Regents OK site for state college

Friday, April 7, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

RENO -- The Board of Regents on Thursday, despite claims of "pork barrel politics" and that the proximity to toxic waste would be harmful to students, gave conditional approval for a site the city of Henderson has selected for the proposed Nevada State College.

The regents voted 8-3 to accept the location across Boulder Highway from the Black Mountain Industrial Center. An environmental expert the board will hire will have to give a clean bill of health to the location, and the regents want to be protected from civil action if a future environmental problem arises.

Three regents spoke out against the project.

Tom Kirkpatrick of Las Vegas, calling it "pork barrel politics in its most blatant form," moved to scrap the plans and instead develop other alternatives such as expanding the curriculum at community colleges to offer four-year degrees.

He said the Legislature was calling the shots in setting up the college when it should be the regents who are deciding the future of the educational system.

"They're establishing a college in Henderson and saying the hell with the rest of the state. There is nothing objective," Kirkpatrick said.

The project has been pushed by Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson.

"I've heard we must not upset the Legislature or the governor," Kirkpatrick said. "If we upset the Legislature or governor, so be it. I don't think they will retaliate against us."

He said the Legislature has limited funds at its disposal and that money must be used for the growth of other campuses in the University and Community College System of Nevada.

Pollution from almost 60 years of chemical and metal manufacturing nearby is a concern of two other regents.

"I would not send my kids there," Regent David Phillips of Las Vegas said. "A lot of people would be crazy to do it."

Phillips said the Titanium Metals Corp. plant, "which spews out poisonous gases," is a threat, but Henderson officials said there have not been any major incidents in five years.

Regent Steve Sisolak added, "I'm shocked we have a toxic dump one mile from where we build a school. This is an embarrassment."

Thomas Platt, vice president for students at the Community College of Southern Nevada, suggested the school might be called "The Yucca State College" after the proposed nuclear dump.

Regent Mark Alden of Las Vegas, answering the critics about the dangerous location, said the city of Henderson "would not put us in harm's way."

Alden said he is confident the city has examined the site, and he added that there are far more dangerous materials going through Nevada on trucks and trains than are found near the college site.

Contaminated soils on a development near the college will be loaded and trucked to a mile away. Environmental officials said the materials include asbestos and semi-volatile organic metals.

Allen Biaggi, administrator of the state Environmental Protection Division, said the materials "will be stored in a safely engineered environment." He said the proposed 300-acre college site is clear of contamination.

There should be no public health concerns, Biaggi said.

The land, northeast of the intersection of Boulder Highway and Lake Mead Drive, is being obtained by the city of Henderson in a swap with the LandWell Corp., the real estate division of Basic Management Inc., which manages the BMI complex. Landwell is developing the 2,400-acre Provenance master-planned community adjacent to the proposed campus.

In addition to the conditional approval of the site, the regents agreed to establish a foundation to be headed by Southern Nevada businessman Jim Rogers. The foundation would raise private money for the college.

The board delayed action on a recommendation from the school's founding president, Richard Moore, for a mission statement that would allow the school to issue master's degrees.

The first priority for buildings at the Henderson campus is a $19.6 million classroom facility, with an estimated $5 million coming from private donations. The other top priority is a student service and administration building for $16.3 million, with $5 million coming from private sources.

It will be the foundation's job to find the money. Rogers pledged the Henderson foundation would not "raid" sources of private money going to UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada.

The foundation will develop new money, he said. Five others were named to the first board of directors of the foundation: Selma Bartlett, James B. Gibson, Richard Kellogg, Eric Sletten and Dan Stewart.