Last Chance Irrigation Co., Inc.
ANNUAL MEETING
March 20, 2024 – 6:00 pm
Directors Present: Tom Ghidossi Daniel Lazzareschi
Pete Lazetich Eric Dalen
Ryan Greenhalgh Bob Ginocchio Secretary: Tami Wittich Ditch Rider: Todd Coleman
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 pm.
Tom Ghidossi did introductions and thanked the membership for being there. Tom gave a brief bio of the new ditch rider, Todd Coleman.
A run down of the operations over the last year especially with cleaning up the ditch for the new season. He gave a description of the challenges with the mud and wet weather. The plan is to get the water running by May 1 and we are on track to do this.
Tom went through the financial statement. He thanked the City of Reno and Washoe County for reimbursing us for some of the costs. Without them our fees would be three times what they are now. We are doing good, but things can happen. We do have a 100-year-old ditch. For instance, the Lake Ditch has had problems this year. Dave Finley gave a quick description of their flume collapse on Del Monte. The city has paid their share, and the Ditch costs are about $550,000. It has been a nightmare, so they had to use up all their reserves and are going into arbitration with the County to try and recoup some of the costs that the County originally said they would pay.
Our contract with the City is coming up for renewal this next year so hopefully we can extend it with no problems. It was mentioned that right now the City and the County have no other option but to use the ditches for storm water drainage, so they have to continue the contracts with the ditch companies. Considering the continuing good relationship with the City and County the Board has decided to keep the assessments the same for the upcoming season.
There was discussion about the current Board. Dave Finley made a motion to keep the same Board which was seconded by Kyle Lewis. It passed unanimously.
Tom gave an update of the new sign honoring Norm Dianda and where it will be set.
We are working on repairing the head gate at the Truckee River. We started the process of getting permits, etc. in October and it has been a challenge. It will be an
expensive project, but it needs to be done. We are hopeful that the city will help pay for something but at this time they are saying no.
We have numbered the gates and would like members to walk their laterals and let us know which gate number they are on. This way we can be sure the records are updated and correct. Dan Lazzareschi is making a map of all the gate locations for our use.
The Windy Hill project will be completed within the next couple of weeks. The cost to us has been nothing. They have widened the road. Our pipe going under the road had deteriorated a bit on the bottom, but the road also was falling apart. The city decided to correct the problem and originally wanted us to pay for some of it. Tom went to see Michael Pagni, our old attorney, and he indicated that the ditch was here first so they could put things back the way they were with no road and let the ditch flow freely or they can fix the problem with the road and pipe. After Tom visited the city, they decided to fix it at their cost. It has all worked out for the Ditch.
There is an area that the ditch runs through that is a fragile area. It’s a natural spring called Dry Creek and quite a bit of water comes down out of it each year. There are lots of concrete blocks there that have been moved around the last couple of years due to the wet weather the area has received. It is near the Silver Circle Ranch, and they are proposing putting up an indoor arena. We hired an engineer to look at it and let us know if their development would cause any problems for the ditch in that area. They indicated that during a storm event there could be an abundance of water that would accumulate in that area, and it could cause problems without proper mitigation. We are working with the County to assess the issues right now. The Ditch Company has no feeling towards the Pro Pony development, only in the respect as to how it affects the ditch.
There was a question about the season for water in the ditch. We are expecting May 1 to October 1, depending on the water in the Truckee River.
With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 6:31 pm. Respectfully submitted,
Tami Wittich, Secretary