The link to the recording of the meeting is:
Note from Recap Editor: Because of difficulty with the recording, this recap includes a few gaps where [inaudible] appears. Corrections are welcome.
Peter Todoroff – Moderator
I’d like to start out with a concern I have about this community. TRPA is a governing body that is not made up of elected officials, and can override everything that the County wants to do as far as construction and anything that goes on up here at Lake Tahoe.
One of the things I’m concerned about is with Judith Simon who I see is on Zoom. We have been working on the Tahoe Keys for over 10 years. I feel there’s a problem with the TRPA not keeping this community up to date about what’s going on. I feel if they are able to override the County on construction and everything else, they have the obligation to come to these meetings—at least on line have a representative from TRPA—to let us know what’s going on.
One of the problems we have is the Tahoe Keys. Like I said, Judith and I have been working on this for over 10 years. I understand that they may want to pollute the lake even more with an herbicide to kill the weeds in the Tahoe Keys—which I nicknamed “Tahoe Toilet.” They need to let the community know what’s going on and why they’re going to be doing that. We already had something else set up—we had it worked out that they were going to use ultraviolet light to clean up the problems in the Tahoe Keys—which is all the weeds and all that’s going on down there. It’s terrible. I would like someone to contact the TRPA and ask them why they can’t participate in this meeting. If someone wants to volunteer to do something, I would really appreciate it. They need to be in contact with us.
I’ll give another example of the reason why. The Incline Village Hyatt contacted the TRPA and caused a problem. They are charging to park at the Hyatt. Did it cause problems for our community? Yes. Did the community have any input on that? No. It did cause problems. I took a picture of the TART bus driving down the middle of Country Club because cars are parked on both sides, and the TART bus couldn’t stay in one lane. This is a problem… a safety problem. The Hyatt went straight to TRPA, bypassing the CAB, and there was never an environmental impact analysis. This is why it’s a problem.
Judith Simon – Incline Resident, TRPA Advisory Planning Committee, Member
We found out how many layers of bureaucracy we have in our region. And even though part of the lake is in Nevada and part in California, we’re under the regulation of the California Lahontan Water Board. I think someone posted on NextDoor that they were going to rule on this herbicide question. Talk about something that should be deferred. With all the fires affecting lake clarity, and everything that has gone into the lake, the last thing we need are herbicides that could get into our water supply. I don’t know if anyone from IVGID is here, but there’s also the issue that the different Water Boards seem to be opposed to this also. I don’t know where we are and how this herbicide thing keeps rearing its ugly head. I don’t know if TRPA has jurisdiction or what’s happening with that issue. I know they’ve been working remotely because their headquarters was threatened by the wildfire. So I don’t know what’s going on with them.
John Crockett – Washoe County Library, Incline Branch – Head Librarian
I had offered to email Jeff Cowen and invite him to a meeting previously. I have not done that recently, so I would be happy to email him again.
Peter Todoroff
I think that’s good.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident, Tahoe Prosperity Center, Housing Committee Member
Since Alexis Hill is on the TRPA Governing Board we can ask her if she can’t have TRPA both (1) attend these meetings and (2) give the community a presentation that describes all of the various elements that TRPA has that impact our community. It goes beyond the Tahoe Keyes and herbicides. It goes to code issues and things like that. We should be more knowledgeable about the ways in which TRPA affects us.
John Crockett
We also have Candee Ramos from the County (on Zoom) as well.
Alexis Hill – Washoe County Commissioner – District 1, TRPA Governing Board, TTD Governing Board, Tahoe Prosperity Board
We are going to be looking at that issue. For the CAB we’ll be planning out our schedule for the rest of the year at our next meeting, and TRPA is one of the agencies we’ll invite to the CAB as well. We want to make sure communication is good.
Peter Todoroff
Now that things bypass the CAB, we have no input at all.
Alexis Hill
I agree, and we’re going to work on that.
Kristina Hill – Incline Resident, Washoe County Board of Adjustment, Member
You can attend the TRPA Governing Board meetings through Zoom and have your voice heard. You can write letters and you can call Jeff Cowen. I’ve been dealing with the TRPA staff over the last few weeks. Even though they’ve been evacuated, and the offices were closed because of COVID for over a year, they are responsive. So feel free to email Jeff Cowen and say, “Why aren’t you attending our meetings?”
Peter Todoroff
I’ve been on the TRPA mailing list for years, and I’ve still got nothing.
Kristina Hill
You have to be proactive. You have to attend the meetings and speak your mind to be heard.
Peter Todoroff
I speak my mind at this meeting.
Kristina Hill
That’s good. I’m sure it gets filtered back to them.
Peter Todoroff
I want to be able speak to them here. They can be online or whatever. But when they take precedence over the County, and they’re doing things without this community’s knowledge that have an impact on this community, we need to know.
