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1_ Minden NEVADA A Special Meeting of the Minden Town Board was held at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, at the Town Board and Manager’s Office, CVIC Hall Annex, 1604 Esmeralda Avenue, Suite 201, Minden, Nevada. Board members in attendance: Ross Chichester, Bob Hadfield, Dave Sheets, John Stephans, and Steve Thaler. Staff present: George Keele, Trish Koepnick, Bruce Scott and Roger Van Alyne 1. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Hadfield at 7:00 2. Pledge of Allegiance was led by Bob Hadfield 3. Stephans/Thaler moved for the approval of the agenda. Motion carried unanimously. 4. Public Comment: a. Bev Giannopolus said that she was glad to see the Gateway cleanup and hopes that it continues. Administrative Agenda: 5. Discussion and possible action to direct staff to prepare estimate(s) of grant match funding for the proposed SR 88/Cottonwood Slough Hazard Mitigation Project (Project) to be included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011/2012 budget. Appearance by Town Manager. Mr. Hadfield, Mr. Chichester, Mr. Stephans disclosed that they lived in the affected area and they would be beneficiary to Mack land not flooding. Because of the pecuniary interest they had of their Mackland homes would not be benefited disproportionately to other people in Mackland specifically, they intended to participate and vote in this matter. Bob does not benefit any more or less than any others in the neighborhood. Mr. Keele also disclosed that although ineligible to vote he also had benefit no greater than any others and he will also participate. New bits of information include the contribution of $350,000 by NDOT and the in kind $50,000 easements. NDOT also wants a design change from arch to box culverts, which may bring the cost down. The action today is only to give staff direction to put an amount into the budget for approval next year. This would be a commitment to budgeting next year. Mr. Thaler questioned if we are going to do it, why we don’t commit to it for this year and carry it over. Mr. Keele noted that the contingency is voting based on the assumption that others match Mr. Anderson said Douglas County and Carson Water Subconservancy District have committed. We are now looking at a revised project total of $2,480,000 with a required match at $25% of $620,080.00 allowing 15% contingency for design and permits. CWSD has committed to $40,000 plus in kind expenses and Douglas County at staff level (County manager) has committed to $40,000 plus in kind expenses, but this has not ---PAGE BREAK--- Minden Town Board Minutes October 26, 2010 Page 2 of 4 yet been approved by the Board of Commissioners. No commitments have come yet from neighboring beneficiaries. Mr. Hadfield said that NDOT could come up with substantial in kind match and it would delay them from building a bridge for a number of years. He felt that NDT would make up the rest rather than let the project go down the tube. He believed that the Town ought to match at 40,000 plus in kind. Mr. Anderson said that the $40,000 was first offered by Douglas County, and CWSD agreed to offer no more than the County. There is no guarantee to take everything out of flood plain but Rob anticipates it will take a lot out, with farther away properties most likely the most benefited. Those closer to the slough are less likely to come out of the flood zone. Renee Mack is prepared to grant the easement. According to NDOT arch is hydraulically less efficient, and the box culverts is a reasonable request. Mr. Chichester questioned where the money would come from when we are hard pressed to come up with the money for the maintenance yard. Mr. Hadfield said that if this would prevent flooding and it protects our well sites also. Mr. Chichester said that he has no faith in FEMA; it is all random and can change from year to year. In 1997 there was no water in the field of the Mack Ranch. It was the river not the slough that was full. Mr. Anderson agreed with Ross that it did not make sense; the bulk of the flows listed in the flood plain map show greater flows on the Slough side than on the river side, which is erroneous. However, 75% of the money comes from the people that drew that arbitrary line but there is no guarantee yet because the model hasn’t been done yet. Mr. Thaler asked where we would get the money. Mr. Chichester expressed concern again over funding the maintenance facility. Mr. Hadfield disagreed; we can invest the money from the pipeline reimbursement and hookup fees for outside of Minden will come back. We need to prepare for the future. Mr. Chichester said we should not leave the new board in a bad fiscal position. Mr. Thaler was told that the money would come out of capital construction which is the same as the facility. His biggest concern is the lack of commitments by other beneficiaries including the County, which has not officially committed yet. Mr. Anderson said there is not one agency that does not believe that this is a very important project. Gardnerville will not benefit because the flood plain is flat and it will not go back far enough. Mr. Hadfield said that the key is deciding if this project is worth funding or not. We can argue this to death; if bridge gets blocked, the highway is a dam. Mr. Sheets agreed that he does not want to mortgage the farm and put a future board into jeopardy. Decision should not be about the change in the Board but the need to vote conscience for this project. Mr. Scott believed that the East Fork Fire and East Fork Swimming Pool District could possibly commit for their next budget because it would be a definite benefit to them. ---PAGE BREAK--- Minden Town Board Minutes October 26, 2010 Page 3 of 4 Mr. Stephans was concerned with no guarantee of change by FEMA. Also, why did we not work this earlier? Where are the others with the vested interest? We are being put in a position of pressure, and we have issues that we need to address because of projects that we have committed to. Mr. Anderson said that they anticipated and asked NDOT for $500,000. He agreed that they should have gone to the other entities but originally felt that the Town, CWSD and NDOT were primary players. Mr. Keele and Mr. Anderson agreed to approach the other benefiting entities. Mr. Thaler agreed that it is hard to commit when there are so many unknowns, and we are not going to make or break this. Our own project is the priority right now. He would feel more comfortable committing $40,000 in kind at this time rather than cash. The other parties who will really benefit should be pitching in too. Mr. Anderson noted that one of the reasons for pushing it for this year is that the grants will be going from 75/25 match to 55/45, showing a retraction of federal government participation. He also said that the Town could solicit other beneficiaries within the Town to be part of contribution. Public comment: Bev Giannpulos expressed concern about the poor timing. She felt that the feds come up with money out of the sky and this could be put off to another time when it would be more beneficial to our budget. Sheets/Thaler moved to direct staff to prepare estimates for funding for the project to be included in the fiscal year 2010-11. Mr. Hadfield clarified that what we are doing is authorizing to go forward with an application to the Federal government, and that the Town is committing, if the project goes through, to participate in an amount not to exceed $40,000 either in kind or dollars or combination thereof. Motion carried with Hadfield voting aye and Chichester/Stephans voting nay. 6. Discussion and possible action to approve, approve with conditions, continue, or deny a request for funds not to exceed $7,500 for holiday activities, to include purchase holiday decorations. Appearance by Town Manager. Mr. Van Alyne summarized what is going on with holiday preparation; this is what the Town is committing to from the general fund. One large item in the budget is the two new street lines with LED lights that would replace the existing decorations that hang across the street. Mr. Stephans said that this is a better deal than the tent. Public comment: Beverly Giannopulos thanked the Board for supporting the Christmas events. Chichester/Stephans moved to approve the request for funds not to exceed $7,500 for holiday activities to include purchase of holiday decorations. Motion carried unanimously. 7. Adjournment ---PAGE BREAK--- Minden Town Board Minutes October 26, 2010 Page 4 of 4 Thaler/Stephans moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 a.m. Motion carried unanimously.