Peter Todoroff – Moderator
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Zoom-master
Ronda Tycer – Recap Editor [The link to the recording of the meeting is https://youtu.be/Q97GhHTvnGI
Peter Todoroff – Moderator
Good morning. I’d like to start off hearing from our Commissioner. Ronda would you please ask the questions.
Ronda Tycer – IV Forum Recap Editor, IV STR Citizen Advisory Group, Co-chair
I’ve forwarded them to Alexis.
Alexis Hill – Washoe County Commissioner
Thank you. I’d like to tackle the Host Compliance question for those who weren’t at the last meeting. Judith Miller wanted to know if she could have access to the reports from Host Compliance. My understanding is the County staff needs to vet it before we share it, which includes the permitting process, if that goes into effect after the second reading. Because it’s working data it’s considered “pre-decisional,” which the NRS does not require sharing. So confidentiality will apply, but once permits are put into place, all of that will be public record.
On the second question—obtaining the funds for a trash program in Incline this summer— that’s moving forward. That’s a partnership with Placer Co and it looks like the Visitors Bureau, and even perhaps IVGID, to get the Clean Tahoe trash group. We’ll be bringing that to the Commission in April. Once I get that date I will send it to Pete to get out to the group because I’d love some support at that meeting to encourage the expenditure by the Commission.
The next question is where will the Regional Transit Commission (RTC) pilot program drop off be? RTC said they’ll be dropping off at Sand Harbor. They’ll sell it as going directly to Sand Harbor. They’re not going to be dropping off in Incline Village. They’ll sell it by guaranteeing riders will get into Sand Harbor. I think that’s going to be a real success.
Another question was has RTC done any research about what Incline citizens want or need? Not specifically, but they did a citizen survey. I asked, but have not received the results yet. But I will get that back to this group.
Then there was a question on the seismic issues at the Old Elementary School (OES) site. My understanding is that is not done until the Environmental Review. That would happen if that site were chosen. So there’s still work to be done on alternative site analyses for the TTD.
I think that’s all for those questions. I’m happy to answer any others for the group.
Peter Todoroff
I understand the TTD is purchasing the OES. Is this getting the cart before the horse? Is this telling us they’re purchasing it and they’re doing to do what they want to do with it in spite of the 1200+ people who live in Incline who are opposed to this project?
Alexis Hill
Yes, TTD is moving forward with the purchase based on some other factors that need to happen. The Washoe County Commission needs to make a matching grant for the Federal grant. And the Washoe County School District (WCSD) has to agree to the TTD offer. And a third component is that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has to add it to the Federal Transit Improvement Program (FTIP). So there are a few things still outstanding on that and it’s looking to move forward. But again, it doesn’t mean that is where the transportation hub will ultimately be. It could be in another location if we can find another suitable better location and sell the OES.
It may be an opportunity for Washoe County to look at the site. We plan to continue working with the community and do the planning the TTD Board committed to at the Board meeting.
Peter Todoroff
Have they considered the site I proposed on the old Chevron Station and Stanley’s restaurant adjoining sites at 941 Tahoe Blvd? This is right off Highway 28.
Alexis Hill
Yes, those are on the list of options. Those will all be considered as part of this. There was even a Board member who wants to consider a property that’s not for sale. We’ll try to look at all of the options. The main reason most Board members voted for the purchase was to not lose the grant. So that’s what it’s looking like. I can keep the group posted on future outreach opportunities.
Peter Todoroff
The County should step up and have that apartment complex across from the OES quit using Southwood Boulevard for its extended parking lot, especially in winter.
The other thing I want to bring up—I see Mr. Cowen is here—Why wasn’t there an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) done before they used the OES property for a bus service? My understanding is—after my 40 years up here—that anytime you have a different use of land you need to do an EIS. I know at the Hyatt they bypassed the CAB entirely and went to TRPA, and there is an EIS problem with the paid parking at the Hyatt. Why did they decide to use the OES to take people to Sand Harbor without an EIS?
Jeff Cowen – Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Public Information Officer
I’ve been doing research into this and talking to Carl Hasty and John Hester our Planning Director. And they remember they had a conversation that it was close enough in the type of use that it wouldn’t trigger more than the Initial Environmental Checklist. That’s how the Environmental Analysis was done—through the checklist. So Peter you’re right—every time there is a change in use, there is analysis done, but the level of analysis depends on how big of a change in use is predicted to happen. I have more questions in to John Hester about that, but he hasn’t had time to get back to me.
Peter Todoroff
I think a bus being used every 45 minutes taking tourists to Sand Harbor in the summertime is a very different use compared to twice a day—morning and afternoon—transporting kids to and from school. It’s considerably more use, not the same use. That’s my opinion and I think I’m correct on that.
