City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, let's call the order of Sparks City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 26th with a roll call.

Mayor Lawson.

Here.

Council members Abbott.

Here.

Vanderwell. Here. Anderson.

Here.

Bybee. Here. Rodriguez. Here. City Attorney Duncan. Here. City Manager Lawson. Here. We have a quorum, thank you.

Thank you. We have our invocation speaker today is Pastor Carlos Camacho from the Nevada-Utah Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

By your heads, close your eyes if that's okay with you. Father in heaven, it is a privilege that you have given us to come together to look at what we can do so that the city of Sparks will continue to thrive. And Father, today we ask for wisdom, for these individuals, men and women who have been elected for such a time as this. We pray that you fill them with wisdom as they make decisions, and we also pray for the constituents, and we pray that you fill them with grace as they work together, as we work together, Father, to be able to advance the mission that you have for this city. Father, thank you. We also pray in a very specific way for those things that we cannot do in our humanity, for the limitations that we have, And we pray, Father, that you continue to protect the city, that you continue to do everything possible so that we will continue to move forward. Father, thank you so much. You are an amazing God. We praise you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

Okay.

All right, let's go on to item four, public comment. You have a list for me, Madam Clerk? Okay. All right, first up is Cynthia Van Gleemput. Come on up. Have a seat.

Hi, I'm here on the Foothills Project. That land out there is a beautiful rural area that when we moved in 20 years ago, it was flat. We woke up one morning, they changed it. So Red Hawk has developed a beautiful landscape there now that a civil engineer should come out and reassess it. Because 30 years ago, it was nothing. And now it's a gorgeous park. It's used by the whole community. It's already handicapped accessible. It's clean. The kids fish there. You see the kids with their fishing poles on their bicycles. They're not out causing problems. They're enjoying this beautiful location. And the city should be able to find hopefully a grant that they could purchase it and save it for our members. Because in your future plans, you wish to build on the whole hillside. We need something people can get to. This, you can drive up to it, you can walk to it. It's easy for anybody to get to. So to take something that is already done, you don't have to do anything to it. There's nothing, like I said, you already have a path in it. Wheelchairs can do it. The kids ride their bikes. Everybody's pushing strollers and walking and running that it'd be a shame to lose it to more homes. And then to add to the traffic along with it, that wouldn't help either. But if we can get Sierra Club out there, the birds are just gorgeous who come through. We see all the pelicans and the cranes, and you hear all the different animals out there. So it's just a beautiful, safe area for the whole community. That is my piece. So hopefully you'll consider that and see what we could maybe do to save it from becoming more homes. It would just be really nice for that. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Jim, kindness followed by Tony Martinez.

Thank you.

Mayor Lawson, members of City Council, Jim Kindness, President Wingfield Springs. I'm here again asking you to reopen Fire Station 5. You're all elected to represent the people. I've read some of your election propaganda that states you show up, you listen, you get things done and deliver. We still don't have a staffed fire station in Wingfield Springs, so you have not delivered. Another flyer states when roads are backed up, emergency response slows down. Do you know what else slows down emergency response? A closed fire station. The flyer states, many of you don't feel heard, that your concerns are ignored. That statement is 100% correct. Your citizens have spoken. Not one thing has been done to staff station five with the fire. engine that served that area for 20 years. And lastly, the fire states that you support funding for public safety, so help will be there when you need it. Words on these flyers are just that, words, to try and get support for the upcoming election. The money to Staff Station 5 is there, you just choose to spend it on different priorities, priorities that fall short of your main job of keeping the public safe. Here are some examples of your expenditures that could have been used to staff the fire station. You can try to justify CIP spending because it's in a separate fund, but you all decide each year on how much to fund CIP. In October, 1.47 million for turf for three outfields at Golden Eagle Park. I already spoke on that, it was not needed. $383,000 for two dump trucks. You replaced old but usable trucks. $393,000 on a street sweeper. I've seen a street sweeper once since I've lived in Wingfield Springs. 1.2 million on shot spotter for gunshot detection. Another $477,000 for the division chief of emergency management. And that's in 2025, how much he made. That position I spoke of in March, you could have eliminated it and would not require any layoffs or demotions. City manager's raise. He's already making $294,000 prior to his raise in bonus. This doesn't include his benefits, 100% healthcare, 100% purse, 100% matching deferred comp and life insurance. In comparison, the governor of Nevada earns 170,000. An average city manager paying Nevada is $117,000. In FY26, he'll make $304,000 after those bonuses, and in FY27, a 309,766 before the $5,000 bonus he'll get with decent marks on his evaluation, plus an additional 5,000 that you can give him. In May, 576,000 for two cat wheel loaders. You took five trucks and replaced them with two. And also 1.3 million for 16 patrol cars and changed the fleet replacement from 10 and a half years to six year replacement. Your CFO Jeff Cronk stated on April 20th during the council meeting and I quote, we have reserves and a lot of flexibility in our budget. Time to use those reserves and flexibility to prioritize public safety and staff our Wingfield Springs Fire Station. Thanks for your time. Please do the right thing and open session five back up.

Thank you. Tony Martinez followed by Mickey Jensen.

Good afternoon. My name is Tony Martinez. I live in 950 Sparks, Bay Hill in Sparks. I wanted to come before the mayor and the council to talk about what we do for the city. My wife and I started Nevada for Rets 10 years ago, and today we're getting bigger and stronger. You probably don't remember this, Mayor, but in 2023, you signed a proclamation for us that we're legit. So I was hoping, I dropped these off last week. I don't see that you have them. May I pass these off?

You can just do that afterwards. Okay.

Then what I'll do is explain to you. We're having a golf tournament coming up in June the 14th at Red Hawk Golf Course. And it's to raise money for all of our projects that we have. And what we do is once the fundraiser is over, we look at our cost. We say, okay, our cost is X. We put... 5% on for the next year. 95% goes out to the community or our vets. That's where it goes. We are in Nevada for vets. That's where it goes. When people give us money, it's not ours. It belongs to the vets, and that's how we distribute it. The last umpteen years, we do a Northern Nevada Veteran Memorial Cemetery. We do the Marina Cemetery. Sparks Marina, and we do Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City. We do the Meadows in South Stead Way. And then we have about 12 projects that we donate to that are connected or indirectly to the military. We have, for example, we have... Woodchucks of Nevada, they go to the VA. They pick up five or six people that want to learn woodworking skills. They take them back to their shop and teach them one-on-one how to do woodworking skills. What we do, we supply all the material for them to do this. So that's a good thing. One of the last projects we did this last year, we took four cadets from the Reed High School Cadet Program and sent them back to Washington, D.C. as escort on the Honor Flight. Because some of the Honor Flight members could not push their cargo around, so we took them back there. And it worked out very well. Then also, we have... Let me do this real quickly. We help out the Blue Star Moms with community for vets. And we do the Korean veterans because they meet every Tuesday at one of the restaurants here in town. And we went over and talked to them. I said, I know that you're not Purple Heart, but there was one Purple Heart and one POW, and there was 12 of them. So we said, you guys deserve to be recognized. So we invited them to the dinner, our Purple Heart dinner, which we will all talk about in a minute. Okay. I'm sorry. Okay. Just one quick thing. We have a Purple Heart dinner August 2nd at the Atlantis. And all the Purple Heart vendors and guests are invited. And what we do if they come from out of town, we ask them if they'll spend the night. We also pay for that. So they come to dinner and spend the night at no cost to them. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right, you can give your materials to the clerk and she'll distribute them. Thank you. Mickey Jensen followed by Patrick Chu.

