April 10, 2024

Commissioner Lee

stated she submitted a few typographical errors to staff.

Commissioner Lee

stated Commissioner Meredith is absent and Commissioner DeAnda will take over as the Secretary for the meeting.

Mr. Osborne

stated for March total Planning applications received was 175 which was 2 more than last month. Total applications processed was 77 which was 27 less than last month. Building Permits for the month of March single family residential was 34 which was 9 less than the previous month. Multi Family was 0 which was the same as last month. Commercial permits was 12 which was 6 more than last month and total permits all categories was 153 which was 12 more than last month. Total inspections all categories 447 which is 13 less than last month. New Code Compliance complaints received was 57 which was 21 more than last month and closed 39 which was 7 more than last month. Previous items heard by the RPC - ZCMP-23-29 was heard by the RPC and was recommended for approval it was heard by the BOCC on 3/19/24 and was approved. ZCMP-23-35 was heard by the RPC, it was recommended for denial and it was heard by the BOCC on 3/19/24 and it was approved. ZCMP-23-36 was heard by the RPC, it was recommended for approval and heard by the BOCC on 3/19/24 and was approved. ZCMP-24-1 and ZCMP-24-2 were both heard by the RPC and recommended for approval, they will be heard by the BOCC at the 4/16/24 meeting.

Commissioner Turner

recused himself from this item because he has a business relationship as the selling agent. Qiana Medici reviewed her staff report stating this is for a medical waste treatment facility. They reduce medical waste to biochar. This operation requires an approved CUP and Site Development. This location will serve as the current operational feed stock in California as well as generators and transporters of medical waste in other various states. Staff is recommending approval of the application.

Commissioner Lee

asked if there are permitting or authorizations on transporting this across state lines?

Commissioner Hayden

stated she doesn’t see anything about water contamination or soil contamination.

Mrs. Medici

stated they are within the Great Basin Tariff area, and they will address that with the applicant. Mark Fiorentino representing the applicant stated you do have to obtain a permit with DOT and MediWaste already has that. This is an enclosed loop system, there will be no discharge as well as no combustion emissions in the air. This facility was recently operated as a propane facility, there will be no change to the building since the end product, DME that is a fuel additive, is very similar to propane. There is no oxygen in the system, use minimal amount of water because it gets reused back into the system.

Commissioner Koenig

stated it says the people will work between 12-24 hours.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated it means someone will be at the facility 24 hours a day.

Commissioner Koenig

stated the residual biochar will be transported offsite to a landfill that is not ours.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated it will be going to your landfill or it will be recycled and used for other purposes.

Commissioner Koenig

asked what is the cubic feet will be used in the landfill? Ryan Oganesian, President of MediWaste Disposal, stated they will provide 42 cubic enclosed containers that will be a couple tons each month.

Commissioner Koenig

asked how long it will take to fill up a 40 ft container?

Mr. Oganesian

stated once a day or every other day.

Commissioner Lee

asked if they spoke to the landfill operators?

Mr. Oganesian

stated yes, there will be a charge for the loads that go there.

Commissioner Hayden

asked if they would accept waste that has heavy metal in it?

Mr. Oganesian

stated the state of Nevada considers all medical waste trash, which goes to the landfill. Our materials from the California facility are being transported in fully enclosed DOT graded containers.

Commissioner Hayden

asked how it would be transported from the container to the kilns.

Mr. Oganesian

stated the gay lores are forklifted off the loading dock into the building from the 53 footers. They are then loaded into a hopper feeder to pre-sort and make sure nothing has nonconformities inside. It moves into a shredding chamber where the material is then pushed down an ex-chamber and through a granulator that breaks it down. It augers off into the pyrolysis unit, which is automated and knows what to feed at certain times. One on end you have renewable DME being piped down into tanks to sell and on the other end the carbon residual ash is what’s brought to the landfill.

Commissioner Hayden

asked how much is going to be stored on the property before it is moved off? Page 3 of 10

Mr. Oganesian

stated they anticipate being 25-30% of volume capacity weight per month. The capacity is 1.4 million pounds for this system. As for storage there is plenty of space inside and a second building. They can also keep trailers in the yard and plan on processing daily.

Commissioner Hayden

asked in what way could the system fail?

