The link to the recording of the meeting is:
Note from Recap Editor: Because of difficulty with the recording, this recap includes many gaps where [inaudible] appears and name spellings [name] are missing. Corrections are welcome.
Peter Todoroff – Moderator
We’ll start with IVGID.
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District, Communications Coordinator
We had a Board meeting last night, so all of that will be on line including the minutes. I just wanted to touch base. We don’t have any major events happening in Incline due to smoke. Our schools are not in session until Tuesday. We’re in the middle of planning our Trail-of-Treats for October. So look for information on that. It’s our next big event. Right now we’re just trying to help the Fire Department with anything they need. We’re pushing out information for North Lake Tahoe Fire and CalFire with any information that needs to get out there. Follow us on Facebook. You can “Like” my profile on IVGID.com and you’ll get new information as soon as we get it.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Chief
Good morning everybody. So here are the stats on the Caldor Fire right now. It is 212,000 acres; 29% contained. There are 523 engines; 84 water tankers, 47 helicopters, 62 hand-crews, 95 dozers, and 4415 people fighting this.
Wednesday at 7pm there’s 2 zones in the fire. There’s a West Zone and an East Zone. The East Zone is obviously what we’re very, very…. We’re watching the East Zone. That’s the important side for us as citizens of Incline and Crystal Bay. I know there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Currently the fire is 4 miles from the Nevada State line, from Douglas County. I know for a fact because the Douglas County Fire Department Chief says [inaudible]. We’re watching it very, very closely. We sent a surge of Nevada engines down Monday night. We got 18 engines together [inaudible] single structure; this is how we merged. There’s fire on both sides of Highway 89. That’s not a very good place to be because the fires are opposed to each other. Those crews in there did a marvelous job. They saved every house minus one [inaudible].
We’re in constant contact with the team that’s on the East Zone side now, and the Federal team. I’ve been sending news daily—virtually and in person—about this whole situation. And we’re also in contact with all our Washoe County officials to make decisions on what we might have to do here in the District. But right now we’re looking really good, so just enjoy the smoke. That’s about all you can do. Moving on, if there are no questions about that… [4:37 inaudible]
So regarding Pulse Point, 2 weeks ago we had a big discussion. The information was being posted for Pulse Point but they haven’t done the sand box. We’re not rated high enough to be in the cloud so we haven’t got that “sand box” built just yet. Pulse Point is working well on that [inaudible]…. We’re getting there. We’re very, very close. People should watch for a press release when the time comes. It will include all the links. [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
Could you send me that link so I can send it out to everybody?
Ryan Sommers
Can we wait until we actually launch [inaudible] so it’s only one time?
Peter Todoroff
[inaudible]
Ryan Sommers
Does that sound correct?
Joe Farrell – Incline Resident,
Yes, Chief. That sounds correct. It’s good. I spoke with Rich Price last week and I think there’s a glitch with Northrop-Grunman in their software that they’re working on. That’s maybe holding things up a little bit. Everything’s very accurate with your reporting. I’m looking forward to the launch here in the not too distant future. Thank you.
Margaret Martini – Incline Resident
On the 29th, is that on the Pollock Pines side? So the [inaudible] is going this way. But on our side, the Tahoe side, is the fire still raging?
Ryan Sommers
It’s not raging. But it’s also… It’s very complicated. While at Meyers, we go to the heel or where the fire starts… and we start chasing it. When we put people at the front of the fire, that’s where the danger is. When the fire is up in the timber, I’m sorry but that’s not worth anybody going. So we’re surrounded like this on the West side. On our side it’s still burning. It’s not raging. It may be just smoldering. Essentially we’ll put a line right there [inaudible]. We will not see this fire 100% contained until it rains. Guaranteed. The Tamarack is not 100%. Even if there’s not a single smoke coming off of it, we can’t say it’s 100% contained until we know that every square inch of that is[inaudible]. We don’t have the staff or the water supply to do that. We rely on Mother nature. Then we got our arms [inaudible] same with the Dixie. It’s very unlikely you’ll see 100% containment in these huge fires until we get some wetter weather.
Jack Dalton, MD – Incline Resident
I want to thank the Fire Department of both CA and NV. I had a question. I have heard California decided in the 1990s to cut their forest management. Nevada has done a really good job thanks to your department and the State and others. On the California side they have [inaudible]. Is that true? When you have some situation like this where you share responsibility with California, and it hasn’t done what it should have done, will you volunteer to cross to California, to send people there? This is not [inaudible]. Are they going to pay for Nevada people?
Ryan Sommers
Yes they are. This is a whole process in itself, but in a nutshell, we can be [inaudible]. The first 24 hours are free. And after when we go to [inaudible] … Squaw Valley now Olympic Valley, Northstar, the Tahoe City area, all of these [inaudible]. If… [inaudible] we are paid until the second we leave. We go there, the first 24 hours are free, but the 25th hour we are getting virtually time… That’s the full [inaudible]. The first 24 hours we’re helping our direct neighbors. The third way we can go is Federal and that takes [inaudible]
[What follows is a discussion of interagency cooperation in fighting this fire and who pays for what—what we can bill for and what we can’t. Much of the recap is inaudible or so disjointed it is not transcribe-able.]
