Elko County Board of Commissioners

Transcription

1 540 Court Street, Suite 101, Elko, Nevada Phone Fax Commissioners Delmo Andreozzi Demar Dahl Cliff Eklund Jon Karr Rex Steninger Elko County Manager Robert K. Stokes Executive Assistant Michele Petty Clerical Assistant Shyann Edgar STATE OF NEVADA ) COUNTY OF ELKO ) ss. The Board of Elko County Commissioners met in regular session on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, at 1:30 p.m., at the Carlin City Hall, 101 S. 8 th Street, Carlin, NV A. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Eklund called the meeting to order. The Commissioners introduced themselves. B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Dana Holbrook, Carlin City Mayor, led the meeting participants in the Pledge of Allegiance. C. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Burt Gurr, Wildlife Advisory Board Chairman, advised the Southfork park ranger had posted no hunting in three areas around the lake. He stated they do not have to take public input in order to close it down, they just have to have complaints. He thought there should be public input. He advised the majority of the people at the meeting lived at Southfork and hunted in Southfork. The park ranger put these regulations in place. He thought the Commission should be aware of this. Commissioner Dahl advised he made a presentation to the wildlife commission, and people were afraid they would lose hunting land once the land was transferred to the state. He stated they could go to legislature if something comes down from the state that they don t agree with. Burt stated that the people believe the state has the right to do whatever they want with state land. Commissioner Steninger stated this would be a great topic for resource information hearings. Burt stated he wasn t sure of the Park Ranger s name. The Park Ranger had stated there had been complaints about people shooting near the lake. Commissioner Steninger advised he will try to get the name and get this placed on an agenda. Burt commented regarding the Van Norman access and stated he had spoken to the BLM resource manager, it appeared it s in Van Norman s court to decide where they want their cattle guards. They are starting the process to get cattle guards in and need to move quickly to have it done Page 1

2 by next hunting season. They have three sites identified for cattle guards, one of which will be done by the County and two will be done by the BLM. Commissioner Andreozzi spoke regarding Southfork and asked if there were agreements out there that contained language relative to that type of control. Kristin McQueary stated she would have to search in the Recorder s office. Burt did not remember that language nor did Randy Brown. Chairman Eklund advised a lot of the money used for building Southfork came from the Elko County Rec Board, so Elko County should have some say. Burt stated that maybe they should put the county game warden on future agendas for a report in case something needs to be brought up. He stated the Wildlife Advisory Board didn t meet monthly, only about 8 times per year. D. RECOGNITIONS D.1. Discussion and consideration of Proclamation titled "A PROCLAMATION DECLARING FEBRUARY 2017 AS NATIONAL RADON ACTION MONTH IN ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA. Commissioner Steninger moved to approve. Commissioner Dahl seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Andreozzi read the declaration in to the record and presented a plaque to Jill Tingey. E. WELLS HIGH SCHOOL FFA E.1. Presentation from the Wells High School FFA titled "Grazing in the West". This 7 member club will be presenting this controversial topic in agriculture as part of their preparation for state and national conventions. Liberty Johnson, Hyram Johnson, Logan Ballard, Ruth Gail, Jade Kelly, Laila Jackson and Mathew James from the Wells FFA introduced themselves and presented an agriculture presentation to the Board. The presentation was based on livestock grazing in the West. They discussed the pros and cons of grazing. Commissioner Karr commended the group and suggested that they include that the first shipment of beef came in from Brazil in October and suggested they discuss which is more sustainable in the west. Commissioner Dahl asked if they were familiar with sage grouse and the problem in maintaining their habitat. He asked if they had studied the implication of grazing on sage grouse in the 1950s compared to now. Logan Ballard believed that cattle grazing on sage grouse land was quite beneficial because cattle will leave the sage grouse habitat alone and eat the grass down, providing sage grouse with better habitat. Commissioner Steninger suggested they should look at the historical record of Elko County. For example, Peter Ogden came through in 1828 and nearly starved to death. Then ranchers moved in and started grazing, and by the 1950 s Elko County was a mecca for wildlife. Then federal agencies cut down grazing and now there are less than half the animals as back then, and much less wildlife. Commissioner Andreozzi commended the group and asked what grades they were in, to which they responded. He stated he leaned towards grazing, and it was an interesting topic. Page 2

