The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Thursday, June 20, 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: Staebell, Davidson, Leonard and Gifford
Absent: Havertape, Herman and Burger
Visitors: Chip Huges, Linda Slobodnik, Ben Pasker, Gary Grant, Tyler Burlage, Larry Aschbrenner, Bob Manning and Larry Benn
Staebell asked for a motion to approve the meeting agenda. A motion was made by Leonard, second by Gifford. Motion carried.
Staebell open up the public hearing to approve transfer of lake frontage owned by the District to adjacent property owners pursuant to the District Lake-Frontage transfer policy.
Staebell summarized the policy that was approved in May. There was a question on who would pay the surveying fee. The response was that that cost was the homeowners. Leonard stated that the Trustees could make recommendations for businesses that could do the survey work and legal work but the homeowner would be responsible to decide who they wanted to use. A question was asked why a survey was necessary and Staebell said the Delaware County Auditor required it. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the policy development. Slobodnik asked if the District had to maintain her frontage. The answer was no. Gifford reminded the visitors that dredging is not a topic of this public hearing. A question was raised how property would be handled if dredging required removal of docks and lifts. Staeball noted that the policy states that the District would be responsible for removal of permitted docks/lifts and would be responsible for the reinstallation of said property at a cost to the District. A question was asked about where the 50’ of property was start and it was noted it would begin at the water’s edge. With no other comment, a motion was made by Davidson, second by Gifford to close the public hearing. Motion carried.
The Board considered a resolution confirming final approval on the policy regarding Lake Frontage Sale/Transfer. Leonard made the motion to approve and Gifford seconded the motion. Leonard made a comment that it’s important to communicate with homeowners who don’t own their frontage so they have the opportunity to purchase if they wish because each year the cost to do so will go up. Staebell noted that he and Herman will be working on making initial contacts. Staebell asked for a role call vote.
Leonard – Yes
Gifford – Yes
Davidson – Yes
Staebeel – Yes
Motion to approve the minutes of previous meetings was made by Gifford, seconded by Davidson. Motion carried.
Claims were presented for payment in the amount of $8,539.90 from the General Fund for electricity, internet services, dam operation services, printer maintenance, lobbyist expense, clerical expense, beach repair at the North Beach access road, dam maintenance and audit services. Leonard motioned to approve the claims for payment as read. Gifford seconded. Leonard asked why there was no invoice to be approved for Frentress Marina. Staeball said an invoice was received but it was not itemized. He asked Jeremy Klima to break down the hours that were charged. Leonard stated he thought we should at least pay the mobilization fee and revised his motion to add payment to Frentress Marina for the $25,000 mobilization fee. Davidson seconded the motion to add that payment. Motion carried.
May financial reports were presented. The General Fund had revenues of $9,137.95 from Delaware County. Expenditures for May were $18,731.63 which included the j$10,000 transfer to the Dam Improvement Fund ending May at $1,955,913.16. The Debt Service Fund had revenues of $5,620.33 from Delaware County with no expenditures, ending May at $34,576.22. The Dam Improvement Fund had $10,000 in revenues and expenditures ending May with a $30,000.00 balance. Leonard motioned to receive and file the financial reports as read, Davidson seconded. Motion carried.
Davidson reviewed with the Board a proposal for cleanup compensation for Lost Beach, North Beach and the Scada office area. He noted that he at this time he was prepared only to discuss the beaches but that the office area would need to be address. After having some discussions with Rich Hughes, Davidson proposed contracting someone at the rate of $100.00/week for 2.5 hours of work. Any extra time after that would be at a rate of $35.00/hour. He noted that garbage cleanup is not currently an issue because of the removal of the garbage cans. If it becomes an issue the Board would have to find a place to dispose of it. He suggested signs be made to tell people to carry their garbage with them. Staebell stated he has been maintaining North Beach and will continue to do so at no cost to the district. He said other than mowing it takes very little cleanup effort. Leonard asked if Davidson had anyone in mind for the job. Davidson stated he needed to get the compensation set before hiring anyone. Gifford asked if the compensation was for both beaches and Staebell stated for right now it would only be for Lost Beach since he’s taking care of North Beach. It could be something to consider at a future meeting. Gifford also asked if this expense had been budgeted for in our certified budget. Staebell said money had been set aside for beach repair. Leonard made the motion to approve the compensation provided by Davidson, Gifford seconded. Motion carried.
