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March 29, 2024 3:37 am
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Grant Funding Equips Local Metro With Off Road Vehicle

By JENNA RHUDE

Moapa Valley Progress

Local Metro officers have a new vehicle to help do their job in the OHV friendly community of Moapa Valley. The vehicle was provided by a grant from the Nevada OHV Commission. PHOTO BY JENNA RHUDE/Moapa Valley Progress.

Something very exciting has come to LVMPD Northeast Resident Section. They have a new Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) to help in their response to remote areas in the trails surrounding the community. This vehicle was made possible by a grant from the OHV commission. What made this possible? According to local Metro Sergeant Brett Empey it was “a lot of paperwork!”

The process actually began several years ago. Empey first learned about the opportunity to apply for a grant for an OHV in 2015. And application was made in October 2017. In January of this year, the Nevada OHV Commission awarded a grant for $47,000 to the local Metro section to purchase the vehicle. These funds covered the vehicle cost plus outfitting it with police lighting, radio equipment, helmets, and other gear. It also covers overtime for local Metro officers to perform VIN inspections for local OHV owners. These inspections are needed for residents to register their OHVs with the state.

Empey said that he was pleased to have the entire amount of the grant approved. “There is a lot that goes into this process,” he said. “I had to get several bids from different companies for the vehicle and accessories and turn those in with the application.”

The local officers knew back in December that the grant was approved. But they didn’t when they could actually purchase the vehicle.

In February they found out the grant had been delayed due to a contract error. That was the last Empey knew about the grant until he ran into Jenny Scandland at the Clark County Fair in April.

Scandland is the executive secretary for the Nevada OHV commission. She asked Empey if he had purchased the vehicle? Not understanding the entire process clearly, he told her that he did not know if they had the money on hand yet.

Scandland then explained that once the grant was approved, he could go ahead and buy the vehicle. So that is exactly what he did.

Empey said that he had to go out and get new bids for the side by side. The original bids were out of date.
But actually getting the vehicle in police service took longer. Once the stock vehicle was delivered, it had to be taken into Las Vegas and outfitted for LVMPD including lights and decals.

Now local officers can use the OHV to do what the grant requires. As part of the grant the Metro officers will do VIN inspection events several times throughout the year, and patrol the OHV traffic out on the trails during popular weekends.

While the side by side is not intended as a search and rescue vehicle, it will be useful to go places that the current LVMPD vehicles cannot.

If you wonder where your registration fees go when you register an OHV, it is to programs such as this grant.
Empey encourages all residents in Nevada to fill out a survey provided by the OHV commission.
“By completing the survey you will let the commission know what you want,” Empey said. “How you want your OHV friendly community to be maintained, where you would like to ride and how you want your local area patrolled. Having your voices heard is the only way things will change.”

The survey is available at https://surveymoney.com/r/L58NBY7

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