Timet plans to stay put

Clark County wants to move heavy industry out of the heavily populated Henderson area and says it has an ideal new location: the unpopulated desert 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

But there's a big problem with the relocation plan. Titanium Metals Corp., the largest industrial employer in the county with 600 jobs, says it has no plans to move its massive Timet plant or its operations out of Henderson.

The company hasn't even bothered to calculate the costs of such a move, which would certainly amount to many millions of dollars.

"It's not a number we've given any thought to," said Bob Musgraves, vice president and general counsel for Timet. "We've been in Henderson for 45 years. Our view is we'll be there another 45 years."

Meantime, costs are an issue and a deadline is looming on the county's plan to build an industrial park for chemical-related plants that would relocate from residential areas.

A federal law authorizing sale and development of Bureau of Land Management property at Apex about 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas expires July 1, 1999. The 1989 law gave Clark County a 10-year option to buy the land, but the county commission opted to leave that task to a private developer.

The county is serving as a real estate agent between the developer, Apex Industrial Park Inc., and the BLM.

The BLM is now in the appraisal process, and that could be the make or break point of the deal.

"BLM is in the driver's seat," said Doug Bell, Clark County community resources manager. "If the price comes back too high, Apex Industrial Park will not be built. It's that simple."

David Carver, president of Apex Industrial Park Inc., agreed. That group of investors has spent more than $500,000 on a string of required studies on the land.

"We're in really good shape," Carver said. "The only problem we could see would be the appraisal."

Cheryl Ruffridge, BLM realty specialist, said the appraisal should be completed by Nov. 30.

When Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. moved some of its operations to Apex in 1990, it paid $1.7 million for 3,351 acres.

In addition to paying for studies and the land, the developers also face the task of getting water to the site. Carver said the company has applied for groundwater permits. If approved, water would be pumped as far as 20 miles to a reservoir -- an endeavor that will cost "tens of millions."

"We bet a lot on the fact those appraisals will be where they need to be," Carver said.

Apex Industrial Inc. is backed by some well-known Las Vegans. Among them: Ralph Englestad, owner of the Imperial Palace; famed attorney Oscar Goodman and Tom Thomas and Peter Thomas of the Thomas and Mack Co. The family of the late Realtor and Las Vegas City Councilman Al Levy also has an interest in the company.

The genesis of the project is a 1988 explosion at what was then the Pacific Engineering & Production plant. The blast killed three and injured 350. Then-Gov. Richard Bryan appointed a committee to investigate and make recommendations on public safety.

That committee recommended relocating businesses such as Timet and other chemical-related operations at the Basic Management Inc. complex, which sits on county land surrounded by fast-growing Henderson. The idea was to move those plants, built during the World War II years before Henderson's population boom, away from residential areas. Apex fits the need because it provides a federally owned land buffer between the industrial park and urban areas.

"The impact on residential areas won't occur because there won't be residential areas out there," Bell said.

The legislation provided space for Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp., which moved part of its operations to about 3,300 acres at Apex. Silver State Disposal Service has a landfill there. In a separate deal with the county, the Ulysses Group plans to build a truck stop on the southern end of the park. Georgia Pacific and Chemical Lime also have facilities on the site.

Companies operating at BMI would make their own decisions on whether to move, but local governments are teaming together to provide enticements.

Clark County, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and the state are applying to the federal government to establish three "Empowerment Zones," Apex being one of them. The others would be near Losee and Craig roads for industrial development and near Rancho and west Washington for office-retail uses.

The designation would bring $130 million in private activity bonds and $110 million that could be used for customized job training, said Bell.

"That means we could help establish new factories and create jobs," Bell said.

But that is subject to federal approval and congressional funding of the program.

Carver said Apex has contacted companies, including BMI plants, about relocating. But with Apex development still in the formative stages, the discussions haven't gone very far.

"We've made contacts, but until we get further down the road it's almost impossible to talk to them," Carver said. "We see this as an alternative that's going to have to be there before they move."

Carver said he's hopeful that if the industrial park is built, Timet will take a look at eventually moving there.

"Until they have a viable option to move, they're not going to relocate," he said. "If they made up their mind to move today, where would they go?"

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