Las Vegas council briefs for September 21, 2000

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 11:46 a.m.

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

For construction of the Gowan South Detention Basin, south of Cheyenne Avenue between Buffalo Drive and Tenaya Way.

To Motorola Inc. for a new radio system for use by the city's deputy marshals.

To various suppliers for firefighting tools and equipment.

To Distinctive Business Machines Inc. for Hewlett Packard printing supplies.

To Haaker Equipment Co. for the repair of a 1991 Vactor truck in use at the Water Pollution Control Facility.

New service center location approved

Cox Communications won approval from the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday to build a utility service center on the northeast corner of Bonanza Road and Rancho Drive.

Plans call for a four-story office building, six-story garage, and an equipment store.

Residents expressed concerns about the planned facility's proximity to homes, especially since Cox sought a waiver of the required 165-foot setback to allow one of the buildings to be within 35 feet of residential property lines.

Cox agreed to Councilman Lawrence Weekly's request for a 45-foot setback, and also agreed to build an 8-foot wall and landscape the buffer.

Cox also agreed to donate $100,000, computers and Internet service to the Las Vegas Indian Center, whose building is near the planned development.

The council voted 6-0 to approve the development, with Michael McDonald absent.

Franchise granted for wiring the city

The city of Las Vegas' efforts to attract high-tech companies downtown got a boost Wednesday when the City Council granted a telecommunications franchise to a fiber optics network.

Metromedia Fiber Network Services Inc. was awarded a 10-year franchise with one five-year renewal. Metromedia will pay the city 5 percent of its annual gross revenues under terms of the deal.

Larry Boward, Metromedia's regional director, said his company will help make Las Vegas "a wired city" and attract high-tech businesses.

"This will improve those efforts," Boward said. "Our capacity is phenomenal."

The fiber network Micromedia plans to install citywide will have capacity for the next 200 years.

Proposed ordinance would set guidelines

When Southwest Ambulance asked to compete with American Medical Response in the city of Las Vegas, officials had no specific precedent to help them make such a decision.

A bill introduced to the council on Wednesday would specify operational, franchise and business license requirements for ambulances and other medical transport services.

The bill would repeal the city's current code governing ambulances and would adopt a chapter with specific details of the franchise application process, term and renewal of franchises, compliance regulations, ambulance service rates and regulations and fees for patient transport and special event providers.

The proposal, sponsored by Finance Director Mark Vincent, faces a public hearing Oct. 2 at 4 p.m. in the eighth-floor conference room in City Hall. It must come back to the full council for adoption.

Time line set for development

Even though the actual exchange of land has yet to be finalized, the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved a time line for the development of the 61-acre Lehman Brothers parcel downtown.

The plan calls for immediate advertising and soliciting requests for qualifications and proposals from potential developers. That information would be due in November, with a selection of a developer following in December.

In January 2001, the city will likely be ready to begin negotiating on an exclusive agreement, with council approval on any plan expected in June 2001.

Lesa Coder, director of business development, said the dates on the schedule are flexible and could be subject to change when more details become available.

Alternate judges to get a boost

Alternate judges who hear cases in Las Vegas Municipal Court got a pay raise Wednesday.

The council unanimously approved increasing their compensation from $75 to $100 per session. Prior to the increase, alternate judges had not received a raise in more than 10 years.

The increase will cost $17,800 a year.