City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Uh, let's call to order the Reno. Wow. I I'll find myself $10 for that. I was gonna say Reno Sparks Convention Authority, and I don't even know why. How about the Spark City Council meeting for Monday, December 8th? And uh I I will talk to the clerk about paying my $10 fine. [laughter] We need a roll call, please. Mayor Lawson here. Council members Abbott here. Vanderwell here. Anderson here. By here, Rodriguez here. Uh assistant city attorney Sendel here. City manager Lenin here. We have a quorum. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to have our invocation by Pastor David Solomon Hall, Senior.

Let us pray. Precious Lord, thank you for bringing us together to serve the city of Sparks. Grant our leaders wisdom, clarity, and fairness in every decision. May this meeting be guided by respect, cooperation, and a shared commitment to the well-being of our community. Bless our residents, families, and first responders, and help us work for the good of all who call Sparks home. Amen. Miss Vanderwell, 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 it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We're back in sparks. [laughter] Thank you. I've never done that before. All right, public comment. Uh, I'm going to just go in my order, Madame Clerk. So, is it Francine Vega? Francisco. Francisco Vega. Thank you.isco. Francisco. I just I don't have my glasses on.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, members of the council. Uh for the record, Francisco Vega, director of the air quality management division under Northern Nevada Public Health. Our division is responsible for maintaining federal air quality standards throughout Wo County. And our mission is to protect public health through effective air quality programs, strong community partnerships, and support for sustainable growth. AQMD is here today to express support for agenda item 7.3, the RTC Praderway rehabilitation and road diet project. This project updates a Prader Way corridor with buffered bicycle facilities, improved sidewalks, and a reduction in the number of travel lanes. These improvements are aligned with not only uh not only with the local and regional plans referenced in your staff report, but also with the AQMD's ozone advance plan, a major air quality commitment adopted by this council on April 11th, 2016 under resolution 3291. The ozone advance plan outlines five primary goals. Red uh reducing ground level ozone forming emissions from on-road vehicles. Reducing ground level ozone forming emissions from non-road vehicles and equipment. Reducing e urban heat island impacts that contribute to ground level ozone formation. Increasing building efficiency and expanding air quality education and outreach. This project supports those goals in two meaningful ways. First, the reduction of two travel lanes helps uh reduce vehicle miles or VMT traveled along the corridor. Lower VMT directly reduces particulate matter and ozone ozone form uh ozone forming emissions. This directly supports the first goal of the ozone advance plan. And because this corridor is next to school and a residential neighborhood, reducing emissions here has an a special has a special meaningful impact on people who are more sensitive to elevated pollution levels such as children, older adults, and residents with heart or lung conditions. Second, AQMD recommends incorporating shaded bicycle and

pedestrian facilities that connect to the broader active transportation network. This supports the third goal of the ozone advance plan which focuses on mitigation mitigating urban heating effects. Comfortable shaded and connected routes make walking and biking a practice a practical choice for trips to school parks trans transit stops and services. We've seen this work well in on Victorian Avenue, Audi Boulevard, and Nicholas Boulevard where shade and buffering have increased comfort and use. Finally, I want to highlight AQMD's long-term monitoring presence in the neighborhood. The Spark State and Local Monitoring uh station or SLAMs has been operating since 1979, making it the longest running monitoring site in our region. It collects data every hour of every day, feeding directly into our Air Now, feeding into Air Now to determine the local air quality index and to evaluate compliance with national standards for both ozone and particular matter. Improvements in this corridor design improvements in the in corridor design that reduce emissions, support cleaner travel options will be reflected in that data over time. In closing, AQD respectfully submits a support for the RTC Praderway rehabilitation and road diet project. We believe the project aligns with both local planning priorities and long-standing air quality commitments this council has adopted. Again, as always, if my team can never help, please let me know.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, John Shipton followed by Jesus. Is it Milo or Milo?

Hi, my name's [clears throat] John Shipton. I live at 248 Brighter Way. I lived in the same house for 65 years. I graduated from Sparks High in 1974. And I'm concerned about the uh redevelopment of Prader Way from Pyramid Way to Berbasco. They wanted to go from four lanes center turn lane to three lanes. Bike paths on both sides of the street. Uh the bike paths on Audi Boulevard are great. They stop at Pyramid Way, go down I Street that comes back out on Prader. If you're going to build a bike lane on Prader Way, make it on the south side of the street. I'm still concerned about parking on the north side of the street from Pyramid Way to Perbasco. If they eliminate parking, that's not going to work for schools, for extra cars, campers, vehicles, whatever you need to stage your your vehicle on Prader Way. I really oppose oppose eliminating parking like it is from Pyramid Way to El Rancho on the north side. No residential parking. I do not want that. at all. Um the uh road was reduced from two lanes. It used to be a two-lane road and now it's five lanes. And I thought we were grandfathered in. This is back in the 1970s for parking on the north side of Prader Way. I hope that still exists. Um, originally I street was supposed to be the one that was supposed to be four lanes and come back around and they changed their mind and made a prader way. But it's going to be very difficult the more traffic that there is. It doesn't work now. It's single lane each direction, stoplight to stop light, pyramid to 12th to 15th to Rock Boulevard to El Rancho, all those that's

always backed up, especially during hot August nights and the rib cookoff. It's stoplight to stop light to stop light. If they do that on my street right over here and cross from Dworth, you won't be able to get out of the driveway. The single lane traffic will be backed up way way far. And I I just oppose the bike lanes. But if you have put one in south side of the street or I street. Thank you. Thank you. Jesus Milo followed by Nicholas Tyler Cingi. I know I'm butchering your name. I apologize. [clears throat]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the city council. My name is Jesus Milo. Uh I am a student at the Academy of Arts, Careers, and Technology, also known as AACT. Today, I will be speaking on the um potential first responders fee. This fee u proposes that if the city's fire department gives you medical attention and um hands you off to a different agency uh to transport you to a uh a hospital, you will receive a fee of 57 uh $527. Um but if the fire uh if the fire department transports you to the hospital themselves, the fee will not be applied to your um medical bills. Um the Sparks fire chief has stated that many who benefit from the medical services are visit are visitors to Sparks and um the first responders fee would ensure that those who use um these services um share in the cost of care. Uh the chief also stated that most insuranceances also already cover these types of fees in their plan. But I ask, what about um the people who are already struggling to buy groceries to feed their family? What about the people who um worry every month to pay their bills on time? Um why would we charge them more for emergency medical care because of the tourists who need those services? Approximately 9.7% of the population in Sparks is uninsured um or underinsured which is roughly 15,000 people. Medical care is already so expensive. Um we we we should not put more financial stress on our residents on our families and on our um community whether they are struggling or not. If we really need to cover the cost of medical care, I propose that the city gives um the fire department more funding um as it would

cause the fee not to be implemented. Um or an alternative would be a small tax every month to go directly to EMS. It would um be taxing the residents, but it would be a gradual uh gradual charge. Um plus it would fund the fire department better. Um, also it wouldn't be all at once where it could put financial stress on Sparks families. I think that all of all of the Sparks residents would greatly appreciate if this uh potential fee wasn't implemented. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Nicholas Tyler Sing. Did I I'm butchering. That's perfect. It's a hard name. I I understand. [laughter] All right. Nicholas, [clears throat] how about that? Yeah. Um

followed by uh Juliana Torres. Right. Um well, good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the Spark City Council. My name is Nicholas Civney and I stand before you today to address the pressing issue that is affecting our community, which is the [clears throat]

um increasing homeless homelessness population in Sparks. As someone who cares deeply about the growth and well-being of our city, I believe we have the responsibility to help our homeless population reintegrate into society, providing them with better opportunities of living. The rise in homelessness is not only a concern here in Sparks, but in neighboring cities like Reno as well. Our beautiful cities are known throughout Nevada for many reasons uh and should not be known for the number of homeless individuals on our streets. Yet, the homeless crisis is not is starting to overshadow the beauty of our community and it is becoming more difficult for residents and visitors alike to feel safe and enjoy the places we love. In 2024, the Reno Gazette Journal reported that the homeless population in Wo County reached an all-time high of 1,760 individuals, a number that has surged since the CO9 pandemic. While our government or our local government has made efforts to address the issue by establishing homelessness or homeless uh support facilities such as the Safe Campus and Nevada Cares campus. Many of these shelters are operating at at or near full capacity. To give you an idea of the need, Safe Campus has 46 out of 50 beds occupied. Nevada Care's campus has 534 out of 549 beds occupied. Our Place Women and Family Shelter is at 155 out of 160 beds. Clearly, while these shelters are providing vital support, they are still not enough to meet the growing demand. So, what can we do to help? First and foremost, I propose that we increase funding for these shelters, enabling them to expand and accommodate more people in need. Expanding the capacity of these spaces will help reduce the number of people forced to sleep in unsafe or unsanitary conditions. Um, additionally, we need to foster community involvement through increased

public awareness and donations. By encouraging more residents and local businesses to contribute, we can provide additional resources and support the homeless individuals, helping them get back on their feet. We have the opportunity to make Sparks a stronger, more compassionate community, one where everyone, regardless of their current circumstances, has a chance to thrive. Let's work together to ensure that no one is left. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Juliana Torres, followed by Grace Kano. [clears throat] Hello, my name is Juliana Torres. I am a senior in high school. Today, I'm here to discuss an issue I believe needs more attention, homelessness. The Reno Sparks area has an estimate of 1,200 to,700 homeless people. This is driven by a shortage of affordable homes, mental health challenges, unemployment, and addiction issues. Despite the efforts of support, the number of homelessness people remains high. Drug addiction leads to job loss, financial instability, and ultimately homelessness. Overwhelmed shelters and support services struggle to cope with the complex needs of homeless individuals battling addiction. The lack of awareness of existing resources also hinders access to help. Homeless shelters and support services provide crucial assistance, but they are often overwhelmed and lack the capacity to serve everyone in need. The limited number of beds and resources means many people go without help. Personal challenges like drug addiction can also prevent individuals from accessing these shelters. To tackle this issue, re the Reno Sparks area needs to address the root cause of drug abuse and homelessness. Prevention programs for expanded treatment options and increased access to mental health services are essential. Job training and employment

opportunities can provide stability and reduce the risk of relapse. The Reno Sparks area homelessness problem must be addressed for several reasons. First, it is a question question of fundamental human decency. Everyone has a right to a safe place to live and it is immoral to let people live in poverty and hunger. When homeless people cannot get the health care and safety they need, it puts a strain on hospitals and emergency services which cost more money. Additionally, homelessness disrupts the peace of the community, especially community parks. There have been many homeless people found in parks and many use products like needles which create an unsafe environment. The Reno Spark City Council can make a difference by increasing affordable housing options, collaborating with healthcare providers to offer comprehensive addiction treatment, and supporting outreach programs. Stronger collaboration between local government, nonprofits, and community groups can improve the effectiveness of these efforts. Addressing drug abuse and spark is crucial for reducing homelessness, improving public health, and fostering a safer community. Thank you. Thank you very much, Grace Cono, followed by Juliana Lopez. [clears throat]

