City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Right, I think we're ready. Okay. Okay. Are we ready? Do you remember this back in the day?

It's free.

Do you want to? From the 80s? It's free. Yes.

That's for you.

You're kidding.

When times were good, when we drank Boone's Farm and Zima beer, we smoked club cigarettes.

Oh, my gosh, with the guest jeans.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, my gosh.

It's viral right now. There's so not a coffee you do.

You're kidding.

No, they're going. So cute.

Thank you.

You're welcome. I just feel like going back to the 80s is going to serve us well. Things are so simple then. I like the 80s. Yeah. All right. That's right. Okay.

All right.

Good morning, everyone. All right, good morning everyone.

Thank you so much for being here. I think we have everyone here except for Madam Clerk is Councilwoman Ebert.

Yes. On the phone? I'm here, hello. Okay, great, thank you. All right, we are going to open up the meeting and we are gonna start with the Pledge of Allegiance. And I'm gonna hand it off to Mr. Dave Douglas to lead us in the pledge.

Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

All right, thank you very much.

All right, Madam Clerk, I'm going to ask you to call the roll. Thank you. We're calling roll for the Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026 Reno city council meeting. Council member Taylor here. Council member Dewar here. Council member Martinez here. Council member Ebert here. Council member Reese here. Council member Anderson here. And mayor Sheedy here.

You do have a quorum. Okay. Thank you. Before we head into public comment. I would like to do a moment of silence. Over the weekend, we received some very tragic news that we lost one of Reno's finest, Officer Tindall. So I'd like to do a moment of silence to think about his family and his children. And then after that, we will step out for a five-minute recess, and then we will come back. So please join us in a moment of silence. All right, thank you, everyone.

I used to come for this staycation. I used to come here and enjoy the hotels and go down to the river. And I was familiar with the Automobile Museum, but I never in a million years thought I'd be working here. My name is Philip McDougall. I'm the president of the National Automobile Museum. The history of the National Automobile Museum goes way, way back. So most people know the name Harrah from the casinos, but they don't know the story behind it. Mr. Harrah, he had a collection of 1,400 of the most unbelievable cars. And when he passed, he didn't have a will. The community got together and they said, you can't sell all these things. This is part of our community. It's part of our identity. We need to keep them here. They raised money to build the museum. The city said, we're going to contribute the land if you get the money to build it. And then the Holiday Inn, who purchased all the assets of Mr. Harris' collection, said, if you do all that, then we're going to throw in 175 cars of the total collection of 1,400. So all those things came together because the community thought it was important. And in 1989, the museum was opened up. We want to be a community partner and we are great. We have events, we have older cars, newer cars, Elvis's car, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future. We have a brand new children's educational activity center, 3,000 square feet of technology for those kids and adults to get hands-on experience on how cars work, how next generation of technology was created. We wanted to be different. We wanted to embrace the community, be a community partner. We did a complete renovation, and then we went out with an active campaign, not in that car mode, not museum mode, but outdoor concerts, speaker series, parties, birthdays, and a whole new selection of cars. I think the biggest change is that we have a new exhibit every 60 days. It really is fun to watch how a family can come in and they'll just go in five different directions because we have something for every generation. It's not just a building, it's not just the cars that are in there, it's the people, it's the livelihoods of everybody that's around this town that keeps us going. The downtown partnership has been a lifesaver for us. Just helping us overall in the day-to-day challenges we have, like any business downtown. We can't make it without the security issues addressed, without the communication addressed, and it's all one big team down here. So the restaurants help us, the businesses help us, everyone here, we all kind of depend on each other. And that's what we're trying to bring to the equation is another partner who can help us all be a little bit stronger and a bigger community partner. I see a greater emphasis from the Downtown Partnership, from the elected officials, than the community leaders to get together and say, we really want to succeed, we have to succeed as a group. No silos. The restaurants, the businesses, the gas stations, everybody that's here has to get a common bond, otherwise we're not going to succeed. All right. It's a storytelling. It's a camaraderie. Okay. Madam Clerk, we will head into public comment.

And before we head right into public comment, we have a special proclamation Councilman Dewar is going to read. And this proclamation is thanking those who worked so hard on the 4th of July parade, the 4th on 4th. And we have many of those committee members here. I just wanted to say thank you because we didn't have a lot of time to put it together, and this group really jumped into action and made it happen. And so I'm really, really grateful. We have Dave Douglas. I'd love for you to come up. Ann Silver from the Chamber, please come on up. And I'd like to – we have two Lisas on the committee, and if you're from the 80s, I say Lisa, Lisa, and the Colt Jam, but – Are we missing the other Lisa? Then we're just, we've got Lisa. You can't be a group without it. And then I want to recognize Lisa Molinini from the J Resort who also jumped into action. And Eddie Lorton, please come on up. And someone who I absolutely love and adore, Phil McDougall. Come on up. They hate it when I do that. I can see they're all really embarrassed. I have to tell you, it was one of the most remarkable events I have ever seen in my life. And it was just... I don't know, people were coming together and... Hugging each other, it didn't matter where you were from, what party you were, and people really wanted to celebrate with one another. And so I'm really, really grateful. And also, we kind of had to cut off entries and sponsorships and donations because it was getting really exciting. And I want to say thank you for Ann and your donation because she's working on the entire committee through the state. Thank you, thank you. Each one of you, Dave, I can't thank you enough. And Phil provided so much love and attention with those beautiful cars. And Eddie, I also want to address that I told Eddie not to donate until we had the final numbers in. I know we raised a lot of money. I think that that's important to know what the total cost is. I want to say thank you to the Castro Verde brothers. When they heard we had a deficit of 15,000, they jumped in. It was really, really special and remarkable. Many of you know probably Eddie and I have very different backgrounds, political views. And I said, you know, Hillary, what does that look like when you unite instead of divide? And we actually really enjoyed each other. We didn't throw any jabs, did we? Except for I did kick Eddie out of the car at the last minute. No, I'm just kidding. I didn't do that. But I just want to say thank you. It was really a moment that I felt so proud to be an American and be part of our community and just come together. I think if we don't start in our community, how will we start in our country? Right? So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I want to say thank you also to the city staff. You guys were remarkable. Please give them a huge...

Huge round of applause.

Nathan and Landon Miller and Tristan and Christy and everyone that showed up and all of our other partners from the RSCVA to the Chamber and Jay Resorts. They did a phenomenal job and they held the pancake breakfast for our veterans. They raised $7,000. I want to say thank you to the council members that showed up there too as well. It was really, really a special day. So thank you to Jay Resorts, fourth on fourth. Let's let it live on and celebrate together because I think that it's so special and very meaningful. And thank you, Eddie, for your contributions and everything you did. He jumped in and grabbed the permit and paid for that and said, let's do this. And we put differences aside. And I think that is really what we can do, whether we agree with each other or not. It makes a big difference. I always say, I think we can all agree that pizza and beer tastes good. Maybe you don't, but that's the great thing about our country. We get the ability to think differently, but at the same time, we can all come together and respect each other and celebrate together. So with that, Councilwoman Dewar, I'm going to ask you to take it away.

Well, thank you so much, and I did want to recognize some specific city staff you already did with... Nathan Oliot, who helped us organize this whole thing. But I also wanted to, and I don't know if Nathan's here or Landon is here, because Landon emceed this whole darn thing.

They're in the back.

Where is Nathan?

Well, I'd invite you up as well.

Any city staff member who took an active role in the committee or the planning, I'd encourage you to join us up here at the podium. And I just want to say for my part, I did no work. Okay, the biggest work I did was trying to find a USA t-shirt, the one that I loved. Not just any old t-shirt, but one I really, really wanted to own.

How about all the waving though?

That was a lot of waving. And to your point, Mayor, I've heard we had 70 floats. I've heard we had 100 floats. What I do know is that while I did nothing to help this parade other than call a few sponsors, what I did do was be a participant in the parade. And I got to say, I've participated in every Veterans Day parade that the city has done. for going on 12 years. And this exceeded that in attendance. It exceeded it in enthusiasm. As we kept going, I could not believe that the streets were still lined. I kept thinking, well, this is like a three block thing. It'll be over in a minute, but it was not over in a minute. And so I wanted to share my own thanks to the committee. I'm so pleased that I was able to be part of this. So in that spirit, I want to read this proclamation. And the city of Reno has joined communities across the nation in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. recognizing the ideals of freedom and democracy that have shaped our nation. And whereas Independence Day provided an opportunity to reflect on our nation's history, celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy, and recognize the people and communities that continue to contribute to our communities and our country's strength and success. And whereas parades and community gatherings in particular have been a cherished tradition in America, bringing neighbors together to foster civic pride, to foster unity, and a sense of really belonging. And I got to tell you, I felt like I belonged in Reno as part of that parade. Whereas the city of Reno was proud to host the fourth on fourth parade, creating an opportunity for residents, businesses, community organizations, and visitors to come together in celebration of our nation's history and our community's future. And I got to add parenthetically, I met a number of people who traveled quite a distance to be part of the parade. I kept saying, where are you from? Oh, I'm from Fallon. Oh, where are you from? Oh, I'm up from the lake. Where are you from? Well, I'm from Palm Springs. I mean, I'm like, what? They go, I love to come to Reno and especially right now. And so whereas the 4th of July... The 4th on 4th parade served as a celebration of America's 250th while recognizing Reno's contributions to the strength, innovation, and resilience that define our nation. So now, therefore, I, Naomi Dewar, on behalf of Hillary El-Shibi, Mayor of the City of Reno, do declare in the past July 4th, 4th on 4th parade day. And like you said, Mayor, I hope this tradition continues on for some time. So thank you. And I rarely clap in chambers, but I would like to clap and applaud this committee. So thank you. And thank you, Mayor, for giving me the honor. And I don't know if I should actually present this to someone, the initiator here.

Eddie would be fine.

I don't know if you've gotten many city proclamations, but here you go. It's our pleasure at the mayor and my end of our term to do such.

And each one of you should have a special proclamation. with your name on it. And if you didn't get one, we will make sure that you did. The other thing is, you know, putting events together in such a short time can be fun, but also a little bit challenging at times. And so all of you just stepped in and you made it happen. And so we'll work on those little glitches for next year. And Landon, you did a wonderful job. We're just lucky to have a former news anchor that can be out there rallying the troops. And so we'll start on time and all these other things. But it was also difficult because we had the flyover and

That was amazing. It was amazing. That was totally amazing.

But you have to time it all. And so you think about these things later, but how we can improve. But it was just phenomenal. And I'm so grateful for all of you coming together and doing that for our community. It was very, very special.

I don't know if one of you on behalf of the group wanted to make some comments, but you're welcome. Dave. Dave.

Dave's the one, actually. This all started with Dave. Many of you probably don't know that. And Dave is a former police officer. He's from the city of Mickey, I like to say. Big one. The Mouse House. The Mouse House. And so what Dave has done, he actually has a ton of experience putting on parades, policing parades, all the things that go with the parades, because you actually lived in the city that probably does the most of them and does them incredibly well. So I will tell you, we kind of had an expert at our fingertips, and it really did start with Dave. He's been coming to Reno, I think, since the 70s, you said. So we've officially adopted you, and we hope you don't mind. But, Dave, I'd love for you to say a few words, because it really did start, all this started with Dave, and I'm really grateful. So take it away.

Well, thank you. Listen, the city committee and the... Group that we brought together along working with the City Council and the mayor It really did come together beautifully. I think the parade showed that there was an appetite Within our community you just mentioned Fallon and so on so We're doing it again It is being done and it will be again on July 4th, and I hope that we can enlist This crew and you guys. So thank you for everything. It came together very well. It was a surprise that it was that big. But it's this group that made that really happen.

And I think we need to thank you, Hillary. You were the one who said this needs to happen, and that meant so much to us.

Thank you. Are you kidding? You guys made it so easy. I was just grateful to be a part of it. It was really special. So thank you to all of you, and thank you to our city staff. It was very, very special. So we're going to do it again? Yes. I love it.

I ended up also, I was going to say a few words too, but I did want to help. And thank you, Hillary, for everything and for this whole city council. And I want to thank the manager. Thank you so much for everything, Ms. Bryant. You did a great job. And the thing is, you know, I just hope it teaches people something where you can lay your differences down because me and you, we've had our battles. We've been friends. We've battled. And now it's great to call you a friend again, and we lay our differences aside, and you had a lot of grace doing that. I appreciate you so much. So, and everybody on the council, it was great. It was nice to see everybody out there. Devin was dressed up, ready to go. We had a great time. I mean, it was good. So it's great when people look at positives instead of a lot of times we get in the grind and stuff and people are negative, but it was great. But I do want to thank all the staff and everybody involved. I hope we put it on a future agenda to happen in the future. But to all the staff and everybody, I mean, and getting a hold of everybody. I can't thank people enough. And with the Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Willett here getting all the people together ready to go. She was relentless.

She did not stop.

Yes, and David, thanks for everything. and those cars were amazing and city staff, thank you. I'm glad you did it and believed in it and thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right. Well, thank you, everyone. Really appreciate you. Good job, Kayla and everyone that just made it.

You want to take a picture? Okay, let's do it.

Thank you.

All right. I'm gonna send it over to our interim clerk and continue with item A3, public comment.

thank you. Madam mayor our first item today is public comment it should be noted for those in attendance that comments are to be addressed to the mayor and council as a whole. Comments heard under this item will be limited to three minutes per council may not take action upon any matter not agendized on today's agenda. When you are called on for public comment, please state your name for the record and begin speaking. The timer will begin when you say your name and you'll be afforded three minutes. For those participating in chambers, in accordance with council rules 6.3.11, while in this room, please be respectful. thank you Mr. Chair. Disruptive behavior from audience members like clapping yelling whistling etcetera which impede the meeting may result in a warning issued by the presiding officer. If the behavior continues you may be removed from chambers. If you are an attendee in the zoom meeting and would like to make public comment please raise your hand at this time.

I love to lead with Terry.

Good morning. It's me, Terry Brooks, again. And today I'd like to share with you my thoughts on having pets and what seniors go through. Many seniors still cherish the time that they spent raising their kids and the time they spent helping their kids by helping to raise their grandkids. But later on, if their descendants have moved and those seniors have lost a spouse, then they may find themselves alone in their house. Taking care of others is something they cannot forget. So now they might consider adopting a younger pet. Some seniors make the choice to adopt a cat, though it might take some time for that cat to adapt to its new habitat. Some seniors make the choice to adopt a dog instead, even though that dog may choose to adopt that senior instead. Some seniors might make the choice to adopt a parrot, but when they hear that parrot talk, it might be difficult to bear it. When a senior adopts a pet, there is a kind of interaction that usually leads to two sides of a very loving attraction. The senior takes care of the pet with a feeling of responsibility. Then the pet takes care of the senior with a feeling of amiability. Both the senior and the pet become very fond of each other that then forms a very special bond. They both not only feel the need to take care of each other, but they also find themselves depending on each other. The senior feeds the new pet with food that they bought, and the pet's reaction by eating it gives that senior food for thought. The pet now has a place to stay, and the senior now babysits. Everyone involved is happy, and everyone benefits. I would like to thank you all for listening to me today, and I hope that some of you will tell your pets what I had to say today.

Terry, I love that so, so much. You know, Councilwoman Durer and Jackie and I were big pet fanatics. Actually, everyone up here is big pet fanatics. We all have animals. And if you are a senior, it's so good for your mental health and to so many benefits. I just lost my baby of 16 years, and I'm distraught. It's, like, really, really tough. But I would say this. If there are any seniors out there that would like to adopt, I work with organizations like Jackie does. Kathleen, Devon, Brandy, all of us up here, we work with great organizations that will pay for pet food and for medical, because sometimes it's really tough for seniors because they're living on fixed incomes. But if you would love to adopt a pet, we're happy to help you up here. So, Terry, that was beautiful and such a good message. And Mr. White, who loves his bunnies, this gentleman right here takes care of lots of bunnies.

Good morning, everybody. Stephen White here, notorious defender of your First Amendment right to be an artist in America. Hey, you know, we're working on the Art in the Park project, and I wanted to show you a picture here of the mushroom display that we put in down there by the butterfly sculpture by Centennial Park. As a proof of concept, well, the concept is working out pretty good. And artists are using the display. But now, as a matter of fact, tomorrow, I'm going to be driving around with Nathan to all of the different public parks around the city. We're going to go to each ward. And I would love to have your input, each one of your council members, if you represent a ward. We'd love to have your input of telling us where you think we should install one of these in one of your parks in your area. And the revised version of it, this one was, of course, I donated to the city. That was limited on how much money I could spend. The revised version, it'll be permanent, will be using the actual steel poles that is provided by Uline to, in fact, here's one down here, where these security panels actually bolt onto them. So that in the final product, the final version of the mushroom display, there will be a center pole, and then there'll be an outside pole hooked to each one of the panels, and they'll all be bolted down to a concrete pad. So it becomes a solid, permanent structure. The umbrella still fits down through the middle. There's an eye bolt on the upper outer corner here that sticks up, and the ribbing of the umbrella goes through that eye bolt. So the whole umbrella is bolted right to the top about this way, and it's not going anywhere. I want to tell you, I am really proud of the city of Reno. This has taken years, but we are putting together a package that we can hand off to every other city in the country. It's going to have the federal court rulings, the state assembly bill. It's going to have the protocol. It's going to have the Reno municipal codes, because cities don't know how to write codes to deal with this matter. It's going to have the prototype. They're going to have pictures of the actual mushroom display and actually a price list of the parts that go into building one. One of these mushroom displays in the finished package will run about $1,400 to $1,500. Then you've got also the concrete pad. But this is incredible. This is something that's never been done before. We're also going to be providing the protocol for using these displays. And I'm working with Nathan. We're working on the protocol and the website and the proper language to be using. And it's absolutely amazing. I am really, really proud of all of you for supporting this. I came here many years ago to deliver the gift of art back to your children as a gift from the children that died at Columbine. And finally, something beautiful is coming from that, you know? Something really beautiful is coming from that. We're bringing beauty to the world and understanding between people. It's a wonderful thing, and I'm proud of all of you. And thank you, Mayor. You know, we've been working on this together for 12 years. It wouldn't be happening if it weren't for all the support you've given me all these years. God bless you.

It was actually our first ordinance. Do you remember? It was my very first ordinance that we passed, and we made it so that artists don't have to have permits, things like that. We want people to create everywhere. So if you're an artist, please get out there. We're going to make more of these. I heard a wonderful story the other day. I ran across an artist displaying his work, and he said this is his art therapy. He had been addicted to drugs for many, many years and felt like it was a purpose for him to go out there and share with other people. And he was just sort of handing out his work. I mean, they were beautiful, but he was handing them to people, and they were saying, well, how much is this? And he said, it's free. He said, I want you to have it. There's a reason we came in connection with each other. And it just, it really... Made me so proud and Nathan. I don't know where you are. I'm having a hard time seeing today. There you are This would not have happened without you. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart Nathan you really jumped in he has a million things that he's got to do and Council loves to just jump in and say we want to do this we want to do this So then it takes away from all of his other work, right? But he made it happen. And so Nathan. Thank you so much. I I hope you've been able to enjoy and see these artists getting out there, but also I want to be very clear with the artists that you do not need a permit. You can get out there and create, and if anyone asks you that you need a permit to sell your artwork, that is not true. We wanted to make sure that artists were welcome all over our city, and we're making it happen.

There are three things, important things, that we have to get across to everybody in the city, everybody, artists and the whole community. Three important points that are important to the art department program. Number one, it has to be artistic self-expression. The artwork being sold has to be done by the person that created it. Number two, the artwork can have no other purpose than to be expressive. If it has a dual purpose, both functional or utilitarian, as well as expressive, it's commercial and requires a license. And number three, that the artwork... I forget. That the artwork has no other purposes than to be expressive, you know, and it's self-expressive. And I want to reiterate Nathan over here. You know, he's working with me. He's letting me, you know, he's letting me take the reins. I have 30 years of experience on this, and I... He's my best friend. I love him. He's just great. What we're doing is he recognizes the package that we're putting together. It's going to influence cities all over the country.

Yeah, that's so great.

God bless you.

And Mr. White can be feisty. So you want to be on Mr. White's side. And I love it because look at your tenacity. It's paid off.

We're getting it done. All right.

Thank you, my friend. Thank you.

We can all be very proud of what Reno's accomplishing here. It's going to create opportunities for a lot of people. God bless you all. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Kay Genasi, followed by Ben Beckham, followed by Corey Johnson.

All right, Katie. Tough act to follow. My name is Kay Genassi, a long time proud resident of Washoe County, and I'm a retired educator over 40 years with Washoe County School District, currently active with senior groups and the art community. I run a portrait weekly group on Wednesdays, and I also have a women's breakfast group. Just to let you know, I'm in... talking to a lot of people, and while we're talking to them, I'm here to share with you our concerns and a petition that talks about the serious traffic safety issues that we're all experiencing. It seems to be a critical mass now of people who are not paying attention to rules and regulations. We are witnessing substantial sustained increased serious traffic violations in extreme and persistent speeding, aggressive erratic driving, unsafe lane changing, widespread distracted driving primarily due to cell phone usage, consistent disregard for traffic signals, entering intersections under a red light. And I talked with a group and I've heard some really sad stories and some daily kinds of experiences with this. And so we got together and decided we need to do a petition and get those in charge attention. We've noticed that, of course, Washoe County population has grown like crazy. and the traffic as well. And we don't feel like enforcement, planning, resource allocations from state officials have kept up with the pace of traffic growth in our community. I have a petition with signatures and I'll lead with your secretary and I appreciate if you would look at it. Is there any questions?

