Peter Todoroff – Moderator
Denise Davis – Co-moderator
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Zoom-master
Ronda Tycer – Recap Editor
Participants:
[Many participants were not audible as they said their names. If you participated and your name is not listed, please let the Recap Editor know at rondatycer@aol.com]
Ann Nichols
Beth Davidson
Corey Solferino
Dave Simon
Denise Davis
Edie Farrell
Joe Farrell
John Crockett
Judy Simon
Kathie Julian
Margaret Martini
Pam Straley
Peter Todoroff
Ryan Sommers
Sara Schmitz
Sherry Butler
Shirley Appel
[The audio on much of the zoom video was poor. Where it was impossible to decipher, [inaudible] is written. If you are able to correct the [inaudible] text, please send your corrections to the Recap Editor at rondatycer@aol.com. Many thanks.]
Peter Todoroff – Moderator
Does anyone have something they want to start off with?
Margaret Martini – Incline Resident, Ordinance 7 Committee Member
I’d like to start off with the issue in Crystal Bay of access to the beaches. I guess one of the neighbors or somebody put in some stairs for easier access.
Peter Todoroff – Next to Duffield’s property?
Margaret Martini
Yes, between his properties. So yesterday or the day before, somebody came in with a backhoe and tore out all the stairs.
Peter Todoroff
Without permission?
Margaret Martini
With or without permission. [inaudible]. But they completely dug up the whole area. Dug up the stairs. The property access is kind of in dispute because it’s supposedly in Washoe County but Washoe County never claimed it and has not done anything.
Peter Todoroff
Well they aren’t supposed to put anything that blocks access to the stairs or to the beach.
Margaret Martini
What happened is Mr. Duffield has put a camera on his property overhanging the beach access property and directly on the access property—not on Mr. Duffield’s property at all. I thought, “That’s interesting. Why would he want to know what’s going on at our property instead of his own property?” There’s no parking space there. There’s like one slot and there’s been a car parked there. So if someone did want to come down to the beach they couldn’t park there anyway. So it’s really just like a little tiny beach access. So at that point… and again, Washoe County has done nothing to it… and it was part of the original subdivision way back when that piece was part of the original subdivision.
Peter Todoroff
Is there anything the TRPA can do? I think Kathie Julian is on the CAB.
Kathie Julian – Citizen Advisory Board Vice Chair; Tahoe Prosperity Housing Group Member
I’m driving but if you can hear me…. If this is the property right next to David Duffield’s property, the one with the cameras, then a group of people including Alexis Hill and Kristina Hill and Judith Simon and I went out to look at it about a month and a half ago.
Judith Simon – TRPA Advisory Planning Committee Member; CAB Alternate Member
Yes, I’ll defer to Kathie if she can be heard. What she was saying was a group of us including Alexis and Kristina and Kathie… when we looked at the two public-access county points, we saw several illegal things going on including an illegal Washoe County sign. Last week I did two walks in the area. On the first one a man appeared who identified himself as security. I asked him who he worked for and he wouldn’t say. So I reported that to Alexis. Then when I walked there again, the illegal Washoe County sign had been removed. When I was up there recently, there were some steps there that looked very unstable. I don’t know who put them up. I came on late so I don’t know what you said at the beginning of the meeting or who the speaker was.
Peter Todoroff
Basically they removed steps with a backhoe without permission. I think anybody representing the County or someone on the CAB would be the ones to check into this. Contact Alexis and see what’s going on and find out why these people did what they did.
Judith Simon
I don’t know who removed the steps but they were pretty unstable. I did take a photo of it and sent it to Alexis. It’s still kind of overgrown there.
Margaret Martini
There were two sets of stairs there. There were some wooden ones and some cement ones. They dug them all up.
Peter Todoroff
The cement stairs were the ones removed—not the unstable wooden ones.
Judith Simon
I’ll take a walk down and take a couple of pictures and send them to the people I know. It was Kristina Hill who organized this little walk about a month ago. I’ll send it to Kristina, Alexis, Kathie, and myself and we’ll start from there.
Peter Todoroff
Thank you. We appreciate it.
Kathie Julian – Incline Resident, Citizen Advisory Board Member
Peter could I just flag something? This points to the importance of watching for any requests for abandonment of County property [inaudible] private property.
Peter Todoroff
Whatever it is, let’s take care of it so the Commissioner knows about it. And if she does something—fine. If she doesn’t—well that’s the way it is. But let the County know what’s going on.
