A request by the U.S. Economic Development Administration back in September 2007 that Nye County repay $3 million from a grant was whittled down to a payment of $361,862 Tuesday.

The payment demand was in regard to the Pahrump Valley High School Technology Center and the Amargosa Valley Science and Technology Park.

Nye County commissioners met in a brief, conference call to approve the payment for costs improperly billed on the grant award. The county had already budgeted a $325,000 payback in this years budget; the remaining $36,862 will come out of contingency funds.

Commission Chairman Joni Eastley applauded the settlement offer.

Assistant County Manager Pam Webster said, "We finally got it to a point of reason. Now we're ready to make a settlement."

What could be more important than the cost reduction is that closing out the grant removes a designation of Nye County as a high risk recipient for any future EDA grants.

The EDA letter, drafted by U.S. Assistant Secretary for Commerce John Fernandez, said, "In light of the fact that the county has represented it is taking a number of remedial steps, we believe that designating the county as high risk at this point is premature."

The EDA will review the extent to which the county carries out the promised remedial steps and efforts made to foster development at the Science and Technology Park in considering Nye County for future assistance, the letter said. The Seattle regional director of the EDA is supposed to receive a report from Nye County every August on steps taken to make the technology park a success.

The Office of the Inspector General issued an audit report in September 2007 that found the county was unable to finance the local share of the $3 million grant, implement components of the grant award or oversee development of the project.

The audit found Nye County claimed work that contractors failed to perform, claimed twice the amount of money proposed for project management and the project itself had not contributed to long term economic development.

Nye County was criticized for failing to provide necessary engineering supervision to ensure the work on the Amargosa Valley Science and Technology Park conformed to specifications and resulted in a functional park, the audit said. Only a few improvements exist there today, including a water tank, lift station and some unpaved roads.

The park, situated at Lathrop Wells, was intended to attract industrial clients to offset the impact of defense downsizing at the Nevada Test Site. Another part of the grant was the High Technology Center, which the EDA considers a successful project, originally intended to serve as a distance education hub linking communities along the High Tech Corridor, Highway 95, at Pahrump Valley High School.

A final part of the grant was to pay 45 percent of the capacity building for the Economic Development Authority of Esmeralda and Nye counties, or EDEN.

Nye County Commissioner Lorinda Wichman noted Nye County couldn't back claims in its appeal for $40,183 given as a subgrant to the Science and Technology Regional Development Corp. because the county was unable to get documentation from the STRDC. The work occurred between November 2000 and June 2003, the EDA said after five years the records were still not available.

"The STRDC wasn't really our animal," Eastley said.

Nye County admitted $456,357 in double billing on the Pahrump High Technology Center project, but in an appeal dated April 24, 2008, county officials said the EDA was owed a refund of $205,361.

Fernandez said if the EDA had been aware of the problem obtaining a water supply during construction of the Science and Technology Park, the EDA would have instructed Nye County to terminate the project rather than proceed with phase two. But Nye County provided documentation the EDA was informed of the water problem with electronic messages sent in May 2004. The EDA subsequently allowed the county to deduct $968,640 in phase two construction costs from its repayment.

Nye County, in its appeal, said the Science and Technology Park's use was related to progress on U.S. Department of Energy projects in Nye County. The county appeal, written by Kyle Mulhall, from the county's federal lobbying firm Akerman Senterfitt, also notes the EDA typically assigns a 20-year useful life to its projects, but in this case the agency measured the success of the project in three years time. The county was also stymied in efforts to bring power to the site due to delays in obtaining right-of-way with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Mulhall rote.

The EDA required the county to pay back a $168,493 subgrant to EDEN for capacity building.

Democrats meet for training

The Nye County Democrats will meet at 6 p.m., Jan. 4 at the home of the Nye County Democratic Party chairman.

This is an informational/training session with Rory Reid's senior staff.

Call 910-3494 for directions and to R.S.V.P.