The link to the recording of the meeting is at:
Denise Davis – IVCB Forum Moderator
Good morning, forum. I’m Denise Davis, your moderator. Ronda Tycer is our forum recap editor, and John Crockett is our tech guru.
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All right, Kari. What is happening at IVGID?
Kari Ferguson – Incline Village General Improvement District Communication Coordinator
Good morning! I can’t believe it’s September 15th —the middle of September—already. I sent out an email special announcement yesterday. One of the announcements was on construction of the effluent pipeline. It is going to be worked on throughout today and through the weekend. There will be no stop in work all weekend. They’re trying to get ahead of the project because of Street Vibrations next weekend. So if you’re planning to go to Carson, put your patience hat on, or maybe go to Reno instead. I hear the Air Races are in town. I’m going to put a link to the newsletter in the Chat Box so it has every single thing on there.
The IVGID Board of Trustees meeting that was originally scheduled for the 13th has been rescheduled for Tuesday the 19th. The agenda and packet link are in the newsletter as well. Another notable change is that on Monday boat ramp hours change: 7 am to 6:30 pm. With it getting dark a little earlier, we want people to be off the water earlier. It’s harder for staff to see to seal the boats. I’m really proud of the staff because a lot of the State parks are closing at 4pm. Our boat ramp is staying open well past 4 pm. So I give kudos to our crew for that.
At the Chateau we have modified the hours. Our tentative closing date will be October 20. That’s tentative, and if it changes I’ll let you know. Right now we’re not doing sit-down dining on Mondays and Tuesdays. The bar is open every day. Monday and Tuesdays, just grab-and-go sandwiches, soup chili, and that sort of fare. You can always enjoy the deck outside with that gorgeous view.
We have announced the Trail of Treats and Terror. We’re always looking for partners for the event to make it more fun for Incline Village and Crystal Bay families. That day is Thursday October 26, 3:30-5:30. We’ll be sending an email out today to our past partners. We’re hoping we can get the library, the sheriff, fire, and everybody on board for that event. We’re doing the same type of event, where you are out on the fitness trail and the Village Green instead of coming into the buildings. So that’s exciting.
Our latest magazine issue is out and should be in your mailboxes this week. It’s already at the Rec Center and online. So I have a link for that. Our next magazine comes out on October 31st. That is our annual report edition of financials and that sort of thing.
We have upcoming Board meetings on September 19th and 27th and on October 11th. There is an October break for Incline Village school kids as well the first week in October. That’s a side note. I know people in town like to know that. I’ll put all the links to the information in the Chat today. If anyone has any questions, I am here.
Denise Davis
Kari, I received a note saying there would be some window cleaning at the Recreation Center September 20-22. Is that still happening?
Kari Ferguson
Yes, that’s a good reminder. We have the Women’s locker room closed 12:30 to 1:30 pm to replace soap dispensers etc. So I will put that information in the Chat as well. And we do have some venue painting coming up. I’m still trying to nail down when and where. As soon as I have that information I will email it to you guys and push it out on social media. I’ll probably do another special announcement email on Monday because I want to remind people about the Job Fair at Diamond Peak on the 12th of October and all the paving and that sort of stuff happening.
Denise Davis
The email was very informative. I appreciated getting it. I just want to briefly go over the IVGID Board of Trustees September 19th agenda. On the consent calendar it’s the approval of final payment to the legal team for the Smith vs. IVGID lawsuit, and the approval of meeting minutes. General Business includes: “Review, discuss, and possibly appoint members of the community to the board Advisory Committee on Golf. Review and discuss the final ratification of the Department of Finance staffing increase, and approval of recommended adjustments for consulting services. Review, discuss, and possibly adopt Board policy regarding access to confidential and non-public information. Review of a verbal report on the history of District sanctions issued against Cliff Dobler and resulting actions, if any.” And that is what is on the agenda for the 19th. Any questions for Kari?
Kari Ferguson
If anyone wants to receive the newsletter, I can forward it to them directly. I’ll put my email in the Chat. Send me an email at: kmf@ivgid.org. I’m happy to forward that on to you and also add you to the list if you like.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Kari. We appreciate that. I’ll give you a quick update on the effluent pipeline. As Kari said, work will be continuing so there will be traffic stops over at the site.
NV Energy will continue to replace poles and remove hazard trees and equipment. If you’re on the east side of town, you’ve heard the helicopters this week. Their work will continue through mid to late September.
On September 18-19 intermittent closures will take place along State Route 28 between Lakeshore Boulevard and Sand Harbor and the East Shore bike path, to allow for the safe flyover of helicopters and equipment. Closures should last no longer than 15 minutes at a time while the helicopter flies overhead to set new poles. Other than these intermittent closures, no other anticipated road closures related to this work are scheduled.
It’s been a busy week on the east side of town between roadwork at night and helicopters by day.
Sara Schmitz – Incline Village General Improvement District Trustee
Kari, correct me if I’m wrong, but beginning today and going through Tuesday, there is construction for the effluent pipeline on SR 28 24/7. So please plan ahead for potential delays—even overnight. Thank you.
Yolanda Knaak – Incline Village Resident
I drove to Carson City yesterday. There were actually two locations past Sand Harbor where you had to wait.