My name is Mickey Jensen and I'm a member of the Wingfield Springs Preservation Group. I'm here today to respectfully ask that the proposed development at Wingfield Springs be denied. Like many people in this community, I understand that growth and development are a very important part to the future of our city. However, growth must be responsible, balanced, and carefully planned as it was originally for Wingfield Springs. My concern is that this project as currently proposed will create significant long-term impacts on our environment, infrastructure, and the quality of our life. First, the environment concerns. The development would increase traffic, noise, and the pressure of local water and the natural resources. Many residents are worried about the loss of open space, the wildlife habitat, and the overall character of the place that we call home. Once these spaces are gone, they cannot be easily restored. Second, this project will directly affect the daily lives of our current residents. Increased congestion on already crowded roads will mean longer commutes, reduced public safety access, and more strain on infrastructure that is already struggling to keep up. Schools, emergency services, and utilities should be evaluated by the city and the county before approving this project of this scale. Equally important is the impact on our community identity. People choose to live here because of the balance between development and livability. Rapid large-scale construction without proper safeguards risk changing the character of our neighborhoods. Residents deserve to know that their voices are heard and are equally as important as the developers and the investors. Development should improve the lives of residents, not diminish them. we have one opportunity to make the right decision for the future of our city. At this time, I'd like to hand over 476 signatures that have been collected over the last few months. Those are in addition to the 4,600 odd signatures that are out on the electronic site. And again, respectfully, we request that you will consider denying this project. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Oh, okay, sir.

Good afternoon, Mayor Lawson and member of the council. For the record, I am Patrick Chiu, your fire marshal. The purpose for me to be here during this public comment is to remind and inform our one million viewers the importance of not charging your batteries overnight and leaving them unattended. This last two months, we had two lithium ion battery fires. and it's not just a city of sparks. We recently, let's see, in addition to these two fires, we had other garage fires in which the batteries were not the start of the fire, but smoking and batteries just don't mix. Radiant heat caused them to thermal runaway and explode. So if you're using lithium ion batteries as your tools, Don't have them fully charged. Have an extra battery there charging while you're working in the garage or in the backyard. And when that goes dead, grab the other one, put it in. When you're done, unplug it. So most people think this doesn't happen to them. It happens to other people. Well, let's not prove that theory wrong or theory right. And... figured this is a good time to do a PSA since we had a couple of fires, more than a couple of fires, but lithium batteries is a little bit out of control right now. So thank you for your time.

Thanks Pat. My wife gave me that PSA this weekend. So thank you. Is there anyone else in the public wishing to speak at this time? All right, we'll bring it back to the dais. I'm looking for approval agenda, Mr. Anderson.

Yes, Mr. Mayor, I would like to request to approve the agenda with item 10.2 being heard before item 9.1. Ms. VanderWaal.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussions? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Looking for minutes. Any addition, subtraction to the minutes? If not, I'm looking for a motion.

Mr. Abbott. I move to approve the minutes of the Spark City Council meeting for May 11th, 2026. Ms. Bybee.

I'll second that motion.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Moving on 7.1, presentations, Reno Tahoe Airport Authority and our interim CEO, Chris Jensen. Hello. Thanks for coming.

