam. The diesel generator is scheduled for testing this month. The buoy system is partial disconnected and that’s going to be repaired. Kistler was at the dam to fix the hoist. Bubblers will be installed in front of the gates in the near future. Clean up is scheduled for around the LP tank at the dam. There was discussion about doing an upgrade to the computer that’s housed at the Scada building. Jason from Burrington Group will be checking with Jetco to make sure the upgrade will be compatible with their system. The cost for the upgrade is around $300.00. Battery backups also need to be replaced and Burrington Group will be taking care of that. Donna from Burrington Group is still looking into options to replace fiber optics system. Our current DSL is slow and expensive. The LP tanks will be getting filled for the winter season along with filling the diesel generator once it has been inspected later this month. The gutters at the Scada office have been cleaned and Davidson also noted that Burrington Group is looking into getting a computer desk for the computer system that is housed at the Scada office. It currently sits on a folding table. Schermann said he may have a desk he would donate.

Randy Rattenborg noted that Kistler will have some recommendations regarding concerns they had regarding installations issues with the hoist. He noted Alliant Energy brought down a bucket truck to see if it would work for trouble shooting if needed and it worked well.   He also noted he was going to be meeting with Joel Althoff regarding cameras for the dam, internet issues and battery backups.

Staebell asked if the compliance reports and daily inspections were being taken care of. Davidson stated that there is a need for weekend volunteers to help with the inspections. Staebell also asked about the inspection reports that Stanley was to provide. Rattenborg stated that Bill Holman is waiting for the settlement report on the south embankment before he submits his final report. Davidson noted we have an estimate from Rotork for $3,700 for client support and general maintenance on the actuator. Staebell suggested putting the contract on the November meeting agenda for approval.

Public Comment:

Ed Winfield asked what the process is for handling trees that are floating in the lake. Staebell stated there was a cleanup that was done in conjunction with the ice jam damage. There are no plans for any further removal at this time. It was noted that tree removal is not the responsibility of the trustees and that previous removal was been done by volunteers.

Larry Aschbrenner asked a question regarding increasing the debt capacity and who votes on that issue. Burger stated it’s a vote of the residents of the lake and needs 60% to pass. He also asked about the gates and when are them closed completely. Rattenborg noted that around 500 cfs they are closed and at around 550 – 600 cfs they start to move. This is based on the Highway 20 bridge gauge.

Dan Reyner said he met with members of the LDRA board and there were some questions and information that came out of that meeting. 1) They wanted to know if the District planned to add sand to Lost Beach. Staebell stated that there were no plans at this time. It was noted that there may be some free sand available and Reyner was going to look into it. 2) The LDRA is working with the Fishing Club to offer fishing lessons to kids. 3) They are also working with the fire department to use their sonar equipment to make a depth map. Staebell stated the DNR may be helpful with that project. 4) Fundraising for the fireworks is going well. 5) Reyner ask if the Trustees had an email list that could be shared with the LDRA. Staebell felt it is important to keep the LDRA information separate from District information and he would check with Laurie Kramer to see if she could provide the LDRA with an email list. 6) Reyner asked for an update from last month’s visit with the DNR which was provided. Reyner stated the LDRA would like to put up signage for safety concerns. 7) Reyner noted the MVREC is bringing in fiber optics on the north side of the lake for internet access and that Alliant has no interest in providing that service. He asked if the trustees could influence the MVREC to come to the south side. Staebell said he felt a group in a certain area would have more influence rather than the Trustees. Rattenborg said MVREC has been taken care of their current customers for the first phase. He also noted that the MVREC needs to negotiate with Alliant because the south side is Alliant territory and negotiations are not going well.   Staebell suggested reaching out to our lobbyists for potential help with the issue.

A motion to adjourn was made by Burger, second by Herman. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Thursday, September 19, 2019

6:30 pm

Lake Delhi Trustees Administration Building

Delhi, IA 52223

The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 6:30 pm by President Staebell.

Trustees present: Staebell, Davidson, Burger, Herman, Leonard and Althoff

Absent: Schermann

Visitors: Bruce & Margie Schneider, Wanda Davidson, Pat Colgan, Mary & Ken Kray, Dakota Drish, Dan Recker, Larry Aschbrenner and Linda Slobodnick.

Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Herman, seconded by Burger. Motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Leonard, seconded by Davidson. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $8,705.72 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, beach cleanup, port-a-potties, and use of a boom truck. Burger noted that an additional invoice from ICAP for renewal of the District’s blanket insurance was received and should be added to the claims. The cost is $6,826.00.   A motion was made by Burger to accept the claims as presented. Seconded by Herman. Motion carried.

August financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $44,872.96 from Delaware County. Expenditures for August were $33,857.18 ending August at $1,847,180.80. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $55,796.64 from Delaware County with no expenditures, ending August at $94,973.83. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending August with a $30,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Herman to receive and file the August financial report. Althoff seconded the motion. Motion carried.

The Board reviewed a proposal from IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering from the University of Iowa. Staebell gave a brief overview of the proposal which included water quality and sediment monitoring on Lake Delhi.   Chris Jones from the University of Iowa was available by phone to discuss the process that occurred to get to this point of presenting the modeling proposal. the water quality and various spots within the lake. This would be done in biweekly intervals. Staebell noted that the Board needed to look at the proposal and decide how much if anything they want the engineers to do for the lake and he asked for input from the Board. Questions concerning startup costs and timelines were raised.

Leonard also suggested taking the proposal to the Maquoketa River Watershed Committee as there may be other areas of the Maquoketa River that would benefit. Staebell asked if the Board would want to consider tabling any action on the proposal until the Water Quality Committee has more time to review and gather more information. Davidson made the motion to table, seconded by Burger. Herman noted that he felt the studies are very important before any dredging projects would be considered. He also said he thought there may be an opportunity of cost sharing with other entities. With no other comment, Staebell asked of vote. All ayes. Motion carried.

The next agenda item was an update from the DNR. Staebell introduced Dakota Drish. Dakota said he has been covering Delaware County for about a year. He also serves Black Hawk and Buchanan counties. He noted that as a DNR probation officer his focus is on hunting, fishing, trapping, snowmobiling, ATV and boating.   As a member of the DNR law enforcement bureau, the key object is education and enforcement. He spoke about dock enforcement and noted that Sue from the Delaware County office takes care of monitoring permits and if there are issues she notifies him to address it.   He stated the dock signs are important not just to the DNR for law enforcement and emergency responders if there’s been a boating accident, drowning, etc. Permits allow for these personnel to get to areas quicker. He noted prior to the dam failure in 2010 there was a DNR presence on the lake. After that event the DNR made the decision that they would no longer patrol Lake Delhi on a routine basis. The DNR is working with local law enforcement to patrol the lake with the main focus being on having a presence at lake events such as Christmas on the Lake. Staebell asked if the Trustees had any questions. Davidson said after the added public access there are more boaters than ever before he feels there needs to be more enforcement because of that. Leonard thanked the DNR for cooperating with our lake events and helping with permits. He said educating the public is very important because of the new boaters that are coming to Lake Delhi. Dakota said he wasn’t getting calls about these situations but in fact he’s been getting push back from people on the lake. He said because of the push back he was advised that he would not be patrolling the lake. Herman asked Dakota who is supposed to monitor the lifts and docks that are in unacceptable condition. Dakota said it is the responsibility of the DNR. A question was raised on how a person can contact the DNR if they have concerns or questions. Dakota said there are DNR personnel that are assigned to handle simple misdeamenors.   Staebell said he would contact Dakota at a later time to get more contact information. Dakota said his phone number is available to anyone who needs it.

The next agenda item was consideration and possible action on a resolution to approve the closing statement and approval of the execution and issuance of a Quit Claim deed to Linda Slobodnik.  Staebell asked Herman to review the documents that were drafted. He discussed the Quit Claim Deed along with the closing statement and the plat survey. Slobodnik mentioned that she hadn’t received an invoice for the survey which has delayed the recording of the deed. Herman said he felt that can be resolved but the survey does need to be filed ahead of the quit claim deed so it has a book and page number inserted.   After further discussion, a motion was made by Davidson, seconded by Burger to approve the resolution as presented. Staebell asked for a roll call vote.

Davidson – Aye

Althoff – Aye

Herman – Aye

Burger – Aye

Leonard – Aye

Staebell – Aye

Schermann – Absent

Motion carried.

Committee Updates:

Community Quality of Life – Lenard said he is expecting the final drawings any day and Culvers is expected to start the wall project yet this fall.

Property, Assets & Dam – Davidson noted that there was a pile of debris similar to a beaver dam location by the sluice gate and on August 28 it was removed. The project took about 7-8 hours and it went very well. Cleanup is being done around the Scada Office.

