Park renovations, a new trail name honoring a local legend and sweeping public land management updates headline the Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting tomorrow, Thursday, May 7.

With the city’s parks, trails and open spaces experiencing high public demand, the board is slated to review several multi-million-dollar grants and contracts aimed at modernizing aging facilities and cutting administrative red tape for land management.

Mills Park Project receives $14.9 million grant

The marquee item on Thursday’s agenda is the potential acceptance of a $14,917,800 grant from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) to finance the long-awaited Mills Park Master Plan Implementation Project. If approved, the city will provide a $202,517 match to initiate an extensive overhaul of the 52.9-acre regional park, which was originally established in 1951.

The Mills Park project allocates more than $12.3 million specifically for construction. Key additions and renovations will include:

  • A $2.78 million splash park and new parking area.
  • A $1.31 million accessible playground and a $249,500 fitness loop.
  • A $631,000 dog park and a $550,600 expansion to the existing skate park.
  • A $2.16 million parking expansion, a $652,800 restroom replacement, and $250,000 for security cameras.
  • Historic preservation investments, including $100,000 to improve the Wungnema House and $63,000 to expand the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
  • Environmental upgrades, including $158,000 dedicated to a vegetation buffer, perimeter landscaping, and turf reduction.

Supervisors to decide pathway name honoring ‘local legend’ Glenn Lucky

Glenn Lucky circa the 1980s. Courtesy of Carson City.

In a nod to local history, the board will also vote on officially naming the Route 395 Multi-Use Path — which parallels South Carson Street between the Stewart Street Roundabout and Old Clear Creek Road — the “Glenn Lucky Pathway” with an alternative name on the table for “Lucky Lane.” The proposed name honors Glenn Lucky, a well-known community inspiration who was born in 1952 with cerebral palsy and told he would not survive to adulthood. Overcoming those odds, Lucky has logged tens of thousands of miles on adaptive tricycles, famously riding 3,600 miles to the White House in 1988 to support cerebral palsy research and carrying the Olympic Torch in 2002.

Open Space Annual Report and land management changes

Supervisors will also review the Open Space Advisory Committee’s 2025 Annual Report, which showcases a banner year for the division that manages approximately 7,400 acres of natural lands and 90 miles of trails. Major 2025 milestones include the completion of the $2.4 million, ADA-accessible Prison Hill West trail, the construction of a new Mexican Dam portage boat ramp, and a robust volunteer program that logged 3,910 hours — providing an estimated $143,323 in value to the city.

On the administrative side, the board is expected to approve an amendment to a 2012 Programmatic Agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office. The agreement governs the 5,452 acres of public lands transferred to Carson City under the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act. According to the agenda, the newly proposed amendment will cut administrative red tape by exempting routine maintenance tasks — such as sign installations and trail repairs — from costly and time-consuming federal historic preservation reviews, allowing city staff to manage the lands more efficiently.

Sunset Park & Riverview Park upgrades

Rounding out the recreation agenda, the board will vote on two significant consent agenda contracts:

  • Sunset Park Upgrades: Awarding a $456,976.78 contract to Garden Shop Landscape Nursery Division, Inc. for the Sunset Park playground and landscape renovation project. The board will also authorize a 10 percent contingency, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $502,674.46. Note: We’ll have a follow up about the plans for Sunset Park as a standalone story here soon.
  • Riverview Park Trailhead: Approving $266,739 in purchasing authority for a new prefabricated restroom facility at the highly trafficked Riverview Park Trailhead.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday inside the Robert ‘Bob’ Crowell Board Room at the Carson City Community Center, located at 851 E. William St..

Members of the public can attend in person or watch a livestream of the proceedings at www.carsoncity.gov/granicus. Written public comments can be submitted to publiccomment@carsoncity.gov, and must be received by 3 p.m. on Wednesday to be included in the meeting’s official minutes.

Kelsey is a fourth-generation Nevadan, investigative journalist and college professor working in the Sierras. She is an advocate of high desert agriculture, rescue dogs, and analog education.