BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
February 24th,
2014
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and
Director Hayhurst led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, Wilkey,
and Hayhurst were all present. There
were no guests in attendance and no public comments/questions to be heard.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Schendel motioned to accept the
Minutes of the January 27th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for
January of 2014 as presented. Director
Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted the Annual Tax Allocation
Summary received from the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector. The Summary lists what the District’s expected
share of the tax money collected by the County will be this year (approximately
$59,385.00 during FY 2013-14).
Presidents Jacobs also read a letter from Robert Gutierrez, Research
Analyst with CalTax. He has requested
Public Records from us that answer specific questions they have about past
property taxes that were levied by an election (the Road Assessment). The Secretary was directed to find the
appropriate documents that answer their questions and respond to the request
immediately.
H Street Park was addressed.
Bid 13-03, the new Covered Picnic Areas was addressed first. Director Jacobs asked the Secretary if she
could provide an update on when the Engineering work is scheduled to
begin. The Secretary replied that she
requested that information, but hasn’t received a response yet. She expects them to confirm a specific date within
the next day or two, and that according to previous estimates, the work should
be scheduled to begin within the next two weeks. President Jacobs brought up his interest in
designing a Plaque of Appreciation to Dorothy Davis (for her donations of the
nearly $140,000 that will help pay for the improvements) to display at H Street
Park once the new construction project is completed. He suggested that the Directors start thinking
about what wording they could suggest be used on the Plaque. Director Jacobs also updated the Board that
he was able to check out the metal paneling on the back-side of the restrooms that
was mentioned last month. He was able to bend the metal cover back into shape
and added that the panel covered a few wires going in and out, but there was
nothing underneath it that had been disturbed or that could have been taken. The Safety Check List from the City was
reviewed. Two sets of the swing hangers
were replaced last week and the other two sets were replaced this morning. President Jacobs added that he stopped by
when Lawrence was working on it and he observed that the work that had to be
done was quite extensive. The top portion
of the swing set had to be completely unassembled and reconfigured so that the
new hangers would fit correctly. The Directors
agreed that the City should be commended for getting this difficult job done
well. Director Wilkey also asked the
Secretary to notify the City that there are two different rusted and separated
couplings along the top edge of the fence railing on the West side of the park
that he noticed recently. The edges of
the couplings are sharp and therefore he is concerned that someone might cut or
injure themselves on them. The Secretary
will find out if the City can fix them or if we need to hire Ellis Fence to
replace/repair them. President Jacobs
updated the Board about his unsuccessful attempts to exterminate a particular tricky
Ground Squirrel again (with Propane). He
suggested that they continue their efforts using the smoke cartridges again and
hope for more success that way.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Board discussed the cracked sidewalk (and
tripping hazard) that Director Wilkey had noticed there and took a photo of
recently. The Secretary then sent that
photo to the City and asked what could be done about fixing it. Mr. Gerardi then placed a call to a
contractor and is currently waiting for a response and estimate of the approximate
cost of the repairs. The Board agreed
that it would be preferable to just let the City get the job hired out and done
as quickly as possible rather than slow things by requesting multiple
bids. Director Stapp asked Director
Wilkey how the trees (and new irrigation) at Venner Park are doing. Director Wilkey replied that they seem to be
doing well, but that every once in a while he notices that the water pressure
causes a few of the bubbler tops to pop off of the sprinkler heads. So far, he’s been able to find them and just
pop them back on easily, however he continues to keep an eye on them and checks
them each morning before he leaves for work.
Form 700 was addressed. Directors were given their copies to review and sign or notify the Secretary if any corrections needed to be made. President Jacobs will take Director King’s Form 700 over to him to be signed and returned to the Secretary this week.
The Safety Review Report was read aloud by the Safety
Coordinator, Director Wilkey. Director
Schendel motioned to accept the Safety Review Report. Director Stapp seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. The Secretary will submit the report to SDRMA.
