TONOPAH -- Sleepyheads can rejoice. Nye County Commission meetings will now start at 10 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m., following a 4-1 county commission vote Tuesday.

Commissioners meet in Tonopah on the first Tuesday of the month and usually in Pahrump the third Tuesday.

Commissioner Joni Eastley suggested the time change at the May county commission meeting to save money by not having to pay lodging for employees making the two-and-a-half-hour trip from Tonopah to Pahrump to attend meetings, or employees traveling the other way around.

Commissioner Gary Hollis said the county needs to look at its cost savings options in light of the tight budget.

Commissioner Butch Borasky cast the sole dissenting vote. Borasky said it would force commissioners to continue meetings into the afternoon, like Tuesday's meeting which ended about 12:30 p.m. Only recently have commissioners started holding half-day meetings, speeding things up partly by loading the consent agenda in which a number of routine items can be approved with one motion.

"I rise at three, four in the morning. I have no trouble getting up," Borasky said. "If there's a request for one particular meeting, I can understand that."

Hollis said county workers could leave Tonopah at 6 a.m. for a Pahrump county commission meeting and still have time to get prepared by the time it begins at 10 a.m.

The trip is longer for Nye County District 1 Commissioner Lorinda Wichman who travels from Round Mountain, about 55 miles north of Tonopah. Her wide-ranging district includes far-flung areas like Ione and Duckwater, down to the eastern part of Pahrump including Mountain Falls.

Amargosa Valley Town Board Chairman Jan Cameron wasn't in support of the move.

"Staff should be spending some time in the other communities," Cameron said. "An overnight stay is not unreasonable. The same could be said of commissioners."

People who attend the county commission meetings would "lose the whole day" having to sit in meetings that begin at 10 a.m., she said.

Borasky asked the assistant county manager to track whether this rescheduling will save money or not.

* Commissioners also voted to direct county staff to clear up a contract with county surveyor Kevin Haskew. An agenda item was posted to terminate the contract and solicit requests for qualifications for his replacement.

Nye County Purchasing Director Judy Dyer said there weren't complaints with Haskew's performance, only a number of items on his contract that needed clarification.

Wichman said either the county or Haskew could terminate the contract at any time. She said Haskew, who lists a post office box in Goldfield as his business address, has been able to spend a lot more "face time" with people submitting maps in Tonopah than the prior county surveyor who was based in Ely.

Borasky complained about county commissioners again changing contracts after they were approved.

"If we're going to do that, let's put it out to competitive bid, let everybody bid it fairly," Borasky said. "There have been a lot of changes that have been brought to somebody's attention. If we had known that, we could have bid it differently."