Tahoe Donner

The Tahoe Donner Tennis Center has opened the courts for another fun-filled summer of tennis clinics, lessons, tournaments and events.

We have something for everyone this year as we once again gear up our fully stocked pro shop to help you play and look your best. Get out during the month of May as often as you can to help hone your high altitude game for all the great tennis that we have in store.

Give us a call at 530-587-9474 for more information or click here to learn more about the Tahoe Donner Tennis Center.

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.

We know it’s an inconvenience when your workout schedule is interrupted. We know how important daily exercise is to many of you. We hope you understand that we try our best to accommodate your needs, try to give a much warning as possible and select the shoulder season to close Trout Creek Recreation Center for spring cleaning every year. It’s necessary for us to plan for a concentrated amount of time to perform building updates, many of which are suggestions from members who want to see more electrical outlets and locker room upgrades.

During the spring closure, every nook and cranny is cleaned. This year we’re fixing and replacing tile areas – some in high-traffic areas – to keep up with our safety standards. Replacing tile is something that just takes time to do right.

Throughout the year, we collect all of your upgrade suggestions, compile our list of safety enhancements and spend three concentrated days working on deep cleaning the facility, repairing walls, repainting areas and making any other necessary updates.

We hope you understand this method, and we hope you’ll be smiling when you see the great work which has been completed!

Trout Creek Recreation Center will be closed for spring cleaning from April 17 – 19. During the closure, we will power wash the floors and clean out the lockers. If you rent a locker, we ask that you please clean out your belongings. We plan to clean all of the lockers and want to make sure your belongings are protected. Thank you for your cooperation. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Winter returned to Truckee this week, bringing fresh white snow on Wednesday night and more still expected to fall before the weekend. Weather will clear for the weekend, with plenty of sunshine in the forecast.

Sounds like the perfect ingredients for a fantastic weekend of spring skiing and riding. It’s also the last weekend of operations at the cross country ski center and downhill ski area, so we encourage you to get out there while you can! Friday night is the last Happy Hour and Open Mic night at the cross country ski center. Stop by from 4 – 7 p.m. for $3 beers, live music and appetizer specials.

Sunday is the annual Downhill Dummy and Rail Jam event at the downhill ski area. This year’s theme is movie characters, and there’s still time for you to build your own downhill dummy to enter in the contest. There will be live music, food and drink specials, a bounce house and half price lift tickets on Sunday. Rail Jam starts at 12 p.m. and downhill dummy starts at 4:30 p.m.

We also want to remind you that Snowplay is now closed for the season. Thanks for tubing, sledding and hanging out with Parker the Penguin this year. We hope to see you again next year!