How would you invest tax-payer funds in the programs and services that are most important to you? That is the question being asked to Douglas County residents in a new online tool that seeks to engage the public in im-portant community issues. The County is focused on long range financial man-agement and reshaping the budget process from across the board cuts to an open dialogue with residents about investing taxpayer funds in the programs and services that have the great-est value to the community. The new tool called Open Douglas County – Budget Challenge has been estab-lished to allow residents to provide feedback on the County’s strategic priori-ties. The new online budg-et challenge is available on

RESIDENTS INVITED TO TAKE BUDGET CHALLENGE

FEMA REMAPPING PROCESS COULD TAKE TWO YEARS

In a conference call with County officials on Novem-ber 14th, Federal Emergen-cy Management Agency (FEMA) officials stated that local residents would need to wait nearly two years before inaccurate flood maps could be corrected.

An independent panel of scientific experts ruled in July that flood maps im-posed by the FEMA in 2010 are scientifically and techni-cally inaccurate. To date, FEMA officials have reject-ed the County’s request for immediate relief and reim-

bursement for local resi-dents, including temporari-ly returning to the 1999 maps, pursuing a reasonable timeline for remapping and accessing National Flood Insurance Program funds for immediate reimburse-

(Continued on page 3)

NOVEMBER, 2012 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11

BUDGET CHALLENGE PUBLIC WORKSHOPS:

Residents have until December 3rd to complete the Budget Challenge. Go to www.douglascountynv.gov and select “Budget Challenge” on the left side of the screen.

Public workshops were held No-vember 13th at Topaz Lake VFD and November 14th at the Johnson Lane VFD.

Residents that do not have internet access or wish to learn more about this process are welcome to attend additional workshops and complete the online or paper version of the budget challenge:

November 28th, 3:30-6:30pm at the Tahoe Transportation Cen-ter, 169 Hwy 50

November 29th, 3:30-6:30pm at the Douglas County Library, 1625 Library Lane

The Board of Commissioners will meet on December 10th, 1:00pm at the Emergency Operations Center, 1694 County Road to discuss the results of the online tool and next steps for priority based budgeting.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

AIRPORT EN-

TRANCE

2

ONLINE BUDGET CHALLENGE (CONT)

3

FEMA (CONT) 3

FAQS 4

Airport TAxi-way

2

DOUGLAS COUNTY, NEVADA

NEWS YOU CAN USE

the County’s website doug-lascountynv.gov until De-cember 3rd and will pro-vide decision makers with

valuable insight from the community before the an-nual budget process begins.

(Continued on page 3)

Residents can now provide feedback on County budget prior-ities via a new online exercise

The Minden-Tahoe Airport has completed repairs toTaxi-way Alpha, the primary taxi-way at the Airport that had significantly deteriorated, with $1.3 million in federal grant funds. The Airport was notified by the Federal Avia-tion Administration (FAA) in June and August that it would receive three separate grants to rehabilitate the taxiway at the Airport. The grants awarded in 2012 represent the first federal funds the Air-port has received since the passage of the new ordinance in 2010. The Airport has utilized local Douglas County and northern Nevada compa-nies to project. The FAA

grant funds re-quire a local match of 6.25 percent or a total of $89,803 for the grants awarded in 2012. The Min-den-Tahoe Air-port is the only general aviation airport in Neva-da that is finan-cially self-sufficient and no local taxes pay to operate or maintain the Airport. The local match is from Airport funds generated by fees charged to Airport users, not local taxpayers. Additionally, no modifications were made to

the existing weight bearing restrictions for aircraft opera-tions, consistent with the Airport Use Ordinance and the community’s desire to maintain the rural character of Douglas County.

AIRPORT TAXIWAY REPAIR COMPLETE

PAGE 2 NEWS YOU CAN USE

“THE MINDEN-TAHOE AIRPORT

IS THE ONLY GENERAL AVIATION

AIRPORT IN NEVADA THAT IS FINANCIALLY SELF

-SUFFICIENT AND NO LOCAL TAXES PAY TO OPERATE

OR MAINTAIN THE AIRPORT.”

Taxiway Alpha repairs are now complete at the Minden-Tahoe Airport thanks to $1.3

million in federal funds for 2012

NEW AIRPORT ENTRANCE WELCOMES VISITORS In a continuous effort to build upon its international reputa-tion as one of the top loca-tions in the world for soaring, the Minden-Tahoe Airport has rolled out the welcome mat and unveiled a new en-trance. The Airport entrance and beautification project reflects the high quality ser-vices and amenities of the facility with new signage, landscaping, green space and other improvements. The work was completed by Gen-oa Trees, a local company, and funded with fees from Airport businesses, tenants and visitors. The additional green space and landscaping at the southeast corner of Airport Road and Heybourne Road will allow for small gatherings and events. Addi-tionally, the signage and land-

scaping improvements at the entrance to the Airport create a greater sense of place, and provide a buffer from parking and buildings. While the aes-thetic improvements to the Airport are great, the vibrancy of Airport businesses and ten-

ants, the quality of Airport staff, and the focus on soar-ing, sport aviation and corpo-rate flying is what makes the Airport world class.

“THE PROJECT REFLECTS THE HIGH QUALITY SERVICES AND

AMENITIES OF THE AIRPORT WITH NEW SIGNAGE, LANDSCAPING,

GREEN SPACE AND OTHER

IMPROVEMENTS.”

