Denise Davis – IVCB Forum Moderator
Good morning, Forum. I’m Denise Davis, your moderator. Ronda Tycer is our Forum recap editor, and John Crockett is our tech guru. As a reminder, our meeting is being recorded. Before you begin speaking, please state your name. While speaking, please be respectful. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. You can disagree without being disagreeable. For those online, if you’d like to share URLs, post them in the Chat Box and they’ll be included in the meeting recap. We partner with IVCB Community 1s.t.org and IVCBA.org to get information out. So, be sure to visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters. To sign up for our Forum meeting notices and recaps, send an email to us at ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com.
Before we begin today I want to let everyone know that our meeting has to end on time today because there’s a meeting after us. So I suggest we get through our opening announcements. I’m sure a lot of us are interested in hearing about the Middle School. I’d like to save our school discussion for the last half of our meeting. The longer we take with our opening announcements, the less time we have to talk about schools. And I’d like to ask our Forum “regulars” if you’d let our guests have an opportunity to speak first. That would be great. I don’t see Kari from IVGID so Captain Beard, would you like to come up and tell us what’s happening at the Sheriff’s Department?
Blaine Beard – Washoe County Sheriff Office Captain
I’m here to field any questions you might have. In the interest of time I’ll make my announcement quick. As most of you know, we had a flood in the substation on March 10. We’re now located right next door. We’re in the process of speaking with contractors and Washoe County maintenance personnel to get the substation back up and running. That process is in the second phase now. So we’re confident that will be completed in the next 1-2 months depending on what they actually find when they get into the building and into the walls that they’re replacing. So that time frame can change. I’ll let everyone here know—and on Facebook —what our timeline is for returning to full service to the community. Also we’ll announce on our Incline Sheriff Facebook page. There are some things we aren’t doing while in our remote location. We don’t have accessibility for doing permits and things like that. But if you log onto our Facebook page, we have a list of things you’ll have to go Reno for. We’ll make sure we’ll keep everyone up to date—where we’re going to be and what we’re going to have available.
I want to thank everyone for their patience. We appreciate being next door. We’ve got the best neighbors ever. But we’re working on getting the other building back up
Denise Davis
We’re having a technical difficulty with our audio on zoom.
So the arrangement next door is working really well for you guys?
Blaine Beard
The arrangement next door is fantastic. The facility—actually if we had our way—we would stay there. But there are other plans in the mix for the Justice Court to take over that location in the coming weeks. The initial date they put forth has been set back a bit while assessing the damage at the substation. We asked about the facility next door. It’s perfect for us… the size of it. It’s obviously newer. But the substation is our home and has been for years. So now, it’s just a matter of getting that updated and some new things done over there.
Denise Davis
We’re still working on our audio problem.
Aaron Vanderpool – Incline Village Resident, HOA President
Can you hear me now? [Yes] I’m wondering if anybody can tell me the law about cars that backfire every time they drive off.
George Cholico – Washoe County Sheriff Office Sergeant
There isn’t really a law against interfering with the emission. The law we can enforce is disturbing the peace. But with most cases like that when it’s something with the vehicle, there really isn’t a law against that.
Blaine Beard
We actually had a case years ago. We thought it was somebody taking shots. Come to find out every day about the same time, we’d drive by and it was a car backfiring. From our location, we still thought it was shots being fired. But it wasn’t. There’s really not much we can do about that. It’s an after-market exhaust system that’s legal to sell, so a lot of the younger generation put it on their cars—especially the Subarus [inaudible] or trucks.
Tia Rancourt – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Public Information Officer
Good morning, everyone. We’re ramping up for fire season, which seems like an oxymoron with snow coming down right now. I’ll give an update on our evacuation software Perimeter. I’m going to put a link to that in the Chat. That’s the software we’ll be utilizing. Right now it’s with the District Attorney’s office looking at the contract. It’s being purchased through the Department of Emergency Management. And we’re going to be working with the Washoe County Emergency Manager. We’re excited to be uploading that and getting that in use hopefully for this fire season. We’re really excited. It’s been a long process.
We hope that chipping and defensible-space evaluations will be ramping up and starting on May 15. We’re also utilizing a new software platform for all of that for registering and tracking. It has all kinds of capabilities. We’re excited about that too. We’ll be having our annual Pancake Breakfast Sunday July 2nd. We’re starting to work on that.
Denise Davis
I don’t see Kari Ferguson from IVGID this morning. I’d just like to give a big shout out to Kari who often joins us on her Friday mornings off. We do appreciate that.
I remind everyone that we have an IVGID Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday April 12 at 6pm at the Board room at Southwood Boulevard. On the consent calendar agenda there are several contracts:
— approval of the Nevada Wastewater Response Network
— contracts for repairs being made and improvements
— We’re also trying to get our CMAR contracts approved, signed, and started for the effluent pipeline project and what we’ve always referred to as the pond-lining project, but they’re not lining the pond, they’re building a holding tank
— They have been discussing the budget so they’re ready to present that to the State due June 1st. Those discussions have been ongoing.
[From Kari Ferguson Post Meeting:
The link for the Board of Trustees meeting will be in the Chat. Also the livestream from last week’s special Board of Trustees meeting link will be in the Chat. The Diamond Peak season ski pass will be on sale until April 30 and that link will be in the Chat.
There is an Easter Egg hunt at Diamond Peak. The season has been extended at Diamond Peak until May 1st. And the Golf Course opening date is uncertain due to snow on the course.]
Linda Offerdahl – Incline Village Crystal Bay Business and Community Association Executive Director
There’s not a whole lot going on at IVCBA. Our spring issue of Live-Work-Play should be in your mailbox. Please don’t throw it out with the junk. It’s full of all kinds of information. Rosie Weber’s Tahoe Sanctuary is on the cover.
Denise Davis
I’m sure you’re involved in the planning process for the 4th of July.
