MINUTES OF MEETING

CORAL SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

 

            A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Coral Springs Improvement District was held on Monday, April 20, 2009 at 3:30 p.m. at the District Office, 10300 NW 11^th Manor, Coral Springs, Florida.  Prior to the regular meeting the Board met at 3:00 p.m. for the groundbreaking ceremony. 

 

            Present and constituting a quorum were:

           

            Robert Fennell                                                President

            Sharon Zich                                                     Vice President

            Glenn Hanks                                                   Secretary

           

            Also present were:

           

            Kenneth Cassel                                               District Manager

            Dennis Lyles                                                   District Counsel

            Sean Skehan                                                    CH2M Hill

            Gerrit Bulman                                                 CH2M Hill

            Cory Johnson                                                  CH2M Hill

            Brenda Schurz                                                Severn Trent Services

            Dan Daly                                                         Director of Operations

            Jim Aversa                                                      Chief Operator, Wastewater Plant

            Doug Hyche                                                    Utilities Director

            Randy Frederick                                             Drainage Supervisor

            Kay Woodward                                              District Accountant

            Jan Zilmer                                                       Human Resources Manager

                                                                                                                                               

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS                             Roll Call

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

           

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS                        Groundbreaking Ceremony

            Mr. Fennell stated for the record we had a groundbreaking ceremony just a few minutes ago.  We all went out and took pictures.  We are well underway to our next construction project, which is the filtration plant.  Congratulations to everyone who has been a part of this.

 

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS                            Approval of the Minutes of the March 16, 2009 Meeting

             Mr. Fennell stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the March 16, 2009 meeting and requested any corrections, additions or deletions.

            Mr. Cassel stated on page 30 we could not make out from the recording what Mr. Hillers was saying.  It is highlighted.  We will have to get the exact wording from him as to what he was trying to explain there.  There were a couple of items we could not pick up on the recording well.  I listened to it, two different recording secretaries listened to it and none of us could figure out what he was saying.

            Mr. Fennell stated okay.  In the last paragraph of page 30 ‘capacitive’ should be ‘capacitors’.  On page 33, up at the top, “you can overcorrect” is what I meant.  That should be an exact balance of the power factor.  A couple of lines down it states, “No.  It will actually make our generator power less demanded.”  It is actually less demanding.

            Mr. Hanks stated on page 39 it says, “Mr. Bulman responded easily.  These are low compared to what you will get on the east coast or in Miami Dade.  They will go up to 100,000 feet up.”  What?

            Mr. Bulman responded 100,000 feet per day is a measure of hydraulic conductivity. 

            Mr. Fennell stated it is looking like in some of these cases some of these molecules are moving 40 miles per day.  You do not actually mean that; 40 miles would be like a river flowing. 

            Mr. Bulman stated that is a measure of hydraulic conductivity.  It is not a rate. 

            Mr. Fennell asked so it means 100,000 something per day, 100,000 what?

            Mr. Bulman responded 100,000 feet per day.

            Mr. Fennell asked is it the conductivity?

            Mr. Bulman responded it is the hydraulic conductivity of the material itself.

            Mr. Fennell asked and that is given on what square area?

            Mr. Bulman responded it is not.

            Mr. Hanks stated that is why it is a fee by day.  It is really volume per square feet, per head, per second, you know.

            Mr. Bulman stated they have another parameter which includes thickness of the transmissivity and there you have to be squared per day.

            Mr. Fennell asked are there any other corrections?

 

 

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                        Distribution of the Proposed General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2010 and Consideration of Resolution 2009-4 Approving the Budget and Setting the Public Hearing

            Mr. Cassel stated this is in front of you because for the general fund we need to have the information to the county no later than May 15, 2009.  We do not meet until after that.  We meet on May 18, 2009.  We brought it to you at this meeting to set the preliminary fund budget at this time.

            Mr. Hanks asked is this impacting the bond with US Bank at all?

            Mr. Cassel responded no. 

            Mr. Fennell stated there are copies of the proposed budget in here.  Basically what I saw is we are going to keep the rate at approximately the same thing.  I guess it will be slightly lower by a dollar or two.

            Mr. Cassel stated yes. 

            Mr. Fennell stated you have $185 versus $186.79.

            Mr. Cassel stated it is about $1.79 less. 

            Mr. Fennell asked some of the money is for additional expenses, but most of it is going into the reserves again, right?

            Mr. Cassel responded yes.

            Mr. Fennell stated we are expecting to put another $750,000 in reserve.

            Mr. Cassel stated that is correct.

            Mr. Fennell asked what will this bring us to?

            Ms. Woodward responded I do not have the exact number with me.

            Mr. Fennell stated there was that one project we were contemplating, which was interconnecting two different canal systems on the east basin. 

            Ms. Early stated we were going to add a 54 inch culvert. 

            Mr. Daly stated with Dunkleberger and the integrity of some of the canal banks we really did not know where we would be with regard to cost going into the future or how much it would impact us.  It might not just be eight houses.  It may be a component on top of that.

            Mr. Hanks stated it may be nothing.

            Mr. Daly stated or it may be nothing.  The most prudent thing to do is to have that money available for the what if’s and I do not know yet.  We have a study going on to tell us which direction to go. 

            Mr. Fennell stated if we want to do that one project, which I still think is prudent, it costs us $2 Million, it is too little money to float the bond issue for.

            Mr. Hanks stated agreed.

            Mr. Fennell stated so the only thing we can really do is store up the money or I supposed we could borrow it in some kind of note. 

            Ms. Zich asked do we have $2 Million there now?

            Ms. Woodward responded you will have $2 Million there.  One of the other issues I think we had discussed in the past is not just that you would have $1 Million for hurricane reserves, but part of the concern was that there are certain items of repair and renewal which do not occur on an annual basis.  It is like every five years you need to spend $300,000 to get one particular item done.  You also want to have a reserve established for the non recurring or infrequently recurring repairs. 

            Mr. Hanks stated those repairs which are not easily represented on an annual budget.

            Ms. Woodward stated that is correct.

            Mr. Fennell stated although are pump stations are in the best shape they have been since they have been installed. 

            Ms. Zich asked when are we going to do this project if we do it, the $2 Million one?

            Mr. Fennell responded we will probably go out for a contract on it sometime later this year.

            Ms. Woodward asked do you mean later on in this fiscal year or in this calendar year?

            Mr. Fennell responded within 2010.

            Mr. Hanks asked where do we stand in terms of the design and any matching funds or the stimulus package which is out there?

            Ms. Early responded it is not under design yet.  We have to acquire easements.  We would not be able to get any of the stimulus money because it is not shovel ready.

            Ms. Zich stated but we are pretty sure we are going to be doing this.  Maybe we should make the reserves a little bit bigger. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I guess what we are asking is where the current reserves are and where we are going to see them be built.  If you do the math, are we going for the right amount of money?

            Ms. Early responded I will send all three of you by separate email, remember there were like nine or ten different culverts we evaluated that would improve the system.  The 54 inch would make the biggest impact.  I will send out the map and the cost breakdown so you could see all the ones we were proposing.

            Mr. Fennell stated but we need to make some kind of decision here today.

            Ms. Zich stated because he said he has to have the numbers over to the county by May 15, 2009. 

            Ms. Early stated I was actually meeting with Mr. Cassel tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. to try and figure out the numbers.

            Ms. Woodward stated if you look at your financial statements and you look under the balance sheet, the second page where it has fund balance/ net assets, as of today we have designated funds of roughly $1.6 million.  That means most of the $300,000 budgeted to be set aside this year is in fact already included in that number.  If you look at the budget you were given today, you will notice what is projected through the end of this fiscal year, meaning September 30, 2009, is there may be as much as an additional $400,000 that will drop to the bottom line, unexpended, and is available to become part of that designated balance.  Between those two you are right at $2 Million. 

            Mr. Fennell stated by September and we went up another $750,000. 

            Ms. Woodward stated not quite.  There will be another $300,000 that is definitely being set aside for next year.  The $450,000 is actually just a flip flop from one year to the next because the general fund is funded basically from tax roll revenues.  We always make certain we have a quarters worth of expenditures set aside in cash in case we are slow to collect money from the county.  That $450,000 is for operating funds for the next year. 

            Mr. Fennell stated on this page you have designated at approximately $1.6 Million.

            Ms. Woodward stated yes.

            Mr. Fennell stated it means that is funds we are going to spend one way or another is the upcoming year for our expenses.

            Ms. Woodward stated not for our upcoming year.  That is for the long term infrequently recurring items. 

            Mr. Fennell stated but it is not really designated for anything specifically.  It is just in case. 

            Ms. Woodward stated it can be used for anything you want to.  This is not a formal reserve that has been contractually agreed upon.  You can change in your minutes or in your discussions every single month what you wish to do with it.  We do have sort of a start up list of things we were considering; everything from every so many years culverts need to be inspected and repaired, even though our pump stations look terrific and they are up to speed now at some point funds will need to be put into that to make sure they are maintained at that level of cleanliness and operation. 

