Legislature panel OKs plan for Guard center in Carlin

CARSON CITY -- The Legislature's Interim Finance Committee agreed Thursday to spend $8 million in state funds to buy 460 acres of property at the Fire Science Academy at Carlin for use as a future Nevada National Guard readiness center.

While supporting the plan, Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, said the Legislature really was bailing out the University of Nevada, Reno, which owns and operates the Fire Science Academy.

The university constructed the academy 11 years ago, hoping to earn money by training professional firefighters. But partly because of its rural Elko County location adjacent to Interstate 80 it has not attracted enough students to make a profit.

"This is about reducing the debt load of UNR," said Goicoechea, noting the university owes more than $25 million in construction costs on the academy, which it has been financing through a $6 per student fee.

UNR President Milton Glick told the committee that once he gets the additional money he will put it toward the Fire Science Academy debt. With the lower debt, Glick said the fees paid by the students can be used on projects at the Reno campus that benefit them directly.

The $8 million state expenditure is contingent on federal National Guard officials agreeing to spend $8 million in federal funds on the readiness facility in Carlin.

The money to buy the property and construct an initial 5,000-square-foot building comes from funds the 2009 Legislature intended to use to build a new National Guard Armory in Elko. Elko is 20 miles east of Carlin.

Goicoechea predicted the Fire Science Academy will be closed once the National Guard facility opens. But Nevada Adjutant General William Burks said their goal is to allow the academy to maintain its operation.

Burks also said he still wants to build a new armory in Elko in future years. He said the existing Elko armory will remain open until 2013 when the readiness center should open. Elko Guard personnel will be transferred there.

He also said he wants to shift two National Guard helicopters from Reno and Las Vegas to Elko where they could be used to locate lost hikers.

"The entire northeastern corridor of Nevada is unprotected," added Burks, saying the closest helicopters now are in Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City.