This one we’ll be paid by the State, and our engines will be paid by the [inaudible]. We have two different billing mechanisms [11:18 inaudible] In my opinion [12:00 inaudible]
We went over Spooner it is [inaudible]it’s absolutely [inaudible]. There’s a …. Up there… [inaudible] can’t see around the corner. The Forest Service goes in and starts fighting it — those track homes — and then in litigation for the last 8 years – I’ll tell you what the [inaudible] Environmentalists …. [inaudible] so that we can all survive in this world with the fire … that we have. So we can’t afford to send our units out that long. When we go it’s a 14-day run.
Pete Todoroff
Do you want to mention what we did in the early 90s when we had helicopters coming in? This is how we did it.
John Crockett
We’ve had a request. Could you please speak louder?
Ryan Sommers
In the 1980s—I was 10—we had a Fire Marshal who was very forward looking. The guy was amazing—Gerry Adams. He said we have this abundance of forest and vegetation so we need to do something so fires aren’t threatening our community and the forests themselves. So there were a couple of things he did. First he started a program where we started logging. He found funds from the Federal agenciesand we started logging the entire drainages— the 1st Creek, 2nd Creek, 3rd, Creek, Mill Creek. And we cut trees down. He brought in a helicopter. They used that wood for production if you will. Then he decided, well this isn’t going to happen fast enough. We need to speed up here a bit. So let’s look at piling the stuff and burning it. We did that. But we’re still not going to get there. So then we began understory or prescribed burning. You want to talk about a lot of bureaucracy—burning a house, burning the vegetation with houses around it.It took some coordination to do that. It really did. We started with block parties where the neighborhood could talk with [inaudible]. I give a lot of credit to a very well known person who walked into the office and said I will help you do this. I was at one of your block parties. I believe in this program. Why don’t I show up and we can talk about this and get everybody involved. That was the [inaudible] who lived in town. So guess what, [inaudible] we got the message out there and we began to do prescribed burns. Our first in the early 90s was 1 acre, 80 people, 2 helicopters [inaudible], but that’s what we wanted to prove to the community—that we knew what we were doing. And the model for our Fuels Department is to start slowly and taper off. So you’ll notice very often [inaudible] and then in addition the fire shifts [inaudible] extension, some of the area before the burn and some after the burn, [inaudible] because we don’t want to [inaudible] Pine trees cannot grow without [inaudible]. White pines, they can grow anywhere. But true pines like Ponderosas can’t grow … [inaudible] Does that answer your question?
Peter Todoroff
Thanks. [inaudible]
Joyce Bock
So what … fire… [inaudible]
Ryan Sommers
The [inaudible]
Margaret Martini
It was really amazing the logging that they did. And it was right in front of our house. These huge military helicopters flying 100 feet from our front windows with these logs attached. It was amazing what the Fire Department did.
Jack Dalton, MD
I thought I had read that there’s evidence that the First Nation did prescribed burns of forestlands. I mean this in a positive sense. In terms of forest management, we had Smokey the Bear telling us to not allow fires for 100 years or so, and now we’re dealing with that. But certainly Smokey the Bear did not exist when they managed to live here. Is that true?
19:12
Ryan Sommers
So in my Fire Ecology class I took a number of years ago they absolutely said that. Native Americans burned low-intensity burns on all these lands up here every single year. That’s where they got the fertilizer for their crops to grow. In doing that, it kept the ground fuels down, allowed the trees to reproduce, and we didn’t get this overabundance of vegetation at the base of the trees that provides ladder fuels like we have now. That’s why we’re having the trouble we’re having with crown fires. [inaudible] So that is correct.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident
Chief, I have a couple of questions. When you look at the land around Incline Village what’s your assessment of the need to thin the trees? And what is the cost to take an acre and do some prescribed burning or thinning or selective cutting or whatever would be both environmentally responsible and prevent fires?
Ryan Sommers
So I hear two questions. What area do we need to improve on? Looking around, we’ve actually completed what we call a “halo” around the entire outskirts of Incline Village and Crystal Bay all the way around on the land that we’re allowed to work on. And that right now is mostly IVGID land. Some private 5 acres or more we can work on and some Federal land. We are looking really good as a whole in this District. There are remaining pockets of fuel here and there, I’m sorry I don’t know those off the top of my head, I can ask my Division Chief, but he’s actually busy right now. But he does have those areas isolated and knows about them. I can ask him. Second question, there’s a lot of layers to that. Are we going to burn it? Are we going to manually cut and take it out? Are we going to cut and chip? Are we going to cut and power it out? There are different costs for all of that. And they change every year because every thing goes up. But—Tia—do you remember what is the cost of a prescribed burn, which is one of the cheapest ways of doing a fuels reduction? What’s the cost per acre to do a prescribed burn?
Tia Rancourt – NLTFPD,
I don’t remember off the top of my head. I’ll look it up.
Ryan Sommers
So, yeah. We’ve got a number and it depends on how much is on the parcel. It’s being charged by the tons per acre. So there’s a formula to get it out, and we can get you some general numbers so you have a general idea of what it costs.
