The Morongo Valley Community Services District Board of Directors held a special meeting on the morning of Saturday, August 12th at Covington Park’s multi-purpose room.
The special meeting was called to fill the remaining 5th seat of the board to replace the vacancy left by Fire Commissioner Michael Emory, who resigned in June, and to hold a public budget workshop to discuss the preliminary budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Starting with public comments, a wave of support was voiced for Steve Hayden to fill the remaining seat. Facing no opposition, the board voted Hayden in unanimously, which was followed by Hayden’s prompt swearing into the Board by Fire Chief and General Manager James Brakebill.
Interacting with attendee inquiries, the board spent the following two hours dissecting and explaining the CSD budget from June 2023-June 2024. While the MVCSD is tackling concerns which have sent them far over budget this fiscal year, President Gorke’s “basic calculations” assured approximately $150,000 was an exception to this last fiscal year that won’t reoccur in the year to come. Financial Director Johnny Tolbert cited fire department maintenance, including fire truck and massive mold abatement from the crew’s kitchen, along with an overhaul of tree trimming in Covington Park made this year’s swollen budget exceptional.
Moving forward, Chief Brakebill brought good news regarding the budget, including working with Morongo Basin Ambulance to swap out medications close to expiration to higher call volume areas outside of Morongo Valley, which he predicts will save 40-50%. Cutting costs further, Brakebill mentioned OSHA’s new regulation that station uniforms now meet requirements to fight wildland fires, cutting the expensive “wildland pants” out of required uniform. For additional padding the fiscal year budget, Brakebill also stated the MVFD has recently received two grants: the Assistance for Firefighters (AFG) Grant, as well as the CalFire Grant.
The Morongo Valley CSD will hold their regularly scheduled meeting this Wednesday, August 16th.
