SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – On Tuesday, the city council received a presentation on the Lions Club, reviewed the subdivision for the Zalanta II Resort plan and heard public comment on the Tahoe Bluefins swim team.
The council also heard from Liberty Utilities and discussed the bear process and protocol, which can be found in their own articles.
Mayor Cody Bass also asked for the public to respect the process of city council meetings, which in recent times has been disrupted by yelling or applause for public comments, saying he would remove offending people from the room if necessary.
Proclamations
Bass presented proclamations recognizing April 2026 as both Sexual Assault Awareness Month, presented to Vista Rise Collective, and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, presented to the El Dorado County Child Abuse Prevention Council.
Executive director of Vista Rise Collective Chelcee Thomas thanked Bass for the proclamation, saying, “We know this work takes all of us, and that is the collective piece of our name. We’re incredibly grateful to the community.”
A representative from the Child Abuse Prevention Council said, “Justice for all children is not automatic. It’s fought for, it’s demanded, it’s won by the community that refuses to look away.” She also noted that El Dorado County received statistics on child abuse with 97 open physical abuse cases and 115 sexual assault cases. “Every child who is abused deserves to be heard. Every survivor deserves justice. Every family in crisis deserves real support—not silence, not shame and not a system that retraumatizes the most vulnerable among us.”
Lions Club
Terry Rubald and Kevin Dredge of Lions Clubs in the area presented to the council on re-establishing a South Lake Tahoe based Lions Club. The Carson City Host Lions Club would sponsor the club. The former club served until 2014, and had constructed a park dedicated to the Lake Tahoe Unified School District in 1969.
Rubald discussed the potential for environmental change and disaster relief, such as the support of nearby Lions Clubs during the Caldor Fire. Dredge noted that an organizational meeting would take place on May 9 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Rubicon Room at Kahle Community Center.
Councilmember Scott Robbins requested that the Lions Club look into parklet creation, given their history of park creation in South Lake Tahoe, which Rubald and Dredge agreed to.
Public comment
Members of the Yes on B committee, which supports Measure B, asked the council to support the measure. It funds the South Tahoe Library and extends the current measure, Measure L.
Melissa Soderston addressed Bass’ opening comment, saying, “I refuse to alter my tone for the comfort of those unaffected by reality.” She supported Mayor Pro Tem Keith Roberts’ idea for achieving legal status, though also noted there should be support for the unemployed members who participate in homemaking.
Soderston went on to address councilmember David Jinkens’ comments on immigrants last time, saying that his comments on “illegal immigrants” and proliferating crime were white nationalist talking points.
Alan Miller, a professional civil and environmental engineer who previously worked for the Lahontan Water Quality Board, spoke about the Tahoe Keys Marina site. Miller said that the notification of the environmental document was illegal, as the public comment period was only a few days—much shorter than the regular 30 days of comment.
Miller requested that the environmental document should be resubmitted for consideration by the public, as well as suggesting there should be a more stringent environmental impact report for the project.
Both Scott Loberg and Angie Reagan inquired about the funding for PT Revolution and the cut cannabis tax, suggesting that the money would be better spent for other community needs.
Several commenters spoke on the Tahoe Bluefins, the local swim team, and the impact of the new rec center. At the old center, they had a swim practice time that took place at 5:00 p.m., which was changed to 6:30 p.m. at the new center. They also no longer have the same 50% discount for utilizing the pool and no complimentary lifeguard.
During city commission reports, a commissioner noted that the South Lake Tahoe Parks Foundation is offering scholarships which could help the Bluefins.
City commission reports
Two subcommittees of the Parks and Recreation commission spoke on the shared mobility devices ordinance—the bike, mobility and connectivity subcommittee and the recreation and equitable access subcommittee.
After meeting with the police department, the subcommittees learned of the amendments to the ordinance and drafted a letter regarding access to paths in the community. “Shared mobility devices presence in constrained and heavily used corridors raises safety concerns that warrant additional management strategies,” read the letter. The subcommittees suggested a reconsideration of the cap on the devices, cost recovery through a user-based fee, reconsidering photo enforcement and continued monitoring and adaptive management once the ordinance is implemented.
Councilmembers David Jinkens and Heather Horgan thanked them for bringing the item up and expressed their concerns around safety as well. The ordinance did not receive its first hearing at this meeting after other items ran long.
Zalanta II
Mayor Pro Tem Keith Roberts recused himself from the item due to his business in the area.
A public hearing was held regarding the tentative subdivision for Zalanta II’s resort at the Heavenly Village site. The Zalanta Phase 2 project was approved by the 2016 planning commission, and its site would be directly behind the current Zalanta site, bounded by Cedar and Friday Avenue.
The subdivision would produce 60 hotel-condominium units and one accessory space unit.
Loberg expressed that he believed there should be a standard for project approval. “If it takes more than one or two years, additional fees should be incurred. The city’s losing tax revenue and TOT at that time… and just sits on the sideline getting no benefit.”
The project was unanimously deemed consistent with the environmental reviews and was consistent with the conditions of approval.
Agenda planning calendar and councilmember reports
The item on the 2026 master fee schedule was pushed to the May 5 meeting.
City clerk Sue Blankenship noted that there was a special meeting on May 26 for ethics and protocols, which will take place at an 11:00 a.m. timeslot.
Interim city manager Hilary Roverud thanked councilmembers for their presence at the new rec center, which Jinkens also commended city staff and community on.
Horgan said that she would be interested to add a visible timer for public comment, which has been a complaint of commenters before. Reagan had previously requested for Horgan to present a proclamation for mental health in May, and Bass responded that it would be to his discretion on who could present the proclamations. In the past, councilmembers have presented proclamations that are related to projects they work on.
Horgan also expressed gratitude for being on city council.
Robbins said that he would like to add an update on green energy acquisition through a community choice aggregator (CCA) and re-engaging in an investigation of becoming a municipally owned utility provider.
Bass went to Washington D.C. in mid-March as part of Team Tahoe, a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) group. He went to advocate for the Santini-Burton Modernization Act. Bass also was able to attend the National League of Cities at the same time and met directly with the FCC regarding news broadcasts, Josh Shapiro on the Santini-Bruton Modernization Act and with the state department regarding a path to green card.
The next city council meeting will take place on May 5.
