Denise Davis – IVCB Forum Moderator
Good morning, forum. I’m Denise Davis, your moderator. Ronda Tycer is our forum recap editor, and Amanda McPhaill is our tech guru.
As a reminder, this meeting is being recorded. Before you begin speaking, please state your name. While speaking, please be respectful—personal attacks will not be tolerated. 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 1st.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.
I remind everyone our meeting has to end by 10:15, so please keep this in mind regarding the length and number of times that you speak. We’re trying to not set time limits for speaking, but we need everyone’s help to have beneficial discussions and finish on time. All right. I don’t see Kari but I see Tia, so, what’s happening at the Fire Department?
Tia Rancourt – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District – Public Information Officer
Good morning, everyone. I have a couple of announcements. NV Energy will be doing some fuels mitigation, equipment replacement, and removing hazardous trees beginning September 5 – 15. There will be some helicopters in the air. There will be a lot of equipment along the Hwy 28 corridor and along the East Shore Trail through our district to the Sand Harbor area. So, just a heads-up on that. We had a lake wind advisory yesterday and today from 7am to 8pm.
All our crews are home, except one on the way. We’ll have all our crews here over the holiday weekend. We do have some overhead personnel out on fires now in northern California and in Oregon. Just a reminder, we are still in fire restrictions until further notice.
Last Monday we had an after-action review for the evacuation drill this past month. All input and notes are being combined. We’ll be having an Emergency Preparedness Evacuation Forum at the Chateau on September 18th between 5:30-7pm. We have more information to come out on that as we move forward. We plan to discuss the drill—what went well— what didn’t. And have an opportunity for folks to ask questions and give input at the end. That’s about it. Any questions or comments?
Denise Davis
Thanks, Tia. I have a text form Kari. Her wifi is down and she doesn’t have good service. So I will try to cover the things she mentioned.
There is an effluent pipeline update posted on the IVGID website. That will be in the URLs and in the recap. I have an effluent pipeline project update as of yesterday. Granite Construction has kicked off preliminary effluent pipeline work this week near Skunk Harbor, which is 2.5 miles north of the State Route 50 and 28 intersection. They’ll be working through this week prepping for pipe installation work scheduled to start next week. From 7pm Tuesday September 5th the pipeline construction work will be underway 24 hours per day. This work will require a lane closure from 7pm Sunday night, with 24-hour work until Friday at 3pm. Lane closures and continued interruptions will continue for approximately 2 months. Please note NDOT will also have ongoing construction work in the Marlette Creek/Thunderbird Lodge area, and in the State Route 431 IVCB area until the end of the 2023 construction season at the end of October.
The next Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for September 13. The agenda has not been posted yet. Kari wanted to remind everyone that the weather changes venue operations. Check the IVGID website at the top for any venue updates. When you log into the IVGID page, there’s usually a banner at the top if something’s going on. And just a reminder that Monday is the Labor Day holiday. IVGID Administration and Public Works offices will be closed and the Recreation Center will have modified hours.
I just want to repeat what Tia said about the NV Energy pole-replacement project. They will be replacing polls, removing hazardous tress, and replacing equipment along State Route 28 beginning September 5 – late September. This work is related to the NV Energy Resilience Corridors project and the community’s Natural Disaster Protection Plan, “which is aimed at protecting the community from the increased risk of wildfires and other natural disasters. Due to the nature of the work, a helicopter will be used because trucks are unable to access the steep and unstable slope where some equipment is located. Beginning September 5, customers and visitors in the area can expect to see helicopters working overhead. There are no anticipated power outages during this work.”
This month on September 18-19, intermittent closures will take place on State Route 28 between Lakeshore and Sand Harbor and the East Shore Trail to allow for the safe flyovers of the helicopters moving equipment. Closures should last no longer than 15 minutes at a time while the helicopter flies overhead to set new poles. Other than these intermittent closures, no other road closures related to this work are anticipated.
If you want to receive notices about upcoming work go to NVEnergy.com/powersafenv.
If you want the general NDOT road construction updates, visit www.nvroads.com.
Don’t forget Washoe County is also doing roadwork. They are still working in the area around the Post Office. And also Incline Way between Village and Southwood north of the IVGID Admin Building is still closed. It’s where they are parking their equipment.
So enjoy the weekend while they take a break, and after that we’re back into full-on interruptions. I believe the Sheriff’s Office has several things to share with us today.
Blaine Beard – Washoe County Sheriff Office Incline Substation Captain
Good morning. I have a bunch of things I want to report on today. So it’s an open forum and you can ask all the questions you like, but in the interest of time, if you have any specific questions of me I encourage you to email me at bbeard@washoecounty.gov and I’ll get right back to you. For any questions that are more appropriate for email, let me know just to save time, and I’ll get right back to you.
I have a couple of big announcements for you. First and foremost, on September 16th we will be having the Sheriff’s Annual Community Picnic at the Ridgeline ball fields from 10 am until 2 pm. Please encourage everyone you know to come out for that. It’s going to be huge. I want to make it twice as big as last year. We’ll serve free burgers, hot dogs, desserts, sodas, water, and everything that you need. We’re going to have all the static displays for every single Washoe County asset, as well as those from neighboring counties. We’ll have tons of informational booths there. There will be games for kids. We’ll have a disc jockey playing music. It will be a great time, so please encourage everyone to come out. It’s predicted to be 68 F and partly cloudy. Hopefully that doesn’t change, but as you can feel, fall has arrived.
