June 2, 2021

Commissioner Carbone

was not present at this time.

Commissioner Blundo

said he was working on date to have a town hall. He thanked Senator Ira Hansen for his vocal defense of liberties and freedoms, protecting the businesses and the communities. He advised SB452 was defeated, which was an anti- gun bill that would have criminalized concealed carry holders in Nevada. He then told Tim Sutton he would like to get some letters written to the Governor to get out of the state of emergency which no longer existed.

Commissioner Cox

agreed the emergency had been over for quite some time and also wanted to get back to normal.

Commissioner Jabbour

said during the Memorial Day celebrations at the VFW in Tonopah the colonel and color guard from the NTTR were there to honor the dedication of the wall at the yEW. The wall contained plaques with 121 names of the fallen military that trained in the Tonopah area and perished there. He suggested everyone stop to look at it.

Commissioner Strickland

advised over the weekend fireworks were scheduled for the shooter’s site at the fairgrounds. She said she had received complaints about pyrotechnical explosions beyond what they should have been. The people had repacked the materials and slid them by staff. They were told to leave after they detonated those. Commissioner Strickland then said this weekend there would be a music festival in Pahrump. Chris Arabia talked about the case involving the private well owners they were prosecuting, which had four defendants. One passed away, two entered guilty pleas in justice court, and the remaining defendant would move forward to a preliminary hearing and possibly district court after that. As to the embezzlement case involving Juvenile Probation where $100,000.00 was allegedly taken, the preliminary hearing was waived in justice court and it would go forward to district court. Tim Sutton thanked those behind the scenes who made these meetings happen.

Commissioner Strickland

said the Cavalry Chapel of Pahrump Valley made lunch for staff in Tonopah and Pah rump.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Cox; 4 yeas. June 2, 2021 SITTING AS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TIMED ITEMS

Commissioner Jabbour

made a motion to adopt Nye County Bill No. 2021-03, a bill to amend Nye County Code Title 21, Gabbs, by amending section 21.040.040, Town Advisory Board, decreasing the number of advisory board members from five to three and providing for the severability, constitutionality and effective date thereof with an effective date of June 22, 2021; seconded by Commissioner Blundo. Reyna Martin, Clerk for the Town of Gabbs, thanked the Commissioners for making the motion. She said there had been several meetings where she did not have a quorum. Now if two members showed up she would have a quorum and business could be done.

Commissioner Strickland

opened and closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Strickland

disclosed she was asked to provide a bid for a steel building for this property but had not done so.

Commissioner Strickland

opened and closed the public hearing. Todd Weatherhead, the applicant, and Jason Cooper were present. Mr. Weatherhead explained they had a cultivation facility at 340 Mesquite and wanted to expand that.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve the application for an SUP for cultivation and production at 400 E. Mesquite, Assessor’s parcel number 029-601-13; seconded by Commissioner Cox. June 2, 2021 9. 10:00 a.m. For Possible Action — — Public Hearing, discussion and deliberation on: SU-2021-000071-Cont’d.

Commissioner Jabbour

confirmed with the applicant that the mandatory conditions of approval had been met with the current cultivation facility.

Commissioner Strickland

disclosed again she was asked to bid some work on this particular property. She did not do so and did not plan on doing so. She was not currently building steel buildings so she did not have a conflict of interest nor would she bid on it because she would vote on this.

Commissioner Strickland

opened and closed the public hearing. Savannah Rucker explained the reason for this augment was because of the three contracts funded from the airport fund relating to the fueling stations at the Beatty and Tonopah airports. Those contracts helped maintain the FAA grants.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to adopt; seconded by Commissioner Cox; 4 yeas.

Commissioner Strickland

opened the public hearing. This item was tabled until later in the meeting.

Commissioner Carbone

was present. June 2, 2021 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 Blundo

made a motion to approve items 13-16; seconded by

Commissioner Cox

; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Cox

asked for an explanation as to why items 14-16 were on the agenda and what they were about. It was an extensive amount of money and she did not want to be put in a position where there were a ton of strings attached the County could not perform with. She was also concerned that with this money there would be something requiring mandatory vaccines. Grants Administrator Samantha Kramer explained item 14 was to assist DEM with the cost of giving the vaccine to those who were interested. Item 15 was specific to immunizations for children whose parents or legal guardians would like to have them receive it and to assist DEM with that. Item 16 was the American Rescue Plan Act. The County was allocated a little over $9 million to administer the funding. She said she was reviewing the final rule provided by the U.S. Treasury and would continue to bring this item to the Board to determine how the funding would be utilized. DEM Director/Fire Chief Scott Lewis advised there was no language at all that there would be mandatory vaccinations and the District Attorney had reviewed it as well. Ammie Nelson said she had the same concerns that Commissioner Cox had. She thought item 16 was vague and would like a better understanding of it.

