The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District Regular Meeting
Thursday, July 28, 2016
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 by Vice President Todd Gifford at 6:30 pm.
Trustees present: Gifford, Burger, Davidson, Kramer, Colgan, Herman, Leonard (by phone)
Trustees absent: None
Recording secretary: Shelley Kallenbach
Visitors: Chip Hughes, Ed Schmidt, Wanda Davidson, Diane Bauers, Ken Kray, Mary Kray, Ken DeKlotz, Barbara DeKlotz, Bob Galiher, Lola Galiher, Lou Christianson, Sue Christianson, Ben Pasker, Chloe Colgan, Bill Lux, Marcheta Lux, Larry Aschbrenner, Randy Rattenborg
Motion to approve the agenda as read was made by Burger, seconded by Herman, motion approved.
Motion to approve the June 16th, 2016 and July 15th, 2016 meeting minutes as posted was made by Davidson, seconded by Burger, motion approved.
Claims for payment in the amount of $18,496.40 from the General Fund for electricity, internet/phone, printer maintenance, warrants, lakebed work, lake maintenance equipment, trailer supplies, lobbyist expense, legal services, and monitoring equipment were presented. Claims for payment in the amount of $177,458.61 for crane services, contracted operations, Phase 2 payment, septic capping, sandbags for sluice closures, and engineering services were presented from the Dam/Spillway Rebuild Fund. Motion to approve payments as read made by Burger, seconded by Gifford. The settlement equipment monitors potential settlement of the dam per the permit requirements. Motion approved.
The financial report was presented. The General Fund had revenues of $1,919.28 and expenditures of $15,498.79, ending June at $256,374.13. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $4,329.71 and no expenditures, ending June at $28,932.29. The Dam/Spillway Project Fund had revenues of $2,157.11 and expenditures of $467,974.51, ending June at $2,480,115.20. Motion to receive and file the financial report made by Burger, seconded by Herman, motion approved.
Motion to approve Hunt and Associates to provide the FY16 compilation report made by Kramer, seconded by Herman. This is the CPA firm that has been used in the past and that works with Delaware County, which allows for a significant rate discount. Motion approved.
Maggie Burger from Speer Financial presented options for refinancing the District’s debt. The District is now eligible for advanced refunding options due to increased property values and the amount of debt already paid which has impacted the District’s debt load. The two options available are to advance refund the District’s debt or wait until the call period is over and do nothing. Paperwork was provided to illustrate the impact of both scenarios. Advanced refunding would change the call date back and would replace the current debt with new debt at an improved interest rate. Advanced refunding has the potential to save the District approximately $374,819.30. The downside is that some money would need to be set aside to complete the advance refunding. New requests for bond issuance would still need to go to a vote of the people. A date of public hearing must be set, posted, and approved by the underwriters with the required amount of time between the posting and the public hearing. Herman motioned to place scheduling a public hearing on the next regular meeting’s agenda, Colgan seconded. It was determined that this would extend the amount of time available for advanced refunding, reducing the District’s ability to capitalize on lower interest rates. Herman amended his motion to set the public hearing for August 18th at 6:30 pm subject to approval of bond counsel, Colgan seconded. All ayes except Burger who abstained. Motion approved.
The Board considered possible action on Stanley Supplemental Agreements #41, #42, and #43.
Supplemental Agreement #41 is for field support from May and June in the amount of $40,000. Part of this will be balanced by the $2,000/day penalty GCI must pay contractually for March and April work. Herman motioned to approve Supplemental Agreement #41, Kramer seconded, motion approved.
Supplemental Agreement #42 sets an amount not to exceed $10,000 for work to allow potential future dredging activities. Colgan motioned to approve, Herman seconded, motion approved.
Supplemental Agreement #43 for $10,000 is for updating all the drawings and documents to reflect changes made after determining the issues with Gate 2. Kramer motioned, Herman seconded, motion approved.
