New Library

After a marathon meeting today, the Carson City Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to allow staff to begin negotiations on agreements to develop the City Center/Nugget Project.

But the project may face hurdles getting final approval, as two of those voting yes expressed concerns about the project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOTDn2A7hcY

For more than a year, the lack of firm details about the Nugget Project has been a major source of frustration to those trying to get their heads around this undertaking.

Without real numbers or plans, those arguing for or against struggled with hitting the moving target that is this project.

But that target just got a whole lot more stationary, as Carson City Manager Larry Werner released a 100+ page feasibility report (attached below) for the Board of Supervisors to use this week when a decision is made on whether to move forward with the project.

City Manager Larry Werner discusses the Carson City Center/Nugget Project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc8pljVhmVU

When I was at the Nugget Advisory Committee meeting last week, a PR person working for P3 Development and the Carson Nugget handed me a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the project.

One thing a complex project like this could really use is an FAQ list. Of course, this list came from those developing the project, so a little spin was to be expected. But I was surprised at how much spin there was.

One of the things that came out at Monday night's Nugget Project advisory was a setback for the business incubator part of the project.

It was announced by project consultant Mark Lewis that C4Cube, the business incubator in Reno that was considering operating the planned Carson City incubator, was no longer a part of their discussions. We don't know exactly what happened, but not having an experienced operator could threaten this part of the project.

One point I think you could get all sides of the debate over the Carson City Center/Nugget Project to agree on is that it's a very complicated deal.

But after spending a good deal of time looking at the newly released feasibility study for this project, it struck me that it's really not that complicated. If you strip away all the extraneous issues about the land leases and who is paying who, it comes down to a simple trade.

It boils down to this: the Carson Nugget is giving the city a piece of land to build a new library and public plaza. In return, the city is building the Nugget a new parking garage for its casino and future hotel/conference center.

Monday's Advisory Committee Meeting included a lot of new details about the Nugget Project that we are still looking through.

For those who haven't seen the presentation by P3 Development, you can read it here.

I think they made the best pitch for this project so far, and showed that this somewhat scaled-down version is at least close to being feasible, given the revenue constraints requested by members of the Board of Supervisors.

The yet-to-be-completed plans for the Carson City Center aka Nugget Project may not be voted on by the Carson City Board of Supervisors until after the beginning of the new year, according to City Manager Larry Werner.

Werner said there will be a status update presented to the citizens committee on Sept. 27. Another committee meeting will be scheduled once the plans are finalized, Werner said. The presentation of the full plans had already been delayed twice before, adding two months to the original timeline.

Word was out today that two local businesses will be closing their doors.

First, there is City Cafe Bakery on South Carson Street. The building they are in was taken over by new owners, and they can't seem to come to an agreement over rent.

It's a bit of a challenge to follow the story out today about what's happening with the Carson City Center/Nugget Project.

It starts out saying that Nugget President Steve Neighbors is "encouraged" by the response from the governor's office, after meeting with them to discuss their concerns about the state's role in the project. Those concerns were expressed in a letter from the governor's Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick last month.

But later on in today's story, Hettrick said the same issues about providing sufficient space for the Department of Health and Human Services and parking remain. I detailed how this affects the project here, and ran the numbers to show how the state office component of the plan doesn't pencil out.

A financial services bill working its way through the U.S. Senate contains a $400,000 earmark that appears to be destined for the business incubator that is part of the planned Carson City Center/Nugget Project.

Obtaining leases from three state agencies has been cited by the people pushing the Nugget Project as a critical piece to its success.

But, there's been more than a little skepticism that the State of Nevada, staring down the barrel of a $3 billion deficit in its next budget, has any appetite for spending money it doesn't have to.

Last week, I sat down with Joe McCarthy, head of Carson City's Office of Business Development, and he provided some details about the Nugget Project that I hadn't heard before.

The biggest nugget is that the city is pursuing a 30-year, lease-to-own deal for the proposed library/discovery center and the land it sits on. McCarthy said that is the way the deal with P3 Development for the building will be, and that they are working to get the same deal for the land from the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors yesterday voted to proceed with investigating the lease or purchase of the Fireside building (or another similar structure) for the purpose of creating a business resource center. (You can replay the live blog of the meeting here.)

Karen Abowd talks about her candidacy for Carson City Board of Supervisors, Ward 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMJxZW-Z1WE

One of the first questions I heard raised about the Nugget redevelopment project had to do with who would own the land.

Some people have the false impression that the Carson Nugget is donating the land to the city.

As it has been proposed, the new library, public plaza and other pieces paid for by the city would be sitting on land owned by the foundation created by Nugget President Steve Neighbors, in accordance with the wishes of late owner Mae Adams.

Former CC planner and redevelopment director Rob Joiner filed Friday in a very crowded race for City Supervisor Ward 1. Joiner said although he left the city eight years ago to finish his governmen

On The Reflection In The Mirror
By Karl Neathammer

Way to go Dave. Finally, you mention the $1 million the current “plan” is asking from the City.

Who says we need a new library? The library director, of course, but who else? I have real problems with expanding the library two to three times the existing facility.

Editorial by Dave Morgan

An article in the Nevada Appeal this morning attempts to get new information from the Nugget Project’s “go to guy,” Steve Neighbors. Neighbors, who is now the owner of the Nugget, is quoted as saying that the project still lacks a developer to shoulder the “private industry” half of the project. That’s about all that’s new from Neighbors, that they STILL don’t have a private partner.

In todays day and age we need no new library. The library Carson has already is great and accomplishes the needs of the community.

If it is determined that a new library is needed one of the options that could be considered is the construction of the facility at the northwest of corner of Musser and Stewart across from the Nev

I find the comments of “Maddog” to be very interesting.

Ron: Valid points. Valid points. I’m more concerned about making a $50 million investment in a library while not knowing “where” information management is headed.

I have been a Library Director for 23 years in Churchill County. Like Sara Jones, I, too, have been planning a new library for Fallon.

Well written. Provocative! Thank you for your contribution to the debate!

Again, compelling statements. It is true, anyone can point to any number of reasons why we should keep building libraries.

Exactly what I was thinking since last Monday, when the Los Angeles Times reported that last Christmas – for the first time ever – Amazon sold more books in downloadable electronic form than as tr

The Board of Supervisors today signed letters of intent with the Carson Nugget downtown investment team that the city is willing to continue planning for a large downtown development that includes a n