BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, May 19th,
2014
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and
Director Wilkey led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Stapp, Wilkey, and Hayhurst
were present. Director Schendel was
absent. There were no additional guests
in attendance.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes
of the April 28th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for April of
2014 as presented. Director Hayhurst
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review and the Directors
passed it around to look through.
Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was
reviewed. President Jacobs reported that
he had spoken with Lawrence Moore about the parks recently, and that Lawrence
updated him that he is no longer the park inspector, but that Mark Gerardi is
doing all of the inspections now.
President Jacobs also reported that the Ground Squirrel problem
continues. He has used up the remainder
of the bombs (extermination cartridges).
The last 18 had been used recently and the Secretary will need to order
more since the supply is now depleted. President Jacobs also noted that he’s seen a
few squirrels run across the street, so it appears that some may be residing
elsewhere, but coming back into the park to feed. He reported further that one squirrel had set
up his home underneath the office building and that he waited until Saturday
morning when the Secretary wasn’t there so he could set off a few smoke bombs
under the building safely. He also
worked with a water company employee to get inside the fenced/locked area that
the Water Company owns, to set off a few extermination cartridges there also.
The Plaque to honor and dedicate Barstow Heights Park to Barbara
Kelley was addressed. President Jacobs
read aloud the typed wording for the Plaque that the Secretary had provided as
a starting point, then suggested a few revisions. The Board agreed upon and determined the
exact wording for the Plaque. The
Secretary updated the Board that she had found receipts that indicated that the
12” x 12” Dedicatory Plaque ordered and installed at Venner Park a few years
prior had cost approximately $400, plus another $100 for labor and materials to
build the cement pedestal that it was mounted on. The Directors discussed ideas pertaining to
what the Plaque could be mounted on (benches were mentioned as one option), as
well as the locations where they should be placed. Director Hayhurst shared her opinion that the
Plaque be located near one of the park entrances and away from sprinklers/water
that could damage it over time. She also
encouraged the Board to consider locating it in a spot that won’t add more
time/labor required of the maintenance workers who might otherwise need to weed-wack/trim
the grass around it. President Jacobs
suggested that perhaps both Plaques (including the one for Dorothy Davis) be
mounted on the same pedestal. Director
Stapp preferred the idea of having two separate pedestals in separate locations
if they are designed similar to the one already in place at Venner Park;
perhaps the one for Dorothy Davis could located up by the restrooms and near the
new handicap accessible sidewalk that will be added. He felt that the pedestals would be large
enough and thus, clearly visible so as not to be a tripping hazard. President Jacobs asked the Secretary to make
a list of all of the suggested location ideas mentioned as a reference for the
Directors to consider and discuss further at the next meeting.
The new Covered Picnic Areas (Bid 13-03) were addressed
next. President Jacobs reported that he
rode along with Mr. Wade Harris to the San Bernardino County Building
Department in Hesperia, during the week prior, to seek their opinion on the
Site Plan that had been completed and received from the Engineer a few weeks
earlier. During that meeting, President
Jacobs learned for certain that the County would not be willing to issue a
building permit for the project unless the plan includes the completion of all
of the ADA requirements first. Because
the Board had not authorized the ADA requirements be addressed first as part of
phase one of the original project (and the contract signed with Harris
Construction), the Board would now need to either amend the contract with
Harris Construction or put the new additional ADA compliance jobs out for re-bid
in order to comply with the law.
President Jacobs felt that it wouldn’t be fair to Mr. Harris at all to
re-bid the entire project (and the Contract already signed with him prevents
the Board from doing so) and considering how much time Mr. Harris
has already invested into the project, wants to make sure that the Board does
the most honorable and ethical thing within the constraints of the law. Both the Board and Mr. Harris are
understandably uncomfortable with the idea of hiring another Contractor to
oversee the additional jobs under the same building permit issued to Harris
Construction. Mr. Harris had given a
rough estimate that the cost to add the handicap accessible sidewalks and meet all
other ADA requirements could increase the cost of the project by as much as $20,000
and that he would be willing and able to do the additional work, but
understands that the Board may be required by law to put the new jobs up for
bid. Director Hayhurst reminded the
Board that IF the increase of the project is less than 25% of the initial
contract ($17,500), they could still give the go ahead to Harris Construction
to include the additional sidewalks to meet ADA standards without having to
re-bid the whole project. The Board
agreed to ask Mr. Harris if he might be able to use the Site Plan to draw up a
formal proposal that includes the additional work for less than the $17,500 in
added costs. President Jacobs expressed
his hope that Harris Construction could do so, but he still had concerns and
doubts about that possibility because the parking lot also needs some overlay
work done to ensure that the slope will be less than 2% to meet ADA
requirements. President Jacobs believed that
the building inspectors would be very critical on that item and that if the
slope is anywhere near the 2%, then inspectors could require it be re-done,
adding to costs substantially. All in
all, the Board still opted to request a formal proposal from Mr. Harris to help
them determine for certain if hiring Harris Construction to do the additional
work might be possible.
