March 15, 2022

Mr. Shoemake

recommended the Commission make the month of November Veterans’ History Month in Nye County and asked that it be put on a future agenda. He also wanted an agenda item for the Pahrump library board to set up a display honoring that. March 15, 2022 2. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT (up to three-minute time limit per person.) Action will not be taken on the matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item (first)-Cont’d. Beth Borysewich said she was the newly elected president of Desert Haven and asked that item 27 be moved to next month to allow them to give a proper presentation to the Board. Diane Southworth provided updates on the Nye Communities Coalition activities and programs as well as other programs/events scheduled in the community. Ron Boskovich announced he was running for Commissioner in District IV and said he had been in the district for 20 years. Joe Burdzinski said there would be a fish fry every Friday this month from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of the Valley Church on the corner of Gamebird and Homestead. Also, there would be bingo tomorrow from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The whole community was invited to both. Helene Williams felt the Board was verbally attacked at the last meeting in Pahrump. The chambers belonged to the people, and the people needed to understand they did not have conversations when people were making presentations, which occurred at the last meeting. She reminded the community on the first page of the agenda the issue of decorum was addressed. Ms. Williams also felt asking people to turn their cell phones off or the volume down needed to be added. Diane Marie Holguin-Brooks described how she had been attacked three times in the town because of the stickers on her car reflecting her political beliefs. Her car had also been keyed. She asked the Commissioners to develop a plan of tolerance to address the situation.

Commissioner Blundo

advised he had conversations with the library board. He asked the County Manager to look at the process to allow them to the use the chambers. He then thanked the Armed Forces Chamber, who presented him with a plaque in recognition of what was done for the veterans. Commissioner Blundo asked for a place holder for presentation to all of the Commissioners at the next meeting or the next Pahrump meeting.

Commissioner Strickland

asked staff to add language regarding cell phones to the front of the agenda. She then announced on March 19, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. there would be a groundbreaking at the fairgrounds for the off-highway vehicle training track. A grant of $150,000.00 was received from the OHV Commission with a County match. March 15, 2022 3. Commissioners’IManager’s Comments (This item limited to announcements or topiclissues proposed for future workshopslagendas)-Cont’d. Chris Arabia said he wanted to be in Tonopah because the case with individual involved in the DUI who killed people looked like it would be resolved. He then talked about his new prosecutor, who had already earned the nickname the Velvet Hammer. Mr. Arabia mentioned the controversial issues flowing right now and explained his function as a District Attorney was to provide legal advice to the County, meaning he did not take a side. His role was to advise the County. Planning Director Brett Waggoner announced Steve Osborne had been promoted to Assistant Planning Director. Treasurer John Prudhont advised the Treasurer’s trust auction would be on April 25-27, 2022, at www.bid4assets.com. Public Information Officer Arnold Knightly said on Friday at 3:00 p.m. there would be a walkthrough for the Pahrump Medical Center building. Sealed bids were due Monday, May 16, 2022, and he believed it would be on the May 17, 2022, agenda. Stephani Elliott introduced herself as the new Contracts and Grants Manager. She said on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, there would be a special meeting of the Commission starting at 10:00 am, to discuss the American Rescue Plan Act. The next step would be to bring the grant policy forward for Board approval. Once that final approval had been provided to the Finance team they could start opening applications. Ms. Elliott sent an e-mail to department heads/managers as well as to stakeholders in the community urging everyone to attend the meeting to provide input.

Commissioner Strickland

said Congress allocated $1 million last week for the fairgrounds.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. March 15, 2022 SITTING AS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TIMED ITEMS

Mr. Prudhont

said when he came into office he asked Nevada State Bank for a list of all bank accounts held by Nye County entities because the NRS said all money held by a County. He found there were a lot of accounts floating around that did not go through the financial system.

Commissioner Ccx

thought a lot of those petty cash accounts had been done away with and she asked Mrs. Rucker if there were still some open.

Mrs. Rucker

explained there were various active petty cash and change funds that they received monthly reports on. The Board collapsed many petty cash funds a couple of years ago, but these were between $500.00 and $1 000.00. The larger value associated with the petty cash that was on the Treasurer’s prior reports was about $120,000.00, which was primarily the funding provided to the bank accounts held outside of the financial system. Her office was identifying those banks accounts and figuring out which ones could be closed similar to how the petty cash was handled.

Commissioner Blundo

heard there may be a situation with some of the information not getting to where t needed to and asked the County Manager to help with that. Tim Bohannon thanked the Treasurer for giving feedback as to some of the things that had happened historically and encouraged him to do that on a regular basis. On page 4 March 15, 2022 7. 10:00 am. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding the — — monthly statement of county treasurer pursuant to NRS 354.280 including receipts, balances in funds, money on deposit, outstanding checks, and cash on hand-Cont’d. of the report there were three lines that said the same information, reconciling items clear. Mr. Bohannon was not sure if that was a single or multiple items and felt a little more description on the report would be helpful.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Blundo.

Commissioner Carbone

opened the public hearing and said he knew May 3, 2022, was a good date. Dave Harris said as a non-profit organization they raised money to give away and this was one of their fundraisers.

Commissioner Carbone

closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Strickland

disclosed in the past Red Apple had asked her to provide bids for this project, but she was not a bidder.

Commissioner Carbone

opened the public hearing. Steve Osborne explained this zone change was to allow for a permanent warehouse for Red Apple Fireworks. The RPC heard this item last month and recommended approval of the zone change as well as the waiver and conditional use permit. Mr. Osborne said there were three parcels here, and there was a fourth parcel Red Apple wanted to add to the project which would come to the Board on a future agenda as there was not enough time to get it in with these three parcels. March 15, 2022 9. 10:00 a.m. For Possible Action — Public Hearing, discussion, and deliberation on ZCMP-21-34-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

asked about time constraints and if the Board had any statutory authority to administratively grant additional time for it to come back to the Board.

Mr. Osborne

said there were time constraints built in and if needed the applicant could come to the Board and request a modification of those time constraints, which would require Board approval again.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if there was anything in the Code that would allow the Director or Assistant Director to administratively grant an extension of time.

Mr. Osborne

did not think so since once it was put as a condition only the Board could change it.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if not having the fourth parcel would hold up their continuing of the warehouse process.

Mr. Osborne

said no. They could still apply for a building permit. They were in the site development plan process already and they modified the site plan to include the fourth parcel. Dan Simmons said this had been going on for a long time and now Red Apple was ready to build. Mark Fiorentino, attorney for the applicant, said they agreed with the Planning Commission’s action and the proposed conditions, but the Board’s back-up did not contain the Planning Commission’s conditions. Condition 3 for the zone change was deleted by the Planning Commission.

Mr. Osborne

confirmed that and advised it was replaced with the standard language of three years unless construction had commenced.

