South end park would balance recreational opportunities

Balancing recreation opportunities throughout the Pahrump community for 2014 was a big topic of discussion for members of the Pahrump Town Board and staff at the monthly meeting.

At present residents on the far south end of town have no real choice but to drive north into town if they want to enjoy community park facilities.

As such, board members voted to approve a grant submittal plan to the Nevada Division of State Parks for the proposed Kellogg Park project.

The state entity recently announced the availability of more than $270,000 in federal funds for local parks and recreation improvement and acquisition projects.

Town Manager Susan Holecheck said the continual growth on the south side of town is spurring the need for real action on the proposed site at the corner of Kellogg and Squaw Valley roads.

“With Mountain Falls and Artesia, we would very much like to begin to work on Kellogg Park. We are going after $150,000 and if we could get a match for this grant, it would go a long way. When you do grants, they look at the scoring and the more letters of support that you have, you are more likely to acquire that grant. I would like to thank the county for indicating their support for us with this,” she said.

In a gesture of bipartisan support, Nye County District IV Commissioner Butch Borasky wished Holecheck and town board members the best of luck in securing the grant money.

“The Board of County Commissioners is pleased to support your decision to apply for a grant through the Land and Water Conservation Fund program. The Town of Pahrump will greatly benefit from the enhancement of Kellogg Park,” Borasky stated in a letter.

Holecheck also told the board the grant will be part of next year’s fiscal budget, thus the town will not have to lay out funds for the project anytime soon.

“This agenda item is just giving you the heads-up as to what the staff is hoping to and thinking about doing. It’s still early but we do have a deadline of Jan. 10, 2014,” she said.

Board Chairman Harley Kulkin has been a champion of the Kellogg Park project many years before he was elected to the town board.

“Starting with Ian Deutch Park going north, we have four parks, but the biggest population density is on the south side where we have no parks,” Kulkin said. “It can’t get done fast enough and it’s been one of my priorities ever since I got elected, so that’s where I stand,” he said.

After a brief discussion, board members voted to approve the grant submittal process 5-0.

In a related item, the actual look of Kellogg Park was discussed and approved as well.

According to the pay schedule provided in backup materials, the first phase of the concept site plan will run $6,000.

Additional fees including, construction management, documents and building department processing services bring the fees to more than $27,000.

Holecheck said once completed, the park will have all the amenities other area parks enjoy and more.

“We are really trying to incorporate things that will work for different age groups and levels of activities. Where parks might normally have basketball courts or ball fields which are wonderful, what we have tried to do is to expand the idea by getting into tennis courts and obviously we will have softball fields but we are thinking in terms of adult exercise equipment. We are also looking at walking trails and horseshoe pits. We are trying to incorporate different age groups and different levels of activities,” she said.

When asked by the board roughly how many people may use the park once completed, Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Matt Luis said an exact figure would be hard to determine at this point but he has residents who constantly want to know when the project might be completed.

“I run into to people all the time who ask me about Kellogg Park. One of the biggest requests out there is the dog park and the walking trails among the mesquite trees that make it a nice quiet area. If you go by Ian Deutch Park, you see every morning how many people are walking around there and this would just be a beautiful setting for residents on the south end of the community,” he said.

Following further discussions by the board and staff, board members voted unanimously to approve funding a conceptual plan for engineering services at the site.

Gary Guy Wilson Architects from Las Vegas will oversee the project.