St. Lucie West Services District
Workshop Meeting
October 6, 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 Searg Davidian - Assistant Public Works Director - in-person
Andy Bomjardim - Public Information Officer - in-person
Maddie Maldonado - Director of Office Administration, 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 was Jack & Marianne Doughney and those indicated on the sign-in sheet.
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 Vice Chairman Ney and Supervisor Carvelli were not present.

Approval of Minutes
August 25, 2025, Workshop
August 26, 2025, Public Hearings & Regular Board Meeting

There were no corrections or revisions made to either set of minutes.

Public Comment

Mr. Piekara suggested holding the ethics training after tomorrow's meeting, after the new Board Member has been appointed.
Chairman Graci indicated that the ethics training had already been scheduled for after today's Workshop.
District Attorney
DA 1 - Status Report/Updates
Mr. Miller noted that the attorney's report was provided in the meeting materials and went over several items.
District Engineer
DE 1 - Status Report/Updates
Mr. Miller presented the report highlighting several projects in the report.

District Manager Actions Items
DM 1 - Consider Letter of Resignation from Supervisor Rose Carvelli

Mr. Miller presented Supervisor Carvelli's letter of resignation and indicated that the Board must accept the resignation prior to appointing a new Board Member.
Several Board Members expressed their sorrow of losing Ms. Carvelli as a Board Member.
DM 2 - Consider lnterlocal Agreement for Stormwater Maintenance between St. Lucie West Services District and the School Board of St. Lucie County (SBSLC)
Mr. Miller presented the agreement indicating that it was for the maintenance of the retention ponds and drainage ditches on SBSLC property. He further indicated that the District had been maintaining the retention ponds and drainage ditches on the property without compensation, as they were part of the master drainage system and obstruction of the facilities could promote flooding in the respective basins.

Mr. Miller went on to note that SBSLC had agreed to compensate the District for maintenance of these stormwater facilities in the amount of $25,588.40 annually for
15 years. He also advised that effective January 2028, and every third year thereafter, the annual payment would be increased based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for that year.

A brief discussion ensued with the Board in agreement that the District should be compensated for the maintenance and praised Mr. Miller for his insight.

DM 3 - Consider Designation of an Auditor Selection Committee and Accept Audit Criteria

Mr. Pierman presented the item, indicating that the District's current contract with Grau & Associates had expired. In accordance with the Florida Audit Guideline, it is necessary for the Board to select an auditor for the upcoming fiscal years. Mr. Pierman noted that the District Board typically designates itself as the Audit Selection Committee where they adopt the audit criteria and direct staff to publish an RFP for financial auditing services.
Mr. Pierman indicated that Special District Services would collect and provide ratings, based on the audit criteria, for the responding firms, which will be presented to the Audit Selection Committee for their evaluation once responses have been received.

The Board Members had no questions for Mr. Pierman.

DM 4 - Board of Supervisors' Ethics Training

Mr. Miller noted that this would commence after today's Workshop.

DM 5 - Other Items

Mr. Miller advised that there was a Reserve COD meeting scheduled for next week at which time the Board would be presented with lift station rehab proposals.

Mr. Miller indicated that the Injection Well #2 Project was going smoothly and that they might be slightly behind schedule.
Mr. Miller advised that he was scheduling the Board for professional portraits after the December meeting for use on the District's website.
DM SA - Consider Appointment to Board Vacancy
Mr. Miller noted that 6 people had submitted resumes for consideration of the vacancy on the Board. They were as follows:
Deane Piekara
Jack Reisinger
Thomas Wolek
Jack Doughney
Jessice Diaz
George Umansky
Mr. Miller noted that the Board would interview each candidate at the end of today's Workshop.
Mr. Miller presented a flyer from the University of Florida's IFAS (Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences) Extension for their Green Talks: A Monthly Speaker

Series, which will feature SLWSD Public Works Director, Gerard Rouse at their October 15, 2025, educational program, who will speak on Retention Ponds in Action: From Flood Control to Education, which will be held at the offices of the District at 10:00 a.m.

The Board was pleased to hear of Mr. Rouse's participation in community events in which he gets to educate members of the public on retention ponds.

That concluded Mr. Miller's updates at this time.

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 August 2025

CA 7 - Consider Transfer of Funds for the R&R & UC Accounts CA 8 - Surplus Items
Mr. Miller presented Consent Agenda Items CA 1 through CA 8 and asked if there were any questions.
Chairman Graci asked if the District had sold the harvester that was previously designated as a surplus item. Mr. Miller indicated that it was currently on GovDeals and the opening bid was $50,000, for which they had received an immediate bid.

There were no further questions or comments regarding the Consent Agenda items.

Supervisor Requests
Vice Chairman Ney asked if the District had a plan if computers went down. Mr. Miller indicated that they did and that everything was backed up physically and on the Cloud on a weekly basis.
Chairman Graci asked if the District could post a sign indicating that no firearms are permitted in District offices. Mr. Miller indicated he would confer with legal counsel about his inquiry.

There was a brief discussion regarding firearm laws in the State of Florida.

That concluded Supervisor Requests.

At this time, the candidates were asked to leave the conference room, and they would each be called in separately to go over their resumes and answer any questions of the Board.

Deane Piekara was the first candidate to present to the Board. Mr. Piekara indicated he had a mechanical contracting background and has been to many District Board Meetings and has knowledge of the issues facing the District. The Board asked Mr. Piekara several questions and thanked him for his interest in serving on the District Board.

Thomas Wolek then approached the Board. Mr. Wolek indicated he had a banking/analytics background. The Board asked several questions of Mr. Wolek and thanked him for his submittal.

Jessica Diaz then came into the conference room to meet the Board and noted that she specialized in residential management. The Board asked Ms. Diaz several questions and thanked her for her interest in serving on the District Board.

Jack Doughney was the next candidate to present to the Board. Mr. Doughney reiterated his past experience with the District Board and told them that he missed serving his community in that capacity. The Board asked Mr. Doughney several questions and thanked him for his submittal.
George Umansky was the last candidate to present to the Board. After serving in the military Mr. Umansky transitioned into the security and surveillance industry. The Board Members asked Mr. Umansky several questions and thanked him for his interest in serving on the District Board of Supervisors.
It was noted that there was one more candidate who could not attend today's Workshop. Jack Reisinger's resume noted that he currently serves as a Building Official and Public Works Director for the Town of Sewall's Point, after dedicating 28 years of service to the City of Port St. Lucie.
After a brief discussion regarding the candidates, the Board consensus was to appoint Jack Doughney to the vacancy, as his past experience with the District was outstanding.
Adjournment

There being no further items to be addressed, the Workshop Meeting was adjourned at 10:41 a.m. There were no objections.

Following the Workshop, the Board stayed afterward to complete their annual ethics training. No District business was discussed during this time.

Workshop Meeting Minutes Si

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Date Approved