October 2, 2012

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. October 2, 2012

Commissioner Eastley

asked if it was an energy audit. Mrs. Webster said it was to find hot spots and to identify corrective action to wiring that was potentially needed.

Commissioner Borasky

said Candidates Night would be October 4, 2012, at 6:00 p.m. at the Nugget for the local candidates.

Commissioner Borasky

said a poker tournament fundraiser for NCRCC would be held at the Nugget on November 14, 2012.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said the Pahrump Fair and Festival went well. He stated

Commissioner Borasky

announced in front of the Nugget and Commissioner Schinhofen announced in front of Denny’s. Channels 30 and 41 were present.

Commissioner Schinhofen

thanked the volunteers who helped make the festival successful.

Commissioner Schinhofen

advised the State Water Engineer would be at the Rudd Center at 6:00 p.m. today to talk about water rights.

Commissioner Eastley

said the Belmont Town Advisory Board expressed appreciation to the Board of County Commissioners for the funds for park benches. She said she had photographs to show the Commissioners.

Commissioner Eastley

said Bill No. 2012-15 was referred to the Town of Pahrump to see if they wanted to hold hearings and asked Pam Webster if there had been any action on that. Mrs. Webster said a letter was sent to them notifying them of the Board’s decision, but she had not heard anything nor seen anything on their agenda. She said she had sent an e-mail to Bill Kohbarger to see if the Town wanted to take any action.

Commissioner Eastley

said the item regarding the hangar sublease at the Tonopah airport was removed from a prior agenda because of legal problems and asked if the October 2, 2012 8. Commissioners’IManaqer’s Comments (This item limited to announcements or topicslissues proposed for future workshops!agendas)-Cont’d. liens had been lifted. Mrs. Webster said they had been and the item was scheduled to be on the October 16, 2012, agenda.

Commissioner Borasky

attended a quad-state meeting and took a couple of pictures of the solar facility going in on 1-15 in Stateline. He said there were some unusual looking boxes on the top, but he did not know if that was the final project. He said at that quad- state meeting somebody finally witnessed a raven flipping over a tortoise and having it for lunch. He said they had been bringing the predator program up on a regular basis and trying to get Fish and Wildlife to understand the many ways tortoises were damaged. He stated an update would be sent out on the meeting itself.

Commissioner Borasky

said he had a growing concern with the County Manager/ Assistant County Manager situation and the agreement that the Board would allow Mrs. Webster to select someone. He would like to have an agenda item that clearly covered that the Board of County Commissioners would select all at-will employees. With all of the manipulation that was going on behind the scenes he was growing quite concerned about somebody trying to put their favorite person in there and using the County Manager to do that.

Commissioner Eastley

asked what manipulation he was referring to. Commissioner Borasky believed pressure was being put on the County Manager.

Commissioner Eastley

asked Mrs. Webster if she was pressured. Mrs. Webster said there were no applications received so there were no candidates anyway.

Commissioner Eastley

noted State law said Mrs. Webster had the right to select someone with the approval of the Board of County Commissioners so it still had to come back to the Board. Commissioner Borasky wanted to make sure it did.

Commissioner Borasky

asked Mrs. Webster to bring forward an agenda item regarding the light bulbs in the Eye to see if the Board wanted to pay to have the area lit up at night.

Commissioner Borasky

advised that depending on who was elected, the Environmental Protection Agency at the federal level had loads of new legislation they were going to introduce right after the election.

Commissioner Hollis

wanted everyone to know that the plaintiffs in the Yucca Mountain court case had pushed for the court to make its decision on the nuclear waste site as far as the mandamus order. The court could wait until the six months was up, but papers had been filed to ask the court to make their decision. October 2, 2012 8. Commissioners’IManager’s Comments (This item limited to announcements or topicslissues proposed for future workshopslaqendas)-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said some residents had approached him about code compliance and citations they were getting about weeds. He would like Mrs. Webster to have the code compliance people explain to the Board how that worked. He understood the Uniform Building Code was adopted, which included property maintenance and weeds, but the height of the weeds was to be determined by the municipality and he did not remember that determination being made.

Commissioner Schinhofen

asked Mrs. Webster to have Bob Jones come to a meeting and tell the Commissioners the timeline for finishing up the landscaping around the pond and center island outside the Pahrump county building.

Commissioner Eastley

asked Commissioner Borasky if he was still the Board’s representative to the Regional Planning Commission. Commissioner Borasky said he was. Commissioner Eastley said she asked because she got an e-mail from a Pahrump resident complaining about the adoption of the animal control ordinance and the need to comply with the five animal limit. She thought there was a provision in the code for Pahrump already that barred any homeowner from having more than five animals.