Lisa Krasner – Nevada State Assembly Representative, District 26
Good morning everyone. It’s a pleasure to be here. I am Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner. First, I’d like to say thank you to Peter Todoroff for inviting me to be here today to discuss some of the work I did during the 81st Legislative Session. Also I’d like to say thank you to all the brave men and women who are the firefighters who are keeping us safe, our homes safe, and our communities safe. Thank you so much. It’s really horrible what’s going on with all the fires here in our community. So thank you to our brave firefighters.
Basically in discussing some of the legislation that I passed to benefit all citizens in Nevada, I’ll just go through a letter that I prepared.
“The 81st Nevada Legislative Session ended sine die on May 31st 2021. I want to inform you of the hard work that I did on your behalf during the 120-day legislative session. I’m proud to announce that six of the bills that I put forward passed into law. These are bills that are bipartisan. I invited both Republicans and Democrats to sign on as co-sponsors. And 5 of the 6 bills passed unanimously with every Republican and every Democrat in the Assembly and the Senate voting yes. And the Governor signed them into law. The 6th one almost passed unanimously, but we were still working on it in one of the houses. But it also passed into law. Bipartisan legislation is important for all Nevadans, and that’s why that’s the type of legislation that I focus on.
The first bill that passed into law was a bill for our disabled veterans AB 102. This bill allows honorably discharged US veterans to enter into the NV State Parks for free. This was one of the top bills brought forward by the NV State Veterans Association. I was really honored to have two veterans side-by-side with me testifying in support. One is the recipient of the Purple Heart and the other is a disabled veteran. Also Cat Miller from our NV Veterans Association testified in support. That did pass through and that is the current law for our veterans. The cosponsor on that was Assemblyman [inaudible].
The next one is AB 143. That’s for victims of human trafficking. I again invited Republicans and Democrats to sign on to that one. Assembly Woman [name] cosponsored it. The bill creates the first ever State of NV Human Trafficking Coalition. It also creates a state-wide resource page with various resources for [inaudible] of human trafficking. Sort of a one-stop shop. And working in conjunction with NV Dept of Health and Human Services and the NV Attorney General’s office on this, because it is a state-wide issue. Previously, we had wonderful groups in the north—Reno—and in the south—Clark County—but this is a state-wide coalition that will allow smaller groups to coordinate, communicate, and collaborate on human trafficking issues. It will also allow our state to receive increased Federal dollars for human trafficking victims. Again that’s a bipartisan bill, Republicans and Democrats alike signed on and voted in favor. The Governor has signed it into law.
Assembly Bill 251 was regarding Juvenile Justice. Again Republicans and Democrats alike. Rochelle Nguyen was the cosponsor on that. She’s an Assemblywoman from the south. The bill allows children to have their juvenile court record automatically sealed at age 18, and allows them to petition the Court to have a juvenile record expunged if the crime was a misdemeanor or less that occurred when they were 17 or younger. Did you know that a minor can be arrested for drinking a beer in public and it creates a permanent criminal record? I found this out and that it was causing problems for kids to get into college and to get jobs. I thought that was wrong. I feel like we should give our kids a fresh start and a second chance especially when it’s just a misdemeanor. The Court does have discretion. I did coordinate with law enforcement agencies—sheriff, police, and the District Attorneys Association—in compiling this bill and creating the best legislation possible. And while I’m not advocating that a 17-year-old should try a beer, it has been reported that a senior in high school might try one. That’s why this legislation.
Assembly Bill 333 is in regard to land use planning and affordable housing. There is a problem with developers that water was building up when they were trying to build on a particular site. It was pooling, and they weren’t able to divert it. So we invited all of the counties and cities to chime in again to create the best legislation possible to allow developers to build and also to create that affordable housing we need, and to create jobs here in NV in the construction community.
Assembly Bill 231is regarding the holocaust and other genocides. There was a study done by the Anti-defamation League and they found that this generation knew little or nothing about the fact that the holocaust did exist and that other people and communities and groups throughout history have experienced genocide as well. This just says that in their Social Studies class the teacher will allow some portion of time—whatever the teacher wants—just to talk about the fact that the holocaust did exist and other genocides did exist in our world. That was with Assemblywoman [name], and again bipartisan legislation passed unanimously and signed into law by our governor.
The last one was Assembly Bill 344 for senior citizens and aim for disabled persons with Assemblywoman [name]. This bill will help with the transition of seniors and persons with disabilities when they’re leaving hospitals. We worked together with the State of NV Commission on Senior Services for seniors and persons with disabilities. They worked in conjunction with seven different hospitals across the State of Nevada. What we came up with was a bill that basically said when a senior or person with a disability leaves a hospital, the hospital staff will discuss with them who they need to contact for their next doctor’s appointment, what medications they need to order from the pharmacy, just to enable a smoother transition for that person as they’re leaving the hospital and going home.
I did want to thank all of you for your support and your input while I was in the legislative session, which again, is only 120 days. But we’re doing 2 years of work in 120 days. The concerns of my constituents are very important to me in deciding how I will vote on a particular issue. Serving as your State Assemblywoman is an honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously. I’m dedicated to making Nevada an even better place to live, work, and raise a family. And it’s an honor to represent you and your government. And I thank you for your time here today.
