Denise Davis – IVCB Forum Moderator
Good morning, Forum. How’s everybody doing? I’m Denise Davis, your moderator. Ronda Tycer is our Forum recap editor, and Amanda McPhaill 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. For those online, if you’d like to share URLs, post them in the Chat Box and they’ll be included at the end of 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.
Kari, would you like to start us off today? Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s day everyone!
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District Communication Coordinator
Yes, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, happy Friday, and happy little-bit-of-sunshine everyone. The last couple of days have been a nice break. I’ll put a bunch of links into the Chat Log as usual. I want you to know that we have a Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday. There is a lot on the agenda, with lots of important items as usual. I’ll post it in the Chat. We also have a lot of fun stuff happening at Diamond Peak. We have our ski clinics on Tuesdays for women. We also have our 55-plus ski clinic for women on Wednesdays. It’s for anyone. We don’t card people. It’s a great time in the morning to get out with a bunch of fun people, learn some new skills, and work those edges. I would definitely recommend it. I was actually out there on Wednesday with the 55 + group. I had an amazing time. It was a really fun group of people. So if you’re just getting back into skiing after a while, or just want to learn a couple of new tools for your tool bag, please join us for that. It will be awesome.
We also have the Luggi Foeger Uphill/Downhill and SkiMo Race happening March 25-26. I mentioned that at the last meeting. It’s a fun festival with music and fun things. Family friendly—so bring everyone out. We are scheduling the Village Ski loft Demo Day – which is a fan favorite for every to get out there and test the new equipment. That’s scheduled for March 26, but we are looking at weather for that. And we do have a couple more “Last Tracks” that we’ve had to reschedule. For the people who got cancelled due to weather, we’re holding two more for them so they still get the experience.
We’re working on the IVGID Magazine, which will be out next month in April. I’ll be sure to put the link in the Chat for that when it is ready and viewable online. We also send out to everyone in the community a copy of that magazine as well. It was previously called the IVGID Quarterly. We changed the name of it. I’m available for questions if anyone has one. Otherwise, have a great day.
Denise Davis
Kari, did you want to say something about the Recreation Center Survey that is open this month?
Kari Ferguson
Yes, the survey is online. I’ll put a link in the Chat for that as well. If you are a Rec Center member or go to the Rec Center frequently or even infrequently, we want to hear your feedback. It’s a quick little survey. We’re trying to gauge the customer service levels. We’ve had to change a lot of protocols after COVID, so we’re trying to hopefully serve everyone who walks in the building. I will put the link in the Chat for that. Thank you, Denise.
Denise Davis
You need to go on to the IVGID website and sign into the survey there. Kari is putting the URL in the Chat and it will be in the recap. It’s not a paper survey. It’s available online but you have to take the initiative to log in to do it.
Kari Ferguson
If people are not online and do want a paper copy, we do have some at the Recreation Center that we can give you. I can then input the information into the survey for you so the data all joins together.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Kari. And I want to confirm that the March 22 Board meeting starts at 5pm. That’s what it says on the agenda. Is that correct?
Kari Ferguson
I think so, but I’ll double-check that to make sure and get back to you. I downloaded the agenda, but I haven’t really read it yet. So I’ll double-check and get back to you.
Also, I wanted to mention that last time somebody asked me about online billing for utilities. They asked if they could put their email and information, but not have to get online bills. The answer is yes, but I didn’t get that answer until after the meeting. Yes, you can get all your information into the billing system so you can be notified of things happening in your area with your utilities, but still choose to receive a paper utility bill in the mail.
Denise Davis
Thank you, Kari. I’ll just list the things that are on the agenda for the IVGID Board of Trustees March 22 meeting:
It begins at 5pm, which is an early start.
– A budget workshop is scheduled on the Consent Calendar to review, discuss, and possibly approve proposed modifications to the Trustee Handbook.
– Review, discuss, and possibly approve an agreement with Thorndahl-Armstrong for legal services as related to the beach deed and IVGID beaches in the not-to-exceed amount of $50K.
– Review and possibly approve abbreviated meeting minutes of February 8 and February 22.
The General Business items are:
– Authorize the General Manager to execute State of Nevada Clean Water Revolving fund loan contracts in the aggregate amount of $16 million to finance Phase 2 of the effluent pipeline project.
– Approval of resolution No. 1899 providing for the issuance of Sewer Bond Series 2023A in the maximum amount of $15,760,000 and Sewer Bond Series 2023B in the maximum amount of $240,000; and more details about those bonds.
– Review, discuss, and possibly provide direction on possible employee recreation privileges, and employment incentives in replacement of the removal of the privilege of beach access for nonresident employees.
– Review, discuss, and possibly provide feedback direction on Survey 1 from the General Manager’s Dog Park committee.
– Review, discuss, and possibly award a procurement agreement for replacement snow-board rental equipment
– Review, discuss, and possibly approve Diamond Peak ski resort’s 2023/2024 picture passholder daily lift-ticket rates including picture-pass holders and non-picture passholder season-pass rate proposals.
– Review, discuss, and possibly provide direction to advertise for the proposed management-consultant agreement.
That is, as always, the “short list” of things that the Board of Trustees will be tackling on Wednesday evening. Are there any other IVGID items before we move on?
