South Shore fireworks shows to continue
By Kathryn Reed
It’s settled – there will be fireworks on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe this summer.
After a daylong session of hashing out their differences Monday, both sides agreed to a variety of concessions that will allow for the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority to remain in the fireworks business and for the Truxlers, who brought the lawsuit, to possibly not have to deal with debris on their beach in the future.
“We are thrilled. We never wanted the fireworks show to go away,” Joan Truxler told Lake Tahoe News. “I feel that we have gotten a wonderful amount of awareness to what Joe and I ever wanted, which was to keep the health of Lake Tahoe.”
The Truxlers last year brought a lawsuit against LTVA and Pyro Spectacular after debris kept washing up on Pinewild Beach in Marla Bay. The suit sought penalties through the Clean Water Act that could have topped $70 million.
Last week at an emergency meeting the LTVA board voted that if a resolution could not be found this week, it would cancel the fireworks shows as well as get out the events business altogether.
Now that won’t happen.
The shows will go on.
“The parties are pleased that a settlement to dismiss the lawsuit was reached that will allow the Fourth of July and Labor Day shows to continue with increased local agency oversight of the post-show cleanup of fireworks debris and a hot line for residents to contact if they see fireworks debris from the shows that needs to be cleaned up,” Carol Chaplin, head of LTVA, said in a statement.
Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District will be the lead permitting agency. This also means the barge where the fireworks are shot off from will be moved into Nevada. It has been inching that way through the years.
“Something we have been working on since the last Fourth of July with [Tahoe Regional Planning Agency] and LTVA is to develop a best management for fireworks,” Eric Guevin, Tahoe Douglas fire marshal, told Lake Tahoe News. “We have come up with a plan and will include that as part of the permit process and we can enforce it under fire safety laws. A component of it is cleanup.”
Tahoe Douglas will use its personal watercraft to assist with cleanup. Without a propeller on the devices, they can get closer to rocks to get any material that escaped the immediate discharge area.
The fire agency has long been involved in fireworks permitting, including shows at Edgewood Tahoe, Glenbrook and private parties.
Kudoos to Carol Chaplin and Lew Feldman, we had the right people for the job!!
And hooray for Lake Tahoe, its locals and visitors who will all benefit!!
Looking forward to our fantastic fireworks display on the Fourth of July!!! Way to go everyone! :)
What a relief! This is one of the highlights of living here. We enjoy these shows every year :)
This is fantastic news! I know that there are many, many locals (myself included) that would step up and volunteer to be part of a clean up crew. Please consider this – and keep us posted.
what’s the concessions?
that is the real story,( gravely deceived the community ) was a statement made by the Truxlers.
swept under the carpet, buried in the sand, are the things the common folks are not to know.
Thanks to the Truxlers for settling this! Glad to hear there will be oversight on the clean up.
Carol, you and your boyfriend Lew did a great job! Gives a new meaning to “in-house attorney”.
National media covering this story for months! You could not have asked for a better marketing plan if you tried. And you didn’t have to pay your San Francisco marketing firm additional millions!You earned your $123k! I am thinking it’s bonus time!
What agency will be providing the oversight? Maybe Carol has another roommate who could provide it?
TOLD YOU SO ,,,Thats because its to popular ,
Kathryn Reed, the formal process that both sides participated in yesterday is called legal mediation. It was not a day long event of “hashing out their differences.” Lets aim for professional journalism here.
Kathryn Reed, the Truxlers did not file suit so that they would not have to “deal with debris on THEIR beach in the future.” You might want to consider checking the court documents here and try actively listening to what the Truxlers had to say.
The Truxlers clearly and consistently expressed concern about the firework pollution that has been washing up along the East Shore beaches- specifically Nevada Beach and Marla Bay. These beaches belong to all of us.
Kathryn Reed, try talking to the residents of Marla Bay. We have been supporting the Truxlers and we have been saying that Firework debris has been washing up on the East shore beaches for decades. This past year was not an anomaly.
LTVA, congratulations on getting the firework barges moved into Nevada waters. You must be very proud of yourself to focus on a sustained pollution campaign that targets the Nevada beaches. Job Well Done.
The bias in this article and throughout this entire process is unbelievable.
Come to think of it, Kathryn Reed, do you work for LTVA? How is Lake Tahoe News.net connected to that corrupt marketing firm? Residents of Tahoe South- I mean South Lake deserve to know. Spin the story and pollute the lake. Kudos to you. You are all in bed together, aren’t you?
“Kudoos to Carol Chaplin and Lew Feldman, we had the right people for the job!!”
Have you been following this story at all? Local media, the TRPA, and the Truxlers contacted LVTA about this on July 8/10, 2013–basically asking for the settlement that was reached today. Read the news:
http://www.ktvn.com/story/22810035/fireworks-debris-left-in-lake-tahoe
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/07/12/fireworks-mess-lake-tahoe-residents-still-cleaning-up-july-4-show-a-week-later/
Carol and Lew failed to respond. Also, under the Clean Water Act, the plaintiffs have to file an “intent to sue” letter before actually suing. This means that Carol and Lew had more notice.