Kari Ferguson
Yes, one’s the NDOT project. Sara, I think you came in a bit late, but I did announce that effluent pipeline schedule. I want to let people know that the first stop after Sand Harbor if you’re on the way to Carson is the NDOT project. You’ll see the Q&D trucks. They’re mostly working at night and not so much during the day. However they are a bit behind because of the rain. Our project is the big long construction zone. It is a wide construction zone. It’s more towards Secret Creek and the Skunk Harbor area.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Kari. I also want to let everyone know that NDOT is replacing the aging Mt. Rose Highway summit avalanche control center. So, expect brief, periodic traffic stops at the summit during weekday mornings through early October.
Also, roadwork hours are expanded from Sunday at 8pm to Saturday at 7pm. Add a few moments to your expected drive time. There is work continuing throughout the village on some other projects. There’s still work going on at Freel’s Peak. Construction season will end soon. We’ll be done in 1 month. Hopefully we’ll be finished and then enjoy our nice smooth asphalt for years to come.
All right. Is there anything going on at the Sheriff’s Office?
Blaine Beard – Washoe County Sheriff Office Incline Substation Captain
I’ll make mine short today because we are extremely busy in preparation for the Community Picnic tomorrow. So, that’s my first announcement. Tomorrow at the Ridgeline ball fields from 10vam to 2 pm is the annual Sheriff’s Community Picnic. So I expect to see all of you out there tomorrow. It’s going to be a great day. Right now we’re in the process of moving everything from different areas in town to the substation and then tomorrow morning, from the substation to the event site. It’s a busy day today, so I’ll keep mine short. Just make sure you’re there tomorrow. It’s going to be a fantastic time. I could spend 20 minutes just thanking all of the community members, agencies, and partners that made this thing possible. I’ll do that tomorrow when I have more time on the microphone. But thank you all. You know who you are.
Secondly, as I said before, we are now officially back into the substation at 625 Mt. Rose Highway. We’re 100% fully functional and open the way we were prior to the flooding in March. So if you need anything from the community, we’re back and good to go.
I mentioned 2 weeks ago that I spoke with Washoe County Roads about getting more signage in town. That will be coming, I believe, in this next week as far as some more of those solar-powered speed signs. We’re also going to be meeting next week about the areas I described last time—Village and Southwood, and Village and Northwood; and, community members brought to my attention two additional areas. We’ll go visit and check them for safety and pedestrian safety I believe on Wednesday or Thursday next week. I’ll keep you all informed as to what’s coming and what we’re going to do to help mitigate some of these safety concerns.
Lastly, we did a traffic study in the 1st Quarter in 2023 for citations versus Quarter 2. Citations and warnings in Quarter 2 went up 3 times from Quarter 1. This was mainly because of winter with fewer cars on the road. Quarter 2 is spring and summer months when obviously you have higher numbers with more people in town. Of the total citations, 42% were out-of-towners, 32% were people from our area, and the other 20% or so had an unknown address. So it looks like roughly about 40% -50% getting citations are locals. It’s a pretty good distribution. So, I remind everybody that I don’t want to see anybody get citations really. We don’t pull people over to give citations, We pull them over to keep them safe. Please remember to go the speed limit because I believe 81% of our traffic stops this past quarter were speed-related. So, I’m just reminding you. And I know all of you guys are stewards of the community, and everyone follows the rules—including me—but just remind everybody to go 25 mph in those posted areas. Keep everybody safe, and we’ll do our part—Sergeant Tone and myself and our troops— to make sure you’re as safe as can be.
Lastly, as far as last month’s stats for crime. We had 4 Assault and Batteries (anything involving striking another person or unwanted touching; 1 Auto Burglary; 1 Residential Burglary, and 4 Destructions of Property. Not great numbers but for a village of our size, those numbers aren’t bad. They are on par with what they were last year. And you’re dealing with the end of summer. So, once summer’s done I think a lot of these things will start dying off when kids are back in school and we don’t have the tourism we had this summer. I don’t want to go too long. I know Tia and Chief Sommers will be addressing the forum, and are going to speak, so I’ll leave that to them, and that’s all I have.
Sara Schmitz
I don’t have a question. I just want to express gratitude. I received a phone call from people who live on Country Club, and they say that the visual signs have made a huge difference. So, I just wanted to share that the folks on Country Club are very grateful for that.
Blaine Beard
They’re going to be more grateful because we have one more sign coming in the next week or 2.
Denise Davis
Are there any other questions or comments for our Sheriff Department? Seeing none…
Blaine Beard
Thank you very much and we’ll see you tomorrow 10-2. If you want to help set up chairs you can be out there starting at 7 am.
Denise Davis
Starting at 10 there will be opening remarks and things, and food starts at 11 according to Tiffany’s schedule.
Blaine Beard
We’re going to recognize the honorary deputies. The Sheriff’s going to make an announcement and lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
Yolanda Knaak
I just want to thank you and all the sheriff deputies. You’re doing a great job.
Ryan Sommers – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Chief
Good morning everyone. As I talked about earlier, we’re quite involved with the NV Energy project. We’ve removed quite a bit of green waste. I can give you those numbers. Tia is on, too, to help me out. We’ve removed 247 “supersacks”—which is what they’re calling it. It’s 1200 cubic feet of green waste. And we removed 142 trees along the infrastructure and the power lines. We’ll continue that today. Then we’ll have a bit of a break. Starting the week after we’re going to start on the other side of town near the Knotty Pine Subdivision and the transmission line that goes over into Kings Beach. So we’re doing our part to make sure that vegetation is removed from under the power lines.
