Dan Stork broke his report on the meeting of the Twentynine Palms City Council into two parts. Yesterday: The practice of prayer before meetings. Today: Tourism, code enforcement, and environmental consultants…
The November 12 meeting of the Twentynine Palms City Council began early, with a 5 p.m. presentation by a representative of the Civitas consulting firm, which specializes in helping set up Tourism Improvement Districts. This is a type of special district, widely used in California, that allows the diversion of a portion of TOT (the hotel bed tax) to market tourism. A TID can take many forms in its governance, allowing for representation for both large and small innkeepers, and can have a regional basis as well as a municipal one. Some in attendance would like to see the information presented disseminated to all area innkeepers, with an eye toward further development.
During the regular meeting of the Council, Cary Harwin gave a quarterly report for the Desert Regional Tourism Association, in which he stressed efforts to include the interests of Twentynine Palms in the activities of the Welcome Center in Yucca Valley.
Council authorized an abatement lien against a property for which the City has spent over $8,000 in cleanup. Code enforcement staff gave an overview of the abatement process, using the case in question as an illustration of what happens when an owner doesn’t comply.
The Council followed City Manager Joe Guzetta’s recommendation that three specific environmental consulting firms – Terra Nova, ESA, and LSA – be designated for first call when environmental issues are relevant to projects. Terra Nova is local (Palm Desert) and knows Twentynine Palms from past work, while ESA and LSA can provide more specialized technical assistance.
TWENTYNINE PALMS CITY COUNCIL PART 2: TOURISM, CODE ENFORCEMENT AND CONSULTANTS