Commissioner Borasky

said the limit was in Title 17 in certain zoning categories.

Commissioner Eastley

said she thought it was always a requirement in single-family residential areas and the adoption of that bill at the last meeting did not change anything for anyone in the Pahrump Regional Planning District. Commissioner Borasky said it had been there for a while now.

Commissioner Schinhofen

noted that in suburban estates you could not have cows and horses. Commissioner Eastley said the e-mail was from a homeowner who had five dogs. Commissioner Schinhofen said he just wanted to clarify the limit was on dogs and cats. 10:15 a.m. Recess to the Nye County Board of Road Commissioners NYE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLVED TO THE BOARD OF ROAD COMMISSIONERS. BOARD OF ROAD COMMISSIONERS RESOLVED TO THE BOARD OF NYE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 10:30 am. Recess to the Nye County Licensing and Liquor Board NYE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLVED TO THE NYE COUNTY LICENSING AND LIQUOR BOARD. THE NYE COUNTY LICENSING AND LIQUOR BOARD RESOLVED TO THE BOARD OF NYE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS October 2, 2012

Commissioner Hollis

asked that item 9g be pulled for discussion.

Commissioner Schinhofen

asked that item 9f be pulled for discussion. 9b. For Possible Action — Approval of Elected Official Collection Report

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9c. For Possible Action — Approval of Assessor’s Office Change Request

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9d. For Possible Action — Approval of Personnel Actions

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9e. For Possible Action Approval to purchase 10,000 gallons of CSS-lh bituminous emulsion material from Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc. for road maintenance work (Charleston Park, Gamebird & Barney. and miscellaneous other roads in the Pahrump area) and is budgeted from Fund 10205 Road.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9h. For Possible Action Approval to request from the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development a 90 day no-cost extension to the Solid Waste Management Train the Trainer Grant. The grant is administered out of Fund 10340 Grants.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9i. For Possible Action Approval of a six (6) month no cost extension to the contract with KPVM Television, Inc. to complete the Pahrump History Video Proiect.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. October 2, 2012 9j. For Possible Action Approval to release the final eighty-five percent (85%) of the financial security related to the Parcel Map Improvement Agreement document #s 701291 & 701473 (IA-07-0016.1) located in Amargosa Valley. Paul E. Raby, E Street Apartments LLC OwnerlApplicant. John Buchanan Agent. — —

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9k. For Possible Action Approval: 1) to accept the SFY 2013 Grant Award from the State of Nevada. Aging and Disability Services Division to provide congregate meals in Goldfield, Silver Peak and Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County from the Tonopah Senior Center. Matching funds will be provided by Esmeralda County Commissioners in their budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013; and 2) of the Confidentiality Addendum with Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9m. For Possible Action Approval: 1) to accept the SFY 2013 Grant Award from the State of Nevada. Aging and Disability Services Division to provide congregate meals in Amarosa Valley, Beatty and Tonopah Senior Centers. Matching funds are budgeted from Fund 10101 General; and 2) of the Confidentiality Addendum with Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9n. For Possible Action Approval: 1) to accept the SFY 2013 Grant Award from the State of Nevada, Aging and Disability Services Division to provide home delivered meals in Amargosa Valley, Beattv and Tonopah Senior Centers. Matching funds are budgeted from Fund 10101 General; and 2) of the Confidentiality Addendum with Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. October 2, 2012 90. For Possible Action Approval: 1) to accept the SFY 2013 Equipment Grant Award from the State of Nevada, Aging and Disability Services Division for supplies for the Beatty, Amargosa, and Tonopah Senior Centers. Matching funds (total matching for all three centers) are budgeted from Fund 10101 General; and 2) of the Confidentiality Addendum with Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9p. For Possible Action Approval of the revisions of the Beatty Town Advisory Board Rules of Procedure.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9g. For Possible Action Approval to accept the State of Nevada. Office of Traffic Safety Supporting Teens and Roadway Safe (STARS) Grant # 23-CP-8 which provides funding travel, equipment, contract services and other direct costs in support of helping teens learn about safe driving. This grant shall be administered out of Fund 10340 Grants.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9r. For Possible Action Approval to accept the State of Nevada. Office of Traffic Safety “Joining Forces” Grant # 23-JF-1.19 which provides funding for overtime on DUI enforcement and saturation patrols in Nve County. This grant shall be administered out of Fund 10340 Grants.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9s. For Possible Action Approval of a Letter of Agreement between Nve County and Nellis AFB for the purpose of authorizing use of Nye County GIS data as it relates to NTTR Drilling Proiect.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. October 2, 2012 9t. For Possible Action Approval of a lease agreement with Pitney Bowes Global Financial Services for the repair, maintenance, and subscription service for the postage equipment located in the Nve County Public Works Office in Tonopah, NV for a period of 60 months and is budgeted from Fund 10205 Road.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to approve all consent agenda items except items f and g; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 9f. For Possible Action Approval to select Awesome Construction, LLC as the lowest most responsible and responsive quote to construct approximately 4,000 feet of tortoise fence at the County’s Pahrump landfill and is budgeted from Fund 10510 Solid Waste.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he knew this was part of the HCP approved years ago by a previous board and this was to keep the County in compliance with it, but he had a problem with Fish and Wildlife and BLM and how they used extortion to get the County to comply. They stopped a highway project in San Diego because they found a blind spider that they thought was extinct, which is the kind of thing that bothered him. He felt the two million acres set aside for tortoise protection was enough.

Commissioner Borasky

asked if anyone had seen a tortoise in the last 20 years since the dump had been open. He said it was sad to spend that kind of money to put up a fence to keep them out.

Commissioner Eastley

said in the interest of keeping a good working relationship with Fish and Wildlife, with whom she always had a good working relationship, she would prefer they not be called extortionists on the record. All they did was enforce the laws that Congress made.

Commissioner Borasky

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Hollis; 4 yeas. Dave Fanning, Public Works Director, advised this was a requirement under the landfill permit. Fish and Wildlife had let the County go for 25 years using the old chain link fence. Once the interim fence line between the old and new landfills got taken down, this came forward to block off any way the tortoises could come into the landfill. Mr. Fanning said there was a log book in Public Works for tortoises seen in the valley dating back 20 years and the list was reported to BLM every year as well as Fish and Wildlife when they needed it. He said there were quite a few tortoise sightings during the CCA project.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he would like to see the list. October 2, 2012 9g. For Possible Action Approval of Change Orders No. 12. 13, 14 and 15 to the contract with Wulfenstein Construction, Inc. for additional work and materials on the Blagg Road Sewer Line Trench Backfill Replacement and is budgeted from Prolect PE1202 Fund 10493 Capital Proiects.

Commissioner Hollis

stated he asked to have this item pulled from the consent agenda at Frank Wilson’s request. Frank Wilson reminded the Board of the discussion a couple of meetings ago about the cost overruns and change orders and now they were back on the agenda. Previously two Commissioners said they would not vote again for them and he wanted to know why they were on this agenda to start with. Mr. Wilson thought the project was done, but now they wanted another $9,000.00. He noted the project was $400,000.00 over budget and the County had not filed a suit yet to get the money back. Mr. Wilson asked where the District Attorney was and why he had not done anything. Dave Fanning advised all the information was in the backup and every change order was due to some of the unforeseen things found during the work and the progress of the job. He explained the manhole change of grade came about due to the fact that a few grade changes were done to straighten the road, which was an addition to the contract; the concrete on Change Order 15 was unforeseen until they were dug up, which resulted in the handling of additional materials; and the backfill was due to an effluent line break which created a bigger hole than what was needed and was also not in the contract.

Commissioner Borasky

asked Mr. Fanning if the project was $400,000.00 over budget.

Mr. Fanning

said he had not heard that and he did not show it as over budget.

Commissioner Borasky

asked if the project was within the budget that was set. Mr. Fanning said it was.

Commissioner Borasky

asked MarIa Zlotek, Deputy District Attorney, if it would be a breach of contract if the County did not pay for this work. Ms. Zlotek said it would be a breach if the County was contractually obligated to pay for the work.

Commissioner Eastley

noted these were unforeseen circumstances that would not be in the contract and asked how it could be a breach.

Commissioner Borasky

stated he did say that he would not vote for it, but if it was in the contract then that would be a breach and he would have to change his mind.

Commissioner Borasky

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Eastley.

Commissioner Eastley

asked Ms. Zlotek for confirmation that since this was unforeseen work it would not have been in the contract. Ms. Zlotek said that was correct and that October 2, 2012 9g. For Possible Action Approval of Change Orders No. 12, 13, 14 and 15 to the contract with Wulfenstein Construction, Inc. for additional work and materials on the Blagg Road Sewer Line Trench Backfill Replacement and is budgeted from Project PE1202 Fund 10493 Capital Projects.-Cont’d. the question Commissioner Borasky asked was not specific to change orders, which was different from a contractual obligation.

Commissioner Hollis

asked Ms. Zlotek if the District Attorney was going to file a lawsuit to recover the taxpayers’ money. Ms. Zlotek said she would prefer that question be answered by the District Attorney as she was not privy to that information.