Sara Schmitz – Incline Village General Improvement District, Trustee
It goes back to a question I have for Alexis. I’d like clarification. If TTD decides that the OES is not an appropriate site for a transit hub. I believe I heard you say the County is interested in that property for a courthouse and sheriff substation. I wanted to make sure I understood that correctly. And a second question—TTD just finished their final draft of their Regional Transportation Plan. And despite General Manager Winquest informing them they could not bring a water taxi onto IV beaches, it appears that has been retained in the plan.
Alexis Hill
About the water taxi, I don’t know about the plan. As a Board member, I’ve not approved the updated plan. My understanding is that the plan is from 2017, but I could be wrong. I have not approved any updated Regional Plan
Sara Schmitz
I believe it was just published yesterday. I can forward the email to you, because the water taxi on IV beaches should be removed, and General Manager Winquest has requested that.
Alexis Hill
Ok, great. And as far as a question on the use of the OES site, there are a lot of unknowns—and that’s uncomfortable not knowing about what could happen at the site. I can’t speak for all of Washoe County saying we would like the site for x, y, z. I’m saying these are options for the site we can discuss with the community. But I also want to hear from the community. A lot of the community said they want a town center at that site. The County could help with a public/private partnership on that but we need to know what that town center would look like. That goes with the community engagement process. I’ve stated it could be an opportunity for affordable housing. This has been brought up a lot and Pete has been passionate about this. I think there are many things we can look at. I’m open to working with the community. We don’t have an exact vision. We have a lot of ideas we want to make sure we’re engaging all of you in.
Diane Becker –Washoe County General Manager Citizen Advisory Council, IVCB Citizen Advisory Board, Member, Ordinance 7 Committee
I wanted to give a report on the Ordinance 7 Committee. The status on the Committee is as follows. There’s been a consensus that there is overcrowding on the beaches. So the question is how to decrease the total number of visits. We’ve come up with a number of ways to do that. Indra is currently preparing a public survey and we’ll schedule several virtual forums where they will present the committee suggestions and solicit public input. It will be important for the residents in Incline to respond.
A lot of the ways that have been suggested to decrease visitations could involve a slight burden on residents, but will work better overall. So the question will be how do you feel about these options. The recommendation was unanimous that there will be no more Day Passes or Exchange Passes. We’ve discussed placing limitations on the amount of access with the combination of picture passes and punch cards being limited to 5 per property. That includes limiting additional passes and also limiting the total number of guests an owner can bring in each day and also totally over the season.
We’ve also been considering whether to require an owner to accompany any guest to gain entry. Owners would not need to stay but they would need to accompany the guest to gain entry to the beach. That’s a way to tie the punch card to the picture pass holder. Some members of the committee have objected to that. That’s one of the big questions for the community to answer.
We’re also talking about how to deal with the commercial operations that are taking place on the beach in terms of boat access. There have been a number of suggestions on how to deal with that.
One of our major issues is trying to define what is a “guest.” The plan is to get as much feedback from the community as possible both with the survey and in the public forums, so everyone will have an opportunity to give input. We’ve identified many possible ways to reduce beach crowding, but need input from the community.
Kathie Julian – Citizen Advisory Board, Member
I have questions for Alexis. At one of the last TTD meetings a TTD staff member said they were looking at other alternative sites during the Environmental Analysis. I’m concerned because an options analysis should be done prior to the decision that the OES is the site. The options analysis should be before you look at the Environmental Impact Statement—or whatever the environmental review becomes. Because my experience as a development professional is that sometimes those environmental reviews can be … [inaudible] exercise. I think the point that came out clearly was that we want a real alternatives/ options analysis. I don’t even like the use of the term “alternative analysis.” We should be looking at a level playing field looking at all of the “options.” The OES is one option. Once you’ve done the options analysis, then you launch into the environmental review. Alexis what was your understanding of that?
Alexis Hill
I didn’t have that takeaway. The chairwoman and I are completely aligned. We need to take as much time as we need to do this right for the community. Because there was so much feet dragging with the grant, and so many issues that came up with the community not being informed—all of the things that happened before I came on the Board. We believe we need to take as much time as needed to make sure we do this correctly. So if staff has an expedited timeline, that’s not in the cards for the Board. We’ll be watching them carefully. We have a subcommittee already looking at how we’re going to include the community. I know that was a major thing that came up during the meeting. And how we’re going to have on our Incline Village mobility hub ad hoc subcommittee a community member. So I’ll be coming back with more on that and hopefully a better timeline. I’m not looking to rush this thing and I want to do it right.
