MINUTES OF MEETING

NORTH SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

 

            The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the North Springs Improvement District was held on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 4:30 p.m. at the District Office, 10300 NW 11th Manor, Coral Springs, Florida.

 

            Present and constituting a quorum were:

 

            Salvatore J. Mendolia                                 President

            Steve Mendelson                                        Secretary

 

            Also present were:

 

            John Petty                                                  Manager

            Dennis Lyles                                               Attorney

            Jane Early                                                   Engineer

            Brenda Schurz                                            Severn Trent Services

            Representative of TOUSA Homes

 

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS                         Roll Call

            Mr. Mendolia called the meeting to order and called the roll.

 

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS                    Approval of the Minutes of the January 11, 2007 Meeting

            Mr. Petty stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the January 11, 2007 meeting and requested any corrections, additions or deletions.

            There not being any,

           

On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the minutes of the January 11, 2007 meeting were approved.

           

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS                       Consideration of Permit for Parkland Village – Village Green Development Parcel

            Ms. Early stated this is one of our standard surface water management permits.  We already issued a permit for the majority of Parkland Village.  This will tie one of the  outparcels into the system we already permitted.  We reviewed the plans and listed our standard conditions.  We do not see a problem with it.  This is a small 8 acre parcel.

            Mr. Mendolia asked are there any problems with funding?

            Ms. Early responded no.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor the permit for the Village Green Development in Parkland Village was approved.

 

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                    Consideration of Change Orders

            A.        Change Order No. 3 & Final with Triple R. Paving for Heron Bay North Two Drainageways for a Net Increase of $355,459.65

            Ms. Early stated on the last page of the change order is the split with WCI paying $249,612.05 and NSID paying $105,847.60 for the lake excavation in Heron Bay North Plat 2. 

            Mr. Petty stated I provided a monthly bond report to the Board.

            Ms. Early stated the overage comes out of the Heron Bay bond under lakes and culverts.  The majority of this change order is for items directly being paid for by WCI such as the house pads.  The portion the District pays is for digging of the lakes.  We estimated the quantities of dirt we thought we will get out of the lakes.  There are some overages due to an additional 11 cubic yards of unsuitable material in the lake areas.  The majority of the overage is the responsibility of WCI.  The District portion is being paid out of the bond funds.

            Mr. Mendelson stated this is a done deal.

            Mr. Petty stated correct.  According to page two, as of February, we have $1,000,000 remaining.  We have enough money to cover this work without going into a deficit.  Correct?

            Ms. Early responded yes.

            Mr. Petty stated we are within the engineer’s estimates.

            Mr. Mendelson asked are we in the black?

            Mr. Petty responded yes.  We do not have anything to bring to your attention, with this change order.

            Mr. Mendolia asked what are we paying $687,376 for?

            Ms. Early responded this was the original split of what the District pays out of the bond issue for digging the lakes and removing unsuitable material.  We also have the installation of some interconnect pipes.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 3 & final with Triple R. Paving for the Heron Bay North Two Drainageways for a net increase of $355,459.65 was approved.

 

            B.        Change Order No. 3 & Final with Weekly Asphalt Paving, Inc. for Holmberg Road Overlay and Bike Lane, University Drive and Trails End Final Lift and Modifications for a Net Increase of $107,288.50

            Ms. Early stated this is the WCI project to put the final lift of asphalt on University Drive and Trails End.  The NSID portion of the change order is a deduction.  We negotiated with Weekly Asphalt on some of the repairs they were doing as we decided they could do something better for less money on the District’s portion.  On the WCI portion, they had an increase of $151,000.  This company did the Holmberg Road overlay.

            Mr. Mendelson asked is this where the paver problem came from?

            Ms. Early responded yes.  It was a WCI cost.

            Mr. Petty asked which bond are the funds coming out of?

            Ms. Early responded Parkland Golf and Country Club (Area A) and supplement three.

            Mr. Petty stated we have an overage.  For the past six to nine months, all of our contractors have been coming in high for asphalt.  We have the funds available to pay but we are $200,000 over our estimate.  This change order puts us further over.  You are starting to see the tabulation and the impact of what you have been hearing for the last nine months, which is contract costs are increasing, particularly for asphalt.  We are hoping the prices will decrease since construction has slowed but we have not seen this happen.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 3 & final with Weekly Asphalt Paving, Inc. for Holmberg Road overlay and bike Lane, University Drive and Trails End final lift and modifications for a net increase of $107,288.50 was approved.

 

            C.        Change Order No. 10 & Final with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for Heron Bay North Plat 1, Phase 1, Access Roadway Plan and Lift Station TPC #9 (Cypress Point) for a Net Decrease of $511,988.95

            Ms. Early stated this project is for Cypress Point, Phase 1, which is located north of Heron Bay Boulevard in the western portion.  It was designed by DeGirolmo & Associates.  The District’s portion is the water and sewer where there was an increase of $92,000.  There were some overages and we added some turf at the lift station driveway for access.  This is a balancing change order to bring the quantities to the final as-built.