We will also be present tomorrow at the Sheriff’s Community Picnic. We’re working on a community forum to be held October 18 at the Chateau. We’ll talk about nothing but evacuations and the evacuation plan. I’m going to be very honest and upfront. It will be a constructive forum. It’s not going to be complaints. They won’t be tolerated. The naysaying is not going to be tolerated because I’ll just shut it down and we’ll stop doing it. It’s meant to help the community to understand the plan better. There’s more to come on that. Tia, do you have anything to add?
Tia Rancourt – North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District Public Information Officer
Thank you, Chief. I think that about covers it. We’re excited to be at the picnic tomorrow and look forward to seeing everyone at the forum October 18 at the Chateau from 5:30-7:00 pm.
Denise Davis
Tia and Chief, I saw something somewhere that you’re using the Old Elementary School for some training. Is that still happening?
Ryan Sommers
I know that we asked if we could use it. It would be the exterior only. I apologize. I’ve been on a fire assignment in Northern California the past 15 days. So, I need to follow up to see if we’re actually over there on the property.
Denise Davis
Also, is there a deadline to sign up for Defensible Space Evaluations this year?
Tia Rancourt
I don’t think there’s a hard deadline yet. Those are still happening. Please sign up. We’ll have the sign-ups available tomorrow at the picnic.
Kathie Julian – Incline Village Resident
I have one quick question and don’t take this as a criticism. I’m just kind of curious. You hear the background of the helicopter. Where is the budget for all the removal of green waste—which is great. I’m seeing lots of trees coming out. What pot of funding is funding this, and do you have any idea how much it is costing to remove these trees and the undergrowth from beneath the power lines?
Ryan Sommers
The whole project is being funded by NV Energy. I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing with the wood. But I can find out and let everybody know. For the wood I think it’s going to be up to what the US Forest Service wants done with it. I’ll get more information on that for sure.
Kathie Julian
Great, and I have just another comment. With all due respect. I hope when you say you want that October 18 event to be constructive, I hope that doesn’t mean you won’t field questions on evacuations on our main highways out and the ability to get a through-flow of traffic out in the event of a fire. Because I think that’s a legitimate concern people have. I wouldn’t consider that naysaying. I’d consider that a realistic question.
Ann Nichols – Crystal Bay Resident. North Lake Tahoe Preservation Alliance Director
That was the same question I had. How do you determine… I know you don’t mean this as it sounded… like you were going to shut everybody down. But how do you decide if it’s healthy skepticism or you don’t like what someone’s saying?
Ryan Sommers
I think those are all great questions. No, we are definitely going to take those questions. We’re going to field those hard questions. I know the whole forum will be a lot of questions and a lot of questioning of the current plan. That’s going to be absolutely fine. My point is that I want to keep it professional. If we start going after people personally – which I have kind of seen in the past—especially toward the Washoe Emergency Management manager, that’s what I’m talking about. Let’s keep professional and get through these questions. Yes, my intention is that most of it will be question and answer. Absolutely.
Ann Nichols
Okay, good. Thanks.
Denise Davis
Any other questions for the Chief or Tia, while we have them? I remind you that September is National Preparedness Month. So, have a plan–and have a bag. I’m sure there will be information available tomorrow at the community picnic if you need a list of what to plan. Thanks Chief and Tia for being with us today.
I just want to let everyone know that the Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation will be holding their annual Golf-from-the Heart Tournament September 24. Contact information for that will be in the recap URLs. I also want to give a shout-out to the IV Hospital Emergency Room. I unfortunately had to pay a visit to them this past week, and they were quick, very professional, and took great care of me. So, thanks Emergency Room! So what is happening at the library Mr. Crockett?
John Crockett – Washoe County Library Incline Head Librarian
We have the first in our Tahoe Talks series this past Tuesday. We had a great conversation about culture wars. We had a journalist based in Reno, Noah Glick as well as Dr. Nick Seltzer from the University of Nevada Reno. We had a really nice discussion. The next one is coming up in October on mining in Nevada. Also this Tuesday is our first Tech Talk. This is about an emerging technology topic. We are covering electric vehicles. And we have a representative from NV energy coming to talk about implementing an electric grid that will support electric vehicles. That’s Tuesday at 6:30 pm. And we’ll see everybody at the picnic.
Denise Davis
Thanks, John. I want to show everybody. I know it probably doesn’t show up well online, but Saturday I made a puzzle here at the library on their sublimation printer. Once or twice a month on the 1st Thursday and the following Saturday, they bring out a lot of their toys. They have “cricket machines, 3-D printers, a mug press, and all kinds of great tools to make things. Mark your calendars. All these things are free. My puzzle was free. It’s going to make a great Christmas present for somebody. I do know that in October they’re making trick-or-treat bags, and I believe they said in November they’ll make mugs.
John Crockett
Thank you for the plug. You can get a free puzzle or a mug if you come to that program. This equipment is also available during our Book-a-Librarian available Tuesday through Friday. If you’re interested in making something as a Christmas gift, we ask that you bring the supplies. We can tell you where we buy them. But they’re free at the program.
Chris King – Incline Village Resident
I have a comment regarding the electric vehicle Tech Talk. John, I told you I wouldn’t be able to be there on Tuesday. But my schedule has changed so I will be able to be there. For everybody, I work for Siemens that makes a lot of the equipment for electrical vehicle charging and equipment to design electrical vehicles and so on. I spend all day everyday working on electric vehicles. So I will be attending that event and will pitch in with my expertise as well.
John Crockett
Great, Chris. I will contact you. I appreciate it.
