Thursday, October 24, 2013

Agenda for 10/28 Board Meeting

A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
October 28, 2013 - 6:00 PM

1.   Call to Order and Flag Salute

2.   Roll Call and Recognition of Guests

3.   Public Comments/Questions

4.   Consent Items:

                        Minutes – September 23, 2013

                        Financial Report – September 2013

5.   Correspondence

6.   Update on Board Vacancies

7.   Parks:             H Street:       Safety Check List and Ground Squirrels

Bid 13-03: Covered picnic areas, tables, and tree removal

Sidewalks and Ramp to meet ADA

Office compound – sprinkler system repair and weed removal            

    Venner:        Safety Check List

             Irrigation for trees on Northwest side

                                                     Benches

 8.  Policy and Procedures Manual

9.  Website (BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) and Facebook page activity

10.  General Manager’s Report 

11.  Directors’ Reports

12.  Bills:          Hi Desert Alarm - $336.00             Edison - $126.97                Terminix - $36.00       

Verizon - $88.02                              D. Jacobs - $34.54 (re-imbursement for printer ink)

13.  New Business

14.  Executive Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1

15.  Adjournment

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Minutes from 8/26 Meeting (approved 9/23/13)

BARSTOW HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
August 26th, 2013

President Jacobs opened the meeting at 6:01 PM and Director Stapp led the group in the flag salute.  Directors Jacobs, Stapp, and Wilkey were all present.  Directors King and Schendel were absent.  There were no guests in attendance.

President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items.  There was one correction needed on the minutes.  Director Jacobs requested that the term “cubic feet” be changed to “cubic yards” (first page, last paragraph).  Director Stapp motioned to accept the corrected Minutes of the July 22nd, 2013 Meeting, along with the Financial Report for July of 2013 as presented.  Director Wilkey seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

The Correspondence was offered for review.  President Jacobs read an invitation in the file and extended the invite to Directors to attend the High Desert CSD luncheon at Los Domingo’s coming up on Wednesday, September 11th at Noon.  The file also included a copy of the completed Audit Questionnaire that the Secretary recently submitted to the Auditor, Mr. David B. Whitford, Jr., CPA.

At 6:04 PM John Heald of Unique Landscaping entered the meeting and the Board welcomed him.

H Street Park was addressed.  The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed.  Director Stapp reported that the Ground Squirrels are back in full force again and that he continues to set off more extermination cartridges (9 more set into 9 holes this morning).  He also reported that he discovered that one of the trash cans was wiggling and loose because the Ground Squirrels had dug a hole around its foundation.  He filled the hole with dirt to give the trash can more stability.  Bid 13-03, the proposed Covered Picnic Areas, was discussed.  The cement foundations of each area will measure 20 feet by 40 feet, with the front-most facing area positioned North to South, while the other area could be rotated to face East to West.  The Directors agreed that they are all in favor of adding at least two separate Picnic Areas.  More specifics of details to use on the Bid sheet were clarified.  Other questions that were addressed included whether or not to include the addition of benches to the basketball court area as part of the same project with the same contractor, and should the District order the tables and benches (handling the delivery and storage of them ourselves) or give the contractor the responsibility of ordering and transporting them in for the job.  Director Wilkey suggested that we call the company we’re ordering the tables and benches from (Pilot Rock) to ask them if they offer a “contractor’s rate” and what that might be, so that information could aid them in the decision.  He also suggested we add another item (#7) to the Bid sheet requesting that the contractor be responsible also to re-route the sprinklers as necessary to ensure proper operation.  John Heald asked if he could be included to receive a Bid sheet for the job when it is ready also, since he might be asked to work with a contractor on this project as well.  The Secretary was directed to make sure that Unique Landscaping is included on the Bid list.  Director Wilkey suggested we also add Linebaugh Construction and H.S. Constuction to the Bid list.  He will let the Secretary know the phone number to call Linebaugh for their address this week, since she has been unable to find them in the phone book.  President Jacobs asked if the tree removal should also be part of this project, but all agreed that we could easily hire that out to be done first separately.  Mr. Heald warned the Board to make sure that the tree roots are ground down at least one full foot or more, because they have a tendency to grow back if not ground down deep enough.  President Jacobs thanked him for his input and stated that his suggestion reminded him that the specs should also require that a “wire mesh” be added to the concrete slabs.  Director Stapp asked if an approach to the sidewalk or a cement ramp to at least one of these picnic areas should be added to meet ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements also.  The Directors agreed that it was a good suggestion to think on and consider again at the next meeting along with any proposed solutions they can come up with before then.

Venner Park was addressed.  The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed.  The Secretary was directed to talk with Mark Gerardi again to find out if there’s anything we can do for Venner Park in regards to the light pole issues and graffiti clean-up.  Director Stapp suggested we leave the “Gopher” issue off of future Agendas since we haven’t seen one recently and past experience has shown that there’s not much we can do to remedy just one or two of them anyway.  The new irrigation for trees on the Northwest side was discussed with Mr. John Heald of Unique Landscaping.  He would like to have a job walk-through with one of the Directors to get an accurate plant count.  He counted 18, but President Jacobs had counted just 9 trees.  John Heald needed to leave the meeting and exited the room at 6:48 PM.  Presidents Jacobs mentioned that we may need to add one more level of blocks on to the top of the block wall located above the volleyball court also.  The Directors discussed the kind of Benches needed at Venner Park.  The Secretary was directed to get a catalog or item number to use from Mark Gerardi at the City so we could order wire Benches similar to the ones the City has in place.  President Jacobs shared his desire that adding similar benches (6 feet or longer) to the North and South sides of the Basketball Court at H street park also become part of the Bid sheet 13-03 specifications.

The Checking Account Balance was discussed.  Another charitable donation check from the Dorothy Davis Estate for $39,206.28 arrived and was deposited into the account during the past week.  The result is a lot of money in the one account that could possibly be better invested elsewhere.  The Secretary was directed to look into opening another Certificate of Deposit (#5) for a term of 6 months, and to find out what the current interest rate is so they can discuss it further at the next meeting.  The Secretary is also to find out what Policies we might already have in place to determine if a Board Member is required to be present with the Secretary when opening another CD account.

The Policy and Procedure Manual was discussed briefly.  The Secretary reported that the Auditor has requested a copy of the Manual from us also, so completing it is one of the more urgent things she needs to accomplish over the next few weeks.

The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog (BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) updated.  The Facebook page currently has 97 followers, which is a very slight increase from last month.  She reported that she took a few photos of the Army group that was here using H Street park for their company picnic on Saturday, August 3rd.  She plans to share those pictures on the blog soon.  She has continued to promote on Facebook and on the blog that we are still seeking a new Board Member.

President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports.  Director Stapp encouraged the Board to continue to “dream big” to determine more ways we can use our money to improve the Parks.

President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any additional bills to be paid.  She indicated there were none.  Director Wilkey motioned to pay the bills as presented.  Director Stapp seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

There was no new business to address.  Director Wilkey had one more thought to share, he suggested that perhaps we consider moving the second Covered Picnic Area at H street Park to be added even farther back by the restrooms (South) than had previously been discussed and everyone agreed to think about the placement possibilities some more.

The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 23rd, 2013 at 6:00 PM.  The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.

Submitted by:
Jen Rubio - Secretary/General Manager