North Las Vegas City Council briefs for June 21, 2001

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 11:28 a.m.

The North Las Vegas City Council renewed a one-year contract Wednesday with Prison Health Services, a medical care provider for jail inmates.

The $1 million renewal passed in one swift motion under the consent agenda, where council members approve several items considered routine at once.

The company had come under fire after it became public that one of its doctors, psychiatrist Dr. Gilles Desmarais, had been disciplined in other states for allegedly having sex with a patient whom he married in 1974 and 1975.

Desmarais resigned in May.

City picks up another 138 acres

North Las Vegas annexed 138 acres Wednesday, including one property of about 128 acres near Centennial Parkway and Nellis Boulevard. The land is zoned as commercial/industrial and sits near the proposed Las Vegas Beltway.

The landowners, represented by Charlie Champlin of Quadrant Consulting, did not have definite plans for the property.

"For now, we have no other plans than to annex it to the city," Champlin said. "We're working with the city to come up with a plan."

The remaining 10 acres, a residential zone, is on the southwest corner of Hammer Lane and Doris Street. Orion Engineering, a residential developing company, spearheaded the request for annexation.

$2.5 million approved for wash

The North Las Vegas City Council approved a planning division's request Wednesday for an additional $2 million to $2.5 million to fund the development of a multipurpose trail along Las Vegas Wash.

Senior planner of North Las Vegas, Misty Haehn, said the trail would be 8 1/2 miles long and would connect with a regional trail system.

The city has also requested $1.7 million from the Interior Department for the trail from the sale of Bureau of Land Management land under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.

New recreation center named

A new 20,000-square-foot North Las Vegas recreation center, equipped with an eight-lane swimming pool and aerobic facilities, due to open in December, will be named Silver Mesa Recreation Center.

Council members Wednesday chose from a list of possibilities suggested by the public, which also included Thunderbird, Sheep Mountain and The Commons.

The new facility, at Allen Lane and Alexander Road, will cost a minimum of $5 million to build and will include meeting rooms, early childhood development classes and swimming lessons, Ken Albright, Parks and Recreation Director of North Las Vegas, said.