Denise Davis
Moving along. The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meets Tuesday September 19. I want to highlight a couple of items on the agenda. Each of our commissioners has a special fund they can use to make disbursements at their discretion to a variety of causes and people who approach them. Our Commissioner Alexis Hill is making disbursements from her special fund. She’s donating $5000 to the Tahoe Prosperity Center for their 2023 Envision Tahoe Venture Summit, and $1000 to the Reno Bike Project. She’s making several other donations, but I know those are ones our community has talked about. Commissioner Mariluz Garcia is also making some grants at that same meeting. So every commissioner has a special fund from which they can make disbursements throughout the fiscal year.
Agenda Item 8 is: An appearance and presentation by Washoe County Emergency Management administrator Kelly Echeverria to update the board on the Regional Strategic Emergency Management Preparedness goals, the Integrated Preparedness Plan, and collaborative preparedness efforts throughout the region. That’s just a discussion item. There is no action on that. If you are interested in our emergency plan, I would advise you to watch that portion of the meeting.
Agenda Item 14: They will likely be appointing candidates to fill vacancies on the Washoe county Library Board of Trustees.
Agenda Item 15: This is a recommendation to approve a resolution supporting the Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act; and a recommendation to request Nevada’s Federal congressional delegation to advance the Federal Public Lands legislation. We had some show-and-tells earlier this year.
Those are the items I saw that may be of interest to folks in Incline.
Ann Nichols
Alexis Hill is on the Board of the Tahoe Prosperity Center (TPC). She is using our public monies to further her influence with that group. Whether you agree with TPC or not, they are behind the extra height, density, and coverage for the whole North Shore. And Cindy Gustafson, the Placer County Supervisor, is the chair of the TRPA and on the Catalyst Committee for the Tahoe Prosperity Center. There have been a lot of questions about the validity of TPC’s Envision Tahoe justifying extra height, density, and coverage. TRPA is having a webinar on Tuesday at 5pm. I sent out a notice on social media. They are innocently calling it the “Tahoe Affordable Housing Update.” But it’s really looking at the extra height, density, and coverage—up to 72 feet high. Please, everybody, get on this. Let them know we don’t want this. It’s really about luxury condos, million-dollar “achievable housing.” Thank you.
Denise Davis
To follow up on Ann’s comment, the information from the TRPA is “Innovative Housing Solutions”: Updates to Encourage “Affordable and Workforce Housing.” The webinar will be September 19 at 5pm on zoom. “Your feedback is needed. Lake Tahoe’s ‘affordable housing crisis’ is growing despite increased public financing, land donations, and subsidies. TRPA and housing partners in the basin are working to ensure affordable housing solutions can come from many directions. The agency is drafting policy amendments that would encourage private property owners and builders to contribute to the solution while maintaining high environmental standards and continuing improvements to Lake Tahoe’s water quality. This public webinar will cover possible changes to TRPA height, units per parcel (density), and land coverage policies – for projects that are providing deed-restricted “affordable,” “moderate,” and “achievable” housing. Question-and-answer will be offered at the end of the webinar.” And you do need to register for that, so the information for that will be in the recap URLs.
Kathie Julian
I have a comment on this. I encourage people to attend the webinar, but I also encourage people to look at the details behind the deed-restrictions. I have been looking in detail at this, and my conclusion is that TRPA doesn’t have the wherewithal to monitor and enforce deed-restrictions. This is a key question they need to answer.
Secondly, the mitigation efforts… the incentives they are giving to developers… have loopholes in them you could drive a semi-truck through including their qualifying categories. One category is that you have an income limit but you don’t’ have to work in the basin. And another category where you must work in the basin but there is no income limit. We figured out that Mr. David Duffield could probably qualify for one of the “achievable housing” deed-restricted allocations based on that. Thank you.
Kristina Hill – Incline Village Resident
I want to chime in and echo what Ann and Kathie said. This guise of “affordable-achievable housing” is a joke. It’s not going to provide housing for lift-operators at Northstar. It’s not going to provide housing for average families. In my entire life I’ve never made the salary level that qualifies as limits for this housing. These are all luxury condos. To say the least, it’s scary that this is being proposed as affordable housing. It’s pushing people into thinking “Oh, we need more workforce housing. Let’s vote for this.” But it’s not workforce housing; it’s luxury condos. It’s very misleading.
Please attend the webinar and look at the income levels required to qualify for this type of project. The rationale, that this will solve our workforce housing problems is incorrect. It’s going to blight our communities. Kings Beach is going to look like… You can go see what their plans are for Kings Beach downtown. I think Kings Beach is a quaint little mountain town, and it’s going to look like Las Vegas if they get their way. So, please get involved, attend these meetings. The Placer County Commissioners meeting is October 17 in Kings Beach. And please attend this TRPA webinar and let your voice be heard that this is not what we want. Thank you.
Margaret Martini – Incline Village Resident
I’d like to remind everyone that our Washoe County Commissioner is on the TRPA Governing Board as well as 4 or 5 other governing boards in the basin. And from looking at her voting record, she is absolutely pro-development. She does not have our community’s best interest in mind when she continues to vote for the extra height, density, and coverage for developers, and the short-term rental issues that we’re frequently discussing in our meetings.
Who you vote for counts. You should be cognizant and aware—do your homework – look at what’s going on. And know that the TRPA is not your friend. Also, it’s true – they don’t have enforcement officers to check the income levels of affordable housing. I sold a condo that had those restrictions and I could not find anyone from Washoe County to give me any definitive information. Washoe County said we’re washing our hands of this, because it’s a TRPA ruling. So, if you think that the TRPA will enforce the low-income/moderate-income/mega-income deed-restrictions, you are mistaken. Thank you.
