May 5, 2020

Commissioner Wichman

was present via telephone.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if there was a plan to have antibody tests as he had been asked about that. Chief Lewis explained the plan at this point was to start the antibody testing with the emergency responders first to get a baseline and then expand that model as much a possible based on the supply provided.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if all medical services and stakeholders were being utilized , to which Chief Lewis responded yes.

Commissioner Blundo

thanked everyone who had stepped up to the plate dur ing these trying times and said he hoped the County could reopen soon . Tim Sutton said the Governor's press conference introduced the phased approach , but before the rurals could get to Phase I criteria for read iness to go had to be submitted. That report contained the County's testing numbers , protocol, hospital capacity, and other items like that as well as what testing protocols would continue so that it could be safely monitored, how any spikes would be contained , and how the County would respond in the event it did reopen.

Commissioner Koenig

advised the Board and the public that last week he was invited to be part of a phone call with the Governor and the rest of the rurals because the Governor wanted to talk to the rurals before his 5:00 p.m. press conference . The Governor stressed that the 17 counties would reopen as one and that if one county did not get its report in the rest of the counties would be delayed. Commissioner Koen ig told the Governor he was ready to open Nye County and did not see any reason why he could not open the northern part of the County right now as well as the rurals in the County with no cases and reopen Pahrump with some restrictions . That did not go over well , but Commissioner Koenig was pushing to reopen because it was not fair the big box stores had to be used instead of the businesses of the people who lived here which might be lost in the end .

Commissioner Cox

asked to remove item 21 from the agenda . She then advised she spoke with Tim Sutton and through him e-mails had been sent to Senator Pete Goicoechea, who was working on reopening. Senator Goicoechea asked where the County wanted to start and she said small businesses . Commissioner Cox also wanted to reopen the County and felt the Governor had overstepped his bounds and was a May 5,2020 4. Commissioners'/Manager's Comments (This item limited to announcements or topiclissues proposed for future workshops/agendas)-Cont'd. threat to everyone's constitutional rights . She asked the Chairman to bring something the Board could act on to reopen.

Commissioner Strickland

stated she was a Nye County Commissioner and owner of Strickland Construction, T&M Group Realty and Lakeside Storage . She was also a licensed well driller, contractor, home setter, septic system contractor and a realtor that brokered water rights. She had been doing that for 26 years . Commissioner Strickland saw no item on the agenda , but said she had to disclose that every time. She agreed with the other Commissioners that there was an opportunity here to stand up. She asked Mr. Sutton to work with the Chairman and then have an in-depth discussion on May 19, 2020, to see if the County could have a soft opening , including the arena.

Commissioner Strickland

then advised there would be a Pahrump Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting on May 7, 2020 . Sam Merlino advised the ballots were mailed out and if someone had not received theirs by the end of the week to call her office. There were a lot of address changes so some of the ballots were undeliverable. Both the Pahrump and Tonopah Clerk 's Offices were accepting voted ballots if someone was uncomfortable putting them in the mail. However, someone may only turn in their ballot or a family member's, no one else's . If it was for a family member, the person dropping it off had to complete an affidavit in case there were questions later . Additionally , Mrs . Merlino said there would be no election machines available during early voting or on Election Day. The ballot received in the mail was the official ballot. Chief Scott Lewis advised the Board an approximate 300-foot communication tower had been vandalized to the point where it collapsed earlier this morn ing. The area was secured and the Sheriff's Office was investigating . While the potential was not known , Chief Lewis said he anticipated a number of communication issues to be impacted and would provide information as it developed . Tim Sutton announced Stacy Smith from Nye Communities Coalition was honored as Nevada Hero of the Day by the State.

Commissioner Cox

thought Dwight Lilly was referring to her signs as she received a complaint today. Those signs were 60 feet away from the stop sign and 10 feet away from the pavement per County requirements. If someone had a problem with one of them they should let her know . She warned people removing or damaging the signs was illegal and said she was allowed to put signs in the County rights-of-way . May 5,2020

Commissioner Wichman

made a motion to approve; seconded by Comm issioner Strickland; 5 yeas . TIMED ITEMS

Commissioner Koenig

opened and closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Wichman

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Blundo; 5 yeas .

Commissioner Blundo

assumed the Chair of the Board of Highway Commissioners.

