[0:06] Still? >> I was hoping that six.

[0:23] You all set to go?

[0:30] Okay. >> [snorts]

[0:35] » You getting the customer service?

[0:44] I know it was the longest minute. Only when you watch

[0:48] it try to boil.

[0:51] Good evening. Call this meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of

[0:54] Allegiance. And Ms. Robin is going to lead us.

[0:59] » Ready? Begin.

[1:01] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to

[1:07] the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with

[1:12] liberty and justice for all. >> And Pastor Michelle from Oasis Community

[1:18] Church is >> Yes.

[1:23] Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the privilege and the

[1:26] opportunity to come before you on behalf of our council members and our city.

[1:30] I thank you tonight for our servants, our mayor, our city manager, the staff,

[1:35] our council members, first responders, and military. I give thanks that those

[1:39] who have chosen to take up a life of service on behalf of our community and

[1:43] nation. I ask you to give our leaders your wisdom to make decisions that you

[1:48] would strengthen and prosper the city of Twentynine Palms and its citizens.

[1:53] I pray that our city council members would have humble hearts to serve, that

[1:57] their motives for everything would be pure and that they would make right

[2:00] decisions concerning the social welfare, safety, and economics of Twentynine

[2:04] Palms. I take authority over strife and

[2:07] division and crime and every over every other evil thing that would try to take

[2:11] root in our city. And Lord, I ask that the city of Twentynine Palms would make

[2:15] be a good reputation, have a good reputation, and be known for a as a

[2:19] blessed place to live and we thank you for your tender mercies and your loving

[2:23] kindness over our wonderful city. Jesus name. Amen.

[2:28] » Thank you. >> [clears throat]

[2:31] » Okay, roll call, please. >> Council member Wright.

[2:35] » Here. >> Council member Bilderrain.

[2:37] » Here. >> Councilwoman Ramirez.

[2:39] » Here. >> Mayor pro tem Scott.

[2:40] » Here. >> Mayor Mintz.

[2:42] » Here. >> All present.

[2:43] » Thank you. Uh let's see, we have no closed session

[2:46] announcements and changes to the agenda. >> We do have one change to the agenda.

[2:51] We'd like to um pull item four of the consent calendar.

[2:56] The um

[2:59] second reading of the ordinance for sending off on project um and table that

[3:02] to a uh later meeting.

[3:05] » Okay. All right.

[3:08] Okay, these proceedings will be viewed on demand at city of Twentynine Palms

[3:11] website at www.twentyninepalms.org. You also live stream this meeting by

[3:16] going to the our website and clicking on the meeting agendas link. And also on

[3:19] the beginning of the agenda, obviously, there's um in-person uh public comment

[3:24] and there's also you can go on to our uh register link um

[3:28] city of Twentynine Palms - 448 my webex.com.

[3:35] So, just go on to our website and you'll be able to uh click on you'll be able to

[3:38] do it right from home if you like. Okay, uh awards presentation,

[3:43] appointments, and proclamations. We have none.

[3:45] Uh city council comments and reports of meetings attended. Council member

[3:49] Bilderrain.

[3:51] » Thank you, Mr. Um

[3:54] been very slow. Just had meetings with citizens and I just want to say happy

[3:57] birthday to Councilmember Wright.

[4:03] » Okay, Councilmember Ramirez.

[4:06] » I'll try to make this as um brief as possible.

[4:11] I attended the Southern California Authority of

[4:16] Governments Legislative Committee meeting.

[4:18] I wish I was coming back with better

[4:22] news, but I'm disappointed to report that despite the recommendations from

[4:25] both SCAG and Cal Cities uh supporting additional flexibility for RHNA-related

[4:31] deadlines, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB

[4:34] 2296. Um rural communities continue to need housing policy that recognizes the

[4:39] very different challenges that we face compared to

[4:42] our larger cities in our um metropolitan areas in California.

[4:47] I also attended the East Valley Regional Steering Committee meeting for our

[4:50] Office of Homeless Services. I addressed a letter that was sent to me

[4:55] um that left me concerned about the potential hold on federal Well, not the

[4:58] potential anymore. There is a hold on federal um fund funding

[5:03] and what that could mean for our services in our region. Subsequently, I

[5:07] met with our lobbyist, Ms. White, um as well as, you know, just a representative

[5:12] from Washington, D.C., and I specifically requested follow-up

[5:15] regarding that letter um and addressed my concerns about the potential impact

[5:20] on our community. I also met with a constituent who shared

[5:23] with me that he is a homeless veteran and a Purple Heart recipient. With the

[5:28] assistance and coordination of Congressman Jay Obernolte's office and

[5:32] staff, we were able to work towards securing him a VASH voucher um and

[5:36] connecting him with housing services. I completed five additional trainings

[5:41] through Washington University and a federal program that is um made for

[5:48] local elected and it focuses on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity,

[5:53] and emerging security threats. As technology continues to evolve, I

[5:57] believe that elected officials have a responsibility to understand both

[6:00] opportunities and risks that these technologies present to local government

[6:03] and public infrastructure. I am going to be entering into the

[6:08] record um

[6:10] an update from Charter Communications and Spectrum.

[6:17] Um this was something that I was proud to support. It went before the CPUC.

