City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, let's call to order the Spark City Council meeting for Monday, January 12th with a roll call. Mayor Lawson here. Council members Abbott here. Vanderell here. Anderson here. By here, Rodriguez here. Assistant city attorney sendal here. City manager Len here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Okay, we'll start with our invocation speaker Rajan Zen.

Thank you.

Starting with Gaitri Mantra which is considered the most sacred mantra of Hinduism. I shall be reading from ancient Hindu scriptures some as old as 1500 BCE and then interpret in English. [snorts] We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme who inside the heart of the earth inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May he stimulate and illuminate our minds. Lead us from the unreal to the real. Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from death to immortality. Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world. By devotion to selfless, one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind. May we be protected together. May we be nourished together. May we work together with great vigor. May our study be enlightening. May no obstacle arise between us. United your resolve, united your hearts. May your spirits be at one that you may

long together dwell in unity and conquered. Om shanti shanti shanti. Peace, peace, peace be unto all. Thank you. Thank you. All [laughter] [laughter]

right. If you'll please join me in the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, now you can sit. Thank you. [laughter]

All right, we're moving on to public comment. We're going to start with uh Muhammad Safari. Muhammad, come on up. Just push the button till one of those turns green right there. the microphone the on the microphone where there you go right in the center. There it is. Is working now? Yes, sir. All right. Go ahead and have a seat so we can hear you.

Okay. My name is Muhammad Safari and I live in this Sparks area since 2014. Since that time I came here, I've been harassed, threading, intimidation, follow stalking by a sparse police department, all agency and include neighborhood watch and uh judges. I prefer not tell them to judges. I already said it to everybody. Sheriff's Department, police department, everybody knows Attorney General Deputy uh O'Brien told me, "Please don't tell anyone." Okay, I know a lot. Okay, a Sparks a Sparks city of a Sparks employee Jason. and one of them Jason and they killed my dog on March 31st following harassing me and threating me every day because I know a lot of stuff all bad stuff okay very criminal okay criminal and I send it to all the judges knows all the judges in Nevada knows everybody knows so they destroy my business the best contractor in this country have other California highprofile people I work for them destroy my business destroy my name they say he's a thief he steal mails all the stuff all the neighbors everybody all the neighbors in front of me they're in the business you know what business is they are next to me harassing me threating me with their car 1871 his name is Chris I'm not going to say his last name Right? Cuz we know who is that last name is. So I've been harassed

threat past 12 years in this area by all agency as Spark Police, CF Sparks judges. This case number, write it down. CR1611547 Kina J. I don't want to say what she does. She's a doctor, but I don't want to say more than that. Dr. are 23 28 25 I don't want to say nothing about this case okay this guy knows okay you're the young guys right you know it's city attorney okay 2400249 this case I don't want to say nothing about it is bad okay it's all lies all fake all fabricated smart police DA everybody body I don't want to say more than that just tell you is corrupted everything is corrupted city of spark is corrupted I officer Smith on January 23rd 2022 came to my house told me don't tell to anyone don't tell to the city of sparks anything officer from the sparks you know police department thank you very much have a good day you

all right Daniel Langi.

All right. Hello, city manager Luthan, Mayor Lawson, and council. Uh, my name is Daniel Longi and I'm a resident of the city of Sparks. I'm a local business owner and I work at the Truckucky Meadows W Water Reclamation Facility as a treatment plant mechanic. I also volunteer for my coaches soccer team. I'm on the board for a local nonprofit and and I'm Northern Pyute with family roots uh that go back generations in the area. I'm grateful for the opportunities working for the city has provided me and the exp and my experiences here along with my community involvement shape how I think about responsibility and long long-term stewardship of our land and water. I want to thank the council for recognizing Tomorp as a standalone city department and for elevating the plant manager role to report directly to the city manager. That decision reflected something important to those of us who work there. That the city understands the scope, accountability, and importance of the plant. Pelorp is not just a city of Sparks facility. Since 1964, it has served as the primary wastewater treatment plant for the central Chucky Meadows through a long-standing regional partnership. What began as a 20 million gallon per day plant now operates with a permitted capacity of 44 million gallons per day serving Reno, Sparks, Sun Valley, and parts of Wo County. On the average day, the plant treats roughly 30 million gallons of waste water before that water is returned to the environment through the Truckucky River or regional reuse systems. Because of this, the work done at the facility directly affects the river, the wershed, and the downstream communities. Most people never see what happens at the plant, and that's understandable. When things are working, it stays out of sight. But behind the scenes, the facility operates every hour of every day. It depends on people who know its systems, who respond when the alarms go off in the middle of the night, and who

understand what's at stake if something goes wrong. The plan operates under some of the strictest regulatory requirements in the country. Meeting those standards depends on experienced staff, reliable systems, and consistent operational coverage in a compliance critical environment. This is not work that can be paused, understaffed, or relearned on the fly. the plant. This plant works because multiple communities have committed to a shared responsibility over many decades. And that commitment relies on stability and institutional knowledge within the workforce that operates and maintains it. As the city continues discussions around staffing and labor matters, I encourage the council to keep operational stability and staffing sustainability in mind. The long-term reliability of the plant depends on the ability to retain experienced, qualified people who understand its systems and responsibilities. Supporting the people who operate and maintain Tumbark supports not just Sparks but the entire Truckucky Meadows. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your continued service to our community and shared resources.

Thank you, Daniel. I I think it bears a comment from the from here that uh we put out the cleanest water in America comes out of our plant right across the river right there. So we're very very proud of our people out at Tumb and the work that they do. We're actually operating a plant that's over 60 years old at better than manufacturer specs from the 1960s. So you guys do awesome work. Thank you very much. Keep it up and and we're behind you 100%. Thank you.

All right. Anyone else in the public wishing to speak at this time? We don't normally clap after everything, so you guys. I love it though. I love it. It's okay. Yeah. All right. Anyone else in public wishes to speak at this time? If not, I'm going to bring it back to the dis. Uh, I'm looking for an approval of the agenda. Mr. Rabbit. I move to approve the agenda submitted. Miss Vanderwell. Second. We got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Uh looking for approval of the minutes. Uh Mr. Anderson,

I move to approve the minutes for the Spark City Council meeting and Spark City Council budget workshop for December 8th, 2025. Miss Bbeby, I'll second that motion. We've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Now on to the thing that y'all are here for. 7.1. This is announcements, presentations. This is a commendation for the Spanish Springs High School Northern 4A tennis champions. First, is there someone here going to represent for the tennis team? We got a coach. We have captain.

Anybody? Come on. I need I just need two of you down here. The two players support. Come on. [laughter] Yeah, you can sit down. You two are coming up too, Mackenzie and Vanessa. [laughter]

So, I'll read this and then we'll give you guys a second. So, what here's this the way this works is we'll read the accommodation. Uh, Donald will read the commenation. We'll ask you to say a few words and then we're going to uh take a picture so we can post this on our yo yo yo y YouTube no yo our YouTube channel which millions of people watch every Monday for this meeting alone and uh get you guys some exposure. All right, go ahead Donald.

