Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Minutes from 12/3/14 Meeting (approved 1/26/15)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM and Director Hayhurst led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, Wilkey, and Hayhurst were all present. There was one guest in attendance, Paul Kaymark, hired Auditor of the District and Certified Public Accountant with Charles Z. Fedak & Company. There were no public comments/questions. The Auditor presented the Annual Financial Report to the Board of Directors for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014. The Auditor reported that he would continue to be in contact with the Secretary as he had some additional office procedures to inform her about that she will need to complete; including further direction and specifics as to how to be certain that all computer files/data are adequately backed-up and saved (on and off-site) at least once monthly. The Auditor concluded that all information given them in the report that evening was still in “draft” form, that the Board would need to review it and inform the Secretary of any changes within one week, so she can let him know of any revisions that may be necessary. Then the Auditor will complete the “final” copy of the report and mail the final copies to the District by the end of the month/year. The Board of Directors thanked him for his work, his explanations, and to the helpful answers he gave to their questions. Paul Kaymark left the meeting at 6:38 PM.

President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes of the October 27th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for October of 2014 as presented. Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously, with Director Wilkey abstaining from the vote due to his absence at the previous meeting.

The Correspondence file was offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted a letter and refund check (for $72.67) received from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (dividends on their investments).

Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary was directed to remind Mark Gerardi that we need to make sure the Park is referred to as “Barstow Heights Park” on all documents instead of listing it as “H Street” park, which is not its official name. President Jacobs reported that the ground squirrels seem to be hibernating as they are not very active. The Secretary reported that unfortunately she did just discover one new hole dug under the front side of the office building (behind the bushes near the front door) this week. President Jacobs will work on exterminating it sometime soon when she will not be using the office to protect her from any fumes. The Secretary updated the Board that the Plaques to honor Mrs. Kelley and Ms. Davis will take about 6-8 weeks to arrive. President Jacobs reported that a fiber optic cable installed by a contractor for AT&T resulted in a new pole anchor that was placed right in front of the back entrance/opening to the Basketball Court. The large pole poses a tripping hazard and blocks the gate entrance, so he has made (and will continue to make) a lot of phone calls to try to remedy the situation. He’s keeping detailed records of all of his attempts to get it moved/removed. President Jacobs then asked the Board if anyone had any further ideas/suggestions for the Stairs and Slope Cover as previously discussed to protect the West side of the new ramp just completed. The Directors agreed that they would work on coming up with more ideas how to deal with that issue, as well as another list of ideas for future (long range) improvements that they would like the Board to consider. Director Hayhurst suggested that the Board also consider further improvements around the office compound, perhaps DG (Decomposed Granite), to remedy the weeds that continue to grow back. The Secretary reported that Mark Gerardi, City Maintenance Supervisor, had asked for some paint to help cover graffiti on the new shade canopies that has already occurred. She was directed to go ahead and purchase one gallon of paint (Behr flat exterior in the correct shade of Sandstone was recommended) to get him started, since the cost would be minimal and under her $200 spending limit.

Venner Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary was directed to follow up with Mark Gerardi again about getting the parking lot cleared and swept (just as they did the parking lot at Barstow Heights Park). President Jacobs asked the Secretary also about whether or not B.E.S.T. Opportunities had been back to deal with the weeds around the office compound. She reported that B.E.S.T. Opportunities was supposed to return again on 11/26 (the day before Thanksgiving) to trim shrubs, remove weeds, and rake the area, but didn’t show up and haven’t returned her phone calls yet. She will get the appointment with them rescheduled as soon as possible. The Board then discussed the Bid from John Rowe to put in a retaining wall at Venner Park where the dirt slope had eroded due to flooding. Director Wilkey explained how the idea came about as he had been discussing it with John Rowe during flood clean-up and how the work would be helpful in keeping mud from continuing to wash onto the cement under the picnic table area every time it rains. The Board asked a few more questions about the specifics of the project as they discussed it at length. President Jacobs motioned to hire JDR Construction (John Rowe) to construct the retaining wall as presented. Director Schendel seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

