[0:04] AVH when you're ready give me

[0:05] the thumbs up

[0:07] you're set to go

[0:09] OK. thank you very much.

[0:15] right good morning and I'd

[0:17] like to call to order this

[0:18] special meeting of the interim

[0:19] finance committee and I'd like

[0:20] to welcome all the committee

[0:22] members on this zoom meeting and

[0:24] also welcome anyone in person in

[0:26] Carson City or Las Vegas or

[0:28] those online. I appreciate

[0:29] everyone making themselves

[0:31] available with this short

[0:33] notice and this is why we are

[0:35] doing a Zoom meeting today

[0:38] because it was much more

[0:40] expeditious for us to do it this

[0:41] way. will the secretary

[0:44] please call the roll and would

[0:46] all of you please remain with

[0:48] your cameras open while we're in

[0:53] assembly member anderson

[0:58] present assembly member Bacchus

[1:03] assembly member rown May

[1:05] here

[1:09] assembly member Conidine for

[1:09] assembly member Hadii?

[1:14] present assembly member Dickman

[1:19] here assembly member Gonzalez

[1:19] for assembly member Jager

[1:23] here assembly membermberhafenn

[1:27] assembly memberhibits

[1:35] assembly member Koenig

[1:38] assembly membermosca

[1:43] here assembly member Nadem for

[1:46] assembly memberwatts but think

[1:47] assembly member O'neal

[1:52] assembly member tores Fawcett

[1:57] Herevice ChairmanRomoreno

[2:02] here senator Buck

[2:10] Senator cannizzaro

[2:16] Senator Neal

[2:20] here Senator Wwynn

[2:24] here senator Steinbeck

[2:29] Senator Taylor

[2:33] senator Titus

[2:37] here chaired on down our loop

[2:42] and I am here thank you very

[2:44] much and please mark those

[2:45] present who may arrive

[2:47] in just a bit

[2:51] so I appreciate that before

[2:53] we move into today's agenda I

[2:54] would like to remind everyone

[2:56] once again to keep their cameras

[2:58] on throughout the meeting. it

[3:00] helps with the vote counting

[3:01] also those providing testimony

[3:03] today please remember to state

[3:05] and spell your name each time

[3:07] you are speaking if you're

[3:09] giving public comment please

[3:10] state and spell your name

[3:12] and sign in at the sign in

[3:14] sheet if you are in person we

[3:17] will move to the first our

[3:17] first agen

[3:20] da item which is public comment

[3:21] and this is the first period of

[3:22] public comment and there will be

[3:24] a second period at the end ofcha

[3:26] meeting so vote for those of you

[3:30] in public comment if you are

[3:36] dialing in remember8884754499

[3:37] would prompted for the

[3:41] meetingidD it will be8648272

[3:46] 0341 and then press pound when

[3:48] prompted for the participantidD

[3:51] please press pound the

[3:52] calling information is also the

[3:55] on the agenda so I'll begin in

[3:56] Las Vegas

[3:59] if there is anyone there for

[4:00] public comment would you please

[4:01] come forward?

[4:29] Thorley I can't see anyone in

[4:30] that room, amm I correct?

[4:37] I'm not a madam chair I'm not in

[4:39] the room either I don't know if

[4:41] Melissa can get on the

[4:43] mic and mention if there's

[4:43] anybody there

[4:53] Is there anyone in Las egas

[4:54] wishing to give public comment?

[5:01] I don't believe we have anyone

[5:01] so we'll move to carson City

[5:05] Is there anyone in carson

[5:05] cityity who would like to kip up

[5:07] public comment

[5:11] good morning chair donderolope.

[5:14] vicechairman roe Moreno and

[5:15] members of the interim finance

[5:16] committeetee.

[5:18] for the record my name is

[5:20] Cadencemtievich, government

[5:21] affairs liaison for Washoe

[5:24] County. My name is spelledc AD E

[5:27] N C E M A Tij E V I C H.

[5:31] madam chairir on behalf of

[5:32] washoe County, I'm here to say

[5:33] thank you

[5:36] the wildfires in our community

[5:38] over the last several weeks have

[5:40] been devastating and have

[5:41] challenged us immensely.

[5:44] but they've also proven once

[5:46] again that no matter the

[5:47] challenge Nevadans will always

[5:48] rise up.

[5:49] to help othernevadans

[5:53] we've received incredible

[5:55] support from Governor Lombardo,

[5:55] his team

[5:59] and so many state agencies

[6:01] during these incidents and are

[6:03] humbled to know that they will

[6:04] continue to provide assistance

[6:07] in the weeks and months ahead as

[6:08] we go about the critical work of

[6:09] recovery.

[6:12] I won't try to list all the

[6:13] state agencies right now cause

[6:13] I'm afraid I'll miss one

[6:17] but wasshoe County wants them

[6:19] all to know how grateful we are

[6:21] to have them working alongside

[6:22] us during these difficult times.

[6:26] pe c ific to your meeting today

[6:27] we want to express our sincere

[6:30] appreciation to you for having

[6:32] called this special meeting to

[6:33] allow funds to help cover the

[6:35] expenses associated with the

[6:37] response to these emergencies to

[6:38] be released so quickly.

[6:41] Special thanks to the governor's

[6:42] officefice of emergency

[6:44] Management, the state Department

[6:45] of Conservation and Natural

[6:47] Resources, the governor's

[6:50] finance officeice andlCB fiscal

[6:52] staff for expediting preparation

[6:54] of the work program and grant

[6:55] request documents necessary for

[6:57] you to be able to consider the

[6:58] action items on your agenda

[6:59] today.

[7:02] chair and committee members we

[7:03] respectfully ask for your

[7:07] approval of items F1 F2, andg

[7:08] and once again thank you

[7:15] thank you very much. is there

[7:17] anyone else in carson cityity

[7:17] that would like to give public

[7:18] comment

[7:22] seeing none we will go to the

[7:24] phone lines ADH is anyone on the

[7:25] phone lines

[7:28] thank you chair. if you would

[7:29] like to participate in public

[7:31] comment today, please press 9 to

[7:32] take your place in the queue.