Yes, sir. All right. So, uh, whereas McKenzie Chase and Vanessa Hollandback are outstanding student athletes at Spanish Springs High School, whose dedication and leadership have brought pride to their school in the city of Sparks. And whereas both student athletes began playing tennis in their freshman year and have since developed into elite competitors while also excelling as three sport athletes in tennis, basketball, and lacrosse. And whereas during the 2024 season, the Spanish Springs High School girls tennis team completed an undefeated season, earning the first league championship, uh, first regional championship in the first team state championship in school history with Mackenzie Chase and Vanessa Hollandback winning the individual double state championship in Reno. Whereas during the 2025 season, the Spanish Springs High School girls tennis team again went undefeated, capturing league and regional championships, while Mackenzie Chase and Vanessa Hollandback remained undefeated through the regular season and regional playoffs and won the individual double state championship in Las Vegas. whereas Mackenzie Chase and Vanessa Hollandback have earned multiple first team all region honors and were named double team doubles team of the year in 2025 reflecting their exceptional athletic ability perseverance and positive representation of Spanish Springs High School. Now therefore, on behalf of the mayor, Ed Lawson, the mayor of city of Sparks, do hereby commend and recognize Mackenzie Chase and Vanessa Hollandback for their remarkable athletic achievements and contri contributions to their school and community.

That would be fun.

Go ahead. [clears throat] [snorts] Um, tell us who you are. I'm Vanessa Hollandback and on behalf of Mackenzie Chase and I, we are both very thankful for this opportunity to come here and [clears throat] get this recognition. Um, I know we both have fun playing. We just started kind of in freshman year and we both we're both pretty good friends. So, we are good partners, too. So, the year is pretty fun as well. It's not just hard work. So, Bishop. [laughter]

Uh, so my name's, uh, Morgan Bishop. I'm the coach for the girls in the boys tennis programs. And I could say just like on top of everything that was already mentioned, they're also great students. They're in my um, history 101 class, dual credit class, and they're always working hard. They're doing well on their assessments, their quizzes. They always have a great attitude. They're always raising their hand, asking questions, always on time. So, they're amazing students, I can say, as well. as well as athletes. So, yeah, good job. I'll I'll also Oh, sorry. I was going to say I'll also add uh you know, Mackenzie might be related to me. She's my cousins. I've seen her grow up through all these years. This is an exciting day.

I know she's the athlete, not me. I play tennis. I made it to state, but we failed. So, she actually made it. Um [laughter] but just wanted to celebrate all y'all for being here and thanks for helping out. And also big shout out to your father who's back there who helped write all of this so we could put this all together. So I appreciate all you had and it's been exciting to watch you grow up and just playing tennis. And you guys have played it's two years now or is it three? Two. Two. Played together for two. They've ne never played tennis before correct. Wow. And amazing. Yeah. Amazing.

So congratulations. Very good. Go ahead, Donald. Now, we're going to do the football team next, but just as a little housekeeping, we're not going to be able to get everybody to take a picture in here. So, we're going to go outside. I'm going to pause the meeting and we'll go outside and take a picture with everybody out there after we read your commendation.

[clears throat]

So, let me let me preface this by saying that um I was lucky enough to have a scholarship to Colorado State uh coming out of Las Vegas back in the long before any of you guys were born. But uh um football is and sports in general helped your life tremendously and the accomplishment you guys made is tremendous. A 5A state champion. That is nothing to be taken lightly. Especially in today's times with how big Nevada's gotten since I was a kid and the whole state was around 700,000 people. Oh, we're at nearly 3 million now. Uh that's a big accomplishment for all of you guys. So, let me read this real quick, and that's enough talking for me. Uh, the 2025 Spanish Springs High School varsity team completed a historic and undefeated season with a perfect 13-0 record, becoming the first football team in school history to go undefeated and win a state championship. Whereas the accomplishment marked the first time since 2008 that Northern Nevada large class football team finished an undefeated season, undefeated season and captured a state title, the Spanish Springs High School varsity football team, never trailing in a opponent in any of their 13 games. Wow. Whereas the team delivered one of the most dominant seasons in school histories, averaging 44 points per game on offense and only allowing 12 points per game on defense, achieving an average margin of victory for 32 points and recording a school record 29 quarterback sacks in a single season. That's a amazing stats. Whereas the success of the 2025 Spanish Springs High School varsity football team was reflected in individual excellence excellence with 24 players earning

Northern Nevada 5A one region recognition including the following first team selections. Tyson McNeel, Brady Hmel, Jackson Sundine, Brandon McDonald Braden Braden Mc McDonald, sorry. Sorry about that. Braden, uh, Nerie Gonzalez, Aiden Dhy, Isaiah Blank, Blankenshop, Nico Del I'm sorry I'm butchering your names here. Nico Delora, Jaden Chase, Marian Mariscow, Johnny Simpson, and Brady Hmel as at free safety. Whereas an additional A1 region recognition included second team selections Cooper Milligan, Grant Beckman, Roman Cervantes, Connor Meoway, Cooper Milligan as punter, Christian Andress Flores, and specialist Luke Luca Ghart along with honorable mention selections Deacon Buddy, Elijah Gusen, Kayn in Aguar, Jackson Harris, JJ Stewart, Carter Zincl, and Freddy Corona. And whereas numerous players achieved outstanding individual accomplishments, including Isaiah Blankenship, Shop. Am I I'm Give me the right name. Stop. Okay. Thank you. I hate to keep reading his name over and over wrong, but I'm going to do it again, I'm sure. Uh, recording 16 career quarterback sacks and to rank second all time in school history. Roman Cervantes setting a school record with 11 quarterback sacks in a single season. Cooper

Milligan setting single season school records for running back receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Kyler Depe setting the Northern Nevada 5A single season record for tackles with 192 while ranking second alltime in career tackles. How do you make 192 tackles? Wow. Whereas quarterback Tyson McNell was named 2025 Northern Nevada 5A offensive player of the year after tying the Nevada State single season record with 53 passing touchdowns throwing for 3561 yards, ranking among the top passing seasons in Northern Nevada and Nevada state history, finishing his career with 73 passing touchdowns. And whereas Brady Hmel was named Northern Nevada 5A most valuable player in both 24 and 25 and concluded his career as a Northern Nevada 5A all-time leader in receiving yards, one of the all-time leaders in receiving yards in receiving touchdowns and one of the top interception leaders in both Northern Nevada and Nevada State history. And whereas the historic season was guided by head coach Rob Hmel and was named Northern Nevada 5A region coach of the year and selected by the Las Vegas Raiders as the 2025 Tom Flores Nevada State Coach of the Year, reflecting exceptional leadership, preparation, and commitment to student athlete success. Wow. Coach, bring it. Coach, come on, coach. Coach, I know how hard this is to put together a team and to hold together a

team, but to set records like this, [clears throat] tell us what your secret is.

Uh, I don't know if there's a secret. Uh it's a it's an extremely talented group of kids. Um going along with what coach Bishop said about the the girls tennis players, um you know, they they take care of business in the classroom. They work really hard and they're just high character kids that we ask a lot of and um asked them to believe early in the season. Um when I our season season basically starts in the spring where we train the offseason, then go through the summer and and fall and and uh they put a lot of work in the weight room. We knew going through or into spring ball that we had a really good chance of being really good and you know just took it one week at a time throughout the course of the year and uh it's a great group of kids that you know bought into the things that we talk about all the time you know being unselfish um playing for each other and uh you know being being really disciplined in terms of what we're asking them to do and then going out on Friday nights and and making a lot of plays and they're just a fun group to watch. I don't know if you guys ever got a chance to watch or not, but uh there's a lot of stuff you can watch on online on NFHS and things like that where um you know, it was it was just fun. It was a lot of fun to be a part of. uh we got a entire uh lifetime of memories from the the different team bonding things we did and then obviously you know week in and week out just trying to be better than we were the week before and uh ending down in uh Vegas at Allegiance Stadium which was very memorable experience and uh very thankful for this opportunity that you guys uh gave to us here and it's nothing these guys are going to forget anytime soon so we greatly appreciate it.

