With a grant application deadline looming, a group of local volunteers is hoping to bring a public motocross facility to the Pahrump Fairgounds.
At the meeting on Tuesday, Bob Adams, an official of the Motorcycle Racing Association of Nevada asked Nye County commissioners for a letter of intent for approval of the use of 30 to 60 acres on the Pahrump Fairgrounds for construction of a public motocross facility.
Adams also asked to apply for the Nevada Commission on Off-Highway Vehicles reimbursable grant for the development of a motocross park.
Adams said the applicant on the grant will be the town of Pahrump, but Nye County Manager Pam Webster said commissioners can’t approve it without seeing it.
“They can’t approve a grant they haven’t seen,” Webster said. “The DA hasn’t seen it, the staff hasn’t seen it.”
Included in the backup were only the details of solicitation. Webster said for approval, a grant has to be presented to Nye County commissioners.The grant’s application deadline is today at 3 p.m.
County Commissioner Dan Schinhofen said he supports the project. He told Adams to work with Nye County staff on preparing the grant and bring it to the next meeting to ratify. At that point, officials will ask Adams to develop cost and management of the facility.
“There are a lot of people that have made interest, want to do certain things on the fairgrounds,” Schinhofen said. “Again, I think this will be a great draw, it’d be good for the local people, it’d be good to bring people in.”
Adams said the layout of the proposed facility is “flexible.” It will include several miles of tracks for motorcycles and bicycle motor cross, additional parking and pit area, according to the documents.
The project received verbal commitments from Albertson and Sons Sand and Gravel and Wulfenstein Construction. Adams said he hopes for an agreement similar to that made for Last Chance Park for use of county and town equipment, including regular use of a water truck.
The costs to open the facility are a possibly-needed tortoise fence, $7,500 for materials and $11,800 for installation. Additionally, a CAT loader will be needed for a week to build the tracks. A rental fee is typically $2,000 for a week.
During the presentation, Pahrump resident Kevin Mayer talked about the economic impacts of similar facilities in other locations such as Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in California or the OHV track in Marysvale, Utah.
Mayer said both places have experienced large economic growth since the opening of the facilities.
“We need to change the image of Pahrump youth. Young people aspiring to be better at everything they do, such as motor cross would be a great start to improve Pahrump’s social and economic image,” he said.
The park will be open to OHV enthusiasts from Pahrump and Las Vegas, officials said. In the documents, Adams said that the “best” operating model for the park is that of Pahrump’s arena with some public funds, contributions by businesses, but mostly volunteers “working for love of the sport and being a part of serving the community.”
Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77