Thank you for having us. So for the record, Chris Jensen, interim president, CEO, Mayor Lawson, members of the council, really happy to be here. I have a short presentation. It's mostly pictures. So hopefully it'll go relatively quick and then happy to answer any questions that you might have. So thank you. So as you know, we are an airport authority. We're governed by nine appointed members. You appoint two of them, and I'd like to stop for a moment and just point out Chair Carey, who is our current board chair, Mike Kerrigan, who's one of our trustees, and a past trustee, Art Sperber. It's because of their efforts and vision that we're able to do the things that we do, and so I want to express my gratitude. or to them for being here today, but for all the hard things they do. Chair Kerry has been all morning out at the airport in meetings with me, and so it takes a little bit of time. So the first thing that I thought I would talk about is just our service area. You're all familiar with the Washoe County area and the Truckee Meadows Valley, but what you may not know is that we have passengers coming from as far away as Winnemucca, Truckee, Susanville, you know, all around Lake Tahoe. And so we have a catchment area that claims about a million people. So you think about Truckee Meadows, we're about 500,000. We have a whole nother 500,000 that are coming from outside of our area. And if you think about it, we're a little bit geographically isolated. So we don't have a competing airport really in the vicinity. Sacramento would be the closest one. In the winter in particular, people do not want to drive over Donner Pass to go to Sacramento. So we're kind of a captive market. So I wanna talk a little bit about what's happening out at the airport. You might've noticed if you've been out there recently, there's just a little bit of construction. Before we get to that, what's driving that construction, the need for it, is we're actually a growing airport. Unlike some of our, I'll say our big brother to the south, Their passenger numbers are actually down right now. We are either flat or slightly up. And in fact, we've had some of our busiest months, month of April was the busiest April we've had in 19 years. So we're bucking the trend nationally. And it's a blend of reasons. for that happening. We're a tourist destination, right? Lake Tahoe and the mountains and all the beautiful things that we all love and get to experience while we live here. But the other part is our growing economy and the diversification of that economy. And so that's what's really driving these passenger numbers. We expected that to continue to be the trajectory for the foreseeable future. So when you look at our market, we have 10 different airlines right now. That's a good number of airlines for a community our size. We have 20 plus destinations. If you look at the slide, the dash lines are destinations that are less, they're not year-round necessarily. The solid lines are year-round service. But for a market our size, that's a lot of destinations and it gives us local citizens an opportunity to go just about anywhere in the world with just one stop. So we look at our strategic priorities and this is an interesting slide. So you see on the short term side where it says retain. So we have Chicago. Nashville starts October 3rd. That's a very exciting announcement that we're very happy about. San Diego. These are markets that we want to make sure that we support as a community. We need to fill the seat so that those airlines want to continue to fly those markets. We talk about Grow, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, New York, Minneapolis. Again, those are markets that we already have, that we have service in, but we think there's opportunity to grow. In most cases, they're hub markets. So you think about Atlanta, the more opportunity to connect over Atlanta to, again, anywhere in the world, the better off we are served as citizens. On the attract side, these are markets that we don't currently have. And in the case of Boise and I think Spokane, we've had those in the past. We think that there's the demand there for it. Our analysis tells us there is. We need to convince an airline to take advantage of that service. And so we're actively engaged with our air carriers to do just that. And then finally, on the attract side, Hawaii, Mexico, I'll highlight those because we all want to go there in the winter, right? Not today. There's probably no place more beautiful than here today, right now. But there are times of the year we think that maybe some kind of seasonal service would make sense. We also think there's some other hub markets, if you will, for example, Charlotte, that would make sense. We'd love to have Washington. There's a lot of us that end up traveling to the D.C. area for business, and we think that would be a nice connection for our citizens as well. All right, so on to the construction. So this is what is occupying much of our time right now. And again, if you've been out to the airport recently, you've seen this. This slide just represents the activity that is currently, well, actually some of it's already been completed. So if you look at the road improvements and the ticketing expansion, both of those projects are complete. So everything that we've called the More R&O Program, which is a billion dollars worth of work, is now done. or is now in process or is done. So the road improvements, the ticket expansion is done. You see the ground transportation center. I'll talk more about that in a minute. The concourse is what we call the new Gen AB project. Those are in process. Our police authority and headquarters building are in process. And then our central utility plant. All of those are underway. And so there's a lot going on. We have multiple contractors out there working through, all the time to complete these. And we'll talk about each one individually. So this is the headquarters building. So this will replace what is currently our admin space in the terminal. It'll actually free up that space for other uses. TSA is gonna move into it. We have some airlines that may want it. It may give us some additional concessions options. So it'll be a nice thing to clear that space. This will provide a police headquarters building that'll be on the ground floor. of the building. And then the second level will be our board rooms and some common space, kitchen, workout facilities, things of that nature. The third and fourth floors will be the admin spaces. It'll be modern and it'll be state of the art. And we're very excited about getting that done. We expect that it will be done the middle of 2027. So not that far off, just about a year. Here's just another picture of it, the rendering of what it's gonna look like. It says quick airside and landside access. That's important to us because we have to serve both sides of the airport. We have all of the security that's required for an airport on the airside, what we call the airside. We need our police to be able to go either direction because they respond landside and airside. This building gives us that opportunity. So this is the Ground Transportation Center. This is a public-private partnership. This is a project we're working on with Conrac Solutions. We started construction last year and we expect to be complete in, I think, late 2028. This will allow us to free up about 600 parking spaces in our current parking garage. And if you haven't heard, we have a little bit of a parking challenge out at the airport right now. So we're very happy about that. It'll change the way the traffic flows on our roadway. So we'll take all the rental cars and that type of activity that now happens in front of the terminal and reroute it on terminal way, which is a safety issue. It'll also provide a new modern facility for our Uber and Lyft type operators, our taxis and all of our hotel shuttles. And so it'll be a very nice enhancement for our customers. So this is kind of a rendering of what it's going to look like. So this would be if you're kind of standing on top of the current terminal. And what you can see is at the bottom left is the baggage claim area. You see a pedestrian walkway. So one of the things that we were really focused on as a board and as a staff is that we create a ground transportation center that doesn't require you to get on a shuttle and go someplace offsite. I don't know if you've ever experienced that, but it's not the best customer experience. So we looked really hard for ways to keep it close and give our customers the best possible customer experience to keep it walkable. And so this is about 1600 feet. So it's a little bit of a walk, but it's a pleasant walk. It's covered. You can see the facility to the north there. You can see where it says new public parking. So that's our quick. turnaround facility today where rental cars are serviced. That'll go away. That'll give us some additional ground level premium parking that we're happy about as well. So this slide, this would be, if you look in the top right-hand side of the picture, you see the existing parking garage. So it just gives you kind of an idea of the scale of this ground transportation center. It's massive. It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be highly efficient and effective. And we're very excited about it. So moving on to the new Gen A and B project, this is the concourses. So we're currently under construction on the south concourse, which will become the new A concourse. We expect that one to be completed in 2028. In the meantime, we'll start construction on the north concourse, the new B concourse, and that one will be completed in 2029. So just some of the pictures of what it's gonna look like, a lot more glass. So you've probably all experienced the terminal, low ceilings. While there is some glass, it's kind of like being in a cave. This is gonna feel really modern and there's gonna be a lot nice visuals outside. This is a cross section of the building. We'll have natural light coming in from above, a big, glass on each side in the gate areas. Nice walkways down the middle, luggage friendly, not small tile, big open spaces so passenger circulation will be easy. Oh, bathrooms. So this is the thing we hear about probably as much as anything. So the two things that we hear about are concessions, and we're going to talk about that in just a second, and bathrooms, right? And so we want bigger bathrooms, we want new modern bathrooms. And so that's one of the things that we get with these new concourses that we're very excited about. So now talking about concessions. So we have a concessions package, packages actually, that'll be coming out this week. And so we're going to go out to bid. We're hoping to have new businesses in there and expanded businesses. We'll just about double the amount of space available for concessions. We're hoping to have some local participation. So we have two different types of packages that one that will allow small vendors, small local businesses to participate, and then another package that would be more focused on national size brands. So it's gonna be very nice and modern and hopefully lots of opportunity to spend money. one of the things that we're really proud of with these concourses on both concourses are outdoor terraces. And this is something that I think we have found that the customers really want the connection to their flights and to the outside, to our surrounding beauty. These will have nice views of Mount Rose and that area, but it'll also give you the opportunity to just kind of have a touch point to the aircraft, right? So many of us, my age, really old, growing up, had that opportunity to touch airplanes and smell it. And I know other people that enjoy aviation. And so I think that's a really important thing for our children to have that opportunity. So we're really excited about it. And in fact, I love in the rendering that they're actually showing kids because what our experience with this is when we've seen it at other airports, it's just face prints on the glass because the kids are up against it looking out there. And so we're very excited about this. So one of the other nice things that this project or these projects give us the opportunity to do is have a dedicated funding for art. And so what you see across the right side, the bars, is the money that we're gonna be spending on each of the projects for art. And so we want these to be something of a destination. We want it to be an experience when people come to the airport. We want the airport itself to be beautiful, but we also want some things in the airport that add to the experience. And each of these projects will have funds dedicated to exactly that. So this is just a high level schedule. The enabling projects are done. Concourse A is under construction. Concourse B, early 27, will start construction. Spring of 28 will complete Concourse A. Summer of 29 will complete Concourse B, and then we're all gonna take a very long vacation, right? So our City of Sparks partnership. So I couldn't come before you today without really highlighting this and expressing our gratitude. Of course, you appoint to our board and you've appointed really great people in Chair Kerry and Mike Kerrigan and of course, Art Sperber in the past. They've been great, great members of our trustees and we're eternally grateful for their energy and their enthusiasm and their support and even being here today. Public safety, of course, we just had our disaster drill three weeks ago, two weeks ago. And we are a member of the community of responders here, and we appreciate the fact that your responders were a part of our disaster drill. Every three years, the FAA requires us to go through a full-scale drill. And we had City of Sparks fire and police involved in all of that. And so if we ever had a real incident, we know we would be depending on all of our surrounding agencies to help us. So thank you so much for that. We're working on a master plan out at the Reno Stead Airport. So we have our own economic development going on on airport. And so we're a part of that work. part of the community too. And we like to team with other partners in the community. And again, we're grateful for that. And then finally, we have multiple local relationships and partnerships across the community. And so again, I just wanna say thank you for your partnership. And I am happy to answer any questions you might have. All right, questions from the council. Go ahead. You knew I would.

Thank you so much for being here and presenting. Always nice to see like a recap. I mean, we kind of all see it in the news and obviously after 42 years as a flight attendant for American Airlines, I lived my life in airports. So I'm probably scrutinize airports and terminals and security more than most people would because I spent so much time there. And so I'm super excited about everything that you're doing. The front ticket counters are amazing, just traffic flow, how it feels and the customer ease and moving through a terminal. But question on when Terminal A and Terminal B, so Terminal A is under construction. the current Terminal A will remain open, and then when the new terminal is finished, will that be demolished all the while Terminal B is under construction? And the same thing, kind of what is the sequence of that?

