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On agenda:
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7/20/2021
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Final action:
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Title:
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Receive information from community stakeholders regarding the immediate and long-term needs of the community as a result of the pandemic and its negative economic impacts and, in particular, the need for future investment in public health, water, sewer and broadband infrastructure and direct staff accordingly. (For possible action)
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| 7/20/2021 |
Special Meeting
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Agenda note: Clark County Public Works Traffic Management Manager Kaizad Yazdani made a presentation to the Board on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure for traffic signals on public roadways, incident management and emergency response; stated that approximately half of the valley was covered with fiber on major arterials and collector roadways; if there were no roadway resurface projects already planned the approximate cost for fiber installation on 100-foot arterial roadways would be in excess of $290 million, and that with resurface projects the cost would be reduced to approximately $75 million; on 80 foot collector roadways with no planned resurfacing projects, the approximate cost for fiber installation would be $370 million versus $100 million during resurfacing projects; advised that Clark County maintained approximately 2,800 centerline miles of roadway and fiber was missing on 600 of those miles; in 50 percent of the roadways with fiber, the strand count was 72 strands, and as technology had progressed, use of the technology had increased which would require existing low-strand count fiber to be upgraded to 274-strand; the strand count on current fiber installations was 144-strand; in the Boulevard project under construction, some of the wireless contractors were installing 1,800-strand fiber due to the high demand of wireless services in the area and the multiple smart poles, however the 144-strand offered built-in capacity and would meet the needs of the County.
In response to questions by the Board, the speaker advised that not all installed fiber was County owned, but was property of communication vendors and other services, and that projects and areas most in need would be prioritized through communication with those partners to determine where gaps existed, and the County could provide conduit during roadway projects; County projects could be put on hold while visiting the issue, however many projects were already earmarked with funding in place and should be completed; concurrently, a review of where gaps existed could provide direction on where next projects could be planned; a cost share Underground Management Plan with NV Energy provided a 50 percent cost share had allocated $15 million to be utilized for use by the end of 2022, that some projects had been identified to underground power lines inline, and renewal of the program for an additional three years after 2022 was pending; conversations with other entities that began prior to the pandemic were still underway, and at the end of 2021 a contract was planned to inventory every installed conduit, review the capacity that remained, and identify junction points and splice boxes that would determine what was available in the system, what could be used for additional capacity, gaps in the County sector would be identified, and communication over jurisdictional lines would be enabled; installation of fiber under sidewalks was not preferred, and would be considered where no sidewalks existed, took advantage of existing pole boxes and after consideration of where utility lines ran; signal communication, and emergency and incident management required a great amount of gigabyte data transfer which must be communicated through fiber, however school flashing systems were transmitted through RF antennas; and that transmission of a signal through airwaves was an option that could be explored.
Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) Chief John Steinbeck expressed appreciation to the Board for the supplemental assistance that had been received, for the opportunity to be considered for ARPA funds, and shared information on the needs of the CCFD that were required to continue to serve the community; advised the greatest need for CCFD was an additional 150 firefighters to reach 2009 levels; call volume in 2021 remained at approximately eight percent over 2019, and as compared to other cities and counties across the nation, the CCFD was two to three times busier based on the number of available firefighters; dollars from the ARPA would be applied toward specific needs that addressed the COVID-19 impact and service shortages, and included Mobile Integrated Health Services that, in conjunction with County Social Services and the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD), would assist with the surge of COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements, and would coordinate with Emergency Medical Services (EMS), hospitals and in-home care services at an estimated cost of $1.1 million a year plus a one-time capital purchase of $650,000; addition of one EMS coordinator responsible for coordination of the Emergency Medical and Rescue Services at a cost of $200,000 per year, and one registered nurse at a cost of $150,000 per year, that would provide medical assessment of services unique to COVID-19 both internal and external, and that both additional positions required financial commitment beyond the ARPA funds; addition of one fire station located at Las Vegas Boulevard and Serene Avenue that would provide medical services to the expanding south portion of the valley at a cost of $10.6 million plus $3 million for staffing annually; addition of one new Fire and EMS Training Center Facility that would address the needs of the growing community at a cost of $40 to $50 million; two fully equipped Advanced Life Support (ALS) fire engines at a cost of $1.5 million; three reserve ALS Rescue Units at a cost of $2.25 million; other areas of need included video teleconferencing infrastructure for all CCFD Fire Stations for remote training, and an improved command and control center at a cost of $500,000; one additional ALS ladder truck at a cost of $1.5 million; inventory control system that would provide accountability enhanced accountability of equipment and the rotation of PPE at a cost of $350,000; and training of an additional 25 personnel as paramedics at a cost of $750,000.
