The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Wednesday, August 19, 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, Hingtgen, Staebell, Colgan, Thomspon and Vance
Absent: Leonard
Support Staff: Laurie Kramer via Zoom.
Visitors: Maggie Burger, Dan Moore and Michael Miller via Zoom
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Staebell, second by Hingtgen. All ayes. Motion carried.
It was noted that the newly elected trustees (Leanard, Staebell and Vance) were sworn in prior to this meeting.
Staebell made a motion to keep the same officers for the coming year. Burger as President, Leonard as Vice-President and Staebell as Secretary/Treasurer. Thompson seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion to approve minutes from previous meetings was made by Thompson, second by Colgan. All ayes. Motion carried.
The Board reviewed claims from the General Fund (81000) as presented. Claims included utilities, maintenance contracts, clerical expense, lobbyist expense, technical services, legal fees and lawn maintenance. Claims totaled $41,532.29 from the General Fund. A motion was made by Staebell, second by Hingtgen to approve the claims. All ayes. Motion carried.
July financial reports were presented. The General Fund received no property taxes for the month, interest in the amount of $6,062.59 and $15,190.00 for land transfer for a total of $21,252.59. Expenditures for July were $8,913.13 ending July at $2,277,168.24. The Debt Service Fund received no property tax for the month of July and $1,416.19 in interest. There were no expenditures in July ending the month with a balance of $602,010.24. The Dam Improvement Fund received no new revenues with no expenditures ending July with a $100,000.00 balance. A motion was made by Staebell, second by Thompson to receive and file the July financial reports. All ayes. Motion carried.
The trustees discussed changing the meeting day and time. Thompson made a motion to keep the current schedule which is having the regular meeting on the third Wednesday of the month at 4:00 p.m. Burger noted meetings dates can be changed if needed. Staebell seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Maggie Burger was present to discuss approval of an Engagement Letter with Speer Financial regarding the upcoming GO Bond election. If approved, Speer Financial would provide the financial services that are required for bond issuance. Maggie noted that the District will not be subject to any fees unless the bond referendum is approved. Fees are based on the amount of bonds issued. Staebell made a motion to approve the engagement letter with Speer Financial. Hingtgen seconded the motion. Larry Burger abstained from the vote. All ayes with the exception of Burger. Motion carried.
The trustees reviewed an engagement letter with Dorsey Whitney. They would provide legal services as Bond Council for the election process for issuance of GO bonds. The estimated costs for services is $5,000. Staeball made a motion to approve the engagement letter with Dorsey Whitney. Colgan seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Burger informed the trustees and he and Maggie Burger met with Carla Becker, Delaware Co. Auditor, to review the required timelines for the bond election. The following timeline was developed at that meeting:
“The $9,200,000 GO referendum will be on the November 3 general election ballot for voters in the Lake Delhi Taxing District to vote on.
It is illegal to vote in two different Counties for any election, so you either will need to vote in Delaware County or your home County. You cannot vote it both even if absentee voting in one and voting in person in another. Checks following the election are done and you can be prosecuted for voting in two locations for the same election.
October 14, 2026-Absentee Voting begins in the County Auditor’s office, 301 E Main Street, Manchester, IA 52057 during normal business hours. There will be one Saturday prior to election, October 31 that that Auditor’s office will be open for absentee voting. You may also request an absentee ballot from the County Auditor’s office, contact 563-927-4701.
October 19, 2026 is the last day to re-register to vote in Taxing District if you are a property owner without having to sign an affidavit with your ballot. After this date you will need to show ID and at least one item with your lake address (property tax statement with your name and address would suffice)
October 20-November 2, 2026 you can register to vote in the County Auditor’s office but must show ID and proof of address (property tax statement with your name and address would suffice). Registering after October 19 will require the signing of an affidavit to vote.
November 3, 2026 Election day – you can register and vote at the polling location but it will require multiple extra forms to be signed by the voter and proof of address will be required (property tax statement with your name and address would suffice).
If you are currently registered to vote in the Lake Delhi Taxing District nothing additional is required, you can vote absentee ahead or vote day of election at the polling location.
If your home County is having a special election on September 2026 you could vote in that and change your registration to the Lake Delhi taxing district and vote in November in ONLY Delaware County.
You can re-register back to your home County about 2 weeks following the November 3 election day, once votes are canvassed by the County Board of Supervisors.
You can register to vote at a Dept. of Transportation (DOT) location, County Auditor’s office or by printing out, signing and mailing in a Voter Registration Form on the Secretary of State’s website:
Delaware County Iowa Elections Page https://delawarecountyelections.iowa.gov/ Iowa Secretary of State Voter Information Page https://sos.iowa.gov/voters/voter-registration”
It was noted that the election requires a super majority vote which means 60% or more of the voters must approve the bond. Because members of the trustees cannot actively promote the bond it was suggested a committee be developed to help facilitate communications with residents regarding the bond. A motion was made by Staebell to receive and file the voter registration information. Vance seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Colgan, second by Thompson to approve a quote from ITS to update the battery system at the Scada office in the amount of $2,920.78 as recommended by Randy Rattenborg. All ayes. Motion carried.
Staebell made a motion to approve the annual InSource AVEVA Wonderware software renewal at a cost of $4,395.22. Hingtgen seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Staebell presented a request from Steve Leonard to purchase signage for the parking lot at the dam office. It was noted that individuals have been leaving their boat trailers in the parking lot for long periods of time and there are concerns that the trend may continue. After much discussion, Staebell made a motion to approve signage up to $700 with appropriate wording to address the issue. Vance seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Committee Updates: Burger asked the trustees to contact him if they want to be on their same committees or want a change. He will present his recommendations at the September meeting.
Water Quality, Legislative & Community Events – Leonard was not present for an update. It was noted that the fireworks are scheduled of Saturday, August 22nd.
Dredge – Staebell stated he worked with Randy Rattenborg to develop and send out RFQs to several engineering firms to review and then approve a firm to get initial guidance on dredging projects. They received four responses and Staebell suggested the dredge committee review and schedule an interview with two firms. He hopes to schedule a meeting with the trustees prior to the September meeting to approve an engineer.
Dam Operations – Colgan informed the trustees that the long-awaited iPad recording daily observations by our Dam Observers will begin on Monday, August 24. The dam observers have visited the dam on a daily basis for ten years now. This improvement will allow their observations to be captured in our electronic Maintenance Manual for future use and analysis. This is important to future generations to learn what to monitor around the dam based on past history. There will be start up issues that be addressed as we go. Further next year we will see if we need to adjust what is observed that is important and may not be.
There are no other issues that are beyond normal operations. We are enjoying a full lake this year and the lake is in full use on weekends. The dam is providing consistent lake levels which is what we want it to do.
We are awaiting the results of the DNR 5-year inspection in late June. Based on their findings, we might have to address new issues. Nothing major is at all anticipated.
Property Management – Thompson suggested providing lighting for the Lost Beach Pavilion. Hingtgen said he would look into options.
Finance & Budget – No new updates
Public Comment: None
A motion to adjourn was made by Thompson, second by Staebell. All ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 4:58 p.m.
