BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, March 28th, 2016
President Jacobs called
the meeting to order at 6:03 PM and Director Wilkey led the group in the flag
salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey were present. Director
Hayhurst was not able to attend. There were no guests in attendance.
The Consent Items were
reviewed. Director Wilkey motioned to accept the Minutes of the February 22nd,
2016 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for February of 2016 as
presented. Director Schendel seconded the motion. The motion carried
unanimously.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review. President Jacobs asked the Secretary if she had forwarded
copies of the Audit to all of the appropriate commissions, such as LAFCO. The Secretary
replied that she hadn’t been aware that LAFCO was to be included in that, as
she had not seen a request from them before, but that she would go ahead and be
sure to take care of that. President Jacobs also pulled a letter from the
correspondence file from SDRMA that congratulated the District on 29 years of
participation in their property and liability insurance program, and that our
agency would therefore receive a longevity distribution credit of $262 this
year. He then read an email from Director Jeanette Hayhurst informing the Board
that she would be unable to attend the current meeting, but reminded and
encouraged the Board to please plan on attending the upcoming High Desert Water
Summit hosted by Mojave Water Agency at Barstow College on Wednesday 4/13. The
Secretary was directed to pre-order tickets online and RSVP for three of the
Directors (Jacobs, Stapp, and Wilkey). President Jacobs also reported that he
had received a letter of complaint from residents (signed “anonymous concerned
neighbors”) about a house in the neighborhood that is turning into a junkyard
of sorts (the yard has recently been filled up with 15 junk cars, a
semi-trailer, and an RV). County Code Enforcement had already been notified.
Director Wilkey inquired about the letter in the correspondence file from the
County Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector regarding the public auction
of tax-defaulted properties in Barstow Heights. The Secretary will research and
look into the possibility of whether or not the District might be eligible to
bid on and purchase any of these properties.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. There was no Safety Check List from the City to review. President
Jacobs reported that he hadn’t seen any ground squirrels since last month.
Perhaps the new landscaping (and hard-compacted dirt) around the office is
helping to keep them away for now.
The update on Bid 01-15
(one shade canopy and tables) was addressed next. President Jacobs reported
that he had talked with Jerry Linebaugh again, and that the canopies were
expected to ship out some time near the end of April (which means arrival could
possibly be by mid-late May). The planting of more trees on the south west side
of the park was addressed next. President Jacobs prefaced the discussion by
reporting that he had called the County for information about the road
“right-of-ways” bordering the park. He was sent a “plot plan” (Assessors Map)
of the area that designates the park boundaries and where the easements are
located. This map showed that the District would need to dedicate additional
land to the Roads department (for future road development in case it would ever
be needed), plus Engineering would be required (which adds considerably to the
cost), if the District ever plans to add curbs and sidewalks any of the three sides
of the park (with the exception of the Beryl Street side). Finally, the map
revealed that there are no restrictions that would prevent the Board from
planting more trees in the 15-foot wide easement-way on the West side of the
park. More discussion about possibilities for adding sidewalks and curbs
followed and one suggestion was that the Secretary might contact Siembab &
Sons Construction and ask for a rough guesstimate as to what it might cost to
add a sidewalk and curbs to the Beryl Street side of the park only. The
addition of more trees on the south west side was discussed again. The Board
agreed that they would like to add approximately 10-12 large trees, at least
six feet outside of the chain-link fence, and spanning out evenly across
approximately 280 feet north and south within the west-side easement. President
Jacobs will contact John Heald of Unique Landscaping to ask which kinds of
trees and how many trees exactly he would recommend to fill the area. The
Secretary reported that she had received a phone call recently from Edison that
they had a service man in the area ready to come and discuss the new light/pole
to be added to the east
side of the Basketball
Court. Unfortunately, she was out of town and unable to meet him. She was told
it’ll be a few more weeks before they are back in the area and can try for
another service call. Further discussion about the landscaping around the
basketball court was post-poned until the next meeting.
