David Kihara

Tue, Dec 7, 2004 (9:28 a.m.)

A local excavation company today will officially hand over to Boulder City Police a 650,000-square-foot training facility that the company developed, officials said, adding that the site could be used as an inter-agency police training area for the Nevada Highway Patrol and other police agencies.

The training facility, which was developed by the Silver State Materials Corp. for the Boulder City Police, currently provides a vehicle driving course and small gun range but will eventually be expanded to include a canine training facility, several different types of shooting ranges and an enlarged driving course, said Steve Hill, president of Silver State.

The $1.5 million facility, paid for fully by Silver State, sits on Boulder City land about seven miles outside of the city.

Although Boulder City is currently the only police agency using the facility on a regular basis, it is in negotiations with the Nevada Highway Patrol and the police departments of Henderson and North Las Vegas to share any further construction and development costs on the site, said Bill Turk, chief of the Boulder City Police.

"If (the various police agencies) want to help us with some of the improvements, we wouldn't charge them with a user fee, but if they don't, then we might charge them," Turk said.

He added that no formal agreements between Boulder City and any police agencies have been reached, and there are no estimates for what any fees might be to use the training facility.

According to Todd Rasmussen, the public information officer with the Henderson Police, the department is considering using the site but he could not comment further.

Sgt. Mike Nihei, public information officer for the Highway Patrol, could not comment on whether or not the patrol would use the facility. Currently, the Highway Patrol is using an area set aside at Nellis Air Force Base to practice vehicle maneuvers. Before using Nellis Air Force Base, the Highway patrol used the parking lot of Sam Boyd Stadium for more than eight years.

"There has been a need for a new training course," Nihei said on Monday. "We haven't had a training site that we could utilize on a consistent basis."

North Las Vegas Police are also looking into using the Boulder City site, said Sean Walker, a police spokesman. He added that the site is "a little far" for his department.

Currently North Las Vegas Police use the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for driver training.

Metro Police are not planning on using the Boulder City training and driving facility. The department also uses the speedway for training purposes, said Officer Mike Blasko, a Metro spokesman.

The Boulder City Council awarded Silver State Materials Corp. the contract to design, develop and construct the facility in 2002, Hill said. Under the agreement, Silver State agreed to develop the city-owned land in exchange for the sand, gravel and other excavation materials on the site, Hill said.

Silver State, also agreed to pay Boulder City royalties for the excavated materials.

Although Hill declined to say what the value of the excavated sand and gravel from the site is, he said Silver State has paid the city at least $750,000 in royalties since the beginning of the year.

"It's a good deal for us," Hill said.