The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Thursday, August 16, 2018
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 Steve Leonard.
Trustees present: Leonard, Stabell, Havertape, Herman, Gifford and Davidson
Trustees absent: Burger
Visitors: Pat Colgan, Chloe Colgan, Ed Schmidt and Doug Hawker
Motion to approve the meeting agenda as read was made by Staebell, seconded by Havertape. Motion carried.
Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Herman, seconded by Staebell. Motion carried.
Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $39,141.11 from the General Fund for electricity services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical/accounting services, LP tank rent and a final payment for public access work at Turtle Creek. Herman motioned to approve the claims for payment as read, Gifford seconded. Motion carried.
July financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $37,529.08 from Delaware County and expenditures of $15,596.51, ending July at $1,767,538.49. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $7,570.18 from Delaware County and no expenditures, ending July at $43,228.91. The Dam Improvement Fund had no additional revenues or expenditures and ended July with a $20,000.00 balance. Davidson motioned to receive and file the financial reports as read, Herman seconded. Motion carried.
Doug Hawker, who was part of the Project Aware program and currently works with Burrington Group on dam operations, gave an overview of the Project Aware cleanup work that was done on the Maquoketa River including the downstream side of the Lake Delhi dam. He gave some background on how Project Aware started in 2003 and how it has continued to evolve. This year’s project was the Maquoketa River cleanup. It was known by the organization from the beginning that the most significant part of the clean up was going to be below the Delhi Dam. Total participation for this year’s project was 397 people which included all ages groups. The total amount of debris collected from below the dam to Reetz Park amounted to 5.19 ton. That was the most collected in any other area of the Maquoketa River. Some of the debris included old motors, boat lifts, tires, etc. All participants are volunteers. The costs to fund the project include expense for renting vehicles, boats and canoes; transportation for hauling volunteers from place to place; camping fees, food, shirts, misc. supplies, port-a-potties, etc. The DNR used to help sponsor the event but with budget cuts they are no longer involved. Funding comes from the non-profit organization that supports the project. Hawker asked the Board to consider giving a substantial thank-you donation for the amount of work that was done.
Leonard asked where the funding comes from and for Project Aware and stated he thought it was a 50/50 split with business sponsors and local communities. He also noted that he assumed a donation by the Trustees would go toward next year’s project. Hawker also stated that a lot of donations were for in-kind services. Herman was able to give a listing of many of the sponsors Gifford asked what the total budget might be. Hawker’s thought each year cost well over $100,000. After further discussion, Leonard made a motion to table making a decision on a possible donation until more information could be provided about the total annual budget for Project Aware so as to be able to determine how much the Trustees would possibly approve to the organization. Second by made by Staebell. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Staebell, second by Davidson to put the District barge up for sale and set September 20, 2018 as the date for a public hearing to accept bids for the purchase of the barge. Herman said he would draw up the language for the notice of publication. Motion carried.
Colgan gave an operations update. He noted that Brian Monk has completed the riprap work below the dam and did a very nice job and a cost less than his initial quote. He also informed the Board that Rotork was at the dam this past week to change out the actuators. Lunda, Price Electric and Jetco were also there to help with the process which included rewiring each actuator. It was noted that the drainage project on the south side of the dam is slated to start in the very near future.
Herman reported that there was a watershed technical committee meeting held in July. The group is working to keep watershed management plan moving forward.
Leonard noted that Christmas on the Lake and the Fireworks went very well.
Leonard stated he was getting some phones calls from people on the lake concerned that there needs to be more presence of the DNR on the lake because of safety concerns. Herman said he noticed the red light on Hartwick bridge that is out. The county engineer should be notified. Leonard stated he will contact the county engineer to get it resolved.
There being no public comment, a motion was made by Davidson, second by Gifford to adjourn at 7:30 p.m.