A Barstow Heights resident reported that neighbors should be on the look-out for a white male, nicely dressed, going door to door representing GE Alarm systems. He had an ID badge, but sounded fishy, so the resident's wife told him to leave. Then when they called GE alarm to ask about it they were told that they don't do door to door soliciting! It was reported to the Sheriff. You can never be too careful! For your own safety (and to prevent potential burglaries), it would be wise to not allow unsolicited salesmen/strangers into your homes, no matter how "nice" they might seem.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Minutes from 5/19 Meeting (approved 6/16/14)
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, May 19th,
2014
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and
Director Wilkey led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Stapp, Wilkey, and Hayhurst
were present. Director Schendel was
absent. There were no additional guests
in attendance.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes
of the April 28th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for April of
2014 as presented. Director Hayhurst
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review and the Directors
passed it around to look through.
Barstow Heights Park was addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was
reviewed. President Jacobs reported that
he had spoken with Lawrence Moore about the parks recently, and that Lawrence
updated him that he is no longer the park inspector, but that Mark Gerardi is
doing all of the inspections now.
President Jacobs also reported that the Ground Squirrel problem
continues. He has used up the remainder
of the bombs (extermination cartridges).
The last 18 had been used recently and the Secretary will need to order
more since the supply is now depleted. President Jacobs also noted that he’s seen a
few squirrels run across the street, so it appears that some may be residing
elsewhere, but coming back into the park to feed. He reported further that one squirrel had set
up his home underneath the office building and that he waited until Saturday
morning when the Secretary wasn’t there so he could set off a few smoke bombs
under the building safely. He also
worked with a water company employee to get inside the fenced/locked area that
the Water Company owns, to set off a few extermination cartridges there also.
The Plaque to honor and dedicate Barstow Heights Park to Barbara
Kelley was addressed. President Jacobs
read aloud the typed wording for the Plaque that the Secretary had provided as
a starting point, then suggested a few revisions. The Board agreed upon and determined the
exact wording for the Plaque. The
Secretary updated the Board that she had found receipts that indicated that the
12” x 12” Dedicatory Plaque ordered and installed at Venner Park a few years
prior had cost approximately $400, plus another $100 for labor and materials to
build the cement pedestal that it was mounted on. The Directors discussed ideas pertaining to
what the Plaque could be mounted on (benches were mentioned as one option), as
well as the locations where they should be placed. Director Hayhurst shared her opinion that the
Plaque be located near one of the park entrances and away from sprinklers/water
that could damage it over time. She also
encouraged the Board to consider locating it in a spot that won’t add more
time/labor required of the maintenance workers who might otherwise need to weed-wack/trim
the grass around it. President Jacobs
suggested that perhaps both Plaques (including the one for Dorothy Davis) be
mounted on the same pedestal. Director
Stapp preferred the idea of having two separate pedestals in separate locations
if they are designed similar to the one already in place at Venner Park;
perhaps the one for Dorothy Davis could located up by the restrooms and near the
new handicap accessible sidewalk that will be added. He felt that the pedestals would be large
enough and thus, clearly visible so as not to be a tripping hazard. President Jacobs asked the Secretary to make
a list of all of the suggested location ideas mentioned as a reference for the
Directors to consider and discuss further at the next meeting.
The new Covered Picnic Areas (Bid 13-03) were addressed
next. President Jacobs reported that he
rode along with Mr. Wade Harris to the San Bernardino County Building
Department in Hesperia, during the week prior, to seek their opinion on the
Site Plan that had been completed and received from the Engineer a few weeks
earlier. During that meeting, President
Jacobs learned for certain that the County would not be willing to issue a
building permit for the project unless the plan includes the completion of all
of the ADA requirements first. Because
the Board had not authorized the ADA requirements be addressed first as part of
phase one of the original project (and the contract signed with Harris
Construction), the Board would now need to either amend the contract with
Harris Construction or put the new additional ADA compliance jobs out for re-bid
in order to comply with the law.