But they failed to respond–again. As a result of their repeated failures to respond, they racked up legal fees and were forced to pass a resolution to cancel the show, which frightened the public and small business owners, and also ran the Truxlers out of town because of the threats they received regarding their efforts to protect the lake you depend on.
You call this success? How about just cleaning up after yourself in the first place? It’s common decency.
How about kudos to the north shore for being proactive: http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/10838430-113/fireworks-tahoe-lake-july
A component of this that hasn’t received much attention is the fact that citizens’ concerns/complaints/phone calls are often ignored by local agencies. How much did the expanded version of this whole thing cost as compared with what it might have cost if it had been dealt with when initial complaints came in? What are the legal fees and other costs associated with everything that has gone on in the past two or three weeks? I think we have a right to know that.
That said, it seems to be our national MO as evidenced by the car manufacturer recalls and other disasters to wait until there is no alternative but to respond. You would think though that a small town could do better than that.
I think there is a lot of agency/entity arrogance here at Tahoe. There is big money behind a lot of stuff that goes on here so staffers feel safe in ignoring the locals–except the rich and influential ones of course.
Well, I doubt that LTVA will comply with the existing law. The Fire Department doesn’t have authority to issue a permit. Only the Douglas County Commission can:
“8.16.010 Purpose:
Douglas County is a place of great natural beauty and home to many fine residents. In order to protect the natural resources as well as property, it is hereby found and declared that the possession, sale or discharge of any sort of fireworks without a permit is unlawful. (Ord. 1356, 2012)”
@Really, great point, who answers the phones if someone complains? Will there be transparency?
“and for the Truxlers, who brought the lawsuit, to possibly not have to deal with debris on their beach in the future.” Is this reporting or speculation?
“Kudoos to Carol Chaplin and Lew Feldman, we had the right people for the job!!”
Have you been following this story at all? Local media, the TRPA, and the Truxlers contacted LVTA about this on July 8/10, 2013–basically asking for the settlement that was reached today. Read the news:
http://www.ktvn.com/story/22810035/fireworks-debris-left-in-lake-tahoe
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/07/12/fireworks-mess-lake-tahoe-residents-still-cleaning-up-july-4-show-a-week-later/
Carol and Lew failed to respond. Also, under the Clean Water Act, the plaintiffs have to file an “intent to sue” letter before actually suing. This means that Carol and Lew had more notice.
But they failed to respond–again. As a result of their repeated failures to respond, they racked up legal fees and were forced to pass a resolution to cancel the show, which frightened the public and small business owners, and also ran the Truxlers out of town because of the threats they received regarding their efforts to protect the lake you depend on.
You call this success? How about just cleaning up after yourself in the first place? It’s common decency.
How about kudos to the north shore for being proactive: http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/10838430-113/fireworks-tahoe-lake-july
It is a shame it took a pending lawsuit to bring this problem to the attention of the general public. If I had witnessed the debris described polluting the lake from the fireworks I would be upset and concerned as well, as should EVERYONE who wants to preserve this beautiful and valuable environment.
I do not know the Truxlers but want to thank them for the efforts they took to remedy this problem.
Let’s hope the fireworks cleanup “hotline” is monitored, responded to, and taken seriously, as opposed to the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Street Snow Removal Hotline and Airport Noise Monitoring Hotline, neither of which are paid attention to, are effective, or calls returned. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the event was moved to Nevada, more conscientious oversight? Or less?
If LTVA had just adequately cleaned up its mess in the first place, none of this costly, dramatic soap opera would have been necessary.
“heck of a job, Brownie” correction “heck of a job, Carol and Lew”
If a phone rings in the forest and there is no one to hear it ring, does it make a sound?
Thank you Carol for all you effort! Thanks to Lew too! I feel our community of family and friends will enjoy the fireworks and help clean the debris off the beaches like we do on our mt. bike trails and all of our open spaces. This is a great day for us!
Slow down my little grasshoppers. Ther still might not be a show. The Keys Marina needs (in my opinon) to dredge the channel. I don’t see how the barge will get out.
I’m glad the fireworks will take place on the holidays but I also hope we have learned something from this.
Will the LTVA tell taxpayers what the past three weeks have cost in staff time, legal fees etc? Did the settlement include taxpayers paying for the Truxler’s legal fees or any mediation/travel or other related expenses? Because we are all glad to have this settled I think there will be a tendency to sweep it under the carpet and forget about it. Do Carol Chaplin, the LTVA and Lew Feldman owe the town a fuller explanation?
The fireworks are only part of the story.
Thank you to the Truxlers for taking care of the lake.
The LTVA is not a government agency whose income is derived from taxes paid by the taxpayers so they have no obligation to report any financial information to the public and only need to answer to their members.
Gee, the degree of mean personal attacks and sour grapes that were posted by those individuals who obviously don’t like the LTVA, Carol Chaplin, Lew Feldman, Kathryn Reed, the fireworks displays, and the outcome of this mediation was of a caliber that I would have expected from really stupid people.
Marla, now that you have gotten a feel for how things work around South Shore…..