Jack Dalton – Incline Village Resident
I’ve tried to attend most of the recent meetings. And I think it is interesting how difficult it is to get information. First of all, it came out, and I think at least some of the trustees were surprised—that there was a $4 million deficit on the golf course budget that was projected to support the golf course. And that was not in the synopsis. It was buried in a thousand pages of the agenda. It would be very hard for somebody—unless they were really dedicated—and some of the trustees are really dedicated. At any rate, it was a $4 million deficit on the two courses. And I’m not talking about capital costs. I’m talking about operational costs. And that is equivalent to $500 per parcel unit here in Incline Village: $4,000,000/8000 parcels = $500 per housing parcel. This is what Mathew Dent calculated.
And the other thing that was not well publicized was regarding the rec passes. There was a request to release the legal opinion. A highly redacted version was in the 1000 page agenda with a comment from the attorney, saying “Yes” the gold and silver passes violated the beach deed.” But that again was not in the meeting synopsis. You couldn’t find it from the synopsis. You had to look through the entire agenda. So that again would be very hard to find.
The other thing that came up was a comment regarding the IVGID Magazine that is now published five times a year. The Village Alliance’s Ellie Dobler talked about wanting to put an ad in the IVGID Magazine, and pay for it I assume, but was turned down.
We don’t have the kinds of information that we should have for our community. A few people know, but it’s very difficult. We should have that information. It should be easy and elucidating.
Is it possible for me to make a public announcement?
Denise Davis
Yes, if it’s brief.
Jack Dalton
It has nothing to do with IVGID. It is just information for people. I’m a retired doctor. I don’t have any investment in health care. I don’t have anything to do with my former practice. But I do a lot of reading and get a lot of information just because of my past work. The big thing now and for a number of years past is Medicare Advantage.
I know about Medicare Advantage. Before I retired 10 years ago, I told my patients don’t take Medicare Advantage. If you have Medicare, fine. If you can’t afford the 20%, don’t let them take Medicare away from you. Right now half of the population using Medicare is being serviced by Medicare Advantage. They’ve never been audited. But it costs more for the government to use Medicare Advantage than it does for regular Medicare.
The problem is they use AI—artificial intelligence—to determine your eligibility. It’s very hard to manage. I know because I was trying to get things done for some of my patients. I was not being paid. But I’m not complaining about that. I’m complaining about how difficult it is to use. With Medicare Advantage, you are limited in which physicians you can see, and you have to get approval from the insurance company before doing anything. It’s cheaper, no question. If you have a cash flow problem, get Medicare Advantage. Just realize that you’ve cut your flexibility and potentially jeopardized some of your care. It’s very difficult. If you can afford it, don’t get Medicare Advantage.
Kari Ferguson
I just want to talk about the synopsis. It’s a new process. It’s not meant to be the entire board meeting, because that would last over 6 hours typically. It’s the “Cliff Notes” version—like from high school—where you get a little glimpse of the meeting. And it’s basically what action was taken at the meeting. I’m saying if something was voted on, or if someone commented, gave public comment at the meeting. I’m also talking about the different items, and putting links to the website for each of the items so people can read the information related to that item.
This last flexible agenda was… items were switched around quite a bit during the meeting. I tried to reflect that as much as possible in the synopsis. And we’re hoping that we get the Civic Plus software that we have coming. That will actually put the links and the time on the video for each of the items. I don’t have that capability yet. That is something I’m planning to add to it. If you have constructive feedback on how to make communications better, just email me at communications@ivgid.org.
Denise Davis
Kari, how do people sign up to get the synopsis?
Kari Ferguson
It’s not automatic, actually. You must opt into one of our Email Clubs, “special announcements and meetings,” and I’ll sign up anyone who emails me, I can sign them up if they want me to. Otherwise it’s on our website under Email Clubs. There’s a section where you can sign up for Recreation Center, or Golf, or Diamond Peak, or Parks and Rec, or Kids Programs… There are a bunch of different types of these letters, and this is just one of the types of newsletters.
Denise Davis
There are quite a few communications from IVGID. If you’re interested in any of them, I highly recommend signing up. If you can’t figure out how to sign up, contact Kari and she’ll be happy to get you signed up.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Chief
We’ve been busy with weather-related incidents. Thank God we haven’t had anything too drastic like South Lake Tahoe. They are having a heck of a time at the south end of the lake with building collapses and such. I want to let everybody know you will see the Nevada Division of Forestry. They’re coming up and starting to help us do snow removal on our fire hydrants.
We had an incident at the Incline High School, but that’s all taken care of, and all three schools are safe. A lot of parents inquired about that. The problem’s been mitigated for a leak from a gas line on the roof under the snow. But that’s all been taken care of. That’s it from the Fire Department unless there are questions.
Jack Dalton
My understanding is that the gas leak was going on for several days. I also have second-hand information that a parent smelled it about 3 days before the event. I went by the school when the fire truck and ambulance pulled in and the kids were outside of the building. How is it that happened? One of the parents said I’m wrong. But assuming I’m correct, how did it happen that it was leaking for several days. And also, how can we avoid that in the future? Obviously, nobody was hurt but it was a very dangerous sort of thing if that was true.
Ryan Sommers
The first thing is that if parents smelled gas 3 days before, they should have called 911 and let us come out with our monitors and check. Second, more than likely, the snow load on the roof was what caused it. I’ve talked to school officials in their facilities, and they are going to keep those lines free of snow from here on out. There was an additional line installed with the new gym they built a number of years ago. That was the only way to route the gas line for that. Maybe this summer they’ll think about how to build a little structure above the gas lines to keep this from happening in the future.
