\uFEFFMARK WAITE / PVTVikki Purden unloads boxes as county administrative staff move into the former Nevada JobConnect building on the Calvada Eye late last week. Workers for the Nye County Nuclear Waste Project Office will be housed in the same building as administration. Advertisement

TONOPAH -- Nevada Geo-Tech was awarded a $45,000 no-bid contract by Nye County Commissioners Tuesday to prepare preliminary plans for a new county administration building at the Calvada Eye.

A competitor complained about the awarding of the no-bid contract.

Goldie Inc. of Las Vegas just completed the demolition of the Calvada building that formerly housed Preferred Equities Corp. and the apartment complex on the Calvada Eye. The county heard a report last summer from Charles Abbott and Associates, which runs the Pahrump Building and Safety Department, that it would be cheaper to demolish the buildings than comply with existing codes.

Nye County plans to build a new meeting room to replace the Bob Ruud Community Center, which dates to the 1960s, and county administration offices.

County administration, formerly housed in leased office space on East Basin Avenue, was moved to a location at 401 S. Frontage Road, then moved again, temporarily, to the modular building that formerly housed Nevada JobConnect on the Calvada Eye last week.

Nye County Manager Rick Osborne pointed out $8,000 of the cost is for a traffic study mandated by the county, $26,000 is for civil engineering. Another $11,000 will be used to hire an architect.

Dave Richards, vice-president of CivilWise Services, complained his company wasn't allowed to submit a bid.

"My concern is that these (proposals) go out all the time and we're in the same business here. We never get requested to give proposals on these kind of items. We would like to get put on whatever list this is for these items. My concern is there's a fair evaluation of the services provided and there's a fair opportunity given to similar businesses in the area. We were never contacted about this or anything," Richards said.

Commissioner Butch Borasky referred to a complaint the project wasn't put out for bid. "The assistant county manager clarified we didn't have to do that," Borasky said.

"Professional service agreements don't have to be bid, professional service agreements can be awarded," Commission Chairman Joni Eastley said.

One resident, George Gingell, a regular at county commission meetings who rarely speaks, said he thought going out for competitive bidding could get a lower price.

"I know $45,000 isn't much according to the way you spend money here but every penny I guess counts," Gingell said.

Richards said he also had a concern over Charles Abbott and Associates being given authority as project manager. The same company issues the building permits.

In a related item, commissioners voted to seek proposals for a modular, stick-built or steel-framed building.

On another construction project, Osborne said consultants for Correctional Finance and Consulting Solutions came up with preliminary layouts for a new county jail with 336 beds.

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo has complained a new Pahrump jail has been needed since he took office in 2003. The American Civil Liberties Union toured the jail in September and issued a report six months later calling it "uninhabitable" and a violation of prisoner's constitutional rights.

"This is just hypothetical at this time and they have determined that it could fit on either the current site of the jail or on the alternative site, which is out on Mesquite near the detention facility," Osborne said.

Nye County owns 40 acres at 2871 E. Mesquite Ave., which was talked about as an original site for the federal detention center, now going in on land purchased from the private sector at 2250 E. Mesquite Ave.

The plans are scheduled to be presented to the county commission in July, Osborne said.

Borasky said there would be two pods of 175 beds, one for Pahrump prisoners, another that could be rented out to other agencies to recoup the cost.

Osborne said the county could require the second pod as Pahrump grows.

"Everyone projects growth is going to occur down there in varying degrees. This is planning for growth but in the interim helping it to help pay for itself," he said.

Wichman said she heard an excerpt on talk radio about Oregon charging prisoners up to $60 per day for their incarceration.

Eastley suggested alternatives to incarceration be researched. Wichman was surprised to find out Nye County doesn't have prisoners on supervision with ankle bracelets.