Mr. Fiorentino

asked that the Board approve subject to that change. The Planning Commission also made changes to the conditions for the waiver and the special use, but Mr. Fiorentino did not think those mattered as those had already been final action.

Mr. Osborne

said that was correct. For example, the deadline to submit a building permit for the warehouse was changed from March 1, 2022, to August 1, 2022, but that was on the waiver and the CUP which were not on the agenda.

Commissioner Carbone

closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. March 15, 2022

Commissioner Strickland

disclosed Strickland Construction was asked to bid on Red Apple Fireworks quite a long time ago as far as the warehouse was concerned and she did not bid that project.

Commissioner Carbone

opened the public hearing. Steve Osborne said this zone change was to allow them to continue with temporary storage until the warehouse was completed. When the warehouse was completed the items would be moved in and they would get rid of the temporary storage. At that point the zone change would revert back to neighborhood commercial. Mark Fiorentino said the same issue existed for this item as it did for item 9. They accepted the conditions that staff worked out with them at the Planning Commission level, which the Planning Commission approved, but they changed. Page 7 of the back up under zone changes, conditions of approval, the Planning Commission made a number of changes there. In item 2.a. March 1, 2022, was changed to August 1, 2022; in item 2.d. April 1, 2022, was changed to September 1, 2022; and item 2.e. was deleted. The rest remained the same.

Mr. Osborne

confirmed the Planning Commission made those changes.

Commissioner Carbone

closed the public hearing.

Commissioner Blundo

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

Commissioner Carbone

opened the show cause hearing. Code Enforcement Officer Mark Gancarz was sworn in by the Clerk. He advised the first complaint was received on March 1, 2021. The structure was sinking in the middle, March 15, 2022 11. 10:00 a.m. For Possible Action Hearing to Show Cause, discussion and deliberation to determine: 1) If a nuisance and safety issue still exists on the pjoperty; or 2) If there is no nuisance or safety issue associated with the property; and 3) Possible direction to staff to abate andlor remove the nuisance and safety issues, for property located at 2831 E. Deadwood Street, Pahrump, NV. Assessor’s Parcel Number 041 -061-07. Kenny Caceras and Denise Sida — Property Owner(s)-Cont’d. the property was in poor condition, it was a fire hazard, and no one had been living there for over a year. A courtesy notice was sent followed by a notice of violation and a final notice of violation to the property owner all within 30 to 45 days and no response had been received. The property changed hands in April to the current owners at which time Mr. Gancarz did a condemnation and abatement which was mailed to the current owners. Brett Waggoner was sworn in by the Clerk. He advised notice of the hearing was sent on February 15, 2022, to the address on record and was page 35 of the back-up.

Mr. Gancarz

restated his previous comments about the property, noting one of the major issues was the fire hazard on the property with all the dry vegetation, and it was definitely not safe for habitation.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to accept the back-up; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

; 5 yeas.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if there were currently squatters on the property as he was concerned with how unsafe the property was.

Mr. Gancarz

said he had not seen one in his eight visits.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked the District Attorney about liability in either direction. Chris Arabia advised the liability was with the property owner at this point, but if the nuisance was found to exist it would be appropriate to take steps to secure the property.

Commissioner Blundo

asked what the proposal was to remediate the property.

Mr. Gancarz

believed abatement would be the proper direction to go and have the home leveled as it kept sinking and provided more of a safety issue. There was a fire issue with all the dry vegetation, which was a cigarette throw away from starting a fire, which would be a bad situation for the neighbors. There was also junk and debris.

Commissioner Blundo

was concerned with doing something on someone’s private property. He also noted it could cost up to $80,000.00 since the foundation was sinking. March 15, 2022 11. 10:00a.m. For Possible Action Hearing to Show Cause, discussion and — — deliberation to determine: 1) If a nuisance and safety issue still exists on the property; or 2) If there is no nuisance or safety issue associated with the property; and 3) Possible direction to staff to abate andlor remove the nuisance and safety issues, for property located at 2831 E. Deadwood Street, Pahrump, NV. Assessor’s Parcel Number 041 -061-07. Kenny Caceras and Denise Sida — Property Owner(s)-Cont’d.

Mr. Waggoner

said normally the property owner was ordered to abate the issue with a deadline. If they did not follow through, then the County would abate the issue, which would be to secure the property and remove the danger. The foundation would not really be a danger. He said it would be approximately $17,000.00 to have the structure removed and hauled to the dump.

Commissioner Jabbour

said he had a problem with this as there were many properties in the County that needed to go away and he wondered if that burden would be put on the County because property owners did not respond to letters. He felt this would set a precedence.

Mr. Waggoner

explained the cost for the remediation would be assessed against the property and followed up with a lien. The property owner was not present. John Prudhont was concerned that if the County abated this property and it went to Treasurer’s trust property, the minimum bid would have to include that abatement. Michael Lach said he agreed with Commissioners Blundo and Jabbour. This was a super slippery slope if the Board started subjectively determining which houses looked trashy. He suggested having something recorded against the property so the next potential owner would be aware of the nuisance. MarIa Zlotek advised pursuant to Nye County Code (NCC) 17.04.860.K.1, if the property owners failed to appear, the Commission had jurisdiction to proceed with the hearing and had the power to enforce the provisions of the NCC. If and when the Board would like she could cite to the Code that besides abatement there was authority to direct a private cause of action by the RPC to collect the cost of any abatement as well as recommendations for criminal penalties and charges.

Mr. Waggoner

asked if there was a motion to order the property owner to abate the nuisance and nothing about the County abating it if that would prevent the misdemeanor process or if the District Attorney’s Office could still move forward.

Ms. Zlotek

said they could still move forward. March 15, 2022 11. 10:00 am. For Possible Action Hearing to Show Cause, discussion and deliberation to determine: 1) If a nuisance and safety issue still exists on the property; or 2) If there is no nuisance or safety issue associated with the property; and 3) Possible direction to staff to abate andlor remove the nuisance and safety issues, for property located at 2831 E. Deadwood Street, Pahrump, NV. Assessor’s Parcel Number 041 -061-07. Kenny Caceras and Denise Sida Property Owner(s)-Cont’d.

Commissioner Cox

said she was the biggest fighter for not doing some of these things on people’s property, but this was kind of an exception because of the house collapsing, not because of the weeds or trash.

Commissioner Cox

made a motion to find this property to be a nuisance and direct the owner of 2831 E. Deadwood Street to abate the nuisance on their own within 90 days.

Ms. Zlotek

noted in the monologue leading up to the motion it was said it was a safety issue. Clarification was needed as to what the abatement would be, whether to level the property or abate those safety issues.

Commissioner Carbone

restated the motion was the two owners of the property had to abate the hazardous, unsafe and nuisance condition on or before 90 days. He suggested July 1, 2022, by which to have the hazardous and unsafe nuisance conditions removed.

