SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – City council met on Tuesday evening to discuss a letter to Liberty Utilities, second home regulation, housing replacement policies and increasing police officers to staff the marine safety unit. They also discussed the drainage master plan, appointment of a member to the Arts, Culture and Tourism Commission and establishing a help position for the city manager vacancy.

Public comment

Melissa Soderston and Larry Petigo urged the council to adopt the resolution proposed last meeting which would reaffirm California’s already existing laws to not use local law enforcement to assist ICE operations, similar to a resolution passed in Sacramento. Soderston also asked council to consider other sites where they might be feeding into the federal system, such as through the county jail, license plate readers and security cameras. Petigo also questioned whether they would have protections in case ICE came to “intimidate voters.”

Petigo also asked councilmember David Jinkens to address the Chateau site, also known as “The Hole.” Scott Loberg suggested they turn the site into an ICE detention center.

Councilmember Scott Robbins said, “There’s merit in [the resolution.] I would really like to see something less performative and more actionable, but perhaps performative is all we have at our disposal.”

Consent agenda

Ed Moser spoke on the fiscal year item on the agenda, saying that the city needed to increase its tax base, as well as establishing a second or third economy in the area. Petigo also spoke on the item and suggested moving the city council chamber to the old rec center, reopen Al Tahoe Elementary school, turn “The Hole” into an Olympic training center, build an indoor ski facility and build gondolas to the tourism areas to increase revenues for the city.

On the consent agenda, item 3 regarding the letter to Liberty Utilities was pulled. Liberty Utilities closed their walk-in center last year, which left people without a physical place to pay their bills or talk to representatives.

Robbins said that he didn’t believe a strongly worded letter was sufficient and said that council could likely do more, especially as the closure posed a problem for those who pay in cash, not with cards or bank accounts—a reality for many people who work for tips. “Liberty is telling this significant aspect of our community, which is a foundation to our economy, to go screw themselves.” Councilmember David Jinkens agreed with Robbins in looking for strong advocacy.

Dan May said during public comment, “Liberty is going to be under more and more frustration and scrutiny from the public as they see their bills go up… closing that walk-in office makes it easier for them to avoid accountability.” David Gregorich also noted that closing a walk-in office would make it more difficult for those with disabilities or without access to internet or phone services to pay their bills.

While supposedly, Liberty is providing the ability to pay at other businesses in town, Mayor Cody Bass noted that multiple people have told him that their bills are incorrect and wanted to speak to a representative about it. “I’ve even heard cases that Liberty has come back and said they were incorrect in their meter reading,” said Bass.

Jinkens suggested copying the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and request that Liberty come speak to the public about their decision. Bass said they would hold a meeting with Liberty before sending a CPUC letter. The motion passed.

Bass also pulled item 5 concerning the purchase of four John Deere Graders, which were purchased in Reno. Public comment was interested in more local purchases.

Public Works Director Mohammad “Dr. Q” Qureshi noted that the procurement and RFP process was streamlined and that mechanisms were already in place to consider local options to provide an incentive for local purchases. Additionally, no local sources were available for John Deere graders. “In this case, the dealer in Reno is the nearby John Deere provider for us.”

Bass noted that he was interested in purchasing more versatile blowers, especially for situations like the most recent storm, where the graders left extremely large berms in streets. Councilmember Heather Horgan also asked Dr. Q to consider looking at Sourcewell and see if they could join a purchasing power group in the state of California, as Sourcewell is based in Minnesota.

Appointment of member to the Arts, Culture and Tourism Commission

City clerk Susan Blankenship noted that while she had put out a proposal to both Lake Tahoe Community College and South Tahoe High School, she had received no student applicants. However, Ayana Morali and Bobby Gonzales were both interested in the at-large position.

Current commission members David Hamilton and Stacey Ballard supported Ayana Morali, who previously served on the commission. Hamilton also noted that he was interested in seeing student positions for Parks and Recreation.

Robbins noted that while when the Arts, Culture and Tourism Commission was created with a student seat in mind, it would be a benefit to other commissions to have student seats. Horgan added that she was interested in having one on the Police Advisory Commission, which Robbins agreed with since an officer is assigned to the school district.

Ayana Morali was appointed unanimously.

Drainage master plan

Senior civil engineer Brianna Greenlaw spoke the city about the drainage master plan, noting that it connected with lake clarity and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA) housing allocations.

In the past year, the city was required to obtain 647 lake clarity credits and was awarded 654. However, in the upcoming year, they will be required to obtain 800 credits. Historically, the city has done well with these projects as they partner with other entities, such as the California Tahoe Conservancy.

Greenlaw also noted that the master plan prioritized areawide treatment facilities, which would help treat runoff and could help with the coverage needed by TRPA for housing allocations. This would also help with flood control. The city also applied for a grant from the California State Water Resources Control Board to assist with executing the master plan.

The drainage master plan also concerns road rehabilitation, as the freeze/thaw cycle damages roads, especially when there is flooding. She also said that different pipes throughout the city required replacement, especially ones created with corrugated metal pipes, also called CMP.