I put out a couple of weeks ago that we’re moving back to the Old Substation. We’re now fully back there and no longer next door to here. That’s at 625 Mt Rose Hwy. We’re 100% moved in and about 90% up and running. By Tuesday after the holiday we’ll be 100% running as we were before we were evacuated back in March. If you have any questions, concerns, or issues, that’s where we’re located now. Thanks for your patience in dealing with our move. We are back home now.
I didn’t make the last Community Forum because I had something come up at the last minute and I had to be in Reno. My apologies. About a month ago, a community member asked about the breakdown of crimes in IVCB—residents versus non-residents. I had my team extract the data for the last quarter. We get all of our stats on a quarterly basis. So that quarter ended July 2nd, and the third quarter will end at the end of this month.
Stats:
We had a total of 85 IVCB cases identified in Quarter 2.
Of these 85, in 42 cases there was an arrest of a person suspected of a crime.
Of those 42 cases, there were 51 people we either arrested or who were suspects.
Out of the 42 cases, 21 people were arrested and 30 were listed as a suspect.
Of the 51 people, 18 were non-residents (listed a home address that was not in IVCB);
16 were residents (they had a home or residence listed here); and 17 were unknown (they had no identification, driver’s license, and no address they’d list). So roughly, 35% of these were nonresidents; 31% were residents; and 33% were unknown.
I hope that answers the question I got last month. I’ll follow up on those numbers after the quarter we’re in right now.
As far as crime stats, they go monthly. I’ll give the stats for all of July. I’m going to be getting the stats for August next week. So for July we had:
0 commercial burglaries (0 in July 2022)
2 vehicles stolen (0 in July 2022)
1 residential burglary (1 in July 2022)
1 robbery (0 in July of 2022)
0 vehicle burglaries (2 in July 2022)
So crime is at a manageable level. We’re trying to stay ahead of that and be as proactive as we can.
I have a couple more announcements and then I’ll call Sergeant Tone up here to tell you about how proactive we are on crime and to tell you about a big case we had recently.
I want to talk about our crypto-currency ATM fraud response. We’ve taken a couple of cases recently about people coming to the office complaining that they had wired money to different entities. They’ll get phone calls or emails. I just want to remind everyone to be proactive and diligent when you get such requests. Do NOT send or wire anybody any money. If you have any questions, hang up on them or get their number and call us and we’ll walk you through the process. Those things are ever increasing so we deal with them often. The scammers try to stay one step ahead and they are constantly evolving their schemes. So, if you get a call, and someone needs you to transfer money or anything of that nature, please contact us and do not “press send” or give them any account numbers, social security numbers, or anything like that. Just err on the side of caution. If it’s that important to them, they will call you back. Call us and let them call you back or just give them our number. We’ll be glad to help them.
As far as crypto-currency goes, I’m going to read something prepared by our Detective Division. “In the past 13 months—Washoe County as a whole, not just our community– but Washoe County as a whole—reported about 12 frauds in which the defrauded funds were funneled through Bitcoin machines.” I’ve been in law enforcement over 26 years and I don’t know what the hell Bitcoin is. Even I have no clue what it is. I never will invest in it. I like money but I don’t like coins. “The combined loss from these crimes is approximately $700,000, which was taken mostly from vulnerable populations.” Vulnerable populations were the victims. To me it’s kind of inconceivable that some victims fall prey to these scams. But I think a large segment of our society believes in the good in people. But sometimes that good is too good to be true. So err on the side of caution. The reality is the fraud schemes are evolving almost daily, and they’re targeting specific people. A lot of elderly are targeted in these things.
The issue we’re running into is recovery of the funds. A Bitcoin scam is unique in that crypto-currency is immediately laundered to the criminal with no hope of recovery of funds. The contrast with wire fraud or check fraud is they usually provide us about 72 hours to freeze the money and seize the checks in transit. That’s the difference with the Bitcoin fraud. It takes place immediately. Currently County detectives have had limited success seizing funds directly from the ATMs. But this is contingent upon the victim’s funds still being in the machine.
If you have an issue involving a Bitcoin fraud or you feel you were being defrauded, contact our office immediately. What we will need is the exact location and name of the machine the money went into, the exact date and time of the deposit, and any corroborating documentation of the funds such as back withdrawals. And if possible even if you know or you can find out the name of the armored car company servicing the machine. Any of those things you can get when you have such an issue helps us tremendously in getting on it right away. There’s very little time to get ahead of these things. So, if you have anything you suspect as a fraud, contact our office immediately and we’ll get on that for you. Just try to get all that information.
I have one last thing before calling Sergeant Tone up here. Some of you have noticed the blinking solar powered speed signs in town. There’s one on Village and one on Country Club and two on Lakeshore. We’ve had a lot of success with those. We have four more that I spoke of last month, which were on backorder. They have all arrived. They are down at the Roads Department. I spoke with them yesterday and those additional four signs will be put in town in the next 1-2 weeks. Those will be in. I’m also getting emails from people about other locations around the village. So I’ll try to order another four of them by the end of the year to try to get additional signage up.
