Supervisors OK Carson River trailhead project

Construction could begin next summer on the Ambrose Carson River Outdoor Classroom and Trailhead project — which city officials believe is ideal for educational opportunities — if a $99,928 grant materializes, according to Carson City Trails Coordinator Gregg Berggren.

Thursday, the Carson City Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a grant submission to the Recreational Trails Program administered by the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks. The project would include a 20 percent local match of $24,982 for a total project cost of $124,910.

“In 2012, an educational kiosk and interpretive sign and a trail were built by a Carson High School biology class for the purposes of providing an outdoor learning environment, and that was all destroyed by floods in the past,” said Berggren.

By trying to improve infrastructure along the river — this time to be located above the floodplain — the project will include a vault toilet, shade structure, two ADA accessible parking spaces, connection of amenities and a short, accessible pathway with three interpretive panels and a kiosk for “changeable content for educational programs,” Berggren said.

Berggren noted the project area is accessible to school buses and provides easy access to the river.

“It really is a good location for an outdoor classroom,” he said.

He added: “With this project we have received, so far, 11 letters of support, and among those Carson City Schools Superintendent Andrew Feuling, three schoolteachers, Sheriff Kenny Furlong, River Wranglers, Visit Carson City, Muscle Powered, the Nature Conservancy, and just yesterday, we received a letter of support, unsolicited, from our local office of the Bureau of Land Management.”

During public comment, resident Deni French voiced concerns there would be no environmental impact studies for the project.

After the hearing, Berggren told the Appeal the land was part of OPLMA (Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009) and under a conservation easement with the BLM. The project did not require NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review but did require a cultural resources study under the National Historic Preservation Act, he said.

Berggren added the city consults with the BLM and that the project would make use of a preexisting footprint.

In other action:

• Supervisors unanimously adopted, upon second reading, an ordinance for the Carson City Airport to allow a new fee for through-the-fence (TTF) access for hangar associations (not to affect current tenants or TTF operators, according to airport staff). The ordinance also would require liability insurance for all aircraft based at the airport and revise provisions in the city’s Title 19 code regarding TTF operations.

Michael Greedy, who told the Appeal he has an inoperable aircraft at the airport that he hopes to make operable, submitted public comment against the insurance requirement.

“All aircraft and ultralight vehicles based at the Airport must, prior to taxiing, being towed, being pushed or otherwise being put in motion at the Airport, be covered by liability insurance maintained by the owner or operator of the aircraft or ultralight vehicle, as determined by the Airport Authority. The insurance shall be in a minimum amount of coverage, as determined by the Authority, and shall name the Authority as an additional insured,” reads the insurance provision in the new ordinance.

“Philosophically, I really do object using the power of government to ask an individual to hold-harmless that government,” Greedy said during public comment.

Greedy had used the example of an inoperable aircraft being pulled out of a hangar to clean the hangar, arguing the aircraft would be required to have liability insurance.

“What if they detect an aircraft they think it (insurance requirement) applies to with no insurance, then what?” Greedy told the Appeal after the hearing.

Attorney Steven Tackes, who told the Appeal he was a former member of the Airport Authority and is now its legal counsel, argued the new policy is flexible enough to allow airport officials to determine when insurance should be required.

“However, the language we’ve proposed in the ordinance gives us the flexibility to adjust the amount of insurance to the actual situation,” Tackes told supervisors. “For example, in Mr. Greedy’s comments… he talks about a situation where an airplane is not flyable; it’s in a hangar. If you roll it out of the hangar to clean the hangar, is that going to trigger an insurance requirement?

“My own two cents is we probably wouldn’t trigger an insurance requirement for that.”

Tackes was further questioned by Supervisor Lisa Schuette and Mayor Lori Bagwell on the details of the insurance provision.

“So, the authority, when they’re reviewing and looking at the different types of issues for insurance, could set that at zero?” Bagwell asked. “I just wanted to put it on the record that, as I have this reading, if there was an odd issue out there — they say, ‘Well, we have no risk’—then you would set it at no insurance if there is no risk. I mean, the objective is to mitigate risk. So, your interpretation is the same as mine that you could set it at zero?”

“That’s correct,” Tackes answered.

• Supervisors approved the consent agenda that included an appointment of land-use planner Robert Pyzel to the Carson City Planning Commission for a partial term ending Jan. 1, 2025.

Pyzel will replace former Planning Commission Vice Chair Sena Loyd, who resigned in September due to a move out of state. Pyzel was Supervisor Lisa Schuette’s recommendation.  

Each supervisor gets a recommendation to the commission, according to Thursday’s agenda. Two other members of the commission are appointed from the community at large.

Resident Bepsy Strasburg sent written public comment asking why the city had “an urgency to appoint a replacement for Sena (Loyd) with two months to go for 2024.”

Carson City Public Information Officer Cameron Gresh previously told the Appeal public interviews are required for the at-large positions on the commission but not for the supervisors’ recommended appointees.

-Supervisors recognized Carson City Human Resources Generalist Alana Mills as the employee of the quarter with a $200 check and a proclamation saying, in part, Mills “has shown exceptional dedication and service to the HR department, and is committed to the employees of Carson City, thereby contributing to the fulfillment of the city’s mission, values and vision.”

Supervisors also recognized, with certificates, local business that helped with an emergency animal shelter in Carson during the Davis Fire in north Washoe Valley. That fire started Sept. 7 and consumed more than 5,800 acres, according to state officials.

Businesses that made donations included Home Depot, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply, Starbucks, Quick Space and COIT Cleaning and Restoration.

The Nevada Humane Society, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and the Nevada Department of Agriculture also pitched in.

“Thanks for doing this without being asked,” Bagwell told those in attendance.