Thank you. Yeah, you bet. Miss

um I just want I just want to say congratulations to you guys. Uh when my son was in high school, he won a state football championship and I know what that means. I know what kind of time you put in. I know the moms and dads and the the the the heart and soul that goes behind all of you. Uh it's a lot of work. It's a lot of fun. It's um but it's something that I think it's even bigger in life and I think what you can learn and I was an athlete uh collegiate athlete. My husband played football at UNR and our boys as we raised them and did sports. My dad played pro football. So I really know what um athletics can do for you and it's more than that trophy that you won and the the the 13-0 record. uh what you will take forward in life from all those lessons will carry forward and now it's like the highlight of oh my god we're state champs and we're undefeated but as you move forward in life in the classroom and in work and in relationships all the things you learned on the football field will will move into your life the lessons of hard work always giving 100% the coach talked about working together and being unselfish um those motivations are something that lay a foundation for you will take on with you and I just can't say how proud we all are here at the city of Sparks for you to represent Sparks at the state championship and at this level. So, thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Rabbit.

I'll definitely echo all that. Um, as someone that did play football too in high school, then I I quit and wouldn't play tennis. I was a better tennis player than I was football player by by a stretch. Um, just want to congratulate all you guys for being here. um especially the families that were able to come down. There's a lot of times that we write some of these and we spend some time and effort uh from whoever writes it as well as our staff members that help out and not a lot of people show up. So, it really is a blessing to have all you guys here today. Uh it's a nice positive experience. Um just raise of hands, how many people have been to Spark City Hall before today? [laughter] Okay. Okay. So, it's nice that now you guys know where it is. So, if you need something, you'll know where it is. Positive experience. Um, you know, we are here to help you. Uh, you know, government can be labeled as a big nasty thing some days, but we, you know, these are some of the exciting days where we get to recognize you guys, recognize your family. We all know there are sacrifices from the coach level to the player level to the parent level to even your friends. Sometimes your friends aren't seeing you guys as much, but there's all sacrifices here. And then also, I'll end it, you know, I think, well, almost end it. Uh, as a Raiders fan, you guys won onethird of the amount of wins we got in Allegian this year, I think. So congratulations there. Maybe you know coach we if we're looking for a head coach we we not even undefeated seat just give me a winning. And then also also just to keep it fair um since I gave a shout out to Mackenzie I had to recognize her brother who's also my cousin Jaden's over there. So, it's just exciting just uh they're definitely the two uh I mentioned Jerry earlier. They're that's the reason I know what you guys are doing is from my own family from you guys posting. Obviously, I'm a proud Sparks High School railroader. That's my number one school I worry about. I don't really worry look at Reed or uh Spanish Springs. No offense what you guys do, but uh it's because of the family t connection. I know you guys did. Obviously, when you made the news, you made the news, but watching you guys all season and seeing the highlights. I am proud of all of you guys for doing what

you're doing. excited what you do next. If it is football, if it's not, uh, you know, it sounds like you guys all have a good head on your shoulders and there's, you know, the the world is your oyster. So, congratulations and I'll stop talking. All right. So, we're going to uh take a fivem minute recess and then I'm going to meet all you guys outside and we'll take a picture. Um, I'm going to have to have a wide lens, I'm sure. All right, but we're Yeah. Yeah. Let's bring the whole city council up. We're we're ajourned.

the meeting back to ahead of me. Uh, now we're up for a presentation to wait until 8. Come on down, ladies.

When it turns green, there you go. I need to do something with this. Thank you. Oh, is the PowerPoint showing or Oh, you guys got it. Oh, okay. All right. Can you hear me? There it is.

Okay, perfect. Um, well, good afternoon, city council members. My name is Lissa Viner. I'm a mom to two elementary age students and I'm a registered school nurse. And hello, my name is Brandy Vesco. I'm the mother of a third grader at Marvin Moss Elementary School here in Sparks. Switch my slide. Um, I'm also a former education reporter for government technology in the Center for Digital Education. You know, the kids went back to school last week after winter break and my daughter, she's eight and in third grade, came home from school that Tuesday and the first thing she said was, "Mom, so many kids got smartphones for Christmas." There's real social pressure on kids to have a smartphone and on us parents to get them one. And then once they have it, it's hard to put down. I know second graders who have smartphones. I know first graders who have smartphones. I know kindergarteners who have smartphones. It's becoming normalized for young children to have smartphones. And it's already been normalized for middle school children to have smartphones. Our goal is to use the community momentum of this pledge, this action step that parents can take together to sort of start to turn that around. For mental health purposes, children need to be able to get through that really vulnerable period of brain development that happens from about age 9 to 14 without so much online influence and exposure and with much more realworld interaction and adventure. I'm going to turn the presentation over to Lissa now who will talk about the mental and physical effects of youth smartphone use. Then I'll go over how the wait until 8th movement works and how it can help turn the tide.

Well, thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak today about an issue that affects nearly every family here in Sparks. Up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 report using a social media platform with more than a third saying they use social media almost constantly. Children in this age group reported spending each day on average of [clears throat] five hours and that's each day. [laughter] And adolescence between ages 10 and 19 are undergoing a highly sensitive period of brain development development. Not to mention hormone shifts, heightened sensitivity to social awards and pure acceptance. Frequent smartphone and social media use has been linked to changes in the amygdala, which controls emotional learning and behavior, and the prefrontal cortex, which handles impulse control, emotional regulation, and social behavior. Have you ever felt like you couldn't put your phone down? That's no accident. The tech industry designs apps and social media to keep users, especially children, hooked because the more time they spend scrolling, the more money these companies make. Children and teens are no match for the endless dopamine loops, persuasive algorithms, and autoplay features designed by teams of behavioral scientists. In other words, smartphones are not made for kids. Extreme inappropriate and harmful content continues to be easily widely accessible by children and adolescence. This can be spread through direct pushes, unwanted exchanges, and algorithmic designs. A long-term study of kids aged 12 to 15 found those who spent more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of depression and anxiety. The 2023 surgeon general advisory states, "At a moment when we are experiencing a national youth mental health crisis, now is the time to act swiftly and decisively to protect children and adolescence from risk of harm." A study followed nearly 11,000 children from childhood through adolescence found

that those who owned a smartphone by age 12 had a 30% greater chance risk of depression, 40% greater risk of obesity, and 60% greater risk of insufficient sleep. Another study, which followed more than 8,000 children from ages 9 to 13, found their average social media use increased from 30 minutes a day to two and a half hours over the course of those four years. The researchers were able to directly link time spent on social media to attention deficits with more severe inattention symptoms emerging year over year as the children's social media increased. Cyber bullying is also a huge issue. A 2025 survey of about 3,500 kids aged 13 to 17 found that one in three reported being victims of cyber bullying within the past month. Trafficking is also tied to smartphone use. Nearly 60% of adolescent girls say they've been contacted by a stranger on social media in ways that make them feel uncomfortable. And as of 2021, more than 40% of sex trafficking survivors in the US were lured through social media platforms. At the most foundational level, smartphones are experience blockers. They pull kids away from what matters most. Free play, face-to-face friendships, outdoor time, imaginative, and exploration. These are the building blocks of confidence, curiosity, and resilience. Woe County has recognized how much smartphones affect kids and has join joined school districts nationwide in banning those devices in the classroom. Now, it's up to parents to protect their kids at home. But many wonder how to even begin. Well, we're here to help parents jumpst start their game. We don't have the luxury of waiting years until we know the full extent of social media's impact. We need to act now. For starters, create tech-free zones and

encourage children to foster person in-person friendships. Adults need to start modeling behav responsible tech use and social media behavior themselves. Teach kids about technology and to report cyber bullying and online abuse and exploitation. work with other parents to help establish shared norms and practices and to support programs and policies around healthy social media use. Case in point, wait until 8th. And we're and here I'll let um turn it over to Brandy and she'll explain more about our wait until 8th movement. [clears throat]