Commissioner Schinhofen

stated this Board did authorize him to go forward. Ms. Zlotek said the Board authorized him to take all necessary legal action.

Commissioner Hotlis

asked if the District Attorney took direction from the Commissioners as far as if they told him to take legal action then he would take legal action. Ms. Zlotek said that was correct. She further advised there was a statute directly on point and that was the reason for an agenda item to seek the Board’s approval and consensus to move forward with legal action.

Commissioner Hollis

said he had faith the District Attorney’s Office would file the lawsuit to recover the money the taxpayers had put out on Blagg Road.

Commissioner Eastley

said she was confident the District Attorney would take legal action necessary after a thorough evaluation of the facts.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if it was staff’s recommendation to award. Mrs. Dodge said it was.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to award to Wulfenstein Construction at the price stated and authorize execution of the contract based on staff recommendation; seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 23d. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding Bid #201 2- 25!PWP #NY-2012-399 approximately 150,000 tons of Type 2 Gravel (Pahrump and Vicinity) and awarding of bid and is budgeted from Fund 10205 Road.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to award to Wulfenstein Construction in the amount of $562,500.00 and authorize execution of the contract; seconded by

Commissioner Borasky

; 4 yeas. October 2, 2012 24. Health & Human Services This item was removed from the agenda. 25. HIR and Risk Management This item was removed from the agenda. 26. Information Technology This item was removed from the agenda. 27. Nuclear Waste Repository Project OfficelNatural Resources 27a. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to appoint a Nye County representative as a Supervisor to the Southern Nve County Conservation District. pursuant to Nevada Revised Statute 548.283.

Commissioner Eastley

made a motion to appoint Levi Kryder based on staff recommendation; seconded by Commissioner Hoflis.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said Mr. Kryder did great work and was qualified, but wondered if staff was normally appointed or if a Commissioner was. Commissioner Eastley told him staff was appointed.

Commissioner Hollis

made a motion to approve: seconded by Commissioner Borasky; 4 yeas. 29. Public Administrator This item was removed from the agenda. 30. Public Works This item was removed from the agenda. 31. Senior Services This item was removed from the agenda. October 2, 2012 OTHER BUSINESS 32. Town BoardslTown Advisory Boards This item was removed from the agenda. 33. Public Petitioners 33a. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, and deliberation of support of The Rural Medical Facility Investment and Improvement Act.

Commissioner Eastley

noted the last time this item was on the agenda there was no representative from the company to make the presentation. J.P. Smith introduced himself and said that Dr. Hammargren was supposed to be present also, but he had called ahead of time to advise that he could not make it.

Commissioner Eastley

said she contacted Dr. Scoccia after the previous meeting and he denied knowing anything about Mr. Smith’s facility or this act and he resented the fact that someone would come before the Board to make representations on behalf of Nye Regional Medical Center and his staff. Mr. Smith advised he had just gotten out of a meeting with Dr. Scoccia where he supported this.

Mr. Smith

said he represented the Private Rural Medical Facility Investment and Improvement Act, which provided a third funding option other than USDA and HUD to finance rural hospitals. It allowed for private investment to provide funding and the investors would get tax-free interest for the project as well as tax credits should the project in the end not support itself. The developers would be required to lower the price to a financially feasible amount for the community to carry. He said there would be other avenues besides being a hospital only to make it profitable. Mr. Smith stated that medical care and hospital care, especially in rural communities, was in danger with the new cuts being considered at the federal level. He said this funding could result in a new facility in two years.

Commissioner Eastley

asked why Tonopah was chosen. Mr. Smith explained that to keep a balance in rural healthcare they could not go to Pahrump because it would be in competition with the existing facility there, which would violate the covenants, It had to be a complete community buy-in and if there was opposition, the State would be informed and the State would not allow the facility to be built.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if this Board took formal action to support this if it was obligating itself to any potential funding. Mr. Smith said none whatsoever. This investment program required all investments to be made by the developer. The idea was to make this a positive for the community and the end result would be that it was turned over to a non-profit to run and then sold back to the community at cost. It would be locally owned, controlled, and viable. October 2, 2012 33a. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, and deliberation of support of The Rural Medical Facility Investment and Improvement Act.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Borasky

noted Mr. Smith said this would be done with private money, but he read in the backup that it would be federal money. Mr. Smith said this would be completely private, institutionally funded with no government funds requested or required, and the way the bill was written none would be allowed.

