Reno City Council members, in their first meeting of 2023, approved Stockton Police Deputy Chief Kathryn Nance to become Reno’s next Chief of Police.
Nance will replace Police Chief Jason Soto who, following more than 25 years with the Reno Police Department, announced his retirement effective this month.
Nance has served in various law enforcement roles for 26 years, most recently as the Stockton Police Department Deputy Chief of Operations. Nance also holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education.
Nance will be sworn in as Chief in February.
New sidewalks on the horizon
Council approved a more than $400,000 contract with Sierra Nevada Construction to repair or replace sidewalks throughout the city. The Sidewalk Repair Program oversees sidewalk maintenance and repairs due to damage from age, weather, tree roots, and more.
The project includes 4,550 square feet of sidewalk replacement across over 40 locations.
Sidewalk repair or replacement is separated into priority categories. High priority sections are usually damaged beyond walkability including missing sidewalk sections, large, abrupt vertical changes, and significant displacement of more than one to two inches. Medium priority locations include excessive cracking over 50% of the surface, or displacements larger than ¾ inch.
Pilot Program to allow disabled cycling enthusiasts direct access to trails
A $10,000 grant was approved from the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System to support the city’s Adaptive Cycling Center pilot program.
This summer, Reno’s Adaptive Recreation team is piloting an adaptive cycling center at the Rosewood Nature Study Area, formerly known as the Rosewood Lakes Golf Course.
Rosewood is now a 219-acre wetland habitat being restored by the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (TMPF) with 2.5 miles of trails and connects to the Southeast Connector Trail and the Tahoe-Pyramid Bike Trail.
The program will allow individuals with disabilities access to adaptive bikes at the trail, eliminating the need to transport bikes to the location.
In addition, TMPF submitted a funding request to the Reno Access Advisory Committee (RAAC) to purchase a GRIT Freedom Chair for use at Rosewood. The chair is a “versatile, all-terrain wheelchair which allows users to explore the outdoors,” and is a mix between a manual wheelchair and a mountain bike.
Reno resident and Treasurer of the TMPF James Michael (Jim) Dickey passed away in August 2022. Jim regularly rented the city’s GRIT Freedom Chair, and in his memory his wife, Laura, wanted to raise funds to purchase a GRIT Freedom chair for anyone with a disability to access Rosewood.
The RAAC unanimously recommended council approval of a $2,094 purchase for the GRIT Freedom Chair.
Sewer connection fees to increase
Council approved an increase in sewer connection fees to fund the needed expansions to accommodate growth in the community.
Connection fees were last increased in 2014, during which the average median home price was $240,000. Now, that median has more than doubled to $550,000. Current connection fees are uniform: $6,376 for single family homes and $5,445 for multifamily homes.
The ordinance change sets fees by service area, as well as connection fee rates for residential, industrial and commercial uses. Proposed fees vary by service area: between $12,000 and $15,000 for single family homes, $10,000 to $12,500 for multifamily; and $549 to $673 for commercial.
The estimated generated revenue is more than $30 million in 2024, increasing with inflation to more than $33 million in 2027. For comparison, the fiscal year 2023 revenues with seven months of current sewer connection fee rates and five months with the new fees would be about $12.7 million.
Developers asked that the council consider a “stepped up” fee increase method, which would begin at a lower priced fee in the first year and increase each year following. Under that method, the fee program would generate an estimated revenue of $24 million in 2024, up to $34 million in 2027. Staff did not recommend the stepped method due to the potential for lost revenue – an estimated $12.7 million – and an inability to allow new projects without prior funding to increase sewer capacity.
Two new fee categories have also been established: micro unit fees for residences with less than 15 fixture units and under 600 square feet; and single family residential units with more than 31 fixture units – about the size of a four-bath house.
John Flansberg, regional infrastructure administrator, told council that the development community is supportive of the fee increase.
“The general consensus is that they would like to see the area specific rates and they would like to see the stepped up fee increase,” Flansberg said.
The suggestion to charge more for larger houses, Flansberg said, came from the community after the question of equity was raised.
“The concern is that you could have the owners of those homes contributing more [burden] to the sewer system,” Flansberg said.
Councilmember Jenny Brekhus said that while developer sewer connection fee rates have stayed stagnant since 2014, rates for families have increased twice since 2015.
“The council in July [2015] said they would two step an 8% rate increase, and then they heard from the development community and the construction community: don’t two-step it,” Brekhus said. “So families in 2015 took an 8% hit and then a 7.2% hit while development is standing at 2014 numbers.”
Zoning amendment approved for Golden Valley Commerce Center
A zoning map amendment was approved for the site of the proposed Golden Valley Commerce Center from mixed-use suburban to industrial commercial.
The property is 6.8 acres and located on the southeast side of West Golden Valley Road.
According to Assistant Planner Leah Brock, the mixed-use suburban zoning was not in compliance with the Master Plan, and the switch to industrial commercial was approved by the Planning Commission.
Appointments
- Michael Brown was appointed as the city’s non-elected member of the Washoe County District Board of Health.
- Marie Rodriguez was appointed to the Ward 3 Neighborhood Advisory Board for a term ending Dec. 31, 2025.
- Mallory Johnson (Ward 1), Tori Sunhei (Ward 2) and Steve Shell (Mayoral) were appointed to serve as representatives to the City of Reno Human Rights Commission for terms through Dec. 31, 2025.
- Kathleen Taylor was appointed as member and Miguel Martinez as alternate to the Downtown Reno Business Improvement District Board of Directors for terms through Dec. 31, 2023.