[6:23] I started to work with Charter Communications, also known as Cox,

[6:28] um to support their merger at a state

[6:30] level. I provided input at the state level because I believe that the

[6:34] potential benefits for rural communities like ours were strong enough. The merger

[6:38] brings stronger connectivity, um expanded customer protections including

[6:44] um outage related

[6:48] expenses and being able to be reimbursed for for that. And the biggest part of

[6:54] this, which makes me super happy, is that um part of this merger, one of the

[6:57] benefits, was that to low-income and qualifying communities, there will have

[7:02] a plan that offers high-speed internet that will be only $20 per month. Um and

[7:08] there will be no startup fees, no deposits, no anything like that. So,

[7:12] definitely something that's going to be very positive for our community.

[7:17] Uh there's a few more things.

[7:21] I also met with some constituents that brought forward some public safety

[7:25] concerns um regarding

[7:30] a city on property and some individuals that were

[7:35] lingering there. And I just want to be very clear tonight that, you know,

[7:39] Twentynine Palms doesn't just have a homeless problem homelessness problem.

[7:43] We also have a drug problem. Addiction and illegal narcotics are driving many

[7:47] of the public safety issues that our community faces today. We must continue

[7:51] to show compassion to those who genuinely want treatment and recovery,

[7:54] but we cannot ignore the criminal activity that fuels this crisis.

[7:58] As a council council member, I will use every lawful authority available to me

[8:03] to support policies that improve public safety and combat illegal drug activity.

[8:07] I stand proudly with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the San

[8:11] Bernardino District Attorney's Office and our state and federal law and

[8:15] law enforcement partners. You have my full support. The message is simple. If

[8:19] you bring drugs into our community, I will personally continue to support

[8:23] every lawful effort to stop you. 29 Palms deserves to be a safe place to

[8:27] live, work, and raise a family, and I will never stop fighting for that.

[8:31] Um lastly, I'm also very proud to highlight and say that uh

[8:38] about a month after I got elected, I was

[8:44] approached with an opportunity to become part of a case study

[8:48] um of of a group of local electeds through

[8:52] Stanford University. That um

[8:57] has gone on for almost 2 years now,

[9:00] and I was recently notified that they were moving on to the next part of

[9:06] their research and and publishing the

[9:09] research, and um that would be with one of their partners and their main funder,

[9:14] the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. They'll be putting all of the information

[9:17] together in a video, and I will be part of that. Thank you.

[9:25] » Councilmember Wright. >> All right, I'm on I'll be there long.

[9:29] All right.

[9:31] Just messing. Um so, I attended um shot with a cop. Um

[9:37] that's thing that they do I think twice a year. And this one was for a back to

[9:42] school. And um it is just a wonderful opportunity.

[9:48] Especially when it wasn't my money that was being spent, so.

[9:53] But we I thoroughly enjoyed it. And then I did I also

[9:58] um attended the Fill the Bus with Winging

[10:01] It. Winging It. And um I did the back to school backpack

[10:07] giveaway. Um

[10:10] I've um

[10:12] helped Winging It's and also Cuts for Kings did one.

[10:18] Um and so I participated in both of those. And I also um want to thank

[10:25] Council uh woman Ramirez because she helped out Cuts for Kings with some

[10:31] backpacks that were desperately needed for their

[10:35] event. Um and

[10:39] um I attended the JPA. The biggest thing

[10:43] with the JPA everybody knows um you know, California's really moving

[10:48] with this recycling situation and things like

[10:52] that. And I guess one of the biggest issues they're having right now is how

[10:57] to recycle solar panels. Um because of the glass in it or

[11:02] something like that. Um but um I did attend that meeting and that

[11:08] was one of the biggest things they talked about.

[11:11] Um I also got invited to uh Copper Mountain

[11:16] College's celebration for their accreditation. Um they've been

[11:21] accredited for I guess they do it every 8 years. So they've been accredited for

[11:25] another 8 years. And they celebrated up out at um

[11:30] Sky's the Limit. Um and my daughter she works out there, so she invited me and I

[11:35] went out there. It was a really nice event and all that

[11:40] good stuff. Also attended a Warhawks car wash. We've

[11:44] been raising a lot of money to sponsor a lot

[11:48] of children and there are a lot of people or a lot of businesses out there

[11:52] that have sponsored and we greatly appreciate it. This year I think

[11:58] we we've sponsored more kids than we ever have and I think it's in the area

[12:04] of like 20 plus kids being sponsored just to play football. And so it's it's

[12:09] going great. Um

[12:12] and All right, I got through my list. And I

[12:17] do want to wish Council member Steve a happy birthday.

[12:22] If y'all don't know, we got the same birthday, exactly 10 years apart.

[12:30] » Mayor Pro Tem, Scott. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Um

[12:34] I did attend the field of bus with Student Transportation of America and

[12:38] Wing It. Um I also attended the Shop with a Cop

[12:42] with Council member MacArthur Wright. And um

[12:46] I attended the Space Jam at Historic Plaza,

[12:50] um the 70th anniversary for the American Legion.

[12:54] I also attended the Senior Center. I also attended a birthday celebration for

[13:00] for Kurt. Um so happy birthday, Kurt. It's his

[13:04] birthday as well and happy birthday, Council member Bildrin, Council member

[13:07] Wright. And um

[13:10] I also gave an interview with KESQ news about our night sky.