Commissioner Eastley

asked what other counties Mr. Smith had visited and if they had been unanimous in their support of this. Mr. Smith said he visited Mineral County two weeks ago and was scheduled to meet with Lyon County. He got a good indication from Pershing County that they would be supportive of this, but they wanted him to visit with their hospital board. He said Lyon County gave the indication they would be supportive, and he had letters of support from Fernley and West Windover. Mr. Smith planned on going to the Elko Commission the first part of next month.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if he could only request support from communities that would qualify. Mr. Smith said that was correct.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if there would be an effect on the disproportionate share payments (DSH). Mr. Smith said no. It was Medicare licensed and viable and there would not be any reduction in the services currently in place. He said there would be an increase in services as well because of the additional income generated. Pam Webster asked if there was an interest subsidy. Mr. Smith asked if she meant the untaxable interest granted the investors. Mrs. Webster asked if it was just a tax reduction or if there was any government subsidy involved. Mr. Smith explained there was a cost to the federal government because the interest that would normally get taxed would be tax-free, but there were offsets by the number of jobs created and the savings to Medicare and other governmental programs. He said the actual cost to the federal government for this program nationwide was $5.2 billion, but there were offsets equaling over $15 billion, so there was a substantial savings to the federal government by allowing this to happen.

Mrs. Webster

said this was not an expenditure by the federal government then, just reduced revenue to the federal government. Mr. Smith said that was right.

Mrs. Webster

wanted to make sure it was not dependent on government funding in any way and was just a tax break to the investors which caused a lack of revenue because there were some issues with the budget. Mr. Smith said this basically took the several trillions of dollars sitting in banks and Treasury bonds and put them to work and created jobs. He said there could be over 500 craftsmen at one time or another working at this facility and staying in this area because of the remoteness.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said USDA and HUD already provided funding. Mr. Smith said they did, but matching funds were needed to participate and those agencies did not October 2, 2012 33a. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, and deliberation of support of The Rural Medical Facility Investment and Improvement Act.-Cont’d. fund 100% or allow for the additional revenue generators in this bill. They were strictly for medical facilities. This bill would allow the County to build a retirement community with an assisted living facility and active senior living.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said all that was good, but the first thing that got his attention was the word investment, so the County was going to spend money it did not have. He was not aware of a dire need for this. There was always another need and another want, so there was another program going through Congress to invest money. He would not support another spending bill and that was what investment meant with this.

Commissioner Eastley

noted the backup was clear to her that there was no government funding involved. It was all private investment in the medical community and the federal government was providing a tax incentive for private developers to invest their own money in these projects.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he read that they also guaranteed it.

Mr. Smith

reiterated there was no cost to the federal government and about an $8 billion surplus.

Commissioner Schinhofen

reminded Mr. Smith of the cost he mentioned. Mr. Smith said there was a cost of $5.2 billion, which accounts for the income the government would have received on the tax-free interest, along with a $1 billion reserve to cover any of the tax credits that would have to be there. Mr. Smith said if there was $1.00 cost to this bill it would be dead on arrival. He reminded the Commissioners of the offsets from the jobs that would be created and the affect on the national GDP, so the federal government was saving almost $8 billion by the enactment of this bill with no cost whatsoever.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if the hospital would be able to move forward with expansion or rebuilding plans if a majority of the Board voted not to support this. Mr. Smith stated he could not say that, but it would be extremely difficult as there was no money to provide the matching funds needed. Also, if one of the existing government programs was used there would be a cost whereas this funding option would save money and put money back into the community because the projects funded under this bill would be done by private developments which would pay all personal and property taxes for the first five years. He said Nye County actually had the ability to profit $15 million to $20 million during the five year period this project would be in private hands.

Commissioner Schinhofen

commented that no one from the hospital had shown up to support this. Mr. Smith stated Dr. Scoccia offered to send someone or come himself to express support if the Board wanted to table this for a few minutes. October 2, 2012 33a. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, and deliberation of support of The Rural Medical Facility Investment and Improvement Act.-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said even if they did, it would not change his mind.

Commissioner Borasky

made a motion to support based on no financial impact to Nye County.

Commissioner Eastley

thought it was a win-win for everyone with private dollars being invested and the federal government providing tax incentives for private developers to invest their own funds. She seconded Commissioner Borasky’s motion.

Mr. Smith

offered to meet with Commissioner Schinhofen to discuss his concerns.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he appreciated that, but he was still leery of another government program.

Commissioner Hollis

said he knew Commissioner Schinhofen was not here when Nye County ran the hospital and he probably did not remember how much money the County sank into Nye Regional. Commissioner Hollis did not want to see that come back and that was why he voted for it. He said the hospital was essential to be located where it was and that was the reason why he thought Commissioner Schinhofen needed to meet with Mr. Smith and reconsider. 6. Announcements (first)-Reopened.

