The Winnemucca City Council recently voted against the appraisal of the 5.75 acre parcel adjacent to the Humboldt Museum and Jungo Road, which had previously been of interest for development by the Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA). The members of the council voted unanimously, with Councilman Pam Coats absent and Councilman Michael Owens present via web-call. Appraisal is necessary only if the parcel is to be sold, but not if the land is gifted to a non-profit organization, like the museum, according to City Attorney Kent Maher.
“You can give it to a non-profit without an appraisal and put whatever conditions you want on the gift. There’s a statutory condition that if they don’t use it for what it is given for it reverts back to the city,” which would safeguard the city in case the museum ceased to exist or if the land was unable to be developed.
The city has made conditional agreements such as this with the County for the property that the Fairgrounds resides on, according to Maher, and Councils members Michael Owens and Tim Billingsley expressed that they would like to include a reasonable timeline within any agreement made.
The actual appropriation of the land will be agendized and considered at a later meeting, per the open meeting policies, but the council expressed consistent support of the expansion of the Humboldt Museum.
The purchase and furtherance of the NRHA plan—to develop townhomes on the property— would mean the museum would not be able to expand their grounds as they are landlocked on all sides, besides that of the parcel.
An appraisal would cost between 2,500 and 5,000 dollars for the city and may take a substantial amount of time to obtain, according to Mayor Rich Stone.
“My opinion is that I’m more in favor of giving it. I think that’s the appropriate use for that particular piece of land,” said Councilwoman Teresa Mavity and explained that housing is absolutely important to the community, but in a more favorable location. She added that she would rather not waste the money on an appraisal if the intent is to eventually donate the land.
Mavity pointed out that Mayor Rich Stone and City Manager Alicia Heiser, had spent a considerable amount of time since NRHA expressed interest in the property looking for other land that would be more appropriate.
Council Member Vince Mendiola said “I think in my heart I’d like to see expansion of the museum move forward with the land.”
Museum Director Dana Toth told the council that she has a petition with 598 signatures of local people in support of the expansion of the museum and that the Museum Board is in agreement with the expansion as well. She explained that the museum is out of room for artifacts and displays and that expansion is absolutely necessary.
“For us to move forward we need to talk about ownership of the land,” said Toth. She explained that in order to get preliminary plans drawn up for the expansion, the museum will have to spend almost 25,000 dollars.
“I’m not willing to do that until we have the security of the land,” said Toth.
Mendiola made the motion to the council to cease with authorization to solicit the appraisal of the land and the meeting room burst with cheers and applause from concerned citizens and Museum Board members as it was approved.