Commissioner Michael Naft and Commissioner Jim Gibson expressed appreciation to Chief Steinbeck and the CCFD for their services and efforts expended to the community during the pandemic and on a regular basis.
In response to questions by the Board, Chief Steinbeck stated that the requested Mobile Integrated Health Service could be integrated with the Highway to Health and other City and SNHD programs, and would assist in meeting community needs; and that current EMT technicians were interested in advancement to Paramedic classification, and Workforce Connections was not a fit for the specific level of training that was required.
Planned Parenthood Executive Director Lindsey Harmon made a presentation to the Board, stated that Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains (PPRM) was founded on the idea that sexual and reproductive health care and information could change lives, communities and the world; PPRM provided education and information that allowed people to make informed health care decisions; PPRM had two health centers in Las Vegas, a Promotores de Salud program established 11 years ago that had educated over 35,000 Latino parents, families, and high school students through workshops and outreach events, and a community-based HIV program; centers had served almost 7,000 patients during the fiscal year, of which 80 percent were self-pay customers; the centers offered a Patient Assistance Fund that assisted many patients in need; connected patients to COVID vaccinations; emerging issues that had resulted from the pandemic had postponed preventative care, increased sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates which indicated that patients had forgone important health screenings, and that community center care was shelved; centers stayed open during the pandemic which helped fill gaps in health care systems; urged the Board to invest ARPA funds into the vital public health infrastructure that provided essential health care services such as STI testing and treatment, birth control, wellness exams, HIV services and life-saving cancer screening and prevention; additional funding from ARPA would expand the Patient Assistance Fund that provided immediate financial assistance to patients across Nevada, allowed continued investment in the Promotores de Salud program that delivered highly customizable, culturally competent, medically accurate Spanish language bi-lingual education, and would continue to build on the successful HIV programs that provided education and services aimed at prevention new HIV infections, promotion of retention and care, and supported HIV patients; and that a full proposal with budget information would be submitted.
UNLV Vice President of Government and Community Affairs Sabra Newby addressed the Board, stated that the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine recently produced their first class of graduates, and with the new medical school building construction underway was committed to improved health care in the region; the medical school sought to establish several programs and facilities that included an ambulatory out-patient surgery infusion clinical and mental health care facility that would not only serve the community but provide multi-disciplinary training opportunities for future doctors; a biomedical research facility; a health sciences faculty collaboration building; a biomedical, clinical and health sciences support infrastructure facility; stated that the transformational investment of ARPA funds for these projects would be game changers for health care in Southern Nevada; proposals had also been developed for multiple health-related assistance issues for the community such as COVID-19 recovery programs, a pandemic trauma relief and resilience building for Southern Nevada, establishment of the Southern Nevada Injury and Violence Prevention Center that would include a hospital-based violence intervention program, a multi-specialty clinic that would host COVID-19 patient recovery, expansion of access to care and continuum of care in Southern Nevada communities, work site oral health wellness programs, an advanced dental care clinic for patients that required specialized equipment such as wheelchair platforms or bariatric dental chairs; a UNLV student outbreak assistance team that would provide surge capacity for disease investigation and help the community be better prepared for future infectious disease outbreaks; revitalization of the Southern Nevada respiratory disease surveillance program that tracked 20 common bacterial and viral respiratory diseases, and provided near-real-time pictures of what was circulating in the population; stated that several proposals would be developed by UNLV and submitted, further expressed interest in partnering with the County and other community organizations, and asked that the Board look to UNLV for possible partnerships that would fulfill identified needs that may otherwise be unmet.
In response to questions from the Board, the speaker confirmed that UNLV had sought additional funding from the State.
