Pahrump Medical Center auction set for Dec. 7

In less than four weeks’ time, Nye County will be holding an auction to sell off the old Pahrump Medical Center and those interested in purchasing the facility have two options available for bidding, including submitting a “sealed” bid prior to the sale or taking part in the live auction process itself the day of.

The auction was authorized by an act of the Nye County Commission, which, during its Nov. 2 meeting, adopted a resolution outlining the county’s intent to sell the facility located at 1501 and 1503 E. Calvada Boulevard.

This building was once occupied by Healthcare Partners of Nevada but when that company, now known as Intermountain Health, opened its new facility on Loop Road, it vacated the Pahrump Medical Center. Since that occurred, the county has struggled to lease the building out and officials began to contemplate just what the county should do with it in the future. Ideas were tossed around, including moving a portion of Nye County staff into the facility as it had outgrown its current space, but in the end, commissioners voted to pursue a sale of the property instead.

That vote took place on June 2 and the appraisal of the property was approved by commissioners less than two months later, coming it at a total of $1.8 million. Following that appraisal, commissioner Leo Blundo had apparently been striving to have an entirely different resolution presented to the board, one that would allow for a direct sale of the facility, as he had been working with a company called Silver State Health Services, which was interested in buying the building and using it for its original purpose, providing medical services to the community. However, that was proving to be difficult and Blundo expressed his disquiet about the fact that his resolution for a direct sale had yet to be placed on an agenda for consideration.

“It’s been a struggle to get that item to come out,” Blundo stated. “We’ve been bouncing back and forth. At the end of the day, my objective is to bring more medical services here.”

He noted that he was concerned about the possible conflict between the auction resolution that was before the board that afternoon and the one he was working on to authorize a direct sale of the facility. Despite this, he noted that he was amenable to conducting the auction so long as doing so does not tie the county’s hand in terms of pursing a direct sale should the auction prove unsuccessful.

Nye County Manager Tim Sutton explained that if the resolution that was presented that afternoon was approved, that would initiate the auction process. If the board were to decide at the auction that they did not wish to accept any of the bids, there would be another item on that same agenda regarding a resolution to authorize a direct sale.

Blundo then turned to the increase in price detailed in the resolution, which, at more than $2.4 million, was quite a bit higher than the $1.8 million appraised value of the facility.

That increase was a result of work that was planned as well as work that was already completed on the building due to the county’s energy conservation contract with Siemens, county staff explained. As of the Nov. 2 meeting, $85,238 in lighting retrofits had been done and a further $12,738 in building envelope improvements had been made. Additionally, the county was looking at $536,382 in building automation systems installation and HVAC replacement but Blundo made it clear that he felt moving forward with those planned improvements knowing that the county was going to be selling the property was not appropriate.

Commissioner Donna Cox interjected that she was not for selling the building in the first place and she felt that the value of the facility should be much higher than $1.8 million, particularly knowing that prices have been rising steadily over the four months since the appraisal was received. “I am not happy with $1.8 million, I think the building is worth more than that,” Cox asserted.

Commissioner Frank Carbone then turned to Cox to ask if she was proposing that the county obtain another appraisal but she replied that no, she simply wanted to hold on to the building and use it for county purposes.

Cox was not the only commissioner with reservations, either, with Bruce Jabbour stating that he agreed with her. “The market is growing and it’s getting more and more expensive and we do need the building,” Jabbour said. He had been the sole voice against pursuing a sale of the building when it was first broached and he still felt it would be in the best interests of the county to use the facility to house its ever-growing staff.

As the item drew to a close, Carbone made the motion to amend and adopt the auction resolution, changing the minimum auction amount from $2.4 million to $1.9 million while simultaneously directing staff to not move forward with the building automation systems or HVAC replacement. That motion passed 3-2 with Blundo, Carbone and Debra Strickland in favor and Jabbour and Cox against.

Auction process

The auction is set to take place on Tuesday, Dec. 7 during the Nye County Commissioners’ regular meeting and bidders can attend either in Tonopah at 101 Radar Road or in Pahrump at 2100 E. Walt Williams Drive.

Doors will open at 9 a.m. for in-person registration of bidders, each of whom will be issued a “bidder’s card”. All bidders must pay a $500 registration fee, in the form of a cashier’s check, which will be refunded at the end of the auction or else deducted from the balance owed by the successful bidder.

The commission meeting will be called to order at 10 a.m. and sealed bid will then be opened by the Nye County Clerk’s Office.

All sealed bids must be in a sealed envelope marked “Nye County Land Auction” with reference to resolution number 2021-28. Sealed bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 6 at the Nye County Administration Office, P.O. Box 153, 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, NV, 89049. Sealed bids must include a 25% deposit of the minimum bid price of $1,902,976. Deposits must be in the form of a cashier’s check made payable to the Nye County Treasurer. Sealed bids must also include the bidder’s name, address, contact telephone number and a description of the property they are bidding on.

Sealed bids will be verified beginning at 10 a.m. and once this is complete, all sealed bid will be read into the record. Oral bidding will follow and any successful oral bidder will also be required to provide a 25% deposit. The commissioners will then vote to either award or reject the bid.

Deposits will be returned to unsuccessful bidders at the conclusion of the commission meeting or else mailed if the bidder is not present. Unsuccessful oral bidders will need to present their bidder’s card to the Nye County representative in order to receive their refunded registration fee.

The successful bidder will have 30 days to pay the balance of their bid to the Nye County Treasurer.

For more information email Nye County Assistant Manager Lorina Dellinger at ldellinger@co.nye.nv.us or call 775-482-7319.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com