January 18, 2023

Commissioner Boskovich

. He also thanked the Commissioners for appointing Michele Fiore. Susan Thomason asked for an update on the skate park. She would also like to be put on the list for the prayer. She advised her next project for Pahrump was to put an end to the homeless situation and asked if anyone could help and guide her on that. Erika Gerling was present in Beatty. Darrell Lackey said after the last meeting Commissioner Boskovich called him to let him know that he was not laughing at Mr. Lackey but rather something else, and that impressed Mr. Lackey. As to the homeless, he had a program that he had been pushing for five years. Diane Southworth talked about the community outreach programs. Tim Bohannon, speaking as the secretary of Nye County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, provided a recap of the board’s events for the month. Pat Minshall referred to a comment made at the last meeting about Pahrump not needing low-income housing and said she did not know anywhere that did not need low- income housing. She also disagreed that low-income housing should just be with seniors as seniors did not want to live with families with children. Ms. Minshall thought low-income housing needed to be revisited. She asked that her comments be included in the minutes [see Attachment 1]. Michael Garcia said California passed a law on January 1, 2023, and nationals were now policing citizens. As to COVID, the morticians were seeing the different coagulation of the blood in those that had the vaccine. He then talked about inalienable rights; natural January 18, 2023 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. common, fundamental, legal and statutory laws; and Christine Hall from Mothers Fighting for America. Laura Larsen asked Tim Sutton to bring the issue of selling information regarding the effect of the CRT to the Board and said she would go to the School Board as well. She thought the Board needed to send a letter or resolution to the Governor that it would not be tolerated any longer. Bill Hockstedler said he understood the difficulties of the jobs of Commissioners and staff. He wanted to make sure the right thing was done for the constituents. Things were happening above the County level and the County needed to be relied on to be the starting point for all things good. Mr. Hockstedler told the Commissioners he was behind them 100% of the way.

Commissioner Cox

said she heard a lot of people saying the Commissioners needed to do this and that. She would like help from the general public with things such as writing letters. She talked about helping with the homeless and that might be a good place to start. She also wondered why Darrell Lackey’s project was not going forward and asked someone to help him.

Commissioner Boskovich

thanked the public for attending the meeting and staff for all of the great work. He said he knew why he was here as well as who he worked for and the district did not matter.

Commissioner Strickland

advised this weekend at the Pahrump town arena the Single Action Shooting Society would have a mounted event. On January 21, 2023, the Pahrump Valley Soroptimist International would sponsor a human trafficking event from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Chambers.

Commissioner Jabbour

said he read the memorandum sent by Safety Coordinator Roy Nelson regarding OSHA compliance and violations and he was shocked to see what the violation costs would be now. He asked everyone to pay attention to Mr. Nelson’s advice and direction as far as any potential problems that could arise. Tim Sutton advised he was no longer on the School Board. Treasurer Raelyn Powers said the Department of Taxation (DTAX) meeting was in the middle of December, 2022. It went well and the commission did not foresee any future meetings. They indicated that would be dependent on audit findings and Ms. Powers did January 18, 2023 3. CommissionersIManager’s Comments (This item limited to announcements or topiclissues proposed for future works hops/agendas)-Cont’d. not anticipate any audit findings this year. She then announced they were preparing for a live auction to be held simultaneously in Pahrump and Tonopah on March 24, 2023. Information was available on the Web site, and more information and minimum bids would be updated as the auction date got closer.

Commissioner Carbone

asked Ms. Powers to be sure no open space properties would be on the auction list.

Commissioner Cox

pointed out there were a lot of horses and burros on Highway 160 and she thought some improvement was needed there as they crossed the highway and ended up getting hit. She also suggested adding more of the flashing horse warning signs. She asked if NDOT was responsible for putting fencing up to keep the horses and burros in. NDOT District Engineer Mario Gomez said they were working on SR16O and SRi 59 not only putting up fencing but also putting up the signs. He asked if there was someone locally he could discuss some strategies with. He said the fencing was wiped out by the rains and NDOT staff had been struggling to put them back.

Commissioner Strickland

said she would meet with Mr. Gomez and suggested inviting Public Works Director Tom BoIling and BLM.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if there were any plans for electric vehicle charging stations in Pahrump or the rest of the County.

Mr. Lerud

said he would have to get back to Commissioner Jabbour on that. He knew there was a national vehicle infrastructure plan, but he did not know the Pahrump plan off the top of his head and would provide it to the County Manager.

