BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014
President Jacobs called
the meeting to order at 6:02 PM and Director Hayhurst led the group in the flag
salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, Wilkey, and Hayhurst were all present.
There was one guest in attendance, Paul Kaymark, hired Auditor of the District
and Certified Public Accountant with Charles Z. Fedak & Company. There were
no public comments/questions. The Auditor presented the Annual Financial Report
to the Board of Directors for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014. The Auditor
reported that he would continue to be in contact with the Secretary as he had
some additional office procedures to inform her about that she will need to
complete; including further direction and specifics as to how to be certain
that all computer files/data are adequately backed-up and saved (on and off-site)
at least once monthly. The Auditor concluded that all information given them in
the report that evening was still in “draft” form, that the Board would need to
review it and inform the Secretary of any changes within one week, so she can
let him know of any revisions that may be necessary. Then the Auditor will
complete the “final” copy of the report and mail the final copies to the
District by the end of the month/year. The Board of Directors thanked him for
his work, his explanations, and to the helpful answers he gave to their questions.
Paul Kaymark left the meeting at 6:38 PM.
President Jacobs
requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Stapp motioned to accept the
Minutes of the October 27th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for
October of 2014 as presented. Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously, with Director Wilkey abstaining from the vote due to his
absence at the previous meeting.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted a letter and refund check (for
$72.67) received from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (dividends on their
investments).
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary was
directed to remind Mark Gerardi that we need to make sure the Park is referred
to as “Barstow Heights Park” on all documents instead of listing it as “H
Street” park, which is not its official name. President Jacobs reported that
the ground squirrels seem to be hibernating as they are not very active. The
Secretary reported that unfortunately she did just discover one new hole dug
under the front side of the office building (behind the bushes near the front
door) this week. President Jacobs will work on exterminating it sometime soon
when she will not be using the office to protect her from any fumes. The
Secretary updated the Board that the Plaques to honor Mrs. Kelley and Ms. Davis
will take about 6-8 weeks to arrive. President Jacobs reported that a fiber
optic cable installed by a contractor for AT&T resulted in a new pole
anchor that was placed right in front of the back entrance/opening to the
Basketball Court. The large pole poses a tripping hazard and blocks the gate
entrance, so he has made (and will continue to make) a lot of phone calls to
try to remedy the situation. He’s keeping detailed records of all of his
attempts to get it moved/removed. President Jacobs then asked the Board if
anyone had any further ideas/suggestions for the Stairs and Slope Cover as previously
discussed to protect the West side of the new ramp just completed. The
Directors agreed that they would work on coming up with more ideas how to deal
with that issue, as well as another list of ideas for future (long range)
improvements that they would like the Board to consider. Director Hayhurst
suggested that the Board also consider further improvements around the office
compound, perhaps DG (Decomposed Granite), to remedy the weeds that continue to
grow back. The Secretary reported that Mark Gerardi, City Maintenance
Supervisor, had asked for some paint to help cover graffiti on the new shade
canopies that has already occurred. She was directed to go ahead and purchase
one gallon of paint (Behr flat exterior in the correct shade of Sandstone was
recommended) to get him started, since the cost would be minimal and under her
$200 spending limit.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Secretary was directed to
follow up with Mark Gerardi again about getting the parking lot cleared and
swept (just as they did the parking lot at Barstow Heights Park). President
Jacobs asked the Secretary also about whether or not B.E.S.T. Opportunities had
been back to deal with the weeds around the office compound. She reported that
B.E.S.T. Opportunities was supposed to return again on 11/26 (the day before
Thanksgiving) to trim shrubs, remove weeds, and rake the area, but didn’t show
up and haven’t returned her phone calls yet. She will get the appointment with
them rescheduled as soon as possible. The Board then discussed the Bid from
John Rowe to put in a retaining wall at Venner Park where the dirt slope had
eroded due to flooding. Director Wilkey explained how the idea came about as he
had been discussing it with John Rowe during flood clean-up and how the work
would be helpful in keeping mud from continuing to wash onto the cement under
the picnic table area every time it rains. The Board asked a few more questions
about the specifics of the project as they discussed it at length. President
Jacobs motioned to hire JDR Construction (John Rowe) to construct the retaining
wall as presented. Director Schendel seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
The Resolution for Cal
OES (Form 130) was addressed next. The form provided by the State Governor’s
Office was a necessary Resolution to give the General Manager/Secretary
permission to act on behalf of the District in order to potentially secure
reimbursement to the District, a public entity, from Cal OES for Flood Damages
to Venner Park that resulted from the August 3rd, 2014 flooding. Director
Wilkey motioned to approve the Resolution. Director Hayhurst seconded the
motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The maturity of Bank CD’s
was addressed next. The Board reviewed the list of Bank CD’s the District
currently has and discussed several investment options. Director Hayhurst
motioned that since the interest rate on the Savings account is currently
higher (0.2%) than the current interest rate on the CD (0.145%) account number
ending in 6948, that the Board not re-new it when it matures in late December
2014, but rather that the Secretary/General Manager cash it in and deposit it
to the Savings account number ending in 6512. Director Schendel seconded the
motion. Motion carried unanimously. The secretary was directed to continue to
research other account options (including rates offered by competing banks) for
better interest rates.
The General Manager reported
that she did attend the Cal OES “applicants briefing” meeting at the San
Bernardino County Fire District Headquarters in Rialto on Wednesday, November
5th. A representative from the Governor’s Office taught an hour-long
presentation about how to apply and qualify for public disaster assistance. She
took a lot of notes and reported that she had completed all the steps necessary
to qualify and that the Resolution just passed (Form 130) was the last step
that she was aware of that she needed to submit to them. President Jacobs
reminded her to be sure she reimburses herself for the mileage (she drove) to
attend the meeting. The Secretary also reported that most of her time at work
during the past month was spent finding and
scanning/sorting things she was required to submit to the Auditor and that she
was relieved to have been able to accomplish it all without needing to work any
additional hours like she had expected. She looks forward to having more time
to organize and declutter the filing system in the coming months and will need
to purchase a paper shredder for the office soon to begin to accomplish this.
President Jacobs requested
the Directors’ reports. Director Stapp asked if any of the Director’s had heard
anything further about LAFCO regarding the Yermo District (CSD) consolidation.
President Jacobs said he will be attending the next meeting to listen in and
learn more about what is happening. Director Stapp expressed his concern that
since the flood, a few residents that have built up their own K-rails and River
Rock berms on the corners of their properties that could be dangerous to the
public and pose liability issues for these residents. Director Hayhurst
suggested that we send photos of anything that concerns us to Mr. Bill Little
so that he can perhaps notify these residents of what they should/shouldn’t do
on these easements of property that may technically belong to the County.
Director Hayhurst reported that she will begin gathering information to help
the Secretary come up with a Retention Policy by late January or early February.
She also reported that she had recently attended the Special District Dinner
hosted by the Mojave Water Agency.
President Jacobs asked
the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid. She indicated that
there were two additional bills ($107.10 to Southern California Edison received
12/3/14 and one more for $38 to Terminix also received 12/3/14). Director
Hayhurst motioned to pay the all of the bills as presented. Director Wilkey
seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. There was no New Business to
address and no Executive Session needed.
The next Regular Meeting
was scheduled for Monday, January 26th at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at
7:40 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General
Manager