Good afternoon, Sparks Council members. My name is Grace Kendall, and I would like to discuss homelessness and affordable housing in our community. As of this year, over 1,700 people in Wo County lack stable housing. That is 1,700 individuals, neighbors, families, and veterans sleeping in cars, tents, or on streets. A big part of the problem is that rent keeps getting f keep rising faster than wages. For example, the average one-bedroom apartment in the Reno Sparks area now cost around 1,650 per month. Even people with full-time jobs struggle to afford it. And rent isn't the only expense. Residents must also pay for utilities, groceries, and transportation and healthcare, which makes it even harder to make ends meet. Imagine working every day and still not being able to recover all your basic needs. That's the reality for thousands in our community. We've made progress in implementing the Nevada Cares campus and rental aid programs, but it's not enough. We can reduce homelessness by focusing on three key areas. um for us increasing the funding for affordable and supportive housing through measures such as local, state, and federal grants, housing bonds, and dedicated tax revenues. This will allow more people to move out of shelters and into permanent homes, reducing the strain on emergency services and giving residents stability. Second, protect existing lowincome housing from being torn down, torn down, or converted into luxury units. In recent years, older weekly motel and affordable apartment comp complexes such as Stardust Lodge and Carriage Inn were demolished as part of Jacob's entertainment and redevelopment and projects and replaced with high-end developments. When we lose these buildings, we push people onto the streets. And third, invest in mental health and addiction recovery and jobs and job programs that help people be stable once they're housed. I'd also like to point out the current enforcement strategies that can be inhumane and counterpro productive. When police force um forces people to move from sidewalks, river banks or empty

lots without offering brittle alternatives, it doesn't solve the problem. It just shifts it somewhere else and makes it harder for people to access services. This is exactly why the solutions I mentioned earlier are so important. When we increase affordable and house supportive housing, protect existing lowincome units and expand mental health and addiction recovery and job programs, people actually have a place to go. Instead of moving people from one place to another, we give them housing stability and support, which reduces the need for enforcement in the first place. These strategies address the root cause, not just the symptoms, and can lead to better outcomes for both unhoused residents and the entire community. Thank you for your time and for continuing to listen to the voices of your community.

Thank you. All right, Juliana Lopez, followed by William Stewart. [clears throat]

Hello, city council members. Um, my name is Juliana Lopez and I am here to speak about homelessness in the Reno and Sparks area. I am mainly focusing on a way that we can increase the shelters that we have with buildings that we already have built around. Um I'm a senior at ACT. Um and I have lived in Reno my whole life. The entire time that I've been here, I've only seen the homeless population grow. And we are known as a beautiful city. People come and visit us from all over the world. We have so many visitors every year. They come here to see Tahoe. I'm sure you guys all love our beautiful lake here. But another thing that is being affected is when people litter and with having a lot of homelessness that is only increasing as well. So I believe this will help um that as well. Um this also is dangerous to the people around um our citizens and the homeless people. with homeless people just sitting around. It's easily for them to get hurt and as well for the people in our community. Um not only the unhoused but visitors as well is they're just out on the streets. We don't know what people have touched. Um it is dangerous for everybody because we do not have any regulations concerning anyone's concerns outside of my main idea. Um, I have an idea that could hopefully and a bit with a bit more elaboration work as a resource to help solve this issue while also saving some money. My idea is to use old and/abanded buildings anywhere in the Sparks communities that are no longer in use as shelters for homeless people in Sparks. Of course, building any type of structure from the ground up cost thousands of dollars. But what if we already had the building? This is why I say we repurpose old building old buildings instead of spending all the extra money and resources just to build a new one. This would save more money than if we were to construct a whole new building and the different locations

varying all over the Reno Sparks area could make it more accessible from the homeless. This way we wouldn't be crowding our town with even more structures than we already do. We'd be creating a safe haven for homeless individuals and providing resources and support to get them back on their feet. This could also reduce crime and littering by providing some sort of stable shelter where there is safe. Since part of the issue is that there is so much homelessness on our streets is because individuals aren't even aware of these programs or homes provide for them. We could possibly advertise the shelters by posters in heavily populated homeless areas. For example, parking lots all over our structures um as well as by the river banks. I hope you take into consideration this way of helping our homeless population so that we all benefit. And I strongly urge you to reconsider what we do with these buildings instead of tearing them down or just forgetting about them. Maybe we could repurpose.

Very good timing. Thank you. Thank you. William Stewart followed by Benjamin Monson.

Good afternoon. For the record, William T. Steuart. Um, I just want to read a real quick synopsis of question six. It's going to be on the ballot this November that uh, Nevada has already passed a abortion laws and this is written from an attorney representing pro-life organizations and causes including the coalition for parents and children pack. I've been deeply involved in legal issues surrounding abortion initiatives in Nevada. While my perspective is informed by my professional work regardless of the stance of abortion to understand the far-reaching implications of question six, this proposed constitutional amendment, it will be in our constitution if we pass this in November. This [clears throat] propo proposed constitutional amendment ostensibly aimed at protecting abortion rights actually threatens to dismantle a carefully crafted compromise that has served our state well for more than three decades. As Neadans, we've long prided ourselves on the ability to find balanced solutions to complex issues. Our current abortion law established in 1990 is an example of this approach. It safeguards women's rep reproductive rights while setting reasonable limits that most Neadans support. [clears throat] Now, question six threatens to upend this carefully crafted compromise, replacing clarity with confusion and potentially burdening taxpayers with astronomical costs. Let's be clear, abortion is already legal in Nevada. Even after the US Supreme Court's decision in Dobs versus Jackson, women's health organizations overturned Row versus Wade abortion rights in Nevada remain protected under state law. The fact that this distinguished Nevada law concerning women's reproductive rights from many other state laws. Our current law allows abortion up to 24 weeks already without restriction. It permits later procedures to protect a mother's life or health. This law can only be changed by direct vote of the people, not by courts or the legislature. It's a law that reflects the diverse views of our citizens. So why is question six on the ballot? Its proponents claim it's necessary to protect abortions rights in Nevada. But this is a solution in search of a problem. Abortion rights are already secure. What question six does is undermine existing law and introduce

dangerous ambiguity into our constitution. Unlike our current law, which provides clear and specific guidelines, question six is alarmingly vague in when abortions are are legal. It fails to address critical questions. Is abortion permissible up to four months? even up [snorts] to nine months. Instead of offering clarity, question six relies on a dangerous ambiguous def definition of fetal viability described as a point of in pregnancy when in the professional judgment of the patients treating healthc care pract practitioner, not even a doctor, there is significant likelihood of a fetus sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures. Um, I'm going to run out of time. We need to vote no on question six. It's that simple. Please do so as much as possible. And can I have the overhead real quick or Elmo or whatever this is called? Maybe. Thank you. [snorts] We all need to vote. No one's fixed. Please do so. Um, and then I want to talk real quick about fire calls. Reno's done something really cool. They're putting everything out on a dashboard. And I think with everything that's going on with the fire departments across the county, the more transparency we can have, the better. I urge the city council to talk to their constituents over at Reno City Hall and do the same. Thank you for your time. Merry Christmas. God bless.

All right. Benjamin Monson followed by Trista Gomez. [clears throat]

Hello, Spark City Council. My name is Benjamin Mson and I am a student at the Academy of Arts, Careers, and Technology High School in the Fire Science Academy. I disagree with your idea of charging a $527 first responder fee. Typically, when an emergency is called in, fire department is usually the first on scene. And because they're the first on scene, they provide patient assessment, defibrillation, and many more life-saving interventions. Most of the times, REMA will transport patients to the hospital because that is what an ambulance company should do and is what they're being paid for. The fee could also cost people more than the proposed $527. People without insurance or people who live paycheck to paycheck might not call 911 for life-saving measures because they know they can't afford it. If this fee were to be implemented, the outcome would be horrendous because the fire department's regular transport. There is an ambulance company that is paid for primarily treating and transporting patients. It also wouldn't make sense to implement this fee because is not the fire department's job to transport patients. The fire department should focus on putting out fires and saving lives. Additionally, this would not be an issue if the fire department were adequately funded. Thank you,

Mr. Gomez. Good afternoon, Trista Gomez. For the record, I um just moved into back into Sparks from Spanish Springs and I save 8 hours a week in drive time. Eight hours a week. I just live seven miles from Pyramid and McCarron. That's it. My parents have lived in that house for 42 years. Before that, I lived in Sparks on 14th and E. As a as a young adult, I lived in Sparks again and Sparks again and Sparks again. I move a lot and What I tell people is the quality of life when you get back into Sparks and there's our roads that are built for the population that actually exists inside of that community. It's life-changing. Lifechanging. You are free again to move about the city. Now, I'm running for Wo County Commission 3 and I'm running for that. And it largely has to do with nothing artisan. It's because of budgets and traffic. And every meeting I go to, all anybody cares about is budgets and traffic, their access in and out of their house, their ability to move from one place to another, the time that it takes. When I was leave, when I was in my house, I had the flexibility to out in Spanish Springs, I had the flexibility to leave pretty much whenever I wanted to. It still took me 30 to 40 minutes one way to go 7 to 10 miles. When I lived out there and it was a two-lane road, it took me seven to 10 minutes to go seven miles. I read your I read the information about the Prader and Pyramid, you know, the closure for the lanes. I read that it it doesn't meet your guidelines. It's a

little bit over the timelines. I read some some uh comments on the uh on your post last night and they and they had good solutions. They, you know, put in some speed bumps. It sounds like you're already going to be fixing the sidewalks. This is great for kids. This is great for safety. We're you're already fixing the sewers. Phenomenal. Wonderful. And so to to everywhere around the county, all anybody talks about is the traffic. Literally the only thing anybody says. And for you to be closing down a whole lane of traffic, it seems wild to people. That traffic is a huge burden. A huge burden to people. It creates such a hardship for families every single day. And so for that, for you to close a lane that's just a perfectly good driving lane, one of the only ones in the county, I would just urge you not to. If you need to do something else, I think the speed bumps are a great idea. I think that's wonderful. I would just urge you to do something different. Don't take away one of the roads. It's the only road that's a nice road to drive on. That's it. This is the first time I've been here. I'll see you again, I'm sure. Have a lovely afternoon and thanks for having your meeting at two instead of 10.