Kathie Julian
Good. Thanks. And that brings up the other topic of including the CAB. The CAB is not a replacement for having meaningful communication with the community during the actual process. I’m glad you appear to be on board with that. Because the CAB ends up [inaudible] which staff might like because it’s easier for them.
Alexis Hill
I was trying to use something that already exists, but I heard you all loud and clear at the meeting. They are creating a separate process for that.
Kathie Julian
Great. Then the last point gets back to what I think Sara said about the WCSO substation. If there is talk that the substation that exists is too small–and given the Duffield grant—you probably need a bigger one. Then wouldn’t that free up the substation on the corner of 431 and 28 for use as a hub?
Alexis Hill
I don’t know all the details on the substation. Our sheriff is on the line.
Darin Balaam – Washoe County Sheriff Office, County Sheriff
I’ll jump in with the grant and the substation. Starting July 1 the Board of Commissioners approved new positions—another captain, a lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 5 deputies. That brings staffing back up to what it was when we used to have a captain up there in the early 2000s. It will likely take 6 months to get all those bodies up there. But as they get there, you’ll see them on this meeting, and being highlighted on the Incline Village and Crystal Bay Business Association website (IVCBA.org). We’ll have a membership with the IVCBA.org as well. You’ll see them slowly trickling up there in June or July. I may be able to slide the Captain up there a bit earlier. What that’s going to do—if you’ve been up to the substation—the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) basically has the downstairs—they’re going to have to make their footprint smaller. We’ll take back some area. That will be where our Captain will be assigned and will report to every day. Yes, they will have to come off the hill for meetings, and they’ll be overseeing down south, but their sole responsibility will be up at Incline—and the same thing for the lieutenant. We should have 5 sergeants up there and 14 or 15 deputies. They will all be transitioning…. 7 of them now… who don’t report in Reno. They drive up and start their shift in Incline. So you’ll see a much bigger footprint. We’re working on that now. We outgrew the substation when we were permanently in Incline before. So it will be bursting at the seams again. As you all know it’s a very antiquated building. The goal is by the end of the year to have everybody up there. And as they come up we’ll make sure we have them on this meeting.
Jeff Church – Washoe County School District, Trustee
The sale of the OES property was before my tenure on the Board, so don’t blame me. I advocated all along to use it for government purposes, as housing for deputy sheriffs, as well as WCSD employees, and—as Sheriff Balaam mentioned—WCSO… And the other question I have is, even if it becomes a bus terminal does it have to utilize the entire property, or would there be residual property were we could use it? I’m wide open for discussions. The one thing I was not aware of— I thought this was a done deal by the WCSD and out of my control. I emailed our staff and never received any response to the contrary. I’m not aware if it will come back to school district. But if it does, we can have another look at it. I thought we had a contract. If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to answer them or any other school district issues.
Ronda Tycer
I have a question for Jeff. I want to know if we were successful in getting an item on the Agenda for the March 30 meeting having to do with a discussion of the sale of the OES property.
Jeff Church
The answer is no. It takes two trustees to get it on the agenda. I’m all for it but—I don’t want to go into politics too much—but I’m typically 6 to 1.
Ronda Tycer
I emailed both you and Diane Nicolet. I had an email from her that she was listening to the TTD meeting. So I will reconnect to see if there’s a way to get that on the agenda. Thank you.
Jeff Church
You can reach out to any of the 6 other trustees. It doesn’t have to be Dr. Nicolet.
Ronda Tycer
All right. Thank you.
Peter Todoroff
I have a question for both you and Alexis. I think it’s a really unusual situation where a private person in IV has to pay for more police services when Incline and Crystal Bay contribute 12% of all the property taxes collected in Washoe County, and 1% of all taxes in the State of Nevada. I question why a private citizen has to contact the WCSO and give them a grant so we can have more protection for our community.
And as Mr. Church brought up, we really wanted to use the OES for workforce housing for the Hyatt, for the police, for the teachers, for all the businesses up here. Because everybody in business wanted that up here rather than a bus hub on the most crowded street in Incline. I don’t understand why a wealthy private citizen has to contribute to get more sheriff protection for the community. Why should this happen? It doesn’t make sense to me considering what we give to the County. I’m very thankful and so is everybody else in Incline. But it isn’t a fair thing. And I’m pointing to you Alexis.
Alexis Hill
We received the grant on the agenda. I was very thankful for the opportunity and that there is a community member who wants to support the WCSO. The Duffields have a longstanding relationship with WCSO, and are providing more than just Incline Village support. They’re also helping with mental health issues with the suicide epidemic with the WCSO staff members. So it’s a great opportunity to partner with the community. I would love to see that we at Washoe County are supporting all of these services at the highest level. The WCSO is not the only County office affected by the COVID cuts. The library system received a 40% cut. You all have wanted additional hours and additional days for it to be open. As a Commission we’re looking for extra revenues and finding those paths to go forward to support all of these community services. The Duffield grant is a 5-year contract, but I’d love to see—if I’m still in office after 5 years— the County takes that on again. We’ll just have to see how revenues go. That’s something we as Commissioners are looking at. We feel it’s important that people feel protected and feel there’s a presence of Washoe County in the district. That’s something we’ll continue to work on.
