Churchill County is hosting a retirement and farewell gathering for former County Commissioner Bus Scharmann on June 16 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Oats Park Art Center’s Lariat Courtyard.
All who wish to offer words of congratulations and thanks to Bus for his eight years of community service as a commissioner are welcome to attend. RSVPs are requested to Julie at 775-423-5136 or via email at manager-jg@churchillcounty.org by Friday. This event to honor Scharmann was originally planned for early 2021, but was delayed until COVID restrictions were eased.
In his role on the Board of Commissioners, Scharmann served on local and regional committees and boards including CC Communications, Churchill Area Regional Transportation, Central Nevada Regional Water Authority, Highway Commission, Hospital Board, Liquor Board, Parks & Recreation Commission, Regional Transportation Commission, Senior Citizens Coalition and the Western Nevada Development District.
During his tenure on the board, commissioners formulated a response to COVID-19, implemented the Big Dig of 2017 (saving the community from flooding) and opened the William N. Pennington Life Center and the County Law Enforcement Center.
The Big Dig may have been the commission’s finest hour. Threatened with catastrophic flooding, the area along the Carson River prepared. The Big Dig created a 30-foot wide channel from Carson Lake to the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge which carried excess water away from the river and also the construction of the emergency weir and spillway that siphoned water from the overflowing V-line Canal to the desert and eventually to Carson Lake.
Before taking his oath as a commissioner in January 2013, Scharmann served as dean of the Western Nevada College’s Fallon campus and then as interim superintendent for the Churchill County School District for one year after he retired from WNC. He was one of the community members who began in February 2012 the Restore our College Campus Committee, a grassroots group that wanted to find out why many of Fallon’s classes and instructors were either eliminated or relocated to Carson City in a centralization move to keep in line with the college’s budget.
The Restore our College Campus Committee, according to then-Regent Ron Knecht, kept the spirit alive with their positive outlook and also to rejuvenate and support the Fallon campus.