[7:41] there are no colleagues wishing

[7:42] to provide public comment at

[7:42] this time

[7:45] thank you very much. All right

[7:47] next we'll move on to agenda

[7:50] item C which is two work program

[7:52] revisions submitted under

[7:54] the expeditious action statutes

[7:56] one from the division of state

[7:58] parks and the other from the

[8:00] department of veteranservices

[8:01] both work programs are requested

[8:03] in order to close out fiscal

[8:05] year 2026 and unless any

[8:06] committee members have any

[8:08] questions I would accept a

[8:10] motion to approve agenda items

[8:11] C1 and C2.

[8:16] madam chair this is assembly

[8:17] member Monroe Moreno I moved to

[8:17] proof

[8:22] thank you very much nice this

[8:24] is Senator Wwynn second thank

[8:25] you thank you very much Senator

[8:26] wynn. with that is there any

[8:27] discussion

[8:31] hearing none all those in favor

[8:31] say i

[8:34] iii

[8:35] all those opposed say nay

[8:39] motion carries thank you very

[8:39] much.

[8:43] we'll move on to next to agenda

[8:45] items D andE which will be

[8:47] presented jointly agenda itemd

[8:49] is a statement of disaster

[8:50] relief account balance and

[8:53] agenda item E is the statement

[8:55] of the Ic contingency account

[8:56] balance fiscal staff will

[8:59] present both statements as a

[9:01] reminder both statements are

[9:02] informational only and Mr

[9:04] Thorley please go ahead when you

[9:05] are ready

[9:10] thank you madam chair and good

[9:12] morning everyone for the

[9:14] record Wayne horleylCB fiscal

[9:15] analysis division

[9:18] I'll begin with agenda item G

[9:20] which is the statement of

[9:21] disaster relief account

[9:24] that statement can be found on

[9:26] page 25 of the meeting packet

[9:27] the meeting packet is virtual

[9:27] this time

[9:30] so it it is online it's

[9:32] available to all the

[9:34] community members and members of

[9:35] the public that are interested

[9:38] so as I mentioned beginning on

[9:42] page 25 of the meeting packet is

[9:43] the disaster relief account

[9:44] statement

[9:48] there are two requests on the

[9:50] agenda today for grants for to

[9:51] state agencies from the disaster

[9:52] relief account

[9:55] prior to any actions of the

[9:55] committee today the disaster

[10:00] relief account has16.9 million

[10:01] dollars in it

[10:05] the two requests one on the

[10:06] agenda today one is for11

[10:07] million dollars

[10:09] the other one is for5.7 million

[10:10] dollars

[10:13] if both requests are approved

[10:14] today

[10:16] the remaining balance following

[10:17] the actions of the committee

[10:18] today in the disaster relief

[10:19] account

[10:23] would be $224,471

[10:29] I would note that statute

[10:29] does

[10:33] have a mechanism in it

[10:35] whereby there are quarterly

[10:36] transfers from the general fund

[10:37] to the disaster relief account

[10:42] there's a formula behind that

[10:44] that I won't get into it's

[10:46] capped at500,000 dollars per

[10:47] quarter and we're at that cap

[10:49] so over the course of this

[10:51] fiscal year the disaster relief

[10:54] account will receive4500 $1000

[10:57] transfer so we'll receive $2

[10:57] million transfers from the

[10:58] general fund

[11:01] throughout the whole fiscal year

[11:06] Then I'll move on to the Ic

[11:07] contingency account statement

[11:08] this is agenda item E

[11:12] this begins on page 26 of the

[11:13] meeting packet

[11:16] there is one request on the

[11:18] agenda today for an allocation

[11:20] from the Ic contingency account.

[11:22] it is for5 million dollars the

[11:23] request is from the division of

[11:24] forestry

[11:27] prior to any actions of the

[11:30] committee today the balance in

[11:31] the unrestricted general fund

[11:32] portion of the contingency

[11:33] account

[11:38] is31.2 million dollars if this5

[11:39] million dollars allocation

[11:39] request is approved

[11:42] after the actions of the

[11:43] committee today the balance in

[11:45] the IC contingency account for

[11:47] the unrestricted general fund

[11:50] would be $26.2 million

[11:54] madam chairir that's it for both

[11:56] statements. I would be happy to

[11:57] answer any questions that any

[11:59] committee members might have

[11:59] regarding either statement

[12:05] all right committee members does

[12:08] anyone have a question please

[12:12] and we may have to have you

[12:15] raise your hand if you do so

[12:17] that I can see or holler out

[12:19] I see Senator Titus I believe I

[12:20] see your hand. go ahead please

[12:21] when you're ready.

