Both Valley Electric Association Chief Executive Officer Tom Husted and Nye County commissioners were steamed up Tuesday, and it wasn't because they were immersed in a solar-powered water heater.

County commissioners presented a resolution to resolve the suspended VEA solar hot water program at the start of the meeting. Husted said it was a letter of support but said "the devil is in the details," a phrase he repeated five times during the discussion.

The resolution applauded the program. The only meat of the resolution came in the last paragraph:

"The Nye County Board of County Commissioners support Valley Electric Association Inc. in the implementation of the domestic solar hot water heater program," it read. "Nye County will waive Nye County permit fees; that county staff are directed to assist Valley Electric Association and their contractors in the development of a streamlined inspection, reporting and self-certification program for the domestic solar hot water program."

Nye County Chief Civil Deputy District Attorney Ron Kent said there has to be a paper trail to prove inspections were performed. Kent said county officials thought they had an agreement with VEA during discussions last week.

He said VEA needs to provide Nye County with a hold-harmless agreement for the inspections.

Husted in particular wanted clarification of what a "streamlined inspection, reporting and self-certification program" actually meant.

He said VEA would have to pay the contractor and subcontractor extra to comply with county permitting requirements.

"Wouldn't those go away with this process of not having to have our staff to do the permit and the inspection and you do your own?" County Manager Rick Osborne asked.

"We don't know," Husted replied.

An impatient county Commissioner Gary Hollis said, "What do you want, Tom? I'm listening."

Responded Husted, "We need the details behind the last graph. What is the streamlined, inspection, reporting and self-certification program?"

Darrell Lacy, director of the Nye County nuclear waste projects office, said he thought those issues were worked out last week during discussions with VEA officials. That followed a press conference Oct. 27 where Husted blasted the county planning department for notifying subcontractors installing the hot water heaters the day before they needed to obtain permits and county inspections after months of preparation for the program.

"You're going to do the self-inspections. You're going to do it and we're going to sign off on it," Hollis told Husted.

"There's a concern there, but you're not bringing forth a solution," Commissioner Lorinda Wichman said.

"There is no objection, but we can't support it, said Husted. "It's really benign to fix an issue because the details are going to be fixed in the last sentence."

"The ball's in your court," Wichman said.

"Are there plans that are going to have to be submitted?" Husted asked.

"No," Hollis said.

"The resolution given staff gives authority to waive those fees and to work with you to self-certify something we didn't have the authority to do without this resolution," Lacy said.

"There's nothing in this resolution saying you have to submit drawings," Hollis said.

VEA board member Shelia Rau said when this first came to Valley Electric's attention, an engineer's drawing was needed for every installation, which would be expensive.

"Are you now saying we don't need that, we just need the basic installation process on paper?" Rau asked. "We just don't know what you're asking for."

"Commissioners need to understand this thing is very, very fluid," Husted said. "While I have met with your employees on this, nothing has been solidified."

"Self-certification means you or someone on staff can hire a contractor to do inspections for you, and you're doing it yourself. The only thing that needs to be clear to Nye County is the self-inspection process you put in place can meet with the codes," Wichman said.

Husted said he is limited because there's no official document defining self-certification.

"Self-certification means you take the responsibility to do it within VEA and not rely on the county to do it for you," Wichman said.

At one point, Hollis told Husted: "You know as well as I do that we all have rules. You have rules at Valley Electric. You just don't put a pole out there and say climb up a pole and hook your electricity to it, do you? The same way with us. We have rules and regulations that we have to go by, and this is no different. We're telling our staff to work with you, you can self-certify. If you want this program to work, it's here for you to take charge of today."

Gerald Homm, who said he has been a contractor since 1973, said obtaining permits on construction jobs are important for insurance companies. "Without a permit, the insurance company is not liable for that, and I think that too needs to be considered," Homm said.

Dan Schinhofen, a former Pahrump Regional Planning Commission member, blasted Husted in a written statement. He was eventually cut off by Eastley. The cover of the commission agenda states speakers can be cut off if they engage in personal attacks.

"Tom Hustead [sic] used his position for his own personal satisfaction last week. He made statements that he -- how do I say this in a nice way? -- knew were untrue and generally caused a public uprising, all because he could," Schinhofen said.

He accused Husted of knowing about the permitting required in county code and ignoring it, or of being incompetent.

"Many people are asking for planning and zoning to be taken apart," Schinhofen said. "One of the biggest things I hear about over and over are the impact fees and how large they are. Well, VEA's fees have been more than tripled over the past few years. An average home which used to not have a fee now has an $8,000 fee, and you still have to pay for the box and trench and wiring."

"Before Mr. Hustead says another word about the planning department and the county fees, maybe he should clean up his own house first," Schinhofen said. "If anyone needs to lose their job over the pig circus that Mr. Hustead instigated last week, it should be Mr. Hustead himself."

Commissioners went into executive session.

"As part of the self-inspection program," said Kent following an executive session, "the county would be provided proof all contractors providing installation relative to this solar, hot water heater program would be required to have proof of a current contractor's license as well as proof of insurance and bonds," he said.

Husted was outside the commission meeting in Tonopah and didn't hear all of Kent's remarks.