Margaret Martini – Incline Resident
Alexis Hill is on the TRPA Board of Governors. I don’t know if you have any influence on TRPA answering the phone or answering problems and inquiries. For example, there is an empty lot on Dorcy Street in Incline Village. It doesn’t have any IPES scoring on it. It’s in the middle between two other lots. There’s no scoring on it at all, even through the parcel identification number. We’ve got calls in to TRPA, and we get no return calls.
Kristina Hill
I can answer that question. Is it a vacant lot? [yes]. I just learned this the other day. They should have an IPES score. And you’re saying there is no IPES score. Then you go to laketahoeinfo.org. Go to Property Details > Request Additional Info. There’s a little thing in there, you might have to look for awhile. Click on Request Additional Info. Put in your name and email. And it asks “What additional information would you like regarding this parcel?” And you put in “IPES score.” Submit that. I swear I got the property IPES in 1 day. So it’s very helpful. And there are people working on that. The woman who told me about that and that it could take awhile because of the wildfire, but I got the response in 1 day. If you give me the APN , I’ll look it up for you.
Peter Todoroff
Send me that link so I can send it out to everyone. The only way our community can get involved is if we know who to contact and how to contact them. There are things going on here where the community has no input whatsoever. And it’s wrong.
Margaret Martini
And we don’t get calls back.
13:36
Joseph Colacurcio – Washoe County Sheriff Office, Sergeant
I’m the sergeant for the weekend. I work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and every other Sunday. I’m now the shift supervisor up here. This is my second stint in Incline. When I was first on Patrol, I was up here for 2 rotations—so for about 8 months. Then I worked in the Valley. I was in Gerlac for 3 years, and then 3 ½ years in Washoe County as a remote deputy. Then I came back to the Valley and worked Reno for a year on Patrol. And I rode a motorcycle for 4 years. During that time I came up here and was the traffic motor cop during the summertime when you can get over the hill. Then I got promoted. And I’m up here.
Peter Todoroff
It is a promotion up here.
Joseph Colacurcio
It is nice and I enjoy it.
Margaret Martini
This is a question from one of my clients who is a homeowner on Country Club. He asked me to ask it at this meeting. It’s something he’s curious about. With the new speed limit signs on Country Club, the only time he sees people patrolling the area is at 11 am. But the speeding is happening either earlier in the morning as people are heading to work, or later in the afternoon. He said that at 11 am there’s barely any traffic on Country Club, and then during peak hours people are zooming. He also wondered what the possibility was of getting speed bumps like they have at St James Village—at the entrance to St James—which aren’t horrible speed bumps but do provide a service.
Joseph Colacurcio
You have a multipart question. I’ll start with your client or whoever you’re representing. So we use a radar trailer and also stealth radar boxes—so you guys won’t even know they’re out. They don’t collect any data except speed, time of day, and location—where we place it. We use that data to determine when we’re going to do enforcement in that area, based on the data. So that’s the first thing. About the speed bumps, I’ll tell you that’s not an option and almost will never happen. They only happen on private land or in front of schools. And then it has to be approved by everyone including the Fire Department. It’s almost an impossibility on a public road that is traveled as much as Country Club. And in this area with snow removal, that’s another huge thing.
Margaret Martini
Well, he was just saying that St James Village gets snow and they have those. They’re not like huge speed bumps they’re just little.
16:44
Anonymous
But that is private land.
Margaret Martini
I think those are County streets.
Joseph Colacurcio
I’m pretty sure it’s private with public access if you can get past the gate.
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District, Communications Coordinator
I live on Country Club and I’ve watched every single morning the deputy pulls over about 10 people in an hour. He’s on it. And this is within seeing distance from my house [inaudible]. He’s there. That’s on lower Country Club.
17:15
Corey Solferino – Washoe County Sheriff Office, Captain
I’ll go to bat for Deputy Hatfield. He’s one of our two motorists we’ve assigned. I don’t have his stats from last month, but for July he wrote 220 citations, a good percentage of which were on Country Club. I don’t know how much more effective we can be than that. That’s killing the numbers down in the Valley. Unfortunately, when we only have 2 people on a shift at a time, it’s hard to divide our resources. If we’re going to do Traffic Enforcement, and we get a Priority 1 call for Service—a domestic, an alarm, vehicle burglaries…. As you guys will see a report on that in just a few minutes, vehicle and domestic burglaries have gone up exponentially in the recreational areas. I’ll ask Pete to put out some warning notifications. Our Public Information Officers have been hitting it hard with “Please don’t leave valuables in plain view,” because these guys are punching locks and smashing windows to go through to take nothing more than a pair of sunglasses. They’re scavengers. We’re doing some things to try to identify them.
