BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES
DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, August 25th, 2014
President Jacobs called
the meeting to order at 6:05 PM and Director Stapp led the group in the flag
salute. Directors Jacobs, Stapp, Wilkey,
and Hayhurst were present. Director Schendel
was absent; out of town due to his employment.
There were a great number of guests in attendance (26 people counted,
not including the Directors and the Secretary).
Most of the guests were Barstow Heights residents that were affected by
the flash flooding that occurred on Sunday, August 3rd. These guests had come with questions and
concerns about the unexpected damages to their homes and properties and what
could be done to prevent future flood damages.
Bill Little, Public Works Operations Supervisor with the County Roads
Department, had been invited and was there to update everyone on the Road
conditions and recovery efforts. Newspaper
reporter, Mike Lamb, with the Desert Dispatch, and Michael Cint, Information Officer
for the Barstow area CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), were also in
attendance.
President Jacobs
introduced each of the members of the Board of Directors to the public and
welcomed all of the guests. He directed
that the order of items listed on the Agenda be changed to address items #7
(Road Conditions) and #8 (Flood Damage Surveys) first, before moving on to item
#3 (Public Comments/Questions). He
introduced Bill Little, and gave him the floor to update everyone about the
condition of the Roads, including what specific work had been done so far, and
what strategies were planned to continue recovering. Guests were given the chance to ask
questions. Resident Dave Solano spoke up
first to let Mr. Little know that his Road crews were doing an excellent job,
and that his update and efforts were very much appreciated. One of the guests asked if the Road crews
could assist them with moving dirt around their home in Lenwood, where they
reside outside of the city limits on a Non-County-maintained road. Mr. Little responded that unfortunately,
there would be nothing his department could do because his equipment and crews
are not permitted to work on private property or on any Non-County-maintained
roads. His funding is given only to
maintain and repair streets within the County and overstepping those boundaries
to help residents (as much as he wanted to) would be considered a “misappropriation
of public funds that is punishable by law.” He stated that he continues to receive
requests from residents for excess dirt to help them fill in holes on their
properties, and while his crews can dump some additional dirt along public roadway
easements that also need filling in, homeowners would be responsible for moving
any extra dirt they request be left there, because he has to keep his trucks
off of their private property. Guests
continued to share their stories about how and where the flooding impacted
them, what kinds of damages they have been dealing with, as well as asking
questions about whether or not specific Roads and flood channels near their
homes are County-maintained. Director
Wilkey suggested to Mr. Little that the Non-County-maintained dirt road at the
top of Linda Vista between I and J Street is in need of a sign posted to notify
the public that it is not a maintained road.
Michael Cint introduced
himself and explained that he and his CERT team are looking over the entirety
of the disaster and creating a plan for area residents to seek out preventative
solutions. Beverly Lowry also introduced
herself as a concerned resident and representative of Supervisor Ramos, and that
she would be reporting to him what she learned at the meeting. She also asked about the Flood Damage Survey
Forms and the Secretary explained that she had given out approximately 45
forms, had collected 20 forms thus far, and expected to still receive more from
affected residents, even though the initial reports are now past due to the
County OES (Office of Emergency Services).
The Secretary explained that some of the requirements that needed to be
met in order to qualify for assistance from the County OES were not very encouraging. She was told that damages needed to affect at
least 25 homes and that those damages needed to total at least 40 percent of
each homes value in order to qualify for funds.
Director Hayhurst stated that the Board needs to be completely honest
and realistic in helping residents understand that just because there is a
state of emergency declared, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be a
pot of money coming from the County. The
assistance may come in the form of low-interest loans, or may not come at all, and
she didn’t want anyone to leave the meeting with the false hope that they would
be reimbursed for all or even some of their damages. President Jacobs also reminded the group that
the Community Services District does have limited powers; that the CSD does
care and feels it their duty to do what
they can in assisting residents, but that ultimately the County will be the
entity responsible to make the solutions happen. A few more guests shared their stories and
concerns. Michael Cint was asked more
questions about the role of CERT and how it is intended to function. Bill Little was asked a few more questions
pertaining to the clearing of the Roads and where to obtain more sand bags
(from the local Fire Stations).
President Jacobs thanked everyone for attending and participating. Director Hayhurst thanked both Mr. Bill
Little and Mr. Michael Cint for coming to share information and insights that
were so helpful. Director Wilkey gave
the guests a little bit of background information on flood insurance for
homeowners through FEMA and warned that rates (currently starting at about
$1500 a year and up) are likely to go up even more in our area now due to the
flood. President Jacobs thanked the
guests again and invited them to stay for the remainder of the meeting, but
dismissed those who needed to leave at 6:55PM.
The Board re-adjourned
the meeting at 7:03PM to continue with the rest of the Agenda and one guest
stayed to listen in. President Jacobs
moved on to address the Consent Items.
Director Wilkey motioned to accept the Minutes of the July 28th, 2014
Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for July of 2014 as presented. Director Stapp seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from
the City was reviewed. It reported that
the parking lot was covered in dirt from the flooding and still needed to be
swept, but fortunately that was the only minor flood damage at Barstow Heights
Park. President Jacobs reported that he
continues to set off more gas cartridges to control the ground squirrel
population, and had just found four new holes again that evening. The Secretary informed the Board that no
progress had yet been made on the plaque to honor Barbara Kelley, but that she
would work on getting an estimate soon.