In total, the anticipated budget for the master plan is $600,000. The council was asked to ratify the submission of a grant application to the state water board in the amount of $200,000, and to direct staff to solicit a consultant for the drainage master plan.

Jinkens said he was interested in focusing on neighborhoods that have not been treated often. Robbins said that the city needed to do a better job of communicating to the public on these issues. Bass said the plan would help them understand the budgetary needs for future projects. The motion passed.

Second home regulation and housing replacement policy

Councilmembers had previously requested items on the agenda regarding second home regulation and a housing replacement policy, which were combined into this item. Robbins and Bass previously requested in 2023 to place an item regarding a permitting system and cap on the number of second homes. Robbins and Jinkens requested in 2025 to place an item discussing a potential requirement that a developer demolishing a building being used as housing should build replacement housing units.

City attorney Heather Stroud said that the second home permitting or cap system ran into potential issues regarding the definition of a “second home.” Stroud said it would potentially risk the constitutional issues in Measure T and that there was not a legally permissible way to make the distinction of a second home. There are also no other jurisdictions in the United States that have a second home permitting system.

On the other hand, Stroud said there were ordinances in other cities that required a discretionary permit prior to demolishing an existing lodging structure, but those have been met with legal challenges. The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 does have a “no net loss” requirement, meaning that a housing development project must create at least the same number of residential dwelling units as those that will be demolished.

Robbins asked if single-room occupancies (SROs) were included in the no net loss requirement. Stroud said they are required to be replaced 1:1 and are meant to be affordable, with exceptions for if the units are being made larger.

Steve Teshara, on behalf of the Tahoe Chamber, spoke during public comment and recommended no action on the item. The South Tahoe Association of Realtors also said, “We believe the city would be opening itself up to another lawsuit if it tries to enact anything remotely close to a permitting system for second homes.”

May said, “Whether or not [these items] are likely to change anything, it’s encouraging to see continued discussion about this because it’s priority number one.”

Council agreed that the second home permitting system or cap would be difficult to implement. Jinkens and Horgan supported bringing the replacement policy into the housing element discussion. Robbins said, “Take no action is a really bad option here… there are many ski towns that have affordable housing by having a second home cap or limiting VHRs. We need to take action now before it becomes too late to take action.”

Robbins suggested a no net loss ordinance that could be beyond state minimums, and said that his urgency on the item was because a developer had reached out to the city last summer and was interested in buying motels. Interim city manager Hilary Roverud said it might be important to analyze the housing element and speak to the public.

The council agreed to push discussions around the housing replacement policy to the housing element discussion.

Marine safety unit

The city has a long-term exception from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) that allowed retired annuitants from the police department to work on the boat patrol and marine safety unit. However, increased enforcement from CalPERS on the retirement program has led the city to need to approve new employees for the program. Current annuitants working on the program will be allowed to work in 2026, but at least one annuitant will not be allowed to work again after this boating season.

Chief Jeff Roberson said that this practice has been how the city has used it for the past 25 years, but making a change now would protect the city and annuitants from financial risk, including annuitants losing their pension.

Roberson went on to say that the police department has not been successful in recruiting other annuitants to the program and that few people apply to the program, and it requires formal outside training and training under the tutelage of the current boat officers.

The department plans to look for other ways to ease the financial burden, including the potential use of Measure S funds or to change one of the marine officers to a school resource officer during the off season.

While discussion of implementing different fees came up, Robbins spoke against the idea of charging people for rescues, as it would discourage people for calling for help.

The motion to increase the allocated positions to staff the marine safety unit, as well as associated budget adjustments, passed.

Retired annuitant for city manager help

Interim city manager Roverud told the council she was interested in soliciting a retired annuitant with local government experience to help during the interim period.

Jinkens was in support, but added a caveat that he believed there were current staff members who could help with the city manager roles. Robbins said he saw that there was a need, but that the part-time position would not help Roverud adequately.

The motion to establish the temporary retired annuitant extra help position passed.

Planning calendar and reports

Roverud told city council that on March 10, there would be a first reading for the vacation rental ordinance and an update on the Chateau project, along with the citywide user fee study and shared mobility device ordinance.

Robbins motioned to direct staff to look at bill paying or check cashing services for residents, in relation to the Liberty Utilities issue. Bass and Jinkens supported the motion. Robbins went on to say that he’d come around on “performative actions” in the past, citing the Pride Crosswalk, but said that saying something regarding the immigrant community was needed. He supported passing the resolution that was suggested previously. Horgan seconded his motion.

Jinkens suggested creating an economic development advisory committee, which was seconded by Bass.

Horgan acknowledged that it was Black History Month.

Roberts said that he had signed green cards for employees in the past and that the cost to get a green card was likely prohibitive for undocumented people in the city, estimating it at about $15,000. He asked staff to look into speaking with local immigration lawyers to lower the costs, then having the city pay a portion of the cost to make it more affordable for undocumented people. “It would be an opportunity to really take care of our undocumented people in town,” he said. Jinkens seconded the motion.

The next city council meeting will take place on March 10.