There is nothing like a record year for snowfall to highlight the problems of living or working in a remote rural community like Incline Village! We are learning more about snow loads on roofs that lead to leaks and potholes that lead to tire damage (including my car). Even the Sheriff’s Substation had to evacuate and relocate to the old library building on Alder. On the positive side, we can all share a story about how our neighborhood came together, and the persistence of the snow plow crews have kept us as accessible as possible for emergencies. Thanks to the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District for providing sandbags and to Washoe County for providing the sand.

One of those community wide issues that gets worse in a winter like this, is workforce transportation. Assuming they can afford the gas, how many workers can afford a reliable AWD vehicle with snow tires to drive up from Reno or Carson? A big thanks for all the workers who have suffered long commutes and hazardous driving to work in Incline Village and Crystal Bay!

This is why IVCBA convened a roundtable on Workforce Transportation last Thursday. Every single transportation agency managed to attend, despite storm warnings that afternoon. Major employers and business leaders attended as well. We started the conversation, with Commissioner Hill as moderator, of just what can be done, particularly with the help of regional transportation agencies. The first step is to utilize what’s already available.

Look to IVCBA to get the word out on van pools and “smart trip” carpools provided by the RTC in Reno. Better yet, go online to RTCWashoe.com. TRPA has a Commute Tahoe Program that we need to learn more about. Our local TART Connect, with funding from Travel North Tahoe Nevada and other agencies, illustrates that shared rides can work, particularly for local service workers. TART buses are often criticized for apparent lack of use, but officials point out this is mostly during off-hours and that service, even in Incline, they are well utilized for morning and evening commutes in North Tahoe.

Longer term solutions will take commitment… by agencies to fund commuter transportation from the gateway cities, by workers making some sacrifice in personal convenience to share rides, by businesses helping to fund employee transportation and by residents to get behind the concept of a bus hub. Yes, I know, I am definitely looking at this issue with my rose-colored glasses.

BUSINESS UPDATES

• Rosewood Tahoe is the new restaurant in Raleys Center! It has a casual vibe with a hint of Italian influence, catering to a wide audience.

• Tunnel Creek Cafe is open for dinner Thursday through Sunday, giving their chefs Chad and Evan a chance to shine.

• Is there anyone who hasn’t been to Ts Rotisserie since they reopened? We are grateful for their commitment to supporting their staff while they were closed.

• Happy Tiers will be shedding real tears of happiness when they are finally fully open for business, hopefully before Easter. They are hoping to get your pastry/cookies/cakes order for that weekend!

If you are not on FB or Next Door, maybe you haven’t heard that Grocery Outlet is definitely moving into the old Village Market space in Village Center. They are shooting for a November 2023 opening.

Who goes to Minnesota to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Richard and I do! We had our first date there 43 years ago, so it holds a special place in our hearts. In 1988, newly married, we hopped off the corporate merry go-round to start and raise a family in this wonderful mountain community, Incline Village. Many people wonder why we would have two homes in snowy climates, but we follow our hearts… Richard wants sunshine and I love snow. Tahoe offers us both. 

I thought everyone moved to Tahoe for the winter sports, not the 320 average days of blue skies and sun. I still cross-country ski…. thank you Dave Straley and Nevada Nordic for grooming those wonderful trails in the Mt. Rose Wilderness … and for making “senior accessible” steps to get over that huge berm on Highway 431 to access the trails.

The best aerobic thing I do for my heart is cross country ski. I swear once those endorphins kick in, I could ski forever.  OK, that IS a figure of speech; I last no more than an hour and a half. My time gliding and striding is particularly enjoyable with long time Tahoe friends, Mary Peterson and Cathie Spector, who joined me on Monday. Sadly, Mary and (Dr.) Dan Peterson are moving to Horace, North Dakota, just outside of Fargo and won’t be on the trails with us any longer. I understand!  After all, I go back to Minnesota as often as I can; there is something about that Midwest heartland, even with its windchill.

If you notice a heart theme to this blog, you are correct. February is National Heart Month! 

Tahoe Forest Health District is focused on helping our community understand the threat of heart disease and the importance of maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. Free community workshops are scheduled in Truckee. In addition to great cardiologists, we now have Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehab, a comprehensive lifestyle program for patients recovering from heart attacks and surgery.  

Did you know that the North Lake Tahoe Protection District was designated as the first Heart Safe Community in Nevada by Nevada Project Heartbeat? The NLTFPD is a certified American Heart Association Training Center. In addition to having all the bells and whistles, equipment and services, they provide CPR classes. Every year they train 7^th graders at Incline Middle School in CPR. Last year, they added the phone app PulsePoint Respond, a real-time view into local dispatch, increasing awareness of emergent events and alerting CPR-trained citizens to cardiac arrest victims nearby. Everyone is encouraged to download the app. Read the article on heart safety, submitted by the NLTFPD, below in this issue of SnapShot for more details.

