St. Lucie West Services District
Workshop Meeting
April 7, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.

(Please note:	These minutes are not verbatim.	A CD recording of the Workshop Meeting is available on file.)

Board Members Present

Dominick Graci - Chairman - in-person Gregg Ney - Vice Chairman - in-person Diane Haseltine - Secretary	in-person Kevin Dolan	Supervisor - in-person

Staff Present

Josh Miller, District Manager, St. Lucie West Services District ("SLWSD") - in-person Gerard Rouse, Public Works Director/Assistant District Manager, SLWSD - in-person TJ Bayer - Assistant Utilities Director, SLWSD - in-person
Searg Davidian, Assistant Public Works Director, SLWSD - in-person Anderson "Andy" Bomjardim, Public Information Officer, SLWSD - in-person Jason Pierman, Special District Services, Inc. ("SOS") -- in-person
Laura Archer, Recording Secretary, SOS	via phone Stephanie Brown, SOS	in-person
Also present were: Jack Doughney, Intergovernmental Liaison, and Mrs. Doughney; Donna Rhoden of the City of Port St. Lucie; Special Counsel Nathan Nason, Steve Conteaguero and Jone Fumero of Nason, Yeager, Gerson, Harris & Fumero, P.A.; and Matthew Young, Vice President of Youngquist Brothers, LLC.
Guests Present (Sign-In Sheet Attached)

Call to Order

The Workshop Meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call

It was noted that Supervisor Rose Carvelli was absent.
Approval of Minutes
March 3, 2025, Workshop
March 4, 2025, Regular Board Meeting

There were no revisions to either set of minutes.

Public Comment

There was no public comment.

District Attorney
DA 1 - Status Report/Updates
Mr. Miller noted that it was Ms. Holmes' standard report and indicated that he believed it was up to date.
Mr. Miller pointed out #3 regarding quorum requirements in Ms. Holmes' report, elaborating by stating that, as District Manager, he does not want the Board to be blindsided. He wants the Board to ask questions before meetings, when necessary, and to be present at meetings.
Chairman Graci indicated that he confirmed with staff that 3 Supervisors must be physically present in order to establish a quorum.
District Engineer
DE 1 - Status Report/Updates

Mr. Miller noted that Mr. Zanganeh's report was provided in the meeting materials and noted that #5 of his report deals with connecting to the new well.

Mr. Miller suggested taking Item DM 7 at this time. The Board agreed to the agenda change of order.
DM 7 -	Consider Selection Committee Ranking for District Legal Services
Mr. Miller presented the item indicating staff had accepted statements of qualifications for legal services in February. He further noted that the evaluation procedures mimicked those procedures used during the Audit Selection Committee ranking process.
Mr. Miller went on to note that the Selection Committee met on March 18, 2025, and after evaluating the five firms that had submitted their qualifications, the following top three firms were chosen based on their qualifications and abilities to assist the District in meeting its Utility, Public Works and Governmental Legal Counsel needs.

1st - Nason, Yeager, Gerson, Harris & Fumero, P.A. 2nd - Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A.
3rd - Davis & Associates, P.A.

Supervisor Dolan agreed with the Committee's #1 ranking firm and noted his concern with Davis & Associates, as the lead people in the firm might not always be available.

Vice Chairman Ney agreed with the 1st place ranking and wanted to clarify that the District had no complaints against its current legal representation, noting that some conflicts had arisen. He asked how we would know if the 1st place firm would have any conflicts. Mr. Nason responded that there were no guarantees, but that currently there were no conflicts of interest with any of their clients. Mr. Fumero confirmed that they had gone through their client listing prior to submitting their proposal and found no conflicts of interest.
Secretary Haseltine praised the Committee for an excellent job on the thoroughness of the rankings.
Chairman Graci noted that Mr. Davis' wife also works for the City of Port St. Lucie. He also expressed his delight in Mr. Nason's work.
Vice Chairman Ney asked that the firm's representative be the same at each monthly meeting. Mr. Doughney stated that would be the case and that they would bring in others when specialty requires.

