MontBleu has hired a general manager who is well acquainted with gaming and tourism in Northern Nevada.
Tim Maland takes over the 437-room hotel with its 40,000-square-feet of casino floor at a time when all the Stateline properties are trying to figure out how to lure people to rooms and tables.
Maland was president of the Reno Hilton from 2001-06. He was director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism from 2007-08.
By Kathryn Reed
Maybe it has to do with operating next to a casino. Whatever the reason, a $200,000 gamble, or investment as some call it, turned into a savings of $322,000 for Embassy Suites in just seven months.
David Hansen, who runs the engineering department at the South Lake Tahoe property, convinced the owner (Hilton Corp.) to
Lighting choices are continuing to evolve.
spend the money to make the improvements. In his pitch he said it would take two years to see the return on investment. He was early by 17 months.
Hansen was one of the speakers last week at a green energy forum put on by the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce.
(Hear him talk about green energy tonight at 6 on KTHO FM-96.1/AM-590 or www.kthoradio.com.)
Hot water is no longer used to launder linens. An ozone process is used. Less electricity and fuel is used, the spin cycle is reduced, linens are softer.
Incandescent 40-watt exit lights have been replaced with 1-watt LED lights.
Throughout the hotel, electricity usage has been cut by 30 percent and fuel by 50 percent — that’s where the $322,000 figure comes from.
Food scraps are hauled to the Carson Valley where they are composted. Recycled paper is weighed to see if it’s the same tonnage as what was bought.
Barbara Waldron with LV International Brands in San Diego talked about how lighting is progressing. People could touch the LED lights that were passed without getting burned.
LED bulbs can now operate on dimming systems and are available for vehicles.
Leslie Ames of Tahoe Solar Designs gave a presentation on solar for electricity as well as hot water systems. She said Tahoe is ideal for solar because of the temperature and number of sunny days.
More businesses around the Tahoe area are using solar. Sierra-at-Tahoe didn’t have power to the outlying parking lots so the ski resort installed solar systems to light those areas.
Embassy Suites is thinking about installing 60 to 70 solar panels to provide the hotel with hot water.
The chamber’s next green workshop is Nov. 17 from 10-11:30am at Embassy Suites, South Lake Tahoe. Even though the title is Green Lodging, Hansen said information will be applicable to a range of businesses. The forum is free and open to anyone.
For more information, go to www.tahoechamber.org.
By Kathryn Reed
Federal money is flowing to South Lake Tahoe for public works projects.
The $3.175 million is part of the federal stimulus package that is being filtered through the state’s clean water fund. The city applied for the funds earlier this year.
The stimulus money is being used to construct the Sierra Tract Erosion Control Project Phase 1b ($1.675 million) and Al Tahoe ECP, Project 1 ($1.5 million).
“The projects were highly rated since they were ‘shovel-ready’. The city qualified as an economically disadvantaged community, and the projects would provide water quality benefits by reducing the discharge of pollutants to Lake Tahoe associated with the city’s urban stormwater runoff,†explained Robert Erlich, the city’s engineer supervisor/stormwater coordinator.
Work started this summer on the Sierra Tract project, with completion expected next year. Curbs, gutters, storm drain inlets, storm drain pipe, water quality treatment basins, and vegetation are part of the mix.
South Lake Tahoe had planned to use Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act money to help pay for both projects. That money is now available for other water quality projects in the basin.
Plans are being drawn up for the Al Tahoe project, which will include replacement of a deteriorated corrugated metal pipe storm drain conveyance pipe, installation of drainage inlets, curbs, gutters, roadside shoulder treatment, and vegetation restoration.
“Urban stormwater that has historically flowed directly into Lake Tahoe will be directed through a series of stormwater management devices, including infiltration galleries and filtration vaults, to reduce both the volume of stormwater discharged, and the fine sediment and nutrient loads discharged to Lake Tahoe,†Erlich said.
By Kathryn Reed
Looking at the pile of trash, the students pointed to the toilet in the middle of the heap.
Walking through the South Tahoe Refuse yard they came upon oil drums, cans of paint that were separated out, a chair that looked useable if a few repairs were made, and a snowblower.
Jeanne Lear gives students a tour of South Tahoe Refuse on Oct. 30. Photo/Kathryn Reed
These nine students from Whittell High and Zephyr Cove elementary schools got an education in garbage on Friday at the South Lake Tahoe facility that is responsible for disposing of their weekly trash.
Normally it’s Whittell students who participate in the Enrichment Fridays, but all schools were out of school in honor of Nevada Day so some of the younger students came along.
Enrichment Fridays are the result of parents wanting to give students at WHS something to do other than hang out at home now that the 7-12 school is off on Fridays.
