The following are highlights from today’s Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting:
1. District Health Officer provides update on mosquito abatement plan: Washoe County District Health Officer Kevin Dick presented an overview of the Health District’s Vector-Borne Disease Prevention Program, including mosquito abatement. The program tracks diseases transmitted to humans by blood-feeding arthropods, such as mosquitoes and ticks, which include: West Nile Virus, St. Louis encephalitis, Western equine encephalitis, rabies, hantavirus, plague, and Lyme Disease. The program includes education, monitoring and surveillance, prevention, and treatment. There are locations throughout Washoe County where the Health District conducts mosquito surveillance and there are 25,000 catch basins to intercede in the population of mosquitos in the larvae stage.
Dick provided pointers for residents to reduce exposure to mosquitos, including:
- Avoid early morning and evening outdoor activities
- Use an EPA-approved insect repellent on clothing and exposed skin
- Wear loose-fitting clothing
- Avoid areas if mosquitoes are present
- Eliminate standing water where mosquitos can breed
The Health District has provided aerial mosquito abatement via helicopter for over 30 years. In February, the independent pilot who conducted the treatment announced his retirement, so the Health District is working to bring on another helicopter pilot to assume the task.
“The front-line defense is to take personal responsibility because we’re never going to entirely get rid of mosquitos,” Dick said. “We are the only health district in Nevada that’s regularly doing aerial applications for mosquito abatement… When we put out a bid for these services, other companies weren’t interested because the project size is too small for them to consider transporting a helicopter up here.”
2. Board reviews status of Master Plan and provides guidance for next steps: Washoe County is currently in the process of updating its master plan, a document that guides land use in the unincorporated county and defines community priorities related to land use. Washoe County Senior Planner Eric Young presented the status of the planning process and provided an overview of what the long-term plan means to the community, including how it fits into a regional context.
Official community engagement to create the new master plan—named Envision Washoe 2040—began in 2020. After a series of meetings, surveys, and other engagements with the general public, steering committees, and stakeholder groups, staff began drafting the Master Plan, which is required by Nevada State Law. A master plan helps guide land use decisions and generally articulates a community vision for land use. It is required to cover a number of topics, referred to as “elements,” such as conservation.
The draft will be reviewed by three advisory committees in July and then released to the public August 11.
“You started this work back in 2020, and I appreciate your effort to reach out very early on. You showed an extreme interest and effort to communicate with me directly on my district and the constituents I serve,” Commissioner Mariluz Garcia said, praising Young for his leadership on this project. “I’m proud of Washoe County for investing in the language access that we’re embarking on, and I want to give you personal thanks and kudos to make my request to include a Spanish option happen.”
3. Commissioners award District Special Fund grants to local nonprofit and governmental groups: Commissioners Mike Clark and Mariluz Garcia proposed allocating portions of their respective District Special Funds to various nonprofit and governmental organizations.
Commissioner Clark’s allocations:
- $5,000 to the Down Syndrome Network of Northern Nevada
- $5,000 to Nevada Youth Empowerment Project
- $5,000 to Opportunity Alliance NV
- $5,000 to Robert Unsworth Foundation
- $5,000 to Truckee Meadows Housing Solutions
- $3,750 to Nevada Center for Civic Engagement
- $3,750 to Sanford Center for Aging
- $2,500 to Forever14
- $2,500 to Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada
- $2,500 to Great Basin Chaplain Corps
- $2,500 to India Association of Northern Nevada
- $2,500 to the Neighbor Network of Northern Nevada
- $2,500 to Northern Nevada Sikh Society
- $2,500 to Palomino Valley Pet Rescue
Commissioner Garica’s allocations:
- $1,600 to Reno Housing Authority
- $1,500 Awaken
- $1,500 to Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada
- $1,500 to the Holland Project
- $1,500 to Tu Casa Latina
- $1,000 to Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada Food Pantry
- $1,000 to Sun Valley General Improvement District’s Dive into Summer program
4. Board reappoints Jason Geddes to Nevada Clean Energy Fund Board of Directors: The Board voted unanimously to reappoint Jason Geddes to the board of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund to represent Washoe County for a three-year term. The Nevada Clean Energy Fund was created by the Nevada State Legislature in 2017 to promote investments in clean energy projects that will improve the quality of life for Nevadans while reducing the cost of these projects and creating high-paying jobs.
5. Board appoints member to the Washoe County Regional Animal Services Advisory Board: The Washoe County Regional Animal Services Advisory Board is composed of seven members representing districts of Washoe County and specific professions and interests. The Board appointed Diaz Dixon to fill the seat representing a humane or rescue organization, for four-year terms to begin July 1. A second appointment was tabled to be heard at a future date.
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