Flagler Estates Concerned Citizens, Inc.

The minutes posted here are a DRAFT version.  The actual minutes will not be official until adopted by the landowners meeting next year.  This account will be subject to minor editing but the substance, based on two recordings, will remain unchanged. 

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Flagler Estates Road and Water Control District

Annual Meeting - June 6, 2009 - 10:00 A.M.

Present were:

Cliff Scheiner- Board President

Walt Smith- Board Vice-President

Vic D’Agostino - Board Secretary

Representative William “Bill” Proctor

St. John’s County Commissioner Ron Sanchez

St. John’s County Commissioner Ken Bryan

St. John’s County Commissioner Cyndi Stephenson

Rusty Castleberry - District Counsel

Seth O’Connell - District Treasurer

Mike Kelter - District Engineer

Cliff Scheiner welcomed the landowners and called the meeting to order at 10:15. He introduced Commissioners Bryan, Sanchez, Stephenson and Representative Proctor.

Mr. Scheiner noted that the proof of publication of the meeting was included with the Meeting Agenda.

Mr. Scheiner called for a motion for the floor to nominate Commissioner Bryan to chair the meeting. Walt Smith stated that “I trust him.“ Mr. Scheiner recognized that as a motion by Walt Smith and Jim Calderwood seconded. He asked if there were objections. The majority objected. A motion was made by Joann Reinhardt to nominate Stephen Collins to chair the Annual Landowners Meeting in accordance with Florida Statute 298.12. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously and without objection.

Mr. Collins assumed the chairmanship duties of the meeting and led the landowners in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Smith gave the invocation, noting the date as the anniversary of the World War II D-Day Invasion.

Chairman Collins called for the nomination of a Secretary for the Annual Meeting. Candy Nelson motioned that Tami Devore serve as secretary. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously

Mr. Collins called for a motion to adopt the minutes from the 2008 Landowners Meeting and explained that there were two versions under consideration. The people had minutes based on recordings. The Secretary of the 2008 meeting, who is employed by the Board, also had a submission. Unfortunately, their recorder malfunctioned at the meeting leading to some discrepancies regarding accuracy. The following motion was submitted by Pat Cambeis. “ I make a motion to accept the Landowners verifiably accurate version of the minutes for the 2008 Flagler Estates Annual Meeting.” The motion was seconded and accepted by the majority but the motion was tabled until later in the meeting when it could be ascertained that the majority present indeed held the predominance of the proxies necessary to validate the motion.

Counselor Castleberry recommended entering both versions and clarified that there is not statutory requirement to adopt either.

Cliff Scheiner announced that, in February 2010, the County is scheduled to redo the Highway 13 bridge and the District is working with them to clean up the 87 pipes and the bridge to help flow.

Mr. Collins reminded the Staff of a 15 minute time limit.

Mr. Castleberry announced that he had submitted his report dated June 1 as required and stated that, every year, he must inform the outside audit of any legal issues that might materially effect the District financially. He has reported that there are none. He further stated that the District is in good shape, legally and that he would be happy to answer any questions.

Mr. O’Connell noted that he has distributed a 20-page package. The agency currently has 2.3 million dollars in cash in its bank accounts. The District has approximately 343 thousand in excess revenues over expenditures that will decline closer to zero as the year progresses closer to September. This occurs because most assessments are collected earlier in the year. He included a copy of the auditor’s report with his report. The complete audit can be viewed at the website. Mr. O’Connell acknowledged that his report contained a lot of material and that he would be happy to take any questions. No questions were forthcoming and he concluded his report.

Mr. Kelter informed the landowners that he had submitted his report and it is posted in its entirety at www.ferwcd.org. He raised the following issues and made the following assertions:

*The District crew works with a 91% efficiency rating.

*Options for county take-over are to either form an MSBU which requires 100% agreement or hire an outside assessment firm.

*Mr. Kelter claims the District is 7 times more likely to have storms now than in the 1990s. Florida is returning to a “normal” pattern.

*FEMA requires floodplain remapping approximately every 12 years and the county is due. Areas with repetitive loss may be considered floodplains. Floodplains will find permitting more difficult.

*The county has its floodplain models. The district has its model. It will be a battle of models.

*Ashley reduces the floodplain.

*The Board has agreed that the District will pursue land through purchase as needed on the main canal.

*Box culverts will help.

*County Road 13 improvements will help.

*Dirt road development has slowed,

*No paving is planned until 2012 - 2013.

*Tropical Storm Fay was mentioned.

*Dirt removal from canals was reduced by paving.

*The CRA is not a stable funding source and will be in the red until 2026.

*He mentioned the Capital Improvement Plan and his concern for replacing road culverts.

*A good thing was that in the past five years, 8.5 million dollars of infrastructure has been hardened, mostly through CRA TIF funds.

*Mr. Kelter claims we need 40 million dollars worth of hardening.

Questions were entertained.