Commissioner Blundo

said item 16 for $9 million was very similar to the CARES Act when the County accepted a lump sum of money from the federal government. The June 2, 2021 14. For Possible Action Approval to: 1) Accept the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Subaward from the Nevada Division of Public & Behavioral Health in the amount of $1334,388.00 to fund payroll, travel, operating and equipment costs associated with administering the COVID-19 Vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) Execute the Subaward; and 3) Fund from 10340 Grants-Cont’d. other items were specifically discussing the vaccinations and administering of the vaccine. Tim Sutton added the only reason item 16 was vague was because it would come before the Board again to set a program and determine who the money would go to, similar to the CARES Act money. Staff was also still looking at the guidance coming from the federal government on how to administer the money.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 13-16; seconded by

Commissioner Cox

; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 13-16; seconded by

Commissioner Cox

; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 13-16; seconded by

Commissioner Cox

; 5 yeas. 11. 10:00 a.m. For Possible Action Public Hearing, discussion and deliberation — — regarding the adoption of Nye County Ordinance No. 572: Authorizing the installment-purchase agreements for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving and equipping building proiects; authorizing the execution of the agreements and other documents related to the agreements; and providing the effective date thereof; providing for the severability, constitutionality and effective date thereof; and other matters properly relating thereto; and adopting it as if an emergency now exists.

Commissioner Strickland

opened and closed the public hearing. June 2, 2021 II. 10:00 a.m. For Possible Action Public Hearing, discussion and deliberation — — regarding the adoption of Nye County Ordinance No. 572-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to adopt Nye County Ordinance No. 572; seconded by Commissioner Carbone.

Commissioner Blundo

restated his motion to adopt Nye County Ordinance No. 572 adopting it as if an emergency now existed; Commissioner Carbone restated his second; 4 yeas. Commissioner Cox voted nay. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to rescind action taken on April 20, 2021, by the Board of County Commissioners approving a contract for public defender services; seconded by Commissioner Cox; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Blundo

said this was his item. In the past the County had leased the Pahrump Medical Center and First Choice Pregnancy Center was in the back portion. There had also been a plan to move staff in there. The building had been vacant for many years and more medical services were needed in the community. Commissioner June 2, 2021 25. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and direction to staff on the use of the facility known as the Pahrump Medical Center-Cont’d. Blundo said he wanted to sell the building and have a medical company come in to provide low-cost or zero-cost medical services.

Commissioner Carbone

mentioned how it would have to be done by auction as the County could not do direct sales. He would also like to see some other services come in. He asked what zero cost would be, medical services or something else.

Commissioner Blundo

said there was a segment of people who did not have insurance and should not be in a box where they could not have access to low-cost or zero-cost medical services.

Commissioner Strickland

said if doing this would recreate something for the County’s needs she could support it.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to move forward on selling the building whatever that looked like; seconded by Commissioner Carbone. Mark Miyaoka, CEO for Silver State Health Services, said they were a federally qualified health care center in Las Vegas. They had several clinics there where they helped homeless, veterans, and the underinsured. They partnered with Freedom Medical Group, who provided the technical resources in terms of doctors, nurses, etc. Mr. Miyaoka saw Pahrump as needing those services. They would like to come to Pahrump and offer their services to the community and use some of the federal funds allocated to them. Ammie Nelson hoped the First Choice Pregnancy Center could be used with other medical providers as they provided a tremendous service to people who could not afford OB/GYN services. Tim Bohannon stated his support of the item.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve the performance contracting agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc., to provide maintenance and service facility improvements, energy conservation measures, and the guarantee of measured and verified savings thereof; 2) approve to fund $7450 million from the bond proceeds related to Nye County Ordinance No. 572; and 3) execute the agreement; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

. Bradley Richardson advised he was involved in reviewing these agreements and had a question about the performance bond and why no amount was listed. He verified this morning that the bond amount being posted was 100% of the contract price and the cost of that bond was already built into the contract price.

