Water bills, GBAC donation and building project highlight commission meeting

Here are highlights from the April 30 county commission meeting.

Natural Resource director update

Jake Tibbitts, Natural Resource director, reported at the county commission meeting that he was headed to Carson City for meetings related to water legislation, specifically AB14 and SB36 tied to water retirement. 

Tibbitts pointed out an op-ed by second-generation Diamond Valley farmer Denise Moyle in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, advocating for the bills to be passed. 

In the article, Moyle said, “A groundwater rights retirement program can help producers while also conserving water in the nation’s driest state. I urge support of SB36 and AB104. By balancing the needs of communities, agriculture and the environment, a groundwater rights retirement program can be another tool to help us achieve a more sustainable future for water in Nevada and, in turn, benefit all Nevadans.”

Tibbitts is also following AB419 related to water applications. He noted the bill moved forward from committee without recommendation and is being kept alive for discussion. 

Tibbitts attended a hearing later in the day in Carson City for AB429, a bill clarifying the use of conservation easements. He also attended the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council Meeting April 17 with the primary discussion being on how the state can find alignment with BLM’s final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

Tibbitts has been working for the past couple of weeks on the South Railroad Mine Project, which has an imminent deadline for site reports and comments. The Cooperating Agency draft of the project’s EIS will be available for review soon.

Tibbitts has also been working on Eureka County’s comments as a Cooperating Agency on the Crescent Valley Geothermal Project preliminary Environmental Assessment. 

Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, Tibbitts will be attending the Firewise Events in Eureka and Crescent Valley at their respective fairgrounds. Smokey the Bear hot air balloon rides will be given, weather permitting. 

The Conservation District meeting is May 7, and the Natural Resource Advisory Committee will meet May 14. 

Tibbitts said the US Forest Service has finalized prescribed fire and restoration guidelines and land use plans to reintroduce fire into ecosystems. Tibbitts said, “There was no indication they were even moving forward with it, and all of the sudden we received this decision.” 

A concern is deferred grazing, which could cause livestock grazing to be kept off for a very long time. Rather than object, Tibbitts intends to address problems “on a project-by-project basis.”

SB116 update

Chairman Rich McKay asked if there was an update on SB116 related to elected officials’ salaries and was informed the legislation presently sets the COLA increase for elected officials at 2 percent a year. SB116 will set a new base salary based on the consumer price index, which would entail about a 23 percent increase to catch up. The bill has been assigned to Government Affairs in the Assembly. 

IT update

Misty Rowley, IT director, has been working with fiber networks. She started the Exchange Migration Project and has worked on an issue with recent updates. She is continuing to work on the SMART Project, the May newsletter and social media. Rowley is currently recommending a seven-year retention policy for county emails. 

GBAC update

On behalf of the Great Basin Children’s Advocacy Center (GBAC), Elko County District Attorney Tyler Ingram thanked the commission for Eureka County’s previous donation of $100,000, which was used to get the architectural design done and was “key to us getting the $5 million” to build the center. 

The GBCAC is almost entirely funded by grant funds, except for Eureka and White Pine Counties’ donations, and focuses on Lander, Eureka, White Pine and Elko Counties. In the last year, it handled seven Eureka County cases. One of the main components focused on is mental health for children and families, with trained on-site counselors available four days a week for five hours. Comfortable interview rooms help children feel safe. The GBCAC also provides services for children who have threatened suicide. 

With Nevada Gold Mines’ assistance, the GBCAC is expanding services for first responders, including law enforcement and EMS so if “they experience a traumatic event, they have access to mental health counselors specifically trained to provide that type of service.”

Elko County pays for salaries and facility maintenance. The GBCAC recently got a $700,000 grant that covers sexual assault services and has a nonprofit that assists in fundraising. 

As well as three interview rooms, there is an observation room where staff can sit and provide feedback to the interviewer. In addition, the center has a courtyard that is secured and under video surveillance. School supplies, clothing, blankets, toiletries and educational resources are provided to children and families as needed.

The center has a doctor and nurse practitioner who can do examinations and dispense medications on-site to sexually assaulted victims who potentially contracted STDs. 

In 2024, the GBCAC conducted 129 child forensic interviews, 11 medical exams and 301 mental health sessions with 88 families receiving victim advocate services. 

The commissioners agreed to once again make a $100,000 donation, but in the future may consider donating a smaller amount.

EMS director Nichole Cooley said she looks forward to Eureka EMS utilizing the GBCAC service.

Sheriff’s Office update

Undersheriff Charles Cobb gave the Sheriff’s Office update, noting he was appointed as undersheriff last week, with former undersheriff deputy Tyler Thomas remaining on board and working out of Crescent Valley. Cobb said there were no major cases to report and noted the Crescent Valley marijuana case continues to be worked on. Cobb said it’s “not looking like a cartel problem.” 

There are three people in custody in White Pine and one in Lander County. The Sheriff’s Office is still hiring for a sergeant and deputy position.

EMS update

Director Cooley introduced the new Eureka EMT, Griffin Bussian. The EMS service had a very busy April, with five Eureka ambulance calls for service, six Eureka MedEx calls, four Crescent Valley ambulance calls for service and four CV MedEx runs.

Cooley related they are working on clean up and organization at both stations. The scheduled EMS classes had to be cancelled due to instructor illness and have been rescheduled to May 19. Cooley is working to standardize the rigs so equipment is in the same spot on all ambulances. 

The service has seen two critical calls in the past 45 days.

EMS is putting energy into community outreach, training and recruitment to let the public know they have new members and people can feel confident in calling 911. The EMS service will be at Firewire this weekend with goodie bags and the ambulances so children can explore the rigs.