Helen Neff – Incline Village Resident
I want to follow up on what everyone else has said, which is 100% correct. We have an example happening right now going through the process. That’s 947 Tahoe Boulevard. Washoe County has said they aren’t responsible for the deed-restricted housing on that project, because it was a TRPA requirement. TRPA has said we’ll just sign off on it in the permit process, not in a public meeting, or anything like that. I just want to bring that to everyone’s attention. What Kathie and other speakers said about enforcement, I believe, is true. The enforcement is not in place for all these changes being proposed. Thank you.
Denise Davis
Thank you, Helen. Yes, I was going to mention that at the Planning Commission meeting regarding the subdivision for 947 Tahoe condos Washoe County’s Planner Courtney Weiche made it very clear that TRPA added conditions and TRPA would be responsible for enforcing those conditions. They weren’t Washoe County conditions, and the County would not be following up on those. To me it sounded like the usual finger-pointing in all directions. “Oh, I thought that was somebody else’s problem.”
Since it came up, I just happen to have printed out the list of boards on which Commissioner Hill serves. You can see the complete list at the end of every Commissioners meeting agenda. I’ll just mention the boards connected to our concerns:
– Nevada Tahoe Conservation District Board of Supervisors
– Regional Transportation Commission
– Tahoe Prosperity Center Board of Directors
– Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board
– Tahoe Transportation District Board of Directors
– Tahoe Transportation Commission
– Truckee-North Tahoe Transportation Management Association Board
– Truckee River Flood Management Authority Board
She’s also on the Mobility Hub Committee through her TTD appointment. That’s all from her official list.
Ann Nichols
Alexis is on the TRPA Governing Board and the TRPA Regional Plan Implementation Committee (RPIC), which does the initial review from the APC to give the okay to all this extra height, density, and coverage. And she’s on the Board of Directors of the Tahoe Prosperity Center. And there’s more. I have a flow chart. We’re keeping track of this stuff because people just don’t know.
Jeff Church – Reno Resident, Washoe County School District Board Trustee, District 1
Good morning. Jeff Church here—your elected representative for Washoe County School District (WCSD). I actually started with very little to say, but I came up with quite a bit. I used to live in Incline but now I live in the flatlands. Still, I hope I can poach and attend the Sheriff’s picnic tomorrow.
The first thing is that I held a town hall. I’m not sure if anyone from Incline was there. It was a good well-attended event and covered a few things.
As far as the potential closure of the Incline Middle School, I have no news. I don’t anticipate any meetings in Incline in the near future. However, we’re having a few meetings in Reno on school closures in general and school buildings, anything to do with that. So you’re always welcome to attend and speak out on that issue, even if the meeting is held in Sparks.
This morning the State came out with state statistics including the Washoe County School District on how we’re doing. These are the annual state stats. For a guy like me who is involved in this daily, it’s big, big, big.
Sadly, we went down. Sadly, there’s almost nothing to be proud of. In 2022, our absenteeism was 25%—we call it chronic-truancy—and in 2023 it went up to 31%; math proficiency went down from 26% to 22%; English proficiency down from 50% to 45%; but graduating seniors ticked up 2% to 84%, which doesn’t really make sense. I don’t know if we mail them the diploma when they’re chronically-truant or not.
We had a decrease in enrollment per the state of 1369. These things all concern me greatly. I have my own opinion on this stuff, obvious. I’m very opinionated, as most know, but it’s not good. We’ve got to do better. Remember I am opinionated, but I don’t work for the District. I work for you.
Sadly, both the WCSD and Washoe County have moved public comment to the end of the meeting including all of our little subcommittees. So instead of coming and being able to speak and leave, you have to wait “time-uncertain” until the end of the meeting. But the chair can pull it off the agenda and say “Oh, we’re going to talk about this now.” So, it’s not even time-certain at the end of the meeting. It’s whenever they feel like doing it. But generally it is at the end of the meeting.
We have people who have medical issues and are diabetic. I have a medical condition, so I can’t sit for a long time. I have to get up and stretch when my back spasms. So, to expect people to wait 6 hours to talk for 3 minus is abhorrent to me. To the concept of free speech, I as a military officer took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. I just can’t stomach it. By the way, this was never voted on by our board. In fact, your Board, the Washoe County Commission, voted to hold it at the beginning. That’s all public record. I’ve got copies of that vote, it was a public vote and unanimous to hold public comment at the Washoe Commission at the beginning of the meeting. Then the chair said, “No, I’m going to ignore that and move it to the end.”
So, I know I’m opinionated. I’m not sugar coating anything. I just want to bring out that to me public comment should be at the beginning of the meeting. That’s the way Reno does it. Hillary Shieve does a wonderful job. I am just so impressed with how she runs her meetings. Whether you agree with her politically or not, the Mayor of Reno runs a great meeting in terms of very compassionate public comment that may last an hour. That’s just part of being an elected official. You listen because some people come up with great stuff you don’t know. I’m sorry I pontificated, but I’m happy to answer any questions.