Commissioner Blundo

amended his motion to approve the performance contracting agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc., to provide maintenance and service facility improvements, energy conservation measures, and the guarantee of measured and verified savings thereof; 2) approve to fund $7450 million from the bond proceeds related to Nye County Ordinance No. 572; and 3) execute the agreement subject to inserting the appropriate number of the contract amount as the amount of the performance bond; Commissioner Carbone amended his second.

Commissioner Strickland

mentioned that if the Pahrump Medical Center was sold the contract would need to be amended. Eric Thatcher from Siemens said they had been around for over 170 years. For this program the State of Nevada had a list of pre-qualified energy service companies like Siemens who they vetted to be sure they had the right experience, skill set and financial backing to do these kinds of projects. As to this project, he said there were quite a few buildings being looked at with focus on upgrading the HVAC equipment as most have reached the end of their useful life and could be replaced with more efficient units. The building automation system was also being upgraded, which would allow issues to be addressed remotely rather than having an individual go to the location where the problem was. Siemens would also install solar in some locations. Mr. Thatcher explained the project was self-funded so between the energy and operational savings it would repay the entire amount over an 18-year term, which was the average life span of the equipment. June 2, 2021 34. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject the Performance Contracting Agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc. to provide maintenance and service facility improvements, energy conservation measures and the guarantee of measured and verified savings thereof; 2) Approve to fund $7,450,000.00 from the bond proceeds related to Nye County Ordinance 572; and 3) Execute the agreement-Cont’d.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if that meant the County would potentially have to start over at the end of 18 years.

Mr. Thatcher

said not necessarily. Some would last longer than 1 8 years, such as the solar. The energy savings would repay the cost over those 18 years, but the County would have a benefit beyond that.

Commissioner Cox

said her problem was the cost to the taxpayer. She knew there had been problems for a long time, but someone else was running Buildings and Grounds now. She thought this could be done in-house for a lot less and that better regulating of lighting, heating and air conditioning could be used to save money. She said she did not like the cost on this.

Commissioner Carbone

said he talked with the Buildings and Grounds Manager, who gave an indication that based on what he estimated with the amount of employees he had the experts would be needed and it would not be cost effective. Buildings and Grounds Manager William Allen said he did an internal study to determine what the cost would be to do this in-house. The complication was there were only seven people to take care of hundreds of HVAC units, all of which were 25+ years old. That was the push to get help and why Siemens was here.

Commissioner Blundo

mentioned the guarantee that if the energy savings did not materialize in a year Siemens would cut a check to the County for it.

Commissioner Cox

felt Siemens was a middleman and thought the County had already hired a middleman. The discussion was strictly about air conditioning and she did not see why the County could not give a local air conditioning company two years to get it done and save money that way. Commissioner Ccx did not want to strap the taxpayer any more than she had to. She thought Siemens would bring people from out of state or out of the country while the County could keep the work local. She also wondered if it was legal as this did not go out to bid for the local contractors.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked Mr. Thatcher how much staff he had to do this project.

Mr. Thatcher

explained they had assembled a pretty good team of subcontractors. To answer one of the questions, he said the main subcontractor doing the HVAC was out of the Las Vegas area. The subcontractors had to be qualified by Siemens to work for them, which was a rigorous process. As to the taxpayers and how this impacted taxes, June 2, 2021 34. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject the Performance Contracting Agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc. to provide maintenance and service facility improvements, energy conservation measures and the guarantee of measured and verified savings thereof; 2) Approve to fund $7,450,000.00 from the bond proceeds related to Nye County Ordinance 572; and 3) Execute the aqreement-Cont’d. he said one of the main points of the performance contracting strategy overall was to avoid going to the taxpayer since it was being funded through energy and operational savings. In terms of how many people would be involved, Mr. Thatcher did not know that, but if a county tried to take on a project of this scope it would typically be broken up into smaller pieces to do it and there would be no economy of scale which was what Siemens brought to the table.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if anyone out of Pahrump or Nye County was qualified. Mark Tolly advised he had reached out to several local contractors, including Gunny’s. Gunny’s gave a bid, but not for the full scope of work as they were not able to bond, so they went with a contractor who could handle the full scope, Harris out of Las Vegas.

Commissioner Strickland

asked if the air conditioning could be broken down into the bond limits of a potential Nye County air conditioning contractor.

Mr. Tolly

said that was something that could be considered.

