By Selwyn Harris

Several projects around the Pahrump community appear to be moving along according to town plans, officials say.

Pahrump Buildings and Grounds Manager Matt Luis said on Wednesday that the Field “C” lighting project in Petrack Park is proceeding.

“They will be digging holes starting this Friday and then the light poles will be coming in I believe the second week in December. What we are creating over there is a multipurpose field. There are different dog clubs in town of course and they use that field quite a bit. It will also be used for additional play for soccer.

“The Pop Warner football people right now try to get in early on the A and B fields because there is a lack of playing space and that will definitely create more space,” he said.

The lighting poles Luis said will also be equipped with electrical outlets for smaller community related events scheduled at the park.

“If a group wants to set up a booth or that type of thing on the grounds, each one of the poles will have two outlets on that. We are just trying to cover all of our bases as a multipurpose field out there,” he said.

The initial project was scheduled to be completed in early fall but an unforeseen problem along the way created a slight setback.

“It went out to bid once and it was awarded but that contractor could not meet all of the requirements so that kind of held us back a couple of months and then we went out to rebid and that is why the project is just now finishing up,” Luis said.

He also noted that along with the lighting task, town officials are also working to refurbish the restrooms at both Petrack and Ian Deutch Memorial Park.

“We are working on it and we have done the floor coatings at Ian Deutch Park and the bathroom at Petrack Park. We also improved the lighting in those restrooms already. When we upgraded the Bob Ruud Community Center to T-8 lighting which are energy efficient, we removed all of the old fixtures and those are the fixtures that we are installing in the bathrooms and they will really lighten it up real nice,” he said.

Luis did however mention that it is still a bit early to provide a completion date on the project.

He also said that due to illnesses, the workforce in his department is stretched pretty thin as of late.

“At times it seems like we are a little bit behind the ball. We had quite a setback earlier this year when we actually had three of our 10 personnel out on extended sick leaves for a while. That kind of set us back but we are catching up again and of course the little things like the fall festival coming in to play and that consumes a lot of time but we are completing a lot of projects,” he said.

Another one of those projects Luis was referring to is the fairgrounds on the far south side of town.

According to Town Manager Bill Kohbarger’s town board report, Darling Environmental & Surveying, Ltd. completed its clearance of the fairgrounds parcel and fence line late last month. The site was cleared by examining and excavating all of the burrows along and within the boundaries of the planned fence line.

Kohbarger also said once the construction of the fence was completed and intact, no desert tortoises which are on the endangered species list, were encountered during the pre-construction process.

Luis said that the grading portion of the project is nearing completion.

“It is really moving forward and it is just about flat out there. I drove there this morning and they are bringing in the Type II for the parking. We are already looking into our next step and where we want to go. There are many different avenues that we look at and how that area can be completed.

“It is pretty impressive if you go out there and see the equipment they are working with. There was 76,000 cubic yards of dirt they had to move out there so that was a very impressive project and it is just about flat now,” he said.

Yet another project the town is working feverishly on is the Kellogg Park undertaking.

Luis said the clearing of all of the scrub brush and some trees on the land will begin next month.

He noted that the name Kellogg Park could possibly change as the project moves forward.

“We are working on it with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and we are talking about doing the north end close to Bridger Avenue. It has kind of been tagged at this point as “Serenity Park” and our goal is to clean out all of the Salt Cedars in the area. We will clean out the mesquite and we will probably start cutting wood out there maybe next week.

“We will also have some groups out there and we are trying to make it a public project as much as we possibly can. There is 80 acres out there and it comes from Bridger all the way up. There is two parcels out there and we’re talking about the farthest north end of that park. We will also begin installing water lines in the new year and what we are trying to create will be a natural habitat walking area. We will plant some natural grasses for the quails and the doves. There will also be a little dog park in the center of it and it should be quite nice,” he said.

Luis said it is still too early to provide a tentative completion date on the project.