Finance & Budget – Burger said he is working on the bond debt capacity and will be reviewing his worksheets with the finance committee.

Public Comment:

Pat Colgan noted that mowing needs to be done near the tank by the power plant. He said he enjoyed the conversation with the University of Iowa. He noted main flood events occur in the summer and fall. He encouraged monitoring during normal flows to maintain a base line.

Linda Slobodnik stated she felt monitoring should not cost as much as has been proposed and any data should be owned by the District.

A motion to adjourn was made by Davidson, second by Althoff. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Thursday, August 22, 2019

6:30 pm

Lake Delhi Trustees Administration Building

Delhi, IA

The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 6:30 pm by President Staebell.

Trustees present: Staebell, Davidson, Burger, Herman and Leonard

Absent: None

Visitors: Wanda Davidson, Ed Schmidt, Mary & Ken Kray, Marilyn & Tom Cook, Joe Scherrman, Larry Aschbrenner and Joel Althoff.

Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Herman, seconded by Burger. Motion carried.

Recently elected board members, Joe Scherrman and Joel Althoff, took the oath of office to become official members of the board.

Election of officers was held. Burger made a motion to continue with the same slate of officers as this past year. Leonard seconded the motion.   Staebell asked if there were any other nominations. Current officers are Staebell as President, Herman as Vice-President and Burger as Secretary/Treasurer. With no further discussion, the motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Herman, seconded by Davidson. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $6,972.73 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, beach cleanup, port-a-potties, LP tank rental, signage and office rent. There was discussion regarding the internet service provided by Windstream. Davidson said the service is extremely slow. He noted that Donna Kunde from Burrington Group has been looking into finding another provider. Staebell also stated that he asked Laurie Kramer to look into getting internet service for the lake office.   A motion was made by Davidson to accept the claims as presented. Seconded by Leonard. Motion carried.

July financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $4,049.67 from Delaware County. Expenditures for July were $65,914.33 ending July at $1,846,165.02. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $1,147.34 from Delaware County with no expenditures, ending July at $39,177.19. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending July with a $30,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Herman to receive and file the July financial report. Althoff seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Leonard noted that the agenda they were given didn’t include the consideration for the contract approval with Culver’s Landscaping along with approval of committee assignments. The correct agenda was, however, posted on the website .   A motion to add both items number 8 and 9 was made by Herman, second by Burger. Motion carried.

The board considered entering into a contract with Culvers Landscaping site preparation and installation of the Wall of Recognition. Leonard noted he, Todd Gifford and Lamont Davidson have been working on finalizing the plans for the Wall of Recognition.   Leonard is recommending that the Board approve the signing of the contract along with a payment of one-half of the contract which is $26,884.45 to be processed by the county. The payment would be held until the engineers sign off on the plan. This would prevent holding up the project. Culvers is supposed to have the cross section drawings completed by this coming Monday for the engineers to review. Staebell asked if Burrington Group would have to sign off on the project. Leonard stated Burrington will be on site to approve the footings which is a different contract from the engineer’s approval. The process for approval of the project is to have Bill Holman from Stanley Engineers review the design and then it would be submitted to the DNR for their approval. Leonard noted that the plans have been reviewed once before, prior to the modifications, and it took less than a week to get approval from Stanley and the DNR. He said it should not be an issue. Once the drawings are complete this Monday, Leonard stated he would forward them to the rest of the Board. Burger asked about the time frame for the project. Leonard said he would confirm with Culvers but the thought is that the project would be completed this fall. Leonard noted that follow-up letters need to be sent to the donors to be sure that their recognition is stated correctly on the wall.   That needs to be done before the engraving can be completed. Leonard said he would get something in writing from Culvers on a completion date prior to releasing any payment. Davidson asked a question about insuring the wall. Burger stated that once the wall is completed it will be added to the property insurance. Burger noted that Culvers will need to provide us with proof of insurance prior to starting the project. Leonard reviewed his motion that included the signing of the contract, starting the process to get partial payment from the county which will be given to Culvers once the design has been approved by the engineers and the DNR. He will get a commitment on the final drawings from Culverrs along with a completion date and their proof of insurance. Leonard made this motion, second by Davidson. Motion carried.