Darin Balaam
I’ll jump in. Dave and Cheryl Duffield have been generous to WCSO for decades, ever since they’ve been up in Incline in the late 90s. Every year Dave says he wants to help because everybody’s budget is short. We had to cut like everywhere else. We pulled people off. We prevented our deputies from staying up there. But as Commissioner Hill said, there are no strings attached. That’s the one great thing. All Dave and Cheryl asked was to be involved in the community. You’ll see us much more involved like we were before. On the back end, he said, “Here’s a starter.” And then we’ll have the County come in. And that’s what our conversations with Commissioner Hill are about—we will work over the next 5 years to roll those into our budget. If something happens—another pandemic or recession—that may affect it. But I’ll tell you that is a commitment we’re working toward on our side. We recognize that. You’ll see—to your point—also we did a community survey. If any of you filled it out, I want to say thank you. I’m releasing that to the community today. So please look on our Facebook page for the press release. We heard Incline. It was on there—the lack of engagement and reduced staffing and not knowing who your supervisors are, when you did in the past. So that’s what we’re focusing on. Dave is helping us jumpstart that program by getting the staffing back up. I know the Commissioners have been in deep conversation with me and we are both committed over the next 5 years to slowly surely—as we come out and succeed in moving forward with revenues—absorbing those bodies into our budget. Dave is just helping us jumpstart that. Over the last year and a half he’s truly stepped forward. He gave the deputies some money in their nonprofit to outfit them with ballistic panels. He also is giving us a 3-year grant to work on mental health because we had the tragedy of losing a deputy on January 1st, and a civilian staff employee 20 days later. So with that the Commission has heard, and they have funded—going to the Board next week—a Mental Health Commission. With Dave’s grant we’ll be bringing on a psychologist. And what that’s going to allow us according to Sergeant Ross who’s with me right now (sorry you can’t see him)—he’s on the Supervisors Association, and the deputies in the association are all on board when we hire this person under Dave’s grant, working with our Mental Health Commission, we will do mandatory wellness checks for all commissioned personnel from myself all the way down every year. So Dave’s going to help us get in there. That’s been a focus of the WCSO for the past year. Dave and Cheryl have been great, and especially over the last year and a half looking to how they can reach out to our community after they saw the tragedies in our office.
Peter Todoroff
The community really appreciates it.
Trevor Smith – Smith Team Luxury Real Estate, Coldwell Banker
I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Sheriff Balaam, I hope all your plans go well. We’re very thankful to the Duffields for the grant.
Alexis, I think your biggest challenge in representing IV is going to be registering the sentiments people have about Incline issues. I’ve talked to dozens of people each week about the transit hub. I don’t know anyone who rides the bus. I’m sure there’s a need for it somewhere—but I just don’t understand it.
Trustee Church I have great respect for you—but I fail to understand what WCSD is doing with that property. I approached them many years ago with a private offer. They wouldn’t sell it. The reasons they gave were absolutely ludicrous. They said they were waiting for the market price to go up, which didn’t make sense. They’re so disconnected. I can’t even understand what they’re doing. It’s our money. I feel you have a real uphill battle, but I think—with the people who are on this call—you need to actually understand that most of the owners don’t live here. They are very disconnected from everything that’s going on. And to effectively survey all the people who are involved in all the decisions—whether it’s Ordinance 7—the Sheriff’s service—WCSD—or any other issue is our biggest challenge.
I appreciate you being here, Alexis. We really value what you’re doing. Law enforcement is obviously a key element of all this. But putting a transit hub in Incline Village is a complete misuse of space. I think affordable housing, work-force housing, low-income housing—or any of the things that the Hyatt needs, IVGID needs, the WCSD needs… We need to look at that instead to use that property effectively. And putting a bus station there is not the right decision.
I think for people who were informed—no one knew about this. This came very sudden and there was no input. I think that’s the biggest challenge we have. At the Washoe County Commission they’re going to look at Alexis and say, “What does IV think?” So that’s your biggest challenge.
First of all the WCSD needs to be responsible and recognize that economics drive all this. Holding the property for as long as they did was IMO a big mistake. They’re not using it. To be responsible they should have got rid of it. Private use maybe with a joint partnership with the WCSO or WCSD would have been the right decision. This is something I presented to them many years ago. It was flat out rejected. I think that’s sad. I think WCSD is disconnected from the community that probably needs something else. And there’s probably economics that would drive this if you’d let it. I think that soliciting the opinions and thoughts of people in this town is your biggest challenge going forward.