President Jacobs complimented the Secretary for doing a good job over
the past few weeks as she had dealt with so many things. Director Hayhurst added that she had heard
some requests that there be some kind of dedication ceremony when the Plaque is
ready to be installed, and that there are people interested in attending that.
Bid 13-03, the new
Covered Picnic Areas, were addressed next.
President Jacobs reported that Wade Harris does have the building permit
now in his hands, that Merrell Johnson Engineering is ready to begin the
staking next week (once approved), and that Mr. Harris does have all of the
construction materials in storage, so he’s ready to begin the work. He expects to have the entire project done
within 30-45 days. Director Wilkey asked
about whether or not plans had been made to close the park during Construction. He suggested that some plastic construction
fencing be used to secure the area and keep the public out. The Construction Staking proposal from the engineer
was addressed. Director Hayhurst
motioned to accept the engineering proposal to do the Construction Staking of
new sidewalks and two shade canopy slabs for $1800. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Venner Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from
the City was reviewed. The Flood Damage
at Venner park was discussed. President
Jacobs reported that the General Manager had hired JDR Construction to do emergency
mud and debris clean-up of the parking lot for $1000. Director Wilkey explained that the yellow
caution tape had not been preventing the public from entering and using the
parking lot and park grounds, so he felt it was urgent that some clean-up be
done quickly to ensure public safety. He
had contacted Mark Gerardi to get a specific list of the items the City would
be able to handle and talked with Bill Little about what the County Roads crews
could do. Within two hours of talking
with Mr. Little, the deep holes on the Southeast side of the park next to the
roadway had been filled with dirt and leveled.
Director Wilkey then stopped by the office to check in with the
Secretary and after a phone call to the County, they felt assured that the
clearing of the parking lot needed to be done right away. Director Wilkey contacted John Rowe of JDR
Construction, as well as a few other contractors to request bids. The General Manager hired John Rowe that day
since he could do all the work that same evening. With his tractor, he cleared the parking lot
of mud and debris that was caked on several inches thick, but did not have the
equipment to brush the parking completely clean. Mark Gerardi told Director Wilkey that he
thought he would be able to sweep the parking lot with a sweeper, not right
away, but fairly soon. Mr. Gerardi also made sure that all of the
entrances were shoveled clean by his City park maintenance crew and hired Ellis
Fence Co. to repair some chain-link fencing quickly as well. Director Hayhurst suggested that the
Secretary write a letter of appreciation to Mr. Bill Little and his boss to
thank them for their quick response, including the filling in and cleaning up of
the easement alongside Venner Park and for attending our meeting to answer so
many questions that evening as well.
The items at Venner Park that
were still left to be done included the need to excavate the fitness area that
was filled with 10-12 inches of mud so that new wood chips could be replaced,
backfilling and repacking of the dirt on the slopes near the stairs leading up
to the basketball court, and removing the thick dried mud and rocks under the
picnic tables located just West of the basketball court. Director Hayhurst motioned to authorize the
General Manager to make the emergency expenditures necessary to hire someone to
complete the remaining jobs quickly and order the replacement wood chips. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Director Stapp asked
about whether or not there were enough immediate funds available to complete
everything. The Secretary indicated that
there was for now. President Jacobs
suggested that the Board will need to review the accounts at next month’s
meeting however, since the Secretary will need to pay a large sum of the balance
that will be due when the big Construction project is completed in September.
The Conflict of Interest
Code was addressed next. Director
Hayhurst expressed her thanks to Kimberly Cox from the Helendale Community
Services District who sent her a copy of their Conflict of Interest Code to
assist us in writing our own. The
Helendale CSD had given their permission to copy and use their code as a basis
for our own. Director Hayhurst will work
with the Secretary to come up with a final copy that can be reviewed for
approval next month.
The General Manager
reported that Sanchez Roofing would be coming in the next week to repair the leaking
roof. She had also contacted BEST
Opportunities to request a quote for them to come and clear the weeds and trim
the shrubs around the Office Compound.
Due to the extra workload caused by the flood emergency, she had to use
up her limit of 16 additional paid hours per month. She was hopeful that a reduced workload would
allow her to go back to her normal “part time” hours once the Audit is
completed in a few weeks. She admitted
that knocking on the doors of strangers to distribute the Flood Damage Survey
Forms was a little bit scary at first and was completely exhausting for a few
days, but that she did really enjoy getting to reach out to meet and help the
community in this way. She had received
a lot of phone calls and visitors at the office in recent weeks. Many residents had invited her into their homes
to see the damages the flood had caused.
She really was surprised to discover that the devastation was so much
more extensive than had originally been reported in the newspaper.
President Jacobs requested
the Directors’ reports. There were none,
but President Jacobs asked the Secretary to please make a note in the minutes
that the Board really appreciated her extra hard work this month, that she had
represented the District well, and that they were very proud of her job performance.
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 Hayhurst seconded
the motion. Motion carried unanimously. There was no New Business to address.
The next Regular Meeting
was scheduled for Monday, September 22nd, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 8:04 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General
Manager
