Much of the audience at the most recent Beatty Town Board meeting consisted of Beatty clinic staff and members of the ambulance service, present because of an agenda item suggesting a meeting of interested parties "concerning services and providers at the Beatty Medical Clinic and al other matters properly relating thereto."

The main concern regarding the clinic is the loss of 24/7 emergency medical coverage, which occurred with the beginning of the new contract year July 1.

Nevada Health Centers has found it increasingly difficult to attract medical staffers to its rural clinics, especially when they are not paid for after-hour work. Prospective doctors and physician's assistants who have their choice of jobs are not going to choose one that puts them on call evenings and weekends without added compensation.

In Eureka the physician position at the clinic had been vacant for a year to a year and a half until Eureka County chose to pay the additional money (approximately $330,000) for after-hour service.

Nevada Health Centers felt it only fair to ask Nye County to do the same for the Beatty and Amargosa clinics if they wanted the same service. Nye County had refused to pay the additional cost.

Board member Joannie Jarvis said that comparing Eureka County and Nye County was not "comparing apples and apples." She said Eureka County is one of the wealthiest counties in the state because of gold mining, while Nye County is economically depressed.

Teresa Sullivan, who placed the issue on the agenda, said she is worried that people are going to die because of the lack of after-hour service. "We have many elderly and retirees, and traveling an hour or an hour and a half might be too much," she said.

Everyone said their complaints had nothing to do with the clinic staff itself, and staff members also said they loved the community. "We just don't have what we used to have, and we're crying," said Gray.

The board voted to arrange for the meeting suggested by Sullivan to have all interested parties work together to find some solutions.

Fireman Mike Lasorsa reported to the board on his investigation into acquiring a mature pine tree to be placed in the new town square park and act as a town Christmas tree.

He said a provider from the Mesquite area quoted a price of $2,800 for a 30-foot Mondale pine, and $1,500 for a 23-foot tree and had said they would grow at the rate of seven feet a year.

Lasorsa also said another option might be digging up one of the pines next to the fire hall, but these were not as shapely as the Mondales.

He said that if the town were willing to pay $750 toward the 23-foot Mondale, the fire department would pay the other half and shipping, and the board agreed to this option. They also put the matter of applying for water and electricity for the new park on next month's agenda.

The board also approved the expenditure of $2,000 for chemicals used to eradicate tamarisk and Russian olive trees. Bertram reported there were about two acres of Tamarisk at Bombo's pond alone.

The only other action item was the approval of a revised application for storefront renovation grants. During the current fiscal year, the grants, which are for materials and supplies only, with a limit of $5,000, can only be used for storefronts on Highway 95, with storefronts defined as sides of the building visible from that highway.

In other news, Kay Hegge said Bank of America was having a school supply drive and that supplies could be dropped off at the branch office in Beatty. She said the school had indicated backpacks were one of the most needed items.