Even with the threat of the spread of coronavirus, services, events and activities scheduled in the City of Twentynine Palms in March will go on as planned. At an emergency meeting of the City Council Thursday afternoon, the council took up new guidelines from the CDC, the state and the county and made their determinations. The guidelines say, until the end of March, gatherings of more than 250 are prohibited and a “social space” of six feet between individuals was needed to prevent the spread of the virulent virus. The council voted 4-1 to allow the Hilltoppers Motorcycle Event to go on at the end of March, noting participants and spectators were not placed close together. Representative Rodney Smith told the council the non-profit stood to take a major financial loss if the annual event was cancelled. The council voted 3-2 to continue the farmer’s market. With a 4-1 vote, Theatre 29 was encouraged to continue its planned production schedule emphasizing precautionary measures. Shortly after the council voted to continue the Rotary carnival, County Fire pulled the permits and the carnival is now cancelled. The senior lunch program will be altered, with frozen meals delivered to homes instead of participants gathering at the Senior Center. The council also voted unanimously to keep all city buildings, City Hall, Park and Recreation, the Downtown Visitor’s Center and the animal shelter open as usual. The consistent “No” vote was from Councilmember Karmolette O’Gilvie, a lifetime health professional, who said, “We should be proactive; this is flu on steroids and not to be taken lightly.” O’Gilvie and Mayor Joel Klink attended the meeting via a telephone link. A victim of the virus will be the annual Youth Basketball Tournament which will be canceled not by the council, but because the school and college district are restricting use of their gymnasiums in the interest of public safety. The council agreed to revisit the subject when one case of coronavirus is confirmed in the Morongo Basin.
