The Lahontan Water Board, meeting at Truckee Town Hall on July 23, decided to hold off on making a decision on the $2.75 million proposed settlement order with Northstar Mountain Properties imposed for water quality violations. The Water Board’s legal counsel and member of the Prosecution Team, Jorge Leon, addressed the Board at the beginning of the agenda item and stated that there were concerns that needed to be addressed and ‘it would be much better to bring a fully integrated document back for a decision at a later time.’ The Board unanimously agreed to follow his direction.
At issue was not the appropriateness of the settlement order or the fine amount specifically, which each Boardmember found acceptable, but the Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) which is attached to the Civil Liability. While boardmembers felt that the project itself, which is proposed to be funded with $2.15 million from the total fine amount and carried out on the Waddle Ranch property in Martis Valley, was generally beneficial and well-designed, there was a consensus that other possible projects, specifically ones taking place within the Northstar community itself, were never adequately explored.
Boardmember Amy Horne, a Truckee resident, stated that the ‘settlement discussions took a left turn when negotiations went off of Northstar property’ and that she was ‘uncomfortable with the process used to develop the SEP.’
Questions were raised after the Board received comments from the Northstar Property Owner’s Association, the Northstar Community Services District and the Northstar Fire Department requesting consideration that some funds be used for SEPs in Northstar.
In a letter dated June 16 Geoff Stephens, NPOA’s General Manager, states that while they are supportive of the Waddle Ranch restoration project, ‘we also strongly recommend the use of a significant portion of the funds received from the settlement for forest and stream projects within the Northstar community, where the violations actually took place.’
Mike Staudenmayer, General Manger of NCSD, echoes the sentiment in his June 6 letter and stresses the need to address the risk of catastrophic wildfire and the fact that a more urbanized Northstar has created a volatile environment that threatens the Martis Creek watershed.
When asked about the validity of the requests from NPOA and NCSD last month for a separate story (Living Large and Paying a Price; Moonshine Ink, Vintage 6, Nip 8) Chuck Curtis, Supervising Engineer with Lahontan, dismissed the notion of SEPs on Northstar property because they could possibly benefit the violator, which is illegal. Scott Ferguson, Senior Water Resource Control Engineer, agrees and states that projects within the Northstar community ‘could address restoration or fire reduction efforts that may already be required of Northstar Mountain Properties.’
Research compiled for this story however, raises questions related to Board policy cited in these comments and remarks. According to criteria set forth by the State Water Board’s policy, ‘a SEP should directly benefit the area where the harm occurred…’ and ‘Projects that provide a direct benefit to the area affected by a violation should be favored over projects with more general region wide benefits.’
Boardmembers and some commenting at the meeting also brought up concerns about the process in developing and selectiong the Waddle Ranch SEP. Lahontan staff correctly argues that a SEP must be proposed by the violator and pointed out in responses to both the NPOA and the NCSD that ‘currently, your alternative proposal is not part of the SEP proposed by Northstar Mountain Properties, LLC. Additionally, your alternative proposal has not been vetted with respect to cost, area boundaries, time frames, deliverables, community support and other information needed to evaluate it.’
Stephens stated, however, that it would have been impossible to develop a SEP project to be added to a list of candidates because the Northstar Property Owners Association was not privy to the process nor ever invited to the table. When questioned by boardmember Horne about when he became aware of the current SEP proposal, Mark Shadowens, Northstar Fire Chief, said ‘I had no knowledge of the SEP prior to the public comment period.’ The Waddle Ranch Watershed Improvement Program was released along with the proposed settlement agreement on May 22, at which point a 30-day public comment period began.
Now that a new direction has been forged, it’s unclear how long it will take to develop one or possibly more SEPs which will come back to the Board as part of the Northstar settlement package. Ferguson confirmed that there are no dates set before the end of this year and that it will take at least several months to develop and review potential projects. In the meantime, Geoff Stephens says, ‘We’ll be working with the Fire Department and Community Services District to find projects in our area that meet the criteria and stay in the Northstar community. Then we’ll present them to Northstar Mountain Properties.’