Peter Todoroff
We have a petition with more than 1200 signatures of residents who don’t want a hub at the OES.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Chief
Good morning everybody. I just want to tag onto Sheriff Balaam’s comments that the Duffield Foundation has very much helped NLTFPD too. They are very generous to us. As stated earlier, he and his wife are out for the betterment of the community. That being said, you’ll see a press release coming out soon on things he’s done for the Fire District. So again we’re very thankful that he was there and able to do this for us.
Peter Todoroff
The community is as well.
Ann Nichols – North Tahoe Preservation Alliance
I have a couple of concerns. The Homewood Project on the West Shore is firing up again. It’s important for Ryan because part of the settlement agreement for the project was a 2016 fire-and-safety evacuation plan for Homewood where the developer agreed to do a new station, a ladder truck, and all kinds of things. And what we’re worried about is they’re coming through with the project. And they’re bifurcating the project—now just 7 free-standing luxury condos—so trying to avoid having to do all that.
Also the Tahoe Inn in Brockway… that I’m intimately familiar with. It’s owned by Homewood. It’s tagged. It’s mold on the outside. They were to take that down, and even with trying to start this project up again, they don’t want to do it. This isn’t the whole project. “We’ll just do this little bit and we’ll do all that later.” We’ve seen how that goes. The project was approved 10 years ago. I’m hoping a new traffic study will be required. If they would tell us what they want to do… they don’t want to do the hotel any more.
We’re having the same issue—and maybe Trevor can help with some of this—Boulder Bay is resurrecting again too and they are trying to take our fourth exit out of Crystal Bay in this new proposal which we fought for 13 years ago and won. We want to have our fourth exit out of the community. There’s a new plan for Boulder Bay that looks like hexagon condo towers. We want to know what it is. How many units? What’s going on? They were told at the CAB meeting to come back with details so the public will know. So I’m hoping that will happen. But all this stuff is coming up at the same time. According to their own calculations, the population of Boulder Bay could be 2,448 people. Trevor maybe you don’t know anything. But we’ve got to keep an eye on this stuff. Thank you.
Peter Todoroff
Boulder Bay was brought up at the last meeting, and we told them to go back to the drawing boards.
Sara Schmitz
I want to thank Trevor Smith for his comments. I think that has been the message sent by the community loudly and clearly to Commissioner Hill. Unfortunately, it seems like others think they have a better idea of what’s right for our community. And that’s unfortunate.
I have a question for the NLTFPD or WCSO. As I’m reading about this proposal for the USFS to expand the use of e-bikes on trails, I’m wondering who will deal with the increased injuries that likely happen with an increased use of e-bikes on the trails? E- bikes are great. They get people around. But they’re potentially getting people who are not familiar with mountain terrain and maybe aren’t as physically fit as the people who pedal their way up. There are concerns from an environmental perspective. But I’m concerned from a human-rescue perspective, what agency would be responsible for assisting injured e-bikers on those forest trails?
Jeff Cowen
We’ve heard concerns from the community, but right now the US Forest Service is doing this on their own land. They’re communicating with us, and just asking for public comment as preparations go. They’re going to plan and find out what they can approve. We wouldn’t be coordinating with them until they actually know what trails, what ramifications, what level of e-bikes. I don’t know if any of you attended the USFS
public webinar last week. They described the three different gradients of e-bikes. But right now there’s no project in front of us, so we’re not involved.
Peter Todoroff
Is Forest Shafer still on the USFS? Is he still involved in that?
Jeff Cowen
Yes, he’s with the California Tahoe Conservancy. He’s left Tahoe Douglas and he’s been working for the CTC.
Peter Todoroff
So who do we have representing us in Incline or in Nevada? Can you send me that information about our representative? Because I’ve had people ask about this as well. To contact that person, I need their email address. I thought Forest was in both California and Nevada when I went to a meeting at the Hyatt a few years ago. He was representing both states. So if he’s not representing NV I’d like that information so I can pass it on.
I have a question for Alexis. I was a strong protestor against having 3 marijuana outlets in Incline—two in Incline and one in Crystal Bay. I have yet to find out where the money collected goes. It’s my understanding that the State gets 5% and the County gets 3% of gross sales. And some of that money was supposed to stay in Incline. And in all these years I haven’t been able to get any information on how much money and where is it going. Is it going to a slush fund for the County or—as it was supposed to be directed to each community with the outlet—is it directed to IV?
