Although the Incline Bike Park is a family-friendly outdoor recreation venue that no doubt has it proponents, it is concerning from a financial perspective. Fund-raising for the first phase fell short, and there’s little indication that additional funding at the levels needed will be forthcoming.

In 2014, the Incline Bike Project was formed by a group of Incline Village / Crystal Bay residents and the Incline Tahoe Foundation. A bike park/pump track is a park with a continuous loop of dirt berms and “rollers” (smooth dirt mounds) that you ride without pedaling. A memorandum of understanding in 2016 between Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID) and the Incline Tahoe Foundation (ITF) was signed in 2017. IVGID made a commitment to provide the land and to fund $20,000 for design and $50,000 for construction with ITF funding the balance thereafter. The project was to be developed in three phases:

·      1) The Bike Park: $250,000,

·      2) The Pump Track: $100,000,

·      3) The Incline Pavilion: $400,000.

The entire $70,000 IVGID commitment has been spent and the Bike Park construction was partially completed in 2018; Costs were supposedly $185,000 but actual expenditures per IVGID records were $218,802 excluding engineering staff time. ITF deposited an additional $80,000 with the Parasol Foundations to be used for the second phase Pump Track. The major donors for the project were Robert & Robin Holman, who died in a plane crash in May 2020.

The first phase was open to the public on May 2019, even though certain items were not completed under the TRPA permit which expired on May 3, 2020.

The second phase of the adult Pump Track was to begin immediately but has been stalled for four years.

IVGID’s in-house engineers proceeded to design the second phase Pump Track and incorporated the Phase 1 uncompleted items. The IVGID engineers estimated that the construction costs would be $190,000. Rather than securing funds from ITF for at least the estimate, the project was put out to bid. Only one bid was received: $727,000, almost 4 times the engineers estimate and 9 times the available ITF funds.

F.W. Carson was the lone bidder. This same contractor was awarded a construction contract in 2021 for the Mountain Golf Course cart paths. That project was a fiasco. The Carson bid and IVGID engineers actions did not comply with the bid documents. The cart paths were completed but not to the specifications required in the design and bid documents.

Because it appears that $80,000 is massively inadequate and with no comparison bids, completion of the original project is questionable.

ITF was formed in 2009 as a 501c3 (tax-exempt organization) to provide source of funding to IVGID, with a goal of expanding the recreation center and funding other recreation programs.  Donations would be tax-deductible.  Its founding officers included a real estate contractor, two real estate salespersons, a real estate homebuilder, a Lake Tahoe School teacher, and a part-time IVGID employee. By 2017, a majority of the officers had a link to IVGID as a current/past Trustee, current/former employment by IVGID, or were a household member with a Trustee/IVGID employee. ITF’s ability to raise funds has been limited, with the exception of large donations for a ball field (from Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation) and this project [GRAPH: source: ITF 990 IRS form; excludes “unusual gifts” as ITF must have broad public support to maintain its 501c3 tax-exempt status].

 ITF’s 990 form (2020) stated the Duffield donations were “ unusual grants and nonrecurring”. ITF has not mentioned their source for additional donor funds. Large funds from donors probably cannot be obtained because Naming Rights have already been granted to the Holman family.

The Memorandum of Understanding between IVGID and ITF, currently in effect, requires ITF to manage and maintain the project and IVGID is to provide part-time help which is reimbursable. Certain requirements by each party have not been fulfilled, and continued success does not seem plausible. In FY2020, IVGID billed $11,153.94 for maintenance; FY2021, IVGID did not bill ITF; in FY2022, IVGID billed $2,507.95 which appears to be low. Research on outdoor dirt pump tracks in Canada show maintenance costs for dirt pump tracks to be in the range of $10,000 to $15,000 per year;  a complete rebuild every five years is estimated.

 IVGID’s General Manager has not brought this matter to the Board of Trustees nor has ITF indicated alternatives to complete the project and ir responsibility to pay for continued maintenance. Because a plan was not developed at the front end with contingencies and risks defined, IVGID could be the only source of funding to bail out the project.

The author, Cliff Dobler, is a long-time resident and property owner of Incline Village and a registered voter. J. Gumz, a long-time resident, owner, and voter of Incline Village, contributed to this article.