President Jacobs felt that it wouldn’t be fair to Mr. Harris at all to
re-bid the entire project (and the Contract already signed with him prevents
the Board from doing so) and considering how much time Mr. Harris
has already invested into the project, wants to make sure that the Board does
the most honorable and ethical thing within the constraints of the law. Both the Board and Mr. Harris are
understandably uncomfortable with the idea of hiring another Contractor to
oversee the additional jobs under the same building permit issued to Harris
Construction. Mr. Harris had given a
rough estimate that the cost to add the handicap accessible sidewalks and meet all
other ADA requirements could increase the cost of the project by as much as $20,000
and that he would be willing and able to do the additional work, but
understands that the Board may be required by law to put the new jobs up for
bid. Director Hayhurst reminded the
Board that IF the increase of the project is less than 25% of the initial
contract ($17,500), they could still give the go ahead to Harris Construction
to include the additional sidewalks to meet ADA standards without having to
re-bid the whole project. The Board
agreed to ask Mr. Harris if he might be able to use the Site Plan to draw up a
formal proposal that includes the additional work for less than the $17,500 in
added costs. President Jacobs expressed
his hope that Harris Construction could do so, but he still had concerns and
doubts about that possibility because the parking lot also needs some overlay
work done to ensure that the slope will be less than 2% to meet ADA
requirements. President Jacobs believed that
the building inspectors would be very critical on that item and that if the
slope is anywhere near the 2%, then inspectors could require it be re-done,
adding to costs substantially. All in
all, the Board still opted to request a formal proposal from Mr. Harris to help
them determine for certain if hiring Harris Construction to do the additional
work might be possible.
The Plaque to thank Dorothy Davis was addressed next. President Jacobs read the rough draft of the
wording and the Board revised/shortened it a little bit. The Board agreed to continue discussing the
location where the Plaque should be located at a future meeting. The Board then addressed the Balance of the
deposit due to Harris Construction (invoice #1236) for the initial set up of
the Covered Picnic Areas project.
Director Hayhurst motioned that the Board pay the remainder of the
deposit ($4,349.50) to W.P. Harris Construction. Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There was one item listed on the report;
graffiti/vandalism in the restroom. The
deficiency was noted on 5/15/14 and covered over with paint the same day. The Board was pleased with how quickly it was
dealt with. President Jacobs asked if
the Wood Chips had been ordered yet and the Secretary responded that she would
get them ordered during the upcoming week.
Director Wilkey reported to the Board that after the concern was
mentioned at the last Board Meeting about the condition of the newest Trees at
Venner Park, he took some time to inspect them closer and was happy to report
that they were all still alive and well.
Director Hayhurst asked the Secretary about the large crack
spanning the length of the framed entrance to the kitchen area of the office building
that she had brought to the Board’s attention last month. The Secretary reported that she asked Wade
Harris to take a look at it briefly when he was at the office recently and that
he did believe its cause to be water leaking in through the roof. He advised her to have a roofer (Ralph
Sanchez was recommended) inspect the roof to get an estimate for repairs
needed. Then once the roof is fixed, the
cosmetic repairs on the inside of the building could be addressed.
President Jacobs directed the meeting back to the next item on
the Agenda, the Budget Resolution 2014-1 for FY 2013-2014. President Jacobs motioned to accept the
Budget Resolution 2014-1 as presented, with one modification to the document
(Director Schendel’s vote to be changed from an “Aye” to “Absent”). Director Hayhurst seconded the motion. The Resolution was adopted by the following
roll call vote:
President
Jacobs Aye
Director
Schendel Absent
Director Stapp Aye
Director Wilkey Aye
Director
Hayhurst Aye
The Safety Review Report was read by Director Wilkey. Director Stapp motioned to accept the report
as presented. Director Hayhurst seconded
the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Board addressed the Roads next. It was an item that President Jacobs had
requested be added to the Agenda because he had noticed that numerous cracks (many
3 inches or more wide with weeds growing out of them) were becoming a problem on
all of the Roads in the community. The
Secretary was directed to send a letter to the County to ask if and when
anything would be done to address the problem.
President Jacobs suggested that a copy of the letter be sent to the
offices of County Supervisors, James Ramos and Robert A. Lovingood, as well. She should note that it has been a few years
since many of the Roads have had any maintenance work done on them and that
they are now in great need of repairs.
