MINUTES OF MEETING
NORTH SPRINGS IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT
The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the North Springs
Improvement District was held on
Present and constituting a quorum were:
Salvatore Mendolia
President
Stephen Mendelson
Secretary
Also present were:
John Petty
Manager
Michael Pawelczyk
Attorney
Jane Early
Engineer
John McKune
CH2M Hill
Doug Hyche
NSID
Mike Hessler
WCI Communities, Inc.
Mona Slaughter
Karen Mazurek
Resident
Kay Grace
Resident
Several Residents
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
Roll Call
Mr. Petty called
the meeting to order and called the roll.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS
Approval of the Minutes of the March 7, 2006
Meeting
Mr. Petty stated each Board member received a copy of the minutes of the
Mr. Mendolia
MOVED to approve the minutes of the
Mr. Pawelczyk stated I have a couple of
changes. On page two, in the third
paragraph under the fifth order of business, “ran” should be “run”. In the third line of the first paragraph
on page 18, “conception” should be “perception” and “find” should be
“fund”.
On VOICE vote with all in favor the
motion as previously outlined was approved.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS
Consideration of Award of Contract for
Mr. Petty stated the Board directed staff to get this done as quickly as
possible and bring it back to you at this meeting. All of the pressure was on the engineer
who responded well. It was put out
to bid and they came back with a recommendation to award.
Ms. Early stated we took bids for repair of the tennis courts. We only received one bid and it was from
Welch Tennis Courts, Inc. Their
base bid was $59,500. The
Engineer’s estimate was $60,000. We
recommend they do the repairs. They
were involved in the original construction of the facility.
Mr. Petty stated this includes structures beyond the court itself. It addressed the canopy over the area
where they wait.
Mr. Mendolia asked do they have a breakdown of
the repairs?
Ms. Early responded yes.
Ms. Mazurek asked does it include resurfacing
the pool?
Ms. Early responded yes.
Ms. Mazurek asked what will the timeframe be?
Ms. Early responded thirty days from the award of contract. We are awarding it today. I will contact them tomorrow to get
started.
Mr. Mendolia stated it is an excellent
price.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the contract for the Heron Bay Commons Tennis Court Repairs
was awarded to Welch Tennis Courts, Inc.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Consideration of Agreement with WCI for Management Services for Heron Bay
Commons
Mr. Petty stated this item is from the last meeting. We are working with WCI on this issue
and Mr. Hessler is here. We have been working on the first
draft. I just gave the working
document to Counsel to start it.
Mr. Hessler and I were not able to connect over
the last couple of days. I was not
able to get your intentions for today, but it is mine to offer we bring it to
you at the next Board meeting for your consideration because it is still a work
in progress.
Mr. Hessler stated I agree. We are in good shape. I was hoping we would be prepared, but
Mr. Petty, Counsel and I are all on the same page.
Mr. Mendolia stated as long as we are going
forward, it is all that counts.
Mr. Petty stated we will not ask the Board to consider anything
today.
Ms. Mazurek stated my understanding is there
was something written in the original bond which specified it was to be used for
Mr. Petty stated it is an item which has come up for discussion. There is a legal ramification which I
will allow Counsel to respond to.
This is not a binding agreement part of the bond documents. It is an explanation of the intent of
use. It is a defining scope and
what is going to happen. It does
not hold you to it.
Ms. Mazurek asked was it in the
original?
Mr. Petty responded it is the same thing as when we say there are so many
people living in
Mr. Pawelczyk stated I am not sure what the
question is.
Mr. Petty stated the bond documents say it was intended for The Commons
to be utilized by residents and was designed with their population in mind
only. It does not mean it is not a
public facility.
Mr. Pawelczyk stated that is
correct.
Mr. Petty stated I believe we are dealing with what the intention of the
design is. It is for residents of
NSID in this particular area to take advantage of this facility. Because it is a public facility, there
are rules we must abide by. We will
admit to the facility being designed for a set population in
use.