Commissioner Cox

confirmed they would be required to abate the safety issues and not remove the building at this point. Tim Sutton noted June 13, 2022, would be 90 days.

Commissioner Carbone

said to modify itto June 13, 2022.

Commissioner Jabbour

seconded the motion that the two owners of the property had to abate the hazardous, unsafe and nuisance condition on or before June 13, 2022; 5 yeas. March 15, 2022 SITTING AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF UNINCORPORATED TOWN OF PAHRUMP

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to rescind Board action taken on approved agenda item 16 on August 3, 2021, and approve to dispose of the Pahrump Valley Fire rescue truck 15 in a manner determined by Fire Chief Scott Lewis with any resulting proceeds deposited into 25101 General Fund Capital Outlay; seconded by

Commissioner Jabbour

. Sam Jones said there had not been a County auction in some time and there were a lot of vehicles in the fenced area that were supposed to go to auction. If the Board started letting the fire chief dispose of stuff on his own then what good was it to have an auction. Mr. Jones thought the Board needed to direct the County Manager to have an auction as soon as possible of all of the available County vehicles.

Commissioner Carbone

commented this truck had been up for auction for quite a while.

Commissioner Biundo

made a motion to set the public hearing for April 5, 2022, on the matter of 1130 China Street; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. SITTING AS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC WORKS

Commissioner Carbone

asked about time limits on the samples.

Mr. Tuck

explained there were time limits ranging from a few hours to a few days. The utilities department operated and maintained the County water and wastewater systems. The department had been stretched thin with one water tech and one utility superintendent and had been reluctant to request help until now. The new position would greatly approve the ability to provide safe drinking water to the communities, especially in the north.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve the technician position and fund from 10101, 27502, 23502 and 10209; seconded by Commissioner Blundo.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if there was sufficient funding. Savannah Rucker said the position justification form in the back-up identified the funding sources. Modifications would be required for the FY23 budget, which she would bring forward, but for FY22 depending on hire date and the allocation of this position’s time in the initial stages of onboarding and training an augment would likely be needed March 15, 2022 41. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve an unbudgeted Water Distribution Technician position within Public Works, to be funded by 10101 General Fund, 27502 Manhaftan Water. 23502 Gabbs Water & 10209 Airports-Cont’d. to the Public Works Department, which she would bring forward toward the end of the year. Mrs. Rucker advised Gabbs water had a rate study which was currently with the District Attorney’s Office for modifications to the ordinance which would increase the fees generated by that fund to ensure self-sustainability into future fiscal years. They were also planning to build in a CPI increase to adjust the rates to avoid a 20-year adjustment in one ordinance. Manhattan would be next for a rate study with the same idea. With the modifications made to the funds the position could be sustained. All of the funds could be subsidized by the general funds within that agency’s budget, which was probably what they would do until FY23 when the team got a good lay of the land and how the coverage would be provided.

Commissioner Blundo

said the RTC approved the pavement preservation list and was trying to catch up with that. Commissioner Cox asked for this and there was a solution suggested to use chip seal. He had asked the County Manager for a couple of different funding sources and asked the Comptroller to share those. March 15, 2022 43. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion and deliberation to direct staff to: 1) Begin the process to reconstruct Pahrump Valley Boulevard from Gamebird to Calvada, with the estimated full build cost of $3,187814.00 and identify a funding source, or 2) Begin the process to Chip Seal Pahrump Valley Boulevard from Gamebird to Calvada, with an estimated in-house weighted cost of $70,000.00 and funded out of 10205 Road Funds-Cont’d. Savannah Rucker advised there was the nine cent fund, the quarter-cent fund, the road fund, and impact fees, but $3.1 million was hard to come by. It could potentially be supplemented using capital, but capital needs far exceeded the funding available in the capital fund already. Mrs. Rucker did not know if capital could support the entire project as that would be the majority of the capital fund.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if it would be appropriate to use anything out of the ending fund balance of 10101.

Mrs. Rucker

said that could be used. That was a source that had been asked to be brought to the Board for various reasons so that would be an item that came forward. There were a lot of construction projects underway and in the pipeline so those resources were being used for multiple reasons. Her best recommendation was to request from the board who approved the CIP to reassess and re-prioritize.

Commissioner Blundo

noted the CIP was already encumbered and one major project was underway.

Commissioner Strickland

wondered which was more important, Gamebird south or Gamebird north for Pahrump Valley Boulevard. To her one was a less travelled street and she wondered if Pahrump Valley’s funds for the CIP from Gamebird to Thousandaire should be redirected.

Commissioner Blundo

said he fought hard for Pahrump Valley Boulevard south to get any recognition and he thought the chip seal would provide a little bit of time.

Commissioner Cox

said she had no problem with the chip seal and would actually prefer that at this point as it was an immediate fix as long as no shortcuts were taken. She had seen chip sealed roads that lasted a long time.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to continue on the path previously highlighted to move forward with the chip seal funding out of 10205 and to continue to find options to be able to at some point in the future fund the full amount to do R&R on that road; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour. John Prudhont said he was concerned about decisions being made for things that were not budgeted for and not communicated to him so he could not look at the investments to see if they were maturing in such a way that they could be liquidated without a loss for future projects. March 15, 2022 43. For Possible Action Presentation, discussion and deliberation to direct staff to: 1) Begin the process to reconstruct Pahrump Valley Boulevard from Gamebird to Calvada, with the estimated full build cost of $3,187,814.00 and identify a funding source, or 2) Begin the process to Chip Seal Pahrump Valley Boulevard from Gamebird to Calvada, with an estimated in-house weighted cost of $70,000.00 and funded out of 10205 Road Funds-Cont’d. Ammie Nelson agreed with Commissioner Ccx’s comments on the chip seal as some of the roads in town had lasted since 1976. Tim Bohannon said he liked the approach of making sure it was taken from the road account and maintaining good balances. He also felt forecasting was an important tool that should be used. Carolene Logue said she had been in Pahrump for 30 years and realized many of the roads were chip sealed. Chip seal would probably not handle the extreme heat or the extreme cold. Another issue was the growing use of that area. She did not think chip seal would be good in the long run and mentioned there would be funds coming from the infrastructure bill. Sam Jones said he was in the paving business for many years. If the suggestion was to chip seal Pahrump Valley Boulevard from Calvada to Gamebird for a cost of $70,000.00, he suggested doubling that cost and doing the south end also with chip seal.