UNLV Vice President of Economic Development Bo Bernhard addressed the Board regarding the UNLV Harry Reid Research & Technology Park, specifically Black Fire Innovation, which had grown by 267 percent since its inception, and that there were now 70 companies at Black Fire that were either participants in a project with UNLV, or held office space to work with UNLV students or faculty, for a total worth of $943 billion; the $35 million facility supported med tech and a variety of disadvantaged business enterprises, 7,980 small businesses were active clients at the small business development center; ARPA funds requested were to support a dark fiber line that would deliver high speed internet to companies that were in desperate need of the service; building No. 2 was under construction, and had received several commitments from major tech companies; and that availability of high speed internet would enable the small businesses to be better equipped to pivot to the world of online commerce.
In response to questions from the Board, the speaker stated that a line existed from the Switch Las Vegas campus to the main campus which had access to the Cherry Creek Supercomputer, and enabled supercomputing capacity at the Park to grow exponentially, and provided support for room temperature super conducting which was considered the holy grail of physics and allowed for a super-conducting energy versus semi-conducting, and would transform all devices and expand broadband infrastructure, and that Switch had been providing the service at no cost.
SNHD Chief Financial Officer Karen White provided the Board with information on public health and safety projects submitted for ARPA funding; advised that there information on a total of 19 projects was shared and that the presentation would focus on the projects of highest priority; advised that $8.25 million was requested for higher priority projects which included expansion of the Behavior Health (BH) Program that sought $1.2 million which would be through the Community Health Center and would provide services to patients with income levels at or below 200 percent of poverty guidelines through a combination of fixed clinic locations and various monthly mobile clinic events, would target medically underserved and socially vulnerable populations, and proposed staffing required consisted of a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner (NP), a pediatric psychiatric NP, five licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), five medical assistants (MA), and one each front desk attendant and biller, that additional costs would include training, IT equipment and test kits, six months of operation expenses and startup costs were requested and due to timing and recruitment of staff hires those funds would be spent over the first 12 to18 months of the program; an allocation of $1.2 million would support the Enhancing Community Health Nursing home visiting program, and would allow for support through the promotion of healthy pregnancies and full-term deliveries, healthy infants by assistance to low income and or at risk mothers via improved prenatal behaviors and the availability of needed services, promote child growth and development through screenings and education, and assist low-income parents to reach improved economic self-sufficiency, and there after consideration of the current funding available there would be a $2.1 million shortfall; the facility improvements was a multi-tiered project, and would include a 12,000 to 15,000 square foot expansion of the second floor and the addition of an elevator to the 2nd floor of the Decatur Avenue building in accordance with American Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, relocation of offices from the first floor to the second in order to expand client services, an East Las Vegas location was being leased and required furnishings for behavioral health, waiting and exam room furniture and equipment, dental equipment, conference and break room furniture and would require $3.9 million; Congenital Syphilis Case Management Program would require personnel, supplies, local travel field work and three years of operations at a cost of $600,000 for three years of operations
Commissioner Kirkpatrick stated that the SNHD had not received any ARPA funds, and as a region a partnership could be established with other entities to help support some of the SNHD growth needs.
Nevada State College Senior Advisor for Government Relations and Community Affairs Anthony Ruiz made a presentation a transportation infrastructure pilot program, the Campus Commuter, which was a partnership between Nevada State College (NSC) and the College of Southern Nevada (CSN), explained that the program was an express shuttle service that connected NSC and CSN’s combined four campuses with underserved areas in Southern Nevada; students would be required to show identification and would utilize mobile applications to track the location of WiFi enabled shuttles; the program would address the impact of COVID-19 on certain populations, and also educational disparities that had been exacerbated by COVID-19 such as transportation, mental health, access to student support services; research showed a relationship between transportation and social mobility was strong, and aligned with the Clark County strategic priorities of safe and secure communities and connecting communities; the pilot program was originally derived from a series of stakeholder meetings held in early 2019 between Nevada Lieutenant Governor Kate Marshall, Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada, the Clark County School District and various other institutions after transportation barriers were identified; data collections indicated that 87 percent of prospective students perceived transportation as a barrier to starting college; 75 percent of current students perceived transportation as a barrier to continue college; and 81 percent of students perceived transportation controlling at least some part of their schedules; the program launched in January 2020, showed great promise, experienced weekly ridership increases, and was shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic; allocation of ARPA funds would allow reinstatement of the Campus Commuter to include a full year evaluation of the pilot program as was intended, and expand services to include at least one location in the southwest part of the valley; the program was designed to increase access and success for students that commuted from underserved areas, accessible transportation options in areas where it was most needed, and aimed to increase both participation in post-secondary education as well as close the achievement gap.
