On Thursday the Carson City Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to overhaul the city’s approach to building and development services and terminate a long-standing private contract to bring the building division entirely back under city management.
The ending of the contract with Charles Abbott Associates, Inc. was done so without cause, meaning the firm had not done anything wrong to cause the termination.
Instead, the move is part of an overall alignment with the city’s strategic goals regarding economic development, organizational culture and sustainable infrastructure, according to City Manager Glenn Martel.
Martel said the change “weaves down into your values that you’ve set as the board for Team Carson to follow.”
The contract will continue through February 26, 2026 unless Charles Abbot chooses to end sooner, which they are allowed to do without issue with 30 days’ notice.
Mayor Lori Bagwell said the move should be applauded as it shows Martel is taking the strategic plan and goals seriously, and is using them to structure his decision-making process for the city.
However, she said she wanted to make sure the city was ready to fully take on the commitment not only to city staff and stakeholders, but to the public as a whole.
“All I need from you is just the assurance that before we terminate this one, we’re ready,” Bagwell told Martel during the meeting. “Because the customer service is the most important component here, right? I don’t want any gaps or the building community left with three months or four months. I just need you to tell me we’re ready.”
“We’re ready, Mayor,” Martel said.
Martel said they’re taking a new approach to the structuring to make sure that when business is booming, so to speak, in the development world, they have the staff they need dedicated to it. However, in off-seasons, or even a longer period of economic downturn in which development calms, the structure makes sure that those staff members aren’t left with nothing to do except busy work.
“With the core structure on staff, we can have that value representation in the [customer] service that the mayor and all the board is concerned about,” Martel said. “But … we can flex as needed. If we get a special project or we get an influx of a lot of projects in a very short time, we can adjust to that as needed and keep those timelines moving forward.”
Following the termination of the contract, the board approved a proposal to rename and reorganize the city’s Community Development Department into the “Community and Economic Development Department” highlighting the new focus on bringing services in-house.
Community Development Director Hope Sullivan said the plan has three main objectives for restructuring: bringing the building division in-house to retain permit revenues, creating capacity for economic development, and establishing a succession plan — adding that since 2014, the building division has been outsourced.
The new structure will utilize a “hybrid model,” maintaining a “skeleton crew” of city staff for standard work while utilizing third-party vendors for overflow or specialized inspections. Sullivan noted that this approach protects the city from hiring too many staff members if development slows down.
The reorganization includes the creation of a new deputy director position, which Sullivan said would allow her to step away from day-to-day operations to focus on broader economic strategies.
Initial start-up costs for the first year are expected to be around $1 million, which includes one-time costs like vehicle purchases in addition to the new positions.
“And this is less than we paid the third-party vendor per year over the last four years,” Sullivan added. “So I think the proposed reorganization will improve efficiencies. I think it will protect the city and that will allow for the succession planning. And it will allow the city organization to participate in and pursue economic development.”
Supervisors expressed strong support for the move but warned that the transition must prioritize efficiency.
Supervisor Stacey Giomi recounted personal frustrations with outsourced plan checks in other jurisdictions that resulted in delays, urging staff to remain vigilant with future vendors.
“Things go sideways real fast when that sort of thing takes place,” Supervisor Maurice White added, stressing the need to avoid service gaps.
Mayor Bagwell acknowledged the transition might face hurdles. “I want to recognize and give Hope’s team the grace to be able to come back and go, ‘Oops, we didn’t quite get this right,'” Bagwell said, though she maintained that public safety remains the primary goal.
Supervisors approved both changes unanimously.
