June 20, 2023
Lowry High School’s Jhett Harper has high hopes of continuing his wrestling career at the college level and while the Buckaroos were in Lovelock for the Lovelock Invitational, Harber was in Reno this past weekend for the Reno Tournament of Champions.
After securing a lease with the City of Winnemucca for a 177.3-acre parcel to the west of the Winnemucca Municipal Airport to serve as a future transloading facility for the Thacker Pass site, Lithium Americas is hoping to begin construction of the facility as soon as possible, according to Lithium Americas Vice President of Government & Community Relations Tim Crowley. Their request for a variance to increase the allowed height of structures from 35 feet to 137 feet for silos to be constructed on the parcel was tabled by the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners pending review from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Although Humboldt County is characterized as fiscally responsible, the final budget for fiscal year 2024-25, approved at a regular meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners on May 20 (with all members present), revealed that expenditures are set to exceed revenues for the next year.
By Julia Maestrejuan julia@winnemuccapublishing.net Recently the Humboldt County Public Works Department implemented a watering schedule for users of Grass Valley's Star City and Gold Country watering systems with the intent of lowering creeping nitrate levels that tend to surge during the summer. “It’s a tool. It’s not a fix, and it’s something that we can do away with if we get another solution in place and operating in the near future,” explained Public Works Director Dan Ferraro during the most recent meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners on May 6 (Commissioner Mark Evatz absent from the meeting). Ferraro said that the idea is to reduce the overall nitrates going into the water supply and eventually back into the system itself throughout the heavy water usage months. The county’s domestic well near the airport area can handle the volumes and pressures during the winter season independently, See WATER, Page 5 WATER — From Page 1 but as water usage ramps up in the summer months to water lawns, fill pools, and other activities, the secondary well becomes active, which is higher in nitrates, according to Ferarro. “We don’t have a lot of enforcement, but it is just for overall water quality and users of the water system to protect them and keep their interests in mind and we can reduce the volume [of nitrates] through the summer,” said Ferarro. Humboldt County Code pertaining to water resource planning and Nevada revised Statute does allow the Public Works Department to implement water schedules in order to conserve water and/or protect users from things like dangerous levels of nitrates (NRS 540). The schedule has some users watering on certain days based on their address to keep it simple and users were notified via pamphlets, letters and on their water bills. However, Ferarro said there is no real way that the schedule can be enforced, so it is voluntary for users and the schedule only applies to those on the Star City and Gold Country watering systems. “Anybody that’s on a well or has their own system we have no say and they can do as they please,” said Ferarro. Commissioner Tom Hoss questioned the validity of the water schedule and its enforceability. Regulatory laws at the state level require that nitrate levels be measured and not exceed a level 10. During winter, according to Ferarro, the levels measure at a two or three with water coming primarily from the primary domestic well, but during the summer when the secondary is active, they are measuring between 12 and 15. With the blending of the domestic well and the secondary well though, the levels are currently between seven and nine. “We’re right on the cusp of playing with some state involvement,” said Ferarro. Commissioner Jesse Hill questioned whether the implementation of a water schedule should be brought before the board before application. “We should probably have a conversation as a board or an agenda item, whether this sort of thing goes out—is it a commission decision or is it a public works decision? And if it is going to be mandatory on the letter that is sent out then we make it mandatory, we figure out how to enforce it or we just call it a voluntary thing and when we change our wording so that everybody’s on the same page,” said Hill.
During their regular meeting on April 15 the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners approved efforts to expand their search for a new Comptroller, as the current Comptroller has announced her retirement, although the date is open-ended.
As a part of a much larger plan to mitigate high nitrate issues in the water in Grass Valley, the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners has moved forward with a plan to blend the water from two systems, the Star City Water System (attained by the County in 2019) and the Gold Country Water System (attained in 2023) that service Grass Valley residents, to lower the nitrate levels until a Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) can be implemented.
As a part of a much larger plan to mitigate high nitrate issues in the water in Grass Valley, the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners has moved forward with a plan to blend the water from two systems, the Star City Water System (attained by the County in 2019) and the Gold Country Water System (attained in 2023) that service Grass Valley residents, to lower the nitrate levels until a Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) can be implemented.
