Denise Davis – Moderator
A reminder that we partner with IVCBA and IVCB Community 1st so be sure to sign up for their newsletters to get community information. And if you’d like to sign up for our recaps, send an email to the Forum gmail account [ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com]. We’ll start this morning with Kari from IVGID.
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District, Communication Coordinator
Good morning everyone. Happy Friday. I want to let everyone know about IVGID Community Appreciation Week this week at Diamond Peak. So on Sunday, if you have a Recreation Pass or a Recreation Punch Card, you can get a free lift ticket to ski. If you already have a Season Pass, you can try the demo equipment, which is exciting.
Tonight we have the Ullr fest that begins at 4:00pm which is in partnership with the Diamond Peak Education Foundation and one of their big fund raisers. So we’re excited about Ullr Fest and Community Appreciation Week.
Our clinics are getting super big. But we’re breaking them into smaller groups at Diamond Peak. The 55+ is on Wednesdays. And the Skisters on Tuesdays. So everyone should come out to Diamond Peak and join us.
We’re also in the planning stages for Easter. Our Easter Bunny Trail Event is at the Championship Golf Course. And we are working on the 4th of July event schedule, which is pretty exciting. As soon as I get more information, I’ll let you guys know. Have a good day everyone.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District (NLTFPD) Chief
We’re status quo, and I’ll let Tia update you on the burning. So I’ll let Tia go and if there are any questions I can address them.
Tia Rancourt – NLTFPD Public Information Officer
Thank you Chief. So we’ve completed our Christmas tree chipping program in collaboration with Waste Not and Waste Management. We chipped a total of 1119 trees. So thank you to everyone who brought a tree over to Preston Field, or we had the curbside option that went on for about a week. So that went really well. Thank you. We’re continuing our pile burning. We’ll be burning north of Bridger Court next week, weather permitting.
Joseph Colacurcio – Washoe County Sheriff Office (WCSO) Sergeant
We’re continuing to deal with traffic complaints as normal and all the parking problems. Nothing major on that.
Denise Davis
If someone has a parking problem, how should they report it?
Joseph Colacurcio
You have multiple options. My recommendation is to call 775 785-9276, which is our non- emergency number and which will get you to our Dispatch to deal with a complaint for parking problems. If it’s something that’s not occurring at that time but occurs over time or at certain times, you can call the main station in Incline and put in a Service Request. And we’ll be able to go out and handle that at the appropriate time.
Shirley Appel – Incline Resident, HOA President
The “Oriole speedway” is getting worse. It needs to be controlled better than it is.
Joseph Colacurcio
Feel free to file a Service Request because that’s the best way we have to let us know. If you’re willing, give us a call and put it in there and we’ll work those areas.
Shirley Appel
Once in a while, I walk there, and they aren’t going 25mph.
Greg Herrera – Washoe County Sheriff Office Chief Deputy
Good morning everybody. I just jumped in to the middle of this Forum [inaudible] to get caught up on what’s happening. So thanks for having me this morning.
Corey Solferino – Washoe County Sheriff Office Captain
Thank you. I have just a couple of updates. Last night I had the pleasure of attending the South Valley Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) and was speaking to some of the things we have going on with the WCSO. Just recently we published our end-of-year State of the Sheriff’s Office—which is available on our website at washoesheriff.com. It talks about all the things that were important to us this year in the community, things we accomplished, and benchmarks for next year—and some of the shortcomings we’ll be focusing on in 2022. Some things I’ll take particular note of especially in the IVCB community include DUIs, accidents, and distracted driving, which are on the rise. Similar to some of the community members’ complaints, speeding is our Number One problem. Sergeant Colacurcio and I are working on a traffic plan to get some radar trailers. You’ve seen them sporadically placed throughout the area to serve as constant reminders when an officer can’t be present in a given area. Understand we get complaints regarding Tyner, Upper Tyner, 431, 28, Village, Oriole, Country Club, and Lakeshore. So our Service Requests are extensive. They go all over the place. Because the predominant speed in Incline Village is 25 mph, people need to realize how very, very slow that is. In fact if you do the posted speed, you’ll probably have somebody who’s tailgating on your rear end, because people like to get around in a hurry. So that’s a focus of enforcement moving forward. With Deputy Chief Herrera on the call, he knows I have some end-of-year wish list items we’re asking for up here so we can more effectively handle those traffic studies. Sergeant Colacurcio with his background with managing the motor unit in Incline will be instrumental in that success. I want you guys to understand that your comments and complaints are not falling on deaf ears. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on in the Village right now, but traffic safety is our Number One priority. I’ll be happy to entertain any other questions you have. But I just wanted to give you guys that quick snapshot. Also, you can follow the WCSO on our Instagram and Facebook pages. We try to put out as much information as we can on those. I know that the Incline Village page is a little slow right now. We’re kind of on the heels of our main page. We’re trying to get a dedicated community engagement person up to par on our Incline page. But we’re putting important information out on a daily basis on the WCSO main Facebook page. And I promise the Incline Village substation page will become more robust in 2022.
