RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council June 11, 2024
Streamlined budget updates, a calendar filled with June events, a presentation from Rediscover 29, and organic waste rollout.
If you see a man in a giant sleigh dropping off shiny green gifts to your neighborhood this week, don’t be alarmed that Christmas arrived six months early— it’s just Burrtec, delivering your new green waste receptacle.
Tuesday’s Twentynine Palms City Council meeting was focused and to the point as Council and staff delved into the latest round of City Budget updates before the ‘24-’25 fiscal year commences on July 1, and the City heard updates on the rollout of the new organic food waste bill, AB1383.
Four Councilmembers were in attendance with Mayor Pro Tem Joel Klink out with an excused absence. Councilmember McArthur Wright delivered the invocation in place of Casey Orndorf of First Assembly of God Church, who was on the schedule to deliver the invocation but absent from the meeting.
For a breakdown of the agenda packet for this meeting, read our latest agenda preview here.
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROCLAMATIONS
The City had a handful of proclamations, including recognizing June as LGBTQIA+ month and acknowledgment of Juneteenth as a City and federally recognized historical holiday. Women of Color Global 29, in conjunction with the City of Twentynine Palms and Visit 29, are hosting a Juneteenth Celebration event on Saturday, June 15 at Knotts Sky Park on El Sol Avenue to commemorate the holiday. A march is set to take place at 11:45 am, with food, entertainment, and celebrations scheduled into the evening.
Mayor Steven Bilderain presented the City’s proclamation of LGBTQIA+ Month to Copper Mountain College Student Life and Engagement Specialist Chelsi Chastain, who promoted the LGBTQIA+ Lunch and Learn event the College is hosting on Wednesday June 26 at 2 pm, open to both students and community members alike.
Following proclamations, Mayor Bilderain gave an award to Larry Bowden for his service as Interim City Manager. In a reflective statement to City Council, long-time local Bowden, who first moved here in 1966, spoke highly of Twentynine Palms and the local community:
“We lived here in great times. And we lived here when it was like a ghost town during times of base deployment, when all the Marines were gone.” Bowden concluded, “I won't live much longer in the overall picture of life, but my hope is that somehow Twentynine Palms remains one of the last small desert communities.”
Bowden’s first role with the City was a part-time position for $6 an hour back in 1992. Working his way up the ranks, Bowden has worn many hats at the community level over the years, including Head Coach, Recreation Superintendent, Acting City Manager, and Assistant City Manager.
Rediscover 29 President Michael Usher, co-owner of Grnd Sqrl, and Sara Lyons, Secretary and owner of Scorpion Lollipop, presented to the Council on behalf of the non-profit organization. Rediscover 29—also known as the Downtown Business Association, comprised of community members and business owners throughout the Morongo Basin—was founded in 2021 and seeks to partner with the City in a more formal capacity. “We have been working to fill the void of the missing Chamber of Commerce while we’ve been here,” stated Usher.
Lyons highlighted a list of events Rediscover 29 has sponsored or helped organize in the past, including 2022’s Party At The Plaza, Pioneer Days Kick-Off event, the Pride 29 Festival in 2023, and an annual Christmas tree sale that raises funds for the Downtown Business Association. DBA meetings are held at Grnd Sqrl the first Monday of every month at 10 am.
“We want to work with anyone that's interested in business in 29, as well as groups that are coming from outside of 29 to do fun things in 29,” continued Usher. Rediscover 29 hopes to serve as a one-stop resource center for businesses, both new and already established, to assist with networking and outreach, navigating City guidelines, regulations, and more including ribbon cuttings, quarterly business mixers, and information pamphlets in City offices.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Approved 4-0-1 with City Manager Stone James clarifying that the $5,500 being approved for the Dine 29 food event and restaurant week is in addition to the $1,500 the event received at the previous City Council meeting for a total of $7,000.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
11. Amendments to the City's Master Fee Schedule for FY 2024-25.
Councilmembers heard from City Finance Director Hernandez-Conde on three separate agenda items containing budget updates, the first of which are updates to the City’s Master Fee Schedule. These fee updates are routine budget procedures. For a breakdown of updates made to the City’s fee schedule, read our agenda preview here. Motion by Councilmember Wright to approve, seconded by Councilmember Daniel Mintz. Approved 4-0-1
12. Proposed Budget Revisions for Capital Projects Funds, Special Revenue Funds and Successor Agency Fund for Fiscal Year 2024-25.
Finance Director Hernandez-Conde continued on budget matters, with the following project fund updates to be approved by City Council :
Updates to the Capital Projects Funds. These funds are designated for capitol improvements—streets, parks, and safety.1
Minor updates to the Special Revenue Funds, which are funds specifically allocated “for a specific project or purpose.”2 This includes preventative maintenance projects on paved areas of Mesquite Springs Road, East Utah Trail, Bullion Mountain Road, and Indian Trail.
Small updates to the Successor Agency Fund, which is a fiduciary (interim) fund established by the City to move fund monies from the now-dissolved Twentynine Palms Redevelopment Agency to the Successor Agency to the City of Twentynine Palms. Revenue collected from these funds includes local property taxes.
Transferring $410,000 from the General Fund to the General Capital Projects Fund, to cover costs such as a street sweeper (partially funded already by grant money) and Animal Shelter improvements.
