Minutes – Thursday, April 18, 2019

The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District

Thursday, April 18, 2019

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 Staebell.

Trustees present: Davidson, Burger, Staebell, Herman and Havertape

Trustees absent: Gifford and Leonard

Visitors: Ed Schmidt, Gordon & Patricia Anderson, Linda Slobodnik, Dan Recker, Randy Rattenborg, Mike Ryan, Wanda Davidson, Ben Pasker, Vicki Shadle, Lois & Larry Sloan, Dan Reyner, Larry Aschbrenner and Tyler Burlage

Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Havertape, second by Davidson. Motion carried.

Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Burger, second by Davidson. Motion carried.

Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $11,955.84 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, scaffolding and miscellaneous supplies. Claims were also presented in the amount of $236,579.00 from the Debt Service Fund for payment of principal and interest on the GO Bond debt. Burger motioned to approve the claims for payment as read, Davidson second.  Motion carried.

March financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $102,364.30 from Delaware County and expenditures of $9,746.02 ending March at $1,913,862.93. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $145,185.69 from Delaware County and no expenditures, ending March at $237,121.39. The Dam Improvement Fund had no revenues or expenditures and ended March with a $20,000.00 balance. Burger motioned to receive and file the financial reports as read, Herman second. Motion carried.

Mike Ryan, from Delaware County Emergency Management, was present to provide information regarding a new notification system that Delaware County will be instituting in the near future. The county is participating in a statewide mass notification system known as Alert Iowa. Mike noted that a letter is being sent to lake homeowners asking them to sign up for the notification alert. He also walked through how the declaration process for weather damages is handled by the county. Staebell thanked Mike for his presentation.

The Board considered action on Resolution #4.18.19 to authorize the Delaware County Auditor to conduct the upcoming Trustee election to be held Tuesday, July 23, 2019. A motion was made by Herman, second by Davidson to approve the resolution. Motion carried.

A motion was made by Burger, second by Davidson to approve a donation request from the LDRA for assistance with the LDRA dredge debt. The amount approve was $96,760.50. Motion carried.

The Board discussed approval of a quote from Rotork for actuator service work. The quote is for $4,024.06.   A motion was made by Havertape, second by Herman to approve moving forward with the quote and authorizing a purchase order to be sent to Rotork. Motion carried.

A discussion was held regarding beach maintenance. Staebell mentioned that the Trustees had received a request from several lake residents regarding the condition of the beach at Lost Beach. He also received notice from Dave Fink that he will no longer be able to do the maintenance at North Beach. Because of those issues, he asked for this to be on the agenda. Davidson said he would like to table the discussion until the committee for beach maintenance can get together to discuss options for maintenance at both locations. He noted that Tyler Burlage has approached the trustees with possible solutions to eliminate the rocky condition at Lost Beach and Davidson said the committee would be looking at all options. Burlage stated he had pursued information regarding equipment that would be able to screen out the rocks from the beach area He was asked if he could look into finding a dealer that might be interested in bringing out the equipment so the board could see how it works. Burlage said he would look into it.

Consideration and possible action on a request from a lake owner to purchase shore frontage was discussed. Staebell noted that the District had received a request last fall from a homeowner regarding the purchase of frontage and since that time the District has received another request for the same thing. Staebell asked Davidson and Herman to provide the Board with an update of what their committee had discussed for actions going forward. Herman stated that there were varying opinions amongst the trustees on whether to transfer any District properties. Some of the concerns were regarding any implications with potential future FEMA claims if the District doesn’t own the property.   Because the District owns very little lake bed property, the conclusion of the committee was that they would entertain transferring frontage but the purchased frontage would only go 50’ into the lake bed. Surveying the property would be necessary and the cost to do that is approximately $1,500. Other fees and legal services would be an additional expense. The suggestion of the committee is that all costs should be assumed by the property owner along with a cost of $10.00/ft. for the frontage. That number is based on what the LDRA sold property for in the past. Herman noted that in the quit claim deed there would be a clause that would allow the District to enter the transferred property if needed for maintenance or dredging. The cost to remove and put back docks/lifts would be the District’s responsibility. Staebell noted that there are other property owners who don’t own their frontage and at some point the District should consider reaching out to them and give them the opportunity to purchase their frontage based on the aforementioned procedure if approved by the Board. It was suggested that the Board contact their attorney to decide how best to start the process of transferring property and what the procedure should be with regarding to holding a public hearing. A motion was made by Burger, second by Davidison to start the process on transfer of properties. Motion carried.

Committee Updates:

Water Quality – Nothing to report

Community Quality of Life – Nothing to report

Property, Assets & Dam – Davidson gave an update on debris removal. He stated they had a slow start because of weather but are now making good progress. Debris has been taken to two locations. Work is scheduled for downstream starting tomorrow, Friday, April 19th and is expected to be complete fairly quickly. They have found additional lifts and the Delhi Fire Department has also been available to do more sonar work. Staebell asked if we could get pictures of the debris. Davidson said most of the debris is scrap but it was decided to put any pictures available on our website.

Finance & Budget – Nothing to report

Staebell noted that Hartwick West is having their road association meeting on Monday, May 27th at 9:00 a.m. Trustee members are invited to attend and give updates if they are available.

Public Comment: A question was asked if it is safe to put boats in the water. Staebelll stated that while it is safe please use caution and noted boats have been on the water over the past week.

Larry Sloan thanked the board for taking quick action on the debris cleanup.

Larry Aschbrenner wondered if the pictures of the pile of debris could be deceiving. There was no conclusion to that question.

With no other comments, a motion was made by Davidson, second by Havertape to adjourn. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

 

 

 

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