… But I can’t have everybody at different places at the same time. We’ll take those Service requests. One of the reasons we have assembled this team up here is because all of our sergeants have a special expertise. Sergeant Colacurcio was fairly modest in relating his pedigree and what he’s done in his career. We brought him up here because of his major accident investigation skills, and his traffic enforcement. He’s going to be my Motor sergeant while he’s up here so he’ll take over the Motor Division—two bikes as soon as we get our second Motor fully trained. He’s got 3 weeks left of training before he’s up here. So we’re going to try to get Sergeant Colacurcio a motorcycle too so he can handle some of those Service requests and handle those things that match his beat from a motorcycle. We’ll have an increased presence out there. That’s our opening goal with that.
Peter Todoroff
That’s very good. I have a question. On these tickets that are written, are we getting revenue off of that?
Corey Solferino
You know, honestly, I don’t get into that side of it, because we don’t write tickets for revenue. I don’t care about that. At the last Legislative session, there was a bill passed that I can’t go out and tell my motors to write a minimum number of tickets or any number of tickets. It’s totally arbitrary as far as how we do the enforcement act. We do what we need to do to correct behaviors. If I need to give somebody a verbal warning because they were not paying attention, the kids were yelling they were late to school—that’s at the officer’s discretion. If you’ve got a guy who was driving recklessly, you can either cite him or you can arrest him. On January 1, 2023, the new Civil Infraction Law will go into effect. Everything with the exception of 6 traffic offenses will be moved from the Criminal side to the Civil side. What that means is I can’t arrest for the offense, it’s simply a citation that will end up going to the Court of Jurisdiction and they will handle it that way. We’ve heard different ways of how the courts are going to handle that. So the first thing, typically if you wrote a citation and somebody didn’t pay that citation penalty and failed to go to court to handle it, it would go to a warrant. So that would give you the ability to go out and arrest that person and take them before a magistrate. Some of those things are going to change logistically in how it happens in the court. That is no longer an option. It doesn’t give us that ability. So it might mess up your credit through a collection agency. The courts will be required to have to deal with that. We are navigating those. It’s not going to change the way we do business; it’s only on the administrative side. So [20:57: inaudible]
Cathy Spector – Incline Resident
I have a question about upper Tyner—the section between Jennifer and Toni Court. Once you go around that hairpin turn, you’ve got this long stretch of road. People speed there all the time—coming down and going up. It’s like a raceway. It’s bad; it’s dangerous; it’s noisy. I want to know what can be done about it. Years ago the Sheriff’s Department did try to do something about it, but it’s pretty much a forgotten area.
Joseph Colacurcio
So the best way we work as Motor officers, if you have a complaint or an issue or area to be addressed, call us and file a Service Request for that traffic. That’s the best way to deal with it. Then it tells Deputy Hatfield and the other officers that are assigned up here—maybe they have some limbo time when they’re not going call-to-call, they can go sit up there. We can address that by putting a presence there. If you come around the corner, you won’t know if the police are there today or not.
Cathy Spector
And they couldn’t put speed signs or anything like that which clocks the speed you’re going?
Joseph Colacurcio
All those signs you see in the State of Nevada that read your speed, that’s only for data collection. You can’t issue a citation off of a speed camera in the State of Nevada. So all you’re seeing when you’re driving through—say Arrowcreek—or an area like that on private property—that’s just a warning sign saying, “Hey, you’re driving too fast.” And the trailer you see that we set out on Country Club is collecting data. To be honest with you, what happens with a radar trailer is you put it out for 2 days and everyone knows the radar trailer is there, so they slow down. So we don’t get accurate data all the time to say when we need to work that area. So that’s why we’re getting the stealth data recorder. We’ll get the same information. You just don’t get a read of your speed as you drive by. It will provide me with the information…. Let’s say that between the hours of 7 and 9am we saw 600 cars go through this area and the average speed in a 25 zone was 35.
Cathy Spector
And then what do you do with that?
Joseph Colacurcio
It provides directed enforcement. It says this is where all our traffic is and how much we have and what our problem times are during the day.
Cathy Spector
So possibly they would ask some people to look at that area?
Joseph Colacurcio
Yes. So in Incline after 11pm usually traffic dies down. So I’m not going to run traffic on your street at 1 o’clock in the morning. So it gives me the ability to have data for that directed enforcement which gives me the ability to put officers in the places I need to put them in order to effect a change in behavior.
Cathy Spector
The one thing about those speed signs is that they do make you think about what you’re doing. I think they do have a deterrent effect. Not on everyone necessarily. But I think they are beneficial… the radar signs.
Joseph Colacurcio
That’s something we do on County roads. And they are not going to …they’re about $7000.
[24:37 inaudible]
You can put in a request.
Corey Solferino
[24:37 inaudible] [Brief discussion of how some drivers think it’s a game and the winner gets the highest score—the flashing number of the last car’s speed is the speed to beat.]
