Sue Novasel vows to get Tahoe Paradise park district back on track

It was another packed house meeting on Thursday night for the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District.

The last few meetings have been full of anger, dysfunction, arguing and mis-information. Many came to this board meeting hoping to have answers and a clear understanding of what the future holds for the Tahoe Paradise Park, which the board oversees.

It was clear early on that this meeting was going to be more of the same.

One resident said he received a flyer on his doorstep about the board meeting. "The county (El Dorado) is taking over Tahoe Paradise Park," is what the flyer said. Flyers were distributed prior to the November meeting telling residents that the park was going to close.

Mis-information like this was fueling the emotions of those at the meeting which was held at the Lake Valley Fire Department in Meyers.

Rumors have been spread throughout Meyers over the last few months about special interests and corporations taking over the park, about how the County wants the park to sell to developers and how board members want to pad their wallets with getting what they want at the park.

Another rumor was that the City of South Lake Tahoe was joining forces with the County to take Tahoe Paradise Park over. This all came about because someone said a "South Lake Tahoe facilities manager was assessing the park." What actually happened is a County facilities manager who works in South Lake Tahoe drove through the park.

One message repeated several times Thursday night was the fact that El Dorado County does not want to take over the park. What they do want is to provide the tools necessary for the district and it's board to be successful, and they need a MOU (Memo of Understanding) between the two so they can provide those needed avenues to success.

"The last thing the county wants to do is incur more expenses," said El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel. She was elected as the TPRID Board Chair during the meeting, replacing Judy Clot by a vote of 3-2. Victor Babbitt was voted Vice Chair by the same vote as was the new Secretary/Treasurer Peter Nelligan. Clot and Lorraine Anderson are the other two board members.

"Absolutely not," said John Upton when asked if the County was going to take over the Tahoe Paradise Park. "A MOU is your protection so that doesn't happen," he added. Upton is a former County Supervisor who serves on the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority. He updated the board and the audience on how the JPA is involved (they contribute $50,000 annually to the TPRID).

Novasel's first order of business was to let everyone know that the board meetings will follow an organized agenda, people will be allowed to speak only during the times allotted on the agenda and that she doesn't want to see any more fighting. If people start to fight I'm going to ask them to go outside," she said. "Let's do what is needed to make this park great."

Vickie Sanders was present to help residents understand the County's position on the park. She is the Parks Manager for El Dorado county and said she doesn't want the park and added responsibilities, but she is available to help with whatever the board needs, once the MOU is signed. Steve Yonker, county parks commissioner, said their priority is for staff assistance. "If you don't want it, let us know," he said.

Since the board didn't get through half of the agenda they have rescheduled the continuation of the meeting for February 5 at 6 p.m. They discovered during the meeting is that nobody knows where the by-laws are, so they will be found prior to the fifth as well as the preparation of a final version of the MOU.

The board will also be more proactive in the delivery of future meeting agendas and accompanying information by supplying it to SouthTahoeNow.com and other local news services at least 72 hours prior to meetings.