The regular meeting of the Port of the Islands Community Improvement District Board of Supervisors was held on Friday, June 16, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. at the Orchid Cove Clubhouse, 25005 Peacock Lane, Naples, Florida. 

SUPERVISORS PRESENT 

Steve McNamee, Chairman 

Russell Kish, Supervisor 

Kevin Baird, Supervisor 

Anna-Lise Hansen, Supervisor 

ALSO PRESENT 

Neil Dorrill, Manager, Dorrill Management Group 

Kevin Carter, Manager, Dorrill Management Group 

Tony Pires, District Counsel 

David Schmidt, District Engineer 

Mitch Gilbert, Florida Utility Solutions 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The pledge of allegiance was recited in unison. 

ROLL CALL/APPROVAL OF AGENDA 

4 of 5 board members were present. The meeting was convened at 9:30 a.m. The notice and affidavit are on file with the district office at 5672 Strand Court, Naples, FL 34110. 

On a MOTION by Mr. Hansen and a second by Mr. Kish the Agenda was approved. 

PUBLIC COMMENTS 

A. Presentation and Update by Hotel Ownership

A discussion took place two weeks ago to go over Tom’s plans for his hotel, bar and restaurant. He was frustrated with the previous board but is satisfied with the direction of the district under its new board. Tom is from Minneapolis and understands that metropolitan area but he’s fairly new to South Florida and struggling with the fact that we have a high and low season which affects his revenue. He would like for the district as a community to get together with Tom to figure out how to help him grow his business because it is to the district’s advantage that his business succeeds.

At this time Tom spoke to the board. He stated he’s from Minnesota and has been at Port of the Isles about two years. He’s looking for any suggestions or advice from the community to help him grow his business. A meeting will be set up at the hotel for further discussion. Tom can be reached via email at Viet55437@yahoo.com while away from the community.  

James Cyber, president of the association, has been saying to Tom that this community wants the resort to succeed, saw something special here and put their hard-earned money into the place. Works with Tom and the condo board.

Jason Sanchez, 287 & 289 Cays, feels very passionate about Port of the Isles, he and his wife are formulating an agreement with Tom to hopefully take over the restaurant and bar and any support they can receive from the community would be appreciated.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

Approval of the May minutes will be continued to the next meeting.

MANAGER’S REPORT 

A. Assessment Roll Review/Update

The assessment roll presentation was distributed yesterday. Russ Weyer, the assessment consultant, updated the board on the assessment roll review. While making his assessment he looked at the methodology that was prepared a year ago. 1 unit was added to the single-family units, which went from 149 to 150. 109 units were added to the 50-acre parcel. There is a reduction in assessment for a lot of the parcels, next parcel added is the cell tower, added 1 ERU, gun club went from 2 to 8. County marina parcel was added, due to the revenue they generate off that property. Those were the main changes to the methodology.

On a MOTION by Mr. Baird and a second by Mr. Hansen the methadology report is accepted.

B. RFQ Engineering

Request for qualifications for engineer record services has been completed and the notice has run. The deadline is in August, in September the board will be asked to shortlist those firms as they approach the new year. 

C. Video Update

Last month’s meeting asked to restart the zoom meetings, have done so and doing it again today. Mr. Dorrill’s only suggestion is to propose purchasing an additional camera, public address, or audio type system for use at future meetings. 

D. Munibilling Update 

Mr. Dorrill continues to meet with the corporate transition team weekly, target date for billing is June 29. Florida has new requirements to e-verify employees, there is also a provision that needs to be added to the application to indicate that all their work product on the district’s behalf is eligible for public record. 

E. GIS

GIS concluded at end of last year, a host of updates and improvements have been made to reconcile some of the plats with aerials. An email was sent to that effect yesterday. A series of improvements have been made and will make further improvements as directed. 

FINANCIALS 

As of April 30th, on the combined balance sheet the district had $3,520,000 in cash. Additionally, there were some prepaid items that represent premiums that were advanced for various insurances. There was $62,000 in payables outstanding at the end of the month. Total assets include $3,524,000. Other fixed assets amount to $8,446,000, in a combined basis there are almost $13 million in total assets. There are a couple of quick things to discuss on the income statement. The district continues to reap benefits of high interest rates, almost $13,600 in interest earnings received in the month of April. The original forecast budget was $2,000. The board will also notice $11,000 in non-ad valorem assessments, those were most likely received prior to becoming delinquent and are just now showing. The chairman has reached out that he’s a little concerned about the total professional fees on the engineering and legal sides. Mr. Dorrill pointed out that the district will probably be over budget in these areas by end of year but they’re doing a better job of watching civil engineering and legal fees. Additionally, as look at the cost centers, they are about a quarter of a million dollars below budget year to date. This is partly due to some placeholders for capital improvements that are not really contemplated. From a cash position and an expense position they are looking favorable year to date. The utility fund assessments were almost identical in terms of collection and proration. Over budget year to date on electrical consumption. This is partly due to repairs and maintenance following the hurricane. The total expenditures in utility fund include some deferred capital items and are about $467,000 below budget. The district is in a very favorable position as it moves into the final quarter of the fiscal year. 