Yeah, so I think you got it fairly accurate. So we're building, so the new concourses are outboard of the existing concourses. So we're working south of what I would say is the south concourse, or what will be the new A concourse. So when that is complete, we will take down the existing south concourse, which is currently the B concourse, so that we're changing the lettering. So I'm saying south and north to keep it less confusing. And so then we'll be operating one new concourse and one old concourse. There will be a point in time we're actually operating three concourses, we'll have on the north side, the old concourse and the half of the new concourse working while we're knocking down the old concourse. So it's a little bit of a phasing jigsaw puzzle, if you will, but you're right. So that's how it works is we build the new concourse, knock down the old concourse, build a new concourse, knock down the old concourse in simple terms. There's actually many, many phases to make that happen, but that's the gist of it.

Okay, thank you. And I appreciate the art. I always look forward to going, when there's art contests, whether it's airport employees or local, when you do the gingerbread houses at Christmas, your team there, what is your... your excitement team, or what is your team that goes out and gets everybody all, they do the post, customer experience team that's out in the terminal, and really, because flying is so stressful, and so that team, along with the dogs. So the pause for passengers, my dad and his dog Nelly were there many years ago, are great experiences for everyone, for families to kind of lessen the stress. And I will tell you, as a flight attendant who was working an airplane, when my passengers come on and they've had a great experience in your terminal and they're in a better mood when they walk on and not so stressed, it does help. the whole flying experience. And I really love you reaching out for concessions to local, because I found that in a lot of airports, that it's super cool. And years ago, San Francisco was one of the first I noticed that would bring in the Buena Vista had a bar there, the San Francisco Soup Company, and that people could get a taste of local flavor, that then they'd go to the real restaurant in that city. And I like that connection to our local amenities. Thank you, and thank you for all the work you guys do. Thank you so much.

Ms. Vanderwill. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Exciting about the update and as many passengers that come to our area. This wasn't touched in your presentation, and if you need to get back, that's great. What do your cargo and shipping numbers look like? I represent an organization that we deal with the rural cities and counties, and that's where a lot of growth is happening and, of course, still having discussions about supply chain.

Yeah, so it's an interesting question, and I can answer it in general terms. I can't give you actual tonnage. But what we've seen is, I think during the pandemic, that was kind of a high watermark for us. Obviously, we were all sitting at home, apparently, on Amazon ordering. Since that time, we've seen a gradual downward trajectory That said, we know that there's growth happening in our community, and we think that it's really kind of a market correction for what happened during the pandemic. We actually have plans to develop kind of to the southwest of the airport a new cargo area because we are anticipating growth and demand. And so, and by the way, what we're seeing is not, it's not unusual. A lot of airports are reporting the same types of kind of general softening of that market. So I still think that over the course of time, we'll course correct and you'll see us continue to grow. And I can get you, if you want specific numbers, we can get them for you. I'd appreciate that. Thank you. Anyone else?

Chris, thank you very much for coming. We appreciate the update.

Thank you. Thanks for all you do. Appreciate it.

All right. 7.2 boards and commission vacancy announcements, civil service commission, Mr. Manager, or is it the clerk? Clerk.

It's going to be me.

You guys throw me a curve ball.

There are two vacancies on the Sparks Civil Service Commission, each for a three-year term. Members must be Sparks residents. Members cannot be city employees, a member of the city council, or appointed to another board or commission of the city, or related to one within the third degree of consanguinity. Applications will be accepted until June 10th, 2026 at 5 p.m. Persons interested in serving on any board or committee should complete a community service application online at the city's website, www.cityofsparks.us forward slash get involved. Simply complete the volunteer application form and hit submit. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Moving on to consent items. Anyone wishing to pull a consent item? If not, I'm looking for a motion.

Mr. Anderson. I move to approve consent items 8.1 through 8.3 as submitted. Ms. VanderWaal. Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.1, consideration discussion of possible approval of a construction contract AC-6199 with Sierra Nevada Construction Inc. in the amount of $3,619,007 for the 2026 Rehabilitation Project bid number 25-26-012PWP-WA-2026-327.

All right. Well, good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, and Eugene Craig, your transportation manager. I have here before you a construction contract for the 2026 Street Rehabilitation Project with Sierra Nevada Construction. This project is part of an ongoing effort where selected roads are fully rehabilitated to include new roadway surfaces, curb ramps, driveway transitions, and selected sections of sidewalks and curb and gutter to improve safety and connectivity for all road users. This project will replace over 150,000 square feet of roadway services and approximately 3,000 linear feet of sidewalk that will be ADA compliant. Here is a map of the scope of the project with Sparks Boulevard to the east on the right side of the map. And you have Prater Way on the south So the project includes Coachman Drive, which is in the middle of the map. It will also include the three cul-de-sacs along Coachman Drive, Whistle Court, Coachman Court, Conducted Court, and then two other roadways that includes Blue Haven Drive and Burnside Court. Funding for this project is accommodated in the council approved 2026 fiscal year CIP program. One qualified bid under the engineer's estimate was received for this project on April 23rd, 2026. And with that, staff recommends council approve the construction contract with Sierra Nevada Construction in the amount of $3,619,007. Happy to answer any of your questions. Questions from the council.

Okay, seeing none, looking for a motion.

Mr. Anderson. Before I make a motion, I wanna say on behalf of that neighborhood, appreciate your work on this because I drove it last Friday and the road is pretty rough. So thank you for your work on this. Okay, I move to approve a construction contract AC-6199 with Sierra Nevada Construction Incorporated in the amount of $3,619,007 for the 2026 Street Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25-26-012, PWPWA-2026-327.

Mr. Rodriguez. I'll second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. The motion carries unanimously. Thank you. 9.2, Consideration and Discussion of Possible Approval of a Construction Contract AC-6196 with Sierra Nevada Construction Inc. in the amount of $2,087,007 for the FY26-27 Drainage and Roadway Improvement, Project L Street and Fifth Street, bid number 25-26-001PWP, hashtag WA-2026-318.

Good afternoon, mayor and council members. My name is Becca Epstein, civil engineer senior. Today I'm requesting approval of a $2,087,007 construction contract with Sierra Nevada Construction for construction of the fiscal year 26 and fiscal year 27 drainage and roadway improvement project, L Street and 5th Street. This project is the complete removal and replacement of roadway pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalks, driveway approaches, and storm drain laterals on L Street from Pyramid Way to Stanford Way and on Fifth Street from L Street to Greenbrae Drive. This work is east of Pyramid Way and north of Prater Way. Please see the screen for the project limits. The curb and gutter on these streets has deteriorated over time and is no longer carrying stormwater runoff as intended. Because the curb and gutter will be removed and replaced, so will the sidewalks and driveway approaches. Rather than patching the pavement surface adjacent to the curb and gutter, the full street limits will also be fully rehabilitated. Existing storm drain laterals will also be replaced and upsized. to assist with storm water drainage. A competitive bid event was held for this project and three qualified bids were received. Sierra Nevada Construction submitted the low bid. This project will utilize funds from both fiscal year 26 and fiscal year 27 programs. Construction is scheduled to begin after July 1st and will be wrapped up by the end of October of this year. Completion of this project will provide L Street and 5th Street with proper drainage infrastructure, ADA-compliant sidewalks, and a new roadway surface. Please let me know if there are any questions I can answer.

