Letters to the Editor
Did we take on ‘albatross’ for the fairgrounds site?
Pahrump desperately needs road repair, drainage, and the expansion/upgrade of our dump. Yet our BOCC is entertaining a very expensive and massive fairgrounds project adjacent to a housing development!
About twenty years ago, the BLM gave the unincorporated town of Pahrump 400+ acres of land next to a major building development. The board did not look at this albatross with clear vision and see it for what it was, an albatross. They should have said, “No thank you,” OR “Thank you but we know the BLM has scads of land, what about a swap for land out on Bell Vista?” (Where, if we ever were fiscally able to entertain a fairgrounds, the light, noise, traffic, and dust would be less of an impact.)
Instead, they blindly accepted this “gift” and have secretly been planning a fairgrounds located right up against Mountain Falls and across from Spring Mountain Raceway. They have made no attempt to study the impact on the surrounding citizens. And, the developers and real estate agents selling homes in the adjacent development should disclose that there are plans for a fairgrounds adjacent to these properties! Many folks tell me that, when they bought their homes, they received no warning of an adjacent fairgrounds. This is the making of a class action suit but that is a subject for another letter.
The BOCC approved spending $500,000+ on a plan for these hallowed grounds. A half a million could have made a nice dent in our much-needed road repair situation. Top that money off with the $7 million they have squirreled away for the first of many phases of building a civic/community center! Again, think how that money could be put to use on our dilapidated roads and non-existent drainage! That $7 million is like a gateway drug - once spent, they will have the argument that, “Now that we have spent the $7 million we HAVE to spend millions more to complete it.”
Pahrump arguably needs more ball fields, which could be spread throughout the town where the kids actually live. But NO, they want to start with a giant money pit. The maintenance, electricity, water, and staff to maintain and manage it (with salaries and generous benefits) are not factored in or even being discussed per conversation with one of our commissioners.
The original drawings also included 12 baseball diamonds, eight football fields, a harness racing horse track, and an off-road vehicle (OHV) “park”. The lights from Ian Deutch Park can be seen from any point in Pahrump and even as you leave Las Vegas, traveling Highway 160 toward Pahrump, on your first glimpse of Pahrump. I can’t even fathom the lights on all those ball fields. Then there is the noise from cheering crowds and racing vehicles, the debacle of the traffic to get out onto Hwy. 160, the dust from an OHV track, and a horse racing track. People who suffer from asthma will be stuck in their homes permanently.
The best estimate by project managers with industrial building management experience for the total cost of this “fairgrounds” is around $500 million. That number is mind-boggling.
There are approximately 300 miles of paved roads in Pahrump. The money the BOCC wants to spend on this fairgrounds project could repair every road in Pahrump, create the much-needed storm drainage we sorely lack, and address much of our landfill concerns.
Please reach out to the commissioners to express your displeasure with the whole fairgrounds situation. And if possible, attend a BOCC meeting to express your opinion during public comment.
Tami Pittman
