The Yucca Valley Town Council covered a lot of items before it got down to business at its meeting last night. The evening started with a workshop at which council members discussed what they’d like to do with properties the town owns, most of which are in the area designated the Old Town Specific Plan. The council would like to see the shops and pedestrian gathering places that are centered in Old Town near Pioneertown Road extend west down the highway to the other properties, and they debated the merits of selling versus leasing the lots to developers. Council members agreed that the next time they discussed the issue, it most likely would be in closed session if and when an offer for a parcel was presented to the town. In part one of this two-part story, Managing editor Tami Roleff has more on last night’s town council meeting…
Prior to getting down to business last night, the Yucca Valley Town Council heard from Yucca Valley resident and former Mayor Dawn Rowe, who talked about what it’s like being a county supervisor. She said since she was appointed in December, she has brought back the Municipal Advisory Council. And she says, the supervisors are working on regulations for short-term vacation rentals.
The Youth Commission also gave a presentation about the projects they participated in and spearheaded during the past year. The council presented the youth commissioners certificates thanking them for their work during the year.
In tomorrow’s news, we have more about a special recognition given to a Yucca Valley woman who helped during a horrific traffic crash last month.
The council recognized its part-time and full-time employees of the year: Francisco Rodriguez, a former Youth Commissioner who now works part-time for the town in the Parks and Rec Department, and Michelle Gardner, who started out in the Finance Division but now works in Human Resources.
Then it was time to get down to business. The Council unanimously approved placing liens on four properties to recoup the costs ($13,070.94) the town paid to clean up the properties.
Sheriff’s Captain Trevis Newport gave an impressive list of crimes worked and solved by the town’s new detective and sheriff’s service specialist—both of whom are funded by the Measure Y tax proceeds. The sheriff’s service specialist handled 720 calls for service last year totaling 201 hours. Newport said these were calls that freed up the deputies to handle other calls for the help. The new detective handled 1,748 calls for service, and cleared 154 cases. The detective also was responsible for 145 cases that were the result of pro-active policing. Council members grumbled a bit over the fact that the Morongo Unified School District contributes so little toward the cost of the School Resource Officer, who spends most of the time in Yucca Valley schools.
The council next heard a presentation on a marketing plan to promote Measure Y and Z, so that residents are more fully aware of the services they provide.
The council was also given an update on the budget for fiscal year 2019-20.
