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All contents Copyright © 2009 The Beatty News, Beatty Nevada

BLM responds to residents’ anger The Bureau of Land Management is scrambling to accommodate angry Nevadans who were not allowed to speak directly to the people planning a controversial solar power plant for Amargosa Valley. The agency hosted a meeting on that topic Aug. 17 in Beatty. Officials told audience members they had to either submit comments in writing or recite them to a court reporter on the premises. Agency personnel said that was to ensure concerns and suggestions were correctly recorded. But many of the Amargosa Valley residents who attended the meeting wanted to look into the faces of BLM officials and representatives of the company that wants to build the plant along Amargosa Valley’s main drag. They wanted to have a discussion. What they got was a bureaucratic process. Some rural residents had driven more than an hour to attend the meeting, and they had expected to be able to face off with the people calling the shots. Being instead told to speak to a court reporter was a huge letdown, and to some an insult.” We wanted to talk and that was the time set up to do it,” Amargosa resident Jerry Nelson complained later. “I think it’s wrong for them to have done this. This is our home we’re talking about.” Nelson said the BLM and the project developer came off as “callous.” Maybe, but they were not in violation of state open meeting law. It requires government agencies to allow comment during public hearings — but the law doesn’t apply to federal agencies. Nevertheless, the decision to not listen to oral comments at the meeting made it appear the BLM and the project developer had no sincere interest in public input, said Alan Lichtenstein, general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.” If you hold a meeting to get public comment, then not letting the public comment verbally sort of defeats the purpose,” Lichtenstein said. “Certainly the ability to speak at a public meeting would be a no-brainer and by not doing so they lose credibility as to whether they’re looking at true public input or whether it’s a sham. That’s unfortunate because this is an important issue that the public has a right to weigh in on and should be weighing in on.” The BLM belatedly agrees. The agency announced last week that it will hold a follow-up meeting Sept. 22 in Beatty during which residents can express their concerns orally, just as was done in the other three “scoping meetings” on the project held at other sites. Scoping meetings are required under the National Environmental Policy Act and are set up by federal	agencies to collect public suggestions and feedback before an agency or a third party contractor begins the environmental impact studies for a proposed project. A scoping meeting is meant give reviewers the benefit of local expertise and to ensure the environmental impact statement prepared for a proposed project is thorough. The meeting in Beatty was the first of four Southern Nevada scoping meetings for the Amargosa Valley solar thermal plant. BLM’s renewable energy planning manager in Nevada, Gregory Helseth, acknowledged taking comments only in writing or through a court reporter at the Beatty meeting was a mistake.” This approach did not work, and confused people as to how they could get their comments heard,” Helseth said in an e-mail. Nelson says Helseth and his cohorts figured that out too late.” I think they’ve screwed it up,” Nelson said. TOWN MEETING Last Wednesday was the usual first meeting of the month. It lasted three hours and provided your reporter with plenty of “News”. Rene Younghans provided most of the contention by airing comments that came up in a Workshop held this summer. The workshop questioned as to how Janet Rogers ran the Town Office and how the bills were paid. The workshop questioned Janet’s unsupervised use of a county vehicle for her own personal use. Also in question, was Janet’s use of the County vehicle to reset the alarm on top of Sawtooth Mountain. (the alarm has been in use for 5 years and warns if the building moves, is broken into or has a high temperature variance). It was also mentioned that Janet stop, or at least curtail, her attendance at the BCC meetings. Another complaint was that Janet must be more responsible to the Community by letting us know when she is not going to be there and by returning all calls. The meeting was attended by representatives of the High School who were there to thank the BTAB for their support; it was unfortunate that these teenagers saw how contentious and rude adults could be. As an example: Rene asked Bert for clarification on something that Bert said and Bert responded,” Were you listening?” Which he repeated. It is this reporter’s belief that the workshop was only asking that the Town Office be run more efficiently and what is wrong with that? The vote carried three to two with both Bert and Mike voting against the motion.
