MINUTES OF MEETING

NORTH SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT

 

            A meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the North Springs Improvement District was held on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 4:50 p.m. at the District Offices, 10300 NW 11th Manor, Coral Springs, Florida.

 

            Present and constituting a quorum were:

           

            Steve Mendelson                                              President

            David Gray                                                       Secretary

            Vincent Morretti                                               Assistant Secretary

 

            Also present were:

 

            Kenneth Cassel                                                District Manager

            Dennis Lyles                                                     District Counsel

            Jane Early                                                         District Engineer

            Brenda Schurz                                                  Severn Trent Services (Via Telephone)

            Nick Schooley                                                  Drainage Supervisor

            Motts E. Berry                                                 WCI Communities, Inc.

            Joe Sabino                                                       Heron Bay Clubhouse Manager

            Jeff Hodapp                                                     Perimeter, Surveying and Mapping, Inc.

                                                                                                           

            The following is a summary of the minutes and actions taken at the January 7, 2009 North Springs Improvement District Board of Supervisors meeting.

                                                                                                                       

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS                               Roll Call

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

 

SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS                          Approval of the Minutes of the December 3, 2008 Meeting

            Mr. Cassel stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the December 3, 2008 meeting and requested any corrections, additions or deletions.

            There not being any,

 

On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the minutes of the December 3, 2008 meeting were approved.

 

THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS                             Consideration of Re-plats

            A.        Parkland Village, Re-plat One

            Mr. Cassel reviewed the following:

 

·        Centerline Homes is re-platting the perimeter property lines. 

·        This adjustment will not affect NSID property.

·        The District engineer has no objection to approving this re-plat.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the Parkland Village, Re-plat One was approved

 

            B.        Ratification of Parkland Village Fire Station No. 2

            There being no questions or comments,

 

On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the Parkland Village Fire Station No. 2 Plat was ratified.

 

FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                          Consideration of Requisition and Conveyance Documents for Trails End Buffer

            Mr. Cassel distributed revised conveyance documents and staff discussed the following:

·        The requisition is a process which happens with the District engineer’s and the District manager’s input.  The bonds issued are used as a funding source to pay for certain improvements associated with the Trails End project.  This falls under the Parkland Golf and Country Club assessment area. 

·        The Board’s role is to accept the conveyance of the easements, deeds, bills of sales and ownership of the property based on certification from the engineer that the project is completed in accordance with permit requirements. 

·        The requisitions are in order and are ready to be processed for payment to WCI Communities for the costs they incurred on the improvements.  They are conveying the property at no cost to the District. 

·        The District will give an easement to Parkland Golf and Country Club Foundation, Inc. and will enter into a maintenance agreement with them for the landscaped areas. 

·        The District will reserve the right in case it finds it necessary in the future to rescind the easement and withdraw from the maintenance agreement if a good job is not being done.

·        The area is located on Trails End east of Pine Island Road.  It is the north and south buffer along Trails End.  Ms. Early contacted all the vendors requesting reimbursement to verify they were paid in full.  There were several Ms. Early could not get in touch with; therefore, in agreement with WCI Communities $350,000 was deducted from the requisition.  The project has been inspected.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor the Board accepted the conveyance of property and improvements described and certified by the District engineer related to the Trails End Buffer by special warranty deed and by bill of sale and authorized the execution of related documents.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor the Board approved granting an easement from NSID to Parkland Golf and Country Club Foundation, Inc. concerning maintenance of the improvements made and authorized the appropriate District officials to execute a maintenance agreement providing for the terms and conditions under which the maintenance will be done by the foundation.

 

FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                               Consideration of Change Order No. 2 and Final with Florida Sewer and Water for Heron Bay North Plat 3 (Spine Roads) for a Net Decrease in the Amount of $23,700.08

            There being no question or comments,

 

On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor Change Order No. 2 and Final with Florida Sewer and Water for Heron Bay North Plat 3 (Spine Roads) for a net decrease in the amount of $23,700.08 was approved. 

 

SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                              Staff Reports

            A.        Manager

            The following was discussed:

·        Mr. Cassel complimented the drainage crew.  There were 12 visitors from West Palm Beach who wanted to look at the pump stations.  Mr. Schooley and his crew did an excellent job of impressing the engineers, consulting engineer and the regulators from Palm Beach County in the way the pump stations are maintained and operated.  The crew is knowledgeable of what is going on with the system in process.  

·        The uniform contract is expiring and will be re-bid.

·        It is currently combined with CSID.  It will be split into contracts between the vendor and the districts, CSID, NSID, PTWCD and SWCD, separately.  This will help clean up documentation so each district has its own contracts rather than having shared contracts.  This will be brought before the Board at the March 4, 2009 meeting. 

 

                        i.          Ten (10) Year Water Supply Plan

            The following was discussed:

·        Mr. Cassel complimented Mr. Colon on his work.

·        This is a requirement Mr. Cassel and Mr. Colon worked on in the District’s best interest.

·        This leaves the District with flexibility to work with the water management plan and SFWMD to accomplish the District’s needs as well as what they want to push the District towards. 

 

      ii.         Consideration of Audit Engagement Letter

            There being no questions or comments,

 

On MOTION by Mr. Gray seconded by Mr. Mendelson with all in favor the engagement letter with Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gaines & Frank to perform the financial audit for fiscal year 2008 was approved. 

 

                        iii.        Water Production Reports

            There being no questions or comments, the next item followed.

 

            B.        Attorney

            Mr. Lyles reported the following:

·        A series of notices and documents were received regarding WCI Communities’ bankruptcy proceedings. 

·        This entails the assessments levied by the District on a variety of different assessment areas such as Parkland Golf and Country Club, Heron Bay and Parkland Isles.  There are a large number of ongoing assessment programs which involve WCI Communities. 

·        WCI Communities has many entities who are debtors to a variety of creditors throughout the United States of America.  Because they are incorporated in Delaware, their proceedings are pending in the Federal Bankruptcy Court of Delaware.

·        February 2, 2009 is the deadline for the District to submit proofs of its claim.  The District needs to have representation in Delaware to protect its interest.  Staff is not going to just submit a proof of claim like a typical creditor would because the District is not a creditor where WCI Communities owes the District money for goods or services performed.  The District has land backed assessment programs which are equal in dignity to state and local taxes.  They stay with the land and should not be subject to a bankruptcy court order that wipes out liens. 

·        Technically, the bankruptcy court has jurisdiction over the District and believes it is in a position to resolve the District’s assessment claims by potentially wiping them out and allowing WCI Communities, or its successor, to sell the property free of liens.  There is law to the contrary, but the District has to make its position known.  In order to accomplish this the District must have legal representation in Delaware.  Mr. Lyles is not a member of the Delaware Bar. 

·        Staff contacted a firm who has experience handling a case on behalf of a special district in Florida on another bankruptcy case.  Mr. Lyles’ office will do the research and prepare the argument which needs to be made so they do not have to spend much time on it, but they do have to file the necessary motion, have a hearing and protect the District’s interest. 

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor the Board authorized District counsel and the District manager to work together to retain counsel for the purposes described in District counsel’s brief presentation. 

 

            C.        Engineer

                        i.          Project Status Report

            There were no questions or comments on the project status report.  Ms. Early reported she is still waiting to hear from SFWMD regarding the grant submittal for the pump station modification. 

 

SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                        Approval of Financials and Check Registers

            Mr. Cassel briefly reviewed the financials and discussed the following:

·        Field work for the fiscal year 2007 audit is complete and a draft of the audit will be ready within the next couple of weeks. 

·        Staff moved the funds from the general fund as well as the water and sewer fund into three and six month CDs for protection as discussed.

·        The assessments are coming in slowly in November.

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor the financials and check registers as of November 30, 2008 were approved.

 

EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS                           Adjournment

            There being no further business,

 

On MOTION by Mr. Mendelson seconded by Mr. Gray with all in favor the meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        

 David Gray                                                                     Steve Mendelson                                            

 Secretary                                                                         President