Commissioner Schinhofen

said he attended the Pahrump Utilities meeting last week and at the end of the meeting he asked who was in favor of it. Everyone raised their hands. He asked who had changed their minds during the meeting and about ten people had. There may be another workshop, but he tried to explain to people this would be an enterprise zone and separate from other County funds. He stressed that people should read all the material available and he would welcome any questions. He said the next step was to look at a contract.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if there had been a violation since he was talking about a contract. Commissioner Schinhofen said he remembered from the last meeting that staff was directed to have a lawyer look at a contract, so a lawyer was being looked for to negotiate a contract.

Commissioner Eastley

did not remember a contract being approved. Commissioner Schinhofen said it was not. The Board was in recess until 1:30 p.m. October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update Jerrie Tipton, Mineral County Commissioner and current president of NACO, outlined several things done this last year, including remote meetings; a two-day workshop in March where the by-laws and articles of incorporation were reviewed and short- and long-range planning for the association was done; and meetings in May in Winnemucca, July in Ely, and one in Las Vegas last week where twelve counties were represented.

Ms. Tipton

said the short- and long-term planning included the purchase by NACO of a building in Carson City and a vote last week for NACO to have own its own video conferencing system which would interact with the counties’ and the State’s. She saw this as a boon for the Legislative Committee and other committees. She said they had already been approached by people to borrow the facility once this was up and running.

Ms. Tipton

thanked Nye County for the participation and support it gave to NACO. She said some people who lived out in the nether regions of Nevada felt like their voices were never heard, which was why some of the other committees existed to make sure they were heard. One of the things she decided when she got on the NACO board was to get on the Public Lands Steering Committee. Had there not been enough western commissioners and supervisors on that Public Lands Steering Committee, on a national level the EPA and the Corps of Engineers would not have been held off as long on removing the word “navigable” from the Clean Water Act. Ms. Tipton believed the steering committee would prevail over that because there were enough people on the steering committee to make a difference.

Ms. Tipton

said she enjoyed being president and that Nancy Boland from Esmeralda County would be next year’s president.

Commissioner Eastley

commended Ms. Tipton on her leadership. Jeff Fontaine, Executive Director of NACO, also acknowledged Ms. Tipton for her leadership this year and said the initiatives in getting the counties involved had been very important. He also thanked Nye County, the Commissioners, and County staff for the longstanding support of NACO.

Mr. Fontaine

said it had been a busy year, starting in March with a trip back to Washington, D.C., as part of the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference. Seven or eight commissioners went with them. National policy issues were listened to and the congressional delegation was visited. He said it was fortunate in Nevada to have relationships with representatives on both sides of the aisle in both houses and have the opportunity to sit down and talk with them.

Mr. Fontaine

said there were discussions during the Legislative Conference on the Affordable Health Care Act and its impact; collection of remote sales tax from internet sales and how that affected the revenues counties got; and continuing payment in lieu of taxes, which was a NACO priority when Mr. Fontaine started. It was scheduled to October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update-Cont’d. expire this year and it needed to be kept on top of as it generated $23 million a year in PILT payments. Another topic of discussion was assuring that revenue from leases and royalties from geothermal projects on public lands went to the counties. The last few years those revenues had been diverted back to the federal treasury. The revenue to the counties needed to become a permanent situation and needed to be extended to include the revenues from other renewables on public lands. Mr. Fontaine said a minimum of 25% should go to the host county as well.

Mr. Fontaine

advised that this year an amicus brief was filed in support of Wyoming’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the U.S. Forest Service’s roadless rural label, and a leadership role was taken in the wild horse and burro issue. An Idaho attorney had been hired, who had done research and due diligence, and a letter was sent to the Secretary of the Interior demanding that the Department of Interior, through BLM, comply with the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, and more specifically to keep the numbers of those animals at the established appropriate management level. Mr. Fontaine said they were waiting to hear back from the Secretary and if the response was not satisfactory then the next step would be considered.

Commissioner Eastley

noted it was important that it be a unanimous resolution to force the federal government to follow that act and stay at AML or below.