We also got 13 No Parking signs put up on Country Club across from the Hyatt on that side of the street. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. And we’ll be getting additional signs for other locations in town as well. We’re trying to be as proactive as possible. It’s not something we’re going to fix overnight, and we’ll never satisfy everybody. But know we’re trying to be as proactive as possible. The Road Department has been fantastic with my team and me. I also spoke with the Roads Department yesterday.
Based on community concerns and complaints, we put some speed data collectors and have been monitoring the intersections of Village and Northwood and Village and Southwood particularly. I know a few of you online have complained about those areas, so within the next 2-3 weeks, County Roads will be coming to those areas to see what they can do about safety, and whether placing or moving the stop signs that are in place, or putting up some new paint on the roads, or doing something that can help mitigate concern at those intersections. I toured them just yesterday and saw several issues. So we’re going to be proactive and when they come up I’ll meet with them with my team to decide what’s best for safety.
It was also brought to my attention that at Lakeshore and Tahoe Blvd where the crosswalk goes across State Route 28, the light will be flashing for pedestrians coming through there and people are not stopping or stopping late and causing serious concerns. Thank God we haven’t had anybody run over. That is something that was pointed out to my office. We contacted the Roads Department and NV State Police and we’ll figure out how to make that safer out there. I think a lot of it is distracted driving. People are just speeding through there and not paying attention. We can’t do anything but be as proactive as possible and enforce the laws out there. The last couple of days I’ve had our motor units out there kind of lying in wait to see if when people come through there they are actually slowing down. I’m hoping that if we put our motorcycle units out there, when people start coming through there seeing them running radar, that it may be a reaction when they come through that area, they’ll expect someone to be there whether they’re present or not, and maybe that will help slow down the speeds. But either way we’re going to be monitoring that area and trying to make that safer as well. So just know that we’re trying to stay ahead of things. Anything you have – questions or concerns —email me or call me. Most of you have my number. I’ll be very proactive in getting back to you. I think I’ve proven that. Our goal is to keep everybody safe. A lot of what we’re doing is just that. But we don’t know a lot of the issues unless they’re pointed out to us. Continue your proactivity as well and let us know and we’ll definitely help out as good as we can with those things.
Last, I’ll call Sergeant Tone up here. As many of you know because it was posted in the media press release today, we had a drug arrest here in the village. I’ll call Nick up here to talk about that because it’s a case we’re proud of.
Nick Tone – Washoe County Sheriff Office Sergeant
This is a debrief of a case we just wrapped up. It started back in May of 2023. Unfortunately, we had two overdoses at the Incline High School, both students. They were nonfatal. But as a result of that, the Regional Narcotics Unit began an investigation to find the source of the drugs the students got hold of. One suspect was identified as providing the drugs—named Ramon Navarro. He is a local. He went to Incline High School. He’s not a juvenile, I believe he’s now 20 years old.
We used undercover units for a controlled buy. And July 27 he was arrested in the parking lot at Incline Village High School. He was charged with 22 felony counts, to include 6 counts of the sales of a controlled substance, 9 counts of possession of a controlled substance, and 1 count of sales of a controlled substance on school grounds, among other charges as well.
Our Regional Narcotics Unit is not just the Washoe County Sheriff Office, but detectives from our agency, from Sparks Police Department, University of Nevada Police Department, Reno Homeland Security Investigations, and the WCSD Police Department which also has officers stationed at the high school. So, it was collaborative effort from a regionalized unit.
Blaine Beard
The reason it’s so Impressive is because the Regional Narcotics Unit—once we provided them with the information and they prioritized the case for many reason, but first and foremost because it involved our students, which is important for so many reasons. Students are the most vulnerable part of the population. And they did a phenomenal job on the case and I want to make sure they receive full credit. Like Nick said, it’s all those agencies that come together and put those cases together. And we are—and I can’t say this word enough—proactive on these things. Once we learn of these matters we put all resources into it. Even though we’re a small community, we’re a growing community and we’re not exempt from big city problems. Drugs are here—not as much as people might fear—but more than most people probably actually think. When we hear of these things, we stay on it. We put all of our resources on it to protect every member of our community, but especially our kids.
We recently started deputy Suzanne Fisher at the Incline High School as a resource officer. And we have another deputy in training right now who will be joining Suzanne in a couple of months. We’ll have two resource officers at Incline High School. They will be there as liaisons to students and staff. They are there, obviously for the safety of staff, students, and visitors to the school. So that’s just one more thing we’re doing to try to stay as proactive as possible in dealing with these matters. Putting the faces and bodies in the school to where the students can actually build rapport with them, and know they can come to them with tips and things of that nature. We’re just happy to be there and can’t wait to see what that brings having the presence in the school. We took 15 minutes, so I apologize but there was a lot.
Margaret Martini – Incline Village Resident
I have a question for the Sheriff on accidents. Last night I was coming home about 12:30 am and there was a car on the side of the road that had obviously rolled in an accident. My concern was that there appeared to be car fluid everywhere. That’s in the forest and we worry about forest fires. I called and reported it, but I got someone from Las Vegas. I called 911 and they transferred me to either the Nevada Highway Patrol or Washoe County Sheriff Office. I was trying to explain where the Slide Mountain turnoff is. I had no idea what the name of that street is. It’s just the Slide Mountain turnoff. I was concerned because I didn’t see anything like the fire department putting suppression down on obvious car fluid—gasoline and stuff. You’re right there in the middle of the forest. I was concerned about how that was handled and wanted to know if there was somewhere else I should have called. Should I have just driven to the Fire Department and knocked on the door?