Mrs. Merlino

then addressed the misconception about the voter rolls. Literally 20 same. changes were received every day, so the voter registration report was never the genera ted next week. The list given yesterday would be completely different from a list Daily reports were received from the State identifying duplicate voters across the and County. There was also a contract in place with neighboring states to cross check had verify voters on a quarterly basis. Notices were sent to those voters to see if they moved and if they could be removed from the database. Report s of deceas ed individuals were received from Vital Statistics. ed

Commissioner Carbone

asked how Mrs. Merlino determined if someone was deceas if they were not on the report. the

Mrs. Merlino

said she did not know how Vital Statistics worked, but when they got the worker s information her office got it. At the polls a lot of time people would advise did that someone passed. It was the same thing with people who had moved. If they track that. Notice s not re-register in another state there was no way her office could returned and sample ballots were sent and unless the person living at that new address not know. Mrs. Merlino it stating that person did not live there anymore her office would icting, new asked people to do that if they received mail for someone else. With redistr was a good opport unity for voter ID cards were sent to every voter in Pahrump as that s had clean-up. There had been 300 to 400 returned undeliverable so the notice proces started to put them on inactive. asked

Commissioner Carbone

said neither he nor his wife received a voter card and how long ago were they sent. e fund

Mrs. Merlino

said about two weeks ago, but she ran out of postage in her postag There so she was waiting for the check. The last batch was sent the end of last week. would increas e. were a little over 31,000 active registered voters, which she anticipated registration.

Mrs. Merlino

then outlined the different ways to register, including same day es from

Mrs. Merlino

explained in 2004 the County went with electronic voting machin e voting machin es Sequoia because the County had to be ADA compliant and provid at the time where people who were vision impaired could vote. The Secretary of State were in use until 2018. mandated the audit verifiable paper trail. Those machines who worked Somewhere along the way Dominion bought out Sequoia and many people es were irrepar able and the for Sequoia went to work for Dominion. In 2018 the machin March 15, 2022 29. Presentation by the Nye County Clerk Regarding Election Procedures, Voter Registration Procedures, Current and New Election Laws, Election Boards, Processing Ballots, Tabulation Procedures, Election Equipment and Equipment Testinq-Cont’d. County went with the ICX tablets, which worked very well and Mrs. Merlino never had any issues. With this hybrid election her office’s work doubled and with AB321 having in-person plus mail-in elections would double the work again. She did not disagree the State needed to possibly do an election reform to make people more comfortable with the systems, but she thought no matter what was done not everyone would be happy.

Mrs. Merlino

discussed the all-mail in election. She wanted everyone to know that if they did not want a mail ballot they had to fill out a mail ballot opt-out form within 60 days prior to the election and could always opt back in. Additionally, something new for this election was a risk limiting audit. It was basically a ballot comparison required to be done before the canvass of votes. There was a program that pulled votes from the machines and the V\JPATs as well as paper ballots and randomly selected ballots to be counted by hand to confirm it matched the report. As to the machines, Mrs. Merlino said she had gone through many recounts since she had been in office with some hand counting as well as machines counts. Since it was done by serial numbers, she could pull a ballot from any machine and that was how the hand counts were done. However, there was a lot of human error involved in hand counts and the machines had never been off from the hand count. As to voting machines, once all of the candidates were in place Mrs. Merlino created the ballot styles, sent them to Dominion, Dominion programmed and created the ballots and then sent them back to her. She then put the ballots on a voting machine and tested every single ballot to make sure everything was correct. Once she gave them the okay Dominion created the database. When she got that she set up the election and then each machine was tested, including a simulation. When the machines went to the polls the workers had a checklist of what they needed to do on each machine, one of which was a zero proof report to make sure there were no votes on them. At the end of the day they recorded how many votes were on the machine that day. The next morning they confirmed the votes from the day before were the same and the process continued. It was always balanced to the number of voters checked in and the number of votes on the machines.

Mrs. Merlino

talked about the machines themselves. They would not work if the proper USB was not in it. When the election was installed it was on a USB and if for some reason the machine was turned on without the USB it would not work. If the wrong serial number USB was put in the wrong machine it gave an error message. The USBs were stored in the Clerk’s vault overnight. As far as the paper ballots, there was a counting board which confirmed the ballot received was on the report. The ballot was then scanned and if there was an issue with the ballot, it would stop on that ballot and there was a board that looked at t and determined if it was corrected the proper way.

Commissioner Blundo

asked how an audit could be done without the final result. March 15, 2022 29. Presentation by the Nye County Clerk Regarding Election Procedures, Voter Registration Procedures, Current and New Election Laws, Election Boards, Processing Ballots, Tabulation Procedures, Election Equipment and Equipment Testing-Cont’d.

Mrs. Merlino

believed it had to be done in those seven days but before the canvass of the votes. The Secretary of State would go the Legislature next year to ask for more time to do that risk limiting audit. There were also post-tests that had to be done so she was not sure how that would be done. It was a post-simulation mode to ensure the system was working the same way it was prior to the election. Also, after the election paper rolls were randomly chosen to hand count and confirm the votes matched the reports. The audit would not be done until the counting was done, but she could not be sure on which day the audit would be completed.

Commissioner Cox

asked Mrs. Merlino to send her an e-mail with the date the County went from Sequoia to Dominion. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process.

Commissioner Strickland

said she brought this item forward after hearing from the Tea Party and seeing their voter integrity presentation. She said the people had been concerned for some time about whether their votes were being processed. The Clerk gave a great explanation, but Commissioner Strickland thought she would bring more information to the Board so they could hear it and the Clerk could make her decision as necessary. Jim Marchant asked the Board to vote today to dispose of electronic voting and tabulation machines and not use them in any elections going forward. He also recommended a forensic image of all machines for safekeeping. Electronic systems had been shown over a 25-year period to be completely un-securable and not legitimately certifiable, which meant the Board could not assure the constituents were able to vote using a fair and transparent election voting and tabulation system. He asked the Commissioners to use a paper ballot with anti-counterfeit measures built in, precinct level voting, and a hand tabulation voting system. Mark Cook outlined his experience in IT and cyber-security over the decades. He said when he first looked at Dominion in a forensic image of the software in operation he could not believe what he saw. Their Web site at the time listed their product security highlights, including encryption protection, comprehensive non-alterable audit logs, and federal guidelines, He found the software did not meet the federal guidelines and they did not have encryption everywhere. The biggest thing Mr. Cook found when he got in March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d. the back of the database was that he was able to flip votes in one minute without leaving a single trace. He said he talked to a lot of clerks and other elected officials and they were being lied to because these systems were not secure.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked Mr. Cook when he was able to get into the system and flip votes if he flipped them back.

Mr. Cook

said he did. He also hooked a computer up to the network on the side and flipped them back. He wondered if he could use his iPhone, so he connected it to the network and he was able to flip them again.

Commissioner Blundo

said that meant those machines were hooked up to the internet.

Mr. Cook

said no and that was not what he was saying. There was a system that was, but in the images he looked at during the election he was not able to yet find the evidence. They claimed they had comprehensive non-alterable security logs. The retention times on the log files were tiny so after a few hours some of those logs were filled with errors, and those that did not have errors only held for a couple of days. He felt they were set incredibly small for no reason.

Commissioner Carbone

asked how Mr. Cook got into it.

