LV council briefs for October 19, 2000

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2000 | 10:14 a.m.

Spending

Here is how the Las Vegas City Council voted Wednesday to spend taxpayer money:

To MMC Inc. for construction of a new biological nutrient removal system.

For construction of the Stewart Avenue parking garage, addition to City Hall, TV studio and pedestrian bridge.

To Granite Construction for a Gowan Detention Basin outlet on Lone Mountain Road.

For relocation of Nevada Power Co. utility lines for the Stewart Avenue parking garage project.

Costs approved for contractor

Nobody is happy that construction of a security wall around the Bonanza Village neighborhood was halted by the state Supreme Court.

And each day that passes without a decision from the court on a resident's request could mean more money for the other neighbors.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved $85,000 to pay the general contractor for costs incurred as a result of the court-ordered stay.

Eddie General Construction was forced to remove its equipment and maintain a temporary fence around the neighborhood near West Las Vegas when the court ordered the city to stop building the permanent wall.

And although Public Works Director Dick Goecke said the city won't pass the $85,000 on to the residents, other costs could arise from the delays in the court's decision.

Residents in the neighborhood asked the city to create a special improvement district to pay for a security wall. However, since that 1998 approval, many residents have soured on the project.

Resident Dan Contreras wondered how much more money could be needed to wait out the stay, and whether residents would be stuck with the bill.

Goecke said only that the city is projecting what the future costs will be.

Councilman Lawrence Weekly will hold a neighborhood meeting on the issue Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the West Las Vegas Library.

Funding causes some controversy

In some minds, $200,000 is too much for the city to spend for emergency homeless shelter services.

But others, like Franciscan Brother David Bure, find the amount too small.

The Las Vegas City Council, however, approved Wednesday the city's Neighborhood Services Department's proposed allocation of funds to two nonprofit organizations.

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada will receive $75,000 and the Salvation Army will get $125,000.

Bure protested what he considered a cut in the emergency shelter funding, down from the $300,000 the city granted last year.

But Mayor Oscar Goodman reiterated concerns that the city bears the brunt of the homeless issue valleywide.

"I'm sick and tired that the city carries the burden," Goodman said, paraphrasing comments he made Tuesday at a government forum.

On Tuesday he told Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson he was upset to learn that some homeless are bused from Henderson to Las Vegas, which has shelters and services for homeless.

"I wasn't pointing the finger, but it's a Southern Nevada problem," Goodman said.

City Manager Virginia Valentine said the city will ask the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to address the issue at an upcoming meeting.