Dayton seeks a new member to serve on its regional advisory council

After nominations and elections, the Dayton Regional Advisory Council still is short one member.

Phil Cowee, last year's chairman, has decided not to seek another term, so his District I seat is available.

Cowee said he thought his time on DRAC went smoothly, but he has other interests he wants to pursue.

"Actually, it was fairly slow," he said of his DRAC tenure. "There wasn't a whole lot going on as far as development. It was actually really smooth, but I'm just moving on to other things. There are a few issues I might get involved with."

Those issues include possible incorporation of Dayton or Dayton and Mound House, and building a new community center.

Cowee said he was interested in Dayton incorporating as a city but was uncertain if he supported it or not.

"I think it's a little too early to do anything," he said.

He wasn't sure the tax base in Dayton would support incorporation, but was willing to look into the matter further.

"Dayton has a residential tax base and it would be kind of hard for a new city to sustain itself on that," he said.

District I, which begins east of the State Route 341 intersection with Highway 50, runs north of Highway 50, and stretches to Yellowjacket Road in Mark Twain, skipping Old Town Dayton, which is part of District III.

Maureen Williss, county liaison for the advisory councils, said anyone from the Dayton area could represent District I on an at-large basis, for the two-year term, after which another election would be held. Anyone interested in representing District I should contact Williss at 463-6531.

DRAC member Bob Reed hopes someone from District I steps up.

"It should be democratic, so I hope it's someone from District I," he said.

Reed said hopefully DRAC can do more than review development proposals.

"My idea for DRAC was to do more than OK housing developments," he said. "I'd like to see more of a community effort, now that the building boom kind of fizzled. Hopefully we're going to go that way."

Earlier this month Ralph Ewing was elected for a two-year term as the District III representative.

The seats of board members Amy Wachtel of District 2; Leslie Sexton of District 5; and Bob Reed of District 4 will be up for election next year.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.