Churchill County Commissioners approved the performance evaluation of County Manager Jim Barbee, along with a step increase in his salary last week, after hearing a presentation from Barbee about the activities of his office and the county staff over the past year.
Barbee said under the category of housing, which was one of the main targets given to him upon his hiring in May of 2018, "We have had two planned unit developments that have passed through the process, both of those combined are well over 1,000 dwellings so they are very significant. We are hopeful within the next six months we will start seeing some groundwork out on Coleman."
He said under economic development two significant projects have yet to be announced publicly, that will add significant jobs into the community, "and will kick off economic development in a portion of the community that is ripe and ready for expansion."
The Rafter 3C was brought fully operational this year and Barbee said the prediction was a $4.5 million economic impact from the facility to the community. "To date, not quite a full year, we have right at $8 million in economic development impacts. We continue to reinforce that the calculator we use in that process is very conservative, but we really believe it is making a greater impact than that."
With the finalization of the National Defense Authorization Act, which brought 14,000 acres in direct conveyance to the county, plus checkerboard lands that will be used for economic development. "There are also 6,892 acres that will be used for everything from gravel pits to future substations for fire and police," said Barbee.
Additionally, Barbee said there will be an event called the Rafter 3C Summer Gathering – 15 days of Western heritage events and activities starting in the middle of June with some events having 400-500 different contestants each day, coming from across the country. "That will bring a huge impact, and we need to let businesses know that they need to be prepared during that timeframe to have more stuff in stock," he said.
He also said the county is very close to opening the second building at the Cottage School that is used for the CARES childcare program.
"There has been plenty of emergency response this year," said Barbee. He talked about the opening of the weir in early March which was built in 2017 for the flood response, and the efforts that have been taken to mitigate potential flooding this year.
The Central Nevada Health District is close to being completed and work continues to move forward. There are also several infrastructure projects underway including the new CAPS building, the rehabilitation of the Dodge Building on S. Maine Street costing $9 million, the plan and design of the new courthouse at the cost of $14.9 million, the expansion of the district attorney’s office into the old CC Communications building, and the expansion of the sheriff’s office.
The redundant well has been completed, and preliminary engineering on the new water plant that could be placed at the golf course has been completed, with potential funding through the congressional delegation.
Barbee also explained the potential funding through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act for three projects that will be submitted to that funding source, in the amount of nearly $50 million.
Three projects were funded last year through what Barbee called earmarks that were approved by the federal government. The projects included $3 million for the effluent water storage tank, $4 million for the Moody Lane connector from Coleman up to Moody, across Rice Road, and the $20 million that was obligated through the National Defense Authorization Act.
Commissioner Bus Scharmann said that he appreciated the work Barbee had done to bring on Kai Anderson in Washington D.C. "That was a great move, he had worked for Senator Reid and he really knows the system. And the other great move was bringing on Bruce Breslow for economic development."
Human Resources Director Geof Stark presented the results of the annual performance evaluation of the county manager, which according to the Nevada Revised Statute must be done in an open session. The evaluation forms were completed by the commissioners in preparation for the meeting and Stark shared that each ranking has a point value from 1 – unsatisfactory and 5 – excellent. In the category of Job Knowledge Barbee received a 5.0, Interactions and Communications a 4.67, Job Productivity a 5.0, Planning a 5.0, Public Relations a 4.0, Work Environment and Safety a 5.0, and the Overall Performance rating was a 5.0. "Based on that he would be eligible for a step increase that would occur on May 21," said Stark.
Commissioners approved the evaluation and a step increase to Step 10 of Grade 92, effective May 21, 2023. According to the Churchill County Grade and Step Pay Plan for Fiscal Year 22-23, that amount is $179,504 annually. Barbee also receives a car allowance of $7,200.
Stark added that Barbee has an open-door policy, and any member of the public can stop by with questions or to express areas of concern.
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