32:32
David Simon – Incline Resident
Why did you not support the bill limiting short-term rentals?
Lisa Krasner
I believe the short-term rental bill was amended so that all counties were out including our county and it only applied to Clark County after the amended version of the bill.
Jack Dalton, MD – Incline Resident
The way the legislature did it—thanks to Ronda reporting, which was my source—conveniently Airbnb and the rest of them buried everything except Clark County. They have the hotels and everything, which we don’t have here, so we were left defenseless. Nobody defended us in the legislature.
Lisa Krasner
Again, all counties—and that would include Incline Village and Washoe County—were taken out of the bill by the sponsor of the bill, who has ultimate control over a bill. And so in the end, it only applied to Clark County. It’s my understanding however that our County Commissioners have implemented some protections in regards to Airbnb. We can let our commissioners speak about that better than I could.
Ronda Tycer – Incline Community Forum Recap Editor, IVCB STR Advisory Group
Ms. Krasner, my understanding from Rochelle Nguyen with whom I was in close contact during the entire legislative session, was that it was the Northern Nevada legislators and other influencers who were requiring that Washoe County be removed. My understanding is she only did that as a result of conferences with Northern Nevada influencers. Although I’m not sure exactly who those are, certainly I assumed you were one.
Lisa Krasner
No, I wasn’t one. And I certainly would never speak for Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen or any other elected official as I hope they never speak for me. The sponsor of any piece of legislation—the sponsor of the bill—has ultimate control over the bill. I was not a sponsor on the bill.
Ronda Tycer
Wasn’t Ms. Nguyen sponsor of the bill?
Lisa Krasner
I’m sorry I don’t have those 11,000 bills in front of me right now. But if you go to Nellis, you can look up every bill from the 81st Legislative Session. You can see who the sponsor of the bill was. I believe it was Assemblywoman Nguyen. But without having it in front of me, I don’t want to speak off the top of my head. We did have approximately 11,000 bills come before us in the Legislative Session and I didn’t memorize each one by heart. But you can look it up for yourself. It’s all there for public record.
Ronda Tycer
Ms. Krasner, I was communicating with Ms. Nguyen on this bill for a year. I am sure she was the sponsor. And consequently, when she told me the reason that Washoe County was removed was due to northern Nevada legislators and influencers, I assumed she was talking about you.
Lisa Krasner
I’m sorry your assumption is wrong. I never asked her to remove anybody.
Ronda Tycer
All right.
Lisa Krasner
I never asked her to remove anybody, so that’s incorrect.
Ronda Tycer
All right. Thank you very much.
Carole Black – Incline Resident
I was a bit late so I didn’t hear your whole presentation. Thank you for attending the meeting. But I do have to say I know you received a lot of input from residents in our area around that bill. It might have been reasonable to expect—I know it’s a busy time—but you might have paid some attention to what was going on and to the feedback you were receiving. I hope that in the future that would be the case. I know you received input from concerned residents around that particular issue—the short-term rentals, which are a major issue for many of us in the Tahoe region of Washoe County. So I just have to piggyback on Ronda. I don’t need an answer. It’s just a comment.
Lisa Krasner
Thank you for your comment. Yes, I did receive 15,000 emails during the 120-day legislative session. I do try to keep up with all of them. I appreciate the input of my constituents. Phone calls are welcome too. My phone number and cell phone are both located on the internet, so anybody can call me at any time.
I did receive input on both sides of that bill. So there were people in favor of it and people opposed. It wasn’t one-sided by any means. There was an equal amount of support and opposition on that bill. I don’t know if you were here when I answered to the first person’s question that the sponsor of the bill has the ultimate control over their bill. When a sponsor decides to amend the bill and remove 16 of the 17 counties, that’s their choice. The sponsor has ultimate control over their bill.
Carole Black
With all due respect, and thank you very much, this sounds like a bob-and-weave to me. I just had to say that. There are a number of us here who are very concerned about that issue. So enough. I don’t need a response. But I do have to say your comments sound like the bob-and-weave to me.
Lisa Krasner
Then ask me another question because I certainly don’t want to bomb.
Carole Black
That’s the particular issue I’m most concerned about. And I’ve heard you over the years talking about how much you’ve done for us. I was looking for support on this particular issue. I think many were, and it wasn’t there.
Lisa Krasner
I think that our County Commissioners implemented some protections. And I see our County Commissioner is here. I was informed that the County Commissioners did put in some protections. I don’t know what those are. Again I would let her speak directly to that. When I receive equal input from those in support and those in opposition, I then have to look and see how the final bill looks after the amendments. And amendments are accepted up until the last hour of the legislature before sine die. I have to look at how it looks in the final version before I make my vote and then take into consideration all in support and all opposed. And again, Incline Village and Washoe County were excluded from the bill. Period.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident
I just want to note that 2 weeks ago I did have a conversation with the bill’s sponsor Rochelle Nguyen from Clark County. And she did inform me as Ronda said, that because of the lack of support from Northern Nevada Legislators she was compelled to remove the counties from the bill because the bill would not have passed at all. So yes, she does have the authority and the responsibility to control the amendments on her bill, but she was compelled to do that because of lack of support from Northern representatives. So I just want to put that on the record to make sure people understood. That is what she told me 2 weeks ago. Thanks.