Kathie Julian
Jeff, could you put the link to those test results into the Chat? I think that would be very helpful to see. And I have just an observation. I actually sit through those school board meetings on zoom. My experience, unfortunately, has been that some of the opening comment period can last up to 3 hours. That, in my view, is disruptive of County and School Board business. I think that’s where a lot of people who proposed shifting it to the end are coming from. It can be disruptive if it’s 3 hours long. That’s the counter to Jeff’s concern, and I think it’s legitimate. If it were only 1 hour, I don’t think it would be a big deal. But it’s extending to 3 hours, which is crazy.
Jeff Church
I can address that. We did have some hot-topic issues when we had a lot of people show up. But it’s rare that we get that. However, both sides have a good point, and there’s compromise. The compromise I suggested was that, say the meeting starts at 2 pm, you have a “time certain” for public comment at 5pm. For anything that’s important and you have a big crowd that wants to talk, you get them out of the way. And then, just for example, at 5 pm time-certain, you know you can show up and talk. You’re not waiting until the end of the meeting if you happen to be there at 2 pm. I have this medical condition called “eating.” If you’ve seen me, you know I like to eat. But sitting at a county commission meeting without food or water for 6 hours is really not a good thing for me. I don’t think I can send out for Dominos Pizza to eat in front of everybody.
But the point is, we can compromise and do public comment at “time-certain.” Another compromise that was suggested was that at the beginning you get 1 minute to state your case and get out. And if you wait for the later public comment, you get 3 minutes. If you just want to say, “I’m opposed to this and state your case,” 1 minute is plenty of time. And then it wouldn’t last for 3 hours. Those are my suggestions. There are probably other compromises we could work out if we sat down, but the way it is now—I just can’t agree.
Yolanda Knaak
Regarding this subject, the problem with waiting until the end is if you have a comment on something that’s addressed during the meeting, then your voice doesn’t get heard and what you have to say doesn’t get taken into consideration. I agree with Jeff that the 1-minute limit sounds good. Thank you.
Ann Nichols
TRPA started doing public comment at the end. And that is painful. You have to be there all day. It’s part of suppressing public input. There could be some rules. Alexis got her lead from the TRPA’s great representatives that we have. Thank you.
Denise Davis
I’ll suggest that during our next legislative session, you talk to your legislators, and have them put that into the statutes that comment is required at the beginning, if that’s what you want to see.
Jeff Church
The legislature allows it at the end and also says “it must be reasonable.” I don’t think it’s reasonable to make you sit until time-uncertain for 6 hours. But it does allow it at the end.
Denise Davis
I’ll give just a quick recap. We have a lot of meetings on Tuesday September 19.
The Board of County Commissioners (WCC) meeting starts at 10 am.
The TRPA webinar starts at 5 pm.
The IVGID Board of Trustees starts at 6 pm.
The Library talk starts at 6:30.
On Thursday September 21st there is a UNR Talks at Tahoe about the legacy of James E Church’s snow-science research, which was preserved.
On September 27th at 10 am we have a TRPA Governing Board meeting. The agenda has not been released.
On October 2nd there is a Washoe Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) meeting at 5:30 pm. The agenda has not been released yet.
On October 4 is a Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) Board meeting.
And as far as the TTD, there are no Mobility Hub meetings scheduled. The TTD Mobility Hub Open House has not been rescheduled. That will be discussed at the Board meeting on October 4.
Sara Schmitz
Thank you, Denise. This recall effort is being driven by misrepresentations from special interest groups. The reduction in the Rec Fee was required to comply with NRS. The District doesn’t need your money to fund operations. Why are some people upset about it? They are upset because it limits their short-term-rental access to our beaches. One special interest group behind this recall wants the Rec Fee to be higher so the punch cards have more value, so they can more easily get their short-term renters onto our beaches.
Next is the misinformation about the Duffield grant. The District at no time had a commitment for $25 million, nor a commitment to complete any part of the project. What happened is that they reduced the scope of the project to only a women’s dedicated gymnastics area, and smaller office and youth meeting rooms. The revised design removed what the community wanted—the multi-use gymnasium—that was prioritized in our Community Services Master Plan. The equipment needed for men is different from women, and wasn’t part of the plan. As it turned out, the District would have found itself in trouble, because as a government, we can’t provide facilities to serve only one gender. We could have gotten into this project only to be required to expand and build a dedicated men’s gymnastics room. Staff informed me the building wasn’t being designed to make an addition easy. So we would have been in a position that we had to add on, but an addition wouldn’t work with the plan.
There were far too many unknowns and no money commitments made. Before you think you lost something, think about what you didn’t lose. You didn’t lose a dedicated gymnastics area for women-only, which may have put the District in a potential legal bind.
I encourage those concerned about retaining our enjoyable, restricted-access beaches, retaining the value of our properties, and supporting local businesses to remove their names from the recall list. The instructions for doing so have been put in today’s Chat.
Denise Davis
Okay, circling back to the TTD, they had a Program Implementation Committee meeting on September 6. There was a lot of discussion about all of the capital improvement projects. A lot of them are on the east shore. I think almost all of them involve parking. If you would like the link to watch that meeting video—and I urge you to listen to at least that section of the meeting—email me at ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com.
Kathie Julian
I have a brief comment. I did hear from Alexis Hill about the TTD and the mobility hub issue. She said they were “taking a break.” As you pointed out, they had postponed that workshop. They were going to discuss how to move forward at the TTD Board level at an upcoming meeting. I’m not sure of the date of that meeting. [October 4th]. Okay, so that would be worth attending to find out their thinking on it. My understanding is they were going to be looking at other sites and trying to figure out how to really look at other sites. Thank you.