Actually, yes. I was going to say I have a question too. Actually, I want to ask our city manager to address this.

Yeah, I think it's important so that the public also has some background.

So there were some legislative changes a couple of years ago at the legislature that made certain infractions associated with driving a vehicle a civil matter instead of a criminal matter. And since then, we've seen a significant uptick challenges in this space. So I'd like to connect you with some folks who can get you in contact with our legislators. We're coming back into session in February of this next year and I think that you would be very helpful in that space.

Thank you for listening. Of course. And I'll take this and give it. Thank you.

My quick question was, you and your group, is there any particular part of town? Is it Reno? Is it Sparks?

It's all over. It's senior citizens. I'm 90 years old. What? I'm part of the longtime citizens, so I'm... contact with that and veterans associations and with my group. And we're all really concerned. It's past being concerned because we're seeing, you know, things every day. And so, anyway, I'll give you the petition.

Okay, you're remarkable. I'm lucky. What's the secret? No, I'm kidding. What's your secret? Give us one secret to a long life.

I don't know. Keeping active, I guess. Good friends, good family.

That's wonderful.

It supports me.

That's great.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you so much. Ben Beckham, followed by Corey Johnson, followed by Jason Craig. Okay, Ben. 90.

Amazing.

Hi, my name is Ben Beckham. I'm here representing the McQueen Knight Riders. We're a mountain bike club in Northwest Reno. And we're here to say thank you today to the Reno City Council and to Council Member Reese for his continued support of our team. And bringing back the Sierra Vista Bike Park, which has become a hub for our practices, was a key. And especially a thank you for the continued work on rebuilding that park since the structure fire in 2024. And today I thought it would be fun to hear from two of our amazing high school athletes. Oh, I love this. So I have two high school athletes with me here today. All right. I'd love to share my time with.

Future mayors, come on up.

I'm Abby. I'm going in my sixth year on the team now. I love seeing all the new riders joining every year. When I started, there was only 25 riders, and we're above 70 now with over 300 people at the banquet. Wow. We now serve 5th to 12th grade, so I think that's really cool. So we are a part of NICA, which is the Inner Class Stick Association, and we're mainly focused on getting more kids on bikes. I think it builds a really strong biking community and it's also helped kids mentally and physically. Me personally, I feel the, like, amazingness every day.

I love the team.

We learn how to work hard, we learn how to train, we become amazing teammates to each other. It's really just good for all ages and the team is super inclusive to get kids outdoors. I wanted to thank everyone for the donations we've received. We've been able to start a loaner bike program so kids who don't have access to bikes can get on bikes and come ride with the team. We've also been able to start some scholarships and give training to our coaches for outside medical. So I think that makes the team safer. It makes our coaches more confident, our riders and the parents. Everyone can come together and have a fun time. So I just wanted to say thank you. And I love this team, so thank you for supporting it.

Wow, that's fantastic. What grade are you in?

I'm going to be a junior.

You're going to be a junior? Yes. Wow, you're impressive. Thank you. Okay, take it away.

Good morning, you guys. My name is Bridger Dalton. I'm 15, and I'm going into my fifth year on the McQueen Knight Riders. Wow. I wanted to give you guys a quick update on the Sierra Vista Shelter Rebuild. As you know, Sierra Vista and its bike trails were made possible through the city's transformation of the old Northgate Golf Course into a park that has become one of Reno's most popular outdoor spaces. Since the shelter was destroyed by arson in 2024, our team has been working with the city of Reno and the community to help rebuild. We've been raising funds and sharing why this shelter matters. It is not just for mountain bikers, but families, runners, dog walkers, and so many others to use it every day. The shelter provided the park's only shade and a place to gather, especially during Reno's ridiculously hot summers. The community's response has been positive and we're making great progress toward our fundraising goal of $250,000. We have so far raised $140,000. On behalf of the McQueen Knight Riders, thank you for creating the Sierra Vista Bike Park. Thank you for your help with the Shelter Rebuild Project. And thank you for your help with getting more kids on bikes.

That's fantastic. I love this. Will you please tell everyone how they can get involved?

There's many things you can do. Donations would be amazing. What else do you guys think?

But if they wanted to join your group, how would we get in touch with you? When do you ride? Is there an age limitation? What can you tell us?

So the team, you can start, you can join it when you're going into your fifth grade now. So we used to do it sixth grade. Now we've grown to fifth graders.

We have a website. And so if you just put an email in there, you can get a contact and someone will contact you and help you get registered. We're getting ready to start right now. So if anybody is interested, our practices officially start the first week of August. So this will be a great time to sign up and register.

Wow, that's awesome. And then do you work with other local groups to get bikes?

We have worked with other local groups and some local bike shops in town, but mainly our bikes are funded by donations right now.

Okay. Well, if you have kids that need bikes, please reach out to our office. We work with other nonprofits and other businesses, too, because I think this is such a great way to get outside, but also for children's mental health. It's awesome.

Thank you.

That's great. Thank you. Well, you guys have fun and send us pictures. Or maybe we'll come out. I don't know. I'm not very good at riding a bicycle, but maybe you have one of those two-seaters or something. We have all levels. Okay. Everyone's welcome. Or maybe I'm past the age group for you. I don't know.

All right. Madam Clerk. Corey Johnson, followed by Jason Craig, followed by Scott Sadie.

All right, hi. Hello. I'm a community organizer of the Whitewater community and administrator of the Reno Surf Project, which I started in 2021. Our community believes the standing surf wave will be the downtown attraction that is a catalyst to the activation of a thriving economy downtown. To achieve that, it will require the surf wave. Let's see if we can get this to come up. How do I get it?

There you go.

Oh, you can't see that.

Maybe turn it sideways and put it in the middle. You know, turn it sideways so we can see the full video. It is full. Or is this the best view?

So this is on the Visit Bend community state page just as another promotion for their city. And that is what we could have downtown.

Wow, that's so cool. Why with the one, and I don't know what we call it exactly, but why can't you do it with the one or you can do it with the one?

So from the $2 million investment that was initially made last year to complete the, or to complete wave two, which is called, the current water is not, it's not functioning. And my colleague is much more hydrology, has a background in hydrology and can explain the solution to that. My objective today is to point out that there is huge economic benefit for having an effective surf wave and creating this sort of attraction. There are nearly 100 man-made waves in the United States showing that there is a multiplier effect where if there is one surfer, there's typically five to 10 spectators. And that spectator multiplier has shown to bring in $1 to $8.2 million annually to the cities who have waves in their downtown attractions. Having spoken to the city council members, of Bend, Oregon and Boise, Idaho. Both cities share that they've spent well over $10 million to build their whitewater parks and set aside $200,000 a year for annual maintenance and budgets, including a staff member dedicated to that management and maintenance. To achieve this, we do have a three-part process, or a three-part plan as a solution. First and foremost, let's get the Wave 2, which is in our downtown Whitewater Park now, to be surfable. My colleague Jason will explain what the solution would be for that. And then the second part, having surveyed through my advocacy for the Whitewater Park, talking to the public, Reno citizens are concerned about the quality of water, the safety of the water, the cleanliness of the water, along with there not being enough signage about how to safely enter the water and exit the water. Having the life vest is a beautiful and nice offer to the city, but it comes back to we have an educational time to inform the public how to safely be around white water, but also environmental efficacy and the etiquette of spending time with other people in the water. The third plan, so one, make it Reno surfable. Two, let's inform the public of how to use the water and spend more time down there. And three, is going back to having a long-term maintenance plan so that Reno can get back to having a thriving whitewater park that we had in 2003. Thank you for your time. Oh, good job. What's your name again? Corey. Corey. Last name? Johnson.

Corey Johnson.

Okay.

Thank you. Great job.

Madam Mayor, before Mr. Johnson leaves, I wanted to just share with you and... my colleagues that I had the privilege of going with Corey and Jason earlier in the week to look at the Whitewater Park and some of the features that are there and Corey and Jason and a whole group of people are working with Nathan and the Parks Department and our rec our parks and rec Commission to to really figure out a way to make sure that the thing that we built in the river, which some years ago was one of the top destinations for whitewater and kayaking, really continues to shine. There are some technical issues when we work in the river, but I think in the next six to eight weeks we'll have a comprehensive plan to this body for us to evaluate to how do we make sure it does the things it's supposed to do and how do we get people in the river? Because you saw the beautiful video of the wave surfing, We need to get you out there on that wave. Maybe Miguel and I will get out there on that wave.

Yeah, get you on a board and a bike.

Board and a bike, I like it. But it is one of the critical components of an economic vitality downtown and near the river that they're working on, they're very passionate about.

I love it. It's awesome. Thank you for your time. Also, I would recommend maybe something to go and speak in public comment at the RSCVA. It's a tourism industry. Yeah. Great job. Great. I look forward to seeing you again. I'll connect you. Thank you.

Jason Craig, followed by Scott Sadie, followed by Krista George.

Hello, everybody. My name is Jason Craig. I am a Reno native and world champion whitewater kayaker, and I grew up paddling in our whitewater park. For those of you who might not be aware, Reno has an incredible whitewater park, literally steps from the building we're in right now. It was built 20 years ago, and at the time it was built, it was the premier whitewater destination in the country, if not the world. We hosted the Reno Whitewater Festival that drew athletes not just from every corner of the U.S., but also international athletes. And following the building of the Whitewater Park, we had at least four reigning world champions living in Reno at that time. And so... Kind of the evolution of the Whitewater Park over the past 23 years since it's been built is that there's been multiple floods, periods of sedimentation in the river, and that basically has reduced the total quality of our Whitewater Park and the drops in the river. And so what I'm here today to advocate for is basically a maintenance plan or fund that we can go in and maintain our Whitewater Park, make the features the high quality features that they were designed to be, And also associated with the Arlington Bridge project, we installed this new whitewater feature, which is the number two feature. So this is totally different than anything you've seen in the past. This is something someone can take a surfboard down to the river and carve and actively surf. And that feature right now is not functioning, meaning you cannot surf it because the wave is not steep enough. So we need to go in and essentially modify the pool behind it to back up that wave. And there's a lot of kind of technical details around talking about a river and a whitewater park. And I think one thing that would be really valuable is to have someone that has that technical experience that can communicate what these features need, what kind of maintenance we need. And also, if we have hazards in the river, for instance, rocks or trees or rebar, not just in the Whitewater Park, but across other sections of the river, have a plan or a mechanism that we can use to remove those features, just like we would remove dangerous potholes or rebar in the road or something like that. We have an amazing resource in the river, and we just need a way to maintain it and some funds and also a permitting avenue that we can get in there, I would say, a little bit more rapidly than we currently are doing. So that's all I have for today.

Okay, that's awesome. Just one quick question. Was that amenity put in so that you could surf?

Yes.

But you can't? But you can't? You can't right now.

So the structure was put in to surf, but basically a couple things happened. There was a flood last summer. I believe it was July 28th. You guys might remember this is the flood that flooded the Jay Resort. It was like a hundred year flood event down Keystone Canyon. So that whole flood water drained right underneath Arlington Bridge when there was an active dam and construction site there. And it pushed more sediment in underneath that channel, and kind of following that whole period, there wasn't a full kind of completion of removing the sediment and making the number two and number three features, so the two features both above and below Arlington Bridge to basically perform as designed. Okay. So what we're talking about here is to go in, remove the sediment, and modify some in-channel elements to make those two features perform for both river surfing and river kayaking. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, thank you for that. I did not know that it was intended for surfing. I am seeing all the kids use it and having a great time. So I'm just getting, it seems like, you know, annihilated in some of that area. So I do love that you also brought up the safety of getting in and out and how that works. But it's really impressive. So I'm going to kind of run down some things with RTC and sort of... dive in, no pun intended, but very cool. Thank you so much. Appreciate the background. I'll also get with Nathan. I'm sure he has a long list of what we have to accomplish to get it done. Madam Mayor.

Yes, go ahead. Can I just say, you were an aspiring Olympian at one point in time. I want to say Mr. Craig is before us today and has been very humble about his past experience, but I will share with you that in 2009 he was a junior world champion, as I recall, having taken that title in Switzerland. He also met a mayor in 2011 during sort of a kayaking incident in Beale Falls, broke his back and spine, I think told he would never walk again. So it's very impressive and then he defended his title at the Reno River fest in 2014 So very impressive human in our midst and here trying to build a better community for our kayaking community So my hope is that through our parks and rec staff who is absolutely behind This too is that we'll find a way to make the number two feature the feature It was intended to be we may have some work to do over at RTC to make that happen and And there are some other folks who are contributing to this conversation to including folks who originally designed these water features So there's a lot of positive momentum It's just something that we I think have to focus our attention on and so I'm grateful for them coming out this morning to share it with us It's hard because you know the tennis community likes their issues the biking community as we saw earlier likes their issues We're trying to figure out a way to meet all the needs. But this one is unique because it has the opportunity to really create a catalyst for other kinds of economic development along the river. If you see any of these, we need some signage, for example, on the river to let people know what it is. Because if you were just walking by, as I did yesterday, and saw it, you might not know that it is a feature that's intended to be used in a particular way.

Had the chance to try to serve unsuccessfully on one in Munich, which was comical but also very fun So maybe another time I met a mayor one quick comment We are well on our way to the second point you made about hazards in the river and I just want to commend the redevelopment board which we are we serve as because I believe we put $500,000 This year to begin removing obstacles in various stretches of the river, whether it's rebar, rock, downed trees, whatever. So we heard you, and we've heard people before you, like Mr. Charles Albright, be continuing talking about these hazards that make it difficult, whether you're canoeing, rafting, kayaking, or whatever, or just trying to be there. And so I was really thrilled when the city included an actual budget to begin to do that. That's great news.

Yeah. All right, Jason, congratulations on your success, and you're also very inspirational, like a miracle.

Yeah, very lucky.

And you live here now?

Yeah.

You've always lived here?

Yeah, I just finished my PhD at Stanford in geology. A fellow geologist. You know, it's one of the few places that you can kayak and ski and

Like I say, we play hard in the day and we play hard at night. I think your mother founded Art Town back in the day.

Your mom founded Art Town? Yeah.

Wow.

I grew up in the Wingfield Whitewater Park and kind of broader Art Town. That's so cool. I spent a lot of time down there.

That's awesome. Thank you. All right. Thanks so much. Scott Sadie, followed by Krista George, followed by Bree Casper. Okay, Scott.

Hi, I'm Scott Sadie. I've lived here for 30 years. I started kayaking when you built the Whitewater Park. Ended up getting pretty good because of all the people that moved here because of that Whitewater Park, including, you know, Jason didn't move here, but he was always out there. I ended up traveling around competing with him. And I would just, you know, like to kind of refresh your memory on what we had. I don't know if this is going to, does it take a while to go in? Let's see if we can turn that sideways. There you go. Remember that? When we used to have people out on the river, hundreds of people watching people kayak when this park was first built? We built it in 2004, I think for about $1.5 million. And I think your own numbers show about 16 to 17 million ROI in the first five years alone. I'm pretty sure we all agree that this Whitewater Park literally kicked off the downtown renovation. It was a thing that started to bring people here. We expanded it to downtown. We expanded it to midtown. It's a huge economic asset to us, but we let it go to heck. There's nothing else in the world, I think, that you would build and leave it alone for 23 years without touching it or doing any maintenance and expect it to perform. Let me show you another couple pictures here. Since you didn't really know what the surf wave was supposed to be like, this is an almost identical surf wave. If you've gone down to the Whitewater Park, it looks like this. This is what it's supposed to look like. This is what draws people to river. If you talked to Nate at the last meeting, people from all over the country have moved here because of the river. So what happened? High water event like Jason talked about, it pushed a bunch of sediment into the river. You'd begun excavating the giant hole for the bridge. All that washed in. The earthen dam that kept the river from coming back up the channel on the north channel washed in. So there's a bunch of sediment there. I believe $300,000 was set aside to get rid of that sediment after that event. Only 19,000 of it was ever spent. I believe logistics, a construction company was worried about their schedule being behind. So anyhow, at the very least, I would like to see that money somehow get back and put towards rehabilitating and getting this park to what it should be. I'd also like to put a bug in your ear about the river as a trail, the river as an asset. You go to Bend, you go to Idaho, you go to some of these other communities and And their communities are connected by the river. It's even more so in Europe. We got a whitewater park in Sparks. We got a whitewater park in Reno. People regularly float down from Patagonia and Glendale, sometimes Verdi. Jason and I have done Verdi to Reno run I don't know how many times. Down the road, if we can clean up that horrible Glendale diversion dam and make a nice channel, you're going to have a major world-class river trail. Like not the trail along the river, but the river as a trail, as an asset. And we've seen this in Colorado where infrastructure has grown up around that, especially Buena Vista, you know, bars, rental things, sports educators, you know, whole economies have grown up around the river. So that's about it. Thanks.

That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Scott.

Krista George, followed by Bree Casper, followed by Anthony Postman.

Krista. Hi. Before I start, Madam Mayor, I just want to tell you that 16 years is amazing. That's a huge amount of love and care, and my heart goes out to you. I work in the pet memorial industry, and I know how bad that hurts, and my heart really goes out to you.

And I don't have kids, so I think that was my child.

Oh, I have kids, and I still treat my animals that way. Well, that's true, too.

Jackie knows that, too.

Yeah, I understand. Thank you. Anyway, for the record, my name is Krista George, and for anybody who hasn't heard me speak before, I am the closest... residential neighbor to the Keystone Data Center. I'm about 300 feet away from it. And today, I would like to request an action item be placed on the next city council agenda to rescind the permit for 265 Keystone Avenue, the site of the Centra Keystone Data Center, for major deviations to the original application. The neighbors and I have discovered new information that reveals that the Centra Keystone Data Center has deviated more than 10% from its original permitting. We request the proper time to present our findings of these violated permit items. Per the information provided to you these last few months via public comments and emails, it would be fitting to allow the public to present their findings for this governing board to evaluate for themselves about what should be done. Also, on the second note, I have two things to say. I'm here also to talk about flock cameras. I feel they are unconstitutional, non-consensual violations of privacy. I do not consent to my image or my information being taken or stored by flock cameras in the city of Reno. I please ask that you cancel the contract in Reno for flock cameras. They are unconstitutional. That's all I have to say today.

OK, thank you so much. Just so you know, we have all been in summer break. And I've seen your correspondence, been trying to follow it. I think for clarity, it would be a good idea to put it on the agenda, because I'm trying to figure out what is happening and how it's changed and all those things. So I want you to know, um, that will happen. Okay. And I want you to also know it's your husband, um, who I ran into at the July 4th parade. And just so everyone knows her husband is the one that created the beautiful belief sign. And it was great to see him. Yeah. It was really great.

First thing he said, I saw the mayor.

No, he was so sweet. I just love him. I told all these kids that were standing around them, Do you know who this is? Oh, that's great. He loves being resident.

Oh, I love it. That's awesome. Thank you.

Bree Casper, followed by Anthony Postman, followed by Alex Badgett.

Hello, everyone. For the record, my name is Elizabeth Bree Casper. I also live right next to the Keystone Data Center. I am 604 feet, actually, from the data center. Today, I would like to request an action item be placed onto the next city council agenda to resend the permit from the 265 Keystone Avenue, the site of the Centra Keystone Data Center, for major deviations from its original permit and application. The neighbors and I, mainly Krista and I, have been doing public records requests and following up on this to the T. We have done our research and we have enough information that we would like the amount of time that the data centers are given to present to present to you our findings that we have found on the major deviations that have occurred. And I'm talking there are more than 10 deviations that are illegal and should cause them to stop construction as of right now. And so we just want the time and diligence to be able to prove to you so that you can do what you think is best. We request the proper amount of time to present these findings in violations of the permits, per the information provided to you the last few months, as Hilary Schieve pointed out. There has been numerous emails going back and forth between many city council officials, between the planning commission, between the city council, and planning department, building departments, and it would be nice if we could just all get on the same page about this project. for you, the governing board, to evaluate yourself. I would also like to request that we cancel all contracts for all AALPR systems. Their privacy invasion and the companies of Axon, Flock, and Motorola need to be canceled. This also needs to be an action item added to the next available agenda. This should be done sometime in the near future, sometime before December, when contracts are up for automatic renewal This is something that nobody in the city wants, let alone an automatic renewal. So the minimal that you could do is to have this on an agenda item and have the city be able to tell you how much we do not want our privacy invaded. Thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate all that you do in representing us and safeguarding us as a community. I know that you all take your job very seriously. very personally, and you do a great job. I'm not trying to say that you don't, but as representatives, your job is to safeguard us. It is not to take money from big corporations. It is not to allow things to happen to help the betterment of your position. In fact, Mayor Schieve, I don't know how you can... it would affect you as much as you put toward the free and affordable housing for the community to have the ability to be safely living in Reno, and now we're not going to be able to afford our utilities. How is this going to function toward... the work that you've done in the entirety of your career. And if we don't get the opportunity to hold all of these businesses that are coming in and trying to take over, we need to hold them to the same accountability as the ones that are going to be coming through once the permits are approved after the moratorium is released. They all need to be held to the same standards. We can't say that these were given permits as a warehouse and these were given permits as a data center. It's not fair, it's not appropriate, and it's not what needs to be done. It's also not safeguarding the interests of your constituents. And you've spent so much time and energy putting a great name to your career. I can't imagine what this would do to it if we allow these to continue to stay in the city of Reno.