Nick Tone
Well they’re not here right now, so I’ll say, “Yes, do that.” (chuckle). For that particular location, call the Nevada Highway Patrol or Nevada State Police. The reason you were forwarded to Las Vegas is at nighttime their Dispatch Center is understaffed. That’s why you were transferred there. Typically speaking of accidents, the Fire Department will come in and lay down dirt or kitty litter to soak up a lot of the fluids. That’s also the responsibility of the tow truck when it arrives to brush up and clean up a lot of those fluids.
A lot of times if you get the car safely off roadway, if it’s not leaking fluid, they’ll leave it there until they can get their own tow. But that depends on the circumstances. In that particular case, that was Nevada Highway Patrol. However, if you see something and you’re concerned, or if nobody’s been there yet, or maybe it’s a disabled vehicle, you can always call our non-emergency line on the side of our cars. If we need to get hold of Nevada Highway Patrol, we can do it for you as well. It’s not a problem
Margaret Martini
It was obviously leaking fluid.
Nick Tone
Sure.
Margaret Martini
And our fire concern is high.
Nick Tone
Sure. And we’re very familiar with who has jurisdiction. On that side it’s actually Truckee Meadows Fire. We would be able to get hold of the proper agency.
Margaret Martini
Just calling 911 isn’t going to do it? Well I did turn around and shine my lights on the car to make sure there was no one in the vehicle. But I’m not getting out of car at 12:30 at night on Mt. Rose Highway. That’s not going to happen.
Nick Tone
And of course if it just happened, by all means call 911. If it’s obviously past tense, there’s nobody around, and maybe it happened a while ago, call our non-emergency line and then we can see if we can get that cleaned up a little better.
Margaret Martini
Thank.
Shirley Appel – Incline Village Resident. HOA President
I hate to be making the same complaint. Oriole. The speed limit on Oriole right now is about 50-60 mph. It starts at Southwood and goes right straight through Oriole. There are about five of these little cars with big wings on the back. One guy loves to sit in the easement area across from me, and gun his engine for 15 minutes –the radio blasting. I don’t’ know if he’s doing it directly at us or not, but we cannot sit outside.
Blaine Beard
Have you seen any presence of our vehicles down in that area?
Shirley Appel
No.
Blaine Beard
Well, you will. When you brought this up last time, the very next day or maybe 2 days, I had two guys jump into my unmarked car so they wouldn’t be noticed. And they actually went down there and got license plates and information on some of the vehicles you described with spoilers on the back—light silver and one blue. [Yes.] We have our motor unit on today, so I’ll put them out once we’re done here at the meeting. I’ll have him go down there
Shirley Appel
Like I said, they’re in and out of that parking area every 5 to 10 minutes.
Blaine Beard
I notified the Regional Narcotics unit on that one too. They’re going to be up to look at that too, because that’s typical of hand-to-hand transactions.
Shirley Appel
Ii think we need one of those speed signs on Oriole.
Blaine Beard
We’re on it. We’re going to try to get an additional 4 and there are a few places that have been mentioned where we’ll be putting them.
Shirley Appel
Thank you so much.
Blaine Beard
So you go down there today and let me know—call me or email me (bbeard@washoecounty.gov). If you don’t see my motorcycle guy down there today in about an hour or 2, you knock on the substation and let me know.
Shirley Appel
Great. Thank you.
Blaine Beard
Certainly.
Helen Neff – Incline Village Resident
Thank you for all you do and for this report. It is amazing. Of course I have a request. Is it possible for you to add “speeding citations” and that kind of thing?
Blaine Beard
We can add them on the report. We keep those on different sheets, because they have different reporting places but I can get those for you.
Helen Neff
I think people’s concerns about visitors are not necessarily they’re coming here to rob or steal—burglary or assault. It’s traffic. I think people are concerned about visitors not heeding our laws for speed and that type of thing.
For the Northwood-Southwood-Village loop, I’m so happy to hear you’re going to address those intersections. Did Washoe County approve their Transportation Plan? Do you have a copy of that? [Yes] Okay, those intersections are in that plan for improvements sometime way in the future. It would be great if you could get those moved up. I think they’re talking about roundabouts. Stop signs would be fine. They are cheaper, they are effective. They can go in quickly. A roundabout would have to go in after 5 years. That’s fine but stop signs could do it now.
Then last of all, thank you for the picnic information and I plan to be there and bring all my neighbors. And we all want to walk. We live in the 3rd Creek complex. We have to cross that intersection that has no signal on Northwood and Southwood at Highway 28. That intersection is a big issue. I know it’s Nevada Highway Patrol.
Blaine Beard
If they aren’t up here we handle it. So thank you Helen. I appreciate it.
Yolanda Knaak
I just want to thank you guys for doing a great job. Thank you.
Blaine Beard
Thank you and I appreciate it.
Sara Schmitz – Incline Village General Improvement District Trustee
We’re all appreciative of the efforts of the Washoe County Sheriff Office for our community. I would encourage our community to not use their time and instead behave respectfully and abide the laws.