Director Stapp brought up another related concern he had about the Roads
in the community. He has noticed that
there are several intersections in the Heights where the view is obscured
partially or fully, making it difficult and dangerous for drivers to pull out into
or across on-coming traffic. He noted that
he personally had almost been hit twice and that the problem is either the
result of property owners having trees/shrubbery that is overgrown, or is
caused by native creosote bushes that are growing wild on the corners. Director Stapp asked who should be
responsible for making sure that these things are taken care of to prevent
potential collisions. Director Hayhurst
suggested that County Code Enforcement should be notified of these dangers so
they can write orders and/or citations to residents who need to keep the corners
of their property clear for the safety of the public. The Sheriff could also be notified, but she
suggested we start with contacting County Code Enforcement first to find out
what they can do. Director Hayhurst volunteered
to make some phone calls and ask about possible solutions and steps the Board
can take to help to resolve the problem.
The General Manager reported that she had worked an additional
15 hours over the past two weeks to help her be ready for the Board
Meeting. She also reported that she recently
completed a two-hour online webinar class (Records Retention and Management) on
May 6th. She took four pages
of notes and has new material to reference as she works on getting the files
de-cluttered and re-organized during the upcoming months. She continues to keep the website (blog) and
Facebook page (105 followers) updated.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. None of the Directors had anything further to
report, but President Jacobs wanted to let the Board know that when he was
exterminating Ground Squirrels he noticed a lot of weeds around the office
building, as well as a leaking under-ground sprinkler pipe again. He shut the water off and contacted John
Heald of Unique Landscaping to ask him to come back and fix it, but has
received no response thus far.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She indicated
that there were none. Director Stapp motioned
to pay the bills as presented. Director
Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
There was one item of New Business to address. The Board had hired a new Auditor recently,
and he insisted that the District needs to hire a separate Accountant. By law, the Secretary cannot continue to act
as the Bookkeeper and the Accountant.
New laws require that this safeguard be put into place as soon as
possible. Director Hayhurst motioned
that the Board hire Stewart’s Business & Tax Service to serve as our new
Accountant. President Jacobs seconded
the motion. Motion carried unanimously
with Director Wilkey abstaining from the vote.
No Executive Session was requested.
The next Regular Meeting was scheduled for Monday, June 16th, 2014 at
6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:21
PM.
Submitted by:
Jen
Rubio - Secretary/General ManagerFriday, June 13, 2014
Agenda for 6/16 Board Meeting
A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, June 16,
2014 - 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
– May 19, 2014
Financial Reports – May of 2014
5. Correspondence
6. Parks: Barstow
Heights: Safety Check
List and Ground Squirrels
Dedication/Plaque
to honor Barbara Kelley
Bid 13-03: Covered picnic areas
Engineering update
Plaque to thank Dorothy Davis
Venner: Safety Check List
Wood
Chips update
7. Roads
8. Rodent Gas
Cartridges
9. General Manager’s Report
Policy
and Procedures Manual
Facebook
page activity
Website
- BarstowHeights.blogspot.com
10. Directors’ Reports
11. Bills: Edison - $104.81 State Comp. Ins. Fund - $257.26
Turboscape
- $3,760.00 (wood chips) U.S. Postal
Service - $140.00 (PO Box rental)
12. New Business
13. Executive
Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1
14. Adjournment
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Minutes from 4/28 Meeting (approved 5/19/14)
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, April
28th, 2014
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Wilkey motioned to accept the
Minutes of the March 25th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for
March of 2014 as presented. Director
Stapp seconded the motion. Motion
carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review. President Jacobs highlighted an e-mail from Director
Hayhurst to the Secretary concerning the assessed tax values of all properties
in the Barstow Heights. He reported that
the current tax role value is $103,589,184.00.
(While typing these minutes the Secretary realized that the number that
was read was actually the tax role value from 2009-10. The current tax role value for 2013-14 is
currently $95,600,908.00, which is an increase over the 2012-13 value of
$92,968,005.00).
Director Schendel entered the meeting at 6:04pm.
