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More than 120 Incline Village and Crystal Bay residents filled the elementary school's multi-purpose room Saturday morning for a town hall-style meeting with one shared goal: taking action.
Incline Vision, the group which has charged itself with creating a long-term plan for Incline Village/Crystal Bay, tapped facilitator Ed Gurowitz to lead the day's forum.
Gurowitz started the morning off on a high note encouraging Incline residents to stay vigilant in this, the "most crucial part" of the process.
"It's easy to get caught up in the complexities and say 'it's a hairball and I don't know where to start'," Gurowitz said. "But it's like that ancient Chinese proverb says, 'a 1,000-mile journey starts with a single step.'"
The steps taken Saturday reflecting locals' dedication to the process were illustrated by Incline Vision subcommittee head Alexandra Profant, when she held up a complex-looking chart full of intertwining lines.
The chart was ostensibly drawn to illustrate each local, regional, state and federal regulatory agency and how residents can theoretically navigate through the system to get a project done - such as the development of a new ferry system.
"As you can see, it's very confusing," Profant said. "We have a local path that will be updated with the county and regional path with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Both someday will join together."
Profant's illustration was punctuated her committee's discovery that local sheriff and fire officials are the basin's first-responders in case of a catastrophe such as a wildland fire, "yet we don't have a pier to serve them," she said.
Profant's group's recommendation was for Incline Village General Improvement District to take the lead.
"We have to look toward IVGID for our representative in the planning coordination process."
IVGID General Manger Bill Horn said he could see why IVGID would be looked to as a natural leader for projects outside the district's purview of water, sewage, garbage and recreation, but was reluctant to say if the district would ever pursue an expanded role.
"You have IVGID as a community leader," Horn said. "So any time someone has an opinion on what should happen it falls to the five board members and the general manager.
"In any process like this it's up to volunteers and they have lives outside of this, there's only so much they can give."
Darin Dinsmore, head of Dinsmore SIERRA, a Truckee-based consulting firm, was on-hand to announce the newly completed first phase of basin-wide community research as a part of the multi-agency Pathway 2007 effort, led by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
One of Pathway 2007's goals is to create a basin-wide plan to link Tahoe's communities while letting each keep its autonomy.
Through this, Dinsmore said he found many surprising similarities.
"There's a lot of agreement and there's a lot of repetition, because people are saying the same thing throughout the basin," Dinsmore said.
What that means for Incline, Dinsmore said, is not only were its residents the basin's pioneers in joining together to create a plan, but there may be roadblocks ahead.
"We want walkabale, mixed-use communities but what does that mean on the ground?" Dinsmore said. "
The answer, he said, may be some change in the current TRPA compact for development, as well as the way local developers, and landholders look at their properties.
"There's a lot of agreement on what needs to happen, now it is up to people to work together," Dinsmore said.
Goals
Some 10 subcommittees formed out of November, 2005's Incline Vision town hall-style meeting. Here is a summary of each committee's goals:
Environment:
• Safe alternative mobility
• Upgrade visual environment
• Energy efficiency
History, Arts & Culture
• Develop a vibrant intersection between the arts and the community
Health & Human Services
• Increase the availability of health care for the uninsured
• Increase the community awareness of drug and alcohol abuse
• Increase inter-agency knowledge of support for senior services
• Increase the availability of mental health services
External Relations
• Feed ideas through county for action
• Professional "pushing" body
• Use CAB as conduit
Demographics
• Further devise and enhance data from real estate sector
• Questionnaire for vacationers - why do they come?
• Update census
• Redistribute "blue forms" to gather census information, compare with first survey
Recreation
• Document all existing recreational opportunities in area
• Research multi-modal transportation and recreational access in IV/CB
• Offer wider range of youth activities
• Study land use
Infrastructure
• Regionally coordinate transit system
• Possible shuttle system
• Roundabout(s)
Education
• Take educational inventory of all groups in community
• Explore more mentoring, tutoring, internship activities
• Summer program for educational opportunities
Public Safety
• Ensure community needs are being met with high level of public service
• Accessible public education
• Partnerships between agencies
Technology
• Ensure emergency communications to citizens work
• Build WiMax tower facility
• Establish community broadcasts of public meetings
Incline Vision, the group which has charged itself with creating a long-term plan for Incline Village/Crystal Bay, tapped facilitator Ed Gurowitz to lead the day's forum.
