UPDATE 10 a.m.: The city clerk has sent out an amended agenda that lists the amount needed as $1,650,000, not $650,000 as originally reported.
The Twentynine Palms City Council has called a special meeting tonight to begin the process of turning the fire department over to the county. Reporter David Haldane explains…
The Twentynine Palms City Council will hold a special meeting tonight to consider only one item. On the table: whether to allocate $1,650,000 to the city’s water district to pave the way for the county’s takeover of its firefighting responsibilities.
City officials say the move is necessary in the wake of the 2012 rejection by voters of a tax increase to fund the Twentynine Palms Fire Department. It has been operating at a deficit ever since.
Tonight’s action could begin the process of abolishing the local department and authorizing San Bernardino County to provide city residents with its firefighting services.
The meeting begins 6 p.m. at City Hall on Adobe Road.