Corey Solferino
It all depends on what your mindset is. For people like us, yes, absolutely. For others [inaudible] problem. Not so much up here, but in the Valley— high-schoolers in school zones—they think the flashing 15 is a joke, so they race through the school zones. So luckily we don’t have that problem up here. But we will look at every available option. It’s just whether we can prioritize that. But Sergeant Calocurcio hit the nail on the head. It’s that data recorder. It’s looking at a bunch of different people and telling you they’re speeding in our neighborhood, they’re speeding in our neighborhood, they’re speeding in our neighborhood…. So we try to prioritize that depending on the time of day. It just allows us to more efficiently deploy our assets. So I can say, “Hey John I’m going to hire you on overtime today. I want you to come up here and do traffic enforcement from 11 to 1 in this area, because this is telling us this is when it is happening most.” So there may be some other speeders throughout the day outside of those timeframes. But that’s when it’s going to be the most productive presence for us. We use everything at our disposal.
Cathy Spector
Well if you only have 2 men, there’s little they can do. Is that right that you only have 2?
Joseph Colacurcio
So a common request I have is that—if you’re familiar with… they built the new Fire Station on Foothill road in south Reno. There’s two people that are continuously in the area of Foothill and Caribou. I would work that area for a week—4 days usually Tuesday through Friday in that area. In that area they would all know I was in there. And then I would show up maybe once the next week. And I would go about 30 days before people realize I’m gone. That’s not bad. I show up in 30 days, and I’ll pull the same people over again. So to make an effective change in behavior in my estimation is about 20-30 days. And then we’ll have to revisit that area again. So it’s a continuous battle of effecting change all the time, and spreading yourself out in the area.
26:50
Cathy Spector
What about a speed limit sign? We don’t have any. There is not one on that stretch.
Joseph Colacurcio
That’s something you can put into the 311 request. That’s something that will provide you with more … you can do that. And the only issue I see with that up here is with the weather and the snow. That’s going to be the battle. I know when they had the big change and the big issues on Lakeshore, and we had a lady who was hit by a vehicle down there, and you were asking for changes, it was the hardest thing. I provided data. I provided so much stuff to try to get the County to make that change, and the Road Engineer. And it all has to meet certain standards. So there’s a lot more that goes into it than just throwing up a sign. But putting in the request is the best start. And let Alexis Hill know when you do that.
Peter Todoroff
And in all of Incline Village—the speed limit is 25 mph.
Cathy Spector
That’s such a long road. [I understand.] I wouldn’t know if anyone thinks about it.
[27:59 inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
Denise has a question and then I see His Honor Judge Tiras is here. And I’d like to hear from him.
Denise Davis – Incline Resident
First, I appreciate that you’re here today. Second, I just want to share that since the speed limit has been reduced on Country Club, I have been passed several times. That didn’t happen in the previous 25 years I’ve lived here. So lowering the speed limit is causing dangerous behavior.
Joseph Colacurcio
The best thing I can offer for you right away as a quick fix is that—they’re not going to increase the speed limit—so that’s not going to change. If you call and say “So and so is driving recklessly,” and it is happening and we have officers, and you can provide us with a license plate, that provides us with enough information. If you provide me with a good statement—“he passed me doing 25 and in a double yellow here,” we can issue a citation. You’ll sign the citation. We can issue it on your behalf. Then you can take it [29:25 inaudible].
Denise Davis
I’m generally just looking around to make sure we’re not going to be in an accident. So it’s hard to get a license plate when you’re trying to look everywhere to see what’s coming because they aren’t looking.
Corey Solferino
If you take a picture with your phone, he’ll have to give you a ticket for that. [laughter]
Denise Davis
Anyway that’s a huge problem.
Joseph Colacurcio
That is something we continuously combat because you have people that have it in their mind that Country Club is 35 and on Lakeshore the speed limit is 35. That’s something we can effect as a behavioral issue. I hope that an officer is sitting there and that luckily it happens in front of him, because that’s my favorite thing. It starts at about $1000. If I can get you for two violations within a mile, it’s fantastic. I mean it’s fantastic in my mind, because—whether I issue a ticket and there’s a fine and any money in that and you go to court—it’s points on your license. And points on your license affect you down the road with your insurance. That’s where there’s effective change. The monetary value at the beginning, I couldn’t care if it cost you $1. It’s every month when you look at your insurance bill for your car. “Man I did that and now I’m paying for it.” That’s where it goes down the road, and that’s where it affects change. I think most people don’t realize that’s where it makes a big effect down the road on your insurance.
Alan Tiras – Honorable Justice of the Court, District 1
Good morning. Do you want me to speak on this topic or maybe give you an update on the court? What would you like?
Peter Todoroff
You can speak on this topic as far as the revenues going to your court. And then any updates.
