The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Board of Trustees Meeting
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 – 6:30 p.m.
Maquoketa Valley Middle School Conference Room
Delhi, IA
The meeting of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District Board of Trustees was called to order by President Steve Leonard at 6:31 PM at the Maquoketa Valley Middle School Conference Room.
Trustees present: Leonard, Davidson, Kray, Schneider, Burger, Gifford and Kramer by phone
Trustees absent:
Visitors: Lou Christiansen, Sue Christiansen, Darrel Berry, Dave Kretz, Ken DeKlotz, Barb DeKlotz, Rich Hughes, Pat Dede, Larry Peter, Eve Peter, Bonnie Hughes, Bill Hughes, Lola Galiher, Bob Galiher, Pat Colgan, Chloe Colgan, Larry Aschenbrenner, Chris Stender, John Carbaugh
Agenda reviewed by Leonard. Motion made by Kray to approve agenda, Schneider second. All ayes, motion passed.
Leonard opened election of officers. Burger nominated Mary Kray as Clerk, Davidson second. All ayes, motion passed. Kray made motion for Laurie Kramer to remain as Treasurer, Burger second. All ayes, motion passed. Schneider made motion for Burger for VP, second by Kray. All ayes, motion passed. Burger made moiton for Leonard to remain as President, Schneider second. All ayes, motion passed.
Kramer discussed tax payments for properties purchased. During closing of the Wiersma and Wright properties, funds were paid to the District for all of this tax bill except for one month. Kramer’s recommendation is to pay the full year tax bill on all properties. Kramer made motion to pay full year of taxes, Davidson second. All ayes, motion passed.
The Stanley Supplemental agreement #19 was introduced by Leonard. Stanley Engineering has been active in the last number of months doing project reports that FEMA requires. The scope of services on the agreement were reviewed by Leonard: Work with District on property purchase and easement requirements for dam construction and operation; Provide preliminary design, layout and cost estimates for dam design alternatives for different property/easement acquisition scenarios; Attend meetings with permitting agencies on an “as requested” basis; Continued coordination between FEMA and other federal permitting agencies on an “as requested” basis; Develop supporting documenation required for Phase II Permit Application. Burger made motion to approve Stanley Supplemental Agreement #19, Schneider second. Davidson asked about doing 6 month contract. Is there a better way to monitor? Leonard asked if Finance Committee is monitoring and should review as payment requests come in. Kramer said Stanley is watchful in accordance with the schedules. Kramer will provide the summary of tasks and a breakdown of dollars spent. Kramer will forward to all in the next few days. Gifford asked how often does Stanley Engineering turn in invoices. Invoices are detailed and Kramer can send everyone a copy. Gifford questioned if billings come by class code. Kramer said they come in by task. She contacts Holman and discusses the invoice if she feels there is an overage on tasks. Colgan said Stanley is using the same task codes that are used with county and city governments and the hourly rates are set by history. Colgan advised Stanley Corporate Accounting sends out the invoice but each employee has time sheets. Gifford asked if the District is maxing out on all tasks. Leoanrd indicated no. Colgan said Stanley has been working on the permitting process for 1 year and they are the only contractor that can answer some of the FEMA and permitting questions. Colgan said Holman has donated drive time to get here which is a 10 hour round trip and on other projects he would normally bill that time. Individual roll call requested on approval of Supplemental Agreement #19, all ayes, motion passed.
Leonard explained we have 2 different MOAs – one from the District attorney and one from the LDRA attorney after informal discussions between LDRA board members and Trustees, the latest occurring on July 23, 2013. The District version has 3 major differences which are first – leaves the southerly one third of Parcel L (the property the dam sits on and the southerly third would include the house, the building and the road) in an unrestricted state; second – if restricted property is to be sold to a non-public entity, the document leaves the voting process up to the district at the time of the vote; third is the number of days allowed for an LDRA response when the District requests approval for sale to non-public entity. Burger made motion to approve the District version, Kray second. The LDRA version says if no reponse within 45 days, the response is considered negative and Burger said he feels 45 days with a response whether positive or negative is appropriate. Kray said a response is simply the responsible thing we should expect from any organization. Gifford said language is the same in both contracts but the LDRA version says if there is no response it is a denial. The District board agrees with language as stated in the District MOA under the Agreement Section, 1.a.2.
