City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
Department Highlight: Barstow PD
I’d like to point out some of the examples of community partnership and enrichment from the Police Department over the past month. Our officers know the value of volunteering and building a reputation of trust with the citizens they serve. They recently raised over $500 for Barstow High School’s basketball program at their Cops vs. Students game. Several officers sat down face-to-face with community members and listened to their concerns during the Tacos with Cops event at Billie’s Kitchen. Several officers spent their Thanksgiving personally packing and handing out 1,500 meals for those in need with the Barstow Senior Citizen Center’s Meals on Wheels program. In another effort to give back to our City’s youth, the School Resource Officers teamed up with Barstow’s Kiwanis Club on the Clothes for Kids project, helping children in our community size and select clothing they’ll need for the winter season.
Earlier this month, four new officers were sworn in to serve and protect the people of our City. That’s fantastic news which will make a noticeable impact in our community! Think of it as eight more eyes watching over our roads, saving lives by making sure those who live in and come through our community drive responsibly and follow the rules. That’s eight more hands to give out meals to the elderly or wrap our kids in warm clothes for the winter. That’s eight more feet walking our streets, checking on those in need, and tracking down suspects who threaten our citizens. Most importantly, that’s four more hearts and minds dedicated to safeguarding the peace and prosperity of our City.
Recognizing Employees: Sergeants Tom Lewis and Mathew Helms The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office have formally recognized the Barstow Police Department as well as Sergeants Tom Lewis and Mathew Helms. Their diligent work on a murder investigation helped expose and shut down a nationwide drug trafficking conspiracy that ultimately concluded in New York. The officers of our PD are a shining example to law enforcement throughout the country!
City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
Department Highlight: City Clerk Services
November 8, 2022 General Election
The City of Barstow conducted a General Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 for two City Council seats (Districts 1 and 2) and Measure H asking voters if they would like to return to five elected city council members and a mayor selected from among the five elected city council members. Below are the official certified results and Barstow’s voter turnout statistics.
New officers (Carmen Hernandez and James Noble) will be sworn-in at the December 19, 2022 City Council meeting. A Holiday Tea and Reception will also be held before the meeting at 5:30 pm.
City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
Employee Spotlights
City Clerk Services Manager Christina Rudsell recently earned the designation of Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC), which is awarded by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC).
IIMC grants the CMC designation only to those municipal clerks who complete demanding education requirements; and who have a record of significant contributions to their local government, their community and state. Congratulations, Christina! Administrative Assistant Maria Chavez recently received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Park University. Earning a college degree while working fulltime is a hard-earned achievement and indication of Maria’s commitment to personal and professional development. Congratulations, Maria!
Annual Form 700 Filing Now Electronic!
Designated employees and elected officials who are required to file an annual Statement of Economic Interest - Form 700 will now be able to file electronically using the City’s NetFile system.
More information on the process will follow in mid to late January. 2023 Homeless Point in Time Count Scheduled for January 26, 2023 The 2023 Homeless Point in Time (PIT) Count is scheduled to take place on January 26, 2023. The PIT Count is a communitywide effort that provides an opportunity for residents and local businesses to actively contribute and learn about people who are experiencing homelessness and gain an understanding of the resources available to address homelessness in Barstow. The count is vital in determining the scope of homelessness, defining existing resources available and identifying gaps to better serve these individuals.
The City Clerk and City Manager’s Offices will coordinate the count and will be soliciting volunteers and working with the appropriate City departments to conduct the count over the next several weeks. More information on the PIT Count including volunteer registration is available at Point-In-Time Count – Homeless Partnership (sbcounty.gov).
Department Highlight: Public Works
• Congratulations to Jason Miller for being promoted to Field Services Supervisor • Congratulations to Brian Voegeli for being promoted to Parks/Open Spaces Supervisor City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
• Congratulations to Ruben Davila, the new Fleet Maintenance Mechanic • Started the reconstruction of the parking lot to the rear of 361 Fire Department located on Barstow Rd.
Department Highlight: Wastewater
• Staff raised a manhole near 910 Lillian, which fixed a major pothole. • Staff rebuilt the mongoose jetter pump in-house, now able to clean sewers at 3500 PSI. • Digester #1 rehab has been completed and was placed in operation. • Staff shut down digester #2 to begin the rehab work.
• Maintenance converted a vertical turbine pump to a submersible chopper pump, this pump is cheaper to replace, and more efficient for the application. • Jared Walker received his Operator in Training Certificate • Ty Silva was presented Operator of the Year at the Desert and Mountain Section of the California Water Environment Association. His application will move to the State level next. Wishing him the best of luck.
