Dale Basin Well Owners Meeting - Sunday March 13, 2022

The Dale Basin Well Owners Association (DBWOA) is holding its Spring 2022 membership meeting at the Wonder Valley Community Center on Sunday March 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. All Wonder Valley residents, property owners and stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The DBWOA was incorporated as a non-partisan community non-profit back in February 1989 but was operating informally for some time before its establishment as a non-profit. Of the various community organizations once active here, the Volunteer Fire Department, Citizens Alliance for Wonder Valley, Wonder Valley Improvement Group, Wonder Valley Citizens against the Formation of a Community Services District (CSD), American Legion Auxiliary Post 729, and the Wonder Valley Hiking Club, the Dale Basin Well Owners Association is the only one still extant.

More than ever, Wonder Valley needs a clear, consistent, non-partisan voice in matters effecting our community. While membership in the DBWOA has been traditionally limited to those who owned wells, the organization is in the process of amending it's bylaws to expand its membership to all Wonder Valley residents, property owners and stakeholders. The mission of the DBWOA is also being updated to include all water related issues and to provide a voice for the community in dealings with County, Special Districts (CSA 70 M) and others local area, state and federal agencies such as Morongo Basin water districts and the Bureau of Land Management.

The Sunday March 13, 2022 membership meeting is for the election of a new 6-member board of directors and discussion of amendments to the bylaws to institute an expanded membership and mission for the DBWOA. Copies of the DBWOA incorporation document, revised bylaws, and agendas of the the special subcommittee that met over last Summer will shortly be available on the DBWOA website. The agenda for the March meeting will be posted online and at the WVCC later this week and public comments are welcome at the meeting.

Former DBWOA president Steve Reyes will kickoff the meeting and suggest a framework for an expanded role for the organization, and provide a report of topics impacting the Morongo Basin.

The Wonder Valley Community Center is located at 80526-1/2 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley. and the WVCC coordinator James Dunham can be reached at 760-367-9880.

Bystander Overdose Response Training a Success

The Bystander Overdose Response Training conducted by We Reach Out Yucca Valley and sponsored by Friends of Wonder Valley (FOWV) on Monday February 28 at the WVCC was a success with a good midday turn-out of 13 local residents who became certified and left with a two-dose Narcan kit that can be used to save a life in the event of an opiate overdose.

SAVE A LIFE: Bystander Overdose Response Training was presented by Seth Farison and he put the opiate crisis in perspective and covered how to counter the stigma associated with Opiate Use Disorder. When a person is suffering from a drug overdose, time is essential, and a trained bystander can save a life.The free training session taught how to identify the signs of an opioid overdose (including fentanyl a synthetic opiate 80-100 times stronger than morphine) and how to administer the overdose reversal drug naloxone.

FOWV would especially like to thank Jill Reinig for her encouragement and support of this event.

 

Meet WV Community Center Coordinator James Dunham

The Wonder Valley Community Center (WVCC) has a new Coordinator. Please welcome James Dunham.

California born and raised, James Dunham has been a Wonder Valley resident the last three plus years. He majored in Electrical Engineering at Cal State University,  Long Beach and worked for ten years at Hughes Aircraft Company. James has spent over thirty years in the glass arts and crafts industry doing sales, support and teaching. His hobbies include ongoing study in art, science, electronics and music, and he enjoys reading, cooking, and watching documentaries.

You may already have seen James at The Palms or a local astronomy event, and he's been a regular volunteer at the monthly USDA food distributions at the Wonder Valley Community Center over the last year.

The WVCC is back to it's regular schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This month's special events include the February USDA food distribution for Wonder Valley residents on Tuesday 2/15 starting at 10 a.m. until the food runs out, and help for residents from the San Bernardino County Aging and Adult Services on Wednesday 2/16 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Stop by the WVCC and say a big hello to James!

Welcoming the old and new on this Lunar New Year's Eve!

Longtime Wonder Valley road grader Tim Candelaria is 'back in the saddle' as our full-time road maintenance operator as of today! Older residents will recall how much we missed his dedicated work and deep knowledge about our Wonder Valley roads, easily the BEST roads in the entire Morongo Basin. To request road maintenance you can call 909-386-8800 or use the online reporting system. Hint - using the phone, available during regular business hours, is your best bet.

And if that wasn't enough good news for this Lunar New Year's Eve, the Wonder Valley Community Center Coordinator position has officially been filled by local resident James Dunham who started today as well! The WVCC will resume scheduled hours this week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. till 2 p.m. Call 760-367-9880 for the WVCC coordinator and see the updated calendar  for full schedule of events. The next USDA food distribution is Tuesday 2/15 at 10 a.m. until noon (or the food runs out) and Bob Dougherty from SBC Aging & Adult Services will be back at the WVCC on Wednesday 2/16 from 10-11 a.m. helping seniors and at risk individuals to access resources to improve or maintain choice, independence and quality of life.

Happy Year of the Tiger! Gong Hei Fat Choy! Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Chodesh Tov!

