Last night the Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a special meeting in Covington Park’s multipurpose room.
For the first action items, the Board discussed overdue maintenance for the Fire Department’s Medic Engine 461, currently stalling from a malfunctioning EGR sensor. With the district in the middle of a spending freeze and $31,000 over budget for vehicle maintenance, a quote was approved 5/0 for repair with the cushion of a 30-day net to pay. Another related action item was discussed and approved for annual pre-emptive fire apparatus maintenance to occur every June. General Manager Brittany Chavez agreed to update the public with ongoing maintenance costs on the MVCSD website for transparency.
The Board engaged in an open discussion with attendees, including the whole MV Firefighters Union, regarding the 2024-25 Preliminary Budget they passed last week. Firefighters voiced unanimous concern with cuts to shifts for captains, urging the Board to staff a captain, engineer, and a paramedic for every shift and call at minimum, even willing to sacrifice their recent raises to make it happen. Since the budget had already been passed and posted, this led to further discussion with no immediate solutions for amendment, leading to an abrupt end to the meeting with the suggestion of holding another special meeting with these items on the agenda.