            Mr. Cassel stated part of a capital maintenance and capital improvements ongoing program which we are trying to make sure we can fund as many as we can in the ongoing budgets and as they come forth in years for engine replacements, etcetera, without having to go out for bond money to be able to do it.

            Mr. Hanks stated so you kind of have taken a look at what the improvements are that we have in place, what are the life spans of those assets, what the replacement costs are for those assets and what the maintenance costs are associated with them.

            Mr. Cassel stated that is correct.  We are trying to make sure we can even out as much as possible, instead of having a spike situation and an even flow of X dollars per year that we would be expending which would actually capture the majority of the repair costs and maintenance costs of large capital items over time versus having fluctuations in your budget. 

            Mr. Fennell stated okay.  So in total we have $3.2 Million for everything.  That is not inclusive of operations, right?

            Ms. Woodward responded well the undesignated is available for operations.

            Mr. Fennell asked is the money we need to operate all year listed anywhere here in the assets?

            Ms. Woodward responded no.  The money you use to operate is basically what we had for assessments for the year, which was just over $2 Million.  If we have assessments at roughly $2 Million a year, assuming nothing unusual occurs in our daily activity it allows you to automatically, every year out of that $2 Million, operate the general fund every year the way you need to for daily operations.  In addition to that, it allows you to set aside definitely $300,000 per year for future events you might need or future repairs where you might need to pull those monies out and use them for something else.  It also allows, because we are trying to make sure we are not budgeted right to the “enth degree”, that to the extent we can manage the other operating expenditures and have funds left over, it will allow additional monies to drop to the bottom line and also be available for future items.  At a minimum, you will be putting away $300,000 per year. 

            Mr. Fennell stated and possibly $700,000.

            Ms. Woodward stated that is correct.

            Mr. Fennell stated it looks to me, if I am reading this right, given we keep this thing under $2 Million, we essentially have $3 Million there already up through September, we can add anywhere from $350,000 to $750,000 in the next year.  That should get us up to $3.5 Million.  If we take away $2 Million for the projects, we still have $1.5 Million left over. 

            Ms. Woodard stated one of the things you have to do is out of that $3 Million you are looking at, you need to deduct your future expenses for the next six months.  They have not been deducted from that total. 

            Mr. Fennell stated that would be another $500,000.  Do we need to raise additional monies this year?  I think we need to do this during 2010.  It is already 2009 and we need to get the design going.  By the time we actually get this thing going it will probably be the end of 2010.  Do we have enough money to do it?  It looks like we are awfully close to being able to do it.  We could probably get the design project.

            Mr. Hanks stated we have the laundry list of stuff out there.  I think what we need to do is we need to go ahead and pull that list of items that we have of stormwater improvements, take a look at them again and see if there is anyway we can get double the bang for the buck.  Can we make some combinations?  Is there something we can do which will help improve and offset some of our increased water demand?  If we can spend $1 and get $2 out of it, or even $1.50, it will be better for us.  I do not want to go running into it, but it is time to dust off those projects, take another look at them and see if we are heading in the right direction.

            Mr. Cassel stated if you did have to go out for a bond of $1.6 Million or $1.8 Million to do the actual interconnect, that amount of money over a long period of time is not that much of an increase on the assessments. 

            Mr. Hanks stated I do not want to rush into any one particular projects.  Let us identify what it the level of service is we want to be providing and identify which projects can get us to that point; if it is two projects, three projects or four projects.  Let us make those decisions in a careful and thoughtful manner. 

            Mr. Cassel stated exactly.

            Mr. Hanks stated like you said, we have the option of a bond at that point.  This is just one little improvement with some benefit to the District. 

            Mr. Cassel stated one of the meetings Mr. Hyche, the engineers and I will have after the staff meeting tomorrow is to look at all these projects, make sure we have them all prioritized and make sure we have the right numbers allocated in the timeframes to nail this down closer. 

            Mr. Hanks stated do not underestimate the time involved in acquiring the easements either.

            Mr. Cassel stated understood.

            Mr. Hanks stated under this economic time I do not want to increase the assessments.  Can we maintain them at last year’s level?

            Mr. Fennell responded that is what we are doing. 

            Mr. Hanks stated I thought we were dropping a dollar.

            Mr. Fennell are you saying keep it at $186.79?

            Mr. Hanks responded yes. 

            Mr. Daly stated it will give us another $11,000.

            Mr. Fennell stated yes.  I would say to keep it at the same amount, $186.79.  The only other thing I would say is I think we need a line in here for engineering expense for projects looking out in 2010.

            Mr. Daly stated all of the engineering costs which go along with a project get in that project.  They do not come under general engineering.  We found in the past years it was a dumping ground.  You never really knew why, you said “okay it is going to be $50,000”, but it was really $150,000.  You really could not decipher that.  Ms. Woodward has set up every project we have with its own ledger number and all items associated with it go to it.  All you do is pull up one account and everything that went into that, including cost for engineering, come right up and we know exactly what the whole project really cost us. 

            Mr. Fennell asked somehow we still need to budget for it, do we not?

            Mr. Daly responded yes.

            Mr. Cassel stated if we are going to do Project A, what do we estimate the engineering fees to do project A on, that becomes part of the cost of that project from the beginning.  When we start the preliminary engineering work, regardless of where we pull the fund, we charge it against that so we can take the full accounting at the end.

            Mr. Hanks stated we have enough in this budget where we can start the engineering project.

            Mr. Cassel stated that is correct.

            Mr. Fennell stated I guess the issue here is what needs to be reported.  We have to turn this in to the state, right?

            Mr. Cassel responded into the county.  We have to decide if you want the rates to be $186.79 or do you want it to be the $185.  That is all you have to set today.  You can always set it higher and go down at the end, but you can not go up.

            Ms. Zich stated I think we should just keep it at what it was last year, if it is just a little bit more.  If we are looking at a lot of expenses for next year and we do not want to raise it, there is no point in lowering it.  It is not going to do us any good to lower it.  Just put the extra in the reserve.

            Mr. Fennell stated I guess what we are going to be looking for is the capital improvement budget. 

            Mr. Cassel stated that is what we are hammering out the final details on. 

            Mr. Fennell stated as opposed to an operating budget.  We need to do it.  We have known for a while we need to do this.  We need to get it going.  Is it going to be four years this fall?

            Ms. Woodward responded I believe four years ago we started this.

            Ms. Zich asked Ms. Woodward, do we have additional in here for hurricanes?

            Ms. Woodward responded no.  Hurricanes are included in there.

            Ms. Zich stated that is what I was afraid of.

            Mr. Fennell stated that is why you need to have $1.5 Million set aside.  

            Ms. Zich stated if hurricanes are included in that, I thought we were trying to build up for hurricanes.

            Mr. Fennell stated we have.

            Ms. Zich stated I know, but now if we are talking about using this for something other than the hurricane, then that is what makes me wonder. 

            Mr. Fennell stated the money we were putting aside for the hurricane was the clean up after the hurricane.  What we want to spend money on now is preventing hurricane damage.

            Ms. Zich stated right.

            Mr. Hanks stated not necessarily hurricane damage, but risk reduction.

            Ms. Zich stated I am concerned we are now going to be using that money not for the hurricane we were thinking it was set aside for.  Now you are taking the money we thought was going to be set aside for hurricane and using it for something else.

            Mr. Fennell stated I think we need $1 Million to $1.5 Million for that.  This is why we are trying to get it to a $3 Million to $3.5 Million number. 

            Ms. Woodward stated we are getting there very quickly because two years ago that was down to $500,000.

            Mr. Fennell stated we got the hurricane fund back.  Now it is the case where the lessons we learned from the hurricane, we really need to operate on those and make the changes we went and looked at.  I think there is a good chance we can do those, at least the preliminary steps, without a bond issue.  Are there any other questions or comments?

            Mr. Hanks responded no.

            Ms. Zich responded no.

            Mr. Fennell stated other than the fact we want to modify the amount.

            Mr. Hanks stated $186.79.

           

 

 

            Mr. Fennell stated what came out of this is we are looking forward to coming back in June with a preliminary capitalist expense budget of those key projects that we think need to be done to improve the integrity of our water system.  We need a budget estimate; obviously, we want to maintain somewhere around, what did we spend the last time, $1.3 Million?

            Mr. Daly responded a little bit more than that.  If I am not mistaken there was a lot.  We have been really lucky over the past four years. 

            Mr. Fennell stated we did get paid back a fair amount.  Anyway, the question will be what is the proper amount to reserve?  Please look at that again.  There might be some other way to do this to.  I do not know; like an insurance policy or something.  Can you take out insurance policies for a whole water system?

            Mr. Daly responded I looked into it and the answer is no.  It really would have helped us.

            Mr. Hanks stated the other side of it is if you put that money in and they decide not to do anymore of those things, where does that money go?

 

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                             Consideration of Engagement Letter with Keefe. McCullough & Co., LLP to Perform the Financial Audit for Fiscal Year 2009

            Mr. Fennell asked is the other letter here a letter from another accounting firm testifying to how good the first accounting firm is?  Is the letter from Abbot, Jordan & Koon, LLC stating they think Keefe, McCullough & Co., LTP are good?

