February 19, 2019 Video Board Meeting
Transcript
AGENDA
Board of Directors Meeting
Tuesday, February 19, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.
7404 Yorkshire Drive, Castle Pines, CO 80108
1. Call to Order Regular Meeting/Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Roll Call/Announcement of Quorum/Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest.
3. Approval of Agenda.
4. Approve minutes for the Regular Meeting of January 22, 2018.
5. Opening Public-Comment Period. (3-minute maximum per person)
6. Open Space Manager's Report.
7. Legal Counsel's Report.
8. District Manager's Report.
9. Board Action Items.
A. Consider Financial Report and Items from Finance Director.
B. Consider approving/ratifying current payables for January 2019
(Check numbers 24145 ñ 24196)
C. Briefly remind audience/viewers of the board-approved process and timeline for filling the board vacancy resulting from Director Norman Froman's resignation.
D. Review and consider board-vacancy applications.
10. Directors' Matters.
11. Opening Public-Comment Period. (3-minute maximum per person)
12. Adjourn
Describer:
The video starts on graphic with a white background and forest green letters which says ìCastle Pines North Metro District Board Meeting February 19, 2019î. The meeting opens on a shot of board members David McEntire, Chuck Lowen, Robert Merritt, and Denise Crew present.
Board President David McEntire:
It looks pretty busy. Good evening everybody. Sorry for the delay. It's snowing. Cats and dogs. No. Just mice. Thank you for coming. Thank you for joining us online. Thank you for being here. We're light one Craig Miller tonight due to a a passing of one of his family members. And so please excuse him. I think that where we left off last night or excuse me last month, he was on top of, so we'll probably just acknowledge his report that we've all received in writing and address any comments or questions to Jim if you have some during his period at the at the podium.
Amanda, where are we at with Amanda? She's still coming?
Describer:
The camera pans to District Manager Jim Worley as he answers David's question.
District Manager, Jim Worley:
No, you might recall. And she sent us an email the other day at last month's meeting, we talked about how the month of January is just there's nothing. You can't predict anything. You can't see any trends. And so to not spend the money to come down here this time.
Until we realize that full period of time with the bank reconciliations, etc., so we have the financials. I'm prepared to answer any questions from any of the directors or anyone in the audience that might have a question about those, but she's not going to join us either, so it should be relatively quick meeting if before we get started. I'm going to call the the order of the regular meeting of February 19th, 2019.
If you all will join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. We'll get started.
Describer:
The board members and the audience rise from their seats and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, as the camera pans from left to right from the board to management staff to the audience and back to the board. When they are done, they sit down again.
All Speak:
I Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
David:
Go, nuggets, right? All right. We've got a an agenda that the directors have seen been working on since the beginning of the month. Look for a motion from one of my colleagues to approve the agenda as presented tonight. Or. No, as presented to you last Thursday.
Board Voting All Speak:
I will make a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Got a motion on the floor to approve the agenda from Director Lowen. Do I have a second?
I'll second that motion. Second from Director Merritt. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Say nay. Motion carries unanimously. We have item #4, which is the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of January 22nd.
Again, directors, you had the final version of those minutes delivered to you or made available to you no later than Thursday of last week.
While there are some undone business in there, they correctly articulate what transpired last month in my review. Any comments? Questions? Concern from the other directors? If there are none, a motion to approve would be grateful.
I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from what was the time period. It was January 20th. January 22nd meeting.
And while our agenda says 2018, it's 2019. I think we all know that. Is there a second? A second.
Have a motion on the floor to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 22nd, 2019 from Robert Merritt, second by director crew. All those in favor signify by saying yay! Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries.
David:
Item #5. This is the open public comment period. And while I have not received from.
Anyone a sign up sheet that has indication of anyone willing to speak, speak now. Forever. Hold your peace. Oh, the honorable Mayor Radloff is joining us tonight, and we could not be more proud to have you in attendance. And congratulations for your state of the city presentation this morning. I heard it went wonderfully. Again, welcome.
Describer:
Jim walks to David and hands him a sheet of paper. The camera pans to the Mayor at the podium as he sits back down.
Castle Pines Mayor, Tera Radloff:
Thank you. And thank you all. I really just came to say that. Thank you. I really appreciate all of your support and it's such a pleasure to work with you guys, and I'd love that. We have a collaborative relationship and that we, our collective boards have our citizens in our community in mind. And I, you know, did a little call out to the work that both director crew and Councilwoman Mulvey have done in streamlining kind of the parks. What was that? Park Authority. Yeah, parks authority. And mostly I'm just grateful and thank you.
Describer:
The camera pans back to the board.
David:
Thank you again. Your honor. We appreciate your showing your support, mentioning the hard work that Denise and others have put into simplifying and maximizing the economies and efficiencies that we both need in our organizations, if not in our city. So without you wouldn't be any fun. So. Thank you.
Anybody else willing to speak? We've got a couple other distinguished people in the audience, one from the the Home Rule Commission, another one that is just going to been hanging around. We sometimes inside, sometimes out anybody. All right. Thank you for that. We'll close the open public comment period. Move on to the open space. As I mentioned earlier, Craig is not going to join us tonight.
Everyone is in receipt of his report dated February 19th in that. The, unless there was comments or questions or concerns and we could address those to Jim if there are any. I was just elated when, over the course of the last couple of weeks, a couple of times I've been reviewing our board packets under the purview of my eight year old. And when she saw that picture on on Craig's report, which was the the project on children with autism that was donated from the Parks Authority, who made it possible.
But it was it was by virtue of the work done by the selected students at Timber Trail Elementary School and b her class in third grade. It was just an addition to Coyote Ridge and I told her I, I did it. So if you'll back me up, if she has. I'm only kidding.
Jim:
You're on your own, Mr. President, on that one. I'm sorry.
David:
It's just fun to be in in a in so many ways in a small community where people know what one another are doing and they respond with a thank you and their their gratitude. And she was she was she was just told me a story about the competition. And the fact that they beat out the fifth graders was was big time.
So we've got if no one else has a comment about the Open space and Craig's report.
