BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, January 25th, 2016
Vice President Stapp called
the meeting to order at 6:01 PM and Director Hayhurst led the group in the flag
salute. Directors Stapp and Hayhurst were present. The guests in attendance
included the three newly re-appointed Directors, Dick Jacobs, Daryl Schendel,
and Paul Wilkey. Vice President Stapp welcomed them to the meeting and the Secretary
issued the Oath of Office to all of them. The newly sworn-in Directors signed
their Oath of Office forms at 6:05 PM.
Vice President Stapp
acknowledged that the Board was now fully staffed and that all Directors were
present. The election of new board officers was addressed. Director Jacobs
motioned to appoint Robert M. Stapp as the President of the board. He
respectfully declined. Director Jacobs motioned to appoint Jeanette Hayhurst as
the President of the board. She respectfully declined. Director Hayhurst
motioned that the current officers remain as they were (Dick Jacobs as President,
Robert Stapp as Vice President, Paul Wilkey as the Safety Coordinator, and
Jeanette Hayhurst as the Clerk) for another year. Director Stapp seconded the
motion. The motion carried 4-1, with Director Jacobs being the only opposing
vote. Director Stapp turned over the rest of meeting to be presided over and
conducted by President Jacobs. There were no additional guests or public comments/questions.
The Consent Items were
reviewed. Director Schendel motioned to accept the Minutes of the November 17th,
2015 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for November and December of 2015
as presented. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. The motion carried
unanimously.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review. President Jacobs reminded the board that Ethics Training
(required course AB1234) is due to be completed again by four of the Directors
(Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, and Wilkey). The Secretary was directed to re-send
the email that included the link and details about how to complete the course
online, to those Directors that need to do it. The Secretary also called the
Directors attention to the Christmas cards that had been received and displayed,
as well as, the beautiful thank you card from Janet Fowler and the Kelley family,
in appreciation for the Park Dedication Ceremony in November.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. Director Wilkey reported to the Board that there would be no “Safety
Check Lists” from the City to review this month. Mark Gerardi had contacted him
to let him know that he had been sick and was not working for several days, so
was unable to complete the report this time. He did confirm verbally over the
phone that there were no safety or maintenance issues reported in the past
month at either park. They will begin their annual tree trimming/maintenance
soon, so the Board can expect to see that getting done within the next month or
two. Director Hayhurst reported that she recently got a response from the water
company about who to call when we are ready to set off more gas cartridges
inside the locked water tower compound. Jesse Ramirez will be the contact person
for that whenever we are ready to call again and coordinate that with them. President
Jacobs reported that he had seen very little ground squirrel activity for the
past 6-8 weeks, and suspects they had been hibernating. He did purchase some “solar-powered
stakes” to use in his own yard and determine how well they work. Each stake
creates a vibration underground that is supposed to irritate and keep ground
squirrels away for up to 1/3 of an acre. He will let the Board know if they seem
to work for him, given a little more time to see the results.
The newly updated list of
Long Range Plans for Barstow Heights Park was addressed. President Jacobs
reported that he had contacted Jerry Linebaugh for an update about the newest
project (Bid 01-15), one shade canopy and tables to be installed on the south west
side of the park. The County was still working with the shade canopy company to
get their product certified/approved to be installed. The approval process shouldn’t
add any additional costs to the project, but the manufacturer can’t manufacture
them until they get the final approval from the County (which is why the order
has been delayed for now). President
Jacobs also reported that in early December he had called and asked Jerry
Linebaugh to “shoot us some elevations” to give the Board an idea about whether
adding a retaining wall and sidewalk to the front (north) side of the park
would be feasible. The grade between the end of the park and the road is over
eight feet, which means that putting in a
six-foot-tall retaining wall would not be up to code and thus, not allowed. It
also meant there wouldn’t be enough room for a sidewalk/walkway outside of the
wall, as originally discussed. The walkway would need to be located inside the
retaining wall and fencing would need to moved, thus making the project more
involved than originally anticipated. It doesn’t mean the project can’t happen,
it would just require some extra work. Director Stapp asked about the
possibility of setting-back the south side and adding a curb/sidewalk and main
entrance to the park there. Director Hayhurst suggested that an entrance in the
front could also be eliminated if need be to make it work. The Directors will
think on it some more and continue discussing further ideas/options at the next
meeting. Director Hayhurst asked for some clarification about a few of the
items on the Long Range Plans list. President Jacobs directed the Secretary to
add #10 on the list (Planting more trees on the south west side of park) to the
Agenda to discuss at the next meeting.
