News Briefs
TRPA Awards Millions to Seven Transportation Projects
LAKE TAHOE
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has awarded $11.1 million to seven critical transportation projects across the Tahoe region. The projects listed below will improve safety and advance climate resilience at Lake Tahoe by reducing congestion, expanding regional trails, providing free transit, and supporting equitable recreation access.
As Lake Tahoe’s federally designated metropolitan planning organization, TRPA is responsible for managing federal and state transportation funds through the Linking Tahoe Regional Grant Program. Those federal and state programs help fund and implement transportation projects and the Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan that connect people and places in ways that reduce reliance on the private automobile.
The 2023 Regional Grant Program is funding the following projects across the Tahoe Region:
- Kings Beach Western Approach ($1,500,000): Roundabout and pedestrian improvements at the intersection of Highway 267 and state Route 28
- Apache Avenue Pedestrian Safety and Connectivity ($1,701,000): Extending the sidewalks on Apache Avenue in Meyers
- Pioneer Trail/U.S. Highway 50 Intersection Safety Improvement ($3,675,000): Construction of a roundabout and pedestrian crossings at US 50 and Pioneer Trail
- Pioneer Trail Pedestrian Improvement Project Phase II ($1,200,000): Extending sidewalks and bike paths along Pioneer Trail
- Microtransit EV Charging Base Station ($269,956): Electrifying Lake Link in South Shore
- North Tahoe Shared-Use Trail ($1,826,802): Bike path connecting Dollar Hill to North Tahoe Regional Park
- Free-to-the-User Transit Program ($1,000,000): Free-to-the-user transit in South Lake Tahoe
Projects funded through the Linking Tahoe Regional Grant Program advance implementation of the 2012 Lake Tahoe Regional Plan and 2020 Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan. The Lake Tahoe partnership that advocates for the environmental improvement program helped secure the federal funds which have supported the regional grant program, delivering $42.6 million in additional transportation improvements at Lake Tahoe over the last seven years.
~ TRPA press release
Palisades Tahoe Public Comments: 99% Oppose Alterra Proposal
According to a new report released today, thousands of comment letters reveal overwhelming opposition to proposed development in Tahoe’s Olympic Valley.
The letters were written by community groups, regulatory agencies, and citizens. Nearly all — more than 99% — express opposition to Alterra Mountain Company’s latest attempt to secure new entitlements for its stalled Palisades Tahoe project.
More than 2,600 letters were submitted to Placer County in response to its Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR) for Alterra’s proposed development at Palisades Tahoe. Alterra’s project, first proposed back in 2011, would remake the Tahoe Sierra with development of a size, scale, and scope the region has never seen.
New development would include: a series of high-rise condo hotels, many eight stories tall, containing 1,493 new rooms — as many bedrooms as three of South Lake Tahoe’s Stateline casinos combined; nearly 300,000 square feet of commercial uses — enough to build a mall covering more than five football fields; and a 90,000-square-foot indoor waterpark with artificial rivers, indoor water-skiing, video arcades, and North America’s tallest indoor waterslide. Olympic Valley would be a construction zone for 25 years. At build-out, the project would add 3,300 new daily car trips to Tahoe traffic. And it would draw 78,263,299 gallons of water annually from the local watershed.
The comment letters are now in the hands of Placer County and Alterra Mountain Company. To read the full report, visit: sierrawatch.org.
~ Sierra Watch press release
NTCA Launches Vitality and Economic Health Investment Program
TAHOE CITY
The North Tahoe Community Alliance has launched the first phase of its new Community Vitality and Economic Health Investment Program with a call for letters of interest for sponsorship requiring multi-year investment. The Sponsorship and Multi-Year Investment Program will provide up to $7.2 million in funding for priority projects, programs, and services that require ongoing financial support over the coming three years. Funds will come from transient occupancy tax generated in Eastern Placer County and assessments from the North Lake Tahoe Tourism Business Improvement District.
Created to reinvest funds generated locally in support of economic health, community vitality, and environmental stewardship that benefits residents, businesses, and visitors, the NTCA’s Community Vitality and Economic Health Investment Program will consist of four program elements: Sponsorship and Multi-Year Investment Program, Annual Grant Program, Out of Cycle Investments, and a Reserve Fund. The Sponsorship and Multi-Year Program application process is open and will accept submissions until June 15. The Annual Grant Program cycle will open for applications in the fall, and the Out of Cycle Investment process will be offered on an as needed basis with program details to come for both.
