JOHN PAWLAK / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Jim Gronemann swears in Michael Miraglia as the newest town advisory board member. He replaces Ed Bishop. Advertisement

The first order of business for Tuesday night's Pahrump Town Board meeting was the swearing in of Michael Miraglia to replace Ed Bishop, who resigned from the board due to health reasons. Pahrump Senior Center board trustee Jim Gronemann was present to swear in Miraglia.

Miraglia has been appointed by Governor Guinn to serve until January 1, 2007. The next general election in November will decide upon Miraglia's replacement, who will serve the remainder of the term to Dec. 31 2008.

Miraglia first official duty was to be appointed Town Board liaison to the only vacancy left open on the Parks and Recreation Board.

Unfortunately, Town Board Vice Chairman Ron Johnson was not present at the Tuesday meeting, so it will be next month before the panel can conduct business with a quorum present.

It was also time for the second reading of Ordinance 51, concerning sex offender residency restrictions. By chance, at least four candidates for Nye County sheriff were present and they made public comments.

The candidates, which included incumbent Sheriff Tony DeMeo, made their points, the discussion serving as a forum for town residents to appraise the candidates present running for sheriff.

The board approved a proclamation designating Aug. 19 to Sept. 2 as "Fire Fighter Appreciation Week." This coincides with the Muscular Dystrophy Association's 52^nd annual fundraiser that benefits children and adults with neuromuscular diseases. After unanimous board approval, member Paul Willis read the proclamation to the audience.

It was agreed that Saturday, Aug. 19, should be set aside for a water and sewer appraisal workshop that would review proposals from several firms in order to confirm their qualifications for the services required of them. The workshop will be held at 9 a.m. in the town office conference room.

Proposals have been received for engineering services to provide an appraisal of the existing private utilities (Desert Trails and Utilities Inc.); develop a five-year capital improvement plan; prepare an environmental report of water and sewer service areas; and develop cost estimates for existing and proposed infrastructure.

Also, 17 firms responded to requests for engineering proposals for 2006-09. Fifteen companies from the Las Vegas/Henderson area and one each from Redwood City and Anaheim, Calif., were among those responding

The contractors have been asked to provide professional services to the town for as needed, to include the scope of engineering work such as architecture, surveying, transportation, mechanical/electrical/plumbing, water/wastewater and general services.

Chairman Richard Billman acknowledged receipt of the proposals during the meeting, and a committee will be set up to review the individual responses and set up a workshop to review the results before awarding the contract to the most qualified while being the most reasonably priced engineering firm.