MINUTES OF MEETING
NORTH SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the North Springs
Improvement District was held on
Present and constituting a quorum were:
Steve Mendelson
President
David L. Gray
Secretary
Also present were:
Ed Goscicki
Interim Manager -
Pamela Rower
Terri Lusk
Dennis Lyles
Attorney
Jane Early
Engineer
John McKune
Capital Improvement Coordinator
Nick Schooley
Field Superintendent
Doug Hyche
CSID Staff
Warren R. Craven, Jr.
TOUSA Homes
Mark Capwell
Resident
Salvatore J. Mendolia
Consultant
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
Roll Call
Mr. Goscicki
called the meeting to order and called the roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS
Organizational Matters
A.
Acceptance of Resignation from Mr. Sal Mendolia
Mr. Goscicki
stated Mr. Mendolia has moved from
Mr. Mendolia stated at this time, against my better judgment, I resign
from the Board. I will provide the
necessary paperwork. I am choked up
about this because I enjoyed all of my years here. Thank you!
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr.
Mendelson with all in favor the resignation of Mr. Mendolia was
accepted.
D.
Election of Officers – Resolution 2007-10
Mr. Goscicki
stated according to your legislation, when there is a vacancy; the Board is
required to have an election of officers.
The required positions are President and Secretary. Mr. Mendelson currently serves as
Secretary. We provided a resolution
in this regard. Under Section 1 of
the resolution, “Chairman” should be “President”. You may or may not want to appoint a
Vice Chairman as it is not called for in your House Bill but you need to
designate a Secretary. We request
Ms. Pam Rower be appointed Treasurer, which is the role she currently provides
for you. I currently serve as
Assistant Treasurer and request you re-appoint me to continue serving in this
capacity. We also request you
appoint Mr. Bob Koncar as Assistant Treasurer who is the head of our management
services group. You met him two
months ago and he is in the process of relocating to
Mr. Gray nominated Mr.
Mendelson as President and Mr. Mendelson seconded the nomination; there being no
further nominations, with all in favor Mr. Mendelson was elected
President.
Mr. Goscicki stated Mr. Gary will take on the role of
Secretary.
Mr. Mendelson nominated
Mr. Gray as Secretary and Mr. Gray seconded the nomination; there being no
further nominations, with all in favor Mr. Gray was elected
Secretary.
Mr. Goscicki stated Resolution 2007-10 appoints the offices of NSID which
is Mr. Mendelson as President, Mr. Gray as Secretary, Ms. Rower as Treasurer,
Mr. Koncar and me as Assistant Treasurers.
I also request the Board appoint me as Assistant Secretary.
Mr. Lyles stated Resolution 2007-10 incorporates the names previously
announced by the manager.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray
seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor Mr. Mendelson was elected President,
Mr. Gray was elected Secretary, Ms. Rower was elected Treasurer, Mr. Goscicki
was elected Assistant Secretary and Mr. Koncar and Mr. Goscicki were elected
Assistant Treasurer as evidenced by Resolution
2007-10.
B.
Appointment of Supervisor to Fill the Unexpired Term of Office
(6/2008)
Mr. Goscicki
stated we placed this item on the agenda as a formality. This is not something the Board needs to
do today but we wanted to make you aware this was the next course of
action. We will solicit interest
from the community in terms of filling this position; however, we already
received one resume, which we forwarded to the Board members. If anyone else is interested in serving
on the Board, they should submit their resume to me and we will provide to the
Board. The Board can take up this
item at their pleasure. Unless
there is an appointment from the Board today, we will continue this item. The way the House Bill reads, this is an
appointment by the existing Board members.
Mr. Mendelson stated I request tabling this item to a later time. Thank you, Mr. Mendolia for all of your
years of service.
C. Oath
of Office for Newly Appointed Supervisor
There not being
any, the next item followed.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS
Approval of the Minutes of the August 9, 2007
Meeting
Mr. Goscicki stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of
the
There not being any,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by
Mr. Gray with all in favor the minutes of the
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of the Water and Sewer Budget for
Fiscal Year 2008 (Resolution 2007-11)
Mr. Goscicki stated at this time, I request the President to open the
public hearing to consider the adoption of the Water and Sewer Budget for fiscal
year 2008.