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Head Librarian
Denise, I’ve put the numbers in the Chat if there are any questions for NLTFPD or WCSO.
Patricia Moser Morris – Incline Resident
Hello, Captain Solferino. I have a question for you about the abolition of the Incline’s Constable’s Office. I have read all the materials that were presented to the Commissioners in the last meeting including the two staff reports. I noticed that the only reason given for abolishment seems to be that the office has already been abolished in other parts of the County, which I would respectfully submit is actually irrelevant to the situation in our community—which is unique in many ways. There was no criticism or listing of shortcomings of the current Constable’s office, or even how abolishing it and replacing it with Sheriff Office services would actually enhance services to the Incline community. So would you please comment on that?
Corey Solferino
Yeah, I’d be happy to. This is a question that has come up in several Community Forums. Commissioner Alexis Hill, General County Manager Eric Brown, and I have been hitting a number of the CAB and Forum meetings talking about this subject. I want to make abundantly clear this wasn’t something WCSO requested or pursued. We were asked—if the Incline Constable position was eliminated—to put a plan in place to take over services. I have an excellent working relationship—as does the WCSO—with Judge Tiras and Constable Keller. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks—just with the understanding that if this position is abolished—to recruit Constable Keller to come over to the WCSO. I think the easiest thing to say is this.
The enhancement of services is purely by resources. The Constable doesn’t have at his disposal the same resources WCSO has. We perform many of these very functions in the Valley. We’re good at it, and we have strength in numbers. By having someone embedded from the WCSO in the Court—and I’m not saying we don’t have a working relationship with the Court because we do—increases our communication. Our deputies, sergeants, lieutenants, myself are out in the community every day. We know what’s going on with respect to crime trends, investigations, and everything else going on. With having that person embedded in the court, we have a better understanding of how to address some of these recidivism issues with people who are under sanctions from the Court, pretrial before their sentences are carried out. They might have certain conditions of release. These are things that we can better work with the Court when people are out in the community, whether they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, whether they’re reporting to their programs… I see it as an enhancement in that regard ma’am, simply because we have more resources to throw at this.
One of the things that Chief Herrera was instrumental in helping us bring over, along with Manager Brown and Sheriff Balaam was our Mobile Outreach Safety Teams. They used to be housed under the umbrella of HAS. They’ve now come over to the WCSO. We have mental health clinicians now embedded in the Sheriff’s Office—currently 3 of 6 vacancies filled and we’re looking for the additional clinicians. They’ll be riding along with officers to better diagnose some of the issues that are plaguing our community. It’s no secret that they don’t happen just in the Valley but happen in Incline Village too—substance abuse and mental health issues. Those are things that unfortunately, just because of the Constable’s budget and lack of resources and the employment benefits that they have, they simply can’t carry out. So I will say this, if it does come to that specific endeavor, we’ll be able to handle those services and enhance them just by virtue of the resources we can throw at them, and then put a positive Incline Village community spin on it.
Patricia Moser Morris
I appreciate what you said. I’m sure you know that Judge Tiras opposes the proposed abolition of the Constable office. Having read the staff report, I have to wonder how two fulltime officers and a couple of part-time people can be replaced by the addition of one position in the WCSO. I say this meaning no disrespect to you or to the Sheriff Office. I will continue to oppose this proposal.
Corey Solferino
I appreciate that ma’am. I appreciate the comments and the feedback. That was in the initial case study—what it would take based on the case volume and the statistics that we received from the Court. What we’re doing down in the valley with the very same positions… The fulltime deputy that we would have replaced in the Court would be that Bailiff Constable position. So yes, only one would be embedded in the court, but you need to understand also that we have an entire Civil Division and an entire Patrol Division to help with some of the civil process to help us assist with the Temporary Protection Orders (TPOs), the EPOs, the civil judgments and liens. We have an entire division and department that will help assist in those endeavors, not to mention the additional officers we have in Incline.
The way we handle Calls for Service and the way the Constable handles Calls for Service are different. When we serve a Temporary Protection Order… domestic violence is one of the most violent and deadly things we respond to as law-enforcement officers. I’m not going to talk about Constable Keller’s tactics or what they do or don’t do… but that is something that would be handled by our Patrol Division or our Civil Division. We would go out and serve those without having to pull that resource from the Court. So when I talk about enhancement of services—yeah, it looks like 1 body is replacing 3—the one fulltime Constable and then the other two part-time positions. We’ll address that bridge when we get there, and if we need to throw more resources at it, if we’re given that opportunity, we’ll do so. But based upon the statistics the Court provided, I don’t think it’s prudent or necessary to add more than one to start.
Denise Davis
Thank you. Sara do you have a question for Captain Cory?