Commissioner Koenig

said for years he had been pleading with NDOT to put blinking barrel signs on SR160 like they had in Las Vegas . He noticed a few weeks ago driving towards Johnnie that those signs were there and he thanked I\lDOT for doing that. SITTING AS THE NYE COUNTY LICENSING AND LIQUOR BOARD Commiss ioner Strickland assumed the Chair of the Licensing and Liquor Board. GAMING

Commissioner Wichman

made a motion to approve the gaming license for Sartini Gaming; seconded by Commissioner Koenig; 5 yeas .

Commissioner Koenig

assumed the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners. SITTING AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF UNINCORPORATED TOWN OF PAHRUMP

Commissioner Koenig

said during the prior discussion on this item he had commented that it was fairly clear that what they were looking for was to be critical care transport May 5,2020 12. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation to clarify the actions taken at the February 19, 2020 Board of County Commissioners Meeting whereby the Board determined that allowing OptimuMedicine providing service to the Town of Pahrump is in the best interest of the town and granted OptimuMedicine permission to furnish an ambulance service in the Town of Pahrump-Cont'd. (CCT) . Thinking back on it he did not have a problem with that, however, the motion made allowed them to run an ambulance service in Pahrump and that had been considered by at least one department to mean they could do 911, etc. Commissioner Koenig did not believe that was the intent which was why he asked for this to be brought back to determine the real intent.

Commissioner Strickland

said she had extensive conversations with the applicant and thought it was for CCT.

Commissioner Blundo

explained when he crafted the item he read the Code , which required finding it was in the best interest to give them permission to operate with no restrictions. He thought there was an inherent benefit with the crisis right now and the vote was to have a resource available if there was an emergency. Commissioner Blundo stated his goal was to bring in more medical services and he wondered why the Board was trying to hinder those efforts.

Commissioner Koenig

said as discussed previously the ambulance service was funded by the runs it made. The more runs taken away from it and given to someone else meant less money to fund it. If the County continued down that road sooner or later Pahrump people would be put out of work in favor of Clark County people and

Commissioner Koenig

said he could not do that.

Commissioner Blundo

said he understood the majority of people who worked with Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue (PVFRS) came out of Las Vegas. There was also the issue of trying to minimize the effect of them going to Las Vegas. As far as jobs going or coming from Las Vegas and money circulating, Commissioner Cox said OptimuMedicine was bringing money to Pahrump because they had a license here as well as an office. As to the best interest of the people, that was her intention. While they may not be needed today , the town was growing and they may be needed tomorrow. Commissioner Cox said she knew there was a need because she was aware of patients being doubled up in the ambulance and had witnessed people at the hospital being asked to wait for treatment.

Commissioner Blundo

asked Chief Scott Lewis if he had engaged OptimuMedicine . Chief Lewis explained the COVID-19 had actually reduced EMS responses significantly. The number of inter-facility transports and 911 calls were dropping like rocks and Clark County was talking massive layoffs . He said he had been at every single meeting and heard all presentations and this had never been anything but CCT. He said PVFRS had May 5,2020 12. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation to clarify the actions taken at the February 19, 2020 Board of County Commissioners Meeting whereby the Board determined that allowing OptimuMedicine providing service to the Town of Pahrump is in the best interest of the town and granted OptimuMedicine permission to furnish an ambulance service in the Town of Pahrump-Cont'd. not been engaged in the dialogue as far as the operations. It was forced down their throat without their knowledge, which to Chief Lewis was inexcusable as there were plans in place for any contingency called mutual aid . He reminded the Board the applicant repeated over and over again that they were not here to replace or supplement PVFRS. To find that was not the case was a betrayal and simply could not be tolerated for a business model that did not exist. Chief Lewis felt this was simply a vendor that wanted to take market share away from a helicopter service and now it had mushroomed into this .

Commissioner Cox

said she did not quite understand why this was being discussed. If they wanted to take a chance on doing a business the Board just gave them permission to do so.

Commissioner Koenig

explained in the original hear ing everything was about CCT and he had no problem giving permission to do CCT. The problem was now dispatch wanted to use them for normal 911 calls, which took money away from the town's ambulance service that was self-supported. If that money kept getting taken away then pretty soon they could not self-support and employees would be let go .

Commissioner Cox

asked if there was a contract with Desert View Hospital stating they could only use PVFRS to transport and they could not call OptimuMedicine. Chief Lewis said that was the argument he had from the beg inning. The contract stated PVFRS would provide the ambulance services , however, in the event PVFRS could not provide the needed level of service they could utilize another service. He said none of this needed to be done as it was already in practice .

