BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, August 22nd, 2016
President Jacobs called
the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and a guest, Gene Low, led the group in the
flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey, were all present. Director
Hayhurst was unable to attend due to a prior family obligation. There was one
guest in attendance, resident, Gene Low.
The Consent Items were
reviewed. President Jacobs noted one error in the Minutes that required
revision (on page 1, five lines from the bottom, North was changed to West). Director
Stapp motioned to accept the corrected Minutes of the July 25th, 2016 Meeting,
along with the Financial Reports for July of 2016 as presented. Director
Schendel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review. President Jacobs mentioned one note in the folder stating
that Paul S. Messner, CPA, had stopped by the office on 7/28 to leave his
business card and let the Board know that he is interested in being considered
as an Auditor the next time the Board is hiring for that job. The Secretary
will file and save his contact information for future reference.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. There was no Safety Check List from the City to review. President
Jacobs reported that there are more Ground Squirrel holes popping up again
(most of them inside the water tower compound). He continues to use gas
cartridges as needed, only where he has access, to keep them controlled.
Resident and guest, Gene Low,
was back again to help the Board come up with a solution to the privacy
concerns that the newly installed covered picnic area has created, due to his
back yard being adjacent to and so close to the new shaded picnic area. Director
Wilkey reported that he had taken some wooden lattice over to the Low’s home, so
they could determine together how it might look if it were placed atop the
brick wall. They agreed that they didn’t love that idea enough, as it seemed to
block their view of the park too much. They did realize then that the location
of the barbecue is what was most invasive, since anyone using it would be
looking directly down into the yard and level with their elevated back porch.
Director Wilkey added that a bushy shrub or tree in the alleyway between the
Low’s brick wall and the chain link fence enclosing the park was the idea he
was most in favor of. A hedge (that can be left bushy or trimmed as much a
needed) or a pepper tree (that keeps its leaves in winter and requires very
little water) were also discussed as possible solutions. The Secretary was
directed to request a bid from Unique Landscaping for the purchase and planting
of three pepper trees, as well as, a second bid for another kind of tree or
shrub that stands 8-10 feet tall (bushy to create privacy, but easy to
maintain, with minimal shedding of foliage to clean up). She will also contact
Ellis Fence Company to learn if they have any ideas or recommendations they can
offer as a solution.
The planting of more
trees (Estimate #142 from Unique Landscaping) was reviewed and discussed.
Director Schendel motioned that the Board approve of Estimate #142 to install
four 48” box fruitless mulberry trees with deep root irrigation included for
the price of $9,500. Director Stapp seconded the motion. The motion carried
with 3 votes all in favor of it, while Director Wilkey abstained from the vote.
The Board took a recess at 6:37 PM to go outside to the park to review and
clarify, one more time, the exact desired locations of each of the four new
trees. As soon as the four tree locations were marked in the grass with orange
spray paint, the Board re-adjourned at 6:54 PM. The Secretary had no new
information to report yet regarding the mysterious disappearance of the large
trash dumpster that used to be located in the South West corner outside the
park.
Venner Park was
addressed. There was no Safety Check List from the City to review. Director Stapp
had a question for the Board regarding the slick cement surface of the
Basketball court at Venner Park. He noticed about a week prior that it was no
longer slick, and that it appeared to have been coated or resurfaced with a
coarse substance. No one else present had yet noticed or been made aware the
situation. The Secretary will inquire of the City and get more information
about when and how they remedied that concern.
The Office Building and
Compound were addressed next. The Secretary was asked how plans for the kitchen
renovations were coming along. She reported that John Rowe of JDR Construction
would be stopping by during the coming week, so she could show him in person
all that the job might entail. She will be requesting at least one or two more
estimates for that job. She then reported to the Board that the installation of
the new Security Camera System had begun. Two male employees of Hi Desert Alarm
had been at the office two weeks prior. They spent approximately five hours drilling
holes for wiring and installing half of the camera system. Three of the cameras
attached to the roof of the Office Building were now in place and working, but
the other three cameras that will be attached to the roof of the adjacent
Restroom Building couldn’t be set up until a conduit (1” PVC underground) for
the electrical wiring connecting the two buildings is in place.