Mr. Mendelson stated the public hearing is now
open.
Mr. Goscicki stated the Board received in their agenda package a copy of
Resolution 2007-10 adopting the budget and the revised proposed budget. This version of the budget is slightly
different than the one provided to you last month, but only in a positive
way. I met with Mr. Hyche and his
team to review this budget in great detail and we ended up reducing some of the
expenditures. We eliminated one
vacant position, which has been open for the better part of the year. Mr. Hyche and I realized we do not need
to fill this position as we are working fine without it. We also reduced some capital expenses
such as budgeting for too many generators in the initial draft. Mr. Hyche is credited for bringing to my
attention the fact we can get by with fewer generators. CSID already has several generators,
which we can share.
The budget in front of you is a flat budget from last year with no
proposed increase in rates as we are staying within the current water and sewer
rate structure funding this budget.
Revenues increased from $9 million to $9,100,000 due to interest income,
which is higher this year than what we budgeted for. We were conservative and budgeted well
under this year’s current estimates of interest income. Debt service is the same. The administrative costs decreased
slightly while the plant operations costs increased slightly due to chemical
costs for the Water Treatment Plant.
We increased the maintenance expense from $130,000 to $261,000 as there
are significant maintenance items we need to move forward on. We also increased operating supplies to
reflect some increased costs. Field
operations decreased slightly, due to the elimination of the open position. This is the most significant
change. Additionally, there was a
reduction in repairs and materials as we found out we were over budget in the
previous year on the meter replacement program. We reduced this item to more reasonable
levels. You are looking at a budget
where total operations last year was $6,057,000 but this year is
$6,100,000. Even with cost of
living and employee raises, we still have a flat budget and stay within the
framework the Board laid out for us.
If there are any questions, we are happy to answer them.
Hearing no public comments, we will close the public hearing.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by
Mr. Gray with all in favor Resolution 2007-11 Adopting the Water and Sewer
Budget for Fiscal Year 2008 was adopted.
Mr. Goscicki stated I had the opportunity last week to spend a day
touring the Water Treatment Plant.
Mr. Hyche is doing an excellent job of identifying issues, advancing the
program and making sure we get the correct technologies in place. Having seen Water Treatment Plants
throughout the state and the country, this is one you can be proud
of.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Consideration of Change Orders
A.
Change Order No. 1 – Florida Sewer &
Water, Inc. for Parkland Village Paving, Drainage, Water Distribution and
Wastewater Collection for a Net Increase of
$127,206.21
B.
Change Order No. 2 – Triple R. Paving,
Inc. for
Mr. Goscicki
stated these change orders are for the
Ms. Early stated I request the Board table Change Order No. 1 for Florida
Sewer & Water until next month.
Change Order Number 2 is for Triple R. Paving who is doing the earthwork
portion, mainly the digging of the lakes.
This change order calls for construction of the perimeter berm, which
will belong to NSID if and when the bond is sold. The developer is currently Tousa Homes
and all of the money comes from them.
However, this will be a cost from this future bond issue.
Mr. Mendelson asked are we tabling this change
order?
Ms. Early responded no. We
are only tabling the change order for Florida Sewer & Water. Mr. Craven obtained several different
prices.
Mr. Gray asked is the purpose of this change order to change the intended
completion time or move to a different time?
Ms. Early responded the plans were not ready at the time we started
digging the lakes and was not included in the original
bid.
Mr. Mendelson asked will the prices remain the
same?
Ms. Early responded we are still within the numbers we priced out the
bond issue at.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr.
Mendelson with all in favor Change Order No. 2 with Triple R. Paving, Inc. for
the Parkland Village Drainageways for a Net Increase of $116,867.00 was
approved.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Staff Reports
A.
