HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.a Minutes 011624 MINUTES
CLAY COUNTY UTILITY AUTHORITY
January 16, 2024
The Board of Supervisors of the Clay County Utility Authority (CCUA) met in Regular Session in the Board
meeting room at the Administrative Office of the Clay County Utility Authority, 3176 Old Jennings Road,
Middleburg, Florida, on the above-stated date.
Item No. 1 —Call to Order
Chairman Starnieri called the meeting to order at 2:00 P.M.
Item No. 2—Invocation/Pledge of Allegiance
Vice-Chairman Lebesch offered the Invocation and led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Item No. 3—Roll Call
Roll Call was taken with Chairman Starnieri, Vice-Chairman Lebesch, Mr. Gardella, Mr. McNees, Mr. Petty,
and Mrs. Taylor in attendance.
Also present at the meeting were Executive Director Jeremy Johnston, Chief Operations Officer Darryl Muse,
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Wesselman, Chief Engineer Paul Steinbrecher, Chief Human Resource Officer Kim
Richardson, Service Availability Manager Melisa Blaney, Procurement Manager Angelia Wilson, Compliance
Manager Heather Webber, Construction & Inspection Services Manager Warrick Sams, SCADA Manager John
McCleary, Senior Service Availability Engineer Darrell Damrow, Public & Governmental Affairs Liaison
Dennis Ragosta, Contract and Procurement Specialist Darrin Parker, Administrative Assistant Operations Alicia
Baker, Administrative Assistant Engineering Annecia Asberry, and Grady H. Williams, Jr., legal counsel to the
CCUA.
Item No. 4—Employee Recognition
a. Nicholas Smith —5 years
Executive Director Jeremy Johnston introduced and presented a certificate to Lead Wastewater Plant
Operator Nicholas Smith in recognition of his five years of service.
Item No. 5 —Approval of Minutes
a, Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting, January 2, 2024
b. Board of Supervisors Workshop Session Tour, January 5, 2024
After discussion, Mrs. Taylor moved, seconded by Mr. McNees, and carried 6-0, to approve the minutes
of the January 2, 2024, Regular Meeting and the January 5, 2024, Workshop Session Tour.
Item No. 6—Approval of Consent Agenda
After discussion, Mr. McNees moved, seconded by Mr. Gardella, and carried 6-0, to approve the Consent
Agenda as follows;
January 16, 2024
a. Approval of Financial and Operational Activities
1) Approval of Payment of Warrants
Warrants totaling $4,725,925.92
a. Schedule of payments to Sole Sources
b. Schedule of Emergency Repairs/Purchases -None
c. Schedule of items initiated under Emergency Contract-None
d. Schedule of payments from the Emergency Account
e. Schedule of claims paid under the Sewage Backup Response Policy-None
f. Detailed Descriptive Warrant Report
g. Statement from Grady H. Williams, Jr. LL.M.
2) Request for Asset Disposal Authorization—None
3) Sole Source Designation—None
b. Approval of Capital Budget Activities
1) Requests for Award of Procurement Contracts and/or Ratification of
Procurement/Construction Contracts or Contract Renewals
a. Proposed Approval of Contract Renewal for the Hydrogeological and Environmental
Professional Engineering Services RFQ 22/23-A02
2) Approval of Supplemental Agreements and Change Orders -None
c. Approval of Financing Requests
(1) Consideration of a request from Mr. Jeremy Bacelieri for financing of Wastewater
connection fees for service to his property at 281 Riverwood Drive, Fleming Island,
Florida
d. Approval of Contract Usage—None
e. Approval of Developer Agreements, Warranty Deeds &Easements
1) Developer Agreement CU23/24-6 — Baxley Villas — 72 Duplex Units (Forestar (USA)
Real Estate Group, Inc.) — 72 ERC's water, 72 ERC's wastewater, 72 ERC's AWS, 72
ERC's SJRWMD, 72 ERC's environmental impact, 72 ERC's debt service - $16,286.79
($392,630.40 deferred)
2) Developer Agreement KU23/24-11 — Wastewater Service to 697 Creighton Road
(Preston T. Angel and Nancy J. Stoudemire) — 1 ERC wastewater, 1 ERC environmental
impact, 1 ERC debt service - $6,131.51
3) Developer Agreement MU23/24-3 — Edenbrooke at Hyland Trail Amenity Center— 3101
Tupelo Loop (Edenbrooke at Hyland Trail Homeowners Association, Inc.) — 7.5 ERC's
water, 5.5 ERC's wastewater, 6 ERC's reclaimed, 7.5 ERC's AWS, 7.5 ERC's
SJRWMD, 5.5 ERC's debt service - $53,350.57
Item No. 7—Customer Account Adjustments—None
Item No. 8—Business discussed at Committee Meetings -None
Item No. 9—Executive Director's Business
a. Discussion of the Strategic Plan 2023 by CDM Smith, Inc.