 

 

 

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor Change Order No. 10 & final with Florida Sewer and Water, Inc. for the Heron Bay North Plat 1, Phase 1, access roadway plan and Lift Station TPC #9 (Cypress Point) for a net decrease of $511,988.95 was approved.

 

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                         Consideration of Work Authorization No. 172 for SFWMD Permit Modification – BMP Requirements

            Mr. Petty stated staff requests this Work Authorization be tabled.  This is the item we spoke to the Board about several meetings ago where we are starting to get a PR campaign from SFWMD based on the Everglades cleanup.  The District being a Stormwater District may get blamed for polluting the Everglades in the future and we wanted to make sure the District was in the best position.  Currently the best management practices program is for SFWMD to get out of trouble with DEP.  As the permit holder, they are subject to their directives.  There are some things we may have to do but we wish to do so with our best face forward.  We certainly do not want to help their case.  If we are going to spend District money even though they may be paying, we want to make sure our program encompasses the long term.  Therefore, we request the Board table this item and we will consider it again.

            Ms. Early stated Mr. McKune and I met with SFWMD yesterday and they gave us a deadline of March 4th to make a permit submittal for a modification.  If you want us to proceed, it involves a great deal of work to get the permit modification submitted.  They want a $7,500 permit fee.

            Mr. Petty stated I do not know what to tell you.  I cannot recommend this work authorization to the Board without seeing it.

            Ms. Early stated there was a letter from SFWMD about being in compliance and having 90 days to submit the permit. 

            Mr. Petty stated this issue is similar to what we brought to the Board’s attention in the past.  We have not had a chance to discuss the details of the meeting you had the other day.  I understand they have a timely response issue and I wish to comply with due diligence.  I do not want the Board to be pushed to take action on an agreement they have not had a chance to review.

            Ms. Early stated I will do whatever you wish.  I am concerned about what will happen if we do not submit something to SFWMD.

            Mr. McKune asked can a permit submittal be made without all the backup documentation and indicate to them the documentation will be submitted under separate cover?  I have done this before for other permits.  This allows them to say we met a deadline but does not commit the District to a course of action.

            Ms. Early responded we can call and ask.  My understanding is they want this submittal stating the items we are working towards to increase our water quality.

            Mr. Petty stated let’s do it.  We have been asked by SFWMD to respond within 90 days.  However, since we have not discussed any policy or program, my request for the Board to wait until the next meeting still stands.  We should never respond to any government agency without determining the District’s position.  It will be difficult for us to protect the District without going through the material.  I suggest we contact SFWMD and request an extension and work with them to the best of our ability. 

            Mr. Mendolia asked do you think they will give us an extension?

            Mr. Petty responded I think due diligence requires us to ask for an extension and not approve the work authorization at this time.

            Mr. Lyles stated it is wise to be cautious and not file something without sufficient information.  I am hearing about this for the first time and concerned about the possibility of missing a deadline.  I wonder if there is some middle ground such as authorization for the Board to grant the submittal pending staff review and approval.  If staff cannot make a determination by the deadline, you can ask for an extension.  Ms. Early deals with this agency on a regular basis and is concerned about the deadline.  I am trying to find a way to get the most flexibility.

            Ms. Early stated I can request an extension.

            Mr. Lyles asked what happens if we do nothing today but authorize the extension and you call tomorrow and they say “no”?  We will need to call a special meeting and I do not know if we want to.

            Mr. Mendolia asked can we wait until the next meeting?

            Mr. Lyles responded yes, since we meet early in the month.  The extension will give us a couple of extra weeks.

            Mr. Petty stated this issue came up routinely as part of our existing permit k.  If we did not know by now what was going on, then it was our fault.  This is something they brought up where we must respond within 90 days or submit reasons why.  This means they are open to discussing the issues.  As a government agency, you need to be given the opportunity for due diligence.  How do you protect the interest of the residents, by being rushed to fill out a form?

            Ms. Early responded the reason they want us to submit this modification is because of Pump Station No. 1 pumping into the C-11 Canal.  They are concerned once the water level reaches a certain elevation our pumps will pump the water into the Everglades.  They are trying to reduce the Phosphorus levels in the Everglades and want us to give them a list of approaches to implement.  We have not pumped into the Everglades in two years.  We do not have any alternative.