3 Chairman Eklund stated they did a great job on both sides of the argument. He advised he just came from a presentation in honor of Grant Gerber, who was pro grazing and Grant said when they had thousands of sheep and cattle on range, the deer herds were far more abundant as were birds. He stated he thought everything could cohabitate if managed properly. Commissioner Andreozzi asked what their future plans for this presentation were. The students advised they will present to different agencies before going to the State competition to compete with other FFA chapters. F. ELKO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE F.1. Discussion and consideration of approval of the renewal of the Interstate Interlocal Contract Between Public Agencies and the DA Child Support Enforcement. Kristin McQueary stated this was a renewal from , a continuation of the child support contract. This is a pass through of federal dollars through the state, 66% is reimbursed from the state and it in part pays for child support workers and non-welfare cases for Lander County and Elko County. Kristin asked that the board approve the renewal. Commissioner Andreozzi asked if Elko took on Eureka and Lander county cases. Kristin advised Lander County had problems with their program, so Elko was asked to take these on. She advised there were a miniscule number of Lander County cases, maybe 3-4 per year. Commissioner Dahl moved to approve. Commissioner Andreozzi seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. G. ELKO COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS G.1. Update on Emergency Community Water Assistance Grant awarded to Elko County for the Montello Spring Development and Tank Rehab project. The spring development was recently awarded $500,000 and the tank rehab $125,000. Chairman Eklund advised this item would be tabled. Commissioner Andreozzi moved to table this agenda item. Commissioner Dahl seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. H. ELKO COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING H.1. Discussion and consideration to change the Elko County Building Code to clarify requirements for hoop houses by adding a new subsection exempting certain structures known as "hoop houses" or "high tunnels" from the building code. Dan Lostpeich addressed the board advising he was representing a group of Elko County vegetable producers. He stated they were seeking an exemption to building code and permitting requirements. He advised hoop houses were different from greenhouses, and they are designed to be standalone structures, frames covered with thin plastic covers. They come in all different sizes, and are exclusively for agricultural use. Chairman Eklund asked if these were under consideration for marijuana grow use. Page 3

4 Dan advised none of the current members used them for marijuana, all their members use them for vegetable production for personal and commercial use. Chairman Eklund stated there would have to be specific limitation on the use of them. Randy Brown stated that he had met with Dan and agreed to look into finding a waiver form, but with the flooding he had not had a chance to talk to the building department. He stated they will go back to the codes and see what waivers they can come up with, and offer the board a formal presentation. Dan stated these producers could start using them immediately. He stated every day producers go without being able to put these up is dollars lost. Commissioner Dahl stated that these can typically be put up in a day, but they may have to have 3 inspections during the building phase. Dan advised they require three inspections and permits costing between $850-$1000 for a structure kit that costs $10,000. Engineer stamped plans are required, and those prices typically range between $0.75 to $3 per square foot. He noted that for a 3000 square foot structure the cost of plans could equal the price of the structure. Commissioner Dahl stated he thought it was a good idea for the County to not have control of some things and was not concerned about this issue. Commissioner Karr stated there were a lot of requirements to grow marijuana. Sheriff Pitts advised according to statute there had to be 8 foot fences, as well as proper permitting. Chairman Eklund asked if manufacturers had engineer plans. Dan stated they do not offer that service. Commissioner Steninger stated this was an example of bureaucracy out of control. He noted Washoe County had permitted this. Randy stated that any building that could be inhabited, the County is liable for because they allowed it to be built. Chairman Eklund asked if they were to change the code, if it relieved them of liability. Randy advised it did not unless the State statute changed. Commissioner Andreozzi advised that he supported what Dan was trying to do. His concern was the code being talked about was normally for a shed, and if approved as written, other county parcels could have the same. Kristin McQueary stated building codes are different from zoning codes. They were given the task by the State to have building codes, and they can do some limited adjustments to them but it takes an ordinance process. She advised this was a prime time to talk about this on a State wide basis. Randy stated they were originally talking about an agriculture exemption and they are willing to sit down at a staff level and try to figure out what they can do and look at liabilities. Dan thanked Randy Brown and staff for their help. As for the Washoe County exemption, he found two ordinances and will them to the staff and commission for their review. Commissioner Karr moved to table this item. Commissioner Andreozzi seconded the motion. The motion carried with a majority vote. Chairman Eklund advised the board would hear Agenda item J at this time. J. ELKO COUNTY FISCAL AFFAIRS J.1. Update on the upcoming budget process including schedule. Cash Minor advised there was a schedule in the packet. He stated meetings were being set up with departments, and the budget committee will meet on March 14 th. He reviewed the memo from Debbie Page 4