Mr. Johnston and Lisa Sterling of CDM Smith, Inc. presented the proposed Strategic Plan 2023.
Beginning in 2021, the Board approved the staff's recommendation to engage CDM Smith to assist with
the Strategic Planning process. CCUA and the CDM Smith team completed the first phase of the
strategic planning effort in February of 2022. The Strategic Plan which was presented at the last meeting
is the culmination of the Phase II efforts. The Strategic Plan 2023 which will be updated every three to
five years, is important for the long-term view of the utility's customer service, infrastructure
investments, rates, financing, staffing, technology, and regulatory compliance. The Strategic Plan was
January 16, 2024
fashioned with actionable areas, defined objectives, and performance measures to be implemented over
time as the utility grows. Staff considers the adoption of the Strategic Plan essential for effective
communication with many external stakeholders. After the Board reviewed the proposed document,
since this will be shared with CCUA's stakeholders, suggestions were offered regarding providing a
complete list of acronyms, spelling out the nineteen keys, and clearly defining the ten priorities outlined
within the document. After incorporating information from today's discussion, the document will be
modified and will be presented for review and consideration at a future meeting.
b. September 2023 Financials
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Wesselman presented the Financial Statements for September and reported
Operating income is $5,537,265 (39%) over budget due to a favorable revenue and favorable expense
variance. Operating revenue is $2,049,710 (3.5%) over budget and Operating expenses are $3,486,355
(8%) under budget. Operating revenue has a significant increase in September due to $1,400,000 of
Miscellaneous Revenue recorded for lawsuit settlements. The amount of operating revenue over budget
August YTD was $319,301, the September amount over budget is $1,730,409 resulting in the total
amount over budget of $2,049,710. Subcontractors are $2,304,060.32 under budget accounting for
61.3% of the variance and Contingency at $1,035,501.95 is 27.5% of the expense variance. CCUA
gained 1,435 active water accounts and 1,386 active sewer accounts during fiscal year 2022/2023. After
discussion, Mr. Gardella moved, seconded by Vice-Chairman Lebesch, and carried 6-0, to accept the
Financial Statements for September 2023, as presented by Mr. Wesselman.
c. Request to schedule an Audit/Finance Committee Meeting
Mr. Wesselman shared the auditors have requested to schedule an Audit/Finance Committee meeting for
the presentation of the annual Audited Financial Statements. After discussion, it was the consensus of
the Board to schedule the committee meeting on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at 1:00 P.M. The meeting
will be advertised as required.
d. Recommended Selection of the Outfall Inspection, Maintenance and Repair Services RFQ# 2023/2024-
A02
Contract and Procurement Specialist Darrin Parker and Utility Engineer Heather Cavanaugh presented a
recommendation for the selection of the firm for Outfall Inspection, Maintenance and Repair Services
associated with RFQ# 2023/2024-A02. Staff requested approval of the continuing professional Outfall
Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair Services project to the top-ranked firm. The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection requires the submittal of annual integrity reports for the Miller Street
Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) and Fleming Island Regional WWTF outfalls. Both outfalls are
submerged in the St. Johns River, requiring divers to complete the inspections, any repairs needed, and
annual integrity reports. The Contractor will provide a detailed scope of services with a fee schedule. All
work shall be mutually negotiated with the Contractor and CCUA through Supplemental Agreements.
Staff advertised the project on CCUA's Bonfire Procurement Platform and the Florida Times-Union on
November 7, 2023, and November 9, 2023, for consultants interested in providing a variety of
professional Outfall Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair Services on an as-needed basis. On December
4, 2023, staff received two (2) responses to the RFQ, which were evaluated and scored by the project
evaluation committee as follows; Anderson Diving Inc., DBA Logan Diving & Salvage — 91.67 and
Matthews Design Group LLC, DBA Matthews DCCM — 80.33. After discussion, Vice-Chairman
Lebesch moved, seconded by Mr. McNees, and carried 6-0, to approve bid opening minutes, the ranked
list, and authorized the negotiation and execution of a contract with Anderson Diving Inc., DBA Logan
Diving & Salvage, as presented.