Judith Simon
It’s clear that it’s County property.
Peter Todoroff
Okay, then they should be responsible to give an answer as to what’s going on. Captain Solferino is here. Do you have a presentation you want to make?
Corey Solferino – Washoe County Sheriff Office Captain
A couple of weeks ago we had an attempted armed robbery at one of the shops over here. [inaudible] I don’t want to compromise any of the findings. So I’m restricted by the camera footage [inaudible]. There were a couple of things that came up during the course of that incident that I want to talk to the community about today.
Some of the comments were made on our own Washoe County Sheriff Office Facebook page. Some were made on the Incline Village Community page. I just want to correct a couple of things today. So what happened was we did have a gentleman who walked into one of the shops up here and had a 30-round block magazine that extended from his pocket. They are pretty discernible. They stick out almost like an extended foot and hold 30 rounds and that was visible to the cashier when the gentleman walked into the location. The gun was totally concealed. If you have a NV CCW (Concealed Weapon) permit, it’s very clear that the gun has to remain concealed—not partially concealed—not a little bit concealed—but entirely concealed. So the magazine takes that argument out. But NV is also an open-carry State. So even though I’m a law-enforcement officer, if someone were to come in from outside into a government building or restricted building— you can carry a firearm if you have a permit—within the confines of the library or government building, or casino, as long as it is fully discernible and not concealed whatsoever. The clerk—because the guy wasn’t really responding to verbal communications and was acting a little bit off and no other people were inside the business—ran outside and locked the guy inside the store.
On a normal day—if it’s a day with myself and my lieutenant and our sergeant—[inaudible] that’s our minimum staffing—on a good day we’ll also have a motor officer, administrative officer, and our community support officer—but because we’ve been working in concert with our regional public service entities with whom we have Memorandums of Understanding so we can help assist with Placer County even though it’s in another state, as well they come over and assist us and the NV highway patrol—literally within 7 minutes of the call we had 10 people here. We brought over some of our K-nine teams and some SWAT team members who were actually launched not in the SWAT capacity but in the deputy capacity just working routine calls for service. We aren’t large enough to have a full-time SWAT team—some of the larger metropolitans have a full-time SWAT team and that’s all they do—respond to calls for service, serve warrants, or do those [inaudible] kinds of things. Ours is an ancillary duty. They are a Tier 1 team so that certifies them so they can do arrests, [inaudible] service and [inaudible]. They can do a whole host of things. Because they are a Tier 1 team they have access to different funds [inaudible]. They do train, they just aren’t full time.
So once we got everybody in place, I was actually down in the valley on my day off on a Monday we happened to be doing a presentation with Act One—they develop [inaudible] body cameras and all kinds of cool things. So we’re looking to [inaudible] some of our officers [inaudible] full capacities [inaudible]. I heard what was going on. Sergeant Paulson calls me, we’ve got a decent perimeter—this is what’s going on, blah, blah, blah. So the moment they start [inaudible] the guy starts going crazy within the business establishment; starts breaking thousands of dollars worth of stuff. One of the things he breaks is the front door. As he breaks the front door similar to this one over here—it’s got a lip on it, right?—so he comes out the front door and starts running, trips and falls face first down on the ground. So what’s the hook shot that they shoot for the news release that day? Big old noodle on the top of his head. So what are the comments coming up? Deputies were [inaudible]. We were doing this that and the other. But we didn’t use force. We didn’t deliver a single strike. We didn’t deliver anything that resulted in that. That injury literally resulted from him tripping over his feet, falling face first, which was captured on private video. Some of the videos that were going around down in the community were taken from shop owners. I get that. We live in an age of transparency. People want to know. They want to see.
We did a reverse 911 for a mile and a half circumference around the businesses telling people to shelter in place, get out of plain sight, evacuate if you can. We have a situation with a gentleman with a gun, and we didn’t know how that was going to go. We were controlling the situation trying to keep everybody away. That’s one of things that obviously concerns us from the standpoint that people want to throw an I-phone or a camera right in everybody’s face when this is going down. It’s their legal right to do so but there are some inherent risks like making yourself a target and putting yourself in harm’s way.