Sara Schmitz – Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID) Trustee, IVCB Community 1st Director
No, I wanted to continue with the IVGID update after Kari had finished hers. I do have one quick comment regarding the Constable’s office. It is interesting that this agenda item was brought to the Commission by Bob Lucy, who is not our Commissioner. Our Commissioner is Alexis Hill. I’ve asked her why Lucey is bringing agenda items on her District to the Commissioners. I don’t think this item is in the best interest of our community, our jurisdiction, or our district, but she has not responded.
As related to road safety, my question is whether the WCSO could do some kind of community education. We have in winter many pedestrians who don’t understand you shouldn’t be walking with your back to traffic. All you need is a distracted walker or a distracted driver, and the person has their back to oncoming cars. As a kid I was always told when you walk on the street you face traffic so you can see who is coming and where they are so you can take defensive action. It seems like our community doesn’t understand that. Roads are slippery. Distracted driving is an issue. I think there’s something we should be doing to better educate our community about this issue.
Corey Solferino
I don’t disagree with you. That’s something Sergeant Colacurcio and I are passionate about. We’ll work with our traffic enforcement team and our community engagement team to put out some messaging. Agreed. We’re looking to enhance our current messaging from the Incline substation using a reader board with specific messaging. Obviously this last summer our fire messaging was very important on Red Flag days. We’d like to work in concert with our community engagement team regarding messaging on what’s important now. Absolutely one of them is distracted driving. A couple of weeks ago we had a vehicle-and-pedestrian incident on Lakeshore Boulevard. We live in a highly recreated area, so people are out running and walking and jogging and riding bikes. We do need to be cognizant of the fact we need to share the roads with the motor vehicles and understand the safety implications.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident, Citizen Advisory Board Member
Actually I have a suggestion and a query for Captain Corey. You mentioned that accident on Lakeshore a couple of weeks ago. Will we find that report on your Facebook page, or is there any website where we’ll find a list of all the incidents in IVCB over the past week that have happened in our little community?
Corey Solferino
That’s not something we usually brand—unless it’s significant. I can talk with our command in Incline and ask if we can highlight in this meeting some of the incidents that have happened over the course of the previous week that are of note. We do statistical analysis through our Intelligence Center and look at crime trends and patterns, and accidents, and how we can better combat those issues. But we don’t have anything specific right now—just talking about accidents in general except for year-end reporting. That’s something I can actually look into and bring to this meeting to discuss. We have an internal “pass-down” that we talk about among shifts so that our officers and sergeants know what’s going on in an area. But that is absolutely something I can look at and information I can bring to this meeting to share in a community forum.
Kathie Julian
That would be great. The background is that we have developments that are proposed for our community—for instance, the 947 Tahoe Boulevard condos at Southwood and Highway 28. And it would be good to understand if accidents with pedestrians are happening at that corner; or if there are traffic accidents with collisions on that stretch of 28. It would be good for the community to know because it feeds into our request to the County for proper traffic management at that intersection should these developments be built. So that’s the background. It helps inform planning. And it helps inform the community so we can have input into planning.
My second point was simply this. I ran into two of your lovely deputies out by Tunnel Creek who were citing about 4 cars who had parked improperly at the entrance to the restaurant up on the fire road. It might be helpful during the winter to put a sign up there saying this is also a fire road and you can’t park here. I’ve seen a lot of cars parked in that area. I think it’s because they don’t know they can’t. Thank you to your deputies; they were lovely people.
Corey Solferino
I appreciate that Kathie. Thank you.
Helen Nash – Incline Resident
I heard there was a pedestrian and vehicle incident on Highway 28 last week. Was that in addition to the incident on Lakeshore?
Corey Solferino
I’m unaware of the one on State Route 28. Both Highway 28 and 431 belong to the NV State police. I’d have to look up their statistics. Obviously we go out and assist with their endeavors. But those investigations are in their record systems, not ours. So I’d have to look specifically.
Helen Nash
It was a week from yesterday in front of Raley’s.
Joseph Colacurcio
Yes. The one I was talking about when I was down at the [ ] last week on 28 in the 905 area. It was a vehicle and pedestrian handled by the NV Highway Patrol. A female was crossing appropriately within the NRS and was struck at less than 5mph—so she was bumped and knocked over. She was transported at her request to Renown, and the driver was issued a citation by NHP, but I don’t know the finer details because we don’t have them.
Helen Nash
So that would be two incidents in the last 3 weeks.
Joseph Colacurcio
I think there was only 1 incident and I think the Captain might [inaudible]. But I haven’t seen any other incidents reported.
Helen Nash
So that why going back to Kathie’s point, having a place where we can get official information would be beneficial for those of us who are very concerned about pedestrian safety.
Joseph Colacurcio
That’s something I can do. I can push out something from the Sheriff’s Office for those accidents I don’t see. That’s something we can work on to push out as public information.