Thank you so much. And I just always have to point out, when I look at you and I see your glasses, I just...

Honestly, we are all one. We are all one people. We're not red or blue. We're all human beings. We're all people that need water. We need fresh air. And that's what I think about when I wear my heart glasses. We are all one love. We all need the same things to exist and thrive in this community. And I appreciate you for safeguarding them. Thank you so much.

Anthony Postman, followed by Alex Badgett, followed by Rosie Zuckerman.

Anthony. I've known Anthony since, I don't know. He hates it when I tell people that, but I was best friends growing up with his sister, Madeline, but I've known Anthony forever. Amazing artist, by the way, and go check out his work and buy his albums and support this amazing human.

Thank you so much. So go ahead. Thank you Mayor Schieve. Thank you City Council for giving us the time. I just wanted to slip in this idea that I'd love to support Brie and Krista in the request for an action item to rescind the permit for the central Keystone Data Center. And then I guess perhaps as a formality as well to examine the flock contract if a member of the community can request that to be added as an action item I would like to take this opportunity to do so. So I'm Anthony Postman and I do believe that continuously tracking cameras are an unconstitutional instrument of a technocratic oligarchy. I stand before you today in opposition of the use of flock cameras in the cities of Reno and Sparks and in Washoe County at large. But not only Flock, Flock is a brand, one that has been tarnished by its own repeated lies to city councils, police departments, and to the public. Vigilant Solutions and Motorola are also big players on this field. As such, they all represent an industry estimated at $36 billion annually in contracts, contracts that profit on tracking the movements of all of us, whether we have done wrong or not. The AI industry driving ALPRs, as well as the prison industrial complex profiting on illegitimate and cruel ICE detentions, all profit on human suffering, captivity, and more and more often that of innocent people, and disproportionately, mistakenly, people of color. Flock's data is not sovereign or safe and has been shown to have been shared across state lines with ICE, Border Patrol, and other myriad malicious actors. Electronic Frontier Foundation writes, ALPRs, enhanced by AI and deployed nationwide, can be used to target specific groups, such as those who might be suspected of being undocumented immigrants, those seeking reproductive health care, or political protesters. Many of us are here today opposing the use of this invasive technology. We are exercising our First Amendment rights to free speech, to peaceably assemble, to petition the government for a redress of grievances. With an administration now vilifying protesters, going as far as calling us terrorists, I urge you, our local government, to protect our First Amendment rights, that you move to protect, not erode, our rights. We move through public spaces with a reasonable expectation of privacy, part of our Fourth Amendment rights, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Again, I urge you to take the action that will protect, not erode our rights. We need data transparency now. Please end all ARPR contracts now, not only flock, pass a local ordinance banning the use of automatic license plate reader technology. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Anthony.

Alex Badgett, followed by Rosie Zuckerman, followed by Greg Nuttall.

Hi there, my name is Alex Badgett. I wanted to talk about the Whitewater Park as well, in line with some of the folks that previously presented about it. I'm somewhat new to Reno, so I wanted to talk about Whitewater Parks and specifically surfing waves a bit more in general. As I lived in Colorado for the last 10 years, I've seen how the few waves that we've had in that state has grown exponentially across different locations in the state and what that's done to tourism and those local economies in general. We heard a little bit more about the specifics of what it takes to get Reno's wave up to par and up surfing and whatnot. I wanted to talk about what that can do if we do that. I've seen firsthand that it's kind of started out as this really niche and experimental thing where there's a couple of waves that you can surf standing up on across the country. Going towards these more engineered features that are generally direct tourist draws that serve as economic and cultural hubs for some of these locations where they're built. There's a ton of cities, both inside Colorado as well as outside, even in the Midwest, places like Iowa and Ohio, that have started to recognize the value of building these waves and what that does. Having seen firsthand in places like Salida in Colorado where there's a really new and really surfable wave that works almost all the time, There's lines of people out there waiting to surf the waves side by side. There's groups of people watching that, spending time in those places, enjoying those public access and those parks and that recreation opportunity, and then going in to spend money in those local economies, whether that's directly on surfing I was just in Boise and visited the surf shop in Boise, Idaho. It's crazy that there's a surf shop that works there. But that local wave that Boise operates drives that revenue. There's restaurants and bars and new condos and developments that have sort of popped up right where that wave is because it's such a draw and it's such a core thing. feature that people can enjoy and can be proud of in those communities. And I want to see that in Reno. I've seen how exciting that can be and how fun that is not just to surf, but to be able to be part of that kind of culture and community that enjoys that feature there. That being said, there's a really good ROI on these waves, but there's a need for investment, right? My friends have talked specifically about the need for investment and support and maintenance to ensure that these features operate as intended to bring in both those dollars and the people that can enjoy them. And I wanted to reiterate that, right? These are engineered systems that need support and maintenance to ensure that they're operating both safely and sustainably across the long term. And so I wanted to reiterate, you know, this is a really important and can be a good driver of local tourism, of economic development within that area. And it is going to drastically benefit from continued support from the city, both in getting this feature up and running, as well as supporting that feature to operate sustainably year over year.

That's awesome. Thank you so much. Love it. Love it.

Rosie Zuckerman, followed by Greg Nuttall, followed by Valeria Koss.

Hi, good morning. My name is Rosie Zuckerman. I'm here today on behalf of Laundry to the People. Laundry to the People is a completely volunteer-run organization that operates entirely on community donations. For the past five and a half years, we have offered free laundry services weekly to folks living outside or who can otherwise not afford to wash their things. In 2026, we expanded to a second location and have seen our numbers approximately double from what you see here on the screen. As you can see in the 2025 statistics, the need was already pretty great. Currently, we are at Champion Laundry at Vassar and Wells every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. and at Mega Wash on El Rancho Drive every Monday from noon to 1 p.m. I'm here today to thank Mayor Schieve and Council Member Reese for their generous donations of $1,000 each to Laundry to the People. We primarily operate off small donations from individuals, usually between $5 and $20, and so larger donations like these are enormously helpful in sustaining this program. In addition to monetary donations, we gladly accept donations of supplies like detergent, dryer sheets, fabric softener, and so on. Any supplies can be delivered to the Radical Cat bookstore at 1500 South Virginia Street during open hours, which are Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday 12 to 6. More information can be found on our Instagram at Laundry to the People. I would also like to add my voice to those here who are concerned about unwarranted and unaccountable surveillance. I'm asking for immediate camera deactivation and flock contract termination. I personally would love to live in a Reno where we're treated as neighbors and not as potential suspects to be automatically and constantly surveyed in a private database with zero transparency and accountability. Automatic license plate readers are the first egregious step in sacrificing our right to privacy in the name of a fear-mongering, paranoid public safety. Please terminate flock contracts, turn off flock cameras, ban all ALPR tech in Reno, and create a public transparent portal detailing surveillance tech currently in use. Thank you.

Rosie, first of all, I want to say that laundry to the people is really about giving people dignity. It's really commendable. Thank you so much. Will you please tell people if they need your help or what's the best way to get involved?

Yeah, so again, the best way to get involved is to come. Show up in person? To show up in person, yeah. We do have an Instagram account that is somewhat monitored. But if you are wanting to get involved by donations, you can donate directly to the Venmo, which is at Laundry to the People. Or you can bring supplies, which we can always use. So that's detergent, dryer sheets, fabric softener, large plastic bags. We do take closed donations for folks as well. And those can all be dropped off at the Radical Cap bookstore at 1500 South Virginia Street during open hours Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday 12 to 6. That's amazing. If you need our services, you can just show up at noon. And those days, again, are Friday noon to 1 p.m. at Champion Laundry at Vassar and Wells or Monday noon to 1 p.m. at Mega Wash on El Rancho Drive. That's just across from Teglia's Park.

Okay, thank you so much. I love what you do and also councilmember Reece. Thank you so much. Thank you for your doing this It's amazing.

Yeah, they make a significant impact. So we amazing. Thank you.

Thank you Greg Nuttall followed by Valeria costs followed by Alexander Milham Greg Nuttall for the record.

Good morning mayor Sheehy members of the council. Hello and I'm here to ask the city of Reno to terminate its use of automatic license plate readers, specifically flat cameras, and reject any replacement that creates the same mass surveillance network under a different name. There are plenty of people here who have already explained why this is bad for our community, which I genuinely do believe, but I want to come at this from a different angle. This Council on November 20th 2024 unanimously approved spending $450,000 on a flat contract and correct me if I'm wrong because I'm wrong a lot. That money was allocated from the federal coronavirus state and local recoveries funds program intended to help people who were struggling to get by during the pandemic. The people of Reno were trying to recover from a historic public health emergency. And this council decided that a way to help was to start spying on its citizens. It was a decision made on the fly because that money was about to expire in a few weeks if it wasn't used. So you heard in insufficiently researched proposal. from the then chief of police and you made a decision based entirely on the input of the same person who you just a few months later placed on administrative leave and eventually fired. The whole flock program in Reno was haphazardly born from a cascade of poor judgment by this Council. I think you made a mistake and that's fine we all make mistakes. not all of us make mistakes of awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in borderline fraudulent funding. On a whim for it for a corrupt police department to spy on our people but that's okay my point is you have the power to fix that mistake. I'm asking you to do so by immediately terminating the city's contract with flock and committing to abandoning any future plans to this type of dystopian mass surveillance technology. Thank you.

Thanks, Greg.

Appreciate you.

I haven't met you, but I've heard very nice things about you. So nice to meet you.

Thank you. Love you.

Valeria Koss, followed by Alexander Millam, followed by Daniel Jenkins.

Good morning. For the record, Valeria Koss. I'm here today on behalf of the Renovation Foundation. I want to strongly and just openly thank you, Mayor Schieve, Vice Mayor Martinez, Council Member Reese, and Council Member Anderson, for your really wonderful support of our mission. At the center of the mission of Renovation Foundation is to ensure that every youth, teen and young adult in the foster care system in our great community gets to experience a sense of belonging, community and support. Every year hundreds of our youth and teens enter into the foster care system through no fault of their own. A system that was designed to provide safety but not to raise our children. Through the Renovation Foundation, we provide therapeutic and supportive programs, such as our camp renovation, one of which we just completed last week in beautiful Lake Tahoe. That was for our teens, many of whom live in our community and never once have seen Lake Tahoe. It always is a great reminder to myself and our team of the work and the impact that we're doing. We also have our annual Christmas on the Comstock events where we focus on sibling reunification, even getting to see their bio families, and being able to select their own Christmas gifts, something that they often do not have choice when they're in a system. But most importantly, our Pave Your Way program. That's focused on our age 16 to 24. Those are the young adults that are preparing to exit out of foster care that do not yet have the skills they need necessary to not just survive but thrive. So we do independent living, college and career, as well as housing. So through your ongoing support and collaboration, we are forever grateful and will continue to do this work.

Well, I have to tell you, I get to see a lot of the videos and those children smiling. You guys are doing phenomenal work, phenomenal. We are so fortunate to have you in this community. I can't even thank you enough. Will you please let Kim know, I mean, I'm just such a huge fan of hers, She works every day in that space, so she knows it really well. And I just, I can't thank you enough. And Jesse and Shana and Jeremy. So I just want you to know we're here to support you and continue to do that amazing work because this is changing lives for those children. So congratulations. I know they're never easy to start, but you guys have done a phenomenal job and Again, I think this community is so lucky to have such a powerhouse, bringing awareness and also bringing opportunity for those children. So thank you.

Thank you. And if any of you would ever like to join us for any of our events, Devin, I know you were out there for the move-in. That's incredible. We have our second camp coming up in August. We would love to host you so you can see really... your collaboration in action.

And also, just one more thing. Tell everyone how they can get involved, whether they want to donate or do donations or just in any capacity, the things that you need that the community can help you. There are a lot of people that also watch online. And we have a lot of great people stepping up. So maybe you could tell everyone a little bit about how to contact you and how they can get involved.

I would love to do that. Thank you so much. So you can go to our website, renovationfoundation.org. You can also follow us on our official social media channels. There's always great things coming up. And then we are having a massive fundraiser that's going to be a really fun time at the National Automobile Museum on October 17th. So if you'd like to come and join us and really just have a great time raising funds for these incredible programs that I'm privileged and honored to be able to help with, and we'd love to see you all up. All right, that's fantastic. Thank you so much.

Madam Mayor? Yes. I just want to say that, unfortunately, all of my council funds were committed last year and this year to other big projects, but I, too, want to thank my colleagues, Brandy, the Mayor, Devin, and I think there were more. for doing, what's that?

Miguel.

Miguel, for doing what you're doing, because I'm so impressed by this. And I do hope to attend the October 17th as a way I can potentially give back on a personal note. But I just, I have read so much about what you're doing and the change that you are bringing to our community. And again, I thank my colleagues for stepping up and, you know, meeting the challenge that's needed. So thank you.

Thank you all. It's truly a privilege because we want to make sure every youth and teen in our community knows home means Nevada. And through that, it's these programs and the mentorship pipeline that we're building. So thank you.

You're sounding like a true Nevadan.

No, I am. Are you born and raised here? No, I wasn't. But I've been honored to be here for six years and I finally found my landing spot. I love it. It is. You're welcome. It is in every fiber of my being now. I love that. Thank you so much.

Alexander Milam followed by Daniel Jenkins followed by Mackenzie Nelson Good morning mayor Stevie and council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Alex Milam I'm a member of Northern Nevada DSA and I'm here to urge the council to end the city's contract with flock safety and disable their automatic license plate readers and to ban any ALPRs at the city level. Automatic license plate readers record a massive amount of data about our vehicles and driving patterns and make this information searchable by law enforcement without a warrant. Our data from Reno's flock cameras is not just available to RPD, but the hundreds of other agencies that they share data access with. Flock's transparency portal for RPD states that all system access requires a valid reason and states a number of prohibited uses, including immigration and personal use. I want to dig a little deeper into whether prohibiting or preventing these prohibited uses is realistic with this technology. According to the Institute for Justice, there have been at least 24 known cases of romantic stalking by law enforcement officers around the country using Flock cameras. This was obviously illegal in these jurisdictions, and most of these officers have been criminally charged since being caught. But the terrifying part is that most of them were not caught through internal audits or investigations. They were caught because the victims came forward and reported that they were being stalked. No internal safeguards caught, but they were searching the same plate over and over again, and that that plate was not connected to a warrant or active case. Washington State has laws preventing law enforcement from collaborating with ICE, so it's more than a prohibited use there. It should be illegal. So you'd think that their flock data would be safe from being used in immigration enforcement. But in a study of flock networks in Washington State, researchers found that eight Washington law enforcement agencies gave Customs and Border Patrol direct access to their flock data, and many more were searched. by agencies out of state. California's laws go farther in specifying how ALPRs can be used. They have a law prohibiting law enforcement from sharing ALPR data with federal agencies. But audit logs that have been made public have shown that law enforcement agencies regularly break this law and conduct searches on behalf of ICE anyway. So policies and laws are failing to prevent these misuses and abuses. Sharing data with other agencies adds to the risk for illegitimate use. As I said in that same study from Washington, they found that almost all of the 35 agencies they studied had immigration-related searches from out of state. And these are searches with clearer terms related to immigration. But many more are very vague, and we don't really know what those searches were for. there's no safe way to create a searchable database of people's vehicles and movements. The city of Reno must not only end the contract with flock safety but stop using ALPRs altogether. Thank you.

Thank you.

Daniel Jenkins followed by Mackenzie Nelson followed by Catherine Olson.

Well, good morning, Mayor Schieve and members of Reno City Council. Hope you can hear me in the back. Thank you for allowing us to exercise our First Amendment rights here today. My name is Daniel Jenkins, and I'm here along with other members of the Northern Nevada DSA to request ALPR contract renewal be put on the next agenda for termination. I want to use my expertise to talk about one of the common legal decisions being used to justify these systems. You all have likely heard of the decision in Schmidt v. City of Norfolk. And this is because it states, quote, ALPR cameras do not approach the near constant surveillance of cell phone users, public and private movements that so concern the Supreme Court in Carpenter. Carpenter is another Fourth Amendment decision. So the problem is we aren't just talking about ALPRs in Reno. We have regular cameras. We have microphones for shot spotters. We have ALPRs and body-worn cameras. All of these feed back into one system at the Real-Time Information Center that runs on Axon's Fusis software. Not only can the police department get access to a record of every time you passed an ALPR in the last month, they can also pull in the other video feeds in that area with any camera that is opted in. And that program is called Connect Reno. It massively expands the surveillance capabilities of this network beyond just ALPRs, which was the thing contemplated in Schmidt. A thorough reading of Schmidt will also show you another important consideration. Quote, more recently, however, several federal judges, including another judge of this court, have expressly cautioned that their rejection of a constitutional challenge to the use of ALPR technology should not be indiscriminately extended because, as the number and capabilities of ALPR cameras expand, the constitutional balancing could conceivably tip the other way. Schmidt considered the use of 75 ALPRs. In the Reno-Tahoe area, we have over 200. And there are hundreds of additional camera systems and drone use. You're already far beyond what that case contemplated. Don't use our money to make bets on litigation. You already have an AI surveillance case pending with Jason Killinger, which the pepper mill already settled for an undisclosed amount. How much more of our money are you going to gamble because the police department wants new toys? I don't even have time to dive into signal trace here today, which is the next feature set proposed for LPR systems. And it just reads all the wireless signals coming from a car. What public safety purpose is served by RPD knowing what my tire pressure sensors are saying or what my smartwatch is saying? Can you justify collecting that data in court? And do you have the cybersecurity measures to protect that data? Please engage with the community when we reach out to you. Meet us out in the city and not just here. Thank you.

Mackenzie Nelson, followed by Catherine Olson, followed by Daniel Kerengel.

Good morning. My name is Mackenzie Nelson. I'm a representative of Northern Nevada DSA. Welcome back from your summer break. We once again request that the city terminate its contract with flock safety and deactivate the cameras, pass an ordinance banning ALPR technology, and create a public-facing transparency portal detailing all mass surveillance technologies currently in use. There are two purposes of ALPR cameras, as a deterrent for crime and to assist in solving crimes after the fact. There is no evidence to suggest that Reno's ALPR cameras have served either of those purposes effectively enough to justify their costs. First, crime rates across the nation have already been on a downward trend since 2022, which is reflected in Reno crime stats, making the supposed need for this technology suspect in the first place. In order for flock cameras to have served as an effective deterrent, the city would have needed to highlight them, advertise them and their purpose to the public and make them highly visible. Instead, the city has taken the opposite tack, historically attempting to hide the location of city-owned surveillance cameras from the public. Even assuming that flock cameras are responsible for 100% of the change from 2024 to 2025, we can only attribute these cameras with increasing the clearance rate of motor vehicle thefts from 6.5% to 8.7%. A 2025 study published in the Justice Evaluation Journal corroborates this, stating that improvements to clearance rates were not statistically significant, with even less evidence connecting ALPRs to reductions in violent crime. There have been two fatal hit-and-runs in Reno this year, and so far, neither has been solved, despite being in high-traffic areas which would force the drivers past flocked cameras. Police will tell you that this technology acts as a force multiplier, reducing investigative workloads. On the contrary, that same 2025 study found that ALPRs increased patrol officers' workloads and created a trade-off between hot list hits and other investigative work. Another study conducted in Syracuse found that ALPRs misidentified one out of every 10 vehicles, creating even more work for police and placing innocent people in unnecessarily dangerous situations. For all of this, we paid $450,000 over the last two years. At the time, it was an excuse to spend unallocated grant money. But a renewal of that contract or signing a new one with Axon has no grant to cover it, and the price tag would probably increase. When you think about continuing to allow ALPRs in Reno, I want you to weigh that very, very generous 2.2% from earlier against a 10% error rate, against a quarter million dollar annual budget, against the lawsuits being levied against the city by Jason Killinger for similar AI technology at the Peppermill. Against the ever-increasing number of lawsuits in cities across the country and against Axon's ethics board recommendation that ALPR cameras not be used in places without strict regulations surrounding their use, which I'll remind you, Reno does not have. We are not guinea pigs to service tech testing ground for every new toy that some Silicon Valley tech company wants to sell to Reno police. There is no proof that the technology works as advertised, and no reasonable person would say yes if they fully understood these systems. Thank you. Thank you.