            Ms. Woodward responded the audit firms are required when they put out engagement letters to indicate they have been examined by their peers. 

            Mr. Fennell stated so who will guard the guards.

            Mr. Hanks stated I think they have done a good job with us in the past.  Mr. Cassel, is this consistent with prior year scopes and fees?

            Mr. Cassel responded yes.  They are up a little bit I think.

            Ms. Woodward stated last year it was a total of $17,000 for the audit fee.  They are up this to $17,500, which represents just under a 3% increase. 

            Mr. Fennell stated actually, the last audit was really well done.

            Mr. Daly stated it had continuity with it.  The same guy who did it last year was the same guy who came in half way through the year before.  He knew what he was looking for and what he was looking at.  Everyone jumped when he snapped his finger because there is nothing more important than getting the audit before the book.

            Ms. Zich stated I think the price sounds good to me.  There are a lot of things they have to go through here to do it.  We need a lot of good expertise when they are doing it.  I think it sounds good.

            Mr. Hanks asked Mr. Lyles, do you have any thoughts on this at all?

            Mr. Lyles responded I can tell you, not as an expert, but just empirically I see a lot of small districts that have a total budget of a couple $1 Million, including their bond and indebtedness, and a typical audit fee on those is simple districts are in the $5,000 to $6,000 range.  I would just echo the comment that the price seems, in light of the complexity and amount of work, to be very reasonable.

            Mr. Hanks asked what about in terms of their engagement letter?

            Mr. Lyles responded it is a standard form of engagement letter.  We are in the three year process were we do an audit selection committee, which you have been through.  This is a continuation of the selection committee process.  We are in the three year period.  This is just their renewal for the next year with their $500 increase in fees.

 

 

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                             Increase of $600 in the Proposal Submitted by Dunkelberger Engineering and Testing

            Mr. Cassel stated his item comes up with an additional $600, but in discussions with the attorney and Dunkelberger, in order to get extra coverage on liability and risk it will cost us another $400.  So it is actually $1,000 more than what he proposed last month. 

            Mr. Fennell asked where do we stand with getting the work done?  Is it almost done?

            Mr. Cassel responded we had the issues with the insurance company.  He did not want to go until he made sure the Board was okay with the changes we made of the extra $600 plus the extra insurance we are asking for. 

            Mr. Fennel asked are you waiting for us to say yes?

            Mr. Cassel responded that is correct.

            Mr. Hanks stated we had phone calls and emails back and forth.  There were some issues with the terms and limits on liability that Mr. Lyles had brought up to protect the District and put us in a better position.  From an engineering perspective there were some additional drawings to help augment the data which was originally proposed.  I am comfortable with what we have. 

 

 

            Mr. Fennell asked does this bring the total to $16,620?

            Mr. Cassel responded no, $16,020.

 

 

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                      Award of Bid for Purchase of Forklift

            Mr. Fennell stated there is a memorandum that was sent out later.

            Ms. Zich asked are we going to buy it or lease it?

            Mr. Cassel responded it is a lease purchase.  It is a 60 month lease purchase.  At the end of the lease we buy it for a dollar. 

            Mr. Fennell asked what is the advantage to that?

            Mr. Cassel responded all of the maintenance is included, we get to use it for 60 months and at the end of it we pick it up for a dollar.  If you do an outright purchase, most of the routine maintenance is additional. 

            Mr. Hyche stated not in National Lift Truck Service.  National Lift Truck Service is including all the PM services and a five year extended warranty for $62,100.  It would be an all out purchase.  It eliminates 6.5% interest you would incur.

            Mr. Fennell asked so which one is the lowest bid?

            Mr. Hyche responded the lowest bid is National Lift Truck Service. 

            Mr. Hanks asked is each one of these proposing a different vehicle?

            Mr. Hyche responded it is a different type of vehicle, but it is all the same model.  It is the same size, same engine size, it is just different manufacturers. 

            Mr. Hanks stated I did not even recognize any of the names.  What are we getting?

            Mr. Hyche responded you are getting a very good piece of machinery with National Lift Truck Services. 

            Mr. Hanks asked what about the availability of parts?

            Mr. Hyche responded they are all shelf items. 

            Mr. Hanks asked are you convinced this is an essential piece of equipment for the operation of the District?

            Mr. Cassel responded yes.

            Mr. Hyche stated yes. 

 

 

            Mr. Cassel asked do you want to do it as a lease purchase or do you want to do it as an outright purchase?

            Mr. Fennell asked is that one an outright purchase?

            Mr. Hyche responded the $62,100 is an outright purchase price.

            Mr. Cassel stated or you can lease it for $1,259.16 a month for 60 months.

            Mr. Daly stated it is about a $13,000 difference on the interest over the five years.

            Ms. Zich asked how much maintenance do you think we would have to do in five years?  Do you think it is $13,000 worth?

            Mr. Hyche responded whatever it is it is all included in that price.

            Mr. Hanks stated as long as National Lift Trick Services is still around.

            Mr. Fennell asked are there two choices here.

            Mr. Cassel responded yes.

            Mr. Daly stated if you take your $1,200 per month times 60 months, it comes up to $73,000 and change.

            Mr. Fennell states this says lease amount, $62,100.  Is that what the lease amount comes out to be?

            Mr. Hyche responded no that is less the trade in.  The original amount of the piece of machinery is $67,000, less $5,000 on the trade in.

            Mr. Fennell asked so what are my choices here?

            Mr. Cassel responded an outright purchase for $62,100, which includes the warranty.  I was not aware of that until a little bit ago. 

            Ms. Zich stated so we get the warranty either way.

            Mr. Cassel stated warranty and PMs either way with this company, or the 60 month lease with the dollar buyout.  The carry cost of the 60 month lease is about $13,000.  So if you want to go ahead, we have the sufficient funds to buy it.

            Ms. Zich stated I say let us just buy it.

            Mr. Cassel stated we can do the outright purchase at $62,100. 

            Ms. Zich stated you are talking about $13,000 in interest over the next five years and we are trying to figure out where to put our money.  We are putting it in banks and CDs we are making nothing at.

            Mr. Fennell stated that is interesting.

            Ms. Zich stated I would just but it.

            Mr. Fennell stated I think you are right.  The interesting thing is it is better to buy something than it is to lease it. 

            Ms. Zich stated as long as we have the cash available.  I would rather have it in the forklift than in a CD where we are not making any money.  I say let us buy it.

 

 

            Mr. Fennell asked did you guys have to rent one last month or how did you get buy?

            Mr. Hyche responded we continued to use our forks on the back.

            Mr. Fennell asked do you have a trade in value of $5,000?

            Mr. Hyche responded yes. 

           

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                         Consideration of 1992 Bond Payoff

            Mr. Cassel stated the next item we need to do is the bond prepayment. 

            Mr. Fennell stated the idea is we have a bond issue coming due next year.  Ms. Woodward and Mr. Cassel have found out if we pay it off now, we can save over $94,000 in interest payments which we would pay over the next year.  It is legal for us to pay it off.

            Mr. Cassel stated that is correct.

            Ms. Zich stated I am enthusiastic about this one. 

            Mr. Fennell asked what do you think?

            Ms. Zich responded I am so impressed Ms. Woodward found this.  I am all for it.  If we can pay it off a year early, look at all the money we are saving. 

            Ms. Woodward stated this bond issue pays 6% interest.  You know what is available for us to actually generate interest income.  We are very limited on what we can get.  If you are lucky, on a good day, you can get 2% annual interest.  Usually, it is 1% and 1.5%.  It is a one shot deal because this bond matures a year from this June anyway.  The funds we would be using to pay it off, we would not be using for anything else during the year because you have to make sure it is available.  It is money in your pocket.

            Mr. Hanks asked what if we were to have a 10% reduction in our revenues over the next year in the enterprise fund?

            Ms. Woodward responded I would still have to pay this bond off.

            Mr. Hanks stated you would still have to pay this bond off.

            Ms. Zich stated in one year.

            Mr. Hanks stated and we would have to skimp and save some place else to do it.

            Mr. Cassel stated exactly.

            Mr. Hanks stated so we have this money going out the door in the next year, regardless.  This is even a no brainer for me on the financial side.

            Ms. Zich stated there is $94,000 in savings if we pay it off this year.

            Mr. Fennell stated we have the money set aside anyway in order to pay it off. 

            Ms. Zich stated we can either save $94,000 this year or spend it next year. 

           

 

            Mr. Lyles stated we are going to have to get something in writing reflecting the motion and the authority to the bank to do this.  I just want to get that in the record to cover the bases. 

            Ms. Zich stated thank you Ms. Woodward.

            Ms. Woodward stated you are welcome.

 

NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                            Underwater Shoreline Survey from Industrial Divers

            Mr. Cassel stated this is a follow up of the other four locations we had dove.  If you remember, initially there were eight locations.  We dove four of them with industrial divers.  These are the other four which were dove for us.  I will let Ms. Early address it, but as with the last set of reports the diver did not understand the instructions.  He made recommendations which he is not certified to make recommendations to do.  Ms. Early, I will let you pick it up from there.