• The Barstow Wastewater Plant Superintendent was presented with Plant of the Year at the Desert and Mountain Section of the California Water Environment Association. The application will move to the State level next. Wishing them the best of luck.
Department Highlight: Waste Management
New Happenings:
• Rebranding – New name & logo of the Department.
In the Works:
• We determined our SB 1383 multi-family organics recycling program will be an onboarding program to begin in early 2023.
City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
• Pending CalRecycle grant application for $6,600 in funding to assist with bringing refillable water stations to public facilities.
Statistics/Changes/Additions/Other:
• Holiday Waste & Recycling Guide & video message – programs available to residents including mulch giveaway event. See the city website for more details.
Employee Spotlight:
• Brenna Foster deserves recognition for all she does in her role in the Finance Department and as part of the BEAT Committee. Not only is she great at what she does, but on top of handling her regular hefty workload, she recently played a huge part in ensuring the Employee Thanksgiving Award Luncheon and the Christmas Party were planned and organized while also making sure we stayed on budget! Brenna rocks! Department Highlight: Information Technology
• The IT Department welcomed Gabe Gandara and Lawrence Wyant as IT Technicians. • Gabe joins us with a wealth of photo and media related experience, and handles the City social media, channel 6, and the chambers media room, in addition to assisting with IT technician responsibilities.
• Lawrence joins IT after many years working in the Public Works Department. His wealth of knowledge of computer hardware, the city infrastructure and broad construction capabilities, brought new depth to the IT Department.
Fire Station Alerting Project:
• This project will replace and outdated Fire Station Alerting System, and is anticipated to be on line early second quarter of 2023. This system will provide enhance paging of fire staff to calls for service. The initial installation of alerting Hardware has been completed for Station 361; installation continues for Station 366. • The IT staff attended and took photos for City Mardi Gras parade, City Trick or Treating, the City’s 75th Anniversary Celebration and the Christmas at the Harvey House City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
Celebration. Those pictures can be enjoyed on our social media pages, on Local Cable TV Channel 6, and on the City’s Channel 6 live stream at barstowca.tv • The IT staff would like to remind the public that the City Council and Commission meetings can be viewed from home via our Ch6 live stream at barstowca.tv.
Department Highlight: Fire
• Firefighter /Paramedic Gary LeClair and his wife gave birth to a baby boy- Jonah James LeClair.
• Firefighter/Paramedic Joe Contreras and his wife gave birth to a baby boy – Peter James Contreras.
• December 5th marks the 1-year anniversary Engineer David Spink was injured, and we lost him while performing his duties at an incident. Ultimately, he succumbed to the injuries from the accident, which led to a LODD. We continue to support his dear wife Colleen and son Dallen.
• We have an open recruitment and several new hires which include:
Firefighter/Paramedics
Max Kovshilovskiy
Mark Bullara
Jeff Russell
Department Highlight: Parks and Recreation
Past Events:
On December 2nd, the City of Barstow held its annual event, the Harvey House Christmas. This event was a huge success for the City of Barstow. The Harvey House came alive with music, lights, children’s performances and Santa. We had over 30 vendors, Color Guard, Police Explorers, and City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
the Barstow Junior High School Band performing the National Anthem. Next Harvey House Christmas is set for December 1st, 2023.
Activities:
Arts & Craft Class - Once a month, the Parks and Recreation Department has an Arts & Craft class for ages 2 and up. Our next class is scheduled for Monday, December 19th. Come join our instructor Emma and make Christmas decorations. For more information, please see flyer or call Cora Harper Fitness Center.
Basketball Strength & Conditioning – We just started up classes for Basketball Strength and Conditioning classes. This class trains basketball players to improve their defense, foot speed and agility. This class also teaches new players how to play basketball.
Tiny Tots Basketball – Tiny Tots basketball registration starts December 12th and ends January 7th. Tiny Tots basketball is open to all 3 and 4 year olds.
Parks and Recreation Department is teaming up with the Barstow Senior Citizen Center to offer more classes and activities. These classes and activities are free to Barstow residents ages 60 and up.
• Holiday Card Making Class was held at the Barstow Senior Citizen Center on December 6th. Approximately 27 Seniors participated in this event and enjoyed the class. • On December 8, 2022, the Seniors went out to Calico Ghost Town and view the holiday decorations. The trip is was free to all Barstow residents age 60 and up and approximately 24 seniors participated.
