The following are highlights from today’s Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting:
1. Clara Andriola joins County Commission: Judge Lynne Simons conducted the formal swearing-in of Clara Andriola as District 4 County Commissioner. Andriola was appointed last week by Gov. Joe Lombardo to fill the seat vacated by Vaughn Hartung, who resigned to accept an appointment with the State of Nevada.
The Board also voted to appoint Vice Chair Alexis Hill, who has been serving as interim chair, as chair. To fill her place as vice chair, the board voted for Commissioner Jeanne Herman as vice chair.
“Elected in 2020, Commissioner Hill has already had a successful track record as interim chair and has already demonstrated strong leadership skills, organizational and work ethic,” Commissioner Mariluz Garcia said. “Commissioner Herman’s constituents elected her in 2014, 2018, and 2022 and she has entered her ninth year of service. Due to her long-term dedication, I believe Commissioner Herman should serve as vice chair.” The Board will discuss the other boards and committee appointments left vacant by Hartung’s resignation at the next commission meeting on April 18.
2. Board passes “guaranteed maximum price” agreement for construction at the Cares Campus: The Board of County Commissioners revisited an item authorizing Phase 3 construction at the Cares Campus. Clark Sullivan Construction was awarded the construction contract for the Intake Center, which includes a security checkpoint, nurse’s station, case management, counseling and staff offices, and a break room, as well as other necessary infrastructure such as perimeter fencing, landscaping, roadways, parking lots, and underground utilities. The Phase 3 Project also includes the remodel of an existing storage building into a Resource Center with capacity for overflow sleeping and includes restrooms, showers, laundry facilities and storage as well as other supporting elements.
The guaranteed maximum price (GMP) is just over $28 million, and construction is slated to begin this week. The overall budget for the Cares Campus construction is $78.7 million, nearly half of which ($38 million) is paid through the interlocal cost-share agreement with City of Reno and City of Sparks. Nearly $40 million is funded by state and federal grants.
“This procedurally is a contract that has already gone through major vetting, so I think today’s presentation, information and questions are really helpful to those of us who are newer than others, Commissioner Andriola said. “As this project continues to move forward, I hope we will see those outcomes and get those reports on how this project is going and see any cost savings or allocations of funds that are being saved.”
3. Board approves lease for permanent housing at Cares Campus: The Board approved a lease agreement with Accessible Space Inc. (ASI) to develop a 120-unit housing complex on land adjacent to the Cares Campus. The parcel of land was purchased from the Reno Housing Authority for the express purpose of developing affordable supportive housing for those transitioning out of homelessness.
ASI has received grant funding to develop the housing, pending the lease agreement.
“This is a state and federally funded project, and the county is providing the land to lease,” Chair Hill said. “If we said no to this today, we’d be walking away from $18 million in state and federal funds.”
Chair Hill added: “We have so many partners coming to the table to help with this and that’s why I’m supportive of this. This is housing, and that’s how you get people out of homelessness.”
4. Board approves third-party review of the election process: The Elections Group is currently conducting an intensive study of the operations of the Registrar of Voters Office on behalf of the County Manager. The Board of County Commissioners approved an allocation from the county’s Contingency Fund for the contract of $100,000. If the Board is satisfied with the work, they will be asked to approve a second scope of work and additional budget. The motion, proposed by Commissioner Andriola, added the provision that the county’s Audit Committee will lead oversight of the process with the Board of County Commissioners.
“I asked staff last week, ‘How long have we known we have problems?’ And it’s been decades, we’re all in agreement that things need to be improved,” Commissioner Garcia said. “So as directed, staff began the process to bring us where we are today. We confirmed in our meeting in January an interest in investing in infrastructure process and staffing. We said that. This is exactly that. This is an investment, we don’t have any more time, and we have a path moving forward, and I’m in support of this item.”
Commissioner Mike Clark voiced his opposition to the contract with The Elections Group, saying: “In meeting with Manager Brown and going over the budgets with the budget people, it looks like our income is going to diminish in the county and I think there’s better ways to do this and more cost-effective ways of doing this.”
5. Commission conducts public hearing on appeal of approval for geothermal project in Gerlach: In January 2023, the Board of Adjustment approved an administrative permit for Ormat Geothermal Exploration to begin drilling up to 13 test wells northwest of Gerlach. The Burning Man Project appealed the permit, which would allow Ormat to improve and grade an access road and grade up to 13 well pads that are 2.1 acres each. The project would have a maximum potential of 32 acres of ground disturbance including the access road improvements.
The applicant currently holds geothermal leases on the associated parcels through the Bureau of Land Management. Since the project is located on federal land, it has also gone through the NEPA process. A “Finding of No Significant Impact” based on an environmental assessment (EA) was issued on October 21, 2022.
The board voted to overturn the approval by the Board of Adjustment in support of Burning Man’s appeal of the permit. Commissioners Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark were concerned that Gerlach residents did not have ample opportunity to provide feedback on the project. They were joined by Commissioner Andriola in the vote to overturn the permit approval.
6. CSD presents overview of the Golden Valley Artificial Recharge Program: Washoe County Division Director of Engineering and Capital Projects Dwayne Smith, Community Services Department (CSD), presented an overview of the Golden Valley Artificial Recharge Program, launched after a pilot study in the 1980s showed failing domestic wells and declining water levels in Golden Valley. Residents requested that Washoe County create a program to return (recharge) water to the ground, so in 2002, the county started the program, funded by a monthly fee of $22.66 per parcel.
The program involves 596 residential lots and two commercial lots, as well as a water meter, pipeline and four injection wells, potable water source, domestic and monitoring wells. The groundwater levels have risen dramatically due to precipitation and natural recharge so Washoe County stopped injecting water in 2016, but the program management and oversight has not stopped.
More than 90 percent of new water entering the valley is from precipitation, and findings show that artificial recharge will not resume in the foreseeable future.
The current fund balance is just over $700,000. CSD has conducted recent public outreach to the affected residents to gauge the future of the recharge program. Options include:
- Pause the monthly payments but continue monitoring,
- Terminating the program,
- Pause the program and pause the monthly payments,
- Continue monthly payments and refine the program,
- Continue the program and apply funds balance to localized activities,
- Continue the program as dictated by the county ordinance
The first option, pausing the payments but continuing to monitor the water levels, received the strongest support at 48 percent of participants. Based on community feedback, CSD plans to present a first reading of a proposed ordinance change that captures the direction given by the residents, specifically spotting the monthly payments but maintaining the option to recharge in the future.
“I want to reaffirm the commitment from the community through this process. I have been with Washoe County for about 17 years, and I’ve done a lot of public meetings, and I have to tell you that the outcome of this is a little different than where I thought we were going to get to, and it really is community-driven,” Smith said. “This is not Washoe County directing which way this is going to go, this is staff at Washoe County listening to community members giving their input and their direction of where this program needs to go.”
The presentation was for discussion only, and no action was taken by the Board.
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