The financials were accepted on a MOTION by Mr. Hansen and a second by Ms. Kish. 

UTILITY OPERATIONS 

Mr. Gilbert provided the board with utility operation updates. He informed them that they were good with all wastewater requirements, went off chloramines for a month, are back on chloramines now. Chlorine levels are much better, the auto flushers continue to help. Treated 2.37 million gallons of wastewater, 2.2 million gallons of water, and sent out 9.9 million gallons of irrigation. 980 gallons of chlorine was used. For the water treatment plant, he had meters looked at and repaired. Imbalance was on the water side, that was replaced and is working correctly now. An issue came up with a resident’s water use, determined to be from a potential water leak, the board agreed to remove the sewer portion of his bill for this instance, Mr. Dorrill will look into the rules that are currently put in place for such matters and unless stated otherwise the sewage charge of his bill will be removed. 

ATTORNEY’S REPORT 

A. Mandamus Lawsuit 

Mr. Pires has letters from Mr. Dorrill’s office as to what documents are still missing. Working on a letter to the past board’s attorney outlining a mandamus lawsuit, the potential lawsuit will be attached to the letter to compel them to produce the public records. Mr. Pires discussed his request to modify certain provisions, he is not asking the board to approve them yet. Modifications are related to conceptual plans received for parcel 13. Will be discussed further at the next board meeting. Carol Williams, 149 Wilderness. Is Lindsay working with our engineer from our POICID parcel 13 in the dormitory? She was informed that they are not working directly with Lindsay, only interaction with their engineer is in reviewing plans, do not work directly with Mr. Case. 

ENGINEER’S REPORT 

A. No Longer on Sanibel

Mr. Schmidt’s temporary duties in Sanibel ceased in May. 

B. Wastewater Treatment Permit Application

Mr. Schmidt anticipates having a draft permit application sometime next week, will share with Mr. Gilbert and Dan. Some items were identified that need attention. The aeration piping and diffusers are well over 30 years old and need total replacement at this point, will be part of the permit, ballpark cost is around $50k, which is a rough estimate. They also have need for another filter, can maybe get some grant funding on that. Dan is working on the grant funding. Mixers need to be replaced as well. 

C. NBR Membrane Removal

The NBR membrane removal is not operational and needs to be removed. It is something that was added several years ago and is pretty tricky to operate. 

D. Old Lab Building Electrical and Chlorine Modification

Need to protect the electrical controls and the compliance monitoring equipment in the 19old lab building, might be tearing down the building with exception of the wall that houses the electrical controls and building a new building around it, also might want to move the chlorination equipment someplace else or do some type of modification. 

E. Drainage

Need to add some additional screening facilities, the rotary drum screen is currently not operational. It isn’t removing some of the bigger materials. Look into adding some meters as well so we can accurately gauge how much water is being flushed. 

F. Water Tank (new)

Have a home for the new tank, shows on a master site plan, by removing the old lab building might give us the opportunity to do some other things, using part of the existing plant for flow equalization, may want to add an additional tank for flow equalization. Will need at least one pump at the plant, right now there is a 40 hp pump, minimally looking at a 75hp pump. 

G. Irrigation Report Update

Found an old report, investigation was done in about 2008 or 2009. Will review that report. 

H. Hole Montes Approached by Stella Maris South Master Association

Hole Montes was approached for assistance with issue they have with a code complaint regarding pipes that are discharging over the seawall. Before he undertakes that assignment he wants to get approval from the board that there is no conflict of interest with Hole Montes helping Stella Maris South with this issue. The district is not responsible for the drainage in that area or the code violation so Mr. Schmidt doesn’t see a conflict in that respect. Consensus of the board is there may be a potential conflict so Mr. Schmidt should not offer assistance. Mr. Schmidt can instead suggest some other firms that will be able to potentially assist them. 

Frank Lee posed a question to the board. He stated there is a pipe that runs down the property line and comes down the corner where the South seawall intersects with our seawall, if that’s coming off the drainage system of Stella Maris South, that would impact us and we would want to have some involvement in the discussion. if Stella Maris South is doing things to their system they are going to increase flow to us. Secondly, there is a fixture that Stella Maris South modified some years ago. Frank pointed out that we want to make sure in the event it’s required to be reinstated, the district won’t have to pay for it. He’s asking for cooperation and input, not sure where this leaves us as a third party, it could be a substantial concern or nothing. 

OLD BUSINESS 

A. Former Management Emails

This item was discussed during the attorney’s report. 

NEW BUSINESS 

No new business was discussed at this time. 