We have people going door-to-door soliciting petition signatures for which they must have a Washoe County permit, and they do not. We are getting complaints, and complaints are being logged. It’s consuming time for our valuable Sheriff deputies.
Vandalism has been committed.
Recall signs are okay on private property but are not allowed on public property. So, to save our WCSO deputies’ time, please remove them and put them in an appropriate place so the WCSO deputies aren’t spending time removing signs, dealing with vandalism, and dealing with complaints about door-to-door solicitation.
Let’s all be respectful and respect the laws and each other and save the WCSO’s valuable time.
Joe Farrell – Incline Village Resident, Pulse Point Board Director
Thank you again. I want to echo the compliments to your department. I really appreciate you. I have a couple of questions about the high school in terms of the proliferation over the last decade of unfortunate high school shootings. So my question is, I’m assuming they have active-shooting drills (Yes.). And are the School Resource Officers (SROs) armed?
Blaine Beard
Yes, the resource officers are armed. And the Washoe County School District (WCSD) actually has classes for active-shooter scenarios amongst other things. They have a
2-3 week training model they do each year. I believe our two selected SRO positions
that will be reporting—one has reported to the high school—will train with them so everyone’s [inaudible 36:34]. They definitely have a very strict guideline and training program.
Nick Tone
I can also add that all the deputies up here now are assigned to Incline Village. They’re actually employing Incline Village deputies that don’t work down in the valley. We’ve taken all our deputies on all ships and toured all schools they may be unfamiliar with. So all deputies are familiar with access points, evacuations, and easements. That’s not just the high school. That’s high school, middle, elementary, Lake Tahoe School, and various preschools and daycare centers. That is something we prepare for and we’re prepared.
Blaine Beard
Lastly, before we’re done… As many of you know we lost Sergeant Joseph Colacurcio to promotion a couple of months ago. So, we have a sergeant coming up to fill that vacancy. Sergeant Fitzmeyer is starting next Tuesday. In the next few weeks you’ll see a new sergeant in the area. I’ll be taking him around to introduce him to several of you in the area, so he’s welcomed into the community and you know who he is. That’s a huge thing for us to get. I’ve been waiting for that sergeant for about 6 weeks. Thank you all for your time and your patience.
Denise Davis
We do appreciate all of your efforts and responsiveness, and want you guys to know we
feel you’re doing a really good job.
Blaine Beard
Thanks, much. If we don’t, let me know.
Denise Davis
To wrap up the WCSO department report, I just want to let everybody know that the next CERT Training Academy will be October 12-14, and 19-21st. If you’re interested in joining CERT talk to me or go online and look up CERT. The training is free. Also I see John James on line who is our Fire Marshall at NLTFPD. Is there anything you need to tell us?
John James – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Fire Marshall
No ma’am. I have nothing to add today. I was just logging on to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I appreciate it.
Sara Schmitz
I have an announcement from the IVGID Board of Trustees. Just an update on things that transpired at the Board of Trustees meeting that I thought would be important for the community…
The Board decided to draft letters to various agencies on two different subjects: 1 – the mobility hub. I’m responsible for drafting that letter for the Board to review and potentially send out to various agencies. 2 – The other letter is related to the Evacuation Plan. Trustee Tonking will be drafting that. She may be reaching out to NLTFPD and WCSO to gather information so she can draft a letter for the Board to approve. These activities are outside the jurisdiction of IVGID, but the Board did conclude that we can send something to indicate we’re being supportive to the desires of the community.
We will be carefully drafting letters to go out.
The other thing is that there will be a report at the next meeting. Legal is investigating documents that have been shared on social media for which the district does not have a record. At the next meeting there will be a report on that investigation. There will also be a report on activities related to concerns expressed regarding Mr. Dobler. I know these are issues that are important to our community. I want to let you know that the Board will be addressing all of these.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Sara. Amanda, what’s going on at the library?
Amanda McPhaill – Washoe County Library Librarian
We have two programs coming up this month. Our Tahoe Talks series kicks off on September 12 at 6:30pm. We’ll be talking about culture wars. Noah Glick is from the journalism sector. He is the executive editor of the Sierra Nevada Ally. We also have Dr. Seltzer who is an Associate Professor of Political Science at UNR. Those two will be our guest experts. We invite you to join us for that talk. A week later on September 19 at 6:30 is our Tech Talk. We’ll be talking about electric vehicles—and the ethics and technology surrounding them. And last, September is National Library Card Sign Up month so here we’re celebrating all things library, like librarians, books about libraries—fiction and nonfiction. We’re also celebrating those who support us. So, if you’ve been a long time library cardholder, stop in. We’ll check your record to see how long you’ve been with us. You can either get a magnet, a sticker, a patch; or, if you’ve been with us 15 years or longer, you get a cute little mug like this which is adorable. We have three different designs. Also, our hydroponic garden is ready to be harvested. We have butter lettuce, romaine lettuce, and basil. So if you’d like a head of lettuce, stop by, and I’ll be happy to cut some for you. [How long will the Farmer’s Market go on?] The last one was yesterday. They are done for the year.