The Board considered possible action on a General Constructors change order. This change order in the amount of $6,000 is to improve the aesthetics of 24 feet of asphalt leading to the dam bridge by mulching and landscaping it. Burger motioned to approve the change order, Davidson seconded, motion approved.
The Board considered possible action on installing a 1500-gallon holding tank at the lake office. This tank is the minimum required for disposal of sewage for the lake house’s bathroom, which is used very sporadically. A bid was received from Oasis Plumbing. Davidson motioned to open the item for additional bids, Burger seconded. It was clarified that keeping numbers out of information is important for fair bidding. Motion approved.
The Board considered work done by Mark Fink for lakebed cleanup. There were several places that were inaccessible until the water rose high enough to allow debris removal. As the water was rising quickly, Mark Fink was asked to quickly remove trees at Freddy’s Beach, Maples, and before Wellman’s area. Davidson motioned to approve a payment of $1,425.00 for the tree removal, Burger seconded. Burger paid Mr. Fink separately for his own weed removal. Motion approved.
The Board considered a reimbursement request from Chip Hughes. A presentation regarding the request was made in previous meetings. Burger motioned to reimburse Hughes $16,525.00, Colgan seconded. The Board members expressed gratitude and appreciation for the work that Hughes has done, stating that Lost Beach would not exist without his work. Burger and Colgan stated that they felt this was a tourism situation and not a dredging issue. Other Board members expressed concerns that the Board was not included in plans for the work as with other reimbursement requests, even though they were grateful for the work completed. Board member individual votes were counted as:
Colgan: Yes
Herman: No
Burger: Yes
Davidson: Yes
Gifford: No
Kramer: No
Leonard: No
Motion did not pass.
The Board heard committee updates.
The Dam Construction Committee states that the water is within 5 feet of going over the edge and that more rain is needed for complete lake fill.
The Lake Bed Cleanup Committee states that as water is filling, it is noted that some trees are in the channel and are being removed.
The Dredge and Funding/Finance Committees had no updates.
The Water Quality Committee stated that they will be working to mitigate issues with high algae and nutrition in the lake water due to the lack of water movement as the lake progressively refills.
It was confirmed that tonight was Davidson’s last trustee meeting. The Board and visitors thanked him for his service and involvement.
Leonard recognized the community for helping with sponsorships and the volunteers for working to make the Dam Celebration a great success.
The floor was opened for public comment.
Ed Schmidt asked if the gates would be closed once the water has risen enough to go over the dam. It was confirmed that the gates would not be closed until the water flow has reached the required number of feet per second.
Bob Galiher stated that Lost Beach is owned by the District and that he feels other authorizations have been made for expenses incurred before the trustees’ involvement. He does not know if this would change things. He stated that Hughes has done many things that have not been appreciated to the degree they should be by the public and wants to make sure that everyone is aware and that he is owed an enormous debt of gratitude.
Larry Aschbrenner expressed concerns that the house demolition bid was given to the third highest bidder and not the second. It was confirmed by looking at the previous minutes and the bid documentation that the bid was awarded to the second bidder. Aschbrenner also asked why Stanley Engineering was involved in dredging when there was no dredging plan in place yet. It was confirmed that Stanley is setting up for potential future work and has been involved in strategizing and catching siltation before it enters the lake.
Lola Galiher asked if there may be some alternative way to pay Hughes back for the work he has done as a contribution.
Chloe Colgan asked if the Hughes reimbursement was an 80:20 request. It was confirmed it was not.
Barb DeKlotz stated that only two people on the Board have enjoyed Lost Beach for as long as it has existed and is sorry the Board does not recognize it. She stated that it is not just for public use but is also a safety concern. Carol Pohlman concurred.
Burger motioned to go into closed session, Herman seconded, motion approved. Meeting entered a closed session at 8:20 pm. Present at the closed session were Bill Havertape, all trustees, and Shelley Kallenbach. Herman motioned to close the closed session, Burger seconded, closed session closed at 8:56 pm.
Herman motioned to adjourn the meeting, Burger seconded, meeting adjourned at 8:56 pm.