Carson City Board of Supervisors vote to abandon East Sophia Street

Abandoning a street and flirting with forging a new alliance were among issues Carson City’s Board of Supervisors tackled Thursday.

The board voted 4-1, with Supervisor Jim Shirk dissenting, to abandon East Sophia Street between North Carson and Plaza streets a block to the east. It was at the request of three nearby property owners. The city retains utility easements and no buildings could go directly over them, but the abandonment may enable a restaurant, parking and a drive-through lane without conflict problems involving those easements.

The applicants were Mapp Enterprises, Inc., BP Hotel LLC and M & M Bigue Investments LLC. Victor Honein of Arco am-pm at the southeast corner of North Carson and East William streets said he plans the restaurant. During his testimony, Mayor Robert Crowell said, “Bring back the Penguin.” The Penguin was a burger, taco and hot dog outlet during the 1980s in Carson City.

The board also heard a pitch from Wes Henderson of the Nevada League of Cities to join the organization at a cost of $12,273 this year and slightly more in coming years, due to an escalator provision for the base rate. The cost is a base rate plus an amount figured on population. Henderson touted both lobbying and membership networking or affiliation benefits.

He said the new alliance and membership proposal wasn’t a bid to supplant city membership in the Nevada Association of Counties, but noted the city is the state’s lone city-county combination. He suggested being a member of both would give city government “twice the punch” in legislative lobbying, but emphasized other benefits of membership more. The board voted to have staff investigate feasibility of joining and return with a recommendation.

The board also voted to make Nancy Paulson, city deputy finance director, city government’s controller effective Aug. 4. The city by its charter is required to have a controller.

Finance Director Nick Providenti is retiring from city service and City Manager Nick Marano recommended her as controller while saying he would be promoting her to replace Providenti when he leaves his post. It was Providenti’s final board meeting and the mayor had earlier asked him, in light of that, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag as the session opened.

Board members also voted to upgrade a grants program coordinator classification to grants administrator and move the post from the Community Development Department to serve under Paulson. Paulson said pay for the new Finance Department employee would be about $60,000 annually.

In other action, the board finished up a bond refunding package that saves $2.1 million in interest over coming years and authorized the mayor to sign a resolution allowing portal to portal reimbursement on city wildfire fighters who battle fires in California under an agreement with California Office of Emergency Services. Fire officials here said that will increase reimbursements.

In another fire-related matter, Shirk noted a letter from Fire Chief Bob Schreihans saying the fire department “is beyond its capacity” in providing fire and emergency response services as the city grows. Shirk said he was pointing out that and similar pressures on law enforcement in relation to the Schulz Ranch subdivision planned at the city’s south edge. The subdivision first phase called for 100 lots with 324 more envisioned later.