I’m asking because I see down in South Shore they want to open another one. So it must be making money. I went to the one in Incline. I just walked in the door and I was high, and I didn’t even see a plant. And I didn’t get my card because I don’t use it. I couldn’t use it even though my Veterans Administration doctor said I should have been able to use it but I couldn’t. But I feel in all cases this information should be public and we should know exactly if the money collected is being used in this community as intended. I’d appreciate if you’d get some information on that. I’ve talked to Marsha and everybody but I’ve got no report back. That money was to be allocated to this community and not used by the County as a slush fund to use wherever they decide.
Ryan Sommers
I want to get back to Sara Schmitz’s question about who’s responsible for injuries on the US Forest trails. NLTFPD is solely responsible for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the backcountry. We do have a partnership with WCSO Search and Rescue. And if it’s on State lands it is with the NV State Park rangers.
If they’re on e-bikes, cycles, whatever. It doesn’t matter. It’s our responsible to get the folks out of the backcountry. Moving on to Forest Shafer. He used to work for NLTFPD, not Tahoe Douglas. His major focus now is prescribed fire and fuels reduction. And he does represent—I’ll put it this way—he has a lot of influence in NV and he’s done a great job in that respect. As far as Environmental Studies for the forest, I’d rely on Jeff and his knowledge of working with Forest on those issues. I don’t know if he’d be the person for the e-bike study, but he could definitely point anyone with questions in the right direction.
Linda Offerdahl – Incline Village Crystal Bay Association.org, Executive Director
Hi everyone. Just a little background. We moved here 33 years ago to start a family, and in that time I’ve been involved in virtually every aspect of the nonprofit world and the schools. When we moved here, everyone joined the Chamber of Commerce. The Bonanza was delivered 3 days a week. We had community collaboration. In 2006 I started my own business Dress the Party and I really felt the absence of the Chamber of Commerce. I helped to form the Incline Community Business Association (ICBA) At that time, every other community on the North Shore and Truckee had established their own business association. They are all funded by the Counties. NTBA gets $100,000 from Placer County. So when I sold my business, I didn’t think too much about it. Last year the pandemic hit. The Incline Rotary got involved in giving grants to homes and businesses. It really hit home how hard it was to communicate within IVCB because our news sources were all regional.
So I decided to reform that business association into what is now the IVCBA.org and to establish funding. We’re about to launch. There is a website ivcba.org – which I hope you’ll all go to. That site is a community website. It includes every entity in IVCB—businesses, nonprofits, agencies—and they’re organized. This is not a yellow pages site (nobody goes there to find a plumber). But if you want to see all the different pieces that represent our community, you’ll be able to find them on the site. And it’s interactive. So any entity can post its own status updates and events on the site.
The other part of it is we’ve added some local news. The Tahoe Daily Tribune does the best it can with the resources it has. But there are things in a small town that are important to creating the whole social fabric of community. What we’re trying to do is build community.
We have an aggregated news source. We have some featured content. That’s a place to start. We wanted to just take it one step at a time. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of the Tahoe Daily Tribune today. There’s an Eagle’s Eye insert—the Sierra Nevada University insert. We have a community page. We have to start with getting information out there to our community. And again, we’re just pulling together stories. We’re working to build and support the businesses and nonprofits. We want to build our community again.
So for starters, it’s a membership organization. I’ve approached every agency—and have been met with welcome arms— to join in and provide some unity. We have established funding and will be hiring staff. So I don’t have to be paid—everything I do is philanthropic. I want to be Chairman of the Board and hire staff to actually run this operation because I think that’s the key to a sustainable organization.
We have a calendar on the website. We want to do some collaborations. One thing you may not know is the Northern Nevada food bank has a mobile harvest food truck. They have partnered with the Care Chest of Northern Nevada to bring medical supplies and equipment to our residents. So once a month—Wednesday coming up— they’ll do a distribution like Project Mana—delivering now to the Community House— to people who need food. We have a resource guide listing local nonprofits to know what else is out here. That will be distributed.
Peter Todoroff
Linda, please send me that link and I’ll pass it out to everybody on my mailing list of over 200. Everybody can go to that link and find out all that information. I’d appreciate it.
Linda Offerdahl
We’re asking people to donate $50 or subscribe for free
Steve Dolan – IV Resident, Friends of Third Creek, Founder
Back to what Chief Sommers was saying to Sara Schmitz’s question about the USFS e-bike proposal, #54566 on their website. The thing that most concerns me is not the e-bike but the introduction of e-bikes into the wilderness. That is a big paradigm change. I wrote a letter to TRPA about this and —Jeff Cowen—I heard you kind of step away from the issue, but USFS advertises its partnership with TRPA regarding this proposal. So I’d love to hear. I guess you’re waiting for them to become more formal than the research they’re doing now, but it would seem right now the TRPA would be defending the wilderness as well as any other trail that might be degraded by additional bike usage. I know the USFS has done a lot of things recently in terms of bike trails—the Tyrolian trail—which is okay and great. But all of these add to the particulate matter and fine dust entering the lake. So I would think TRPA wouldn’t be a partner.
