Regular Meeting

City of Elko ) County of Elko ) State of Nevada ) SS April 8, 2025 The City Council of the City of Elko, State of Nevada met for a regular meeting beginning at 4:00 PM, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. The meeting was held in the council chambers, 1751 College Ave., Elko. This meeting was called to order by Mayor Reece Keener at 4:00 PM. The public can watch the meeting by phone, tablet, laptop, or computer by going to the link provided on the agenda. Questions can be sent to cityclerk@elkocitynv.gov. I. CALL TO ORDER The Agenda for this meeting of the City of Elko City Council has been properly posted for this date and time in accordance with NRS requirements. II. ROLL CALL Present: Reece Keener, Mayor Chip Stone, Councilman Clair Morris, Councilman Giovanni Puccinelli, Councilman Marissa Lostra, Councilwoman City Staff Present: Jan Baum, City Manager Scott Wilkinson, Assistant City Manager Lauren Landa, Deputy City Attorney Dale Johnson, Utilities Director Paul Algerio, Public Works Jim Foster, Airport Manager James Johnston, Fire Chief Ty Trouten, Police Chief Cathy Laughlin, City Planner Ralph Negron, Development Manager Julie Davis, Financial Services Director Candi Quilici, Accounting Manager James Wiley, Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Ford, Building Official Andrew Storla, Assistant Water Superintendent Annette Robinson, City Clerk Nichole Stephens, City Clerk Technician II Justin Alanis, Facilities Superintendent III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 1 of 12  IV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Pursuant to N.R.S. 241, this time is devoted to comments by the public, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item on the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified as an item for possible action. ACTION WILL NOT BE TAKEN Scott Gavorsky on behalf of the Elko County Republican Party reminded everyone the 2025 Lincoln Day Dinner was on Saturday, April 12th at the Convention Center. Ralph Negron, Development Manager, stated Clean Up Green Up will be on April 26th and they were hoping for a good turnout and nice day like they had last year. He encouraged anyone that hadn’t signed up to do so. V. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of Minutes for the March 25, 2025, Regular Session. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION B. Review and possible action to authorize City Staff to give a Landfill voucher to adult volunteers that participate in the “Clean Up Green Up”, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION This year's "Clean Up Green Up" is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2025. In the past, the City Council has provided one voucher to each adult volunteer that was engaged in the cleaning of public property/right-of-ways. The voucher concept was very popular with the volunteers and affords them the same opportunity to remove waste from their personal property and dispose of it without having to pay a tipping fee at the Landfill. In order to provide the volunteers, the same opportunity as other citizens, these vouchers would be good for one day and expire on May 3, 2025. SF ** A motion was made by Councilmember Morris, seconded by Councilmember Stone to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VI. PRESENTATION A. Reading of a proclamation by the Mayor in recognition of the week of May 4th - May 10th, 2025 as "Children's Mental Health Action Week", and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ONLY - NON ACTION ITEM. Mayor Reece Keener read the proclamation in recognition of “Children’s Mental Health Action Week.” A copy can be found in the meeting minutes packet. April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 2 of 12  B. Presentation from Orla Mining Ltd, and possible approval of a BLM letter of support for Orla Mining's South Railroad Project located in Elko County and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Don Dwyer, General Manager, and Jaymie Donovan, Community Relations Manager, both of Orla Mining, will be present to discuss the Company's South Railroad Project. Don Dwyer, General Manager for Orla Mining and Jaymie Donovan, Community Relations Manager for Orla Mining gave a presentation on the company’s South Railroad Project. A copy of the presentation can be found in the meeting agenda packet. They reported they were currently in the NEPA review process with the BLM and projected the site would bring approximately 300 additional jobs to Elko County. The mine currently had a projected eight-year life and since it was located in Elko County, the taxes on the gold and silver produced would be generated for Elko County. Mayor Keener commented it will be nice to have another employer in town. He asked about the commute for the workers. Mr. Dwyer responded the current proposed route would go out through South Fork Reservoir and tie into Bullion Road. It would be about a 50-minute commute. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Stone, seconded by Councilmember Morris to approve of the letter to the BLM in support of Orla Mining's South Railroad Project located in Elko County. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) C. Review and possible approval of the Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Tentative Budget, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Tentative Budget for fiscal year ending June 30, 2026 is due to the Nevada Department of Taxation by April 15, 2025. Final Budget is due to Taxation by June 1, 2025. JD Julie Davis, Financial Services Director, gave an updated presentation for the Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Tentative Budget which can be found in the meeting agenda packet. There were some changes to capital projects, such as water and sewer projects being deferred to Fiscal Year 2027. She stated there were still a couple of months to fine tune the budget; she would ask for guidance at the first meeting in May to prepare the final budget for approval by the second meeting in May to meet the deadline set by the state. Councilmember Marissa Lostra asked if Ms. Davis anticipated further budget restraints and further deferment of projects to get the budget lower. Ms. Davis responded they would be looking further into where they could cut back. She added the general fund is budgeted flat or down in services and supplies and there was another month and a half to meet with departments and cut back farther. April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 3 of 12  Mayor Keener said hopefully it wouldn’t come to that and that things would be squared away at taxation. He asked if there were questions from the public and did not receive a response. No action was taken. VII. APPROPRIATION A. Review and possible approval and/or ratification of warrants, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION ** A motion was made by Councilmember Puccinelli, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to approve regular warrants in the amount of $1,586,719.98. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) ** A motion was made by Councilmember Puccinelli, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to approve handcut checks in the amount of $86,954.83. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Consideration, review and possible authorization for Staff to solicit bids for Airport Improvement Project No. 3-32-0005-061-2025(AIP 61), Pavement Maintenance and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The purpose of this project is to preserve and rehabilitate the pavement on Runways 6/24 and 12/30, Taxiways A and B with connectors, blast pads, and General Aviation aprons, by crack sealing, major crack repair, seal coating, and re-striping. This rehabilitation is necessary to preserve the service life of the asphalt pavements. A total of two (2) schedules will be included as Schedule I Federal and Schedule II non-federal. As a reminder the FAA awards grants based on bids. JF Jim Foster, Airport Manager, stated this was a project they brought back about every four years for rehab for all of their airfield pavements. He noted there is always a small portion that is on a non- federal schedule that falls within a certain amount of feet of a hangar row and has to be paid out of pocket. Mayor Keener asked if it would interrupt the commercial flights. Mr. Foster responded it will have a minimal impact; they will not have to cancel flights but they may have to limit daytime use. Mayor Keener asked if Mr. Foster recalled how much it cost the last time the project was done and who the vendor was. Mr. Foster responded he believed it was around 2.2 million dollars the last time and was done by Maxwell Asphalts out of Salt Lake City. April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 4 of 12  ** A motion was made by Councilmember Lostra, seconded by Councilmember Puccinelli to authorize staff to solicit bids for Airport Improvement Project 3- 32-0005-061-2025(AIP 61) Pavement Maintenance. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Review, consideration, and possible approval of a request from Silverado Land Management, LLC to assign its interest, ownership and airport land lease of Hangar D7 to Henri L. Gonin and Johanna M. Gonin, Trustees of the Gonin Family Trust, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Silverado Land Management, LLC and the Gonin Family Trust have mutually agreed upon the private sale of Hangar D7. Both parties request to assign the current airport hangar ground lease to the Gonin Family Trust and agree to assume all of the conditions of the Airport T-Hangar Lease Agreement for Hangar D7 entered into between Silverado Land Management, LLC and the City of Elko on April 24, 2019. JF Mr. Foster commented this was merely a housekeeping item after the private sale of the hangar and they were ready to transfer the land lease to the Gonin Family Trust. Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Lostra, seconded by Councilmember Morris to approve the assignment and assumption of Airport Hangar Lease D7 from Silverado Land Management LLC. to Henri L. Gonin and Johanna M. Gonin, Trustees of the Gonin Family Trust. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Review, consideration, and possible action regarding the disposal of City of Elko real property referred to as APN 006-100-030, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION APN 006-100-030, located in Elko County, has been on the land inventory for many years listed as a property to retain for a possible land exchange with the BLM. The BLM has indicated that they are not interested in the land exchange. CL Cathy Laughlin, City Planner, noted the blue area on the memo provided in the meeting agenda packet is the land owned by the city and is up the Kittridge Canyon draw. She noted they owned some of the surface water rights on the property, and those would need to be retained. The original plan was to exchange the land for a section owned by the BLM, but they have since stated they were not interested in a trade. April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 5 of 12  Mayor Keener asked if that used to be where Elko’s surface water supply came from and if any cattle grazing occurred up there. Dale Johnson, Utilities Director, confirmed that was the original water source for the City of Elko. He added he had seen cattle grazing in that area in the past. Mayor Keener asked how long it had taken the BLM to get back to us on that. Scott Wilkinson, Assistant City Manager, responded they had held several meetings with them over the past 12 or 15 years. He said at their most recent meeting they indicated they did not want to engage in a possible exchange. He added they could always apply and possibly force the hand, but they thought this might be a good way to raise some funds to potentially purchase Section 18 in the future. Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Puccinelli, seconded by Councilmember Morris to direct staff to start the process of disposal of real property owned by the City of Elko referred to as APN 006-100-030 to include getting an appraisal on the property. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) C. Review, consideration, and possible direction for staff to begin the conveyance of city owned property located at 821 Water Street, identified as APN 001-411-004 to Friends in Service Helping, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Friends in Service Helping (FISH) currently owns the building located at city property identified as APN 001-411-004. FISH would like to acquire the property allowing for more flexibility in either partnering with other non-profits or providing the opportunity for other non-profits to assume the charitable role that FISH currently provides to the community. Having different ownership of the building and the land complicates potential opportunities. There will be additional approvals required of the council to complete the transaction. JB Jan Baum, City Manager, stated Jennifer Koopman with FISH was present to provide the council with a few updates. Jennifer Koopman, Director of FISH, stated she was there to request the land that the permanent building FISH sits upon be conveyed or purchased for a dollar if needed. She said her goal with her time at FISH is to work to place the organization in a stable financial long-term position. The organization has been in talks with a few institutions to refinance the debt, or have a larger nonprofit envelop the organization and continue carrying on the mission of FISH. She said without the land, the options are moot. She thanked the council for hearing her request without having to share the confidential conversations being held within the organization; those conversations are with the best intent for the organization and the community. She added the executive board was present and available for questions. Lauren Landa, Deputy City Attorney, said they would need some additional information and what the possible exchange would be between the entities. She added it was possible, but the conveyances April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 6 of 12  contain a reversionary clause that would return the land back if it ceased to be used for a charitable or public purpose; there would likely be conditions put on the conveyance as well. She added additional research would be needed on how a loan would affect the reversionary clause or if it would even be eligible for encumbrance by a loan since it cannot be transferred to an entity that does not meet that purpose. Mayor Keener asked if the other conveyances they’ve done contained reversionary clauses. Ms. Landa responded if they were conveyed pursuant to NRS 268.055, it would contain the reversionary clause unless the entity actually purchased the property; that would go through a different statute. Councilmember Clair Morris said to Ms. Koopman that she had indicated potentially obtaining a loan if they owned the property and the building. He asked how the loans she stated FISH already had outstanding were obtained without having the property. Ms. Koopman responded she was not the Director then; she knew some were acquired during COVID but did not know what was used as collateral. Councilmember Morris asked if the loans were with the local bank. Ms. Koopman responded there was a small business association loan and a line of credit through the local Nevada State Bank. Mayor Keener commented this was probably something they needed to revisit after everyone had done some homework. Ms. Koopman asked Ms. Landa if there was availability to research purchasing the property for under market value. Ms. Landa responded they would have to discuss what Ms. Koopman meant in terms of purchase. If she meant just a dollar for consideration, it would likely still fall under the statute. She added they could discuss what the alternatives might be. No action was taken. D. Review, discussion and consideration of Bills potentially relevant to the City of Elko during the 83rd (2025) Legislative Session, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The Elko City Clerk will present the Legislative Tracker Spreadsheet updated as of April 8, 2025 for City Council Consideration. At the March 25, 2025 City Council Meeting, Annette Robinson, City Clerk, highlighted two bills that could potentially affect the City of Elko, AB 443 (Revises provisions relating to real property) and SB 373 (Establishes requirements relating to regional business licenses). City Staff is seeking possible authorization by City Council for letters of opposition for these two bills. AR Annette Robinson, City Clerk, gave a presentation on some of the bills the Clerk’s Office has been watching during the 83rd Legislative Session. She