Commissioner Jabbour

mentioned the lack of restrooms in the corridor as well as on US

Mr. Lerud

said he would get back to Commissioner Jabbour on that as well. 9. 10:00 am. Presentation by Nye County Clerk, Mark F. Kampf regarding the results of the paper ballot and hand count process and changes in the 2024 Election Cycle process, particularly the Presidential Preference Primary which is new for this election cycle. Mark Kampf gave a presentation on the voter turnout, the paper ballots on the polls, how the tribal communities were served, process changes, and some future considerations, such as fixing precinct boundaries, expanding early voting and election day polling locations in Pahrump, providing shelter for voters, and the 2024 presidential preference primary. SITTING AS THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS These are items that Staff recommends for approval. The Board reserves the right to move any consent agenda item to the regular segment of the agenda should issues arise that need to be addressed. Discussion of any item from the Consent Agenda Items that needs review before a decision is made. 14. For Possible Action Approval of the Elected Official Collection Report regarding fees collected from elected county departments for services rendered by or provided to county citizens.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve items 14-16; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

; 5 yeas. 15. For Possible Action Approval to set the date and location for the second Board of Commissioners meeting in April for Tuesday, April 18, 2023 in Pahrump, Nevada.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve items 14-16; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

; 5 yeas. January 18, 2023 16. For Possible Action Approval to: 1) Accept a Notice of SubAward from Division of Public and Behavioral Health to administer the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) for Fiscal Year 2023 in the amount of $368,843.00, to provide nutrition education, food delivery system and facilitate delivery of health services. There is no County match required; 2) Execute the SubAward: and 3) Fund to 10340 Grants.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve items 14-16; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

; 5 yeas. CLERK 25. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Appoint one member to the Nye County Board of Equalization due to an expiring term from the following list of applicants: Stacey Parmenter; or 2) readvertise for the appointment.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to appoint Stacey Parmenter; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

; 5 yeas. The Board was in recess until 1:29 p.m. SITTING AS THE NYE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH 11. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding public health priorities for Nye County. Nye County Health Officer Dr. Daniel Griffith confirmed the Commissioners had received his e-mail regarding the contract with the County health nurses, which he thought was a good contract. He advised on Thursday at the Community Health Center there would be a health nurse and a provider from Las Vegas from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at no charge. There would also be fentanyl testing classes and things like that. This month the State Epidemiology and Behavioral Health Department started working with all hospitals in rural communities on a behavioral and mental health crisis program. Darrell Lackey did not agree with sending people with mental health problems to a County clinic. Pat Minshall heard there were going to be a couple of meetings, but she was unclear on what the meetings were about.

Dr. Griffith

said there would be a health event on Thursday, January 19, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Community Health Center, and it would have services including but not limited to A1C and lipid testing and management and HIV, Hep C and STD testing and treatment. Condoms would be available as well as dental vans, harm reduction supplies for needle exchange, fentanyl testing, and Narcan. / January 18, 2023 11. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding public health priorities for Nye County-Cont’d. Jenni Martin confirmed with Dr. Griffith that that the event was actually at Nye Communities Coalition, 1020 E. Wilson Road. TIMED ITEMS 10. 10:00 am. Presentation by Steve Dush, Land Acquisition and Forward Planning Director, William Lyon Homes, lnc.ITaylor Morrison, regarding the twenty-four-month review of the Development Agreement with Nye County pursuant to section 8.1 of the agreement. Planning Director Brett Waggoner explained part of the development agreement required a bi-annual status report and nothing was changing in the development agreement. Steve Dush from Taylor Morrison Homes said there was a brief summary report in the back-up that identified some of the elements that they needed to update, which he reviewed.

Mr. Waggoner

said he had talked with other landowners down there to do a collaborative traffic study and asked Mr. Dush if he had been involved.

Mr. Dush

said he was not personally aware of it. He knew Kimley Horn would do the traffic component of it and they would scope any of the areas related directly to an intersection improvement taking into account all of the background traffic. They would then provide a pro rata share to each of the developments. 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. This item was removed from the agenda. 18. 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. 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. January 18, 2023 20. 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. 21. 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. 22. 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. 23. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding selecting

Commissioner Liaison

I Representative positions for 2023.23.

Commissioner Carbone

discussed with Commissioner Cox whether she still wanted to be involved in the Pahrump Cemetery issues. Since he was involved with the veterans’ side of the cemetery he added his name as an alternate to that item.

Commissioner Jabbour

reminded the other Commissioners they could always ask for help from a fellow Commissioner if they needed it or could not attend a meeting.