Alan Tiras
The Court is not about generating revenue. It’s about dissuading dangerous behaviors. We’ll fine if we need to, but there are other ways we can address it—hopefully— education is one of them. One thing we receive regular comments on is people telling us “I don’t know what the speed limit is on that street.” What we have is we have certain streets—Tahoe Boulevard and Mt Rose Highway at this point in time—where the speed limit is different from what it is in the rest of the community. We have an omnibus provision that provides that all speeds are 25mph unless otherwise stated. Perhaps we should look at signage coming into the community so when people come into Incline Village they’re made aware of the fact that the speed limit is 25 unless otherwise posted. Maybe that’s something to do on Mt Rose Highway and on Hwy 28 at both ends of Lakeshore. That kind of information would be helpful because a lot of times people do things without ill intention. They truly don’t know what the law is and then make a mistake with regard to their behavior. I think self-educating them before is better than fining them after the fact. So that’s something that came to mind as I was listening to the dialog.
With regard to other things that are going on with the Court—Ronda and Pete I just sent both of you an email relating to this. The Incline Justice Court is in leased space at the Centerpoint building. The landlord of the building has made a decision to sell and she doesn’t want any long-term encumbrances, and that includes long-term leases. We just found out in June that the lease of the Court expires in 13 days. If we don’t have an extension of that lease, or someplace to go in the next 13 days, I’m not really sure what we’re going to do, to be honest with you.
Commissioner Hill and I have had numerous conversations with regard to this. She’s been incredibly helpful and supportive but not all the commissioners feel the same way. There is an effort—if you will—by certain county commissioners and county administrators to—in essence—eliminate our court. What they’re talking about is merging us with the Reno Justice Court. Then all of the Incline Village residents will have to go to Reno to attend to their matters with the Court. There was previously an effort in 2017. We were able to thwart that. But—I’ll be honest with you—in this case we’re in a much weaker position because we don’t know where we can go within 13 days. We’re fighting for that. Commissioner Hill is fighting for us to make sure that at the very least we’re not homeless and that we have a place to go, and we do have a place we’ll be able to do our work.
What I would encourage the community that believes we do need a local Court is to reach out to the entire County Commission—keeping in mind Commissioner Hill is a big supporter. But let them know we do need a Court if indeed that’s your feeling. And if not, express that as well. That’s part of the way we do things. But all of this should be done perhaps on a timely basis. I’ll share with you that the conversations I’ve had and the information I’ve received has not been first hand. Nobody from the rest of the County Commission has contacted me to find out what we do and how we do things.
What I would encourage is that we have some time in order to have public notice or forums where the community can participate. Not just this community— but all stakeholders— to be able to participate before the Board decision is made whether or not this Court will continue to exist. If the lease is not renewed, I have strong concerns about whether or not we’ll be able to continue to exist. If the lease is renewed, or if at least this 1-year lease extension is executed, at least there will be time to have a meaningful conversation about the need for a Court up here, instead of just reacting—and perhaps taking advantage of—the political opportunity to unmake the Court. I just want to point that out.
The same letter I sent to Pete and to Ronda will be posted on Facebook shortly as well. I think public input is important and this may be the only opportunity we have to provide input to the County Commission. So I encourage people to do that. Whether you’re for or against the Court, having our voices heard is a fundamental part of what we’re supposed to be doing here as a society. I would encourage people to let the Commission know what your feelings are in regard to this matter.
Alexis Hill
I’m very confident that the lease will be renewed. And I understand the concerns because the lease has been pulled off the agenda. It felt like there was some uncertainty since we found out that the Centerpoint Building was to be sold that we had to go on a month-to-month lease. [inaudible 37:47] And the judge is asking, “Why is it taking so long to get on the agenda?” In the meantime the Judge and I have been looking at other locations for the Court. We understand that the Centerpoint Building could be sold out from under us and we need to find some permanent location. So we’re looking at the building next door— the Community Center—not to displace [inaudible], but there’s some shared space that we are looking at. So we’re not finalized on anything yet. We’ll keep you posted. I think it is absolutely appropriate that the judge is asking for public comment on these matters. But I’m confident that the lease will be renewed [inaudible 38:35]
Peter Todoroff
So what as a community can we do to voice our concerns?
Alexis Hill
I think the judge asking you to email to the commissioners is appropriate.
Peter Todoroff
To all of them?
Alexis Hill
Yes, You can contact all the commissioners as per the judge’s request. I’ve been pushing this and articulating this to my coworkers. So again, I don’t have a huge concern about this, but certainly if you’re really worried about it, you should absolutely reach out.
Peter Todoroff
Could you send me the link for all the commissioners? [Commissioners@WashoeCounty.us]
Alexis Hill
The judge sent it to you in his email this morning. And he’ll put it on Facebook.
Peter Todoroff
We only have 13 days? I wish I would have known about it sooner.