Thank you. All right. Anyone else in the public wishing to speak at this time? If not, then I'll bring it back to the dis and I am looking for an approval of the agenda. Mr. Anderson. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve the agenda with item 11.1 being heard before item 9.4. Please, Miss Vanderwell. A second. I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Looking for an approval of the minutes.

Mr. Abbott, I move. You were going to move to approve [laughter] I move to approve the minutes of the Spark City Council meeting for November 10th, 2025. Mr. Rodriguez. I second. We got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. On to presentation 7.1. Uh, Mr. Manager, boards and commissions, vacancy announcement. Sparks Charter Committee.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. There are multiple vacancies on the Sparks Charter Committee. Charter Committee members must be registered voters and reside in the city of Sparks. Applications will be accepted until January 2nd, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Persons interested in serving on these committees should complete a community service application online at the city's [clears throat] website, www.c city ofsparks. us getinvolved. Complete the applica the volunteer application form and hit submit. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. And I highly suggest you volunteer for something like this. This will give you a great look into how the city of or the state of Nevada works and it's not as uh roses and unicorns as we think. 7.2 presentation Northern Nevada Red Cross. I said yes. All right. Do I have to push this?

Yeah. When your lights green, we can hear you.

There it is. There we go. Okay. Hello. Hello, um, council members and Mr. Mayor of the city of Sparks. My name is Bridget Pawson. I'm the executive director of the Northern Nevada chapter of the American Red Cross. Um, and I'm here today to just share um, with the city some of our programs and services. We are here for the community and I just wanted to introduce myself. um let you know that we're here to serve um folks here in Sparks. Uh so just a quick overview of our chapter here in Northern Nevada. We serve 12 counties including Wo County and Carson City. Um and we are powered by very small staff um here in Northern Nevada, but our volunteer base is strong and mighty. We have about 90% um of our staffing comes from our volunteers. Um we're always looking for more volunteers and board members as well. Um and we have a pretty robust website where folks can look that up. But I just wanted to quickly share some of um the services that we provide for the community. Uh we do work [clears throat] quite a bit with um folks here in Sparks um including US military veterans and their families not only here locally but nationwide. Um we work with young folks and have several youth clubs in and around Wo County including a new one at UNR. Um we educate um the community also about international humanitarian law. That's a big focus for our youth clubs. And um we also work with community partners. So the city of Sparks, we would love to be a community partner with you. Um we're here to serve. So depending on what your needs are and what the needs are of the city, we would love to partner. Um, and I'm available. I'll put my contact information up at the end. But if there are gaps um that American Red Cross can

help with, we would love to open up that door of communication and and with with everybody here. Um, we do a lot of disaster relief. So whenever I ask folks, what do you know about Red Cross? One of the main answers that I get is big disasters. Um, and that could be nationwide. We do deploy a bunch of our volunteers that uh live in Sparks and Northern Nevada out to nationwide disasters. Um, but also here just this past summer, we opened a few evacuation centers in Sparks. Um, so we work with fire departments and WO County when there is an evacuation due to a wildfire or a flood or an earthquake, which are two other large risks that we see here. Um, they call us and we open up those temporary evacuation centers, but if it gets bigger, such as with the Davis fire in 2024, we'll open up those larger um overnight shelters. Um, another thing that we do is we do first aid, CPR, and other life-saving skills. So our main office is down in Reno. We also have a office in Winnamaka and some representation out in Elco. Um but we do offer those kinds of services as well and more. We were just at the Sparks parade on Saturday which was a whole lot of fun. Um so thank you for putting that on because myself and a bunch of our volunteers were happy to say hi to the community on Saturday. Um, a few other things that we do is we want to get the community prepared for a wildfire or another type of disaster. So, we're really trying to do a lot of outreach right now um with preparedness centering around that. I've teamed up with um the city of Reno fire to try to align some messaging. But if the city of Sparks ever has any opportunities to work with the Red Cross on community preparedness, usually around wildfires,

but we can stretch a little bit. Um we would love to do that so we can kind of align and collaborate forces um versus if it's a competition type of thing. Um, we try to work with schools and kids so they can go home and teach their families about preparedness. We do some programming for K through two and third through fifth grade. Um, make it fun for the kids and engaging to talk about what would they do if they had a home fire and how they can get prepared um, and help their family get prepared. And we have those types of programs for older kids as well. Um, being Red Cross ready is one of our programs that helps reinforce the idea of having a plan for your family, having a go kit in case you're evacuated, and staying informed with different emergency apps um that will give you information as they as they come. Um, handsonly CPR is a really easy life-saving skill. Well, it's not a certification class, but it's just a compression class that we can teach folks um to help save a life in case somebody had an emergency. This is my favorite one that I think that folks could really benefit from. It's home fire campaign and wildfire [clears throat] preparedness. So, we have a team of volunteers and a hotline that's right here. Um they will go out to homes and install free 10-year smoke alarms. So folks all just they just have to call this number and they'll get a call back. Volunteers will come out and install free smoke alarms in their homes. Um so this is a really really great opportunity. It's totally free. They'll also talk to those folks about um making an emergency plan and thinking about that if they did experience a home fire. Um and home fires are actually the number one disaster that we respond to. So, we're on call 247, 365 days a year.

We want to urge first responders and fire departments to call us or if to let folks know if they do experience a home fire, they can call 1800 Red Cross. We will come out, assess the situation, give them some care and some comfort, and give them some local resources to contact to help them towards the steps of recovery. So, we're really there trying to partner with local um fire departments to let them know like call us because we want to help folks who are maybe experiencing like a really really bad day um because of a home fire. And then we'll also work with businesses and schools to get them ready um in case of a disaster. So to help their business, to help their employees and staff prepare for a disaster so if one does hit um they can get back to business faster and and help and help the community in that way. That's my contact information. Please reach out um if there's anything that Red Cross can help the city with. We would love to help you. Uh any questions?

Questions. Wonderful. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Okay. [clears throat] Move on to 7.3. Presentation. Possible discussion regarding the RTC Prader Way rehabilitation and road diet project generally located east of Pyramid Way to Probasco Way. All right. Well, good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Andrew Jane Kura, transportation manager. Today we are presenting an important RTC project along Freed Way between Pyramid Way and Probabasco Way that will rehabilitate the corridor and improve safety for all road users. We are here because the project is proposing lane reconfiguration changes that will change how Bader Way will operate. That will also include adding uh bicycle infrastructures and updating the pedestrian infrastructure. These changes are supported by multiple adopted plans and by the results of the team's traffic and safety analysis. While the project is expected to reduce crashes and lower vehicular speeds, it will also result in a minor to moderate increase in tra uh travel times. With that, I will now turn it over to RTC project manager Kim Deagle, who will go and walk through with you on the project details.

Thanks, Andrew. Again, uh my name is Kim Deagle. I'm project manager for RTC. This project began as a part of RTC's pavement preservation program. The section from Pyramid Way to Stanford Way requires full reconstruction due to pavement failure. And the segment from Stanford Way to Pabasco Way is slated for slurry seal and striping modifications. When we initiate a pavement project, we also examine planning documents, crash history, traffic conditions, and community context. The segment of Crater serves city hall, the post office, Dworth Middle School where most students walk to and from, and a senior living complex. The north side is entirely residential with on street parking, and six bus stops serve this area. Over the last decade, several plans, including the Sparks comprehensive plan, the Truckucky Meadows Vision Zero Action Plan, and the RTC Central Sparks neighborhood network plan have consistently identified two needs, improved safety and better bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Here you can see the existing corridor. This is facing east and there's uh city hall on the right side. Four travel lanes and a center turn lane and parking on the north side is what exists today. The pavement conditions are poor and there are no bicycle facilities. This is the only remaining segment of crater without this is also a high-speed environment. Although posted at 30 miles per hour, the 85th percentile speed is 37 hour. With a wide travel lane footprint, drivers feel comfortable speeding. And with roughly 400 students walking to Dworth every day, this creates a significant safety concern.