Commissioner Strickland

said from the presentation she thought those who wanted to go to the VA hospital could be transported directly by OptimuMedicine. She had since learned that was not true so she had misinformation about that. Chief Lewis said there had been a lot of misinformation . He stated operations were his responsibility. Whether or not the Board wanted the company to continue providing the service for critical care was up to the Board and something Desert View would have to work out.

Commissioner Cox

had heard there were issues with people wanting to go to specific hospitals. She asked Chief Lewis if they ever took people to the VA hospital or UMC in Clark County or did they only use the valley hospitals. May 5,2020 12. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation to clarify the actions taken at the February 19, 2020 Board of County Commissioners Meeting whereby the Board determined that allowing OptimuMedicine providing service to the Town of Pahrump is in the best interest of the town and granted OptimuMedicine permission to furnish an ambulance service in the Town of Pahrump-Cont'd. Chief Lewis said they went wherever the doctor told them to take the patient. John Bosta described how after three days in Desert View his wife was put in an ambulance with another patient for transport to Las Vegas. It sounded to him like Chief Lewis was complaining because the County did something he did not want. Mr. Bosta thought the decision was made and had to be lived with. Justin Snow , president of IAFF Local 4068, the local union representing firefighters and paramedics in Pahrump , said he was a little perplexed by what was going on. He had listened to the representations made by this for-profit service and they specifically stated they were not trying to take calls from the fire rescue service, they just wanted to supplement and help out. Nowa month or so later when Desert View did not want to use them they were trying to take money from the public coffers and move it to their own for-profit service . He told the Board 50% of his people lived in Pahrump and that number went up every year. Dwight Lilly asked what was wrong with having more options for the citizens especially since the town was growing . He said he was in favor of competition as long as the company was able to do a professional job . Devon Eisma from OptimuMedicine said what Chief Lewis mentioned about their desire to supplement the existing services was correct. He thought he made it very clear that as a clinician owned and operated company their goal was to take care of patients. The entire genesis of this current discussion regarding the 911 service and assisting the Sheriff's Office had to do with the fact it was reported that there were calls going unanswered for 40 to 45 minutes because there was no ambulance available. He said they reluctantly agreed with the Sheriff's Office that if they needed to utilize OptimuMedicine they could . Mr. Eisma then stated he was not aware Desert View refused to call them. He had a good conversation with Susan Davila, Desert View's CEO, and their EMS director and Ms. Davila made it very clear she had absolutely no problem with another service being in town and no issue using them if that was what the patient needed for transport. Mr. Eisma advised they were going through the vendor process right now so they could be utilized by Desert View. Chief Lewis thought that was a mistake as far as the wording. OptimuMedicine was not an approved vendor and Desert View could not utilize their services until that was remedied . May 5,2020 12. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation to clarify the actions taken at the February 19, 2020 Board of County Commissioners Meeting whereby the Board determined that allowing OptimuMedicine providing service to the Town of Pahrump is in the best interest of the town and granted OptimuMedicine permission to furnish an ambulance service in the Town of Pahrump-Cont'd. Susan Davila stated for the record that Desert View Hospital was not unwilling to use OptimuMedicine. They had discussions and were in the process of getting that taken care of. Tom Waters said when he spoke in February he was adamant it was something that needed to be watched and a needs assessment should be done . At this point if Mr. Eisma and Chief Lewis sat down together and worked out an agreement with Ms. Davila it would be a much better program driven from the Commissioner point of view . He asked the Board to keep an eye on this no matter how they decided to do it as services lost would not come back .

Commissioner Blundo

said he would stand behind the approval of this item and asked Chief Lewis to work with OptimulVledicine. He said he was frustrated when he saw the rigs coming back from Las Vegas when they should be in town ready to respond to the town.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion that OptimuMedicine be encouraged to offer SCT and CCT services to the Town of Pahrump and directed Chief Lewis to work with them moving forward; seconded by Commissioner Cox.

Commissioner Cox

said she stood by her original vote and supported the way this was starting to roll out.

Commissioner Wichman

said she had gone through this entire experience in the northern part of the County already which was why her vote was a negative when this came up the first time. The conversations held today may be a step up from what was done up there since Chief Lewis had the experience, knew what took place in the north and knew what to watch for. She said her vote would remain as it was last time , but if the motion passed she hoped this conversation would feed into straightening out some of the problems that took place in the north .