District Manager Actions Items
DM 1 - Consider Construction of Injection Well #2

Mr. Miller presented two proposals that were received as part of the publicly advertised "Invitation to Bid" for the Injection Well #2 Project, which is part of the Water Treatment Plant Redundancy Improvements Project that is included within the Series 2024 Utility Revenue Bonds issued in November 2024.
Mr. Miller went on to note that a Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting was held and three qualified bidders attended. Only two of the bidders submitted proposals and one sent a "No Bid" letter.

Youngquist Brothers, LLC - $7,697,965.00
All Webb's Enterprises, Inc. - $7,896,400.00
Florida Design Drilling, LLC	No bid
Staff have reviewed the proposals and recommend awarding this project to Youngquist Brothers, LLC, whom meets the requirements of the specifications in the bid package. It was further noted that Youngquist Brothers, LLC is also the company that installed Injection Well #1 in 2025.

Discussion ensued regarding the timing of the project and it was noted that the timeline was realistic but was dependent upon getting the materials. A question arose regarding a noise ordinance to which Mr. Miller indicated that Youngquist would be responsible for working with the City of Port St. Lucie regarding permits.
A brief discussion ensued regarding capacity and the timing of the project.

That concluded discussion regarding this matter.

DM	2 - Consider Task Order SLW035 from Infrastructure Solutions Services (ISS) for IW-2 Connection Design
Mr. Miller presented the item, indicating that the construction of a second deep injection well (Injection Well No. 2, IW-2) will provide redundancy and an increased capacity to dispose of brine from the reverse osmosis water treatment process. As part of the IW-2 Project, the engineering design of the civil/site and mechanical improvements are required for the Water Treatment Plant Redundancy Improvements Project.

Mr. Miller further noted that ISS was the District's Utilities Engineer and performed this type of work for the District in the past, satisfactorily and on time. Staff recommend moving forward with this project in the not to exceed price of $99,780.

A brief discussion took place regarding the District's comfort level of the information provided.
DM 3 - Consider SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Systems Network Upgrades Proposal from Integration Services, Inc.
Mr. Miller presented Proposal #2014-15 in the amount of $75,867.50 from Integration Services, Inc. {ISi) for the procurement, configuration, testing and installation of new Hirschmann Networking Equipment.
Mr. Miller explained that ISi has been the District's SCADA Integrator since 1998, which is used for all the District's controls and monitoring for water, sewer, irrigation and stormwater systems and now requires an upgrade as part of the Water Treatment Plant Redundancy Improvements Project.
A brief discussion ensued regarding the District's ability to run manually, if necessary.

DM 4 -	Consider Task Order SLW035 from Infrastructure Solutions Services (ISS) for the Water Treatment Plant Improvements Design Criteria
Mr. Miller explained with the District's expansion of the water treatment plant to provide redundancy and increased capacity to meet FDEP requirements and to manage future growth in the service area, an engineering design criteria needs to be established prior to the Public Hearing on the project.

Mr. Miller noted that Task Order SLW036 from ISS will cost $438,960 for ISS to collaborate with staff to establish the details of the needed upgrade and capacity items as spelled out in the Engineering Report that was used to fund this project.

The Board had no questions regarding this item.

DM 5 - Consider Escrow Agreement with GrayRobinson

Mr. Miller presented an escrow agreement presented by GrayRobinson, special counsel for the Reserve COD, noting that his was part of the "Provision of Services" Agreement that was approved by the Board on March 4, 2025.

Mr. Miller noted that the agreement describes a $1,000,000.00 transfer (50% from the Water Connection Fee Fund and 50% from the Wastewater Connection Feed Fund) to an escrow account managed by GrayRobinson which shall be returned to the District upon final incorporation of the Reserve COD Service Area.
Mr. Miller indicated that if this incorporation does not happen, and there no longer any services agreement with the Reserve COD, these funds will remain with the Reserve COD as part of the $3,620,000.00 (connection fees) that would be required to be returned to the Reserve COD.

