Top headlines from the Board of County Commissioners Meeting   

Health District Officer discusses COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and outreach plans 

Reno, Nev. July 21, 2020. The following highlights several important agenda items from the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting:   

1. Washoe County Health District Officer shares update on COVID-19 impacts to Washoe County. Commissioners heard an update from Washoe County Health Officer, Kevin Dick regarding COVID-19 emergency response including community symptomatic and asymptomatic testing, contact tracing operational plan, hospital COVID-19 patient capacity and surge planning, and launch of community messaging campaign on the novel corona virus.   

Dick reported record numbers of daily Covid-19 testing, with plans to bolster testing options to five days a week and discussed efforts to increase staffing capacity to support case investigation and contract tracing as a result of backlog challenges.  

Dick also shared information on the White House Coronavirus Task Forces’ recent report identifying Washoe County and Reno Metro as being a “Yellow Zone” designation, meaning that cases of COVID-19 reported last week were between 10-100 per 100,000 population and that COVID-19 test positivity was between 5-10 percent.  In response, Dick noted that County Manager Eric Brown is working with Regional Information Center partners on a Covid-19 public safety campaign to inform resident of measures that need to be taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. “We need to keep people engaged if we are to be successful.” said Dick.  

2. Commissioners receive submission of petition to establish the unincorporated town of “Warm Springs Valley.” 

The Registrar of Voters Office received a petition on February 21, 2020 to establish the unincorporated town of “Warm Springs Valley.”   Registrar Deanna Spikula verified that the petition contained the required number of signatures per NRS 269.540(2) and submitted the petition to the Board for further direction. 

 “The purpose of today is to simply move it forward to the County Commissioners for direction, said Vice Chair Berkbigler. “We are not approving the actual question to go on the ballot at this time.” 

3. Sergeant Justin Roper Appointed as Acting Chief of the Department of Alternative Sentencing effective August 7.

Following Chief Joseph Ingraham’s retirement on August 7, Sgt. Justin Roper will be appointed as Acting Chief of the Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS).   Sgt. Roper joined DAS in 2018 after serving 17 years at the City of Reno Municipal Court.  He’s currently responsible for overseeing various high-level functions for DAS including the Sober 24 program, lab management, and field operations.  

4. Transportation agreement provides rides for seniors and disabled.

Commissioners approved a $29,000 extension to a transportation agreement between the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and the Human Services Agency (HSA). The Non-Urbanized Paratransit Program will provide transportation opportunities for Washoe County’s senior citizens and those living with disabilities in isolated areas such as Gerlach and Incline Village. Rides to grocery stores and doctor’s appointments will be offered as well as other critical services residents need. The agreement is retroactive from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021

5. The Board of County Commissioners accepted the following donations: 

• Donation to Wilbur May Foundation in the amount of $220,000 for general operations of the Wilbur D. May Center and $100,000 to support exhibits at the Wilbur D. May Museum. 
• Donation to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office  from private citizens in the form of various items for the Sheriff’s Office with an estimated value of $2935, including a $25 cash donation.    
  
  

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