The Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District
Board of Trustees Meeting
Thursday, February 20, 2014 – 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 6:30 PM at the Maquoketa Valley Middle School Conference Room.
Trustees present: Leonard, Kramer, Davidson, Schneider and Gifford by phone and Kray by Skype
Trustees absent: Burger
Visitors: Dave Larson, Chris Stender, Chuck Koelker, Jason Wenger, Larry Aschbrenner, Doug Camp, Todd Boone, Pat Colgan
Agenda reviewed by Leonard Motion made by Schneider to approve agenda, Davidson second, all ayes, motion passed.
Kray requested approval of minutes for the 1/16/2014, 1/20/2014, 2/3/2014 and 2/10/14 meetings. Kramer made motion to approve, Schneider second with correction on 2/2/14 minutes to reflect date of Thursday, March 10th to Monday, March 10th. Kramer agreed to motion change, all ayes, motion passed.
Kramer requested approval of payments for the General Fund as follows: Alliant – $32.65, Delaware County Auditor’s office for election expense – $929.47, L&L Consulting – $2,000.00, News Publishing Co – $22.95 and Attorney fees for Dec. – $40.00. Payments for the Bond Fund as follows: Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergmann – $4117.82, and News Publishing Co – $61.36. Motion to pay all billings for the general fund and the bond fund as presented by Davidson, second by Schneider. All ayes, motion passed.
Kramer reviewed budget reports as of 1/31/2014. The General Fund had a starting balance of $103,593.57 and after receipts and expenses has a balance of $95,902.41. The Debt Service Fund had a beginning balance of $157,723.83 and after receipts has an ending balance of $160,516.21. The Dam/Spillway Fund has a beginning balance of $5,615,413.53 and after interest payment and expenses ends with a balance of $5,590,505.36. Kray made a motion to file financial report, Schneider second. All ayes, motion passed.
Hatala created a resolution to allow officers to execute and authorize non-financial documents. The purpose of the resolution is to allow things to be streamlined and to keep things moving forward during the construction phase. Leonard read the resolution and advised Hatala left blanks for description of the kind of documents that are allowed to be signed. Motion to approve resolution 2.20.14a by Davidson for purposes of discussion and second by Schneider. Leonard advised the issue arose by the request for Holman from Stanley Consultants to sign permit papers. Leonard asked Colgan if this is something we need for the project. Colgan said contractors will have change order requests for quick decisions because of weather, etc. and we might have to allow the change in an afternoon. There will be all kinds of items for ebb and flow of this project that could save money, improve costs, etc. Davidson sees this as possibly problematic that 2 members would make a decision but the other board members couldn’t change the decision. Leonard said if we have to have a meetings for this type of thing, we have to post a 24 hour notice. Kray said the 24 hour notice would be problematic for construction issues. Schneider said maybe we should make the number be 3. Colgan wants to clarify his comment – that some issues will be done right away, for example, action needed due to a storm warning. Davidson said maybe we could firm up the language and only allow permit applications and contractor change order requests may be approved by 2 other district personnel. Davidson will change motion to approve the resolution but language should state “may be approved along with 2 other district officers”. Gifford said he thinks there should be some dollar threshold and to narrow it down. He proposes a $25,000 limit. Davidson asked if only one source would bring the change request and that it should be Colgan. Leonard said he thinks we should table this for tonight and ask Hatala to prepare a revised document with the change in the language. Leonard will draft what we discussed this evening and have all trustees review it. Davidson make motion to table this item, Schneider second, all ayes, motion passed.
Leonard introduced Resolution 2.20.14 to approve the Rocky Nook Property agreement. Motion to approve resolution by Kray and second by Kramer. Leonard gave review of purchase of property. As the Trustees reviewed solutions and chose the design of the dam, properties were required. The District purchased the Peck, Wright, and Wiersma properties and Marty Pottebaum donated the land we needed on the north side of the dam. The final property to purchase were properties owned by the Rocky Nook Association (RNA)by the spillway (where docks and boats were) and property down river for the spillway. We negotiated with the RNA for 2 different properties and purchase agreement was signed. There was an incentive for a quick response to our purchase agreement of $50,000 and the property purchase amount was $235,000. There is a septic system on the property we are acquiring so we had to replace the association septic systems. In addition, an easement is given to RNA on the old Peck property for docks, but we retain ownership so the District can take care of our easements that currently existed on the Peck property prior to our acquisition. This purchase is the last item to enable us to build the spillway and will allow the DNR to move forward on our permit. Davidson asked what the closing date will be and Leonard said asap. Abstract should be done by next week and we can close in the next 2-3 weeks. Individual roll call required on the motion. All ayes, motion passed.