It's cut off. Uh this segment is on the region's high injury network, which identifies the top 25% of roadways with the most severe crash patterns in Wo County. Crater has the highest number of crashes per mile from Spark. From 2019 to 2023, there were over 100 crashes in this segment. 20 were sideswipes with parked cars, 33 involved injuries, and three were fatal. These trends clearly indicate a need. Our design team, Lumis, and our traffic engineer, GCW, evaluated multiple alternatives. The first option retained all five lanes and added minimal width bike lanes. While it technically accommodates bike lanes, most riders would not be very comfortable using them. This option also removes removes residential on street parking. A second option reconstructed the road and narrowed vehicle lanes by widening uh raised sidewalks and bike lanes. Similar to the [clears throat] Audi Wells, this provides better production for pedestrians and cyclists, but significantly increases costs and permanently alters the roadway footpr So the recommended alternative is a striped road diet. This converts the corridor to one lane in each direction with a center turn lane and provides buffered bike lanes while retaining retaining residential parking. Crater would still have two lanes in each direction at pyramid intersection and then transitions to a road diet between seventh and sixth. Key benefits include greater separation between vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, and parked cars, fewer sideswipe

crashes, and safer driveway access, improved bus stop operations, shorter pedestrian crossings with a proposed refuge island at Dworth, traffic calming, and reduced crash. Our safety analysis suggests an estimated reduction in crashes by 34%. And because the changes are achieved through striping, the configuration is flexible and can be modified needed. We understand concerns about traffic. Crater carries about 16,400 cars today with a projected 20-year volume near 20,000 vehicles, which assumes a 1% growth rate. The FHWA advises that roadways with up to 20,000 vehicles per day may be a good candidate for a road diet with a review of feasibility. Our traffic analysis shows that the intersection intersections will continue to meet overall policy level of service. Level of service measures the amount of delay a vehicle experiences during peak hour. Some side street movements will see additional delay and cues near fourth street may increase as volumes Corridor LOS will drop and travel time is expected to increase by about 35 seconds or roughly 15%. A trade-off for achieving substantial safety benefits. Signal timing adjustance adjustments can help mitigate some of these if volumes increase significantly in the long term. The striping approach allows us to revert to a five lane configur configuration. So far, we have issued project introduction letters, permissions to construct, and online updates. And we [clears throat] have met with county school district and Dworth Middle School leadership who provided positive feedback.

Next steps include updating the website with refined concept and a virtual presentation, hosting a community meeting if desired, and providing clear communication prior to We appreciate the councils and the community's input as we we're finalizing design this year and into early next year. Permission to construct agreements and a small number of easements uh documents are underway. Utility coordination is in progress. Uh for example, Tamwa will be replacing portion of their w water line in this segment prior to this work. And construction for the road work is planned for spring 2026 to start with a completion in late fall. Hand it back.

All right. Well, thanks Kim. The proposed road diet provides a wellsupported cost-effective way to improve the corridor for all uh corridor safety for all road users. While we acknowledge that vehicular operations will experience modest delays, these are offset by expected reductions in crash frequency and its severity and the ability to implement proven counter safety measures. Lastly, we will be bringing this back again in January for the opportunity for council to provide direction. That concludes our presentation and with that we're happy to answer any of your questions. Questions from the council.

Thank [clears throat] you, M. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, couple of questions. Uh, on the proposal, are there bike lanes on the north and the south side? So, will both directions have bike lanes or just one? On both sides. Yes. On both sides. Andrew, can you bring that slide up again? Yeah. Could you bring that up? So, I was trying to maneuver through that. Um, so bike lanes on both sides. Uh, will that mean the north side street parking for residents that live there is going to be gone? No. In the proposed striped road diet, we are proposing to keep the parking adjacent to the residences on the north side.

On the north side. Okay. I think that's important. And I mean we had public comment but if I lived there and actually those poor people are backing right out onto the speeds that are coming down Prader. So the crash number of crashes and the severity of uh where it ranks in the city is important for sure. Um just curious why [clears throat] why a bike lane and is that common on most of our roads that have the bike lane? It's on both sides because you're going the one direction or the other. Correct. For safety.

That's correct. Yes. The bike lanes are typically birectional. So, we want to make sure that we're providing the movement to and from for commuters. And if you're going to the school or the post office, you know, it's a way to get to there and then leave and and come home as well. Um, another thing I wanted to note too, I mean, we recognize that the parking is very important to the community here and and um, you know, the ability to to back out of a driveway and have a little bit of extra space here. Um, I think would be very helpful as well as the existing condition even with the parking. There are a lot of issues with um, car sidewipes as we mentioned earlier. And so this is a, you know, little kind of extra buffer to be able to park safely in this space. you have the bike lane and an additional buffer before you see the travel lane. So, a little bit more room. So, we would anticipate crashes to go down there as well.

Okay. And is it pretty common? I've heard, you know, other studies and not this project, but um cities who have narrowed like their downtown or even a street like this that goes through a neighborhood that has maybe four lanes. Um that when they narrow it, the speeds are reduced. Um I mean the safety just increases because people uh when you've got all that wide open space you feel like you can drive faster. That is that an engineering a typical traffic engineering um yes

goal of why you would you would lower it because you want to decrease crashes but mostly decrease decrease speed which if we can reduce speed in the city overall I'm all for that. That's my number one complaint is really how fast people drive is is a huge safety issue.

I I can answer that. Yes. So the reason why we want to narrow the roads is because you would increase the visual friction for drivers. So that perceived risk of drivers increases which subconsciously they would tend to slow down. So we're subconsciously trying to slow drivers down by increasing that oh there's things more in the way. So drivers would tend to slow down that way. Mr. Anderson,

thank you for the presentation. Appreciate it. And I was just wondering when you're doing an analysis like this, how do you weigh the level of service versus the safety [clears throat] side of of the travel along there? I I was just curious because I mean the level of service as I understand it is already pretty low and now we're going to be bringing that down if if we go with this program.

Yeah, that that's a great question and I I would say that you know that's part of the reason that we're here today. If it was was really straightforward and cleancut um then [clears throat] it would be a easy win for everybody. So there's definitely some trade-offs um from that perspective and you know I think one of the aspects is knowing that this section of crater has such a high safety issue and number of crashes overall um it's a it's a concern that we definitely always want to try to address and and safety is really in our perspective at RTC and at at Sparks um you know safety is number one concern right and if it were a corridor that didn't really see a lot of safety issues then maybe we you know we would we would not propose any changes here But because there are so many then we have to look at all alternatives and you know with there not being a really clearcut easy win we have to weigh those tradeoffs right so so that's why we did a really deep deep dive analysis in the traffic to see you know what it's going to look like at a each intersection and then also at the corridor overall. Um, and we do recognize that it is going to slow everybody. It's going to add a little bit of delay to their commute if they use this um section of crater as a commute. Um, but when you're looking at the context of a road overall, uh, I think it's a really important aspect to really consider the safety of all the users that are that are using it and not only just the V. If I could just ask one more question. Did you say the the total length that you believe that it would extend your travel through there? Is did you say 45 seconds?

35 seconds. 35. Okay. Thank you. And one thing we'll also do um council member is uh when the project is over, we'll make sure we ret time this specific signal right in front of city hall with uh crater I mean with pyramid way. So that way if you're going eastbound from Pyramid, you should have the green light here at this intersection. So it just kind of flows to help alleviate some of the delay and congestion going through the corridor itself. Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. Anyone else? Mr. Rodriguez.

Thank you, mayor. I do have a [clears throat] couple of questions. Um, so these accidents like the 33 injury accidents, uh, so I know that can vary partly maybe from a a broken nose to something whole, you know, pretty traumatic. Uh so like how many of these crashes actually like required the use of our uh um accident investigation detectives from the PD?

Uh the crash data is comes from NDOT and so ND do um records all of that crash data typically based on um the crash reports that are provided by the local law enforcement. So um to my knowledge all of the numbers that are um supplied here are coming from um police reports or other types of reporting. Um there are I'm sure also a number of near misses that we don't um you know see the data for at all. So this is just reflective of the actual data that we do see from from local law I guess like so to that like I guess how many of these accidents these are involving do we know like if it involves a pedestrian or a bicyclist?

We did we did verify that that in this segment specifically there were no direct vehicle pedestrian or vehicle crashes in this segment. Um the neighborhood network plan that was just recently completed looked at an overall view of Crater. Um and there were some additional bicycle and pedestrian um crashes involved there. Not specifically in this corridor um just the overall number of of that's part of the 33 injury crash numbers. 33 is specific to crashes within this segment. Okay. And then the 105 total crashes. Is that including the sideswipes? Correct.

Okay. So, and then so I la well maybe lastly uh when the study was done like did we take account to like the hot nights um Burning Man like a rib cook off traffic that uses all this? So was that also a study with the number of traffic that comes through this corridor?

Um let me think about that one. So typically when analysis is done, it usually looks into the peak hours. So the AM and the PM traffic with hot August nights and those other events. I don't see I mean usually events happen maybe outside the peak hour of travel time. So I mean with um our traffic team, we'll definitely look at different scenarios. If there is an increase traffic, we'll make sure that we ret time the signal or adjust traffic signals to accommodate any additional traffic that's going through and [laughter] in and out the corridor. I think to add to that

to add to that, not directly where, you know, we we're taking live data. We we go out and do counts at each intersection to see, you know, what those very most recent um volumes are at each intersection. Um we don't necessarily do it during special events specifically um because that's not the most common occurrence. recognize that there's additional um traffic challenges during those events, you know, throughout the city. Um but we what we specify or we, you know, look at our traffic usually based on the AM and PM commute times and also in this case, we looked at during during the school the school uh traffic time is kind of early morning from Dworth and then early.

