WEST WENDOVER, Nev. — It would appear the "Berlin Wall" that separates two cities on the Utah/Nevada border will stand a while longer.
The City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday against supporting legislation proposed by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, that would have fueled the fire for annexing Wendover, Utah, through a change in the state border.
The largely symbolic bill, which has not yet been introduced in Congress, merely acknowledges congressional consent for both states to enter into an agreement — if the cities first reach their own deal. Combining the two cities would require approval from Congress, both local governments and both states, allowing six years to reach those agreements.
"At all times it's up to both states to ratify a uniform compact that would be in the interest of both communities or the thing won't happen," Steve Peterson said Wednesday morning. He is the deputy chief counsel on the House Resources Committee, which Hansen heads.
Peterson chalked up the vote to a lack of understanding of Hansen's bill. A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said the congressman will continue working with local officials and will act based only on the needs of the community.
Others think unification is dead.
State Line/Silver Smith Casino Resorts President Michael Devine said that the council's vote was the last nail in the coffin. "They're saying they don't even want to think about it."
Viola Troyan has a different take.
On the eve of local elections in Nevada, Troyan, a council hopeful, told current members, "I simply think we need the facts."
Among those facts, Devine said, were that Utah's Tooele County would be seeking $18 million for its schools and between $40 million and $60 million for its historic airport.
Tooele County Commissioner Teryl Hunsaker said he is "partial" to the airport and is not ready to give it away. For now, he's taking a neutral stand on unification. The school district is saying its buildings in Utah are worth $15 million, while debt on the schools is $5 million.
Sean Mowray, general manager for the Red Garter Casino, said his conversations with Elko County, Nev., commissioners led him to believe the majority would not support placing the burden of paying for Utah's schools and airport upon Nevada taxpayers.
"It's not that we're totally opposed to (unification)," said John Ellison, Elko County commissioner. "There's just too many questions that need to be answered first." He plans a "no" vote Thursday during a commission meeting that seeks the commission's support.
For some, the issue runs far beyond negotiating a real-estate deal.
Lori Clark works as a court clerk on the Utah side but lives with her husband, a Nevada police officer, on the other side. She supports unification, saying she is less concerned about losing her job than with wiping out a decades-old perception.
"One side couldn't say they're better than the other" under unification, she said.
Don Anderson talks about unification while sitting on a stool inside the Hard Times pawn shop on the Utah side, where he also lives. He wants to end the fighting between the two cities that share little more than a border. He wants his side to see a piece of the gaming revenues that fund the upkeep of infrastructure on the Nevada side.
"You look at this side and it looks like a junkyard," Anderson gestures toward the street. "You go over to West Wendover and it looks nice."
Father Eugenio Yarce heads the only Catholic church that serves a combined 6,000 people from both cities and is located on the Utah side.
If the border moves about two miles east, Yarce may have to strike a deal with the Reno diocese to keep his job. Still, his concern lies in the precedent a border change brings, which he believes will open the door for one annexation after another as more people move onto land just over the border on the Utah side.
But this latest of several starts over the years seems, for now, to have stopped.
Councilwoman Josephine Hunt called for an official public hearing for more input. Most of the 20 who showed up at Tuesday's meeting represented either casinos or city government.
"I don't know whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing," Hunt said.
"You can't get facts and figures without negotiations," said Councilman Jim Eveleth, suggesting that more talks occur at the local level before approaching the issue from the top down.
Casino representatives suggested exploring a local compact or interlocal agreement to share city services and schools without a border change. Wendover, Utah, Mayor Steve Perry balked at the idea, saying leaders with the two cities tried it in the past and "they all fell out of bed."
Is unification once again a muted matter? Maybe not.
"It may surface again," said Glenn Wadsworth, city administrator for Wendover, Utah. "We don't know."
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