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April 22, 2005
Beatty handles mosquito problem
By RICHARD STEPHENS District Chairman Brad Hunt said the county has received permission from the necessary agencies, including the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Nevada Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army Corps of Engineers, for the local organization to use light equipment to clean up vegetation in the riverbed and do some channeling to allow water to flow freely and not form stagnant ponds where mosquitoes can breed. Hunt says he has also been working with Bob Revert to do the same sort of thing with the swampy areas fed by Revert Spring. The District plans to purchase chain saws, chippers, and some light trailers to be used in the clearing of vegetation from the river channel. The board proposes to employ high school students in the summer to do the work under the supervision of an adult. The work cannot begin until mid-June after school is out anyway, because it must wait until after the Department of Wildlife conducts a scheduled count of Amargosa toads. There were an unusual number of mosquitoes in areas near the river last year, and many residents expressed concern because of all the publicity about the West Nile virus. It is hoped that eliminating stagnant pools will be sufficient to control the mosquitoes. If that doesn't work, other options will be tried. Another important item discussed at the April 11 meeting was the moving of the paintball arena. The District has received permission to collect abandoned telephone poles from the Sarcobatus Flat area and will use them to construct new paintball facilities on the property next to the high school formerly used for a BMX track. Hunt said that paintball facilities in Las Vegas are becoming rare, and the District is receiving a growing number of requests from Las Vegas paint-ballers to use the Beatty venue. The new facility will not only provide fields like the current ones, with inflatable obstacles used for special events, but will include another course with permanent obstacles that will be available on a continuous basis. Since its main source of funding is the local room tax, the board has been doing some investigation into the validity of an exemption claimed by contractors working for Nellis Air Force Base. Hunt said that he was told by an official in the Nevada Department of Taxation that government entities are, indeed, immune to state sales and use taxes, but that no one is immune to local taxes unless they have a signed agreement with the local governmental agency imposing the tax. If this proves correct, it could mean a substantial increase in revenue to the District and other local entities, such as the Beatty Museum, which depend on the room tax. |
