Medical center expansion gets rave review

One of the biggest projects to come before the Gardnerville Town Board in a long time got a rave major design review on Tuesday night.

Carson Valley Medical Center is planning to essentially double their square footage in a $29.3 million expansion that should be open by March 2024.

Town Manager Erik Nilssen said the project came into the town 85 percent ready to go and didn’t require significant revision.

“This will be a fantastic addition to the community,” Town Board member Lloyd Higuera said. “Thank you for willingly following the design standards.”

The Town Board voted 5-0 to approve the design as presented. The final decision on the design will be in the hands of Community Development Director Tom Dallaire unless there’s an appeal. Tuesday’s was likely the only public meeting conducted for the project. No one spoke during public comment.

Town Board member Ken Miller pointed out there wasn’t much in the new plan dealing with parking.

Miller said he’d gone for blood work and couldn’t find a parking space.

Project Manager Doug Smith said that the hospital has more spaces than is required, but most people park out front where the main entrance is located.

Owners Representative Vaughan Lambert said only having one entrance into the hospital due to the coronavirus outbreak contributes to the congestion in the front parking lot.

“We’re making the best of a bad situation,” he said. “Any time you do construction it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

There was no public comment on the project which will go to the

While the hospital expansion will include several technological innovations, the town’s contribution will be its new 6-yard capacity trash trucks.

“The hospital is a solid waste gold mine,” Nilssen told the town board.

But they currently have nine 2-cubic-yard trash receptacles, which Nilssen acknowledged is a lot.

The bins are lined up along the back of the main building and have been banging away at the building’s stucco for years.

“We met with the hospital they said ‘yeah, we agree how it is right now isn’t working for you or for us.’”

Two new enclosures will be built that will be able to handle 4 cubic yard trash bins.

By 2024, the town will have two of the new trash trucks to pick up the larger bins.