Janet Pahl – Incline Village Resident
I’ve had several calls from customers who purchased houses, and they’ve had ice dams creating leaks through the roof. I just heard you mention about the school’s gas leak. Is there something the Fire Department can put out —that if we ever get into these huge snows again—that people should have their roofs shoveled?
Ryan Sommers
Hi, Jan. We’ve been putting out numerous press releases and social-media posts that homeowners are responsible for getting their roofs shoveled. We’ve pushed it out so many times, I don’t know how else we can do that. Maybe we need to talk to the Board of Realtors and put something in a new escrow packet when people buy the house. Maybe we can start looking at that. We’ll see how many people put their house up for sale this spring because there was too much snow for them.
Janet Pahl
It’s a great idea. We’ll have you come like we did a year ago to come and speak at one of our meetings. We’re not having meetings right now. When we do, they’re not well attended. We’ll wait for the snow to pass and then have you come talk about it. Thanks.
Denise Davis
We had a question. We see that there is a meeting regarding an increase in the E-911 fee. Actually, the meeting is for affected business owners, not individuals. So the question is—we know you said that our fire dispatch goes to Grass Valley. Do you get part of that 911 fee that’s collected? Or do you know anything about the 911 fee increase?
Ryan Sommers
I actually know very little about it. I attended the E-911 Board meeting yesterday. They did talk about this increase. I believe it’s going to be $ .80 per residential and $10 per business. And what those monies go for is to maintain the 911-infrastructure, and upgrade our dispatch centers to the Phase 2 cell towers—where they receive the information from your cell phone when you dial 911. And most of the expenses—as far as I can tell—going to E-911—to be paid for—are body cams for law enforcement. Because it’s all integrated with 911 and the cams. Sergeant Cola may have some more information on that. I went before the E-911 board yesterday and we were granted funds for—it’s called “First Do.” It’s software we rely on in our rig so we have data-connection with our dispatch center. So I’ll elaborate a little more on Grass Valley. Like I said before, Grass Valley is our dispatch center, however, Washoe County Sheriff Office (WCSO) remains our Peace app. And those E-911 funds go not only to staff dispatch, but to keep the equipment and the CAD (computer aided dispatch) system, which is how we get the magic of computers, and how we get dispatch all up and running.
Denise Davis
The individual rate goes up from $.85 to $1 per line, and the business goes up to $10. But I thought it said that was for trunk lines. If you are interested in more information, send an email to ivcbcommutyforum@gmail.com, and I will forward to you the information I have about that meeting. Again, the gist of the meeting was, if you’re a business owner, they want to hear from you how you are affected. They are not asking how individuals are affected.
Joseph Colacurcio – Washoe County Sheriff Office Sergeant
I haven’t seen you guys for a couple of weeks. It’s always a pleasure to be here. I’ll start right out the gate with our announcements. Last week March 10 at about 3:30am our substation flooded. I was working overtime. I came to work at 2. We had a call for service early in the morning, and I got back and there was ankle deep water all through our substation.
For those of you who don’t know, we have a lot of the computer servers for Washoe County in our building. With that being so, I called the County Chief Sombrano and one of Ryan’s guys to come help us. And were able to tarp all our servers and radio equipment and save it. We have excessive amounts of damage in the substation, which has caused us to move. I’m dressed kind of—as I look at it—sloppy today, because I’m in my moving clothes. We are moving temporarily right next door to 885 Alder. The Community Center will be the new Washoe County Incline substation. Please bear with us. It will be about another week before we’re fully up and running. I created—the best way I can put it is—an emergency center in a matter of 8 hours. Once that happened, we found we were going to be moving to that building temporarily. I made it work for us the best we could. We put as much as we could into that building so that we have a functioning substation. We are missing some key components— jail cells and things like that which we use. But we will make do, and come around with that. We’ll put out a general social-media blast when we are ready for everyone to come to the front desk.
You’re going to ask, “Does this affect our services to the general public? I’m going to tell you it does not—any which way. What it may cause is a delay in getting your reports. If you want something right now, we’ll tell you to go all the way down to Reno to 911 Park Boulevard just because we don’t have all of our services up.
We’re working with IT and our tech services to get all our networking and get squared away. We have special credentials for certain things that we do when we do reports and things. Hopefully, by the end of today I will have most of that working with IT and tech services.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident, North Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
Did it come through the roof?
Joseph Colacurcio
We had a leak through the side wall. We had a large amount of water that filtered through our “top story” and then fell into our basement portion of the substation. I would say that minimal equipment we use on a daily basis was damaged. We lost some road flares and things like that— which was minimal in the realm of what it might have cost us technology wise.
You’re seeing inmates, you’re seeing work crews, and a lot of deputies “dressed down”—so we’re not damaging our gear—moving equipment around. So if you get a response from a deputy who looks a little—not in our usual uniform—it’s because they’re lifting and carrying boxes and moving things, because we just want to get it done so we can set up our offices and service the public the best we can.
Ann Nichols
There will be a huge number of people here this weekend don’t you think?
Joseph Colacurcio
We’ll have all that so we won’t have any issues. If we have anything, obviously, we’ll get support. We normally schedule between 4-5 deputies who are working day and night. And we usually have a supervisor, and maybe a lieutenant and a captain. The captain couldn’t make it today because he’s in Reno dealing with trying to get us funding in Reno and working with county management, and also trying to figure out what we’re doing with the other building to get that checked out. He’s in a lot of meetings dealing with that stuff, so you get me as usual.
