The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Thursday, October 18, 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, Staebell, Havertape, and Davidson. Burger and Gifford by phone
Trustees absent: None
Visitors: Linda Slobodnik, Ed Schmidt, Randy Rattenborg, Cody Wenger, Brody Tjaden, Pat Colgan, Dan Reyner and Larry Aschbrenner
Motion to approve the meeting agenda as read was made by Havertape, seconded by Herman. Motion carried.
Election of officers was held. A motion was made by Gifford, second by Havertape to nominate Leonard for President. A motion was made by Davidson, second by Herman to nominate Staebell for President. Leonard addressed the Board before the vote. He stated that he has been the acting President since being appointed to the Board by the Delaware Co. Board of Supervisors. During that time he stated he has put in countless volunteer hours as President and worked in a volunteer capacity for numerous activities. He expressed his gratitude and appreciation of working with so many as President over the years and it has truly been an honor. If needed he shared that he would be willing to serve only one more year as President to allow for additional support for a new President if desired. He also said that if Staebell is comfortable with assuming the role as President now he will work with him in any way needed.
A roll call vote was taken: Havertape and Gifford voted for Leonard. Davidson, Staebell, Herman and Burger voted for Staebell. Leonard abstained. Staebell became the new President and presided over the rest of the meeting.
Staebell asked for nominations for Vice President. Burger nominated Herman, Davidson seconded. Gifford nominated Leonard but Leonard declined. A roll call vote was taken. All voted for Herman with Leonard abstaining.
Staebell asked for nominations for Secretary/Treasurer. Davidson nominated Burger, Herman seconded. A roll call vote was taken. All voted for Burger.
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 $12,073.37 from the General Fund for electricity and internet services, dam operation services, accounting/clerical services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense and dam maintenance on analog cable. The Debt Service Fund had claims for the principal and interest due on the GO Bond debt. The expense for the principal was in the amount of $173,000.00 and the interest was in the amount of $63,879.90. Burger motioned to approve the claims for payment as read, Herman seconded. Motion carried.
September financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $108,410.21 from Delaware County and expenditures of $50,992.58 ending September at $1,958,851.46. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $148,212.22 from Delaware County and no expenditures, ending September at $255,092.28. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures and ended September with a $20,000.00 balance. Herman motioned to receive and file the financial reports as read, Leonard seconded. Motion carried.
Randy Rattenborg presented the Board with an overview of a program called DelCo Best that is being utilized by the West Delaware School District. He introduced two students, Cody Wenger and Brody Tjaden, who are working with the program. The students in this class work with community leaders dealing with issues or problems within the local area and try to help find solutions to those issues. Rattenborg said his company, Burrington Group, has received a lot of calls from folks when rain events occur asking how high will the water get in their area. While Stanley Engineering put together a profile it doesn’t tell a whole lot other than what water does at a certain year event. He decided to try to get data that will mean something for the people on the lake and then put the data on the Trustee website. Rattenborg provided a copy of the profile the students put together. Cody and Brody explained the process of how they developed the profile to the Board. Colgan expressed appreciation to the students for their work and that this tool will be great for the lake community. Rattenborg and Colgan both noted because of the numerous curves and bends in the river water piles up in those areas and creates flooding. It was also noted that the one issue with this profile is that it doesn’t capture the rain that falls south of the Hwy. 20 marker and that is something that needs to be noted. The Board again expressed appreciation to Rattenborg and the students for all their work.
The Board considered a request for a donation to the LDRA for assistance with their dredge debt. Dan Reyner, treasurer for the LDRA, was present to discuss the donation. The amount requested is $21,760.50. In his letter to the Board, Reyner referenced that future payments for the dredge debt will be increasing significantly. Staebell noted that the topic of payments for the LDRA dredge debt was a topic of discussion at the August work session.
Herman made a motion to approve the payment of $21,760.50 and Havertape seconded the motion. Herman stated that he had been in contact with John Danos, District Bond Counsel, regarding the legality of the District making a donation to the LDRA to pay a debt that was not a District debt. He reported that Danos felt comfortable that the District was within its rights to make said donation. Davidson asked if this would include the possibility of the District paying down the debt for the LDRA. Herman stated he would like to see the District consider making accelerated payments to reduce the interest that’s due. There was some discussion regarding whether the District should join the LDRA in talking with BankOne in paying down the debt. Burger stated that we need to be sure the monies held by the District do not include Bond monies as they were specific to be spent on dam repairs and were not to be used for payment of the LDRA debt. Leonard stated he had talked with the County Auditor and thought we were fine. Burger stated he had talked with Kramer and thought she was of a different opinion. Burger suggested Kramer visit with the County Auditor to clarify the issue. It was suggested that if the Board decides to pay down the debt a public meeting could be held. Burger also stated there are options that the Board could take. The debt is callable right now and the District could make additional payments rather than paying the whole debt off based on what monies the District has that are eligible to pay down the debt. There being no other discussion, the Board unanimously approved the requested donation to the LDRA in the amount of $21,760.50.