The next agenda item was discussion and possible action on the approval of repairs to the overhead lifting crane that will be mounted on the dam. Davidson provided information to the Board regarding the crane. He stated that there have been problems with water getting into the crane and it was proposed to lower the box. However, the proposal was to build a whole new box at a cost of $43,800. As a committee it was decided not to go that direction. He noted on June 20 the Board designated $10,000 to do repairs to the box. Essentially, the company would come in with a crane and repair the box so it’s completely water proof.   The quote from Kistler Crane & Hoist came in at $14,694. Davidson this was the cheapest quote he received.   He stated they would complete the repairs. Leonard asked if Davidison felt there might be some additional expense and he agreed that that was a possibility. Leonard made a motion to increase the amount that was approved in June to add an additional $7,000 to cap the project at $17,000. Burger seconded the motion. Motion carried.

The next agenda item was the committee assignments. Staebell noted he had sent out an update of assignments for review. He went over the assignments and asked for input from the Board. Scherrman made a motion to accept the assignments as presented. Burger seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Committee Updates:

Water Quality & Sediment Control: Herman noted that a group of board members and community members met with several individuals from the Iowa Flood Center. They were given a tour of the lake.   The goal is to have them help with long term planning with the goal of getting funding for water quality and sediment control projects. Staebell noted that this group works closely with Stanley Engineering which is a huge benefit for the District.   One comment made by a member of the Iowa Flood Center was that unless something changes he said he felt that in 25 years Lake Delhi will not be conducive to swimming, boating and fishing activities. Leonard asked what kind of comments were made regarding sediment removal. Staebell stated that their proposal probably won’t go into great detail on how to move forward with sediment removal because they would submit their thoughts to Stanley Engineering before giving any detail on that issue. Herman noted that he checked in with Homeland Security because the District still does not have closure on the 2008 FEMA project due to questions regarding the dredge site. He said in talking with a lady from Homeland Security and she said while it is moving slow she felt the closeout will come by the end of the year. The issue is that there were some historical artifacts found at the site and while it was noted in the report there has been no plan on how to remediate the issue. Herman stated the final closeout will need to include a plan fix the issue. There’s a possibility that the District would need to pay the University of Iowa Archeology Dept. to put together a report of what artifacts may have been in that area. The cost including posting the information on a website could cost upwards of $38,000 which is still thousands of dollars less than if we had to return all the FEMA money the District received. Herman also noted that he also filed for FEMA monies after the 2016 event and that money is being held up until the 2008 project is resolved. The amount we applied for was around $8,000. He stated those monies may be used to offset the cost of the 2008 project.

There were no other committee updates.

Leonard asked Davidson a question regarding the stop logs. He asked when would the gates be tested using the stop logs. Davidson said once the repairs get made they will test the gates.   Staebell noted that the annual inspections are being done but the reports have not been received from Stanley.

Property & Assets: Staebell noted that the transfer of ground to Linda Slobodnik is proceeding. A survey has been done. Other documents such as deed preparation and recording fees still need to be taken care of before the actual transfer of property can be made.    He noted that preliminary work has been done on another properties that could be made available to the Board at an upcoming meeting. Herman noted that there are some complexities when reviewing these properties and documentation.

Leonard expressed appreciation to Ed Schmidt and Pat Dede for allowing their property to be used for this year’s fireworks. He also noted that both the fireworks and Christmas on the Lake were a huge hit this year and thanked all those involved for their efforts.

Public Comment:

Tom Cook asked why there’s not more patrolling of the lake especially when we have people boating who don’t know what side the river they should be boating on. Staebell noted that the DNR is coming next month and the Board will be having discussions with them on how they plan to patrol Lake Delhi. He did note that the Delaware Co. Sheriff’s Department has been patrolling periodically. Davidison noted that the DNR does not recognize our tradition of boating on the right or left side. Leonard expressed that there’s need to send out information about regarding boating safety noting it has been done in the past and it might be a good idea to send out communications again. Scherrman asked about additional communications for the proper why to handle downed skiers.   Leonard noted the LDRA is working on putting out communications regarding these issues.

Mary Kray asked how the District is getting contact information from new property owners. Staebell stated he has met with several road associations and received addresses from new property owners. He also stated he has the email addresses for all of the road association presidents and will send out a note to them asking them to give the District any information on new property owners in their area.

Larry Aschbrenner asked Davidson for additional information regarding the issue with the overhead lifting crane. Davidson said there have been discussions about building a cat walk to help with the issue.

