Opinion: Why nothing in Tahoe improves

To the community,

My wife and I decided it was time to replace our tired and totally torn up by tree roots driveway.

So we called a contractor for a bid. He remarked that the offending trees must be removed.

So we called a tree remover contractor for a bid. We also thought we should have the house painted as soon as the dust settled. I will not mention any contractors name to protect the innocent, but some people are named because there is no one else to name. Tree remover says that I will need tree removal permit from TRPA. I called TRPA. A nice lady arrived and issued me a permit for the sum of $53 so I could cut down two trees on my own property.

This is a three-year permit. I now have three contractors who have given me a bid (tree remover), (driveway contractor), (and painting contractor). Trees must be removed by a crane because of their location and size. Our new power company Liberty Energy has a policy that any crane operating over power lines must have a Liberty person on site during this operation at a cost yet to be determined and paid by persons unknown.

My tree remover company has yet to be contacted by a Liberty person. The tree removal permit was issued on June 28, 2011, we hope to have our new driveway before the first snow. The only people who have responded is TRPA so far. This project cannot go forward before the first phase (tree removal) is done. Is it any wonder things are as they are here in the basin?

David DeWitt, South Lake Tahoe