Yucca Valley Town Council recap: Phase 2 of sewer to break ground, Aquatics Center rises up, fire maps and fireworks

The Yucca Valley Town Council received updates on two major municipal projects at Tuesday night’s meeting (7/15), which ran nearly three and a half hours.

First up, The Town Council recognized Wanda Statum as she retired from the job she’s held for nearly 11 years: heading up the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce. Two of those years were during the COVID 19 pandemic where she ran the chamber solo.

Wanda was described as an “Energizer bunny” by Mayor Jeff Drozd, saying she’s been a tireless representative for businesses in Yucca Valley as well as the Town itself.

Council members chimed in and commented on her creative talents as a sign maker, marketer and water aerobics instructor, and although she is retiring Wanda let everyone know “you haven’t seen the last of me, of course.”

Phase 2 of Sewer System set to break ground

High Desert Water District General Manager Tony Colver gave an update on the second phase of the sewer project. A 104 million dollar grant and a final budget approval from the state means that the water project can finally break ground on August 4th. Then he says on August 11 actual digging begins “which is huge, it’s a big milestone for us.”

One of the concerns Yucca Valley homeowners have expressed with the second phase of the sewer project is the cost for single-family home owners with Western Joshua Trees on their property.

Colver said that the Town and the High Desert Water District met with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to collaborate on a delegation agreement to eliminate those fees for homeowners. Town Manager Curtis Yakimow also mentioned the meeting with the CDFW during staff updates, and we’ll keep you updated as we follow-up and get more details on what was discussed.

The consent agenda was passed – save for item #4: Amendment of the Authorized Position list and Salary Schedule for positions in the fiscal year of 2025-26. That’s being pushed until the next town council meeting.

Aquatic Center begins to take shape

Council members received an update on the Aquatic Center currently being erected near Brehm Park. Project Manager Jen Manckia from the Dahlin Group said the project has progressed from groundwork to vertical construction. That means walls are being erected and a skeleton layout of the facility is beginning to take shape.

The 40,000 square foot Aquatic Center will contain a water play area, locker facilities, a gymnasium, multipurpose rooms, an outdoor gathering space, and of course a pool. She shared photos and timelapses of the construction of the center – along with news that the project is nearing the 50% completion mark and is still on schedule for it to wrap up by June of 2026.

Yucca Valley Animal Shelter dominates meeting

The update on the Animal Shelter Operational Review Status was moved forward in the meeting’s agenda due to the number of people in attendance who wanted to make public comments.

We’ll have a report on that update and the extensive public comment period that followed on your Z107.7 News on Thursday.

Cal Fire updates fire hazard map for Town

Cal Fire provided an updated fire hazard severity zone map for Southern California. The map designates different areas with a “high” or “moderate” risk of wildfire. Homeowners in the “high” area will have to comply with home hardening requirements that reduce the risk of a fire igniting in that area, along with ensuring all new construction and renovations adhere to the wildland urban base building codes that are designed to lessen wildfire ignition. You can see what zone designation your home is in by visiting their website.

Fireworks vendor declines meeting invitiation

Along those same lines but on the other end of the spectrum: fireworks failed to launch on time at the Town’s 2025 Fourth of July Celebration. The town says that longtime vendor Pyro Spectaculars was invited and encouraged to join Tuesday’s meeting to explain the botched fireworks show, but they declined saying they would rather focus on delivering a “replacement event.”

That left town staff to only speculate on the issues that caused the delay with the vendor, who had given the thumbs up on the show leading up to the planned 9:00 p.m. launch. High winds, staff shortages and miscommunication were cited as possible explanations.  An abbreviated round of fireworks was finally launched around 11:00 p.m. due to safety concerns with dismantling the explosives.

The Town apologized for lack of timely fireworks and said that no matter what happened with the vendor, there could have been better communication from the Town to the community who was in the dark about when the skies would light up. Changes to the Standard Operating Procedure and working closer with the Fire Marshall were two points of improvement noted.

Some dates for a replacement event were discussed, as well as alternatives for future fireworks displays. It was noted that the new Yucca Valley Aquatic Center will have wall space for projections once it is complete, and the idea of changing over the celebration to a show featuring lasers and drones was also floated.

Council members and Town Staff did say that other than the fireworks delay, the celebration was generally considered a success.

Stay tuned to Thursday’s news for a breakdown of the update on the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter.