Yucca Valley Town Council recap for 9/16: Sewer update, Point in Time homeless count, FLOCK

Phase Two Sewer Update

Director of Public and Government Affairs Jennifer Cusack from the Hi-Desert Water District started off the meeting with an update on the second phase of the sewer project. It’s currently in the “Country Club” neighborhood of Yucca Valley. She says the project is still on track and will be moving into the Sky Harbor area with the goal of completion in October of next year. 

Cusack encouraged homeowners to be prepared for connecting their homes to the sewer system. Homeowners will have six months to do it once construction in your area begins. She encourages connecting during that period as the city’s agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will cover any Western Joshua Tree take permit fees during that time, and contactors are already mobilized and may offer discounted pricing.

The USDA has a Section 504 home repair program, and if you have questions regarding the current or upcoming construction around the sewer project, you can contact the Hi-Desert Water District.

SBCTA

A representative from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) gave a presentation on the role of the organization in delivering transportation projects to the town of Yucca Valley through Measure I. That is San Bernardino County’s half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements, first approved by voters in 1989 and extended in 2004. Each region directly benefits from the funds collected there.

New Deputy Town Manager

The new Deputy Town Manager of Administrative and Community Services Frank Luckino was present at his first meeting in his new role. Luckino has lived in Yucca Valley despite Town Manager roles in other neighboring municipalities.

The consent agenda included the new senior mobile home park overlay and was swiftly passed, with Merl Abel recusing himself from that particular item.

2025 / 2026 Youth Commission

Recreation Supervisor Clayton Rardon presented the 2025 / 2026 Youth Commission, which had 40 total applicants. 22 of those were brand new, and 18 are returning from previous year. Overall they represented 12 different schools in Yucca Valley. Most of the Youth Commission were present at the meeting and lined up for a picture while three reps from the Youth Commission spoke to the Town Council.

Point in Time Count

Town Manager Curtis Yakimow and volunteer Amy Collinwood presented data on the 2025 San Bernardino County Point in Time Count, which is the county’s attempt at counting unhoused individuals on a single day in January. Amy is a first time volunteer and she says she holds a Masters in predictive analytics with the goal of improving data-driven decision making for community leaders. First, the numbers.

Across San Bernardino County there was just over a 10% decrease in the number of unhoused citizens. This year in Yucca Valley, the Point in Time volunteers counted 14 unhoused island unsheltered individuals vs. 72 last year – an 82% decrease. There was a 57% decrease overall for both sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons. Those dramatic numbers may not necessity reflect the state of unhoused residents in the area though, and Amy pointed out some of the deficiencies in using a single point in time to collect data on such a large system.

“The two big takeaways for me is one: the results didn’t really make sense nor does the idea that a single point in time is a sufficient way to measure such a complicated issue. And two: it seems like an opportunity to attract a lot of volunteers and so I was surprised to be the only one.

“The lesson with the point-in-time count is really that a single measure of a single day is not comprehensive enough to base all decision-making around. But it is truly the only measure that exists today that captures to such detail the unsheltered population,” Amy said.

Both Amy and Curtis had slides that offered some explanations for the low numbers and some suggestions for how to better get a count on the number of unhoused in the area.

Lt. Albert Huff from the Sheriff’s The Homeless Outreach and Proactive Enforcement (H.O.P.E.) program also spoke about the outreach and resources that the sheriff’s department provides to the unhoused.

Talking Turf

If you’ve noticed some brown grass at the Yucca Valley Community Center, Public Works Director Alex Qishta says it was due to a mix-up with the Town’s turf supplier on which herbicide to use on that particular grass.

The Yucca Valley Community Center has year-round “rye grass” that is unique to that particular field due to the Town’s request for year-round grass. The rest of the town’s turf is of the “bermuda grass” variety and can hold up to the herbicides applied to it, while the more sensitive rye grass can’t.

Qishta says that the The town’s supplier said it will make up for the herbicide mix-up with discounts on supplies when they reseed the field in the next cycle.

Town Public Safety and FLOCK

The Town also received a presentation on the AI-enabled camera system known as FLOCK, which will be installed along Highway 62 in an effort to catch lawbreakers through license plates and other identifying information.

Town Manager Curtis Yakimow says in May of 2025 the Town requested specific information on some public safety enhancements, and was already presented with the FLOCK system. Lt. Huff from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and a representative from FLOCK ran through a quick slide deck highlighting the system.

The Town also received an update on the ongoing beautification efforts, as well as an update on the first Yucca Valley Animal Committee.

We’ll have coverage of the Animal Shelter update and Public Comments in the second part of our coverage.

Previously Reported:

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