Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Minutes from 3/25 Meeting (approved 4/22/13)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
March 25th, 2013
 
President Jacobs opened the meeting at 6:01 PM and Director King led the group in the flag salute.  Directors Jacobs, King, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey were all present.  Guests in attendance included Barstow Residents Brent and Maureen Francis, Tim Hillarides of Town & Country Tree Service, and Barstow Heights Residents George and Eva Baca.  Mr. Baca asked the Board if there was anything that could be done about the growing piles of concrete being dumped and left on property Northwest of L street and Rimrock Road.  President Jacobs thanked him for bringing it to the Board’s attention and replied that he had already called to report it to Code Enforcement recently.  Guests were encouraged to call and report it again as needed and the Secretary shared the phone number to reach San Bernardino County Code Enforcement at (800) 472-5609. There were no additional public comments or questions.
 
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items.  He pointed out one typo on page 1, paragraph 5, line 9, of the February 25th meeting Minutes that needed fixing.  The Secretary was directed to change the sign measurements typed as 2” x 3” to feet (2’ x 3’).  Director Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes of the February 25th, 2013 Meeting, as well as the Minutes of the March 11th, 2013 Special Meeting, along with the Financial Report for February of 2013 as presented.  Director King seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.
 
The Correspondence was offered for review.  Director Jacobs highlighted the Invoice from Turboscape, Inc. for 60 cubic square feet of wood chips to be added to the playground area at Venner Park on Wednesday, March 27th for $2,700.  He also directed the Secretary to call ASBCSD to get more information from them about their purpose and what services they offer that are beneficial to us before we renew our annual Membership with them.
 
H Street Park was addressed.  The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed.  Director Stapp reported that the Ground Squirrels seem to remain scarce for now, but that he will check on them again before the next meeting.  The Secretary reported that the three Rules & Regulations Signs discussed at the last meeting had been ordered and should be done soon.  The Secretary also reported that there was no major progress to report about getting the Horse Shoe Pits refurbished at H street, but rather that the Boy Scouts she had talked to about doing that as part of their Eagle Scout project (including her 14 year-old son) were not very enthused about the idea.  Instead, her son had asked if he can come up with a list of different project ideas that utilize that space, and he would like to propose the ideas to the Board at the next meeting.  The Board agreed that they would be open to hearing his ideas.  Tree Maintenance (Bid 12-03) was addressed.  Tim Hillarides updated the Board that after a second inspection, the roots are not as bad as he had originally thought and the Board looked over his updated estimate.  Director Wilkey motioned to accept his Bid for $1600 to stump grind the roots of the three trees that need it most.  Director Schendel seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.  The Secretary was directed to keep in touch with Mr. Hillarides and let Mr. Mark Gerardi know when the work is set to begin as well as put in a request to him that grass re-seeding be done in those areas affected as needed once the work is completed.  Mr. Hillardes will also be calling the Secretary when the work is to be done so she can unlock gates to allow their equipment into the park.
 
Venner Park was addressed.  The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed.  The Secretary reported that she had also talked with Mark Gerardi about some plumbing repairs (restroom sinks leaking at both parks), and that they were both repaired quickly.  She also expressed her concern that the current Inspection Report format is not showing many of the issues that are fixed quickly, but rather only show the things that still need doing.  She will talk with Mr. Gerardi about ways we can improve the report to reflect all of the good work that is so often done, but goes unnoticed by the Board simply because we only see the list of things that need to be done, instead of the many things that are done and handled promptly.  The Secretary was directed to follow up with Unique Landscaping about Proposal 12-04 (Landscaping at Venner) to find out when the work will begin (preferably after Spring Break, week of April 1-5).  The Wood Chips were addressed briefly as the Secretary reported that they would be blown in to place early on Wednesday morning, March 27th and that she would be there to give them a check and take a few photos of the work that is done.  The Board then reviewed Bids 13-01 and 13-02 (Parking Lots).  The Board had a few questions about the Bid from Robert R Yeghoian Paving and the Secretary was directed to call them to make sure certain elements of the Bid were listed correctly as well as ask if any special permits would be needed to do the additional striping and add the ADA accessibility as well.  The Board agreed that they are interested in updating that and felt that Yeghoian had the better Bid of the two that were received.  A decision about hiring will be made at the next meeting once the Secretary can get more information and answers to the questions the Board had.
 
The Blog and Facebook pages were discussed briefly as the Secretary informed the Board that she continues to keep them updated.
 
President Jacobs asked the Board to take home the Policy and Procedures Manuals that the Secretary provided for them as they need to be reviewed and updated more frequently.  He felt that the Manuals are lacking a lot of important information and urged everyone to study them and come back to the next Meeting with their ideas and suggestions as to what they would like to see added/revised.
 
The General Manager thanked the Board for sending her to the Secretary/Board Clerk Conference recently.  She expressed her gratitude and new enthusiasm she has for her job, especially for the new understanding and clarity she has about the variety of roles and responsibilities she has.  She showed off the Certificate of Completion she received for two full days of training as well as the binder full of notes and hand-outs that will continue to be a helpful resource for her.
 
President Jacobs requested Directors’ reports.  There were none.  President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid.  She indicated there were none.  Director Schendel motioned to pay the bills as presented.  Director King seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.
 
The next General Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 22nd, 2013 at 6:00 PM.  The meeting adjourned at 6:58 PM.
 
Respectfully Submitted,
Jen Rubio - Secretary

Friday, April 19, 2013

Agenda for 4/22 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
April 22, 2013 - 6:00 PM

1.   Call to Order and Flag Salute

2.   Roll Call and Recognition of Guests

3.   Public Comments/Questions

4.   Consent Items:      Minutes – March 25, 2013
                                 Financial Report – March 2013

5.   Correspondence

6.   Parks:             H Street:       Safety Check List and Ground Squirrels

             New Rules & Regulations Signs

Progress on Tree Maintenance (Bid 12-03)

Improvement Ideas for Basketball Court and Office Area

                Eagle Scout Project for Jose Rubio Jr.

Venner:             Safety Check List and Gophers

              Progress on Landscaping (Proposal 12-04)

              Parking Lots (Bid 13-01)

                                including Handicap Parking (ADA) Update

              New Irrigation needed for older trees on Northwest side

                                                      Any additional General Improvement Ideas?

7.   2013/14 Budget Workshop

8.   Policy and Procedures Manual Review

9.   Website/blog - BarstowHeights.blogspot.com

       Activity on the Facebook page

10.  General Manager’s Report

11.  Directors’ Reports

12.  Bills:    Edison - $107.01        Terminix - $38.00        U.S. Postmaster - $46.00        Verizon - $82.29 

13.  New Business

14.  Executive Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1

15.  Adjournment

Monday, April 1, 2013

Packed Parks on Easter Weekend!

We were so glad to see our two Parks packed so full of people this past weekend! We are so pleased to see them utilized and so busy this time of year when the weather is so lovely. Here are a few photos we took to try to show you the crowds present at both Parks on Sunday afternoon, March 31st. We hope you all had a Happy Easter and thank you for visiting and enjoying our beautiful Parks!
 
 The crowd at Barstow Heights Park, corner of H street and Rimrock (above).
 
 The main parking lot was full, so there were quite a few cars parked on the
South side of Barstow Heights Park as well (above).
 
 The busy playground at Venner Park, corner of Panamint and K street (above).
 
 South-side view of Venner Park (above).
 
View of Venner Park from the South-East corner (above).