Stadium project land sale on April 8 school board agenda

Kevin MacMillan
BONANZA STAFF WRITER, kmacmillan@tahoebonanza.com
March 26, 2008

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The Incline Village General Improvement District has a slot on the April 8 Washoe County School District board agenda, where IVGID General Manager Bill Horn will be on hand to answer trustees' questions regarding IVGID's desire to purchase about 2.7 acres of land from the school district.

The meeting takes place at 4 p.m. at the WCSD Administration Building, 425 E. Ninth St. in Reno.

"It's going to be a discussion, for (the board) to hear from myself about the project and purchasing the land," Horn said. "I was able to get it on the first meeting agenda available."

The IVGID Board of Trustees voted March 12 to allow Horn to write a letter to WCSD Superintendent Paul Dugan, asking permission for IVGID to purchase the 2.7-acre upper field at Incline High School, as part of the $4.5 million Community Stadium project.

The land purchase is crucial to IVGID being able to obtain about $550,000 in Washoe County 4B funds, Horn has said. They are funds that only can be attained if IVGID owns the land.

Furthermore, at the March 12 meeting, Horn assured the board and audience members that if the land is sold to IVGID and the district obtains the 4B funds, the project's fundraising committee is committed to raising the remaining $3.5 million for the project. The school district already has donated $450,000 for the project's all-weather track.

Since the school board has put Horn's request on the agenda as a discussion item, Horn said he is unsure when a vote would take place.

"My hope is (the school district) will direct staff to sit down with IVGID and discuss the acquisition of the upper field," Horn said.

A small agenda for today's meeting

The IVGID Board of Trustees will receive a better glimpse at today's board meeting, which takes place at 3 p.m. at 893 Southwood Blvd.

At the meeting, IVGID's director of finance, accounting and information technology Ramona Cruz will present the board with the draft 2008/2009 Budget Book, an item that won't be voted upon.

A board workshop tentatively has been scheduled for April 9, where district staff and trustees will generate feedback and suggest changes to the draft budget, as part of the annual budget process that begins in November and continues through June, when staff submits the final budget to the Department of Taxation.

"(The draft budget) is simply for the board to review before ... the board workshop," Horn said.

The '08-'09 fiscal year budget is slated to be finished by May, in time to be ready for public hearing and comment at the special IVGID board meeting May 15.

Parasol on today's agenda

The only area of general business on today's IVGID agenda involves the annual report by the Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation.

Claudia Andersen, Parasol executive director, will present the report to the board for possible feedback and to answer questions. The report is intended to update the board on progress the nonprofit organization has made the past year, as well as prove that Parasol has upheld all agreements with IVGID. One of those agreements is to ensure that all users of the Donald W. Reynolds Community Non-profit Center meet the requirement that a minimum of 50 percent of services go to citizens of Incline Village, Crystal Bay and Kings Beach.

"The board has directed me to have them (Parasol) come and report on an annual basis to the board, to ensure they comply with the lease and business plan," Horn said.