DRIVE requests home to county

Washoe County may pry open its wallet for the Incline Village and Crystal Bay area - if we can offer the county commission some proposed projects with great community impact.

This time, the county is asking for ideas from its higher altitudes.

We are encouraging Incline Village/Crystal Bay residents to play an active role in DRIVE (Develop, Revitalize, Invest and Enrich), a new program being initiated by the county that is intended to "facilitate communication between citizens and county projects."

Citizens have until the next Incline Village/Crystal Bay Citizen Advisory Board meeting, scheduled for Sept. 5, to submit a DRIVE funding request form. Residents can wait until the meeting, or they can submit a form throughout the coming weeks to Gene Brockman, CAB chair. CAB members on Sept. 5 will decipher the requests and recommend which projects to forward to the county.

Hopefully, Brockman will be flooded with requests.

This program is a great idea because it gives those citizens who complain about Washoe County another chance, outside of public comment at Washoe County Commission meetings, to make their voice heard when it comes to acquiring funding for community projects. If someone comes up with a good enough request as to where Incline needs county funding, Washoe County Community Outreach coordinators will include it when they present it to the board.

If there's something that's always bothered you about the a lack of parking in Incline, write a request. If you think new sidewalks should be constructed down a certain street, write a request. If you think a more defined bike trail is needed around the lake, write a request.

Even if you are unsure the county controls a project you would like to see improved, write a request. It's like the old adage that there's no such thing as a stupid question. In this case, there's no such thing as a stupid request. It can't hurt to at least try.

The potential downside of this program is that it is being presented to all 16 CABs in Washoe County, meaning the county will hear potentially hundreds of funding requests from different areas.

And since it's up to the Washoe County Board of Commissioners whether it wants to budget money for any of the proposed projects, a good idea in Incline might fall through the cracks in favor of a more economically-savvy idea in Reno or Sparks.

But if you don't take advantage of this opportunity in the first place, then it will give Washoe County another excuse to ignore Incline Village/Crystal Bay, because they think you won't care.

Show them you do care. Fill out a DRIVE funding request form by Wednesday, Sept. 5.