County finalizes recovery fund distribution

Funding everyone who requested federal recovery funds from the county would cost $37.7 million more than the county has left to spend.

On Thursday commissioners approved $6.99 million in expenditures mostly following County Manager Patrick Cates recommendations.

“While everybody on this list has their commendable argument for funding, no matter what we do, we’ll be disappointing people,” Chairman Mark Gardner said.

The largest single expenditure is the $1.45 million to begin work on the county’s emergency radio system. While it will help start the $10.03 million project, there is a lot more to do.

Two projects related to the construction of Muller Parkway will cost $1.1 million. Of that, $600,000 was allocated to add conduit and pull boxes to the road. A $500,000 environmental study will be required for the county to obtain any federal funds to expand the road.

Cates said two lanes of the Parkway are funded across Park Ranch Holdings land, but that the study would allow the county to seek grants to expand it to four lanes.

The county also set aside $1 million to upgrade its financial software after the company that makes it will stop tech support.

The Assessor and Community Development were approved for $600,000 contract to scan all of the archives, loose files, plan rolls and historic maps in the basement of the Minden Inn, boxes of Community Development files and unbound assessors rolls from the records storage facility. The documents have to be retained indefinitely and include building permits, project files, record drawings and historical maps among many other things.

An effort to obtain matching funds from the state to expand broadband will require $500,000.

“This is a unique opportunity, particularly to the south county where people are underserved,” Cates said. “This is a chance to move the needle for some of our residents.”

Installing culverts under Buckeye Road will cost the county $456,936 in matching funds to obtain a grant from the state. 

Commissioners approved $250,000 for a grant writer that would probably be done under contract and $140,000 to complete the Johnson Lane Flood Control project. 

Minden was approved for $350,000 to install sidewalk along 10th Street from Highway 395 to County Road and for improvements to Westwood Park.

A request for $1.4 million to work on Kahle Drive was removed from the list after commissioners were told there’s a possibility of federal or transportation transient occupancy tax funding for the project.

Gardnerville Ranchos resident and district board member Jim McKalip thanked commissioners for funding right of way acquisition for a trail connecting the Ranchos to Gardnerville.

However, he said he’d hoped they would at least help fund design work on an emergency water intertie between the Ranchos and the Gardnerville Water Co. A decades-long goal for the district, the intertie would cost $2.5 million. 

“Having the biggest water system in the Valley not connected to the other water systems is not a good thing,” he said.

McKalip said he didn’t really expect the county to help fund the Ranchos $14 million waterline replacement project that was one of the requests.

County commissioners were willing to devote $10,000 to paint the historic Genoa Church, but less willing to pay $1.1 million to help fix its foundation.

Town Chairman Gordon Pasley plead with commissioners to fund the church or provide the town with the $310,564 lost when Candy Dance was canceled in 2020.

“We’re about to lose that church,” he said. “It was built on a rock foundation.”

The town submitted a half-dozen requests for funding, including the fixing the foundation and painting the church, four AC units, road grading and tree trimming.

Commissioners removed $70,000 being sought by the Tahoe Prosperity Center, despite a plea from Rice to keep the funding.

Removing that provided the $10,000 for the Genoa church and $60,000 for the Family Support Council, which is celebrating its 40th year on Saturday.