Mr. Mendolia asked what about the outside
population?
Mr. Petty responded when you build these facilities for public use you
never take into consideration the “what if” scenario. You take into consideration the needs of
your residents inside your municipality, inside your District. You allow for the outside use when the
facilities are available or on a first come, first served basis. Mr. Hessler
and I have talked about this. We
need to talk to Counsel to make sure we word it properly. The intent is to make sure the residents
get proper use of the facilities without blocking any public use from the
outside, which by design is not to be limited.
Mr. Mendolia stated they can still come from
the outside.
Mr. Petty stated it is like the
Ms. Mazurek asked is there going to be a
replacement for Ms. Verger?
Mr. Hessler responded we are working on
it.
FIFTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Consideration of WA #159 Alternate 20 Inch Watermain
Mr. McKune stated we are constructing a 20 inch
watermain exiting the water plant south of
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor WA #159 for the alternate 20 inch watermain was approved.
SIXTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Consideration of Permits
A.
Ms. Early stated this was on the agenda for the last Board meeting and it
was tabled because we had some questions regarding calculations. They have since submitted the
information to us. It does meet the
District’s criteria for surface water.
We are recommending approval.
Mr. McKune stated this is the new owner of the
property. We previously received an
easement across the property for construction of the 20 inch watermain. We
have received a revised easement in process from the new owner. The easement has not been recorded
yet.
Mr. Pawelczyk stated we looked at it and the
form of it is fine. It is a
temporary access construction easement.
Mr. McKune stated we have been waiting several
weeks to start construction. We
were held up because of the transfer of ownership. We got the new owner to agree to this
and to get started.
Mr. Petty stated the reason you are asking for this is you do not have a
right-of-way which gives you construction area plus room for the pipe. This is why he is asking for additional
land.
Mr. Mendolia asked did the owner say okay to
the easement?
Mr. McKune responded yes. The permanent easement will eventually
be recorded.
Mr. Mendolia asked do we have anything in
writing from him?
Mr. McKune responded yes.
Mr. Pawelczyk stated it is amendable.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the permit for the Coral Springs Target/Ross surface water
management was approved.
Mr. Petty stated we would now like you to consider the executed temporary
access and construction agreement on this parcel as discussed by the
engineer. It has been reviewed by
Counsel.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the executed temporary access and construction agreement for
the parcel relating to the Coral Springs Target/Ross was
approved.
B.
Expansion of Sawgrass Expressway from
Ms. Early stated the portion which lies in NSID is from the C5 Canal
north to
Mr. Petty stated the only thing I know of in the area is our pump house
at the curve.
Ms. Early stated they will not be impacting it.
Mr. Mendelson asked what is the timeframe?
Ms. Early responded I do not know.
Mr. Petty asked do we have a time limit on our permit?
Ms. Early responded no.
Mr. Petty stated they will be under our permit criteria until they are
done.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the permit for the expansion of the Sawgrass Expressway from
SEVENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Staff Reports
A.
Attorney – Interlocal Agreement with
CSID
Mr. Pawelczyk stated the Interlocal
Agreement with CSID is something I drafted and reviewed with Mr. Lyles. This is an Interlocal with CSID, which will allow the District to use
CSID’s agreement with Interstate Construction to do
Hurricane Wilma repairs at our utility plant. Mr. McKune
reviewed the agreement and so has Mr. Petty. We are recommending approval of the
Interlocal Agreement.
There is a first amendment to agreement which does not require your
action. This is an amendment
between CSID and Interstate Construction and will go in the CSID agenda. It amends the CSID agreement with
Interstate Construction to provide for this additional work. I wanted to provide it to you for your
information.
Mr. Petty stated it has been brought before CSID and they approved
it. The amendment is the executed
portion which will go back to them.
Mr. Pawelczyk stated it is simple. The agreement provides for the
additional work CSID is allowing to occur under its contract. NSID will be responsible for anything
which would happen; whether they be cost overruns or change orders. It is typical of any construction
project. Mr. McKune is comfortable with the contractor. He has worked with
them.