The next agenda item was consideration and possible action on an overhead lifting crane, mounted on the dam and additional repair and maintenance. Davidson stated that the lifting crane is used to lift the stop logs at the dam. There have been problems in the past with water getting inside the control box. In the past Price Electric has tried waterproofing the control box. The cost was around $7,000. For them to do the same work again is around $4,250 and additional cable work would be another $9,800. Davidson said he received several quotes from Superior Crane to move the control box down to a lower level. He said the quotes were for building a whole new box instead of bringing the current box down for repair. The cost could range from $34,700 to $38,000. Davidson said he would like to look at other options. Leonard asked for Davidson’s recommendation. He stated that the water-proofing needs to happen. He also wants to test the stop logs and the cable system. Before we spend over $30,000 we take another look at other options. Crane cost is around $3,500 and cable costs are around $3,700. Leonard made a motion to approve up to $10,000 to get the project moving. Davidson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Gary Grant from L & L Consulting provided the trustees with a legislative update. Gary stated that there were three priorities for this session relating to Lake Delhi. The first was to make Lake Delhi eligible for the Lake Restoration Fund. The second was to ensure that the Restoration Fund was funded at the appropriate level. And the third was to explore the possibility of a legislative fix the misinterpretation regarding rules governing lights on pontoons. While the lighting issue isn’t a legislative issue at this point he recommended communicating with the DNR on that issue. Regarding funding for the Restoration Fund he noted that the funding was approved at the same level as the previous year. With regard to getting Lake Delhi eligible for lake restoration funds, Gary noted that one of the requirements is that the watershed can not have a ratio greater that 400:1. That eliminates Lake Delhi from being eligible. After discussing with local legislators, it was decided to create a new fund call On-Stream Impoundment Restoration Fund. To be eligible you need to be a public lake and a 357E. Lake Delhi is both of those. Even though the fund was created it was too late in the legislative session to have any monies appropriated to it. That topic will be brought up in the next legislative session. He noted that there would be some matching requirements. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the funding formula which will occur next year. Gary suggested developing a capital improvement plan with what the needs are for the next five year. Then as dollars become available Lake Delhi will be ready for requesting funds.
Staebell noted that a planning session is scheduled for July 16th which will be combined with the regular July meeting.
Committee Updates:
Water Quality – Leonard noted that the executive watershed management authority meeting will be taking place in two weeks. Lake Delhi is in partnership with multiple counties and cities on the Maquoketa River to come up with ways to minimize sedimentation and maintain water quality. Some things to be discussed is utilizing our dredging capabilities to reduce sedimentation.
Property, Assets & Dam – Davidson noted that there was a washout at the North Beach access area that has been dealt with. The committee is still looking at best ways to deal with debris removal. It was also noted that the debris by the dam will be removed within the week. A question was raised about how many donations were made for the debris removal. Staebell noted that there had been five or six donations. He questioned if it might not be a good idea to send another request for donations considering the cost of the debris removal. Leonard suggested that the board consider having some sort of countability that requires each property owner to cable their docks and lifts considering the cost the District had to pay for the debris removal.
Community of Life – Leonard noted there needs to be some help with up-coming events.
Staebell noted that the election is coming up on July 23rd.
Public Comment:
Tyler Burlage – He suggested creating a board on Lost and North Beach to acknowledge the people who donate toward maintenance. He also talked about looking at beach cleaning equipment for Lost Beach because of all the rocks on the beach. He looked into some equipment that’s available to do beach cleanup. The closest dealer he found was in Nebraska where they clean up between 75 – 100 beaches each summer. The price of the equipment is expensive but he suggested possible alternatives such as leasing the equipment. His suggestion would be a three-year commitment to leasing the equipment. Gifford suggested having the guy from Nebraska come over once a year to do the cleanup. After additional discussion the Board agreed that there is a need for beach cleanup and more investigation needed to happen.
Bob Manning – He brought up the topic of boater safety and asked the Trustees to think about communicating safety ideas to people on the lake. Larry Aschbrenner suggested having the ski team to sell the safety flags at their ski shows.
Chip Hughes – He asked where the “donations” on the financial reports came from. The response was that the donation money was from the Community Fund to Rebuild Lake Delhi to reimburse the District for projects completed on the lake.
With no other comments, Davidson made a motion to adjourn, second by Leonard.
Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.