Mr. Cook

said he was able to sit in front of it, so if there was a bad actor in the office they could get on any computer connected to the Dominion network and do what he did.

Commissioner Carbone

said so it could not be done unless someone was in the area of the machine.

Mr. Cook

said the person had to be in the area of the machine, but all it would take was a USB in the back of a computer and changes could be made in the parking lot.

Commissioner Carbone

said he wanted to make sure people understood there was a specific way to get in.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if the Dominion machines were connected to the internet.

Mr. Cook

said it depended on the machine and the county. Sam Merlino stated Nye’s machines in the polling locations were not connected to Wi-Fi or the internet. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

asked her how the information got from Tonopah to Pahrump.

Mrs. Merlino

explained it was tabulated on a secure network and IT could talk more about that. No one was allowed to have access to the Dominion machines, WINEDS or anything else in her office, just her staff with passwords. The machines were not connected to the internet and the results were on the USB. Russ Ramsiand said he ran Allied Security and there were many places to get into the systems. Most people did not know that their voter registration list when the election started went up to the cloud and they had no visibility of what happened to that list in the cloud. They thought they cleaned the list, but not really as they did not purge the name out of the database and just gave them a different status. That status could be changed in the cloud and an inventory of voters could be created. Mr. Ramsland said he knew that was happening as they ran an operation in Dallas, Texas in 2020. They had to post a daily record of every person who voted. His company would download that list because they thought something was going on in the cloud, and they were right. A record on Tuesday would disappear on Friday and suddenly reappear the following week. There were 57,000 voter records in Texas that disappeared during early voting and reappeared at the end and most of them had changed hashes. That was the problem with electronic poll books as opposed to paper poll books that could not be changed. The machine had the ability to connect to the internet and if they had connected it that would have been found in the logs, which were deleted. Mr. Ramsiand said they also found illegal software on the machines, and they had not found a machine yet that did not have the program Sequel Server Management Studio on it, which allowed changes in the database without any trail in real time.

Commissioner Carbone

asked how it would be accessed.

Mr. Ramsland

said in anyway an intruder decided to go into the machine. He said they had also found when votes went into the machine, through tabulation and then through adjudication, all of the history was in that middle database and that database suddenly got wiped and recreated and no one running the election knew. When it was recreated a lot of data was not copied over, so there were numbers but no history as to how they got there.

Commissioner Cox

asked if it was possible if someone wanted somebody to win to flip all the machines at one time and put votes to that person.

Mr. Ramsland

said yes. He advised Mr. Cook was building a Dominion system in Mesa for people to see how the election could be changed with their iPhones. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d. Phil Waldron said a system that would work was precinct level voting, paper ballots, tabulation, and then paper poll books. He displayed a counterfeit proof ballot, each one of which had a unique serial number in the top left. The voter would go to the precinct and instead of getting a sticker they would pull off the bottom of the ballot with the QR code. At the end of the election day those ballots were uploaded by precinct to the County Web site for the public to view and do their own audits. Mr. Wildron said that would protect ballot secrecy as the voter was the only one with his/her QR code to be sure the ballot was received and not changed. Precinct level voting would also have a paper poll book which would be part of the public record, and the ballots would be ADA compliant. Jim Marchant said the bottom line was the electronic voting machines were so vulnerable and uncertifiable he did not see how they could be trusted. He felt the system needed to go back to a decentralized system to make sure the constituents knew they had a fair and transparent election and that would be the only way to do it. He urged the Commissioners to vote to get rid of the electronic voting machines and get back to the basics. Mark Kampf, a candidate for Nye County Clerk, said he fully supported the move to increase the transparency and go to paper ballots and the manual hand count. Through meeting people in the County one of the biggest concerns was whether or not they should even vote, which concerned him. Richard Goldstein said the report made no sense and this whole thing was about the result of the 2020 election. If it had gone the other way none of this would be seen. He said the 2020 election was over and everyone needed to move on since the system worked. Kerry Durmick from All Voting Is Local Nevada stated their opposition to this item. Switching to an all paper ballot system would be a financial burden to the County and would make it harder for Nevadans with disabilities to participate in the electoral process. Ms. Durmick asked the Board to oppose this item. Beth Borysewich wondered what this presentation was for and what the company would get out of it. She agreed the IT Director should make sure the machines were not connected to the internet and the wireless cards were removed, but there was no reason to scare everyone. Dora Martinez, representing Nevada Disability Political Action Coalition Group and the American Chapter of the Blind of Nevada, said last year they championed and passed March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d. Assembly Bill 121, which codified electronic voting. Before that not all blind people knew how to read Braille and her husband had to appear in person and announce his votes verbally in public. She felt doing this would be going backwards. She also mentioned not everyone had a car or the ability to get to the polling location. Bruce Hauser said there were numerous recounts across the country in the last election, none of which showed anything to be false. The gentleman said all of the paper ballots would be uploaded, which was to a computer. He asked who was paying people to be here today. Amber Salgout, representing the Institute for Progressive Nevada, stated their opposition to this item. This would make voting more difficult for people, especially the disabled, and create much more work for the election staff. She urged the Commission to oppose the item. Kay LaPointe supported what was presented today and thought those who were disabled could still receive a mail-in ballot. Herman Lewis thanked the Commissioners for hearing the presentation and asked them to look up blackbox.org. Melissa Blundo, a candidate for Assembly 36, said this was the third time she had heard a presentation like this. Technology was supposed to make things easier, but did not always do so. She felt the safest and most effective way to vote securely was to do paper ballots and hand counting, She supported this item and asked the Board to vote yes. Ammie Nelson stated her support of this item as she was aware of people on the voter list who had moved or passed away. She wondered how the ballots got returned to the Clerk’s Office or to the Secretary of State. She said she never received information for her new registration either. Lillian Donohue believed in honesty at the polls and the County needed to go back to paper ballots. Math ilda Guerrero, speaking on behalf of the Let Nevadans Vote Coalition, stated their opposition to this item. She commended the Clerk and staff for their work in the last election. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d. Carolene Logue said she appreciated all of the efforts of the County Clerk’s Office and on the State level. She asked about the law that was passed last year, AB321 effective July 1, 2021. Under that law any voter who did not want to receive a mail-in ballot could submit a written notice to the Clerk no later than 60 days before the day of the election. The new law created a shorter deadline for ballots to be accepted, but it passed many things that Ms. Logue felt would make the voting more widespread, accessible, and safer. She hoped the gentlemen who spoke would have worked with states to help them secure their systems rather than disposing of methods that could extend voting to more people. Jeffrey Dye thought this was an opportunity to look at what the Clerk did with the machines and the security rather than taking a step back from the technology. As the voter base grew he wondered how the paper ballot system would be navigated when there was the ease to use the electronic systems. If they could not connect to the network or if the network was in triple level security, then the County was in a position to defend against bad agents. He said it did not matter what was in place though as bad agents would find a way to get through the system. Mr. Dye then pointed out that the 40 counties mentioned during the presentation was roughly 1 .3% of the counties in the country. Erika Gerling asked if the speakers presented evidence of their claims in the back-up.

