BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
January 27th,
2014
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM and
President Jacobs led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, and Wilkey, were
present. Guests in attendance were
residents Jeanette Hayhurst and Robert Stapp, as well as Jerry Linebaugh and
Wade Harris of Harris Construction.
President Jacobs welcomed the two newly appointed Directors and
the Secretary issued the Oath of Office at the same time to both Director
Hayhurst and Director Stapp.
President Jacobs acknowledged that we now had a full Board and
that all Directors were present. He also
welcomed and thanked the guests for attending.
The election of new Board officers was addressed. Director Jacobs opened the nominations for
Board President. Director Schendel
motioned to appoint Director Jacobs as President of the Board of Barstow
Heights Community Services District for the next two years. Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Director Schendel motioned to appoint
Director Stapp as the Vice President.
Director Hayhurst seconded the motion.
Director Stapp accepted the nomination and the motion carried
unanimously. Director Stapp motioned to
nominate Director Wilkey as the new Safety Coordinator. Director Schendel seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Finally, Director Schendel motioned to
appoint Director Hayhurst as the Clerk.
She accepted the nomination.
Director Stapp seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
President Jacobs asked if any of the guests had any public
comments/questions. The secretary had a
report from a resident that she needed to share on her behalf. Resident Lesley Thompson reported on the
previous Thursday that she suspects that animals in her neighborhood (near Crestview
and L Street) are being poisoned. She
doesn’t know if it is accidental or intentional poisoning by one of her neighbors,
but she has continued to find stray cats, kittens, and crows dead and dying in
the desert near her home recently. She
took one sick feral cat to the vet and the vet said that it appeared to be
poisoned and it was too late to try to save it.
The Board asked the Secretary to thank Ms. Thompson for the information
and agreed that a warning should be shared on Facebook and on the Blog, so that
residents are aware of the potential danger and to keep a closer eye on their
pets.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Schendel motioned to accept the
Minutes of the November 18th, 2013 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports
for November and December of 2013 as presented.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion.
Motion carried with four votes.
Director Hayhurst abstained from the vote due to her absence at the
November meeting.
The Correspondence file was offered for review.
H Street Park was addressed.
Bid 13-03, the proposed Covered Picnic Areas, Tables, and Benches, was
addressed first. The Board had voted to
award the job to Harris Construction at the previous Board Meeting in November
of 2013 and Harris Construction began the process to get a building
permit. Unfortunately, the County
Building Department will be requiring a lot more before the project can proceed. The County wants a complete set of site plans
that includes a Topographical Survey of the entire park as well as all ADA
parking and sidewalk routes to the canopies identified. The original plans the Board presented to
Harris Construction did not include all of those details, so further
engineering work will be required for us to be able to comply with the
new/current County Codes. Mr. Wade
Harris of Harris Construction had met with President Jacobs and Mike Casady of
Merrell Johnson Engineering recently to inquire about what it would cost to get
the Topographical Survey as well as all other required engineering specifics done. They learned that furthermore, stricter
County requirements dictate that we cannot just build the canopies as they are
drawn up, but that they first have to be both foundationally and structurally
engineered and that only a San Bernardino County pre-approved fabrication shop
would be allowed to build/weld such structures for the job. Mr. Harris also suggested that perhaps a
pre-fabricated awning kit purchased from an authorized manufacturer be
considered also, as it may be a faster and more economical option. Mr. Harris had concerns that he might not be
able to complete the job for the amount specified in our contract due to the
increased costs of the engineering that wasn’t previously accounted for. He also was uncertain if he would be able to
complete the work in the designated time frame agreed to, because the
engineering would take an additional 4-6 more weeks and the County’s approval
could then take an additional 4-10 more weeks after that.
Mr. Harris presented the Board with a Proposal letter and Estimate
from Merrell Johnson Engineering to do all of the engineering work that is
needed (including a complete set of plans that could include multiple phases)
for approximately $4,200 to as much as $7,000, depending on the exact scope of
the work that the Board decides on. The
Directors asked a few questions for clarity.
Director Hayhurst expressed her appreciation to Harris Construction for
their presence and explanations. Mr.
Harris reminded the Board that as the complexity of the project increases that
the County Permit costs alone could also increase by as much $10,000. Director Wilkey proposed the idea that the
Board could pay for the engineering fees separately and apart from the contract
already pending with Harris Construction, to reduce the engineering costs for
Mr. Harris that were previously included in the original contract which could
thus help him off-set any other potential cost increases he is likely to
have. Director Wilkey motioned that the Board
approve a separate contract with Merrell Johnson Engineering to provide a
complete set of site plans, the cost of which could be up to $7,000. Motion seconded by Director Schendel. Motion carried unanimously.
The Secretary was directed to contact Merrell Johnson
Engineering to ask for a revised copy of the contract that specifies the
agreement include the District only (and not Harris Construction). Then, the
Secretary will distribute copies of the Contract to all of the Board Members,
so the exact scope of the work can be reviewed and the contract can be signed
and submitted quickly to get the job scheduled to begin within the next 4-6
weeks. Mr. Harris agreed that in the
meantime, he will research our Canopy options to help us determine whether the
structural engineering for the canopies we could opt to have built will be
necessary, or if we would rather go with a pre-manufactured Canopy that doesn’t
require the engineering. President
Jacobs again thanked the guests, Mr. Wade Harris and Mr. Jerry Linebaugh, for
attending, for being so helpful, and for all of their continued efforts. They left the meeting at 7:01pm.