The next item of Correspondence that President Jacobs shared was
an estimate from the State Compensation Insurance Fund (Workman’s Compensation
Insurance) that shows that the annual premium for the next year will be
$1,055.00.
Barstow Heights Park was addressed. President Jacobs reported that he has asked the
Secretary to refer to the Park on H Street as the “Barstow Heights Park” from
now on. We had been in the habit of
calling it “H Street Park” during our meetings for some time, but it is
important for us to begin calling it by its proper name in order to preserve
and maintain our identity with the public.
The Secretary will make sure that all future Agendas and Minutes and
other documents reflect the proper name of the Park. The Safety Check List from the City was
reviewed. The report was clean all the
way down the list, meaning there were no current safety issues and/or repairs
needed. President Jacobs asked Director
Stapp how he was doing with exterminating the Ground Squirrels. Director Stapp reported that he hadn’t made
any progress with them and would be going out of town soon, so they agreed that
Director Stapp would get the remainder of the smoke cartridges to President
Jacobs right away so he can continue trying to exterminate them.
The possible Re-naming/Dedication of Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Secretary updated the
Board that she had been in contact recently with Janet (Jan) Fowler, daughter
of former Board Member Barbara E. Kelley, and that Jan was very excited about
the possible Re-naming of the Park to Kelley Park. Even though the Board had discussed the
possibility three years earlier, there was still some uncertainty as to whether
or not the actual name of the Park should still be changed. Director Hayhurst expressed her belief that,
with all due respect to Mrs. Kelley, she was not really a fan of changing the
already established name of the Park.
She did feel that Dedicating the Park in her memory would be a wonderful
way to recognize her contributions to the community. Director Stapp clarified that the situation
with Venner Park had been that the Park didn’t yet have a name before the Board
decided to name it after Mr. Venner a few years ago. Some were calling it K Street Park, others
were calling it Panamint or Travertine Park, and the Board wanted to remedy the
confusion by giving it one simple name.
President Jacobs shared that during the course of the three years that
have passed since the idea of Re-naming the Park was first brought up, that he
had begun to change his mind. He
expressed his concern that with the repeated talk/rumors that the City of
Barstow still wants to pursue annexing the Barstow Heights, and his belief that
so many residents are opposed to that happening, he now felt it to be increasingly
more important to keep and maintain our identity as the “Barstow Heights” as
much as possible. He reminded the Board
that the wood sign that clearly identifies it as “Barstow Heights Park” was an Eagle
Scout Project many years ago and that the name of the Park had been established
even before the sign was in place. He
did agree that the Board should still honor Mrs. Kelley in some way
(with a Plaque/Dedication of the Park) for her service of 36 years as a past
President and member of the Board of Directors.
Director Schendel didn’t agree and stated, with respect, that he would
still like the Board to consider naming the park after Mrs. Kelley. The Board agreed that they would revisit the
idea and discuss it again next month.
They didn’t want to make a rushed decision and may not come to a final
decision until after the new canopies/renovations are completed, but for the
time being would like to at the very least, plan on Dedicating the Park to Mrs.
Kelley and installing a Plaque there to honor her in the near future.
The new Covered Picnic Areas (Bid 13-03) were addressed
next. The Board discussed the Color
options for the pre-manufactured shelters first. Director Wilkey stated his opinion that the
Canopies should utilize as close to the same color as possible that the City
currently uses to paint/clean-up graffiti on the restrooms and structures
already in place at both Parks. The
Board agreed that “Sandstone” would be the closest fit to the color already
being used. President Jacobs asked if
the Board would like a different color used on the roof than on the posts
(since two different color choices were an option), but they all agreed that
they would prefer to keep it simple with just the one color for both parts of
each Canopy. The next item that the
Board discussed was the wording they want to use for the dedicatory Plaque to
express appreciation to former resident Dorothy Davis for her generous
donations that are being used to fund the new canopies and picnic tables at
Barstow Heights Park. Director Hayhurst
and the Secretary wrote down the suggested wording as they discussed it and the
Secretary was directed to type up another draft for the Board to review again
at the next Board Meeting. The Secretary
didn’t have any new information for the Board of Directors about the progress
of the Engineering, only that she had been trying to find out how it is going
and expected to hear back from them again very soon.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no safety issues and/or necessary
repairs listed on the report. The Board
then addressed the need to order more Wood Chips to fill in the fitness area at
Venner Park as well as the Playground area at Barstow Heights Park. The Secretary had provided them with a
receipt to show the cost and minimum required amount that were ordered for the
playground area only at Venner Park last year.