Linda Offerdahl
The celebration will be July 2nd through the 4th. So right after the Pancake Breakfast will come the parade, and the community fair. Yet to be confirmed – Beer and Brats. And then there’s a whole host of celebratory activities for veterans. It culminates with a sky-show on the 4th.
Denise Davis
I believe I see Lisa Marechal on line. Do you want to introduce Lisa?
Linda Offerdahl
Yes. IVCBA has just hired a Mainstreet manager. Her name is Lisa Marechal. She owns her own design business. She’s creative. She used to do project management. And she is very interested in revitalization and redevelopment of Incline Village. We have a Mainstreet meeting at noon on Monday at the library to talk about beautification, and also plan for the year.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident, North Lake Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
I wonder when they will have meetings about housing in Washoe Tahoe, and when you’ll start involving the public in workforce housing and affordable housing planning.
Linda Offerdahl
Yes, the Washoe Tahoe Housing Partnership is run by the Tahoe Prosperity Center. They have a first draft of their roadmap—their set of action plans they plan to present to the committee May 10. There’s a community engagement section with a plan for rolling it out to the community. I expect you to see some town hall meetings and discussions, and more chance to start to engage. This is the first chance to really see what these consultants are recommending.
The committee of the partnership is all of the players—TRPA, Washoe County, some of the big organizations in town and the big employers where housing is a big concern. There’s lots of community input already. Look for stuff starting late May and early June.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
The community is the most important provider in all of this.
Linda Offerdahl
Absolutely.
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Head Librarian, Incline Mobility Hub Committee Member
We have lots of great stuff coming up at the library in the next few weeks. On Tuesday we have our next Tahoe Talks, which is about understanding systemic racism, presented by two professors from the University of Nevada Reno who will have a face-to-face discussion here in Incline Tuesday at 6:30.
We have two great collaborative events at the end of the month. We have our Poetry Night in collaboration with the Library at UNR-Lake Tahoe Tuesday April 25. We have 30 slots for people to read poetry. You can register to read or to just attend. That will be on campus at UNR-Lake Tahoe.
The following night we have our Incline High School artist reception. Their work is on display here in the library around the building and in the meeting room. They’ll be sharing what inspired them to create this art. It’s a great opportunity to see them present and describe their process. It’s really interesting. That’s going to be on Wednesday the 26th.
They are having Easter at Diamond Peak from 9am until 2pm. Hop over to Diamond Peak this Sunday for family fun. Enjoy the slopes and stop by the bunny booth on the Base Lodge deck.
And we are now open Saturdays from 10-4 6 days a week. Stop by the library. We still have the meeting room accessible outside of public hours. And also our Zoom Room can be reserved for 2 hours at a time during open hours.
Denise Davis
I’ll mention a few things going on in the community, and then TRPA—is that Devin? [Yes] I’ll circle back in a minute.
In case you didn’t hear, the Cal-Neva lodge has been purchased by McWhinney, a Denver-based real-estate investment company. They will attempt to turn the site into an Austin Proper Hospitality hotel, which is part of a luxury boutique chain. McWhinney plans to open by 2026 to celebrate the Cal-Neva’s100th birthday.
The Incline Citizen’s Advisory Board, which is run by Washoe County (WC), held a meeting April 3rd. One of our topics was the Rural County Broadband Expansion Program. Behzad Zamanian who is our WC Chief Information Officer, talked to us about that program. He’s very interested in finding out where things need to be improved. If you have Internet issues or cell dead zones, he would like to know. His contact email will be in the recap.
Yesterday the Washoe County Board of Adjustment met. I listened and checked the agenda, but didn’t see any IVCB items.
Kathie Julian – Incline Village Resident
I just put in the Chat links for the County and TRPA stuff. Thanks.
Denise Davis
Coming up, the Board of County Commissioners will have a meeting on Tuesday April 11. If you didn’t hear in the news, Clara Andriola has been appointed to the District 4 seat that was vacated when Vaughn Hartung moved to a State position. Andriola was previously the executive director for the Reno Rodeo Foundation. She may still be doing that.
And just a reminder while we’re talking about Washoe County, the County runs on statistics. If there is something you need to report, please report it to Washoe 311 – via phone or via their website. But it’s important for us to get statistics regarding calls for service on the issues we are facing to add to their statistics.
If anyone is interested in joining our Community Emergency Response Team, the CERT academy will be held the next 2 weeks. If you want to know more information about it, please email me at our ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com address.
I remind you that our Nevada Legislature is busy at work. They have worked their way through the budgets. They are now hearing bills. I believe they have 61 days left to get business done. And if you’re not aware, you are able to vote your opinion on bills through their website. You have to register. I’m happy to help anyone get that free account with the legislature set up. Then you can vote in support or opposition or neutral on all topics before the legislators.
The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) had meetings scheduled on April 5, but I think their two meetings were cancelled. I’m still unsure about the TTD-C Board meeting. I logged in for a few hours and did not see a meeting. They also had a closed session scheduled with labor negotiators.
A big problem with meetings has been that the State of California now requires board members to be physically present at the meetings. And between weather and logistics, that’s been an issue. As far as I can see, their March meetings were cancelled. And at least 2 of the 3 meetings on April 5 were cancelled. I’ll draw your attention to the April 5th board packet. There was the East Shore Express (ESE) 2023 Season Informational Report. Please check that out if you have a minute. It was the next to the last item in the packet.
Ann Nichols
On the TTD, I was in for an hour or so on that meeting, and one of the members of the Board of Directors walked out—Cody Bass from South Lake Tahoe. He was interrupted and not given a chance to speak. I understand he was very upset about the TTD. In any case, I think there was a lot of really good input from local Incline people about the mobility hub at the Old Elementary School. There were a lot of people objecting to the reduced lanes on East Highway 50.