The Safety Check List from the City for H Street Park was
reviewed. President Jacobs updated the
Board that he had recently discussed the two swings that had to be removed and
needed replacing with Mark Gerardi. Mr.
Gerardi expected the replacement parts (8 toggles/hangers) to arrive any day,
and will be able to replace them all as soon as he gets them. The cost of the parts was approximately $900
due the high liability specifications that are required when manufacturing them. We will be receiving a bill from the City to
help cover our portion of those costs soon.
Director Stapp reported that he found one Ground Squirrel hole present
on the West side underneath a barbecue about two weeks ago. President Jacobs said he would take care of
it.
The Board reviewed all of the recently completed projects. Bid 13-04, the removal of one Cottonwood tree,
two Elm trees, and a Creosote bush by Town & Country Tree Service was
discussed briefly. President Jacobs
expressed his opinion in working with them this time that they did a very good
job and that the grass is already starting to grow back. The Office Compound job (sprinkler system
repair and weed removal) was discussed briefly.
After needing to call Mr. Heald back several times to finish, the job is
finally done to our satisfaction. The
new Irrigation system at Venner Park is also complete now, after having to call
them back a few times to finish that job as well. President Jacobs informed the Board that he
was able to get a diagram drawn up with the help of Mark Gerardi that shows
where all of the Sprinkler-heads are located at H Street Park, but that we still
aren’t exactly sure where the underground water lines are. It is likely that repairs and re-routing of
the Sprinkler system will be necessary during the planned future Construction. Director Wilkey expressed his interest in
seeing the diagram and President Jacobs stated that he will definitely get a
copy of it made for him. President
Jacobs also reported that he found a new phone number to use to call Edison to
report any street lights that are out.
He used the new number to report the outage at Venner Park recently and
they were very quick to get it fixed.
Director Stapp then reported something he noticed a few weeks ago at H
Street Park. A metal panel on the back
side of the restrooms was bent around the edges and it appeared as if someone
had been trying to open/break into it.
The Board agreed that it needs to be investigated and looked into
further.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. One deficiency was noted: a section (near the edge) of concrete
driveway by the front gate is broken. The
Board agreed that this could be a tripping hazard and needs to be
replaced. The Secretary was directed to
contact Mark Gerardi to ask what we need to do to get it taken care of.
The Board reviewed the Final Draft of the Annual Audit FYE
6-30-13. No changes from the previous
preliminary draft copy were noted.
Director Schendel motioned to accept the Audit as presented. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried with four votes. Director Hayhurst abstained from the vote,
commenting that she didn’t fully understand it yet and has some unanswered
questions to figure out.
The Ethics Training (required course AB1234) was addressed. Director Hayhurst and the Secretary already
have Certificates that are valid for another year, but President Jacobs and
Directors Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey need to complete their courses again this
month to become certified for another two years.
The Policy and Procedure Manual was addressed. The Secretary reported that she updated the
outline/index again and re-typed the General Manager Guidelines for their
approval. The revised list of
Secretarial Duties and Office Procedures is almost complete. She also provided the Board with the most current
copy of the Code of Ethics for their reference.
She recommended the Board review it again next month while the Ethics
Training is still fresh in their minds.
The Board will review/approve these Policies at next month’s Board
Meeting.
The General Manager reported that she just completed the
required Sexual Harrassment Prevention Training Webinar (AB1825) on February 15th
and that a certificate of completion is being mailed to her. She learned that it is a new requirement and
that Board Members should also take this two-hour course every two years. Unfortunately, the CSDA won’t be offering the
class again until July 16th, 2014, so the Board may have to wait
until then to get certified. Director
Hayhurst suggested that we check with the City and other local agencies that
might be offering the course sooner. The
Secretary also informed the Board of Directors that the CSDA is offering quite
a few free online classes for Board Members during the next few months that may
be of interest to them.
The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog
(BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) updated with the most recent Meeting Agendas and
Minutes. We still have 99 followers on
Facebook. President Jacobs suggested
that the Board take a new group photo at next month’s meeting and keep the Board
photo on the blog current. President
Jacobs also told the Secretary that he has a new phone number to use to reach
S. B. County Code Enforcement and he will get it to her soon so she has it for
her records and to include in the next newsletter. Director Hayhurst suggested that Secretary
begin preparing now a list of topics to include in the next newsletter.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Hayhurst thanked the Board for
welcoming her and said that she was very pleased with how productive and lively
the meeting has been.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She
indicated there were none. Director Stapp
motioned to pay the bills as presented.
Director Hayhurst seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
President Jacobs asked if there was any New Business to
address. Director Hayhurst asked about
the status of the Security Camera system and whether or not we need to look
into updating it. The Secretary added
that the back-up power supply still needs to replaced and President Jacobs said
he would sign a check to help her get that purchased next week.
The next Regular Meeting was scheduled for Monday, February 24th,
2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned
at 7:37 PM.
Submitted by: Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager
