News Briefs
Editor’s note, Feb. 3 at 2:45 p.m.: After appealing a citation and notification of penalty from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency received an updated decision. The new information has been reflected below.
Eight Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy Alumni Named to 2022 Olympic Teams
NORDEN
A record-breaking eight Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy (SBST and SBA) alumni, including six Alpine skiers and two Nordic skiers, will be representing their respective nations at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Alpine skiers include the U.S.’s Luke Winters, SBA class of 2015; Australia’s Louis Mühlen-Schulte and Katie Parker and Brazil’s Michel Macedo, SBA class of 2017; and the U.S.’s Mo Lebe and New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, SBST.
Nordic skiers include the U.S.’s Hannah Halvorsen, SBA class of 2016, and JC Schoonmaker, SBST. This nomination marks the first time SBST and SBA Nordic athletes have earned an Olympic berth and the first time in this century that the Far West division has sent athletes to the Olympics for cross-country skiing.
SBSTA will celebrate their eight Olympians at Sugar Bowl Resort on Sat., Feb. 5, with a parade through the Sugar Bowl Resort village culminating in a welcome and introduction from the school’s executive director and head of school, Brian Krill. Viewings of the Alpine and Nordic Olympic events will also be hosted by the academy.
The SBSTA is a nationally recognized Alpine, freeride, and Nordic ski team and academy that has produced multiple U.S. Ski Team members, NCAA collegiate competitors, national champions in virtually all age groups, and numerous nationally ranked athletes. Sugar Bowl Academy, located in Norden, is the country’s only ski-in/ski-out ski academy, which seeks out passionate, highly motivated students, setting the stage for competitive skiers to embrace challenge with grit, grace, and courage. SBSTA student-athletes thrive on the dual pursuit of rigorous academics and competitive skiing in an environment that celebrates hard work and the pursuit of worthy goals.
~ SBSTA press release
County Approves $3.2M for the Resort Triangle Trail Network, Martis Trail, More
PLACER COUNTY
The Resort Triangle trail network, Martis Valley Trail, and a scenic overlook were among 12 projects approved by Placer County’s board of supervisors on Jan. 25 for a total of approximately $3.2 million in Transient Occupancy Tax funding to support community priorities in eastern Placer County.
All told, the capital projects advisory committee reviewed and evaluated 13 grant applications totaling over $4.5 million in TOT funding requests this year. The committee is a 13-member group representing the broad economic and geographic interests throughout eastern Placer County which evaluates project proposals based on how well they advance key priorities outlined in the Tourism Master Plan for the region. The committee is co-chaired by Placer County and the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and includes members appointed by community organizations representing resorts, small business, residents, and visitors.
The Martis Valley Trail, a proposed 9-mile trail connecting Northstar Village with the Lake Tahoe Basin and the Town of Truckee, was awarded $1 million. Resort Triangle trail projects received an additional $900,000 to advance a regional initiative to connect Placer’s lakeside communities, mountain resorts, and Truckee for alternative transportation and recreation options.
The Van Norden Meadow Restoration and Recreation Project, which will provide enhanced recreation opportunities to the community as well as bring back the natural streams and floodplains to the Van Norden Meadow on Donner Summit, was awarded $500,000.
The Tahoe Vista Recreation Area Marina Trail and Scenic Overlook Improvement Project, which will construct a new lake access trail and scenic overlook at the Tahoe Vista Recreation Area, will receive $214,000.
View the full list of the approved and proposed projects as well as the funding breakdown of approvals.
~ Placer County press release
Sanitation Agency Receives OSHA Citation and Notice of Penalty
TRUCKEE
Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency was subject to a California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) inspection beginning on July 29, 2021 and ending Jan. 24, 2022. Cal/OSHA’s conclusion after three site visits, four staff interviews, documentation requests, and email correspondences was to issue a citation and notification of penalty.
Six violations were originally cited, though General Manager LaRue Griffin told Moonshine that TTSA appealed the initial decision. In turn, Cal/OSHA lowered penalty amounts from $9,410 to $3,430. Griffin said the agency does not plan to appeal the updated version.
The following violation counts were cited upon inspection:
- Regulatory: Though required to preserve medical records for each employee during time of employment plus 30 years, TTSA did not do so for two employees.
- General: A written respiratory protection program was not implemented for employees who voluntarily used respirators (penalty dropped from $205 to $135 after TTSA appeal); appropriate panic hardware did not equip the exit door of the chlorinator room at TTSA, which allows for easy opening.
- Notice in Lieu: Measurements were not obtained for employees who were possibly exposed at or above an eight-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels despite information indicating that an employee had been exposed at that level.