Lisa Krasner
It was only legislators; or did she say like the other woman said it was interested parties and citizens who were contacting her as well?
Kathie Julian
She said it was legislators.
Lisa Krasner
The first lady said something a little different. She said interested parties, stakeholders also. I don’t know what it is. I haven’t spoken to Assemblywoman Nguyen since the session.
Margaret Martini – Incline Resident
Lisa I want to thank you for that wonderful political tap-dance that we just experienced. It says a lot.
Lisa Krasner
Was there a question?
Margaret Martini
No, it was just a statement.
Lisa Krasner
When we vote on legislation we have to consider all factors. Do you think that’s a tap-dance? I understand that. But that’s just the fact. I take my job very seriously. I’m there later every night than any other legislator in the building except for the janitorial staff. I look at both sides of every issue. I have to look at those in support and their rationale and reasoning. I have to look at those who are opposed and their rationale and reasoning. And then I have to do the research on my own. I have to make a decision that I think is going to be least harmful and most helpful to all the citizens in our State. I do represent Assembly District 26 and I care most about those people because that’s the district I represent. But I also have to think about the other people that live in our State when I make an ultimate decision and ultimate vote on the issue. I’m sorry you think that’s a tap dance. To me that’s hard work. The easiest thing for me to do would be to vote “no,” “no,” “no,” “no.” I would probably win some prize for the person who voted “no” the most. However, that doesn’t adequately represent the people. And I take my job very seriously. I’m trying to protect the people. And on my watch, bad things aren’t going to happen. So yes. I do look at every single issue. I do look at both sides—people in support; and people opposed. I listen to both sides—people in support; and people opposed. I do the research on my own. There’s a lot of reading involved, a lot of meetings involved. Then ultimately I have to make a decision that I think will help people and be the least harmful to the citizens in our State.
44:51
Tia Rancourt – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District
I want to mention that we’ve been getting a lot of phone calls from our local residents about how they can help the firefighters on the fire. We are redirecting those efforts to help the folks who have been evacuated. If this is helpful to you guys, I’ll email Pete and Ronda with information on the various agencies to which you can make donations. I was contacted this morning by a gentleman who wanted to buy food from all the local restaurants because business is obviously very slow right now, so he wants to support the local restaurants and take that food to the fire. A way to do that is to go to the Hard Rock Convention Center. If you tell them you’re doing that they’ll let you through. I just spoke with the PIO of Tahoe Douglas Fire District. I can put that all in an email. I just wanted to let you guys know that real quick.
Joe Farrell – Incline Resident
Ms. Krasner, thank you for all your work. I’m very appreciative and [46:46 inaudible] of how hard a job you have. I just had a comment about short-term rentals. I think there’s a big safety issue. I’m not sure if you’re aware there have been a number of shootings at STRs in California. Most recently last June a young man was killed at a party. Two or three years ago there were 5 victims of shooting deaths at an Airbnb in Orinda, CA. Up here in Incline we fortunately have not had any violence of this nature. But I, as a resident here, last summer felt threatened by a family—18 in a 4 bedroom house next door to me who were very drunk, belligerent and so on to the point that my wife and family who were visiting didn’t want to go outside our house for fear there would be violence. I think this is a big issue that needs to be addressed by the legislature.
Another thing is fire. A block up the mountain from where I live here in Incline twice last summer there were incidents when the fire department came because someone had an open fire in a firepit, and there was no defensible space done at this STR Airbnb. I bring this up because I think it’s important… the safety issues of your constituents that you represent. I think another variable here is that we want to make sure we’re listened to and it sounds like you’ve been listening to all your constituents, but sometimes violence and safety trumps what people are saying—especially if it’s divided. I’m hoping that you would—and I’m sure you do—take my comments seriously about potential violence. So let’s hope that we get some stronger STR regulations here in Washoe County that will prevent a death. I just hope to God a death doesn’t happen. Thank you.
Lisa Krasner
Joe, thank you very much for your comments. I appreciate that. Yeah, it’s very important to me. I’m so sorry to hear that your family felt endangered. I’ve heard so many stories both in support and in opposition. If you want to call me—775 420-8411 that’s my cell phone. Again, it’s on the Internet. I’m happy to discuss it with you. Obviously we only meet every other year but in the next legislative session if the people reelect me I’m happy to work together with you to put together some legislation to provide adequate safeguards.
Joe Farrell
Could you please give me that phone number again?
Lisa Krasner
Sure. It’s my cell phone. 775 420-8411. Anybody can call me.
Joe Farrell
I’ll be giving you a call. I have another issue about AEDs in police cars I’d like to discuss with you too. I know you’re busy but I’ll give you a call within the next week. Thank you so much.