The Resolution for Cal OES (Form 130) was addressed next. The form provided by the State Governor’s Office was a necessary Resolution to give the General Manager/Secretary permission to act on behalf of the District in order to potentially secure reimbursement to the District, a public entity, from Cal OES for Flood Damages to Venner Park that resulted from the August 3rd, 2014 flooding. Director Wilkey motioned to approve the Resolution. Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

The maturity of Bank CD’s was addressed next. The Board reviewed the list of Bank CD’s the District currently has and discussed several investment options. Director Hayhurst motioned that since the interest rate on the Savings account is currently higher (0.2%) than the current interest rate on the CD (0.145%) account number ending in 6948, that the Board not re-new it when it matures in late December 2014, but rather that the Secretary/General Manager cash it in and deposit it to the Savings account number ending in 6512. Director Schendel seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. The secretary was directed to continue to research other account options (including rates offered by competing banks) for better interest rates.

The General Manager reported that she did attend the Cal OES “applicants briefing” meeting at the San Bernardino County Fire District Headquarters in Rialto on Wednesday, November 5th. A representative from the Governor’s Office taught an hour-long presentation about how to apply and qualify for public disaster assistance. She took a lot of notes and reported that she had completed all the steps necessary to qualify and that the Resolution just passed (Form 130) was the last step that she was aware of that she needed to submit to them. President Jacobs reminded her to be sure she reimburses herself for the mileage (she drove) to attend the meeting. The Secretary also reported that most of her time at work during the past month was spent finding and scanning/sorting things she was required to submit to the Auditor and that she was relieved to have been able to accomplish it all without needing to work any additional hours like she had expected. She looks forward to having more time to organize and declutter the filing system in the coming months and will need to purchase a paper shredder for the office soon to begin to accomplish this.

President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Stapp asked if any of the Director’s had heard anything further about LAFCO regarding the Yermo District (CSD) consolidation. President Jacobs said he will be attending the next meeting to listen in and learn more about what is happening. Director Stapp expressed his concern that since the flood, a few residents that have built up their own K-rails and River Rock berms on the corners of their properties that could be dangerous to the public and pose liability issues for these residents. Director Hayhurst suggested that we send photos of anything that concerns us to Mr. Bill Little so that he can perhaps notify these residents of what they should/shouldn’t do on these easements of property that may technically belong to the County. Director Hayhurst reported that she will begin gathering information to help the Secretary come up with a Retention Policy by late January or early February. She also reported that she had recently attended the Special District Dinner hosted by the Mojave Water Agency.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid. She indicated that there were two additional bills ($107.10 to Southern California Edison received 12/3/14 and one more for $38 to Terminix also received 12/3/14). Director Hayhurst motioned to pay the all of 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, January 26th at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM.

Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Agenda for 1/26 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 26th, 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 – December 3, 2014
                              Financial Reports – November and December of 2014

5.   Correspondence

6.   Parks:        Barstow Heights:    Long Range Plans
                                                            Safety Check List and Ground Squirrels
                                                            Dedication/Plaques to honor Kelley/Davis
                                                            Power Pole Anchor (update)

Venner:                     Long Range Plans
                                   Safety Check List
 
7.   Office Compound:                       Long Range Plans

8.   Approval of the Audit Reports

9.   Safety Review Report

10.  Maturity of CD’s and Comparison of Interest Rates

11.  General Manager’s Report

12.  Directors’ Reports

13.  Bills:         Edison - $115.77         Terminix - $38.00       Verizon - $92.78
                        Charles Z. Fedak & Co. - $845.00 (November Audit services)
                        JDR Construction - $1,800.00 (Concrete slab/Retaining wall at Venner)
                        Charles Z. Fedak & Co. - $585.00 (December Audit services)

14.  New Business

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

16.  Adjournment