Grants, Riverview Trailhead work OK’d by supervisors

Nonprofit programs and city improvements like new ADA sidewalks are in the works after the Carson City Board of Supervisors approved more than $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding Thursday.

According to a memo by Carson City Grants Administrator Rebecca Phipps, the allocations as funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must meet one of three national objectives: benefiting low- and moderate-income persons or low-income areas, preventing or eliminating slums or blight, or meeting an “an urgent community development need due to threat to community health and welfare (e.g., natural disaster emergencies).”

“Carson City has identified five additional objectives for CDBG eligibility, which are included in city’s 2023-2028 CDBG Consolidated Plan,” reads a staff report.

Applicants had to meet one of the following city objectives: construct ADA compliant sidewalks; improve access to public facilities; provide supportive services to low- to moderate-income households; reduce blight in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods and/or code enforcement; or provide mental health and/or substance abuse services.

The vote was 4-0-1 in favor with Supervisor Stacey Giomi abstaining due to his role at one of the nonprofits. Heeding the recommendation of an application review workgroup that recommended seven of 10 applicants, supervisors approved allocations (as a final recommendation to HUD) for the following:

• $124,146 for Public Works for Carmine Street ADA sidewalks

• $50,000 for Community Development for blight abatement

• $20,000 to Night Off the Streets for operations and supplies

• $15,000 toward a paratransit van for Nevada Rural Counties RSVP Inc.

• $11,987 for the Ron Wood Family Resource Center for a mental health program for youth and families

• $12,000 for St. Vincent de Paul Society for rental assistance for those facing eviction.

Previously included but taken off the list Thursday was $120,790 for Vitality Unlimited to help with the purchase of a new residential treatment center. The nonprofit is looking for another location, said Mayor Lori Bagwell.

“Thank you all for your good work in our community,” Bagwell told nonprofit leaders in the audience. “Sometimes we just don’t get to say it enough — how important you all are.”

In other action:

• Supervisors unanimously accepted Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) funding and a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the Carson River Trail System Phase IV-Riverview Trailhead Project. Total funding is about $2.37 million including a $57,157 local match.

The project was approved last year by U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland and will renovate the existing trailhead at Riverview Park (off East 5th Street) with new shade structures, picnic tables, benches, restrooms, watering stations, paved parking, kiosk and interpretive signage as well as better access to the Korean Veterans War Memorial and continued preservation of structures from the historic Pierini Ranch, which was established in 1919.

Carson City Trails Coordinator Gregg Berggren expects construction of the project to begin in 2026 or 2027. The design phase over the next year will include public review by the Parks and Recreation Commission and Open Space Advisory Committee, according to the city.

“This trailhead provides access to Riverview Park and over 14 miles of very popular trails,” Berggren told supervisors. “I mean, really some of our most popular trails within Carson City.”

The project entails demolition of all existing trailhead facilities, which have “really exhausted their useful life,” Berggren said.

• Supervisors unanimously approved two proposed amendments to the Carson City Charter as recently recommended by the Charter Review Committee.

However, wary of using up the city’s bill draft request in the 2025 legislative session (the charter is set in state law), supervisors modified the motion to include a general future legislative session, which keeps the door open for more amendments in a single request.

Of the two proposed amendments approved by supervisors, the first would amend section 2.180 of the charter regarding animal control to better reflect the city’s current practices. The second would amend 5.100 (2) to require election returns be kept by the Carson City clerk for at least 22 months. This measure would make the charter’s current requirement of six months better align with state law, explained District Attorney Jason Woodbury.

A third proposal to require periodic study of the city’s organizational structure and operations was nixed. Giomi thought the city was already performing this function through an annual internal audit, and Bagwell questioned whether such a measure belonged in the charter.

• Pulling the item off the consent agenda, supervisors unanimously approved a contract not to exceed $180,000 through June 30, 2027, with Spirit of Hope, a local nonprofit that provides housing for those in need.

The contract is for the mental health and misdemeanor treatment specialty courts in the Carson City Justice and Municipal Court. The program places indigent participants in transitional housing in a safe, stable and sober environment with professional oversight, according to the city.

Court Administrator Max Cortes said the specialty courts attempt to stop the revolving door of incarceration, improving families and the community.

Bagwell stressed those in specialty programs are ready to change their lives for the better.

The funding comes from the city’s indigent accident fund, said Carson City Health and Human Services Director Nicki Aaker, but city officials have been looking for more grant funding opportunities.

• Supervisors recognized several employees for respective lengths of service to the city.

25 years: James Colatorti, fire captain

20 years: Jeffrey Friedlander, driver operator, Daniel Fuhrman, firefighter, Chad Harns, driver operator, Jeff Linscott, driver operator, Scott O'Brien, firefighter, Steven Olson, sergeant, Samuel Saunders, fire captain

15 years: Vanessa Alegria, senior clerk, Veronica Galas, public health educator

10 years: Brian Elder, project manager, Jeff Schulz, sewer technician 2, Tamar Warren, senior public meetings clerk

5 years: Christopher Arrison, deputy sheriff, Gregg Berggren, trails coordinator, Joshua Boehme, street technician 3, Marvin James, GIS analyst, Amber LaFollette, chief deputy treasurer