Mostly it’s seventh- and eighth-graders who participate in the monthly outings because 80 percent of students in grades 9-12 are in sports. It was the athletes missing school that led to the creation of the four-day school week that started this semester.
The idea is to have the event be educational and fun – like a school field trip. Parents are working with businesses to make it work for everyone and not cost much.
Sept. 25 was the first Enrichment Friday. It designed to show students what pubic transportation is all about, including how to bring a bike on a bus.
That theme was carried over to this month when the students and adults took BlueGo from Kahle Community Park in Stateline to Third Street in South Tahoe. Then they walked the block or so to South Tahoe Refuse.
Even though lunch at a garbage company might seem odd, the students didn’t think twice about diving into the pizza boxes – freshly ordered for them.
A short video about the operation of the 40-plus-year-old operation explained how things work.
Afterward, John Marchini, whose family started the operation, explained that the plant is recycling about 49 percent of the garbage it collects, with that number sometimes hitting 54 percent.
Even with the blue bag recycling program that started this year, he said employees working the assembly line still sort out a ton of recyclables.
Jeanne Lear with STR told the students the 250 tons of garbage the company collects each day could fill their multipurpose room.
“Think about what you are putting in the garbage bag and if you needed it in the first place,†Lear said to the students.
She showed them how packaging is wasteful, buying in bulk is good, and that buying goods made with recyclable material is the best.
Tori Jimenez, a Whittell eighth-grader, said she liked learning that there are little things she can do to protect the environment.
The next Enrichment Friday is Nov. 20 – Tibetan Day. Dec. 4 will be at MontBleu for the Festival of Trees and Lights.
By Kathryn Reed
A complete accounting of how much money has been spent by the taxpayers of South Lake Tahoe per City Council direction to keep Johnny Poland from being on the police force has not been provided to Lake Tahoe News.
By the end of the business day Friday, the city provided attorney Cynthia O’Neill’s bill regarding the recent litigation in El Dorado County Superior Court: her 159.1 hours equate to $34,101; plus an
Johnny Poland
additional $1,030.18 in costs.
In April, this reporter was told $75,000 had been spent by the city at that time on the Poland case. It was the understanding that was on legal fees paid to outside counsel.
However, the city has not provided any news outlet in town with the number of hours worked on the case by staff, what the dollar figure is for that time or how much money Poland was paid to not work for nearly 2.5 years, or the cost of benefits he received while on leave.
“The dollar cost of City staff time is not known at this time. (Police) Chief (Terry) Daniels is out of the office today and he may have a staff time estimate,” City Manager Dave Jinkens wrote in an Oct. 30 email.
Jinkens wants a plan in place next week for handling Poland’s return to the department.
Superior Court Judge Steve Bailey ruled this week against the city’s appeal of the arbitration panel’s decision to reinstate Poland. Poland was fired by Daniels in June 2007 because of his actions during a lockdown at South Tahoe High School in November 2006.
By Kathryn Reed
Kids College is no more.
The 11-year-old program that provided enrichment opportunities to thousands of South Shore youth through the years won’t be back in 2010. Lake Tahoe Community College axed the program because of the cost and that it says the program doesn’t fit the true mission of what a community college is about.
Program coordinator Lisa Huard gave a heart-felt thank you to the board on Tuesday night for its support in the past, with an eye toward the future in hopes the decision one day might be reversed.
Summer 2009 saw 203 kids participate. One summer there were 661 students.
At the end of Huard’s presentation she showed a medley of photos depicting students enjoying themselves — rock climbing, decorating cakes, running, ice skating, learning a foreign language, kayaking and doing tons of other things.
Huard talked about how Brandi Ledbetter was once a student, and this year she taught a class.
Anthony Davis talked about his years of teaching track and field to Kids College students and the loss this will be. He and others are looking to see if Kids College could be resurrected, albeit not through the college.
Huard, in her presentation, acknowledged the financial expense of running such a program, but also made the board aware of other costs associated with cutting Kids College.
“My purpose this evening is to thank LTCC and the board for their support and belief in this unique program. All things change, all things evolve. I believe that LTCC will also need to evolve in some of its program delivery,” Huard said. “Each year more and more of our high school students choose to stay home to complete their transfer units here. They know they have an excellent community college in their own back door. Many of them at one time or another took a Kids College class and the campus is familiar to them and their parents.
“But there is another facet to our community that has helped this campus to grow. The community of adults such as myself who enjoy physical education classes, special topics classes, and programs such as Kids College. As your mandates and budgets refocus, where will these programs be in the future other than gone? While some departments at the college may be hesitant in looking at the development of a community education section, we will either have to change and thrive or lose classes altogether.”
By Kathryn Reed
South Lake Tahoe’s first city attorney, Melvin Beverly, died Oct. 29. He was 84.