Catherine Olson, followed by Daniel Kerengel, followed by Dakota Jones.

Hello, City Council. My name is Kat Olsen. Thank you so much for the opportunity to provide public comment today. I'm an organizer with the biggest little action group in town. I also live in Ward 3. Before I get started into my comment, I just want to support what other commenters have been asking for to put the Keystone Data Center discrepancies on a agenda item for future public comment, please engage with us on that issue. Our health and our homes are on the line in Reno from this data center. So it would be great to speak with you about it. Okay, so I'll dive in. I'm here to urge you to immediately cancel your contract with Flock Safety and pass an ordinance banning use of ALPR technology in our community. Flock Safety is one of the biggest misnomers I have ever heard. Flock has nothing to do with public safety, despite this being their sales pitch. Flock is a privately owned $7.5 billion AI surveillance company that uses their network of ALPR cameras to turn Americans' daily lives into location data to be sold and exploited. There is no shortage of documented cases of abuse. Without obtaining a warrant, law enforcement on the federal and local levels are repeatedly and wrongfully using Americans' location data gathered from ALPRs to investigate people they disagree with, as was the case in Kansas after a citizen submitted a guest column to their local newspaper criticizing ICE raids in their community. law enforcement has abused women's location data gathered from ALPRs to facilitate stalking their ex-wives and ex-girlfriends. And it is no secret that ICE is definitively abusing location data gathered from ALPRs to kidnap traffic, and sentence our immigrant neighbors to the worst fate imaginable, trapping them in USA concentration camps where conditions are so deplorable that victims are dying at a rate higher than during COVID-19. Understand that for women, myself included, immigrant communities, people of color, and other vulnerable communities, ALPR technology induces a very real sense of fear, not public safety. To wrap things up, I must make you aware of the recent June 29th Supreme Court ruling in Chattree v. the United States. The Supreme Court ruled that Americans' location data, even short-term location data, is soundly protected by our Fourth Amendment right to privacy, and law enforcement must obtain a warrant to access it. The ruling did not directly address ALPR technology, but the writing is on the wall here. Just last week, the city of Newport, Kentucky, voted to cancel their contract with Flock Safety after consulting with their city attorneys, and the city cited the Supreme Court ruling in their decision-making to cancel. Perhaps you all should do the same. Ban ALPR technology. Cancel your contract with Flock. Thank you.

Thank you.

Daniel Caringell, followed by Dakota Jones, followed by Austin Daly.

Good morning, members of City Council. My name is Daniel Kerringle. I have been a Nevadan for the past 10 years, a Reno resident for the last few years. I live in Ward 1. I'm currently a student at the University of Nevada, Reno, a member of leadership in the congregation of local young adults and work in emergency medicine down the street in St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. I learned about this public comments session through an online post and I'd like to be clear that I'm not affiliated with any organization or advocacy group. I'm simply a Reno citizen who cares about privacy and civil liberties. I oppose the use of flock safety and other automated license plate reader or ALPR systems because I believe that they create an unnecessary mass surveillance. They pose privacy risks. and they can be vulnerable to misuse or other unauthorized access. I don't believe that the average Nevadan wants to live in a security or a mass surveillance state. As said before, Many people have expressed that these cameras have been used for both illegal and unethical means. And there have also been numerous reported incidents across the country involving the misuse of these AOPR systems by law enforcement. Any technology that collects large amounts of information about people's movements carries the potential... for abuse if strong safeguards are not in place, and evidently they are not. I also want to share my own experience while walking from the University of Nevada, just coming out of a physics lecture, through downtown to here, I noticed that there are multiple flock cameras installed. I counted at least three, and likely many more that I hadn't seen And me, just a student, just trying to get here and leave Comet, saw that I was being tracked and watched in every single one of my steps. And it was something that was very, it was a different feeling. That experience made the extent of this surveillance feel very real to me. I believe that every level of government has a duty to uphold the protections of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states that citizens should be secure in their person's houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. They shall not be violated and that no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause. And while technology has changed, the principle that government surveillance should be limited and accountable remains just as important today. For those reasons, I respectfully ask the Reno City Council to place this issue on a future agenda and vote to end the city's contract with flock safety and discontinue the use of all other ALPR camera systems before the contract comes up for renewal. Thank you, members of City Council, for your service to our community and your commitment to protecting both the public safety and the constitutional rights of the people that you represent.

Dakota Jones followed by Austin Daly followed by Caden Kim.

Is the mayor going to return or without her? Is she returning?

She's in the back. People have bio breaks and they are doing other things, but they can hear you.

Okay. Will she be able to respond afterwards or anything?

No, we don't engage in public comment.

All right, I'd like to begin. My name is Dakota Jones, for the record. I'm a resident here of Reno for five years now. And while you guys have been out of some recession, they've installed five ALPR cameras around my block, one city block. I can't leave my house without getting scanned. I'm not a criminal. I don't find any reason for that. You're violating my Fourth Amendment, and for what reason?

And thankfully, I came to this meeting and found out 2024, you humanistically voted against To use COVID funds? Really?

For a flock? How are we not to think that you're in bed with these companies if you don't put it on the next agenda to stop this? No one wants it. No one supports it. And I don't know how many times we have to learn this lesson. It doesn't affect me until it does. We've seen the governor speed through a red light. You're telling me that you do 65, 10, and 2 all day long, never on your phone? Come on. You're violating your Fourth Amendment right, and no one wants this unlawful search and seizure, all right? And what I don't understand is how you think you're going to continue in your position while everyone opposes it. How much money are we willing to waste here? Because if the people don't support it and you don't give us an option to deny it or you don't listen to us, what other further action do we have than to take them down? And that costs the taxpayer more money. So, I mean, that's just going to look worse on you guys. I do not understand how any of this has come to fruition. how in the United States I cannot leave my home, not a suspect, no criminal organization are passed, and I get hit with five cameras. They've updated my profile five times every time I've stepped out of my house. For what? For who? And not to mention the countless information that I've learned here that shows the misconduct and misuse of this technology. And we're still going to try and back this up To me, this is a bad, bad recipe. And it's only going to cost a lot more money and a lot more headache unless we get ahead of this. And you allow us, the people, to choose this. We don't want this. The security systems that we have in place already are already failing us. Why don't we work on those? Why do we need these new systems that are far worse, make mistakes? I just don't understand. And the fact that we were not, that I was not given notification or anything. And you put five. They put one up three weeks ago. What are we doing? Thank you. I think that's all I have to say unless you guys can respond to anything. Do you have any questions for me?

I have one, Mr. Vice Mayor. I just wanted to turn to our city manager. A few months ago when we discussed this at length, we were assured. that there would be an agenda item to specifically discuss flock cameras, their use at the city, how the data's managed, the protocols and safety that are in place, what would happen if. Madam Manager, do you have an update on when that might? I don't have a date for you right this minute. Okay, do you think it'll be in the next three months or so? Yes. You do. Okay. So we don't have a specific date, but the next three months or so brings us through October. So perhaps by that point, we will have a robust conversation.

I think it's very important that the people are given an opportunity because this is bipartisan. It affects anybody who leaves their house. So I think that would be a good part. All right. Thank you.

Austin Daly, followed by Caden Kim, followed by Adrian Lowry.

Hello. Good morning, Reno City Council. My name is Austin Daly, and I serve as the Manager of Government Affairs for the University of Nevada, for the record. I'm here to speak in support of item B23, the MOU between the University, City of Reno, and RTC on the University Gateway Transportation Project. Together, the University and City of Reno have made tremendous strides with the Mathewson Gateway Project over the last six years. On East 9th Street, we've had some new buildings, including the new Tolick Business Building, Gateway Parking Garage, University Village south of the freeway, and soon-to-be New Life Sciences building and hotel property, expanding pedestrian as well as vehicle traffic in the I-80 corridor. Today's MOU for the University Gateway Transportation Project is in many ways the final piece of the Gateway Project, creating a physical manifestation that advances community growth and success and frames the next phase of future activity in this area. The pedestrian bridge, traffic improvements, and expansion of Evans Park will provide our public with a safe, accessible, and walkable downtown area that will mean more interaction and connection between the city and the campus. Thank you, and we at the university look forward to working with the city of Reno and RTC as the project evolves.

Thank you.

Kayden Kim, followed by Adrienne Lowry, followed by Chelsea Gee via Zoom.

Hello, I'm Caden Kim. I'm currently a student at TMCC. Am I allowed to use this? Is it just going to pop up? OK. OK, I did not plan on speaking today. This is my first city council meeting. Nice to meet you all. A lot of the people here who came to speak out against flock cameras and ALPRs met outside today. And there was a drone right above us. It's this one. You can see it right here. As soon as we noticed it and, like, you know, waved at it, just noticed it, it immediately flew into the sun, tried to hide itself, stayed there for a while, and then it flew off over here somewhere. Were you guys aware of that? You guys set that up? Nope? Okay. Okay. So I remember Dan earlier said something about Leonardo Signal Trace, which is a bolt-on that they add to flock cameras. That affects all of you in a very physical way. It can interfere with your Bluetooth access to your car. So if you all listen to music while driving, it fucks with that a little bit. It just makes it like... it will cut out a little bit as you drive by the camera. So that's a physical thing that this flock camera is affecting us by. So that's all I came here to say. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you.

Adrian Lowry, followed by Chelsea G via Zoom, followed by Nicole Anagapis via Zoom.

Hello, my name is Adrian Lowry. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'm here with the Northern Nevada DSA to ask you to cancel your contract with FLOC and end the use of ALPR technology in Reno. These systems are designed to track the movements of every person in this community without any warrant or probable cause. They violate the rights of every person in the city and have been shown over and over again to lead to abuses including stalking, racial profiling, and false arrests. I first want to address this on a personal level because members of this body have been targeted by invasive tracking when a local Republican Party leader paid for GPS trackers to be placed on the cars of Mayor Schieve and members of the Washoe County Commission. Mayor Schieve, do you remember how you felt when that happened? One quote I found is, This kind of invasion of privacy and stalking is incredibly alarming because I don't know what the intent is for this information. I mean, does someone want to kill me? I don't know. Another quote, especially for women, it is alarming. I would never want this to happen to someone else. I'm a single woman and we have to worry about our safety, but this takes it all to a whole new level. Now I want to read the quote of a victim of ALPR-based stalking. This is from the news site 404 Media. When Deputy Roman approached, she stated, I knew it was you and asked, does all my information pop up on your screen? And further inquired, how did you know it was me? She stated, Deputy Roman responded, I told you I'd find you and pull you over. She stated, Deputy Roman also stated, And I was hoping your boyfriend was in the car so I can pull him out and give him a hard time. She stated, she responded that she did not think that was a good idea through police report reads. She said that Roman asked her why she didn't follow him back on Instagram and that she needed to leave and said she would follow him back on Instagram but didn't want to text and drive. She told investigators that she had said this to get Deputy Roman to leave her alone. She advised Deputy Roman she was late to getting where she was going and repeatedly asked if she could leave. There have been many instances of police officers stalking and threatening women using the tracking abilities of Flock and other ALPR systems. Do you have empathy with the women in our city who are exposed to this threat? We all saw it as an invasion of privacy. When your movements were tracked, can you see how these tools create an equivalent harm for us? I also want to talk about the legal risks that ALPR technologies present. Many cities are dealing with lawsuits, some on the inherent invasion of privacy and some on disastrous instances of false arrests. Cities across this nation are recognizing the legal exposure they take on when using ALPR cameras. Earlier this month, the LAPD Los Angeles Police Department decided to end their contract with Flock. Dean Guillemus, LAPD's chief information officer, said this. This contract is not being renewed because of serious concerns around civil liberties and civil rights issues, particularly around privacy and the data that's being collected from these cameras. So end use of Flock and any other ALPR technologies. Thank you. Thank you.

Chelsea G via Zoom, followed by Nicole Anagapis via Zoom, followed by Damian Cole.

Howdy for the record, my name is Chelsea here and I live in work for. I want to touch on 2 topics. Data center off a keystone and then flock. I have been stocked. By a past romantic partner of 6 years. Back in Texas, he works in hardware and software development. He stalked me to the point I had to give up my hobbies. I enjoyed auto racing back in Texas because he would be there constantly. My friends noticed he was watching me as I was walking around and I was part of the operations team. So it was rather fun what I got to do. And I had to give that up because of him and the amount of stalking I endured, um, There wasn't anything legally that I had to stand on to request a protective order against him. So I left. There are a couple other reasons leaving Texas as well. I like to joke, I'm a political refugee as a woman. That is an abusive government style over there. I don't think y'all understand how abusive it is. The idea of potentially being and or probably being exposed to someone who has the ability to hack systems. That is scary. That's all I'm going to say on flock. It needs to be canceled. There is no reason to have this kind of system warrantlessly watching people waiting for the opportunity to grab your information. For data centers, I've been sending emails to Mike Rayleigh in the development department, and he has been largely non-responsive. There was an FAQ sheet that was forwarded on that essentially did not answer any questions I had. It is frequently referred to stakeholders where reached out to who are stakeholders to find that term for me i want to know who you consider stakeholders because in my line of work those are investors those are private entities investing those aren't public facing individuals like myself or residents The fact that there are multiple. Organizations who are layered over. The permit process review process of this data center. Do they have public meetings? Why haven't they ever showed up in 1 of these meetings with the city hall? Um, it is. My butt would be canned professionally if I ignored incoming emails requesting information. And maybe his department is understaffed Maybe that's just who he is, or maybe that's the way that he's been directed. It is not acceptable to not have responses. And it's been nine days since my last email to him because I'm busy. I don't have the time to keep following up with this nonsense. Thank you. We need answers. Thank you.

Nicole Anagapis via Zoom, followed by Damian Cole, followed by Kylie Patterson via Zoom.

Hello, Nicole for the record. So I heard some talk about this possible contract with Flock being reviewed, I suppose, possibly being agendized in the future. And I would just like to ask that when it is agendized, that you thoroughly probe individuals who have been negatively affected by this blatant Fourth Amendment violation, such as the person who was speaking before me. Software engineers or individuals with backgrounds in cybersecurity, victims of stalking, sexual violence, or domestic abuse who can give concrete evidence against these systems so that you can have a full and unbiased picture of the situation, not just speaking with law enforcement who stand to benefit by receiving large funds. and surveillance equipment from Flock. Flock and groups like Flock, like Axon, and et cetera, have powerful lobbies that obviously advocate on behalf of the use of their products. And I think that it's just fair that you speak to real subject matter experts when it comes to that. So yes, a full and in-depth review on the proven wrongs by Flock and not just mouthpieces or employees of the police force. I'd like to believe that ultimately the majority of those of you on council do consider yourselves to be progressive individuals who are trying to protect your constituents and who are focused on overall public health and safety. And if my assumption here is correct, then I challenge any motives that you might have if you decide to continue to support the very systems and individuals that are being weaponized by those who are in bed with the people that you claim to be ideologically opposed with. Um, someone who spoke before me mentioned that the city of Newport, Kentucky cancelled their contract with Flock Safety after consulting with their city attorney. Uh, this person suggested that you all here maybe do the same, but I do question the legitimacy of Mr. Hall's ability to clearly read or understand the law since it did take him over a month to find a reno municipal code which protected the sale or lease of our designated free speech zone to a private entity, so. My hope is that when you do agendize this particular issue that, again, you really take the time to listen to your constituents who are genuinely concerned about the sale of the data of their location and their movements. I mean, this goes beyond just policing. It's a it's a very scary concept. And it's a conversation that is being held all over the country right now. There's a lot of a lot of cities who have canceled their contracts with lock and who are really taking initiatives to ban license plate readers. So I'm hopeful that the city of Reno is progressive in its March against this blatant Fourth Amendment violation.

Thank you.

I would like to say with only three elected council members present this

Oh.

Yeah.

Yes, I'm here, Damian. I'm listening.

Excellent. Thank you. You can continue with your comments. I will wait for my public comment regarding the item that I was going to speak about until the mayor is present during the convening of the redevelopment agency, because it's vital that she be here. Oh, excellent. Okay. Well, there we go. Okay, one moment. I just want to say, get rid of flaw cameras. So, hi. Visuals? Excellent. There's a lot to talk about. Sad stuff in the front, happy stuff in the back. There's a lot, so I'm going to speed through this. Damien Cole, for the record, the Auto Museum's river walk and Lake Street frontage has been encroached and deactivated illegally. In 2015, you could enter the museum lobby and gift shop from Lake Street. The museum cut off public access with a fence. Then they turned the front lawn, doors, and raised walkway into a private event space with no trespassing signs. Their fence, along with erosion, has made the river walk extremely dangerous and ADA noncompliant. The fence shown at the bottom green line cuts through the 20-foot easements that they agreed to make, violating the purchase agreements indeed. Public Works told me there are no enforceable provisions within Reno Municipal Code that would cause the relocation of the fence. In fact, there are two. The illegally deactivated ground floor retail facility. from the easterly frontage of Lake Street. This is the 1989 museum rendering, which shows visuals of how the design activates the river and Lake Street. The raised public walkway from their parking lot also leads to the lobby and gift shop. Also, no structures can be erected within 50 feet of the river corridor. the riverfront. The fence is a barrier to the riverfront and cannot be given an administrator exception because they result in a visual barrier. Because the fence was placed 30 feet from the river you cannot see a 6 foot tall fat man with a high visibility vest coming down the river corridor until he is 60 feet away from you. The municipal code isn' t trying to be mean or unduly strict it' s put there for a This plan, 1995. The eastern boundary of the Riverwalk District was meant to extend on both the north and south riverbanks beyond the auto museum and connect via a footbridge. Here's my plan for that bridge that I devised before I even knew about the 1995 plan. Here are all the benefits to that plan. Who owns the property, where I put where, where the river path and bridge connect to. Here's an overhead view of the plan as part of a larger project that I can talk about later. There are many details to both my and the RDA's plan for this neighborhood, which I do not have time in my three minutes to show you. We must stick to the Riverwalk plan. Do not allow deactivation or encroachments at the Auto Museum or any other public space along the Riverwalk. Please remove the fences here and at AT&T and the DiLucci building, which are also in violation of code. Thank you.

Hey, Damien. Damien. Hold on a second, you guys. Damien.

Sorry. I know we got a lot of people waiting.

Can I, yeah, just really quickly, because I've been following all your emails, and now that we're back in, I'm just curious. Has someone gotten back to you on the one over here?

Oh, for the AT&T walkway? Uh-huh. No, but Joe Hart is interested in interviewing me.

Okay, I'm going to have our city manager meet with you because I think that that is phenomenal work that you caught that.

Thank you. And I'm not trying to be mean about the auto museum. That place was built so tightly, and so it's like you can't make any changes to it without altering and degrading that neighborhood. When I was a mail carrier there, I would have people from the public come up to me, literally standing in front of the auto museum and say, how do I get in there? It deactivated it. So that's what I think is causing problems. The isolation, the camping, the vagrancy, the loitering, all of these things that we're concerned about. Now that we have ordinances in place, do we really need the physical barriers? I mean, the Eddy had to apply for a conditional use permit for theirs because it's on the Riverwalk. The Autumn Museum didn't apply for one. I couldn't find any record of it as far as I know. So, yeah.

I walked it, and it was problematic. It really was. I have to tell you, it needs some serious overhaul. It's really bad.

The frontage landscaping as well. There is invasive vegetation. It's not simply just a natural corridor. that's the face of the frontage in that zone so it's supposed to be advertising that area and making it feel open instead there I've seen people having lovers disputes I've seen people changing clothes on the river I saw that whenever I was there so and other things and people were trying to get through and wanted to walk it and jog it and it just it doesn't work so this we had to put walk your bike signs on the bike path and In fact, in 1995, in the report, the public stated, get rid of the cement wall that's currently there still. In other words, back 30 years ago, the public was saying, widen this space open. Now, we don't have to spend millions of dollars on a cantilever path. And you'll notice that there is a parcel split there now. One of the pictures that I showed you, there's a parcel split that's not even the 50 feet minimum requirement for the river corridor for the previous plan or for the Truckee River Vision Plan. So because... The fence is blocking the width. So the walkway is part of that river corridor space. ADA accents ramps and everything. So I understand that when they took the property over, and I don't want to take more time, but the nonprofit has to stay in business. They probably say, hey, we have an asset here that we can use for fundraising. You can rent it out and everything. There's a clause within Reno Municipal Code that says you can't have lodges or private... I forgot the exact wording of that. It's kind of, it probably has more to do about like the Masonic Lodge or something, because that's the only lodge that I know about. But you can't have like a private space. It has to be meant for the public. And I could see... Damien. I'm sorry.

Okay, here's the deal.

Yeah.