Janet Pahl
Will there be insurance to cover the damage for all that?
Joseph Colacurcio
The County is self-insured. But Governor Lombardo declared a State of Emergency for Washoe County a few days prior to this happening. So that opens up some…
Janet Pahl
Can of worms?
Joseph Colacurcio
Well, honestly, it’s a can of worms but a benefit if you were to have this. With the State of Emergency it opens up some additional funding.
Margaret Martini – Incline Village Resident
How old is the building?
Joseph Colacurcio
Older than me. It was told to me that there are two sections of that building. The section that is completely brick and mortar survived. The newer portions of the building with the new construction, has lots of issues, as well as the addition to that building.
Jack Dalton
Nevada changed their architectural codes in the mid-90s. And the houses that are at risk are the newer houses, not the older houses. And that’s what’s happened to you guys.
Yolanda Knaak
I found this when I was walking down the street.
Joseph Colacurcio
I’ll throw it in the “Return to California” box.
Yolanda Knaak
Thank you so much.
Joseph Colacurcio
You’re welcome. Regarding E-911 funds, I am not well versed in that. I will say that like Chief Sommers said, they are tied into dispatch. CAD is not PulsePoint for them. They use a different CAD system than we do. CAD or record management if we take a report… we have multiple different systems, which all fall under Tiburon. When you make a phone call to 911, they generate a call for service. That goes into our CAD system. All that money Chief Sommers was talking about goes into that infrastructure and goes into the outside infrastructure. If I were to turn on my body camera right now, the dispatch supervisor can wifi into my camera and see exactly what I’m seeing. It’s used minimally. But it’s designed for the situation if we have an officer down or we can’t get hold of one, we use that feature. Hey, where’s this officer? They can GPS me right now off my phone, my camera, or three or four different ways.
Jack Dalton
There are dead spots for wifi in this area. My phone doesn’t work everywhere. Is your device able to have wifi absolutely everywhere?
Joseph Colacurcio
No. It works off the cell towers just like my cell phone. So I carry two cell phones —AT&T and Verizon. Where my AT&T phone isn’t working my Verizon usually picks up. There are a lot of dead spots based on our region and the elevation and things like that. But those E-911 phones are looking to add to the Phase 1 cell towers a new Phase 2. So when you call 911, I usually get your GPS coordinates, which we can go off of. We get a rating—like a Phase 2 with 90% accuracy within 300 feet. And to me that says with 90% accuracy you’ll be within 300 feet of that GPS coordinate. It gets down into the nitty-gritty where we have accuracy down to 10 feet. So when you call 911, if you’re in your car and you don’t know where you are, that’s how we find you a lot of the time.
Denise Davis
Sergeant Cola, other than patience, is there anything else our community can help you with in regard to your move or getting settled into your new office?
Joseph Colacurcio
At this time, I think we have everything we need. If we were to ask the community, we would put it out and ask for help. I like to look at it as we are here to provide, not to ask. But if we do need to ask, we’d like to save that for a time when we really need to ask for something.
We have a lot of young strong individuals that are willing to lift boxes or to be told to lift boxes. So they do a great job. I will say that we’ll push out on social media when we’re fully open. If you need something right now—in the very near future—Reno has full service. So 775 328-3001 is the main phone line for 911 Park Boulevard. A lot of reports and things like that can be requested online.
Helen Neff – Incline Village Resident
Just to echo what Denise said, I think you will find a lot of people and organizations that are willing to help. I know there are security issues, but moving boxes and things like that… I know I could ask our church.
Joseph Colacurcio
To be honest, most of what we need to do our daily business is already in that building. I’m telling you that within 10 hours we were able to provide the community with the same amount of service without a lapse. Now we’re doing the clerical stuff—envelopes and things like that—we’re pulling all that stuff out.
Helen Neff
Well, if needed, I think you would find people more than happy to help.
Joseph Colacurcio
If we needed it, we would ask. We also have a pool of 350 individuals who are sentenced. They do have to help. They get a choice. They are required to help once they are sentenced. For them, they get out of the building, so they get to help.
Denise Davis
Is this an indefinite relocation…
Joseph Colacurcio
This is temporary. We don’t know. But for the foreseeable future we will be next door. Until they clear that building and make sure there’s no mold or any other health issues in that building, we’ll be next door.
Amanda McPhaill
Next Tuesday March 21st we have Tahoe Treks with Scott Fitzgerrell. He’s going to be talking about their upcoming third circumnavigating of the entire Lake Tahoe in June. So that will be a really great program if you’re interested in doing that. We also have our book club next Tuesday, and we’ll be [inaudible]. There’s a lot of other really cool stuff happening in the library the next couple of months [inaudible]. You can always sign up for our monthly newsletter that tells you all the events happening here in Incline Village. If you want to sign up for that, let me know, and I’ll add you to the list.
Linda Offerdahl – Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association Executive Director
I have a few things to announce. First of all, IVCBA convened a round-table on workforce transportation. All of the transportation agencies showed up along with many employers. It was a very positive meeting. What we plan to do is first of all get out the word on what is already available with vanpools and car pools. Apparently there is something through TRPA called Commute Tahoe that we’ll look into. Look for more information on that. Then we’ll form a committee and start to dive down into how we can help individuals, small businesses, and employees get together for some of these rideshare opportunities.
