Beatty has now arrived in the 911 age, Milan Dimac, manager of information systems, told Nye County commissioners Tuesday.

The new system was up and running that same day, he said.

Now callers to the Beatty dispatch center will no longer have to dial a 10-digit number. Their call will come up on a screen showing their location and all the other amenities of a 911 system.

Nye County Commissioner Lorinda Wichman recalled spotting an accident while driving through Beatty with her husband a few years ago. A half-hour after she met with Lt. Frank Jarvis of the Nye County Sheriff's Office to inform him of the accident, a call finally came in about it, she said.

"Since dispatch did not have the capability for 911 in Tonopah and Pahrump, when people called, we had no idea who they were. We had to call AT&T to do an address check, and the address may not be correct," Sheriff Tony DeMeo said.

Dimac is working with AT&T to include a database on callers using cell phones. That depends on where the cellular phone towers are triangulated so they can pinpoint the caller's location, he said.

"I'm excited about it. It's a great project. Every citizen in Nye County now has the same type of service. When it comes to making a 911 call, nobody is left out of the loop," DeMeo said.

Another advantage, Dimac said, is if something were to happen with the Beatty 911 system, the calls would be automatically rerouted to Pahrump as a backup with the flip of a switch.

The discussion occurred when commissioners pulled aside an item on the consent agenda to approve an $18,600 monthly contract with AT&T for a $988,236 managed E-911 CAD system.

The new CAD system allows backup capabilities in Pahrump, Beatty and Tonopah for dispatch system failures.

Mobile CAD software will be installed in sheriff's department vehicles to replace an outdated Ortivus system used the past seven years. Dimac said the old system doesn't contain up-to-date maps in sheriff's department vehicles and lacks functionality to assist dispatchers.

Microwave linkup

Sheriff's Lt. Jack Henigan reported the final phase of a Motorola Smart Zone radio system, coupled with a Harris Microwave System, is just about complete. It will allow the northern and southern portions of the county to be linked.

Commissioners approved a $5,823 monthly contract with Arizona Nevada Tower Corp. to install microwave dishes on Sawtooth Mountain near Beatty for the system.

Dimac said the project will save the county $84,000 annually that it has been spending on seven T-1 computer lines. Two T-1 lines will still be required for an emergency backup, Henigan said.

The county will also save $11,958 in annual rental fees for renting radio rack space on Sawtooth Mountain.

Rumble strips

The county approved a cooperative agreement with the Nevada Department of Transportation to install rumble strips on the center line of the Bob Ruud Highway to Death Valley Junction, Calif.

That includes Bell Vista Avenue.

The Federal Highway Administration will pay 95 percent of the cost, or $50,000, under the Safe, Accountabile, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005.

Solar EIS

Nye County will participate as a cooperating agency on the environmental impact statement for the proposed Solar Millenium project in Amargosa Valley being prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

That means the county will receive relevant information early in the EIS process and receive technical expertise. The BLM said it will avoid duplication with other agencies and establish a mechanism for addressing intergovernmental issues.

The scoping period for the EIS began July 13. The draft EIS is expected to be published in January or February, with public hearings to follow a month later. The final EIS is scheduled for publication in July or August, 2010, according to the BLM timeline.

Appointment changes

A policy on appointing members to committees was put on hold, after Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino said she was never consulted for her input.

The policy would set up a review panel to look over applicants to various committees. It would include one member of that committee, the human resource director and administrative managers.

The review panel would strive to achieve a balance of qualified applicants covering a range of qualifications and perspectives.

The review panel would submit its list of recommendations for appointees to the board.

Merlino had problems with requirements to notify appointees within 48 hours of their nomination and a need for someone to go through a review board if he is the only applicant.

Some applicants can't make it to the clerk's office to take the oath of office, Merlino said. In such cases, her office mails the oath which can be taken in front of a notary public.

"It will postpone these appointments even longer than necessary. Sometimes they're running without a full quorum," Merlino said.

But Merlino agreed with Commissioner Joni Eastley on the need for a policy to review applicants.

"You have a lot of contentious boards and you have a lot of applications for one position," Merlino said.

Eastley said some committees attract keen interest from the public, like the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission or the Nye County Animal Advisory Board. For others, like the Belmont or Railroad Valley town advisory boards, it's almost necessary to draft someone.