Manager’s Report
Mr. Goscicki
stated when we prepared the General Fund Budget; we talked about transitioning
some of the functions being done by CSID back to Severn
Trent Services, specifically
the accounting function. Over time,
this evolved from a Severn
Trent Services
responsibility because staff migrated back and forth between CSID and
Severn
Trent Services, the work
moved back and forth and the fee adjusted back and forth. Our contract never changed and we still
maintained all of the responsibilities in our contract. However, we were concerned about not
doing the work, the contract not reflecting the reality and the efficiencies of
the contract not being there. Mr.
Hyche is a CSID employee and a shared employee with NSID. This makes a tremendous amount of sense
because we have the benefit of a Senior Operations Manager to provide all of the
services but we share in the cost with CSID.
In the case of the accounting, we currently have a single individual with
no backup and no additional resources providing this service. Within Severn
Trent Services, we have
professional staff with over 22 people doing this work. Therefore, effective October
1st Severn
Trent Services will take
over the accounting services. We
have been working with current CSID employees to start transitioning the files
and I wanted to make the Board aware of this and introduce Ms. Terri Lusk who
will be the Senior Accountant for the District. You already met Ms. Pam Rower who is our
Fiscal Manager. Another name you
may hear every now and then is Ms. Paula Davis who heads up our Accounts Payable
Department and will be handling this side of the business. The transition is moving along
smoothly.
We are trying to move forward with the bond sale for the Parkland
Villages Development. I met this
month with representatives of the commercial development along with their
consultant in regards to some of the issues. One such issue is there will be a
perimeter berm around the entire development, which we will own through the bond
sale. There will also be a village
green within the commercial area, which we will own as well as a road through
the middle of this District. The
message we gave to the developers is we expect them to create a Master HOA for
this development for the purpose of entering into an agreement with the District
to provide maintenance. This Board
does not have any interest in maintaining the landscape berms. Finally, there will be a park
surrounding an interior drainage lake.
When it comes to these types of amenities, we told them this is not the
core business of the District per the Board’s previous direction. I just wanted to confirm this with
you. If there is no change in your
direction, we will continue our negotiations.
B.
Attorney’s Report
Mr. Lyles stated this has been a quiet month. We are going to be busy next month
because of the bond closing, which the developer is interested in proceeding
with as quickly as possible. They
are already incurring expenses on behalf of the District and already validated
the bonds to pay for these capital infrastructure improvements. The scheduling will happen fairly
quickly. Shortly after or at your
next meeting, we will be in a position to have this closing where the President
and Secretary will have to execute a number of documents. In the absence of the Secretary, the
Assistant Secretary will execute these documents but we will need the Board’s
presence at this closing.
Mr. Mendelson asked do we have the date for this
closing?
Mr. Lyles responded no. My
best estimate is the closing will be in connection with or just after your
October meeting.
Mr. Gray asked at the next meeting, will we receive all of the
details?
Mr. Lyles responded yes.
C.
Engineer’s Report – Pump Station Evaluation
Report
Ms. Early stated we are currently constructing a Lift Station in
Mr. Lyles stated this looks like a standard form of easement you and I
have seen before whereby WCI Communities transfers an easement directly to the
District. I have not seen this
particular document and want to check to make sure all of our issues are
covered. I am sure this is the case
but in order not to delay the project for 30 days, I feel it is in order and
request the Board pass a motion authorizing acceptance of this Grant of
Easement, subject to final legal review by District staff.
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr.
Mendelson with all in favor the Grant of Easement for
Ms. Early stated a few months ago we had a work authorization to do a
study on the pump station to see if there needed to be any repairs or
improvements.
Mr. Mendelson asked did we already discuss this
report?
Ms. Early responded Mr. Schooley took some pictures and requested a pump
repair.
Mr. Schooley stated this was for an emergency pump repair, which was not
included in the work authorization.
I do not need direction from the Board but I wanted to inform you I met
with Mr. Schooley the other day and we went through the list in front of
you. Many of these items are
mechanical and architectural in nature in order to bring them up to hurricane
code. Basically, the pump stations
are in good condition. This is a
wish list of items we thought the District should take care of. The yellow highlighted items, Mr.
