TRPA announces Best in Basin winners

On Feb. 24, the Best in the Basin awards will be given out at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board meeting in Stateline.

The 20-year-old awards program recognizes work on projects demonstrating exceptional planning, design and compatibility with the Lake Tahoe environment. Local professionals in the fields of architecture, landscaping, planning, engineering, and resource management served as independent judges.

Best New Construction, Industrial

Winners are:

Best Erosion Control Project: Tahoe Vista Erosion Control project, Environmental Improvement Program Project Number 212, Placer County. Kansas McGahan, PE, Placer County project engineer; Camp, Dresser, McKee (CDM, Inc.), project design; Gold Valley Construction, contractor.

Best BMP Retrofit: Kings Run Condominiums, 1300 Regency Way, Tahoe Vista. Webb Land Surveying and Leroy Civil engineering, preliminary design; Basile Management Practice (Lake Tahoe BMP, Tahoe City), engineering and construction.

Best Restoration Project: Third Creek Stream Restoration, Environmental Improvement Program Project Number 562, Incline Village. Lead agency, Incline Village General Improvement District (Brad Johnson, engineering manager); agency partners, US Army Corps of Engineers, Nevada Division of State Lands, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; design consultant, Entrix, Inc. (chief engineer Charley Miller, P.E.); contractor, Burdick Construction, Inc.

Best Defensible Space Project: Carnelian Woods Townhomes, 5101 North Lake Blvd., Tahoe City. Bruce Seybold, registered professional forester, North Tahoe Fire Protection District; Cross Check Services, contractor.

Best Forest Fuels Reduction Project: China Gardens Fuels Reduction Project, China Garden Court, Glenbrook. Glenbrook Homeowners Association, property owner; Tahoe Douglas Fire Department Zephyr Hand Crew, hand thinning work; Cold Creek Land Services, contractor.

Public Service Award: South Tahoe Area Transit Authority/BlueGO, South Y Transit Center remodel, South Lake Tahoe. DML Construction, contractor; Lake Tahoe Heating and Plumbing, subcontractor; Winters Electric, subcontractor.

Best Affordable Housing Project: Kelly Ridge Apartments (affordable housing for seniors), 1447 Herbert Ave. South Lake Tahoe. Tahoe Senior Housing II, L.P., owner; Randy Borges, Borges Architectural Group, architect; American Baptist Homes of the West, developer; Boward Builders, general contractor. Funding through California Housing Finance Agency, California HOME Program, South Lake Tahoe Redevelopment Agency. Project coordination by Tahoe Area Coordination Council for the Disabled (TACCD).

Best Residential Rebuild: Kirschenbaum Residence Homewood. Scott Gillespie, Sandbox Studio, designer; Lowe Construction, contractor.

Best Residential Modification: Fett Residence, Highway 28, Crystal Bay. Elise Fett & Associates, architecture and engineering; Michael Horn Construction, contractor.

Adaptation of a Vintage Home: Gordon Residents, Elks Point. (“The Little Stone House”) Architect, Elise Fett; Engineer, James Swann of Mountain Engineering; Contractor, East Slope Construction; Kemper Hendrick of Kemper Masonry, masonry work; Cameron Boyle and Shane Jett-Pierce, carpentry; Micah Langdon of Design Workshop, landscape design; Western Environments Inc. of Carson City, outdoor stone work, with landscape design implementation; Bruce Tilley of Tilley Plumbing, plumbing work; Steve Bowman of Bowman and Son Electrical, electrical work; cabinetry by Mark Bartholomucci of Gardnerville; Judith Schultz, The Mill, Lodi, interior design.

Best New Construction, Industrial: South Tahoe Industrial Park, 1772 D St., South Lake Tahoe. Owners: Steven D. Leman & Tom Haen. Landscape design by Steve Leman; general contractor, Thomas Haen Co.; civil engineer, Jim Haen; landscaping by Tahoe Outdoor Living.

Best Commercial Rebuild: Ski Run Center, intersection of Ski Run Boulevard and Highway 50, South Lake Tahoe. Engineering and architectural work by MWA Inc.; Gardner’s Construction, contractor.

In addition to the awards, the Best in the Basin judges singled out the following three projects for honorable mention:

South Tahoe Public Utility District, 1275 Meadow Crest Drive, South Lake Tahoe. Special recognition for drought resistant landscaping/demonstration garden at administrative offices. Landscape contractor, Aspen Hollow Nursery; landscape design, John Thiel, PE, Design Workshop.

Caltrans and Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Special recognition for implementing Natural Environment As Treatment (NEAT) planning initiative for water quality projects along 38 miles of Lake Tahoe Basin highways. This approach helps avoid unnecessary cost of mechanical treatments where appropriate. Architects, engineers and contractors, Rood Rodgers Inc.

Lake Village/Golden Sierra Power. Special recognition for solar retrofit at 118 Snowbird Court, Stateline. Peter Lusich, owner; project design, Mark Johnson, Golden Sierra Power; racking design, Direct Power and Water; roof calculation and engineering, Building Concepts; online electrical diagram, Mt. View Electric.