INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Incline Village Board of Trustees got right down to it in their meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 9 with a long discussion about plans for the Beach House project.

Staff requested the board’s feedback on the design that was initially shown at the end of 2019, which the board felt needed some serious updates before moving forward. 

While the design focused on improving bathroom conditions and availability at Incline Beach, along with updating the entire kitchen and adding in a dining deck, it was noted by District Project Manager Bri Waters that there would still need to be portable bathrooms on site in order to meet the population of the beach during the summer season. 

---

---

“I think we need to have bathroom facilities that can accommodate everybody on the beach, and if we have porta-potties outside of July Fourth, then it’s not an adequate facility,” said Trustee David Noble. 

Staff requested bringing on an engineering team at the same time to estimate design and cost. 

---

---

“That team can come to you with real estimates, real numbers, real design, and say, ‘Here’s your option A, here’s your two and a half million dollar building,” said Waters. “You’re not going to get that same quality estimate from an architecture and engineering team. We all know what an engineer estimate is, it’s not the same as a contractor’s estimate.” 

The project, which came in at around six million dollars with contingency funds set aside, was discussed by trustees by hopefully coming in anywhere between two or three million dollars. Waters stated that through bringing on a construction manager at risk, would allow for a tighter timeline and would give the district the ability to move forward quickly with less risk. 

In addition, the question of the level of service that the beach house would offer was discussed. Trustee Sara Schmitz questioned if having a concession based kitchen was the right move, and if a ‘grab and go’ option would be better. 

Overall, the board decided that a flash vote survey on what residents would want to see form the beach house is needed, which Chairman Matthew Dent will begin working on to bring back to the board for further discussion. 

The question of entering and exiting the beach was brought up during the discussion, as the board received a report from LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc in January regarding measures needed to be taken in order to increase safety and reduce non-residents on the beaches in off-seasons. 

Schmitz questioned if the two projects should be linked together in order to increase efficiency and make sure the placement of the beach house aligns with potential measures begin taken at exits and entrances of the beaches. Although there was plenty of the discussion at the previous meeting, the board did not make any action following the presentation. 

“We were trying to get at, how do we improve so that we have better car access, we have better pedestrian access, and we really sort of didn’t get that ‘ah-ha’ moment,” said Schmitz. “So I feel like we still have work to do there, and the work there could potentially have an impact on where the building goes. I think we have to take [staff’s] guidance on which comes first or do they become a project that fits together.” 

The board decided to bring the conversation back at a later time to continue asking questions related to the residents needs for the building along with the LSC study. 

The consent calendar was approved, but discussion of aquatics funds reallocation was moved to general discussion. 

The board appointed Trustee Ray Tulloch and Schmitz to the Audit Committee Board, as well as Chris Nolet as an at-large member. 

After discussion on the water and sewer utility rate studies, the boards next steps are to hear the final study results and recommendations, which will be coming back March, 8. Following the final results, a public hearing date will be set, with the rate adoption and implementation to follow, if approved. 

Board policy regarding rules of the trustees and their meetings was discussed, with the trustees considering the idea of limiting public presentations to 15 minutes. The idea of opening public comment to certain agenda items was also considered, along with potentially moving to The Chateau for meetings that are expected to have a bigger turnout. Schmitz is expected to bring back a redlined version of the board rules for further discussion with suggestions from the trustees. 

Liaisons were appointed for different sectors of the district, with Noble serving as the liaison for Diamond Peak, Schmitz serving as liaison for beaches and contracts, Trustee Michaela Tonking for golf and parks and recreation, Tulloch for utilities and fleet, and Dent for flash votes and construction projects. Each liaison is responsible for keeping up-to-date with the happenings of their sections of the district in order to report back to the board. 

Public records requests will now have a standing item on the agenda when requests need to come to the board when redactions are needed. In order to find out if the board should initiate charging for requests that take an extended period of time, the board requested District Manager Indra Winquest have staff monitor and track their time spent on public records requests for six months to determine if charging is necessary. The board members will submit their changes for a redlined version of the policy document to be approved at a later meeting. 

The meeting ended with the board setting the public hearing date for the Ordinance 7 updates on Wednesday, April 12. The board went through the redlined version of the document and made further corrections, including specifying the all fundraising on the beaches are prohibited. Considerations made during the discussion included potentially charging a late fee for people who pay their IVGID tax late, and consideration to limit the number of people at group picnics. 

During the long range calendar discussion, Noble suggested to add to the ‘parking lot’ of ideas that the board at some point discuss the creation of a workforce housing committee for IVGID employees.

The topic of conversation is heavy on residents minds as the housing crisis seems to be heightening in the basin. It’s unclear if and when a committee will be brought up at a future meeting.