I’m concerned about TTD’s project list. It’s $3.5 billion. They are building bridges, laying pavement, highway maintenance, which I always thought our gas taxes paid for. Anyway, they’re doing it all now. How they’re deciding who gets this money, who’s going to handle it, what are the benchmarks, what oversight is there—none of that is specified. I guess TRPA wants to handle it. Maybe TRPA can chime in on that. If you look at this project list, the public—we’re going to have to pay for transit. They rave about Tart Connect, but it costs $17/person per ride. That is unsustainable. So guess who’s going to pay for it. We need to pay attention to this.
Denise Davis
So they did have the meetings on April 5? It never popped up on line.
Ann Nichols
Yes, They delayed it. And then they were having it and it wasn’t even shown. They couldn’t get their act together.
Doug Flaherty – Incline Village Resident, Tahoe Sierra Clean Air Director
I’ll be brief. I just want to comment on the TTD meeting and thank all the community members who made comments. TRPA is on the line so I want to mention that the meeting was poorly run. I don’t believe it was in line with the Nevada Open Meeting Law (OML). I think they lacked a quorum with the members who were trying to get online. They were under the same situation as the rest of us. We sat there for 2 hours, and they finally came on line on Agenda Item 10. They strayed from the agenda. During their discussions the chair didn’t manage the meeting. And after one individual walked out, they ended the meeting without officially adjourning. They picked up all their stuff and left. It was one of the most bizarre meetings I’ve seen. I don’t think it will pass muster as complying with the Open Meeting Law.
Steve Dolan – Incline Village Resident, Friend of 3rd Creek Director
Regarding TTD and the NV Legislature, I was there Wednesday. The ACR-5 includes funding for TTD as well as AB 424. Both are also highly needed by TRPA and integral in the funding for AB 424. So if you are interested in that, you can make comments publically online or attend the meetings. It’s critical because the TRPA and the Lake Tahoe Bureau of Land Management Unit are highly dependent on AB 424. So if you have an opinion about that it’s a good place to make it heard. And ACR-5 includes TTD, which kind of through a back door, feeds TTD cash from the bonding in ACR-5.
Denise Davis
Incline Village Mobility Hub has an online survey, which we’re encouraging everyone to complete. It’s also available in Spanish. The deadline is April 30. The URL will be in the recap. The March 27th meeting was cancelled due to inability for a physical quorum to be present.
April 20th there is an In-person workshop to discuss the Mobility Hub. That’s Thursday at the Parasol Building from 4:30-7pm. The presentation begins at 5:30. Currently I can’t find the flyer on line. I will try to find out if it’s available on line, and if so, I’ll forward that information. Otherwise send an email to me at ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com and I’ll send you the flyer.
Kathie Julian – Incline Village Resident
I tried to attend that Mobility Hub meeting but it failed for lack of a quorum. Sadly that meeting was to provide input from the committee on the workshop format for engaging the public. Sadly, this is another example where the Mobility Hub committee has been unable to comment. That’s another example of where the committee has not been able to comment on the format of things going out to the public, which I see as a major reason why the County formed this committee to provide that kind of feedback. Sadly, that did not happen. I don’t know what the workshop will look like. Also, pre-dating that, TTD and the HDR consultants refused to allow the Mobility Hub committee members to review the survey that was sent out. I understand from people familiar with surveys, that survey isn’t very scientific, and is kind of a wish list of what you want to see. So it’s not particularly useful. We warned this would be the case if they didn’t give the survey to the committee and possibly to other people to review and provide input.
John Crockett
I’ll just comment on the survey for folks to mail me, if you didn’t get the survey beforehand. Definitely complete it. There is a box for “open comments.” Feel free to leave your comments there and attend the workshop.
Denise Davis
John Crocket is on the Mobility Hub committee. If you have concerns you want to pass along, I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk to you.
Steve Dolan
Comments made by TRPA regarding the Mobility Hub in the ACR 5 session were that Incline Village and Washoe County are part of a consensus approving the mobility hub in Incline. I stated an opposition opinion to that.
Devin Middlebrook – Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Government Affairs Manager
I’m filling in for Jeff Cowen, who had a conflict today. So I’m filling in for him to give updates on upcoming TRPA meetings. The Boulder Bay Waldorf Astoria plan revision is coming to the TRPA Governing Board on April 26. That meeting will be held in the TRPA offices at Stateline on the South Shore, and online. When that Board agenda and Staff Summary come out 7 days prior to the meeting, it will include the Environmental Analysis and recommendations. The Staff Summary will also include discussion of issues evaluated during the review of the project. And TRPA staff members are working with Washoe County to send an update to everyone on their email list so everyone is aware that project is coming on the 26th. The Washoe Tahoe Area Plan won’t come to the Governing Board in April. That will most likely come in May. Our Advisory Planning Commission (APC) is meeting on April 12 to discuss the definition of “Achievable Housing” for deed restrictions. That includes a proposal to add a “local-worker” requirement. You have to work for a local business in addition to meeting the income restriction.
Additionally on housing, our Tahoe Living Working group will be meeting on April 21st 9am -12:00pm both at the TRPA offices and virtually. At that meeting they will talk about potential changes to TRPA’s height-density-coverage (HDC) standards for multifamily projects that are deed restricted for affordable housing.
Jeff wanted me to say that our team is working—and has heard feedback from the community—on our meeting management. We’re working on ways to improve meeting management and agenda posting—two areas on the website—to better engage all community members and keep everyone well informed. So there are more updates in the coming weeks on that. Those are my updates and I’m open for any questions.
Denise Davis
Jeff told me that the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan (TAP) amendment would not be scheduled for April because Boulder Bay Waldorf Astoria would be. But then his email says that they will both be slated for April 26.
Devin Middlebrook
I haven’t been part of all discussion on scheduling, but I did receive an email this morning confirming that the Area Plan would not be heard in April.
Doug Flaherty
I have a quick question for TRPA on the Boulder Bay revisions, and the Environmental Assessment. Is this an Initial Environmental Checklist—which is wholly deficient to assess cumulative impacts in the basin—or is it an Environmental Assessment as defined in TRPA Code Regulations? Or is it an Environmental Impact Study?