Be that as it may, he came out, he didn’t listen to [inaudible], he started running. We did have a canine on scene. As far as our arresting, one of our master trainers Brian Harris was on the scene with a second dog. He replaced me when I started promoting as a master trainer. One of the comments on the blog page— which I took personally because I do a lot of canine work and I know what an awesome tool and resource the canines are—was it said there was an “out-of-control” canine on scene. There are two types of canines. There’s a” bite-and-hold dog” and a “bark-and-hold” dog. Our dogs are “bite-and-hold.” If our guys deploy a dog on a person [inaudible] two of the three factors must be satisfied—(1) actively resisting, (2) evading arrest by flight, and (3) a felony. We have the legal authority to use less-lethal force and canine ‘s [inaudible]. The dog was not out of control. The dog was on a long lead doing what I told it to do. So that was not out of control.
One of the other things that was said in some of the comments going down was that we were illegally detaining the individual because NV is an open carry state. It was not an open-carry situation. The person involved was under the age of 21 and was not eligible for a CCW permit. The person is known within the community. He’s been in trouble before. He’s under the age of 21. So the CCW argument goes out the window as well.
We didn’t charge him with armed robbery because that threat was never made. There was a host of other charges. We cleaned it up [inaudible]. One of our officers fired a 40mm less-lethal round projectile at the person when he was refusing verbal commands. He got the change in behavior that he wanted. The gentleman’s gun was in a jacket in a pocket up front. When he tripped and fell and was given verbal commands—which sound pretty routine: “Put your hands up.” [inaudible] stop resisting, get on the ground. Do it now”—something to that effect, he didn’t do it. He reached right here. So what do we think? What does the general public think that person is doing? Reaching for a gun, right? So our officers actually showed amazing restraint. They didn’t fire their weapons. They didn’t deploy the dog. They gave verbal commands. He wasn’t listening. One of our officers deployed this.
This is what he deployed. It’s an eXact iMpact 40mm sponge round. It comes out fast. It hurts. About 400 ft per second. It’s not lethal. It’s nonlethal. Even though that person was identified as carrying a firearm and our officers potentially had the ability to use force, they did not. I’m passing this around so you guys can see it. In the back is a shell case. It’s a 38. So when we hit him it does sound like a muffled gunshot. A lot of the things in the community forum said, “They’re shooting him.” It was one shot. It was that. It ricocheted off of the person and broke a window. I own that. I paid for that window. I’d much rather—[inaudible] speaking from the management side of the house—pay for a window than for one of our officers or member of the public to get hurt or having to shoot the offender based upon resisting arrest or search and seizure [inaudible.]
Those are some of the things I want to get out before things get out-of-control—people try to pick up a narrative and take off on their own. If you guys have any other questions, those are the four biggest things I saw that were going through. I’m not going to get into a debate or a social media debate. But when I saw some of those things going on I went to our Public Information Officer, I went to the sergeant who was on scene, our PR, myself, and the sergeant and said what cane we do to clean some of this up and put some of these misunderstandings to bed without compromising the investigation and things going on with that.
So we put out a second [inaudible] press release on it. This was shared on the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page and Incline’s.
I think by and large we live in an amazing community that’s extremely supportive of our first responders and law enforcement professionals. And I can’t thank you more. Because in this day and age it’s very easy to go into a dark hole and feel like the world is against you, and that everything you do is wrong and is compromised. So I appreciate the community support that we have. You’ve welcomed us with open arms. And we couldn’t be happier to be up here. But I’m here. You guys know who I am. If you have questions about certain tactics, or questions about certain incidents, I want to be completely transparent with you as long as it does not compromise an ongoing investigation. There are a couple of instances in this one… there’s some reservation as to what the exact [[inaudible] of the gun recovered from this individual. So there are other things we can charge for potentially. We’re working with our Federal partners along those lines. But if you have questions, go to the source. That’s what I’m here for.
[speaker?]
Did you ever find the person who held up the Wells Fargo bank?
Corey Solverino
We did. She was arrested on Saturday. [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
[inaudible] $900 for the damage. They have a limit on [inaudible]
Corey Solferino
[inaudible] on a different tier structure for destruction of property. That’s several thousand dollars. After reading the report, I’ll say the total is in the area of $10,000.
Peter Todoroff
Good.
Corey Solferino
Three major crimes happened over the course of the last 3 weeks up here in Incline. That attempted robbery, the bank robbery, and the Rookies early morning commercial burglary where two masked gentlemen came in and stole three of the “cash backs” from the slots. We’re working that. It’s similar to what’s happening down in Sparks and Reno. That happened last Thursday about 4:30 in the morning. Two gentlemen came in and pried open the doors. It took them about 60 seconds to get in, and inside for 60 seconds, and then they were gone. It does fit similar MOs of crimes happening down in the valley. So our regional team’s on it. It had video surveillance. So we’re putting our best [inaudible] on it.
