Rural people, being surrounded by the natural environment, have an appreciation for the earth's wonders and challenges. Part of the attraction of small towns is the ability to go quickly from home to countryside. The concept of "Earth Day," where we as a nation pause to focus on the environment, might then seem foreign to those in Nevada's small towns.
But consider the people of West Wendover, in Elko County, who are succeeding in building their community at the same time as they are protecting their environment.
How? Through a municipal size compost project. That's right, garbage and sewer sludge will soon become compost to bring lawns, parks and greenbelts alive in this high desert community.
Nine years ago the citizenry of West Wendover took the future into their own hands and incorporated. With that independence came responsibilities, among them to meet EPA mandates to close old-style landfills and to meet the standards of the new Safe Drinking Water Act.
It has become a cliche, but in West Wendover, many problems truly are viewed as opportunities. Regarding the landfill, the city decided to consider "out of the box" solutions, and employed a visionary consulting engineering firm, Aqua Engineering, to design a municipal size compost facility that processes 25 tons of garbage daily into 15 tons of compost, with the remainder going to a new landfill. As my agency, USDA Rural Development, has provided over $3 million in loans and grants to support this project. I had the honor of assisting in the dedication of the facilities during Earth Day celebrations on April 20.
The city will make compost available free of charge to residents, as well as using it for parks, recreation facilities, their municipal golf course and other public places. The remainder of the compost will eventually be made available for sale. Turning garbage into a marketable commodity - that's entrepreneurship.
The city's innovative solid waste solution is typical of its approach to all aspects of its community development efforts. Thanks to our wide variety of programs, USDA Rural Development is partnering with West Wendover in homeownership, affordable multi-family housing, safe drinking water, business development and telecommunications strategies.
The city is also at work on improving health care availability and quality, a community master plan, and gaining additional land for commercial and industrial development from the Air Force.
What would I identify as the secrets to West Wendover's success (if you measure success in the amount of federal loans and grants received, at over $8.2 million in the last five years from USDA Rural Development to the city, local housing nonprofits and local businesses. West Wendover is succeeding) are the following:
- Leadership involvement - we are always hearing from the mayor, the city council, the (indefatigable!) city manager.
- Positive attitude - They don't complain, they don't whine, they get down to business.
- Belief in partnership, even with the federal government - they know there's a partner out there in the public or private sector that can assist them with ideas, energy and money.
- Willingness to invest in themselves - even with a small population base and a relatively low average income, the city is willing to take low interest loans to meet mandates and its own objectives.
The city of West Wendover is proof, as are many other communities in rural Nevada, that appreciation for the environmental can go hand in hand with affordable, quality, community development. USDA Rural Development is here to help - our motto is 'Participating in the Success of Rural Nevada." If you've got a need, an idea, or a question related to housing, infrastructure, business development or community development, please don't hesitate to give us a call.
Sarah Mersereau took office as Nevada's first State Director for USDA Rural Development in June 1994. The agency has offices in Elko (775/738-8468), Fallon (775/423-7541), Winnemucca (775/623-4461), Las Vegas (702/262-9047) and Carson City (775/887-1222).