So we did look at specifically in the context of this road, but not specific. We're coming back again in January. We could definitely look into this issue and try to see if we can answer this question as well into more details. Okay. And then last two, sorry, thanks for the council. Um, so what was the input from the county school district? Because I'm I'm not li I'm kind of worried about the buses, you know, they're trying to get in there, the parent drop offs, those peak hours. What was their input on that? Like

Yeah. So, um, really positive. Uh, we met with both the principal and with county transportation. Um, first of all, there are no buses that serve Dworth. This is a walking school only. Um, so it's either kids walking or biking to school or getting dropped off by their parents. Um, or possibly taking an RTC bus uh potentially. Uh, there is a bus stop for RTC right outside the school. Um, but that being said, it is the majority of walkers. Um, so when we met with them, they kind of just reviewed some of the existing safety concerns that they're seeing. m mainly at the crosswalk across crater um which is from Dworth to Shrivever that there's an existing flashing beacon now. Um so we talked about the ability to add a refuge island so that there's some time for there's usually a faculty member um you know flagging for kids to cross freighter um kind of adding to that flasher with an additional flasher in that median area where the refuge island would go to add some safety there. Um, we also are proposing to add another crosswalk down on Marian, which is a culde-sac just east of the the school. So, a lot of the drop offs occur on on Marian, and they come in and park and then turn around there and come back out. So, there's also a crosswalk across Marian um that becomes very challenging with the number of cars trying to access as well as the kids trying to to leave um for instance. So, they asked if we could add a crosswalk down further south on Marian, which would get kids across instead of doing it up by Prader. Um, kind of eliminating some conflict there. Um, and then we're also proposing another flasher at the Stanford um Stanford Way intersection. There's an existing crosswalk there that has a poor sight distance. So, we're proposing to move that crosswalk to the other side of the

street and also add flashers there because we do see a number of students across at that location. Um, and overall, I would say they gave really good feedback. Um, some good things for us to think about and work through in our design, which we've incorporated. Um, but also, you know, they don't want people stopping on Prader. It's it's blocked now for um, you know, it's all striped red. They don't want drop offs and pickups on Prader. They prefer that they use Lincoln Way to the South, Marian. And so um this project I think would you know not deter that.

And I think just lastly I would encourage it and hope that you guys do taking account we do have a number of special events throughout the year. Um and I know that corridor this corridor here is used quite a bit. So I'd like for that to be considered somewhat. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Donald.

Yeah. Glad we will. Um I do have a few. I [clears throat] won't try to beat your record, Joe, but um well, first off, I will say I'm very thankful that we're talking about having a public meeting. Um you know, as someone I live four houses away from this corridor. Uh John's my neighbor. Uh and not directly, but right around the corner. I have a lot of friends that live on this on that corridor. So, I'm thankful that we're talking about that because I don't have the answers. You guys are the experts. And I appreciate us all having to come together. So, I know I'll have a few questions today, but I got neighbors that have been asking me all weekend and I don't have the answers. So, I'm glad we're talking about hopefully doing a meeting. I would love to do it at Dworth. I know Joel's an awesome principal. I can't say his last name. Joel P, we'll call him. Um, but I think doing something there. Uh, you know, as a kid that grew up walking to Dworth myself. I I see the safety concerns. I appreciate the lights. I had a you know, the flasher at Stanford. Uh, you know, for parking. Um, you know, even just throwing out an idea. I don't know if we can talk about with the school district at some point like drop off on Prader. Um you know it's chaos coming in and out of there. The kiddos get picked up at post at the post office along that corridor the mini mart in front of my house which is not on prader which is okay. It doesn't bother me but you know there's parking all over. So I I I think looking at some other solutions there. Um but I'll I'll get to my question. So, looking at a couple the diagrams, I saw that we the widening of the lane. There's one that's 12T and another one that's 11 foot. What's the like standard like can we go to 10 foot? Is that is that a size?

Um, typically we like to maintain 11 foot travel length. 10 foot is because we want to accommodate if there's any like bigger vehicles, buses and so forth. So, what do we what do we have out there right now? I believe it varies. does vary. In general, I want to say it's 12 feet. I'm gonna look back at my design staff. 12T 12 to what? 12 to 12 to 15. 12 to 15. Yeah. So, it's like 12 like closer to the center and I think it's like 15 on the outside. The outside one. Okay.

Okay. That's good to know. Um, thank you for that. And then the other one was looking at there's I think uh you know obviously I'm a fan of bicyclists. I I ride a bike not enough nearly enough. Um is there a is there data or prediction of how much increase we might see from bicyclists on a safer area safer route? Is that is there a stat on that?

That is a great question. Um I don't have a stat with me on that. Okay. I think there is some data on road diets all and especially when you go from zero bike lanes to buffered bike lane. Um that that number, you know, definitely increases based on how comfortable that bike. So you kind of shoehorn it in and and it's small. Um you're going to get some additional users who maybe who are more comfortable, you know, commuting on various different types of facilities. Um, but you're not going to see, you know, a family or a student, a teenager being if you provide a buffered three foot or more on this speed of facility, you're you're going to tend to see more people want to to use it more riding it. So I don't have a number for you. That's something that we definitely

So I guess you know have we seen an increase on the other part of Prader like west of pyramid in bicyclists. I'm sorry. Like have we seen an increase in bicyclists on the west side? We did this we did a road diet west of pyramid on prader. Um know personally someone that drives it I I haven't seen any more bicycles in my eyes personally. Um you know I also I I've ridden this section. I will say if we and I'm all for us having safe cyclist lanes, but I also think about what are we doing after Stanford. It goes back to unprotectedness. That's that's very true.

Um so just thinking out loud is if we're going to do something saying this is right or wrong, but if we're going to do something, I think we had to make sure we maybe all or have a plan for that at some point. Um yeah, we can definitely look into that. I would say our neighborhood network plans that we worked through and just got approved through Sparks as well. um have a lot of great data when it comes to the you know the existing bicycle facilities um what they're seeing and where we're looking in here. So

and I I will say I'll end it on I have a few more questions but I know this is just a presentation and that we're not voting on anything today. Um and so I appreciate us having hopefully some options. I think in January we're talking about it after our hope we do a public meeting uh so we can get some of the questions answered by the neighbors that are reaching out to me. um because I've sent them this this slideshow with and they they still have a thousand more questions too that I think they would love to to hear answers to which I think you guys do have the answers. They just don't know how to ask you. And so I think doing a doing a nice community meeting, you know, obviously for the the students that are going to Dor the neighbors that live there as well as people that are driving the corridor that might not live in this area, but just so they can be involved and be a part of the process um is awesome. So that's all I got.

Mr. Well, thank you. I'm pretty much going to echo [clears throat] what my colleagues have said. I just have a couple other questions. Um, when you did meet with the school district and everything because school district is going through a consolidation plan, did we make sure that Dworth is not part of that consolidation plan? Yes. So, we did talk to them quite extensively about that. Um, it is on the plan overall for some sort of um modification in the future potentially. We have not identified any sort of modification in the next five years. Okay. As far as um our really kind of reviewing that we at least know in the next five years that they don't

Okay. And I appreciate that we're going to do a community meeting and things like that. Have you spoken to first responders like both our police department and fire department as to what this could do to as far as their response times or getting to emergencies quickly? Yeah. As far as well, I'll let maybe you talk side of things. As far as road diets overall, typically response um times do not really change. We have a center turn lane. People still have the ability to pull over when they see um the lights and sirens. And so there's still that space for that um for them to be able to get through. A center turn lane is always a really important to make sure we have that flexibility.

Uh we haven't reached out specifically to PD and fire, but I think within the next month I'll reach out. We'll get their input too. So that way we can make a consolidated plan going forward. Great. Thank you.

Anyone else? So for me, I'd want to know if we can put some handle operas or whatever to separate the bike from the travel lane or some, you know, some type of road warning if you bury out of the lane that it tells you, you know, like we see the rumble strips on the side of the highways, something that tells you veered out of the lane. I know uh Donald and I ridden our bikes on Fourth Street and it's a little scary to to ride because it's literally about three and a half feet wide. Um the separation I think is what? Huh? We pray. Prader. Well, Fourth Street Prader. We came from Reno. That switches. [laughter] Yeah.

Both. Reno today.

That's right. [laughter] I'm at a different meeting entirely, which is good, but I'm I'm looking for some type of separation from the bicycles that because I I do like to ride my bike, too. But I tell you, I wouldn't let my kids like we used to ride in the old days when my kids were young. I would not ride this street at all because I couldn't trust that people one would uh look out for them and two that they could stay within the lane, you know, as as younger kids. And I think that we have a whole generation or generations of kids that are missing out on riding bicycles and seeing their community a different way because of that. I'm looking forward to seeing the multimodal plan for Sparks and uh what we're going to do with bike lanes and stuff. So that's that I know is coming to us here in a not too far distant future. So I'm looking forward to that. But for me, I'd really like to see if there's some way to put a rumble strip, a cantalop, or whatever it is. I mean, I've seen a gazillion different ways to separate those lanes and warn drivers that they're out of it. And just as an anecdotal, if you're not doing 40 on prader, you're getting run over or you're getting yelled at, honked at, and flipped off at the same time. So, it's pretty bad. I drive that street at least twice to four times a day and it is it gets ugly. So, I'm I'm looking forward to see I want to accommodate the neighbors, too. I mean, they got to have that parking that's uh whether or not it's grandfathered in or not, I don't I don't care. But, we they do have to have that parking and and it would give them a little extra space for safety to come in and out of their driveways, too. So, that's kind of that's my feedback. That's what you'll hear at RTC when we have our meeting later. But uh thank you guys.

Thank you very much. Any anyone else before? Thank you very much for coming by and and making that presentation. Thank you. [clears throat] All right. 7.4 presentation of possible discussion regarding activities related to a future amendment uh to Sparks Municipal Code Title 20 for data centers. Sienna.