[speaker]
Two of the three… but we’re not batting 1000 but we’re doing pretty good. We’re bringing justice [inaudible] soon.
[speaker?]
Was it [inaudible]? How do we find out about it if there is a [inaudible.]
Corey Solferino
We’re more worried about the community’s safety than involvement. When we need involvement we call dispatch and put out a reverse 911 to advise the public. If they feel it doesn’t rise to that level, they won’t. There’s a host of different things that can compromise an investigation or a traffic accident. One of the things I’ve talked about briefly but we haven’t really hit the ground running as far as telling the public what we’re doing is [inaudible] our philosophy using crime-reduction strategies. If our guys [inaudible] get dispatched to an area where there’s a potential residential burglary, we’re going to bring up a ton of more resources, do neighborhood canvassing, [inaudible]. A lot of people don’t like to bother with the police. So please let us know. So we’re finding out about crimes that lot of time people simply don’t report. Maybe they didn’t leave their car locked. [inaudible]. Those are the things we want to [inaudible.] There may be something we’re not recognizing that’s important to some of the other cases. Right? So on the other side of the hill, Officer Solesci, we got hit one night with 5 vehicle burglaries. In 4 of the 5 nothing was taken. But in the 5th one, a firearm was taken. You guys know how I feel about that if your firearm [inaudible]. [inaudible] So please don’t [inaudible]. Those are things that obviously concern us. [inaudible] It could have been something like that. I have to look into it for you. [inaudible] There’s something going on.
Joseph Farrell – Incline Resident
Thank you for keeping us safe. I have a question regarding 911. I have a cell phone that’s a 925 area code from the Bay Area. So if I call 911 will I be directed to…
Corey Solferino
[inaudible] whatever cell phone tower answers [inaudible]..
Joseph Farrell
So it will get [inaudible]. Because I know that years ago it was different.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Chief
If that cell tower is impacted from some cause, it can be bumped to the next cell tower. I can tell you that right now 60% of the 911 calls coming from Highway 28 on the East Shore are going to [inaudible]. So just be aware of that. [inaudible] Just because the call [inaudible] it may not be the case based on the busy-ness of the cell tower.
Joseph Farrell
[inaudible]
Corey Solferino
On your cell phone you have the ability to your [inaudible] page and click up and put in your GPS coordinates [inaudible], that’s huge. That will clear up any misunderstandings about where you are and the search and rescue will try to find you. I just want to say thanks; but I’ve got to run.
[speaker]
Based on the timing of the two incidents …
Corey Solferino
[inaudible] That wasn’t a distraction. Thanks guys. I don’t want to take up any more of your time. But I appreciate this platform and this opportunity. I think this is a great way we can communicate about things on the law enforcement side. We take it for granted because we’ve been indoctrinated into our responses and [inaudible] what is lethal force [inaudible]. You really have to understand this and there’s reasons why we do certain things and say certain things. We can’t release everything right at that particular time. [inaudible]
Sara Schmitz – IVGID Trustee, IVCB Community First, Director
I just want to provide a couple of updates. I just posted a new article on the IVCB Community 1st website which is the statement from the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association relative to the use of herbicides. The suppliers are expressing their concerns. That has been provided. On another subject, I want everyone to know that on the website and in the newsletter that went out this morning, there’s information about refilling Ben Kiekhefer’s Senate seat and that will be happening next Tuesday at the Washoe County Commissioners meeting. On Wednesday the WC Commissioners will be meeting with the Carson City Board of Supervisors and formalizing their recommendation. They want a retired legislator of Carson City due to concerns related to potential redistricting. That information is all out on the website as of this morning.
Peter Todoroff
I’d like to comment on this. The pollution of our drinking water is up to the TRPA. TRPA either says, “yes, you can use this herbicide” or “no.” We have no control over what the TRPA does. They’ve been able to do whatever they want in this community. And I find it unacceptable that TRPA would even consider polluting our drinking water with an herbicide. Judith Simon and I have been working on this for at least 10 years and we were assured this was the very last resort, and the TRPA would not approve it. So I don’t know why they have decided to pollute our drinking water when we have ultraviolet light, which is working. Tom Lotshaw—Jeff Cowen’s predecessor—said the ultraviolet light was working. I don’t understand why the TRPA is not listening to what this community, and South Shore, and everybody else is saying about using an herbicide and polluting our drinking water. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Margaret Martini
There is a possibility of just draining and dredging the Keys and taking care of the problem once-and-for-all. The perfect opportunity has already passed because the lake was so low. I think that the Tahoe Keys HOA [inaudible] and the TRPA has a big fist over a lot of things in the basin. And they are not hesitant at all to put their finger on the little guy, when this is a much bigger project. But TRPA has become MIA. There is a solution. That would be to drain the Keys and take care of the problem. Because that’s where [inaudible] TRPA is unwilling to step up and do its job. Herbicides are a stupid band-aid fix.