5 Armuth regarding fiscal year , noting that revenues had increased 5.3% and expenditures had increased 16.5% which resulted in an ending fund balance of 58% over the last 4 years. He stated that unfunded mandates from the State are a huge problem, and the fund balance for will likely be below 4%. He stated there will likely be a bill in legislature to move the Public Administrator from an elected position to an appointed position. He reviewed the items, advising that ADS, a software that supports Elko County, will no longer support the County as of December He advised the cost estimate for replacement will likely be $3-5 million. This will be paid over a period of years, not all at once. Commissioner Andreozzi stated this concerned everyone who is involved in the tax system in Elko County. Cash stated the involved departments had a meeting scheduled to look at other systems. He added that voting machines will need to be replaced before the next presidential election. He stated what they were spending now was for maintenance. He discussed facility repair for the library and courthouse, but advised those could put off. He discussed vehicle replacement plans for the Sheriff s Department. Chairman Eklund advised they leased 12 vehicles last year, but due to budget constrictions they were unable to lease any this year. Cash stated the previous lease was budgeted, but the new lease was not budgeted for. Commissioner Karr stated that more budget presentation needed to be made to the whole board, compartmentalized by department, and Commissioner Steninger agreed. Cash stated the bargaining units took zero increases, zero step increases and zero longevity increases. Their agreement will expire June 30 th, so they will be back in negotiations. He advised there were over $2 million in requests for staffing, the juvenile detention center control board needs updated and a bill may be coming regarding law enforcement body cameras. The Supreme Court panel is looking to put in a bill that would move indigent defense back to the state, the counties would have to contribute the average from three years of their budget to support that. Commissioner Andreozzi advised this proposal bothered him, he thought if Elko County was meeting standards then control should be kept here. Cash advised this was being driven by the ACLU. He discussed unfunded mandates, noting that for they were looking at paying out roughly $2.4 million, and for they were looking at $3.2 million and another $3.1 million in He discussed other items on the list including presentence investigations, China Springs and Medicaid. Commissioner Andreozzi commented that they are using ending fund balance to cover expenses. Chairman Eklund stated the contingency fund started at $300 thousand and they have had to take money from last year s contingency fund to float the budget this year. Commissioner Andreozzi advised it was important to mention that proceeds from Long Canyon have not come in yet, and they might not be what they were hoping for. Commissioner Steninger stated that the reason he requested to take this agenda item first, was the next item was the emergency flooding and he wanted everyone to be aware of the budget issues. Commissioner Karr advised he thought they needed to go department by department looking at each budget. I. ELKO COUNTY BOARD OF HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS I.1. Update on the recent flooding activities and preparations for spring melt. Terry Lister, Roads Supervisor, asked for questions from the board. Chairman Eklund asked how many roads total were damaged. Terry advised probably 70%, but they didn t know what shape the no winter maintenance roads were in. He stated the Montello highway was washed out in 3 different places and between Montello and Utah was completely gone. Page 5

6 Randy Brown advised Granite Construction was out there working on it. He stated they have equipment from NDOT in Pilot Valley. Terry stated the school bus for pilot valley was running. He advised NDOT had ran 5 trucks with theirs, he thought after one more day they may be able to go to other areas. Randy stated it is estimated for a week and a half to two weeks for repairs on the Montello highway. He noted this was just for gravel. Commissioner Andreozzi commented that the roads crew had been working on all subdivisions to get emergency access. He stated the Emergency Declaration gave them the ability to address some roads not typically on the maintenance system, and identify any damaged infrastructure. Randy stated that they might not get any assistance at all, but they would be going forward with the assessment. He added that there were three areas they could not get into that had to be addressed. Terry advised that the road department hadn t hardly touched their overtime until last week. He advised the BLM had been gracious and let them into their pit in Ryndon so they wouldn t have to pay for that material. He stated they could probably transfer funds from the RTC budget. He stated as for the County maintained roads, the County crews can get the majority of them done by themselves if people can be patient. He added that if people want them done immediately they may have to look at a contractor. If they have to start putting in culverts, the cost will go up. He stated for years the roads department skimped on culverts and are paying the price now. Commissioner Andreozzi inquired regarding Last Chance Road, and Terry advised there weren t any problems. Terry advised the Southfork road had flooded but had a temporary fix. He stated the roads committee, Randy and himself will have to sit down and discuss the non-maintained areas. Annette Kerr, Elko County Sheriffs Department, stated they had a meeting with all City Managers and the HOA from Spring Creek. She stated she had been tasked to start putting together a flood recovery phase. She advised there were critical components to start looking at funding and financial assistance, including the proclamation, the disaster declaration and Governor Sandoval s Declaration. She stated those allowed them to ask for assistance and resources throughout the state. Once the declaration from the County came in, it was put under an umbrella with 5 other counties, then it goes to FEMA from the state. The County cannot go to FEMA and bypass the State. She stated the Counties have to show their expenses of $3.8 million, and right now they are only at $605,000. They have been given a list of what can be claimed and what cannot. Individual businesses and houses can t be claimed, the levy on the 21 Mile Dam that broke is on private land and cannot be claimed. Pilot road in and out can be claimed. She advised another issue was if they keep increasing costs and they don t get assistance, they are going to have to cover those expenses. She advised if the state doesn t meet the $3.8 million requirement they will not get FEMA funds. She discussed other options including state disaster funds, USGA and other various grants. She advised if they make the $3.8 million threshold, the County will have to come up with 25% of the expenses but that doesn t guarantee that it will be reimbursed. She stated two types of work are eligible for reimbursement, all emergency work, sandbagging, any crews sent out on roads and overtime can be calculated. Recovery repair will be a big caveat, and she had asked entities to put together preliminary damage assessments. The County has 30 days to get the assessments done. They are working on getting that together, then there is a 60 day time frame for the State to get FEMA here to do an assessment. She said current budgets may not be at a level to handle recovery projects that the teams bring back. She does not know if they will meet the threshold levels. They can t use state route 233, as that is an NDOT road. They can use the cities numbers in their calculations but nothing that is federal or state affiliated. She noted any contractors offering services are going through Randy. She advised they have to be cautious of volunteers as they could be a liability if someone were to get hurt. They have someone set up to coordinate volunteers. She advised the agencies may want to see maintenance records to see if they are eligible for funding. She advised the board may or may not want to go with the State, so they can have control of the projects that they want done. Page 6

7 Commissioner Andreozzi asked if the President of the United States had to be involved in this as well. Annette stated yes, the umbrella state declaration was on the governor s desk. The President would have to recognize the State of Nevada s declaration. Chairman Eklund provided Annette with a letter that was sent to the President asking him to declare Elko County a state of emergency. Annette stated she will be coming back to the commission with updates. Randy stated that they were at about $90 thousand with public works and roads. Annette stated they were waiting for the City of Elko and the City of Wells estimates. Commissioner Andreozzi commented that they did a really good job managing the incident. Annette advised they had been practicing emergency management and had plans in place. She was very proud that they prevented a major train accident by highway 233. They called the railroad hotline and let them know of the dam breach. The train was stopped on the Utah border and was carrying hazardous material which could have been very costly. She stated the deputies had done everything asked by the Sheriff and rescued quite a few families from Montello. Chairman Eklund was very impressed with the Sheriff and road crews working continuously. Commissioner Andreozzi commended NDF, the National Guard, the BLM and all agencies for working together. Commissioner Steninger inquired regarding the 30 day deadline. Annette advised they had 30 days to get estimates of repairs. Commissioner Andreozzi asked if there were any flooding reports from Carlin. David Jones, Carlin City Manager, advised that they came through this well. Carlin Canyon saw some flooding, and some ag land flooded but the City fared well. They had minor flooding in January. Margaret Johnston stated that the water tables had reached her basement in Carlin and she was pumping a foot of water out of her basement every 15 minutes. Annette Kerr stated that individuals and businesses can contact the Red Cross at Fire Station #2 for assistance. Marilou Tognarelli asked if the school district damages were included in the damage estimates. Annette stated they are getting clarification, but the school district was self-insured. Cash Minor stated that the school district was covered by the local government insurance pool. Chairman Eklund recessed the meeting. Chairman Eklund reconvened the meeting. K. LAND TRANSFER AND ACCESS PROTECTION ACT K.1. Discussion and consideration of Resolution # titled Resolution in Support of Land Transfer and Access Protection Act which is U.S. Representative Mark Amodei's congressional efforts to transfer public lands to state control. Commissioner Steninger stated that Commissioner Dahl s task force studied this for a year and determined this was a good idea. The state Senate and Assembly passed it. Mark Amodei introduced it into Congress, and it had three congressional hearings but was never voted on by the house. It died at congress and will have to be reintroduced this year. He stated at the wildlife commission meeting last week there was boisterous opposition and Commissioner Dahl was severely outnumbered. The Utah representative had severe opposition, so much so that he pulled his bill. He advised the Nevada Lands Council firmly believe that they hold the best argument and think the sportsmen are misguided. He stated they have all sent letters, but in addition they are sending this resolution to other county commissioners around the state to show support for this bill. Chairman Eklund advised he had received several s from sportsmen and there was a perception that should the land be transferred to the state it would be sold off and privatized. Page 7

