Nevada Public Works board lists projects for coming biennium

The State Public Works Board has approved a list of 425 capital projects including maintenance, repairs and agency requests totaling $1.22 billion.

That, however, is far more than the projects the governor and lawmakers can afford to fund for the next two years. The treasurer’s office told lawmakers earlier this week it will have at least $50 million in bond capacity to work with. That’s about enough to fund maintenance needs through the 2017-2018 upcoming budget cycle but little else.

The department listing the largest number and dollar amount of need is Corrections with $319.9 million in projects followed by Health and Human Services at $304.1 million and the Nevada System of Higher Education at $226.2 million.

Within NSHE’s list, Western Nevada College has five projects totaling $4.4 million. More than half of that, $2.3 million, would remodel and expand the chemistry and cadaver labs at the college in Carson City. Another $1 million would make ADA improvements at WNC campuses. The remaining projects are for maintenance and planning.

A new engineering building at the University of Nevada, Reno is the most expensive project on NSHE’s list, costing a total of $83 million, half state money and half from other sources.

Carson City’s two prisons are seeking just more than $106 million. Northern Nevada Correctional Center has a laundry list of projects totaling $39.7 million but the majority of the projects are for Warm Springs at $66.5 million — $52.3 million of that total to construct a 168-bed housing unit.

Nearly, $100 million of the projects at HHS are planned from federal and other money, not state General Fund cash. Nearly $240 million of the total is in just three projects — a 260,000 square foot office complex for the agency, a Southern Nevada forensic facility and a consolidated services center in Sparks.

Public Works is asking for three projects totaling $3.3 million for the state Capitol building. The most expensive is repair and painting of the exterior of the sandstone building at $1.87 million. In addition, $787,154 is being sought to renovate and repair the historic wrought iron fence that surrounds the building. The other two projects are for restroom and ADA upgrades and replacement of door hardware.

Finally, DMV is on the list for a new $41.5 million facility in south Reno, all planned from highway fund and fee money generated by the agency.

The total requested comes to $1,220,617,003, $888 million of which would be state funding.