Around the Arch Blog

From Friday, May 13 until Tuesday, June 1, Reno’s famous landmark, the Reno Arch will turn blue to honor fallen police officers.

National Police Week is May 15 through May 21, 2011 and is observed throughout the nation in order to recognize the hazardous work, serious responsibilities, and strong commitment to our nation’s peace officers.

President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, signed the Congressional resolution that each year makes May 15 “Peace Officers Memorial Day” and the calendar week of each year during which May 15 occurs, as “Police Week”, to commemorate those noble officers who have tragically lost their lives in the line of duty.

“I hope everyone will take the opportunity to pause and remember the officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty while serving and protecting our community and state,” advised Mayor Bob Cashell.

To cover the cost for the installation of the bulbs and the lost energy savings in taking out the current LED lights, Reno businessman Eddie Lorton of E T Carpet Cleaning donated $800 and the Reno City Council contributed $700 through their council discretionary funds. In November, community donations paid for the cost of the bulbs when the Reno Arch turned blue in support of the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.

Residents will be able to track the City of Reno’s progress towards decreasing its carbon footprint with a new interactive website.

The Green Energy Dashboard, http://greenenergy.reno.gov, provides detailed information on 11 solar and wind turbine systems that have been installed on City facilities, with new sites to be added in the coming months. In several formats, the Dashboard displays the energy generated by the City’s solar and wind systems, allowing users to select custom date ranges as well as export the data. Residents will also be able to use the data to better predict what they could expect from installing similar systems at their homes or businesses.

In June and September of 2009, the Reno City Council approved a series of energy-efficient projects. The projects encompass solar photovoltaic systems, a wind turbine demonstration program, solar thermal heating systems, lighting retrofits, control systems, and a variety of HVAC upgrades. These projects make up the City of Reno’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative, representing an investment of $19,067,678 in projects. The entire program is funded through a combination of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, Clean and Renewable Energy Bonds, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, and RenewableGenerations rebates, offered by the local utility, NV Energy. Energy savings, projected at $996,903, will be used to pay off the bonds, making no impact on the City’s general fund.

When all the projects are on-line, the City will save 6,800,000 kilowatt hours and 225,000 therms per year and will lower its carbon footprint by 17,200,000 pounds of CO2 each and every year. The energy projects financed through all of the above mechanisms will be installed and commissioned through April 2012.

We just started archiving our City Council meetings on our YouTube channel. We normally try to keep our videos short and sweet, but our special government channel allows us to upload long videos as well. We think this will be a nice format to archive these meetings.

As with any YouTube video, viewers can jump to any spot in the Council Meeting they want to see. We have a Council Meeting archive page set up on our website – check it out.

Acting Reno Police Chief Steve Pitts updated the Reno City Council on ideas he is pursuing to enhance efforts to clean up graffiti.

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and members of the Reno City Council joined University of Nevada, Reno President Dr. Milton Glick and others to turn the Reno arch lights blue in support of the UNR football team. The team plays Boise State this Friday evening at Mackay Stadium.

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

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: 

Reno Municipal Court Judge Jay Dilworth swore in Reno Mayor Robert A. Cashell, Sr., Council Members Sharon Zadra and Dwight Dortch, City Attorney John Kadlic and Reno Municipal Court Judge Ken Howard for another term in office. Dilworth swore in Dorothy Nash Holmes as the newest Reno Municipal Court Judge to replace Jim Van Winkle who she defeated in the November election.

Donna Dreska, who has been in the city manager’s position since Charles McNeely left, is officially Reno’s newest City Manager. The City Council approved a contract with Dreska in which she volunteered to lower her salary and benefits by more than $15,000. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkTXU9u47Xk]

On Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau recognized the City of Reno for their partnership in the successful Nevada Census 2010 Campaign.

In addition to a plaque presentation, David A. Byerman, Chief Government Liaison for Nevada, U.S. Census Bureau, presented a final operations update to the Reno City Council. In the presentation, Byerman advised due to invaluable partnership support, the Nevada Census 2010 Campaign:
• Maximized the Count for Nevada: Benefit equals $917 per person per year in federal funding for education, healthcare, and other services.
• Built a Broad Coalition: Over 1,500 partners statewide.
• Successfully Recruited 6,200 Nevadans to Work the Census: Providing short-term stimulus and extending unemployment benefits for thousands of Nevadans.
• Realized a High Response Rate: Nevada is one of only two states in the Denver Region to equal its 2000 response rate in 2010.

On December 31, the delivery of the national census count will be given to the President of the United States. For more information about Nevada Census 2010 visit www.nevadacensus2010.com.