Thank you, Lissa. Wait until 8th is simply a pledge to delay giving your child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade. What makes it special is that it uses the power of community support to do so. To sign the pledge, you go to wait until 8.org, click take the pledge, then enter your child's school name, school zip code, and grade level. By signing the online pledge, you promise not to give your child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade, as long as 10 families total in their same grade and school have taken the pledge as well. Once 10 families have pledged, you will then be notified that the pledge is active, and you'll receive a list of the other families who are also waiting in your child's grade. It's helpful to connect to these other families because then you know you're not alone and that your child's not going to be the only one without a smartphone. It's important to note that the pledge is for smartphones only. Families can still stay connected using basic phones and smartwatches with limited features. For parents who are worried about emergencies or need to be able to reach their child at any given time, you can use these basic devices for calls and texts without exposing your child to the potential risks of this early smartphone use. Here we see how many pledges we have gained in the two months since we started wait until 8th Reno sparks. In our Wo County public schools, we have gone from 27 pledges in 12 schools to 101 pledges in 24 schools in just two months. We are so excited about these numbers, but we still have a long way to go. We only have one active pledge where 10 families from one school and one grade have all agreed to delay together and that's at a

Reno private school called Our Lady of the Snows. We're a very big school district and we need as much help as we can get to spread the word and that's why we're here. We're hoping you all can help us find ways to do so. And we're more than just this pledge. Once families sign on with us, or even if they don't, they have access to information and resources about on how to talk to kids of all ages about the issues associated with smartphones. On the wait until 8th website, there are also family conversation guides, app reviews, step-by-step guides to parental controls, and other tools to help families navigate parenting in this techheavy but guard rail light time. And here we see another one of our resources. Practical steps parents who've already given their kids smartphones can take to dial things back and make the smartphone as safe as possible for their child. Number one being keeping the phone out of the bedroom at night. And lastly, these are some recommendations for additional reading. And these are links to the peer-reviewed data Lissa spoke about on early exposure to smartphones and social media. I'm going to scroll back up here. As our local wait until 8th movement gains momentum, our hope is that more parents will start to feel comfortable saying not yet to the smartphone and that in turn the pressure on our children to have a smartphone just because everyone else has one will then begin to lift. The more families that support this initiative, the bigger difference we can make for this generation of children and the future of our community. Thank you.

You questions from the council. Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, I'm I'm glad you're here talking to us. I appreciate the the message and and what you guys are doing. I'm just curious as far as your interaction, how are you interacting with individual schools, with the school district itself, and then obviously the parents?

Um, sure. If you don't mind, I'll answer that one. So, we um reached out to all 66 traditional public school principles in the past two months um and just let them know about this information and offered to host an event. Um the Wo County School District Safe and Healthy Schools Committee has added our information to the the district website and actually just on Friday the district sent out to all the principles the wait until 8th information saying go ahead and share this with your families if you so choose. So it's sort of up to each principal whether they want to distribute this to their families or not. Otherwise, it's a lot of parentto parent word of mouth.

Thank you. And and yeah, I have to admit I did not think about this until a short time ago when I saw my grandson that's not even three know how to open up his parents cell phone an app and then start scrolling through content. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I'm not even that good at opening my phone." But anyway, yeah, thank you for what you're doing. And you never know what they're going to land on.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much. Um this is super super important and even especially in recent months you're hearing more and more um about uh in states across the country that are um limiting um social media, putting age limits, asking the tech companies to help limit access to, you know, to all the social media, the Instagram, the Facebook, um the Tik Tok and and how important it is. and then more information to the general public on on the dangers of social media when and when you said wait until 8 on the phone. Um I wasn't making the the the most important connection which was social media. So really it's the social media and I love the option of you know parents want to stay connected they can do that with an oldfashioned flip phone uh and still have that safety aspect of it. But I I just feel what you're doing is incredibly important. And you're right, it's peer pressure of parents and then kids and if everybody around them has it. I know my grandson just turned 13 and he has he has a smartphone now and he's middle of seventh grade so he's not quite at eighth but uh they waited and his sister does not. [clears throat] And so um there it snows so I guess you know that that will help too. And and I was going to ask you about safe and healthy schools commission because I sit on that commission. So I think that's important that the commission itself, you know, that that if we're aware of it, too. Those are the kinds of things we're looking at and uh really appreciate. I don't know if there's other groups, if there's other organizations that um obviously your PTAs, you've sent it to principles. So, have you reached out to PTAs or PTOs to see copy the PTA leaders and school counselors on each of those emails? So, we've had about 25% of the schools um

embrace us with open arms. Um for schools initially said they weren't comfortable with sending it out and then a lot just never responded. So, you know, we're going to keep chipping away at this, but I think the PTAs, when you've got your parent organizations, aside from Wo County School District, those are the parents that are involved and and I think would be a really strong advocate for for for what you guys are doing because it just makes all the sense in the world. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez.

Uh, thank you, Mayor. Um, one of the things that you hit on is something that I I previously was on a school board was very passionate about was the human trafficking aspect and uh I was very supportive of uh um keeping school or phones out of the classrooms because I was aware and I was glad to be part of that one of my last votes on the school board, but also was raising um age appropriate um grooming and trafficking awareness and you hit on that with this. So, um, with that, I, uh, kind of, um, piggyback on Councilwoman Bbeby, but the PTAs and PTO's um, have you guys reached out to like human trafficking prevention, um, organizations? Oh, like Awaken and

Oh, Awaken. There's another one. Gosh, the name was like Nor Nevada um, human trafficking prevention. I got their name. I got the contact. So, actually, leave me for your information. I'd love to talk with you more about that. Um but also uh it used to be I'm not sure they still are but there was a school police officer that was attached to the uh human exploitation and trafficking team um regionally. So like uh maybe partnering with them, you know, bring that school police officer into these meetings, let them know that this is where predators are how they're trying to bring more children um in this county.

