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NDOW proposes regional construction project coordinators, evaluates fleet services amid a significant facilities maintenance backlog
Summary
Nevada Department of Wildlife told legislators it seeks to reclassify a maintenance repair worker to a construction project coordinator and add regional coordinators to address a backlog of facility maintenance across about 20 major facilities; agency staff warned salary competitiveness and travel demands have hindered hiring.
Officials from the Nevada Department of Wildlife told the joint subcommittees that the department manages roughly 120 buildings, 14 wildlife management areas and four fish hatcheries across three regions and that deferred maintenance is substantial. To increase capacity, NDOW proposed establishing construction project coordinator 2 positions in each region and reclassifying an existing maintenance repair worker into one such coordinator.
Caleb McAdoo, deputy director of operations for NDOW, told the committee the incumbent maintenance repair worker appears qualified to fill the reclassified role but that the backlog is large and that adding positions will not eliminate it within a single biennium. "I don't think it would be a fair characterization to say that we would ever catch up to the backlog, but it would... allow us to meet those needs more quickly, more efficiently," McAdoo said.
McAdoo and Director Alan Jene said the department has struggled to hire for an existing Western Region construction project coordinator vacancy that began in April 2023. McAdoo said salary and heavy travel demands have driven candidates away; he cited a compensation study showing the tenth percentile for comparable coordinator positions at roughly $90,000 and said NDOW's current ranges fall short of market levels.
Separately, NDOW described a decision to pilot placing some vehicle lines in state fleet services to reduce long-term maintenance costs and improve turnover for high-mileage vehicles used in urban-adjacent regions. The agency said vehicles used in remote rural locations would likely remain under NDOW control. The fleet-services request would fund higher turnover and improved maintenance for qualifying vehicles.
Committee members asked the department for a clearer estimate of how much progress the new positions could achieve on the maintenance backlog and for a recruitment plan that accounts for travel burdens and salary competitiveness. NDOW staff said they would follow up with more specific estimates of progress if the positions are funded.