Mr. Allen

added they reached out locally. The problem with this was the existing system was Siemens and there were not many people qualified to service that so at some point Siemens had to come in. Tim Sutton advised there had been a third-party independent auditor involved since day one who was also on the phone. Chris Halpin, vice president of NV5, said he performed the independent audit. This project was being funded by the savings and they vetted it in great detail to make sure this was an achievable project. He said this was a very sensible, fiscally prudent vehicle for this project with a fixed price and no change orders.

Commissioner Cox

asked what portion of the money was going to Siemens themselves versus what would be spent on other contractors and equipment.

Mr. Thatcher

said there would be overhead and management costs associated with this. The biggest cost itself was the aud it just finished. The State of Nevada gave a grant to help pay for that audit, which also paid for a lot of what Siemens did on the engineering side. Mr. Thatcher said did not have a solid number, but Siemens expected to earn 7%. June 2, 2021 34. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reiect the Performance Contracting Agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc. to provide maintenance and service facility improvements, energy conservation measures and the guarantee of measured and verified savings thereof; 2) Approve to fund $7,450,000.00 from the bond proceeds related to Nye County Ordinance 572; and 3) Execute the agreement-Cont’d.

Commissioner Ccx

said she would like to see specifically how much money Siemens would profit off of this and thought this item should be held so answers to some of the issues brought up could be found.

Mr. Thatcher

said they did have an open book pricing policy that he could provide.

Commissioner Strickland

asked Mr. Thatcher to provide that to Commissioner Cox.

Commissioner Ccx

voted nay. The Board was in recess until 1:30 p.m.

Commissioner Cox

was not present. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 17. For Possible Action Closure of meeting, pursuant to NRS 241 .015(3)(b)(2) for purposes of conferring with legal counsel regarding potential or current litigation. The Board went into closed session. 18. Closed meeting, pursuant to NRS 241.015(3)(b)(2) for purposes of conferring with legal counsel regarding potential or current litigation. The Board was in closed session. 4. Approval of the Agenda for June 2, 2021 (Non-action item)-Reopened.

Commissioner Ccx

was present via telephone. Tim Sutton said items 6 and 19 could be removed from the agenda. June 2, 2021 6. For Possible Action — Emergency Items This item was removed from the agenda. 19. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation on conference with legal counsel regarding potential or current litigation presented in closed meeting. This item was removed from the agenda. 24. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject five contracts for Public Defender Services from the following list of applicants: Ronni Boskovich, Katherine Currie-Diamond, Alexis Duecker, Jason Earnest, Nathan Gent, Nadine Morton, Jherna Shahani, and Yanni Sitsis.

Commissioner Blundo

disclosed there was pending litigation involving District Attorney Chris Arabia and Nye County, et al. He said in an abundance of caution he would abstain from this item.

Commissioner Blundo

was not present.

Commissioner Carbone

disclosed there was a lawsuit against the Commissioners as well.

Commissioner Cox

made a motion to award the contracts to Ronnie Boskovich, Alexis Duecker, Jason Earnest, Nathan Gent, and Nadine Morton; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour. Jason Earnest said it was his privilege and honor to say he had worked for this County for 21 years as a public defender. He advised there were changes coming that would increase workload and the changes to traffic citations in two years would result in a loss of revenue. Mr. Earnest said he was willing to take a southern contract for the increased number of cases and he would hire two additional people, but he could wait on that until next year. The caseload down south was way too much and two more public defenders were probably needed. Katherine Curry-Diamond, a current Nye County public defender, said she had been under contract for six months and would like to have it re-awarded to her. She had been practicing for the past seven years and had jury trials slated for the next few months. Although she had been conditionally approved for category A and B felonies, she had a mentor in Las Vegas with 20+ years of experience who had signed on to do those jury trials with her. As to the list of applicants, Ms. Curry-Diamond believed Alexis Duecker was not currently qualified under DIDS to handle juvenile matters, but Ms. Curry-Diamond was. Alexis Duecker believed she was a premier candidate. She said this was more than a job and contract for her. She wanted to be a part of Pahrump and had just purchased June 2, 2021 24. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject five contracts for Public Defender Services from the following list of applicants: Ronni Boskovich, Katherine Currie-Diamond, Alexis Duecker, Jason Earnest, Nathan Gent, Nadine Morton, Jherna Shahani, and Yanni Sitsis Cont’d. property there. She did have conditional juvenile approval, so what Ms. Curry-Diamond said was not true. Ms. Duecker explained she forgot to check the box, but there was no need for juvenile services as far as she knew. Her mentor also had over 20 years of experience and was willing to help her in any way in upcoming trials for A and B felonies. Ronni Boskovich thanked the Board for their consideration of her and her application as well as their continued faith in her. She mentioned several things were coming down the pike that would require discussion at a future date. Ammie Nelson felt there were excellent attorneys to consider for this contract.

