City Council - Regular Meeting

Turn that on. All right, let's call to order the Spark City Council meeting for Monday, November 10th with a roll call. Mayor Lawson here. Council members Abbott here. Vanderell here. Anderson here. By here, Rodriguez here. Assistant city attorney Cobberly here. City Manager Len here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Okay. Uh we have our invocation today by Pastor Jordan McDermott, the Crosswinds Assembly of God. Thank you. Good afternoon everyone.

Let's bow our heads. Father, I come before you in the name of your son Jesus Christ. And I thank you Lord that we live in a nation, one nation under God. And I just pray that we would recognize that today. and that we would we would recognize that Sparks is one city under God as well. And so Lord, today I just pray uh for that unity, for that peace, just to be in this place. Lord, uh your word says that we should ask and that we should seek and that we should knock and then we would receive the things that we are asking for. And so Lord, I ask for wisdom. Lord, it says in your word that in in abundance of counselors that uh a nation will succeed. And this the same for a city. And so Lord, I pray for wise counsel to uh be present in these proceedings today that every decision that is made will be um made for the the betterment of all of the people, Lord. And God, we ask for your presence to be with us. Again, we do this in the name of your son, Jesus. And we all said, "Amen."

Thank you. Uh Mr. Rodriguez, will you lead us in the pledge? Please join me. I aliance 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.

All right. Going to move on to public comment. We uh have Jim Kinus followed by Patty Gray. Mayor Lawson, members of the city council, Jim Kinus, resident of Wingfield Springs and Sparks. I've presented at the last two council meetings urging you not to close fire station 5. You may be wondering why I'm so passionate about it. I served this community for almost 30 years and I've seen what a few minutes can mean when it comes to making a difference on a call. I've responded to fires where we kept the fire to one room and prevented it from spreading to the whole house. We've pulled an unconscious victim out of a burning building and saved her life. I've responded to EMS incidents where we performed CPR, defibrillated the patient and brought them back to life. I've also responded on calls where I knew with all my heart that we could say we could have saved a life if we were there as little as 2 minutes earlier. Time matters and can make a difference in life or death. You are choosing to close a lifeline for those of us that served that are served by fire station 5. You're choosing to sacrifice our safety and the safety of those that utilize Golden Eagle Park. Your priorities are misplaced. Public safety should be number one. You authorized 1.46 million to replace turf at Golden Eagle that didn't need to be replaced. Your response to your constituents is that you don't want to spend that money on salaries just in case the feds shut down the cannabis sales. Cannabis is currently legal in 40 of 50 states for medical use and 24 states for recreational use. There is almost no chance the fed is shutting it down as so many states and municipalities depend on it. What's more important? Providing for public safety or worrying about the slightest chance your funding source is eliminated. I

along with my community believe public safety is more important as should you. I've also seen your responses to your constituents stating this decision is coming from Chief White and the fire department leadership. Let this be known there's not one firefighter, including the fire chief, that thinks shutting down fire station 5 is a good idea. They are only choosing that direction because you won't fund both fire stations, leaving them in a bad spot and trying to do their best with the hand you're dealing them. One last thing. The city has been riddled with lawsuits over the last few years because of employees making bad decisions. The city has had to pay out millions of dollars because poor decisions were made. Are you going to continue with your plan to close station 5, which will eventually lead to the next lawsuit and settlement. I'm sure you're aware that I've been walking the district informing the community of your plan to close our fire station. I spoke to multiple residents that stated personnel from station 5 saved their life or one of their family members. Middle-aged man told me, "Station 5 personnel just saved his life less than a month ago, and the fire department was there in three minutes." A mom told me the story of our firefighters saving her son's life, not once, but twice as he was checking on some as he was choking on something. Station 5 personnel had a quick response and that cute little boy is still here because of them. Maybe you all should take the time and walk the district or even easier, go speak to the crews at station 5 and hear their stories. I understand that money is tight, but you have the ability to keep that station open. Don't be the reason the city gets sued again. And even worse, don't be the reason someone's family is devastated because of your decisions. Thank you for your time. Please keep the station open.

Thank you, Patty Gray, followed by John Seer.

Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and honorable council members and staff. My name is Patty Gray. I live at 6573 Satori Drive, approximately five blocks from Fire Station 5. First of all, I want to thank you for your service to our city. My husband and I moved here from Bakersville, California. More refugees that have come in uh to enjoy our retirement with our children and grandchildren and love our new city. Big exclamation points. We are grateful every day that God chose Waynefield Springs for us to reside. One of the draws was the proximity to the fire station because my husband is a heart patient. In fact, at this very moment, he's at home with a heart episode and he could not attend or he'd be here speaking today. Oh, and because we plan to make this our last home just before moving in March, I retired last December as a Bakersfield City Council member. I loved my job being a council member, but I also understood the weight of the responsibility that I carried with every vote, every decision that I made affected a lot of people. As a council member, I along with my colleagues put public safety above all other priorities. Feels very different sitting on this side of the desk, I'll tell you. And I'm I'm passionate about this, as you can see. We planned out our annual budget of $700 million around police and fire to ensure that safety was the number one priority in the city of Bakersfield. Without people feeling safe in their community, their quality of life quickly diminishes. In Wingfield Springs, our quality of life is excellent, but our homes are in a vulnerable fire area with Tri Creek behind a lot of our homes, including my own, and Sage

surrounding our total residential area, a huge fire hazard. But also, a large percentage of our residents are are seniors, which opens up life and death situations more readily. which do require faster response times. Like our chief was saying, closing our station would impair our response dramatically. I would hope and encourage all of you would make the right decision today by listening to your constituents and I want to remind you that mo most people don't attend council meetings if you found out. So the majority is speaking through us because our whole area does not want to see that that station um you know disregarded. So our beautiful fire station number five was built to support our area originally with the Spanish Springs area growing at a fast pace. We need both stations to serve the fast growing area because as you know there's a lot of Californians moving to Nevada now. So, I would just ask for you to save our station number five. Thank you so much.

Uh, John Seafford, followed by Is it Candace Schubert.

Hello, I'm John Ciphert. I live at 4380 Globe Court, two streets north of the fire department. Lived in this community for 19 years. I've seen it grow. One of the things I really liked about this area, the location of my fire department, you know, there's been shootings up in the hills on BML land behind the sports park. Couple fires started this year. The fire department being close by, they put them out. Also, just couple months ago, my neighbor's wife was saved by the fire department in a fast response. Then right after that, my daughter fell and broke her hip and shoulders and they was right there to give us help. I find it what's really confusing for me is that how fast Spark has grown with all these new tracks generating revenue and taxes and everything, but yet you say you're broke and you can't afford it, but yet you spend a million plus and put turf in a park that's serves a community and it's really a nice park. But I think our residents should have more priority than a park. I kind of wonder, you know, what you guys think of of your residents over a park. One life is more valuable than that park. And you're taking away our security. And you know, with with um the building codes at the time they built our house, we didn't have to have sprinkler system because we had a fire department. If you're building a house now so many miles away, you got to put fire sprinklers in your house. You're taking both securities away from us. I think it's really serious, you know, that you guys want to fund money other places. You build a beautiful fire department. I've watched it being grown in that whole area.

