For months now, elected officials have been saying how the decision to merge Wendover, Utah, with West Wendover, Nev., is first up to the residents of both border towns.
With a majority on both sides voting Tuesday in favor of a merger, "they've given us our marching orders to get it done," said Wendover Mayor Steve Perry.
The vote in West Wendover was 348 or 63.3 percent for, 191 or 34.7 percent against. Over 64 percent of Wendover, Utah, voters, 110 to 61, favor combining the two border towns.
A merger would mean annexing up to 10,000 acres of Utah into Elko County, Nevada, and actually changing the state line. It may also mean Nevada could inherit about $7 million of debt Tooele County carries with its schools and the historic Wendover Airport.
Stateline/Silversmith Casino resorts president Michael Devine doesn't think the deal will get done because, until recently, there has not been consensus among senators on both sides of the line. "That pretty much is the death knell of the effort."
The influential Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he doesn't think a merger is right for Nevada at this time. His press secretary said he would try to stop the enabling legislation HR2054 from making its way past the Senate floor. That was before Nov. 5.
Now, with the Senate controlled by Republicans, West Wendover Mayor Josephine Thaut feels as if there's still a chance that the momentum will carry all the way through Congress. She called a merger the "citizens" issue. "It needs to be the voice of the people that decides the fate of these two cities."
With a combined population of about 7,000, the two cities have separate police, fire and public services, as well as separate city government and school systems.
Aside from the desire to combine those services, residents on both sides, particularly the poorer Utah side, want to see a more even socioeconomic playing field by allowing for casino revenues to benefit all of the area's residents, not just Nevadans.
Perry said screams went up in Wendover when the vote totals came in. "There's a whole bunch of people out here who want to see it happen. I feel like it has breath."
If HR2054 does make it past the Senate, state legislatures, county governments and local officials on both sides of the border will have to reach agreements on how a merger would take place. Changing a state boundary hasn't happened since the Civil War era.
E-MAIL: sspeckman@desnews.com