Devin Middlebrook
Jeff’s notes on this only say, “environmental analysis.” So I‘m not sure. I can follow up, Doug, and make sure you get that information.
Kristina Hill – Incline Village Resident
Hey, Devin. Are you the mayor of South Lake Tahoe?
Devin Middlebrook
I’m the previous mayor of South Lake Tahoe. My term ended last year. I’m no longer on the City Council.
Kristina Hill
Congratulations. I have a question about the 947 amendment to the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan. The findings that your staff is making—I think it’s Jacob Stock—says that it’s in compliance with the thresholds. I have a real issue with that. And I think there needs to be more analysis, because the thresholds specifically mention—in the Land Use element and the Housing sub-element—that there should be workforce housing for the community. And …… There needs to be an equilibrium of housing in the community. You can’t just let all housing be luxury condos. Then we won’t have anybody working here… with the two new grocery stores going in, and the increased demand for workforce in our town. I’m wondering how did Jacob Stock make that finding. And I would like a response to that. How did Jacob Stock make the finding that this amendment is in compliance with the thresholds? You have to look at that and address that specific part of the thresholds, which is the Housing sub-element.
Devin Middlebrook
Thank you for that question, Kristina. As a fill-in for Jeff I don’t have as much knowledge on the specific topic. I took down your question, and after this meeting, I will email Jeff and have him follow up with you.
Kristina Hill
And maybe Jacob and John Marshall. Marshall could weigh in on any facts to see if they are really true that you can make the finding that it complies with the thresholds when it’s contrary to what the thresholds say.
Denise Davis
Don’t feel bad Devin. Kristina is our inside planner-terminology-and-knowledge person.
Kristina Hill
I’m sure he knows what I’m saying.
Devin Middlebrook
I know all of what Kristina is asking. I’m not closely familiar with the project, so I just don’t want to state any false information.
Kathie Julian
Devin, thanks very much for showing up. Could you just put some links to the various meetings—other than APC—which I’ve already posted— into the Chat so that we have that information? And thank you very much.
Aaron Vanderpool
Hi, Devin. Good seeing you. I like a lot of the work you’ve done in the past. And you’ve probably—as you’ve been listening—heard there’s a lot of opposition to the Tahoe Transportation District mobility Hub. And I don’t know how much of that is on your radar. My comment about the backfire earlier is that this neighborhood is more and more becoming a TRPA nightmare with cars wrecked and abandoned in the ditches, and the County filling in ditches, and noise and all the thresholds. So just keep that on your radar.
Devin Middlebrook
Will do.
Ann Nichols
I have a couple of things. On the Boulder Bay Waldorf Astoria project, I hope TRPA will—instead of selling as hard as they did the last meeting—will state that the traffic study shows 300 vehicle trips a day. And now with the Cal Neva selling, they say—but who knows—they are going to keep it the way it is with some modifications… With that opening up right away. That’s going to be another couple of thousand trips a day. So, 5000 trips a day. We need to see the traffic studies. We need a cumulative impact. They need to look at this more critically. I feel badly that it’s taken 15 years for them to get it together. But the community shouldn’t have to pay.
The other thing is about the Tahoe Prosperity Center (TPC). They are increasingly being viewed as an outside agency. However, they are unelected. On their Board I think 13 of 15 members are from South Shore. So, I would like the TRPA to have public meetings about the Tahoe Prosperity Center, and where do they get their self-anointed ability to determine our area’s future. Thank you.
Denise Davis
I was attending two other meetings Wednesday night while the school meeting was going on. Today we have one of our School Board members, Jeff Church, who represents our area. We also have Mary Danahey who is with the Incline Education Fund. We’ll start with Jeff Church. I saw that you posted information about the next meeting. Did you want to say anything else?
Jeff Church – Reno Resident, Washoe County School District Trustee District 1
Sure. I have quite a bit to say. I don’t know where to start. I’m your elected representative for Incline Village. I used to live in Incline. I kind of joke, “Don’t tell all the others, but you’re my favorites.” I come up to Incline a lot. I visit all the schools. I’ve received some angry emails about not being responsive to this issue. I was in the dark—if not more than you—to the same extent. I want you to know that because I’m very responsive.
I’m not running for anything again. My whole purpose in serving the community is “service before self.” As a retired Air Force officer, that’s one of our mottos. I want you to understand that. I joke that I am the redheaded stepchild on the WCSD. I’m frequently the loner in a 6-1 vote.
I voted against the bus hub sale. I tried to rally people against that. It was ridiculous for us as a school district to give it away. I urged and continue urge that we keep that —we set aside on the bus hub a few acres for housing. We gave it to TTD, so I wanted a few acres set aside for housing for WCSD staff. That didn’t happen obviously.
The other thing I want you to know before I get into the details, is that WCSD has dozens of meetings every month—ROTC, forums, school district meetings, subcommittee meetings, etc. and our one periodic break, other than summer, is our spring break, which started March 19. After the meeting the day before, I left town in my RV—fat, dumb, and happy. I dropped Internet for the most part, knowing we were on that spring break. That’s when the School District decided to put out all this information on the Middle School community forum, and hidden in there at a later date was one sentence about closing the school, which I never saw. I just want you to know that. I went down to [ ] Lake Havasu having a great time. And I still have dozens of emails I haven’t had time to look at.
At any rate, when I heard about it, I called people back. Everyone who phoned, I called them back. I had long conversations with people. And I came back early specifically for that community forum on April 5. I attended. When I got there, my “handlers” told me to keep my mouth shut. I still reached out to people but I didn’t speak. I did listen. I think the bottom line is that unless the WCSD is deaf, that it’s DOA (dead on arrival). The plan to close the Incline Middle School… every bit of common sense says you can’t do this. Incline Village High School cannot accommodate middle-schoolers as it is. It would take millions and millions of dollars to basically rebuild the high school.
