Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call the Elko County Commission Board to order. Welcome you all here. I want to take a moment just to recognize our long-term DA representative of us, Rand Greenberg. He's back counseling the commission. It's great to have you back. Appreciate your service, Rand, and looking forward to working with you for my last few months there. So thank you and welcome back. Also, I want to mention if anybody's planning on speaking today, we do have a sign-up sheet in the back of the room. Please put your name down so that we have your name properly recorded for the record. And just remember, public comments is limited to three minutes, okay? All right, so with that, I'd like to invite everybody to stand and ask Rand to lead us in the pledge. Thank you.

Thanks, Rand.

Let the record show that all commissioners are in attendance. We will now move to item C, which is comments by the general public. Pursuant to NRS 241, this time is devoted to comments by the general public, if any. In discussion of those comments, no action may be taken upon a matter raised Under this item on the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified to be an action item. So we have any public comment this morning, or this afternoon rather. Hi, and please state your name for the record.

My name is Sylvie Dore. I am here representing Elko Neighbors for Responsible Industrial Growth, also known as NRIG. We are a brand new organization. You've seen our faces before, but now we're representing this group. And we formed to help Elko County residents stay informed about major industrial development, understand the decisions being made by local government, and participate constructively in these processes. We recently learned that the county and the city are already working together on data center policy. We appreciate that this work is underway. for being proactive. We really appreciate that you're looking into all of it. I brought an example for you to look at that I've given you a one-page summary of, of a model framework from Truckee Meadows Regional Authority. They have created what I consider to be a gold star framework in terms of how to involve the public in the drafting of the ordinance that you guys are working on. So they have a website that has basically all the survey results that they've collected from the public. The survey obviously is provided there. They have project timeline for how long it should take to do the drafting of the ordinance. That's where they give updates. They're giving actual themes on there that they're considering for the ordinance and having public input through that. They're doing targeted stakeholder interviews, so they're bringing focus groups together with all of the players, which I'm sure you're already doing kind of internally on your own, but making those available to the public, whatever is decided there. They're having, you know, open meetings way above and beyond the minimum standard that Nevada requires. And like I said, published surveys. They're letting the public review the draft before it ever gets put before the planning commission. And so this is just for you guys to consider. It's an example. I realize this is a much bigger metropolitan area with a lot more people, a lot more players involved. We're just asking for you to consider it so that you make the best decisions as to how to get the public involved. One thing I want to say is, We are very new, and we're just starting to be on social media this week. So we told people about this meeting, encouraged them to watch it, encouraged to submit public comment. And we're getting some responses of people who are a little bit worried that there hasn't been a public announcement about the working group. So I just want you guys to be aware of that. aware that you're going through the regular process of what happens when you are trying to draft an amendment. But anything that you can do to just increase that public involvement and notice and all of that would be really appreciated. And yeah, do you have any questions about what I gave you?

Any questions or comments? No. I do know that this organization actually has put out a study, too. I don't know if you've seen the study or not, but there's obviously a lot of resources. Again, I think last time you were here, I appreciate the civic engagement that you and other citizens have done, and I think it's great. And just as we kind of work through this, I mean, I think that there's – There's a sense of urgency on our behalf, but I want, you know, however that ultimately plays out, I definitely would assure you that nothing would be adopted unless it's, you know, fully vetted and gone through a public process. So we're still working out, you know, some of the logistics and even though if Elko County is working with some of our neighboring cities in our county, circumstances are different. Like all our cities have, they have their own water systems, they have their own sewer systems, where most of Elko County is independent wells. So they're not exactly the same, but that's certainly something that, something, you know, in terms of zoning and other types of requirements that you'd want to look at. I think the bottom line is I think everybody would concur and agree that, you know, we want to make sure that we have a good robust application process so that we fully understand what kind of impacts there may or may not be. And I think with this thing you've talked about as an example, they've talked about water, energy, and they have three different categories of that type of usage so that the jurisdiction has a better understanding of what kind of impacts that type of facility could or could not have. So thank you very much. Again, I appreciate you guys being here today.

Yeah, appreciate you guys for being proactive. And we realize it's super complex. It's a lot to do. So thank you. Sure.

Oh, sure. Sorry. Can you hear me better now? All right. Sorry about that. All right. Sorry about that.

Yes, for the record, Scott Gavorsky and I rise on behalf of the Elko County Republican Party. First of all, just reminding everybody with Fair Weekend coming up, we're going to have a lot of candidates through here for the cemetery dedication at 10 a.m. And then the parade at 1130 downtown and there'll be a number of them stopping by our booth at the local fairgrounds. So look for that. But the main reason I rise today is I'm honored to speak on behalf of not only the local county republicans. but the Elko County Democrats and the Independent American Party in Nevada. Once again, we're going to be working together to do a presentation in celebration of Constitution Week. That will be on Wednesday, September 16th at 6 p.m. in the Performing Arts Building over at the high school. Given that it is the 25th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, we're going to build our discussion on reflecting of the 25 years of how the Constitution has been viewed 25 years after 9-11. We're calling it We the People, 25 years after 9-11. Commissioner Andreozzi has graciously agreed to moderate it. He and Matt McCarty from the school board are going to be working together. We're fielding questions from the public. which you can send directly to Commissioner Andreozzi, just about concerns on everything from growth of surveillance society, for instance, legal rights after 9-11, a whole range of issues. Again, I hope to see everybody there. Again, September 16th, Wednesday, 6 p.m. Thank you very much.

Yes, please. Oh, you dropped something in there. Thank you.

SHARON LABARTE- Hi, I'm Sharon Labarte. I'm wanting to take a minute and talk to you about data plants, data centers. Well, I'm of the age where we got our first computer. I had to learn MS-DOS. So data centers weren't a big thing. I went to work for a company. We had a major data processing center in our company. I had to learn to read punch cards. Then we went to ledgers. And then we went to this. Then we went to that. Well, eventually, we come to these cell phones. Everybody has one in their pockets. And that cell phone you have has more computer capacity in it than the first Apollo rockets did. That's a scary thing in itself to think that this is where those data centers are coming in for. And they're not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, modern day data centers will use less water than that ski resort will. But the problem is going to be the state of Nevada passed NRS 367. And that's an abatement, tax abatement. Everybody should be joining with like Vrump and these other cities that are already fighting these tax abatements. And because data centers are coming, there's no way we can stop them. We need them. Mr. Carr owns a restaurant. He processes cards all the time. using an internet processing, connecting to the bank. Mr. Andrade, you run a real estate. You work a ranch, and now you keep your cattle on a data program. The internet and data has affected each and every one of us. The best thing that this council can do is figure out what we can do to make it the best we can have that will bring profit into Elko County. Loudoun County gets $609 per square foot of data center. That's a lot of money. They're working at towards $1.1 billion this year and $1.3 billion in tax revenues. They've cut their personal property taxes to their people by 25%. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But the genie's out of the bottle. I mean, I can remember punch cards. And I'm sure none of you worked MS-DOS. And none of you learned the little program at that time with MS-DOS, which was WordPerfect, if you wanted to type anything. It's not a bad thing. But we do need to put some guardrails in. But we need to fight the state in giving abatements. Because Elko County is a poor county. And if you're thinking that if we could take in $50 million.

If you can wrap up your three minutes. But I'll let you wrap up.

Go ahead and wrap up your comment. If we can take in $50 million in taxes from a data center, imagine what that can do for Elko, Nevada. Because we're a poor county. People don't understand that. We are a poor county. And we would benefit greatly from that kind of buildup. Thank you. Thank you.

Any other public comment this afternoon? Hello. How are you? Good. How about yourself?

Okay.

Great. I'm not talking about that.

Okay. My name is Brian Riley. I am vice commander of the 3rd District of American Legion. And I would like to invite everybody to the opening of the National Cemetery. And I want to remind you, it's the only national cemetery in Nevada. There's other veterans' cemeteries, but this is a Nash one. And as Scott said, at 10 o'clock on Friday. I would like everybody to come to that. And also, the American Legion will be doing a tribute on 9-11 out in front of the city hall where the 9-11 statue is. And I've invited the first responders, because actually 9-11 is for them. They are the heroes of 9-11. And we will be doing a presentation there. And I would like to invite everybody to come by and participate in that. And anybody who would like to give a speech that day would be welcome to do that. Thank you very much.

Great, thanks. And I think that that cemetery is a great tribute to have here.

What is it? Have you drove by there?

I have. It's beautiful. It's going to be a great day. And there will be a lot of people there from the VFW, American Legion, and I believe it's going to be some of the people from Salt Lake will be there too. So it will be a very fine thing for everybody to be there.

