36 years ago this month

About a third of Pahrump Valley land will be re-evaluated in time for the fiscal tax year beginning next July 1.

The new look at property values in Pahrump valley by Glenn Frye, the state's assessment chief, will not have the general effect of raising taxes, according to Leo Funk, Nye County assessor. The main result will be an averaging of taxes, overcoming the assessment problem caused by the sometimes widely different sale prices of land in close proximity.

Funk added however, that some taxes will be higher due to the fact that land prices in the Valley have risen considerably in recent years.

Scheduled layoffs at the Nevada Test Site are proceeding at a slower pace than previously announced. Of the 1,250 expected to be cut through October, about 625 had actually been let go by late October. The NTS will remain active on a long-range basis short of worldwide test ban agreements, according to AEC commissioner Wilfrid E. Johnson.

30 years ago this week

Oct. 8 marked a change in status for the Pahrump Valley Post Office. After being a third-class office for the past six years, the office was changed to second class, reflected by an increase in revenues, according to Postmaster Frances Chenoweth.

According to Chenoweth, the classification of a post office is directly related to total revenue generated, and there are four classes of post offices. "The Las Vegas office is first class; it will be a long, long time before we ever move into that classification." Chenoweth said.

Late last year Jack M. Soules, president of Preferred Equities Corp., predicted "someday at least one hundred homes a year will be built in Calvada Valley." If home-building here continues at the present pace, "some day" has now arrived with a fanfare of drumming hammers and singing saws. During October, eight new Calvada residences were under construction.

20 years ago this week

A Yucca Mountain Repository moved a giant step closer to reality yesterday when the U.S. Senate voted 63-30 to study just one prospective site at a time. The first site expected to be studied is the one considered the most likely - Yucca Mountain.

The major battle by Nevada's delegation opposing the bill, by Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., appears to have failed in its major aim.

Hopes for an end in the near future to strikes at the Nevada Test Site and Tonopah Test Range were dampened when "not much progress" was reported following the Culinary Union management meeting. Signals have been coming from Washington that the impasse with the Culinary and nine other trade unions might be ending and the strikes could be over in two weeks.

The Pahrump Town Board has turned over a study aimed at establishing a building permit ordinance to Town Planner Don Brown.

The board was told that not only has the state of Nevada adopted the nationally recognized unified building code standards, but so has Nye County. "The only reason for the board to adopt an ordinance is to increase standards," said Bill Mankins, who has chaired the committee that has been working on proposed building standards.

10 years ago this week

Pahrump Town Board members say they are tired of taxation without adequate representation and decided to put the Nye County commissioners on notice that they are prepared to sue for reapportionment of the districts if the commissioners don't do it voluntarily.

The board instructed Town Attorney Len Smith to draft a formal complaint to the commission, stating that the board is prepared to sue if the commissioners don't take action on the matter and give Pahrump a third seat.

After more than a year of waiting, the way has been cleared for Rupert Bragg-Smith to build an advanced driving school just south of Pahrump. The Interior Board of Land Appeals ruled last week that an appeal filed on Bragg-Smith's purchase of 350 acres of BLM land by the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was unfounded. This means Bragg-Smith can move forward with his plans to build the driving school.

A review of Nye County salaries paid out of the general fund account for a two-week period in mid-October shows the average pay for the 229 employees listed is $17.93 an hour. The $328,599.15 paid is part of a projected $9.7 million in salary and benefits the employees will make this year, leaving the general fund with just over $1 million to handle all other expenses.

As a rule, benefits to county employees are the equivalent of about 38 to 40 percent of salary.

Growth-related issues figure to generate a lot of attention when the county commissioners have their next meeting. Of particular interest are a proposed county impact fee on new residential construction and a moratorium on residential parceling the commissioners imposed last month. Both have sparked a lot of interest in Pahrump and the rest of the county.