County Commissioners met last week in a regular meeting to discuss and reconsider a tentative parceling plan application filed by Dan McCreary and Jessica Stranger for the 80-acre parcel north of Dillon Road near the Sky Ridge development off Roberson Lane. Originally, applicants had proposed to divide the two 40-acre parcels into 16 long, narrow parcels that would have been 5-acre residential lots. However, McCreary asked that they be able to come back to the commission and propose 12 lots that would be better proportioned and provide better access.
The Sky Ridge development is a neighborhood of 1-acre lots on well and septic systems, which are no longer allowed without community sewer, water, and paved roads. Commissioners took no action, and McCreary will com back with a revised plan.
Chairman Pete Olsen said there is a need in our community for housing and, “we want to see good projects that benefit the community.”
Commissioners also heard the annual re- port from Bob Getto, the Public Administrator (PA), who gave a history of his office and a report of the activities for the past year. Getto said that each county has a public administrator responsible for managing the estates of people who die without a will or without a family to dispose of the assets, vehicles, bank accounts, and debts left in accordance with Nevada Revised Statutes.
“Back in the start of time,” said Getto, “Churchill made the decision to have the Public Administrator elected.” Both Washoe and Clark counties have a paid administrative staff of 11 and 9 people, respectively, but ten counties elect their administrator and five run those duties out of their District Attorney’s office.
Getto works with a part-time deputy and a 24-hour answering service along with local mortuaries, attorneys, and contractors who help clean out houses and storage sheds when needed. “If all the family is located out of state and there is no will, they cannot manage the estate according to Nevada Revised Statute,” he said.
The public administrator is paid through a formula established by the NRS and based on the size of the estate. “Levels of probate all have different requirements,” said Getto. He said that after the assets and liabilities are figured, the PA office will receive 4% of the first $15,000, and 3% for the next $85,000. “That’s roughly $600 for 10 months’ worth of work, and there are not a lot of people in this community who have more than $100,000 in assets.”
Currently his office has 64 open cases with 42 estates that have assets and 22 cases where there are no assets and those cases are non-billable. The most important part of his job, according to Getto is transparency. “We have legal representation with every case and an enrolled agent to handle each set books for every decedent, we want full transparency,” he said.
Olsen said he is grateful for the work Getto does because several counties have gotten themselves in trouble over the years with Public Administrators who have been less than scrupulous.
Commissioners also heard a presentation by Joe Lipnickie of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension about the Nevada Economic Assessment Project (NEAP). The Center for Economic Development, along with several other state agencies and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development are sponsoring a statewide initiative with the NEAP to provide local, state, and federal agencies “with quantitative and qualitative baseline data and analyses to better understand trends in each county’s demographic, social, economic, fiscal, and environmental characteristics.” This data is designed to be used for land use decisions, project planning, grant writing, and policy assessment. Both Buddy Borden and Tom Harris are longtime Community Economic Development Extension Specialists. Harris is also the director of the University Center for Economic Development.
Through this process there will be several outcomes, including a Socioeconomic Baseline Report, Impact Analysis Report, and Infographic Fact Sheets that can all be used for various economic development activities. A NEAP program team will spend approximately five months with each county.
Additionally, a report was provided to the commission by Kristine Swallow, the director of Nevada Department of Transportation who presented the NDOT Annual Work Program and asked commissioners to affirm the department priorities for NDOT projects in Churchill County. According to Swallow her department starts with a needs-based analysis across the state, looking at the most critical safety concerns in each community in order to prioritize which projects get completed first. She reported that during the past year, NDOT was able to complete the traffic signal at Highway 50 and Sheckler/Roberson Lane, along with several chip-seal projects and they are currently working on the passing lane project on Highway 95 to Schurz.
At the moment, NDOT has the top two priorities for 2021 as the Sheckler and US 95 Intersection Improvements and the US 50 Turn Lane and Sherman Street/Harrigan Road projects prioritized. Swallow asked commissioners to choose a new number two project, since the Sherman Street project is set to begin soon.
Sheriff Richard Hickox said that he would like to see the US 50 and Gummow Intersection moved up in priority because the speed picks up at that spot and there are more life/injury accidents there.
Commissioner Justin Heath said he feels the US 50 Access at Maverick Gas Station should be a priority. Swallow said the permit for the Maverick project has been submitted and NDOT is evaluating the request, but she is not sure if it can be approved due to the considerations for the travelers on Highway 50.
Comment
Comments