Lake Tahoe agency names Best in The Basin awards for projects and contractors

Recognized for stewardship and care taken in the building and construction of developments around Lake Tahoe, the 22nd annual Best in the Basin awards were announced Tuesday by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The TRPA, which sets policy for development around Lake Tahoe, will recognize the winners, listed below, during the 2011 Best in the Basin awards presentation during the meeting of its Governing Board on Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Stateline. Go here for the agenda.

This is the 22nd year TRPA’s Best in the Basin awards program has recognized projects demonstrating exceptional planning, design, and compatibility with the Lake Tahoe environment. Local professionals in the fields of landscaping, planning, engineering, water quality, and resource management judged each category. The restoration and protection efforts at Lake Tahoe are among the most innovative in the world and set an example for other communities facing similar issues, according to the agency.
“Each year we are given the opportunity to recognize projects that stand as beacons of stewardship,” TRPA Community Liaison Jeff Cowen said. “These property owners and land managers deserve to be recognized for their efforts to show us what can be done when we strive to protect a treasure like Lake Tahoe.”

The 2011 Best in the Basin project winners are:

Residential BMPs
Robert Marshall for the Marshall Residence BMP Retrofit and Defensible Space Project, 160 Marlette Drive, Tahoe City CA

New Commercial Project
Vail Resorts for the LEED-certified Tamarack Lodge, Heavenly Mountain Resort

Restoration Project
City of South Lake Tahoe, Stan Hill PE, for the Upper Truckee River Restoration, Middle Reach Adjacent to the Lake Tahoe Airport

Erosion Control Project
Placer County Department of Public Works for the Lake Forest Erosion Control, Stream and Habitat Restoration Project

Public Service Project
Caltrans, Steven C. Gaytan, PE, for the Highway 28 Environmental Improvement Program Project, between Kings Beach and Carnelian Bay, California

Forest Fuel Reduction Project
Dennis and Ginger Maloney for the Maloney Residence Healthy Forest, Community Fuel Reduction and Defensible Space Project, Wild Rose Drive, Tahoe Vista, California

Recreation Project
California Tahoe Conservancy and Nevada Division of State Parks for the Van Sickle Bi-State Park in Stateline, Nevada and South Lake Tahoe, California

Green Building Project
Jeff and Karolina Miller for the Miller Residence, 1085 Mill Creek Road, Incline Village, Nevada

New Residential Project
Domus Development LLC, Meea Kang, President, for the Kings Beach Housing Now Dispersed Workforce Housing Project, Fox & Brook Street Sites, Kings Beach, California

Residential Modification Project
Ann and Lee Schweichler for the Schweichler Residence 8375 Meeks Bay Avenue, Meeks Bay, California

Residential Rebuild Project
Roger and Darlene Rempfer for the Rempfer Residence Rebuild, 5019 California Street, Carnelian Bay, California

Residential BMPs:
Marshall Residence, 160 Marlette Drive, Tahoe City CA
Contractor: Rob Basile, Basile Management Practices

The Best Management Practices (BMP) Retrofit at 156 Marlette incorporated all aspects of land management that are needed at Lake Tahoe. Designs for erosion control BMPs and Defensible Space measures were integrated in order to create a native, fire resistant landscape. The driveway and roof runoff were treated with low-impact design systems that focus on aesthetics and reduced construction cost. A channel drain and sediment trap were installed to capture the driveway runoff. The sediment trap is essential to the system because it reduces the costs and efforts of long-term maintenance. A large compacted dirt parking area was revegetated with native grass and wildflower mix and protected with granite boulders. The vegetation was established with a simple temporary irrigation system. An emphasis was placed on saving as much native vegetation and also complying with the defensible space requirements. The native vegetation does not require any irrigation and protects against soil erosion, making for an integrated landscape.