I'm going to make you a deal. Okay. I'm going to have you sit down with Jackie and with staff from the RDA. I think that that's really important. I know Jackie will put that on her calendar. And then... And Norma, actually, where, Norma, I don't, okay, Norma's gonna grab you, because I was following all your correspondence, and I was just, I was elated to see what you came up with on the AT&T building, and then whenever I walked the same thing with the museum the other day, because I was following what you were doing. Long story short, I want you to get with staff and show them, and actually, it helps when you walk it. It really helped me when I walked it, because I could see the problems. It's very hard to do from a map. there's bottom line is things in the future let's set that up but I also want the flood project there because I think that they have responsibility in this whole plan the flood project a flood project okay a TMR to the flood management authority yes right yes I studied that too okay thank you three years of work thank you thank you so much I know but I'm I'm a fan so thank you thank you good job okay

I am here as a citizen of Reno. I have lived here my whole life.

And something I want to point out about the flock cameras, I would assume slash know that these were promoted as something that would keep someone exactly like me safe. I'm white, I grew up here, I'm married, I have a kid, I'm employed. So I just want to put on the record that these flock cameras and this contract do not make me feel safe. Violating the rights and surveilling me, my daughter, my neighbors, my community does not make us safer, does not help me as a citizen of Reno. I also just learned during this meeting about how these funds were approved using COVID assistance money. And I'm kind of still reeling from that, to be honest with you. The trauma that me and my family and my neighbors went through during that time, it really is truly overwhelming, and I am just beyond myself. I can't believe that. That's how those funds would be appropriated, regardless of timeline. It does not help us, and especially does not help us recover. The other things that I would like to point out, they are called automatic license plate readers. They read so much more. They can track dings. They can track bumper stickers. From my understanding, they can track people's gait and the way that they walk. So I just want to throw that out there that they are much more than tracking vehicles. Lastly, I'm pretty blown away by the contrast in reaction to comments that are being made today. It is extremely noticeable that the folks who are speaking on anything but flock cameras are getting a lot of feedback from the mayor, a lot of positive feedback. I have no issue with that. A lot of those things are great. But the silence that we were being met when we were talking about flock or data centers is noticed. Thank you.

Paul Lennart, followed by Bill Schrimpf via Zoom, followed by Deborah Galay via Zoom.

For the record, my name is Paul Lennart. I'm a resident of Ward 6. I've been in Nevada since the turn of the century. I had some great hopes for the turn of the century. I was thinking in terms of the Jetsons and so forth. Little did I know that Much of it would be dominated by an administration, not this one, okay, but by an administration whose favorite cartoon apparently was the Flintstones, because they believed that humans used to ride dinosaurs back in the days of Adam and Eve. I'll leave that aside for the second. Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains. That was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the people who inspired the French Revolution. We just passed July 14th. That was one of the changes, the world significant changes that came as a result of the emergence of the common man as a actor not merely an object. I'm a common man. The only way I have any influence at all is by associating with other people. Therefore, I have friends in the DSA who testified earlier. I have friends in Code Pink. I have friends in Blagg. I have friends in a lot of places, okay? I'm a friendly guy. I do not want my movements recorded. I do not want them subjected to an algorithm within an expanding network of data centers which share their information with what I regard as a tyrannical federal government. And that's about it. I was born free, and I intend to die that way. Thank you.

Bill Shrimp via Zoom, followed by Deborah Galay via Zoom.

Hello. Good afternoon. Happy almost lunchtime.

Hey, Bill.

Hello. Is my mic working?

Yes, we can hear you.

Perfect. Thank you. The mass surveillance issue is kind of concerning. I didn't realize it was as bad as it was. I'd like to remind you guys where you started the day today. You started with the Pledge of Allegiance. There was a wonderful proclamation about the fourth and fourth and some good discussion there about what it is to be American and whatnot. I want to contrast that to the very personal and violating experiences that you had, Madam Mayor, being surveilled personally directly. The expansion of mass surveillance is not much different from a GPS tracker on a car. The practical effect is really no difference these days. Maybe 20 years ago that was different, but today it's not. Um, so we know it's, we know it's gross. We know it's gross because in the state of Nevada to do a GPS tracker, it's illegal. Um, and Madam Mayor in your private capacity, at least twice, you went to the Supreme Court like, oh my gosh, uh, in your private capacity. Um, so we just, we know that. So, um, Ms. Brandt, I hope that you're able to agendize this topic in the contract review shortly so that the council can make a good decision and have a lengthy conversation about what this contract means for the constituency. So I hope to see that soon. Thank you very much for being here. Do appreciate it. And I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and a good rest of your meeting. Thank you.

Bill, thank you so much and thank you for your kind thoughts and for recognizing that. Thank you, I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Debra Gallet via Zoom.

Hello, Mayor and Council. My name is Debra Gallet and I'm here to ask you not to renew the contract with flock safety. Flock has been installed at bike paths, hiking trails, parks, community pools, schools, gyms, reproductive clinics, and the list goes on. Aren't we afforded the right to enjoy these spaces without the fear of being watched and tracked? Flock says their cameras don't employ facial recognition and that we shouldn't worry about our persons being tracked. But then why would they be installed on bike paths or hiking trails? If they are meant to only track license plates and car features, why are they being installed in places cars can't go? It is clear to me that Flock is being deployed as a large dragnet of detailed information about people's cars, locations, patterns, and habits. I ask each of you on the council whether or not you yourself are comfortable having your own patterns and habits tracked. Who knows what police officers are curious about? Are you visiting an abortion clinic? Do you visit gay bars? Are you meeting with big donors? Who knows? But do you want other people to track that? I also want to echo what Kylie said and say I take umbrage with how quickly some issues presented to council get connected with city employees or agendized. But people here speaking on ALPRs today get the silent treatment. When I take the expansion of unregulated tracking technology to its logical conclusion, I know that unless the Supreme Court steps in and curtails the scope of this technology, it will be used to target, quote, dissidents, left-wing extremists, or anti-capitalists. We already see the Trump administration wielding the executive order, NSPM 7, to go after people they designate as, quote, domestic terrorists. In fact, the Trump administration just released a report on the Cuban government that targets groups like Code Pink, DSA, Pastors for Peace, and the National Lawyers Guild with baseless smears and links to Russia, China, and Iran. Marco Rubio was recently quoted at a press conference saying, quote, Under President Trump, the US is building the infrastructure, the partnership and the strategy to defeat the scourge of far left terror. I could easily see flock cameras being integrated into whatever apparatus this administration ends up creating to go after people who do not align to this administration's ideological beliefs. This administration wants to go after people who support peace, people who are non-violent, people who deliver aid to those in need. At the same time, we have data centers cropping up all over the country with flock cameras being used to watch us and AI to track that data 24-7, seven days a week. We live in a surveillance state and we are rapidly being stripped of our rights. I implore you to not renew this city's contract with Flock. You have the opportunity to do what is right by your constituents and cancel Flock or Axon or any other ALPR camera company and give a sense of privacy back to Reno. Please focus on providing government solutions for people. Invest in cooling centers, libraries, and housing initiatives, things that actually lift people up. Thank you, and I hope you'll end the contract with Flock Safety.

All right.

Thank you so much. Deborah. Dora Martinez via Zoom, followed by Christian Brown via Zoom.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor. It's so good to hear from you. Oh, Dora. I've been following all your correspondence. You're amazing. You're amazing. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I want to thank you and the council members, each and every one of you, especially you, Madam Mayor. For those that don't know, ADA 36 anniversary is July 26. And I just want to put out there that all RTC access are going to be free for everyone. the patrons of that service. And Madam Mayor, thanks to you, because this city is the only one that's doing that in the state. So hopefully Clark County will follow suit. It doesn't take... Yeah, so I appreciate all that you do. And I want to thank... Mr. Wilson, Khalil Wilson, and the Public Works, because they are out there, hot, lightning, well, hopefully not lightning, raining and cutting and freeing the sidewalks. So thank you so much, Madam Mayor, and I hope you guys have a great meeting. Take care.

Dora, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are a remarkable advocate. I mean, you are changing... The face of this city and the landscape and everything in access and ADA. You're amazing. You're absolutely amazing. I just, I can't thank you enough. And you're keeping everyone on their toes, too. I'm watching that, which is great. And just so you know, I put your complaint into Reno Direct. I think you probably saw that email. Yes, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. And just people that have pets, please pick up after their dogs. Because I have a bag every time with Jerry Lee. He has a pouch with a poop bag in there. And if I cannot find a trash can, I double bag it and hold it until I find one. It's my dog poop. Who cares? You know?

That's great. But we do need to keep reminding them. Yes. We have signs, too. It's one of my other pet peeves is, like, the concrete is very, very hot. It's why we've got to continue to keep addressing sustainability in our environment and in our city. But I see a lot of animals out in the very hot heat. And if you touch the concrete... Yep. Inside your wrist is too hot for the dog. Very hot.

Yes. And they leave them in the cars in which I went to the car and I stayed there and I called the non-emergency and the lady came all mad at me because I called the non-emergency on her because the dog was crying. Dora you call me when that happens next time I'll come with you and so will Councilwoman Dewar we've been there before when we've seen hot dogs and hot children in cars I got called a lot of things and I told her God bless you I don't care it's not safe for the dogs you should have left them at home I don't care you know it's not safe but thank you Madam Mayor and everyone love you guys thank you Christian Brown via Zoom

Cool.

Yeah, good morning, everybody. Hope you guys had a nice summer break and got to get outside and enjoy some sun. Anyways, I'm here to support Black and DSA and Code Pink to tell you guys to cancel your flock contract and work towards ending this mass surveillance system that's being brought upon the people to sit... This is my third time warning you guys about these things, and the community's been telling you guys for over a year that it's only going to bring about bad things and end up hurting innocent people. Many cities and communities across this country are canceling their contracts with Flock for good reason. And I ask you guys to do some research and learn what these companies are really doing behind their marketed words. And while I'm speaking against Flock, Axon's the same thing, so yeah, please don't think about switching over to them because it's really not going to help much. You guys have some great resources in that room of people who know these systems and have even worked on them. So when they're the ones that are warning you about how these are that bad, we got to listen to them. Public safety is one thing, but again, that's not what this is. No one wants their exes stalking them through ALPRs. No one wants these LSAC systems, which take all your Bluetooth device information and start making profiles on everyone. No one wants that. No one wants to see people getting falsely arrested from AI facial recognition going bad. And no one wants multiple government agencies tracking our every move and drones always flying over our heads. It's just a huge waste of resources. So if you guys want to actually make this city better for everyone, take that money and put it into building the community up instead of policing it. Build it up from the bottom and I guarantee you'll get better results. We just need some better solutions than what's going on here. Um, I'd also like to, uh, reiterate too, uh, let's get that, uh, Keystone discrepancy, uh, agendized as well. That sounds great. Let's clean the river. That sounds great. Um, but yeah, no flock, no acts on, and let's keep this city free from mass surveillance. Thanks guys.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Christian. Thank you.

thank you. Thank you. With that we have no one else registered to speak. For the record we did receive 58 comments which were general in nature or not directly associated with an agenda item prior to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21. These comments were written correspondence received via our reno.gov online public comment form or by e-mail to our office. Copies of these comments have been distributed to the reno city council and are available to the public on the reno.gov

Okay. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I'm on a little delay. It's hard to come back from a little break, and you're just not as, I guess, quick. I call it reentry. I don't know. It's hard. I was like, I don't want to go to school today. I wanted to, but I didn't want to. It's one of those things. Sometimes you want to, and then sometimes you don't want to. Well, I've been very depressed, too, so. I thought coming here and being with everyone and seeing all of you guys would help. So I appreciate it.

Before we move on to approval of the agenda, we did just get one last person on Zoom if you wanted to take them. Perfect, yes. I would love to take them.

Okay.

And that is? Judy Gesch.

Judy. Hi, Judy.

How are you?

My name is Judy Gash, and I'm calling in regards to B12, the dog park at Damonte Ranch. I thought the statement from the staff to recommend this was really something that is in every single park. It states, while the community members frequently bring their dogs to the park, the absence of a fenced area poses a safety concern. including the potential for dogs to run in the street and interfere with other park users. In response to the community to enhance the park, the city has decided to build a dog park at Damonte Ranch. Double Diamond Ranch has three city parks. We maintain them. We pay for everything except for hardscape. The homeowners have looked at a five acre plot of land that is next to Horizon Park since Double Diamond was built in 1996. This land is full of weeds, trash. It's had two fires on it. The white top is horrendous, and Double Diamond has to maintain the white top everywhere else, but this continues to blow. The trash is always in there, unless we pay to have it cleaned up. Why can't this area be turned into a dog park? We've been told it's owned by the city, it's owned by the school district, it's owned by the county. Who knows? After 27 plus years. Also, there is a huge new dog park at Cayenne Park that is not far from Damonte Ranch. So I just feel that this needs to be looked at differently than giving Damonte Ranch a fairly new park and community, a dog park, when there's other areas that should be considered. There's one other small issue I have. When I register to speak, you have to pick what ward you're on in the online report. So I open up the wards. Ward six is still not listed. When was Ward 6 approved? So now we're considered the other group. That is not fair to the people in Ward 6. And yes, Double Diamond Ranch is in Ward 6. Thank you.

And we have no one else registered.

Okay. Ward 6. Okay, I'll follow up with her. Okay.

Yes? You got it? Okay.

Thank you, I appreciate that. Okay, Madam Clerk. Okay, has everyone had the opportunity to speak? Okay, perfect. Okay, then I'm going to hand it over to our city manager for any updates on to the agenda.

Mayor, it's at 1235, so the only recommendation I would have is that after you do consent poll, you move any polled consent items until after the break. The UNR Street Reach Guest presentation is here, I believe. Yes, they are here.

Okay. All right, and then the next thing, before we approve the agenda, I would like to ask that item H1 be removed from the agenda at this time to allow the independent personal review to be finished so that the process could be thoroughly transparent. And item H1, that would mean a vote today would negate the process because it's still and ongoing review and it's open at this time so I would like to make a motion and You could maybe direct me mr. Shipman to remove this item until the review is finished for transparency and fairness So so essentially that's a motion.

Yeah, madam mayor.

So second. Okay. I have a motion. I was second all those in favor Say aye aye all those opposed opposed opposed Roll call. Aye.

I would like a roll call. Yes. Councilmember Taylor?

Opposed.

Councilmember Dewar? Aye. Vice Mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Councilmember Ebert? Opposed. Councilmember Reese?

Aye.

Councilmember Anderson? Opposed. Mayor Schiebe?

Aye. I think it passed for three. All right. Thank you. We'll move on. Okay.

Madam Mayor, I'll move to approve item A4, which is the general agenda as posted, obviously, with the addition of your change to the motion.

Second. Okay. I have a motion. I have a second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries.

Madam Mayor, on item A5, approval of the minutes, I move to approve all minutes as identified in the agenda.

All right. I have a motion. Second. I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. All right. We are going to head into consent. Any public comment on this, Madam Clerk?

We don't have anyone registered to speak, but we did receive eight comments that were distributed as seven letters in favor and one letter of neutral or concern.

Okay, thank you so much. Okay, I'm going to ask council members for consent items. I'm going to start with you, Councilwoman Ebert.

Yeah. I'd like to pull item B21. And... I think that might be everything.

Is that it? Okay, I'll come back to you if it's not. All right, Councilman Dewar.

Yeah, I have nothing to pull, but I would like to make a comment after we get a motion and a second. I'd like to have discussion for a minute.

Okay, no problem.

Nothing, Madam Mayor.

Councilman Reese? No. Councilman Taylor? Vice Mayor? Councilman Anderson? B12, please. Okay. Okay.

Move to approve all remaining items not pulled by council members.

Second. I would like to also pull B18, sorry.

Sure. So my motion includes B12, B18, and B21 as having been pulled by members.

Okay, thank you so much. So I have a motion, I have a second. All those in favor say aye. I have a comment before we vote. Okay. Discussion, go ahead.

Yeah, thank you. I didn't want to pull these items, but they're mostly just thanks, mostly to our staff. So on item B11, this is a contract for repairing the crooked mile pathway, and this is in Idlewild Park, much in need. over four hundred thousand dollars is coming from a mix of grant funds and parks funds in ward two I just wanted to thank everyone involved for identifying or understanding the needs there and on item B 14 this is up to approve moving forward with a contract to install solar volts photovoltaic system at Moana Springs Community Aquatic Center. And when the center was being planned and then constructed, it was always anticipated that there was a chance that we would install solar there. And I'm really, really glad that we're moving forward with that program to reduce the operating costs. In other words, we'll be able to generate our own electricity, offset our costs, and possibly even sell electricity back to the grid, which is fantastic. And then finally, well, there's two more. I think there's one or two more. B19, I just wanted to note that this is $11 million. This is for fleet. We were, due to budget constraints, we were not able to purchase and update our fleet. I'm glad to see this back on the agenda. It is a big dollar amount. And so I hope when we move forward with the purchases, we are looking at where are electric vehicles appropriate or hybrid vehicles appropriate. making sure we have the charging infrastructure in in our garage or Elsewhere to support at the operation center wherever to support those It's not appropriate in many places, but it is in some and I think I had one more comment Yes, this is on B 25, which is the booth Street siphon project and again I want to comment compliment staff This is in both Ward 1 and Ward 2 a one and a half million dollar grant for the booth Street siphon project Good work staff again. I mean every time they bring in funds go out and research funds bring in funds They're offsetting impacts to our general fund budget and it's really good work.

So, thank you Okay great comment Okay, all right Okay, so I had a motion in a second all those in favor say aye all those opposed motion carries I All right, so we are going to, we might not have them here, do we? Item C1.

Nope. C1, come on up, please.

Item C1, which is the UNR Street Reach Guest Presentation.

Hello. I have no idea what item we are.

No, no, it's fine. It's hard to sometimes follow, so you're absolutely just fine.

Great. Okay, let me just test, because I always muck these things up. Yes. All right, we're good. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to be here today. For the record, my name is Jane Fox, and I am the director of UNR Street Reach. Street Reach is a collaborative effort at UNR between the School of Public Health, Larson Institute, Orvis School of Nursing, and many community partners to provide street health to people that are unsheltered in our community. So, you know, I'm kind of preaching to the choir here, but I always have to put this up. Based on the point-in-time count that was done in 2026, almost 1,800 people experience homelessness in Washoe County. Of those, 19% experienced unsheltered homelessness, which means they're living on the street, sidewalks, or other unsafe, non-sheltered living spaces. We know the clinical care options are really limited to the existing federally qualified health centers in our community. There's really been no consistent coordinated care that's been provided on the street. And as we all know, the emergency department use is quite high. Based on national data, there's an extremely high need for wound care for folks that are unsheltered. There are higher rates of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV than in the general population. Very high prevalence of chronic conditions. As I said, high rates of emergency department use, which we are seeing in our own community. 67% estimated live with a mental health disorder, and 22% with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. It's been reported that over half of unhoused individuals have experienced a traumatic brain injury, so add that on top of a mental health disorder, and then 44% with substance use disorder. So we really saw this as a call to action to deliver compassionate, low barrier street care, including wound care, bloodborne virus testing, and linkage to community care to reduce health harms, advance folks' dignity, equity, and access in our community. So Street Reach is really built for continuity. It's not a time-limited UNR project. ORVIS has made an indefinite commitment to maintain this core suite of street-based services. That includes nurse-led wound care and engagement. It's built as a braided model. So we have a stable clinical presence of nursing. We have a wide array of community partners. And we have external funding sources such as Gilead Sciences focused funds which supports our blood-borne virus testing. None of these define our platform. All of them combined really is the foundation for the work that we're doing. IT ALSO INTEGRATES FACULTY PRACTICE AND LEARNER EXPERIENCES BOTH FOR NURSING, FOR SOCIAL WORK, AND FOR PUBLIC HEALTH TO STRENGTHEN OUR REGIONAL WORKFORCE. AND IT'S REALLY STRUCTURED TO BE ADAPTABLE, AND WE ARE OFFERING CONTINUITY, AS I MENTIONED, AND REALLY WE, MUCH OF THE WORK THAT WE DO IS ON OUR LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY AGENCIES. So our current street reach, and really this is like current as of today, because you'll see that there's other things that are going on. Right now we have a team of two Orvis faculty practice nurses, a project coordinator, a phlebotomist, and a community health worker. We do two four-hour shifts out on the street surrounding the CARES campus. Today is one of our feet in the street days. We go out with backpacks and wagons and meet people where they are. Typically right now in the summertime from 8 a.m. to noon. And then we have one afternoon at the Village on Sage. They have been so kind and great partners in giving us space. We have a clinic space there, and we also use their family room area so that we can have people come and meet us there. I would say this week, Mondays, is the day that that happens. We had over 20 people show up. They show up because they know us now. They know that we're there to help. and they really trust the work that we're doing. And what's even, I guess, more heartening for me is that they're starting to bring their friends. I wouldn't refer my PCP to someone, to a friend, if I didn't implicitly trust them and like them. It feels good to have that trust of the community. Our key community partners right now, and these are really folks that we have an MOU with. We have a ton of others, but we have MOUs with Northern Nevada Hopes, Community Health Alliance, Volunteers of America, Washoe County Housing and Human Services, Renown, and St. Mary's. So early learnings and successes. And these numbers are as of last Friday. And we launched April 1. So a little over a quarter of time. We've interacted with over 550 people. 188 individuals have received services from our team and have enrolled as our patients. We've done almost 140 blood draws for HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. We've given 51 wound care treatments. Of those blood draws, we've identified 16 past hepatitis C infections, 11 active, and one new HIV infection. And then we link to care. We link to care for hepatitis C treatment, for PrEP, for HIV services, and several community resources. So this is kind of our linkage to additional services as well as services that we're providing. We're providing nursing assessments, referral and linkage to substance use treatment. We've had a few folks come to us and just say, hey, I'm really tired of using out on the street. Will you help me get into substance use treatment? Absolutely. Can we do this right now? And so we try to move as quickly as possible to get people into what they need. Referral and linkage to primary care, crisis care, orthopedics, women's health, prenatal care, assistance with addressing pet needs. Man, last week was like a high pet week. And it's one more factor. that adds to the difficulty of people receiving services, while at the same time we really understand the care and the support that pets give to people while out on the street. So we do everything we can to get pet food, We vaccinated some animals last week so that folks, yes, can get into the services that they need. We assist with paperwork, everything from scheduling appointments to accessing housing, employment. Because we're at the Village on Sage, we have access to two showers. Folks know they can come get a shower. We have a lot of clothing, which is fantastic. So who wants to put their dirty clothes back on? Go take a shower. Here's some clothing. We're working on partnerships to get more shoes for folks. And we always are offering laundry and food while we're there. State Senator Rosen has in their office has been absolutely fantastic in helping us with advocacy to get documents that people need from the federal government. And we offer food, water, and socks constantly to everyone that we encounter. And particularly in the summer months now, we are also offering hats, sunscreen. We are freezing water and taking out popsicles. So it's a hard time out there in the summertime. So this was our timeline. April 1st, we thought, okay, the first six months, we're gonna have this small team, we're gonna have a small geographic area, we're gonna have limited offerings, we're gonna start to look at integrating medical residents and then do hygiene kits in Narcan. You see our second six months and our third, we've kind of blown that out of the water already and we're well into the second six months already because Washoe County gifted us this beautiful mobile health clinic as well as some more funding to get the mobile clinic out there and running and to support the expansion of our feet in the street work that we're doing. So with the money, we have a family nurse practitioner who is also a psychiatric nurse practitioner who has joined our team. She's back there. We will now be able to offer preventive care, chronic disease management, STI testing outside of HIV and hepatitis, behavioral health assessments, and then continued treatment and linkage to care. And this will also allow us to expand our service area, which is huge. Not that there's not enough work in the 4th Street corridor for us, frankly. We could do that five days a week, but we also recognize that there are people in other areas of our community that need these services as well.