I was reading about the comments about walking on the roadway. NRS states that if you’re walking on the roadway you should be walking facing traffic. You’re not to walk with the flow of traffic; you are to walk against the traffic. If there are pedestrian walkways provided within a reasonable distance from the roadway, you are to use the pedestrian walkway. If you fail to use that you’re considered a pedestrian in the roadway in violation of the NRS. So if there is a walkway or walking path adjacent to the roadway—sidewalks or the walking paths we have here—it is required that you actually use the walking path and that includes running or jogging. If you are operating a bicycle, which is considered a type of vehicle, that is required to operate under the same laws as motor vehicles. That can be found under NRS 484.
Denise Davis
Sergeant, just to clarify… So the paved paths along Lakeshore, along Village, and along Highway 28, are they walking paths or bicycle paths?
Joseph Colacurcio
I believe that’s under NDOT’s control, so that’s theirs. That’s on their property. I’ll have to look where it is. But that would be considered a walking path adjacent to the roadway, which is provided for pedestrian safety. So that’s where pedestrians should travel.
Joe Farrell – Incline Resident
Thanks for the explanation. I just have a quick comment. With the weather being bad, there’s a lot of ice on the pathways you’re alluding to. I walk 4-5 times a week along Lakeshore, but there are areas of the pathway that are very, very slick. I do walk against traffic but on the roadway. I just want to comment that at certain times of the year, it’s so icy and dangerous on the pathway, the only safe place to walk is on the roadway against traffic. And it sounds like I’m breaking the law if I do that.
Joseph Colacurcio
Yes, sir. You would be at fault for being in the roadway if you were struck by a car even if you’re facing traffic.
John Crockett
Denise, Kari Ferguson of IVGID is asking which stretch of the walking path you are talking about.
Joe Farrell
There are various patches of it. Right now it’s pretty much melted going from Incline Beach to Burnt Cedar. But if you go the other direction, right past the entrance to the Lone Eagle, there’s probably a block or 1 ½ block. I went up that way yesterday and turned around because it was so icy and I didn’t have my crampons on.
Kari Ferguson
Are we talking Lakeshore? [Joseph Farrell – Yes.] Okay, that’s Washoe County, not IVGID.
Denise Davis
So Kari, to clarify, what paths are IVGID’s responsibility for clearing?
Kari Ferguson
If you go from the Skate Park down to the Recreation Center, those are our walking paths that are off the street… the ones that go past the Middle School area. And also from Incline Beach to Ski Beach there’s another path within the beach. That’s’ our path as well. Any of the fills. That sort of thing. But we don’t have any walking paths near a street.
Sara Schmitz
Can I just clarify? Sorry to interrupt. But this issue is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been working on this issue during winters for a few years. The walking paths are Washoe County’s responsibility for clearing. They are low on the priority list. When storms come in, the snow removal crews clear the roads first. But the walking paths throughout the Village are Washoe County’s responsibility. IVGID has been thoughtful and has been diligently clearing paths in front of their properties. But in reality, those pathways are on Washoe County easements and they are a Washoe County responsibility. IVGID has done a good job in front of IVGID property, especially along Lakeshore, they’ve removed the snowdrifts. I just want to make it clear that the roads and walkways are not IVGID responsibility.
Steve Dolan – Incline Resident, Friends of Third Creek Director
There’s a third entity responsible along Highway 28—NDOT. That rarely gets worked on from the bus stop across from Wells Fargo… Places where there are NDOT easements are their responsibility. I’ve also dealt with this issue between Washoe County and NDOT. They have a real problem working those out. NDOT is a third entity to deal with if you’re along a State Highway.
Denise Davis
Thanks Steve. Did you want to ask your questions for the Fire Department now?
Steve Dolan
Sure. Thank you. The Fishery project is starting up in about a month. The NLTFPD has been very generous in supplying us with sandbags for the project. Last year, I guess the NLTFPD ran out. And I’m curious whether they’ve restocked and whether they will be available for the project.
Ryan Sommers
Good morning Steve. Absolutely. I’m not sure if we ran out last year or they were maybe misplaced in a different area of the station and someone didn’t know where we put them. We will definitely help you out there again. We’ll get some sandbags. Don’t tell anyone I steal them from Washoe County.
Steve Dolan
Will you also supply a few strong individuals to help place them? You have in the past, and we really appreciate it.
Ryan Sommers
Yes, that’s no problem Just give me some dates in an email and we’ll get it all worked out.
Steve Dolan
Okay, I’ll email you. Thank you very much.
Sara Schmitz
I appreciate Kari’s update. I just want to add an update from the Board of Trustees. We had a meeting last night that was rescheduled from last week. And due to public comment made during the meeting, the Board actually made some final revisions to the Audi Committee Charters. I want to thank the community members, and the member who spoke at the meeting. We listened and altered that document, and we passed a revised Audit Committee policy. In addition, the Board was working on a pricing policy to ensure we have consistent pricing, and we have pricing to help us break even at venues. And also recognizing the value of picture pass card holders. That will be coming back on the agenda at the end of February. We also are working on the next fiscal-year budget. So we’ve been talking a lot about priority projects for the community, and some of the challenges the District has with staff retention, with the increased pricing of goods and service, and how that affects the budget. Our next meeting Wednesday night will include a review of the utility rate study. And based on the budget documents we reviewed last night, it seems they’re proposing a very significant 20% increase in water rates. So I think it’s important for the community to understand what’s happening with that initiative. The other thing that’s on the agenda is pricing for golf coming up this next season. Also, the community has never seen the final design of the Burnt Cedar pool. The Board saw a schematic design but never saw the final design. So that will be coming before the Board on Wednesday night as well. If there are any needed tweaks it’s important for the Board to give that direction before they start up to finish the project. We really appreciate when the community members review the packets and provide valuable public comment. We do listen and adjust. I just want to share that and if you have any questions, let me know.