I know in the past, with the Incline dam removal, TRPA said they had a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that allowed the USFS to act on own and self-monitor. But I think this issue as well as others with e-bikes moving into the wilderness, is relevant to the NLTFPD because there will be people out there in the wilderness who are not prepared, who don’t understand the wilderness, and accidents will happen deeper into the wilderness. The NLTFPD will be called on more frequently for people who are inexperienced in the wilderness. So I thought I’d ask you that question Jeff, because it will impact the NLTFPD. I just don’t understand the paradigm change. Currently bikes aren’t allowed in the wilderness. And I don’t understand. So I hope that TRPA would help the lake and the whole basin by clarifying that wilderness would be off limits— to just take the e-bikes out of the wilderness.
Jeff Cowen
I posted a couple things in the Chat Box to help everybody. Logan Graham—he’s the lead—I put his email address, and also a link to the comment page of the USFS. We’ll see what happens when they come to us with a proposal. In the presentation that we saw last week—I remember them saying there’s no proposal for e-bikes in the wilderness. Steve, were you on that?
Steve Dolan
I looked at the map they presented in the proposal, and in particular there’s a new path—it’s an old path we all know—on the southwest corner of the Tahoe Meadows where the snowmobiles disembark. At that parking area there’s a road that goes down, and right at the first switchback there’s a path that leads to 3rd Creek and up into the wilderness. We know that the west side of 3rd Creek is officially wilderness by the USFS ruling 3 years ago. And that’s exactly where the e-bike path starts and heads straight up the hill into steep terrain. It joins way up high the Tahoe Rim Trial. That is specifically one spot in the wilderness. So I don’t know how they can say they’re not in the wilderness.
Jeff Cowen
Maybe we can get USFS to come on this call. It seems like a really great opportunity and forum for them to listen to the community. I have asked the USFS to come on this call a few times—especially when Steve was discussing some of their projects last summer—but haven’t got movement from them coming on the call.
Peter Todoroff
I can tell you the way. Send me the information about who to contact in the USFS. I’ll pass that out to everybody. When everyone sends an email to them, they’ll pay attention. I don’t want it from the Chat, I want you to send me an email. It’s easy to do that. Then I can just forward everything to everybody and go that route.
Steve Dolan
Peter, would you like me to send you the URL? There is a URL connecting to the e-bike website that the USFS has sent out several times for people to review and look at. In fact in the conversation Jeff mentioned, they advertised highly. I’d like you to distribute the URL for comments.
Peter Todoroff
Send that to me and I’ll take care of it because that’s the only way you get their attention is have a mass amount of people send them an email. If it’s only one person, TRPA says, “Oh welcome back, Jeff.” And they have all kinds of excuses why they can’t do something.
Are there any other questions, comments or updates?
This is the only way we’re going to get noticed… I just got the update now, I was under the impression that Forest Shafer was bi-state, and now I hear he’s just California. So I need to be updated and I will update everyone else.
If there are no more announcements, we’ll adjourn. I want to express special thanks to Trevor Smith. As Sara said, you pretty much spoke for the entire community. When Carl Hasty was on he was informed that everyone in my meeting was against the hub at the OES. It hasn’t got through to a lot of people for some reason. I said, “Everybody can complain, but offer a solution.” They’ve had a solution for years because I suggested an alternate place to have the bus hub. But nobody wants to listen
Judith Simon – Incline Resident
I just found the organization Linda was mentioning, and I’ve put the website in the Chat Box if anybody wants it right away.
Peter Todoroff
Thanks again to Trevor. We have over 1200 signatures on the petition so they know we don’t want that. So that ought to tell somebody something, but nobody’s listening. I can’t imagine why. Anyway thank you all for attending, I appreciate it. And special thanks to Sheriff Balaam.
Darin Balaam
You’ll see me more often. I’ll be coming up there at least once a month. Thanks for all the support from the community.
Peter Todoroff
Okay, we’ll adjourn. And thanks to everybody.
