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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Category: Roads and Maintenance

Q: Why are our dirt roads watered before being graded? Can't they grade them while dry?

A: There are two primary reasons for watering the roads before grading is started:

1. If the metal blade on the motor grader strikes a rock, it may spark. In our bone-dry environment, sparks can ignite cheat grass. The next ladder fuel to ignite are other dry weeds, ground cover, and sagebrush, followed by Juniper trees.  Those who have lived through Palomino Valley's terrifying wildfires over the years are familiar with this.

2. Dampened dirt (not muddy) is more malleable and is significantly easier to smooth out than dry dirt. The results are far better, and the grading work lasts longer when using water trucks to wet the roads immediately prior to grading.
 

Q: My road is not on the list of roads accepted for maintenance by the PVGID, so why am I paying taxes to the District?

A: If your property lies within the District's boundaries, you are required to pay taxes to the PVGID. Click here for a link to the boundaries map.
 

Q: Are all the roads within the District's boundaries easements granted to the GID?

A: No. While most of the roads are easements granted to the GID, there are two major exceptions: Pyramid Highway is owned and maintained by the State, and Winnemucca Ranch Road is owned and maintained by Washoe County. However, not all of the roadway easements granted to the GID have been accepted for maintenance.
 

Q: Are the roads in the District considered public or private?

A: While the PVGID is a public agency, and the roads within the District are open for public access, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department considers the roads to be privately owned. Therefore, the Sheriff's Department will not conduct traffic patrols or enforcement on any of the District's roads.
 

Q: How can I access Bureau of Land Management (BLM)/public lands?

A: Most of the roads in the District provide access to private property. The few roads that lead to public land are as follows:

  • Wilcox Ranch Road - far southeastern end beyond Pond Peak

  • Microwave Road – far eastern end near Virginia Peak

Q: How does the PVGID determine when to grade a road?

A: Each road maintained by the PVGID has been assigned a Level of Maintenance, on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 being the highest). These levels are primarily based on traffic volume. This provides guidance regarding prioritization to the Operations Manager, who routinely surveys and determines when roads are in need of grading or other maintenance.
 

Q: Why doesn’t the PVGID pave the roads?

A: The PVGID received the roads in their present condition from the original developers. Our estimated cost of paving these roads is $250,000 per mile. With limited revenue, special tax assessments would have to be imposed on each and every property owner in the District in order to pave the roads. By the way, there are 93.2 miles of roads accepted for maintenance within the District
 

Q: Why do our roads pothole so badly during the winter?

A: All dirt roads will pothole due to traffic when wet. This problem can be reduced by providing good drainage. We are currently striving to improve drainage by improving both roadway crown and roadside ditches. However, these improvements will take time due to the extent of our road network.
 

Q. The roads only last about a day without the washboard affect happening?

A. Some of our roads washboard more quickly than others, primarily due to differences in soil content. Soils with lots of sand and little fine material washboard more quickly than roads with more fines. Traffic speed and acceleration/deceleration also contribute to washboarding.
 

Q. Why aren't the roads graded as often as they used to be?

A. The PVGID still has the same total miles of roadway to maintain, but because of reduced revenue, the GID had to reduce the number of employees.
 

Q. Why do we have bumps at our driveways after the road is graded?

A. When the grader operator moves dirt from the side of the road back onto the traveled way, it leaves a small ridge at the driveways and if the bump is too big the operator tries to remove it.
 

 

 

Category: Other

Q: Does the PVGID hold public meetings? If yes, when and where?

A: Yes, the PVGID holds monthly Board of Trustee meetings which are open to the public. Regular meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month. The meetings are held at the Regional Shooting Facility located at 21555 Pyramid Highway, and begin at 6:00 pm.

Click here for a map to the Regional Shooting Facility
 

Q: What are the PVGID's funding sources?

A: Primary funding comes from property taxes assessed on properties within the District. Secondary sources are a portion of the sales and use taxes collected statewide and a modest amount of interest income.