South Lake Tahoe Police busy with Phish concert goers and trash

South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) had their hands full on Tuesday before, during and after the first of two Phish concerts at the outdoor arena at Harveys Lake Tahoe.

Trash including empty alcohol bottles and beer boxes littered much of the open space surrounding Stateline and Cedar Avenues where hundreds of fans lined the streets. In addition to the trash, pop-up tents with vendors starting selling clothing and other items illegally.

The owner of the corner property, chateau at the Village, sent out crews to help clean, according to SLTPD Lt. David Stevenson.

He also said they were citing people for variuos infractions.

In a tweet on Wednesday morning, SLTPD (@SLakeTahoePD) said:"The City will be working hard to cleanup the aftermath of the @phish concert. There is another Phish concert tonight. @phish Please help spread the word to your following to help protect our National Treasure and respect our residents/visitors. We will be out issuing citations.

Phish (@Phish) responeded to their 155,000 twitter followers with these two tweets:

"These folks are welcoming us into their community and putting up with the inconvenience that this can cause - please show your thanks by respecting their space. Thanks for your understanding and see you on tour!"

"As summer tour gets underway, please remember to respect the communities and venues that host us all by cleaning up after yourselves and others. Use proper receptacles for garbage and recycling. Please be considerate and appreciative to local residents and businesses."

On Wednesday afternoon before the band's second night of music, barriers and a police vechile were on the empty lot across from Harveys, the scene of most of the outside concert activity, and trash.

In celebration of Phish’s 24-show Summer Tour that kicked off in Lake Tahoe, the Mockingbird Foundation is giving away 11 unsolicited “miracle grants” supporting music programs across the country. The foundation, formed by Phish fans, announced that Whittell High School is one of those 11 and are being mailed a check for $1,500 for the school band. To date, the foundation has donated more than $1.28M.