Commissioner Carbone

believed there was evidence in the back-up. Samuel Jones said he asked Mr. Marchant a few months ago to come down as he had been fighting for a forensic audit for years. They did not have a company and took this time out of the goodness of their hearts to present this to the Commission and the public. Paper ballots were used when he first moved to Nye and while it was a little extra work for the Clerk, the machines lied. Diane Southworth wondered who said that counting them by hand would be any less corrupt. There had been corruption in hand counts all over the country from time to time. She personally thought this was a ruse and the idea was stupid. Tina Trenner talked about the security expert for Wells Fargo Bank who went before the Legislature and said no matter what was done hacking of the machines could not be prevented. She said she had not been through one election where there had not been a glitch usually 40 minutes into the election. Ms. Trenner wanted to vote Amish no — electric, just paper. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d. Charles Kebel supported paper ballots and suggested using the money spent on the machines to add more people to count votes. Joe Burdzinski believed the majority of people were starting to question the voting process. Ever since the change from the manual paper process to electronic equipment more doubts had been put into the minds of the voters. He urged the Board to vote yes on this item. Brian Shoemake said for over 20 years he worked in the tech industry and had gone to war with hackers and maiware protecting Web sites. What the presenters stated was absolutely true. It made no difference who the person running the operation with the best intentions was. There were ways in that would never be detected.

Mr. Marchant

stated everyone paid their own way to the meeting because they were patriots who cared about the country. They were not paid to do this.

Mrs. Merlino

explained the issue right now was she had to follow Nevada law. She still had the current procedures in place for audio and those voters who were vision impaired. She said her office was already so far into this primary election. In two weeks she would send everything to the vendor to create the ballot styles. Mrs. Merlino stated she could not even consider this for the primary as it was physically impossible to do. She would be happy to do an analysis before the general, but no other county in the State did hand counts so she would like to get information from other states that did. She also could not meet the statutory deadlines with hand counting and would have to decide if she had to hire 400 or 600 people to count them. Mrs. Merlino also pointed out there was a contract with Dominion and the cost to dissolve that would need to be looked into.

Commissioner Strickland

said in discussions with Mrs. Merlino there was a 5,000 maximum in each precinct. At the highest point in the general election it would take three to five days to count.

Mrs. Merlino

clarified that a better indication would be three to ten days depending on numerous variables.

Commissioner Strickland

said they also talked about ballot storage. Those mail-in ballots could be used rather than the machines, but then those had to be run through a scanner which was a Dominion device. Once the ballots had gone through the Dominion device they had to be sealed and could only be reopened by a judge’s order. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process Cont’d.

Mrs. Merlino

explained there was still a contest process for an election, so even though the primary may be over someone could contest it in the courts. A recount by hand could be redone if that was what was chosen, at least to get through the primary. She had to follow Nevada law, but she also had to figure out the cost if there was an issue with the hand count and they needed to be hand counted again and again as well as the impact that delay would have on the voters in the County.

Commissioner Carbone

asked Mr. Marchant how he would help the Clerk with the timing and money he mentioned.

Mr. Marchant

said he could bring in people to help through the process of whatever she needed.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if those people would be vetted and validated.

Mr. Marchant

said yes and then the Board could validate them also.

Commissioner Jabbour

said he had been keeping track and there were 13 people in support of this and 10 in objection. Mr. Marchant talked about running a transparent election, and the Board would need to set the Clerk’s Office up for success, and that was where time was of the essence because of the primary right around the corner. Volunteers would be needed who were vetted as well as workers to assist with this process before moving forward. Commissioner Jabbour supported the paper ballot and said he would like to see the paper ballots on the general election as an advisory question with the pros and the cons so the citizens could voice their opinion.

Commissioner Cox

said it was mentioned at a previous meeting that Mr. Marchant said his people could help pay for some of the financial side of this.

Mr. Marchant

said that was a possibility.

Commissioner Cox

asked Mrs. Merlino if this passed if she would be able to stop her order.

Mrs. Merlino

said no, especially with the paper shortage. Her ballots were ordered in the quantities needed and she did not know if she could get more.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to request the Nye County Clerk to administer the 2022 primary and general elections only on paper ballots and hand counting those paper ballots; seconded by Commissioner Cox. March 15, 2022 28. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to request the Nye County Clerk to consider administering the 2022 Primary and General elections using only paper ballots and hand-counting the paper ballots submitted by Nye County voters to ensure accuracy and transparency of the democratic voting process- Con t’ d.

Commissioner Blundo

pointed out mail-in ballots would still be sent and he wondered what would be done for people who showed up at the polling place to vote.

Mrs. Merlino

stated she would have to order another 20,000 or so ballots to have at the polling locations for those who showed up and wanted to vote in person. However, she would have to use the Dominion machines at each polling location because of federal ADA law.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if the motion included ADA compliance.

Commissioner Strickland

asked if a Dominion machine was used at all if the votes were sealed and could not be reopened except by a judge.

Mrs. Merlino

explained it was the same in any election and any manner of voting. After the board she hired did the count, the ballots were sealed and inaccessible. It was the same with the Dominion machines.

Commissioner Strickland

asked Mrs. Merlino if she would be able to say there were less than 100 people in the County that needed this particular service.

Mrs. Merlino

could not say, but she said it did not matter. The votes would also not be tabulated under hand counting.

Commissioner Blundo

said he just wanted the motion to be clear that she would be ADA compliant.

Commissioner Carbone

pointed out the agenda item was not written to allow ADA compliance.

Mrs. Merlino

advised one in six voters could be disabled, which could equate to 5,000 disabled voters in the County.

Commissioner Blundo

advised he spoke to all the applicants.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to appoint three members to the expired terms to end March, 2026 Dee Mounts, John Shewalter and Brian Shoemake; seconded by

Commissioner Cox

. Joe Burdzinski complimented the current library board and supported the appointments. Mark Kampf also agreed with the motion.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 16-19; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

; 5 yeas. March 15, 2022 17. For Possible Action Approval to set the date and location for the second Board of Commissioners meeting in June for Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in Pahrump, NV.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 16-19; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

; 5 yeas. 18. For Possible Action Approval to: 1) Accept Amendment No. 2 to the Original Ryan White Grant contract dated March 21, 2017, to extend until September 30, 2022, for the purpose of providing assistance for HIVIAIDS residents of Nye County. There is no County match required; 2) Execute Amendment No. 2.; and 3) Fund from 10340 Grants.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 16-19; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

