CYPRESS GROVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
MINUTES

Date: December 16, 2024
8:00 A.M.

Held at
8756 Boynton Beach Boulevard, Suite 2100 Boynton Beach, Florida 33472

Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Chair Walsey at 8:02 A.M.
The Secretary then called the roll and noted that all Supervisors were present except Supervisor Elsner. In Attendance:
Board Members:	Charles Walsey, Pam Duhaney, Pat Fogarty, and Larry Portnoy.
District Engineer:	Alan Wertepny
Operations Manager:	Robert Poyner, RLP Property Services, Inc.
District Manager:	Michael McElligott, SDS, Inc. (via Microsoft Teams)

Approval of Agenda
After a motion by Supervisor Duhaney and a second by Supervisor Portnoy, the Board unanimously approved the agenda.

Approval of Minutes
After a motion by Supervisor Fogarty and second by Supervisor Portnoy, the minutes of the Regular Board meeting of November 18, 2024, were approved 4-0 with no changes.

Engineer’s Report
The District Engineer Alan Wertepny distributed his written report (copy attached). Mr. Wertepny informed the Board of Lake Okeechobee water levels, which were still high, and that they are currently releasing water to the West, South, and St. Lucie Canal. He stated that there are no new updates related to the SR 7 project first trial, and that the second trial has just started. Supervisor Portnoy asked if the money for that project had already been allocated. Mr. Wertepny said yeas, but it is still a ways out before anything can get started. Mr. Wertepny continued the prior conversation from previous meetings regarding the need to slip line the pipes. Mr. Poyner reminded the Board that we have to slip line before a failure or we may lose the ability to slip line at all, which is a much cheaper repair. Mr. Poyner has received updated proposals for the work. Mr. McElligott went over the update on getting temporary financing. The first bank does not do that type of financing, but the second bank is putting together a proposal. Supervisor Portnoy is also checking with GL Homes regarding paying for the project.

Operations Manager's Report

The Operations Manager Bobby Poyner distributed his written report (copy attached). Mr. Poyner went over current water levels and mentioned they had to do a little bit of spraying and mowing. Mr. Poyner mentioned that they did have to use some fuel, and that they should not need to purchase more until January. Mr. Poyner stated that they did clean some muck from the bottom of canal in section 29 and they placed the pipe between 59th and 208th which should prevent the berm from getting dug up going forward

Update on Possible Bowman/Hundley Agreement for Outside Lands

Mr. Wertepny has proved Mr. Paul Whalen with the necessary documents, permit application and fees to proceed. There may be an issue with the discharge rate. They need a much higher rate than the CDD could provide. They are looking at other options. At this time there is nothing for the CDD to do until they come back and want to move forward with the CDD.

Manager’s Report
Financial Status

Mr. McElligott updated the Board on the financial reports sent to Supervisor Portnoy. There was some discussion, but no specific action needed from the Board.

Other Items
Mr. McElligott just reminded the Board of the free ethics training videos on the SDSInc.org website. Annual ethics training needs to be done by the end of the calendar year. Mr. McElligott also let the Board know the missing minutes from the website have been uploaded.

Comments by Supervisors
There were no comments from the Supervisors.

Comments by Public
There were no members of the public present.

Announcement of Next Meeting Date

The Chair announced that the next meeting would occur on January 20, 2025, at 8:00 A.M. at 8756 Boynton Beach Boulevard, Suite 2100, Boynton Beach, Florida 33472.
Adjournment

Upon motion by Supervisor Elsner and second by Supervisor Portnoy, the meeting was adjourned at 8:41 A.M.

Charles C. Walsey, Chair	Pamela Duhaney, Secretary

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Cypress Grove Community Development District Engineer's Report for
December 16, 2024

Current Lake Okeechobee Water Levels

On December 12, 2024, the Lake level was at elevation 15.5 feet NGVD. The Lake Okeechobee water level is approximately 3.6 feet above the Water Shortage Zone. Reported Lake releases are west to the Caloosahatchee River, east to the St. Lucie Canal and south into the Hillsboro/North New River canal, WPB Canal, the L-8 Canal and Miami canal. The L-8 Canal stage at West Palm Beach M Canal was at elevation 12.4 feet NGVD.
On December 7, 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began lowering lake levels to allow for recovery of submerged aquatic vegetation. The goal is to lower the lake levels below 13.0 feet NGVD prior to the rainy season.

Loxahatchee River Restoration (No Changes since August 2024)

On May 16, 2022, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Tabitha Elkington) and South Florida Water Management District (Ana Carolina Maran) provided an update to the Palm Beach County Water Resources Task Force. Loxahatchee River Watershed Project Status included:
Update on 2022 IDS (Integrated Delivery Schedule)- Active and authorized design and construction.
Divided into three Flow-ways. - Flow-way 1 (captures flows from ITID M-1 Basin are conveyed to CWPB M-Canal and then to C-18 Canal for delivery to the Loxahatchee River.	Flow-way 2 (captures water from ITID M-1 Basin and JW. Corbett Wildlife Area and stores it in a Reservoir and ASR wells for delivery to the C-18W canal and Loxahatchee River. Flow-way 3 reduces over-drainage of lands in southern Martin County, restores water levels in wetlands and restores base flow to the NWFLR.
Design is underway for all three Flow-ways.
SFWMD is coordinating with ITID on components and issues with Flow-ways 1and 2.
Construction of the improvements is scheduled to begin in 2027 and completion in 2031-2032.