He also asked about maintenance on the port-a-potties noting that North Beach was not in good shape the last time he stopped. Staebell noted that when there’s a rain event it’s hard for D & S to get down with their truck to take care of the port-a-potties and that did occur last week. He said he would call D & S to make sure everything is clean for the coming Labor Day weekend.

A motion to adjourn was made by Leonard, second by Burger. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

4:00 pm

Lake Delhi Trustees Administration Building

Delhi, IA

The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 4:00 pm by President Staebell.

Trustees present: Staebell, Davidson, Gifford, Havertape, Burger and Herman  Leonard was present by phone

Absent: None

Visitors: Ed Schmidt, Joe Scherrman, Larry Aschbrenner and Pat Colgan

Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Davidson, second by Havertape. Motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Davidson, seconded by Gifford. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $66,126.16 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, beach clean-up and port-a-potties, dam maintenance, watershed donation, debris removal and dredge removal. Gifford motioned to approve the claims for payment as read. Havertape second the motion. Davidson questioned the additional invoice from Frentress for $8,000. According to the invoice there was additional work done between May 31 and June 3 due to additional items removed from the lake. Staebell noted that an email he received from Jeremy indicated that he was notified by the Delhi Fire Department of several lifts in the Freddie’s Beach area that he removed around May 25^th. With no more discussion, Staebell asked for a vote on the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.

June financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $5,824.81 from Delaware County. Expenditures for June were $33,708.29 ending June at $1,918,029.68. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $3,453.13 from Delaware County with no expenditures, ending June at $38,029.85. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending June with a $30,000.00 balance. Burger motioned to receive and file the financial reports as read, Gifford seconded. It was noted that at the end of fiscal year 2019, the District overspent the amount received from the recreational tax of $4.00/$1000 by close to $147,000. This was due to several large projects, including the drainage work done on the south side of the dame. It was also noted that this past year monies were received from the Community Fund to Rebuild Lake Delhi to offset the additional expenses.   With no other discussion, the motion carried.

Burger presented information to the Board regarding the possibility of increasing the liability overage. We currently have $3,000,000 in liability coverage with ICAP. He also suggested the Board consider increasing their deduction which is currently $500. There was discussion regarding increasing the liability and Burger was asked to bring back costs for various levels of liability coverage. A motion to table until further information is available was made by Herman. Gifford seconded the motion. Motion to table carried.

Committee Updates:

Property, Assets & Dam – Davidson noted that he has talked with Burrington Group to go ahead and order the cable that is going to be replaced on the dam and also the crane needs to be lined up. They are thinking they only needs to be one contractor for the job at this point.

Burger also noted that Mitch Stender had been hired to take care of Lost Beach.

Gifford informed the Board that he has been in touch with Culver Nursery regarding the Wall of Recognition.   He stated he had forwarded their contract with the numbers and the drawings to both Davidson and Leonard for review. Because Gifford is not running for re-election he said whether he would continue to work on the project would be up to the Board.

Staebell thanked both Gifford and Havertape for the time they served on the Board.

Public Comment:

Aschbrenner asked if the Board had received a breakdown on the Frentress bill. Staebell noted that there is a breakdown and that he had talked with Jeremy Klima regarding the bill and noted that the Board approved the bill earlier in the meeting. Davidson also noted that in addition to taking out the debris in the lake bed, the District had Frentress cleanup a lot of the trees and debris that had settled on the dam area and spillway.

With no other comments, Havertape made a motion to adjourn, second by Burger.

Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

WORK SESSION began at 4:33 p.m.

Staebell presented the Board with a handout of issues he wanted to address.

The first item up for discussion was the Wall of Recognition. Gifford said the contract is ready for review. The drawings will need to be reviewed by an engineering firm because the project has been scaled back from the initial proposal. Gifford noted that the previous drawings had been reviewed by Stanley and given to Jon Garten of the IDNR for his approval. Davidson noted that the engineer should be on site during the process of digging the footings. Because of the change in the drawings, Leonard stated he thought the DNR should review prior to any work being done. Gifford stated that the names of the donors will need to be verified. He suggested that he and Laurie Kramer work on getting the names verified. Gifford stated that the project could be started as early as late August or early September. Leonard stated he would like to take the project to Bill Holman from Stanley for review prior to taking it to Jon Garten. Colgan agreed that any time you have a change in a project you need to go through the review process with Holman and Garten. Leonard noted there will be a fee to have Holman review the project. Staebell asked how the names were going to be placed on the wall and Kramer asked how the names are going to be attached and Gifford stated the names will be inscribed. Sizing of names will be based on the size of the donation. Herman asked if the site included seating or is it just the wall. Gifford stated that the only thing being done was the wall at this point. Leonard stated that he has been contacted by someone who is interested in donating toward some aspect of the project. At some point they would like to come to the Board and talk about it.

