Last night the MVCSD held a special meeting to discuss developments with the proposed communications tower and to gather input from Morongo residents before they present their official resolution in opposition of the project.
In the wake of the September 5th BLM meeting where impassioned community members voiced their opposition to the tower, the CSD followed up by drafting their second resolution since the tower project began in 2022 during the project’s initial scoping period, and with the public comment period for BLM ending on September 16th, the pressure was palpable.
The CSD engaged with the public for over an hour, continuing to exchange points of the tower’s negative impact on the community. Focusing on the dire economic issues, Financial Director Johnny Tolbert said: “It’s going to be a double financial hit—we’ll be taking a hit on our property values at 20% as well as affect our fire assessment on our taxes.” Tolbert continued, stating he sees no positive impact for the community and that the 30-year lease for this tower project is a “money grab” for the BLM.
The tower project could create a domino effect for the district that is already financially stretched thin. In addition to Tolbert’s points, the proposed area for the tower is already at high fire risk and could potentially create higher risk for the Morongo Valley Fire Department first responders with its generators, fuel storage, and substantial height that could make it an easy target for lightning storms.
The good news is that community member Sara Fernandez has started a GoFundMe to hire an attorney to help the community fight the tower project, and in just 24 hours she surpassed her $10,000 goal at $11,900. Feeling optimistic, Fernandez has thanked all the contributors for their short notice commitment and confirmed the attorney has been retained.
While the CSD was scheduled to present their resolution during the meeting, the public discussion was so fertile that they decided to spend the week drafting one with additional information. This Sunday from 1-4 at Covington Park’s multipurpose room, there will be a public meeting to help residents draft their “substantial comments” to submit to BLM, and afterwards at 4 PM, the CSD will be holding another special meeting to approve their updated resolution to submit.
Sara Fernandez’s GoFundMe for legal services to oppose the communications tower: https://www.gofundme.com/f/legal-services-to-fight-the-morongo-tower