[12:24] thank you first thank you madam

[12:25] chairir for putting this

[12:26] together and all those members

[12:28] who are on this call I

[12:30] would just have a question for

[12:32] Wayne on the process of

[12:34] getting more money back into

[12:35] these accounts and what would

[12:37] that require? we're still a long

[12:38] way out from the fire season or

[12:40] any other disaster frankly from

[12:43] being at the end of the year

[12:44] and then we're looking not until

[12:46] session till February so can you

[12:47] give me a quick process if we

[12:47] needed to have more money in

[12:48] these funds

[12:49] how would we do that

[12:54] Absolutely Senator Titus Wayne

[12:56] horligan for the recordlCB

[12:57] fiscal analysis division

[13:00] the disaster relief account

[13:02] does have that mechanism in

[13:03] statute where there's automatic

[13:05] quarterly transfers from the

[13:07] general fund that doesn't

[13:09] require any action of the of the

[13:10] of the legislature however I

[13:12] mean as I mentioned it is capped

[13:15] right now at500,000 per quarter

[13:15] so $2 million for this fiscal

[13:16] year

[13:18] there is no automatic transfer

[13:20] mechanism like that to the IC

[13:21] contingency account

[13:25] for in order to appropriate

[13:27] more funds to both accounts

[13:29] beyond what I just mentioned the

[13:31] automatic transfers and then in

[13:33] the Ic contingency account

[13:34] there would need to be an

[13:36] appropriate a bill with an

[13:37] appropriation in it

[13:41] and then that would need to be

[13:41] approved by the legislature and

[13:43] signed by the governor so it

[13:44] would require the legislature to

[13:46] be be in a legislative session

[13:47] to make those appropriations

[13:48] all right thank you madam

[13:49] chairir for the question

[13:58] thank you very much. any

[13:59] additional questions

[14:01] from the committee

[14:08] I don't think I see any if I've

[14:11] missed you holler out right with

[14:13] that thank you very much Mr

[14:14] Thorley Next we will go to

[14:15] agenda items F1

[14:18] F2 andG which will be heard

[14:21] jointly agenda items F1 and

[14:23] F2 are requests for grants from

[14:24] the disaster relief account

[14:28] while item G is a request for an

[14:30] allocation from the IC

[14:31] contingency account. I will

[14:33] invite representatives from the

[14:34] division of forestry and the

[14:36] officefice of emergency

[14:38] Management to the table if there

[14:39] is someone from the governor's

[14:41] finance office there as well we

[14:43] may have questions for you

[14:46] and once you're ready please

[14:48] present your request and then

[14:49] I'm sure we'll have questions

[14:51] for you and I wanna thank all of

[14:52] you

[14:56] prior to this and I probably

[14:59] will do this more thank you

[15:00] so much for all you have done. I

[15:02] know that I spent a lot of

[15:04] the weekend and this week

[15:06] speaking with staff and

[15:09] foresterce and emergency

[15:09] management people

[15:12] most of you know my brother

[15:14] spent50 years in the

[15:16] forestervice so I am well aware

[15:17] of the

[15:21] very dangerous job that you do

[15:24] so with that go ahead please

[15:25] when you are ready

[15:27] at the table

[15:30] good morning ma'am. Good morning

[15:31] committee this is

[15:33] Bretthompston, the administrator

[15:34] for the officefice of Emergency

[15:36] Management. I'll read through

[15:38] F1 and 2 in a prepared statement

[15:39] to to start

[15:43] so F1 is a request for

[15:44] approval of a grant in the

[15:45] amount of11 million dollars on

[15:47] behalf of the state Department

[15:47] of Conservation and

[15:49] naturalturalsources division of

[15:51] forestry to fund expenses for

[15:53] instate emergency responses

[15:55] related to the ward bug

[15:57] Fredmountain stallion and

[15:57] hawkfires

[16:01] F2 is a request for approval of

[16:04] a grant in the amount

[16:06] of5,665,337 dollars for the

[16:07] officefice of emergency

[16:09] Management to fund expenses in

[16:11] response to the ward bug

[16:12] Fredmountain stallion and

[16:13] hawkfires

[16:16] that has experienced a number of

[16:17] significant wildfires over the

[16:18] past three weeks in the wildland

[16:20] urban interface and a tremendous

[16:21] number of wildfire starts

[16:23] throughout the state as of last

[16:26] night's report fromirr forrester

[16:29] Ryan Shane we had67 active fires

[16:29] burning across the state.

[16:32] on August 2nd, the Nevada

[16:33] division of forestry requested

[16:35] deployment of a strike team of

[16:37] Type One structure fire engines

[16:38] through the Nevada

[16:39] Interstateuttual aidystem for

[16:41] immediate deployment to Ely

[16:43] related to the wardd fire. The

[16:44] intent of the deployment was for

[16:45] southern Nevada structure

[16:47] engines to relieve wildland

[16:49] qualified fire crews in order to

[16:50] allow those qualified crews to

[16:51] fight the fire.

[16:54] in accordance with Nrs414 Alpha,

[16:56] the Nevada division of forestry

[16:57] is responsible for wildland

[16:59] suppression activities under the

[17:00] interstate mutual aid system.

[17:02] the officefice of Emergency

[17:04] Management is responsible for

[17:05] all other wraparound expenses to

[17:06] include this strike team.

[17:09] Clark County fire agencies were

[17:10] able to fulfill the request

[17:11] During the wardd fire, the

[17:13] Nevadda emergency operations

[17:14] center was partially activated

[17:16] to support Whitepine County and

[17:17] subsequently coordinated

[17:18] assistance with evacuation and

[17:20] sheltering preparations and

[17:21] logistics support for already

[17:22] activated National Guard

[17:24] helicopters that were moved from

[17:26] Elko to Ely for fire operations.

[17:29] The bug buyer began on August8th

[17:30] and was subsequently followed by

[17:31] the Fred Mountain and stallion

[17:33] fires. The madam of emergency

[17:34] operationsenter was fully

[17:35] activated and a state

[17:35] declaration of emergency was

[17:36] made.

[17:39] Sport included deployment of

[17:40] another strike team from

[17:41] southern Nevada of structure

[17:43] engines via the Interstateuttual

[17:45] aid system, National Guard

[17:46] security forces to protect

[17:48] evacuated areas evacuation and

[17:49] sheltering operations and

[17:50] security for the incident

[17:51] command post

[17:54] on August 22nd, the hawk fire

[17:56] occurred and the Nevada EOC was

[17:57] again fully activated and

[17:58] another declaration of emergency

[17:59] was made. Support for the hawk

[18:01] fire included mass care

[18:02] sheltering, expanded national

[18:04] Guard security forces and urban

[18:05] search and rescue canine search

[18:06] teams

[18:09] sport will continue with the

[18:10] debris removal and recovery

[18:11] operations in the future.

[18:14] due to the67 wildfire starts

[18:15] across northern and eastern

[18:17] Nevada and no additional

[18:19] resources available. a third

[18:20] strike team of structure engines

[18:21] from Clark County was ordered to

[18:23] Elko County on Tuesday. This

[18:24] mission is ongoing

[18:26] Today's request is intended to

[18:27] provide funding for the

[18:29] emergency assistance account or

[18:30] from the emergency assistant or

[18:31] for the emergency assistance

[18:32] account for expenditures as I

[18:34] just described to continue

[18:35] estimated recovery operations

[18:37] associated with the hawkfi and

[18:39] to provide funding for immediate

[18:39] access during future

[18:40] emergencies.