            Mr. Petty stated the other canals are full.  The Hillsboro and C-14 Canals were allocated out.  When they send us a letter saying, “We do not want you pumping to the Everglades anymore”, are we supposed to move?  This is a bigger issue than just complying with a simple quarterly report.  They are trying to push NSID not only into the water management area but to the Florida Aquifer.  You are looking at tens of millions of dollars in construction costs to change our water treatment process if they are successful.  The reason they have us in their sights is because we have new land development.  Everyone else is existing.  Because we are the last ones in the door, we are being subjected to these new requirements.  There have been articles in the newspaper in the last couple of days where they are pushing utilities.  The City of Coral Springs is gearing up in case they get pushed.  NSID has been targeted.  Mr. McKune and I discussed this issue on how we may be able to work with SFWMD in a positive manner.  This is a larger issue than just a quarterly report and has far reaching results.  I rather not submit a permit at this time without giving the Board the chance to evaluate the scope. 

            Mr. Mendolia stated the next meeting is at the beginning of next month, which is not far away.  Maybe we can stretch it out.

            Mr. Lyles stated if the Board wants to authorize an extension, let’s go forward on this basis.  We can always call a special meeting at the end of the month.

            Mr. Mendolia stated this is what we should do.

            Mr. Petty stated I think this serves our purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                        Staff reports

            A.        Manager’s Report

            i.          Short Term Financing

            Mr. Petty stated the District is currently building some tennis courts and re-piping Pump Station No. 1.  Not only is the piping facing towards the Everglades but the pumps hooked to the piping cannot be turned.  We showed a design of a manifold to the Board where we can either go to the Everglades or north or south, depending on which way it was permitted.

            Mr. Mendolia asked do they put swivels on them?

            Mr. Petty responded they put pipes on the manifolds so the valves direct the water.  For these projects, we may not have enough money in our renewal and replacement account and are looking at some short-term financing.  Ms. Larned has been working diligently with willful lenders who do short-term financing.  However, we did not receive the material in a timely enough fashion to include in your agenda package and will provide it to you in the next couple of weeks.  This will be a commitment letter from those agencies.  It will be a short-term note; $5 million or less for less than five years but will not be bank qualified because we are issuing bonds.  The interest rate will be 5.5%.  We have plenty of revenue coming in but may not have enough in one year to pay for these projects. 

            It is time to look at not only the final phase of our water and sewer plant but rebuilding some of the original plant, which is now 20 years old.  This is as complicated as it gets with the best management practices issue as SFWMD will say this is what caused the trouble.  They are now saying the Biscayne Aquifer gets its water from underneath the Everglades but the Everglades has its own aquifer. 

            ii.         Capital Improvement Program

            Mr. Petty stated at this time, we will present what staff has been working on with our Capital Improvement Coordinator and what the vision is.  It is our intention at the next meeting to have our Engineer, CH2M-Hill provide a work authorization to start a capital improvement program, if this vision is something the Board can buy into. 

            The objections are:

1.                  Each item filling a 10 to 20 year window

2.                  Meeting future regulations

3.                  Capability of adaptation

4.                  Reliability

            The capital improvement program is broken out into separate items:

1.                  Water Supply Well

2.                  Nano Filtration Plant to control contaminants – (Comparable to lime softening)

3.                  Reclaimed Water

4.                  High Service Pumps

5.                  Liquid Chlorine Conversion from Gaseous Chlorine

6.                  Miscellaneous – Immediate renewal & replacement, including maintenance facilities for field staff.

            Mr. Petty stated the NSID plant is well built with solid concrete support structures.  We are looking at the next 10 to 20 years and what is going to be required.  SFWMD is trying to push us to use a less quality water aquifer.  The Biscayne water is hard and all we are trying to do is to soften it.  There are a large number of unregulated contaminants we must have our water analyzed for.  We may not be required to remove them now but each year we receive at least two more contaminants.  The lime softening treatment process addresses softening; not the removal of certain contaminants.  The question is whether to change processes now because we are built out.  Since we cannot tell for certain what the future will bring, the system should be adaptable to change from time to time. 

            The capital improvement program envisions more water supply wells.  A Nano Filtration Plant is a membrane plant removing contaminants based on its molecular weight and the amount of pressure applied.  It is recommended nano filtration be considered since it can control contaminants lime softening cannot.  These membranes sit inside a metal building and are compact.  The cost is comparable to lime softening.  Lime softening used to be inexpensive but over the years, these membrane processes have become more competitive.  It is time for us to look at nano filtration, particularly with SFWMD pushing us towards a poorer quality aquifer like Fordan and its brackish water.  You have to operate a membrane plant at much higher levels than a Nano Filtration Plant.  It will be a reverse osmosis plant, which is the next level in membranes.  The costs for operating will skyrocket with the high energy costs but we think this addresses the best use of our water supply and gives us the most options.

            We know they are going to push for the reclaimed water system in our Consumptive Use Permit.  We are a large user with Broward County and are able to use some credits with their reclamation project for effluent reuse, but it is only for a small portion of the wastewater flow.  They get a great deal of flow from industrial waste.  Smaller facilities like the single-family communities in CSID have easier waste to reclaim than a large regional plant.  Since you do not have a Wastewater Treatment Plant, you are going to have to obtain the reclaimed water from somewhere else, your closest utility being CSID.  The cost includes the running of pipes on a program CSID will bill to NSID and the storage tanks.