Commissioner Carbone

said based on what some of the candidates said he thought more people needed to be added to the list.

Commissioner Strickland

said she would like to see the applicants come back and told them to not be discouraged by the motion made.

Commissioner Blundo

asked Tim Sutton to explain why it took so long to get this item on the agenda because now the Legislature was over.

Mr. Sutton

said he overlooked this one and apologized for not bringing it forward when it was requested.

Commissioner Strickland

thought there was no reason to move forward with this now since the Legislature was over.

Commissioner Carbone

hoped something similar could be done for the next session. June 2, 2021 26. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or relect Nye County Resolution No. 2021 -1 6-Cont’d. This item died for lack of a motion. 27. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or relect Nye County Resolution No. 2021-17: A Resolution declaring Nye County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary.

Commissioner Blundo

explained he brought this item forward because he wanted to make sure the current Board had an opportunity to re-affirm and sign their name to it. He thought it was important to reiterate Nye County was a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to adopt Nye County Resolution No. 2021-17, a resolution declaring Nye County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary so the ones not on the Board at the time could sign; seconded by Commissioner Blundo; 5 yeas. 28. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to look into removing the Dominion voting system.

Commissioner Blundo

mentioned an e-mail from the Clerk stating she needed direction to look at getting some estimates and quotes. The electorate deserved to have confidence and integrity in the voting systems. There had been too much second guessing and doubt raised. Commissioner Blundo said he just wanted to look at options to see what was available to ensure that confidence and integrity.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to look into the options to replace the Dominion voting machines and have it come back to the Board; seconded by Commissioner Cox. Sam Merlino advised this equipment was certified for use in February, 2018. It met all federal requirements and she had a certificate from the State. It was used in 201 8 and 2020 and there had never been any issues with the equipment. Mrs. Merlino believed at this point there would be people that would not trust any equipment. She pointed out this equipment cost the County close to $500,000.00 so she thought the Board needed to seriously consider that before replacing it. She also mentioned a bill to make Nevada an all mail-in state and suggested before getting new equipment that the Board wait until the June, 2022, primary to see how that worked as fewer machines may be needed.

Commissioner Blundo

noted the 2020 primary was all mail-in and decisions were made that he was not included in. He felt the mail-in ballots was a way to appease certain political parties and he wanted to return trust and integrity in the elections. Until he felt better about Dominion Commissioner Blundo wanted to look at options and have discussions about those options. June 2, 2021 28. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to look into removing the Dominion voting system-Cont’d.

Mrs. Merlino

advised AB321 did pass and there was an all mail-in election, but there was no preparation for the way it was done. She thought with voter education a lot more people would opt into the mail-in ballot. Another thing to look at was there were 16 counties in the State using the equipment and none were looking at options to get rid of it because there were no problems with the equipment. Mrs. Merlino felt the errors seen were human errors and that this would be a lot of time and money to fix something that was not broken.

Commissioner Jabbour

said he had experienced the voting system in the County since 1994 when he first met Sam Merlino. In defense of the Clerk’s Offices in Pahrump and Tonopah, which was the County seat, Commissioner Jabbour said they had the utmost integrity in what they did and what they facilitated and he had 100% confidence in what they did.

Commissioner Carbone

said what the Governor had signed kind of made the Dominion system completely obsolete because they were going to straight paper.

Mrs. Merlino

explained people would still be able to opt out of a mail ballot and vote in person. Once people were more comfortable with mail-in she wondered if so many touch screens would be needed. It was a lot of money to spend if that happened. She really thought the County should wait and go through the election before deciding to spend that kind of money. The only other system certified for use in the State that she was aware of was Election Systems and Software used by Carson City.

Commissioner Cox

did not see a problem with having it looked at as she felt people did not trust the Dominion system.

Commissioner Blundo

clarified this was not an attack on the Clerk and he thought Mrs. Merlino had done a wonderful job. He questioned the confidence in the machines and this item was to move forward to have those conversations. Ammie Nelson said she agreed with this item. Pat Minshall stated the Board had been assured by Mrs. Merlino the equipment was checked and did what it was supposed to do. To put out $500,000.00 for something that was working she thought was unconscionable.

