EL RANCHO FLORIDA METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING – March 12, 2014
The El Rancho Florida Metropolitan District held their regular monthly meeting on March 12, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The regular meeting was attended by the following Board members:
Steve Swisher – President
Jack Wasserbach – Vice President
David Ships – Treasurer
Robin Boucher – Secretary
Gary Skiba – Director
Also, present for the meeting were: Rex Emenegger – Grader Operator; Robert Ludwig – Water Operator, and Marsha Moreland – Administrator. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.
MINUTES:
A motion was made, moved and passed to approve the Minutes of February 5, 2014 as submitted.
WATER REPORT:
Robert informed the Board that he is changing the filters in the system and that there has been a pressure differential. The water is nice and clear and great quality. The current flow is 40gpm.
DOLA GRANT UPDATE:
On March 20th, Steve, Jack and Robert will do a presentation on why the district needs the funding for DOLA via a webcam. It is important for Robert to explain that the district’s ISO rating will not change with the improvements and that the property owners rates are Base Fee for water at $62.50/Mo; Capital Improvement Fee at $45/Mo totaling month assessments of $107.40/mo. for water fees. Then between DOLA, CWAPA and 10,000 gal/mo. water per tap, the monthly user fees are at $171.75/mo. The district has assessed the tap holders to the max for this district. And that their fees are some of the higher ones in the area right now. The time allowed for the presentation is 5 minutes.
WATER RIGHTS:
Amy Huff is asking for direction from the Board on proceeding with amending the water rights application. Steve and Robert will speak with her this coming week. All agreed that the application needs to be corrected.
ADMINISTRATION:
- Accounts Receivable – The judge has ruled for foreclosure on Walt Dahlstrom. Now Bud Smith, attorney will proceed as the District directs him to. A motion was made, moved and passed instructing Bud Smith to proceed with the foreclosure and the collection of fees. Approval has been given for a survey of the lot.
- Accounts Payable – A motion was made, moved and passed approving the payables submitted, as itemized on the attached listing.
- Election – Marsha Moreland, DEO, has informed the board that the election has been cancelled due to there were no more candidates running for election than there were openings on the Board. Notice will be published in the Herald, on the web site, mailed to the County Clerk and the State.
- Audit – After a brief discussion the following motion was made. A motion was made, moved and passed to have the audit for 2013 completed by Clark, White & Associates.
ROADS:
Rex Emenegger, grader operator, explained that there were two complaints received when the last road maintenance was done. The individuals wanted to have 2” of ice/snow left on the road because it was too bumpy after plowing. He explained that ice/snow on the road melts and causes ruts, and drainage issues. There are some icy areas in the subdivision and the district could sand the roads but it wouldn’t really make that much difference since they are gravel roads.
Rex stated that he needs direction from the Board on the following items:
WEED CONTROL:
When does the Board want him to spray for weeds and cut the infestation of willows? Rex checked into renting equipment to spray for weeds along the roadway and common areas. Rental of a 25 gal. sprayer with hose/sprayer (hand sprayer) it would cost approximately $1500-$2000. That would include the pesticide, activator, equipment rental and labor.
Jack suggested that he has a 200 gal. tank on a trailer that the District could rent and it would get the job done quicker and spray more efficiently. He will work up an estimate on rental for the use of the tank. It has been used for spray pesticides previously. A motion was made, moved and passed for Rex and Jack to work out the details and use Jack’s tank and trailer for spraying the weeds this season.
RODENT CONTROL:
The Board approved Rex calling for rodent control in the common areas of the subdivision. They will soon be compromising the roads if something is not done to deter their spreading throughout the subdivision.
TREE MAINTENANCE:
The Board gave Rex the go ahead for trimming what trees/willows he can and then have an arborist come out to do the rest.
CULVERT CLEANING PROGRAM:
The culverts are in pretty good shape now with the exception of a few: Brice Place, Dan Ruff’s and a couple of others crossing the main roads that need to be raised because they were buried too deep and have filled with sediment and debris. The culvert cleaning can be done anytime as soon as the ground thaws.
CHARLES’ CULVERT:
Rex will be paying close attention to how the culverts are draining near Ken Charles’ property. He does not think it will be a problem this season but it is more of a monitoring issue at this time.
MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE FOR THE ROADS/DUST RETARDENT:
After a lengthy discussion it was agreed that Robin will get with Bonds Construction, AJ Construction and Desert Mountain to decide when the work should be done on the roads and come back with quotes for the Board to decide on at the next meeting. The Board would like to see it done the first couple of weeks in May.
PENDING ITEMS:
- BP Amoco Pipeline Replacement has been postponed until fall of this year.
- Concern that the lot at the entrance, on the north side, may be leaching into the District’s water infiltration gallery. Robert will be doing some research on this for upcoming meetings.
There being no further discussion the meeting adjourned at 8:10 PM.
_____________________, Secretary