Denise Davis
I want to remind everyone that the Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) September meeting has been cancelled. Also, due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, most offices at the Count will be closed. Wherever you get the marriage licenses will be open on Labor Day until 4pm. If you need to get married on Monday, you have until 4pm.
The Board of Commissioners will meet September 12th. At the August 15th meeting, there was an update on the IVCB tax refunds.
At the end of July total refunds were:
Refund of tax dollars = $22,377,516
Refund of interest = 21,353,847
The Total refund = $43,731,364.
Your tax dollars at work.
Another announcement is that the Washoe County Health District has now been renamed Northern Nevada Public Health.
The Washoe Planning Commission will meet Tuesday September 5. On the agenda – “A tentative subdivision map for 947 Tahoe Boulevard condo project. It is titled “For hearing, discussion, and possible action to approve a tentative subdivision map for a 40-unit residential condominium project containing 830 sq ft of professional office space on an approximately 2-acre site located at 941 and 947 Tahoe Boulevard in Incline Village.” There are two APNs. “The parcels will be legally merged into a single parcel, then divided into 40 airspace condominiums, with a 1.1 acre common area parcel. If you want to know more about that, you can find their agenda online. The URL will be in the recap.
On Thursday September 7, the Washoe County Board of Adjustment will be meeting “for hearing, discussion, and possible action to approve an Administrative Permit for an outdoor community event for the Incline Village Crystal Bay Veterans Club—an entity of IVGID—in Incline Village. They are planning to have October Fest on September 30 from 10am to 4pm at 960 Lakeshore Boulevard. If you want to know more about that, the agenda will be in URLs.
An announcement went out that Washoe County in partnership with the organization FUSE will sponsor a year-long fellowship “to advance affordable housing and support sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities. As part of this initiative, a FUSE executive fellow will be engaged to help design crucial policy changes in the housing sector.” The announcement is long. But they are looking to sponsor a fellowship for a person who’s experienced in housing. They are sponsoring the fellowship from October 23, 2023 to October 21, 2024. If you want to know more about that, I’ll put the information over here. The URL is online.
The McWhitney Corporation that purchased Cal Neva is having a community open house Thursday September 7. They are asking that you RSVP. The two open houses will be at Bowl Incline at 11:30am and 6pm.”Please join us to meet and connect with the McWhitney project team on September 7. The event will be an open-house format. A formal presentation will not be given. This is a chance for community members to engage with project team members to share thoughts, ideas, and memories in person. Space is limited, so please RSVP.” They also have a website. The URL is in the recap.
At the last Forum, Waldorf Astoria Lake Tahoe (WALT) shared their 2023 demolition and construction plans. If you’ve driven by you can see demolition has been taking place. “Asbestos abatement for the Tahoe Biltmore will be completed during summer 2023 – followed by demolition of the property’s cottages. Demolition of the Tahoe Biltmore casino and hotel building will begin upon abatement completion, with demolition expected to be completed by the end of 2023 in preparation for the 2024 construction season.”
I have information from the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD). The Program Implementation Committee (PIC) will meet on September 6 at 2pm. On their agenda they have “Informational update on TTD active capital improvement program projects. They have an information update on the short-range transit plan. And for possible action, ‘Recommend the TTD Board authorize the District Manager to finalize and execute a 2- year agreement with STANTEC Consulting to prepare a zero-emission fleet conversion plan in an amount not to exceed $189,857.” Again that is 2pm in person and online.
The TRPA Regional Plan Implementation Committee (RPIC) will meet September 6. I don’t believe I saw the agenda.
Also, I want to let everyone know that the Incline Mobility Hub Workshop originally scheduled for August 14 and rescheduled mid-September, is now postponed to October. The date is to be determined.
I have a reminder that on Monday September 4, the Rotary will be doing their Duck Drop, which is their fund raising event for the year. It will be held at 9am at the Village Green. They haul up buckets full of ducks. They have a target on the ground. The Fire Department brings over their ladder truck. They dump ducks on the ground, and the duck landing closest to the target wins the money.
I also want to let you know that on September 5, Senior Fest 2023 will be taking place at the Reno Town Mall from 9am -2pm. They will have 60 vendors and businesses particularly targeted to the senior community. “The following services and much more will be offered to seniors who attend. They have health screenings, flu shots, COVID vaccinations. They can talk about Medicare Advantage, information about VA benefits. They can do health insurance counseling. They have information about assisted and independent living programs, and parks and recreation programs. My husband has attended a few times and found it very beneficial and informational, so I urge you to check it out.
On September 6 there is another UNR Talk at Tahoe with Rosmary Watola-Traumer. Her meeting is titled: Meeting the Tides of Life Through the Practice of Poetry.”
On September 13, Washoe County School District (WCSD) Trustee Jeff Church will host a town hall meeting. It is Wednesday September 13 from 6-7:30 pm at the JWood Raw Elementary School on Green Pastures Drive in Reno. That’s off of Rio Wrangler Parkway east of Veterans Parkway. So you can come see your newest elementary school in the county. It’s open to all WCSD constituents. He requests that you RSVP but it’s not required. They are providing food.
He also wants to let everyone know that the WCSD is “seeking community input on how to modernize existing campuses and facilities through a series of forums in August and September. He provided a list of WCSD scheduled meetings and locations. There are none scheduled in Incline Village. We know that talks continue on the future of the Incline Middle School. I urge you, if you have questions or comments about Washoe County schools in general or Incline Village schools in particular, to please contact our trustee Jeff Church. I have listed his email in the recap URLs.