Peter Todoroff
It’s pollution of the lake.
Judith Simon
I’d just like to add to that, and also commend Sara for making that letter signed by Madonna Dunbar in a more accessible form. It is on the IVGID “Your Tahoe Place” site but not very easy to find. I read the letter. I do think there’s some degree of hope. I also sent that letter to the Chair of the CAB to see if we can get an agenda item on the CAB for December. They’re going to be acting in January. I don’t have the date. As some of you know I am on the TRPA Advisory Planning Committee that feeds into TRPA’s Governing Board. I just got a notice they’re trying to get the APC to have a meeting prior to the TRPA Board. That date is January 13. So I think we better take whatever opportunities we have to throw this off track.
Linda Offerdahl – IVCBA.org Executive Director
First off both rental assistance and utility assistance is available from Washoe County. It’s made available through two agencies here —Tahoe Family Solutions and Sierra Community House. They are looking to identify people in need. So if you know anybody…. We’re going to the churches… so tell them to get in touch with Tahoe Family Solutions.
My second announcement is about Northern Lights. Northern Lights is a festival that celebrates all our holidays [inaudible]. We’re doing extra work for lighting this year. We’re raising money to light up several trees on Tahoe Boulevard. And there will be a lighting contest. So we’re asking people who own buildings to light up their buildings [inaudible]. So I’ll send Peter the information so people can donate if they wish and everyone will know what’s going on.
Peter Todoroff
Chief Sommers do we have any updates?
Ryan Sommers
Today’s the last day for chipping requests. We’ll shut that down for winter. Next week we’re going to see some pile burning and hopefully some US Forest Service land. [inaudible] Can I answer any questions?
Margaret Martini
I urge everyone to get a copy of the current Moonshine Ink. I think it says a lot about what Fire Departments do. My son is a paramedic. He was out for 8 days on the Dixie Fire… and was nothing but complimentary about the professionalism that the Fire Departments showed, and their dedication. The level of dedication was unbelievable—putting out the fires and doing the planned stages of doing things. According to this article, it will shock you. It was absolutely shocking how the US Forest Service staff members look at the fire, how they treat the fire, and then walk away and leave it to the local Fire Departments to save the structures and save the cities. This was probably written by a Fire-Department guy, but he was also saying that the US Forest Service has no interest in saving structures or cities. All they want to do is take over managing the fires. Well, they’re not managing these fires. This article was shocking as to how the US Forest Service sees things.
Ryan Sommers
Well, I’ve read the article. So, there is an article in Moonshine Ink written by an anonymous person. It was not me. It was not the Fire Chief of Tahoe-Douglas. [inaudible]. They think that we wrote it. We did not. If I had written it, I would have put my name. That’s number 1. Number 2 it’s one person’s opinion. So keep that in mind. Just because it’s in black and white doesn’t mean it’s the way it is. [inaudible] The social media attacks of this type of article—there’s two sides to every point. But I will say the US Forest Service does not do structure protection. We will not be needing [inaudible] whatsoever. We cannot order a US Forest Service engine to protect a structure. They don’t have the training. They don’t carry SCAs. They don’t do that. That’s just not what they do. There are a lot of different philosophies on how to manage these wild-land fires. [inaudible] This author refers to a way… that they didn’t like the way the US Forest Service handles some of these things. The unfortunate part is local government and state government have no say in that. [inaudible]. We just don’t. We can go toe-to-toe with them and have very frank discussions with them as we did on the Caldor Fire; but we have no ability to override their decisions [inaudible]. So the article has some good points. It also has a lot of personal attacks. Some of it is true. The US Forest Service does not do structure protection. If you’ve got an aggressive Captain, and you can keep that relationship up [inaudible], you can ask them to do that, and they can do it. If it’s a [inaudible] structure, they have to do it. [inaudible] But keep in mind they don’t have the right equipment.
Shirley Appel – Incline Resident, HOA President
So what is their role?