January 16, 2024
e. Proposed award of contract to T B Landmark Construction, Inc., for the Swimming Pen Creek Water
Main Interconnection Project
Mr. Parker and Senior Service Availability Engineer Darrell Damrow presented a request for a proposed
award of contract to T B Landmark Construction, Inc. (TBL), for the Swimming Pen Creek Water Main
Interconnection Project associated with bid 2023/2024-A03. CCUA serves the Fleming Island area from
two (2) water treatment facilities, Pace Island and Fleming Oaks. A 2020 Risk and Resiliency
Assessment of CCUA's potable water system by Reiss Engineering identified vulnerabilities of the
Fleming Island water service area including flooding and other extreme weather events. The report
identified the interconnection of the Fleming Island system with CCUA's mainland plants by
interconnecting the systems across Swimming Pen Creek as a valuable countermeasure to mitigate the
possibility of disruptions to the homes and businesses within the service area. CCUA staff also applied
for and received a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for $500,000 to be
used for construction expenses. On October 31, 2023, and November 2, 2023, staff publicly advertised
the above-referenced project on CCUA's Bonfire Procurement Portal and in the Florida Times-Union,
respectively. At the December 12, 2023,bid opening, CCUA received one (1)bid from TBL for the total
amount of$5,319,419. During design, the consulting engineer, Jacobs Engineering, provided an Opinion
of Probable Construction Cost(OPCC) of$2,886,000. Though the bid exceeds the OPCC by 1.84 times,
considering the volatility of the current market and the critical nature of the project, proceeding with the
project is in the best interest of CCUA. The Jacobs Engineering project manager, Samantha Hanzel, PE,
and staff evaluated the submittal for conformance with the solicitation requirements and deemed the bid
submittal both responsive and responsible. Staff requested approval and authorization for the execution
of the contract with T B Landmark Construction, Inc. for the construction of the Swimming Pen Creek
Water Main Interconnection project for a total of$5,319,419 and approval of deductive change orders
and owner-direct purchase orders for the express purpose of saving sales taxes on major materials and
equipment, as authorized by the Executive Director, or his designee, and as recommended by the Chief
Engineer. After discussion, Mr. McNees moved, seconded by Vice-Chairman Lebesch, and carried 6-0,
to approve the requests as outlined above, together with the bid opening minutes, as presented.
f. Request for consideration and approval of the proposed Easement Agreement with Peters Creek
Investments, L.L.P. to for the utility transmission main extensions north of Rosemary Hill Road to
County Road 315 associated with the Peters Creek and Governor's Park Plant Projects
Service Availability Manager Melisa Blaney presented a request for consideration and approval of the
proposed Easement Agreement with Peters Creek Investments, L.L.P. Upon approval, staff would move
to closing for this easement section for transmission main extensions north of Rosemary Hill Road to
County Road 315 associated with the Peters Creek and Governor's Park Plant Projects. Staff requested
an easement from Peters Creek Investments, L.L.P. across their property north of Rosemary Hill Road to
County Road 315 for utility transmission mains to connect the Peters Creek and Governor's Park
vertical infrastructure. The proposed Request for Consideration details the property owner's agreement
to grant the CCUA 2.161 acres of permanent 25-foot-wide easement adjacent to CCUA's existing
easement in this area in exchange for a lump sum payment of $152,778.38, available at the time of
closing. This equals $1.62 per square foot for the 94,133-square-foot easement. Staff believes this is a
reasonable request and value per square foot, consistent with other easements we have purchased. This
easement is vital for us to complete our current project for extending utility infrastructure and master
planning for future needs to serve the significant growth in this area. After discussion, Mrs. Taylor
moved, seconded by Mr. Gardella, and carried 6-0, to approve the Easement Agreement, as presented by
Ms. Blaney.
