As the Real Estate Director at Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA), I have the unique opportunity to work with rural Nevadans throughout the State.  And the more rural Nevadans I meet, I can’t help but be reminded of the rural Minnesotans’ I grew up with, hard working down to earth people with a “can do” approach to any project. As I work with local governments to define and deliver needed housing, I can’t help but brag about the ability of rural Nevadan’s to get things done significantly faster than I hear it takes to complete similar tasks when projects are built in larger cities. 

A good example of how things can get done quickly and effectively is the tax credit application for the proposed Winnemucca Senior Apartment expansion.  When starting this project, we were told by experts that it would take at least four to six months to complete the application.  With the help of local Winnemucca folks, NRHA was able to compile and submit the 2010 tax credit application for this project within seven weeks from start to finish, and I’m proud to announce the tax credits were awarded yesterday.  I want to highlight several key items that allowed completion of this application in such a short time:

• When I mentioned that the 2.12 acre parcel next to the Senior Center required rezoning at a meeting to the Humboldt Development Authority, City Manager Stephen West stood up and stated, “I’d better start filling out the application”, and off he went to do it.  He knew time was limited and several public meetings would be required to properly vet and approve this zoning change.  It turned out that there was just enough time to conduct the public meetings and allow adequate time for public comments.
   
• When NRHA completed a preliminary title search on the proposed site and found out the non-profit organization, Senior Citizens of Humboldt County (SCHC), had a long-term lease controlling the site, NRHA made note of this issue in a report to local officials.  On her own volition, Mayor Di An Putnam met with representatives of the Senior Citizens of Humboldt County and had them draft a letter that dissolved the lease. And while attending a City Council Meeting to request a negotiation with the SCHC Board to dissolve the lease, she promptly handed me a letter documenting that she had already handled it.
   
• One of the conditions for dissolving the lease was to ensure input from the Senior Citizens of Humboldt County Board regarding the design and features of the apartments.  The acting Director of this Board, Mr. James Kinney, coordinated a meeting to review the preliminary plans and ensure community input into the application.  We look forward to working with this Board and other senior citizens throughout Winnemucca to build apartments that address community needs.
   
• A couple of weeks before the tax credit application was due, the District Attorney, O. Kent Maher, used established Nevada Revised Statues that allowed the transfer of the 2.12 acre parcel to Desert Winds Development Group, the 501(c)3 non-profit that works with NRHA to develop needed housing.  The public hearing approving this transfer was three days before the deadline and the City Council unanimously approved the resolution. 

If any one of these key tasks were not completed on time, the application submission would have been delayed a year.

The bottom line, the people of rural Nevada that I get to work with are hard working, action-oriented people and I appreciate their help with all of our housing projects.  I also think that urban areas could learn a thing or two about getting things done from these folks.