Board President Chuck Lowen:
Quick question, Jim, do you know if #5 was resolved? Of the repair of the cat lights along Castle Parkway?
Describer:
The camera pans to Jim as he answers Chuck's question, then back to the board when he finishes.
Jim:
I think they are, sir. I'm not real sure David is out this week also, but I'll find out for you. We've had some issues with lighting all over the community, and so. But he jumped on it pretty quick. I'll find out for you.
David:
Very good. Closing item 6. We don't need a motion to open up item #7, which is legal counsel's report. Mr. Seter, you're without the better looking side.
Describer:
The camera pans and zooms to Kim Seter for his report. As they discuss the camera will pan
Legal Counsel Kim Seter, Esq.:
Mr. President, you have our report. There's nothing really new in there. But there was one issue that I did want to raise with you. We've been talking to the representatives of Legae Ranch about the conveyance of some of the facilities, including the lift station. And what we noticed is that the inclusion agreements say that the warranty periods on those items will begin upon conveyance.
But from what we can tell, historically, what's been happening is the district has allowed the warranty to begin upon initial acceptance and end upon final acceptance. Typically, at final acceptance is when you actually convey the facilities. So the developers and I think probably the district has believed that that warranty period ends at final acceptance prior to conveyance. That's not what the documents say at this point.
I don't see any reason not to continue with what the district has been doing in the past and just change the documents, but we felt it important to let you know that before we go ahead and do that, because we will be doing something different than what's currently in the agreements. So.
David:
So. What's the difference in time, Kim?
Kim:
Well, there's a two year warranty period and everyone has. What's been happening is the developers come to the district for an initial acceptance. The district does the initial acceptance. Then at the end of the acceptance period, there's a final acceptance. And that has been concurrent with the warranty period. What the documents say is there's initial acceptance at the time of conveyance.
For final acceptance. The warranty begins for two years. So it's a it's a big difference. As a practical matter, you know, you get an additional two year warranty tagging on the end. It's going to be very upsetting to people because that's not what's been done in the past. But what's happening right now is we're at the end of that initial acceptance period on things like the lift station.
So there's a couple of punch list items being completed. We can either add another two year warranty period per the documents, or continue with what's been done with the past and say warranty is done. Finishing up the punch list items is all that's required. Go ahead and convey the property.
There legally. There's no particular argument either way, but historically it's been done without that warranty tagged on after the conveyance. So if you're okay with that, we'll continue to do it that way and just change the documents.
David:
Give us just a second.
Describer:
The camera pans back to the board as they discuss among themselves.
David:
Just briefly running through the the issue as presented. We'd like to take the issue under advisement and report back. Is there is there a timing issue at this point?
Kim:
There is not. It's going to be at least another month before we can start accepting any of those facilities.
David:
Super. And we'll try to be prepared to to act on that, not to delay anyone's expectations by our next meeting next month.
Kim:
We can go ahead and add a little fuller discussion into our status report for next month. So you'll have that when the packet comes out, laying out the history and all that for you.
David:
And I'm sure that we'll have some discussion not just amongst ourselves, but with you and Jim along the way as well. So we'll make sure everybody is on the same page and in the right direction. Is there any? I know I've harped on this for a couple of months now, the GIS files being a requirement of final acceptance while we're still discovering some of the disposition of some of the improvements within the district being at a different timeline and on different timelines than others at different stages, etc., the goal is that we have a single access point for GSI files. That being said, this board asked to amend any of the final acceptance documentations to add a GIS file as a requirement. I don't want that to slip through the cracks.
I promise I won't bring it up again and, least in this context. If you guys have got got that.
Kim:
We have coordinated on that. We've added language to the documents that we use. Okay. But at the same time, Mr. Worley checked with the people who do your GIS mapping and they take that from a PDF and input it. So our documents say the developers have to provide whatever we need for the GIS system. At the moment. It's a simple PDF.
David:
And, excuse me. And while we've been working on it for the last 90 days and we're just about got our arms around it, as it will be described and memorialized in a meeting. Upcoming meeting. Again, the idea is to make sure that anyone that is save a life, save a buck that isn't going to terrorize us with the same information that we make it available to them. So, Jim, anything else?
Jim:
I just wanted to add to that it has always been required and still is required to give us what's referred to as As builds the original plans, they build it and then they give you plans on how they actually did it, which could differ from the original plans. It's from that document that we plot the GIS information on our own.
So it's not that the developer, whoever's doing the work would be giving us a GIS file is the as built that are approved by our engineer to make sure they're right, and then we plot it or whatever the terminology is, so.
David:
Understand. I just want to avoid there being any voids and avoid there being an extra expense on the residents to get to that ultimate endgame. Okay. All right.
Chuck:
Jim, On the prior question on the I think the Legae improvements that were going to be turned over and you're going to write a report for us next week. Next month? Yes. Is it appropriate to ask for you to also give us some legal pros and cons on each one of the decisions we might be faced with? Why is it better to do A than B or B than C, and just kind of direct us from a legal standpoint that what we should be cautionary about?
Kim:
I could certainly do that. Well, we'll just include all of that in the status report just before the action item and give you the the consequences of different kinds of decisions. Thank you.
David:
And just to remind me, Jim, with Kim standing there as well, apparently we did not need to memorialize in any formal fashion the increase in renewable water investment over the course of 2019, which will culminate in a $10,000 additional cash flow into the district for.
A portion of of in four different portions of the total permits for this year. But you've communicated with the developers, everyone has been notified. We've had no one that has been picketing out front or had a problem with what we were trying to accomplish. We've notified pinnacle to make sure that in our notes moving forward, anyone watching that revenue line knows and understands that potentially.
300, mayor, 300 new rooftops in in Castle Valley, Castle Pines Valley next year. Is that what was there, 300, or was that a combination of of some in the canyons and some in Castle Pines Valley? Okay.
In any case, there's there's there's, a chunk of permits that will be sought. And we want to make sure that that is fully memorialized. There's nothing more we have to do. We've called it correctly. It goes to the right place. And because in our report.