; 5 yeas. 19. For Possible Action Approval to: 1) Accept the SFY 2022 Notice of SubAward (NOSA) from the Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division (ADSD) in the amount of $3,107.00 to provide commodity food funding for congregate and homebound/home-delivered nutrition services at the Tonopah Senior Center, as well as homeboundlhome-delivered services in Beattv, Nye County. There is no County Match required; 2) Execute the SubAward; and 3) Fund $3,107.00 from 10281 Senior Nutrition.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve items 16-19; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

; 5 yeas. 20. 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. This item was removed from the agenda. 21. Closed meeting, pursuant to NRS 241.015(3)(b)(2) for purposes of conferring with legal counsel regarding potential or current litigation. This item was removed from the agenda. 22. 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. March 15, 2022 23. For Possible Action Closure of meeting, pursuant to NRS 288.220 for purposes of conferring with the County’s management representatives regarding labor negotiations, issues and other personnel matters. This item was removed from the agenda. 24. Closed meeting, pursuant to NRS 288.220 for purposes of conferring with the County’s management representatives regarding labor negotiations, issues and other personnel matters. This item was removed from the agenda. 25. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation on labor negotiations, issues and other personnel matters presented in closed meeting. This item was removed from the agenda. 27. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and direction to staff to consider the County to operate the new animal shelter in-house, located at 1580 Sin Ln. in Pahrump, NV, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes. In addition, the County will integrate the Tonopah Animal Shelter into the new shelter business as it relates to the spaying and neutering animals.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to direct staff to bring the County in to operate the new animal shelter in-house located at 1580 Sin Lane, Pahrump, Nevada, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes; seconded by Commissioner Cox. Pat Leming, Executive Director of Never Forgotten Animal Society, asked the Commissioners to consider the existing contract with Desert Haven Animal Society was in place and had been for several years. She was not a fan of that contract and had been vocal about her objections to that arrangement. However, there had been a change in management as well as policies and procedures and how they related to the community now. They had only been in place for two months and she thought it was unfair that they would not be allowed to bid on the contract for the shelter. Ms. Leming recommended the Commissioners consider allowing Desert Haven to bid on the contract. She also did not think it was in the best interest of the County to take it back and turn it into a kill shelter. Beth Borysewich, the new president of Desert Haven Animal Society, said they were surprised when they saw this item on the agenda because when she attended the first meeting two months ago there was only one person on the board and she thought they would have to start over from scratch, but the by-laws did not require that so they elected a new board. The new board had extensive knowledge in budget and expenses as well as dealing with animals. Ms. Borysewich knew everyone wanted it to be a March 15, 2022 27. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and direction to staff to consider the County to operate the new animal shelter in-house, located at 1580 Sin Ln. in Pahrump, NV, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes. In addition, the County will integrate the Tonopah Animal Shelter into the new shelter business as it relates to the spaying and neutering animals-Cont’d. successful shelter and the board’s goal was to make it be known as the best animal shelter or society on the west coast. She then noted it was projected that everything was increasing 110% right at the beginning and they did not understand how that was possible. It was also stated it was already determined that it would be in the best interest for the County to run it and she wondered who determined that and when the study was done. If the County took over, that meant the employees would be County employees with payroll with benefits, insurance, vacations and sick leave, and expenses in any business dealing with employees. On top of that the County would have to figure out how to maintain the building. Elizabeth Kakavulias, executive director of Desert Haven Animal Society, said she was also shocked when she saw the item as they were told the new building would go out to bid. Currently since the County was not a not-for-profit they would lose grants. Another concern was with the current salaries. The employees were just now up to the $15.00 per hour minimum wage and Ms. Kakavulias was also worried about the animals. As to the finances, Ms. Kakavulias stated in the five months she had been there she made over $5,000.00 what the previous board did in nine months. Herman Lewis felt the shelter issue needed a lot of consideration. The staff needed to be well structured in oversight, but he had seen some inconsistencies and staff members not being treated properly. He reluctantly thought the County taking over was the best idea for the new shelter. Tressa Wosk from PAWS stated the shelter had been run by the County three times in the last 15 years and it failed every single time. There was a non-profit in there now willing to try and make it work and she felt they should be given a chance. Susan Ciani, a volunteer and member of the board of directors with Desert Haven Animal Society, read a statement from Deanna O’Donnell, a newly elected board member of Desert Haven. Ms. O’Donnell was not sure why this item was on the agenda with how smoothly the shelter was running now and the projected financials showing it to have the best profit in years. She did not know what the shelter would be like if the County took it back under control. Ms. O’Donnell was not afraid of the change, but she was concerned about it at this juncture. She was also concerned about the loss of grants and staffing the shelter. Joe Burdzinski said the care of animals was important to him, but he was also concerned about allowing the County to operate the shelter as he did not believe County government should be expanded anymore and he was totally against this. March 15, 2022 27. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and direction to staff to consider the County to operate the new animal shelter in-house, located at 1580 Sin Ln. in Pahrump, NV, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes. In addition, the County will integrate the Tonopah Animal Shelter into the new shelter business as it relates to the spaying and neutering animals-Cont’d. Sheri Lewis did not believe in the government taking on more. She was shocked when she saw this item because of how long they had been trying to do this under the non profit. She asked if the Board had spoken with the County workers who would run it because everyone she spoke with wanted nothing to do with it. Janet Meredith said if a county owned a facility, usually a dog pound, a Rottweiler’s livelihood in that pound was minutes, not hours, because they were a high-risk breed. If the Board was going to do this she asked them to keep in mind the higher risk breed dogs and dogs that just may be scared. Tracy Jones, a Desert Haven board member, said they had a lot of highly motivated people. One of the concerns was being cost effective, and she knew the board was a good custodian of its funds, but even its forecast for next year showed losses every single month between $20,000.00 and $40,000.00. The total at the end of the year even after a subsidy was $346,000.00 and she asked where that money came from.

Ms. Jones

thought the Board owed her and Desert Haven the ability and the common decency to make a bid without pulling the rug out from underneath them.

Commissioner Strickland

asked if the Board chose to privatize what would be wrong with them making application to work with the County.

Commissioner Carbone

said they had new facilities that needed to be vetted to make sure it met the warranty requirements. Having someone else in the facility other than the people the County put there it would be more difficult to meet the warranty requirements. The Tonopah County shelter would also be integrated into this process. That did not mean it might not be turned over to someone further down the road, but the County needed to improve what it had.

Commissioner Blundo

amended his motion to direct staff to bring the County in to operate the new animal shelter in-house located at 1580 Sin Lane, Pahrump, Nevada, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes and integrate the Tonopah Animal Shelter into the new shelter business as it related to the spaying and neutering of animals.

Commissioner Cox

said people could still volunteer at the County facility, but they would not get paid, or they could apply for a job.