It's a great idea because a lot of parents feel like, oh, you know, my child's just down the hall on their computer. They're safe. they feel more comfortable with that than having them outside on their bike. So things have sort of flipped in an odd direction. Oh. Um yeah. No. Um if you're able to share your information, um um and I still got good relationships with the school board trustees. So if you're having a hard time getting into those schools, uh you know, definitely reach out to your trustees as well because it can definitely bridge that gap. But I do appreciate what you're doing. Um especially the trafficking piece that is grossly wild in this area. So thank you. Thank you. Mhm. Okay. Anyone else? Thank you, ladies. Thank you so much for your time. [clears throat]

Okay, we're going to move on to consent items. Anyone wishing to pull a consent item? If not, I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez, I move [snorts] to approve agenda items 8.1 3.4 as submitted. Mr. Anderson, second the motion.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. General business 9.1 Consideration discussion of possible approval of a construction contract AC 6169 with Anchor Concrete in the amount of 527,675.75 for the Victorian Square Infrastructure Improvement Project section 5B bid number 25-26-003PWP #WA 2026- 097. [clears throat]

Did you have to go buy that tie today, Brandon? I didn't. No. Surprisingly, I have never seen you in a tie before. [laughter] It looks good. You look awesome. I know. Even better. Yeah. I'm not [clears throat] roasting you. It's a little more difficult to hard to focus when you're getting roasted by the council. Uh, it's not in there. Did you tell you right there? Sorry. Let's just roast Dion instead. And then you're going to do control L to make it bake. There you go. Perfect. Thank you. [laughter]

All right. Good afternoon, mayor, council members. Brandon Baxter, [clears throat] capital projects coordinator. Um, this year's Victorian Square Infrastructure Improvement Section 5B project is located on Victorian Avenue um on south side of Victorian Avenue running to the east from Victorian Plaza Circle to the Plaza. Being that this section was originally constructed in 1990, it's showing signs of deterioration. Um, that being said, this project will include rep removal and replacement of concrete, landscaping, trees, and planter planters. Uh, we did receive three bids with Anchor Concrete being the lowest. Excuse me. I'm asking for your approval for a construction contract with Anchor Concrete in the amount of $527,675.75. With that being said, I'll take any questions. Questions from the council. Excellent presentation.

Thank you, sir. All right. I'm looking for a motion, Mr. Abbott. Best presentation of the day so far. [clears throat] I move to approve a uh construction contract AC-6169 with Anchor Concrete in the amount of 527,675.75 for the Victorian Square Infrastructure Improvement Project section 5B bid number 25/26-003 PWP uh WA-2026- 097 Mr. Rodriguez

second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. 9.2 consideration discussion possible approval for a purchase of an Elgen broom bear sweeper in the amount of $391,832 utilizing source contract number 093021-g. Mark.

Good afternoon, Mayor Council. Mark Anderson, public works manager. Um, here today to uh ask for approval of a purchase of a sweeper. Uh, $391,832. As you guys are well aware, our sweepers are a frontline defense for protecting our river system and our air quality. We use them every day. They're in a high wear environment. They do not last that long. Um the unit that it is replacing is 10 years old and has reached the end of its life. Um this is an appro sorry sorry this is a plan for and expected replacement and I'm happy to answer any questions questions from the council. You just have to promise me not to let Councilman Abbott drive it.

Give it a longer life. A much longer life. All right. I'm No questions. I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Anderson, I move to approve the purchase of an Elgen broom bear sweeper from Owen Equipment utilizing Sourcewell contract 093021-EG in the amount of 391,83 $832,000. $391,832. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. Second.

I've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.3 construct uh construction, huh? Consideration discussion of possible approval of a construction contract AC6167 with resource development company LLC in the amount of $84,000 for Golden Eagle Regional Park Effluent Water Tank Rehabilitation Project. bid number 26/26-00002 PWPwa-2026-015. Good.

Good afternoon, mayor, members of council. Amber Sosa, city engineer. Uh, as just introduced, this is a construction contract for your consideration with Resource Development Company, uh, for the rehabilitation of an affluent tank that we have out near Golden Eagle Regional Park. uh to direct you to the map. You can see where the the tank sits just west of the park itself. Um this is a 3.4 million gallon affluent tank that supplies non-potable irrigation and construction water to our community. Uh due to the corrosive nature of affluent water, uh it does require uh interior recoding to preserve the structural integrity of that tank. Uh should you approve this, this would be the tank's first rehabilitation project. Uh, we received three bids for this project and we're recommending award to Recess Resource Development Company in the amount of $84,000. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Questions from the council, Miss By. Thank you, Amber. Uh, just one, how long will this recoding uh last before we need to obviously we'll need to do it again at some point. Um, what do you expect the time timeline to be? That is a great great question that I don't actually have in front of me. Um I do know that we do annual reviews of the tank itself to see like how it's going and to see when it will uh to see how it's how it's maintaining. Uh but I don't actually have a life expectancy in front of me, but I can get that back to you. Okay. I was curious, how old is the tank? You said this is the first time that we've re rehabbed it. This is the first. So it's lasted a while.

Yes. Yes, ma'am. It has. I do not believe I have the I do not have that in front of me, but I could absolutely get you that information. Obviously, it's something we need to do. It's a big ticket item, and I'm hoping it's not something we're doing every other year. Actually, I stand corrected. I do have that information in my staff report. Um, the tank went into service in 2003. Perfect. Okay. Thank you. 20 years is more. Yeah. Okay. Five years. Dang good. Yes, that works. Thank you.

You're welcome, Mr. Anderson. Amber, I actually just had a question about it. So, to me, when I'm thinking of relining a tank, I'm thinking you just get someone in there to spray whatever it is they put on there, but this is a lot more money than that. Can you explain a little bit about what exactly is entailed? Then you mentioned annual review. So, do we draw it down and look at the inside of it? I I'm just curious because with it coming before us for the first time, I'm just wondering how we look at these, how we analyze when it's due for service and and such. So that's that's pretty much what I'm looking for.

Absolutely. So the scope of the project itself will include abrasive blasting of the tank. So uh if you think about a wall that maybe has some paint left, some not, we're going to blast it off to give it a smooth surface of which the coating can um be applied and actually cling to it. uh the recoding of the anterior tank. The tank's roof and the rafters will receive a three coat epoxy coating system and the shell and the floor receive 100% solids epoxy coating systems. Uh and this is working with other experts in the field who understand again that abrasiveness of a fluent water and what what a type of epoxy coating would be best for that. Um as far as annual reviews, [clears throat] um I can give you a high level. I do believe that I could get you more in depth of what they're actually looking at, but it does involve drawing down the tank, getting in the inside of it. Um, I do recall in this year's CIP presentation, we actually had a picture of this tank, uh, which a picture is a thousand words. You could see the rust, you could see, um, all of kind of the deterioration that's starting. So, a lot of it's visual. Um, I think at some point, um, we do have experts available should we need a deeper type of test, but a lot of it's just visual inspection and getting inside the tank. I would imagine part of our experience with Tumborf, we can relate to this tank as well, can't we? I would think because it's the that product that they're dealing with as well. So, is that how we judge it as well?

Absolutely. Definitely using, you know, our team and the experts out there at Telmorph. Um, which is actually going to be an important consideration for timing of this project as well as they're the ones providing uh the product. So, the project does include the 75 calendar days to complete it. Uh but the timing of the actual project would be working with uh Mr. Menser and his team out at Torf. Any other questions from the council? If not, I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Abbott, I move to approve a construction contract AC-6167 with uh Resource Development Company LLC in the amount of $84,000 for the Golden Eagle Regional Park Affluent Tank Rehab Project.

Mr. Anderson. Second the motion. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.4. Consideration discussion of possible approval of a professional services contract AC6168 with DAO DOWL in the amount of $100,795.40. Don't forget the 40 to provide construction management services related to the Golden Eagle Park effluent tank rehab project. Good afternoon. One more time, Ment. You just want to round up.