In the report that was filed with the state, I don't believe there was a note in those financials that disclosed that we might make Ken and I. We've been talking about some of the financial conversation that goes in the context before that report. We might make that disclosure then, so that those that are reading it understand that that business has been transacted. And when Eric gets a hold of it and does his analysis next year, we're all up there or we're up there with everybody else. So okay. All right. No, no. Anyone further? None. Hearing none. Thank you very much.
That completes item 7. Item 8 is our own district manager, Mr. Jim Worley. Jim.
Describer:
The camera pans and zooms to Jim at the podium. As they discuss, the camera will pan and zoom in and out between them.
David:
We are. We're in receipt of of your report. But I wanted to. If I don't want to upstage you, but I wanted to share the good news. If you would allow me with regard to our water treatment plan.
Jim:
Go ahead please. I'll be happy to add to it.
David:
Okay. Sure. We, as everyone knows, at least on the board, we had a water treatment plant go down 2 or 3 weeks ago, and while if it wasn't for our neighbors assistance and the quick wit of our general or our district manager and the commitment of our employees and operators, there would have been an obvious change in in water or could have been an obvious change in water delivery or not, but the nimble reaction and intellect of everyone that was involved.
Is entitled to a that a boy. And it's for that reason I wanted to share that with you. We we are back online today delivering 100% of that water from our own treatment plant.
Just on a side when when what had happened was a computer went down. And it's a computer that helps us operate that plant. We had planned in 2019 to upgrade that computer and the software, but in a phased fashion. We we were using from the previous administration here, they were using custom software. The computer hardware needed to be replaced by virtue of its age and its and its use.
And and so great job on the director's part to make sure that we had the money there. Jim made sure that we did these things within budget, that the hardware and software were both off the shelf, that any of the folks that we've been talking about in regard to working with us were in favor of the direction that we were taking, both in the name brand of our hardware and and our software.
So, Jim, again, that was a load off of our mind. Thank you very much. Good job.
Jim:
Go ahead. And I want to thank all the residents for not using water for three weeks while this was down and staying away from our office while they're not using the water. No, I'll just expand just on that just quickly, Mr. President, and thank you for for noticing that three weeks ago last Saturday, we were doing an upgrade on what's called the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, better known as SCADA.
It's really the system that talks to all of our lift stations, our our tanks, our wells. And so we were upgrading that from one system to a better system. We were going to do it in two chances this this year, 1st January and one probably in the fall. But when we were doing the 1st January in the fall, the whole plant just shut down.
And so what what the president was referring to there is we have an agreement with Centennial. Some of you might recall Centennial Water and Sanitation District and Highlands Ranch that provides us treated water into our system from October 1st through April 30th. The good news is we were already getting some of that water, and so we had taken that and usually run it through our plant to help treat it a little bit.
Weren't able to do that. We were able to divert it, run it through our system for the last three weeks. And the good news is, if anybody noticed, they didn't call us because we didn't have any calls from anybody saying what's different. And so that that really worked out well. And and Corey Williams, our guy over at the plant, he's been sitting there with another gentleman, a guy named Joe, for the last three weeks, daily looking at stuff and bringing in pieces on it.
And so because it went down, we did all the work that we were going to do in two pieces we've done over the last three. So today we turned on two of our wells. I can't remember the numbers off top of my head processing through at the plant. We knew we could get water into the plant. The process.
We weren't sure if we could send it back out. I got a call this afternoon from Corey saying, not only did we get it in, but we sent it back out. And so probably tomorrow morning we'll cut back. Centennial was kind enough to increase the amount of flows that we got to help us get through this. So thanks to a lot of people, and I want to commend Corey for sticking with it and sitting over there and trying to figure this out.
So it's all taken care of now. And unless anybody's noticed it and I'm not seeing anybody to say, yeah, I noticed there was something different. So it was great. Thank you sir. Appreciate that.
Describer:
An audience member makes a comment and the camera pans to the audience and back to Jim when he finishes.
Jim:
And that's not unusual. Sometimes when you run water through pipes it can can stir up within the bottom. We had a couple of calls of that, but that's not unusual. And so what we do is we we go out there, we say, let us meet you at your house. We'll look at it with you. We inform them usually if that's what it is, cloudy water or what have you, we recommend they turn on a tub or something for a little bit longer period of time, and if it clears up, which it usually does, then everything's taken care of.
But thank you for that. Okay. Shall I continue, sir? Thank you. Good evening directors. Let me start my report by sharing with you some good news. Consistent with the board's vision, beginning this month and continuing throughout the spring and possibly the summer, we are prepared to intensify a collaborative water and wastewater service consolidation study with a potential water and wastewater service partner.
Before naming that potential service partner, please bear with me as I briefly recap what I believe to be the defining context within which the staff consultant team and I per year direction work every day to maximize our efficiencies and economies of scale in all of the service areas. These board meetings constitute an opportunity to reaffirm, and, if necessary, refine our understanding of the board's vision and our progress toward meeting that vision.
Directors. As I recap my understanding of the sequence of recent events and the historical context that defines where we are, how we got here, and the reason that I believe my announcement is consistent with your vision. Please stop and correct me if I miss state or omit any essential fact. In 2015, our district and its partners at Hawksley consulting completed the work on and subsequently published this document, which is known as the Strategic Renewable Water Implementation Plan.
It's a good book. It'll hold your door open for you. This plan served as a basis for two consecutive ballot measures, both of which our voters overwhelmingly rejected. In reviewing this document, it is clear that neither the district nor Hawksley consulting seriously evaluated what I believe were, and still are among the most compelling, obvious and relevant facts and associated renewable water alternatives.
For example. Number one, we've talked about this when built out the canyons development, located on the east side of I-25 and adjacent to Reuter-Hess Reservoir, will essentially double the size of the city of Castle Pines number two, the Castle Pines North Metro District owns 1500 acre feet of raw water storage in Reuter Hess Reservoir number three, our neighbors at the Parker Water and Sanitation District own and operate Reuter-Hess Reservoir and Number four, the Park, Water and Sanitation District, not the Castle Pines North Metro District already is the water and wastewater service provider for what will soon be the new half of the City of Castle Pines.