Mr. Fontaine

said NACO had been involved with a number of other public land issues, including working with the Sage Grouse Task Force the Governor established to try to get consideration of more local participation in that effort. NACO also supported litigation filed by the Public Lands Council regarding the U.S. Forest Service’s latest forest planning rule. On the energy front, Mr. Fontaine commended the Commissioners for being a leader in pursuing this. He was optimistic things would work out for Nye County, and he acknowledged Commissioner Eastley for being appointed to serve on the committee that was helping to refine that policy. He said comments were filed with the Department of the Interior regarding their programmatic environmental impact statement and to make sure they took into consideration Nye County’s local land use maps. NACO supported legislation co-sponsored by both Nevada Senators, SBI 175, the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act, which would allocate a portion of revenue from the projects on public lands to the counties. Recently NACO worked on the proposed changes to the regulations promulgated by the Nevada State Office of Energy, one of which was the partial tax abatements to the County’s sales tax and property tax revenues. Mr. Fontaine thought they would adopt the requirement that if the Board of County Commissioners requested that the Nevada State Office of Energy October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update-Cont’d. conduct an audit on someone receiving partial tax abatements then they would do that audit.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if there was a mandatory audit in August as she thought that was part of the regulations. Mr. Fontaine thought there was a mandatory requirement for the filing of compliance, but he would go back and verify that. He also thought they would be successful in getting a clarification that the equipment eligible for the partial sales tax abatement had to remain with the facility.

Mr. Fontaine

said time was also spent working on the implementation of the various cost shifts and unfunded mandates enacted in the 2011 session, which had been a real problem for many counties. There was a $1.6 million impact to Nye County, and there were other counties that simply could not pay the bills. The billings sent to counties far exceeded what the State projected and what was in the legislatively approved budget.

Mr. Fontaine

said this would be a big issue for the upcoming legislative session. NACO also followed a lot of interim legislative committees and other studies, including the committee that looked at the allocation of the consolidated taxes distribution. It lobbied very hard and was successful in getting a recommendation to leave the tier one distribution as it was. Internally, the distribution to the various entities within the county under tier two might change slightly, but Mr. Fontaine did not think that the recommended changes would have a big impact, if any, on county government. He said NACO was even able to get a special change in the formula for rural counties to allocate the excess. He thought the study would turn out pretty good for the counties.

Mr. Fontaine

talked of the community colleges and the funding formulas which resulted in significant reductions for Great Basin at 37% as well as reductions in the Cooperative Extension. He said President Johnson asked the Board of Regents to enhance their budget by $2.5 million. The Board of Regents did not agree to that and they were going into legislative session with about a $3 million shortfall in general fund revenue. If that was not restored in some way, shape, or form, there would be a significant impact to the Cooperative Extension, resulting in a loss of service to the counties and loss of revenue to the Cooperative Extension. President Johnson was also looking at combining the Cooperative Extension with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and had expressed an interest in talking with the counties. Mr. Fontaine said the interim legislative committee was looking at this and discussed a model of having the local governments help fund community colleges in the State.

Commissioner Eastley

commented an unfunded mandate was not help. Mr. Fontaine said what was interesting about that discussion was a report that was presented which showed various states where IocaJ governments helped fund community colleges. It was pointed out that the community colleges in this State reported to the Board of Regents, so even if there were local dollars flowing into the community colleges the counties would have no ability to govern what those community colleges did. Page2l October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update-Cont’d.

Mr. Fontaine

said another important topic was the cost shifts/unfunded mandates. NACO sent a letter to the Governor asking that there not be any in his budget this year. It was unknown what was in the Governor’s budget, but NACO wanted to see those unfunded mandates and cost shifts reversed. Other issues addressed by NACO were Medicaid and roads. Mr. Fontaine said there were two things that would drive the Affordable Health Care Act, one of which was an opportunity for the states to expand Medicaid coverage to people who were currently not eligible, primarily single adults with an income level of up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Nevada had one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation, so the decision the Governor needed to make in his proposal, and ultimately the Legislature, would be whether to extend Medicaid coverage to those people. Another driver was the individual mandate for insurance. Mr. Fontaine said there were apparently a number of individuals currently eligible for Medicaid under the existing program that now had to have insurance and would likely enroll in Medicaid. Those individuals would not be 100% reimbursed. They would be reimbursed at the existing match rate of 50%-60% federal dollars and the rest local dollars. In addition to that, according to the Department of Health and Human Services the infrastructure cost with new personnel and an information management system would be tens of millions of dollars. Mr. Fontaine said the argument was if this was done then the counties would be responsible for less indigent medical care for people because they would be covered by Medicaid and the county indigent dollars could be used to help the State meet that obligation. Mr. Fontaine advised the NACO board authorized him to hire a consultant to look at these issues and sometime in the next few weeks a meeting with the State would be held to see how many county dollars they thought they should get for this issue. There was a lot of money at stake. On the issue of roads, Mr. Fontaine stated at last Friday’s NACO board meeting a resolution was passed which opposed any unilateral transfer or relinquishment of roads from the State to the counties. This was done in response to a letter sent by NDOT to the counties and cities asking them to take over the roads. There were not many takers.