Great. Thank you for the invitation. Any other public comments this afternoon? Alrighty, seeing none, we'll go ahead and continue on with the agenda. We'll go on to item D, D1, which is a moment of silence for Gary Woodbury, 82, honoring his legacy of public service, community involvement, and family devotion as he passed away on August 7th, 2026, at his home in Pleasant Valley, Lamoille, Nevada. Mr. Woodbury was elected as the Elko County District Attorney in 1994, and holds the distinction of being the longest serving district attorney in Elko County history. Following his tenure in the district attorney's office, he and his family revitalized the Wells Progressive newspaper while continuing to serve the public through a private law practice representing numerous prominent cases throughout his career. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Mr. Woodbury was deeply dedicated to his family, which he considered his greatest achievement. And with that, if you'd please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you. And Elko County, along with all of our residents and staff, would like to offer our most deepest and sincere condolences to the Woodbury family. With that, we'll move on to Item E, Appointments E1, Discussion and Consideration of Appointing Joe McNeil to the Elko County Planning Commission for a term expiring December 31, 2029. The Elko County Planning Commission reviewed several applications, including one from Joe McNeil at its July 16, 2026 meeting, and recommends his application to be held to fill a future anticipated vacancy. This item is for possible action. Corey.

Good afternoon, Corey Rice, Elko County Surveyor and Senior Planner. Jake Jefferson, who was one of our planning commissioners, recently went to work for High Desert Engineering and felt that there would be too much conflict with him to be on that board and be working for High Desert because they bring the majority of our applications. So he has resigned. The Elko County Planning Commission did ask that Joe be moved up the ladder after you guys appointed Andrew Meade. And so here we've got a vacant seat, and the Planning Commission and staff is in support of appointing Joe to Jake's vacant seat.

Thank you, Corey. Questions, comments?

Yeah, I got a question. How long has the seat been vacant, and how long does it have to stay open before we can fill it?

It's been vacant for only one month right now. And since we had these fresh applications, we didn't feel that it was necessary for us to reopen an advertisement for it. Okay.

Any other questions? I'll move the vote.

Go ahead.

I'll move the point. Joe McNeil. Second.

Okay, stand at your motion. Gail, second. Any other discussion? As this is a public, as this requires action, is there any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. And I vote aye also. Motion carries. Thank you, Corey. Thank you. Move on to item F, Flight Alliance of Northeastern Nevada, otherwise known as FAN. presentation by the Flight Alliance of Northeastern Nevada fan regarding the regional impact of commercial air service at the Elko Regional Airport, including passenger growth, the minimum revenue guarantee funding model, the Federal Small Community Air Service Development Program grant, and ongoing efforts to sustain and expand regional air service. This action item, or this is a non-action item, Mr. Mayor, welcome to the county. Glad you're here for the record. Reese Keener is here at the podium with us along with Jan Baum, the city manager.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and commissioners. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm here on behalf of Alliance of Northeastern Nevada where I serve as the treasurer and Ms. Baum serves as the chair, and also Amanda's a key member of the board, as is Rex. And just to say thank you for the county's participation. Wanted to give a little bit of background for the benefit of the public. After the, I should say in the wake of the pandemic, flight traffic went way down. It wasn't just in Elko, but it was a phenomenon affecting all cities. And we had a particularly difficult time because SkyWest was flying in a 75-seat product at that time, which was really too big for this market. And then coupled with the fact that the joint venture went through just before that, and so there were no longer employees being shuttled back and forth between Elko in Denver and Elko in Las Vegas and Elko in Toronto. We had several things working against us. And as the traffic didn't recover, Sky West said, if you want to continue to enjoy air service in Elko, Nevada, you're going to have to provide some subsidies for us so that we're whole, basically. And so we had COVID funding, which lasted for probably about 18 months or so. And after that was exhausted, we had a big decision to make, either We pay up the ante for the flight subsidies, or we lose our commercial air service, which really would have been devastating to our economy here. Several things happened. The flights were cut to one flight per day, and then along that time, The SkyWest came out with a new product, which was a 50-seat CRJ550 aircraft, which was a much better size for this market. And the good news is, as you'll see in a moment in the presentation, our numbers continue to improve month over month. And we're back to where we were in 2019. And so I'm happy to be able to report that. We had about $1.2 million last year in subsidies, approximately. And we're hoping that it'll be less this year. We were able to bring on a midday flight, and that operates on the busiest days, which are Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Friday. And that flight is struggling just because we need more ridership. Thankfully, we were able to get a U.S. DOT grant to help subsidize that. And FAN was created as a fundraising mechanism so it's not directly the city on the hook for the flight subsidies. And so at any rate, our return overnight flight in the last two out of three months has broken a little bit better than even, which means that SkyWest remitted some money back to us that we were able to use towards the subsidy on the midday flights. So we're continuing to promote the flights. I encourage the county as much as they can to use the Delta service as well as the general public. And Jan, if I missed anything, go right ahead and maybe we should have Connie start the video and then we'll entertain any questions. Thank you.

Thanks. Will you introduce yourself for the record and for the people here in the audience, please?

Hi, I'm Connie Anderson. I'm a consultant with Calico Collaborative, and I work with FAN.

Thank you. Welcome to Elko County today, virtually.

Thank you. Good to be here. We're going to play a little video for you first that shows some of the achievements that Mayor Keener just talked about.

Let's see here.

That's a great little video. If I could use the word handsome, that's a handsome video.

Yeah, Connie did all of that herself.

I work with a great team of videographers.

Are there any questions? Oh, Connie, sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to cut you off.

No, go for it. Go for it, Reese.

The only thing I'd ask is that midday flight would be smarter to push for a Reno instead or... or even just push for a Reno flight in addition to, I sure would like it. And also I think it'd help with our conversations with Carson City if there was a flight, but just a thought.

Absolutely, that's something that we address with SkyWest each November when we meet with them. And over the past few years, there's been no interest in that whatsoever. However, they have shown more interest in it as of the last time that we met, and we want to talk to them about the possibility of a new route that would include Reno to Elko, and hopefully there'll be some sustainability that comes from that to give people additional options for flying.

I mean, in the past, Salt Lake was such a huge Delta hub, there was not even a question. hub that would be smarter just to switch to Reno anyway? Or are we just at the hands of Delta? It doesn't matter.

Right. The big challenge right now, Commissioner Carr, is the fact that SkyWest has a hub and spoke system. So every flight either originates in or terminates in Salt Lake City. So they would have to deviate from their normal operational pattern on that.

You know, I'm really encouraged by seeing the ridership going up, which is great. And I know myself, I've had an opportunity to fly out of Elko a couple of times. And for me, it was pretty convenient, right? You know, I mean, I could just get to the airport. I mean, it's the same level of security, but it's not like going through security in a large metropolitan area you're through. You're in, you're out, you're in Salt Lake in like 30 minutes. I mean, it's unbelievable. And then I don't need to stay the night in Salt Lake. I don't need to pay the additional parking fee and all that other stuff. So, you know, when you start calculating all that, it really is an attractive option for us. And then obviously, you know, there's a tremendous amount of infrastructure that's been built there as part of our transportation system. So we appreciate all the hard work that you guys have done. And, and, you know, I think Elko County has been committed to this partnership from the beginning. And we, we see the value, tremendous value in that asset to our communities. And so seeing the increased is, is, and you know, it's a, that's a, that's a promising thing to see. And I think maybe it's the flight they added, because a couple of times I had taken that, and quite honestly, I had to run through the concourse to try to catch my flight. The last few times, I haven't had to run. I could mosey on down to the concourse, because once you get this body moving, it's hard to stop. But anyway, thank you for the presentation today.

All right. Thank you very much, Board.

Anything? Rex, I know you're... I'd just like to add that we just really need to encourage the community to use this service. If we could get the flights up or we didn't have to pay that subsidy, we could have the money to subsidize somebody coming in from Reno if SkyWest doesn't want to make the hops. Just the community, please use this airplane.

And it is nice now. That is a nice plane. It is quick. I mean, it's up and down. You're there.

Absolutely. Again, this is Connie Anderson for the record. I'll just jump in. And everyone's been talking about events coming up. FAN will be at SkyFair at the Elko Regional Airport on September 19th. So if the community or any of the commissioners here want to learn more about FAN, we'll have a booth with information about the flight. and encourage people to come talk and learn more. It is such a valuable asset to the region. You saw in there a number about return on investment, and that number comes from a Nevada Department of Transportation study about economic impact for every person that flies into northeastern Nevada and the Elko region. And so the more people we have flying in, we still have some capacity on those flights to have people fly in. just returns tax benefit to the region and helps the county, Elko County, other counties in the cities grow and provide resources to citizens. So thank you to everyone who has flown the flight. We're happy to hear about good experiences, and we'll keep doing work to grow the current flights. Part of FAN's mission is to grow more flights. I know that was a discussion earlier, so those conversations are happening.

Thank you.

Mayor Keener, you had something to say.

Yeah, I just wanted to add and thank the county for Get My Rides participation. In the absence of a taxi service here in Elko, that's been critical. We do need more rideshare drivers. We have a couple, I understand, but it can be spotty as to when it's available. There was that Comic-Con event type event that was in Elko a few weekends ago. And some of the feedback was that, you know, the travelers weren't able to, you know, they had to walk a mile downtown to get to dinner and it was really hard to get around. So if there are any prospective rideshare drivers out there, please, you know, step up. The city recently passed a ordinance to where we are suspending the business license in the home occupation license for rideshare drivers and that's for a period of two years and we're hoping that it'll just one less barrier to entry for rideshare drivers so yeah thank you

Thanks again mayor for being here and Jan. Thanks for being here. Thanks for your work on this program. Does the commission Amanda? Did you have anything else you wanted to say?

