BARSTOW
HEIGHTS COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT
REGULAR
MEETING
Monday,
January 23rd, 2017
President Jacobs called
the meeting to order at 6:03 PM and led the group in the flag salute. Directors
Jacobs, Schendel, Stapp, and Hayhurst, were all present. Director Wilkey was also
attending, but seated with the audience. A large number of guests were present.
The sign-in sheet listed the names of 48 attendees who filled every chair
available in the building and left standing room only. Late-comers squeezed
into every corner and some had to remain standing in or just outside of the
entrance-way to listen.
President Jacobs thanked
everyone for coming and began by addressing Agenda item numbers 3 and 4. He led
the roll call and then read aloud the resignation letter submitted by Director
Paul Wilkey (dated and effective December 12th, 2016). Director Wilkely felt
the need to resign due to his recent election to the Barstow Community College
Board of Directors. President Jacobs motioned to accept “with regrets” the
resignation of Director Wilkey, and emphasized that Paul had done a fantastic
job as a board member and will be missed greatly. Director Stapp seconded the
motion. The motion carried unanimously.
The next item of business
addressed was the informational part of the meeting concerning the possible
annexation of Barstow Heights into the City of Barstow (and thus, the reason so
many concerned residents attended). President Jacobs reminded everyone that the
discussion is meant to be “informational only” and that no action by the Board
would be taken that night. Director Hayhurst was introduced to present and
clarify all of the information that was currently known. She began by stating
that “We don’t yet have an opinion as a Board,” but rather, would like to get
accurate information out to the residents and then hear their input also, so
the Board can then determine what direction and/or position they might take.
She explained that if pursued, the first step the City would take would likely be
to hold a “protest hearing,” and IF it seemed to them that enough residents
were in favor of the annexation, THEN the City would proceed with sending out a
ballot to every property owner. Renters/tenants would not have a vote in the
first election. If the results of that initial election are that 50% or more of
the property owners are opposed to annexation, then it is instantly dead.
However, every non-vote would count as a vote of “yes” in favor of the
annexation. If the first election is favorable towards annexation, then the
issue would go to another election in which the renters/tenants votes would be counted
also. At best, the whole process could take upwards of a year or more, so she
reassured everyone that there is no reason to be overly-concerned about it happening
quickly at this point, unless or until the City and/or LAFCO takes action to
pursue it further. Director Hayhurst then addressed the ten most common
questions residents might have regarding what changes they could expect as a
resident of the City, as opposed to the way things are with the County
currently. The secretary will type up a separate detailed list of these
questions and answers, as well as, a transcript of the more lengthy discussion
that ensued, that can then be shared with residents upon request. The
discussion continued, many questions were addressed, and a lot of guests
expressed their opinions. The general consensus and agreement of the people was
that the majority of the residents present were not interested in being annexed
into the City, and some were very opposed to it.
President Jacobs thanked
everyone for attending and for voicing their concerns and opinions. He invited
them to feel welcome to attend any future meetings (usually held on the 4th
Monday of each month) and to call or email the Secretary anytime, if they have
further questions, ideas, or suggestions to offer the District (especially any
ideas they might have to improve the parks and community). The annexation issue
will only come up again at future meetings if or when the City and/or LAFCO determine
to pursue it further, as there was just not enough interest in favor of the
annexation to give reason for the District to pursue it. The crowd was told
that they were welcome to stay or go if they needed to, and were dismissed at
6:54 PM. Nine guests opted to stay for the rest of the meeting. The meeting re-adjourned
at 6:56 PM.
President Jacobs
announced to the remainder of the guests that the Board now had a vacancy to be
filled, and that anyone interested in the position should submit a letter of
interest, that could also include their professional resume, to the Secretary
as soon as possible. The only requirement is that a potential Board member must
be a registered voter and be a resident of the Barstow Heights. The Secretary
had not yet received the final Audit Report, so the Board skipped it and will plan
to address that agenda item next month.
The Consent Items were
reviewed. Director Schendel motioned to accept the Minutes of the December 12th,
2016 meeting, along with the Financial Reports for November and December of
2016, as presented. Director Stapp seconded the motion. President Jacobs asked
the Secretary if she had closed the CD account and moved the funds into the
savings account as directed to do during the December meeting, and her reply
was, “Yes.” The motion carried unanimously.
The Correspondence file was
offered for review.
Barstow Heights Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no new safety,
or maintenance issues listed. President Jacobs reported that the ground squirrels
were still hibernating, and he hadn’t seen any in weeks.
There was no new progress
to report regarding the remedying of the privacy concerns of the neighbors next
to the new shade canopy, but the Secretary will make it a top priority to get some
estimates for the planting of two new trees between the neighbors’ fence and the
park. The remaining issues of concern that the Board had about the previous
tree-planting job that had not been done to their full satisfaction, had been
fixed and resolved, just as the General Manager had requested. A guest offered
the suggestion that the Board consider providing a pet waste disposal station
with bags, to encourage park guests to clean up after their dogs. President
Jacobs thanked him and added that it was an idea that the Directors had
discussed and considered before, and that the Board would be glad to discuss it
again further at the next meeting. Perhaps some new signage to remind guests of
their responsibility to clean up after their pets would be helpful also.
Venner Park was
addressed. The Safety Check List from the City was reviewed. There were no new safety
or
maintenance issues reported in the past month. The Secretary reported
that when she asked John Rowe about whether or not there’s anything he can do
to roughen up the surface of the basketball court at Venner Park to make it
less slick (perhaps coat it with something or grind the top surface somehow),
his response was that he had never done that, and preferred not to because he couldn’t
guarantee that it would fix the issue for even a short length of time. His
recommendation was to completely demolish the slab and replace it.
The Office Building and
Compound were addressed next. The Secretary reported that she had received two
proposals for the kitchen renovation job, but one bid included pricing based on
prevailing wages, while the other did not. She had just recently learned that a
non-prevailing wage bid was acceptable for jobs that are repairs, maintenance,
or small improvements (and not new construction), so she had requested and was
waiting on a revised bid from one of the applicants, so that both bids could be
compared fairly by the Board.
The General Manager reported
that she finally had a working internet connection again. After being promised
that Spectrum could provide new and faster internet service, the service was
then denied due to the location of the office building and it being too far
outside of their established service area. This meant that Frontier continues
to be the only option for internet service. Several Frontier technician’s came by
and it took more than one appointment and several attempts before they were
finally able to remedy the connection problems she had been having since
December 12th, 2016. In addition to the internet service having been
disconnected by mistake, the computer also required a brand-new modem
replacement as well.
President Jacobs asked if
there were any Directors’ reports. Director Hayhurst reported that she had
recently completed her Ethics Training course and that the Secretary could
expect to receive her certificate of completion in the mail very soon. There
were no additional reports from any of the Directors.
President Jacobs asked the
Secretary if there were any additional bills to be presented. She indicated
that there were none. Director Stapp motioned to pay all of the bills, as listed
on the agenda and presented. Director Schendel seconded the motion. The motion
carried unanimously.
The next Regular Meeting
was scheduled for Monday, February 27th at 6:00 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:34 PM.
