Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Minutes from 9/22 Meeting (approved 10/27/14)

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
 

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