The need to update the Signature Card for all of the accounts
(including the checking account, so all Directors can sign checks) at Desert
Community Bank was addressed. Director
Stapp motioned to update the Signature Card at DCB by adding Director Hayhurst
and removing former Director King.
Director Schendel seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
The Annual Audit was addressed.
President Jacobs mentioned that we have continued to use the same
Auditor for many years now (since at least 2006) and that it was time to begin
discussing our options again. Director
Hayhurst shared her belief that no matter how great our current Auditor is, that
it is common practice, to ensure public trust, that Boards rehire a new Auditor
at least once every 3-5 years. She also
suspects that we may currently be paying too much for this service. Even though it may be a little more work at
first to establish a new working relationship with someone else, sometimes a
new Auditor will look at things differently (with a fresh eye) and catch things
that the previous one didn’t. She urged
the Board to look into the possibility of finding a new Auditor for this year
as soon as possible. Director Stapp agreed
and confirmed that he also thinks we’ve been paying too much for our Annual
Audits. The Secretary was directed to
begin making a list of Auditors who may be interested in working with us this
year. Director Hayhurst motioned to give
the General Manager permission to request Bids/Proposals from various new
Auditors as needed. Director Wilkey
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously. Director Hayhurst will work
with the Secretary to help her determine who to ask.
The Ethics Training (required course AB1234) was addressed
briefly. President Jacobs and Directors
Stapp and Wilkey have completed their courses and turned in their completed
self-study exams to the Secretary.
Director Schendel will be finishing his and turning it in to the
Secretary this week so she can submit them to complete their certification for
another two years.
The Policy and Procedure Manual was addressed. The Secretary reported that she just finished
re-typing the Code of Ethics. The previous
copy was so old that it had been typed on a typewriter, and she needed a newer
copy saved that she can easily edit/print from the computer as needed. The General Manager Guidelines were also complete
as presented, but there were a few more items she wanted to correct/revise in the Secretarial
Duties and Office Procedures document.
President Jacobs requested that at least the first two items be included
on the Agenda next month as well as included in the Agenda Packets for their
review before the next meeting so we can get them approved. Director Hayhurst asked that she get her copies
sooner so she has more than a few days to study/review them, and the Secretary
gave her those copies right then.
The General Manager reported that she had a really good meeting
with Director Hayhurst and was encouraged to continue getting as much
additional training as she can fit in.
SDRMA continues to offer free Online Webinars (plus some with a small
fee) and two of them are of particular interest to her. In April she plans to take the “Records
Retention & Management” class to help her learn to manage her files more
effectively and in June she will be taking a class titled “Top Ten Tips for a Trouble
Free Construction Project.” She
continues to have a large list of work to be done most of the time, but feels
like she continues to improve at getting things done more quickly now.
The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog
(BarstowHeights.blogspot.com) updated with the most recent Meeting Agendas and
Minutes. She most recently posted the
warning to residents that suspicions have been raised about possible animal
poisonings in the area and that residents should keep a closer watch on their
pets to keep them safe. According to
Facebook analytics, 62 people have currently seen that same post/warning that
she shared on Facebook as well, so our online presence is growing and helping
to keep our residents informed. Director
Stapp asked if anyone else had heard anything more about the robberies that had
been occurring in the Heights so frequently.
Director Hayhurst confirmed that yes, she had heard things about them
also and that she believes that the suspects may have been caught or at least
deterred since the robberies have ceased.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. None of the Directors had anything to add.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She
indicated that yes, there was one additional bill that just arrived. The bill was from the City of Barstow for
$707.36 to help pay for the 8 new Swing Hangers installed at H Street
Park. Director Hayhurst motioned to pay
the bills as presented. Director Wilkey
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
There was no New Business to address and no Executive Session was
requested. The next Regular Meeting was scheduled
for Monday, March 24th, 2014 at 6:00 PM.
The meeting adjourned at 6:51 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio
Secretary/General
Manager
