Supervisors OK bypass study
 
By Jim Seckler
Mohave Daily News
 
KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors approved Monday the state Route 95 realignment study finalized late last year.

The county, along with the state Department of Transportation and the federal Bureau of Land Management, conducted a study on where to put a new highway that will connect Highway 68 with Interstate 40 at the Highway 95 exit.

After several public hearings, ADOT recommended the best route for the highway in October.

The limited-access highway will be built east of Bullhead City and Mohave Valley but avoiding the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge near Golden Shores.

More than 30,000 cars a day travel on the existing highway. The development of Laughlin Ranch and other subdivisions are also destined to double or triple Bullhead City's population.

ADOT will now create a design concept and an environmental impact statement, which should take several years. The highway is expected to take more than a decade to complete.

In other action, the Board approved a request by Thunder Lanes bowling alley for an off-track betting license.

The item was postponed from the last Board meeting until the Mohave County Sheriff's Office approved the request.

The bowling lanes, located in the 4500 block of Highway 95 in Fort Mojave, will conduct off-track betting for Turf Paradise Race Track of Phoenix until May 2006.

The Board postponed deciding on the creation of the Inland Valley Fire District north of the Butler area of Kingman.

The fire district would include a fire chief, a captain, two firefighters and a building and cost more than $155,000.

The Board also postponed until its next meeting whether to reduce the annual permit fees for non-profit service organizations such as the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Members of the Moose Lodge and Knights of Columbus in Lake Havasu City spoke in favor of reducing the permit fees the county increased this fiscal year from $256 to $540.

Public Health Director Patty Mead said with the recent outbreak of the West Nile Virus and other emergencies, her department, which includes environmental health, is under staffed.

The restaurant inspections are fee driven and her department would have to make up more than $28,000 a year if the fees are reduced, Mead said.

The Board also denied a use permit for an 85,000 gallon water tank for a truck wash off Interstate 40 east of Kingman.

Neighbors spoke against the water tank saying the truck wash would use more than its share of scarce water. The opposition also spoke of an environmental impact from chemicals used to wash trucks.

A contractor speaking on behalf of the owner of the truck wash denied using chemicals and the truck wash system uses less water than other truck wash systems.

The Board also approved the Clerk of the Superior Court to issue juror's checks instead of the county's finance department.

The revolving balance for the account to pay jurors in criminal and civil trials would be about $10,000.

More than 5,000 checks are issued to jurors every year.

An estimated 65 jurors for 60 trials would receive about 3,900 checks for this year.

Also 16 grand jurors for 52 trials will receive about 832 checks.

The supervisors took no action regarding the Mohave Valley Elementary School District No. 16 property tax levy for the 2004/2005 fiscal year.

The matter will be resolved in the next fiscal year's budget process, County Treasurer Lee Fabrizio said.

The supervisors also awarded a $560,000 contract to three local dealerships to replace 23 county vehicles.

The supervisors also approved a contract with the state Attorney General's Office to lease space in the county government building in Colorado City.
 
mohavedailynews.com
Originally published Monday, February 7, 2005
 
Back