The cost was $2,700 for 60 cubic yards.
The Secretary was directed to contact the Wood Chip provider
(Turboscape, Inc.) to find out if they can deliver a larger quantity in one
trip so there would be enough to split the load and cover both areas at both
parks that were currently in need of them.
Director Stapp motioned to give the Secretary authority to get the
necessary amount of Wood Chips ordered and delivered (sprayed in place). Director Wilkey seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Board addressed the Engagement Letter from the Auditor next. The Secretary was directed to go ahead and
sign the engagement letter and return it to the Auditor (Paul Kaymark, CPA at
Charles Z. Fedak & Company) since the Board already approved the hiring of
them at last month’s meeting.
The 2014/15 Budget Workshop was held.
The General Manager reported that after the recent earthquake
she noticed a large crack spanning the length of the framed entrance to the
kitchen area of the office building. It
appeared that there may also be some water damage coming through the roof that
caused the crack to widen. The Directors
advised her to ask Wade Harris if he thinks it looks serious enough to be
concerned about and if so, who we should contact to inspect it and repair
it. She also reported that the new
Certificates of Completion for the Directors who recently finished their
required Ethics Training had arrived and were now framed on the wall. She had also inquired of Mark Gerardi about
the status of the bill we were anticipating for the concrete repairs (cracked
by tree roots) at Venner Park and he confirmed that we should still expect to
receive a bill for it in the amount of $1714.00 from the City of Barstow
soon. She also reported that she would
be turning in the letter/request for new Signature Cards at Desert Community
Bank during the upcoming week and that the Directors should expect to get an
e-mail from her as soon as the bank is ready for them to stop by and sign the
new Signature Cards. She continues to
keep the website (blog) and Facebook page updated, including the posting of
current Agendas/Minutes and upcoming Board Meeting dates on the blog. She
also recently posted on Facebook a lot of photos she took (from a distance) to
show the large crowds of people that were there using the Parks during the
afternoon on Easter Sunday.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Wilkey reported that he had recently
spoken with Janelle Schneider, who with her husband, Matt Schneider, had been
using Venner Park to host a fitness boot camp.
She asked if she might need any kind of special permission/permit or business
liability policy to protect them and/or the District. Director Wilkey told her that the Parks are
free and open to the public and that if the City has any kind of requirements
currently, that their requirements would likely be different from what the
County requires (which is nothing that we are aware of). He did share his concern that they should
probably have a business/liability policy for their own protection and invited
them to come to a Board Meeting to discuss it further with us. The Board agreed that they would like to at
least be aware of when the group meets and how many people usually attend. As long as there continues to be no complaints,
the Board agreed that they will continue to welcome them to utilize the Park. Director Stapp asked about the condition of
the new landscaping (almost a year-old) at Venner Park and how it is holding
up. He wondered if all of the trees had
survived the winter. Director Wilkey
said he believed that they all looked okay, but that he would inspect them again
a little closer to be sure. President Jacobs
reported that Mark Gerardi had called him to ask if water hook-ups were
available for guests to use at either one of our Parks for a water slide. President Jacobs answered that, “No, we do
not supply water or electricity” for the public. The only exception to that rule that has ever
been made was for the military, because the Board considered it a way to show respect
and appreciation for their service. The
Secretary confirmed that she also gets frequent phone calls from the public
asking if there is access to water and/or electricity at either of the
Parks. It has been the most frequent
question she continues to receive.
