The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
4:00 pm
Delhi, IA 52223
The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by President Burger.
Present: Burger, Leonard, Thomspon, Colgan, Hingtgen and Vance. Staebell via Zoom
Absent: None
Support Staff: Randy Rattenborg and Laurie Kramer via Zoom.
Visitors: Ed Schmidt, Karen Anderson, Carlin Freeman and Craig Witry. Several others on zoom
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Leonard, second by Colgan. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion to approve minutes from previous meetings was made by Leonard, second by Hingtgen. All ayes. Motion carried.
The Board reviewed claims from the General Fund (81000) as presented. Claims included utilities, maintenance contract, clerical expense, lobbyist expense, technical services, legal services, lawn maintenance and dam maintenance. Claims totaled $16,531.28 from the General Fund. Claims for the debt service fund included principal and interest in the amount of $223,472.90. A motion was made by Thompson, second by Colgan to approve all claims. All ayes. Motion carried.
September financial reports were presented. The General Fund received $258,666.45 in property taxes for the month and interest in the amount of $6,092.49 for a total of $264,758.94. Expenditures for September were $51,468.66 ending September at $2,518,653.37. The Debt Service Fund received property tax in the amount of $351,479.59 for the month of September and $1,435.15 in interest. With no expenditures the Debt Service ended the month with a balance of $1,043,170.97. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures ending September with a $100,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Leonard, second by Hingtgen to receive and file the September financial reports. All ayes. Motion carried.
Vance presented information relating to the issue of tree removal as discussed at last month’s meeting. He met with the landowners and they would like more information regarding the cost to remove the trees and who would be contracted to do the work. Vance indicated that the first step would be to find a contractor that could work in the area because of the location and get bids for the work. Vance made a motion to table any action until he gets more information. Leonard seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Leonard presented the board with a quote for concrete work to finish the area around the Wall of Recognition. The quote includes two flag poles and their installation. Leonard made a motion to approve the work with a cap of not to exceed $15,000 understanding this is not taxing payer dollars. Vance seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Committee Updates:
Water Quality, Legislative & Community Events – Leonard reported that the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is working on a project in the watershed close to the fish hatchery and they are looking to fundraise to support a 200- acre area to support hiking, fishing and hunting. Greg Schmitt, who is head of the project will plan to attend next month’s meeting to provide more information.
Leonard also reported that he has been in contact with Rich Hughes with regard to issues at Lost Beach. Hughes is looking to install a retaining wall from the parking lot towards the water to help prevent continuous erosion. Hughes plans to get quotes before doing any work.
Hughes also reported that there’s an area north of Mitch Tanner that is owned by the Amish. There’s lots of siltation coming down from that area and Hughes suggested putting in a siltation trap. More information will be gathered and provided next spring.
Dredging – Staebell noted that the election is a little under two weeks away.
Dam Operations – Colgan stated he is still waiting on the 5-year inspection results. The inspection was done earlier this summer. He noted that even with the wet summer we had the dam has been working efficiently to maintain water levels. Burger raised the question about security cameras and their current locations. Rattenborg stated that we currently have four cameras on the dam and three near the dam office. There currently isn’t any cameras cover the Wall of Recognition area. Leonard stated he would look into adding cameras and provide information at the next meeting. Rattenborg reported that the dam volunteers are doing well with the new tablets used to record daily inspections. He noted that there are plans to remove the trees from the spillway and add the ice eaters sometime in November.
Property Management – Burger asked Thompson to look into getting the office power washed and have the gutters repaired. Hingtgen stated he’s still waiting to hear back from Windstream regarding the internet issue.
Finance & Budget – No update
Public Comment:
Karen Anderson asked several questions regarding the upcoming bond election. Her concerns included lack of communication regarding the election and lack of plans for the dredge projects. Leonard spoke about the issues with getting funding from the county and state. He noted that the legislature is currently dealing with water quality issues and their ties to the high cancer rates in Iowa. The county’s priority right now is construction the bridge east of the dam.
Ed Schmidt asked about providing more information regarding the District’s financial reports. Kramer responded that the financial reports are on the Lake Delhi Trustee website and include detailed line items that reference where expenditures are allocated. She suggested that if Schmidt would like other information that’s not the website to reach out to her and she would provide that for him.
A motion to adjourn was made by Colgan, second by Staebell. All ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 4:51 p.m.