At its regular meeting on March 19, the Winnemucca City Council (with all members present):
Mining lithium in Humboldt County has been a hot topic, especially as Lithium Americas has just secured conditional approval of a loan for their multi-billion-dollar project, and another company, HiTech Minerals, has requested a letter of support from the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners to the Department of Energy (DOE) for their funding application.
Humboldt County is set to receive just over $2.5 million in multiple payments from litigation against opioid prescribers, manufacturers and distributors to be spent locally from now through 2038. The litigation is being carried out nationwide against those found to be major proponents in the opioid epidemic by a bipartisan alliance of attorney generals from around the United States. At their regular meeting on March 4, the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a request from the Family Support Center to use $276,120 of the funds Humboldt County has received so far to go towards addiction and mental health services.
The domestic sheep industry is rapidly shrinking while the foreign industry accounts for over 70 percent of the market today, making it the first livestock sector in the United States to be primarily sourced from foreign countries.
Addressing high nitrate levels in the drinking water in Grass Valley (GV) and a lack of adequate space within the Humboldt County Courthouse to accommodate changes in legislation both call for multi-million-dollar solutions—a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) for Grass Valley residents and a new, larger justice center for Humboldt County. At their annual Board Retreat on Jan. 29, the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners discussed two of the most prominent projects that they worked on in 2023, unanimously deciding to move forward with design work for the WWTF but ultimately not coming to a substantive conclusion for the justice center project.
Addressing high nitrate levels in the drinking water in Grass Valley (GV) and a lack of adequate space within the Humboldt County Courthouse to accommodate changes in legislation both call for multi-million-dollar solutions—a wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) for Grass Valley residents and a new, larger justice center for Humboldt County. At their annual Board Retreat on Jan. 29, the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners discussed two of the most prominent projects that they worked on in 2023, unanimously deciding to move forward with design work for the WWTF but ultimately not coming to a substantive conclusion for the justice center project.
Although the City of Winnemucca is still seeking the funds to construct a new municipal aquatics center, they are actively engaging in design services that will help realize the actual cost of construction and provide an accurate budget and model for the project. At their regular meeting on Jan. 23, the Winnemucca City Council approved $21,425 toward further geotechnical work at the anticipated site for the aquatics center, located on East Winnemucca near Lowry High School and the Splash Pad.
The road to Martin Creek runs right through a 28-acre parcel of land that has been in the trust of the Humboldt County Treasurer’s Office since 1967 for nonpayment of taxes. At the regular meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 16, the Board approved a request for the County to take possession of the parcel and maintain it with all members of the Board present.
Don Kalkoske — former Public Works Director — plans to hit the ground running as the new Humboldt County Manager, chosen by the Board of Commissioners on Dec. 11 from a final pool of candidates. He began his formal duties on Jan. 8.
The Lowry High School girls basketball team continued its busy start to the season with four more games in Reno and Sparks this past weekend at the Winter Tip-Off Tournament.
One of the largest land swaps ever proposed in the history of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) between Winecup-Gamble Ranch, owned by Kroenke Ranches, and the BLM has caused concern among many surrounding counties, organizations and individuals as it is likely to have a big impact on Nevadans.
The Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) has reported that Humboldt County has seen 250 wildfires, burning 480,766.78 acres, since 2018. The majority of the fires, 173, have been human caused, destroying six different ranches, grazing land, and animal habitats. The remainders have been caused by weather or the cause has not been determined.
'Tis the season for road and street maintenance, repair and construction in Winnemucca. The Winnemucca City Council recently awarded a bid for a large pavement project to Sierra Nevada Construction at its regular meeting on Aug. 8 with all members present.
The Humboldt County Board of Commissioners and the Winnemucca City Council met for a joint meeting to discuss a shared cost agreement for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The proposal was unanimously approved by both the Board and the council as a part of the Commission's regular meeting on July 24 (with all members present).
Although the Winnemucca City Council approved a seven percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase for the next two years for city employees, they denied a request by the Winnemucca City Employee Association (WCEA) and the Winnemucca Police Officers Association (WPOA) for a retention bonus. The decisions came during a regular meeting June 6.
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