Around the Arch Blog

On Monday at 5:30 p.m., Reno’s famous landmark, the Reno Arch will turn blue in support of the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.

American Sign and Crane Company donated the labor and equipment for the bulb replacement project. The cost for the bulbs has been completely funded with generous community donations.

The blue bulbs will remain in place until after the sold-out University of Nevada and Boise State football game on November 26.

“Turning our famous Reno Arch blue shows the town’s support for our Wolf Pack teams and generates great community spirit,” advises Mayor Bob Cashell.

The City of Reno is urging downtown casinos and business along with the entire community to put up blue lights or “Go Pack” on their marquees and signs.

“The University of Nevada has had an exciting fall and we have enjoyed fantastic community support for the Wolf Pack this fall. Seeing the famous Reno Arch turn blue will be great for our community as we look forward to our final home football game of the season,” Nevada Director of Athletics Cary Groth said.

What: The Reno Arch Goes Wolf Pack Blue
When: Monday, November 22 at 5:30 p.m.
Who: Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, the Reno City Council, University President Dr. Milton Glick, and Director of Athletics Cary Groth
Where: Harrah’s Plaza on N. Virginia Street next to the Reno Arch

Reno’s Public Works Department secured grants to build a pervious concrete parking lot at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center. Q & D Construction completed the demonstration project, which is among the first in this area. The concrete allows stormwater to seep through to add to the City’s groundwater. The parking lot is the final phase of a project to help cut down on pollutants to the Truckee River. Last summer staff completed a rain garden and other LID or low impact development changes to the art and culture center.

Today, another phase of the McKinley Arts and Culture Center low impact development (LID) project was completed with the pouring of a pervious concrete parking lot. 

Pervious concrete is a cutting-edge material used more commonly in other communities to reduce stormwater runoff by capturing and treating the water, allowing it to seep into the ground through the porous material. This demonstration project explores local design and installation tactics with Reno’s unique climate. The Sierra Nevada Concrete Association (SNCA) was instrumental in providing the mix design for the concrete and training in the community.

In January 2009, the Reno City Council accepted a grant in the amount of $115,500 from the Truckee River Fund for this LID project, and in April 2009, the Council approved a contract between the State of Nevada and the City of Reno for a Nevada Nonpoint Source Grant 319(h) in the amount of $128,500.

Q&D Construction, a construction company founded in the Truckee Meadows in 1964, was awarded the bid for the installation of the pervious concrete parking lot. Q&D hired master craftsman to assist in the installation and to help provide their workers gain expertise. Construction Materials Engineering, Inc., another local contractor, was hired to assist with geotechnical studies and designing the infiltration trench testing.

LID retrofits to McKinley have included all aspects of on-site stormwater treatment: rooftop snow slide clips and rain gutters to collect rainwater and snowmelt, impervious swales to transport rainwater away from the building and into the landscape depression or rain garden, retrofit of turf sprayers adjacent to the building to low water-using drip irrigation and xeric landscape, drip irrigation for the rain garden, and a new parking area made of pervious concrete.

LID is an innovative stormwater management approach which includes modeling nature and allowing the ground to hold, soak up, filter, and naturally treat rainwater. LID methods may also help alleviate local flooding problems by redirecting runoff from concrete and rooftops to landscape areas, allowing the natural softscape to store waters, rather than overburdening the gutters and storm drain system.

The retrofits to the McKinley Arts and Culture Center will treat storm water, allow for infiltration into the ground, and assist in watershed protection within the Truckee Meadows.

Here are photos from today’s pouring: 

This is the second summer of the City of Reno’s accelerated neighborhood street program. It is a preventive maintenance plan that is cost efficient and less hassle for residents than the complete overhaul of a street.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siZNFIHvmTI]

Reno joined with JBR Environmental and a UNR student to design and install a wetland in a northwest Reno neighborhood in a pilot project to take sulfide out of the creek that flows through the area.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yTub8a8JCk]

Residents wanting to know when their street is scheduled to be swept can now find out easily by visiting the City of Reno website.