A brief discussion ensued.
DM 6 - Consider lnterlocal Utility Oversight and Maintenance Agreement with the Reserve COD
Mr. Miller presented the item indicating that Nason, Yeager, Gerson, Harris & Fumero, P.A. had drafted the agreement, which describes "Oversight and Assistance" services that the District would provide the Reserve COD until the incorporation of the Reserve COD Service Area into the District has been completed.
Mr. Miller noted that the agreement was drafted to ensure that the existing Reserve COD infrastructure is monitored closely by the District and to ensure the current condition of this aging infrastructure does not worsen.

Mr. Miller advised that he had heard from the Reserve COD today and their concern was with the word "oversight." Our attorney has been advised of the same and is working on clarification.

A brief discussion ensued.

DM 8 - Consider Chief Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator

Mr. Miller presented the item indicating that the position was currently vacant and had been since January 17, 2025.
Mr. Miller explained that the District advertised the position internally for five days, as required in the personnel manual, with no applicants coming forth. The position was then advertised outside with several applicants applying.
Staff interviewed applicants and recommended Benjamin Portney of Jensen Beach, Florida for this position, as he holds the required FDEP Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Class B license and meets the minimum requirements for this position with a starting hourly rate of $34.50.

It was noted that this Chief Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator was an hourly position and was approved as a pay Grade 112 minimum hourly rate of $26.44 and a maximum hourly rate of $44.88.

Mr. Miller introduced Mr. Portney, who indicated that he had previously worked for Palm Beach County and had recently relocated to Martin County.

The Board had several questions for Mr. Portney and welcomed him to the District.

DM 9 - Other Items
Mr. Miller presented the final design of the District's new logo. The Board praised Mr. Bomjardim for his work on this project.
Mr. Miller presented his revised letter regarding Special District Duties regarding a quorum and the Board's responsibility and asked if any Members of the Board had any questions, to please contact him directly. A copy of Chapter A-11, Rules of Board of Supervisors was also included with the letter.
Chairman Graci indicated that the rules needed to be updated to avoid a situation where a Supervisor can be on the phone for a majority of the District's meetings. He further indicated that Board Members need to be able to read the information provided in order to make informed decisions and also need to participate in the discussions.

A brief discussion took place regarding past experience of absence from other Boards.
That concluded Mr. Miller's updates.

Consent Agenda

CA 1 - Monthly Report on Public Works

CA 2 - Monthly Report on Utilities Operations

CA 3 - Monthly Report on Capital Improvement Projects CA 4 - Monthly Report on Billing and Customer Service CA 5 - Public Information Officer Monthly Report
CA 6 - Financial Statements for February 2025

CA 7 - Consider Transfer of Funds for the R&R & WCF Account

CA 8 - Surplus Items

Mr. Miller presented Consent Agenda Items CA 1 through CA 8 and asked if there were any questions.
There were no questions regarding Consent Agenda Items CA 1 through CA 8.

Supervisor Requests

Vice Chairman Ney expressed his concern with voting often being "unanimous."

Supervisor Dolan indicated that he tries to limit his questions but asks when needing clarification.
Secretary Haseltine opined that the Board works well together, and the information provided is well presented.
Chairman Graci noted that the only time he voted against an item was about the employees' holiday schedule. He further noted that questions were very important and that it becomes an issue when questions are not asked.

Vice Chairman Ney brought up former Board Member Sal Mancuso and said it was okay to have disagreements.
There were no further Supervisor Requests.
Adjournment
There being no further items to be addressed, the Workshop Meeting was adjourned at 10:21 a.m. There were no objections.

Workshop Meeting Minutes Signature Page

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Date Approved