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She indicated
that there was one additional bill coming soon from the City of Barstow for
$1714.00 to cover the concrete repairs at Venner Park. Director Stapp motioned to pay the bills as
presented including the one additional bill mentioned. 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, May 19th, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio
Secretary/General
ManagerFriday, May 16, 2014
Agenda for 5/19 Board Meeting
A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, May 19,
2014 - 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 – April 28, 2014
Financial Reports – April of 2014
5. Correspondence
6. Parks: Barstow
Heights: Safety Check
List and Ground Squirrels
Dedication/Plaque
to honor Barbara Kelley
Bid 13-03: Covered
picnic areas
Balance
of deposit due (see invoice #1236)
Engineering update
Plaque
to thank Dorothy Davis
Venner: Safety Check List
Wood
Chips
7. 2014/15 Budget Resolution 2014-1
8. Safety Review
Report
9. Roads
10. General Manager’s Report
Policy
and Procedures Manual
Facebook
page activity
Website
- BarstowHeights.blogspot.com
11. Directors’ Reports
12. Bills: Edison - $104.22 Terminix - $38.00 Verizon - $90.52
13. New Business
14. Executive
Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1
15. Adjournment
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Minutes from 3/25 Meeting (approved 4/28/14)
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Tuesday, March
25th, 2014
President Jacobs called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM and
Director Schendel led the group in the flag salute. Directors Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, Wilkey,
and Hayhurst were all present. There
were no additional guests in attendance.
President Jacobs requested a motion on the Consent Items. Director Stapp motioned to accept the Minutes
of the February 24th, 2014 Meeting, along with the Financial Reports for February
of 2014 as presented. Director Wilkey
seconded the motion. Motion carried
unanimously.
The Correspondence file was offered for review. Director Hayhurst inquired about the copy of the
Annual Tax Allocation Summary received from the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax
Collector that was reviewed during the last meeting, but was included in the
Agenda packets for this meeting. The
Secretary reported that she included a copy of the Summary along with a list of
all of the Tax Allocations dating from FY1996-97 through FY 2013-14 to help
answer the question Director Hayhurst had asked at the last meeting; how much
the annual allocations had increased/decreased over the past few years. Director Hayhurst also had further questions
about the RDA Pass-Through amount noted on this year’s summary, since she had
been aware that the RDA had recently been dissolved by the State of California. She asked if the Director’s would mind if she
called the County to ask them about it and they agreed that would be a good
idea. President Jacobs noted that the
last column of the list (Tax Roll Value) was left blank and let the Secretary
know that we used to receive a letter that would inform us what the Tax Roll
Value is each year. The Secretary
confirmed that she hasn’t received anything like that and that she wasn’t sure
how to find out what our tax toll values were to be able complete the Tax
Allocations list. Director Hayhurst
stated that she would ask about that too since she will be contacting them
anyway and would let the Secretary know where to find that information once she
finds out.
H Street Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. President Jacobs reported that the damage to
the fence noted at last month’s meeting (rusted and separated couplings along
the top edge of the fence railing on the West side of the park) had already been
dealt with and repaired. The Board was
very pleased with how quickly the City took action on it, and happy to see that
the Safety Inspection report included more details about the variety of tasks
the City has completed recently including fertilizing and spraying weed killer
at both Parks. There was no new progress
to be reported on the Ground Squirrel situation. Their population seems to be growing again,
so Director Stapp agreed that he would need to get more of the smoke cartridges
to President Jacobs to use to work on exterminating them again.
The new Covered Picnic Areas (Bid 13-03) were addressed as the
Board reviewed an information sheet e-mailed to them that included specifics about
one of the pre-fabricated canopy options and the additional costs involved. The canopy model presented was selected by
Wade Harris who researched a variety of websites to find the one that he
believes will suit our needs best. When President
Jacobs asked Mr. Harris about the price increase prior to the meeting, Mr.
Harris confirmed that it is due to an increase of about $5000 to have the large/heavy
materials shipped (fuel and trucking costs).
Director Hayhurst expressed her desire to go forward with ordering the
pre-manufactured canopies that Mr. Harris recommends because the added cost of
shipping would still be less than the additional engineering and labor costs
that would be required if we opted to have one of the County’s approved
contractors build them. Director Stapp
had questions about whether the Board would still be interested in adding the decorative
brick-work around each of the supporting posts as per the original design
(based on the canopies at Venner Park).