            We plan to get more pumps as we have more residents and pump more water.  This was already planned.  We currently use gaseous chlorine.  The new regulations say with chlorine gas you need to have a scrubber so in case it leaks, the scrubber can pull out the chlorine before it escapes.  This is a huge cost.  The more obvious answer is to go with liquid chlorine.  Whereas, if you have a liquid leak, all you kill is the grass.  You just have to put higher volumes of it into your water but it is the same amount of chlorine.  We have done this for CSID and it worked out well.  For operator safety, it is a big benefit.  The costs for immediate renewal and replacement will go into the miscellaneous category.

            Mr. Petty stated these prices are high conservative estimates as Mr. McKune did not want to come in under value.  He wanted to make sure we value his ability to get the engineer’s estimates below budget.  At this time I will defer to Mr. McKune on the water supply in the Biscayne Aquifer.

            Mr. McKune stated SFWMD is currently pursuing their “Everglades Forever” restoration program, which they have been spending billions of dollars on.  Now they want to spend more of your dollars to clean up the local area.  We currently get our water from 120’ deep wells, which is good water.  SFWMD put out their most recent update of the lower east coast water supply plant telling every utility in the county what they are going to do.  They are telling NSID to pull water from the Florida Aquifer, which is 1,700’ down and salty.  When you are done treating it, you have to build an injection well, similar to the one for the wastewater to inject the brine waste from the RO Plant back underground.  This is an expensive well to build and operate. 

            Mr. Petty was discussing the Nano Filtration Plant.  The membrane used to treat the water are stainless steel cylinders, which we put a fine mesh filter inside of and increase the pressure.  As the water flows through, it is treated.  This process is fairly reliable.  Operators love it once they learn how to operate it.  It is also adaptable.  If the water quality standards change in the future, all we have to do is open up the end of the cylinder and replace the membrane. 

            Reclaimed water is the treated wastewater we use to irrigate the grass.  Twenty years ago, a client on the east coast used reclaimed water to irrigate the front yards of their subdivision but they did not notify the residents who allowed their kids to play in the water.  It did not bother the residents until they were finally told it was reclaimed water.  It is fairly innocuous and can be readily used on golf courses.  This will allow some negotiations with SFWMD but they are telling us we must take 1 million gallons of water from the lower aquifer because they do not have enough of the good water we are now taking.  If we can put some reclaimed water into NSID and replenish the aquifer with a gallon of reclaimed water, they may give us a gallon more of what we are using today.  One of the selling points is on the west boundary of the District we have a dike.  Beyond the dike is the Everglades. 

            Mr. Petty stated you can see it from the Sawgrass Expressway.

            Mr. McKune stated SFWMD is concerned when we pump our wells; we lower the ground water table, which is going to cause underflow under the dike to the Everglades contributing to the drying out of the Everglades.  When we irrigate with reclaimed water, especially on the Heron Bay golf course, which is almost to the dike, we build a mound of fresh water to retard the underflow.  SFWMD loves this and we will be in a good negotiating position.  In addition, it is environmentally friendly and acceptable to all the agencies.  It can even benefit the City of Coral Springs.

            Mr. Petty stated your sister district, CSID, has the same incentive to implement this program.  They have a Consumptive Use Permit and are going to be pushed for effluent reuse.  They built this into their capital program.  However, they do not have a customer to use the effluent/reclaimed water.  If CSID has a use for it, they will have the first shot at it.

            Mr. McKune stated in regards to the high service pump, we need to put more water out at acceptable pressures in the District.  Therefore, we need two more pumps at the water plant and two pumps at the north end pumping station.  This will improve the service throughout the entire District.

            Mr. Mendolia asked is this in the plan?

            Mr. McKune responded yes.  This is one of those short-term projects.

            Mr. Mendelson stated whatever we decide on has to be cost prohibitive.  We do not want to keep shelling out money.

            Mr. McKune stated it is intricate.  One of the constraints we currently have is the site of the water plant is fairly small.  Parking is hard to find because of the equipment, buildings and lime disposable pods.  It is a mess in the summertime with lime all over the place.

            Mr. Mendolia asked can we fix it?

            Mr. McKune responded we can fix it by going to a membrane plant and filling in the ponds.  The plant is compact and will give you room to put additional facilities on the plant site. 

            Mr. Petty stated it is a by-product of our current treatment process.  When you go to a membrane process, there is a by-product called the “reject screen”, which is the concentrate.  In this particular scenario, we will pull out the fully dissolved solids from the Biscayne water in a condensed stream.  This condensed stream is considered to be eminent to the Biscayne Aquifer because it has more material.  Our process will put the reject screen in with our irrigation water where it is perfectly acceptable.  Irrigation water will dilute it so it is a meaningless increase in calcium or any other mineral.  We do not have to treat it as a waste steam discharging down a deep well or put into special buckets.  We can use it for irrigation.

