An $85,000 agreement was approved 3-0 by Nye County commissioners last week for bond counsels Swenseid and Stern of Las Vegas to perform the legal work necessary to create a general improvement district, or GID, for Pahrump flood control improvements.

The agreement is another step toward the creation of a GID, which could be instituted by the end of this year under a fast-track plan.

Pahrump Regional Planning commissioners received a presentation in March on the flood control service plan by Bureau Veritas that recommended forming a GID for the master plan of drainage facilities totaling $315 million.

Bureau Veritas recommended an initial special assessment bond of $210 million to fund just the facilities east of Highway 160.

The plan is to enact the Clark County Regional Flood Control District hydrologic criteria. It includes an extensive series of flood control measures including nine dams on Wheeler Wash, several detention basins east of Highway 160 and a series of storm channels going east to west throughout Pahrump valley.

The Nye County Commission has yet to hear the presentation on the service plan.

Kendra Follett, representing Swenseid and Stern, said it would take six months to go through the legal procedures to create the GID, providing the county commission doesn't need to postpone any items for further study.

Follett said commissioners may have to prepare a business impact statement.

Swenseid and Stern outlined the following time line for steps to initiate the GID:

* The county commission would submit a notice requesting the consent of the Pahrump Town Advisory Board at a June 17 town board meeting;

* The RPC would be asked to submit recommendations on the service plan at a meeting July 9;

* The county commission would scheduled a public hearing on the flood control service plan for the July 15 county commission meeting, and consider adopting a resolution approving the service plan, creating the GID and sending a notice to business owners;

* The county commission would propose an ordinance initiating the GID at the Aug. 20 meeting;

* Notices would be mailed to property owners not later than Aug. 29, or at least 15 days before a public hearing on the creation of the GID;

* A public hearing would be held Sept. 16 on the creation of the GID;

* A business impact statement would have to be available for public inspection by Oct. 15;

* The county commission would have to hold another public hearing Oct. 21 on its intent to establish a GID;

* The notice of the ordinance creating the GID would have to be published twice between Oct. 31 to Nov. 7;

* Appeals would be heard from Nov. 8 to Dec. 5.

The dates to set the adoption of rates and the initiation of proceedings to issue the bonds are to be announced.

Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley read an e-mail she received from a Pahrump property owner who complained the assessment charged to fund the flood control plan would unfairly penalize owners of vacant property.

While property owners could benefit from not having to pay flood insurance premiums once the flood control improvements are in place, Eastley said the property owner in question mentioned that flood insurance normally benefits only owners of developed property.

Bureau Veritas calculated an assessment of $181.79 per acre per year would be required to fund the entire flood control system, covering 186,200 acres, assuming a $400 million bond issue, paid back over 20 years. Nye County Manager Ron Williams said that figure assumes there are no grants available to pay for all or part of the cost.

"There's a lot of opinions about what we should collect in a rate for protecting a community," Williams said. "This valley is divided into several different watersheds. You could decide rates depending on the type of watershed your property is located in."

If the county elected to pay a smaller amount, Bureau Veritas said assessments per acre would total $33.37 annually for a $75 million bond issue, $66.21 for a $150 million bond issue and $112.87 for a $250 million bond issue.

The draft service plan states, "The distribution of assessments assumes that all land in the district equally benefits from the improvements. This is true as all properties are being removed from the flood plain."

Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the agreement with the bond counsel. Commissioners Gary Hollis and Peter Liakopoulos were absent.

The $85,000 will be taken out of the payment equal to taxes Nye County receives from the U.S. Department of Energy for the land value of Yucca Mountain. The county would reimburse the PETT fund for the cost of the legal counsel with the assessments once the GID is created, as it would the cost of the $386,946 Bureau Veritas service plan.

Commissioners also approved the naming of the district, simply calling it the Pahrump Regional Flood Control District.

Eastley jokingly proposed "the sink or swim flood control district."