New Commercial Project: Tamarack Lodge, Heavenly Mountain Resort
General Contractor: SMC Contracting
Architect: Collaborative Design Studio
Civil Engineer / Landscape Architect: JWA Consulting
Structural Engineer: Forbes Engineering
Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical Engineer: MSA Engineering

The main inspiration for the design of this mid-mountain day lodge came from the ski lodge designs of years gone by that were simplistic in the massing forms but elegant in the detailing. This design approach was taken to accommodate the severe logistics of constructing a 15,000 square-foot structure at 9,150 feet above sea level with limited vehicle access and a very limited construction season. The resulting clean, elegant, and dramatic wood structure fits nicely into the high mountain site blending into its surroundings while providing a striking contrast with the snow and sunlight. The site was carefully chosen based on its location at the center of all activities, both summer and winter, and its ability to accommodate existing skier and visitor circulation patterns, to maximize views from the dining area, allow passive solar gain for the public spaces of the lodge, provide optimized sun and shade patterns for outdoor seating and to minimize tree removal. This building achieved the Silver Level of the U.S. Green Building Association’s LEED certification.

Restoration Project: Upper Truckee River Restoration, Middle Reach Adjacent to the Lake Tahoe Airport
General Contractor: Burdick Excavation, Inc.
Engineering, Planning and Construction Management: Cardno ENTRIX
Planning and Environmental Documentation: CDM
Revegetation: Western Botanical Services, Inc.

A significant project of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) and a lynchpin in the effort to completely restore the largest conveyor of runoff to Lake Tahoe, the Upper Truckee River Middle Reach Project is also the largest river and Stream Environment Zone restoration project to date in the Tahoe Basin. Planning for this Middle Reach, or airport reach of the Upper Truckee began in 2004 and broke ground in 2008.

The project took this section of the river from a classic, straight-and-deep manmade channel that had been constructed in the 1950s to make way for an airport runway and replaced it with shallow, manmade meanders that help slow the river, control erosion, allow greater filtration and groundwater recharge, and that support outstanding and long-missed habitat for native vegetation as well as fish and wildlife.

Erosion Control Project: Lake Forest Erosion Control, Stream and Habitat Restoration Project
Planning, Design, Construction Support: Wood Rodgers, Inc., Mainstream Restoration, and Integrated Environmental Resources, Inc.
Construction: West Coast Contractors of Nevada

The Lake Forest Erosion Control Project, Area B SEZ/Habitat Restoration Project improved water quality through the restoration of wetlands and the floodplain in a highly disturbed stream environment zone. The Lake Forest watershed east of Dollar Hill has been significantly altered and diverted from its historic drainage pattern by roads and residential development. The purpose of the project was to re-route Lake Forest Creek from storm drains beneath a condominium development into the restored Lake Forest meadow.

Two culverts were replaced and upsized in order to carry the rerouted Lake Forest Creek to Lake Tahoe. Unlike traditional culverts, both of the replacements are designed to allow for fish passage and the lower culvert at Pomin Park was replaced with an arch that has a natural stream bottom to re-create fish habitat that has been missing on the waterway for more than half a century. Only weeks after project completion, Kokanee salmon were witnessed in the gravels of the new culvert, contemplating a return to long-lost spawning grounds.

Boardwalks and foot bridges were included in the project to enhance recreational access while protecting the sensitive soils of the meadow.

Public Service Project: Highway 28 Environmental Improvement Program Project
Construction: Salah Bouzid

Contractor: Larry E. Brandt

Design: Tom Rutsch, Kevin Lee, Carlos R. Burks Sr., Tarek Tabshouri, Santiago Cruz-Roveda, Cameron Knudson, and Sukhdeep Sandher

Environmental: Jody Brown, Brenda Powell-Jones

Right of Way: Robert Rosas

Utilities Coordinator: Tracy Fowler

The purpose of this project was to retrofit a major roadway with erosion control and stormwater infiltration to reduce fine sediment reaching Lake Tahoe while providing bike lanes and operational improvements such as left turn pockets and in some locations, additional parking near beach access points.

The water quality improvements capture and treat roadway runoff, stabilize steep slopes and re-vegetate locations with exposed soil. Scenic quality enhancement was accomplished with patina applied to rock-lined slopes visible from the Lake. The shoulders were widened to accommodate Class II bike lanes along the entire project.