Peter Todoroff
I think they’re trying to figure that out.
Ryan Sommers
Any time there’s aircraft in the air, the US Forest Service manages that no matter what. [inaudible]. If our Dispatch Center says we are dispatched fully, they can drop us some California assets from CAL fire. But anything other than that, the US Forest Service has to be involved. And at that point… see there’s some give-and-take here. We want the US Forest Service involved if there’s a wildfire on IVGID land, I want the US Forest Service involved. [inaudible] But if it’s the majority of their land [inaudible] if the fire’s on their land, they are the one’s responsible for it. They are the ones that oversee our [inaudible]. You cannot get aid, [inaudible] the process through [inaudible]. So there’s [inaudible], but when it comes to actual Fire operations there’s a lot of interpretation of current policies [inaudible]. So we don’t have any problem with the [inaudible] now [inaudible] it’s boots on the ground [inaudible]. I can talk about this all day long. So here’s an example. My guys get paid from the second they leave to the second they get home. [inaudible] Federal government. [inaudible] reimbursed. The Forest Service a lot of time denied the [inaudible] because it costs too much money. [inaudible] We made the argument to them that they cost just as much. They have all these policies and all these [inaudible] hazard pay. So as long as that fire is not contained, every firefighter out there gets hazard pay. They get a pay for this, and they get a pay for that. [inaudible.
Those big fires, like the Dixie and the Caldor, were never 100% suppressed. So the fire [inaudible]. It’s just like anything. There’s going to be arguments I have with the US Forest Service and there’s arguments they have with me. It’s really opened up a can of worms. My email and my voicemail [inaudible].
43:00
Joe Farrell
Thanks for the explanation. Really [inaudible]. I have a question. We have a lot of US Forest Service in Incline Village. Near me on the corner of Dale and Tyner there’s US Forest land… so hypothetically…
Ryan Sommers
… a Bert Santini lot?
Joe Farrell
I can’t remember. It’s a corner lot
Ryan Sommers
So it’s Bert Santini…
Joe Farrell
So let’s say a fire starts and it gets out of control for some reason—80 mph winds or something. I’m assuming you have the ability to get an air tanker [inaudible]. It would be pretty quick for [inaudible]
Ryan Sommers
Yes.
Joe Farrell
Good.
Ryan Sommers
We know the address for every politician in the basin. [inaudible]
[speaker]
Didn’t the US Forest Service sit and watch that Tamarack fire simmer for over 6 days.
[inaudible]
[speaker]
does California pay for your services?
Ryan Sommers
No. So … it’s a bit technical but I’ll try to [inaudible]. At the end of every wildfire, we go to a cost-share meeting. I will take my attorney as will everyone else. Because they’re going to say, “Okay 10% of the fire’s on your land, you need to pay us this much money.” We’ll get the state, local and [inaudible]. I’m going to turn around and say, “Ok that’s fine. You say I owe “x” amount? But guess what. You utilized the school in my fire district for your S&P. This may end up being a wash.” [inaudible] So that’s cost-share. You say California has to pay for this. California’s going to pay for part of it [inaudible]; but it’s all going to be under litigation. Because the Dixie Fire that came in June is going to be that. The Caldor was an arsonist. So the State of California will be going through litigation with the person that started it. The Tamarack is going to be litigation. The US Forest Service will be in that because it’s a national forest fire. But yes Cal Fire is going to have to pay for some of it just as we would [inaudible]. A fire started off of its land. So the Fire Department could be liable for some of that cost. [inaudible] assuming fire protection for the District. [inaudible] But there’s [inaudible] insurance and [inaudible].
Peter Todoroff
I fortunately or unfortunately received an email from the CA Forest Department asking for my opinion or a review of the fires. I said I believe there are about 20 million trees that have been infected by bark beetles. I said my advice to the Forest Department is to do “best management practices” and get rid of all these trees that are infected, clean up your act, because California is where our fires start. We get it in NV—we get the smoke and all of it—and it’s all caused in California. I believe instead of worrying about Critical Race Theory and vaccinations, maybe you need to clean up your act in the Forest Department and do your job.
Ryan Sommers
[inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
This has been going on since the Bonanza Days. Wasn’t it 20 million trees or more… in the early 90’s…. for the people who haven’t been here a long time—we did our part in this community. We had helicopters. The Forest Department went out there and cut down these dead trees and helicopters picked up these big logs, and put them on trucks, which is a great sight to see when you’re going down to Carson City or South Shore. And we did our part. We need to impress upon California to do their part, because that’s where all the fires start.
