The Carson City Board of Supervisors convened on Thursday to tackle a number of items including approval of a new volunteer-led Bike Park initiative and authorization of a grant application for the Carson City Sheriff’s Office MOST Team among other items.
Centennial Bike Park MOU Approved
The Board voted unanimously to approve an MOU with Muscle Powered, a local 501(c)(3) organization, to begin the formal planning and design of the Carson City Bike Park.
Proposed for the northwest section of Centennial Park, the facility is intended for riders of all ages and skill levels, incorporating International Mountain Bicycling Association guidelines and adaptive riding features.
Project lead Dan Thornton told supervisors that initial design costs are estimated under $100,000 and that “no phase opens without a maintenance reserve for the bike park.” Muscle Powered is responsible for raising the initial and ongoing funds for the park, and the city is not required to provide any additional funding. However, the MOU allows the possibility to provide some funding in the future, such as if the city is provided with grant funding they want to allocate towards it.
While Reno, Truckee, and Lake Tahoe possess established parks, Carson City remains a “missing piece” in the regional network according to project supporters. Dan Thornton, representing Muscle Powered, argued that mountain biking is a major sector of the adventure tourism market, and a premier facility could capture travelers who currently bypass the capital on Highway 50.
“People travel for bike parks… they put heads in beds,” Thornton said.
Mayor Lori Bagwell noted that Muscle Powered has earned its reputation through the successful maintenance of award-winning trails.
“I think you’re very right when you say you’re a proven track record,” Bagwell said. “It makes me a lot more comfortable when you can look at an entity that delivers what they say.”
Supervisor Lisa Schuette, a long-time supporter of Muscle Powered, echoed this sentiment, praising the collaborative nature of the plan. “I love the inclusivity of this… and the idea that this is a partnership in the best way.”
The project, which has been in development since at least 2017, received additional public support from former Open Space Manager Juan Guzman and resident Stella Thornton, who noted that citizens have remained engaged for over a decade.
The approval allows Muscle Powered to begin fundraising and land due diligence, with the final design and cost estimates required to return to the Board for further authorization.
See the full presentation below:
Submission of MOST Program expansion grant request approved
The Board heard an update about Carson City’s Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST) and authorized a grant application for the 2023 Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) to support it.
The funding request includes a program manager, a third vehicle, and the implementation of Julota, a specialized Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. The expansion is intended to address a rise in local crisis calls, but the transition to a medicalized data system sparked significant debate regarding HIPAA compliance and city liability.
According to MOST Clinician Brittney Baumann, the EMR system is important to MOST’s duties because it allows for the storage of sensitive clinical data, such as diagnoses and medication lists, that can’t be put through public call logs of standard dispatch systems.
According to the staff report, the first quarter of 2026 highlighted a serious increase in mental health crises, including the deaths of 13 individuals to suicide in Carson City within the first four months of 2026, compared with 12 that occurred total in 2025. After a staff analysis was conducted, it was determined that none of those individuals had had prior MOST contact, which the department notes demonstrated a need for more outreach so the public knows resources exist.
As to the specific request of the new technology, Supervisors Stacey Giomi and Maurice White said they had concerns over data access and HIPAA. Giomi warned that a breach of trust could compromise the program’s standing.
“If you don’t have a good system to protect this information, this can go away just as easy as we can defund the flock cameras,” Giomi said. He added he would want the District Attorney’s office to oversee policy development.
Clarifying the vehicle request, the Board noted that the two existing MOST vehicles — a black Tahoe with “ghost graphics” and a white Silverado — are already unmarked to reduce the anxiety associated with traditional law enforcement interactions.
The new vehicle is not a change in philosophy but an expansion of this model for their third team. Baumann said that “having an unmarked vehicle has really helped destigmatize that and helps us get people into treatment quicker.”
Sheriff Ken Furlong underscored the program’s necessity, stating that “identifying those gaps is essential to a good efficient program. We don’t want to see these problems reach that level of no return.”
Editor’s note: We sat down with Sheriff Furlong and Sergeant Taylor Mieras who oversees the MOST program earlier this week to talk about everything MOST has been up to in the past few years, and will have a separate story here soon!
City approves returning over $300,000 in Health grant funding
As part of the consent agenda (meaning it was not pulled individually for discussion), a return of $315,650 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds was approved unanimously.
According to the agenda packet, Carson City received the award initially through the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health as a sub grant in October 2023 for $749,634. It was expanded under a new multi-year sub grant, running through November 2026, and rolled over unspent funds to reach a peak award of $3.5 million.
Over time, the city approved three separate returns as costs were reconciled:
According to the staff report, the intent of the Carson City Health and Human Services Department (“CCHHS”) for the ARPA funds was “to enhance public health workforce infrastructure by hiring personnel to perform duties needed to increase foundational public health services to the residents served by CCHHS.”
However, as the grant entered its last three months (the award’s deadline is November 2026), staff analyzed spending and determined there would be significant funds left over, and proposed to return the funds to the state to “allow other grantees to utilize the funds.”
“When developing the original budget, salaries, contractual needs, and operating expenses were estimated,” the staff report states. “Due to staffing turnover and staff retirements, the funding needed is lower than projected.”