Yeah So Reese, thank you for that shout out to get my ride service and One of the conversations that we've had just here recently within the last couple of months is actually moving our Administrative office if you will for that service up to the airport We're still in those conversations with Jim Foster, who is the airport manager, and going back and forth on kind of what that agreement would look like. So hopefully we'll be moving those transportation services under one roof where it would make a lot of sense. Benefits the county hopefully would benefit the city as well as our residents. So that is in the works. Perfect.

Thanks. Any other comments, questions? All right. Thanks again for being here. Moving on, we're going to move on to item G. We've got a number of planning and zoning-related items here, and I just want to get a disclosure out of the way because there's like three or four of them that I need to make a disclosure, and I'd like to just get those out of the way. So my disclosure is there are a number of applications on here that have been submitted by High Desert Engineering. My son works for High Desert Engineering, but I have absolutely zero pecuniary interest or any involvement whatsoever in this. And I feel like I can make a fair and impartial, unbiased decision as it relates to all of these applications. So I will be participating. So I'll go on to G1. Pursuant to Notice Number 202634, Discussion and Consideration of an Application Submitted by Paul and Lori Boteri Requesting Approval of a Tentative Map for the Division of Land in Large Parcels. Corey.

Good afternoon. Corey Rice, Elko County Surveyor and Senior Planner. This is a pretty straightforward tentative map for division land in large parcels. Just Creating just two parcels out of one bigger one The Planning Commission recommended approval with staffs recommendations findings and conditions didn't And staff is in support of it, so if you've got any questions for me, please feel free to ask

Mr.. Chairman I move to approve this item from the agenda as as Stipulated by their conditions which were basically they have to keep the law, okay?

Okay, Gail motion standard second. You're okay. It's all right.

I

So we've started a new process because we're doing closed captioning, so we need to say who makes the motion and who the second is, so just bear with us. We're still having a little fun with that. Okay, so we have a motion and a second. Is there any other discussion on this item? Okay, seeing none, is there any public comment on this item as this is an action item?

Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.

And I vote aye also, motion carries. And again, that's a tentative map. The final map will come back before us too.

Yeah, you'll probably see the final map, the mid-meeting in October or the first meeting in November.

Okay, G2, pursuant to notice number 202635, discussion and consideration of an application submitted by MFRE2U Ranch LLC requesting approval of a tentative map for the division of large, I'm sorry, land and large parcels. Currie.

Again, this is a pretty straightforward division of land in large parcels map It's pretty remote Out basically to the west southwest of South Fork Reservoir some of this property will be sold to the What used to be the order of the mining company? I'm drawing a blank on the thank you So it is it is basically connected with that project again The Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously with staff's recommendations, findings, and conditions. Staff is in support of it.

Can you go down to the aerial level? I couldn't tell which. The other way. The other way, yeah. Which? There you go.

Okay, so this one is, I do understand your question, Rex. Okay. This is a section one Which is gonna be the fair the far okay, that's long northeast one there, but it said to Pardon doesn't it say to that says section one Township 30 North Range 53 East So it's in the map for the division of land and the large parcels to create two parcels each two parcels and Located within section one.

Okay. Okay, gotcha Okay, any other questions No, I'll move to approve with the staffs recommendations findings and conditions Second, okay has standards your motion Gail second any other comment?

Any public comment on this action item seeing none all those in favor signify by saying aye aye aye aye vote aye also motion carries Thank you

Moving on to G3. Pursuant to notice number 2636, discussion and consideration to approve resolution number 202629 regarding Vincent Squatrito. I'm going to mess up his last name terribly. Sorry. Squatrito. Squatrito. Thank you. Request to vacate and relocate a portion of Monte Carlo Drive right of way.

Okay, this is a simple right basically just relocating the right-of-way This is the exhibit that will go along with the both the vacation and as well as the new deed of dedication So the existing right-of-way is the dashed line And you can see the lighter dashed line, which is the actual roadway. So they're wanting to just move this right-of-way over to better fit the existing roadway. Both the Jackpot Advisory Board and the Elko County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of this, and so does staff.

Okay. Steniger moves to approve Resolution 2026, staff's 30. Okay, I'll second. Thank you, any other discussion?

Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye vote aye also. Motion carries. G4, pursuant to notice number 202637, discussion consideration to approve an alternate compliance request submitted by Bob Tebow of High Desert Engineering to allow access to parcels number one, two, three, and four by a 30-foot wide private access easement as shown on parcel map for the George L. Eldridge, William T. Eldridge, and Sherry A. Peterson.

Corey. Again, Corey Rice, Elko County Surveyor and Senior Planner. This, with the green-blue highlighted area there is the area that they're wishing to have as a private access easement and not a dedicated county right-of-way. Staff is in support of this and recommends approval.

I was a little unsure on that, Corey. So it comes off the main road there, and that's still going to remain public?

That still remains public. It's just the green area going around the edge of the parcel map there to access parcels three and potentially parcels two also.

Could you go to that vicinity map? Because I couldn't tell from that map where this is.

Let's see. Does that help?

Yeah, I can.

Oh, there we go. It's down here off to the right. Oh, no, that was your arrow.

Isn't it that blue section right there, right smack dab in the middle?

Oh, yeah, right there.

Blue section.

Oh, okay, okay. Right along Lower South Valley Road. Yeah, there's numbers on top of it. I didn't see that, so thank you.

Okay. Any questions about what's being requested here with this parcel map?

I, Brian Gale, move to approve the request of G4. Okay.

Standager will second. And were there conditions on that one? Do you have any other conditions?

No, just the only conditions that go along with parcel maps are basically the standard boilerplate NRS and county code requirements.

Okay. I have a motion by Gale, second by Standager. Any other discussion? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye vote aye. Also motion carries, thank you. Okay, we've got G5, pursuant to notice number 202638, discussion and consideration of resolution number 202630 regarding a request submitted by Tyler W. Agee for the dedication of a portion of Hamilton Stage Road.

Corey. Let's go back to the data dedication, please. Amanda, thank you. Again, Corey Rice, Elkville County Surveyor and Senior Planner. Mr. Adjie owns this parcel that is out there in the Western Hills area and Hamilton Stage Road bisects his parcel.

Corey, I had a question on that. Are you sure that's Hamilton Stage Road?

Well, there's... There's kind of, there's some, a little bit of confusion there. So some maps call it Meadowview Drive, and other maps call it Hamilton Stage Road. I don't know how to resolve that issue, and for the purpose of this, I do not believe it really affects anything.

No, I don't agree it doesn't affect it.

Yeah, there is some confusion out there on what that is. I personally feel that Hamilton stage road is more appropriate because of the way meadow view Drive circles around already it would basically make three roads at work, but that's not called Hamilton stage road on the other side of the mountain Yep, and it crosses and there's also Hamilton stage road is also part of this subdivision Further off to the west here also on that side of the mountain so they'll eventually all connect That's the theory yeah

And I think probably the, notwithstanding the confusion on the names, there's those bearings that are identified too. So that's, I mean, those are very specific property boundaries.

Yeah, this is an actual survey dedication. So Mr. Aggie is requesting to dedicate this road. He's paying property taxes underneath it and can't utilize it. So that, does kind of clean up that. And it also does, it's a good step forward in cleaning up some of the issues we've got with that road going from Meadowview Drive down to the South Fork Highway. So this starts cleaning that up because there is no right-of-ways or easements on that road right now as it exists. And this does help start to fix this. And also, this would give the opportunity, the right-of-way would automatically split his parcel, so he would actually be able to utilize this lower triangle below that parcel in a much more efficient manner than he can now.

Sounds good to me. Steniger will move to approve Resolution 2026-30.

Gale, second.

Motion and second.

Amanda, can you go back to that map? I do have one question.

Sorry about that.

No, you're fine. The only question I had Corey was it looks like you know this maps kind of cockeyed But I'll say to the right side of that where it says point of the other side right there the up Keep going down down down. I'm sorry Amanda. Is that who's driving? I am okay Okay, down by the jury by the signature down. Okay now to the right to the right right a little more

Right there. Talking about the point of beginning?

Yeah. So is that right away there already exists up to the property?

It does not.

This on the right-hand side of that boundary line?

No. So north is pointing to your right on the screen. So to the east, that is on BLM land. There currently is not a right-of-way on that. Okay. If this is approved, I will be putting an application into the county to get that right-of-way from the BLM. And I am also going to approach his neighbor to the east there to see if he'd be interested in dedicating the portion of that road that goes through his parcel as well.

Okay. And I thought by looking at that map that that already existed, but it does not.

No, there was a little confusion in there. Some people thought it existed. Did some pretty extensive research on it recently, and it does not.