Participants:
Alexis Hill
Anne Nichols
Anne Rossman, Glen Rossman
David Simon
Denise Davis
Diane Becker
Doug Flaherty
Heather Lunsford
Jack Dalton
Jeff Church
Jeff Cowen
Jim Nadeau
Joe Farrell
John Crockett
Judith Simon
Kari Ferguson
Kathie Julian
Linda Offerdahl
Michael
Pete Todoroff
Rob Galloway
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Sommers
Sara Schmitz
Sheriff Balaam
Steve Dolan
Svata Trossen
Todd Lowe
Trevor Smith
CHAT BOX:
09:36:30 From Sara Schmitz : Trevor is repeating what we have all been sharing with Commissioner Hill
09:44:59 From Jeff Cowen : Forest Service trails plan contact: Logan Graham Logan.Graham@usda.gov
09:50:54 From Washoe County Libraries : https://inclinevillagecrystalbay.com/
09:53:40 From kathiejulian : Linda, mention please that individuals can join as well
09:53:57 From Judith Simon : Is the new IVCB association envisioned to replace what is usually known as the Chamber of Commerce in other entities?
09:56:30 From Jeff Cowen : FS e-bike comments: https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/ltbmu/landmanagement/projects
09:56:41
From Alexis Hill : Great to see everyone! I’ve got to run – feel free to contact me if you need anything ahill@washoecounty.us 775.447.3017
10:00:49 From Jeff Cowen : Sorry everyone I need to get on another call. Thanks for today!
10:01:40 From Judith Simon : Looks as if this is the new website—https://inclinevillagecrystalbay.com
WASHOE COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE – Reports
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Incline Village Substation
Incline Village police activity and information log for the week of March 5th, 2021.
Speed enforcement conducted on Sheep’s Flat, Lakeshore Blvd., Village Blvd., Fairview Blvd., Driver Way, Tahoe Blvd., Ponderosa, ski way, Northwood and Southwood, Country Club, Millcreek and Village 26 Citations issued and 17 warnings.
8 Parking citations
7 Vin inspections.
1 Larceny report taken for the theft of a license plate.
1 Family disturbance, parties were separated.
1 activated alarm, false alarm.
The most effective way you can report and abate graffiti is to download our Apple or Android Washoe County Sheriff’s Office app on your phone or tablet. If you see graffiti in your neighborhood, just click on the Graffiti Abatement button on the app. You can then take a photo of the graffiti which will be sent (along with the GPS coordinates) to the Sheriff’s Office. Although not required, we ask if you could please type in your name and phone number with the photo in the event we have questions.
Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Incline Village Substation
Incline Village police activity and information log for the week of March 12th, 2021.
Speed enforcement conducted on Sheep’s Flat, Lakeshore Blvd., Village Blvd., Fairview Blvd., Driver Way, Tahoe Blvd., Ponderosa, ski way, Northwood and Southwood, Country Club, Millcreek and Village 6 Citations issued and 7 warnings.
8 Parking citations
1 Non-injury vehicle accident on Divot Ct.
1 Family disturbance, parties were separated.
1 Disturbance, one person trespassed.
1 Welfare check, person checked ok.
1 Person arrested for trespassing at Diamond Peak.
1 Pedestrian hit by a car in the cross walk.
3 activated alarms, all alarms were cleared as false alarm.
Hiking Tips:
1. Dress like an onion. Be sure to dress in layers. Since temperatures vary from the trailhead to the summit, a variety of insulating clothing will help you regulate your body temperature.
2. Start small and start early. Be prepared for the distance and difficulty of the trail. Keep in mind an injury or accident could happen any time due to terrain. Have a plan if you do get injured.
3. Bring safety gear. Aside from basic hiking gear, be sure to include a few basic items such as your cell phone, GPS/compass, pocket knife or mini tool, first aid kit, and rain poncho and/or foil blanket.
4. Check the weather. Look at precipitation, wind speed, avalanche reports and daylight hours.
5. Learn to use crampons. If the trail is icy, crampons can make the difference in preventing injury. If you are new to crampons, try them on easier trails first.
6. Let someone know where you are. Let a friend or family member know specific and accurate trail information of where you are as well as when you are expected to return.
7. Take an experienced friend. Hiking with friends is always the way to go, especially in winter. Not only is it more fun, but also safer to be with a group.
8. Water, water, water. It is essential to bring plenty of water when hiking in the winter, as dehydration is a common problem.
9. Invest in good gear. There are some basics every hiker should have: crampons or snowshoes, waterproof /resistant pants and jacket, knee-high gaiters, waterproof/resistant boots, a lightweight backpack, and sunglasses.
10. Be prepared to turn around. Don’t hesitate to turn around if you run into conditions that look dangerous.
11. Don’t hesitate to call SAR if in trouble. If you get lost, call 911 for Search and Rescue – Washoe Sheriff’s SAR is a free service we provide to the public. Your safe return home is our priority!
12. Treat yourself to a great meal. Lastly, be sure to reward yourself when you come off the trials for a job well-done!
0 Comments