We'll ask them next time for sure. Uh good afternoon once again, Amber Sosa, city engineer. Um probably as you've already deducted this is related to the previous item you just heard and this is seeking a professional services contract to provide construction management for uh that recoding of the tank that we just discussed. Uh the construction management will really ensure proper execution, quality control and timely efficiency of completing this project. Um and the scope of work does include tasks such as uh project management, construction administration as well as coding inspection when they actually apply those epoxy coatings. Um, with that, like I said, the the proposal is with DAO for the amount of hundred $100,795.40. I'm 40 cents. We're going to keep that in there right now. Happy to answer any questions on this one.

Questions from the council by

this is getting the ticket [clears throat] item of this up quite a bit. We had another 100 grand. Um, is that for the 75 days that the rehab will take? So this con construction services will be working throughout the project uh overseeing that it's done properly and is this kind of in the scope of what our construction services would run for a project of this scope? We do we do feel that the the price is adequate for the services they would provide. And not only would it be for that 75 days of the project, but it could include uh pre-construction activities such as reviewing submittals of the coding that they're going to do, pre-construction meetings, scheduling, u making sure that we have all that in line to when we start it, we're ready to go. So yes, we do feel that it's adequate.

Questions from the council. Mr. Anderson. Sorry to keep asking all these questions. My apologies. So, as far as a construction manager, where I've seen them utilized is major projects like building a new facility or something like that. And this is one that I'm just curious. I mean, is it just that we don't have anyone on staff that is able to to oversee or review what's being done or do we not have the knowledge level or I I'm just curious why why we're using a construction manager on on this.

Absolutely, Y. I think you hit on it perfectly. Um, these epoxy coatings can get very technical. They can get a little bit tricky as far as are you using the right thing? Are you applying it in the right sequence, temperatures, um, etc. So it's more the special specialized nature of this this coding uh versus something that maybe our staff would be more typically um as stated we haven't done this in 20 years. Um so while we do have some familiarity again with other projects it's just the specialized nature of this project that makes this um what we feel is the best to bring before you. Okay. Any other questions? I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Anderson.

I move to approve a professional services contract AC6168 with DAL in the amount of $100,79540 for construction management services related to Golden Eagle Regional Park and Fluent Tank Rehab Project. Mr. Rabbit. A second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. [clears throat]

9.5 consideration, discussion of possible approval over resolution number 3483 adopting the 2025 regional hazard mitigation plan. Chief, hello, Mayor Lawson, members of council, city manager loan, Walter White, fire chief for the record. Um this is a recommendation of a resolution of our regional hazard mitigation plan uh which is a pretty significant document in emergency management and FEMA requires that we update this at least once every 5 years uh to make any necessary revisions. It [clears throat] proactively reduces hazard impact by you know helping us uh save lives, property and money. uh identifies our vulnerabilities and our long-term strategies. It uh increases our resiliency and eligibility for state and federal funding. Um and so therefore it all overall helps accelerate our recovery after a major regional disaster. Um the plan our previous plan actually expired June 23rd uh but we're covered because this would be postdated. There were sign several reasons why we had uh um contract consultant rewrite rewrites that were delayed. Um we had a government shutdown during this period and there was a potential restructuring or reorganizing of FEMA on the table. So we waited until we had FEMA approval before bringing this plan before you. uh would like to give a special thanks to community services and Rod uh Bidart for um researching and updating uh our capabilities and vulnerabilities in certain areas of this plan so that it could be updated properly. And staff's recommendation is that we adopt

resolution 3483 to have a revised uh regional hazard mitigation plan in place. question from the council. Mr. Rodriguez.

Uh yeah. Uh thank you, Mayor. Uh thanks, Chief. Um can just real quick, just for my knowledge, maybe those for who might be watching the million viewers on YouTube. Um in this plan, does it cover um like fire evacuations? Because one of the things we've seen like during the Davis fire um u things like that, there's a lot of different partnerships. There's NDOT, there's, you know, RTC, things like that. Uh, so I'm putting you on a spot. So, but maybe if you point to me where the outlines traffic, especially in a northern part of parks where there's only a couple streets that leads out of that area, Vista. Yeah. and and we do also have Sabrina um put her on the spot Roswell with no with uh and if you want to come up to answer with

she's with Wo County emergency management but the regional plan is to address those emergencies that would affect the whole region. So this is impacting multiple um cities or county at the the same time. So there has to be uh prioritization of of of what gets addressed uh first with the resources and the capabilities we have. And yes, our vulnerabilities include fire, flood, earthquake, those types of uh events that would draw a response from multiple different agencies and require evacuation plans. U just be you know kind of that's kind of really I'm just wondering because I've I've seen you know especially Davis fires those large fires where you got you know INDOT you got city Reno you got county like everyone's trying to push people different directions and obviously causes gridlocks and um just kind of I guess what steps are we looking at taking to better communicate or better work together which might be more you know states

and do you want to take this it does integrate all these agencies

I'm happy to take that uh Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and council. My name is Sabrina Brazwell. I am the mitigation program coordinator. So, this is my bread and butter in life for the next 5 years and has been for the past two years. So, allow me to speak specifically to that. As Chief White spoke to, the opportunity of creating funding is what comes from FEMA FEMA approval. It means that grants that we seek are already approved at the baseline level for us to move forward. Currently there is an evacuation study process and project being done by Wo County emergency management in partners with the cities and the uh additional jurisdictions such as our tribal partners. So the opportunity for that specifically though this case it was privately funded through a donation. It is a mitigation action item, which means it has been specified for evacuation study for both wildland fires, as you're alluding to, and anything else that has large-scale impacts, such as Chief White stated, that opportunity is in there. So, if we need additional funding or we find during the evacuation study process that there are additional things to do, those mitigation action items have been included in this regional plan, making it easier for us to access those funds and move those goals forward. Awesome. Is there a timeline when that study might be done? I study going to take a while.

Yeah, it's underway right now. Um the there are three phases to it. Um basically it allows for regional stakeholders to input the opportunity for understanding of the areas of concern and then there will be analyses and things of that nature done like a white paper that will give us information about areas to focus on and what comes from that or what opportunities are needed from there is going to be dictated by that study and that opportunity. right now it's in I wouldn't call it its infancy but it's definitely in the earlier stages and you are incorporated into that through your emergency manager Scott Means uh chief means with the city of Sparks fire department and so definitely that partnership is all-encompassing even down to the level of including neighborhood advisory board and community advisory board persons and spokespersons to be involved in that. So it's really at this opportunity semi-grass roots but we'll move to more grassroots in the future.

Thank you. I'm glad that's uh being studied and looked at very much so I just had one thing to add. You know the intent and purpose is this for it to be a roadmap for us for the recovery process and there's essentially five things that restore a sense of normaly to communities post disaster and that's power, water, food, shelter, uh transit and schools. And until all of those services are really back up, um, a community is really not back on its feet and recovered from a major disaster.

Any other questions? If not, I'm looking for a motion, Mr. Rodriguez. I move to approve resolution number 3483 adopting the 2025 regional hazard mitigation plan. Miss Vanderwell. Second. I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you guys. 9.6. Madam clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the first reading of bill number 2847 to reszone a 75 acre parcel located at 2221 Pyramid Way, APN 027 33214 from PO Professional Office to C1 Neighborhood Commercial and Reszone a46 acre parcel located at 860 Tyler Way, APN 02733213 from MF5 multifamily residential to C1 neighborhood commercial. A public hearing will be held in bill 2847 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, January 26th at 2 PM.