Denise Davis
Yes, it was briefly mentioned at that Program Implementation Committee meeting this last week. So again, if you didn’t see that meeting, I urge you to watch it. You can send me an email at ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com. I’ll forward you the link to the meeting. It was briefly discussed, and will be discussed at the October 4 meeting.
Kari Ferguson
I forgot the Tahoe East Shore Great Sierra Cleanup. I want to let everyone know about that. It’s next Saturday – Next Saturday the 23rd hopefully you’ll help get the east shore clean. I’ve put the link in the Chat with all that information. And I also want to remind people that yard-waste collection starts again on October 1st-29th. So get those pine needles that are falling now over to Waste Management.
Denise Davis
Thanks, Kari. There were two open houses last Thursday for the revitalized Cal Neva effort. The McWhinny Group has purchased the property and they are working on it. I personally found them to have a much different attitude than the WALT project. They seem very interested in preserving a lot of the history of the Cal Neva. They’re looking for stories you might have of the Cal Neva. They’re very interested in becoming a community partner. They’d like to know what the community would like to see at the Cal Neva.
Steve Dolan – Incline Village Resident, Friends of 3rd Creek Director
I’m here to report on a meeting that was a response to the URL Youtube “Lake Tahoe Basin BMP violations.” We had a meeting with 5 US Forest Service (USFS) members, 2 site managers, their contract manager, Eric Walker, the supervisor for the USFS and the congressional liaison, Charles Clark, who represented the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU). Also in the meeting were Shannon Friedman, Kat McIntire, and Steve Sweet, all three TRPA representatives around the forest, environment, and BMP enforcement. That was a good group from the TRPA who showed up. We had Toby Tyler with the Sierra Club and Doug Flaherty from Tahoe Clean Air.
It was an interesting meeting. It started out defensive on the part of the USFS based on the URL, but ultimately, we just discussed those things, and nothing changed with regard to that URL except for one name. We were given a tour. I brought a LIDAR map. Today if anyone wants to stick around to look at it, it describes what they’re planning on doing in the meadow. That was a great meeting. We took a tour of the meadow. They showed us the reasoning behind it. Although most of us prefer nature takes its course, there were effects created by the diversion of 3rd creek that they are addressing. And I found that to be a fair thing to look at. After that, we were directed towards a current ongoing BMP violation. So the USFS with all their representatives were caught red-handed digging and moving dirt right next to 3rd Creek. This resulted in the TRPA acting on behalf of the community. Then Mr. Clark, the liaison, started to manage that to a certain degree. He started sending us photographs and information that verified they are now taking BMPs seriously at that location. That was extremely good and helpful. We’ll see how that goes. It turned out to be—although initially contentious—a productive meeting, and we hope that it’s elevated their understanding for the need for BMPS around the lake. I’ll stick around for an hour if you want to come over and look at this LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) map to describe it with regards to the project. I can’t really put it on line. I’ll also bring it to the next meeting if people want to look at it. But it’s an “in-person” kind of thing. Thank you.
Margaret Martini
Thanks, Steve. When they diverted 3rd Creek, how did that impact the wildlife? I know we had lots of beavers and dams up there, and it was reverting back to a meadow.
Steve Dolan
Well, that’s kind of the wrong approach to the question. The USFS didn’t divert 3rd Creek. They stopped and changed the landscape to remove the diversion ditch, which was created by the original owners— the McLeans. That ditch, when it was active, was sending sediment into the lake. It was intended to fill the lake. But that sediment created an underwater sub-level alluvial fan. There’s a special term for that. That created a ditch through the meadow. The USFS’s intention is to re-level the meadow… and remove the fan. Because with the ditch, it’s actually draining the meadow as opposed to allowing it to maintain a desired level of moisture. I found that to be a reasonable approach. They’re also intending to maintain that flow of water out over the entire meadow. They’re going to put in faux beaver dams, which may or may not help. It’s worked in the past. So that’s part of that.
That’s pretty much it as to what’s going on there. They didn’t create the problem but they’re trying to fix it. They’re thinking that with the drying of the meadow, because of the ditch created through the sediment, it will cease to let the meadow function as a flat-kind of marsh-like area. And when that happens, the trees will encroach and you lose the meadow. That’s their explanation, and I bought it.
Denise Davis
All right. Are there any other questions, comments, concerns, or announcements? Seeing none, I just want to remind everyone we have one more week of summer, officially, with fall beginning next weekend. I also want to remind everyone that September has 5 Fridays, so we will not see you in 2 weeks, but rather 3. So as always, please be safe, keep your eyes on the skies, and we’ll see you at the Sheriff’s picnic tomorrow—free burgers and hotdogs. Otherwise, we’ll see you in 3 weeks. Thanks. Bye.
PARTICIPANTS
Blaine Beard
Chris King
Denise Davis
Greg Juhl
Helen Neff
Jeff Church
John Crockett
Kari Ferguson
Kathie Julian
Kristina Hill
Margaret Martini
Miranda Jacobson
Nick Tone
Ronda Tycer
Ryan Sommers
Sara Schmitz
Scott
Sheila Leijon
Shirley Appel
Steve Dolan
Tia Rancourt
Yolanda Knaak
CHAT LOG
09:08:13 From Kari from IVGID : https://mailchi.mp/ivgid/sept142023announcements
09:12:17 From Kari from IVGID : NV energy updates and info: For more information: You can also sign up for updates by visiting https://www.nvenergy.com/safety/ndpp emailing us at ndpp@nvenergy.com.
