The Churchill County Commissioners recognized employees for their years of service to Churchill County. From left are Commissioner Bus Scharmann, Sheriff Ben Trotter (who accepted the awards for his employees), Commissioner Carl Erquiaga, Shellie Hooten, Pat Whitten and Commissioner Pete Olsen. Not pictured are Jason Steele, Brandon Bird, Billy Coleman, Mary Corkill and LaRonda Atchison.
The Churchill County Commissioners discussed at their Wednesday meeting the possibility of delaying payments for connection and impact fees associated with building permits.
At the moment Churchill County codes require payment of water and sewer connection fees and other fees at the time a building permit is issued for a primary structure, County Manager Eleanor Lockwood said. Some of the additional fees include school and park maintenance fees, payment in lieu of water right dedication and a road impact fee.
Ben Shawcroft, civil deputy district attorney, said all fees have been adopted by ordinance; any permanent change would require an adoption of an ordinance amendment.
Lockwood said some discussion recently suggested that if the payment of these fees were required as a condition of the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy, that may boost construction. She said the city of Fallon recently took this action and as a result, six building permits for primary structures have been obtained.
Currently, there are approximately 120 vacant residential lots. The fees associated with a building permit can cost between $14,000-$16,000.
Lockwood said if payments were delayed, it would help contractors who pay for the fees out of pocket.
County Planner Michael Johnson said he believes it is something that could help builders, but it could also help residents who live in campers.
Shawcroft said even though there might be a potential to increase development, there is a concern that collecting the fees might be a challenge. He said even if the county puts a lean on a property, residents wouldn’t care unlike a developer.
Commissioners agreed the item would be brought back at a later time.
Other items the commissioners approved include the following:
Discussed Bureau of Land Management updates.
Discussed historical taxable sales and CTX revenues in Churchill County.
Approved funding $6,000 to support NACO in the lawsuit asking for an injunction on the implementation of the Sage Grouse Land Use Plan Amendment.
Approved contract with Arrington Watkins to provide design services for the new adult detention facility.
Approved Churchill County and Consulting Services, Inc. to support the Churchill County Repository Oversight program from Oct. 1,