Commissioner Blundo

did not think anything was clarified and the waters were actually muddied with the encouragement rather than direction . May 5,2020 SITTING AS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS - These are items that Staff recommends for approval. The Board reserves the right to move any consent agenda item to the regular segment of the agenda should issues arise that need to be addressed. Discussion of any item from the Consent Agenda Items that needs review before a decision is made.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Blundo ; 5 yeas .

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Cox; 5 yeas .

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve; seconded by Comm issioner Blundo; 5 yeas. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Commissioner Strickland

asked if she had paid staff.

Ms. Erwin

said yes , herself and someone else , but it was not even minimum wage.

Commissioner Strickland

asked if Ms. Erwin planned to utilize all 4,100 square feet or if she was sharing some of that.

Ms. Erwin

said she understood the back four rooms were to be used for a storage area for Health and Human Services. Health and Human Services Director Karyn Smith confirmed her office would utilize the back areas for storage. She believed once they all moved to the same location it would benefit the clients and make for a good partnership .

Commissioner Cox

asked Ms. Erwin if they billed the State for any of the services, to which Ms. Erwin responded no as their services were all free.

Commissioner Wichman

referred to the comments she made when this was heard before regarding giving someone something for $1.00 a year and how the value they placed on it was commensurate with what they paid . She wanted staff to watch for any negligence that would cost the taxpayers money in repairs and maintenance.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to reduce the lease payment to $1.00 per year ; seconded by Commissioner Blundo. May 5,2020 19. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation regarding a request from First Choice Pregnancy Center to: 1) Lower the lease payment from $1,000.00 per month to $1.00 per year; or 2) Postpone the monthly lease payments for May and June due to the COVID-19 outbreak-Cont'd. David Dawson said he was a new board member for the center and he appreciated the Commissioners considering this motion. On behalf of all of the directors he expressed thanks. Joe Burdzinski thanked the Board for considering this.

Commissioner Blundo

thanked the Board for indulging him as he knew the item had been heard by the Board a few times .

Commissioner Blundo

asked if the letter needed to be updated with the current reopening plans. Samantha Tackett said she could update the number of cases confirmed in the letter.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve the letter to Governor Sisolak regarding the County's strategic reopening with current numbers , figures , and any minor changes from discussions regarding strategic reopening, and all Commissioners were to sign it; seconded by Commissioner Strickland . John Bosta said he appreciated the Board sending the letter and he did not understand closing of the businesses.

Commissioner Cox

felt the last paragraph should be changed to read the County at this time was notifying the Governor that it was going to take a soft opening because she thought the County was in a position to do it and neither she nor the public wanted to play his game . She did not feel the County Commissioners had to ask the Governor to allow them to do this and he could respond to the letter.

Commissioner Strickland

said she liked Commissioner Cox's thinking but noted everything in the letter was very strong while the closing was soft.

Commissioner Wichman

also agreed with Commissioner Cox , but said people often respond to a request much better than they respond to being threatened . If the County was in a situation where it had to depend on federal money to make the County whole, she quite frankly did not think it was a good time to speak rough. She thought the May 5,2020 20. For Possible Action - Discussion and deliberation to approve a letter to Governor Sisolak regarding the strategic reopening of certain public functions and businesses in Nye County-Cont'd. Commissioners should be trying to accommodate as much as they could and strongly indicate that was what they wanted to do.

Commissioner Strickland

suggested letting the letter go as it was and instruct staff to prepare another letter for the May 19, 2020, meeting. Tim Sutton said he wanted to be sure the Board was making an informed decision and wanted to put everything out there as far as potential risks or consequences. One of the leverages the Governor had was removal of the business license. Another was the denial of funding, not only the federal dollars in the Governor's control right now but also any subsequent revenues that may funnel through the Governor's OfFice or State departments, so the County was beholden to the State. The Governor could also utilize the National Guard. Another thing just brought up that Mr. Sutton had not been able to check into was there was an NRS under emergency situations where the Governor could remove Commissioners from office.

Commissioner Koenig

asked her what her best guess was. May 5,2020 22. For Possible Action - Presentation and direction to staff regarding the current and future financial condition of Nye County as related to the COVID-19 outbreak­ Cont'd.