            Mr. McKune stated the liquid chlorine is a less hazardous way of doing the required chlorination or disinfecting of the water.  We put it in fairly large size Polyethylene tanks and meter it out.

            Mr. Mendelson stated in order to work with those tanks; you have to wear safety suits because it can be hazardous. 

            Mr. Petty stated it is the same 10% chlorine solution used in pools.  We do not have any trouble other than having exposed metal nearby.  The operators do not have to wear special equipment.  If there is a small spill, you hose it down.

            Continuing through the water plant, we show the field workers working on different projects with Mr. McKune.  The field workers maintain all the water meters, water distribution systems, fire hydrants, booster stations, chlorine booster facilities and line breaks.  We have a mechanics area but it has to stay open to get equipment in for repair. 

            Mr. Mendolia asked do we have room for expansion?

            Mr. Petty responded if we get rid of the lime ponds, we have plenty of room.  The lime ponds take up a quarter of the site. 

            Mr. Mendolia asked is it possible to have a second level?

            Mr. McKune responded at the south end of the plant, there is a berm, which can be removed and a 6’ fence can be installed.  This area will be perfect for storage.

            Mr. Petty stated keep in mind this berm separates us from the residents.

            Mr. Mendolia stated you will have a fight with those residents.

            Mr. McKune stated we went to every resident living around the plant and had them sign off on removal of the berm and installation of a fence.  The city signed off on it.

            Mr. Mendolia stated I am shocked.

            Mr. Petty stated we are looking at a 10 to 20 year window in our capital improvement program, not just in the short-term.  We are keeping an eye on future regulations with SFWMD’s pressure to do things now as we are getting a great deal of pressure to make some changes.  The cost for making these changes is huge.  What we consider to be the most economical way to address this issue is still costly.

            Mr. Mendelson stated it is costly now.  Can you imagine what the cost will be in another 10 years?  If changes have to be made and we have the ability to do it, we should start making those changes now.

            Mr. Petty stated the membrane process is more adaptable than any other process.  Of course, we look to the engineers to validate this.  We have good operators in NSID, better than CSID.  They are conscientious and have done some innovative things.  You want the process to be reliable so they can make the best use of it.  We are looking at a cost between $40 to $42 million.

            Mr. Mendolia asked on the high side?

            Mr. Petty responded this is one of the reasons why we hired Mr. McKune as your Capital Improvement Coordinator.  He will make sure when you are spending this amount of money, it is the most efficient use of your funds.  Occasionally a large corporate engineering firm can take an item off of the shelf and say, “Here is what we are doing today”.  It works and the engineering is impeccable.  Having the local talent Mr. McKune represents knowing what is in the ground and being on your payroll helps us.  It certainly cannot hurt us.  We want to have a home team member when we are spending $40 million.

            In the budget the Board approved last summer, we talked about keeping our documents in a database so they are retrievable from the internet.  The system is now up and running.  This will be a four district databases, which the core districts will participate in.  It is like Google® but with all of your documents.  We included all the minutes, resolutions and agreements in the database.  It will also include all correspondence written by me and any previous manager.  We will even have the NSID logo.  In this way, if we are gone tomorrow, the next team can find their way around.  We have the hardware, which is the computer.  The database is currently being loaded and has been tested on the intranet, meaning it is internal to this building.  Anyone on their computer can access the database.

            Mr. Mendelson asked can you do a search?

            Mr. Petty responded yes, by word or phrase.

            Mr. Mendolia asked is the system secure?

            Mr. Petty responded yes.  The benefit is it is a standalone system.  You do not touch or remove a document from the database.  You can only make a copy.  This means no one can damage the database from the outside or internally.  It is a secure system.  The backup is the same backup we have for our utility billing onsite and our mainframe.  We have a terabyte server because the blueprints will take up a great deal of space. 

            Next I will discuss the bonds.  The first one is for the Parkland Golf and Country Club.  We already spoke about the deficit we have on the roadways.  This is due to our increasing construction costs.  We have $2 million remaining to spend on the amount NSID anticipated to spend.  We have enough money left for lakes and culverts but not the roads.  The percentages shown for NSID include interest income while the funds are in the bank.  The last item is the NSID share and WCI share.  Lakes, culverts and roadways are shared by both but a portion is to be contributed by the developer to make the development feasible.  The 2006 A and B bonds are for the Heron Bay North assessment area.  Under this bond issue are the lakes and culverts, roadways, landscape buffers and sidewalks. 

            I spoke to Ms. Early about this issue.  She likes to put our money first and foremost into lakes and culverts, secondarily into roadways and any remaining funds into the landscape buffers and sidewalks.  We put in “x” number of dollars and WCI puts in “x” number of facilities and we are supposed to have a viable product at the end.  In the graph for the percentage share, NSID was responsible for more than half of the cost and WCI is expected to contribute less than half.

