Churchill County Commission - Notes from the Notes from the July 17 Meeting

Three new library board of trustees members were appointed during the last County Commission meeting. Ryan Swirczek and Sari Koehler will serve four-year terms ending June 30, 2028, and Sue Segura will serve an unexpired term ending October 31, 2026. Swirczek and Koehler replace Ashlee McGarity and Tara Price-Gritzmacher, whose terms expired on June 30, 2024. Segura will fill the vacant seat left when Kelli Kelly resigned earlier this year. Open positions were advertised, and seven applications were received. 

The Bureau of Land Management Acting Stillwater Field Manager Shedra Rakestraw presented to commissioners, providing an update on implementing the National Defense Authorization Act and activities associated with the Fallon Range Training Complex expansion. The District Office is working through the federal hiring process to hire a project manager for the NNDA. So far, the office has hired two Realty Specialists and a Land Law Examiner and is still setting the Range Specialist’s start date. 

Work toward planning Sand Canyon Road is in process, and the BLM is meeting regularly with the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Navy regarding affected grazing permittees. 

The BLM is currently involved in two geothermal projects in Churchill County: Dixie Meadows, which is hung up between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Navy, and Diamond Flat, which is in the NEPA process (National Environmental Policy Act). 

The Vegas to Reno Off-Highway Vehicle Race is scheduled for August 14.

The BLM is continuing work on the Vero Fiber Optic Line that will cross eight counties, install 450 miles of buried fiber, and the Green Link West transmission line spanning 477 miles between Reno and North Las Vegas. 

Jeremy Drew, Principal Resource Specialist with Resource Concepts, Inc., also reported on the items he tracks concerning public lands and natural resources on behalf of Churchill County. He said that federal agencies are working on the FRTC implementation and the Lands Bill that was part of the NNDA, which Radestrow discussed. According to Drew, the Navy has been focused on private land acquisition in Dixie Valley to implement range expansion. Their second focus has been on the B-16 Range and working toward the Lone Tree and Sand Canyon Road changes. The work on getting funding in place is also a parallel focus. 

The grazing appraisals are being worked on, and that process will shape the compensations in other ranges in the future. The Gabbs Valley Highway realignment work is also in process and is part of the B-17 Range mitigation. 

The commission also renewed the contract with RCI through June 2026 and authorized an amount not to exceed $85,000 annually. County Manager Jim Barbee said, “I cannot reenforce enough the good work that RCI and specifically Jeremy does for Churchill County and how important this contract is as we move forward with the implementation of the NNDA.”

In other business, Commissioners approved the transfer of the county’s 2024 Private Activity Bond Volume Cap to Nevada Rural Housing Authority. This request is made yearly by local governments that do not allocate the bond cap to local projects, preventing them from reverting to the State of Nevada. NRHA pools the transferred funds with transfers from other counties and municipalities for single-family housing programs to assist first-time home buyers. Since 2006, when NRHA began pooling the bond cap transfers, they have helped provide over $67 million in mortgages to 343 homebuyers in Churchill County and provided $1.8 million in down payment assistance to homebuyers in the county.

A contract with Lombard Conrad Architects for $200,340 for the architecture and design work on the old Penney’s building at 290 S. Maine was approved. The county received funding through the American Rescue Plan to purchase facilities to house the Central Nevada Health District, the Social Services Department, and the Rural Public Health Laboratory. Of the original $1,600,000 award, $595,049 remains and will be used to cover this contract. The funding expires in December 2026.

Additionally, the county commissioners approved the purchase of the property located at 65 N. Carson Street, adjacent to the current fire truck department, for $225,000. The property will be used to construct a maintenance shop facility for the Churchill/Fallon Volunteer Fire Department. 

Barbee reported that he has received notice that the county’s applications for the BLM Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act funding program are being forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior for approval. The $42 million funding will be used to expand the 3C Complex and the City of Fallon ballparks on North Maine Street. He anticipates that the design of those projects will begin in the next fiscal year.

The Churchill County Commissioners meet on the first Thursday of each month at 8:15 a.m. and on the third Wednesday at 1:15 p.m.