SUPERVISORS’ REQUESTS 

A. Meeting with ACOE/SFWMD 

Sat down for the meeting, asked them to come back to us with their final decision on whether they are going to work with us or not, at this time they are not going to. They stated the surface water does not come out much higher than the land. They believe it’s a resiliency problem with us and they aren’t going to address it. There is money in the grant process to raise the infrastructure, the State of Florida owns most of the road. They will have to work with the State of Florida to get the grant money. Can investigate getting the ACOE involved at a later date. They did a detailed analysis of their own models, their contingent is that the actual monitoring wells with respect to ground water levels and the modeling of the impacts of their Picayune project did not contribute to the district’s failure of the well field pumps and the actual elevation of the water during the storms, believe it was a combination of storm surge and the conveyance and equalization pipes at end of that road that contributed to the problem. There are some things we don’t agree with, were flooded three days before the hurricane hit, the district is not finished with looking for outside assistance and will continue to work on it. 

B. Workforce Housing Parcels 

This is regarding the parcels on the former north Hotel site. These parcels went to the County after failure of the prior owners to pay the taxes. Mr. Dorrill has an upcoming meeting with the Deputy County Manager Mr. Rodriguez as to whether they are contemplating marketing those parcels for some sort of workforce housing in a multi-family configuration. We would want to know about that sooner rather than later. Mr. Dorrill doesn’t think there are any formal discussions about the County using those parcels for workforce housing at this time.  

Audrey Sanders and another woman have been to numerous County meetings and have hounded them regarding their intentions with those parcels, they have stated on numerous occasions that they are not going to put affordable housing on those parcels, would consider maybe putting in a police training facility instead. 

C. Site Drainage 

Not sure if there are any additional site drainage issues than what were already discussed. 

D. Water Plant System Upgrades 

Software and hardware upgrades, authorize staff in conjunction with the engineer and coordination with our operator to make the necessary purchases to keep us under compliance with our license. On a MOTION by Mr. McNamee and a second by Ms. Hansen the system upgrades are authorized as outlined. 

E. Marine CRDE Compliance 

The County is doing their own zoning violations at the marina and have admitted to it. They need to get the County to start following their own rules, they don’t mow or clean up any of their properties, they do as they please and somehow that needs to be changed. Mr. Dorrill will pursue the issue with the County. 

PUBLIC COMMENT

Frank Lee, Cay’s Drive, stated that on numerous occasions the board has paid for a report only to find that one has been done already. As you were talking today about trying to retrieve public records owned by this corporation, it dawned on him that we’ve had the same engineering company for the past 20 plus years, they would be the repository for all the maps. He suggests asking them to inventory and index the maps so they always have access to them. That way, if someone has a question about a map or boundary, they can go to that index and retrieve it. There needs to be a repository that is maintained and up to date, this will eliminate having to look for it. Secondly, what is the budget for engineering and what has been spent for engineering through the last day of last month? He was answered that there is $24,000 on each, if remembering right. The board agrees with him on his first topic, they need to start compiling this information.  

Kathy Oswald, Newport Drive – wanted to say something regarding habitat for humanity, these people have sweat equity in their homes, she has worked with them through her church, these are good people and would help hotel and restaurant workers, these are people that want to work but don’t have means to travel here for work. The board appreciates her passion for Habitat for Humanity but doesn’t have control over what the County decides to do with the parcels they own.

Carol Williams asked when the ERCs be discussed, thought they were going to be finalized today. Mr. Dorrill informed her that at the next meeting the board will approve and adopt the budgets following the public hearing for both of those funds and will also approve the assessment roll at that time. Ms. Williams asked what are the differences 

between ERUs and ERCs? Mr. Dorrill pointed out that this is something that should have been addressed in March, due to the changeover of the management firms they weren’t able to address it. It can still be fixed and suggests having some type of workshop on utility evaluations fairness and equity and have Mr. Weyer back. They can do this before the end of the calendar year, which would be during the first quarter of the new fiscal year. 6

Katherine Hellmire, 314 Newport Drive, she is a boat owner at slip B2 at the marina, would like to clear up the ERCs water sewer of the marina. She stated dock A and dock C were recently extended to hold up to 40-foot boats, as it stands A dock and C dock are paying the same, if the board can’t change that for another year missing out on a lot of money. The board agrees 100% and will do what it can to address it.

Jason Sanchez makes a documented request to the board that he’s given the same opportunity that Mr. Case has been given and have a moratorium on his assessments, understands the budget needs to be in, if delayed another year he’s going to have to pay another $40,000. He’s taking over the restaurant, that’s going to affect him, bringing jobs and opportunity and more structure to the Port, at some point there needs to be some relief. Mr. Pires says this can be considered at the budget hearing on July 21.

Tom points out that if the district keeps the same ERUs with the restaurant, the restaurant will not remain. There will be no way to afford to keep it. 

ADJOURNMENT 

The next meeting and budget hearing will be July 21, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. On a MOTION and a second, the meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m.