I may be the 6-1 vote against, but it’s just common sense that they can’t do it. It’s a very complicated issue. One thing clear at the meeting was—and again, I thought it was going to be like a kumbaya community forum where we talked about things. The first I saw that Power Point was when you folks saw it at the meeting. So I want you to know that as a red-headed stepchild, they are not keeping me in the loop on this stuff.
But the bottom line is I made good old-fashioned hand-notes of all the issues. There were so many I won’t go into them. It is just a nonstarter. And I’m going to fight it tooth and nail and be responsive to you.
One thing that was brought up is there is no Incline Village representation on any committee for anybody anywhere for this closure. If they go ahead with it, there’s no committee where Incline is represented. There’s a Zoning Committee, which has a really wonderful representative from my District, but not from incline.
So I’m almost at a loss for word. I was stunned when I heard about it. It’s got to be a nonstarter. I’ll be meeting with the superintendent next Tuesday before the meeting, begging her to end it now. Don’t go on and prolong it. Let’s put it to bed. I don’t know what’s going to happen for sure.
A very sharp member of the Incline community raised the issue of who owns the Middle School. It’s very complicated. If we sell it, there may be some deed issues. Theoretically, IVGID might come back and say we want it back because you’re not in compliance with the deed. It’s very complicated. I’m not a lawyer. I’m just bringing up what was brought up to me. And apparently that information is posted on an Incline site [https://ourivcbvoice.com].
I’m frustrated. I’m upset. But you’re my favorites. I’m on it now, but I was in the dark before. I was on vacation on spring break in my RV with limited contact, trying to enjoy. I went down to San Diego to enjoy a Padres game…they did lose. But I’m on it now. I apologize that it snuck up on us the way it did.
Denise Davis
Mary, would you give us a little background for those of us who weren’t at the meeting—the background and what the proposal is?
Mary Danahey – Incline Village Resident, Incline Education Fund Director
Yes. I see a couple of faces on line who were there, so if I miss anything or you have a different take, please let me know. Here’s what happened. WCSD called a community forum in Incline Village to discuss their facility modernization plan. What they’re doing with that is—not just Incline—every single school in the WCSD is being looked at to figure out where they can modernize buildings, where they can perhaps save some money where some buildings need to be refurbished, and what have you.
Through that process I think it was 6 schools that were identified as needing immediate attention. The Incline Middle School was the only one slated as potentially being closed.
Now let me be clear that they haven’t actually decided to close it. But that was the option that was coming forth as being most likely. There was supposed to be a presentation by Cannon Design, that is the global engineering and consulting firm WCSD hired to do an analysis of every school in the WCSD. They started their presentation but were not able to get through it, because there was a lively rebuttal to a lot of the information being put forth. A very impassioned group of people wouldn’t let him complete his presentation—because one of the options was to close the Incline Middle School, and instead of having a middle school, we would have a K-6 and a 7-12. To be fair, that was one of three options presented.
As you can imagine, parents, alumni, and students packed the room. I’ve never seen more people at a community event in Incline that didn’t have [50.:50 inaudible] that was not some sort of celebrity event. I think we can all agree that no one in this community wants to have a 7-12. Not a single person said, “Yeah, let’s go and at least think about that.” So the poor gentleman wasn’t able to complete his presentation. Everyone said, “This is ridiculous. We’re not going to put up with it.” As Jeff Church said, I believe WCSD had to have heard that; but what they’ll do with that information, I don’t know. They heard loud and clear that is not what our community wants.
There’s another complicating issue among all of this as Jeff referred to—the new Zoning Committee. There is an administrative regulation AR 7087 up for revision. I don’t know the timing of this—or however that happens—but that policy is on school closures. It’s an administrative regulation 7087. Jeff, correct me if I’m wrong, but the Board doesn’t get to vote on that. So what happens is the Zoning Committee collects information, and it will go to the Office of the Superintendent. Then I believe the superintendent makes a recommendation to the Board of Trustees about that policy. Jeff is that how it works?
Jeff Church
We have policies that are very generic. I’ve seen this before and it really upsets me. Then the superintendent interprets or misinterprets those policies anyway he or she wants. A perfect example is the Gender Policy we never voted on. But in this particular case, the administrative regulations are done by the superintendent and are out of our hands. And again, as the red-headed step-child, I think it’s a total abuse of authority. Once we pass the policy, she interprets it however she wants.
Mary Danahey
This AR 7087 about school closures takes out local representation to that committee. Instead of having a committee that includes the members of the community where the school—that is under consideration to be closed—is located, all of the power will reside with the Zoning Committee. Currently there is not a representative from Incline on that Zoning Committee. I don’t think there’s time to change that. What we can do, however, is email policies@washoeschools.net. Look at the list of regulations and make your opinion known that you would like local representation on this committee. Also, that they should not be changing policy in the midst of discussions about actually closing a school.
Jeff Church
If I might chime in too… If the Zoning Committee does meet to discuss it, there is no Open Meeting Law public meeting where at least people could speak. And again you can always chime in through the Board of Trustees washoeschools.net with your input, which of course gets forwarded to the superintendent. But one of the negative things about this is that, “Where do we give our input?” There was no answer. There was no email—not for the regulation or the policy—but for the closing of the school. There was no central email to give input to.
Mary Danahey
There is a public comment period for any opinions to be submitted about this administrative regulation. That deadline is April 12 at 5pm. So anyone who has anything to say about that needs to do so before April 12 at 5pm. [Note: This deadline has been extended.]
[speaker?]
Who should they email?
Mary Danahey
Jeff, should they send emails to you as well? Or should they go directly to policy@washoeschools.net?
Jeff Church
I would send it to board members so they all get them. I’ve been doing this 2 years.
I’ve never seen a regulation go out for public input. But again, we have a new superintendent, and a new way of doing things. That’s great, but I’ve never seen it done before. Policies go out for public input, but I’ve never seen an administrative regulation. We do the policy and she does the administrative regulation, so it doesn’t even come back to us—in the past. So this is new to me.