But it was supposed to be assistance to our fire department 5. I really think you should really think about the residents that live there and their safety and how much response and security we feel having a fire department close to us. That was one of my main reason I bought out here. I've gone around the United States a couple of times and yet I have not found a place that could be sparks. I love it here and I want to save my community and I want to save the residents. So, I hope you guys can sit back and think about how would you feel, you know, how would you feel if your life support system was taken away from you and made a longer distance for response? My wife and I, we're senior citizens and she's had have the ambulance come over the fire department to help us. But anyhow, I've said enough and I hope you all will really take in consideration the residents that live around there that depend on safety. Thank you.

You Schubert, followed by Armen.

Good afternoon, city council members, mayor. My name is [clears throat] Candace Schubert. I'm 73 years old, a widow, and live alone in my home in the Wingfield Springs area of Sparks. I'm here today to support not closing Fire Station number five on Vista Boulevard. Fire Station 5 provides essential emergency services in our area and closing it will in my opinion have a very negative impact on our Wingfield Springs community and the residents who live there including me. I would like to give you two personal examples. Last fall late in the evening I fell at home hitting hitting my back against my bathtub. The pain was immediate and absolutely excruciating and I literally passed out. When I woke up hours later, I could barely move. By the time I had crawled to my cell phone in the bedroom, I was shaking and shivering and in a state of shock and thought I was going to pass out again. I realized if I didn't get help fast, I might actually die alone in my home. Had help not been nearby, I might not be here now. But the crew from fire station 5 were at my home in a matter of minutes after I was finally able to reach my phone and dial 911. I really do think they saved my life. Then in August of this year, two days after I had my right hip replacement surgery, I started having heart pains and a terrible headache in the middle of the night. I thought I was having a heart attack. So, my cousin who was staying with me called 911. Once again, fire station 5 responded within minutes and transported me to the ER. As you can see, I'm alive and well now. But both times, I thought I might die. And both times the emergency crew

at station five responded quickly and professionally. If that station is closed, I will worry next time I have a medical emergency that the response won't be fast enough. So, I am respectfully requesting that you reconsider closing station fire station 5, a vital and important part of the emergency services in our community. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Uh Carmen Calderon followed by Patrick Riley.

Good afternoon, uh councils, council members and mayor. Mr. Abbott, thank you for your kindness and returning my uh giving me a response to my email. I appreciate it. I don't know how where you are of the large retired community in Winfield Springs. Most of us uh have some kind of medical uh problem. Our decision to move to move uh to this area was the fact that we had a fire station so close to my home being immuno compromise a minute make us a difference in my life and response or absence from it is the difference between life and death. I don't I see the importance of having a second fire situation because the growth has been immense. But I see also the necessity of having two fire stations. The one on Vista Boulevard serves a very important purpose. The growth of the community has increased the traffic tremendously. As it is, it's hard to get from one point to the other. And putting a fire station farther away from us really takes that saving factor from our lives. I know our recreation area is very important, but let's face it, our our recreation area in Winfield Springs is mainly used by people coming for tournaments. It's not used necessarily. We don't use the fire uh the baseball fields. They are good. They're important, but they're not a necessity. We have been paying for taxes on an area that will

ensure the protection of our lives. That's why we selected this area. It's beautiful. Sparks is a beautiful city. We have responsible people taking care of our well-being. That's why you don't have us over here screaming at you because of the fact that you have been responding to the needs of the community. We know how tough it is to balance the budget, but you are trying to balance the budget utilizing monies for recreation rather than life saving measures, property saving measures that you are taking away from us, that safety net. Uh our entire community is needs needs that fire station there. There is nothing else I can tell you. If you can convince yourselves that what that this decision is not one decision of comfort, it's not a decision for a well-being of somebody influential. It's a decision for a large community whose lives basically is in your hands. Thank you.

Thank you, Patrick Ro, excuse me, Riley. Followed by MPOS. Sorry, my mouth isn't working. Good afternoon. Um, thank you for allowing me to speak. Uh, my name is Patrick Riley. I live at 6716 Fabric Drive near the fire station 5. And I am here to speak in uh, support of keeping that station open. And uh, I've I wrote down some reasons here. Um well, they're primarily safety. Um since I've been here five years, I've seen quite a number of accidents on Vista um within about a mile and a half to the be to the west of the fire station. At least three of those were fatal accidents. I'm not sure if, you know, that person died immediately or whatever, but there have been a lot of other ones that were nonfatal. Uh right now I know the fires the fire department is able to get to those quickly. Um and then uh as far as a general EMT services, my wife uh just like a couple the other speakers um had a medical issue. I couldn't help her. We called 911. The fire department was there within probably two minutes. helped uh got her into the fire truck. Um took her to the hospital and it wasn't a life and death issue, but it was something that I couldn't have dealt with. So, there's that. Um and then another thing is that Vista and Spark Boulevard, especially during the

commute, are the traffic is backed up a lot. You probably all know that. And um I can see um u fire trucks uh you know have their rightway but if all the lanes are blocked they can't get through if you if they have to come from you know this new fire station 26. Um so there's that. Um, and then I'm not sure of this, but I've heard in the past that um, insurance, homeowners insurance, uh, rates are partially based on how close you are to a fire station, how how, uh, quick the response time is. So, uh, another concern is, you know, are home homeowners insurance rates going to go up because of this? So, um I'm just um asking you to um consider strongly consider keeping that fire station open when the new one is open somehow having them both operational. So, um I think those are the things I want to talk about and just about time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mike Montpos followed by Deborah Ames. Uh thank you for having me here. [clears throat] My name is Mike Mopi. I live out at uh Hubble Drive, Wingfield. Um [clears throat] yeah, it's great having a fire station right nearby. And um every time I turn around, it seems like there's another three three story highrise. Not high-rise, but kind of if for an apartment complex going on out there. Lots more people, lots more accidents. I back everything Jim says. Um, Jim [clears throat] kindness says, uh, he came by my house the other day with the flyer and I I agree with everything in it. Um, as a politician, I think everybody knows you don't want to be on the side of an 80 the wrong side of an 8020 issue. And this is probably about a 9010, maybe 955, maybe 100. I mean, once this gets rolling as a decision against that place being open, it's going to create a galvanized voting block. No matter if you're R or a D, nobody cares about that. They care about their public safety. And we've seen what happens in California with these fires. You have no idea how how I've been to all of those areas. How does it happen? I mean, fire is just this mysterious, awful power, and you don't need a fire truck. You don't need fire fighters until you need them. And then you really need them. And uh I say keep five open. I mean, everybody out there is going to say the same thing. I mean, the money's got to be somewhere. We uh based on my property tax, I multiplied it out. We got about 5,000 homes out there. uh that's you know 15 million some it's it's quite a lot of money coming in. So people aren't

going to understand that their fire station's gone even though it's been replaced by this other one but the time travel is it can be horrendous especially in uh rush hour traffic. There might be a perception because we have a golf course out there that were a bunch of aristocrats. That's the furthest thing from the truth. Uh, I was in the Nevada National Guard. My first year as a Nevada resident was in Afghanistan and then I drove a truck for 17 years. And that's a dangerous job. A lot of people died doing it. So, we're not a bunch of aristocrats. Um, we're just like everybody else and uh we want to be protected because of our taxes. That's about all I got to say.