All right. 10 point 10 10 public hearing and action items unrelated to planning zoning 10.1. Madame clerk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the second reading public hearing and discussion and possible action of bill number 2846, an ordinance amending Sparks Municipal Code title 13 entitled water and sewage. Specifically, chapter 13.09 sewer storm and river flood user charges and chapter 13.24 connection fees to increase sanitary sewer user rates, increase the sanitary sewer connection fees, and increase septage rates and providing for other matters properly related there too. Hi, Amber.

Hello, Mr. Mayor. Members of council, Amber Sosa, city engineer. Um, and thank you for having me. This is our public uh presentation for the bill 2846 related to our 2025 sewer rate study. So, how did we get here sitting before you today? Uh, so just to to remind you, our the city's sanitary user connect user rates and connection fees were last updated in 2018. uh acceptage rates for septage acce accepted directly at TUMRO was last updated in 2003. Uh the city typically studies these rates and fees approximately every 5 years to ensure appropriate funding for the program. In April um a 2025 sewer rate study workshop was held and staff presented um to you the 2025 sewer rate study. Uh that study really looked at the collection system um as well as Telmorph's program including maintenance operations and plan projects in their five-year plan. Uh that study identified a revenue shortfall. So moving forward from that workshop, direction was received to move forward with sanitary sewer user rate increases of 6% in 2026, 5% for each year in 2027 through 2030 and 4% in 2031. direction was also received to increase to move forward with increasing sanitary sewer connection fees as recommended by the study and we'll definitely get into uh the exact numbers here in just a slide or two. Um and direction was received to increase the septage rates based on a cost recovery model. Um a business impact statement that you'll hear later throughout this presentation called a BIS was completed pursuant to NRS 238 237.080. And what that study really did was ask questions such as do these proposed changes impose a direct and sign significant economic burden on businesses? Uh do the changes restrict the formation, operation or expansion of businesses and are there any

[clears throat] alternatives to the proposed that could be acceptable? So why why are fee and rate increases needed? Um one of the reasons is to maintain our required operating fund 60-day balance reserve. Uh when you hear operating, this is really targeting things such as materials, labor, uh the bodies to do the work, energy, and chemicals that are used out um on our entire system. Uh these rates and proposed increases will also fund critical capital improvements. Uh this can include things such as rehabs and replacements as well as reconstruction um and supporting new development. Um, and overall what it does is really maintain a reliable sewer service for our residents and businesses as well ensuring long-term stability of Tom Warf and the collection system in its entirety. So, down to the nitty-gritty, the current and the proposed rates and fees. So, first I do apologize that this is a very busy screen, but we will go through it, but we really wanted to put it in front of you so that you could see it all together. Um, and I'm hoping one of the things that you're first noticing is that some of the text is bold. Um and that is because with this bill today we are only proposing increasing rates related to sewer. We are not uh proposing any change to storm or flood at this time. So starting in the upper leftand corner uh these are our sewer user rates and you'll see with the sewer the current per month rate is 26.44 with the proposed 6% that we that was directed in 2026. Uh that would move to 2804 a month. Uh moving to the right for the sewer connection fees. Uh this is a fee per ERU. An ERU to remind you is an equivalent residential unit. So again, how we uh equivalate a larger commercial down to a single family and make it truly apples to apples. Um so per ERU, our current sewer connection fee is $7,56755. And per the study again that looked at

the the system in its entirety, we're proposing moving to $8,52. And finally the graph to the bottom is our septage rates. Um and you'll see residential is a current of 060 um proposing increasing to 0.1 and as far as industrial and commercial our current is 075 and looking at a proposed of.130 again based on cost recovery. Um, as we stated before, the sewer user rates are proposed to increase in those increments, 6% in 26, 5% annually through 2030, and 4% in 2031 for the connection fees. Uh, annual increases are looking to be tied to CCI, the construction cost index. And as far as septage rates, annual increases would be looking to be tied to CPI, consumer price index. through this pro through this process we did um significant public outreach and allowance for stakeholder input. Um a large part of that was through the BIS when that process included significant public outreach to business business and industry groups. Um these included uh not only all sewer users but the chamber of commerce, AGC, Associated General Contractors, BAN, the Builders Association Northern Nevada and NEO, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Um, notices were mailed to stakeholders, notices were published in the Reno Gazette Journal. We did host two public workshops here at city hall, one in April and one in August. Um, we had numerous uh smaller individual stakeholder presentations and meetings specifically with AGC and band to go over concerns. Um, and through that process, concerns and comments were collected, they were considered, they were included in the BIS. Um, and that BIS was brought to you and approved in December um, December 8th, 2025. So with this bill, the proposed

amendments to the Sparks municipal code included in this ordinance are specifically to code uh to title 13 water and sewage. And that is where we would be updating the sewer user rates, the sewer connection fees and the septage rates. Um and these amendments uh are very necessary to adequately operate, maintain and upgrade our sewer infrastructure as also to comply with environmental regulatory responsibilities. Should you approve this bill today, uh the rates and fees or adjustments will go into effect April 1st of 2026. Um, this was largely chosen specifically as some of our users are on a quarterly billing system and it made a lot more sense for the ease of understanding for people's bills as well as implementation um on staff. With that, staff does recommend approval of this bill. Uh, the motion is there for ease and I am happy to answer any questions. And Mr. Mayor, if I could remind you this is a public hearing. questions from the council. All right, this is a public hearing. Anyone in the public wishing to speak on this item? All right, bring it back to the dis and looking for a motion.

Mr. Rodriguez, it's a long one. Yep. You chose it. Yeah. All right. That's why no one's spoken. Probably not very popular either. [laughter] I move to approve bill number 2846, an ordinance amending sparks municipal code title 13 entitled water and sewage specifically. Chapter 13.09 sewer storm and river flood user charges. And chapter 13.24 connection fees to increase sanitary sanitary sewer user rates. increase the sanitary sewer sewer connection fees and increase the septage rates and approving for other matters properly related there too with an effective date of April 1st 2026. Miss Vanderwell

second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Madame clerk 10.2. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is public hearing consideration, discussion, and possible approval of an agreement AC6166 between the city of Sparks and the operating engineers local number three supervisors for the period January 12th, 2026 through June 30th, 2028 with an estimated cost increase of $14,762 in the general fund, and $56,233 in all other funds in FY26, $16,76 in the general fund, and $78,421 $1 in all other funds in FY27 and unknown cost impacts in FY28.

Mccormick.

Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and city council members. For the record, I'm Allison McCormack, your assistant city manager. Today, I am pleased to seek your approval of a collective bargaining agreement or CBA between the city of Sparks and Operating Engineers Local 3 Supervisors, who I'll refer to as OE3. The prior CBA with OE3 expired on June 30th of 2025. The parties started negotiations for a successor CBA in spring of 2025 and met regularly over the last several months. The resulting proposed CBA contains several key changes. First, the term would run essentially through ratification, which hopefully will be today through June 30th of 2028 or fiscal year 28. Uh on to base pay rates. Section 2, Article A, uh, memorializes a new total compensation and labor market approach to pay rates. That process to get to that stage was pretty involved. So, I'll run through a handful of steps to kind of explain how we got here. First, the city identified comparator and competitor agencies in our regional labor market. That included City of Reno, Wo County, Carson City, RTC, and Tamwa. And for wastewater related positions, we also included several Southern Nevada agencies to provide additional comparisons. Through a consultant, the city identified jobs at these other agencies that closely compared to jobs at Sparks. The city then gathered data on these other agencies total compensation packages for those similar jobs, including base pay, certification or education pay, longevity, health insurance premiums, PERS contributions, and other pay and benefits. That analysis indicated that the city's total compensation package for several positions was under market compared to those other agencies. The parties agreed to make labor market