Yolanda Knaak
I want to let people know a group in town is very concerned about the zoning change on Tahoe Boulevard between 947 and our plant nursery, which is right here. There were a few businesses that did close down but that was not related to the zoning change. The concern is that a lot of our businesses rent. You’d be surprised at some of them that are renting like US bank. I talked to them. They have a 5-year lease. The people I spoke with didn’t have an opportunity to review the lease so they don’t know if there is any kind of escape clause.
I don’t think that all the businesses will close at once. But down the road, eventually developers could come in and offer owners a lot of money for their properties. The zoning is now to allow luxury condos. That’s from 947 Tahoe Boulevard to the plant nursery. That affects a lot of businesses. We don’t have a lot of other options for businesses in town. I’m concerned I’ll loose the dry cleaner, plant nursery, bakery, and so forth.
So please write the Washoe County Planning Commission which is meeting on Tuesday. If you can, go. If you plan to attend, please email them and let them know you plan to attend. Ask them to change the zoning back to businesses. We don’t want luxury condos to take the place of our businesses. There are other properties where luxury condos could be placed in town.
I also wanted to mention is that the Washoe County Commissioners changed the meeting format so that you can’t give public comment at the beginning of the meeting. You have to wait for topic agenda comes up, or wait until the end of the meeting. I don’t know how beneficial it is if they make a decision and then you don’t get to make your comment until the end of the meeting. That doesn’t make sense.
I do appreciate them opening up the library and letting us do public comment from the library. We appreciate that. But on the other hand we need people to write to the commissioners and ask for public comment at the beginning of the meeting. Thank you.
Denise Davis
I’d like to clarify. The Planning Commission is hearing about the subdivision map of 947 Tahoe Boulevard. If you want to discuss the change of allowed uses for Special Area 1, the County Commissioners are in charge of the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan (TAP). Any change to the TAP is requested by the County Commissioners who take their change to the TRPA. So if you want to discuss the TAP you need to talk to your County Commissioners.
Helen Neff
On that note, I also want to talk about the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday and the subdivision approval. I think most of the people in this room are familiar with the whole process that happened. There is at this point in the Staff Report a transportation study done by the applicant’s consultants in December 2021. There are so many things in the report that are inaccurate or have changed in the last 20 months. If anyone is interested in all the details—which I finished last night—it’s 9 pages—you can read it this weekend. Amanda could you put my email in the Chat? It’s hneff9@earthlink.net. I’ll be happy to send you what I’m sending to the Planning Commission.
Also, for the snow-removal plans for snow storage, there are two plans. TRPA approved one, and the County was given a different plan. One has an emergency exit, one doesn’t. There are just lots of details like that which are not consistent. For me, the biggest red flag in their transportation study is that the intersection that I’m very concerned with is rated F, and with development, it will be a bigger F. The issue is that road is defined by NDOT as a scenic highway. TRPA says that all intersections on a “scenic highway, have to be rated C or better. There are lots of discrepancies. I won’t bore you with more details. If you’re interested, send me an email and I’ll send you my notes. Thank you.
Denise Davis
Thanks for being our watchdog on the roads, Helen.
Doug Flaherty – Incline Village Resident, Tahoe Clean Air Director
These meetings and their process are complicated. But I want to step back for a minute and explain that commenting at the Planning Commission regarding the subdivision map
Is important. You can tie your comments regarding the zoning into your public comment on the subdivision map. There are ways to word that in order to tie those together. And I would encourage everyone to take advantage of every opportunity – whether it’s the Planning Commission or the Washoe County Board of Commissioners meetings, to make your comments on the agenda item. You’ll also have a general comment period at the Planning Commission, so I don’t want anybody to be dissuaded that just because this is about the subdivision map, you don’t have any opportunity to comment and make a difference. So write your letters, show up for comment. Thank you.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Doug. Anyone else? Seeing none, I’ll plow on. I had a conversation with a worker at our Post Office. I want to make sure everybody knows about the no-fee post office boxes. I asked how do you get in line for a cluster box. Is there any home delivery? I was told that home delivery will again be phased out in Incline Village. As residents give up their spot in a cluster box, the spot will not be reassigned. They are phasing out due to lack of staff. Because home deliver will not be available, we are eligible for free PO boxes. I was advised, when you get your renewal notice in your PO box, bring in a utility bill or something else with both your mailing address and your physical address to the PO front desk. Utility bills typically have both addresses. They have a form to fill out. And you will have your fee waived for your PO Box. I wanted to share that because I renewed mine a few months ago, and it was certainly not free. Just be aware. Fill out the paperwork for your free PO box.
Shirley Appel
If you have a cluster box on your property will they no longer deliver mail to it?
Denise Davis
They will continue to deliver to cluster boxes. But let’s say, you give up your spot in the cluster box. They will not give that to anybody else. So eventually…
Shirley Appel
So only people who get their mail at their residences?
Denise Davis
If you currently get your mail delivered to a cluster box for your residence, they will continue to do that. They will not take any new names for cluster boxes. They will not take any new addresses for home delivery. Existing service will continue for the time being, but there will be no additions to those deliveries.