All right, questions from the council? Seeing none, I'm looking for a motion then.

Mr. Abbott. I move to approve the construction contract AC-6196 with Sierra Nevada Construction Inc. in the amount of $2,087,007 for the FY26, FY27 drainage and roadway improvement project, L Street and 5th Street, bid number 25-26-011, PWPWA2026-318.

Ms. VanderWaal? Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.3, construction discussion of possible approval of a construction contract AC6200 with anchor concrete in the amount of $672,821.75 for the 2026 CDBG phase three project, 12th and 13th street federally funded bid number 25 slash 26 dash 005 PWP hashtag WA dash 2026 dash 131. I'm getting good at reading all these numbers and letters. After six years.

All right, well, good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Again, Andrew Jankra, your transportation manager. I have here before you another construction contract for the 2026 CDBG project, phase three, 12th and 13th street, federally funded project with Anchor Concrete. This project is a federally funded project that is based on the city's approved U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant, where funds are dedicated to neighborhoods where at least 51% of residents are classified in the low to moderate income levels. This project will place over 2,000 linear feet of sidewalk and curb and gutter and pedestrian ramps and bring all those up to ADA compliance. Here's a map of the project vicinity. Pyramid Way is on the east side to the right of the map, and you have Rock Boulevard to the west, which is the left side of the map, and Pretty Way on the north. You can see the project is on the north side of Victorian Plaza Circle, and it's 12 and 13 between that and F Street. Funding for this project is accommodated in the council approved 2026 fiscal year CIP program. There were four qualified bids that were received on this project on April 16th, 2026. And with that, staff recommends council approve the construction contract with anchor concrete in the amount of $672,821.75. With that, I'm happy to answer any new questions. Questions from the council.

Seeing none, looking for a motion. Mr. Abbott.

I move to approve a construction contract AC-6200 with anchor concrete in the amount of $672,821.75 for the 2026 CDBG phase three project 12th and 13th street federally funded bid number 25 slash 26-005 PWPWA2026131.

Mr. Rodriguez? I'll second. We've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.4, Consideration, Discussion, and Possible Approval of a Construction Contract AC-6197 with Express Sewer and Drain in the amount of $952,730 for the FY26 Sanitary Sewer Manhole Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25-26-009, PWP, hashtag WA-2026-203.

Hello again. Good afternoon, mayor and council members. My name is Becca Epstein, civil engineer senior. With your permission, would it be okay if I presented items 9.4 and 9.5 together?

Yes.

Thank you. Today I'm requesting approval of a $952,730 construction contract with Express Sewer and Drain for construction of the fiscal year 26 sanitary sewer manhole rehabilitation project. This project is the rehabilitation of 77 manholes to address infrastructure deterioration and groundwater infiltration. Please see your screen for locations of the 77 manholes. Most are north of Los Altos with a smaller portion around the Vista and Prater area. Annually, city staff inspect city-owned manholes to assess maintenance and replacement needs. A common sign a manhole may need rehabilitation is the presence of groundwater entering the manhole through large cracks and joints. Groundwater entering the collection system also indicates a reduction in the available sewer system treatment capacity. With this project, the identified manholes will be cleaned and coated with a heavy duty epoxy. The applied coating will protect the manholes from corrosive sewer gases and extend each structure's lifespan by approximately 50 years. In addition to improving structural integrity of system manholes, This project will also reduce groundwater in the collection system. When groundwater enters the collection system, it is unnecessarily transported to and treated at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. After this project, it is estimated the city's flows to the treatment plant will be reduced by 0.12 MGD. This is anticipated to save the city approximately $150,000 annually in treatment costs. A competitive bid was held for this project and two qualified bids were received. Express Sewer and Drain submitted the low bid. The fiscal year 26 sanitary sewer manhole rehabilitation project is included in the city's capital improvement plan and will utilize supplemented contingency funds within other sanitary sewer capital improvement plan programs. In addition to the construction contract, I'm also requesting approval of a $118,410 professional services contract with construction materials engineers, excuse me, or CME for construction management, inspection and testing of this project. CME has regional experience with coding and lining projects and can ensure the proper execution, quality control, and completion of this project. CME was also recently a subcontractor on the city's Golden Eagle Regional Park Effluent Storage Tank Rehabilitation Project. The city has previously completed two similar manhole rehabilitation projects in 2020 and 2023. Both were successful in mitigating groundwater infiltration at rehabilitated manholes. Continuing to complete manhole rehabilitation projects will provide necessary maintenance on city-owned infrastructure while also providing treatment plant efficiencies at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. This concludes my presentation. Please provide a motion for both items 9.4 and 9.5, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Okay, questions? From the council, Mr. Anderson.

Becca, thank you first for kind of giving us a little background on why we want to do this, because a lot of people would think, well, manhole getting water in it, what's the big deal? But what was the million gallons per day? What was the amount that it's saving?

It is 0.12 MGD, which is equal to 120,000 gallons per day.

120,000 gallons per day. And then what's the cost savings to the treatment facility?

Around $150,000 annually. Okay.

Thank you very much. And I mean, because you look at something like this and you're like, oh my gosh, this is a lot of money. But when you look at how long it lasts and the impact that it makes to our other facility, the Trekkie Meadows Water Reclamation Facility, that it's easy to do the math. So I appreciate you pointing that out to us.

Thank you. Okay, anyone else? All right, I'm looking for a motion on 9.4 then. Mr. Anderson.

I move to approve a construction contract AC6197 with express sewer and drain in the amount of $952,730 for the FY26 Sanitary Sewer Manual Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25 forward slash 26 dash 009 PWPWA2026203. Mr. Rodriguez. I'll second.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.5, consideration discussion possible approval of professional services contract AC6195 with Construction Material Engineers Inc. or CME in the amount of $118,410 for full construction management, testing and inspection of the FY26 sanitary sewer manhole rehabilitation project bid number 2526-009 PWA-2026-203. Any questions from the council on this one? If not, I'm looking for a motion. Ms. VanderWaal.

I move to approve a professional services contract AC-6195 with Construction Materials Engineers Incorporated, CME, in the amount of $118,410 for construction management and inspection of the FY26 Sanitary Sewer Manhole Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25-26-009PWP, Number WA-2026-203. Mr. Rodriguez.

Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.6, consideration and discussion of possible approval to the... Reject the responsive bids for the Greg Street Sanitary Sewer Lift Station Internal Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25 slash 26 dash 007 PWP hashtag WA dash 2026 dash 200.

