Town plan moves ahead

By Kevin MacMillan
BONANZA INTERIM EDITOR, kmacmillan@tahoebonanza.com
May 2, 2008

Print Email

Independent Incline group, Washoe County to finalize ballot verbiage for June 11 meeting
In a little more than a month, the Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees could make a landmark decision in an almost 30-year drive to increase the district’s governmental powers.

On Wednesday, the IVGID board unanimously approved the next phase to dissolve IVGID and create the “Town of Incline Village,” which is the newest goal of the Independent Incline Committee, the ad hoc group of locals who have focused on giving Incline Village and Crystal Bay increased home rule.

In a 5-0 vote, trustees voted to allow Mary Walker, IVGID’s legislative advocate, and other Independent Incline members and proceed with the planning process to place an advisory question on the November 4 ballot.

“From the very beginning, the No. 1 goal has been to service the public,” Walker said during her presentation to the board. “This is a proposal, simply a concept, but we’re at a point where we can’t move forward without your approval. All we’re asking is you let us move forward.”

After more than an hour of discussion from the board and many residents, trustees adopted the proposal.

The ‘if’ process
If everything goes to plan, here is how the latest Independent Incline idea shakes out.

With Wednesday’s approval, Walker, along with IVGID General Manager Bill Horn, will work with Independent Incline and Washoe County officials over the next month to finalize ballot language in time for the IVGID Board to vote on it at its June 11 meeting.

According to plans, which are outlined in a memorandum by Walker in Wednesday’s agenda packet (available online at www.ivgid.org or in person at 893 Southwood Blvd.), the IVGID board has to agree with the proposal and vote “yea” at the June 11 meeting in order for things to proceed.

“I want to make this clear, so everyone understands,” Horn said during the meeting. “We have the next 30 days to do this, to negotiate this memo of understanding ... then it all becomes finite on the ballot question.”

If the board approves on June 11, then the finalized language is due to the Washoe County Board of Commissioners by late June, by the deadline to get it on the July 15 agenda. If the county board approves the language, then the question is OK’s to be put on the November 4 election day ballot with Washoe County.

Between July 15 and November 4, Washoe County Registrar of Voters Dan Burke will work with Independent Incline members and IVGID residents to develop pro and con language for the advisory ballot question, giving IVGID residents an equal opportunity to approve or disapprove the idea.

All registered IVGID voters would be allowed to vote the question. Even if more people vote “yea” than “nay” on the question, it doesn’t mean the idea automatically is realized, said trustee Gene Brockman.

According to Walker’s plan, after Election Day, assuming the vote is noticeably in favor of adopting the idea of the “Town of Incline Village,” Walker and Independent Incline members will work with the Nevada State Legislature to modernize Nevada Revised Statute 269: Town Law language, to allow the new “Town of Incline Village” to have more general obligation bonding capacity.

Also after Election Day, the county board will work to institute the new “Town of Incline Village,” with a goal set of July 1, 2009, as the switch.

Voicing praise and concerns
Feedback from trustees, IVGID staff and the community, both positive and negative, was aplenty at Wednesday’s meeting.

Some of the concerns raised include:
• Potential conflicts between employee benefit packages if the town is made and a county employee moves to the new town to work, but is under a different benefit package.
• Whether the boundaries of the new town should include current IVGID and/or North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District boundaries, or less or more.
• Whether the new town should simply be called “Incline Village” (as proposed) and not include Crystal Bay.
• Whether Independent Incline members are 100 percent sure no employee, IVGID or Washoe County, will lose his or her job if the switch is made.
• Whether the latest Independent Incline idea conflicts with current beach access-driven litigation against IVGID.

Walker said these and more concerns are part of the next phase, which is working through them this month in order to get them answered by the June 11 IVGID meeting.

Since information needs to be submitted to the IVGID Executive Assistant Susan Herron by June 4 (a week before the meeting), some in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting had doubts if all the concerns can be addressed within the next 30 days.
After the meeting, Horn said he had doubts if some of the concerns can be addressed by the deadline.

“I think there’s two big questions that I don’t think we’re going to get a definite answer to,” he said. “One is the issue we have with the current lawsuit ... the other is I don’t know what the new community should be called. I don’t know if there’s going to be a definite answer to either of those.”

More
Below are some of the comments voiced at the meeting, from trustees, IVGID staff, Independent Incline members and residents.

IVGID lobbyist Mary Walker: “The great thing about becoming a town is you can pick and choose what services you want to provide, as well as have the option later down the road to take on more.”
Incline resident Ed Gurowitz, Independent Incline member: “There are two things we wanted to accomplish with this. No. 1 is to do nothing to affect IVGID, and No. 2 is being fair to Washoe County.”

Crystal Bay resident Steven Kroll: “Crystal Bay existed well before Incline Village, but Crystal Bay would be obliterated if this goes through. That is abominable. I think it would be a terrible error to call it simply ‘Incline Village.’”

IVGID Trustee Gene Brockman: “The advisory question will give Washoe County an idea of the way IVGID wants to go; it will give Washoe County a sense of what we want.”

Incline resident Ted Harris: “Of this whole thing, for all these years, this is truly the first oportunity. I urge you to approve.”

For more details about the plan, read Wednesday’s agenda packet (available online at www.ivgid.org or in person at 893 Southwood Blvd.).