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June 24, 2005
Beatty residents down on television reception
By RICHARD STEPHENS
In taking this action, the board was following the recommendation of its own Television District Committee, as delivered by committee member Mike Lasorsa, who read the minutes of the committee's June 20 meeting. The committee had mailed 800 questionnaires to Beatty residents to gather the feelings of the community on the town-funded TV service. According to the minutes, they received 18 written and two verbal responses. Nine of the responders said the service was poor, and four said they "really didn't care, for whatever reason." Only three said they could not afford another form of TV reception, such as satellite or cable. The town secretary had computed the town's expenditure for the service at $21,192.17 for the current fiscal year. That cost could be reduced by about $7,000 in standby pay when a town maintenance person is hired, but there are other costs to consider. "But it doesn't stop there," according the committee's report. "The existing translators are close to 15 years old and will probably need to be replaced in the very near future. When these translators were new, they cost approximately $20,000 each. Their cost today is approximately $30,000 each and we would need eight." Another problem is finding technicians to maintain the translators. The committee has been unable to get help with existing problems with the ABC and NBC translators. Often, problems with Beatty's reception have nothing to do with anything within local control. Before reaching the Beatty translators, the signal is relayed at four remote locations on Mt. Charleston, the Nevada Test Site, Mount Potosi, and Angel's Peak. It has become increasingly difficult to get problems at those locations resolved, and the Test Site relay, which once was free, now costs $150 a month. Board member Bert Bertram said he had been looking into alternatives, perhaps some way to receive the satellite signal and rebroadcast it, but hadn't gotten very far. He also said such a project would be very expensive and would only be good until the national conversion to HDTV. Following the recommendation of their committee, the board voted to halt capital expenditures to maintain the TV translators and to review the situation at the end of six months. They also asked the committee to investigate possible alternative methods that would economically provide TV service. The town's radio translators, which are less costly to maintain, will not be affected by the decision. In other Beatty news: • The issue of room tax collection was once again a hot topic of discussion. Since the board's last meeting, the Air Force has, according to one motel owner who received the news by fax, agreed that their contractors are liable to pay the room tax, and all but one motel operator has said they would be billing the tax to these customers. This did not, however, satisfy Beatty General Improvement District Chairman Brad Hunt, who had pressed for an audit of the motels. He felt they should have begun billing for the tax when they received a previous letter from the Beatty Town Board instructing them to do so. Bertram said that room tax collection had historically operated on an honor system, or "good faith" basis. He said there should be a way to "operate on a good faith basis, but we should no longer ignore the statutes." Lasorsa said that operating on the honor system didn't work, using Bertram's own billing practices in his Internet provider service as an example. He said he is conscientious about taking care of his bills, but has found himself having to catch up a couple of months or so in paying for his service because Bertram does not send out bills. Some said that an audit would help to establish a baseline from which to judge compliance in the future, and Hunt said it would give people from the county treasurer's office a better idea of what is occurring. Board Chairman Lamar Walters moved that the board request an audit of the businesses collecting room tax going back seven years. After considerable additional discussion, the board voted unanimously in favor of the audit. • Reporting on the last Nye County Board of Commissioners meeting, Bertram had good news on the problem of the abandoned Desert Vista trailer park that the town has been trying to get declared a public nuisance and cleaned up. He said the county had set aside $75,000 for the cleanup and had directed the Nye County Manager Michael Maher to report on progress at every commission meeting until the project is completed. • This was the first town board meeting for new member Sarah Willis. There is, however, another vacancy on the board with the resignation of John Bass. Bass resigned because he is an applicant for the town maintenance position. |
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