Wouldn't that be amazing all over?

Goals. Goals. Yeah. So many goals. So this is our proposed expanded model. And I mean I say like 99% proposed because come September we're going to launch this. We're going to continue our open hours at Village on Sage. We would love to take our mobile clinic into central Reno. Perhaps the Believe Plaza would be fantastic. We're thinking Tuesdays because there is family soup. In the afternoon, we would love to be there prior to family soup so people know where to come and get services in a place that they're familiar with. We will continue our street outreach on 4th Street on Wednesday. We are gonna now expand to do open hours at Village on Sage on Thursdays, and then we want to do expanded street outreach in Reno. We're thinking further down 4th Street and now starting into 5th Street area as well, down by the blood bank, down by the bus station, where we know that there are several folks that could benefit from our services. We will be having some staffing additions. We are taking on a behavioral health intern. We're looking at one to two master social work interns and then one to two public health students. And we're trying to build some community volunteer opportunities. People really want to volunteer. What we won't do is we won't take people out on the street with us because that is not what we're here to do, but we will find opportunities for people to volunteer and support the work that we're doing. So, oh, look at that, perfect timing. Questions, thoughts?

All right. Excellent presentation. I'm going to hand it over to the body, but one thing that I'm so glad that you really touched upon are TBIs. You know, I think people always have this perception that people that are experiencing homelessness are, you know, have had some sort of addiction issues or other things like that. And I've ran into so many incidences of TBIs. Yep. And so I'm so glad you mentioned that because I think we need to educate more. in that capacity. Congratulations. Thank you so much for what you're doing. I think this is remarkable. It should be duplicated. I also want to commend the council because I really believe that Village on Sage will be one of our greatest accomplishments. Honestly, it's so innovative and we... It's just thinking outside the box. I don't know of another city that has done this or had this kind of model. And it was the city that really made it happen, took the charge. You know, Jackie, you worked really closely on that. Doug worked really closely on that. Allison Gorlick and Parr Tolles, all these people came together and made that happen. How many units do we have now, Jackie? 26. No, no, no, no. 297 297 yeah so and I have seen how it changes lives I want this council to be extremely extremely proud of that because that is the type of housing that does transform lives because it's really difficult to get into an apartment or other housing and this really lowers the barrier and so We want to continue to expand on that, but I just want the council to know I've witnessed firsthand the best of the best from the people that are working there to the work that the city has done at Sage. It is just transformative for a lot of people.

Absolutely. We're actually going to start opening up our mobile unit because it is parked at Village on Sage on Mondays to serve their population. I love it. That's fantastic. Access to help. These are exactly where we need to be.

I love it, love it, love it. Go ahead, Councilman Reese.

Thank you so much, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Ms. Fox, for the presentation. I want to start off by saying I had the opportunity to attend the Street Reach Street Health Summit in December, and so I was familiar with the work that you were just getting off the ground. I know that your background is long. I want to thank also Dr. Yingling for the support and commitment to it as the dean. there, and also a friend, Jason Brooks, who is working in this space and I think getting his PhD in something very related to it. A lot going on here, and I suppose I want to start off with some concerns I have around the federal government's targeting of clean needle exchange programs. And so I don't know if my colleagues are following this or aware, but the current administration has really declared that federally qualified health centers cannot have such programs and continue to receive funding, with the result of which is a pivot basically out to Northern Nevada Harm Reduction Alliance and in coordination with some of these layered partners that you're talking about, I think is very important because what we're going to see is an increase in not only use, but also in various preventable and treatable illnesses that relate And so I am worried and concerned about that, and maybe if you could speak to that for a moment. I just have a few minutes, so I will ask my questions that way, and then we can come back to them. The second is, of course, I have an interest in this area because I serve as the chair of the health district. So Northern Nevada Public Health is I think another place where I would like to see this presentation made and so you'll work with me to make sure that happens. We have some unique partnerships of course with the School of Social Work and also with Orvis that I think would be related and so I'll look forward to having you there and welcome you there to the North Nevada Public Health. The last thing is really an open invitation and this maybe is related to you, but it's sort of directed to Manager Bryant, which is I want to make sure that your program is working very closely with our HOPES team, which is having changes done to it and re-envisioning of it, but also we've had some presentations in the past in these chambers about community health workers, and I really think that we still have opportunities there that I have encouraged our city manager and our Chief of Police to really think about the ways in which we can think of public safety more broadly. And I think it really fits with what your mission is and really all of these groups are working together. But I am interested to know how we could be more closely knit together, both in the related safe exchange program the naloxone training, some of the things that we should be doing, I think, in the area of community health workers. So I don't know who wants to maybe take a stab at that, but it's just something that I've been thinking about, and your presentation makes a good segue to examine it.

Yeah, absolutely. All right. Councilwoman Anderson.

Yes. Thank you so much for being here today. This is the third time I've seen you present, and I learned something.

I'm sorry, Brandi.

Here I am again. More optimistic and encouraged every time. So first, I just want to say hi to my friend Natalie out there doing incredible work.

Natalie's our amazing project coordinator. We could not do this without her.

Yes. So the first time that I... saw you present is the first time I had seen Natalie's beautiful face in probably 30 years. So it's always a surprise and a joy to find that people that you grew up with are doing incredible work in the community. So thank you. I have two questions. One is, what can the city do to help you grow in the way that you want to grow and address the areas in our city that you know that need to be addressed? You don't have to answer that now. That's going to be an ongoing question that I want you to be brash enough to come back and report to us. The second thing is, as you are out doing the work in our community, when you find that you're noticing, wow, we could really use this here in this spot. If it requires infrastructure or a building or a team, I would like you to be brash enough to come back to the city of Reno and say, I have an idea and this is why. Because you are doing the work, you're seeing it, you're hearing from our constituents that are suffering, and you will be able to see, especially bringing up Last week was a heavy pet week. I can't imagine what tools could potentially be provided to your team that would make it easier for those types of situations. But you can. So I think all of my comments here are saying thank you. And what can we do to make this better for you and for our community? There was one other thing, but I'm just going to hold it because I'll let my colleagues say what they want to say. So thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Oh, it was related to community health workers. All ideas around how we can call attention to that profession, those credentialing, where they can get educated and what that job looks like. Let's do it. I mean, there, there are, hundreds of people in this community that have a passion for working with our constituents in this way and those Those credentials are not so hard to get to where they can immediately start making a difference So I want to learn more about that and support that process Absolutely.

Yeah, let's have that conversation great comments

Love it, love it. So I don't have to say anything because she did a remarkable job. Except for, wait, one thing I do want to ask you, because this one is really important to me, is how is the work going with the crisis center? We took seven years to get that going, and it's a warm handoff so that people can get treated for mental health. And I think... I think you mentioned it, Devon, like everyone working succinctly and together. I mean, it just is going to make your life obviously so much easier. And then I think going back to Brandy's point, grateful that she said that you know we can't imagine i'm sure there are weeks that are just unbearable and and i would say and i love what she said you know to reach out to us because i work with a lot of animal organizations that have food and um through pet smart initiatives through the conference of mayors there's a ton of resources too um that we can always call and you know ask for help so i love that brandy said that to pull Pull us in. So thank you.

So the crisis care is actually, they've been the easiest to access. Yay. Thank you. I'm so happy to hear that. Amazing partners.

That only took seven years, kids.

That was tough. Worth every year. Let me just say that. Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. I think there's other system issues that we would love to bring maybe into a smaller group or what have you. And I don't think that we yet have had weeks that are unbearable because we are... GS years, get things done. Yeah, I love it. And so we see it as a challenge. And we have really built solid relationships with folks in the community and at agencies where we can call and say, hey, this didn't work out so well. How can we work on a better pathway? And folks have been incredibly receptive. And so for us, it's about finding a better pathway to get to the things that the folks that we're serving need. Yeah.

and amazing. Go ahead, Councilwoman Dewar.

Yeah, just real quickly to build on something Councilmember Anderson and the mayor mentioned. In my last few months on council, I'm still chair of the Washoe County Animal Advisory Board and am also in touch with various organizations that can help on the pet side. I know more about that than the human side, unfortunately. But although I'm pretty good on the human side, too, got some networking, good networking. But just, you know, reach out sooner rather than later. If there's something where we can bring either the Washoe County Animal Services or the Nevada Humane Society together with you. We already work to create animal shelters at our human shelter. We work to create animal shelters at Sage Street, although I guess they've been, I'm not sure if they've been closed at this point, which I had heard. If they have been closed, I'd love to get those open again. And if there is a challenge, I'd love to work with you to help fix it.

Done.

You will hear from us. Okay, good. The light at the end of the tunnel is coming, and it's a short time, so please do.

Great.

Thank you. What I want to know is tell people how we can help you, what people in the community, I mean, what would be helpful?

Yes. So we will come back with some more thoughtful thoughts. But kind of, I would say initially, we are struggling, if you want to think about the community and how the community can help. We've built a wish list on Amazon. You can go to Amazon and search our wish list, Street Reach. That's it. Okay. Street Reach and there's all sorts of items that folks can, if they want to, purchase and it drop ships immediately to our Village on Sage office. We have a gift fund through UNR. Again, you can search UNR Street Reach and there's a gift fund if someone wants to give money. I think from where you all sit, if we can continue to come back and have your support, we're really committed at our six month point to have an interim report of what we've done and where we're going. So how can we have that continued conversation? And then I think it's entree. It's entree into, as Council Member Durr was saying, we need help with pet issues. Yeah.

Are you working with options too? I work a lot with them and they are phenomenal. No, not yet. Okay. I am happy to connect you because this is exactly what they do. They do it so that seniors and our houseless individuals have options. That's why it's called options. It's a very rare model. It's a nonprofit. They do phenomenal work because I want people to think about what that's like if you don't have the money to get proper vet care.

Yeah.

And we don't want any animals suffering. But it's very rare. There was one, I think, in Colorado, and then the second one in the country is here in Reno.

Fantastic.

So it's amazing, but I would love to connect you because Bonnie Brown does amazing work, and I can't tell you how many times she's saved the lives of animals. particularly in seniors that couldn't afford vet care. And so, you know, they really operate on a tight budget, so they don't have a lot of marketing budget, so they really, you know, sometimes don't get the notoriety that I think they deserve in that sense. But a lot of people don't know about them, and they can't help everyone because it would be really challenging. But let me tell you, the work they're doing is... It's unbelievable. So I want to connect you with them because there's other things that they can do besides vet care. And I just think it would be great for you to connect.

Yeah. And I think recency effect just today, I found out that we can take. Well, actually, I found out last week because we took pets to to get vaccinated. But we then paid the cost of the license. That's a barrier for folks. $22 may sound like nothing for us. $22 is a big deal for someone who's living on the street. And so if we can get some sort of waiver for folks that are within our program that are working with us, absolutely. Domestic violence funds. We have several women that have come to us in dire situations. We have called every single agency in this town and have been turned away because there aren't enough funds or beds for women who are seeking respite from domestic violence. And I could give you a list. And so we're here as problem solvers. I'm not here to complain. We are here to solve the problem with you all. Um, so as we come across these things, we will, um, we will bring it up and we will also be reaching out to others to help solve the problems.

Okay.

You will be brash enough.

Good to know. Be brash enough.

Yeah. But that's good to know because Washoe County, we've given them funds. I, we did. Councilman Dewar, we did four things like spay and neuter and those things. And so they should be working with you directly so that you can immediately have access to that because they do do those waivers. So we'll help you with a couple of... options that you can...

The spay and neuter is big, and if I may, Madam Mayor, I believe we got $300,000 to options for free spay and neuter, and we got even more.

I think it was only $100,000.

What's that?

They were only $100,000.

Oh, they were $100,000. So the other group, though...

It was $300,000.

Actually, the whole total, I think, was closer to $700,000. It was a huge amount.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

But anyway, bottom line, both organizations, the Nevada Humane and Options, have free spay and neuter. for people that need it. So we just need to use it. The money's sitting there. We'll connect you.

Awesome. Natalie. Both of us. Natalie. And it's on our last slide. Yeah, happy to. Yes, please.

And that's another good thing. All of us up here have different relationships with different nonprofits. Sometimes you're really connected to this one or you work a lot with this one. And so all of us have different relationships. And so you never know. Reach out to all of us because I know Brandy's got some major relationships when it comes to you know uh public safety and firefighting and all these right you just never know which one of us might have a direct connection with an organization that can really help you and make a difference fantastic yeah we want we want to help you i love what you're doing we all love what you're doing brandy said it best

Thank you. Thank you for your interest, and thank you for the trust in the work that we're doing. It's great. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Okay, we don't have to take any action other than that was a great presentation, and we are going to move on, I believe, to item C2, and that's, I believe, Lance? Who's doing this? Lance. Lance! He might not be here right now. We can move on to, we're gonna move on to item C3. This is the Massage Business Code discussion. And it looks like, is that gonna be you, Chief? Hi, great to see you. Okay, perfect. We are gonna hear from Chief Solferino to talk about item C3.

Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Vice Mayor, Council, Manager Bryant, Cory Solferino, for the record. What we have before you today is an opportunity to talk about a short gap in what we have in our enforcement activities since the creation of our human exploitation and trafficking team. What we don't have before you today is an actual code change. This would just be a possible recommendation as we're making our changes through the actual program. Oops. This does align with our city's strategic priorities as far as safe communities and ensuring our quality of life for our citizens of Reno. We want to ensure that we're addressing these from all angles, both from a policy, from an enforcement, and from a criminal element. One of the things that, this slide's very busy, but it's very telling. It tells a very specific story about what's happening, not only in our community, but across the entire country. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar industry that has identified over 15,000 illicit massage businesses, if you will, for lack of a better term, nationwide. With that comes about 124,000 commercial sex transactions daily across our country in all 50 states. And you can see by the dots on there that Nevada, Washoe County specifically, and Clark County are both identified in there as having these establishments working in our space. This one's difficult for me to talk about because it's really the victimization. This is very personal to me because I had the opportunity to lead this regional team as a lieutenant. So in 2020, when we created the human exploitation and trafficking team, that was really born out of the Reno street enforcement team. We identified when we were working prostitution, when we were working operations for drug addiction and the drug trade, that we identified this niche, specifically working with former Assemblywoman Jill Tolles down at the state legislature to enhance some of those crimes and penalties for people that were perpetuating sex trafficking and also taking a victim-centered approach. As law enforcement continues to evolve, we usually look at things differently today than we did yesterday. And one of the things that we'd always enforced was the actual victim of human trafficking, which was the prostitute and not the person behind that was doing the involuntary servitude, the actual trafficker, so to speak. So we've taken a victim-centered approach to this. And overwhelmingly, specifically in this industry, affects our Asian community. So over, I believe the statistic is up there, over 84% of the identified victims of human trafficking specific to the massage and the illegal illicit trade are of Asian descent. Most of them have over $45,000 in debt over their head as some sort of quid pro quo in getting them out of their country to America and then having to work off this debt in order to become a free citizen or become a United States participant, even though they're not in the country legally. This happens every single day. And some of the stats that I just want to bring, obviously we see a Starbucks on every corner. I saw two more just pop up. It seems like within the last six months, even in Ward 6 down south where I frequently recreate. And then McDonald's is obviously a name stay in this country. So for every one McDonald's in California, there's three illegal massage parlors that exist. Wow. For every one Starbucks that is in the state of New York, there's two illegal massage parlors. So that really puts into context how prolific this problem is. As we start talking about regional enforcement findings, I think it's important to talk about HEAT and what they do and who they represent. So HEAT is a regional team that is comprised of the Reno Police Department, the Sparks Police Department, and the Washoe County School District Police Department. We have recently relocated HERO, which was another team that had bifurcated about a couple years ago that had the Sheriff's Office personnel and University Police Services. We are now working in the same space again. We're working on an MOU to bring those teams back together because the work that they do is important. We're trying to break down those silos and make sure that we're not leaving any lead unresearched and that we're working more collaboratively together, sharing those resources that we have and working towards that goal. We've identified several several several locations both in the cities of Reno and sparks where this is currently happening. Sparks and I got to give some credit where credit's due city attorney West Duncan was our dedicated washoe County district attorney prosecutor when I was lieutenant overheat a lot of these initiatives when he left the district attorney's office to go become the spark city attorney were things that he was passionate about and that he brought to sparks because he saw the holes in their codes. enhance them. Similarly, when I was wearing a green uniform, I brought a code before the Washoe County Commission to enhance our I think that we have not misused that ordinance either in the city of reno or washoe county. What west was able to do and sparks was identified those shortcomings and that's what we're trying to do here today is that by strengthening our ordinance. and not displacing people that are bad actors in the city of Sparks to go ahead and reapply for licensing in Reno. That is what we're trying to do here today is close another loophole that is yet left in our administrative code that allows people to leave one jurisdiction, come to the next. So Sparks has largely eliminated by their code ordinance the ability for people to go back and reapply under a different name or a different license in the same establishment. That's what we're seeking to do here today. A couple of things that we've identified as far as our gaps in our code was it was initially introduced in 2020. We haven't had any changes in it since. So like most legislation, when we work down in Carson City or we work at the national level, we find that the legislative intent or the intent of the code is not always carried out and we find those loopholes later. So we're here today to close some of those loopholes. One of the things that it doesn't afford us the opportunity to address is those that are living in the establishments. I think we can all say that when you have an illicit parlor, we have people living in back rooms and closets, sleeping in bunk beds. That's not really indicative of a normal, well-licensed professional business. So giving us the teeth that we need to work with Lance and his team, to work with Ashley and her team, to go in and actually... conduct routine inspections to make sure that people are on the up and up or they're not on the up and up. There's really not a whole lot of explanation for some of the things that we're seeing in the illicit business trade. Also, the reapplication, I spoke about that briefly on the previous slide, where they're just literally leaving people that are not named on the LLC and just reapplying the same trafficker, the same people, the same criminal enterprise or organization under just a different name or a different business license. Currently, our inspections are limited in scope, frequency, and authority. This would allow us the opportunity to partner with business licensing and code and being able to go in there as the enforcement arm and make sure people are in compliance or not in compliance. And currently, we don't have those teeth. There is no policy implication here before you today. What this is is simply a recommendation to give us the ability to go forth, work with legal, to work with all of our stakeholders and potentially bring before this board a change in ordinance that would allow us those same provisions that were introduced into SPARKS that they've seen great wide success with. And I'd be happy to entertain any questions you guys may have. I know this was a rather brief. a conversation, but a very, very sensitive topic. And I can't commend the men and women that work in that unit enough and what they do, what they research. We just recently performed an operation where multiple arrests were done. It was a multi-day operation. I think you guys saw the press release. We also released some information on social media. and the amount of work that goes in after one of those operations, the multitude of reports, the victims that have been identified, how we have to pair them up with our victim services. This space is not much different than the unsheltered population, and it takes a lot of repeated contacts with law enforcement to gain their trust, to get them to lead the life of the trafficker, no different than the domestic battery syndrome and since where it takes an act of courage, it takes a pathway, it takes severe counseling. and access to resources for people to want to leave that trade, and our team does that day in and day out, and unfortunately, they're very good at what they do. We've identified that this problem is not going away anytime soon, and we've created, essentially, a lot of work for ourselves moving forward, Mayor.