Mary Danahey
So this is an opportunity for us to participate in something we normally wouldn’t have a chance to?
Jeff Church
I’ll give the new superintendent kudos for that. I’m assuming this is something she instituted. We never had this in the past, so it’s a good thing. Absolutely, so send to the policy@washoeschools.net as you said and all of the Board members.
[Jeff Church Input Post IVCB Community Forum:
From: Batchelder, Jennifer <jbatchelder@WashoeSchools.net>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2023 5:04 PM
Cc: Enfield, Susan <Susan.Enfield@WashoeSchools.net>; Keo, Seng-Dao <SengDao.Keo@WashoeSchools.net>; Searcy, Adam T <Adam.Searcy@WashoeSchools.net>; Rombardo, Neil <NRombardo@WashoeSchools.net>
Subject: Public comment period for AR7087
Good afternoon Trustees (all members have been copied),
We want to let you know the public review and comment period for Administrative Regulation 7087 has been extended until 5:00pm on April 19.
The draft regulation may be accessed through the following link: https://www.washoeschools.net/Page/3928
As a reminder, members of the public should submit their comments regarding the regulation to policy@washoeschools.net for consideration.]
Mary Danahey
Just to go back to the meeting on Wednesday evening, it really ended with no answers. I can’t share anything that was decided upon other than WCSD said over and over no decisions had been made. Members in the audience asked them to come back with another community forum before the end of school, so middle of June.
Their hair was blown a bit back because as I said the response was “very lively.” So, hopefully they will take all the information that was given to them that evening, and that we’ll be sending via emails to a number of people—and regroup and come back to the community of Incline with another proposal. In the meantime, I know there are a few different groups of people putting forth potential solutions. The Incline Education Fund is trying to reach out to those groups and figure out some next steps. Please feel comfortable emailing me: me: maryd@inclineeducationfund.org. I’m pretty well known here in the community, so [57:28 inaudible]. Does anyone have any questions? Kathie?
Kathie Julian
Could you go over the numbers they gave of the percent decline in population and the number of kids at the Middle School, etc.?
Mary Danahey
Yes, supposedly they were using US Census data. They looked back 20 years. And if you compare school populations right now with what it was 20 years ago in Year 2000, they say the population is down 50%. I’ve lived here almost 20 years. And I remember similar discussions happening at that time. We are a resort community and our population does ebb and flow. So depending on what years you pick, you can figure whatever numbers you want. For today, the population—I’m not going to give exact numbers because [58:26 inaudible] but the Incline High School is around 344 students, the Middle School is about 150 students, and the Elementary school is 240. Those numbers for the Middle and Elementary Schools are down from 5 years ago. The High School is up.
Jeff Church
It’s very complicated. We’re post COVID. Everybody is down. The study that was done to support WC-1 said we would be in excess of 70,000 students district-wide, and instead we’re down to 60,000. My personal opinion is that a lot of parents are disgruntled with WCSD and are putting their kids in private schools. And the question is, and I don’t know the answer, how many kids in Incline are in private schools? What if the school closes? There’s no Plan B. If we close that Middle School, and if for whatever reason there’s an ebb and flow, we’re hosed. So it doesn’t make sense. If you’re in the valley, you can bus kids to other schools. Another question that was brought up—and again I don’t know the answer— Can we have “mutual aid” so to speak with Kings Beach, or Placer County, or South Lake Tahoe, or Douglas County schools—so they take our kids and we take theirs? If interstate, I don’t know. There are so many questions. It’s so complicated.
I don’t care if there are only 50 students. Keeping the school open seems to be the logical thing. We might not have as many teachers or staff. They did say the annual cost to maintain the Middle School is $1 million for power, etc. I think that’s easily sustainable. Putting 7th graders sharing bathrooms etc. with 12th graders – even if you could accommodate them—is just not a good idea. It’s not practical. The lawsuits, the potential violence… everything… it’s just a terrible idea. There were probably 200 people—I’m glad the Fire Marshal wasn’t there—it was standing room only. And the people were very disgruntled. They let staff know. And I don’t blame them.
Mary Danahey
One piece of data that wasn’t presented was current preschool enrollment. I happen to know there are waiting lists at least at two of our preschools. When that plays out in a couple of years those numbers will change.
Steve Dolan
A few years ago we passed a bill funding renovation and the building of new schools. And that fund was just flush with cash. So it behooves me to it why—except for the lowering population of students— why they would even consider closing the middle school because there’s a ton of money for schools that don’t even have places that exist. It’s crazy. They’re going to build schools for future communities as opposed to holding on to our own.
Mary Danahey
That was WC-1 funding which is reserved for capital funding, and it was originally being used to create new schools. I want to make sure I don’t get my verbiage wrong here. We built all of the schools we need, so—it’s actually a good thing—they turned their attention to the existing schools, and said now let’s use that capital funding for existing schools, and see who needs renovation, see who needs modernization. The irony is, as you mentioned, now we’re talking about closing a school instead of renovating it.
Jeff Church
If I might comment too… . WC-1… that was the one where they said we were going to have 70,000 students. I want to be clear, like it or not, I opposed that. I opposed the tax because it “never ended.” And it had no real oversight. And it would never end. After all the schools are built—and after we no longer need brick and mortar. And after all the repairs are done. We continue to pay those taxes. People are fleeing to Carson City to buy their cars and motorhomes, etc. because the tax is so much cheaper than in Washoe. It backfired. And I have the stats on that.
But at any rate, yes, there is a ton of money. And what happened when we got that ton of money—before the supply chain and all that—they said the new high school was going to cost $110 million. Then they said $135 million. When I questioned that figure, they threatened to sue me for slander. You can’t make this up. I have the emails. They threatened to sue me. So guess what? The last high school cost $220 million to build. When the developers—and God bless their souls, we want to pay our hard-working people—the laborers—well. But suddenly, knowing that the pot of money existed, the price of the high school, even before the supply chain problems, went from $135 million to $200+ million. Surprise, surprise. They can see that pot of money is there. And the WCSD never said no to a project.