Alexis Hill – Washoe County Commissioner, District 1
Hello everyone. I also want to thank Chief Sommers and your team who have been amazing during this very scary time. I do want folks to know that we did send a Truckee Meadows fire team out to the fire. They’ve been out helping since Monday. We commenced our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and we’ve been helping with the evacuation site in Reno. And so I do love what Tia was saying about how we can support people who’ve been evacuated. I don’t know if anyone read the Reno Gazette Journal 2 days ago but it talked about the people we all know who live in Tahoe who are living paycheck to paycheck and who are really struggling. This evacuation has cost them a lot of money, and they’re not at work. So helping those folks out is really important.
We have two new community liaisons for Incline Village and Crystal Bay. I’m going to have them come on—hopefully on the next call—Candy Ramos and Mark [name]. They are really fabulous assets. Mark actually worked for the City of Sparks as a community liaison and I think for Senator [name] as well. Candy has been working in non-profits in our communities. I think you all will find them very helpful. And if I can’t make a meeting, as sometimes happens, one of them will be here hopefully to address some questions and what we’re doing at the commission level. We also are looking to have them help with our communications with Incline Village, which I know has been a tough situation—just making sure everyone in the community feels that they know what’s going on in Washoe County. So you’ll be seeing some better communication. They’ve already been working with Linda Offerdahl and her organization (IVCBA.org) and Sara Schmitz and her organization (IVCB Community 1st.org) to get communication out to the community, especially on these fires.
The CAB meetings for September are cancelled. We are looking to re-engage in October. So we will be pulling together a meeting where we want to talk about how we want the format to be. I know you all have given me input at our last meeting about how you want some flexibility, but you want a public meeting as well… and discussing that. I’ll make sure to get that date, which I think is going to be the first Monday in October at 5:30 as it’s always been. I’ll get that information out to you Pete once we’ve got that confirmed. We’re also working on that Mainstreet initiative through the State. I’m sure Assemblywoman Krasner knows that has been funded again this year. Thank you so much—to help communities really vitalize their main streets. I’m working with Linda Offerdahl on that. You’ll be seeing that organization forming. If you want to get involved, give me a call or give Linda a call. I don’t want to put her on the spot. If you want to make sure you’re part of that. Also, we’re working with IVGID as well to make sure all parties who are interested can have a say. We’re looking to see how we can slow down traffic on 28, which as we all know really needs to happen, and also making it more walkable and safer In Incline. I spoke to a woman who actually got into a horrible accident—a vehicle hit her as a pedestrian—and she’s still suffering. She lives in your community in Incline Village. So, figuring out how to make the community safer is something we’re working on as well.
I don’t have any TTD updates. Our meeting was cancelled. TTD has been the Emergency Operations Center in South Shore because they are the transportation provider. So I don’t have any updates on that. I’ll keep you posted as I learn new things. And I don’t have any updates on the Tahoe Prosperity Center affordable housing study because that meeting was also cancelled this week due to the fires. I will keep you posted at our next meeting. I’m happy to address any questions.
Ronda Tycer
Commissioner Hill, I have a question. You continue to refer to the Incline CAB. The CAB is the Citizen Advisory Board and I would just like to know what Board we have now and what authority the Board has. What are their responsibilities now? Thank you.
Alexis Hill
Absolutely. Well we’re figuring that out. Essentially at the last Board meeting as you know we pulled out that CAB’s can only talk about development. We’re allowing for developers to reach out to the community before they even submit their applications, and work with neighborhoods on their development. As you heard if you watched the meeting, we still want the CAB to be involved, especially on major projects. So we need to figure that out. That’s why I’m saying I hope you can attend that October meeting so we can put together how we want the Citizen Advisory Board CAB to operate. It is kind of “the world is our oyster.” As far as authority, they’re still an advisory committee to the Commissioner and to the County. So there’s been no change to that. But looking forward to having those discussions, and in the meantime, I hope you think how you’d like to see the CAB and make sure they’re effective moving forward.
Peter Todoroff
I have a question for the Commissioner. I believe October 15 is the deadline after which there’s no construction going on up here. So it’s kind of late to have any advisory board to discuss anything that’s going on. Also, I was waiting for a list. I ask you in June to have a list of all the properties that are being worked on our built or improved or whatever. I have yet to receive that list to pass on to the community.
Alexis Hill
The idea behind the CAB is that it will review more than just development projects. The CAB is supposed to be…. Well my vision of the CAB is I obviously want to hear from the CAB Board members on what you want to do … How do you want to make sure communication is better between Incline Village and Crystal Bay and the County. How do you want to give us input? I imagine TRPA will want to come to the CAB. Hopefully Chief Sommers and his team will occasionally come. The Sheriff’s office [inaudible]. We’ll discuss community issues. And I’ll hear about what is happening in the community and so will County staff. The CAB meeting in October is still a worthwhile thing.
The list you’re looking for… Are you saying you want a construction list of all the upcoming projects?