Clark County Chief Financial Officer Jessica Colvin clarified that the Clark County website contained application and program guides specific to household assistance and services provided to those disproportionately impacted, and that another application would become available for services that were discussed today such as water, sewer, broadband, health and safety and infrastructure. | |
Action details
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Meeting details
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Not available
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CLARK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM
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Petitioner: |
Yolanda King, County Manager |
Recommendation:
title
Receive information from community stakeholders regarding the immediate and long-term needs of the community as a result of the pandemic and its negative economic impacts and, in particular, the need for future investment in public health, water, sewer and broadband infrastructure and direct staff accordingly. (For possible action)
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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Additional Comments: |
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BACKGROUND:
Clark County was recently awarded $440 million in Coronavirus State and Local Government Fiscal Recovery Funds (Fiscal Recovery Funds) under the American Rescue Plan Act. These resources lay the foundation for a strong, equitable economic recovery, but also by addressing the systemic public health, safety, and infrastructure challenges that may have contributed to more severe impacts of the pandemic. Mitigating the impact of COVID-19, including taking actions to control its spread and support hospitals and health care workers caring for the sick, continues to require a major public health response. The need for public health measures to respond to COVID-19 will continue in the months and potentially years to come. The long-term health impacts of COVID-19 will continue to require a public health response, including medical services for individuals with “long COVID,” and research to understand how COVID-19 impacts future health needs and raises risks for those who have been infected.
Clean drinking water and services for the collection and treatment of wastewater and stormwater play a critical role in protecting public health. In recognition of this critical service, the Fiscal Recovery Funds may be used to make necessary investments in water and sewer infrastructure.
The COVID-19 public health emergency has also underscored the importance of universally available, high-speed, reliable, and affordable broadband coverage as millions of Americans rely on the internet to participate in, among critical activities, remote school, healthcare, and work. Recognizing the need for such connectivity, the Fiscal Recovery Funds may also be used to make necessary investments in broadband infrastructure.
Clark County is requesting community stakeholders to provide a brief overview of potential investments in public health, safety, water, sewer and broadband infrastructure needed to address the challenges facing the community. Eligible programs and services include but are not limited to the following:
• Public Health and Safety
o COVID-19 testing, major expansions in contact tracing, vaccination, support for individuals in isolation or quarantine, enforcement of public health orders, new public communication efforts, public health surveillance, enhancement to health care capacity through alternative care facilities, and enhancement of public health data systems to meet new demands or scaling needs; and
o Capital investments in public facilities to meet pandemic operational needs, such as physical facility improvements to public hospitals and health clinics or adaptations to public buildings to implement COVID-19 mitigation tactics.
• Water and Sewer Infrastructure
Eligible projects are aligned with the wide range of types or categories of projects that would be eligible to receive financial assistance through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) or Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) including but not limited to:
o Water infrastructure capital improvements, including the installation and replacement of failing treatment and distribution systems;
o Improve drinking water infrastructure, such as building or upgrading facilities and transmission, distribution, and storage systems, including replacement of lead service lines; and
o Improve water quality and address water pollution through projects to construct, improve, and repair wastewater treatment plants, control non-point sources of pollution, improve resilience of infrastructure to severe weather events, create green infrastructure, and protect waterbodies from pollution.
• Broadband Infrastructure
o Investments in broadband designed to provide services meeting adequate speeds and are provided to unserved and underserved households and businesses;
o Designed to deliver, upon project completion, service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical upload and download speeds of 100 Mbps;
o Integrate affordability options in the program design; and
o Prioritize projects that achieve last mile-connections.
• More information regarding eligible services can be found in the attached Interim Final Rule (pages 10 - 21 and 62 - 77)
Presentations should provide a brief overview of the program and should include the following:
• Identify the infrastructure needs;
• How the investment will assist in the community’s overall recovery;
• The intended outcomes; and
• How the outcomes will be measured.
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