Margaret Martini
I wanted to clarify something about the Washoe County tax refund. I was here and in on it when they first started it. That bill at that point—according to my recollection—was around $500,000. It exploded into $46 million because of the lack of Washoe County interest, and because they thought they would win in court—over and over and over. The Interest rate was very high and mandated at that time. So that small amount exploded into that huge amount because of Washoe County actions.
Denise Davis
The interest rate we were owed was written into NV State Statutes. I believe it’s 7%. So as we’ve all noted many times, they are paying almost as much in interest as in refunded taxes.
As we close out our meeting, as a reminder, there is Music on the Beach, and Lights in the Sky, over at Kings Beach tonight. I assume it’s weather dependent. It’s starting at 6:30pm. Their band tonight is “Group Session. And the drones start at 9 at Kings Beach. At Incline Beach, tonight between 4-7pm, we have the group called Punk Assassination. There you go. You can start your holiday weekend off with music on the beach.
Anyone else have any comments or questions? Seeing none, please have a safe holiday weekend. Keep your eyes on the sky. Stay safe, and we’ll see you in 2 weeks. Thanks everyone.
ARTICIPANTS
Amanda McPhaill
Blaine Beard
Chris King
Chris Wood
David Simon
Denise Davis
Doug Flaherty
Edie Farrell
Helen Neff
Joe Farrell
John James
Jon & Beth Davidson
Kristina Hill
Margaret Martini
Nick Tone
Pam Straley
Ronda Tycer
Russell Barnum
Sara Schmitz
Shirley Appel
Steve Price
Tia Rancourt
Tiffany Clements
Yolanda Knaak
CHAT LOG
Chat Log: 09:27:57 From Tia Rancourt Iphone 13 Pro!! : NV Energy press release:
To stay up to date and receive notice for upcoming work, be sure to update your contact information at https://www.nvenergy.com/save-with-powershift/business-energy-services?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl8anBhCFARIsAKbbpyQs-kGeYxi9qHWcMVXct-fRamBYoUcLOb2ndI1BNzi2m6zYmCV7bT8aAmaoEALw_wcB NVE
You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
10:04:40 From Washoe County Libraries : Helen Neff’s email: hneff9@earthlink.net
FORUM URLS
Our email is:
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/
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District website
Non-emergency fire dispatch (Grass Valley) 530-477-0641, then pick 7
Defensible space info
https://nltfpd.org/defensible-space
Helping Tahoe residents and visitors prepare for wildfire
Washoe County emergency alert sign-up
https://www.washoecounty.gov/em/RegionalAlerts.php
Washoe Regional Emergency Information Center
https://www.EmergencyWashoe.com/
Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) prescribed burn info
https://www.tahoelivingwithfire.com/get-informed/#get-informed-prescribed-map-header
NV Energy Natural Disaster Protection Plan
https://www.nvenergy.com/safety/ndpp
road construction updates
https://www.inclinehighways.com/
IVGID effluent pipeline update
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/resources/construction-updates/effluent-pipeline-project
Mountain Golf Course Cart Path Improvement Project
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/news/mountain-golf-course-cart-path-improvement-project
Sept 4 – Rotary Duck Drop – Village Green 9 am
Sept 5 – Senior Fest 2023
Sept 5 – Washoe County Planning Commission – tentative subdivision map for 947 Tahoe condos
Sept 6 – TTD (Tahoe Transportation District) Program Implementation Committee meeting
Sept 6 – UNR ‘Talks at Tahoe’ – Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Meeting the Tides of Life Through the Practice of Poetry
https://www.unr.edu/lake-tahoe/talks
Sept 7 – Washoe County Board of Adjustment – Veterans Club Tahoeberfest permit
Sept 7 – McWhinney Cal Neva project open house – RSVP required
McWhinney “Revitalize Cal Neva” website
https://www.revitalizecalneva.com/
Sept 12 – Washoe County BCC (Board of County Commissioners) meeting
https://washoe-nv.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
Washoe County Speak Up and eComment instructions
https://washoe-nv.granicusideas.com/
Sept 13 – TRPA Advisory Planning Commissioning meeting
https://www.trpa.gov/event/advisory-planning-commission-meeting-5-2023-09-13/
Sept 13 – IVGID BOT meeting
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
Sept 13 – WCSD (Washoe County School District) Trustee Jeff Church Town Hall meeting
email Jeffrey.Church@WashoeSchools.net for details
Sept 16 – WCSO Incline Village Community Picnic
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=669431281884142&set=a.620611276766143
OCT – IV mobility hub public information open house – POSTPONED, NEW DATE TBD
https://www.tahoetransportation.org/meetings
2023 Lake Tahoe Summit video replay
all applications for Washoe County Commission District 1
https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/planning_and_development/applications/apps_commish_district_one.php
Neighborhood Meetings for upcoming projects
https://neighborhood-washoe.hub.arcgis.com/
Washoe311 – request for service
call 311 or 775-328-2003
https://washoecountynv.qscend.com/311/request/add
Washoe County board and commission openings
https://www.washoecounty.gov/bcc/board_opportunities.php
Washoe County Health District is now Northern Nevada Public Health
https://www.nnph.org/index.php
IV/CB Community 1st meetings and community info
IVCBA (Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association)
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