Well, first of all, thank you so much. I am so grateful that this is something that you're passionate about. I was fortunate enough to work with Jill Tolles, Assemblywoman Jill Tolles at the time. I mean, she was not giving up. I had no idea the conditions that these poor women were living under and how abused they were. And then the other thing I didn't know about it, and this is where I think a lot of people don't understand, is we oftentimes re-victimize those women because it's very disproportionate on how those women are treated in the legal system. Yes, ma'am. Right? It is horrible. And it is some of the worst things that I've seen when it came to pictures and living in these tiny rooms with out of any restrooms. I mean, it was disgusting. It was deplorable what they've done to these women. So I commend you, Chief, honestly. I'm so glad you brought this. And I know it's important work that kind of continues, especially with Jill, because she was so passionate about it. But also, those Johns and those individuals absolutely Not acceptable at all. So I feel like whatever we can do to help you, because I think that many of those victims need our help on every level. They deserve our help in every capacity because it's very alarming. I had no idea until I started working on that with Jill. So once you get educated, it's... I couldn't even speak whenever I saw... what was happening.

Even identified, Madam Mayor, if I may, when I was wearing the other color uniform in our detention facility when we started doing online research and forms for them to be able to go to victim services.

They take their passports, just so everyone knows, they take their identities, their passports, anything, anything. They make sure they have no money and they work them to the bone. And I mean, it's

We would talk to these women. We would try to connect with them. We would try to get them resources, get them into programming, working with a lot of our local nonprofits in Awaken. And despite our best efforts, it was disheartening how many times that we would literally watch them walk out the front doors of 9-11 Par Boulevard right back into the hands of their trafficker. So it's a vicious cycle that we have to break and there's opportunities, there's resources. I can tell you one thing, the Reno community is overwhelmingly supportive in the nonprofit realm. We can't do this as local government by ourselves. We can certainly not do it by ourselves in the law enforcement realm. So really leaning on the victim-centered approach, looking at this through a different lens, holding those traffickers accountable and getting our victims the resources that they need through all of our generous nonprofits is truly how we're going to break this cycle.

Well, what I love about you guys and what you're doing, if you are a trafficker, watch out, we will find you. 100%. We won't tolerate it, period. And also, I find it disgusting how these poor women are victimized in the sense... that they have been told, too. They've been told, oh, once you get to America, or whatever is happening, they promise them the sun, moon, and the stars. We're going to reconnect you with your family, your sister. They are told the most horrendous lies to exploit them at every turn. It was very disturbing. I did not sleep for a long time whenever I worked on this, because the stories, I just couldn't even believe. fathom that other people would do this to someone.

Very powerful.

But thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

Councilwoman Anderson.

Yes.

I just have one question about the process, because I can imagine with so many of these victims not being citizens, it's probably terrifying in the current environment to leave the handler. So what is happening? Describe the process to me. You identify a business that needs to be addressed. What's happening to those young ladies in that process? Are they being treated like criminals or are they being cared for through the system? It sounds like a loaded question, and I don't want it to be.

It's not a loaded question.

I'm just wondering, I can imagine how terrified they are, and the only safety they really do know is that trafficker. So how are we addressing that in the process?

Madam Mayor, through you, to Councilwoman Anderson, Corey Solferino, for the record, I think it's important to discuss those because we've worked extensively, obviously, with our Latinx community because of what's happening in our space with ICE right now. So whenever you're dealing with undocumented citizens, they're worried about being deported. They're worried about that. We take a very victim-centered approach. So by using our victim resources that we have and identifying those, absent any other crimes that are going on, because sometimes there are additional crimes that are going on that that we can't ignore. There's a certain amount of discretion that we have with misdemeanors. There's not a whole lot of discretion that we have when it comes to gross misdemeanors and felony. But working with true victims that we're trying to remove from the traffickers, we work really a lot with the non-profits and try to get them a pathway home to get them stable, to get them some way. We don't do immigration enforcement. That's not the local jurisdiction's responsibility. And trying to share that narrative and work with all of our stakeholders in the community to let people know that, hey, it's okay to come forward. If I don't see it happen or you don't tell me that it happened, I don't know that it happened. So we have to really work on that transparency and trust and being able to get victims to come forward to let us know what's happening to them and then follow them through the process and make sure that we have resources. Kim Yeager with Truckers Against... Yeah, she's amazing. Kim's amazing. Rhonda Clifton's amazing. I've worked with them. Well, I've worked with Rhonda since she was my internship supervisor, dating myself back to 1999 or 1994. Where am I going? But there are amazing people that are out there to give us the resources, the money to be able to place victims in a safe space so we can work through all the way through the conviction of the trafficker and get them the help and resources that they need.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, I just had a quick question. Do you have a feel for how many of these establishments there are?

I don't. I mean, is it 10? About four year removed, I apologize, Madam Mayor, for you to Councilwoman Dewar. I don't have a number, but what I really want to address here today is there's a stigma, right, with massage parlors in general, whether or not they're performing because of this illicit trade. And what we really want to do is not give discredit to the professionals that are out there and the ones that are monitored correctly that are complying with everything that we're asking. I know that several have been identified in SPARCS. We have done a lot of UC operations in this space. I will get back with the team and get back to you as far as how many we anticipate, but there are several.

It would just be good to have a rough feel for is this a ginormous problem or it's throughout the city. Probably, I have a feeling, not just centered in one place. But I know many people, including my own husband, who get frequent, legitimate massages for health, you know, just back issues, whatever, just like chiropractors, really. And it's very helpful. So sometimes it's even hard to sort the wheat from the chaff when you're on the other side just trying to find the right place. You know, you look... in reviews, Google, all the places that you can figure out is this a good place or a bad place. So it actually makes it a little bit harder to do legitimate stuff.

I'm glad you brought that up, because honestly, maybe there's some things that we should know to look at to make sure that it is a legitimate. I don't know. Is there? I don't know. But to your point, there are a lot of good people working in that space. Yeah, exactly.

And that's what we want to do. The point of this is to hold the bad actors accountable and to re-legitimize a wonderful business that actually helps people be healthy. I mean, as I approach 50, I'm not as limber as I once was. Trying to put on my shoes without a shoehorn is a little bit difficult. So my sport massages are a two-hour marathon session where it's not, you know, feel good, take a nap. This is hurting. I'm going to concentrate on breathing exercises.

He usually hurts for a couple days after, frankly. It does. Cupping's amazing, too. I don't want to go to that kind of thing. I don't go to those.

Anyway, Councilman Ebert. Yeah, yeah, and I apologize if I've missed some stuff. I was taking notes, too. Yes, ma'am. But thank you for the presentation. Those stats are really eye-opening and just really hard to hear and hearing Mayor Schiebe's. experience with it is just heartbreaking. I do have a question about what happens with the people that are going there to use those services. Is there going to be something in place that helps identify the people that are going to these services? Because the reality is that these people are selling something that there's a demand for. So I'm really interested in like getting rid of the demand as well. So is there going to be something like that in place or requirement for like maybe copies of driver's license or something when people come in so we can find them when we find a massage parlor that's not above board?

Madam Mayor, through you too, Councilwoman Ebert, we are in the demand reduction business. So through our online operations, through our UC operations, identifying those bad actors is really what keeps us in business. When we pose as different people than we are, and they are, unbeknownst to them, law enforcement officers communicating with somebody that they believe is underage or performing an act that can't be done within city limits or... Reducing the demand is 100% our way out of this. I would be entertained to sit down with the city attorney's office and our legal counterparts to look at other ways just as you have to produce a license to go into a dispensary. I think there's opportunities there for us to look at to clean up issues across the board. Great.

Yeah, I would really be interested in something like that. Yes, ma'am. And you mentioned undercover officers going in. Please tell me that they're not using these services when they go in.

No, ma'am.

Okay, good. Yeah, I'm just really happy to see that there's... kind of a crackdown on this. It's a horrible situation. And to your point about people leaving services and going right back to the traffickers, I mean, I can't even imagine what kind of... hold they have on them you know maybe they have family members that they think are at risk you know in their their home country or or native country or even here or you know god only knows yeah financial yeah security yeah as far as to the mayor's point holding passports holding their ability to do anything or have any true identity of their own money it's it's the whole gamut Yeah, and there might even be a sense of community with people that are working together. It might not be the trafficker per se, but if there's several women that are in the same position, there might be kind of a bond there between them as well. But it is disappointing to hear that they're not going into services, but I can imagine there's... there's a lot of reasons why they might be afraid of different types of retaliation too.

We're trying to break through those barriers, and I can tell you that the ladies that worked on our victim services unit specific to the human trafficking piece are phenomenal and literally speak across the country on what we're doing here in Reno, Nevada to show other jurisdictions the victim-centered approach and how to do it, and I can't thank them enough for what they do.

Great, and do you have people that speak... They're, you know, native language. We do have language banks available to us. Okay, great.

We actually have bilingual services, but obviously with the Asian community being predominantly from this side of the house, it does tax us a bit, but the language bank has always been a wonderful partner with the Reno Police Department and will continue to be for these issues where we have these language barriers.

Okay, great. Thank you. All right, I would love to make a motion. Madam Mayor, I just... Oh, go ahead.

Yeah, I just want to ask. Chief, so the recommended motion is here. Certainly, I think you'll have all opportunity to bring a host of things forward. At the end of the day, I suppose my only request is that you are looking at what's being done not only in Sparks but across the country to make reductions in the number of these. I sort of see them as mostly... I don't know, congregating along the Moana corridor and maybe the Kitsky corridor. It just seems that as I drive those corridors, there seem to be more than a high number or unusual high number of places advertised for massage. I'm not saying that that makes them illegitimate. It's just odd that they're located there. So in Ward 5, I'm not necessarily seeing them, but maybe you would be able to tell that through this process. So like Ms. Dewar said, it just helps us to understand and identify what you know. And again, because there's not a specific thing you've asked us about, of course, I think our

body is inclined to give you all measure of tools to be able to go out and make that a priority so thank you so much you know what's really important too and working with lance and his team and looking at what do legitimate businesses because we do live in a 24 7 town what's a legitimate time for a business to operate in this space so those are things that we're also looking at too

Yeah, good. That's great. And also, you know, I want to commend Carl Hall and his work that you've done, not tolerating it. And also with Susan, that amazing woman. You know, so I appreciate your office because you've done good work there. So I appreciate you. Carl never gets any love. He does. But anyway, I did want to recognize that because I know what you guys do and how much you dedicate time to that. So thank you. Okay. So, Vice Mayor.

Yeah, thank you so much. I just wanted to echo some of the comments that were already made and in support of opening up, you know, Chapter 5.23 and making some amendments and ensuring that across the region we have similar ordinances and rules that apply. And so, as you mentioned earlier, people are or establishments aren't jumping from one jurisdiction to the other where it might be a little bit more lax. And I also want to show appreciation to the Reno Police Department for helping being so keenly aware to the situation that the victims are undergoing in this situation and making sure to provide as much social services and support for them as they seek to try to create a new, better life for themselves. I think I got a chance to go with, to do a ride along with our code enforcement officers and similar to what you mentioned, right? Some of the businesses, even though it's not confirmed, they may have suspicions that stuff like this are going on. And so noticing that there are maybe clothing racks or cots that folks are living in are definitely conditions that they're aware of and things that we don't want as living conditions for all of the people that reside in our city. And so I'm supportive of us moving forward with this and just want to thank you for your leadership and your involvement in making sure this comes through. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah.

Sure, I'd be happy to direct staff to draft an ordinance amending Reno Municipal Code Chapter 5.23 and bringing those forward to the council.

Okay, perfect. I have a motion from Vice Mayor Martinez. Second. Second from Councilwoman Anderson. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Okay, moving along. Yes, we can go back to C2, and I just want to remind council members that we are not going to take a break, so if you need to, please get up, do whatever you need to, but we're going to continue to move on with the meeting. All right, so Lance, this is all you, and I'm going to ask, do we have any public comment on this item?

We do not have anyone registered to speak, but we did receive one comment in favor.

Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right. Lance, I'm going to send it to you. Thank you so much for doing this and being here and I appreciate you.

Of course. Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, Council Members. Lance Ferrado, Director of Licensing and Code Enforcement for the record. Today, I'm here presenting progress in the status of our updates to RMC Chapter 507, which is alcoholic beverages. The end goal here is to modernize and streamline our alcohol licensing framework so it's clearer for applicants, more enforceable for staff, and more closely aligned with the current state law. So this effort advances your strategic priorities, specifically government effectiveness and legal obligations by reducing ambiguity in licensing and improving the enforceability. Today we're going to cover the project background, the community outreach, some of the draft details, and then I have six policy topics that I want to get your opinion and direction on. So some background, the last major comprehensive revision to titles four and five took place back in July of 97. Since then, incremental changes have left some sections outdated and unclear. As some of you will remember in early 2023, council directed staff to open and amend titles four and five in their entirety. And this project has been on pause for a while, but now we're beginning to move through each chapter targeted and starting with this one. So there's been comprehensive outreach here. Since this project restarted, we've been committed to the public engagement process. We've held 14 stakeholder meetings, including broad-based and focused discussions. We met individually and with numerous licensees and gathered feedback through our website, emails, comment forms, all of which has informed this draft you're going to see today. So what does the draft do? It modernizes outdated language, incorporates public feedback, staff recommendations, and reduces confusion on both the public and city side of enforcing things. We've reorganized how the code flows and redefined the terms to make the code easier to follow and make licensing decisions more transparent and predictable. So as I mentioned, I have six policy topics here to talk about. We've got alcohol delivery, to-go alcohol, locational compatibility, council discretion, noise disturbances, and exceptions to the alcohol cap. So I'm happy to go through these one by one and then get your feedback after each item, or we can wait until the end. So you let me know how I'll start with the first one, and you can let me know if you'd like to weigh in.

I would like you to finish the entire presentation.

Absolutely, happy to.

For my ADHD, it's better if we get through the whole thing and then questions. No problem. Otherwise, then I forget.

Sounds great.

So thank you.

Okay, so we'll start with package alcohol delivery. This was authorized at the state level in 2021 through NRS 369-489. The city currently allows delivery by definition. However, there are no guardrails and it does not reference the state framework. So the decision today is should we continue to allow package alcohol delivery and reference the state standards? And just to let you know, as a side note, creating this license type in a third-party delivery system would require a new business type and a business impact statement. But these clear standards and direct reference to state regulation will support lawful delivery while giving RPD and business licensee consistent tools to be able to support this process. Also included in the draft language are prohibitions related to the delivery of to-go alcohol to any business license to sell alcohol to any school property in any location without a permanent address. So similarly to go alcohol in 2025 NRS 3694891 was created and this authorized covered food establishments to sell or deliver sealed to go alcohol for off premises consumption. By covered food establishments it boils down to basically restaurants. The decision point here is should the city permit to go alcohol sales and delivery similar to the last item this would create a new license type and would require a BIS. So you're aware with this and the previous item the state regulations provide clear requirements for transactions and delivery tracking to support responsible service. It's also worth noting that the state law imposes a 50 cent fee for each serving sold of to go alcohol which is remitted to the state and ultimately the ignition interlock and DUI reduction program. Similarly, the same locational prohibitions would be in place. Moving on to locational compatibility. During public engagement, stakeholders raised concern over the ambiguous and subjective language citing apprehension to apply for on-premise licenses based on the application process. And what I mean is, an applicant can proceed through the process, go through planning, building, fire, health, all the applicable approvals, They could have a lease, they could have hired staff, invested in product, all to come to council and be denied based on an uncodified concern over proximity to sensitive use. And that's just the way that the law is written. It's not explicit in what these distances or proximities are. Now, Title 18 already addresses package alcohol distancing requirements. So the language in this section referring to those businesses is being recommended for removal. The decision point for you is, Do we specify distancing on on-premise licenses or retain the discretionary language as is? A measured standard increases predictability. However, rigid distances may create unintended consequences for mixed use areas and riverfront amenities due to the portions of river that are considered parks. So for example, if we were to institute a distancing requirement from a sensitive use, it could interfere with being so close to the river and then you wouldn't be able to have a bar or restaurant that was serving alcohol near the river if you were to go that direction. Some possibilities to address this can include a staff review of such applications on a case-by-case basis with more objective measures. We could require security plans to ensure operational compliance. And we could continue to brainstorm internally in order to create a path if that's the direction that council so chooses to go. Very similarly, council discretion. There's a whole section on council discretion, but it alludes to the power that council can approve or deny package licenses as it considers appropriate and in the best interest of the welfare, health, or safety of the city. Again, the stakeholders had concern over this process and the potential for a last second denial. For you to consider today, should more objective standards be created so that council doesn't need to exercise as much discretion at the dais? Should the existing discretion be extended to all alcohol license types, or should the code just remain unchanged? Are we happy with the way it is? In other words, if more objective standards were created, we could improve the fairness and the transparency, but also preserve the council authority. So moving on to noise, we've had a lot of discussion over the past year with noise in the planning department as well, and it always comes back to businesses in the area. There are two sections in the licensing code that reference noise and disturbance, and stakeholders have raised concern with subjective terms like boisterous conduct or unreasonably disturbed. Likewise, staff agrees that this is not only difficult to enforce, it's even more difficult to prove. So today we're trying to decide should the noise provisions be removed from the business licensing code and instead be enforced through disturbing the peace citations with RPD. Shifting the noise enforcement to RPD aligns with the established tools and reduces ambiguity in the licensing code. because you have to remember that the compliance officer is almost never on site or on shift when a noise complaint is reported. Police are already responding to these types of calls when possible, so any chronic issues filed through PD or Reno Direct would ultimately be used to determine disciplinary action. My last item here is exceptions to the alcohol cap. As you all know, there's a cap of 18 package alcohol licenses in the downtown SafeScape area. This is one of the two relevant exceptions contemplates a grocery store use, but is very cumbersome criteria. For instance, current code allows an exception under the requirement by having a minimum of 9,000 square feet of retail floor space with no more than 5% of the floor dedicated to alcohol products. That seems simple enough, but there are nine conditions, five of which must be met to even be considered and then recommended by the RDA to the council. I'm not going to list them all, but I'll give you an idea. One speaks to the minimum number of employees, which could be considered an arbitrary condition. Another requires a building to have been vacant for at least 12 months prior to the license being approved. The building is predominantly characterized by dislocation, deterioration, and dilapidation. Another requires the business to design and construct a significant outdoor amenity in the proximity of business locations, such as a pocket park, a plaza, a fountain, or public art. So it's very clear this exception was created to allow for this significant redevelopment with very strict guidelines. However, staff is asking council if this criteria should be reframed. So the decision point today is should the exception be modified to accommodate to a specific use with revised guidelines without undermining the CAP's intent? If directed, refining this exception could support downtown amenities while still preserving council's objectives. Staff could dive deeper into the specific definitions of what you'd like to see in a grocery store and what sort of requirements you'd like to see, or we can simply let this be and keep the exception as it is. Again, this and all of the other and most of the other things, the for, after, the to, new items are all being brought forward because we're cleaning this code up. We're wanting to make it very clear. We don't want any excessive language in here that's just there because it's always been there. We want to make it work. We want to make it be useful to everyone. So I put this slide back up here after I've gone through those six items just so you can see those topics on top of your brain, right in front of you and you can speak to them. And I'm happy to ask any questions or address any concerns that you might have.

Okay, Lance, first of all, thank you so much. I know you've been working on this probably night and day. I think you did a phenomenal job. Thank you. I just want to make sure whatever we do is really beneficial. You know this like the back of your hand, so I really hope that we lean into... what you feel is the most necessary. And I'm glad that you brought up some examples that frustrate me, that frustrate you. I really, really appreciate it because I think we asked you to go back and do this. And I know it was a lot of work. So on top of the other job you got to do. So thank you. Good. Great job. With that being said, there isn't. Oh, I'm going to send it to Councilman Reese.

