RICHARD STEPHENS / PVT Bert Bertram, at left, was named chairman of the Beatty Town Board Jan. 23. Lamara Walters, to his right, was appointed vice chairman. Joannie Jarvis, second from right, is the secretary. The other two members are, center, Kitty Shubert and, far right, Teresa Sullivan. Advertisement

Bert Bertram was elected chairman of the Beatty Town Advisory Board at its Jan. 23 meeting.

New appointee Lamar Walters, who had served on the board previously, was chosen as vice-chairman. Joannie Jarvis retained the treasurer's position.

The board voted to begin the procedure to move Nevada Historical Marker 173 from its present location to somewhere in the planned town square park.

Bertram felt the marker, which notes Beatty's early history as a railroad town, might get more attention if placed in the park.

The town will have to fill out an application to the state to have the marker moved, and the county will have to enter into a memorandum of agreement since it would no longer be located in a state highway right of way. The board also approved up to $600 for the project.

Master planning was again a topic of some discussion. Stantec, the company hired by the county to do the open-space planning, had delayed beginning work because of concerns over the county's liability coverage. Town secretary Janet Rogers reported the liability issue has been resolved and that the company is beginning work.

Bertram proposed the town "tag along" and take advantage of Stantec's work in producing a master plan for the community. Teresa Sullivan, however, said the board needed to get back to work on its part of the planning project and asked that a planning workshop be scheduled to "get back on track."

Skip Canfield, from the state planning office, suggested that the board get whatever maps it can from Stantec as soon as possible to aid in the process.

After checking each other's calendars for conflicts, the board settled on Saturday, March 15, at 9 a.m. for the workshop.

The board expressed some impatience with the district attorney's office regarding work on the town's ordinances. Proposed and revised ordinances were submitted several months ago for legal review.

Rogers said Marla Zloteck has been working on the matter but that the more she researches, the more questions she runs into that need further researching.

The board gave the Beatty General Improvement District informal approval to borrow some of the town's park benches, currently in storage, in Cottonwood park.

Mike Lasorsa said the matter had not yet been discussed by the BGID board. Pending the board's approval, an agreement for use of the benches would be worked out.

The town board did say that BGID would have to agree to repair or replace any benches that were damaged or lost.

Lasorsa also reported on the health of the town Christmas tree, which was planted this year.

He said he had been concerned because of some browning of the needles, but the tree had been examined by representatives of Pahrump Nursery and pronounced healthy. He also said he was told he had been watering it too much and was going to cut back.

Ryan Tweney asked for an agenda item on the board's Feb. 13 meeting, calling for consideration of a letter of support for a grant from the state park department for a proposed recreational trail.

Jerry Hammes asked for a standing agenda item to update the community on the search for a new doctor. He also wants a similar update on the master planning progress. Bertram said he had been considering establishing a more general agenda item simply called "updates."

Sullivan said work is being done to develop possible incentive packages to attract a doctor.