Message from the Manager
March 2023
Did you know that Spring is considered the season of new beginnings? Well, March has proven to be one of many new beginnings for many reasons.
We started the month strong with new hires and promotions. Public Works welcomed Timothy Hires as their new Facility Maintenance Supervisor. The Fire Department is working on bringing on three additional Firefighter EMTs and also welcomed back, Firefighter/Paramedic Dallen Spink.
And let’s not forget, the announcement of Mr. Kody Tompkins’ promotion to Assistant City Manager.
Mr. Tompkins was quick to jump into his new position when he was asked at the last minute to fill in for the City Manager and Lena Kent, with BNSF at the 2023 High Desert Real Estate Symposium. He did a good job representing the city and BNSF!
Please take a moment to review the following achievements, projects, and plans your colleagues have been working on recently.
Building
Projects Under Construction
1150 Monterey New SFR
Marriot Inn still in progress.
820 E Buena Vista ADU
Freddy’s Restaurant
490 Armory Rd - Chevron gas station. Retaining wall.
Several Encroachment Permits throughout the city (Verizon, Spectrum & SWG) 112 W Main St. El Rancho Demolition, pending final inspection. 224 W Main St. Demo still under progress. Contractor & PO had some issues, but it got resolved. 250 Elks Tenant Improvement
129 W White St. Fire damage repair.
316 Pioneer St. ADU
2710 Lenwood Rd. Hampton Inn TI
1540 E Main St Burger King Restaurant
Current Plan Reviews
7 SFR Remodel on Lenwood Rd. track # 18446
1591 Coolwater Restaurant TI
2820 Lenwood Rd. HVAC replacement.
2710 Lenwood Rd. Hampton Inn Remodel.
2795 Lenwood Rd. Cannabis Dispensary TI
2567 Commerce Pkwy. Freddy's Fire Alarm.
1504 E Main St. Tesla EV charging station.
1040 May Ln. 8-unit apartment complex
2511 W Main St. 4776 SF. metal building.
2592 Mercantile Wy. Bldg. 20 Fire Sprinklers
2596 Mercantile Wy. Bldg. 22 Fire sprinklers.
2809 Lenwood Rd. cannabis building.
City Clerk
Three new members were recently appointed by the City Council to the Measure Q Resident Oversight Commission. Martha O’Brien is the at-large representative, Ben Rosenberg will represent District 3 and Marsha Weasma will represent District 4. The Measure Q Resident Oversight Commission consists of five members who are responsible for reviewing the City’s expenditures and revenues received from the 1% Measure Q transaction and use tax to ensure they align with the annual budget adopted by the City Council.
City Clerk Services Manager Christina Rudsell was recently appointed as the Desert Mountain Region Representative of the City Clerks Association of California (CCAC). As a Regional Committee member, she will serve as the liaison between the CCAC Board and their regions to organize and communicate networking opportunities and/or education sessions among City Clerk professionals. The Desert Mountain region includes the cities of Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, California City, Hesperia, Lancaster, Mammoth Lakes, Needles, Palmdale, Ridgecrest, Twenty-nine Palms, Victorville and Yucca Valley.
Christina has been a CCAC member for three years and looks forward to serving the Desert Mountain region and promoting the municipal clerk profession through education, support, and communication.
Friendly reminder that all designated employees and elected officials who are required to file an annual Statement of Economic Interest - Form 700 must do so by April 3, 2023. Designated filers will now be able to file electronically using the City’s NetFile system. Information on how to file electronically was sent again on March 1st from NetFile to all designated filers. Please contact City Clerk Services Manager Christina Rudsell at 760-255-5122 or [email protected] for any questions or assistance.
Code Compliance
Code Enforcement is underway in managing the rental inspection program. Interviews for four additional staff members are scheduled for the last week in March.
Another dilapidated structure that was damaged in a 2018 fire is now scheduled for demolition—permits have been pulled!
Engineering
First Street Bridge construction is moving right along
crews are scheduled to perform striping on North First
Avenue and Hutchison Street on Saturday, March 18
from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Crews will shift traffic during this time. Flaggers will be on-site and through traffic will remain at all times.
You can get updates on the project by Signing up for text messages by texting NorthFirstBridge to (888) 525-
1021.
Fire
Thanks to Measure Q, the Fire Department announced the arrival of their new Fire Engine that is now in full service, Medic Engine 366 - we look forward to many years of service.
The department attended the celebration of life for Fire Captain John McNelis as a show of support to the family in a heartfelt farewell.
Information Technology
The department continues working on the City Hall renovations, completing daily help desk work orders, and managing multiple projects.
Parks & Recreation
Parks and Recreation is having its 1st Annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 1st at the Sports Park. Come out to have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny.
New classes starting in April 2023
Lifeguarding
Wrestling
Tennis
Women’s Soccer League
Be sure to check out our website for more information.
Planning
The 2023 Election of Officers was conducted at the Planning Commission’s regular meeting on March 13th. Commissioner Bea Lint was nominated for Chair and Commissioner Ziemer was nominated for Vice Chair. Both nominations were approved unanimously.
