Officials amend business license fee ordinance

An ordinance requiring the city to raise business license fees every year was amended Thursday by the board of supervisors to make the hike discretionary rather than mandatory.

Finance Director Nick Providenti said he is required to recommend the fee hike annually.

"Municipal code requires me to increase the business license fee," he said.

City Manager Larry Werner advised that it was time to "get it off the books."

Scott Dockery, chairman of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, spoke on behalf of the business community.

"I'm here to ask you to remove this from the city language so we don't have to worry about this every year," Dockery said.

The amendment will become final if passed on a second reading in two weeks.

In other action Thursday, the board of supervisors:

• Honored city employee Rose Gardner for her 101⁄2 years of service in the main office of City Hall. Mayor Bob Crowell presented her with a proclamation.

• Congratulated supervisors-elect Karen Abowd and John McKenna for their success in winning seats Tuesday night on the board of supervisors. They will take their oaths of office on Jan. 2.

• Instructed staff to prepare a motion to bring back on Nov. 16 which would appoint McKenna to fill the supervisor position left by Pete Livermore. Livermore was elected to the state's Assembly District 40 seat Tuesday. He submitted his letter of resignation to the city Wednesday. McKenna said he will be ready to participate on the board at the next meeting.

• Heard from Supervisor Robin Williamson about the results of the Tuesday election where she was defeated by Livermore in her bid for the District 40 seat.

"I congratulate Pete. He will be a strong advocate for Carson City. I worked hard, learned a lot, met a lot of people and lost 10 pounds (during the campaign)," she said, laughing.

• Heard from Werner that the city expects to get a draft of P3's feasibility study for the City Center Project in about a week and a half. P3 plans to present those results to the citizens advisory committee Nov. 22.

• Heard a report from consultant Linda Ritter on the city's Operations Scorecard addressing a physically connected community. Highlights of the report included the fact that the city is still losing ground in the unemployment category, but taxable sales are up about $1 million for July and August - a good economic indicator. Traffic accidents are down from a couple of years ago, and water consumption citywide is down from 2007.

• Approved a liquor license for Gurpal Singh Sood as the liquor manager for India Feast at 316 Winnie Lane.

• Adopted a resolution pertaining to refunding bonds. Providenti said the move would take advantage of lower interest rates, saving the city money without extending the debt.

• Approved a contract for additional licensing and a system upgrades, which are required for the city water system operation to streamline development and support the regional water project improvements.

• Approved a request for a two-year extension of the tentative map special use permit and variances for a planned unit development known as Mills Landing, which consists of 94 single-family units on 2.4 acres at 1208 E. William St. and State Street.

The board meets again Nov. 16.