With no audience members in attendance, Chairman Matt Lewis handed the meeting over to Engineer Robert Dvorak. He and Field Manager Doug Mays had recently visited the home of a Stockbridge resident who had concerns about a manhole cover on his driveway apron. After a thorough inspection, Dvorak could not see anything that the CDD was responsible for regarding the drainage causing damage to the resident’s property. However, he was concerned that a lot of the driveways had linear cracking down the middle. After consulting with other experts, he concluded there could be three possible causes: the slabs are only four inches deep but should be six inches; the base is possibly bad; or there is a lack of control joints on the driveway.
Dvorak recently reviewed the site plans for the Cell Tower and noticed that there was a shallow area outlined for stormwater. He was going to look at the site following the meeting, but he was concerned that in the future, should Virtex take down the tower, the CDD would still be responsible for the permitting of the stormwater feature. Supported by Supervisor Chris Barrett, Dvorak asked that attorney Erin McCormick add language to the lease agreement to ensure the site is restored to its existing condition, should Virtex abandon the site.
District Manager Andrew Mendenhall updated the board on the timeline for the landscaping RFP process. Requests for bids would be going out after the meeting and the pre-qualification documents were due by 10 a.m. on April 17. A small committee made up of Mendenhall, Paul Wood of OLM, Mays and a board member would go through the responses on the same day at 3 p.m. Mendenhall assured the board that he had gone through the process a number of times and there would be sufficient time to go through the questionnaires. There would be a group of names the committee would recognize and a smaller pool of companies that they would not be familiar with. A recommendation of pre-qualified bidders would then be made to the entire board at the workshop on April 18. This item from the April Board meeting would be carried forward to the workshop so that the Board is able to approve the list in a formal setting. The approved bidders would be notified and would enter into a Q&A period. The board would then choose the lowest qualified bidder.
Mendenhall explained that Inframark is going through records for all their districts, some of which they are required to keep by law. At present, the Westchase CDD has 28 boxes of records which are stored at a cost of $15 per box. Other districts are now choosing to digitize their historical records, an option Westchase can follow for $250 per box and an annual fee of $50. After some quick math, it was decided 5-0 to go ahead and digitize the historical, required documents.
McCormick began her report by giving an update from VHB regarding the West Park Village Plaza redesign. They are nearing completion of drawings and draft designs for the board to review ahead of the workshop on April 18, at which point the board can decide to proceed with the pre-application process. The architects recommend a design-build route for the construction of the fountain. The board agreed and Supervisor Greg Chesney recommended using the District Engineer. This item would also be carried forward to April 18 and in the meantime, Dvorak would go through the additional information he needed to make a decision. The board also agreed to block out any reservations for the area from July 1.
Mays went through three tree removal permits that had been submitted to the board. He confirmed that a tree on Glencliff Circle and a tree on Brompton Drive were unhealthy and advised that they be taken down and replaced with Japanese Blueberries. The board approved the removal of these two trees but not for a third tree on Lightner Bridge. They requested that the resident present a specific reason as to why they wanted the tree removed.
Mays informed the board that he had recently received a call from a representative at the USDA, confirming that they were confident they had done everything they could to remove the turkey vultures from the Stockbridge pond. Five black vultures remained but they think the others have migrated. He was happy to come out again if there were further problems, but Mays was pleased to announce he had not received any calls from residents on the matter, which was a positive sign.
Mays had received a request from Girls on the Run to use one of the parks for six consecutive Saturdays. The group is a 501c organization and holds all the required insurance, and the board was happy to approve the request. However, this led to a broader discussion on the use of district fields. It was reiterated that the parks should be open for anybody to use as long as they are a not-for-profit company. If an organization wants exclusive use of a field, they will need to present their case to the board.
The meeting ended with a request from Barrett to discuss the landscaping of the bull noses on the Linebaugh and Countryway junctions. He insisted that they used to look nicer and while not looking to “break the bank,” he would be interested in getting a professional to make suggestions. Mendenhall suggested that if the board is going to the trouble of getting a professional, they should incorporate other areas such as neighborhood entrances. Lewis asked Mays if this is something he could look at and requested a list of possible areas that could benefit from a redesign.
The meeting was paused until April 18 when the two outstanding items would be discussed further.
