The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a marathon meeting lasting nearly 4½ hours last night, which included a 2½-hour closed-session meeting. During open session, the board reviewed a report from LAFCO, the county planning agency overseeing the CSD. The report cautioned the Morongo Valley CSD for operating on a comparatively small annual budget. According to Board President Gayl Swarat, the Morongo Valley CSD has always managed to allocate appropriate funds to the necessary departments and will continue to do so despite its small annual budget. Reporter Andrew Dieleman has more on the other major topic of the meeting…
The Morongo Valley CSD Board of Directors tabled a policy on the driving parameters of Morongo Valley Fire Department response vehicles during its November 19 meeting. An ad hoc committee consisting of Morongo Valley Fire Chief Gary Yearsley, Deputy Chief Jim Brakebill, Battalion Chief Bob Springer, and two CSD Board members was created to review and update the policy. The updated policy, which provides general deployment guidelines for each of the Morongo Valley Fire Department’s response vehicles, was presented to the board and unanimously accepted for a two-month trial period. The board also voted to hire a company to assist in bringing the CSD website up-to-date to comply with an upcoming California Senate Bill, and voted unanimously to contract Morongo Valley Sports League member Carl “Buddy” Stogner to maintain the Covington Park bathrooms for $300/month. Later in the meeting, the board adjourned to closed session to hold a public employee performance evaluation with the general manager and to review anticipated litigation; there was no public report.
