$150,000 funding for Guardian Park project considered

Nye County commissioners will consider spending $150,000 on the Guardian Park project, contingent on the town of Pahrump donating land at the fairgrounds site, during a 10 a.m. meeting Tuesday at the commissioner’s chambers, 2100 Walt Williams Dr.

Marine Corps veteran and retired general contractor Jim Ward made a presentation to the Pahrump town board in June and the county commission on Aug. 20 about Guardian Park, which he said would be a memorial to honor not only veterans but law enforcement and firefighters. Ward said the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall was being retired and other communities were competing to take possession of the monument, adding the Moving Wall is a good footprint for this project.

Ward said he would need 40 acres with the potential for expansion. He said it would attract tourists like veterans, noting 40 percent of the 25 million veterans live in the West, 3,000 miles from Washington D.C.

“You know you’re the gateway to Death Valley. Rather than speeding on through and speeding on back, they’re going to have a reason to stop,” Ward told commissioners. He described conceiving of the idea after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, but pushed the board now to act quickly. “There is a race to the revenue because this is a time-sensitive project.”

Pahrump Town Board member Tom Waters urged the county to support the project.

“We have a community of patriots and I think people recognize that as one of the big things we have,” Waters said. “Having the Guardian Park here makes sense.”

“The town board has already given a letter of support but we want to make sure we give teeth to those letters and we do more than other communities around the country,” he said.

In other business, commissioners will consider whether to issue a request for bids to operate the Pahrump animal shelter.

A revised fiscal year 2013-14 paving plan and a budget for the work will be under consideration. Bids for the purchase of cold mix will be considered.

Commissioners will decide whether to change the starting time of their meetings to 9 a.m.

An update of the 2013 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy is on the agenda for submission to the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

NV Energy will provide an update on the construction of the ON Line transmission project.

An appeal is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission denial of a conditional use permit for a child care facility at 3600 E. Vineyard Dr. North.

Various grants are up for approval. They include a State of Nevada Office of Traffic Safety “Joining Forces” grant to participate in statewide, high visibility, multi-jurisdictional traffic enforcement; a U.S. Department of Justice Byrne Justice Assistance Grant for overtime in drug highway interdiction; an amended grant to fund the Women Infants and Children program; and a Nevada Division of Emergency Management grant to cover the salary for the emergency management director.