Yes. Uh good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and council members. For the record, Sienna Reed City Planner. Uh this agenda item provides the council with an update on activities related to future uh zoning code amendments for data centers. You'll remember that the city council directed the city manager to initiate changes to title 20 or zoning code related to data centers on September 22nd of this year. [clears throat]

Since that direction, staff has engaged in various regional efforts on the topic of data centers. Uh this includes participating in a meeting of the Truckucky Meadows Data Center Policy Consortium on October 1st and continuing to participate in meetings hosted by the Truckucky Meadows Regional Planning Agency regarding that AY's role in regulating energy infrastructure and the impact of data centers. As the regulation of data centers is primarily a local government function, TMRPA is playing a coordination and research role at least in that data center uh support role. Uh importantly, there is an opportunity for the city of Sparks, city of Reno and Wash County to evaluate best practice approaches uh in regulating data centers and consider amendments to each jurisdiction's respective zoning codes that have common elements. on no excuse me on November 14th staff did meet with TMRPA and local government staff. Uh both the city of Reno and Wo County anticipate uh receiving direction to work on code amendments from their respective governing bodies uh in the forthcoming uh time frame. And then following this direction, local government staff would begin drafting common code amendments. TMRPA staff would continue to be involved in this effort again from a research and coordination perspective. However, the focus would very much be on potential changes to the local government zoning codes. Uh this effort uh that is really a common approach to the regulation of data centers uh would allow for coordinated outreach to industry and community stakeholders as well. And staff would begin reading more regularly uh with TMRPA and the other local governments once Reno and Wo County have received that formal direction to work on amendments to their respective zoning codes. Uh so with that I wanted to be

available for any questions questions from the council. Miss Vanderwell. Thank you S. I appreciate the update. So my question is is city of sparks we're going to go ahead and we're going to continue to do the research and work even though city of Reno and Wo County have they been directed to start doing what we're doing here yet?

Not yet. They are waiting on that direction from their local governing bodies. So we will we will continue to participate in any type of regional coordination meetings, continue to research on our end. Um but any type of formal meeting with uh Wo County, City of Reno and TMRPA where we're kind of, you know, digging into the details of what could be common elements. We would need to wait until the other entities have that formal direction. Okay. But we're going to continue doing what we're doing. That's correct. Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? you want to give any update on this coordination, Dion?

I I think Sienna handled it uh fairly well, mayor, but uh we're engaged at the manager level and having conversations about how we coordinate this. So, we're we're trying to be holistic about it and uh I suspect that that direction will come for them in the fairly near future and we'll be able to formally have those conversations. So that's that's my feeling too is that we will we will go forward as a as a you a region on this particular item. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you Sienna. Thank you. That's a great presentation. Short and sweet. Consent items. Anyone wishing to pull a consent item? If not, I am looking for a motion. Miss Vanderwell.

I move to approve consent items 8.1 through 8.5 as submitted. Mr. Rodriguez. Second.

I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. General business. Consideration discussion of possible approval of the mayor's appointment for the Sparks Planning Commission from the following pool of applicants listed in alphabetical order. Ryan Henderson, Diana Hoffman, Robert Lavier, Elise Monroy, Erica Piani, Ricky Rodriguez Elkins, Sh and Sheriff Shy, and I have chosen to reappoint Ricky Rodriguez Elkins, and she's in the audience tonight. Mr. Anderson,

I move to appoint Ricky Rodriguez Elkins to the [clears throat] Sparks Planning Commission for a four-year term ending December 31st, 2029. and Mr. Abbott. Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. Thank you for your service. We need volunteers like you to help us. So, thank you. Um 9.2 22 consideration possible acceptance of the city's annual comprehensive financial report or the ACER for fiscal year 2425 and possible approval of the city's plan to corrective actions relating to the city's external auditor's conclusions and recommendations.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and members of council. I'm Tiffany Peio, accounting manager for the record. Big day for us. I am here to present the annual comprehensive financial report otherwise known as the ACTER for fiscal year 25 and to request your acceptance of the report along with the approval of the required federal and state corrective action plan. Nevada law requires all local governments obtain an annual audit conducted by an independent accounting firm. The act fulfills this requirement for the city and provides a comprehensive overview of our financial position operating results in compliance with applicable federal and state laws. Before I move into the results, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the financial services department. Preparing the ACTER is a complex and time-intensive process. It involves compiling and reconciling financial data across all city departments, ensuring compliance with accounting records, coordinating with the auditors, and addressing numerous technical and reporting requirements. Every person in the department along with countless others across the city are involved in the audit. and it takes like over five months to to complete. Their diligence and attention to detail are critical to producing a high-quality report that reflects the city's financial position accurately. Getting into the results, I Bailey has issued an un unmodified audit opinion, which is otherwise known as a clean audit opinion. This is the highest level of assurance an auditor can provide and indicates the city's financial statements are materially accurate and present and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because the city expends federal grant funds, we are also subject to a single audit. Something unique this year, you may have noticed in the attachments, is that the single audit was issued separately. And the reason for this is the the federal office of management and budget released the 2025 compliance supplement about 5 months later than they typically do. This guidance is required to complete the audit. So as a result, the audit, the single audit is presented as its own separately bound report this year. Um, and I can also say there were no findings related to our

single audit. Getting into our corrective action plans, there are two required, one federal, one state. The city must prepare a federal corrective action plan for any audit findings related to the financial statements. This year we had two. The first being a major fund identification air where the redevelopment agency area number two revolving fund was not initially identified as a major fund, but our controls have been strengthened to ensure major fund determinations are evaluated annually properly. Secondly was um regarding our OPED census. U there are certain data discrepancies that were identified which required adjustments to the information that we had to submit to the actuary but our procedures have been enhanced to include additional reconciliation steps and a secondary review process. Getting into our state corrective action plan under interest in Nevada administrative code the city must submit a corrective action plan to the department of taxation for each statutory violation identified during the audit. We had one budget violation where actual expenditures exceeded appropriations in the park parks and recreation fund by $363,38. NRS allows a limited time to correct potential budget violations. The parks and rec department parks and recreation fund did not have additional available resources at that time to augment the budget from. Finally getting included into in the FY25 ACER is the certificate of achievement for excellence and financial reporting that the city received for fiscal year 24. This is our 44th consecutive year receiving this award and we believe this year's aer also meets the program standards and we will be again submitting it for consideration. In conclusion, I am requesting that city council accept the ACER for fiscal year 25 and approve the federal and state corrective action plans as required under federal regulations in Nevada law. And with that, I can answer any questions.

Questions from the council. There we go. Perfect presentation. All right. Looking for a motion then, [clears throat] Mr. Anderson. I move to accept the city's annual comprehensive financial report APER for the fiscal year 2024 through 2025 and approve the city's plans for corrective action relating to the city's external auditor's conclusions and recommendations. Mr. Rodriguez. Second.

A motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. 9.3 Consideration discussion of possible approval of the 2025 sewer rate study business impact statement related to the proposed increases to the sanitary sewer user rates, sanitary sewer connection fees, and septic rates, septage rates. Mr. Mayor, council members, Click the PDF. That'll probably work.

Do I click the PDF or the power? Both of them are

Let's just lower that back down. Let's do the PowerPoint. Thank you. Jim Rundle, community services director, here to present on this item today, the 2025 sewer rate uh business impact statement. Council mayor, this is a requirement of Nevada statutes. This is required whenever a local government, an entity, as Sparks is, uh when they want to consider, uh adopting new fees. uh if the fees affect businesses or citizens, you have to go through a business impact study. That's what we are doing here today. There's another item on your agenda for a first reading and then uh for a followup at the next council meeting for consideration where you could uh adopt or deny adoption of uh of sewer rate uh changes. What the business impact study does, it it affects whether the changes put any direct or significant burden on businesses. It uh identifies whether or not it would impact expansion of a business. Additionally, we outlined how we did public outreach on this business impact study. I think that was a very robust process. I think that process was to an extent a success. As you know, we went to the business uh businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, to the uh AGC to BAN to NAOP and had good input and actually change direction on a on a couple of the proposals that you'll you'll consider at the next council meeting should you adopt this PIS. The last updates to the sewer rates and connection fees occurred in 2018. The last updates to the septage rates

were in 2003. In our workshop earlier this year in April, the council directed that uh the study include where there are shortfalls mostly due to inflation and also look at a 6% increase in 2026, 5% from 27 to 30, and 4% in 2031. Future annual increases should go by the CCI. That's the construction cost index which more more so affects the fees that we're looking at here than uh a CPI. We did look at a CPI component but that's on a cost recovery uh mechanism for the for the study. Looking at some of the fees I wanted to point out that the proposed fee which we you will review more more in depth at the uh public hearing in January. The proposed fee for the sewer rates to the citizens would be $284. That's staff's recommendation to the council. Uh there there may be some concerns. I think it came up in the workshop of what is Reno's monthly fee. I believe that to be $59 a month. So Sparks is coming in quite a bit less than Which meeting are we at? Council member Abbott.

Sorry, mayor. Sorry. Thanks, Jim. We'll talk later. [laughter]

Additionally, uh the connection fee that you can see on here in bold, we're looking at a proposal of 9700 and change just under 9,800. Reno's is uh 1 or 12,700. Interestingly, I want to point out as you can see on the storm and flood uh rows in both the user rates and sewer connection fees, at this time staff's not proposing any increase in those two rows. Those as you can see in the last columns there have zero and zero and then in the far right zero and zero. I don't believe the 12,700 connection fee in the city of Reno includes flood or storm drain. That's just for their sewer connection fees. So you can see that uh the approach Sparks is administering is very efficient and uh the least costly of the two to the to the uh community to the development community. Uh just to summarize on this one, uh council and mayor, uh the current fee 99 9,291 for a that would be a connection fee and uh the proposal is to increase it by $448 and change. So that in my opinion when we met with for example uh builders association was wellreceived. why the fees are needed. Uh the the uh the the the fee increase is self-evident. The consumer prices are going up. The construction costs are going up. We need to ensure we have a 60-day reserve. Uh these fees impact what we do in our conveyance system as well as in our treatment system. And the council is very aware of some of the issues we've had at the 60-year-old the plant built in the 1960s and the heat loops and such. And these fees help to

address those capital costs of investing in our infrastructure at the at the treatment facility and the infrastructure that gets it to the treatment facility. It also in it also provides staffing respective to uh uh administration of those of those uh systems. Ultimately the council's direction the community's direction is to have ensure long-term sustainability and viability of our of our system. As I discussed earlier the business impact study requires a s significant amount of public outreach. We talked about the uh agencies that we went out to, Chamber of Commerce, trade associations. We also noticed mail, we uh included mailers to uh the the stakeholders. Uh they receive a sewer bill. Our client relations team did a excellent job of supporting our uh utility team of getting those out to the public. We noticed we provided notices in the Reno Gazette Journal. Uh we held workshops, two workshops here, right here in the council chambers. We had numerous uh presentations and interactions with the community. All of those components in our opinion and staff's opinion have been identified and considered in the staff report that you have with this business impact study. Mayor staff's recommendation is that we recommend the council approve this business impact study. It meets it meets the requirements associated with it in the Nevada revised statutes. Uh it is respective required because of the item to consider adopting new fees for the sewer study. As I said there's a first reading today and a public hearing in January. And mayor with that I'm here and available for any questions.