Commissioner Blundo

clarified the item was not to spend any money at this time. Tim Bohannon wondered if the capability of voting on-line in a secure and safe manner existed. June 2, 2021 28. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to look into removing the Dominion voting system-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

said he presented a string of items at the last Commission meeting and they were all here, which he was grateful for, but he expected an agenda item to amend the Code and set a date and time for a hearing. He was not sure why there was an extra step for him to get things on the agenda, which seemed to him to be an opportunity to get things shut down before there was even an item. Tim Sutton told Commissioner Blundo he had requested this among other items at the last meeting. When Mr. Sutton said he needed clarification and would chat with

Commissioner Blundo

off-line. Commissioner Blundo did not want to do that and said he just wanted an agenda item.

Commissioner Strickland

asked if Commissioner Blundo wanted a Code written for Nye County to not allow discrimination against renters and how that would be done.

Commissioner Blundo

said Clark County passed something very similar. Renters in the County needed to be protected from being discriminated against for a variety of things, like lack of income, and he wanted to put those protections in place to help people.

Commissioner Strickland

pointed out Commissioner Blundo saw the agenda and could have pulled this item to work it in a different way. She said there was a lot of help when it came to COVID and people getting their rent paid for over a year now through Health and Human Services.

Commissioner Carbone

thought Commissioner Blundo wanted to have something in place if the same type of situation occurred again.

Commissioner Jabbour

pointed out the flip side to this as far as discrimination. There were renters that did not pay any utilities or rent for over a year and then decided to leave in the middle of the night leaving the landlords high and dry.

Commissioner Strickland

said she had a property management company and had owners waiving what the tenants had to pay but they were still responsible for the payments of being a homeowner. The foreclosure and short sale market would be seen next. She said she had trouble with supporting the County stepping in and saying the owners should eat it some more. June 2, 2021 29. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to look into amending the Nye County Code to prevent discrimination against renters due to COVID-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

said he would work with the County Manager to get an item drafted. Tim Bohannon pointed out this was specifically due to COVID and wondered if it should be broader and more generic to cover situations other than COVID. 30. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to install voting lights in the Tonopah and Pahrump chambers.

Commissioner Blundo

said he felt Commissioner Strickland did not particularly like having the lights, but he did not like fishing for votes which happened with the previous Board. He thought there should be a time period for voting.

Commissioner Carbone

said based on the last five months he thought the Commissioners had been prepared to make decisions during the meetings and it did not take much time to conjure up a decision or a vote. He did not see the decision lights as an important piece and felt it was just one more thing to have an expense for.

Commissioner Strickland

pointed out the time lag as well as instances where all Commissioners could not be present, but she was not opposed to Commissioner Blundo researching the cost.

Commissioner Jabbour

said he was not in favor of the system and mentioned the cost involved.

Commissioner Cox

did not see anything wrong with the way it was being done now and did not want the expense. Samantha Tackett said she met with IT Director Brad Adams and Granicus to remind them they were waiting for a quote as well as demos and technical information about installing a system for voting. She also reached out to another company for quotes. Once she received those she would prepare an agenda item for the Board. Tim Sutton mentioned that Commissioner Blundo expressed frustration with the last item bringing forth something that was given by direction, but he thought this item highlighted why staff did that. Mrs. Tackett started as soon as the direction was given and learned later that not all Commissioners wanted this. That was the issue with one Commissioner giving direction and staff putting in the work and effort to pursue that.

Commissioner Carbone

felt the Board needed to listen to what was being asked for and share their thoughts and feelings at that time. He directed staff to discontinue work on this item. June 2, 2021 NATURAL RESOURCES