Employee Recognition:
Emma Yates has been employed with the City of Barstow for 2 years as a part time Senior RecLeader. Emma Yates always works above and beyond in is willing to take any tasks on. This past summer, Emma ran the front office at Henderson Pool. She teaches our new employees how to work at each facility and shows them how to work ActiveNet. Emma updates the window decorations at Cora Harper Fitness Center. She recently started teaching our Arts & Craft classes City Manager Department Updates
December 2022
for the City of Barstow. Emma is a tremendous asset to the City of Barstow and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Department Highlight: Community Development
See following pages for newsletters from the Code Compliance, Engineering and Planning Divisions.
CODE COMPLIANCE
Did you know?
The Barstow Municipal
Code (BMC)
is located on the
City of Barstow
website.
Become
familiar!
Q: Company coming over for the holiday? Where
should they park?
A: As long as it isn’t the front lawn/yard area!
Vehicles are not to park in the front yard per BMC!
Visit Chapter 19.06.050(d)(6).
As we wrap up 2022, Code
appreciates your compliance!
As your success is ours!
Dec 2022
Stats: code
has 722 active
cases and two
code officers
Abatement Enforcement continued...
Here are the before & after—
As the abatement enforcement
continues, another land owner has
hired a contractor who has
already pulled the necessary
permits to demolish a burned and
dilapidated structure. Prosecution
is drafting documents to proceed
to court on a site that is
supposedly due to be auctioned.
It has been in limbo between the
silent land owner and the bank.
Unless there are any additional
road blocks, we should be able to
proceed with demolition.
After attempting, in a variety of ways, to con-nect with the responsible parties of a poorly cared for site; where the homeless utilized the
grounds as a restroom and trash was gathering—
a letter from prosecution gained the attention of
another land owner involved with the property.
The property was cleaned/secured and we were
notified the site along with another they own in
our jurisdiction are finally in escrow! Success!!
ENGINEERING SERVICES
Street Committee meetings to resume in 2023.
Dec 2022
First Street Bridge construction
work to begin January 3rd, 2023
Construction work on the long awaited First Street Bridge over BNSF rail facilities is set to begin on January 3rd, 2023. The new bridge is a joint project between the City of Barstow, San Bernardino County Transportation
Authority and BNSF Railway. The estimated completion
date is July 12, 2024.
The Engineering Services department assists with review and checking of development plans, land use review of
parcel maps and tract maps, reviews and approves street improvement plans, and consults with the development
department on economic development projects.
Barstow’s Pavement Management Program
(PMP) is an ongoing project to analyze the
condition of existing city streets, identify
life expectancy of pavement surfaces, and
manage pavement preservation and pavement
replacement capital expenditures.
Implementation of the PMP allows for
responsible expenditures of City’s capital
improvement funds to provide safe transpor-
PLANNING DEPT.
Dec 2022
Conditional Use Permits
August 2022—December 2022
From August through December the City of Barstow has approved six (6) conditional use permits as listed below:
General Plan Update
The City of Barstow recently approved a service agreement with widely recognized consulting agency PlaceWorks who will be assisting the City’s Planning Department with the upcoming General Plan update. PlaceWorks since its founding in 1975 has won numerous local, state, and national awards for their work, already acquiring nine (9) awards in 2022. The City’s Planning Department looks forward to the part-nership with PlaceWorks and creating a new, forward-thinking General Plan for the City of Barstow.
Applicant/
Permit Number
Location Project Description
Hoss Inc.
PCUP-22-0029
1612 State St.
Barstow, CA 92311
Modification to existing Conditional
Use Permit to expand current services
to include auto repair.
Burr Group
PCUP-22-0029
250 Elks Lane
Barstow, CA 92311
Relocation of existing Burrtec Waste
Industries, Inc. operations facility (2340
E. Main St.) to 250 Elks Lane.
Lenwood Service Station
PCUP-22-0026
APN #0421-313-49
Barstow, CA 92311
Development of a 2,500 square foot
drive-thru restaurant and 4,000 square
foot retail building in the C
(Commercial) zoning district.
Amara Real Estate Investments
PCUP-22-0032
1591 Coolwater Lane
Barstow, CA 92311
Allow for the re-establishment of a
2,250 square foot quick serve drive-thru
restaurant.
Mojave Blue Environmental
Services
PCUP-22-0027
880 LaVerne Ave.
Barstow, CA 92311
Establishment of a storage/
maintenance facility for business, Mo-jave Blue Environmental Services.
Culture Cannabis LLC
PCUP-22-0001
2824 Lenwood Rd.
Barstow, CA 92311
Planning Commission approval for a
commercial cannabis (cannabis dispen-sary) permit for business, Culture Barstow on the 15, LLC.
Merchants Barstow LLC
Multiple Permits
2552 Mercantile Way
Buildings #1-24
Barstow, CA 92311
Planning Commission approval for
various commercial cannabis permits
to include a dispensary, cultivation,
manufacturing, and distribution