Alexis Hill
Well, it was not something we were thinking would be an emergency or anything like that. It’s become something that has a bit more urgency. But I’m confident it won’t get out of hand. I’m committed for the Court to stay here. The judge has 2 more years on his term. The Court serves a huge purpose as far as the convenience of community. All of those things argue for giving funds for the county to continue the Court operations. I’ll tell you there’s a Commissioner who wants to see a Justice Center—a brand new area for the police and area for the Court. So the optimist in me says there’s no conspiracy to take down the Court if you’re going to invest capital in a Justice Center up in Incline Village. This is where I’m coming from. I think it’s going to be okay. But I completely understand the judge’s asking for your input.
Peter Todoroff
Yeah, so as soon as I get it I’ll pass that out.
Margaret Martini
This is the perfect opportunity for Washoe County to purchase that Old Elementary School. It has plenty of parking and space for a Justice Center. That would be a much more appropriate use of that property than a transportation center. The County should really get on that right away with the purchase.
We send enough money down the hill per capita to the County that we should capture some of that and put it into services that we need, regardless of cost. We’re part of this County and a lot of the time we’re not treated as part of this County, or we don’t get a lot of the services the County offers. There are some we don’t need, but when we’re in need of a service we should have it. And we should be extremely proactive in getting it. And that is you. You are our representative.
Peter Todoroff
About 12% of all tax revenue in the County comes from Incline Village. This is a tiny community.
Alexis Hill
I’m actually asking the Budget office to crank those numbers because I’ve heard a lot about the unfairness of how much tax you pay to the County versus how much we’re expending on the community. I should have a report on that. I look forward to reporting that back to you.
As far as TTD, TTD has an agreement with the School Board to purchase that property. Not to say there can’t be a future purchase. I’m on the TTD Board and also on the County Commission Board and we’re talking about the Old Elementary School being the bus hub location, but we’re just not there yet. But it’s definitely something that is in the discussion.
Peter Todoroff
The TTD shouldn’t even be a concern. We need a Justice Court up here. That should be number 1. We also need workforce housing. Businesses are going to close down because we have no employee housing where people can live.
Joe Farrell – Incline Resident
I concur with what you said, Pete. And I have a question for Alexis. I’m a former small business owner, and when I leased buildings I always got a contract that the owner of the building would give me a minimal 90-day notice for vacating. So I’m just curious if that was in the contract with Centerpoint?
Alexis Hill
I’m sorry I don’t have the contract with me. I don’t think it’s one of those where “you’re out in 13 days” kind of deals. But we want [44:21 inaudible], so we don’t have to have those discussions. I don’t know if the Judge is a bit more familiar with the contract but I’ve been looking at the contract we’re going to be approving on the 21st.
Joe Farrell
In my experience it’s standard practice. This sounds like it’s [44:42: inaudible].
Alexis Hill
I don’t think it’s necessarily that, but we want to make sure we’re in good standing with the lease owner of the building for future [44:57 inaudible].
Alan Tiras
I’ll be honest, I looked at the lease a while back, and my recollection is there is a provisional allowance for month-to-month, but I can’t recall. I can’t tell you with 100% certainty right now. I do know we have the opportunity if the lease is extended or if a new 1-year lease is granted, which is technically more accurate, it does provide for certain outs in the event we need to get out early. For example if we do find a space in the Community Center that the Commissioner was referring to—if there’s space there, it gives us the opportunity for a 6-month notice to get out. Realistically, I think that would probably be about right given what would need to be done in terms of any tenant improvements or anything else in that building that was necessary—the planning and permits and the like. By the way, tenant improvements would be paid for out of the Court’s administrative budget with administrative assessments so there wouldn’t be any additional taxpayer costs associated with that. But thanks to Commissioner Hill, we think that building may be available, and if the lease is extended or at least is signed we would only be committed to 6 months while we’re waiting for the facility to be made ready for us. One other point Commissioner Hill mentioned that I want to go ahead and expound a bit on is it’s my understanding having dealt with this previously, that the plan that is being advocated by some members of the Commission, is that the Court would move to Reno, but there would be a small satellite facility in Incline for administrative functions. I would envision, frankly, that’s what would be located in the Justice Center. It wouldn’t necessarily be a Court in its entirety. That’s not the proposal that had been pushed for previously. It was not that there be any Court in Incline. It’s that the Court would be in Reno and they would provide some level of administrative service for folks up here in Incline in a small office.