Okay. All righty. And we do have a motion to second. Any other questions? Any public comment on this item? Do we have a public comment? Yeah, come on up. State your name for the record, please.

Seth Amerigian. I'm a resident of Western Hills. Okay. So yeah, I just had some questions by the names of the roads and stuff too, but he cleared it up. So I'm opposed to this. The county's never had interest in, I've been out there for 47 years. The county's never had any interest in this road or helping us with maintenance. So I don't understand why that little section would need to be put under county control when it says they're not going to maintain it anyways. There's absolutely no purpose for it, in my opinion.

Do you want to try to explain it, Corey?

Well, as it sits right now and for I don't know how many decades, that road has been used for access already as is. So in my opinion, this is an appropriate move to put it into under a public right-of-way. It does clear up the legal access issues on it. And if I can get the rest of the road dedicated from or permitted from the BLM, as well as the other one, it cleans up that whole section and does make it a legal public access.

And if I may, I didn't catch your last name, Seth. That's a good Basque name, it sounds like. It's not Basque. It's not Basque. All right. Well, I apologize. I'm going to just stick with Seth, if that's all right with you. All right. You know, I mean, basically, the county, the property owner has submitted this application for consideration. So it's really nothing that we've asked for. We're just determining whether or not we would accept that. So, I mean, every property owner has the right to ask for these types of things. Okay.

But I just don't see the purpose of it because there's another...

I think the bottom line is it benefits the property owner, and he's asked us to do it.

And also, just to point out, further out down that road, down that private property, those roads are already dedicated by the map that created the subdivision.

So help the property owner, I guess, is my question.

Well, there's two ways it helps them. One, it... takes that portion of the property off of his tax roll so he's not paying taxes on property that he can't utilize. And two, it does have the potential of automatically splitting his parcel so he can utilize that lower triangle more effectively.

And he can then close the road?

No, no. No, he can't close a public road. No, once it's dedicated, it's public right away.

But he could put it for a vacancy permit, right? After this, correct? Since you guys aren't going to maintain it, all you guys have to do is say, yeah, we don't want it anymore.

Once it's a dedicated road, that's not a road that I would ever support vacating once it was dedicated, nor I think the Planning Commission ever would either.

So, Corey, correct me if I misunderstand this. Right now, because it's not dedicated, he could close this off.

That becomes more of a legal question, but in my opinion, technically, yes.

Okay. So once it's dedicated, though, for public access, he cannot do that?

He would not be able to close it.

So that's the only section of the road in Western Hills that's not public access?

That's correct, yes.

I didn't know that. We were always told it's all public access in Western Hills.

Yeah, up in the Western Hills subdivision, all those roads are. This one, however, is not. It's the only one.

And Corey, this piece right here, that's the BLM section that you're talking about?

That is the BLM section that if this is approved, I will be putting in an application to get that right of way from the BLM.

Correct, okay. And then just to be clear, because I think this is helpful, the piece that's dedicated is the green piece there, correct? Yes, that is correct. And you're saying that other piece just on the outside of the green piece, you said to the east, right?

Well, here's to the west, so I am going to approach this owner and ask him if he'd be interested in dedicating that little portion that goes through his property as well there, and then also putting in the application with the BLM. That completely cleans up that road. It all puts it into public right-of-way.

This is a good example of public-private cooperation because a difficult landowner could require the road to go around their parcel and rebuild the road. In this case, he's offering it at no cost to the public. That's correct. So it's something that is a win-win for the public. It also benefits him. because he likes the road there. Sometimes if somebody tries to close off a road like this, it results in litigation because the other owners, like yourself, would say, well, that's always been used. It's a prescriptive right. And they'd come up with theories of why it should remain open. And that just creates a good lawsuit. This is a much better result to avoid litigation and, like I said, a win-win.

Anything, any other question?

If that's truly what it is, then I can agree with that. If it would make sure it stays open, but. Okay. It just seems unusual. It actually isn't. Because it's been that way for 50 years.

We've done similar situations throughout the years. Maybe once every couple of years we come across a road like this and we go through this process. Yeah, I've got a question Cory how how many acres is a little triangle That I don't know off the top of my head right now If this is approved there will be a record of survey filed and I'll know exactly what that is at that time Do we know how big the whole lot is that's a little over 40 acres, okay?

So it is a big enough area that, I mean, it's over two acres.

Yeah, it's a big enough area to be able to have a well and septic system.

Yeah. Okay. Okay, any other questions, comments? Any other public comment? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. And I vote aye also.

Motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you, and have a good afternoon.

You too. Move on to item H, Elko County Board of Highway Commissioners, H1 discussion consideration to approve a change order, Public Works Project EL2026-197, Spring Creek Valley Parkway Reconstruction Project with Hat Creek Materials and Construction Incorporated in the amount of $27,650 for unforeseen subgrade stabilization work. Dennis.

Dennis Price, Elko County Road Superintendent. So this... change order kind of happened during paving. I think we had a description in the letter, but the day that we started the mainline paving, we discovered an issue deep in the subgrade in this section near the storage sheds. And that's, they had to do a bunch of additional work that was unplanned to get that repaired so that we could continue paving that day. And I don't know if anybody's been out there and driven on that, but it turned out

Yeah, it's nice. Very nice. Good job.

I move to approve H1 as presented.

Okay, I have a motion from Gail. Second from Gerber. Thank you. Any other discussion? There's one thing I wanted to bring up. I know you guys brought this back, which is what you have to do when, and I don't know if we have this, but when I was at the city, we had a policy because sometimes you can't get the elected body to do a change order, right? So it kind of puts you in an awkward position. We used to have the latitude at the city, I think, to go up to like 5% of the, I can't remember the exact number, but staff had the ability to go up to 5% or something like that. for a change order because of the timing of the, and then it would come back and get ratified. So, you know, I can see how going forward that that could cause an issue. So I think that that's something you should study and see if there's a number that this body's comfortable with of giving you administrative approval up to a certain percent.

And we had that at the city.

I don't know if it's still there, but we did. Yeah, I would like to look into that because any of these construction projects, you never know. Anything can kind of pop up. Okay.

Thank you. I've noted that.

Okay, thanks. Any other comment? Any public comment on this item?

Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. I vote aye.

Also motion carries. Thank you. Thanks. Aye. Elko County Sheriff's Office discussion consideration to approve a renewal of a cannabis business license for Cheyenne Medical Elko RD 267 LLC doing business as Thrive Cannabis Marketplace located at 1868 Royal Drive, Jackpot, Nevada, 89825. I know the background information here says you have received the required application and Sheriff's Department is recommending approval, which this is the second or third time. Yes.

We've done this throughout the last few years. Okay. Everything we have here. I'll make that motion.

This is the background check, so we're good.

Okay.

Carr makes the motion to approve. Second. Gale.

Thank you. Any other discussion? Any public comment on this? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. And I vote aye also. Motion carries. Man, that was like two in government walking at the same time. That was tough for me. Circling that and making talks. All right. Discussion consideration to approve stripping usable parts from seven. Seven Elko County Sheriff's Office vehicles and subsequently selling the vehicles. The vehicles have exceeded their serviceable life due to high mileage and engine hours. The cost of necessary repairs exceeds the current value of the vehicles and they are no longer suitable for operational or patrol use. There is a list of vehicles on the agenda. Sheriff.

These are seven vehicles that have been in our fleet for many, many years. They're the older black and whites. Some of these vehicles have up to 144,000, 140,000. These vehicles, we're going to get rid of them through Bancorp. We'll put them on a truck, take them down to Utah. What they do, they sell them out. After they strip them and then whatever they get, whatever they make, we get a percentage of that back and put that back into the general fund or back to the lease program. These vehicles are.

So these vehicles we own outright. These are not part of the lease vehicle.

We own them. So whatever we get from them, it'll go towards the general fund or the lease program. Okay.

And then just one last question. I think it would be pretty obvious what you plan on stripping out of them.

It's probably light bars radios Well, yeah, we'll take those strip those strip the cages and we've already done most of it, but they'll strip the cages and we can't use those cages because Throughout the years of vehicles the insides always changes So they're never the same every time we buy new vehicles the inside the center consoles everything changed So they sell whatever they can and then we profit from that.

Okay. Any other questions?

I've got a question. Go ahead. Is there any purpose that the county should hang on to a couple of those? I mean...

44th 141,000 to me The way they make vehicles We have with the new vehicles that we are purchasing this year We've already got some coming in the new expedition and then we have the older Chevy's from the last so our vehicle fleet with the new ones and the ones that We've got in the last few years. We'll use those for the backup vehicles. So we have experience these vehicles I'm sure you'd be in ranch you and Rex being ranchers Normal vehicle would last you guys probably a long time The way we drive them, after 140,000, 150,000, we're constantly exceeding the speed limits, going to search and rescues, going to domestic shootings. When we get done with a vehicle, 150,000, they're pretty much wore out.

I didn't mean to interrupt you, Sheriff, but I know that there's a, Patrol vehicle in Mountain City and one in Jarvidge.

I don't know if you have one Yes, we use those vehicles and the one in Jarvidge. We're just talking today. We do have They're part of our search and rescue so what they do in Jarvidge if they they do belong to the sheriff's office So there is an incident in Jarvidge, which I believe this year. They responded to three of them The people that are signing this vehicle that vehicle I'll go out and deal with whatever they have, the search and rescue, and then they just park it. The one in Mount City we use to move around for traffic, but we're going to go get that one and probably sell that one outright as well.

Okay. And I think, you know, I think to the sheriff's point, you know, I mean, if you have vehicles in your fleet that aren't being used, it's going to cost you more to keep them than it is to liquidate them because insurance, maintenance, and then, you know, the, I mean, you have to outsource all of your maintenance now, right? So, I mean, it just gets complicated. And if you have, I don't know, the deputies probably have a vehicle assigned to them or whatever, but these are going to be the vehicles that are last picked.

Yeah, this fleet that we have this year will be good for, I believe, our lease. We've been leasing them. It goes as high as 80,000, 90,000 miles, and then we'll replace them. But what it's done, us leasing these newer vehicles has dramatically cost our, saved our maintenance. A few years back, I don't know if you remember, we were, we lost like six engines in the patrol cars and they were, I believe, close to $300,000 for all of them and the maintenance for that year. So we were way over budget, but we were, so now we lease them. So by the time they start getting wore out, we get rid of them and they'll send us a new vehicle. It's been very, very helpful for us.

Okay, any other questions, comments? I'll just go into Mr. Gell's question. I think it's also important that the sheriff not have any breakdowns on the way to a scene. That's the last thing you need is a mechanical problem, so you've got to keep your vehicles in tip-top shape.

We need reliable vehicles. It's really increased our... Service we'll have to keep getting towed and Every time we told vehicle use cost is anywhere like five or six hundred dollars, so it's really safest cost and This new program is really well working for really working well for the sheriff's office Well standing here moves to approve the sheriff's plan for the seven vehicles listed here and item I to Gail second motion a second any other discussion I

Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Vote aye also. Motion carries. Thank you. Item J, Elko County Assessor's Office. J1, discussion and consideration of approval of a GIS Enterprise Consultant Agreement between Elko County... and Max Mapping LLC, formerly known as Geospatial Solutions, for a base annual amount of $54,000. Funded from the Assessor's Technology Fund, additional hours, emergency and after-hours support, on-site visits, and travel expenses will be billed separately at the rates established in this agreement. Hello, sir. How are you?

I'm good. Dennis Thurietta for the Record Ioco County Assessor's Office. Uh, just, uh, wanted to bring this before you to, uh, just to, we can use some extended services on our GIS portion of, uh, for our mapping, our parcel viewership, uh, the Connect Explorer, all of those things. Uh, we have our, uh, gentleman in the office that does our day-to-day work, and this is more for the back-end side of things that, uh, uh, really needs to be, uh, Utilize better so that we can work better with the city of Elko, city of Wells, Wendover, Carlin, all of those type of things. And then also just for our normal county services, E911 and that type of stuff. So if you've got any questions, I'm happy to entertain anything you may have.

I was just curious that the separate billing for the time over the 20 hours at $175 an hour, does that get covered by the enterprise fund also?

It would be, yes.

Technology fund. Technology fund, right.

I noticed the GIS system was down last week. Was there a problem with the server or what was... I don't know if there was anything, but there was some parcel maps we pulled up or property details where the map would not load.

Oh, I know that they were having some issues with the server, but I don't know if it was county or if it was... Like this particular gentleman, he'll maintain our server for us so that it doesn't have to be stored on site. All our data can be stored with him, protected by him. So that's another plus. And we've been working with this company or this gentleman for a number of years. This is just, we're just kind of upgrading what he can do for us.

Okay.

Any other questions? Standager removed to approve the GIS Enterprise Consultant Agreement.

Second, Gail. Okay, I have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. I vote aye also. Motion carries. Thanks. Thank you. Elko County Ambulance. K-1 discussion consideration to approve an agreement between Elko County and eServices Technology for credit card payment processing integrated directly with Sharp Ambulance Billing. This agreement includes a processing rate of 1.25%. plus interchange fees and a $20 monthly merchant account connection fee with no other fees. The service also provides an option to pass the processing fee onto the consumer at checkout. Elko County Ambulance currently processes credit card payments through another vendor that has announced a price increase following that announcement. Ambulance finance staff evaluated several options for processing credit card payments for ambulance services. Staff has recommended e-service technology as the preferred vendor for the credit card payments going forward. Its direct integration with Sharp Ambulance Billing will provide a streamlined payment experience for patients at a reasonable cost to the county.

Chris. Good afternoon. Chris McCann, EMS Chief for Oracle County Ambulance. Really, that introduction says most of it. Our current vendor for credit card billing announced a price increase that was less than appealing for us, so we started shopping a little bit. As we looked around, kind of some of the services the county has in different departments, and then we got a referral to eServices from our billing department. eServices is already integrated with the billing with Sharps, and so it makes a much smoother customer experience for those who are looking to pay their bills online. And all the pricings were pretty similar, so we selected eServices as our preferred So we're just looking to get that agreement approved.

Okay. So do we charge back the customer? Like if I pay my bill online, do we charge the fee?

Our current system, no, but we will start doing that in the new one because we've been eating a lot of credit card fees.

I see in this item it says the option to pass on the product. You're going to take that option, huh?

That was our plan was to pass it on to the customer online. those fees, I think last year was about $80,000 if I remember right. So it's adding up and eating into our revenues.

So we're going to pass it on. I was also curious about, the agreement includes a processing rate of 1.25% plus interchange fees. It doesn't give an amount to that.

So the interchange fees differ depending on the card. So like Visa has a certain interchange fee, MasterCard has, and so it's... There is a way to define that, but it is a long charge.

A credit card charge.

Yeah. So question. The customer who pays by credit card for their ambulance service will not pay an additional 1.25%. They'll pay an additional 1.25% plus whatever their card says. So it might be 3%. Yeah.

I believe with our current vendor, if I remember the number correct, it's around two to two and a half percent as well. Okay.

So yeah, you need to just set it at a standard like 3% and be done.

Okay.

That's what I do.

Well, Steniger will move to approve the GIS Enterprise Consultant Agreement in item J1.

Gail, second.

You know, the only thing I'm thinking about with this, because this is kind of what he's talking about, these fees collected really is kind of a policy thing. I'm just wondering if we shouldn't formalize that and just bring it to the commission for consideration. I mean, I don't think anybody should be making those kinds of decisions. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Does that make sense? Yep. I mean, I think that's a board decision.

I think we all agree with it, but I think we ought to formalize it. I didn't understand what you said. So he's talking about going from not charging to charging. I think that needs to come to the board for the board to do that because, A, it's on an agenda, it's transparent, and that decision is with the board instead of staff.

I think I'd include that in whatever services we charge a credit card. If I pay my property tax for the credit card, I pay these guys. It's all kind of the same. So we really should, if we're looking at, I agree with you, then bring it all unless there's parts that we can't, but the parts we can have as a standard rate, I think we should. So I'm agreeing with you. Okay.

Does that make sense?

Yeah, but that's not on today's agenda. So we can't discuss that.

Nope.

We're agreeing to bring it back.

Yeah. And each service is different. This is different than taxes, which isn't such a timely emergency-type payment. But in this case, if you find that people are balking to charge their card because of that fee, it would probably be better to back off the fees and just collect the money rather than have to collect it later and lose even more. So, I mean, I imagine you collect more up front if you take the credit card payment. So, I mean, it's a trade-off.

Yeah, it's a trade-off. I mean, some people are willing to pay for the convenience, just pay it at midnight while they're sitting in their pajamas. Some people don't want to pay that extra convenience fee, so they would rather kind of pay it in person.

And I guess it's not that they're sitting in the ambulance. They might be at home after they're already out of the hospital.

Yeah. Well, they're not receiving our bill for... Of weeks usually at least.

Okay, so it's not an amount. Okay, that clarifies that for me.

It's not something we're doing at bedside or anything like that. In the ambulance. I thought you were helping him. I am aware of private ambulance services that do that sort of thing, but we do not.

Holding them hostage in the ambulance. Transfer care.

Okay, I guess we have a motion in a second. Any other discussion? Any public comment?

Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. And I vote aye also. Motion carries. Thank you. K2, discussion consideration to ratify the county manager's preliminary approval and approve the mutual aid agreement with West, with Wendover Ambulance to Ambulance Services of Tooele LLC doing business as Mountain West Ambulance. Chris, Amanda, are both you guys taking this one or whatever you want to do?

Sure, Chris, if you want to give the background and I'll fill in if you need me to.

I'll provide some background. So we've had a mutual aid agreement with Wendover Ambulance for many years. Looking back, it's probably at least a couple decades. That's a private ambulance service. The current owner is sailing it over to Mountain West Ambulance. Mountain West, they're trying to get this done fairly quick, so when it came to us, they needed it. So Amanda kind of granted that preliminary approval to say that, yep, we agree as the county for the reassignment of that mutual aid from Wendover to Mountain West. And then we're looking to just get that decision ratified. We will be pursuing an updated mutual aid and auto agreement with Mountain West Ambulance. But for now, we're just having the current agreement reassigned.