Eligible submissions must fit within one of several categories, including workforce housing, economic development, transportation, sustainability, mitigation of tourism impacts, and trails.
A hybrid workshop will be held on Friday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach, and online via Zoom for interested applicants to ask questions and learn more about the process and timeline of the grant cycle. Business owners, nonprofits, agencies, and the general public are encouraged to attend and learn more about qualification and applying for sponsorship.
Click here to learn more about the Sponsorship and Multi-Year Investment Program or to submit an application for funding consideration.
~ NTCA press release
Available Funding For Community Wildfire Prevention
TRUCKEE
Truckee Fire opened applications for its Wildfire Prevention Grant Program — up to $1 million in funding for fuel reduction and community preparedness projects, or to support new forest management programs. Applicants must fall within the designated Truckee Fire Protection District boundaries. Complete information on the grant program requirements can be found at truckeefire.org/grants.
“After 100-plus years of overgrowth, Truckee forests are not healthy. If we want to save our community from the next catastrophic fire season, we’re going to need to work together to reduce forest fuels and help restore forest health,” says Truckee Fire Registered Professional Forester Dillon Sheedy. “We will be more successful if we can work as a community to address the threat of wildfire from the individual homeowner level to the larger landscape.”
Truckee area residents and organizations are encouraged to apply for funding to support forest management, fuel reduction, and community preparedness projects to reduce the threat and intensity of wildfire in the Truckee and Donner Summit Wildland Urban Interface.
The Community Wildfire Prevention Grant Program is making up to $1 million in funding available from the Measure T Community Wildfire Prevention Fund for Fiscal year 2023/24. Truckee Fire hopes to fund five different projects equitably across the fire district. There is no minimum or maximum funding request. Applications are due by Friday, June 9.
In 2021, Truckee citizens passed Measure T, a special tax dedicating local funding to wildfire prevention. Projects are prioritized by the district’s Wildfire Prevention Division to achieve the largest return on investment. In order to help the community tackle its much needed forest management goals, this grant program is designed to support well-informed projects so together all entities can accomplish the most meaningful fire risk mitigation work in an efficient manner.
For more information on Truckee Fire and Measure T, visit truckeefire.org.
~ Truckee Fire District press release
Sanitary District Wins State Award
TRUCKEE
The Truckee Sanitary District is proud to announce that it was recently selected as the recipient of the 2022 Sewer Collection System of the Year Award by the California Water Environment Association.
“This is a great honor,” stated TSD General Manager Blake Tresan. “TSD staff work 24/7 to uphold our mission of protecting the public health and environment of our mountain community. Much of the work we do is, as our customers would want, out-of-sight and out-of-mind. To be recognized by the state for the outstanding work of our team is extremely gratifying.”
According to CWEA, the state association dedicated to the protection of the water environment, TSD exemplified what a sewer agency should be. As part of the selection process, CWEA sent a committee of six experts to visit the TSD facility.
A group of TSD employees attended the recent CWEA annual conference in San Diego, California on April 19, where they were presented with the award.
~ TSD press release
Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue Seeks Input on Strategic Plan
RENO
The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District is asking residents served by the district to participate in a community survey to help the agency plan for the future.
“This short, yet important survey will help us identify and understand our strategic direction for the next three years as we prepare to develop our Fiscal Year 2024 through 26 strategic plan,” said Fire Chief Charles Moore.
Citizens can participate by accessing this link. By entering your information, you are signing up to receive the survey within the coming weeks, delivered to your email address. Sign-up by May 10. The survey will be distributed to participants the week of May 15 to respond within a week.
The survey only allows one submission per IP address.
Please opt in to participate knowing that your responses will be captured and analyzed by OnStrategy, a third party, who will keep your information confidential.
~ Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue press release
Business Briefs
Tahoe Home Consignment Announces Community Donation Program For Wildlife Care
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE
Tahoe Home Consignment, South Lake Tahoe’s home interiors and furniture consignment store serving the Tahoe Basin, Truckee, Carson Valley, and Reno areas, has announced its community collaboration with Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. Helping raise awareness for the wellbeing of Lake Tahoe’s wild animals and birds, THC is joining the mission of rescuing, rehabilitation and release of orphaned and injured wildlife through its community donation program.
“We firmly believe that positive change begins locally,” stated Jen Hause, owner of Tahoe Home Consignment.
~ Tahoe Home Consignment press release