Sam Mozingo of the Federal Hotel Appointed to Culture and Tourism Authority
The Board interviewed two candidates for a vacancy on the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority (CTA) representing the hotel/motel industry. The selection featured Sam Mozingo, a former Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC) member and current General Manager of The Federal Hotel, and Ben Baggett, General Manager of the Staybridge Suites Hotel who has worked with Visit Carson City for the past year.
During the interviews, the Board focused on the “identity of the town.”
Mozingo highlighted the “passionate” nature of the community and the importance of local events like the farmers market.
“I think our town is a very proud town,” Mozingo said during his interview. “I think we have a lot of residents that have strong opinions that care deeply about… the direction of the government.”
Supervisor Giomi noted that while both candidates were capable, Mozingo’s experience was the deciding factor.
“I think either could serve… my vote would be for Sam. I believe he answered questions well and has a good thought process,” Giomi remarked.
Alternative Sentencing Reports Rising Workload, drop in positive drug tests
The Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS) provided a second-quarter 2026 report update, highlighting a continued increase in the number of tests being processed, and noted a drop in overall positivity rates.
Senior Lab Technician Nicholas Corbridge reported that the department processed over 43,000 individual drug tests during the quarter.
These were derived from 4,521 test specimens, reflecting a workload of approximately 9 to 12 tests per individual sample.
The staggering increase of testing noted during their last quarter update continues; for example: in 2021, only 8,000 specimens were collected for the entire year.
During the quarter, the overall positivity rate among clients decreased from 2.33% in April to 1.86% in June.
Alternative Sentencing Chief Marlina Stone explained that the quarterly trend reports were developed following supervisor requests to share drug detection patterns with local law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary.
“Going back to the table we decided it might be beneficial to implement a trends report,” Stone said. “It gave them an opportunity to see some of the things that our team was experiencing. And it was a great way to share some information with some of our community partners.”
Stone said a positive drug test is used constructively within the alternative sentencing framework.
“Just because it’s a positive test doesn’t indicate failure,” she said. “It just means that maybe we need to redirect and provide different resources.”
THC remains the most frequently detected substance, accounting for 330 positive results and a 7.4% positivity rate in the second quarter; however, monthly THC positives dropped from 36%, from 123 in April to 79 in June.
Second up is Amphetamine detection, resulting in 159 positives, but similarly declined 41% from 66 positives in April to 39 in June.
Mayor Bagwell commended the department for the report and requested that future quarterly presentations incorporate the exact number of clients tested alongside specimen counts to provide clearer operational context, and the DAS team said they could incorporate those into the next quarterly report.
CDBG Performance Report Clears Federal Hurdle
The Board approved the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) submission for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
The approval was necessary to meet a strict September 28 federal deadline submission, though the process was complicated by an administrative delay.
The HUD office responsible for Carson City recently transitioned from San Francisco to Arizona, stalling the approval of the city’s annual action plan and, by extension, the CAPER.
Yesenia Pacheco, Grants Administrator, explained that staff had been “scrambling and contacting HUD daily,” noting that the federal transition “put us in kind of a between a rock and a hard place.”
Carson City completed its third year as a HUD CDBG entitlement recipient in June 2026. Across the 2025-26 program year, they received a little over $400,000 in federal allocations, plus some prior year rollover funds. Supervisors allocated those to public facility and infrastructure projects.
$450,000 was allocated to the Carmine Street ADA Sidewalk Improvement project, which was completed during this program year, but was funded from prior year roll over monies.
In addition, $382,596 was dedicated to the Carson City Community Center Roof Replacement project, with $20,137 left for CDBG Planning and Administration funding.
At present, the Carmine Street project has been completed, and the community center project is in progress — it was delayed by an environmental review of the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, which finished in April 2026. Bidding is scheduled for this fall.
Public commenter Denny French objected to the vote because the 15-day public comment period had not yet closed.
Supervisor Giomi clarified that the city was forced to act to preserve funding. “The public comment will be included. It’s not like we’re excluding it,” Giomi said. “We just won’t be able to take action on it.”
Pacheco clarified that any public comments received through September 24 will be summarized and attached directly to the final HUD submission. It was also noted that because the submission is a retrospective wrap-up report of completed work (rather than a forward-looking plan), public feedback would be evaluated for future project cycles.
‘Serge Duarte Day’ and Employee Recognitions
The meeting concluded with the proclamation of “Serge Duarte Day” on September 17, 2026. Duarte, a Marine Corps veteran and FBI Quantico graduate with a background in Homeland Security, was honored for his volunteer leadership in the CERT program.
The Board also recognized Raechel Freshman for five years of service in Epidemiology, Mitchell Gower for 20 years of service at the city landfill, and Paola Villagrana for five years as a Juvenile Probation Officer.
During final public comments, a resident expressed concerns regarding speeding on Parkland Avenue, which she described as a “runway” for cars and Waste Management trucks reaching 40 mph, presenting a danger to her grandchildren and animals, including deer and approximately 15 feral cats.
The Board adjourned following reminders of the ongoing Murals and Music Festival and the “Pooch Plunge” at the outdoor pool happening Saturday.
Original Source: Carson Now
