Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Minutes from 1/26/15 Meeting (approved 2/23/15)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 26th, 2015

President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM and Director Schendel led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, Wilkey, and Hayhurst were all present. There were no guests in attendance. President Jacobs noted a small change in the Agenda as published; he requested that the Board address the “Long range plans” for both parks and the office compound as one item of business, to be discussed after “Office Compound” on the Agenda.

President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Schendel motioned to accept the Minutes of the December 3rd, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for November and December of 2014 as presented. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

The Correspondence files were offered for review. There were two separate files for the Directors to browse through, one for items received by mail/email in December and one for items received in January. President Jacobs highlighted a letter received in late December from the County Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector. The letter informed the Board that the Allocation money that the District can expect for FY 2014-15 would be $58,097.83.  Director Hayhurst also mentioned an email in the file received from our current Auditor, Paul Kaymark, that notified the Board that he has left the firm that he was with (Charles Z. Fedak & Company), which as a result leaves the Board of Directors needing to make a decision about whether to stay with the previous firm or to re-hire the person (Paul Kaymark) at his new firm, to handle the next Audit. The Secretary was directed to add the item to next month’s Agenda.

Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The report indicated that there were no deficiencies noted and that the grass had recently been fertilized with Nitra King, as well as the turf Aerated. The Ground Squirrels continue to be scarcely seen, but President Jacobs will continue to use the gas cartridges as necessary, especially as the weather warms up and more holes start to reappear. Director Stapp reported that a patient of his recently told him that they really liked all of the new improvements made at the Park. This person also said that she had only one complaint about the park ever, and that was that she noticed that during the Summer, the ants were horrible. This was the first time any of the Directors had been made aware of an ant problem. The Secretary was directed to ask Mark Gerardi if he has any suggestions for us and look into further options we can try to reduce the ant population as the weather warms up and they begin to increase.

The Secretary updated the Board about the newest development with the Plaques (Outdoor Plates; 12x12” engraved aluminum alloy) to honor Mrs. Kelley and Ms. Davis that had previously been approved by the Board and ordered. She had just been informed that the prices originally quoted were incorrect, so the Board would need to discuss and consider the item again (with the price increase) before they could proceed with finalizing the order/production of them. President Jacobs motioned to accept the purchase of the two Plaques as presented with the revised price ($427.81 each, which includes the cost of sales tax and shipping). Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

President Jacobs was happy to report that the power pole anchor that had been installed and was blocking the back entrance to the Basketball Court had been moved. He wasn’t certain who to give all of the credit to for fixing the issue, but the Secretary first noticed that the anchor had been moved when she arrived at the office on Tuesday morning, January 20th. President Jacobs did leave a message with the Edison Company to thank them and will also be thanking Bill Little with the County Roads Department (in person next week at the High Desert Special District Meeting), for his response and whatever he did that worked to help get it handled.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary for an update on the status of the paint to cover graffiti on the new shade canopies that Mark Gerardi, City Maintenance Supervisor, had requested. She reported that she had purchased one gallon (of Behr Marquee Exterior Flat, color 780C-3 Ocean Pearl) and notified Mark that she has it ready for them to use. She was directed to lock it up in the utility room, so park employees can access it, but to request (and write it on the can with a sharpie marker) that they leave it on site (not on their maintenance trucks), so it doesn’t accidentally end up getting used elsewhere.

Venner Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The report indicated that there were no deficiencies noted and that the grass had recently been fertilized with Nitra King, as well as the turf Aerated. Director Wilkey suggested that the other Directors stop by and see the new retaining wall and slab of cement that John Rowe (JDR Construction) completed recently. Director Wilkey was very pleased with the work that was done and the improved appearance and added safety it provides.

The Office Building and Compound was addressed. Director Jacobs asked the Secretary if she had been able to reach B.E.S.T. Opportunities about coming to remove the weeds outside of the office building. She replied that yes, they are scheduled to come and do the work again on the morning of Wednesday, January 28th.

The list of Long Range Plans for improvements to both parks and the office compound were addressed. The Board reviewed the list together, adding more detail to some of the items and sharing some new ideas they wanted to add to the list. The Secretary will type up an updated complete list and provide each Director with a copy to refer to for the next meeting.