In my professional opinion, failure to acknowledge those facts and failure to fully evaluate and integrate the renewable water alternatives associated with those facts in this 2015 plan are the primary reasons we are in the position of having to do so now. Furthermore, on page 12 of this Strategic Renewable Water implementation plan clearly states that third party agreements were very much undefined at the time of this study, seeking to fund approximately 50% of the community's renewable water needs.
This 2015 document was the basis for the district's May 2016 ballot issue A, which was $120 million, plan to be financed through new property taxes and rate and fee hikes by a 2 to 1 margin. Castle Pine voters rejected the district's 2016 proposal two years later in 2018, again seeking to fund roughly 50% of the community's renewable water needs, the district tweaked the 2015 plan and proposed a new Ballot Issue A.
The 2018 version of Ballot Issue A was a $103 million proposal, funded through the imposition of 11.45 million in new property taxes and annual double digit water rate increases, again by a margin of greater than 2 to 1. Castle Pines voters rejected the 2018 proposal, and by similar margins elected a new board of directors, though I was not the district manager during that time.
The message from Castle Pine voters echoed loudly throughout Castle Pines and Douglas County. That message was clear, strong and unequivocal. Change direction now. Consequently, until and unless the board directs otherwise, I remain rigidly focused on meeting the district's four core objectives core objective number one securing our community's renewable water future wisely and at less cost than the voter rejected plans of 2016 and 2018.
Core objective number two ensuring that the people of Castle Pines will continue to enjoy clean, safe, reliable, on demand drinking water and wastewater treatment services in perpetuity at the lowest possible cost. Core objective number three ensuring the people of Castle Pines will continue to enjoy clean, safe, reliable stormwater, parks, trails and open space services in perpetuity and at the lowest possible cost, and core objective number four maximizing efficiencies and economies of scale in all service areas consistent with the board's vision and core objectives. I am pleased to announce that the Parker Water and Sanitation District has agreed to collaborate with this district to complete a water and wastewater service consolidation study.
We anticipate the joint consolidation study will take several months through spring and possibly this summer, after jointly completing a thorough due diligence assessment of our Metro District's water and wastewater infrastructure assets and service requirements, I plan to return to the board to report our findings and recommendations, except to seek your approval this evening.
Your blessing tonight for the proposed collaborative study with Parker Water and Sanitation District. Please understand that we have made no commitments at all. Mr. President, with your permission, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Parker Water and Sanitation District Manager Ron Red and Chief Financial Officer Steve Hellman for being accessible and responsive. Both are consummate professionals, and I sincerely appreciate their willingness to work with us to identify and thoroughly evaluate potential efficiencies, economies of scale, and the possibility of water and wastewater service consolidation.
They and their teams are prepared to work with us in good faith, to flesh out under what terms and conditions our respective boards of directors might consider structuring water and wastewater service consolidation, and the degree to which doing so may or may not make financial sense for the people of our respective communities. Before continuing with the rest of my port, I'd like to stop there and ask for your reactions and some direction.
Board Member Director Denise Crew:
Well, first of all, thank you for that. That's incredibly exciting. I just want to point out what David had quoted in the In the Castle Pines connection on page four. We have worked really hard to find a different slash better, more affordable route in us carrying our water future, our renewable water future wisely and at less cost. David's been behind the scenes an awful lot that we've heard are the course of the past few months. Maybe that what's happening, what's going on and just just to know that we've never stopped with our core objectives and our vision and we continue to go that route, and we appreciate everything you do for us. And I really want to shout out to David for just helping with community relations and connections and making it feasible to to really steer the ship in a new path. So thanks. You're welcome.
Chuck:
President David's leadership. I am impressed with his style, which is styled by doing it himself.
And he does an excellent job. And I thank you for the time and effort that you have put forth. Not for us, not for the people sitting at this table, but for this community. Jim, the same thing, your dedication, your understanding of water, which all I know is I turn the tap on and it works. Thanks to you in your work on behalf again of this community.
Thank you again. As a resident, I'm thrilled. Thank you. As a business owner and a commercial owner in the city of Castle Pines, I'm ecstatic and so are the members of my committee that was called Castle Pines. Tax watchdogs that helped fight those two ballot issues. And for that business community.
They too thank you for the direction we are heading. Securing the future of our water wisely is all we can do. Would we do it unwisely? It's the right thing to do at less cost and is proposed by what I hope our process will provide in the end. So I am excited to to hear that we've at least have some direction which six months ago was very gloomy.
We didn't think we had any walls that we could climb over, or bridges that we needed to rebuild with our relationships to other communities and municipalities. But you have done that, you know, that's huge. This was a challenge.
As Tera pointed out in her state of the city address this morning, we have about 3100 homes in this community that makes up about 10,000 people. But if you believe the Census Bureau statistics, three and a half people, three and a half kids are in each of those families. So we have a lot less than 10,000 voting. We took two thirds of the vote.
Somebody is saying something to us, and it's the direction we're going that I think is the right answer. We have 63 multifamily complexes, townhomes that have taps. There are over roughly 50, 50 commercial customers. And when I say commercial customers, I don't mean tenants within the community. These are commercial asset or building owners that have taps that use water.
And as a resident in our findings to fight the ballot issues over the years, our committee determined through investigation of at least five different bordering municipalities, municipal districts around Castle Pines, we had the highest water rates of all of them. To me, as a business owner, that was unconscionable. I strive to reduce expenses for my community, for my tenants.
This was not helping me and it was not keeping tenants in my place of business because our expenses were too high. It was all part and parcel of the problem of wastewater and other expenses associated. These points are important because they help illustrate an inescapable truth. Unless we improve the underlying efficiencies and economies of scale soon, when compared with our neighbors in the city of Castle Pines, and on the other side of I-25, the canyons, our economic position promises to be inequitable and unnecessarily expensive.
That scares me as a business owner, and it should scare the community as well as residents. We need to continue our track of doing just what our goals were that you mentioned, Jim.
