BARSTOW
HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR
MEETING
August
26th, 2013
President Jacobs opened the meeting at 6:01 PM and Director
Stapp led the group in the flag salute.
Directors Jacobs, Stapp, and Wilkey were all present. Directors King and Schendel were absent. There were no guests in attendance.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. There was one correction needed on the
minutes. Director Jacobs requested that
the term “cubic feet” be changed to “cubic yards” (first page, last
paragraph). Director Stapp motioned to
accept the corrected Minutes of the July 22nd, 2013 Meeting, along with the
Financial Report for July of 2013 as presented.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
The Correspondence was offered for review. President Jacobs read an invitation in the
file and extended the invite to Directors to attend the High Desert CSD
luncheon at Los Domingo’s coming up on Wednesday, September 11th at Noon. The file also included a copy of the completed
Audit Questionnaire that the Secretary recently submitted to the Auditor, Mr.
David B. Whitford, Jr., CPA.
At 6:04 PM John Heald of Unique Landscaping entered the meeting
and the Board welcomed him.
H Street Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. Director Stapp reported that the Ground
Squirrels are back in full force again and that he continues to set off more
extermination cartridges (9 more set into 9 holes this morning). He also reported that he discovered that one
of the trash cans was wiggling and loose because the Ground Squirrels had dug a
hole around its foundation. He filled
the hole with dirt to give the trash can more stability. Bid 13-03, the proposed Covered Picnic Areas,
was discussed. The cement foundations of
each area will measure 20 feet by 40 feet, with the front-most facing area
positioned North to South, while the other area could be rotated to face East
to West. The Directors agreed that they
are all in favor of adding at least two separate Picnic Areas. More specifics of details to use on the Bid
sheet were clarified. Other questions
that were addressed included whether or not to include the addition of benches to
the basketball court area as part of the same project with the same contractor,
and should the District order the tables and benches (handling the delivery and
storage of them ourselves) or give the contractor the responsibility of
ordering and transporting them in for the job.
Director Wilkey suggested that we call the company we’re ordering the
tables and benches from (Pilot Rock) to ask them if they offer a “contractor’s
rate” and what that might be, so that information could aid them in the
decision. He also suggested we add
another item (#7) to the Bid sheet requesting that the contractor be
responsible also to re-route the sprinklers as necessary to ensure proper
operation. John Heald asked if he could
be included to receive a Bid sheet for the job when it is ready also, since he
might be asked to work with a contractor on this project as well. The Secretary was directed to make sure that
Unique Landscaping is included on the Bid list.
Director Wilkey suggested we also add Linebaugh Construction and H.S.
Constuction to the Bid list. He will let
the Secretary know the phone number to call Linebaugh for their address this
week, since she has been unable to find them in the phone book. President Jacobs asked if the tree removal
should also be part of this project, but all agreed that we could easily hire
that out to be done first separately.
Mr. Heald warned the Board to make sure that the tree roots are ground
down at least one full foot or more, because they have a tendency to grow back
if not ground down deep enough.
President Jacobs thanked him for his input and stated that his
suggestion reminded him that the specs should also require that a “wire mesh”
be added to the concrete slabs. Director
Stapp asked if an approach to the sidewalk or a cement ramp to at least one of
these picnic areas should be added to meet ADA (American Disabilities Act)
requirements also. The Directors agreed
that it was a good suggestion to think on and consider again at the next
meeting along with any proposed solutions they can come up with before then.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary was directed to talk with Mark
Gerardi again to find out if there’s anything we can do for Venner Park in
regards to the light pole issues and graffiti clean-up. Director Stapp suggested we leave the “Gopher”
issue off of future Agendas since we haven’t seen one recently and past
experience has shown that there’s not much we can do to remedy just one or two
of them anyway. The new irrigation for
trees on the Northwest side was discussed with Mr. John Heald of Unique
Landscaping. He would like to have a job
walk-through with one of the Directors to get an accurate plant count. He counted 18, but President Jacobs had
counted just 9 trees. John Heald needed
to leave the meeting and exited the room at 6:48 PM. Presidents Jacobs mentioned that we may need
to add one more level of blocks on to the top of the block wall located above
the volleyball court also. The Directors
discussed the kind of Benches needed at Venner Park. The Secretary was directed to get a catalog
or item number to use from Mark Gerardi at the City so we could order wire
Benches similar to the ones the City has in place. President Jacobs shared his desire that
adding similar benches (6 feet or longer) to the North and South sides of the
Basketball Court at H street park also become part of the Bid sheet 13-03
specifications.
The Checking Account Balance was discussed. Another charitable donation check from the
Dorothy Davis Estate for $39,206.28 arrived and was deposited into the account
during the past week. The result is a
lot of money in the one account that could possibly be better invested
elsewhere. The Secretary was directed to
look into opening another Certificate of Deposit (#5) for a term of 6 months,
and to find out what the current interest rate is so they can discuss it
further at the next meeting. The
Secretary is also to find out what Policies we might already have in place to
determine if a Board Member is required to be present with the Secretary when
opening another CD account.
The Policy and Procedure Manual was discussed briefly. The Secretary reported that the Auditor has
requested a copy of the Manual from us also, so completing it is one of the
more urgent things she needs to accomplish over the next few weeks.
The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog
(BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) updated.
The Facebook page currently has 97 followers, which is a very slight
increase from last month. She reported
that she took a few photos of the Army group that was here using H Street park
for their company picnic on Saturday, August 3rd. She plans to share those pictures on the blog
soon. She has continued to promote on
Facebook and on the blog that we are still seeking a new Board Member.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Stapp encouraged the Board to
continue to “dream big” to determine more ways we can use our money to improve
the Parks.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She
indicated there were none. Director
Wilkey motioned to pay the bills as presented.
Director Stapp seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
There was no new business to address. Director Wilkey had one more thought to
share, he suggested that perhaps we consider moving the second Covered Picnic
Area at H street Park to be added even farther back by the restrooms (South)
than had previously been discussed and everyone agreed to think about the
placement possibilities some more.
The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Monday, September
23rd, 2013 at 6:00 PM. The meeting
adjourned at 7:07 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager
