The Lyon County Commission will hold a special meeting April 14 to decide how to spend nearly $6.16 million of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funding. The special meeting was announced after the board recently directed staff to bring back a list of neighborhood parks repair and maintenance projects that could be in jeopardy. County Comptroller Josh Foli reported his recommendation to the board on March 3 that the park funds be spent within three years of collection or the money would be returned to the property owners. The commission previously allocated $5,008,500 of its total $11,170,643 in ARPA funding, leaving a balance of $6,162,143 to replace lost public sector revenue. Recovery funds for revenue loss can be used for government services or projects such as school or hospital construction, building or maintaining roads or infrastructure, health services, administrative facilities, environmental remediation or public safety services. Recent discussion at board meetings have focused on parks repair and maintenance projects for neighborhood facilities at Mark Twain Park, such as swingsets, dugouts and basketball and pickleball courts or Silver City Park’s borders removal with additional swingsets. Curbing and shade structures also are needed at Pioneer Park, plus Dayton’s ballfield’s scoreboard is in need of repairs. The item was discussed on Feb. 17 and brought back March 3, but it wasn’t without its debate by Commissioners Wes Henderson and Vida Keller. Discussion also highlighted the needs of the local parks versus Mark Twain Regional Park, the county’s regional facility in Dayton. Keller thought a workshop was to be held for further discussion with the public first. “I thought the intent of getting this list was because we were going to be doing the ARPA workshop and you wanted the total of what that looked like in April,” she said. She later said it would cost more than $1 million to install lighting in Mark Twain. “So we’re going to do all this little stuff and then still never be able to get those ballfields lit up that we’ve been working toward all those years now,” she said. “My goal is to clear the backlog of repairs and maintenance in our parks,” Henderson said. According to a release from the county this week, the board now is scheduled to conduct its special meeting April 14 to decide how to spend the approximate $6.16 in ARPA funds and will take requests from staff and community nonprofit groups. The county’s former allocation included $4.3 million for water and sewer projects in Dayton, Silver Springs and Willow Creek, $500,000 for indigent assistance, child care assistance and behavior health support, $100,000 for personal protective equipment and COVID testing, $50,000 in parks repair and maintenance and $8,500 for an Internet connection to county facilities, Smith Valley and Silver City. Priorities for the remaining spending on projects to be presented by staff and organizations will be determined by the board, including $4.4 million to expand and remodel the Fernley Justice Court and Sheriff’s Substation, $4.8 million to rehabilitate Ramsey-Weeks Cutoff, $1.2 million to build a community center in Mound House, $1.7 million to purchase ambulances for the fire protection districts and others, according to a release from the county. Submissions for requests on projects for the April 14 meeting must be made to the county manager’s office by 4 p.m. April 4 by e-mail to Erin Lopez at elopez@lyon-county.org or by mail at 27 S. Main St., Yerington, NV 89447.
