August 12, 2024, Sparks City Council Meeting Highlights

Contact:
Julie Duewel
Community Relations Manager
[email protected]
(775) 353-7894

Sparks, NV - The following are highlights from the August 12, 2024, Sparks City Council Meeting.

Announcements, Presentations, Recognition Items, and Items of Special Interest:

• City Manager Dion Louthan announced two vacancies on the Sparks Building Code Board of Appeals, each for two-year terms. The first vacancy is for an electrical engineer or electrical contractor and the second is for a structural/civil engineer. Each must have at least 10 years of experience, five years being responsible charge of work. Applications will be accepted until August 29, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. and can be found at cityofsparks.us/getinvolved.
• Community Relations Manager Julie Duewel gave a presentation about TreeMendous Sparks, a City partnership with Moana Nursery to offer residents a free tree. Three hundred total vouchers are available to residents of Sparks, 100 in August, 100 in September, and 100 in October. The August vouchers have all been claimed. The next 100 vouchers will be available beginning September 16. More information can be found at cityofsparks.us/treemendoussparks.
• Mayor Ed Lawson proclaimed August 12, 2024, as Secret Witness Day to bring awareness to the valuable contributions of the Secret Witness Program for Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County.
• Director of Public Safety Dispatch for the City of Reno, Cody Shadle, gave a progress update on the regional Hexagon Unified Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management Suite software replacement project.

General Business

Council approved:

• The Community Services Director's recommendation to appoint Edward Davis as the commercial construction representative on the Sparks Enterprise Fund Advisory Committee for a four-year term ending July 1, 2028.
• The $40,000 grant program contract, with the City of Sparks's share being $20,000, with City of Reno and Silver State Fair Housing Council to provide fair housing outreach, community education, and increase public awareness of fair housing rights.
• A not to exceed $86,768.00 grant program contract with the Eddy House to provide Community Development Block Grant funds to support their provision of shelter and services to youth experiencing homelessness in Washoe County.

Public Hearing and Action Items Unrelated to Planning and Zoning

Council held public hearings and approved:

• A resolution authorizing the transfer of $3,504,631.08 from the City's 2024 Private Activity Bond Capacity allocation to the Nevada Housing Division, and $3,504,631.09 to the Nevada Rural Housing Authority to be used toward affordable housing programs.
• The bill draft request to amend Nevada law authorizing the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County to create a toll road demonstration project for the La Posada Drive to USA Parkway Connection, enter into one or more public-private partnerships to design, construct, develop, finance, operate, or maintain the demonstration project, issue certain bonds or notes to finance the demonstration project and direct the City Manager to draft and submit potential bill language.