[13:16] That was done at Wing It. I I just want to wish Miss Angie from Wing It

[13:21] that she feels better. She's been having some health issues. Um

[13:26] and um I think that is

[13:31] Oh, and I attended the um the back to school event at Wing and It

[13:34] at the Youth Activity Center. And that's a amazing facility over there on

[13:37] Sullivan. If you haven't been, um I I really encourage you guys to go check

[13:41] that out. It seems to be like a a really cool refuge for our youth. Thank you

[13:46] very much. >> Thank you.

[13:49] Well, unfortunately, I was out of town almost

[13:52] the last two weekends, so I missed a whole bunch of those events, but they

[13:56] they know I support them. Um so I went to a Mountain Desert uh meeting. If

[14:01] you're going on 247, uh allow at least uh probably a half an hour extra time.

[14:06] They're repaving one side of the road on one thing, and they stop traffic, and

[14:10] then they open it up to the traffic going through, and it's it takes you'll

[14:14] you'll lose time, so trust me. Um one of the things are do what they're um

[14:20] uh we're doing for uh Mountain Desert with through Measure I money is they're

[14:24] getting ready and I forget everybody's ever gone on Bear Valley Cutoff. It used

[14:27] to be a just a road you could go from 247 right to Interstate 15 and miss

[14:32] everything. Well, you can't do that anymore. It's a three-lane road. Takes

[14:35] forever, but they're actually going to fix all the lights so they're

[14:38] synchronized, but this going to cost a lot of money to do it. I didn't realize

[14:42] that's [snorts] streets like they cost a lot to But

[14:45] they're going to also do some more improvements on the crosswalks and

[14:48] things like that. So, that's going to get improved down there. Um on Monday, I

[14:52] had to go back down to Victorville to the um

[14:55] air quality meeting. Um we just we only really had one or two things, but the

[15:00] there's some legislative our executive director, Brad, he um

[15:04] he keeps track of a lot of the um stuff in Sacramento, and we got some stuff

[15:08] coming down that I don't know. It's It's going to cost a

[15:11] lot of money to to do the things they want to do, and I'm

[15:18] Oops. It's going to affect everyone. And um that's all I have for for that. I

[15:24] want to wish Steve and Matt both a happy birthday, and I guess Kurt, sorry I

[15:27] missed yours. You know, I don't know. I guess he

[15:30] » [laughter]

[15:32] » All right. So, we are going to we go to the city manager update.

[15:38] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We I just have two updates. One has to do with the

[15:44] construction of our Split Rock Bridge. The contractor contacted city hall and

[15:50] asked to be able to do some night work. Apparently, there's

[15:55] some portion of the bridge that needs a special coating that needs to be done

[15:58] when it's a little cooler. So, there's a couple days in there I wanted to let you

[16:03] all know and and the public also. Those days look like it'd be September

[16:07] 11th, 14th, and 15th. And, that would go from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

[16:13] They probably would have some additional lighting out there,

[16:18] generators, and concrete mixers. So, general

[16:23] construction noises. It shouldn't be too too bad though. Probably won't take all

[16:29] three days, but they wanted to have some flexibility to be able to do that. So, I

[16:34] want to let you all know and and the public also.

[16:37] Additionally, I wanted to give our um

[16:42] planning department a some kudos.

[16:47] Worked very hard last week to put in the final application for an 8 and 1/2

[16:54] million dollar grant to redo Lear Avenue from the highway all the way out to

[17:00] Pole Line Road. And, so there's portion of that that is

[17:07] in the city, but also portion in the county. We are the main applicant. We

[17:12] worked have been working on this. Really, this is the third application

[17:17] that we've made for this project. So, it's been

[17:21] I don't know, 10 years we've been trying to get this and it finally happened this

[17:25] year. And that that's work with

[17:28] our cooperation with the base. Our department, our federal lobbyist,

[17:34] it was a whole bunch people that put in for us to be able to get this grant.

[17:40] It'd be a great thing for that particular road to just rebuild

[17:45] it. It won't be we won't tear it up and put

[17:49] a new one down, but we're going to rebuild the one that's there. And so,

[17:52] that's about 6 miles there. So, it's a it's a big win for for

[17:58] us and for the base.

[18:02] That's all I have. >> All right. Ask him a question.

[18:05] » Of course, you can ask him a question.

[18:10] » You know, I came city manager. There's

[18:14] Did the base talk about like where they're going to divert vehicles

[18:19] that go to Wilson? >> When we get a little bit closer

[18:22] construction, we'll certainly make those announcements. There'll be have to be a

[18:25] a whole traffic management plan that goes into that. And and so, when that

[18:29] when we get a little closer construction, we're still ways out from

[18:32] construction, but when we get closer, we will be in contact with the base and

[18:37] they can let their people know what the what the plan is as will we.

[18:42] » Thank you. >> All right. Move to consent calendar.

[18:48] » Put this one. >> All matters that are listed on the

[18:51] consent calendar will be considered routine by the city council will be

[18:54] enacted by one motion in the form listed. Any item may be removed from the

[18:57] consent calendar considered separately by the city council. Public will be

[19:01] given opportunity to comment on the consent calendar items prior to the

[19:04] council action. So, does anybody want to pull any items?