OK, any questions?

Entertain a motion. I'll make the motion to approve K2 to ratify the county manager's preliminary approval to approve the mutual aid agreement with Wendover Ambulance to Ambulance Services of Tooele, Utah, or Tooele, LLC, doing business as Mountain West Ambulance.

Okay.

Carr seconds that.

Okay, it's a Gerber motion. Any other discussion? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. I vote aye. All motion carries. Thanks. Item L, Elko County. Oh, I think we're going to table this one, right?

Yeah. I stalled around and didn't get that done until last night. I sent a draft to William Simpson, and he...

He wants to rewrite it a little bit. Okay, so we're going to table L1. Thank you, Commissioner Stanager. Moving on to L2, discussion consideration to draft a letter supporting the United States Forest Service proposal to rescission of the 2001 roadless area conservation rule.

Curtis, this sounds like good news. Yeah, so it's pretty much just what it says on the tin there. Looking for some direction on... sending in a comment to support the rescission of that rule.

We have, what, another couple of weeks to get that comment in?

Yeah, we've got until early October, if I remember right here. Scroll down to the bottom here. September 21st. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know why this is coming forward, but to me this is good news. You have a great backup information from NACO, which I think is very relevant. I don't know what's the rest of the commission's feelings on this item.

Well, it's true that it would allow the Forest Service, assuming they actually do this, greater flexibility, consider road access, forest health, and fuels reduction. It's sad somebody will litigate this, but it sounds fantastic, so I'll make the motion to write the letter.

Okay.

Not me writing it. Let's make sure that's clear to me, but the county to write the letter.

Second. It's not me making the motion. Okay. Yeah. Car motion.

Gale second. Any other comments? Any public comment on this item?

I'd just like to say I remember when this rule was first being discussed by the Forest Service, we went to the Forest Service and opposed it. And there was a lot of people from Elko County that opposed it because we could see how detrimental this was. to every industry in the county, and also to wildlife, also to forest and range management, especially with respect to fire. What we've learned is these roads are some of the best fire breaks. And if they're maintained and if they're accessible, we can put out fire. And this was one of the most wrongheaded rules that has ever been proposed. So I'm really happy to see it's being officially rescinded.

Great. Okay, well, hopefully it does get rescinded. I definitely want to support it. And I remember some of the discussions, too, Travis, where there was discrepancies on what roads, right? I mean, there were maps that were generated. I mean, we're talking lots and lots of roads.

Oh, your father's cheerleading at the moment, I guarantee. Yeah, that was very scary because, that's right, it was very vague and probably intentionally vague. And even if they had defined the roads, they would have been closing more roads. I mean, it was scary, the roads they were proposing to close. These were very well-used roads and very important for firefighting. So I'm very happy to see this, that number one, it didn't go forward, and number two, that it's being officially proposed to be rescinded.

Okay. We did get a motion and a second on that one, right? Yes. Okay. Any other discussion? Any public comment? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Vote aye also. Motion carries. M, Elko Justice and Municipal Court, M1, Discussion and Consideration to Adopt Resolution No. 202631, Memorializing the Fiscal Year 2026 Compensation Adjustment for the Elko County Justice of the Peace and Establishing a Consistent Method for Future Base Wage Adjustments. Amanda.

Okay, so we promised to bring this back during the budget process, and so this does just serve to memorialize what we approved through the budget process and how we plan to make base wage adjustments for the Justices of the Peace going forward.

Are there any questions or concerns?

Since they left, can we just not give them raises? I'll make a motion to approve M1 as presented. This is Carr.

Stand to give a second. Thank you. Motion to second any other discussion. Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. I vote aye also. Motion carries. N, Elko County Finance. N1, discussion consideration to approve an enhancement to Elko County existing ClearGov contract to include the complete budget management system and next generation transparency center In the amount not to cede, $54,840. Mary, is this you?

Yes, it is. Okay. You have the copy of the amendment to the current agreement we have with ClearGov that does our transparency website. This amendment would give us the three budgeting modules, a digital budget book, and then a graded... the next generation of their transparency website for us to use. They go hand in hand. The budget modules really help on the back end with staff and in my office and getting everything in. It'll all be done electronically now instead of me and 50 spreadsheets trying to get all them done, which always has some inherent inaccuracy and could be errors in it. All of our scenarios and everything can be ran through that. The biggest part of it, though, I think, especially for the citizens and the board, is we'll get the digital budget book. Their software for the digital budget book will read from our budgeting modules, help me to put together a digital budget book, that's easier for the citizens and for you as a board to understand. I know the state's forms are not the easiest to read. The other thing is it will give us a much better and increased transparency website that will include the digital budget book. The digital budget book is somewhat interactive. They can ask questions. But instead of me just talking on and on about how wonderful it is, ClearGov did prepare for us to show you a short four-minute video regarding it. So you could kind of get a visual to see what the digital budget book and transparency website could look like.

I'd rather take your word for it and approve it. This is hard.

Thought you might say that it is four minutes long, but I will provide this video if you if any of you are interested but as Mary said we Essentially for every department and almost every fund we have a separate spreadsheet that we send out to departments They populate that comes back to us. We consolidate that into a spreadsheet those of you that have been involved in the Budget Committee Know that there are inherently things that get left off whatever else so not only that but this Budget module allows us to play with it a little bit so we can say well What happens if we fund these two things or these three things and it will give us those different scenarios? It allows us to do that with sellers and benefits as well as services and supplies and capital projects and at the end of it once it's approved It allows us to actually import that data into Central Square so we're not hand-keying all that data. Again, an opportunity for error, right? So increased efficiency, better accuracy, budget book you will love. I love it. But anyways.

That was Amanda's second. Is that possible? No. She doesn't have a vote.

It's my chair winning for sure. It will also increase the timeliness of information out on the transparency website. As part of this, they will build a bridge between our central square and that, where it will auto-update instead of waiting for me to send the information to them to be uploaded. So the citizens will have more up-to-date information.

Has this been four minutes already? I know.

Sorry. I'm still going to send you the repetition.

We've got lots of roads, and now we've got bridges.

We've got everything covered.

All right.

I do have a motion, but I do not have a second. Oh, second. All right. Gail. Gail, second. Thank you very much. Any other discussion? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye. Aye. I vote aye also. Motion carries. Well, look at this. Roads, bridges, and now we have the bus service to handle the roads and bridges.

Here you go.

Way to plan this out.

Oh, get my ride, Transit Service. 01, discussion consideration. To approve an amendment extending the contract between Elko Transit and Amtrak. The contract was originally approved in October 2024. The amendment includes a 3% increase, bringing the total contract amount to $218,545.40. Yes.

Kayla is in training today, so I'll give you the information on this. It's basically what it says on the agenda. It does extend the contract for another year, so through September 30 of 2027. and it does have a price increase for us to continue to provide the service. Essentially what we do is we transport folks from platform to platform so that they can safely make that travel. In addition, not only are we providing the platform to platform, but we are providing transportation services to and from the Amtrak station.

I make a motion to approve because the location of that and this layout and the design, I don't think we have a choice.

Okay, I have a car motion. My only question was, they're getting a pretty good deal with the 3% increase over two years. I'm sure the cost of that service went up way more than 3%.

I can certainly ask Kayla to go back and negotiate that.

It was probably at least 3% a year.

I think the big thing is to make sure we're at least covering our pay costs. And I remember originally, we were covering our costs and had a little bit of a buffer, but I think that's a good point. So I don't know if, I think if you don't mind amending your motion, John, to say subject to renegotiating the increase, are you okay with that?

I'm 100% okay with that. Okay.

Do we get a second, yeah? Nope. Stanager, a second.

Okay, motion and a second. Any other discussion? Go ahead.

I'm just doing some quick math. If the county is being paid $218,000 for this service, that's $600 a day. So that's a pretty lucrative contract to help also get my ride going.

Yep. Okay. Thanks for the comment, Travis. Any other public comment on this item? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. And I vote aye also. Motion carries. Thank you. Item P, Assembly Bill 519 of the 2023 legislative session. P1, discussion and consideration of Nevada Supreme Court's decision in the county's challenge to Assembly Bill 519-2023. The Nevada Supreme Court upheld the district court's determination that Sections 2 and 8 of AB 519, together with a portion of Section 3 referencing those sections, were unconstitutional. The provisions used a narrowly defined population classification that applied only to Elko County and required the county to levy a tax that was neither limited to a specific project nor imposed for a defined period of time. The Supreme Court's decision will be issued as a published opinion establishing binding precedent for the interpretation of similar legislation affecting counties throughout Nevada. Copies of AB 519 as an

Acted the district courts ruling and Nevada Supreme Court's decisions are included for reference It's a great one to welcome you back It's a done deal I think it's a wonderful President that the Supreme Court has now put in that you can't just

make these narrow windows that pick on small counties. And I was grateful to be part of that litigation, at least at the beginning, and see that it came out.