Denise Davis
Just so everybody knows, the IVGID Board packets are available on the IVGID website. The easiest way to get there is IVGID.org. Look for the Board of Trustees page. And then look for the information for the agenda.
Kari Ferguson
I just put a link in the Chat Box. Actually the link is yourtahoeplace.com.
Denise Davis
That meeting is Wednesday night beginning at 6pm.
Sara Schmitz
It is a zoom meeting, so it’s easy to provide public comment.
Joe Farrell
Just a quick question for Sara. I’m a little remiss because I didn’t read the minutes for the IVGID meeting. My wife and I attended the Chateau meeting about the condo complex at 947 Tahoe Boulevard at the corner of 28 and Southwood, and also recently attended the zoom meeting with the Boulder Bay developers. It’s apparent there will be a significant number of new condominiums and hotel rooms in the Boulder Bay area. Has there been any communications with these developers of these projects specifically in connection with beach passes? We’re going to be really impacted. As you know, our beaches are incredibly impacted already in the summertime. And in the next 1-3 years we will potentially have a huge influx of new people.
Sara Schmitz
Thanks, Joe, for your question and attending the meetings. As related to knowledge of these projects, for impact on IVGID water and sewer, yes, I know our General Manager is very familiar with both of these projects and in communication with the project leaders. I too have been concerned about capacity of our infrastructure. But I’ve been told that the analysis done for water and sewer shows that they aren’t being overtaxed. The infrastructure was built for a larger community than what we have today. As for beach passes, the condominiums and residents of Crystal Bay do not have beach access. Only the residents in Incline Village have access, so the Boulder Bay condominium complex won’t impact our beaches. As far as the condo residents at 947 Tahoe Boulevard, they will be receiving passes for which they are eligible like any other unit in Incline.
Joe Farrell
Thanks, Sara.
Denise Davis
I’ll just add to Sara’s comment. Serving as a member of the Ordinance 7 Committee, I want everyone to understand beach passes are available to those parcels included in the boundaries of IVGID when the beaches were deeded to IVGID in 1968. There is a map (in the Chat Box) of that so if you’re interested you can see the parcels that are inside that boundary as of that date.
Steve Dolan
May I jump in on Sara’s comment? [Denise Davis – You have 1 minute.] There was a call from former Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler about a month and a half ago asking for support for using the Crystal Bay water-pump building that has been semi-abandoned to bottle commercial water out of Crystal Bay. I firmly oppose this. Based on the Boulder Bay development—and I know our Trustees and General Manager have been contacted by the group wanting to bottle the water out of Crystal Bay—I would hope that—knowing about the upcoming development by Larry Ellison and the Boulder Bay group—they would stop that kind of request. I think it’s important that we keep Tahoe water in Tahoe and not commercialize it. Thank you.
Kathie Julian
I have a question for the NLTFPD. [Denise Davis – Okay you have a minute.] I attended the EKN Resort at Tahoe presentation before the Board of Adjustment yesterday. In that meeting, Jennifer Donohue commented positively about the ingress and egress from the project site. The query came from a Board member, and it seemed he was talking about evacuation, and it seemed she commented positively that evacuation was not a problem. I’ll wait for the minutes of the meeting to be published for her exact comments.
I’d like to know if there is an evacuation plan for IVCB; and if the plan needs to be adjusted for any proposed project that comes into the area as large as the Resort at Tahoe. And I’d like to know whether the plan will be updated before approvals are given so we know exactly what we’re looking at in terms of potential evacuation should a large retail commercial project like that come in. That’s a query for Chief Sommers—or maybe even for people higher than him.
Ryan Sommers
Thanks, Kathie. We do have an evacuation plan, and have had for many years; however, it addresses the community as a whole. It doesn’t necessarily narrow down into specific neighborhoods or areas. We saw that being an issue when we talked about the Caldor Fire. So with that we’re starting to work on more specific narrowed-down areas of evacuation. Just like any other plan that’s put out, this one will always need updating based on current developments, projects, or whatever may come to fruition. Then we have to address how to get those people out. Absolutely, that’s our job. So the answer is we’re working on a finite area evacuation plan. But the whole area has an evacuation plan. I think what people need to realize and keep in mind is we have 3 ways out of IVCB. To me that’s impressive given that if you look at the rest of the communities around Lake Tahoe, a lot of them have only one. So we need to make sure we understand the whole concept. And if you want to go above me and you don’t like my answer, then we can talk about that as well. I have 5 elected officials I report to as my Board.