[18:42] Estimates were based on the data

[18:44] provided by supporting agencies

[18:45] during the immediate response

[18:47] phase and will be refined as

[18:47] actual billing is received.

[18:49] as we have seen this summer

[18:50] Nevada is experiencing

[18:51] significant fire activity.

[18:53] and the scope and timing of

[18:55] future emergencies and disasters

[18:56] cannot be predicted.

[18:58] The job is not just the response

[18:59] recovery operations will

[19:00] continue for some time

[19:02] your support of emergency and

[19:04] disaster operations and

[19:05] providing funding to be ready

[19:06] for our next disaster is

[19:07] sincerely appreciated.

[19:15] thank you very much. Is there

[19:16] anyone else at the table that

[19:19] would like to speak before we

[19:19] ask a few questions.

[19:25] Madam Chair, members of the

[19:26] committee good morning Ryan

[19:27] Shain state forester fire warden

[19:28] with the Nevada Division of

[19:29] forestry.

[19:31] we appreciate the opportunity to

[19:33] come and ask for these funds to

[19:34] help with these fires.

[19:38] s strictly for the DrA request

[19:40] of11 million dollars the five

[19:42] fires that are named in the

[19:45] state declaration total76

[19:47] million dollars in approximated

[19:47] costs for all partners involved.

[19:51] $21 million of those are likely

[19:53] to be borne by the state in

[19:55] support of our wildland fire

[19:56] protectiongra members the state

[19:57] itself

[20:01] our contractors and

[20:01] additional partners like the

[20:02] national Guard.

[20:07] today we have experienced701

[20:10] fires in nevada throughout this

[20:13] season that is approximately 21%

[20:14] higher than all the fires that

[20:16] were started last year and last

[20:18] year burned above our long term

[20:19] average.

[20:21] we are roughly the same amount

[20:23] of acreage as we were last year

[20:24] right now in the year and we

[20:27] have at least6 more weeks if not

[20:27] more to withstand

[20:29] in this tough fire season

[20:33] as predicted this season could

[20:35] be catastrophic given the fire

[20:37] potential and partners have done

[20:39] everything they can to

[20:41] coordinate with each other and

[20:42] bring about the full

[20:44] maximization or resources and

[20:45] allocation to those fires.

[20:48] with that all

[20:50] ce my time and

[20:53] allow for any questions thank

[20:53] you

[20:57] thank you very much and thank

[20:59] you again for what you all are

[21:02] doing. I have a a couple of

[21:06] questions given the

[21:07] division of forestry

[21:09] indicating the cost for

[21:11] responding to this wordfi are

[21:13] fully reimbursable? Are they

[21:14] reimbursable by the federal

[21:16] government in which federal

[21:17] agency will be reversing these

[21:18] costs

[21:22] Madamerri reinchein for the

[21:23] record

[21:27] the fire in at wardd was

[21:29] approximately 98% for our

[21:31] servicece they will be covering

[21:34] the initial costs that they

[21:36] obviously spent for their own

[21:38] cruise the state division of

[21:40] forestry will cover all other

[21:42] expenses associated with our own

[21:45] staff any national guard and

[21:48] WfP cooperators in the amount of

[21:51] approximately $2 million we will

[21:52] go through there is no cost

[21:53] share adjudication

[21:56] process on this from what I've

[21:58] heard because there's so

[21:59] little state land there was14

[22:01] acres out of the whole thing

[22:03] that was something other than

[22:06] US Forestervice and Bureau of

[22:09] Land Management so we expect to

[22:10] send an invoice as soon as we

[22:12] our costs roll in and our bills

[22:14] are paid and get that to them

[22:15] for redirect reimbursement.

[22:20] OK, thank you and that was my

[22:22] next question was just an update

[22:24] on how we do those federal

[22:25] reimbursements and what is

[22:29] anticipated for the fires how

[22:30] do you

[22:32] the division of forestry, how do

[22:35] you anticipate funding any

[22:37] remaining obligations from

[22:40] current fires costs associated

[22:42] with unfortunately we hope not

[22:43] but maybe future fires

[22:51] madam Chair, thank you for the

[22:54] question umjessica Kemmerer J E

[22:59] Ss I C A K E M M E R E R

[23:01] administrativeervices officefer

[23:02] for the division of forestry.

[23:05] thank you for the question we

[23:07] will likely be back for IC

[23:10] contingency funds to fund any

[23:11] other fires that will occur in

[23:12] the future.

[23:17] Thank you. And does this

[23:19] include all of the strike teams

[23:24] madam Cherieinstein for the

[23:26] record I wanna go through

[23:28] this just a little bit because

[23:31] it can be confusing and it

[23:33] explains a pretty good fair

[23:34] amount of the costs associated

[23:35] in the division of those costs

[23:36] between the officeice of

[23:37] emmergency Management and the

[23:38] division of forestry.

[23:42] so when engines are ordered to

[23:44] backfill local stations to

[23:46] provide all risk services to the

[23:47] community in the absence of

[23:48] those firefighters that are on

[23:50] the fire line for a while and

[23:52] firefighter those are born

[23:54] through the inners intrastate

[23:56] mutual aid system and that cost

[23:57] lands with the officeice of

[23:58] emmergency Management.

[24:01] Now additional strike teams may

[24:03] be ordered that actually do

[24:05] engage the wildland fire and

[24:07] don't don't backfill the local

[24:09] stations those are costs covered

[24:11] by the division of forestry or

[24:13] at least cost shared in those

[24:13] multi jurisdictional fires

[24:16] I hope I answered your question

[24:17] thank you

[24:21] thank you very much. I know that

[24:23] there are several layers

[24:24] sometimes when you do these

[24:28] fires and you overlap and

[24:30] with the hawkfi specifically the

[24:32] type one management came in we

[24:35] also brought forth workers in

[24:36] from other countries as well as

[24:38] states so I understand that

[24:42] maybe convoluted pain out of

[24:44] things but I thought it was

[24:45] important to ask some of these

[24:45] questions.