Love reading your comment :)
Attention, MARLA ZEPHYR … It appears you have gotten things mixed-up again, dear. It’s the two little white round ones at night, not in the morning …
In other news, don’t be surprised if Ms. Chaplin is given her pink slip after this fiasco. And probably (unfortunately) rightfully so …
Also, who’s to say the next Bay Area Marla Beacher won’t emerge from a wheat grass martini stupor to file something on the exact same grounds?
This isn’t over yet …
Glad to see both sides come to a resolution and I hope both sides learned something from this.
What a crock of crap. This is what happens when liberal environmentalists from the Bay Area (the Truxlers, registered Democrats) move here.
Always advancing the liberal narrative of environment over people.
The Truxler’s aren’t from the Bay Area and they’re not registered Democrats; they’re independents…
A.B., what’s your source that they are from the bay area and democrats? Please share.
thank you truxler’s for standing up to ltva and other entities at the lake. the locals who cherish the lake and beaches are grateful for your efforts. we are so sorry what you had to go through and how badly you were treated. thank you for bringing to our attention the corruptness of the ltva, the conflict of interest with their attorney/lover/liar/etc. it was ltva that was lying the entire time. let’s hope that when the fireworks debris washes up on the shore again this year after the show, ltva will answer the calls this time. my guess is carol will respond right away with “how can I be of service to you, my happy and scrappy local?”
Ab just came out from under his rock in bend oregon and obviously needs to adjust his meds. What a grumpy old sac of scat…
who really cares where the truxlers live when not in tahoe or how ther are regestered politically. Only old creepy busy bodies who hate most everything. Ba humbug abcjbk.
thanks to the truxlers for raising the alarm about the fireworks garbage. You did the right thing.
sour grapes to the ltva and their staff who tried to bully someone for being a whistle blower. Shame on you…
Step one, cause a crisis. Step two, resolve the crisis so people think you’re doing a good job. And since, people have been telling me since last Fri. it was going to get worked out (and that was something I put in writing on this site, a couple times in fact) one wonders what the big deal was all about?
Actually, it’s pretty smart! Smarter than the genius that came up with the idea of reversing the name South Tahoe!
It’s also smarter than the great idea of moving the NV Side Visitors Ctr. to the building across from Lakeside Inn. Visitor’s numbers have dropped. And the rent is so expensive they can’t even afford to staff it 40hrs. a week! They can afford exorbitant salaries, legal expenses, etc. But they’re so poorly run, they can’t perform the most basic function of giving our tourists access to information about our destination during regular hours?!
Interesting priorities!
Parker, your conspiracy theory is nothing more than silly. Don’t go Benghazi channeling Darrell Issa on us.
Biggerpicture, your name calling is silly, and not sure what you’re referring to? Everything I said was fact, with a little sarcasm sprinkled in!
The LTVA has significantly reduced the hours of its minimum wage paid staff, thus not providing the service a Visitors Ctr. should. Meanwhile, the top dog gets an exorbitant salary. Fact!
The only thing I know the current LTVA Admin. has done is flip the name of South Tahoe. Dumb idea. Fact!
The day after the panic LTVA meeting, I was told the Fireworks were happening. And I posted that information here, the day after that, on Sat. And I repeated it, and AB said the same thing, yesterday, Monday. All facts!!
Then today there was this big announcement?
There has been enough name calling — of the Truxlers, of Carol Chaplin and Lew Feldman and LTVA. Now is the time for us real locals to cheer that a major boon to our economy is staying — what is it called? the Best Fireworks Show West of the Mississippi?
The publicity should bring more needed tourist dollars. There should be better oversight of clean-up of the official fireworks. We’ll still have issues with unofficial fireworks (I live in the Keys and I pick up firework trash that sure as heck isn’t coming from the official fireworks — it comes from idiots setting them off in the backyards). Maybe someone (LTVA, the Truxlers themselves?) will sponsor a July 5 clean up party. Believe me I’ll be there with my (illegal) plastic bags to help pick up trash!
Who will file the next lawsuit under the Clean Water Act? I did not see any reference that the Clean Water Act was not violated only that a settlement (any money changing hands?) was reached b/t the two parties.
Parker. This is one time I agree with you a bit on this. I don’t think the LTVA “caused” the crisis, but they sure were negligent when they had a chance to take care of the problem when it surfaced last year. I am not sure the LTVA comes across to many readers as the “white horse” good guys that saved the show; More like the bullies that finally had to back down.
Yes Rock, ’cause’ was not the best, or at the least an oversimplified, choice of words! The LTVA did not cause it. Basically. They mishandled it! And then tried to cover up their mishandling by demonizing the Truxlers.
And have all terms of the settlement been stated? How much was paid to the Truxlers and their attorney to end this? How much did Lew Feldman recommend be paid so the LTVA and its Executive Dir. could attempt to look like saviors, instead of culprits, in all this? And how much did Mr. Feldman get paid for his time on this?
And finally, why can’t the LTVA see the need to avoid such a conflict of interest?
What keeps any one else from filing the same lawsuit?
@ZZ — To my knowledge: absolutely nothing.