The internet system was
also requiring a small upgrade, as the outdated modem only included one output,
and multiple outputs are necessary to finish the set up and allow the video
feeds to be viewed online (and accessed via cell phone). The Secretary will get
those two issues dealt with as soon as possible so the alarm company can come
back to finish the install. The Board was not satisfied with the positioning of
one of the cameras overlooking the Park because too much of the view is
obscured by the chain-link fence. The Secretary will request that it be
adjusted and elevated a little more to get a better view over the fence.
The Safety Review Report
was read aloud by the Safety Coordinator, Director Paul Wilkey. Because of two new
safety issues (a rusted/sharp fence railing and a trash can lid) not discovered
until after the report was already written, the Board agreed to not approve the
report for SDRMA until those issues are fixed. The Secretary will get them
remedied as soon as possible, so she can revise the report to reflect that
those items are no longer safety issues. She will have an updated and more
accurate report ready for the Board again next month.
The Records Retention
Policy was addressed briefly. Director
Hayhurst had previously recommended that the Board adopt the 72-page policy that
has already been written and adopted by the State of California (and is easy to
access and read online). The Board agreed to wait one more month to discuss it
again and finalize it when Director Hayhurst can be present to offer any
further input she might have. The Secretary will begin studying the document for
further implementation and add it to next month’s Agenda for final review and
approval.
The General Manager reported
that she had an unexpected water line break at the office to deal with a few
weeks prior. Thursday morning 8/4, a City of Barstow employee noticed and dug
up the dirt area where the leak occurred (inside the locked water tower
compound). He discovered it wasn’t a water line going into the park (and thus
not part of the water system the City maintains), but rather it was a very old
water line going to the office building. The Secretary called Ziemer Plumbing
and they repaired the pipe that day, but when they were finally able to get the
water turned back on again a week later, the pipe burst in another spot, so the
plumber had to come back and fix it a second time. She had received only one
bill from Ziemer Plumbing so far, but anticipated that there might be another.
She also reported that the Accountant from Stewart’s Business and Tax Service
had been there to help reconcile all of the bank statements in QuickBooks and
finalize some other accounting work (depreciation schedule) that needed to be
done prior to the Audit. The Auditor had been in contact with both of them and
she expected the Audit (and the work she needed to do for the Auditor; finding
and scanning a number of files and uploading them to a shared online portal)
would require a lot of her time in the office over the next couple of weeks.
Since the Electric Company has continued to not respond to her numerous attempts
to reach them, the Secretary was directed to contact Curran Electric for an
estimate from them to install a solar light and pole at the South East side of
the Basketball Courts at Barstow Heights Park.
President Jacobs asked
for the Directors’ Reports. Director Stapp inquired if there had been any progress
on the curbs and sidewalks project (on the South side, Beryl Street only). He
asked that the item be added back on to the Agenda next month and for the
Secretary to begin requesting Bids from any and all contractors that may be
interested in that job.
President Jacobs asked
the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be presented. She indicated
that there were none. President Jacobs motioned to pay all of the bills as presented.
Director Schendel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
There was one item of New
Business to address. While the Directors were taking a quick recess out to
Barstow Heights Park, they discovered that the metal pole/railing atop
chain-link fencing all along the South West side of the park was cracked,
rusting, and sharp. The Secretary was directed to contact Ellis Fence Co. and
request two bids from them; one to repair/weld and fix only the dangerous spots
as necessary and another estimate to just replace the entire length of metal
pole. She will also ask them to inspect the chain link fencing throughout the
entire park for any other potential safety issues.
No Executive Session was requested.
The next Regular Meeting was scheduled for Monday, September 26th at 6:00 PM. The
meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.
Submitted by: Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager
