Storey County Commission Meeting Preview

In an effort to prevent surprises like the Stericycle Special Use Permit approved last week, I am providing a list of items up for a vote at the next Commission Meeting.

The full agenda with the packet items can be downloaded here.

The meeting will be held on September First, at 10:00 am on zoom.us.

The login address is https://zoom. us/j/597519448 or if you already have the Zoom app installed, the meeting ID is 597 519 448. If you are dialing up, to join in, you can call (669) 900 6833, (253) 215 8782, or (301) 715 8592.

Votable Agenda Items

Item 10

Survey (USGS) up to $25,000 to continue voluntary and limited monitoring of groundwater levels and quality, aquifer conditions, and other geotechnical matters in the Virginia City Highlands, Highland Ranches, and Virginia Ranches area of Storey County during the 2020-21 fiscal year. This is a continuation of the prior year contract for this purpose.

This is a great resource for folks in the Highlands to

Item 11

Storey County, Carson City, and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) as a preliminary expression of general intention and to provide the basis for negotiations of a definitive agreement with the State of Nevada with respect to deliveries of water from the State-owned Marlette Lake Water System. Amendments will clarify language strengthening Storey County’s participating role in the MOU and clarify language regarding potential surplus water for current and future use by the parties. A definitive agreement for board consideration is planned to be ready in two years.

Water is as big as any issue for the driest state in the union. This is important to watch as we have been using water from Marlette in Virginia City for a long time. Glad to see our gubmint moving at the speed of light on this. Two. Years. For. The. Report.

Item 13

Approval of modification and extension of 2017-2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Storey County Fire Protection District (Employer) and Storey County Firefighters Association IAFF Local 4227 (Union).

Notice the date on this contract? According to y sources within the Fire Department, this should have been approved and signed a long time ago before it expired.  However, it is not unusual for the county to drag its feet on renewing contracts.

If it was up to me, no negotiation between any union and the County would be behind closed doors. 75% of the County’s budget is spent on union employees. Sadly the legislature has closed the doors to transparency when negotiating with unions.

Item 15

Consideration and possible approval of Ordinance No. 20-310 authorizing the issuance by Storey County, Nevada of its Sewer Revenue Bond, Series 2020 in the maximum principal amount of $264,000 for the construction of the sewer plant in Gold Hill, Nevada and providing other matters relating thereto.

This ordinance allows the County to max out the USDA credit card. Mike “Institutional Knowledge” Nevin managed to overrun his budget by just about that amount on his last contract. The commissioners appeared unsurprised and unconcerned about the overrun. Remind me why we pay Mr. Nevin $4500 a month to do the job our Public Works Director should be doing? Good. Old. Boys.

Item 16

County, Nevada of its Water Revenue Bonds, Series 2020A, Series 2020B, and Series 2020C in the combined maximum principal amount of $3,171,000 in order to finance the Five Mile waterline and Hillside tank projects and providing other matters relating thereto.

Storey County Water Bills will be going up again. According to people I talk to, our water bill has tripled under the Marshall and Lance show. Look forward to more of the same in the next decade. Unless you vote in two Commissioners who actually give a rip about the residents.

Item 18

Consideration and possible approval of acceptance of HA VA Election Security Grant and terms from the Nevada Secretary of State in the amount of $15,939.93 for the purpose of elections segregation and MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) Prototype Project. Source of funds is the US Election Assistance Commission.

This one is super interesting. The packet is somewhat vague, but it appears as if the intent of this is to create a virtual computer server to count the elections where the internet can’t get to it. Executed correctly, this effort could go a long way to providing security in the way we vote. Except when we vote by mail…