noted concern regarding AB443 which began as a April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 7 of 12  BDR for rent control that has since had several things added to it and SB373 which attempted to establish regional business licenses without a defined region. She noted both bills would require many code changes. She showed the council the public opinions option on the NELIS website and encouraged everyone to make their opinions known. Jim Foster, Airport Manager, added SB78 was another bill that should be watched; it proposed the dissolution of a lot of boards including the Air Service Development Commission. Scott Gavorsky on behalf of the Elko County Republican party commented that Friday would be the first deadline in the legislature and any bills not declared exempt or moved down a committee and accepted would sort of die. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Lostra, seconded by Councilmember Stone to authorize staff to write letters in opposition with suggestions for opposition and amendments to AB443, with the acts relating to real property and SB373, an act relating to business require a governing body of a county incorporated in the city to take certain actions relating to the establishment of a regional business license. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) X. SUBDIVISION A. Review, consideration, and possible conditional acceptance of Subdivision Improvements for the Mountain View Townhomes Unit 2 subdivision, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION Council approved Final Map 3-23 for Mountain View Townhomes Unit 2 subdivision on November 28, 2023. A Performance and Maintenance Agreement was entered on November 28, 2023. Under the performance and maintenance agreement the developer had 24 months to complete the subdivision improvements. The Developer has requested acceptance of the subdivision. The Developer has substantially completed the Subdivision Improvements in accordance with the approved plans. The City is in receipt of the required certification of the project by the Engineer of Record. The Developer is required to provide maintenance security in the amount of $60,843.00 for a 12-month maintenance period. The maintenance period will begin on the date of Council acceptance of the subdivision improvements provided the maintenance bond is on file with the city. RN Mr. Negron stated it has been completed and he was in receipt of the maintenance guarantee. He recommended the motion include the developer has posted a maintenance bond. Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Puccinelli, seconded by Councilmember Stone to conditionally accept the public improvements for Mountain View Townhomes Unit 2 subdivisions, and the developer has posted a maintenance guarantee in the amount of $60,843.00 prior to the maintenance period commencing. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 8 of 12  XI. REPORTS A. Mayor and City Council Mayor Keener reported he attended the Nevada Aviation Association conference last week in Reno; it was a great conference and he learned a lot. There was mention of a supplemental airport they were hoping to have online by 2036 that would be located near Prim, Nevada. He added he would be involved in conducting interviews for the Assistant City Manager position this coming week and there were three finalists. Councilmember Stone reported the 18th is the 50-year celebration of the Convention Center. The open house for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple would start on the 30th of August and fun through September 13th, officially opening on October 12th. B. City Manager C. Assistant City Manager Scott Wilkinson, Assistant City Manager reported the Mayor’s Arts Award presentation would be on the 22nd; they were also working on a call to artists for the 250th celebration. It would be a piece of art installed in the downtown area. D. Utilities Director Mr. Johnson reported the Errecart project is ongoing; there was about 3,000 feet of pipe left from Pinion down to the hospital. On the exit 298 project, the bores had been completed and the precast pits and vaults for the lift station were being constructed. On the water meter project, they had installed about 250 meters. E. Public Works F. Airport Manager Mr. Foster reported they were on their second week of construction out at the airport and councilmembers were welcome to come out and take a look. On Friday they received their SCASD grant and would likely see it on the next meeting’s agenda. G. City Attorney H. Fire Chief I. Police Chief J. City Clerk April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 9 of 12  Ms. Robinson reported that Shiloh Inn came in with a check for $60,000 after the last council meeting and she had received confirmation earlier in the day that they had submitted another $11,898. She said that paid them up through December but they were still delinquent on January and February’s room tax. With the recent payments, they had stopped the business license revocation process; if they didn’t pay January, they would start the process again. K. City Planner Ms. Laughlin reported there would be an RDA meeting on the 22nd at 3:00 PM prior to the City Council Meeting and there were quite a few things on the agenda. She was hopeful they would be able to award the downtown sidewalk project, as bids were due the following Monday. L. Development Manager M. Financial Services Director N. Parks and Recreation Director Councilmember Morris commented everything has been looking very nice. Mayor Keener asked Mr. Wiley if he had heard of any kind