Forest Fuel Reduction Project: Maloney Residence Healthy Forest and Defensible Space Project, Wild Rose Drive, Tahoe Vista, CA
Project Partners: Terry Johnson, Advanced Forestry; North Tahoe Fire Protection District

The goal of this project was to help with fire suppression in an upland neighborhood of Tahoe Vista. It entailed three acres focusing on dead and downed trees, brush and overcrowded, small diameter fir trees. As well as significant funding by the Maloneys for hand crews and tree removal, the North Tahoe Fire Protection District joined in the project with grant money from the Nevada Fire Safe Council and Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

Recreation Project: Van Sickle Bi-State Park, Stateline, Nevada and South Lake Tahoe, California

Project Partners:
Nevada State Parks—Steve Weaver, Chief of Planning and Development; Jay Howard, Resource Ranger
California Tahoe Conservancy—Bruce Eisner, Program Manager/Resource Management; Dana Dapolito
Tahoe Rim Trail Association

Landscape Architect & Project Management: Design Workshop
Civil Engineer: Resource Concepts, Inc.
Vegetation and Erosion Control: Western Botanical Services
Architect: John Copoulos
Environmental Studies: Hague Brueck
Transportation: LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc.
Geotechnical: Kleinfelder, Inc.
Excavating: Burdick Excavation, Inc.

Straddling the California-Nevada border at the South Shore, the Van Sickle Bi-State Park is the product of a partnership between the states of Nevada and California. It is the first bi-state park in the United States with a contiguous land mass entered through a common gate. It is also unusual in that it adjoins the City of South Lake Tahoe’s urban boundary rather than having a rural location.

The Park comprises a 542-acre parcel of land deeded to the Nevada Division of State Parks for developing recreational opportunities. The State of California, through the California Tahoe Conservancy, purchased the adjacent 150 acres, the Van Sickle family’s former Crescent V Ranch, to connect the park to the community of South Lake Tahoe.

The park is open to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. A connector trail from the park was constructed in partnership with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association that expands the park’s recreation opportunities to the Rim Trail and outstanding views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Now one of Lake Tahoe’s most concentrated tourism centers has easy access to a network of trails that can lead one around the entire Basin.

The bi-state project included restoration of more than 4,000 square feet of stream environment zone. The project provides important recreation access near a concentrated urban area. The project is part of the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) that relies on partnerships to reach Lake Tahoe restoration goals.

Green Building Project:
Miller Residence, 1085 Mill Creek Road, Incline Village, Nevada
General Contractor: Advance Design & Construction, Inc., Jeff Miller, President and LEED Designer
The Green Dream Building Team Included:
Alcal Arcade, Bender Engineering, Carson Door, Class A Roofing, Dan Ward Electric, Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., G&E Painting & Drywall, Gilanfarr & Associates, Haworth Plumbing, Huff Heating, Incline Tahoe Glass, Johanson Masonry, Light + Space, Pacific Forest Products, Sierra Integrated Systems, Simonian Flooring, Spitsen Lumber

The Miller Residence has been named by its owner/builders the Green Dream Home and it lives up to its name. This is the first home on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore designed and built to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification and achieved the Silver rating from that organization. Green materials in the home include zero-VOC paint, concrete countertops, advanced insulation in the roof and walls, air exchange equipment, high-performance windows and blinds, and smart technology throughout to monitor energy consumption and control lighting and heating. Besides reaching the Silver level of LEED, the whole home also achieved the government-backed Energy Star rating.

The Millers hosted green building tours for the community while the home was under construction to increase understanding and support for energy efficient design.

