Since receiving funding from the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for Phase 1 of the Effluent Pipeline Project (2004-2009), IVGID has told residents that USACE Section 595 funds would be obtained. These funds would pay for part of the Effluent Basin and Phase 2 of the Pipeline Project.

From 2008 to date, IVGID has paid Marcus Faust, a lobbyist $920,000 [source: ProPublica – graphic below]. However, from 2011 on, IVGID has received no federal funding from USACE.

How does one obtain funding? As the Congressional Research Services describes, “For the last decade, USACE’s annual appropriations process generally has involved three major milestones. [graphic] Each of the milestones is accompanied by various documents, such as USACE budget justifications, congressional conference reports, and USACE work plans.” Source: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/R46320.pdf

We examined USACE documentation from 2011-2023 and learned:

–       Only ONCE, in FY2019, was IVGID mentioned in a USACE Work Plan (Milestone 3): “Initiate Project Partnership Agreement; Reimbursement for IVGID, NV ($1,086,534).” [2019: page 6]

–       Section 595 funding is so small in comparison with other USACE work, finding references to these projects in the first two milestones’ documentation is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Section 595 projects are embedded in other work.

But – what happened to the $1 million dollars from FY2019?

On Feb 19, 2019, Public Works Director Joe Pomroy submitted a Scope of Work to USACE Project Manager Laura Whitney for JUST the Basin (“the Pond”) [Jan 29-2020 Board Packet, p 110-112]. But USACE rejected the document; revisions were required:

1)    In the Environmental Assessment section, two sentences were added:

“The District expects to hire a consultant to complete the environmental assessment work for review by the USACE.”, and

 

 “The document [Environmental Assessment of 2004, performed by USACE] is now considered out of date and can’t be used for findings.” 

 

2)    Project Local Share section was changed from

“IVGID presently has sufficient funds in Utility Fund Reserves to provide the necessary project local share. “

to

“IVGID presently has sufficient funds in Utility Fund Balance to provide the necessary funding for design, permitting and construction phase costs.”

It took Mr. Pomroy over 7 MONTHS to make these changes. The revised Scope of Work was dated Sept 30, 2019 – the LAST DAY of the federal government FISCAL YEAR. This likely gave USACE no time to review and accept the Scope of Work before year-end.  And thus no Partnership Agreement was executed. No environmental assessment was ever done. And – IVGID could never be reimbursed using the $1,086,534 allocated by USACE.

Well, what should have happened? Pomroy should have promptly executed the revisions to the Scope of Work, and ensured USACE approved the Scope document. He should have ensured an Environmental Assessment was obtained through procuring services of a consultant. He should have provided the EA report to USACE for their review. And he should have worked with USACE to negotiate a Partnership Agreement and then presented it to the Board for their approval. But he didn’t do any of this. 

Joseph Pomroy left IVGID October 20, 2020. No reason was given for his leaving; but this new information shines a light on possible reasons.

An environmental assessment is now SCHEDULED to be completed September 18, 2023 for the pipeline and October 3, 2023 for the pond. But there is still no partnership agreement with USACE. The model agreement – which has been revised twice since 2019, is at https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll11/id/5578

There is no record of this version of the agreement ever being presented to the Board of Trustees. And USACE Project Manager Laura Whitney transferred from Sacramento to Los Angeles in July, 2022.

So IVGID is back to Square One. IVGID will need to develop a new Scope of Work with revised Cost and updated information to submit to USACE. Four years have passed – with no results. Costs have escalated proving Benjamin Franklin right: Time is money. And this is just the Pond – not the Effluent Pipeline Project Phase II.

Will IVGID publish a project schedule with milestones (including funding related milestones) so resident know what progress is being made? And when will IVGID end the contract with Marcus Faust to whom they have paid more than $920,000?

Washoe County ended their contract in 2017, after paying $580,000 to Faust according to ProPublica. We will be watching.

[UPDATE Feb 20,2023  Want to see what IVGID says? Their latest status report given Jan 11,2023 at the Board meeting: http://ourivcbvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G.3._-_PW_Effluent_Pipeline1_Project_Update_Jan_11_2023.pdf  The link has a schedule but this is only the contractor’s schedule so  does not include activities to be completed by IVGID, including Funding-related activities. A schedule should be provided with ALL activities of both IVGID, and any contractors.  Also, no mention has ever been made by IVGID of the 2019 $1 million allocation by USACE, which by now may be lost as federal allocations not spent can expire.]

 The author, J. Gumz, is a long-time resident and property owner of Incline Village and a registered voter. Cliff Dobler also a long-time resident and property owner of Incline Village, and a registered voter, contributed to this article.

 

Notes: USACE work plans are available at https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/#!

Budget Justification: https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Budget/ – Budget-Information including Press Book