Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Minutes from 7/22 Meeting (approved 8/26/13)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
July 22nd, 2013

President Jacobs opened the meeting at 6:00 PM and the Secretary led the group in the flag salute.  Directors Jacobs, King, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey were all present.  There were no guests in attendance.

President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items.  Director King motioned to accept the Minutes of the June 24th, 2013 Meeting, along with the Financial Report for June of 2013 as presented.  Director Wilkey seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

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 Squirrel population has continued to increase slightly and that he will continue to set off more extermination cartridges.  President Jacobs shared another sketch he drew up and explained in more detail his proposed plans for adding new covered picnic areas, which would include tree removal, cement foundations, building of canopies to create shade, bolting down two picnic tables under each canopy, and putting the cement trash cans and barbecues that were previously there back in place.  The diagrams he drew showed in detail the dimensions of the canopies that are currently in place at Venner Park.  They have held up well and the Board agreed that they would like the ones at H Street Park to be similar in design.  Director Schendel asked if it would be possible to do the project without removing any trees.  President Jacobs explained that the distance between the trees is approximately 60 feet and that the proposed covered patio areas would be approximately 40 feet each.  He further explained that because the tree roots extend more than 10 feet outward around the circumference of each tree, pouring a concrete foundation so close to the roots would likely cause future problems to fix and would just not be wise.  President Jacobs proposed that New Trees could be planted nearby, but not too close to the covered patio areas, once they are in place.  Director Schendel liked that possible solution.  The Secretary was directed to begin typing up the Bid Sheet for the project.  The Board suggested that Bid Sheets be sent to Magee Enterprises, Linebaugh’s Construction Company, Wade Harris’ Construction Company, and Roger Watson’s Construction Company, among any other local General Contracting businesses she could locate.  President Jacobs added that perhaps the addition of Benches for seating installed on each side of the Basketball Court could also be added to the project.  The Secretary was directed to ask the City if they could recommend what type of Benches would be the most durable and most vandalism-proof.  President Jacobs directed the Secretary to add the Bid Sheet Specifications to the next Agenda for continued discussion next month.

Venner Park was addressed.  The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed.  The Board noted that the East Playground (fitness area) is in need of wood chips again and suggested we get that taken care of early next year when more wood chips would also be needed at H Street Park.  Because of the minimum order requirement (60 cubic yards), the wood chips we would be required to order in one delivery would be too much for just the one area alone.  The Board also discussed item A8 on the Safety Check List (the Light Pole next to the parking lot with the broken light), that it does belong to us and should be our responsibility to get repaired.  It needs a cover as well as a new light bulb.  The Secretary was directed to research vandalism-proof covers and talk to Mark Gerardi with the City, so we can help get one ordered if they don’t have one already.  Director Wilkey informed the Board that he has seen one covered gopher hole there recently.  President Jacobs said he will stop by to check it out also to see if it is still visible and to determine if something more should be done about it soon.  The Secretary was also directed to talk with Mark Gerardi about our interest in adding more benches for seating.  She was directed to ask him if cement benches similar to the one that is already in place near the playground would be preferable, to match what is already there, or if another type of bench would be more durable and less prone to vandalism.

The Board decided to take no action on the ASBCSD Annual Membership Renewal.

The Policy and Procedure Manual was discussed briefly.  The Secretary showed that some progress had been made, as she provided the Board with the more detailed outline and index that she recently typed up.

The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog (BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) updated.  A photo of the current Board of Directors (taken in June), along with a new “Links of Interest” section were recently added.  The Facebook page currently has 95 followers, which is a slight increase from last month.  The Board read the Secretary’s Vacation Request Letter.  Director Stapp motioned that the Board allow the Secretary to take her one week of paid vacation during the week of July 23-25, 2013, so she could attend a Family Reunion.  Director Schendel seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously. 

President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports.  Director Stapp mentioned that he really liked the idea discussed last month, that of audio-recording future Board Meetings and he wondered if the Secretary had determined anything more about our options.  He had recently been told that another Community Services District had been in some trouble with the County, and felt that an audio-recording of our meetings could protect our Board if ever we were to be questioned about our proceedings.  The Secretary had nothing new to report, but promised to research it further.  President Jacobs offered to bring in a small electronic recording device he already owns, so we could try recording the next meeting to determine if something similar to what he has would be adequate, or if investing more for more sensitive recording equipment would be necessary or preferable.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid.  She indicated there were two additional bills just arrived and not listed on the Agenda; the Verizon (phone & internet) bill for $87.77 and an online Debit from Checks Unlimited for 83.42 to purchase new checks.  Director Schendel motioned to pay the bills as presented.  Director Wilkey seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

There was no new business to address.

The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 26th, 2013 at 6:00 PM.  The meeting adjourned at 6:55 PM.

Submitted by:
Jen Rubio
Secretary/General Manager

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Agenda for 8/26 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
August 26, 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 – July 22, 2013

                        Financial Report – July 2013

5.   Correspondence

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

Bid 13-03: Covered picnic areas, tables, and tree removal

Improvement Ideas for Basketball Court and Office Area

                            Venner:          Safety Check List and Gophers

            New Irrigation for trees on Northwest side

                                                    Benches

7.   Checking account balance

8.   Policy and Procedures Manual

9.   Website (BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) and Facebook page activity

10.  General Manager’s Report 

11.  Directors’ Reports

12.  Bills:               Edison - $128.40          Terminix - $36.00          Verizon - $88.50

13.  New Business

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

15.  Adjournment