Commissioner Strickland

added if the primary could not be at the meeting than the alternate needed to be advised.

Commissioner Boskovich

said he would like to be involved and learn all of the nuclear stuff, which would be item 6.

Commissioner Jabbour

advised item 6 was the NSAB, which he was a voting member on while Commissioner Carbone was the liaison, and they discussed environmental issues. He thought Commissioner Boskovich was referring to item 5 and said he was welcome to attend those meetings.

Commissioner Strickland

said she received an invite from the U.S. Preparedness Nuclear Disaster Council of Formulations, which she and Commissioner Boskovich would attend tomorrow. She thought Commissioners Jabbour and Carbone should be on that as well. Tim Bohannon said it was great to see Commissioner Boskovich put on the NACO item, and he thanked Commissioner Jabbour for doing the Nye County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. January 18, 2023 23. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation regarding selecting

Commissioner Liaison

I Representative positions for 2023.23-Cont’d.

Commissioner Carbone

said there was one parks and recreation organization for the town and one for the County. He suggested removing the one for the town and combining them. He said he had been to the town committee’s meetings and there was not much going on. Samantha Tackett explained the Town of Pahrump facilities were managed, maintained and planned out by staff through the Buildings and Grounds Department. She met with them last week to try to get the policy and procedures and Web site updated. Dissolution of the Pahrump Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee could take place as there was something in writing showing what was not being done and what would continue through staff. Brian Kunzi said if the Board was talking about eliminating a committee it was not on the agenda and an item would have to be brought back.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to approve the list as identified with the change of adding his name to item 35; seconded by Commissioner Boskovich; 5 yeas. 24. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject two (2) contracts for Public Defender Services from the following list of applicants: Kelley K. Blatnik, Esg., Alexis M. Duecker, Esg., Thomas J. Gibson, Esg., or Mark Shockley, Esg.; and 2) Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 Judicial Other and Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 General Fund Contingency. Kelley Kaye Blatnik said she was licensed in 14 jurisdictions, including federal jurisdictions. She listed the types of cases she had handled.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if she had time to be a public defender.

Ms. Blatnik

said yes. She was working on settling or jettisoning her current cases so she would have time for her clients. She was also aware of the caseload.

Commissioner Cox

asked if she lived in Las Vegas, to which Ms. Blatnik responded yes.

Commissioner Cox

asked if she would move to Pahrump.

Mr. Blatnik

stated it was expensive in Pahrump. Rent for a two-bedroom house was more than her mortgage on her house in Las Vegas. The ride to Pahrump for her was only 53 miles.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if she had the Category A certification for Nevada and if she had ever been disciplined by the Nevada State Bar. January 18, 2023 24. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject two (2) contracts for Public Defender Services from the following list of applicants: Kelley K. Blatnik, Esg., Alexis M. Duecker, Esg., Thomas J. Gibson, Esg., or Mark Shockley, Esg.; and 2) Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 Judicial Other and Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 General Fund Contingency-Cont’d.

Ms. Blatnik

responded no to both questions. Alexis Duecker said she was a Nye County public defender a year ago, but she left because of the caseload. She did not know at the time she could bring in another attorney to help her and now she had Carl Shelton, a ten-year civil litigator, to help her with the caseload. She thought they could do a good job and she wanted to serve the County the best she could. Ms. Duecker noted she also was not Category A certified, so she could do half, just not murders and rapes. She said lived in Las Vegas and was used to driving back and forth every day.

Commissioner Cox

asked who would pay the associate, to which Ms. Duecker responded herself.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if she had ever been disciplined by the Nevada State Bar, to which Ms. Duecker responded no.

Commissioner Jabbour

noted his research showed Ms. Duecker was fully qualified to handle all cases per DIDS recommendations. Mark Shockley said he had been an attorney since September, 2000. He reviewed his work history, including his tenure as a public defender in White Pine County. He said he had been disciplined and described the events surrounding that.

Commissioner Jabbour

asked if he had the Category A certification.

Mr. Shockley

said he did not, but if there was any way possible he would get it.

Commissioner Carbone

asked him how many cases he handled in White Pine.

