Dayton Advisory Council reviews Highway 50 wrecking yard again

DAYTON - The debate will continue tonight over a highly visible junkyard next to Highway 50 East in Mound House.

The Dayton Regional Advisory Council is expected to ask county officials again to clean up the Highway 50 Wrecking Yard. Board Chairman Barbara Peck placed the issue back on the council agenda for tonight at a resident's request.

Business owner Claude McLennan said he was not notified of the request on the junkyard and had not heard any complaints from his neighbors.

Peck said the resident who filed the complaint is concerned with the "wrecking yard being a safety hazard and public nuisance and is hoping the advisory council will make another recommendation to the commissioners to have it cleaned up."

Finding a solution has been elusive.

Over the past two years both the Dayton and Mound House advisory councils have asked county officials to clean up the site. A formal nuisance complaint was filed in May 1998 by Commissioner Bob Milz. Commissioners denied the request, saying it was not valid because it was a state problem.

McLennan, 75, offered to cooperate with the county to ease complaints and agreed to install new fencing. McLennan has owned the business since 1967.

McLennan said Tuesday that he didn't have any idea another complaint was being organized nor that a meeting was planned for tonight.

"I don't know how I could be bothering anyone," McLennan said. "I have no neighbors and am surrounded by (Bureau of Land Management) land. I am taking care of myself the best I can."

No visible changes have occurred, according to County Manager Steve Snyder. He said the county has had no contact with McLennan since the 1998 meeting.

Nevada Department of Transportation officials in 1999 worked with the county and applied for federal funds to buy the property and return it to its natural state. The request for $195,000 was turned down.

Milz and state officials have also disagreed about who is responsible for corrective measures.

Citing state law, Milz has said he believes the state is responsible for the cleanup and told NDOT Director Tom Stephens during a June meeting that "rules and regulations are being violated by NDOT regarding junkyards."

Stephens said there is no state funding available to spend on such a project. The property is privately owned and not in the highway right-of-way, he noted. The state is not responsible for the condition of the junkyard and believed the matter was a planning issue and should be addressed at the county level.

NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder said on Monday, "Nothing has changed. We have exhausted every avenue within our legal rights. It is in the county's lap."

The seven-plus acre site is along the highway east of the Virginia City turnoff. It has been the sight of a wrecking yard since the 1950s, before Lyon County established zoning regulations.

What: Dayton Regional Advisory Council

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Community Center, Pike Street, Dayton