Washoe County to fund feasibility study for proposed Gerlach Art Trail gateway site

Washoe County staff announced plans to pay for a feasibility study to evaluate a Gerlach gateway parcel as the site of a new Washoe Art Trail installation. Gabrielle Enfield of the county's Community Reinvestment Department said the county will hire Wood Rogers to produce preliminary drawings, environmental and geotechnical analyses, and two development scenarios for roughly 1–2 acres of a 38.6-acre parcel adjacent to State Route 447.

Enfield told the Citizens Advisory Board that the Gerlach GID trustees supported the county proceeding with the assessment and asked that no land be disturbed during the study. "The GID trustees did support my recommendation to for Washoe County to hire an engineering company to provide a preliminary assessment of the property regarding the area needed and the location for development," she said.

Why it matters: the county has arts-and-culture project funding that includes federal recovery and NEA components, and Enfield said the county "must have them spent by December," creating a tight timeline for design, community input and contracting. Wood Rogers is expected to start next week and the county anticipates about a 10-week study window, with final drawings and ballpark cost estimates available the week of April 20. Enfield said the county hopes to hold a community meeting in May, present scenarios to the GID at its June 4 meeting and, if approved, return with an interlocal agreement at the GID's July meeting so procurement can proceed.

Board members pressed several substantive issues: protection of cultural artifacts, wet playa conditions that could limit parking and construction, responsibilities for maintenance, and how the county and GID would allocate liability and upkeep. Enfield said those open questions are why the feasibility scope includes preliminary environmental review and geotechnical work and noted that if federal funding becomes necessary for a later park phase, a fuller environmental review would be required.

Enfield also told the board the feasibility study will develop at least two scenarios and produce ballpark cost estimates so the GID and community can choose whether to proceed. She said if artifacts or other constraints make the gateway parcel infeasible, the county can repurpose the arts funding for another project, though she added the county has not identified other viable Gerlach sites. "We don't have any other potential sites that are on our radar," she said.

Next steps: Wood Rogers to begin the preliminary study; drawings and estimates expected the week of April 20; community meeting in May; GID review on June 4; potential interlocal agreement and procurement steps in July.

The CAB did not take a formal vote on the project during the meeting.