Mr. Oganesian

stated the State of Nevada requires protocols to be put in place in order to get the Air Permit and Sustainability Permit as well as monitoring the facility.

Commissioner Hayden

asked if the material is ash when it’s brought to the landfill?

Mr. Oganesian

stated yes, over 60 % of the weight volume that’s put in the machine will come out as renewable fuel. 20-25% of the material will come out as ash. All material is considered trash today, is permitted to go to the landfill.

Commissioner Hayden

asked if there were buyers for renewable energy and oil?

Mr. Oganesian

stated yes, chemical companies, refineries, propane companies. It’s very similar to propane.

Commissioner Hayden

stated her concern of the ash becoming airborne in the landfill.

Mr. Oganesian

clarified that it is heavier than ash, it’s similar to compost.

Commissioner Hayden

asked how often it is inspected for contaminants or biohazards that are a biproduct?

Mr. Oganesian

stated Cassandra will have to speak on that.

Commissioner Lee

asked if the facility is already operating in California or Texas and Alabama?

Mr. Oganesian

stated Texas and Alabama use other pyrolysis companies. This is a 10-million-dollar project for them and in California they operate many facilities.

Commissioner Lee

asked what are the vapor captures, containment process, is there a blast radius we should be concerned about?

Mr. Fiorentino

stated the risks are similar to propane. The facility is not any more or less dangerous. The biproduct is entirely contained in the system and while being transported to the landfill. It’s much heavier than ash and ultimately it to be compostable. Cassandra Gomez, with Geosyntec Consultants who is the technical advisor, asked if the concerns are with the DME vapors or the facility vapor?

Commissioner Lee

asked if any vapors that are being produced, how are you capturing it? What’s your containment for a fire? What’s the capacity of the oil being stored on site? With DME malfunction, that may result in a fire or explosion?

Ms. Gomez

, the process the heating of waste in the absence of oxygen. Within the system it can’t burn because there is no oxygen. If it’s exposed to air, it would cool down rapidly because of the heating system used. Traditional heating, burning fossil fuels and generating heat, this uses unique electric heating, and the waste won’t combust if exposed to air. Additionally, the DME is not interacting with the heating portion of the system. It would be generated from the same gas that is coming from the pyrolysis reactor and it will be stored separately with the sustainability permit through NDEP. Initially, the system will not store more than 10,000 lbs. of DME on site to limit the risk of fire and explosion. Additional measures will be implemented when the facility decides to move beyond 10,000 lbs. and then enters into the CAP program.

Commissioner Lee

asked if they have read, understood, and agree to the conditions. Page 4 of 10

Mr. Waggoner

stated they do have some modifications that would like to suggest for conditions. Brian Kunzi, DA stated they would like to replace Item #7 to read the applicant will submit SDP applications for future expansion, additions, or modification to the site.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated that is fine, for clarification if they change the building, to make bigger want to change the tank storage form where it is to somewhere else, they would need to submit to Planning. Brian Kunzi stated to add Condition #9 stating the applicant is required to submit all permits required for the transportation, processing or disposal of any waste material.

Commissioner Carbone

stated there should be a plan for the traffic count coming in from California. Will they be coming in from anywhere else?

Mr. Fiorentino

stated they might.

Commissioner Carbone

stated they need to make sure the roads are being maintained properly with the heavier trucks. And to know exactly what you are doing and the capacity going into the landfill. Nobody picks up medical waste here.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated there seems to be a fair amount of truck traffic going in and out of there.

Commissioner Carbone

stated not as much as you think.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated he does not know how to condition around that.

Commissioner Carbone

stated they need to maintain the structure of the roads and how many truck loads you’re bringing in.

Mr. Oganesian

stated in a month at full capacity probably 30-40 truckloads.

Commissioner Carbone

stated that’s considerably more than what was coming out of that building before.

Mr. Fiorentino

stated that’s a truck and a quarter a day. The area is master planned and zoned and being developed for heavy industrial uses. The roads need to be able to sustain the traffic going in and out of there.

Commissioner Carbone

stated correct, and as they are built, they will do impact fees for that area.

Mr. Waggoner

asked if there are specific routes for the trucks to take to get to Pahrump.

Mr. Oganesian

stated he doesn’t think so since it’s not hazardous material.

