Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 21

IlEb April 6. 1979-21 Reno Evening Gazette Lovable spa goes on the block Sun Valley traffic study Officials of the Regional Street and Highway Department and the Washoe County Engineering Department will meet with state highway department administrators in an effort to find a solution to the Sun Valley area's traffic problems. Jerry Hall, director of the regional department, and county engineer Floyd Vice were directed' Thursday afternoon by Reno and county officials to study three options of relieving traffic on Clear Acre Lane. Hall and Vice were asked by the officials to find out if the U.S. 395-Clear Acre Lane underpass can accommodate an expansion to a four-lane highway.

The committee also asked the two men to study the possibility of expanding Clear Acre Lane from Second Street to the underpass. They are to also study with state highway officials the possibility of extending Sutro Avenue to Clear Acre. The proposed extension would have to pass above or below U.S. 395. Their findings will help give the county and city officials a rough estimate of dollar figures for the proposed projects.

Members of the committee expressed hope that because Clear Acre Lane is a state secondary highway that they would be able to attract state funds to widen it. The meeting stemmed from a March 26 county commission nearing, in which residents of Sun Valley complained of congested traffic problems on Clear Acre and Sun Valley Drive. Both roads, which are really one elongated road, are two-lane highways. In the past, residents have sought to upgrade the roads or ask county and city officials to impose a building moratorium until the roads can be upgraded. By STEVE PAPINCHAK Sumner Laughton, a quiet, sturdy, jack-of-all-trades probably would enjoy the approach involved in the upcoming auction of the River Inn, a spa the early settler founded more than 95 years ago.

The auction of the bankrupt inn that sits on the Truckee River three miles west of Reno will be based on a straightforward rule that early Nevada Territory settlers like Laughton could easily grasp. Namely, the spa-hotel-casino will be sold to the highest bidder and there is no minimum bid requirement. Theoretically, that means that the River Inn could be sold for a mere pittance, assuming a respectable bid is not made on the property. But auctioneer G. Robert Deiro sees no chance of that happening.

Deiro is making every effort to ensure that the facility is sold for top dollar. Deiro, who describes the facility as "a slightly dated resort that needs some love and the auction will be announced In newspaper advertisements beginning Sunday in most major Western newspapers, plus the Wall Street Journal, Deiro said. "We expect to have hundreds of inquiries before the actual auction date," Deiro said. And he expects active bidding on the sale day. The River Inn will be sold at 2 p.m.

on May 7 on the river property. Bankruptcy Judge Bert Goldwater ordered the bankruptcy sale after the property's owner, Leisure Time Corp. of Nevada, was unable to pay bills on the facility, including a bank loan of some $1.5 million. Goldwater stipulated that the auction be held on a "no miminum bid" basis and that the property be sold free and clear without any outstanding liens. Deiro, a Las Vegas auctioneer chosen by court-appointed trustee Stephen Harris, a Reno attorney, said he already has received inquiries from potential buyers.

He said a recreational campground firm, a private alcoholic treatment group and potential casino operators have inquired about the property. Over the years, the property to be sold May 7 was called Lawton's (a misspelling of the pioneer owner's name), Holiday Lodge and Ro-deway Inn. Financial difficulties often beset past owners. Deiro said one factor that could change the financial track record for the property would be "sophisticated management." He estimates that the land alone is valued $1.8 million. That figure doesn't include the facilities now on the property, which covers 33 acres plus another 16 acres of land leased from the railroad.

Deiro said the site also inciudes 10 acres in the Truckee River. On the site is an 80-room motel, a casino and restaurant, a hot spring spa including indoor and outdoor pools), a cocktail lounge and a 132-space recreational vehicle park. 7 HORSE COUNTRY WITH CITY LIGHTS YOU CAN HELP SAVE MONEY ENERGY located close to Meodowood Shopping Center, 3 bedroom, 2 both delightful home with brick fireplace on perfect acre for horses. Fully fenced. Tack room ond stalls.

