Officials selected four projects for a Community Development Block Grant with the expectation that funding will be available for more than the two projects that previously were planned.
The four projects that were selected for grant consideration were a blight remediation project in Pahrump, airport in Beatty, performing arts center in Pahrump and fire substation in Amargosa Valley.
“Their emphasis on the new projects will be economic development,” Nye County Manager Pam Webster said.
The Nye County Department of Public Works proposed to construct up to two new hangars at the Beatty Airport over the next five years to facilitate economic activities in accordance with its Airport Capital Improvement Plan.
The total cost for the proposed improvements will cost approximately $1.87 million, according to the documents. About $1.62 million of this is anticipated to be met through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and local funding.
Nye County will need $250,000 in funding from the grant program to design and construct a new 10,000-square-foot hangar.
Construction at the airport would constitute a portion of the larger redevelopment and revitalization of the Beatty Airport, according to the documents. The project will increase the usable facilities and space at the airport which will increase the economic potential of the site, officials said.
“We’ve already been contacted for potential drone activity at that airport and a hangar would be a huge asset to be able to entice and promote that kind of activity at the airport,” Webster said.
County Department of Public Works Director Tim Carlo said he had received several calls from interested parties.
“We’ve had interest in Beatty from (Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems) that is partnered with (Governor’s Office on Economic Development) looking to do large drone activity. I’ve had companies, helicopter companies call, if they had hangar space or if they house helicopters there, they would fly tours to Death Valley National Park,” he said.
He also said he received a call from a movie studio requesting a space to house planes to film a movie in the area.
“We told them we didn’t have any services like that,” Carlo said.
Beatty Airport averages approximately 74 operations per month.
Webster also put forward a blight remediation project in Pahrump. The proposal will target up to 20 parcels.
The total cost for remediation activities will cost approximately $184,420, and about $18,220 of this cost will be matched by the County through waiving disposal fees associated with cleanup activities. Nye County is requesting $166,200.00 from the CDBG to perform the cleanup activities.
“Twenty parcels prioritized from a list of over 300 properties were selected to stimulate the economy in economically depressed areas of Pahrump, Nevada. The appearance of these properties deters prospective purchasers from these communities. Providing a facelift to the parcels in these communities will result in increased property values for residents in those neighborhoods, which will, in turn, result in increased property tax revenue for the town of Pahrump,” officials said in the documents.
“My plan would be to head straight for the treasurer’s trust and find properties that have already moved to that level that can be looked at and used for immediate sale through paying back the taxes and moving forward because that would be the easiest and most accessible quick return on the money that we could do for the grant,” Webster said.
“I want to treat the grant as seed money to be able to sell properties and continuously fund this project,” she added.
Trevor Dolby, a member of the Amargosa Valley Town Board proposed a fire station.
“We’ve recently had two hazmat incidents and we don’t have a hazmat-equipped truck,” he said.
“A barn is the first step to putting a hazmat truck, and maybe a barn so we can have a water tender,” he said.
“It’s preparation for emergency response to hazmat incidents,” Dolby said.
He said the project would require $180,000 from the CDBG program.
Loretta Lindell, president of the Pahrump Arts Council, put forward an idea of a performing arts center.
“The purpose of a center for the visual and performing arts in our community is to provide education and opportunities for participation in all forms of the art,” she said.
“Our vision is that along with the Pahrump Community Library, this area will become an arts district for Pahrump, encouraging further economic development in the area and providing an additional destination for tourists,” she said.
The CDBG program is administered nationally by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and in Nevada by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
On Nov. 14, Nye County commissioners will determine which projects are going to move forward.
Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77