            For Parkland Golf and Country Club assessment areas A1 and B1, we have landscape, sidewalks and lights.  In this case, NSID was supposed to contribute all the funds, with WCI only expected to contribute $2 million worth out of a $22 million issue.  Not only are we watching our construction projects, but we are also watching those contributed facilities WCI is responsible for turning over to the District.  The last set of bonds are the water management refunding bonds A and B, which NSID is solely responsible for with no WCI share.  We thank Ms. Early and District staff for assisting us in putting this document together.  This is something we will provide monthly in order to track all our bonds.

            With the document management system, we are finding the amount of documents and data we have on-site is intimidating.  We have a fairly large bond program out there where we are acquiring assets at a fast past.  We have past capital programs where we built water and sewer facilities.  Our asset management program has been overly burdened by all this work.  We are working to address this and have programs designed in-house but we cannot do it with existing staff.  Therefore, I am asking for authorization to hire two additional employees to work on fixed assets, contract administration and accounting.  We have the funds available.  The fixed assets relate to what Ms. Early and Ms. Susan Walker have been during the year.  Ms. Walker will be in charge of this on our end working with Ms. Early.  We want to track all the water and sewer lines acquired and all the easements and rights-of-way along with it; as well as the lakes, culverts, landscaping and lighting.  Everything should be in a complete package. 

            In regards to the database, we are looking for something graphic where you can click on an area showing the water and sewer lines and when they were constructed.  What precipitated this was an event occurring at CSID where a woman fell in a meter box at the mall and they could not find the instrument giving them the right to have a meter there or an agreement saying they can put it on private lines or where it was their responsibility to maintain it.  This was before Mr. Lyles came on board.  I have been working with Mr. Lyles to come up with a solution and this is what we came up with.  We need to track our assets and have the data available.  I have the funds available for the two employees.

            Mr. Mendolia asked how many people have we hired in the last year?

            Mr. Petty responded only one person was hired at CSID.  This was an accounts payable person to help our singular accountant, Ms. Walker.  Ms. Walker has always had someone helping her in the past but it did not work out.  We tried to offer people from Severn Trent Services but they need to be District employees as these districts are unique.  It seems to work better when they are District employees.  Severn Trent Services is not interested in expanding its contract but we are asking you to look at hiring additional personnel to fill this role.  Part of this is due to GASB-34, which is a new accounting regulation enforcing an already existing rule stating a government must count their fixed assets.  It has always been difficult for these districts to do so.  When you grow as fast and as large as NSID has grown in the last four to five years, it gets tough.  Staff is doing a good job keeping track of our assets but we need to clear up quite a bit of growth, which accumulated over the past years.  These employees are subject to budget reviews each year.  As we go through the budget process, you can evaluate this again.

            Mr. Mendolia asked will they be in a permanent or temporary status?

            Mr. Petty responded we think the work is going to be for a long enough time to not be temporary work but you never can tell.  There is enough work for these two people to be utilized.

            Mr. Mendolia asked can you hire internally?

            Mr. Petty responded we looked at the same thing; however the administration being handled by CSID is fairly thin.  You have one HR person and one utility billing, IT and customer service person rolled into one person.  The person who handles this position is Mr. Dan Daly and Mr. Jan Zilmer is the HR person.  Severn Trent Services is supposed to provide backup but it is more of a redundancy in case something happens to Ms. Walker and we can pay the bills in a reasonable amount of time.  We did a special audit through CSID on this position in the last year and their recommendation was we had too much reliance on this one person.  The diligence Ms. Walker is able to apply to each of these matters is fairly short.  She only has 15 minutes and then has to move on.  We were trying to get Ms. Walker promoted to a position where she could work with Ms. Early directly on the fixed assets for the current bond issues, which is probably the easiest and best ones to start with and then move backwards to try to get all the documents together and put them in a database so we can find out what is going on with a certain amount of confidence. 

            The last five years are probably going to be the easiest other than the contributed portion.  This is why we have it on our schedule.  The contributed portion by WCI is going to be more difficult.  The roads go through us but we do not own them.  We turn them over to Parkland or the county.  These employees will be NSID employees.

            Mr. Mendolia stated I think we need to do something.

            Mr. Petty stated I do not need a motion.  I only need consensus from the Board.

            The record will reflect there was consensus from the Board for Mr. Petty to hire two District employees to provide fixed asset, contract administration and accounting services.

            Mr. Petty stated as you know, there has been construction on the Sawgrass Expressway to widen the road and install noise barrier walls.  One worker installing a fiber optic cable next to the road hit one of our pipes.  Some time ago they came to us for a permit, which Ms. Early reviewed where they agreed to fix anything broken by them.  We were checking for something else at one of their walls where we had six 72” lines.  We wondered how they missed our lines and sent in a diver to check all of the pipes in all three Districts.  They hit pipes in every district. 