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Package sewage plant endorsed by committee A Spanish Springs area package sewage treat ment plant was recommended for approval Thursday by an area-wide package plant review committee. Plans for the privately-owned package plant will now be considered by the Washoe County Commission. Another package plant project, to serve the High Country Estates subdivision in Sun Valley, was tabled by the review committee because of water rights concerns. The Frear Spanish Springs plant, to be located on Pyramid Lake Highway two miles north of Sparks, was approved despite concerns over possible pollution of groundwater from the "leach field" treatment method to be used at the plant. In the "leach field" method, treated effluent would be allowed to flow out onto the land and to percolate downt through the ground to the water table.

Plant developers indicated they would drill a "test well" to check for possible pollution of groundwater by the package plant. The Frear Spanish Springs plant will treat 39,000 gallons per day of raw sewage. Construction costs are pegged at 5280,000. The plant would treat sewage from the planned "Briar Hollow" mobile home subdivision nearby. The High Country Estates package plant ran Into trouble with the review committee because of its proposal to pump treated sewage into ponds, where the effluent would evaporate.

Committee member John Gonzales expressed concerns over the evaporation method, which he said would take water out of the Truckee River system and not put it back. Under conditions attached to a $15.4 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, water taken from the Truckee River must be returned to it, according to Gonzales. JJut, the grant conditions apply only to Reno and Sparks, and not to Washoe County. The High Country Estates plant would be in the county.

Committee members voted to table the High Cbuntry Estates application and asked developers to seek advice from the EPA on the evaporation method. Developers said the plant, to be located on Sun Valley Drive just north of the El Rancho Drive intersection, would be shut down once a sewer main linking Sun Valley to the Reno-Sparks Joint Sewage Treatment Plant is constructed in 1980. So-called package plants, which are privately-owned sewage treatment plants, are viewed by some as one way to provide readily available sewage treatment capacity and get building permits faster than they would by waiting for capacity in the Reno-Sparks treatment plant. The joint plant, nearing capacity, is currently in the first of a two-phase expansion. Carson switch about water Gazette-Journal Carson Bureau Reversing a long standing and potentially fatal practice, Carson City supervisors decided as a matter of new policy Thursday that the city will rely primarily on surface water as its base source of supply, and use underground water only during heavy demand periods and times of drought.

"It's a complete turnaround from the way it was before," said Mayor Harold Jacobsen, who explained that the reliance on pumping has depleted the basin's underground water table "and got us into trouble. The reserve was disappearing." Jacobsen was referring in part to the recent findings of the U.S. Geological Survey that the annual underground supply is around 6,000 acre feet rather than the 8,000 acre feet previously assumed to be there. As a result of the new policy, Jacobsen said, "we're not going to look at what's cheapest (pumping), but what's best for Carson. We don't want to see any more water running through the town and into the Carson River, because it never comes back." City Public Works Director Larry Werner said the surface waters in question include, following "nominal treatment," the supply from Ash and Kings canyons; the Carson River supply the city has acquired from private individuals in recent times; plus the ample gallonage which will acrue to the city should the bill allowing Carson to control an expanded state-owned Hobart water system clear the Legislature.

Hobart alone could provide the city with 4,500 acre feet 'a water a year, said Werner, who noted that the city pumped a total of only 500 acre feet more than that from its underground sources all of last year. Werner said the State Engineer has agreed with the idea of the city relying in times of need on supplemental water from underground sources as long as the city would allow it to replenish. The change in water management policy was contained in a resolution suggested by Mayor Jacobsen that was unanimously adopted by the super-' visors. DOMESTIC HOT WATER Awfn-tGSiZEa DEAL-EP grumman Sunstream The reliable source CAN SAVE YOU 50 or MORE off your domestic hot water bill. CALL FOR A FREE ESTIMATE.

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