We have known all along that our district is too small and possesses inefficient economies of scale to deliver cost, competitive water and wastewater services in perpetuity to the residents and commercial businesses we serve. My belief has always been as a homeowner, as a resident of Castle Pines and as a business owner, we need to find one or more ways to spread the cost of designing, building, operating, maintaining and financing infrastructure needs and services for delivery of water to over tens of thousands more rooftops and ratepayers than our metro district has or ever is going to have.
Jim, your report suggests that Parker Water just may be the water wastewater inclusion partner. We need the cost of service escalation in future years. And I thank you for your report. I thank you for your efforts. And there's one other item I have to say that I'm very happy about. And I see Tara, Mayor Radloff in our audience.
One of the things we never did for ten years after becoming a city was this semester. District was never a part of that city. We are our own government agency. We didn't need the city. We didn't talk to the city, and we fought with the city. That's changed. I can't tell you how important that is for the community as a whole, for us to work together as partners. So thank you for being here tonight. Thank you.
Board Member Director Robert Merritt:
I'd like to add to that as well. We sincerely appreciate your tenacity with keeping with the core goals and objectives. I had a couple of questions though. It's a good time for that. Sure. Okay. Assuming the consolidation study pencils out and reveals that the consolidation potentially makes sense for both Castle Pines and Parker.
Doesn't have to go to a vote ultimately, between Parker and us and the voters. This board and the Parker board? Can you elaborate on that?
Jim:
The answer is yes, but if I could pass it over to Kim, he and I visit. So we make sure we give you the correct information on this. I anticipate you might want to ask that. So, Kim, would you mind address that, please?
Kim:
There will have to be a vote at some point, depending on how it's approached. There's at least two ways in the statute that it can happen. Under one of those ways, only the Castle Pines North voters would vote. However, there are a lot of other drawbacks to that, and it may require more than one election. There is also a consolidation statute that would require a vote in both districts at the same time, and we would get away with one election if we get to that point.
That one seems to me to make a lot more sense, because the voters would be voting on a whole package and knowing exactly what they were voting on and what they would be getting. So the answer is yes, there will be an election.
Robert:
Okay, excellent. And then roughly how long do you anticipate the water consolidation study to take? You said a couple few months and entered the summer.
Jim:
It will. It's going to take a little while because Parker will physically come in here and look at everything we have. There will be meetings that I'll be setting up with, with our legal counsel and their legal counsel and some others to talk about the legal stuff we have. There will be discussions related to financial, so I'll be involving pinnacle on that.
Certainly the the people that work, the water and wastewater operations with Parker will be coming in and looking at all of our systems here. So I think we can get through it in a in a reasonable time frame. But we want to do it thorough so that when we provide a recommendation to you, we have hopefully covered every base that we can find.
So I'm guessing probably six months-ish to kind of gather all the data that is needed, utility billing, data related to our plants, all of our water stuff. And then from there we can funnel it down into some specific areas that we need to focus on. So I would think that probably the next six months, just off the top of my head, we can address a lot of those issues related to our system, if that makes sense to you, sir.
Robert:
Thanks for that timeline. From the get go. What do you anticipate being the largest obstacle throughout the next six months for this study?
Jim:
I don't know because there are so many things to look at. You know, not only do we have our system and it's pretty well defined. We know our lift stations are our plants. We also have water rights. We have a lot of things related to our water rights. So there's just a lot of information. If I'm not sure I'm answering your question, to be honest with you, Robert, but.
Robert:
You are, and there's nothing glaring that's from the onset that you see any big obstacles that we would have to overcome before?
Jim:
No, not that I see at all. The first obstacle, in my opinion, is that this board says we'd like to have this discussion or this study, and their board said we'd like to have this study. So that's step one. If we both wouldn't have said that, there wouldn't have been a step one, be honest with you. And so they're committed to work with us as as I mentioned, Ron Read and Steve Hellman, I will be meeting with Steve on about in every other week basis and following through on that.
So we've got a lot to do. And I'll bring you up to date each month on, you know, where we are, what we've looked at maybe the last month or what we're getting ready to look at so that you can have an idea of what we're studying.
Robert:
Excellent. That's great news for the community. Excellent. Thank you. You bet.
David:
But before we act on a motion that, to collaborate with Parker Water Sanitation District in this study. Jim, I just want to take the opportunity to to thank a couple extra people that we owe a lot to. And I appreciate the comments of my colleagues here. If it weren't for their trust and willingness to embark on on this process, we may not be where we're at today. We may not be where we're at for another six months. I don't know, but but what happened was shortly after we took office, we knew and understood that we needed to prepare this district for the possibilities to to, in effect, make good on our single platform promise, which was to acquire more than 50% renewable water for less than $103 million.
And as you articulated and did very well. Bottom of page 12. In the executive summary, it clearly denoted that this was a huge report, 300 options, and yet it was inferior and didn't do the residents justice simply because there was no neighborliness, if I may, that existed, literally no neighborliness. So at my colleagues encouraging, I went knocking on doors.
First one was was John Kaufman, who was a district manager of Centennial Water, which we did have an agreement, still have a wheeling agreement with them. And, and but this time they had a new president. So I didn't feel too intimidated because we were sitting on the same side of the table and, and John on the other side. So we were kind of ganging up on him. But Jeff Knapp's is with Shea, the Shea organization. He's the new president over there. And we we we sat there and had a good conversation. And of course, one of the things they asked me was, was, why are you here?
And I said, well, I'm just here to introduce myself, but, you know, we want a recent election. And and see here here's a picture of, of Robert and here's Denise and and what we know Denise and I'm we won't go into that Denise. So you're good. And Chuck wasn't with us, but Norm was and stuff. And so I answered that question.
Got through it. Introducing myself in the board. Why are you here? I said, I'm trying to establish a line of communication with our neighbors. That. It was interesting to find out that they were as caught off guard as I was with some of their responses. It was not something that they had happened in their recent past, and certainly with some of the board members that were new.
Said, I'm here to affirm that were neighbors, that we border one another and that we're after the same thing. So many times we haven't been talking, we're not working together, and we're kind of hoping that maybe we could, by virtue of this new edict, that we could be neighbors and work together on some of these things.
Again, the big issue is delivering on our platform promise for renewable water at less cost than what was being proposed. So, my thanks to to John and Jeff was shortly thereafter that I made myself down to Castle Rock and had a great time with the district manager down there, who is a dynamic individual who has got a city that is growing exponentially. It's got all kinds of new and exciting things going on in Marc Malo. And he said.
Well, I told him what the guys at Centennial said. And because before I left, they promised me that it didn't matter what happened. They were intent on making sure that nobody that they were a neighbor to ran out of water. So, I mean, it was really hot that day, about 104 outside, and I kind of felt pretty good about it.
So I asked Mark, could he up that? And in a roundabout way, he, he, he's facing some of the same things, communities to his south nipping at his tail, wanting this thing called renewable water, others wanting to be a part of Castle Rock. But the growth is just huge and he's got his hands full. But he too said, whatever it takes, David, the fact that your neighbors or that we're neighbors, we're going to continue to work together.
We're here. Don't forget. And and so kudos to Mark for establishing those lines of communication, direct access to him. And I mean, we're neighbors in Plum Creek water reclamation. And we worked together. But no one was talking. And it's just been kind of I know Jim's having a good time, having been a district manager when there wasn't any of that kind of talking going on.
But there's a bunch more talking going on right now, and it's and it's somewhat enjoyable. Don't know that they get much done before they're done reminiscing. But then it was Parker water and sand. Merlin Klotz, everybody knows has been a long time friend of the folks here in the city of Castle Pines North and I slipped over there and was asked to join him in a board meeting as well. Met Darcy Beard, their president, who is just an outstanding, outstanding leader and was in all of the way that they ran their meeting and the level of of of issues that they deal with. As an example, they were in the middle of of approving their budget and so were we.
Everyone is in about that time, October, November, and their budget dwarfs ours by almost 20 fold. And their portfolio is is just huge. These folks are intent. Correct me if you know otherwise. On being a regional water supplier in on the Front range. And boy that's enough to get this guy excited, let alone to have the welcome that the entire board demonstrated at the board meeting meetings before meetings after.
And so I'm joining you in giving a hands or an applause to Merlin and the rest of the board, Darcy and her colleagues, Ron and Steve, fantastic folks. And we couldn't be in in better hands as it comes to participating in this process. They are.
I mean, they were so genuine and sincere about this effort that they stopped their budget process that night to make a an amendment to cover the costs of this process within for us in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it was resoundingly, unanimously approved. And I just left in awe so. And then there was Tera. You know what?
Our meetings throughout my short time here have been varied or the topics have been buried. But one thing I always have enjoyed, and I shared this with her and an audience. Denise was there as well, that that one thing I know about and have enjoyed about Tara is that she doesn't shine yawn. She is always genuine and sincere and as a very inviting personality, very charismatic, but is interested in the little guy and and it didn't matter what I had on my mind.
And she was joined by in one meeting by Councilwoman Melissa. No. Was it? No. Was it Melissa? Anyway, it was just wonderful that you had time for me, and it hasn't stopped to this moment. I remember when we got sworn in, I think she reached out and said, hey, if you guys need anything over there, we're here. And and that meant so very much. And we appreciate I shared that with everyone.
Everyone was comforted by the fact that the city was with us and not against us. As Chuck said. And we appreciate you for that and appreciate and appreciate your being our neighbor as well. So it's with the those thank you's that I wanted to share with everyone else. Make sure that it was memorialized, how much we truly appreciate our neighbors and truly will lean on them in the future, believing that we'll all be one at some point, that we won't be looking for 50% renewable water we'll have it and, and and we'll be on to whatever the next hurdle is.
Board Voting All Speak:
So it's with that that I'd like to make a motion at your request, Jim, that this board engage in a collaborative study with Parker Water and Sanitation District, effective immediately. Is there a second.
I would like to second that motion.
Is there any additional comments, questions, conversation concerns at this point with the motion on the floor and the second that Robert has made?
Hearing, none asked for a vote on the motion. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any of those opposed? Hearing none. Motion unanimously is approved. Jim.
Jim:
Thank you so much, I appreciate it. We'll certainly keep you involving you named a lot of good people. Mr. president, and I've had the privilege of knowing a lot of those people and working with them in the 30 plus years I've been in this business, and and they're good people. And I'm glad you reached out to them. And thank you for all those kind words to them. Appreciate it.
David:
You bet. My pleasure. Thank you. Jim. You also have submitted a report dated February 13th from Kennedy Jenks Consultants, who are engineers of record for the district, their district projects. Talk about the continuation of basin eight sewer outfall. It was one of the reasons I wanted to maybe acquire an overall aerial map, just so that any of my colleagues that are not able to join us in situations like that, that we can point to it and kind of give them an idea of how this these pipes under the ground are all connected.
And so while there's nothing that we need to do today, maybe we can get that map up for next meeting and use that as a part of any action items. Same with the line rehabilitation. We've got a little bit of homework to do on it before, which time we really make a decision on on starting that pipeline down Castle Pines Parkway and, and then the sewer outfall. So we talked about the GIS. We talked about the map. We've got some some, financial matters associated with the volume on that sewer outfall that you're looking into. Otherwise, I don't have any comments or any outstanding questions. It's a great report. Again, love the fact that it is a part of your reporting where it had never been that I'm aware of anybody. Colleagues any other questions? Okay. That being said, Jim, Kim, anything?
Describer:
Jim takes his seat and the camera pans back to the board.
David:
Okay. Very good. Let's close the district manager report, item 8. Move on to item 9, which is a board actions. This is nine a considering the financial report and the items from the finance directors. I was reminded our finance director is not going to be here in person as a byproduct of saving and economizing some some her time and the costs associated with her attendance here.
She's filed a report dated February 14th, 2019, with some general comments and property tax revenue updates. All seem to be flowing as projected. We don't have any overruns to report, and, we have timely met the the, DOLA submission of our 2019 budget. And so unless there's any other comments or questions or concerns related to the financial report, when I get done with items B, 9B and, 9B, look for a motion from one of my colleagues to affect finality of the financial report. It's with that item nine B that I'd like to make a motion to approve from the General Fund and Debt Service $34,922.37. Ratify an additional $30,979.96, for a total of $65,902.33 from our Enterprise Fund, which is our water and sewer. Approve the $213,973.39.
