Arts, culture director now part of Carson City staff

The arts and culture director is moving from the Culture & Tourism Authority to join the Carson City staff with an office inside The Adams Hub downtown.

The Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved an amendment to the city’s agreement with the authority to move the position and 2 percent of the 11 percent transient lodging tax collected by the authority, which in fiscal year 2018 is expected to be about $414,000.

One percent funds the position, which was established in 2016 and is now being renamed the arts and culture coordinator, and the other half pays for accounting, payroll, and other service the city provides the tourism office through an interlocal agreement.

Mark Salinas, arts and culture coordinator, said the comparable position in Las Vegas, Reno, and Fernley, is located inside city hall, too, while other counties place it in tourism or parks and recreation.

“It’s an evolutionary ladder,” said Salinas after the meeting. “Being part of the city is a long-term investment in it.”

Salinas is working on a couple of grant-funded programs. The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant will fund a series of 30 local events centered around “True Grit,” the Charles Portis novel, starting in May. Another grant, from the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee, is funding art exhibits in several locations around Carson City, including a collection of art made for the Nevada Day festivities that will be on display inside the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Carson City Community Center.

The tourism authority’s board of directors approved the move at its meeting in February.

The Board of Supervisors also approved several large contracts, including a $2.5 million contract with Tyler Technologies Inc., for financial, human resources, payroll, land management and utility billing systems, a long-term investment needed because the city’s current system is based on a computer, the AS/400, that’s no longer supported.

Also approved was a $674,565 contract with Devnet Inc., for software to replace an application from Advanced Data Systems, which is closing down, that runs the city’s assessor’s and treasurer’s offices.

The supervisors finalized a five-year agreement with Duncan Golf Management to operate Eagle Valley Golf Course, the city-owned course on Centennial Park Drive. The new operator has been managing the facility since late December under a temporary agreement.

The new agreement covers the operations, maintenance, and management of the golf course, and includes a $90,000 annual investment by Duncan in capital equipment to be owned by the city upon termination of the agreement, and a joint investment by the city and Duncan in capital improvements after year three.

Two of the bigger items on the agenda were postponed, both concerning city health code. One item was a business impact statement outlining costs to restaurants due to a new requirement for certified food protection manager. The statement was published with a page missing so it needs to be reposted before the board can vote on it. And the impact statement must be accepted by the board before the supervisors can hear the amendment to the ordinance.

The amendment adds the certified food protection manager requirement as well as a move to a grading system for health inspections so customers will soon see a restaurant’s health inspection grade on a prominently-placed placard at the restaurant.

The board also heard on second reading and passed two new ordinances. One changes the way Planning Commission members are appointed, a new policy in which each supervisor nominates a member who must be voted on by the board while two members of the seven-member commission remain at-large positions for which applicants interview.

The new procedure will be phased in as the terms of current commissioners expire.

The other ordinance now allows tattoo parlors in retail commercial zones as a conditional use. At Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting the first special use permit for a tattoo parlor, at Jason’s Bizarre on California Street, was approved contingent on the board passing the new ordinance.

The board interviewed four applicants and appointed Greg Stedfield to the Regional Transportation Commission.

Meeting as the Redevelopment Authority, the board approved the expenditure of up to $5,000 for several conceptual drawings of a gateway sign to be installed as part of the South Carson Street redesign project.

As part of the motion on the vote, the board directed city staff to work with the Arts and Culture Commission to get input on the sign’s design.