After long delay, repairs to resume at skate park

After nearly a year in limbo, the improvements planned for the Justin Leavitt Skate Park are finally moving forward again.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Nye County Commission, sitting as the governing board for the town of Pahrump, voted 4-1 to award a concrete patchwork contract in the amount of $183,104 to Performance Concrete, a local company.

There were two other bidders for the contract, including Morales Construction and Steadfast Construction. Morales Construction came in at the highest price, a total of $238,000 while Steadfast Construction’s $110,487 bid was the lowest. However, Steadfast’s bid was missing several required documents and was therefore considered unresponsive.

The Justin Leavitt Skate Park, located at Ian Deutch Memorial Park, is a longstanding part of the community and a popular place for locals, particularly youth, to spend time recreating outdoors. But the conditions at the skate park have been a source of consternation, with members of the public calling for improvements for more than a decade.

Two years ago, the town of Pahrump secured a grant through the Nevada Division of State Parks to facilitate those much-desired improvements. In January 2023, work was underway, with sandblasting completed but then, the project stalled until October 2023 when the all-new lighting, including seven 40-foot tall light poles, was installed.

Just a week after that, commissioners rejected a $327,000 bid for the concrete portion of the project, the scope of which outlined a complete reconstruction of a 20-by-50 foot section of the facility and resurfacing of other sections.

At that time, board members cited their concern that the scope of the project simply wasn’t large enough.

“The scope has to be increased to basically a new park,” commissioner Frank Carbone stated at the board’s Oct. 10, 2023 meeting, while commissioner Debra Strickland agreed, remarking that the facility really needed an entirely new base to prevent future heaving and cracking.

Now, it seems the scope has been dialed back rather than increased, with the contract awarded on Tuesday outlining, “…repair [of] approximately 3,500 LF (linear feet) of cracked concrete, grind out existing patchwork and fill cracks with epoxy…”

When the board had initially rejected the concrete bids in 2023, there was some concern that the skate park may have to be closed due to liability for the town. This proved unnecessary, Pahrump Buildings and Grounds Manager Jimmy Martinez explained at Tuesday’s meeting. He said shortly after the 2023 decision had been made, he had the area examined and a small amount of crack repair had been performed, to eliminate the major hazards and allow for continued use.

“I don’t think they care what condition it’s in, they need a place to play,” Strickland added. “They are happy, happy, happy. They’re going to be happy to see it fixed, don’t get me wrong, but it would have been a shame to take that away from them, because we have not had a single incident.”

Commissioner Donna Cox appeared to be the only board member perturbed by the item, remarking that she felt the bid was quite high for patching cracks.

“Wow, I thought we were going to kind of start over… It doesn’t have the proper underlayment,” Cox stated. “I’m just concerned that it’s not bid properly. It needs to be torn out and redone or it needed to be moved to a new location, because of the dirt under there.”

Her fellow board members did not share her hesitation, with commissioner Ron Boskovich offering a motion to award the contract to Performance Concrete and a second coming from Carbone. The motion passed with Cox the sole voice against.

The cost of the project will be split between a Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant through the Nevada Division of State Parks and the Pahrump Capital fund. Performance Concrete will have 120 days from the notice to proceed in which to complete the concrete repairs.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com.