            Mr. Mendolia stated they did not care.

            Mr. Petty stated when they installed the pilings; they evidently sized them to fit in between the pipes.  Now we have a wall over our pipes, which is something we will have to work around. 

            Mr. Mendolia asked do we have any legal problems?

            Mr. Petty responded we are in good shape.  Ms. Early has been dealing with the contractor and they made the repairs.  There is only cleaning out the pipes left.

            Ms. Early stated I am going to get an update on when the cleaning is going to be scheduled. 

            Mr. Petty stated we will send in our divers after the pipes are cleaned.

            Mr. Mendolia stated someone should warn other towns.

            Ms. Early stated the sub-contractor for the fiber optics said he was never given all the information but we had sheets of tabulations showing where our pipes were located.  Apparently this sub-contractor never received this information and trenched through everything.  From where he stopped, we gave him information to continue on.

            Mr. Mendolia stated when we build a house; we call all the utilities and get maps showing where the lines are.  Someone should have done this.

            iii.        Rate Sufficiency Study

            Mr. Petty stated this is for an in-house analysis we are going to be doing regarding whether your rates are sufficient to give you what you intended to get before.  We did this for CSID who has not adjusted their rates in 15 years.  We are going to look at your rates on the monthly water and sewer bills along with connection fees to see whether we are getting what we are supposed to fund what we are supposed to.  It has been five years since there has been an adjustment in connection fees and eight or nine years for the user rates.  We think this study is overdue.  Staff will be working on this study and will provide to you at the next meeting.  Since we are looking at a capital improvement program, this is the time to start evaluating your rates.  If we are sufficient, we recommend doing a rate study for the capital improvement program.  If we are deficient, we may recommend you doing one sooner.

            Mr. Mendolia stated in Heron Bay, just before the Colony, there is digging being done near the Everglades.  It looks like they are creating lakes.

            Ms. Early asked who is?

            Mr. Mendolia responded there are big machines.

            Ms. Early asked north of the pump station?

            Mr. Mendolia responded yes.

            Ms. Early stated WCI is doing the earthwork for a new mitigation area.

 

            B.        Attorney’s Report

            Mr. Lyles stated today I received an information package from the attorneys representing Royal Utility, across from Wiles Road.  They contacted me as Registered Agent for the District and submitted an information package, which I provided to Mr. Petty for his review.  They propose we consider purchasing this utility.  They have their own Consumptive Use Permit and significant excess capacity under their permit issued by SFWMD.  They feel we could better serve our future residents.  What triggered this was the information you may have seen about part of southwest Palm Beach County being annexed into Broward County and Parkland.  They are thinking it is likely NSID will expand its boundaries to serve this unincorporated area.  I am just letting you know they submitted a proposal.  It may turn out to be totally worthless.  Mr. Petty will have to analyze it.  Naturally, anything we respond to positively or negatively will come to the Board first.

            Mr. Mendolia stated if the annexation goes through, those residents are going to need water service.

            Mr. Petty stated the property is outside of the current District boundaries.  The City of Parkland talked to us about serving them.  I told them it was outside of our boundary and I could not tell them what our Board will do.  They said “We do not know if Palm Beach County wishes to serve these residents”.  I told them, “I do not think we would fight the county but typically districts provide water and sewer where others cannot”.  The last I heard, Palm Beach County indicated they did want to supply water but there is an issue of crossing the canal.  As you may have read in the newspaper, the City of Parkland is interested in annexing this area to get it out of Palm Beach County and bring it into Broward County.  If the political winds shift this way, we may be asked to serve those residents.  We have pipes stubbed out to do this should they ask.  Royal utility has been around for awhile.  If there is anything of positive benefit, we should evaluate it now while we are looking at our capital program.  It is the opportune time.

            Mr. Mendelson stated the District can make money out of this.

            Mr. Lyles stated the more consumers you spread your costs over; the better it is for all your existing consumers.  It could be an expensive proposition to serve this new area and if it is, the residents will have to pay their fair share.  Sixteen residents should not have to pay a premium to bring new residents into the District.  It is not supposed to work this way.  However, we received a serious proposition and I wanted the Board to know it had been received and turned over to Mr. Petty for his review and recommendation.

