meetings

South Lake Tahoe Charter Communications customers have been unable to watch Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA since June 8, 2018, but area residents along with City and County government are continuing the fight to get them back on the local line-up.

Charter pulled the station because they already carry a local NBC channel, KRNV out of Reno and are not required to carry two. They are only required to carry stations based on a region's Designated Market Area (DMA). South Lake Tahoe is in the Reno DMA, not the Sacramento.

The night before football tryouts in the 9th grade I can still hear the advice my father gave to me before I tried, but failed, to get a good night’s sleep. He didn’t comfort me to tell me I would make the team, or tell me how great I was, he simply told me, “the only thing you can control, is that you can outwork everyone else.” This advice had an impact on me and ultimately led to everything positive in my life.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Local philanthropist Lisa Maloff, the "Angel of Tahoe," donated $5.8 million to Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) back in November of 2014 for the creation of a University Center that would make four-year degrees a reality on the South Shore. The first shovels hit the dirt one year ago, in June 2017.

One no longer has to leave South Lake Tahoe to get their teaching credential through bachelor's degrees in Liberal Studies and Applied Studies, a Multiple Discipline Teaching Credential and a Masters in Arts in Education.

Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) has teamed up with Brandman University to provide the upper level classes in the new Lisa Maloff University Center starting in Fall, 2018.

There will be an informational presentation by Brandman University on Friday, July 20 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the LTCC Student Commons.

A collaboration of 17 agencies and organizations are working on what is being called the 'SR 89 Recreation Management Plan,' which covers the stretch from 15th street in South Lake Tahoe to the Placer County line at Sugar Pine Point State Park. Along the plan area are popular areas to view scenery, hike, bike and visit beaches along a 12 mile stretch of undeveloped shoreline. Some residential neighborhoods also rest along this area.

On Saturday, June 23, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Sugar Pine Foundation will co-host a Tahoe yellow cress (TYC) planting with the Tahoe yellow cress Adaptive Management Working Group at Baldwin Beach, which is National Forest System land managed by the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU). In addition, the LTBMU will host a TYC information booth at the Native Species Festival on June 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center.

It is with much gratitude that we give a shout out to our many guardians and community partners at Mt. Tallac High School.

John Marchini and South Tahoe Refuse never fail to keep us fed and jump in when we have an unfulfilled need.

John McDougall is an amazing example of what it means to pay it forward. He provides us with not only Pay it Forward grants and scholarships but he is also on the constant lookout for opportunities and benefits to our students.

Harrah’s /Harveys provides job training, support and meals to create contributing citizens for our community.

The students at Lake Tahoe Middle School have the opportunity to join Club Live which is an organization that promotes a healthy lifestyle by providing high energy alternative activities. For 25 years the Club has featured leadership events, community service projects, club meetings and recreational trips. For the past four years, Larry Lambdin, the Club’s mentor/leader, has had Club Live sponsor a Bread & Broth Adopt A Day of Nourishment and offer three to four of the clubs members the opportunity help those dealing with poverty.

There are still trout in the Lake Tahoe Basin, but soon there will no longer the large trout sculpture that for years has greeting people to the town of North Lake Tahoe.

The iconic 21-foot trout sculpture has been sitting in the island intersection between State Route 89 and State Route 28 along with the Williamson Tree and Rotary Club flagpole.

There are four people running for El Dorado County Supervisor for the 5th District on June 5: Incumbent Sue Novasel and challengers Kenny Curtzwiler, Norma Santiago and Jeffrey Spencer. The 5th District covers Pollock Pines to South Lake Tahoe and Tahoma.

South Tahoe Now asked each candidate the same questions, and here are all of their answers, exactly as they were presented to us.

Sue Novasel
Occupation: El Dorado County Supervisor – District V
Past political history:
2015 – Present: County Supervisor, District V

The El Dorado County Vacation Home Rental Ordinance was first created in 1997 and updated in 2004. At this time there are 900 permitted vacation home rentals (VHRs) in the County, 800 of which are in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

What started out with a “Good Neighbor Policy” has morphed into neighbors versus neighbors in El Dorado County and an ongoing VHR discussion as Supervisors work to create a new ordinance.

Monday night's special session of the South Lake Tahoe City Council was scheduled for not only Brown Act and AB 1234 (ethics) training, but it was also time to interview candidates for the interim position of city manager. Tuesday's Council meeting has a closed session scheduled to name the person to fill the position.