[19:08] » Five and 10. >> You want to pull five and 10.

[19:15] Okay.

[19:26] Okay. Anybody else? Okay.

[19:29] Obviously, number four is going to be tabled. I'll be abstaining from number

[19:33] six, possible conflict of interest because my wife owns a shop in the

[19:38] Project Phoenix area / Freedom Plaza. And number seven, it's a

[19:45] check that was written to my business. Obviously, it I do not I do not have a

[19:50] contract with the city. That is for bowling for the day camp kids when

[19:55] they bowled four times this year. I It has That was

[20:00] paid for that by the parents, not by the city. So, I just want to be clear that's

[20:03] not not giving me Well, giving my business

[20:07] the money, but it did not come from the city.

[20:10] Okay. So, I'm going to ask the public. Anybody want Oh, I do have a comment. Um

[20:15] You want to request number four, but it's been tabled. You would still want

[20:19] to comment on it? I guess you could, sir. Come on up.

[20:26] » Uh can you tell us why?

[20:31] » I'm not sure. She wants to know why we

[20:35] » to know why it's being tabled. >> Well, we're just tabling it to a a later

[20:39] meeting. We're not ready to to bring that forward just yet.

[20:43] » Or what We have no way of knowing. I mean, you

[20:46] know, obviously as the residents that are involved in this. I'm not speaking

[20:50] as Desert Trumpet, obviously. We're kind of curious as to why.

[20:55] » It's we're just not ready to bring it forward

[20:58] just yet. We will bring it back. 100%.

[21:02] » Okay. We will submit something to try to find out

[21:06] what's going on. Thank you.

[21:10] » Okay, anybody else on [snorts] comment want to comment on the consent

[21:14] calendar? Okay, we'll bring it back to the

[21:17] council, so we'll we need we'll vote on

[21:22] everything but number six and number six, right? No.

[21:28] » Five and 10. >> Five and 10.

[21:30] » Five and 10. >> Yeah.

[21:31] » Okay, and then obviously when I vote I'll be I'm abstaining from number six

[21:36] and number seven. >> I'll move the consent calendar minus

[21:41] number four, five, and 10. >> Second.

[21:44] » Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any other discussion?

[21:48] Okay, roll call, please. >> Councilwoman Ramirez?

[21:51] » Aye. >> Councilmember Wright?

[21:53] » Aye. >> Councilmember Beldering?

[21:55] » Aye. >> Mayor pro tem Scott?

[21:57] » Aye. >> Mayor Mints?

[21:58] » I am abstaining from number six and number seven.

[22:01] » Okay. >> Approved five-oh.

[22:03] » Okay, number five was pulled, so

[22:06] Councilmember Ramirez. >> I just wanted to

[22:10] ask the city manager for a little bit of clarification. I I received a couple of

[22:15] emails and one phone call from constituents that wanted to know

[22:21] about the two payments that look pretty

[22:26] similar to the San Bernardino Sheriff's

[22:29] Department. I I explained to the best of my ability just from what I know from

[22:33] being here for these two years that you know, sometimes

[22:36] it's a little bit delayed because their fiscal year closes in July and with a

[22:40] lot of changes, but if you could just comment on on that.

[22:45] » Yes, certainly. There's two There's two items on there both for

[22:50] $518,419

[22:54] and those are both payments to the Sheriff San Bernardino County Sheriff's

[22:58] Department as part of our contract with them.

[23:01] The The reason they're both on the same consent calendar is the invoice uh for

[23:07] the um, July came late. And so, um, I don't

[23:13] not for any reason other than they maybe closing out the end of the year uh end

[23:17] of the fiscal year stuff. But, uh we usually usually see one of those every

[23:21] month. And so, this one happen happens to be on on uh

[23:26] both payments in the same, but they're part of our payments uh for sheriff's

[23:30] contract.

[23:33] » That's Hopefully that answers it. >> Yep, that's it. Thank you, sir.

[23:37] » Okay. So, uh also number 10, you pulled number 10.

[23:42] » Uh-oh, sorry. For number 10, some of the questions that I received

[23:47] from constituents was letter G. In addition of an alcohol outlet would

[23:53] increase the number of outlets from 18 to 19, which is greater than one allowed

[23:57] per ABC. Uh the question was if there's going to

[24:00] be any fines associated with that or if the city will be in any trouble.

[24:04] » Uh no, the city won't be any trouble for adding that additional alcohol license.

[24:08] This is part of the process when we do this over concentration. We have to make

[24:12] this special finding of public inconvenience and necessity.

[24:16] » Perfect. And then the other question that I received

[24:20] was um if there's going to be any sort of provisions as far as since um people

[24:26] under 21 will be allowed and there will be alcohol served, but to me this looks

[24:30] more like a restaurant. >> It It's Yeah, it's a It's a restaurant

[24:34] just like other restaurants throughout the city that that serve alcohol.

[24:38] Uh minors would be able to be able to come

[24:41] in and be with their parents or be by themselves uh and then they'll have

[24:46] operational policies in place that would um speak to age verification and what

[24:53] everybody else does um with respect to um

[24:56] making sure people are there's no underage uh drinking.