Mr. Shockley

said he never really counted them, but he just seemed to be constantly busy talking to clients or in court. He could handle the 400 cases as he was used to going fast and hard. He would also have no problem going to Beatty or Tonopah. Applicant Thomas Gibson was not present. Ammie Nelson stated her support of Mr. Shockley. Jason Earnest stated he had been a Nye County public defender since November, 1999. He was sure all of the candidates were good attorneys, but the caseload was January 18, 2023 24. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject two (2) contracts for Public Defender Services from the following list of applicants: Kelley K. Blatnik, Esg., Alexis M. Duecker, Esg., Thomas J. Gibson, Esg., or Mark Shockley, Esg.; and 2) Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 Judicial Other and Fund $78,390.45 from Fund 10101 General Fund Contingency-Cont’d. phenomenally high. In a perfect world each of them would get a contract as more public defenders were needed, He stated his support of Ms. Duecker as she was aggressive, fought for her clients, knew the workload, and had a plan to make sure clients were met. Kathy McKenna, Executive Director for Pioneer Territory CASA, who trained volunteers to be advocates for foster children in the court system, stated her support of Ms. Duecker. Tim Bohannon thought all of the candidates seemed pretty good. As to the caseload, he felt splitting it up should be considered sometime down the line. Jherna Shahani, one of the current public defenders, said she heard there may be two public defenders, which she hoped was true. She said when she became a public defender she was not given any files and with the workload she was off half a day per week. She had not worked with any of the candidates and could not speak on them individually, but she wanted every to know how rigorous the contract was. She advised she was not Category A certified yet because experience through jury trial was needed for it. Ms. Shahani wanted the Commissioners to understand that the candidates who came before them would be certified only through experience and hoped the Board did not think they could just apply to become certified. John Koenig stated his support of Ms. Duecker. Lorina Dellinger wanted to make sure the Board realized she was requesting two public defenders at this time.

Commissioner Boskovich

made a motion to appoint Alexis Duecker and Kelley Blatnik; seconded by Commissioner Strickland; 5 yeas. SHERIFF 26. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to adopt, amend and adopt, or reject the Fiscal Year 2023 Public Safety Sales and Use Tax (PSST) plan for Nye County. This item was removed from the agenda. January 18, 2023 COUNTY MANAGER 27. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve, or reject the proposed objectives to conduct a county-wide Classification and Compensation Study for all Nye County employees. Lorina Dellinger explained that prior to the County going out for an RFP various comments had been received from Board members on the comparisons used currently for compensation standards. Staff wanted to present to the Board the ability to go out for a full compensation and classification study as it had been over 15 years since it was done for their approval and input on what they would like to see that study look like.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve; seconded by Commissioner Boskovich.

Commissioner Carbone

said his biggest issue with this was when it was originally put together it talked about rural versus urban versus city. There were also situations of people dropping in and out of different grades who had been in one grade for several years.

Mrs. Dellinger

said the proposal here was to expand the search on the comparables because what was used in the past was not acceptable.

Commissioner Strickland

asked about the cost of the study.

Mrs. Dellinger

said she found costs ranging between $75,000.00 to $125,000.00 with mid-range being roughly $75,000.00 to $85,000.00.

Commissioner Cox

thought the comparison could be based on population.

Mrs. Dellinger

said the class three counties compared with were based on budget and population. Based on some of the conversations had with Board members, it seemed as if they wanted staff to expand that. Brian Kunzi felt the scope had to be expanded. Deputy district attorneys were compared with class three entities and the proposal was to drop the entry level deputy position down two grades, which would make it completely impossible for him to recruit from the Las Vegas market. What had to be considered, particularly in Pahrump, was it was a metropolitan area of Las Vegas and it had to compete with Las Vegas. As to changing grades, Mr. Kunzi clarified anybody in a position under the contracts could not be demoted. This would be for people coming in on new jobs.

Commissioner Cox

pointed out how the deputy sheriffs here were way underpaid. January 18, 2023 27. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to approve, amend and approve, or reject the proposed objectives to conduct a county-wide Classification and Compensation Study for all Nye County employees-Cont’d.

Commissioner Boskovich

said Human Resources produced a list of all current open positions and there were a lot. He wondered how many of them were because of wages and thought the study was a good idea. Darrell Lackey asked if people knew about the list of empty jobs. Erika Gerling thought this was a good idea. Pat Minshall said Public Information Officer Arnold Knightly did a great job putting this information out there and it was incorrect to say it was not out there. Ammie Nelson added the jobs were posted and she shared them on Facebook. She hoped when the study was done they looked at how many of these positions were overworked and either needed the income raised or the position split. Bill Hockstedler said he was in favor of the study, but he was confused as to whether the results of the study would only attract new people to the County or if it would cover all employees regardless of the department. He said all existing employees needed to be taken care of as well. Jane Good row spoke in favor of the study. Brett Waggoner advised there was a position in his office that had been vacant since February, 2022. Not only could he not fill the position but he could not get a qualified applicant because of the wages. He thought revamping the job descriptions was needed as well. Assessor Sheree Stringer agreed with Mr. Waggoner and was in favor of this study. Mark Kampf agreed job descriptions were critical, but he was concerned about doing comparisons in his organization to the outside world with his job descriptions. He had one job description that covered 11 people, and it did not cover all of the functions some of them performed. Arnold Knightly advised he posted job openings on Facebook and sent out e-mails on a regular basis to the chambers and the towns encouraging them to share and post where possible. There was also a Nye County jobs page. He noted a lot of the jobs posted repeatedly were entry level jobs.