The Board reviewed the final hard-bound copies of the Audit report for FY 2013-14 that was completed in December. They were pleased and impressed with the report, including how much easier it was to read and understand, as well as the great service provided by the Auditor Paul Kaymark. Director Stapp motioned to accept the final Audit as presented. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

The Safety Review Report was read aloud by the Safety Coordinator, Director Wilkey.  Director Hayhurst motioned to accept the Safety Review Report. Director Schendel seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.  The Secretary will submit the report to SDRMA.

The maturity of Bank CD’s was addressed next. The Secretary provided the Directors with a file folder that included printed statements from each of four different local banks she had visited, so the Board could compare the variety of account options and interest rates that are currently available. The research revealed that the savings/money market account the District currently holds is yielding the best possible local interest rate available at the time (0.45% as long as a $100,000 balance is maintained). The system of having various “laddered” CD accounts had been working, but because the savings account was now yielding a lot more interest than the CD’s were, the Board agreed that moving CD funds to the savings account as each CD matures would likely be the best strategy to consider for now. Questions were raised about whether or not all funds in each of the separate accounts at one bank are fully insured by the FDIC (believed to be up to $250,000 of protection per official custodian). Director Hayhurst will research it more and the Secretary will also ask the bank some of the questions raised (like what constitutes an official custodian?) to be certain that all of the money the District has is safe and fully insured. The Board will discuss again and determine whether or not to cash in the next CD (that will mature March 22nd) at the Board Meeting in March 2015.

The General Manager reported that all of the Board Members are current with their Ethics Compliance Training (AB1234) Certifications. She, however, will be taking the course again soon because her certificate has expired. The Secretary explained a new record-keeping procedure that the Auditor instructed her to begin doing back in December. She now has a spreadsheet she will be using to keep track of the property tax incomes that are received from the County. She will be marking/totaling the receipts with a red pen and categorizing the funds according to whether they are income received for the current year or back taxes from prior years. This was something the Auditor had done for the District in order to complete the Audit, but it will now be her responsibility to maintain. She was also happy to have finally received the new printable checks, so she can begin printing (instead of hand-writing) checks to pay the bills using QuickBooks. She also reported that she was following up with Cal OES to confirm that they did receive the Resolution (Form 130) that the Board passed at the December Meeting, since she had received a letter in January stating that they hadn’t received it, when she had in fact submitted it to them in early December. President Jacobs asked her if she had reimbursed herself for the mileage (she drove) to attend the Cal OES meeting in Rialto yet. She hadn’t, but the Board encouraged her to be sure to do that. President Jacobs then asked her to work on getting the Policies and Procedures that need reviewing/updating back on the Agenda for next month. President Jacobs also directed her to plan on enrolling to take the Records Retention & Management training webinar that is being offered by CSDA online again on April 15th, 2015.

President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Stapp reported that in December he learned surprising news from Mrs. Tricia Sheppheard; that the Smoke Tree they were so upset had been destroyed (believed to have been run over/cut down by County Roads department crews two years ago), has grown back, is now about 7 feet tall, and expected to bloom again soon (located on the South side of Crestview between O and P streets). They were so excited to see it come back and are hoping the County will allow it to stay and be protected or to be removed and planted where it can be cared for.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid. She indicated that there was one ($93.48 to Verizon). Director Wilkey motioned to pay all of the bills as presented. Director Hayhurst 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, February 23rd at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:28 PM.

Submitted by:  Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager

Friday, February 20, 2015

Agenda for 2/23 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, February 23rd, 2015 - 6:00 PM

1.   Call to Order and Flag Salute

2.   Roll Call and Recognition of Guests

3.   Public Comments/Questions

4.   Consent Items:    Minutes – January 26th, 2015
                              Financial Reports – January of 2015

5.   Correspondence

6.   Parks:        Barstow Heights:    Safety Check List and Ground Squirrels
                                                            Dedication/Plaques to honor Kelley/Davis (in production)
                                                            Long Range Plans
                                                                        Steps
                                                                        Trees

Venner:                      Safety Check List
                                    Long Range Plans
 
7.   Office Building & Compound:       Termite Inspection (passed on 2/5/15)
                                                                  Long Range Plans

8.   Audit (for FYE 2015)

9.   Form 700

10.  Safety Review Report

11.  General Manager’s Report

12.  Directors’ Reports

13.  Bills:         Edison - $119.52         Terminix - $38.00       Verizon - $98.90
                         D. Jacobs - $80.95 (reimburse for 5 new Director’s chairs from Costco)

14.  New Business

15.  Executive Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1

16.  Adjournment