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the Interlocal Agreement with CSID
was approved.
Mr. Pawelczyk stated NSID has an existing
agreement with the City of
This has not been approved by the City of
The second portion of the amendment is the most significant. It will allow the providing party to
recover an equal amount of potable water within one year of the emergency. If they cannot recover the water within
the one year period, we will then go to the bulk rate. Section four changes the notice
provision. The notice will go to
the District Manager at this address with a copy to District Counsel. The original agreement provided for a
specific person who no longer works for Severn Trent Services. We recommend approval subject to non
substantive changes we have to make as a result of
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the amendment to the agreement between the City of
B.
Engineer
There being no
report, the next item followed.
C.
Manager
Mr. Petty stated
the first item I would like to bring up is the meeting dates. I propose for you to allow staff to find
out a day which meets most of our schedules versus trying to do one now and
finding out Mr. Lyles has a conflict.
Mr. Mendolia stated I spoke to Mr. Lyles and I
just spoke with Mr. Mendelson. We would like to go back to the original
schedule, which is the first Thursday of every month at
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the meeting schedule for the remainder of fiscal year 2006
will be on the first Thursday of every month at
Mr. Petty stated the next item I have to bring to your attention is
communication with SFWMD who is looking to do a cost share agreement with us for
best management practices. This is
something which has come before you for the last couple of years. It is something staff has been allowed
to execute without bringing it before the Board. We are working with our permit agency to
the best of our ability. I have
tried to understand this particular program. My initial reaction is one where I
cannot see any value to the District; although we are in partnership with SFWMD
and they see a value.
The only thing I will warn the Board of is SFWMD’s concern with the
There is one other thing I spoke with Mr. McKune about.
We were going to talk about FEMA and hurricane clean up. This is of the drainage system and not
the facilities you have heard about.
Mr. McKune stated there are many trees down in
some of the canal banks. We had the
Federal Government out here with us looking at the damage and anticipating a
reimbursement program. The plans
and specification for this work are prepared and will cost approximately
$500,000. If and when the
reimbursement comes, the Federal Government will pay 75% of the cost of the
work.
Mr. Petty stated I will take exception with them paying us 75%. They are saying they will permit us up
to a limit.
Mr. McKune stated the state might give us
another 12.5%. I would like to get
authorization to go to bid with this project. When we get the bids in, we will come
back to you and tell you if it is reasonable.
Mr. Mendolia stated do
it.
EIGHTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Approval of Requisitions and Invoices
There being no questions or comments,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the Requisitions and Invoices were
approved.
NINTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Supervisor’s Request and Audience Comments
Ms. Grace stated last night we had our HOA meeting, which represents 54
homes. Our president was not able
to follow up due to the religious holiday.
I came into the meeting to let everyone know that as of the last meeting
we believed WCI will be out and there will be a new contract. I wanted to know what happened at the
last meeting to make you change your mind and has any of the money been paid
back to The Commons, which was misused?
Mr. Petty responded I have spoken to this young lady and a group of
people about this issue. We can
provide them with minutes of the meeting to find out what was discussed and what
your due deliberation was to come to your decision. When it comes to accusations, which are
unproven and not within the Board’s scope, the Board has already looked at this
issue under due diligence for a long period of time and has determined the issue
closed. It is inappropriate to
consider any additional items at this time.
Ms. Grace stated I am not addressing this from the group. I am addressing it from the HOA because
the HOA president would like to get together with you and find out what happened
with the bond as well as how much money we paid. He is representing 54 homes. I have minutes from the Tennis
Committee.
Mr. Petty stated the Tennis Committee’s meeting minutes are not part of
consideration of this body. I do
not know how you could discuss it.
Ms. Grace stated I have a copy of the minutes.
Mr. Petty stated it is the Tennis Committee’s minutes and not ours. We do not control or operate
them.