Second, the Rotary Club has their annual speech and music contest at the IV High School at 5pm Tuesday in the Duffield auditorium. It’s high-school students giving speeches, singing songs, and performing musical compositions. They need an audience. Some have never performed in front of anybody before.
Lastly, I’ve been talking about Main Street for a long time. We’re interviewing a couple of candidates today for that Main Street program manager position. We’ve got funding from the county. We look forward to doing more with revitalization and redevelopment.
Denise Davis
All right. Are there any questions for Linda? Seeing none, I’m going through the list of things that are coming up that I know about.
— I’ll remind everyone that the deadline was extended to today to submit comments regarding the Washoe County Tahoe Transportation Plan. That is the report by Parametrix and Amy Cummings. That is not the proposed Incline Village mobility hub at the Old Incline Elementary School. The deadline for the Parametrix report feedback was extended until today. If you need to know where to send your feedback, send an email to ivcbcommuntyforum@gmail.com. I will respond.
— Also, today there is a Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) Program Implementation Committee meeting at 1pm. The information and agenda is available on the TTD website at: tahoetransportation.org.
— March 22 there is a TRPA Governing Board meeting, which means that all of the TRPA committees meet before the Governing Board. That’s an important date because at 11am the Regional Plan Implementation Committee (RPIC) will be reviewing the proposed amendment to our Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan. More information is available at the TRPA website. We’ll probably be circling around and talking more about that in a minute.
— As Kari said, also on March 22 is the IVGID Board of Trustees meeting.
— March 27 there is a TTD IV Mobility Hub Committee meeting. That is in regard to the proposed mobility hub. The agenda has not been posted yet on the TTD website.
— March 28 The Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to meet. If you missed the announcement, District 4 Commissioner Vaughn Hartung resigned effective March 15. He was offered a position at the State of Nevada in the Department of Business and Industry. In order to accept that appointment he was required to resign as Washoe County commissioner. “Chair Hartung is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and is confident Governor Joe Lombardo will appoint a successor with the same dedication and commitment to the role. Washoe County thanks Chair Hartung for his decade of service to the community and for his leadership on the commission.” So the Governor will be appointing a new county commissioner for District 4.
— On April 3rd, there will be an IVCB Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. The agenda has not been posted yet. It will happen before our next Forum meeting.
— On April 5 there is a Tahoe Transportation District TTD-C board meeting. More information will be available on their website closer to that date.
— I also want to let everyone know that the IV Community Hospital Foundation is having a fundraiser. On March 30 they will deliver “gratitude-grams” to people working within their system. They are $5 each or you can donate more. You need to order by March 27. Email: foundation@TFHD.com or call the Incline Hospital Foundation at 775 888 4204 if you’d like to find out more. That’s a great way to support our local medical providers and staff. Let them know you think they’re doing a great job.
— I also want to let everyone know that resident Pamela Tsigdinos wrote an opinion piece published by the Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ) on March 16th. She did quite a bit of research on the history of the lake and what challenges we’re facing right now. So I urge you to read that. The URL will be in the recap. Or you can search in the RGJ for her piece.
— I also want to let all know that Waste Management made a comprehensive presentation at our March 6 CAB meeting. The URL for that video will be in our recap. Her presentation starts at about 41 minutes into the meeting recording. She did a very thorough job, and we appreciate her coming and explaining all that to us. She also wants to let us know that in Incline Village, we have 7 Waste Management trucks running 5 days a week to collect trash.
— I want to give a heads up for our next Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) training academy in mid-April in case you want to join us to help us with community events.
— Thursday March 23rd is a Placer County public workshop from 5-7pm at the Kings Beach Event Center. This is in-person only. It is to make comments regarding the Placer County Tahoe Area Plan (TAP) revisions. So If you’re interested in making comments, it’s in person only, so be at the Kings Beach Event Center Thursday March 23rd from 5-7.
Our Senator Cortez Masto put in legislation to extend the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which means more funding for activities at the lake.
[Speaker?]
I thought it was for preservation of the lake.
Denise Davis
Some people view the activities as preservation and some people are not so sure they are preservation. So I will just say activities.
Kristina Hill – Incline Village Resident
Thank you. I got a little distracted this morning and I didn’t attend the meeting but I want to chime in on the fact that the TRPA is considering amending the Tahoe Area Plan to allow Single-Family-Dwellings (SFDs) in all of the commercial town center in Incline, and they are changing the zoning for the whole area. This was basically started by the 947 Tahoe Boulevard condominium project on the corner of Southwood and Highway 28. The project proponents including the county and the owner of the property are saying that there’s no difference between multifamily and SFDs except for ownership, which is incorrect. There are a lot of differences between having SFD million-dollar condos or apartment buildings, which would be more affordable to the workers and the community at large.
This meeting at TRPA is on March 22nd. It is the Regional Plan Implementation Committee (RPIC). I plan on giving a presentation at that meeting to discuss how this action does not comply with the Code of Ordinance or the thresholds that TRPA established in 1982 to protect the environment.
I worked at TRPA in 1982 and I know about the thresholds. There is a land-use threshold with a housing sub-element that states three goals:
1 – promote housing for workers employed in the region
2 – affordable moderate-income housing for residents of the region
3 – and the third goal is to remove barriers preventing affordable housing
They did an Initial Environmental Checklist (IEC) that is just a form you fill out. You check “no, no, no, no” “I don’t create any impacts.” But the environmental review that went into this proposed change to the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan and change to the Regional Plan is insufficient. I am very disappointed with TRPA. In their change of leadership the last couple of years, the agency is becoming more like a marketing agency than an environmental protection agency.
