Library workforce program goes to supervisors

A new workforce development program could land at the Carson City Library depending on what the Carson City Board of Supervisors do Thursday.

The meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. in the board room of the community center, 851 E. William St.

Supervisors have only two items for the regular agenda, and the first is consideration of an interlocal contract between the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the Carson City Library and Carson City “to provide innovative career training, advancement and exploration services within the Carson City Library to Carson City and throughout the state of Nevada,” according to the agenda.

The agreement includes a grant award from GOED to the city of approximately $1.47 million to fund the program. Supervisors will be asked to accept the grant and approve the creation of a grant-funded employee position with the title of senior workforce development professional. If the items area approved, the program would run through Sept. 30. 2026.

A staff report says the program would target underserved populations.

“Carson City and Nevada as a whole face a challenge in reaching populations that lack awareness or accessibility to workforce training,” the report says. “This gap is due to limited resources, information gaps and a disconnect from educational opportunities crucial for professional development. GOED’s Strategic Workforce Program-in-Residence seeks to leverage advanced tools, such as VR (virtual reality), offer innovative career exploration experiences and provide tailored career services at libraries, addressing the unique needs of underserved populations that are traditionally difficult to engage, focusing on minorities, women and reentry youth and adults.”

About $285,000 of the grant is proposed to go toward the new position, $368,333 to subcontracted positions and $350,000 for VR field trips.

“The SWDP (senior workforce development professional) will engage in local and statewide activities aimed at improving labor market literacy, ICM (individual career mapping) and professional development services for library patrons and will dedicate no less than 10 hours per month to the Carson City Library service area, at the library director’s discretion,” the staff report says. “The SWDP will also dedicate approximately 150 hours per month to statewide deployment.”

Supporting documents outlining the scope of the program say the Carson library will be one of two such centers in the state (the other in North Las Vegas). Program proponents hope to create a transformational space.

“Objectives of the agreement involve a multifaceted ICM process,” reads an outline. “It begins with assessing individuals' existing skills, understanding their needs, and creating individual maps with corresponding resources. Incorporating diverse materials, such as virtual reality field trips and job shadowing, specialized assessments, and digital tools to decode existing skills, this combines to foster comprehension of and critical thinking about work within STEM fields. These engaging and interactive methods, including technology, empower adults to develop and then apply labor market literacy skills in real-world scenarios.”

The outline says the program would “serve Nevada’s high growth, STEM sectors.”

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

In other action:

• Supervisors will consider an interlocal agreement between the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public and Behavioral Health and Carson City Health and Human Services for about $262,101.

“The purpose of this funding is for public health improvement in Nevada as set forth by Senate Bill (SB) 118,” according to the agenda. “The bill requires the determination of public health priorities based on an evaluation of the community needs. The 2022 Quad-County Regional Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) defines four priorities which are: (1) Access to basic needs; (2) Access to healthcare for specific populations; (3) Mental and emotional health; and (4) Substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery.”

The funding would stretch two years.

“The total amount of $262,101.18 was split equally among the four categories with the intention of further discussion to take place at the Carson City Board of Health meeting on June 6, 2024,” according to a staff report.

• As part of the consent agenda, supervisors will consider a contract between the city and Pictometry International Corp. doing business as EagleView “to provide aerial imagery and access to cloud based imagery software and archival records (contract) for a term beginning upon signing and ending on Sept. 11, 2031, for a yearly not to exceed amount of $28,595.97, beginning in 2025 and continuing until 2030, for a total not to exceed amount of $171,575.82.”

“Carson City just completed a six-year, three flight contract with EagleView,” reads a staff report. “The Assessor's Office uses the photos to reappraise and discover improvements for property taxes, and other city departments, including the Carson City Fire Department, Sheriff's Office, Public Works Department and Community Development Department, also use the aerial photographs.”

• As part of the consent agenda, supervisors will consider a proposed settlement agreement between Carson City and Maston Crapps and Kathrine Carter (plaintiffs) concerning access to the plaintiff’s parcel along Ash Canyon Road.

According to the agenda, the settlement would mean the parties “agree that the relevant portions of Ash Canyon Road are open for public use; the city will maintain Ash Canyon Road in its current condition on APN 007-610-02 (city parcel); the city will have the right, but not the obligation, to maintain, repair and improve Ash Canyon Road on plaintiffs’ parcel; and the parties will bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs.”

“The city acquired the city parcel in 2011 from the Joost Land & Cattle Co., Inc. (Joost), subject to a 50-year deed restriction that, among other things, provided the city parcel would revert to Joost if the portion of Ash Canyon Road on the city parcel was used as access for development (deed restriction),” according to the agenda. “Plaintiffs purchased plaintiffs’ parcel in May 2022, and submitted a voluntary major project review application to the city’s planning division concerning building a residence on plaintiffs’ parcel.

“In June 2022, the planning division responded to plaintiffs’ major project review application, and that response advised plaintiffs they would need to identify a means of access other than Ash Canyon Road because of the deed restriction. Plaintiffs brought an action against Carson City in August 2022. Subsequently, Joost released the deed restriction and plaintiffs and Carson City were ordered to attend a settlement conference.”

• As part of the consent agenda, supervisors will review a wholesale water rate review agreement “to update the wholesale water rates for Carson City to purchase water from the Town of Minden originally established in a 2017 interlocal agreement between Carson City, Douglas County, Minden and the Indian Hills General Improvement District (2017 agreement) for an estimated increase of $35,000 annually, resulting in a new estimated annual cost of $945,000, during the period of fiscal year (FY) 2025 to FY 2029.”

“The rates are charged per thousand gallons of water delivered. The rates are the cumulative sum of several different categories of costs charged by Minden and Douglas County,” reads a staff report.

The report states the city would see an estimated 3.8 percent annual rate increase. The rate review can be viewed online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2582075/2024-04-22_Wholesale_Water_Rate_Review_Draft1.pdf