Supervisors hear special event policy, health insurance plan

The Carson City Board of Supervisors will review health insurance contracts for city employees and a policy update for special events before convening as the Liquor and Entertainment Board on Thursday.

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

“In 2023, the city implemented certain policies related to special events including street closures, the use of electricity and electrical equipment, property damage, trash collection and toilets, bleachers and stages and McFadden Plaza,” reads the agenda. “The Board of Supervisors will consider the past years’ experience applying the test policy and whether to approve the proposed special event policy.”

According to a memo by Community Development Director Hope Sullivan, in 2023, there were 55 special event permits issued.

“By way of comparison, in 2022 there were 61 special event permits issued and in 2019, there were 69 special event permits issued,” Sullivan wrote.

Data for 2020 and 2021 was not provided due to the COVID-19 pandemic and events cancelled during that time, the memo said.

“In 2023, 12 of the special events had street closures,” Sullivan wrote. “In 2022, 24 of the special events had street closures. In 2019, 18 of the special events had street closures,” Sullivan wrote.

Ten events in 2023 had anticipated attendance of more than 1,000 people, including the Silver and Snowflakes Festival of Lights, Nevada Day Parade, Brewery Arts Center Levitt Amp Concerts, Capital City Brewfest, Taste of Downtown and others, according to the memo.

The proposed policy for special events addresses issues like street closures, use of city electricity, property damage, trash collection and specific protocols for use of McFadden Plaza downtown.

The full memo on the policy can be viewed online: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2494539/Special_Event_Memo_3.12.24.pdf.

In other action:

• Supervisors will review health, dental and life insurance contracts as part of city employee benefits.

Rate increases in health insurance through a one-year renewal with Anthem are proposed.

“Anthem initially proposed a 9.5% rate increase when approached about renewal, and after negotiations agreed to reduce the increase to 7.5% for the PPO plan and 6.91% for the high deductible plan,” reads a staff report. “There is one change to the existing benefits: the annual deductible under the high deductible plan will increase from $3,000 to $3,200, which Anthem reports is due to an IRS compliance requirement.”

Dental insurance through Renaissance was also proposed to increase 4 percent for a one-year contract “with an option for the city to extend coverage by an additional year during which any rate increase would be capped at 6%,” according to the report.

Life insurance benefits through Kansas City Life would not increase in a two-year renewal.

According to a fiscal impact statement, “Finance budgeted for a 7.5% increase to benefits in the Fiscal Year 2025 tentative budget.”

• Supervisors will convene as the Liquor and Entertainment Board and hear an appeal by Chandan Mehta for a packaged liquor license with Mehta as the liquor manager for Janu Enterprises doing business as Lucky Market 2 located at 262 W. Winnie Lane.

On Feb. 7, the liquor hearings officer denied the requested license, according to a staff report.

“On Oct. 23, 2023, the applicant applied for a packaged liquor license,” reads the report. “The application was necessary because of a change of ownership of the business, a convenience store selling tobacco, alcohol, beverages, snacks and other convenience items.”

Background checks conducted by the Carson City Sheriff’s Office are routine for liquor license applications. In this case, in a Jan. 30 letter, CCSO did not recommend approval of the license due to a Dec. 14, 2023, citation against Mehta for selling alcohol to a minor.

“Also on Jan. 30, 2024, the court in Mr. Mehta's misdemeanor case entered a diversion order, whereby the charge against Mr. Mehta will be dismissed if he takes an alcohol compliance training class (he has taken this class), pays a fine and has no complaints regarding alcohol compliance for a year,” reads the staff report.

In a letter received by the city on Feb. 12, Mehta apologized for the December incident saying a personal call bearing bad news distracted him from his work duties at that time.

“I know this offense is serious and should not have been done,” Mehta said. “I have taken steps to prevent this from happening in the future. I have attended my court date and paid a fine and complied with the legal system.”