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Agenda Item
19. Public Comment. Comment heard under this item will be limited to three minutes per person and may pertain to matters both on and off the Commission agenda. The Commission will also hear public comment during individual action items, with comment limited to three minutes per person. Comments are to be made to the Commission as a whole.
I value the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and Washoe County sheriff’s office and partners (CERT), particularly as wildfire dangers increase. In the wake of Lahaina’s tragedy, I sought out more info on Washoe County’s fire evacuation plans for Incline Village/Crystal Bay. Washoe County's current regional evacuation plan contains misleading data: (p. 67-68 Table 17). It notes the population is 8,669 (estimated pop. with vehicles: 7,915). The plan then estimates the total number of vehicles to be evacuated at only 3,824. This ignores tens of thousands of visitors referenced by the NLTFPD staff I spoke to at the recent evacuation exercise hosted by Washoe County emergency management Aug. 12. NLTFPD put the Incline summer visitor number at 35,000; other estimates go as high as 40,000. On p.88 - Zone 6 - IVCB driving routes you’ll see 3 roads with one lane each with plans for 750 vehicles per hour. It’s likely one or more of these 3 roads won’t be available. The recent exercise didn’t take into account residents and visitors (some pulling boats or trailers) filling two-lane roads: SR28 east toward Carson City or west to CA; or north toward SR431 to Reno. Those on SR28 toward highway 50 would encounter vehicles parked, some illegally, on both sides of SR-28 intruding into the road further narrowing access.
Lastly, many fires, I’ve learned, occur during or near darkness, in a high wind and slope environment and eventually move into neighborhoods from outside. Conditions common in the Lake Tahoe Basin can delay or slow resources and response times. We regularly get strong, regular Washoe Zephyr winds and thunderstorms that elevate fire danger. Evacuees typically become visually impaired and overcome with toxic smoke, causing panic and collisions blocking evacuation routes.
I strongly urge you to look deeper into these evacuation assumptions as a future agenda item. It’s one thing to have local & state first responders participate in a scripted pre-planned ½ day event that was shelter in place only. It’s another to see a data driven worst-case fire evacuation plan that clearly demonstrates how the public and local, state, and federal resources would align for a real-life evacuation. Thank you.
Dear Washoe County Board of County Commissioners,
I am a resident of Reno and am writing to express my support for a diversity of library programming and materials, and in particular for the continuation of programming and availability of materials for LGBT persons. The Board should not restrict the programming and material because of the objections of a loud minority who do not represent the community. Such restrictions subvert the library’s essential purpose as a place where people can be exposed to a wide variety of information and viewpoints. Such an exchange of ideas is necessary to promote social and scientific progress. Library programming and materials should not be restricted because the programming or materials contain ideas that some people don’t like, no matter where those ideas fall on the political or ideological spectrum. The proper response to library programming or materials that a person disagrees with is to abstain from that programming or those materials and promote library programming and materials that better suit the person’s taste, not to censor library programming and materials that other people find valuable. Please ensure that the library remains welcome to a wide variety of ideas, information, and perspectives.
I value the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and Washoe County sheriff’s office and partners (CERT), particularly as wildfire dangers increase. In the wake of Lahaina’s tragedy, I sought out more info on Washoe County’s fire evacuation plans for Incline Village/Crystal Bay. Washoe County's current regional evacuation plan contains misleading data: (p. 67-68 Table 17). It notes the population is 8,669 (estimated pop. with vehicles: 7,915). The plan then estimates the total number of vehicles to be evacuated at only 3,824. This ignores tens of thousands of visitors referenced by the NLTFPD staff I spoke to at the recent evacuation exercise hosted by Washoe County emergency management Aug. 12. NLTFPD put the Incline summer visitor number at 35,000; other estimates go as high as 40,000. On p.88 - Zone 6 - IVCB driving routes you’ll see 3 roads with one lane each with plans for 750 vehicles per hour. It’s likely one or more of these 3 roads won’t be available. The recent exercise didn’t take into account residents and visitors (some pulling boats or trailers) filling two-lane roads: SR28 east toward Carson City or west to CA; or north toward SR431 to Reno. Those on SR28 toward highway 50 would encounter vehicles parked, some illegally, on both sides of SR-28 intruding into the road further narrowing access.
Lastly, many fires, I’ve learned, occur during or near darkness, in a high wind and slope environment and eventually move into neighborhoods from outside. Conditions common in the Lake Tahoe Basin can delay or slow resources and response times. We regularly get strong, regular Washoe Zephyr winds and thunderstorms that elevate fire danger. Evacuees typically become visually impaired and overcome with toxic smoke, causing panic and collisions blocking evacuation routes.
I strongly urge you to look deeper into these evacuation assumptions as a future agenda item. It’s one thing to have local & state first responders participate in a scripted pre-planned ½ day event that was shelter in place only. It’s another to see a data driven worst-case fire evacuation plan that clearly demonstrates how the public and local, state, and federal resources would align for a real-life evacuation. Thank you.
Dear Washoe County Board of County Commissioners,
I am a resident of Reno and am writing to express my support for a diversity of library programming and materials, and in particular for the continuation of programming and availability of materials for LGBT persons. The Board should not restrict the programming and material because of the objections of a loud minority who do not represent the community. Such restrictions subvert the library’s essential purpose as a place where people can be exposed to a wide variety of information and viewpoints. Such an exchange of ideas is necessary to promote social and scientific progress. Library programming and materials should not be restricted because the programming or materials contain ideas that some people don’t like, no matter where those ideas fall on the political or ideological spectrum. The proper response to library programming or materials that a person disagrees with is to abstain from that programming or those materials and promote library programming and materials that better suit the person’s taste, not to censor library programming and materials that other people find valuable. Please ensure that the library remains welcome to a wide variety of ideas, information, and perspectives.
Sincerely,
Eric Robbins