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Washoe County manager previews supportive housing, behavioral health center and Sun Valley Boulevard transfer
Summary
County Manager Eric Brown told Sun Valley residents Feb. 1 that Washoe County plans supportive housing at the CARES campus, will renovate the former West Hills Hospital into a behavioral-health facility with roughly $14.5 million in state funding, and is pursuing a county takeover and major redesign of Sun Valley Boulevard to fix chronic drainage and safety problems.
County Manager Eric Brown on Feb. 1 told the Sun Valley Citizen Advisory Board that Washoe County will continue multi-year efforts on homelessness, behavioral health and infrastructure improvements, and that the county faces a tightening revenue picture over the next five years.
Brown said the CARES campus shelter and resource center are complete and that the county plans to create roughly 50 supportive housing units on five acres west of the campus using a mix of state funding and other sources. He described completion of unified contracts for shelter providers, rehabilitation of the former West Hills Hospital into the Washoe Behavioral Health Center (supported by roughly $14.5 million in state funding), and an opioid action plan funded partly from settlement proceeds.
On transportation, Brown said the county has started the process to transition Sun Valley Boulevard from state to county maintenance as part of a major corridor rebuilding plan, and that the total investment for drainage and multimodal improvements is in the tens of millions of dollars. Brown and RTC representatives said the county anticipates partnering with NDOT if grant funding is secured to pay for construction and long-term improvements.
Brown also reviewed county efforts on emergency response and public safety technology: a regional computer-aided dispatch (CAD) platform is being implemented to allow dispatchers to see and coordinate the nearest emergency units across jurisdictions. He described a multi-agency "sequential intercept" program for people with mental-health needs in the jail, along with plans to expand Crossroads services and the CARES campus provider network. Brown said the county has negotiated multi-year collective bargaining agreements covering county employees and is beginning a budget process that will limit new hires amid a flattening revenue outlook.
Why this matters: Brown outlined projects that affect housing availability, behavioral-health capacity, and local road infrastructure — all items raised repeatedly by Sun Valley residents during public comment. He said ARPA and state funding enable some projects but that funding deadlines and future revenue constraints require careful prioritization.
Next steps: County staff will continue design and grant-seeking work on supportive housing and the West Hills rehabilitation, pursue the roadway transfer with RTC and NDOT as funding is secured, and finalize the CAD rollout later this year.