Question from the council. Go ahead. Thank you, mayor. Um, just for the uh my knowledge and for the community because I know it's been a while since we talked about this, but when was the last time we actually did a significant increase on our sewage and uh and council member Rodriguez through you, Mayor, the term significant could be relative. Okay. But but I would I want to provide that the last time we did uh what I think you're getting at it was in 2018. was like 10 years ago roughly.

Yeah, we're approaching we're approaching eight years on that. And then another consideration, the last time the septage rates were looked at was 2003. And that was something that was brought up at the council workshop in April was that we are not recovering our costs on um users that are dropping se uh sewer se through the septic system uh trucking it in at our plant. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mayor.

Yeah, just put that in context. In 2018, we did the rate study, but we had it was for a fiveyear period, so we're just a little behind on keeping up with that one. Um, anyone else? This is never fun to raise rates, but we got to keep up with the the sewer plant. That's going to complain a lot harder if you can't flush your toilet. So, with that, I'm looking for a motion. Miss Vanderill, I move to approve the 2025 sewer rate study business impact statement related to the proposed increases to sanitary sewer user rates, sanitary sewer connection fees, and septage rates. Mr. Rodriguez second.

Got a motion and a sec. Pardon me. Motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Madame Clerk, 11.1. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the second reading of Bill 2843, an ordinance adopting 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 03118408 PCN25-000014 DA25-00002

Amy. Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson, members of council. My name is Amy Jones, housing specialist. Uh Mayor Lawson, I would like to request to present items 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 6 and 11.1 together, please. Okay, sounds good.

Okay. Um, I'm before you today to present and recommend the approval of the 2026 I Street Development Agreement and the associated documents to transfer the parcel to the Reno Housing Authority for the development of affordable housing on the site. This presentation will include the following four separate agenda items to transfer 2026 I Street to the Reno Housing Authority. The development agreement, which does require a public hearing, should be held first. And then the three general business items uh in the following order. Assignment and assumption agreement to the HMI grant agreement. Assignment and assumption agreement to the declaration of restricted covenants running with the land. And finally, the quick claim deed and resolution. As you are all very familiar, the city acquired the parcel located at 2026 I Street through the Home Means Nevada initiative. The city of Sparks was awarded $2.8 $8 million of HMNI funding for land acquisition with the requirement that the land is only to be used for the development of affordable housing serving households earning 60% uh of the AMI and below and the property must remain affordable for no less than 30 years. The Nevada Housing Division was the agency designated to administer the HMNI funds. The city was required to enter into a grant agreement with the housing division to receive those funds and the affordability was required to be secured by a declaration of restricted covenants running with the land. Utilizing these funds, the city purchased the parcel located at 2026 I Street in February of 2024. A request for proposal to develop affordable housing on the site was um sorry was issued and the Reno Housing Authority uh submitted the RFP and

council selected the development of affordable housing units in April of 2025. You can see 2026 I Street uh identified in red on the overhead. The site is just approximately 0.2 two acres in size and located just east of Sullivan Lane. The site is situated within a neighborhood with a mix of housing types including single family homes and multifamily apartments. Additionally, the site is located in the city's mixeduse district with access to grocery stores, restaurants, shopping, parks, recreation, healthc care within a mile of the site and a bus stop within a half mile of the site.

[snorts]

The RHA's conceptual project uh for the I Street apartments includes 12 units consisting of studio and one-bedroom units. Units will serve households earning 50% of the area median income and below. All units will have a projectbased voucher assigned to the unit which will allow the housing authority to assist households earning 0 to 50% of the area median income. And a projectbased voucher provides a subsidy to the household. The household will pay only approximately 30% of their income toward rent and the housing authority will pay the remaining. The project will maintain a 50-year affordability period and the residents will have access to RHA's workforce development and self-sufficiency programs.

[snorts]

The proposed development agreement between the city of Sparks and the Reno Housing Authority provides an overarching framework uh for the development of the subject site of affordable housing while ensuring the compliance of the HMI funding requirements. On this slide, you can see some of the key provisions of the development agreement. The site must be developed with the minimum of 12 dwelling units. The term of the DA is relatively short, five years with a two-year extension option. Uh timeliness provisions uh require an administrative review be submitted within two years and a building permit within four years. If development does not proceed under these time frames, the property must be reconveyed back to the city. And specifically if the development fails or the developer fails to complete construction of the project within two years after issuance of the building permit or ceases construction for uh progress for a continuous period of 9 months um on this project. The affordable housing provisions require all units serve households earning 60% uh AMI or below and all units have the 60 50year affordability period. The DA also outlines the other agreements that must be in place, including the assignment and assumption agreement to assume the city's interest and obligations under the HMI grant agreement between the city of Sparks and the Nevada Housing Division, as well as the assignment and assumption agreement to assume the city's interest in the city's obligation with the declaration of restricted covenants running with the land. And lastly, additional provisions require the property to be reconveyed to the city um if the project is not constructed, is partially constructed or abandoned. In terms of the finding, development

agreements uh must be consist consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. The proposed agreement supports goal MG4 and policy MG11 that promote infill development. The subject site is located in the city's mixeduse district and therefore has access to services, employment, opportunities, healthc care, and recreation. Staff also uh views the agreement as consistent with the comprehensive plan because it outlines how the subject site will be transferred to a developer at no cost for the purpose of developing affordable housing units. Advancing goal H1, policy H2, and policy H7. Uh pursuant to the agreement, a minimum of 12 units of affordable housing will serve households earning 60% or below the area median income and uh be affordable for a minimum of 50 years. As mentioned previously, the city was required to enter into the HMI grant agreement with the Nevada Housing Division on upon receipt of the funds. At the time of the city's obligation for the HMI funds, it was the city's intent to transfer the parcel to an affordable housing developer. The grant agreement does allow the city to transfer the city's obligations, duties, and interest to a third party via an assignment and assumption agreement uh upon approval of the Nevada Housing Division. The assignment and assumption agreement before council today requires the RHA to assume all the city's obligations to the HMI grant agreement between the city of Sparks and the Nevada housing division including the RHA developed the I Street apartments comply with the affordability period of 50 years secured by the declaration of restricted covenants as well as all of the reporting requirements.

The HMI grant agreement required that the affordability period be secured by the declaration of restricted covenants. Similar to the HMI grant agreement, [clears throat] the declaration of restricted covenants allows the city to transfer the obligations, duties, and interests to a third party via an assignment and assumption agreement. The assignment and assumption agreement to the declaration of restricted covenants requires this RHA to assume all the city's obligations to the declaration of restricted covenants running with the land, including develop the conceptual Ira apartments. Units must be continuously open for rental purposes to tenants uh with incomes at or below 60% AMI and the property must comply with the applicable tenant uh protections and housing quality standards. Should council approve the development agreement, the assignment and assumption agreement to the HMI grant agreement and the declaration or sorry and the assignment and assumption agreement to the declaration of restricted covenants running with the land. Uh staff recommends transferring ownership of 2026 I Street to the RHA via quick claim deed in accordance with the development agreement. The development agreement identifies the property will be conveyed to the RHA via quickclean deed after the RHA assumes the city's interests and obligations under the HMI agreement and the declaration of restricted covenants running with the land. The proposed quick link deed specifies that the city will convey, release, and quick claim to the RHA 2026 I Street subject to any revisionary clauses within the development agreement and the assignment and assumption agreement of the declaration of restricted.

Mayor, that concludes my presentation. Each agenda item will require its own separate motion. The adoption of the development agreement requires a public hearing and must be voted on first and the recommended motion for the approval of the development agreement is listed on the screen. I'm happy to answer any questions and RHA staff are present today should you have questions of them. Questions from the council. Mr. Anderson, as you were going through the presentation, I was wondering because this is such a long-term project or long-term commitment after transfer, who becomes responsible for ensuring that it continues in compliance.

That would be the Nevada Housing Division. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Great answer. Thank you.

Anyone else? Okay, seeing none from the das, this is a public hearing. Anyone in the public wishing to comment on this particular item? Seeing none, I'll bring it back. And I am looking for a motion. Mr. Abbott, I move to adopt bill number 2843, an ordinance approving a development agreement AC-6164 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 031-184-08 PCN25-000014 DA25-00002 Vanderwell.

Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.4. Do you want me to read this, Madame Clerk? That is a yes.

Consideration discussion. I always love these long ones. Consideration discussion of possible approval of an assignment and assumption grant agreement AC 6162 by and between the city of Sparks and the housing authority of the city of Reno conveying the city of Sparks duties rights title obligations and interest in and to the home means Nevada initiative grant agreement dated January 24th 2024 for the development of affordable housing at 2026 I Street Sparks Nevada APN03118408. That's it. Do you guys have any questions on this? If not, I am looking for a motion. Mr. Rabbit,

I'll take them all. Got it. I move to approve the assignment and assumption of grant agreement AC-6162 by and between the city of Sparks and the housing authority of the city of Reno conveying all the city of Sparks' duties, rights, title, obligations, and interest in and to the home meanings Nevada initiative grant agreement dated January 24th, 2024 for the development of affordable housing on 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada, APN 031-184-08. Mr. Anderson. I'll second the motion.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.5 consideration discussion of possible approval of an assignment and assumption agreement AC 6165 by and between the city of Sparks and the housing authority of the city of Reno or the declaration of restrictive covenant running covenants running with the land for home means Nevada initiative conveying the city of Spark's obligations duties and interest in and to the declaration of the restrictive covenant running with the hand.

