Placer approves $1.7M for North Tahoe projects, interim contract with North Lake Tahoe Resort Association

Published on June 28, 2017

Continuing its investment in the infrastructure and marketing of eastern Placer County and North Lake Tahoe, the Placer County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted 4-0 to approve agreements with three local partners for new community projects and an interim contract with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association. District 4 Supervisor Kirk Uhler was absent from the meeting.

The one-month, $462,199 contract with NLTRA will allow more time for the agencies to continue discussions about the future of the county and NLTRA partnership and return to the board in July with a six-month transitional contract outlining each agency’s responsibilities. A key focus for the long-term partnership will be how best to ensure the widest possible community input in planning and prioritizing future projects in alignment with the Placer County Tourism Master Plan.

Each year, transient occupancy tax is collected from area guests and is used to fund the marketing of North Lake Tahoe and transportation and infrastructure projects that benefit residents and visitors. Since 1996, Placer County has partnered with the resort association to market North Lake Tahoe and recommend how to prioritize transportation and infrastructure goals outlined in the county’s Tourism Master Plan.

“Ensuring that all of our communities in eastern Placer County are fully included in the planning of future projects is a clear priority for our residents and the county,” said Board Chairwoman and District 5 Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery.

In recent months, county staff based in North Lake Tahoe and the NLTRA hosted a number of community meetings and workshops to seek feedback on how the county and NLTRA can include broader community perspective in prioritizing infrastructure and transportation projects in the region. That feedback has been and will continue to be included in the ongoing discussion about the NLTRA partnership.

County staff and NLTRA expect to continue refining each partner’s responsibilities and how community feedback will be incorporated into the project planning process over the next month and return with a six-month contract outlining those elements for the board’s approval in July. Key next steps in that process will be streamlining the transit planning process, creating a partnership in the approach to recommending infrastructure investment, reviewing implementation of the Tourism Master Plan and developing marketing performance measures, in line with the county’s efforts across all its partnerships to ensure that tax dollars continue to deliver impactful results.

The board also approved three new agreements for North Lake Tahoe area projects, each of them among the 14 projects recommended by the resort association and approved by the board in February.

Placer County will invest TOT funds to provide a total of $1,464,879 under an agreement with the Tahoe City Public Utility District to restore the Truckee River Trail between 64-Acres Park in Tahoe City and the entrance to Squaw Valley. The board also approved a $209,152 agreement with Tahoe Public Art to create and install artwork in the two new roundabouts in Kings Beach. Both projects should be completed by Dec. 31, 2018. The third agreement, with the Tahoe Maritime Museum, will provide $60,700 to help renovate and upgrade the museum’s welcome center.