The Morongo Valley Community Serviced District board of directors covered numerous topics at last night’s regular board meeting. With the installation of mandatory hand sanitizers at the park’s outdoor bathrooms, per CDC guidelines, the board announced that Covington Park is now officially reopened to the public, but that COVID-19 safety measures would continue to be enforced. Managing editor Tami Roleff has more…
The Morongo Valley CSD board went into lengthy discussions on updates to the district contract for Director of Operations and Fire Chief Gary Yearsley regarding payment for Duty Officer compensation. Discussions became heated as board members disagreed on both the amount that Yearsley receives annually and how he is paid both by salary and hourly. The board ultimately voted 3-2 (Directors Jonny Tolbert and Christina Gorke voting no) to not only approve the contract update, but also take Yearsley off salary and make him an hourly district employee.
The board also reviewed recent survey data showing community input on how to spend a recent grant awarded to the district for updates to Covington Park. The board voted unanimously to approve the most popular playground design as selected by the community (design 2) and begin the process of placing an order for the new equipment.
The board also reviewed a letter to be sent to the District Attorney’s office regarding a possible Brown Act violation that took place during the board’s February 17 meeting, when a portion of the closed-session meeting was inadvertently broadcast to the public. According to the letter, the wife of Director Johnny Tolbert was the cause of the broadcast. The board voted 4-1 (Director Tolbert voting no) to send the letter to the district attorney and await his determination of the situation.
The board then made more changes to the district policy on relations among directors and with staff. The board voted 4-1 (Director Tolbert voting no) to update terminology in the policy re-confirming that all board actions must be taken as a collective board and that board members may not contacting venders or legal counsel without the collective board being informed.
The board also unanimously approved the new contract for Morongo Valley Deputy Fire Chief Jim Brakebill; received an update from Buddy Stogner of the Morongo Valley Sports League on sign-up progress for the district’s upcoming softball season; and set Saturday, April 10, as the date for a COVID-compliant Easter egg hunt for Morongo Valley children. The board tabled its approval of the district’s 2019-2020 fiscal year audit due to a technical glitch.