[25:01] » And that's regulated by ABC, right? >> That is regulated by ABC and there

[25:05] several other restaurants in town have exactly the same license. So, it's just

[25:09] » Perfect. >> It's not a 47. A 47 means you can do it.

[25:13] Same thing every bowling alley in the state California has, every

[25:16] theater, movie theaters have them. It's a code

[25:19] 47. If all they serve food, then they can have

[25:22] » That's the key there is for it to be a restaurant.

[25:24] » there's no food served, then it's a 48 license and then that and no one under

[25:27] 21 can be allowed. So. >> Perfect. Thank you. That's all.

[25:31] » Okay. >> Thank you.

[25:32] » All right. Any other questions? Okay. I need a motion then for number five and

[25:36] number 10. >> I move five and number 10.

[25:40] » Second. >> Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any

[25:42] other discussion? Hearing none.

[25:46] » Council member Bildrin. >> Aye.

[25:48] » Council member Wright. >> Aye.

[25:49] » Councilwoman Ramirez. >> Aye.

[25:51] » Mayor pro tem Scott. >> Aye.

[25:53] » Mayor Mints. >> Aye.

[25:54] » Approved five and >> Okay. So, we

[25:57] discussed all the removed consent calendar items and public hearing.

[26:03] Is this the city manager or is this Keith? Keith?

[26:05] » Keith is going to present this. >> All right. Go ahead, Keith.

[26:07] » All right. So, this is the confirming the cost of abatement for Sherman Hoyt

[26:12] property that we got we got cleaned up. Next slide.

[26:18] Okay. That is just the general location of

[26:21] where it is. It's in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

[26:24] We do have a lot of background here, but I'm not going to go into, but

[26:30] after all the cleanup it was 39,000, over 39,000 to clean this up. These are

[26:34] some before pictures.

[26:39] And then here are the after pictures. It took quite a bit of

[26:44] work to get this cleaned up because of the amount of

[26:46] tires. We have to We had to hire a specialty

[26:50] uh, to get the out and handle them

[26:53] correctly. Um, and this and again, this is how the

[26:58] property looks today.

[27:01] And um, the city council, we're asking the city council adopt the resolution

[27:06] confirming the cost. If the city council does so,

[27:09] um, we give the uh, property owner a certain amount of time to pay the pay

[27:14] this assessment. If they don't, then uh, we by taking this motion, uh, the city

[27:21] finance director can then put a special assessment on the property

[27:25] ensuring that the city will eventually be paid back for this effort.

[27:28] So, and that will go on the property taxes, um,

[27:31] associated with this property. So, that's my presentation.

[27:35] » So, so if um,

[27:38] it goes on the tax the the tax roll, so then if say the person um,

[27:43] just gives up on the property, then um, whoever buys the property, it goes that

[27:48] that lien goes with it and we'd still get paid, correct?

[27:52] » And I did ask I would I asked earlier if the property taxes on that was up to

[27:57] date because after 5 years the county takes it, but we we would be first in

[28:01] line still get paid if it went past that, correct?

[28:04] » That's correct. >> Okay.

[28:06] All right. Anybody have questions for staff?

[28:09] All right, I'll open up to um, public hearing.

[28:14] I don't have any slips. Anybody online? Eli?

[28:17] None? Okay. I'm going to close the public hearing.

[28:20] Bring it back to council. I'm looking for a motion.

[28:24] » 26. >> 28.

[28:26] » 28. >> Uh, one one thing I'd say before you

[28:29] take the vote, um, as Councilwoman Ramirez said, um,

[28:33] um, all available um, opportunities that we

[28:37] have to um, uh,

[28:41] fight the uh, drug and uh, vagrancy problem in Twentynine Palms we take. Um,

[28:47] this is a property we're going to clean that we're cleaning up. Um, the the

[28:51] planning commission added several other properties um, that that are burnt

[28:55] around town that have been used for um,

[29:00] illegal activities that we're going to get cleaned up. So, this is one of those

[29:05] things that we can do to to to that end is clean up properties and um, we're

[29:09] going to really take a uh, hard look at how we're how we're going to be able to

[29:13] afford to do that cuz it is is an expensive endeavor, but it's important

[29:17] to to clean up Twentynine Palms and so we're going to we're going to be doing a

[29:20] lot of that in the near future. >> Good. Okay. All right, Mac, you had your

[29:25] motion ready? >> Yeah.

[29:27] I make a motion that we adopt resolution number 2628 confirming the cost of

[29:32] abating 7535 Sherman Hoyt Avenue, a residence full of trash, debris, and

[29:38] abandoned motor home and box truck, an [snorts] unsecured residence that was

[29:43] declared a public nuisance and cleaned under the direction of the planning

[29:46] commission. >> Second.

[29:50] » Okay, motion a second. Any other discussion?

[29:52] Hearing none. Roll call, please.

[29:55] » Councilwoman Ramirez? >> Aye.

[29:57] » Councilmember Bouldering? >> Aye.

[29:59] » Councilmember Wright? >> Aye.

[30:00] » Mayor Pro Tem Scott? >> Aye.

[30:02] » Mayor Mintz? >> Aye.

[30:03] » Approved 5-0. >> Thank you.