[24:48] I believe that

[24:53] assemblywoman anderson has a

[24:54] couple of questions and then

[24:56] we'll go to or we can go to

[24:58] senator Titus and then we'll

[25:00] follow up with assemblywoman

[25:01] Anderson how is that

[25:05] thank you madam chairir again

[25:06] and thank you all for being at

[25:07] the table and actually being

[25:08] part of our state much

[25:11] appreciated as my son was right

[25:12] on the evacuation line and then

[25:13] he lives up in Panther Valley

[25:15] and Brad will are

[25:18] director uhhompson we'll have a

[25:19] chat on the emergency planning

[25:21] and evacuation routes at some

[25:22] point but in any case my

[25:25] question really is are it's very

[25:27] convoluted how the pay system is

[25:28] and all the committees I've been

[25:31] on for this fire reimbursement I

[25:31] get that there's all this

[25:33] different agencies and there's

[25:35] different responsibilities and

[25:36] it takes a while to figure all

[25:38] this out. One of my question my

[25:41] question however is aren't all

[25:43] of the folks that responded

[25:45] already on a salary aren't they

[25:45] already being paid and

[25:48] don't they budget for overtime

[25:49] and it it just gets very

[25:52] confusing to me that we have

[25:53] this kind of funds and then I

[25:54] have a follow up question for

[25:54] that

[25:57] madam chairir is it ok if I go

[25:58] direct?

[26:04] Senator Titusyanchain for the

[26:06] record appreciate the question I

[26:08] cannot speak to our wildland

[26:10] fire protection partners at

[26:12] the local level if they budget

[26:14] for overtime what I can say is

[26:16] our standard general fund

[26:18] budget and the accounts where

[26:20] these salaried firefighters

[26:21] live

[26:24] overtime is not allowed to be

[26:26] budgeted for that being said

[26:29] our4196 emergency response

[26:31] account does contain the funding

[26:32] that is necessary to pay for

[26:34] that over time as we've seen

[26:37] though our current allocation in

[26:39] that budget doesn't quite

[26:40] help us get to the finish line

[26:42] each year and therefore we're at

[26:44] contingency fund requesting

[26:45] additional dollars.

[26:45] sometimes monthly

[26:51] Great thank you and just a quick

[26:52] follow up if I might madam

[26:55] chairir one of the things I'd

[26:56] love to see ultimately and I

[26:57] know you don't have all those

[26:58] funds yet and some of the fires

[26:59] are still going all of this and

[27:01] I'm sitting in the car in Reno

[27:02] and it's raining here so that's

[27:05] good news what about I'd like

[27:06] to see a breakdown of things

[27:07] that you can't budget for which

[27:09] is certainly the air attack and

[27:10] some of these things that you

[27:11] have no idea how much that's

[27:13] gonna cost and so that certainly

[27:15] can throw a wrench into

[27:17] anybody's budget so will we be

[27:17] able to see and hopefully we do

[27:18] at some point

[27:21] actually the breakdown like how

[27:23] much what percent was on fed

[27:24] land what percent was on

[27:26] national forests what percent

[27:27] was in a private home because we

[27:29] lost homes here in northern

[27:31] Nevada and so and then how

[27:33] much is Aert attack etc so

[27:34] really I'd love to see

[27:35] ultimately when you get it done

[27:37] what's the actual breakdown

[27:40] of where these expenses are and

[27:41] that's really more of a a

[27:43] comment that we need to see that

[27:45] and I get can't thank you all

[27:45] enough for what you do.

[27:48] thank you very much senator wynn

[27:49] please

[27:56] thank you chair. just

[27:57] following up you had mentioned

[27:58] and it's kind of the first time

[28:00] that I had heard that there was

[28:02] a third strike team that was

[28:04] called in as a part of this

[28:06] budgetary request does that

[28:08] include funding for that third

[28:09] strike team or would that be

[28:12] anticipated in a subsequent

[28:13] request of IC.

[28:16] ma'amretthompson, office of

[28:17] emergency Management it's an

[28:18] excellent question at the time

[28:21] when we put this request in

[28:24] that need was not material that

[28:27] just occurred on Tuesday and so

[28:28] that will be born out of most

[28:30] likely that additional1.5 that

[28:32] we added on Sunday when we

[28:33] discussed the hawk fire and we

[28:34] didn't know how that was going

[28:36] to play out depending on that

[28:38] total cost strike force and any

[28:40] future emergencies which we are

[28:41] highly concerned about as

[28:42] Senator Titus has talked about

[28:43] rain on burned scars and

[28:44] mudslides and all the things

[28:45] that will continue to happen

[28:48] as the season progresses

[28:50] there is a possibility we could

[28:51] come back it really will just

[28:52] depend on what are the final

[28:54] bills for the first two strike

[28:56] teams in this final one

[28:58] to determine how much is left in

[29:00] that Eaa to respond to future

[29:01] emer

[29:07] Thank you chair and thank you

[29:08] for the answer.

[29:11] thank you very much and I

[29:12] believe assemblywoman anderson

[29:13] has a couple of questions

[29:16] thank you chair and before I

[29:18] ask the questions I just wanna

[29:19] again add in my

[29:21] gratitude for everybody

[29:21] that's been part of this

[29:25] and then also chair for getting

[29:27] on top of it right away and

[29:28] scheduling this emergency

[29:29] meeting.

[29:32] actually teach at the area that

[29:34] was impacted so I'm not there

[29:36] today obviously planning on

[29:37] going there this afternoon

[29:37] though.