Kathie Julian
No, I didn’t mean to suggest I would go above you Chief Sommers. I just meant I didn’t know whether you would have the answer to that question.
Ryan Sommers
Yes, we see that as an issue, and we are absolutely working on that.
Kathie Julian
Okay. Great. Thank you.
Steve Dolan
There’s nobody higher than Chief Sommers.
[General laughter.]
Ryan Sommers
There’s plenty of people, believe me.
Judy Miller – Incline Resident, Citizen Advisory Board Past Chair
I have a question to the Ordinance 7 committee. I’d like to follow up on Joe Farrell’s question about have we looked at the impact on the beaches of this new 40-unit development. I think we need to look even beyond that. Hopefully the Ordinance 7 Committee is considering the fact that with the new Tahoe Area Plan, we will have much greater densities. So here with the 947 Tahoe Boulevard project, we have two lots that became 40. All parcels in what we call “town centers,” now have the potential for subdividing. They can subdivide a 1-acre parcel into 20 or even 30 units, which I think is the maximum. And we’ve seen how easy it is to get residential allocations. I initially thought that would limit development. But there are many ways to convert commercial floor area into residential units of use. We may have thousands of new units over the next 10 years if something isn’t done to control that.
I think the Ordinance 7 committee really needs to be careful as to how they define a guest. If a guest is someone who came with you and not just someone you gave a Punch Card to, we could limit access to actual owner or long-term tenants and their guests—who could also be limited. Just saying every parcel gets 5 more punch card passes when a single parcel subdivides into 20 or 30 parcels… we’re looking at a big increase in giving away beach access. Anyway, to the Ordinance 7 committee—I see there are a few of you in attendance here—please keep that in mind. Thank you.
Denise Davis
Before we focus on Boulder Bay, I want to remind everyone that we have a Washoe County Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting Monday at 5:30. The agenda is online. That URL is in the recap below the Chat. On Tuesday there’s a Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting starting at 10 am in Reno. There are two items on the agenda relevant to Incline. One is the Second Reading of the Abolishment of the Constable Office. If it passes the second reading, it will become effective. Also, the Incline Village tax report was available at the last Board of County Commissioners meeting. I checked and the Tahoe Transportation District does not have anything scheduled until April. It’s a busy week. If you want to know more information about the meetings, check on the IVCB Community 1st website (ivcbcommunity1st.org).
I’ll now start with Ann Nichols. We had a couple of meetings during the past week pertaining to the project at Boulder Bay. The developer is EKN. Ann, you may start the discussion.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident, North Lake Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
Last night the Board of Adjustment unanimously passed the grading application and the removal of Wassou Road behind the casino for an unknown period of time. It could be up to 5 years. This is a massive project—reconfiguring roads, 50-foot high retaining walls, 8-story buildings, and they say they’ll get all the roads reconfigured and 200,000 cubic yards of soil excavated this summer. At the same time the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) will be redoing the pavement on Highway 28 through Crystal Bay. Obviously this can’t get all done this summer.
I want to apologize to all the residents and those in the community who took the time to attend the Board of Adjustment meeting to listen and give input, because we didn’t have a chance. The agencies had figured it all out and got together. It was particularly disappointing when the Fire Department’s Miss Donahue… They fought for us last June when the developers tried to take our 4th exit from Crystal Bay. The NLTFPD stood by us. And this time when asked by the Board—I’ll have to listen to the exact wording—but they basically said eliminating that 4th exit for an unknown period of time was “fine.” I’m just so sad about that. It’s just a shame. We can appeal. But we learned a lot of information. A lot of our questions weren’t answered. They were deflected. It was a “rope a dope.” The County wouldn’t respond. We heard the casino was staying open until October. We wanted that confirmed. Oh, no. We wanted to know why they were going to do only a $20,000 grading bond when they’re disturbing 10 acres? We asked things with no answers.
But we found through a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request that all through January, EKN and their lawyers were meeting with the various agencies getting everybody on the same page for this hearing. The missing piece of this is the public. We go in there. We do the best we can. But it feels like it’s already been decided. We really need truth in government. It’s just so hard for the community. Roger Wittinberg’s old attorney got on the phone—and even though we have evidence that the project has changed in the application—he got up and said, “Oh no, it’s the same project.” But actually, the buildings are in different locations, there’s a new building below Lakeview, the subterranean parking is in a different location. It’s still going to be one building 6 stories high, and another one 8 stories. Anyway, we’re just sad. We tried.
Denise Davis
The URL and time stamp for the Board of Adjustment meeting will be at the end of our recap below the Chat Box. I found it very interesting to listen to the NDOT engineer. I may go back and review what he said. He had interesting points.
Kristina Hill I know you previously told our group why you couldn’t participate in the meeting yesterday. Do you want to remind everyone why you were not able to participate?