I hope anyone interested would chime in on March 22nd at RPIC at 11am. You can go to the TRPA website, look for the agenda, and find out the time. They say “not before 11am,” but that could be 1 pm. I’ve gone to meetings and had to wait 2 hours before they got to the item because they don’t have a definite time.
I think this is really important for our community. This is impeding affordable housing. It is not creating housing for our workforce. And another thing that was brought up at the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) meeting is that each of these 40 units could potentially be turned into a short-term rental. That would have a huge impact on density, parking and traffic— everything. That is why the APC did not recommend approval of this Area Plan code change.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Kristina. We all appreciate your insider knowledge on all of this.
Kristina Hill
I don’t know if you discussed it before, or if I’m repeating what others have said, but I think it’s really important. It could change the whole town center into condos. And why wouldn’t people do that, because the developer makes a ton of money selling million-dollar condos. It’s not just this parcel. It’s the whole town center.
Aaron Vanderpool – Incline Village Resident, HOA President
Thank you, Kristina. I’m also very concerned about those changes. Since I was talking about it the last few meetings, I want to give a quick update on what I learned at the Nevada Legislature. It is happening now and until early June. So basically, 6 years ago they allowed us to submit and see the public comments to the proposed changes to state law. Then two sessions ago they removed the ability to see other people’s comments. That concerned me. I’ve been trying to figure that out. I had a great conversation with Sten Miles who is the Chief Information Officer. He was really happy to talk to me about this. They are not required by law to allow us to submit these comments online or to see them, but they are trying to make access for that. What happened was that basically they had a lot of Internet trolling and AI attacks and stuff like that—especially during the pandemic. So they removed the ability to see comments. But I’ve been trying to support bringing it back and get whatever resources they can to address that. So apparently it’s not required for them, but they’ve been trying. And it was really great for me to reach out and I encourage others to reach out because they like hearing from us and want to help. The more people who talk about it, the better we can see—and it’s important that we see—what other people are saying because some of these proposed changes are pretty tricky. Thank you.
Yolanda Knaak
I want to thank Kristina for all her work on this and her report. I agree we shouldn’t just readily change zoning. It really is going to cause more problems for us and for people who work here and need housing—that would be apartments.
It’s been a few months since I looked at realtor.com. But 947 is advertising these condos at $2.5 million. I want you to know that. And I hope I can make the meeting, I’m just not sure.
Kathie Julian – Incline Village Resident
I just want to follow up on Kristina’s analysis. First, this is not just about 947 Tahoe Boulevard. This is about the strip of land that includes older developments such as Christmas Tree Village and the fireplace store across the street, the Mountain Work Space building—all of that area on Highway 28 would be impacted by this zoning change.
And what it would do – contrary to what some of the supporters of this zoning change said at the last meeting on this subject – it will affect a broader number of parcels in that zone. There’s something like 40 parcels in Special Area 1. It will affect the older developed parcels. It will give the owners of those older parcels an incentive to tear down those structures and build luxury condos with perhaps some chichi businesses or stores on the bottom. But that’s a major change in our community. I’m not saying that the area along Highway 28 shouldn’t be redeveloped in some sensible manner to make it more pedestrian friendly and more attractive. That’s part of the Main Street program. I’m not against that. What I’m against is a code amendment coming in now as part of this condo development at 947 Tahoe Boulevard, which allows for that redevelopment without proper consultation on the broader issue of how we want our main street to look.
And I’m especially concerned about eliminating the opportunity for workforce housing in that area, because as someone said, if you can build a $2.5-$5 million luxury condo, that’s what you’re going to do.
But also I’m concerned about the impact on small businesses that will be forced out of this area along Highway 28 because they won’t be able to afford the rents in these redeveloped places. We need to think about this more holistically. Again, I’m not against redevelopment of a stretch of Incline. But I think this needs to be a lot more thought before changing zoning for that stretch.
Janet Pahl
I just want to comment on Yolanda’s comments. She’s correct with realtor.com. There are prices below $2.5 million and prices above. It’s been advertised also in our real-estate multiple listing service (MLS). So I don’t know where it is going to go, or where it stands with this, but the realtor has been very active in pushing these for sale – and I think she’s already accepted some deposits.
Denise Davis
I have a few things to add about the TRPA meeting. At the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) on March 8, the recommendation to amend the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan did not pass because it didn’t have a majority. It was one vote short. After that meeting, a question came up—and so I forwarded it to Jeff Cowen who is the Communications person at TRPA. I wrote Jeff that after the APC meeting, people started asking why Eric Young, a Washoe County employee, was allowed to vote on a Washoe County item. I asked if he’d like to share a response.
He emailed me this morning and said: “The TRPA traditionally allows APC members to participate in quasi-legislative matters—such as a zone change—that arise from their respective jurisdictions. Commissioner Eric Young did not have an impermissible conflict in this matter. Our legal counsel responded to a North Tahoe Preservation Alliance inquiry about this yesterday as well, so I think you should have what you need. Thank you for reaching out, and please let me know if you have any further questions.” [Post-meeting correction: Eric Young is not a commissioner; he is a Washoe County Planner.]
So I just wanted to let everyone know that according to TRPA and their legal counsel – people who may appear to have a conflict of interest are still allowed to vote. I don’t know if that extends to the Governing Board or not. That’s their stance.
