By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

A group of local residents have begun circulating a petition in favor of re-opening the boat launch at Overton Beach on Lake Mead. Forming an ad-hoc committee, the group, led by Martha McManus of Overton, has placed copies of the petition in local businesses for community members to sign to show their support.

“We are tired of going to the people at the Park Service and the Dept. of Interior, hearing a lot of different answers that all add up to no,” said McManus. “We are going to collect as many signatures as we can and send the petition to Senator Harry Reid in hopes that he will actually do something about it.”

The road to Overton Beach was closed in April of 2010 as lake water levels were dropping to record lows. National Parks Service (NPS) officials have said that they had no choice but to shut down the wastewater treatment facility at Overton Beach because of the low water levels. Without the facility in operation, key services could not be provided at the site, NPS officials said.

Since that time, water levels at Lake Mead have risen. Local fisherman and boaters report that there is more than 30 feet of water currently at the Overton Beach boat ramp.

Still, the cost to bring the Overton Beach facility back online now would be too high in these tight-budgeted, NPS officials have said.

“Just to swing the gate open we would be looking at $45,000-$50,000 per year in costs,” said NPS spokesman Andrew Muñoz in a presentation to the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board last fall. “To bring the facility back to life completely would be as high as $200,000.”

Given all of the budgetary problems as well as uncertainties of whether rising water levels will be sustained, Muñoz told the Board that there was almost no chance that the road would be reopened this season.

But McManus insists that re-opening the road to Overton Beach doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition.

“We don’t need full services there,” she said. “We don’t need restrooms and everything. It doesn’t even have to be open 24 hours a day. We just want to have access so that we can launch boats there from dawn until sunset.”

“We have two (NPS) rangers who live right here in the valley,” McManus continues. “They probably drive past that road every morning on the way to work at Echo Bay. Why couldn’t they stop and unlock the gate in the morning and then lock it back up in the evening on the way home? It doesn’t have to be so difficult.”

McManus said that her committee has spent the past month in the community asking residents and business owners their feelings about the closure. The results has been an overwhelming desire to see the road re-opened, she said.

“Everyone we have talked to wants it open again,” McManus said.

Of course, fisherman in the community are highly in favor of the cause, she said. Many of them have stopped going out onto the Lake because of the expense in driving all the way to Echo Bay to launch as well as the added hazards of boating from there all the way back up the Overton Arm to get to their favorite fishing areas.

“We spoke to a lot of people at the Senior Center,” McManus said. “They are on a fixed income and they said that they just can’t afford to drive out there and back to go fishing anymore.”

But it isn’t just the fisherman that are in her corner, McManus said. Since Overton Beach has closed, local merchants say they have seen their sales revenues dwindle significantly, she said.

“Reopening that road would be good for the whole town,” McManus said. “Right now our businesses are struggling. We need to bring the visitors back and that will bring the jobs back. People aren’t going to be attracted to live in a place with lots of closed businesses.”

McManus said that local business owners have been very supportive of the effort. Many have agreed to display copies of the petititon in their place of business for community members to sign.

Copies are now available at the following locations: Lin’s Market, McDonalds, Graphx Signs & Banners, Moapa Valley Federal Credit Union, Maveriks Country Store, The Inside Scoop, True Value Home Hardware & Variety, the Red Rooster Bar, Flowers on the Blvd., the North Shore Inn, The Sportsmans Bar, Ace Hardware, the Logandale Chevron, Moapa Valley Progress, Overton Senior Center, Sugar’s Home Plate, Alsum Farmers Insurance, InfoWest, Moapa Valley Water District and Overton Power District #5.

In addition, the committee will deliver copies of the petition to residents who would like to circulate it in their neighborhood. To arrange this, residents can call McManus at (406) 677-4218.

All copies of the petitions will be collected on March 7.