Peter Todoroff
Yes, because I believe this project on Southwood nobody even knew about it. They have the road blocked off and everything else, and nobody knew about it. Any improvements that have gone through have gone without community input— everything. There was a house… I’ve seen several places up here where they’ve torn down the house and reconstructed… but nobody knows anything about it. That’s what would happen in the CAB with any new construction. I was the Chairman for 8 years, so I know what it consisted of. All the members on the CAB would receive a notice there’s going to be a meeting on variance or new construction and so on. That’s what I want to have. That’s what I ask for in June, so that the community will know about all the projects that are happening up here. Because we haven’t had a CAB meeting since I don’t know when. But I’ve not received any list of any construction going on up here at all.
Alexis Hill
I think that all the projects are actually posted on the County website. I can get you that link. I’m sorry if I missed that, Pete. And I’ll get that over to you. I had no control over the CAB meetings. I think the CAB members who are on the call will remember the Community Development Department set the agenda. I would come to hear the input, but it wasn’t my meeting. So I think moving forward we’re going to have a lot more control about what’s on the agenda, and talk about things the CAB wants to talk about. I look forward to doing that moving forward. On that Southwood thing, I think you’re talking about the staging for the Nevada Conservation District’s projects that are happening. I did get a notice out. But I hear you. You want better communication. And that’s what we’re doing at the County. We’re working to make this better, especially with these new liaisons. So I’ll get you that link.
Ronda Tycer
I have just one more question. Commissioner Hill, exactly how will the newly reformed Citizen Advisory Board differ from this meeting, the Forum?
Alexis Hill
It will be an official Washoe County meeting with an agenda and public comment. And it will meet monthly. So this is a citizen’s board. I think it’s fabulous. I’ll try to attend. But it will be another opportunity for the community to get involved and at a different time. It’s at 5:30, which hopefully will work for some folks who can’t do a 9am meeting on Friday. So I think they’re all good. The more the better. Give me all the input you’ve got.
Jack Dalton, MD
This is a question for Commissioner Hill. I would like you to restate if I missed it. I support Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in this community. However, I’m very concerned, and I think Steve Dolan brought it up. What is your policy for ADUs and STRs? Because if we’re going to use ADUs that’s a possible misuse of them.
Alexis Hill
Thanks Jack. That is a concern I have with ADUs being implemented in Incline Village and Crystal Bay when we’re still in —as Assemblywoman Krasner said —the infancy of our STR Ordinance. I want to make sure that if we add affordable housing, which all on this call know is needed, and we allow for more flexibility for ADUs on peoples’ properties that are less than 1 acre, that we really look at whether we can enforce so they don’t become unofficial STRs. That’s not what we need. We need affordable housing in IVCB. So the process we’re looking at for TRPA is that it is supposed to go back to the Board. Right now it’s only permitted in California as per the last Board meeting. And they excluded Nevada because of these issues and the concerns of the community. So this is the discussion we’re going to have. Even if it’s passed by the TRPA Governing Board, to be in Nevada in September, then it still needs to be adopted in our Tahoe Area Plan. Right now in our Area Plan it says any ADUs must be on an acre property or more. There would still need to be another change to that plan that would create additional work and feedback from the community. I do not want to change our Area Plan until we have figured out our STRs and where we’re at. Working with Assemblywoman Nguyen on her bill, we talked about how we want to see how we can revise our STRs to make sure that we’re working with the community to make sure they’re in appropriate locations or find out whether our Ordinance is actually helping with making these successful in the community. I’m not looking to take any major steps on ADUs until we get a handle on STRs—which is what I think we’re hearing from you, Jack. You’re open to ADUs, but we need to figure out how we’re regulating STRs. I think it’s very hard for communities to put a ban on STR such as you can’t have a STR in an ADU. It’s a difficult regulatory situation to be in. So I want to see how we can do that effectively. So let’s get our hands around today’s Ordinance, and go from there.
1:05
Corey Sulferino – Washoe County Sheriff Office, Captain
[inaudible] We’re a resource. We’re here to try to help fire and fire fights. I want to thank Commissioner Hill for her efforts. We’ve been communicating almost daily to try to help the Incline [inaudible] making sure our evacuation plans are in place—which they are. We try not to get sucked in on too many resources to Douglas County Fire if it tries to come north. We want to be sure we’re here to protect our citizens and property. We have a lot going on this week. Washoe County Sheriff’s Office patrols 600 sq miles of Washoe County. Right now we have about 20,000 people on the Black Rock Desert on an unsanctioned renegade Burning Man. So our resources are deployed out there. Sparks, one of our sister agencies down in the Valley has requested our assistance to help with the Rib Cookoff that kicked off on Wednesday. They’re expecting over half a million visitors for the Rib Cookoff alone. So we’re augmenting those while trying to answer any calls for service and keep units available to assist all our friends and neighbors in South Lake Tahoe. I sent 40 units down to Douglas County right now to help assist with their patrolling of the evacuated areas so they’re not subject to looting. So the firemen can do their job controlling the roadways. [inaudible] Put their minds at ease if something were to kick off this way and we did need kick off an evacuation, we already had our services side of the house—we have Services and Operations. Services are everything that are not a line function—detectives and all our task force and our intelligence group—those that help augment the Sheriff office mission but aren’t on the day-to-day type stuff. I have to make reports, I have to serve process by the letter of the law, I have to answer calls for service and patrol. We come up with an operations plan to go to whenever anyone calls for service only to augment our line staff with operations personnel so we can put a larger footprint in Incline Village if we need be. Full staffing day for me in Incline is 1 motor, 2 deputies, and a sergeant, a lieutenant, and myself. That’s a full day. I have the ability to pull the trigger down there and bring 20 resources up here to handle evacuation, help patrol, those things. Not for a sustained amount of time but we can do that. And what we’re doing right now with the State EOC that’s up and running. Requesting resources from all the surrounding parks. Our guys have been driving up and over the hill. You may have seen uniforms from Humboldt County, Clark County, from all over the State because they’ve activated the statewide Department of Emergency Management of EOC. That will be the same thing if they got up into [inaudible]. A lot of busy work behind the scenes that you guys aren’t seeing. For that I apologize. But a lot of planning goes into that, because we can’t just stop all of our services to address these issues. We want to make sure that we’re prepared when it comes.