Approval of Conditional Use Permit PCUP-23-0001 to allow for the establishment of a towing/dual storage facility for businesses Statewide Towing & Statewide Emergency Services Inc. located at 3850 Jasper Road.
A three-year extension was given for Tract Map 17713, located along the south side of Rimrock Road for a proposed 146 residential developments.
Approval of an Initial Request for a General Plan Amendment for 203 West Main Street, proposing a land use designation change from Commercial (C) to Diverse Use (DU).
Approval of Conditional Use Permit PCUP-22-0031 to establish a secondary 856 square foot drive-thru restaurant on the property located at 1628 West Main St. within the Commercial (C) zoning district.
Public Works
Street Maintenance Department,
All this rain has kept our Streets Maintenance Department busy! Staff continues to stay on top of all pothole reports, repairing crosswalk barriers damaged by vehicles, pavement preservation and repairing a sewer line and replacing the concrete at Lillian Park Facility Maintenance
City Hall remodel project still underway.
Parks/Open Spaces
The Parks Department is in full force now that Spring is upon us. Staff is eliminating trees that have become insect-infested or have lived beyond their age. Also, staff is placing mulch, which will provide a tremendous amount of nutrients needed to establish a healthy turf, in our parks and sports fields.
Solid Waste
New Happenings
Free Dump Day & Shred Fest will be on April 15, 2023 8am-11am at the Corp Yard, just in time for SPRING CLEANING. The official flyer is on our website, social media, and Channel 6. CalRecycle approved Barstow’s award of funds in the amount of $6,623.00 via the Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction City/County Payment Program Grant. Plans for the funds include installation of refillable water stations at public facilities, litter cleanup activities, recycling education and collection bins.
In the Pipeline
Staff is looking at submitting an application for a Tire Amnesty Grant funded by CalRecycle to possibly hold tire collection events for residents or a coupon program that allows citizens to bring waste tires to a specific location on specified days.
Wastewater
Congratulations to Jared Walker on achieving his Class-A license this month, as part as his 12-month requirement.
Levi Lewis also took his test for his Class–A license behind the wheel.
Staff completed the CERS business plan report, the annual Bio Solids report and the annual WDR report and uploaded on to Geo Tracker.
Staff has been working with Carollo Engineers on updating the City’s Sewer Master Plan which was last updated in 2010. Carollo had ADS Environmental Service deploy 16 flow meters throughout the city in various manholes to collect flow data throughout. Flow data collected was from 2/15/23 to 3/7/23.
A clean out of lines was conducted on Veteran’s Parkway and 613 feet down Barstow Rd due to the Veteran’s Home complaining about sewer odors. Also recommended to Veteran’s Home staff to have their private collections system cleaned as well.
183 dig alert tickets were marked and completed for marking the city’s sewer system.
A call came in for a SSO (Sanitary Sewer Overflow) from a main line behind 1513 Riverside Drive due to root intrusion from nearby treas. This was reported to the State Water Resource Control Board and classified as a Category-3 spill only. Root removal by staff was performed immediately.
When staff drove the secluded areas of the main line, a rail road tie was found stuffed inside of a sewer manhole. Staff was able to retrieve, and remove the rail road tie, preventing a sewer blockage and a potential spill.
Code Compliance Supervisor Mary Willbond and Code Compliance Officer Dani Gregg continue to be a huge help with matters related to waste management such as illegal dumping, trash overflow, recycling compliance, and construction waste requirements, but as they begin inspections related to the rental property registration program, they have been going above and beyond in communication with waste management staff to ensure waste compliance items are evaluated at these properties. This is much needed and much appreciated! Congratulations to Administrative Assistant Maria Chavez’s daughter Kassandra for earning straight A’s during the first semester and third quarter of the 2022-2023 school year. Kassandra is a sophomore at Riverside Preparatory School and would like to attend UC Berkeley after high school. It is not easy balancing work, family and academics so congratulations to Maria and Kassandra!
A huge thank you and shout out to, IT Coordinator Ben Pina, for taking the lead with the renovations by coordinating the computer/system moves, along with the facilitation and execution of the network and phone relocations.
Thank you to IT Technician Lawrence Wyant, for jumping in and assisting in those tasks, and helping to handle in his absence.
“Fabulous job!” goes out to IT Technician Gabe Gandara, on the video creation, and managing the audio/visual system for the Police Department’s Awards Ceremony. Councilwoman Kruse also sent her “kudo’s” along to you.
Thank you, IT Technician Emmanuel Hernandez, for all the “one off /side projects” we had (not only this month but most months), and the confidential projects you work on. A resident called in to give a shout out to the Streets Department for fixing the potholes on Candlelight Street. He said they did an amazing job and he appreciates all their hard work! Good Vibes Only!
The 75th Celebration and PD National Night Out were both nominated for event of the year. The winner will be announced at the 40th Annual Barstow Community Recognition Awards.
Thank you all for your hard work and dedication and let’s keep the momentum going! Best wishes,
Willie A. Hopkins, Jr.
City Manager