BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, April 23rd, 2018
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and Director Schendel led the group in the flag salute. Four of five directors were present (Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, and Low). Director Hayhurst was unable to attend. There were no guests in attendance.
The election of new board officers was discussed. 1). President Jacobs nominated Director Robert M. Stapp as the new President. Director Schendel seconded the nomination. 2). Director Stapp nominated Director Jeanette Hayhurst as the new Vice President. Director Schendel seconded the nomination. 3). President Jacobs nominated Director Gene Low as the new Safety Officer. Director Stapp seconded the nomination. 4). President Jacobs motioned that Director Jeanette Hayhurst also continue to keep her current position as Clerk. Clerk duties include the reviewing and signing of the financial statements that are reconciled and prepared by the accountant each month. Director Low seconded the nomination. There were no objections and all four nominations were agreed to unanimously. Former President Jacobs continued to preside over the remainder of the meeting for one last time.
The consent items were reviewed. Director Schendel motioned to accept the minutes of the March 26th, 2018 meeting, along with the financial reports for March of 2018, as presented. Director Stapp seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The correspondence file was passed around for review. President Jacobs read a letter (vacation request) from the Secretary/General Manager that was included in the file. President Jacobs motioned to approve her request for one week of paid vacation time during the week of June 12-14, 2018. Director Low seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. President Jacobs also called attention to a letter from the Community Action Partnership of S.B. County asking for public officials to nominate any candidates interested in serving as a representative on their board of directors.
Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The safety check list from the City of Barstow was reviewed. There were no new safety or maintenance issues listed. President Jacobs continues to keep the ground squirrel population under control. Director Stapp updated the board about the progress of the shade cover project. There were a few unanticipated challenges that resulted in delays and the installation ended up taking 3.5 weeks, instead of the 5 days that had been planned for. The shade canopies are now up successfully, aside from one more issue that was just discovered. Director Stapp noticed that the canvas cover was flapping around in the wind a lot. He took some video of it and sent it to the installer, who agreed that it should fit much tighter and not move in the wind that much at all. The installer will be returning on Friday 4/27 to remove the canvas and have it cut smaller, re-sewn, and re-stretched, so it can be attached properly. Director Stapp was uncertain if that can all be done in one day or if it will require more time to fix. In response to Director Schendel and Director Low’s concerns that the shade canopy at BHP was not large enough to cover all the playground equipment, Director Stapp explained that the reason was because the canopies cannot be safely engineered any larger than the one that is in place now. He suggested that replacing/reconfiguring the arrangement of the playground equipment underneath and/or adding another small shade cover would be some possible solutions to consider in the future. President Jacobs expressed his great appreciation to Director Stapp for all the hard work, extra time, and effort he gave to make such a huge project happen.
President Jacobs updated the board that the cost of the 3 additional new trash cans that the general manager had been directed to order would be $1,308, plus $950 for labor/installation, which was equivalent to the same price per trash can that had been paid the last time they had been ordered (22 trash cans were purchased in mid-October 2017).
The proposal from JDR Construction to provide and install a solar light with a pole at Barstow Heights Park (near the Southeast end of the basketball court), as per the specs provided to him, and including a concrete fitting that will be 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep with a rebar cage, was reviewed and discussed. Director Low motioned to accept and approve the bid as presented. President Jacobs seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The secretary had nothing new to report about when the dead pepper tree would be replaced. The last she had been told, a new tree had been ordered and would be replaced as soon as possible.
Venner Park was addressed. The safety check list from the City of Barstow was reviewed. There were no new safety or maintenance issues listed. Director Stapp voiced his concerns about something the contractor (shade canopy installer) had discovered when working there recently. He could see that some of the swing set poles were rusting (underground) and would likely need to be replaced soon. The secretary was directed to contact Mark Gerardi at the City and ask him to have his crew inspect the swing sets and give us their recommendation also.
The office building and compound was addressed. The secretary reported that she had hired Al Fierro on Wednesday 4/18 to come and do the weeding and yard clean-up around the office building. He will be coming to do the work at least every two weeks during the Spring and Summer. She was very impressed by what a great job he did (very detailed, even the tiniest weeds were removed), and was happy to now have a good solution for keeping the landscaping up and looking it’s best all the time.
The general manager reported that a new friend, Sherry Baily, would be offering and leading Qi Gong Tai Chi at Barstow Heights Park occasionally. She would be offering a free lesson/meditation/practice to the community at 10am on Saturday 4/28 in honor of World Qi Gong and Tai Chi Day. She also reported that she will be sharing more information with the public about that on Facebook very soon.
President Jacobs asked if there were any directors reports. Director Stapp reported that he had some new information to share. When he was completing his required ethics training course online a few months prior, the instructor mentioned some details about conflict of interest laws that pertain to the current board. There are some limitations that apply to any board member who might live or own property within 500 feet of a district-owned entity, like Director Low does. He contacted the CSDA and inquired further about the situation with their legal analyst. An “excess of caution” was recommended and it was advised that Director Low might prefer to abstain from voting for any future actions taken by the board that might be seen as something that could potentially increase his property value (specifically large capital outlay projects/improvements only).
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 the bills, as presented. Director Low seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
There was no new business to address and no executive session requested. The next regular meeting was scheduled a week earlier than usual, Monday, May 21st at 6:00 PM, since the fourth Monday in May falls on the Memorial Day holiday. The meeting adjourned at 6:43 PM.
Submitted by: Jen Rubio
Secretary/General Manager
Secretary/General Manager
