Local News

MORONGO BASIN MAC HEARS LOCAL CONCERNS, DISCUSSES VACANCY

Branding the Morongo Basin, the concerns of two Basin communities, and a Council vacancy were subjects of discussion at the June meeting of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council. Reporter Dan Stork fills in the detailsā€¦
The featured informational presentation during the June 9 meeting of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council was given by Art Miller, Jr., supported by Jerry Mattos. They talked up using ā€œJoshua Tree Gateway Communitiesā€ as a tourism marketing brand for the Morongo Basin. Their point was, we know ourselves as the Morongo Basin ā€“ and thereā€™s no reason to change that — but for the rest of the world, ā€œMorongoā€ is someone elseā€™s brand.
Mary Reeves listed the concerns of residents of the Desert Heights area, with Twentynine Palms Fire Chief Jim Thompson giving a history of the largest oneā€”fire servicesā€”and the closure of the Lear fire station. Reeves listed other concerns: the hazardous intersection of Lear and Two Mile; trash and abandoned cars; the need for grading at the dry lake; OHV abuses; and bad road conditions. When asked whether Desert Heights would benefit from MAC representation, she said ā€œOf courseā€ā€”that would give the area someone to go to.
Starlene Javier gave a history of the special district for road assessments in Wonder Valley, and said that the $15 per year parcel assessment is no longer adequate to the task of maintaining dirt roads. She asked for the MACā€™s support in making a case to the Board of Supervisors for an increased assessment and rezoning. There was disagreement among Wonder Valley residents about the precise terms of a proposed course of action that had come out of a recent community meeting. Consequently, the MAC tabled the issue, with Chairman Mike Lipsitz telling the Wonder Valley residents, weā€™d like to support you, but we donā€™t know what youā€™re asking.
Lipsitz said that applications are being taken for the vacant Joshua Tree seat on the MAC, formerly held by David Peach. (A statement issued by Supervisor James Ramos said, ā€œI thank Mr. David Peach for his valuable service on the Morongo Basin MAC. He played a key role in the development of the MAC and I wish him the best of luck in his future public service endeavors.ā€)

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