The Churchill County Commissioners held their regular meeting this past Thursday and discussed several important issues.
In an effort to get ahead of the funding game brought on by the one trillion-dollar federal infrastructure bill that was passed in mid-November, the commissioners will hire Shaw Engineering to prepare a Preliminary Engineering Report for the construction of a water treatment plant planned for the corner of Rice Road and Moody Lane. County Public Works Director Chris Spross and County Manager Jim Barbee stated having the PER in hand when funding opportunities come up is a necessity to taking advantage of existing grants and the funding in the infrastructure bill.
“We do have a $300,000 earmark grant request in play, we are not sure when or if that’s going to move so while we’re bringing this forward now is specifically because we would not qualify for any of the infrastructure granting funds, of which there are several billion earmarked for community water development without the preliminary engineering done,” said Barbee. The project will cost $295,000 and will cover the cost of two monitoring wells that will help determine the best location for production wells, an environmental review, as well as the preparation of the PER.
Spross reported the existing Sand Creek water treatment plant has a capacity of 1,449 EDU (Effluent Discharge Unit), capable of serving 1,294 single-family dwellings or 2,588 multi-family units. With current users and planned projects in the pre-development stage, Sand Creek is at 998 EDUs. “With our current plant, we have 451 EDUs remaining,” said Spross, “which is about 451 single-family homes or 805 multi-family units or a blend in between there.” He said the county has released a Request for Proposal for the Coleman Road Multi-Family Housing Project which will take 202 of the existing EDUs, further reducing the capacity of the plant. “With the projects, we have potentially on the horizon, it will not take very much to deplete what we have left in terms of capacity.”
In other business, commissioners approved a $16,480 remodel and update of the office and phone system at the Churchill County Museum. “Right now, our archival holdings are in three different areas in two different buildings, and we’ve already consolidated our photo collection, which makes a huge difference not only in the accessibility but in the preservation of these records,” said Teri Hedgpeth, Museum Director. Commissioner Greg Koenig said, “Teri, you’re doing a great job and I think this new configuration will be beneficial and make things more efficient.”
Geof Stark, Human Resources Director, and Shannon Ernst, Social Services Director asked commissioners to reclassify the Senior Center Manager position held by Jamie Lee to Senior and Disabled Services Manager and upgradefrom Grade 60 making $62,088 per year to a Grade 68, at $75,691 each year. Commissioners approved the request which will begin with the next pay period effective Dec. 13. The position will now oversee a sub-department within Social Services. The position continues as an at-will appointment, with Lee serving at the pleasure of the Social Services Director. As the evaluation of services continues since the county assumed management of the Life Center, staff has determined there is an opportunity to provide more diverse services to the community including the provision of services to disabled individuals in the community.
Commissioners also approved an agreement with Mineral County similar to the one with Eureka County made on November 4, which moves the county closer to forming a local Public Health District. Social Services Director Shannon Ernst has been working with Mineral County and will begin recruiting Mineral County residents to provide public health services in Hawthorne, a part-time Community Health Nurse, and a full-time Resource Liaison. Because the county anticipates challenges in finding employees, the commissioners agreed to an advanced step of no more than the third step of the salary ranges. The total cost to provide these services is $102,000 and is covered by a grant through the State of Nevada made specifically to provide these services.
Dr. Tedd McDonald, who has served as the County Health Officer for several years was reappointed to the position in answer to a Request for Qualifications answered only by him. The position pays an annual salary of $24,000. Civil Deputy Ben Shawcroft explained that there is still the issue of negotiating the insurance provisions of the contract which will decide the appropriate level required for the position and the possibility of the POOL offering coverage.
Commission Chairman Pete Olsen said that the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe has considered and has tabled a potential action to locate a recreational marijuana dispensary on the Reno Highway. “That is something that could be coming to us, in our community, but it is considered reservation property so we will have to see how that works out.”
He also reported that the county will send a letter in response to the Vice-Admiral of the U.S. Navy as an invitation from the county to the Navy in response to the Fallon Range Training Complex “recognizing the things in the letter from the Vice-Admiral where we have an agreement and recognizing the things we haven’t settled yet and trying to open the door for us to have a meeting with them and the Department of Interior and the Congressional Budget Office to see if we can’t continue to move toward resolution.”
Commissioners adjourned to conduct the annual departmental tours, ending up at the 3C Arena and then the Extension Office. Barbee reported that interviews for the vacant Extension Agent position had recently been conducted and an offer had been made, with more information coming soon.
Comment
Comments