of prognostications on the cricket situation this year. James Wiley, Parks and Recreation Director responded they were not emerging as early as last year, though he had heard reports of some early hatches in Crescent Valley. He added the Department of Agriculture and the BLM had done some environmental assessments so they could get their crews out to treat BLM property this year. He was expecting to see some this year but hoped it would be less than they’ve been accustomed to over the past couple of years. O. Civil Engineer P. Building Official IX. 5:30 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING A. Review of bids received and subsequent public auction for the lease of approximately 2,796 square feet of City owned real property located generally on the east side of the intersection of 12th Street and Idaho Street, designated as a portion of APN 001-293-001, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION On March 11, 2025, City Council approved Resolution No. 01-25, which set the conditions of the public auction for the lease of City owned real property. The minimum annual lease price must be $2,500.00. Execution of the lease by the City is expressly conditioned upon full performance by the successful bidder within sixty (60) calendar days after the acceptance of the bid. A copy of Resolution No. 01-25 has been enclosed in the agenda packet for review as well as a sample lease for the property. CL April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 10 of 12  Ms. Laughlin stated there was one bid received for the property and the auction would not go to oral bids. She asked Ms. Robinson to read the bid into the record. Ms. Robinson opened the bid from Angeline Portal from Ruby Mountain Law. The bid amount was $2,500 and a copy is included in the meeting minutes packet. Ms. Laughlin said that since there were no other bids received, her recommended motion for the council would be to accept the bid and lease the property to Angie Portal for the amount of $2,500 per year and execute the lease within thirty days. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Puccinelli, seconded by Councilmember Stone to accept the bid by Angie Portal from Ruby Mountain Law for $2,500 per year for the designated portion of APN 001-293-001, and execute the lease within 30 days. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Second reading, public hearing and possible adoption of Ordinance 897, an ordinance adopting a change in zoning district boundaries from RMH (Mobile Home Park and Mobile Home Subdivision) to RS (Residential Suburban) Zoning District, approximately 85,701 square feet of property, specifically APN's 001-720-083 and 001-720-084, and processed as Rezone 5-24, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The Planning Commission held a public hearing on Rezone 5-24 at their regular meeting January 7, 2025. The Planning Commission recommended that the City Council adopt an ordinance which approves the zoning district boundary amendment. City Council held the first reading of Ordinance 897 on March 11, 2025 and set the matter for second reading and public hearing. CL Ms. Laughlin reminded the council there was no action taken on this item at the previous City Council Meeting due to an error in the publication of the legal notifications. The proper legal notifications had been published and they were ready for the second reading and possible adoption. She said it would rezone the property from manufactured mobile home to residential suburban and described the property as being located on the outskirts of the developed portion of the community. The intention was to combine the two smaller parcels into one large parcel. Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Stone, seconded by Councilmember Lostra to conduct second reading, public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 897. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) C. Second reading, public hearing, and possible adoption of Ordinance 898, an Ordinance Amending Title 4, Chapter 6, Section 10 Allocation and use of Transient Lodging Tax Funds and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 11 of 12  On March 11, 2025, Annette Kerr from ECVA requested that the Elko City Council initiate an Ordinance to amend Title 4, Chapter 6, Section 10 (G) of the City Code Allocation of Transient Lodging Tax Funds because the ECVA Conference Center debt balloon payment was refinanced. City Council directed staff to create an Ordinance to amend Title 4, Chapter 6, Section 10 (G). On March 25, 2025, City Council passed first reading of Ordinance 898 and set that matter for second reading and public hearing. AR Ms. Robinson said all legal notifications had been taken care of and the ordinance was ready for second reading and possible adoption. Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. ** A motion was made by Councilmember Morris, seconded by Councilmember Stone to approve second reading and passage of Ordinance 898. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XII. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Pursuant to N.R.S. 241, this time is devoted to comments by the public, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item on the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified as an item for possible action. ACTION WILL NOT BE TAKEN Mayor Keener called for public comment and did not receive a response. There being no further business, Mayor Reece Keener adjourned the meeting at 5:40 PM. Mayor Reece Keener Annette Robinson, City Clerk April 8, 2025 City Council | Minutes Page 12 of 12