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October 5, 2005
Beatty residents offer suggestions on how to beautify the town
By RICHARD STEPHENS
The board had sent out flyers asking for input from the public on how to spend the town's share of the Nye County Downtown Development Grant money, and they did succeed in drawing a larger than usual audience. The first to offer a suggestion was Habitat Committee member Shirley Harlan, who clearly had hopes that some of the money might be used to help construct the walking trails that are part of that group's plan to enhance the area for residents and tourists while preserving Amargosa Toad habitat. Chamber of Commerce President Ann Marchand had some questions about the old-fashioned street lamps that have been considered as a possibility for downtown. Would business owners be responsible for paying for the electricity used? Bert Bertram said that nothing, including the street lamps, had been set in stone, and that the question of how the electricity for them would be paid for would have to be answered if the town chose to install them. She also suggested that park benches along the sidewalks, similar to those in Goldfield, would be a good addition. Brad Hunt said the Nevada Department of Transportation had given approval for the town to undertake such projects along the highway right-of-way as long as they did not involve a structure, like the bridge over the river. Work on the bridge would require Department review and approval. Beatty High School Student Body President David Britton said that the student council had settled on four suggestions for the beautification of Beatty. They identified the Beatty Club, with its street-side drinking, and the green "asbestos house" by the anti-bank billboard as eyesores needing remediation. They also said they'd like to see more plants and trees and seasonal and patriotic signs. Marchand said that she would like to see students involved in cleaning up litter in town and along the riverbed and suggested that it might be done as a fund-raiser for Close-Up. Britton said he would see to it that it was on the agenda for the next student council meeting. Hunt said that the Beatty General Improvement District could supply the students with trash bags for the cleanup. J. R. Schultz spoke in favor of three projects: the street lights, beautification of the bridge and additional desert landscaping like what has been done already. Kay Handy spoke of the need to establish what constituted downtown Beatty. A straw poll of the audience showed them in favor of calling anything between the cattle guards "downtown." Harlan said that small rest areas with picnic tables and benches would be helpful. Not only would they entice people traveling on the highway to stop, , she said, but they would serve as resting spots for senior citizens walking on errands in town. Student Ashley Leary said she'd like to see signs put up identifying the school mascot, the Hornet. One other suggestion, perhaps too similar to Harlan's rest area idea to actually be listed separately, was that of creating small "pocket parks." This could make use of at least one small, otherwise useless piece of property owned by the town. At the same meeting, the last Barrick Bullfrog employee in Beatty announced that remaining reclamation operations at the mine have been automated. "I'm leaving town," he joked, "which is Barrick's contribution to the beautification of Beatty." |
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