            Our Special Act is proceeding along the timeline it is supposed to.  We are being asked some follow-up questions by one member of the Legislative Delegation who had trouble with this and asked negative questions.  She did not like the idea of us by-passing the petition, referendum and special election process to make the Board elected at a General Election.  She thought this process was in the original act and this was taking something away from the voters.  They may not want it to be changed on the discretion of the three elected Board members.  The rest of the delegation saw it a different way.  She ultimately voted in favor of our bill, however, her aide is now coming back and asking for further information.  Keep in mind, while at the Broward County Legislative Delegation, we are dealing with a bunch of Democrats and a couple of Republicans, now it is going to Tallahassee where there are a bunch of Republicans and a few Democrats.  One Legislator from Broward County who is hostile to this proposition could turn the tide in Tallahassee.  I just wanted you to know, notwithstanding the fact we have gone through our hearing and the bill was approved, things could change.  However, we have lobbying help in Tallahassee with this bill on both sides and will continue to do what we need to do to make sure it gets passed.  The session is getting ready to start and in a couple of months, we should have a definitive answer.  It does not stand to reason or seem logical an elected representative is against the idea of voluntarily converting this Board to one elected by all residents in this District but this is what is occurring.  We are going to continue to try to give the commissioner all the information she requests and be logical and professional about it.  You know how this works.  It could reach Tallahassee and get buried in a committee and die.  We stay on top of this on almost a daily basis and will keep you posted.  

C.        Engineer’s Report – Consideration of Bids for Parkland Village Paving, Drainage, Water and Sewer and Related Funding Agreement

            Ms. Early stated the reason why the bids were not included in your agenda package was because we just took bids on Tuesday.  We actually had 12 people pick up bid packages.  This is the water, sewer and drainage for the entire project and the paving and drainage of the East/West roadway, which will ultimately belong to North Springs as well as drainage along all the buffer areas.  One bid was received from Florida Storm and Water in the amount of $4,330,436.57.  The engineer’s estimate was $4,673,038.20.  At the bottom of the bid tabulation is the actual cost split.  This will be done through funding agreements with TOUSA Homes.  TOUSA Homes will also pay directly for a portion of the drainage in the subdivisions.  We are recommending award to Florida Storm and Water.

            Mr. Lyles asked do we still need to have the closing on this bond issue?

            Mr. Petty responded yes.  We have a meeting with Tousa Homes next Wednesday.

            Mr. Lyles stated technically, we do not have this money on hand to enter into this contract.

            Mr. Petty stated correct.

            Ms. Early stated we have funding agreements, which are prepared.  I reviewed them.

            Mr. Petty stated we believe it is proper to bring this to the Board’s attention.  We certainly do not want to hold up TOUSA Homes.  We suggest you consider this contract subject to further review by staff and District Counsel of the funding agreements in order to revise them and make them applicable to the current bonding.  We want to look at our water and sewer subdivision funding agreements and may ask TOUSA Homes to consider an alternative. 

            Mr. Lyles stated I recommend approval of the award of the contract to the single bidder who is the responsible and responsive bidder, subject to funding being in place, either by a funding agreement or the closing of the bond issue.  We cannot enter into a contract if we do not have the funds to pay for it.

            Mr. Petty stated true.  I did not want the Board to approve the funding agreements if we were going to change them.

            Ms. Early stated not all of the funds are going to come out of the bond issue.  The water and sewer portion is not.

            Mr. Lyles stated I understand but a portion is.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the contract for the Parkland Village Paving, Drainage, Water and Sewer was awarded to Florida Storm and Water in the amount of $4,330,436.57, subject to funding being in place, either by a funding agreement or the closing of the bond issue.

 

            Ms. Early stated I will issue a notice of award but not give them contracts to sign.

 

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                  Approval of Requisitions and Invoices

            Mr. Petty asked can CH2M-Hill send their bills in increments of $1,000 instead of small amounts?

            Ms. Early responded some of those jobs are closings.  I do not typically submit bills if they are for small amounts.  I will hold them until the next month.

            Mr. Mendolia asked can you submit them monthly?

            Mr. Petty responded they submit many invoices in a month.  Part of this is our fault because we request they keep their jobs separated and be accountable for each job.  We should be thankful for the hard work Ms. Walker has performed over the last several years in keeping this together.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Mendolia with all in favor the requisitions and invoices for the month of January were approved.

 

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                     Supervisor’s Requests and Audience Comments

            A representative of TOUSA agreed with modification of the funding agreements.

            Mr. Petty stated we very much want to work with Ms. Early, TOUSA Homes and WCI.  We are mainly looking at the water and sewer and the connection fee revenue.  I am troubled with asking you for the connection fee, you paying us and then turning around and giving you the money back.  Maybe we can cut out some of the paperwork.  The bond financing is straightforward and all we need to do is clean up some language.

            The representative stated TOUSA is interested in starting as soon as possible.  I wanted to make sure we could move forward with the contractor getting his submittals completed.  We figure this will be a 30 day process at a minimum to get to the point where they can start.  Is the Board awarding the contract but not issuing a Notice to Proceed until those issues are resolved?

            Ms. Early responded the District cannot sign a contract without the funds being available. 

            The representative stated once the funding agreements are tweaked and signed by TOUSA Homes, the District can sign the contract.  Is it reasonable to think this process can happen in 30 to 45 days?

            Mr. Petty responded very easily.

 

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                       Adjournment

            There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                     

Steve Mendelson                                                          Salvatore J. Mendolia

Secretary                                                                      President