Mrs. Rucker

said her best guess was what was currently in front of the Board, a shortfall of $1 .2 million for FY20 and a $3.2 million shortfall for FY21 to be discussed on Monday. The bottom section of the report in the back-up was expenditures by function in the general fund . Since the last time it was presented the departments had tightened their belts except for Public Safety . The deficit currently for FY20 was $1.23 million, meaning the ending fund balance would be used to support operations in the current fiscal year unless something happened before that point in time . Mrs. Rucker was also building that into the budget workshop and final budget hearing . The next page was the CTAX comparison of FY20 budget to COVID-19 with Applied Analysis ' projections included. Mrs. Rucker updated February's line for sales tax , wh ich was short about 6.5% of the projection or $78 ,000.00 and that was built into the $1.2 million shortfall. Comm issioner Koenig asked Mrs. Rucker where she thought most of that shortfall was coming from .

Mrs. Rucker

thought it was due to big ticket items , like vehicles and appl iances, not being purchased at this time. She said the largest hit was likely to be seen from April through June . Ammie l\Ielson said she tried to comment on item 20 that she was in agreement and the County needed to get open again. As far as the deficit, she heard a lot of State figures and thought County figures were needed. If the County was reopened there would be no deficit to worry about , but if the there was a problem with the budget then there should be a hiring freeze and no overtime. Ms. Nelson said she knew the property owners would be the ones to make up the deficit with property taxes. Tom Waters said he had wanted to comment on item 20 also and said he really liked the letter. PLANNING/BUILDING/CODE COMPLIANCE

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to continue this item to May 19, 2020 ; seconded by Commissioner Blundo; 5 yeas. May 5,2020

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to determine the business impact of Bill No. 2020-09 was not likely to pose a direct or significant economic burden on a business or directly restrict the formation, operation or expansion of a business at this time ; seconded by Commissioner Strickland . John Bosta asked how this change would affect the revenue received by the unincorporated towns.

Commissioner Koenig

said this did not affect revenue at all.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to set a date and time of June 2, 2020 , at 10:00 a.m. in chambers ; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Blundo

read the title of the bill into the record.

Mr. Sutton

said the goal of the survey was to get as much feedback as possible and since it looked like that was not happening it would be extended. John Bosta thanked the Board for allowing the public to make comments during the meeting. He then asked if the County population of 45,000 as stated in the letter was the correct number as there were NRSs that applied to counties with populations of 40,000 or less different than the I\lRSs that applied to 40,000 or more. He also asked for instructions on how to do the census .

Commissioner Koenig

told Mr. Bosta he would have Arnold Knightly e-mail him the instructions. As far as the population, he was waiting for the census to learn that and the number in the letter was an estimate. Planning Director Brett Waggoner said that prior to COVID-19 there was a public workshop scheduled for the master plan for Pahrump on April 27, 2020 . With everything shut down that had to be extended out to May 10, 2020 , but that would change so the public should continue to submit their comments.

Commissioner Cox

read NRS 414.060, powers and duties of the Governor, which stated in the event of an emergency or disaster beyond local control the Governor may assume direct operational control over all or any part of the function of emergency management in the State. She said the key words were "beyond local control" and wondered if the County was beyond local control or if the Board was still able to control what was going on in the County. Comm issioner Koenig commented the Governor could say COVI D-19 was beyond the County's control because it was statewide .

Commissioner Cox

thought the County had it under control and felt that eliminated the Governor's power over the Board. She did not see anything in the NRSs that would May 5,2020 27. Commissioners'/Manager's Comments (This item limited to announcements or topiclissues proposed for future workshops/agendas)-Cont'd. allow the Governor to stop the County 'from doing this and felt the next letter should be much stronger.

Commissioner Wichman

said she agreed with Commissioner Cox , but she was also a firm believer in attracting more with honey than vinegar. She cautioned the Board against being belligerent before taking the opportunity to see what the County could attract by being nice.

Commissioner Blundo

asked the District Attorney to discuss NRS 414 with the Board as its attorney.

Commissioner Koenig

said he would ask the District Attorney to address it during the CQVID-19 task force meeting tomorrow and would do something with the information. There was a budget meeting next week and he had fought to keep that agenda strictly for budget items but depending on what he learned he may add something to that agenda.

Sheriff Wehrly

said she would like to add Declaration of Emergency Directive 003 to the list of things to discuss.

Commissioner Koenig

adjourned the meeting . ATTEST: , 2020.