Boulder City mayor’s speech to focus on growth

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 10:33 a.m.

In a city known for its strict growth controls, the main points of the mayor's Wednesday State of the City address may come as a surprise.

What does Mayor Bob Ferraro plan on talking to his fellow Boulder City residents about at a 6 p.m. open house in City Hall?

The g-word.

First there are the MGM Grand hotel-casino golf courses under construction at the city's entrance, northeast of the U.S. 95 and U.S. 93 intersection.

"About half the fairways are rough graded," Ferraro said Friday.

The sites for the clubhouse and the maintenance buildings also have been prepared, out of sight from those traveling on U.S. 93.

"It's going to be tremendous," Ferraro said. "It will be like seeing an oasis when people come over the hill from Railroad Pass with the green grass, the shrubbery and the trees."

Ferraro said the golf courses will allow the city to capitalize on its motto, "Clean, Green Boulder City."

The city also plans on capitalizing on the El Dorado gas-fired power plant, which is under construction.

The MGM golf courses and the power plant will put much-needed funds into the city's coffers, the fourth-term mayor said.

"That is the primary reason we did it," Ferraro said. "We realized we could lease the land to MGM at good market value."

The 40-year lease will bring the city $750,000 annually.

Because Boulder City does not allow gaming, it does not receive gaming revenues from the state. Likewise, its controlled growth ordinance means the city with almost 15,000 residents receives less in other money distributed from the state and the county compared with its larger neighbors to the north.

"We were reaching this situation where our ending-fund balance was getting down to zero," Ferraro said. "We had to find some means of pumping money into the general fund. If we had gone on as we have been going, we would have been faced with two things: cutting services or laying people off."

As a result of the power plant, the city, through an arrangement with the Clark County Health District, will be receiving 15,000 trees this spring to help keep the air clean.

"They will make another immense change in our image," Ferraro said.

But not everyone feels the golf courses and the power plant are positive additions to their community.

A group of citizens filed referendum requests asking that the MGM and El Dorado agreements be put to a vote, but the council denied both requests. The citizens responded by suing to challenge the El Dorado agreement. That suit pending before the Nevada Supreme Court.