Businesses near the Truckee River that will be displaced by the $800 million flood control and river restoration project will get help relocating.

The Washoe County Commission on Tuesday authorized the Truckee Meadows Flood Project to search for a relocation services firm, and sign a $300,000 contract to assist tenants of buildings acquired by the flood control project.

The $300,000 contract will be funded by the 1/8-cent sales tax dedicated to the Truckee Meadows Flood Project. Federal law requires that relocation assistance be provided.

The flood control project has already purchased six buildings on N. Edison Way off Mill Street close to the river. Many of the affected businesses are centered on home improvement and other industrial uses.

The relocation budget was set at $2.7 million by the Flood Project Coordinating Committee on Jan. 11. That amount may cover the relocation costs of additional properties, beyond the N. Edison Way properties and the Bristlecone Family Resources property near University of Nevada, Reno Farms.

If qualified, relocation costs are paid to businesses above and beyond the fair market value of the property. This is especially important to businesses that lease office space.

"We bought these properties and we need to relocate the businesses," said Susie Kapahee, the flood control project's public information officer. "The plan is to demolish these buildings and create a river parkway. We want to let some areas flood naturally, so businesses aren't affected like in the past."

"My business has been through four floods — two in 1986, one in 1997 and one in 2006," said Bill Hale, owner of Sun-kist Home Improvement Specialists at 155 N. Edison Way. "They need to do something to take care of the problem. I'm glad they're finally getting around to doing something about it."

Hale is one of a handful of long-time business owners in the area, and has operated Sun-kist for 31 years on N. Edison Way.

"We're starting to look for places," Hale said. "There are quite a few places available now; but if I wait a few years, those places might not be available. I'd like to stay in the area because it's a pretty central location. But I'm in no rush; it's not critical I leave tomorrow."

Jeff Smith is the owner of Dial One Mountain Steam/RestorX, a business that restores residential structure and contents following water or fire damage, located at 155 E. Edison Way.

"We've been operating since 1984," Smith said. "The county bought the building probably within the last six months. We were given instructions that the county didn't know what they would do with the building in the short-term and they asked us to stay here and keep our businesses open."

The county has all tenants on a monthly lease, allowing six months' notice when tenants would need to move, Smith said.

"I'm not comfortable with short-term leases," Smith said. "We've always had a five-year lease. We're going to leave soon because of the uncertainty of the lease. We're moving across the river into Sparks."

Smith has found a space available with a five-year leasing term in the Sparks Industrial Area, right across the river from the current location of his business.

"We were affected by flooding two years ago," Smith said. "We had two-and-a-half feet of water in the building a couple of days — long enough to make a giant mess."

Smith estimates his personal losses at $75,000 from that flood.

He said many businesses have already moved out of their N. Edison Way buildings.

"As the leases are coming up, people are moving out," Smith said. "I call it kind of like a ghost town around here. There still are some businesses. The ones that have been here forever — longer than 25 years — we're dug in here pretty good and aren't in a hurry to move out."

Smith appreciates that he will be reimbursed for his relocation costs.

"It's a real nice gesture," Smith said. "If you can work through the bureaucracy, it'll be fine. Help is there, if you qualify and everything goes right. I'll certainly not turn down any assistance that we qualify for, or that we're entitled to."

Smith said he supports the concept of the flood control project.

"It's a good idea, excluding the inconvenience it causes me," Smith said. "I'm just one person in the valley. If it's going to work as it's designed, it'll be a good thing, no doubt about it."

Down the street at 195 N. Edison Way, the only business operating in the building is Alternative Energy Solutions, which does design, sales, installation and service on solar electric systems.

Owner Joe Pizur said the county bought the building about a year ago, and all the other businesses moved out.

"It was a little premature," Pizur said. "I'm still here, and I'll be here until they say I need to move. It could be another year, or five years."

"Since all my neighbors moved out, I think it has affected my business," Pizur said. "When the parking lot was busy, so was I — even customers for the other businesses would stop by. It's just a better energy. People do still come in. But it was nice having neighbors to stop in, or help when you needed a hand with something."

Pizur said he has started looking for property to lease.

"There's a lot of space available these days, because many companies are going out of business," Pizur said. "But the rents are still high."

He wants to stay in the area, so he is looking at space to rent in Sparks, Reno and Carson City.

"I'll keep the business open," Pizur said. "This is all I've got."

In March 2007, the Flood Control Project purchased the property currently occupied by Bristlecone Family Resources, a private treatment center that helps teens and adults overcome addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and tobacco through on-site and outpatient treatment options and resources.

The property is located at 1725 S. McCarran Blvd., along the river and across McCarran from UNR Farms. The Flood Control Project bought the property from the Catholic Diocese of Reno, which has a long history at the site.

In 1948, the Diocese bought what was the Flick family ranch to build the first Bishop Manogue Catholic High School and chapel. After Manogue moved to a new site near UNR in 1957, the Brothers of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary established a monastery at the site, until moving to another Reno property. Later the riverside property was the site of Sagewind, a teenage drug treatment and rehabilitation center, which eventually consolidated with a second family treatment organization to become Bristlecone Family Resources.

"The site has a rich history in ministry to the people," said Monique Jacobs, co-director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Reno.

Bristlecone Family Resources, a non-religious, non-profit agency, is operating on a no-rent, monthly lease approved by the county.

While the N. Edison Way buildings will most likely be demolished to make way for the flood project, leaders still need to decide what to do with one or more historic buildings at the Bristlecone site, Kapahee said.