At Tuesday evening's town board meeting, the amended Pahrump Town Ordinance (PTO) No. 43 regarding trash services passed by a one-vote margin.

Board members Mike Darby and Frank Maurizio asked their fellow members to table the vote for two weeks for additional study, but when member Bill Dolan refused to rescind his motion to pass the ordinance, Darby and Maurizio voted against passage.

Small changes -- mostly to correct typos -- were made to the ordinance. However, the substantial number of changes submitted from attendees at town hall meetings lead by Darby over the past two weeks were not specifically addressed or discussed at any length during the meeting.

The 21-page ordinance is available at the town office as well as on the town's Web site at www.pahrumpnv.biz.town.

One noteworthy change to the ordinance is a change in the number of receipts needed from the dump for people who do not want to contract with Pahrump Valley Disposal (PVD) for trash service. The final version of the ordinance states residents must have proof they hauled their trash to the landfill every 21 days -- not every seven days as previously mandated.

However, it is still mandatory to subscribe to trash service.

One section of the ordinance declares it mandatory for any person owning, occupying or managing any premises connected to electrical service to subscribe to solid waste collection service, if any complaints from neighbors are received by the town or PVD.

Some people wanted to add the definition of the word "neighbor" in the definitions section of the ordinance. They suggested: "One who lives in close proximity within one block radius."

That definition was not added to the ordinance.

Darby explained after the meeting that as the ordinance is written, any person could anonymously call in a complaint about a messy yard to the town office, even though the caller may live on the other side of the valley. Darby said he is not in favor of a person being cited and fined because of a complaint coming from out of the neighborhood by an unidentified source.

Not only did the board not accept the definition of "neighbor," it approved a change to delete a phrase stating the reporting person must be identified.

Another section of the ordinance that sparked heated public comment throughout the months preceding this second passage of the ordinance concerned electrical service. That wording stays as previously written.

In order to get a refund for an advanced payment for service, a customer must supply proof a residence or other premises has not been connected to electrical service during the service period. A refund will then be issued by PVD within 30 days.

The town hall meetings conducted by Darby attracted many ideas for changes to the ordinance. Some were as simple as adding a word or phrase to clarify the intent of the law. For instance, town hall participants wanted a more detailed meaning for the word "dirt."

As defined in the ordinance, dirt is loose earth, ashes and manure. The only exception in the ordinance is sand and gravel used for construction work, which is therefore not subject to cleanup. Darby's group wanted to also exclude from cleanup "manure used to condition soil." That change was not made to the ordinance.

The board did not seem interested in even the smallest changes submitted by Darby, who carefully detailed deletions and additions on each page and turned them in to be distributed to members of the town board on Friday, June 5. The last town hall meeting was held Monday, the day before the June 9 meeting to vote on the ordinance. Maurizio said a copy of Darby's document was e-mailed to him from Town Manager Bill Kohbarger about 11 a.m. Monday.

The mandatory subscription to trash service has been a major source of conflict between residents and the town board. It came to light during previous meetings that a substantial number of residents haul their own trash. Some haul their trash infrequently due to composting, feeding left-overs to livestock or living alone.

"I don't like the word mandatory," said Maurizio after the meeting. Neither did resident John Koenig or most of the people who spoke during public comment.

Kenny Bent informed the board that he was told Pahrump Valley Disposal was "fine leaving the word mandatory out" of the ordinance.

Bruce Calley asked if anyone knew what procedure would be in place at the landfill for handing out receipts. Amy Riches commented she hoped to be the next elected board member and said the current board had gone against the will of the people.

Robin Lloyd said, "Mike worked his butt off on this," and added that the meeting was a travesty because the submissions Darby brought to the board were not considered.

Patty Anderson commented, "If you pass this tonight, it is a slap in the face to Mike Darby and all of us who attended (his town hall meetings)."

Katreen Romanoff commented that it is hard to get people involved and the people at the meeting "spend good time getting to know what you are talking about. It floors us that so many citizens line up to speak and then you don't even listen to us."

She also mentioned her home was on the garden tour and that her garden is clean. "I don't want to go to the dump every 21 days. I don't have to. The meetings Mr. Darby had were fantastic."

She also stated the suggestions from the town hall meetings satisfy PVD, the lawsuit with Mr. Clean which has already been settled, as well as the interests of the community.

Harley Kulkin commented, "This whole board seems to have a propensity for inflating issues instead of deflating them."

Resident Tom Lloyd said he is a recent retiree and asked the board to shelve the ordinance to consider the retirees who are "on very limited budgets" and who haul their own trash.

Darby brought up the fact that Home Depot rents out dumpsters and that would present a conflict and possible legal action. The matter was not addressed further before the vote.

When Jeff Weise asked for a show of hands from residents who were against passage of the ordinance, a sea of hands shot up. However, there were at least eight attendees who wanted the ordinance to pass. Some, like Dave Stevens and Art Jones said there will never be a perfect document that everyone could agree upon.

Weise left the podium, asking the board "You saw the show of hands. This is the voice of the people out here. Why are you doing this? I don't get it, guys."