09:22:05 From Sara Schmitz : To remove your name from the recall list, email ElectionsDepartment@washoecounty.gov and specify removal from each petition by name; the petition to recall Sara Schmitz and/or the petition to recall Matthew Dent.
09:25:56 From Kari from IVGID : Yard waste info: https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/events/yard-waste-collection
09:26:57 From Kari from IVGID : IVGID Board of trustees meeting and agenda page: https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/board-of-trustees/meetings-and-agendas
09:28:26 From Kari from IVGID : Know before you go! IVGID Venue Modifications: https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/news/venue-closures-modified-operations
09:35:08 From kathie julian : Has the County evacuation plan been updated since the Commissioners approval of it in 2022? Does anyone know?
09:36:28 From Kari from IVGID : Community Clean up day 9/23: https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/events/community-cleanups
09:39:16 From LtCol Jeff Church : Trustee Jeff here: FYI, Statewide & WCSD Educational Stats are just released today. Overall, sadly drops in enrollment, increases in absenteeism, and drops in testing scores. But yet graduation rates up from 82% to 84% (at WCSD). Oh My!
09:40:58 From kathie julian : Remember, Kings Beach is a key evacuation route for Incline Village/Crystal Bay. So what happens there matters to us.
09:47:21 From kathie julian : Look at the Request for Proposals for consulting firms to help TRPA monitor Deed Restrictions. The RFPs are public documents. The monitoring and enforcement mechanisms envisaged there are extremely weak. Community members must look at the details to fully grasp the danger of relying on TRPA to monitor and enforce Deed Restrictions. And TRPA is banking on such deed restrictions to defend their proposals for developer incentives and increased height, density and coverage.
09:49:15 From Tia Rancourt Iphone 13 Pro!! : Kathy and all,
We are gathering input at the Emergency Preparedness & Evacuation Forum on 10/18 5:30-7p at the Chateau for WCEM to incorporate for Incline Village/Crystal Bay.
09:49:47 From kathie julian : Great Tia, appreciate this!
09:50:01 From Kari from IVGID : Reacted to “Kathy and all,
We a…” with 👍
09:51:42 From Tia Rancourt Iphone 13 Pro!! : Reacted to “Great Tia, appreciat…” with 👌
09:55:55 From LtCol Jeff Church : http://nevadareportcard.nv.gov/DI/nv/washoe/2023
09:56:27 From LtCol Jeff Church : http://nevadareportcard.nv.gov/DI/nv/2023
10:01:19 From Washoe County Libraries : ivcbcommunityforum@gmail.com
10:05:48 From Kari from IVGID : Reacted to “ivcbcommunityforum@g…” with 👍
FORUM URLS
Our email is:
Washoe County Sheriff Office (WCSO)
non-emergency dispatch 775-785-9276
Incline substation Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Washoe-County-Sheriffs-Office-Incline-Village-Substation-143827955640457/
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District website
non-emergency fire dispatch (Grass Valley) 530-477-0641, then pick 7
defensible space info
https://nltfpd.org/defensible-space
helping Tahoe residents and visitors prepare for wildfire
Washoe County emergency alert sign-up
https://www.washoecounty.gov/em/RegionalAlerts.php
Washoe Regional Emergency Information Center
https://www.EmergencyWashoe.com/
Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) prescribed burn info
NV Energy Natural Disaster Protection Plan
https://www.nvenergy.com/safety/ndpp
road construction updates
https://www.inclinehighways.com/
IVGID effluent pipeline update
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/ivgid/resources/construction-updates/effluent-pipeline-project
Mountain Golf Course Cart Path Improvement Project
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/news/mountain-golf-course-cart-path-improvement-project
Sept 16 – WCSO Incline Village Community Picnic
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=669431281884142&set=a.620611276766143
Sept 19 – Washoe County BCC (Board of County Commissioners) meeting
Washoe County Speak Up and eComment instructions
https://washoe-nv.granicusideas.com/
Sept 19 – TRPA Innovative Housing Solutions Webinar
https://www.trpa.gov/event/housing-webinar/
Sept 19 – IVGID BOT meeting
https://www.yourtahoeplace.com/uploads/pdf-ivgid/0919-updated.pdf
Sept 21 – UNR ‘Talks at Tahoe’ – Legacy of James E. Church’s snow science research preserved with Dr. Carlos Ramirez-Reyes
https://www.unr.edu/lake-tahoe/talks
Sept 24 – Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation annual golf tournament
email nanhealy@gmail.com for info
Sept 27 – TRPA Governing Board meeting
https://www.trpa.gov/event/governing-board-meeting-5-2023-09-27/
Oct 2 – IV/CB CAB (Citizen Advisory Board) meeting
https://www.washoecounty.gov/CABS/IVCB_CAB/index.php
Oct 4 – TTD (Tahoe Transportation District) board meeting
IV mobility hub public information open house – POSTPONED, NEW DATE TBD
McWhinney “Revitalize Cal Neva” website
https://www.revitalizecalneva.com/
all applications for Washoe County Commission District 1
https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/planning_and_development/applications/apps_commish_district_one.php
Neighborhood Meetings for upcoming projects
https://neighborhood-washoe.hub.arcgis.com/
Washoe311 – request for service
call 311 or 775-328-2003
https://washoecountynv.qscend.com/311/request/add
Washoe County board and commission openings
https://www.washoecounty.gov/bcc/board_opportunities.php
IV/CB Community 1st meetings and community info
IVCBA (Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association)
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