No, I thought you did a great job with the framework of this argument, you know, because that's what this whole thing hinged on. And in reality, when I don't know if anybody else was, but I was sounding the alarm thinking, it's not just any other county, it's any other taxing entity that this precedent could have been. They could have gone to a city and said, you will raise your taxes. some arbitrary number, allowing you to go above the cap. And the thing I think, you know, like I've said from the beginning, there are portions of AB 519 which are good, which is that grant process for rural schools, set aside the funding for Hawaii. They never even bothered to ask us if we would be willing to give them, which was the intent all along, you know. And so the fact that, I mean, this is a great day. I'm excited about this and I'm glad you brought this I'm glad that we had this decision and I'm glad it's on the agenda so that people can see you know this could have been an absolutely devastating thing had you know we don't like to fight we don't fight often but when we do it's because out of absolute principle and this was one where You know, we were all dug in and said, no, we're fighting this and all the way up to the Supreme Court. And I just congratulate that and thank the DA's office for your diligent work on this item. And again, I'd also even like to thank the fellow commissioners for having the fortitude to. push this through and take a stand on this item and not just let them do that to us. I think this is a huge thing going forward.

So anybody else have anything else they'd like to add? I echo your comments that this was a relatively small mandate, but in principle it was a massive overstep. And if this had been allowed to slide or if the Supreme Court had not put an end to this, this could have been a 5% or a 10% or a 50% mandate down the future that would exceed a cap that was otherwise in place. So the government's got to follow its own rules, and this Supreme Court held them to that standard.

I was curious, the aspect of setting precedent I wonder if it'll affect, it seems like I remember they often say a community over a million. And that is specifically Las Vegas.

Yeah, yeah. So if we get into the minutia of the law, those things are actually allowed. And what's not allowed is when they make these short little tiny windows. The window they made for Elko County was 5,000. So communities like Las Vegas, I mean, I guess if we looked, I don't know, a long time in the future, Elko County could eventually get to that point and it would meet the same criteria. And that's kind of the difference there. Where they're narrowing down and they're really looking at one community versus when you hit a certain point, all communities are gonna fall under that. So that's the distinction that they're trying to get.

Actually, I remember reading that. How did you say that?

Yeah.

Well, that too, Rand, and there was a very specific timeframe that we had to work through that process as well.

Correct. And I remember, too, because I questioned at the time. I go, hey, we're not in that range anymore. And they go, no, it was on that day that it was passed.

That's exactly that, yeah. And the Supreme Court even pointed out that our name was mentioned several times in the legislative minutes going, hey, this is just for Elko County. And they're like, it's probably just for Elko County then. Yeah.

Well, I think the only thing that's missing here today is a big piece of cake. Because this truly is a celebration. This isn't necessarily a poke at any one branch. But, I mean, holy smokes. We were on the losing end of this deal. And, again, I'm proud of you guys for all taking a stand on this one. This was a biggie. Yeah.

Can we have cake next time?

Sure.

Maybe we just have this on the agenda perpetually. They are having desserts back there. All right.

Maybe we just have this on the agenda perpetually. You want an AB 519 cake? Yeah.

AB 519 cake. Rand, I do have a question, if I may. So in terms of the actual statute, because this is codified now in statute, will they actually have to remove sections 218 in that piece of the section?

They probably will in the next legislative session, I would assume. But I mean... Whether they do or not, it doesn't have any effect.

Yeah, okay. Great, thank you.

You know, and the funny thing is, when they write legislation in the future, it's going to cite this case, Elko versus State of Nevada. That's awesome.

I'll make that motion in Klubrand's name.

Yeah, it's awesome. Did I say that was awesome? I might even bring this up in reports later on. Was your name on the brief?

I don't know. I don't think so. Not for the Supreme Court. It'll be Tyler Ingram. Tyler and Amanda Sabat's actually in the history books. Yeah. All right.

Well, thanks. Good job, everybody. Thanks, Amanda, for making sure that got on the agenda. I appreciate it. Item Q, grant award approvals. Q1, discussion consideration to accept a grant award from the Office of Traffic Safety Enforcement Program in the amount of $17,500 to the Elko County Sheriff's Office. This funding will support the Sheriff's Office participation in Joining Forces, a statewide program involving multi-jurisdictional traffic enforcement events conducted throughout the year to reduce speeding, distracted driving, and other unsafe driving behaviors. The grant requires a $4,375 match, which will be satisfied through the in-kind contributions consisting of department vehicle use and fuel. This item is a possible action.

Yeah, I'm sorry the sheriff's not here, because I made a note that... Continues that we do not our sheriff's does not do sobriety checkpoints or police Roadblocks, and I talked to him when the city did it, and I know he won't do it, but I just wanted to say that in the record, okay How does everybody else feel I mean you have a motion for a grant for that purpose I No, it can be used for many other things.

Yeah, typically ours is speed enforcement.

Yeah, so I'll make the motion to approve it. And a note for the sheriff that that's not to include sobriety checkpoints.

Okay.

Second, Gail. And that was a standard motion.

Any other questions, comments? Any public comment?

Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye, vote aye. Also, motion carries. Q2, discussion consideration to accept an airport improvement grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the Jackpot Hayden Field Airport. The FAA has awarded Elko County up to $138,951 for the design phase of Taxiway B rehabilitation project at the Hayden Field Airport. This grant will fund 95% of eligible project costs and require a 5% local match. Estimated at approximately $7,313, the local match has been budgeted. This item is for possible action. Is there any questions, or Amanda, do you have anything additional? No.

No, this has been before you a couple of times we did have to application amount once we got the Independent fee estimate back. So this is I think the third time you've seen this in the recent months.

We'd work Steniger will move to approve q2.

Okay, I'll second I have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? Comments, questions, concerns? Any public comment? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Vote aye also. Motion carries. Commission meeting calendar. Stanegar moves to approve. Gale, second. Motion and second. Any other discussion? Any public comment? Seeing none, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. I vote aye also. Motion carries. S, consent agenda. Stanegar moves to approve. Gale, second. Motion to second. Any other comment, question, concern? Any public comment? All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. I vote aye also. Motion carries. We'll move on to commission and committee reports. Commissioner Gale.

I'm looking forward to meeting with the state engineer's office at the Dixie Creek 10-mile water.

overreach or Anyways, we're getting it back and that's all I got Okay Commissioner car So the couple meetings ago or meeting and go or whatever it was I said I would write a letter to our senators instead I had lunch personally with Senator masto And I'll go over how that went I I first talked about outcome-based grazing because we just had the news on Trump allowing non-tariffs on outside beef. And she actually said, why aren't we doing the outcome-based grazing anyway? Which led me to a big smile of going, good question. Aren't you on that committee and those things? So she actually recommend that Brian and the other ranchers actually reach out and see why that's not an option because she was kind of almost a little surprised that why aren't we doing outcome-based grazing, giving the flexibility of our biologists to maneuver on the grazing rights. So I'd be curious to have you try or somebody try to give some pushback so we can respond back to her in the trenches what's going on. Secondly, I learned more on the bill on nuclear waste. Part of the bill that she also included from Senator Rosen was, so they are actually putting a bill to change that, that it can be recycled and the intricacies of that, but also if states wanted to allow nuclear waste, they could apply for it. It doesn't just mandate Yucca Mountain. So I was actually pleasantly surprised to hear that as well, that they're, actually seeming reasonable on nuclear waste. Solar, I also talked to her about why aren't we doing smart things like putting in between railroad tracks that I saw Sweden or Norway and cited that. I also went solar between I-80 east and westbound lanes. It's already public or it's federal land that we can't use, things like that. She agreed and wants us to talk to NDOT. But then that also finally led to NDOT as well, and she's going to get us some contacts between Jackpot and Wells, that lovely road section after we had just, what, 10 people die, if not more, in the last month or two. So, no, she even agreed on that concern and is getting me some contacts on how to re-look at that. I forgot how to, I forgot the topic of the communications on our Our TV viewership, I forgot that part, so I didn't bring the DMA up. But, no, it was actually a very good conversation and, once again, highlights my respect for the woman. I really think she's – I disagree sometimes with her decision as a Democrat, but I think we do have a reasonable senator there that – especially some of the ways some of our public – Officials are going she's extremely reasonable so lucky to have her but I'll follow up more on that But it was a wonderful conversation with her good.

That's great. There's something like you were gonna ask him a question Yeah, I just could say I can't remember what happened to the outcome basically This is what I was gonna mention I think this is what I recall I was gonna tell tell this to Brian if he's gonna look at this and What they did is like they were going to do like a study plot because as I understand it, the BLM doesn't have that toolkit in their bag. They can't allow you to do targeted. So they were going to use some sample plots like I think the cottonwood and a couple other places where they were going to test it. And they were going to see how it worked. And then look at amending the regulations. That's what I recall.