New signage, landscaping, green space and other improvements were recently completed at the Minden-Tahoe Airport

“TO DATE, FEMA HAS REFUSED THE

COUNTY’S REQUEST FOR

IMMEDIATE RELIEF FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS, DESPITE AN

INDEPENDENT PANEL OF SCIENTIFIC

EXPERTS WHO AGREED WITH

THE COUNTY’S APPEAL.”

ment. Douglas County is the first local community in the country to successfully appeal FEMA flood maps for multi-ple flooding sources through the Scientific Resolution Pan-el (Panel) process established by FEMA. Since the historic Panel ruling on July 16, 2012, County officials have repeatedly reached out to FEMA to request that local residents be removed from the flood areas and reim-bursed for the cost of insur-ance imposed by FEMA since January 2010, and that costs incurred by local taxpayers to remap the flood areas in ques-tion be reimbursed. The re-sult of FEMA’s refusal to act on the Panel ruling is that the inaccurate flood maps will remain in place, local resi-dents will continue to pay

(Continued from page 1) excessive flood insurance costs, and local taxpayers will shoulder the burden for re-mapping the areas in question. The Panel, an objective group of scientific and technical ex-perts, stated in its report that it “recommends acceptance of the community protest” after finding that FEMA’s data and analysis did not meet the na-tional standards for flood map-ping defined in FEMA’s own guidelines, including at least six key scientific and technical areas. Douglas County ap-pealed the base flood eleva-tions and base flood depths proposed by FEMA for multi-ple flooding sources in the Carson Valley as shown on the preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map, dated April 4, 2008. After the County’s ef-forts to work collaboratively with FEMA officials failed to resolve the appeal, on Septem-

ber 17, 2009, Douglas Coun-ty filed suit against FEMA in U.S. District Court alleging that FEMA’s data and analyses were scientifically or techni-cally incorrect. On October 28, 2011, the parties entered into a Settlement Agreement calling for adjudication of the appeal by a Scientific Resolu-tion Panel as described in FEMA Procedure Memoran-dum 58. On July 16, 2012, the Panel ruled in favor of Douglas County stating in its report “FEMA’s data does not satisfy NFIP mapping stand-ards defined in FEMA’s Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard Mapping Partners (NFIP standards) and must be revisited.” FEMA Associate Administrator Da-vid Miller is supposed to issue a final decision on the issue and process by the end of November.

FEMA PROCESS COULD TAKE TWO YEARS (CONT)

ONLINE TOOL BRINGS BUDGET TO RESIDENTS (CONT) Vitality Managed Growth and Development Preservation of Natural Environment, Re-sources and Cultural Heritage Reliable, Well-Maintained Infrastructure Safe Community Financial Stability/Governance

To access the Budget Challenge Forum, go to www.douglascountynv.gov and select “Budget Challenge” on the left side of the screen. You can select a short or long version of the budget challenge to complete. Finally a brief on-line registration asks for your name, email address and physi-cal address. Your registration

information is secure and will not be shared with any out-side party. The physical ad-dress will allow responses from geographic areas within the County to be viewed, but the County and public will not be able to see the names of individual participants. The County is also hosting four public workshops throughout the community to allow residents an opportuni-ty to learn more about priori-ty based budgeting and the online budget challenge tool.

The results from the budget challenge, as well as four pub-lic workshops throughout the community, will be presented at a workshop of the Board of County Commissioners on December 10th. The online budget challenge allows the public to distribute a fictitious $500 to the six Community Results (priorities) that the County strives to provide for the community, as identified through public strategic plan-ning processes. The six Com-munity Results are: Economic

(Continued from page 1)

PAGE 3 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11

“THE COUNTY IS FOCUSED ON LONG RANGE

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

AND RESHAPING THE BUDGET

PROCESS TO AN OPEN DIALOGUE WITH RESIDENTS

ABOUT INVESTING TAXPAYER FUNDS IN THE PROGRAMS

AND SERVICES THAT HAVE THE GREATEST VALUE

TO THE COMMUNITY.”

Douglas County Strategic Plan

Vision

A community to match the scenery!

Mission

Working together with integrity and accountability, the Douglas County team is dedicated to providing essential and cost-effective public services fostering a safe, healthy, scenic, and

vibrant community for the enjoyment of our residents and visitors.

Values

Integrity - Accountability - Customer Service - Leadership - Communication - Teamwork

Priorities

Financial Stability

Public Safety

Economic Vitality

Infrastructure

Natural Environment, Resources and Cultural Heritage

Manage Growth and Change

Thank you for taking the time to review the information in our newsletter. We value your opinion - if you have any questions or suggestions to improve the services and information we provide to you, please contact us. Steve Mokrohisky Douglas County Manager

County Manager’s Office 1594 Esmeralda Ave.

PO Box 218 Minden, NV 89423

Phone: 775-782-9821

Fax: 775-782-6255 E-mail: countymanager@co.douglas.nv.us

DOUGLAS COUNTY, NEVADA

occur during non-peak traffic hours, which includes after 6pm and on weekends. Anyone with comments or questions on the project should contact Dirk Goering in Community Development at (775) 782-6212.

Q: We’ve heard there is a gas station going in at the new Walmart. Can you confirm that?

A: The County has had preliminary discussions with several businesses, one of which is a gas station, for development near the new Walmart. The gas station has sub-

Q: Will the proposed outdoor amphitheater at CVI go before the County Commission, and will the public be able to com-ment on its impact?

A: The outdoor events area pro-posed by the Carson Valley Inn is an allowed accessory use to the existing resort facility and does not require a hearing by the Board. An administrative staff review is re-quired and currently underway. The review by the County will con-sider limited hours for events. In terms of traffic, the events will

mitted plans for review to the county. The gas station is proposed to be 3,200 square feet on approxi-mately a one acre parcel at the in-tersection of hwy 395 and Grant.

Q: We’ve heard there’s a new farm equipment store coming to the Minden Gateway. Can you confirm anything about that?

A: The County has also received plans for a new tractor supply store at the Minden Gateway, south of the Maverick gas station that is cur-rently under construction.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WWW. DOUGLASCOUNTYNV. GOV