Ryan Sommers
[inaudible]
It’s not just California.
Peter Todoroff
Most of them are. The Angora Fire was started in California, because I went down and saw it. It was a disaster.
Margaret Martini
So in terms of the cost and management of these fires, isn’t it less expensive to do what we were doing before—taking out the diseased trees, etc.—before paying double or triple or whatever fighting the fires? It’s more cost-effective to manage the forest than to fight the fires.
Ryan Sommers
Common sense went out the window [inaudible]. Common sense comes into play [inaudible] like you and I [inaudible] hit or miss. Here’s why I say that. The tract on the top of Echo Summit on the west side—the Forest Service went in there trying to do the right thing and pile up some vegetation. They had the vegetation piled up. The tract filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service and told them they shouldn’t do that [inaudible]. They were in litigation for 4 years and still in litigation the day of the Caldor Fire. [inaudible]. So there’s times when they try to do that, and they get bottlenecked or stopped because of some other group that doesn’t want them doing that. That wasn’t some other government it was a local HOA that said no to taking away the trees. Now, they have a great view. They can see across the highway for miles.
Joe Farrell
Quick question. What’s the process for us citizens to influence the [inaudible]. Should we write our local Congressman or Senator? What would you suggest so we can be proactive?
Ryan Sommers
So, if you find out for that project if you want to help them [inaudible] it’s on the Forest Service’s [inaudible] the very first contact [inaudible]. They have the ultimate say in what’s going to happen. The [inaudible] is getting a brand new supervisor [inaudible]. That’s where you want to start. [inaudible. But the State, you need to contact the State Fire Board. [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
Is Forest still head of the Fire Department?
Ryan Sommers
Forest Shafer worked for us for years. No, [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
So do you have a person we can contact? California or anybody?
Ryan Sommers
[Inaudible] You’ve got to be more specific.
Peter Todoroff
[inaudible]
There are these 20,000 million trees that need to be cut down. Is that Placer County? Do they have all the trees infected by beetles.
53:35
Ryan Sommers
[inaudible] The beetle kill is bigger down in Calaveras County than it is up here. [inaudible] My problem is you cannot export the wood. [inaudible] four mills [inaudible] very few mills that [inaudible] You have to see this from start to finish. You can’t get any kind of biomass [inaudible]. You can’t export the wood because there’s a moratorium on that. [inaudible] and make a lot of money. But you can’t do that. [inaudible] This is the problem that we’re having. So there’s [inaudible] you can’t do anything with the wood. [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
And wood has doubled in price.
[speaker]
[inaudible]
Ryan Sommers
[inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
Any other questions? Any announcements?
Kari Ferguson – IVGID Communication Coordinator
[inaudible] Thanks to the Fire Protection District… Trail of Treats… that big snowstorm covered our trail, and the hand crew came out and shoveled the trail… kind of gives you a vision of who is here in town. This is for IVCB. It was a huge success put on by the Park and Recreation Department [inaudible] a job well done. A year ago when nobody was having any events, we still had them. They took the trail outside the Trail of Treats and started a new tradition this year for the IVCB Trail of Treats. The new format …[inaudible]. It was a huge success. [inaudible] congratulate them and thank you again to North Lake Tahoe Fire, our partners. At every event we have you’ve been supportive and we appreciate it so much. And the Sheriff’s office was there with the funniest [inaudible] and it’s a great way for kids and families to meet the Sheriff and officers [inaudible] pictures on Facebook [inaudible]. I also want to thank Linda from IVCBA [inaudible]. Tonight we have the [inaudible] snow party [inaudible] at 6pm at the [inaudible] foundation and Village Ski Loft. They’ll be showing a movie [inaudible]. Also the Incline High School is in the playoffs tonight—very exciting [inaudible]—home football game [inaudible]. You have to buy tickets to the game on line [inaudible] because it’s a playoff game. Just pushing the word out.
[speaker]
[inaudible]
Kari Ferguson
No, [inaudible] just ahead of time. If you’re a booster member… all games… but this is separate because it’s a playoff game. You have to pay ahead of time.