[29:41] my my questions are more along

[29:43] the lines about just how it's

[29:45] all being handled when we think

[29:46] about

[29:49] could you please clarify how the

[29:50] strike team supported the white

[29:52] pine County fire as they should

[29:54] have and that cost 2.3

[29:56] million and that was over eight

[29:59] days compared to the strike team

[30:00] supporting the Wato County which

[30:03] is over10 days and that caused

[30:05] I think from our background

[30:07] documents it says752,000

[30:11] so if you could just clarify why

[30:12] there's such a discrepancy

[30:13] between the two areas.

[30:15] prekhompson office of

[30:17] commercement man it's an

[30:20] excellent question so the

[30:22] initial submission to this was

[30:23] about a week and a half ago and

[30:24] was based on the documents that

[30:26] we received from the local

[30:27] agencies that we're

[30:28] submitting or we're

[30:29] participating in those strike

[30:31] teams obviously a very wide

[30:34] disparity on the estimated cost

[30:35] what we believe to be the

[30:36] truth is it will be

[30:39] approximately104,000 dollars per

[30:41] day per strike team may vary by

[30:42] a little bit depending on the

[30:43] composition some of those strike

[30:44] teams have water tenders as

[30:46] s o ci ated with them that

[30:47] are not standard in a strike

[30:48] team.

[30:51] and so I think the cost will be

[30:52] lower per or about

[30:56] about104,000 dollars per day

[30:58] when it all is said and done but

[31:00] again when we initially

[31:02] requested this in the midst of

[31:04] the bug fire we we didn't

[31:05] want to do is speculate and so

[31:06] we provided you with the

[31:07] documents that we received from

[31:08] the cooperators based on their

[31:09] estimates which in my opinion

[31:10] were both high and low.

[31:14] Well thank you for that

[31:15] clarification

[31:20] and again you guys are under a

[31:22] lar a very stressful situation

[31:23] especially when you think about

[31:24] all the fires that you are

[31:26] dealing with this year and our

[31:28] anticipated unfortunately to

[31:29] have to deal with. So I guess

[31:33] I think one of the senator's

[31:34] questions kind of touched upon

[31:35] this but I just want to make

[31:36] sure the salary costs

[31:39] were already funded but you're

[31:41] not able to put in the overtime.

[31:42] Could you clarify that just a

[31:43] little bit further

[31:46] and again how that that

[31:47] number is kind of

[31:48] I guess

[31:50] how you

[31:53] kind of hypothesize what that

[31:53] number could be.

[31:58] tiffany Greenmeyer director

[31:59] for the governor's finance

[32:02] officeice so most time over time

[32:05] is removed out of a budget so

[32:07] like the forestry where the the

[32:09] positions are housed that over

[32:10] time is typically removed

[32:15] so then you just have a cost for

[32:17] a fire in the other budget

[32:18] account for instate fire that

[32:20] covers the overtime when they're

[32:21] sending people out

[32:26] so that could be depending on

[32:28] a fire year it could be too low

[32:31] or too high so if it was too

[32:32] high and they had too much money

[32:33] in their budget then they would

[32:35] have just revert at the end of

[32:37] the year but in this case since

[32:41] the fire season my

[32:42] understanding is they're using a

[32:44] lot of this the dollars in their

[32:45] instate fire budget.

[32:47] I hope that answer

[32:52] it does and and again I I really

[32:53] want to thank everybody for all

[32:53] the work they're doing.

[32:56] thank you chair my other

[32:57] questions I can always ask

[32:58] offline

[32:59] thank you very much

[33:03] all right senator Taylor did you

[33:03] have a question

[33:06] Yes I do madam chair thank

[33:09] you so much and I know it's rp's

[33:10] repetitious but I

[33:13] I'd be remiss if I didn't think

[33:14] it's all the hardworking

[33:16] people who are keeping us

[33:17] safe up here my my house was

[33:18] just outside of the

[33:19] of the get ready line

[33:21] which really means you get ready

[33:22] to get ready

[33:26] so it was it was a fight

[33:27] nighter night and quite a few

[33:28] days and a minute you reached

[33:30] out so thank you and again the

[33:32] hardworking oldep here who kept

[33:33] that fire from being worse

[33:36] if if you can't say enough to

[33:38] thank you my question is just

[33:40] related to you alluded a little

[33:41] bit to the to the1.5 million

[33:43] dollars that that you will

[33:45] need to support the fire like I

[33:47] know the fires almost out pretty

[33:48] much all the way out but the

[33:51] additional1.5 million how did

[33:51] you come up with that and

[33:54] and a little bit more on how

[33:55] you're trying to be how it plans

[33:55] how you plan to use it

[34:01] thank you ma'am Bretthompson

[34:02] office of emergency Management

[34:03] so to be quite frank that was a

[34:05] discussion that the GFO and I

[34:06] had on Sunday morning while the

[34:08] houses were still on fire. I had

[34:10] just come out of the burn area

[34:12] and I knew that this was going

[34:13] to be a significant issue. I

[34:14] didn't know the time frame

[34:15] that the hawkwood

[34:19] how it would play out I didn't

[34:20] know if the fires would continue

[34:22] north395 and I knew that we had6

[34:23] to8 more weeks of fire season

[34:25] and I knew that we had floods

[34:27] that will inevitably happen

[34:29] after that and so that was our

[34:32] best guess on a reasonable ask

[34:33] to help us get through the

[34:35] immediacy and the recovery

[34:36] phases or the initial recovery

[34:38] phases of Hack and whatever else

[34:40] is to come what I didn't want to

[34:43] do is take your time today and

[34:43] then have to come back

[34:44] immediately and say hey I've

[34:46] spent all that money immediately

[34:47] which with the addition of the

[34:48] strike team

[34:49] may actually be close to truth

[34:51] but on Sunday that was not the

[34:52] truth, so that's why we came up

[34:53] with that number we thought that

[34:54] was a fair number to ask for

[34:55] based on what we'd experienced

[34:57] thus far and what we expect to

[34:59] experience there is a chance

[35:01] that you know we get super lucky

[35:02] nothing else happens and we have

[35:03] a lot of money sitting in and

[35:05] that would be great but I don't

[35:05] think that that is our lot.