Flags are being flown at half-staff in his honor.
Mr. Beverly’s roots on the South Shore run deep, as do his family’s. His grandfather, John E. Dunlap, was a rancher in South Lake Tahoe. Some of the Dunlap clan still owns the property near the Tahoe Keys along the banks of the Upper Truckee River.
Melvin Beverly, circa 1970 Photo/Laine Photography
He was born Sept. 15, 1925.
Mr. Beverly earned his law degree in 1952 from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley. He spent the first two years out of law school as a clerk for a U.S. Appeals Court judge. In 1954, he began practicing law in Placerville. He worked on the West Slope for seven years before moving to South Lake Tahoe with his wife, Evelyn.
The Beverlys had been married for 48 years.
Mrs. Beverly said during the last nine years the two spent a good deal of time traveling. Mr. Beverly also kept up with his golf game after retiring in 2000 as a commissioner with El Dorado County Superior Court.
“Mel certainly was an institution in the legal profession and basically was the founding father of law in South Lake Tahoe in particular,” El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Kingsbury said. “He was very much a mentor to me as I was making my way up the ranks as an attorney. He gave a lot to the community and to the legal profession. He was extraordinarily well respected by the Bar.”
Bob Henderson knew Mr. Beverly for more than 30 years, having worked in his law office for a couple years in the early 1980s.
“He was a good man. We are going to miss him,’ Henderson said.
In March 1989, Mr. Beverly became a commissioner with the court and retired from private practice. Retired El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Terrence Finney, who is out of town, appointed Mr. Beverly to the position.
Kris Dehnen clerked for Mr. Beverly.
“As a human being you couldn’t ask for better,” Dehnen said through tears. “He was patient when he needed to be and firm when he needed to be.”
She remembers beautiful jazz coming from his chambers on afternoons when a trial wasn’t scheduled. Dehnen also recalls Mr. Beverly being diligent about his 2:30pm break to go outside to smoke a cigar.
“He was really the most delightful man. He had a heart of gold,” Dehnen said.
Sylvia Smith knew Mr. Beverly as an attorney and court commissioner from her work as a court reporter.
“When he walked into the courtroom, as a court reporter I knew there would be no game playing,” Smith said.
She said when Mr. Beverly became a commissioner he was there early, but rarely worked past 5pm so staff could get the paperwork done.
“He was very respectful of women,” Smith said. “He was a gentle man.”
She also remembers Mr. Beverly as being a good dresser, who never showed up at a function in anything less than a sport coat and tie.
Smith spent the better part of Thursday at the Beverly home. She read a scrapbook about Mr. Beverly that said originally his plan was to become an accountant, but then he went into the Army. He was in World War II on the front lines in a tank.
Smith remembers Mr. Beverly caring about families, and how hard the Child Protective Services cases were for him.
It’s because of Mr. Beverly that Court Appointed Special Advocates is in South Lake Tahoe.
Jim Duke, who was president of Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe at the time, remembers Mr. Beverly, who was a member, talking about starting CASA and how it took a couple tries to get a grant for the program.
“He was a quiet supporter of things in the community,” Duke said. “I was chairing a church committee and we needed some legal help. I told him what I needed and clearly was prepared to pay for it. But then he refused to accept any money for it.”
Duke said that’s how Mr. Beverly did things –behind the scenes, without wanting recognition.
Mr. Beverly is one of a handful of people who got the Tahoe Valley Pharmacy Building off the ground. It was there that he opened the law offices of Beverly, Riley & Petersen.
While he had his private practice, Mr. Beverly also was legal counsel for several agencies: South Tahoe Public Utility District from 1957-59, Lake Valley Fire Protection District from 1958-65, California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency from 1968-70, and South Lake Tahoe from 1965-72.
“Mel was a man of great integrity. He cared deeply about Tahoe and his family’s heritage, and having been given the opportunity to guide the city through its very early years,” said Del Laine, a family friend for years.
In June 2001, the city honored Mr. Beverly for his years of service to the city. The proclamation mentions how Mr. Beverly wrote South Tahoe’s first sign ordinance.
Mr. Beverly was instrumental in helping the city get incorporated in 1965. That November he was appointed the first city attorney. As the job began to entail more work, Mr. Beverly successfully lobbied upon his departure in 1972 for the city attorney to become a full-time position.
Mr. Beverly served as interim city attorney from August 1976 to November 1978.
Besides the legal arena, Mr. Beverly was president of the South Lake Tahoe Little League and South Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, a board member at Barton Memorial Hospital, and a member of Rotary. At the time of his death, Mr. Beverly was on the Lukins Brothers Water Company board.
Survivors include his wife Evelyn Beverly of South Lake Tahoe; sons William Beverly of Placerville and Robert Chadwick of Ontario, Ore.; daughter Kathryn Fenton of Davis; and two grandchildren.