            Ms. Early stated as Mr. Cassel said these are the remaining four sites that at the last Board meeting we awarded Industrial Divers to go ahead and complete since he had done the original four.  They really do not show any undermining or anything different than what the cross section showed that we had done a few months ago.  The next step is the Dunkelberger report.  We are going to do some drilling and we are going to try and determine what the erosion problems are.  With these four sites I think there are two which are potentially a problem where as two I do not really see what the problem is.  I do not think NW 113th Way is a problem.  The 18^th street and Classic Drive may be a problem.  I do not think the 7^th Street is too bad either. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I am not seeing a problem other than the houses seem a little closer.

            Ms. Early stated exactly.  One of them is a little steep under water, but there is no undermining.  It just does not make sense so we are going to have to wait for Dunkelberger to see if he can come up with anything different.  Like I said, two of them I do not see a problem at all.  Even if you look at NW 113th Way, the photograph, it does not look bad on the surface. 

            Mr. Cassel stated it looks like they moved their fence all the way out over the lawn. 

            Ms. Early stated but on NW 113th Way the underwater cross sections have the safety shelf.  We are not encroaching into their property.  You probably do not have the original cross sections that we had done, but the actual cross sections with the property do not show any erosion into the property.  There is a little bit of erosion, but we still have the safety slope there.  I am sure maybe they thought their property was bigger because it was under dug. 

            Mr. Fennell stated there fence is actually in our right-of-way.  Is it not?  I think that is the problem.

            Ms. Zich stated and the tree looks too close also.

            Mr. Fennell asked where is the property line?

            Mr. Frederick responded that is the property line where the fence is. 

            Ms. Zich asked did we check that out?

            Mr. Fennell asked do we own that canal or is that a right-of-way?

            Ms. Early responded if you look at this section, they probably did have some more property on their house.  The property line way back here, we still have our slope.  We are not encroaching onto their property. 

            Mr. Hanks stated we are going to be getting a report back from Dunkelberger assessing what is the potential for this problem to increase, to become more of a problem.  That is what he is going to get back on.  This is useful information. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I want to understand where the property line is on NW 113^th Way.

            Mr. Schooley stated her main concern is that her fence is going to end up in the canal.

            Mr. Fennell asked do we own the canal or is it actually a right-of-way?

            Ms. Early responded I believe we own that canal. 

            Mr. Hanks stated I think on all of these situations what we are going to need to do is, we have the underwater dive report to help identify what the subsurface conditions are, the geotechnical engineer is going to take that information combine it with their localized borings in the backyards to find out what the local soil conditions are on the surface down to six feet below surface and also take a look at it with the deep borings located in the front yards and trying to establish whether or not the shoreline is stable, if it is going to continue to recede or what the conditions are we are likely to expect. 

            Mr. Fennell asked is there a specification on how close you can build a building to a canal?

            Mr. Hanks responded that is probably governed by the City of Coral Springs building code.  You have some zero lots out there.  It all depends on what zoning section your are in and what size structure your are dealing with.

            Mr. Fennell stated 12244 Classic Drive, that wall is within 20 feet.

            Ms. Early stated Classic Drive is a problem area.  We are not encroaching into their property yet, but it is steep there. 

            Mr. Fennell asked why would you build something that close to a canal?

            Mr. Hanks asked have you seen the size of the house?

            Mr. Fennell responded no.

            Mr. Hanks stated with Eagle Trace, that canal was over excavated.  Was it not?

            Ms. Early responded yes, in areas.

            Mr. Hanks stated seriously.  That is probably the area we will have to focus a lot of our attention on. 

            Mr. Fennell stated it could be, but my first impression is they built the house in the wrong spot.

            Ms. Zich stated it is amazing.  If you go around our District, there are plenty of them built like that.

            Mr. Fennell stated I can understand zero lot line next to a house, but next to a canal.

            Mr. Hanks stated that is not too prudent.

            Mr. Fennell stated I do not think so.  I guess we will not get into that discussion here, but certainly I have to believe the canal was there before the house.  What about the first lady that came in?

            Mr. Daly responded she is waiting for us to contact her.

            Mr. Fennell asked did we find out anymore information under her area?

            Mr. Daly responded not to my knowledge.

            Ms. Early stated we have the survey and we have the underwater.  Now we are waiting for the geotechnical report.

            Mr. Hanks asked are we as a District going to be notifying the property owners and requesting permission to enter for drilling?  Is that how that was finally worked out?

            Mr. Lyles responded I think that is the practical administrative approach.  I think the agreement also says the District will secure permission to come on the property from the residents within the District.  Dunkelberger is depending on District staff for that.

            Mr. Hanks stated I understand.  We might have some fun with Eagle Trace.

            Ms. Early stated her survey is not that bad.  I do not feel it is.  We are just going to have to wait, like you said, and see if they feel it is going to get worse. 

            Mr. Lyles stated in light of the fact, if your discussion is through on this Industrial Divers issue, that Dunkelberger is going to rendering an opinion which has not been researched or delivered yet, my suggestion to you is to accept these four surveys, but to specifically reject the third and final paragraph which contains the recommendation that is beyond their expertise and for which we did not hire them.  If you want to accept the surveys and let it go forward with the transmittal letter, that is fine.  I suggest you reject the third paragraph in each of the four letters directed to the District from Industrial Divers. 

            Mr. Hanks stated because they are not an engineering firm.

            Mr. Lyles stated they are making recommendations about installing shoreline remediation repairs.  They were not asked to do that.  They are not competent to do that and I do not want your record to be even slightly confusing with respect to this Board believing that is the case.  We do not believe that is the case and we do not want it as part of our record. 

 

 

TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                           Award of Contract for Injection Well System (IW-1 and IW-2) Mechanical Integrity Testing Project

            Mr. Fennell stated this has been going on for a while.  Is that correct?

            Mr. Cassel responded yes.  We finally got the bids back and took care of it.  Mr. Bulman and Mr. Hyche were wrapped in the middle of this and can answer your questions on it. 

            Mr. Bulman stated this is unrelated to the current construction going on.  This testing takes place every five years for the actual injection wells themselves; injection well one and injection well two. 

            Mr. Hanks asked is this the five year testing program?

            Mr. Bulman responded that is correct.

            Mr. Hanks stated I have some concerns just on the face of it.  When I look at the bids in from contractors, I have my engineer’s estimate, if I have one that is really low I wonder what they missed.  We are talking $35,000 less than the next lowest bidder and you are at about 60% of your engineer’s estimate.            

            Ms. Zich stated I am glad you brought that up because when I saw it I said the same thing.

            Mr. Hanks stated All Webbs Enterprises, Inc. has been around for years.

            Mr. Bulman stated I do not believe they have missed anything.  I believe this is maneuvering between contractors in a very competitive environment.  I am not sure if Mr. Skehan wants to add anything, other than the fact they are very capable of doing the work. 

            Mr. Skehan stated a similar project was bid recently where one of the competitors who is on this list, Youngquist Brothers, Inc, they bid the MITs for $44,000 for each well.  This went in the range of $42,000 for each well.  In further discussion with All Webbs Enterprises, Inc., they had expected to see Youngquist Brothers, Inc. much more competitive this time.  He does not understand why he decided to be that much more expensive this time.  They are going back and forth with each other on costing these projects. 

            Mr. Hanks stated they are just trying to keep you on your toes.

            Mr. Skehan stated they are trying to keep each other on their toes.  They are after each other right now, all over.  There is another contractor in Atlanta called Layne, which is becoming more competitive also. 

            Ms. Zich stated I just think this is a good environment for us to be doing things.

            Mr. Skehan stated it is a fabulous environment.

            Ms. Zich asked do you think that $80,439 bid is a legitimate good bid?

            Mr. Skehan responded if we went back three years that would have been a typical price.  Over the last three to four years pricing for mechanical integrity testing has gone up instrumentally.  For the longest time Youngquist Brothers. Inc. was the only contractor in the game who did it effectively and efficiently.  Now you have other contractors who are coming in and they are interested in competing.  Layne is competing, All Webbs Enterprises, Inc is competing and it is making it that much better for anyone who is looking to do this kind of work. 

            Mr. Hanks stated you said Layne.  I do not see Layne on here.  I see Diversified Drilling Corporation and Southeast Drilling Services, Inc.

            Mr. Bulman stated Layne decided not to bid.

            Mr. Hanks stated okay. 

            Mr. Lyles stated before you take up the awarding of the contract I recommend you concur with the engineers as to the two minor irregularities and you take up a motion declaring those two items; mobilization cap and submitting the experience modification rate for the three most recent years, which is rectified, declare those to be minor technicalities that you as a Board wish to waive and then take up the matter of awarding the contract on the basis of the low bid.

            Mr. Hanks stated so All Webbs Enterprises, Inc. omitted the experience modification rate on their initial bid.  You contacted them and they submitted it right away.

            Mr. Bulman stated yes. 