The next item for discussion was the trustee budget. Staebell stated he wanted to talk about several things regarding the budget. The first would be the LDRA debt and secondly he would like to discuss the cost of dredging possibly using matching funds and how this would impact the budget. Leonard asked Burger if he could tell him what the payoff amount would be if the District were to pay down the entire debt. He also asked Kramer what our current cash position is. The current cash position is around $1.8 million. He also asked how much is anticipated to be raised from the $4.00/$1000 in the coming fiscal year. That amount is a little over $347,000. Burger stated the payoff would be $1,260,000. Leonard asked Burger if he had any idea on how we could come to an agreement to with the bank to on a cash settlement noting there’s no obligation on the District’s part to pay the LDRA debt. Burger stated there’s a possibility to readjust the interest rates. He stated there would not be an issue approaching the bank regarding a payoff. The question for the Board is to decide whether to pay off the LDRA debt with the monies available knowing that there may be a need for those dollars for dredging projects in the future. Herman noted that if the District paid off the LDRA and needed to borrow it would require a referendum from the residents. Staebell noted that the under the current LDRA debt schedule annual payments will go from $151,000 this past year to $268,476 by 2026. A question was raised about the interested earned on the General Fund monies. Kramer noted that our money is invested by the Delaware Co. Treasurer and it’s very conservative because it’s public funds. Gifford asked it we had any options on investing some of the money and Kramer stated she could ask the county treasurer for that information.

Dredge discussion was next. Staebell noted that Gary Grant presented the Board with information regarding potential funding sources for dredging in the future. It would require the Board to come up with a plan for dredging to present at the next legislative session. A 3-5 year plan could involve maintenance, mitigation, sediment control, etc. He noted that Bill Holman had done a study several years ago. He also stated that he reached out to the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa. He asked if they could give communities guidance on sedimentation, flooding, etc. They get funding to do this type of work and several professors said they could come to the lake and see what the conditions exist at Lake Delhi. Colgan stated that the biggest factor in sedimentation is floods. He suggested coming up with a grand plan and decide what the Board wants to accomplish. After establishing a policy there needs to be action items to make it happen. By studying certain areas over a period of several years the Board could use that data determine what areas need assistance. More discussion was held on how to develop a policy. Burger expressed concern about having a policy that restricts the District and could potentially be a liability. He suggested a broad policy that says the District will promote recreational and safety on Lake Delhi. Gifford said he there’s no need for a policy if you have a strategy. Having a policy is taking ownership of something you don’t own. Leonard suggested getting current data for potential costs in certain areas that have already been identified. More discussion was held on doing studies and gather the information needed and how to go about it. Because more data is needed, Staebell suggested having the professors from the Iowa Flood Center come to the lake. He provided two dates. July 31 or August 6^th. Staebell asked how many of the board members would be interested in meeting with the professors. Several expressed an interest on meeting July 31^st and holding a possible work session at that time. Leonard asked Burger if he could find out what the District has for bonding capacity based on the latest valuations and what has been paid down. Burger said he would look into it. A question was raised about the dredge site. Colgan stated the site is not operable. At this point there’s no way to get the water back to the river. He noted there are many details that need to be worked out before it could become operational.  Maintenance of the site will also be an issue. Colgan said there are a lot of strategies and suggested a comprehensive study of the area.

The last discussion point was dam operations. Staebell, noted Burrington Group is currently contracted for dam operations but there’s still a need for volunteers to do some of the day-to-day maintenance. Davidson said it’s hard to find volunteers for the day-to-day observations. Several names were suggested as individuals might be interested in doing the daily observations and small maintenance. It was also noted that the District doesn’t have enough volunteers to do the daily operations. Staebell asked Colgan if he could get him the names of volunteers that are currently in the Operations Plan to do daily observations. Staebell asked if he could get a synopsis of what the requirements for daily operations. Gifford suggested creating a checklist for the Board so future trustees are aware of those requirements.

A motion to adjourn was made by Herman, second by Burger. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m.