[30:05] Okay, future council initiated items. Anybody have any item an item they want

[30:09] to >> Yeah, I I got a few.

[30:11] » All right, Mac. >> I got a couple today. Um, so uh, along

[30:15] the lines of what this uh, city manager was talking about, um, I don't really

[30:20] know if it's a be a future initiated council item or what, but I did have the

[30:25] opportunity to come to the planning commission meeting

[30:29] and um, they they did make a lot of these

[30:33] properties a nuisance, but the where the issue comes in at is

[30:39] the cost of

[30:42] taking care of these properties. And I mean, I know that, you know, when the

[30:46] city does it, then it's on the property owner, but

[30:51] in some cases, it may take us a while to get that money back. So, I don't know

[30:57] what the actual future agenda item should be, but we

[31:02] need to look at the budget some kind of way to see where we could possibly

[31:07] get some more money for the planning commission for these properties. That's

[31:11] what I want. >> Well, we would have to

[31:14] We still have That's why this came to us. They would They can't approve the

[31:17] dollar amount. They can They have to First, they have to abate it, and then

[31:20] we have to approve the dollar amount. They can't approve dollar amounts. They

[31:24] can't approve like fees. They don't vote on fees or anything like that. But, I

[31:27] don't know if >> We'll be getting some estimates, and so

[31:30] we'll get a pretty good baseline of what it costs to to clean up

[31:34] particularly the burnt items. And And so, we can bring it back as a as a

[31:39] budgetary item for a mid-year budget item, and we'll

[31:44] look at that at the probably after the first of the year.

[31:47] » All right. >> May I

[31:50] add maybe some clarification? Possibly,

[31:55] as we look at that, also think about following the state of California's

[32:00] encampment resolution fund grants that are open now.

[32:03] » looking at grant funding to to help with this.

[32:05] » Okay. So, that good for you, Max? He brings it back in the budget. Okay.

[32:09] » And And then, the other one is um the American Legion

[32:14] They're interested in doing or sending some kids to Boy State.

[32:21] And way back when I was in high school, I got the

[32:24] chance to go to Boy State at The Citadel.

[32:27] And it's a very good program. It teaches leadership and a lot of other things to

[32:32] young young men or young boys that are becoming men.

[32:37] Um and so it was very beneficial to me. So,

[32:40] I want us to um you know, just talk about that. Maybe

[32:44] get the American Legion rep here to tell us what their plans are.

[32:50] » I second that. Well, yeah. Well, we either that you can

[32:53] just put that on as a future presentation.

[32:56] » it I'll I'll get a hold of them and we'll see if they can't come make a

[32:58] presentation >> Yeah, we we don't need to put that on

[33:01] the >> Okay.

[33:02] » But yes, that's that's actually a great idea.

[33:05] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Okay. I'm good.

[33:06] » All right. Anybody else? All right. Public comments.

[33:10] » Oh, I'm sorry. Um yeah, I had a future initiated item.

[33:14] Um no, I'm sorry. That was it. Thank you.

[33:16] » Okay. All right. Public comments. This is the

[33:18] time for the public to address the city council on issues within the

[33:21] jurisdiction of the city council that's not on this agenda. All comments are to

[33:24] be directed to the city council and shall not consist of any personal

[33:27] attacks. Members of the public are expected to maintain a professional

[33:30] and courteous decorum during their comments. There's a time

[33:35] limitation of 3 minutes per person. If you have not already done so, please

[33:38] fill out a name and address slips and give them to the city clerk. The city

[33:41] council prohibited by state law from taking action or discussing items not

[33:45] included in the printed agenda. Public comments are

[33:50] on a specific agenda item will be deferred until the

[33:52] consideration on the item on the agenda. Eli, do we have anybody online? We'll go

[33:56] with them first. Nobody online? Okay. Okay. Robin, you're up.

[34:02] » [clears throat]

[34:12] » Good evening, everybody. Uh Robin Schlosser,

[34:15] 29 Palms resident. I wanted to invite everybody,

[34:19] especially our seniors, to next Friday, September 4th. Reach Out Morongo Basin

[34:25] will be holding a Labor Day barbecue for our seniors. It is sponsored by the Simi

[34:31] Dabah Sculpture Foundation this year and we are planning on having smoked ribs

[34:37] that are going to be done by Mr. Larry Bowden. We're going to have barbecue

[34:40] chicken courtesy of Mr. Eli Marshall. We're going to have potato salad. We're

[34:44] going to have all kinds of fun stuff and lots of seniors there and we want to

[34:48] celebrate everybody who's helped make this country great.

[34:51] » [snorts] >> A second thing that would came up when

[34:53] we were talking about routes to the base earlier.

[34:57] I don't know if there is a way to do this because where I live is on Mesquite

[35:01] Springs Road north of Indian. And I can tell you that in the last three and a

[35:06] half weeks or four weeks, I've seen probably 10 semi trucks try to take

[35:12] Mesquite Springs Road heading towards the base.

