Tahoe Donner

With the upcoming Truckee Home Building show on Memorial Day weekend, we would like to remind all Tahoe Donner homeowners who are looking into adding solar panels about the rules.  The solar panels we are seeing come in two forms, laying flat against the roof or siding and solar panels placed on high mounted steel racking systems and metal pans. If the solar panels you are looking to purchase have the high mounted racking system, please remember that the racking steel/metal system must be painted to match the adjacent material (roof or siding). No shiny metal is allowed. 

Also, you must have a permit through our office to add solar panels, which can be done over the counter Monday through Friday. The applications will be reviewed by one member of the Architectural Standards Committee every Wednesday. This type of permit is only good for 6 months. You can view the Change to Existing Structure Application for more information.

The 2012 online kayak storage lottery for the Tahoe Donner Beach Club Marina is May 3 – 10. We encourage Tahoe Donner homeowners to sign up at any time during this period. Storage is for kayaks with a beam (widest part of the bottom of the boat) of no more than 33 inches. Cost is $100 for the season.

If you receive a spot, we will contact you on May 11. You have until June 15 to pay for your spot and sign your liability waiver. You do not have to bring your boat in by June 15, but payment must be made and paperwork completed. You may bring your boat in at any point during the season. Spot assignments will be on a first come first serve basis starting at 7 a.m. on Friday, May 25.

Attention Truckee Residents!

Please take a moment to complete the Town of Truckee super simple five question survey on how you dispose of yard waste.

We are trying something new: In exchange for the one day Fire Safety event that occurs each June, all Truckee residents will be granted a free pass to drop off up to six yards (approximately 40 bags) of pine needles and vegetative waste at the Eastern Regional Landfill (ERL).

Residents may drop off yard waste between June 1-16, Monday – Saturday, from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. ERL is closed on Sundays. Proof of residency required. You must live within the Town limits to participate and must show a photo ID with a Truckee address when you arrive at ERL. If you don’t have your home address on you ID, no problem, simply take your ID along with a utility bill.

Be prepared to unload your own yard waste. If yard waste is transported to ERL in bags, you will be required to empty the bags to take advantage of free disposal. Multiple trips are permitted.

Accepted Items:
pine needles
pine cones
lawn trimmings
garden waste
brush, twigs, limbs and branches
wood chips
bark

Not Accepted:
food waste
pet waste
rocks
dirt

In addition, the Green Bag curbside yard waste collection program continues. Limited to four tied green bags per week, green bags are available at Mountain Hardware, Tahoe Supply Company and the Tahoe Donner Member Services office at Northwoods Clubhouse.

2012 Asphalt Improvements

The annual parking area sweeping and striping is scheduled for May 6 – 10 at the Northwoods Clubhouse, Trout Creek Recreation Center and The Lodge Restaurant & Pub and Golf Course parking lots.

The scheduled parking lot area maintenance work will be performed in phases to accommodate parking availability in each parking lot; however, initial parking will be limited due to the maintenance work. Directional cones will direct traffic towards access and egress routes and towards available parking. Corridors will be marked and available to provide access to sidewalks and entryways. Asphalt maintenance work will be completed as quickly as possible with additional parking opening throughout each day.

Detailed Schedule of 2012 Asphalt Improvements:

Sunday, May 6
Northwoods Clubhouse and Trout Creek Recreation Center

Evening: set-up cones to direct traffic and parking to center parking spaces at Northwoods and set–up cones in 1/3 of Trout Creek parking area.

Monday, May 7
Northwoods Clubhouse and Trout Creek Recreation Center

7 a.m. – Northwoods Clubhouse: sweep and clean parking area of pebbles and debris

7:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Northwoods Clubhouse: begin striping on handicapped and outer perimeter parking spaces

1 – 4 p.m. – Trout Creek Recreation Center: sweep and clean parking area. Striping.