Have you heard of “hands-only” CPR? Apparently, it is an alternative to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. This technique sounds like something even I can master! Local residents Joe and Edie Farrell tell a compelling life-threatening story with a happy ending. After being saved by CPR, Joe has made it his mission in life to teach the hands only method to as many people as he can.  He is on board of the Pulsepoint Foundation.

GET SET TO EXERCISE MORE IN MARCH!

IVGID Recreation Center is bringing back their popular fitness challenge for the month of March. It may even encourage me to try a spin class!

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

I recently heard the following at a Rotary meeting (Rotary is a service club dedicated to community service): “… the best cure for your own sadness is to help someone else.” I truly believe that being kind to others is uplifting and good for the soul. Please share human kindness stories with me and I will share them with our community in this blog – it takes a Village, and I know ours has heart! You can send your human kindness stories to linda@ivcba.org.

We have two Rotary Clubs in IV/CB. Get involved:

Rotary Club of Tahoe Incline (aka Thursday morning) 

Rotary Club of Incline Village (aka Monday lunch)

Winter is my favorite season! I love to cross country ski, but there is so much snow, I can’t quite make it up to the Nevada Nordic groomed trails by Chickadee Ridge up in the meadows.  What a great service they do for our community!

WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY

TODAY: IVCBA, the Community and Business Association (that produces this newsletter!) has its 1st Annual Members (only) Meeting at the Chateau at 4:30. Memberships range from $50 for a Community Supporter and $150- $1,000 for Business memberships. If you like the SnapShot newsletter, why not join? The more subscribers and members we have, the more information we can get out into the community. Join IVCBA here >

Our mission is to build cohesiveness for the sustainability of Incline Village and Crystal Bay. We do this through our community website, news, calendar, events, and promoting our businesses, nonprofits, and agencies. The Incline Village Main Street program helps address revitalization and redevelopment issues. New this year: we are forming committees to engage more people in positive work in the community. Our vision is a thriving community. We hope you share that vision!

If you are already an IVCBA Business Member, please ask your employees to subscribe to our newsletter for free here >

The Washoe Tahoe Housing Partnership met on Monday. They hope to present their roadmap for workforce housing solutions soon. I know, I keep saying that. Working with multiple agencies is slow-moving work, but necessary for those policy changes that can encourage these efforts. In the meantime, IVCBA plans to look harder at workforce transportation options, such as the van pools offered by the Regional Transit Center and currently utilized by the Hyatt.

Remember when your mother told you to finish your dinner because of the starving children in China? Turns out she was right: there is huge food waste in the entire world. The Tahoe Center for Environmental Science on the campus of UNR@ Lake Tahoe has a speaker Thursday night. You can get the details and register for free here >

At the top of my list for weekend activity is going to the TOCCATA concert on Saturday at the Cornerstone Church. Their concerts are always great, but never more so than when Elizabeth Pitcairn is performing with her famous Stradivarius “red violin”. Purchase your tickets here >

I want to finish this column with a heartwarming story. As you may have seen in the Health District announcement, Happy Tiers in the Christmas Tree Village has not been able to serve food because of some regulatory issues. It’s complicated. But John and Debbie Sullivan, Sunshine Deli owners, offered to share their commercial kitchen with Andrea and Jason Jurss until Happy Tiers can be fully operational again. In the meantime, Happy Tiers is still a great spot for coffee lovers. Sunshine Deli is a great breakfast and lunch spot. (My favorite are the savory crepes.) Their coffee is FREE, much to the consternation of my husband Richard who thinks they should charge. Richard runs the “Philosopher’s Club” at Sunshine Deli on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for all you curmudgeons out there!

Good news! Washoe County is clearing the sidewalks on Tahoe Boulevard.

Bad news! The potholes on Tahoe Boulevard are dangerous. Doug Brown at the Chevron Station is noticing an increase in business he would rather not see: repairing tires that have gotten chewed up by those potholes. They ARE working on potholes, but they have a lot of roads to cover. Go to dot.nv.gov for the latest information. Please be careful everyone. It’s hard to see pedestrians behind the tall snowbanks especially if they are coming across a driveway where one does not expect to see a pedestrian.

A thriving community. I take it for granted that everyone wants one, but when I bring up the subject of commercial development, I am sometimes met with silence. People are worried we will end up with too many people, too much traffic and we will lose our small-town feel. But look at the composition of our businesses: most are small and family run, not big box stores.  In order to survive, they count on locals to support them year-round and second home owners/visitors to give them a boost in summer and ski season. Be tolerant of those busy times when it’s hard to get into your favorite restaurant. Those merchants have had to adjust to competition from Reno and Amazon.  Things that don’t change will grow stagnant. 

