The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
5:00 pm
Lake Delhi Office
Delhi, IA 52223
The regular meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District was held and called to order at 5:00 pm by Vice-President Burger
Present: Burger, Scherrman, Leonard, Staebell and Thompson
Absent: Althoff and Beals
Visitors: Pat Colgan and Dan Fox from ECIA via Zoom
Support Staff: Randy Rattenborg and Laurie Kramer via Zoom
Thompson made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Staebell seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion to approve minutes from previous meetings was made by Staebell, second by Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried.
Dan Fox gave a presentation on the proposed water trail improvements for the Maquoketa River area. He noted that two areas are located on Lake Delhi. The first location is the Turtle Creek parking area. The plan there would be to increase parking and also provide materials to help prevent erosion. The second area is at the dam for improvement of the portage path. Funding would be come from grants and would be administered through the Delaware County Conservation Board. Local funding may be needed as well.
The Board reviewed claims from the General Fund (81000) as presented. Claims included utilities, maintenance contract, clerical expense, lobbyist expense, copier expense, lawn care, dam maintenance, software update, audit expense and legal fees. Claims totaled $8,737.74 from the General Fund. A motion was made by Leonard, second by Thompson to approve all claims. All ayes. Motion carried.
June financial reports were presented. The General Fund received $2,691.36 in property taxes for the month, interest of $9,389.50 and miscellaneous income of $7,725.00. Expenditures for June were $30,906.50 ending June at $2,168,078.97. The Debt Service Fund received $3,655.63 in property tax for the month of June and $2,790.62 in interest. There were no expenditures ending June with a balance of $435,450.64. The Dam Improvement Fund had a transfer revenue of $10,000.00 and no expenditures ending June with a $90,000.00 balance. Grant Fund (81006) had revenues of $760.79 in interest and no expenditures ending June with a balance of $46,624.19. A motion was made by Staebell, second by Scherrman to receive and file the June financial report. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Leonard, second by Staebell to move budgeted expenditure authority from Fund 81000 to Fund 81006. All ayes. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Leonard, second by Staebell to refund the remaining balance plus interest from Grant #2 to the DNR. All ayes. Motion carried.
The Board discussed the renewal of the lobbyists contract for the fiscal year 25/26. Staebell made a motion to table until the Board has an opportunity to meet with Larry Murphy and Gary Grant at next month’s meeting. Thompson seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Randy Rattenborg was present to discuss Burrington Group’s contract proposal. The month amount for 24-hour on-call service would increase from $2,500 per month to $2,750 per month. Daily operations, maintenance and project coordination will also be covered under a month cost of $1,000. Special projects will be billed separately. He will provide an estimate in advance. Leonard made a motion to approve the new contract dependent on review by the District’s attorney. Staebell seconded the motion. All ayes. Motion carried.
Committee Updates:
Water Quality, Legislative & Community Events – Leonard stated he will be asking the Watershed Management coordinator to make a presentation at the September meeting. He noted that the final review of the names on the Wall of Recognition is almost complete. When that is finished the monument company will begin inscribing the names on the wall and then it will be ready for installation.
Dredge – No update
Dam Operations & Property Management – Burger mention he received a call from a person who asked if a handrail could be installed along the dam pathway. It was noted that there may be possible funding available for the project.
Leonard said he received a call from Travis Niehaus about the sirens that go off when the gates are opening. He stated it’s very loud and the last rain event caused the sirens to go off frequently. It was concluded that there’s nothing that can be done because it involves dam safety.
Staebell discussed updating the alert system.
Rattenborg discussed bringing in a barge to remove the debris that is stuck on the spillway. He also noted that there’s a team of volunteers that check the dam on a daily basis.
Scherrman noted that there are trees down in the North Beach area and Shawn Reth will be removing them in the near future.
Burger noted that Rich Hughes helped to clean up the debris at Lost Beach from the last rain event. Hughes will bill the Trustees but then donate the money to the LDRA. Hughes also suggested to Burger that the Trustees consider building a stage along the back wall at Lost Beach.
Finance & Budget – No update
Public Comment – Pat Colgan informed the Board that he is running for a vacant trustee seat. The election is Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Voting will take place at St. John’s Catholic Church in Delhi.
A motion to adjourn was made by Staebell, second by Thompson. All ayes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:06 p.m.