Commissioner Wichman

said they had been since 1994. What she was extremely bothered by with this was there were 42 other areas within close proximity to that one alkali flat that met the criteria for NASA and there were no mining claims in them. One 23,000-acre request for sequestration had 55 square miles of lithium claims in the middle of it. While Mrs. Wichman did not agree with evaporation ponds for lithium, she was being told by this company their technology would not be evaporated ponds. She believed NASA was trying to get ahead of the ponds to not have to deal with them, but there were other options especially since the satellites used lithium batteries. She asked the Commissioners to let her know if there was something they did not agree with. She was not sure NASA would offer cooperating agency status, but she could at least get it in the record that these were the things the County was concerned with.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked Mrs. Wichman to provide the Commissioners, the County Manager and the Assistant County Manager the list of those 42 properties. Also, if something was put together he would like her signature on that letter as well as all Commissioners.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to establish the Board of County Commissioners’ position on the proposed BLM land withdrawal in Railroad Valley for the purpose of NASA calibration efforts and approve to send a letter requesting cooperating agency status during the process of withdrawing the land from multiple use in Railroad Valley for NASA’s calibration; seconded by Commissioner Carbone. John Bosta said the government felt it was their land, but it was not. It was the land of the people. There was legislation that the land below the 37th parallel was given to the State of Nevada, but the federal government still came in and claimed the land as their land. He hoped the County would look at that act. Helene Williams said the Nye County Water District met in Railroad Valley last year. The developer told them about the lithium project and that lithium was not the only thing that would be mined. June 2, 2021 38. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Establish the Board of Commissioners’ position on the proposed Bureau of Land Management’s land withdrawal in Railroad Valley for the purpose of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) calibration efforts; and 2) Approve to send a letter requesting Cooperating Agency status during the process of withdrawing the land from multiple use in Railroad Valley for NASA’s calibration efforts-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

talked about the challenges in the marijuana industry. He believed the County could potentially benefit having another dispensary outside of the Pahrump boundaries to serve a different part of the County. The proposed letter listed the benefits of that to the County.

Commissioner Jabbour

recommended staff make the grammatical corrections needed in the letter and that all Commissioners sign off if everyone agreed. He said he did not want to be carbon copied on the letter if he was voting.

Commissioner Carbone

said when he was a County Commissioner previously he pushed for more dispensaries, especially up north.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to amend and adopt a letter to be sent to the Cannabis Compliance Board regarding a request for additional marijuana production licenses for Nye County, to have all Commissioners sign, and reflect “we” as a collective body; seconded by Commissioner Carbone.

Commissioner Cox

agreed that one more dispensary was needed and felt from the very beginning the people up north got cheated on this whole thing. June 2, 2021 31. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve or reject a letter to be sent to the Cannabis Compliance Board regarding a request for additional marijuana production licenses for Nye County-Cont’d. John Bosta thought the number of dispensaries was originally based on population. He suggested including the distance and population of the County in the letter. Sarah Chapman from NCCA said the association supported requesting additional production licenses, but they had no comment on additional dispensary licenses. If the motion passed Tim Sutton asked if the last sentence saying to contact

Commissioner Blundo

or himself should be changed.

Commissioner Strickland

said it needed to be changed to contact any of the Commissioners.

Commissioner Blundo

said it could also be changed to contact the County Manager.

Commissioner Cox

said she would like to have the District Attorney look over the bills, or someone on staff who had that ability, and provide an opinion on which ones were constitutional and which would need to be looked at again.

Commissioner Strickland

suggested having Mark Fiorentino, the County’s lobbyist, give

Commissioner Cox

said that would be fine. Tim Sutton said he could ask Mr. Fiorentino if he would do that, but he did not think it fell within the scope of his contract. It would be a time-consuming process if he was willing and able to do it since hundreds of bills were passed, but if that was the direction

Mr. Sutton

would do that. Bradley Richardson said the District Attorney’s Office was not staffed, so this agenda item would not be directed to them. He contacted the LCB and was told they had 30 attorneys who reviewed just short of 1,000 bills checking for constitutionality. That was the scope of the work involved each session beginning almost a year in advance. June 2, 2021 32. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and possible direction to staff to look into the constitutionality of all bills passed by the Nevada State Leg islature-Cont’d.

Commissioner Cox

explained she wanted someone to go through what was being considered now and might pass.

Commissioner Strickland

directed staff to find out the cost for that rundown and bring it back.

Commissioner Blundo

said he knew there would be follow up with Mr. Fiorentino regarding the legislative session and suggested having this come back in a month after that conversation. Commissioner Cox could then ask him directly about certain bills and then bring the report back to the Board.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if Commissioner Cox was talking about the bills for Nye County or all bills in the State, to which Commissioner Cox responded the entire State.

Commissioner Carbone

asked when Mr. Fiorentino would talk to the Board. Tim Sutton said he had contacted Mr. Fiorentino after the last Board meeting and he was willing to do that. There was some talk from Commissioner Blundo about doing one on ones so he was waiting until he got back from vacation to work out those details.

Mr. Sutton

said he could probably put it on the agenda for the first meeting in July unless the Board wanted it to happen in Pahrump. Tim Bohannon cautioned the Board to watch the expense on this and maybe see if there were briefs written on each bill.

