Tahoe Paradise Park turns to EDC for help
By Kathryn Reed
MEYERS – Help is possibly on its way for the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District.
The board that runs this park on the South Shore agreed on a 4-1 vote Feb. 5 to enter a memorandum of understanding with El Dorado County for the government to assist with administrative responsibilities. Judy Clot voted no.
Now the Board of Supervisors must OK the deal.
“We are at a critical mass point where we need help,” Sue Novasel said. She is chair of the TPRID board and the county supervisor representing this area. Novasel said she believes this route is necessary to “ensure our park is viable and that we will be able to do more.”
This South Shore park, which turns 50 in July, in many ways functions like it is a newbie and other ways like a relic of a bygone era. No one knows where the bylaws are, documents are stored in 11 boxes – nothing is digital, the lone employee who lives on site hasn’t been held accountable for the hours he works and now resists having to do so, election of board members doesn’t exist and there is no plan to make this area self-sustaining.
Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District has no plans to fix the tennis court nearest the entrance. Photo/LTN file
The MOU is designed to help resolve some of these issues. Instead of the park district starting from scratch, it will rely on the county’s experience with some basic practices like making sure all types of contracts are sound and dealing with the employee when it comes to work assignments and an annual review.
A bigger issue is to have county officials do an assessment of the park’s resources. This will help the park figure out what can and should be the focus going forward.
The plan is for the county to act in an advisory role for the next year. Ultimately it is up to the TPRID board to do what it wants.
Some of the nearly 20 people who attended the meeting worried if TPRID is giving up too much control to the county, as well as if the county’s attorney would have a conflict of interest if she were to give advice to the board because it might not be her employer’s best interest.
It was reiterated that the TPRID board has the ultimate say and that if needs firm legal advice, that will mean hiring an outside attorney if need be.
TPRID has a nearly $130,000 grant that has largely been spent on siding and landscape issues. The goal was to install a more permanent rest room, but ultimately the proposal did not meet Tahoe Regional Planning Agency requirements.
A contingency of the grant is that projects must be completed by a certain date in order to be reimbursed for costs or the money goes away. Creative paperwork allowed for the tennis court improvements that were made a couple years ago to suffice for the current deadline.
But the one court that is still unplayable because of the cracks is destined to remain that way for quite a while because a spring runs underneath it that makes continued replacement fiscally irresponsible.
What might happen with that plot of land in the future has not been determined.
The district is working on a master plan, with the goal to bring it to the public at a workshop in the coming months. No date has been set.
This board has been dysfunctional in the past, but played nice Thursday night. Board member Lorraine Anderson resigned effective at the end of the meeting. It will be up to the board to replace her.
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Notes:
• Future board meetings – Feb. 19, March 26 and April 30. The next meeting is at 6pm at Lake Valley Fire Protection District off Highway 89.
• Events committee to meet Feb. 17 at 6pm at Lake Valley Fire.
• A presentation about the budget is expected at the next board meeting.
This is kind of a joke. We are talking about a small neighborhood park that was built at the back of a housing development. But because of the fact that a huge # of parcels are paying fees for it, it has to become something more than a neighborhood park. People who live around there better start to pay attention before the Meyers Plan causes a parking lot, with a ‘trailhead’ leading from the old Tveten gas station, to direct visitors and locals from HWY 50 to the back of their neighborhood. This park should not be encouraging visitors without a public restroom and the County and TRPA need to make sure that doesn’t happen. This is a questionable use of County staff time -in my opinion. And shame on the TPRID board for putting this on our new supervisor’s shoulders! Like she doesn’t have enough to do, right now.
So the caretaker gets new siding on his “free” home and landscape in addition. He is reluctant to log his work hours to justify his free rent. Is he not charged with filing for grants and implementing them in a timely and cost effective manner or is he basically a maintenance man/ custodian? Time for a different approach. I am skeptical as to involving the county. They most likely are not familiar with the area and the advice they give may be declined by the park board. There must be enough brain power in our neighborhood to tackle this issue. MBC?
Evidently, by the way the “park” looks, there is NOT enough brain power or interest to tackle the issue.
AROD, the current manager is renting the wedding chapel, keeping all of the cash and even renting chairs and tables to wedding parties all for cash, all he is putting in his pocket. All of this is documented and the employees answer is there was no policy against it. A park employee is pocketing cash and that is acceptable to you?
And you think the county can do worse? You really think the county doesn’t know where to find the park or isn’t aware of how Tahoe works? The County is in Tahoe, how could this be new to them? Come on.
Turn the tennis courts into Pickle Ball courts, just a few minor changes and we can be happy folks like those living at the “Villages”
I play tennis on the park’s one maintained court weekly. It actually is a beautiful court, overlooking Lake Baron. The front court, closest to the caretaker’s house, is an eyesore, however. And regarding the caretaker, I try to avoid him, honestly. He has never said anything nice to me. He just seems angry and disgruntled, and the park’s appearance (including all the aggressive NO DOGS signs) and vibe reflect his disposition.
There is so little understanding of the history of this Park. It is amazing what being anonymous can do for one’s courage. But, anyone can see from the comments that it is a difficult task at best: lots of complaints, very few ideas and an excess of annoyed citizens who know very little. I applaud the efforts of the current Board to continue their work.
I remember well the Park back in the day. I remember the incredible damage from vandalism, I remember the days of having absolutely no money for maintenance and I remember the same thing we have now. Lots of complaints, calls for audits (which aren’t free) and calls for everyone to be fired. I also remember that we came together as a community to support the Park. We had fundraisers and entertainment, we had local functions (STR and Sierra Pacific employee picnics are particularly memorable), we had car shows and we even had a Lumberjack Competition aired by ESPN.
The new Board and several Meyers locals are trying to bring back these great ideas and are trying hard to fix the issues that plague this little Park. The sour and inaccurate rumor mill is doing nothing to help that. If you aren’t helping, you are part of the problem. Let’s get Meyers together as a community to make things better, not sit in anonymity and throw rocks at those who are trying to make things better.
Sounds like Mr. Clark has both the long time interest and brain power to help guide the future of the local park. Thank you for your comments and if you are one of the locals trying to bring it back!
Mr. Clark ha a great sense of the local residential environment. Very few understand the context of an issue, very few know the facts, everyone has an opinion, most of the ideas are of poor quality, not financially feasible or don’t address the real issue yet people want a pat on the back just for a suggestion. Often times local government designs a poor process to get input or to really address a problem, politicians are loath to make a tough decisions for fear of angering someone so issues get kicked down the road until there is a real problem or crisis. It’s the South Shore way.
Mr. Clark has more than put in his time for our community and the park. I also agree, have some balls, post your name and be part of the solution….not a “hippi-crit”. A parking lot will bring more people to the park …not driving or riding down your street. Let’s clean up the lake and make some positive changes. If you just get your kicks from “Talking the Down”…..get out of Town.
Mr Dayberry- Are you saying that you’re in favor of a parking lot at Tventen’s that funnels people to Lake Baron? I don’t understand how that would NOT affect the residents around there and then there’s the public health issue of no restrooms. I guess that’s because it was created to serve that neighborhood and then people could just walk home if they needed services. Whatever the case we can’t pretend that doesn’t need to be addressed somehow. Noticing what IS, is not “Talking the Down”
Isee they put a restroom down there every spring and remove it each fall. Where’s the problem? Are you worried you have to share a trail?