Land in Valley of Fire State Park accepted by committee

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Legislative Interim Finance Committee Monday agreed to accept a 420 acre donation of land in the Valley of Fire State Park from Robert L. Mendenhall.

The property has been used for mining gypsum and special rocks in the past and its value, including minerals, is estimated at $6 million.

Park Director Wayne Perok said the property offers a good access to the park and could be used for hiking and by all-terrain vehicles for recreation.

It is surrounded by state and federal lands, and there does not appear to be any problems, such as underground storage tanks on the property.

In other action:

--Approved the plan of the state Welfare Division to spend $206,000 to beef up its enforcement against errors in the food stamp program. The error rate was 12.3 percent, compared to the national average of 9.8 percent.

The federal government was going to fine the state $413,000. But a negotiated settlement was reached for the state to increase its training and other programs to lower the rate. Bob Anderson, administrative service officer for the welfare division, said it has been able to reduce the mistakes to 9.3 percent.

Assemblywoman Jan Evans, D-Sparks, said that Nevada used to have one of the best programs in the nation with the lowest error rate. And it used to get bonuses from the federal government. Welfare officials say they are correcting the situation in hopes of again becoming a model program.

--The commission heard a plea from Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, not to name the new prison to be constructed in Clark County as the "Cold Springs Prison."

Von Tobel said the people in Cold Springs, about 14 miles from Indian Springs, are opposed to any name about the location. And if the state goes ahead, she predicted the residents would vandalize these name signs.

"This is a small proud community," she said. Most people don't know it exists and residents want to keep it that way. The commission told Von Tobel to take her complaint to the state prison board.