Amber. Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council, Amber Sosa, city engineer. This item is looking for your possible approval to reject the responsive bids that the city received for the Gregg Street Sanitary Sewer Lift Station Internal Rehabilitation Project. The city has numerous sewer lift stations throughout the city. A sanitary sewer lift station is a piece of infrastructure that is designed to pump wastewater from a low point to a higher point to allow it to continue to gravity flow to the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. The lift station that this project is specifically centered on is located on Gregg Street and it has reached its end of service life. It needs its internal components, its guts for lack of a better word, rehabilitated and replaced. Prior to bidding, staff worked with vendors who could supply the necessary components of this rehabilitation, as well as contractors who could do the work. These conversations led to the bid package itself, as well as generation of the engineers estimates. The engineers estimate and budget for this project was $155,000. A competitive bid was conducted for this project. Bids were due April 8th. The one bid was received at 389,000. So this is more than two and a half times the estimated cost. At this time, there is inadequate funding in the FY26 budget to award this bid. And consequently, staff is asking council to formally reject the bid and staff will evaluate the alternatives to moving forward. Engineering staff has worked with our public works maintenance team as well to discuss the delay in rehabilitating this lift station and they don't see any concern and no critical issues to reevaluate how to move forward. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Question from the council. All right, seeing none, I'm looking for a bid, a motion rather, not a bid. We're gonna reject a bid. Mr. Abbott.

I move to reject the responsive bids for the Greg Street Sanitary Sewer Lift Station Internal Rehabilitation Project, bid number 25 slash 26 dash 007, PWPWA2026200.

Ms. Spivey.

I'll second that motion.

Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.7, consideration discussion of possible approval of an interlocal cooperative agreement AC6198 with the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County in the estimated amount of $561,706 for sanitary sewer drainage and fiber optic infrastructure improvements to be constructed with the RTC's Prater Way Rehabilitation Project.

Good afternoon again, Mayor, members of council, Amber Sosa, city engineer. Yep, so as Anders introduced, this for your consideration is an interlocal cooperative agreement with the RTC for the city to provide reimbursement for additional improvements included in RTC's Prater Way rehabilitation project. As you know, RTC is getting ready to start their Prater Way rehabilitation. You can see the map on your screen. Roadway reconstruction is proposed from Pyramid to Probasco Drive that you see there. City staff in coordination with RTC's design consultant have identified portions of sanitary sewer, storm drain and fiber optic lines that are in need of rehabilitation within RTC's project limits. The improvements identified will correct an existing sanitary sewer storm drain conflict near the intersection of Prater and Forth. The improvements will ensure proper drainage is perpetuated throughout the project, and it will ensure that the fiber optic infrastructure in the area is located at an acceptable depth within the roadway. The city frequently utilizes ICAs such as this to include utility work with RTC's projects. It really provides for the opportunity to construct the utilities while the road is being torn up at the same time. And it also allows us to competitively bid the work as well as take advantage of a larger roadway project and use economy of scales to get better prices for this work. The ICA details that the city of Sparks will reimburse the RTC for the actual cost of construction. So in the title, you'll see it is estimated at 500, apologies. at the 500,000 mark that you see, again, that is an estimate. We will pay for the actual cost of these items when the construction is complete. Four funds have been identified in the FY27 budget to fund this work. The exact split is obviously not known, because we don't know how much it is at the end, but they are funds identified through the storm drain fund, the sewer fund, the roadway fund, and the IT fund to support that fiber optic. The engineer's estimate was again that $561,706. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. The project is anticipated to begin in June of 2026 and estimated completion before the end of the calendar year. Happy to answer any questions.

Questions from the council. The traffic calming out there is working well.

We're slowing speeds down.

The holes and everything else that are out there, it's working.

It's off road.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Abbott. A lot of work going on in Ward 1.

I move to approve the Interlocal Cooperative Agreement AC-6198 with the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County in the estimated amount of $561,706 for sanitary sewer drainage and fiber optic infrastructure improvements to be constructed with RTC's Prater Way Rehabilitation Project.

Mr. Rodriguez. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. 9.8, consideration, discussion, and possible approval of the business impact statement prepared cooperatively by Regional Transportation Commission, RTC, SPARC, Reno, and Washoe County related to the proposed adoption of the RTC's regional road impact fee eighth edition and its revision and associated fees.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council, one more time. I'm Amber Sosa, your city engineer. As introduced, this is the consideration of the business impact statement. You'll also hear it called the BIS throughout this presentation. This statement was prepared cooperatively by the RTC, Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County to support the proposed adoption of RTC's RRIF updates, Regional Road Impact Fee. The RIF program was adopted by the city of Sparks, Reno, and Washoe County in 1996. And this program is to provide financial methods of construction for regional roads associated with new development. This is the way new development pays for new capacity on roads. The program is administered by the RTC in conjunction with the three local governments. And this program is primarily governed by two documents. One is their CIP, their Capital Improvement Plan, which identifies the actual projects to be supported through this funding. And the other is the GAM, the General Administration Manual, This lays out the methods and procedures that all the jurisdictions and the RTC follow for this program. Since 1996, this program has been updated seven times, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2019, and 2021. Through the interlocal cooperative agreement, it is the RTC's responsibility to initiate periodic reviews of the RRIF program. The review process initially starts with the approval of the regional transportation plan. So the current regional transportation plan is the 2050. That really kicks off the update to the RIF plan because it helps identify their CIP, that capital improvement plan, and what new projects can be associated with new development. The review process also includes a RIF-TAC committee, a technical advisory committee, and this is comprised of local government technical experts, as well as development representatives from the private sector. Final recommendations for this particular update were supported by this committee June 26th of 2025. On July 18th, 2025, the RTC board accepted the proposed RRIF updates and directed their staff to present the eighth edition RRIF GAM and capital improvement plan to the local governments for adoption. In October of 2025, Assembly Bill 444 was passed, which required a business impact statement to be prepared for impact fee programs such as the RRIF. meaning that a business impact statement as being presented to you today is required before adoption of the program, of the updates can be considered. RTC, Sparks, Reno, and Washoe County worked cooperatively to prepare this BIS that you're considering, and the document, again, must be accepted before these can be considered. To prepare the BIS, the RTC provided public notice in many different ways. Email notices were sent to the Reno and Sparks Chamber of Commerce, as well as numerous trade groups. These included NAOP of Northern Nevada, the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, BAN, the Associated General Contractors, AGC, Nevada Builders Alliance, and more. Materials related to the proposed revisions were placed on RTC's website, along with the notice of opportunity to submit data or arguments either for or against. The notice of opportunity was also posted in the Reno Gazette Journal, as well as in the El Sol, a Spanish-speaking newspaper. A public stakeholder workshop was held, again, where businesses could submit data and arguments with one person attending that workshop. The RTC had proposed collection of all submitted data and to make that available online. However, no comments were received on this process. With this update on average, the RIF fees for all development types will decrease by approximately 2.3%. There are only four development types within the program where you're seeing increases in these fees where all others have decreased. This update is expected to represent a 1% overall increase to the RIF program. The RIF fee is generally a minimal portion, typically less than 1% of most projects, considering their overall cost for development. These fees are needed to pay for the cost of new roadway and expansion of existing roadways. Extensive planning, analysis, and modeling have been used to determine the appropriate amounts for each area. The conclusion of the BIS has determined that the increase to the existing RIF fees is not anticipated to burden businesses. The updated risk schedule should not impose a direct or significant economic burden on impacted businesses or trades and directly restrict the formation of expansion of businesses. Staff recommends approval of the BIS before you today. Should you approve the BIS, a first reading for adoption of an ordinance amending the Sparks Municipal Code to adopt the RTC's RIF updates will be heard later at today's meeting. And the second reading, again, should you adopt this BIS, would be planned for June 8th to consider adoption. With that, I am happy to answer any questions.