After some discussion, they all agreed that the additions to the
supporting posts really wouldn’t be necessary, as it would only add to the cost
and create a larger surface that would provide more potential for vandalism. Director Hayhurst motioned to approve the
ordering of the two pre-fabricated structures recommended by Harris Construction,
as well as give Harris Construction an advance of up to $15,000 towards the
purchase of the structures as soon as it is needed to proceed with the project.
Director Schendel seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Director Jacobs added his opinion that Harris
Construction may not yet be able to proceed fully with the ordering of the
canopies until all of the plans are approved by the County, but agreed with the
Board that this decision, even made early, will ensure that Mr. Harris won’t be
stuck waiting any additional time for Board approval. The Secretary was directed to call Mr. Harris
right away the next morning to let him know.
The next item up for discussion was the dedicatory Plaque to
express appreciation to former resident Dorothy Davis for her generous
donations ($140,000 total) that are being used to fund the new canopies at H
Street Park. President Jacobs encouraged
the Board to think about and begin writing up some wording or a list of ideas
pertaining to what the Plaque should say.
Venner Park was addressed.
The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. The Board was very pleased that the cracked
sidewalk that was reported to the City after the last Board Meeting had been
fixed so quickly. Director Wilkey
reported that on the day that the concrete was poured, he discovered that two
vandals had already drawn their initials into the wet cement. He was able to scrub/remove them with a
little bit of water and a brush while those he suspected to be the vandals were
still there at the park. President
Jacobs remembered also that he wanted to tell Director Wilkey that he talked
with one of the grounds-keepers there one day and mentioned to them that the
bubblers keep popping off of the sprinkler heads. The grounds-keeper said they would take care
of it, and Director Wilkey confirmed that he noticed that the problem seems to
have been resolved. Going back to the
concrete repair, the Secretary had already received a copy of the invoice from
Mark Gerardi that shows our portion of the costs for the repairs will be
$1714.00. The Secretary was asked to
call Mark again to find out if we will still be billed by the City of Barstow,
since the invoice lists Barstow Heights CSD as the customer, when the bill
should actually be addressed to the City of Barstow. Director Wilkey asked for clarification on
that; as to why the Board didn’t put that job out for bid, but let the City
hire for it. Director Schendel answered
that it is because the job was considered a repair/maintenance, which is the
City’s responsibility to take care of however they need to, whether that means
hiring a separate contractor or doing the work themselves. Director Wilkey asked if he could see the
contract we have with City of Barstow, and the Secretary agreed that she would
make a copy for his reference. President
Jacobs read a portion of the contract to help clarify exactly what
responsibilities pertain to each party.
The Auditor’s Contract was addressed. President Jacobs turned the meeting over to
Director Hayhurst to explain what she learned during her search for a new
Auditor. Director Hayhurst was told that
because our District is small and the Audit is not very substantial compared to
other agencies, that it would likely be hard for us to get a variety of
competing bids for such a small contract.
After talking with a few friends at the City of Barstow and at the
Mojave Water Agency, she was referred to Paul Kaymark, CPA at Charles Z. Fedak
& Company. After contacting them she
was given a Proposal that is $1250 less per year than we had been paying our
previous Auditor. The new Auditor would
require that we use Quickbooks for our accounting and would definitely come on
site to present the Audit Report to the Board and answer any questions we
have. She felt that it would be a wise
move to get more service from them, including assistance to modernize our
accounting procedures with Quickbooks, for less money. Furthermore, she learned that because this is
a “professional services agreement” we do not have to have it go out for
Bid. Director Stapp asked why the
Contract presented asks for a commitment of three years if signed and if that
is really to our benefit. Director
Hayhurst explained that because the initial setting up of an Annual Audit does
require more work to get going, it is beneficial for the Secretary and for the
CPA to have that consistency for a few years rather than having to re-start the
more-lengthy set-up process with a new Auditor each year. She added that the $5000 of unclaimed refunds in
our Checking Account that was left-over from the Road Improvements should have
been ours years ago (after three years of being held) and that the new Auditor
can assure we stay current on and not over-look those kinds of things. President Jacobs motioned to hire Charles Z.