I was outside at the Biltmore yesterday where Tahoe Regional Planning Agency was reviewing the project plans and the site for the Waldorf Astoria development. Replacing a boarded up aging casino with a luxury resort surely is an improvement. We are counting on TRPA to ensure that this project is environmentally sound and meets their standards of excellence. When we moved here 34 years ago, things were different. There was a lot more traffic coming to Crystal Bay for the casinos and to stay at the Cal-Neva and the Tahoe Biltmore. Crystal Bay played a big part in the history of Washoe Tahoe.  Let’s have a state border crossing that makes us proud to live in Nevada.  

I missed the basketball game at the high school last night. This morning, listening to “TK”, the Incline High School basketball coach, talking about the sold-out crowd and close game (that Incline won!) made me wish that I had been there. Don’t be shy about attending games if you don’t have kids in the school. You will connect with families and neighbors that make Incline such a great place to live. Tim Kelly, TK, is much loved by the youth in our community for his coaching and supervision of youth programs at the Rec Center. I am a big fan of TK myself because he is so enthusiastic about the IVCBA Local Heroes Parade and the 4^th of July events!  And, he has plans for another great community event early in June…. just waiting on the official word from IVGID. 

Breaking news!  The dates for the Local Heroes 4^th of July Celebration for 2023 are set!  It will begin on Sunday, July 2 with the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District pancake breakfast at the fire house, followed by the parade along Southwood and Incline Way, ending at the Village Green for the Community Fair and, back this year, Beer and Brats at Aspen Grove. The Celebration ends on July 4th with the Sky Show (the drone show). More details to follow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I know I’m not the only one resolving to lose weight and get more physically fit in 2023. How did breaking my wrist in 2021 result in my lack of focus on exercise for the last two years! Maybe you can relate; it doesn’t take much to sit or eat too much, get too busy, or just lazy. What’s motivating me now (besides New Year’s resolutions), is my annual physical with Dr. Koch!  I am grateful for the IVGID Rec Center and the wonderful friends that keep me coming back to classes. I’ve had 3 days in a row where the rings on my Apple Watch were happy. Wish me luck!

Winter is my favorite season. I’m loving the snow, cross country skiing and just tromping around Lariat Circle and our Joyous Journey Art Park with its colorful sculptures.  The subject of clearing the Incline sidewalks came up at the Washoe County Citizens Advisory Board last night. A shortage of county staff is part of the problem. Staff dedicated to sidewalk clearance is something Commissioner Hill is trying to get in the budget for next year. In the meantime, give pedestrians a little extra room. 

Those of you looking for more community involvement, I recommend that you attend the Citizen Advisory Board meetings held on the first Monday of the month, either on Zoom or at the Incline Library Community Room. Each meeting features a speaker talking about a relevant issue. One of last meeting’s speakers was Jacob Stock from the TRPA speaking about the process to amend the Washoe Tahoe Area Plan. Yes, there really is a plan and it is an agreement between Washoe County and TRPA, the Tahoe Regional Planning Authority. The issue at hand is whether the plan should be amended to allow condominiums to be developed within the definition of Incline’s town center. It has come up because of a proposed luxury condominium development at the corner of Tahoe Blvd and Southwood, a long-term vacant lot that used to have a restaurant and a gas station. One could ask why no one has stepped in with a new business or with a proposed apartment building before now. The reality is that it is not economically feasible to build workforce housing.

What has many people up in arms, is that there IS a strong need for workforce housing in Incline Village. This is a chronic problem, not a new one. It needs strong leadership and direction from Washoe County and TRPA. Commissioner Hill is addressing workforce housing through a grant with Tahoe Prosperity Center. The Washoe Tahoe Housing Partnership Roadmap should be forthcoming this spring and give direction to Washoe County and TRPA on how to address this very troubling issue. 

IVCBA is starting its third year of operation. Our vision is a thriving community that supports, and is supported by, its agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and residents. We have close to 300 members and have made a big impact with communications such as the SnapShot newsletter and the Live.Work.Play. magazine. We have also become known for organizing community-wide events, such as Northern Lights and the Local Heroes 4^th of July Celebration. 2023 will find us working on redevelopment and revitalization issues through the Incline Main Street program. If you agree with our vision of a thriving community, please join, either as a community supporter or a business. Join IVCBA here.

ONE MORE THING: Get some culture this weekend and attend the TOCCATA concert at St. Patrick’s on Saturday at 3pm!