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Theresa Sullivan refused to sign a voucher by Mike for the BVFD in the amount of $300. This refusal was made by the same person who wanted $500,000 for astro turf at the high school and $100,000 for a doctor we don’t have. The personal animosity between these two is obvious. Rene also asked that the Board decide what they wanted the new park to be. Bert, again, asked for $10,000 to pay the cost of an engineer to make a plan. Erika --- suggested that they make it an information center, pointing out on a large map, the location of the business’s and sights that cater to tourists. I have a plan. Why not let us decide what we want. Why not have a contest that asks for a design from us. How about paying the winner of the best design, decided by unanimous vote, $500. This is a lot cheaper and we, instead of some New Yorker, should decide what we want in our park. Debbie Baker (Girls Club) complained that the new Beatty web site advertised businesses without charge and that this was taking money from the Chamber. Ann Marchand, Chamber President also stated that Chambers were closing all over the State due to lack of support by the businesses. (Gee, I wonder why?) THE TOAD IS ENDANGERED That is what the Nevada Fish and Wildlife is trying to decide. An environmental group called Center for Biological Diversity and Center and Public Employees for Responsibility has filed an intention to sue claiming that the Amargosa Toad is in danger of extinction due to overgrazing, overbuilding, lower water levels OHV encroachment and other hazards. If the F&W agree with the petitioner, Beatty does not have a future. The following was copied from their website. Apparently the Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking a harder look at the petitioner’s complaint. Look out for the future. To protect the toad and its remaining habitat, in February 2008 the Center and Public Employees for Responsibility petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species under the Endangered Species Act. We also challenged the route of a massive Nevada off-road vehicle race, bringing about race’s rerouting to avoid destruction of Amargosa toad habitat. When the Fish and Wildlife Service hadn’t responded to our listing petition in March 2009, we filed a notice of intent to sue, and that September the Service announced it was launching a review of the toad’s status. The next month, we worked to protect stream flow in the toad’s habitat by submitting protests of water-right applications for groundwater in the Oasis Valley basin. COMMUNITY INFORMATION I noticed a change in the road sign at the intersection of the 160 and Hwy 95 (The sign used to say turn on lights for the next 150 miles to Tonopah). Now it says for the next 42 miles which is the distance to Beatty.  I talked to Kent Spears District Traffic Engineer for NDOT, who told me that the sign is incorrect and will be removed. Kent also said that NHP will no longer ticket violators for this ordinance in Beatty. (hmmm) SPECIAL TOWN MEETING Lamar Walters presented his idea for the Masonic Temple’s plaque to be placed on a rock at the Community Center. The Temple is willing to donate their expertise to this plaque. One would wonder why, until you realize that the plaque is for their benefit more so than the Town’s. Debbie Baker, who works with Lamar at the US Ecology site, assisted him in this travesty. I do not believe that the BTAB should have the authority to choose what is on a plaque that represents our town. I think we should have a say in this presentation.	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No pop-up advertising. $10/year –775-553-2364  1975 Chinook RV runs great - recent tune up. $2,500 Also -1974 Silver Streak > Also ladder rack for full size pick up (775)553-2364 WANTED—Part time Housekeeper-- Working from approximately June 15th through August 31st. Phoenix Inn. Call 775-553-4321 anytime. Please leave a message for Eric. Must be reliable and drug free.  SERVICES KELLY AND SONS (Kelly -Beatty High Grad) Painting and remodeling-Interior and exterior- custom finishes-faux finishes- (702)327-3216   SHERIFF BLOTTER 09/14/09 GARRY E SALISBURY AGE 48 OF BEATTY WAS RELEASED FROM TONOPAH JAIL AFTER PLEADING GUILTY & PLACED ON PROBATION  09/15/09 SIMON VASQUEZ-SANCHEZ WAS BOOKED INTO BEATTY JAIL ON BEATTY JUSTICE COURT WARRANT FOR FAILURE TO APPEAR ON SEAT BELT CHARGE. BAIL. SET AT $309. 09/15/09 ZACHARY BARNET WEINER WAS BOOKED INTO BEATTY JAIL ON NHP WARRANTS X2. BAIL SET AT $I, 276. THAT’S IT FOR NOW