Serious: Respirators were not provided to employees for immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) atmospheres in the chlorine storage room (penalty dropped from $4,950 to $2,475 after TTSA appeal); eyewash and shower locations in the chlorine building were not identified with highly visible signs and brightly painted areas (penalty dropped from $3,710 to $275 after TTSA appeal).
Review the full Cal/OSHA report here.
~ AH
Public Art Commission Reviews First Submittals for the Brockway Wall Art Request for Proposals
TRUCKEE
In 2019, following a significant community process, the Truckee Town Council adopted the town’s first Public Art Master Plan, which established a suite of robust goals and next steps for formalizing Truckee’s public art program, including development of formalized processes to selected public art opportunity sites and solicit and select art.
The Public Art Master Plan also called for establishing a Public Art Commission, which the council did in February 2020.
The PAC held a special meeting virtually on Jan. 24, which allowed this year’s artists who submitted a proposal to the request for proposals an opportunity to present their ideas to the commissioners. The video of this special meeting is linked here.
Learn more about public art in Truckee here.
~ Town of Truckee materials
TFHS Introduces New Neonatal Quality Improvement Resuscitation Program
TAHOE/TRUCKEE
On Jan. 27, the Tahoe Forest Health System unveiled a new neonatal quality improvement resuscitation program to help its clinical providers elevate the delivery of newborn emergency care. The Joseph Family Center for Women and Newborn Care introduced Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), a first-ever solution that is rooted in the Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI) Program and focuses on the most important skill of neonatal resuscitation: positive pressure ventilation.
Harry Weis, president and CEO of Tahoe Forest Health System, said in a press release: “Our system continues to stand at the forefront and embrace innovative training technologies. This novel, quality improvement program’s design affords frequency, accessibility, and efficiency to master, maintain, and verify competence in positive pressure ventilation — the single most impactful intervention for newborns needing resuscitation. Our clinical providers will be better positioned to give our most precious patients the best chance of survival and ultimately improve patient care and outcomes.”
The Joseph Family Center for Women and Newborn Care has 45 clinicians enrolled in RQI for NRP. It’s one of the more than 1,000 hospitals nationwide and outside the country that currently use RQI to advance resuscitation education. The center’s healthcare professionals are also students, learning to leverage artificial intelligence and taking courses that offer personalized instruction tailored to and driven by individual needs, knowledge, actions, and performance.
The equipment for the new program was purchased by the Tahoe Forest Health System Foundation through the Annalise King Hall Fund.
For more information about RQI for NRP, visit rqipartners.com/nrp. Visit tfhd.com for information on the Tahoe Forest Health System and the Joseph Family Center for Women and Newborn Care.
~ TFHS press release
Moving In, On, Up
Tahoe Fund Welcomes Deirdra Walsh to its Board of Directors
INCLINE VILLAGE
The nonprofit Tahoe Fund announced Jan. 17 that Deirdra Walsh, general manager and vice president of Northstar California Resort, has joined its board of directors. The Tahoe Fund supports environmental improvement projects in the Tahoe Basin that restore the forest, improve lake clarity, enhance outdoor recreation, and inspire greater stewardship of the natural environment.
Walsh oversees all year-round operations at Northstar, having joined Vail Resorts’ leadership team in the spring of 2019, before which Walsh was an influential member of Park City Mountain’s senior leadership team as senior director of mountain dining. In addition to her role at Northstar, Walsh sits on the boards of directors for the Truckee Chamber of Commerce, the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, Northstar Village, and Northstar Mountain Associations.
~ Tahoe Fund press release
Sara Monson Appointed Executive Director of Transportation Association
TRUCKEE/TAHOE
The Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Association announced Jan. 3 the appointment of Sara Monson as the new executive director. Monson had served as the TNT-TMA’s program manager since October 2020, and has been promoted to executive director after the recent retirement of Christine Maley-Grubl from the position.
Monson is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Since she first travelled to North Lake Tahoe, she has continually enjoyed visiting during all seasons of the year and is very pleased to now call Truckee her home. Monson brings her recent experience overseeing management of the North Lake Tahoe Express Airport shuttle program, as well as managing much of the Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit marketing and social media campaigns. Her prior experience has included managing communications and member programs as well as overseeing the AmeriCorps program for the Sierra Nevada Alliance. Monsoon holds a master’s degree in Science education from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The TNT-TMA’s board of directors looks forward to working with Monson to continue to improve and expand programs for the benefit of the Truckee/North Lake Tahoe Resort Triangle.
To contact Monson directly, e-ail saratnttma@gmail.com or call (530) 582-4964.
~ TNT-TMA press release
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