New Road Request Form & Phone Number

Wonder Valley CSA 70-M receives new tractor for road maintenance, July 1990

San Bernardino County Special Districts has a new road repair web and mobile form for Wonder Valley (CSA 70M) residents to submit their road maintenance requests. It also has a phone line to SBC Public Works where requests can be submitted to be routed to the proper road district. The web and mobile URL is below, or you can use the QR code to reach the URL with a mobile device. The phone number for submitting a request is 909-386-8800 and a receptionist will take the information during normal business hours (M-F, 8am-5pm). You will be able to leave a voice message during non-business hours.

https://specialdistricts.sbcounty.gov/roads/road-repair-request/

Because the form-based submission process has changed quite a bit we've compiled these step-by-step instructions. 

1. SUBMIT A REQUEST: Go to the Road Request URL on your desktop, tablet or phone either clicking on the link above or use the QR code on your mobile device.

Select Road Issue from the list of categories or start typing Road Issue into the search box. Select Road Issue in the highlighted text below the search box to move to the next step.

2. LOCATION: Enter "Wonder Valley 92277" in the Address search box and "Wonder Valley Park & Recreation" and "Wonder Valley Community Center" will appear below in results. The map below will shift to center on whichever one you selected - and this an awkward method to be sure - but with this map interface you must move the map underneath the orange oval locator (map pin) to get an generated address to complete a road request submission. Since you probably aren't reporting a issue at either of those two pre-selected locations, use the minus sign (-) to zoom out to get a larger view of Wonder Valley until you can visually locate your requested road section. Now drag the map to bring that section underneath the locator and an highlighted address with appear in the search box above and underneath Road Issue in the right hand box. When you're satisfied by the map location and address, click Confirm Location to move to the next step.

3. ADD PHOTO: You have the opportunity to upload a photo of the road issue, or to choose No Photo. Clicking on No Photo will advance you to the Details page where you can enter a written description and other specifics.

4. DETAILS: Write in a brief description of the road issue and any relevant specifics and click Confirm Details.

5. SUBMIT: This step asks "How would you like to submit this request?" which one of two choices, either "Submit as yourself" or "Hide your identity" as the request will be publicly viewable. Choose one, it defaults to "Submit as yourself," and click Next.

6. REGISTER OR SIGN-IN: You must choose to register and create a SeeClickFix account or sign-in from your existing SeeClickFix account in order to submit a road request. Click on either choice.

7. SIGN-IN AND SUBMIT: The 2 following screens are for either registering an SeeClickFix account or logging into an existing SeeClickFix account.

SUMMARY: This 7-step process with awkward map interface replaces the previous 3-step submission process so you might be better off just using the phone number.

909-386-8800

Wonder Valley Forever 2021 - Sunday 12/19/2021

 After there were homesteads came a community. Then came the watering holes and places to meet. Please join Steve Reyes for a Sunday afternoon browsing a treasure trove of Wonder Valley historical photos.

We'll be visiting the California Agricultural Checkpoint before it because the Wonder Valley Volunteer Fire Department, look at gatherings of American Legion Post 729 and its Women's Auxiliary at Barnett's and the Palms, and the Wonder Valley Hiking Club on local outings and parading in 29 Palms' Pioneer Days.

Steve Reyes is a local historian who lives in Wonder Valley and collects stories, documents, artifacts and oral histories.

Sunday December 19, 2021 at 1 pm, the Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526½ Amboy Road. 

The event is free and light refreshments will be served.

[This event is sponsored by the Friends of Wonder Valley and we encourage everyone to visit and join the Twentynine Palms Historical Society whose museum and state of the art archives contains a wealth of local history.]

Dale Basin Well Owners Association, Saturday November 13, 2021

The Dale Basin Well Owners Association's (DBWOA) bi-annual membership meeting will be held Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 11 a.m. the Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526½ Amboy Road in Wonder Valley.

The Dale Basin Well Owners Association aims to provide a unified and legal entity in all matters related to the Dale Basin aquifer and its well owners' interests. Founded over 32 years ago, the DBWOA is nonpolitical and advocates for conservation measures to protect the natural desert aspects of the Dale Basin Area and preserve its waters from intrusion by outside interests.

Last Spring a working subcommittee was constituted and tasked with reviewing the DBOWA's mission and bylaws, updating its communications and outreach, and a renewed focus on current threats including proliferating illegal cannabis 'grows,' groundwater mining, and the impact of the continuing drought. The subcommittee met several times over the Spring and Summer to prepare its recommendations to the general membership.

Long time Wonder Valley resident and member of the DBWOA Jim Copeland will provide a short presentation on the history of the Dale Basin aquifer and efforts to protect it.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Membership is open to well owners in Wonder Valley for $5 a year (hurry, before annual dues go up!). Please attend and bring your well owning neighbors.

For more information, visit the Dale Basin Well Owners Association website or contact the DBWOA at info@dalebasinwellowners.org

See previous Dale Basin Well Owners posts