Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Minutes from 4/22 Meeting (approved 5/20/13)

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

No comments:

Post a Comment