Thank you, Deborah Ames, followed by Hunter Rand. Hi, I'm Debbie Ames. Um, I live at 6852 Quantum Court in Sparks, which is a a nice neighborhood there in Winfield Springs. Um, I'm a longtime resident of Sparks, unlike some of my neighbors. and uh I vote. I'm a homeowner and uh proud railroader, class of 1969, Sparks High School, and I retired from the city of Reno Police Department from 1972 to 2003. So, I think I have a pretty good sense of emergency response, how important that is to the public. Um, I chose my home in 2006 because of its about three block proximity from the uh police uh from the the fire department station 5. And in these years I've had like three occasions to call upon them and the last was two years ago when I broke my arm and my leg. I also live alone like some of my neighbors and their response was was stunning. and so helpful to uh get me in the ambulance and to the hospital. My gratefulness to station five and their crews is just overwhelming. Um my grandchildren are athletes at Golden Eagle Park. There have been uh many serious injuries there during these sporting events that include our kids locally and kids from um out of town, out of state even. And the importance of a timely response for them is uh is something that is just paramount, you

know, for them to be able to get that help as needed. Um, the Wingfield population has expanded and I I want to say that exploded with homes and apartments and businesses over the last several years. And if we need another station out there, so be it. I mean, I'm, you know, that's great. I just don't want to see that additional wait time for uh in the event of another medical emergency at my house, my neighborhood, the whole area out there. Um as a a citizen, I strongly oppose the closure of station five and I ask that you consider to keep it open. um that is just so important to thousands and thousands of people out there and um thank you also for the invocation and the pledge of allegiance. That just did my heart good to see that today and I'm glad we're doing that and uh thanks so much.

Thank you. Uh Hunter Rand followed by Emily Roberts. [snorts] Hello, Hunter Rand for the record. Live in war two, running for war two. Um, you know, I like many other people here, proud some fellow proud that some fellow uh Sparks Fire clients came out, spoke in favor of Station 5. Uh, last July got dragged down Pyramid Way. Sparks Fire responded in under 90 seconds. Covered up my bone. I'm walking pretty normally. I recognize that we have one of the best fire departments in the whole country. And I say that having visited countless rural communities across the country, including in Nevada, that don't have that privilege. Watch someone die in Battle Mountain. Can't fault the firefighters there. They just don't have the staffing and the manpower and the money. And my question is, why can't Ward 4, why can't Winfield Springs have the privilege of a fast response time just like every other neighborhood? What about a surge capacity? You know, I'm looking at that Louisville plane crash and if if you've been in the community long enough, you'll realize that's very, very familiar. Galaxy Airlines crashed by where the target is in South Reno. 71 dead. Galloping Ghost and uh you know I do stuff with airspace. I'm a commercial drone pilot. I have my radio on when I fly. I've heard for planes taking off north over sparks calling for an emergency. It happens.

You know, everyone says these natural disasters, these accidents are one in a million. And just with the frequency of everything happening in commercial aviation, that's once every 40 days in the US. Should go on the NTSB website and see how many airplane crashes there are every single day because there's more than one. I feel like there's one at Truckucky every quarter. That can happen in Sparks. We get big car accidents. We get house we had a house fire in in uh uh was that by Menai Middle School with five apparatus that leaves two for car accidents and medical calls. It's just a this has been planned for 10 years to have station five and six and now it's it's like it's a big surprise. We're getting station six. Oh no, what do we do? I think the answer is is clear and it's about making truly hard and unpopular decisions. Not because we just say they're unpopular, but because they actually are. And not just labeling them as hard decisions so you look good on channel 8 and channel 2 and channel 4. Govern yourselves accordingly. Okay.

Thank you, Emily Roberts, followed by Lynn Histine. Good afternoon. It's my first time visiting a city council and um I have been a resident here in Sparks at Wingfield Springs for 25 years. We waited a long time to get fire station 5. We used to be serviced by the Prader fire station and it was a joy to get that because everything was increasing in population. And now you look at all the new apartments that they built on Vista, plus the extension of the homes that are going to be built out off Wingfield Hills. It isn't finished yet. They haven't even gone halfway. And with all the roundabouts, I don't know how a fire engine is going to handle that. From Vista all the way to Pyramid, it's nothing but roundabouts, but they're there for infrastructure. And um my mother-in-law was in Morning Star for many years and she called the fire department when she was there. They called the fire department about five times for her and they saved her life. many times. And then I also had my mother pass, but the firemen were there first thing and it was a blessing. And I don't see how taking away this station is going to benefit Sparts. It's only going to

make life more difficult for seniors and for all those seniors in Morning Star. So, I appreciate if you would reconsider and keep our station open. Thank you.

Thank you, Lynn Histine. My daughter Katie here is an example and a reason to keep both fire stations open. Katie, a native Neadan, was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood bone cancer, Euing saroma, when she was 17. She had 17 surgeries, 115 doses of radiation, hundreds of doses of chemotherapy, and many more terrible effects, which not time to go into. Katie fought fiercely and lived life to its fullest for six years. She used art therapy in the hospital and made it into a business, Katie's Collective, where she turned her art into stickers, hats, shirts, etc. At the age of 23, Katie was proud to be able to buy a house with her fiance just 10 minutes from our home in Wingfield Springs. Katie was usually never alone. Never. Like 99.9% of the time. But last year on November 23rd, myself and Katie's fiance went to ID Wild Park in the early morning hours to set up a booth for Katie's collective so that Katie could sleep in. Katie was going to come down later. She had just finished another round of chemotherapy. She didn't feel great, but like I said, she wanted to live life to the fullest. She was getting ready to get into her car, but suddenly threw up blood. She called her father, who said to hang up and call 911, which she did. Katie made it to the driveway and was able to tell the firemen, "Please help me." before she passed out.

They performed CPR and were able to get her to Northern Nevada Hospital. Katie sadly did not survive, but thanks to the fast reply at the fire station, she was not alone before passing out. Yet, she was scared. But my baby was not alone. That's everything. If you're a parent, I think you can hopefully understand. Thanks to the firefighters of uh Reno and Sparks, the Reno and Sparks community were able to hold a candle vigil on the top of the Renown parking lot. As Katie took her last breath, the quick response time is an important is important not only for the seniors, but also our children. Our children depend on it as well. I implore you to please keep both stations open. I have some good cards for you for Katie's collective so you can really read her whole story.

Thank you. All right. Anyone else in the public wishing to speak at this time? Yes. Okay. All right. See none, we're going to take a fivem minute recess for computer problem.

They wouldn't John's

Back to order. Going to move on to approval of the agenda. Mr. Anderson. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve the agenda with the following change, and that is to move item 9.1 to be heard before item 7.2, please. Okay, Miss Vanderill. Second. We got a motion and a second. Any further comments? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries. 5-0. Um, minutes. Looking for approval of the minutes. Miss Bbeby.

