BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, September 22nd, 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, but expected to arrive shortly. Guests that attended included Barstow
Heights residents, Katie Boyd and Rila Girdner. Katie Boyd had recently completed
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training and had come with a question
about whether or not an emergency gathering place had been designated for
Barstow Heights residents. Director Hayhurst suggested that she look to the
BFPD (Barstow Fire Protection District) that covers our area to ask that
question. The District’s role is only to improve the parks and does not
currently include any disaster planning. While the District would be willing to
serve as hosts for a gathering place at either of our parks or community
building, the District had not yet been asked to do so. Director Schendel
entered the meeting at 6:06 PM.
President Jacobs
requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Hayhurst suggested two
corrections be made to the minutes. President Jacobs asked about the new format
of the Financial Report. The Secretary clarified that the new format is the result
of the switch to using QuickBooks for all of the accounting/record-keeping. President
Jacobs then asked about and reminded the Secretary to get a letter of
appreciation sent to Bill Little, the County Roads Department Supervisor, and
his boss, to thank him for his help at the August 25th meeting and for all of
his assistance to the community in dealing with the flood clean-up. Director
Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes of the August 25th, 2014 Meeting, along
with the Financial Reports for August of 2014 as amended. Director Hayhurst
seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously, with Director Schendel
abstaining due to his absence at the previous meeting.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted a notice from the CSDA that
Governor Brown had signed into law the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families
Act of 2014” that provides for up to three days of paid sick leave each year
for all workers, including part-time employees. This provision will need to be
added to the District’s Policy and Procedures manual when the new law goes into
effect on July 1, 2015. The correspondence file also included a letter from the
SDRMA insurance company that acknowledged the District’s continued achievement
of having no paid claims within the past five years.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The parking lot at
Barstow Heights Park still needed sweeping. The Secretary was directed to
follow up with Mark Gerardi, the City Park Maintenance Supervisor, to find out
if he was still planning to sweep the parking lot. President Jacobs reported
that he continues to work on keeping the Ground Squirrel population under
control and was encouraged to have found no new holes since the last time he
exterminated them. The Secretary updated the Board of Directors about the
progress made on getting estimates for the engraved Plaques to honor Mrs.
Kelley and Ms. Davis. She will have the written estimates before the next
meeting so the Board can decide on which size(s) they want ordered.
Bid 13-03, the new
Covered Picnic Areas, were addressed next. President Jacobs reported that Construction
had started the previous week and he updated the Board about his involvement
as it was progressing. The
Engineer had staked the cement pads too far below grass level, had overlooked
the correct sloping of the concrete (1%) that was requested in the specs, and a
miscalculation of how much concrete would be needed was also made. Measurements
for part of the ramp were not listed on the drawing, so the contractor did not
have the correct numbers to calculate it and determine it had been wrong before
the work began. This meant that additional fill dirt and 14 extra yards of
cement to fill the ramp that ended up being 600 square feet longer than was
shown on the drawing was required to get all of the concrete poured. The
additional cost of materials that were not anticipated amounted to $2,400 more
than the original bid provided for, and the Contractor asked to be reimbursed
for the additional cost. President Jacobs reminded the Directors that when they
had approved the extra requirements to meet the ADA, the Contractor had asked
for an additional $14,200, but the Board had approved up to $17,000 more. The final cost would still be less than the total
expenditures already approved, so the Board agreed that no further decision/action
was necessary.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The wood chip deficiency was
noted and the Secretary was asked for an update on the wood chip situation. She
reported that two Bids had been received to do the work of excavating and
cleaning out the dried mud and debris (10-12 inches deep) that filled the
fitness area where the wood chips should be. The work would also include the
removal of dirt and mud under the shade canopy/picnic table area and the
compacting/filling in of the dirt slope beneath the Basketball Court that had
washed away. The Board discussed the two Bids received. Director Hayhurst
motioned to hire John Rowe, of JDR Construction, to do the job for $5,000.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. The Secretary
was directed to call Mr. Rowe the next day to let him know that he was hired to
do the job. Since it would be 1-2 weeks before the wood chips could be
delivered, the excavating of the pit would have to wait until just the day
before delivery, so Director Wilkey suggested that she ask Mr. Rowe to start
immediately on the parts of the job that he could do now and offer to pay him
half of his fee for completing the first half of the job right away.
The Conflict of Interest
Code was addressed. The final copy was reviewed and a few revisions were made. Director
Wilkey motioned to accept the new Conflict of Interest Code (Resolution 2014-1)
as amended. Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The maturity of Bank CD’s
was addressed next. The General Manager had some concerns about whether or not
there would be enough funds in the checking account to cover all of the larger-than-usual
expenses due to the flood disaster and the Construction that was nearing
completion. The Board reviewed the list of various CD and bank accounts, their
balances, and maturity dates. Director Wilkey motioned to cash in the CD
account number ending in 1164 (approximately $70,000) and move that money to
the checking account as soon as it reaches maturity (October 27) to pay all of
the bills. President Jacobs seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Safety Review Report
was read aloud by Director Wilkey, the Safety Coordinator. Director Wilkey
complimented the Board of Directors and the General Manager for their diligence
in dealing with all of the recent safety and clean-up issues created by the
August 3rd flash flooding. President Jacobs motioned to accept the report. Director
Stapp seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The General Manager
reported that BEST Opportunities had been hired to remove all of the weeds and
trim the shrubs surrounding office building. It had taken 6 workers almost 3
hours to fill and remove approximately 25 large trash bags full of weeds and
trimmings. The Board asked to get an updated proposal from them to come and do
the work on a quarterly basis. She also reported that Sanchez Roofing had been
hired to reseal/repair the leaking roof of the office building and that the
work had been done on Friday morning, September 5th. She also reported that Deb
from Stewart’s Tax Service had come to the office to complete all of the
Quarterly Reconciliations and that they were now well on their way to being
ready to finish the Audit. Lastly, she reported that a few recent visitors to
the park had made positive comments to her about the new improvements and how
great the new shade canopies look. Director Hayhurst suggested that the she
post a statement on the Blog and on Facebook to announce the completion of the
work as soon as it is done. The statement should let the public know how much
money was spent (giving credit to Dorothy Davis for her generous donations) to
fund the improvements. Director Stapp asked the Secretary also to notify the
Desert Dispatch newspaper about the project once completed.
President Jacobs requested
the Directors’ reports. There were none, but President Jacobs mentioned how
pleased was with the Sheriff’s Department. He had called them to report
abandoned vehicles and suspicious activity at the park a few times recently and
the issues were remedied quickly.
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 no New
Business to address and no Executive Session needed.
The next Regular Meeting
was scheduled for Monday, October 27th, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned
at 7:27 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General
Manager