Questions from the council? the most misunderstood fee we have, I think. So, all right, I'm looking for a motion. Ms. Bybee. Oh, easy.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve the business impact statement prepared cooperatively by the Regional Transportation Commission, RTC, Sparks, Reno, and Washoe County related to the proposed adoption of the RTC's regional road impact fee eighth edition and its revisions to associated fees.

Mr. Anderson. I'll second the motion. I've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Madam Clerk, first reading.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is the first reading of bill number 2856, an ordinance amending chapter 12.44 of the Sparks Municipal Code to approve the Regional Transportation Commission's regional road impact fee eighth edition land use assumptions, proposed capital improvements plan, associated fees, and updates to the general administrative manual, and for providing for other matters properly related thereto. A public hearing will be held and bill 2856 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Spark City Council on Monday, June 8th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Okay, Madam Clerk, 9.10, first reading.

Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. This is the first reading of bill number 2855 to modify a final approved plan for the Sparks Galleria to allow outdoor storage and sales areas in association with building material sales and supplies and hardwood stores with a garden center. uses in the RCS04 land use designation that consists of approximately 11.0 acres located at 4755 Galleria Parkway, Sparks, Nevada, APN 51048106 in the NUD New Urban District, Sparks Galleria Plan Development Zoning District. A public hearing will be held and Bill 2855 will be acted upon at the regular meeting of the Sparks City Council on Monday, June 8th, 2026 at 2 p.m. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm gonna have you do 10.2 also.

Item 10.2 is public hearing on the tentative budget for the City of Sparks for fiscal year 2026-2027 as required by NRS 354-596. Thank you. Mr. Cronk.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council. I've got two items before you today to pass our final budget. But the first item is just a public hearing that we need to hold in compliance with Nevada law. Just a public hearing on the tentative budget which was filed on April 15th. So no action is required other than the gavel to open the public hearing and then close it. But that's all we need to do on this first item.

This is the public hearing. Anyone in the public wishing to speak on this particular item? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the dais. And now a vote. No vote, no nothing. Need to move to the next one. It says vote on my list over here, Jeff. Just so you know. 10 point, or 9.11. Consideration, discussion, and possible adoption of a final budget for the city of Spark for the fiscal year 26-27.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council. My name is Jeff Cronk for the Chief Financial Officer for the Record. I have before you today the approval of the final budget. I don't have a presentation for you because all the information on the final budget is the exact same that we presented to you last month at our budget workshop. The tenant budget, as I mentioned before, which was filed on April 15th, is essentially the same as the final budget that I have before you today. So I am seeking your approval on the actual state forms today. And not to put words in her mouth, but I imagine the city clerk would like to gather your signatures afterwards. And I'm sure our budget manager, Wayne Weber, would appreciate that because he needs to file this by June 1st. So that's pretty quick. So today we're just looking to, again, formalize on the state form and the documents that they prescribe that we put the final budget on. But otherwise, it's the same information that I gave you last month. But I'd be happy to entertain any questions you might have.

Questions from the council? Seeing none, we're looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez.

I move to adopt the final budget for the City of Sparks fiscal year 2026 through 2027 as presented.

Mr. Anderson. I'll second the motion. We've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Madam Clerk, 10.1, public hearing.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is public hearing consideration discussion and possible approval of the Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plan for fiscal year 2026-2027 with estimated expenditures of $1,637,764 for submittal to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Casey.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. I'm Casey Chavala, an administrative analyst with your Community Services Department. And I'm before you today to present our proposed FY26-27 annual action plan for the Community Development Block Grant or CDBG funds that are awarded to us through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city receives an annual award as an entitlement community, meaning that we don't have to compete other jurisdictions for these funds. And instead, these funds are guaranteed as long as we comply with our federal regulations, such as submitting this annual action plan so that HUD can approve the use of our funds. Entitlement communities such as the City of Sparks set the priorities, develop activities, and then allocate CDBG funds based on the program guidelines to address local needs. The priorities and activities, however, must meet both a primary and a national objective, with those primary objectives being to provide decent housing, provide a suitable living environment, or to expand economic opportunities. Those national objectives include aiding in the prevention or elimination of blight or slums to address an urgent need, which is not commonly used as that urgent need must pose a health or pose a threat to health or welfare of our community. And then the most commonly used one to benefit a low to moderate income household, which is a household that would earn less than 80% of the area median income. So to give you an idea of that, This year in Washoe County, a four person household would have to earn less than $93,450 per year. HUD also requires that the city complete and submit a five year consolidated plan. Our current consolidated plan is for fiscal years 25 through 29, and we're currently on program year two. The proposed activities in our annual action plan must support the goals that have been identified in the city's five year consolidated plan. And those goals include community infrastructure and facility improvements, which would be improving public facilities and infrastructure through accessibility modifications, improvements to curves, gutters, sidewalks, or installation or improvements to city owned facilities, such as parks located in low to moderate income neighborhood. Next goal is community revitalization, which is further described as supporting the revitalization of low to moderate income neighborhoods through neighborhood enhancements and assisting low to moderate income households with compliance with property preservation code standards. Our next goal is community assistance, and that's further described as supporting organizations or nonprofits that provide services to vulnerable or low to moderate income households. And finally, affordable housing, which is the preservation or development of affordable housing, and an example of that with our activities is the continuation of our deferred loan program and emergency repair grant programs. The city was notified that our FY26-27 allocation was for $719,425, which is approximately a $20,000 decrease from our FY25-26 allocation. We additionally have rollover funds from previous years fundings in the amount of $596,344. There is $103,130 of revolving loan funds, which comes from when a deferred loan program participant repays that loan. And typically those funds are funneled directly back into that program. We have $218,866 of CDBG COVID funds remaining. However, the use of those funds was approved by Sparks City Council on April 13th to be applied to the construction contract for the Deer Park Place structure. So all in all, the total funds that have been identified as available for purposes of this annual action plan is $1,637,764. Staff is proposing the following activities be carried out in FY26-27, including the allocation of $958,970 towards pedestrian improvements. And that would be similar to item 9.3 that Andrew presented on earlier today. We propose to allocate the $218,866 of the CDBG COVID funds back towards that previously approved Deer Park Place structure, to allocate $20,000 towards fair housing advocacy and education, $87,913 to provide services and support youth experiencing homelessness within Washoe County, to allocate $50,000 towards our emergency repair grant and $103,130 of that revolving loan funds back to the deferred loan program. Additionally, staff is proposing 55,000 go towards housing administration and $143,885 go towards program administration, which supports staff salaries, planning and general CDBG administration costs. In previous years, the nonprofits that were partnered with were the Silver State Fair Housing Council, which provides those fair housing outreach programs activities to further the fair housing efforts and Eddie House who provides shelter and services to the homeless youth within Washoe County. Eddie House was previously assisted by providing support for two positions, the aftercare coordinator and the transitional living case manager who support 10 of the 36 youth who are participating in their transitional living program. Finally, the annual action plan was made available for a 30-day comment period, which was announced in the Reno Gazette Journal. The notification also included the notice of a public meeting and presentation, which was held on April 21st. And that comment period would end or would conclude with this public hearing item. So with that, I have a recommended motion on the screen, but I'm happy to answer any questions you have first.

