BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, April
28th, 2014
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Wilkey motioned to accept the
Minutes of the March 25th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for
March of 2014 as presented. Director
Stapp seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted an e-mail from Director
Hayhurst to the Secretary concerning the assessed tax values of all properties
in the Barstow Heights. He reported that
the current tax role value is $103,589,184.00.
(While typing these minutes the Secretary realized that the number that
was read was actually the tax role value from 2009-10. The current tax role value for 2013-14 is
currently $95,600,908.00, which is an increase over the 2012-13 value of
$92,968,005.00).
Director Schendel entered the meeting at 6:04pm.
The next item of Correspondence that President Jacobs shared was
an estimate from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (Workman’s Compensation
Insurance) that shows that the annual premium for the next year will be
$1,055.00.
Barstow Heights Park was addressed. President Jacobs reported that he has asked the
Secretary to refer to the Park on H Street as the “Barstow Heights Park” from
now on. We had been in the habit of
calling it “H Street Park” during our meetings for some time, but it is
important for us to begin calling it by its proper name in order to preserve
and maintain our identity with the public.
The Secretary will make sure that all future Agendas and Minutes and
other documents reflect the proper name of the Park. The Safety Check List from the City was
reviewed. The report was clean all the
way down the list, meaning there were no current safety issues and/or repairs
needed. President Jacobs asked Director
Stapp how he was doing with exterminating the Ground Squirrels. Director Stapp reported that he hadn’t made
any progress with them and would be going out of town soon, so they agreed that
Director Stapp would get the remainder of the smoke cartridges to President
Jacobs right away so he can continue trying to exterminate them.
The possible Re-naming/Dedication of Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Secretary updated the
Board that she had been in contact recently with Janet (Jan) Fowler, daughter
of former Board Member Barbara E. Kelley, and that Jan was very excited about
the possible Re-naming of the Park to Kelley Park. Even though the Board had discussed the
possibility three years earlier, there was still some uncertainty as to whether
or not the actual name of the Park should still be changed. Director Hayhurst expressed her belief that,
with all due respect to Mrs. Kelley, she was not really a fan of changing the
already established name of the Park.
She did feel that Dedicating the Park in her memory would be a wonderful
way to recognize her contributions to the community. Director Stapp clarified that the situation
with Venner Park had been that the Park didn’t yet have a name before the Board
decided to name it after Mr. Venner a few years ago. Some were calling it K Street Park, others
were calling it Panamint or Travertine Park, and the Board wanted to remedy the
confusion by giving it one simple name.
President Jacobs shared that during the course of the three years that
have passed since the idea of Re-naming the Park was first brought up, that he
had begun to change his mind. He
expressed his concern that with the repeated talk/rumors that the City of
Barstow still wants to pursue annexing the Barstow Heights, and his belief that
so many residents are opposed to that happening, he now felt it to be increasingly
more important to keep and maintain our identity as the “Barstow Heights” as
much as possible. He reminded the Board
that the wood sign that clearly identifies it as “Barstow Heights Park” was an Eagle
Scout Project many years ago and that the name of the Park had been established
even before the sign was in place. He
did agree that the Board should still honor Mrs. Kelley in some way
(with a Plaque/Dedication of the Park) for her service of 36 years as a past
President and member of the Board of Directors.
Director Schendel didn’t agree and stated, with respect, that he would
still like the Board to consider naming the park after Mrs. Kelley. The Board agreed that they would revisit the
idea and discuss it again next month.
They didn’t want to make a rushed decision and may not come to a final
decision until after the new canopies/renovations are completed, but for the
time being would like to at the very least, plan on Dedicating the Park to Mrs.
Kelley and installing a Plaque there to honor her in the near future.
The new Covered Picnic Areas (Bid 13-03) were addressed
next. The Board discussed the Color
options for the pre-manufactured shelters first. Director Wilkey stated his opinion that the
Canopies should utilize as close to the same color as possible that the City
currently uses to paint/clean-up graffiti on the restrooms and structures
already in place at both Parks. The
Board agreed that “Sandstone” would be the closest fit to the color already
being used. President Jacobs asked if
the Board would like a different color used on the roof than on the posts
(since two different color choices were an option), but they all agreed that
they would prefer to keep it simple with just the one color for both parts of
each Canopy. The next item that the
Board discussed was the wording they want to use for the dedicatory Plaque to
express appreciation to former resident Dorothy Davis for her generous
donations that are being used to fund the new canopies and picnic tables at
Barstow Heights Park. Director Hayhurst
and the Secretary wrote down the suggested wording as they discussed it and the
Secretary was directed to type up another draft for the Board to review again
at the next Board Meeting. The Secretary
didn’t have any new information for the Board of Directors about the progress
of the Engineering, only that she had been trying to find out how it is going
and expected to hear back from them again very soon.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no safety issues and/or necessary
repairs listed on the report. The Board
then addressed the need to order more Wood Chips to fill in the fitness area at
Venner Park as well as the Playground area at Barstow Heights Park. The Secretary had provided them with a
receipt to show the cost and minimum required amount that were ordered for the
playground area only at Venner Park last year.