[35:15] Now, if you've gone up Mesquite Springs Road that way, you know, you get about a

[35:18] mile and a quarter up and it turns into a little narrow dirt road. And I can't

[35:22] tell you how many times I've seen semi trucks trying to back a mile down the

[35:27] road to Valley Vista to be able to try to turn around. Or the one last week

[35:32] that got tried to turn around closer to the dirt road and got his trailer hung

[35:36] up on the asphalt and was blocking the road and had to call a

[35:40] truck out. So, if there's a way that the city could consider maybe putting a big

[35:45] yellow sign with black letters that says no base access there, it would probably

[35:51] be really beneficial not only to the residents there, but also to these poor

[35:55] truck drivers who are getting lost trying to get their way to the base.

[35:59] Thank you very much for letting me talk. Bye.

[36:02] » Well, thank you. I normally wouldn't comment on public

[36:05] comments, but we already have that in the works. We are already making the

[36:09] signs as you speak, so.

[36:13] » All right. >> Robin, what's the senior?

[36:15] » You. >> I'm a senior now? All right.

[36:19] » Oh, what is a senior? >> Yeah.

[36:21] » 60 and over. >> All right.

[36:23] » [laughter]

[36:29] » Not going to the park. >> Senior. Well, I got you all beat, so

[36:33] that's us. All right. Lori Cosgriff, you're up.

[36:37] Did she leave? Oh, there she is.

[36:45] » Lori Cosgriff, Twentynine Palms, California. Good evening, Mayor, council

[36:49] members, and community members. Um I'm here tonight to share with you all that

[36:54] September is Hunger Action Month. And that the public pantries in the area,

[36:59] the Twentynine Palms Community Food Pantry,

[37:02] the Homesteader's Association, the Alex Roth Memorial Food Pantry, the Hope

[37:07] Center Feed the Need, and the Twentynine Palms Methodist Church Food Pantry are

[37:11] joining together for a fundraiser in recognition of

[37:15] Hunger Action Month. Um we're calling the event Empty Bowls, and we're hosting

[37:20] a soup cook-off. The name Empty Bowls is borrowed from an

[37:24] international grassroots movement, and it's a project where a symbolic bowl of

[37:29] soup is served to represent raising money and feeding the hungry.

[37:35] Um our evening is going to feature a cook-off, and the judges are going to be

[37:39] the attendees at our fundraiser. This will be the first time that these

[37:44] local pantries have joined together for an event, and we're really looking

[37:47] forward to working together. Um and of course, it is September 12th. It will be

[37:52] at the Twentynine Palms Community Food Pantry, located on Sullivan Road, and um

[37:58] tickets are available by calling any one of those pantries. Um it's really an

[38:02] important time for us to take a look at this because statistically, one in 10

[38:06] Californians is hungry. That means that each one of us could sit

[38:10] on our front porch and look someone in the eye who is worried about their meal

[38:15] tonight. And it's much more important than how big that meal is going to be.

[38:19] It really is mothers who are thinking about not eating so that all of their

[38:23] children will eat. And this is our opportunity to call awareness to that

[38:28] and to maybe work together. So, this is a really good time for all

[38:31] of us to think about donating to a food pantry. Donating to a food program,

[38:36] maybe making a donation at the grocery store, at church, um looking at someone

[38:41] on a street corner who may be in need of food and sharing something with them,

[38:44] sharing resources. Tell them where the local food pantries are. Making sure

[38:49] that everyone has access to those things. And most importantly, if you

[38:53] know someone who is struggling with food insecurities, encourage them to reach

[38:58] out to those resources, because it's embarrassing to ask and people aren't

[39:02] asking for the help they need. But we have the help to provide and we

[39:06] want to be providing it. Um all of the pantries who are working

[39:11] on this, again, the 29 Palms Community Food Pantry, the pantry at the Alex Roth

[39:16] Memorial Food Pantry, at the United Methodist Church, we are looking forward

[39:21] to working together and we hope that we see all of you there, but we hope that

[39:25] um during September that everyone in the community acknowledges that this is a

[39:28] problem and reaches out to someone. Thank you.

[39:32] » Thank you. Okay, Mark Williams.

[39:45] Hi, I'm Mark Williams. I am a resident of 29 Palms. I have been for like a

[39:50] long, long time. I am coming to introduce myself. I I

[39:55] have currently work at Ironwood State Prison.

[39:58] Before that, I worked in California Institution for Men as a substance abuse

[40:01] counselor. I'm also the founder of Living With Vision, Purpose and Hope.

[40:05] It's a nonprofit that is currently working in Blythe, cuz that's where I

[40:09] work. Um we have our transitional living there called Hope House, where it's kind

[40:14] of basically like a wrap-around type services,

[40:17] sober Living um where I take people coming out of

[40:20] treatment. My heart is here

[40:24] cuz that's where I live. I've lived here for many years and I really wanted to do

[40:27] something here, but I haven't been able to do that yet. But

[40:31] currently I'm working on trying to set up a wrap-around a housing type

[40:35] situation out here which would include a licensed residential detox center and an

[40:39] outpatient treatment center. To be able to get to the people who as

[40:44] to Ms. Ramirez was talking about, it's more than just giving people a house.