Providing a sweeping schedule allows residents to remove parked vehicles from the street on their scheduled sweeping day. Removal of vehicles from the street is not required but it does provide residents an opportunity to move them and improve the cleanliness of their neighborhood.

The Street Sweeping Program will function on a seasonal basis from April through October. Routes will be swept between 6:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Holidays will be handled by having the routes swept on the next working day. All routes have been coordinated with Waste Management to avoid having garbage and recycle pick up occurring the same day as sweeping for the individual neighborhoods.

The City of Reno performs street sweeping though its Public Works Department and is required through Air Quality standards to sweep every street at least once per month. There are four separate sweeping operations performed throughout the year:

• Routine Sweeping: General debris removal and cleaning of streets on a monthly rotational cycle.
• Leaf Sweeping: Removal of leaves and other debris in the late Fall of each year.
• Winter Sweeping: Removal of sand/salt material and other debris from roadways after snow events.
• Special Event/Accident Sweeping: Occasional sweeping of parade routes and special events as well as specific calls for service to sweep up after accidents for safety purposes.

The City of Reno Public Works Department is dedicated to providing Reno residents with safe, clean streets. For more information about the City of Reno’s Street Sweeping Program, schedule and route map visit www.reno.gov, click on the “Quick Links” drop-down menu and select “Street Sweeping.”

Artists interested in painting the City of Reno’s Windspire wind turbine during a live Artown event have one week left to submit their qualifications. Deadline for submissions is Monday, May 24.

The project is a partnership between Windspire Energy, the City of Reno, and Artown that seeks to draw attention to Reno’s commitment to arts and renewable energy during the month long art festival. The artist(s) selected for this project will work closely with Windspire Energy and the City of Reno to design and paint the 10 foot base pole of the Windspire that will be installed on the roof of the Downtown Parking Gallery. The Artown live painting event will be held on July 8 at the West Street Market.

Windspire Energy (formerly Mariah Power), developer of the Windspire® wind turbine, and the City of Reno released a request for proposal (RFP) on April 22. The RFP is available for download at http://windspireenergy.com/news-center/artown-rfq/ and is open to all artists in the northern Nevada and Northern California area. Interested artists can also contact Kristyn Bishop at Windspire Energy at marketing@windspireenergy.com  or 775-852-0200 x224.

The Windspire wind turbine at the Downtown Parking Gallery is part of the City of Reno’s $19 million Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative. Funding for the initiative is completely through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from rebates, federal grants, and bonds paid in energy savings. Projects from the initiative will help to save money in the City’s general fund.

Volunteers removed 81 tons of illegally dumped trash and invasive weeds from local outdoor recreation areas during the 5th Annual Great Truckee Meadows Community Cleanup on Saturday, May 8.

“Although 81 tons is still a lot of illegally dumped trash, we are seeing less every year,” said Christi Cakiroglu, Executive Director of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. “With the implementation of the 329-DUMP hotline to report illegal dumping, the continued support of the community and free quarterly bulky item weekends through Waste Management, we are making a huge dent in the problem. Education is the key!”

Over 500 volunteers worked at 14 sites from Verdi to Vista Heights to Dorothy McAlinden Park to Toll Canyon. In all, 541 yards of trash and invasive weeds were removed, including 18 tons of concrete, 500 pounds of metal, and over 300 tires, as well as Scotch and Musk thistle. Read the rest of this entry »

The Reno City Council has declared May 15-21 as Bike to Work & School Week. As a result, the City of Reno has been registered in the Commuter Challenge and encourages all employees to ride their bike at least one day during that week. Go to www.bikenevada.org and register and make sure you note you work for the City of Reno .

Register on the Bike to Work website and you’ll be entered into a community raffle with the chance to win $500 toward the purchase of a bicycle of your choice! You’ll also get a certificate for a 10% discount on commuter merchandise (helmets, backpacks, tire patch kits, leg bands, etc. – does not include bicycles) at participating bike shops.

Get a free cup of coffee on Friday, May 21, at a participating Commuter Coffee Shops.  See www.bikenevada.org  for a list.