Field needs to be built to keep SnowGlobe

By Kathryn Reed

The rush this fall to have the documents signed to create the Community Play Consortium had a lot to do with money. Money in regards to the three-day SnowGlobe music festival that starts Tuesday, money from Lake Tahoe Community College’s facility’s bond, money to be spent on future fields and the potential income they will generate.

When talks of creating the consortium started early this year it was uncovered that the deeds for the properties from more than a decade ago were never recorded properly. That has all been rectified.

The parcels include the old Caltrans right-of-way that the California Tahoe Conservancy obtained after the transportation department decided not to build a freeway there, South Lake Tahoe land, LTCC property and a floating acre Lake Tahoe Unified School District has contributed on which a baseball field will be it. It’s all in the area of the current community play field in South Lake Tahoe. The old Caltrans parcel is now the city’s. Half of the playfield is on it, the other half of the playfield is owned by the college.

The city and LTCC transferred easements to the consortium, not land ownership. Therefore the consortium controls the use of that field and the future fields that are planned to be adjacent to the current one.

The college and city make up the consortium. LTUSD chose not to be a part of it.

“SnowGlobe was always part of the conversation because the college, city and school district wanted to make sure whoever owns the land that they were properly insured,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News.

Alcohol sales at SnowGlobe have been one of the issues for the parties to deal with.

“It was not a major factor, but it was a factor,” LTUSD Superintendent Jim Tarwater told Lake Tahoe News as to why the district is not in the consortium. “I am not a real supporter of SnowGlobe, but will do whatever the community supports.”

The district, as is the norm for most K-12 institutions, has a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol on its grounds.

The college has policies in place as well regarding alcohol, but they are more flexible. To get around alcohol being sold on campus the beer booths have always been on city property – on the asphalt on the mountain side of the set up. The consumption, well, that is allowed everywhere.

“If the field is under the control of the consortium, under the easements our laws don’t apply. That is part of the reason why we were working so hard when we realized the easements were not in effect so SnowGlobe could take place this year,” Kindred Murillo, LTCC president, told Lake Tahoe News.

Chad Donnelly, SnowGlobe founder and promoter, did not return LTN’s call asking how big of a deal alcohol sales are for the three day event that runs Dec. 29-31.

“We don’t have restrictions about selling alcohol. What the city can’t do is make money off alcohol sales,” Kerry said. “The nonprofits that work with SnowGlobe get a percentage of the alcohol sales.”

This will be SnowGlobe’s final year on the field where Lake Tahoe Community College’s soccer team plays. That is because the college intends to replace that field next year at a cost that is likely to exceed $1.6 million.

The money in part will come from the college, and part from the city via Measure S/R dollars.

“We are looking at a pretty high quality synthetic field. We are looking at some of new techniques that do not off gas,” Murillo said. “That is under investigation, to put in the latest and best and most safe field. That field is so hard and off gassing. We believe it really needs to be replaced as soon as possible.”

Talks are under way with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to begin work before the May 1 opening of construction season so the field would be ready for the soccer teams in August.

In order to invest bond money into the new field, the college has to have “reasonable use of that property for the life of the investment,” Murillo said. This means the college’s athletic department and all other programs get first priority on that field.

The city next year is looking to build a field next to it that will be sod. It would be a secondary field and where SnowGlobe could go in the coming years. The city and Donnelly have a three-year contract, with this being year two.

Donnelly was asked what he thought about having to come up with a new configuration, but he chose not to answer that question.

The college is likely to provide parking lots for future SnowGlobes. As to whether anything else would be used is up for negotiation.

“Once we build the new field it will be a better location (for SnowGlobe),” Kerry said. “It will be natural. You can’t damage it like synthetic.” She envisions the possibility of vendors and foot traffic going on the new synthetic field.

That will be up to the consortium – not the college. And right now it’s just the college and city in the consortium.