Schooley feels he can either do himself or are not necessary. I want to meet with Mr. Goscicki and Mr.
Schooley over the next month to come up with a plan we all agree on and at the
next meeting, provide you with a final list. The Board can then decide on how to move
forward with these improvements.
Mr. Mendelson stated so everything is up and running
now.
Ms. Early stated everything is running.
Mr. Schooley stated many of these items include painting of the walls and
filling in cracks. We are certainly
capable of doing some of this work ourselves. For a certain amount of money we can go
to Home Depot and purchase the materials.
This is what I recommend but if the Board wants something different, we
can certainly do something different.
Mr. Gray asked what items does he feel are not
necessary?
Ms. Early responded Mr. Schooley does not feel the fence needs to be
replaced. We are recommending a
prison type of fencing to curtail vandalism but Mr. Schooley said he does not
have any vandalism.
Mr. Schooley stated we probably need a new fence, but they are talking
about an 8’ fence. We have no
problem with vandalism as of today.
Therefore, I cannot see us spending $18,000 for something we do not have
any problems with. However, if the
Board wants an 8’ fence, we can certainly get one for you.
Mr. Goscicki stated the problem at the south pump station is being able
to get off of the highway to gain access.
There is not easy access anymore.
Mr. Schooley stated Sunshine has a lot of vandalism. All of their pump stations were
vandalized.
Mr. Goscicki stated they are probably more visible.
Mr. Schooley stated CSID has little vandalism other than getting hit by
bullets. However, you do not need
to cross the fence to shoot a gun at the building. This has stopped in the last few
years. Personally I do not
recommend spending money for an 8’ fence when we already have one in
place.
Mr. Goscicki stated this is only for the Board’s information. We will be looking over this list and
comparing it to the budget to come up with a course of action of what we can do
internally and what we need to contract out.
Mr. Mendelson stated for only necessary items.
Mr. Gray asked is this report a comprehensive review of everything out
there we maintain.
Mr. Goscicki responded yes.
It is the type of report you do every five years to get an outside view
of the current status of everything mechanically, electrically, structurally and
architecturally.
Mr. Gray asked will you have a revised list at the next
meeting?
Ms. Early responded yes.
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Approval of Requisitions and Invoices
There being no questions or comments,
On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr.
Mendelson with all in favor the requisitions for
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Supervisor’s Requests and Audience Comments
Mr. Mendolia stated since there is a vacant seat and you have not
appointed anyone to this seat, I wish to offer my services until you have a
third member on the Board. If this
is possible, until a replacement is found, I will assist you in any way I
can.
Mr. Gray stated we appreciate your assistance.
Mr. Goscicki stated the correct way to do this is by establishing some
type of consulting arrangement with Mr. Mendolia where he can participate as
staff, not as a Board member and provide any input or advice to the Board at
meetings. This is not a usual
situation but certainly not unheard of.
In terms of compensation, I am not sure what either party is looking
at. Typically you pay for travel
expenses for attendance at Board meetings.
Mr. Gray asked could you prepare some type of agreement for the next
meeting?
Mr. Goscicki responded yes.
Mr. Mark Capwell stated I submitted a resume several months ago when Mr.
Petty was the manager. The only
issue presented to me at the time was not being a
Mr. Mendelson stated we will take your resume under
consideration.
Mr. Craven stated I have been doing business with the District for 15
years and I wanted to thank Mr. Mendolia for his years of service to NSID. I think he did a great job as the Board
President and he will be missed.
Thank you, Mr. Mendolia!
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Adjournment
There being no further business,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by
Mr. Gray with all in favor the meeting was
adjourned.
David Gray
Steve Mendelson
Secretary
President
Notes for
AGENDA ITEMS
FOR NEXT MEETING
1.
Appointment
of Supervisor for Mr. Mendolia’s Unexpired Term
2.
Oath of
Office
3.
Consideration
of Consultant Agreement for Sal Mendolia