Outside help sought in NLV land deal

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

Because of the time demands of negotiating an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management for the release and sale of the first phase of the 7,500 acres in North Las Vegas, the City Council is considering help from an outside law firm.

If the council approves a contract to retain the legal services of Lubbers Law Group at Wednesday night's meeting, the city could be paying up to $250 an hour for assistance in preparing paperwork and negotiating with the BLM for the city's first land sale.

Mike Dwyer, BLM project manager for the land sale project, said he doesn't see bringing an outside law firm to the table as a complication. In negotiations with the county, the BLM dealt with the Planning Department staff. In Las Vegas, the land department and city attorney's office were involved.

"There is no normal," Dwyer said. "It seems like every city has a unique approach."

Preparing and negotiating for the binding "memorandum of understanding" between the BLM and the city usually takes anywhere from 60 to 90 days, attorney Edward Lubbers said.

But Lubbers said the North Las Vegas agreement will be unique because the BLM's joint selection process and the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act are still fairly new. The 1998 act provides for all revenue from the sales to remain in Nevada, with 85 percent dedicated to buying environmentally sensitive land. Ten percent will go toward Southern Nevada water projects and 5 percent will go to public schools. The joint selection process gives the BLM veto power over the city.

"Since the act has only been around since 1998, and there has only been one sale since then, we've never seen anything near that size up for sale," Lubbers said. "We want to make sure we do it in a way that benefits the city and BLM."

Lubbers, who opened the law firm in April, said he will be helping out in dealings with the local and federal agencies of the BLM, and preparing documents in terms of how the sales will be conducted. He represented Del Webb Corp. on the sale to build Anthem, which was a 5,000-acre parcel.

As of yet, there is no estimate on how high the cost will rise, he said.

"We don't really know -- that's where it will get interesting," he said. "A lot of the memoranda has been shorter than what we'll be doing here because this will be much more specific."

City Attorney Sean McGowan, who will work with Lubbers, said: "There is no cap (on Lubbers' fee), but I'll be supervising the services to keep it confined to the appropriate amount."

Mayor Michael Montandon said more help is needed because McGowan is bogged down with other city legal issues.

"(He) is buried, and this transaction is very complex," Montandon said. "Having a firm on retainer for specialized work is not uncommon."

If the city and the BLM agree on the first-phase plan, an auction could happen as early as May 2001, BLM spokesman Phillip Guerrero said.

Diana Sahagun covers North Las Vegas for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2320 or by e-mail at diana@lasvegassun.com