Each year Morongo Valley residents come together to nominate and award the Volunteer of the Year for the MVCSD Chuck Osborne Award. This year had six nominees: Buddy Stogner, Tammy Stogner, Eva Rowles, Jim Ragland, and Christopher Daniel. After careful consideration from the board, this year’s MVCSD Chuck Osborne Award went to Tammy Stogner. Stogner’s husband Buddy, a Chuck Osborne Award winner for multiple years, was one of the many who nominated Stogner, shedding light on her as his other half when he wrote “She’s behind everything I do, from the youth softball league to the Christmas light parade, and all other events.”
The board reviewed their Community Relations Ad Hoc Committee, which would be composed of two or more members of the board for monthly community gatherings to spread information regarding the CSD and answer questions from the public. Through this angle, the board discussed transforming Covington Park’s tennis court into a potentially more popular pickleball court, as well as re-establishing a Community Emergency Response Team.
The board discussed the feasibility of partnering with Morongo Basin Ambulance to have an ambulance staffed in the Morongo Valley Fire Department. Morongo Valley Fire Chief McEachen says the tentative agreement would be for MBA to provide an ambulance, its equipment, and all associated costs for the MVFD, and MVFD would provide its staffing. Benefits include having faster emergency response times for Morongo Valley, as well as the opportunity for Chief McEachen to put an additional firefighter into service, which would bring the department up to 4-0 staffing. If the CSD agrees for the extra personnel, McEachen said he would wait until the next fiscal year to initiate the partnership. The board said they would assess the budget, and address further at next month’s meeting.
To assist with recently fallen trees and other debris in Covington Park, a woodchipper has been donated to the CSD from Richard Brewer of the Morongo Valley Fire Safe. Once the woodchipper is deemed in good working condition, the board will consider offering its supervised use for community mulching, as long as residents will be able to bring their lumber to the park where the machine will remain.