The cost was $2,700 for 60 cubic yards.
The Secretary was directed to contact the Wood Chip provider
(Turboscape, Inc.) to find out if they can deliver a larger quantity in one
trip so there would be enough to split the load and cover both areas at both
parks that were currently in need of them.
Director Stapp motioned to give the Secretary authority to get the
necessary amount of Wood Chips ordered and delivered (sprayed in place). Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Board addressed the Engagement Letter from the Auditor next. The Secretary was directed to go ahead and
sign the engagement letter and return it to the Auditor (Paul Kaymark, CPA at
Charles Z. Fedak & Company) since the Board already approved the hiring of
them at last month’s meeting.
The 2014/15 Budget Workshop was held.
The General Manager reported that after the recent earthquake
she noticed a large crack spanning the length of the framed entrance to the
kitchen area of the office building. It
appeared that there may also be some water damage coming through the roof that
caused the crack to widen. The Directors
advised her to ask Wade Harris if he thinks it looks serious enough to be
concerned about and if so, who we should contact to inspect it and repair
it. She also reported that the new
Certificates of Completion for the Directors who recently finished their
required Ethics Training had arrived and were now framed on the wall. She had also inquired of Mark Gerardi about
the status of the bill we were anticipating for the concrete repairs (cracked
by tree roots) at Venner Park and he confirmed that we should still expect to
receive a bill for it in the amount of $1714.00 from the City of Barstow
soon. She also reported that she would
be turning in the letter/request for new Signature Cards at Desert Community
Bank during the upcoming week and that the Directors should expect to get an
e-mail from her as soon as the bank is ready for them to stop by and sign the
new Signature Cards. She continues to
keep the website (blog) and Facebook page updated, including the posting of
current Agendas/Minutes and upcoming Board Meeting dates on the blog. She
also recently posted on Facebook a lot of photos she took (from a distance) to
show the large crowds of people that were there using the Parks during the
afternoon on Easter Sunday.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Wilkey reported that he had recently
spoken with Janelle Schneider, who with her husband, Matt Schneider, had been
using Venner Park to host a fitness boot camp.
She asked if she might need any kind of special permission/permit or business
liability policy to protect them and/or the District. Director Wilkey told her that the Parks are
free and open to the public and that if the City has any kind of requirements
currently, that their requirements would likely be different from what the
County requires (which is nothing that we are aware of). He did share his concern that they should
probably have a business/liability policy for their own protection and invited
them to come to a Board Meeting to discuss it further with us. The Board agreed that they would like to at
least be aware of when the group meets and how many people usually attend. As long as there continues to be no complaints,
the Board agreed that they will continue to welcome them to utilize the Park. Director Stapp asked about the condition of
the new landscaping (almost a year-old) at Venner Park and how it is holding
up. He wondered if all of the trees had
survived the winter. Director Wilkey
said he believed that they all looked okay, but that he would inspect them again
a little closer to be sure. President Jacobs
reported that Mark Gerardi had called him to ask if water hook-ups were
available for guests to use at either one of our Parks for a water slide. President Jacobs answered that, “No, we do
not supply water or electricity” for the public. The only exception to that rule that has ever
been made was for the military, because the Board considered it a way to show respect
and appreciation for their service. The
Secretary confirmed that she also gets frequent phone calls from the public
asking if there is access to water and/or electricity at either of the
Parks. It has been the most frequent
question she continues to receive.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She indicated
that there was one additional bill coming soon from the City of Barstow for
$1714.00 to cover the concrete repairs at Venner Park. Director Stapp motioned to pay the bills as
presented including the one additional bill mentioned. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
There was no New Business to address and no Executive Session was
requested. The next Regular Meeting was
scheduled for Monday, May 19th, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio
Secretary/General
Manager