            Mr. Hanks stated now unit mobilization price, they are 8.4% of total cost versus 7%.  You are still talking a lower mobilization cost than the next lowest bidder.

            Mr. Bulman stated the difference equates to $1,107.

            Mr. Hanks stated lower by $1,107.

            Mr. Bulman stated well All Webbs Enterprises, Inc. was 8.4% so they were higher than our 7% cap, but what it added to…

            Mr. Hanks stated I am talking absolute dollars.

            Mr. Bulman stated absolute dollars they were $35,000 lower.

           

 

            Ms. Zich stated I am impressed with how much money we are saving today. 

             

 

ELEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                  Staff Reports

            A.        Manager

·         Manager’s Report on Annual State of the District

            Mr. Daly stated the Board had asked management to take a look at some of the things we wanted to get accomplished.  We are going to continue to monitor and conclude some of the house initiatives we have taken part in or taken initiative on which are: backflow inspection program, meter replacement program, hydro inspection repair program, valve exercising program, five year pump renewal and safety program.  We initiated a lot of different programs which are ongoing and which the managers of these departments are in charge of.  They come up once a week in our staff meetings.  They take bows because of all the progress they have been making with each and every one of them, which is terrific. 

            We are going to continue to promote forward thinking and awareness in our weekly manager’s meetings as opposed to just discussing what we did and did not do last week.  We have a meter replacement program this year just for example.  We spend a small percentage of the $70,000 we had out there.  This is because there were a lot of different things happening in the field which got in our way of making progress.  So these are things we are going to be thinking about to make sure it is taken care of.  We are going to continue to hold meetings to evaluate the progress of the departments.  Those are the things we are looking at and it is being discussed openly.  We are going to continue to work with management to find better ways of having new and improved communication between the two organizations and improve our working relationship. 

            Ms. Woodward stated my basic concern on an ongoing basis is to continue to concentrate on financial planning and projections as well as to find new ways to maximize revenues and minimize expenditures.  In addition to that, which is my core responsibility, I have identified three other areas I would like to concentrate on in the upcoming year.  One of them is to complete and continue to accumulate a record retention library here at CSID so when we are trying to research things we have them at our fingertips. 

            Mr. Fennell asked what do you need to do that?

            Ms. Woodward responded she is sitting right here.  We have already started the process.  Basically, technology has made this a much easier task than it could have been in years past.  We are trying to scan and make sure Severn Trent and CSID both have identical libraries in case of a storm or other issues come up.  We want to be able to rely back and forth on each other to make sure information is available.  We are going through on everything from budgets, all resolutions, all financial statements and items relating to employee records.  We are making sure the items which are currently available do not accidentally get lost or misplaced, but are in fact in place so we can research and use them if we need them.

            The second area I wanted to concentrate on is under contracts and agreements.  Basically, I want to build a database on contracts and agreements which would highlight deadlines and requirements for contract termination as well as for initiating new bid processes so we are in a position to set those items in motion in sufficient time for them to be taken care of.  Instead of having a deadline pass where we are stuck having to renew on a contract automatically, we actually have the calendar set up far enough in advance so everyone gets notified and we can set everything in motion.

            Mr. Hanks asked can you tie that in with human resources?

            Ms. Woodward responded yes.  The third area I identified is asset identification and tagging.  We want to revive and improve the asset identification and tagging program that had been set up here apparently years ago and coordinate this information with insurance coverage and within the presentation and audited financials.  Those are my goals for the new year. 

            Mr. Fennell stated sounds good.

            Mr. Cassel stated the asset issue we already started when we had Mr. Daly with Mr. Hyche and the crews go through the entire plant and outside facilities to put together asset manuals listing every pump, compressor, air conditioner unit, when it was purchased, what the cost was and the manufacturer.  We have all those assets identified now so we can utilize that for the insurance if we have a catastrophic loss.  We have all the data right there.   Plus we can make sure every time something is changed, the book gets changed.  We have an updated asset management.

            Mr. Hanks stated you should probably look, or maybe have Ms. Early or Mr. Skehan look, there is a program ASCE puts out.  It is tied in with their water CADD and sewer CADD and it ties with asset allocations and asset management for water and sewer systems.

            Mr. Cassel stated it might make it easier and digitize. 

            Mr. Fennell stated Ms. Woodward, that is great.  Are you taking on more responsibilities here?

            Ms. Woodward responded I think it was always intended that this was one of the areas I would be expanding into.  Obviously the first goal was to make sure the financial records were brought current and were cleaned up so they were more usable, more readable and more useful to the Board.  As that becomes an easier process that makes me available to do other things Mr. Daly identifies.

            Ms. Zich stated typically most companies do have asset management.  They are usually files and numbers on every piece of asset.

            Mr. Daly stated the problem with that is it was started and stopped several times.  It is a matter of starting all over from square one and you go forward. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I think it is the right thing to do.

            Ms. Zich stated I am surprised we did not have that.

            Mr. Cassel stated the information was around.  From my observation it is not that the information was not there.  The information was there, but we had to figure out where it was.  That is what we have consolidated now.  We pulled all the information from all the different repositories, making sure we can have it at our fingertips here for rapid access to do what we need to do.

            Ms. Zich stated as you buy all of these assets over the years you always have the invoices right then and there.  It is a matter of if you put them in a location where you can find them and where they are readily available.  The problem is everything is kind of out there, but you have to organize it and get it all set up.  Ms. Woodward is so good at organization I am sure we are going to have a great system here going forward.

            Mr. Fennell stated I think so.  Do you need any software or additional computing power to do this?

            Ms. Woodward responded I cannot answer that right now.

            Mr. Fennell stated if you do go ahead and do it because I could see where this would be a service for not only our District, but other districts.  I think Mr. Petty was trying to do this with NSID at one time.  I think he ran into the same kind of problem.  He was trying to find assets and he could not find them.

            Mr. Daly stated well a lot of it had to do with GASB and with 20 miles of water pipes in the ground.  He actually wanted to use that for the depreciation.  It was much more grandiose than the nickel and dime stuff we are doing here.  I just think we need to get the foundation laid and then we can put the next layer on top of it. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I applaud the effort.  I think it is great.  I think it is also a service we could sell.  There is a difference between having someone come in to just do an audit and there is another issue between just having a bookkeeper write in things than having a well structured company that knows where its assets are.  It takes a lot of effort to do it.  It takes some knowledge of the business.  It is one of those things that because of our size we have been able to help other districts do.  If we had this as one of the kinds of functions and part of our computer system that was there, we would go a long way.

            Mr. Aversa stated the new installation of Plant F.  We are going to monitor the installation of the new systems and watch how everything is being put together.  It is going to be pretty much the same as Plant E.  The operation of it and how we run it should be pretty close to how Plant E is.  We just need to educate everybody on what the current and future needs of that plant are and continue to comply with the permits and the regulations. 

            I want to start a tagging system on all the valves from the deep wells; number them, log them, every time we exercise them write down who, when, any maintenance we do to the valves and keep a log book on all of that.  Follow up on the safety meetings and inventory checks of equipment.  Try to keep the operators always thinking safety.  We have been pretty good for a long time I am pretty sure.  I want to try to reduce the hauling and polymer costs on the sludge process by just operating it a little bit better if we can.  Some of the equipment is new.  I think we can get better because it is still new to us and reduce the polymer and hauling cost.

            Mr. Fennell asked is there anything we can do for you to make things easier in your job or make things better?

            Mr. Aversa responded no.

            Mr. Fennell stated thank you very much.

            Mr. Cassel stated Mr. Frederick.

            Mr. Frederick stated we are going to try to do more improvements at the pump stations in the next coming year.  Some of the things we did not get done in this year we are going to continue to do next year.  We implemented a safety system for the crews.  When they are on the rack cleaning they are attached to a harness now so if for some reason they did fall over, we do not have to worry about them getting sucked up into a pump.  In the past we did not have that.  It is possible in the future we might have to put some kind of railing system up. 

            We have gotten better in our maintenance program on the engines at the pump stations.  We are doing our yearly five year inspections on the pumps, the engines and everything.  That is coming up, we have not gotten that done yet.  We are getting some new culverts put in on the pump stations.  Supposedly next year SFWMD is going to be doing Pump Station No. 2.  They are currently doing Pump Station No. 1.  They are also going to redo the whole area which has been eroded out there.  We will continue to give the best service we can to the customers.  The canals are looking good.

            Mr. Fennell stated it has been four years since the hurricane.  I can see some of the trees are starting to grow back.  What can we do about those?

            Mr. Frederick responded we try to keep most of the nuisance trees down.  It is funny because the city had taken the ficus tree off the nuisance tree list when we started taking out trees and now it is back on the list. 

            Mr. Hanks stated just take advantage of it. Have you seen the one over by the Coral Springs Auto Mall?

            Mr. Frederick responded yes.  I have called code enforcement on that again.

            Mr. Hanks stated that was part of the agreement.

            Mr. Frederick stated I know and they cleaned all of that up.  Now they are letting it go again.

            Mr. Hanks stated code enforcement has gotten absolutely atrocious in the city. 

            Mr. Frederick stated that was part of the agreement for them to get their CO to get that parking garage.

            Ms. Zich stated I think we should send a letter to them and tell them to please maintain them.  I think that is important.

            Mr. Hanks asked do you want to maintain them or do you want them removed?

            Mr. Frederick responded I agree.

            Ms. Zich stated but they need a letter because then it will be formal. 

            Mr. Frederick stated those homeowners will be really upset if they are removed.

            Ms. Zich stated I know because I live there. 

            Mr. Frederick stated they like those trees there.

            Ms. Zich stated they do.  They should be maintained.

            Mr. Frederick stated I agree.  They were doing that.  When they needed something they were doing it.  Now they do not need anything so they are not doing it. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I think we need to apply continuous pressure to clean up the trees.  Some of them are on our property and we can just go out and get them.  Others we need to send letters.  I think we need to start doing them now and on a continuous basis. 

            Ms. Zich stated I can understand why those homeowners want the trees.  I have heard them unloading cars first thing in the morning and it is really loud.  I am not right across from them, but my neighbors across the street are.  It is nice to have that as a buffer, but it needs to be maintained. 

            Mr. Frederick stated they do not need to cut them down they just need to trim them.  They need to trim the lower level ones where there is a wall behind there and then trim what is hanging over the canal.  The canal is almost completely covered. 

            Mr. Fennell stated Mr. Cassel, I think we need to start doing this.  We need to put a constant pressure.

            Mr. Cassel stated we will identify them and send them letters.

            Mr. Fennell stated we need to keep after them so it does not get away from us again.  It is pretty easy to do that. 

            Mr. Daly stated that is a good point.  We should monitor all canals for anything which is growing and send letters.

            Mr. Fennell asked do we actually have equipment that can cut stuff down for us from the canal side?

            Mr. Cassel responded no. 

            Mr. Frederick stated just with chainsaws.

            Mr. Fennell asked should we have something more?

            Mr. Hanks asked are people trained on using chainsaws?

            Mr. Frederick responded yes.

            Mr. Hanks stated because not too many people down here know how to use a chainsaw.  

            Mr. Fennell asked are there any other comments?

            Mr. Cassel responded Mr. Hyche.

            Mr. Hyche stated my goal is to see that we continue with the expansion of the plant that the Board has seen fit to give us and to make sure our operators are educated enough to operate these plants once they come on board.  I have taken some courses myself to make sure I can be there in case that happens.  Luckily I have run membrane treatment plants before.  Also, I assist Mr. Daly in making sure all the valve replacements, meter replacements and this other stuff gets done.

            Mr. Daly stated he is the one we talk to every Tuesday.

            Mr. Fennell asked do we have a training budget?

            Mr. Hyche responded we have money inside the budget for schools and training.  It used to be $1,100 per employee.  I do not know what it is now.

            Mr. Daly stated it is about the same. 

            Mr. Fennell stated Broward College is putting together four year programs now.  One of the four year programs is taking the associates degree, having that count for two years and they laying on top of that the normal college requirements, some business courses and then 10 to 15 hours within a very specific field.  So you may end up with a degree in technology management for computer systems for example.  Given that start there is a possibility that there could be a very specific program set up for areas with people who have associates degrees, management training as well as other things which would be specific.  Would that be of interest?

            Mr. Hyche responded of course.  It is already offered through the licensing of new operators.  We have management courses that we take.

            Mr. Fennell asked does it end up in a four year degree at all?

            Mr. Hyche responded it does not apply to a degree.  It is just continued education.

            Mr. Fennell stated well there might be a possibility to put that together if there was enough of a demand.  Talk to me later if you think it is something worth doing.  I know that Broward College is looking for ways to enhance the community with additional training as well as four year degrees.  Believe it or not it is a class two college.  I happen to be in an area where we are going to have a four year degree for computer technology.  It is something to think about.  I obviously encourage training.  Do you think we need to fly somebody in when we get this plant going up and have a week or two training on how to run membrane plants?

            Mr. Hyche responded I am sure the engineers will have someone here for us. 

            Mr. Fennell stated we should do that and maybe it is needed for everybody.

            Mr. Daly stated Mr. Zilmer.

            Mr. Zilmer stated first I want to tell you I have been here almost 22 years and I think this operation is running better than it has ever run.  It starts right from the top.  I think Mr. Cassel is a fine District manager.  Mr. Daly and Ms. Woodward are doing a wonderful job.  We are really heading in the right direction for positive things.  There are a couple of things I am currently working on.  One is a new personnel handbook.  I think it will be a better handbook than we ever had.  We got all of the managers involved in it this time, which was really helpful.  Everyone can put in some experiences so you can fine tune them.  We have it in place and sent it to Mr. Lyles for review.  Once he has made his comments we will bring it back to you to approve. 

            Another thing I was working on last year was a new safety manual.  That is the way we are going this year.  As some point we will have to be OSHA compliant or at least be much more in line with OSHA regulations.  We have another employee who has been here almost 22 years and we put him in the position of Safety Director.  He is taking a lot of courses in OSHA rules and regulations.  We are going to take everything he is putting together and apply it to the safety manual.  It will be a really good manual.

            Ms. Woodward was mentioning the image documentation.  Last year we had a hurricane preparedness meeting and Mr. Cassel suggested we begin the process.  I am taking all the personnel files and copying them into data so you can recreate the file from anywhere. 

            Mr. Hanks asked are you still keeping that information secure?

            Mr. Zilmer responded yes. 

            Mr. Daly stated all I have to say is it is a pleasure working with all the managers here and the management.  It gets better every day.

            Mr. Hanks stated the word out on the street with construction sites is OSHA has cracked down because they do not have as many construction sites.  They are making more of an appearance at the construction sites.  There have been rumors of making sure everyone has hard hats and steel toe shoes, etcetera.  I just want to make sure we have the appropriate safety protocols in place and our engineers are watching out as well so we all stay on top of the contractors for compliance.

            Mr. Zilmer stated I cannot speak for the contractors, but as far as the employees go we recently did an inventory of all the safety equipments which were on the trucks, personnel and in the shop.  We got an inventory of what they had and what they need.  We then supplied them.  Most of our guys have some kind of a bag with everything in it; the eyewash kit, ear plugs, hard hats.  Their trucks each have a first aid kit and fire extinguisher.  I created an inventory sheet which list by employee, by truck, what that current employee has and each month the managers are doing an audit so if they lose it we can replace it and make sure everyone has been given the proper safety equipment.  I think we are really good there.

            Mr. Daly stated we have a risk management company which coincides with our insurer.  They have come in and done some risk management classes with us.  They already applaud us for all the programs we had in place and gave us areas on which to improve.  We are well within being able to be OSHA compliant. 

            Mr. Fennell asked anything else?

            Mr. Cassel responded it has been a real pleasure working with all of you.  Everybody is really coming on board with the vision of how to operate the facility as a class A facility to make sure we know what is going on.  Everyone is taking ownership; I think all the way down through the crews.  They all understand this is how we really need to run it.  It has shown.  I have seen a lot of positive feedback.  I have seen a lot of working with each other, which was kind of in a little bit of disarray when I first came on board.  I am glad to see everyone is moving forward and going down the road together. 

            Mr. Fennell stated good.  We are glad to have all your input.  We are doing quite well despite the bad economic times.  You have to run the place right.

 

·         Consideration of Payment for FPI Invoice in the Amount of $23,000

            Mr. Cassel stated this is way before my time.  We are just trying to figure this out and make sure it all gets ironed out.  As some of this information came in my first questions to Ms. Woodward were; did this work really get done, do we owe this money and what is this for?  Ms. Woodward put together a lot of this.  I am going to Mr. Hyche and Mr. Frederick do the background on this as to what we did and did not do.  Mr. Daly can then pick up on whether we owe the dollars because the work was done.

            Mr. Hanks stated so in answering your questions the work was done. 

            Ms. Zich asked was the work authorized at all?        

            Mr. Hyche responded yes.

            Ms. Zich asked by who?

            Mr. Hyche responded this Board.

            Mr. Hanks stated we owe the money.  Counsel, do you have any input on this?

            Mr. Lyles responded once you make the record you just did; there is not much for me to say.  You have established there was a contract awarded by the Board.  The work was done.  It was maybe authorized in a less than traditional and paperwork bound way, but phone calls and verbal authorizations seemed to have been given.  It was all within the four corners and the scope of work which was approved.  This is a left over item and I think staff is cleaning up the paperwork at this point.  Since there is another check which needs to be written it is being brought the Board so questions can be answered.  I do not think there is a whole lot we can do about it.

            Ms. Zich asked why did it take four years?

            Mr. Hyche responded it is a mystery.  This one goes back to the five inches we bought from Farmer’s Pump to replace in pump station # 1 and #2.  Two were delivered, one was installed and the other one sat outside.  Three were not delivered.  At the time Hurricane Wilma hit.  Farmer’s Pump then went to New Orleans.  None of the engines were delivered to us for a period of two years.  There was some delay costs incurred at that point.  Mr. McKune, at the time, along with the representative from Farmer’s Pump and engineers working on the pump decided that in lieu of collecting delay costs against Farmer’s Pump, they would perform some of the work on the pump stations for free.  All the District would do is buy the materials.  This $23,000 is that amount for the materials. 