Sorry. I move to approve the minutes of the Spark City Council meeting for October 27th, 2025 as submitted. And Mr. Rodriguez, second. I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries 50. Uh 7.1 boards and commission vacancy announcements, Sparks Planning Commission. Madame Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There is one vacancy on the Sparks Planning Commission for a 4-year term ending December 31st, 2029. Planning commissioners must be Sparks residents and registered voters. Applications for this vacancy will be accepted until November 21st, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Persons interested in serving on any of our committees should complete a community service application online at the city's website, city ofsparks.getvolved. Simply complete the volunteer application form and hit submit. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. All right, let's move on to uh 9.1. Who's presenting this? Allison.

Thank you, Mayor Lawson, and good afternoon, council members. For the record, I'm Allison McCormack, your assistant city manager. Today, I am very pleased to seek your approval of an employment agreement with Casey Mener as the treatment plant director at Truckucky Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. Under Sparks City Charter and Sparks Municipal Code, the city manager has authority to reorganize departments and appoint department heads. Tumorf has historically fallen under the community services department. But recognizing the complexity and size of TMORF as well as the diverse scope of the community services department, the city manager determined that making TMORF its own department would best serve the city and the community as a whole. The city manager has therefore reorganized Tamorph into its own department separate from the community services department and has appointed Casey Menser as the treatment plant director. Mr. Menser has been employed with the city at Tamorph since 2015 and has served in a variety of roles there, most recently as treatment plant manager. He is incredibly wellqualified for this position as you all know. The proposed employment agreement lays out the salary and benefits for the position with a salary of 163,176 per year and benefits uh in line with other department head employment agreements as well as the management professional and technical employees resolution. Staff wholeheartedly recommends approval of this agreement at the appropriate time. Mr. Mayor, Mr. would like to make some comments himself. With that, I am happy to answer any questions.

Questions from the council. Well, the boy genius, I tell you, we are so lucky to have Casey. He does amazing things with that plant. He's got it working better than the manufacturer specs from 1965. So, hats off to you, Casey, for that. That's amazing. So, uh, with if there's no questions, I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez. What? I think Casey was was going to say something. Not to interrupt. He can say something after we vote. Still, you know, it might be a tossup. Casey, you never know. Uh, Mr. Rodriguez.

Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve the deployment agreement AC6160 between the city of Sparks and Casey Manzer with as the treatment plant director with an annual salary of 163 163,176 plus benefits. Miss Vanderwell second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries 5 to zero. Thank you.

Now you can come down Casey before I give you the oath of office. Well, good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and uh members of council. Um I'd first like to say that on behalf of myself um and the staff at the treatment plant that we all appreciate the elevation of Tom Warf to departmental status within the city. Uh to us, this reorganization is a welcome acknowledgement of the significant uh function that the facility provides not only to Sparks but to the entire region. The Trekky Meadows Water Reclamation Facility is the single largest uh wastewater treatment plant in Northern Nevada. Uh it processes 30 million gallons a day and um provides service to approximately 350,000 residents. The approximately uh 70 employees at TORF are tirelessly committed to the mission of safeguarding public health and ensuring environmental protection. This change creates efficiencies that will provide more empowerment for our talented staff to do what they do best. Um on a more personal note, I just want to say that um I was born in Sparks. I grew up here and this is also where I chose to settle uh down and establish my family. I am unabashedly Sparks proud. I appreciate every opportunity that the city has offered me and am honored to have the confidence of this council to assume a directorship overseeing this critical infrastructure. I look forward to serving the city and giving back to my community in this expanded capacity. So, thank you.

Okay. Well, let's get you sworn in. We did pass. unless we have comments. Any your good comments? Any comments from the council? [laughter]

I just I just want to say Casey, it's such an honor having you here. And um really I think that for me personally, I look at what's going on at the the wastewater treatment facility as being isolated in your own little silo and focusing on that. But what I love, and I got to see that firsthand last week in in the Western Regional meeting for water, that really what you're doing is you're impacting the water and how we use that incredible resource in this community, not just not just on the way side, but looking upstream from it as well. And I just want to say thank you. Thank you for making a huge difference. And as the mayor said, you're getting the production from that facility beyond what we ever imagined. So, I appreciate what you're doing. I look forward to your continued leadership.

Anyone else? Yeah, go ahead.

Casey, thank you so much. The work you're doing is so tremendously important and people don't realize as we grow, I mean, all of you were talking about how much this this area has grown and I've lived here uh pretty much my whole life. And so the growth with the growth um the the stress on our infrastructure but uh the sewer treatment plant like you said 1965 um is is is really a challenge because it uh the challenge of how do we keep how do we keep it operating and efficiently and I really see what you have done uh with a lot of work with the university we've done during co we were actually testing the wastewater, which was like unbelievable technology that we were one of the first in the whole country to actually test the wastewater for COVID and you could tell 48 hours before I knew or you knew you had CO it was in the wastewater and we could find hotspots in the city of where that was happening. So the the potential uh working with the water innovation institute at the university for new efficiencies, new pilot programs to take a very old plant and to do um amazing things. Uh you and your team have done extraordinary work. Uh and I'm excited for your promotion and for making it its own department because it will that is our limit to growth here is really not water at all. It's sewer capacity and I don't think most people realize that. So thank you

Mr. Rabbit.

Yeah. Hey, Casey. Well, thank you for doing everything you do at the plant. You know, you do an amazing job of whenever we're talking, I tell you just tell it in Donald terms because you you'll say these things. You're so smart and you do a great job of putting into words that we can all understand and we know you're [clears throat] doing rocks, I don't know, probably rocket science out there really is what you're doing, I think, some days. But I think that's so neat of what you know what you're doing. Then also just your family like um you know I see you at ALF you your your family's a part of Sparks. You've been here in Sparks for years. Um you know your your bride's a part of the parks and rec board. Like you guys are fully invested in this city on on all aspects. And so I just I love seeing I love seeing the investment and I love seeing your passion. Um you know someone was talking to me I guess they're in Ed's Rotary about your presentation I think you made the other day and just how great it was that they they learned so much. I remember when you did a presentation I think during COVID through the Spark Museum about history on wastewater. There's there's just so much neat history that you love the the history as well as the future that you're uh you're blazing some trails and we're happy to have have you on team sparks.

Anyone else? There's nobody I've ever seen get so excited about sewer sludge as you. Yeah. And also, I think since we got a pretty good house here today, tell us how clean is our water compared to everywhere else in America when we put it at the plant.

You know, that's that's a a great question, Mayor Lawson, and I'm super happy to give a plug to the treatment plant, but we have some of the most stringent um if not the most stringent permit requirements of any uh wastewater treatment plant in the entire nation. And so what we do is we put out the you know absolutely uh you know utmost high quality affluent of really anywhere you know that that that is uh you know in in in the country. And so I'm just really proud of the work not just of um you know myself but I think like my staff a number of them are are here today. I think that really the hard work of every single person at the plant um is is what produces such an amazing um quality of water that we're able to safely reintroduce back to the community and really safeguard um you know public health and and you know maintain water quality um something that is high quality enough to put back into the Truckucky River because obviously that comes from such a pristine water source that being Lake Tahoe and so that's why our permit requirements are so stringent and so tough and it takes the work of everyone running 24 hours a day around the clock. And I just want to um say that I am proud to be able to um oversee such a passionate staff and people that have such a commitment to achieving those water quality goals.

