Gardnerville moves to plan B on Hellwinkel Ranch

The Town of Gardnerville has lost nearly $1 million in State Question 1 money to purchase a portion of the remnant Hellwinkel Ranch that sits between Gardnerville Elementary School and Chichester Estates, Town Manager Tom Dallaire said Tuesday night.

"This is the money the town was awarded in February 2010," he wrote in his staff report. "The state of Nevada is no longer able to sell bonds to fund the Question 1 program."

Despite the setback, Dallaire said the town still intends to purchase about eight acres of the Hellwinkel property. In fact, Question 1 money for construction of a flood channel and trail extension from Toler Lane to the Chichester ponds, approximately $370,000, is still viable.

"The channel needs to be constructed by July 2011," Dallaire wrote. "If substantial work has been performed by February or March, the town can apply for another extension for funding, but the town needs to show substantial progress."

Dallaire suggested a $200,000-$300,000 down payment on the land and the acquisition of a public access easement so work on the channel can begin. The project has taken on added urgency this month since the Federal Emergency Management Agency adopted a new floodway model along the Martin Slough ditch, prepared by RO Anderson Engineering.

"In order to remove a portion of the downtown area, from Village Motel to the Historian Inn and from Highway 395 to Gardnerville Elementary School, back out of the newly approved floodway, we need to obtain or be granted an easement from the Hellwinkel Trust in order to use the Q1 funding and build the flood channel," Dallaire said. "We also need to extend that capacity out under Highway 395 right at the S-curve there. We need to make that culvert bigger."

Dallaire noted that the Hellwinkel family is moving forward with a proposed zone change and master plan amendment to convert the open space of the property into public facilities and smaller portions of the ranch into multifamily zoning to match existing multifamily.

Town Attorney Steve Handelin recommended a special meeting to review and take action on a full purchase agreement between the town and the Hellwinkel family, including a payment schedule.

"I would like to get the whole kit and caboodle down on paper rather than doing it piecemeal," said board member Robin Bernhard.

n In other news, Dallaire reported some positive augmentations to the 2010-11 town budget, stemming from underspending and tight staffing last year. Approximately $461,207 in the general fund will be rolled over into capital projects, he said.

"We're using those funds to do the Hellwinkel project," he said.

Approximately $54,003 in the town's trash fund will be rolled over into capital reserves.

The town recently approved a 7 percent increase in residential trash rates to bolster depreciation reserves. With the positive augmentation, Dallaire told board members the new rates may not have to be implemented in January.

n Manhard Consulting has changed some flooding scenarios to their models of the Pinenut Creek drainage, Dallaire said.

He said due to a vacancy in the company's Reno office, the project was moved to the Atlanta office where modeling was based on previous experience with FEMA.

He said worst-case scenarios have been included in the new maps, entailing potential flooding in and around Stodick and Chichester estates.

Dallaire said he expects Manhard to present the revisions to the town board in January and possibly hold another community workshop before submitting the maps to FEMA. He said Manhard hasn't charged the town a penny for the revisions.