We’re holding a job faire tomorrow at Diamond Peak from 9-11. [inaudible] so if you know of anyone looking for a job [inaudible] Like everywhere else… right? Next week’s the Board meeting on Wednesday… [inaudible]
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Librarian
Here at the library a lot of folks are taking advantage of the weekends [inaudible] access. We’re closed on Saturday and Sunday, but if you reserve the meeting room online ahead of time, we’ll get you [inaudible] you can [inaudible] enter and exit on a Saturday or Sunday [inaudible]. We have a new installation in our children’s area—a traditional Washoe [inaudible] shelter like you see outside the Visitor Center in Tahoe Vista constructed by [inaudible] Washoe tribes. It’s a real [inaudible] for the kids to see. [inaudible]
Peter Todoroff
I have an announcement. Today is my last meeting here. I have people in this community who feel they can run the meeting better than I have. I was asked by the committee in 2017 to have a voice, and so I did. My health is iffy. I watched the CAB meeting the other night. I turned it off because I can’t believe what the County and TRPA are doing to this community. It just upsets me to the max. I don’t need any more stress. I had talked to Denise Davis a while ago and said if anything happens to me that I’d like to have her take over. I’ve been able to accomplish a lot when I had the community behind me. But since I moved down to Reno the community is not getting behind me. And there’s nothing I can do. I can’t sit here and watch what the County and TRPA are doing to this community. And I don’t live here. So I really don’t have any voice anymore. I feel that if these people can do this job better than I, let them do it. Because I’m an “action person.” I did what the community asked me to do. I’ve accomplished a lot while I was up here. But now I feel like I need to turn the reins over to somebody else. If Denise wants it, fine. If she doesn’t she can choose whoever she wants. But I can’t go through this anymore. [Clapping] I’m done. I’ve been in the hospital every day this last week with problems. I have to have eye surgery. I have glaucoma and cataracts. I have macular degeneration. My blood pressure—I have monitoring equipment at home—is up and down. And every time I watch a meeting I get really upset because the County is taking over this community. We have no say about what’s going on. And it really hurts my heart. It really does. I worked so hard in this place where I’ve lived for 41 years. It just hurts me to no end to see what’s happening with this community. It really does. It just breaks my heart.
We’ve got a new market coming in with organic foods. There’s already a problem there. Nobody has any information from the County—only what they want you to know. There’s a parking problem there. If that market is there, where are people going to park? Number one. Number two—we need workforce housing. Where’s that? We have 44 condos going up on Highway 28, where’s the information on that? “Well let you know.” Really??? The way the CAB was run is that the person who’s building on their property—the planner or the architect for that person and the County would give a presentation to the CAB. Now the County is telling you what they want you to know. Is there construction going on? What about Southwood Boulevard? Did anybody know about that property going up? No, they didn’t. So after the County decides to let you know what they want you to know, what do you have? The County and TRPA. Just like I said, TRPA could stop this herbicide polluting our drinking water. This is unacceptable as far as I’m concerned. And Judith Simon and I have worked for at least 10 years attending all the meetings and giving speeches, and going down to South Shore, and everything else, and TRPA is letting things happen.
The Hyatt is another thing. The Hyatt had paid parking. I took a picture and sent it down to the County where the TARP bus is driving in the middle of the road because cars are parked on both sides on Country Club. It goes on and on and on. And I’m just tired. I really am. I wish there was something I could do, but I can’t do it by myself.
[speaker]
You’ve done a lot and we’re all grateful for that.
Peter Todoroff
I have a bunch of emails thanking me for all I’ve done but I can’t do it alone. I have to have the community behind me. And this last year it hasn’t happened.
John Crockett
Thank you Peter for everything.
[Clapping]
CHAT BOX:
09:01:38 From Washoe County Libraries : Folks attending remotely, can you hear us? We’re trying a new mic/camera today.
09:02:15 From Denise Davis : Yes. Would you have everyone in person say their names for attendance?
09:02:27 From Washoe County Libraries : Yes, thanks Denise.
09:03:16 From jim nadeau to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : The audio is better than in the past
09:04:53 From Washoe County Libraries to jim nadeau(Direct Message) : great, thanks Jim
09:11:05 From Judith Simon : Sound from the library is not very understandable. Can the speaker get nearer the microphone?
09:26:06 From Washoe County Libraries : Judy, are you able to hear most of that ok?
09:26:45 From Judith Simon : yes. I think he was close enough to the mike
09:28:14 From Washoe County Libraries : ivcbcommunity1st.org
09:31:50 From Denise Davis to Washoe County Libraries(Direct Message) : We can hear Margaret talking but can only make out a few words. Maybe in-person folks need to be closer to the mike when they speak.
09:32:36 From Washoe County Libraries to Denise Davis(Direct Message) : thank you Denise