*A question regarding the effectiveness of Ashley arose. Mr. Kelter said there would be a two to three foot head loss with the installation of the box culverts. The cost would be 1.2 million dollars and that is the only thing that is within the District jurisdiction to do.

*A question regarding removal of the 87 pipes and allowing the natural flow to be restored was considered. The answer was that there is no longer a natural flow because everything has been channelized (sic).

*A resident asserted that the County and farmers should pay for improvements because it is their flow. Mr. Kelter concurred and asserted that the Board and Staff were in 100% agreement also. There are entities that claim that they have been flowing for years. Cutting water off is an issue. Mr. Kelter claimed that “We go after them. We have tried to block. People have tried to block - Not that we block.” SJRWMD takes the position that blocking culverts cannot be done.

*Candy Nelson stated that it is a third degree felony to block flow. Mr. Kelter agreed and said that the District did not do it.

Supervisors’ Reports

Cliff Scheiner - No comment.

Vic D’Agostino -  No comment.

Mr. Collins invited the commissioners to comment.

He commented that the State will be doing the bridge and that should help. Presently, the bridge blocks water.

He said that the 305 Right-of-Way issue is very much alive.

He needed to leave the meeting shortly for a luncheon and a funeral and invited the landowners to call his office with questions.

Commissioner Bryan  noted that there were three commissioners present. “We came. We respond. We are here to help.” He wished the landowners good luck with the election and counseled them to stay civil and respect each other. He offered his thanks for the invitation.

Commissioner Stephenson offered her appreciation for the invitation. She noted that water quality is a county-wide issues. Financially, the county is on the rocks. There is no magic bullet and she mentioned the need to be creative to find better solutions.

Resident comments were entertained.

Marsha Paesch noted that her husband works hard and should be applauded. He was applauded.

A resident proposed a hold on everything until the economy turns around.

The meeting was adjourned for a short recess.

Steve Collins reconvened the meeting.

Walt Smith is the only declared candidate and Mr. Collins invited him to make a few comments.

Walt Smith greeted the landowners and said that it was about time there was a good contentious meeting. He stated that people need to get involved and that he was unhappy will the tax increase, too. He opposed the hike and got a little compromise this year. He encouraged the landowners to attend the regular Board meetings held the first and third Thursday of each month at 7 P.M. He noted that his yard was flooded also. Next year is another election.

George Nelson introduced himself as a fellow landowner who opposed the tax increase. He is trying to raise his kids and make ends meet. His desire is to help make some changes, stand for the community and keep an open ear.

Because the election results had been tabulated, Steve Collins revisited the motions that had been tabled earlier.

The motion for the Annual Meeting Minutes was revisited. Steve Collins asserted that both versions would be available for review. Kathy Fisher restated the motion to accept the Landowners verifiably accurate version of the minutes for the 2008 Flagler Estates Annual Meeting. The motion was seconded and carried.

The candidates were qualified for the Board and the election was held with the following results:

George Nelson - 628

Walt Smith - 289

Rusty Castleberry administered the Oath of Office to George Nelson.

Steve Collins thanked Mr. Smith for his years of service and the landowners gave him a standing ovation.

Steve Collins called for a motion regarding supervisor compensation.

There was discussion about the issue.

The motion carried.

Jerry Durchholz emphasized his address and spoke of House Bill 1587 about special interests. He also talked about baseball equipment.

Judy Traugh expressed her disappointment in the Board and spoke of the difficulty experienced by people living on social security. She commented on maintenance concerns.

Kathy Fisher expressed her disappointment. . What you have seen here today is we residents exercising what little power we have. Now is the time to say “OK. You made your point. We made ours. Now lets get things fixed.”

Candy Nelson began to read her prepare statement. (It will be posted elsewhere)

JoAnn Reinhardt said that it has been a traumatic and hard year and that she hoped we get dignity and justice in the upcoming year,

Paul Hanson Sr. expressed concern for those who cannot pay their taxes.

Jim Smith raised the very real issue of wetlands in Flagler Estates.

Tami Devore spoke of attending a FERWCD meeting and hearing that plans were on hold, then the Board reallocated the funds. The $126 should have been taken off the taxes. Cliff Scheiner stated it was the Water Control Plan that was put on hold.

Helen Toby made comments on various topics.

Steve Collins spoke in defense of the CRA. He contended that it can still work. There is no doomsday scenario as is being preached. With a little time, the community will grow and regenerate the CRA and save the taxpayers money.

David Fisk reiterated that it is growth that will lead to more tax money. High taxes kill growth.

Lila Lane mentioned that this is the first year that the people reached out to all landowners and, together, we made a change. She expressed her pride in the group and also noted that the Board is honorable men who have been misled.

Cliff Scheiner asked that we all take this opportunity to begin to work together.

Steve Collins thanked everyone and adjourned the meeting at 12:35.

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The Board of Supervisors assembled for a brief meeting. It was agreed that Cliff Scheiner would continue to serve as president. George Nelson is Vice-President. Vic D’Agostino is Secretary.