            Mr. Hanks asked so what do you need from us Mr. Cassel?

            Mr. Cassel responded approval of the $23,000 payment to FPI to close out the work which was done.

            Mr. Hanks asked is there any discussion before I make a motion?

            Mr. Fennell responded no.

 

 

            Mr. Hanks asked are the procedures tightening up a little bit?

            Mr. Hyche responded yes.

            Ms. Zich asked are we not going to have one of these happen again?

            Mr. Hyche responded we are watching the best we can to see it does not happen.

            Ms. Zich stated good.  I am surprised this happened with you out there.

            Mr. Hyche stated this happened before me.  All of this was done under Mr. McKune’s watch and Mr. Petty’s.  Mr. Moore was the initial person.

            Mr. Frederick stated it all got screwed up when Hurricane Wilma hit. 

            Mr. Cassel stated the processes, procedures and what the staff and I have been working out for the past year is going through and cleaning up the potential for this.  We are not doing business this way.  We are not just creating change orders, instead we are doing a separate project.  We are closing out the project and moving forward so we do not have this stuff we had in the past.

            Ms. Zich stated I just want to let you know I do not like this kind of stuff.  I like it closed.

            Mr. Cassel stated I hate it.

           

·         Discussion of Energy Saving Proposals by Hillers Electrical Engineering

            Mr. Hanks asked what do we have as far as Hillers Electrical Engineering?  I did not see it in the packet.  Did I overlook it?

            Mr. Cassel responded it was not put in the package.  It was a mistake and it will be in next month’s agenda. 

            Mr. Fennell stated the only thing I have.  I said it before.  There is a memorandum in there from Mr. Moore from 2005.  If you change over to the last page there, you get to the sixth order of business.  It actually does not have anything to do with this stuff.  This is how history keeps repeating itself. 

            Mr. Cassel stated I noticed that.

            Mr. Fennell stated at the time I was noting we had a lot of money set aside and we were only getting 1% or 2% on our money.  This is the same stage where we were trying to maximize our money.  At the time we were saying why do we not just get some T-Bills. 

            Mr. Hanks stated your still on the T-Bill thing.

            Mr. Fennell stated I am saying at the time, this is like two years ago, you could have bought a six month T-Bill for about 5%.

            Ms. Zich stated two years ago, it is four years ago. 

            Mr. Fennell stated this is 2007.  It is two years ago.  This is just about six months before they went bust. 

           

·         Monthly Water Charts

            Mr. Cassel stated you have the water reports.  Are there any questions for Mr. Hyche?

            Mr. Fennell asked is there any more insight as to where that money is coming from?

            Mr. Hyche responded I only did the rain event we had three weeks ago.  That period is just those four or five days of the rain event and after.  If you look, you will see how the lift station hours and the influent flows all follow the canal levels.  You see it very closely.  As the lift station hours fall the canal levels fall.

            Mr. Fennell asked so you do think it is the canal levels?

            Mr. Hyche responded yes.  It is infiltration and groundwater. 

            Mr. Hanks asked is it to a point where it makes sense to do anything about it? 

            Mr. Hyche responded again, this is just that one area.

            The record will reflect the recording picked up several people talking at the same time.

 

·         Utility Billing Work Orders

Mr. Fennell asked are there any questions or recommendation?

There not being any, the next item followed.

 

            B.        Attorney

            Mr. Lyles stated I have nothing additional to advise the Board about today.  I think I covered my issues.

 

            C.        Engineer

·         Consideration of Work Authorization #52 (5-18-09) for Bid Documents and Specifications for Stormwater Pump Stations No. 1 and No. 2

            Mr. Fennell stated I thought we were done with everything.

            Mr. Cassel stated when we did the repairs on the racks and everything we discovered at the ends of the racks there had been a makeshift extra barrier to keep stuff from being sucked around the trash racks.  We are looking at going back in and putting a screen type of system on the side there.

            Mr. Hanks asked why was this not picked up when we went through a whole study of the pump stations?

            Mr. Hyche responded they were asked to inspect the trash racks, which was what they inspected and how they were attached to the concrete.  They were not asked to look and see what was around.  It was only noticed and brought to Mr. Frederick’s attention later.

            Mr. Frederick stated that design was actually not part of the original trash rack.  It was something which was added on later by the divers.  It was never designed as part of the rack system.

            Mr. Daly stated Ms. Early’s original recommendation was to replace the trash racks entirely with aluminum, but it was $250,000.  We have wood there we can replace for a lot less.  I believe the new form would have been there in the new design.

            Mr. Hanks stated so as a Board we provided direction not to go with the expensive option.  Here is an added cost above the low cost option.

            Mr. Frederick stated the original thing was to replace the two by fours, make sure the original rack system was aligned and to clean out in front of the trash rack and behind it.  This was not part of that deal.  This was something which was discovered after the fact.

            Mr. Hanks asked so is this additional screen something we are not just going to be able to put in and we have to have a design done on it?

            Mr. Frederick responded yes.  We are looking to have something more permanent than what is there.  What they did originally was take reinforcing rods and welded it in there.  They made some kind of barrier to keep tires and stuff out.  We are looking for something more permanent than that.  Because that bar has just rusted away. 

            Mr. Hanks asked after how many seasons?

            Mr. Frederick responded I am not sure how long it has been, but it has not been that long.

            Mr. Fennell stated so we are talking about $7,850 to design something.

            Mr. Cassel stated that is correct.  Then we will get the bid for actual construction and installation. 

            Mr. Fennell asked do you have something in mind already?

            Mr. Skehan responded that is a package Ms. Early will be putting together.  I am sure she has some ideas based some of the observations she has made in the past.

            Mr. Fredericks stated this is basically to help prevent things like tires.  There has always been a void at those pump stations in that rack system.  We had tires in the past get in there and we could not figure out why.  We believe this is how it is doing it.  Now since we had that rebar in there we have not had a tire in a while get through there. 

            Mr. Fennell asked what happens when one gets in there?

            Mr. Hanks responded it is not good.

            Mr. Frederick stated I had a big tire get through years ago.  When I went to the pump station the pump had pulled loose from the concrete pad.  It was bouncing two to three feet in the air.  The engine was still running, but by the time we shut it down the crank shaft was bent and the main bearings broke.

            Mr. Hanks stated that was about six years ago.  Was it now Mr. Frederick?

            Mr. Frederick responded longer than that. 

            Mr. Skehan stated so the cost of doing this saves the cost of pumps and motors.

            Mr. Fennell asked what actually happens down at the trash racks?

            Mr. Frederick responded two guys with long rakes that try to pull as much as we can. 

            Mr. Fennell asked is there a better way to do this?

            Mr. Daly responded you could really spend some money.

            Mr. Hyche stated a barge system, but the canals are too small for barges.

            Mr. Fennell asked how do we make it easier for the guy cleaning out the trash rack?

            Mr. Frederick responded they have something at other pump stations that goes down over the rack, catches so much material and after a while an arm lifts up and picks all the stuff up. 

            Mr. Fennell asked do you want that?

            Mr. Frederick responded we do not get a lot of stuff like that.

            Ms. Zich stated it sounds like it happens once every great while.

            Mr. Fennell stated once every hurricane.

            Mr. Frederick stated we try to monitor it the best we can, but sometimes you cannot see it.  The tire situation happened many years ago.  We have not had something like that lately.  Once in a while you might get a plastic bag that will go through.  You have to get a diver to get that off of there.  A plastic bag throws these pumps out of whack. 

            Mr. Fennell asked is there any other discussion.

            Mr. Frederick responded it is just a preventative maintenance thing.

 

 

·         Project Status Report

            Mr. Cassel stated Mr. Johnson and Mr. Bulman will brief you on the status of the deep well injection and the RO plant status.  Who wants to go first? 

            Mr. Johnson stated for the past couple of weeks we have gotten trailers onsite.  We have our construction manager onsite and we have been demolishing the two tanks, A and B, over on the wastewater side.  We are right now working towards permits with Broward County and the City of Coral Springs.  We already had one round of preliminary comments from the City of Coral Springs.  We are trying to mitigate a lot of the problems before we actually start going here.  That in a nutshell is where we are. 

            Ms. Zich asked when will we really be starting?  When do we have the permits to actually start?

            Mr. Johnson responded we are looking anywhere from two to four weeks. 

            Ms. Zich stated by the next meeting.

            Mr. Johnson stated hopefully, but again the permitting process can be a bit of a bear.  We have our permit packages together right now.  We are going to sit down with Intrastate later this week to have a coordination meeting on permitting.

            Mr. Cassel stated but on Plant F the demolition and the actual construction of Plant F is ahead of the filtration plant.

