City may approve request for World Trade Center memorial

The Carson City Board of Supervisors will consider approving and signing a letter Thursday to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey requesting Carson City be awarded an item from the debris of the World Trade Center.

The board has been asked to support the community's efforts to obtain a piece of steel from the WTC debris to create a memorial in Carson City as a remembrance to 9/11.

The request is for an 8- to 10-foot-long I-beam. It is the city's intention to display the item at Mills Park. The project will be paid for through private fund-raising events and donations.

Also on Thursday, the board is expected to:

• Pass ordinances lowering sewer and water connection fees builders pay to hook up services on new construction. Sewer fees for residential units will be reduced from $5,477 to $577. Water fees will drop from $4,543 to $454.

• Issue a proclamation honoring Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell for her service as a state legislative representative for Assembly District 40 and Carson City.

• Issue a proclamation recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

• Approve a settlement between the city and John C. Serpa. The agreement allows Serpa to transport waste at his expense from the old Carson City municipal landfill site located off Deer Run Road to the current site off Flint Drive.

The old landfill was closed in the 1960s, and in order to develop the property for new commercial and residential uses, the old landfill waste will be hauled to the current landfill. In consideration for the costs to Serpa, which are expected to be in excess of $3 million, Carson City will provide him with 100 water and sewer connections or the equivalent.

• Consider authorizing the mayor to sign a three-party agreement between the city, the Nevada Department of Transportation and North Carson Crossing to remove a portion of an existing sound wall along the North Carson Crossing commercial development area to increase visibility and business access.

NDOT and Home Depot have conducted noise studies and concluded that with minor modifications to the existing Home Depot wall, the freeway sound wall can be removed with little or no impact to surrounding residences.

• Adopt a resolution changing the makeup of the city's audit committee by removing a member of the board of supervisors and the city's finance director while increasing the number of public at-large members from two to four and removing the requirement that members must possess certain qualifications.

• Consider an ordinance requiring bear-proof containers and placing some controls on feeding bears. It also would provide consequences for violation.

• Appoint one member to the city's planning commission for a term ending June 2010.

• Appoint three members to the airport authority due to expiring terms. These appointments are for four-year terms ending October 2013.

There are nine applicants for the positions including: Robert Thomas, Teresa DiLoreto-Long, Stephen Poscic, Phil Stotts, Yvonne Weaver, William Abbott, Mark Baltimore, Harlow Norvell and Rickard Schneider.

The board meets at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St. For information, call 887-2100.