Henderson news briefs for September 20, 2000

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

Company named to design project

The Henderson Redevelopment Agency approved URS Corp. to design a major utility upgrade scheduled to replace buried water, sewer and electrical lines beneath and around Water Street next year.

But members of the board, the City Council and mayor, expressed a note of disappointment when they heard that the design work will take about 300 days to complete.

"It does seem like its an awful long time," Mayor Jim Gibson said.

City Project Engineer Edward McGuipe said that up to 100 of those days will be spent in city review and public hearings and "can be accelerated if it needs to be."

URS Corp. will receive $392,834 for design work, plus another $70,000 for optional services unidentified in the contract.

It's getting easier to stage protests

It just got easier to hold a rally, protest march or parade in Henderson.

A revision of the city's special events ordinance meant to bring the city into compliance with recent court cases was approved by the City Council Tuesday night.

The new code lowers the minimum time to apply for a parade or protest permit to 10 days from 30 days and limits the factors that can be considered in charging a permit fee.

The former ordinance allowed the city to charge applicants for police protection, a policy labeled by Assistant City Attorney Ron Sailon in a 15-page memo as "probably unconstitutional." While fees may still be charged for protection, the message of the applicant cannot be considered as a factor in setting the fees, he said.

Henderson's Community Planning Department

and developer Phyllis Thompson Cos. have still not agreed to the terms of a deal to guide the construction of office and retail space at the southern end of Water Street. Set to be approved at the Redevelopment Agency's Tuesday night meeting, the item was continued for two weeks.