Motion to approve by Mintz, seconded by Wright. Approved 4-0-1
13. Proposed Budget Revisions for Project Phoenix Funds and Enterprise Fund for Fiscal Year 2024-25.
As part of its downtown revitalization project, the City agreed to establish an Enterprise Sewer Fund to cover costs of sewer services to a handful of businesses within the Freedom Plaza area. This fund pays for “operations and maintenance of the sewer collection system including, inspections, pumping, water quality monitoring, and permitting.”3 Construction of the Project Phoenix package treatment plant is estimated to cost the city $2.2 million, with $1.6 million being covered by an EPA grant and the remainder to be covered by the City.
This budget update and inter-fund transfer covers some of the projected FY ‘24-’25 costs of that package treatment plant, a feature City Manager James said was vital to securing a developer for the hotel proposed in the Project Phoenix area, which is set to be a Home2 Suites by Hilton.
Motion made by Wright, seconded by Councilmember Octavious Scott. Approved 3-0-2 with Mintz abstaining from the agenda item due to conflict of interest as his wife owns a shop within the Project Phoenix area.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
14. Solid Waste and Recycling Program Update.
City Council heard a presentation on the rollout of Senate Bill 1383 from Solid Waste and Recycling Manager Elijah Marshall. Marshall reported a significant savings for the City and hopes delivery of green waste bins to be complete by the end of June.
In his report, Marshall said the City delayed the rollout of the organic food waste program after learning from the State of California that the City of Twentynine Palms would be financially liable for collecting all of the Morongo Basin Unified School District’s organic food waste. This is because the main District Offices are headquartered within City limits. Waste from the local Farmers Market and truck hauls from the Stater Brothers grocery store were also factored in with the State’s projected food waste calculations. The Senate bill appeared to be extremely costly to the City for these reasons.
However, the legislation allows exceptions for both rural communities and local education agencies. Through a memorandum of understanding with San Bernardino County’s Environmental Health Department, and lengthy discussions between the City of Twentynine Palms, CalRecycle, and the Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority (JPA), Marshall was able to come back to Council at Thursday’s meeting with good news of a projected net-savings of millions of dollars.
“The rules and regulations— everybody's learning. But sometimes CalRecycle just says, ‘Well, you're California— here's the number.’ You say, ‘Yeah, but I'm not the same as Sacramento or Fresno or Los Angeles, I'm different,’ and it's hard to get them to recognize that,” stated Marshall, who is set to present a residential rate package on the Senate bill rollout to City Council at their June 25 meeting.4
FUTURE COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
Referring to the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and stating he was fulfilling a request from a constituent, Councilmember Scott moved to add “TBID changes” as a future item. He did not receive a second from any of his three colleagues on the dais. “We’ve already did that,” stated Councilman Mintz. However, when the TBID was reauthorized, changes such as initiating terms of service were suggested but not made. The TBID’s reauthorization process usually begins in August for the new fiscal year beginning October 1, 2024.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Cindy Bernard, Editor-In-Chief of the Desert Trumpet, promoted the Desert Trumpet’s community forum, Envisioning Our City’s Future, A Twentynine Palms Town Hall, taking place at 3 pm Saturday, June 29, at the Twentynine Palms Community Center in Freedom Plaza. The event, free and open to the public, will feature community leaders and organizers Chris Clarke, Paul Razo, and Carrie Williams. The event has four main discussion topics:
Creating an affordable and sustainable city
Balancing development with maintenance of our desert ecosystem
Creating an inclusive community
What does positive change look like?
CITY MANAGER UPDATE
City Manager H. Stone James spoke enthusiastically of events to come in the second half of June. Acknowledging that short term rental (STR) permits have decreased in recent months, James reported that the City’s revenue from Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collected from STRs now exceeds the TOT money collected from local hotels. TOT is charged at 10.5% directly to tourists when they book hotels, STRs, and other accommodations. 1.5% of that tax money funds the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID), which then uses it to promote the City and fund Event Sponsorships and Event Grants. The balance of 9% goes into the City’s general fund.
The next Twentynine Palms City Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 25, at 6 pm.
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According to the Staff Report. This includes a $200,000 street widening project of Cholla Avenue, chip sealing funded through San Bernardino County Measure I, replacement of ballpark lights at Luckie Park, and a bike path between Hatch Road and Sullivan Avenue.
Hernandez-Conde noted that the revenue from the California Gas Tax, SB1, has been stagnant the last couple years and while the State projects a 6% tax revenue increase based on projections, she personally projects that number to be closer to 3%.
According to the Staff Report
Source: CalRecycle. According to California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, 146 local California governments have exemptions in place for SB 1383 collection requirements based on rurality alone.
i believe we have too many organizations promoting business in 29 palms and not enough attention given to residents.
With tax dollars granted to businesses downtown, plus subsidizing their septic system, plus waiving fees for Freedom Plaza, the resident tax payer assumes too much of the burden that should be carried by the downtown business district.
Instead of granting and using tax payer dollars for subsidizing business, use the funds collected by TBID and lighten the burden on tax paying citizens.
AND............... a new street sweeper !!??? the town had so few paved roads, this expense seems like a farce !