adjustments effective on ratification as follows. Based on that analysis, all employees in the bargaining unit would receive a minimum of 1% base pay rate increase. Pay ranges for jobs that were under the market would be adjusted up to the market with a maximum increase of 7 a.5%. That would increase fiscal year 26 costs by $11,144 in the general fund and $47,826 in all other funds. In fiscal year 2027, positions that were under the market by greater than 7 and a half% would be further increased to reach the market again up to a maximum of 7 and 12%. Crew supervisors in the wastewater operations function had their pay rates adjusted based on a different methodology. Though under the previous agreement, those crew supervisors received special assignment pay of $400 per pay period. Upon ratification, that special assignment pay would essentially be built into their base pay rates. So for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, crew supervisors in the wastewater operations function would receive a $4 per hour increase to their base pay rates and no other labor market adjustment. That's expected to increase uh wastewater fund costs by $277 in fiscal year 2026. In fiscal year 27, those crew supervisors would receive an additional $1 per hour pay rate increase. That would increase cost by $14,222 in fiscal year 2027. Following these labor market adjustments in fiscal year 27, all employees will receive a general wage increase of 1%. Uh in addition to the remaining labor market adjustment from fiscal year 2026,

that would increase costs in fiscal year 2027 by 13,268 in the general fund and $53,541 in all other funds. In fiscal year 2028, a new total compensation study will be conducted using a similar methodology with health insurance premiums as one key difference. In the fiscal year 2026 labor market analysis, the city used the employee plus family premium rate which is the most expensive for that analysis. For the fiscical year 28 analysis, the parties will meet and confer on the appropriate premium rate to use in that analysis. The costs of the fiscical year 28 labor market adjustments will depend on the outcomes of that total compensation study. So we don't know what those impacts are today. Moving on from base pay rates, section two, article C regarding overtime has been amended in a couple of key ways. First, it would remove overtime for hours over $10 per day, instead defaulting to overtime for over 40 hours in a work week. This provides additional flexibility to both the city and to employees where available. Changes to this section would also require that special event overtime be paid at two times the pay rate instead of one and a half times the pay rate. In exchange, employees will receive pay in dollars instead of compensatory time for special event overtime. That compensatory time as it builds up leads to a lot of uh time off for those employees which causes operational challenges. So that's the rationale there. There are no direct cost impacts from these changes in large part because special event overtime is paid by the producers of events, not the city. Section two, article D would increase bilingual pay from $50 a pay period to

$150 a pay period to align with other CBAs at the city. This would increase general fund costs by $1,218 in the remainder of fiscal year 26. Section two, article H would increase the maximum longevity pay from $4,000 to $4,500 upon ratification, increasing fiscal year 27 cost by $2,88 in the general fund and $10,748 in all other funds. In fiscal year 28, the longevity maximum would increase again to $5,000, again increasing general fund costs by $2,88 and other fund costs by $10,654. Section three, article E would increase deferred compensation matching from $75 a pay period to $100 a pay period, increasing fiscal year 26 costs by $2,400 in the general fund and $5,700 in all other funds. Section 4, article B, would increase annual leave approval for employees with 5 years or more of service with the city by 1 half hour per pay period. Similarly, article K of that section would increase personal leave from 16 hours to 30 hours on a one-time increase for fiscal year 26 with uh future years being acred at 24 hours for all future fiscal years. These changes don't have any direct costs, but they do increase the city's liability for acred but unused paid leave. Additional language changes and clarifications throughout the CBA have also been proposed, but those don't have any direct cost impact. So, I won't explicitly d uh address them here unless you have questions about those. In some, these changes are expected to increase costs by $14,762 in the general fund and 56,000 $56,233

in all other funds in the remainder of fiscal year 26. And in fiscal year 27, those cost increases are projected at $16,76 in the general fund and $78,421 in all other funds. As I mentioned earlier, the cost impacts for fiscal year 28 are to be determined. I would like to thank the negotiations teams for both the city and the OE3 supervisors. Labor negotiations are a major investment of time and effort uh for everyone involved and I'm very proud of the agreement that we've reached together. Staff does recommend approval of this agreement. I am happy to answer any questions or if there aren't any I would ask Mayor Lawson to open the public hearing.

Questions from the council. Okay. See none. This is a public hearing. Anyone in the public wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the dis. And I'm looking for a motion. Miss Vanderwell. I move to approve the agreement AC-6166 between the city of Sparks and the operating engineers local number three supervisors for the period January 12th, 2026 through June 30th, 2028 with an estimated cost increase of $14,762 in the general fund and $56,233 in all other funds in fiscal year 26, $16,076 in the general fund and $78,421 and all other funds in fiscal year 27 and unknown cost impacts in fiscal year 28.

Mr. Rodriguez, I second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. All right. 10.3. Madame Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is public hearing consideration and possible approval of a memorandum of understanding AC 6161 amending the collective bargaining agreement AC6078 between the Association of Sparks Fire Department classified chief officers and the city of Sparks with no cost impact.

Thank you, Mayor Lawson and City Council. Again, for the record, Allison McCormack, your assistant city manager. I'm seeking your approval of a memorandum of understanding orou between the city and its classified fire chief officers. If approved, thisou would amend their collective bargaining agreement or CBA regarding personnel redu reductions and military leave. As the city council will recall, during the fiscal year 26 budget process, the city was faced with extremely difficult decisions, including the possibility of layoffs. Civil service regulations provide that layoffs are based on seniority with the city, not seniority in a position. During the early stages of the fiscal year 26 budget process, the classified fire chiefs were concerned about the impacts of those regulations on their members who had been chiefs for a longer period of time but had not been with the city for as long. While layoffs did not ultimately directly affect the chief's officers, the parties still met and agreed to change this formula for their bargaining unit. Theou would provide for personnel reductions in the chief's group to be based on seniority in job classification rather than city seniority. During discussions on this aspect of theou, the negotiating teams also identified that the military leave language in their CBA was not aligned with the city's current administrative rules or other applicable regulations and policies. Theou would therefore update military leave language to align with those regulations and policies. Neither of these [clears throat] changes have any direct cost impacts. Staff does recommend approval of this following a public hearing. And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Questions from the council. See none. This a public comment. Anyone in the public wish to speak on this item. All right. We'll bring it back to the dis. I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez [clears throat] move to approve the memorandum of understanding AC 6161 meaning the collective bargaining agreement AC 6078 between the association of sparks fire department classified chiefs officers and the city of sparks with no cost impact. Mr. Anderson, I'll second the motion. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. We have no planning and zoning public hearing.

Thank you, Madison. Thanks, Allison. And we'll go back to uh comments from the public. Any public wishing to speak at this time? We'll bring you back. Announcements from the mayor, city council, and city manager. Mr. Manager, you have anything? City council have anything. We had Donald Abbott day today. So, it was and all his cousins. Thought we were in Kentucky for a minute.

Sorry, that was uncalled for. My apologies. Um, I do have an amendment that I would like the city manager to look at. I'd like to have the staff bring back a a item for council consideration to amend the municipal codes respective to refunds as outlined in title 15. We've just found as we do from time to time u we have a a refund due one of our and some reason in in our ordinances it has to come back to the city council to do a refund that we both agree the client is due. So uh we're going to fix that item so that we are not unduly burdening our businesses out there. All right with that I think we're up to adjourned.

[clears throat]