After the pledge, there was a moment of silence for the tragedy in Las Vegas.
Carolyn Harr asked if it was possible that the council change the date of the Dec. 21 meeting so that they could have their daughter’s reception at The Depot Art Room that evening.
The discussion between the council was that they want to accommodate the public whenever possible. The council room was not being used by the Harr family but the noise level from the reception might interfere with the microphone. The motion was made that the council make the necessary accommodations on the Dec. 21 meeting by using the conference room.
Holly Gatzke from LCAT (Lincoln County Authority of Tourism) gave a presentation on Pman (primitive man) and the “Get Primitive” slogan as the branding for Lincoln County, Nevada’s tourism and lincolncountynevada.com as the Lincoln County’s tourism website.
The website covers the county, towns, and city with information and activities in one central place so that people will want to stay longer and come more often. It includes a calendar of events going on in the county. People can email info@lincolncountynevada.com to send the latest events to be uploaded on the site.
The council made a motion to support the logo, the site, and the Primitive Man.
Gatzke represented the Cooperative Extension Office on the discussion about plans for the mountain bike trail. She is working with the city for the Rural Development Grant studying business services required to support the trails. The research is being done and will be given to the council when finished.
Jon Prescott is working with the BLM portion of the bike trail. So far they have four and a half miles of complete trail on the Barnes Canyon and are working on the engineering design of the trailhead. The plan for this season is to have seven miles complete in Barnes Canyon by the time the snow falls in late December. The crews are a volunteer corp, and they camp, so, until it gets too cold, they will be down there building. They will come back in the spring and keep going from there. Eventually, more trails will be built coming down Ella Mountain coming into town. The environmental analyses are being studied now.
The American Conservation Experience (ACE) hired a crew of four locals for the project, one from Alamo, two from Panaca, and one from Caliente. They are working 40 hours a week at $10.20 an hour.
The grand opening for the 22 miles down Barnes Canyon is set for Sept. 19, but trails are open to the public as they finish. As of now, there is a three-mile loop that is finished and is open, plus one-and-a-half miles that dead end. At the end of the season that will be a full loop, plus seven miles of loop open for use.
Andrew Porter from State Parks stated that they have to go through a Nevada Recreational Trails Grant and are breaking the application into three phases because funding 20 miles would cost prohibitive and there was no way they would be awarded the grant in its entirety for one phase. They are approved for phase one, about four-and-a-half miles, at around $250,000 and are looking for someone who has a State of Nevada Contractor’s License. Phase two, about eight miles, will also require looking for a licensed contractor. When they get approved for phase three funding, they will have about eight miles and will eventually tie into BLM.
Ken Dixon told the council about the pre-construction meeting held on Wednesday at Super Park with the trail construction team for the bike trail and bike park. The park will include a jump zone, skills course, and pump track as well as a stacked loop trail.
The discussion was mostly about safety issues and who was going to be in charge of what. The crew that is going to work on the Skills Park will arrive on Oct. 20. On Thursday the first dirt was turned, starting on the easy part, and bringing in machinery to do the harder part. Councilman John Alhstrom and Lincoln County Grant Administrator Elaine Zimmerman were there to listen to the plans.
The community development/planning meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 12 at 5:00 p.m. They will be tackling zoning issues.
Regan Gubler reported about the meeting with Salt River Materials Group concerning the loading and unloading station they want to put in Caliente. They presented the background and 40-year history of their company. “Their plan is right here in Caliente, so we discussed some other options and I think we are looking at an option that goes north through the Cove. We’re perhaps looking at some funding from the Nevada Economic Board so we can help reinstall the railroad tracks up there. Our concern is the noise, the dust, the traffic, and the activity that will eventually become 24-7 right here in town. That’s what we’re trying to address and get it moved someplace else.”
Mayor Tommy Rowe said, “The railroad has approved for them to put their loading station right out front of the Depot. It would be two trucks an hour to start. They figure in two years that will increase to one every ten minutes coming into town and loading.”
Gubler was concerned about where to keep 30 to 50 empty and 30 to 50 full cars. The mine would employ about three people. There would be a mill in Panaca employing about three people and close to three people in Caliente, not including the trucking that will be contracted out.
The next meeting will be Oct. 19.
The story originally stated that the crew working on the trails at Barnes Canyon was being paid $9.00 per hour. That is incorrect. The crew is being paid $10.20/hr in order to comply with federal wage standards.
