Beatty town board gets into the Christmas spirit
This time of year the Beatty Town Advisory Board’s meetings are held in a festive atmosphere. The room hosts a large, lighted Christmas tree and other holiday decor. In a longtime tradition, the town’s pride and joy, a vintage fire truck, is parked inside the big room of the Community Center, and is decked out with decorations and lights and a stack of colorfully-wrapped packages.
The board’s Dec. 9 meeting included a presentation by Evandy Severt, of BEC Environmental, explaining what the 2012 Community Source Water Protection Plan for Public Water Systems in Nye County was and why it was due to be updated.
Board members and audience members speculated that the protection of water sources might be a way to prevent utility-scale solar energy installations, with board member Kelly Carroll jokingly suggesting, “Wherever they want to put solar, we need to put a well!”
Severt explained that, although the purpose of the plan is to help protect public water sources from contamination, the plan is non-regulatory.
After the presentation, the board voted to support the updating of the plan.
The board also voted to continue its annual financial assistance of Beatty Seniors, Inc., supplying up to $18,000 to cover utility costs for the Beatty Senior Center.
Valley Electric Association board member Frank Jarvis announced that VEA is renewing the past practice of covering the senior center’s December power bill.
The board also voted to provide $10,000 to cover part of the matching funds for a Travel Nevada Grant awarded to the Beatty Chamber of Commerce for ongoing radio advertising through June 2025.
The board eagerly voted to cancel its second meeting in December, which would be very close to Christmas.
Richard Stephens is a free-lance reporter living in Beatty.