New Residential Project: Kings Beach Housing Now Fox & Brook Sites Dispersed Workforce Housing Project, Kings Beach, California
Design and Engineering Partners: YHLA Architects, Brown Construction, Marvin E. Davis, Telesto Nevada, Harris & Sloan Consulting Group, Inc. , Wood Rodgers, Sacramento Engineering Consultants, Bollard Acoustical Consultants, Garth Ruffner Landscape Architect and Simon Environmental

Community Partners: Kings Beach Family Resource Center, Tahoe Women Services, Sierra Business Council, North Tahoe Resort Association, Theresa May Duggan, David Ferrari and George Koster

Funding Partners Include: Alliant Capital LTD, Wells Fargo Bank NA, California Department of Housing and Community Development Home and Infill Infrastructure Grant Programs, Redevelopment Agency of Placer County

These two exceptional projects challenge traditional notions of resource efficiency in low-income workforce housing, particularly in the Tahoe Basin. The two sites are part of a five-site project called Kings Beach Housing Now and are the first deed-restricted affordable housing sites approved and built to serve the low-income workers in the North Lake Tahoe area.

The Fox and Brook sites are within a two block radius of the town center of Kings Beach, California. The project redeveloped blighted and underutilized land bringing in high-density housing and implementing conservation strategies. The Brook site replaces a vacant lot with two apartment units for low-income families; and Fox replaces seven converted motel rooms where entire families were living in cramped, hazardous conditions, with 12 spacious, high-quality affordable units. Both sites are within walking distance of a grocery store, pharmacy, post office, public bus stops, and many daily uses. Best Management Practices (BMPs) to control erosion will filter 100% of the storm water runoff from the sites in biologic filtration basins.

This project is outstanding because it addresses and improves, many facets of life in the Tahoe Basin. Low-income workers and families now have safe, modern, energy-efficient home to live in. The sites replace dilapidated, inefficient housing with new eco-friendly apartments that decrease negative impacts on the environment while reusing infill land preserving the basin's beautiful open space. Furthermore, the Fox and Brook sites boost the economy by linking people with jobs, goods, and services, and the completion of these buildings answers a community's call for affordable, sustainable housing. In addition, project planning and community outreach by Domus Development was an inclusive, transparent and sometimes laborious process that has set a standard for projects in the Basin.

Residential Modification Project: Schweichler Residence 8375 Meeks Bay Avenue
Architect: Don Fulda, Ward Young Architects
Landscape Design & Installation: Betty Fulda
Hardscape: Chuck Conway
Permitting & Planning: Jan Brisco

A complete makeover of this lakefront home in Meeks Bay needed to consider a steep slope, scenic quality from the Lake, and the aesthetic values of the owners. The owners were committed to designing a Tahoe home that fit with the lot and the surroundings. The landscape design was inspired by the granitic mountains that frame the West Shore nearby. Native plantings and placement beautifully mimic nature and provide maximum soil retention and restoration of the site. The use of natural materials, dark colors, low-reflection glass and well-placed vegetation help protect scenic quality along the shoreline. In addition, a decadent Jeffrey Pine near the foundation of the home was protected during construction to ensure the home’s harmony with one of the more prominent natural features of the site.

Residential Rebuild Project:
Rempfer Residence, 5019 California Street, Carnelian Bay, California
Architect: Elise Fett & Associates
Builder/Contractor: Meadville Design & Construction
Engineering: Elise Fett & Associates and Gabbart & Woods
Landscape Design: Greenscape

The goal of this project was to transform a small, 1960s era house/cabin that had been turned into an office, into an open and functional home for entertaining and a growing family. Maximizing views of Lake Tahoe and natural light and sun for passive solar heat were priorities. Even though the project was a rebuild, the existing foundation and some of the existing structure were maintained and the garage additions and additional living spaces were gracefully tied in. The interior space is filled with light from nine skylights that open to provide cooling in the summer. Energy efficient improvements were made throughout the home. The addition used architectural features that improved scenic quality of the site from the roadway and the finished height was restricted to better match the scale of existing and neighboring homes. The shop are of the additions has beautiful garage doors that open onto the yard and the homeowners use this are for community events including a neighborhood pumpkin carving in October.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency cooperatively leads the effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region now and in the future. For additional information, call Jeff Cowen at (775) 589-5278 or send an email to jcowen@trpa.org.