Commissioner Tyler

stated there was previously an approved propane facility there. The location has a low caloric value, so it is less flammable, degradable in the atmosphere, not a greenhouse gas, and has lower explosive component. If approved, we would allow something less explosive than what was previously permitted in that location.

Mr. Kunzi

stated there could be issues with the roads, if they expand the facility he asks they add a requirement to do a Site Development Agreement to do that.

Commissioner Hayden

stated the landfill is being filled with materials from California. How fast is it going to fill up and does the town have the resources to have a secondary landfill?

Mr. Fiorentino

stated there is a 40-year expectancy with the Landfill.

Commissioner Tyler

stated C&S Waste should be the one to answer that question.

Commissioner Carbone

stated as he mentioned earlier, they will take a look at the County landfill. Adding a new piece of property to that landfill is expensive.

Commissioner Hayden

asked when that comes into the process.

Commissioner Carbone

stated it will all be included in the Planning stages. Tyler Mulvey stated the last survey said 20-year max. As the population grows so does the landfill. Expanding the landfill expensive, the county does not have that right now. We are trying to increase fees.

Mr. Waggoner

stated in his opinion, you are holding up a business from opening due to the unknown with the landfill, which is something that has to be monitored. This property is zoned correctly and requires a CUP.

Mr. Kunzi

stated there is an ethics restriction that you can’t represent or act as an agent for a board you are on. He has concerns about the way the items are written. He is recommending continuing the item.

Commissioner Turner

recused himself because he is the agent for the property owners.

Mrs. Marshall

stated the May date was referencing the BOCC meeting that it would have been approved on and 6 months after that date. We can change that to make it clearer.

Commissioner Lee

asked if we should change the date to 6 months after approval or take it away?

Mr. Waggoner

clarified it needs to say after zone change, if approved by the BOCC on the May 21st agenda.

Mrs. Medici

reviewed her staff report stating staff is recommending approval of the applications. Nick Schroeder, applicant, stated Brian Hobbs will be doing a presentation and answer any questions. Brian Hobbs, property owner, stated this will be an unoccupied utility building for private communication network, fiberoptics backbone that runs data transport from Pahrump to Silver Springs NV. Unmanned site estimated 1 trip a month for maintenance. The facility will be unoccupied and monitored 24/7. Security on the fence, doors, and gates. Vacant parcel but electric.

Commissioner Turner

asked if there will be additional uses in the future to this parcel?

Mr. Hobbs

stated the facility is only for underground fiberoptics lines. If the facility were to be filled out in capacity, the site is designed to place a second building in the compound to accommodate that.

Commissioner Turner

asked in 15 years, would this remain a bare lot or could a secondary building be placed?

Mr. Hobbs

, stated on the site plan located in the East corner, there is designated location for a secondary building.

Commissioner Tyler

asked how the fiber gets to the facility?

Mr. Hobbs

stated the utilities run in the ROW.

Commissioner Lee

asked if it is currently in place?

Mr. Hobbs

stated no, another group does fiberoptics in which most of it is in BLM land that’s currently under review and approval.

Commissioner Lee

asked if they have read, understood, and agreed to the conditions in the staff report?

Mrs. Medici

reviewed her staff report stating staff is recommending approval of the applications.

Commissioner Lee

asked for clarification on Condition #5, applicant must provide copy of Business License from TOP within 30 days of the BOCC Zone Change approval. But condition #16 states property owner must apply for SD within 6 months of the date of approval of the CUP. But also states applicant will obtain approved SD before any activity can take place on the property. As long as they turn in their Business License within 30 days, they can operate before the SD is approved?

Mr. Waggoner

stated absolutely. Condition #16 is the same verbiage. Condition #5 should change to apply within 30 days of the BOCC approval to applying immediately upon the approval of the CUP. Temporary approval pending the BOCC final approval. Mona Lisa Dickerson, property owner, purchased property with the intent of doing something there and thought it was NC. Apologized for not knowing, otherwise they wouldn’t have moved forward. The previous building was a car lot and now wanting to use it for body art.

Commissioner Lee

asked if they have read, understood, and agreed to the conditions in the staff report? Monda Lisa Dickerson stated yes.

Mr. Osborne

stated last month talked about bylaws. Clarified the DA’s office will be modifying and amending them.