Commissioner Strickland

thought PILT was going to get a little higher due to the increase in population and she did not see that reflected.

Ms. Jordan

advised the County would not received PILT until May, 2023, but it was budgeted at $3.7 million. She did not have the final number yet. Ms. Jordan then noted a few departments were showing over in services/supplies. She explained a lot of contracts were front loaded at the beginning of the year and several projects were also encumbered. Additionally, there was a utility increase that impacted some departments. Tim Bohannon talked about how difficult it was to get to the financial information for the library districts. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 29. For Possible Action Discussion and deliberation to: 1) Approve, amend and approve, or reject the Novation Agreements by Nye County; Societe International de Telecommunications Aeronautigues; and SITA Information Networking Computing USA Inc. for the purpose of transferring rights of the Site Rental Agreements dated November 5, 2019 for radio equipment located at the Beatty and Tonopah Airports; and 2) Execute the Agreements. Contracts and Grants Manager Stephani Elliott explained this was a reorganization of the original contract with no change in costs.

Commissioner Strickland

made a motion to approve and execute; seconded by

Commissioner Carbone

. Purchasing and Contracts Administrator Honey Strozzi advised the County was still doing business with SITA as they were the parent company. There had been no issues with them and she would like to continue doing business with them.

Commissioner Carbone

made a motion to determine the properties served the public purpose to bring them into the County’s possession for the items listed and adopt the resolution; seconded by Commissioner Strickland.

Commissioner Carbone

asked what would happen if the Board did not do this. Natural Resources Director Lorinda Wichman explained there was a potential those patents would be sold to the general public. They were subsurface mining patents and most of them were right down the middle of Main Street in Tonopah.

Commissioner Strickland

did not know if the County could have job fairs or a program for shadowing and thought maybe Nye Communities Coalition would do one.

Commissioner Cox

asked Arnold Knightly to put a list in the newspaper of just the job listings, not a full blown advertisement, with a number for people to call or a Web page they could visit.

Commissioner Carbone

asked staff for an agenda item to remove item 28 from the liaison list and combine it with item 25.

Commissioner Jabbour

reminded everyone to protect their family and friends, conserve water, and spay/neuter their pets.

Commissioner Carbone

advised yesterday the animal shelter dedicated a plaque to Dave Stevens.

Commissioner Cox

said she wanted a plaque put in chambers for Art Jones and she would pay for it, or add his name to the plaque for his wife that was already up. Samantha Tackett advised the Open Meeting Law and Ethics training sessions were scheduled for February 17, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.; February 23, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.; and February 27, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. Those who needed to attend were town board members as well as all public body members appointed by the Board. Brett Waggoner said he scoured the auction list looking for open space properties and there were none. For a future item a discussion could be held on how the County could acquire some of those properties because simply taking them off the tax roll did not give an incentive to get rid of them.

Commissioner Carbone

asked if everyone did their oath of office. Mark Kampf said he checked today and all who were required to do so had submitted their oath. ______________day January 18, 2023 33. ADJOURN

Commissioner Jabbour

adjourned the meeting. APPROVED this ATTEST: Of 2023. I think it was at the last mtg. A comment was made about Pahrump not needing “low income housing”. I don’t know of any town or city that doesn’t need low income housing. The average house in Pahrump is $375,000, the average in LV is $410,000 and in LA $949,00. , ç 14% of Pahrump’s population lives in poverty 40% of seniors rely on SS alone ,the average SS amount is $1 300/month or $1 5,600/yr. In Amargosa almost 46% live in poverty with 27% of seniors living in poverty. I am not talking about the “homeless”here. I also disagree that the “low income housing” that was on the agenda should be just for seniors as seniors don’t want to live with family’s with children, many seniors enjoy having children around, that senior Grandma could make extra money babysitting for that “low income family”. I can see wanting to limit to 2 stories but it’s cheaper to go up than out. I think this needs to be revisited. \\\)_ \S U-\