BEATTY -- Residents here will have to wait just a little longer for the park benches and trash containers purchased to accompany the new street lights.

The decision of where to place them was tabled Jan. 28 and added to the agenda of the Feb. 11 meeting.

In asking for the delay, Chairman Mike Lasorsa noted the absence due to illness of board member Bert Bertram, who has been heavily involved in the project from its inception. He also said it would give time to gather input from the public on the preferred locations for the items.

Lasorsa said he would like to keep two of the benches at the Community Center -- one outside the town office and one in front of the building.

Former board member Joannie Jarvis, however, said she felt that all eight benches should go downtown since they were purchased with downtown beautification grant money.

Town secretary Janet Rogers said 17 possible locations next to the street lights had been approved in the occupancy permit from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT).

Teresa Sullivan requested that a map showing those locations be made available for viewing at the next meeting, and Larene Younghans asked that the board make a decision then and stop "just talking about it."

The board discussed the possibility of sending a letter to NDOT requesting the lessening of clutter along the right-of-way where the lights are located.

Brad Hunt, local NDOT supervisor, said the board needs to be specific in its request. He said what he would favor is a letter asking NDOT to move utility poles out of the sidewalks and to the edge of the right-of-way. He felt this has a good chance of being approved and he has told his supervisor that his crew is willing to do the cement work involved.

Hunt had not thought about the signs for the now-closed Death Valley Information Center, and said he would have them removed. He advised against writing a letter complaining about general clutter because NDOT's attitude was "if we do anything, we do everything," which could include ordering the removal of some canopies in front of some businesses that encroach on the right-of-way.

The board was scheduled to sign vouchers authorizing payments on change orders by LaHaye Electric for installation of the street lights.

Younghans complained about some of the electrical utility boxes. They were originally labeled as "water" rather than "electrical." She did not approve of the methods used to try to relabel them by partially grinding down the raised metal letters and paint "electrical" on them.

Lasorsa said he felt the company had done a great job after underbidding the competition by some $80,000, and that "we could work with them."

Younghans, however, moved for the board to withhold the payment until properly-labeled lids had been installed on the boxes. This passed after Hunt said NDOT would not sign off on the project until this was done.

Lasorsa gave a report on progress on the construction of the new fire hall. "If all stays the same, the building will be done by February 2010, but it could be sooner," he said. He said he needs to prepare a list of what is still needed and the cost.

Teresa Sullivan asked that an agenda item to establish procedures for the submission of vouchers to the town board be tabled until the next meeting. As worded, it had only involved fire department vouchers, but she said what is needed is a standard procedure to apply to everyone submitting vouchers.

Fire Chief Jim Benshoof said the department has discussed their procedures at a meeting and had established that all their vouchers would be approved by their membership and signed by the chief and the president.

Representatives of the museum and the chamber of commerce were concerned that, if required to follow the same procedures the fire department had adopted, utility bills might not be paid on time and incur penalties.

The board quickly approved an expenditure not to exceed $1,700 from the tourism and promotion account for a security camera system for the Beatty Museum.

They also rescinded a previous motion that called for spending up to $170,000 for a new doublewide as a physician's residence.

During public comment Shirley Harlan said the location between the Lion's Club and the library, which has been mentioned as a possible site for a new ambulance barn, was located on land previously deeded by the county to the library district.

Dave Spicer, representing the planning committee, said the group had voted to ask that the open space planning process be abandoned and incorporated into the master plan and that the county dispense with the services of Stantec, the consulting company hired to do the open space plan.

He asked that this matter be placed on the board's next agenda.

Jerry Hammes suggested the board limit public discussion on agenda items to five minutes.