Leonard said one of the items on the RNA purchase agreement is the need to design a septic system for them. Jason Wenger and Randy from the Burrington Group have helped with a proactive approach to this task. Wenger said the septic system and leach field is impacted by our purchase and he has been working with Dennis Lyons (County Sanitarian) for everything to be in compliance. The RNA area needs a packaged or sealed septic system because of the closeness to the water and rocky soil. It is estimated that 3 potted systems will be required. In addition a public water distribution system will be needed as well because we will be impacting that also. This full design will require a DNR permit because it is a public water system. Burrington Group’s proposal is $4000 for engineering design and they have added another line item if we need bidding phase assistance as well. Burrington Group is estimating $2000 to facilitate the bid process. In the proposal the majority of the cost will be material cost because the bulk of the expense is the acquisition of the systems. Kramer made motion to approve the contract for bid design and bid assistance, Schneider second. Leonard said Hatala wants to make sure Wenger will meet Iowa Code Chapter 26 and Wenger said that is what they follow. Leonard thanked Wenger and Burrington Group for all the time and effort they have put in to RNA septic and water issues. Individual roll call requested, all ayes, motion passed.
Committee updates
Finance – budget hearing is March 6th at Maquoketa Valley Middle School conference room. We are estimating expenses for 2014/2015 fiscal year.
FEMA – Doug Hermann is working on documentation and Dave Fry and Maggie Burger have been assisting him. He is almost finished with one of the worksheets and will present to the board shortly.
Dam Construction/Timeline – Colgan gave an overview of status of the bids. The Contractors meeting was yesterday and Stanley has given 30 sets of designs so we know there is a lot of interest. Colgan is anticipating 5-6 good bids from good contractors. Twenty five to thirty people showed up at the meeting yesterday. The contractors had great questions and all the questions were collected and the answers will be shared with all contractors as an addendum. Our plan is to award the bid on March 10th giving a notice to proceed.
State county legislative – Currently there is bill HF2340 that has been issued to clarify our property tax exempt status. There has been lots of communication with the Iowa tax revenue department and they have no issue and will show support. Sales tax is another issue but we have received informal clarification from the Iowa Tax Department and we should be exempt from sales tax.
We received county approval to work in the flood plain so nothing is stopping phase I right now.
Property Management – we need to go through all the documents in the building down by the dam in the spring.
Public comment – How many sites are in the RNA area and Leonard advised there are approximately 37 owners, but we understand 3 homes were taken out by the flood and those won’t return. Those remaining will feed into the new septic system. Does our building remain and the answer is yes, the spillway won’t interfere with that building (office building). Will many of the contractors from Phase I return for the Phase II work and Colgan said yes, he expects that.
Aschbrenner asked what did we pay for the Peck property and Leonard said close to $100,000 and then he was asked how much area was included. Leonard said he could go to the beacon web site on the County page and see what area was purchased.
Chuck Koelker asked when Phase I and II will be done. Colgan said Phase I is estimated for September but we can’t do the final test to complete until the spillway is complete and the gate test is done.
Aschbrenner asked who does the gate test and Colgan answered Stanley Engineering.
Dave Larson confirmed that the gates will take 6-8 months to receive and Colgan said we still won’t need the gates until Spring of 2015. The roller gate guides will be an important part for Phase I. Once the guides are done then we can build the coffer dam so we can start the spillway work. What about the tubes below the powerhouse and Colgan said they may still be an option but we haven’t been able to inspect them yet because of the rip rap.
Schneider made motion to adjourn, Davidson second. All ayes, motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.