Venner Park was
addressed. There were no safety or maintenance issues reported in the past month
to discuss. No items on the Long Range Plan list were discussed.
The Office Building and
Compound were addressed. Director Hayhurst suggested that the Board look at
making some upgrades to the exterior of the office building. She suggested that
in addition to the new landscaping that had already been discussed and
replacing the roof (which is set to be done in 2018), the building needs new
stucco/paint and new windows, so it doesn’t look so outdated and uncared for.
The improvements would increase neighborhood pride and positively impact
property values. Director Schendel added his opinion that the money might be
better spent going directly to things the people will actually get/use directly
(park improvements). Director Hayhurst continued with “planting the seeds for
future discussion,” and expressed her hope that more building upkeep will
continue to be considered. She also suggested the addition of wrought-iron
fencing (to replace chain-link fencing) at the parks as well, because it holds
up much longer over time and looks so nice. Director Wilkey asked whether or
not it was known for sure if and when the big water tank was going to be
removed. Director Hayhust answered that the date is uncertain, only that the
BLM and water company are working out the details of where a new one to replace
it will be installed elsewhere, and that it could take less than another year
or more (several years). Eventually though, the property will be given back to
the District which will make the park larger, if that is how the District wants
to use the extra land/space. Director Schendel added his suggestion that the
security cameras at the office building need upgrading as well. The Secretary
will contact Barstow/Hi Desert Alarm for an estimate on a new security system.
The Secretary is also still working on getting a new computer and paper
shredder purchased for the office. She also reported that President Jacobs had recently
done a beautiful job building a protective box for and attaching a new
door-bell to the bulletin board/gate in front of the office. She also reported
that Unique Landscaping would be coming on Wednesday morning 1/27 to measure
for and provide an estimate on the landscaping work that the Board had
requested at the previous meeting. Director Wilkey suggested that she go ahead
and request an additional estimate for adding compacted hard dirt known as “DG”
(Decomposed Granite), to the area surrounding and outside of the basketball
court as well. Director Schendel shared his idea that a special area set aside
as a “bounce house pad” complete with electrical hook-ups could be added to the
space where the water tanks currently are, once they are removed.
The final copy of the
Audit Report was addressed. Director Wilkey motioned to accept and approve the
annual financial Audit Report for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2015.
Director Schendel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The Policies and
Procedures manual was addressed next. The Secretary reported that she was
currently still working on a new draft of the Banking Policy. She also needed a
signature from the Board President on the official copy of the Purchasing
Policy that had been approved at the November meeting, as well as a signature
on some legal paperwork she needed to send back to the Auditor, so those items
were signed. Additional policies that still need updating were discussed.
The General Manager reported
that she was finishing up the 1099 forms for Director’s compensation pay and
that they would be receiving those in the mail within the coming week. Director
Hayhurst asked about Form 700 and the Secretary
replied that they are due April 1st, and therefore would be on the next
month’s Agenda to address and sign during the meeting. Lastly, she reported
that her newest top priority would be to get Southern California Edison to come
and fix the two street lamps right outside of the office that are very dim and
flickering off most of the time, as well as make some progress on getting a
response from and estimate for the addition of a new street lamp/pole on the
east side of the basketball court.
President Jacobs asked if
any of the Directors had any Reports or anything further they wanted to
discuss. Director Wilkey had one more thing to request. He asked the Secretary
if she could have a newly updated list of the CD’s and their maturity dates/rates
available for the Directors to refer to at the next meeting. She will add and include
those figures on the next financial reports she types up for the next board
meeting.
President Jacobs asked
the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be presented. She indicated
that there were none. Director Hayhurst motioned to pay all of the bills as presented.
Director Stapp 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, February 22nd at 6:00 PM.
The meeting adjourned at 7:06
PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General
Manager