Frank Wright – Crystal Bay Resident
I have a comment on the Old Elementary School use. I think Alexis Hill is committed to making it a bus hub. That’s what I heard. I don’t know if it’s true. But that facility would serve our community so much better as a courthouse and a place where you could possibly have the Building Department to go for permits. Also it could be a place where we could possibly have a Sheriff Substation. But to turn it into a bus hub is just impractical. The community members don’t want it and have been very vocal about not wanting it. And there are other options. As far as funding it, I know it’s still up for sale. The Washoe County School District still has it. So we want to make movements to make a better community by having a government center at that located. Even IVGID is looking for a different site and future building. You’re not looking out for the people who are living here. You’re looking at trying to shove something down our throats we don’t want. Maybe Carl Hasty wants it, but it’s not what the community wants. I think we should look at all our options. Now the Court is having problems. I think this is the time to put the brakes on decisions and look at what is best for our community. “What should you put in here now,” and not “What is something that someone who doesn’t even live here wants to stick in here” [inaudible 49:15]. Being our Commissioner, I don’t think you should be aligning yourself with anything until you hear what the community wants.
Alexis Hill
I haven’t committed to anything. I’ve made it very clear I am actually committed to a public process. I would like to see public transportation around lake. That’s the only way we’re going to deal with…
Frank Wright
Did you not vote to give TTD funds for purchasing and building the hub?
Alexis Hiil
I did.
Frank Wright
That shows me you’re not aligned with the community. As a representative of our community you really need to look at what the community wants before you make a decision on your own. I think you need to have us get together and talk with you. To just make that unilateral decision—which is not in the interest of the community—I think was really a bad move on your part. That’s just my suggestion.
Alexis Hill
I hear you but what our position was to protect the acquisition in spite of the community input. There’s still a commitment to that. Nothing has been done as far as a decision on where the bus hub would go, what it would look like, or anything like that… any sort of partner buildings or other development that could happen at that site. There’s still a lot of work to be done… [inaudible 50:45]
Frank Wright
I agree with that. But the only reason those funds weren’t awarded was because the funds were inappropriate [inaudible 50:51]. And they had to pull them back [inaudible 50:565]. So that killed that vote [inaudible: 50:59]. That’s why that stopped. It wasn’t because you had a change of heart. It was stopped because it was illegal. And now you’re looking at other ways to get money for the bus hub. We’re not stopping the thought process. And that’s what I’m asking to be done…. Is to stop that thought process and start listening to the community before you put that transit station in there.
Peter Todoroff
I’d like to expound on that. So what the Old Elementary School has been used for in the past since 2012 is a bus hub to take people to Sand Harbor State Park. Since when is Incline Village the parking lot for a State Park? And that is exactly what it was used for. We need a bus hub like I need another heart attack. We do not. We have a bus hub in Tahoe City. What we need is transportation to come up from Reno to here, because the Old Elementary School is a central location. Everybody can walk to the market. They can walk to the Post Office. They can go across the street and catch the TART bus on Highway 28. It’s a perfect location for residents, not for a bus hub parking lot for tourists to Sand Harbor.
I’ve been trying to get the State to come here—but they haven’t bothered—to talk about the State Park. They need to clean up that park and make more parking there. People can come on a bus from Reno to Tahoe. That Carl Hasty transportation hub is an absolute joke. Nobody in this community wants it. Everybody knows that. When Marsha was Commissioner nobody attending this meeting wanted that bus hub there. So what does that tell you?
Cathy Spector – Incline Resident
So why isn’t anyone listening to us? So why aren’t you listening?
Alexis Hill
I am listening. I’m sorry about your frustration.
Peter Todoroff
Nobody wants that hub. The fact you were going to allow the County to provide funds for that destroyed everything—our confidence in our Commissioner. That is absolutely the truth. When I went down to Reno in person myself to fight for this, I could not believe it—I was astounded—I couldn’t believe that you would make the motion to approve the funds from the County for the hub. I find that unacceptable.
Shirley Appel
Alexis, I live across the street there. I can’t tell you how much that hub disrupts our lives. Between the noise, the buses, and the fumes—we have to keep our windows closed. We can’t open our windows. And it would just get worse. It would be worse than what it’s been for the last several years. Thank God we had the pandemic last year. And of course now we’re in the middle of all this construction going on. I don’t know how long that’s going to take. It won’t be finished by October. I am just appalled that they are even thinking of putting that hub in our residential neighborhood.
Cathy Spector
I feel like they aren’t thinking about us and our community and what’s best for us. They are thinking about tourism, bringing people up here. And if you think it’s going to make an impact on the amount of traffic we have in our area—and alleviate traffic—that is not going to happen. We’re just adding more people to the area. The same people will drive up here in their cars to have the possibility to do what they want and not be locked into a bus. There will be new people. So we’re just going to be inundated with more people, which is already an issue. I think you need to think about what’s best for Incline Village, not for unknown tourists coming into the area bringing revenue.
Peter Todoroff
I think the County should get hold of the State Parks and find out why they don’t address their own problems. That’s all it was used for. I lived there across the street from it and that’s all they did. They used it for a parking lot and picked up people and took them to Sand Harbor. That’s all they did. The State Park needs to take care of their own tourists—clean up and add more parking over there. And don’t use this community for a parking lot for Sand Harbor.
