One PS - September 2023 Meeting

Vista Las Palmas Neighbors Foundation One PS Meeting

ONE-PS September 2023 Meeting

ONE-PS September 2023 Meeting

Greetings neighbors,

The ONE-PS meeting was held Tuesday afternoon, September 12th in person at the Palm Springs Police Training Center. Your neighborhood representatives from Vista Las Palmas were physically present.

Much of the meeting was spent discussing Tropical Storm Hilary. Palm Springs faired relatively well due to preparation. Communication was very well coordinated between public works and engineering. At one point Desert Regional Hospital was totally cut off by road and air. There was even a train derailment just outside of Palm Springs. Palm Springs only had 2 swift water rescues whereas Cathedral City has 18. (Eisenhower Hospital had flooding in its ER.) Even Palm Springs’ 911 radio system was down, but resourceful personnel were able to reroute calls through non-emergency dispatch numbers so the public was served.  712 tons of sand was ordered to make 70K sandbags. Please do NOT throw sandbags in the trash. You may hang on to them, or the sand may be recycled into desert landscaping. Even before the storm the periodic closure of Indian Trail, Gene Autry and Vista Chino at the wash has been contentious. Governor Newsome, Congressman Ruiz and CVAG (Coachella Valley Association – Government) met with City officials regarding the funding of a bride along Indian Trail to prevent most road closures. This has been a priority not only for Palm Springs, but surrounding communities. Indian Trail is a direct route from Desert Hot Springs to Desert Regional Hospital. Closure of Indian Trail can add 20 minutes to a trip. We should hear about funding in November.

ONE-PS Chair Peter Siskin The ONE-PS Board voted against Blue Zones. Despite a well scripted presentation The Board felt Palm Springs has already implemented most of the Blue Zone initiatives. The Palm Springs Airport sign at the corner of Gene Autry has been knocked down. It is not reparable. No timeline for a replacement.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Bernstein – Airport master plan will be amended. The airport had a record number of travelers. (3 Million). Expect to add new concessions to airport. Funding for 1st Phase (design) has been approved. Las Palmas Historic District boundaries North of Alejo will be redrawn. There is no impact to residential homes – only commercial buildings are impacted. Street vending will be reviewed. Palm Springs needs to get something on the books.

City Manager Scott Stiles – Library design going out to bid. Generated a RFP (Request for Proposal) for Fire Station #1. (Indian Canyon & Amado). A new fire station is needed.

PSPD & PSFD – Will be rebooting Operation Relentless Sun (Homeless abatement) after Tropical Storm Hilary. Christy Smith is the daytime code compliance contact regarding homeless encampments: Over 400 arrested. 27 people have been reunited. Drone license plate readers will be discussed Sept 18th.

Emergency Management – October is Emergency Preparedness Month. Classes are full. Planning on January and March classes. Also trying to get December and February classes as well. The latter classes are a bit tenuous at this time. Trying to get another Home Depot Disaster Preparedness Kit together.

Sustainability & DWA – Desert Water Agency has just started a toilet rebate program. ($150/toilet). Please check it out: https://programs.dwa.org/rebate/residential_toilet/

Special Presentations – In depth look at the various areas of Palm Springs that are currently not part of any NORGs. Brief discussions as to how unrepresented areas could be annexed into existing NORGS. Approximately 7,000 people or 15% of Palm Springs is not represented by an existing NORG. None of these areas are near/adjacent to Vista Las Palmas.

Office of Neighborhoods, Manager Denise Goolsby – To get on Denise’s mailing list, please reach out to her directly at denise.goolsby@palmspringsca.gov .

Gustav Swanson and Steve Orr