Eagle Valley Golf Course seen in 2017.
The Carson City Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Thursday to renew a five-year contract with Duncan Golf Management to operate both courses at Eagle Valley Golf Course.
The main purpose of the land at EVGC is to dispose of 25 percent of the city’s wastewater.
Supervisor Maurice White voted “no.” White said he opposed using city assets to compete with private golf businesses in the area. He urged the board to find some other use for the land while still disposing of the effluent.
Supervisor Stacey Giomi took a swing at ironing out the contract, asking to include a condition for annual reviews of EVGC to be brought before the board.
Though the course scored 68 out of 78, “acceptable,” on its contract renewal review with Parks and Recreation, Giomi was concerned about small maintenance issues being left perpetually unfixed.
Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Budge said that for every year they’ve operated EVGC, Duncan Management has well exceeded their required $90,000 annual investment in equipment that will be owned by the city upon termination of the contract.
Additionally, Scott Wackowski, Duncan’s vice president, said that revenues and round counts have steadily grown each year since Duncan Management began operating the course in 2018.
EVGC even saw growth in 2020, with driving range revenue up 16 percent from 2019, despite a 23-day pandemic closure. Wackowski cited those figures in a report for the Parks and Recreation Commission in October 2020.
Aside from Eagle Valley, among the board’s other agenda items:
• The supervisors took no action on a city ordinance that would have prohibited carrying open containers of alcohol in public spaces. They felt that the law was written too broadly and failed to address specific drunken behaviors that would be worth policing. Giomi said the city has seen no issues in the four years that it hasn’t had any laws prohibiting open containers of alcohol in public. He also said he’s never received so many phone calls, texts and emails on an agenda item.
• The supervisors passed a city ordinance that altered the definition of public indecency. The edits were made for purposes of clarity in the law.
• Clerk Recorders Aubrey Rowlatt and Miguel Camacho-Reyes presented on new state legislation regarding election laws. In future elections, Carson City will send mail-in ballots to every registered voter (except those who opt out). New laws also expand automatic voter registration.
• On behalf of the mayor, Giomi read a proclamation to recognize Sept. 11 as a day of remembrance for the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.
• The supervisors accepted two grants from the Centers for Disease Control through the state of Nevada: one to bring vaccinations to underserved populations, and another to support infectious disease control in the Nevada Department of Corrections.
Mayor Lori Bagwell also addressed the announcement that Caldor Fire evacuees must move from the Carson City shelters to those in Reno and Sparks. She said that El Dorado County, California, is hoping to get its South Lake Tahoe residents into centralized locations for better incident communication.
Carson City is also preparing for the possibility that it will have to shelter more evacuees as the Caldor Fire continues to burn.