Add to that a ratifying amount of $287,097.64, for a total of $501,071.03, and all electronic payments from all funds ratify an additional sum of $101,073.67, combining for a total of expenditures in January. Check numbers 24145 - 24196 of $668,047.03. Do I hear a motion from a colleague to approve the the financial report and the expenses in items 9A and 9B?
Denise:
Can I ask one quick question? None of these expenses have anything to do with the upgrade to this system yet, right?
Describer:
The camera pans to Jim as he answers Denise's question, then back when to the board when he finishes.
Jim:
I doubt it. I doubt it because we've just been working on those the last three weeks. So. Yes it will. And I'll highlight them for you. So when we see him. I'll let you know what they are. Okay. Just so you know in advance, you budgeted in 2019 $80,000. Okay. For these two what would have been two upgrades.
And so we'll see how that falls out. Hopefully it falls within that. But that's the dollar amount that we're working off of.
Denise:
That's great. Thanks.
Board Voting All Speak:
Yeah. With that I'd like to make a motion to approve the current payables for January 2019.
I'll second that motion.
We've got a motion on the floor to approve items 9A and 9B, which are the budget and the financial report of February 14th. And those expenditures for the month of January. Seconded by Director Merritt. Is there any further conversation? Comments, questions? Concerns? Hearing. None. Look for a vote on the motion. All those in favor signify by saying aye.
Aye.
Any opposed? Hearing? None. Motion is approved. Item #9C.
This is, an item that is, was a part of our our meeting minutes of of last month. It was also published in the Castle Pines connection. Speaking specifically about the accepting the acceptance of applications for the board vacancy of Norm Froman, this board gave direction to not only post that in the spine connection, but also on the website. Any interested folks to submit their letter of interest, their resumes through February 7th for consideration of that appointment? We did have some folks that were interested. We had some impressive resumes.
And while it is this board's authority to fill by appointment that fifth directorship, the appointee, the appointed or the appointee will serve until the next regular election, which is going to be May of 2020. And at that time, an election is held and time to fill the remainder. And they'll filled the remainder of the term. Now, it is with that that the board has had for some time, or at least since February 7th.
The folks that were interested, if everyone will give us just a few minutes to finalize that discussion.
Describer:
The board discusses off-mic. The camera pans to the audience and then back to the board.
David:
We're back. Item 9C was to remind the audience and the viewers, and. I'm prayerful that I have done that of the board approved process and the timeline for filling the board vacancy resulting from, again, Norman Froman resignation. We've got a gentleman in the in the audience that has been notified of him being a designee.
It goes without anyone that has been party to our campaign or our campaigning, or even more so, the meetings that have taken place regularly on a monthly basis here, amongst so many other opportunities to show his passion and his commitment, and has come that this board has decided to ask Christopher P Lewis to join us as that fifth member of our board. I know that my colleagues want to not only chastise you for a resume that uses too much paper, but but no thank you more than anything, for again your passion and your commitment to our proceeding to achieve this. More than 50% renewable water for less cost and the and as it was also memorialized in one of our four objectives to maximize the economies and efficiencies across our entire portfolio of not only services, but assets, and solely to the benefit of the residents here. Colleagues, you want to join me? Kind of roasting Chris alone.
Describer:
The camera pans to Chris Lewis in the audience, then back to the board as Denise comments.
Denise:
Chris, I just wanted to say thanks for all your help while we were campaigning. Your resume blows me away. It's pretty impressive. So for you to take time out of your busy day to help us out with getting us where we want to go, we really appreciate it and look forward to having you with us on the board.
Robert:
Just want to continue with that and thanks for always being there and continuing your efforts, and look forward to having you on board and tackling these items that we have ahead of us. Really appreciate it.
Chuck:
Christopher. I'm not sure I can vote yet because I'm still reading your resume.
Robert:
I started last week.
Chuck:
Quite impressive. But more importantly than that, and I think that director crew said it well, your support of this reform committee early on was impactful to us. And again, thank you for that effort and we look forward to working with you in the future. It's important that we find today, yesterday and tomorrow directors that have that reform attitude because of where we're headed, that we heard tonight.
And I think you fit that bill. So welcome.
David:
All right. If it pleases the board, I would like to ask Chris to come up to this table for swearing in of himself as the fifth board of director to this board. Chris.
Describer:
Chris stands up as the camera pans to follow him to the table. He walks back to his seat after being interrupted. The camera pans back to the board as they vote him onto the board.
Kim:
Mr. chairman, do you want to take a vote before you do that?
David:
Or we could do it twice.
Chuck:
I thought you got this right the first time.
David:
You have to remember that they while Robert went before us, the rest of us were filed into one group and and somebody else did it. I mean, but I'll get it right. Is there a motion from this current board of directors to.
Appoint Chris Lewis as a fifth member of this board? And a second.
Board Voting All Speak:
I will make a motion that this board electricity Christopher P Lewis to fill the vacant position left by Norm Froman for the term ending in May of 2020.
I must then vastly second that motion.
For all those that are in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing? None. Motion carries. Chris, come to the podium, please. As I am being directed. I'm not sure why.
Describer:
The camera follows Chris walking up to the podium.
David:
I wanted to get him to raise his hand. And, Chris. Will you please come to the podium so we can swear you in? Now I get it. Yours wasn't in there. Kim.
Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Christopher Lewis.
Chris:
I. Christopher Lewis.
David:
Will faithfully support the Constitution of the United States.
Chris:
Will faithfully supports the Constitution of the United States.
David:
And the State of Colorado.
Chris:
And the State of Colorado.
David:
Was made pursuant thereto.
Chris:
And the laws made pursuant thereto.
David:
And will faithfully perform the duties.
Chris:
And will faithfully perform the duties.
David:
Of the office of Director of the Castle Pines North Metropolitan District.
Chris:
Of the office of Director of the Castle Pines North Metropolitan District.
