Long term goals for Gardnerville Station checked off

Though repaving Highway 395 is still in the works, two of Gardnerville’s longtime goals for Gardnerville Station have already been achieved.

The connection to the detention basin under the Gardnerville Station parking lot and the softening of the Gardnerville S curve have both been completed.

“Previously if large vehicles, especially those with trailers, used the outside northbound lane, their tires would generally leave the trave way and track on the sidewalk,” Town Manager Erik Nilssen said in a report. This created a dangerous condition for pedestrians.”

At most the town will have to reserve a corner of the Station property for a pedestrian crossing, but otherwise town board members said it was time to get some pavement and landscaping down.

The board voted to direct Nilssen to begin design work on the final touches on the station project that has been underway for 11 years, so far.

When the town acquired the former Eagle Gas Station in 2013, it was mostly for what was underneath it. Former Town Manager Tom Dallaire said having the property would allow the town to improve drainage in the S Curve. Work has been underway for years, starting with removing the old fuel and oil tanks and replacing them with a big basin that will feed water from across the highway into Martin Slough.

Over the years, the town has been very successful getting community development block grants to help pay for the work, so far.

Nilssen said he has been encouraged to apply for a community development block grant to finish the project.

“The first phase of the station renovation is widely regarded as a major success and there is potential to receive fund to offset the costs of completing the site improvements,” he said.

Estimates in 2015 for all the work planned for the station ran about $350,000, which Nilssen said may well have doubled or more in the intervening years.

But the board was unanimous that they wanted as few delays as possible to paving the parking lot and installing landscaping.

Nilssen said the design process would take until around August and then the town would be ready to pave the parking lot in summer 2025.

That would be the soonest a grant proposal could be ready to seek money to finish the project.

One of the major hurdles to obtaining grants a decade ago was what to do about the canopy that was constructed when Condrons renovated the Shell Station back in the late 1950s. That canopy was considered historically significant and there were talks about replacing it once the station project was complete.

However, Nilssen said a memorandum of understanding with the state never included the canopy, and that he was told it had expired, anyway.

The station serves as a meeting location for Main Street Gardnerville, which recently conducted its Spring Forum there.