Thank you. All right, let me swear you in, sweetie. Just get you back to work. [laughter] [clears throat]

Good afternoon. I swear do you swear that I will support, protect and defend that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and governance the Constitution and governance of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and governance state of Nevada and the Constitution and Nevada against all enemies against all enemies whether domestic or foreign whether domestic or foreign. That will bear true faith and allegiance. I will fled algiance loyalty to the same and loyalty to the same in ordinance resolution or law ordinance resolution law of any state

any state house and I will well perform all the duties all the duties

of state of Nevada Thank you very much. [applause] [applause] Yes. Come up here. airport.

Thank you. Congrats. [clears throat]

Okay, let's move on to uh 7.3 um proclamation homeless youth awareness month. Is there anybody here for this? Come on down. I got seating for two. We got more seating in the front if you guys all want to come. [clears throat] Hi, Trevor. Good afternoon, everybody. Okay, Diane's going to read the proclamation and then we'll have you say a few words afterwards.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Whereas youth homelessness is a serious issue in the city of Sparks and across the nation with thousands of young people each year facing housing instability and the many challenges that accompany it. And whereas young people experiencing homelessness often lack access to safe shelter, consistent meals, health care, and educational opportunities, leaving them at risk of exploitation and long-term hardship. And whereas community organizations including Eddie House and other local partners provide essential services such as food, safe housing, counseling, case management, and workforce development to help young people ages 18 to 24 transition from homelessness to independence. And whereas homeless youth awareness month provides an opportunity for residents, leaders, and organizations throughout the city of Sparks to raise awareness, take action, and stand together in support of our youth. And whereas the city of Sparks believes every young person deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential and recognizes that a compassionate community response is is the key to ending youth homelessness and strengthening the well-being of our city. Now therefore, I on behalf of Ed Lawson, mayor of the city of Sparks, Nevada, do hereby proclaim November 2025 as homeless youth awareness month in and for the city of Sparks. And I encourage all citizens to support programs and initiatives that bring hope, stability, and opportunity to the young people of our community. [applause] [cheering]

Give us give us your name for the record and then go ahead and say a few words. Yeah, my name is Trevor Maluso for the record. I'm the CEO of the Eddie House. Uh just want to say thank you to the city of Sparks, not only for recognizing November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, I'm sorry. [laughter] You're not very sneaky. [laughter] No worries.

Uh but for the many ways in which we get to partner with the city. You know, I I again always thank you when I see you for um our grant agreement with the CDBG grant which supports our ongoing efforts at Eddie House. Um and I just want to highlight some of the amazing businesses that are located in Sparks that are also partnering with us uh throughout this month. um all the squeeze in locations in Sparks, Grateful Gardens for example, they have various promotions that are supporting the work that we're doing at Eddie House, raising both awareness um but also funds so folks who go out there and grab a meal can um round up their change and you know add on add on some extra dollars to their bill which supports the work that we're doing. Um again, thank you to many of you who were last month at our ribbon cutting ceremony for our new transitional living community. Uh we're really excited not only um for this program, but for what this program means to our entire community um in helping youth transition to adulthood [clears throat] most effectively and efficiently. We're excited to report that we're already a third of the way filled uh with that building. But that's obviously both good and bad. Great that we have the resource, unfortunate that we're already, you know, having to meet those needs. uh the month of September this year, we actually saw a 70% increase in the number of bed nights served at Eddie House compared to September of 2024. So unfortunately, the need in our community is continuing to grow. Um Eddie House is prepared to grow with it, but we are a community- based organization and we rely on support of everyone in our community uh to meet the needs of these young people and support the next generation. So, thank you to everybody at the city of Sparks for being such valued partners in this work. We appreciate it. Right. comments from the council.

Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um Trevor, love the work you do. I've been a supporter since you were over on Sixth Street. That's correct.

Before you had overnight. Um and so really watching you grow to an overnight facility and out of the trans transitional housing uh is just amazing. And you're right, it's a sad uh sad statistic we have that many homeless youth, but could you share because a lot we've got a bigger audience here today. Can you share just what is the number the difference of when you're able to um intervene or have kids come to you compared to those that will remain chronically homeless on our streets for their and the cost to our community is incredible because I know it's that it's earthshattering the numbers of what you do and the difference it makes for those outcomes.

Yes. Trevor Maluso. Again, for the record, um we're able to show that if you are stably housed by the age of 25, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, you're 80% less likely to become chronically homeless. And a chronically homeless individual in our community costs uh the community $30 to $50,000 a year. That's going to the CARES campus. That's ER visits. That's arrests. Whereas participation in our six-month workforce development program only costs us $6,000. Um, and by the end of that, we are fully employed. We we're going to school full-time. Um, and contributing back into the community, which I think is what's really amazing is to turn that that statistic around. We're here to prevent chronic homelessness.

Anyone else? Joe, did you have something? Detroit, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for everything you guys are doing. And I know you guys partner really well with the school district when I was on the school board. You guys did bridge a lot of that from the school district to the community as Thank you. Thank you all for what you do. Mr. Anderson, Trevor, I want to thank you and your team for everything you guys do [clears throat] that make such a huge difference in in the community. I do have a couple questions. one, do you do work with uh Habitat for Humanity helping to come alongside them on projects and likewise let let the young folks learn some new trades possibly?

Again, Trevor Malusa for record, that's a great question. We have not worked with Habitat for Humanity in the past, but certainly be open to an introduction if you could help us there. Um, we are always looking for new employment opportunities and training partners when it comes to the youth. Um, so we've got folks who are working in various trades going to TMCC. Uh, we actually had nine you uh nine youth start classes at TMCC this last semester, which is really exciting. Um, but yeah, we're always looking for new opportunities for partnerships. All right. And then the second question is, can you introduce the rest of your team? [laughter] Absolutely I can. So I have Wait, there we go. [laughter]

I was like Caitlyn's somewhere. Caitlyn Young is our director of marketing. Um, Kenzie Wall is our events manager. Kessa Lee is our director of community engagement. Lisa Schaefer is our director of development. And Jennifer Smith is our development manager. Absolutely. Anyone else? Trevor, thank you for what you do. It's important work that you guys are doing and the city of Sparks has always supported you and you're one of my top three charities in this whole area. So, you're doing a very, very good job. We appreciate it. And as a resident of Sparks, born and raised here, I love getting to partner with my city.

