Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Annexation


To the residents of Barstow Heights who are concerned about being annexed by the City of Barstow, we invite you to join us at our next Board Meeting on Monday, January 23rd at 6:00 pm!! The Board of Directors will be discussing this topic further and would like to hear your questions, suggestions, and requests regarding this situation. Our building is located on the corner of H street and Rimrock road (just behind the water tower and next to the park). You can also e-mail us before the meeting (barstowheightscsd@hotmail.com) with your list of any concerns or questions you'd like the Board to address that evening.

Here are links to the 12/16 and 12/21 newspaper articles
that announced some details about the possible annexation:

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Minutes from 10/24/16 Meeting (approved 12/12/16)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, October 24th, 2016

President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:02 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 and thus, no public comments/questions.

The Consent Items were reviewed. Director Schendel motioned to accept the Minutes of the September 26th, 2016 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for September of 2016 as presented. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

The Correspondence file was offered for review. Director Hayhurst reported that she would be attending the November 14th Special District’s Meeting hosted by the Mojave Water Agency, as a guest of Beverly Lowery (referencing the flyer in the correspondence file advertising it).

Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no new safety or maintenance issues listed in the past month. The report did confirm that all of the fence safety hazards had been repaired, and that two new trash can lids (with cable kits) had been ordered to replace the old rusted ones. President Jacobs reported his belief that all of the ground squirrels had learned to stay away from the grass, that currently most of them can only be seen inside the locked up water tank area, and that he has continued set off just a few gas extermination cartridges in recent weeks.

There was nothing new to report regarding the remedying of the privacy concerns of the neighbors next to the new shade canopy. The secretary had been directed to give Unique Landscaping some time to fix the unresolved issues from the last tree-planting job they had done, before requesting another estimate for the purchase and planting of a creosote bush and a pepper tree in the right-of-way between the fences. The secretary will send a friendly email reminder to John (including a copy of the portion of the minutes that record precisely the decision that the Board had made at the 9/26/16 meeting). If a response is not received before the next meeting, the secretary will invite John to attend the meeting to discuss it further with the Board.

The new sidewalk and curb addition on the South side was addressed next. The General Manager updated the Board about her conversation with John Siembab regarding prevailing wages and how he would be requiring a project number from us (assigned by the labor department to the specific job) before he would even consider bidding on such a large concrete job. He also informed her that engineering plans would definitely be necessary before he could submit a bid, because he would have no other way of knowing exactly where all the county “right-of-ways” are in order to know his boundaries for the project to determine his estimate/bid. The secretary will call Merrill Johnson Engineering to make an appointment for them to come out to survey the job and get an estimate on what it might cost for them to do the engineering.

Venner Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no new safety or maintenance issues reported in the past month. The report did confirm that some minor fence repairs were completed (including the replacement of missing post caps and fence ties). Director Wilkey added that he had inspected the cement slab of the basketball court and could confirm that it was still slick in one area (and hadn’t been roughed up as had previously been thought). The Secretary will ask John Rowe if there’s anything he can do (perhaps a glaze) that would roughen up the surface to make it less slick. The Long Range Plans list was skipped over.

The Office Building and Compound were addressed next. Proposals for the kitchen renovations had not yet been received, but at least one bid (from John Rowe) was expected to arrive soon. The Secretary reported that technicians had been at the office working another long day (8 hours) to complete the install of the new Security Camera System. All six cameras were adjusted and were now fully operational. Director Jacobs will go around and check all of the entrances to make sure there are adequate signs posted to alert the public that they are being recorded. As soon as the anticipated  internet upgrade to cable happens, then Hi Desert Alarm will be able to return to make the surveillance system accessible via the internet and cell phones. President Jacobs related to the board his satisfying experience contacting Frontier and Time Warner Cable (soon-to-be Spectrum), to get information about switching over for a stronger cable internet connection.

The General Manager reported all of the details about her first meeting with Nick Benson (computer install consultant) regarding the new computer system for the office. He spent approximately an hour looking over the current computer, testing internet speed, and discussing with her his list of suggested specifications for a new computer that will best fit the needs of the District. She had already picked out the exact computer and accessories according to his recommendations and was ready to get it ordered from Amazon.com, as soon as the Board approved of it. The Board agreed that since the cost would be exactly $829.98 (and the Board had already approved a motion allowing her to spend up to $1,500.00 on the system last November), that she should go ahead and just get it ordered with no further action required by the Board.

The General Manager reported that the Audit work required of her was nearing completion, and that she had just received a “rough draft” of the Audit Report for the board to review, and to please notify her about any errors they might find. She also reported that she had begun shredding some paperwork (so far, only some very old utility bills) to try out the new paper shredder and to make more room in the filing cabinet. She was looking forward to using the records retention policy to help her determine what more she could begin shredding next.

President Jacobs asked for the Directors’ reports. Director Wilkey mentioned that there had been a lot of discussion in the Next Door online chat room about coyotes coming in late at night and a suspected dog thief that might be responsible for a lot of missing small dogs.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be presented. She indicated that there were none. Director Wilkey motioned to pay all of the bills as presented. Director Stapp seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-0, with President Jacobs abstaining from the vote since his name was on one of the bills (reimbursement for paper shredder purchase) listed on the Agenda.

There was no New Business to address and no Executive Session requested. The next Regular Meeting was tentatively scheduled for Monday, November 28th at 6:00 PM, depending upon the availability of the Auditor. If he can’t attend that evening, it will be scheduled for an evening when he can attend in early-mid December. The Secretary will provide a pizza party for the Director’s at the next meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM.

Submitted by:  Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Agenda for 12/12 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, December 12, 2016 - 6:00 PM

1.   Call to Order and Flag Salute

2.   Roll Call and Recognition of Guests

3.   Public Comments/Questions

4.   The Audit Report

5.   Consent Items:        Minutes – October 24, 2016
                                   Financial Reports – October of 2016

6.   Correspondence

7.   Parks:             Barstow Heights:             Safety Check List and Ground Squirrels
                                                                          Privacy concerns of neighbors next to shade canopy      
                                                                          Planting of four new trees
                                                                                           Long Range Plans List

                                Venner Park:                  Safety Check List
                                                                Long Range Plans List

8.   Office Building & Compound:               Kitchen renovations (3 bids requested)
                                                                          Security camera system (nearly completed)
                                                                                            Long Range Plans List

9.   Safety Review Report

10.  Director Vacancy

11.  General Manager’s Report

12.  Directors’ Reports

13.  Bills:           Edison - $141.97                                        Terminix - $42.00
                           Frontier Communications - $83.59        The Pun Group, LLP - $3,150.00 (auditing)
                           C.S.D.A. - $240.00 (annual dues)            Jennifer Rubio - $829.98 (computer purchase)

14.  New Business

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

16.  Adjournment