Mountain View Pond in Gardnerville toward the end of November 2024.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
An $18,445 proposal to update the master plan for Mountain View Nature Park was approved by the Gardnerville Town Board on Tuesday.
Concerns about whether there should be any structures on the park located between Carson Valley Middle School and Heybourne Road prompted neighbors to protest a proposal to put in restrooms.
According to residents, deed restrictions on the property require that it remain open and free from structure or other above-ground improvements, or it would revert back to the owner.
Gardnerville Town Attorney David Rigdon said he disagreed that restriction would affect the improvements included in the park plan, pointing out that the current park benches on the property would violate it.
Requests by neighbors include removing several amenities included the park’s original master plan, including any turf, a floating dock, remote control boats.
Under the neighbors’ proposal restrooms, expanded parking or a proposed pergola should be off the part of the land that’s deed restricted, according to an April 2024 presentation by neighbors led by resident Julie Duda.
Town board members discussed the issue in October 2024 and determined that the best way to proceed would be to conduct a new public process, which would include open houses and online polls to see what other residents think.
The proposal before the town board on Tuesday is an $18,445 contract with Wood Rogers Inc. to modify the Nature Park’s portion of the Gardnerville Parks & Open Space Master Plan.
Should the proposal be approved, Wood Rogers, which conducted the original plan, would have until the end of this year to finish its work.
The contractor would conduct public meetings to review the current plan and obtain feedback on changes they’d like to see and then present the plan based on feedback. An online component would be included with both meetings.
The pond at the center of the park was excavated in the winter of 2018 and filled with water on its own. Former Town Manager and current Community Development Director Tom Dallaire theorized that unlike the Gilman ponds, which dry up when water rights are used elsewhere, the Mountain View Pond’s bottom taps into the aquifer.