[40:49] You know, you got to do more than that. You have to give them like a career. I'm

[40:52] also I have a pursuing my bachelor's for career and life development right now. I

[40:56] got a certificate not a full-on not full-on certified, but I have a

[41:01] certificate career career and life development which

[41:05] basically it's the college people you go to at the college where they they try to

[41:09] find out what your interests are and what your purpose is and stuff like that

[41:12] which is kind of what why my nonprofit is geared towards that. I want to be

[41:15] able to give these people when they come off the streets

[41:18] they're not forced them to be sober, but make that option abundantly available to

[41:22] them. You know, to have a career and and and

[41:25] not have a place to to not just get sober but to build a life that they

[41:29] don't want to try to escape from and that's why I heart is for this town and

[41:33] I see the people in town I just breaks. And it breaks for the people in Blythe

[41:36] too, you know, but here I mean this is my this is my community and and I just

[41:40] see these people and I'm just try to see the gold and I see the gold that if they

[41:44] could just see it themselves and I want to help them to pull it out of them and

[41:48] to give them a chance at life to be able to reach for something higher than than

[41:52] what they have and a lot of them just gave up and they don't think they have

[41:55] any other choice. So that's why they're on drugs. I want to be able to show them

[42:00] that they can and that's what I'm doing right now in Blythe right now and I'm

[42:03] doing pretty good at it actually. I just got a guy today going to to the college

[42:07] and he's getting his GED and he just relapsed. He's back on the he's back on

[42:11] the track again doing it again. >> [snorts]

[42:13] » And I just man, I just I want to do that here and in where my my community is at

[42:17] and and and I'm asking I I'm trying to partnership with the county

[42:21] right now. I went to a thing yesterday with a proposal

[42:25] for the bid to get the contract for them. I guess which is coming up. I'm

[42:29] new to the game so I don't understand all the terminology, but I'm really

[42:32] trying to do something here in this town and I and I want to present myself to

[42:36] you and and if I can get any help, let me know if you need my number. I have

[42:39] cards, but I don't have them on me, but I do have a little digital card. And I

[42:42] can give my number if you need it. I just Thank you. Thank you, sir.

[42:46] Appreciate it. Okay, Mark Van Horn.

[42:58] » Hi, Mark Van Horn. Long long time 29 Palms resident.

[43:02] I'll never forget high school graduation. After I received my diploma,

[43:06] I walked to my bicycle to ride home, but during the ceremony somebody had

[43:10] stripped the bike of everything but the wheels and frame, which were locked to a

[43:13] big tree. It was pretty devastating, but not as bad as the year before when

[43:17] somebody broke into our house and stole my stereo, my coin collection, my comic

[43:21] books, or the year before that when somebody cut the thick chain securing my

[43:24] bike to a rack in school. Not crowd not counting credit card fraud, I've been a

[43:29] victim of crime 10 times. 10 times. Even have someone smashing the windshield to

[43:35] steal the ashtray from my truck. So, I went to the recycling center near

[43:39] state of brothers an hour ago. It's a new owner because the previous owner has

[43:43] been robbed three times. Wouldn't it be great to catch the thieves on video? But

[43:47] I know you're going to vote against flock cameras and eventually I'll have

[43:50] to drive to Yucca to recycle. Last month I went door-to-door

[43:54] collecting signatures in the fourth district, but I came up two short, so

[43:57] Octavius, I guess I'll be seeing you in four years. And I know that you're very

[44:01] passionate about banning the cameras and it's probably makes a lot of political

[44:05] sense, but remember that generally speaking people are much more passionate

[44:09] when they talk about things they hate rather than the things they support. I'm

[44:13] sure much will be made about protecting the civil rights of people who have

[44:16] nothing, but what about protecting the people who have something to lose? The

[44:20] people who pay the majority of taxes and keep the restaurants in business. I

[44:24] drove all over 29 to check out the cameras responsible for all this furor.

[44:28] The cameras are located at nine intersections along 29 Palms Highway and

[44:33] Adobe Road. Nine intersections total. No cameras in residential areas. The

[44:38] cameras are mounted approximately 15 to 25 ft high, tilted downward, so they

[44:43] can't read license they can read license plates, but they can't look down the

[44:46] roads. They see you passing through the intersection. They don't see you

[44:49] stopping off at the massage parlor down the street.

[44:53] So, uh, you know, if you want to ban more cameras, great. You want to ban

[44:57] them in residential areas? Of course. Want to ban drones? Absolutely. Flock

[45:02] claims the data is not shared with the feds. So, ask the city attorney to make

[45:06] sure the contract is ironclad and there are substantial penalties to anybody who

[45:10] uses the data irresponsibly. There've been cameras in in Arizona to check the

[45:15] speed now for 25 years. I don't hear people complaining about that. We just

[45:19] went on a trip to Washington, D.C. and back and every single state has cameras

[45:24] to collect tolls and no one's suggesting we should go back to tolls. At the very

[45:27] least, we've got a highway out here that connects to a highway in Yucca that has

[45:32] cameras. When since other highways have cameras, could please consider keeping

[45:37] that. I mean, we've spent this money for it and I think at the very least, maybe

[45:40] we could do a study and see if it reduces crime before just throwing all

[45:44] that money away. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir.

[45:48] All right. Eli, anybody? Nobody? Wow, I thought we'd have a few

[45:53] people use that system. >> We had no one sign up for this meeting.

[45:57] » Okay. All right. Okay. Well, um,

[46:02] that's it for this meeting. So, we'll see you

[46:05] two weeks.

City Council - Regular Meeting - 25 Aug 2026

Transcript