Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Minutes from 3/28/16 Meeting (approved 4/18/16)

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

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