Thank you so much, Mr. Ferrado. Thank you so much for the presentation. I wanted to ask about this question you put up about the grocery store. And I don't know which slide is easiest to have the conversation, but you talk about this exception, like the exception anticipating a grocery store. I suppose for my part, I'm not looking for exceptions, right? What I want is to have like a more robust definition of what it means to be a grocery store, right? Because then you don't have to have exceptions for it. My hope, of course, is that there will be a downtown grocery store. There's been one long planned in the old Harris project. There was a prior location in the Liberty Bell or the River Bell or whatever it was called. Nonetheless, I'm just saying I'm not looking for an exception. That would be my policy direction on this question. I think I just want to have a more robust definition so we define what we're trying to actually define rather than allowing exceptions to the general rule. There was another part, and I suppose then I could go back to your question or your slide that has to do with each of the different questions or sub-questions. It's about to-go alcohol. And so during the COVID pandemic, there were lots of restrictions that we tried to lessen to allow bars to be successful. And the quintessential example that I have is to discuss this issue in our policy briefings is Rum Sugar Lime, who is a bar that I guess they juice all their own juices and it's sort of a rum bar. And the point being is that during the pandemic, they bottled their spirits and we allowed them to sell them. I don't think that they had a restaurant or maybe they were forced to have like nachos or potato chips or something to qualify under the rule. Pazava was next door and they had a pass through to Pazava. But I guess my point is, is I want to make sure that we are not creating barriers to the success of a group like that or for Reno or for some of these smaller batch distillery kinds of groups. How do we address that?

Lance Ferrado for the record. Yes, I've had a lot of conversations with the lobbying groups that helped get this passed, looking through the legislative materials on how they got to where they were at. Just so everyone's aware, they defined a covered food establishment, which means an establishment that prepares and serves food on the premises for consumption on or off the premises and is licensed to sell at retail alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. It also alludes to another NRS in the 500 chapter about what is considered a food establishment and what ways somebody could become a food establishment. I think the primary intent here was to be able to sell alcohol with food. So if, for instance, the licensee that you're referring to wanted to participate in something like this, they would have to become a covered food establishment by the state's definition in order for us to accommodate the rule, to allow them to do so.

No, but why can't we have a rule that's different than that? That's what I'm not understanding. Like, I agree with you that lobbyists got together and sought a way to exclude some small businesses from competing for the larger pool of, I don't know if it's liquor or distributorships that were the lobbyists. I'm trying to help the small business owner who says, hey, I have a great product. I'm bottling it. my ties or whatever it is, but I don't sell food. But the liquor lobby or maybe the casinos or the resort association got together in the legislature and blocked them from doing that. Why can't we as a city be more supportive of our small businesses than the state was in their effort?

Amen.

Yeah, and I'm happy to look into that with the city attorney's office and make sure that we can get to where we want to be if that's the direction council wants to go. From the best of my knowledge, it was a requirement from the state that we could not alter. So, again, I will check those traps and make sure that it's not something that we can override. And if we can, I'm happy to bring some language forward that allows for that.

Yeah, I appreciate that. I'm just asking you to sort of expand your thought process to maybe test the limits of whatever the requirement is, because, again, during the pandemic, we found it was a way to help businesses be successful. I don't think this applies to a whole lot of businesses. Right. I'm not saying that there's a widespread market for people who bottle their own special products. whatever it is, cocktail. But I suppose in the spirit of innovation and trying to lean into our small businesses here locally, we do a lot of things, right? We changed the noise ordinance to give people the opportunity to have live music, right? So that those businesses could be successful. And so I know that this particular bar has all the equipment, and I suppose they're just looking for a way to be able to run the business the way they see fit.

Sure, understood.

I might have other things, but I'll let someone else take over because I've gone over my time. All right, Catherine.

Yeah, I just wanted to kind of echo what Councilmember Reese said, that I don't want to make it more difficult for existing businesses to continue selling alcohol. If they're already doing that, let them continue doing it. And also, too, as far as unintended consequences, I'm a little worried that people might drive drunk actually to go pick stuff up or drink it there and then drive home. I feel like that might increase people drinking and driving. And maybe I'm wrong, but that's just something that I think of. But I just want to make sure I'm understanding everything correctly. Are you looking to just make it easier for a grocery store to come into downtown? Like, is this what we're trying to accomplish?

Lance Prado, for the record. So the current code, which was written in 2008, this section was brought in in 2008, it outlines that the cap could be breached for a couple reasons, one of them being this long laundry list of criteria that would basically allow a grocery store to operate if it met these things. And I say grocery store because it said that it had to have You know, it had to have food, it had to have alcohol, it had to have like pharmaceuticals, these kind of things. So like the intent was there. It didn't call it straight out because we don't have a grocery store definition in our Title 18. That's something that we're going to have to work on if we go forward with this piece. We're trying to make it so that it's very clear that these are the standards we can meet. It's not an impossible standard if that's what council wants. If they want a grocery store and they want to be able to sell alcohol, I mean, honestly, a major chain or something like that, everyone always says, where's the Trader Joe's? Can we get one of those? They probably wouldn't come downtown if they couldn't sell alcohol, right? I mean, I don't know their business model. I'm not going to pretend I'm making the decisions, but it makes sense, right, that they're going to want to sell alcohol.

Okay.

So if that's the case, then we want to make that criteria amenable to anybody that's going to make a move like that.

Yeah, so we're kind of removing some of the hurdles that they would need to get over. Okay. So I'm just going to ask this directly. What exactly are we trying to solve? Is it just a grocery store component or what exactly is the motivation for this? And what is the problem we're trying to solve? Is it just grocery stores or is there anything else?

Basically, when this item came up, some of the stakeholders involved said, well, why should there be exceptions to the rule at all? Why shouldn't you just abide by the cap? I kind of give them the explanation that during the redevelopment process and one of the goals of bringing people downtown is obviously you want to have a grocery store for them to shop at. And they said, well, this seems like This seems like a lot of words. What's the point of it? So this is more of a cleanup item and more of a let's get your opinion if this is still relevant in 2026 when it was created in 2008. So, again, the goal at the end of the day, I think, is just to clarify this. And if council decides to choose, we just leave it as it is as well. That's also an option.

Okay. Because it feels like the grocery store is the main thing. item we're trying to change, but there was also a lot of other things in the presentation. So I just want to make sure that we don't make things more difficult for business owners, um, that we just focus on, you know, making it easier for businesses to come into downtown, um, particularly a grocery store because it's kind of a food desert, um, in the downtown area. But I don't want to, um, You know agree to make changes and then you know, we're not allowed to sell alcohol by the river, you know There's restaurants on the river that sell alcohol. I don't want them to be impacted. So I just want to be very clear that I do want to make it easier for grocery stores to exist But I don't want to make it more difficult for anyone else that's currently able to sell or deliver alcohol So my time's up. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I support all of the feedback that Mr. Reese gave. about making it more fair for local businesses, small local businesses, to be successful. We have a lot of really innovative businesses, especially in the downtown area. Rum, Sugar, Lime, or I'm not sure which bar it was that you referred to, but just Tentor is a distillery that's just downtown, and they, I mean, they're selling their product nationally. So discouraging any businesses' innovation I think is not something that we're interested in. Did want to lend support to it for removing noise out of this ordinance. I think that being able to address it through disturbing the peace is Timely and ultimately enforceable so that I think that's a great suggestion and specifically regarding more I know that square footage is an important metric so that you're not considering small space, corner stores, and grocery store in general, but I want to make sure that whatever that code is and those items are, they're not restrictive to the types of flexible properties we might have downtown. I'm specifically, you know, you see three-story targets, you see people using space really creatively in other urban environments, so I want to make sure that we don't box them out of that type of an opportunity. And then one extra question about selling the alcohol to go. How does that affect us downtown? You can't drink alcohol while you're walking downtown. So how does that affect the, you know, potentially the... the business that sells somebody a to-go margarita after their dinner and they walk home, they're within walking distance of downtown. Sure. I mean, how do you enforce those issues?

Yeah, so that's something that we'll have to work through with PD as far as how we identify those types of things. But the state law does require that drinks sold like that are sealed. Okay. Sometimes you could equate it to somebody buying a beer at a liquor store and walking home with it and just carrying it, right? They could open it at any time. They could. That's not legal, but they could. So it's the same thing with these sealed drinks. Somebody buys the sealed drink, and they have to take it home. They're not supposed to use it. They're not supposed to drink it until they get home. Similar to going to the grocery store. You can buy alcohol, put it in your car, and drive with it in the car. You're not supposed to open it and drink it. This goes for cannabis. This goes for a lot of types of things. So, yeah, it is new because we've all been taught, no, you can't do that. It's just being done in a different way. And that's how the state proposes through the sealed method. And we'd have to work with PD to say, are you comfortable with this on how our regulations and the state's regulations are going to govern this? And if they're not, then that's a big flag. So we'll have to work through that piece too.

Okay. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I had one more issue, and I wanted to talk to Mr. Ferrado about the disciplinary actions, procedures, and penalties section. And so I had taken a look at it, and I wanted to talk about two things. One was when I have traveled to some other states, I notice an increase in states that are currently doing IDs for sale of alcohol. So everybody entering an establishment has to have an ID or everyone buying alcohol, I think, furnishes an ID. I think it's similar to what we do with cigarettes, right? I don't smoke, but I do see people who go to the place to get the cigarettes and then they are having their ID scanned. Doesn't that solve some of the issues that we're having in different parts of town about over consumption or who's buying what? I mean, why isn't that part of the solution?

Lance Ferrado for the record, it could be part of the solution. ID requirements are obviously it's required that you have an ID. Now there are some jurisdictions like you're saying that require maybe like some sort of machine that checks your ID, some sort of verifier. I think that that's been brought up many times in our stakeholder meetings and I've heard the positives and the negatives of it. I'm happy to research it more and get with PD and see what they really think. Some of the feedback that I get is that Some of those things work very well and some of the feedback is that all the fake IDs work anyway. So, what are we really wasting the time on? I also think that you make a point that these could be used in a retail situation, maybe not so much applied to a sit-down restaurant where every single server has to check ID, a verification tool in their apron that they have to go up to the tables and check every single person. That might be a little more cumbersome. But it's something that we have talked about, and I'm happy to bring it up with the stakeholders and the city attorney's office and PD and see where everybody lands on it.

Yeah, I mean, I think what we're trying to do is ensure that people who are not legally allowed to purchase alcohol do not, right? And so I've long since gotten to the point where I am happy when I get carded, right? That doesn't happen to me anymore. And I'm just trying to figure out if that's part of the enforcement mechanism that we're not utilizing. I thought maybe it could be done on the back of an existing system, right? We have a system in place in this state about cigarettes, and so there must be some verification process to ensure that we don't have underage people who are drinking primarily. The other thing is I noticed that in the penalties section, the penalties are not that severe, right? And so I don't know, and maybe this would be something you'd have to work with Chief Solferino on to understand what is the... The problem that we're trying to address, I think it's always good not to be searching for solutions for problems we don't have. But if we have a problem with the sale of alcohol to minors, then that seems to be one of the areas where we might be able to increase the penalties for it. I think you get so many certain strikes and then we get to revoke your license. What we're trying to make sure is we don't have bad actors and that we have the tools in the toolbox to remove bad actors from the pool. So I would like to make sure that that's part of what you look at is how we deter bad actors.

Absolutely.

That's it for me, Madam Mayor.

Can you please give me a motion?

Well, I'm happy to. I think the motion was a more general motion. I move to direct staff to incorporate comments from today's discussion, continue to gather stakeholder feedback, amend the draft as needed, and return with an ordinance introduction.

Okay, thank you. I have a motion. Second. I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Thanks so much. Good job, Lance. I know this has been long.

It's not over yet.

But it's not over yet. And then I should tell everyone Lance was a regulator at the Gaming Control Board. Right. At the Gaming Control Board. So he is the perfect person to get this job done. But thank you so much. You're welcome. Excellent work. Thanks. Okay.

Madam Mayor. Yes. May we please return to the pulled consent items before we go back to Ladera? We have staff waiting, and I'd like them to get back to their work if that's possible.

No problem.

So we would start with item B12. We've pulled items just for the record. We're 12, 18, and 21.

Okay, Madam Mayor, I pulled item B12, and it's just to discuss the coming dog park in Damani Ranch. I don't have any questions for you guys. I just wanted to say some comments. This park has been going through it since its inception. It's the park that my kids were raised in. It's the first park that was built in Damani Ranch, and it's had irrigation issues over the years. The equipment at the park has been trashed repeatedly by the really wild children in the neighborhood. We do have this expansive grassy area that sometimes it's alive, sometimes it's dead. But really, it's a wonderful park to take your dogs, but you can't do it safely. And it intersects with this really incredible walking trail around the wetlands, which you never know who's going to be coming up on a bike with an animal. Maybe they're leashed, maybe they aren't. Maybe there's seniors on that path that don't want to engage with a dog that's running full speed for a ball. So this dog park is well overdue at this park, and I'm so excited about it. I just wanted to point out some amazing features. There's going to be a shade structure. There's going to be a water feature. There's going to be shaded benches. And hopefully we're learning from some of the mistakes from the cyan. There wasn't enough shade in the cyan park. dog park and there wasn't any water so I'm hoping that we've learned from that but I just want to thank you for not only the residential construction taxes being put towards this this park in Damani Ranch it's really encouraging you know we're new we're a new area in town roughly it's 25 years ish that Damani Ranch has been a neighborhood so we don't we've been most of our stuff has been new all along but when we do run into challenges it's hard to be an advocate because We are the newest, and there's other places in town that need love, too. So this is going to be really special for the neighborhood. Thank you very much. And I wanted to just say on the record with Mrs. Gesch's comments that I will be reaching out to her directly to learn more about the parcel that she's concerned with and see if we can bring that to a solution of some kind for her. So thank you.

Okay. Do we need a motion on that? Yes. Councilwoman?

Motion to accept.

All right, I have a motion, I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Okay, moving right along. B18. Just call the item, so B18. Okay, thank you. All right. Hello. Hi.

Good afternoon.

I think, Councilman Ebert?

Yeah.

I think you pulled it. Okay, perfect. Go ahead.

I just wanted to kind of get a high-level description about what this is just to get it on the record I have constituents watching the meeting today and since it's in my ward if you could just kind of talk about it doesn't need to be a big production but just kind of a an overview of what this lift station is in in the ward yep certainly my name is Eric Miller associate civil engineer with

utility services for the record. So this design agreement with Loomis and Associates is for the Buck Lift Station upgrade project. We are running out of capacity at the current lift station, needing to upsize it and fix some issues there. So a part of this with Loomis, they're going to do some preliminary analysis, eventually leading into design, and then we'll put it out to bid next year for construction to happen once kind of all the parts come in fiscal year 28 time frame is what we're shooting for. Buck lift station is one of the 29 sewer lift stations that the city owns and operates and we've been diligently getting through the ones that need it and Buck is now on the list of need to get done.

Okay so it's not a new lift station it's Maintaining or upgrading the existing one cracked and does this have any impact or increase the capacity of the flow shave available?

Or you know the capacity that we have in general the buck lift station does not flow to res worth it actually flows to another lift station that it will eventually pump towards Tom worth okay

All right, so no impact at all regarding capacity. It's just kind of a swap out of equipment.

We will be increasing the capacity of the lift station, but in terms of flow shaving or RISWRF treatment plant, we're not affecting that at all.

Okay. It won't decrease the amount of flow shave if we're moving more sludge?

This lift station has nothing to do with sludge line. This lift station, it has gravity that will flow to it, and then it will send it. This sewer flow will never get treated at the Reno Stead water reclamation facility.

Okay. All right. Well, thank you. And you said it's out in Buck?

Yeah, it's near the, it's on Buck Drive to the east of Buck and Lemon.

Yeah, and that's also kind of a hot topic area right now too because of the RTC project to put in a traffic light. It just kind of feels like everything's always happening at once. So there's a little bit of frustration with that area in general right now. So can you give me a timeline on when this is expected to be completed?

Yeah, for this, this is strictly just for the design, and we are anticipating with our consultant to hopefully put it out to bid in the May-June timeframe of 2027. Okay, so it's a ways out. Yes, it's going to take months to design, do the field work that they need to do in order to put together a complete design for bid. Great, okay, and was the existing station Yeah lift station failing at all or it's just just reached its the end of its life cycle More hidden capacity That we're seeing a need we hit there's development coming forward and we have during wintertime some I&I that will hit that's hitting that causing us to upsize and fix some of the outdated infrastructure. Okay.

And will this ever be diverted to the advanced water purification facility? Okay. All right. Well, thank you.

You're welcome.

Sure. Motion to approve?

Thank you. I have a motion. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed?

Motion carries. Thank you.

Thanks so much. Good job. B21 okay item between when I believe that's back at you councilwoman.

Yeah kind of the same Situation here. I have nab members that live pretty much right next to where this is proposed to go in so just some information about this project and where we're at in the process as well and

Absolutely. Nick Brothers, senior civil engineer in utility services. So the item before you is a purchase of easement for our water pipeline associated with the APWF project across two properties at Echo Court. And that will transition from the public right-of-way to the airport property. This easement is necessary for conveyance of the water to American Flat. Overall, we're beginning construction and we have outreach to neighbors coming up, door knocking and information going out to the neighbors there. And I'll be presenting at the NAB next month. So hopefully I can answer questions for your folks there.

Wonderful. And will there be postcards going out or just door knocking and posting a yellow sign?

We have door hangers for folks and handouts as we hopefully get a chance to talk to everyone neighboring the property at Lear.

Yeah, okay. Will this area be used for storage of chemicals and all, like bleach or anything else that might be used for the treatment of the water in the future?

The permanent easement for this item will just be the buried pipeline. Okay. And then the information regarding the Lear parcel will be provided to any of the neighbors as they have questions, they can certainly reach out to me or we'll address them next month at the NAB.

Okay, and just for informational purposes, because I know that there's a lot of people in my community that believe that we will be taking water out of Swan Lake to put into this project, and I just want to clarify for everyone that that's not the case, that we are not taking water from Swan Lake, correct? We will be diverting water from the treatment plant to put into the advanced water purification plant, but we will not be pulling water from Swan Lake. Is that correct? That's correct. Thank you. All right. Thanks for all that. I'd like to make a motion to approve.

Second. I have a motion. I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Okay.

Thank you. Next item. D1 through D4, I believe.

Yes. I did miss one thing I wanted to discuss. I don't know if we could possibly reconsider B27.

I'll second the motion to reconsider B27.

Okay. I have a motion. I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Motion carries.

So I'll ask you to hold that item until the end, please. We'll have to get that staff member up here if you don't mind.

It'll be brief. I just have like two questions.

Sure. No, not a problem. Okay. Oh, wait a minute. Here comes Ms. Roth. To the rescue.

Susan Ball wrote deputy city attorney. This is the resolution Authorizing the purchases at that. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah the maintenance and operations Are the director of maintenance and operations to execute purchase orders? or required contracts for the purchase of materials and equipment for street and traffic signal maintenance and repairs pursuant to chapter 3 3 2 of the Nevada revised statutes for fiscal year I just wanted to know for get on the record what is the cap for that is there a threshold where it needs to come to Council or will this just give them the authority for any amount?

this is a resolution that's done every year and by law for the governing body pursuant for a purchase needs to do some action saying You can proceed forward with looking at going out to bid or joining a contract. But all of these purchases will be coming back to you on future agendas. It just helps expedite so they can get the best prices for sand and salt. This is materials. that they need to maintain roads, paint, things like that.

And I would imagine sand and salt, sometimes they need to get it quick. So it makes sense.

And yeah, they get it.

Yeah. Yeah. I just didn't know if there was like a cap to that or, I mean, it sounds like it just comes back to council regardless.

You'll see the purchases. This just allows them to go forward and either advertise for purchase as required by law or join a contract per NRS 332195. Okay.

All right. Thank you. Yeah, it's something that comes back every year. Yeah. Thank you for that. Can you please give me a motion? Yeah.

Motion to approve?

Second.

Okay. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries unanimously. And Susan, you walked in the room like you owned it. I love it. I love it. That's what happens when you've been here. I loved it. It was like the catwalk. I loved it. Good job. Okay.

Madam Mayor, on items D1 through D4, may I just ask our city attorneys how they intend to open the items or combine items? I understand we may have to take motions in different order, but just so we're refreshing our minds, it is a public hearing which will have to be open, but is there any specific order?

And I don't know if it's helpful. On my agenda, it's stylized for each one, but opening all of D1, 2, and 3... And four at the same time?

Yes, we can open them all at the same time. Okay, perfect. And we'll take separate motions on each item.

Perfect. And I just want to make sure. Okay, yes, that's great. I'm actually going to get up. I would like a motion to make council member Reese, uh, the vice mayor at this time. So moved. I can get up. Uh, I have, um, that was my motion. You seconded it. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. Motion carries. Okay.

Do any council members have any disclosures on this item? Okay. We'll let the record reflect that the public hearing is being opened on items D one, two, three, and four. any correspondence or public comment on these items? Madam Clerk?

First proper notice was given. We did not receive any correspondence on these items, but we do have one individual registered to speak.

Great. Welcome.

Can I ask a question? So I read the backup, and it looked like there was at least two... I don' t know if there are letters of objection and I don' t know do those count when they come in is it only what comes in at the meeting?

they would be logged under the final public comment if they were received after 4 p.m. yesterday.

what I mean is it came in So we did receive correspondence, but it wasn't here to counsel. It was at other bodies. So I just wanted to understand how that's treated.