Kristina Hill – Washoe County Board of Adjustment Chair
So sad… I inadvertently signed a petition that said they needed to do a new traffic study, to update the 2008 traffic study. When I signed it, it shot out to Washoe County and TRPA. So Washoe County said I was requesting a new traffic study and that was a conflict of interest. I got a strongly worded letter from the Washoe attorney saying I needed to recuse myself. So I did, but I listened to the whole meeting on my phone in my car on you.tube. So it was fascinating. The four guys who were left on the Board don’t know anything about Incline or Boulder Bay. They don’t have a clue about the project’s history. I wanted to be there to let them know that the approval was done in 2011, and it isn’t current. And to say that they have an existing project is so misleading. Although they have an approved project, what they’re now proposing is completely different. It’s just a jigsaw puzzle of misinformation. And they didn’t put it together.
When I went back into the meeting room and talked to them, they said allowing it to go forward by granting approval of the grading didn’t matter. Because now TRPA will have to approve it, and other agencies will have to approve it. They felt like they didn’t want to stop this major project that staff was recommending approval on. They didn’t think their approval really mattered or that their approval was really that consequential. They still have to go through the TRPA review of the new project. Or maybe they don’t. I don’t know. But it’s crazy if they start grading 200,000 cubic yards of material. It will be truckloads after truckloads after truckloads. And NDOT did say they’re repaving Highway 28 this summer. So we have the repaving and truckloads going out and coming back in. It’s going to be a congestion filled summer. Hopefully we won’t have a fire.
Denise Davis
I want to point out to people, I’m noticing a new trend happening also at the Planning Commission when members have to recuse themselves. They have to leave the room and log out of zoom. So on the Planning Commission, Katie Nelson had to log out of zoom. At the Board of Adjustment, Kristina had to leave the room. So we need to be aware that when any of our local people are serving on Boards, they are being advised they have to leave.
Kristina Hill
But I’ve got it on you.tube on my phone. I watched the whole 2 hours.
Denise Davis
That’s something I haven’t seen happen in the past.
Kristina Hill
If you’re on a Board, you can’t have an opinion. Especially you can’t voice an opinion or sign an opinion. You can’t have any documentation that says you’re for or against the project, because that’s a conflict of interest. You have to be completely neutral. I’m not accustomed to being on so many Boards even though I’m on “a hundred.” Being chair of the Board of Adjustment has been an eye-opening experience. I’m learning a lot. And I will never sign another petition. I almost signed the petition for another development.
Beth Davidson – Incline Resident
A few years ago we attended an event by NLTFPD at the Biltmore in which they showed an evacuation assuming a fire started east of Coon Street in King’s Beach. What struck me was that the fire would burn to Mt. Rose within 2 hours. My question is, is that being considered as they look at the Boulder Bay project?
Kristina Hill
Not with Jennifer Donahue of NLTFPD saying it’s “fine.” They didn’t consider it to be a big deal.
Ryan Sommers
This is Ryan Sommers and I do work for the Fire Department, and will speak up given the comment was directed towards us. Absolutely we take that into account. Everybody needs to understand what Kristina was talking about, that there are multiple plans out there for this project. And the ones we’ve seen, we looked at Welcome Way—is Welcome Way still on the latest plan [Kristina Hill – Yes.] With Welcome Way on there, we have to look at the whole thing. We’re looking at all of this and making the best decision we can make based on the plans that have been submitted. But there are so many variations out there. When the final comes in we’ll make the best decision we can to protect this community.
Kristina Hill
I’m sure you will. I wasn’t saying anything against you guys.
Joe Farrell
Thank you for Ann and Kristina for all the work you’re doing on the Boulder Bay project. I’m shocked Kristina that you had to recuse yourself. It’s reminiscent of my days growing up in the Chicago area under Mayor Daly where you had to shut off microphones in the City Council meetings in Chicago. It’s very sad you can’t be transparent. In terms of traffic, that’s our biggest concern about the Boulder Bay project. If you’re ever down 28 in the summer and live here permanently like we do, it’s already a nightmare. That’s now without all the additional condominiums and residences, and Incline’s new “village center.”
Steve Dolan
Regarding transparency, a couple of years ago I attended a legal meeting in Kings Beach regarding the expansion of the Cal Neva casino by 400,000 cubic feet. Ellison’s legal group had it moved to keep Crystal Bay residents out of it. They had it moved to Carson City into a private room for their vote. Commissioner Berkbigler verified this, and also verified it was passed at that time. So that’s part of the transparency we’re missing. They move meetings to exclude certain populations.
Judy Miller
I just want to ask Kristina if it was the District Attorney who wrote the letter that she not only had to recuse herself but be absent from the meeting. She may have standing to ask the Attorney General to give her advice on that. In the past, even if you had to recuse yourself from the vote on a Board, you could participate in the discussion. So I don’t know what has changed unless there’s been some recent ruling. Ask your District Attorney first why you also had to be absent from that portion of meeting. I don’t think that has been the practice in the past.
