Grant requests on their way

Two applications accepted by commissioners

An application for a $270,000 grant to design a new Pahrump Senior Center is one of two projects that will be forwarded by Nye County to the state for funding under the federal Community Development Block Grant program.

Nye County Commissioners received four requests, the other three were from No To Abuse, which requested $25,000 to plan for a crisis center building; the town of Tonopah, which requested $40,000 to plan for a new convention center and Tonopah utilities; and $35,000 to plan for the upgrading of the Tonopah sewer plant.

Pahrump Senior Center board chairwoman Claudette Crooks and executive director Kathleen Treviso had a box already addressed to the Nevada Commission on Economic Development with 15 copies of their application, March 5, as they waited for Nye County Commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi's signature. Applications had to be postmarked by March 11.

"We'd like to have it at least started within the next three years if not completed," Treviso said. "It's going to be about a $4 million project."

Treviso said the original plan was to build it at Petrack Park after the rodeo grounds are moved. However if that doesn't occur in time, she said David Ensign, chief executive officer of Generation 2000, owners of the Pahrump Nugget Casino, verbally agreed to offer 10 acres of land behind the casino and there is also an offer of five acres on Basin Road.

"In 1999 you agreed that the Pahrump seniors needed a new senior center," Crooks reminded commissioners. "We are still experiencing growth in Pahrump with seniors. We have a lot of activities we'd like to give to the seniors but we have constraints with the building we have now."

Information submitted by Treviso mentioned the Pahrump population is growing at 2,796 people per year, of which 944 are seniors 55 or older. There are an estimated 9,415 seniors in Pahrump Valley over 60, of which 2,577 are frail, and over 75. The senior center has provided 28,160 meals per year to 80 homebound seniors and 33,348 trips to doctors, shopping, banking and other purposes, Treviso wrote.

Crooks said a foundation has expressed an interest in funding the actual construction, she later identified it as the Reynolds Foundation. "Once we get this (grant) we can go back to the foundation," she told commissioners.

Taguchi said the Beatty Senior Center received funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Nye County. Treviso said they plan to use HUD money for phase III of the project.

Nye County Manager David Chavez said it was "a laudable project." But he added, "I wonder how we're going to do a study without knowing where we're going to put the building."

When Commissioner Cameron McRae asked why the project wasn't funded last year, Tonopah Town Board member Mike Truesdell said state officials didn't think there was enough money.

Audrey Allen, director of the state CDBG program, said the board that reviewed applications last year thought the cost was too high and the design too luxurious, with a swimming pool, spa and other amenities. "A lot of senior centers around the state don't have those kind of facilities," she said in a telephone interview last week.

While the senior center was unsuccessful at obtaining a $270,000 planning grant for a new center last year, it was awarded $14,000 to build a storage shed. Tonopah was awarded $200,000 for a downtown revitalization program.

Last year there were $5.2 million in requests but only $2.8 million was available. This year, Allen said she expects to have about that same amount available. Crooks said she isn't discouraged, they would settle for less money if the state is willing to grant it.

A nine-member board consisting of officials from various Nevada counties will review the applications May 14-17 and make recommendations to the governor, who so far has always adopted them. Allen said there is a vacant position on the board from Nye County.

When Treviso told Commissioner McRae they could obtain millions from the Reynolds Foundation, McRae told her, "You bring me that commitment, you don't need a CDBG grant."

However Treviso said their consultant suggested they obtain the federal grant for the planning. The Reynolds Foundation is only funding projects in Nevada, Arkansas and Oklahoma, she said. The present Pahrump Senior Center was formerly used as a barracks at the Nevada Test Site and transported to its West Basin Road location for a senior center in 1976.

Commissioner Henry Neth pushed for the senior center grant application.

Other applicants included No To Abuse, a nonprofit corporation providing emergency assistance to victims of domestic violence and long-term counseling since 1995. No To Abuse Executive Director Linda Nowell's proposal states they are planning to build a permanent crisis center facility within two to three years.

The Reynolds Foundation also encouraged No To Abuse to apply for a planning grant, which will open the door to apply for construction funds, she wrote. The $25,000 would let the corporation hire a non-profit consulting firm to help No To Abuse evaluate its programs, funding sources and other areas of its business to be sure it can meet the qualifications of capital funding groups, Nowell wrote.

No To Abuse operates a crisis line manned by volunteers 24 hours a day, 365 days per year and transportation is provided for clients to Las Vegas if needed. In 2000, No To Abuse reported serving 1,248 clients through 2,569 contacts, with 300 bed nights offered in shelters and 2,142 referrals to other agencies. The group also worked with 196 perpetrators of domestic violence.

No To Abuse reported receiving $168,830 in total grant funds in 2000, less than 12 percent was used for administrative costs.

The Tonopah Town Board proposal stated Tonopah has a lot to offer with the historic mining park, museum, senior center, gaming establishments and a central location for hosting rural conventions.

"In recent months Tonopah has seen a major decline in business. Capitalization on tourism and conventions would impact Tonopah businesses in a positive way," reads the grant request.

Taguchi recommended funding the Tonopah sewer plant study as the second project, because of health and safety concerns. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection suggested upgrading it to a secondary treatment system and required a facility plan for improvements be submitted by Aug. 6, 2003.

Last year, the state approved $90,000 in CDBG funds for expansion of the Dayton Senior Center in Lyon County. Other construction projects involved mostly fire stations and water systems. Ely picked up $250,000 for a railroad intermodal transfer facility and Humboldt County picked up $130,000 to pave an event center parking lot. Besides the Pahrump Senior Center project, the CDBG board last year rejected a $198,820 request for the Goldfield Courthouse, and a $234,600 request for a Carlin senior center expansion among other projects.


<<--[back]