David:
Upon which I am about to enter.
Chris:
Upon which I am about to enter.
Chris:
Congratulations, director Christopher Lewis, welcome aboard. Is there anything you would like to say?
Chris:
Well, thank you very much for the appointment. I will have a little couple of things to say, but I do appreciate you guys selected me. I don't know, for folks who may not know I was involved at the initiation of this whole process. So I'm fully involved and committed with the the direction that this board is going. And before I go into my real remarks, I'd just like to commend you for what you guys have essentially done.
So, you know, based on the directors report today, outstanding. This is one of the things we committed to. I think the first word I said when I sat down at the table when they invited us to the Master's homeowners Association meeting, was a $103 million for 50%. And we went from there. Well, good job you guys executed on what we committed and I'm honored to join the board.
Thank you for the confidence. I'm honored. As you know, I am a staunch supporter of your desire and intent to secure our community water future wisely and at last cost. And the plan that voters previously rejected twice in the 2000. So I'm eager to move the agenda forward. I also appreciate that you have all been drinking from the fire hose for the last several months, and I commit to catching up and doing that and being on board.
I do have a couple other things I want to say to the staff, those that are here and those that are not present. I commit to listen. I'm going to learn what you do. I'd like to meet everyone and hopefully, you know, after I've done all of that, to be able to support you fully to the constituents and our community.
I do not take this appointment lightly. I commit to acting in our best interest and executing my fiduciary duty with honesty and objective. Thank you all. I appreciate the appointment and I'm honored to join the board.
Describer:
The audience gives Chris a round of applause. The camera follows him walking up to the board table, shakes the members' hands. Before he takes his seat, walks back to to the podium.
Chris:
One other thing. Sorry. I'd like to thank my wife for being here. My wife is here Marion. Thank you for being here. Good save.
Describer:
The camera pans to the audience to show Chris' wife. It then follows Chris to the board table as he takes his new seat.
David:
Now that you're one of us, you'll have the opportunity at the beginning of every month to work on the agenda for the subsequent meeting. And in that, I suggest that you make sure you cover those more important items first, memorialize same, and stick to the script. You saw what happened to me.
Just saying. We're going to close. Well, I'm going to open it up to my colleagues for any other directors matters that they may have tonight. Director Lowen.
Chuck:
I have none.
David:
Very good. Director Merritt.
Robert:
I have none. Director Crew.
Denise:
The only thing I wanted to update is just what's going on with Parks Authority. We have a couple of meetings. We meet next Wednesday morning. I did go check out what? We put up the equipment that was put up with our timber trail agreement. Sturdy enough. I could climb on it. It's cool.
They did a really nice job and it was fun being involved in that project. So we're moving forward with doing what we're set out to do. The money that has been made available to our community, that put that money into those to make sure it gets spent on, for lack of a better term, our side of the tracks. Kind of true, though, right? So anyway, we're going on we're moving forward and we've, moved quite a bit of funds from the Parks Authority to the city to avoid having to have a fairly extensive, expensive audit. I think we saved us about $7500 by doing that. So we've got parameters around that, and I just want everyone to know that we're doing our best to to spend that money wisely for the betterment of the community.
And it's been fun being on the board. So thanks.
Chuck:
I do have a question for Denise, if possible. Did you install the water gizmo that was provided to you a month or so ago, and is it working or?
Denise:
Not that I'm, I know nothing about that.
Chuck:
You know nothing? Nothing. Sorry.
Chuck:
The water circulating.
Denise:
Oh, that. I'm envisioning. A waterfall at Elk River. I'm sorry. Sorry. Thank you.
David:
Not that one.
Denise:
That's down the road. That's down the road. Yeah. Gary and Bill have been to our house and they installed their. It's still a prototype. It's not a completed product. It took quite a few tries, and we learned that our plumbing is very unique. It's a Doctor Horton home, and I don't know what that means exactly.
But we had lots of changes with screws and bolts and plumbing stuff. However, the system is input and yes, the water is warm or quicker, but it's not where it needs to be yet. And both Gary and Bill know that. And they're going back. And I think they told me within a couple of weeks they'll have the not the prototype, but the actual.
And honestly, I don't know exactly what the differences are, but the next one should be should work better. So it does. Work to some degree. But but not to not to their satisfaction. Yeah, to some degree. Not a hot enough degree, but to some degree. Yeah, exactly.
David:
We got the best.
Denise:
So hopefully by next month's meeting we'll have another one in place. And hopefully I'll be able to tell you that it's working stellar. So it's, you know.
Chuck:
And you remember which water source I'm referring to then.
Denise:
Yes I will, I promise. Sorry. It's been a long day.
David:
Hearing no more directors matters. I close item 10. Open up the public comment period of item 11. Is there anyone remaining in the audience that would like to speak?
Go ahead please. We want to hear. There you go.
Marion Lewis, Castle Pines Resident:
I just want to say thank you. Welcome. I think it's great progress. I think it's actually amazing. Right? This is such a complex environment. I just want to congratulate everybody on the board. Right. And our and the manager to be able to make that much progress. So thank you.
Describer:
The camera pans back to the board as Marion takes her seat.
David:
Thank you so much. Thank you. I saw that. Was or something you wanted to say, Miss Lewis. Nothing. Okay. Well, well, thank you for coming. And thank you for sharing, Chris, with us. We'll try to be good stewards of that time. All right. Item 11. The public comment period is expired. Item 12 is a is adjournment. Unless there's anything that I may have missed. Director from the directors or Jim or Kim. Are you guys ready to roll? You good? I'm satisfied. Okay, Jim.
Jim:
I'm good. Welcome, Chris. Look forward to working with you.
Board Voting All Speak:
Being it's my birthday. I would like to make a motion to adjourn. Happy birthday. We'll second that. Have a motion by Director Merritt on his birthday. 59. What? What is it? 59. 92. 39. Something around there.
And a second by Director Crew to adjourn. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
Aye.
All those opposed? Hearing none, you may leave. Thank you. Thank you everybody.
Describer:
Meeting adjourned. The video fades to black.