Commissioner Eastley

asked if there were any takers. Mr. Fontaine advised that in the urban counties there might be some roads they wanted to control development on and they could trade other roads for them.

Mr. Fontaine

stated NDOT submitted the BDR to the Governor’s Office. NACO’s read on that BDR was that they would make an offer to a county/city of a road they wanted the county/city to take over. NDOT would fix it up to the standard it was supposed to be at and if the county/city did not take it, they would get it anyway with no revenue to maintain the road after. He noted Nye County had 63.5 miles of road. October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update-Cont’d.

Commissioner Hollis

asked if the State understood “no.” Mr. Fontaine explained the practical impact was they would not be required to maintain the roads anymore.

Commissioner Eastley

said one of the roads on the list was the road up to the federal communications installation on Radar Road, another was the Manhattan Road in the middle of nowhere, and another was the Duckwater Road on the outer edges of nowhere. She said these were roads that Nye County had trouble getting to under ideal circumstances and NDOT did not want to maintain them for the same reason Nye County did not want to take them. She said if they wanted to give up some diesel tax money for the County to maintain the roads then she could understand.

Mr. Fontaine

advised another BDR provided for 20% of the diesel revenue to go back to the county of origin. NDOT’s study showed 17% of the heavy truck traffic in this State traveled on local roads, yet the locals did not receive any diesel tax. Commissioner Hollis noted more diesel vehicles were used by local residents also.

Mrs. Webster

asked if Mr. Fontaine had a percentage of the total roads that NDOT was trying to abandon. Mr. Fontaine said he did not, but he could figure that out pretty quickly. Mrs. Webster said she expected that NDOT would gain a savings because they were not shipping people to remote locations and could therefore share that revenue easily.

Mr. Fontaine

listed the Nye County roads and associated mileage that NDOT proposed to turn over as follows: • Radar Road 4.75 miles • Access Road from the Missile Test Site — 19.5 miles • Basic Refinery Road • Manhattan Road 6.5 miles • lone Road a little over 12 miles Those roads were all in District 1. Mr. Fontaine said NDOT also proposed turning over 19.5 miles of Duckwater Road in District 2.

Mr. Fontaine

stated the last two BDRs had to do with indigent defense and to allow the counties to appoint their representatives to SLUPAC rather than the Governor. He said a law enacted last session limited the Governor’s appointments to committees to one appointment per person.

Mr. Fontaine

said NACO could use the Commissioners’ help in attending and testifying during the upcoming session. October 2, 2012 1:30 p.m. NACO Update-Cont’d.

Commissioner Schinhofen

asked if NACO would lobby on behalf of the counties to get all of the BDRs mentioned done. Mr. Fontaine said that was correct, as well as tracking and testifying for or against other bills.

Ms. Tipton

advised that of the 500 BDRs presented at the Las Vegas meeting, at least 100 of them would be of interest to the counties.

Mr. Fontaine

said Commissioner Eastley had made a recommendation to talk about setting up a new program within NACO, which the NACO board approved. It would be a Committee of the Emeritus Commissioners who had served on the NACO board in the previous ten years who by term limits or their own choice would no longer be a county commissioner next year. There would be a nominating committee that would make recommendations to the NACO president for appointment to the NACO Committee of the Emeritus Commissioners. Mr. Fontaine felt this committee would bring a different perspective to NACO and to the Legislature. The intent was to use that group to help with lobbying bills, mentoring newly elected county officials, and to work with NACO on policy issues.

Commissioner Eastley

did not think any other county in the U.S. was doing this and said there was much concern about the combined years of experience being lost.

Mr. Fontaine

said the NACO Conference would be November 14-15, 2012, in Carson City. On November 13, 2012, there would be a power presentation and the Central Nevada Water Authority’s Great Basin forum. On November 16, 2012, a local government summit was planned and every county commissioner, city councilman and mayor was invited to Carson City to attend a workshop to discuss local government revenue, home rule, unfunded mandates, economic development, etc. The legislators would also be invited to listen to the concerns raised. 34. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT (second)

Commissioner Eastley

recognized Sam Merlino for being featured in an editorial last week about the outstanding job she does. The other Commissioners and the County Manager echoed that sentiment. Horace Carlyle thanked Commissioners Hollis, Borasky and Eastley for supporting potential medical development in rural Nevada. 35. ANNOUNCEMENTS (second)

Commissioner Schinhofen

said Commissioner Eastley called him on a comment he made earlier and he should have used better phrasing when referring to Fish and Wildlife, but it was that body in general that he did not agree with. He understood they were just doing their job. October 2, 2012 36. ADJOURNMENT