You are correct. It was 2016 WC-1. That money continues to roll in. And by the way, it was brought up that you folks pay much more into taxes than you get back. Pulling the tail of the tiger is not prudent. It’s possible legislatively, that Incline—as tried before with Ponderosa County—that Incline might try to create its own school district. It would be a legislative thing. But pulling the tail of tiger is extremely not prudent. I’m going to pass that on to the superintendent.
Tia Rancourt – Incline Village Resident
I‘m speaking now as a community member. I was at the meeting. I think one of the larger frustrations is just the lack of honesty and transparency that’s been ongoing between WCSD and our community. They began the Power Point that showed Step 5 approaching Step 6, while the whole community is on Step 1 learning about all this for the first time. There were just a lot of things like that.
The Cannon group’s Paul was speaking to the fact that they were here last fall in the schools and talking with the schools and the community. No teachers knew about their visit until that day… why they were there … what they were doing. Nobody was spoken to. They didn’t talk to any student. The focus per usual is all on money and buildings and real estate instead of students and teachers and community. Until we change that conversation, decisions… We need to implement those kinds of things when looking at this equation.
And where did all the COVID money go that was received? What happened with that? As Mary and Jeff referenced, all the money that goes over hill… if we could have just a little of that back to re-infuse into our schools and make them better and more attractive instead of “take away and close down.” It’s just really frustrating. I’m hopeful everybody will take the opportunity to please send in emails. Go to Mary and Sharon’s Incline Education Fund Facebook page or make sure those emails are in the Chat – also emails for the superintendent and policies@washoeschools.net. If we could all just take a moment to do that and send emails in, that would be really helpful, I think.
Denise Davis
I have a question. I know that no decisions have been made and there’s no timeline and no for-sure information, but did they say If they decided to close the school—when that would be?
Mary Danahey
My opinion is that according to their timeline, the final decision will be made at the end of this year—December 2023. That’s their timeline but it kind of got blown out of the water. So I don’t know how realistic it is even for them to have a decision by the end of the year. I would hope this community would be up in arms if they decided to close the school without our input. So hopefully by June we’ll hear back from WCSD in terms of re-gathering and coming back together to get new solutions. Moving forward, we’re status quo right now.
Roxanna Dunn – Incline Village Resident, Washoe Incline Citizen Advisory Board Member
I was at the meeting. I have grandchildren in the School District. The meeting was appropriately designed around what do we do about the symptom of losing enrollment. The big discussion in my mind is what are the causes of losing enrollment. That ties into—and one woman shouted out—there was a lot of shouting—one woman shouted, “lack of affordable housing.” So that’s clearly in the bucket there. I would also comment that affordable housing is not just about grocery clerks. It’s about young lawyers and young doctors and other young professionals who can’t afford to move into this area. There aren’t that many young families coming in. Until we can address that, politically we may be able to defer this closure but statistically if the Middle School gets down to 100 kids as they’re projecting, you could put those 100 kids through college with whatever it would cost you to maintain the Middle School for a year. So until we address the declining enrollment and the problems with bringing younger families into this area, we’ll continue to have a problem.
Jeff Church
One comment on that… If anyone thinks that closing it and money saved will go back to Incline, you’re drinking your bath water. You know where it will go. It will go down the hill.
Ann Nichols
How many students are at the Lake Tahoe School?
Mary Danahey
Close to 250.
Ronda Tycer – Incline Village Resident, IVCB Community Forum Recap Editor
I’d just like to mention that this issue of workforce housing is at the forefront of all our minds. The TRPA will be making a decision—we just learned this morning that it won’t be on April 26th but will be coming up in May. That decision has to do with Washoe County changing our Tahoe Area Plan to allow luxury condos to be built in places like Crosby’s Restaurant and other small businesses along Route 28. Some of us are concerned that this change Washoe County is pushing through will force out our little businesses and their families along that stretch, and that the developers will turn our commercial district into a residential district because they’ll be able to change from building workforce housing and commercial in that area. They’ll be able to put in luxury condos. And we all know that the high-end condos are what makes the money for the developers. So if we allow Washoe County to make this Tahoe Area Plan change, whenever it comes before TRPA— and we’ll certainly keep you informed—it will decimate that particular commercial area and it will be used as a precedent for other areas. We’ll keep you informed as to when it’s appropriate for you to comment and put in your opinions to make sure that our community is in control of what we’d like to see in our commercial areas. Thank you.
Denise Davis
One last thing since we’re talking about education… I can’t remember if it was last year or the year before, but the school and the Boys and Girls club were unaware that TTD’s East Shore Express was using the new Incline Elementary School parking lot as their overflow. I want to let everyone tied into education know that I believe that is still TTD’s plan to use that parking lot for overflow. So if there have been problems, the Boys and Girls club and the school should speak up about the East Shore Express plans.
John Crockett
I’m sorry but I don’t know who owns the Middle School.
Mary Danahey
IVGID owns the land but WCSD owns the building.
Aaron Vanderpool
I just want to say I completely agree with what Misses Dunn and Tycer said. Everybody wants affordable housing, but how it’s done is a different thing. While there might be good intentions in the minds of some people that are leading policy, it’s not working. And our community is going in the wrong direction. We really need to address wealth inequality. That has to be done through policy about how we’re running things. Thank you.
Denise Davis
I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Easter weekend. And to our friends who celebrated Passover earlier this week, I hope you had an enjoyable time with your families. Stay safe and we’ll see you in 2 weeks.
John Crockett
I’d also like to say thanks to Ronda for putting out the minutes and to Denise for attending all of these meetings and preparing the agenda and going through everything. Thank you.
