Supervisors eye Buzzy’s Ranch water rights, union pacts

The Carson City Board of Supervisors will consider water rights at Buzzy’s Ranch, two collective bargaining agreements and two liquor license applications at their Thursday meeting, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in the community center.

Approximately 491 acres, Buzzy’s Ranch sits along the Carson River between Riverview Park to the north and Silver Saddle Ranch to the south. The property was purchased by the city in two phases in 2007 and 2010 after residents formed a coalition to save the agricultural land from development; however, the city didn’t have enough funding at the time for water rights. The city entered into an agreement in which the seller would use existing water rights for continued agricultural use.

Supervisors will consider authorizing staff to perform due diligence to acquire long-term water rights, including obtaining title reports, appraisals and identifying financial options. Carson City Open Space Manager Lyndsey Boyer estimated the costs for such an acquisition at $3 million to $5 million but warned the amount could be higher.

The city recently received an approximately $1.8 million Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act grant to purchases 694 acre-feet of water rights from Vidler Water Co. This will be used to irrigate about a third of the property including the central section containing wetlands enhanced by Ducks Unlimited. Historically, the entire property has needed about 1,895 acre-feet per year, according to the city.

“Even the rights purchased through the SNPLMA grant are owned by Vidler too, but the remaining two-thirds we are hoping to obtain from Vidler through the long-term lease option,” Boyer previously told the Appeal.

Boyer said the goal is to keep the property irrigated and “forever protected.”

According to the city’s management plan, developed by Resource Concepts Inc., the ranch serves as critical floodplain to the Carson River. The wetland area is also important habitat for waterfowl nesting.

In other action:

• Supervisors will consider a proposed collective bargaining agreement between Carson City and the Carson City Sheriff’s Supervisory Association that includes CCSO sergeants.

The agreement would run from July 1, retroactively, to June 30, 2028. The estimated fiscal impact is about $4.8 million above the five-year projections included in the budget for fiscal year 2024. The agreement includes a new salary schedule with a 21.2 percent increase to base pay starting this fiscal year, according to the city manager’s office, but the schedule is also subject to salary reductions related to contribution changes to the Nevada Public Employee Retirement System.

According to the city manager’s office, the starting annual salary for a sergeant would go from about $87,137 to about $105,605.

The full agreement can be viewed online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2058003/2_-_Proposed_Sgt_CBA_-_Final_Clean_Copy.pdf.

• Supervisors will consider another agreement with the Carson City Fire Fighters Association, Local 2251 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, for battalion chiefs.

The four-year agreement would run from July 1, retroactively, and expire on June 30, 2027. The estimated fiscal impact would be $661,708 above the five-year projections included in the fiscal year 2024 budget. The agreement would include a 5 percent cost-of-living increase for this fiscal year and 3 percent COLA increase the following three years, making the annual salary schedule this fiscal year range from about $118,000 to about $148,000.

The full agreement can be viewed online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2060944/2_-_Proposed_BC_CBA_-_Final__Clean_Copy.pdf.

• Supervisors will convene as the Liquor and Entertainment Board to consider two applications.

The first is for Save Mart Supermarkets LLC for the two Save Mart locations in Carson and the Food Maxx in Carson under the same umbrella. In June, city staff had recommended denial of the liquor license with John Norman serving as manager due to failing to complete a background investigation in “a timely manner,” according to a June 26 memo. A June 30 hearing on the matter with a liquor hearing officer was referred to the Liquor and Entertainment Board.

The Save Mart company was acquired by Kingswood Capital Management LP in 2022, according to the memo.

The second liquor license application is from Homegrown Bowling LLC with Daniel Dunbar as the liquor manager for Homegrown Bowl, Bar, Grill and Billiards at 4600 Snyder Ave., previously known as Carson Lanes. City staff had also recommended denial for this application before referring the matter to the Liquor and Entertainment Board.

According to a June 13 report by CCSO, Dunbar was caught selling liquor without a license on June 12. However, in a letter to Sheriff Ken Furlong, Jennifer and Danny Dunbar apologized for the misstep and said they applied for a license in April after signing the lease. They said if they can’t sell alcohol, they will have to close the bowling alley.

New owners of the Carson Lanes property closed escrow on the $5 million sale on May 31.