The Board next considered action on a donation to Project Aware for the work they did this past summer to clean up areas of the Maquoketa River that included a large amount of cleanup below the dam. Leonard stated he had conversations with members of Project Aware. Their annual budget is around $71,000 with 50% of that amount coming from the volunteers who pay to be a part of the project. They also have different levels for sponsorship with $3,000 being the platinum level. Davidson stated he was extremely grateful to the group for all of their work and felt the District should give a substantial donation and a letter of gratitude. Staebell noted that at a meeting of his neighbors at the Cedars, their association agreed to make a donation from their group with the idea of asking other road association groups to do the same. Leonard said he felt we need to step up now and made a motion to donate $25,000 to Project Aware. Davidson seconded the motion. Herman said he felt more comfortable with a donation in the area of $5,000. Staebell stated he would be agreeable to a smaller amount. Havertape expressed the same thought. After more discussion, Leonard revised his motion to lower the donation to $15,000. Leonard asked Herman if he felt more comfortable with that number and Herman indicated he was not as did Staebell. Davidson seconded the revised motion. A vote was taken with five voting to approve $15,000. Herman and Staebell voted no. Motion carried.
Colgan presented the Board with a proposal for the annual dam inspection. He noted that during this past season we’ve had seven major flood events. The proposal from Stanley Engineering includes checking for settlement issues, seepage, scouring, etc. Given the amount of flooding that has occurred, Colgan recommended to the Board to approve the proposal from Stanley to conduct the inspection with a cost not to exceed $5,000. Colgan when asked indicated that he had no evidence that the dam had been damaged during the flood events and that an inspection this year, after so many flood events, would give us good information to rely upon in similar future circumstances. After some discussion, Leonard made a motion to approve the proposal for the dam inspection, Herman seconded. Motion carried.
Staebell presented the Board with a document from Linda Slobodnik for a request to purchase the frontage next to her property at the west end of the Cedars. He asked Slobodnik if she would like to speak to the Board. She gave the Board an overview of the issues regarding her property. Her proposal for purchase is due to the fact that the District is not maintaining the property and she believes not owning the frontage diminishes her property value. Given others have had the right to purchase their property she would like to same opportunity. Burger made a motion to table the request until January so he can have an opportunity to view the area and visit with Ms. Slobodnik. Leonard stated his concern regarding selling the property include some complex issues with regard to FEMA, dredging and the dredge site that is near the property. Stobodnik was asked if she had had her property surveyed and she said no but would be willing to do so. Ultimately, her goal is to be able to fix dock and steps and be able to utilize it for herself or subsequent owner for boating purposes. After more discussion, Herman seconded the motion made by Burger. Slobodnik said her work schedule would not allow her to meeting with the Board until February. Burger revised his motion to table the request until March 1st, 2019, Herman seconded the revised motion noting there will be legal requirements if the District decides to sell or transfer the property. Motion carried.
Committee Updates: Staebell provided the Board with a proposed Committee Structure that includes four basic committees which consolidated some of the previous committees from the past. He proposed that the committees meet on a quarterly basis and report back to the District.
Colgan reported on the debris at the dam. He suggested that the District go out for contract for removal of debris on the lake and at the dam. Colgan said he would come up with a project scope and develop an RFP. Staebell asked if the RFP would be based on an hourly basis. Colgan stated that would be the case. Leonard asked if the removal of debris would be by flushing the debris or by other means. The Board agreed to have Colgan draft a scope of work.
Burger noted that the port-a-potties are being removed on both beaches. There was some discussion about removing the garbage cans next year.
Leonard noted the Watershed Committee met a few weeks ago. The strategic plan of the group is taking longer than expected. The plan may not included benefits to Lake Delhi. State assistance will require a plan to show the cost and benefits of siltation removal. He stated he will be looking for direction from the Board for the project scope noting that the scope will determine the cost.
Public Comment: Ed Schmidt stated that in the past they used to have divers help with the inspection of the dam. Colgan said that does not pertain to our situation based upon the recent reconstruction. He also asked if the agenda for the August work session had been posted. Staebell said he thought it had been posted and that the notes from the meeting had been posted also but would check on it.
Reyner updated the District on the LDRA noting they’ve had two meetings and the elected officers are working on their budget and have reached out to the various recreational groups including Fish and Game, ski club, snowmobilers inviting them to their meetings to work with them on various recreational activities. A Facebook has been created for the LDRA and has been well received. One concern is that the LDRA does not have its own website that they can post information. Right now it’s within the District webpage and they would like access in order to post information. Staebell asked Reyner to reach out to Gifford to see if that can be worked out.
With no other comments, a motion was made by Leonard, second by Davidson to adjourn. Motion carried.