The gym at Amargosa Elementary School was packed with residents Tuesday evening who were ready to tell the Bureau of Land Management their concerns about the two proposed 250-megawatt solar power plants, more commonly known as the Solar Millennium project.

The majority of comments came from residents who said they were not opposed to alternative energy but do not want the plant so close to what several called "downtown Amargosa."

Other concerns commonly cited throughout the evening were water usage, dust control, the safety of school children during construction, the excessive heat generated from the plant and the impact on the environment.

The power plants are currently slated to be on Amargosa Farm Road between Valley View Boulevard and Powerline Road.

Many residents were quick to point out this location is near the elementary school, community center and, in some cases, directly across the street from their homes.

That was the case for Mike Oettinger, who said prior to the meeting, "I am not for this in this location."

He added that he is concerned about the safety of school children crossing the street during construction and the air quality.

"I'm not against solar energy," Oettinger added. "But I think this should be two miles north. If I sound harsh, it's because I'm scared."

Resident Ryan Corrigan explained that although there was plenty of empty land surrounding Amargosa, much of that land had already been applied for by other companies pursuing their own alternative energy options.

However, Corrigan pointed out, many of those companies were also no longer fiscally able to pursue those projects. He asked why their applications couldn't be denied and the Solar Millennium project moved to a new site.

Greg Helsett, the renewable energy project manager for the BLM, answered that he is, in fact, working his way through a stack of applications and is down to 57 applications from 68. He also said he had received an inter-office memo that said "we cannot deny applications."

Helsett also added meetings were planned with companies that may no longer be interested in building facilities in Nevada.

Another main concern for residents was the water the power plants would use.

"This particular technology is not appropriate for one of the driest places in the United States," Brian Brown, Amargosa Conservancy resource specialist, said.

Brown was referring to the fact that the plants will use a wet-cool system, which he said could require from 4,000 to 5,000 acre-feet of water per year.

Using a dry-cool system, however, would only use about 45 acre-feet of water per year. Brown also pointed toward other options including a photovoltaic system.

"These are large, for-profit companies," Brown said, ostensibly referring to Solar Millennium. "They're there to make money for themselves and their stockholders. There's nothing wrong with that, but people need to understand that."

Gene Nelson, a 14-year resident of Amargosa, worried about dust control.

"They're going to leave the ground out there bare," Nelson said, conceding there were plans for dust control during construction, but not afterwards.

This is a concern for residents due to the high winds that blow through the valley and dust kicked up by motor vehicles.

"I'm in favor of alternative energy," Nelson said, "but it has to be compatible with the community."

Jan Cameron, chairman of the Amargosa Town Board, pleaded with the BLM representatives to take into consideration the human concerns about the project while putting together the environmental impact statement.

"A lot of an EIS is bugs, bunnies and bushes and not so much the human concerns," Cameron said.

She also pointed that, even if the project were moved farther north of the center of town, there were still issues with the town's ability to support and afford the larger infrastructure required for an additional workforce population.

Furthermore, Cameron said the town had just spent two years working on a master plan that would soon be up for approval by the Nye County commissioners.

Although the plan did include land for alternative energy plants, Cameron said, it was in a different location.

Resident Bill Dewitt, however, pointed out the project would have "a positive economic development impact" on the town.

"Too often, young people go off to university and they don't come back to this community," Dewitt said, adding that aside from the dairy, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for young people in Amargosa Valley. The project, he maintained, could give them a reason to come back home.

Dewitt also compared the project to Hoover Dam, which was also hotly contested when it started but ultimately proved to be beneficial.

Other residents expressed concerns about the plant blowing up based on their recollection of the explosion of the Sunray Inc. solar electric generating station that occurred in Daggett, Calif., in 1999.