Commissioners award construction bid

Churchill County commissioners at their first monthly meeting on Thursday awarded a construction bid for the William N. Penington Life Center to Ferguson Construction.

The new senior center will be located adjacent to the north side of the museum.

Bids for the project opened on Jan. 19 with the lowest of nine bids coming from Ferguson Construction, followed by Bison Construction and Building Solutions Inc. Comptroller Alan Kalt said the bids had to be verified before the actual awarding was completed and then presented to the county commissioners.

The big was awarded to Ferguson for a commission of $3,464,000, including other amenities such as operable partitions and landscaping that totaled to a commission of $3,666,600 for the center.

Kalt said construction could begin within the next 45 days, and the goal is to have the facility open for the holidays.

In addition, the commissioners officially declared this week to be Big Horn Sheep Week.

The week is in honor of the once widespread big horn sheep population formerly found in the mountain ranges in Nevada.

While this area’s population was nearly decimated in the early 1900s, Churchill County will, at the end of Big Horn Sheep Week, be holding a fund raising banquet on Feb 20 to contribute to the survival of the species and the surrounding environment.

In old business, the commissioners approved a contract for professional services between Churchill County and Central Nevada Geographic Information System (GIS) and Cartography Services to collect and process field data on roads in Churchill County that qualify for an RS-2477 assertion.

The commissioners were unified in support of issuing a contract to Jerry Elkins from Central Nevada GIS whom has presented in many past meetings on the progress of RS-2477 roads in Fallon.

When public comment arose, however, county resident Jim Falk was present at the meeting and said he was concerned in glancing through the proposal as it stands, which he said did not include anything outstanding about rights of way.

“RS-2477 shouldn’t just pertain to roads,” Falk said, “and I believe the county’s efforts should include the full quarter around, three miles wide, over which cattle used to be driven.”

Falk noted that although resident Bob Clifford, who had attended the last county commission meeting on a separate matter, could not be there at this meeting, the two and others were working on a compelling case to expand the RS-2477 policy beyond the paved roads.

The contract, as it was approved, is not to exceed $20,000 in the 2016 fiscal year.

Commissioners also discussed or took action on the following items:

Passed a motion to request a transfer of funds to the Churchill County Road Department for first and final payment on the Various FY 2016 Road and Bridge Projects.

Passed a proposal from Johnson-Perkins-Griffin Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants to provide appraisal services for conservation easements on various properties owned by the Nygren family.

The approximate property owned includes seven parcels of land. Churchill County High School’s Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher Steve Johnson was selected for the appraisal.

Passed a motion for the submittal of a request for funding to the Carson Water Subconservancy District (CWSD) for ongoing Dixie Valley Water Level monitoring, high altitude precipitation gauge data collection, weather station servicing, and stream gauge monitoring.

County Manager Eleanor Lockwood recommended Churchill County bring an amount from $5,000-8,000 to match this fund, also approved by the commissioners.