The Bureau of Land Management’s Carson City District gave Churchill County commissioners an update at their Dec. 15 meeting on the Dixie Meadows Geothermal project.
The BLM is working with Ormat and is submitting pre-reconstruction paperwork and requirement to begin the project. The BLM said the Center of Biodiversity is suing in District Court to stop the project.
The BLM said the Walker River Paiute Tribe is opposed to the Diamond Flat geothermal project, but the agency will seek input from the tribe to see if there’s middle ground. The BLM said they will proceed to apply for an application and begin the scoping process in January.
The BLM said a contractor for Ormat submitted working contracts on the Comstock geothermal project for BLM review.
The BLM received special recreation program permits. Two applications were received from Legacy Racing, and they will overlap their races on an existing route through the desert. A third event will use the same route next year.
The Legacy races are in May and June, said the BLM. The third is in September.
Approval was granted for Desatoya wild horse gather, which begins in early January. The BLM said it involves 223 horses. The plan is to remove 150 head and apply a fertility drug to 42 mares and then release them into the Horse Management Area.
- Commissioners received a comprehensive annual financial report for Churchill County and CC Communications for the fiscal year ending June 30.
- Appointed Hillery “Page” Hiskett, Julie Gilmore, and Jaime Sammons to the Churchill County Cemetery Board.
- Reappointed Bob Getto, Tom Riggins and Alan Kalt to serve another term on the Board of Equalization through Dec. 31, 2025.
Approved needed repairs to Churchill County Fairgrounds. Jorge Guerrero, director of Churchill County Parks and Recreation, said exciting things are happening at the fairground with the addition of RPC3 building.
With that building coming online, Guerrero said Parks and Recreation is thinking how they will host large events. Guerrero also gave commissioners a report on short-term plans and improvements at the fairgrounds that will include a facelift for the bucking chutes, panels and arena. Improvements will be made to the multipurpose building. Guerrero said the main arena at the fairgrounds was built in 1970. According to Guerrero, he hopes the improvement will be completed by April 1. The funding will come from Payment in Lieu of Taxes money. CC Communications gave the county permission to move that money into recreation.
Commissioners renewed the transportation agreement for use of Churchill County School District buses for the Parks and Recreation Department’s 2022 Youth Ski Program.
The Parks and Recreation Department requested permission to lease two school buses from the Churchill County School District transport youth to and from Sky Tavern Ski School. However, the dates are not completely set but will occur somewhere between Jan. 8 and Feb. 26. The Transportation Agreement will run for the duration of the ski program beginning in January.
The Transportation Agreement has not yet been finalized and will be approved by the Churchill County School District. The form of the agreement will be much the same as the Agreement provided herewith from 2020, except it will include the agreed-upon dates and costs. However, staff is expecting the costs to be the same as they were in 2020.
Commissioners approved an agreement with Cashman Power Solutions for service maintenance of the county-owned and operated generators for $13,600. The amount will be split equally between the Public Works, Planning & Zoning Department and Facilities and Grounds.
During the past several years, Churchill County has used Cashman as the vendor to perform the service on the county-owned and operated generators. The cost is for service on the generators at the various lift stations and the backup generators at the Moody Sewer Treatment Plant and Sandcreek Water Treatment Plant and Facilities and Grounds for the various backup generators at the facilities.
The proposal is an increase of $2,300 over the previous agreement due to the addition of the Civic Center backup generator and the Laboratory backup generator to the service schedule.