The laundry list of costs and repairs given to the Evans at their Flex Gym facility, from what I understand was quite lengthy. One of the requirements is to put in a fire sprinkler system. I understand the need to protect the public and ensure that there are no health and safety issues. However, we are not talking about a commercial call center that houses people in cubicles every three feet. We are talking about a Gym. The number of occupants per square foot is substantially lower than other commercial buildings yet the requirement is the same.

There has to be another solution to the Fire Safety regulation that will not cost $100,000 plus dollars. Fire extinguishers every five feet around the perimeter and placed in the middle of the building, notify the volunteer fire dept of hours, and maybe an above ground water storage tank for emergencies might be an alternative solutions.

No wonder people are discouraged to start businesses and actually encouraged, by one of our town board members, to attend a county run gymnastics program.

We don’t need to replace entrepreneurs with government run programs in our country and county. We also don’t need the government to be the only entitly that can afford to start a bussiness because of the laws and regulations.

The county basically approved Flex Gym’s use permit until January and gave them a huge list of requirements with no solutions.

Denise Robertson
Posted July 28, 2010
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While some matters may impact more people than others, every issue is important. If someone is concerned enough about an issue to call me or my office, I look into it and work with everyone involved to reach a solution.

This may mean that we hold a meeting to discuss the issue. If the issue being addressed is a Moapa Valley issue, then it only makes sense to hold a meeting in Moapa Valley to discuss it rather than asking the residents to drive to Las Vegas.

Sure, holding every meeting in Las Vegas would be easier for county staff. However, I want to make sure the people who are the most concerned, the people who are the most affected by a particular issue, have a reasonable opportunity to get together with everyone involved and have their questions answered.

The Flex-It Gym has a lot of support from many good people, but they must comply with the local, state and federal requirements that apply to all businesses.

For three years, county staff have been available to Flex-It Gym. There have been numerous letters, phone calls and meetings, and still the owners have not lived up to their responsibility to this community.

County, state and federal regulations are in place to make sure businesses operate in a safe manner and in a safe building. The county commissioners and staff have again shown flexibility with this business by giving the owners another six months to show they will bring their building up to code.

Moapa Valley is a unique community and this is a unique situation that probably would not be allowed elsewhere in Clark County. Fortunately, county staff have worked with other Moapa Valley businesses to help them meet the requirements for all businesses and they remain ready and willing to help the owners of Flex-It Gym live up to their responsibilities too.

Tom Cllins
County Commissioner
Posted July 28, 2010
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First, the assertion made by Lindsey Dalley that none of the Nevada Congressional delegation has been past Whitney Pockets is false. Over the 7 years Friends of Gold Butte has been stewarding and advocating for the area, we have been grateful for visits by staff and members of both parties and both chambers of Congress on numerous occasions. Congresswoman Dina Titus and her staff have worked diligently to understand all stakeholder issues, and they have absolutely been out and about in Gold Butte beyond Whitney Pockets.

Second, your article quotes Elise McAllister as saying, “It has become politically correct to protect the petroglyphs and prehistoric sites, and that is good. But there is much less regard or concern for our ancestral history. Rather there seems to be an effort to erase it.”

Friends of Gold Butte has volunteers and staff with connections to Gold Butte that date back to the turn of the last century, and members whose people date back thousands of years in this area. I cannot imagine who is trying to erase our ancestral history unless she means the careless users who have no respect for pioneer history and have shown it by ripping apart old corrals for firewood, dismantling a historic storage shelter for fire rings and use of this same area as a toilet. These same careless users also continue to remove artifacts from historic mining and ranching areas.

This is precisely why we support a National Conservation Area with wilderness: because it will provide the financial, legal and interpretive resources to prevent our ancestral history from being destroyed by ignorance and neglect.

Gold Butte’s time has come. We look forward to working with everyone to get fact-based, strong management for this area that will protect the precious resources highlighted in your article.

Nancy Hall
Posted July 28, 2010
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I have a daughter and a niece that are both involved in the Flex It Gym and they look forward to going every week as do all of the kids involved there. Not only do they teach them the basics of gymnastics and competitive gymnastics but they also teach them structure and self-esteem, which every child needs.

Flex It is a wonderful program and to see it get shut down would be a shame for the children and community as a whole. We need more programs like this; we don’t need them taken away!

Please show your support in Keeping Flex-It gymnastics open.

I also want to thank Jennifer Evans and Coach Jen for working so well with the kids….YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

Lindsey Logue
Posted July 28, 2010
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