Joe Farrell – Incline Resident
Alexis, what we’re talking about here is quality of life in Incline Village. [inaudible 56:47] The same thing is happening with short-term rentals. My quality of life with STRs last year was a nightmare. And a ton of other people… [inaudible 56:57]. If you lived next to a STR for a year you’d get it. I think that’s why there’s a lot of frustration on the part of the citizens of Incline Village. My last point is we don’t want what’s good for Reno. We want what’s good for our community. We’re talking quality of life. That’s why I’ve owned here 20 years and retired here the last 2½. And I see what’s happening and I think “My God this is the same regionalization concept they tried in the Bay Area, and that’s why I left.”
Peter Todoroff
Any other announcements before we leave? Kari, anything from IVGID?
Kari Ferguson
No, nothing more from IVGID.
Ronda Tycer – Forum Recap Editor
Kari, perhaps I could say something. Right now the results of the Ordinance 7 Survey are available on the IVGID website. So all of you who participated in that, you can find the information now. It’s not summarized and I haven’t read it all yet. But I just found out that it is there.
Kari Ferguson
Yes. I can send Peter a link. It’s been on our website for at least 3 weeks.
Jack Dalton, MD
I agree with the statements about the bus depot. The NV State Park has signs up on the East Shore Path saying that the park is closed at the end of the trail. So even if there were a hub in IV, they wouldn’t be able to put all the people into the park.
We had these friends up here. And she said, well, STRs have to be part of the community. Well look at the ownership on the STR address list. I haven’t seen the latest numbers but at 400 addresses, there was only 10% ownership by Incline residents. The vast majority of STR owners aren’t even from Reno. They are simply investment properties. They are leading our Commissioners at Washoe County and really have an impact on our lives. The Ordinance 7 is about the only way we have to put a stop on it, because Washoe County and the Board of Commissioners don’t care about us. So the pressure is on Ordinance 7. And what I’d like to see is how many Incline voters responded to the survey. Because you can be sure that the real-estate people who own STR property here voted, and they put their opinions in. There’s no question. So the validity of this survey will really be in question.
John Crockett
I have a couple of announcements from the library. There’s a Strategic Planning Survey that ends today. It drives our next 5 years. So if you have a few minutes, I’d love for you to fill this out. We also started allowing weekend Community meeting room access. So if you have an HOA or community group that would like to use the meeting room on Saturday or Sundays when we’re closed, you can reserve it and we’ll give you a visitor badge that will let you enter and exit. And we just started Story Time again—babies on Tuesdays and toddlers on Thursdays. Thank you.
Peter Todoroff
Thank you everybody for attending, we really appreciate it.
PARTICIPANTS:
Alan Tiras
Alexis Hill
Auda Meyers
Bruce Townsend
Candee Ramos
Captain Corey Solferino
Cathy Spector
Chris Wood
Darlene Velicki
Dee Ann Webb
Denise Davis
Edie Farrell
Frank Wright
Jack Dalton
Joe Farrell
John Crockett
Jon and Beth Davidson
Joseph Colacurcio,
Joyce Bock
Judy Simon
Kari Ferguson
Kathy Julian
Kristina Hill
Margaret Martini
Mary Jurkonis
Pam Straley
Pete Todoroff
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Sommers
Shirley Appel
Steve Meyers
Svata Trossen
Yolanda Knaak
CHAT BOX
09:11:55 From Washoe County Libraries : laketahoeinfo.org
09:12:50 From Washoe County Libraries : go to property details > request additional info and enter IPES score
09:14:17 From Jon & Beth Davidson : Q. Does anyone know what the red & blue tubes that have been laid in the roadway on 431 are for?
09:24:18 From Judy Simon : People are speeding through Crystal Bay!
09:36:16 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : The tubes are fiber optics from the summit to Sand Harbor.
09:39:49 From Jon & Beth Davidson : Thanks, Ryan. I notice that they head toward the state line @ the traffic circle. What is the fiber optics to be used for—Internet improvement?
09:41:01 From Jon & Beth Davidson : Also, has there been any community information released as to what this improvement is for?
09:41:33 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : Yes. Tahoe Transportation as well as NDOT are behind that project. I heard it was only going to Sand Harbor, but they may run it to Stateline as well.
09:42:47 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : I have not seen anything on community information, just got to glance at the permit.
09:42:57 From Jon & Beth Davidson : Thanks again
09:43:14 From Candee Ramos : Commissioners@WashoeCounty.us is an email address you can use to send an email to all 5 County Commissioners at one time.
10:00:08 From Ryan Sommers – NLTFPD : NLTFPD has no update. I have to attend another meeting. Have a great weekend
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