INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The sale of the old Incline Village elementary school on Southwood Boulevard to the Tahoe Transportation District was ratified Tuesday by the Washoe County School District despite an attempt to bring the topic back to the Board of Trustees for further discussion.

Trustee Jeffrey Church was hoping to pull the item from the consent calendar in order to further discuss the details of the sale following extensive opposition from the residents of Incline.

After telling many of his constituents the sale would be discussed, and potentially halted, it was announced by Board President Angela Taylor that rules had changed for trustees wanting to pull items from the consent calendar due to complaints of meetings running too long.

Originally, board members could pull any consent item to discuss, regardless of support from other board members.

“If the board has already deliberated that item as a board, then it takes two trustees,” Taylor said. “This is to keep us from going in circles.”

As a result, Church was unable to pull the consent item due to no support from other trustees. This came as a surprise to Church and many of the Incline residents who voiced their objections to the sale during public comment.

Residents and Church addressed many concerns about the sale and possible building of a mobility hub in the area. The property, located at 771 Southwood Boulevard, is adjacent to one of the two town centers, along with multiple apartment complexes.

Directly across from the property on Oriole and Southwood, cars are legally parked close together on both sides of the roads where allowed, and many residents pointed out it is not uncommon to see children of all ages in the area. Many residents are worried that with the high density issues of the area, a mobility hub could bring more crime to the area, which has already had three robberies in the last two months.

Another issue many were upset with was the lack of a new appraisal for the sale, given it was sold for just over $2 million. The last time the site was appraised was in April of 2019.

A petition against the sale has been signed by over 2,000 people. Church was disappointed the item would not be up for further discussion.

“I’m disappointed this is not an item for discussion,” Church said. “We’re up to 2,075 people who are opposed to this sale. That’s a lot for Incline Village.”

TTD District Manager Carl Hasty spoke about the sale before public comment ended, addressing many of the concerns brought up by the public.

“[There’s] a lot of passion, a lot of interest, which is a good thing in terms of engaging a community,” said Hasty. “This is the beginning of the process, not the end. We don’t have a project yet. We’re going to be very engaged with the community about the project.”

The vote to approve the consent calendar was 5-1, with Church in opposition.