Reno City Council members on Wednesday approved more than $23 million in requests for federal funding to cover ambulance transport, both to cover costs for services already provided and for another four years. The council also approved phase two funding of $35 million for the Moana pool.
The ambulance support funding is provided through the Ground Emergency Medical Transport (GEMT) grant program which reimburses private and public emergency medical services agencies through Medicaid funds.
The Reno Fire Department requested $3.3 million in reimbursement funding for the current GEMT agreement to cover transports that took place in 2021. The extra funding would be added to $1.45 million already contracted through the program.
In addition, RFD requested the agreement for 2024-2027 be set at $20 million.
Both items were approved by council and will allow the city to collect the total reimbursement for the “uncompensated care costs incurred for eligible Medicaid transports,” according to Fire Chief Dave Cochran.
The cost settlements from the federal government far exceeded expectations, due in part to an estimate based on reported transport trips in 2019 and 2020. There has been an increase of more than 100 transports since 2020, and in 2020 the city received a Medicaid reimbursement of $639,954.72.
“This [reimbursement program] has been pending for a while,” Cochran said. “The first claim is actually dating back to 2020, and these are for services we’ve been providing. It’s worth noting we have a mutual aid agreement with REMSA for transport that’s been in effect since 2016 so this is nothing new […] but we finally qualify for these reimbursements.”
While the city qualifies for GEMT funds, REMSA and other ambulance agencies do not. Washoe County Manager Eric Brown on Wednesday said the county would also look at GEMT funds to cover EMS transport costs.
According to Cochran, Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for low-income individuals in the U.S., and provides free health insurance to more than 700,000 Nevadans. 
Moana Springs begins phase 2
City engineer Justin George provided council members an update on the construction of the Moana Springs Community Aquatics and Fitness Center. He asked for approval of a contract amendment with CORE Construction for phase 2. The second phase is estimated to cost $34 million, bringing the total approved for the first two phases to $46.7 million.
The total budget for the project is $52 million, from design to construction to the final installation of public art.
Council members also approved an extension for completion to Aug. 26, 2024.
When complete, Moana Springs will include a two-level building and three pools including a 50-meter indoor competition pool; a 3-in-1 indoor recreation pool with a lazy river, a zero-depth entry and splash pool, a traditional pool, and a water slide; and the third “soaking” outdoor pool.
In addition, Moana Springs will include sustainability efforts, including saving a group of mature trees on the property, providing Electric Vehicle charging stations and using solar and geothermal energy, according to city staff.
George saidSenators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen secured $800,000 for the project to install a rooftop solar array.
The original Moana Pool closed in 2007 and soon after the non-profit Sierra Nevada Community Aquatics was formed to rebuild the facility. The William Pennington Foundation pledged $9 million for the construction of the new facility.
The first phase of the project began in August 2022 with site improvements such as parking lots, landscaping and utilities.. The second phase of the project includes construction of pools and the building.
As of January, the first phase is nearly complete and cost just over $12 million.
Sewer fees to increase and policies reviewed
Council members heard a presentation on potential sewer fund policy items they had requested more information on during their Jan. 11 meeting. The presentation included reviews of programs, consumer price index rate increases and adjusting rates based on grants.
Developers, at the last meeting, asked council members to consider a “stepped up” fee increase, which would begin at a lower priced fee in the first year and increase each year following. Council voted against that option based on projected loss of revenues for the city.
During Wednesday’s public comment, Dan Morgan, on behalf of the Builders Association, spoke to many issues on the proposed sewer policies.
According to Morgan, during a survey of local builders it was determined that even the smallest single family homes are being built with between 36-40 fixture units. With the threshold proposed of only 31 fixtures or below without additional fees, this would incur costs for builders ranging from $2,800 to $5,100 on top of the already established sewer connection fee, “tripling” the total fees paid per home, he said.
Morgan also asked for a sewer committee to be formed to oversee the sewer fund and its associated costs and policies, as well as an extension for a sewer connection fee to be paid when the city determines a home is livable.
Council accepted the presentation and recommended staff come back with options on the programs.
In a separate agenda item, council voted to adopt the proposed ordinance increasing sewer connection fees for new building permits; building permits that have already received approval will not be affected.
During the Jan. 11 meeting, council learned that sewer connection fees were last increased in 2014 when the average median home price was at $240,000 compared to today’s $550,000. As policy stands now, connection fees are uniform for single family and multifamily homes.
The new proposed policy would vary fees by service area as well as connection fee rates for residential, industrial and commercial uses. In addition, fee categories were proposed for “micro-units” with less than 15 fixtures under 600 square feet, and single family residential units with more than 31 fixtures.
If approved, the city could take in a revenue of over $30 million in 2024.
Council member Kathleen Taylor asked if the effective date could be pushed until April given information the board heard during the presentation and public comment.
Council member Jenny Brekhus disagreed with Taylor’s question and said enough notice had been provided.
“This has been [a] long time going, I mean, on rates that were steady since 2014. I’ve been talking about this since 2016, okay? So I know it seems if you haven’t been here a long time that, ‘Wow, that’s not giving a lot of notice,’ but a lot of notice has been given and when you’re at adoption, that’s not a best practice.”
Council voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance.
Other council business
The Redevelopment Agency Board voted to proceed into negotiations with JM Ranches LLC for properties located at 1610 and 1790 W. Fourth St., and ordered appraisals of the properties. JM Ranches, LLC is the leaseholder of the properties and owns the building at 1790 W. Fourth St.The company asked the city to purchase the land. The city obtained ownership of the land in 2006 from the Union Pacific Railroad as part of the ReTRAC project.
Council approved on first reading the modification of meetings for the Financial Advisory Board. Currently, the board is required to meet monthly. The proposal would change the requirement to at least nine times per year.
Council adopted a zoning map amendment for a 6-acre site located south of the intersection of North Virginia Street and West Golden Valley Road. Current zoning was not in conformance with the Master Plan and was listed as Mixed-Use Suburban. The amendment changes the zoning to Industrial Commercial.
Council approved a zoning map amendment changing 455 Crampton St. from Multi-Family Residential – 14 units to General Commercial as part of the Wells Avenue Neighborhood Plan.
Council member Miguel Martinez was appointed to the Truckee River Flood Management Authority, Board of Directors, and Council member Taylor as alternate.
