The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a special meeting last Saturday, August 26th, bright and early 8am at Covington Park’s multi-purpose room. While the special meeting was originally planned to only discuss and adopt the 2023-24 preliminary budget, an urgent item was added after Tropical Storm Hilary’s wreckage of the CSD administrative office to assess the flood damage; including roof leaks and water damage to the walls, exposing asbestos.
After discussing one estimate for $41,000 that only included mitigation, Morongo Valley Youth Softball League organizer Buddy Stogner assured the board he’s talked to another company who specializes in asbestos removal and water damage, and “could beat the current estimate in half, if not a quarter of the cost.”
In the meantime, Brakebill has applied for emergency funding through FEMA, and is awaiting approval of the application. Until the damage is fixed, no one will be working in the CSD office.
With the CSD’s bookkeeper Bonnie Miller in attendance, the board spent the next several hours going over the budget, assessing and adjusting to board projections. One substantial adjustment discussed was the possibility of hiring a new general manager at a lower pay rate, so Brakebill could focus on the fire department. While Brakebill voiced opposition of this possibility, stating that “history has shown” general managers micromanaging the fire department, he said this decision would ultimately be up to the Board.
After discussing what amount should be considered OES, the Board felt they weren’t ready to motion the preliminary budget. Deciding to hold another special meeting on September 6th to continue working on it, President Gorke adjourned the 5.5 hour meeting at 1:30pm.