Shirley Appel
We went down to Carson yesterday. They allowed us to go down. But we came back up Mt. Rose. Can we come back up 50 if we say we live in Incline Village?
Corey Solferino
That was a County decision. Right now my guys are going to that location at Highway 28 and 50. It depends upon what their direction is from their Incident Commander as to what they will be doing. Right now Mt. Rose is open with no controls. I would caution you… the other way… it depends on what their Incident Commander wants. I would tell you, unless there’s an absolute dire need, stay out. Let them do their jobs. Make that clear, stay out of that area. Because if the wind picks up and the fire changes direction… I refer to all the fire [inaudible] to my left. But there’s really no reason to be there. Stay out. That’s the messaging I would love this group—ourselves, WCSO, County CommissionerHill—when we talk about this. It’s l”et the fire professionals do their thing. Unfortunately right now Lake Tahoe is closed for business.” We just want to get this fire out and make sure that our first responders can get to where they need to safely.
Shirley Appel
Okay, thank you.
Peter Todoroff
I also notice that coming up here on the freeway from Reno, there’s a sign that says Highway 50 is closed. Period. A lit-up sign.
Shirley Appel
There were actually people going down the hill yesterday.
Peter Todoroff
Well like he said, use an alternative route, and I would go around because they have the sign there. Thank you, Captain.
John Crockett
Kari also mentions that Highway 80 over Donner Summit and 267 are open without any ID requirements. You can travel that way.
Ryan Sommers
I’d just like to add one more thing quickly too. Just like with the law-enforcement statewide agencies helping each other,you’re going to see a little such here. We did have a Humboldt engine here in Incline covering. We got our two engines back from the Dixie and from the Caldor, so we’ve sent them back home. Tahoe Douglas and East Fork in Douglas County are being covered by Clark County Fire, so those big yellow engines are not lost. They’re supposed to be here on the same declaration that the Sheriff’s office has.
Peter Todoroff
Okay, if there are no more questions, it’s after 10 am and I’d like to adjourn the meeting.
Thanks everyone for coming.
PARTICIPANTS:
Alexis Hill
Corey Solferino
David Simon
Denise Davis
Edie Farrell
Helen Durfee
Howard Beckerman
Jack Dalton, MD
Joe Farrell
John Crockett
Jon & Beth Davidson
Joyce Bock
Judith Simon
Kari Ferguson
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Lisa Krasner
Margaret Martini
Peter Todoroff
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Sommers
Sara Schmitz
Shirley Appel
Yolanda Knaack
CHAT BOX:
09:01:10 From Washoe County Libraries : Is it ok now Kathie?
09:01:16 From kathie julian : yes
09:02:18 From Jon & Beth Davidson : GOOD MORNING !
09:02:41 From Washoe County Libraries : Good morning Davidsons!
09:04:07 From Washoe County Libraries : Jack Dalton is now present.
09:08:39 From Ronda Tycer to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : John, would it be possible for people to put their masks down while they talk? It’s pretty muffled for me and I assume the video.
09:09:59 From IVGID Communications : Thank you so much for all you do ChIef Sommers!
09:11:18 From Washoe County Libraries to Ronda Tycer(Direct Message) : I can’t Ronda. This video goes public and everyone has to have their masks on at all times in the library. I’m not going to say anything when the Chief is speaking though.
09:11:19 From kathie julian : pls ask Ryan to speak louder
09:11:53 From Ronda Tycer to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : Got it.
09:15:58 From Jon & Beth Davidson to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : There is echo in the room which makes it hard to hear at home Can the microphone be placed closer to the person talking
09:18:35 From Washoe County Libraries to Jon & Beth Davidson(Direct Message) : I’m at the end of the cord on the mic, I’m sorry I can’t get it closer. I did just close two doors and that may help a little. Apologies.
09:19:13 From Jon & Beth Davidson to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : Thanks-Jon
09:19:56 From IVGID Communications to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : The sound is just a little robot sounding.
09:31:19 From David Simon : For Lisa Krasner. Why did you not support the bill limiting short-term rentals?
09:32:42 From Washoe County Libraries to IVGID Communications(Direct Message) : sorry, Kari I’m not sure what the issue is today.