8 Commissioner Steninger had also heard those complaints and they need to be addressed. He advised 7.2 million acres would be sold and they will negotiate with the sportsman to block areas of critical hunting so it couldn t be sold. They are considering rewording it so it states they just take over management, they won t have the title so they can t sell land. Chairman Eklund stated that they were reassured that any land transfer would include wording that any rights people have today on federal lands would continue on state lands. He stated it will simply be a transfer of control. Commissioner Steninger stated that was correct. It was stated they will not touch the wilderness areas or state parks. He stated people are misguided to think that this commission wanted the land closed down, they are doing it to protect access. Chairman Eklund added that the forest service had closed out roads because of the sage grouse bill. Commissioner Dahl stated 20% of Elko County had been shut down due to sage grouse. He advised mining, ranching and recreation were all being impacted by these regulations. Randy Brown stated the northern corner of the county was also shut down to exploration. Commissioner Andreozzi commented that he supported local control for many reasons and it was difficult for people 3000 miles away to control the land. Commissioner Dahl stated that in phase 2 they will transfer management, not the land. Dana Holbrook inquired regarding PILT taxes. Commissioner Steninger stated that in the original proposal, the state would take over the PILT payments to the county. Commissioner Dahl stated the Nevada land management task force report was available on the NACO website which showed how they expect to net $350 million per year by the state managing the land. Dana asked if they could get the federal government to give more PILT. Commissioner Dahl stated they don t know from year to year what they will get. Commissioner Steninger moved to approve. Commissioner Andreozzi seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. L. NEVADA LEGISLATIVE SESSION L.1. Update on the start of the 79th (2017) Nevada Legislative Session. Cash stated that there are not a lot of bills yet. NACO s bill to lower the cost of criminal reports is of significance. There are a few others he is following, but most of the big ones haven t come out yet. He advised there was a senate bill to rename the McCarran Airport to the Harry Reid International Airport. Randy advised there were a few bills relating to water rights issues, including one regarding roof run off water which could lead to surface rights problems. There is one bill regarding domestic wells, which could have some impact on our water basin. Commissioner Andreozzi commented regarding AB101 which is attempting to change what the $3 predator fees are used for. They want the $3 fees to be used for something other than predator control. M. COMMISSION MEETING CALENDAR M.1. Wednesday, March 1 and 2, County Commission Meeting - Elko - 1:30 pm M.2. Wednesday, March 15, County Commission Meeting - Elko - 1:30 pm Page 8

9 M.3. Wednesday, April 5 and 6, County Commission Meeting - Elko - 1:30 pm M.4. Wednesday, April 19, County Commission Meeting - Elko - 1:30 pm Commissioner Steninger moved to approve. Commissioner Andreozzi seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Dahl stated he would not be present at the March 1 st meeting. N. CONSENT AGENDA All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine, and may be acted upon by the Board of County Commissioners with one action, without extensive discussion. Any member of the Board or any citizen may request that an item be taken from the consent agenda, discussed and acted upon separately during this meeting. N.1. Presentation and review of claims for approval which are available for public review at the Elko County Manager's Office. N.2. Approval of Minutes. Commissioner Dahl moved to approve. Commissioner Andreozzi seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. O. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND COUNTY STAFF COMMENTS This time is devoted to comments by County Commissioners and/or County Staff for general information or update purposes. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item of the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified to be an action item. Commissioner Steninger stated that Commissioner Andreozzi had found the section of AB101 that had been changed to developing and implementing programs for management and enhancement of big game animals. Commissioner Andreozzi advised that he appreciated the crew s long hours and efforts. He updated the board that he and Commissioner Steninger had met with the LifePoint western group president and the meeting was promising. The president has committed that they are working on a plan to address concerns. If there is no cooperation, he thinks they should look at other options. He thinks it boils down to competition, anything that would compete with the hospital paid employees would compete. There was discussion regarding privileges at the hospital. Chairman Eklund stated he was in a meeting where it was said that Huntsman was looking at opening a clinic Elko. He discussed the flooding on 9th street and stated it was devastating to see. He thanked the Sheriff, roads department, emergency crews and everyone in the County that worked on the flood. He also thanked Annette Kerr and David Jones. The board thanked the City of Carlin for hosting the meeting. P. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Pursuant to NRS 241 this time is devoted to comments by the general public, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item on Page 9

10 the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified to be an action item. David Jones, Carlin City Manager, stated that they had a PER and ER on their city council agenda for approval. He advised it had been at least years since any type of water line replacement had been done. Inspections showed their water tank coding was failing, so that project is upcoming. It exceeded their budget so it will be split on fiscal years. He advised they had upgraded the SCADA system for public works which helped with their ability to deliver water and get rid of waste. He thanked the commission for coming to Carlin. Q. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the board, Chairman Eklund adjourned the meeting. APPROVED, ATTEST: CLIFF EKLUND, Chairman MICHELE MERKLEY, Deputy Clerk Page 10