The Town of Yucca Valley Council meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month, at 6:00 p.m., in the Yucca Room, Yucca Valley Community Center.

Documentation:

Executive Summary:   "The town is requesting SBLAFCO establish a 14,348-acre sphere of influence area.  The SOI area contains about 1148 households.  If and when annexed into the town, the SOI area would represent a 56.3 percent increase in land area, a 14.2 percent increase in population, and a 13.7 percent increase in households."

Comment:  Clearly, this is a land grab!

Executive Summary:  "How to upgrade unpaved roads ... Although the town would have access to some funding to help finance maintenance and upgrades, voter-approved assessment districts remain the most viable solution to unpaved roads..."

Comment:  Yucca Valley doesn't have a track record with maintaining their present roads.  Just ask any Town resident!  And they want us to pay an assessment for more of the same?  State Routes 62 and 247 are maintained by Caltrans ... not the Town!

Executive Summary:  "How to get a sewage collection and treatment system up and running.  The lack of sewer service has stalled planned development in the Town and has forced the water district to invest in nitrate removal systems."

Comment:  Apparently the Town didn't "plan" very well.  Now they want to annex Yucca Mesa so we can pay the price!

Executive Summary:  "Although the water district believes that funding the system's construction along the highway should not be problematic, eventually forcing residents off of existing septic systems and onto a monthly fee for service could create political difficulties."

Comment:  You're damned right it will!  Ya think?!?

Executive Summary:  "Extending sewer service to the less densely developed remainder of town and the proposed SOI area might not be financially feasible using only monthly user fees to finance the construction debt.  Sewer service will remain a challenge in these areas."

Comment:  As with any issue, the saying, "Follow the Money," definitely applies here! Folks, this is the main issue.  Yucca Valley wants to annex us so we will pay for their lack of good planning, sewers, and water treatment plant.  We on the Mesa have a sewage service that's all paid for ... septic tanks that work really well.  In addition, we have low density and have not over built.

Executive Summary:  "How to provide accountability to residents of the proposed SOI area to have their voices heard and influence the County's provision of local services.  The County's third District Supervisor represents 160,976 registered voters.  In contrast, each member of the Town Council represents only 1,862 registered voters.  The SOI amendment would provide more accountability to residents."

Comment:  Hogwash!  Now you hold the baby while I tell one!  This Council is the  very same government that held secret meetings, directed staff to prepare a SOI proposal, had the staff report hidden in the August 28, 2008, agenda, bypassed a Public Hearing, never gave any kind notice to Yucca Mesa residents of their intentions, and are now making intrusive take-over plans for Yucca Mesa's future.  It's a land grab!  They're in a pickle as how to pay for an under-funded waste water treatment plant and want us to foot the bill.

Executive Summary:  "Recommendation.  The proposed SOI area will continue to grow and develop at a rate similar to the town's growth rate."

Comment:  We don't want to look like Yucca Valley!  Yucca Mesa is a slow growth community with large parcels of land, zoned for Rural Living.  Yucca Valley on the other hand is city-like and wants to rezone Yucca Mesa which could include large home developments on small plots, commercial, and industrial.  Yucca Valley's growth rate is not desirable to residents on the Mesa.

Executive Summary:  "Improving and enhancing services in this area to a level adequate for a developed community will continue to increase in importance and necessity."

Comment:  Yucca Valley's assumption that Yucca Mesa residents will embrace Yucca Valley's  ideas for a developed community is dead wrong!  One of the main reasons people moved to Yucca Mesa is that it is truly rural and undeveloped.  We don't want developed communities and have fought against and prevailed every proposal for a developed community.

Executive Summary:  "From the perspective of logical and orderly service provision, extending municipal services through the town provides the most cost-effective and accountable solution."

Comment:  Cost Effective?  For whom?  The only one who makes out in a hostile land grab is the grabber!  We "grabbees" will pay through the nose and our community will be destroyed.

Executive Summary:  "LAFCO should approve the requested SOI amendment."

Comment:  No way will Yucca Mesa residents sit still for this nonsense!  LAFCO should deny the requested SOI amendment.  

Future Growth and Population:  "If present trends continue, the town's population will grow by 2.0 percent and housing by 1.6 percent per year over the next 27 years.."

Comment:  The Town of Yucca Valley has misrepresented this figure.  The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region, Resolution No. R7-2007-0074, find that:

"2.  Yucca Valley has become a popular retirement community and is growing rapidly.  U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that between the years 2000 and 2006, the town's population increased by 21 percent, which is more then 2.5 times the State's average growth rate."

More proof that the entire motivation behind Yucca Valley's attempt to annex Yucca Mesa is all about sewage ... and having us pay for it.  But then ... who didn't know that.