There Were Present: County Commissioners Warren Russell, Chair

STATE OF NEVADA, )

COUNTY OF ELKO. ) ss. MAY 4, 2006

The Board of Elko County Commissioners met on May 4, 2006, at 1:30 p.m., in Room 105 of the Elko County Courthouse at 571 Idaho Street, Elko, Nevada.

There were present: County Commissioners Warren Russell, Chair

John Ellison

Mike Nannini

Charlie Myers

Sheri Eklund-Brown

County Manager Robert Stokes

CFO/Asst. Co. Mgr. Cash Minor

Deputy District Attorney Kristin McQueary

Deputy County Clerk Marilyn Tipton

Sheriff’s Department: Neil Harris

Road Supervisor Otis Tipton

Juvenile Department Pat Plaster

Clerk’s Department: Win Smith

District Attorney Gary Woodbury

Library Ast. Dir. Laura Oki

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The proceedings were as follows:

CALL TO ORDER:

Chairman Russell called the meeting to order at 1:36 p.m.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

Commissioner Myers led the meeting participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

Jill Derby, Nevada Board of Regents, announced she was a candidate for the United States Congressional District 2 seat. She had sat eighteen years on the Nevada Board of Regents. She noted the Derby Dam and the Derby Airport in Lovelock was part of her heritage so she was familiar with ranching and mining. She commented upon the upcoming events, the diversification and the railport coming to Elko.

Pam Borda, Spring Creek Association President, noted that she and Assemblyman John Carpenter attended the PUC hearing yesterday. She stated the PUC decided at the hearing to proceed with the Show Cause Hearing. Pam Borda noted the hearing was a result of not getting the water well on line within a short time period. She stated that hearing would take place sometime in October. She noted there were pending rate hearings and rate information to be held in June. Pam Borda noted that the sale of the utilities was not mentioned in the PUC meeting yesterday. Commissioner Nannini inquired what the effect of the sale would do, and if it would allow them to skirt this issue. Pam Borda noted the PUC did not acknowledge that sale at the hearing. She was concerned if the PUC knew of the sale and if the new buyer knew of these circumstances. Commissioner Nannini inquired who would approve the sale and Pam Borda felt PUC would have to be involved. Pam Borda would call the staff at PUC to get some answers. Commissioner Myers asked that Pam e-mail Robert Stokes any information she was able to acquire. Pam Borda stated Assemblyman John Carpenter had spoken on their behalf at that hearing.

Commissioner Myers questioned whether the rate hike was part of the catalyst for the sale. Commissioner Russell noted that newspaper mentioned they would be look at operating in an economical and efficient manner. He noted there had been no maintenance on the system for a number of years. Commissioner Ellison noted there was an accident on Licht Parkway and he inquired how bad the injuries were. Pam Borda did not have any information on that accident. She noted there were recent complaints and requests for a stoplight in that region. Commissioner Ellison noted NDOT had just done another traffic study on that intersection. Commissioner Myers had talked to Sandi Stanio and they were completing another study in Spring Creek. He stated there was some discussion about installation of a roundabout at that intersection. Commissioner Myers voiced concern that people were not familiar with the European type of travel. Pam Borda had came from Carson city and felt they were great on regular city type streets but wondered how that roundabout would work on a highway where people traveled at 55 miles per hour.

GUESTS PRESENT:

Lyndsi Lynch was present for a school report.

SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT:

Sheriff Neil Harris submitted a written operational report. He reviewed the daily inmate population from January through April. He stated the average was 111 per day in jail population and there was a capacity of 120 beds inclusive of the lockdown cells. Sheriff Harris noted the ones in custody were there on a daily basis.

Sheriff Harris stated there were two bids received for the roof repair.

Regarding communications, the Sheriff had sent a letter to the Legislative Council Bureau to gather support with regards to the coalition that they had set up. He stated there was a meeting scheduled next week with the western group. If they get on board then there would be 11 counties of the 17 counties in the State that were trying to get the coalition to work for interoperability.

Chairman Russell called the Liquor Board to order at 1:50 P.M. and adjourned the meeting at 1:51 p.m.

BLM ELKO FIELD OFFICE:

The Board considered submitting comments regarding the request for a Temporary Non-renewable Use (TNR) above the permitted use on the Twin Bridges and Ten Mile Creek Allotments for the 2006 grazing season.

Blake O’Donnell stated this was his Brother-in-Law’s allotment, and he had no concerns with it.

MOTION: Commissioner Myers moved to send a letter of support for a Temporary Non-renewable Use (TNR) above the permitted use on the Twin Bridges and Ten Mile Creek Allotments for the 2006 grazing season. Commissioner Nannini seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously.

NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (NDOT):

Statewide Transportation Improvement Program Annual Work Program – Short and Long Range Elements for Elko County:

Jeff Fontaine reviewed the proposed NDOT FY 2007 Transportation System Projects (TSP) document. He introduced the NDOT personnel present at the meeting as follows: Kevin Lee, Elko District Engineer; Michael Murphy, Elko Assistant District Engineer; Dennis Taylor, Chief of the Program Development Division; Sandi Stanio, Transportation Analyst of the Program Development Division; and Charlie Cerocke, Head of the Planning Division.

Jeff Fontaine stated NDOT wished to improve communications with the counties, cities, tribal leaders, etc. He felt the working groups were making some headway by doing corridor studies, access management plans, etc. Jeff Fontaine reviewed several funding programs available through NDOT inclusive of the Transportation Enhancement Program and the 2006 Landscape and Aesthetics Community Match Program. Jeff Fontaine reported that the Federal Highway Bill was approved. However, there was a lot of competition for that funding. He stated that there was safety money available for high priority safety areas for rural areas. Jeff Fontaine commented that the first project under the Transportation Enhancement Program was the addition of the lanes in Jackpot which would be under construction soon.

