What were the driving principles behind the Diamond Peak Master Plan? What were the constraints imposed when putting the Plan together? What was the analysis and reasoning that drove the conclusions of the Plan?

These are the issues that will be discussed at the second meeting of the Diamond Peak Master Plan Steering Committee, which will be held this upcoming Monday at 3 p.m. at The Chateau.

All of the meetings were originally scheduled for the IVGID Board Room, but the committee wanted a room that better facilitated a roundtable discussion.

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The Committee held at highly productive initial meeting on Jan. 12. Deborah Prout, Special Assistant to the President at Sierra Nevada College, served as the neutral facilitator for the first meeting.

At the Committee’s request, Deborah has agreed to facilitate the remaining seven meetings.

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Deborah is a firm believer in the importance of the community playing an active role in policy development. She has extensive experience both locally and nationally in working collaboratively to develop and implement policy initiatives.

Deborah’s goal in facilitating the meetings is to help establish a model for how we deal with complex issues here in Incline Village.

It is her hope that if we can establish this model, it will be a turning point for how the community crafts public policy in the future.

Deborah kicked off the meeting by asking committee members to talk a little bit about their background, why this Steering Committee is important to them, and what they expect or hope to contribute to the process.

The very eloquent opening introductions demonstrated the wide scope of backgrounds and interests on the Committee.

Some members are relatively new to the community; others have lived here for decades.

There are a number of members who have moved here to retire, and others have business interests and some came here to raise their family.

Several members live close to Diamond Peak, including the president of each of the adjacent homeowner associations, while others live elsewhere but frequently visit Diamond Peak.

While there were varied interests, there was a common theme from all of the members of the Committee. I don’t think anyone in the room is predisposed to either support or oppose future plans for Diamond Peak.

Each member has a strong interest in the future of the community, and each member has a strong interest in helping to decide the role of Diamond Peak in our community’s future.

The membership introductions also highlighted the various skill sets that the committee will be able to access as they review the Plan.

Members have backgrounds in corporate finance, financial analysis, executive management, strategic planning, sustainability, public relations, tourism, marketing, general contracting, youth development, and even homeland security!

These varied backgrounds will come in handy as they evaluate the Plan.

I made it clear to the Committee that every aspect of the Plan is open to review.

There are no assumptions regarding site location, scope of development or financial feasibility. I value all of their perspectives and would like to bring back to the Board a Plan that is consistent with the desires of the community and is sustainable in the long term.

I also let the Committee know that I will leave meeting management up to them.

Staff and any technical consultants will be here as a resource, but I would like the Committee to direct their work plan.

After introductions, the group had a healthy dialogue regarding the Master Plan issues that they’d like to further investigate.

After extensive discussion, there was a general consensus that the group is committed to digging into the details of the Plan and conducting an honest, open, and deliberative process.

The first step in conducting this process would be to better understand the origins of the Plan.

Thus, the questions noted at the beginning of this column were proposed.

It was generally agreed that an extensive work plan couldn’t be created until they better understood the conditions under which the Plan was created and evaluated these key drivers.

In summary, I think the community is going to be well-served by the work of this committee.

The group is well-qualified, objective and committed to find solutions that are in the best interests of Incline Village and Crystal Bay.

They are also committed to conducting the deliberative process in a manner that we all hope can set a positive tone for how we deal with complex issues today and in the future.

To view the first Steering Committee meeting in its entirety go to: http://new.livestream.com/IVGID/events/3724241

“GM’s Corner” is a twice-monthly column from Incline Village General Improvement Distinct General Manager Steve Pinkerton, who will discuss issues and offer updates regarding various district matters.