January 16, 2024
g. Request for consideration and approval of the proposed Easement Agreement with Reinhold
Corporation for the utility transmission main extensions north of State Road 16 and North of Rosemary
Hill Road associated with the Peters Creek and Governor's Park Plant Projects
Ms. Blaney presented a request for consideration and approval of the proposed Easement Agreement
with Reinhold Corporation. Upon approval, staff would move to closing for this easement section for
transmission main extensions north of State Road 16 extending to North of Rosemary Hill Road
associated with the Peters Creek and Governor's Park Plant Projects. Staff requested an easement from
Reinhold Corporation across their property north of State Road 16 and North of Rosemary Hill Road, as
shown on the attached map, to accommodate for utility transmission mains to connect the Peters Creek
and Governor's Park vertical infrastructure. The proposed Request for Consideration detailing the
property owner's agreement to grant the CCUA the following: 3.508 acres of permanent easements,
3.056 acres of temporary construction easements and converting 0.703 acres of existing temporary
easements to permanent easements across their property, in exchange for a land value credit towards
connection fees/charges totaling $427,982.40 or 72 Equivalent Residential Connections (ERC). This is
equivalent to $0.74 per square foot for the 316,551 blended square foot of requested easements. Staff
believes this is a reasonable request and value per square foot, consistent with other easements we have
purchased. This easement is vital for us to complete our current project for extending utility
infrastructure and master planning for future needs to serve the significant growth in this area. After
discussion, Mr. McNees moved, seconded by Mrs. Taylor, and carried 6-0, to approve the Easement
Agreement, as presented by Ms. Blaney.
h. Request for approval of an Easement Agreement and the Grant of Easement from Snooty Fox Plaza,
LLC, Mr. Bobby Mick, for an easement across the property at 4182 County Road 218, to facilitate
relocating the 12-inch water main and 12-inch gravity main as part of the Clay County - County Road
roadway widening project
Ms. Blaney presented a request for approval of an Easement Agreement and the Grant of Easement from
Snooty Fox Plaza, LLC, Mr. Bobby Mick, for an easement across the property at 4182 County Road
218, to facilitate relocating the 12-inch water main and 12-inch gravity main as part of the Clay County-
County Road roadway widening project. CCUA entered an interlocal agreement with the County to
participate in the County's roadway project on CR 218. The agreement allows the County's engineer
and contractor to perform the design and construction for relocating CCUA utility mains within the
work area that conflicts with the proposed roadway improvements. The final design plans include the
relocation of an existing 12-inch water main and 12-gravity main located within the C.R. 218 right-of-
way, which directly conflicts with the proposed storm structure and roadway widening between Aster
Avenue and Dolphin Avenue. The staff has been working with the property owner, Bobby Mick, to
secure a 25-foot easement to accommodate the relocation of these mains, to be located in an easement
along the southern portion of his property. The Easement Agreement staff has negotiated with Mr. Mick
for a 25-foot easement, in exchange, staff has agreed to provide four (4) water services, meters, and
connections equivalent to 1.75 ERC for water and one (1) wastewater stub for this commercial building,
a total credit of$6,174.43. Staff believes the negotiated services, meters, and water connection credits of
$6,174.43 as compared to the current market value to purchase the 3,750 square foot easement at $2.50
per square foot of$9,175.00 is in CCUA's best interest. Staff believes this is a reasonable request and
value per square foot, as this easement is vital to complete the relocation of the water and gravity main
in this area. After discussion, Vice-Chairman Lebesch moved, seconded by Mrs. Taylor, and carried 6-0,
to approve the Easement Agreement, as presented by Ms. Blaney.
January 16, 2024
i. Construction Project Updates
Construction and Inspection Services Manager Warrick Sams offered a presentation providing an update
on CCUA's current construction projects. This report was for the Board's information only, no action
was requested or required on this item.
j. Other
Mr. Johnston thanked the members who attended the tour, and reminded everyone he and other
members of staff will be attending Clay Day in Tallahassee tomorrow.
Item No. 10—Legal Business
a. Other
Mr. Williams provide a brief update on the Summons which was included in the FYI section of the
agenda.
Item No. 11 —Old Business/New Business -None
Item No. 12—Public Comment-None
Item No. 13— Supervisor Comments
Vice-Chairman Lebesch thanked everyone for the tour, and shared she looks forward to seeing the Strategic
Plan 2023 after the Board's most recent comments are included.
Mr. McNees thanked everyone for their efforts on the Strategic Plan 2023.
Mr. Petty thanked everyone for the tour.
Mr. Gardella said he was sorry he missed the tour. The utility has grown so much in the past few years and is
now working toward defined goals. He also congratulated Nic on his service milestone and thanked CDM
Smith for their efforts on the Strategic Plan 2023.
Mrs. Taylor shared she enjoyed the tour and the lunch which was provided and said she appreciates everyone's
efforts on the Strategic Plan 2023.
Chairman Starnieri expressed the proposed Strategic Plan 2023 is looking ahead and planning for CCUA's
future and reminded everyone to be safe in their travels to Tallahassee.
Item No. 14—Adjournment
Chairman Starnieri adjourned the meeting at 4:31 P.M.
James Starnieri, Chairman
Janice Loudermilk, Recording Secretary
January 16, 2024