Leonard read the section regarding the voting process after 5 years of agreement which states that the District Board at the time will determine the vote process but it will require a 60% majority vote. The District originally wanted the County Auditor to perform this election but she is unable to do so as this type of election is not covered in the Iowa code. The District then agreed we would handle any type of election such as this. Gifford said the overriding item in section 2 is describing the process if we have to go out to a vote to allow us to sell property to a non-public entity. The District Trustees who attended the 7/23/2013 meeting feels the District copy reflects the results of that discussion regarding voting. Gifford said this is a conservative approach because it is determined in the future instead of trying to do all the rules now. Burger said if a sale like this ever does happen he doesn’t want 7 Trustees deciding if one of these restricted properties can be sold without a vote of the taxpayers. If this would come up in the next 10-20 years we won’t know what the situation will be and he would hope the existing Trustees at the time would have compassion to set up the rules correctly. Kray said it is up to all of us as tax payers to vote for Trustees that we feel will be responsible. Consensus of all board members is that we will stay with language as stated in the District version.
Leonard then reviewed the restricted parcels and that the District wants the southerly 1/3 of parcel L out of the restricted land so an election is not required to sell the land. The southerly one third of parcel L includes the office building, the house and the “property under” the road (the county owns the road on top of the property). The Trustees present at the 7/23 meeting thought this was agreeable with the 2 members of LDRA board that met with them. Davidson confirmed it is out of the dam or spillway area. Burger thought had agreement on this and that we would inform the LDRA when the District would sell the house or office and that these properties don’t affect the lake. Burger went on to say that he wants to tell the future boards how to sell the dam or beaches because it affects him, these properties do not. The District may need to have this area for reconstruction and thinks it is rididculous to leave this section for public property if the District needs it for those reasons. Gifford said just wants to make sure he understands that we have agreed to this and that the LDRA documents come back different.
Rich Hughes said the LDRA lawyers tell them they can’t transfer the land because of the vote taken earlier by the LDRA membership. The LDRA has been instructed by counsel not to transfer the land without this language. Burger said Mitvalsky (the LDRA attorney) originally gave the opinon that the LDRA didn’t need to go to vote on the issue of the dam transfer, that the LDRA board could do it on their own. Burger was LDRA President at the time and chose to take this issue to the membership for a vote. Leonard informed all that the LDRA and 3 Trustees met several months ago and felt this issue was addressed, however, each side came back with different thoughts as to what the final outcome was. Gifford says basis of LDRA opinion is legal opinion not emotional or personal and that was confirmed as all involved said they want the transfer to happen. Leonard indicated the District attorney has advised the LDRA can do what the District is asking of them. Galiher said the LDRA can’t go against the vote of the people. Dede said the original MOA and the second amendment were signed and all of parcel L was in restricted property at that time. Kray said she would like to see all of us come to an agreement before we leave this evening. That we all want the same thing which is to get our water back.
Leonard said he is comfortable with the 45 day response with the other restricted property. Leonard said what if we could just change the response time on the southerly portion on Parcel L to 15 days, and that seemed acceptable to the LDRA members in the room. Leonard summarized that the notification time would be changed to 15 days for the southerly portion of Parcel L, however, it would remain a restricted property. All Trustees agreed and document will be sent to LDRA board and their attorney, Mitvalsky. Motion made by Burger to table this item to the next Trustee meeting after the new language is incorporated into document, Schneider second
Kramer left the meeting at 7:54pm
Public Comment – Barb DeKlotz would like to know the amount of legal fees spent between the LDRA and the District on the dam transfer. Leonard said don’t have break down now but she can find at the County offices.
Lola Galiher advised the Water Quality team is scheduling IOWATER training on 8/24. The class starts at 9AM and will train participants on how to test water. Davidson asked if Bob Galiher will do a presentation at an upcoming Trustee meeting and Bob agreed. Gifford said his personal opinion is water quality is a strong part of what we all own at Lake Delhi and that it needs to be part of each Trustee meeting.
Bob Galiher reminded all that the LDRA annual meeting is Sunday, August 11 at noon at Heritage Bank.
Stender asked if there was a FEMA meeting last week. Leonard said no meetings are scheduled but they have been requested and waiting for confirmation. In addition, FEMA is a process that we are working through.
Dave Kretz asked what water is involved in water quality and Leonard advised the river water. The Water Quality team tests for nitrates, phosphates, etc.
Davidson made motion to go into closed session for the purpose of discussion regarding terms for acquisition of property and property rights for purposes of restoring the lake and dam according to Iowa Code Section 21.5 (j), Schneider second. Individual roll call requested, all ayes, motion passed.
Motion to adjourn meeting by Burger, second by Davidson, all ayes, motion passed.