I thought the Biden administration stopped it. I thought that was part of it.

As I recall, too, there are two different ideas. The outcome-based graving and the targeted graving. I don't know. Was the Biden?

I thought Biden, yeah, kind of went, because that was part of the.

I remember what it was called. It was called a demonstration project. They did demonstration projects.

Anyway, Brian, if you want to ask some of your fellow ranchers, you yourself, or however, I don't know how many grazing rights or whatever you have, but just see what the word on the street, if you try that, what comes back.

Okay, my understanding right now is it's really expensive to determine how much the animals have utilized the ground. So you have to get a professional. Right now we're going through the process of, well, we have a guy coming to our ranch and he's looking at everything and seeing what's there, what kind of habitat we have. And it's expensive because it takes a lot of know-how to do these types of studies on the ground. So that might be part of the problem. The good news is the technology is advancing to where you can do that with drones now, that a drone can fly over and say, OK, we've got 70% utilization or whatever. I think it's timely to get on top of this right now because the technology will advance to make it cheap and easy. Also, for $100 a year, you can put a little dog collar on each cow that gives them a little jolt when they're in the wrong place. And that's run by satellite. And with that, then you don't have to put up so many fences. So you want targeted grazing in one particular area If all your cows have this collar, you can kind of herd them there from the comfort of your laptop in bed and push them in that area, and then they'll, you know, do their thing.

Well, like I said, if you find more on that, and I can relay that back to the senator. Okay. I think Maggie Crick is actually...

There are a few. You're talking about the GPS callers? Yeah, there's a few people that work out there.

Well, those are absolute. I mean, it's just, you know, I think we've been saying it for years. I mean, that's just a logical thing to do. You know, it's a twofold, right? It's a win for us as consumers of beef and the ranching industry, and we reduce the fire. I mean, holy mackerel.

Yeah, and the fire, where cattle graze, the fire just can't go very well. I mean, unless you've got a lot of sagebrush overstory, you know.

But even then, it doesn't spread near as bad.

Yeah. Where the grazing happens, the fire just doesn't go as bad.

Well, I appreciate your, you know, your relationship that you have with the Senator Cortez Masto, so. Keep up the good work.

A couple other things, too. On the nuclear waste, they just appointed a new member to that board. And it said specifically, bragged about the fact that she had said she will never allow nuclear waste in Nevada. So we still got big problems there.

Well, nuclear waste is the yuck amount of storage. And the verbiage in here would still be the governor and the legislature want to approve what they could. So that's how they're changing the law. But also they are changing it that it could be recycled. So for some fluke reason, Nevada wanted to approve recycling it and bring it to Nevada. It won't probably happen, but at least the law will change that it could happen if Nevada wanted to.

And then also remember reading something somewhere. Somebody questioning the fact that the traffic deaths on US 93 are high. Remember that? And I don't understand how they could do that. I think they must be using the whole 93 instead of that section between Wells and Jackpot, because that just doesn't make sense to me.

I explained that whole reason why I think it's different. The short stretches of hills, corners, turns all the way up to jackpot. Whereas from Wells South, there's a lot longer stretches that if all of a sudden you're getting impatient. With the RVs and everybody else doing 50 and you're trying to do 70 but they've had passing lanes there for years So I will keep up on that because no I'd like to make that a priority because obviously it's a problem They have made improvements there.

I mean there is a really good passing lane north of the wine cup headquarters Yes, but you missed the days if they'd come here and go.

What's your prayer? Do we go? that road, and they'd kind of smile at us and thank you for your info, and just, we're studying it. Well, you know every inch of that ground. What part's studying? It was the same as turning at 80 miles an hour in I-80. We're studying it.

50 years now, case it changes.

Anyway, that was my comments. Thank you, guys.

Thanks. Commissioner Gerber.

The county has an interest in improving beef production. And according to statistics, Elko County has 50% of the beef that it had you know, 60 years ago, and only 10% of the sheep, if even that, of what existed 60 years ago. And so I had an idea that the county could consider this as hiring a professional rangecon. Like Brian is saying, this is expensive work to hire somebody to come in and do a full study. But imagine if the county had a rangecon on staff that their job was to prioritize and map and study which areas are being underutilized and then could prepare more detailed studies where we find problem areas where the range needs to be managed for fire control. And also, because it's being underutilized, we're missing out on that resource. Perhaps that would be a good way to pass that information along to Forest Service, to BLM, and their range cons could then, you know, they're probably understaffed anyway, and that way the county would be an advocate. for fire protection and for underutilized range to increase beef production in the county. And it may more than pay for that position. Plus, information is power. And if there's ranges out there that are being underutilized, and I believe there are. I go out riding horses or motorcycles or just driving out there. And I'm shocked at how much grass is on the range right now. And there's not a cow in sight. that should be being graced. So I think it's being underutilized. We may be missing a huge opportunity here to manage our own resource. Although we don't control the federal lands, if we control the information and can get that information to the public and to the agencies that do control it, we could make some real change. Because right now, nobody is doing that. And if there's a nuisance out on the public range of too much grass or if a resource is being underutilized, We would be the ones to write that by having somebody out there advocating for the county. So I think that let's say if you had a position paid, let's say it's a PhD with all the certifications, everything, you're paying them $150,000, $200,000 a year to write these reports, shine a light, that could mean millions in beef production and also millions in fire suppression. So it may be a good investment.

That's really exciting, Travis. That's really exciting. And also, we could use that range con. Yeah, and you're about in the ballpark for the price of one.

And we could... Add 50% of the benefits.

Yeah. Then they could also develop the science that we're waiting for. To develop the you know aerial assessment science for Using drones and stuff like that I mean Yeah, we were a county with enough cattlemen in it that it would make a difference if we could go from 50% utilization to 60% utilization that's still a very big deal and

If you could put some numbers together, you being closer to the industry, maybe we could continue to explore that or even talk to some experts and then bring it on to the agenda at some point.

Yeah, I'm pretty skeptical of that. First of all, I don't think the BLM would listen to you. They're not famous for that. They say... You take your cows off on August 15th, or you take them off on whatever. They don't care if there's a grass there or not. It's in their plan. But I do agree. If you're finding places with a lot of grass, we ought to look into it. I mean, whose allotment is that?

That's what I'm saying is if we could focus on the areas where this professional could identify this is clearly underutilized, then we hold the BLM and the Forest Service to their own standards. Because I think that it's not being studied. That's why they don't listen is because they don't study it, and they don't have enough staff to follow their own regs. So if we were enforcing their standards, they would have to follow them.

Under understaffing is always their answer. That's always why they can't do whatever they're doing because they just don't have enough people for it. And maybe they don't. And this is how the county can say to them that, yeah, you don't have enough people. Well, it's in our interest also. So we're going to put this forth. I'll look. I'll look into it and see if I can't find anything concrete.

By analogy, during COVID and so forth, when the federal government was closing all the national parks in Utah due to understaffing and due to their regulations, the Utah delegation came forward and says, we'll staff them, we'll open them. And they stepped up because it was in the state interest to keep those parks open. And same in this case, if the federal government's understaffed and can't do the job, then maybe it's time for the state to start doing, just like we took over more fire responsibility. We might need to take over more range conservation.

Okay, thank you. Do you have any other report?

That's everything. Okay. Commissioner Stanager? No. No report?

I just had one thing I wanted to tell and I meant to share it with you But I don't know how to I need to see if I can get a copy so I don't have to send you the whole agenda, but NACO did Approve our five BDRs that we're sending to the legislature. I'll tell you two of them the other three. There's a lot of detail So I'd rather just send you a copy of those but one of them was to ask for to have base funding for emergency management in the in the counties and then the other one was uh which is one we supported and talked about which is extending the uh sunset provision of the open space uh tax plan that uh so both of those are as well as three other ones i'll see if i can somehow separate it from my agenda and send you guys a copy of that that's all i have okay let's see here how about uh county commissioners and staff comments you got anything

Sorry, real quick. I just want to give a little shout out to Clark County for sending some resources up here to help us backfill our fire stations while our teams were out fighting wildland firefighters. So we did first Tuesday last night a little bit about emergency management and preparedness. So most of the Clark County team was here. So I just wanted to say a huge thank you to them. I believe the plan is to keep them here through Friday and start demobbing and sending them home on Saturday. So it's been a great help.

And their trucks are handsome, aren't they? They're not typical red.

They're kind of a yellowish. Did you see them? Did you see their trucks? Our red trucks are handsome.

Oh, they're handsome. This is just a new handsome.

But no, I think Amanda's right on the money. That was huge. And I talked to them at the high school football game. They went and watched that while they were on duty. And, no, very professional. And good kudos. I'm glad you brought that up.

Anything else?

Nope, that's it. Thanks. Okay.

Curtis, Mary?

All right. Anything else? Welcome back. Thanks. Okay. Anything? Okay. Anything else from the commissioners? Yeah. All right.

You're awful handsome today. I think something's coming up.

All righty. All right. Last opportunity for public comment. Is there any public comment? All righty. Seeing none, we're adjourned.