The upcoming August 17th Raise the River fundraising event for KTMB (Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful) at Idlewild’s Sensory Garden, which will be taking place without sponsorship money from the owners of the River Inn, is leaving some in the community angry and others confused.
This controversy was sparked when an email sent to owners Lawrence McNutt and Dana Miller indicated their $3,000 sponsor fee was being returned.
"While KTMB initially welcomed the River Inn to the fold, we felt upon further review that it was best to part ways in order to ensure the safe execution of our mission and honor healthy donor stewardship practices," Darcy Phillips, the executive director of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, was quoted as writing to local television channel News 4.
Above a follow up to the initial TikTok by wickedwitch_ofthe_west.
Since then, there has been a deluge of social media posts and comments, from here in northern Nevada but in other parts of the country as well, opposing this decision such as a late July video by wickedwitch_ofthe_west calling KTMB “spineless.” That content creator’s TikTok, which got over 7000 hearts and 180 comments, alleged there had been pressure from board members and other donors.
When asked about this, Chris Ewing, the KTMB Communications Manager wrote back to Our Town Reno with the following message: “KTMB leadership made a decision to part ways as we didn’t feel our values aligned. Leadership is also asking staff – still managing event planning and daily organizational responsibilities – not to engage in social media commentary that is less than civil.”
One of the messages for the wickedwitch_ofthe_west TikTok came from the “Renos historic River Inn” account saying: “It has been such a long difficult journey these last few years. This means the world to us. Thank you!” The River Inn’s own prolific TikTok has been documenting the twists and turns their ownership has taken, including entanglements with the City of Reno and neighbors, some of whom are reportedly suing them over modifications they’ve already made.
Then the KTMB Facebook event posting for Raise the River was inundated with angry comments favoring the River Inn owners and seems to have since been taken down.
More recently, McNutt and Miller spoke at the Reno City Council during public comment on August 9th, but didn’t directly address the controversy. McNutt made a call for the Council to work toward supporting employment in northern Nevada, while Miller said she was ready to show people around the River Inn. She said they had been bringing “certain parts of it back to life,” and would like the city’s assistance to put a trail at their location across the river to facilitate cyclists.
Their history with the City of Reno already includes disputes over code enforcement and once receiving a cease and desist letter for advertising camping on their property while not having a license to run a campsite.
City officials have indicated they are closely looking at developments at the River Inn, with concerns in terms of any impacts to the Truckee River.
McNutt, a former stuntman turned IT entrepreneur, and Miller purchased the property, originally known as Lawton’s Hot Springs, in December 2020 for $852,000. After thriving in the early parts of the 20th century, it was then empty for decades, with a near but ultimately failed attempt to turn it into a casino resort in the 1980s.