Gurowitz started the morning off on a high note encouraging Incline residents to stay vigilant in this, the "most crucial part" of the process.
"It's easy to get caught up in the complexities and say 'it's a hairball and I don't know where to start'," Gurowitz said. "But it's like that ancient Chinese proverb says, 'a 1,000-mile journey starts with a single step.'"
The steps taken Saturday reflecting locals' dedication to the process were illustrated by Incline Vision subcommittee head Alexandra Profant, when she held up a complex-looking chart full of intertwining lines.
The chart was ostensibly drawn to illustrate each local, regional, state and federal regulatory agency and how residents can theoretically navigate through the system to get a project done - such as the development of a new ferry system.
"As you can see, it's very confusing," Profant said. "We have a local path that will be updated with the county and regional path with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Both someday will join together."
Profant's illustration was punctuated her committee's discovery that local sheriff and fire officials are the basin's first-responders in case of a catastrophe such as a wildland fire, "yet we don't have a pier to serve them," she said.
Profant's group's recommendation was for Incline Village General Improvement District to take the lead.
"We have to look toward IVGID for our representative in the planning coordination process."
IVGID General Manger Bill Horn said he could see why IVGID would be looked to as a natural leader for projects outside the district's purview of water, sewage, garbage and recreation, but was reluctant to say if the district would ever pursue an expanded role.
"You have IVGID as a community leader," Horn said. "So any time someone has an opinion on what should happen it falls to the five board members and the general manager.
"In any process like this it's up to volunteers and they have lives outside of this, there's only so much they can give."
Darin Dinsmore, head of Dinsmore SIERRA, a Truckee-based consulting firm, was on-hand to announce the newly completed first phase of basin-wide community research as a part of the multi-agency Pathway 2007 effort, led by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
One of Pathway 2007's goals is to create a basin-wide plan to link Tahoe's communities while letting each keep its autonomy.
Through this, Dinsmore said he found many surprising similarities.
"There's a lot of agreement and there's a lot of repetition, because people are saying the same thing throughout the basin," Dinsmore said.
What that means for Incline, Dinsmore said, is not only were its residents the basin's pioneers in joining together to create a plan, but there may be roadblocks ahead.
"We want walkabale, mixed-use communities but what does that mean on the ground?" Dinsmore said. "
The answer, he said, may be some change in the current TRPA compact for development, as well as the way local developers, and landholders look at their properties.
"There's a lot of agreement on what needs to happen, now it is up to people to work together," Dinsmore said.
Goals
Some 10 subcommittees formed out of November, 2005's Incline Vision town hall-style meeting. Here is a summary of each committee's goals:
Environment:
• Safe alternative mobility
• Upgrade visual environment
• Energy efficiency
History, Arts & Culture
• Develop a vibrant intersection between the arts and the community
Health & Human Services
• Increase the availability of health care for the uninsured
• Increase the community awareness of drug and alcohol abuse
• Increase inter-agency knowledge of support for senior services
• Increase the availability of mental health services
External Relations
• Feed ideas through county for action
• Professional "pushing" body
• Use CAB as conduit
Demographics
• Further devise and enhance data from real estate sector
• Questionnaire for vacationers - why do they come?
• Update census
• Redistribute "blue forms" to gather census information, compare with first survey
Recreation
• Document all existing recreational opportunities in area
• Research multi-modal transportation and recreational access in IV/CB
• Offer wider range of youth activities
• Study land use
Infrastructure
• Regionally coordinate transit system
• Possible shuttle system
• Roundabout(s)
Education
• Take educational inventory of all groups in community
• Explore more mentoring, tutoring, internship activities
• Summer program for educational opportunities
Public Safety
• Ensure community needs are being met with high level of public service
• Accessible public education
• Partnerships between agencies
Technology
• Ensure emergency communications to citizens work
• Build WiMax tower facility
• Establish community broadcasts of public meetings