Tuesday, May 8
Northwoods Clubhouse and Trout Creek Recreation Center

6:30 a.m. – Northwoods Clubhouse: re-set directional cones to direct toward perimeter parking spaces and access/egress routes at Clubhouse.  Re-set to adjacent 1/3 of Trout Creek parking.

7 – 11 a.m. – Northwoods Clubhouse: sweep and clean center parking spaces and stripe.

12 – 4 p.m. – Trout Creek Recreation Center: sweep and clean parking coned area and stripe.

Wednesday, May 9
Trout Creek Recreation Center and The Lodge Restaurant & Pub

6:30 a.m. – Trout Creek Recreation Center: re-set cones and signage to adjacent 1/3 of Trout Creek parking. Set directional cones at The Lodge.

7 a.m. – Trout Creek Recreation Center: sweep and stripe final 1/3 of Trout Creek Parking

1 – 4 p.m. – The Lodge Restaurant & Pub: sweep and stripe Lodge and Golf parking 50 percent

Thursday, May 10
The Lodge Restaurant & Pub

6:30 a.m. – The Lodge: re-set to adjacent 50 percent of parking area

7 a.m. – Completion: sweep and stripe reaming parking area

We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.

Because of its higher elevation and snowfall levels, Tahoe Donner’s road maintenance needs are more significant than other parts of Truckee. To meet that need, Tahoe Donner homeowners pay an additional assessment (tax) – typically used for accelerating the town’s slurry sealing and asphalt overlay schedules for the subdivision.

It’s called the Truckee Special Service Area 1, a.k.a. “TSSA 1,” and the fund has an approximate fund balance of $5.2 million, accumulating at a rate of $589,000 per year. Aside from roadway maintenance activities, TSSA 1 funds may be used for trails and improved roadside parking in the town right-of-way which directly benefits the Tahoe Donner community (i.e., TSSA 1 service area).

Each year, the Truckee Town Council reviews the town’s pavement management program along with any eligible projects that directly benefit the TSSA 1 service area. In recent years, the Tahoe Donner staff and board of directors have reviewed these plans and requested the town designate TSSA 1 funds for additional projects that would benefit Tahoe Donner in addition to the regular roadway maintenance activities. Recently these funds were used to improve the on-street parking area at the Tahoe Donner Cross Country Center along with completing a class 1 trail design from Tahoe Donner to downtown Truckee.

As the town and Tahoe Donner both look to encourage non-motorized transportation, a proposed trail has been explored that would run from the Northwoods Boulevard entrance to Tahoe Donner (by the power lines and monument sign) to Bridge Street downtown. The paved trail, known as Trail 13, would be for multiple uses like hiking and biking but not for motorized vehicles.

The estimated length of the trail is just over one mile. Per the Town of Truckee’s Trails and Bikeways Master Plan, Trail 13 is proposed as a Class 1 path and its design standards are as follows: separated from a roadway with a minimum ten foot wide hard surface path. The trail may or may not include a separate soft surface trail running parallel to the hard surface path.

Following the Tahoe Donner Board of Directors recommendation, the town council approved the use of TSSA 1 funds for an environmental impact study. The study, completed last summer, determined that the trail could be built with minimal impact to the area in question. Initial design parameters are now being developed.

Now the town is considering whether to use TSSA 1 funds for construction of the trail. At its March and April board meetings, the Tahoe Donner Board of Directors discussed the issue and made a recommendation to the town to program TSSA 1 funds to construct the first phase (one quarter mile) of Trail 13 from Northwoods Boulevard to Euer Valley Road South. Additionally, the town is reviewing their five year pavement management plan, which may impact the available town funds which are augmented by TSSA 1 funds to provide for the accelerated road maintenance in Tahoe Donner. Potential shortfalls in town budgeting may impact the frequency of slurry sealing and road overlays in Tahoe Donner; however, the town staff does not believe modifications to the funding or current road maintenance levels will impact the proposed trail project.