PARTICIPANTS
Aaron Vanderpool
Ann Nichols
Blaine Beard
Denise Davis
Devin Middlebrook
Doug Flaherty
George Cholico
Janet Pahl
Jeff Church
John Crockett
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Linda Offerdahl
Mary Danahey
Roxanna Dunn
Steve Dolan
Tia Rancourt
Tiffany Clements
CHAT LOG
Video link: https://youtu.be/nDnOYTCpcTQ
Chat log:
09:10:39 From Tia Rancourt : https://perimeterplatform.com
09:17:36 From kathiejulian : https://www.trpa.gov/advisory-planning-commission-april-12-2023-hybrid-meeting/
09:17:50 From kathiejulian : Advisory Planning Commission Documents April 12, 2023 – Hybrid Meeting
APR 5, 2023
TRPA Advisory Planning Commission April 12, 2023 beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the TRPA Offices and on Zoom
09:18:22 From kathiejulian : April 12, 2023 APC Agenda
April 12, 2023 APC Packet
Join the APC Zoom Webinar
Passcode: 128324
APC Telephone Instructions
Staff Reports
Agenda Item No V.A. Achievable Deed Restriction Category Definition
Agenda Item No V.B. Briefing on Transportation Performance and Recommendations Report Framework
Agenda Item No V.C. Briefing on Lake Tahoe Region Vision Zero Strategy
Agenda Item No VI.A.1. Tahoe in Brief Monthly Update
09:19:38 From kathiejulian : Information on Cal Neva Sale:
09:19:45 From kathiejulian : Cal-Neva Sold Again
————————————————————
Lake Tahoe’s famed Cal Neva resort sold to new owners (sfgate.com) (https://ntpac.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c2651ac4497b4fa0886fa6f7f&id=f5ecc9ac25&e=c7b04033c8)
Real Estate Investment & Development Company
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09:30:02 From Washoe County Libraries : inclinevillagemobilityhub.org
09:33:08 From LtCol Jeff Church to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : I see Linda O as the speaker ongoing
09:35:23 From kathiejulian : Devin, will the Boulder Bay information include discussion of the impact of the project on evacuation routes in case of wild fire in Basin from North Tahoe?
09:41:09 From Tahoe Regional Planning Agency : TRPA governing board meeting materials are posted here 7 days prior to the meeting: https://www.trpa.gov/meeting-materials/
09:41:20 From LtCol Jeff Church : FYI. next WCSD Board Meetings (Budget) 9 AM April 11 and 2 PM (Main). Contact: BoardMembers@WashoeSchools.net
09:51:52 From kathiejulian : Jeff, can you obtain and provide link to the slide presentation on 5 April WCSD meeting?
09:54:44 From kathiejulian : Mary, please provide the numbers — information on how the number of students has declined over recent years — which highlights our larger issue in IVCB — that it has become unaffordable for our working families. Affordable housing shortage may be the real issue here.
09:54:47 From Linda Offerdahl : IVCBA.org/Explore/Education has links to WCSD to send letters, along with info from Incline Education Fund and Invest in Incline.
09:56:34 From Washoe County Libraries : policy@washoeschools.net, boardmembers@washoeschools.net
09:58:14 From Washoe County Libraries : link referring to the new policy: https://www.washoeschools.net/Page/3928
10:01:47 From Washoe County Libraries : Draft of new policy: https://www.washoeschools.net/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstacnceid=8411&dataid=67196&FileName=7087_Reg-School_Closure_v1_draft2.pdf
FORUM URLS
Our email is:
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District website
non-emergency fire dispatch (Grass Valley) 530-477-0641, then pick 7
Washoe County Sheriff Office (WCSO)
non-emergency dispatch 775-785-9276
Incline substation Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Washoe-County-Sheriffs-Office-Incline-Village-Substation-143827955640457/
RED Day / GREEN Day parking info 775-833-5555
https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/operations/roads/Snow%20and%20Ice/Winter%20Parking.php
Washoe County “Where’s My Plow” real time snow equipment operations
https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/operations/roads/Snow%20and%20Ice/snow_ice_ops_incline.php
Cal Neva sale
https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/lake-tahoe-cal-neva-resort-sold-17883366.php
https://www.revitalizecalneva.com/
April 11 – Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting
appointment of Clara Andriola to BCC click here
CAB Meeting highlights of broadband discussion 1:12 https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/play/BvLAHGsJAH0lfpti6p3Pf60PTqprwzYwtmIGj1Rus_-5-nVcerqJ2q2XDDVudMj1jIOiXKg5eS3Suymq.QLearF4dWTFAgCyZ?canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&continueMode=true&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fus06web.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2FMJrwUUYQjJuKfivMzQO9ZswwBOs-DoP5lTT0g-i4likeyEfuNAeERto1Ato-VLmc.8bA8czxwjIngDxYm
Washoe County rural broadband expansion program – report internet and cell problem areas to Behzad Zamanian
April 12 – TRPA Advisory Planning Committee (APC) meeting
https://www.trpa.gov/event/advisory-planning-commission-meeting-5-2023-04-12/
April 12 – IVGID Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
April 13-15 and 20-22 – Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training
April 20 – I.V. Mobility Hub In-Person Workshop – Parasol Building
doors open at 4:30 pm, presentation begins at 5:30 pm
flyer is not currently available on the mobility hub website – email ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com for flyer
Incline Village Mobility Hub survey – deadline April 30
https://inclinevillagemobilityhub.org/
TTD Informational Report on the East Shore Express 2023 Season
(the report is the next-to-last item in the packet)
April 21 – TRPA Tahoe Living Working Group
https://www.trpa.gov/event/tahoe-living-working-group/
Washoe311 – request for service
https://washoecountynv.qscend.com/311/request/add
Washoe County – Traffic and Roadway Engineering
https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/engineering_capitalprojects/traffic-and-roads/index.php
Nevada Legislature
www.youtube.com/@NVLeg/streams
IV/CB Community 1st meetings and community info
IVCBA (Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association)