At the end of the April 8 Panaca Town Board meeting, board member Andy Free resigned due to his residence lying outside of the town’s borders.

It was District Attorney Dylan Frehner’s suggestion that led to the resignation since Free could not technically be on the board due to a county code. Following this, during the public comment section, Free’s wife gave an impassioned commentary on this decision, saying that it was wrong. She cited the work that Free has done for the town and claimed that the discovery of this code violation was due to outside influences and was an act of retaliation due to Free’s criticism of the state of the cemetery.

Other public comments were noted both for and against the decision, with even the secretary of the board resigned due to her disagreement, but in the end, the decision stood.

In other business, the board was asked if the town’s maintenance personnel can alter a broken water trailer so that it can be outfitted as an equipment trailer instead. It was estimated that the changes would only cost around $100, and the board, noting the need for such equipment, approved the purchase unanimously.

Following this, the board reviewed the contracts it has with various organizations of the community. Frehner suggested that no changes be made since there are multiple agreements to be discussed. A member of the Panaca Farmstead mentioned that the Farmstead will, in the future, need a contract to continue doing the work they are doing for the board, but since the agenda proposes the reviewal of multiple contracts, the board opted to separate the contracts and discuss them one by one during the next meeting.

A member of the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) management in the area discussed various changes that will be taking effect soon. One of the biggest changes is the fact that less community service is going to be done by the NDF, by order of their supervisors. The new changes mean that any additional work done for the various towns in the county will come with a higher price and that anything done under the contract of public services will be limited to five days a month for the entire county. This came as a shock to the board, and so the NDF manager suggested keeping the current contract and making changes as more information becomes available.

The next meeting will be held May 13.