Fedak & Company to be the Auditor for Barstow Heights CSD for the next
three years, as is specified in the Proposal Letter/Contract. Director Stapp seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
The Policy and Procedures Manual was addressed. The Code of Ethics was reviewed first. Director Wilkey thought it would be nice to
add in language that would require each Board Member to have Ethics Training
AB1234 every two years, as is required by the law. The Secretary was directed to add that to our
Code of Ethics Policy. Director Hayhurst
asked if we could delete all of the wording that seems condescending in
tone. She felt that it should reflect
more positive attributes, and assume that Directors know how to act
professionally, rather than be focused on the negative behaviors Board Members
should avoid. Director Schendel shared
his opinion that the only things we might want to add on would be any specific
things above what the Ethics Training standards set forth. Director Hayhurst wrote down the additional
wording suggested by the Board and gave the Secretary her amended copy of the
Code of Ethics with the paragraphs marked that should be removed. The General Manager Guidelines and
Secretarial Duties were addressed next.
President Jacobs clarified that the Secretarial Duties and Office Procedures
should be a separate reference for the Secretary to use, rather than be a part
of the Policy Manual that the public can read.
The document presented provides too much detail, and thus, more general
guidelines and a much shorter statement of responsibilities is needed to
include in the Policy and Procedures Manual.
The Secretary will continue to work on revising the documents. The Board suggested that the Secretary seek
out copies of Manuals from other Districts to refer to for ideas about what could/should
be included. The General Manager
Guidelines also need to include a sentence that declares that the General
Manager will also assume all of the Secretarial and Board Clerk duties.
The General Manager reported she has worked eleven additional
hours since the last Board Meeting. She
also reported that she included a “vacation request” letter in the
correspondence file for the Board to review.
President Jacobs read the letter that requests the week of Tuesday, June
24th through Thursday, June 26th as her one week of paid
vacation this year. The request also
asks that the Board Meeting in June be moved forward to the third week of the
month, which would be Monday, June 16th, 2014. Director Schendel motioned to accept the
General Managers’ vacation request.
Director Wilkey seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously.
The General Manager reported that she continues to keep the Blog
updated with the most recent Meeting Agendas and Minutes. She has also posted and shared the Photo of all
the Director’s that was taken at the previous Meeting on 2/24/14.
President Jacobs requested the Directors’ reports. Director Stapp reported that he had learned
that a resident has had trouble with tagging (vandalism) on a retaining wall on
their property. He wondered if any
Directors knew of anyone else who may have had that problem and if there are
any suggestions about what could be done.
Director Schendel suggested notifying the Sheriff to request additional
surveillance. The resident could also
contact the Secretary with more details if she would like to have it reported
on the blog or share more about the issue on Facebook (to ask if anyone else
has information/suggestions they can share and to request that neighbors help
to keep a closer eye out for one another).
President Jacobs asked the Secretary if there were any
additional bills to be paid. She indicated
there were none. Director Schendel 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, April 28th, 2014 at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:22 PM.
Submitted by:
Jen Rubio
Secretary/General
ManagerFriday, April 25, 2014
Agenda for 4/28 Board Meeting
A G E N D A
BARSTOW HEIGHTS
COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, April
28, 2014 - 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
– March 25, 2014
Financial Reports – March of 2014
5. Correspondence
6. Parks: Barstow
Heights: Safety Check
List and Ground Squirrels
Re-naming
/ Dedication
Bid 13-03: Covered picnic areas
Color
of pre-manufactured shelters
Plaque
Engineering
update
Venner: Safety Check List
Wood
Chips
7. Engagement
Letter from the Auditor
8. 2014/15 Budget
Workshop
9. General Manager’s Report
Policy
and Procedures Manual
Facebook
page activity
Website
- BarstowHeights.blogspot.com
10. Directors’ Reports
11. Bills: Edison
- $120.50 Terminix - $38.00
Verizon - $90.61
City
of Barstow - $50.00 (Repairs by Ellis Fence)
12. New Business
13. Executive
Session – Litigation GC54956.99 (A) and Personnel GC54957.1
14. Adjournment
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)