Around the Arch Blog

In addition to the Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds, the City of Reno also has the authority to issue more than $65 million in Recovery Zone Facility bonds. These bonds offer tax-exempt rates for projects by municipal government, non-profits and private developers that would otherwise be financed on a taxable basis. Staff will announce the City’s time lines for considering private projects that are eligible for conduit-bond financing at the September 23rd meeting.

Meanwhile, interested parties are encouraged to contact the Office of the City Manager. Interested parties should be aware that their projects need to be completed within 3 years, must have repayment sources for the bonds identified, and the bonds must be issued by December of 2010. Nevada Revised Statutes 268.530-568 describes the eligibility requirements for private conduit bonding in greater detail.

So far there are three requests for Recovery Zone Facility bonds. One is from SK Baseball for up to $25 million to complete the build out of the restaurant-retail spaces next to the Aces Ball Park. Another request for $47.7 million is from Northern Nevada Urban Land Development for the Tessera Project which would build Class A office space and retail at the gateway between the City’s urban core and the University. The third request for $21.6 million is from Evans Ranch LLC to build wind-energy generation facilities.

The Reno City Council agreed to turn over most of its $43.7 million in Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds to the Washoe County School District to rebuild new city schools and to the University of Nevada, Reno to build a new medical building to train physicians. Members also decided to keep $10.6 million for energy conservation projects throughout the City.

The City of Reno is authorized to issue up $43.7 million in Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bonds must be repaid by the issuer; however, the federal government makes the repayment more affordable by providing a 45% subsidy on the interest costs. The projects selected are all ready to go and have repayment sources identified. The City of Reno will not issue the bonds but will convey that authority to the School District and the University so that they can issue the bonds for their projects.

The Washoe County School District will receive the largest allocation of bonding authority of $21,930,000. The money will be used for renovations at older city schools.

The University of Nevada, Reno will receive $11.2 million in bonding authority for a new medical school building. The project has already received $31 million from the Nevada Legislature. The State Board of Examiners is expected to vote on issuing a construction contract for the new building on November 7th.

The City of Reno is soliciting proposals from eligible public and private non-profit organizations that will carry out programs under the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program through the ARRA. Competitive selections will be made according to the criteria set forth in this document.

Also included in this Request for Proposals is a request for applicants to provide HMIS data entry and disbursement of financial assistance for HPRP funds granted to Washoe County. Washoe County will receive HPRP funds in the amount of $200,000 for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing to be provided to current clients working with Washoe County Social Services and Senior Services Departments. The County seeks to have the check disbursement (rent payments, utility payments, etc) and HMIS data entry for these clients processed by the local HPRP sub-grantee. All in-take, assessment, eligibility certification, housing search and placement, case management and data collection will be conducted by Washoe County staff.

The goal is to select a single entity through this RFP for the implementation of both the prevention and re-housing components for all eligible individuals and families in Washoe County.

Here are the documents for submitting an RFP:

RFP Instructions
Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program

Ok, so I’m not an expert in “green” things but I like to think that I’m doing my best to be more educated in bettering the environment. By improving my knowledge, I really try to take special note of local happenings, global improvements, and learning from experts. One person I always refer to and ask a zillion questions is Jason Geddes. Jason is our Environmental Services Administrator for the City of Reno. He literally is the “green” guru in our area amongst many other things he does for our community. Jason does a great job of explaining things to me or as I refer to it as “dumbing it down for me.” Last week when the Reno City Council approved an energy audit and contract to install energy efficient projects, I immediately went to him to better understand what it meant. After some explanation, I realized just how great this step was for the community. By the Reno City Council approving the contract and audit, the City of Reno is now able to move forward with spending federal stimulus monies.

The energy audit that was performed by APS Energy Services recommended numerous renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The recommended projects are gong to be completed for Phase I while Phase II projects will be present to City Council in late summer or fall. The projects that were included in Phase I were chosen due to the projects having a short payback timeframe or an operational need.

The Phase I projects include energy efficiency lighting projects at the Downtown Parking Gallery, Reno Arch, Vaughn Middle School ball field, and RPD Evidence Locker; energy efficiency air handling improvements at Fire Station 7; renewable wind installations at City Hall, Rosewood Lakes, Stead Wastewater Treatment Facility, and Downtown Parking Gallery.

Phase I includes solar and wind projects eligible for low interest financing through Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) as well as SolarGenerations and WindGenerations rebates sponsored by NV Energy. Funding is also available through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) administered through the US Department of Energy. Annual energy savings from the approved projects will be used to satisfy the City’s obligation on the CREBs. The City of Reno is the first city to issue and use CREBs in Nevada. Yes, you read that right – the first!

The total cost for energy efficiency projects is $4,059,051. The 15 year debt service will be paid through annual energy savings. How great is that?

As part of the City of Reno Green Priority, the City has installed a 50kW PV array at the Corporation Yard in December of 2008. You can see how the system is performing and the energy it is generating  as well as the offset in CO2 emissions by following this link. The 50kW array was paid for through a combination of an NV Energy SolarGenerations rebate and a general fund approriation.

The City is looking to add an addtional 210kW of PV this year. A 30kW array will be placed on the Downtown Parking Gallery to serve its tenants and the tenants of the West Street Market. A 180kW array will also be added to the Downtown Events Center.  These systems will be paid for through a combination of NV Energy SolarGenerations rebates, stimulus funding, and Clean & Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs). CREBs are a zero interest, 12-16 year loan that is provided to local governments to install renewable energy systems.

As part of the City of Reno Green Priority, the City is working to lower its carbon footprint through energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. One such initiative involves installing wind turbines in the City of Reno.  In February of 2008, Council amended Title 18 of its code to comply with the Nevada Revised Statues ensuring local codes don’t inhibit the installation of renewable energy systesms. Now, the City has engaged in installing the wind turbines to offset its energy load and demonstrate to the citizens how the new generation of wind turbines compares to the old style wind turbines.  The cost of installatinon will be entirely covered through the NV Energy WindGenerations program and the Energy Efficiency Community Block Grants made available through the federal stimulus package.

Two to three turbines will be installed near each other with an aenemomter to measure wind speeds and show energy output versus manufacturer listed output. The sites that have been selected are on top of City Hall, on top of the Downtown Parking Gallery, Rosewood Lakes Golf course and the Stead Wastewater Treatment plant. The turbines that will be installed include the Cascade Engineering Swift, Urban Green, Helix Wind, Proven, Iskra, Synergy and Mariah Windspire. The last two are local companies that design and/or manufacture in Reno.

In support of the City of Reno Green Priority, the City has hired APS Energy Services to prepare a comprehensive energy audit for the City. The energy audit was approved by Council in August of 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in July of 2009. The audit has identified numerous energy conservation measures for City facilities that will lead to 20% reduction in energy use. The first phase of projects will be presented to Council in late May and includes lighting retrofits, boiler replacements, digital control systems, solar photovoltaic systems and wind turbine systems.

The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act appropriated $2,142,000 in Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant monies to the City of Reno. The City had been working on an energy audit of all parks and buildings since August of 2008 and had identified tens of millions of dollars of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Reno City Council gave direction to use stimulus funds to support these projects including energy retrofits of City Hall, a lighting retrofit of the Reno Arch and installation of solar photovoltaic systems and wind turbines on city properties.