Utility gets various input for Willow Creek property

The water company that owns the Willow Creek told residents Wednesday proposing projects for the former golf course the company isn’t allowed to turn a profit from activities at the park because of state regulations, adding a new parking area may have to be constructed.

Utilities Inc. of Central Nevada acquired the 15 parcels totaling 160 acres of the golf course in bankruptcy court in the summer of 2013. That put the water company, which formerly just discharged recycled effluent to irrigate the old golf course, into owning the golf course and designing a master plan for it. The existing parking lot for the clubhouse is on a nine-acre parcel owned by lien-holder Michael Zuccaro.

“My first priority is, and always will be, the reliable operations of wastewater treatment plant No. 3,” Utilities President Wendy Barnett said. “Second of all, our immediate goal is to eradicate the hazards and dangers on that property. Third, I want to create a community park for the benefit of the community in partnership with the community.”

Barnett envisions a water education park.

“Obviously I’m in the water business, so what I envision is a water trail that takes you through different levels of water use,” Barnett said. “If you’re doing landscaping for your home or your office or whatever, you can see the different water environments, the kind of consumption it will take and what it will look like.”

There would be signs noting different plants, wildlife and birds, she said.

“With 160 acres there’s a lot of things we can, and some things we can’t do and I would think as we think about what we want for this park we should also consider the parks that we already have,” she said. “We have a lot of beautiful parks in Pahrump. Someone just said to me the other day none of them have walking trails.”

Resident Walt Turner proposed the idea of a farmer’s market where people could sell local produce, arts and crafts.

Another resident, Don Sutton, pushed the idea of Frisbee golf course.

“It’s a game that is very, very popular in the Midwest,” said Sutton who is from that region. “Nearly every town the size of Pahrump or the size of 1,000 people has a Frisbee golf course.”

The goals cost $300 to $500 apiece, he said, for 18 holes that would add up to about $5,400 to $9,000. Then there’s usually a six-foot by 10-foot cement tee pad.

“It can be played in a multi-use area as long as the holes are designed correctly,” Sutton said. “There are people that are fanatics and they go places where there are Frisbee golf courses. They plan their vacation.”

Barnett said people have been fishing on the ponds or cutting down the dead wood and starting fires.

Resident Ralph Husbeck supported the idea of bring back a golf course.

“It has been my dream that the golf course come back,” Husbeck said. “I visited in 1984 and I’m in Pahrump today because of the excellent golf course it was in the early ’80s. I guess I would plead with your design party, can you retain two holes, one par four and one par three that would be selected and would be available free to the community?”

The Red Rock Audubon Society is already far along in developing their own master plan. Local member Carol Cantino said they’re pledging $20,000 to save 61 mature pine trees between Red Butte Drive and Pahrump Valley Boulevard. She said they hope to start work on a temporary drip system in October 2015 and plant indigenous trees with the help of the master gardener program to fill in dry fairways between the trees. Audubon also plans a sponsor a tree program.

Cantino said there’s been 228 species of birds documented at Willow Creek that use the ponds and trees, many of them are priority species.

Colleen Taylor suggested partnering with the Arbor Society which provides trees for free. She said Pahrump could even be listed as a “tree city,” a high honor with the Arbor Society.

Cantino said dead trees can be habitat for woodpeckers and sap suckers. There’s one dead tree on the golf course where American kestrels have been nesting for a few years.

But Barnett said they will be removing salt cedars, which are classified a noxious weed, which suck up 200 gallons of water per day, as much as a single family home.

She said the utility will have to get a grading permit and a dust control permit from Nye County before starting work. The company has already solicited bids for the land remediation and rehabilitating the ponds.

Loretta Lindahl, a member of the Pahrump Arts Council, suggested an outdoor sculpture garden or sculptures along the walking trail. Cantino said she’d love to see an outdoor theater fronting on Calvada Boulevard, like the plays at Spring Mountain State Park, people could park across the street at Pahrump Valley High School.

UICN will hire a full-time maintenance person to mow the grass, remove weeds and cut dead tree limbs, Barnett said. But she questioned who would maintain the proposed projects.

“Yes we’ll do maintenance of 160 acres, move the water as we talked about. Do I want to go out and clean graffiti off of sculptures? Wouldn’t that be horrible? You want to go out and repaint that outdoor theater? Do I think it’s fair UICN and the ratepayers pick up the burden for what’s a community park for the whole community?” Barnett said.

There were suggestions for using anything from Boy Scouts to prisoners doing community service to do maintenance.

Pahrump Tourism Board member Karen Spalding said her board was contacted by a group in Las Vegas that wanted to have Frisbee golf in Pahrump. She offered the possibility of room tax money for some projects. Spalding advocated having trails wide enough for exercise stations, bike lanes and skating.

“I’d like to learn about what I can put in my garden. I sell real estate. I can send people down there to learn about our community,” Spalding said.

Cantino said when they’re successful with the first 23 acres the Audubon Society will work on property west of there to try to keep those trees alive. Her husband, Richard Cantino, said the Audubon Society will need volunteers next month putting in irrigation pipe and spreading mulch for their first project.

“I don’t think any idea is a dumb idea,” Barnett said. “Some of them might not be able to put into practice but I want to hear them.”