[35:12] thank you so much so in addition

[35:14] to the strike team you you

[35:15] anticipate that

[35:17] that that that what other costs

[35:18] do you anticipate could could be

[35:19] there?

[35:23] for the record so if I just go

[35:24] through a thing that we've just

[35:26] done we've done security with

[35:27] each of the last two big fires

[35:28] through the National Guard and

[35:30] that is a significant expense

[35:31] and the last one we brought up

[35:32] the urban search and rescue team

[35:35] from Las Vegas to do cadaver

[35:37] searches cuz we were not sure if

[35:38] we had lost people in

[35:39] addition to that we pay for a

[35:41] portion of the national Guard

[35:44] helicopter support related to

[35:46] lodging any other additional

[35:47] things like the emergency

[35:49] operations center mass

[35:49] sheltering operations where we

[35:52] ' re paying for like showers and

[35:53] things like that at the

[35:54] convention center those are all

[35:55] cost borne by the office of

[35:56] emergencymanagement.

[36:01] see that very very important

[36:02] causes

[36:04] helps you feel that in for me

[36:05] and hopefully as you said

[36:05] hopefully you won't be back

[36:08] because things have settled

[36:09] down and no more is happening

[36:11] but again thank you so much to

[36:11] everyone involved in this and

[36:12] chair. I appreciate the

[36:13] questions thank you for your

[36:13] indulgence.

[36:16] thank you very much and I'll go

[36:17] to Senator Steinbeck the guy

[36:18] who

[36:21] really knows what's what what

[36:22] danger

[36:27] are firefighters are in so

[36:27] please go ahead senator when

[36:28] you're ready

[36:31] thank you madam chairir. thank

[36:33] you to everybody testifying

[36:35] today and for your work I know

[36:36] how hard you guys have been

[36:38] working and really appreciate

[36:39] it and like everybody else said

[36:40] I really appreciate everybody

[36:42] out there on the front lines and

[36:44] Chiefhompson my question is

[36:46] I know a lot of people think

[36:49] as a fires getting put out that

[36:49] a lot of the

[36:52] resources aren't aren't

[36:53] necessary anymore but you and I

[36:54] both know that you still need

[36:56] quite a few resources for

[36:58] these fires including your

[37:00] damage assessment teams your

[37:02] your operations are going to

[37:04] continue the recovery process is

[37:05] actually going to be more

[37:07] intense for you and your team

[37:09] then then actually the response

[37:12] process are your requests today

[37:13] able to fully fund those

[37:13] efforts

[37:17] senator thank you for the

[37:18] questionsretthompson for the

[37:18] record

[37:22] the answer is it depends as

[37:24] you stated damage assessment the

[37:25] the initial damage assessment

[37:26] was conducted by Washer County,

[37:27] which is where we get the stats

[37:29] of the numbers of residents

[37:32] destroyed the state damage

[37:34] assessment starts today and

[37:36] so we'll go through that process

[37:37] lastst night the governor

[37:38] requested an emergency

[37:39] declaration from the president

[37:41] and that is being evaluated this

[37:42] morning indc hopefullypefully we

[37:45] will hear back soon on that

[37:46] we will continue to have EOC

[37:47] emergency operations center

[37:48] activities through

[37:51] out the period as you as you

[37:53] stated the reality is it depends

[37:57] on what else happens to us if

[37:58] everything stopped today this

[37:59] will be sufficient

[37:59] if

[38:02] if anything else happens

[38:04] we could be back

[38:09] OK thank you sir. I just want to

[38:11] make sure you were good on your

[38:13] on your operational costs for

[38:14] the recovery side of the my

[38:15] other question is with that

[38:18] declaration and what are you

[38:20] looking at as far as FMagG

[38:21] recovery and and those

[38:21] possibilities

[38:28] Senatoryanchain state forester

[38:29] fire warden with division of

[38:30] forestry so

[38:35] of all the $21 million estimated

[38:37] costs for the five fires that

[38:39] were declared we're

[38:41] anticipating8.4 million dollars

[38:46] of Fagg assistants at75% of our

[38:48] costs that are borne by the

[38:49] state

[38:51] that will come with a caveat

[38:55] we filed the paperwork within

[38:58] 90 days and we oftentimes don't

[38:59] see that revenue for at least1

[39:00] to 2 years of processing time

[39:02] thank you

[39:05] and senator Bricktthompson for

[39:07] the record I do under oh yes

[39:08] sirdition to that

[39:10] that's I think really relevant

[39:12] for all members to understand is

[39:13] the fmagG only pays for wildland

[39:15] suppression costs so the costs

[39:17] borne byndDF so every cost that

[39:18] the office of emmergency

[39:20] Management expends is a state

[39:22] cost so the strike teams where

[39:23] we were back filling into a

[39:24] station or not actually doing

[39:25] wildland suppression but freeing

[39:27] up resources to go do that that

[39:29] is of cost on us the national

[39:32] Guard is a cost on us and so

[39:33] that is different than the

[39:33] situation NDF is in with

[39:34] f mac.

[39:39] but if you get the if you get

[39:39] the

[39:43] umeder declaration there is some

[39:45] opportunity to recover some of

[39:47] those costs right chief Senator

[39:49] Btthompson for the record there

[39:50] are two answers here so the

[39:51] request that the governor made

[39:53] last night was for what's

[39:54] considered an emergency

[39:55] declaration if that's approved

[39:57] by the president that will come

[39:58] with direct federal assistance

[39:59] which does not come with

[40:01] reimbursement so that would be a

[40:04] tasking from FEA per se to

[40:05] maybe EPA to help us with the

[40:07] high hazardous materials such as

[40:09] cylinders, pesticides, all those

[40:09] things that are in the homes

[40:10] that have to be

[40:11] cleaned up to make those safe

[40:11] for people to

[40:15] to rebuild again no

[40:16] reimbursement with that it would

[40:18] be direct federal assistance if

[40:20] we qualify we can apply for what

[40:21] is considered a major

[40:23] declaration and if we are

[40:25] granted that by the president

[40:26] then typically that comes with

[40:30] a75% cost share and her 25%

[40:31] on the state75% reimbursement

[40:33] from the federal government

[40:34] again and if that were to play

[40:36] itself out exactly like and you

[40:38] have to it will be multiple

[40:39] years before we see that

[40:40] reimbursement.