The Plaque to thank Dorothy Davis was addressed next. President Jacobs read the rough draft of the
wording and the Board revised/shortened it a little bit. The Board agreed to continue discussing the
location where the Plaque should be located at a future meeting. The Board then addressed the Balance of the
deposit due to Harris Construction (invoice #1236) for the initial set up of
the Covered Picnic Areas project.
Director Hayhurst motioned that the Board pay the remainder of the
deposit ($4,349.50) to W.P. Harris Construction. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There was one item listed on the report;
graffiti/vandalism in the restroom. The
deficiency was noted on 5/15/14 and covered over with paint the same day. The Board was pleased with how quickly it was
dealt with. President Jacobs asked if
the Wood Chips had been ordered yet and the Secretary responded that she would
get them ordered during the upcoming week.
Director Wilkey reported to the Board that after the concern was
mentioned at the last Board Meeting about the condition of the newest Trees at
Venner Park, he took some time to inspect them closer and was happy to report
that they were all still alive and well.
Director Hayhurst asked the Secretary about the large crack
spanning the length of the framed entrance to the kitchen area of the office building
that she had brought to the Board’s attention last month. The Secretary reported that she asked Wade
Harris to take a look at it briefly when he was at the office recently and that
he did believe its cause to be water leaking in through the roof. He advised her to have a roofer (Ralph
Sanchez was recommended) inspect the roof to get an estimate for repairs
needed. Then once the roof is fixed, the
cosmetic repairs on the inside of the building could be addressed.
President Jacobs directed the meeting back to the next item on
the Agenda, the Budget Resolution 2014-1 for FY 2013-2014. President Jacobs motioned to accept the
Budget Resolution 2014-1 as presented, with one modification to the document
(Director Schendel’s vote to be changed from an “Aye” to “Absent”). Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. The Resolution was adopted by the following
roll call vote:
President
Jacobs Aye
Director
Schendel Absent
Director Stapp Aye
Director Wilkey Aye
Director
Hayhurst Aye
The Safety Review Report was read by Director Wilkey. Director Stapp motioned to accept the report
as presented. Director Hayhurst seconded
the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Board addressed the Roads next. It was an item that President Jacobs had
requested be added to the Agenda because he had noticed that numerous cracks (many
3 inches or more wide with weeds growing out of them) were becoming a problem on
all of the Roads in the community. The
Secretary was directed to send a letter to the County to ask if and when
anything would be done to address the problem.
President Jacobs suggested that a copy of the letter be sent to the
offices of County Supervisors, James Ramos and Robert A. Lovingood, as well. She should note that it has been a few years
since many of the Roads have had any maintenance work done on them and that
they are now in great need of repairs.
Director Stapp brought up another related concern he had about the Roads
in the community. He has noticed that
there are several intersections in the Heights where the view is obscured
partially or fully, making it difficult and dangerous for drivers to pull out into
or across on-coming traffic. He noted that
he personally had almost been hit twice and that the problem is either the
result of property owners having trees/shrubbery that is overgrown, or is
caused by native creosote bushes that are growing wild on the corners. Director Stapp asked who should be
responsible for making sure that these things are taken care of to prevent
potential collisions. Director Hayhurst
suggested that County Code Enforcement should be notified of these dangers so
they can write orders and/or citations to residents who need to keep the corners
of their property clear for the safety of the public. The Sheriff could also be notified, but she
suggested we start with contacting County Code Enforcement first to find out
what they can do. Director Hayhurst volunteered
to make some phone calls and ask about possible solutions and steps the Board
can take to help to resolve the problem.
The General Manager reported that she had worked an additional
15 hours over the past two weeks to help her be ready for the Board
Meeting. She also reported that she recently
completed a two-hour online webinar class (Records Retention and Management) on
May 6th. She took four pages
of notes and has new material to reference as she works on getting the files
de-cluttered and re-organized during the upcoming months. She continues to keep the website (blog) and
Facebook page (105 followers) updated.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. None of the Directors had anything further to
report, but President Jacobs wanted to let the Board know that when he was
exterminating Ground Squirrels he noticed a lot of weeds around the office
building, as well as a leaking under-ground sprinkler pipe again. He shut the water off and contacted John
Heald of Unique Landscaping to ask him to come back and fix it, but has
received no response thus far.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She indicated
that there were none. Director Stapp motioned
to pay the bills as presented. Director
Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
There was one item of New Business to address. The Board had hired a new Auditor recently,
and he insisted that the District needs to hire a separate Accountant. By law, the Secretary cannot continue to act
as the Bookkeeper and the Accountant.
New laws require that this safeguard be put into place as soon as
possible. Director Hayhurst motioned
that the Board hire Stewart’s Business & Tax Service to serve as our new
Accountant. President Jacobs seconded
the motion. Motion carried unanimously
with Director Wilkey abstaining from the vote.
No Executive Session was requested.
The next Regular Meeting was scheduled for Monday, June 16th, 2014 at
6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:21
PM.
Submitted by:
Jen
Rubio - Secretary/General Manager