Oh, document. There's more. There's more. But wait. Document number 5438728 or 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada, APN03118408. Any questions on this one? If not, I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rabbit.

I move to approve the assignment and assumption agreement AC-6165 by and between the city of Sparks and the housing authority of the city of Reno for to the declaration of restrictive covenants route running with the land of Homies of Nevada initiative conveying the city of Sparks's obligation, duties, and interest in and to the declaration of restrictive covenant running with the land. Document number 5438728 or 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada, APM 031-184-08. Miss BY, I will second that motion.

A motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously 9.6, Six. Consideration discussion of possible adoption of resolution 3480 conveying, releasing, and quit claiming the city of Spark's interest in the partial located at 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada, 89431, APN03118408 to the housing authority of the city of Reno for the development of affordable housing. Questions from the council? Not looking for a motion. I'm gonna sneeze. But

I should add one thing. Just because we have a a theme of our meeting today. If you guys looked in our legal description, this section used to be a part of East Reno, some of our darker days. It's actually recorded July 6 as East Reno of the New Town Newton track. So that was very clever of you earlier to reference the city of Reno meeting. I will read the motion now. Um, I move to adopt resolution 3480 conveying, releasing, and quit claiming the city of Sparks interest in the parcel located at 2026 I Street, Sparks, Nevada 89 89431 APN 031-184-08 to the housing authority for the city of Reno for the development of affordable housing.

Miss Vanderwell second. Uh, any further discussion? Is it really? Does it really say East Reno? It really is. So, it was during that time when that was one of the considered names for our darkest history was we were referred to as Easter. It was a dark history. Uhhuh. But it really is in every document under our thing. Oh, it's kind of cool. All right, I got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thanks, Amy. Thank you.

9.7 Madame Clerk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the first reading 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 sanit sanitary sewer user rates, increase the sanitary sewer connection fees, and increase septage rates, and providing for other matters properly related there, too. A public hearing will be held in bill 2846 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, January 12th, 2026 at 2 p.m. in the Sparks Legislative Building. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Public hearing and action items unrelated to planning and zoning. Madame Clerk 10.1. We had to change location for this one. I fig I'd read it down here to you since I'm presenting it also. Okay. Does that work? Thought maybe you're going to East Reno.

We might. I mean, [laughter] whatever works for you, sir. Um, this is the second reading of bill 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 Washer County to conduct the election, and setting the filing fees for declarations of candidacy. You have a presentation? I do, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Lisa Hunterman, your city clerk for the record. Um, pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes and the Spark City Charter, the uh elections must be under the control of the city council and details of those elections must be set by ordinance by the city council. Um, so as the title entailed today, what I'm here to do is four separate things. Um, the ordinance, first of all, will set the election dates. The primary election will be held on June 9th, 2026 with early voting being conducted between May 23rd and June 5th of 2026. And the general election will be held on November 3rd with early voting during the period of October 17th through October 30th. The second thing it does is it uh it identifies the offices that are accepting uh declarations of candidacy and for the 2026 election. The offices will be for the mayor, the municipal court judge in department 2 and city council members in ws two and four. The third thing it does is it sets the filing fees for declarations of candidacy. Um, for 2026, it will be a $100 fee for judicial filing and all other offices will be $30. And the last thing it does is it authorizes Washer County to conduct the election. Um, they have the equipment and the resources to do so. So, it makes sense for us to do that with them. Um, there will be an interlocal agreement coming forward to you prior to the first election. Um, we just don't have that set in stone yet. Um, that concludes my presentation. I will remind you this is a public hearing

and I will and I'm happy to answer any questions. Mind you that we're going to ask questions first. Ask we are and just for the people at home that we do have observers from Sparks during the entire election process. We do the Spark City Clerk's Office sends over um most of our staff. We we spend almost every day over there. Um, and between the clerk's office and client relations, we're their everyday hands-on.

Thank you. Any other questions from the council? Okay, this is a public hearing. Anyone in the public wish to speak on this item? I don't see but one public left. Hi Jim. [laughter] We'll bring it back to the dis and uh I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Anderson.

I move to adopt bill number 2842 on ordinance uh providing the and for the conducting and holding the primary election in 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. Mr. Rodriguez. A second. Got a motion and a second. Uh, any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion [clears throat] carries unanimously. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We're now going to come back up here and read

10.2 the second reading. Yes. And after Mayor Lawson and member to council, read the item first. Oh, sorry. [laughter] I got too excited. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the second 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.

Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and member of council. For the record, my name is Patrick Chu, fire marshal for the Sparks Fire Department. Um again I'm here to adopt a 24 edition of the international fire code and an international wildland urban interface which to be effective um January 1st 2026. Uh in brief there's no wholesale changes or anything that's retroactive uh regarding anything existing. Uh the fire code finally recognized that there's some issues with lithium batteries. So the building code and fire code has some tighter restrictions when there's lithium batteries involved. Um, here in Sparks, we uh amended some minor things in the fire code and one example would be uh corridor width. The minimum corridor width is 44 in. It could be larger, but its minimum is 44 in. However, if you have a two-story hotel, no elevators, stairwells, it could be three feet, three feet wide. So, imagine carrying a gurnie down at three feet wide staircase. So what we did, we took out the exception and said the minimum stairwell has to be 44 in U for all staircases and that's because of the ability to carry something down a gurnie which tends to where our guys get a little hurt trying to carry things down these little tight stairways. So other than that um I'd be more than happy to answer any questions that you guys may have.

Questions from the council. Okay, this is a public hearing. Anyone in the public wishing to speak on this item? Not we'll bring it back to the dis and I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez move to adopt bill number move 2845 amending the title 14 of the spark code fire prevention and protection to include the 20 24 edition of the international fire code and international wildland urban interface code each of which are to become effective January 1st 26 2026. Miss By, I'll second that motion. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Comments from the public. Madam Clerk, do you have any? We do not, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Uh, comments from the mayor, city council, city manager. Mr. Manager? None today, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Council, do you have anything? Joe, you got to be faster, man. I'm looked that way already. I know, right? [laughter] All my life like

um I would like to make a request to uh ask that the city manager prepare prepare a code amendment for city council's consider city council's consider consideration. Get that out. Uh to look at directing staff to consolidate all existing handbooks in a Kylie Ranch North to a single comprehensive handbook if that was clear. You got that Miss Py.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I would just like to give a huge shout out to the parks and recreation department, uh, and their staff and city staff for the successful tree lighting and hometown Christmas parade. Uh, extraordinary. You did really good. You ordered weather that was spectacular, the best ever. Uh but really to thank your staff and all the volunteers and we were talking amongst ourselves I don't even know how many volunteers to put that parade on I know hot August nights I think still volunteers so all the volunteers and staff and everyone who put together um just a great community event biggest crowd ever and uh thank you we couldn't do it with all the hard work of everybody who who put it together for us so thank you Paul,

just the same same thing. Awesome job by by parks and wreck public works as well as uh thank you for police and fire for being out there and likewise our partner agencies that were on on the scene there just making sure things were safe. But an incredible incredible turnout and it just it's my favorite event because you see every cross-section of our community there enjoying it and well done. Thank you. Diane or McDonald. So, uh, I I got to meet the youngest person at the tree lighting at one and a half months old. Wow.

That's so many tree lightings to come in that young lady's life. And once again, I can not say enough about our staff and what you guys do. It is such a joy to stand up there and stage and and look out across. some we had a very very good crowd for the tree lighting this year and it just so cool to look out there and see all the kids dancing around and having fun and and the parents and stuff. So it's it's a great event. You guys killed it again. Thank you very much for that. All right, with that I'm going to adjourn this meeting and that concludes for us six and a half hours of meetings. six six hours

and a half plus. [laughter] Yeah. Thank you. [laughter] Because she was there. Yeah, she texted me. I didn't see her. She texted me after she sent a picture. Yeah. She had the baby during uh Nevada League cities right before she was at the Turkey drop away from him. Okay.

Hang on. Jose, can I do one second? I realiz that second you guys behind Okay,

we're good. All right, [clears throat]

that was loud. My bad. I had furniture. I will call today the Spark Redevelopment Agency meeting of Monday, December 8th with a roll call. Uh, chair Abbott here. Agency members Lawson here, Bby here, Vanderell here, Anderson here, Rodriguez here, Chief Legal Officer Sendel here. Chief Administrative Officer Len here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Do we have any public comment? We do not. Awesome. Item 4.1, approval of the agenda. Looking for a motion. Agency member Vanderwill. I move to approve the agenda as submitted. Thank you. Agency member Rodriguez.

Second. We have a motion, a second. Please vote. Mr. Agency member Anderson. Perfect. Uh, passes unanimously. Item 5.1, consideration, discussion, possible possible approval of the minutes of the Sparks Development Agency meeting for November 10th, 2025. Looking for a motion. Agency member Rodriguez development meeting. Thank you. Agency member by I'll second the motion. We have a motion and a second. Mr. Lawson, did you mean to do that? I wasn't here. Okay, just double checking. I wanted to vote no anyway. Messing with you.

Passes. Five with one no vote. Okay. Item six, 6.1, consideration and possible acceptance of the report of the claims and bills approved for payment and appropriation transfers for the period of October 28th, 2025 through November 21st, 2025. Looking for a motion. Agency member Rodriguez. Uh, we have a a motion. Looking for a second. Second. Agency member Anderson. Um, please vote. Passes unanimously.

No more meeting. Uh, no item seven, no business items. 8.1 comments from the public. Any public comment? We do have a talking to mayor today. 8.2 announcements for the agency chief administrative administrative officer. Mayor Lawson, we have an opportunity to speak now. Do you have anything to add? I do not of any of any substance. Sounds good. Anyone else? I don't see Oh, no. We're good. Uh, city clerk, I see I see you pointing. No, you got three fingers pointing back yourself. I will just remind everybody that this is the last meeting this year. See you next year. We'll adjourn.