Commissioner Strickland

removed this item from the agenda. June 2, 2021 COUNTY MANAGER 33. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion and deliberation regarding the Nye County Plan for the Provision of Indigent Defense Services.

Commissioner Strickland

said she would like a workshop. Lorina Dellinger said that was great idea to allow input from judges, public defenders and Commissioners. There were also some legislative changes that would affect the draft in the back-up. Marcie Ryba from the Department of Indigent Defense Services said they would love to part of a workshop. FINANCE 35. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Nye County Resolution No. 2021-19: A Resolution to Augment and Amend the 2020-2021 Budget of Nye County, State of Nevada. Fund 10234 Public Safety Sales Tax — Sheriff Fund in the amount of $66,235.00.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 2021-19; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

; 5 yeas. 36. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject budget transfer of appropriations between functions within the Nye County Funds.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to adopt the budget transfers; seconded by

Commissioner Blundo

; 5 yeas. 37. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, deliberation and possible amendment of the 2021 Nye County COVID Relief Program and Policy to provide financial assistance to the public, small businesses, non-profits, and government agencies located within Nye County affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic health emergency.

Commissioner Blundo

disclosed he was a private business owner in Nye County and had applied for the Nye County COVID Relief Program. In an abundance of caution he would abstain from this item.

Commissioner Blundo

was not present. June 2, 2021 37. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion, deliberation and possible amendment of the 2021 Nye County COVID Relief Program and Policy to provide financial assistance to the public, small businesses, non-profits, and government agencies located within Nye County affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic health emergency-Cont’d. Grants Administrator Samantha Kramer provided updated figures for the different programs. She asked the Commissioners if they wanted to reallocate funds to other programs at this time or hold off until another meeting.

Commissioner Carbone

said he met with Mrs. Kramer to look at the numbers and he made some suggestions. He asked her to go through those numbers to show the Board what they were doing

Mrs. Kramer

said they had discussed reallocating the remaining $251 ,474.60 in the direct utility assistance program to other programs to cover deficiencies or increase funding if that program was closed out and the current pending applications were completed. She advised there had been seven new applications received under the public rent, mortgage and utility program and she was sure more would be received in the following months.

Commissioner Carbone

thought the money could be moved to the small business program. There was almost $430000.00 remaining for mortgage, rent and utility assistance which he felt should be sufficient.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to move the funds from the direct utility assistance program to the small business grant program and move forward from there; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour. Leo Blundo, speaking in his personal capacity, acknowledged the Board was reallocating funds and continuing to assist businesses in this community. He invited the Board to look at other things happening with the Commission and other directions that may have happened earlier today. The sale of certain property could be used to assist certain businesses. Mr. Blundo also thought an economic windfall in the County would occur that would be sustainable in the future. Tim Bohannon suggested having a hard stop date for the applications and to be sure there was enough reserved in contingency.

Mrs. Kramer

said the only program still open for applications was the public mortgage, rent and utility assistance.

Commissioner Blundo

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

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to set the public hearing for July 20, 2021, at 10:00 am. in Pahrump; seconded by Commissioner Carbone; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Blundo

read the title of the bill into the record and disclosed he had a liquor license. June 2, 2021 PUBLIC WORKS

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to rescind the action, determine the excess tower and beacon from the Tonopah Airport were no longer required for public use, determine it was in the best interest of the public to dispose of the beacon through a public sale and donate the tower to the Central Nevada Museum in Tonopah, and deposit proceeds of the public sale to Fund 10402, Special Capital Projects; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour; 5 yeas. PUBLIC WORKS

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve, execute, and waive the program fees; seconded by Commissioner Carbone; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Carbone

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

Commissioner Strickland

told Samantha Tackett she would like to work further with her on the agendas to tighten up the consent agenda items and possibly condense it even more.

Commissioner Carbone

said he wanted to meet with Planning Director Brett Waggoner about property at 4570 Martin as it appeared someone was dumping effluent there from a fifth wheel.

Commissioner Jabbour

expressed his disappointment with Amargosa records being tossed into a dumpster. He hoped there were photographs, proof and statements in writing about that. He asked Mr. Bosta to let him know if it happened recently because if they were salvageable he would try to help do that.

Commissioner Strickland

adjourned the meeting. APPROVED this ATTEST: Of Ca , 2021.

Chair Nye

Courty Clerk I Deputy