BARSTOW
HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR
MEETING
April
22nd, 2013
President Jacobs opened the meeting at 6:03 PM and Director
Schendel led the group in the flag salute.
Directors Jacobs, King, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey were all
present. Guests in attendance included
Barstow Heights Residents Norm and Tricia Sheppeard. The Sheppeard’s were happy to report that the
three large rocks they are donating for the new Landscaping project at Venner
Park had been delivered to the park for Unique Landscaping to move into
place. President Jacobs thanked them for
their generous donation and delivery.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director King motioned to accept the Minutes
of the March 25th, 2013 Meeting, along with the Financial Report for March of
2013 as presented. Director Wilkey
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
At
6:05 PM Barstow Heights Resident Gene Low entered the meeting. President Jacobs welcomed him and offered him
the opportunity to make any comments or ask questions. Mr. Low responded that he was joining us to
learn more about the Parks and what we do.
President Jacobs explained a little bit about what the role and
responsibilities of the District are.
The Correspondence was offered for review.
H Street Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. Director Stapp reported that the Ground
Squirrels are back and there are quite a few new holes. President Jacobs and Director Stapp
determined that they would set off the extermination cartridges again on Friday
morning and the Secretary was directed to let the City know that we are dealing
with them again. The Secretary had the
three Rules & Regulations Signs that are now done on display for the
Directors to see and inspect. The Directors
approved of them and the Secretary was directed to ask Mark Gerardi with the
City of Barstow if they would be able to put them up or suggest who to hire to
bolt them into place. One sign will be
posted between the Restroom entrances at H Street Park, and Two signs should be
placed at Venner Park (replacing the one currently between the Restroom
entrances and the one above the North-most covered picnic area that is
weathered and very hard to read). The
Secretary reported that the Tree Maintenance (stump grinding the protruding
roots of three trees) done by Town & Country Tree Service was set to begin
on Monday, May 6th. The Secretary
reported that her son, Jose Rubio Jr., was in the process of getting approval
from his Scout Master to begin his Eagle Scout Project that could involve the
planning of and making improvements to the Basketball Court, Horseshoe Pit
area, and Office areas. The Board looked
briefly at the list of improvement ideas that the Secretary and her son had
been brainstorming about. The Secretary
invited the Directors to study the list and decide on any of their favorite
ideas that they would like to see pursued to discuss at the next meeting. The Board was also urged to add more ideas to
the list if they have anything more they would like to suggest.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary reported that she had talked
with Mark Gerardi again about the plumbing repairs (restroom sinks leaking at
both parks) and that we can expect to receive a bill from them for a portion of
the cost since the expense was above the $200 limit of what the City is
responsible for. The Secretary was
directed to talk to Mark again about the broken parking lot light to find out
if we are responsible for fixing it or if the City plans to handle it, or if we
need to call the Southern California Edison company about it. If the City can fix it and send us a bill for
the repair, that would be fine also. The
Directors discussed the progress of the new Landscaping that is presently in
the works. The Secretary was directed to
follow up with Unique Landscaping to find out how close to completion they
are. The Secretary was also directed to
ask if the watering system is operating yet since there was some concern about
a few of the trees that appeared to need water.
She should also request that they do go ahead and order another Smoke
Tree for us (the correct one – Dalea Spinosa).
The variety of Smoke Trees that were already planted are good and can
stay, but we still want at least one of the correct kind of Smoke Tree that the
Board was intending, even if there is an additional cost for it. President Jacobs also requested the Secretary
seek another estimate from Unique Landscaping to do another project – a new
irrigation system for the trees on the Northwest side (similar to what was most
recently added by them for the project on the South side). This will likely involve needing to tunnel
under the sidewalks to put the tubing in place.
The Board then discussed Bid 13-01 (Parking Lots). The Secretary reported the answers to all of
the questions the Board had asked about the Bid from Robert R Yeghoian Paving
at the last meeting and confirmed that the estimate given was correct and still
accurate. Director Stapp motioned to
hire Yeghoian Paving to do the project that includes cleaning out and filling
all cracks at both parking lots, applying a slurry seal coating at both parking
lots, and re-striping the lot at H Street Park as well as updating the handicap
parking spots to be van accessible per ADA.
Director Schendel seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
The Budget Workshop was held.
The Board discussed the current Policy and Procedures Manual
that needs to be updated and improved upon.
Some of the current Policies that have been approved in recent
years are missing and need to be found in the files and added to the book to
keep it current again. Many policies
(such as Director’s fees) are out-dated and long overdue for review. Director Stapp suggested that the Secretary
ask Michelle of Yermo CSD to see their P&P Manual for comparison and to get
a clearer idea of all that should be included.
The Secretary added also that the binder full of handouts she received
at the Secretary/Board Clerk Conference in late February of this year will be a
very helpful resource as well. The
Secretary was directed to have a new outline for what the Manual should include
ready for the Board to review at the next meeting. We can expect this to be an ongoing long-term
project that we will address one section and one policy at a time.
The Blog and Facebook pages were discussed briefly as the
Secretary reported that she continues to keep them updated.
The General Manager reported that starting July 1st, her office
hours would go back to what the previous Secretary had worked
(Tuesdays-Thursdays from 8:30am to Noon) and that she was looking forward to
working in the mornings again. She also
informed the Board that a pipe in the office bathroom has been leaking for some
time and she will need to call a Plumber to fix it soon.
President Jacobs requested Directors’ reports. Director Wilkey reported that he noticed that
the sprinklers at Venner Park came on at mid-day on Saturday and Sunday of the
past weekend. People who were using the
park at that time needed to move quickly and unexpectedly and it interrupted
the volleyball game they had set up in the grass. The Secretary was directed to ask the City if
they could adjust the timers to not turn on when the park is full of visitors
on the weekends.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She
indicated there were none. Director King
motioned to pay the bills as presented.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
The next General Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 20th, 2013
at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at
7:28 PM.
Submitted by,
Jen Rubio - Secretary