Kathie Julian
I have a quick question for Kristina. Does this preclude you from coming to our CAB meeting on Monday and asking questions of the developer? They will be giving presentation on the Resort at Tahoe at our CAB meeting Monday.
Also I wanted to brief the group that the “neighborhood meeting that Washoe County encourages developers to hold at an early stage in development was held on January 28th. It was a one-way zoom call for 33 minutes—not the advertised 45 minutes. And EKN Development Group did not allow people on the zoom call to ask their questions or give any feedback. They also did not respond to questions put into the Chat. If anyone is interested in what questions were put into the Chat they should reach out to me and I can advise them of that. I would encourage people to attend the CAB on Monday. EKN Development Group will be giving a presentation and we’ll see if they have time to answer any questions from the community.
Ryan Sommers
This is an update for my buddy Joe Farrell and everybody else. Pulse Point—which is an app you can get for your smartphone —we’re hoping to have it up and running by mid-March. Why I bring this up is because you will be able to see incidents we respond to around the Village, including the motor vehicle accidents that were talked about. But keep in mind that’s only if we respond. If it’s non-injury or [inaudible], you won’t see them on the Pulse-Point app from our dispatch center.
Denise Davis
Thank you Chief. Well we had a lot to talk about today and catch up on. Be sure to check IVCBCommunity 1st.org for information about meetings happening this next week. We have a lot of meetings going on. So we will see you in 2 weeks. Bye.
CHAT BOX:
POTENTIAL-CAB-AGENDA-PRESENTATION-AND-DISCUSSION-TOPICS-2021.22.pdf
Washoe-Leadership-Academy-IVCB-CAB.pdf
TWSA_comments__on_TPRA-TKPOA-1-26-2022-with-legal.pdf
09:24:54 From kathie julian : Does the Nevada Hwy Patrol report accidents on SR 28 in IVCB?
09:27:13 From IVGID Communications to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : What stretch of walking path?
09:27:35 From IVGID Communications to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : We don’t maintain any of them. Expect the path from skatepark to tennis center
09:28:13 From Washoe County Libraries to IVGID Communications(Direct Message) : Kari, those messages went to me directly, did you want to post to all?
09:29:36 From Jon & Beth Davidson : …& IVGID does an excellent job with the paths around the Middle school; We use them daily and love them!
09:30:11 From IVGID Communications to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : No. It’s ok. I missed what they were saying. Sorry.
09:31:34 From Sara Schmitz : I have to run shortly. I just have an IVGID update.
09:32:12 From Washoe County Libraries : Copy that, Sara.
09:36:11 From IVGID Communications : https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
09:37:39 From IVGID Communications : https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/resources/construction-updates/burnt-cedar-swimming-pool-improvements-project
09:37:50 From IVGID Communications : Burnt Cedar Pool update
09:37:58 From ann nichols : Could I jump in on the Boulder Bay meeting? I have to go to Reno.
09:39:00 From Washoe County Libraries : Hi Ann, we see your request.
09:41:33 From Sara Schmitz : Thanks…I have to run. 925-858-4384
09:42:11 From Washoe County Libraries : Thanks Sara
09:55:52 From kathie julian : There will be an estimated 11,000 trips of excavated material!
09:57:25 From kathie julian : I have a question for Kristina
10:04:54 From kathie julian : The Developers of Resort at Lake Tahoe, Boulder Bay will present at Monday 7 Feb CAB meeting. Please attend and ask questions. Note the 33 minute “Neighborhood meeting” held by EKN Development Group allowed for ZOOM attendees to comment/question (except in Chat box)
10:05:10 From Washoe County Libraries : Thanks everyone!
2/4/22 forum video URL:
Board of County Commissioners (BCC) general info
www.washoecounty.gov/bcc/board_committees/index.php
BCC agenda for Feb 8, 2022
www.washoecounty.gov/bcc/board_committees/2022/files/agendas/2022-02-08/BCC%20-%202.8.22.pdf
Planning applications for Commission District 1
INCLUDES REPORTS SUBMITTED FOR 947 TAHOE BLVD CONDOS and THE RESORT AT TAHOE (Boulder Bay)
www.washoecounty.gov/csd/planning_and_development/applications/apps_commish_district_one.php
IV/CB Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) agenda for Feb 7, 2022
https://www.washoecounty.gov/CABS/IVCB_CAB/2022/files/CAB-Agenda-2-7-22.pdf
IV/CB Community 1st community meeting information and updates
ivcbcommunity1st.org
IVCBA (Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association)
ivcba.org
Tahoe Fire and Fuels prescribed burns map
www.tahoelivingwithfire.com/get-informed/
Washoe County Board of Adjustment – Feb 3, 2022
[The Resort At Tahoe (aka Boulder Bay)]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5nhItmeLVQ
time stamp 14:00
Washoe County BCC – Jan 25, 2022
[constable, STR update]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCtIBoLbixg
time stamp 2:10:00
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