Debra Strickland, whose construction company builds and services wells, said, "It would be great if you dropped $70,000 on us to cap wells," reflecting the amount in the proposal. "But it would be better to get the money to service the wells that need service now and leave the others alone, and everyone will be happy."

Burris replied, "When we determine if there is funding, that's when the town and county would meet with the federal government and work out how it would work."

John Koenig made the point that all the wells would be capped, and residents may not have a choice. "It looks like a waste of money. We are paying the taxes. Who is going to pay the money back? The people around here who are paying for water are paying a hell of a lot of money," said Koenig. "The proposal says cap 14,000 wells. You can say whatever you want, but the proposal says cap all the wells."

George Gingel said, "There is a (statute) that says if you put a water line within 300 feet of your well and your well goes bad, you have to pay to hook up to his stupid system."

Dave Stevens stated, "Mr. Burris is a fine man, but I wouldn't trust him if he had his hand on the Bible. This is all about the prison out here. They want the money for pipes to the prison."

Charlie Gronda asked who would own the sewer and water pipe in the ground and if there would be fire hydrants on the line.

Burris answered, "Utilities Inc. of Southern Nevada would own it and maintain it." He also said the line would be designed to code, with fire hydrants spaced every 500 feet.

Neal Huff said Utilities, Inc. has to go to the PUC for rate increases but they do not need a meeting with the PUC to decrease the tariff rate.

Harley Kulkin spoke about the relationship of water to population density.

"Zoning could be changed to cut acres into smaller lots," he said. "There could be five homes on an acre. With regular pumping, say once every five years, septic tanks can last for years.

"By controlling the water and sewer, they can increase the residency on one acre of land. Imagine Pahrump looking like those ugly Army barracks they call apartments in Las Vegas. You need an acre of land to have the required distance between a well and a septic field."