The Regional Fire Services Study Board on Dec. 12 voted unanimously to direct staff to recommend that the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners award a one‑year contract to Emergent Global Solutions Inc. to conduct a regional fire and EMS feasibility, efficiency and service enhancement study.

Caden Smatiovich, government affairs liaison for Washoe County, told the board the contract term would run Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2026, and the total not‑to‑exceed amount is $380,935.54, with the cost split equally among Washoe County, the City of Reno and the City of Sparks. Smatiovich said a notice of intent to award was published Dec. 2 and that the Dec. 9 appeal deadline passed with no appeals filed.

Board members asked several procedural and accountability questions during the presentation. Vice Chair Rodriguez asked whether staff had contacted other agencies that had used the vendor; Smatiovich said proposal details and scoring are confidential during negotiations but confirmed that prior studies and relevant experience were required evaluation factors and were considered by the nine‑member evaluation panel. “I am not able to divulge those now,” Smatiovich said of proposer response details; he added that reference checks could be conducted as part of contract negotiations.

Members also pressed for clarity on monitoring and milestones. Smatiovich said the negotiated contract will include benchmarks, deliverables and reporting requirements; the RFP requires at least two public meetings and draft reviews, and open‑meeting laws apply. He said the regional working group — which includes fire chiefs, city and county managers and subject‑matter experts — will be involved in oversight and that staff intends to invite the vendor to an early public kickoff meeting in early 2026.

Several board members requested assurance that the study provide a menu of governance and funding options, including the costs for merging jurisdictions versus maintaining the status quo. Member Brandy Anderson said she expects the report to “provide a menu of options” so each governing body can compare costs, governance models and the cost of doing nothing.

Commissioner Andreola moved to direct staff to submit the recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners; Paul Anderson seconded. The motion passed with all members voting in favor. Following the vote, board staff said negotiations and insurance discussions with Emergent Global Solutions had already begun and that a final contract would be brought forward for execution; if negotiations fail, staff said the county may negotiate with the next highest ranked proposer or cancel the procurement.

The board scheduled future public engagement and asked staff to post notices of public meetings and milestone updates on the Regional Fire Services Study Board page on the Washoe County website. The Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to consider the recommendation at its Dec. 16 meeting.