All right, we're going to have all you guys come up here and we'll take a picture so we can broadcast that out for the millions of YouTube viewers that watch our council meeting every other twice a month. [clears throat] Did we lock up again? Gilent. [clears throat]

[laughter] I was just thinking, boy, you wouldn't make it as a sniper. No. [laughter] Good job. Thank you guys. All right, let's move on to consent items. Anyone wishing to pull a consent item? If not, I am looking for a motion. Mr. Anderson. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve agenda items 8.1 through 8.3 is submitted. Move to approve. I think I said Yeah. move to approve the agenda items. Thank you, sir. Only took me three times to say the sentence. It's It's a lot. It's almost one whole sentence. Yeah,

Mr. Rodriguez. I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. All right. 9.2 Consideration, discussion of possible approval of the mayor's appointment to the Spark Civil Service Commission from the following pool of applicant listed in alphabetical order. El Monroy Marcala. If there's no questions, I'm looking for a motion. Anybody? Mr. Abbott. I move to appoint Elise Monroy Marsala to the Sparks Civil Service Commission for a partial term ending June 30th, 2026. And Miss Vanderwell.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.3 consideration, discussion, and possible approval of resolution number 3479 amending and updating fees charged by the Spark Fire Department for certain inspections, reinspections, and related fire prevention services. Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and member of the council. For the record, I am Patrick Chu, the fire marshall for the Sparks Fire Department. The purpose for me to be here today is to adopt resolution 3479 and seeking to update the fees charged by the Sparks Fire Department for certain inspection reinspections and related fire prevention services. In November of 2023, the Sparks Fire Department staff met with the Matrix Consulting Group. In November of 2024, a completed report was provided to the Sparks Fire Department. The study recommend increase in various fees related to fire prevention from a flat rate of $60 to $90 depending on the type of services to an hourly rate of 235. This rate is necessary in order to recover the full cost of services rendered for inspections, reinspections, and fire prevention related services. In the corners of NRS 237, a business impact study was conducted to assess the feed increase on businesses. In the corners of NRS 237, the document of the business impact statement was approved. I'm sorry, let me start over again. This public engagement process is noted in NRS 237 was documented in the business impact statement which was approved by city council on October 27th of 25. The business impact statement is attached to the staff report for reference. A full cost recovery of fire prevention fees was not completed until 2001. However, these fees were updated in in the year 2017. Still, our current fees are outdated and are not allowed

the Sparks Fire Department to recover the current actual cost of providing inspection services. The matrix study analyzed the actual cost to provide fire prevention inspection services based on a date in fiscal year 23 which concluded that a flat rate should be 235 an hour. This rate includes wages, benefit, training, leaves, vehicles, and ancillary equipment necessary for fire prevention services. The [clears throat] recommended fee increase would allow the Sparks Fire Department to recoup the actual cost of fire prevention inspections and related services. If city council approved the resolution, the new fees of 235 an hour for the service render shall be in effect January 1st of 26. With that, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Questions from the council, Miss Vanderwell. Thank you. Um, can you u put on the record when was the last time this fee was evaluated in terms of an actual full study? Yes, it was in 2001 and uh as I mentioned 2017 uh the previous uh administration did do a small little increase uh just not to cause any wave but to raise approximately 14%. Okay, terrific. And have you received any push back on this? I got uh two email opposing the feed increase and three people attended the workshop. Thank you. It he doesn't count. I know he doesn't count. [laughter] I should have got nause.

Mr. Anderson, actually we we have a business here in Spark. So I would disagree [laughter] technicality. My apologies. And [clears throat] and it's actually that's what I wanted to say that thank you for the effort, the work that went into reaching our community and those that are impacted by the fee change. Um I believe if I remember the number was somewhere around 6,000. Yeah. over 61 uh yeah 6,100 um businesses got received a letter indicating about their workshop

and and likewise I actually saw that as as a business manager here locally and and was able to take part in it that again to me it just goes to show a lot of people realize whether it's our personal lives or our businesses things have gotten more expensive and we need to adjust accordingly and and thank you uh chief I appreciate it as well that you guys have been doing this research searching it and and getting us to the next level. Appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, is there any future plans to look at like just banking in like a like an annual percentage rate like every three um like 3% or 4% over couple years or anything like that? So, it's not such a

This time next year, uh, we'll come back with a revised resolution to do a uh some sort of annual update, if you will. And from that point on, it will be an increase every year, but obviously that needs to get approved by council this time next year. Okay. Yeah. I just hate for another 20 years to go by, you know, and our kids are looking at this. Yeah, I get it. I totally get it. Thank you, Chief. Thanks. Okay. Any other questions? None. I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Anderson.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve resolution number 3479 amending and updating fees charged by the Sparks Fire Department for certain inspections, reinspections, and related fire prevention services. Mr. Rodriguez. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries. 5-0. Thank you. Thanks, [clears throat] Pat. Uh 9.4, first reading, Madame Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the first reading of bill number 2842, an ordinance providing for the conducting and holding of a primary election in the city of Sparks on the 9th day of June 2026 and a general election in the city of Sparks on the 3rd day of November 2026, identifying municipal offices seeking candidates, authorizing Wo County to conduct the election, and setting the filing fees for declarations of candidacy. A public hearing will be held in bill 2842 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, December 8th, 2025 at 2 p.m. Okay, let's move on to 9.5. First reading, Madam Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is first reading of bill number 2843 for consideration of a development agreement by and between the city of Sparks and the Housing Authority of the City of Reno for planning and development of a.207 207 acre site located at 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada, APN 0311848. PCN250014-da25002. A public hearing will be held in bill 2843 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, December 8th, 2025 at 2 p.m.

Okay. 9.6. Another first read reading. And this is the first reading of bill number 2845, an ordinance adopting the 2024 edition of the International Fire Code and the International Wildland Urban Interface Code, each of which is to become effective January 1st, 2026. A public hearing will be held in bill 2845 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, December 8th, 2025 at 2 p.m. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Uh there are no public hearing and action items unrelated to planning and zoning. planning and zoning public hearings and action items. Madame Clerk, we have a second reading.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the second reading of bill number 2844, an ordinance adopting a final plan that is in substantial compliance with the approved tenative plan for the Andolin Ranch Plan development on a 115.89 acre site generally located south of Andolin Ranch Road, east of Calypso Drive, west of Fallen Grove Lane, and north of Stone Brook Parkway, Sparks, Nevada. APN 528030-1314 and15 PCN21-00008 PD25-00003 Mr. Kerry

thank you Mr. Mayor, members of the council, for the record, Scott Kerry, development services manager. Uh, today for the council's review and consideration is approval of a final handbook for the Andolin Ranch um project. This is a project the city has been working closely with the Andalin family on for the last four years. And to use a ranching um analogy here, this is really the end of the trail in terms of zoning and land use. Um the subject site the city council is well aware of. Um it includes the uh northern twothirds of the Andolin Ranch as we know it today. Um just for a little perspective, the Stone Brook plan development is uh surrounds the site on the west, north, and east of the site. To the south is the Pioneer Meadows planned development. And then just for a little bit more perspective, uh this is Pyramid Highway and this is uh Lazy 5 Regional Park. Uh in June, the city council approved four items related to the Andol and Ranch um project. It was an annexation request, a comprehensive plan amendment, a reszone, and tenative approval of the of the Andalin Ranch handbook. Um in the council's motion back in June, uh the council specified that the applicant had one year in order to apply for and obtain uh final approval. In July, the andolins submitted for in our intake for final approval of of the handbook. Essentially, this is a conformance exercise where uh where the city is looking to determine that the permitted uses, the development standards and the land use categories um called out in the final handbook are in substantial compliance and that with that which was approved in the tenative handbook. As former planning manager Rob Pisel used to say with final handbooks, it's basically speak now or forever hold your