Questions from the council. Ms. VanderWaal. Thank you, Casey. I just have a really quick question on services and support for youth experiencing homelessness. Can we make that any broader? And it's not that I think the Eddy House does great things and everything else, but we have families and seniors now experiencing homelessness. So at a growing rate. So I guess what my question is, is there a way to kind of split that up? Do we send out requests for proposals on this money or anything like that?

I did an RFP, I believe, two years ago with Eddie House being the only response. But I would imagine that if... with this current year, we do have to submit to HUD by the end of the month, our annual action plan, but I would imagine that we could explore that in future years.

Okay, I'd like it for next year. Can we explore it? Because I think semi-annually, that's fine, but I think we need to as other growing populations are starting to experience it too. So thank you.

Okay, anyone else? All right, this is the public hearing. Anyone in the public motion to speak on this item? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the dial. And I'm looking for a motion. Mr. Rodriguez.

Yes, I move to approve the community development block grant annual action plan for fiscal year 2026 through 2027 with the estimated expenditures of $1,637,764. We're submittal to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Pipe.

I'll second that motion.

We've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Very good. Thank you. We have no planning and zoning public hearings. So we move on to public from the comment. Madam Clerk, we have any public comment?

We do not, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Announcements from the Mayor, City Council, and City Manager. Mr. Manager?

None from me, Mayor.

Thank you. From the City Council? Nothing? Nothing? Okay. With that, we are adjourned. Don't forget to sign your papers. Don't forget to sign the papers anyways.

We will call today's Tuesday, May 26th Sparks Redevelopment Agency meeting to order with a roll call.

Chair Abbott.

Here.

Agency members Lawson. Here. Bybee. Here. Vanderwill. Here. Anderson. Here. Rodriguez. Here. Chief Legal Officer Duncan. Here. Chief Administrative Officer Lawson.

Here.

We do have a quorum. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We'll go to item three, public comment. Do we have any public comment? I see handshaking, anyone in the public? Nope, I think there's a no. Item 4.1, approval of the agenda. I'm looking for a motion. Agency member Rodriguez. I move to approve the agenda as submitted. Thank you, agency member Anderson. Move to approve. We have a motion and a second, please vote. Passes unanimously. Item 5.1, consideration, discussion, and possible approval of the minutes of the Sparks Redevelopment Agency meeting for April 13th, 2026. Looking for a motion. Agency member VanderWaal.

I move to approve the minutes of the Sparks Redevelopment Agency meeting for April 13th, 2026.

Thank you. Agency member Rodriguez. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Passes unanimously. Item 6.1, consent items. Consideration of possible exceptions of the report of the claims and bills approved for payment or appropriation transfers for the period of April 1st, 2026 through May 11th, 2026. Looking for a motion. Agency member Anderson.

I move to accept the report of claims and bills with the appropriation transfers for the period of April 1st, 2026 through May 11th, 2026.

Thank you. Agency member Bybee.

I'll second the motion.

Awesome. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Passes unanimously. Item 7.1, consideration, discussion, possible approval of the amended and restated architectural services agreement, AC-SRA-335 for the new Spark City Hall with Vanward Pagode architects in the amount of $3,725,000 for architectural design services related to the development of the new Spark City Hall project.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Redevelopment Agency. We like to hear your voice, so we like to make that as long as possible. This one's relatively simple. Basically, back on April 13th, you approved a contract with Van Warp Bugatti Architects. After we... started going through the process of getting the contract signatures, found out there was an error in the date that was on that contract. It was stated as March, 2028, instead of March, 2029. So we just want to make sure that's correct. And ultimately we're bringing this forward before you to amend the contract. It doesn't change any of the other terms. And so basically I'm requesting approval for that contract, for the amended contract. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Do we have any questions, Council and Mayor?

Perfect. We have no questions, and I'm looking for a motion. A nice long one, too. Agency Member Anderson.

I move to approve the amended and restated architectural services agreement AC-SRA-335 with VanWarp-McGowdy architects in the amount of 3,725,000 for architectural design services related to the development of the new Spark City Hall project.

Thank you. Agency Member VanderWaal?

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. 7.2, a consideration discussion possible approval for resolution number SRA-140 to augment the FY26 budget other redevelopment area to capital projects fund by $10,058,000 to provide appropriations for spending in the capital projects fund.

Good afternoon, members of the Redevelopment Agency, Agency Chair Abbott. For the record, Wayne Weber, Sparks Budget Manager. Today, we seek your approval to augment the fiscal 26 budget for the Redevelopment Area 2 Capital Projects Fund in the amount of $10,058,000. Today's approval allows the Financial Services Department to establish budget authority for approved spending. Just for the record, most of that spending is, of course, the property for the new city hall, which was $10,008,000. And then we have some additional professional services of $50,000. For that, hopefully I can answer any questions.

Awesome. Thank you, sir. Any questions for Mr. Weber? I don't see none. Then I will look for a motion.

Agency member Rodriguez. Move to adopt resolution number 3428 to augment the fiscal year 26 budget of the redevelopment area to capital project funds by 10 million and 58,000 to provide fiscal year 26 appropriations for the capital improvements described in this report.

Thank you, agency member Anderson.

I'll second the motion.

We have a motion and a second, please vote. Passes unanimously. Thank you, sir. 7.3, public hearing on the tentative budget for the redevelopment agency of the city of Sparks, area two, for fiscal year 2026 to 2027, as required by NRS 354-596. Good job. Thanks, Mr. Cronk. I'll...

Jeff Kronk, Chief Financial Officer for the record. Again, this mirrors what we did with the city where we need to hold a public hearing on the tentative budget for the fiscal 27 fiscal year that's upcoming. No action is needed except other than opening and holding the public hearing on that tentative budget, which again was also filed as was the city's on April 15th.

Perfect, then we'll open up for the public hearing on the tentative budget. Is there anyone that wishes to make a public comment? I don't see none. We're gonna close the public hearing and move on to 7.4, Ruby. Consideration, discussion, possible adoption of the final budget for the redevelopment agency of the city of Sparks, area two for the fiscal year 2026, 2027.

Good afternoon again, agency chair and agency members. My name is Jeff Kronk, Chief Financial Officer for The Record. Again, I have the final budget for the redevelopment agency before you for your approval. Again, we'll look for your signatures if you wouldn't mind sticking around for a little bit longer and I'm sure the clerk's office will try to wrangle those signatures together. But again, no other presentation other than what we had already talked about in April. And essentially what's going on for fiscal 27 is all about the new city hall. So that's the long and the short of the budget being requested. So with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thanks, Mr. Cronk. Any questions?

So we're good to go. Looking for a motion. Agency member Anderson.

I move to approve the final budget for the redevelopment agency of the city of Sparks area two for the fiscal year 2026, 2027.

Thank you, agency member Rodriguez. We have a motion and a second, please vote. Passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you. 8.1, comments from the public. Any public comment? I see none. 8.2, announcements from the agency and chief administrative officer. Y'all got anything? Groovy, and we will adjourn. Stick around. 3.30, don't go.