Mr. Beverly did not want a service. The family plans to scatter his ashes to honor his love for Lake Tahoe.
The former owners of Tahoe Tom’s gas station in South Lake Tahoe were fined $412,900 this month by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board for failing to cleanup the site.
The board said Mohammad Ahmad and the Thomas E. Erickson Trust did not comply with a Cleanup and Abatement Order (CAO) to define the extent of petroleum hydrocarbon releases and to clean up unauthorized releases of petroleum hydrocarbons from underground storage tanks, which have impacted groundwater.
Lahontan, in a statement, said it believes the $412,900 liability should provide a deterrent to others who may consider violating Water Board enforcement orders.
The releases were first identified in early 2007 at the Tahoe Tom’s Gas Station at 4029 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe. Testing found leaks in three fill and turbine sumps and in all four dispenser nozzles.
Ahmad was operating the business at the time of the releases, and the Thomas E. Erickson Trust owned the property.
Clean up and abatement was needed to contain plume migration in groundwater to prevent pollution of nearby domestic and municipal wells.
In the ACL complaint, Water Board staff alleged that the two parties failed to comply with one CAO directive and complied late with six investigation and reporting directives.
At an Oct. 14 public hearing, the Water Board heard testimony from Water Board staff and Erickson about the allegations. Ahmad did not attend the meeting or submit evidence for consideration.
After learning clean up and abatement was stopped at the site for 257 days in 2008, and that gasoline was detected in a nearby motel well, the Water Board increased the fine amount above the recommended $248,400 to $412,900.
The gas station is no longer owned and operated by the Erickson Trust and Ahmad. However, the parties have since come into compliance with Water Board orders for cleanup at the site. Cleanup actions are reducing petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater and, thereby, reducing the threat to nearby wells.
By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee
PLACERVILLE — The court hearing for Phillip and Nancy Garrido lasted only two minutes this morning but turned into a media circus as Jaycee Lee Dugard’s purported biological father and Garrido’s original rape victim both showed up in court.
The hearing, which started 45 minutes late as attorneys met in chambers with the judge to discuss discovery issues, was set back to Dec. 11.
By Angie Keil
A lot has happened since Nov. 4, 2008, when almost 60 percent of South Lake Tahoe voters approved Measure G for $64.5 million.
The Master Plan that was developed by a group of citizens, staff, and others between December 2007 and February 2008 outlines plans for new construction and modernization at all schools through fall 2013. The original time line was already pretty adventurous, but Joe Stewart of SMC Contracting announced Tuesday night that they have a new goal of having the CTE Building ready for occupation after spring break next year.
Superintendent Jim Tarwater went chronologically through significant events that have occurred since 2007, when the district began to apply for matching funds from the state. To date, approximately $27 million has been promised to the district, with the first $6 million being released in the next couple of weeks. In order to get the funds, the district needed to pass a bond measure. The first attempt, Measure A for $87 million was unsuccessful, but Measure G ensures that the district qualifies for the matching funds.
South Tahoe High recently applied for another $2.2 million for a Sports Medicine component. It will find out in February if that’s a go or not.
Stewart and Steve Morales, district facilities director, reported that things are going well on the two buildings currently under construction.
CTE (Career Technical Education) is a two-story 29,860-square-foot building, which will house the auto-transportation classes on the first floor and the construction-art-architectural design classes on the second floor. Students from the latter classes have been visiting the site, hard hats and all, regularly to study the construction.
The other 29,240-square-foot two-story building will be mainly for classrooms, mostly in the math department.
While all of this construction is going on, Morales said the planning team is working on the media arts and design expansion which will be a dramatic improvement to the entry of the school and will go out to bid in spring 2010.
South Tahoe Middle School projects will also get under way with a new permanent sixth-grade building, which will replace those old portables.
In case you’re not familiar with the all of the projects which were included in the Measure G Bond Program, you can view them and a lot more at www.ltusd.org/bond.php.
Stewart addressed some recent concerns from Carpenters’ Local 1789 about hiring local workers. He said that approximately 30 percent of the work on the CTE building, and 40 percent of the work on the ORG building has gone to local workers. He is making every effort to encourage the use of locals, but subcontractors have difficulty finding qualified workers in particular trades who can handle such a volume of work within the time lines.
Morales said he will be meeting with Mike Berg of the Carpenters’ Union in the near future to discuss this further.
Student board rep David Stewart echoed the excitement about the new construction. He summarized it in two words, speaking for his fellow seniors, – “pure jealousy!†However, he said that it’s a painless process and it’s great to watch the buildings come together.
Angie Keil is executive assistant to the LTUSD superintendent.