Jeff Fontaine noted the Federal Highway Administration recognized Nevada as having the best condition of national and interstate highways in the nation in terms of the smoothness and ride. He commented that 74% of their rural and urban interstate were in good condition. He stated Nevada was also acknowledged for having the best bridges of any State in the Country.

Jeff Fontaine commented that there were 600 million dollars worth of projects underway within the State which included maintenance, preservation and major construction projects. He reviewed several of their big projects including the Hoover Dam By-Pass, US 95 Widening, I-15 widening in Las Vegas, and the Reno-Carson freeway extension.

Jeff Fontaine stated the Blue Ribbon Task Force was here in Elko last week. He stated they would look at the funding short-falls into the future. He noted Commissioner Ellison sat upon that Blue Ribbon Task Force. Jeff Fontaine reviewed Chairman Russell’s comments at that meeting. He believed they all recognize how important the issues were in Las Vegas and Reno regarding the growth and the impact upon the transportation systems. Jeff Fontaine acknowledged that the statewide system was important for commerce, for the residents and for the tourists. He stated they were looking at a 3.5 to 4 billion dollar shortfall over the next eight years to address all the issues including maintaining the system, building super projects, etc.

Jeff Fontaine believed the road transfer issue had been previously discussed. He stated the Governor and the State Transportation Board had made it clear that they needed to be looking at what roads should be maintained by the State and what roads should be maintained by local entities. They were very concerned about maintaining roads that the State should not maintain and those additional costs. Jeff Fontaine stated they had identified 600 to 800 centerline miles of roads that staff believed were not to the level of belonging to the State Highway System. He stated some of those were higher volume roads that ran parallel to the freeways. Jeff Fontaine stated on those roads they were not only expending money on them but were getting into local control issues such as driveway access. Jeff Fontaine stated NDOT was offering some money to the local entities in exchange for the local entity taking over those roads. He stated in addition to that they were offering some additional maintenance costs on those roads. Jeff Fontaine noted Elko County had respectfully declined their offer. He stated NDOT was looking at options. Jeff Fontaine felt a drastic measure was abandonment of any road. He stated they may reduce the maintenance on some of those roads or not perform maintenance on some of those roads. Jeff Fontaine stated that before they take any action they would consult with the County. Commissioner Russell noted that if the State wished to abandon a road because it was ¼ mile long with only three people living on it he could understand abandonment. However if it was an eighty mile road with fifteen people living upon it, then that was a different issue. Commissioner Russell felt there should be some formula to consider rural residents. He noted the County could not abandon a road without some sort of reaction. Commissioner Russell believed the State should consider travel distances in their decisions. Jeff Fontaine stated they would look at those factors before abandonment.

Jeff Fontaine reported that 400 people lost their lives on streets and highways in Nevada last year. He stated NDOT was working with law enforcement, emergency responders, and educators. Jeff Fontaine stated their goal in their Safety Plan was to reduce fatalities by 33% over the next year.

Commissioner Ellison commended them on the ratings of Nevada highways especially due to the size of the State. He inquired about the study in the Spring Creek area. Commissioner Ellison noted they mentioned about roundabouts at that intersection. He asked Mr. Fontaine to keep that intersection in mind.

Commissioner Ellison inquired if NDOT was looking at the highway between Wells and Jackpot with regards to making it four lane. He commented upon the amount of traffic between Twin Falls and Wells inclusive of trucks and RVs.

Jeff Fontaine thanked them for the compliments and noted their staff in the lab that did the design down to the personnel in the local district should take the credit because they did a tremendous job. He knew the intersection on the Lamoille Highway was a real concern for them. He stated NDOT would do another traffic study to see if it met warrants. Jeff Fontaine stated by State Law NDOT could not put in a signal at a location that did not meet warrants and they have to follow specific criteria. He stated they had a similar situation in Carson City and soon they would be going out to bid to put in a roundabout at that intersection. Jeff Fontaine stated the Lamoille Highway would be a unique situation for a roundabout because of the high speeds. He stated there were no roundabouts constructed on a rural highway of two lanes with 55 mph speeds. He stated a roundabout was one possible solution. Commissioner Ellison inquired if their warrant study took into consideration the peak times. Jeff Fontaine stated there had to be fourteen warrants and a certain number of them related to peak conditions.

Jeff Fontaine stated with regards to US 93 between Wells and Jackpot the District Office would initiate a traffic study. He noted the contractors were upset with the passing lane constructed four or five years ago because NDOT did most of the work. Commissioner Ellison stated the area it was placed in worked great and they did a great job.

Commissioner Eklund-Brown inquired if the funding from the Federal Highways Administration to Nevada was based on a formula based on mileage, gas revenues, etc. Jeff Fontaine reviewed the federal funding formula which had two dozen funding categories. He noted the funding for interstate maintenance was based on the number of miles, the amount of traffic, etc. He stated service transportation was based on a number of miles, traffic, and population. He commented that they did factor in how much gas tax was collected and diesel tax was sent back to Washington. Jeff Fontaine stated another funding category took in the percentage of federal lands with the State. Commissioner Eklund-Brown commented upon the better maintained roads in Nevada with a smaller population. Jeff Fontaine stated the Department was committed to that level of road conditions. He noted Nevada had very good engineers and people in their Departments who were proactive. Jeff Fontaine stated they overlaid the highways before they fell apart. Commissioner Eklund-Brown inquired if tourism brought in more gas tax funding. Jeff Fontaine stated in looking at Las Vegas they had 40 million visitors and estimated half of them arrive by car. However, the majority of them arrive along I-15 from California which was a short section so they probably purchased their gas in California.