peace. Essentially, with the approval of this final handbook, the zoning would would in recordation and the zoning would come into place and it would be there until it it's amended. The uh this handbook covers 115.89 acres and that's the northern 2/3. Uh the primary rationale for doing this plan development is for the unique agurism u which has existed on the site for many decades now. Um given that sparks municipal code does not allow for this use or have any development standards um we've worked closely with the ambulance to develop um ways for the farming operation to to continue as well as um grow the agurism business and continue with with the events out there. Another key consideration with this handbook is to allow for alternative parking standards. As the city council is aware, um for parking in the city of Sparks under the zoning code, it does have to be paved and the uh northern northwest 10 acres of the site is commonly used for overflow parking during during special events. in the uh sub in the proposed final handbook, there are alternative parking standards which allow for the field to be used for for parking for up to a maximum of 80 days per year in conjunction with those with those special events. Um, also included in the handbook is the preservation of a total of or a minimum of 50 acres of agro tourism land use that would be open for open space. Um this would be to preserve the historical ranching operations and allow the uh operations to to continue in in the future. Essentially the handbook has two land uses. There's 100 acres of agro tourism and then there's 16 acres of of supporting uh future commercial. Um, for

that I will note that the southern 49 acres which was annexed into the city back in June is not included in this handbook that has an SF6 zoning. Um, and that that would be south of of of Stone Brook Parkway, but not included in the final handbook. Final handbooks are a little different in that the findings are presented in the negative. um as as the city council is used to typically there's findings that are in order to reach approval um you have to make those findings basically with with this exercise if things if these things are not the case you're good uh so the f there's five that I'd like to go over really quickly the first one is vary the proposed gross density or intensity of of use the proposed final handbook presents the same gross residential density and intensity with that which was included in the tenative handbook approved by the city council in June. The development standards of this section section of this handbook would uh regulate future development has not been modified in the in the proposed final handbook. Number two is very the proposed ratio of residential to non-residential use. The ratio of residential to non-residential use in the proposed final handbook is identical to that which was approved in the tenative handbook by the city council. Land uses identified in the proposed handbook include 100 acres for agro tourism and 16 acres for commercial. Number three is involve a reduction in the area set aside for common open space or substantial relocation of such areas. No changes set aside for common open space are included in the final handbook and the final handbook does in maintain that requirement that a minimum of 50 acres of that agurism land use be preserved for open for open space. Number four is substantially increase the floor area proposed for the non-residential use. The proposed final handbook does not increase the floor area for non-residential use beyond that which

was allowed in the tenative handbook approved by the city council. And lastly, number five, it substantially increase the total ground areas covered by buildings or involve substantial change in the height of such buildings. The proposed final handbook does not increase the total ground areas covered by buildings or involved any changes to the heights of buildings from what was presented in approved in the tenative handbook. Um overall um the uh planning commission at their September meeting did review the final handbook and they concurred with staff's recommendation that it's it is in substantial conformance with the approved tenative handbook. Um therefore staff in the Sparks Planning Commission um submit that the final handbook is in substantial compliance and um recommends approval. Be happy to be happy to answer any questions. Um we'll we'll note, Mr. Mayor, we do have the applicants representative here too.

We have questions from the council. Miss By

Scott, I want to thank you and the [clears throat] whole staff that worked on this. It's been four years, four years working on it uh with the Andolins and just so excited that um we we [clears throat] found a way to yes, which is what we try to do here at the city. Not just telling people no, but how do we get to yes? And so this was a exercise in a lot of u changes to zoning. We've never had agurism, but it is something nationwide uh that really is growing and it is a very special place in our city to to preserve that farm and the events they have, the uh Halloween that just wrapped up, the uh baby animals, the um you know, the the tulips and sunflowers and and and all the events they do that are really what Sparks is all about. It's about family and it's about um community. And so I just want to say how much I appreciate you in particular, Jim Rendle and the rest of the staff that worked on this and worked with the Andolins to uh to finally get this uh across the finish line. And uh I'm more excited probably than anyone because I was there in the beginning and uh we did not want to pave over that alpha alpha field for parking. I just said that can't that can't happen. So, how can we how can we make it now a part in the aggra tourism which took a little longer than we had hoped but uh it's done and and your all of your hard work made that happen. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, council member. Any other qu comments from the or questions from the council? No. This is the end of the trail finally, huh? This is a quite a quite a deal. [clears throat] This is uh this is a great public partner public private partnership that everybody got what they needed out of it and it works well. All right, this is a public hearing. So, anyone in the public wishing to speak on this particular item? Not bring it back to the dis and I'm looking for a motion. Miss Bbeby.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to adopt bill bill bill number 2844, an ordinance to adopt a final plan that is in substantial compliance with the approved tenative plan for the Andolin Ranch plan development on a 115.89 89 acre site generally located south of Vanderolin Ranch Road east of Calypso Drive, west of Fallen Grove Lane, excuse me, [clears throat] and north of Stone Brook Parkway, Sparks, Nevada, APN's 528-30-13 and 15, PCN21-00008 PD25-00003 based on the FIN findings set forth in the staff report.

Miss Vanderwell second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries 50. Thank you. All right, let's move on to 12.1 comments from the public. First up, Jim Kindness followed by Paul is Spangle. Mayor Lawson, members of the city council, Jim Kinus, resident Wingfields Springs regarding closing station 5. City hired Leum Data Technologies to complete a study on the need for fire station 6. They produced the final report of the Sparks Fire Department's future incident modeling and station location analysis and published it July 27th, 2018. Their models predicted one, a 33% incident growth attributed to the projected development to a total of just under 18,000 incidents annually. The fire department is currently at this level. Two, without station 6, the increase in incident volume will have heavy impacts on the operations of Sparks Fire Department with respect to workload as well as travel time. Station six will provide relief for the busiest companies. And three, opening station 6 will offer marketkedly better performance in both workload and travel time than continuing the current deployment model. This effect holds true both for the city as a whole and for the geographic area most affected by the new fire station. This report was produced over seven years ago. Plenty of time for the city to get its finances arranged to open the station without shutting down another critically needed fire station. The biggest factor identified has to do with increased travel times, which is why fire station 5 has to remain open or the travel times to Golden Eagle, Wingfield Springs, and surrounding communities is going to increase, which puts us citizens and visitors in danger. Your responses to your constituents states that you'll be able through staffing adjustments to respond to wildfires, red flag days, large events at Golden Eagle Park, and increased call volume to the neighborhoods near Station 5. There are 47 tournaments scheduled

for Golden Eagle in 2025 alone. All but one or multi-day tournaments for a total of 129 days of tournaments. Some of some are so large they spill over to Shadow Mountain. Red flag days are numerous and increase each year. Where is the staffing coming from? It's not. It's a false promise. The only way to cover that is through overtime, which is not going to happen after you limited your force hire option last meeting, or moving apparatus out of its assigned district, which makes no sense considering this will leave that area short staffed. Mayor Lawson, you've been saying for years that growth is needed for the city to exist. You stated, "When we quit building homes, we have a 5-year window before we cannot provide services due to the state statutes." Many people have been telling all of you that they want Sparks to stay small. I bought in to what you've been saying regarding growth, but now I question it. The city has grown for the past 20 years since Fire Station 5 opened, and you can't provide basic public safety to the areas that have grown. You can't provide services with growth. Maybe we need to rethink our thought process on growth. Another thing I found disheartening is that none of you live in the area that will be affected by closing station 5. Even the council person that represents our area is covered by fire station 4 with a response time of less than four minutes. Our city manager is building a new house that won't be affected by the closure either, but his house will be protected by fire sprinklers. Something most homes in the area affected by the closure were not built with. Please do the right thing. Leave station 5 open and hire personnel to build station six. Thanks for your time. Paul Spangrude followed by John Corbin. Did they leave? Okay. They left. Okay. Anyone else in the public wishing to speak?

Good afternoon. My name is John Corbin. I'm a resident of Sparks and I'm also in the fire district that we're talking about today. Most of you on the council I know Joe Rodriguez who's been in my house, Charlene Bbeby, Don Abbott, uh you know, the response of of a fire department, I think, is what's critical. And then nationally, it's supposed to be between four and six minutes. Uh granted, we have expanded in the city of Sparks. We've got a lot more people. We've got a lot more houses, a lot more buildings. But the fact is, we spent millions of dollars on station five. And I think to leave a physical plant such as that vacant is a real injustice to the citizens of Sparks. Um I looked at the budget. It looks to me that we have somewhere around $2.7 million is paid in overtime and I I assume the average firefighter is paid somewhere between 65 to $70,000. So if we were to take that 2.7 and divide it, it seems to me we could hire 35 to 38 new firefighters as opposed to paying overtime. I think the management of overtime is is a critical critical component and as members of the council I think it behooves you to find ways to cut that back and become more efficient. Uh on a personal note, three years ago I had a heart attack and it was 6:30 in the morning. It was during Rimza's uh being short-handed and as a result it was the fire department that basically saved my life. They were there in 4 minutes and I had a what is known as a widowmaker heart attack and 50% of the people that have that don't even make it to the hospital in time. So three years later I'm alive and I I thank the fire department from Sparks. So, I would suggest that we try to find ways to cut the cost. I mean, if we have to cut tree trimming, if we have to cut window

washing, we have to cut tree uh street sweeping, you know, do it. There got to be more ways to find to put the money together to keep that station open, man. It maybe it doesn't have to be manned 100%, but at least have an engine, at least have first aid with a ambulance crew on hand. Uh, I know you've heard a lot of stories from a lot of different people, but that's a personal situation that occurred to me and being in the district, I I would hate to see my response time cut. So, I would uh urge you to do everything you can in your power to keep that station open and try to find some ways to save some money to do it. I thank you. Thank you.

Did Mr. Spangru, did you leave? I I'm asking someone who's not here if they've left. Raise your hand. Yeah, raise your hand if you're not here. [laughter] Anyone in the public wishing to speak on general public comment at the end? Being none, we'll bring it back to the dis. Uh announcements from the mayor, city council, city manager. Mr. Manager, you have anything? Uh just a reminder, uh we don't have a second meeting this month in November. Our next meeting will be December 8th.

Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. Uh yeah, I would like to ask the city manager um kind of just something that I've been thinking about and I know I've had some in informal conversations, but I know we currently have two crews at station five. Um we have a fire engine and an ambulance crew. So I'd like to explore the idea of potentially moving that ambulance to station one and a crew. We have two engines and a truck crew at station one. See about moving one of those engines to new station six. So, at least that way we were able to keep both stations open and not overly taxing the crews down at station one. So, that would allow them the opportunity to have an ambulance, an engine, and a ladder truck capabilities down there. Um, and we know that majority of calls down station one are medical. And this also allows the engine crew that does have a paramedic the ability to keep a paramedic at station five. I know there's potential recourse with Brimza. Um, I just wanted to see about exploring that that potential idea and opportunity.

Okay. Anyone else? All right. You you good? [clears throat]

Just wanted to um I think everyone knows tomorrow is Veterans Day and there's a parade downtown. Some of us are going to be there representing the city of Sparks. Uh the weather's supposed to be beautiful and uh not our downtown. You're right. Which downtown? I'm sorry, the other downtown. downtown Reno is uh hosting from the river from the bridge there to uh circus circus. Uh so anybody's out uh it's a great day and also if you don't get to downtown Reno for the parade uh there are um there is celebration or opportunity to go to the Nevada Veterans Memorial. Paul, do you know what time they'll be doing activities at the Veterans Memorial on the marina? Mr. Anderson.

Yeah, actually, [clears throat] um, it's going to pretty much be all day long. Something will be going on down there.

Anyone else? I want to I don't know if you guys have heard this, but we had one of the workers attacked at the Veterans Memorial and has since passed away. want to send our condolences from the city of Sparks to the Nevada Veterans Memorial and to his family from all accounts his outstanding volunteer and citizen of City of Sparks was with heavy hearts that we uh have to put up with crap like that for lack of a better way of saying it. So any other comments? All right, then we are up to my favorite subject. We're adjourned. RDA development because we're not

senseless senseless Crazy. I introduce myself to my council member. Oh, you have another meeting.

We speak slow. Yeah, I don't know what your

meeting with a roll call. Chairperson Abbott here. Agency members Lawson here. Bybeby here. Vanderell here. Anderson here. Rodriguez. I have one right here. Assistant Chief Legal Officer Cobberly here. Chief Administrative Officer Louser here. We have a quorum. Thank you. My bad. Uh P 3.1 public comment. Uh do we have anyone any public comment? Perfect. Item four, 4.1, approval of the agenda. Looking for a motion. Agency member Vanderwall. I move to approve the agenda as submitted. Awesome. Uh agency member Anderson. Second the motion.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Passes unanimously. Item 5.1, the minutes. Consideration, discussion, possible approval of the minutes of the Spark Development Agency meeting for October 27th, 2025. Looking for a motion. Agency member Rodriguez. Uh, thank you. Agency member Vanderell. Second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

Passes unanimously. Item 6.1, uh, consent, consideration, and possible acceptance of the report of the claims and bills approved for payment and appropriation transfers for the period of October 15, 20, 2025 through October 27th, 2025. Looking for a motion. Agency member Rodriguez. Thank you. Agency member Anderson, second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Passes unanimously. Item uh there's no 7 8.1 comments from the public. Any public comment? I don't see any. Okay, we'll go to 8.2 announcements from the agency and chief administrator officer. Anyone have anything? None for me, chair. Thank you.

Roger that. Anybody else? Cool. Item nine, adjournment 335. Have a good one.