County Five-Year Road Program Annual Update-Fiscal Year 2024 (No updates since August 2024)

The Palm Beach County Five Year Roadway Program has seven roadway improvement projects for three roads within the vicinity of our District. Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Northlake Boulevard widening projects are underway. 60th Street North Improvements are projected to begin in 2025. Below is a listing of the seven segments of roadway improvements for these three roads.

Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. from Orange Blvd to south of Northlake Blvd widening from 2 to 4 lanes (1.8 miles) at an estimated construction cost of $10.7 million.

Seminole Pratt Whitney & Northlake Blvd. intersection improvements at an estimated construction cost of $5.41 million.

Northlake Blvd East of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road east to Hall Blvd widening from 2 to 4 lanes (1 mile) at an estimated construction cost of $7.5 million.

Northlake Blvd east of Hall Blvd. to Coconut widening from 2 to 4 lanes (2.4 miles) at an estimated right-of-way acquisition and construction cost of $7.0 million.
60th Street North from Seminole Pratt Whitney Road to 140th Street Avenue North. An estimated cost of $ 0.50 million for design of 2.7 miles of a 4-lane road in FY 2026.
60th Street North from west of 140th Avenue to Avocado Blvd. An estimated cost of $ 0.5 million for design, right-of-way acquisition and mitigation for 0.8 miles of a three-lane road in

FY 2025.
60th Street North from Avocado Blvd. to East of 120th Avenue North. The construction cost is estimated to be $5 million for 1.6 miles of a three-lane road in FY 25 and FY26.

SR 7 Extension from Okeechobee BLVD to Northlake Blvd 

The first trial before the State Division of Administrative Hearings was concluded in late May 2024. Post-trial documents were requested by the court and were submitted in November. A ruling from the court is not expected for several months.

A separate administrative trial related to the project began on December 9 before the same administrative judge. This second trial relates to a challenge the City of West Palm Beach brought against the project’s Water Use Permit. This trial is expected to last 1 week. It is unknown how long it will take the court to issue a ruling.

SFWMD Water Use Permit ( No update since November 2024)

The 3rd quarter water use report was submitted to SFWMD on November 11, 2024. Maximum Monthly usage for this four-month period averaged 95% lower than the maximum permitted monthly allocation. A copy of the historical water monthly pumping totals is attached.

L-8 Culverts

Bobby Poyner is coordinating with Crocs LLC to get an estimate for slip lining the outfall pipes into the L-8 Canal. He is also coordinating with Tom Wilde (SFWMD) on issues that SFWMD faced with the culverts they replaced just south of our south outfall pipe.

FPL Powerline Property Adjacent to L-8 Canal

Richard Bowman and other farmers are considering leasing FPL lands for agricultural use. Together with their consultant Paul Whalen (TAC Environmental) they are exploring the feasibility of obtaining water use allocation and drainage from CGCDD. A Zoom meeting was held on November 22, 2024, to discuss the proposed project. Following the meeting I transmitted information to Paul Whalen on the CGCDD permit requirements (general information, permit applications, permit conditions, water use agreement, …). The most challenging requirement is meeting our discharge criteria (approximately 2,000 gallon per minute) as compared to their initial request of 14,000 GPM. Paul Whalen is exploring options.

Cypress Grove Community Development District Engineer’s Report – December 16, 2024
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Cypress Grove Community Development District Operations Report
12/16/24

On December 14, 2024 the offsite L-8 Canal elevation at the North Pump was 13.5 and the onsite elevation was 17.6 The South Pump offsite elevation was 13.5 and the onsite elevation was 17.6 Lake Okeechobee water level is 15.44 October level was at 16.09

Canals- Aquatic herbicide in progress & canal bank spot treatment of Florida Holly.

3rd QTR pump reports submitted.

Side Mowing ongoing.

Hundley, Bowman & Alderman farming operation FPL powerlines.

Fuel tank inspection. We had 6913 gal of fuel delivered on 5/17/24 and have used 4250 gal since delivery. Water in fuel tank scheduled to be removed.

Capital Improvement Projects and estimated cost.

Clean Canal Bottom Between Section 29 & 30. (COMPLETE)
Remove brush west canal bank section 29. Estimate ($12,000.00)
Rip Rap reshape canal banks N/S pump stations. (South station started)
Marie Ct. Clear & reshape canal banks. (Approx 1 mile)
Long reach summer maintenance $17,500.00
Reshape canal banks section 28.
Reshape & Remove Rock through CDD Canal Banks. 8.
9.
10.
Pump replacement original north pump. Option 1. 37,644.00 Option 2. $45,233.00
Replace 40 feet of 72 inch pipe center road section 20&21. 20ft of pipe needed. (Patch is currently holding)

Future projects clean both sides of district canal banks.

SRG horse waste.

ITID Review CDD & SRG projects.

Drainage pipe 59th. (COMPLETE)

Slip Line L8 Pipes – SFWMD Permitting
Corbett Draining in to West Canal Section 19. (COMPLETE)

Projects to complete. (Repair canal bank east canal 21&22

Water boom estimate $3000.00 (GEI Works)

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