Ms. Grace stated they addressed you the next day. They addressed you saying they wanted
the Tennis Committee to stay, not have new management and have WCI stay. They said they wanted to be controlled
by the HOA and not a new management company. I have no problem with the Tennis
Committee staying on, but when they came here to represent the tennis community
it was to say we want the Tennis Committee to stay in tact and not to say they
supported WCI.
Mr. Petty stated the minutes of our meeting and your consideration are available to any resident. I will be glad to meet with any HOA or
resident of our District who wants clarification. I suggest we do
it.
Mr. Mendolia asked do you have an answer for
this young lady?
Mr. Petty responded I will be glad to meet with her. I believe her situation is a question
she should put to the Tennis Committee on whether or not they properly
represented whatever they spoke of at their meeting, which we were not present
at. This Board listened to the
residents who were here as residents and not so much as representatives of any
specific body or group. The Board
took it into consideration, listened to the pros and cons, and made a decision
accordingly. As such, it
stands. The matter of past issues are done and the actions of the Tennis
Committee should be held to them and not this Board.
Mr. Mendolia asked in reference to this young
lady, can you meet with her?
Mr. Petty responded yes. We
have talked with the HOA about addressing the issue of the different tennis
leagues. We have one league which
is strong and active. The tennis
courts have been structured for this use.
It is like any municipal facility such as a ballpark where you have two
different leagues. They have two
different concepts of playing ball.
They do not mix at all. This
is the same. When you have
competitive people with leisure people, they do not mix. In this case you allocate
resources. A couple of courts can
be set for leisure people and a couple of courts go for this. It is proportional to the best of your
ability without trying to be precise.
We will look to them for a representation of this group which we can talk
to. We can point them towards the
HOA which is our manager and ask for the situation to be addressed. We talked with Mr. Hessler about the issue. This is a standard operational issue
where we try to make sure all of the residents get addressed.
Ms. Grace stated this is not about the tennis aspect. This is about the
bond.
Mr. Petty stated this matter is what we voted on.
Mr. Mendolia stated he will get together with
you and explain all of this. If you
have any questions, bring them up.
We will get them answered.
The problems we have been having are in regard to tennis. We have a great deal of room at the
clubhouse in
Mr. Hessler stated Mr. Petty and I spoke about
it. We are looking at the land and
we are very open minded. I hope everyone knows we are going to do
everything we can with the facility.
Mr. Mendolia asked can we do it? It will
benefit WCI in the long run. They
are selling homes. You have 3,000
families. Those tennis courts are
not going to handle it.
Ms. Grace asked can the money coming back from WCI be earmarked for new
courts? We
have enough room.
Mr. Mendolia responded it has to be discussed
with Mr. Petty and Mr. Hessler.
Ms. Grace stated I do not know how much it will cost to do them. The last time I looked into an estimate
it was approximately $40,000 per court.
Mr. Petty stated we are not only talking about existing land, which might
be reallocated from green space, but all of the land so this Board knows what
they can do now as well as in the future.
We will have to talk with the engineer on this issue. There is a canal which abuts the
property where there might be some spare space. We might be able to overlap in the area
to put another court in. We have
been discussing these things and WCI is open to it.
Ms. Grace asked will the money we are receiving go back to you or does it
go back to The Commons?
Mr. Petty responded I will consider all funding in consideration of the
operation of the facility.
Ms. Grace asked will we audit the facility to see if they owe us more
money?
Mr. Petty responded I am sorry.
You are in an issue I told you was closed. I will be glad to talk to the HOA about
any bond debt we have. We discussed
this at our meeting as well. I will
be glad to discuss it outside of this meeting, but it is not appropriate to
bring it up here.
TENTH ORDER OF BUSINESS
Adjournment
There being no
further business,
On MOTION by Mr. Mendolia seconded by Mr. Mendelson
with all in favor the meeting was adjourned.
Steve Mendelson
Salvatore J. Mendolia
Secretary
President