More conservation easements approved

The Churchill County Commissioners approved at their Thursday meeting to purchase a conservation easement from Storm’s Oasis Dairy, LLC.

County Manager Eleanor Lockwood said it is an approved sending site. She said the easement on the property and development rights transferred to designated receiving sites would preserve agriculture and facilitate Naval Air Station Fallon’s plan to minimize urban growth on lands surrounding the base.

“This purchase meets county Transfer of Development Rights program goals,” Lockwood said.

Storm’s Oasis Dairy opted for alternative two of the appraisal, Lockwood said, which include 300 acres of water rights in the easement, while allowing management’s current practice of filing an annual temporary change application with the State Engine on the remaining 74.76 acres of water rights.

“The property owner has agreed to donate 10 percent of the value of the conservation easement purchase, thus eliminating the county’s portion of the purchase price,” she said.

The estimated total cost is $900,000 plus closing costs. The Navy will pay 90 percent and the other 10 percent will be donated by the property owner, Lockwood said.

“Avoiding these expenditures will support the TDR program for Churchill County, protect productive agriculture land and reduce the ability for urban growth to encroach upon NAS Fallon,” she said.

Lockwood said reduction of encroachment upon NAS Fallon will protect one of the community’s most important economic assets.

“The TDR program offers community benefit and potentially facilitates the ability of developers to bear some of the fiscal responsibility of urban growth,” she said.

The action was passed across the board; however, commissioner Bus Scharmann was not present for that portion of the meeting.

Other items the commissioners approved and or discussed include the following:

Approved the contract between Newlands Water Protective Association and Churchill County for services for the contract period of April 2 through April 2, 2017.

Approved using Frank Woodliff for pre-construction services on the Senior Center Construction project.

Approved to appoint Rebecca Taylor to serve a four-year term on the Churchill County Library Board from April 1 to March 31, 2019.

Approved the negotiated bargaining agreement between Churchill County and the Churchill County Sheriff’s Deputies’ Association, effective for fiscal years 2016-2018.

Discussed the responsibilities of Public Administration.

Approved three requests and authorized the purchase of one year of Public Employees Retirement System from Sharon Chicvara, Ron Rudden and Carl Heck.

Approved Patti Lingenfelter’s request for the county to purchase 22 months of PERS service credit, while Lingenfelter purchased nine months.

Approved Resolution 09-2015 declaring a 1994 Ford F-150 pick-up truck formerly used by the Fire Department as surplus property and granting said vehicle to the City of Fallon for use.

Approved the submittal to Nevada Department of Transportation for FTA 5311 Funds for fiscal year 2015-2016 in the amount of $404,900 for the period of Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016. This is an 80/20 percent match for administration, 95/5 percent match for vehicle maintenance and 60/40 percent match for operational expenses grant.

Approved proposals for the Churchill County Detention Center construction project and publish the request for proposal in accordance to NRS statue.

Approved the RFP for the detention center project as the approved form for future capital projects that utilize the Construction Manager at Risk delivery method.

Approved to appoint Pete Olsen, Cliff Van Woert, Ben Shawcroft, Ben Trotter, Eleanor Lockwook and Marty Ugalde to serve on the CMAR selection panel and authorize this panel to review and rank the applicants, interview the highest two-five ranked applicants and make a final recommendation to the board to enter into negotiations with highest ranked applicants.

Approved county manager to review and determine any protests to the proposed award of CMAR contract.