New medical director

On Sunday, April 27, Cooley met with new medical director Dr. Martin Larsen. Dr. Larsen, who is from Utah, is also serving as an emergency room doctor for William Bee Ririe in Ely. Cooley said they talked about how the county’s EMS protocols had not been kept up to state or national standards. Larsen is reviewing the new protocols recently adopted by Elko County, and Eureka EMS protocols will be completely revamped accordingly. 

Cooley related that while MedEx is “done as of this month,” they are willing to do a Memorandum of Understanding and come 10 days a month. This will help mitigate burnout for staff and volunteers. 

McCuin Construction awarded bid

Notice was given that sealed bids for the Snow Removal Equipment Storage Building & Windsocks Project were received on or before 11 a.m. on April 29 at the Eureka County Courthouse. Bids were opened and read alphabetically at 11:05 a.m. in the commission chambers so the commissioners could consider awarding the contract on the same day.

The first bid from McCuin Construction was for $1,299,261.37. The second, from Peabody Construction, was for $1,419,035.00, and the third, from Sierra Nevada Construction, was for $1,496,007.00. All three bids were deemed substantially compliant and accepted by the commissioners. After review by Public Works and the county engineer, the bid was awarded by the commissioners to McCuin Construction.

Public Works update

Public Works Director Jeb Rowley gave a quick rundown, relating there are staff vacancies in the Road Department both north and south. With a 7,000- foot runway, a taxiway, four overlays and the windsock area, there are a lot of funds being expended for weed control at the airport. The road crew is blading out at Roberts Creek, Tonkin Springs and Fish Creek Road. In the north they are working on the lower half of Maggie Creek, all of Palisade, and will be starting on the area around Barth. Cattle guards on Frenchie Road down to the Frenchie pond have been cleaned out and repaired. 

Rowley said there has been increased disposal to the landfill from project work at the Horse Canyon area. They got five 30-yard roll-offs in two days, equivalent to 150 yards of solid waste. Rowley said, “That’s almost half of our monthly volumes on average, so we could be seeing some impacts to the landfill from some of these mining projects that are taking off, and we’ll watch that and keep an eye on it.”

Rowley said, “Mt. Rose is making progress on the clinic and Opera House heating system installations.”

There was a setback with the Eureka Clinic x-ray install. Additional equipment will be needed to accommodate the 480 voltage on the x-ray machine. Rowley said there needs to be a transformer and the setback stems from the pre-install inspection. They’re working with Philipps on managing overage costs. That has pushed completion out a month. The old x-ray machine is out and there can be no x-rays at the clinic until the new machine is operational.

The Crescent Valley backup generator is back online.

The Diamond Valley Volunteer Fire Department is under ISO review. 

The preseason fire meeting with BLM, NDF and the Forest Service took place April 30. Rowley related that the Beowawe and Dunphy Fire Departments responded to a structure fire from coal dust at the TS Power Plant April 22. The cause is assumed to be spontaneous combustion in the bag room and “had the potential for a major incident” but “there was a good response from our volunteer departments” as well as the Cortez Mine EMTs. 

Dunphy Station is close and was first on scene. There was also a transformer fire in the Third Street area of Eureka.

As fire season begins, Rowley has been getting reports from NDF and Elko County about controlled burns escaping due to winds. He said, “Defensible space is going to be something to be mindful of this season for sure.”

Rowley will be attending the Central Nevada Health District budget workshop in Fallon on May 29. 

Water meters are being read in Eureka and the bulletproof wall insulation is underway at the Sheriff’s Office, as is the Crescent Valley water line at Airport in Eureka.

Rowley praised Jayme Halpin, Assistant Public Works Director, for bringing in $1,548,000 in funding for flood recovery. With Halpin coordinating, the county is seeing a 75 percent recovery of the expenses associated with the 2023 flood. 

Commissioner approvals

• The Agenda notice;
• Expenditures of $1,079,450.73;
• Appointing Clint Willis, who recently purchased the Colonnade Hotel, to the vacant seat on the Eureka County Recreation Board for the Motel Seat;
• Waiving the rental fee of the Opera House for the memorial service of Connie Hicks, a long-time resident of Eureka County, held March 8, 2025;
• A proclamation in support of May 2025 as Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month;
• A grant of $25,000 to the Eureka Conservation District to be used for match towards various conservation projects benefiting Eureka County citizens and natural resources;
• Purchase of two hospital beds in the amount of $3,700.00 invoiced to the county by Genesis Home Health/Hospice/Personal Care to be paid out of Genesis Home Health’s budget;
• A request to renew and continue Eureka County support by providing a contribution in the amount of $100,000.00 for GBCAC services provided throughout Northeastern Nevada;
• Per NRS 361.5607, designating personal property accounts (CM 320 – $11.23, CM 437 – $17.11,  MH 77 – $29.45) as uncollectible, authorizing the treasurer and assessor to deactivate the accounts and remove the delinquent bills from the unsecured tax roll;
• Updates to the pre- and post-trial supervision officer/bailiff job description;
• A hiring freeze waiver for a pre- and post-trial supervision officer/bailiff position;
• Authorizing the Justice Court to sign, outside of the commission meeting, a one-year equipment lease and service agreement with GEOSATIS, INC., for the use of GEOSATIS GPS monitoring bracelets;
• Aladtec TCP scheduler for 24/7 public safety shift scheduling software for a one-time fee of $1,194.75 and a recurring fee of $2,400.00 annually;
• A lease with D & D Rentals LLC for $1,000.00/month for temporary EMS rental housing in Crescent Valley, payable by the Eureka County EMS budget;
• Ratifying final costs for rehabilitation of Municipal Water Well #2 in Diamond Valley, for a combined total expense of $352,463.35.