Many of the city's parks, recreation and open space trails were closed to the public due to flooding and hazards.
Carson City is working its way through an estimated $4 million in repairs from flood damage to the city’s parks, trails, roads and other infrastructure caused by two major storms this winter.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has completed its inspections, in which the federal agency assessed the damage and estimated the toll for which it will reimburse the city 75 percent of the cost.
“FEMA inspected over 70 different locations and combined it down to 43 what they call worksheets or projects,” said Robb Fellows, senior project manager, stormwater, who’s taking the lead for the city’s dealings with FEMA.
The city has until November 2018 to complete the work, with the possibility of a six-month extension on any of the individual projects if need is demonstrated, in order to receive FEMA money.
Some of the work is complete. Emergency repairs from both storms were done immediately and forms for reimbursement from the first storm in January have already been submitted.
Other work, some handled in-house, was finished in the last few months. Some road work on Kings Canyon Road and on Rhodes and Curry streets was done by Public Works crews.
Also done in-house and completed was Rifle Range Road, which washed out, and work at Fuji Park, where the road going back to Bailey Pond was breached three times by an overflowing creek.
Sediment has been removed from Combs Canyon and Vicee Canyon basins, just north and south of Western Nevada College, and repairs done to channels near the college.
“The first big work we did was at Governors Field, Centennial Park and Pete Livermore Sports Complex,” said Jennifer Budge, executive director, Parks, Recreation and Open Space. “It was a high priority before Little League because we did not want to displace thousands of kids.”
The fields were leveled, essentially rebuilt, said Budge, by a Carson City contractor, Tom Eddis Landscape.
The city is required to get three bids on each project, per FEMA, and anything more than $100,000 must go to a sealed bid, per the city.
Contractors can register online to be notified of projects ready to bid at carson.org/quotes.
So far, about 10 contractors have signed up, said Fellows.
“A lot of the work is grading, compacting eroded areas, placing rock, concrete,” said Fellows.
Fellows said work-in-progress includes road repairs and shoulder work on Voltaire Canyon Drive, Golden Eagle Lane, Bigelow and Center drives and the area around Ross Gold Park.
Some major Parks & Rec work is in design and going to bid soon with construction expected to start next month or in October.
“We get the most calls on Riverview, Long Ranch and Moffat,” said Budge.
The asphalt on Moffat Open Space path was completely undermined, said Budge, and portions of Long Ranch Park’s paved path need to be redone.
Riverview Park, which took days for FEMA to inspect, will be done in phases and may end up being one of the projects the city requests an extension for due to the breadth and type of work needed.
“The river literally took a new route and if you work on river banks it requires an (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers permit,” said Budge. “It has to be done properly. The health of the river is our primary concern.”
And there’s road repairs to be done on Brunswick Canyon Road, playground resurfacing at Long Ranch and Mills Park, reconstruction of Empire Ranch Trail and Morgan Mill River access, interior work at the Community Center and Aquatic Facility, and a sinkhole to be filled at Mexican Ditch, which includes other property owners.
“Now that all the FEMA inspections are done you’ll see a lot more movement,” said Budge. “But we have to make sure contractors are doing it to the scope FEMA wants. It’s very time intensive.”