The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting last night. The meeting began with a detailed report from Fire Chief Gary Yearsley on the recent Apple fire and the Morongo Valley Fire department’s involvement in fighting the fire. Board members and meeting listeners praised the efforts of all firefighters who worked to protect Morongo Valley. The board then encountered a problem with approving its annual budget. Reporter Andrew Dieleman explains…
At last night’s meeting, the Morongo Valley CSD Board of Directors were preparing to hold a public hearing to finalize the District’s 2020-2021 budget. Before discussions began, Director Johnny Tolbert informed the board that a public hearing could not be officially held because it was not properly agenized. After lengthy discussion and arguments over whether the board could still legally hold the public hearing, the board reluctantly tabled the public hearing and will approve a late budget during its September board meeting.
The board also approved the creation of a public committee for Morongo Valley citizens to provide questions, comments, and concerns to the CSD board; went back into lengthy discussion on a standard operating procedure for fire department duty officer compensation (the update will be added to the district budget); and reminded meeting listeners that the CSD main office was recently closed to the public again to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (The CSD office can still be contacted via phone, email, or scheduled meeting).
The board also discussed the possibility of allowing Covington Park to be used as a meeting location for students and parents of students for certain school-related activities. The board tabled the discussion until input from the County Health Department on safety and the potential liability of allowing group gatherings could be obtained.