Kristina Hill
Eric Young at the APC meeting said that nobody remembers why it is zoned the way it is as multifamily. Nobody remembers why “single-family-dwelling” is not an allowed use there. Excuse me!!! I was part of that process of the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan formulation, and I remember that we did not want SFDs in the commercial core. It really kind of offended me that he thinks this was done as a mistake, and that our original zoning was not well thought out, and nobody remembers why we did it. It was well thought out. And we do remember why we did it. And that was to provide for workforce and affordable housing and moderate-income housing—not $2 million condos.
Denise Davis
Thank you for bringing that up, Kristina, because I am also offended, because I and several people that I see online and in this room spent a lot of hours sitting in meetings discussing these things. And it is insulting to hear that all of those hours we all spent at these meetings are just disregarded. We kind of feel that already anyway. But to say, “Oh well, we don’t know where this came from.” Well, we know where it came from. I join you in being really insulted.
Ann Nichols
Pamela’s article about “Tahoe’s Future Hangs in the Balance” is really representative—a wonderful article—really representative of a groundswell—a movement that’s happening about the county and about TRPA. That’s why we’re looking at incorporating. This is—and California is trying too… We spent 3 years in Placer County as a group trying to determine what we wanted to see in the new Regional Plan. TRPA and the County threw it all out. We said we don’t want to see anything higher than 48 feet. They said, okay. We’ll allow 56 feet everywhere. And now they want to allow 72 feet. And it’s coming here. Placer County is the forerunner for everything that’s going to happen all around the lake. Even though the APC did not approve 947, TRPA is going ahead and putting it in front of the Governing Board to pass it, which they can do. They can just disregard the APC. This is so heavy-handed. We’re in such trouble. We’ve got to stand up. Please read Pamela’s article. It’s like a white paper on what’s happened.
Denise Davis
We are after 10 o’clock. So does anyone have any brief final comments?
Karin Beatty – Incline Village Resident
I’m working with the North Tahoe Preservation Alliance. Although I’m fairly new to what is going on with development, my family has lived here since 1965, so I well remember Tahoe then, and how it was, and the communities and all of that. I’m very interested in regaining that. I think some of the work that’s being done is incredible—Kristina and all of you guys who are really looking at the message that’s going on—which is slightly hidden and difficult to get to. What TRPA and other entities really want to do in this area is really alarming.
I think the biggest problem is that people don’t know about it. The locals really don’t have access or understanding of the information. And when they do get it, people are alarmed. So for me, it’s to get the message out to ensure the community knows what’s really happening, and knows what the future is going to look like if we don’t come together as a group. It’s not a vocal minority as has been noted. The people that know and really understand must make sure other people know. That’s what I’m working on.
Just this morning as an example, the traffic from Highway 80 to Northstar was completely backed up by 8:15—this morning on a Friday. This is the future for all of us if we continue with these giant resorts and rules that they’re trying to put out. We won’t be getting far.
Denise Davis
I would add that it’s not just during ski season. I live on the east side of Incline Village. And it’s easily an hour’s creep from Lakeshore Boulevard past Sand Harbor on any August morning and weekend mornings during the summer. Traffic is not only a winter OR only a summer problem. It’s a problem, period.
Karin Beatty
When you have Boulder Bay developed like they are trying to put out, you won’t get from Incline to Highway 80 easily.
Margaret Martini
I would just like to note that there is not one person on the Washoe County Commission, and very few on TRPA that are residents here in Tahoe. What’s up with that? We don’t have resident representation. So to that point, that needs to be addressed if we want to have some of our resident concerns addressed.
Denise Davis
Just a minute left. I want to thank everyone for joining this morning. Remember to celebrate St Patrick’s Day safely. Get out today and stock up on your groceries and anything you need to get done, because as we know the next storm is coming. I remind everyone that our next Forum meeting will be April 7. March has 5 Fridays, but we meet only on the 1st and 3rd. So we won’t be meeting for 3 weeks. We appreciate everyone’s attendance and input and participation.
I cannot overstate that this TRPA meeting on March 22nd is very important. Until we see you on April 7, stay safe and have a good time. We’ll see you then.
Participants
Aaron Vanderpool
Amanda McPhaill
Ann Nichols
Denise Davis
Doug Flaherty
Helen Neff
Jack Dalton
Jacquie Chandler
Joe Farrell
John James
Joseph Colacurcio
Kari Ferguson
Karin Beatty
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Linda Offerdahl
Margaret Martini
Miranda Jacobson
Pam Straley
Rebekah Tinker
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Sommers
Sam Levine
Todd Lowe
Yolanda Knack
Chat Log:
09:13:23 From Kari Ferguson : Meeting does begin at 5pm on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/uploads/pdf-ivgid/final_BOT_Agenda_3_22_2023.pdf
09:20:10 From Kari Ferguson : Communications@ivgid.org
09:21:01 From Kari Ferguson : Email me with any question or if you would like to receive the information related to BOT synopsis. Thanks everyone!