[40:43] Absolutely thank you for all

[40:43] your work. thank you madam

[40:44] chairir.

[40:46] thank you and thank you for the

[40:51] questions. all right. any

[40:52] additional questions from the

[40:53] committee

[40:57] I don't think I see any hands up

[41:00] once again thank you for all

[41:03] that explanation there in

[41:05] carson cityity I think you know

[41:06] sometimes we don't understand

[41:08] that when all these people come

[41:09] from all over that we actually

[41:13] have to pay for those people to

[41:14] come back in to come into to

[41:15] assist us

[41:18] so I appreciate all of that

[41:20] information and if there are no

[41:22] more questions I'll take a vote

[41:24] on these three items but the

[41:26] for I do that I just wanna

[41:29] quickly say that grants from

[41:31] this disaster relief account are

[41:31] required by law

[41:33] to be provided on a

[41:37] reimbursement basis. so

[41:40] inrS353276 allows the IC to

[41:43] determine that disbursement on a

[41:44] reimbursement basis will cause

[41:46] severe financial hardship and

[41:49] authorize in advance of money

[41:52] not to exceed 25% of the amount

[41:55] granted. this requirement

[41:57] that grants beyond reimbursement

[41:58] basis only applies to the

[42:01] disaster relief account. it does

[42:01] not apply to the

[42:04] request from the IC contingency

[42:06] account so based on what we

[42:08] heard today, I believe it is

[42:09] appropriate to make a

[42:11] determination of severe

[42:14] financial hardshipccordingly any

[42:15] motion to approve these items

[42:17] should include a determination

[42:19] of severe financial hardship

[42:23] with a 25% advance for the two

[42:26] grants from the disaster relief

[42:29] account. So if I could hear a

[42:31] motion and if you would all

[42:31] make sure you'

[42:33] re on your cameras thank you

[42:37] thank you madam chair this is

[42:39] vicechairmonroe Moreno and I

[42:41] moved to approve the motion as

[42:42] you stated for F1

[42:45] and 2 andG.

[42:48] thank you very much and I'll

[42:49] accept a second

[42:51] rochellewynn

[42:54] a second please. thank you very

[42:56] much.motion by assemblywoman

[43:00] uhmonroe Moreno and second by

[43:03] Senator Wwynn any discussion on

[43:04] this particular motion

[43:09] seeing none all those in favor

[43:10] say i

[43:12] i

[43:14] all those opposed say nay

[43:19] hearing none motion passes thank

[43:21] you very much and once again to

[43:23] all of you there in carson City

[43:25] thank you thank you and to those

[43:25] in Reno please stay safe.

[43:28] all right with that we'll move

[43:30] on to our next agenda item which

[43:32] is public comment. this is the

[43:34] last period of public comment.

[43:36] so for those providing public

[43:38] comment please remember to state

[43:39] spell your name for the record

[43:42] and if you are dialing

[43:46] in888-4754499 when prompted for

[43:54] the meetingidD uh86482720341 and

[43:55] then press pound

[43:57] and for the participant ID

[43:59] please press pound. So I'll

[44:04] begin in uhlos Vegas and we

[44:05] will see if we have anybody

[44:05] there

[44:12] there's no one in the audience

[44:13] in Las Vegas who wishes to

[44:13] provide public comment

[44:16] thank you very much for

[44:18] clarifying. All right we'll go

[44:19] to carson cityity. is there

[44:20] anyone in carson cityity who

[44:21] would like to make public

[44:21] comment

[44:25] thank you good morning chair

[44:27] Donderiloup and vicechairmonnroe

[44:30] Monero and members of the

[44:32] interim finance committee my

[44:36] name is Clara Andriolacl A R A A

[44:40] N D R I Ol A. I'm the chair of

[44:42] Washoe County Board of County

[44:44] commissioners and I really want

[44:46] to express our deep appreciation

[44:48] to everyone who has been working

[44:51] tirelessly to help fight these

[44:53] fires that have been back to

[44:55] back with quite frankly no

[44:57] breath for all involved. I'd

[44:57] like to thank the governor and

[44:58] the governor's

[45:01] office and for you and your

[45:02] committee for your

[45:04] expeditiousness and providing

[45:07] all the resources necessary to

[45:09] help those that have been

[45:11] impacted and many many that have

[45:13] lost their homes and everything

[45:16] so today we have set up a

[45:18] community resource center to

[45:20] provide not only resources but

[45:22] information so that we can help

[45:24] our entire community begin the

[45:26] healing process during this

[45:27] longterm recovery. thank you.

[45:31] and thank you very much and

[45:35] please stay safe. you with that

[45:37] is there anyone else in carson

[45:37] City that would like to make

[45:38] public comment

[45:47] right. I am not hearing anyone

[45:50] or seeing anyone we will go

[45:52] to the phone lines ABH when

[45:53] you are ready

[45:56] you chair. if you would like to

[45:57] provide public comment today,

[45:59] please press 9 to take your

[45:59] place in the queue.

[46:09] there are no coers wishing to

[46:09] provide public comment at this

[46:10] time.

[46:11] thank you very much

[46:14] all right with that that

[46:17] completes our agenda today and

[46:18] I'd like to thank everyone for

[46:20] spending these very important

[46:21] moments with us this morning

[46:26] I appreciate you all making

[46:28] time during this emergency

[46:30] meeting that we had and staff

[46:33] thank you all for all you have

[46:34] done in preparation for this

[46:36] meeting and with that this

[46:37] meeting is adjourned

[46:40] thank you chair thanks for doing

[46:42] this thank you good job

[46:43] thank you chair thanks for doing

[46:44] this thank you good

[46:44] thank you so much everybody

Interim Finance Committee

Agenda

Transcript