Venner Park was
addressed. There was no Safety Check List from the City to review. The
secretary reported that she had not yet been able to contact Ellis Fence
Company to have the cracked/rusted fence caps at Venner Park inspected and
repaired. She will make that job a priority to get it done this week.
The Office Building and
Compound were addressed next. The new landscaping around the office building
(Estimate 81) had been completed. The Directors expressed their concerns that
some “touching up” may still be necessary. The red clay that was used in some
areas was lumpy, cracking, and looked unfinished. The Board suggested that
perhaps some crushed rock could be added instead of the clay to make it more
attractive. The Secretary was directed to call and inquire what else could be
done to make it look more finished. (For the record, the landscapers responded
quickly and came the very next day at no additional cost to remove the clay and
replace it with a more attractive crushed rock).
The Audit agreement for
FYE 2016 was discussed. The Board agreed that they were pleased with the work
that Paul Kaymark had done in completing the prior-year’s audit and they were in
agreement that the District should continue to honor its three-year contract
for services with him. The Board President and General Manager will sign the
Audit Engagement Letter and the Secretary will submit it to The Pun Group, LLP.
The Senate Bill 885 (call
to action) was addressed next. President Jacobs reported that he had received
an email from the California Special Districts Association (CSDA), with
information concerning the proposed senate Bill 885. As a small district with
very limited allocations, this bill could greatly limit the district’s ability
to fund and complete future improvement projects. The CSDA requested that we
help them oppose the bill by sending/submitting letters of opposition. The
Board agreed that they would like to oppose Senate Bill 885, so the Secretary
was directed to use the sample letter provided by CSDA to compose, print, sign,
and submit the letter to the designated elected officials and senate judiciary
committees. The Board will wait until next month, when Director Hayhurst will
be present, to discuss the Records Retention Policy.
The General Manager reported
that she had expected to have the estimate from Hi Desert Alarm for a new
security camera system by now (as she had met with Mel to discuss it back on
Tuesday 2/24), but hadn’t received it yet. She will be following up with him
tomorrow to request it again and make sure they were still interested in the
job. Director Schendel offered to text him that night to ask/remind him to send
the bid. She also reported that John Heald was interested in providing the
Board with a Bid for shade canopies over the playground equipment as well. She
hadn’t been aware that it was a service he even offered, so didn’t think to
ask/tell him about the job sooner, but she was excited to learn that Unique
Landscaping is interested in submitting a Bid and therefore, the project may
not be completely dead yet. Lastly, the Secretary updated the Board that she
was able to confirm with her doctor that she will for sure be needing surgery (Hysterectomy)
and that they are looking into scheduling that in mid-late April. President
Jacobs suggested that the Board could move the next Board Meeting up a week
sooner to help her be prepared for that if she needs. Then he asked if any of
the other Directors had a key to the office and none did, so the Secretary will
have a few additional keys made (for Stapp and Wilkey) in case they might need
to get in to the office to pay any urgent bills that may come up while she is
home recovering.
President Jacobs asked if
any of the Directors had any Reports or anything further they wanted to
discuss. Director Schendel reported that the very large pothole on O Street and
DeAnza that he had reported last month had been patched, but was not patched
very well. The material used had just sunken in and didn’t hold up. The
Secretary will call the County to report the pothole again as well as newer
potholes on Rimrock Rd. between L and M streets. Director Schendel also
reported an increase in car thefts and that he had heard that the vehicles
stolen were taken while left running in the driveway as the drivers had left
them just briefly to run inside for something.
President Jacobs asked
the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be presented. She indicated
that there were none. Director Stapp motioned to pay all of the bills as presented.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. There was
no New Business to address and no Executive Session was requested.
The next Regular Meeting
was scheduled for Monday, April 18th at 6:00 PM.
The meeting adjourned at 7:12
PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General
Manager