09:22:00 From Kari Ferguson : Thank you NLTFPD for keeping our kids safe! 🤗
09:44:45 From kathie julian : Governing Board Documents March 22, 2023 – Hybrid Meeting|Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
“Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board Mtgs, Wed 22 March —
There will be a Discussion of Proposed Amendment to the Tahoe Area Plan for Incline Village to allow Single Family Condos in Special Area 1, the strip of developed and undeveloped land along Tahoe Blvd — including the parcels from the 947 Tahoe proposed luxury condo complex to Christmas Tree Village area on both sides of SR 28. Some 40 parcels (older developed and undeveloped) will be affected by this zoning change. Go to the agenda item for TRPA Regional Planning Implementation Committee meeting (from 11 am on 22 March). See page 385 of the Board Packet for Staff Report.
https://www.trpa.gov/wp-content/uploads/March-22-Governing-Board-Packet.pdf
09:44:55 From Kari Ferguson : Rec center survey: bit.ly/2023recsurvey
09:47:42 From Kari Ferguson : https://www.diamondpeak.com/event/luggi-foeger-uphill-downhill-festival/
09:48:28 From kathie julian : “Tahoe’s Future Hangs In The Balance” — again
https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/2023/03/16/tahoes-future-hangs-in-the-balance-again/70017055007/
09:54:12 From Jacquie Chandler : Thank you Kristina for your vigilance on this important issue. The thresholds are very clear and continue exposing the ‘shifting focus’ of this agency
09:58:42 From Jacquie Chandler : I think those $2.5M condos have already pre-sold, so this could get ugly
09:59:10 From Aaron Vanderpool : Here is a link to the proposed bill changes and sessions for the 2023 NV legislature session. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bills/List
10:07:08 From kathie julian : These are the documents before the TRPA on 22 March: Regional Plan Implementation Committee Agenda Item No. 3 Washoe County Tahoe Area Plan Amendment Staff Report
• Attachment A – Washoe County Signed Ordinance_1696
• Attachment B Tahoe Area Plan Amendment
• Attachment C Adopting Ordinance Tahoe Area Plan
• Attachment D TRPA Findings Tahoe Area Plan Amendment
• Attachment E Initial Environmental Checklist Area Plan Amendment
• Attachment F Area Plan Amendment Conformance Checklist
• Attachment G Area Plan Amendment Compliance Measures
10:09:03 From kathie julian : Connection to zoom for the TRPA Meeting on 22 March from 11 am, but could be later:
10:09:14 From kathie julian : Please click the following link to join the webinar for the above TRPA Committee and TRPA Governing Board meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83954727903?pwd=SDhlQ2xMWHh4L2hNQWRlaE8ya3dmdz09
Passcode: 696116
Or One tap mobile:
US: +16699009128,,83954727903#,,,,*696116# or +16694449171,,83954727903#,,,,*696116#
From Kathie Julian: Two other items also on the 22 March Agenda
4) Recommendation regarding the 2023-2024 distribution of residential allocations to El Dorado County, City of South Lake Tahoe, Placer County, Washoe County, and Douglas County (action); (Page 487) 5) Recommendation regarding proposed code amendments to the “Achievable” deed restriction category definition, including changes to Sections 52.3.4 and 90.2, and an amendment to Section 34.3.3 regarding driveways for accessory dwelling units (action); (Page 541)
IVCB FORUM URLs
Our email is:
ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District website
https://nltfpd.org/
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
Final draft – Washoe County Tahoe Transportation Plan – from Parametrix
https://tahoe-transportation-plan-washoe.hub.arcgis.com/
Public comments accepted thru MARCH 17; send comments to:
WCtransportationstudy@parametrix.com
acummings@parametrix.com
March 17 – TTD Program Implementation Committee meeting
https://www.tahoetransportation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-3-17-TTD-Program-Implementation-Comm-Mtg-Agenda-Packet.pdf
March 22 – TRPA committees and Governing Board meetings
https://www.trpa.gov/event/governing-board-meeting-5-2023-03-22/
March 22 – IVGID Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
March 27 – TTD IV Mobility Committee meeting
https://www.tahoetransportation.org/meetings/incline-village-mobility-committee-meeting-march-27-2023/
March 28 – Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting
https://www.washoecounty.gov/bcc/board_committees/index.php#meetingList
IVGID 2023 Recreation Center Survey – closes March 31
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/events/2023-recreation-center-survey
April 3 – IV/CB Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting
https://www.washoecounty.gov/CABS/IVCB_CAB/index.php
April 5 – TTD/C Board Meeting
https://www.tahoetransportation.org/meetings/ttd-c-board-meeting-april-5-2023/
Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation fundraiser
$5 Gratitude Grams delivered on March 30
order by March 27
email foundation@tfhd.com or call IVCHF at 775-888-4204
Pamela Tsigdinos _ Opinion piece in the March 16 Reno Gazette Journal
https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/2023/03/16/tahoes-future-hangs-in-the-balance-again/70017055007/
Waste Management presentation at the March 6 CAB begins at 00:41
https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/play/0ODQZmVYazWeCV6GjhJsPYFZH3M5JPyxFRaf7SuSPvCEXWUhMlr2N0MLLDUyK3k1LV1uh_oQrCnJCyvP.ulO0m8U3VXGvzjk_?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=flnOIaY5RRCZjVmUhWq_Hg.1679038965190.a6dfecc9f94c5cd83d0d7c3590bededf&_x_zm_rhtaid=458
Synopsis of March 8 IVGID BOT meeting
https://mailchi.mp/ivgid/botsynopsismarch82023
April 13-15 and 20-22 – Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training
https://www.washoecert.org/
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.leg.state.nv.us
www.youtube.com/@NVLeg/streams
IV/CB Community 1st meetings and community info
ivcbcommunity1st.org
IVCBA (Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association)
ivcba.org