On Tuesday, the Council has a full agenda:

We recently received talking points from a local public relation firm relating to how we could handle the adverse publicity which occurred due to the CBS morning show about the draconian VHR ordinance and subsequent $1000 fine enforcements. We, as property managers and owners, have been requesting support from the Chamber of Commerce, LTVA, and the Lodging Association in helping us fight the selfish attitudes of some locals regarding their entitlement to Lake Tahoe without visitors to their neighborhoods.

The last few months have been some of the most difficult for our City Council, for our City and for our community. Similar to the national conversation, with immediate access to social media in many forms, controversial opinion pieces go immediately out to the public, even before the accused have an opportunity to hear the allegations. Soon after, public comment and “opinion” on the opinion begins with little interest in whether there is truth.

Weather has not be the best friend of those wanting to get a revised vacation home rental (VHR) ordinance for El Dorado County. Snow and unsafe travel conditions for staff driving to South Lake Tahoe from Placerville for the meetings lead to the cancellation of the March 3 and March 24 meetings, and the original February 1 meeting had to be stopped due to overcrowding. The next Board of Supervisors meeting on VHRs will be in South Lake Tahoe on May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School multi-purpose room.

The Lake Tahoe Humane Society and SPCA is following up their March 29 meeting with an announcement that they are accepting applications for people interested in joining their board of directors. Two informational “meet and greets” for prospective board members are scheduled at the agency’s office at 884 Emerald Bay Road in South Lake Tahoe from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 and Monday, April 9 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors have rescheduled their vacation home rental (VHR) meeting on the South Shore for Wednesday, May 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the South Tahoe Middle School's Multi-Purpose Room.

Weather has canceled two meetings, with the initial meeting postponed due to over-crowding of the meeting room.

This proposed purpose of this meeting on May 2 is to:

1. Conceptually approve amendments to Title 5 - County Business License Ordinance of the El Dorado County Ordinance Code, Chapter 5.56 - Vacation Home Rentals in the Lake Tahoe Basin;

(The following was send to the SLT Mayor and City Council members and South Tahoe Now)

Dear Honorable Mayor David and Council Members:

I am writing as a follow-up to my email communication of March 6, 2018 regarding the regulation of cannabis within the City limits.

I once again applaud the City Council for studying the issue carefully. It is an important issue and the decision on it will impact the type of community we become well into the future.

Recommendation:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - The first two "Let's Have a Conversation" being held by Mayor Wendy David were very popular, with many citizens stopping by to voice concerns, listen and discuss solutions. All future meetings will have a focus so the mayor can bring the right departments with her to the table.

The next conversation is set for Wednesday, March 21 and will be focused on housing issues, including permitting processes and the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Ordinance.

Special guests from the Development Services Department, Director Kevin Fabino

If you drive through Meyers on a Sunday you've most likely come across gridlock traffic through the neighborhoods as vehicles trying to head west after their South Lake Tahoe weekend look for the quickest route, courtesy of smart phone apps.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel held a Town Hall meeting on February 28, providing a forum for residents, law enforcement and staff to discuss solutions. One suggestion that came out of that meeting was put into place on Sunday, March 4 and was fairly successful.

El Dorado County's ad hoc Cannabis Committee will have eight public meetings between March 5 and May 14 as they develop a new ordinance. All meetings will take place in the County Supervisor's chambers located at 330 Fair Lane in Placerville from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday, March 5 on outdoor growing, cottage industries
Monday, March 12 on indoor sales, mixed light, cottage industries
Monday, March 19 on dispensaries, deliveries and distribution
Monday, April 23 on micro-business, nurseries and testing
Monday, April 30 on manufacturing
Monday, May 7 on tax rates and funding

South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David held her second "Community Conversation" on Wednesday, opening the avenues of conversation between government and the public. This time Councilmember Brooke Laine joined her.

During the first such meeting in January the crowd got too big for the chosen area, Peet's Coffee, so this month they moved to the SLT Senior Center. Everyone attending agreed the center was much more conducive to good conversation.

"I thought it went really well," said Wendy. "I really appreciate the respect everyone shows for each other and opinions can be shared freely."

One thing is evident at the last few months of South Lake Tahoe City Council meetings - the public is interested in voicing their opinions about several hot topics on the agenda including vacation home rentals, cannabis and SnowGlobe.

Tuesday, February 20 was no different as a line of locals got up to speak about the newly formed group, the No Globe Alliance.

We are a diverse group of local South Lake Tahoe residents who are organizing to eliminate or relocate SnowGlobe. This event has unfairly displaced local residents, invaded our homes with noise, closed access to whole neighborhoods, exposed our forests to unnecessary and dangerous potential for fire and attracted visitors who do not reflect the family friendly Lake Tahoe we want to be. We want to bring the experiences of our local community into the light.