            Mr. Johnson stated yes.  That should be able to begin much sooner.  The Plant F permitting comments were minimal; mostly due to the size of the project itself.  Compared with the membrane building where everyone has a finger in the pie.  It is a much simpler permit to get.  We should be able to start on that sooner than the main plant.  In the interim we will be getting a lot of submittals from the contractor so they can start issuing POs for equipment. 

            Ms. Zich stated you know we just want to keep going.

            Mr. Skehan stated absolutely.

            Mr. Johnson stated so do we. 

            Mr. Skehan stated the preliminary permitting is going to be a very helpful step to have.  We have five or six tables we have laid out as far as what the comments were from the city and then a specific comment on how it was resolved referenced to that specific comment, to the plans and then how it is going to be adjudicated.  What the city has told us will help us streamline the whole process.  They have committed to that.  The comments were pretty straightforward.  We have all of the comments included in the plans as they requested.  That was one of the key things to get that taken care of.  Those plans are all signed and sealed, which was another component of their request.  They have been delivered to the contractor and as Mr. Johnson mentioned we will be getting with them to get those packages off to the city and to the county this week.

            Mr. Cassel stated Mr. Bulman.                      

            Mr. Bulman stated the monitoring well number three construction is going very well.  I want to address safety first.  We have a safety protocol we follow.  Everyone signs it onsite and we keep a hard copy in the trailer.  Layne Christensen Company has their own safety plan, which we looked at.  They also have safety meetings every morning when they start.  We have been impressed.  Everyone has hard hats and steel toed shoes. 

            The well is built with concentric casings.  The first casing has been installed, which basically protects the surficial aquifer.  One of the wells was turned off during that time.  It has now been turned back on and put in service.  There were no issues related to that installation.  At this point we have drilled down to 1,050 feet, which will be the depth of our next casing.  That is likely to occur later this week until the end of the week.  That will be a 20 inch casing. 

            Last week on Monday we began 24 hour operations.  The contractor is not always working 24 hours, but it allows them to work 24 hours as they have been preparing and keeping down the high level noise activities.  They are working through the night as they need to in order to keep progress going as needed.  So far there have been no noise issues.  They are monitoring decibels.  We have a report on the project records.  They also built a 30 foot high sound barrier.  It can be disassembled if there is a hurricane coming.  That is part of the requirement.  It does really reduce noise on the other side for the adjacent property owners. 

            Mr. Skehan stated when the comment from the property owner in that corner when the contractor went out to talk to him about working 24 hours, his question was when are you going to start drilling.  They had already been drilling for two to three weeks at that point. 

 

TWELFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                     Approval of Financials and Check Registers

·         Summary of Cash Transaction

·         Projected Cash Flows – Operating

·         Projected Cash Flows – SIP

            Mr. Fennell stated  Mr. Cassel covered a little bit of this already.  Is there anything you want to bring to our attention Ms. Woodward?

            Ms. Woodward responded no.  I think you should feel very comfortable with the financials.  Because this happened to be the set of financials we used as the basis for the first draft of the budget, we did an extra set of review procedures on it to make sure things which need to be reclassified was taken care of before the financials were prepared.  I think you should feel comfortable with it.

            Mr. Fennell asked are there any questions?

            Ms. Zich responded I feel very comfortable with it.  I looked it over.

 

 

THIRTEENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS              Supervisors’ Requests and Audience Comments

            Mr. Hanks stated I have been invited to do a presentation to SFWMD on behalf of the District coming up on May 27 and May 28, 2009.  SFWMD is going to have a bunch of engineers down.  We are going to be at the Broward County Water Utilities for their stormwater management side of things.  They are looking for a site tour. 

            Mr. Fennell asked of here?

            Mr. Hanks responded I was not making an offer until I consulted with you considering I got the email this morning.

            Mr. Daly asked how many people are there?

            Mr. Hanks responded I think they said they were having 11 engineers come down. 

            Mr. Daly stated if necessary you will need a few of our vehicles to transport these gentlemen to the pump stations.  We will make sure they are available.

            Mr. Hanks asked Mr. Cassel, do you want to give Mr. Lopez a call?

            Mr. Cassel responded I will give him a call.  I know the last time a group of people came down to do a site visit of one of NSID’s stations they came in a van and had several other vehicles out there.  We met them at the site and gave them a tour.  We can make arrangements.

            Mr. Hanks stated okay.  If it all works out, I will just do the presentation here. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I think it is a great idea.  What is your plans?

            Mr. Cassel responded we are going to work on a PowerPoint, Mr. Hyche, Mr. Frederick, Mr. Daly and I, for Mr. Hanks to work off from. 

            Mr. Fennell asked can we have our esteemed engineering group here talk about some of the studies we have initiated and things we have done?  We did the computer program that we did for modeling.  That would be great.            

            Ms. Early has some great information.

            Mr. Fennell stated there is the fact we did a complete survey of all the elevations around.

            Mr. Hanks stated we can take a look at what we have been doing to conserve the function and protection.

            Mr. Fennell stated I think we should also come back and talk about some of the conclusions we saw which we could in fact do within our water area as far as trying to have better protection.

            Mr. Hanks stated I think we need to have a brief discussion with Mr. Lopez and find out what their focus is going to be on so we keep it narrow.

            Mr. Fennell asked who is the audience?

            Mr. Hanks responded Mr. Krause with Broward County DPEP and I forget who else.

            Mr. Cassel stated there are about 10 or 11 different engineers from different areas.

            Mr. Hanks stated so I will continue to coordinate with Mr. Cassel and get this going.

            Mr. Fennell stated I would not mind sitting in for that also.

            Mr. Hanks stated to avoid any improprieties with the Sunshine Law I will get the information to Mr. Cassel.  He will go ahead and coordinate with you.  It is May 27 and May 28, 2009.  I am not sure when they have scheduled for presentation and when they have scheduled for site visits.

            Mr. Fennell stated okay.

            Mr. Hanks stated permits.  I noticed they are doing some construction at what is supposed to be our new Bru’s Room at Atlantic Boulevard and Ramblewood Boulevard.  My main concern is it looks like they are expanding the building and I do not remember seeing the permit come through.  Is there any feedback?  Who is going to do a little digging for me?

            Mr. Cassel responded Mr. Daly will dig. 

            Mr. Daly stated I thought it was just a facade. 

            Mr. Hanks stated I am curious because they have some columns going up there today.

            Mr. Daly stated I will find out. 

            Ms. Zich stated they usually have an outside patio at every Bru’s Room they build.  I noticed that also.

            Mr. Hanks stated that is probably it, but even on something like that; what does it do to the impervious area and how does it impact our stormwater management system?  I would much rather be in the position where we are getting the request from the City of Coral Springs Building Department as to what our thoughts on it are?

            If I may add one item on the annual state of the District, one thing I would like to do is put a big push on finalizing the permit criteria manual for these renovations.  Let us get this done.  Let us get it wrapped up so we are in a good position to deal with redevelopment when the economy turns back around.

            Mr. Cassel stated okay.

            Mr. Fennell asked who is working on that?

            Mr. Cassel responded it is Mr. Hanks, Ms. Early and me; after we finish those issues, Mr. Lyles. 

            Mr. Hanks stated unfortunately I feel like it is an unfounded mandate. 

            Mr. Fennell asked so why do you not pick it as an agenda item and a date when you would like to see it?

            Mr. Cassel responded we will quietly nudge him towards July or August.

            Mr. Fennell stated the Florida Association Special District’s meeting is coming up in June.  Who is all going?

            Mr. Hanks responded I have not given an RSVP to anybody. 

            Mr. Fennell stated it is coming right up.

            Mr. Daly stated I think you all wanted to go.

            Mr. Fennell stated I did. 

            Mr. Daly asked did you respond?

            Mr. Fennell responded I thought somebody here was doing it.

            Ms. Schurz stated I contacted all three of you, but I did not hear from back from anyone.

            Mr. Fennell stated I will make it official.  I would like to go.

            Mr. Hanks stated yes.

            Ms. Zich stated okay.

            Mr. Fennell stated okay.  Register us.

            Ms. Zich asked can we drive up all together?

            Mr. Fennell responded we can.

            Mr. Daly stated it is a two to three day affair.

            Mr. Fennell stated it is basically in St. Augustine.

            Mr. Hanks stated it is a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

            Mr. Fennell stated I do not know the exact times for the different events.

            Ms. Zich stated it starts at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday and the last thing is Thursday night at 10:00 p.m.  I do not know what in here we need to attend.  Do we need to attend everything?

            Mr. Fennell responded no.  I think you pick out the things.

            Mr. Hanks stated you get to go to the financial side.  I will go to the engineering side.

            Ms. Schurz stated I will take care of it.

            Mr. Cassel stated we will get you registered.  Typically in the conferences there are concurrent sessions.  You might go to one session and not the other session.

            Mr. Fennell stated I may drive up there myself because while I am up there I may sneak off and visit my father.  Are there any other issues?  Are there any other comments from the audience?

            There not being any, the next item followed.

 

 

FOURTEENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS             Adjournment

            There being no further business,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        

  Glen Hanks                                                                  Robert D. Fennell                              

  Secretary                                                                       President