Commissioner Cox

amended her second. March 15, 2022 27. For Possible Action Discussion, deliberation, and direction to staff to consider the County to operate the new animal shelter in-house, located at 1580 Sin Ln. in Pahrump, NV, in order to allow the County to audit and confirm the new shelter’s operational processes. In addition, the County will integrate the Tonopah Animal Shelter into the new shelter business as it relates to the spaying and neutering animals-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if the funding for this position was primarily coming from the State 50/50. Savannah Rucker explained fund 10283, the General and Medical Indigent Fund, was where Health and Human Services operated their general business out of and grants out of the grants fund. Fund 10284 was the fund dedicated to the 50/50 match with the State and that amount was unknown from year to year since the case count fluctuated. The funding provided was a reduction of the subsidy provided between funds 10283 and 10284. In essence the position would live in fund 10283 contingent upon the County’s ability support that position in that fund in future fiscal years.

Commissioner Blundo

asked if approving this position was a reduction in services to indigent people.

Mrs. Rucker

felt it was utilizing the funds to provide services to indigent people because that was the purpose of Health and Human Services.

Ms. Smith

said the County had been receiving this money for approximately five years now.

Commissioner Blundo

wanted to make sure there was no reduction in services to pay for staff.

Ms. Smith

said part of this was because they were increasing services. March 15, 2022 39. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve an unbudgeted Secretary I position within Health and Human Services, to be funded by 10283 General and Medical Indigent Fund-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve the unfunded secretary I position for Health and Human Services funded by 10283; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. SITTING AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF UNINCORPORATED TOWN OF PAHRUMP 13. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject Town of Pahrump Resolution No. 2022-01: A Resolution to Augment the 2021 -2022 Budget of the Town of Pahrump, County of Nye, State of Nevada — Fund 25412 Television Construction Fund in the amount of $24,000.00.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to adopt; seconded by Commissioner Cox; 5 yeas. SITTING AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF UNINCORPORATED TOWNS OF BEATTY, GABBS, MANHATTAN, AND RAILROAD VALLEY BEATTY 14. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve the purchase of 7 sets of turnouts for the Beatty Volunteer Fire Department volunteers from Curtis in the amount of $25,013.31; 2) Fund 10,719.99 from 24235 Beatty Volunteer Fire Department Public Safety Sales Tax fund (PSST); and 3) Fund $14,293.32 from 24101 Beatty Town General Fund.

Commissioner Jabbour

made a motion to approve as written; seconded by

Commissioner Blundo

; 5 yeas. 15. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve providing $28488.00 in funding support for The Great Basin Institute (GBI) to complete the necessary archaeological studies required for the planning and development of the Oasis Valley Trail System in Beatty to be funded from 24101 Beatty General Fund.

Commissioner Jabbour

made a motion to approve as written; seconded by

Commissioner Strickland

. Erika Gerling thanked the Commissioners.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR 34. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding the quarterly report from the Public Administrator on deceased person cases that are open, closed, pending, NCPA Creditor Claims, non-cases or cases that have been turned over to family. Public Administrator Ginger Stumne was present via telephone and her report was in the back-up. She pointed out one of the two deaths that turned over was at the end of December, 2021. SHERIFF 35. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve a Memorandum of Agreement with the Duckwater Shoshone Tribal Police Department for the purpose of providing assistance and services including call backup, 911 radio communication services, and coroner services where applicable.

Commissioner Jabbour

made a motion to approve the memorandum of agreement as written; seconded by Commissioner Blundo; 5 yeas. COUNTY MANAGER 36. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding the appointment of a County Health Officer pursuant to NRS 439.290, wherein the board of county commissioners shall appoint a county health officer for the county.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to appoint Dr. Daniel Griffith; seconded by

Dr. Tiffany

Smith, one of the candidates for County Health Officer, was present and available for questions. She said she was an Amargosa Valley resident willing to serve the community. March 15, 2022 36. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding the appointment of a County Health Officer pursuant to NRS 439.290, wherein the board of county commissioners shall appoint a county health officer for the county-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to set the public hearing for the April 5, 2022, Board of County Commissioners meeting teleconferenced from Tonopah at 10:00 am.; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour; 5 yeas. 42. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Discuss the quotes received from the solicitation for the Low Water Crossing Paving Project; 2) Award the project to J & J Enterprises Services, Inc in the amount of $99,900.00 orWulfenstein Construction in the amount of $125,570.00; 3) Fund from 10205 Road; or 4) Reject bids and direct Public Works on how to move forward.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to award the project to J & J Enterprise Services, Inc., in the amount of $99,900.00 and to fund from 10205; seconded by Commissioner Jabbour. Tom Boiling explained this was to take out the chip seal, regrade, and put four inches of asphalt in the low water crossings that washed out during the flood.

Commissioner Cox

asked if any of it would be on private property or all public property as she had some people who wanted their yards done because they felt it was the County’s fault they got flooded out. March 15, 2022 42. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Discuss the quotes received from the solicitation for the Low Water Crossing Paving Project; 2) Award the project to J & J Enterprises Services, Inc in the amount of $99,900.00 or Wulfenstein Construction in the amount of $125,570.00; 3) Fund from 10205 Road; or 4) Reject bids and direct Public Works on how to move forward-Cont’d.

Mr. Boiling

said it was all public property.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to approve the letter; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES 38. For Possible Action Discussion and Deliberation to: 1) Accept an Interlocal Contract Between Public Agencies State of Nevada, Division of Health Care Financing and Policy (DHCFP) and Nye County for administrative services necessary to operate the Medicaid County Match Program and to share the cost of long-term care within the Scope of Work not to exceed $.08 with a total maximum contract amount not to exceed $1,394,013.16, 2) Execute the Interlocal Contract; and 3) Fund from 10284 Dedicated Medical Indigent fund.

Commissioner Blundo

made a motion to accept, execute and fund from 10284; seconded by Commissioner Strickland. At Commissioner Carbone’s request, Savannah Rucker explained there was a fund and a tax rate specifically set aside for this.

Commissioner Carbone

was not present. __ March 15, 2022 45. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT (up to three-minute time limit per person.) Action will not be taken on the matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item (SECOND)-Cont’d.

Commissioner Blundo

assumed the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners.

Commissioner Jabbour

reminded everyone to spay and neuter their pets.

Commissioner Carbone

said today was a difficult meeting and a lot of time was spent on the issues. He was disappointed in some of the people who were here based on their feelings and maybe not understanding where the County was going. He knew there would be issues that had to be publicly discussed. Samantha Tackett reminded the employees, public officers and elected officials that on April 6,2022, at 10:00 a.m. in the chambers in Pahrump, Tonopah and Beatty the Executive Director of the Nevada Commission on Ethics would provide training. Anyone interested in going should let her know. Regarding the shelter item approved today, Savannah Rucker said she would have to bring back additional items for positions, budget, etc. That would be scheduled for the first meeting in April so they could work toward filling the positions in time for that facility to open.

Commissioner Blundo

adjourned the meeting. APPROVED this ATTEST: Of fY\ 2022. CL

Chair Ny

Conty Clerk I Deputy